On this episode The OG and Fantasy Uncle take a look at all th enew or not so new rules in the NFL, March and it's Madness, and the Main topic of th eepisode will be a deep dive into the AFC and NFC East Divisions
On this episode The OG and Fantasy Uncle take a look at all th enew or not so new rules in the NFL, March and it's Madness, and the Main topic of th eepisode will be a deep dive into the AFC and NFC East Divisions
Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another edition of the Pie and Pony Podcast. This is a very special edition because we just witnessed history in March Madness. Clemson beating Arizona. I just can't believe it. And that's how i'm opening to show up because i'm just so fucking ecstatic right now persian Any thoughts on that game care?
Pershin:No not personally, but congratulations to the tigers. That's pretty cool I certainly wasn't expecting them to make a lot of noise this year, but it looks like they're getting into the elite eight now
Jason:Yes, they are. So that's pretty good. They are getting into the elite eight Yeah With that being said, it is the two of us again. The OG Strangsha and the Fantasy Uncle, Mr. Josh Persian. What's happening on this fine Thursday evening?
Pershin:Not too much excited to talk some football. Cool. Yeah. Welcome back in populous. We're going to be previewing division by division. We're going to be previewing the draft. Team expectations, basically. And we're going to be talking about fantasy implications for each of the four primary fantasy position groups. So I'm excited to dig into the, all this draft stuff.
Jason:Awesome. Awesome. Well, Without further ado, let's start the show.
The Pied Pony Podcast.
Jason:All right. So first up, let's get into March madness. I mean, let's talk about real quick. Just want to mention a lot of the upsets. This has been upset city, March madness. As we just said on the open Clemson, just be Arizona. And the sweet 16. So they have punched their ticket to the final four, the first team to do so. We currently have Yukon destroying San Diego state 73 to 48. I was really hoping a little bit more of a showing from them. And then we'll have UNC Alabama play later on tonight in Illinois versus Iowa state. Which by the way, Illinois, Iowa state number one offense in the country versus the number one defense in the country. So we'll see how many points they can score or not score. Rest of the upsets as we went over last week, some of these maybe. Oakland took out Kentucky. Yale took out Auburn. Clemson took out Baylor. James Madison took out Wisconsin. NC State beat Texas Tech. Colorado upset Florida. Go Buffs. Do them. They're, they're not just a football school. They're a basketball school too. They
Pershin:are
Jason:not a
Pershin:football school, but,
Jason:but yeah, go buffs. Oregon beating South Carolina, Grand Canyon beating St. Mary's. Did you know Grand Canyon? I believe it's a publicly traded school. Like they, they have, they're on like the stock exchange. Did you know that? That's cool. Interesting. Yeah. I did not know that. Yeah. So that's the men's March madness. I mean, at this point as a Clemson fan, the rest is everything tonight's when was gravy, the rest is gravy. Like whatever they do from this point on as a Clemson fan. And as someone who's been saying fire, Brad Brownell over and over again, I mean, the guy's got us in a Lee, a, what can I say? Maybe he's got a plan. I don't know. I'll give the man credit, but tempered credit like next season Kansas success be sustained. We'll see. So tempered credit for now, but credit nonetheless. And then on the women's side, the only upset really was Duke over Ohio state, otherwise it's like one through four, all made it into the, to the next round. So, yeah I mean the women's basketball, it's kind of like South Carolina, LSU, UConn, Notre Dame for a while. And that's pretty much it. Tennessee, maybe. So, any, any other notes on March Madness you wanted to touch on there?
Pershin:No, definitely not. I mean, college basketball, not really a thing for me. I don't follow it that closely
Jason:to be fair. This I'm only super interested in, in this tournament this year because of what just happened. So with that being said we've got spring football coming up. The UFL is starting on the 30th. So this weekend Saturday, are you excited about the spring football league or you said you were going to watch it? You've been crying for Europe, NFL, like crying. Well,
Pershin:that is a strong word for what I did, but
Jason:strongly. Suggested that you would watch another league, not name the NFL. I
Pershin:always have loved the idea of other leagues, not just the NFL, but something in the off season, specifically if it works. And I believe it will work as you know, like a sort of farm system that the teams could use. I think that college football nowadays. is so dramatically different from the NFL game that for some of these kids that either get drafted or get signed as an undrafted free agent. And they get cut a month or two after being on the team. Sometimes it's because they literally never had a chance to play those sort of roles that they're being asked to play in the NFL. I think for a lot of kids, they'll get a much better chance to develop and show that they could if there was something like a minor league system. So, so I don't know if that's, what's going to develop from this. Yes. Yes. I do plan to watch. In fact, I promised you that I would watch. So I will watch at least a few of the games. So
Jason:we'll, we'll, well, that's good that you said a few because there is only a few on. And by a few, I mean four. We've got the Birmingham Stallions versus the Arlington Renegades. The St. Louis battle Hawks versus the Michigan Panthers on Saturday and then on Sunday slate the DC defenders Versus the San Antonio Brahma's and the Memphis showboats versus the Houston Roughnecks so Yeah,
Pershin:I got a confession to make I don't even know what a Brahma
Jason:is. It's the Brahma bull It's like the rocks thing like that. It's like his personal team Right. Cause he's the Brahma bull.
