THE UNOFFICIALFOOTBALLERSFAN ARCHIVE↗Transcript links use the exact YouTube video’s clock. Machine transcripts can contain errors.
The hosts exaggerate the approaching production load into 50 to 100 shows a week, then list the main show, Footcast, Dynasty, DFS, and Spitballers before declaring that five days a week means football is coming and August is mayhem.
The hosts advertise their 2026 live Megalashow for Friday, August 28 at the Van Buren in Phoenix. The published video places a photograph of a packed Fantasy Footballers live crowd behind the desk during the pitch.
The off-camera booth announces a requested but deliberately bad golf video. The hosts say the Falcon got paid for roughly a full day's work so he could go to the course and put himself in the video, then describe posting a swing as dangerous self-exposure. Mike says his swing looked bad but he looked good, and his silly shirts become a distraction from the form. None of the golf footage appears in this episode.
A CRT-style transition resolves into a flaming Too Hot to Handle studio background. The hosts say the drop was too intense for their heart rates and immediately connect the heat to golf outings where they nearly die every time.
The hosts claim Kyle emailed an extreme anti-Colston-Loveland take, embellish it through eighth-round refusal, removal from his board, character issues, and a two-FAAB ceiling, then sarcastically call the imitation a Kyle audio clip. When they expect him to defend himself, they command, 'Mute him. Don't let him in,' and explain that any pushback only makes the story worse. Direct video never shows Kyle or a real recorded insert.
While trying to remember who highlighted Trey McBride's route volume, the hosts guess Tony Gonzalez and Barbara Walters. One explains that at lunch, whenever somebody pauses while retrieving a name, he and Mike throw out any possible name. Hugh Downs extends the bit before Kyle's off-camera lookup points them to Rebs.
The close teases offseason League of Record trades. One unlabeled host says he has been sending offers but lacks draft capital; another asks for trades and answers the capital problem by saying he has a championship. The transcript does not safely assign those lines to individuals.
The crew uses hot-weather language and a memorable 'sacrificial X' receiver concept while debating Caleb Williams and Jeremiah Love risk.
But he was so good last year. 92 for 1,409. We've talked about the splits with and without CeeDee Lamb. Right now, he's the wide receiver 10 in the third round. So are we entering the... Is Pickens in the same conversation as T-Higgins to you in terms of... Yeah, they're both wide receiver twos for a really good offense with an alpha ahead of them. But are players capable of being ones if they need to be? Yep. And George, I think George is better than Tee. Really? Yeah. See, I would agree with that too. And you know that because I always talk Tee down a little bit.
And I do like Tee Higgins. You know, the conversations of like, what team would Tee Higgins be the number one on? A lot of them. Like, Tee Higgins is a great player who has... His body doesn't really like to play football. I think George can be a true superstar. One of the reasons why... And he was a My Guy for Jason last year. So let's shout that out. But one of the reasons why we love George Pickens... It wasn't... Your basis of the My Guy wasn't, CeeDee Lamb's going to get hurt and he's going to do well. The basis for the My Guy was, what Pickens does well and what Dak does well match up two
perfectly... ...in Dallas. And all of that is still true. And you saw with and without CeeDee Lamb on the field that what Dak does well, George Pickens excelled at. Even when CeeDee came back, you know, towards the end of the year, there were two down weeks where Pickens, you know, all of a sudden people were up in arms like, oh, he's giving up. And it's just like, all wide receivers have bad weeks. But he was really good. He mixes with Dak well. I think he is a very good player. However, the other part of why I liked Pickens last year was because he was not a third round
pick. This was a guy... I don't remember where he is. I think he was like fifth round. Yeah, I think he was fifth, maybe sixth round where I felt like you're just getting a steal on a guy who, as the number two for a good offense, should way outproduce that. But now he's at the top of the third round. Going ahead of wide receivers, I would definitely take ahead of him currently as ADP stands. I mean, that is to be drafted, to be your number one, like in a lot of situations, you would be slotting George Pickens as your one with that draft.
