THE UNOFFICIALFOOTBALLERSFAN ARCHIVE↗Transcript links use the exact YouTube video’s clock. Machine transcripts can contain errors.
After early-recorded shows allow family vacations or staycations, the hosts return to more than one hundred UDK player-profile videos plus a June draft-kit deadline and joke that they should not even be recording the podcast.
The idea that the NFL already has enough money becomes a Scrooge McDuck debate: build another vault, keep treasure hunting at an advanced age, and leave headspace so the gold does not feel cramped.
A Justin Jefferson slot-receiver comparison slips into 'full-time snot,' repeats as 'snot snot,' and ends with a host becoming a hanky.
A host tries to fire the party cue and money drop simultaneously for Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The sounds do not mash up, the operator cannot immediately stop them, and the setup is identified as exactly what Al Borland loves to hear. Direct frames show no visual graphic or producer cutaway.
The hosts imagine an incoming rookie being protected from Jameis Winston: Jameis may not talk inside the facility, mentor, or become a friend, because his chalkboard lesson is to forget the play, throw deep, and believe in his heart.
Brandon Cooks is said to have lived from a suitcase for ten years. Soon afterward, 'preclude' multiplies into proclude, perclude, and perclusion before being translated as 'doesn't stop them,' and a Conklin comparison that briefly demotes Big Montana is immediately recanted in Big Montana's favor.
The Deucers had debated the tush push at lunch, and Al audibly says he did not support his Packers' proposal to ban it. The hosts argue opponents should do more squats instead of legislating. At the close, Al accepts a trip to Green Bay to protest the play and receives a declaration of permanent unity. Direct frames show him only as an off-camera voice.
Jason, previously a Pacheco Parade leader, is explicitly handed the losers segment and calls Isaiah Pacheco's career done. A sad cue lands just as he mentions the broken leg, and Jason says Pacheco will not be fantasy relevant again literally until Jason dies.
After mangling 'second-half standouts,' the hosts say the episode has been tough because they did not stretch. Their spontaneous vocal exercise becomes 'Randy Moss never stretched' and 'The human torch was denied a bank loan.'
While reconstructing CJ Stroud's prior redraft cost, a host asks Kyle to correct the top-five-or-six recollection; no reply is safely attributed and no producer cutaway appears.
All three hosts return after family vacations or staycations and immediately face more than one hundred UDK player-profile videos plus the draft kit deadline. An NFL money tangent becomes a Scrooge McDuck vault that needs headspace even when full. Mike's analysis slips from 'slot' to 'full-time snot,' producing a hanky, and a host then tries to combine a party cue with the money drop; the two-button mashup fails, cannot immediately be stopped, and is exactly what Al Borland is said to love. Direct published frames show only the hosts during the audio collision—no visible graphic or producer cutaway. Jameis Winston's imagined rookie mentorship forbids him from speaking inside the facility because his entire lesson is to forget the play, throw deep, and believe. Brandon Cooks lives from a suitcase; a 'preclude' failure spirals through proclude/perclude/perclusion; a comparison that briefly demotes Big Montana is immediately recanted in his favor. Al's Packers fandom gets a false Mecole Hardman/MVS fact, then the Deucers' lunch debate reveals Al opposed Green Bay's proposed tush-push ban. The hosts reduce defense to 'do more squats' and legislation, punctuated by 'We're going to win!' The strongest player-lore reversal belongs to Jason: explicitly handed the losers segment, the former Pacheco Parade leader calls Isaiah Pacheco's career done after a perfectly ill-timed sad cue, then says Pacheco will not regain fantasy relevance literally until Jason dies. At the rough close, the hosts admit they should have stretched, recite 'Randy Moss never stretched' and 'The human torch was denied a bank loan,' and ask Al to fly to Green Bay to protest the tush push; he audibly accepts with their blessing. Direct frames at both Al exchanges stay on the three-host desk, so Al is an off-camera producer voice, not a visible appearance.
Ron Dale Moore. It doesn't matter. Ron Dale Moore of the Vikings and the Packers are the team that officially proposed the ban of the tush push. Cowards. Are you guys? You guys are like fully in on the tush push. I'm still totally in it. So soft. To say banning it. It's soft. We can't stop it. So will you stop it for us? Do it yourself. I mean, this is how rules are made, you know. Like somebody figures out some exploit and then they just stop it. I just don't think that the plays. exploit. Because you don't see other teams succeeding to the level of the... Correct. And, I mean... Oh, you guys debated this at lunch last week, the Ducers? You guys all talked about this? Yeah, Al, did you support your team, the Packers? I did not. Okay. Okay. That's good. What are those politicians called the ones that are just hired to sway people's opinions? Lobbyists. Lobbyists. This feels like, this feels... Who likes lobbyists? Proclude. Do you like lobbyists? That's what Green Bay...
