The RB and Preher Show
Just a couple of guys hanging out, talking fantasy football, and taking their keeper and dynasty leagues way too seriously. Each week, Robert Brookman and Matt Preher (yeah, like "prayer") break down the drama, trades, matchups, and waiver wire wins from their own leagues—and probably roast a league mate or two along the way. If you love fantasy, friendship, and the kind of banter only long-time league rivals can bring, you just found your new favorite podcast. Wise listeners welcome.
The RB and Preher Show
Robert and Matt talk NFC teams
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This is the RV and prayer show. Just a couple of guys hanging out and talking fantasy football. Now, here are your hosts, Robert and Matt.
SPEAKER_01Welcome in. It's August 5th. It's RB and Fair Show. Robert here along with Matt. Matt, how's your offseason going? It's good.
SPEAKER_04It's good. It's busy. I'm excited. We finally like it. I've enjoyed it. It's been really good. Lots of drafting, lots of mock drafting, lots of research, all of that. But we're finally at the point to where we have football this week.
SPEAKER_01We have football not just this week, but tomorrow. We have the Hall of Fame game is tomorrow. Did you see ESPN reported who is starting uh for the Cardinals tomorrow?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, Carson Beck. Carson Beck. And no Jeremiah Love. So it's going to suck. Wow. Crazy. Yeah. But like, you know, it's going to be it's football. Real, actual football. Well, halfway real actual football is back.
SPEAKER_01I I appreciate the Hall of Fame game because it's guys that are actually playing for contracts. It's not guys that are just phoning it in to get ready for something else. So they're going to play hard. It's just not as quality. It's like going to a really competitive, like double uh division two NCAA game, right? Like it's not the top players in the country, and you see it on the field, but they're playing really hard, and you can at least appreciate that.
SPEAKER_04I was thinking, I was going to compare it to more of like a like in high school sports, and whatever state you're in, like a level 2A, maybe a 1A. Like it's just yeah, not good. The skill level is not very high, but darn it, they try really hard.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they try really hard. And they're equivalent. At least there's that. Like the two teams are at least evenly somewhat matched. They're not great, but they're both matched correctly. So yes, exactly. Uh that brings me to my quick question for tonight. I was thinking about this earlier, just thinking of the Hall of Fame game being tomorrow. Matt, I I'll be honest with this. I asked for the answer. I asked uh Claude, my AI tool of choice. And you know, when you asked a sponsor yet.
SPEAKER_04There you go.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Uh my tool of choice, I say that just because in asking it this question, I did not do any other further research. I just accepted what it told me as fact. But that that's not completely that that's not completely true, but it's also not completely false either. So here's the question though, for you. Who can you take a wild guess at who the most uh who the best player to ever play in the Hall of Fame game was? And I define best as like um the highest caliber player who ever randomly appeared in a preseason game that was the Hall of Fame game. I'll give you the answer here in a second because I you have so many options. The Hall of Fame game's been around since the 1960s. Uh and it's uh it's just it's always terrible, terrible players. But this one was really interesting when I got the answer, and I I did research to actually like make sure that it didn't hallucinate and just make something up. But uh so this the game that this happened in was less than 30 years ago. It was been in the 2000s.
SPEAKER_04Is that the last three decades?
SPEAKER_01It's been in the 2000s. It is a current day Hall of Famer, and he was not this was not a situation where he was a rookie and hadn't gotten his start. He was midway into a multi-year career. Uh, actually, later that season that he played in the Hall of Fame game, he led the NFL in passing touchdowns as well as touchdown percentage. So this is a quarterback.
SPEAKER_04It's in the 2000s.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04With those sets. Uh are you willing to give me which decade of the 2000s?
SPEAKER_01Uh the the the 2000s is the decade. The 2000s. Okay. All right. And I'll give you even a further hint. The team that he played for is one that we'll talk about tonight.
SPEAKER_04Oh, well, that took I had two people on the top of my mind, and I took both of them out. Oh man. I'm trying to go through the teams that we have coming up.
SPEAKER_01Current day Hall of Fame, quarterback, mid-career in the early 2000s, and he's in the NFC. During this time period, he's in the NFC.
SPEAKER_04Oh my gosh. I so I cannot think of anybody, but I'll because everyone I keep thinking of is either would not be mid-career in the 2000s or would not be the NFC. Um, I'll just throw out a random guess. I I don't, I'm pretty sure this is not him, and that it's not gonna be uh the I was at Brett Favre.
SPEAKER_01You nailed it. It was your random guess. It was Brett Favre. Yes, Brett Favre in 2003 played two series in the Hall of Fame game. It was the weirdest thing I read about this Hall of Fame game. 2003 Hall of Fame game between, I believe, the Chiefs and the Packers. 2003, Brett Favre, Brett Favre's rookie season was 1991, where he played two games. So he's halfway through his career because he plays till 2010. Uh he's he's 34 at the time, but he plays two series in the Hall of Fame game, doesn't really do all that much, uh, and then leads to Packers to a 10 and 6 season. He throws 32 touchdowns, almost a 7% touchdown percentage for the season. Uh, but yeah, that uh game also apparently got shortened. Uh Pete uh Tagliabu was the commissioner in the NFL at the time. There was a bunch of lightning and weather in the area, and so they cut it short like midway through the third quarter and just ended the game. Um that's apparently what it's really known for. I couldn't find any stats on that game at all to like validate that he actually played. But when I read an article from a newspaper, it said, yeah, he played a couple series. Um weirdly enough, I was surprised Chat GPD didn't give me this answer. Brett Favre makes more sense, but Priest Holmes was supposed to play in that game as well after coming off an injury short in 2002. But yeah, crazy, right? Brett Favre plays 13 seasons into his career in the Hall of Fame game.
SPEAKER_04Oh, I guess I'm not I'm too smart for my own good.
SPEAKER_01You must be. I also gave you a ton of clues, so there's that. I know.
SPEAKER_04Uh my initial reaction was to say like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. Uh yeah.
SPEAKER_01Peyton would have, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Well then I was even thinking, like, I was trying to think too, until you talked about it being in like a Hall of Famer in like the early 2000s. I even was wondering if it was Dak because I know Dallas has had the Hall of Fame game a few times, and I I fe I feel like it was like his first year or two that he played in that game. Because I know his first year, he was not the starter at the at the in the preseason. So, you know, it it was very likely that he did that. So I don't I don't know, but yeah, cool. I got it right. Still counts as a team.
SPEAKER_01You just keep telling me how you might have almost gotten it wrong, please. I love to hear that.
SPEAKER_04Uh humility, man. It is my wonderful humility.
SPEAKER_01It's something like that. All right. So NFC. That's what we're going to be talking about tonight. We'll take it a little bit differently than we did with the AFC. Rather than deep diving every single team, we are going to talk a little bit more division by division. Uh, who the teams are, any major headlines from those, uh, as well as our picks of who we're taking to win the division. Um, and then talk a little bit about some of the fantasy-specific standouts on both sides of the ball from the division. So, with that, let's start with the NFC North. Uh, the NFC North, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings. Overall, no major head coaching changes between all four of the teams. Uh, as far as personnel, uh, DJ Moore is out for the Chicago Bears. He's now a Buffalo Bill again. Um, for the Lions, we've got right now at least, Jameer Gibbs is a hold-in, but David Montgomery leaves uh and goes to the Texans. For the Packers, we have the Packers' wide receiver room getting a little bit smaller, and uh Dante Avian Weekwicks goes to the Eagles and Romeo Dobbs to the Patriots. Uh and then the Vikings. Let's see, obviously, their big change over the offseason has been the Kyler Murray, which speaking of, I saw a video clip the other day that supposedly was Kyler and JJ McCarthy fighting at Vikings camp. I don't know if you saw this or not.
SPEAKER_02I did not see this.
SPEAKER_01It said that's what it was after Kyler threw a pick. And then I watched the video and I was like, you can't tell that either of those guys are in the middle of this, that they're fighting with each other or what had happened beforehand. Uh, so I was like, that I don't know. Neither one of those guys AI. It's all AI. I I think it's a lot of like conjecture from people who want it to be one of those guys versus the other, but that's what things stand right now. Last year, uh the division champs were crazy enough, the Chicago Bears, uh, with the Detroit Lions who won nine games last year, uh, having the uh coming in last in the division. This year, the Lions now get the sixth easiest schedule in the NFL because of their last place finish, uh, without a whole lot of things changing. And their their win total, their projected win total, also didn't really change all that much. So I'll toss it to you. Thoughts just generally on the NFC North, uh, any of the fantasy players you want to really focus in on that you are excited about?
