0:01

Hey! It's

0:07

the Harris Football Podcast with

0:09

your host, Christopher Harris.

0:13

Welcome! Hey

0:16

everybody, welcome in! My name is Chris

0:18

and now I'm going to say some stuff into a

0:20

metal stick. And that stick

0:22

is then going to put those words all

0:24

over your person. Hello there, everyone. Thank you

0:26

for listening. Happy New Year. It is

0:29

2024 and the fantasy football

0:31

season is over for 2023. Did you win? I

0:35

sure hope you won. But you know, even if

0:37

you didn't, I hope you had fun. I

0:39

sort of forget and every year I'm reminded it's

0:42

all well and good to tell ourselves, ah, you

0:44

know, just fantasy football. It is

0:46

kind of silly. It's probably not worth

0:48

getting that worked up about. But then

0:50

the games start on Sunday and suddenly

0:52

you realize, well, you know, I

0:54

got this far. Maybe I should just go ahead and

0:57

win the thing. And then suddenly I find myself shouting

0:59

for some third string quarterback, throw it to

1:02

that guy, not this guy. And

1:04

it's all pretty dumb, but it's also

1:06

really fun. You win some, you lose

1:08

some. It's frustrating when

1:11

reality won't bend to our

1:13

individual will. But

1:15

it is, as I like to say,

1:17

a good lesson about life, which incredibly

1:20

does not exist strictly to indulge my

1:22

whims. I don't know who

1:24

agreed to this. We

1:27

do our best to see the

1:29

future. Sometimes it just doesn't work out,

1:31

especially in a one week sample size. And

1:34

you're allowed to be ticked off if

1:36

and when that happens, but only for

1:38

a little while. I won a

1:40

few finals. I think I think I lost one final.

1:44

The thing is, you know, I have to do a

1:46

lot of leagues. It's not quite 20 leagues, but it's

1:49

close. Most of them are expert

1:51

leagues where you get asked to a draft.

1:53

You just say yes. And then there's never

1:55

any trades. And, you know, it's

1:57

just all you're really trying to do is keep your head

1:59

up. your lineups current, like the

2:02

number of leagues I actively

2:04

care about and try to

2:06

do trades and you know,

2:09

it's like four or five, you

2:11

know. And yeah, I won a couple of

2:13

those and I lost the final in one of those. And what can

2:15

you do, especially in the one week

2:17

sample size, it's really no longer about your skill.

2:20

Now it's just about whether the right dude fell

2:22

into the end zone at the right time. We

2:25

like to say the true measure of being good at

2:27

fantasy is, do you make the playoffs every year? And

2:30

then after that, it's much more luck than anything

2:32

else. Now the league I'm

2:34

in that I run that you know the

2:36

most about, which of course is La Liga

2:39

Lebowski, I did win

2:41

that one again. The dynasty

2:44

continues. I squeaked into a first

2:46

round by when Cousin Josh lost

2:48

his final regular season game. Then

2:50

in the semifinals, I faced Cousin Josh, which

2:52

you heard us talk about last

2:55

Friday, where I took George

2:57

Pickens right in the face a week ago

2:59

Saturday and somehow cobbled together a five

3:01

point win. And then this

3:03

weekend in the finals against Nate Nyberg, who

3:06

had upset Andy Behrens in the other semi,

3:08

it was the ugliest final

3:10

I could ever really remember. Lamar

3:12

Jackson's five touchdown passes against the Dolphins

3:14

saved my bacon. No player

3:17

on either one of our teams actually

3:19

scored a touchdown. Not

3:21

a single touchdown. We start nine players

3:23

per side, a display of

3:25

ineptitude, the likes of which we'll probably never

3:27

see again. You might remember me

3:29

talking about this team in the preseason. This was

3:32

the super team. I traded a

3:34

first round rookie pick in 2024 for Lamar.

3:39

I basically mid season traded like eight

3:41

years of Pat Fermuth to rent TJ

3:44

Hockinson for half a season. This

3:46

is the team that had Christian McCaffrey and

3:48

Saquon Barkley, Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase. And

3:51

by God, literally everyone not named

3:53

Lamar Jackson got hurt this year.

3:56

It was a joyless slog of

3:58

a season waiting and waiting. for

4:00

this guy and that guy to finally get

4:02

back from injury. I never had the full

4:04

team. Even McCaffrey who was so great Sunday

4:06

against Washington, he gets stuffed three separate times

4:08

inside the five and then leaves in the

4:11

second half with a calf injury. They wound

4:13

up winning me a title. It was lucky.

4:15

I can't say I enjoyed it. Cannot.

4:18

But there you have it. That's three

4:20

in a row in original recipe La

4:23

Liga with an asterisk last year because

4:26

Andy and I decided to split the title because

4:28

of DeMar Hamlin. But you know, I'll count it.

4:31

Andy gets a title last year too. But I'll

4:33

count it for myself. That's three in a row.

4:35

Four out of five. I guess that's

4:37

why they call it Dynasty. And you know, I know

4:39

a lot of you out there

4:42

play in La Liga clone leagues.

4:44

There are hundreds, I would guess

4:46

probably thousands of La Liga clone

4:48

leagues. I totally recommend it. It's

4:51

the best format around. I love it. And

4:53

if you want to start a new Dynasty

4:55

league this winter with friends, I say pick

4:57

La Liga. Follow at La Liga Lebowski on

4:59

Twitter. That's Colin. He runs that account and

5:01

he'll answer your questions. Our pages are all

5:03

public. You can read about the rules. It

5:05

is very involved, but it is very fun.

5:08

So fantasy is over for 2023. And for this show, you

5:13

know, the I don't do the typical film review

5:15

of every game for week 17, but

5:17

we can talk a little about the heroes and

5:20

also the non heroes who defined the

5:22

weekend. Lamar Jackson does wind up as

5:24

the MVP of finals weekend in general.

5:27

I think even in like half PPR

5:29

leagues, he scored the most fantasy points

5:31

among any player at any position, which

5:34

kind of rhymes nicely with his second NFL

5:36

MVP award, which is certainly now coming. I

5:38

think I had that with Jamie Eisenberg on

5:40

the show second week in December. I believe I said

5:42

that Jordan Love wound up

5:45

a great December, helping

5:47

a lot of teams to titles. Kyler Murray,

5:49

Justin Fields in that bears win over the

5:51

Cardinals both played well, not

5:54

so much for Jared Goff Saturday night against

5:56

the Cowboys. Not so much for Patrick Mahomes.

5:58

Like I don't know I'm sure there

6:00

are fantasy squads out there who

6:03

managed to win titles with Mahomes

6:05

as their QB, but you sure

6:07

needed to nail some other picks

6:09

if you took Mahomes early second.

6:11

Because that's where he went, mostly

6:14

because he was pretty average all

6:16

through December and pretty average most

6:18

of the season. The

6:20

stud running backs in week 17, most

6:23

of them were disappointing. McCaffrey had

6:25

his worst game at the worst time.

6:27

Derek Henry 12 for

6:29

42 in his second stinker against the

6:32

Texans, the team that he usually owns

6:34

in the past three weeks. Jameer

6:36

Gibbs, awful. One catch for zero

6:38

yards. DeAndre Swift, Saquon Barkley, Alvin

6:41

Kamara leaves in the second half

6:43

with a bad ankle. Rashad

6:45

White had his touchdown streak

6:47

stopped. James Cook, 16 carries,

6:51

great. 48 yards, not

6:53

great. One catch, minus four yards.

6:55

Tony Pollard, Raheem Mostert at least

6:57

had the good sense and courtesy

6:59

just to be inactive, right?

7:02

You know what I always say. This

7:04

means zero RB. Do not draft

7:07

running backs in the first round. They

7:09

will only disappoint you in the fantasy

7:11

finals. I'm just kidding.

