We got a fun episode this week. The Fantasy Uncle and the OG go over part 3 of our draft coverage, discussing the AFC and NFC North teams and the QB class coming in this year. Well also discuss March madness finals, Scandals, and more.
We got a fun episode this week. The Fantasy Uncle and the OG go over part 3 of our draft coverage, discussing the AFC and NFC North teams and the QB class coming in this year. Well also discuss March madness finals, Scandals, and more.
Welcome, welcome, welcome to another week of the Pine Pony podcast. It's a special week because that's right. We had a recording mishap last week. So you get two episodes this week. Good stuff. Good stuff. You get the more of us, you get the better. But either way, what we have with us. Is myself, the OG Strangston and the fantasy uncle, Mr. Persian. What's happening?
pershin:Howdy. Glad to be back. Glad to be back twice in the same day, apparently. So that's cool. You get a double dip.
Jason:The old double dipper. So what we're going to talk about today on this show is. The results of March Madness, the NCAA tournaments are over. The Masters round one started today. And some other of the latest news in sports entertainment today. So without further ado, let's start the show.
The Pony Pony Podcast.
Jason:So I want to congratulate starting off with the NCAA tournament. I want to congratulate UConn men going back to back championships. Yukon men, dude, they they've got like six or seven NCAA titles, man. They're low key. Like just one of the teams that is consistently like they take a couple of years off and then boom, they're right back in the mix. Well, this year they won, they won two in a row. So,
pershin:yeah, I feel like, you know, historically they haven't been considered in the same realm as the other blue bloods. Talk about like North Carolina, Kansas, Duke, whatever,
Jason:Kentucky's
pershin:in there for sure. But I feel like, you know, give it another five or 10 years and people are just going to be like, yeah, they're, they're one of the, the standard teams that you could look at. You know, not just year in and year out, but like decade in a decade out,
Jason:right? Yeah, absolutely. And then, you know, what else is interesting to me is that, you know they're one of the few teams that have a men's and a women's basketball team that are just all really, really good. Oh yeah. I mean, the women's is already
pershin:a blue blood over there, so they're, they're just corner in the basketball market these days.
Jason:Speaking of Kentucky, John Calipari is headed to Arkansas. He's leaving Kentucky to go coach at Arkansas for less money. 7 million instead of eight.
pershin:Yeah. I, my suspicion here is that they were, they were literally like, Hey, you know, We're done here. And do you want to resign? And, and, you know, Wow. Be in the driver's seat of the narrative or whatever? Or are we going to have to force you out? I literally think that he knew he was on the way out. At the very least, I think they were honest with him that like, hey, You're kind of on a hot seat. Cause the thing is that most Kentucky fans are already at the, at that place where they're just like, man, you know, consistently putting kids in the NBA, which I guess is cool, but what have they, what have, what have they done in the tournament? I mean, a couple like sweet 16s and that's it. Well, I mean,
Jason:they missed the tournament last year. They had a final four appearance this year and and a final four appearance the year before. Yeah, but like for, but for Kentucky standards, that's like, you know, low hanging fruit, like they expect to be in the title game
pershin:every year, especially with his name and the recruiting that he can get done. And, you know, when he took that job, the initial press conference, he literally mentioned like, oh, you know, might might be like a 1 or 2 season thing before we're before we're at peak Kentucky or however he worded it. It's like, woo, it's been a shitload more than one or two now, you know? And like,
Jason:yeah,
pershin:the fans are definitely frustrated. So I think that they literally told him like, Hey, look, You're, you know, you're, you're on the hot seat now or they're like, you know, we need you to resign or we're going to have to push you at something like that. I think that's why this went down like that. I think that's what that's what this is because on paper, this just doesn't make much sense for him. You know?
Jason:Yeah. Well, from one hall of fame coach to another Don Staley with the South Carolina Gamecocks getting another title. I mean, incredible, incredible undefeated season. Second title in three years, third title in what? Five years. I think I mean, we're, this is a dynasty and they don't seem to be going anywhere because the only person not returning from this team next year is Cardoza. So basically you have the entire team returning, plus two more McDonald's, all Americans coming on as freshmen, right? Like this team is absolutely stacked from top to bottom. They're the only women's team with depth. And every other team that you look at, Iowa, Kaitlyn Clark is leaving LSU, angel Reese is leaving. Like all of these big name players are all going to the WNBA or. Three man, three on three league. So yeah, I look for the Gamecocks to do it again.
pershin:It's almost too bad that all the sort of headline grabbing girls have are, they're leaving now at the same time. But on the other hand, it's like, well. That WNBA could use some headlines. Like, let's be real. So it's kind of good for them.
Jason:And they already got it. I mean, Diana Taurasi was like, just wait till Caitlin gets to the WNBA. Like she's going to be playing against quote unquote, like real athletes. I don't know. Like, what, what does that even mean? It just seems like she's just being like a hater.
pershin:Yeah, that doesn't mean anything to me. They haven't grown dicks yet. Right?
Jason:No, I don't get it. Yeah. So anyway. That's all we have for the NCAA tournament. Next up we, the Masters started today, Tiger Woods, not doing so bad. I mean, granted every tee time was delayed because of all the rain that came through the night before. But you know, he's in the mix. They didn't finish the round, so they'll finish the round tomorrow morning and then they'll play another round after that. Which is very taxing, especially if you're walking. So hopefully Tiger woods will have a, have a good round. I'm hoping for it. But right now in the lead is Bryson DeChambeau at minus seven and Scotty Scheffler at minus six. Who's the favorite Scotty Scheffler. So, you know, Augusta national looking beautiful as ever. I mean, what else can you expect? Put some ice on those azaleas till they bloom for April. You know, any thoughts on golf Persian?
pershin:I'm afraid not. I respect it. People have fun doing it. People have fun watching it. I, I, I couldn't, I could never get into it myself. I, I think it's great though. Do it, do
Jason:it. To be fair. I only watch if Tiger Woods is playing. Yeah. Yeah. Otherwise I just, I just don't have anyone else to root for. Like I just, I haven't grabbed on to anyone where I'm like, Oh, I really liked that person's style or like, you know, I mean, there's a couple of guys that I like, but nothing that, Will make me watch others in Tiger Woods.
pershin:Yeah. It's crazy how much he moves the needle. I remember a couple of years ago, I remember a couple of years ago, you know, read an article about how he's not necessarily that relevant for most of the things he shows up for, but if he does ever show up for it, it really moves the needle ratings wise. So it's just like, he wasn't just the dominant guy in his prime. I mean, he's just. Head and shoulders, the golf story ever, which is insane.
