← Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry
Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry
Preseason Week 1 Takeaways: Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter + Jets, Steelers Backfields
00:52:27
Matthew (@MatthewBerryTMR), Jay (@croucherJD), and Connor (@ConnorJRogers) dig into the preseason debuts from multiple rookies including Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, Tetairoa McMillan, Travis Hunter, and TreVeyon Henderson. The trio also highlight notable injuries and analyze murky backfield outlooks with the Jets, Jaguars, Steelers, and Texans before wrapping up the show with which team they’re betting to have the most regular season wins.
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- [00:00]
Matthew Berry
These days you've got two choices. Buying a new car or making the one you've got run like new. We know which one we choose. That's why at Firestone Complete Autocare, we have thousands of ASE certified technicians nationwide trained to spot an issue with your car before it becomes a problem. No matter the make or model, get more out of your car. Firestone Complete Auto Care Call or go online@firestoneauto.com to book today. For years, everyone thought Verizon had the.
- [00:34]
Connor Rogers
Best network because they did.
- [00:36]
Matthew Berry
But now the best mobile network in the US is T Mobile. T Mobile's network has the most advanced 5G with more towers and their signal reaches further than ever. So you can text an Insta talk.
- [00:49]
Connor Rogers
And say, you won't believe where I am.
- [00:53]
Jay Croucher
T Mobile has the best mobile Network in the US based on analysis by Ookla of speed test intelligence data 1H2025CT mobile.com network Unbelievable.
- [01:01]
Matthew Berry
Matthew, just kind of linking in your body with his body.
- [01:05]
Connor Rogers
Shut up.
- [01:05]
Jay Croucher
Well, this day we saw a picture of me at the at the beach club in Vegas.
- [01:11]
Matthew Berry
Don't link mine in with yours either. I'm not Lawrence, but I'm better than yours.
- [01:14]
Jay Croucher
Adjusted for age. Adjusted for age. We got a great enough bell curve here, let's be honest. But adjusted for age, I would put my body up against the two of you. Honestly. No, seriously. Because I am significantly older than both of you guys. You're not significantly older than me. I just play the role of of.
- [01:32]
Connor Rogers
A 28 year old fantasy football analyst.
- [01:35]
Jay Croucher
I am not that. We could be brothers. Fair enough. We do have a lot in common. We look similar. I get that. Fair enough. Obviously. Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry.
- [01:53]
Connor Rogers
Welcome to the Fantasy Football Happy Hour. Connor Rogers. Matthew Berry. Jay Croucher. That's right. We got all the preseason Week 1 takeaways for you today. We're going to make some sense of these messy backfields. Before we do any of that, Matthew, we gotta talk about who drinks free today.
- [02:06]
Jay Croucher
I'll tell you, this is a big one. This is a big one. I'm very excited about it. You know who drinks free today? Jimmy Fallon drinks free at the Fans People happy hour bar. I am making my return to the Tonight show tonight.
- [02:18]
Connor Rogers
That's right. Two times you actually say you're a frequent guest.
- [02:22]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, I'm gonna ask him that. Am I now officially a Tonight show regular? Yeah.
- [02:25]
Matthew Berry
One of the most improbable sequels of our time. Like Point Break 2.
- [02:29]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, exactly. So really excited we're going to talk about the fantasy football season and have some fun. You know, Jimmy's a legend. It's always a great time to do that show. So I'm really excited about that. So thank you, Jimmy Fallon, for having me on tonight. And, of course, please tune in tonight to the Tonight show with Jimmy Fallon.
- [02:48]
Matthew Berry
Starring Jimmy Fallon and Pierce Brosnan.
- [02:50]
Jay Croucher
Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren. I think she's.
- [02:54]
Matthew Berry
You're third.
- [02:55]
Jay Croucher
I'm easily third. I think. I think she's. Dame Helen. Dame Helen Mirren. Yeah. So, you know, royalty. Legit royalty. So.
- [03:04]
Connor Rogers
And then me group you guys together in the back, or are you, like, very.
- [03:08]
Jay Croucher
I think. I suspect we have. We have our. I will just say no. I mean, I don't know how to, like, a lounge. No. And also, I don't know, like, you have your own dressing room. You go back there and you have your own dressing room. But the last time I was on, the special guest was Hillary Clinton, and so I never met. You know, like, they kept me far away, I'm sure, like, Secret Service, everything like that. I don't know if, like, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirror will be more accessible to me. I don't know if, like, we're all hanging out backstage or not.
- [03:35]
Matthew Berry
Was Hillary peppering you with questions about, like.
- [03:37]
Jay Croucher
I never met her. No, it was. It was. No, right, exactly. It was Hillary and Chelsea. I never met them, so. Yeah, exactly. So we'll see. And then there's a comedian, Bonnie McFarlane, who. She's very funny. So she's on the show tonight. Eclectic. That's exactly. Yeah. You never know what you're gonna get with Jimmy. That's great.
- [03:53]
Matthew Berry
English royalty. Pierce Brosnan's Irish, by the way. A lot of people don't know Pierce Brosnan is Irish and Matthew and one.
- [03:59]
Jay Croucher
Of the great James Bonds of our time. Yes, yes. Which is what I will tell him when I see him.
- [04:03]
Matthew Berry
Absolutely.
- [04:04]
Connor Rogers
You're the greatest.
- [04:05]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, we know that's gonna go on.
- [04:07]
Connor Rogers
I don't care what they say about all the other James Bonds. You are the greatest.
- [04:10]
Jay Croucher
Yeah. We're watching for Bond and Dame Helen.
- [04:13]
Connor Rogers
It's the excellence of flexicution. Chiming in.
- [04:16]
Jay Croucher
By the way, that's a hell of a name. YouTube name. Excellence of Flexicution. Well done, well played.
- [04:22]
Connor Rogers
That's how you make the show. All right, we got plenty of preseason week one takeaways. We want to go through some of the notable rookies, and we got to see a lot of these young quarterbacks. Guys, we'll start with Cam Ward here briefly played 5, 8, 67 yards against the Bucs. Didn't rush at all. Most importantly, we got to hear from what Cam Ward thought on his first preseason game.
- [04:42]
Jay Croucher
It's not really too different from college, just more being, I would say, alerted on third downs. Just the cans that you can get to make Coach Callahan's offense and then just getting the ball out when it needs to be out next game. What's the next step you need to.
- [04:58]
Connor Rogers
Take off of this?
- [05:00]
Jay Croucher
Just playing above the sticks, not getting behind the sticks, and also just getting the ball out fast. Letting my playmakers make plays for us. I think that's what we were able to do. The second drive, then just. Also just playing at the. Faster plays, get faster pace, getting in and out of the huddle. Coach Callahan gets me to play call pretty fast, so, you know, just trying to play faster.
- [05:25]
Connor Rogers
Relatively uneventful Cam Ward performance. I think that's a good thing. By the way, you don't want to really see these rookies try to be superheroes in the preseason. Just take care of the football and move the chains.
- [05:34]
Jay Croucher
Yeah. And I mean, it's our first chance to look at it like it's because we've been starved so long for football. We. We tend to overreact to everything. But Connor, I mean, they're playing against vanilla defenses. No one's really trying to do too much here. We're just. Can we just practice a little bit and everyone not get hurt? Right, right.
- [05:51]
Connor Rogers
And you could see kind of an effort to go to the check down a little bit earlier than you might in an actual real game. If you're going to take off and Ken Moore didn't run in this game. We're going to talk about Jackson Dart in a second. Who did you don't take any hits, too. Your coaches are telling you, like, okay, slide or get out of bounds. You don't need to be a hero here. But I think most importantly, just the confidence that Cam Ward operates is something that we feel better about with the Titans offense this year.
