RB Sleepers, Tiers, and Fears 2025

Summary

The Ringer Fantasy Football Show – "RB Sleepers, Tiers, and Fears 2025"

Date: August 6, 2025
Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, Craig Horlbeck
Special Guest: Sean Fennessey

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, The Ringer Fantasy Football Show crew dives deep into the 2025 fantasy football running back landscape. They break down RB "sleepers, tiers, and fears": which RBs you should draft, who to avoid, which backfields are in flux, and how to build a winning team this season. Along the way, there's spirited debate about player value, coach impacts, and even a detour into Happy Gilmore 2 and the best/worst fantasy punishments for the Ringer staff league.

---

News & Notable NFL Context

[03:13] Cowboys & Commanders Trade Drama

• Micah Parsons (Dallas) has formally requested a trade, dropping a lengthy Notes App message on social media.
• Hosts discuss Jerry Jones’ media-savvy approach: "Jerry looks at contract drama as free advertising for his company." (Heifetz, 04:28)
• “The Cowboys are going to sign Micah Parsons. They're not going to trade him. They're going to cave, like September 3rd. They're gonna give Micah Parsons $42 million a year,” (Heifetz, 04:08)
• Terry McLaurin (Washington) has also requested a trade, seeking $30M a year, but it’s described as “the single least likely player to request a trade... He’s going to sign with Washington.” (Heifetz, 08:16)

[13:14] Rams RB and QB Updates

• Kyren Williams signs a 2-year, $11.5M/year deal with the Rams. Notably, Sean McVay continues to trust Williams, despite perpetual skepticism from analysts: “Sean McVay... has not suggested anything other than he really likes Kyron Williams. And all of us collectively refuse to believe that.” (Kelly, 10:37)
• Matthew Stafford hasn't taken part in training camp due to “back soreness,” concerning fantasy drafters. All three hosts riff on the realities of aging bodies, both for Stafford and themselves.

---

Key Segment: Running Back Tiers and Draft Strategy

Importance of Tiers in Drafting

[16:54]

• “If you really want to have success in your draft, try to have tiers... We're gonna make sure we get the buckets right. The order within the buckets, we don’t care.” (Heifetz)

---

Tier 1: “I’m Never Gonna Die” Backs

[17:54–30:33]

• Saquon Barkley (Eagles)
  • Workhorse, high floor/ceiling, but slight injury “fear” after 482 touches last year.
• Bijan Robinson (Falcons)
  • Locked-in three-down role, explosive.
• Jahmyr Gibbs (Lions)
  • High pass-catching role; ascending offense.
• Derrick Henry (Ravens, Age 31)
  • Debate on RB age dropoff; hosts agree Henry is an outlier and deserves top-tier status.
  • "If Derrick Henry is on your fantasy football team, you're like, I am immortal." (Heifetz, 30:24)

Memorable Quotes

• "Call me when he slows down.” – Craig, on Derrick Henry’s doubters (19:02)
• "It's like Tom Brady. He's changed what it should be…” – Heifetz, on Henry’s longevity (29:49)

---

Tier 2: Elite with More Risk – “I Might Die but I'm Gonna Die Trying”

[30:34–34:31]

• Christian McCaffrey (49ers)
  • Injury worries, especially after last year’s Achilles injury, but otherwise top-2 every week.
  • “Every week, McCaffrey's healthy, we're gonna have McCaffrey first or second every f***ing week…” (Heifetz, 27:18)
• De’Von Achane (Dolphins)
  • Massive Tua-dependent upside: “With Tua, 20 points per game; without, about 8.” (Heifetz, 23:10)
• Ashton Jeanty (Rookie, Bengals)
  • Enormous hype, but “Trent Richardson is the only thing holding me back from going all-in on Jeanty.” – Craig (30:57)

Tier 2 Philosophy:

• These are guys you’d be thrilled with, but injury or rookie risk is at play.

---

The Jonathan Taylor Dilemma

[34:31–34:47]

• Taylor is consensus bell-cow but in a bad offense. After debate, he’s moved just outside the elite tier.

---

Next Tier: “RB1s With Flaws—The Last RB1s You’ll Be Happy to Start”

[37:35–52:06]

• Name-Check of Tier:
  • Jonathan Taylor (Colts), Josh Jacobs (Packers), Bucky Irving (Bucs), Kyren Williams (Rams), Chase Brown (Bengals), Omarion Hampton (Chargers)

On Omarion Hampton:

• Huge upside if Najee Harris (Chargers) is out long-term after injury.
• "Hampton's getting all these first team reps... he should be much higher.” (Kelly, 43:20)
• "If you get one of these last true RB1s at the right value, you can build a winning team." (Heifetz, 50:37)

---

Tier: RB2s/Committee & “Flawed Workhorses”

[52:14–53:13]

• Alvin Kamara (Saints), Ken Walker (Seahawks), James Cook (Bills; regression likely), Chuba Hubbard (Panthers), etc.
• Kamara as RB2: “As your #2, you feel great, but as your RB1, you’re justifying it to yourself…” (Heifetz, 51:12)

James Cook Regression Fears:

• Cook's “16 rushing TD” season may not repeat—less than 50% snaps/carries, heavy TD regression risk. (40:02)
• “He plays less than 50% of the snaps… would it surprise you if his touchdown total fell to seven or something this year?” (Craig, 41:01)

---

Next Tier: 1A/1B Backfield Timeshares & High-Upside Rookies

[54:36–61:26]

• David Montgomery (Lions), Tony Pollard (Titans), Aaron Jones (Vikings), Isaiah Pacheco (Chiefs), De’Andre Swift (Bears)
• Rookie trio: RJ Harvey (Broncos), TreVeyon Henderson (Patriots), Caleb Johnson (Steelers)

• “Isaiah Pacheco is a really smart under-discussed value right now.” (Craig, 55:46)

On Patriots’ TreVeyon Henderson:

• “Hype train has left the station... He’s a really reliable back in a lot of ways—good pass blocker, good in passing game.” (Kelly, 57:47)
• “Everyone I trust with the Patriots says he’s going to take over this year, not just part of a succession plan.” (Heifetz, 58:26)

---

Steelers, Texans, Jaguars—Backfields in Flux

[61:53–67:09]

• Caleb Johnson (Steelers): “I just want to be out on the Steelers running backs… enough touches, not enough success.” (Heifetz, 62:57)
• Texans: Joe Mixon’s injury makes the lead back (Woody Marks, Dameon Pierce) a free/tremendous value.
• Jaguars: "Bigsby’s going to win that job in Jacksonville." (Heifetz, 67:58)

---

Deep Dives, Sleepers & Dart Throws

[67:54–70:38]

• Names like Tyler Allgeier (Falcons), Isaac Guerendo (49ers), Rashad White (Bucs), Tyjae Spears (Titans; “Spears is a value”), Bashaw Tootin (Jags), Austin Ekeler (Washington), Jerome Ford (Browns).
• On Cowboys: “Miles Sanders, from camp reports, looks significantly better than Javonte Williams but now has a knee injury—Jaden Blue, rookie, is getting starter reps.” (Craig, 69:55)

---

Special Guest Segment: Sean Fennessey

[75:11–84:40]

On Steelers Signing Aaron Rodgers

[76:01]

• Craig attempts optimism, but Sean Fennessey eviscerates his fence-sitting:
  • “You kind of need to either go all-in… or just get off the boat… The Steelers are entering Jetsey territory… you need to get on our level.” (Sean Fennessey, 77:18)
  • “There is a serious chance Aaron Rodgers ends up the QB of the first Mike Tomlin Steelers team to have a losing record… It will literally be, ‘Aaron Rodgers was great, then he ruined Mike Tomlin’s career.’” (Heifetz, 79:04)

On Jets and Justin Fields

• Sean: “I feel like [Justin Fields] is a turkey sandwich. Solid, gets you through the day.” (81:06)
• “If he’s just above average, they could win eight or nine games.” (Sean, 83:38)

---

League Punishment Brainstorm & Fun Segment

[84:44–92:08]

• The group crowdsources Ringer Fantasy Football League punishments, debating what’s both humiliating and realistically doable for high-profile on-air talent (including Bill Simmons).
  • Notables: “Vanilla Ice slits in the eyebrows”—Sean would do this, but not eat two cold cans of soup. “Don’t make me eat something disgusting… anything that is Fear Factor-related.” (Sean, 89:03)
  • Other suggestions: 5 minutes of stand-up, taking the SATs, having to display a rival jersey.

---

Happy Gilmore 2 Debate

[92:08–99:49]

• Craig’s scathing review: “Pandering, lazy nostalgia slop.” (Craig, 92:37)
• Heifetz’s counter: “Of course Happy Gilmore 2 is fan service. Yes, I am a fan—I felt served.” (Heifetz, 92:57)
• Sean Cements his take: "It's so fun to have the shoe on the other foot for me... men between 25–55 think they are not pretentious film snobs, and now they are the ones acting that way because their holy sacred document... has been vandalized." (Sean, 95:10)
• Group riff on aging, nostalgia, and the fate of movie comedies; debate closes with resigned acceptance of the state of streaming movies and content.

---

Notable Quotes & Highlights (with Timestamps)

• “[Derrick Henry] He's changed what it should be… like Tom Brady” (29:49, Heifetz)
• “If you get one of these RB1s at value, you can build a championship.” (50:37, Heifetz)
• “Isaiah Pacheco has jumped out to me a little bit… what’s really changed versus last year besides injury?” (54:36, Kelly/Craig)
• “Happy Gilmore 2… I am a fan, I felt served.” (92:57, Heifetz)
• “Make your take, man! Are [the Steelers] winning 14 games or not?” (78:52, Sean Fennessey)

---

Summary Table: Key RB Tiers

| Tier | RB Names | Notes | |-----------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------| | "Never Gonna Die" | Saquon, Bijan, Gibbs, Derrick Henry | True bell-cow, trustworthy elite, minimal fear | | "Die Trying" | McCaffrey, Achane, Jeanty | Massive upside, but with injury/rookie or team risk | | RB1s (borderline) | JTaylor, Jacobs, Irving, Kyren, Chase Brown, O. Hampton | Last group you’re happy starting as RB1s | | RB2s/Committees | Kamara, Walker, Cook, Hubbard (...many more) | Good as RB2, nervous as RB1 | | 1A/1B/High-Up Rookies | Montgomery, Pollard, Jones, Pacheco, Swift, Harvey, Henderson | Flex appeal, can emerge via committee or talent |

---

Closing Thoughts

This episode offers a blueprint for fantasy managers—underlining the importance of RB grouping (tiers over rankings), understanding workload nuance, and not getting lost in the injury-a-phobia that surrounds running backs.

The crew’s blend of sharp fantasy insight, candid NFL banter, and uniquely quotable tangents (including movie reviews and league punishments) makes this a must-listen for any serious or casual fantasy football player, especially in the critical stretch leading up to August drafts.

---

Listen for More

• For updates on evolving RB1/committee/sleeper backfields, tune in next week after the preseason’s first batch of games.
• Email the show at [e-mail] with league punishment suggestions or fantasy questions.
• Follow @ringerfantasy on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok for additional content.

---

Transcript

[Danny Heifetz]

Foreign welcome to the River Fantasy Football Show. My name is Danny Hyperten. I'm joined by Danny Kelly and Craig Krolbecker. Today we are going over our running back sleepers, fears, tears, going over all the important running backs. That's the most important position in fantasy football and we're going to go through who we like, who we don't like, who we would be happy getting and who we kind of sad to end up on our team. We're also going to have Sean Fantasy always like our boss's boss's boss on this show and he's going to make fun of Craig to his face for talking himself into Aaron Rodgers, which was absolutely delightful. And also while Sean's here, we litigate Happy Gilmore 2 where Crick and I honestly kind of got a little vicious disagreeing on Happy Gilmore.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, I'm sure you can see where this is going on and how I was on the big picture. You can hear me there talking about the movie. DK and Heifetz did watch the movie and Sean is is the smartest guy I know to talk movies. So we kind of rehashed the disaster that was Happy Gilmore 2 debatable running.

[Danny Heifetz]

Backs interview with Sean Jets Happy Gilmore 2 couple news all that's coming up. We're going to take a quick break. This episode of the Ringer Fantasy Football show is presented by Hyundai. Get into the Hyundai Getaway sales event and get away with a deal. So right it almost feels right. Wrong. You can get huge savings on their adventure ready SUV's like the Hyundai Santa Fe and Santa Fe hybrid models. Or go all electric and choose from America's most awarded EV lineup like the Breakthrough Ioniq 5 or Ioniq 6. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for details. Offers end September 2, 2025 this episode is brought to you by Yahoo. Fantasy. It's my favorite time of the year. The the NFL season is almost here and fantasy football season is in full swing. This season Yahoo Fantasy is taking it up a notch and giving you a fantasy football experience like never before. This year we're playing on Yahoo Fantasy and you should too. We're doing the Ringer Fantasy Football League on Yahoo Fantasy because it's the best place to do the league. Yahoo Fantasy is dropping 28 big new features over 28 days throughout August. They just dropped Yahoo Fantasy Guillotine leagues where the lowest scoring team gets eliminated weekly until one is left standing. Give this new mode a try or stick with the classics in private. Head to Head leagues or public leagues? Stay tuned for more killer announcements and start playing Yahoo. Fantasy football now@yahoo. Fantasy.com theringer all right, we're going to get to our running back tears, and we're also going to have special guest Sean Fenesty later in this episode. But first, I want to hit a couple of things in news right now, and then there's other news that we're going to do in the middle of the show, but I want to start with just a couple of big things that happened since we last recorded. So Micah Parsons, pass rusher for the Dallas Cowboys, has requested a trade, and he did it the good way, which is just posting a crazy long notes app message that you can't even fit in one screenshot. So it's four screenshots of this essay he wrote on Instagram and social media, and it was the epitome, Craig of the millennial. I ain't reading all that either. Congrats or I'm sorry that happened. Yeah, yeah.

[Danny Kelly]

I just kind of scrolled to the last page, read the last two sentences, and it was like, I am officially requesting a trade. Got it.

[Danny Heifetz]

You know, lawyers are like, you read the last sentence first. It was like, okay, I don't want to be cowboy anymore. I got it. Thank you, dk. I'll sum this up for you because you're like a father and you're busy. So I think the summary is Jerry Jones is older than Joe Biden. So on one hand, he's kind of nuts, and on the other hand, Jerry Jones is the driving force of why The NFL makes $2 billion a month. And so I think that the Parsons thing is actually a perfect encapsulation of why the NFL makes so much money and also why the Cowboys suck. And basically, Michael Parsons tried to do everything right here, and yet Jerry Jones didn't care. I am of the firm belief that Jerry Jones genuinely, in his heart of hearts, looks at all this stuff, contract stuff, as a potential for free advertising where he's like, I'm going to give Micah, like, spoiler alert. The Cowboys are going to sign Michael Parsons. They're not going to trade him. They're going to Cave, like, September 3rd, they're going to give Michael Parsons $42 million a year. But Jerry Jones, look at. Looks at it as if I'm going to give Michael Parsons $42 million a year. Why don't I just do it?

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah. What's in it for me? I got to make money on this.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Thing for everything it's worth.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

He's like, how about I just have my company I own be the biggest story on ESPN every single day until then? That seems like a fair deal, right? That's how he looks at it.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah. Not only that Googling right now, it appears as though America's team, the Gambler and His Cowboys. The documentary, the multi part documentary coming out on Netflix about the Dallas Cowboys. Releases on Netflix August 19th. Yeah, Jerry knows what he's doing.

[Danny Heifetz]

Jerry knows what he's doing. Again, last year, Dak Prescott, not his.

[Craig Krolbecker]

First rodeo, if you will.

[Danny Heifetz]

I actually watched my first rodeo on YouTube this weekend. We could talk about that later. Rodeos are crazy. But yeah, I. I really mean that, though. Like, Dak again. Dak Prescott's contract last year was done on Sunday morning of week one. Like, literally, they want it. It. It's literally he just looks at his free advertising. He's like, I don't want to pay for all this. So his attention, he turns on the television, his company's on tv. He's like, that's good. So they're going to keep Michael Parsons, but this is why we don't take Dallas seriously. Because this is a guy who's probably one of the three best pass rushers in the NFL, wants to be a cowboy, wants to win. Showed up to training camp and you know what? There was no drama. You want a crowd, you start a fight. Michael Parsons didn't want to fight. So Jerry Jones starts talking about how he's hurt and he's missing time and he's like doing all this stuff and he's like poking the bear. Michael Parsons, like, fuck it. Why did I show up and be a good soldier?

