Vikings-Bears Reaction + Week 2 Waivers

Summary

The Ringer Fantasy Football Show

Episode: Vikings-Bears Reaction + Week 2 Waivers

Date: September 9, 2025
Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, Craig Horlbeck

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Episode Overview

This episode covers a spirited recap of the Vikings' dramatic win over the Bears on Monday Night Football, featuring an in-depth debate over the trajectories of quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy and Caleb Williams. The crew then breaks down the market for Week 2 fantasy football waiver adds, with detailed discussion and analysis on key rookie performances (especially those from the Cleveland Browns), significant injury fallout (notably to George Kittle and Xavier Worthy), and which widely available players could shape the fantasy season. Lively banter, pop-culture references, and trivia add flavor, along with a recurring argument over NFL time zones.

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Key Segments & Insights

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1. Vikings-Bears Recap and QB Debate (02:00–25:30)

Main Questions:

• Who would you rather build around long-term: J.J. McCarthy or Caleb Williams?
• What does Week 1 tell us about their outlooks – on and off the field?

Discussion Highlights

• McCarthy vs. Williams — The “First Take” Style Debate:

  • Craig: "Right now you have J.J. McCarthy or Caleb Williams. Who are you picking?" (02:16)
  • DK: “McCarthy looked like absolute dog shit for the first, like, three quarters... then turned it on in the fourth quarter... I’m starting to lose my faith in Caleb Williams a little bit, I would say.” (02:24–02:51)
  • Heifetz, on McCarthy’s intangibles: “It was the intangible stuff...you could feel it on the sideline that the offensive linemen like J.J...it felt like a more cohesive team.” (03:53)
  • Criticism of Caleb: teammates not celebrating with him, detached body language (“Caleb did not do that...did like a thing with Zaccheaus and then went and sat down alone.” – Craig, 04:45)

• Broadcast Anecdotes and Narrative Building:

  • The contrast between McCarthy’s visible sideline leadership and Williams’ more isolated demeanor seen as significant by the group, albeit “incredibly anecdotal” as DK reminds. (05:10–05:31)

Performance Analysis

• J.J. McCarthy:
  • Struggled early (56 yards, 3 quarters), horrendous pick-six, but three TDs in fourth; “First player since Cam Newton with 2+ passing and 1 rushing TD in debut.” (24:21)
  • “First QB to overcome a 10-point deficit in 4th qtr of their debut since Steve Young.” (24:31)
• Caleb Williams:
  • Hot out of the gate (completed 10 straight passes), showed improved pocket discipline but flagged for poor pre-snap and motion execution (“four false starts in the first half...his cadence was weird...trouble motioning receivers” – Heifetz, 09:02)
  • Perplexing recurring struggles to motion receivers, notably in critical Hail Mary play at end.

Behind-the-Scenes Bears Drama

• Discussion of a major GoLongTD report (Tyler Dunne) detailing accusations from 32+ anonymous sources on Williams’ preparation, leadership, and learning issues, including rumors about hidden dyslexia and poor relationships in the building. (10:06–17:10)
  • “I actually can’t believe how many things I wrote down that I was shocked by in this article.” – Heifetz (11:02)
  • Much skepticism (gross, gossipy, but “directionally correct”), with consensus that “truth is somewhere in the middle.” (15:07, 15:47, 22:44)
  • Repeated point: it’s only Week 1; judgement should be reserved but red flags noted.

Notable Quotes

• DK: “I just don’t know, like, if it was his fault. That’s what happened. That’s all.” (20:11)
• Craig: “If this was Week 8, I’d be very concerned. Right now...it’s probably going to be a long process...Ben Johnson’s offense is complex.” (13:34)

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2. Critical Game Moments and Coaching Blunders (28:46–30:34)

The Bears’ Late-Game Clock Mismanagement:

• Craig incredulous that Bears failed to kick the ball out-of-bounds with 2:02 left, costing valuable time and a legitimate comeback shot.
  • “That’s a massive blunder. Massive...like potentially game-losing.” (30:12–30:15)
• Heifetz speculates: either the kicker missed the assignment or lacked the leg — but “this is the epitome of special teams what-not-to-do reel.” (30:01–31:00)

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3. Week 2 Waivers: Running Backs (33:02–44:56)

Consensus RB #1: Dylan Sampson (Browns)

• “Eight catches in your debut is nuts. That’s the hardest way for a rookie to get onto the field.” – Heifetz (33:56, 35:54)
• DK: “They are looking towards him when he’s running routes, when he’s on the field. He also had 12 carries, so he had 20 touches.” (34:11)
• Usage context: Ford/Judkins still above him on depth now, but role likely to grow (Quinshon Judkins complicated by possible looming suspension). (34:53–36:46)

Other Names Discussed

• Trey Benson (Cardinals): more than expected Week 1 split with James Conner. “I like Trey Benson. His rookie year wasn’t encouraging, but I like the usage.” – DK (41:04)
• Bashuel (Ba’Shul) Tootin (Jaguars): lottery-ticket speedster, possible season-long upside if Etienne falters. (41:43–44:05)
• Others lightly touched: DJ Giddens (Colts), LaQuint Allen (Jags), Kenneth Gainwell (Steelers), Tank Bigsby (Eagles, now Barkley’s backup).

DK’s drop advice: “Can you drop Caleb Johnson?...I doubt there’s another player on your roster more cuttable right now.” (44:45)

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4. Week 2 Waivers: Wide Receivers (45:00–59:30)

Names Debated

• Cedric Tillman (Browns): “Played 88% of snaps – they were scheming plays for him! Talent is undeniable.” – DK (45:35)
• Hollywood Brown (Chiefs): “16 targets, 99 yards – and with Worthy’s [shoulder] injury, he absorbs a monster role.” – Heifetz (47:31)
  • Coach-speak alert: Media parsing of “day by day” vs “day to day” on Xavier Worthy’s injury (48:41)
• Quentin Johnston (Chargers): Best fantasy week (5/79/2), but target volume is whack-a-mole due to offense’s options (54:04)
• Elic Ayomanor (Titans): “If Cam Ward is decent, I think he’ll be solid and could be very good…top 10 in first read target share in NFL debut.” – Craig (54:16)
• Kayshon Boutte (Patriots):
  • “He’s running in two-WR sets; led the Pats in routes. Low-key could be their No. 1 by default.” (57:54)
  • “If you trust Drake Maye at all, Boutte as the WR1 is a free lotto ticket.” – Heifetz (58:03)
• Calvin Austin (Steelers): “PPR floor; the Deontay Johnson cosplay – will rack up targets.” (55:37)

Tiered Takeaway

• “Quentin Johnston is the obvious pick for production, but if you get Kayshon Boutte, you might get better longer-term.” – Heifetz (58:59)
• “It’s a huge week for receivers – I’d rather hit on these guys for season-long than gamble on backup RBs.” – Group consensus (59:44)

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5. Week 2 Waivers: Tight Ends (63:28–79:34)

Top Add (if available): Kyle Pitts (Falcons)

• “If Drake London misses time, Pitts could finally break through. Has good rapport with Penix.” — Craig (63:50)

Harold Fannin Jr. (Browns):

• “He led college football in catches – not just TEs. And in his first NFL game: lead snap rate, schemed targets, nine looks from Flacco.” – DK (64:58–65:55)
• “He’s essentially the Browns’ WR3, a chess ‘joker piece’… I think he could be the pickup of the year if Njoku is traded or misses time.” – Heifetz (68:56)
• Caution on Browns Overload: “What’s wrong with us…? We almost had three rookies from their offense as top waivers.” – Craig (70:23)

Other Names:

• Brenton Strange (Jags): “80% snap rate, 4/60 line, faces a Bengals D just shredded by TEs. I think he’s the most ‘startable’ next week.” – Craig (77:15)
• Juwan Johnson (Saints): “Legit 99% snap rate while Taysom Hill and Foster Moreau are out. 11 targets, 8/75.” (76:22)
• Michael Mayer (Raiders): Contingent value if Brock Bowers’ injury lingers: finally looking like an NFL contributor.
• Longer shots: Mason Taylor (Jets, slow start but high camp buzz), Jonnu Smith (Steelers, Arthur Smith's favorite).

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6. QB & Defense Wavier Strategy (80:00–84:00)

Quarterbacks:

• Target Daniel Jones (off huge week, season-long legs), Michael Penix Jr. (volume), and, if Giants sink or Wilson flops, stash Jackson Dart. (81:00–81:37)

Defenses:

• Top streaming targets:
  • Seahawks (if available)
  • Bills (Jets, Dolphins, winnable schedule, high availability due to Week 1 drop)
  • Packers (defense on the rise with great coordinators)
  • Rams (vs Titans’ rookie QB, Cam Ward)
  • Titans (vs potentially crippled Rams O-line)
• Bucs vs Houston: Noting Houston’s “offensive line just sucks.” (82:57)
• Patriots/Titans: Not huge upside but have a few plus matchups.

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7. Memorable Moments & Quotes

Notable Quotes:

• "It is crazy what double-digits will do for your mental health in fantasy. The difference between 9 points and 10 points is monumental." — Heifetz (64:32)
• "If Tyson Bagent did what Caleb did tonight, we'd all say that's a backup performance." — Craig (22:55)
• "The Browns are the Cleveland Waivers...every year it's like, am I adding Cedric Tillman, Jerome Ford, or which random guy now?" — Craig (36:46)
• "16 targets on a Chiefs team with no options? Even five weeks of Rashee Rice out, I'll take Hollywood Brown." — Heifetz (47:31)

Pop Culture & Running Jokes

• Time zone rants and regional culture clashes (86:00–91:00): “It just boils over...and then once in a while you guys say ‘morning games’ and all the rage of three weeks...comes out.” — Heifetz (89:59)
• Food talk: Debates about Applebee’s samplers/calories, mozzarella pronunciation, death row last meals (71:06–73:54)
• Snail trivia, chess metaphors, and the perils of learning board games as an adult.
• Ludacris’ chicken-and-beer restaurant as in-airport cultural touchstone (93:17–94:02)

Trivia Segments

• “How many teeth does a snail have?” (thousands, nobody wins.)
• “Distance from Moscow to Pyongyang?” (Craig’s awful guess triumphs; confirms knowing less helps.)
• “How many calories in Applebee’s sampler?” (DK’s calorie-awareness comes through.)

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8. Lightning Fantasy Waiver List

Running Back Priorities

1. Dylan Sampson (Browns)
2. Trey Benson (Cardinals)
3. Ba’Shul Tootin (Jags)
4. LaQuint Allen (Jags; deeper)
5. Tank Bigsby (Eagles, Barkley backup)
6. DJ Giddens (Colts—monitor Taylor’s health)

Wide Receiver Priorities

1. Cedric Tillman (Browns)
2. Hollywood Brown (Chiefs)
3. Quentin Johnston (Chargers)
4. Calvin Austin (Steelers; PPR)
5. Kayshon Boutte (Patriots; breakout watch)
6. Elic Ayomanor (Titans; deep/rookie upside)
7. Josh Palmer (Bills)

Tight End Priorities

1. Kyle Pitts (Falcons)
2. Harold Fannin Jr. (Browns, home-run stash)
3. Brenton Strange (Jags, Week 2 usability)
4. Juwan Johnson (Saints, 1-month stream)
5. Michael Mayer (Raiders, if Bowers is out)
6. Jonnu Smith (Steelers; Arthur Smith factor)

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Episode Tone & Takeaways

• Lively banter with stats-driven analysis, group ribbing, and deep dives into rookie rankings, QB personality diagnoses, and NFL organizational chaos.
• Cautious approach: "It’s Week 1, boring but we’ll see" is a frequent refrain; advice reflects both upside swings and floor plays.
• Cultural flourishes — pop culture, food, and trivia segments keep the show approachable even amid deep football wonkiness.

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Time-Stamped Navigation

| Segment | Description | Timestamp | | ------- | ---------- | --------- | | Opening banter/scheduling | Ringer show schedule, listener reminders | 00:00–01:00 | | Monday Night Football Recap | Vikings-Bears, QB debate | 01:58–25:30 | | Bears coaching/blunder | Bears’ clock mistake | 28:46–31:00 | | RB Waivers | Priority adds and rationale | 33:02–44:56 | | WR Waivers | Key injuries, target volume, breakout candidates | 45:00–59:30 | | TE Waivers | Kittle fallout, rookie/underrated plays | 63:28–79:34 | | QB/Defense Streamers | Streaming, deep-league upside | 80:00–84:00 | | Off-topic segment | Time zone/Applebee’s/trivia/rants | 86:00–98:13 | | Closing reflections | Signoff, emails, social plugs | 91:44–end |

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Final Thoughts

Key actionable advice for listeners:

• Prioritize the elite WR waiver crop this week (Tillman, Hollywood Brown, Quentin Johnston, Boutte) over the thin RB pool.
• Monitor Browns rookies for true breakout potential, but avoid overexposure.
• At TE, take home runs (Fannin) or short-term usage (Brenton Strange/Juwan Johnson), especially in light of Kittle’s injury.
• Don’t overreact to one week: the Bears/Caleb Williams drama will linger, but real verdicts will evolve over time.

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Contact/Interactive:

• Submit Fantasy Court/trivia questions via [e-mail]
• Follow on Instagram/TikTok @ringerfantasyfootball
• Waiver wire rankings: fantasyfootball.300.com

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Transcript

[A]

Foreign welcome to Ringer Fantasy Football Show. My name is Danny Heifetz and I'm joined by Danny Kelly and Craig Korolbeck. And we're going to go through our must add players on waivers for fantasy football after Week 1. But first, going to recap Monday Night Football. Weird game. Going to yell about Caleb Williams, J.J. mcCarthy, going to go through all our waiver picks because a lot of important players happen or important players to change your season get added after week. One quick thing with our schedule, we're coming to you on Sunday. We're recording Sunday nights for God Craig, you see the schedule.

[B]

So we're going to be recording after Sunday night, putting that episode up immediately. We're recording after the Monday night game, which we're doing right now and that will go up immediately. And then we'll be doing Power Hour Wednesday mornings and our preview show on Friday mornings.