SPEAKER_04Um, I mean, I there's a lot in this division that I really like. I mean, obviously with Detroit, you've got uh the first one, the one that jumps out is Gibbs, obviously one of the best, you know, top two essentially picks in pretty much any format, um, except maybe not super flex, but even then, well, maybe uh, but he's top, and now the whole the backfield is his. I mean, it was pretty much his, you know, last year, but David Montgomery was still there. He still competed, he still had games uh that took a lot away from Gibbs. I think from a football standpoint, it was great, but obviously, you know, we don't really like that from a fantasy standpoint. Um, but this year it's not his. I mean, his competition, well not really competition, but his number two is gonna be Isaiah Pacheco. And I mean, while I think I do actually think that this is a potential, I don't want to call it resurgence, but I do think he will could have a better year than he has has been having in Kansas City. He's he it's this is not a 1A, 1B like it was with Gibbs and Montgomery. This is a very clear one and a very clear two. And then the other thing that really pops out for me is with Chicago. I am super excited for year two of Ben Johnson. Obviously, super fantasy friendly. Um love him. He's got one of my favorite tight ends, especially from a dynasty perspective and leveling there um with Chicago. Um, but then you also like has my I don't know if I'd call him a sleeper because at this point his draft stock has risen so much that I don't I don't really think he would qualify as a sleeper anymore. But it's a Luther Burden. You know, I've loved him. I really tried to draft him last year um in our rookie drafts, not really able to, didn't really do a ton, but did seem to start kind of coming on towards the end of the year a little bit, but now they lost DJ Moore. And it by all accounts, and then even listening to Ben Johnson talk, like I I really think that Burden is primed to take over the number one wide receiver role in the offense. Though I will say I don't think it's gonna be like, I don't think he's gonna be like a top 10 or top 15 wide receiver because they still have a Dunze. Dunze is still gonna be really good. I think they're gonna eat into each other, but I do think that Burden is gonna be your top target getter um in that offense.
SPEAKER_01So what do you think Luther Burden is going in fantasy dress right now? I looked it up, so okay.
SPEAKER_04Uh overall or just as the wide receiver?
SPEAKER_01Overall, ADP.
SPEAKER_04Overall ADP. Golly, it's probably sixth round. Seventh round, maybe? Is it above that?
SPEAKER_01No, no, you're you are if you think you can get him in the sixth round, you're dreaming. Uh right now Luther Burden's ADP is 41. So that would be round.
SPEAKER_04Oh wow. I didn't realize it was that high. Yeah, it's like I I know I got Ed Buka in the fourth round of the draft, um, of one of our drafts, yeah, but in that you know, month, month and a half ago. Um, and I thought he went actually before Burden did. But yeah, I guess at the end of the third, beginning of the fourth, that kind of, you know, that's not surprising at all.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Speaking of third round, fourth round picks, Colston Loveland, I I will call this out because I looked him, Adunze, and Burden up together. Adunze is uh, I believe he was 64. So you're looking at a fifth-round pick for him, end of the fifth. Uh Loveland, so if if Luther Burden is technically 41.1 for his ADP, Bur uh Loveland is 41.2. They are literally next to each other, uh, which makes a lot of sense. I mean, I I think personally, I I think people are a little too in, I would say, on Burton, if you ask me. But um here's here's a question for you. Who is the fantasy player in this division that you find yourself drafting the most of, whether Mox or otherwise?
SPEAKER_04Um right now, it would probably be Loveland. Just because of where things I tend to not be willing, um, I tend to not be able to be able to get Bowers when I want to get like, you know, I'm willing to draft him in the second, but he's usually gone before it gets to me. And I'm not willing to take him in the top like five or six picks of the first round. And so uh, but so I end up not taking him, and then I don't really know if I I'm I'm not really in on McBride as much this year. So I'm all but I'm all in on Loveland. So I end up usually getting him in like that third, fourth turn type of type of area. Um so I'm I'm drafting a lot of Loveland. I know who you're gonna say though.
SPEAKER_01Who do you think I'm gonna say? I was even surprised at uh I it took me a little while to think about the answer to this for me, but who do you think it is?
SPEAKER_04Well, I think I've actually seen you draft this guy two or three different times, and then that's just the weeks that we're in together. Kyler Murray.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I take Kyler a lot into quarterback, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I I because you could take him so late, and I do think that he's legit a good, he's a re I think he's gonna have a really good year.
SPEAKER_01I I I mean, so long as he beats out JJ McCarthy, which I I don't know. I don't know how to read it. I think you and I can beat out JJ McCarthy. Um, no, so so that's a good answer. That definitely wasn't the one I was thinking of. I was thinking most of my drafts, the mocks I've done are not two quarterbacks. So in a one-quarterback league, Kyler is not somebody I typically take because I'm just not gonna risk that's a weird position to be in. Uh, but similarly to Kyler, in that I'm looking for guys that have a lot of upside that I can get a lot later. There's actually two names in this division that I end up I draft all the time, whether it's best ball or in some of our other mocks or real leagues, are DeAndre Swift and weirdly enough, Aaron Jones. Um, Aaron Jones goes so unbelievably late. And I know he's uh he's older, and um uh Jordan Mason is there, and so that's you know, there's gonna be a timeshare, but people have thrown him out completely. And I I think it's probably gotten to the point where you can get a deal on him, uh, and he's still gonna be somewhat productive. DeAndre Swift, on the other hand, is not to that extent, but he is kind of a within his tier, he is towards the bottom of it, if you ask me. And he's in that, he's in that tier. I would say he's in the tier right after like uh Judkins and David Montgomery and all of those guys go, is like the either the bottom of that or the or the RB20s, yes. And and that's where DeAndre Swift goes. And I I to your point of the Ben Johnson system, I think Swift could be in for a massive season. I know people don't like that Monongay's there and he could vulture some stuff away, and that's fine. Um, it worked okay enough last year, and I think the fact that Caleb Williams is gonna be a year older and Loveland came on and Burden came on is gonna open stuff up for Swift, who has been with Ben Johnson ever since his tight uh his Lions days. So I I just I think for a team, if you're gonna go hero RB or zero RB, DeAndre Swift is a great target, and that's what I found myself doing a lot this year. So he's one that I end up with all the time.
SPEAKER_04Um yeah, I think I mean I think that's a good pick. I I will say this though, I I do love Manong guy. I mean, I'm I love so much about the Chicago offense when it comes to fantasy this year. Um, and I know we're not gonna have it all hit all of it, but I or they're not all gonna hit. And so I do worry about Manongai a bit. Um, but Smith is not, he's definitely not a bad pick, especially in that like zero RB strategy like you're talking about. But real quick, before we switch to um the next division, I want to touch on IDP just really quick, because there's two there's two players that jump out to me here that I absolutely love. I don't even know if you're gonna go here or not. Yeah, true or not. No. Um, like it's oddly enough, like there's not like they're like with this, you usually think of especially Chicago and even Minnesota as having just like these dominant defenses. They really don't this year, um, especially not Chicago, at least not from a fantasy perspective. Not necessarily.