Yeah, if you went running back, running back, George Pickens, that's your number one. And for me, I mean, I expect ADP will change. Maybe AJ Brown will be ahead of him regularly post-trade. I would much rather have AJ Brown than George Pickens. Yes, I would much rather have AJ Brown. Personally, I'd rather have Ted Arroa McMillan. I'd rather have Rushy Rice. McMillan was the question. Ooh, that one's tough. McMillan was the... One is Dak and one is Bryce Young. Do you believe enough at the ceiling? I think I'd take Devontae Smith over him. Yeah, so to me, like right now where he's going...
That's a tough one. Right now where he's going, he's too hot to handle for me. And I feel bad because I really like George Pickens. I spent last year banging the table for him. But you're not willing to handle him. But it's just like, I don't like where he's... Put some gloves on and draft George. He's being drafted. You will, huh? Absolutely, I will. The in-and-out splits, and I will say that they were... They were better at the end of the year when they were on the field together. But in totality, if you look at the points per game when CeeDee was in the game versus
when he was out of the game, George Pickens averaged 21.2 fantasy points per game in the game CeeDee missed and 12.4 when CeeDee played. 12.4 is a really good number. It's not where he's being overdrafted if he's going to score 12.4 fantasy points per game. And that's your third round, you know, maybe first wide receiver. Is that too... I mean, I'm looking at points per game from last year and you can tell me if I'm doing this wrong. But 12.4 would put him at wide receiver 11. And right now he is... And that's his bad number. Right. That's the with CeeDee on the field.
Yeah. Which is about where he's being drafted. Yeah. I mean, some of it is whether or not he is worth... You know, right now I think he's being drafted as the wide receiver 12, which he can absolutely finish inside the top 12. But you can't look at that in a bubble without seeing, well, who else are you giving up drafting when you draft him? Okay. So... That's my argument. It's all the guys behind him that I would rather have all those people I named, A.J. Brown, Rashi Rice, Devontae Smith, Tadarone McMillan... Man, I'm right on the fence here. Mike is not too hot to handle for Mike.
No. I have no problem with it. He can be elite. The points per game is... I like that he's on a franchise tag. He's not too hot to handle. That's my final vote. It's like the sample of the points, it's hard because, I mean, one, when CD was gone, he was winning people weeks. So that's built in there where it's like, how many weeks did Tadarone McMillan win people a week? And that's not a trap. It's I don't actually know what the question or the answer is. So we got... He had one number one finish last year. And he will get better.
Absolutely. He's going to be a year two player. But it's already there for George. He can already win you the week. And him and CD can easily coexist and both be wide receiver ones. I will say this. On the 12.4 last year, slotting in as the wide receiver 11, last year there was a lot of those injuries, guys like CD, like neighbors. So the year prior, that would have put him as the wide receiver 19 in 2024. 12.4 fantasy points per game. So in that wide receiver two range, I think is where he'll end. Tadarone McMillan last year averaged 10.4 points a game.
Yeah. I mean... For McMillan to jump to 12.4, that's a good jump. And George did it when he was bad George. So I'll take the elite player in the offense where Dak can throw for almost 5,000 yards if things hit. You want to talk about one more wide out or do you want to talk about a tight end? I'll go to the tight end. What if it's Colston Loveland? Oh! Colston Loveland in basketball is being drafted as the tight end three, gentlemen. Mr. Loveland. In redraft, he's the tight end three, gentlemen. But it's the back of the fourth. It's the back of the...
For now. Yeah, it's the back of the fourth. That's the best ball. Early fifth. Like, if his best ball is back of the fourth, do you think that redraft will leapfrog that? I believe that people are going to get hotter and hotter for Loveland as we get close to the season. And people will really want the next breakout tight end. And right now, he's the hotness. Like, I think there's no denying that when you just are talking in fantasy circles about the hot players, Colston Loveland is beloved. I think there's a world where... Except for Kyle. Well, right. Kyle... We need to make sure that the record...