Jason:I mean, there's some guys that, that people really, really like the golf guys that they really, really enjoy, but he is the only one that will transcend to just media in general. Yeah,
pershin:I think he's like, he's not just. Like what Taylor Swift will do for certain football games, but he is literally Taylor Swift who plays the football game. You know what I mean? Like he, exactly. So it's like,
Jason:exactly. He is the Taylor Swift of golf for sure. Yeah. There's no other, I'm okay. That's ever come close. And some, and then get into some more shocking news. OJ Simpson is dead at 76 of cancer. You know, for some people that's a sad day for what seems to be a lot of people on social media, apparently he had it coming. I don't know why anyone has death coming to their door, but
pershin:I guess if you want to be salty. I just feel like he was lucky that you can't catch cancer of the morals. You know what I mean? You can't catch cancer of the, of
Jason:the, Oh my God. I mean, if the coffin, the coffin ain't great, you must cremate. That's all I'm saying. Like, I just hope his coffin's big enough. That's it. Like that would be hilarious. But I mean, Hey, he moved the needle on Ford Broncos. Okay. He was the needle mover on Broncos. Like people are like, yo, see in a Bronco, I can outrun the police, but see, in this other Toyota four runner, you're telling me I can, I can just ride around in the desert, see the Bronco is real life situations and that's what car commercials should be focusing on is real life situations is all I'm saying. If you want to run from the police, the Bronco is the way to go. Not me, but if you were somebody who wanted to do that. He's showing you the blueprint, I suppose. Right, exactly. And then from one scandal to another, Shohei Otani. I mean, this thing is juicier and juicier, it
pershin:gets, it looks worse and worse for all parties involved with each new bit of information. Right? Like, right. Does anyone look the least bit defensible more so than they did two weeks ago? I don't think so.
Jason:No. And let, let me bring this, this up. Cause I, I screenshotted it earlier when it, when I saw it, So this, this translator placed 19, 000 wagers, over 40 million in net loss. And apparently he stole 16 million from Shohei Ohtani. There's no way Shohei Ohtani is not a part of this, right? Like, how do you not notice 16 million is gone?
pershin:I think it's, it's obvious he's a part of it. I think what I'm hesitant to say is that, well, he was the one doing the illegal gambling via this guy. I don't know, but I do know that he was aware, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, I think
Jason:he was giving this guy the money. I think I don't even know that he was betting.
pershin:I think at the, at the very least he knew exactly what was up and he was completely fine with it. He was just, you know I guess you could say ignorant enough to think that Oh, this will never get out. This is just fine. You know, personal checks from my own bank account and shit. Like that's wild, dude. Yeah. Like just, just fucking register a Coinbase or something. Jesus.
Jason:So, you know, we'll see how that goes, how that plays out, whether Shohei Ohtani just to, you know, gets a slap on the wrist or what it has, has it come out as to what exactly he was gambling on? Like, was it baseball or was it just in general? It was like porch betting or just all kinds of shit
pershin:was a ton of different shit. It was actually a ton of different shit, including baseball, though. Baseball was part of it.
Jason:Yeah. So that, I mean, that could be, that's, that's that could be a big deal. Yeah. Yeah. That, that could be Pete Rose type
pershin:type shit. You would think so. I have heard the takes that, oh, well actually the MLB, like. views it slash would handle it differently these days than they did back then. But I mean, I don't know if I buy that because if that were true, they would, they would just reinstate Pete Rose, right?
Jason:Yeah. Why wouldn't they at least put them in the Hall of Fame? I mean, the guy was a hell of a player.
pershin:So it doesn't, I don't, I don't know that I buy that they're ready to handle it any differently. I don't, I don't know, but I, I think that eventually he should definitely be punished in some way for this, but I, we just have to be patient because it's going to be well,
Jason:we'll see where they decide to put the money. All right. And then moving on to our big topic of the day, the draft part three continuation of our four part series. Where we go over each division of the draft of teams in the draft. So this week we'll do the AFC and the NFC North, and we'll start off with the NFC North. And we'll start with the number one pick, the bears. So they have, in the first round, the one, the nine, and then they pick again in the third and the fourth round, and that's all they got. So they don't have a lot of picks to go through, so they really need to make sure that the ones that they do pick are absolute bangers. Unless they want to be stuck in bear's purgatory hell. Like they have been for the last decade or so, since Jay Cutler went to the playoffs or something like that, which I'm totally fine with owning them as a Packers fan, totally fine with just continuing that lease. I mean, Jordan Love, the transfer has already happened from Aaron Rogers to Jordan Love. So one thing I do think that they could do here. They're going to take quarterback number one. They need to do that. Right. But that number nine pick, man, I'd like to see them trade that a little bit, maybe move that for a little bit more picks since they have so little amount of picks. Like they could get, you know, a couple of maybe a late first and early second out of someone or, you know, three picks. I don't know. Yeah. That's what I feel
pershin:like they're going to do
Jason:or what they should.
pershin:I love that idea. I mean, you know me, I'm pro just collecting value, just collecting value. I, I, you know, I think almost every team should be trading back, should be trying to trade back at all times. I mean, I know sometimes you're just not going to find people who want to give you much to trade up. You don't necessarily always have a partner, but you know, that is how you collect value and take shots. And yeah, I'm
Jason:looking at Vegas as the, as a potential trade partner. Cause I know they want to, they want to move up. I
pershin:do think it's probably likely that they sit there and that they do. Take like an edge defender. They traded a second round for Montez Sweat, which is fine. He's a pretty good player, but they still need more help on the defensive line, either interior or edge. So I bet that they try to get like a Byron Murphy a verse, you know, like a Jared verse could go there. And certainly you got to think that If what's his face is still sitting there. I'm blanking out Dallas Turner. You got to think of Dallas Turner still sitting there at nine, that they would jump on that. So that's
Jason:kind of what I expect them to do. It's crazy. That's what you have them taken at nine. If they were to stay at nine. Yeah. Yeah. I like a wide receiver there.
pershin:See, I was thinking that too, cause I was like, you know, the Keenan Allen thing is really just a one year thing right now. And so maybe they not only could they use like a, a better third sort of option, but they probably want a future second guy anyways, alongside DJ. So, I could see them doing that for sure. Like if Rome falls to nine, I could totally see that. But again, I, I, I agree with you that. It makes a lot of sense for Neighbor back. No, no. I think neighbors, I think teams are just gonna fall in love with neighbors, I think, honestly. Well'cause see, here's the thing. Who, here's, here's what, here, I bet you a quarter of the league, I bet you a quarter of these teams have neighbors literally ahead of Barbara Harrison, Jr.