7:13

You know that I do not say that at

7:16

all, but it was an ugly confluence for

7:18

the final week of the season. Who

7:20

was good? typewriter feat Isaiah Pacheco. He

7:22

was great. Kyron Williams, I had him

7:25

rated RB two for the week. He

7:27

finished RB two for the week behind

7:29

Pacheco. Kyron Williams is

7:31

going to make one of the most

7:33

interesting test cases to ponder for Because

7:37

I don't think too many people are operating

7:39

under the assumption that Kyron Williams is a

7:41

great player, but he just found himself behind

7:44

an offensive line that suddenly got awesome

7:47

and with a coach who clearly trusted

7:49

him. So I don't know. We'll have

7:51

to see maybe his maybe love some value of people don't

7:53

believe him in him at all.

7:56

Breece Hall. Very, very good.

7:58

James Connor. Very, very good. good

8:00

Travis Etienne jumps

8:02

up and wins a couple of fantasy championships he

8:04

won one for me he

8:07

had two touchdowns over a hundred yards rushing

8:09

Najee Harris got a couple touchdowns Kooliell

8:12

Herbert I got some messages from some of

8:14

you thanks for Kooliell Herbert he dominated

8:16

my semis in my finals I mean I had to use

8:18

him in the league that I had Etienne and I had

8:20

Etienne and Herbert as my backfield I won I

8:23

didn't really have anyone else and he finally paid off

8:26

we got to see him do what we thought he was gonna do

8:28

all year at receiver CD lamb

8:31

gotta be one of the fantasy MVPs of the season

8:33

the way he ended the year 227 yards

8:37

and a touchdown against the Lions what

8:39

a run to finish 2023 Devontae Adams

8:42

horrible for most of the season

8:44

went crazy in the final DJ

8:46

Moore the little badass Brandon Ayuk

8:49

a great flag player to the end that

8:52

was actually kind of it for elite

8:54

performances from the regular guys in week

8:56

17 and meanwhile you know Mike Evans

8:59

will take 70 yards but it was

9:01

three catches Justin Jefferson five for 59

9:04

Jamar chase three for 41 with the

9:06

bad shoulder Stefan digs four for 26

9:09

ending on the head scratching ist

9:11

of runs to ruin a bunch

9:13

of fantasy seasons you know on

9:15

the one hand you had digs

9:17

like oh man you can't possibly

9:19

keep putting digs in a lineup

9:21

you gotta avoid him for the fantasy

9:23

finals he's been so ice cold but

9:26

on the other hand you had Devontae Adams and

9:28

he had just been exactly as rough

9:30

and he goes crazy in week 17 which

9:33

I think you mostly play your studs Chris

9:36

Olave invisible in a game where the Saints

9:38

kind of just didn't need him as things

9:40

went along AJ Brown four for

9:42

53 while the Eagles score

9:44

31 points and lose but

9:47

I mean this is how it is this it's one week much

9:50

more a roll of the dice then

9:52

a full season I did get the

9:55

La Liga crown again the super

9:58

team wins despite just me making

10:00

me sick. I did not

10:02

like that team every single week. I'm sure

10:04

we'll talk about that with Cousin Josh when

10:06

we do the Huggy and Baggy Awards on

10:09

Friday's podcast. I hope you had some fun

10:11

if you made some fantasy finals. I hope

10:13

you won. And even if you didn't, you

10:15

know, how do we

10:18

deal with it when the world reveals how

10:20

little control we actually have? I guess this

10:22

is just a very small example of

10:25

that universal condition. Today's

10:27

kickoff. Okay, on the rest of today's

10:29

show, we're going to talk about love.

10:32

We did this on the show last year

10:34

with Chris Rabon from the Action Network at

10:36

this time. It seemed to go over pretty

10:39

well with you, so we're going to do

10:41

it again. It's now a year since DeMar

10:43

Hamlin. You know, we can all

10:45

at least feel good that the fantasy season ended with,

10:48

you know, not a horrible incident, with

10:50

some decisiveness and all

10:53

the games actually got played and they

10:55

counted. So we get closure, which, you

10:57

know, frankly is a relief and a

10:59

much, much better way to end the

11:01

season than 2022. So anyway, in this

11:03

same spirit, Rabon is going to join

11:06

and we're each simply going to

11:08

count down five players whose film

11:10

we enjoy very much. It doesn't

11:13

necessarily mean that we're 100% positive

11:16

they're going to have amazing value for

11:18

fantasy football for next year. Doesn't even mean

11:21

that they're like young. Doesn't even mean they're

11:23

up and coming players. It just means we

11:25

enjoy watching them play. So in that spirit,

11:28

we will present this list to you. I

11:30

think you'll have fun and I thank you

11:32

again so much for listening today. We

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That's nuts.com/ Harris. Today's

12:50

guest. You

12:57

don't answer questions when I ask

12:59

them. This is great. I love

13:02

talking about this

13:05

stuff with you. Oh you didn't say

13:08

that one. I

13:18

know fascist email today. This is an easy

13:20

show to do. It is Chris Rabon from the

13:23

Action Network. You can find him at Chris

13:25

Rabon on Twitter. I

13:28

watch the six pack that he does on

13:30

YouTube on Wednesday afternoons that'll drop and then

13:32

there's a full pod that follows that on

13:34

Thursday. Of course we recommend that you follow

13:37

Chris in the Action Network app because if

13:39

you do that you'll see his picks for

13:41

week 18 and all through the playoffs because

13:43

you still probably will be doing a little

13:45

handicapping yourself. Hello Chris how are you? What's

13:48

going on Chris? Happy New Year. Glad to do this again. I

13:50

was just looking at our our list of guys from last year.

13:53

I think it was a pretty good list so hopefully we keep

13:55

it going. Yeah I mean again

13:57

this is like the anti this is like the

13:59

sweetest email ever. It's like hey Chris just name

14:01

some players It's like there's no

14:03

wrong answers about players that you enjoy cuz

14:05

I can't tell you that you don't enjoy

14:07

them But but we were talking before we

14:10

hit record like Even

14:12

when the mission isn't hey you

14:14

have to pick stars for next year who weren't stars

14:16

this year go like that's not really the Mission the

14:19

mission is more just pick guys

14:21

that you liked watching this year But because

14:23

like you're one of the people whose opinions

14:25

I really respect in the NFL And so

14:27

like if you like a guy that's a

14:29

pretty good indication that he's gonna have a

14:31

pretty good career Which could start as soon

14:33

as next year, so yeah our list lists

14:35

last year. They're pretty sweet Yeah,

14:38

and you know before we hop in

14:40

I just wanted to want to give like five guys

14:42

that missed the cut We're gonna do five guys each

14:45

But I kind of deferred toward younger players Just

14:47

because I personally like watching guys who have less film

14:50

because it's just a little more exciting because you haven't

14:52

seen it But couple five guys that missed the cut

14:54

that I really loved watching this year Justin

14:57

Fields, I mean like it just that

14:59

play last week I think just

15:01

kind of sums it up when he ducked out

15:03

of like three tackles and got the first down

15:05

Brock perdy really like watching him and his growth

15:08

James Connor This dude just seems to never

15:10

put bad tape on on film anymore out

15:12

of like the older he gets which is

15:14

like It's even new Frank or maybe Isaiah

15:17

Pacheco Just angry

15:19

runs energy all the time Like

15:22

even the way he stopped you like stops It looks

15:24

like he's stomping on the ground every time he his

15:26

foot hits the floor But I love it like he

15:28

I just I even love the way he pops up

15:30

after a run And then a

15:32

guy who is a rookie, but just didn't make

15:34

the cut, but I do enjoy watching Jaden

15:37

Reed for the Packers. I just like you know kind of

15:39

watching a guy who he's not you know Deebo Sam or

15:41

anything like that But just kind of watching a guy that

15:44

can can run it a little bit can line up for

15:46

the backfield Wide slot just a lot of different ways and

15:48

and still managed to get open and make plays So those

15:50

are my five guys that just missed the cut.

15:53

Yeah five honorable mentions Let me let me unpack a couple

15:55

of those and ask you a couple questions about those guys

15:57

cuz so

16:00

You know fields it's so funny because like after that

16:02

Viking game that they won right before they're by I

16:04

was done with him He looks so

16:06

bad in that game, and he's just been great since I

16:10

Mean like to some degree.