- [06:13]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, I think we've probably become a little bit too conditioned to expecting rookies to become superstars based on what Jaden Daniels did last year. C.J. stroud did the. It's not normal for a rookie to come in and immediately be like, you know, flirting for fifth and MVP balance. So I do think that Cam Ward, though, the one thing that he does really have going for him in his situation is the Titans sneakily might have the best offensive line in that division. Like, they remade their offensive line they're going to have youth development for guys like J.C. leith. I think Brian Callahan obviously comes from a guru family of offensive line management. It's just the weapons for Ward which you worry about. Whereas Calvin Ridley and then not a great deal else in the passing game.
- [06:51]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, I mean I think one of the other things that you can always take away from preseason and we'll talk about it here a little bit today, but also just as you're watching preseason games is usage is really important. What's the first team usage? So I mean so the fact that Calvin Ridley had 43% had a 43% target share from Cam Ward, I think it's indicative. Like it's. By the way, it's, you know, they didn't play a lot. There's not a huge sample size here. But just when the that offense was out on the field, Cam Ward is looking for Calvin Ridley, which makes sense especially when you think about who else they have. Tyler Lockett played primarily in the slot. This is all thanks to our friends at Fantasy Life and Dwayne McFarlane who does a amazing preseason utilization story. So you don't have article I should say so you don't have to watch all the shows they do. So you don't have to. So all of our utilization stuff comes courtesy of FantasyLife.com thank you. Specifically Dwayne McFarland. So Lockett had an 88% route participation. So I do feel like that's going to be the, you know, it's going to be Ridley on the outside, Lockett in the slot. We're going to see some chicka conquo. He had 100% route participation with the starters like so there may be some because they're going so late and no one expects the Titans to do anything. There may be some fantasy value because they're going so low. Yep.
- [08:05]
Matthew Berry
Easy schedule as well. It's just like just thinking through it logically. Of course everything's going to go to Calvin Ridley. Like there's no one else who's going to draw targets at a near comparable rate.
- [08:15]
Connor Rogers
This one from Val Milton Fung. Cam could be sneaky good this year. He could be Bo Nix esque this season.
- [08:23]
Jay Croucher
Do you think Cam could run like Bo Nix?
- [08:26]
Connor Rogers
I don't think he will, honestly. I think he's a scrambler. I don't know if he wants to run all the time. Throw the ball down the field. Right. The design runs. Can he do it? Yes. He's a good enough athlete to do it, but I don't know if they're going to want I think they'll be also bowhead Sean Payton. I want to be careful here. Nothing against the Callahan family, but Sean Payton, it's almost like we just kind of disregard his effect, how powerful it is.
- [08:48]
Jay Croucher
Sure. But I mean listen, Callahan was the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati. He's a pass first coach. Obviously we saw like how he was with Burrows. So I think that the system will be fine. It's just a question of the reason Bo Nix was Bo Nix last year was largely due to his legs and so the fact that we just don't think Cam Ward's going to run the way that Nix is. I don't mind the overall sentiments that Cam Ward could be kind of sneaky usable this year, but I think fantasy wise just because we don't expect him to have the sort of rushing that some of the bigger names do, that it's hard for me to see him be anything more than a QB2 this year. But especially given the current weapons, I.
- [09:27]
Connor Rogers
Think what matters is guys he's just going to make Calvin Ridley much more exciting this year. That's the difference to me. And you said this Matthew, maybe even Chiga Konkwo who can kind of be that discount tight end for you somewhere down the stretch or one of our 8 million waiver wire shows with backup producer Pete on Tuesday.
- [09:41]
Jay Croucher
Exactly. Chigaconquo has gotten a lot of love on this show over the years, probably more than he has in in Tennessee. News from the running backs out of this game. Tajie Spear has a high ankle sprain.
- [09:55]
Connor Rogers
Yeah, he's going to miss the rest of the preseason is what they're thinking. So this is one you want to closely monitor going into week one because I think a lot of people have high expectations for Tajie Spears, especially in an offense that could also throw him the ball on a lot of checkdowns.
- [10:06]
Matthew Berry
Two things here. One Tony Pollard was getting the first team usage anyway and then two I don't think anyone watched the Titans game last year but if they did, Tony Pollard was kind of back in terms of his explosiveness and that makes sense. Another year removed from the broken leg in the playoffs with doubt didn't look right. The following year he looked much more like Tony Pollard and just the team shouldn't be in as poor game script so frequently as they were last year. So Tony Pollard becomes pretty interesting now.
- [10:31]
Jay Croucher
Just moved him up to running back 22 again last year when he got work he was effective over 15 fantasy points per game when he saw at least 18 touches. So not surprising when you get a lot of work, you're fantasy productive and that is what Tony Pollard was last season.
- [10:44]
Connor Rogers
One last note from this game. Rashad White is undergoing testing. He has a groin injury. And Matthew, this kind of, you know, bridges us to the comics that, yeah, Bucky Irving, we don't need to tell you about him, but Sean Tucker has a legitimate chance to be the RB2 in that offense, which matters a lot.
- [10:59]
Jay Croucher
I talked to a high ranking, you know, I talked to somebody very much in the know in the Tampa Bay organization at combine. Yeah, Dr. Baker and Jason Light just at a table like this, we're just hanging out, having beers. No, whatever. I, I talked to someone who would know. I'll just leave it at that. This is, I feel very good about this source who just said, who said to me again, Bucky Irving, they think amazing, but said to me when it came to Sean Tucker that Sean Tucker has the talent to be an RB1 in this league and that if they didn't have Bucky Irving, that Sean Tucker would have a legit shot to be their starting running back. Again, no disrespect to Rashad White, they like Rashad White as well. He's in that, especially in that third down role. But Sean Tucker is somebody that they think literally can be an RB1 in the NFL. And I think people forget Connor and you can speak to this, why people like, well, Sean Tucker didn't even get drafted. Well, it's because in the pre draft process he had, it came out that he had a congenital heart issue, that there was concern around that and there's injury concerns.
- [12:02]
Connor Rogers
But yes, he had medical concerns. I mean there's no denying his talent as a pure runner in this.
- [12:06]
Jay Croucher
But I was going to say without.
- [12:08]
Connor Rogers
That, he gets drafted, he gets drafted.
- [12:09]
Jay Croucher
He might have been a day two.
- [12:10]
Connor Rogers
Guy at the time of that season. A lot of people had him as a third round talent.
- [12:14]
Jay Croucher
Yeah.
- [12:14]
Connor Rogers
And that's a big compliment to a running back when you talk about a third round talent. So I think it's just kind of catching up now where you know, Tucker's talent is taking place on the field and now there might be opportunity with White injury.
- [12:25]
Matthew Berry
Best kept secret is in the NFL is that this Tampa Bay offense is completely loaded and they were a top five offense last year. They have incredible depth at receiver and at running back. Baker Mayfield's been playing like a fringe top 10 quarterback the past couple of years. This team is going to put up a ton of points and when in Doubt, like if you're in a draft, I think when, when in doubt, you want to skew to the team that you good about their offense. And I think that's going to be skewing to Tampa Bay a lot.
- [12:49]
Jay Croucher
They want me to move on real quickly, but just because this has come up and I think this is really interesting. I agree with you. I think the entire Tampa Bay offense is potentially underrated. Mike Evans is parentally underrated. All he is is like a thousand yards and double digit touchdowns like every single year. And I don't think he's being drafted where he should be. I know people are really high on Ameca Abuca and rightfully so. I think he's going to be a very impressive rookie this year. He looks good. But are we sleeping on Jalen McMillan who last year like, you know, really strong down the stretch, especially if we think that Chris Godwin's not going to be ready for the season.
- [13:21]
Connor Rogers
That's the question. Right. Because you drafted a wide receiver in the first round when nobody thought the Bucs needed a wide receiver. So is that an indictment on they thought they needed a big upgraded talent compared to McMillan or is that an indictment on Godwin's health? Which is it? That's the question for me. How long will Godwin be out and how does that help McMillan's reps? But I think they're really excited about Ibuka right now.
- [13:40]
Jay Croucher
And there are some, there are some NFL teams that will tell you, and I don't know if Tampa Bay is one of them, but there's some NFL teams that will tell you. Like it's not an indictment on any of those things. It's just we're, we're drafting the best player available and we had a BUCA very high on our board and he was sitting there, so we took him.