The record needs to... Kyle would like everyone to know, which he actually emailed me and asked me to say this. He said, way too hot. Really don't like that guy. Yeah. Never have, never will. Yeah. He's like, eighth round, too hot. Too hot. In the draft at all. He's off his board. Yeah. He took him off the board. It's weird. Character issues. Kyle Borgannoni did. I wouldn't spend $2 a fab. Was that an audio clip? Yeah, that was Kyle. Man, I really thought he'd break in here and defend himself. I've been waiting. He must be... Mute him. Don't let him in.
He knows that if you push back... It gets worse. It gets so much worse. I think that there's a world where Colson Loveland is not too hot to handle. Just... Even if Tyler Warren ends up being better than him, I think it might still be fine. I mean, they're not that far apart in the draft. No, they usually go... I mean, they're like in the same round. It's really... When I've been in drafts, it feels like... Both are going to work. That's what I think. Trey McBride and Brock Bowers go. You know... Brock Bowers? Brock Bowers at some point earlier in your draft.
And then you wait, you know, 10, 12, 15 picks. And then someone will take the next. And then right after the Warren Loveland, those two guys just go next to each other. What about you, Mike? I mean, the back of the fourth is not too hot for me. You know, when you're drafting a player of this, you know, like profile and everything, it's just what... What are the chances that Loveland ends up as... Not just the number three tight end, but becomes, you know, number one or number two. And leaps over. Say, you know, Trey McBride. Oh, crap. Who was...
Someone had just highlighted it even more. You know, we talked about the pace of play for McBride. Was it Tony Gonzalez who highlighted that? No. No, someone was talking about just the amount of routes. Barbara Walters. Dude, yes! Yeah. Oh, man! I knew I'd get there. Oh, I'm... We do this thing at our lunch table. Might have been Fitzmaurice. We do this thing at our lunch table. Yes. Whenever anybody has a pause, when they're trying to think of anybody's name, and usually it's Mike and I that are doing it. Yes. We just throw out any name possible. It's a good time.
It was Barbara Walters, though. I thought I remembered that. I... Bah, bah, bah, bah. I apologize. I mean, it was a friend of the show. I can't remember who posted, but it was essentially of, like... Hugh Downs. McBride ran the amount of... Like, he ran so many games worth of extra routes. Yes. I did see that. Like, games worth of extra routes to put him up to... Oh, it was Rebs? Was it... Did you find it, Kyle? Yeah. So maybe it was Rebs. So shout out to him. Oh, man. We were off. I apologize. I told you. I couldn't remember who it was.
I apologize to the Mrs. Walters. But the point being of, like... I can easily see Trey McBride still being a top elite tight end, but coming down from the scoring he was at last year and how he was, you know, points better than everybody else. I think Colston Lovac can finish as the number one tight end. So the issue... Which is why in the back of the fourth is not hot for me at all. The pushback I would have there. Okay. And maybe this is incorrect, but when I look at Brock Bowers and Trey McBride, they are the clear alpha receiver for their team.
They don't have a lot of competition. I mean, maybe Marvin Harrison Jr. figures it out and is awesome, but more than likely, he's not that dude that they were praying he was, you know, a first-belt Hall of Famer when they drafted him. And there's no real competition for receiving for Brock Bowers. Whereas with Loveland, I do see the talent. I see the fact that he could easily lead this team in targets, but I don't think the target market share will be as dominant because of Luther Burden and Rome, where you're like... I don't think he could have 150 targets just because of the team makeup.
But if he gets to 130, you know, even 120 targets with his athleticism, the way they line him up, the way they use him more down the field, I'm with you that it's not too hot to handle. It's too hot for me to say I think he could be the number one overall. I would be very, very... It's a big swing. Like, whenever you're taking a tight end like this, it's not proven. It's a huge swing, but the... Especially the playoffs when they gave him 15 targets against Green Bay, and then they followed it up the next week with 10 targets against the Rams.