[A]

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Ringer fantasy football and email us Fantasy Courts too if you want Fantasy courts, we're doing those on Wednesdays this year. Ringer fantasy football gmail.com Record it Tuesday. So email Fantasy Courts in by Tuesday and trivia questions for this episode. So yeah, with all that said, Monday Night Football waiver picks and then a bunch of dumb stuff at the end. Well, I don't know if we're going to keep it or cut it because it was crazy. But anyway, we'll stick around, see if I don't know how much after the episode happens, we yelled a lot about west coast time. Anyway, here's the show. This episode of the Ringer Fantasy Football show is presented by Hyundai. The all new Hyundai Palisade hybrid proves that an incredible SUV is so much more than the sum of its parts. And it's more than a spacious interior. It's more than being able to navigate difficult terrain. And it's way more than driving farther than you ever thought possible. It's the all new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid. So much more than just another SUV. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Okay, Monday Night Football. Weird game. Vikings beat the Bears 27:24. Craig, you just told me you have a first take question you want to throw at DK.

[B]

That's right. Maybe it's last take because it's the end of the night and we're recording on Monday night for the first time. Welcome dk.

[C]

I already know what you're going to ask.

[B]

Do you? What am I going to ask?

[A]

What do you?

[C]

Yeah, who Are you starting? Who are you picking? If you pick between JJ and Caleb Williams, you're.

[B]

You're goddamn right.

[C]

I know you too well.

[B]

I'm not saying for this year, for tomorrow. I'm saying for their careers. Right now you have J.J. mcCarthy or Caleb Williams. Who are you picking?

[C]

It's so funny because jj, he looked like absolute fucking dog shit for the first, like three quarters of this game and then absolutely turn it on in the fourth quarter. I'm having a very hard time trying not to, like, figuring out whether I should stick to my priors on Caleb Williams or just fucking give up, because he looked pretty bad in this game again.

[B]

I mean, he.

[C]

I think he made some decent throws.

[A]

McCarthy or Caleb? They both had Caleb.

[C]

Caleb made some decent throws and he didn't get sacked in the same manner that he was getting sacked last year. I think he had one real sack in this game. Plus he stepped out of bounds on that play. That was pretty dumb. But. So there was signs of improvement. But the long story short, I'm starting to lose my faith in Caleb Williams a little bit, I would say. And so I would probably take JJ at this point. It's tough, though, because they both.

[B]

I'm proud of you for answering that question. It felt like you weren't going to answer. So thank you for answering. I do appreciate that.

[C]

I mean, look, I also went on record saying I think JJ is going to work this year. I think he's going to be good. So I don't remember that because it was in the take perch.

[B]

But, yeah, this was a game of two halves. The Bears came out, marched right down the field, scored a touchdown. The vikings looks terrible. J.J. mcCarthy had like 56 yards passing for basically three quarters, had the worst pass of the day with the pick six to Justin Jefferson, and then turned it on three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. I would say the number one thing that stood out to J.J. mcCarthy, to me, I think he played okay. I mean, it's his first game. I thought he played okay.

[C]

Shook off the rust.

[B]

He shook off the rust. I thought he made a couple good throws. He had a nice scramble at the end. To me, it was the intangible stuff. I felt like you could feel and it seemed like people on the sideline. And it's a good mirror to Caleb, honestly, because you could feel it on the sideline that the offensive lineman like J.J. that his. The teammates like him, that it felt like a more cohesive team. And you could see him hyping up the team on the sidelines when they weren't on the field. When the offense wasn't on the field, he was dapping up his offensive lineman, which to me is kind of the opposite. Even though the Bears started the game really well, the Bears march right down the field. They scored a touchdown. Caleb has an awesome scramble, gets in the end zone. And I just watched Tom Brady this week talk about this. I think it was a Dan Patrick, I can't remember. And he was talking about how when it, when, when there's a touchdown, the quarterback better celebrate with his offensive line. Caleb did not do that.

[C]

Caleb, where were they?

[B]

They weren't near him and he didn't.

[C]

Go up to himself.

[B]

It was him. He did like a thing with Alameda, Zacchaeus. And then they ran back to the sidelines. People were hitting his helmet. He went and sat down alone. And to me, Those are the two differences between Caleb Williams and JJ McCarthy. Honestly, I thought they both had great moments and bad moments tonight. Unfortunately, Caleb's better moments were kind of at the start of the game and JJ's were at the end of the game, which matters more obviously. But I thought the stuff outside the lines was way more impressive for J.J. mcCarthy.

[C]

I don't. Look, I. You might be right. Like, that might be what. What is happening that just feels incredibly anecdotal. Like, just like you saw this on the broadcast like one time. You know what I mean? Like, I saw that too, when JJ was hyping up his teammates. Like, that's cool, but we didn't watch him the whole game.

[B]

When you say the scouting report on JJ McCarthy versus the scouting report on Caleb Williams is like. And I, I know, sure, I guess you could argue. Oh sure, it's Jim Harbaugh talking about how great J.J. mcCarthy is. What's he going to say? But I would say that a lot of the, the narratives around JJ McCarthy was like, about the he's a gamer, the, like the teammate, the. He's a lovable guy in the locker room. The second he's on the. Like, he, he's at practice. He is a leader. Caleb was never. You never heard that shit about Caleb. It was always about his talent, which he definitely clearly has raw talent. But you never heard about the other stuff with Caleb.

[C]

Yeah, I, I mean, I think generally that's true. I would say get, get some try hard vibes from JJ McCarthy, but like.

[B]

Trying hard to win.

[A]

I mean, you know, you know who the biggest try hard ever is is Tom Brady.

[C]

No. Russell Wilson.

[A]

Yep. Yep.

[B]

Another guy.

[C]

He won a Super Bowl. I'm saying, I'm saying I don't know. I I, I'm trying to be balanced and fair on this because I, I think we can make this mistake where it's like you see a few things happen during a game and it's like you're making these sweeping judgments.

[A]

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[C]

Terms apply and it also comes on the heels of this article that is making the rounds right now, which I feel like is painting your perception of him quite dramatically.

[A]

Yeah, so. So yeah, let's get we can mention the article in a second. I I do want to just Caleb's game. I I want to give a compliment sandwich first to Caleb Williams. So like again the whole question him coming out of the draft and everything. Incredible improviser Mahomes esque with the improv. Cool. You could do that in the Pack 10 or Pack 12, rip whatever the Pack 2. But can you do it in the NFL? And then basically the question with Ben Johnson was can you get Caleb Williams to play on time in rhythm and an offense compliment sandwich. Caleb Williams completed his first 10 passes. Now I think he looked Caleb looked a little uncomfortable in structure tonight. I think there were like design passes even on the opening drive where he probably had a touchdown to Roman Dunes in the first drive. Missed it a couple ones he missed. However, even if he wasn't totally comfortable in the offense, he was getting the ball out. Caleb Williams issue with the 67 sacks, the third most sacks in a single season last year was he held the ball for like three and a half seconds. That's not a thing in the NFL. You can't hold the ball for three and a half seconds in the NFL. Like clearly Ben Johnson's gotten through to Caleb getting the ball out that I think 10 passes is awesome. I don't think he looked great in structure. And I and this is the weird part, the the pre snap penalties were bizarre and I know it now it's football season because I'm saying penalties and I can barely say that word. But the pre snap penalties were really weird. The Bears by far led the NFL last year and like false starts and all this stuff. Caleb tonight, I mean they have four false starts in the first half, which is just bizarre. Like they were at home. That's what you see with young quarterbacks on the road. And it wasn't the offensive line. Like there were ones where the two linemen would jump off. Like his cadence was weird. He. The motioning. He. Caleb, the whole game had trouble motioning receivers, including the last play, the Hail Mary. He motioned DJ Moore wrong and snapped it. Like that's high school football. The ball hit. Well, no, no, I'm saying he snapped. He called he this.

[C]

I don't know.

[A]

Well, no, no.

[C]

Okay, so he had four false starts. When.

[A]

No, no, no.

[C]

Here's why.

[A]

Dk I just think it's. I mean, yeah, here's, here's why I'm talking about this. T. So the elephant in the room here is Tyler Dun at Go along on Substack had a giant article, a three part series about Caleb Williams on the Bears. And it is a mammoth piece. It's very divisive. It has 32 anonymous sources which on one hand, anonymous sources, many of which are coaches that frankly, Caleb Williams got fired from last year's Bears staff. So it is frankly, a lot of anonymous sources with access to grind. The flip side is 32 people is an incredible amount of sources for a story. So it is on one hand, I think described as a hit piece on Caleb Williams. On the other hand, it seems directionally correct. However, it is, I think the objective way to describe it is it is very much a response to Caleb's quote to the Seth Wickersham book that is coming out this month where Caleb said he wasn't coached by the Bears last year. And incredibly, Caleb is on record in a book after his rookie year where he lost 10 games in a row. He got the whole staff hired. Caleb's on record saying his offense scored and was not co. You know, coaching him. He. He's going to watch film. No one's helping him. I just turn the on. No one helps me. This article is very much like overtly the coach's response to the fact that Caleb threw them under the bus in a book.

[C]

Did he. Was he on record or was that what he had heard, what Seth Wickerham had heard?

[A]

Caleb's on record. Let me pull it up to make sure I don't get this wrong. But Caleb is on record in the book saying that he wasn't getting in.

[B]

The article in the title and his father too. The anonymous coaches basically Rebuke that and say you don't think we were fucking trying to make Caleb Williams good. Like you can track the iPad out. You could track the tablet.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

See how much he's looking at the film. He wasn't. He wasn't looking at his tablet.

[C]

He was on the wrong picture Marcus Russell thing. We put it, you know, we gave him a blank tape and then he said he watched it.

[A]

It is. It is the epitome of you need there's three sides to a story. And so I don't want to take the stuff in this article as gospel how like it is literally anonymous sources from people who got fired. Having said that, the anecdotes from this article are so damning they're closer to like accusations. I actually I can't believe how many things I wrote down that I was shocked by in this article. But the too long don't read is basically the idea that Caleb Williams is exactly what you think the first massive nil athlete would be in that he's the first giant college player underclassman Heisman who got paid $10 million in college. Everything was handed to him and then the Bears coddled him as an organization. It paints the GM Ryan Polls as a frankly like very weak guy who.

[B]

Just as much of a hit piece against Ryan Polls it is.

[A]

Ryan Polls is the only one who comes out looking horrible on every side. Ryan is the GM and basically that hints that Ryan Polls took him because the media wanted. He was afraid of the backlash. However, I know we're just talking about this right now. I kind of want to go through one of the themes throughout is the lack of preparation that Caleb Williams had that all the coaches paint including a complete inability to motion players and that they literally. I'm going to this is a quote from this article and it is an anonymous quote. I totally understand that. However, this blew me the fuck away. Ask anybody. One coach says we had the worst Friday practices in the history of the NFL every Friday. And the idea being that Caleb was on the wrong page of playbooks on Friday and Saturday during walkthroughs couldn't. And like there's this theme from Spring on that he couldn't motion receivers and get the snap right that DJ Moore and Mercedes Lewis is 40 the oldest player in the NFL that wasn't a quarterback wanted Calum bench benched when they were like 4 and 5 because he couldn't motion players. And anyway I encourage people if you want to go to the substack to read it for yourself if you're interested. I don't want to endorse or not, but it is. That is why I bring up four false starts in the first half when the pre snap penalties was basically the Occam's razor to me is that all the issues the Bears had last year, the coaches are like, this guy wants to throw us under the bus. He, he was the least prepared player on the team.

[B]

It's also hard because this is week one. Like if this was week eight, I think this would be a much more serious conversation. But it's kind of. It's tough, right? It's, we have to talk about it. It's like, it's hard not to overreact.

[A]

Weird.

[B]

If this was week eight, I would be very concerned right now. I'm like, all right, look, this is probably going to be a long process. Ben Jo. Ben Johnson's offense is complex. Caleb has a lot to learn and this is a herculean effort. And if this works, Ben Johnson will be a hero in Chicago. And it's week one and there were moments that looked okay and there were moments that didn't look okay. And the, the boring take is like, we'll see.

[C]

Yes, the boring take is. It's not gonna fucking happen overnight.

[B]

Yeah, of course not. And like he made a couple awesome throws. Like his outer structure stuff was amazing. I thought he looks fast as tonight. Caleb.

[C]

Yeah, he looked, he looked, he looked good. He flashed at times, honestly, and then he looked bad at other times. Like, you know, it's just like every other fucking quarterback this week except for Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. So it's just like, I don't know, I feel like this whole thing has been colored very significantly by this article that came out which, you know, I was talking to you guys about offline. I just found the whole article pretty gross, like the way it was written.

[B]

So it was very dramatic and hyperbolic.

[C]

Over the top, like gossip, basically. And, and this is, you know, nothing against the article. I just found it. Nothing against the author, I should say. I just found it gross reading it because it was, I don't know, like some of the quotes were very. They very much smacked of like the anonymous quotes from scouts and Bob McGinn, like, oh, he's raised by blah, blah, blah. Like some of these quotes that have come out over the years, it's just like terrible. Like old boomer takes on football, like young kid football players and stuff. And I'm just like, I don't know.

[A]

It.

[C]

The whole thing just felt kind of gross to me, frankly. But Basically where we landed when we were talking about it is like, the truth is probably somewhere right in the middle. Right. Like, it's. I don't disbelieve that this was a total fucking mess last year and that some of it had to do with Caleb Williams's preparation. I, I believe that part of it. I just thought some of the, the quotes were just like completely over the top.

[B]

But I think Heifers put it well. Like, I think it was directionally correct. I think the sentiment of the giant piece is probably accurate. Whether you get into the nitty gritty, you can probably, you know, pick some nits. But 32 anonymous sources, it's.

[C]

What does that number mean? Like, who are they?

[A]

We don't know who they are.

[C]

It means 32 guys that's like, have some source on this. Like, like, what does that mean to me?

[A]

What. No, I'm saying, what's 40,000 word story over like three stories? But 32 people means it's not like four people who were mad at Kayla Williams. It means he talked to 32 people connected to the situation, which frankly. Right.

[C]

But then he's sharing anecdotes from one person. Not like, they all said this, you know what I mean? Like, I don't know. Like, there was one where it was like, it was clear to everyone that he's not an alpha.

[A]

Yeah, that's. To be able to read through the lines.

[C]

Like, there was one that was like, multiple sources indicate there's evidence that he's dyslexic.

