← The Ryen Russillo Podcast
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Annual NFL Top Five at Every Position With Sheil Kapadia. Plus, Stanford Steve Previews Texas–Ohio State and CFB Week 1.
02:17:05
Loading summary
Transcript448 lines
- [00:00]
Stanford Steve
Foreign.
- [00:11]
Ryan
How much football can you handle? You want even more football than you can handle. We're doing top five at every position, including the offensive line units which yield karate. We do it every year. So a lot of fun conversations about trying to figure out who the five best in the NFL are at each position and some Stanford Steve picks. We're talking college ball. He's on the road. We go over the ranked matchups in week one of this season and pick the game we most would want to be at in 2025. This episode is brought to you by Lionsgate. Prepare for the Long Walk, a grueling tale from the master storyteller Stephen King. 50 boys enter a walking contest with one winner and no finish line. The task is simple. Walk or die. How far could you go? For fame, for fortune, for family, for your life? Written for the screen by J.T. molner and directed by Francis Lawrence. Starring David Johnson, Cooper Hoffman and Mark Hamill. The Long Walk Rated R Only in theaters September 12th. This episode is brought to you by the Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card. This is an ad for the Active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo. That's a mouthful, but that's because it packs a lot in. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with it, big or small. So whether it's buying tickets to the game with your mom or grabbing a coffee with your dog, earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases made with it. Say it with me. The Active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo. Learn more@wells fargo.com ActiveCash Terms apply. Excited to do this annual top 5 at every position in the NFL SHIELD Capadia. Who joins us from a little bit of free time from the Ringer NFL show now five days a week. My Protect the Shield pitch. I guess we'll have to wait another year for that one because considering this is, this is you protecting football Content Daily Daily Resources what's up man?
- [02:02]
Shield Kapadia
That's right. Five, five days a week, you know, 30 to 35 minute episodes on the Ringer NFL show. So there you go. That's. That's my plug. Now we can get to the good stuff.
- [02:12]
Ryan
So the way I do this is, you know, I looked at shout out to Jeremy Fowler and ESPN.com for having some of the executive stuff and they had voting at all the positions and they go through the top 10 and then other people being mention. I checked out a lot of the PFF stuff as well and there's a massive amount of disparity between what executives have voted and then what some of the grading Stuff is you can find things you like and complaints with all of it if you want. And then I think there's just a little bit of an eye test and status thing that I combine into mine. SHIELD knows it far better than I do. Let's start with quarterbacks. I already spent an hour on this with Sando, so I don't think this needs to be something we spend a lot of time on. For me, it's Mahomes, Alan Burrow, and Lamar. You could probably flip Lamar with guys in front, maybe even Burrow if you wanted to. I think the real question comes down to fifth. Who you think the fifth best quarterback is in the NFL.
- [03:01]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, I mean, the fifth quarterback spot has just been a gift from the content gods this off season. I mean, how many TV segments, podcasts? Just the fifth spot. You know, you can take it any direction you want. I didn't learn my lesson from last year, so last year I went C.J. stroud and I was like, I love this guy. Rookie ascending. And of course he takes a little step back. This year I'm making the same. Maybe making the same mistake, maybe not. I went Jaden Daniels, number five, and I thought you could make a case for a bunch of guys. I'm curious to see who you have. Herbert, Hertz, Stroud, Love, if you want. I looked at it and it felt like Daniels did one of the hardest things a quarterback has to do, which is lead a top five offense when you don't have a great supporting cast. And I don't think he had a great supporting cast last year. I think he lifted everyone up. So as I was saying, hey, if you swapped out Daniels for Herbert, would they have been as good? If you swapped out Daniels for another guy, would they have been as good? I kept coming back to, I don't think so. I think he was the engine there. So, yeah, I have Mahomes, Allen, Lamar Burrow, and then Daniels as five.
- [04:05]
Ryan
If we stay on the fifth thing, like I really liked in Sandals piece that Stafford was. Was a tier one guy. Um, it felt almost like a lifetime achievement award for a quarterback where I feel like he was, ding, far too much because of the obsession we have with just looking at wins and losses with quarterbacks and not being fair about what's happening around him. But if you're talking about fifth best at his age, you know that I could see the argument against it. I still feel good about Herbert. I know the, the taste in everybody's mouth after a playoff game like that. You know, it doesn't Feel great to say this starting up. I mean if you redrafted the entire position, I don't know that he would go sixth. I would imagine he would go fifth. The Jaden call. He was fifth from the executives on. In the NFL on the ESPN page. I just think it's a little soon for that. Herz. I would not put fifth. So I guess I'm still going to stick with Herbert, although it feels a little stubborn.
- [05:02]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah. And I. There's a case for it obviously. I think I test he matches it. He has all the tools. I think you're right with the redraft. I, I loved Herbert early in his career and I still like him. But I feel, I'm like. I feel like we should have been further along by now. You know, there should have been more of a moment and I know it's not all his fault and even statistically it's not as impressive in recent years as maybe you would want it to be. But I'm with you. He's in the conversation.
- [05:28]
Ryan
Okay. I think we do need to address this a little bit because I saw some of the social breakout, some of it. Our fearless leader Bill going with Alan at number one. I understand the statistical argument against Mahomes the last couple years. If you dig into some of the QBR stuff, I think he's eighth over the last two years. There's no quarterback I would rather have. I, I can't even fathom wanting anyone else at that position. If Mahomes is an option and if you really want to dig into some of the other stuff like it's. I think last year he was number one QBR and third downs. I mean if, if there's a third in seven, I, I cannot understand how anybody could watch this sport and want anyone other than Mahomes in that position.
- [06:09]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, that's become popular in recent years. Whereas we're always trying to figure out how to analyze quarterbacks is what do they look like when the defense knows you have to pass and when it's third and long. Last year with a bad offensive line, with a bad wide receiving group, guess who was the best quarterback on.
- [06:26]
Ryan
Third.
- [06:26]
Shield Kapadia
Third and long. It was still Patrick Mahomes. So I'm with you. That was my argument with Bill was like that someone has to take it from him and they didn't. I don't think they took it from him last year. Now by the end of this season, maybe there's a case. Maybe we're saying Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow. But for now, until someone does that. I still feel like he's done more with less the last two years.
- [06:48]
Ryan
Okay. Running back, it's a position that we've kind of spent a lot of time on being disappointed by. I think in past years we've done this. You're like, who am I putting down fifth? Like, do I feel good about whoever's fifth? And fortunately, for whatever status thing that we're talking about here, I. I do think, you know, it's part of the Jaden thing. But, you know, if you're going to be considered one of the five best year position, I probably need to see a couple years from it. But then again, I kind of contradict myself on some of the guys that have been hurt a little bit. But the list starts to Saquon. I mean, what he did last year, MVP push. I don't know how anybody else would get a vote as the number one running back in the league.
- [07:21]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, I've got Saquon one. I think the first year we did this, I went with Bijan before he had played a snap. And you almost, I think, kicked me off the podcast that year. But.
- [07:31]
Ryan
But it also spoke to how class felt. Yeah, it did.
- [07:35]
Shield Kapadia
I was like, yeah, I. I would take him over these other guys. I don't need to see a snap. I'm not doing that this year. With Ashton Genty, though. I thought about it because I thought it was a fun bit, but I went Saquon, Bijan Robinson, Jameer Gibbs, Derrick Henry, and Christian McCaffrey to me, still. I know he was injured last year, but let's see what it looks like this year. He's still, what, 28, 29 years old. He could be number one if we're doing this next year.
- [08:01]
Ryan
I came into this thinking I wouldn't have Henry, too. And it sounds like you're okay with it. He's 31 years old, but considering what he did last year, and it's just a couple numbers here. He's got 3,654 yards after contact since 2020. That's 945 more yards after contact than any other running back in the NFL. So we're talking about almost a thousand. If you want to look at some of the decline, you know, maybe going into this seat, if going into 24, I'd be like, okay, you know, we'll see. See what happens. And it's not so much of a team moving on from somebody like Henry because Tennessee was just a mess. So it's almost like you don't. You shouldn't Even have him. Like, it doesn't really make a lot of sense for you guys to have him, but almost 2100 total yards last year, 18 touchdowns. I thought I was going to put him three, but he was just too good last year for me to have another running back ahead of him.
- [08:50]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, I'm, I'm done trying to predict the cliff with Derek Henry. Sometimes there's a guy who's an outlier, who's the Exception. Led the NFL in 20 plus yard runs last year. You mentioned it. The yards after contact, the situation got better for him. When you're with Lamar Jackson, the running back's always going to have an edge, but man, he maximized all the potential that was there. So he's got to be in the top five until he has that year where you're like, okay, now the decline is showing.
- [09:16]
Ryan
I went Gibbs 3. Bajan at 4, maybe feels a little dirty after 1900 total yards. And him after a disappointing rookie season where it just felt like it wasn't even him, it was just opportunities. Um, if you want to go with him over Gibbs, you'd say, okay, well, this is somebody who has over 300 carries. Gibbs is at 250. But the yards per carry favors Gibbs. Feels like just his explosiveness flips the field in a way where, you know, when they took him in the first round, it wasn't a knock on Gibbs. I think a lot of us knew how special it was. It was just like, is this position really this much of a priority to continue to draft this way? Especially at the time with the Lions, who've done a really good job putting together this roster through the draft the last few years and adding golf. But there's just this dangerous feeling when he has any kind of space with the ball that I, I think I'm favoring a bit going into this year knowing that Robinson, if he continues on this, if he improves on what we just saw here from, he's going to be in the conversation for number two. So I'm, I'm not outraged buy any of it. It's just a preference for the times where, like when I think of Gibbs in space, how scary it feels.
- [10:22]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, it feels like if your offense is stuck, he's one play away from just changing the game with a 25 yard run or something. Also as a receiver, I mean, he's averaging like 10 yards per reception for a running back, which is very, very uncommon. I mean, that you, you know, usually good running backs are usually around 7 or 8. And so he's Explosive in the passing game as well. Bajan's kind of, he's still explosive, but he's more of a sustainer. Like, one of the stats I look at is success rate, which is just how often are you producing a positive play for the offense. And he leads all running backs in that one, so he's more of a sustainer. I think Gibbs is more of a big play threat. So it just depends on what you're looking for.
- [10:59]
Ryan
There I went McCaffrey fifth in it felt like, hey, I'm just going to keep him in the top five because when I know he's right, this isn't even a question. Last year was his first season ever in his career with zero touchdowns. We know the injury risk. And even going back to the Niners making the trade for him, it's like, man, this guy just has a really hard time staying healthy. So does this make a lot of sense, this kind of investment? They make it to a Super bowl, it's totally fine, especially in that offense and him being a toy with Shanahan. But I don't, I also think it speaks to the drop off of the position because, like, you're going to sit there and say, how can you guys have McCaffrey fifth? Okay, well, like, who? Tell me who. Like, I was, I was tempted to go Bucky Irving approach here because I just love them, but I don't know that that's fair to take away McCaffrey's top five status after that kind of down year and put in a rookie.
- [11:48]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, I'm with you, but Bucky Irving, I mean, Josh Jacobs has had good years, but I'm still like, yeah, I'm trying not to overweigh what happened last year. Unless it's a guy who's in his mid-30s or something where you're like, all right, that was the start of something. I think in McCaffrey give you one more year, two more years of very high level play. He's got, he's got that ceiling. So I, I left him in there as well.
- [12:10]
Ryan
29 in June. Receivers are coin toss at the top. So I'll let you go first.
- [12:15]
Shield Kapadia
I went Chase. I feel like you went out on a ledge and had Chase. I want to say last year or the year before, you're looking good for that one. He had the triple crown last year. So, yeah, you can't go wrong with Chase or Jefferson. I went chase 1 Jefferson 2 really just recency bias. I'll, you know, I'll admit to it. Chase over Jefferson. I had A.J. brown three. I had C.D. lamb. Four. I thought those were a strong four. And then five. It's not, you know, it's not going to get the same TV segments as the quarterback thing, but you could do a nice, you know, eight minutes or something on who's the fifth best wide receiver in the NFL. I ended up going Puka Nakua. I think if you look at a lot of the efficiency numbers and just the film watching him play, he's like, when he's out there and he's healthy and he's running routes, he is more productive than almost any other wide receiver in the NFL. So thought about Nico Collins. You could make an Aman Ross St. Brown case. I think this time next year we might be talking Brian Thomas Jr. I think at this time. But I went Puka Nakua as my number five.
- [13:15]
Ryan
Yeah, I was. I've been on Chase just because of watching both players in college. I, I said it every year that we've done this, is that I just think there's an edge that he plays with. Even though Jefferson probably better hands, definitely a better route runner. I don't know that I've ever heard anybody say anybody's superior to Jefferson's route runner. And if you want to scream and yell and say that Jefferson's number one, I can't say that you're wrong. I'm saying that I just prefer Chase. And a big thing last year, too was just the yards after the catch and 787, 190 more yards than the second closest receiver, which is Shakir with the Bills. So, you know, the stats back this up. But I've. I felt this way for a while about Chase. Now the Jefferson argument is, look at Chase gets burrow. Yeah. And Jefferson just puts up hall of Fame numbers every single year. And it doesn't matter who's back there. So that's certainly an argument in favor of Jefferson number three. I went CD I don't know. I think that's just a preference. I was a little surprised that so many executives on ESPN.com had Tyreek Hill third. He ended up third on that list. Maybe it's just a declining year. Maybe it's just a down year for him. I don't know. Even in that system where I think that Miami kind of prided themselves on being like, hey, we're just not going to have this guy to go routes the entire time. We're going to make him a more complete receiver. And I think early on that was a lot of stuff that was happening. So maybe it's just a down year, and it's totally unfair for me to not have him in the top five. I went st Brown four just because I think there's a dependency on him in that system where it's like, hey, I need a first down. Like, I'm looking for him. And he just feels so steady, if not as exciting as maybe some of the other top guys that were knocking around here. And the only reason AJ Brown is as low as 5 for me is if. If you have him, you would you have them third?
- [15:16]
Shield Kapadia
I had him third. Yeah.
- [15:17]
Ryan
Right. The thing that's working against him is the system. I think he's 43rd in targets.
- [15:23]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah. So I'm sure he knows that number too, by the way. 43rd in targets. Yeah.
- [15:29]
Ryan
I.
- [15:29]
Shield Kapadia
It's probably a bias of me doing all the Philly stuff and watching him on film every week and just being like, man, if this guy was in a different system that threw the football a lot, he's so versatile, too. He can make plays downfield, he can run after the catch. He's. He's a physical specimen. So they. That's that the context for these is always tough. Like you said with Jefferson, I'm sure he's like, man, go put me with Joe Burrow. I'll get you some yards after the catch, you know, too, if you want there. So that. That's tough. But, yeah, I don't think you can go wrong with any of those guys.
- [15:59]
Ryan
Tight ends. Is it already? Bowers?
- [16:02]
Shield Kapadia
You know what? I incorporated the resillo rule and said, show it to me for more than one year here. You know, we're not just handing it over to you after one because you've been on. Every time we do it, you chastise. This guy's done it for one year. And I'm like, all right, he might be kind of right with some of these mistakes I've made in the past. So I'm going. Kittle still number one. I mean, he was awesome last year, both as a receiver, averaged 14 yards per reception. And he's the blocking thing. Not to be the hipster, you know, film guy, but he's just in another class from all these guys. And that matters to coaches. That matters in certain schemes that can you count on your tight end to hold up as a blocker? And I think he does that better than anyone else. So I still have Kittle with the belt.
- [16:45]
Ryan
Yeah. Look, if I'm sitting here telling you the difference between Gronk and Kelsey is the blocking, then I can't Knock Kittle because, I mean, it's just so much fun to watch tight ends that love to block and it changes everything. I mean, especially when you go back to the. I mean, look, it doesn't mean even a size thing with Gronk and the difference in girth against Kittle, but it's, it's like all of this movement that we see with offensive lineman and how creative offenses have been and just realizing, like, hey, we have better athletes now than we've ever had before at the offensive line position. So let's get creative and get these guys out on the move. And when you have a tight end that can do even more of that stuff, it's like having an incredibly versatile offensive lineman when he's not out in the, in the route. So, yeah, I think Kittle still has the belt. Now it gets interesting.