[Danny Kelly]

I. What do you. What was your favorite Jerry Jones anecdote during this entire dispute? I like him not knowing. Claiming to not know the name of Micah Parsons agent. I thought that was.

[Danny Heifetz]

Who is the biggest agent in the NFL. Basically, he's like, David will get a. I also like that he won't talk to Michael Parsons agent. That's part of the huge thing, is that he won't speak to the agent.

[Danny Kelly]

He had a pseudo negotiation with Micah Parsons, which is illegal. You have to have your agent there for a negotiation.

[Craig Krolbecker]

And yeah, look, man, again, it's the Wild west. It's not his first rodeo. He knows what he's doing. You know the meme of Antonio and Banderas, like, looking at his computer and then leaning back and going, yeah, I feel like that's just Jerry Jones every time he, like turns on his computer or has one of his Child, the.

[Danny Heifetz]

Children print it out and show him.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Something that's on the Internet. He just. I mean, yeah, this. He knows what he's doing. The Cowboys are in the news. They're number one story for, you know, everything that's on daytime tv. It's also just weird. Like, this. This is clearly an elite pass rusher. Like, this is the exact type of player you pay, but, I mean, it'll get done. Is this. He's not going to get traded.

[Danny Kelly]

And the extra money he has to pay Michael Parsons for dragging this out and letting other pass rushers like TJ Watt get a big. The money he loses and that he gains in advertising dollars, like, he would have had to spend that, you know.

[Danny Heifetz]

Hey, anyone who wants to make fun of Jerry Jones is Jerry Jones again. The NFL makes $2 billion a month, and it was basically kind of his idea.

[Craig Krolbecker]

So do you know, I have a question for you. Generally speaking, because we're seeing this now all the time. Is it annoying to you that trade request. Trade requests are now a standard step in the tr. In the contract negotiation process? Like, it's just.

[Danny Kelly]

I declare bankruptcy.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah. If you get to a certain point in. In the. In the. In the discussion or whatever, and you're like, okay, now I'm gonna. Now I'm gonna request a trade. That's my piece of leverage. I need to use it, and then it'll be fine afterwards. I know some guys do get traded.

[Danny Kelly]

It's formality.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

I. I would answer that with. There's a line in the wire from this guy named Cuddy, and he's like, damn, the game's changed. And Slim Charles is like, games the same, just got more fierce. And like, that's it. It's just like, trade request used to be this, like, break glass in case of emergency, and now it's almost like if you don't even check the box, like, you're not even trying, dude.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I roll my eyes when I see a player has requested request trade. I'm just like, oh, God.

[Danny Kelly]

GM Players requested a trade.

[Danny Heifetz]

Okay.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Don't even. Don't even knock on my door unless he's requesting a trade. All then we know it's getting serious.

[Danny Heifetz]

Speaking of which, Terry McLaurin for Washington. I actually think the single least likely player to request a trade of the NFL very politely requested a trade, unlike Michael Parsons, just kind of, like, quietly knocked at Dan Quinn's door and let him know that, if you don't mind, sir, please, could I potentially, like, have a trade if you won't Pay me another person who's not going to get traded. Terry McLaurin. This is. This Terry McLaurin is going to sign with Washington. They're haggling over numbers. Long story short, Terry's like the epitome of a player you keep. Every coach wishes all the receivers were like Terry McLaurin. He's like a leader. He's a captain. He's beloved by the communities.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Never been an issue with anything.

[Danny Heifetz]

No, he's. He just. He's 30. Wants 30 million a year, which sounds like a lot, but the cap's gone up $50 million in two years. The cap used to be. I mean, 2018, the cap was like 180 million.

[Danny Kelly]

Now I just turned 31. I want 31 million a year. I'm gonna ask. Comes on later. We'll see how that goes.

[Danny Heifetz]

There you go. But, yeah, I just think that this is the first negotiation for the gm, Adam Peters.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Craig, we got to request a trade for us, pal.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah. Come on.

[Danny Kelly]

First, I'm going to post seven screenshots of a notes app on Twitter. I love that. That's, like, the way to do it. It's like, it's like the hardest to read. You can't scroll. You have to, like, zoom in. It's like the least efficient way to fit text in a. In a media post. And yet it is the way to do it. If you. If you need to post an apology, it's always the notes app, I guess, because it feels more intimate. I don't. I don't really know.

[Craig Krolbecker]

How serious is this? Did he unfollow the Cowboys yet on.

[Danny Heifetz]

Instagram, Parsons or McLaurin?

[Craig Krolbecker]

Well, did McLaurin unfollow the commanders? I really need to know how serious.

[Danny Heifetz]

That's a good take. If you. If you're still following the team. You don't even give.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I mean, this is.

[Danny Heifetz]

There's no hard.

[Danny Kelly]

There was some. I love. I love ones, like some tweet or some video resurface of Micah Parsons being like, if I ever left Dallas, like, I'm going to Pittsburgh. And then it was like, DK Metcalf has followed Micah Parsons on Instagram. Like, the betting lines move. It's the best.

[Sean Fantasy]

It's so ridiculous.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah. None of these people are getting traded and they're all going to get paid for a little less than they want. Okay. Couple other running backs. So Kyron Williams got paid with the Rams. Two years. Basically eleven and a half million a year for two years.

[Danny Kelly]

He did it the old fashioned way. Didn't hold up didn't hold that showed up practice, stayed following the Rams, got.

[Danny Heifetz]

Paid less than he probably wanted. And. And he's there and he's getting paid. But you know what? Good for him.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Do you guys find this mildly surprising considering everyone's been trying to replace Kyron Williams for last year?

[Danny Heifetz]

Well, the Rams have been just. Fantasy football.

[Danny Kelly]

I was going to say, everything Sean McVeigh has ever done has not suggested anything other than he really likes Kyron Williams. And all of us collectively refuse to believe that.

[Craig Krolbecker]

It really takes the wind out of my Jarquist hunter sails.

[Danny Heifetz]

You guys ever have any friends when you play rock, paper, scissors that like announce what they're going to do? Joker chaos agents were like, I'm gonna do like, like rock. And like, I'm gonna do rock. I'm rock. And then you're like, I bet they're gonna trick me. And like, no, just do what they say. Every time. That's Sean McVeigh. Every year he's just like, I'm gonna play Kyron Williams. Okay, 3D chess, what does it mean?

[Danny Kelly]

Do you think there's like a, a collective indignance amongst fantasy analysts, draft analysts, when like a fifth round or six round running back becomes the guy because like they didn't see it or predict it. And so every year they're trying to prove to themselves that they were right by wish casting that this fifth rounder is going to get replaced by like a second rounder. No.

[Craig Krolbecker]

That'S not what happens.

[Danny Kelly]

Jarquist, do you eat pieces of shit for breakfast? No, no.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah, that's absolutely what happens. The other thing that happens is anyone who really likes the 5th rounder is just constantly doing victory laps for, for like four or five years.

[Danny Kelly]

My new, yeah, my new favorite tweet is when people go, last year I recommended you draft Puka Nuku and Drake London.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah, that's a meme.

[Danny Heifetz]

Now the short answer to Craig, to what you're asking is, is particularly fantasy football. But basically the hardest things to quantify are things coaches like, like work ethic, ball carrier vision, iq, blocking assignments, and then just understanding how to set up blocks and just run the play as the coach wants it ran, which is unquantifiable a lot of times. And so in fantasy football in particular, I think a lot of analysts are math based. And so like someone like Kyron Williams is exactly. Falls through the cracks, right? And so people are like, well, he's not as explosive, blah, blah, blah. But it's like, but Sean, I think what people forget, Sean McVay like Shanahan, perfectionist. And it's like he can't have a perfect play called at the perfect moment and have the reason it went wrong as his really explosive running back made the wrong read. Like he can't sleep at night.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, looks aren't everything, you know, you need a little bit of personality. It's not all Raz.

[Danny Heifetz]

Score.

[Danny Kelly]

Okay.

[Danny Heifetz]

Oh, my God. Okay. The James Cook situation, he's holding. We wanted to get to that. When we get to these guys, we can go through every running back. Yeah, we'll get to James Cook later. Okay. So, yeah, congrats to Kyron Williams being a dog. Well, did you want to say anything about Matt Stafford before we start here? Craig, you're very concerned about Matt Stafford's back.

[Danny Kelly]

I am concerned about Matt. Matt Stafford has yet to take part in training camp as he deals with like, back soreness and The Rams don't. McVeigh doesn't play as starters in preseason games. He's not, he's not about that. But what he does value is the like team on team scrimmages against other teams. Stafford's not participating in the first one. That's kind of like a big deal for the Rams. It's how they see a lot of stuff. And Stafford is doing. McVeigh has quotes. He said, he said it's a week to week thing. He said he's, he's doing static throwing, maybe running on a treadmill, maybe maybe even just walking. He's able to do a little bit of light cardio. He's able to do some core work.

[Danny Heifetz]

I'm like, that's how it sounds like when I'm like, oh, it's a cardio today. I'm like, oh yeah, light running, maybe even just like walking.

[Danny Kelly]

It sounds like we're Talking about a 70 year old man here.

[Danny Heifetz]

I walking.

[Craig Krolbecker]

He's doing water aerobics.

[Danny Kelly]

I'm a little nervous. I'm not going to lie. I mean, I, I think the combination of Puka Nuku's like recklessness combined with Matt Stafford's age and injury history makes the two of them one of the more high risk duos that you could draft a fantasy. So I just, I, I am starting to kind of think about whether or not Puka Nukua should be a first rounder. I kind of don't know if he should.

[Danny Heifetz]

It's every game Puka and Stafford play, Puka is probably like the top four receiver. I don't know. DK's, DK's point always lingers in My head that no one's ever used to have a bad back. And Matt Stafford broke his back seven years ago and it's not been the same ever since. But I'm also thinking about Brett Favre, even late in his career where he's like, wouldn't play, would pretend to retire so he wouldn't have to do two a days at training camp, show up, and then almost make the Super bowl at 40. And I'm like, Stafford. I think it's the same way where Stafford's a psychopath and will not miss games. But like, he's just like, yeah, I'm 30. How was he? 38?

[Craig Krolbecker]

37.

[Danny Heifetz]

He's like, I'm just 37. And he's like, I'm going to play in week one and that's in 30 days and I'm not going to fuck up my back. And Allen Iverson style in practice.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, I guess. Is it a practice where he's not getting hit and just throwing passes to his teammates? If that's too hard right now, that is a little worrisome.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Know, you just don't want to exacerbate it, you know? Yeah, I'm older than Matt Stafford. I will say, when you get to a certain age in life, even things like sleeping, your back hurts really bad. You know what I mean? Like, you wake up in. In pain.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, that's why you.

[Craig Krolbecker]

The fact that he's working out. It's fine, he's fine, he'll be fine.

[Danny Heifetz]

Finally old enough where sleeping on my side is like hurting my shoulder.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Dude, there's days I get out of bed and I'm like. Like I can barely pick up, like my pants to put them on. You know what I mean?

[Danny Heifetz]

You need more.

[Craig Krolbecker]

So before you bend over, you got.

[Danny Kelly]

I feel like everybody should be sleeping with a knee pillow where if you're on your side, it's the pillow between your two legs or even sleeping that like completely aligns your spine. It makes you feel so much better.

[Danny Heifetz]

Really?

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I sleep on my back, though.

[Danny Heifetz]

See, that's good though, to sleep on your back.

[Danny Kelly]

I feel like I sleep on my back, shoulder and my stomach.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Well, that's what happens.

[Danny Heifetz]

What happens to your neck is your face just contort?

[Danny Kelly]

My neck is always going one way. Like, I feel like I can turn my neck more to the left than right because I'm always sleeping left. Like I'm like an owl, but only in one direction.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Oh, my God.

[Danny Heifetz]

Email us at Rigor Fitness, not an ambiturner. Email [e-mail] if you're sleeping any.

[Craig Krolbecker]

If you're above 8 years old and you sleep on your stomach, like, you should fix that.

[Danny Kelly]

How dare you. I'm like. I, like, burrow under the pillow like a. Like a dachshund. You know what you should also do is a pillow. If you're on your back, a pillow under your legs is also good for your back. I've heard.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I've heard. Because you raise your feet.

[Danny Heifetz]

That makes sense. God.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Getting old is the worst.

[Danny Heifetz]

God. All right, speaking of getting old, let's go.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I think he'll be fine.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah. Staff, I. I actually agree, dk. I think he'll be fine. And then he'll take one hit and we'll be like, why the fuck did we draft any of the Rams?

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, I'm terrible.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Cards, but that's okay.

[Danny Heifetz]

Okay, let's get to the running back tiers. Just. And again, running backs are, like the backbone, if you will, of your fantasy football team, usually decide if you win or lose. And just a reminder on how we try to do these tiers, which are basically, everyone puts out rankings and stuff. But the reality is, if you really want to have success in your draft, try to have tears, because it's really about understanding. You know, you can rank these groups of running backs however you want, but we want to get the groups right. And the perfect example is this first tier we have of running backs is Saquon Barkley from the Eagles, Jameer Gibson Alliance. Bishon Robinson from the Falcons. I don't care which way you rank them. You could convince me of Gibbs going first, Bijan going first, Saquon going first. The point is, those are pretty clearly the top three in our minds and frankly, in most people's minds this year. And the point is, we're gonna go through each tier and we're gonna make sure we get the buckets right. But the order within the buckets, we don't really care. We just wanna get the groupings correct because that is really how you can make the decision when you're TikTok. TikTok on the clock and you're looking and there's 10 receivers you're happy with, it's your second receiver and one running back. You're like, take the running back.

[Danny Kelly]

That was like a subtle Kesha reference there.

[Danny Heifetz]

Tick tock on the. Yeah, Brush my teeth. Bottle Jack. She just has an album coming out. Yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I have a small quibble. I think you could put Derek Henry in the top tier.

[Danny Kelly]

Dk, hold on here Wait, hold on, let me. Hold on. I gotta google Derek Henry age. I think he's 31 years old.

[Craig Krolbecker]

So that's fine.

[Danny Heifetz]

How do you think. Does he think he sleeps in his stomach?

[Craig Krolbecker]

1900 yards and 18 touchdowns when he was 30.

[Danny Kelly]

Second most yards of his career to start.

[Danny Heifetz]

You know what's. So that was the second best, by.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Far the best team. It was by far the best offense.

[Danny Heifetz]

Derek, he had 2,000 yards from scrimmage.

[Danny Kelly]

That was one of the. I think that the most like simple analysis we had last year when we were into Derrick Henry was like the Titans were last in yards before contact per carry. The Ravens were first. Derrick Henry's really hard to tackle. That's it.

[Craig Krolbecker]

When he gets going.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

And it's funny. Well, I mean we can just jump at Henry if you want. I mean I. And that's fine too. Saquon Bean Gibbs. We can honestly. It's a good place to start if anyone belongs here. So if Henry. The argument with against Henry is he's 31, but I'm. I'm kind of want to hear it.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Like he's making these arguments about Derrick Henry.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, I don't want to hear like he's almost like a receiver in that like until the fall off happens. I don't really want to hear about the fall off anymore.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Call me when he slows down.

[Danny Heifetz]

He had the second best. So I think the argument against him is basically the Ravens led the league in yards, third most points and Ravens were really healthy and they're probably not going to do that again. So the Ravens score less. Derek Henry will score less.

[Danny Kelly]

And he threw 40 touchdowns. Which.

[Craig Krolbecker]

That's what I was gonna say.

[Danny Heifetz]

That's. Well, that's the flip side. The Ravens had twice as many passing touchdowns as rushing touchdowns last year. It's usually way closer to 50, 50. So if the Ravens do repeat what they did last year, the Ravens do just score 500 points again. Derek Henry could have 24 touchdowns. Like shout out. Scott Barretta pointed out to me, like last year if they had 50, 50 past touchdown rate, Derek Henry would have had like 25 touchdowns. No one's had 20 rushing touchdowns in a season in 20 years. So like that is the upside if the Ravens offense remains like a top three offense in the league.

[Craig Krolbecker]

So do we think that the Ravens offense is going to get worse? It's. It's such an incredible offense. I mean it might be amazing efficiency wise, it might be slightly worse, but this is still going to be a very good offense every. Pretty much every Year that Lamar Jackson has started, they've been a very good offense.