- [13:55]
Connor Rogers
Right. Like we're a team that believes in having three to four great wide receivers.
- [13:58]
Jay Croucher
Yeah.
- [13:59]
Connor Rogers
Because we're going to pass a lot with Baker Mayfield, so. All right, guys. Another rookie quarterback that we got to see. Jackson Dart a nice debut. 1219, 154 yards. We got to see him take off a couple times. 24 yards on three carries. Dart. You know, I said some of these rookie performances are uneventful in a good way. I didn't feel that way about Jackson Darts, Matt. I thought he made some big throws. You obviously, obviously see the athleticism. You can't say, can he be Bo Nix esque? Because we don't think he's going to start the season. But this is Someone Matthew that will run when given any opportunity.
- [14:29]
Jay Croucher
The Giants I think found themselves a quarterback again. It's early. We'll see. It's one preseason game but like you know, for somebody who had high expectations, like if you watch that game you're like okay, like they weren't. You weren't disappointed by the anticipation you have and that I think when Dart gets in there he could in fact be Bo Nix esque. That Brian Dabo has a fantasy friendly scheme. Obviously we've seen it back when he was coaching Josh Allen with the Bills as their coordinator and they have some talent here. It's a decent backfield camp. Scatterbo is banged up. So Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary split the snaps with the starters. But you and I both love Tyrone Tracy Singletary solid. Malik Neighbors is a stud. Wando Robinson actually had a higher than usual average depth of target on this one. Like you know Wanda Robinson who's the, you know, the SGA of the NBA, of the NFL in terms of like he's a ppr. He's a PPR scam artist.
- [15:27]
Matthew Berry
Jamal Chase is the sga.
- [15:30]
Jay Croucher
I just love trolling you. I just love trolling you about it. No, but like Wandella Robinson was a, was a PPR scam artist last year but nice thing to see him being outside and they're using him. They're trying to, trying to expand his route tree as well. Like there's, there's some talent here and we didn't get to like I like Theo Johnson and I know the Giants do as well like just as a late round tight end. So I think you're encouraged for everyone that has Jackson Dart in dynasty or if you're in a deep super flex league. He's going to start sooner than later. At some point he's going to be the start of the Giants this year.
- [16:02]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, I think the good thing there too is that the Giants have an absolutely brutal schedule. They have one of the five hardest schedules. So I don't think they're going to win a ton of games. And so end of the season suspect we will get some Jackson, Darth, Duke, Scott, Kobe.
- [16:13]
Connor Rogers
My hot take is Jackson Dart will be starting in New York by week seven. I mean Russ is going to get obviously a little bit of a leash here guys.
- [16:22]
Matthew Berry
But the thing is, is Jameis going to be number two?
- [16:24]
Connor Rogers
I don't think so. They didn't treat it that way in this game.
- [16:26]
Jay Croucher
No. And and to your point, and I don't even know Scott, how hot a take that is. If they're. If they're heading into week seven, if they're, you know, two and four, you know, and they haven't looked good, at some point you just kind of go.
- [16:42]
Connor Rogers
That's the problem. It's so hard to find the landing spot. Their seventh game is at Denver. Might be the best defense in football.
- [16:48]
Jay Croucher
Yep.
- [16:49]
Connor Rogers
Their eighth game is at Philadelphia and then they play the Niners at home in November. So the landing spot is actually the two weeks before Denver. The first game in October they play the Saints. But then you throw them through the gauntlet of those next three games.
- [17:05]
Jay Croucher
But you can't actually. When's their bye?
- [17:09]
Connor Rogers
They have, I believe, a later buy. I'll find that in a second.
- [17:13]
Matthew Berry
Not in his day. Early wasn't great last year. It's pretty thin.
- [17:17]
Connor Rogers
Nick Bose is Salah's back. Yeah.
- [17:19]
Matthew Berry
Week 14 buy. So it's too late for.
- [17:21]
Connor Rogers
Yeah, I thought they had a late. A very late buy. I mean somewhere you just. You gotta just go to a guy.
- [17:25]
Matthew Berry
This is the teams like this is just. The Giants could be competent and they could still be 3 and 10 going into their bike. This is an insane.
- [17:33]
Jay Croucher
That's the thing. Week 5 at the Saints just feels too early. And then you've got Eagles at Broncos at Eagles, home to the 49ers. Again, let's call our shot.
- [17:43]
Connor Rogers
I'll say November 16th against the packers at home.
- [17:46]
Jay Croucher
That's what I was going to say because their buy is the week after that. So that might be good. Like give him a start. Then he's got the buy to sort of like, okay, let's look at that and then finish out the season. I like that. I agree with that. I think that's the week he starts.
- [18:00]
Matthew Berry
I think he gets in earlier. Well, one, because the offensive line isn't very good and Russell Wilson's an injury risk because of that.
- [18:06]
Jay Croucher
I mean, that's obviously. Yeah, you can predict that.
- [18:08]
Connor Rogers
Another rookie quarterback. That was the talk of town and really is anytime he steps on the football field or off of it, really for Shador Sanders, all the attention is just constantly on him. Good start for Shador Sanders in Cleveland. 1423, 138 yards. There was really, really nice. Two touchdown passes. He also ran four times for 19 yards. Got to hear from Shador after the game on just feeling like himself.
- [18:31]
Jay Croucher
Overall, I felt like. I felt like me out there, you know, And I couldn't do it, of course, without the time. I couldn't do it without the play call. I couldn't do without anything. So I'm just thankful to even be able to have, you know, the joy of just being on the field overall then carrying the responsibility of doing the right thing, you know. So that's two badges under my belt already, you know, that I got out there. I feel like we operated the huddle really, really good. So it's just a small detail that of course we practice on and we talk about and I'll say of course towards the end I'll say we got a little sloppy and we overall going to finish it up and that's going to be a point of emphasis going into this next week. But you know, I was just thankful just to share that moment with everybody.
- [19:18]
Connor Rogers
Crowded rounds. Quarterback depth chart. We know that Joe Flacco still there. They're dealing with injuries to both Kenny Pickett and Dylan Gabriel. Shudder Sanders takes advantage of and they added Tyler Huntley.
- [19:29]
Jay Croucher
There's now six guys in that room.
- [19:30]
Connor Rogers
Who's the next quarterback?
- [19:32]
Matthew Berry
Also unbelievable. Like half of them are injured also. Why are they getting like hamstring injuries and stuff like practicing?
- [19:37]
Jay Croucher
Beats me, but shudder Sanders drank free on Friday and the kid took so much crap in the pre draft process. And look, some of it was self inflicted I believe or self inflict, you know, from, from his camp, the people around him as well. But like I thought, feels like it felt like people almost delighted in, in.
- [20:00]
Connor Rogers
His spiraled out of control.
- [20:01]
Jay Croucher
Spiraled out of control. And so good for the kid, like good for him to like go out and play. Well, go out, you know, like I think we all said that. Like and people said this on TV like okay fine, you got your fifth round, you know, your fifth round draft pick but you're in an NFL camp and you got an opportunity and now what do you make of that opportunity? And so Chedeur so far has kept his head down and got an opportunity and made the most of it. His touchdown throw in traffic. He threw a touchdown, the second one.
- [20:28]
Connor Rogers
That was really impressive in traffic.
- [20:31]
Jay Croucher
He's on the move and he had to put it perfectly. There was three guys more or less around the receiver and he threw it up in the left hand corner. Really impressive. It looked like an NFL throw. So still a lot to be seen. But if Shador Sanders starts the season or gets it via starter similar to Jackson Dart, I think there's some fantasy value there. Again like ran more than I thought he was going to.
- [20:57]
Connor Rogers
Right? It looks quicker than he usually does in my opinion. I thought he, he looks pretty quick compared to how he looked in college, you know, listen, you know Shador is accurate. That's not the question with Shador. It's the pocket presence. It's not taking bad sacks. Can you coach that out of him? And it felt like at times he got a little. A little crazy in the beginning, but then he settled into the game.
