Footie Award Nominees + Week 18 Recap, Super Bowl Picks - Fantasy Football Podcast for 1/7

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Oh, welcome in. Woo. It's baseball time. No. Redo it. Redo the show. Start over. It's not baseball time? No, it's never baseball time. Look at your compadre over here, your best friend's wearing a... It's hoodie time, I'll grant you that. He's wearing a twins hoodie. Yeah. I thought that's what he was trying to say. People wear Yankees gear all the time just for fashion. They're not baseball fans. I mean, like, you know what? This is Kirby Puckett fan over here.

Pitchers and catchers is, like, tomorrow, right? Probably. Is it really? I don't know. It's gotta be soon. It's gotta be February. February. I mean, I just assumed... That's the MLB. That's when they're like, you know what? Football? It's February. We're gonna take over. Pitchers and catchers. Why doesn't anybody else show up? Why is it just them? You ever think of that? That's a good question. I literally have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe you could hit a little bit if the hitters showed up. Is there a part of baseball where only pitchers and catchers show up? It's the spring training.

Spring training starts and pitchers and catchers show up first. I don't know why. I mean, I guess you got OTAs in football where it's just the offense. It's like, well, why is the defense there? It's because, like, well, the offense is more important. Wait, OTAs is only offense? No. That's not true. No. Weirdo? What am I thinking of? The O is not. That's how you think of it because it's your players are paying attention to. Rookie camp. Okay. That's better. All right. Pitchers and catchers first. I don't know. I don't know why. Yeah. They need more practice. Welcome to the baseball.

Well, because, I mean, like, if you're playing outfield, I mean, how many plays a game do you actually do anything? You come in one day before the season starts. You still know how to catch? Yeah. Okay. It's good enough. Man. Well, this is all because Mike's wearing a Twins hoodie. Yeah, and I'm looking good. Favorite Twins player is Kirby Puckett? All time? Or you got, like, some Tori Hunter in there? No, my favorite is Johan. I'm going to die. Johan Santana is my favorite Minnesota Twins of all time. Welcome to Twins Talk. Jason, what are your thoughts? I think I tuned into the wrong channel.

Nasty. Joe Maurer Hour? Yeah. All right. We're actually going to still talk football. That's what we do. year round. And congrats to everybody that just brought home a title in week 18. The 10%, hopefully that's a full 10% of champions. And I thought week 18 was, I watched red zone pretty much the entirety of the day. Like, I wasn't in the office doing the, you know, the bajillion screens melt your brain. But I red zone the whole day. I thought it was a fun day of football. The morning started really slow and wonky. But towards the end of the morning games, especially when there was like the back and forth between the Falcons outcome versus the Buccaneers outcome.

There was a lot of exciting stuff. Unfortunately, the incredible, the Vikings and the Lions did not come to fruition. Offensively, it did not. I like, and I know it goes against everything I say. Cause like, I want high powered offensive offensive games. But when it's like the one is on the line, I'm okay with a lower scoring game because the stakes are so incredibly high. And I have no fantasy implications. We would have gotten a more exciting game if much like you watching red zone, the Vikings could handle their business in the red zone. Yeah. The Vikings, Sam Darnold was not good.

Justin Jefferson. He was missing. He was, he was missing players high very often. Justin Jefferson was not an elite wide receiver that he needed to be multiple times during that game. So it was, I'm sure that opinions on the Vikings making a move in the playoffs has shifted dramatically for people. We, well, they're the five seed now, right? So, um, you know, I'm saying, but just look, you're like, how can you share? I'm saying people, how can you have faith in this team and Sam Darnold when the, when the lights were the brightest for Sam Darnold? He, you know, I'm not saying they will.

I'm just saying, no, I get what you're saying. I'm still in on Minnesota. I think they're a great team. I still feel like there is just a player too. You know what I mean? It really was like those, those red zone conversions. Uh, we didn't get the high scoring game. We're going to talk through NFL news. We'll talk through the studs of the week and we've got the footy nominations on today. Oh, no, not yet. Not yet. No singing yet. Jason. That's just a, it's baseball time. It's baseball time. That's enough. Um, he's like really upset. Uh, so we've got, we've got that going on a couple of headlines at the top here.

I want to let people know. We did this last year. We're doing it again. Our DFS pass, which is the single greatest value in the entire universe is free. Making it. Is it a value of something free? Yeah. It's a, it's a, it's an extreme value. So we make it free during the playoffs so that those of you that didn't get to use it during the year, get to get in there and use the DFS tools and read the articles and see all of the amazing content put out by our DFS team, our DFS embedding team, DFS pass.com. You can use the optimizer.

It's all free right now. Just go to DFS pass.com. You get it free for the playoffs and you can try it out and see if it's something you want to use next year. Um, so check that out. And then I, I'm going to throw a shout out to a couple of guys here at the studio because they put this together last year. They did it again. Everyone wants to make a playoff bracket. We've all made them here. Uh, I think I made some people freak out cause of my Superbowl pick. It's, it's a pick. They built a tool. They're not even in the playoffs.