[Danny Heifetz]

The game within the game to how the rankings kind of sort out and projections and models is one of the things that happened there. Henry last year is he had you know, like three or four points per game or. Sorry, yeah. Three or four points above expectation per game. Basically a similar player and a similar thing like would only score 15 points per game. Derek Henry had like 19. The models that spit out those numbers are not designed for an offense where Derrick Henry is doing a read option with Lamar fucking Jackson. Like those things were not designed to measure that.

[Craig Krolbecker]

The ultimate nightmare for a defense. Can you imagine?

[Danny Heifetz]

It is the best thunder and lightning duo in the history of the NFL. We almost. I actually think it's an underrated story that like Lamar Jackson sticks the ball in Derrick Henry's gut and then like reads the defense. That's crazy. And so yeah, I actually think we can expect Derek Henry to have three points per game of expectation. It's fine. So yeah, dk, I think frankly the only reason people aren't projecting it is fear. Like I think it's fear that Derek Henry's 31 and you're going to project a 31 year old running back as a top five pick. But like I have no problem taking Derek like he's sick also.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Just this is not a huge, this is not super significant. But the Ravens did nothing at running back this off season. Justice Hill, they extended Derrick Henry, Rashid Ali, someone named Marcus Major Jr. Oh, sure. On their roster, sure. Dernis Johnson. So they're running it back like so to speak. And I think, you know, he's just still going to be like the engine of his offense when they're trailing. I think Justice Hill will get more play. And that's always kind of the worry with, with Derek Henry. But I think this is going to be a very good team.

[Danny Heifetz]

I'm okay with this.

[Danny Kelly]

It's going to be a very good team.

[Danny Heifetz]

So. Well, all right, well then do we put Christian McCaffrey in tier one? No.

[Danny Kelly]

I say no just because I think he fits nicely with the next tier, which I think is probably Devon Achan and Ashton Genty where it's like, could they be the number one running back in fantasy? Absolutely. But there is just way more uncertainty than with the higher tier. Saquon, Gibbs and Robinson all come with a little bit of security where you kind of know outside of an injury, like they're going to be okay. Devon H.N. is, is. Is relying on his quarterback to stay healthy for him to be good. Christian McCaffrey is relying on both of his Achilles to hold up bilateral Achilles. But this and Ashton Genti, I guess Ashton Genti perhaps is a little bit safer, but it's just because he's a rookie. I guess you have to factor that in.

[Danny Heifetz]

But, you know, I agree overall with this tier. I mean, I had Saquon, Bijan and Gibbs as basically like you could take them first in your entire draft and no one's gonna blink an eye. And then I had easily could finish as the number one overall running back. As the next tier, no one would really be, which is I had McCaffrey, Derek Henry, Genty and HN. To your point about HN, I do just want to shout out that the argument. You could also argue HN could go on that tier, which it's probably iffy because honestly, it just comes down to this for me. The split with two is crazy. When Tua played last year or just. Sorry. When Tua plays with HN, HN is 20 points per game. It's like Saquon Gibbs, healthy, McCaffrey, Bijan and HN, he's right there. And when Tua doesn't play, Devon, HN is literally around Alex Madison and post injury Nick Chubb, like eight points per game. Like, that is the. The split is crazy. So it's a parlay where you need two to be healthy and HN to be healthy. Yeah. However, the upside is HN's the number three receiver in this. In the offense. It's like Tyreek, we always joke, pass it to the Italians. And like kicking and screaming. Which. How does that go again? Craig?

[Craig Krolbecker]

Screaming, Passing.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah.

[Danny Kelly]

Pass it to the Italians.

[Danny Heifetz]

Well, I know, but it's been two years since we referenced it. Like the Will Ferrell movie, Kicking, screaming.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Where he's just like two Italian kids.

[Danny Kelly]

On the team and he literally makes all the other terrible soccer players on the team only pass it to the two Italian kids at all times. Like, they're what's the offense.

[Danny Heifetz]

Fun way the Italians. And it's like the Miami offense is just Waddle Hill. It's like Devon Hin is an Italian in this offense. He's the number three guy. They're gonna give it to three people. And Achan literally last year led the lead. Running backs and targets and yard receiving yards and receiving touchdowns and everything. But he also owns the goal line work last year in Miami because Davon HN got like. He's on the field for like 80% of the snaps inside the five, which is like more Than Saquon, which, I'll say that again. HN was on the field inside the five more than Saquon. But here's the thing. You know who doesn't run the tush push? Tua. Tua is the least likely player to score a rushing touchdown of any quarterback in the NFL.

[Craig Krolbecker]

So, like, so they're handing it off.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah. So if HN keeps the goal line work, I was like, oh, maybe he's in this tier. But now Miami's Tyree Kills, making fun of HN as a short yardage back. I think they're trying Ali Gordon and Jalen Wright, so I think HN might lose some of that. So I, I'm fine to keep him off. But McCaffrey, though, literally, outside of just. I'm afraid he'll get hurt.

[Danny Kelly]

Yes.

[Danny Heifetz]

Is there any argument McCaffrey should not be in the top tier? It's just if he gets hurt, you'll feel stupid. That's literally it, though, right?

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah. Well, because phrase it this way, Saquon Jameer gives Bijan Robinson, Derrick Henry. If they were to have bad seasons, you wouldn't feel stupid for drafting them. You'd be like, well, it was a smart, calculated decision. I got unlucky. If you draft McCaffrey and he gets hurt in week three and he misses the season, you'll feel like a moron. Isn't Achan and Tua gets hurt, you'll feel like a.

[Danny Heifetz]

But isn't the number one rule we've probably agreed on on this podcast the Warren Buffett be bold? When everyone's afraid to be afraid when everyone's bold and everyone's afraid of drafting McCaffrey.

[Danny Kelly]

Meanwhile, are we being, are we being afraid? They're not that he's a first rounder for us.

[Danny Heifetz]

Like, I don't, that's fair. I just, yeah, no, I, I, I think that's fair.

[Danny Kelly]

I guess I'm just saying philosophically, the way you think about it is if you took Jameer Gibbs first overall and he didn't have a good season, I don't think you can criticize yourself for doing that. If you took McCaffrey first overall, he gets hurt week three, I think you.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Would, you would feel like Lucy pulling every week.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, but, but fair. But just. And I, I think that McCaffrey, to me, is similar to sake one, where there's. If we told, if I told you, every running back plays 17 games, the top two picks are probably Saquon McCaffrey. Right?

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah. It's funny. It's. Yeah, yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

Every running back plays 17 games.

[Danny Kelly]

And Derrick Henry, it's probably like Saquon.

[Danny Heifetz]

McCaffrey Henry, I'm just saying. So frankly, and I think this goes back to the conversation around Saquon, Gibbs and Bijan. The argument against Saquon is not. Saquon didn't have a great year last year. Obviously, just to reiterate, Saquon, literally, if you include the playoffs, the most rushing yards in the history of the NFL in one season. That's what Saquon did last year.

[Danny Kelly]

2500.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah. Crazy.

[Craig Krolbecker]

And 482 touches.

[Danny Kelly]

Yes.

[Danny Heifetz]

The argument against him is he had almost 500 touches in one year. Such a dainty word.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

480 touches is like 400 collisions, right? Like, that's a. He was tackled 400 times by an NFL defender. Like, that's what a touch is. And so that's the argument against him is half the people who've done that get hurt the next year. The other half are incredible. But if we Knew Saquon and McAff are going to be healthy, like McCaffrey in particular is going to be on the field 19 out of every 20 plays. I'm just going to. So to me, it becomes a matter of risk tolerance. If you are, like, listening and you're like, why would I take a player like Saquon who had the second most touches of the 21st century? First, then, like, you have permission to not take Saquon, that's fine. But if you're listening, you're like, football's violent. Anyone could get hurt. Saquon's a physical freak. How would I not take Saquon? That's also fine. I think the McCaffrey thing, I think is the same thing. Because when we do our weekly rankings@fantasy football.de.com Every week, McCaffrey's healthy. I think it's fair to say we're going to have McAfee first or second every fucking week. Is that not fair? Every week until he gets hurt. So I'm just putting that out there for people to be clear.

[Craig Krolbecker]

This is kind of morbid, I guess, but the McCaffrey thing kind of reminds me of, like, you know, when someone who's like, super rich dies and you're like, like, they died. I'm. You know what I mean? Like, they have every resource available to them on the planet, and they died. I am gonna. I'm a goner. That's kind of how I feel with McCaffrey, because he's, like, such a freak, like, with his body in Terms of working out and, you know, highly tuned machine. And then the fact that he came into last year, he's like, oh, yeah, if there's a game tomorrow, I'd be playing, blah, blah, blah. And then he just didn't play for like, however. However. It was like two months to me. I'm like, I don't know if I trust this person anymore.

[Danny Heifetz]

Like the flips. But it's a year off from getting hit. He's actually kind of fresh.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah, no, no. But he got hurt again when he.

[Danny Kelly]

Came back in two Achilles injuries.

[Craig Krolbecker]

He had some other injury too, didn't he?

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, he did.

[Danny Kelly]

He hurt his knee.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah. So I'm like, we did this already. We did this like, like in 2020.

[Craig Krolbecker]

He's a human being.

[Danny Kelly]

He's.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I, I feel less confident now in Christian staying healthy. Like, Derek Henry is immortal.

[Danny Heifetz]

Look, in.

[Danny Kelly]

In 2020 or whenever we did that six years ago, he was like 23 years old. Now he's 29. Coming off bilateral Achilles injury where he basically didn't play the entire year. I. I feel like it's reasonable. I mean, again, he is a first rounder. He's like the sixth pick for us in drafts.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Like, fine.

[Danny Heifetz]

Every. Every position we give, there's not much of a. We try to have a one player tier every year. One position gets their own tier. And I think McCaffrey has to be.

[Danny Kelly]

Oh, I think Achan and McCaffrey are right there together.

[Danny Heifetz]

Okay, fine. So McCaffrey a chan. Yeah, that's fine. And then I think we put Genti in there. So Derek, I'm not going to fight you guys. If you think, would you. But if someone took Derek Henry first overall, you'd be like, yeah, sure.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, I think so.

[Danny Heifetz]

I guess I'm not going to argue because, like, some places I don't think it's wild. It's just purely how you feel about him being 31 and whether Derek should be compared to other people.

[Craig Krolbecker]

For the, for the first tier, it's less like, if someone took this guy first, would you be weird and more like you're super happy getting one of these guys. I want to get someone in this tier. Like, if you're in an auction, draft or whatever, I want one of these four as the foundation of my team. Like, do you feel like he fits into that tier or is he like, I wait a little, Spend a little.

[Danny Kelly]

Bit less on Derek Henry every year we do this.

[Danny Heifetz]

You're right. You're right.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I think he's in that top tier.

[Danny Heifetz]

I don't think him being 31, like, he's clearly at this point, like, genuinely the physical outlier in football of the. He's like Tom Brady. Like, he's changed. What. What it should be to your point, Tiki, you know what I thought of when you were saying that is you're actually speaking of Tom Brady when he won with the bucks. You compared Tom Brady's legacy to Alexander the Great and that he was so he would lead soldiers into battle. And he was so good on the front lines that everyone around him thought that they couldn't die. Right. Because they were Alan Alexander the Great. And that's how you feel when you draft Derek Henry. Like, if Derek Henry's on your fantasy football team, you're like, I am immortal.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah. You're Ryan Gosling in the good guys.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Or the nice guys.

[Danny Heifetz]

Never gonna die.

[Danny Kelly]

I don't think I can die.

[Danny Heifetz]

Okay. I don't.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Do you fall? Did you. You fell off the roof.

[Danny Heifetz]

All right, so that's the tier one is I'm never gonna die. I don't think I could die. Saquon, Bijan Gibbs and Derek Henry. The I'm never gonna die. And then you're right. Tier 2 is the I might die. I'm gonna die trying, which is McCaffrey. H.N. genty. That seems right. Actually. Okay.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I think the Genti version is like, he's a rookie and we're putting an awful lot on.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

You know, we don't know what he looks like.

[Danny Heifetz]

Am I over indexing? I thought there's like the. Trent.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Trent Richardson is the only thing holding me back from going all in on gentle.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah. So I'm going to die trying. Okay. That I actually think despite all the arguing. I think that's the easy part. Are there any other. Before we move on, can you put.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Jonathan Taylor up there?

[Danny Heifetz]

I thought about it a lot.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I think you can.

[Danny Heifetz]

I. I'm very interested what you think dk, because I. Most every other fantasy place does not have Jonathan Taylor in this spot, which is very with. With McCaffrey, Genty Achan, which is weird because Taylor is as talented as those guys and plays as three down back. But the Colts might suck, so a lot of places don't have him there. And I struggle with it because I'm like, he's Jonathan Taylor. Like, how could he be lumped in with like Breeze Hall? But I get it.

[Craig Krolbecker]

1400 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns. Last year, quietly, he averaged almost 17 points per game in fantasy. And I think there's meat on the bone. There obviously, like, I think the reason you're exactly right, the reason people aren't is excited about him is because of the horrific vibes around Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones. But I think, you know, at the end of the day, they're still going to lean on him to be a huge part of their offense. And you know, he had 11 touchdowns last year in a dysfunctional offense. So I don't know, I just feel, I still feel confident in him being a super high volume. He's one of the very few running backs in the NFL that still can be called a bell cow back. And so I don't know.

[Danny Kelly]

I, I still.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Even though he has a lower ceiling probably because of the offensive environment, he's still in this group to me.

[Danny Heifetz]

I'm actually so glad you said that, dk because when I made my rankings, I had Taylor in this tier and then I looked and basically everywhere else Taylor was like not part of it and I cowarded it out and moved him. And I want to put John Tiller back. Craig, do you feel that way? I want John Tiller in with a Shannon Gente.

[Danny Kelly]

I. He's so tricky because I do think he's one of the most talented running backs in the league. I mean, he was the RB one in 2021. That was a while ago. But he like obviously has the talent, everything around it. I think there's just something about the Colts that hold me back. The Colts are projected to score the seventh, sixth or seventh least points in the league this year. I think last year I had Jonathan Taylor on my fantasy team and having him attached to the like Anthony Richardson show was so upsetting and difficult because every time they'd get close, Richardson would throw some horrible pass, get intercepted. I think there, I think it almost is like less fun to draft him even if at the end of the year it ended up working out. I mean, a lot of his statistics were very backloaded. Even like his, his week 18 game, he had like 200 yards and that did a lot for his year. So if you look at what he was doing for the first eight weeks of the season, he was not a great pick. So I, I'm a little more lukewarm on him, I think. Although I think he's a great player.

[Danny Heifetz]

Bad team, bad name. John. If John Taylor's name is Devon H.N. and you know what I mean, we would put him in this tier straight up. But his name's Jonathan Taylor. But I agree, it's. He's. To me, he's the fluid one.

[Craig Krolbecker]

He I think I ultimately I'm okay moving him down one tier even though I kind of feel bullish on him this season.

[Danny Heifetz]

And this tier in when it nuts and bolts. What it means is there's this whole second tier of receivers we'll get to in our next episode, but there's like Brian Thomases and drake London's and lad McConkeys and AJ Browns and all these like great receivers and this is kind of what we're. And we'll talk about that. Obviously in context it's like who are you taking before, after and gut check. Like I'm probably going to take A.J. brown before Jonathan Taylor, which is kind of what we're talking about to agree. But we'll see.

[Sean Fantasy]

Okay.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah, let's move him down just to, you know, play conservative on that one.

[Danny Heifetz]

Okay. So anything else you want to talk about with these guys? Genty Henry McCaffrey, Bijan Gibbs Saquon, which we actually didn't talk about a ton.

[Danny Kelly]

Now those are your set and forget guys.