- [17:31]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah. Now Bowers is 2. I'm not going to put him any lower than 2. He's amazing. And you know, I've been always questioning taking tight ends early in the first round just because the history is so bad. When you look at it, he was the exception last year, there's no doubt about it. And he's going to be the focal point of that offense. Obviously, when you look at the Raiders pass catcher. So bowers to Trey McBride three, who's awesome. I still have Travis Kelce four. I know he's 36 in October. Not the same guy. I had a hard time finding guys I still thought were better than him. And then Sam Laporta fifth. It came down to laporta and Tucker Kraft to me. So it was easy to do a top six. It was a little harder to narrow it down to five.
- [18:15]
Ryan
All right, so I have McBride third as well. Shout out to Fort Morgan. I think he's one of the most underrated players in the league. I mean, he's outstanding. I mean, if it wasn't, if we were just talking about, like, who would you want the most out in a pattern or something? It's hard to go put anybody ahead of Bowers, honestly, at this point. And, you know, back to the resilo role rule, you could argue, well, sure, it's one year in the NFL, but there was also a stretch at Georgia where he looked like the single best player in all of college football. All right. And then there was a little bit of a drop off and then it was final, like, hey, what are you getting here? And it's like, don't even worry about it. And he's right back to, I mean, just absurd production. So McBride. I don't know if it's a tight end branding thing, but it's almost like tight ends have to find, like, Kelsey certainly has had different variations of his brand. I don't even know if Gron tried to be a brand as much as it was. Just like, this is who he is. K has, has. Certainly. There's just a thing about kd too, that's a little wild and the. The wrestling Persona and his love of wrestling, you know, like, it feels like the tight ends that make sure they're noticed and have some kind of personality. Like with McBride, it's like maybe we need. He needs to work on that more or something, you know, just because I don't know that he's ever. It just doesn't feel like he's brought up enough with some of the other guys. And now with Bowers onto the scene. So we both have McBride third. I had Laporta fourth and Kelsey fifth. And you're right, I do like likely a lot, though. I wonder if a year from now we're going to be talking about likely more.
- [19:54]
Shield Kapadia
He's flashed, he's had. He's had moments for sure. I think it's just a matter of playing time, opportunities. But, yeah, when he. He has those high moments, there's no doubt about. I like your tight end. You know, tight ends need a gimmick. I think that's true. They tried to make like, tight end day a thing. It was like, no one's really into this.
- [20:10]
Ryan
Really? No, I thought it. I don't know. Okay, well, look, was I. Was I watching the live streams at this time of year? No, I like to be on the move. I like to take a little break from it. But I don't know, I saw some shirts. I think I saw a guy walking around the Caribbean with a tight end view shirt. I was like, is that. Was that a donation or what's going on here? Look, I'll just be honest. Tackles and guards, I can look at lists and I'm not comfortable with it. I can tell you which tackles I like. I can tell you which tackles I think are a disaster. I mean, if we're talking interior lineman for the offensive line, we just be like, okay, how many are all the Chiefs guys on it? So let me just. I'm really curious who you think the best tackle in the league is, because I. I'm wondering if we're going to get an Eagles pick here.
- [20:56]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, I'll do a little homerism here. I mean, Trent Williams certainly is in the discussion. Penne souls in the discussion, but Lane Johnson's incredible, man. I just, I just. You put him on an island, all the numbers back it up. They don't give him any help. He goes up against the best pass rushers on the other team. Pass blocking, run blocking, quarterback holds onto the ball, it doesn't matter. So, yeah, I'll say Lane Johnson.
- [21:19]
Ryan
So you're not going with my lotta?
- [21:22]
Shield Kapadia
No, I. My lotta is very good, but I think Lane Johnson is a. Is a better player.
- [21:27]
Ryan
Okay, so worse is in everybody's top three. Yeah. I think the Sewell part of it is I probably like him the most and announcers freak out the most about his, you know, some of the stuff. We were just talking about his versatility in space.
- [21:43]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, yeah.
- [21:43]
Ryan
Like actually like getting on one guy and then pulling off of that guy. Next thing you know, he's running down the field with a wide receiver and you're like, what is this? There is. If we're talking about the best tackle in the NFL, I guess you could point to some of the pass block, win rate stuff with him. That's below what you would want for the guy to have the belt as best tackle in the NFL. So we're nitpicking here a bit. Maybe he's number one next year. But it does look like some of the grading stuff would ding him versus some of the other tackles that we're talking about as far as their pass blocking numbers.
- [22:15]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, I. That metric, I'm a little on the, you know, I think there's so. It's so hard to quantify offensive line play with the metrics. I feel like it's probably the hardest position to look at. So shout out to Brandon Thorne. It's like you carve out a little niche and he know, he watches all these guys and ranks them. So yeah, I usually look at what he says and I don't stray from it too much because he's got the film breakdowns down.
- [22:40]
Ryan
So really what we've always done in the past, we want to throw out a couple of the tackles there. I guess the goal of this segment is usually not to get yelled at by Jeff Schwartz after it's posted. So if you go just units, give me your five best units at the offensive line.
- [22:57]
Shield Kapadia
I've got the Eagles first, I have the Bills second and the Bills O. Line health has been like the last two years. They rarely have to play a backup. That's been huge for them. Something to watch this season. The Broncos are third for me. The Bucks are fourth. And the Lions, even though some uncertainty with a couple new guys this year, I still have them fifth.
- [23:19]
Ryan
Got to see it with the Bears.
- [23:21]
Shield Kapadia
Yes. You know what the weird thing is with the Bear?
- [23:24]
Ryan
Like, I've been on a million guys.
- [23:27]
Shield Kapadia
Well, it's also like, you know, I've said this. The Chiefs were like, we want to improve our offensive line. We're trading Joe Tuney. The Rams are like, we really need to shore up our offensive line. Let's give the Bears Jonah Jackson. You know, the Falcons are like, who can we let walk with a young quarterback? Our center. And those are all guys on the Bears. Now, I understand it. I think it upgrades over who they had. But I'm also. We've all been burned too many times by the Bears. Like, I'm listen week six. Hopefully they're playing well and Caleb Williams is protected. Just my. My guards up a little bit about proclaiming that a definitely a great unit.
- [24:01]
Ryan
I was a huge Bears fan last year and then the Washington game just broke me. So. Yeah, Moving on. All right, defensive side of the ball. We'll start at D tackle. So the interior guys, this one's kind of all over the place. I think after Dexter Lawrence, then it becomes a taste thing.
- [24:24]
Shield Kapadia
It was hard.
- [24:25]
Ryan
Yeah.
- [24:25]
Shield Kapadia
There were a lot of guys here. I actually put Chris Jones first, even though I guess that's kind of cheating because he'll do. He's defensive end and defensive tackle. So it's hard. I didn't know where to put him. I had Dexter Lawrence second, Jalen Carter third, Leonard Williams fourth, and Quinn and Williams fifth. Left out a bunch of guys. I mean, Cam Hayward was awesome last year. Zach Allen on the Broncos has been terrific. Jeffrey Simmons, Namdi Matabuque. So I think edge and D tackle, where maybe the two hardest in this whole exercise.
- [24:57]
Ryan
Vita Vea. Not even Vita Vea.
- [24:59]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, absolutely.
- [25:03]
Ryan
So I still love Simmons. And I wonder if last year's just such a disaster that you look at Tennessee and go, okay, would I still want him? You know, the quarterback thing that we were talking about there with Mahomes, if you're redrafting it again, maybe. I don't know if we're talking about season or career. It kind of pivots depending on the argument here. I usually always have Chris Jones there, but, yeah, you could get into some snap count stuff and say how much they move him around. I think to Jones, the Jones argument is end of a game. Hey, we need a play. Yeah, I think he's the best in league when it comes to that. It Seems maybe it's just because we're all watching more Chiefs games, but it feels like when he needs to wreck the game at the end from that position and this is including him with the interior guys and not just focusing on the pure edge guys that we'll get here too. You know, his. His win rate at the end of games is still number one, depending on what you want to look at. Huge snap count last year for him overall as he gets a little bit older. Dexter Lawrence, the double team stuff he was, he had a double team rate of like 75% last year was the highest of any of the interior linemen that would qualify for this kind of stuff. And adding into like, you already knew he was one of the best run stuffers at the position. And then he starts adding in more pass rush wins. And it's not just the sack. Total stuff there. So it feels, it feels like most people are looking at those two guys and maybe there's. With Jones, it's when it matters the most. But Lex Dexter's maybe steadier as a younger player throughout the entire course of a game.
- [26:33]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, I mean, you, you made the right point that I feel like if Dexter Lawrence were on the Chiefs right now, we would just see him in more big spots and big games and he might be making those plays too in the playoffs. So. Yeah, I'm with you. I just. Jones in those big spots. We've seen it, he's done it. And so I, I gave him the nod, but it's basically a coin flip between those two guys.
- [26:52]
Ryan
How much of Jalen Carter being third. I have him third as well is about watching enough Eagles games to realize that he's. It may not be a counting thing with him, but when you see it, it's a guy who's crushing that side of the protection and that other guys are winning off of that.
- [27:08]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, that's it. I think if you showed me like a reel of the top 10 plays for all these guys, you might be like Jalen Carter's first. Oh my gosh, look at what he just did to that guard. And so I think he's got to be a little more consistent throughout the season. But he also in big spots. I mean, that Eagles game against the Rams in the playoffs last year where Stafford's in the snow, it. What was it, the 14 yard line or something? And he two plays in a row where if he doesn't make those plays, who knows what happens? So a little bit of the Chris Jones thing definitely applies to him. And yeah, I Think he's. He's on the rise. There's no doubt about it.
- [27:41]
Ryan
I have Simmons fourth. I realize there's arguments against it, and it came down to Quinn Williams and Vita Vea. For me, for fifth, I'll go Quinn. And just because I think talent wise, there's no way he would still be available if you were drafting all the interior defensive linemen. There's just. Yeah, there's just no way. All right, let's go, edge guys. Do you remember what you had last year?
- [28:02]
Shield Kapadia
I don't know. I did look at it as I was prepping, but I can't remember which five I had to be. Actually, the top four were probably the same. I think I do remember. And I had Max Crosby fifth, so I had, I think Garrett, Parsons, Watt, Bosa, Crosby.
- [28:17]
Ryan
That.
- [28:17]
Shield Kapadia
That feels like what I had.
- [28:19]
Ryan
We're going to get it on that one. I know sir already sent it to me, but then I close it at the top, it's Garrett one. I. Yeah, here we do have it. So last year you had Parsons, Garrett, Bosawa, Crosby.
- [28:38]
Shield Kapadia
Okay.
- [28:40]
Ryan
I think it became as we've done this. Like, there's years where you don't think you can be wrong, but then if you just want to make an argument for one of the other guys, that argument's incredibly strong. Last year, I had Garrett, Watt, Parsons, Crosby, Bosa. So I was still. I was dinging Bosa a little bit there, I guess more so than you were. Even though Prime Bosa was probably. I don't know if it's better. I mean, who. Who's to say any of this stuff is better than Garrett? I think it's Garrett one. It's incredibly steady. The team isn't very good. 14 plus sacks, four straight seasons. First player to ever do that since he started tracking sacks in 82, which isn't entirely fair to the older dudes there. It just. It feels like the cleanest, safest bet as an edge guy. Even though there's TJ and Micah arguments that if you. If you. If I gave you space for two minutes to make them, you'd be like, how are you picking out? How are you picking any other player that position over the argument that you just made? But I'm just going with Garrett. I'm not going to worry about it all that much.
- [29:38]
Shield Kapadia
I think that I've got Garrett one also. I went to the Eagles and Browns, had these joint practices that I went to, and, like, the Eagles couldn't get plays off. Like, they couldn't practice because Myles Garrett Was just wrecking every. He had to like hold up because the practice was just getting ruined because they couldn't even run. And this was against Jordan. This is like against Jordan Mylotta, who you just mentioned, one of the better tackles in the NFL. The way guys talk about Myles Garrett in the NFL, this is always interesting to me when people at the top of their sport are still in awe of one of their peers and that's how they talk about Myles Garrett. They're like, you know, this guy's good, but Garrett is. He's like an alien. I don't know how he does the things he does. So yeah, I had Garrett one, I had Parsons too. I think you're right. At the end of the season we could say Parsons was the most impactful guy. Watt 3. Bosa 4 can't go wrong. 5 was so tough. I was flip flopping back and forth. I ended up going Aiden Hutchinson. And I know he was injured last year, but I think he might have been the best defensive player in the NFL when he was healthy last year. He, he's back healthy this year. And so I felt terrible leaving off Trey Hendrickson, Max Crosby, Will Anderson, Jared Verse is awesome. Daniel Hunter. So it, it is a stacked group. I ended up going Hutchinson fifth though.
- [30:53]
Ryan
I love that. I went with it fifth as well. But I switched it up a bit here. I went Miles Micah Watt and then I went Crosby fourth. My favorite number that I saw from him, 59 and a half sacks since 2019. No other Raider has more than 10 sacks.
- [31:06]
Shield Kapadia
That's crazy. And it's going to be more of the same this year, by the way.
- [31:09]
Ryan
And he's playing. His snap rate is ridiculous. The motor is non stop with him. You know, I could again, we could do a ton of great stuff here with TJ Parsons. I think because of his versatility, the way you can line him up anywhere. I know you could get into some of the BS that's going on right now and I don't mean it. BS is like I'm frustrated with him not getting more money. I honestly, with the way the salary cap goes up every year in the NFL, these teams, whether it's Dallas or Cincinnati with the Chase extension. I don't understand these front offices and ownership. Just go like, just get in front of it. Whatever you think the market is, pay the 10% tax on it. Because now when you're paying the guy a year down the road like Wendy, where are the wins? Unless somebody was hurt and the market just dries up on some of These players, I love Hendrickson, I think just sheer talent compared to Garrett, Parsons, Watt and those kinds of guys. Maybe even prime Bosundage. I don't know that anybody would put him necessarily in that class, despite the production being there and the fact it feels like he's doing a lot of this on his own. So I think that's an argument for Trey. But I didn't have him in the top five, and I had Bosa outside of it for. Well, I had him fifth last year, so I was training in that direction. I think Aiden was that good. He was that despite the injury, he was that good for such a long stretch of the season that it's totally. I think it's totally reasonable to put him five. I feel like it's acknowledging how special it felt he was. In a conversation where you're like, we're going to add another guy to this group of premier edge guys because the position stacked.
- [32:44]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, I totally agree with Hutchinson. Bosa, most quarterback hits in the NFL the last three seasons. So he's got a case. And Hendrickson, I'm with you, and I'm looking at the numbers, and it's.
- [32:55]
Ryan
It.
- [32:56]
Shield Kapadia
They're just kind of crazy that he has been top three in the entire. Second in the NFL in sacks the last three seasons. Second in quarterback hits the last three seasons for Trey Andrew. So it's like, well, I'm still leaving him out, but I don't feel good about it.
- [33:11]
Ryan
No, but again, it speaks to the position. The position is that deep. I mean, it's different than some of these other groups. All right. Corner is also deep. I've seen stuff all over the place. I think it's a coin toss with the top two guys. But I may surprise you that I think that. And how I went with number one. I went Stingley number one because of the ball skills.
- [33:32]
Shield Kapadia
Okay, nice. I like it. This is your new version of a Chase. I feel like Stingley.
- [33:40]
Ryan
Yeah. You know, opposing qb, not qbr. Passer rating number one in the NFL for anybody over a qualifying number of targets. His coverage grade has been number one. Again, if you. If you buy into all that stuff. I know some people get pissed about those things. So Reese blaming me for the LSU thing, but it worked with Chase. Well, I guess not really, because Jefferson was there as well. So. Yeah, that's a totally fair thing to do because I. I'm gonna. I mean, I'm gonna guess. Go ahead. I mean. Yeah, you have one.
- [34:11]
Shield Kapadia
I have certain one.
- [34:13]
Ryan
Yeah.
