Pump the Brakes, Lev Bell News + TNF Preview

I'm lowering my expectations. I'm still going to play them. But perhaps I make adjustments with the rest of my roster because I'm expecting a lower total output from these guys. So would that mean in your flex if you've got Jordan Howard that you would go safer or you would go higher ceiling? I would go ceiling. Gotcha. Huh. Yeah. Look, this happens every year. The biggest overreactions fantasy football owners are going to make are going to be after week one. Yes. You've put months and months of effort and work and draft.

thoughts and process and predictions together, and you want to see them all come to fruition immediately. And they won't. They won't. And don't overreact. You do not win your championship at the draft. We've set it all offseason. That's where you build the foundation. Make sure you keep pressing on through week one, week two, all the way to week 16. None of that week 17 nonsense. I'll tell you who's going to be on my week one trade targets.

Jordan Howard. Yeah. Well, and maybe Rex Burkett. Sure. I know you believe more that he's going to have a good week. Well, you brought up last year's Houston game. You know why they didn't run very well against Texans? Because he wasn't actually. Because Rex Burkhead didn't play. Good reasoning. Good reasoning. And here's the thing. He's a beast. Rex Burkhead, look, the same hype existed for him last year, Mike, in week one. And he came out there with that first snap in the game. No, to be fair, the hype was gillously. He poofed. He poofed. He disappeared.

He got a boo-boo. Yeah, he gets boo-boos. That's the problem. That is the price. Those were the pump the brakes with O'Reilly Auto Parts, better parts, better prices. Every day, once a week will bring you pump the brakes, three players that we are saying, whoa, whoa, horsey. As Jason would say, hold on there. Hold on there, partner. Let's get into the news. News and notes from around the league. To piggyback on the Rex Burkhead first snap start last year,

We are going to talk through some depth chart news on the news today. And that is one of the things that I think people need to recognize and understand is, yes, if the 49ers choose to start Matt Breda, that doesn't mean Matt Breda gets the most snaps. That doesn't mean he gets the most carries or anything. There are certain offenses where someone like Kyle Shanahan or someone like Adam Gase in Miami, who, by the way. Is a butthole?

Wow. Whoa. Tell us what you really think. How do you feel? Is that because he put Kenyon Drake or Frank Gore on the depth chart? It's freaking nonsense. But here's what my point is. Before we get into those very strong analysis. It's very upsetting to me that you are a head coach in the NFL. There are 32 people, 32 people in the known universe that have a job like this. And you're like,

Well, I'm not picking one. Well, how many? Or, like, your, you're better running back is Kenyon Drake. Give them, give them the push, give them the support. You're the starting running back. You want to give Gore carries, fine. Just don't be a butthole. Oh, my goodness. How many coaches in the unknown universe, though, Mike? Oh, well. Because you said there were 32 in the known. I'm just, it's fair. It could be hundreds. If you want me to dive into string theory and alternate dimensions, we can have that conversation.

So my point is this. Which means that somewhere there's an Adam Gase who is not a butthole. This is part of the- Congratulations. You're on your game today, Mike. My point is if Kyle Shane-Aun wants to start the game with a passing play, he might start the game with Matt Breeder, Kyle Hughes-check on the field. If he wants to start with a running play, he might start with Alfred Morris on the field. If the dolphins want to start with a passing play, it might be Kenyon Drake. There are backfields in which who's out there for Snap 1.

Don't get too excited. If you did it last year with Rex Burkhead, you were disappointed pretty quickly. Yes, you were. Because Mike Gillis found the field, and it was James White as well. Let's start, though, with the big news that needs more analysis. I put a note in here, guys, Lev Bell, Golpopotamus. Yeah, it's not good. I move Lev Bell out of my top 50 for this week. Yeah, this week on a – I don't think he's going to play. I do not think he's on the field. And if he is, he's not on the field enough.