16:12

I don't care so much what you think will

16:14

happen because we don't know what's gonna happen No,

16:18

but like that's not the question. I want to ask you

16:20

it's the question I want to ask you is what would

16:22

you do? what would you do

16:24

if you knew you had the one and

16:26

this supposedly generational talent is coming a quarterback

16:28

and Frankly, I think you

16:30

probably fire the coach even though they they've been great

16:33

lately But I still don't trust him and I don't

16:35

really just a GM like I wonder

16:37

what you would do Would you would you clean house

16:39

for the for the management of the team? Would you trade

16:41

the one pick because you believe in fields? What do you

16:43

think you'd do? I? Would

16:46

I would hold a yeah,

16:49

I would put the number one on the tray on

16:51

the block. I would see what I could get If

16:54

if I quit the ideal for me would probably be

16:56

go getting a guy like Marvin Harrison jr Paramount

16:59

fields and roll that way and maybe

17:01

draft a developmental guy

17:04

or bringing a veteran Little

17:06

bit later or just you know how some of these

17:08

teams now do with the when they have a mobile

17:10

quarterback They go out and get a veteran like a

17:12

nut like a tie-rod Taylor to back like something like that

17:14

Like I might get like a quarterback that could run the

17:16

offense if he went down, but I

17:19

personally seen enough I think he gives you enough upside

17:22

To to shop that pick in and I mean

17:24

you know Maybe you don't like the offers and

17:26

maybe you do stay on the board and just

17:28

draft You know a quarterback there, but

17:30

I would at least put it on the block

17:32

I think fields that show me enough that I

17:34

can build around it, but I agree I would

17:36

I would find the coaches to Yeah,

17:39

yeah, I think everyone needs to go they probably won't though if

17:41

they win the last game. They probably won't but I Think

17:44

I'd trade him If

17:48

the Offers are gonna be great because someone's

17:50

gonna pay a Kings rent they pay the Kings rents

17:52

for Bryce young They're gonna pay a Kings ransom or

17:54

killed Caleb Williams So I think if you shop it

17:56

that means you're and like I believe in

17:58

feel if the Patriots got fields I'd be so

18:00

happy. I'd be so happy, thrilled.

18:02

But I do

18:04

think, okay, I mean, it's three years in,

18:08

and he's still showing flashes, and

18:10

yeah, guys develop late, and he's not doing

18:12

it in a situation where he has to

18:14

win, and if I'm the Bears and

18:16

I have this chance for like a total reset, I

18:18

probably do it. But this

18:20

has given me way more applause than I ever thought I was going to get. I

18:23

want to ask you, I mean, I say a

18:25

Pacheco, it's awesome you say that because we call

18:27

him typewriter feet around here. That's his nickname on

18:29

the show. James Connor couldn't agree more. I almost

18:31

put him on this list, almost on my

18:34

version. Couldn't agree more, looks fantastic. I think

18:36

Arizona has built kind of a surprisingly good,

18:38

young offensive line. Like, that's

18:41

probably part of why he looks pretty good. And

18:43

then lastly, it wasn't this show last year, but

18:45

it was one of the last shows you did

18:47

in December, where you came on

18:49

and talked about Purdy, and you were like, I've already

18:52

given you props, but I want to give you props

18:54

again. Because you were like, alright, so next year, he's

18:56

clearly started. And I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold

18:58

on, isn't Trey Lance the starter once he's healthy? And

19:00

you're like, dude, I've seen enough, you know, like, I

19:03

totally believe in this guy. And I have to admit,

19:05

game by game last year, I kind of didn't,

19:07

I kind of still had in my head, game

19:09

manager in, that's what I was thinking. And

19:12

then I did the big film review that everybody

19:14

knows about I did this summer. And I sort

19:16

of had my come to Jesus moment where I

19:19

was like, this guy's in the game manager at

19:21

all. In fact, if anything, he's crazy. He, he

19:23

takes too many chances. And I mean, you saw

19:25

that a couple of times rear tail

19:27

against the Ravens, like, yeah, he took too many chances.

19:29

But like, that's an I think that's a better problem

19:32

to have to rein that kind of player in rather

19:34

than have to force him to be aggressive. Yeah,

19:36

I think the thing that fooled a lot

19:39

of people is he has a game

19:41

manager trait. And that trait is he knows

19:43

where everyone is on the field at all

19:45

times. I mean, every quarterback does, but I

19:47

just feel like Brock Purdy, like, he

19:50

always like when he scrambles and runs around

19:52

and throws back across his body, it's because

19:54

he knows where somebody supposed to be before

19:56

it even starts that like, going back across

19:58

like he's not just like, oh, I'm

20:00

scrambling, like maybe like a fields would have done,

20:03

you know, earlier in his career, just I'm scrambling

20:05

around and then I'm going to look up and

20:07

oh, a guy's there. I'll throw it. Like it's

20:09

like Brock Purdy is scrambling and then scrambling back

20:11

across and doing all that crazy stuff because he

20:13

knows where everybody is. But in terms of like

20:15

arm, arm strength accuracy and throwing with anticipation, which

20:17

I think separates quarterbacks. He's he could

20:20

do all that too, but it's just got something

20:22

you have to watch. So why don't you I

20:24

I kind of agree that people shouldn't

20:26

have been, you know, after one or 200 dropbacks, they

20:28

shouldn't have been completely sold on

20:30

him either because you need more than that. But yeah, it's

20:33

been a joy to kind of watch him because I think

20:35

he's been growing even as the year

20:37

has progressed. Like I think week, you know, the playoff

20:39

brought pretty will be better than week one by pretty

20:41

too. So yeah, he's been he's been fun to watch.

20:44

Yeah, he has. And it's honestly, this is nine years of

20:46

the show. It's one of the best calls you've ever had

20:48

on the show was what you said about pretty last year.

20:50

So do props to you. So

20:52

we're gonna do it. We got our main lists

20:54

here. We're gonna count them down to pointless countdown

20:56

doesn't matter. But we'll say yeah, five through one

20:58

very important. So player you love to watch on

21:00

film number five. Chase

21:02

Brown running back for the Bengals rookie and

21:05

I just a few guys on here are

21:07

going to kind of be kind of similar

21:09

in terms of the way they play. But

21:11

I just love watching the speed. I just

21:13

love watching the because you know, we've seen

21:15

mixing get so many carries behind this same

21:18

offensive line for so long. And

21:20

he's been kind of the only guy they really haven't,

21:22

you know, p-ride, I guess, had his little spurts, but

21:24

he's a different kind of guy. But I just enjoyed

21:26

seeing, okay, well, you know, it really wasn't working with

21:28

mixing for a lot of the year. And then this

21:31

guy come in, and it looks

21:33

completely different. And you know, he's he's

21:35

woken up the screen game. You know,

21:37

he can break tackles, but and he's

21:40

kind of like he's kind of like,

21:42

he's not too big. So he kind of

21:44

sometimes disappears in the line just spurts out and

21:46

like, Oh, this like look at him. And so

21:49

I just like watching him play. I'm excited to

21:51

see, you know, with a healthy Joe burrow. I

21:53

don't think the bankers have had that this

21:56

kind of running back. They, you know, they I guess they

21:58

tried to make it work with Chris Evans and You'd

22:00

be like you'd get like one snap a

22:03

game. It never really worked But I'm excited

22:05

to see like this kind of more explosive

22:07

agile shift here Back work

22:09

in this Bengal offense It's

22:11

a great a great pick and it dovetails

22:14

perfectly into my five because it's not maybe

22:16

he's on your list But it's another smaller

22:18

speed back rookie Taiji Spears is

22:20

number five of mine. Did he make your list? No,

22:23

he did it But he was he was like an honorable

22:25

honorable mention cuz I only wanted to do five honorable mentions

22:27

But if there was like another five of yeah, he would

22:29

have been Interested

22:31

to hear what you guys say about him. Yeah. Yeah. I

22:34

mean I agree with you on Chase

22:36

Brown I'm not sure he's a feature back in the

22:38

league, but I also don't know that the league needs

22:40

feature backs anymore, you know like These

22:43

these guys were shorter HN is similar kind

22:45

of player easy even littler but like these

22:47

little dudes there are some coach

22:49

coaches that seem to be coming around to the idea that

22:52

Just because my guy doesn't have it in him to carry

22:55

it 300 plus times doesn't mean he can't

22:57

be a significant part of the offense and Especially

23:00

for fantasy as we go forward when there

23:02

are fewer and fewer pure alphabets so we

23:04

can rely on We're gonna have

23:06

to hope that we get the guy who's like

23:08

the the 1a who is the big play guy

23:10

who? Yeah, there might be some weeks where

23:12

it might be a little bit down. I'm not sure Taiji Spears

23:14

ever Wends up being like

23:16

the pure like I

23:19

can trust him every single week. He's probably gonna be paired

23:21

with it Maybe not Derek Henry, but somebody else For

23:24

on a regular basis, but like I don't

23:27

know Brown and Spears strike

23:29

me as very similar sized players

23:31

and very similar speed players I

23:33

guess I saw more like awesome

23:35

change of direction and acceleration on some of those mid-season

23:38

run from Spears he calmed down a little bit toward

23:40

the end of the year, but You

23:43

know the the I always had it in him

23:45

in my head that I liked him cuz Matt Waldman was

23:47

so high on him and Thought it was weird how far

23:49

he fell and he should have been a higher draft pick

23:51

He might have been his RB 3 in this past draft.