- [34:14]
Shield Kapadia
To me, it's just more about what he's asked to do with the. How much man coverage he's asked to play. I think fifth most snaps in the NFL of man coverage. So not that that's everything. Teams are moving more towards zone, but still in a key spot. Third down, hey, go lock this guy up. I think he's able to do that better than anyone else. But I had Stingley, too. I had sauce Gardner 3. Not the best year last season, but cornerback play can be volatile, and I still think he's really good. Trent McDuffie, 4, who I feel like we've pretty much have every year. We're just like, yeah, Trent McDuffie's really good at football. I don't know what else there is.
- [34:48]
Ryan
But he's even better now. I mean, the fact they moved him outside as much as they did. So, you know, I think it was. It was in the 60% number as far as how much he was lined up outside. It's over 80% now. And that versatility. And look, I think certain to win the argument against Stingley is to your point, he is assigned a number one wide receiver in a way that maybe no other corner is. That's at this level, you know, where it's just. There was something I was reading today that was really, really smart. It was like, he's still great at the boring stuff.
- [35:20]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah.
- [35:20]
Ryan
Like, he stays locked in. We're. Stingley's more aggressive, and maybe I'm rewarding him a bit too much for that. It's kind of like the digs conversations that we used to have with the Cowboys is like, oh, it's another pick. It's another pig. Like, are you watching the rest of the shit? Because like that, you know, sometimes we fall in love with interception numbers and completely overrate defensive backs here. But I. I like the sa. I feel like the Sauce Gardner status run like he very well could be atop this list again in a year. Even if 24 felt like a decline where it was accepted, he was the best corner in the NFL.
- [35:55]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, I think this time last year I was saying coin flip between certain and Sauce Gardner for the one spot. Stingley was just a matter of staying healthy. Everyone knew he was good. Maybe not as good as he as. As good as he was last year, but stayed healthy last year and was incredible. So, yeah, those guys all belong there. I went. Christian Gonzalez in the fifth spot. I thought about Quinion Mitchell on the Eagles, who's incredible. Christian Benford on the Bills. I mean, he might be one of the most underrated corners in the NFL. Garrett Williams on the Cardinals, that's like the hipsters, you know, they love him, and I think they're right. He is really good as well. So, yeah, there are a lot of corners in there. I do remember, I think last year at the end, you're like, we didn't have any Patriots on this list. So I'm like, oh, well, this year, Christian Gonzalez, you get at least one Patriot on this list.
- [36:44]
Ryan
Okay, shout out. Foxborough, Denzel Ward. The health part with him, I mean, he misses less games than you think. As often as we're talking about him not being available, and there's some incredible numbers from last year, and he's older than these other guys that we're talking about. I think it's worth, at least for my argument, I'm going to put him fifth after McDuffie, and I do think Mitchell. It'd be a shock to me if he's not top five. We're doing this a year from now.
- [37:10]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, I think he's an All Pro this year. I mean, he. He just has the full arsenal again. I just incorporated the resilo rule with him, too. Especially with cornerbacks. You got to be careful. It's a little volatile. I'm like, let's see him do it for another year. But I was very tempted to put him in the top five.
- [37:26]
Ryan
The Fred Warner Award of. Why are you guys starting the list at number one? Are we doing the same thing at safety?
- [37:35]
Shield Kapadia
I think so, yeah. I would be shocked if. If everybody didn't have the same guy at one. In Kyle Hamilton, I. I think there is a gap between him and everybody else.
- [37:45]
Ryan
I would agree this is an eye test thing. It's a bit more like the Jalen Carter conversation where. And look, I'm. I'm not professing that I'm locked in on individual assignments on every one of these guys that we're talking about. It's just a really tough sport to keep track of that way. But Hamilton's versatility. What Hamilton. There were some numbers, too. I was looking at, like, once Hamilton is lined back up, it's safety, like, what it means for Roquan Smith and just the. The kind of ripple effect of Hamilton's ability to impact games back there. So I don't. I don't know how anybody. I think there was a Winfield argument when he was healthy as far as, like, who the best safeties are. So it would be disrespectful to say, oh, it was this Hamilton gap and everybody else, because I think Winfield, with Tampa Bay was that guy. But obviously last year was super disappointing. We'll see where you end up having him if he's even in your top five. But I went Hamilton one and then I went McKinney two.
- [38:40]
Shield Kapadia
In my top five I went Hamilton won. To your point. That Ravens defense was struggling at the beginning of last year and they couldn't get lined up and communicate and learn what they were. And then they're like, put Hamilton at free safety, let him do it. And their defense was amazing the second half of last season. So the fact that he can just do those different things and is so smart, I think he's one. I had Brian Branch on the Lions number two, just good at everything, can cover the slot, can play free safety, can play in the box. I had Jesse Bates third. I was looking this up the last two seasons. Jesse Bates has 10 interceptions and seven forced fumbles. So like think about he's creating a turnover opportunity every other game. One player at free safety. So I think he's just, I mean their defense has stunk, but he has been the bright spot there. I had Buddha Baker 4, had a great year, maybe the best year of his career last year with the Cardinals and then I had McKinney 5. I think he's incredible. I love the just the ball hawking safety. Old school. Hey, we're playing one high safety. Can you go sideline to sideline? Can you make, make plays on the ball? He's as rangy as anybody. Him and Jesse Bates are kind of similar in that respect just when it comes to play style.
- [39:54]
Ryan
So me having Bates fifth, you would have a problem with that?
- [39:57]
Shield Kapadia
Not really. I mean McKinney and Bates like interceptions and stuff. There is a randomness to it. How many opportunities do you get? I think, I think those guys are in the same class of safety.
- [40:07]
Ryan
Seems like I really rewarded the ball hawkers. Now that I'm looking at my rankings here, I have Branch third just because I think that he's so complete as far as his stuff, not only against the pass but also against the run and some of these other guys that you're not going to count on as much. And look, I know that like even ESPN.com had Winfield seventh. I just don't think that's fair to him. So I went McKinney, Branch, Winfield fourth and then Bates fifth, Kirby, Joseph. A lot of love out there, which I think a lot of fans like. You're just so used to hearing about all the, the bullshit stuff with Kirby. But it, it. I don't know. I guess It's. It's like no one ever seems to talk about how good he is.
- [40:49]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, no. Derwin James Winfield and Kirby Joseph were the three I had just out of there. All. All those three guys are awesome. And yeah, Winfield, you're right. If he's healthy this year, easily could be back up there when we do. If we do this next year.
- [41:04]
Ryan
Another thing with Baltimore's defense that I remember from last year too, it's like, hey, what's going on with this group? And it's like, okay, they played Mahomes, they played Dak, they played Allen, they played Burrow, they played Jaden, they played Baker, and they had Burrow again in that 35, 34 win, first week of November and week 10. So sometimes, and I think it's always important to look at this stuff, it's like, okay, is the defense really that bad and did it improve that much or like, let's. Which quarterbacks are you facing in eight of these 10 weeks? And for Baltimore, I mean, they were going up against a hit list of pretty productive guys. Linebackers. Fred Warner, 1. The. Whether it's the pass grade. I mean, that's the thing with him. Yeah. Like, I, I don't know. Well, there isn't. I'm sorry. Like, maybe there's a guy that has that clip on his YouTube page, but running down the field back to the line of scrimmage and then coming up and reading the receiver and anticipating this kind of stuff, there's just nobody like him. And once again, I don't know how anybody could offer up anyone else at this position.
- [42:10]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, he lets you do things defensively that you just cannot do if he's not your linebacker. The range, the coverage, the smarts, all those things. The length. So Fred Warner, 1. This was a hard one to find. 5. Honestly, I was like, are there five impactful linebackers in the NFL? You know, edge were like, man, I can't narrow it down to 10. And here I'm like, oh, yeah, this isn't. This isn't a great spot for the position. So I had Warner one. I had Zach Bond to. Of the Eagles. Has only done it for one year, but was incredible last year. Roquan Smith, third. I went with the hipster picket for Dayon Henley, the Chargers. He is an up and coming, ascending player who played really well last year. Not a household name. I think if he has another strong season at this time next year, we're probably talking about him as a, as a better known guy and then just sort of the career Achievement award, demario Davis. Until someone comes up and is like, hey, I'm. I, I'm better than demario Davis, which, again, I had a hard time finding that guy. I'm like, you know what? 36 years old. I'm an old guy. Let's give a shout out to the old guy. Demario Davis, 36 years old, still getting it done. So those were my five.
- [43:20]
Ryan
I was wondering if you wouldn't put Bond just to avoid the one year with the Eagles, like, oh, here we go again with shield. And then to some of the stuff, it's like, okay, but if you have all that talent in the defensive line, it's Zach just eating for free. And the production is just so incredible last year, and it's the rest of the class. Like, I think if you go, Roquan Smith, number two, I have him, too. I have Bond third. Roquan's run numbers as far as, like, how often he's stopping a running back at the line of scrimmage, behind the line of scrimmage. Second best run stop rate of any linebacker that's on this list. I still like Nick Bolton a lot, so I have him fourth after those guys. And I'm going to put Dre Greenlaw fifth, because I think when he's back and he's healthy, we'll feel bad if we left him off of this list. It was funny because when you said hipster, I don't think Matt Milano is hipster level anymore because he's been around for such a long time. Milano at least deserves to be mentioned because I think when he was healthy, he's. I find a way to get him here on this top five. I was wondering if you could go. Edron Cooper from Green Bay, he was just off.
- [44:19]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, that. That's probably the hipster All Star. You're right.
- [44:22]
Ryan
I. You know what I love about sports and particularly about football, because how many guys can get lost, but just those moments, you're like, who fuck is that guy? Yeah. And when you're watching Green Bay on defense, and then you're like, oh, you know, the A and M kid. Okay, all right, well, now let me, Let me watch him a little bit. He has that. Who the fuck is that guy? Like, Sunday afternoon. So he's not. It's a weird group. But I. When you said hipster, I. I was like, oh, no. Is he going to go with. Because I don't even. I didn't have the balls to put him fifth and I didn't do a deep dive. I'm sure I could find some sort of grade that tells me that, hey, I'm on the right track. He just seems like such an incredibly impactful guy for one season in.
- [45:04]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, I thought about having him instead of demario Davis and then I'm like, all right, let's. Let's see him do it a little bit longer. But the way you described it is perfect. When you watch the packers defense, you notice him. It's maybe it's the opposite of your Tobias Harris rule. Is the Edge Cooper rule. You can't watch the packers without noticing. No, this guy, it's the opposite because he's flying downhill, he's athletic, he's awesome against the run. I think some of the other stuff maybe is where he needs to improve a little bit in past coverage, but absolutely, it would be no surprise if he's a breakout star this year and next year he's in the top five.
- [45:38]
Ryan
Okay, long snappers.
- [45:41]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah. This one. Can we do like a YouTube special on this? Like maybe a 30 minutes? Because I got a lot to say.
- [45:48]
Ryan
Okay. Because I have some metrics here.
- [45:54]
Shield Kapadia
Do you think long snapping is. Do you think the public things thinks long snapping is easier than it actually is or harder than it actually is? Because I've. I've always had this thing where I can't you just find somebody else on the roster to be the long snapper, save a roster, roster, spot. And every time I bring it up to NFL people, they get so mad. You don't understand the practice it takes to do that. And you can't have a bad snap. So maybe I just take the L on there. I don't know if you had a strong take on that.
- [46:22]
Ryan
I'm always surprised at it. Like, every single guy who played in the NFL grew up running around his yard or somewhere with a ball.
- [46:31]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah.
- [46:31]
Ryan
And so to think that there's 53 guys that are good enough to be on an NFL team that there's not somebody who could figure it out. Now, this reminds me a little bit of the first base thing. Like, I love Kevin Millar. He's been on the show a few times, though. He's going to have a soft spot, you know, for being a guy with that first Red Sox World Series team. But I remember again, when I used to watch this stuff religiously, it was probably some, like, Nessen rain delay video. And I'm at home watching it and they were talking about playing first base. Right. And he's like, you know, a lot of people think like, the first baseman's the Worst athlete of all. The infielders are the worst. You put your worst guy there defensively and just have him play first base. But, you know, there's a lot of stuff like figuring out how to play the ball on the line and then getting back in a position and understanding, like, who has the coverage and all that stuff. And you're like, okay, yeah, fine. All of those things are. But there has to be someone amongst the shortstop, second baseman, third baseman, first baseman, who's the worst offensive player. And there has to be someone who's fourth of those four positions. And I can tell you who it isn't. It isn't the other three guys. And it's. And it's okay.
- [47:35]
Stanford Steve
Yes.
- [47:35]
Ryan
There's some stuff at first base that's really hard. Like, you can't be in cement. But it's fourth. It's fourth of the four. Like, it's just. And so first baseman. I don't know how many people got indignant about it. It wasn't like Millar was, like, losing his shit, but he just. I just remember being at home going like, that's such a pointless argument. Like, sure, yeah, yeah. Just saving a double down the line and diving and getting back up to your feet and being able to anticipate the underhand toss to the pitcher who's covering first. Sure, but it's not harder than shortstop.
- [48:07]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, it's a perfect comparison. I mean, yeah, this happened last year, the year before Bryce Harper's injured for the Phillies, and they're like, he's going to play first. And I'm like, he'll be able to play. No, you don't understand how hard. Like, he's pretty good at baseball. Like you said, he's been.
- [48:22]
Ryan
He's been.
- [48:23]
Shield Kapadia
Probably played first at some point in the thousands of games he's played, and guess what? He's fine at first base. They're not losing games because he's playing first base.
- [48:30]
Ryan
And every Little League team you've ever been on, like, who do you stick at first base? No, no, no, no. Not the best player. I'm talking about who's. Oh, you. You mean like the best hitter?
- [48:39]
Shield Kapadia
That's very little. When you're really little, it's like, that's where the action is.
- [48:42]
Ryan
But you're right.
- [48:43]
Shield Kapadia
As you get older, it's different.
- [48:44]
Ryan
Oh, see, I used to always. Well, I guess it would always be right field because there weren't a ton of kids that could. You know, they're just.
- [48:52]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah.
- [48:52]
Ryan
I don't know what. Now I'm turning this, breaking down a little league baseball. The general point is that I agree with you and it's not a dis on long snappers. But you just anytime you ask anyone in any special, it doesn't have anything to do with sports. You know, this is actually a little bit harder than you would think. Like is it? Is it because all the other things are actually harder. Yes. Like all of the other things are harder. And yeah. And especially now with the rules and what you can do in lining up over a long, long snapper on top of everything else. It's like, so I don't have my top five. Maybe we'll do that next year. Yeah, that is shield Caparity. It's our annual top five at every position we have. Anything else to add?
- [49:30]
Shield Kapadia
That's it. Thanks for having me. Talk to you soon.
- [49:32]
Ryan
What do you got on today tomorrow, just so everybody can listen to more shield Kapadia.
- [49:37]
Shield Kapadia
Yeah, we got Anthony De Bundo on this week. Solak returned this week on the Ringer NFL show trades and stuff. This week we'll do them as well. So it'll be a lot of fun. We got a good lineup.
- [49:48]
Ryan
All right. Thanks, man. You're the best. All right, listen up. It's finally here. Futures Day happening right now on FanDuel. It's 24 hours of boost bonuses and bragging rights on your football season picks. Today only. All customers get an instant bonus on any football futures bet. If you want to do a straight up over on win totals for your favorite team, go for it. If your game is eight division winners, you can parlay that. If you want to copy my picks. Awesome. You can do that too. Whatever your game is, you choose how you want to play it today at FanDuel and make sure to check back in the app every three hours for special flash deals on football futures. Head over to FanDuel to claim your Futures Day promos and lock in your picks. FanDuel play. Your game must be 21 and older and present in select states or 18 plus in present DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 100 Gambler or visit rg-help.com, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org ChatInCenetic Paid Endorsement this episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Ads. If you're in B2B marketing, you want to make sure you're not wasting your ads on the wrong people. I remember when I was younger and I would watch games on television and I thought, man, a lot of ads about Retirement. Who's this for? And then I got older and I understood it. I was like, oh, now it makes sense. So when you want to reach the right professionals, use LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn has grown to a network of over 1 billion professionals and 130 million decision makers. And that's where it stands apart from the other ad buys. You can target your buyers based on job title, industry, company role, seniority, skills, company revenue, all the professionals you need to reach in one place. Stop wasting budget on the wrong audience and start targeting the right professionals only on LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn will even give you $100 credit on your next campaign. So you can try it out yourself. Just go to LinkedIn.com rrs that's LinkedIn.com rrs Terms and conditions apply only on LinkedIn ads. We have them. College football. We knew college football was back because this guy was tweeting out, where can I watch Alex Orgy? Where's the UNLV game? How do you look? Stanford Steve joins the show.
