THE UNOFFICIALFOOTBALLERSFAN ARCHIVE↗Transcript links use the exact YouTube video’s clock. Machine transcripts can contain errors.
The episode arrives a day early because the draft workload cannot wait. An unlabeled host says the on-camera IV bag has been removed but a football drip remains attached at all times, inviting catheter jokes before football is declared to be pumping through the veins.
The hosts recall taking a friendly emotional attack position on resident Falcons fan Kyle after Atlanta drafts Michael Penix Jr. at eight. Kyle says his body is present but he is dead, his show-document winners are three crying emojis, and the gag becomes three Penix jerseys: one signed by Kyle for a listener and predicted to arrive tear-covered and salty, one secretly for Kyle, and one for the studio wall.
With the established Falcon said to be sitting in, the hosts ask whether Atlanta's draft disaster requires changing his actual nickname. He refuses, the proposed replacement becomes quail, and the desk condemns quail for walking into traffic with their babies despite being able to fly; Arizona quail hunting is imagined with a camouflaged bowling ball.
Mike's pre-draft devotion to Ben Sinnott pays off when Washington takes him in round two. The desk calls him the Senator, deploys 'I am the Senate,' jokes that Mike's promotion has cost Dynasty-show subscribers, and declares the Washington landing a pick of destiny.
After admitting he forgot Darren Waller news, an unlabeled host immediately withdraws responsibility and blames Kyle, Brooks, Jeremy, the Falcons, and Papa Josh. Production warns that retirement is not official, but the hosts say unofficial status cannot stop the podcast and count the people seated left and right as two sources.
Mike's pre-draft song asks Arizona not to trade out of four or do something dumb. After Marvin Harrison Jr. and Mike's RB1 Trey Benson arrive, the hosts say no pants remain; Mike describes running naked through the streets and needing to be clothed for the YouTube video.
While assessing Blake Corum behind Kyren Williams, the hosts invoke a rule from the prior season's lessons: the Tank Bigsby Clause. Kenneth Walker and Travis Etienne survived similar rookie-back fears, so a proven good player should not automatically be demoted when day-two competition arrives.
A Penix pronunciation sounds dangerous enough that the hosts repeatedly tell listeners to rewind fifteen seconds and inspect the tape. An unlabeled host says the fear of saying the name has already been shared in company Slack, and the desk dissects whether the ending sounded like one syllable or another before giving up.
The draft-week UDK giveaway is extended for another couple of days and explicitly includes a Listener League spot, signed Etienne and Jefferson jerseys, and the Kyle-signed Penix jersey—predicted to arrive covered in tears and salt—announced moments earlier.
The show arrives a day early because the draft workload is so intense that an unlabeled host describes a permanent football IV, complete with catheter banter and football pumping through the veins. Atlanta's Michael Penix Jr. selection creates the episode's dominant crew story: the hosts describe their emotional attack on resident Falcons fan Kyle, Kyle says his body is present but he is dead, and the giveaway expands into three Penix jerseys—one signed by Kyle for a listener, one secretly intended for Kyle, and one destined for the studio wall. The extended UDK giveaway also explicitly includes a Listener League spot and signed Etienne and Jefferson jerseys. When established producer alias the Falcon refuses to abandon his bird identity, the desk spirals into a complaint that Arizona quail waste their gift of flight, travel into traffic with their babies, and can be hunted with camouflaged bowling balls. Mike's pre-draft Ben Sinnott attachment receives its defining language: the Senator, an 'I am the Senate' cue, Washington as a pick of destiny, and a third-round rookie-draft recommendation. The hosts then blame Kyle, Brooks, Jeremy, Papa Josh, and eventually the Falcons for missing Darren Waller news, enlarge the unofficial item in the show document, and call two neighboring hosts sufficient sources for journalistic excellence. Arizona's Harrison-and-Benson draft becomes another Mike spectacle: his earlier song begged the Cardinals not to do something dumb, and the successful picks leave him metaphorically without pants and running naked through the streets. The episode also names the Tank Bigsby Clause—the reminder not to demote a proven incumbent merely because a team drafts a day-two running back. Finally, the desk repeatedly rewinds an unfortunate Penix pronunciation, while an unlabeled host admits posting in company Slack about being terrified every time the name must be said.