Pershin:Oh, okay. Well,
Jason:I
Pershin:have no
Jason:idea. I do agree with you that it is a great, a great idea. We'll see what happens, but what they had been trying to do the XFL for, which I strongly believed in is that the NFL will work closely with the XFL. And one thing that has happened because of that is a new rule.
Rules!
Jason:We have a new rule to keep the kickoff in the NFL by changing its format to the XFL style, where the teams line up in the, in the one position. The guy kicks the ball off. Basically no one moves until such such balls kicked off. It provides more chance of offense position, better starting position, potential to more returns. So I love it. I love the XFL rule. I think this is great for the NFL. The old rule was just boring. No one ran it back. They kicked it out of bounds half the time, like kicked it out of the end zone half the time. It basically made the play pointless to even do. And I think this play not only protects the players, it makes it a viable option of a play now.
Pershin:Yeah. Yeah. I think that this was a pretty good idea from the NFL's standpoint. I think it was basically a no brainer for them because one, they do get to cut down on those sort of run down the field, full speed collisions that tend to have a little bit more of an injury rate. They get to, to, you know, take a look at a player's safety there, cut down on those incidents. And then on top of that, like you said, it became basically useless and where we were getting every now and then these huge, exciting splash plays. You know, we had a record low and kickoff returns for touchdown last year. And, you know, NFL's looking at the scoring going down the past couple years and they're just like, well, this at least has a chance to add some more excitement, some, something like that. And just in case anyone doesn't know what this means specifically is you're going to have the, the kickoff being kicked off, but then you're going to have everyone that's not the kicker. Literally on the 40 yard line of the receiving team. And then you're going to have that receiving team. They can't line up any further down than they're 35. So you're basically just getting five yards of separation before you have those collisions. Now, here's what I think is going to happen. I think for maybe the first few games, it's going to be very interesting, if not exciting, because everyone's going to want to see how this plays out, and I think you will get teams legitimately experimenting on both sides of the equation. My guess is that teams are actually going to get pretty good at running these back, because they're basically going to be It's going to be like a running back catching that ball and then having blocking schemes set up and it's going to have it's going to be like Blocking schemes like a running play, right? And so I think what will probably happen is eventually some teams will get burnt pretty bad by kicking it Actually kicking it, you know to the receiver and then every team is just gonna start kicking it out of the end zone Is what I think eventually will happen so it won't end up making a huge difference No, they have in that I can't kick it out of
Jason:the end zone The ball has to, the ball has to land in the landing area. So you have your lineup, your kicking area. The ball has to land in the 10 to in 10 yard liner to the end zone. Like if they cannot now, but you bring up a good point. You bring up a good point is most people would say, well, maybe the teams will just start kicking it out of bounds. And since. The odds of them starting past the 30 are pretty high. Anyway, we'll just go ahead and give them the 40 instead of the potential run back for a touchdown. So that'll be interesting to see what happens. I mean, Sean McVay had already said that he's excited to dial up some, some, some different plays for that. Like that's something that he thinks is fun and exciting in his. In his day to day that you know, he, he, he gets to create new players.
Pershin:So I, I apologize then I didn't understand. Exactly how it worked. Yeah, it's all good. And that, that really, that really changes it. And so now my prediction changes to, I'm pretty sure scoring is gonna go up because worst case scenario would be that most teams are now just starting from the 40, which is great field
Jason:position. Yeah. So, so you either get good field position or. A potential run back. So that's one exciting rule change. A couple, you know, nuanced rule changes is if you get a challenge, right, you don't have to get two of them right to get a third. You automatically get a third, even if you get one out of the two. Right? So even if you Get the first one wrong. You get the second one, right? You still get another challenge, which I, I, I don't know. I don't think that really matters.
Pershin:I love it. I don't hate it. I don't hate it. There are definitely coaches who are reluctant to throw the flag when they probably should, because they don't want to miss. I don't think
Jason:that this and make them throw up more.
Pershin:I think it will. I think it will. The fact that you just got to get one of them right will definitely help.