Jason:Yeah, well, that's what I was gonna say. It could go Malik Neighbors or Marvin Harrison, Jr. Either way, I think one of those, if not the other one will be there because. The way I'm looking at it, your first three picks are quarterbacks. Arizona, I still haven't figured out what they're going to do it for.
pershin:No, Arizona's Marv. Why would they not take Marv? They're taking Marv. Why would they not? The only wide receiver of note on their
Jason:team right now is Right. I'm just, right. That's fine. That's fair. We'll get into that later, but I'm just saying, I, I, I personally don't know what they're doing. Cause I just haven't looked at them and then, you know, I mean, I've got the fifth is it could be the wide receiver, the first wide receiver, if not Arizona, then you got New York giants, probably going to take a QB. Tennessee's going to take an offensive tackle or QB or QB Atlanta. That could be your other wide receiver spot or Dallas Turner could go there. And then that leaves Chicago with Romeo Roma dues. They. Or Marvin Harrison or Malik neighbors who, whoever, either one of those are flippy flop to me, but we'll see, we
pershin:will see.
Jason:All right. Moving on from the bears. We'll go to the Vikings, the Minnesota Vikings. They got a bevy of picks. They've got nine, nine picks total 11 and 23 in the first round. So that's pretty, that's pretty sweet for them. I mean, good news for them. I still think they have a lot of good pieces on offense that they can build around. And so if they can quarterback might be the spot for them in the first, at least the first pick, because. I mean, they've already got the wide receivers there, you know, they, they've got the pieces in place. They really just need a guy to throw the fucking ball. So I mean, I think this could be a Michael Pennix Jr. or JJ McCarthy landing spot at the, at the 11th. And then with the 23rd pick, I think they, they'll go with like offensive linemen and things like that to, to kind of help the, the young quarterback. But yeah, I mean, Minnesota is kind of, they're just, they're not rebuilding. They're just kind of adding the pieces back together.
pershin:Yeah. I think that as far as what I expect them to do, I absolutely expect them to trade up. I think the reason why they made the trade, the trade with With Houston to get Houston's first round pick is because they knew that they're going to need two first round picks this year to go up high enough to get in those top three. I think they really want one of those top three quarterbacks. And I think that they have enough firepower to do it. I think that they're probably going to say, all right, you get both of our first rounds. Plus a second next year, or maybe even another version next year, something like that
Jason:way too much for one of those three.
pershin:Yeah, that's why, that's why I preface that by saying this is what I think that they're going to do. This is not what I, what I think this is not what I would recommend that they do. Right? Right. I'm almost always against teams trading up. I'm almost always for teams trading back because over the span of time, almost,
Jason:almost motherfucker. You are always for.
pershin:Not always. I mean, if they're, if the team you're trading with is, is not charging you that much of a premium to go get your guy, then sometimes it's all right. You know, if you're taking shots on a quarterback and you're trading up and you're not losing that much value to take a shot on a quarterback that I, sometimes I think that's actually a good idea just because if you do happen to hit that quarterback, the upside and the money that you could save down the line is just, is worth it, is worth it. But in general. Don't sell the farm for your chance, you know, to get, to get a, a really good QB prospect. Cause I mean, the thing is that a lot of times the reason why you're in that boat is because your team's not that good. And then you're going to give up so much resources that even if that quarterback is good and you do kind of hit on him, your, your team's probably still not good enough around him. Right. And then a lot of times. The quarterback himself is at a disadvantage and then they are not good themselves because they don't have enough around them. And you, you basically give up on them too. A lot of times, I don't know, but what I do expect them to do is go up to like that third spot. The Patriots have signaled that they're open to offers. They're probably going to want to charge a jillion dollars. But I can see the Patriots pulling the trigger if the Vikings offer them enough. I do think that the Vikings do have enough. And I think that they've got a decent team around whoever would be the quarterback. So that's what I'm expecting to happen. Now, what I think they should do is just sit there at 11. If McCarthy falls to them, go ahead and take a shot on him. I personally am not that high on him, but I bet that they are. They could take a shot on a guy like him. They could trade back. You know, and, and now they've got multiple first, multiple seconds. They could just take shots. They could literally take a bone X and appendix. Maybe they could, they could take a couple offensive linemen. They could take a defensive lineman. You know what I'm saying? I, I would not go crazy to go up and get one of these quarterbacks that are question marks. You know what I mean? It would be one thing. You can get,
Jason:I know what you mean.
pershin:It would be one thing if you could get all the way up to Caleb, but that's just, that's not happening. Chicago's already, you know, shown their hand. That's,
Jason:dude, I think Caleb's going to be a boss, man.
pershin:Really? I think that there's a good chance he could disappoint, but I think by disappoint, I just mean that he's not going to be the next big thing that he'll just be kind of okay. And I think for most people that would count as a bus, but I don't think he's going to actually be bad. I think there's anyone is smart.
Jason:They'll be drafted Michael Penix Jr.
pershin:Oh
Jason:man. Been riding that train all last season. Riding that train again. This is my pick.
pershin:We are going to preview the QB class later. So we'll just save that for now. But that's what I expect them to do. I really think they're going to trade up and get one of those top three quarterbacks. And they're good. They're definitely good. They're just gonna take random shots on depth pieces in the back half of the of the draft.