Well, we're coming to you with a brand new show, a day early, breaking down the draft, so many reactions, lots of different players going lots of different places. All the winners and losers in the NFC, some news to talk about. It's a long one. Enjoy. To the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Hi! Welcome in the Fantasy Footballers podcast.
Monday, April 29th. Oh, what? I thought we release on Tuesdays and Thursdays. What we normally do, Mr. Moore, but today we're bringing the show a day early. Too much draft to talk about. So much draft. We do not want to delay, so we're releasing the episode a day early. As we talk through the NFL draft, the rookies, the... NFC winners and losers on today's show and all of our reactions to what transpired over the weekend. We've already got our Dynasty League rookie draft happening. Many of you out there are in the mix or in the midst of your own rookie drafts. We've been hustling. We've been the whole team getting the dynasty pass ready. We've already got the new Dynasty startup rankings, the rookie rankings.
The Newmock draft is up there in the Dynasty Pass. The risers and followers are up there. And then our, so basically our post draft Dynasty Pass update is nearly complete. It is the season. And I am telling you, if you're watching YouTube, I took the IV bag out. But I have a, I have a football drip. at all time since the you got a catheter that match oh for oh boy for sure i don't know about i can't go to the bathroom i'm just football is in the veins right now it's just it is pure pumping nfl time right now i'm so excited yeah for those of you that joined us on thursday for the rapid reaction show on nfl plus we appreciate you that was a lot of fun and we're breaking it all down fresh today thursday was wild um especially for
Kyle. Go with a, the Falcons fan of our, of our crew. If you haven't followed what transpired, uh, by way of like there were HR complaints because we all took a very strong emotional. Yeah. Uh, attack position on Kyle the Borgogan. It's called a friend position. Yeah. We were not. We were not working at that moment. We were having fun. We were with your buddies. We were taking our good buddy Kyle. And we had an opportunity to push his face into the dog poop on the ground and say, don't do this. You loser. And Kyle captured quite the picture of the three of us ridiculing the Michael Pinnock's Jr. pick at number eight, which is insane. So it happened Thursday. Yeah. Today's Monday. I have spent five days trying to figure out how it could be defended. I was waiting. There is one way.
Oh, I was saying I was waiting of how is something going to come out and then we're all going to feel stupid. So dumb because the Falcons actually outmaneuvered everybody and just on the surface, which we were all seeing. We are the ones who are dumb, not them. To me, the only justifiable reason, which we have yet to hear would be that Kirk Cousin's injury is life-threatening. I mean, really, the injury one's not... In the ICU. The injury one is not an excuse because they paid him the money. Yeah. So that would be on them. The only real one is if the tampering somehow meant they were going to avoid his contract, which Mike, you and I talked about that. The NFLPA would pitch a fit. It doesn't seem like that would be viable. Yeah. They put the tampering onus on the team, not the player. And so...
penalizing the player doesn't make sense. So yeah, I'm back down to no defense. The only way that we look back and say, look, this was the right move. We were all wrong. By we all, I mean, the entire world outside. I have another thought in a second, but the only way that works is if he turns out to be Patrick Mahomes, like he's got to be. First Ballot Hall of Famer. Top three in the league, perennially. He can't just be good. He can't be your future. He can't be a franchise quarterback. That's not good enough to justify spending the eighth pick when you've got a window here of, you know, you're playing the win. It's not like you didn't know you had the eighth pick when you signed Kirk Cousins to this massive deal. But what I was, the new thought that just struck my head is because the whole world, people who.
you know, justify things and try to find the silver lining in bad picks. Everyone universally agrees. This is really an unjustifiable situation with two exceptions, which is Falcons fans drink of the Kool-Aid and the people in the draft room. And it dawned to me like, there were enough people in that room where I don't know how this happened. There were, there were like a dozen people. And they were all clapping. No one raised their hand. It was like, well, how did it happen? People trying not to get fired. I know, I know that the, six quarterbacks went in the top 12 picks. We had offensive players for the first 14 picks, never before seen it in an NFL draft. And so, you know, was there a kind of percolating sense that like, you know, the desperation for quarterbacks, people trading up for quarterbacks all of a sudden, they're like, oh.