Jason:And then a couple of reviews. You can now review if the clock had been expired before the hike of the ball. You can review if the quarterback has been down, was down. Or out of bounds before he threw the ball. And then also the replay assistant can call down and overturn a ruling on the field, which I really like. We'll see how much that gets used. Cause you know how the NFL doesn't really like to overturn the referees on the field kind of thing. They, they love to have, like, they love to use the language, like. Oh, you know, the call stands or unruh, you know irrefutable evidence and shit like that, like just very vague,
Pershin:right? It has to be conclusive. And I, I agree with you. I think this is a really great change. And actually last season, there was a couple of really big plays where they got the ball off. After the clock went to zero and the refs just did not catch it. So I think every now and then you'll actually have a pretty big play coming back. So this would be a meaningful, a meaningful change in a good way where they'll, you know, they'll get it right. Even, even
Jason:green Bay had a few, I think they had a player or two where they got the ball off after the clock expired. And then trade deadline got extended to another week. A week further out, which is, which is, you know, this
Pershin:is great. Yeah. This is going to basically encourage more trading. I think more trading will happen. And this was specifically suggested by the Steelers. Who have had a number of injuries just before a trade deadline trades in the past three or four years So that makes sense and I do think by pushing it back a week You'll end up getting more action, which is always fun for the viewers. Absolutely
Jason:and then Yeah, the the big one the big rule change Which the coaches wanted the owners wanted the players did not want You Is the the banning of the hip drop tackle now this This grinds my gears because a I I hate the idea of banning Plays or banning certain forms of of tackling when you've already Banned so much. I mean, now our referees are already bad as they are. How are they going to be able to decide what was a hip drop tackle and what was a tackle from behind? Like, so if the defender can't hit him high, the defender can't hit him low. He can't, how do you drag down a 300 pound human being running at you full speed without falling to the ground? I just. Like yeah, this is it's
Pershin:just stupid. It's just like it's just dumb. This is gonna be a nightmare This is gonna be a nightmare. I mean we have seen how bad the officiating is Even when the rules are crystal clear and it's not left up to subjectivity. This is specifically going to be up to the individual officiating Officials discretion. I'm like, bro. That's so ridiculous. This is you're going to have every referee Calling this or not calling it in their own Style in their own frequency their own fashion. It's going to be a mess No one is going to know what to do or what not to do and on its face It's a bad idea anyway Here's the thing is that you're just making the game so unbelievably difficult for defenders who are trying to make tackles. You've got it to where you can't go up high. You can't go down low. And now you can't tackle them from behind. Well, dropping the hip, which is like, okay, that's ridiculous. Imagine that you're 189 pounds. You're trying to tackle Derek Henry from behind. How the hell are you going to stop him without dropping the hip? Like really seriously? He's just going to drag your for another 12
Jason:yards. He's going to eat. I mean, it's ridiculous.
Pershin:Just going to drag you. If you just, if you simply hold on to him, he'll drag your weight.
Jason:Coaches are all like, well, look at these specific plays. So they pull out five plays that, that like where the player got injured and they're like, look, see, this tackle is dangerous. And it's like you, you pulled out of court. Like, of course it is when all of the videos that you see. All of them get a hundred percent of the players get injured. I bet if you took out 500 of that 500 videos of a hip drop tackle and only five of them got injured. You would say, well, the percentages aren't really on your side. And that's the shit that just pisses me off. It's like, Oh, it's just like, how many more rules can we make to cover up shitty rules to begin with? Like if we didn't have to worry about hitting them high, hitting them low, guess what hip drop tackle probably wouldn't be a thing. You probably wouldn't have had that style of tackle, but because you put so many boundaries on where they can already fucking hit them as it is. Now you've got to put another boundary on an area in which it's basically the block and the charge of the NFL. It's up to whoever is calling the game and, you know, what they think a block or a charge is. What do they think a hip drop tackle is compared to the other person? You, you, it's, it's, it's an impossible thing to
Pershin:judge the thing. Yeah. The, the, the thing that I don't like about the philosophy is that, okay, it does appear to be true that there's a high rate or relatively high rate of injury on these kind of hip drop from behind sort of tackles or whatever. But the thing is, this is that. There's always going to be something that is the most dangerous play or the most frequently. Right. If you, if you figure out a way to stop that, then guess what? Now there's a new thing. That's the most dangerous and you're going to outlaw that. You're going to out, you're going to take that out of the game. You're going to take. Pretty soon we'll just be playing flag football. It's, it's, there's always going to be a thing with the highest rate. That's the problem I have with this philosophy is that there's always going to be something. So if you consistently say, Oh, this is the highest rate or the most dangerous for this particular sort of injury, then we need to take it out. Then you're always just going to be taking shit out every fucking offseason, because there's always going to be a I, whatever. And then when you combine that with the fact that the reason why it's the highest is because you already took out going, you know, going up top, you can't lead with the head, and when you're flying in game action for most defenders, that simply just means you can't try to go I ever. And then you can't cut a runner down. If someone's running with the ball, you can't cut them down. You can't go for the legs or whatever. So then you, you're stuck in this. You got to try to grab them at the center of their body or, or, you know, hit them in the center of their body somehow. And the easy, the easiest way to stop a defender's momentum when you're, when you're, you know, you know, rat grabbing them around their waist is to hip drop. That's it. That's, that's how you're going to step. If you can't do that, good luck stopping. I mean, it's a bunch of owners
Jason:who've never played the football, who've never played football and all they look at is their money being tackled.
Pershin:Yeah.
Jason:It's ridiculous. It's, and the
Pershin:thing is that even, even the offensive players recognize like, this is just ridiculous. It's going to be. Too hard for defenders to do their fucking job. Well, yeah, of course they recognize, they rely on defenders, too.
Jason:Like
Pershin:they have a whole other side of the The shitty part that I felt, the shitty part that I felt where the NFL went too far there was that, not that it's going to be a rule now, but they're like, oh, also there's gonna be fines attached to this, and it's like, what? You're going to start finding people for like, give me a break, dude. It's so hard to tackle as it is. It's just ridiculous.