Jason:Sounds like a great plan. Take random shots. That's one of my, that's what I love about my team. They don't take random shots. We calculate it. All right, well moving on from the random shot Vikings to the not so random shot Detroit Lions. Man, I mean, 29th pick first two rounds, if I were them, all they need to me is just a few pieces. I would trade that first round pick back, get more picks in the second round, do all of my work in the second and third rounds and call it a day. I mean, I think they only really need, they could use a wide receiver and a cornerback. So I think I think they could get what they need in the second round and be able to add more pieces. Other than that.
pershin:Yeah,
Jason:I
pershin:agree. I think that's what they should do as well. I think what they will do is I think that they probably will take 1 of these top cornerbacks, you know, there's like, basically like 4 or 5 of them, maybe even 6 of them that all kind of have 1st round grades. I think whichever 1 or 1s. Falls to them. They're just, they'll, they'll probably go ahead and take that because they, they could really use a cornerback. I think that might be the only sort of obvious need that they have. I would say that, you know, maybe a center or guard is a good idea to at the very least they could use some depth, you know on the offensive line. So they probably want to get some better depth pieces than what they've got there. But you know, They, they really are a pretty complete team right now. It's, it's pretty impressive.
Jason:Absolutely. Absolutely. And I mean, they got seven picks. They got a lot of picks, a lot of picks for a pretty complete team. So and from one team that has a lot of picks to the rich get richer. That's right. The cheese heads have 11, 11 picks in this draft. Love it. And our offense is, I mean, like, it's just, Here's what I, here's what I read, wrote down. I mean, it's just, to me, this is a trenches, safety, depth draft for us. Pick it up some starters obviously, but most of this is going to be defensive and on the lines. I know that they're going to take a quarterback and they'll probably take the third, fourth, maybe fifth round somewhere in there. Because Gutekes has already said that he wants to get back to drafting quarterbacks regularly. So I know they're going to take a quarterback somewhere in this draft. So don't be surprised by that. Other than that, like the Lions, I mean, there's not a whole lot they need, but they need, but those, you know, they could really do a lot of, a lot of good in this draft for the next couple of years with this team. This could be a, this could be a an underrated draft. Like, like we could have like a really strong draft for like. Three, four years down the line.
pershin:Yeah, this is, this is actually the, the team that we agree with the most right now, because that, that was exactly what I was thinking. I was thinking safety, offensive, defensive line, probably specifically like interior inside of that defensive line. Maybe they'll draft somebody. They could try to upgrade there. And then like guards centers, you know, maybe even a tackle. Yeah. If nothing else,
Jason:they'll probably trade some of these picks. I know they will.
pershin:Cause they got 11 of them. If nothing else, you know, they could use depth on the offensive defensive line. So that that's exactly what I thought would happen to, I didn't really think about quarterback, but I guess that makes sense too. Cause I actually can't even remember his name right now, but the backup is very uninspiring.
Jason:I think his name is Sean Clifford.
pershin:Sean Clifford, that's right. Yeah, he's, he's very uninspiring. I mean, he didn't have to get in there last year, so it's not like he showed his ass and made us think of the place, but he, he was thought of as a pretty Iffy prospect coming out. So it makes a lot of sense that they would want to get like a, a more secure backup in there.
Jason:Yeah, absolutely. All right. So from the NFC to the AFC North in one of the toughest divisions in the league right now, God, I don't even know where to start. I mean, let's go, let's go with the Browns. I can't imagine they're needing a whole lot in this draft. They have five picks. All in the back halves and none in the first round. So. I mean To me, it seems like trade these picks, maybe get into the first round to get a player offensively. I mean, I don't know. I don't, I'm just not even sure what they really need.
pershin:I
Jason:think what they're going to
pershin:do is defensively what they lost in free agency was basically some interior and linebackers. So I bet you they draft linebackers, maybe defensive line. It probably offensive line at some point too, if nothing else for some depth but I agree with you, they, they have done a pretty good job. I mean, I'm, I'm not convinced that Deshaun Watson is actually the answer, but they're all in on Deshaun Watson. So aside from quarterback, yeah, exactly. Aside from quarterback, they really don't have a lot glaring other than the linebacker issue. I bet that they take linebackers in the first couple of records.
Jason:Yeah, at
pershin:least that would be my recommendation, but
Jason:yeah, agreed. Cause I mean, that's really their only holes is in inside offensive line, offensive tackle linebacker. And then well then we got the bangles and we got a bro coming back. He'll, he'll be uninjured this off season or this season coming up, hopefully. You know, they, this has got to be mostly a defensive draft. I would think you know, they've got six picks or not six, 10 picks you know, 18, 17, 16 in the first three rounds. I can see some movement on some trading here to get up and get one of these, you know, elite defensive players. But I don't know. I don't know how much they're willing to move. What do you think?
pershin:I think what they actually need is they need another tackle. They, they need an offensive tackle and they need like an actual move tight end, like a guy that could go out and run real routes. I think that they could definitely use a tight end. I don't know, man. You don't like the sickie. Well, I forgot about the sickie to be honest with you. He actually can run routes and he's a great player. Pass catcher. So maybe they don't need a tight end actually.
Jason:I don't know about great at pass catching. He's like 75%. Right. There was a lot of questionable moments in Miami where he dropped the ball.
pershin:Oh, okay. Well, the drop sees maybe I, I'm not sure about the drop sees,
Jason:but he's decent
pershin:as a past someone who has had his ass on my fantasy team. His problem though, is that he can't block for shit. And so a lot of coaches don't want him on the field, except for an obvious passing situations. Because. It, you know, the defense looks at him and they're just like, Oh, they're not running the ball. He's not fucking blocking like he doesn't block and when he's been asked to block, he's failed really poorly. So that's his problem. He can't stay on the field. But at any rate, I could see them doing tackle. I think. They could definitely use tackle and depth along the offensive line in general. So that's what I would do if I was them is I would try to get a tackle. I think that wide receiver makes sense for them because the T Higgins thing, they don't want to pay him what he wants. And so they're franchising, they're franchised tagging him. And so get, you know, get a replacement for him lined up. And even if he was to stay around, I mean, having a cheap third, You know, good option. It certainly isn't going to hurt anything. So, I mean, it's, it's not as if they have anything to lose. I, I could see them taking a wide receiver too. So,
Jason:yeah. Moving on to the Ravens, in my opinion, their biggest need is, is in the trenches offensive line. You know, I mean, you know, they don't have a bevy of picks first. Up in the first couple of rounds. So yeah, I think that would be, in my opinion, their main goal should be to, to give Lamar Jackson some more time in the pocket. And wide receiver, I think they could use another wide receiver.
pershin:Yeah. This is another team where we, we see it the same way. They need offensive line help their offensive line. They basically lost almost every single piece. I think they lost four of their starters to free agency. So they need to remake the entire offensive line. I, I guess they, they've got some confidence in some of the backups. The step up and play that starter role. Even if that's true, they're going to need depth at that position. So yeah, I mean, you
Jason:lose three players.
pershin:Yeah. And I mean, these were good players too. So it's like, it's like, dude you know, you can't expect Derek Henry to just. Drag five people. He's going to need some blocking, right?