Everybody wants to come up and get a quarterback. Maybe we should too. Kyle, I mean, it's not like Kyle's not here listening to all of this reliving his pain. Kyle, have you found, you know, any sense of peace or a redeemable aspect to this trade? What are the odds that this works out for Atlanta? My body is here, but no, I am dead. This is over. It's not going to work. He's also in the ICU. So that was the huge storyline in the first round, along with all those offensive players going. And we're breaking it all down today. It's just, it's so awful. It's so awesome. It's so awesome. Well, here's, it's, it's awful. You think you made a bad pick in your league out there, fantasy football player? It's awful. It's awesome because of chaos and chaos can be fun. But it's awful and like, I think it, I think it's bad for the team. And it's also like, this.
This dude, like, he's bad for Michael Pennock Jr. He did everything he was supposed to do to become a top 10 NFL draft pick, and now he went to a team where if everything goes to their plan, he might start a football game in three years. Like, meanwhile, then we had more reports, you know, like the Saints, the Raiders, and I can't remember the other team, but of Rap reports that they were. trying to get into the top 10 to get Michael Pennix. And this kid who has achieved his life, part of his dream, number one, make it to the NFL, be a high draft pick. Yes, he's going to make a lot of money. But he wants to play. He wants to be the franchise quarterback for a team, and he is immediately into a situation where this, it's not wait, half, like, where a lot of these guys, like, it might be half a year before they get in. Four games, six games.
or even like Patrick Mahomes, a full entire year. But the Jordan Love draft path is just so different of, it wasn't, Jordan Love was not a top 10 pick. He was late in the first round as they were, as they were anticipating. But then the Packers were in a Super Bowl window. They did not win a Super Bowl. Whenever you're like, oh, but we got our quarterback in the future. So it's a little bit of revisionist history. It's. This was not premeditated. If it was, Kirk Cousins wouldn't have gotten a phone call moments before the pick where Kirk Cousins and his team literally said to them, this doesn't help us win this year. What are you doing? So Cousins was upset. Who you just paid. The whole team has to be. If you're a defensive player. Yeah. Like, are you happy that you drafted a backup quarterback? No. And I believe they had no.
They got no corners out of the draft, which they desperately needed. This is not the Michael Pinnock's or Terry Fontenow hour, but wild. We're going through NFC winners and losers today. The ultimate draft week giveaway, because we're releasing this show early and because of what transpired, I am calling an audible. I'm going to extend the deadline to tomorrow. And I'm going to include a signed by Kyle. Michael Pinnock's junior jersey in the giveaway. This might be the most valuable thing we've ever given away. That's so mean. Did we get one for Kyle to keep as well? Because I really feel like. We got three. Nice. We got one for Kyle to sign and send to a member of the Footland. We got one to send a Kyle's a gift. Don't tell him about that. And we got a third one that will hang on that wall occasionally on the back of the studio. So the NFL is up to.
Five total Michael Pennix jerseys sold. Kyle, I want your wife to video you signing the jersey. And I'm going to include some other swag in the giveaway as well. We'll extend it out another couple of days. Ultimate draft kit.com. That way you can get in there. Take advantage of the giveaway. And you'll have access to the post-draft update for the Dynasty Pass as well. And we'll give away the listener league spot. We'll give away the sign ETN and Jefferson jerseys. as on top of it. So at the FFBallers on Twitter if you want to follow the show, the communities join the foot.com. Moving on for Michael Pinnock's to some more news. News and notes from around the league. I wonder if the jersey will be covered in tears when you receive it. Yeah, because Kyle has dried out by then. Yeah. But I mean, it'll be salty. Yes. All right, the Eagles just before the draft.
They signed A.J. Brown to a new three-year contract extension. But wait, didn't they just do this with another wide receiver on their team? They did, Devante Smith last week. So $96 million deal for A.J. Brown is under contract through 2029. Not that that matters. And his total guaranteed money is $84 million. We will not hear about A.J. Brown's unhappiness again this year. Or will we? I mean, I hope not. Obviously, from a dynasty perspective, Devanti Smith, A.J. Brown, J. Helens, they are a core that is staying together for the foreseeable future. Yeah, and for whatever reason in Dynasty startup, and we just redid the rankings again with the rookies in them, there has been a little bit of this weird vibe when I rank A.J. Brown, and that's gone for me now. Like, he belongs in that top.