- [21:17]
Matthew Berry
Yeah. So here's the thing with the Browns. Their first four weeks, they play the Bengals, Ravens, packers and Lions. Like those might be four of the six, seven best teams in football. They're probably gonna lose. They're gonna lose early. And then I think then it gets interesting because I don't know who the best quarterback is on that team, but it's like, what are you trying to achieve, Cleveland? Like, what is actually the goal? Do you want Joe Flacco to like, steward you to a Super Bowl? He's like, it's not gonna happen. Katie Pickett's not gonna do that. And so like, if you want to find out what your upside is or find out what your future is, like, it's got to be Chadhur Sanders or Dylan Gabriel at some point, who was still drafted before Shedeur, which is very strange. But I think that he's gonna have to get a crack at some point. Connor?
- [22:00]
Connor Rogers
I think so. I don't know when it's gonna be because you have so much politics involved in this. You have a coaching staff that probably likes the vet and Joe Flacco. This front office took a quarterback ahead of Chadur Sanders. So when he's healthy, do they just look at him?
- [22:13]
Jay Croucher
They took a quarterback ahead of Shadur Sanders and they. They traded for a former first round pick and Kenny Pickett. Sanders has gotten his start because no one else is healthy. Right. But you know what I mean. So we don't know how they feel about these guys in camp. I think whatever Sanders stock inside the Cleveland organization was, I think it's risen based on this performance. So good for him. But like, we just don't know what Kevin Stefanski and his coaching staff think. They still may think like, we, we're going to have a better chance with Pickett or Gabriel. We just, you know, we haven't seen what they've seen in practice. We don't know how they feel about his mastery of the offense, everything like that. But one thing is clear. Dylan Sampson is going to play a lot. I think so. Jerome Ford did not play in this game, But Sampson played 73% of the snaps during the first two drives when that first team offense was out there. Quinchon Judkins obviously still not in camp. So Dylan Sampson continued to rise up draft boards here. Yep.
- [23:07]
Matthew Berry
And this offensive line has been good for a couple of years, but it's mainly been because of injuries like this. Cleveland Brown. Think about two, three years ago when Nick Chubb was really rolling and the offensive line was the strength of the team. It's largely the same guys there. It's just that they older and there's been more injuries. But there are worlds where this could be a competent offensive line, I think. And so the running back situation probably not as dire as it was last year.
- [23:31]
Connor Rogers
Getting away from the quarterbacks. A lot of eyes in Carolina on t. Mac Tearoa McMillan. Massive target share. Matthew, 50% target share. And it was great to just see Bryce Young throwing the ball up to him and even in coverage situations, allowing him to make some plays. I know there's some passes McMillan probably wish he came down with in this game, but also did make some plays. Caught two passes for 43 yards. Got to hear from the young quarterback, Bryce Young on building chemistry with the top 10 pick. He's done a great job throughout from when he got here after draft day to all the way through the offseason, through training camp. Just making a concerted effort of that, making sure that we're communicating, we're on the same page.
- [24:11]
Jay Croucher
And really it's been all the receivers.
- [24:13]
Connor Rogers
They do a great job of not.
- [24:15]
Jay Croucher
Just running their route and then going back and putting their head down. And they want to know the why, know the how, know if there's something they can improve. And I'm the same way as a.
- [24:22]
Connor Rogers
QB room, I take pride in it. We all take pride in making sure we're communicating.
- [24:25]
Jay Croucher
Hey, is this what you want?
- [24:26]
Connor Rogers
Is this what I want? Whatever it may be, making sure we're.
- [24:28]
Jay Croucher
On the same page.
- [24:29]
Connor Rogers
So seeing that from him and the.
- [24:31]
Jay Croucher
Whole receiver corps, it's great to see.
- [24:35]
Connor Rogers
Take a look at the Panthers target share leaders. Obviously. McMillan here. Jay Way on top of this board, but Matthew, Cokeheads unite as Jalen Coker catches a touchdown in this game. Back and better than ever.
- [24:48]
Jay Croucher
Cokehead Hive is alive and well as well. Yeah, yeah. The Cokehead Hive. You want to join the Cokehead Hive?
- [24:55]
Connor Rogers
Sure.
- [24:55]
Jay Croucher
You want to be a Cokehead? Is there room with me? Sure, plenty of room. Jump on board. Cokeheads unite. You got Thielen there, friend of the podcast. Xavier Leggette is gonna be in mix obviously as well during the season. So sort of interesting. I mean, like, Carolina's not good, but I don't think they're awful. I don't Think. Right.
- [25:15]
Connor Rogers
Yeah.
- [25:15]
Jay Croucher
No, I mean, just like whatever.
- [25:16]
Connor Rogers
Pushing off.
- [25:17]
Jay Croucher
You got T. Mac and you got Leggette and you know, Thielen is still a presence there. We love Jalen Coker Hubbard out of the backfield. Like there's. I don't know. They're not terrible.
- [25:26]
Matthew Berry
How much would we love Jalen Coker if his name was like Darrell Williams or something?
- [25:29]
Jay Croucher
Probably not, but it's not. But it.
- [25:32]
Matthew Berry
Sure. So here's the thing. I don't think the Panthers are terrible either, but I do think their defense is terrible. And I think that's good news for Bryce Young and T. Mac in terms of their fantasy value. Where T. Mac might be in terms of the talent level on that team, he might be two tiers above everyone else. And Bryce Young was a competent quarterback in the second half of last year. So you want to have competent quarterback throwing to one guy and having to throw all the time because they're losing because of their defense.
- [25:55]
Jay Croucher
I don't like. It's not as crazy a bet as your Giants to win the NFC east bet, but like the odds like the Panthers winning the division would not be insane. Insane.
- [26:06]
Matthew Berry
It's like 5 to 1. My Giants was like 80 to 1.
- [26:10]
Connor Rogers
Different worlds bigger than the US versus Russia in the 80s.
- [26:14]
Jay Croucher
The Panthers are 5 to 1 to win the division. Yeah. Which is a little.
- [26:16]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, they're like 5, 6 to 1.
- [26:18]
Connor Rogers
I think IMK9 hot take. But T. Mac is going to finish top 15 this year.
- [26:24]
Jay Croucher
It's from IMK9 on YouTube.
- [26:26]
Matthew Berry
Forget that. 25% of the division is like Tyler Schuck and the kind of washes away.
- [26:30]
Jay Croucher
But you like Michael Penix is unproven. The Falcons defense is unproven. And the Buccaneers, we all love the Buccaneers, but already an injury to the offensive line, they're a little bit older.
- [26:40]
Matthew Berry
Panthers are plus 380 on DraftKings to win the division. I can't get around that. Bucks win the division. I think. I think the Falcons have more upside.
- [26:48]
Jay Croucher
I agree with both those. I think if I was to predict, I think you'd see Bucs, Falcons, Panthers, Saints, how that division goes. But I'm just saying, like, football's a weird game. Sure. I just. If I'm a Carolina Panthers fan, I feel optimistic because it feels like they're finally heading in the right direction. That's all I'm saying. Yeah, keep pounding.
- [27:07]
Matthew Berry
Yes. Bryce Young was taken number one overall ahead of CJ Stroud and played really well towards the end of last year. Last year and a lot of Someone was playing bad defense, but like, he played really well against the Eagles and should have beaten the Eagles if I think Xavier Leggett dropped the touchdown down the middle. So, yeah, there's upside there for sure. On the offense, I think the defense is pretty bad.
- [27:25]
Jay Croucher
Yeah.
- [27:25]
Connor Rogers
One of the biggest fantasy storylines this summer, guys, is Travis Hunter. Not because of lack of talent, but how much will we see him on offense? In his debut, he caught two of both. Caught two or two targets, nine yards short passes against the Steelers. Got to hear from Jaguars head coach Liam Cohen after the game on Hunter's performance, not just on offense, but also on defense.