- [52:03]
Stanford Steve
Orgy is. I mean, you like. You like short shorts. Orgy was playing in boxer briefs. Ryan, like, it's like knee, like tear. You could see the teardrop in his thigh. And he made Bruce's freaks list a couple years ago. We know he's a specimen, but it was insane. But the biggest factor was when I found it after watching Farmaged in. In Ireland and them having an issue with the field and how, I guess rain washes away the. The lines on the field. To see UNLV in the Raiders stadium and actually have lines back on the field was kind of a visual. But Mullen's got his. His work cut out for him. He's got every transfer there is. You know, I. We had talking to Coach Saban the other day. He's like, man, I feel like I recruited those guys like seven years ago. I'm like, yeah, you did, Jojo Earl getting snaps, but no Mullen, I. Once he gets it organized, it was just chaos. It's. It's one of those deals. Idaho State had a couple guys and their offense is just nuts, and they. They caught him off guard and then they played catch up, but they got it. They got it done. UNLV be a fun watch all year.
- [53:18]
Ryan
They did get it done. It's just a lesson that I learned every summer. I learned it years ago and I applied it to last year's Michigan. Buildup was like, I. Because we had heard orgy for such a long time, and then it's like, so he didn't win the job. Davis Warren won the job and then, you know, they were a mess on offense. It sucks because that team defensively was just stacked. So I didn't expect to spend this much time on Michigan. But I think it's always a lesson for the freak. The guy that you're hearing about running around in the spring and he's doing all this shit and then if they lose the job to an unheralded guy, then that guy ends up getting benched. It's like, okay, well finally we have that guy that kind of tells you everything you need to know about the quarterback position. And now he's. He's the backup to the Virginia guy that you and I'll be. So whatever. I didn't want to spend a ton of time on that, but that told me college football was back because Steve was so fired up about it. I think we could start there though, because you sent me a list last night of like either or playoff or. I don't know if it's out of the playoff. Disastrous year. How wide? This is something I've talked with some other guys about. The variance from your best case scenario to worst case scenario. You have a bunch of teams on there, so let's run through them.
- [54:27]
Stanford Steve
Yeah, you mentioned Michigan, Ryan, and watching their stuff and going back and watching the Ohio State game and then the Bama game in the bowl game. People can say what they want about the bowl game, but I'm watching the personnel. And Michigan had guys sit in that game too. So it was more about the defensive personnel, the youth that they have. And those guys brought it, man. I mean, they, they brought it in those two games. And that's why when you listen to their guys talk, there's obviously that culture that's fallen from, from Harbaugh down to Sharon Moore. And there's just an instilled confidence. You saw in the Ohio State game that was as ugly a game as you can make it. But they were so comfortable in that circumstance. And now you get to see Underwood and boy, let me tell you, I mean, we've seen guys on the sidelines all over the place in whatever conference you want to talk about. But for this kid to look like this as a true freshman, I think they said he just turned 18. If they get average to better than average play from him, they're going to be fine. They're going to go to the playoff because they have two running backs. They've instilled that physicality on the offensive line. Their offensive line really took a step back last year. And when I think about Michigan offensive lines, it's more of a MASH system. Why their guys haven't done well in the NFL. Pass protection, that's not their strength at Michigan. They don't care. It's all play action. So Michigan is a team that sticks out to me just because of the mentality and they already have that culture. So I'm really, I can't wait. We're going week two Michigan at Oklahoma. Those are the two best defensive fronts that I think there are in the country right now. And that's going to be a war of attrition for, for both offensive lines. So Michigan is in that list I have of. I'm not going to be surprised if they make the playoff. I'm not going to be surprised if they miss the playoff and a couple other of those teams. Oregon, you read what Oregon has done in the transfer combined with the recruiting and that's where the list starts to get small. You know, teams are going to. When they do well in the portal, they're going to talk about how they got a top portal class. When they do well in recruiting, you don't hear about it as much because that's their chance to develop the guys. Texas comes to mind with that's done great still recruiting and Oregon and Lanning has done a fantastic job. Lupoid of DC has been one of the best recruiters forever. He's on that staff. But the quarterback, they've done an unbelievable job. And you know this is a couple offensive coordinators. Before Stein it was Kenny Dillingham and Bo Nix had his best years we've ever seen him. You know, Dylan Gabriel comes in, they don't lose a beat. And now you bring in Moore who was a guy I was fired up to see in chips offense in his first game. He starts at Utah and he got swallowed. I think he threw a pick six on his first throw and then he just went away. And Chip went with a veteran guy. But Dante's been on campus, he was there all year last year. And it's another talking point we could get to later is just looking at the top 10 teams this year. One has a quarterback that is in his first couple months on campus and that's Miami and Carson Beck. Every other team has a quarterback that's been on campus been on the team and that's just different because you just go back to the national championship game last year. Riley Leonard, Will Howard, they just parachuted in and quarterback their teams. So with Oregon they have the foundation. I just don't know how much the upside more can get them to they lost a ton in the receiving group. They have pros. I do love the tight end Sadiq Stein said. He's going to get him 80 touches. Give me all of that. That'll make me watch Oregon a lot more. But how's he going to do it? How efficient is more going to be? They got the running back from Tulane who's an McKay Hughes who's a stud. You'll I don't know if you've seen him. He's he. I know you've liked Oregon running backs forever. He's going to be that. He's a bell cow. I think they're really going to lean on him. But the defense has to replace a ton and that worries me. And they got some tricky road games. I don't you know team. We think we know what teams look like and then they go to like Iowa and a night game and they're just totally flustered. Even last year they went to Wisconsin. They should have lost that game. You know they. They pulled out the Ohio State game. So Oregon again, not going to be surprised if they make it. Not going to be surprised if they miss it. And the other two teams there on that list to me are Miami and lsu. Miami loses his top six pass catchers. New DC who's going to go back to the fundamentals. You could tell they tried to run too much stuff and get exotic with blitzes. But their foundation crystal ball say what you want. Offensive and defensive line, they're as good as anybody and they got pros on both sides. So again not going to be surprised if they make it or miss it. And lsu just the wow factor. Not getting Underwood. I think help them make more changes. It it gave the immune gave them the ability to make more changes and pay more money to get more players. And you saw that they did that on the defensive side and now you get weeks back and now you get Perkins back. The secondary corner from Houston, Hausy, who's who's phenomenal. So what Baker likes to do, he has better players this year and the receiving group should be as good as anything in the country. The issue I have with LSU going back and look at it is Sloan calling the plays, Sloan calling plays. It's been three years, two at the school previous and last year he's never come in the top 100 in rushing. That's a problem for me with LSU because when you look at LSU last year they didn't run the ball and they had four guys Drafted. You know, Campbell's as good as anybody. I'm at the South Carolina game last year on the sidelines, and the O line coach is basically trying to figure out a run game in the dirt because of the pressure that those guys from South Carolina brought. So will LSU be stubborn enough to run the football? And the other thing is, I could just see it a mile away. They lose by a field goal or something at Clemson and everybody there wants Kelly fired. But this is a new age, man. You still can get to the playoff and that's good in the way the committee has talked and people could tell you what they want. Strength of record, strength of schedule is going to count more. So it's not going to hurt. I know you're going to want.
- [60:52]
Ryan
Yeah, yeah, that's what they say every year.
- [60:53]
Stanford Steve
I, I know, I know you're. I know you're sticking to your guns on that one. But LSU is a team again. I'm not going to be surprised they miss. Not going to be surprised that they make it. But the fan base feels like they really need to make it. I do think they will. I think all six of these teams playing in the rank versus rank this week, Ohio State, Texas, Notre Dame, Miami, and then lsu, Clemson, I think they all make the playoff.
- [61:19]
Ryan
Do you think Clemson wins at home, though?
- [61:21]
Stanford Steve
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [61:22]
Ryan
I do too.
- [61:23]
Stanford Steve
I just. In. In this day and age we talk about in. In. This is different too, for me to try and get my head wrapped around. We can never even speak to our coaches in the summer now. You get. You get workouts all the time. So they're with these guys. But still the interchanging of personnel and the returning production at Clemson, Clemson's going to be on the same page and going to that environment and LSU being a little chaotic at times with just the way they have in their personnel. It's a lot to ask for in that game. So I don't see them playing a clean game. And that's been their problems. Right. And us throwing picks and turn the ball over and the defense is back on their heels.
- [62:02]
Ryan
Neighbors punt return years ago, which is like easily forgotten. I'm with you on the Kelly thing, because if he loses another opener now, which basically just happened every year. Yeah, it just sets this tone. I mean, the SC loss, I was there. And you're like, how do they lose this game? And they lose that game because the secondary, like their problems last year were the secondary. The running thing is crazy because when you think LSU and just going down the street and getting Some stud running back. Especially with the expectation of what that O line unit was. As far as like, comparing them to other college football units, it wasn't there. And as much as I love no Smyr, you know, you know, like, the thing I love about him is he's not afraid. And the thing that scares the shit out of me at times is, like, if it's third and long and maybe he has somebody at the sticks, but he has somebody else. Like on a poster. Up 20 yards down the field and safety, second, safe. Like he's leaking over. He still, like, prefers. He'll want.
- [62:57]
Stanford Steve
Oh, he'll want it all.
- [62:58]
Ryan
He's gonna want it all.
- [62:59]
Stanford Steve
Yep.
- [62:59]
Ryan
So we'll see what that situation is like. If that's a tight one, they're late with him. Who? You know, again, some people think he's the best overall. Well, I don't know if you know Klubnick. I mean, he's going up against Club Nick here. But again, when you're looking at mock draft stuff from 2026, you're looking at the quarterbacks. All of the stuff is comically wrong. And I'm not even ripping the draft people. But looking at the draft stuff a year ahead of time at the quarterback position, anytime you want to look at a draft, a mock a year before the actual draft, the quarterback stuff is always a mess. I think the Dante Moore thing is really interesting because, you know, we've had Danny on, we've had Feldman on. And you know, when you talk about. Of the top eight teams, six of them have question marks at quarterbacks. We've already done this topic, but I think, you know, Arch and Sark is like a really good one to bet on. Will Stein at Oregon seems to just figure it out. And that's a credit to Lanning. Just turning it over and having everybody be on the same page of what they want to do. We've talked about the lack of continuity. I think Oregon's second to last, maybe third to last as far as returning numbers, just in the Big Ten alone. And nationally, that number is obviously really bad. I guess I just wish I felt better about it. I'm not saying. Cause I gotta be careful here. I'm not saying that I've heard anything negative about Dante Moore. It just doesn't feel like there's any juice to it. Whether it's some of the camps, him at ucla. Maybe it was a little bit too soon. He didn't play really at all last year at Oregon.
- [64:25]
Stanford Steve
No.
- [64:26]
Ryan
But is it that he's the best guy they have or they're psyched they have him. And I look, there's plenty of propaganda where we're reading about how fired up a program is about a guy who's going to be benched by week five. But with Moore, it feels. Am I wrong to say lukewarm about who he is at this point?
- [64:46]
Stanford Steve
No, because I feel like we have to be that way because we haven't seen him in a day and age. With the transfer portal, we got tape on everybody. But that's why I go back. That Utah game I remember, I was like, wow, Chip's going to go with, with the freshman and boom, pick six right off the get. And I believe I had UCLA winning the Pac 12 that year. And I'm like, oh, boy, I don't know how long this is going to last.
- [65:06]
Ryan
The one Utah loss was kind of like the turning point.
- [65:09]
Stanford Steve
Yeah.
- [65:09]
Ryan
For all of it. It just was like, all right, you know what? So go ahead.
- [65:13]
Stanford Steve
You're right. Here's the deal. I go back to the situation and you say being lukewarm. I think the idea of the receiver room is a problem. You lose Stewart, who's a kid that I had huge expectations for. I think he's out at least eight games. I don't know if he's going to be healthy at all. And when you're talking about a receiver with a leg issue, that's, that's, that's, that's dicey. But the thing I keep coming back to is Stein, the offensive coordinator, because when he went there, he came in with Bonix having a great year at Oregon already. Dillingham had set that thing up. But as an offensive coordinator, how do you go into that situation and put your, you know, your footprint on things, but you already have a kid who's playing sky high. I thought that was one of the toughest situations that anyone stepped into. And they hit the ground running. He had an even better year. And then you bring in Gabriel. So the idea of that offense, it's not a deep ball concept. And if you have guys that create space and they do that already with their splits and their speed and now you have a bell cow running back, it sets up for a great situation for the quarterback to have success. You know, I think there's, there's similarities and it's different level and I'm sure we'll get to them. Is Indiana everywhere that offense has gone? The quarterback has been super efficient, but, you know, or I mean, Oregon, you know, they have this year's Jeremiah Smith, supposedly Into Corian Bennett, who's the number one receiver in the country in this class. It's a lot to ask for your true freshman. And I don't want to compare him to Jeremiah Smith because I feel like he's the best player in the sport and you could put him in the conversation in last year. So it's in. You know, you look at the schedule, there's some tricky, tricky road games. I do like. You say what you want. I do like that they go on the road and play Northwestern before they go play at Penn State. But at Penn State at night is something Dante Moore has never seen at Iowa, which I would expect.
- [67:13]
Ryan
You love that Iowa atmosphere. Kinnick, listen to you.
- [67:16]
Stanford Steve
I want to go to Iowa this year for one of those night games. I'll say that. I really do. So I, I just in, in my big picture thing, this gets back to. And I put Oregon there because of the loss of what they lost. They got to replace nine guys on defense. You mentioned what they got to do with. With returning. Not having a lot of returning guys. The middle of the Big Ten is the biggest mystery because teams have to lose games. But when you look at Oregon, Washington, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, like somebody.
- [67:49]
Ryan
Minnesota.
- [67:50]
Stanford Steve
Yeah. Minnesota. Love Lindsey the quarterback. Can't wait to watch him. But somebody's going to go nine and three and somebody's going to go to. Multiple teams are going to go 7 and 5 and they're going to be good football teams. And that's what I think it's important because when you look at the top tier, Penn State goes to Iowa, Ohio State goes to Illinois and Washington. And when you first look at it, you're like, they're not going to lose those games. Ohio State's got a ton to replace on the line of scrimmage. And that's what I think of when teams go on the road. So that's going to be the deciding factor in the Big Ten for me is how many teams can those. I almost put them in the middle upper tier of the teams that I mentioned. But they're going to knock off a couple of the big of big boys. And how many times do the big boys get knocked off? That's going to be the key to how many they get in the playoff.
- [68:37]
Ryan
Ohio State, Texas this weekend.
- [68:39]
Stanford Steve
Yeah.
- [68:40]
Ryan
Your thoughts?
- [68:42]
Stanford Steve
Everything I thought going in told me Ohio State, they're at home. It's still Ryan Day's offense. You know, the personnel on defense, the guys that you have, the quarterbacks and both styles and downs is everything I want in A home game to start the season. But then when I start talking out loud, I'm like Patricia, first game calling a defense with these guys versus maybe the best play caller in the sport with a guy in Arch who everyone wants to talk about. When I go through Texas's numbers and I look, I went back and watched their losses. You know, the two losses to Georgia, they couldn't do. They averaged 40 yards rushing a game in those games. I think it was 13 sacks and I was at both of them. It was, it was amazing to see Ewers actually hang in there and complete balls and come back in the SEC title game. I was, I was really impressed with that. But you're going to get a lot of that from Texas because they, when you look at what they bring in, Texas is at the top of recruiting guys and the portal. So I believe the D tackles are all transfers, but they're all former four star guys. The offensive line, I don't doubt Flood they got to replace four guys, but it sounds like they're going to start a true freshman. And then you still have Goosby at left tackle. So it's a, it's. I feel a lot better about what I'm going to see from Clemson and LSU than I do Ohio State and Texas because there's so many new faces in key positions. Texas has two game changers in the linebacker position. So I feel like Ohio State still can hang it up. They got, they got enough personnel on defense. They got the transfer Atkinson at defensive end. So I still believe Ohio State causes enough problems and that's why I lean Ohio State. But when I keep talking out loud, it tells me to take Texas.