23:54

And so I was ready to like him and

23:56

I sure did Yeah, and I agree

24:00

So two things. First of all, yeah, I agree

24:02

on Spears. I think he looked great. And the

24:04

other thing is, I don't think we

24:07

should kind of write off any back

24:09

as a non-feature back in this day

24:11

and age, because I think you kind of hit on it.

24:15

First of all, the league is

24:17

just going to more passing, right? So you're

24:19

running the ball maybe with a running

24:21

back maybe 20 times

24:23

a game on average, or median, or whatever.

24:25

So these

24:28

guys can handle. For example, Chase Brown carried

24:30

the ball 41 times

24:32

in a game, 36 times in a game, 33, 33, 30. He

24:36

had about seven or eight games in college where he carried over

24:38

30 times. They were saying this about

24:40

Christian McCaffrey, too. I think just we have

24:42

kind of this archetype in our heads now

24:44

of, OK, if a guy is speedy, or

24:46

shifty, or small, or maybe a good receiver,

24:49

he's not a featured back. But I

24:51

think in this day and age in the NFL, most

24:54

backs aren't touching the ball even

24:56

20 times in a game. So I

24:58

think all these guys, if you're good, it used

25:01

to be a lot more about volume. And

25:03

it still is to an extent. But really

25:05

now, if you're good, you're going to get

25:07

on the field, and you're going to play.

25:09

And I don't think coaches are really differentiating

25:11

between 10 touches and 15 touches. I

25:14

think it's more just about pass protection. That

25:16

ultimately decides if you're going to be a

25:18

featured back or not. If you could pass

25:20

protect, and they don't have to worry about

25:22

taking you off the field and getting the

25:24

quarterback lit up, then you

25:26

could play every step in certain games. So that's kind

25:28

of what I think about a lot of these guys.

25:31

Like, I don't want people to kind of get

25:33

in their heads that they'll never be it, because

25:35

I think they'll all get a chance because they're

25:37

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27:04

we're back with Chris and we are talking about

27:06

our players that coming out of this 2023

27:09

season that we just have enjoyed watching. Chris

27:12

who's number four on this pointless countdown that doesn't really

27:14

matter. He's number four but you like him. Yep

27:16

and hopefully he comes back just

27:19

as strong but Keaton Mitchell running back

27:21

for the Ravens. Another guy who I

27:23

think very similar to Brown. He only

27:26

saw flashes of him this

27:28

year but I found it like every

27:30

game I think he had, I think I watched

27:32

a dozen games of him where he had an

27:34

actual carry and every single one of those games

27:37

he had at least one run of 15 or

27:39

more yards like this guy and part

27:41

of it, you know the Ravens offensive line

27:43

is good but another

27:45

guy who I just enjoyed watching not only

27:48

because I think he's fast and shifty and

27:50

you know could just break into open space

27:52

quite easily compared to most backs but the

27:54

Ravens really haven't had a guy like that

27:57

in a while you know they've had Gus Edwards

27:59

and Dobbins. I don't like there those guys are

28:01

a little bit a little bit You know we think

28:03

of more like two down ish backs with them and

28:05

then just as hill you think of more like a

28:08

satellite Only whereas Mitchell, you know, he

28:10

would take inside handoffs. You make a guy miss

28:12

break it to the outside He

28:14

could another guy who's very active in the

28:16

screen game and you know, he just had

28:18

speed to separate You know once he got

28:20

into open field guys weren't really running

28:22

him down So I'm excited to see you

28:24

know How he looks, you know in the

28:27

Raven offense over a full year because I

28:29

mean you pair him with a guy like

28:31

Lamar Jackson And you're playing this guy, you

28:33

know, 60 70 percent of the snaps

28:35

I mean, yeah, it's just this just

28:37

adds another weapon to that offense

28:39

So love Mitchell and excited to see what

28:41

he could do in that offense with the

28:43

more work, too Yeah, I

28:45

mean we were we're definitely circling around a type

28:48

here and HN belong on the list to chase

28:50

Brown and can't Mitchell and You

28:52

said it exactly the way I feel about it. Like I don't

28:55

want Kate Mitchell in there for a hundred percent of

28:57

the snaps I don't really want any smaller running back

28:59

in there for that many snaps. It's not 2007

29:02

anymore, you know, it's this is not the world we live in

29:05

Give me often Eckler was overused frankly I think

29:07

and maybe some of the some of his Diminishing

29:09

effective has to do with being asked to do

29:12

too much like what I want

29:14

is the dude who couldn't be in there 60%

29:16

50 even 50 to 60 percent great But

29:19

like when he's in there, we

29:21

got a bunch of plays that work for him

29:24

because his speed is ridiculous You know and Kate

29:26

Mitchell speed is ridiculous. It just is obvious. He's

29:28

faster than everybody else in the field. So Like

29:31

there's gonna be the eternal tiny bones question We make

29:33

fun of like McCaffrey really is the plus McCaffrey's not

29:35

200 pounds anymore. We all know it You know, he

29:38

got on the he got on the NFL on

29:40

the on the supplement train in the NFL You

29:43

know and and isn't isn't that size anymore? But

29:45

like he's a shorter guy and he's also the exception that

29:47

sort of proves the rule and he did

29:49

get hurt finally at The end of the year and he's been hurt

29:51

most of his he's you know, like I don't want Keaton Mitchell I

29:54

mean he already broke down HN already broke

29:56

down like I don't want them handling full

29:59

loads and they can be awesome. Like they

30:01

can, especially compared to other running backs

30:03

in this, in this current environment,

30:05

you just aren't getting other players that are getting

30:07

300 carries, it just doesn't exist. Yeah.

30:10

And well, the one thing I'll say to though, is, and

30:12

you know, you kind of pointed out with McCaffrey, the

30:15

reason I like pointing out some of these young guys

30:17

that already look good, and already have, you know, kind

30:19

of shown flashes is because I think

30:22

that, you know, between that first and second

30:24

year, and sometimes we've seen that second and third, these

30:27

guys' bodies can change. Like, often that career wasn't

30:29

always the strongest man in, like, he

30:31

wasn't always doing one handed pull ups or whatever it

30:33

was that he was doing. I feel like, you know,

30:35

as he got to the league, he got stronger and

30:37

stronger. So, you know, that's something I don't discount either,

30:39

like, sometimes, like, not everyone can do it right, you

30:41

know, sometimes you see receivers put on a little too

30:43

much weight or, or whatnot, and it

30:45

kind of slows them down. But that's the other thing

30:47

with a running back, you can kind of put on

30:49

a few pounds, you know, kind

30:51

of upstairs, you know, upper body even, to kind

30:54

of, you know, fill yourself out and take some more

30:56

hits. So that's another thing that I

30:58

think, you know, don't underestimate either

31:00

is that these guys, this is

31:03

just, guys, you talked about

31:05

anyway so far, these are just their rookie year bodies

31:07

and they, a lot of guys will tell you, like,

31:09

I didn't, I didn't know how the NFL worked rookie

31:11

year, I was still eating fries and burgers and, or

31:13

I wasn't eating enough or, you know, I was just

31:15

drinking juice instead to get my calories or whatever, you

31:17

know, so, like, don't underestimate that either, especially because I

31:20

think, you know, Bengals,

31:24

tight, like, a lot of these teams that we've

31:26

talked about with these backs are pretty well-run teams,

31:28

all things considered, so, you know, I'm sure they

31:30

can, you know, give these guys any pointers they

31:32

need to kind of maximize their body. So that's

31:34

another thing to kind of look out for. Bengals

31:38

well-run, huh? I mean, nowadays, I would say, I

31:40

mean, you heard yourself say it. You heard, you

31:42

heard it now, but nowadays I would say they

31:44

are. I mean, I like, I like their, I

31:46

mean, even Zach Taylor, but I mean, you know,

31:49

Anna Rumo and just the way, you know, I

31:51

mean, the, the, the drafting I think has been

31:53

pretty solid, so yeah, I think they are. Alright,

31:55

my number four, another rookie, he's a receiver though,

31:58

Marvin Mims. I enjoyed the, the... the

32:00

flashes that i got a marvin mims it was a

32:02

bummer he had the opportunity week seventeen uh...