Jason:It's ridiculous. My last gripe that I want to say on this is to the fans out there that go, Oh, well, these are human beings. They're not gladiators. They're not this, that, and the other. Yes, you're right. They are human beings, but at the same time, they sign on the dotted line, they put their name on there, they got paid for a service. They are not a gladiator. They are not a slave. They are not someone who's being forced to play football in any way, shape or form. Whereas a gladiator was a slave, someone who was forced. And did not get paid. These guys get paid millions upon millions of dollars. They sign their name to a deal that says I know I'm going to get hit. I know that I'm going to be injured and that's why I get paid 100 million dollars for a contract 20 million dollars guaranteed. That's why all of this is paid. So Yes, I am for player safety, but I am not for player safety when it fundamentally fundamentally takes away from the game because now it's not about player safety. It's just bullshit. You're just trying to make a way for the offense to score more points because that is what the NFL is believed to love and want that the fans want because of fantasy, betting, and money. This has nothing to do with player safety. It is all about money and gambling more points on the board means more fantasy points means more people love it means more people make money win money means more money to go all the way around this ain't got shit to do with safety and it's bullshit
Pershin:yeah i agree i mean i'm sure the the league would love to cut down on safety like Like all things being equal, but that's absolutely not the priority. I mean, they have proven that time and time again, hiding their own studies and their own internal information because they don't want people to know how brutal the game is. And yeah, it is a violent game. Everyone knows that, but it's kind of like, man, don't give me the like, Oh. It's too violent anyway talk when I go in my local fucking Applebee's and they're showing cage fighting like bro like
Jason:yeah Right those
Pershin:guys are the same fucking thing those dudes sign up and they they they are looking for that fame and that money When they do cage fight and they know that it's shits fucking brutal you know that it's dangerous and everything in between and it's just like If you think our society is way too violent, start with that shit. Don't start with the fucking football.
Jason:Oh, right. And the last rule that they voted on, that's worthy, the Tush Bush is here to stay. I ain't mad about it. Again, I hate banning it. So,
Pershin:yeah, I didn't, I didn't think it should be banned anyways. Well,
Jason:that's
Pershin:great.
Jason:All right. So onto the main topic of the day we're going to talk about the AFC East and the NFC East and all of their draft needs. So let's start with,
Pershin:Real quickly though, I did want to mention that they're, they're now giving an option. Instead of doing an onside kick, you could also do like a, a one play to get 20 yards. Yeah, that's the XFL rules. That's the XFL rules.
Jason:Yeah, they're not doing that for the NFL. Well, if, if they're doing it, they're adopting it from the XFL. The XFL had that rule. Yeah, no, I just, the, the whole kickoff rule for the XFL is, is being added in. That's, that's part of it.
Pershin:Okay. Well, like literally it's like in, instead of trying to do an on onsite kick to,
Jason:yeah,
Pershin:grab possession after you score, you got like a fourth and
Jason:20.
Pershin:You can, you can do a fourth and 20, which I think. Most teams will elect to do, which I think is going to make things more exciting.
Jason:I don't know, man. I don't think the odds are in the favor. Like I don't even, I just don't think anybody will onsite kick it or I mean, sure they'll versus onsite kicking. They'll go for that. Like that's a better situation. But also it depends on where you're at on the field. If you're on your own five yards, I mean, Oh, I guess it would be an onsite. So it would be in the middle of the field. I don't know. Because if you don't get it or you throw a
Pershin:pick six, I mean, we see plenty of teams going for the onsite kick. I think that they're willing to do that. Then they'll be willing to do the
Jason:fourth. I mean, I just don't think onsite kick was really prevalent last year So I just think yeah, okay Maybe you'll just see teams go for more on 4th and 20 like instead of just kicking. I just thought it was
Pershin:worth mentioning
Jason:That's all anyway.
Maaaaaaaaaaaain topic.
Jason:All right, so we'll start off. We'll just go ahead and go down the draft order For these teams, so we'll start off with Washington. They have the number two pick in the draft with, in my opinion, with some of the players that they've acquired in the offseason, the running back room is pretty solid. I don't really care for Mariota as a starter. And they were able to bolster that defense a little bit. You got to think right there, quarterback, like this is Drake may all day long. They don't. Right. They don't have a quarterback. They've got several picks in the third round, a couple of picks in the fifth. So you, you gotta think they'd be able to add maybe a wide receiver or defensive player is, is what I'm thinking in those picks. So QB is going to be my is would be my first pick for them. What are your thoughts on Washington? They got a lot of cap.