SPEAKER_01The other the other two teams in the division are the the ones with the the star power and the side, right?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, exactly. So like to me, you've got Green Bay, can't get out of here talk without talking about Micah Parsons, um, still coming off an injury. He he did recently come out and say, I know he he plays Dallas, I think week six, I believe, this year. He said that there is a chance um that he comes back for that. You know, he's gonna try and do everything he can to be back for that game and stick it to Jerry. Um, so you know, you drafted Micah Parsons. I I would me personally, as far as IDP rankings go, I because of that injury, I drop him down probably to the back part of the top 10, like maybe like somewhere between eight and twelve, um, somewhere. Uh, but the guy that I love is Detroit's Jack Campbell. Um, he's a linebacker. Almost every IDP scoring system, and you know your scoring system, but almost every one linebackers are gonna that's how that's your bread and butter. You need linebackers. You can't have, we were talking about this right before uh when we were doing our prep, right? To where you consequently always feel like you have too many linebackers and not enough at the same time on your team. And I think that that makes perfect sense because you always want more. Um, but Jack Campbell is, I think he's gonna be, he's a top, means to me, he's a top two linebacker, like pure linebacker, not one of the defensive end linebacker hybrids, but he's a top two in the league in terms of IDP. So I just wanted to make sure and mention those gals before we kind of got out of here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and the other guys you didn't even talk about were that I would call out as um oh gosh, the defensive end from the Lions, the big dude, Aiden Hutchinson. Good guy. Oh, yes. Uh Aiden Hutchinson, who was the top three IDP pick for most leagues. I mean, um, he's coming off of some injury, but also a major piece of any, especially dynasty, but uh any IDP team. The other linebackers that I wanted to call out, same two teams, right? But so Zayu Franklin, who has been a kind of mainstay linebacker at the top of draft boards for a really long time in Indianapolis, is now with Green Bay. Uh, and he's going to significantly uh uh make some changes to that Green Bay defense, as well as one of the hottest dynasty IDP linebackers, Edrin Cooper, who is 24 out of Texas AM, uh, has two years under his belt now, but um he's shooting up uh dynasty rankings.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, came on, I forget who it was, but had an injury uh to their starter last year, and then he was able to really step in and then really. Take over that job. And so, yeah, it'll probably be him and Franklin to say trading for Franklin. Be those to be the top two linebackers or starting two linebackers for Green Bay. So those are definitely good calls.
SPEAKER_01All right. So last question for you before we move on to the NFC South. Who wins the division next year?
SPEAKER_04I mean, I'm going to Chicago again. I think Chicago's going to do it. I don't trust Green Bay's offense. And honestly, I don't trust their defense when they don't have Parsons and he's not healthy. Like you saw it last year. Their defense was terrible without, I mean, not Dallas or Cincinnati bad, but they were still pretty bad when Parsons was not on the field. I think it's going to be Chicago. And then I'm actually going to go Minnesota as number two, followed by Detroit and then Green Bay. I actually think Green Bay is going to end up fourth.
SPEAKER_01My order will be Detroit, number one. I think they win the division this year. I think the Packers. I think the Packers edge out the Bears. So it's Lions, Packers, Bears, Vikings to me. That's the four.
SPEAKER_04That's you're going to say OMI there at the end. Lions, Packers, Bears. Oh my.
SPEAKER_01No, it's Vikings at the end, not OMI. I guess. All right. All right. NFC South. Uh, let's move forward. So the going from kind of the the top division in the NFC to arguably the worst division in football, the NFC South. We've got you, I'll give you two minutes on this division. I was gonna say we had three teams that tied last year at eight and nine, uh, and then the New Orleans Saints uh won six games. Uh, but they might also be the team that is like the most exciting in the division for 2026. Uh I don't know. I just don't know what to make of this division. Uh the Falcons have a new head coach this year. They hire Kevin Stefanski. We've got the Panthers, uh, really didn't make much changes. The New Orleans Saints also didn't make any head coaching changes. Uh, and Todd Bowles is still the Buccaneers coach despite a crazy season last year. Uh, personnel-wise, Mike Evans is no longer in the NFC South. That's a major one. Uh Kenneth Gainwell does come to the NFC South. Uh, a number Ruben Bain is drafted if you want to talk IDP by the Buccaneers as well. We've also got Jordan Tyson, uh, who was a first-round wide receiver pick to the Saints. Uh, and the Saints also took some defensive players there. Uh, the Carolina Panthers signed linebacker Devin Lloyd, who was uh uh uh first team all NFL last year at linebacker, uh, as well as Tet got his offensive rookie of the year. Um let's see, the Atlanta Falcons just signed a deal with Bijan Robinson uh either yesterday or today, whenever that was recently. Um and let's see, the I said that for the Falcons already, as well as they add Tua uh to compete with Michael Penix in a quarterback competition this year. So what do you want to talk about with the NFC South?
SPEAKER_03Uh NFC East. Let's go there.
SPEAKER_04Uh no, like there are, I think, while we went from a division that just had a plethora of fantasy people that we love and we're drafting, we go to the division that has hardly anybody. Um, you know, to me, you've got Tampa and Carolina who have Eggbuca and Tet as, you know, these two wide receiver ones that are primed for their breakout and their sophomore campaign. Um, really looking forward to both of them. And they kind of had the opposites. Like if they had had Eggbuka's first half of last year and Tet's second half of last year and just one player, they would have been one of the best, you know, rookie wide receivers in the last 15, 20 years. Um, we've been all ecstatic. So it'll be really interesting to me to see what will happen there with Tampa as well. I don't, I don't really know what's going on. Like they've got the Baker contract issue thing, Vita Vea just um, you know, basically came out of nowhere, it seemed, and just was like, I want to trade and I need to go to California um or Vegas. And so he, but which I don't think is gonna happen from what I've read, but it's it's like I I worry a little bit in the Tampa world, and I have Baker just because like it seems like people are just are not happy there, and I I don't know what's going on. Um, so like I don't know, that kind of feels like a sinking ship. Um with Atlanta, it's I'm really excited for Bijan, really excited about London, um, and even interested, I guess, a little bit with Pitts. But like you said, the quarterback competition, they're not as bad as like Miami or Cleveland we talked about last week or last time, but goodness, they're not good. Like it's and I think I saw a report today that two is in the lead for the to win QB1, which makes sense because he's been healthier. He yeah, well, and he's I think he is the better quarterback if he's not scared. But they definitely have a town. Yes, it's it's still just uh, and then New Orleans. Like I really like uh Kellen Moore as a coach, and I like a lot of the pieces that they have, but at the same time, like none of it feels like it's gonna be great. And then also I don't remember. Did you mention um Kamara with him signing his extension? Um, his new contract. Like everyone thought he was done and he was gonna be gone, and now he's extended. What's that gonna do to ETN or HN, formerly ETN? Uh I didn't know as they go through, yeah. So it's like it's it there's a lot of little pieces, I guess, here and there on all of them, but there's nothing that's really exciting to me, except outside of Eggbuka and Tet. There's just a lot of worries everywhere else.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the team that had the most consistency uh on the offensive side at least, to me feels like it's the Carolina Panthers who don't really change. But man, I don't want to put any faith into Bryce Young at all. Like none. I have no reason to be confident in in that.
SPEAKER_04And the only thing that I will say is that that with sorry, on that with Tet, they because they've been coming out and saying that he's gonna do more in the slot. And I think it was last year he only ran, I think I've read like 15% of his routes from the slot last year. So if they get that up to like 30, 35%, even doubling that, I think that can be really helpful for his fantasy. Um, and it's probably easier because I move him around more, get him open, and it doesn't put as much of the dependency on Bryce Young for that. But yeah, I completely agree. Like it's the most consistent option there, but it's not an exciting one with Young at all.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I don't think that I mean Tet might have a good year still, but I you know that team winning the division now has the worst schedule for the division, or at least the strength of schedule coming in, and that matters. Like the Panthers are gonna play a first place schedule, and so yeah, I I don't think the Panthers are anywhere close to winning this division this year. I know they made some changes. Uh, the only offensive piece that they really that is changing seems to be Jonathan Brooks coming in as the rookie who's been hurt two years in a row. So maybe that makes a difference. But you know, I would have loved to see them done something with their offensive line to get Bryce Young a little more support up front and give them some time. So I I think to me, the most interesting team here is the Saints. Uh, I think the Falcons are what they are, right? Bijan's what he is. Uh, you're you're gonna take him at the top of drafts. Kyle Pitts is kind of that like middling tier of tight ends of like if you believe in him, then he's at a good price. You can go get him. And if you don't believe in him, but you want to take a dart throw, it's not so bad of a price that you're you're really overpaying for him. Uh Drake London, I think people are either all in or all out. I know you're I think you're more of a Drake London fan, uh, if I remember correctly. I am the opposite. I am all out. I don't want to touch him, I don't want to be anywhere near that. Like that is not a player, that is not the player archetype that I like having on my teams at all. So um, but he is he is what he is. Uh then you look at the Saints, and I think the Saints have a lot of pieces that you know, Chris Olave had a great season last year. I think a lot of people look at Jordan Tyson as the next guy who's going to be one of those household names. And you know, A-Chain coming over. We've seen what he can do as being a top five running back in the NFL before. So, you know, they got that towel shut while not a top quarterback choice last year, was played better than expected. Um so they've got some interesting pieces. The Bucks, obviously, with Baker being hurt most of last year, I think that's been pretty well chronicled in the last couple of weeks of just like how hurt was Baker actually, and how much did he truly play through that probably tanked a lot of the production as well as the the record for the Buccaneers? I'm you know, it's great that he plays through stuff, but I think it it sounded more like, hey, look, he he probably did way too much. Um, I think the Mike Evans thing, while that's you know, end of an era, is also just makes this team a little more focused, uh, is how I would frame it up, right? That yeah, I think it's it's Godwin and it's Igbuka, and you know, a third guy there is probably fine, and but it's gonna rotate every now and again from one of those third options to another. So with that being said, there's also not a ton of IDP like household names here. Jalen Walker for the Falcons just uh lost for the season in the last couple of weeks. Uh I did mention Devin Lloyd coming over from Jacksonville to the Panthers. That is an interesting one. Um, the Saints. Uh, I didn't have anybody called out there. The pad the Buccaneers, Vitavea, you mentioned him earlier. He is definitely one to be aware of. Ruben Bain as well uh as uh a rookie coming in here. But yeah um so who's your pick for this division? We'll just move forward because I don't know how much we want to get on this.