Yeah, there's a world... He was the offense. Yeah, there's a world where he is... I mean, we sit here and you debate... You guys have debated Odunze and Burden. Yeah. At length. We always end up with the conclusion. It's probably Loveland. Yeah, and I mean, to say that, though, to believe in Caleb, to believe in Ben Johnson, to believe in the offense, and find... I mean, there are risks to Odunze, and there are risks to Burden. But I think there is a world where Loveland is... He's the dude drafted in the top 12 of the NFL draft. Also, those two games that I cited, the playoff games, that was after Week 17 and 18 where
he had 10 targets and 13 targets. So he had 10 or more targets for a full straight month. Like, that is... That's redonkulous. That only happened during their most important time of the year. Solid point, Jay. Which makes me want to draft Loveland. And that is why I don't... I think his ADP will go up from here until draft day. Because he was a rookie, and on the field, I mean, seven targets, six for 118 and two, 10 for 91 and one, six for 94 and one. I mean, he was... He did some dominant things as a rookie. Let me move his ADP.
Let's move Colston and Warren, because Warren's is going to get warmer as we get into training camp with a healthy Daniel Jones. Let's move them both into the fourth. Let's call them both middle of the fourth round picks. And then you've got Harold Fenn that doesn't move and stays at 605. So 405, 405, 605. Did you hear, at least I heard from the Twitter machine, teams are calling about Shadu or Sanders. Hey, hey, this is serious, Jason. No, I was holding a sneeze in. Teams are calling. Do they even trade pro bowlers? I mean, who would trade a pro bowl?
They're probably just like, how's he doing? They're not UFL. No, they're not UFL teams, Falcon. But probably some. They're going after those jersey sales. The quarterback competition of Cleveland is just the worst. We also have Taylor Green there, right? Yeah. Oh, he's not going to play. Oh, man. Let me tell you. Week 18, Green. Let me tell you. DFS is going to be awesome. The least, if you could measure players' happiness, zero to 100. Like right now, Kyle Pitts, put him at 100. Sure. Just got paid. Yeah, at least for a month. You want to know who's at a zero?
Dylan Gabriel. Oh. Remember him? If you are in a quarterback competition that you certifiably could never do a thing to win, because that's what he's in. Poor Dylan Gabriel. Yes. There's nothing he can do to win the job. But they go out and they say, well, everybody's got a shot. He doesn't. He should ask to be released. He really should. Yes. But he doesn't have the clout to do that. And if you're in the Browns, there's no reason to drop him. I guess the flip side of that is he gets released and then, okay, who's banging down the door? Nobody.
You have felt him. But you can at least go maybe be a backup. They don't let you go back to college. He's going to be the third string. To collect a little. I don't know. I doubt it. A little money for your likeness. A little NIL. Yeah, they spent a third rounder on Dylan Gabriel. It was a third? He's got no shot. No. Yeah. And then it was a fifth on Shadour? I do think Shadour starts. I do. I do, too. I think he's going to start. I'm sorry. I derailed your conversation. No, you're fine. We can go back to, by the way, Miles Garrett and the Rams have got to deal with us.
Freaking Cardinals. They will have to deal with Jeremiah Love. They will deal with you. You have been dealt with. Yeah. All right. That is going to do it for today's episode of the show. We got a mock draft episode coming up on Tuesday. And then we'll do some mailbags and footballers AMA. And we'll talk about whatever the latest fantasy football news is. Maybe some of us will pull off some trades in League of Records. We'll see what happens. I've been sending them out. I don't have much draft capital. No. You should trade me trades. I have a championship, though. Yeah.
Don't need no draft. We'll catch you next week. Goodbye. Got to deal with us. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com. And follow us on Twitter at the FFBallers.