Pershin:Yeah, I, I think that Washington is in a pretty decent position, all things being considered, because They could go with one of these quarterbacks and I'm not necessarily sold that Drake Mays even going to go as the second quarterback. I think it legitimately could be Jaden Daniels, but either way, if they really love one of these quarterbacks, they could go there. They could also decide that they want to move down a spot or two, still take a quarterback and pick up a couple extra picks along the way. I think. That because they gave up Chase Young and Montez Sweat last year, and they didn't do that much to bolster the pass rush, I could really see them, you know, trading back and then getting one of these high profile pass rushers. A guy like Jared verse or Byron Murphy, something like that. I think that for their, their most needed positions, I think that it's obviously quarterback and then. After that point should probably be tight end and then should be those pass rushers. They could certainly use some help slash depth along the offensive line too, but I, I see them mostly trying to grab a quarterback. I think Jacoby Percet. Really not bad if you need him to start and if they wanted to do like a two year, three year plan, I think trading back, they could get a large haul for as many teams as they're trying to trade up this year.
Jason:Yeah. I mean, I don't know, man. I think they just desperately need quarterback. And, and with trading back, I mean, they would have to look at trading with another quarterback hungry team. So we'll, we'll see. I don't, I just don't think they're going to trade back, man. I think they're going to take a QB and two. They're just gonna stick where they're at. So we'll, we'll see what happens. As far as the next team up in the draft we'll look at new England. Patriots. They've got a number three team. In the draft number three pick craft has already come out and said that he, he wants a young quarterback. He wants a guy to, to take this franchise to the next level. you know, era. So you got to think that is quarterback all day long. For me, especially since they added KJ Osborne, Rondell Moore and free agency. So they added some wide receiver help, which is nice. I could see them still taking a wide receiver in the latter half of the draft just to kind of give them some more room. But I could also see, see a trade. I can see them trading up too. So what are your, what are your thoughts on the
Pershin:Patriots? I think they actually might be a team that trades down. I think that there's going to be a bunch of teams trying to get that third quarterback because that, that top tier is got, you know, some order of Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels, Drake May. And for some people, if you believe the hype, even JJ McCarthy, I don't, I don't know if I buy that. I think that we're basically in the period of the, of the cycle where everyone starts lying and a bunch of bad information gets leaked. I doubt that there's really that many teams that see JJ McCarthy in that light. That being said, I do think that they're going to have lots of interest in teams trading up to that spot. I do think that they're a good candidate to trade back. That being said, it's pretty obvious they need a quarterback. I could certainly see them taking a quarterback. I'm not at all impressed with the wide receivers they've brought in. I think the best wide receiver is probably just Kendrick Bourne. Maybe it's Demario Douglas. When you've got a whole team of third wide receivers, I think it makes a lot of sense to bring in Marvin Harrison, I wouldn't be shocked if they decide that they're just gonna go that route, but right
Jason:well That's what I'm saying, you know as far as I think is I think to get Marvin Harrison is they'll trade that that second round And in a later round to move up into a second pick in the first round to get, not necessarily Marvin Harrison, but to get another. Yeah, I think that they could trade up into from the second round, their second round pick. Like they're going to take that first round pick that they already have And they could trade up into the first round to get another skill position player. Oh, to go with that quarterback.
Pershin:Yeah. Yeah. I think they desperately need some pass rush too. I could see them taking an edge defender and the first couple of rounds too. I think that's a real possibility. You don't think their defense
Jason:was already good enough to like, I mean that first round is locked and loaded for quarterback, right? You think they're going to take
Pershin:something
Jason:at first? I think
Pershin:that's the most likely thing. I think that's the most likely thing, but I don't think it's locked and loaded at all. I think. Again, I think there's a good chance that they end up trading back. Not, not like a ton of spots, but trading back and then getting themselves a Malik neighbors Marvin Harrison, if he's still there, something like that. And then, and then also getting like a bone eggs, Michael panic, something like that, taking a shot at QB, but they need so much help that they could be. Literally like, okay, we're going to be a two or three year plan.
Jason:Right. I'll tell you why that's not going to happen here when we get to the jets. So I, I like, I like your ideas and I, that could certainly be a possibility, but let's get to the, let's get to the next team. So we've got the New York giants. They've got the number six pick currently in the draft. They've only got like one pick per round outside of the seventh round. I felt like they got quite a few good pieces in free agency. But they did lose a little bit. I, I, I too think, how do you knock a quarterback at the number six pick? Because Daniel Jones, isn't it? You know, what do you think?
Pershin:Yeah. Yeah. I, I agree with you all of the sort of. Rumblings that we've been hearing is that they're out on Daniel Jones, that they no longer see him as the future. And in fact, they might decide to save a few dollars and just make him a post June 1st cut, which would certainly be spicy there. You, you literally just have drew lock. I think that they're absolutely a candidate. To take a quarterback. And if I was them, I probably would. A lot of people feel like, Oh man, they really, really desperately need wide receivers. I don't think that they're actually as bad at wide receiver as what we think. I think that their quarterback play and especially their offensive line play was so bad last year that it just made all the receivers look really bad. And in fact, that. When they got a chance that Darius Layton was solid and that Jalen Hyatt was solid and especially oh God, I'm forgetting his name now, but the, the small slot guy that they had was, he looked especially good, was very good at getting open quickly And I'm just blanking on his name right now, but, but at any rate, I, I don't think they need a wide receiver as badly as most people do. I think that they could definitely use some cornerback help. And as I already mentioned, really, really use some offensive line health. So I think that they're going to end up focusing on, if not quarterback, then it's going to be like Joe Alt. And it's, it's maybe it'll be a cornerback like Terry and Arnold, something like that. But. But basically it's going to be quarterback, offensive line. And cornerback.