SPEAKER_04No, you're fine. Um I think to win the division, I'm gonna pick uh New Orleans. Um I I truly feel like you can literally just throw a dart at these and it's gonna be about as good of a guess. I think they all have about the same percentage.
SPEAKER_01They all had the same record last year, except for one of them.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's true. That's true. I I feel like it's gonna be something similar to that again. Um, I think that New Orleans is probably the most complete team and in including the coaching staff and the head coach. Um, I would pick Tampa if they had better vibes coming out, but I just I don't have good vibes right now with what's going on down there. Um, hopefully I'm wrong. So, but I'm gonna pick New Orleans, followed by Carolina and then Atlanta, and then Tampa.
SPEAKER_01I will also go with the Saints as the winners of the division. I think Tampa probably keeps it close, but they end up in second, followed by the Falcons, and then I have the Panthers at the rear of the division.
SPEAKER_04So I think this is the first division that we've actually agreed on who would win.
SPEAKER_01Probably. Sounds about right. We we both disagree on so many things. Speaking of disagreeing on things, we've got the NFC East now. Your favorite, the Dallas Cowboys.
SPEAKER_04The Cowboys are bad.
SPEAKER_01I don't know. Um, they franchise tag George Pickens over the offseason, traded for uh Rashawn Gary, drafted Caleb Downs. Um, still kind of dealing with the Parsons leaving. Um trying to make sure I'm not missing anything from them. You probably tell me in a minute that I missed a bunch of stuff. The Eagles also don't have a ton of coaching changes. They trade AJ Brown, that's a major one. Uh they signed Rek Wollen from Seattle, Dontavian Wicks. We already talked about Mikhail Lemon and Eli Stowers via the draft come in. Uh let's see.
SPEAKER_04Well the Eagles do have the new offensive coordinator and Sean Mannion as well. And that's going to be a pretty big change, I think, for them.
SPEAKER_01We'll see. Uh, we've got the New York Giants. They hired John Harbaugh, so major changes there. Uh continuing to rebuild the offense, although a lot of the pieces are still relatively the same, except uh Isaiah likely at wide receiver. Uh, and then they go out and draft Arvell Reese uh uh to go along with a young defense that's already in place there. Uh, and then lastly, we've got the Washington Commanders who had a great season two years ago. Jaden Daniels is healthy and we uh has an awesome rookie season, terrible season last year. No head coaching changes. Uh they did just today sign Stephon Diggs to their wide receiver core. So that's a big change, as well as drafting Sonny Styles at number seven overall in the NFL draft this year to go along with a pretty old defense. And I say that mostly looking in the direction of Bobby Wagner. So uh NFC East, don't spend all of our time on the Dallas Cowboys, Pat.
SPEAKER_04No, no, no, I won't. Uh I'll just kind of run through it. Yeah, this is obviously the division I think that I'm gonna know the most. Um, but with Dallas top wide receiver duo in the league, in my opinion, two top ten guys in Pickens and Lamb. Only downside from a fantasy perspective is they they do kind of eat into one another um when it comes to fantasy points. So you'll see you'll have we saw it last time. We had a lot of games where Pickens went off, but it was because Lamb wasn't really there. Same thing, Lamb really went off, Pickens didn't. So, like it's it's you know, it's it's hard to tell week in, week out. I think I would still prefer Lamb between the two. Um, it's more because, well, you say that, but I actually think Pickens is a lot younger from a dynasty perspective. You could if if if you told me that Pickens was gonna sign a long-term deal with Dallas, and so he was he would be here with Dak, they have the rapport. Pickens is like the perfect type of receiver that which is how Dak likes to throw it. Like, I think there's an argument to be made that Pickens is a better pick than uh or uh you know better one to have than than Land. But that contract, that long-term question marks, you know, some of the I won't say off the field stuff, but I guess the personality stuff is always worrisome. Philly, um, I love to see the chaos because I hate the Eagles. Um, but yeah, I mean, it's what will they be with AJ Brown going now? Like as much as I didn't really care for him, obviously, um, and I don't really like Jalen Hurts at all. And I think he's not a good quarterback. Um, and I think he's been helped by all of his rushing numbers with that offensive line. I think, I think the big thing, and I know you didn't mention it um because I mean no one's really gonna talk about it, but they lost their offensive line coach, who was heavily regarded in across the league as the top offensive line coach, or at least one of the top like two or three um by everybody. And so, and he just basically just walked out and said, I'm done. And that's not a good sign. I think we started seeing it a lot last year. I don't know if it's like a Jalen thing, his work ethic, whatever, or if it's a Sirianny thing. I I don't, I don't really know what's going on in Philly, but it just I I get a lot of the same type of bad vibes with Tampa um as I do with Philly. Now, they're still going to be obviously a really good team. They've got too many good pieces to be bad, but they are a they are a team that wants to run first with an aging running back who I do think is kind of on the way down. Um, I think to me, Saquon is one of my busts for the year just because of because of where he's being drafted. And, you know, we saw it last year. Like, you know, he he's still gonna be, he was still like a top 15 running back, I think, last year, or close to it. But he's still getting drafted like a top 12, top 11, I think maybe even top 10. I'm not sure at this point. But like I wouldn't take that. I would not take him in round two or even round three right now. Um with the Giants, the Giants I'm actually really excited about. I think they have a lot of really young, exciting pieces. I'm really excited about Jackson Dart and seeing what he can do. Um, a little bit of concerns with the coaching staff personally there, but they're known quantities. They've had success, especially with running quarterbacks. So it gives me some hope that Dart will kind of. I'm not gonna say he's gonna be the next Lamar Jackson or anything like that, but just in terms of how they want to use him and just running a lot more, I think could be pretty big. He's a he's a potential sleeper to me, top five sleeper for quarterbacks in in fantasy, and who's not being drafted close to that right now. Um, and so I think that that, you know, someone to look out for. Um, and then of course, but to me, their story has been injuries, injuries, injuries. You know, Dartwood's hurt, I think. Um the neighbors coming off. It's it looks like he might actually have some chance to play in week one. Who knows? Um, so that's a bit more positive. He's had a really rough offseason from the injury news. Um, and then you had all this stuff uh with uh gosh, I can't think about it. Now all of a sudden I can't remember. Who's our running back? Bill Krosky Merritt. No, that's Washington, the Giants.
SPEAKER_01Oh, sorry. Uh Cam Scaboo. I wasn't listening.