- [27:45]
Matthew Berry
I think he made a couple good catches on some option routes and, you know, missed the one tackle defensively that I noticed, like, that was the only things that I, you know, kind of noticed about his overall play in terms of that. I'll have to watch the tape on how he operated defensively a little bit more. But I thought offensively he made the right decisions on those option routes. Made a good catch. Almost broke out of that one where.
- [28:09]
Jay Croucher
Kind of Trevor put it behind him.
- [28:10]
Matthew Berry
On that third down we talked about. But, you know, I'll have to go watch the tape a little bit more to know more.
- [28:17]
Connor Rogers
I like that Liam Cohen breaks down the entire offensive performance, said like two words about the defense and he goes, ah, watch the tape on that.
- [28:23]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, exactly.
- [28:24]
Connor Rogers
Kind of tells you everything you need to know.
- [28:26]
Jay Croucher
He played 88% of the offensive plays with Trevor Lawrence tied for A team high 29% target share. And now on the second and third series, when sort of the backups were in, played 100% of the snaps. The defensive snaps on the second and third series, I am telling you, there he is. He's right there. He's on our. He's on our wall. We've already got the jersey. Old school Jaguars jersey too, by the way.
- [28:51]
Matthew Berry
We like that the Blake Bottles outfit.
- [28:52]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, exactly. It is. It is Travis Hunter Rocking the 12, I think. Travis Hunter. What are the odds of Travis Hunter for offensive MVP and offensive rookie of the Year?
- [29:05]
Matthew Berry
Offensive rookie of the year is like 10 to 1, 12 to 1, that type of range. Here's the thing, like Liam Cohen on the Rich Eisen show just casually let out like, yeah, we wanted to get him up to playing 80% of the snaps on offense. It's like Brian Thomas Jr. Played like 80% of the snaps on offense last year and was like top five in the NFL and receiving yards.
- [29:22]
Jay Croucher
I feel like I've said this a lot and I'm going To say this a lot more throughout the preseason. They've got a new general manager in James Gladstone. They have a new head coach in Liam Cohen. And the first move they did was give up a first round pick and a first round next year and like a second this year, a couple of mid round push. Yeah, they gave up a boatload of draft capital to move up three spots to draft Travis Hunter. They basically said, hey, we're all in on Travis Hunter, their first big moves. And so again, I think so much gets lost in fantasy analysis as we sit here and we talk about yards per route run and you know, and just there's all sorts of underlying statistics which are great and helpful, especially along with doing film work. But the thing that I think gets missed the most in fantasy analysis, that they are human beings, coaches and players are human beings with egos and emotions and all the things that make us good and bad people. And if you are James Gladstone and you and Liam Cohen that you have just in your very first opportunity, it's his first opportunity to be a general manager, It's Cohen's first opportunity to be a head coach of the NFL. And your big move is like, we're doing all this, we're trading all this to go all in on Travis Hunter. He has to work like if there's like, if nothing else works in Jacksonville this year, Travis Hunter has to be a success. We're going to do whatever we can to make Travis Hunter a success just from an ego and natural, natural human being nature of it. Right? From human nature. And so yeah, I think Travis Hunter is going to play a ton on offense and I think he's going to be phenomenal. And wherever he's going in drafts, it's not high enough. He will be on the love list. I'm just telling you now.
- [31:00]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, they have an easy fourth place schedule. They play in a weak division. I think that also like Trevor Lawrence has been written off far too prematurely. We're like two, two years removed from Trevor Lawrence coming back from like was like 33 against the charge in the playoff game. Winning the division is a generational prospect coming out. Yeah, he's got flaws, but I think that Trevor Lawrence has absolutely the talent to be a top 10 quarterback this year. Yeah, I think the Jags, I think the Jags gonna be solid. I like them over seven and a half wins.
- [31:28]
Jay Croucher
I think they're sleepers up and down. Like again, Brian Thomas Jr. He's a superstar, that's great. But because there's uncertainty in that backfield I think there's going to be value there once we know that, like, you know, you and I both like Bashel Tootin. Right. I think Travis Etienne is, you know, going, going way late as well. Tank Bigsby has shown some flashes, so again we're gonna need to figure that, figure all that out. But Breton, strange. I think Parker Washington is a slot guy in deeper PPR formats. Richie F says biggest question is what if Trevor Lawrence thinks. I don't think he does.
- [32:01]
Matthew Berry
I don't think he can stink. I think there are worlds where no, he could be like a slightly below average quarterback this year. That's reasonable. I think he stinks. He's got too much talent and also he's done too much.
- [32:12]
Jay Croucher
Think about that comeback. Think about the playoff game comeback against the Charger.
- [32:16]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, he played at a top 10 quarterback level that year and then was halfway through the following year was like in contention to be the one seed and then he started getting injured and then last year was just the disaster. He's got all the talents he's got. He can make all the throws, he can move. He can do everything. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes like it feels like he just doesn't see the safety dropping back and throw some bad picks and he sails some balls. But I think that in Cohen is the best offensive mind I think he's worked with.
- [32:39]
Connor Rogers
This is the best talent he's had. Yeah, I mean, legitimately, this is the best talent he's had. By the way, on Fantasy Life, the consensus ADP for Travis Hunter. He's being drafted as wide receiver 30. I would say when you, most of you draft two to three to four weeks from now, man, I think it's going to be earlier than that. We're Talking about the 69th, 70th pick.
- [32:56]
Jay Croucher
In the draft and some of that ADP is skewed by best ball. Like underdog. We have Underdog ADP in there consistently.
- [33:02]
Connor Rogers
The earliest on Underdog, best ball 55th, which makes sense. But in redraft you're looking at 65 to 73 is where he's going. Typically it's an absolute steal. It's crazy.
- [33:14]
Matthew Berry
If he's gonna play 80% of the steps and he's just like Malik Navis.
- [33:19]
Jay Croucher
I keep going back to what Connor said during the pre draft process where it was just like, if you knew for a fact that Travis Hunter was only going to play offense, he'd be a Randy Moss level prospect coming.
- [33:28]
Connor Rogers
Ochocinko was the one I really liked. Like, that's the player he reminds me of just how quickly he wins, how cleanly he catches the ball and turns into a runner after the catch so quickly. So. And I just think Jacksonville looks at him like that. Yeah, they like that he plays defense and will play defense, but I think they're looking at him going. We come from an identity in Tampa Bay where we had all these pass catching weapons. We have Brian Thomas Jr.
- [33:48]
Jay Croucher
Here.
- [33:48]
Connor Rogers
We need another guy, another guy to funnel the offense through.
- [33:50]
Jay Croucher
That's right.
- [33:51]
Connor Rogers
So all right, our next guy here, Travion Henderson, one carry for 18 yards against the Commanders. But more impressively, not only caught three passes for 18 yards, the 100 yard kickoff return, first touchdown to open the game. Matthew, you could just see the explosive element that Trayvon Henderson brings to an offense that has lacked a guy like that for so long now.
- [34:14]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, I mean Ramonda Stevenson isn't going to go away, at least anytime soon. 83% of the rushing attempts with Drake May in under center went to Ramondre Stevenson. But still Henderson, to your point, got a decent amount of looks from Drake May in this offense. Clearly throwing to Trevion Henderson. As you see it there on your screen, three receptions for 12 yards. He's obviously going to be a big part of their passing attack and he'll get some carries and he's got the kind of explosiveness that anytime he touches the ball he can take it to the house. I don't think they want him to be an every down back. I don't think he's built that way for the NFL. But there is. But Josh McDaniels is clearly. Josh McDaniels has always used a running back in the passing game. And so to have a weapon like this, they're going to manufacture touches for him and figure out a way to try to get him in space.
- [35:06]
Connor Rogers
Our next running back here, Jay RJ Harvey. The good news for Harvey after the Broncos took him in the second round is seven carries in this game against the Niners. 25 yards. He also had a catch. This is with the starting team. It was with the first team unit. Obviously this backfield in Denver can be hard to figure out, but they drafted Harvey that early for a reason. They're going to utilize him.