- [70:37]
Ryan
Mine's really simple, I think getting Ohio State this early, knowing that they're going to have to figure out stuff like usually in Ohio State, I give all the credit the world to. Because they're always. And you and I have talked about this, you already know what I'm going to say. Like, do you play somebody? Do you play another decent power four? We know that there can be changes when you're scheduling them out years in advance. It's like, hey, we scheduled this four years ago and now this team isn't as good. But Ohio State is always signing up for these games. Always. Okay. And there's a bunch of SEC teams that do the exact same thing. And it's why I have such a frustration with some of the Big Ten arguments about scheduling. It's like, have you gone through some of these, have you gone through some of these schedules? It's like, okay, three non conference doesn't matter. And then that ninth game in the Big Ten, like a lot of the times that ninth game is way better than even some of the outer conference stuff that other teams are doing. So way better for the team that's playing him. So that's kind of my point. But Ohio State, I just, I love that Texas gets in this early. That's, that's it. It's, it's, it's pretty simple. What other game do you want to do from the ranked. Verse.
- [71:40]
Stanford Steve
Ranked Notre Dame. Miami is super, super interesting to me. I talked about Miami, but I want to focus more on Notre Dame. And I feel crazy saying this because they had the number one pass defense last year in the country and they had a great defensive quarter who they lost, but the defense is deeper than it was last year. And you want to go talk about, you know, we, we know that atmosphere will be what it was when they went there and what was that? 17. But Notre Dame is built to go on the road. The foundation of the offensive line. I know they lost Jackassaw, but you know, they, they lost their left tackle to start the year and went to A and M and ran the ball when they needed to in the fourth quarter and that set them up for the season even though they lost the following week to Northern Illinois. But I don't think there's a bigger upgrade in the sport than what Notre Dame did at wide receiver. And listen, you love lacrosse. I love lacrosse. I love the Fison kid that played for them last year, but he was like the leading pass catcher. And now you bring in the kid Pauling from, from Wisconsin and then the kid from Virginia. Reardon's a stud at tight end. He's just got to stay healthy. Love's the best running back in the. I would take Love over any other running back in the country and I think it's kind of good. We talked about quarterbacks and winning positions. I think it's good that the other kid challenged Carr as much as he did. So Notre Dame is going to have more balance on offense. And you look back and figure like in that comeback and how they did it against Ohio State is just amazing. Like Riley Leonard just, just put his unit on the line and said, I'm going to get this done. And they did, and they just gutted out the comeback.
- [73:26]
Ryan
He looked like he was going to go out like Della Vodova there for a little bit in that game. Yeah, we're going to have to drive this.
- [73:33]
Stanford Steve
Is he going to make it. I'll run through every screen. But Miami, like I said it, the way they are built, I cannot doubt them because it's the lines of scrimmage. But when I look at Notre Dame, that's who I want to go against. That and Beck, I think I read third in the country in QBR in 23 and he was seventh in the SEC last year. Now I will say the, the thing, the mind games that the Georgia staff had to do last year with drop balls, guys running the wrong route, just constantly quarterback receivers not on the same page was super eye opening. I believe Branch is one of the biggest difference makers that you could have got in the portal and Georgia got him. So Georgia, I think is set up great. But getting back to Miami, it's a, it's a super, like, it's an under game. You know, Notre Dame usually has some tricks up their sleeves on these road games. Freeman's not, not a. Not a care in the world. He's not afraid of anything. So I think it's a super great matchup because it's, it's going to be. It's just like Notre Dame going to A and M last year to, you know, line of scrimmage. Who's making plays on the line of scrimmage in the fourth quarter? So it sets up for a fantastic game. There's going to be plenty of juice. We know the history of these two teams playing. But I still believe no matter what happens Sunday night, both of these teams are going to the playoff.
- [74:58]
Ryan
I like what you did there because I think it's important because I really don't like how every year it turns the exact same thing, that nobody's good and nobody's played anybody. And I think there are games that matter and people can laugh when I say, like, the Penn State, USC win last year was a really good win for Penn State because I watched the whole game, I go, that's a good win. All right. I don't care what SC's record ends up being. And then it ends up kind of getting turned into like, oh, well, you know. And I certainly can be guilty of nitpicking some of this stuff too. But I think to your point on the A and M Notre Dame game last year, that was a tough game, okay? Whoever won that game should feel like, hey, we're a really good football team. And A and M loses it. They win seven in a row after that. They have that disaster against South Carolina, they lose to Auburn, that ends up being, you know, the one that really bites them and then everything kind of falls apart and they end up losing the bowl game too. Sc like I look at A and M going, you know, whatever the record is, 8 and 5, like that was a good football team last year.
- [75:57]
Stanford Steve
Yes.
- [75:57]
Ryan
Okay.
- [75:58]
Stanford Steve
Yes.
- [75:58]
Ryan
So then you have Notre Dame lose Northern Illinois and it's like, oh, hey, I thought these are good, you know, and then it's like, well, A and M also sucks too. I just would try to remind everybody, even though my preconceived notions on some of these teams through July and August, I'm going to use some of the results to fucking do a few monologues thrown your way too. So we all know we're all doing here, but I just can't emphasize this enough, the appreciation for some of those games in those spots, big time programs, all sorts of expectations and that it may not be pretty, but let's just not write these teams off so quickly.
- [76:32]
Stanford Steve
You can't do it.
- [76:33]
Ryan
I'll tell you right now, not every 8 and 5, well, 7 and 6 maybe stretching a little bit. Like there are some really good nine and four teams out there that had maybe two bad breaks in a brutal schedule that are better than these 10 and two teams. And that's kind of back to my. Look, I'm not, I know no one's going to sit there and say Rasul is making a great point here. We got a, you know, we get a 8 and 4 team he wants in the playoff because that would be what we're looking at here, over a 10 and 2 team. And that's necessarily the case. But there is a massive sprint to try to dismiss so many of these teams so early when we know week to week teams can be completely different. And there are results at certain nights, certain games. If you're watching your whole thing and you're like, this is a tough ass game, man, this is just a brutal game. And it actually kind of spoke to both those teams and Notre Dame, you know, having the letdown against Northern Illinois and running it all the way until a national title appearance. Anything else you want to do before we get to Stanford? Steamers?
- [77:28]
Stanford Steve
You mentioned those two teams right there that I feel like if they play to their ceiling, their playoff teams, and that's A and M&SC looking at what SC has coming back and Right. And the moves they made, you're in the middle of it, you will start to see more of the Trojan hats walking around. They're, they're just better built to play in the Big Ten this year. They get a Couple of the big guys to come out to their place. They got a couple.
- [77:53]
Ryan
It did feel like portal wise they go, we're look we're changing up the identity and getting some guys out of here that we just doesn't fit with what we're doing. So I think your points like when you look at their portal stuff because I went through it with all the teams, it's like all these other teams are psyched they're getting the SC guys but it seems like sc, yeah, we're good.
- [78:10]
Stanford Steve
Good. And like Eric Gentry is a kid that has played forever and he's like a defensive player that you, you. There's no one else like him in the country. He's like six six. He plays middle linebacker, he rushes off the edge, he drops in coverage. He's just a dynamic dude and they get him back for another year and they didn't have him last year and you totally saw the difference. But when I look, I didn't agree with the quarterback move. I'm still a big Miller Moss fan. I think he'll do great in Louisville.
- [78:42]
Ryan
But love Miller Moss.
- [78:43]
Stanford Steve
I can't argue with what Lincoln Riley has done offensively. I just can't do it. So SC is right there for me as those middle tier teams I said could go to the upper tier and A and M. I absolutely love Elko. I went to practice the Thursday before they played Notre Dame and I'm like, oh boy, these, this line now they had absolute studs on the defensive line but I'm like this offensive line isn't going to be able to block. You just mentioned it. They rattle off seven in a row. Their running backs, as long as they're healthy or as good as. I mean everybody's going to talk about Penn State, everybody's going to talk about Michigan. I, they're as dynamic as there is in Concepcion. As a kid from NC State, I put up in the Zachariah branch. It's exactly what a quarterback is. I love Marcel Reed. I really like the kid. Like seeing him practice, knowing he was the backup last year and then getting his opportunity. He's only going to get better. He was thrust in a brutal situation in that South Carolina game. But you see what he did to LSU and you just, he's going to be more consistent and the way Elko has built this team, they're set up for success and they're going to be, they're going to be heard from for sure.
- [79:58]
Ryan
Game you most want to go to this year, you go to any game right now. And you'll probably be going to it, by the way, with game day. So.
- [80:08]
Stanford Steve
I want, I want, it's more of the situation. I want Texas undefeated in Florida, undefeated. When Texas goes to the swamp, you and I have experienced the swamp when it was pretty darn good.
- [80:22]
Ryan
When it's right and I'll put it.
- [80:25]
Stanford Steve
Up there and I want that back. Napier, I don't think I root for anybody more. I absolutely love his demeanor. When you look at what he was thrust into in that situation where the fan base is like, I don't know if we wanted this guy. The five star quarterback's gonna take him to court because he said he was doing this. He's got Richardson, who still has never played better football than when he was coached by Billy Napier. And then he goes up against the toughest schedule in the country. Last year no one had him go to a bowl game and they win. I think they won eight with the bowl game win. His, his steadiness and when you look at who he's coached under it makes all the sense. He's taking stuff from everybody. He doesn't get too high, he doesn't get too low. But I would love to play for that guy. And I'm really rooting for them because you said it. When it's right and Florida's going, hey, it's. I just go by the hateable factor and they are maybe number one when they're good because that fan base is as rowdy as it gets. And the swamp, oh man, it's. We need it back because this, after this year, they're doing construction and we're not going to have it for a couple of years. So I'm really rooting for Florida and I really believe in what Napier has done there. And then when you talk about Lagway, I mean, his good is. Is right up there. I just wish he's not in a sling or a walking boot or something. It feels like he's always nicked up. But if they could get him to be better. And like I said, I trust the world with Napier, with quarterbacks. So I look at that Florida Texas game as being as big as we can have this year.
- [82:06]
Ryan
Gainesville is a special place. When it's right, it's. It's a haunting place. You know, we could talk about all.
- [82:11]
Stanford Steve
The places not on Thanksgiving eat or Thanksgiving.
- [82:15]
Ryan
No, worst the shit I used to say yes to.
- [82:21]
Stanford Steve
Not like, are you going to do.
- [82:23]
Ryan
Are you doing. Thanks. Well, yeah, I'll do it. Was it Tebow's last game? Yeah. It was Tebow's last game.
- [82:28]
Stanford Steve
You know what Elvis happened Friday? Tiger.
- [82:32]
Ryan
Well, was it all the Tiger stuff? Yeah.
- [82:36]
Stanford Steve
Remember in the. The front yard of that frat house? And I was like, where's the bathroom?
- [82:40]
Ryan
They're like, go in the house.
- [82:41]
Stanford Steve
I'm like, no way.
- [82:42]
Ryan
I went in the house. That's right. I did the. I did the Friday after Thanksgiving show solo. And they were. They were building the set because the guys were so hung over. They didn't build it on Thursday. Yes. And then I got feedback back at espn. Be like, your solo show on Friday wasn't very good. I was like, really? I was in a tent, hammers clanging in the back.
- [83:02]
Stanford Steve
What's that?
- [83:03]
Ryan
Yeah, I. I could have not done it. That's what I went to. I went to Walmart and my Thanksgiving meal was. I watch A and M in Texas and I. Jerky, beef jerking Gatorade because it was the only thing that was open up there. But, yeah, we had some good memories. Some good swamp. Getting the car towed. Some great. Some great memories. A lot of those are still on the road. Things are still up, which I show the early. The early travel experience. We didn't do a blog for Saint Barts, but we did the audio version of it all. Okay, so I can't believe you also picked a Texas game. Because I thought about that one. Because I can't like all the guys of the hype guys. I think we saw enough from Lagway, even just last season, where you go, okay, this guy actually is deserving of all of the accolades. And it's certainly. It's not like, if you're paying attention to the recruiting stuff, it's like, hey, no, guys. But then once you actually saw his physical gifts on the field and stuff that he was doing, you're like, okay, he is like, they've got. They've got the quarterback. You just hope it works out. And you're right. The fact that he just recently, like, what up the last couple days, the latest news that he finally took first team reps with this stuff. And, you know, I know Napier said, hey, this schedule isn't tomorrow. Game one isn't tomorrow, so we'll be good. But it's not my favorite thing because I'm so excited to see them play this year. But I also picked a Texas game. I went a little later in the season. I want to go down to Athens, Texas at Georgia. Yeah. So that'll be the middle of November. You know, look at. Who knows what the schedule will do to Georgia. To that point. Georgia's actually their non conference stuff here. They don't have that haymaker to start.
- [84:47]
Stanford Steve
The season like they do how many years.
- [84:50]
Ryan
Yeah, yeah, right, right. They'll be at Tennessee. They've got Bama Ole misses at home, Florida's at home. And then that'll be that Texas game at home. And they'll close with a spunky Georgia Tech team led by my Guy Haynes King, who just is not afraid. He's not afraid. All right, let's.
- [85:06]
Stanford Steve
Again one thing Scott or Ryan about Georgia. They haven't lost the home game since 2018.
- [85:12]
Ryan
They haven't? No.
- [85:14]
Stanford Steve
Their seniors are 53 and 5, 25 and oh. At home. Four trips to the SEC title game.
- [85:23]
Ryan
All right, buckle up.
- [85:25]
Stanford Steve
There's been very quiet confidence from Tuscaloosa and Athens that I would be very wary of. We haven't even mentioned those two teams on this podcast and just, just be wary of those two teams. Letting Texas, lsu, all those teams get all this preseason talk.
- [85:44]
Ryan
There's.
- [85:45]
Stanford Steve
They're taking notes. I love that DeBoer got Grubb back as his OC.
- [85:50]
Ryan
That's.
- [85:52]
Stanford Steve
And we're going to have a Bama defense that's like the Bama defensive old. The secondary's sick.
- [85:58]
Ryan
Last year felt like year two of a downward year post Saban in the first year. So that kind of scares the shit out of me. We knew post Saban there was nothing you could ever do, but there was non Saban stuff that was happening way too soon for a team that still was coming off, you know, a playoff appearance with a lot of guys that were still there. And then you added Ryan Williams to the whole group. I feel like we talk about Bama so much. We'll get to it. I think the Ty Simpson thing scares me a little. That and it may have been. I've talked about this before. It may have been Saban just going with like, hey, it's. It's Milroe in the locker room. And then Deborah's not going to come in and change it.
- [86:34]
Stanford Steve
But no. And that's. That's the biggest thing Ryan is when you look at that roster from what it was he had, he had to keep guys in order to keep the roster. Every school in the country when Saban retired came in for every player, everyone. And like to see what DeBoer had to do to keep guys in order to have a team. And now you get a whole nother year of his culture. I think they're in a way. Way there's stuff you can't even explain that was happening in that program that. That you could write a book on. So just a stability factor. They're in a way better spot than they were. Way better.
- [87:11]
Ryan
All right. I bet I might go to the whole week to Athens. I haven't been in years. Little widespread cover band maybe.
- [87:18]
Stanford Steve
There you go. I know Chucks. Make sure you get the Chuck's fish. I know it's crazy.
- [87:23]
Ryan
Yeah.
- [87:23]
Stanford Steve
It's in Tuscaloosa. It's the best sushi in the world.
- [87:26]
Ryan
Best sushi in the world in Tuscaloosa.
- [87:29]
Stanford Steve
In the country. I don't leave the country. I'll say the best. Best. It's best that I've had. It's incredible.
- [87:35]
Ryan
There may be some pushback on that.
- [87:37]
Stanford Steve
I totally understand it. But it's worth. I need an assessment. Don't knock it till you try it.