SPEAKER_04Yes, Scataboo. Gosh, I can't, my brain was locking up there. Scadaboo, who I love. I do worry a little bit. Yes, I'm gonna make the joke, or not the joke, but make the comparison because he's the big white guy with Peyton Hillis, because who just went off that one year in Cleveland and then just did nothing after that. So a little concerned there, but I think I'm now becoming more concerned with just his like frat browness that he has going on, which like you're coming off an injury to your legs, and then you go on stage and do a backflip. Like, what are we doing, man? Um, but uh I so but and then also you throw in tight end Isaiah likely. Everything that we've seen looks really, really good. Seems to be building a lot of rapport. Um, definitely a sleeper pick for me at tight end. Um and then Washington, I think Washington's just terrible. I don't, I think uh, you know, we'll get to the rankings or not rankings, but where we think they're they're gonna finish up. Washington's gonna be the bottom for me. Um, I don't trust them at all. Their defense is gonna be bad, though I love Sonny Styles. Their defense is gonna be horrendous, um, probably outside of him. Um and then their offense, yes, they drafted there, they just got digs. And before that, they really had McLaurin and nothing. McLaurin and just dust. So digs will be better. Yeah, digs will be better than dust. Chig was another kind of like tight end sleeper that I had, like as a tight end too. Someone who draft kind of in the back half of your, you know, the or the back like the last few rounds of your draft, um, especially in tight end premium. But um, I think you know, they're gonna go as Jaden goes. I still worry about the injuries. Um, so yeah, that was my spiel. I know I took up a lot of time, but you took up all the time.
SPEAKER_01This is my division. I know this is my division. Yeah, I love the division. All right, so here's here's the question then. Give me, give me um, I don't know, one or two players on offense, one or two on defense that you're drafting the most out of this division. And if you need a moment to think, I can I can go first if you want me to.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you go first.
SPEAKER_01All right, so the the two defensive players are actually two rookies that I've taken in multiple leagues, that being Sonny Styles, who you just talked about from the commanders, and Arvell Reese from the Giants. Um I I think both of those defensives get better. It's also a difficult division, so I don't mind good defensive players and strong offensive divisions, right? So they get lots of opportunities for stuff. So those are the two for sure that I've ended up uh taking a lot in uh in both mocks and real leagues uh in the last uh last couple of months. Uh from the offensive side of the ball, uh so there are probably two. Um two two that I end up taking a bit. Uh I've ended up with a lot of Malik neighbors. I know he's coming off this significant injury. His tape when he was at that celebrity softball game looked awful, but the reports have actually been getting progressively better. Uh even just in the last couple of days that I've been watching, that there's there's a good shot that he could potentially be playing early, early in the year. Um, so you know, I think Malik Neighbors with Jackson Dark, because they played a handful of snaps together last year, uh, is a is a really interesting combo. He's one I end up getting a lot because of how he's slipping with the injury. I think that's gonna start uh you're not gonna get him as late as you could have a week ago. Uh give it another week, right? Um, the other one is a much deeper name. It kind of goes back to what we talked about earlier on, which is like my philosophy this year is more of a hero RB than anything else. And so the running back that ends up dropping and dropping and dropping that I had is one of those dart throws is Rashad White for the commanders. I was gonna say, yeah, yeah. The commanders have so I read a report on Jacori Cross Amerit actually earlier today that said his uh pass blocking as well as his pass catching skills have really made improvement this year, and so the commanders are excited to use him more in those types of situations.
SPEAKER_04That being said, hard to improve from where he was. Yeah, going right.
SPEAKER_01It's it's the old it's the office meme of like you went from zero to two sales, right? You know, uh you went from zero to one. It's it's a massive increase percentage-wise, but you really didn't do all that much. But so I think Rashad White, whether Bill made an improvement or not, actually doesn't really matter all that much because I think Rashad White's already got a role next to him in more of a 1A, 1B type setting, anyway. And if he does, awesome. He's gonna be usable. If he doesn't, you can drop him pretty quickly because he's not gonna be a pick that you have to take outside of the double-digit rounds in your draft. So those are the two that I thought of.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. So for me on defense, um I you you can't get out of this division without talking about Sonny South. One of the best linebacker prospects that we've had in a long time come into the league in terms of just what he did on the field, his intangibles, as well as the combine, just a freak athlete. I unfortunately have not been able to draft him um in any of my leagues just because he always goes before I can get him. Um, but I am ecstatic about him. Um, I think that while Carson Sweishinger, however you say his last name for Cleveland is yeah, he's the number one dude because he's you know young. He's 22 or 23. He's the the linebacker that everyone wants to have right now, up and coming, did awesome uh last year. Um, I think Styles has a chance to be top 10 linebacker, top 10 overall player in IDP leagues this year. Um, so to me, he's worth throwing everything you can pretty much at trying to get. Um and then the other guy that I have is I like your your Reese pick, but I'm gonna go with uh Caleb Downs um for Dallas. I think it is um I've looked a lot into him just being a fan of the Cowboys, and they have done a ton to revamp that defense last year because they had to, obviously. Everything was terrible, but they're gonna put him in a position to where he's gonna be playing all over the field in what in Christian Parker, the defensive coordinator, he has a position on the defense that they call the star position. Um, and it's just kind of the person who will play everything. He'll be slot, he'll be safety, he'll be kind of like your nickel corn. He'll be all over the field all the time, really commanding everything. And I think he's got the IQ and the leadership and the ability to do that, and that's just gonna mean lots of tackles. So I think he's got a chance to be a really good. I mean, he's not gonna be linebacker level because he's a defensive back, but I think he's got a chance to be a really good defensive back in the league for sure. And then on offense, um, I mean, the only one that I'd really want to call out is uh outside of all the norms, uh, you know, with uh, you know, pickens and and lamb and uh you know Dart and some of the guys that I mentioned already is I'll just throw out Ryan Furnoy from uh Dallas. He's the wide receiver three. You can get him for nothing in your drafts. Um, he's not there will be games where he will be the wide receiver three on the field and he will still have 100, 110 yards and a touchdown. That's what it is. They love him in Dallas. Dak loves him. Um, it's it's crazy, but he's the type of guy that if either one of those guys go down, like he's gonna be awesome. He's gonna be waiver wire, like he's gonna be the number one pick that week. Uh, if Lamb or Pickens goes down for a game, um, pick him up. So I like draft him, keep him on your league, especially if you have a deep bench.
SPEAKER_01Good call. All right. Lastly, then oh, sorry, I didn't even talk about the uh division, rank the division 14th. I almost forgot about it.
SPEAKER_04So I'm gonna go bottom up. We're gonna go, because I already said Washington last, of course. They they're gonna be terrible and they're gonna go last. And then right next to them, barely better, the Giants. They're also gonna be absolutely terrible and just awful. And then I'm gonna go with the horrendously terrible, horrific, ugly, nasty Philadelphia Eagles in second place. And I'm gonna call my shot and say the Cowboys are gonna win the division this year.
SPEAKER_01All right. Uh, this is a division that I I don't know. I don't even like. I'm gonna I'm gonna go completely nutty, and maybe you can tell me how dumb I am later. Uh I'm gonna take the New York Giants. I'm gonna take the New York Giants to win the division.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_03Hey, look. That is a that is a decision that you're this is a free country.
SPEAKER_01Let's both take cotton. Let's see if it works out more. Let's see if it works out. Uh so I'll take I'll take the Giants to win the division, followed by the Eagles, Cowboys, Commanders. And I have zero conviction about any of that. But I do think the Giants, I think the Giants defense is for real, for real. And I think their offense is is moving in the right direction and could have a very nice season. So we'll see. All right, moving on. Last division. We've done a great job on keeping track of time tonight, Matt. And guess what? We really only have three teams to talk about in this last division. The NFC West. We had the NFC West won last year by our there's really only one story to me to talk about in this division.
SPEAKER_04Well, that we're spill for the division.