That's how crazy it is. That's right. It was the bears. Um, no, my playoff picks.com completely free. It just lets, it's a tool that lets you make a playoff bracket. It just pops up with the matchup and you choose the winners and it gives you a bracket and you can compare with your friends. And it's really nice because you can't just do the classic, like March madness bracket because the NFL recedes. So depending on who you pick, it doesn't just always go like your classic piece of paper bracket where, well, then that team goes and plays this team from that side of the bracket.

So it makes it really, really nice for you. Very easy. Brooksy and Schneider did a great job putting that together. And so that's just a cool tool. I will ask you right here, right now, having used that tool, who are you? Who are your finalists? And who is your Superbowl champion? Cause I, I will save my controversial pick till the end. Uh, I have, after going through the bracket, I have it being Baltimore V Philadelphia. And who wins it? I have Baltimore winning. Okay. I have it. Philadelphia. The Kansas city. I know. And I've got big ref over here. I've got big red winning.

Man. Another one. Kansas city. Uh, basic. I mean, I just did what I think's going to happen. You know, Jason. Oh, I know. Lad minus three 10. Um, all right. I am taking the Detroit lions. Okay. Who are my preseason pick to get there? That one makes sense. Yeah. And I actually, I have the, I don't, I have the, I have the chargers in the Superbowl via upsetting the chiefs in the divisional round and then upsetting the bills in the conference championship for whatever stupid reason. I'm not just trying to be hot takey. I just feel like the chargers are kind of built to win in the playoffs and we will see what happens.

That is not, uh, I, the odds of that are plus 2,800 or something ridiculous right now. So not high odds. And how long did it take Carbaugh to get there the first time? Two years. Was it two? I mean, it was really fast. Um, I have Detroit though, winning against the chargers in the Superbowl. Let's see here. So if you're still with us, we'll move on to the news. Yeah, it was year two. They were 13 and three there when you took over for San Francisco. Yeah. And then second year they got to the Superbowl. So chiefs, Mike, you have the Ravens?

I got the Ravens, yeah. That'd be fun to see. And, uh, I'm going lions winning it all. All right. Let's talk some news. News and notes from around the league presented by USAA insurance. I see we fixed our graphics today. Oh. Okay. That was going to be pretty fundamental to your employment. Um, no, congrats on the trophy that's sitting there and we'll sit there apparently for the rest of the entire calendar year. Why would it not? Good point. Yeah. All right. The Patriots have fired Gerard Mayo. Yeah. That it didn't go well. They could have, it didn't go well, but then it didn't go poorly enough either because they

should have had the number one pick. Now they have the fourth pick and no head coach. He coach said, we're going out. We're playing to win. You know, draft pick be darned. I don't care. And that was not the reason he got fired. He got fired. Not because he, you know, no wasted away that first pick, but because he was not a good enough head coach. I mean, that was just the truth. He was not ready for this job. Even, you know, uh, craft came out and talked about how when the interviews, when he was coming up, Gerard Mayo was coming up for other interviews.

He got scared that he was going to lose them and that he was the heir apparent. He was kind of that handpicked guy. So he put them in. And I mean, the truth was, he just wasn't, he wasn't that guy. And if you know it, you know it. The, I mean, you, you know what, if, if you weren't paying attention Sunday, it was the Patriots versus the Buffalo bills. So division rival laid down and the Patriots lost their number one pick. I mean that, and it doesn't, and your, your seat doesn't change for the Buffalo bills. Like that is, that's, that's winning.

Yeah. That's, that's some good, that's long, good ball by the bills. Yeah. It's funny though to think, I mean, we've been doing this long enough to know when the roles were perfectly reversed. I mean, they were, it was the new England on top of everything doing everything right. And Buffalo was a laughing stock, but they also, I mean, it's easier to win when you put in your star rookie quarterback and that's what happened for the first time all season for the Patriots, Mr. Joe Milton, bazooka, Joe, he didn't make a couple. So bazooka Joe's great. I hope he's now the starter for that.

That one's not mine. I saw that one on Twitter. Well, he does have a bazooka. Yes. Nobody can throw the football. It was very Josh Allen ask. He, he had a couple throws. One was called back a touchdown to the Mario Douglas. That was incredible. Doug Peterson fired. Goodbye. Oh man. They have the fifth pick. Oh, Doug Peterson. Yeah. You hire Doug Peterson. What is it? Is it two years? Is that the run? Bring them in a year or two. Give them a couple of years and let them go out on top. Yeah. Tell them to retire. Like, well, I'm not going to fire you, but just retire.