7, 6, 5, wherever you have him. And he's going to have guaranteed production. He's one of the best in the game. Can't say that about this next player. Cowboys have signed former cowboy. Ezekiel Elliott, former Patriot last year. He's back, baby. Tony Pollard is gone and they brought back. His cap hit never left. They're still paying dead cap for Ezekiel. Are they really? Yes. Yeah, I think I saw a tweet saying he's basically the third highest cap hit, if you include. What's him being back? This is unbelievably great news for C.D. Lamb and Dak Prescott. I completely agree. Okay. The running game is not fixed by Ezekiel Elliott coming off on inefficient season in New England, who, by the way, Zeke was one of the worst graded like pass blockers in New England. And Tony Pollard's vacating a bunch of inefficient carries and targets, and Rico Dattle is there. And right now, the all-in version of the Cowboys include Zeke and Rico Dattle.
Yeah, I mean, Zeke was not good. And Royce Freeman. Think. Yeah, no, literally and Royce Freeman. Yeah, he should be in the conversation. Zeke is not the same player that he used to be. Obviously, three and a half yards of carry last year. Looked bad is not good. He's about to be 29. Looks bad is not good. That's doubling. It sucks that we always get here because this is what happens to NFL players. Prime. Zeke was so good and so much fun to watch and so incredible for your fantasy football team. But we always end up here. He's going to be 29. He is. My grandfather used to be a decent basketball player. And then he went out to play as a grandfather and fell into the fence. So, you know, you got to let it go at some point in time. From a fantasy perspective, he's actually going to be, he's going to have relevance.
I was just going to assume. Yes, he is. It's like the, it'll be Zeke versus Dowdell. There's, it'll be Zeeke will be the, be ahead of Dowdell. Duttle is the better running back at this point in their, I think it'll be doubt in their careers, but I, I still believe that this team will, you know, they're reinvesting in Zeke. Jerry Jones is at the top and that guy, man, he has lost. He is. What are you talking about the 24th best team? That's why they're picking 24. Not only is he saying funny clips like that, but the after day one, this was in the middle of the draft, literally before day two of the draft when he is at the press coverage saying how much he is in love with Jonathan Brooks. And he's very, very, very high on his board. And they, you know, it's the best interviews had in 30 years. He's saying the stuff out loud. And then.
You can't do that. You can't. What are you doing? And then, of course, they lost out. And he was also quoted as saying, you know, he really hopes to get one of these running backs on the roster. Nice. It, it didn't work out that way. And so now you are signing Zeke almost as a show of like this is probably, this is PR so much. Yeah, they are. Going to pass the ball so much. Trevor Lawrence, Travis CTN, both had their 50 year options exercised by the Jacksonville Jaguars. We got news yesterday that Tankdale, Tankdale was treated for a minor gunshot wound. He's already been released from the hospital. He was part of a, was it a club? I think there were 10 victims in the club, but he was treated for a minor gunshot wound. He's okay. Crap news, but also when you hear, like, you're like, hey, superstar athlete involved in gun violence, you go, oh, gosh, but.
Like these, the one silver lining is it was not like a, like he's in a personal issue. It's just a really crappy situation, but he's okay. All right. I think that does it for news unless Deucer's Alley has anything spectacular to share. Do you guys have any information on why they drafted Pennix Jr.? No. Still scouring, but not seeing anything. I got a question. So the Falcon is sitting in. Have you considered that it was so bad you have to change your actual nickname of being the falcon? What do you think? No, I'm going to ride it with it. He's right. You're going to fly with it. Grow up. I'm going to ride with it. What are you a Bronco? No, you're a falcon. You a quail. That's better. Dude, what is what is what is with quails? Quails, they fly only if you're about to run them over. That's the only thing a quail does. It is. They want to walk. They are mocking.