- [87:43]
Ryan
I could just hear this podcast on in Japanese restaurants right now somewhere outside of Tokyo being like they're googling it right now. Give me a couple in honor of Jimmy Donnan. Give me a couple Stanford steamers totals on the season.
- [87:59]
Stanford Steve
Love Utah this year and it's been tough the last couple years because you had to play the Cam Rising saga. But when you look at a couple teams this year that you know you're saying like you know Penn State followed the Michigan Ohio State model. Right. Keep our. Keep our core guys here and then we're going to piece together this idea that Oklahoma brings in a new quarterback along with the oc. That's what Utah did and Devin Dampier is a kid. You watch him at New Mexico runs all over the place. But in that bringing his offense coordinator to Utah I think says a lot about Whittingham and where he.
- [88:38]
Ryan
How they basically did the Vandy except not replacing.
- [88:41]
Stanford Steve
There you go. Yeah. So their offensive line they have. I mean ask Todd that the two tackles are first rounders maybe top ten one of them. So like Utah when I know there's a stability of offensive line and I know they have dynamic runners. Give me that In a conference where we saw it last year Arizona State. And then you know for people say it's not easy to move up the rankings. I looked back went Arizona State went from unranked to the four seed in three weeks. So if your schedule allows you to do what they did last year.
- [89:21]
Ryan
That was when we. We had the. I mean I just can't believe how bad people are in this sport of organizing things.
- [89:26]
Stanford Steve
Yeah.
- [89:27]
Ryan
Where the fuck up has to happen for them to make the change. Like hey you know, this could potentially happen. Well, whatever, we'll see what happens. And then they only change it so that one. Because they were still like what, 13th or 14th? Yeah, I think they were behind Alabama.
- [89:41]
Stanford Steve
Yeah, I think they were 15 going last week. So to your point, I tried in the seminars this year to bring up overtime because that's the next thing. Somebody's going to lose a playoff game or a right to go to the playoff or a deep playoff game because of two pointers. That's what we do in the third overtime, two point plays. Like that's going to happen. Like get out in front of this, please. Utah over. I'm really curious about ucla. I. I read in what they lost and what they look like last year and listen, desean is top three players I ever was on the same field as. I think the world of DeSean Foster defensive guys back in the day would come off and the phrase was, man, that dude's a ultra beast. We can't get him on the ground. And I'll let you know, he was a true freshman. It was like his second game ever playing. So DeShawn's the man.
- [90:40]
Ryan
What conference was UCLA in?
- [90:42]
Stanford Steve
Who's in it? The Big Ten. That's right. They're in the Big Ten monster game against Utah. But there's some five and a half. I would look at the under in. In USC or ucla.
- [90:55]
Ryan
Sorry.
- [90:56]
Stanford Steve
Oklahoma State is a team that I.
- [90:58]
Ryan
Think it's going to be.
- [90:58]
Stanford Steve
It's in real trouble when you look at what they've done. And I look at the under in Stillwater and.
- [91:08]
Ryan
Let'S give you under and Stillwater.
- [91:10]
Stanford Steve
Yes, I like. I'll give you over mentioned Minnesota over. I like what that team brings to the table.
- [91:19]
Ryan
You know, it's four and a half total right now for Oklahoma State on FanDuel.
- [91:23]
Stanford Steve
Wow. It went down. Wow. I guess people.
- [91:26]
Ryan
Wow.
- [91:26]
Stanford Steve
That's not good.
- [91:27]
Ryan
Well, they're on it.
- [91:28]
Stanford Steve
You were on it.
- [91:29]
Ryan
Did you already give it out?
- [91:30]
Stanford Steve
I don't, I don't move lines. But the talk. The talk has, has been there in the circle.
- [91:36]
Ryan
Are you sure you should ask Van Felt if you move lines. Maybe the greatest segment that wasn't a segment to ever segment.
- [91:49]
Stanford Steve
I have two questions for you when we're.
- [91:50]
Ryan
No, but by the way, Minnesota, Minnesota six and a half over. Yes, I love it.
- [91:55]
Stanford Steve
Yes. Yes, that, that's. I mean they've lost three defensive coordinators. They lose. Don't lose a beat. They play great defense. They're super sound. They always have some stud coming on the offensive line. Lindsay's a guy who I trust.
- [92:09]
Ryan
I loved what I mean bros. Quincy Avery, our guy. He loves the quarterback whisperer.
- [92:15]
Stanford Steve
Yeah, he loves him. I saw, I was texting Quincy about a couple high school games the other night and he's had, of course, he's worked with him and I, I felt great to get his confirmation of guys that was watching that I loved. Shout out. Quincy, great Hulu special.
- [92:31]
Ryan
I'm tempted a little bit on FanDuel right now. Illinois under eight and a half.
- [92:35]
Stanford Steve
Oh, eight and a half. I could see under. There was a seven and a half out there. I saw that.
- [92:40]
Ryan
I went, this is. Okay, you did. You went over seven and a half. Not that's maybe Illinois just continue to build. They have the same quarterback. But this is that middle of the Big Ten where.
- [92:51]
Stanford Steve
Yes, exactly.
- [92:53]
Ryan
It's really competitive. And then there ends up being this team. You're like, how do they only have six or seven wins? And you just go, well, you know, they're just a lot of these teams in here I don't really know what to do with. Even though Illinois with momentum off of last year, incredible bowl win and Beela kind of doing a lane Kiff in a Tennessee light, you know, the last couple months. So. All right, so Utah's at seven and a half right now. How about the Bear? How about, I don't know, are you guys even friends or Nemesis?
- [93:22]
Stanford Steve
We've been going back and forth. I, I, he tries, he has South.
- [93:25]
Ryan
Carolina under seven and a half because of the schedule.
- [93:28]
Stanford Steve
Man, I, I worry about the pro. Like, you talk about losing guys to the draft. Like, look at the defense. Look where they all got drafted higher than, than what people thought.
- [93:42]
Ryan
Not, not dudes that had South Carolina on a screen.
- [93:46]
Stanford Steve
Yeah, that's, that's true. I mean, watching them against lsu, I think it was week three. I'm like, this team's a problem, but I'm blanking on their best player.
- [93:56]
Ryan
Oh, Stuart Stewart.
- [93:57]
Stanford Steve
Yeah, he's a D.C. kid. I, I couldn't believe how big he was. I mean. And within like four years, it was Chase Young in a high school uniform at the matha. And then you saw Dylan Stewart. I'm like, oh my God. The one like teams are going to be able to prep for him now. You know, offensive line, game plans. Last year, it's like, oh, where do we start? Because what no one talks about is how Canard was and the 2D tackles got drafted high. Those guys were, Saunders was a stud. But I look at what they, they lose Defensively, and it's, you know, we talk about. You talked about before the season, all these quarterbacks. If you're on. If you're on Sellers, and he continues to improve, he's going to be the guy, and then he falls into the arch category. Is he going to come back for another year because of how much you can pay the college guys now?
- [94:53]
Ryan
Yeah. Canard made Dylan Stewart's life a lot easier with the sack totals, the pressure totals and all that kind of stuff. It's just. I know the schedule is brutal. I know it's brutal. But I was. I liked the balls on Felica for going. I'm actually just completely zagging on all the South Carolina love here with everybody liking the quarterback and, you know, even losing. Even worry to the draft on top of everything else, they. They had some. Some dudes back there. Okay. I know you want to finish with some stuff, so the floor is yours.
- [95:20]
Stanford Steve
Are you still a Bears fan?
- [95:23]
Ryan
Funny you brought that up because we were doing this with SHIELD A little bit earlier, which, by the way, Edwin Cooper was a guy where I. I think the. The whole point of this was, like, when you're watching football and you're not familiar with all the personnel because it's a lot to keep track of, and then you see somebody and it was kind of. I didn't even get it in when you were talking about Notre Dame, But Leonard Moore, 15, the corner for Notre Dame. Right. So he is a. The phrase I used was, who the fuck is that guy?
- [95:50]
Stanford Steve
Yeah.
- [95:51]
Ryan
And. And the first time I saw Leonard Moore, I think I even texted you within minutes going, okay, give me the goods on this guy. Because you're so plugged in with all these coaches and all the recru people throughout the country, which is a credit to how hard you worked and how seriously you've taken this job. But I brought up Bears. This isn't related. I think the loss to Washington broke me. So I was a Bears fan for like, what, two months maybe? I still have all my Caleb Williams stock. I thought the Sando stuff was horrifying for any of us with a large Caleb Williams position. Did you listen to it? Big Cat texted me, I think an hour after it posted. Being like, Sando. And then it was like, parentheses. Just kidding. Because. So Sando hears this. It's not. It's not personal. But when I'm like. I think even Ceruti was like, you were rattled for a few minutes after the Caleb Williams party. Like, I was losing.
- [96:46]
Stanford Steve
He just kept going.
- [96:48]
Ryan
It didn't end when is it going to end?
- [96:50]
Stanford Steve
He's like, what did he say? He's like, I'm up to 50 people I talked to. Or maybe it's 100, I don't even know. And he's like, the majority.
- [96:58]
Ryan
I'm like, no, this is the line. He's like. He's like, I have 50 voters. And he goes, you know, I used one or two quotes from people who didn't like Caleb. He's like, the problem is, is there was, like, 20 quotes I could have used. And I was like, oh, my. This is awful. It was depressing. I mean, it was almost like when I was interviewing the linebacker, Brandon Marshall from the Raiders, and I thought I was getting the receiver. And if you really listen to that interview, the first couple questions, you're like, what. What's going on with their guy? Like, whatever. Whatever the scouting report pros and cons are. I'd like to think the pros are that he's. I'm pretty steady with this at this stage of my life. And when that Caleb Williams waterfall of negativity hit me, and I'm like, you know, do you like the Nuggets off season? Like, I was looking at my list. I didn't know what to do. I almost tapped out of that interview entirely. What else?
- [97:52]
Stanford Steve
Your threads game is second to none. You're on the gram when you want to be. Why don't you ever credit your photographer?
- [98:03]
Ryan
Did I? Oh, you mean whoever's taking a picture of me? Yeah, because it's multiple photographers and they're not being paid.
- [98:14]
Stanford Steve
Okay, just ask them. I mean, they're tremendous pictures.
- [98:18]
Ryan
Tremendous. A lot of them are fishing guides.
- [98:21]
Stanford Steve
I don't think they care a lot of curious. God, because then when I. That's what I'm thinking of. It's just some guy out there in his.
- [98:29]
Ryan
I think there was even a guy. I was like, hey, do you want me to. Do you want me to tag the shop? And he's like, what is. He was like, what? Yeah, we're in y. Where are we? Yeah, right. I've got one on horseback from Bamp this past week. Oh, people's minds. Internet's gonna go wild.
- [98:45]
Stanford Steve
Chaps.
- [98:47]
Ryan
No, but I had to wear a helmet. I brought a hat from Bamp that said, I love Bam.
- [98:52]
Stanford Steve
Nice.
- [98:53]
Ryan
I'm just kidding. No, you had to wear a helmet. To be honest with you, the horse I had, the weight limit was 230, so I was. It was close. So they gave me the biggest horse and then a female elk, because I guess the female elks are real pain in the ass. Actually, I'll be honest with you. It felt like a pretty sexist horse tour in general. I could talk about bam for an hour right now. I won't do that. Maybe I'll do it with Adnan. But an elk came up onto the scene and we had like a horse, you know, group. There's like 10 of us, single file, trying to keep it in single file. And I had the biggest horse and all of a sudden it was like somebody Florida Tesla. And you don't know, like you're in the passenger seat. So I'm not kicking the horse and being like, let's go. You know, a couple things you have to do to get the horse going. The horse just decided on its own to accelerate and then I was able to like calm it down a little bit. It was all because this elk that was harassing the of just, you know, it's a female, right?
- [99:51]
Stanford Steve
Yeah.
- [99:51]
Ryan
So that happens. I don't know if that's an analogy.
- [99:55]
Stanford Steve
Just a couple NFL things. It way if. Have you talked to anyone that thinks the Dolphins are going to be good?
- [100:00]
Ryan
No.
- [100:01]
Stanford Steve
Okay. And watch out for Chip with two tight ends and mayor and Brock.
- [100:04]
Ryan
That's all I'm going to say. Just watch out. Yeah, I haven't seen Chip in a while.
- [100:10]
Stanford Steve
Watch out.
- [100:12]
Ryan
When I heard about. I couldn't. When I was like, oh, my God. I'm like, they're not screwing around with these offensive coordinator salaries to get this guy to come back. No, no. If you could just get Chip in an honest moment, I imagine he would just be like, so I can make this and just be the OC and not have to deal with any of this other stuff the rest of my career. Yeah, I'll do that. I mean, I think it's just always tough as a competitive person and clearly he's wired as a very competitive, competitive guy. And the New England part of it where it's like, do I really not want to be in charge? But my God. Yeah, look out, look out, Raiders. I don't have anything else. Where's. Where are you right now? Where you at? Clemson.
- [100:50]
Stanford Steve
Van Pel and I are doing Sports center from the US Open tonight following the matches and.
- [100:57]
Ryan
Oh, so you're in the city.
- [100:58]
Stanford Steve
Yeah. And we. We go to Columbus for college game day Thursday. Going to be a one of one show. With how much we're pouring in for coach's last show. Meetings have been pretty crazy about, you know, people spilling out. If you haven't watched the special it's incredible. The editing and the way they put that together I thought was fantastic. Talking to Fowler last night, he was very happy with the product and that.
- [101:27]
Ryan
Made me a hard marker.
- [101:28]
Stanford Steve
Correct. And then Sunday morning we are going to fly to Chapel Bill and be there for Monday night and Coach Belichick's debut, which I cannot wait to be there. I, if I didn't go to Stanford, I was going to go to North Carolina. I know how good that campus can be. And sold out for the first time. I think when our guy Jeff Saturday hosted Florida State College game day was there in 1997. I think that was 1 versus 5.
- [101:57]
Ryan
Saturday Old Blue Eyes hosted you, right?
- [101:59]
Stanford Steve
Yep. Oh, yeah. And I'm really fired up to be in Chapel Hill for Monday night because it's. That place hasn't been like that this century. So I'm, I'm, I don't, I don't. I. Every clip I see the players still don't have numbers on in practice. So it's, it's, it's, it's, it's pretty interesting. As you know, our, our newest member of the show pointed out, how's it going getting information in Chapel Hills?
- [102:32]
Ryan
So Belichick is going to work you guys so hard. He's going to make you all think he's his best friend. He's going to put on an absolute media show for you guys and then it will be different.
- [102:45]
Stanford Steve
I think it already is different because what he pulled on the ACC training camp shows and West Durham hosted West knows the ACC history better than anyone. And Belichick's honoring the 1980 team. At some point this year they're going to wear the old uniforms. And that, of course, was Lawrence Taylor's team. And Belichick rattled through the whole roster. Explained why Lawrence Taylor wore 98 in college because he started out as a nose tackle. Went through their schedule, pointed out they led the country in points given up and that was with a game of giving up 45 to Oklahoma like he's. His history is unbelievable. If you get a chance, go back and watch it. What. How he just rattles it off. But it's. I have no idea what to expect. And that was one of the things we talked about in our meetings, like how much time are we going to spend on a topic that we don't know the outcome because of the unknown in the roster. 70 players. 70. And Belichick and his son, I thought did a great job as DC at Washington last year and kind of a similar joint as with the roster turnover. So, you know they're going to play good defense. And that's why I'm kind of fired up because I love the quarterback from TCU and he's got his hands full that night.
- [103:59]
Ryan
By the way. Speaking of rankings, Jeff Saturday, top five makeup room. Yeah, Jeff Saturday was one of their favorites.
- [104:10]
Stanford Steve
I. Tell me, tell me who has a bad word about Jeff Saturday.
- [104:15]
Ryan
Not the makeup room. No, not when I was there.
- [104:17]
Stanford Steve
Crib.
- [104:18]
Ryan
All right. So proud of you, man. You know how I feel. We probably do it every time you come on, but you're just kicking ass. Part of game day Sports Center SV pod. Every week, you guys. Two days a week during college football, right?
- [104:30]
Stanford Steve
Yeah. We'll do Saturday night show.