Jason:Okay. Yeah. I don't really know what else, what else, like, I just don't know what the giant they, it's just, you know, they're that kind of team that has like, they have a certain style of quarterback. Like they always are going to have an Eli Manning style quarterback. So it'll be interesting to see who, who they take. Yeah. Anyway, moving up, we've got the New York jets at number 10. And so, like I said earlier, I think. That there is a possible trade. And I think. That the Jets will trade with the Chargers and move up to the fifth pick of the draft from the 10th position. And I think they're going to take Marvin Harrison Jr. here to go with Garrett Wilson because I think that they think that they have the team, like they, they have the quarterback, they have the team. The air Rogers is going to make a push. And so I think they're going to try to get him as many pieces as possible to make that push. So and I also think there, there's an old line discrepancy there. I think boxy Ari's going to go there. So I think they're going to be okay with a line, or at least if they're going to think they're okay with a line, because we all know that injury prone ass motherfucker So yeah, what's your thoughts on the Jets?
Pershin:I think it's pretty obvious that they really need tackle and I think that rather than Trading upwards. They're probably gonna have a lot of them available at the 10th spot Like it could be that none of the tackles have come off yet at that point which they would literally have their pick whichever guy They like better Whether it's Joe Ault, there's Olufashano Thalys Fuago, there's several guys that are all in that upper tier. And I, I think that they could go offensive line. They should go offensive line. I think what might end up happening is they might end up being the team that takes Brock Bowers. You know, I think that. It's, it's, it's an, it's a need for them. I don't think they need tight end as much as they need offensive line. But Brock Bowers is this guy that a lot of teams are just so high on that, you know, he could go on the top 10. So I think that with that. That first round spot, I expect them to go there. I think either way, they're going to add to the depth of the O line throughout this draft and also take a shot on a tight end at some point throughout this, this draft. I think that we'll end up seeing them literally take three or four offensive line pieces as well as probably like a third or fourth or fifth round wide receiver. The wide receiver clap is a big thing. Classes very deep. So we'll, we'll see teams that want to add depth, do that in those later rounds. And that's kind of what I'm expecting from them. I think it's pretty interesting idea that you had though. I think that would be exciting.
Jason:Yeah, well, well, hopefully it'll come true. So I look like a genius. Football genius right here. Oh, I'll definitely give you your flowers. If that, you heard it here first populous. All right. Moving up to the, we went from the early beginning of the draft to the latter half of the draft. We're headed to Miami at the number 21 pick. In my opinion, this entire draft should be nothing but focus on defense, defense, defense. They lost a lot. They lost a lot of talent defensively. They had a lot of injuries at the end of last season. They need death desperately. Offense is fine. Offense doesn't need any help. Not in this draft. This draft needs to be defensive focused, or they need to do something to trade up in order to get. Or trade back into later more picks in the second round. Cause they don't have any picks in the third or the fourth round. So it's like, I just feel like they need to, they need to do something defensively.
Pershin:Yeah, I saw that too. I actually think they're in a pretty bad spot here because They're one of these teams that ran into salary cap hell and had to let go of some talent And they kind of got some holes going on here. I disagree with you that the offense is fine though I think they need some offensive line help and I think that they they still need a third option as a wide receiver, you know, they really just have Waddle and Tyreek Hill, both of whom have shown a propensity to get injured. So I think that that wide receiver, and again, they don't need to do it in the first round because wide receiver class is deep. You could find usable pieces third, fourth, fifth, sixth round of this. You know, in this draft, but I think that they, they should definitely do something about offensive line. And I agree with you that they need to address pass rush. Still, they, they brought in a couple of dudes, but pass rushes is a need of theirs. And so I could see them doing that maybe in the first round.
Jason:Yeah. Well, I mean, I just feel like the offense is good enough. Like, it's not like, sure, they need to get some pieces, but like, I just felt like they lost so much defensively that I feel like the offense could get by with not being a priority, but still addressing the offense, but not necessarily its main focus. Next up, we got Philadelphia, the Eagles at number 22. And once we once thought this team was, was a Superbowl team. And last year they, they got, I mean, they won a lot of games, but they, they didn't look good for, for a good portion of the year, especially in the playoff. You know, it got rid of a running back or upgraded also, but it got rid of one, but also upgraded in big, big, big, big ways. With Saquon Barkley they picked up some people on the defense. So they, they did okay in the free agency and they got a lot of picks in the fifth round. So maybe they've run it back and add some depth because of what they've already picked up in free agency. Like, I mean, Saquon Barkley adds 14 points to the team already.
Pershin:Now, I actually couldn't remember, but I want to say they actually did trade away their first rounder. Is that right, or do they have it?
Jason:I'm not seeing that currently. I'm seeing them on all the mock drafts, I still see them at 22.