Jason:He's still got Josh Jones, man. They signed an office to tackle Josh Jones, but
pershin:yeah, but still they're going to, they're going to be, they're going to be drafting offensive linemen. And I, I agree with you on the wide receiver thing too. I think it's pretty obvious Rashad Bateman is never going to develop into that dude that they expected. And Odell Beckham is, I can't, I can't even remember what team he went to. Honestly, he left. He left abatements, not the dude. They've got Zay flowers who works fine as a flanker type, you know, from the slot, but they definitely need someone that's, that could play on the outside that X role. And there's a bunch of dudes in the strap that could actually do that. So that's what I would expect from them. I expect them to try to target. You know, Brian Thomas, if he falls to them would be good. Maybe a Keon Coleman, maybe a Xavier Leguette, one of these guys that could stretch the field for them and can play on the boundaries would be good.
Jason:Absolutely. Now my favorite team of this division. The fighting Mike Tomlins, the Pittsburgh Steelers, just destined to go one game above 500 every year. But they've got two new quarterbacks in the mix. I think Tomlin's going to be able to do something with fields. And I think sitting behind Russell Wilson we'll help him now that Russell Wilson may teach him a lot from his on field play, but his knowledge and all of that will help along with Mike Tomlin's knowledge. And this ensures that to me now they don't have to pick a team, pick a quarterback in the draft. They can focus on giving him pieces. You know, they don't have a lot of picks. They got seven, which isn't crazy, but they could, you know, fix up there, get a little bit more offensive line help. And maybe a wide receiver as well in this draft you know, So what do you think about the fighting Mike Tomlins?
pershin:I think that they, they're actually like low key in the quarterback discussion here, I think that it makes a lot of sense what you've said about fields. But when, when they signed Russ, I think it was pretty obvious that it was like a one year plan.
Jason:Right.
pershin:And so even if they keep fields, it makes sense for them to have someone lined up for next year. Either as a backup to, or to compete with fields for the job. I think that they could literally resign fields to a cheap one or two year, three year thing, have him in the fold if they like him and they want to keep him around. And of course, if Russ leaves. And they don't like what they've seen out of fields. They don't think they could develop him into what they need or whatever, then they're going to need two different dudes or, you know what I mean? So I, it would not shock me if they bring in somebody who they purposely plan to just sit for a season or two.
Jason:Yeah. I mean, absolutely. I mean, even if these two, two guys end up just being awful, they also didn't spend anything to get them. So, I mean, this is nothing but a win win For me, for the Steelers, because like I said before, they don't need to get a quarterback early or try to trade up. They could take one of these second rounders quarterbacks, maybe a quarterback falls to them. And it's like, Hey, this guy, you know, we give them some time on the bench and boom, next thing you know, he's, he's our starter. If Justin feels,
pershin:Yeah, I mean, I literally could see Rattler fall into them in the third and they'd be in like, you know, it yeah this guy's got all the physical skills to have a high ceiling at some point and He showed improvement in his final season as a collegiate guy, which is a good indicator He's not where he needs to be yet. But basically he's like the perfect developmental guy I could see him fall into the third, maybe even the fourth. And they just pick up someone like that. Pick up someone like that with the, you know, intention of just letting him sit. And the good thing about Russ and, you know, I think. He's got this cheesy personality I'm not in love with, but he does always have a good attitude when it comes to trying to help other quarterbacks and, you know, very cooperative with the team and what they want and stuff like that. So you know, he's going to give him as much advice as he possibly can. So yeah.
Jason:Yeah, he's you mean he's who was the quarterback that said there was like another quarterback that said they weren't gonna help anybody out Who was yes, then
pershin:Roethlisberger.
Jason:Yeah. Yeah
pershin:The last the last quarterback that they had that was any good he got butthurt that they took a quarterback They didn't even take a quarterback in the first. They took a quarterback in the second And And he was like, no. He was like, I'm not helping him. I'm not trying. I'm not gonna
Jason:help him. Yeah. This shitty dude, he did shitty things. Shitty and was shitty.
pershin:And this was, and this was after he had contemplated retiring and they're just like, oh, damn. Yeah. If you're contemplating retiring this, this year, what's to say that you're gonna hang around next year or anything? You know, this dude had
Jason:Brett Far Syndrome, man. Come on.
pershin:And he also raped that woman in that hotel.
Jason:He did, absolutely. And he got away with it.
pershin:But at any rate, aside from Loki, maybe actually taking a quarterback, I do think that they're going to want to get a wide receiver. You know, they lost Deontay Johnson and they've got Pickens, which I think is perfect for that classic X position. But I think that they're in line to take like a lad McConkey. Ricky Pearsall. You love some Ladd McConkie. No, I do love Ladd McConkie. I think he's underrated. I think he's legitimately, I cannot
Jason:wait to see where this guy gets drafted. Let me write him down. I, I, I think,
pershin:I think he legitimately has the sort of skills that he's going to transfer to Sundays. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see. We shall see.
Jason:We, but we, as the, as the Pine Pony populace, we will remember Ladd McConkie, McConkie. And all of our hearts and our dreams, he will be there.
pershin:And that's right. I mean, he's Irish. He has, I don't know. He, he probably is right. Who else calls their children lag, right? I don't know.