I completely agree with that at the very least. What's the latest news? So the latest news is that as of 9 a.m. this morning, which is when the team meetings started. Technically today was the first practice of the week for the Steelers. 9 a.m. was the first meeting. Lev Bell was not there for that. I am hoping and wishing. I am really hoping that we have a breaking news button by the end of this show.

because news has, you know, changed and he is in camp. But even if he shows up this late, you know, I would have had him as my pump the brakes because, look, last year he held out week one. Week one, they gave him 10 carries on the road in Cleveland. And so, yeah, you know, you can't rely on Love Bell this week, but everyone wants him back because the worry now shifts to he has until November.

where if he waits until November and then shows up, he retains his eligibility for becoming a free agent at the end of this season. He will give up a significant amount of money through the first half of this year, which is, you know, that's the reality that's keeping him like, hey, get to practice. They cannot extend him. He is beyond the date in which that could have happened. The only options they have now are to, he needs to sign the franchise Tinder.

If he wants to get paid in that full amount and show up, or they can trade him. Those are the options Pittsburgh has with Levi-on-Bell. And so right now, you know, you don't know what kind of message he's trying to send. You don't know what kind of precedent he's trying to set. There are a lot of opinions about Levi-on-Bel all across the board. He's 26 years old. He's going to get one more contract. He watches Todd Gurley go get paid. And it's too late for that. So now it's what are you going to do with your future? James Connor, Mike.

How high are you going to rank James Turner this week? Where is he right now? Because I'm sure you're not counting on Love Bell. I haven't made the adjustments. I was going off of the comments. I believe it was Pouncey. Yes, Pouncey said. Yesterday Pouncey had said, I expect Levy on Bell to show up on Wednesday. And if he had showed up today, then it would have, I believe it still would have been Levy on Bell starting week one. Now that we are at Wednesday and he's not there, I...

I'm on the side of Levy and Bell's not going to play. Mike Tomlin's going to bench him for week one, even if he returns this week. And then James Connor will be a top 12 running back for me against the Cleveland Browns. There was the quote of trying to get some information from Mike Tomlin saying, are you concerned with your running back room? He said, nope. And they said, why? He said, James. And James Connor has looked freaking great.

great through this preseason. At what point do you start to applaud the fab spin when you saw some of these leagues people go out and grab James Connor? Because what if Lev does hold out through four games? It's way too early. I mean, if he shows up, you know, I think Ross Tucker tweeted out that the smart move would be for Lev Bell to show up.

Friday or Saturday because then he will get paid in full. And not have to play? Yes, he will not take a big discount, not have to play week one and get treated the way he did last season. So if that happens, then, you know, huge money for a one week starters. Probably not a good deal. I know that you have confidence in James Connor, Mike, but I can't help but downgrade the offense a little bit.

James Connor cannot do everything that Levi-on-Bel can do. No. And we can't look at Lev-Bel as, you know, I know you brought up the fact that they've put up points without Lev-Bel in the past, and that's a strong point. Yeah, it's, JJ was a good friend of the show, JJ was tweeting out about it this morning, and in the 16 games worth of data, where Levi-on-Bel has not played for the Steelers because he removed the games where they rested starters. Those ones, of course, don't count. So 16 games, a full season of data, they have scored.

26.6 points without Levy on Bell and 25.2 with him. They're still scoring points. Sure. Their win percentage is down by from 70 to 69%. So suddenly it doesn't seem like they need him. Correct. I mean, you want to have him. I'm not saying the team is, is, is, is they don't want to have him on the team. He definitely helps. He makes things easier, but.

I mean, the numbers are the numbers. They win the same amount of games. They score the same amount of points. So I'm still in. I think the realistic question is, is trying to compare. If you're looking at those numbers, it's trying to compare James Connor to DeAngelo Williams. DeAngelo Williams, you know, was a first round talent. DeAngelo Williams was cut. He was old. DeAngel Williams was old busted, was cut by his team, barely found a job. He was cut due to money reasons.