Pershin:Oh, okay. Alright. So, my guess would be that they really want to bolster that secondary. 22 spot. I think in the first round, there's a really good chance that they go either cornerback or safety because I mean, basically every piece of that. You know, that that backend on defense let them down last year underperform a hundred percent. So I, I think that, you know, who, whoever ends up falling to 22 between Terry and Arnold and Nate Wiggins Quin Mitchell, I think if any of those guys are available at 22, then they probably jump on that. I certainly would've. I was
Jason:you know, I'm a sucker for clips and guys, so Nate Wiggins, I mean, best corner in the draft in my opinion, but. biased
Pershin:Hey, I will say nate nate wiggins was the fastest one for being a pretty big size Hey, he's he can get down the fucking field So he sure can it was pretty cool to see him tear it up tear it up at the combine and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being the first Cornerback off the board.
Jason:Well, I hope so for all those clemson fans out there. All right moving on to america's team cowboy nation Dallas Cowboys. My only notes for that really are just improve, maybe bolster that defensive depth and you know, replace the running back they lost. Otherwise I don't, I don't really see them needing to do much.
Pershin:Yeah, they definitely need running back. It's unfortunate because this is not necessarily the class. To find that guy, they lost multiple running backs. The, they actually, they've got Deuce Vaughn and that's the only running back on, on the team at this, at this moment, I, I guess what they're going to do is that they're going to take multiple shots, maybe draft two or three of these guys, you know, in the later rounds and just. You know, see who stands out and maybe they'll bring a guy in or make a trade or something, but they definitely need to do something at the running back position. And I'm not a big. Hey, go draft a running back guy. But given their situation, yeah, you should probably draft some running. Well, it's like, what
Jason:do
Pershin:you look
Jason:at it? Like, what are running backs? Are you an available, like, let me see what we got here. See if I can find something all right. So running backs, you got available. I mean, Texas, Jalen, right. Blake quorum. I mean, those are your top three. And I mean, you know, those guys are great, but they didn't blow the doors off the college football world.
Pershin:All right. So for Dallas, I could see them picking up a wide receiver or two as well. They lost Michael Gallup and really the only second option that they have as a reliable guy is Brennan Cooks. He's getting up there in age and he had a pretty sizable dip in efficiency the past two seasons. So I think he's just, you know, On the back half of his career so that they, they could end up picking up a wide receiver or two in the draft as well.
Jason:Well, there's also that talk between, you know, Dak Prescott and like, is he the quarterback of the future for Dallas or is he going to end up looking to go somewhere else? You know, like, so there you know, don't be shocked maybe because this is the draft. I think he's entering the final year of his career. Cause this is the draft for quarterbacks. Don't be shocked if they trade Dak Pescat away.
Pershin:Oh man. Oh man. That would be so spicy. Oh man. I think he is entering the final year of his current contract, so. It's not, it's not necessarily crazy for them to think, well, we just haven't seen enough or he can't get us over that hump or whatever. I don't think he's been a bad quarterback, but, you know, he has been a liability, especially in some of the bigger games. You never know what Jerry Jones, man, that would be pretty amazing.
Jason:Oh yeah, for sure. And then moving on the last team that we're going to talk about tonight the Buffalo bills at number 28. I believe they upgraded a little bit at wide receiver, adding Curtis Samuel in there. Otherwise. Maybe a little offensive line help and I think otherwise you go after defense for the Buffalo Bills just kind of Bolster up that defense a little bit more.
Pershin:Yeah, we're seeing this the same way on this one. I think that cornerback and tackle are the most likely to Positions for them to target in the first couple of rounds. I do think that with Damien Harris announcing retirement a couple of days ago, and you know, Latavius Murray being 85 years old or whatever he is, I think that in the mid rounds or on day three, they go ahead and take a couple of shots at running back to add some depth. They, they want something behind James Cook. I'm sure they want more than just Naeem Hines. I think technically Naeem Hines is still on the roster, but I could see them, you know, fucking with running back at some point, I think for the first round or two, though, I think it makes a lot of sense for them to try to get a tackle upgrade or cornerback upgrade. Basically ever since they lost Stradavius White, they haven't quite made up that difference in the, in the Secondary. So that's what I expect would happen here.
Jason:Awesome. Awesome. Well, well, we hope that these teams do exactly what we sell them to do because. We know all right version. We're the, we're the gurus. At least that's what we like to tell
Pershin:ourselves. Hey, listen, if you're a smart fan, then you're hoping that ownership of your team is a smart owner, which means they're listening to this podcast and they're taking notes. Okay.
Jason:Taking notes. We'll see. Speaking of smart fans, the next segment we got up is we're going to talk a little bit about a skill position as it relates to fantasy, fantasy football. So tonight we're, Oh, there we go. That gets Persian off. This is what makes Persian feel, feel something. So tonight let's hit up the tight ends, man. What do you like about a, maybe the upcoming tight ends of the draft are a whole lot or B, you know, tight ends that have maybe changed teams or what, you know, what, what is the outlook on tight ends for fantasy football this upcoming season?