SPEAKER_01So we've got the Seahood Seahawks who went 14-3, won the Super Bowl last year. Uh great division. Jack JSN wins offensive player of the year. Uh major changes on both sides of the ball. Uh their defense kind of gets picked apart, right? Um, Kobe Bryant, Rek Woolen go to Philadelphia, Boye Mafe to Cincinnati. The biggest one being Ken Walker, though, on the offense going to Kansas City. Um, and they lost their offensive coordinator to the Raiders. Uh, we also had two teams that had the exact same record at 12 and 5, the Los Angeles Rams, who uh again don't make any coaching changes, at least not yet. Uh they acquire Miles Garrett from Cleveland after sending away Jared Verse. Uh, they also acquire Trent Duffy uh and Jalen Watson. Uh they draft Ty Simpson at 13 overall, uh, but then bring back most of the rest of that team. Uh, as well as the one that maybe hasn't made headlines yet, but feels like it's just a matter of time, which would be Aaron Donald signing with the Rams to make the uh the I'll call them the monstars, like make my uh my my monster jam reference there, uh my space jam reference, uh, because those two up front would be you have to double team two guys. Yeah, it would be insane. I don't know, I don't know what else you do. Uh so the Rams two and drop. The the Rams look scary again. Uh and then we've got the San Francisco 49ers who also went 12 and five. No major coaching coach changes. They do sign Mike Evans, uh, who we talked to a little bit earlier. Brandon Ayuk is still on that roster, I guess, kind of. Um uh George Kittle's hurt, but coming back and kind of expected to be back uh fully healthy at the end of this year. Uh, and then they draft with a first round adjacent pick. Uh Dean Stribling with like the first one in the second round. So uh call that a major change there. Um and then am I forgetting anything? Oh crap. The Arizona Cardinals are are also in this division. Uh the Arizona Cardinals.
SPEAKER_04I think the Diamondbags played in Arizona.
SPEAKER_01That's right. They do. They have a hockey team too, I'm pretty sure. But uh right. Yeah, yeah. Coyotes? Uh something like that. Coyotes. Uh all right. So the Arizona Cardinals go 3-14, lose nine games in a row. Worst record in the NFC. Jonathan Gannon's out. They hire Mike LaFleur, not Mark LaFleur. Uh Kyler Murray's gone. Uh, it looks like Jacoby Brissett is going to be the quarterback moving forward. They draft Jeremiah Love. That's the major headline for the Arizona Cardinals. Yeah, this is a play. We're playing for 2010. Yeah, exactly. Uh anywhere in the R.T. Manning sweepsace. That's what they're doing. And they're in a bad division to even be in this position, too.
SPEAKER_04So uh they're in a good position, a good division for that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they're just gonna get their their head butted in every every uh seven days for the foreseeable future. So so uh NFC West, Matt. What did I miss? What are your favorite headlines that you're you're liking?
SPEAKER_04Um so my my favorite headline, and the only thing worth talking about in this division is what is going on in San Francisco and this electrical substation? Like, I think everyone and their brother is injured in San Francisco right now is what it feels like. You know, it's like we need to talk about, we need to have a whole episode where we just talk conspiracy theories about this electrical substation. I mean it is it is ridiculous.
SPEAKER_01So the the only the only player in San Francisco's wide receiver room that I know of right now that is not injured is a 30-year-old Debo Samuel who may own stock in the substation. I don't know.
SPEAKER_04Well, and it's because he also just joined the team, so he he may not even be near the substation yet.
SPEAKER_01I'm telling you, I think I think he owns stock. That's what it is. But yeah, he's like running he's he's running leads, he's running sprints with like the lead vest that they lay on top of you at a dental office. Like that's just he's out there in that thing.
SPEAKER_04They need to start doing that. They they really do have lead-lined uniforms for the for the Niners. Um, no, I mean like in all seriousness, you already said it. This is by far the best division in all of the all of football. Um, it's ridiculous. We have three teams that legitimately have an actual shot and or argument, especially if things go right injury-wise for them, to to be the favorite, to make it out of the NFC and and get to the Super Bowl. That's why like I like it's it's this division along with the NFC North are the reasons why the NFC is just far and away better than the AFC again this year, and it's it's not even close. But yeah, I mean, like to me, the big storylines, like a lot of this is a lot of the same stuff. Like, oddly enough, even with that being said, I feel like there's not a ton of storylines in terms of like a lot of trades and a lot of new players and just all this kind of different stuff happening, like we've talked about in some of the other divisions. I mean, with San Francisco, you already kind of touched on it, the wide receiver core. Um, you know, I do want to throw out two, it's it's CMC, one of my favorite players. I absolutely love him to watch, love to watch him play. Um, if when is that cliff gonna come for him? You know, he keeps he keeps seeming to push it back. Um, and I don't feel the same way about him as I do like with Derrick Henry. Like you just know Derrick Henry's a tank and he can take it. CMC, I feel like anytime he's gonna get hit, he's gonna break into a million pieces. Do you think it's this year? I do. Like I am I'm too much of a scaredy cat when it comes to drafting, especially with you have to take him in the first round right now, unless you're in super flex. Like, I don't want to take him in the first round. But if I do and it works out, he's gonna be a league winner like he was last year. So, but it's just I don't want to be, it's with these older running backs, it's always to me, it's always better to get out a year or two too early than it is a year or two too late. And so, like to me, I just let someone else take that risk. If it works out for them, cool, good for you, have fun. But like, I'm just I'm not willing to take that risk on him. Um I thought it was gonna be last year and it wasn't with Seattle. Like you said, there was a lot of changes, but to me, the big story is price, Jadarian Price. Um, you know, they drafted him the end of the first round. Kind of a lot of people kind of thought, scuttle butt, this might happen, and then it actually did. You know, I I know they're trying to keep stuff close to the chest right now, and you've got Charbonnet, who looks like he's ahead of schedule and might be coming back, you know, sooner rather than later from his injury that occurred in January. Um, but it's I still think that this is gonna be Price's backfield. I think when Charbonnet comes back, you know, I think it will be a committee 1A, 1B, but Price to me is still the guy to have. Um, you know, get out of here with any of that George Wolani stuff. Like it's it's George Wolani. Like, like, no, no, no, I'm not real worried about it. And everything is that Price has seemingly been doing really well so far in camp and um seems to be really improving, like with his, they're using him a lot in uh receptions, and they're even using him, it seems like, on special teams. So if you are in a league that gives you, you know, bonuses for return yards and return touchdowns and stuff, it's you know, there's an extra guy, there's an extra thing to have for him. And with the Rams, you know, I mean, it's they have offense galore, you know, it's gonna be a great. There's you know, you can get into the same thing with a cliff come for Devonta. I don't know, cliffs tend to last a little bit longer for wide receivers. Puka's still Puka, as long as he's sober, he'll be great. And then uh, which is apparently a question, and then you know, with the Rams, they just continue to to draft top-tier tight ends that just can't ever do anything on the field because they have too many of them. Um, but yeah, with Arizona, I mean, I do worry about with Arizona because like I do like Brissett. I will say that like I don't believe I think the Wilson thing was a fluke last year. Like I think it was great. I am completely out on Michael Wilson this year. Not that I'm super in on you know Marvin Harrison Jr. or anything, but I just I don't think that that's gonna be repeatable what happened last year. Um, so let your other league mates draft him, take that risk. I would I would I would rather have Marvin Harrison Jr., especially in Dynasty. Not still not expecting anything crazy from him. But what I worry about with the Cardinals is even though they maybe it's a little bit less of a worry now because of the contract with Brissett, but I wonder what is their tolerance for like if they're six, seven, eight games into the season and they are winless or have one win and they're just getting destroyed.
SPEAKER_01Is it Carson Beck?
SPEAKER_04Are they gonna turn it? Yeah, are they gonna turn it over to Carson Beck? The only thing that gives me hope is how awful he has apparently been in in practice and you know, training camp and OTAs and everything, with him missing guys by five plus yards at times, apparently, some of these reports. Like it's just bad. I mean, let's we'll see what happens in the Hall of Fame game, but man, if you know they have him, if they really are playing for 2027, like who cares? And if you're losing anyways with Pursett, just let Pursett play out there. But if they that's that's the main thing that gives me hesitation with drafting, you know, most of the guys for this year. Um, you know, it includes McBride and Love. If I'm only looking at this year, I have hesitation because if they put Beck in, like it's just that offense is gonna be just awful, and it's not gonna be worth starting anything.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, I've got lots of thoughts on this division too, but I I'm with you. I think the Cardinals are they scare me, and I would much I I have a lot, I was shaking my head as you're talking. Like, I'm worried about Trey McBride. I'm definitely not a believer in Michael Wilson. I don't think Harrison's gonna be awesome, but he's still the one I would probably lean towards in all of this. Uh I I think you're right about Brissett. Like, they don't they don't really have anything really closely tying them to him. So, you know, see what you got, even if you're playing for 2027. See what you got. Is it, you know, is Beck actually something that can be a backup for his career, or is he just kind of a just a guy and he's out of the league in two years? So um, all right, here's the question. Uh we're gonna go position by position. Tell me your favorite at each position uh from the NFC West. Who's the quarterback you take the most from the NFC West?