- [35:24]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, another good reminder to not pay any, not pay too much attention to these unofficial depth charts which had listed fifth just compiled by someone in the communications theme. But looks like he's going to be the clear guy. He was taking all the carries with the first team. J.K. dobbins was the passing down back. I think that is going to carry over to the regular season. This is an elite offensive line. First time offense didn't look good out there but you know it's three series, whatever, they'll figure it out. And yeah, last year the Broncos offensive line was one of the best in the NFL. Creating yards before contact just didn't have anyone to burst through that and create yards after. RJ Harvey certainly better than anything they had last year at running back.
- [36:01]
Jay Croucher
He's my running back 20. I have him at 60th overall. Trevion Henderson I have it running back 2161 overall. So those guys back to back in my rankings just right there both inside my top 60 overall.
- [36:11]
Connor Rogers
A couple quick hitters here. If you've missed out on some news, Jalen Wright operate as the clear RB2 in the dolphins offense behind Devon H and Alexander Madison. Veteran running back on that team. He's going to miss the season. He just had neck surgery. So the Dolphins backfield after a chain or as some people have said on the show, Ashane becoming a little more clear with the youngster and Jalen Wright.
- [36:32]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, I mean they've got Ollie Gordon there. The rookie Jamal Williams is working out with them so we'll see if they sign him for some depth as well. But it's going to be HN and Jalen Wright's the guy you want as an insurance back.
- [36:44]
Connor Rogers
Blake Corum with the Rams looked slightly ahead of Jarquez Hunter in the battle for the Rams RB2. Obviously Kyron Williams is the guy there but but you'll keep an eye on in case of any injury situations. Insurance backfield battle between those two. Kendrick Miller played 82% of the snaps on the first three drives. Alvin Camaro obviously rested during the preseason but feels like Matthew the Saints try this with Kendra Miller every year. He just needs to stay healthy for.
- [37:08]
Jay Croucher
Most of the time he needs to stay healthy but he's clearly the backup at the assuming health. He's clearly the backup to Alvin Camaro.
- [37:14]
Connor Rogers
Burchard Smith, the rookie running back former wide receiver out of smu played well behind Kareem Hunt and Elijah Mitchell kind of figure out the Chiefs backfield which is seems to always be kind of in flux for sure A lot of.
- [37:25]
Jay Croucher
Different talent cut to everyone at home. Like wait, Elijah Mitchell's on the Chiefs right?
- [37:30]
Connor Rogers
Yes, that was one of those moments but believe it.
- [37:32]
Jay Croucher
Yes that is where he wound up. He's in Kansas City. Always confusing but in terms of Pacheco or you know, whatever Kareem Hunt, Elijah.
- [37:41]
Matthew Berry
Mitchell is going to score the game when he touched down in the Super Bowl. And me Cole Hardman's footsteps against the the Niners.
- [37:47]
Connor Rogers
On the Arizona wide receiver depth chart, Zay Jones played ahead of Michael Wilson as the wide receiver. 2 Whoever's going to line up across from Marvin Harrison. Colson loveland had a 50% target share on the first two drives. Cole Comet didn't play Dalton Kincaid. Matthew only had a 60% route participation. Obviously this is a Bills offense that's going to use both tight ends in Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid.
- [38:06]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, and Shakur is banged up. I still think a big year is coming for Dalton Kincaid. I'm not worried about that.
- [38:12]
Matthew Berry
What'd you call him? Shakir.
- [38:13]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, Shakur Khalil. Shakir.
- [38:16]
Matthew Berry
Shakira. Shakir, Shakir.
- [38:18]
Jay Croucher
What did I say? Did I mispronounce that?
- [38:20]
Matthew Berry
I think you kind of went with like Shakir Sanders type of.
- [38:24]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, no, he's trying to get in.
- [38:26]
Connor Rogers
Your head before the Tonight, Shakira.
- [38:27]
Jay Croucher
He is trying to screw up.
- [38:28]
Matthew Berry
Just don't bring up Khalil Shakir to Jimmy Fallon.
- [38:31]
Jay Croucher
I'm definitely not Talk Bill's offense, please, Jim. I'm definitely not doing that.
- [38:35]
Connor Rogers
A reminder to everyone that's what's going.
- [38:37]
Jay Croucher
To come up on the Tonight show.
- [38:39]
Connor Rogers
That if you want to join the conversation live, live, as many are right now, great job by the audience today. Tune in daily to the NFL and NBC YouTube channel at noon Eastern for our live stream of Happy hour and you can still catch us on peacock at 5 Eastern. We're taking our first break. Still ahead, breaking down some of the messiest backfields this season right after this.
- [39:08]
Jay Croucher
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- [39:32]
Matthew Berry
Infections and liver problems may occur.
- [39:34]
Jay Croucher
Before treatment, your doctor should check you.
- [39:36]
Matthew Berry
For infections and tb.
- [39:37]
Jay Croucher
Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. Explore what's possible and ask your doctor about tremphya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit tremphyaradio.com.
- [39:54]
Connor Rogers
For years, everyone thought Verizon had the best network because they did.
- [39:58]
Matthew Berry
But now the best mobile network in the US is T Mobile. T Mobile's network has the most advanced 5G with more towers and their signal reaches further than ever. So you can text an Insta talk.
- [40:11]
Connor Rogers
And say, you won't believe where I am.
- [40:15]
Jay Croucher
T Mobile has the best mobile network in the US based on analysis by Ookla of Speedtest Intelligence data 1H2025CT mobile.com network.
- [40:22]
Matthew Berry
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- [41:24]
Jay Croucher
You know, AJ called me and, you know, told me that he's like, breeze.
- [41:28]
Matthew Berry
Do you, you think I want to trade you?
- [41:29]
Jay Croucher
And I was like, I don't know.
- [41:30]
Matthew Berry
He was like, breece, I don't want to trade you. So I want you to be here.
- [41:33]
Jay Croucher
You're going to be, you're going to be here. You're at running back. And so that, that felt really good. And then just to sit down with him and have a lot of long conversations and for him to fill me.
- [41:42]
Matthew Berry
Out for me to, you know, get.
- [41:43]
Jay Croucher
To know him and everything, it's been cool.
- [41:47]
Connor Rogers
Jets running back Breece hall on talking about just how much Aaron Glenn wanted him to be the team's guy. Despite that, guys, as we look at the jets running back depth chart here, Breece Hall, Braylon Allen, Isaiah Davis. Kennewanwu is more of a kick returner and they do have Donovan Edwards, the undrafted rookie out of Michigan, in camp. I've been sitting, people ask me obviously to do a lot of coverage with the Jets. You know, whoa. How do you view the jets in fantasy this year? I have not been drafted drafting Breeze hall in best ball. I just have not. He's going to catch a lot of passes. He's still an explosive playmaker. They look at Braylon Allen and even Isaiah Davis a little bit as their David Montgomery. Because the staff came from the Lions. I don't think the volume is going to be what everybody dreams of when they take the RB14 in drafts.
- [42:31]
Jay Croucher
I am at 35 overall. I'm at RB14. Am I wrong? Am I too high?
- [42:36]
Connor Rogers
I mean, I'd be like a little at like 40th overall. Yeah, you're right around it. Justin Fields is going to steal touchdowns. By the way, we already saw that first drive of the preseason. They are involving Braylon Allen and Isaiah Davis with the starters. It's not like they just get looks at the second and third team. They like Breece Hall. Breeze hall is an element of this jets offensive. They don't have a lot of explosiveness, but the days of Breece hall being this, you know, workhorse RB1 runaway with carries, I just don't see it in this offense. And he hasn't been healthy enough to prove that the last couple of years.
- [43:07]
Matthew Berry
Still can't believe they gave him 37 carries in that game against the Pats in week 18 a couple of years ago.
- [43:12]
Connor Rogers
Bill Belichick's last NFL game, by the way.
- [43:14]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, yeah. I mean, look, as your point to your point, right. Isaiah Davis, Braylon Allen, Breeze hall all saw snaps with the starters on that first drive.