Jason:Yeah,
pershin:he's definitely a white dude. I don't know if he's Irish, hopefully he's Irish, but I, I do think that they should take one of the, one of those like flanker sort of slot guys, you know, You know, there's some good options in this draft, you know, Xavier Worthy. I think they could fuck with someone like him and I bet that they do Just because I don't think they've got a lot going on outside of Pickens and Fryer Muth at the moment That being said they could still use some offensive line help too. So what I wouldn't be shocked if they It took some offensive linemen early in this draft too.
Jason:All right. Well, there you have it. Part three broken down, moving on to another fun topic, fantasy quarterbacks. We're going to go through who we think are the better quarterbacks of this fan of this draft and what they could do fantasy wise. I think Michael Pennix Jr. should be the number one guy on the board on everybody. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. He is equal to me. That is wild. He is equal to me as Anthony Richardson was last year to me. Okay. So you think that Richardson is a better
pershin:prospect than Caleb Williams?
Jason:Yes. How, how would we, we A, don't know what Caleb Williams can do in the NFL. So we know what Richardson can do and he lit it up.
pershin:I just, I just mean, I don't mean like last year, what he did in the NFL. I mean, before he played any games in the NFL, I just, I just think that Caleb Williams has shown more at the college level, but I
Jason:just, I mean, that may be true, but I also Caleb Anthony Richardson played in the sec number one, he played on a terrible Florida team, number two, terrible, terribly coached, terrible. Everything, everything was bad. He was the best person on that team. Caleb Williams is playing in the PAC 12, which plays zero fucking defense. Right. And he lost his team, lost like four games last season. They, they weren't, they lost the championship the year before, like that team collectively as a whole did nothing. And that team was way more stacked with talent than the Florida teams Anthony Richardson was playing on. And they played harder defenses than what USC plays, in my opinion. I don't think Campbell Williams is it. I think he's going to be a bust and I think the Bears are going to regret taking him.
pershin:Wow.
Jason:Yeah.
pershin:Okay. Well, I disagree with that. I do think you got a fair point about the defenses he played. A lot of the defenses weren't really that good. The thing though, is that his team is absolutely not stacked with talent. That's not true at all. There's nobody else on that offense that's going to go on the first three rounds. Nobody. There's nobody else that there might be some dudes that make it to the NFL, but there's, it's not stacked with talent. Okay. Well then I would love his offensive line. I will do,
Jason:I will do a research. I will do a research after this and we will look at USC's offense. Versus the Florida Gators of Anthony Richardson offense. And we'll, we'll see. Let's
pershin:do it. Let's do it.
Jason:We'll see who made it to the NFL out of both those teams. I mean, Anthony Richardson
pershin:at least had Ricky Pearsall, who's a damn good wide receiver. There was nobody of that, that degree that Caleb Williams ever got to throw to.
Jason:Well, I mean, I don't know his roster. I'd have to look at the roster. Okay.
pershin:Well, we'll do that later. We got season two. I think the team was
Jason:stacked. Maybe it's because they're playing in the Pac 12.
pershin:But look quickly I, I will just kind of give the people an overview of yeah, how I'm seeing this draft class. It is a pretty good draft class for quarterbacks. I think it's above average. It's not anything crazy. It's pretty close to average, but I think it's above average. You do have three guys that are expected to go within the top few picks for sure. That's pretty good. And then you've got another three guys that are expected to go at least like in the second round, you know, some of them might slip into the first round too. I think, Where we sit right now, JJ McCarthy has so much hype that people actually expect him not just to go in the first round, but to go like maybe in the top 10, top 12 picks. And so it could end up being a pretty good draft cast for quarterbacks in the NFL sense. Now, when we talk about fantasy and fantasy impacts though, that's when there's a little bit less, I think that Caleb Williams and Drake may could be good for fantasy football. If they're just on pass half the offenses, kind of in the way where Patrick Mahomes throws the ball, you know, on average 38, 39 times a game or something like that. And then he gets you some, some scramble yardage, you know, with his legs as well. I think that you could see that because Caleb Williams and Drake may are really good scramblers when they have to make plays out of, out of structure. But I don't think that. J. J. McCarthy, that Bo Nix Michael Penix. I don't think these guys are going to be like, you know, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen type of producers on the ground. There is one guy I do think has that crazy high upside though, and that is of Jaden Daniels. I think that Jaden Daniels is actually a very good runner. ball in his hands. I don't think he's at that very elite tier. I don't think he's in the same tier as let's say Justin Fields as a runner or let's say Michael Vick Lamar Jackson. But I think I do honestly believe he's in that very next tier, which would be like, I think he's just as good as Kyler Murray. I think he's just as good as Jalen herbs. And you see those guys get Kyler Murray. Mm-Hmm. as a runner with the ball. Yeah. I, okay. Kyler Murray can juke. He can juke people. Yeah. He, yeah, sure.
Jason:Yeah. Yeah. He can,
pershin:yeah, he can. I just, you think about, you think about a guy like RG three. I think that the way Jane Daniels runs reminds me of RG three, you know, and, and. You know, he could, he could create space for himself. He could create extra yardage on the ground. The one thing I would say about Jane Daniels is that he's got a pretty slim frame. He's not like a tank. He's not like a Drake may he's, he's certainly not like a Cam Newton, Anthony Richardson or whatever. He needs to get better at the NFL. If he wants to survive, he needs to get better at being evasive and actually. Not taking so many hits because you see in his tape, he gets racked up time and time again. He's kind of reckless as a runner and you just can't do that when you're really skinny like that. I mean, he's not super small, you know, he's not, he's not really short, but he is just, he's got a thin frame and he, he really gets his shit rocked a lot of times. I will say though, I think he's really good. Like when I was actually going through watching these guys plays. Making notes on it. I was actually surprised at how much I found that I did not like about Drake may with so much hype that Drake may has had the past couple of years. And then. On the flip side, how much I did actually like from Jaden Daniels and from Bo Nix. I think for me, it's Caleb Williams is a really, really good prospect and he's at number one. And for me, Jaden Daniels would be number two. And then number three would basically be between Drake May and Bo Nix. I think that, you know, Drake May as the, as the solid number two quarterback is, is just not true. I think that Jaden Daniels actually showed more. I think the best way to characterize it is that when I watch them play, he's consistently consistent. And then Drake May is consistently inconsistent. When you look at his form, his footwork, what he looks like as he throws the ball, he looks different on like every single play. Drake May that is. Whereas when you watch Jaden Daniels, he's got this very quick motion. That looks the same almost every time he throws the ball. He looks the same, you know, and then, and so I, I, I really liked that. And I think it makes for consistency. I think his accuracy was really good, especially the deep ball. I think Drake mays accuracy. It kind of comes and goes. He certainly has some really nice dimes down the field, but I don't like how he will pass up easy yardage. Because he's trying to get the big play down the field. Yeah. I
Jason:wasn't a fan of Drake Mays play this, this past season, not nearly as much as I was before the prior season before.