SPEAKER_04If I can get his health, Stafford.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, he's I I take him a lot, and I take Darnold as a late quarterb quarterback too.
SPEAKER_04I like I do like Purdy a lot. And in the San Francisco offense, I think Purdy is obviously.
SPEAKER_01I do I do too. His price isn't terrible, but he's kind of one of those mid-tier guys that's just like I just don't end up taking quarterbacks at that spot often. So I'm with you there. All right, favorite running back in the division. You talked a lot about CMC already.
SPEAKER_04For the price that I would pay for him, I would say price, Jadarian price. The price is price, yeah. The price is right with price. Yeah, exactly. Like I just CMC is too high for me. Kyron Williams, I worry about Blake Coram a little bit. Yeah, but he would be a close second to me. And then, like I told you, if I'm in dynasty, I mean, give me love because I do think that love is gonna be like the next give beat on type of player, but not this year. But if I'm like contending and need something this year, like you know, and I just need like an RB2, give me price.
SPEAKER_01I uh I'm with you. I it's not CMC for me either. But it just again, it doesn't CMC is not a good option for hero RB this year because you are uh to me, I'm I'm scared away by the health. Like the the risk reward there, can I win without CMC? Yes. Can I, you know, can I lose with CMC? I feel like the the risk for me is just kind of at a point where I wouldn't I wouldn't take that. Um I think the one I ended up with the most is Kyron in this group. Um kind of with you. Like I'm not I don't love I don't love the back end there. Um love is another one that if he fell to the right spot, I'd take him, but I'm not gonna let him get bubbled up in the way that Ashton Genty did last year. All right. Yeah. Favorite wide receiver in this uh in this group. Maybe not favorite. Who's the wide receiver you take the most?
SPEAKER_04I mean, that's hard. Because there are this one had there's definitely a lot of good ones. I mean, I would I would take JSN. Yeah, I think he's the one. I mean, I just love him. I think he's got a really good situation, really good coaching staff. They know how to, I mean, obviously, he won offensive player last year. Um he lost the offensive coordinator. Yeah, but I don't know. Like he still has shown the success, sure. Um, even without him before that last year. Um, so we'll see. Um with Puka, I just I worry, like, not really about the rehab stuff, but like it's more the it is the Stafford thing. Like, I similar to CMC, not not nearly as much, but with Stafford, it feels like at any moment his back's gonna give out, or he might only have two years left and then he's gonna retire. And then I really wonder what's gonna happen to Puka if I'm in dynasty. So I but you know, like I just I love to me it's it's a JSN. Yep.
SPEAKER_01I have come around highly on Mike Evans. Uh, I've taken a lot more Mike Evans than I would have thought at the beginning of the offseason. I probably would have. Um his price, he's probably yeah, that's the most valuable one here. Yeah, it's it's the price, it's the fact that he's coming in to be the guy. Um, Brock Purdy, you mentioned, is a good quarterback. George Kittle's already hurt, CMC's old, and you know, I think the the playing style matches really well. I think Kyle Shannon will figure out how to use him. So I I like Mike Evans quite a bit. Favorite tight end of this group. This is this is super easy for me, but mine's a deep cut for sure. I don't mind going first.
SPEAKER_04So no, I'll go first. Um, so I'm not gonna go with the easy answer in McBride. And um, I feel like you're gonna go with one of the Rams guys, but I'm going to say um, if I can get both of these guys, give me Kittle and Tangis um from San Francisco. Because like Kittle, I think, could be I don't want to, he could be Nest maybe a league winner, I guess, because if he's coming back towards the end of the season, right before playoffs, and he's gonna be like even with Evans there, he'll still be that number one option probably for Purdy. Um, but Tangis was really good last year. Like, so if you can give me Tangis, and he can, if he keeps that up and I can get him for nothing in a draft, and you give me that for you know the first eight, nine, ten games of the season, and then I can throw in Kittle, like I you know, I'm all for it. Like just over the prices, um, the Rams, I I yeah, I'm sure you'll destroy this argument, but I don't know who's gonna catch the ball from a Titans and it's gonna be a different guy every day. Um, and then I don't even know who the Titan is in Seattle at this point.
SPEAKER_01I mean, it's AJ Barner, but Elijah Royo is still there. So uh and and all the the camp reports of Elijah Royo have been really strong. Um uh so yes, you were correct about mine. Who do you think of the three of them it is, though? Three or four, depending on how many you have.
SPEAKER_04Well I will say that I mean I kind of I feel like you're leaning Max Claire. But maybe not. Are you a Parkinson? Are you a Parkinson guy?
SPEAKER_01I'm a I'm a Ferguson guy. I'm a Ferguson believer. I am a big Terrence Ferguson fan. I've tried to get him. I have him on every best ball roster that I've created this year. As well as I own him in, I believe, three of the four leagues we play in together. Well, not three of the four. We one hasn't drafted, but uh of the others. I own him in two right now. Uh, and I'm hopeful to get him in the other one as well. Uh, I tried to trade for him, by the way, in our new IDP league that is tight end premium as a uh as what I would think of as a backup option, at least for right now. And the person I offered a draft pick for him, and the person was like, I am also a believer in Terrence Perkinson. That's not going to happen. So I got shot down really quickly there. But yeah, no, I I think yeah, Colby Parkinson's certainly still there. Uh, they drafted Max Clare, who you mentioned already. Um, Tyler Higbin Higby's still around, Davis Allen's still around. Yeah, yeah, they've got a plenty of guys, but I think watching how they started to use Ferguson at the end of the year, he was running a lot more routes, a lot more downfield routes when he was being targeted. They weren't dink and dunks. He's not a blocker. That's not his tight end background. He can he, sure, but that's not what they're gonna put him out there to do. I think they showed he's also a higher draft pick than Max Clare was this year. So just from a team standpoint, he's the one that they've invested the most in out of all of the guys that are on this roster. I I, you know, he he scored, he he had 11 receptions last year. It wasn't much. Um but 10 of his receptions for 210 yards and all three of his touchdowns he scored last year were week eight on. Um so he was the number 40 overall tight end last year. Am I gonna say he's gonna jump into the top five? Probably not, especially with how many guys that they have there. But you can get him in your last pick, second to last pick, maybe third to last pick. You can get him right at the end of your draft. He's a great stash on your bench. Let him, you know, take another tight end that's gonna be your starter, but stash this guy on the end of your bench to see what he's gonna become. If it's nothing, if they make it clear as day that it's gonna be Parkinson or Claire or Higby or name a guy, you can drop him. You didn't invest anything and and move on. But I think his upside is a top 10 tight end this year for sure. Uh so he is the one that I end up going with the most. Um, so let's tight end. Lastly, who's your favorite IDP in the NFC West? I'm just gonna broaden it out. You you get to what do you mean? You I know yeah, no, you're right. You okay, you go first on this one. I'll go first. So I I mentioned him already. He's one of the ones that technically, I'll say he's not technically in the NFC West yet, but I've picked up Aaron Donald everywhere I can find him. Uh I I just I I think even so let's assume a world where Aaron Donald signs. Because if he doesn't sign, this doesn't matter. You drop him and move on, right? Um, he he's dropped the end-of-year bench guy for for Aaron Donald, who has the Rams sack record and who is a perennial all-pro who probably could go out there and put up all pro numbers on the defensive line. And, you know, while defensive line isn't the most important IDP position, and I get that, having a person like Aaron Donald in that spot is a is a force multiplier to your team, right? Is a major, major change to your team. I also think with the addition of Miles Garrett, offenses are gonna have to figure out what to do with both of them. And if I was an offensive coordinator trying to figure out what to do with these two defensive tackles that I'm guessing are playing together more often than not, I probably have to focus more in on Miles Garrett because he is younger. He just set the sack record last year. He is gonna be the the one A to Aaron Donald's one B, if you want to think of it that way. So I think Aaron Donald is actually gonna get a lot more looks at a lot less uh focus than what he even historically has had as a defensive tackle. Not to mention that the back end uh defense made major upgrades with Trent McDuffie and some of the secondary pieces. So you've got better corners that are covering downfield. That gives Garrett and Donald more time to get to the quarterback. You know, you can pick up Aaron Donald in almost any IDP league right now. If you're drafting still, you can draft him very, very late and get him on your team. And again, if he says tomorrow, hey, look, I'm putting it up, I'm done. You didn't really waste all that much. So he's my favorite IDP in uh in the NFC West right now for fantasy.