- [104:32]
Ryan
All right. Sounds good. We'll be listening. Talk to you soon. See you on the road.
- [104:36]
Stanford Steve
Yeah. Or la.
- [104:40]
Ryan
This episode is brought to you by Square. Your favorite neighborhood spots run on Square. Man, if I had my own place. Picture this. A bookshop that's also a bar. Great reads, cold beer. Everybody's welcome at Pages and Pints. And with Square, I can make sure I have a clear plan of what's next. Because Square knocks out today's to DOS and unlocks tomorrow's what ifs. Go to square.com go/r y e n ryan to learn more. That's s q U-A-R-E.com go/ryan square. Meet you there. This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. If there's one thing I love about my Apple Card right now, it's how good it is for my wallet. No joke. I can earn up to 3% daily cash back on every purchase in any category when I use my Apple Card with Apple Pay, Food, sports, travel, the list goes on. And this card is designed to help you pay off your balance faster with smart payment suggestions. When's the last time your credit card did that for you? Take control of your finances. Apply for the Apple card in the wallet app on your iPhone. Subject to credit approval. Apple card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch terms and more@applecard.com you want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.
- [105:56]
Stanford Steve
What's up?
- [105:58]
Wargon
I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.
- [106:01]
Stanford Steve
I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible.
- [106:09]
Ryan
Let me tell you what's required. Life Advice lifeadvicermail.com Ceruti and Wargon when is Kyle back, by the way? Not a complaint, just a concern. Not even A concern. Just a question.
- [106:20]
Wargon
Next week, next Tuesday show. I'll be back.
- [106:23]
Ryan
So next week we're Tuesday, Friday, correct?
- [106:26]
Wargon
Correct. Yeah, we're going to react to the. The opener.
- [106:29]
Ryan
That's right. We're going to react to the opener.
- [106:31]
Wargon
NFL is back, baby.
- [106:34]
Ryan
Excited? Yeah, I am. I just want games. Both college and the NFL. I just want games. Like, let's go. So I, I feel like a lot of my college football stuff, I'm just, I could talk about it all day, but it's just, hey, you think this quarterback's going to be any good, you know? Or like, oh, did you see that schedule? Or whatever? Like, I just, I need a weekend of games to feel really fired up to talk about the sport.
- [106:55]
Wargon
So you know what I'm also kind of excited about? And this is like when NBA comes back too is I've gotten this weird habit of, you know, I'll put my daughter down around like 8:30 ish. So like by the time everything's settled, it's like 9:00 clock and then I'm just so over like the chase of like, what should I watch now? And then I spend like a good hour just going through all the damn streaming services that I subscribe to, not figuring out what I actually want to watch. It's like, I just need a sport. I need something to watch. Like I was watching the US Open a little bit last night, Shout out to alcaraz and the total 90 kit. Like I just, I need sports because it just makes my decision making much easier.
- [107:30]
Ryan
I see. I kind of like this time. I did get into the old movies. I would just throw on an old movie. I'm gonna do it tonight. Something. Did you watch? I watched Quest for Fire. Did I see that one? That thing freaked the out of me in the theater. I don't know why my mom brought me to that. Yeah, check that out. Watch the trailer first time out.
- [107:56]
Stanford Steve
Real quick.
- [107:56]
Ryan
We got a new mug in the mix here from Oregon. What do we got going on in there?
- [107:59]
Oregon
I don't know if I'd say new mug, old mug, little wicked mug?
- [108:03]
Wargon
It's new on the show.
- [108:04]
Oregon
New on the show maybe.
- [108:06]
Ryan
Yeah.
- [108:06]
Oregon
Love showing off mugs.
- [108:08]
Ryan
Yeah. Did you get that?
- [108:11]
Oregon
What did I get?
- [108:12]
Ryan
Did you get the Wicked mug when you went to go see Wicked? Yeah.
- [108:18]
Oregon
I got, I got a collection of Broadway mugs. I can start circulating them.
- [108:21]
Ryan
Yeah, let's, let's get that going. Yeah, maybe we just give you a minute or two to announce it and then give us your. Actually, yeah, give us Your synopsis on Wicked. Was this the new one?
- [108:33]
Shield Kapadia
This was.
- [108:33]
Oregon
This was the Broadway show, not the movie.
- [108:35]
Wargon
Oh.
- [108:35]
Oregon
Oh, great show. First half, upper, second half, downer. What's not to like?
- [108:43]
Ryan
All right, okay. Should I kayak? What?
- [108:47]
Wargon
I've seen neither. I haven't seen the movie or the show or. Sorry.
- [108:50]
Ryan
Yeah, I feel like I saw the movie, but didn't. That makes sense.
- [108:56]
Wargon
Yeah, that's true. That's a good point.
- [108:58]
Ryan
Should I kayak down the Hudson for my commute into New York City? All right, so I've kayaked. Not an expert. We have Wargon here, so maybe the city commute. As a fellow Broadway loving runner living in New York City, I feel a kinship to Michael Jordan. Oregon was skeptical at first, but he's far exceeded my expectations. And I love when you guys let him cook. We do too. NBA comp Eduardo Nahara. Always liked him. 44 year old man living in upper Manhattan. Recently started a job in Hoboken, just across the Hudson river from Midtown. I run marathons. Personal record. One mile is a 5, 25, 5K, 19 minutes, 10K, 39 minutes half marathon, 126 marathon, 309. Pretty good, huh, Oregon?
- [109:46]
Stanford Steve
Yeah.
- [109:46]
Oregon
Yeah, pretty good. Try to give a whistle. I don't know if I came through.
- [109:50]
Ryan
You did.
- [109:51]
Wargon
Didn't hear.
- [109:52]
Ryan
Yeah, yeah.
- [109:53]
Wargon
Give another shot. No, man. Maybe Mike.
- [110:00]
Ryan
Yeah, I don't know.
- [110:03]
Stanford Steve
Technology.
- [110:04]
Ryan
So, Rudy, you just texted me that, by the way. Did you need to text somebody else that?
- [110:08]
Wargon
Nope. My wife got home, my dogs are barking and I was like, hey, I'm taping.
- [110:11]
Ryan
Just a heads up, you sent it to me. And I was like, I'm aware of that.
- [110:14]
Wargon
Two people I text the most probably.
- [110:16]
Ryan
Are you and my wife. So there you go. Wow, that's hysterical. If I get any dick pics, I'll understand. Now, all right, run home from work, 10 miles, one to two days, or. Excuse me, one. Yeah, one or two times per week if it's not too hot. All right, so we're dealing with a specimen here. I recently saw a news clip that has me intrigued by the idea of taking my commute to the next level. It was about a guy, Tommy Lutz, who paddles himself in a self made foldable boat from his home in New Jersey down to the Hudson river to his job in lower Manhattan. I love this idea. I'm now strongly considering doing the same thing by purchasing a foldable kayak and paddling to work. I've done some research and found a model with good reviews that I'm considering We could click on the link, but we're not kayak guys. I don't know what to tell you. I have no affiliation with this company. It can handle somewhat choppy water, tracks well and has decent speed. Comparable to a similar priced traditional kayak. It weighs 32 pounds, folds up. It can be carried as a backpack. My commute would be walking 15 minutes to the river. Setting it up takes 10 to 15 minutes with practice paddling. Eight miles, one and a half hours, then minutes five, folding it back up five to 10 minutes and walking five to 10 minutes of work where I freshen up and completely change clothes. I found good sites to launch and land. All right, just so we're clear here, let's say 15 minute walk to the river. 15 minutes setup, that's 30 hour and a half paddle two hours, fold it back up, we'll give you five because we gave you five the other way. So two oh five walking five. So let's just make it two 15. That's two 15 one way. I have some kayaking experience on calm lakes, rivers, but not advanced. I would only go during daytime in good weather and water conditions, wearing a life jacket. Just the worst case. Water immersion wetsuit, et cetera. I wouldn't do this every day, but maybe once every one to two weeks when the weather is nice and tides are favorable. It of course wouldn't save me time on my normal commute, 45 minutes by public transit. But it would be for fun with stunning views, including a midtown Manhattan. I would stay close within 100ft to the shore. So that worst case scenario, if I capsize and I couldn't get back to the boat, I could swim to shore and abandon the boat if necessary. One limitation of the foldable kayak is much more prone to filling with water when flipped. The most risky part of the trek is crossing from the New York City to New Jersey side on the river, which is about one mile wide. Yeah, right. So at some point you've got to, you know, cut this thing in half so you're not going to be next to the shore. I would cross before hitting heavier boat traffic near midtown. Above this area there isn't a lot of boat traffic, especially during early weekday morning hours. Recall Sully landing of the jet there and didn't hit any boats. Shout out to Sully. And the occasional large commercial boat is slow and easy to avoid. My wife is cool and trying to be supportive but is worried about an accident. Keeps telling me just to make sure I don't die. So what's your Verdict? Go for it or am I crazy to consider it? Look, I love it. I don't know where you work or what the office is, but I mean it could go one of both ways here where you could be just the legend kayak guy that kayaks to work every now and then. But it sounds like you're married, so I don't know if it's going to help you with sales. It also go the other way and be like, is this guy the least efficient dude ever? I love what kind of physical test you're putting yourself through. It seems like your life has been a series of physical tests. Then you want to challenge yourself an entirely new way all over again. If you'd saying this was five days a week, I would think it's like it's going to add up and maybe your wife's going to get a little pissed at you and you know, that's a lot of hours. But if you're saying maybe every other week, every now and then, fine. But I think you'd have to talk to somebody that truly would understand what it would be like to be in a kayak if the weather. You're saying you get ahead of the weather, but is there a way where you may not understand it and it's choppy. Look, as a boat guy, I look at the charts sometimes and I think I'm fine. And then I get out there and I'm like, this interval right now is like really bad for even a decent sized boat. And that's why there's no other boats out here. Which usually a pretty good indicator if you want to leave the marina. So I love it, but I don't know enough about what, what you would be like. Would you be a massive nuisance to any of like the worst case scenarios of more boat traffic. It sounds like your launch area is north of everything that you're saying. So I kind of understand what you're talking about there. I look, I'm just not educated enough on this other than I'm fully supportive of it.
- [114:20]
Wargon
I mean kayaks are sick. I just, I don't think I would want to take one to work. As someone who doesn't have a commute. I'm not trying to add anything else to a, to a commute. But the other thing too is I always thought about this with guys that bike to work. My father in law loves to, he loves to bike. Used to bike like an hour to his job multiple times a week. I think they ran back sometimes my mother in law would pick him up on the way. And I just always thought about, like, the stench of it. So, like, our guy, is he. Is he like putting in time for a shower too? Because you're gonna work up a huge sweat, right? And you're gonna work. Are you about to change the clothes? But, like, you're still. You're still kind of gross. So I don't know if that's kind of the, you know, I don't. You probably have to pencil another half an hour to, like, shower again. I would personally to shower again and get cleaned up again because I want to be at work smelling like ass, like, in front of all these people. I mean, sounds cool. Like, hey, I did this huge cool thing before work. I kayaked here. Like, that does sound cool in theory, but I don't know. I think that would be my biggest worry.
- [115:15]
Oregon
This is definitely worth doing once just because you want to do it. And, like, you're not, you're not the only kayaker on the Hudson. You might be the only one going from the New York side to the Jersey side on a given day, but, like, there'll be other people out there. I could see this being a situation where you kayak there, maybe take. Take the trains home.
- [115:33]
Ryan
Yeah.
- [115:33]
Oregon
I don't think you want to have, you know, a 12 hour day with both commutes, but I think you probably.
- [115:37]
Wargon
Can'T kayak up river either. Right. It's definitely a one way commute.
- [115:40]
Oregon
I don't, I'm not. I'm not sure on that.
- [115:43]
Ryan
I don't know. Do it. Can you get out there? We're gonna. Is there any way you can.
- [115:47]
Oregon
Boots on the ground.
- [115:48]
Ryan
On the ground? Yeah. Research on this one and just kind of like maybe just go up, be like, hey, what are you doing? You headed to Hoboken? The guy's like, what, are you, nuts? You know, I would love for you to just. The next month, get out there.
- [116:01]
Oregon
Think you could do this?
- [116:02]
Stanford Steve
Yeah. Bring a microphone?
- [116:04]
Oregon
Yeah.
- [116:05]
Ryan
This isn't a bad idea.
- [116:08]
Oregon
We'll get back to you, Morgan.
- [116:09]
Wargon
On the street.
- [116:11]
Ryan
Work on the street. Has a nice ring to it. I'm not kidding. Can you actually go to the Hudson and just like one afternoon.
- [116:21]
Oregon
Look, I can make it happen.
- [116:23]
Ryan
All right. That's all we need.
- [116:24]
Stanford Steve
Cool.
- [116:25]
Ryan
We'll get back to this guy. Yeah. I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert on any of this stuff. So I'm not going to say other than I just think it's badass. And I love people that want to do badass things, so. Go for it. All right. The post Lonesome Dove syllabus. Oh, this guy's. I marked this one. I guess I'll read it now. Blood Meridian. Already read it. Lonesome Dove is like a PG version of Blood Meridian. Next step, concept album based on Blood Meridian by Ben Nichols. Last Pale Light in the West. All right, then we jump to Ben Nichols little brother Jeff Nichols movies. Shotgun Stories are mud. We connect the loop with All My Friends Are Going to Be strangers by Larry McMurtry. Chris Ryan can walk you through that if you have any questions. Okay, cool. Yeah, so I think I'm already halfway there. This was. I think it was. I guess some people were giving me about my buddy calling when we had the guy who was living at home.
- [117:29]
Oregon
The Australian guy.
- [117:30]
Stanford Steve
Yeah.
- [117:31]
Ryan
So. Oh, here's the title of this joyous email defending Ryan. Codependency is weakness. There's a Reddit thread going on about your response. That must be fun. What else are you guys doing today to the dude that had to call his wife every night when we're on the golf trip. The dude was weird, and I'm on Ryan's side. Here's my Reddit response to those guys that have let's go with everything. The partners. I go to things by myself all the time, which I've never had a problem doing. I would consider myself a great partner. I'm in a healthy relationship. I don't ask my partner to go to the things that she would not enjoy. We go to concerts together. We both like the band Mumford and the Postal Service. Hey, who sings that song Revival?
- [118:13]
Wargon
That's Zach Bryan, right?
- [118:17]
Ryan
Is that the one where they say, put Johnny on the vinyl? Yes, that's Zach Bryan.
- [118:24]
Stanford Steve
Yes.
- [118:25]
Ryan
That song's dog shit.
- [118:32]
Wargon
That's so. I'm. I don't know.
- [118:33]
Ryan
That song is so bad.
- [118:39]
Wargon
You might be alienating yourself here because that. I think. I'm not a Zach Brian guy. I'll listen to a few songs here and there, but I do think that's like a crowd favorite when the concerts.
- [118:49]
Ryan
I'm sure it is seen.
- [118:50]
Wargon
And he brings up like a famous person to sing it with him. And it's like a thing. I think he did Springsteen once. I think Portnoy's been up there. Although there's. That's not a great relationship anymore. I'd imagine so. Yeah, I think. I don't know. Big song in the. In the. In the Zach Bryan community, I think.
- [119:06]
Ryan
Oh, my God.
- [119:08]
Stanford Steve
Yeah.
- [119:09]
Ryan
I can't. I hadn't. I guess I hadn't really heard it before. And then I heard it like, three times. And I think it's one of those.
- [119:18]
Wargon
Ones you could just, you know, you just. It's easy to remember the words, you know, that ties me in.
- [119:23]
Ryan
A bottle of Beam. Put Johnny on the vinyl. That is the hardest trying lyric in country music. Modern. Modern era, perhaps. I don't even. I didn't really have an opinion on Zach Ryan. No. There was a few songs that I heard during my Vermont trek. I went in a country phase there, and I was. I was getting. That's the whole Casey Musgraves just All.
- [119:46]
Wargon
Over now, her first album. Oh, man. Golden hour.
- [119:50]
Ryan
You gotta be. So anyway, I would. I would say there's a few Zach Bryan tunes that came on. I was like. I really like this. This is really good. So this isn't an overall thing. I'm just telling you, that lyric, tough.