[Danny Heifetz]

Okay. All right, let's keep rolling with running back rankings but first let's take a quick break. This episode is brought to you by Yahoo. Fantasy. Yahoo Fantasy is the best place to play fantasy football this season. Yahoo Fantasy is dropping 28 big new features over 28 days throughout August. They just dropped Yahoo. Fantasy Guillotine leagues. A killer new way to play on Yahoo. With the lowest scoring team gets eliminated weekly until one is left standing. Give this new mode a try or stick with classics and private head to head leagues or public leagues played today@yahoo. Fantasy.com theringer this episode is brought to you by wayfair. Your home is more than a space. It's where you express yourself. Like we've all got our setup for when the guys are over, right? So my thing when it, when, when everyone's just around watching a game, watching a movie, whatever is I, I go for. I want a corner couch. If it's a L shaped couch, I want the corner that to me is like I don't know if it's the alpha spot, but I'm like I. That's where I. That's like the nestle. That's the cozy. That's where I want to be. And if that's not available, any kind of like single chair, like where I'm not on the couch. Like if it rocks. Unbelievable. Recliner, I'm in heaven. Recliner cup holder, full leg extension. Like that is the dream. Because you can kind of get up whenever, but you're laying back. It's the best of every world. Like that's the goal to me. So. However, whatever your vibe, Wayfarer is every style for every home. They've got all your home essentials, storage solutions, decor and more all in one place. I use Wayfair. So Jackie and I, we got a rug and I'm not going to lie, I realized that Big Lebowski, they were right. Like the right room, the right rug really does bring the whole room together. It's so nice to walk on. I just, it's the nicest rug I've ever owned and I didn't realize how much that would bring me joy. Maybe I'm just getting older in life, but I didn't realize that I A really, really, really nice area rug just would bring me a ton of joy. But it does get inspired with room ideas and easy to shop collections, all with everyday ways to save. Shop everything [e-mail] with free and easy delivery straight to your door. That's W A Y F A I R.com Wayfair Every Style, Every Home Discover Ralph's Club New York the New fragrance by Ralph Lauren with black currant, vanilla and sandalwood. This scent embodies the sensuality and confidence of Usher. Like the city that never sleeps, this masculine Fragrance lasts for 12 hours. Ralph's Club New York Ralph Lauren Shop now@macy's.com.

[Danny Kelly]

Can you imagine if so we're doing. We're bringing back the. The ringer fantasy football league. We're doing a live stream draft on Monday, August 25th with a bunch of people. Bill, Sean, Chris, Band, Mal, the three of us. Can you imagine if we did a guillotine league and Bill was just out after week one? Oh my God.

[Craig Krolbecker]

That's like a fun format to play.

[Danny Heifetz]

That's pretty funny.

[Danny Kelly]

You need like you basically need 14 to 18 teams in the.

[Danny Heifetz]

Maybe we do that next year. That's guillotine brilliant. Like you just get chopped.

[Danny Kelly]

That's true anarchy. And then, and then you draft the, the, the players on the team that was eliminated. It's crazy.

[Danny Heifetz]

State sale every week. It's unbelievable. That's how old I am. I'm looking at those now. Okay, let's get to the next group here. I'm, I'm just going to tell you guys up front this tier is wrong. I try to. You guys major tiers. I made mine. I'm reading mine here and we can tweak them. But this one, I'm just going to tell you everyone in it. Jonathan Taylor for the Colts Josh Jacobs for the Packers, Bucky Irving for the Bucks. Kyron Williams for the Rams. Chase Brown for the Bengals. Ken Walker for the Seahawks. James Cook for the Bills. Breeze hall for the Jets. Omarion Hampton for the Chargers. Alvin Kamara for the Saints. James Connor for the Cardinals. Chuba Hubbard for the Panthers. I am so deeply aware that Chuba Hubbard should not be in the same tier as like Jonathan Taylor and Josh Jacobs and Chase Brown. But I don't know where to cut the deck on this group because every time I try to do a slice of a tear, I'm like, is a Marion Hampton for the Chargers really in a different tier than Kenneth Walker? Is Kenneth Walker really in a different tier than Chase, than Kyron Williams? I was like, I. I just feel like I'm looking at color shades on a wall at Home Depot and I'm like, I don't know where it stops being. You know what I mean?

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think most of this tier is correct it. According to mine, I basically shaved off James Connor and Chuba Hubbard and kept the rest, which would be.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, okay, so you would say it's most of a dk. Do you agree with that?

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah, I think I still am looking at James Cook and feeling like he feels out of place here. I agree, but so, like, if I was going to do this and we were just going to kind of like blank slate it, I would probably drop James Cook below or Omarion Hampton and then cut it there.

[Danny Heifetz]

I. I feel. I kind of feel similarly dk. You know why? If you stop trying to think like, if you think less, just who's going to score points and more like, are you excited to click on this player? Like, hit the draft button? If I get Jonathan Taylor, Yeah, I want him on my team. Josh Jacobs, I want him on my team a little less. So Bucky Irving, I want him on my team. Kyron, yes. Chase Brown. Yes. Ken Walker. Okay, there's upside. They suck last year, but it's your are better on the offensive line. James Cook, honestly, that's where I kind of feel like I'm paying for the career year. Because James Cook to me is like the Terry McLaurin of running backs, where I mean, the same way Terry McLaurin just had his friendship. Like the 13 touchdowns. Like, James Cook had two touchdowns and then two touchdowns. And last year he had 16.

[Craig Krolbecker]

He led the NFL. I saw this. He led the NFL in goal to go rushes. He tied with Josh Jacobs. And to me, so he's the weirdest quote unquote lead back in this group, all these other guys are very clear cut or at least what we think right now the lead back in their, in their offense. And James Cook is technically the lead back, but he plays less than 50% of the snaps. He gets less than 50% of the carries. You know, he just really, really went off in the touchdown department. I think he's a really good running back. But in an offense like this with the Bills where they spread the ball around so much, would it surprise you if his touchdown total fell to like seven or something this year? And that would still be probably considered a solid season for him. And you know, obviously Josh Allen is stealing goal line reps in goal and carries and maybe it's just variance. He doesn't get as many golden go rush attempts this year. And I think that's, he doesn't have the, the safety of volume that the other guys in this tier have.

[Danny Heifetz]

James Cook only had like a thousand and nine rushing yards last year. And so. Yeah, I agree. And he's also doing like a, he's also not practicing. Real quick, Elena gets in. Berg at ESPN had a funny holding out on Sunday. She, he wasn't practicing and James Cook asked, she asked like James Cook why? And he said business. And then she asked James Cook if it was his choice to not practice. And he said business. And then they asked, are you holding in? And he said business. And then they said, are you going to practice tomorrow? And he said business.

[Craig Krolbecker]

And then very Marshawn, quite literally standing.

[Danny Heifetz]

On business, I was gonna say.

[Danny Kelly]

And then he's like, is it not clocking to you that I'm standing on business?

[Danny Heifetz]

Standing on business. Yeah. So any long story short, I, I get it from James Cook's perspective because he had 16 rushing touchdowns, which is what Derek Henry had. And he's like, I probably want $50 million. And I also get how the Bills are like, you're not Derek Henry. We're not going to give you $15 million. So I think that the Bills kind of lowball them and then James Cook was upset. I think he, I think that another situation where they get the deal done, I think it's less likely than like Terry McLaurin or Michael Parsons, which I think is like a lock that those guys sign. I think James Cookie is going to end up signing. But overall, like, yeah, this is a team thinking about the Super Bowl. Like, I wouldn't be surprised if Ray Davis mixes more in in Buffalo. I agree. DK overall, should this tier just be John Taylor, Josh Jacobs, Buck Irving, Kyron Williams, Chase Brown. And to me, I'm Marion Hampton with maybe Ken Walker on the borderline. Because Marian Hampton, to me is the guy where the Naji Harris situation. Naji Harris not practicing still has totally changed everything. Yeah, right.

[Danny Kelly]

Basically, what we all thought would happen week eight this year where Omarion Hampton. Hampton ends up taking over as kind of like the lead guy is happening right now because Najee Harris is in that practice. And so if. If Omari Hampton has all those reps and just is the starting running back the entire summer, while Najee Harris can't take glasses off because he can't look into the sun right now. Omarion Hampton, like, as a talent, I was out on him three weeks ago because they really like Najee Harris. Jim Harbaugh, love Najee Harris. I thought it was going to be a true split. Greg Roman famously splits all of his backfields. He's only had one running back with over 200 carries since he was in Baltimore. So I was like, look, as good as Omarion Hampton is, like, the workload is not going to be there. Now I'm starting to shift the other way. And I'm like, man, if the workload is there, talent wise, I think he's like Jonathan Taylor good. And so if you can get that in this offense, that's going to run the shit out of ball with a good offensive line.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I don't know, lots of goal line opportunities.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, this guy should be much higher.

[Danny Heifetz]

I totally agree. Because again, just Najee Harris, we thought he was going to get these reps. And that's the thing. Zamir Hampton's getting these first team reps and Najee Harris, just to reiterate, so there was a Fourth of July fireworks incident. We don't totally know what happened still, and we didn't want to comment on it. But at this point, I think it's worth saying we keep joking that the same way Mark Andrews last year, nothing structurally wrong after his car accident, but clearly, clearly wasn't healthy. What Najee Harris's agent said was it was a superficial eye injury. And just to delve into that for one second, what superficial literally means is on the surface. Surface of your arm. That's probably no problem. The surface of your eye, super fucking important.

[Craig Krolbecker]

That matters.

[Danny Heifetz]

So a superficial eye injury, a surface eye injury, it's not just fish.

[Craig Krolbecker]

It's superficial.

[Danny Heifetz]

It's. Yeah, it could be like soup. So, like, if it was like, oh, he'll show up to camp, we'll see. He's walking around practice in a weighted vest that is what Najee Harris is doing on August 5th. So like, and I don't mean to joke about it, like it's very serious. We have no idea what happened to his vision. Like it might, you know, not going to go ahead and speculate but like it could be very serious. Having said that, he's clearly not close to playing and they said no, they.

[Danny Kelly]

Said there's no timetable for his return.

[Danny Heifetz]

There's no timetable. So like, and I don't want to joke too much because like there's a chance Nashee Harris's entire career is affected, but the brass tax of that is a Marian Hampton's getting all these first team reps that we thought would come out. So I just think he's a week one starter and it's one of those that this is where the weird meta of fantasy rankings are. Way down by best ball, which I'm not even going to get into. But there's like average draft position that's weighted from previous assumptions. So if we just started from scratch, I think Omarion Hampton would be a top 25 draft pick and you're going to be able to get a 40th. And so I think he just belongs in this group with people that you wouldn't be surprised if they were like, oh, top five, like could these guys be top five? And you wouldn't shocked. Jonathan Taylor. Yes. Josh Jacobs. Yes. Bucky Irving. Yes. Kyren Williams. Yes. Chase Brown. Yes. And I think Omarion Hampton belongs there. And then the next tier to me is guys, I would be a little surprised which is Ken Walker, Breeze Hall, Camara, Connor and Chuba.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah. If Najee Harris, let's say like didn't play a snap this year, I think Hampton would be right next to Jonathan Taylor and Josh Jacobs. I think that's firmly where he should be.

[Danny Heifetz]

And dk, can you remind us about Omarion Hampton's skill set at North Carolina? Because like Amirian Hampton's an impressive runner and in a year without Ashton Genta, he probably would have gotten a lot more hype.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah. Big physical, has a history of heavy volume as a runner, can feature in the passing game. He's not like a super great pass catcher in terms of his route or anything like, or anything like that. But he is reliable in the passing game and just, you know, turbo boosted acceleration, which I always love just because it means you can do so much when you don't have that much in front of you. Break tackles, avoid tackles, you know, make something out of nothing. He definitely has all that. He, he looks Weird. In eight, though, I will say we saw number eight, hall of Fame game. He's number eight.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

He chose the number eight, which is.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I don't know. It just doesn't look right. But that's fine. I think he'll still be good.

[Danny Kelly]

I think he'll be able to overcome on his team. What would you have opted for? What would you have recommended?

[Danny Heifetz]

His number in College was 28.

[Craig Krolbecker]

He might. He might just be going. A lot of players do that where they just like take one of their numbers off. Two would have been better.

[Danny Heifetz]

Maybe running back sometimes half the time the answer is like, how many guys were taken ahead of him? Which also on the Netflix series with the Monroe, he answered why he wears the number 14. Did you guys see this?

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, his wife.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, his. His girlfriend.

[Danny Kelly]

Girlfriend.

[Danny Heifetz]

He asked his girlfriend how many receivers are drafted ahead of me? And she said 14. And then a year in, he's like, you know, I counted. It was 16. She's like, really?

[Danny Kelly]

And he was like, she's like, damn, my bad.

[Danny Heifetz]

Just counted wrong.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah. So that's why we're 14. Half the number. Yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I will say, when you look at pictures of him wearing 28 versus wearing just 8, it makes him look skinnier.

[Danny Kelly]

Of course.

[Danny Heifetz]

Well, that was Malik Neighbors. I was convinced Malik Neighbors wearing eight actually made him look slower. And you know what?

[Danny Kelly]

Because it's right. Because it's a round, fat number compared to like number one or something.

[Danny Heifetz]

Now Malik Neighbors number one. And he looks faster.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah. Aerodynamic.

[Danny Heifetz]

Exactly.

[Danny Kelly]

I don't mind eight. Is that bad? I. I kind of think eight's okay.

[Danny Heifetz]

Didn't Gus Edwards wear eight? Am I making that up?

[Craig Krolbecker]

Sounds right.

[Danny Heifetz]

Bottom line, though, you were four for the Chargers last year.

[Danny Kelly]

Four is gross. Four is awful.

[Danny Heifetz]

Four is crazy gross.

[Danny Kelly]

Super ugly. What are the. What are the least aesthetic numbers? 1 through 2? Alvin Camara.

[Craig Krolbecker]

4. 6, who's in this tier is like, what was he, 41 or something like that.

[Danny Heifetz]

Quick, unprepared, impromptu. Can we just quickly draft running back numbers right now?

[Danny Kelly]

So what are the. What. What's available? 1 through 0 to 100.

[Danny Heifetz]

What are you talking about? 0 to 99. No.

[Craig Krolbecker]

So now it can be any number.

[Danny Heifetz]

They changed the rules.

[Craig Krolbecker]

It used to be different, but now it's 1 through 49.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

Oh, 1 through 40. Yeah. Right. You're right. Yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

And 80 through 89.

[Danny Heifetz]

49 probably last.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Previously it was 20 through 49. Now you can do single digit.

[Danny Heifetz]

No, you can do zero because DeAndre Swift was zero.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah. You can do zero now.

[Danny Kelly]

I feel like the 40s are the obvious worst numbers. However, I feel like if one guy came in and made it cool, it's like. It's like one like Camara.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Camara's 41. He didn't make it cool. That's a huge. He'd be the perfect player to make the 40s cool, and he never did it.

[Danny Kelly]

This is why. Cool, though.

[Danny Heifetz]

No dking. You're 100, right?

[Craig Krolbecker]

You see any other player in 40s, you're like, oh, God, he's getting cut. He's on special team.

[Danny Kelly]

He pulls it off.

[Danny Heifetz]

No chance.

[Craig Krolbecker]

He did pull it off for sure.

[Danny Heifetz]

No, Dick is right. 41 sucks. Even though Camara is incredible.

[Danny Kelly]

I don't know. I've like, Ashton genti was, like, 44 and just crushed. That'd be kind of cool. It's like. It's like Margot Robbie bringing back the name Margot.

[Craig Krolbecker]

What is that?

[Danny Kelly]

It's like now the name Margot because of.

[Danny Heifetz]

Oh, you're gonna name your daughter Margot?

[Danny Kelly]

Maybe Margot.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah. I named her after Margot Robbie.

[Danny Kelly]

You know, I'm not naming her after Margot Robbie, but it's. It's now allowed me to realize that Margo's a nice name.

[Danny Heifetz]

Okay.

[Danny Kelly]

I don't think the name Margo is that bad. If we have anybody named Margo. Listening. You have a pretty name.

[Craig Krolbecker]

No, the name's not that bad.

[Danny Heifetz]

I can't hear you backpedaling. You named your daughter after Margot Robbie, so. Yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

After Margot Robbie. After the amount that you guys talk about. Wolf of Wall Street.

[Danny Heifetz]

Wolf of Wall Street. I just saw that. See?

[Danny Kelly]

Wolf of Wall Street.

[Danny Heifetz]

It was reminding me what I want. My daughter. Yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah, totally.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah. My two daughters, Margot and Anora.

[Danny Heifetz]

Oh, God. Margo and Sydney.

[Danny Kelly]

That one, I feel like, is a little more reasonable.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Genti's number two.

[Danny Heifetz]

Well, yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Which I think looks kind of sick.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I don't know. I. I still kind of think I'm a traditionalist. The 20s, I think still is 20.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, I'm. I'm bad that. I think it's my oldest. 10. Take 28. Peterson. 21.