SPEAKER_04No, I think that's an interesting pick. I think I would he's I don't know if I would believe that he will actually be fantasy relevant. I think he'll be more relevant, obviously NFL-wise, and for helping the rest of the team. But what I would go with is, I mean, I'll just call out I got two guys that pops in my mind. Is the first one's Fred Warner. Um, he is a top 10 talent. Um you know, it's he's still on the good side of 30 right now. Um, but it's that cliff is coming. So, um, and he's still gonna cost you a little bit. Like he's not gonna be you know as expensive as a Hutchinson or Garrett or even some of the other guys we've talked about in Schweichinger or uh Campbell or Parsons or whatever, most likely. But he's probably gonna be like your ninth, tenth, 11th um IVP player taken off the board um in your draft. And so if you're willing or if you miss out on some of those top guys, I think he's a really, really good guy to have and be your anchor. He's been, except for last year when he was hurt, I mean, he's he's been a just an outstanding uh, you know, and consistent, like pretty much had 120, 130 plus tackles, like almost every season that he's been in the league. Um, and so it's I he is the definition of consistency. And so he's one of my players. But if you want someone who's like a little bit of a deeper cut, who I think would benefit from a guy like Aaron Donald being on the team and will really benefit from them drafting Miles Garrett, is uh on the Rams. It's Nate Landman. Same thing I've talked about before. He's um a linebacker. Linebackers are invaluable. Um, you know, and he's a lot, he's a little bit younger than Fred Warner. I mean, he's in, you know, his he's 27, so kind of mid-late 20s. Um, but he's so he's but he's still definitely got some years left, if you're you know talking dynasty for sure. Um last year he had an outstanding year. I think he was the number 12 linebacker, um, which is pretty crazy. Um, but it was also really his first year that he played all 17 games. Um, he's he played, you know, seven games this rookie year, then 16, then 13, then 17. So the two years that he played, you know, pretty much every game, he's been a top-tier uh IDP player, scored you a ton of points. Um, but right now you're looking at and a 50% shot that he's gonna do that. So um I have no reason to think he wouldn't, but you know, you just never know. But he's but you can also get him. I think I'm looking at him right now, and he went in the 25th round in our draft, um, our IDP league draft. So like it's not like you're having to pay premium prices for him. Like he could legitimately be your LB3, LB4 on your team, giving you numbers if he's healthy, like an LB1. So it's it's I I definitely think he's worth a look um as we kind of get to the you know early 20s in your um draft rounds.
SPEAKER_01That's a good call. Hey, speaking of Aaron Donald, he did log an official tryout for the Rams today. So he has to now pass the physical. He's a step closer to being a Los Angeles Ram. Again.
SPEAKER_03Oh no, he's he's I don't know. You think he can pass that physical?
SPEAKER_01I don't know, man. I'm just saying he's a step closer. He's one of those guys that got more physically fit when he retired. Oh, yeah, for sure. He's so jacked. I just make that to make the point that like the news has always kind of been like, well, maybe, maybe not, maybe, maybe not. Now it's getting much more real. Like, hey, look, he could pass a physical and get a contract from the Rams like within the next week.
SPEAKER_04So he'll sign he'll sign like a week before the regular season starts, so he doesn't really have to do all the training camp stuff.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, probably. I mean, they could build that into the contract too, but whatever. All right. Last question rank the NFC West teams top to bottom. Who are you taking?
SPEAKER_04So this one, this is hard. Just like the NFC South, I think you could almost throw a dart throw, at least for those top, the non-Arizona teams. You could throw a dart throw. I think they any of them, like I said, could win this division and be the Super Bowl favorites, number one overall seed for the NFC. But I'm picking, uh, I'm going to pick the Rams to win, especially if they get Darnold and them drafting Garrett. They're clearly all the way in. I'm trusting Stafford's gonna stay healthy. So I'm picking the Rams to win. And I'm actually gonna go with San Francisco to come in second ahead of Seattle. I got them down in third. I still think they're gonna make the playoffs, but the reigning champs, Super Bowl champs, will be third in their own division, and then Arizona will be, you know, fighting. They'll not be fighting, but they'll be getting what that top three pick in the NFL draft next year. So coming in in fourth.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Uh weirdly enough, we're gonna end this entire series of divisional breakdowns with the exact same ranking because I that is who I was going with. I have the Rams first, the 49ers in second, the Seahawks, and the Cardinals in fourth. You thought I was gonna say the Cardinals were gonna come in first.
SPEAKER_04I think that was probably like a plus 6,000. Um if you were betting that we would have the same one on the last one. Um, no, I expected you to take the Rams. I would not have expected I I guess I would have thought you might have picked Seattle over San Francisco.
SPEAKER_01I I have a lot of question marks with Seattle's offense going into this next year. I know you you kind of downplayed like Clint Kubiak leaving and bringing in the new OC. And you know, I think losing Ken Walker, Zach Charbonnet not being healthy is a blow. Um I think Clint Kubiak is going to be a major change for the passing game for the Seahawks. And they really didn't do, I mean, their defense, they they lost some pieces, maybe not major, major pieces, but they definitely lost some pieces. And so yeah, I'm I'm skeptical about the Seahawks um this year. I I think they are gonna have a much more difficult season ahead.
SPEAKER_02Very possible.
SPEAKER_01It is. Well, we'll see. All right. Well, Matt, we did it. We did it in a reasonable amount of time, I think. So there's that. Um anything else we missed? I I don't think we did. So what's our next episode gonna be here, Matt? Uh next thing we're gonna be talking about is I believe uh team superlatives from our some of our other leagues. Or am I yep, yep.
SPEAKER_04So we so those of us for the the one person who's been live with us since day one. We you know we're so grateful. Thank you. Thank you, Todd. Um, well, actually, maybe two, Todd and Robert's mom. We are so grateful. No, that's my wife's still here.
SPEAKER_01She listens.
SPEAKER_04She hate listens, I think.
unknownYeah, she does.
SPEAKER_04Uh, but we um we will kind of start back um into our more regular tickets of trying to get it out. We'll be you know scheduling it once a week. Gets our preseason kind of stuff here of the month leading up into the season, where yeah, we'll do superlatives, we'll do we do have a uh we're in more leagues this year together. And so we actually did one league where we both kind of hopped into a league with people that we don't know, but we took over a few orphans, and so we'll kind of orphan teams, and so we'll kind of talk about that, um, what that experience was like, and just kind of going through that draft because there was an um orphan draft that came with that, um, and just kind of jumping into that. Like you mentioned, the superlatives will be coming up, and then we've got uh we still have our keeper league draft that we'll do. Um, we'll kind of review that, and then we'll get kind of our preseason prepping for the for the season and kind of tell you why everyone's gonna lose to us and all of these other leagues, which is just what happens, which is easy to do because they always do it. So yeah, it's very easy when you trade away CD Lamb for a second round pick.
SPEAKER_01Second round. Second round, yeah. When you it's easy to win that drop. Your your idiot friends give you all their picks in a keeper league. They're ridiculous.
SPEAKER_03No, what place did you get in that league again? What place did you come in? Fourth? Yeah. Oh, that's right.
SPEAKER_01Who did you lose to in the in the third place game? Do you want me to say that? You want me to say I lost to you in the third place?
SPEAKER_03You lost to me or other.
SPEAKER_01I got third place. Gloat about your third place finish.
SPEAKER_04No, I'm just saying this year, with the way that your your draft is gonna go, like you better win the league. Like all the pressure's on you this year. It's like you have to win it this time.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I'm I'm so excited. I mean, I've got a spot on my shelf already made for for the trophy and everything. It's coming back. It's coming back. Three three out of four years. I'll have it sitting right over here on my mantle next to me. Three for four. Four more years. No. All right.
SPEAKER_02I think that about does it.
SPEAKER_01Uh, you're the one that started it with the whole fourth place, third place thing. All right, I'm gonna stop us because I'm the bigger man, Matt. For Matt, for Matt, I'm Robert. We're signing out saying talk to y'all again later.
SPEAKER_02Don't go again, don't we?