[A]

I'm like, okay, that part was bizarre.

[C]

And it was like. And then they were blaming. The source in the article was blaming polls for hiding this dyslexia from the coaches. And they're like, they knew and they didn't tell us.

[A]

They didn't do anything.

[B]

To be honest, that makes sense to me.

[A]

But that's true. So we have. We don't know if Caleb Williams is dyslexic, but that is part of the article. Is they. Is the article. The whole thing?

[C]

Just the whole part. It was just ridiculous to me. I don't know.

[A]

But here's the. But there were the claiming he's dyslexic. And honestly, it's kind of simple to me. Either that's wrong and it's kind of bizarre. It's in the article. But if you talk to 32 people, I would imagine he did due diligence. If it's true that the GM knew the starting quarterback, number one pick, was dyslexic and didn't tell the head coach that's kind of fucking crazy.

[B]

And. And their job is to teach him.

[A]

It's like harder than fucking school.

[B]

Well, yeah. And the reason why he. He withheld it is because in the article says that polls didn't want it to get out. And then that, that basically docks Caleb for being dyslexic. And then Caleb would then refuse to go to the Bears.

[A]

The amount of information a quarterback has to digest this week, like on actual physical each week, on cards and everything. And like, literally you're visually teaching them. And there's an example where they're like, we had a coordinator once who's dyslexic. We don't care that he's fucking dyslexic. But they were like, instead of visually flipping cards, they just wrote left or right on it. They're like, it's an easy fix. It's just like you work with the person anyway. It's. It's just the specificity adds up over time. And again, we don't even know if that's true, but if it is, that's staggering. And it's also just, at the very least, if you don't believe the Caleb character assassinations, the Bears as an organization look horrific. However, the reason we're talking about this. Right. Why are we arguing about whether an anonymous sourced article. Here's why. I want to read one section that's a theme, but this part, they're like, during one. This is about last season with the Bears. During one routine walkthrough the night before Chicago's rematch at Detroit, inside the team hotel, Williams flubbed four of the first eight play calls. The formation was backwards, or he forgot to motion a player or he botched a shift. We were like, oh my gosh, he still can't get the shit right. This is like after the coaches were fired. And so the point being there's this theme from April on that Caleb can't. Basically they're implying that he's not putting in enough work to actually. Or maybe there's like alerting issue or whatever, but he's struggling to motion players. And the snap count. The other thing is that they killed an NFL snap count that has a color and a number. And he wanted ready, set, go, which was what the Bears did all year. And they were saying one of the offensive line issues with the Bears was that all the pass rushers knew when his fucking snap count was because they were like hands with the ready, set, go. So the point being he simplified everything and that there were False start issues. So when the game tonight happens with a new coaching staff, and in both halves, the first false start was based on motioning a player. The last play of the game, you're running a Hail Mary and he motions a player and he's like, no, no, no, no, go back. And they, he did it twice in this game. He motioned a player and was like, no, no, no, go back. So I'm just saying this article, maybe it's bullshit, but this article is like, he couldn't motion a player all year. And then Ben Johnson comes in and Caleb Williams has two different plays. He can't motion a guy. And I'm like, what the fuck is going on? You never see that any other game. Any other week. You see that twice in a game.

[C]

You see procedurals. You see procedural all the time, constantly. What are you talking about? I'm just saying, I'm not saying he didn't do that.

[A]

Why can't receiver? That's a weird, like, I, I, I.

[B]

Yeah, I, I think we're, we're very lenient with Caleb. I, I, like, I feel like for him being the number one overall pick, we're, we're being very lenient with what, how developed he is right now and how good he looks.

[A]

All I'm saying, dk, is I don't know necessarily what to do with this article, but it's interesting that, like, the most specific possible complaint immediately came up when the game was on the line. You said. I'm like, that's all I'm saying it just to me.

[C]

I understand. It's interesting. I just, I guess I'm, I'm. Maybe lenient is not the right word. I would, what I would say is like, I just don't know, like, if it was his fault. That's what happened. That's all.

[B]

What do you talk about tonight?

[C]

Yeah, but the motion, you know, it's.

[B]

All a blend of everybody again. I think if this is week eight, this is a way bigger. It's week one. Ben Johnson, complicated offense. It's like, give it some time and we'll see. I would say this showing for him was like a C plus.

[A]

We'll see.

[C]

I agree with that.

[A]

We'll see. And again, people can go and read the article if they want. I will, I will say this. It is not great at the very least that all these people were willing to go on the record against it. Like, that is not awesome.

[B]

Well, they didn't go on the record or Sorry.

[A]

Well, okay, but like, they found 32.

[C]

People that wanted to talk some shit.

[A]

Talk shit. How many coach. How many quarterbacks get coaches fired? A lot.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

How many end up having almost three dozen try to like, throw them under the fucking bus?

[B]

The saying coming out of last year, after everyone got fired, after Eberflu and Waldron, all of them got fired. And then the Wickersham thing, the little blurb. It was like everyone was saying, wow, the Bears ruined Caleb Williams. It was all on the coaches. My God, the guy said it.

[A]

Shane, are we live? Waldron. How many times did we throw him under the bus?

[B]

And it was like, my God, that was.

[C]

That was not us. That was fucking.

[B]

That was Jackson.

[C]

But our fucking fault.

[B]

But the entire thing about. Oh my God, they didn't even tell him what film to watch. I can see an entire coaching staff that has been defenestrated getting a little upset at like. You don't think we told him what film to watch? Are you fucking kidding me? You don't think we tried to make this guy good? Prepare it is the fuck. We're NFL coaches. Of course we're trying to prepare it.

[A]

Is whatever you want to call it. Gossip, house, palace, intrigue, whatever it is, the truth is it will hang over the Bears season until he improves. It's week one, honestly. Maybe the Bears just look fucking awesome next week. So we'll see. I think realistic.

[C]

I would like to say even before we all talked about this, I've already kind of given up on him. So I just. I wanted that to be.

[B]

He did choose JJ McCarthy at the beginning of. Of last take our new all that.

[C]

Said, I was still kind of bothered by just the whole article and the bluster.

[A]

Probably, you know, that's fine. Of the quadrant of. Do you believe in Caleb, yes or no? Do you believe this article? Yes or no? The most honorable is the article's. But Caleb sucks. Like, you're trusting your eyes and your heart. It's pretty honorable.

[B]

It's.

[C]

Again, I just think it's pro. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

[B]

I just think I really want Caleb to be good. I think we all want him to be good.

[A]

I said he'd be like Aaron Rodgers again. I loved Caleb Williams.

[B]

If Tyson Bent played tonight and if it was like, if it was Tyson Bajan that did everything that Caleb did tonight, I feel like we'd be like, yeah, that was a backup performance. That was a Tyson Bajan performance.

[A]

I. That's pretty good. That's one of the things the article says is that DJ Moore wanted Bajan.

[B]

To play well because apparently Ben is like dialed in on the playbook and.

[C]

Is very prepared and knows agent had see here 6, 3 touchdowns, 6 picks last year, average 6 yards per attempt, 71 rating. It's not like he was out there lighting it up either.

[B]

Well, he wasn't the first overall pick. Yeah, he's supposed to be the best player of all time.

[C]

Yeah, but we're not. I don't know. Let's just. You have some context here.

[B]

No, I know.

[C]

I feel like everyone wants to replace the starter with a vacuum. That's all.

[B]

I do trust Ben Johnson.

[A]

Whenever his number one receiver wants to do it, it's a huge problem. That's a fan.

[B]

Yeah, I trust Ben Johnson and I. And I do feel like by the end of the season this Bears offense will be serviceable. And I'm also think that Vikings fans are probably very mad at us right now for not talking about how the VI came back.

[A]

They might be mad, but they're probably loving that we're questioning the division rival should have taken JJ McCarthy. Like man, let's be honest.

[C]

Anyway, what if JJ had ship shaped up in the fourth quarter there?

[A]

So, okay, we're going to get now to waivers.

[C]

That's all we're going to talk about. Good win by the Vikings.

[B]

Great win by the Vikings.

[A]

Look great. What do you want? We said McCarthy looked awesome.

[B]

Kevin O' Connell dialed up an amazing second half. I thought the fourth quarter was that quarterback.

[A]

He looked terrible in the middle.

[B]

He did. We should say I'll. I'll shout out JJ McCarthy. First player since Cam Newton with two plus passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in his NFL debut.

[A]

I think it was also the first quarterback to overcome a 10 point deficit in the fourth quarter in their debut since Steve Young. Which is funny to me because Steve Young is also another rookie who was like super not a rookie because like JJ McCarthy missed his whole year. But he got. And then Steve Young also went to. I think it was the usfl. So it's funny that that's the through line.

[B]

Actually it's so funny. The last two games that we've watched Bill's Ravens and now Bears Vikings tonight, like just complete flip flops halfway through the game. I mean like it was like, ah, the Bills this year, huh? The Ravens are going to win the Super Bowl. Unstoppable. They lose. And then the first quarter of this game, I was getting many texts being like, Ben Johnson's a genius. It looks like he's doing it already. Caleb looks solid. Like the Bears are back. And then I was getting like, I'm ready to call it on J.J. mcCarthy. J.J. mcCarthy doesn't have it. The pick six.

[C]

He looked out of depth like for a little while there.

[B]

It just goes to show, you know.

[C]

One half the long games, four quarters, it's a long season. Let's settle in. As Craig said, it's pretty boring, but we'll see.

[B]

It's pretty boring, but we'll see. I do think J.J. mcCarthy wears too much eye black.

[C]

Yeah, but that's because he turns into a warrior on the field.

[B]

It's like borderline in his mouth. It was like around the corner.

[C]

There was like a story about this today. Craig, he talked about putting on that war paint and going out on. He looks like a little kid going out to battle.

[A]

It looks like a little kid because he's 22.

[B]

It's. But I know, but the face paint, it's so much. It looks like it's, it's just he needs a little less, I think. But he looked, he looked good in the fourth quarter.

[A]

Good job. The Ringer Fantasy Football show is brought to you by FanDuel football fans, every NFL Thursday is your chance to hit the jackpot on FanDuel. Because the FanDuel's Thursday touchdown jackpot, you can win a share of $2 million in bonus bets each week. To get in on this Thursday's action, all you have to do is place in any time touchdown, score or bet before the game between the Commanders and Packers kicks off. And if your player scores the first or last touchdown of the game, you'll win your bet plus a share of bonus bets. That's FanDuel.com Ringer Fantasy for your chance to win a share of $2 million in bonus bets, play your game with FanDuel. An official sports betting partner of the NFL must be 21 plus and present in select states or 18 plus and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Opt in must apply profit boost token on select market prize pool to be split equally among all eligible participants who made the correct first or last touchdown pick. Bonus Issued as non withdrawable bonus bets which expire 21 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See [e-mail] gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut. 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. 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, Wayfair has 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 Jack 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. 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 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. Okay, we're going to get to waiver ads after week one. Yes, Craig.

[B]

I was raising my hand for those listening. One quick thing before we move on.

[C]

Oh, no.

[B]

Why did the. Am I an idiot? The answer might be yes, usually is why? Why? There was 2 minutes and 2 seconds left. The Bears kicked off to Minnesota.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Why didn't they kick the ball out of bounds on the kickoff?

[C]

So, yeah, that was dumb.

[A]

That I I my guess. So just for those who don't know, Basically there was 2 minutes and 2 seconds, but the Bears had one timeout. But the way the 2 minute warning works, instead of on side, it would make sense to kick the ball out of bounds, make the Vikings run a play. Two minute warning.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Run a second play, timeout, third down.

[B]

Run again, you save 40 seconds, you.

[A]

Save the ball, a minute left, you get a field goal. You could really tie the game.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

I think it's really simple. I think they tried to kick it out of the bounds and the kicker couldn't do it.

[B]

Well, kick it sideways.

[A]

Well, I think so they should have kicked it out of bounds because now the touchback's at the 35. You kick it out of. Bound the fl. The penalty is at the 40. I mean, remember that the Powell. That's what I'm saying.

[C]

Did he not kick it far enough?

[A]

He can't kick it out of bounds.

[B]

He can't kick it diagonally out of bounds.

[A]

No, I'm saying I think the process, they. You don't practice that kind of situation very much. And I think that their process was kick it out of bounds. They're like, all right.

[B]

Like through the back of the end zone.

[A]

Yeah. And I don't know if the kick. Yes. Through the back of the end zone.

[B]

You didn't have the leg to do it.

[A]

I think he screwed it up because I think if they knew it was going to be close or they had. It's either that or they just didn't think about it enough. And sometimes things don't get communicated. And they were. Someone might have not just piped up on the radio and be like, fucking kick it out of bounds.

[B]

That's a massive blunder. Massive.

[C]

Like potentially game losing.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Because if they kick it out of bounds, you get the ball at the 40. Okay, bad field position. But you again, first place, two minute warning. Second play is like a minute and 55. Third play takes it down, you get the ball back with like 55 seconds.

[B]

Yes. As opposed to 10 or whatever.

[A]

And instead of they it up and they had nine seconds and then Williams snapped the ball into G. Moore's face.

[B]

Anyway. All right, I'm glad.

[A]

I just think the kicker didn't have the leg, which is embar. It's Nick.

[B]

I feel like kickers can always kick it out of the end zone if they want to. Is that nuts?

[A]

Here's the thing. I think there is like zero chance that the kicker was unaware. He should just. If the kicker just didn't know that and was like, I'll put it in the end zone. Like, that's crazy that you see him kick it out of the end zone all the time. I just thought he could and didn't do it.

[B]

Interested Up.

[C]

Watched it.

[A]

It's One of those you watch, I think you know Mike Vrabel every week for the P. Well, the Titans and now the Patriots has a. I think it's called. It's called something funny. Like, here's what the fuck up real or here's what not to do real. And that's like the epitome of special teams. Like, here's what. Let's time. We're going to kick this out of bounds, put it in the floor and kick it sideways. Anyway. Okay, so we're going to go waivers. Week one. It's waivers. It's a big deal. It's very important. You know, sometimes seasons are won and lost, sometimes by guys you add in the first few weeks sometimes. So we're going to go through and we're going to pick up what. You're laughing. De. What's so funny?

[C]

No pressure. Geez Louise.