- [43:22]
Connor Rogers
That's been camp.
- [43:23]
Jay Croucher
Yeah.
- [43:23]
Connor Rogers
Like at some point they're just telling you exactly who they are and what they want to be. It's not that don't draft Breeze hall, but at cost right now. And maybe the market reacts to all this and it adjusts properly. But he's being taken rich. He's being taken like a workhorse. Yeah, he's not. He's not a workhorse anymore.
- [43:38]
Matthew Berry
You zoom out and he's a guy who has had a lot of injury troubles, who's in a timeshare with a rushing quarterback on a team that's projected by the market to win six games. Like, it's just. It's just tough. Even if the talent is there. And also just makes sense to have him on a bit more of a pitch count so you can utilize his explosiveness and not expose him to injury as much.
- [43:56]
Jay Croucher
If he does get a lot of targets, he's involved in the passing game. That's. That's valuable. Again, we always talk about targets more valuable than rushing attempts, but still, it's not only his show, right? Right.
- [44:09]
Connor Rogers
We'll have to see Justin Fields being willing to throw to him consistently for him to back up. This cost the Cowboys this Backfield all over the place. Not anybody ranked in your top 100, obviously Matthew, Javante Williams, the rookie Jaden Blue and the veteran Miles Sanders. Doucemont still there as well. I mean this is just kind of a blender.
- [44:28]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, it is. I mean, I have Williams ranked the highest of the three of them at the moment until we get more clarity, but they're all right there. I mean, I have Javante Williams at running back 40, Jaden Blue at 46, Jadon Blue. But though, even though I'm at 46, he's the running back that I prefer to draft just because I feel like at least there's some unknown and some upside. Javonte Williams, I sort of feel we know what he is at this point. This is going to be a pass heavy offense. It's going to be a very pass heavy offense. I'd much rather invest in the George Pickens and Jake Fergusons of the world than the running game. Obviously Ceedee Lam's a first rounder, but just. It just doesn't feel like they're going to be super run effective.
- [45:06]
Matthew Berry
No. And also the defense is very thin and Michael Parsons isn't on it at the moment. I think this team is going to be playing in a lot of shootouts. You see Dakota telling Stan Kroenke that he'll see him in the nfc, he'll see the Rams in the NFC championship game. I don't think so.
- [45:22]
Connor Rogers
I like that.
- [45:23]
Jay Croucher
I mean in the stands maybe because they, you know, maybe get right. They're just. They all get together.
- [45:28]
Matthew Berry
They play Madden online together. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. Strange.
- [45:32]
Connor Rogers
I hope we can roll that sound back. Yeah, but you're probably right. Another messy backfield. Guys. Jacksonville, as much as we love the passing game here, Matthew Travis Etienne is going to kind of let fantasy owners down the last couple years. He's still getting run though, with the starters. We like baseball, Tootin, but it doesn't look like Jacksonville's ready to just propel him into a top role.
- [45:52]
Jay Croucher
Not in the near future. Etienne started, played 100% of the snaps with Trevor Lawrence under center. Tank Bigsby played the next two drives after he left, after Trevor Lawrence left. And then Bashal Tutin took over for BigSby in the second quarter. So it looks like, you know, again we're reading tea leaves and we only have so much to go off of. But after the first game, it does feel like that pecking order is where we sort of are right now.
- [46:15]
Matthew Berry
I thought the single most fantasy pertinent thing out of this weekend of preseason was that Travis ETM played 100% of the snapshot. Really material and also very surprising, very surprising. That wasn't expected at all. And that's I think really key particularly in fantasy because Liam Cohen last year was the absolute screen master in terms of what he devised in Tampa Bay. So if Travis Etienne is going to get work in the passing game as well, all of a sudden Travis Etienne bounce back candidate for sure.
- [46:44]
Jay Croucher
This is a guy that was a top 10 running back very recently and so just, you know, the entire offense sort of went off track and so he's had some injury histories as well. But if you knew right now that he was the starter like his draft stock should be way, way up because there's still some explosiveness there and we like this offense like we overall like again their defense isn't very good and we think there's some nice pieces and there's a good play caller there in Liam Cohen. Again they were fourth in running the Buccaneers under Liam Cohen as you mentioned, fourth running back target share second in fantasy running buck points like if you are running back in a Liam Cohen offense fantasy good as follows.
- [47:23]
Matthew Berry
He's gone like 70 spots after Bruce hall as ETN doesn't make a lot of sense.
- [47:27]
Jay Croucher
I'd much rather have etn.
- [47:28]
Connor Rogers
We know how badly the Steelers want.
- [47:30]
Jay Croucher
To run and we will rank ETN higher in my next update.
- [47:33]
Connor Rogers
With Arthur Smith as the play caller and Aaron Rodgers as the veteran quarterback, the question is how will this backfield actually shake out? Caleb Johnson, the third round rookie. He's being drafted the earliest, Matthew by a good margin. J. Warren is there. He didn't play in the preseason game. He was getting rest. I talked to somebody that was at Steelers camp and they talked about how much they are excited about Kenneth Gainwell. I just think which I was like, oh, I didn't really look at it that way because they have two other guys that they've invested in.
- [48:01]
Jay Croucher
Four words you don't expect to hear excited about Kenneth Gainwell but look at.
- [48:05]
Connor Rogers
This from the preseason right now. Jalen Warren didn't play. Kenneth Gainwell started over the third round pick in Caleb Johnson. This is one where I think just every like the Jets, I think everybody's going to get work in this backfield. I really do.
- [48:19]
Jay Croucher
Arthur Smith wants to run like we know this. He wants to run, run, run, run. You know, everybody gets a piece of it. This is someone that used to give rushing attempts to John ooh Smith when he was in Atlanta.
- [48:29]
Connor Rogers
He'll do it again.
- [48:30]
Jay Croucher
He'll do it again. 1000% fascinated by the Steelers offense.
- [48:35]
Matthew Berry
What's it going to. What the hell is it going to look like?
- [48:37]
Jay Croucher
What's going on?
- [48:37]
Connor Rogers
A lot of John Osmond Rogers.
- [48:39]
Jay Croucher
I mean, who knows? I mean, I think they're going to want to protect Rodgers. Like, all jokes aside, like, they do not want, they do not want to put this offense on Aaron Rodgers shoulders. They don't want to, you know, for DK Metcalf and any, you know, any.
- [48:52]
Matthew Berry
Brett Favre in Minnesota potential for Rodgers or do you think he's done.
- [48:55]
Connor Rogers
That was a great season. I'm not ready to go there. No.
- [48:58]
Matthew Berry
Okay.
- [48:59]
Connor Rogers
I don't even think Mike Tomlin would ever want to play offense that way. Yeah, it's, you know, but like Matthew said, Arthur Smith wants to run the ball a lot and Arthur Smith likes a lot. It's going to be a ton of John Usmith in this offense, like target wise, I think I really believe so.
- [49:13]
Jay Croucher
Gross. So Grossmith loves him. I know.
- [49:16]
Matthew Berry
Loves him.
- [49:17]
Jay Croucher
Loves him.
- [49:18]
Connor Rogers
All right, how about the Texans in terms of messy backfield? This one, you know, we know what Joe Mixon is. We just need Joe Mixon to be healthy going into the season. He's in your top 100, Matthew, 99th overall. And then it's a matter of does Nick Chubb have anything left in the tank? Can Woody Marks as a rookie offer anything as a pass catcher that he was in college? And then how the mighty have fallen. Damian Pierce not ranked this year.
- [49:40]
Jay Croucher
I mean, let's. I mean let's sort of. So neither Mixon nor Chubb played in this game. Dario Goombawali played 100% of the snaps with Davis. Mills Stroud didn't play either in this game. So there's a lot to. There's not much to take away from this other than maybe just avoid the Texans backfield. Like if you can get Mixon at a discount. Sure. Like I'm at running back 31. I don't mind a late flyer on Woody Marks, who I think is sort of interesting.