But, yeah, I mean, the point is. And 30s reasons. The point is it wasn't just the next guy came in and he was a nobody. DeAngelo Williams is a good player. Yeah, I mean, all the news about James Connor, his preseason performance has been great. Last year he struggled with soft tissue concerns and some, he was banged up. He never developed. This year he's got the time to develop. They have confidence in him. And what else are they going to say? I mean, at this point, this is the game they play. And the Steelers take responsibility for that. You have to. If the Steelers want to put.

You know, basically what they're doing is they're taking the risk. They're paying for or saving money by risking their locker room, risking Lev Bell's health. They're making the choice by not extending Lev Bell to withstand these other concerns in the locker room. So support from today's show comes from the Minlo Club. The Minlo Club is a clothing service that sends monthly curated style packages straight to your door.

We're talking brands like 5-4. You've heard us talk about them before. New Republic footwear by Mark McNary. Listen to this. The Grand A.C. Athleisure wear. Oh. You are an ath leisure expert. Oh. Jason. That sounds nice. They've been transforming men style for 20 years. And what's nice about this is this simple. You get to build your wardrobe. You get two or three items a month. They're chosen for you based on your preferences. It's that simple. I've gotten these packages. They're great. Comfortable clothes.

They're all made in-house so they control the quality of the pricing. It just makes buying clothes less stressful. That way you can stress out about Love Bell, not clothing. Okay? For 50% off, your first month's package and a free pair of 5-4 shoes and socks, go to the Minlo Club.com and use the promo code footballers. That's the menlo club.com and use the promo code. Footballers, that's M-E-N-L-O.

Trust us, the deal they're giving you. You do not want to miss it, whether you're a young professional and entrepreneur, a dad, anybody balancing work in life, it's Taylor for you. We want to thank Pristine Oxen for sponsoring today's show the absolute best sports memorabilia website. Do you give me that Cortland Sutton jersey yet? Mike, I've got my eye out for it. Well, here's the thing. Yesterday there was a signed Cortland Sutton cleats. And you specified jersey. Yeah, I could wear the cleats. Is it just one?

Yeah, it was just one. Interesting. And they have a signed helmet of him, but it is from his college team. So it's not the Broncos helmet. So I'm holding off. There is. I do have my eye on a particular jersey today. I almost don't want to share it because I know that you people get out here and try and snatch it out from underneath me.

There's a lot of Baker-Mayfield stuff going on. Yeah. I'm so excited for Baker. And clearly the people are, too. They're trying to get that authentic signature on the jersey so they can put it up on the wall. Get Baker up there. We've got, who do we got? Oh, Tevin Coleman. Kevin Coleman. We got him up on the wall. All of all my memorabilia gear comes from pristine auction. Check it out. New things, hundreds of new things every single day.

P-R-I-S-T-I-N-E-Oction.com. You make that completely free account. You bid for free. You only pay for what you win. Check it out there. Like I said, hundreds of new things every single day. Pristine auction. All right. Let's get into the depth chart. Let's talk about some interesting depth chart notes, things that came out yesterday. We'll get you guys' thoughts and whether they're important, unimportant. Mike Gillisley officially listed as the Saints number two running back on the week one depth chart. Makes sense.

Makes sense. Sean Peyton had a lot of good things to say about him. I believe that Camara will see an uptick of volume compared to what he was getting with Ingram, but I also do believe Gillisley will be involved in this offense. Yeah, we've never seen. We've never seen the Sean Peyton Saints use a true dominant workhorse. They...

They always have two or three running backs involved. And so why they would shift from that now after signing Gillisley wouldn't make a lot of sense. Camara's high, in carries per game, was he had 12 carries three times. Now, I expect that to go up, but I'm not expecting 20 carries from Alvin Camer. I would right around that 12 to 15 range and then catch a bunch of passes. Chris Carson listed as the starter in Seattle? He should have been my pump the brakes. Yeah.