[A]

Well, just say it's true. Kyron Williams was Puka. These guys were like week one picks sometimes. And like, I'm, you know, I'm.

[C]

I hope I know who the league winners are this week.

[A]

Well, yeah, so anyway, I do. We're going to go through position by position, and here's how it works. We are going to try to simulate, like, waivers, where only one of us is going to get a player, and we're all going to try to submit our best guy. And then we're going to see only one person's going to get them. And then you're going to be like, all right, who's your second pick? Who's your third pick? And we're going to try to give you options to simulate because we don't know exactly who's available in your leagues to those listening, but we're going to try to give you basically our ranked thoughts. We also have dumb trivia questions that decide our waiver order on this show.

[C]

I forgot. I forgot about. I kind of forgot about the shame involved with some of these guesses.

[A]

Only you feel.

[B]

I feel a little bit of shame.

[A]

I feel nine, which is a probably pretty good representation.

[B]

We know. Oh, no.

[A]

I didn't know how many people. How many boats were at D day. Okay. Who cares?

[B]

Like, I'll never. I'll never get over the. How much clouds weigh?

[A]

Yeah, yeah. That one's still.

[B]

I literally guessed, like, three pounds, so. And the answer, for those who don't know is a billion with a B.

[C]

Did I guess zero? I think it was like zero. It doesn't weigh anything because it's floating.

[B]

Yeah. And when I probably said five pounds and DK said zero and I was like, I'm an idiot. It's obviously zero. And it was a billion. I would probably.

[C]

There's no difference between five pounds and a million.

[A]

That was where we learned. I think it was a billion. I think that's where we learned the difference in weight and mass. But anyway.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Okay. I want to start with running backs here. Dk, do you agree? Overall, I think it's a pretty weak week at running back.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

This isn't even.

[C]

I mean, weak is maybe the right. It's. There's a lot of ways you could go with it. And I. It's hard to pick number one. I would say the number one.

[B]

I found this to be somewhat light, somewhat thin.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

I thought it was the easiest. Yeah. So who. Who, who if of all the way. And again, we try to do like generally people who are available, we try to do like 40ish percent. But ESPN, Yahoo sleeper, they all have different things. So we're going to try to guess. But dk, with that said, of the running backs widely available, who's the number one player you would have add off of waivers after week one?

[C]

Dylan Sampson for the Browns would be the guy. I think I would prioritize this week. There's a handful of others, but we'll start with him. Dylan Sampson, who caught eight passes this week, which has really saved him because on the ground, the Browns didn't really do anything.

[A]

Can I give you a stat on that?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Before this week, four rookie running backs in NFL history had ever caught seven passes in their first game.

[C]

He got.

[A]

Dylan Sampson did it. He's the fifth.

[C]

Joe Flacco, baby. The kingmaker.

[A]

Yeah. So I mean, I had Dylan Sampson too. We can.

[B]

I did as well. The rounds were making an effort to get him the ball. An interesting stat is that he ran 11 fewer routes. Routes than Jerome Ford and yet Jerome Ford had one target and Dylan Sampson had eight catches. So it just goes to show you that they are looking towards him when he's running routes, when he's on the field. He also had 12 carries, so he had 20 touches.

[A]

It's weird because Quinn, Sean Judkins, the other Ohio State running back along with Trayvon Henderson, was taken in the second round. Judkins. And obviously, you know, he had this like domestic violence allegation in July and didn't sign his contract and he. So he is signed this week. So he might play next week or at some. I don't know, they probably smuggled him a playbook months ago or whatever. But like he might play next week. We don't know what. We have no idea what the deal is.

[B]

If he's available, who's the AD? He's about 50% in ESPN and Yahoo. Quinchon Judkins versus Dylan Sampson.

[A]

So I think Judkins could still get suspended. I, I'm not going to pretend for a second to understand what's going on with Quinchon Judkins. It's been one of the stranger situations, but I'm, I kind of will believe it when I see it that he contributes. I think it, I guess put it this way, maybe Dylan Sampson takes a step back because it's Judkins, it's Ford, it's Samson. The thing about these like rookie like running backs that aren't taking really high are dart throws are like, you're just trying to guess whether the coaches are going to trust them. I can't remember a situation where you're going to be like, yeah, yeah, obviously they trust him. They threw him. He got eight passes in week one. The hardest part to me of the, of the game to contribute to as a rookie is the passing game and the fact that not only did they have it in the game plan to trust him, but then Joe Flacco went back to him seven more times to me suggests like, they know down the road there will be no hesitancy with an injury or a suspension, that he's going to get it back. That's the hardest part to figure out. And we know that he's. Dylan Sampson can do it. So I like Dylan Sampson as an AD also.

[C]

What, how long is the ramp up going to be for Quinton Judkins? He hasn't even been with the team. He's. He was, he just got signed like a few days ago. He's been away. We talk about how injuries in the preseason or in the training camp or whatever can really set a rookie back. It's very hard once that whole machine of a, of a franchise gets moving down the track or whatever to get on. When you're coming in as a rookie, your head swimming, you don't know. He probably doesn't even know his teammates yet.

[A]

So it's like days.

[C]

Yeah. How? I just want to know how long because there's people talking about like, oh, he could come in and in two weeks he'll be the starter. I'm like, maybe.

[B]

I guess, maybe.

[C]

But that seems far fetched to me based on the fact that he has not even been with the fucking team yet.

[A]

I totally agree, dk. I Totally agree. So, yeah, I think Samson. And again, I don't think he's elite as a. Again, it's still the Browns offense, but I think Sampson's a very solid ad.

[B]

I gotta say, the Browns are like. They're really. They should be renamed the Cleveland waivers, because every year it's just like, which is it? Do I add Cedric Tillman this week? Is it Jerome Ford? Which random dinette am I adding? It's always the Browns.

[A]

All right, well, Craig, this is a big moment.

[B]

That's right. This is the inaugural Showdown time of 2025, and we are starting off with the Dylan Sampson showdown time. Missed that Gong is an onomatopoeia.

[C]

Oh, yeah, gong.

[B]

The sound of gong sounds like gong.

[A]

Oh, that's a good point.

[B]

Anyway, that's what you can expect out of this show.

[A]

There you go. All the people listening for the first time this year.

[B]

They're like, craig, the kickoff thing. And then. And then the gong thing. He's stupid.

[A]

So for those who don't know on last, we've been talking about lefties and righties recently and a whole thing. And then we talked about there's this, like, one snail that's, like, has a lefty swirl so that he can't mate with the other snails, and it's like, we need to find him a 1 in 40,000 snails. Anyway, so this. This trivia question's from Dave Debone. Dave.

[C]

Dave. David.

[B]

I'm terrified of every trivia question, no matter how high starts the question.

[C]

I'm like, I get a sinking feeling in my.

[B]

It doesn't matter what the subject is. I'm like, God damn it. Of course it was this.

[C]

How dumb are we going to sound right now?

[A]

Dave says, on average, how many teeth does a snail have? Yes. Yes, they have teeth.

[B]

Oh, thank you for confirming that, because the answer could have been zero.

[A]

I. He said teeth didn't include that answer either. We have to Google it after how.

[B]

Many tooth do snails have?

[A]

So it's gonna be one.

[C]

I don't know. Do you know how many fucking teeth the snail has?

[A]

I'm gonna go with more than one. I don't think any animal has one tooth.

[B]

Just one buck tooth. I guess that wouldn't make any sense. Does any animal have one tooth?

[A]

It's for climate.

[B]

Email us if an animal has one tooth.

[A]

All right. Just gotta say an answer. Come on. You ready?

[C]

Yeah, sure.

[A]

Three, two, one. 40.

[B]

42.

[C]

Oh, crap. So Craig said 32. I said 30. Hyphen said a thousand.

[A]

I said 40,000.

[B]

I have I have a great range here.

[C]

Jesus Christ.

[A]

I'm googling snails. How many teeth?

[B]

What is it?

[A]

It's 3,000 to 25,000, which actually is a massive. That really impacts. That actually really matters whether it's 3,000 or 25,000.

[C]

Why don't you guys Rochambeau for it or something?

[B]

So wait, my Gemini estimates a range from 1,000 to 25,000. It's kind of cool.

[C]

How many did you say high fits?

[A]

I said 40,000, which is like, technically not closer to 18,000, but spiritually, it's way closer.

[B]

I'm annoyed that I'm so wide. I hate that.

[A]

Next time, Google Gemini is why does the suggested questions on Google are the dumbest things ever?

[C]

Why does Dave not give an answer?

[A]

No, he said Google it.

[C]

Okay, Dave, next time we need. We need it. We need to have one number that.

[B]

People can snailworld.com in an article from snail.

[C]

Snail world.org snail world.com in an article.

[B]

From February 2024 says most have somewhere between 1,000 and 12,000 teeth.

[A]

All right, so who wins? Craig.

[C]

I think Craig wins.

[B]

Unlike human teeth, snail teeth.

[C]

30.

[B]

Unlike human teeth, snail teeth are not attached to the jaw.

[C]

Sure. Where are they?

[B]

Hold on.

[A]

My dad's a dentist. He should get in the fucking snail business instead.

[B]

They are a part of the radula, immovable ribbon like structure covered in tiny teeth and arranged in rows.

[C]

I feel like those shouldn't count as teeth.

[B]

I want to look. I'm gonna Google image snail teeth.

[A]

I. You remember when you looked up baby horse hooves? Maybe.

[B]

Oh, I don't like this.

[A]

No, don't look that up. That's insane.

[C]

Okay, like this.

[A]

Too much to get through. Come on.

[B]

All right, I'm taking Dylan Sampson. Great.

[A]

Taking Dylan Sampson. So I'm so much closer spiritually, but whatever.

[C]

Oh, I feel bad even doing this. All right, let's see.

[B]

Wow, what a start.

[C]

I think I'm going to go with Trey Benson from the Cardinals. They actually ended up rotating James Connor and Trey Benson a little bit more than expected. It was about 60, 40 backfield split. Benson had eight carries for 69 yards, had a catch for six yards. I like Trey Benson. His rookie year was very not encouraging, but I like the usage. In this first game, he had a big run, so I'll just go, Trey.

[A]

Benson, he liked him out of the draft a lot.

[C]

Trey Benson, I did a lot. And then he did not do anything as a rookie.

[A]

He's young.

[C]

It was tough. But I still have hope.

[A]

So. Okay, so I'm third here. I want to read an email from Maureen. Maureen M. Bone.

[B]

Maureen.

[A]

Maureen says in the summer, I enjoy key lime blended chabana yogurt for breakfast. In the winter, I like a Belveda breakfast biscuit dipped in hot English breakfast tea.

[B]

Damn, that sounds lovely. Belvita's rock.

[A]

I'm gonna make. Yeah, yeah. So I'm gonna make you guys answer this is gonna answer my question. Marine says my question's about the Jaguars running back situation. I grabbed Tank Bigsby with my second last draft pick. Then I got basal tutin with my last draft pick. Both are look length they're gonna be used, not that much. And I'd like to drop one of them to pick up Hollywood Brown. But, like, which would you keep? Which would you drop? And then like two hours after she sent this email, the Jaguars traded Tank Bigsby to the Eagles for a fifth and sixth round pick. So I wanted to ask you guys, say they're both available. How do you feel about like Tank Bigsby, who now seems like the number one backup to Saquon Barkley? I feel like Will Shipley's injury is probably worse than you think. He left that week one game versus the Cowboys.

[C]

There were reports coming out that they dropped. They traded for him because they like him as a returner. Tank, basically, if they give up a.

[A]

Fifth and a six for a returner, I mean, I guess maybe you want to win a super.

[C]

I don't know.

[A]

But the. Yeah, so I guess because now I'm like going, I'm kind of like, I feel like I should take Bashel Tootin because Travis Etien looked good, but Tank Bixby's gone. So I feel like I should take Basel Tutin. However, if someone cuts Tank Bigsby again, we talked about how Saquon, the math of people coming off 500 touches, just generally speaking, there's like a 50, 50 chance he misses time. And I'm like, what if Tank Bigsby's like fucking replaces Saquon? It's any capacity. So I. I don't know. Would you guys rather chase Baal Tutin being like the 10% chance he's a Kirkland brand? Devon HN or do you want Tank Bigsby? This is a pathetic conversation, but would you rather Tank Bigsby trailing Saquon? I guess the answer is take a receiver.

[C]

I would rather have Bashel Tutin, I think. And then La Quint Allen if put put him lower on the priority, but you could grab him. He was the third down back for the Jags in this one or in the first game.

[B]

I need to see what's going on with Will Shipley first. Because he left. He didn't play the second half, but he said he was questionable to come back if the area. If this injury is quite serious, I think I would take Tank Bigsby.

[A]

I guess it's just like, why did they trade. If Will Shipley's fine, why did the.

[C]

Eagles trade the reporter for the Athletic. The Eagles. One of the Eagles reporters, I saw this said that his. His. What he understands is that they traded for him to be a kick returner, not because they don't like their backup running back situation. They. They have Will shipley. They have A.J. dillon. Who else do they have? I feel like they have another guy.

[B]

Well, then I guess I would go with Tuton.

[A]

Yeah. All right. The problem is, if you add him in your group chat, everyone's like, oh, Danny, you beat Tootin. Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, I'll take Bashful, too. Okay. Not a huge week for running backs. Like, I. I don't know.

[C]

I.

[A]

There's not that many injuries at running back yet, and there's no bye week. So I think that this. To get receivers, like, very clearly to me.

[C]

DJ Giddens for the Colts, he's like.

[A]

If Jonathan Taylor gets hurt. But g. Literally, like, won't play until Taylor is healthy. Like, Right. I mean, I feel like. Right.

[B]

He got, like, 12 carries last week, but that was because they killed.

[A]

They were up 25 points. Y. He barely played in the game till. And Kenneth Gainwell's like, we. I don't know. It's like, you know, play some guy who's gonna get seven points a week for the Steelers. I don't know.

[B]

I wouldn't play.

[A]

I think this receiver talent's too much this week. So I think. I think.

[C]

Can you drop Caleb Johnson at this point, by the way? Speaking of the.

[B]

I. Yeah, I mean, I. I think so.

[A]

That's a good question. I think drops are the hardest thing, honestly. And it's hard to tell people to.