32:04

with a lot of guys hurt and couldn't go but

32:07

uh... i remember week sixteen in the comeback

32:09

effort against the patriots that layout catch down

32:11

the field wilson sort of scrambled right in

32:14

lost it up there and mims absolutely laid

32:16

out horse on the ground made a great

32:18

catch uh... it was frustrating all year

32:20

that they'd never really unlocked him as a receiver and

32:22

when they did it was much more kind of the

32:25

short stuff in kind of it was like josh downes

32:28

type stuff josh downes when don't love on film

32:30

uh... but like that it was more like

32:32

hey man i think this guy's faster you know i

32:34

want to know the field in the kind of didn't

32:36

they wanted to just like here's the ball five yards

32:38

away but now start running which i think that will

32:40

change with mims but his speed is in the uh...

32:42

boy there's a common factor with our first four picks

32:44

here at speed uh... jerry judy did

32:47

have his fifty-year option picked up uh... in

32:49

back in august which i think

32:51

if the broncos could do it again i don't

32:53

think they'd do it but uh... he's going to

32:55

be there so maybe it's gonna be hard sailing

32:57

for mims to be like a uh... star starter

33:00

right away i just enjoyed watching them yeah

33:02

i i found it kind of curious that

33:04

he wasn't uh... featured more in the office

33:06

i mean you had got it wasn't just

33:08

you know okay something in judy fine but

33:10

uh... you got a brandon johnson little jordan

33:12

humphrey get more snaps than mims a lot

33:14

of you so i wonder what what what

33:17

what would be not doing in practice or or

33:19

was it more to do with wilson's limitations on

33:22

you and think so that you think mims would

33:25

that would work more with wilson but uh... also

33:27

i love them watching them on the uh... in

33:29

a return game i thought that's where he

33:31

didn't make a a big impact he was able

33:33

out to i guess you can say make a

33:36

big impact this year but yet got a lot

33:38

of basketball teams uh... you know kind of one

33:40

of the last six just uh... you knew he

33:42

was going to get some long touchdown didn't expect

33:44

them to be like mostly returns but uh... yeah

33:46

uh... enjoy watching them as well who's

33:48

our who's number three on your list are

33:50

you mentioned uh... devon h and i thought the last

33:52

running back but i i think that they're all the

33:55

other i think that you know there's a lot of

33:57

our team this year uh... you know this

33:59

kind of There's been a lot

34:01

of rookie backs who I thought looked good. A-chan,

34:03

I mean, the fact that he's number three just

34:05

shows you, I guess we'll see in a

34:07

minute, but he just looked

34:09

great this year. I love the timing

34:11

of his cuts. I

34:14

feel like the only

34:17

guy I've seen in the recent past with

34:20

that kind of timing has been Lamar Jackson, like

34:22

that run against the, the Lamar

34:24

run against the Bengals where it's

34:26

like, oh, he just like, I forget the call, but

34:28

he like, when he spun and made it like a

34:30

couple of guys miss and he just ran all the

34:32

way for a touchdown. Like I've seen flashes of that

34:34

with A-chan. It's like he can, he's another one of

34:36

these guys. He can start a run inside, make a

34:39

few cuts and he just has like good vision to

34:41

get to, to get to

34:43

a place where it's just him versus another

34:45

defender or two in a foot race. So I

34:47

like his vision. I like

34:49

the timing of his cuts. He just seems

34:51

like he's always a half step ahead of

34:53

everyone, not just because of his speed, but just

34:56

because of his kind of anticipation with

34:58

his runs. 4-3-2 doesn't hurt. Right,

35:02

yeah, doesn't hurt at all. That's why it's so

35:04

important for him to be like, because he's not

35:06

just a, you know, he, he got another guy

35:08

who, yeah, I mean, he did get some injuries,

35:10

but if you want to hand him the ball

35:12

20 times, I mean, he'll get you a lot

35:14

of yards, so. I mean, then he'll

35:17

die, but I mean, you know, we're

35:19

talking about players that you enjoy watching. Yeah. And

35:22

how could these three guys are all super, super

35:24

fun, home run hitters, absolute home run hitters. We're

35:27

going to continue on the rookie train, 6-6 on

35:29

rookies. And I think I have

35:31

4-5 rookies on this list, I'm now realizing.