pershin:Yeah. And I, and to be fair, I didn't see any of his 20, 22 stuff at all, but apparently everyone agrees that he looked better that year. To me, that's a red flag that you. That you had a setback. When you look at someone like Bo Nix, he started out with a ton of flaws, very rough around the edges, and he said five years, he's an old guy, but he literally has improved five years in a row. I think that's a, that's a good sign. That's a really good sign. Even though he's older now coming out, he showed the ability to improve it.
Jason:He's got Brandon Whedon written all over him.
pershin:I mean, I think he's got fucking Sean Payton written all over him. I think it's true that the Broncos are in on Knicks and I think that they're going to take Knicks. No,
Jason:I just meant, I just meant he is, to me, is going to be like Brandon Whedon. Do you know who that is?
pershin:Oh, he was a huge bust. Yeah, he was supposed to be good. He
Jason:was also like 29 years old. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, he's old as fuck.
pershin:Yeah. Yeah. It's a big red flag for a lot of people. I mean, that's why he's not Basically seen as going higher in the draft. He's for most people. He's like got a second round grade And a lot of it has to do with how long it took him to finally break out. And I don't dismiss that. I understand there's some core.
Jason:But what does breakout mean? I mean, okay, great. He had a good season at Oregon, but again, or I'm sorry, man, there is a difference. And we cannot sit here and pretend that the sec and the PAC 12 are the same. He went to the PAC 12 played arguably shittier teams. And did better. Is anyone else surprised by that? Like, I mean, I, I had better
pershin:pieces around him too. The offensive line is pretty good. And he's got Troy Franklin to throw to who at least the college level gets open all the time.
Jason:He was at Auburn who, what, who his coach was, what Gus Malzahn at the time, or was it somebody else? I can't even remember who the coach was, but they were doing, if I remember specifically. They were doing split quarterbacks. So it's like, I mean, he wasn't even set up for success there. Number one. And I mean, yeah, I mean, I watched some video where he like lost his way and Oregon helped him, helped him. So he's clearly in a better space now, mindset wise, but at the end of the day, I mean, Yeah, you got better over a five year period, but I mean, you also went to an easier division. So take that for what you will.
pershin:Yeah. But just to wrap up my, my Drake May rant real quick, it's just like, he was inconsistent about almost everything he did. And that included just some wildly errant throws sometimes, like, I feel like you just don't see in the NFL very often guys skipping balls off of the ground. Guys throwing at people's ankles and actually keeping their job like he has some really baffling sort of plays where it's like, wait, what just happened? It's not raining. It's like a clear day in September and you're throwing the ball. You're bouncing it off the ground for a guy who's wide open and you're not even under pressure. It's just some weird random Aaron passes, you know, and he, he does this thing where he holds onto the ball, looking for the play deep down the field. And he'll just hold on to the ball, whether he creates time by scrambling and evading pressure, or he takes the shot downfield, he almost never throws it away, which is like, dude, just throw the fucking ball away. And it's hard to learn. He literally had like seven different games last season where he didn't throw away the ball once, not one single throw away.
Jason:He just, it's hard to do when you're the older guy in the bunch. And you're, you know, you can make those plays that, because you've done it before. Yeah. Once he gets to the NFL, they'll reign that in and be like, yo, just, you can just throw that away, man. Let's live to see the next play.
pershin:Yeah. But you got to think he's already getting that sort of advice and he's just not doing it. I don't
Jason:know, man. I feel like they don't really get that advice until the NFL, it seems because that seems to be always a thing when we're watching rookie quarterbacks in the NFL. Yeah, I mean, you gotta learn to throw that ball away, you gotta learn to throw that ball away, or you gotta learn to slide, you gotta learn to, it's like, why aren't they
pershin:already doing that? I think Drake May's biggest thing is not even necessarily just learn to get, like, throw the ball away when you need to throw the, but I think his thing is like, just take the five yards that they give you. Like, there'll be so many times where the defense is giving him an obvious, just, here you go, here's a free five, six yards or whatever. And he's just, he's just passing it up because he's, he's trying to get something downfield.
Jason:You mean like you want him to run for five yards?
pershin:No, no. I mean, if they're, if they're playing in a zone and the, and, and it's pretty obvious that you, you've got a guy just sitting there, you know? Yeah, no, I got, I got it. And they're, they're giving him a nice buffer. Just go ahead and take that. And like, he almost never wants to just take those easy yards. He wants to get a big play down field.
Jason:So you don't like Drake man? So what you're saying, you hate him.
pershin:I don't hate him, but I think he's way overrated. I think he's, I think that I would not be taking a top three pick on him. No, no. What I would, what I see when I watch him, I honestly looks more like a developmental guy than it does, like. A top three in the draft guy, especially when you've got Marvin Harrison and guys that are expected to go behind him. I'm sorry, but I, I, no, I wouldn't. To me, I think that he, I would take him in the same range where I would take Bo Nix, maybe at the back of the first, second round guy. You know what I mean? I, I just don't, I just don't see it. I also, I'm also not in on McCarthy either. I think McCarthy is a huge mystery. Like, His sample size is so small. They almost never threw the ball that to be fair, they didn't have to, they could win the games by just running it out people's throats. So I get it. But the thing is that we saw just a handful of plays more than like. 10 yards downfield from him the entire season. And when he did throw the ball any more than like two yards, it really looked to me like he was really cranking and really putting his all into it. I wonder if he honestly has the arm strength necessary to make. A lot of these tight window throws he's going to be asked to make in the NFL. Like,
Jason:we got draft Michael Pennix Jr.
pershin:Oh, Michael Pennix has an arm on him. He does not have that problem at all. Michael Pennix actually makes it look easy when he throws down the field, which I think is great, which I think, I think Michael Pennix's problem is that when he's out of the pocket. He does not do well out of the pocket. A lot of his passes are off target when he's on the run. That's
Jason:fine. Protect me. Keep me in the pocket. I don't want to be outside the pocket. I want to be in the pocket. I want to be like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in that pocket. I don't even want to move. I just want to stand there. Hey, Pennix
pershin:can zip that ball though. I liked what I saw from Pennix. So I'm telling you, you could tell he's a natural thrower of the ball. And I think if he does go to a team that happens to have a good offensive line, yeah, he could do, he could be ready for this. This is where he's going. Where's he going?