[C]

Do drops, but, like, dude, you probably can.

[A]

Hard to.

[B]

I doubt there's another player on your roster that is more cuttable than Caleb Johnson right now.

[A]

How many snaps did he play?

[C]

Two carries.

[B]

Negative two yards.

[C]

One. Two snaps.

[A]

Yeah, I don't think he's gonna.

[B]

I just. If it happens, it's gonna be like, week 10, and by then, it's like, do you want to be holding on to him all year? How good is he even gonna be? I don't know.

[A]

Know. He was a whiff. Okay. Receivers. Dk who's your number one receiver entering well after week one, this one was.

[C]

A little harder, I would say. And Kai's gonna be mad at me, but I'm going with Cedric Tillman for the Browns.

[B]

Really?

[C]

Who had eight targets, five catches, 52 yards, a touchdown, 80, 88% snap. So him and Judy were the two receivers that played primarily for the Browns. 24 first target, first read target rate according to fantasy point. So he, he had a lot of plays designed for him and I think he's a good player. So kind of add all those things up and I just, it came down to between him and Quentin Johnston and I just, I think I trust Tillman's talent.

[A]

Take both those guys over. Hollywood Brown, even though Xavier Worthy has the shoulder injury.

[C]

Yeah. Cause Xavier Worthy is now day to day. I, you know, I think you could still grab Hollywood Brown. I would not like tell you not to grab him at this point because of the injury situation there. But I don't know how long that's going to last because Xavier Worthy will be back soon apparently.

[A]

So I have a different interpretation. So again, Xavier Worthy people have him know got hurt in the third play at the Chiefs Chargers game on Friday. Infuriating. Got a zero. Anyone who lost by like four or fewer points is just furious. So Worthy being day to day, the exact quote for me in Rapaport was the plan is to rehab and attempt to play with a brace rather than immediate surgery, which suggests that they considered immediate surgery, which I believe would be season ending. So from what I understand about what a brace would be for Xavier Worthy is like a brace that would like restrict Xavier Worthy's movement, which is weirdly if you're a linebacker, maybe easier because you can extend. But it's literally designed to prevent him from like going up above his head and grabbing a ball.

[C]

It's not great.

[A]

So never mind. He's already small. He was already hard for him to block. I don't think Xavier Worthy with a shoulder brace is going to be blocking very much. So I'm like, I don't know. One, are you going to be able to play Xavier Worthy in this situation? Two, how much is he going to get tackled? What's how much? I don't know. Like how much is Xavier Worthy really? It sounds like he just doesn't want to be out for the season and then he'll play a few games and be out for the season. So I, I don't know. Hollywood Brown had 16 targets and 99 yard. And again, maybe I'm wrong. Like de I mean, Cedric Tillin's really talented and the Joe Flacco does complete a ton of passes. If you're in ppr, Joe Flacco is.

[C]

Like, strangely competent for fantasy.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, he's like a less exciting version of J.

[B]

He's old school. He never runs. He has a cannon of an arm and he just rips it.

[A]

But we almost. And again, it's a weird situation where I think Hollywood just immediately absorbs his role in Xavier Worthy. But overall, I'm. I'm just like 16 targets on a cheese team that has very little options where Rashee Rice. Like, I feel like you're getting at least five weeks of Rasheed Rice out. I think Worthy will eventually be out. I'm like, I don't hate the.

[C]

I don't hate the Hollywood Brown one, to be. To be clear. I just think. I don't know. Toman's more. I feel like it's more viable longer term throughout the rest of the season. I guess maybe this is what the. The discussion to have is like, do you need to fill. Fill in next week?

[A]

Well, and the other thing in your favor, it's not like Hollywood Browns had the most durable career. It's like he could. He could literally have 40 target. He could lead the NFL and fantasy points next week and then be hurt again. Like, he's also kind of fragile. Craig, who did you pick?

[B]

Hollywood Brown. The quote from Andy Reid was like the words day by day were in the quote. So I feel like they can say he's day by day, but the full quote from Andy Reid is we'll just see where it goes day by day. Here. This is where the coach trick.

[A]

That's a coach trip.

[C]

Shout out to coach speak in front of the other.

[A]

Shout out the coach speak index, which is a great thing that watches every press conference. They point this out. So day to day is an injury update. Day by day is an approach but with to life. And they sometimes they say day by day to Just hope the reporters tweet day to day.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But day by day is like the guy's out for the season. It doesn't know it.

[B]

We'll just see where it goes day by day here.

[A]

Yeah. So. So then it's just Craig and I for the Hollywood Brown showdown time.

[C]

I'll get on board with Hollywood Brown because I actually, I didn't hear. I did not hear the Andy Reid quote. I just saw David day to day and I was like, oh, that seems like he's probably close back.

[B]

But I think regardless Even if DK chooses somebody else, I think he should. We should always. It should always be the three of us.

[C]

I want to take part in this fucking.

[A]

I also Rapaport saying attempt to play with a brace is not. He will play with a brace.

[C]

I just, like, shudder at, like, suggesting people should pick up Hollywood Brown after the history that we have. But it's hard.

[A]

You loved Hollywood Brown at the draft. He's a first round pick.

[C]

I know. And then he just kind of let me down a lot. 16 targets.

[A]

Oh, this is deep seated for you.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Or imagine not picking him now. Letting me get him.

[B]

All right, it is the Hollywood, Florida Brown.

[C]

North Hollywood showdown.

[A]

North Hollywood, Florida.

[C]

The. What was The Bakersfield. The Bakersfield Brown.

[A]

Oh, my God. This is from Luke.

[C]

Luke Elbone.

[A]

Oh, Ahoy, fellas. From Ireland.

[C]

Oh, wait.

[B]

See you soon, King.

[C]

Did he say ahoy?

[A]

What'd you say?

[C]

Did he say ahoy from. From Ireland?

[A]

He did.

[C]

Luke says people say ahoy a lot.

[A]

You know, that was the first answer for the telephone, that. It's the first word said on the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell. He wanted people to say ahoy when they answered the phone.

[B]

Oh, yeah, that's right. I heard that.

[C]

That's funny.

[B]

I like ahoy.

[A]

Anyway, the trivia question is the largest distance between capital cities of countries that share a land border is Moscow in Russia to Pyongyang in North Korea. How far are those two cities apart?

[B]

Moscow and Pyongyang?

[A]

How far is Moscow from Pyongyang, which is two different capital cities that are connected? I'll pull.

[C]

You guys are never going to believe this, but I'm bad with mileage on Earth.

[B]

Oh, it's. It's hard for you to determine the distance between Moscow and Pyongyang. Offhand, that's embarrassing.

[A]

But, like, actually, I don't think I.

[C]

Could tell you how many miles it is across the United States. Like, I. I know. I've heard that a hundred times.

[A]

Don't tell them.

[C]

Yeah, I don't remember.

[B]

I don't know the exact number, but I have a.

[A]

You don't have an. What do you think it is? Dk?

[B]

I know generally what it is.

[C]

I don't even want to say. Is it like 5,000 miles?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It doesn't matter. That might help you or hurt you. It might.

[A]

If we've learned one thing doing trivia, it's the person who knows the least does the best.

[B]

Also, when I picture a globe, you know, the whole thing where it's like the maps we see are distorted and don't actually reflect the size of the nations because they have to fit on a square map. You know, but if you look at a globe, it's like countries and states are way bigger or smaller than you think.

[A]

I have my answer.

[B]

Oh, hell.

[A]

I got it. I had an answer.

[C]

Oh, hell.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

All right. I got an idea.

[A]

All right. Three, two, one.

[B]

Nine thousand.

[C]

I said eight, Craig. What the fuck?

[A]

You said eight what?

[C]

Thousand miles.

[A]

Okay, 8,000.

[B]

I said 9,000. What'd you say?

[C]

Craig keeps one upping me.

[B]

I said 20,000 because America's what, 3,000 miles?

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I think the Earth is like 70 or 80,000 circumference.

[B]

In my head I thought it was three United States is how I thought about it.

[A]

Distance is. You can't walk. Google Maps is kind of.

[C]

The Earth's circumference is 24,000 miles, for the record.

[A]

Well, I'm going to do terribly then. Is it really?

[C]

I mean, according to Google, according to.

[B]

Snail world.com Pyongyang.

[C]

You really.

[A]

4,000 miles. Does Zeke win?

[B]

That's incredible.

[C]

Hell yes.

[A]

The perimeter. Really? Oh, I got that wrong.

[B]

Jesus.

[A]

That's an immediate. Incredible.

[C]

The person who knows the least always wins. Is so true.

[A]

There's a metaphor there for life.

[C]

I mean, this is one of those things. Heifetz. I've probably heard how far it is across the US like a hundred times. And it never sticks. For some reason I'm always like, I can never remember.

[A]

I.

[B]

In my head it's. It's 3000 is right?

[A]

Yes, definitely.

[C]

Okay, hold on now I gotta Google it.

[A]

That one's right.

[B]

I'm pretty sure it's around 3000. I don't know exactly.

[C]

Yeah, 2800.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. All right. So DK, we talked to him in Xavier Worth and then it won. So we didn't get or. I don't even want Hollywood Brown even. Okay, you taking them or not?

[B]

No, no, no. He gets Tillman, I get Hollywood Brown.

[A]

Wait, did he take Tillman or Hollywood Brown?

[B]

He took Tillman, but he joined in on the trivia for fun.

[A]

Okay, fine. He took Tillman, you get Hollywood Brown.

[B]

Who do you want now? You have to take Quentin Johnson.

[C]

It's just not good for me to.

[A]

Be with Hollywood Brown.

[C]

You take him.

[A]

I'm torn. There is an obvious pick here, which is Quentin Johnson for the charges, who had five catches, 79 yards, two touchdowns. He's the extra. The Chargers. Two three receiver sets. Like we.

[B]

I got a deep cut. That's like a season long bet that I really Like I was going to.

[A]

Say, there's a guy I kind of want more. Who do you think?

[B]

Dk? Do you think I'm going to say Elik IO Menorc.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah. Really? Yeah, for sure.

[C]

Dude.

[A]

He.

[C]

He's another who he had like a bunch of target. It didn't turn into production but like they just couldn't complete passes in that game.

[B]

If you like are. If you won this week, you're like top four in the league. Things are good. But maybe you have a Caleb Johnson on your bench or somebody who didn't pan out and you just want a guy that no one's going to be adding because everyone's going to be upbidding like Quentin Johnson. Johnson and Keenan Allen and Hollywood Brown. Cedric Tillman. I think Elik IO Manor. He had seven targets. I think everybody on the Tech on the Titans is a bilo to be honest. And he finished top 10 in first read target share this week which is pretty crazy considering it's his NFL debut. I mean this guy was not like a day one pick or anything like that, but he's.

[C]

We're on this guy since day one.

[B]

We were out of Stanford. He's the, he's the number two guy on the Titans already and if Cam Ward is decent I think he'll be solid and it could be very good.

[A]

He's also the kind of like contested catch he, I mean he bodied Travis Hunter. I mean Travis Hunter's worst tape as a cornerback was versus Elick at Stanford. And I will say also he's the kind of like jump ball receiver. Cambridge's gonna give him shots. There are a couple few guys that would take over him though. I think Quentin Johnson for the Chargers is like an obvious pick but I'm kind of like he touched downs and like is that Calvin Austin for the Steelers? If you're in full PPR Calvinos like I think Calvin Austin frankly is going to be like the Deontay Johnson cosplay of like I just think Calvin Austin's gonna get a lot of targets. He's clearly the number two guy for the Pittsburgh. But you know the guy I'm wondering about of like I. Oh, are you.

[B]

Gonna say K Sean Booty.

[A]

K Sean Booty for the Patriots. Who is I mean his name Booty. It's kind of funny. He's a very talented player at LSU that frankly fell to the sixth round a couple years ago because of a litany of rumors that we will not say out loud on this show.

[B]

But he was on the same LSU Team as Brian Thomas and Malik neighbors.

[A]

With James Daniels and talents is not the question. With Booty and people thought he was.

[C]

Gonna be a first rounder.

[A]

People thought occasionally was gonna be a first rounder, six round pick.

[C]

Things kind of fell apart.

[B]

A lot of.

[A]

Yeah, things fell apart. Having said that, Nate, Nate Jonkey at at pff, who does incredible work, had a stat that blew my fucking mind which was if you go back to the last four weeks, which, including the last three weeks of last season and this week week, Keisha booty is top five in receiving yards. He's 343 yards.

[C]

That's wild.

[B]

Wait. And I was like, I think that's.

[A]

The last four weeks of the season. So it's like this week and the last three weeks of last year. Regular seat. Yes. Which is a little squishy because week 18 is weird. But he's fifth in receiving yards.

[C]

Lies, damn. Lies and stats. Right?

[A]

And I was like, what? And I will say Drake may, I think just trusts him. Yeah, I think Drake may trust him. And the other thing is the reason that Patriots signed Stefan Diggs was in theory to beat man coverage. And the Patriots don't have a man coverage beater. And that's why they. One of the reasons the offense sucked last year. But Diggs is 31 coming off an ACL tear and like, doesn't seem like he's a man beater right now. I think K Sean Booty's like the number one receiver on this team and he's young and like actually unlike Diggs, part of the New England's future. Also, the Patriots didn't even want Diggs. They wanted fucking Chris Godwin and he spurned them. And then you have 20 minutes to find a new receiver. And they gave Godwin's money to Diggs. But I'm like, I kind of just think if you're talking about the course of the season, if you still believe the Drake May hype of the last six months, which is waning, I just kind of think Booty's just the number one receiver in an offense and he's on waivers.

[B]

I don't disagree with this. I actually had Booty like ahead of IO man or on my rankings. I just wanted to shout out a more deep cut. But I totally agree with this. He had a. So his last four games, 95 yards, 28 yards, 117. And then this last week or this week, he had 103. He led the Patriots in routes run. He is. He and Matt Collins are the guys handling the Two wide receiver sets, which.

[A]

That's. That. That is incredible. He's in the two receiver sets with Matt Collins, K Shan Booty. Like, not Tomorrow Douglas, not Stefan Diggs. Like, it's. And so I'm just saying, like, it's funny.

[B]

No, nobody talked about, like, it was. It was Diggs, it was Demario Douglas is going to be the guy who takes off this year.