- [50:08]
Connor Rogers
Right.
- [50:09]
Jay Croucher
I. It. It's sad to say because we love Nick Chubb, but it. All the camp reports are like kind.
- [50:16]
Matthew Berry
Of the red flag there is that camp reports like coaches always skew extremely positive. And d' Amico was like, it's gonna take him a while. He's like, what?
- [50:26]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, yeah. What happened to best shape of his career? Yeah, yeah. Great attitude, but never know he got hurt. Yeah.
- [50:32]
Matthew Berry
Unbelievable. Is Damian Pierce just done. Damian Pierce was like offensive rookie of the year favorite halfway through the season and like lit up the Eagles in prime time.
- [50:40]
Connor Rogers
And now he's a running back. Yeah, it can go quick.
- [50:42]
Jay Croucher
Go quick. I mean, look, he was a guy that I think he was a fourth round pick out of Florida Atlantic, right? Florida. Yeah. Oh, Florida.
- [50:49]
Connor Rogers
The real thing.
- [50:49]
Jay Croucher
The real thing.
- [50:50]
Connor Rogers
Yes, the Gators.
- [50:51]
Jay Croucher
But you know, he's a day three pick, so there wasn't. People were surprised that he went where he went. And so he wasn't somebody that, as I remember it, had a great draft profile.
- [51:01]
Connor Rogers
Yeah. Power runner, good pass protector. But he's just very limited. Yeah, limited scheme wise. And you know, he's another guy that's been banged up as well. NBC Sports now is our free 247 streaming channel. You can get NFL news and all the biggest stories in Sports Starting at 7am with PFT Live, the Dan Patrick show, the Dan Levittard show with Stu Gotts, Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry and Chris Simms Unbuttoned. Just go to NBCSports.com now. We're taking our last break. When we're back, last call. We're making our predictions for who has the most regular season wins on DraftKings.
- [51:59]
Matthew Berry
If you could hear love, what would it sound like?
- [52:10]
Jay Croucher
Son, can we talk about your drinking?
- [52:14]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, Dad, I think we should helping.
- [52:18]
Jay Croucher
Those closest to you think about their excessive drinking.
- [52:22]
Matthew Berry
Maybe that's what love sounds like. More@rethinkthedrink.com An OHA initiative Adobe Acrobat Studio so brand new.
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Jay Croucher
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Connor Rogers
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Jay Croucher
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Connor Rogers
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- [52:48]
Jay Croucher
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- [52:56]
Connor Rogers
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- [53:00]
Matthew Berry
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- [53:04]
Jay Croucher
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- [53:06]
Matthew Berry
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- [53:11]
Jay Croucher
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- [53:18]
Matthew Berry
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Jay Croucher
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- [53:30]
Connor Rogers
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- [53:45]
Jay Croucher
The crown is yours.
- [53:47]
Matthew Berry
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
- [53:49]
Connor Rogers
Time for last call.
- [53:51]
Jay Croucher
Hung you out to dry.
- [53:51]
Connor Rogers
There are the odds for most regular season wins going into the 2025 NFL season. The Bills are the pretty heavy favorite at plus 350, followed by the Ravens. Jay, what do you like on this board?
- [54:03]
Matthew Berry
Yeah, the Bills are the favorite just because they have quite an easy schedule. Schedule, yes. Bad division. They had a brutal week one home to the Ravens on Sunday Night Football and then it gets a lot easier for them after that. I'm going to take the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 21. They play in not a super threatening division in the NFC South. An easy enough schedule. This team last year was a top five offense that I think improved. And if you remove turnovers, which are fluky year to year, they were number 14 defense and that was banged up. They were banged up a lot. Antoine Winfield wasn't himself. He's the best player on that defense. I think there are worlds where The Bucs go 13 and 4. They have close to the best offensive football and an above average defense. And we're talking about this team as a real contender to go to the Super Bowl.
- [54:46]
Connor Rogers
I'm going to take one of the favorites here in the Ravens. I just think they're loaded and ready to roll and they finally have legit pass rushing. Help. Help on the back end. We know how good Lamar is. Nothing really needs to be said about that offense. They'd like seeing Keaton Mitchell healthy.
- [54:57]
Jay Croucher
Let's go.
- [54:58]
Connor Rogers
A little change of pace behind Derrick Henry. They're really excited about him. So plus 500 for the Ravens, but for good reason. I think they're going to absolutely roll this year.
- [55:05]
Jay Croucher
I'm shocked that the The Chiefs are plus 900.
- [55:08]
Matthew Berry
Like I feel like it's just the schedule. The schedule is tough.
- [55:12]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, but I know, but they're the Chiefs. Like last year they were brutal and like they still managed to win like every single game.
- [55:19]
Matthew Berry
The Detroit Lions went 15 and 2 last year. Had one of the most injured defenses of all time in NFL. In NFL history. And they're 18 1.
- [55:26]
Jay Croucher
Yeah, that's striking to me. And of course my commanders at 22 1. Makes no sense at all. Team of destiny, obviously. 17 0. Jaden Daniels. You know, faith in five. We added Deebo Samuel. We added Laramie Tunsall, Terry McMillan. You know, Terry McLaurin will get in there at some point.
- [55:42]
Connor Rogers
Yes. Eventually.
- [55:44]
Jay Croucher
Marshawn Lattimore has found the fountain of youth. He's going to play like a 25 year old. Come on. Everything's burgundy and gold. Hail the Commander sale victory.
- [55:52]
Matthew Berry
Yeah. Tough schedule for them as well.
- [55:53]
Jay Croucher
It is a tough schedule as well.
- [55:55]
Matthew Berry
Yeah.
- [55:55]
Jay Croucher
But worry about the defense a little bit. A little bit. But you know, the best player in your day long. I think it's like I will say, isn't it like 18 straight years that somebody different has won the NFC East. Right.
- [56:07]
Matthew Berry
So you're saying Giants this year?
- [56:09]
Jay Croucher
No.
- [56:09]
Connor Rogers
How about this from stuntman Chuck85. Question for Jane Connor. Where would Matthew Berry rank all time as a Bond villain? Full ppr.
- [56:17]
Jay Croucher
Oh, that's good question.
- [56:18]
Matthew Berry
Yeah. Somewhere in between Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre and Gold Finger in between. That makes sure.
- [56:26]
Jay Croucher
That's fair enough. Fair enough. I, I, I'm trying to think of all the different Bond villains.
- [56:31]
Connor Rogers
You dress like one tonight on the Tonight Show. I saw your audition.
- [56:34]
Matthew Berry
Scaramongo from man with the Golden Gun, played by Chris. There's a lot of Bond villains.
- [56:39]
Jay Croucher
Who's the big tall one? I forget the big tall one, but that's right. Can you imagine if I dressed as a Bond villain and I ran into Pierce Brosnan's dressing room? Let's see what you do now.
- [56:48]
Connor Rogers
I don't know how I'll react to that.
- [56:50]
Matthew Berry
We'll see.
- [56:51]
Jay Croucher
Listen. And it's closing time, which means you don't have to go home, but you can, you can't stay here. Watch the Tonight Show. Tonight I'm making my triumphant return. God bless Jimmy Fallon. He drinks free. For Jay and Connor, I'm Matthew. We will see you back here tomorrow at noon. Peace out.
- [57:14]
Matthew Berry
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- [57:16]
Connor Rogers
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- [57:23]
Matthew Berry
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- [57:26]
Connor Rogers
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Matthew Berry
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- [57:29]
Connor Rogers
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- [57:37]
Matthew Berry
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- [57:44]
Connor Rogers
Football jersey, you've got the passion, but you're chasing it with, well, whatever.
- [57:48]
Jay Croucher
Tequila.
- [57:49]
Connor Rogers
Some celeb was pushing.
- [57:50]
Jay Croucher
Come on.
- [57:51]
Connor Rogers
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- [58:10]
Jay Croucher
Gran Centenario tequila. 40% alcohol by volume. Proximoproximospirits.com.