35:33

I put Zae Flowers, he was my favorite

35:35

first round rookie receiver from the group. I

35:37

said it right away. I don't

35:39

know anything. I don't do the draft. I talk to

35:41

people who know the draft. I trust their opinions and

35:44

then they get in the league and then I start

35:46

paying attention to them. And right away, back in September,

35:48

I was telling folks on the show that I liked Zae

35:50

Flowers a lot more than the other guys. And

35:54

the production really didn't show until the

35:56

very end, but these last couple of

35:58

games, it's obvious that he's... different

36:00

kind of cat. There were some

36:02

Tyreke Hill comparisons to him back

36:05

in you know the summer and and

36:07

you know they're always overstated because people get

36:09

ahead of themselves but I see

36:11

what they mean. He is that kind of player. He's

36:14

super super dangerous and the play against

36:16

the Dolphins on Sunday where he was

36:18

streaking down the right sideline, throw up

36:20

his hand, understood what the

36:22

coverage was and understood the safety wasn't gonna come

36:25

his way. There were two team safeties but the

36:27

other safety kind of bit on something short, threw

36:29

up his hand, boom, Lamar. It helps that

36:31

you have Lamar who's playing unbelievable but I

36:33

think Zane Flowers is a superstar waiting to

36:35

happen. Oh yeah he's another

36:38

one and you could hand him the ball

36:40

too. In space he's ridiculous. He can he

36:42

can use that speed and shiftiness to get

36:44

open and yeah he's got a

36:46

great quarterback to kind of get in the ball

36:48

and those scramble drills I think you know are

36:51

gonna be something because you mentioned like he kind

36:53

of understands seems like he understands coverage already and

36:55

things like that so yeah it's he's he's

36:57

gonna be I mean he's already a star

36:59

but yeah he's gonna be a superstar. Alright

37:02

we're up to your number

37:05

two. Speaking of guys who I mean

37:07

already stars that are gonna be superstars. CJ Stroud

37:09

is my number two and I think it's the

37:12

first quarterback we've had on a list. I

37:14

don't know if we had one last year but just

37:17

CJ Stroud I mean the

37:20

arm strength, the anticipation and

37:22

you know we've kind of had like

37:25

we've been spoiled the guys like Mahoney and Lamar

37:27

and you know some of these weird arm angles

37:29

but the thing I love about Stroud is he

37:31

doesn't have to do it he's just so strong

37:34

and he's so good with anticipation that a

37:36

lot of times he doesn't even have to

37:38

get cute it's just like he just drops

37:40

back finds a spot where he can plant

37:42

his feet and just lets

37:45

it go and he's pinpoint he's clutch

37:47

I mean we've seen the comebacks you

37:50

know he can he's one of those

37:52

few quarterbacks that can actually drop back

37:54

like really far and still create

37:57

a positive play out of it you know without you know

37:59

just straight like scramble or something like that

38:01

because most quarterbacks you start dropping back it's just

38:03

bad things are gonna happen everything

38:06

is just smooth and again

38:08

the anticipation combined with the arm strength

38:10

I mean throws get to receivers you

38:13

know way before they do with

38:15

pretty much every other quarterback in the league so I

38:18

guess there's anyone that's gonna get even close to

38:20

my home's level I think in the league right

38:22

now I think it's I think it's actually shroud

38:24

I just think I just loved what I saw

38:26

out of him and with a you know not

38:29

even like the most amazing supporting cast or

38:32

anything like that yeah

38:34

you know you could see the Texans realized what

38:36

they had right around like mid-october because they were

38:38

really conservative even when when Stroud was putting up

38:41

big like tankdale would make 190 yard play it

38:43

would make the numbers look good and people would

38:45

be like oh CJ Stroud is the QB four

38:47

and I'd be like yeah but he's thrown

38:49

it 18 he's got 18 completions in the game

38:52

you know like I don't think

38:54

they knew that he was this far along and then

38:56

you could see mid-october they were like I think

38:58

it might have been the Bengal game where they were

39:00

like you know what go ahead kid like

39:03

just start throwing and man like the thing

39:05

that stands out to me you said at

39:07

pinpoint the thing that stands out to me is you there

39:10

are so many throws where it's it's Nico

39:12

Collins on the sideline toe tap where the

39:15

ball could only be in one place and

39:17

it's all the way across the field like

39:19

I feel like again I don't know very

39:21

much about the college kids and I feel

39:23

like I was dramatically undersold his arm strength

39:25

and the accuracy is sicko like crazy it's

39:28

so funny to see someone come in and

39:31

run like especially from mid-october on run the

39:33

thing the way it's supposed to be

39:35

run and do full field reads and throw it

39:37

exactly where the ball needs to go and to

39:40

see all these other rookies and veterans get

39:43

excuses made for them well you know it's Nick Mullins

39:45

and he just like no they just don't see it

39:47

as well and they don't have the ability to make

39:49

the ball go where it needs to go and

39:52

that's just the vast majority of quarterbacks in the league right

39:54

now don't have that ability Stroud just seems to have come

39:56

into the league being able to do that yeah

39:58

I feel like that's a big thing with quarter because a lot

40:00

of times, you know, you talk about like

40:02

a quarterback's processing power, and I think that

40:04

was something which Stroud didn't he do bad

40:06

on like a pester? It was something where

40:08

they were saying but a lot of it

40:10

isn't just your processing speed mentally It's which

40:12

is something that's invisible and hard to kind

40:14

of you know, accurately

40:18

Handicap, I guess you could say but Just

40:20

the ability to know you can do it

40:22

I think that is big because like look

40:24

at a guy like Bryce young like he

40:26

just like he looks horrible But

40:29

it's not just like oh everyone's bad and he

40:31

just can't you know, like there's just nothing available

40:33

to him It's you know, I just don't think

40:35

he can make some of the throws and most

40:37

like you said most quarterbacks Can't make these throws

40:39

and they know that and they're not trying to

40:41

get you know Intercepted or put

40:44

even put their receivers in harm's way. So they

40:46

just don't make the throne It kind of looks

40:48

like something it's not but you

40:50

know a guy like and the same thing I think

40:52

happened with a guy like Josh Allen where people were

40:54

just like well check with him was more accuracy But

40:57

it's like he can make the throws and he

40:59

knows he can make the throws and so he

41:01

makes the throws and it's like That's that kind

41:04

of separates these guys when they get to the

41:06

next level and you can't always see it in

41:08

college because everything is Wide open and and whatnot.

41:10

But yeah, I think we're shrouded unmistakable the anticipation

41:12

and the ability to make pinpoint

41:15

throws with anticipation We're

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Okay, we're back with Chris, and we are having fun

42:28

because we're getting to just talk about players We like

42:30

that's always the more fun. You know you just get

42:32

to go Yeah, this guy's awesome, and that guy's not

42:34

as opposed to hey that dude that you like no

42:36

he stinks That is fun Alright,

42:40

so we've had so far what we've had

42:42

seven rookies. I'm gonna break the string I

42:44

have a non rookie here not only that

42:46

Chris, but I'm repeating a name from last

42:48

year's list and that guy's name is Jaylen

42:50

Warren Everybody knows how

42:53

I feel about Jaylen Warren I'm more interested in

42:55

hearing your take because I had him as a

42:57

flag player this year wind up with a bunch

42:59

of teams It didn't work out to like be

43:01

amazing overall fantasy production,

43:03

but where you got him You

43:05

know suddenly you you had somebody usable as a flex

43:07

every week where you know you took him in the

43:09

13th round or whatever Because Najee Harris

43:11

was still going in the second round of

43:14

fantasy drafts for some reason It's not smart

43:16

and listen Najee Harris ended the season on

43:18

a nice little streak. He scored two touchdowns

43:20

on Sunday He probably helped some fantasy teams

43:23

to championships. It's great, but I'm

43:25

not talking about Najee I've done enough

43:27

talking about Najee I frankly don't know

43:29

talking about Warren, but just every time

43:31

you play it's funny the the network

43:33

broadcasters who do these games They're half paying

43:36

attention. You know there's They

43:38

they wait until something's really in

43:40

the ether Before they're willing

43:42

to really put themselves on the line and

43:44

like they're just gonna kind of say generic

43:46

nice things about Everyone about everyone, but

43:49

you could tell when they got into December that

43:51

that they all understood that Joan Warren's the best

43:54

running back in Pittsburgh Everybody knows it's true, and

43:56

I now I'm just gonna talk about it and

43:58

say Najee means a lot to the team and yada yada

44:00

yada but Jaylen Warren's the one because you can

44:03

hear everybody's voice like perk up there goes Warren

44:05

there It's it is like the Echler discovery I

44:07

think he's so similar to Austin Echler and if

44:09

you were ever to design a smart offense that

44:11

took advantage of him He would be that sort

44:13

of player. I don't know if they ever

44:15

will but I just think he's great Yeah,

44:18

no, I so I love Jaylen Warren. He's one

44:20

of those guys. I like the first preseason game

44:22

I think I saw him I was

44:24

like, okay This guy this was back when like

44:26

Najee was locked in but you didn't know really

44:28

who the backup was gonna be everyone thought It

44:30

was gonna be like bang snow and I remember

44:33

You know from the first preseason game when you

44:35

know, Kerner and I Sean Kerner over at action

44:37

we were doing our full-season projections

44:40

and we have like the spreadsheet where we both

44:42

kind of upload to and Like

44:44

I immediately had Jayman Warren is like the number two

44:46

back in Pittsburgh after seeing him like one time I

44:48

was like this Benny snow guy is done like it's

44:51

just not happening with him So I

44:53

agree. I think Warren I mean, he's

44:55

a guy that I've loved since

44:57

I saw him I think he's I think he actually

44:59

does benefit from Najee being there because it is kind

45:01

of one of those thunder and lightning things We're the

45:04

one thing about Najee is he is physical

45:06

and he will inject punishment on on players

45:08

And I think because not Warren Warren

45:10

could do both like he's definitely physical I

45:12

mean some of his blocks are just fun

45:15

to watch on film forget is running his

45:17

blocks are great you

45:19

know hat tip to George Pickens, but

45:23

like David Warren is

45:25

a guy who I think this the shiftiness

45:28

is what separates him and like this the

45:30

explosiveness With

45:32

Najee kind of wearing a defense down I think that's

45:34

the way you would design that offense in Pittsburgh like

45:36

a lot like I would like to see You

45:39

know like a lot of times you think about the big

45:42

back is like the closer But I think Warren is actually

45:44

a great closer because he could just give you like after

45:46

the defense is warned out He's running away from people, but

45:48

I think he had like 50 or

45:50

so missed four Smith tackles on runs alone

45:53

this year And maybe like another 20

45:55

plus on unreceiving place. So just

45:57

love the guy's ability to break tackles. Love just a

45:59

heart he plays with. And again, like he's

46:01

like a way Michael Pittman was just such

46:03

a good special teamer. Um, this guy,

46:05

Jaylen Warren is just such a good blocker

46:08

and he's doing it at the next level. Pittman

46:10

was like a great special teamer in college. I

46:12

just loved watching him do something other than his

46:14

main role. Uh, Warren, I just love watching him

46:16

throw blocks on, uh, on like

46:19

wide receiver, uh, sweeps and things like that. But,

46:21

uh, yeah, I love Jaylen Warren. Uh, I think

46:23

he's one of the better backs in this league,

46:25

honestly, not just, um, you know, backups or quote

46:27

unquote backups, whatever you call it. Yeah.