[A]

Kyle Williams, like, yeah. And I'm like, I think Booty's just better than all these guys. And so, I mean, they cut Javon Baker, like, you know, I. So anyway, maybe the Patriots offense is going to suck and it doesn't matter that he's the number one. And like, that's, you know, the Chargers are going to be better offense. But like, the thing with Quentin Johnson, to me it's whack a mole, it's Labor Conkey, it's Keenan Allen, you know, it's Quentin Johnson. I'm like, I don't know. I just kind of think Drake May is going to say fuck it and throw this ball a lot. So I'm going to pick.

[C]

We're never going to.

[B]

We keep saying that with Clinton Johnston, but, like, the guy's had like 12 touchdowns in the last 12 games.

[A]

Quinn Johnson, I think will be the. And again, we probably should take him first. Realistically though, like, if you don't, I think Quentin Johnson is going to be one of the top waiver claims because he scored 24 points in week one. So I guess maybe put Quentin Johnson first. But I actually think if you get Kish on Booty, you might just be better. But also, I don't think anyone's going to take Booty if you take Quentin Johnson necessarily.

[C]

Demario Douglas had the weirdest stat line. He had seven targets, two catches, negative two yards and a touchdown.

[A]

Damn, I meant to look that up. I. I actually thought that never happened. I wonder if that's ever happened in FS3.

[C]

Seven targets, negative 2 yards and a touchdown.

[A]

There's no way that's a long of 2 yards. Seven targets have negative 2 yards and you scored. Okay, other receipts. So Booty Tillman, Calvin Austin, Quentin Johnson. Are there any. I think. I think that's a pretty good list. I actually think.

[C]

Josh Palmer, baby.

[A]

Josh Palmer. My problem is, isn't that the biggest game they're gonna have all year?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

How are the Bills gonna outdo the passing of that game?

[B]

Unfortunately, as much as I want to say take him, he's like a.4 catches for 50 yards. That's kind of like his Max big picture.

[A]

Dylan Sampson at running back. And then if you can't get him, I'm like, take these receivers. I think all these guys could have production. Tillman Johnson, Calvin Austin, Hollywood Brown, Kishan Booty. Like these guys have season long impact to me in a way that running backs, it's like you wait for someone to get hurt. I'd rather have the receivers. Do you guys agree with that? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right, we're gonna get to tight ends, but first, now it's time for a special part of today's episode brought to you by NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. If you're an NFL fan like us, there's one move to make before the season kicks off and that's subscribing to NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. You get every game, every Sunday all in one place and you can watch up to four games at once with multiview so you never miss a key moment on the field. It's an incredible feature, but with so many to choose from, narrowing it down to four is a job for experts.

[B]

Let me add it, let me add it.

[A]

There you go.

[B]

All right. It's never too early to start. Thinking about next week. Week two. Here's what I'm looking at for my multi view four box.

[A]

Hold on. Sorry, Sorry, Craig. I actually have to read a disclaimer before you start.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I don't know if we can keep.

[B]

That, but we're keeping it. Go ahead.

[A]

Okay. There you go.

[B]

Disclaim away with NFL Sunday ticket for.

[A]

Out of market games and YouTube TV base plan for local and national games requires base plan excludes digital only games and commercial use terms. Embargoes and restrictions apply. No refunds.

[B]

Can I go, Craig?

[A]

Want to cook here with the dream Multi view lineup?

[B]

Well, I want you guys to tell me what you think. All right, so here's my. Here's my four one for sure. Steelers. Seahawks. Right. I'm looking at the morning games. That's got to be in there. Number two, Bill.

[A]

Jets Morning. Some people call it the afternoon, but.

[B]

Yeah, right where I live. I feel like that's okay if I call the morning games because they are for me. So I'm going to Seahawks. I'm going Jets, Bills. Now it gets a little hairier in the morning slate. I'm going to go bangles, Jags and then do I, do I want to throw in Giants, Cowboys.

[A]

I know not my point of view. I'm not watching that game. I want to forget that game as soon as Russell Wilson's going to play.

[B]

Give me Rams, Titans. I was gonna skimboard again.

[C]

Yeah, so did you leave?

[A]

Wait, you kept Bear. You put in Bears lines, right? No, that's Ben Johnson versus. You're not watching Bears, Lions, Ben Johnson versus Detroit. You have to have that.

[B]

All right, we'll add that. We'll add that. Can we. Hold on, let me talk. Can we do five bucks? I gotta talk to YouTube.

[A]

We'll see.

[B]

Okay, we'll. We'll do Bears lines. We'll get rid of what you want to get rid of Rams, Titans or you want to get rid of. Get rid of Bengals, Jags.

[A]

I kind of want to see Beggles Jags.

[B]

Me too. All right, see you later. Rams, Titans.

[A]

With every game, every Sunday at your fingertips, choosing the ones that deserve a spot on your multi view screen is serious business. Seriously fun business. Never miss a moment of the action with NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. And right now you can get NFL Sunday ticket month to month and cancel anytime. Go to YouTube.com ringer fantasy to sign up now. Local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday Ticket for out of market games excludes digital only games. Base plan required. Renews every month during the 2025 regular season. Only your membership for the following month can be canceled anytime before your renewal date. Terms, restrictions and embargoes apply. Commercial use excluded. Okay, let's get to tight ends. I feel like this is where the most news happened because well, number one, I mean the Niners imploded. Not imploded, but George Kittle's gonna miss three to five weeks of the hamstring. So he might go on injury reserve. Brock Purdy has a toe and a shoulder injury to his non throwing shoulder. But then the toe. Shannon said the toe is worse than the shoulder. And then Juwan Jennings hurt hit. Did he hurt his shoulder too separately?

[B]

Yep, yep.

[A]

So that happened.

[B]

The healthiest player in the Niners is Christian McCaffrey right now.

[C]

So he gave him 31 carries.

[A]

You know, when you put it like that, that's incredible. So when we were going over tight ends to add, I think we were wondering if we should include Kyle Pitts. Are we going to just acknowledge that Kyle Pitts, if he's available in your league, just go get him.

[B]

Yeah. Which is awesome for us in the show and for Kyle Pitts. He's 65% rostered ish in ESPN and Yahoo. If he's there, I would go get him. I mean Drake London banged his shoulder up. Darnell Mooney is out like and and he definitely has a good rapport with Michael Pennock. So I would say he is a viable guy right now.

[A]

I think Pitts is good enough to justify a waiver ad just by week one.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Even if Drake London's playing. But if Drake London is not playing. Kyle Pitts has like a brand new way to disappoint you.

[B]

I started him last week because I'm brave and it paid off. He had like 11 points.

[A]

There you go. That's living on the edge, baby. I will say you should add Kyle Pitts because if Drake Lunds time. Yeah.

[B]

It's also. It is crazy what double digits will do for your mental health. And fantasy versus single digits. Like the difference between 9 points and 10 points is monumental.

[A]

Yeah, it's.

[B]

It.

[A]

Yeah. It's really unbelievable. Okay, so we're saying get pits over all the people we're about to mention. But with that said, non pits category. DK number one tight end to add after week one.

[C]

Harold Fannin Jr. Of the Browns. Number 44. What is that? He changed from 88 to 44.

[B]

I like that.

[A]

When he cut himself in half it's.

[C]

Like doing fullback stuff. They line him up all over the formation. He was a primary target on a lot of plays for the Browns. Like they schemed up ways to get him the ball team high nine targets plus a rush attempt. 72% snap rate in his first game which is great. There's a lot of like tight ends that we were thinking might be fantasy factors that didn't hit that this week. So yeah, I think he's. He's definitely at the top of my list.

[A]

Well, Harold Fannin. Well one, I mentioned that one tight end had ever had seven catches in their debut ever. And then two did it on Sunday. Tyler Warren and Harold Fanon. Dk, can you remind people about Harold Fannin's ridiculous college profile? He came out of Bowling Green.

[C]

Bowling Green led the led. Hold on. Maybe I'm doing it, maybe I'm wrong. But he didn't he lead college football in catches?

[A]

Yes.

[C]

This last year.

[A]

Which is not tight ends, just players.

[C]

All players in catches. He is a tweener. He's like a little bit on the smaller side for a tight end. Like 6, 3, 2, 40 or whatever. So he's not a prototypical tight end. I think there were question marks about that and like terms of where he lands, where's he going to fit in. When he was drafted by the Browns I think people were pretty bummed because it was, you know, David and Joku's already there. He now he's going to be in a platoon playing tight end, but essentially he is playing the third wide receiver position for the Browns right now. He's kind of like a hybrid, you know, a movable joker piece, if you will, or removable chess piece. So, you know, and I think the other thing too, is, like, he wasn't.

[A]

Ever since Riley pointed out that all chess pieces move.

[C]

I know. I've been saying that for years. A movable chest piece, you know, all chess pieces.

[B]

And also saying that with joker is like, is that that redundant or like, it's also the mixed metaphors. Jokers are not in chess.

[C]

Well, I meant. Yeah, I meant movable chess piece because that's like an expression.

[A]

Admitting he doesn't know how to play chess after using that metaphor for seven years was awesome.

[B]

You do not know how to play chess.

[C]

I mean, like, basics.

[A]

Yeah, we can move the piece.

[C]

I would not. I would not say I know how to play chess.

[B]

Like, if you and I sat down.

[C]

No, not really.

[B]

Queen's Gambit.

[C]

You would need to tell me the rules.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

And then I would get really bored immediately and be like, all right, maybe let's just not do this.

[B]

That's very un40 something of you that I know how to play chess and you don't. I feel like you should be teaching me chess.

[C]

So.

[A]

But, like, I can't.

[C]

I can't sit through the rule explanation.

[B]

On anything too long.

[C]

I'm too old.

[B]

I need to be scrolling. Can I scroll while I play.

[A]

Dk? I kind of think Harold Finn, too. So it's weird because on one hand, this could obviously be a mirage because, you know, the. They played the Bengals. Bengals defense sucks. Logan Wilson, who's a linebacker for the Bengals, went out during the game, and part of me thinks that might just be it and it's random, but I'm also like, this never happens. Like, and again, the Browns, like, that's a combined 15 catches to rookies in their debut, which is weird. But also, I literally, this guy led college football. And Cat, I think Harold Fanon's the epitome of a player that even seven or eight years ago, if he came out of college, just the NFL wouldn't know what to do with him. And now I'm like, the NFL knows what to do with him. And even if, like, the Browns are playing the Ravens this week, I don't know if you should play Harold Fannin this week for George Kittle. However, if Harold Fannin plays well versus the Ravens, I kind of think Harold Fannin could just be I mean, honestly, one of the, like, biggest pickups of the year. Like, what if Harold Fan is just a top seven tight end all year, just racking up catches and yards just like he did in college. And the fact that a team's willing to use him immediately when you're like, second. The Seahawks took Elijah Roy in the second round. What did he do on Sunday?

[C]

He had one catch.

[A]

He had one catch. Like, I'm just saying. Terence Ferguson, did he even play a snap on offense to the Rams on Sunday? Like, These are top 50 picks in the draft. Like the Browns using a guy all game and just saying David and Joku, who was a former first round pick, being like, yeah, we're going to use you like equally immediately. It's just that like never happens.

[C]

I know this was the. This has been the dream for Isaiah likely for. This is year three now. We were just like hoping they finally, finally play him a lot.

[A]

Yeah. How many times does Isaiah likely had seven catches in one game?

[B]

No, I. Well, it's like that's the case for and against Harold Fanon is. You're right. It never happens that you have seven catches in a game as the number two tight end. But the. I guess that could be the case for one last.

[A]

But he's done it 100 of his.

[B]

100 of the time. But it is quite rare for a team to have two viable fantasy tight ends. It's basically like Gronk and Aaron Hernandez and then it's like I guess Mark Andrews and Isaiah likely a couple times.

[A]

That is true. And that is the downside. The flip side is what if they just trade David and Joku?

[B]

That's. That's. I was going to say that.

[A]

And so. So you might have to. So it's weird because honestly.

[B]

And then Joku is in the last year of his contract.

[A]

Yes, exactly. Yeah, good point. So a super possible thing is you pick up Harold Fanon, he does nothing, you feel like an idiot because he's a rookie backup tight end, then you cut him, then the Browns trade David and Joku and then Harold Fanon's a top four tight end in the rest of the season. That's like a super possible thing.

[B]

Totally. And we do know that Flack. I mean, look at what Flacco has done with Njoku. He is a top five guy with Flaco.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So with that said, I don't know if Harold Finan's a good George KD replacement, but he could be an. If you think you have a good team, could be an incredible piece So I. I do endorse that dk. All right. Is that who you picked?

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

It is.

[B]

It is the Harold Fanon Jr. I can't. We have two rookies on the Browns, man.

[A]

What the is wrong with us?

[B]

Showdown time. What?

[A]

Aren't we supposed to be experts?

[B]

Dude, dude, we.

[C]

We.

[B]

We almost had three Browns. We almost went. Dylan Sampson, Cedric Tillman, and Harold Fannin.

[A]

Aren't we supposed to be like, we spend all day on this to be like, yeah, Browns. I guess beggars can't be the Ravens.

[C]

All right.

[B]

All of the Browns.

[A]

Jesus. God. I can't believe people didn't draft Browns.

[C]

Because it's the Browns. That's why they're on the waivers.

[A]

Pretty embarrassing, though. No, but, yeah, it's going to work. All right, so. Oh, right. I need a trivia question.

[B]

Be gentle. I'm delicate.

[A]

Yeah. What's with the snail teeth are for. This is for Craig.

[C]

Great.

[A]

This is from Mike.

[B]

Mike, Mikey. Yeah.

[A]

Mickey of the 16 surely delicious items on the Applebee's anytizer menu.

[C]

Wait, there really is an any tizer menu?

[B]

Yeah, dude.

[A]

Actually, it's the appetizer. No.

[B]

Chicken parm quesadilla dip, please.

[A]

Someone said it's two truths in a lie. For any tizers, please.

[B]

Chicken parm quesadilla. Sounds good, Craig.

[C]

You combined my two favorite foods.

[A]

I love chicken farm.

[C]

Chicken farm is definitely not my second favorite.

[A]

I go chicken parm. Chicken wings on the death row. Chicken parm. What? Quesadilla. Sounds great.