Cause you're doing awesome. It's like, he comes in and he cleans the locker room up real nice and sparkly clean, but then never. Yeah. It doesn't maintain. Uh, the giants, they're going to retain Brian Dable and their general manager. I definitely think retaining Brian Dable is the right route here. He, he appears to me still to be a good coach. He's been working with not a lot. So I don't know about the GM situation, but, uh, Dable is the type of guy that I think if they let him go, he would be interviewed immediately for at least that coaching jobs

or, or go get another OC job. You, you imagine they're going to bring in their new quarterback of the future and it's hard to want somebody, you know, get somebody as good as Dable to potentially help that quarterback a lot. They have a weird navigating though. They are pick three. Tennessee is the first overall pick. I, it can't imagine they don't take a quarterback. Yep. Uh, and then the Cleveland Browns are number two quarterback. Maybe, maybe. Yeah, maybe. They should. They definitely should. Uh, and then, you know, they could be, they could be a trading team too. That's more what I mean of like, is it, is it better for the Browns to just trade down,

acquire a bunch of assets because they're not ready to get on the, uh, on the rookie quarterback contract. Um, the Colts will retain Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard. That one was surprising. I don't think the vibes there were good all year. Um, Chris Ballard is pretty proven. Shane Steichen. I don't know if he knew what he was doing this year. He, he felt very similar to Gerard Mayo to me. I mean, it was from a press conferences and decision-making. It's like two years though of, of collapse. Right. At the end. Yeah. The down the stretch. I mean, you had one of the worst games of the season of the whole season.

One of the most surprising outcomes in week 17 to let the Colts just get annihilated by a team. They were super favored over where they had to win when that game ended. I thought Steichen would not be back, but, uh, this is also a team that has not been that bad there. You know, they were in the playoff hunt last year and this year. It didn't happen, but this isn't a team that I think continuity also matters. So yeah, probably a good move. If you're talking about keeping somebody there, you talk about, Hey, he had to deal with injuries at the quarterback position that rotated guys through and didn't get stability ever.

You know, it's, it's a questionable hire though. I don't know if he's going to work out. Mike McDaniel is staying with the Dolphins. So it seems like if your quarterback missed a bunch of games, Daniel Jones, uh, Anthony Richardson to a, you got like the free passes. Is that the Mike McCarthy prognostication? We'll find out. Uh, cause he's a winner, Jason. He is a winner. He wins super bowl. A long time ago, man. That he got so fired up and that, that clip is just a chef's kiss. It's so good. Ken Dorsey fired as the offensive coordinator of the Browns, Ryan grub out after one year

in Seattle and Lou and Aruma, who has been a, at one point, a head coaching candidate after the dominant Bengals defensive years ago, when they went to the super bowl fired bad defenses here in Cincinnati. And, uh, kind of, I mean, if you just, the Cincinnati years, one of the more disappointing ones, cause you've got, you've got an MVP season from Burrow to me, if they win that division, they win all those close games. He he's the MVP of football. Did you see the Burrows, the passing leader, uh, Jamar chase is a triple crown winner. And then they have the lead, uh, uh, most sacks with Hendrickson.

Yeah. All in the same exact team. And this team barely finished 500 and did not make the playoffs. Doesn't that reflect on the head coach too? Oh, I, I, I definitely, you ask him, right? Somebody loose. You go talk to Lou about that. This is a heads got a role with the coordinator. First, Zach Taylor drives me crazy. Uh, I, I don't know that he is a bad coach. Like I'm not saying he is just bad. You should fire him, but he definitely makes very bad decisions frequently. So you are, you do get your feathers in game. He drives me nuts.

So I, I don't know, uh, whatever. He's got Joe Burrow. So he wins a lot of games hard to fire him. But I think they could do a lot better than Zach Taylor. And just imagine, just imagine like, Oh, there's all these coaching openings. Right. And it's like the coaches, right? Ben Johnson is the bell of the ball this year. He's going to get to pick where he wants to go. Now, just imagine one of these spots has Joe Burrow. That could have a lot to do with who Burrow wants right now. Yeah. I mean, Burrow, my T Higgins is the answer to that question.

Oh, he does. Yeah. Um, say flowers left the Browns game, knee sprain, not considered long-term, but could miss the wildcard game against the Steelers. I can I change my pick? I don't think they need Zay flowers. Yeah. They don't need the Steelers. I think they're the biggest favorites. They are. Last I saw was nine, nine and a half point favorites over the Steelers. They need Zay flowers. Later. Assuming that it's going to be the bills. Uh, they, they would need, they would need them there. Blake Corum out for the playoffs. That's a bummer. Broken forearm in the Sunday game. Christian Watson.

Oh man. I don't want to be trite with injuries. Um, it's tempting with Watson's history to look at, look, they can't figure out how to help him run properly. He tore his ACL, suffered additional damage. It had always been soft tissue issues and banged up all year and now tore his ACL and could miss well into 2025. So much promise. So much in the playoffs, obviously. And it really sucks, man. The Packers are legitimately so much better when Christian Watson, but even if he's not the one making the big plays, the offense is just objectively better. So this is the, the Packers are limping into the playoffs.

Yeah. They are. And, uh, Jordan Love, he had exited with a right elbow contusion, could have returned. Yeah. That numb hand. Yeah. Just super cold. I said, yeah. Like I knew what that meant. Oh, did you not hear about that? Oh, you couldn't. No. I mean, he couldn't feel his hand. Yeah. No, I know what a numb hand is. Okay. So what were you saying? You said he's got that numb hand. Like that's a thing. Well, it just happened to normal. Just happened to Josh Allen. Oh, did it? Yeah. Oh, okay. So it's that. Yeah. All right. Come on. Keep up.