[Danny Kelly]

21.

[Danny Heifetz]

LT. Yeah, it's. Yeah, those are. Those are classes.

[Danny Kelly]

I respect the hell out of Camara. He's a. He's a trailblazer.

[Craig Krolbecker]

He is high. Fitz, though, real quick on Hampton before the show. I moved him up right under Josh Jacobs.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, we're gonna move Fantasy football dot com if you want to follow along. We're gonna update it, but I agree. I think that we'll see where it ends again. It's August 5th. It's too bad because sometimes we're on top of stuff, but then it's like by August 30th, when you draft, it's like, like all the. The advantages go away. But I do think, oh, Marian Hampton is that rookie that if we had known Najee Harris wouldn't play, is like maybe ranked 16th and he's started 44th. And now it's like, maybe there's that value. We'll see. But I think just to reiterate, we're saying that the top tier is like Saquon Bijon, Jamir Gibbs and like Derek Henry. Then we're saying it's like Christian McCaffrey, Devon H.N. ash and Jente elite guys with risk. And we're saying this next tier here, guys that if you get in the third, basically third round guys we like fourth round, great value.

[Danny Kelly]

It's the last guy who could theoretically be the number one running back on your team and you're not pissed.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, that's a great way to think of it. Jonathan Taylor for the Colts, Josh Jacobs for the Packers, Bucky Irving for the Bucks, Kyron Williams for the Rams, Chase Brown for the Bengals, and o' Marian Hampton of the Chargers. I think that makes sense. I think that's right.

[Danny Kelly]

We're not doing that right.

[Danny Heifetz]

I think if Camara is your number one running back, that makes you nervous. You're like a little nervous. Commercial number two, you're like, damn, Camara's my two. I feel great about that. Number one, you're just. Your eyes just float down to your receivers and tight end and you're trying to talk yourself into it. You're like, yeah, but I have. I have Justin Jefferson and A.J. brown. It hurts. So Camara is my fourth, my number one.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I think this is very spiritually right.

[Danny Heifetz]

That.

[Danny Kelly]

That feels right. Even though if statistically at the end of the season, that ends up being wrong, it feels right. Alvin camara is the RB6 each of the last two years. But you're right that it feels. It would not feel great to have him be your number one.

[Danny Heifetz]

I just. You're just really banking again. It's going to be Spencer Rattler competing with Tyler Schuck. And I'm not. I'm like, Derek Carr.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Sounds like Rattler might be leading this quarterback competition right now.

[Danny Heifetz]

Who knows? That's not Derek Carr. Like, I'm not Derek Carr's, but I actually might be Derek Carr's least favorite person in media, but, like, I'm just. Derek Carr is different than Tyler Schuck.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I do. I will say, though, I think if we're going by that rubric, if you have Ken Walker as your number one running back, you're nervous. If you have James Cook as your number one running back, that makes you nervous. Same deal.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yes. Hampton, I think is the best guy.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Camara as your number one back, is nerve wracking. As his number two rack back, you're like, okay, that feels.

[Danny Heifetz]

So is Hampton.

[Danny Kelly]

I think that's right.

[Danny Heifetz]

Are we saying Hampton's the top of the tier that makes you nervous or the bottom?

[Craig Krolbecker]

I think he's in the. I think if you, if he's at.

[Danny Kelly]

The bottom of the tier, you feel okay. I think.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah. And if Najee starts practicing or something and Harbaugh's like, he's fine, we're going to work him in, we can move him down a tier. But if that's not happening, I'm like, the other guys in this team are Kamani Vidal and, like, I think that's the right move.

[Danny Kelly]

I'm really happy you guys agree that Breeze hall is not in this tier. That makes me feel good.

[Danny Heifetz]

No, it's Breeze Hall's just like, you feel great about him as your number two. That's the right rubric. I, I, that's, that's.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I, I would say I'm the most bullish on Bree hall, and it still makes me just a little bit nervous based on everything that's coming out of camp.

[Danny Heifetz]

Anything else you guys want to say about Cook? Kyron Williams? Cha. We talked about Chase Brown a couple weeks ago. We love Chase Brown. Chase Brown again, who's just, I think one of the, the last running back that's going to play like 80% of snaps. Like, he's going to play all the time. Yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Zach Moss was released. I don't know if we talked about on the show, but that, that's kind of like the last.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I mean, barrier that. Not that he was ever a huge danger, but to me now I'm like.

[Danny Heifetz]

Okay, that football is so fucking brutal. I didn't think we'd talk about Zach Moss in this episode. I do want to just say Zach Moss broke his neck in three places at some point last year. They think it was during the Patriots game in week one or week two. And he played for like six weeks.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

With a sore neck. Didn't tell anyone because he just, you know, that's life on the edge of the roster. And then eventually he lost feeling in his, like, half a body and thought he was having a Stroke. And so he like goes in and they X ray him and his neck's fucking broken. And so they come in and then it gets. And then gets next or no, he was going to get surgery. Didn't get surgery. So he had arrested rest. It comes into camp non football injury list because he's out of shape. And that is not a football. Even though he broke his neck playing football. Does not get put on the football injury list. Gets put on the non football injury list because that's conditioning. And then they cut him. They threw him a little extra money to cut him. They threw him like 300 grand to cut, but like got fired and football's fucking brutal. So I just wanted to shout out Zach Moss who's like, you don't think about those guys, but that's crazy. Play with a broken net for two months anyway. Okay, next group of running backs here I have this tier as basically like 1A backs. And it's basically, well, ironically, plus David Montgomery. So David Montgomery for the Lions, who's like the best one B probably. And then you have like Tony Pollard for the Titans, Aaron Jones and the Vikings, Isaiah Pacheco on the Chiefs, DeAndre Swift on the Bears, and then a trio rookies. You got like RJ Harvey on the Broncos, Trayvon Henderson for the Patriots and Caleb Johnson on the Steelers. I want to get to that rookie trio in a second. But of the veterans there, Craig, are there any veterans that stand out to you in that group of Montgomery, Pollard, Jones, Pacheco, Swift?

[Danny Kelly]

He's quite boring. I guess a lot of these guys are honestly pretty boring. But Isaiah Pacheco has jumped out to.

[Danny Heifetz]

Me a little bit.

[Danny Kelly]

The more I kind of think about him and the Chiefs, you know, last year he. He broke his leg in week two and he came back week 13. So the entire year was a wash. He came back, he definitely rushed himself back. Did not look the same. He's an incredibly boring guy. But the year before, Isaiah Pacheco was getting drafted in the third round of drafts and now he's going outside the top 25 at the running back position. He was the RB12 in 2023. I think the Chiefs offensive line is in a better position than it has been in the last two years. You know, I think the Chiefs are going to try to be more. A bit more vertical this year, try and spread things out, move the ball down the field, which I think could help the running game out. I just think, you know, they did not do a lot behind him. They have Elijah Mitchell, Kareem Hunt. I just think Isaiah Pacheco is a, is a good young running back who admittedly has had some struggles with health.

[Danny Heifetz]

But because he runs like he bites people.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, he runs like he's upset at the ground, not, not the players. He bites people. But I'm kind of just like, I don't know what's really the difference between why we were drafting Isaiah Pacheco in the third round last year and now he's getting drafted in the seventh or the eighth.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah, I think, I think this is a really smart take, Craig. He's one of the most under discussed and underrated values in fantasy drafts right now. It's like you're going to be attached to fantasy.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, this is a. I think Pacheco is an argument for why maybe you want to start with a couple receivers or like receiver in Brock Bowers. Because where you're like, oh, I could get Justin Jefferson and Brian Thomas or Justin Jefferson and Brock Bowers where you're like, wait, so my second running back could be Isaiah Pacheco who if the Chiefs offense is back where again it should be so much faster with worthy Marquis Brown actually healthy and practicing Pacheco not with a broken leg. Like it's a much faster offense around Kelsey. And so yeah, I, I think that's a, I, that's a really good call, especially of that group. I would not be surprised if Pacheco is the obvious value dk the other guys in this trio, we have the rookies. Obviously you're a draft expert at the ringer and I want to ask you about this trio of Harvey to the Broncos, Trevin Henderson, the second round pick to the Patriots at Ohio State. Caleb Johnson at Iowa went to Pittsburgh. Which of these three guys are you most excited about to get on your team?

[Craig Krolbecker]

Push come to shove? Travion Henderson. I think I, I still interested and excited in Harvey, but I think them signing Dobbins creates enough uncertainty, I guess or whatever. Just in terms of like how they're going to divvy up the roles with Trayvon and conversely with Trayvon, the hype is kind of like that the hype train has left the station. This is, it's absolutely blowing up the last week or two. They're utilizing him in the passing game. There's like videos of him running vertical routes down the sideline, like wheel routes, catching passes, catching touchdowns in red zone drill, he caught like three touchdowns. Like you can't escape the hype right now around Trayvon. And obviously Josh McDaniels has a history of Fantasy production from his. From his pass catching backs. And I think that's exactly what Trayvon is going to be if he get. And then he might even get more than that. Like he might get early down work as well. Obviously Ramandre Stevenson is still there and I think they still like him, but he's not the most reliable guy ever. He's been hurt in the past. He's had fumble issues in the past.

[Danny Heifetz]

Four times last year. Fumbled this a couple of days ago in practice.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I don't think Trayvon fumbled in college or he had like some ungodly number of carries without a fumble. He's a really, really reliable back in a lot of ways. Kind of like the inverse with of Ramondre Stevenson where you just kind of like know he's going to be where he needs to be. Not going to put the grab ball on the ground. He's going to catch everything that you throw his way. And again, he's a really good. He's a really good pass blocker. So he's going to be out there when it's important. I think so. I don't know. I'm starting to find myself getting really excited about Travion Henderson. He could be one of these rookie running backs that just dramatically outplays where people are expecting him to.

[Danny Heifetz]

I kind of agree. I want to backpedal a little. Even though like a week ago I was talking about. Basically my read on it was I think everyone was too excited for henderson. I'm like Ramonja Stevenson, only like 27 years old. Like, he's. He's gonna play. And I checked in with a couple people who I really. Who are very smart with the Patriots. And I was like, come on. Like, Ramonjo is going to play. Henderson's not going to take over him this year. Like teams draft for like the year after. Like, it's a part of a succession plan. And they're like, no, I think Anderson's going to take over this year. He looks a lot better. And I was like, oh, right, because he's more explosive obviously than Hend, than Ramanjo Stevenson. But Henderson is the kind of rookie who's going to pick up the pass blocking work, all the little stuff the coaches love. He's like, you know, a lot of those Ohio State running backs have great fundamentals. And so, yeah, I think Henderson's probably going appropriately. I agree. The only other rookie I want to shout out here is just RJ Harvey from the broadcast really quick because of this. Harvey is another guy. I was a little, iffy about because people were like, oh, is this just Bucky Irving? But always a red flag for me when people are like, remember that out of nowhere guy from last year? No one expected it's going to happen again. Like that's always a red flag.

[Danny Kelly]

So he's not out of nowhere but second.

[Danny Heifetz]

Well, you see he was a quarterback at Virginia and then he was a running back at ucf. So RJ Harvey's only played running back for years, goes to Denver. And on one hand I'm. I'm torn because I think that the vision Sean Peyton has for RG Harvey is Darren Sprouls and I think Darren Sprols. And it's like, what does that mean? It's like, well, a lot of catches. That's good. I will say this. Does one, does that happen as a rookie? I don't know. Now they're saying RG Harvey's picking up. Sean Payton is saying that RG Harvey's picking up the blocking and stuff better than you think. He's been excellent at it. We'll see how that develops. I will say this. I think that RJ Harvey, the part no one's talking about is RJ Harvey's like Tayson Hill in that RG Harvey was a quarterback at Virginia. He doesn't have to be quarterback quarterback. But I do think if RJ Harvey can throw like literally three passes a year, then he's like the Taysom Hill in that a running back that has to be accounted as a thrower. Kind of like a Ladanian Tomlinson could throw a few touchdowns a year for the Chargers. Like if Sean Payton gets a running back that has to be accounted for in the passing game. I do think that could be like crazy. Like imagine if there's, especially with Bonix.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

Darren Spoles could credibly throw a pass. I think Sean Payton's going to get in lab with that. I do want to put that I'm.

[Danny Kelly]

Just in on Harvey. I, I just, I honestly trust Sean Payton with his running backs. His teams haven't ranked lower than six in running back target share since he's been a head coach. There's a couple stats that I want to throw at you. RJ Harvey is only the fourth running back that Sean Payton has ever selected in the first two rounds of the draft. The others are Reggie Bush, Mark Ingram and Alvin Camara. Reggie Bush and Alvin Camara. Good group. Saw over a hundred targets their rookie year. Over a hundred targets their rookie year. No running back in the entire NFL has had over 100 targets. In each of the last two seasons. And I'm like, okay, J.K. dobbins is there. That's fine. If he's going to get first and second down work. I don't trust his health. I don't trust him as a player, really, as, like a ceiling lifter. I think he's a solid player, but I'm just like RJ Harvey in this offense with the draft capital. His pass catching ability, his juice. Like, DK really liked him coming out of the draft. I just kind of think I'm not going to overthink this and he's going to be involved.

[Danny Heifetz]

I'd say this. You have to be patient with RJ Harvey. If you take RJ Harvey, you have to understand, like, sure, he could come out of the gates wingy. There's a chance. Richard Harvey starts slow and he still could be great. Oh, DK did the thing. We grabbed his shirt again.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Everyone's coming around on Sean Payton right now.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, well, I'm done.

[Danny Kelly]

I will say Denver is like, no longer. Anyone's, like, best kept secret, cool, hot take. Like, everyone's in on Denver. Everybody thinks.

[Danny Heifetz]

The problem is. This is what I'm worried about.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, it's over.

[Danny Heifetz]

I agree.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, it's over.

[Danny Heifetz]

Any other Craig or Caleb Johnson? Any take Steelers takes here.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Oh, yeah. Where are we on Caleb Johnson? You know, because you're kind of like a hater. Not hater, but I didn't like him.

[Danny Kelly]

Coming out of the draft. I. I think stylistically he makes sense with other Smith.

[Danny Heifetz]

Right.

[Danny Kelly]

Like, he has a Derrick Henry style to him. Big one cut, runner picks up speed as he goes along. Like a stiff, armored Derek Henry for.

[Danny Heifetz]

The first three years of his career. But he wasn't great that no one remembers.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah. Honestly. Yes. And so it's like, all right, that's who I. Smith wants to run. Theoretically, it's a good fit. But you mix it with Aaron Rodgers, it's like the. The jets threw the ball the most in the league last year because it's what Aaron Rodgers wanted. Aaron Rodgers was like, checking out of runs all the time. I don't. I don't. I don't know. I think, like, there is a world in which the offensive line works out. The year two of Arthur Smith works out and Caleb Johnson is like, pretty good and works. And the reports out of camp is that he's been good. He's got to focus more on pass protection. But then also I'm like, man, I think Jalen Warren's good. This offense is going to Be all over the place and might not score a lot of points and it might just be like your typical Steelers offense and like the Najee Harris of last year is his ceiling.

[Danny Heifetz]

So I have. Jalen Warren is the first guy in the next tier, but basically, yeah, I don't know what to do with either. My. I, I kind of just want to be out on the Steelers. I kind of be on this offense. Because you need Caleb Johnson, a rookie, to earn Aaron Rodgers's blessing, basically for pass protection. I think Galen Johnson's probably gonna take the goal line work because he's larger than Jalen Warren, but Jalen Warren will get the passing work and I think it'll be like, you know, I feel like there's enough rushing here for them to have value, but not enough success in this offense that I'm. I don't want to be excited about these guys. I don't know. I. Maybe Caleb gets touches. I kind of just don't want the Steelers. I just. I'd rather have RJ Harvey. I'd rather have Trivian Anderson. Like, yeah, the other thing, he's also going to run a lot of zone from shotgun, which is not the. Caleb Johnson ran a lot of zone in college, but he's gonna have to do all that as shotgun because Aaron Rodgers can do the Roethlisberger thing that kills the run game. That's why, like, they want to run more. But it's all fun games until you have to redesign your entire run game around Rogers. Just having to do shotgun and get the ball has to be out in 2.2 seconds, which suddenly you're putting crazy bumpers up on the bowling lane for what you're actually able to do here. And I just. We know that going in. I don't want to be part of that. That's. I don't know.