46:30

I mean, I agree with you that not, I mean, it,

46:32

I kind of think what you said about

46:34

Najee being a benefit for Warren would

46:36

be true for Chase Brown would be true for

46:38

Keaton Mitchell with Gus Edwards would be true for

46:40

HN with most are like, they all could use

46:42

someone to soften up the defense because their main

46:44

asset is speed. Not that they can't break a

46:46

tackle here or there, but like their main asset

46:48

is give me some wide open lanes. And sometimes

46:50

the way that happens is because Najee Harris, you

46:53

know, pummeled guys for three quarters.

46:55

So like, I agree. This isn't a

46:58

vote that says, Hey, Jaylen Warren, you should just be

47:00

the 90% running back. Like, no, but

47:02

I, I love what you said that he's really more

47:04

of a closer than Najee is because he is. And

47:06

they still are starting to use them that way in fourth quarters

47:09

when they were had leads, they were, they would

47:11

use Warren more than they would use Najee. All

47:13

right. We are at your number one, whatever that means.

47:15

It doesn't matter, but we'll just call it a

47:17

very momentous number one for players. You enjoy watching this

47:20

year. I mean, I knew who

47:22

this was going to be from, from the jump tank

47:24

Dell for the Houston Texans. Just

47:27

love watching him run routes. I mean,

47:29

just create so much separation. It's kind

47:31

of ridiculous, you know, for all

47:33

that and CJ Stroud, all of the, the, the

47:35

praise is deserved, but I will say that there

47:38

are a few CJ Stroud plays that wouldn't have

47:40

been made without tank Dell being as awesome as

47:42

he is. I mean, that comeback against Tampa Bay

47:44

comes to mind where you like the Texans were

47:46

going to have like five or six plays essentially

47:49

with the time they had. And the way tank

47:51

Dell got open on a couple of those, I

47:53

think there was one like on the sideline

47:55

and another one was a touchdown. The

47:58

way he got open on those plays was really But

48:01

the only way, the only place he could have been

48:03

to give CJ Shroud a place to throw the ball,

48:06

you know, we saw it from Tankdale,

48:08

pretty much every game he was in

48:10

almost, he made an explosive play. It

48:13

kind of reminds me of like

48:15

young Antonio Brown, young Odo Beckham, when it was

48:18

just like, okay, we know these guys have some

48:20

juice to them and they come in the league and

48:22

it's just, you just see like the

48:25

route running and the ability to just lose defenders.

48:27

And you're like, oh wow, now this guy could

48:29

be something. Tankdale, if

48:31

he comes back healthy next year

48:33

and everything's straight, like I think

48:35

Tankdale could be, I'm not

48:37

saying he has to be or he will be,

48:40

but I think he could be one of those

48:42

guys that, you know, a hundred, hundred 10 catch

48:44

receiver, 1500 yards, double

48:46

digit touchdowns. And I think he could do that for

48:49

years because I just saw that much

48:51

from, I mean, I remember the first preseason game he

48:53

had, I was like, okay, this guy's already better than

48:55

every other Texan receiver in terms

48:57

of getting separation. And like

49:00

he hasn't really proven me wrong. And obviously

49:02

Stroud is making everyone look good, but I

49:04

think Stroud is making like Nico and Noah

49:06

Brown and Robert, well, Robert Woodt has all

49:08

good, but Nico and Noah Brown look good better

49:10

than they are. Even Nico's had a great season.

49:12

So he's, he's also developed, but I think Tankdale,

49:14

I think this is just who he is. Like,

49:16

I think even if he didn't have Stroud, this

49:18

guy would just still be open and

49:20

given quarterbacks, just a wide open target for

49:22

a guy that's what, 5'8", 5'8",

49:25

he's not even 170 pounds, I don't think soaking

49:27

wet. So I think he'll put

49:29

on a little bit of weight. Hopefully he doesn't lose

49:32

any explosiveness, but I just,

49:34

I mean, the way he can get, the way he gets open

49:36

just, it doesn't, it's really,

49:39

I think he's the smoothest juker

49:41

in the league outside of Tyree

49:43

Kill. So I just love me some Tankdale,

49:45

loved watching him on, even the routes he's

49:47

not getting thrown to just love watching him

49:49

run routes. Yeah, I did

49:51

film review on him mid November and was

49:55

like, yeah, he's, everything you said is

49:57

true. He's

49:59

the same. height as Tyree Kelly's 25 pounds

50:01

lighter so he does need to get bigger.

50:03

He probably will though. And it comes down

50:05

to the quite you know like

50:09

the wish list for him coming into the league is

50:11

like maybe he could play on the outside and the

50:13

Texans did not get that memo because they played him

50:15

on the outside right away. They barely played him in

50:17

the slot at all. He's an outside receiver for that

50:20

offense which is good which we want. And it was

50:22

like all right well maybe if he if he's an

50:24

outside receiver maybe he can be DeShawn Jackson. And

50:26

now it's like that's the floor. That's just a

50:29

fast guy who runs down the field. The

50:32

stops and digs that this guy put

50:35

on tape right away are not DeShawn Jackson.

50:37

That's way better than DeShawn Jackson. That's a

50:40

good that's actually a good that's to see

50:42

it like the AB or a guy like

50:44

DeShawn digs like that. That's more along the

50:46

lines of what this guy probably will because

50:49

I mean if unless the injury this year

50:51

you know. It's a broken leg.

50:53

He'll be alright. Yeah. Like I would think. Yeah

50:55

you would think he should be okay. He's already

50:58

Pollard. Yeah. I mean I don't

51:00

know if the injury was Pollard's problem but you

51:03

know he's got to get bigger to be

51:05

Tyree Kill. I think Tyree Kill is honestly the ceiling.

51:07

Like but also I did raise the

51:10

question when I did the film review like teams

51:12

weren't defending him like a number one. Teams still

51:14

defend Nico Collins like he's the one. And

51:16

there was there's not a lot of press coverage

51:18

on Tank Del. There's not like the most press

51:20

coverage I saw on Tank Del was week one

51:22

against the Ravens because one of the Ravens put

51:24

on defense. All man to man right. So in

51:27

week one Del didn't it was also his first

51:29

game of his life but like he didn't really

51:31

get open. They had somebody at the top of

51:33

his route constantly banging into him bumping him whatever.

51:36

And from that point forward against zone it was

51:38

like cool this defensive back is like four yards

51:40

off of me. I'm just going to run a

51:42

stop and I'm good or an inside breaking router

51:44

and I'm going to be wide open and he

51:46

was and it was great. The adjustment

51:48

the league is going to make to him is like

51:52

they're going to have to be more physical with him because he's

51:54

little and see if he's strong enough

51:56

like Tyree is strong enough to you can't really bump

51:58

Tyree because he's too strong. But I

52:00

think you still can bump Dell that'll be

52:02

interesting and then also just do you get

52:05

more press man on him and like More

52:07

like cloudy zone type concepts on Collins, but

52:09

anyway, this is all Nip-picking

52:11

he was so fun. He's so fun.