The rest of the animal kingdom of like, I have this beautiful gift. I can fly. You cannot. But I'm not going to run with my tiny little itty bitty legs. I've been wanting to talk about quails for a while. You know where I'm going to run? Directly into traffic. Yeah. And I'm going to bring all my babies with me. They're just going to bring the road. There ain't no solo quails out there. They're always together. They're looking to die together. Fly, you stupid birds. Yeah. I mean, they can. Yes. They can. They just, they choose not to. I choose not to fly. People actually in Arizona, I don't, I don't know if quail are, are everywhere around the country as much as they are in Arizona. We'll find out soon on Twitter. I know that. Yeah, people go quail hunting with bowling balls. It's unbelievable. They just, that's how. Set them up and knock them down. That's how you go quill hunt now here. They don't fly. Come on. Everyone brings their bowling balls out. You want to go quill hunting? Are you still a camo? Are you still in camo?
Yeah. You are, right? For sure. Yeah. Cammo bowling ball. All right. We'll never see it coming. No, no, they will not. What is? All right. Enough of that. Let's start the recap. Hi, rookie. Welcome to the NFL. Well, we're going to march through the NFC teams today. Little draft recap winners and losers and our reactions to what transpired for each of these franchises. We'll start in the NFC. And we will start in the NFC. the team that had the first pick in the draft. Oh, Bears. Caleb Williams, 101. And we love Caleb Williams. We, you know, I think the hardest part is we're looking at rookie rankings. We're looking at Dynasty startup rankings and it's where you slot Caleb Williams in. But, you know, from a fantasy winners and losers perspective, like I went into our show doc and Kyle had put the Chicago fans as the winners, which certainly they are. And then I went and added Caleb Williams as the winner because.
The Bears added Roma Dunzee in this draft. They already added Keenan Allen. They added DeAndre Swift. DJ Moore was a top five option. Like the equipment that they have bestowed upon Caleb Williams is so elite that I really, really, I was really tempted to just have him higher than Jane Daniels. I know the rushing cheat code, but I sure like Caleb Williams. And I'm not sure about Jane Daniels size. And so. Where are you with that discussion? I have Caleb over Jaden, and I thought this, the Keenan Allen trade was where my opinion started to shift of, okay, well, they're really serious about making sure that Caleb Williams has players around him. And then Adunze falling to nine, which did you guys see the Ryan Poles was asked about the Michael Pennix?
pick because they were right before him and they were like did you see this coming and he also thought the pick was pretty funny i mean he tried to be as as uh kind as as he could for his occupation but he's just kind of stifles the laughter and then it's like you know i'm just i'm glad it worked out the way it did uh so once like once the transformation of oh the chicago bears really are serious about we're going to build a as powerhouse of an offense that we possibly can. That's what I was more comfortable with having Jane Daniels at two despite the rushing. But yeah, so between the two of them, I do, I have Caleb ahead, which is, it feels very unlike my brand to have the more prototypical QB ahead of the rusher. This is one of the most surefire unfailing situations you could ever walk into. You've got.
the draft capital of the 101 with not just, you know, it's not James Winston at the 101. This is a prospect we've been talking about for years. So he has all the time, all the leash in the world to fail and be better, but he has all the weapons around him. With his pocket mobility is arm strength, the fact that he goes through reads and you have three bona fide star wide receivers. he's not going to fail. That doesn't mean that the Bears are going to win a ton of games, that they're going to be playoff bound this year. Maybe they do, but he is not going to fail as a prospect. Well, clip that. Romadunze goes there as well and, you know, much like the situation with Ryan Poles and the Bears, I don't know if you saw Chris Ballard because they took the first defensive player in the draft at 15 and he's literally cackling in the draft room just saying we got the blank.
best defensive rusher in the draft because he couldn't believe it. Roma Dunezay, there might be a little bit of waiting. Yes. But I expect it to work out really, really well. I do. And I think that the Bears were really smart here. They could have passed on a Dunezay and gone a different direction. But in another draft, the Dunez, they could have been a top five pick. If you didn't have the situation with Malik neighbors and Marvin Harrison, Jr. It's doing the right thing by it's getting some more insurance for that number one pick. I'm so excited to watch this team play this year. The only thing working against the Bears is like the old school thing, Jason, where when the Lions draft the running back, everyone holds their breath. When the Bears draft the passer and you've never had a 4,000 yard passer and the record is like 3,800 yards by Eric Kramer, you still hold your breath. Yeah, I did finish statting out the Chicago Bears. So I've got my stat line for Caleb Williams. Look at that. He is the breaking it out on Monday. All-time leader.