[Craig Krolbecker]

The other thing I want to add here, and I know that I recognize that I just did this with Trayvon Henderson, but, like, mainly the thing I'm excited about with Trayvon is what they're doing in the passing game. I always think it's funny when we talk up what running backs are doing in the run game in training camp where you can't tackle.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, no, it's gonna.

[Craig Krolbecker]

It's just like guys through the line.

[Danny Kelly]

For a 25 yard touchdown.

[Craig Krolbecker]

It's like, buddy, they can't even tackle. They're like, they touched you. That's.

[Danny Heifetz]

You get fired if you tackle the record running back.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah, I always just thought it was really hard at this time of Year to really buy in on, like, you know, like with the jets. There's all this talk of Braylon Allen looks amazing. I'm like, okay, what does that even mean? Like, he's running around like, I honestly don't know where you're getting. Like, where do you get that from? If he's being really utilized really excitingly in the scheme and passing game and all that, like, I understand. Getting excited about that was like, Braylon Allen looks awesome right now. I don't know what to talk about.

[Danny Heifetz]

We'll see next week. We're going to have a special guest on next week. But if preseason's good, for one thing, it's the running backs. The running backs is the first thing.

[Craig Krolbecker]

We strap them on and actually hit people.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, he's got it. He does it like you can see.

[Danny Kelly]

I will say the only. You're right, dk. Like every report, basically out of every camp with every running back is like, it look explosive. It's like, sure, of course they're NFL players running.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I don't know. They're running around in.

[Danny Kelly]

The only guy.

[Danny Heifetz]

You have not seen an NFL athlete. Unbelievable.

[Danny Kelly]

The only guy who has not gotten that report. And Heifetz. We can talk about this team next. I know you want to. The only time I've ever been like, wow, the reports out of camper that this running back has no juice and it's very sad. Is Nick Chubb.

[Danny Heifetz]

Oh, yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

So even against everyone, like couches. Any couches. Any, like, comment about Nick Chubb with.

[Danny Heifetz]

Like, he's just not. So I don't know where to spot this. Here's the. So the Texan situation is as follows. Joe Mixon has his foot injury and again he was in a boot. Then he came out of the boot. Now there's no timetable for his return. They're going to evaluate close to the season. I. Joe Mixon is like a do not draft. Joe Mixon is. I don't know what's going to happen with him this season. I don't know. I don't even know if he's going to play this year. But Joe Mixon's like a closer to like a non factor than a guy. You're taking the first 50 picks. So then Nick Chubb is the next guy in Houston. But Nick Chubb, Danika Ryan's head coach is already talking about. Nick Chubb is, you know, great. Look, guys, when they get older, you know, things happen like they lose a step. It's fine. Not even like coaches usually defend their guys and they're like, yeah, you know, people say he's lost stuff. I haven't seen it. No. D', Amico. Ryan's like, yeah, losses. So what? He's great. Pass pro. He's a pro in the, in the running backs meeting room.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, they're.

[Danny Heifetz]

They're like a terrible.

[Craig Krolbecker]

He's a good person.

[Danny Kelly]

Like d', Ameco, we asked about CJ Shroud and he's like, oh, right, sorry. Like, I feel like he's like, he's like going out of his way to be like Nick Chubb. Not, you know, it's okay. It's okay that he doesn't look like the same guy. You're like, we didn't even ask about that.

[Danny Heifetz]

I think the. So I don't know who the Houston running back's going to be, but Nick Chubb will have a role. I'm probably sure it'll be the nominal starter in week one, but I don't know if he's going to make it. He certainly seems like he only needs snap counts, but he doesn't have the juice. So I think it's going to be Woody Marks, the rookie at a USC or Damen Pierce who got activated off pub today, recording this Tuesday, August 5th.

[Danny Kelly]

Damian's time.

[Danny Heifetz]

Damian's time. I kind of think it's gonna be. I think it's gonna be Woody Marks, man. But the point is those guys are going really cheap. We'll update our move them. But yeah, I think the, the Texan starting running back is going to be like free because people aren't going to realize that Joe Mixon's not like. I, I don't. I, I think that that's a total up for grabs but like throw darts at that backfield because I think Woody Marks, Damon Pierce, one of these free guys is going to end up starting there, basically. So yeah. That's why we haven't talked about mixing so far.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Woody Marks caught a ton of passes in college, I think.

[Danny Heifetz]

I think Woody Marks. We'll see. That's one. It's August 5th. We got to see in the next two weeks if it's Pierce or him. But I think that one, they clearly.

[Danny Kelly]

Don'T like Damian Pierce. I mean how many. It's.

[Danny Heifetz]

No, I.

[Craig Krolbecker]

He has not been good either outside of like the early part of his rookie year or maybe his entire rookie year he was pretty good. But then since then it's just been a disaster.

[Danny Heifetz]

Let's see how preseason goes because Woody Marks. I'm curious how the first preseason game goes because if he looks better than.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Pierce that he could run literally 261 catches in college.

[Danny Heifetz]

Woody Marks, I, I think that could be. So the next tier here is I mentioned Jalen Warren, Brian Robinson Jr. For Washington where it's like no receiving work. Ramondjury, we talked about him. I think he's going to lose to Trey Van Henderson, Travis Etienne, who the Jag situation is weird. I think Craig pointed out great. Like, I think we all like take Bigsby better at etn especially Craig was.

[Sean Fantasy]

On top of that.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Ever since we had that discussion, I've just heard nothing but good things about Bigsby.

[Danny Heifetz]

Bigsby's gonna win that job in Jacksonville. Like he just is going to be a value. I think the Giants. I was going to talk about Tyron Tracy and Cam Scatter Boo. But honestly, Kevin Scottaboo hurt his hamstring or worsened his hamstring today.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Re injured his hamstring not even worth.

[Danny Heifetz]

Talking about because it could be two weeks, it could be six weeks. We don't know. I thought Scottaboo had a real chance to take goal line work, receiving work, but like we'll just see. But I, I, I kind of think just stay away from the Giants. Honestly, I don't know that's going to be a defense. Bleed the clock team. Jordan Mason from the Vikings, Zach Charbonnet from the Seahawks who are just kind of like high level 1B's. Any from those tier you guys want to talk about or anything. Jordan Mason's like could be the lead back but he's not going to catch any passes. These guys are all here for a reason. Everyone's here for very. You have like a very clear deficiency that probably won't change. Right. You know, and then I have a tier of just I don't know where to rank you and guys that are unrankable. I put mix in here. Najee Harris here and also Quinshaw Judkins who has not signed his contract with the Browns yet. Just un, you know, we're not even going to talk about them. Like they're just total missing things. One of the final here tiers here I just have like high upside backups. Just guys that are like dart throws of just like really valuable number twos or like starters that might suck. So you have a mix of like, you know, I mentioned Woody Marks for the Texans, Tyler Algier for the Falcons if B. Robinson gets hurt, Isaac Warrender for the 49ers if McCaffrey gets hurt. But is it Garando just hurt his shoulder. We don't know what the deal is there. Rashad White for the Bucks, Tasha super for the Titans. I think Spears might have to go up a tier. I think Spears is going to be closer to 50, 50. I think spears the Titans is a value. Bashful Tootin for the Jags if ETN is exiled, like maybe Tutin's like the Kirkland brand. Achan for Jacksonville, Austin Eckler for Washington, Dylan Sampson for Cleveland. Again if Judkins is not a factor this year and then Jerome Ford's the starter. Dylan Sampson's the starter. We got to put Jerome Ford Sampson somewhere. Trey Benson if James Connor gets hurt, Ray Davis for the Bills if anything happens, James Cook or maybe he gets less workload. Jaden Blue for the Cowboys. Miles Sanders is also in this tier where Miles Sanders, I think he's just the starter. I don't think Javonte Williams is going to start for Dallas. He's no chance.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I've been meaning to talk to you guys about this, actually. I think the Cowboys running back situation is one of those we got to kind of like watch and talk about a little bit more. Miles Sanders, from the reports out of camper that he's looked just significantly better than Javante Williams. I think, however, he has a knee injury now or he's nursing a knee injury. I don't think it's like serious but he's missing camp and therefore Jaden Blue, the rookie fifth rounder I believe is getting starters, reps and he's, he's another guy who's really good pass catcher, scored a bunch of touchdowns, explosive player. But obviously the volume is probably going to be an issue with him. I think he's more of a, you know, thunder and lightning type of. He's a lightning guy. But I think the, the Cowboys running back situation is definitely in flux right now.

[Danny Heifetz]

I think today, I think today's episode's important to hit the big names next week. When we see these preseason games, I think it's gonna be really fun to dive in next week to like the running back. I, I hope Jaden Blue plays like, you know what I mean? I want to see these running backs, they're like nerdier deep into these, the hidden gems in these backfields. Like a Jaden Blue. Like I want, you know, want to see Woody Marks. I hope these guys play and we'll be able to dive into that a little more next week. But as you guys were just saying, gotta see him in pads like actually with blocking and all this stuff and just got to just see the speed on the field, see the vis like you can kind of tell. So we'll dive into all that. Any other of these guys you want to shout? I think those are the right names of like Miles Sanders. If he's healthy, he's probably going to start in Dallas. If not, maybe Jaden Blue because Javante Williams is cooked. And then yeah, Jerome Ford's probably started for the Browns and with Dylan Sampson until Judkin signs and then yeah, I think Joe Mixon's cooked. So a lot of two Texas backfields and then the Browns. Yep, for grabs. All right, we're going to get into a really fun conversation with Sean Fenasey which we went all over the place. But first just want to take a quick break. FanDuel is turning your bets into bigger wins with a parlay profit boost. That is right. Build a same game parlay or parlay and you can boost your winnings by 30% with a profit boost. You pick the teams, players, stats, all of it. FanDuel just adds a little fuel to the fire. If I was doing a profit boost I would look at honestly just who is going to lead the NFL in rushing touchdowns. A couple names that pop to me. Devon Achan's 28 to 1 O' Marian Hampton is 29 to 1. Chase Brown is 29 to 1. Chase Brown and Omari and Hampton are two running backs that are just or sorry. Chase Brown and Devon Hout are two running backs that are going to be on the field like all the time at goal line. Maybe the Dolphins scale back Achan in the goal line but they didn't last year. And then Chase Brown's like a Kyron Williams s like 90 plus percent snap guy maybe for Cincinnati. He's going to score a ton of points. Chase Brown 30 to 1 and then you could increase that. I I for anyone who's on the field that much it's like in contention. Then it just becomes about health. So that one stands out to me as something that just feels mispriced. So I'd like to make it further mispriced and I would use my profit boost there. Whether you're betting home runs, goals or birdies, FanDuel's got markets across every sport and every game. And the best part, when you win, you'll get paid instantly. Head to FanDuel.com Ringer Fantasy to get started FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook must be 21 + and present in select states or 18 + and present in D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Opt in required minimum bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens restriction supply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See [e-mail] gambling problem call 1-800- gambler or visit rg-help.com, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit CCPG dog/chat in Connecticut discover Ralph's Club New York the new fragrance by Ralph Lauren with black currant, vanilla and sandalwood. This scent embodies the sensuality and confidence of Usher. Like a city that never sleeps, this masculine Fragrance lasts for 12 hours. Ralph's Club New York Ralph Lauren Shop now@macy's.com this episode is brought to you by Prime. Prime Delivery is fast. How fast are we talking? We're talking a cooler for your snacks, a folding chair, a bluetooth speaker and a six pack of your favorite seltzer. Delivered by tomorrow. Fast. Oh yeah. Extra napkins, last minute guac bowls, backup phone chargers, even a replacement remote. Fast. I feel like I've ordered all of those things. We're talking everything you need for game day. Fast, fast. Free Delivery. It's on Prime. Let's be 21 and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18/ plus and present in D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem call 1-800- gambler or visit rg-help.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit MD gamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelp linema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPE NY in New York. All right, we are now joined by by Ringer head of content Sean Fantasy and more importantly, tremendously long suffering jets fan. And as if we couldn't make your life harder, we actually are dragging you back into the world of fantasy football and the Ringer Fantasy Football league. But most importantly, we wanted you here today because your former beloved quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, a deep, deep spiritual companion of yours, is now playing for Craig's team. And I was just curious if you had any advice as someone who just passionately would root for Aaron Rodgers the last couple of years. What Craig should expect. You know what to expect when you're.

[Danny Kelly]

I actually would like to know. I don't. I don't want to know what you thought. Having seen the entire season play out. I want to know what you were thinking on August 5th last year, right.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Now.

[Sean Fantasy]

August 5th last year.

[Danny Heifetz]

So between the pyramids in the season.

[Sean Fantasy]

I didn't feel good. And I have never felt good, as you guys know. But I did feel a tinge, a sprinkle of hope, of possibility. And that obviously was a huge mistake. But I don't know how you can reasonably have that feeling right now. Craig, like, I don't think there is justification for what you've been talking about on the show.

[Danny Kelly]

I think two things can be true. I think this is the best thing the Steelers could have done this year. And also I don't think the offense is going to be that good. Still, I think both of those things are okay, where I'm happy with the decision they made. He's $13 million. He's gone next year. We have a good roster. I think that's all okay. And still, I think Arthur Smith, Mike Tomlin and Aaron Rodgers and DK Metcalf, no other wide receivers, is like a really bizarre combination. And I don't think the offense is going to make any sense and I don't know who's going to win. And the weekly fight between Arthur Smith and Aaron Rodgers, philosophically, I think they're just completely at odds with the way they want to run an offense. So I think all that, but is like, you know, I have my concerns, however, what, Kirk Cousins, Russell, bring Russell Wilson back. I think this is fine.

[Sean Fantasy]

What about Sam Darnold? Didn't that make a lot of sense for the Pittsburgh Steelers?

[Danny Kelly]

No, I don't want to give Sam Darnold $100 million. I don't want to do that.

[Sean Fantasy]

What's the difference? You got. You're going to have to give it to somebody else next year after Aaron Rodgers goes 7 and 10. You know, like, what are you waiting for?

[Danny Kelly]

I don't want to be the guy who buys the quarterback off of Kevin o', Connell, who is maybe the best quarterback whisperer in the NFL and bring him to Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith. It just doesn't sound like a great, like a great deal for a guy who before last year was one of the biggest busts of the decade here.

[Sean Fantasy]

Okay, here's what I don't get about this take. I've been listening to you proffer this take to these two guys and they obviously think you're completely insane. And I do, too. It is. It's neither nihilism nor hope. Like you're trying to walk on the balance being between those two ideas. Right? You don't want to get hurt, but you're like, it's the best we could do. So I'm hoping for the best, which is not really a take. Like, you kind of need to either go all in and be like, we're going to the super bowl, or you need to just get off the boat and be like, the Steelers should be sold. And like, you need to get on the jets level, is what I'm saying. Like, the Steelers are entering a Jetsey territory in the last 10 years and you need to get on our level.

[Danny Kelly]

It's funny you say that, because I think the jets are weirdly in a situation where you can't really have hope for what the ceiling of this team with Justin Fields can be. But there is, I guess, a floor of competency now with Aaron Glenn. And you're going to have like a rushing attack, you're going to have an identity, but you still have Justin Fields and you gave him $40 million. It's like, aren't you kind of in that same boat?

[Sean Fantasy]

I want to know what Heifetz and DK think about that though, because that's obviously the prevailing narrative. Like, oh, jets, could they be frisky? Wow, three, 800 yard rushers on the same team. This is exciting. But the jets are fucking horrible. Like, they're one of the worst franchises in professional sports. Do I like what I'm hearing out of training camp? Of course, because I'm an idiot. But is it possible that they're actually kind of cool? I don't think it is possible. And I also don't think that justifies any non take on the Steelers that you're making. Like, make your take, man. Like, take a stand. Look, are they winning 14 games or not?

[Danny Kelly]

That's such a podcaster's mentality. And I won't.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Craig's living in the real world, pal.

[Danny Heifetz]

You want to live in the real world? You want to live in the real world. I think that this is brass, like, gray area.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Plenty of room in the gray area.

[Danny Heifetz]

The season's gray area. It's up, it's down, it's all these things. But the rea. I think the one thing Craig hasn't lived in enough is you want to talk about real life. There is a serious chance that Aaron Rodgers ends up the quarterback of the first Mike Tomlin Steelers team to have a losing record. And whether you like it or not, that will be attached to Tomlin and Rodgers forever. If it happens, whether it is fair or not, it will literally be. Aaron Rodgers was great and then like, got really weird after Covid and Then he ruined Mike Tomlin's career. Like, literally. That's how we will remember it. And that's how people will think about the Steelers is before and after Aaron Rodgers. Like, that is also on the table, along with The Brett Favre of 09 Vikings run of, like, almost going to the Super Bowl. Like, that is the other end of this.