52:14

And I mean, I think you still like go

52:16

is more of like a you know The kind

52:19

of guy where that yeah exactly, you know Where's

52:21

Nico's gonna be, you know on the line scrimmage

52:23

a little more and that's so like it's gonna

52:25

still be a little harder to press Dell, but

52:27

I mean I just from what

52:29

I've seen with him I think he like you're

52:31

gonna only be able to press him to the

52:33

point that you're not scared of him just blowing

52:35

by you either and You

52:38

know, so like that's that's I think he'll be fine. I

52:40

think yeah Alright, so

52:42

my one is another rookie receiver

52:44

on the on the opposite end of

52:46

the size spectrum And

52:50

he's about to set a rookie record Did he already

52:52

set the rookie record for receiving yards and for catches

52:54

in the history of the NFL? It's

52:56

Pukka, Nakua Holy

52:58

moly that dudes the real deal too in

53:01

a totally different way. It's like everything

53:03

we wanted and probably still believe Deebo

53:06

can be like Deebo still an awesome

53:08

player and maybe Nicole wind up having

53:11

Similar health issues, but he's also

53:13

not really used his running back the way

53:15

I think if you want to preserve Deebo, which

53:18

they did a better job preserving him this year

53:20

He did miss a couple of games with

53:22

injury but they really didn't unleash Deebo running back

53:24

until December and Like totally

53:26

turn him into a volume player because they know

53:28

that he's insane and will you know

53:31

get himself killed? Pukka, Nakua probably

53:33

a little more of a receiver than Deebo a

53:35

little more of a route runner But like mostly

53:37

in the middle of the field mostly close quarters

53:40

He'll beat a guy on a on a post

53:42

or a skinny post I think of him this

53:45

year as either running digs or or skinny post

53:48

and always you know these in breaking routes that Stafford

53:50

loves to throw down the field and he just

53:53

Just great. He just makes a bunch of great catches.

53:55

He's incredibly tough. He's hurt on every play He gets

53:57

up like oh that really hurt and he goes back

54:00

and make us another one. By

54:02

the end of the year it's no question who

54:04

the number one receiver was that that partly could

54:06

be because Cooper Cupp's not right but also because

54:08

Pukinako is something else. Yeah

54:11

I mean I remember seeing him I went

54:13

to that think it was Rams charge in

54:15

his preseason game the only one Nakua played

54:17

in and he he was only on the

54:19

field maybe less than 20 routes

54:21

but he he caught he caught like three or four

54:23

caught a touchdown and I was like okay this guy

54:26

looks pretty good and they didn't they just bubble wrapped

54:28

him for the rest of the preseason and lo and

54:30

behold I mean he came out just

54:32

on fire and yeah anytime you see a guy

54:34

who can I mean he put

54:36

up 10 catches in his first game he put

54:38

up 15 catches in his second game like this

54:40

like you don't just get like you

54:43

don't just get that open like right off the

54:45

bat as a rookie like that's absurd and yeah

54:47

I like I love like he's always max effort

54:49

to like like you said he's getting hurt because

54:51

he's weighing out for these passes and landing on

54:53

his shoulder all crazy every every time has

54:56

yard after the catchability he saw that even against

54:58

the Giants on on Sunday so yeah he could

55:00

do it all he can he's a actually you

55:03

can actually throw fades to him in the end

55:05

zone too like he's you can really do

55:07

everything with him and like you said

55:09

he probably haven't even scratched the surface I didn't even

55:11

think of like a debo type role for him but

55:14

that you know both of those guys yeah they have

55:16

size they have explosiveness and

55:18

the Rams have been known to give

55:20

wide receivers more you know run plays

55:22

than most so maybe that's more

55:24

in his future so yeah well he was another guy

55:27

yeah like he would he's he was definitely on the

55:29

short list for me as well but I was like

55:31

I let me try to go with some less super

55:33

obvious guys but no I know just like I love

55:35

back in a compliment there no I mean I

55:37

gotta leave some

55:46

guys for you too you know because we didn't share our lips

55:48

before no it's a

55:51

fun list to do because you just get to be

55:54

positive and like really like players and not even like

55:56

I don't know how the Rams nobody knows how the

55:58

Rams receive a room works out next next year.

56:00

Like Cup probably isn't right and there could be

56:02

a world where Cup

56:05

comes back and is normal himself and

56:07

like becomes the the

56:09

weapon that he was the previous two or three years

56:11

and Nokoa is really really great

56:13

as a football player but just isn't

56:16

doing 12 targets in a

56:18

game anymore because it's because they're cups instead. So

56:20

I don't know how it works out in the

56:22

future but all I can say is they needed

56:24

him to to field that workload this year and

56:26

boy he proved he was capable right away which

56:29

is wild. You know it's interesting like

56:31

he's not as big as Deebo. Like

56:33

Deebo's ridiculous. Deebo's just like 220 something

56:36

pounds and like just

56:38

has the butt. You know he says that running

56:41

back butt you could just look at him and

56:43

go oh man like the power that he generates.

56:45

Nokoa is not quite like that but all

56:48

I know is they have a hard time

56:50

tackling him in that in the secondary. Like he's I

56:53

really yeah I don't know if there's ever like he's

56:55

lining up at tailback 10 snaps a game like with

56:57

Deebo but those

57:00

guys overlap probably more for me than almost anyone

57:02

and yeah the point of the list isn't so

57:04

much to say and that's why he's definitely the

57:06

Rams number one receiver for 2024. It's much more

57:09

just to say I really liked it.

57:11

It was so fun to watch him this year. Yeah

57:13

he's really good. I mean yeah there's no doubt about

57:15

it and I mean hey the Rams used Ben

57:18

Skironic in the backfield. You're like why can't

57:20

they use Poof in the backfield. I mean

57:22

come on now. Come on. I love it.

57:25

Well we did it. We made it through this list which was

57:27

fun list to make. I had a blast of probably 10 other

57:29

guys I could have put on there too and we made it

57:31

through the season. Thanks for coming

57:34

on all year. I appreciate it very

57:36

much. You can find Chris on Twitter

57:38

at Chris Rabon. Check out the Action

57:40

Network on YouTube. They stream and save

57:42

all the streams and stuff and you

57:44

can get a bunch of handicapping advice

57:46

which is fantastic. I definitely avail myself

57:48

of and then the six pack that

57:50

they're live stream on Wednesday. That'll

57:52

be a full podcast on Thursday and get

57:55

the Action Network app and you can tail

57:57

Chris on there. He does pretty well. his

58:00

top picks are usually pretty money uh...

58:02

so uh... he's chris rayburn on their as well happy

58:05

new year my friend thank you so much for coming on and

58:07

be a such a great a great friend to me and the

58:09

show and i hope to get you on again as we get

58:11

into the off season every year on

58:13

the planet and

58:16

thank you so much for listening let's thank

58:18

three great sponsors without whom there would have

58:20

been no fun we

58:23

had not.com check out

58:25

not so come it's so good i would love to have them

58:27

as a sponsor again next year and only way

58:29

to make that happen is if you if you check

58:31

them out but i think you'll love what

58:34

you get i love not so come we

58:36

had wild health as a sponsor they've been

58:38

new this year uh... commitment it's a it's

58:40

a it's a commitment but if you're dissatisfied

58:42

with uh... current medical care and want more

58:44

personalized medical coverage uh... wild health and of

58:46

course drafting i really appreciate all

58:49

the support drafting has given throughout the

58:51

years you can find a full list

58:53

of all the current sponsors and all

58:55

the promo codes and stuff at harris

58:57

football.com so that does it for this

58:59

tuesday episode coming up on

59:01

friday it's a big one

59:03

it's the it's the year ender it's the

59:05

huggies it's the baggies it's cousin josh his

59:07

last appearance for a little while but you

59:10

know he's gonna bring the heat will have

59:12

all sorts of fun categories to review the

59:14

season talk about who was good who was

59:16

bad who should be fired who

59:18

else should be fired all that good

59:20

stuff and i should say much of my

59:23

week will be taken up by making a

59:25

supercut of the entire twenty twenty three and

59:27

a fill season we go back and we

59:29

find all the funny stuff some of the

59:32

funny stuff a few of the funny things

59:34

that happened over the course of the season

59:36

we set it to the best mixtape of

59:38

the year and uh... that's the supercut

59:41

it takes a long time to make so i hope

59:43

you show up and listen to that it should be

59:45

a pretty good when i think i got started on

59:47

this weekend unlike thirty percent of the way through it's

59:49

a long time but it's a long time like ten

59:51

hours but i glad to do it

59:53

and i think you'll laugh so i hope you'll come

59:55

back on friday until

59:57

then thanks again so much for listening your

59:59

hat is awesome. You're awesome for wearing

1:00:01

it. I will talk to you on Friday.

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