[B]

Yeah, it does. Oh, that needs to happen.

[A]

Someone get on that Applebee's.

[B]

Get on that Applebee's.

[C]

How high are you?

[A]

Where is Applebee's? Can someone from Applebee's contact us for once? My God.

[B]

I know. For real. Sponsor our waivers episode every week.

[A]

Anyway, Mike says the classic combo, so the classic combo, there's mutt sticks, quesadilla, boneless wings, chips, salsa, and spinach dip. How many calories. I knew it was in that Applebee's classic appetizer combo, Mozzarella. Wait, no. Am I reading this right? Yeah. How many calories are in the Applebee's classic appetizer combo?

[B]

Which is what?

[A]

Mozzarella sticks, quesadilla, boneless wings, chips, salsa, spinach dip. How many.

[B]

Jesus.

[A]

Okay, wait.

[B]

Okay, wait. How many items is it?

[A]

So it's, you know, it's a classic combo. It's not. I don't think it's a full.

[B]

It's like a sampler.

[A]

It's a sampler. Yeah. Yeah. Mozzarella sticks. Quesadilla. Boneless wings. Chips. Salsa. Spinach dip.

[B]

I like the way hyphen says. He says mutts. Mozzarella. You say mut sticks.

[A]

Mozzarella. Motts.

[B]

Yeah. You almost say it more Italian. Mozzarella.

[A]

I'm from New York. Yeah. Do you supposed to say mozzarella? It's mozzarella.

[C]

Well, there is an O. I say mozzarella.

[B]

Yeah. M, O, Z. I'm gonna go with.

[A]

Me on this for once.

[B]

I. I think yours is, like, cooler in New York accent, but I think it is mozzarella.

[C]

I think in most of America, people.

[B]

Say mozzarella like Tony Soprano, like, probably says mozzarella.

[A]

Yeah, but I learned it from Italians.

[B]

No, no, I'm. That's what I'm saying. Like, you're probably saying it the cooler way, but I would say more people say mozzarella.

[A]

Yeah. When you're around people. When you're around people who call, like, gravy.

[B]

Yeah, gravy.

[A]

You say mozzarella. Sure.

[C]

Do you call. Do you just call pizzas pies? Get a pie.

[A]

No, but that's. That's a good call. I love that. We're going to go down and get a pie. I'm walking here.

[B]

I know. I wish I could slowly say that.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

You get a slice. That's a real thing.

[B]

Saying pie is cool. It's like calling a movie a picture.

[A]

Yeah, Scorsese. Like, let's go see?

[B]

That's just the best. That's okay. How many. How many calories in this sample?

[A]

I'm just. I have a number in my head. I'm just gonna say it. So you guys ready?

[C]

Oh, God.

[A]

You want me to say it one more time?

[B]

No, I.

[C]

We. I think we can just guess.

[A]

All right. Three, two, one. Five.

[B]

Three. 200.

[A]

Would you say 200?

[B]

Is that a lot or a little?

[A]

3200. I said, would you say DK?

[C]

No, I mean, it might be right.

[A]

But 5000 is wrong.

[C]

I said 1500.

[B]

Oh, you have little faith, DK not. You naive little boy.

[A]

I just.

[B]

1500.

[A]

I'm way off. 3200.

[C]

I just like that for some reason.

[A]

The answer is 2250. It's pretty. Do you say 2300? Craig?

[B]

32.

[A]

Oh, well, he wins. Wait, no.

[C]

Okay, hold on. Let's do the math.

[A]

We don't have to do that. You won.

[C]

What did you say, Craig? 32.

[B]

You said 1500, right?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So you're like 750 away. I'm like 950 away. Or something.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

No. DK1.

[B]

What was the answer is 22.50.

[A]

Yeah. DK1.

[B]

No, I know. I'm saying I'm 950 away. DK750 away. So he wins.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

All right. I guess you're not so naive. I guess. You know, your.

[C]

Your anytimers buddy, when you turn 40, you start counting calories.

[B]

So how many calories are in the quesadillas you eat every day? That's like the one item.

[C]

Seven hundred, something like that.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

I only eat three tortillas. So I do like one and a half quesadillas. And they're small tortillas. Okay. So they're not like small. They're like medium. So they're not like. I'm not like eating the giant.

[B]

You do one. One tortilla on top of another one to make a quesadilla, and then you do another single tortilla that you fold in half.

[A]

Stuff.

[C]

And I also use these things I found at Costco, which I highly recommend were the ones that, like the case. The raw quesadillas that you like, cook on the stove or in the oven. Sorry, not quesadillas. Tortillas is what.

[A]

Why don't you use the big tortilla? We use three small ones instead of one big one. Doesn't that kind of net out to be the same or. No.

[B]

Probably a pan issue. Pan size. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, you know, it's my favorite. One of my favorite life lessons ever. My. My chemistry teacher with the pot roast. I'll spare you one day. One day it'd be over again. It's a great life lesson, Salvia. It's incredible. Incredible life lesson.

[C]

Damn.

[A]

I got fan in if the people. Yeah, you get fan got Matt, Suki, Craig, you're next.

[B]

Am I going long term or next week?

[A]

Tight end, like kind of bull. I. I think if we're telling the.

[B]

Truth, I have an answer for week two and then I have an answer for who Somebody I'd want to bet on long term.

[A]

If, let's say you have George Kittle, what would you do? Because I think the truth. To get the long term one and just fucking pray that they do next week too.

[B]

But I. If I wanted to do long term, I guess I would maybe pick Brenton Strange on the. On the Jags, who had four catches for 60 yards. He played about 80% of the snaps, all good numbers. He was a guy who got a lot of hype out of camp. It was. It was going to be him or a man that is Truly like irrelevant and is that he is a jag, even though he's not on the Jags. This, this guy. But he, he's one of those guys who just like, nobody will have him the entire year, but he'll end up like having six touchdowns. Juwan Johnson had 11 targets, eight catches, 75 yards for the Saints this week. He played 99% of snaps.

[A]

And it's because they forgot about him out there. They forgot to take him out.

[C]

How dare you say he's a jag.

[A]

It's because also Jack means just a guy. It's, it's like a football slur.

[B]

Yeah, that's because he played so much. Because Taysom Hills on PUP and Foster Moreau, their other Titan, is on pup. So for a month, Juwan Johnson might be like a top 10.

[C]

I like Johnson.

[A]

That's a good pick.

[C]

11 targets.

[A]

I, I will say though, I actually want to retroactively go and take Brenton Strange instead of Harold Fannin because I'm realizing I, I think I actually. It's funny, Craig, I, I think Brenton Strange could be a season long guy, but I think if you told me one of these guys gonna be the number one tight end next week. Brenton Strange, because you know the Jaguars play this week.

[B]

Cincinnati.

[A]

Cincinnati. You know the Browns played last week.

[C]

Cincinnati.

[A]

And Logan Wilson. So I'm just saying Logan again, the Browns defense, or sorry, the Bengals defense, which is bad. Lost Logan Wilson. I don't know exactly how long he's going to be out, but I'm like, if you're the Jaguars, you're like, yeah, Bren Strange, like deal with Thomas and Hunter or whatever. And then you're like, Brent Strange is probably going to cook him. So I think Brenton Strange and also he's just good.

[B]

Well, I picked him. So sucks for you.

[A]

I thought you took Joanne Johnson.

[C]

No, I said I just threw out Joanne Johnson.

[B]

Any ties, there's any tight end.

[A]

I screwed that up. All right, Joanne Johnson.

[C]

Are you taking Joanne?

[A]

Yeah, I guess so. It's a fine pick. I also think there's, I mean, Zach Ertz just keeps catching touchdowns and probably will till eternity. Jono Smith, funnily enough, went to the Steelers and then they threw him a touchdown. I'm like, I don't know. He had 15 yards and yet he had six targets. And I'm, I don't really want him though. Know.

[B]

But Arthur Smith loves that guy.

[A]

I know he does, but I kind of. The other one is Michael. So Brock Bowers, I got hurt, but it seems like he was wanting to go back in and I think he's fine if Brock Bowers was out. Michael Mayer, who was a very high second round pick a couple years ago, who I loved out of college and had a couple tough years in the NFL, but I think he looks way better than he's ever looked in the NFL. The Raiders are running a two ton of two tight end sets. I think Michael may will have some serviceable weeks. But if Brock Bowers is out, I think Michael Mayer is like, like pretty good tight end in fantasy. I'm like I, I think he's gonna have a good NFL career hopefully.

[C]

So Mason Taylor for the jets, although also by the way played 88% of the snaps, didn't get. He only had one shot.

[A]

But any rookie has a high ankle sprain in camp I'm kind of like, well that's not.

[C]

He got a lot of really good buzz in camp and there was people talking about how he's eventually going to be just the number two receiver in this team. So he's like a stash more than don't play him this next week, but keep an eye on him.

[A]

Yeah. So to be clear, we're like if Kyle Pitts is available, get him. Harold Fannin is like a crazy home. Harold friend is an up like a home run swing that you're probably going to strike out. But it's a truly for the fences. I think Brenton Strange is like the most. If you need someone this week and hopefully he's good later, I think it's Brenton Strange. To Craig's point, Juwan Johnson is probably like a cheat code for a month or whatever. Don't watch him play. And then Michael Mayer of Bowers gets hurt. Honestly, if you don't like checking your lineup, you could just and you have Brock Bowers, you could just add Michael Mayer. If you're not the kind of person who loves. I guess you wouldn't be listening to the show if you don't like waivers. Okay, quickly, quarterback. I was gonna fly through this, but now Brock Purdy's injured. So I'm like if bro. Also freaking Mac Jones for the Niners is going to be the backup quarterback which to go all the way back to the Trey Lance trade with the Niners. Took Trey Lance. Kyle Shannon wanted back Jones and then he was convinced by I think John lynch and other people in the Niners to take Trey Lance. And now if Brock Purdy misses time, Mack Jones is the backup quarterback for the Niners. We're going to see Kyle Shannon and Mac Jones which is incredible. However if Brock Purdy is out I assume the guys we would want are Daniel Jones, you know probably want the 30 points. I think Michael pennant is the ring. Daniel Jones will be there all year. Michael Penix is going to rip passes all year for sure. Pennix I think, I think yeah. I think those are the two guys.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then I will say got a lot of.

[C]

Got a lot of Daniel Jones trade request like trying people trying to offload Daniel Jones this week.

[A]

Yes. A lot of people selling. Yeah.

[C]

Which always annoys me a little. It's like here you take this guy. We should rank him something totally unreasonable for this guy who sucked other than this one game.

[A]

That's yeah. I mean I will say the other person I think Jackson Dart who again I don't know if he's going to be awesome for the Giants but I do think he's going to run a lot if the Giants if the Giants start owing three I don't think Russell Wilson's getting a fourth start. He's going to play for the Cowboys.

[C]

Oh and we're going to wish cast this into existence.

[A]

Well you hear all the stat Look Brian, Dave like literally Brian all the stats of like well if you start owing to you have like an 11 chance to make the playoffs. Oh and three is like 4%. The Giants were like we should probably be competitive. If you literally start out competing for the number one pick what the is Russell Wilson playing for? I think it's Brian. I mean Brian Dable's getting fired mid season.

[B]

I mean I'm holding on to dart.

[A]

In our ringer league so yeah for that reason but you know but I think Jones and Pennix defenses. I have a lot of thoughts here. If they're available for whatever reason the Seahawks like if the Seahawks are available go get them. I think a couple teams are weirdly available right now. The Bills defense is very available. I think a lot of people drafted them, saw they played the Ravens in week one and then cut the Bills. So I think the Bills are available in some more leagues than you would think. The Bills next four games are Jets, Dolphins, Saints, Patriots, Falcons. Bye week Panthers. I will say again jets with Fields. Dolphins, Saints. Like the Bills defense I think is that could be great. Packers same thing. I think a lot of people cut the packers because they played Detroit. They have Micah Parsons like the defensive coordinator for the Packers Jeff Halfley like I think packers defense looks great. That doesn't need explanation. Tampa plays Houston at Week 2. Houston's offensive line Sucks. Like, it sucks.

[C]

It's just a mess again.

[B]

Like, we could.

[C]

Like, who could have seen this coming?

[A]

It's. It's. And I. And. And, you know, people got hurt. It's. No, they can't block anyone.

[B]

Can I shout out one? The Rams are playing the Titans. The Rams just kind of locked up CJ Stroud and Nico Collins and now they are playing Cam Ward.

[A]

And weirdly, I think the Titans offensive line is better than Houston's. But Cam Ward is still ripping passes and is going to still, you know, I think, yeah. The Rams versus that one's great. Titans defense. Defense line. The Titans way better than. I mean, the Rams. Both guards have ankle injuries. I don't know if they're going to play, but Steve Avila and. Oh, God, I'm blanking on the other Rams guard. Oh, no. Who's the other Rams guard? It's not Jonah Jackson. Shelton Coleman. I don't know. I keep forgetting same. I'm totally blaming Kevin Dotson. Yeah. Kevin Dodd.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That should give him a lot of money. Kevin Dodson. Kevin Dotson and Steve Avila both have ankle injuries. And then this is also Valer Jackson having weird health issues all year with blood clots. So it's like the Titans defensive line. Jeffrey Simmons looked unbelievable. And the Broncos offensive line's good. So the Rams, like, I'm just saying, the Titans. Stafford can't move.

[B]

Is it bad? I'm worried. Like, I'm like, man, the Bills are playing the Jets. Jets are kind of hard to defend. I'm already starting to like, oh, do I really want to play a defense against the Jets?

[A]

I will say, after that, they play the Dolphins. And sorry to Carlos, whose birthday was yesterday now. Because today. But now it's one in the morning here, I guess in the west coast is still Carlos's birthday. Happy birthday, Carlos. The Dolphins.

[B]

Where he lives.

[A]

Yeah, where he lives. Yeah. As you guys would say, well, it's.

[B]

Not Carlos's birthday anymore. I'm like, well, where he lives it is.

[A]

Yeah. Well, I remember that in the middle of my sentence. See what I did there? I applied context.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Let's take a quick break to talk about HubSpot. This episode is brought to you by HubSpot. Did you know that most businesses only use 20% of their data? That's like leaving most of your fantasy roster on the bench or drafting 1/5 of a team. Point is, it's going to be pretty hard to win unless you have HubSpot. Their customer platform gives you access to the data you need to grow Your business. The insights trapped in emails, call logs, transcripts. Because when you know more, you grow more. Visit HubSpot.com today. This is a real good story about.