Pershin:Yeah, well, I think not a toad has changed via free agency we already touched on in an earlier episode about johnny smith And I think he's actually a dark horse to be pretty productive for fantasy this year going to the dolphins who? Had nothing besides durum smite there before I will say, As we preview these classes, you know for the 2024 draft, tight end is really the thinnest one. There's just not much there. It's going to be quick tonight because there's just not many dudes to talk about, but basically you've got an elite prospect in Brock Bowers who Literally, I expect to go in the first 10, 12 picks of the draft and then you have a huge drop off. You've got Jatavian Sanders, who some people's tied into. You've got Theo Johnson, who's just an athletic freak, who might be some people's tied into. I think that Theo, Theo Johnson and Jatavian Sanders have a good chance of going day two. And then the only other dudes to speak of are gonna be Day three guys, you're just going to be blocking tight ends that we just don't really care about for fantasy. And you've got, you know, sort of developmental prospects. You've got Cade Stover. I expect to go at some point in the draft. I think that Jaheim Bell will go at some point in the draft. Who's also a little bit of an athletic freak, but basically the guys that I'm interested in are Brock Bowers, Brock Bowers, and then Brock Bowers. That's basically it. It'll be really. Interesting to see where he, where he ends up going. He's going to be the sort of tight end who works out of the slot a lot, which is always nice for fantasy. And I think if he goes to, let's say the chargers who super need any pass catchers, or if he goes to the jet, or, or if he goes to the jets, that is going to be a pretty good fit. And we're going to be excited about that. I think that for most other spots, it's going to be, eh, we'll see. We'll see. But I would be bumping him up my rankings based on. If he goes to one of those two teams, other than that, I will say that my favorite tight end out of, out of this class is definitely Theo Johnson. You guys have heard me talk about this before, but they've got something called the Raz, which is the relative athletic score. And this dude is literally hundredth percentile. He is literally the best. for his size, for his height and his weight. What I think is cool about Theo Johnson is he's not only the biggest tight end that's expected to be drafted, he's also the fastest tight end that's expected to be drafted. That's amazing. He didn't do much in the way of production when he was at Penn State. He's a developmental kind of guy, but I think that Having that kind of size and speed combination is always going to be interesting. And most of the Titans that we've seen be huge for fantasy have been these type of guys, whether it's Mark Andrews or it's Travis Kelsey. We've seen this now with LaPorta and Trey McBride. These guys have a relative athletic scores.
Jason:And what what are you talking about? My green bay guy, man You're gonna act like you and what which part you ain't even gonna act like you just you're just gonna skip
Pershin:over And luke musgrave luke. Yeah, actually that's a good example that he is also he is also very big and very fast and We've seen for most of the huge fantasy production that come from titans They basically have to be in the, you know, above 90 percent on this relative athletic score. And this guy is an absolute physical freak. So, hopefully, someone can get him in and let him work on his craft for a year or two and then he explodes. But, we'll see about that. It's basically the Brock Bowers show, and that's really all we can say about the Titans, fantasy wise.
Jason:It's crazy. Brock Bowers, man, that he's the best tight end in the game college football wise. And quite frankly, it's like, you're kind of looking to search for a spot to put them in the first round almost though. You know what I mean? Like as I'm looking at a mock draft 1. 0, like I'm looking in like the top 12 picks and I'm like, man, that's hard to put them there. And he, I think he's worthy of a top 12 pick, but there, So many teams need so many things and tied in is not one of them for so many teams because it's just not. And so it's just like, it's almost just, he could be a late first round, potentially slide the day to Brock Bowers. I don't think he will. I don't, I don't know. I don't think he will, but I'm just saying, like, I would not be shocked based on the team needs and based on, you know, cause not a lot of teams use tight ends like green Bay does, or the Patriots do, or the Steelers do, you know, things like that. Like, you know, or the, or the chiefs do like tight ends aren't, you know, necessarily it, they are becoming more of a factor. You know, with the addition of LaPorta and like you said. With like Kelsey and, and, you know, Gronk, you know, revolutionizing the position, so to speak as a pass catching position, but still there's, there's so few and far between in the draft. Sometimes you get one.
Pershin:Yeah. I, I do think it, it will matter for fantasy. There's such a. A huge correlation between draft capital and then the production particularly in the first couple years So I do think it matters if he goes to like I said one of those top spots if he ends up Being drafted by the chargers or the jets or if a trade or if a team trades up and takes him if he does slide to the back half or god forbid day two then yeah You got to adjust expectations for the first couple seasons, but I do think he has the kind of profile where people will be excited. I think he'll end up going in the first dozen picks or so, but we'll see. It'll be interesting.
Jason:We will see. Yeah, so that, that kind of puts a, puts, puts the show to rest. What I did want to leave y'all with. One extra note. It's fucking Wrestlemania season, and if you're not watching wrestling right now, you are missing out Oh Lord on some of the best stuff since the late 90s early 2000s attitude era and I'm personally just super excited. It's sports entertainment. So it belongs on this podcast WrestleMania, along with surfing April and e sports. Exactly. There you go. So WrestleMania, April 5th and six, two day event, the rock will be there probably for both nights. Little kid inside me is just loving it and also go tigers. See uh, adios.
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