[Sean Fantasy]

The counter to that argument is that the Jetsiest thing of all time would be for Aaron Rodgers to win 14 games in the super bowl as a Steeler. Now that. Now that. If that happen, what kind of bold proclamation can I make that I will not stand by one year from now? I'm not sure. It would be really hard to come back from that last year sucked, guys. That was awful. Watching his carcass get wheeled out there every week and pretend to be good with his touchdown interception ratio, that I used to think was a meaningful stat and is completely meaningless because he's a coward and won't throw the ball down the sideline. It's pathetic. I hate him so much. Craig, seriously, fuck him. Fuck the Steelers. I can't believe this.

[Danny Heifetz]

Sean, we talk all the time about your tweet from, like, before the first. Like, you're like this. I want it on the record. Like, the first year before he tore his Achilles. She's like, I want it on the record. This Aaron Rodgers experiment will fail and everyone involved will get fired. We just. So there you go.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Pretty right on.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah. I want to get to bold proclamations here that we won't follow up on in a moment, but the last thing I want to hit is you mentioned Justin Field. This whole podcast has become a quarterback key party for all of us, where Russell Wilson's played for all three of our teams. And now it's like, Justin Fields, who started the first six games for the Steelers, is your quarterback. And then Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers, they play in week one. I think Craig correctly pointed out it's probably the weirdest meaningless week one game or the biggest revenge meaningless week one game we can ever remember. How do you feel as Justin Fields as the quarterback?

[Sean Fantasy]

I feel like it's. It's a turkey sandwich. You know, like, turkey sandwich. Solid, gets you through the day.

[Danny Kelly]

You gotta have a take, Sean. What do you mean?

[Sean Fantasy]

You know, have you ever had a 14 and three turkey sandwich?

[Danny Kelly]

No, you can't just say that she's okay. You can't equivocate. Come on.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Oh, that's funny.

[Sean Fantasy]

What do you mean?

[Danny Heifetz]

In his defense, Aaron Rodgers being like an MVP and Super bowl winner and also Someone who played four snaps in a season. It is a pretty more volatile range of outcomes than Justin Fields.

[Sean Fantasy]

I think that Fields I can't get out of my head, whatever the semifinal and the college football championship, you know, four years ago, right before. The year before he was drafted, I can't remember which team they were playing. I want to say it was LSU where he was throwing darts and then he got tackled in the back. He got hit in the back and was badly injured. Looked like he had. He basically was like speared by Goldberg in wcw. And he got up and he finished that game and threw two or three more touchdowns. And that was the team that had, like, Garrett Wilson and Olave, and they were. That was an unbelievable Ohio State team. And I watched that game with my wife, who watches very little football with me and even less college football with me. And we were watching that game and I was like, the jets have the second overall pick and this guy is Dante Culpepper 2.0. Like, this is unbelievable that we're going to get this guy. Now, the murmurs about Zach Wilson had already started at that point, but I wanted Fields. I really wanted Fields. And I think I even said that to you guys on the show. And we didn't get him, obviously. And obviously he has not had the most decorated NFL career thus far. And frankly, most people are doubting him. And honestly, I'm doubting him. I'm not going to come in here and pretend like I believe that this is where he will turn it all around. But if he does turn it all around, it's a great story. And I feel like everything else that is around him at this point is weirdly underrated. Like the way that they have built up young talent, the identity of the coaching staff, the fact that the AFC east is in kind of a tricky spot right now, the fact that we don't know if the Pats are going to rise, The Dolphins obviously seem to be doing kind of a reset. The Bills already have some injury and holdout stuff going on. There's weirdly a soft vulnerability in the AFC east for the first time in a long time. And if he's just above average, if he is the 15th best quarterback or 14th best quarterback in the NFL. Now, mind you, this is exactly what we said about Aaron Rodgers last year. If he's the 15th best quarterback in the NFL, with this defense, they will go to the playoffs. But if Justin Fields is just above average, I think they could win eight or nine games.

[Danny Heifetz]

This is why Justin Fields is the perfect Jet, because He's flashes enough that Sean just is. Like, if he's the 15th best quarterback, we can win eight or nine games and it's. Meanwhile, he's going to suck.

[Sean Fantasy]

I will say they have not had a player like Garrett Wilson in over 10 years. And so he's kind of worth the price of admission for me. Like, I will just watch every game because I want to see him in, you know, at have 1800 receiving yards. And I think that's in play for him if he stays healthy because he's by far their number one receiver. Have you guys. Did you guys get into Mason Taylor at all in the Tight Ends episode? Was it like two hours into the episode? I was listening, waiting for Mason Taylor.

[Danny Kelly]

I didn't discuss him, actually. Yeah, I listened to him as a late, late sleeper, as the potential number two option on this team. The reports out of camp from him are glowing.

[Danny Heifetz]

There's been four good rookie tight ends in a decade. He's hurt, and then he got a hanger sprain today, so.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, he got hurt.

[Danny Heifetz]

He got hurt today and he got a hiking.

[Danny Kelly]

Serious high ankle.

[Danny Heifetz]

Sorry, not even low.

[Sean Fantasy]

Are you serious?

[Danny Heifetz]

Yes.

[Craig Krolbecker]

He's going to be out like a month. Yeah.

[Sean Fantasy]

Yo, I can't. I just. It's terrible.

[Danny Heifetz]

He looks good. So this, being a Jets fan, this is why we do fantasy football. Because you feel so dumb having hope about your. Your real team. We need a distraction from our distractions, and so this is why we do fantasy football. So we brought back the ringer fantasy football league. So we're going to do the draft later this month. And we wanted to ask you, Sean, among other things, we want to have a good punishment for this league, and we're trying to thread the needle between something fun, creative, humiliating.

[Danny Kelly]

We've been soliciting our listeners, we've been getting hundreds and hundreds of punishment ideas.

[Danny Heifetz]

And so we're trying to thread the needle on not just something like Bill Simmons would do, but frankly, no offense to either of you, something you two would do. DK and Sean as like, fathers who have responsibilities, jobs.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

And we're trying to throw the needle of what is the most humiliating thing that you would actually participate in, time consumption wise.

[Danny Kelly]

And I got to say, before you answer this, our listeners think the bar is much higher than it is. Like. Like, oh, yeah. Our listeners are like, oh, Sean and Bill have to do a rewatchables on a movie of our choosing shirtless. And I'm like, okay, they're not going to. Or it's like, we got one that was like, they got. The loser has to take a one hour twerking workout class and video post it on Instagram. And I was like, instead of a boot camp, no one is doing this.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Sean, are you willing?

[Sean Fantasy]

Neither of those are in contention for me.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Would you be willing to go get your yellow belt in karate?

[Danny Heifetz]

That's crazier than the booty camp.

[Sean Fantasy]

I would do that.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Self actualization.

[Danny Kelly]

He didn't win or you think you would. This was a punishment in my other friend's league. It takes a lot longer than you would think to acquire a yellow bottle.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Okay. Do a month of.

[Danny Kelly]

You have to go to like, 10 classes, which I don't think anyone is.

[Sean Fantasy]

Doing, but that's at least bettering myself in a way that my decrepit body could probably use right now. That is very different from, I mean, me. Me and Bill shirtless podcasting. I will say that is cinema. Like, I. That's a great idea. It will never happen.

[Danny Kelly]

People thought it would be funny.

[Sean Fantasy]

I appreciate the creativity.

[Danny Kelly]

People thought it'd be funny if, like, let's say Chris loses. Chris Ryan gets dead last. And then what he would have to do is sit in on the sicario rewatchables, but he's not allowed to speak.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Just torture.

[Sean Fantasy]

You have only sadists listening to your show. It's amazing.

[Danny Heifetz]

Oh, my God.

[Sean Fantasy]

I would be willing to. Here's the thing. There's a good chance I lose. I mean, I am probably the least informed person in this space. I'm not a sports podcaster at all. And I also have an insanely busy life. So my ability to, like, nail the waiver wire, like, I can't. I don't even have time to, like, listen to your show, for Christ's sake. The fact that I'm going to be, like, on, and that's part of my job, and being on top of this league against, you know, nine other maniacs like Mal's in this league.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah.

[Sean Fantasy]

Bill's in this league. Like, these are incredibly competitive people, Sal. Like, people who literally make their bread from watching football.

[Danny Kelly]

So you don't play fantasy?

[Sean Fantasy]

Currently I do. I've been in one Fantasy League for 20 years with friends, and then I'm in, usually one or two more, but I just don't take it that seriously. I very rarely finish, like, in the bottom five. I'm competitive because I have access to all you guys, but I am not good. And I'm not going to pretend like, I'm good. So if I lose, it can't be something that I'M going to refuse to do, like, ahead. I have to do something.

[Danny Heifetz]

You won't agree to vanilla. The Vanilla Ice slits in the eyebrows.

[Sean Fantasy]

I would do that.

[Danny Kelly]

That's pretty legit.

[Danny Heifetz]

I kind of like that one.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Wait, they throw it back, right?

[Danny Heifetz]

It's the. Yeah, yeah, they do.

[Danny Kelly]

Okay, but how long.

[Danny Heifetz]

Vanilla Ice slits in the eyebrows.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I think that's a pretty good.

[Danny Heifetz]

We've gotten a ton of. Yeah. A lot of people want to program the rewatchables, which is probably not going to happen. The funniest one is your favorite movie, but you can't talk and you sit there.

[Danny Kelly]

Somebody did.

[Sean Fantasy]

That's a great idea.

[Danny Kelly]

You have to. You have to drink two cold cans of soup.

[Danny Heifetz]

This is my favorite.

[Danny Kelly]

Would you do that?

[Sean Fantasy]

I really want to spoil a movie that's coming out soon, but I'm not going to do it. But that is. It is related to a movie that's coming out really soon. I would not do that. I would do the eyes. You wouldn't do the eyebrows.

[Danny Heifetz]

You wouldn't have the cold Kansas.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I love that he would do that.

[Danny Kelly]

Not the same.

[Sean Fantasy]

I would do the eyebrows.

[Danny Heifetz]

All right, put that.

[Danny Kelly]

Can we raise.

[Craig Krolbecker]

We're putting that towards the top right now. I'm telling you, put that towards the top.

[Danny Heifetz]

Should we unpack this or just, like, take up an order before we change the eyebrow slits?

[Sean Fantasy]

Did who.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Will Bill Simmons do the eyebrows?

[Danny Kelly]

No way.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Probably not.

[Danny Kelly]

No way.

[Sean Fantasy]

I don't know. Okay, here's what's in my.

[Danny Heifetz]

Feels like I'm not gonna lose. Bill's just thinking about whether he's gonna be.

[Craig Krolbecker]

My eyebrows are gonna leave the west anyway. I'll be fine.

[Sean Fantasy]

That's what I was gonna say. Danny, I'm going gray. And so you can see even on this. On this camera, like, look at Craig. He's got these.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Craig. And eye fillers over his eyes.

[Sean Fantasy]

You know, I've got these, like, this little faint graying. No one would even notice. They'd be like, ah, Sean, he had an accident with a buzzer or whatever.

[Craig Krolbecker]

And it was, like, pushing it up, pushing it out.

[Danny Heifetz]

That's a.

[Sean Fantasy]

But if it happens to Danny Heifetz, that's a problem. You're on camera four times a week.

[Danny Heifetz]

That's a tough beast.

[Craig Krolbecker]

We could do the, like, side. The, you know, the side burn slits or whatever, too.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah.

[Danny Kelly]

Oh, so so.

[Danny Heifetz]

But, like, I'm not going to lie.

[Danny Kelly]

Cold cans of Campbell's chicken noodle. You're not doing it.

[Danny Heifetz]

I would come out. I, I actually. This is why you ask People, you never assume. It never once occurred to me that eating two colds of cans of soup would be worse than having slits in your eyebrows. House. But you know what? That's why. Yeah, I love that one. Okay.

[Sean Fantasy]

I just think food stuff is gross. Like, don't make me eat something disgusting. I don't. I'm not.

[Danny Heifetz]

It's food, though.

[Sean Fantasy]

No, it's like anything that is Fear Factor related.

[Danny Kelly]

This is good to know. Good to know. No, no food.

[Danny Heifetz]

Okay. Here you go. So email us at Ring of fantasy football gmail.com if you're inspired. We got. And things that have already been suggested. Five minutes of standup comedy. I think that's a classic taking.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Stand up comedy.

[Sean Fantasy]

I refuse to taking the SATs.

[Danny Heifetz]

You ever heard that one? Yeah, yeah, people. Yeah. You have to go take the SATs.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

Like with all these.

[Sean Fantasy]

That's kind of great. That's kind of great.

[Danny Heifetz]

Show up.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Just a big enough pain in the ass.

[Danny Kelly]

Sean, what do you think about the loser having to get a jersey of their least favorite team with their last name on it and having it behind them in their pod studio? So Bill would have like a Lakers jersey that says Simmons in your frame.

[Sean Fantasy]

I've been dealing with this shit for years at the ringer, so that wouldn't be really very interesting to me. Like, Bill photoshopped my head onto a photo next to Tom Brady and Bob Kraft celebrating him re signing with the team. Like, I've been subject to that stuff many times. That doesn't bother me that much.

[Danny Kelly]

So that's on the table, Pat.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

I also think everyone's.

[Sean Fantasy]

I don't. I can't lose. So if I lose, actually, maybe we'll just like shut down this show. So just, we gotta figure out a way to help me not lose. Unless it's the eyebrow thing, which I would do. And I don't think it's a big test.

[Craig Krolbecker]

That's funny.

[Danny Heifetz]

I love that so much. That's why you ask. Okay, Sean, thank you so much. Any other parting words or advice, wisdom before you get out of here?

[Sean Fantasy]

Yeah. Craig, I wish you no luck. I hope. Aaron Rodgers breaks both legs on the first play of the regular season. And he's misunderstood. I hate him.

[Danny Kelly]

Reports out of camp.

[Sean Fantasy]

I hate him. I hate him.

[Danny Kelly]

He's a real locker room guy.

[Sean Fantasy]

I've heard that. I've heard that he and Tomlin together have a really interesting dynamic and chemistry, and I'm sure it's going to be really consistent and quiet and he's going to be really focused on football. And I'm really excited about his marriage. That seems very cool. And he's a good man with good ideas, and you're very lucky.

[Danny Kelly]

Thank you. We're trying to get him on the show, so we'll see if that happens.

[Sean Fantasy]

Yeah, you can send him a clip of that commentary.

[Danny Heifetz]

So Happy Gilmore is, like, our favorite movie, I think, on the show by a lot. And then Sean, obviously, is, like, the movie expert. And so Craig went on Sean's show, the Big Picture, and, God, I guess. I mean, Craig shredded Happy Gilmore.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Eviscerated.

[Danny Heifetz]

Eviscerated it. And I think I wanted. Well, first, I don't. I don't know. I feel like. Craig, do you want to kind of explain your Happy Gilmore is like, your favorite comedy, and do you want to just summarize your hatred of the sequel?

[Danny Kelly]

I thought it was pandering, lazy nostalgia slop. And if you want to hear my full take, you can listen to the big picture. But Heifetz and DK have watched the film now. We have not discussed it. Heifetz, did you share my same feelings?

[Danny Heifetz]

No.

[Danny Kelly]

Oh, you liked it?

[Danny Heifetz]

I liked it. I liked it.

[Danny Kelly]

Of course you did.

[Danny Heifetz]

That is, here's the thing.

[Danny Kelly]

Predictable opinion out of hype ever, is that you like that movie.

[Danny Heifetz]

Here's the thing. Here's the thing. Of course I. Happy Gilmore. Of course. Happy Gilmore 2 is fan service. Yes, I am a fan.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I felt derogatory.

[Danny Heifetz]

I felt served. Like, I'm just saying, what, Two cold cans of soup, a bunch of dumb jokes. Like, the first 20 minutes were bad. And, like, I won't lie, the first, basically, until Happy Gilmore starts playing golf again, it's pretty bad. I'm like, oh, they killed his wife. Which is like. Like the most classic, like, 90s Christopher Nolan shit or whatever. Like, all right, the kills. It's kind of. It's not very funny outside of John Daly showing up for the first 30 minutes. But frankly, the first Happy Gilmore isn't necessarily, like, amazing to start once. Yeah, it is just. It's more like when you saw the tryouts.