[B]

Bronx and his dad Ryan. Real United Airlines customers.

[A]

We were returning home and one of the flight attendants asked Bronx if he wanted to see the flight deck and meet Kath and Andrew.

[C]

I got to sit in the driver's seat.

[B]

I grew up in an aviation family.

[A]

And seeing Bronx kind of reminded me.

[B]

Of myself when I was that age.

[A]

That's Andrew, a real United pilot. These small interactions come shape a kid's future.

[C]

It felt like I was the captain.

[A]

Allowing my son to see the flight deck will stick with us forever.

[B]

That's how good leads the way.

[C]

Hyphus is so hyper, like aware.

[A]

The time zone thing is because you guys, I have, everything I do is catering to you guys in the fucking west coast.

[B]

And the, you mean where the company's headquarters are.

[C]

You move to the east coast, but.

[A]

When it comes to the games, 85% of people aren't on the fucking West Coast.

[B]

85, 85%.

[A]

I, I, well, if you include mountain time, like barn on the West Coast.

[C]

Okay, you can't do that.

[B]

So you're taking, you're taking 75% of the country.

[A]

200 million people live in eastern or central time zone, I believe.

[C]

I think we should just count the eastern time zone, which is 47%.

[A]

Yeah, but Eastern and central, because the central is noon. Kickoff, which is afternoon.

[B]

I just don't know why you say morning games.

[C]

He's moving the goalposts into the Central.

[A]

I just don't like the phrase morning games. No, do you? I try not to say one o'. Clock. I say.

[B]

What are you supposed to say?

[C]

This is the, this is our reality.

[B]

Here's the thing. When I say morning games, everybody knows what I mean, don't they? Because if you live on the east coast, you go, oh, that just means the earliest games.

[A]

You know what, you're right. It, it probably just triggers me because of the amount of west coast timing on this company. Yeah, it probably just triggers.

[C]

What time is it?

[B]

You want to talk about this company? Everybody we've ever hired, except for me and DK is from the Northeast. All right? That's the real bias. Everybody's from Boston and New York. How many west coast fans do we have at the ringer? Like four. So eat that.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Do we have a single like Lakers fan at the ringer?

[A]

Kai Grady produces the, this show. He's a Lakers fan.

[B]

He's from Texas. I'm just saying that's weird.

[A]

We don't have My problem.

[B]

We don't have many people from the west coast at the ringer, so. Look, man, you thinking there's a West coast bias is absurd. I just live on the West.

[A]

I didn't say west coast bias. I don't give a. About the west coast bias. I'm talking about time zones, Craig. I don't give a fuck about where people are fans from. I'm talking about every single time ever.

[C]

I get so upset when we talk about the morning game.

[B]

I speak about my life in the context of the time zone in which I'm living.

[A]

I get triggered when we talk about. You know what?

[C]

I like that he tried to include the mountain time zone. Get the fuck out of here.

[B]

I'm like, so you just hit like 80% of the country.

[A]

Hold on. US population by time zone.

[C]

I love this.

[B]

And I'm not arguing Eastern time zone's.

[A]

Half the country and then central is a third.

[B]

That's. I'm not arguing there's more people. I was right.

[A]

Oh, no. If you include mountain time zone, fine, 7%. But like Pacific time zones, 16%. No, that's right, 85%, not Pacific time zone.

[B]

You're straw. I don't know who you're arguing against, but the straw man, you're. You're beating him right now to death. I'm all I'm saying. I'm saying you get mad when we reference, like, west coast time zone and I don't know why we live here.

[C]

I've lived here for like, 36 years. High Fitz is like the reality that I know.

[B]

Morning early. It's all right, people get it.

[A]

All right. Yeah. Maybe the emails. The emails will. Look, it's. It's either gonna just bombard me or like, I don't. You know, it's.

[B]

You never know.

[C]

Well, 40. No, 85% of the emails are gonna agree with High Fitz because they live.

[A]

It's one of those issues where I'm gonna find out the truth very quickly on east coast time.

[B]

I. I don't even have a strong opinion. I. You do. I. I'm just like. I just say.

[A]

Yeah, I'm totally admitting that I'm corrected you.

[C]

When you say something in the east coast time.

[A]

Say again.

[C]

Other than has Craig or I ever corrected you? When you say something in context of east.

[A]

Literally every time I've ever tried to. We talk about anything we've ever scheduled ever is in west coast time. I have to convert every time ever again.

[B]

Again. Everybody who works on this show and the entire company's on the West Coast.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

The student book are on the West Coast.

[A]

I am trying to be as honest as I possibly can. I don't complain about that.

[B]

You do.

[A]

Just builds up. No, it builds up like. It's like a small, infinitesimal annoyance that we deal with 30 times a day. That just builds up. And then once every couple weeks that you guys say morning games. All of the rage from the last three weeks of converting Pacific time to Eastern time comes out, and then I'm like, fucking one o'.

[B]

Clock.

[A]

And then I feel better about the last two weeks. And, like, that's just the truth. I'm not even saying that's good or bad. That is what's happening.

[C]

I. In your defense, if it's. When we go to the combine, which is in Indianapolis, which technically is in. On the East Coast, I guess it feels like you're living on another planet. I. You can't believe we're three hours ahead of everyone on the West Coast. It's like our day is almost over. By the people on the. By the time people are waking up on the east coast or on the West Coast, I should say.

[B]

Yeah, that's.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

So it is. It is weird. I. I empathize with you, but I think also just like, stop getting mad at us when we say morning games.

[A]

I'm probably gonna keep doing it.

[B]

He just gets upset when he. When he. When he gets the conversions wrong. He gets very.

[C]

Now he's been. Lately he's been flipping them. So he's like. Because I was on the west coast.

[A]

Time is like three hours later. You know, I'll tell you what happened. I was. We were on the west coast for so long. Yeah. That I just change everything by three hours. So I. We started talking. We're gonna record it two today. But I was with you guys, so I'm like, oh, yeah, two. That's five. So I kept getting every time wrong. Yeah.

[B]

But.

[A]

Yeah. Should we keep this? Does anyone give a. About anything we just said?

[B]

We'll see.

[C]

Probably not.

[A]

Anyway. There's other defenses. I don't. Whatever. The Patriots. I will say Patriots are playing the Dolphins, Steelers, Panthers, next three weeks. I kind of wonder if the, like, I don't know. Mike Frable versus a very weak Dolphins team. And then I'm curious what happens.

[B]

The wagon. That is Pittsburgh.

[A]

Yeah. But then Carolina. I'm like, Mike Vrabel team. At least two of those are going to be good matchups. Miami and Panthers. And then The Colts, I don't know. The Broncos, Week two, but then they play the Titans week three. So I just want to throw all those defenses out.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Okay. I don't know if anyone's listening.

[C]

If a tree falls in the forest, get. What do you want to say, Hyphens?

[A]

I want to say thank you. Thank you to you guys for understanding. Thank you to dk. Thank you, Craig. Thank you, Carlos. Thank you, Kai. Thank you, Austin. Thank you, Ronick. Thank you, everyone, for listening. Our rankings each week are fantasy football.300.com Instagram, which is. I mean, honestly, it's really fun. Instagram. TikTok. Ringer fantasy football emails. Ringer fantasy football. Gmail.com for fantasy courts. Want those on Wednesdays? Emails. More trivia. Ringer fantasy football, gmail.com. it has to be a number so we can get it wrong with appetizer, calories or whatever, make it topical or whatever. We're talking email Swinger Fantasy football at Gmail Trivia. Thank you, everyone, for listening. Email us what you think about the time zone thing. I know I'm, like, probably mean. I'm just being honest. Like, I just. I talk about it because I. It bothers me a little bit every day, and then every couple weeks, it boils over like, that's the truth.

[B]

We have to suffer the wrath of that every two weeks.

[A]

Thank you, Lord.

[B]

Lord.

[C]

Thank you. Ludicrous.

[B]

Nice. Nice.

[C]

I don't know. Okay. Because I thought this was a ludicrous conversation. Maybe.

[B]

Or. Or we were talking about Applebee's wings. Ludicrous owns a wing spot in Atlanta. Does he?

[C]

There we go. Maybe. I knew that.

[A]

It's just the morning game thing. It's so West Coast. It's just so, like. It just bothers me, man.

[B]

I think it bothers you because it's better. It's a better time for the game.

[A]

No, I think it. I think it's because it's like. I just don't even. I just. I honestly, I think football is so ingrained in me. It's the afternoon.

[B]

Ludicrous is chicken and beer. It's now available at lax.

[C]

What? Oh, wow.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

Oh, like he made the album into a restaurant.

[B]

I guess so.

[A]

That's a good idea.

[B]

I love that Ludacris and Fast and Furious is like the mechanic in the first movie, and then by the guy.

[A]

Who puts nitrous in your car, and.

[B]

Then he, like, is building spaceships so that you can drive your car to the moon.

[A]

Yeah. Three movies later, it's like, I hacked into the nsa.

[B]

Yeah. He's like, don't worry, I can handle this. You guys.

[A]

I've taken over this Russian satellite. Thanks. Nitrous guy.

[B]

Yeah. From the, like, auto body shop. He's like, hacking into the White House. It's pretty sweet.

[C]

He really stepped up.

[B]

He did.

[A]

I like that. They were talking about it and they're like, yeah. No one. No one knows how computers work. It's fine.

[B]

It's totally fine.

[A]

No one's going to say.

[B]

Shouts out Fast and furious. Shots are Dom Toretto. We're all family.

[C]

Ludacris played the Linden Fair, like a couple of years ago, which is this big. It's the Northwest Washington State, or what is it? The Northwest Washington State Fair. I don't know exactly what it's called. We call it the Lyndon Fair. But it's like this big deal. And he played there and it was just like, man, a lot of 35 to 45 year old people there. It was like, I didn't go, but this is what I heard. It was just like everyone from my exact generation, and that was it.

[A]

You didn't go, but that's what I heard.

[C]

Yeah, well, I have a lot of friends that went. Because all my friends are 35 to 45 years old. And then you guys, and then us. You keep me young. What can I say?

[A]

I feel like I'm aging you.

[B]

I'll teach you how to play chess next time I see you.

[C]

All right, well, I'll probably get bored about 30. Well, 15 seconds into your explanation, I'll.

[B]

Have to give you an iPad.

[C]

You know, there's like the memes of like Scarlett Johansson when she's crying in that one movie. I don't even know what movie is the one with like, she's like, marriage story or something. Yeah. And just like. And that's like how I get. After about five seconds of someone explain trying to explain the rules of a game to me. I'm just like, no, I can't. I can't do this. This is work.

[B]

It is, actually. There's nothing worse than when you're at like a weekend away with and somebody's like, I have a new board game we could play. Okay. I have.

[A]

I have a board games take. Yeah, we've been going too long. I guess we don't have time for this.

[C]

Just. Just get it.

[B]

The problem is, is with a lot of these games, like, once you do learn the rules, it is really fun. But getting everybody to buy in to the 20 minutes of like, everybody. Listen, I. It's it's 11:00pm on a Saturday night. Focus.

[C]

She has taught me to play cribbage, I think seven or eight separate times. And I forget because I. There's like, so long goes so fun.

[B]

Once you once. You know, once everybody knows the rules and there's buy in, it's great. It's just hard to get there.

[A]

Board games are the easy litmus test for whether you had a happy family or not. Because, like, literally, I. It's so clear. Like, oh, you guys could just all be in the same room for three hours and screaming at each other.

[B]

No.

[A]

And I'm like, oh, okay. Just such a tell.

[B]

My family couldn't play Uno. My. Or my brother and I couldn't sit next to each other playing Uno. We could be across from one another because then you can't directly attack them. But if him and I were next to one another, it was a problem.

[C]

I think board games and card games and things of that nature, it activates the same. I don't know if there's any science behind this, but I feel like for me, there is so you. So no proof for you if you don't think this is true. But it activates the exact same part of my brain that I use when I'm working. So when I try and play any of these games, I'm like, this feels like work. What am I doing? I don't. I on my break right now. I'm off work. I don't want to be doing this.

[B]

The fuse is so much shorter. Playing board games for a reason I can't explain. It's like road rage. I don't. People just get more mad playing board games.

[A]

Dimitri Martin, he's like, all board games are the same. Which of my friends is a massive.

[C]

Totally.

[A]

Ticket to ride, though?

[B]

Oh, that's good. That's really funny. I do. I actually love. Not. This isn't even a board game, but I love Uno. I like card games games.

[C]

I learned drinking card games.

[A]

Two couples taught me. Shout out My friends Claire and Andrew. Two couples taught me. And I genuinely thought both were gonna break up during the game.

[B]

Yeah, I can get tough.

[A]

And I was staying at their place and I was like, I'm gonna have to go somewhere else. Like, they're actually gonna. Both couples are gonna not survive this game.

[B]

Have you guys ever played a game called Back Alley Bridge? It's. It's the best. No, I'll teach them. We'll play one night.

[A]

It's really fun.

[B]

DK. It'll only take 20 minutes for you to learn how to play.

[C]

Don't. Yeah.

[A]

Honestly, the I think the hardest I've laughed as an adult was trying to learn how to play pinochle, which is a card game for like very old people.

[B]

I don't know how to play P Knuckle. Great name though.

[A]

Hilarious. Anyway, it's like work. Goodbye everyone.

[B]

Foreign.

[A]

Must be 21 plus in present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + in 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 mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-Hopeny or text Hopeny in New York. This episode is brought to you by Warner Brothers Pictures. One Battle After Another is coming to theaters September 26th. Don't miss Legendary writer, director and producer my guy Paul Thomas Anderson teaming up with Leo DiCaprio for the first time ever. Pretty exciting. They almost teamed together in Boogie Nights, actually alongside award winning actors like Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor and Benicio Del Toro in this hilarious action packed adventure following Bob Ferguson, an ex revolutionary, on a mission to find his missing daughter and overcome the consequences of his past. One Battle After Another Only in theaters September 26th. Get tickets now. Rated R under 17 not admitted without.

[C]

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