- [120:04]
Wargon
As a writer, you wouldn't have written that.
- [120:07]
Ryan
I think somebody in the studio has to go, dude, are you serious?
- [120:11]
Wargon
So he needs more nomen.
- [120:13]
Ryan
You're. You're established. This is.
- [120:19]
Wargon
You know what I'm confused about now that we're on the Zach Ryan thing. Have you heard the story about how he was, like, in the Marines? He was in the military?
- [120:28]
Ryan
Who?
- [120:28]
Wargon
Zach Bryan.
- [120:29]
Ryan
Oh, I didn't know this.
- [120:31]
Wargon
So he was. This could be total bs. This is what I at least had heard. He was in the Marines. And then they were like, oh, you're so good at music. Like, you could just leave and pursue your. Your music career. I was like, is that how the Marines work? Maybe I. Maybe I'm getting this wrong. But I was like, that seems. That doesn't seem right.
- [120:51]
Ryan
David Robinson, number one pick in the Navy. Nope. Zach Bryant and karaoke on leave. Hey, dude, you got. In all honesty, we've got a lot of guys.
- [121:06]
Wargon
I don't know.
- [121:07]
Ryan
That's what I heard. Yeah. So again, some Zach Brian stuff that's made its way through the Spotify shuffle. I liked. Even saved a few. I had never heard it, I think, or really listened to it. Other than this. This Banff run that I went on and I heard it a couple times. And that lyric. It just smells bad.
- [121:31]
Wargon
He was in the Navy.
- [121:32]
Ryan
In the Navy, dude. Honestly, you could just go.
- [121:44]
Shield Kapadia
Okay.
- [121:44]
Ryan
So we murdered this email. So anyway, that was the Australian guy that was living at home. And then I kind of took it in a different direction. Was basically sharing a little bit of growth. I felt as a little bit older. Is that there was just all these things in relationships when I was A lot younger. Where I'd be like, that is stupid. Why do I have to do this? This is so stupid. And I think as I've gotten older, I'm like, hey, I still think this is really stupid. But if it's not really that big of a deal, why not just do the thing that maybe there's that disconnect among the genders of just not understanding how things make each other feel right. So I don't know if I'm getting ripped on this one or defended. I have no idea. I don't ask my partner to go to things she would not enjoy. We first started dating, she went to a few games with me. But I later found out she's not a sports fan. It was just doing it to hang out with me. That makes me feel like such an ass. She's come to a game with me. She has come to game with me since I'm going to guess he says zero. We live together, we go on dates together, Things are good. We don't have to do everything with our partner. I told her early on there are things I'm going to say no to. More often than not, I will say yes, but. Your friend's party celebrating her 17 year anniversary with her Honda Fit? No thanks. Tell me the things I have to be at and I will. When Endgame came out, I was hanging out with a woman I was dating. I had to leave at 8pm to go see Endgame. She could see it with me the second or third time I saw it. She's been at a work conference for four days. We haven't called and barely texted because we aren't codependent. She's busy and having fun. Don't waste your time calling me. Too many dudes are too attached to their partners. Codependency is weakness. Okay, thank you.
- [123:17]
Wargon
Sponsor that.
- [123:17]
Ryan
Yeah. Yeah. So why don't we just read one more email? Ex girlfriend's demand for money. Ooh, Here's a spicy one. 6, 4, 2, 15 bench 225. 10 to 12 times 405. Squat five times five sets. Deadlift. Not anymore. In my prime, three, four years ago, squat 585. Deadlift 625. But once my best friend told me, no, no girl cares how much I squat. I just cut 40 pounds and decided to keep it light. No girls care. I don't play pickup basketball. 11.2 handicap. All right, good stick. So the situation I'm dealing with, my ex girlfriend of three years left seven months ago. She caught me sexting with a woman from my past. Ouch. Moved out of my house that day. Took everything she bought for our house. Literally everything. I tried my best to fix it, but she wouldn't talk to me. Or she did. It was clear she hated me. I gave her all the space. After those first couple weeks of trying to fix it, she would reach out time to time about mail. Any mail she got I would just put right in an envelope or box and send it to her. Questions about her car. Even offered to get a gift for my daughter's birthday. All right, let me clear that one up a little bit later. So she offered to get a gift for his daughter's birthday. So it sounds like a daughter from a previous relationship. The other week she sends me this text at 6am on a Monday. I attach the text at the bottom of this email. Okay, here's the. Here's the text. Quote. I've been doing some thinking and would really appreciate if you would financially compensate me for a fraction of the money I invested in you, your home and your daughter. While I do not regret the money I spent on this is, I guess the daughter's name. Leave that out. Specifically. The reality is, you let me believe for three years we were building a life together, all while lying to my face and sneaking around behind my back. I made final decisions, one of which being that I purchased purchased a seven passenger vehicle because I was under the impression that we were starting a family of our own and we would need the room for additional children which now only drives one person around. I feel stupid every time I get in it. I happily took on the bulk of the day to day purchases when it came to the daughter, whether that was clothes, hygiene products, room decor, Christmas presents, etc. Because I was all in on helping you raise a child who I shared no blood with but loved like she was my own. And now I have nothing to show for the three years I spent loving you, making your house into a home and investing in a child I will never see again. Not that it's any of your business, but I'm at the point where I'm looking to purchase my own home. Something you constantly held over my head and joked about at my expense, saying things like, quote, you can't leave me. Where would you go now? You know if we're giving our email or the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was saying something like that. But those are those things you say to somebody thinking it's joking because it's obvious. But it's like sometimes you have no idea the damage that you're doing by joking about something that is still true.
- [125:52]
Wargon
But, I mean, it's.
- [125:53]
Ryan
It's.
- [125:54]
Wargon
But in quick. I. I know context definitely matters, but it's not awesome. There's. I don't know how you explain.
- [126:00]
Ryan
I'm not. What are you gonna do without me? Yeah. Yeah. Loser. You made me feel so small, Like I could never make it without the home you provided. Although, look, I remember, like, a guy that owned the bar that I worked for, and he would have, like, a stack of five grand, and I was, you know, fairly. I don't know that I. I remember when I deposited a check for $4,000 once in my 20s, and I was like, holy, this is awesome. And he did something. Like. He was like. He showed it to me, and he was like, this five grand would change your life, wouldn't it? I was like, yeah, yeah. Having five grand in the bank would be awesome. And he's like, I don't even think about it. I was like, all right, man. Awesome. You know? And you're just like, God. Like, he thought he was kind of funny. We'd known each other a long time, which is sort of with me. And it's funny because one of my other friends that was there saw it. It's like, still brings it up sometimes. He's like, I can't believe how fucked up that was. Anyway, so sometimes you don't. You think you're doing something, and it's like, whatever. Again, we weren't even banging. We just worked at the same bar. You made me feel so small. Yeah. Yeah. Never, never, never got there. You made me feel so small. Like I could never make it without the home you provided or the money you made. I deserve better than that. And I deserve to be paid back for the investments I made in someone who never truly loved me in the first place. I think 3,000 is more than fair. This is still part of the text. More than fair, considering, is a fraction of the amount that I actually spent on a life with you over the past three years. I'm hoping that all the growth you've allegedly done over the past seven months will allow you to put your pride aside in this moment and realize that this is really the least you could do as a true sign of remorse. I don't want or need handles gift cards in the mail or care packages, but my favorite candies or homemade cakes. So he's still senator stuff, I guess. Back to the text. Keep saying email. Maybe I'll get at the next one. While they are kind sentiments, they don't help me rebuild my life after being unbelievably blindsided by you. I hope you'll actually consider doing this for me. And text back to the email. So my dilemma is I am still madly in love with this woman. Then pay her the fucking three grand. That's my opinion. Back to the email. I made the biggest mistake of my life by sexting a couple times. Another woman. I feel so bad for what I did. I put in a ton of work therapy, 12 step program. Jesus. To work on myself and fix myself. No one comes close to how I feel about her. My problem with this message is it feels so dirty, so demanding and almost manipulative. Makes me feel terrible that she thinks so low of me in our relationships that she wants 3k for her time. Like, what the. I have the money. So it's not even about that. It's more the tone of the message. But appreciate the life advice. I don't think I'm going to be real popular on this one. You just said the money means nothing to you. You're madly in love with her. You can, we can talk about cheap, we can talk about tone or whatever, but you probably have a better chance getting back together to cut your check for three grand than you do of just saying, like, no. Wargon is already shaking his head. Go ahead.
- [128:46]
Oregon
There's absolutely no way you're getting back together. There's app. This isn't, this isn't like, you know, oh, if you pay me $3,000, we're getting back together.
- [128:53]
Ryan
No, that's not what she's saying.
- [128:54]
Oregon
No, no, I understand that. I just feel like this, this emailer is just a walking red flag. And the girl should have. No, no, the guy.
- [129:03]
Ryan
Oh, oh, you think he's a red flag?
- [129:04]
Oregon
I think he's a huge red flag. And this girl should have realized this during their relationship and ended their relationship a lot sooner than, than she did.
- [129:13]
Ryan
A place to live.
- [129:15]
Oregon
Yeah, well, yeah, there you go. And that money is sort of your, your punishment for, you know, staying in a bad relationship as long as you did. You're not entitled to financial compensation. You know, this is, that's not really how this works.
- [129:27]
Ryan
Entitled is not the debate.
- [129:29]
Oregon
I understand that, but I think you sell your car if you're this girl and you move on. There's no way she's getting back together with this guy.
- [129:35]
Ryan
I didn't love the car part from her, like, because most people like, oh, you get. You wish you had a coupe.
- [129:44]
Wargon
I agree that they're not going to get back together. But the like point zero.
- [129:47]
Ryan
How are you guys so certain of that? I'm saying people get back together all the time over the.
- [129:52]
Wargon
I'm leaving the door open. I'm leaving the door open more. There's like a.01% chance. I think paying her actually is worse in this scenario because then you're basically admitting like, okay, I don't care, I'll just pay you off and it's over. You know, like I almost like that's so dismissive. And I don't know, I would take that as like, oh man, he really doesn't. He really. Like all he thinks about me is this $3,000 and like I'm, I'm just money to him anyway. Like, I don't, I. But I think if you want her back, it's not going to be great. It's probably not going to happen. But you have to fight for her more than just a monetary check cutting situation. Having said that, I think it's absolutely insane for her to ask this of you when you're in a relationship. This is just it. Clearly you thought it was going somewhere, it didn't work out. That's just life. You don't get paid on the back end for your disappointment. I think that's insane from her to ask that. So she.
- [130:49]
Ryan
I think it's insane for you to be so dismissive of any of her expenses when she was helping raise a kid that wasn't even hers. Like he said that she bought all of this stuff for the house. Now she took all of it. So then we can get into an accounting thing.
- [131:03]
Oregon
But that's life, you know, that's.
- [131:04]
Wargon
It is really.
- [131:05]
Ryan
Do we have. Are you guys nuts? Do you have any emails we get from roommates being like, I bought the table, but then he bought the couch and they're not even supposed to get married. These are just dudes in their 20s that get an apartment together. They can't figure out anything and are still pissed about utilities.
- [131:19]
Oregon
But she took all of her physical stuff. You know, you try to act like.
- [131:24]
Ryan
She didn't spend any money. I'm sure she did.
- [131:27]
Oregon
I'm sure she did.
- [131:29]
Wargon
But like, when have you ever heard this is like an okay thing to just cut somebody a check because you were like a nice step mom in this situation. That's also like, he has money. So why are you buying stuff? Like why are you buying anything of significance if he's the one that likes.
- [131:44]
Ryan
Because it's a girl. Financially. It's a little girl and she probably doesn't want to be like, well, I'm not going to get her any school clothes because the dad can pay for him. She probably wanted to feel involved and felt like a mother to this child.
- [131:54]
Wargon
All right, but like, those are smaller expenses. Like, I, I, I. You're not like buying her three years, you know, her tuition to, you know, to. You're not like, you know, funding her, her 403B or whatever. Whatever. I don't even know what the term would necessarily be for that. Like, you're, how much could that have added up to? Like, you're those. That's the price of just like being in a relationship and being nice and whatever. You got your heart broken.
- [132:14]
Ryan
It sucks.
- [132:15]
Wargon
But I just, I, that's. You're not getting paid for that.
- [132:20]
Ryan
Right?
- [132:20]
Oregon
It's not like you have like a receipt of like dinners that you paid for that. You're gonna go and like, try to get back after this. Like, it sucks, but, you know, it's kind of life.
- [132:30]
Ryan
So if you guys wanted her back and she said, you know, look, this is what I want to do, I understand him not liking the tone or whatever. Maybe I just have more sympathy for her knowing that if he had all the money and then she was still spending money for years and like, look, I don't think it's a running. Hey, gas. Seven miles, you know, 49 cents a mile, you know, like, I'm not going that far with it. But if he really wants her back, I think his best chance, especially if the three grand is nothing to him, is you don't just write the check and say, okay, fine. Do you say, hey, three grand if you're gone, six if you move back in. Oh, man, no, that feels a little dirtier. That's dirty.
- [133:12]
Wargon
Yeah, no, but I mean, you're saying you pay the three grand and then like, then, then get her flowers every week or then, you know, start doing the other stuff to try to get her back. You're saying that would be better? I just feel like if you exchange the three grand and the money, that's icky.
- [133:27]
Ryan
Well, both of you guys seem to think it's over just because. And if he's telling the truth, that it was a one off with this one person from his past a couple times and she saw it, that can be fixed. She's describing it as being like, blindsided by years of betrayal. And I can see it being like, interpreted that way by her. Who knows? Who knows what who to believe with this whole feels.
- [133:49]
Wargon
But usually that's your One off, though, for the record, like, that's what I.
- [133:52]
Ryan
Would agree with multiple times with the one person. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what the guy did or didn't he only. Only go on the email. But you guys are way too dismissive. But more people are going to be on your side that you shouldn't cut the check. Where I think if the money doesn't mean anything to you and you desperately want her back, she'll appreciate the check more down the road. Even if the transaction feels wrong, feels dirty, feels like it's this final moment. People have a really weird way of coming around on stuff from points of no return. I've just seen it too many times. Hell, I've been a part of a couple of them where I'm like, well, that's not going to work out. And you're like, what happened? Yeah, figured it out. Although I never had to cut a check like that. So.
- [134:34]
Wargon
Would you. You would cut the check in this situation? I don't know. Imagine if that got out. That's such a.
- [134:40]
Ryan
Just.
- [134:42]
Wargon
You think people would think you're a better person because you got the check? Or would they give you the. Or you give them the ick more because you cut the check?
- [134:49]
Ryan
I think it's already one of those things where everybody's. I mean, unfortunately, I think too many people have just decided exactly. They're going to feel about everything before they would know any part of it. So we're going to get a lot of feedback on this one. Yeah, a lot of passionate feedback about this.
- [135:03]
Wargon
And we just see that Reddit thread later.
- [135:05]
Stanford Steve
Yeah.
- [135:06]
Ryan
If you guys could just give us a heads up on what that one's titled. Dig Through It. Okay, Thursday. Big Cat. And who else do we have?
- [135:18]
Wargon
Adnan.
- [135:19]
Ryan
Adnan Ver. Big Cat. Adnan Burke. He wrote a book. He's going to read the entire book on the podcast.
- [135:27]
Wargon
He would actually, if we gave him the opportunity to do it.
- [135:30]
Ryan
He's going to do it in British accent.
- [135:31]
Oregon
He could burn through that, too.
- [135:33]
Ryan
Yeah. In the audiobook. So excited to talk some college ball. Big Cat. And then big football day today. And then gearing up for the season. Getting started for real after week zero. So thanks to Ceruti, Oregon, Jonathan Frias, Ryan Rosula, podcast ringer, Spotify.
- [135:47]
Oregon
They were gonna name me Michael Jordan. My dad was like, I don't think he can live up to it.
- [135:51]
Shield Kapadia
So they named me Michael.
- [135:52]
Stanford Steve
Jared.
- [136:10]
Ryan
Must be 21 and older and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + in present D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling Problem Call 100 Gambler or visit rg-help.com, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit MD gamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is there. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-87-7-8, Hope NY or text Hopeny in New York.