[Danny Kelly]

But okay, he's moving the goalpost.

[Danny Heifetz]

Great.

[Danny Kelly]

Fine.

[Craig Krolbecker]

He's moving the goalpost.

[Danny Kelly]

You enjoyed the last 30 minutes when it turned into beast.

[Danny Heifetz]

I'm saying, when will a bunch of.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Did we ask Sean a question yet?

[Sean Fantasy]

I'm fine.

[Danny Heifetz]

When Will Zalatoris shows up and they do the extended bit that Will Zalatoris looks exactly like the caddy. I'm like, you know what? This is funny. I'm enjoying it. I'm not gonna Let the Internet poison it. Is it like some high art? Guess what? It's a sequel. 28 years later later for fucking Netflix for like, they made it for money. It's just like a thing that exists. It's kind of like when Lil Wayne puts out the Carter 6. Is it great? No, I'm just happy Lil Wayne's not dead. Like, I can't believe he's still making music. This is cool. I'm happy this exists. Happy they made Happy Gilmore 2. It's a little funny toward the end. That's fine. I don't know.

[Craig Krolbecker]

This sounds like Craig Steelers takes.

[Danny Heifetz]

I know.

[Danny Kelly]

I'm like, I'm happy it exists.

[Danny Heifetz]

I haven't. The bar you're setting is.

[Danny Kelly]

So what did you think?

[Sean Fantasy]

The movie is not good. So I'm not going to pretend to tell you that it is some masterwork. And I was not suggesting that on the Big Picture. I do think it's kind of an interesting movie. And it actually does have some ideas that I think are kind of fascinating for Adam Sandler to be putting into his clearly Made for Money and memes Happy Gilmore sequel. The thing that has been so funny about this, both watching the reaction to the movie and then doing the episode with Craig and watching the reaction to that episode, is that it's so fun to have the shoe be on the other foot for me, because I'm often identified as a pretentious film snob. That's like, that is my Persona, right? And I lean into it a little bit and I think it's kind of funny. But there are certain things that I have a soft spot for or a blind spot for. Of course, Adam Sandler is one of them and Happy Gilmore especially is one of them. And so I'm happy it exists as an idea that I also relate to. But this is the movie that has broken the brains of men between the ages of 25 and 55 who think that they are not pretentious film snobs and that they are the ones who are now acting like the pretentious film snobs because their holy sacred document of comedy has been, you know, vandalized. And it's just amusing to me. I mean, the exact same energy that I bring to a lot of episodes of the Big Picture. Craig brought to that episode of the Big Picture.

[Danny Heifetz]

I agree. I gotta say, Craig, I thought I. I get why Craig is upset. Because Craig, you guys care about movies, you care about bringing comedies back. You care about all that stuff. But I just, I don't know. It was funny that the Mr. Mr. Lady had a grave. Like, I just laughed. I'm not even saying it's good, but like I laughed that like Bob Barker's grave was there. It was funny. Sorry.

[Danny Kelly]

It's telling, it's telling that you liked it.

[Sean Fantasy]

It's really not. It's really not. And honestly, you know, millions and millions and millions of people at home agree, you know, this is going to end up being one of the most popular streaming films of all time. But do they agree Adam Sandler continues to reign?

[Danny Heifetz]

Correct.

[Danny Kelly]

I don't know if they agree that it's good. They, they watched was there and they watched it and they marketed it well and it was a lot of famous faces and they clicked on it and they looked at their phone while it was on and every once in a while they looked up and went, oh, Scotty Scheffler, nice. Oh, Adam Sandler's hitting the ball again. Oh, fun.

[Danny Heifetz]

Honestly, I think I like golf and they integrated golf a lot. And I think it's funny that they called Charlie Hall a fine ass hillbilly like that. Just as funny. And it made me laugh. Is it cheap? Well, it's probably very expensive actually to get all these people in the cameos. I wonder what that costs. Or maybe they show up for free. But it's funny to me that Rory McElroy took a golf ball to the fucking or a baseball to the chest and then they came back and he's like on the ground, like, that was funny. Scottish office in the jail. Like it's funny.

[Danny Kelly]

Do you think so high Fitz? If, let's say the next 10, 20 years, the next two decades of comedy are movies like this, do you think then 20 years from now you'll say, yeah, we're back, we're in a good place. These movies are funny. This is what.

[Danny Heifetz]

That's everybody's why I think you didn't like it though. You're thinking about the implications of what this means for the business. I get why that would bother you. However, I'm speaking not as someone who understands how movies are made. I certainly don't understand what you talk about on the Town with Matt Bellany, how movies are made and the implications of business. I'm saying as a dumbass listener who is half on my phone, like watching it, I'm like, like, oh, I get it. Like Chubbs is there. Like they're doing mini golf again. Like, I don't know, it's like Anchorman 2. Was that good? No, but it was funny. They did the fight Thing with Stonewall Jackson's ghost, it's like. It's just like getting the band back together for, like. I don't know. I get what you're saying, because it's like the Sopranos line. Remember when Is the lowest form of conversation.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, all this.

[Danny Heifetz]

What. What did you think Happy Gilmore 2 was going to be? Other than, like, remember when?

[Danny Kelly]

Oh, I said my expectations were low and it was worse than I thought. But, yeah, it's like, I don't. I don't think you can separate the two. It's like, I am worried about the future of comedies, but this movie was terrible. And that's why I'm worried about the future of comedies, because people like you are like, I thought it was pretty good, which means they're just going to make more of those.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I couldn't get through it.

[Danny Heifetz]

It's like his favorite movie.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I turned it off.

[Sean Fantasy]

There's not a really strong rationale for it being 2 hours and 10 minutes. I don't really think that that was a good choice. This is amusing to watch you guys fight about it, though.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I can't tell if I want to finish it now or not.

[Danny Heifetz]

Well, I think it's way better. It's Craig's, right? The ending is weird. It's weird that they spent all that money on it. And the ending is green. Looks dumb. The. It's funnier after you turn it off.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I would say this. This is my only take on the subject because obviously I love Happy Gilmore with a passion. It just. It didn't feel like a movie. It was like some weird. Like, Craig, I think you put. It was like SNL 50.

[Danny Heifetz]

The.

[Craig Krolbecker]

It was just like a collection of cameos. It felt like it was like some special or something. It wasn't a movie.

[Danny Kelly]

It's rock bottom. Rock bottom.

[Sean Fantasy]

Oh, man. I. Craig, I love you, man, but you are a really caught in the slipstream of your own aging, you know?

[Danny Heifetz]

What was this movie?

[Sean Fantasy]

Just turned 31. You're going through it. You feel like they're taking things from you that used to be yours. And you feel like the, you know, the big algorithm has eaten up your childhood. I get it. Like, I've been there, dude. I've been. I've been going through it publicly for 10 years.

[Danny Kelly]

Dead inside. It just.

[Sean Fantasy]

It gets way worse, dude. Like, it's gonna only get worse. You think this is rock bottom. You have so far down to go, man. They're gonna keep tearing apart the absolute core of your inner child. They will destroy it for as long as they possibly can. This is the entertainment business. Get used to it.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Sean's been at rock bottom since you were cuddling a Cabbage patch Craig.

[Danny Heifetz]

Sean is like the meme of James Franco with the noose. And he's like, first time.

[Sean Fantasy]

First time.

[Danny Heifetz]

Totally.

[Danny Kelly]

Exactly my point. We speak in memes anymore. We're not quoting movies.

[Sean Fantasy]

That was a good film. Ballad of Buster Scruggs. You know who made that movie? Netflix. How about that? Yeah, it's not all bad.

[Danny Kelly]

All right, well, Sean, thank you for imparting your wisdom once again.

[Sean Fantasy]

All right, guys. Go jets.

[Danny Heifetz]

That was really.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Dude, I love the fucking eyebrow thing. That's great.

[Danny Heifetz]

I can't believe.

[Danny Kelly]

Shocking. Crazy, crazy crazy. Because, like, you can't. Once you do that, like, you can't take it away. Like, I guess you could be like.

[Danny Heifetz]

I don't think he realizes I Googled it. Are you guys recording this?

[Craig Krolbecker]

How long does it take to grow back?

[Danny Kelly]

I mean, three months. Yeah, I googled it.

[Danny Heifetz]

I don't think he knows that.

[Danny Kelly]

I mean, it's hair.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Like, it's like the season.

[Danny Heifetz]

No, your eyebrow hairs don't grow back very quick. It's like three months for your eyebrows.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, that's my point. I'm saying, like, this is. It's funny for maybe, like, one to two podcasts, but he's gonna have that for a long time, and there's nothing you can really do. Like, you can't really hide that.

[Danny Heifetz]

Also. What's he gonna do? Like. Like, just good. Also. You know what's funny, which you didn't think about, is that it would be for him January to March, which is like, Oscar season.

[Danny Kelly]

He's gonna be like, he's gonna do.

[Danny Heifetz]

Oscar season with the eyebrow slits.

[Craig Krolbecker]

As a fellow faint eyebrow person. It's like, that wouldn't bother me at all.

[Danny Heifetz]

He's right, though.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah.

[Danny Heifetz]

Craig. I didn't realize that. We're way more at risk where it's like, yeah, I have caterpillar guys got.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Like, dark, bushy eyebrows.

[Danny Heifetz]

I do. Yeah. It would be. It would be like I would walk around, like, people would just stare at me on the street, never mind doing content Cool.

[Craig Krolbecker]

What are you talking about?

[Danny Kelly]

Who's like, oh, yeah, you know, I'm not that great at fantasy. I don't have a lot of time. Like, I never win. And. And he's the one being like, yeah, shave your eyebrows.

[Danny Heifetz]

I. I feel like that's something he would, like, casually mention to his, like, wife, and his wife would be like, what the are you talking about? You're gonna Put a Vanilla Ice slits in your eyes.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Like, it's my job to make content. What can I say?

[Danny Heifetz]

Dang, you won't eat soup.

[Danny Kelly]

That does change things, so. Right. Okay. For the people listening, you just heard Sean talk about the punishments. He wouldn't, would not do. Allow that to influence your new ideas and email.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, that's wild. All right. Thank you, dk. Thank you, Craig. Thank you to Sean Fantasy for coming on. Thank you to everyone emailing us at ring your fantasy football gmail.com for fantasy football punishments that people will actually do. I hope that Sean illuminated what is actually possible here. What was the other thing we wanted from earlier?

[Danny Kelly]

Oh, I don't know. I don't know.

[Danny Heifetz]

I don't remember.

[Craig Krolbecker]

No, no memory.

[Danny Heifetz]

If you remember, email us about that. Follow us on Ringer Fantasy Football on Instagram. Follow us on YouTube, please just YouTube Subscribe. If you've been hearing me beg, then like, and you haven't done it yet, please just go to the ringer fantasy football YouTube channel and just hit subscribe. And yeah, follow us on Instagram, TikTok and everything. Thank you, Lord, Lord.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Thank you, Lil Wayne. Nice hyphens. Is just happy he's alive.

[Danny Heifetz]

Did I go too far with that? You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, people, like, there was like a day.

[Craig Krolbecker]

There was like a day there where everyone thought he was dead.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah. Like, oh, the Carter 6 is not the same. I'm like, dude, he is making music. That's crazy.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah, it's a little bit like Craig's dealer's take, but that's fine.

[Danny Kelly]

I know that's true.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah, like.

[Danny Kelly]

Like, you know those videos of Frankie Valli still doing shows? It's like, at a certain point, when can you be like, enough? Well, it's right. I like the music. It's fun to be there and see them.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Senior abuse.

[Danny Kelly]

They're just playing the songs. I like the songs. It's like, you think the Carters is.

[Danny Heifetz]

Is he Lil Wayne making too much music, though?

[Danny Kelly]

No, I actually have no opinion on Lil Wayne or the car.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Sorry. I want to veer off of Lil Wayne here and go to Coldplay. We were talking and I was hanging out with a bunch of people and we were talking about, like, the most popular artists on Spotify, and Coldplay is still one of them. Obviously. Coldplay in the news for other things lately. Did we ever talk about that, by the way?

[Danny Heifetz]

Not enough. The Coldplay thing. Should we be the last people to.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Delve into this whole Coldplay debacle? Anyways, I was Just shocked to hear that Coldplay is still one of the most popular artists on Spotify in the world.

[Danny Kelly]

Not only. Yeah, dk. I believe they have this first or second most profitable tour this year.

[Danny Heifetz]

What?

[Danny Kelly]

Globally?

[Craig Krolbecker]

How are people still this into Coldplay?

[Danny Kelly]

Coldplay, they're the U2 of our generation.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I don't understand this at all. I thought they like faded into the background.

[Danny Heifetz]

Blows my mind.

[Danny Kelly]

That's just how I think of them.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yellow has three.

[Craig Krolbecker]

The last song I can remember from them is like that Yellow video where.

[Danny Heifetz]

They have five different songs. The beach.

[Craig Krolbecker]

It's like he's walking on the beach.

[Danny Kelly]

I mean, they have sunlight, they have yellow. Viva la vida, clocks. Wow.

[Danny Heifetz]

They have so many songs with billions.

[Danny Kelly]

Huge, huge hits.

[Craig Krolbecker]

I just can't believe they're still so popular.

[Danny Heifetz]

Should we be. Instead of first take, should we do last take on the Coldplay concert? The last people to break this down in the world.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

There was a lot of, like, fake announcements from the two people involved in the Coldplay thing. Like there was a fake CEO statement. He was like saying, sorry. But then also, I'm mad at Coldplay for showing me and putting me on.

[Danny Kelly]

The best statement was when he was apologizing the entire time and he had to tell his wife. And then at the end, it was like, I did have to tell my wife that I am a Coldplay fan, which I thought was kind of funny.

[Craig Krolbecker]

The.

[Danny Heifetz]

The Gwyneth Paltrow, the company that turning around doing the Gwyneth Paltrow video is one of the all time great marketing moves ever.

[Danny Kelly]

I can. She probably made a million dollars to do 15 seconds of.

[Danny Heifetz]

Oh my God, just record two minutes. Probably did four takes. That was amazing. I also. It's so funny to think that, like, if they had just played it cool, it would have been fine. But like, who could think of that in the moment? Because it's. Honestly, I think that's the best example I've seen ever on the Internet of the most catastrophic anxiety brain you could possibly imagine. That actually played out in real life.

[Craig Krolbecker]

Yeah. This is absolute worst case scenario for cheating at this concert.

[Danny Heifetz]

What if Chris Martin makes fun of us and then it becomes the number one trending topic in the world?

[Craig Krolbecker]

You shoot awake at night, like having this dream or whatever.

[Danny Kelly]

Oh. I mean, also, like, her being the head of HR is so good. They had a third person there.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah.

[Danny Kelly]

To make it look as though they. They weren't on a date. Also just Chris Martin, like hitting the nail right on the head and just being like.

[Danny Heifetz]

The speed it was crazy.

[Craig Krolbecker]

And this is the Streisand effect.

[Danny Heifetz]

Yeah.

[Craig Krolbecker]

If you want to know what the Streisand effect is like, that was it just like them ducking away from the camera or whatever.

[Danny Kelly]

Yeah, it's a tough beat, but everybody knows what a strong is now.

[Craig Krolbecker]

That was like a. It was a worldwide meme for a solid week. I've never seen a more famous meme. I don't know.

[Danny Heifetz]

I think it. It made it into more algorithms than anything I've seen in a really long time.

[Danny Kelly]

It was the rare situation where, like, I could talk to my parents about it or like a 14 year old and everybody knows what's going on.

[Danny Heifetz]

I actually spammed, like, every demographic. It was pretty crazy.

[Craig Krolbecker]

What was this? What's the astronomer? What is that company?

[Danny Kelly]

Data analyst analytics or something.

[Danny Heifetz]

They store all of Coldplay's music. Jam all the streets.

[Danny Kelly]

Oh, that's good. I like last take. We just cover news a week late.

[Danny Heifetz]

Last take? Yeah.

[Danny Kelly]

We just got back from vacation. It's like Cindy Sweeney. What's going on with American Eagle Eugenics? What?

[Craig Krolbecker]

Oh, God.

[Danny Heifetz]

Last day. Oh, man. Goodbye, everyone.