Jason:Where's it going? Denver. It's going to Denver.
pershin:I, I mean, I, I, I think that I think they're taking, I literally think that Peyton would take Nick's over you know, Drake may at this point, it, when you think about what, what does Sean Peyton want out of his quarterbacks? He wants them to be. Very conservative and very disciplined. Oh, this is bo nix, you know, I mean he's he like broke the record for completion percentage or whatever But he's got an a dot of like two yards I mean, he's basically the opposite of drake may where he will always think I just think
Jason:bo nix is already gonna be gone because the giants like Like that style of quarterback.
pershin:There's no way Bodex goes that early, right? I don't know. I don't know. We'll have to see. I
Jason:mean, look at who they drafted. They drafted Eli Manning and Daniel Jones. Bo Nix is like the same type of player he's or Drake May or Drake May, but I think Drake May is already going to be gone. He's going to be in Washington. Well, I
pershin:think the biggest concern from NFL teams about Penix is actually just his injury slash durability concerns. He's had four different season ending injuries already, two surgeries to the same shoulder, another surgery to the other shoulder. I mean, Teams are definitely wary of that. I think, I think that's his biggest knock, but I think when he has to get outside the pocket and he's on the run, you know, that's, that's something that where he doesn't look so good, but you know, we've seen quarterbacks have success in the NFL that are like that though, I mean, Jared Goff. He's one of the worst in the league when it comes to dealing with pressure. But he happens to be on a team where he doesn't get a lot of pressure, and you see he's productive. So, I could see Penix being good if he's in the right situation, no doubt. He could zip the ball, and, you know, that matters in the NFL, so.
Jason:He's got that Drew Breeze. Style of play in my opinion. No, Bo Nix is Drew Brees 2. 0. I'm telling you
pershin:Bo Nix is Drew Brees 2. 0
Jason:But see the thing is Sean Payton loved when Drew Brees Was in his prime, they like to sling the rock downfield too. Now they would take
pershin:shots, but the majority of the stuff running back, running back here, running back there. The shots were
Jason:legit though. Like, so it is okay to have a quarterback with a lethal cannon that is not used all the time in order for his lethal cannon. To be successful.
pershin:Yeah. Well, look, I, I don't think Bo Nix has the same accuracy as, as Drew Brees did in the general sense, but I do think they play the game the same way. He, he will take shots downfield, but he'll do it when he knows that it's a good, good idea. He doesn't take much in the way of risk. And I think Sean Payton loves that.
Jason:Bo Nix stands for Boo Nix.
pershin:I do think he's a very unexciting quarterback. I don't think you're going to get much from him on, like, with his legs. You're not going to get a bunch of rushing touchdowns. He's not going to be gunslinging it all over the field. He, I think that his fantasy outlook. Even if he is a good starter in the league is basically like a Derek Carr, like it's not going to be exciting. It's not. The upside's really not there with him. That being said, I do think the guys you want to have your eyes on is for Jaden Daniels. Where, where he ends up and then Drake may, what kind of offense he ends up in, because these guys can become like very good producers on the ground. I think particularly if Jaden Daniels ends up getting matched up with Cliff Kingsbury and in Washington, which is entirely possible because they have the second pick right now. Then that's a great fit for him because the one place where he struggled was sort of with. Processing and not processing quickly enough sometimes. And the thing about that cliff Kingsbury system is it's what they call a high, low system, and it's very simplified. Your reads are made simple for you. And so I do think he could, he could. Thrive in that system.
Jason:So go get skewered just like he did out in Arizona. See him on the cacti in Washington Oh shit, man, that that story was wild Alright well so to recap real quick fantasy wide Well, just quarterback wise in general what I so Kayla Williams bust Drake May bust Bo Nix bust JJ McCarthy bust Jaden Daniels. Not a bust. Michael Pennix, Jr. Not a bust. Okay.
pershin:A quick recap from, from Persian, from a fantasy, from a fantasy perspective, I think the QB with the highest upside here is definitely Jaden Daniels, but I think the, the, the most secure quarterback, who's going to be at least decent for fantasy is Caleb Williams. I think aside from those guys, The, the, the ones that could possibly have some upside would be Drake May and JJ McCarthy because they are good athletes and they, they are big enough to where they, they could get goal line work and stuff like that. But for both of them, I think it's a complete mystery if they're going to be any good at all at the next level. So basically I'm focusing on Caleb Williams and Jaden Daniels for now.
Jason:All right. Well, you heard it here first draft. Michael Pinnock, Jr. as your quarterback. Oh, well, that's all we got. But next week we have another exciting show. We've got a special guest. We've got Derek Triple D, a. k. a. Mr. a. k. a. the pod coming back into the past coming on. He's going to be here. We're going to talk AFC West and NFC West. So we're going to be talking about the Chiefs. We're probably going to give him his five minutes of glory to just gloat about the Super Bowl. And I believe we have running backs.
pershin:Yeah we're going to preview the rookie running backs and talk about fantasy implications for those students.
Jason:And then at the end, we're gonna give out our mock drafts. We're gonna, we're gonna run through them, give a quick overview of who we think is wrong and right. And then we'll, you know, we'll see what happens. We're going to tell you what we think
pershin:is going to happen.
Jason:Which if you paid attention to our last year's mock draft, we got a lot wrong. So here's to the fun stuff.
pershin:Hey, either way, it's getting exciting, man. 14 days.
Jason:13 days. Well, see you next week. Adios.