for passing yardage for the Bears, but does not crack 4,000. I was going to ask you. All right. The Minnesota Vikings, they end up spending pick 10 on J.J. McCarthy. They moved up one spot, swapped with the Jets, a little bit of back-in draft capital to move a spot. By the way, the final scores in Kyle, you can correct me. I believe Jason and Mike had six picks correct. I had five. And so we got more correct this year than last year. Much better showing than last year. I was undone by my risky business with Drake May and Jaden Daniels at the top of the draft. And yeah, and I did not get just an overall victory due to my risky business of JJ to the Giants. J.J. McCarthy arrives in Minnesota. And I think it's a bit of an exhale for the Justin Jefferson managers. This is great.
I think this is a... You like McCarthy a lot, too. I think that McCarthy is going to be a good professional. Well, I don't, for fantasy, that's very TBD. I wouldn't project him, you know, all of a sudden next year we're talking about. Can't wait for a top 10 quarterback, J.J. McCarthy. He could be like that fringe one. He's going to be an awesome streamer this year, just having the offense that he does. But for the Vikings. who were truly staring down a, we're going to have to tear this whole thing down and rebuild it if you don't figure out at least a potential solution at quarterback. Because Sam Darnold could have played the year and the team could have been of 500 or right around their type of a team. But he's not the future of the team to have someone who could be right here. And it costs.
Very little. It's just such, it's a great pick for the team. And it's a great pick for, like if you had Addison, not Jefferson withstanding, because Jefferson will get his. But if we went into the season at Sam Darnel, my confidence in Jordan Addison would be very low. But it's, it's now like some optimism or optimism. The Green Bay Packers, Jason. The Green Bay Packers didn't do a lot by way of. offensive fantasy options. But they did draft Marshawn Lloyd in the third round running back out of USC, who some thought was maybe the most talented running back in the draft. Yeah, he was the number one guy on Daniel Jeremiah's board. He was probably the biggest riser leading up before the NFL draft for me and my running back rankings. He's got a lot of things that I like. He's got plenty of speed. He can catch the ball.
And the way that the Packers utilize running backs, he's, you know, I could see a very Aaron Jones fit. And I've been concerned with Josh Jacobs. That's where I've been since he signed here. He looked bad last season. And so now he comes over and he's got a great opportunity in front of him with, I mean, I started the Packers out. I was like, what an embarrassment of riches this team has. The youth and pass catching options are. just unbelievable here. They are so deep at every single position. They can go five, six wide receivers with talent. They've got two talented tight ends. They've got past catching running backs. It's great across the board. But Josh Jacobs has to prove himself. His contract was basically a one year deal. So the fact that they go in and they spend a day two pick on March on Lloyd, you know, it's one, I think is a bad sign for A.J. Dylan.
Where AJ Dylan is... Do you do? You think it's bad for AJ Dylan? I do think it's bad for AJ Dylan, yeah. Yeah, I know. Well, I'm just saying because... It's catastrophic. It's not good. And, yeah, Marshawn Lloyd... But the path, there's a path. There's a path for success and more so there's... I think it hurts Josh Jacobs in the sense that the leash is shorter. Yeah, and like what you said with the contract situation, there is a path now. We'll take a quick break, come back, talk about the Detroit Lions. All right, moving on to the Detroit Lions, looking at our draft recap, the winners and losers. Well, they took cornerbacks with their first two picks. They have a pretty great offense right now and didn't need to do a lot. They pay Adal Monra and they go into the draft and they trade it up for the largest man that has ever existed.
Their fourth round, which pick? Yeah, when they traded up into the fourth for the Canadian offensive tackle. Oh, Manu? Manu. Mountainoo. That guy is humongous. It looked like, like, I know he's playing in Canadian leagues, but like it looked like he was literally an adult playing with children when he's blocking them. Like he's reaching down so far to where those small regular people are. I don't think we have anything to talk about with Detroit. There is a big winner to me in Detroit, and it's Jameson Williams. Jameson Williams, in the off season, you know, they had Josh Reynolds leave. They had, you know, they talked up Jameson Williams in ways that we joked about because it's like, oh, he's going to make a push. You too joked about you. He's going to make a push. But they have invested in him. He now, you know, you just look at the depth chart and you know he's going to be on the field more, which has not been where, you know, his snap percentage is.