That's what they're like, you got to, you got to stop them. You got to, we can't do it. We can't stop Jalen Hertz. It's gross. You do it. You guys all think it's gross, huh? Yeah. I think the place, I think the play's stupid. I'm fine with, like, keeping it. It's fine if you want to keep it. I just think it's kind of dumb. I don't enjoy it. I love it. It's not fun. You love it for one reason. I love it for. You love it for Jalen Hurts fantasy football on the goal line. That is one of the, at least two. You don't, you don't like it in the sense of, ooh, here's a big fourth down. Oh, wait, we know we can't stop. Do you not like it because people are pushing him? Like, what is the?
He doesn't like it because it succeeds at 92%. I want to know what the people who don't like it. It's the same reason that they stop letting you like launch off people for the field goal kick. Well, that was safety. Well, yeah. Because people are getting hurt. Well, this is going to hurt a lot of feelings, Mike. But I'm saying like they're going to is going to cause a lot of emotional pain. I don't, I don't care that much. It's just kind of a dumb play because you know it can't be stopped. That's why it's dumb. Well, I don't get to be excited on fourth down that maybe they stuff them.
They're not going to. Do more squats. Yeah, well, they brought an AJ Dylan to help Sequin push Jayman Hertz. They could run it every play. Those two better be on the field for the tush push. Do you think they'll ban it? I think there's a better shot this time. That's what I'm asking. What are they banning? Are they banning the pushing of people? It would be multiple guys pushing one player. The way that the rule was proposed by Green Bay was upon the immediate snap of a ball to have players pushing and aiding the ball carrier upon the snap. I saw it talked about how technically the Eagles don't do that immediately on the snap. So maybe it's still legal, whatever. This is still a play I want them to, I don't think it's perfect yet, but I want them to get
to perfection. I want them to be able to guarantee three yards per play and run it every single play and never not scored touchdown. Here's Sean McDermott, one of the, so 24 of 32 teams have to vote it out. That's the rule. Sean McDermott, Bill's, not the Packers, the Bill's head coach came out and said the play is an injury safety risk. He says, player safety and the health and safety of our players has to be at the top of our game. The way the techniques are being used with that play to me, you have the potential, you have, uh,
have been potentially contrary to the health and safety of the players. This is the guy who's running it all the time for the bills. I mean, they basically have the tush push with Josh Allen. They, see, they run a broken touch push. Yes, they do, which is why it got stopped in the playoffs so many times. Oh, man, hiding behind. I don't know. I guess, I guess it's, I guess the, I guess the cool, the cool thing is to like that play. So that's what I'm supposed to do. No, I don't even, I don't care one way about the player the other. I just, it, it works.
You can't do it. And the only way you're, this is how I stop it is, I'm going legislation. That's fair. Get at, do it on the football field. That's fair. That's fair. That's what I'm saying. Do more squats. Now, if every team did it and it never failed, would you want to ban? If every team did it and it never failed. Sure. Yeah. From a fan perspective. Then, then you've got, if there was a play design that was perfect, that should get a season and then be outlawed or whatever. But this is, this is physical ability. Then you're more entertained by the fact one team can do it and others can't. Yeah, I am. Then you are the play itself. Yes. Okay, it makes sense. We figured it out. Solved. Moving on. We're going to win! We're looking at free agency winners and losers. The dust has settled. Free agency is all but over other than some old quarterbacks and old wide receivers that will trickle onto rosters maybe after camp for all we know.
But let's talk about the winners side of free agency. And we'll start with Jason. Who do you have as the free agency biggest winners? I've got a combo pack of second year wide receivers who I think are the biggest winners. Or thank you. Proclude. I won't tell anyone. Quarterbacks. McCall Hardman. J.J. McCarthy and Caleb Williams are massive winners. Going into this offseason, you know. There was talk of will they franchise Donald? Will they sign them to a team friendly deal? Will they bring in someone else and Aaron Rogers? It has become J.J. McCarthy's team. The team has even come out and said that. So the way that it has operated around him, they have improved his offensive line. Yes, that's the big one.
They have gotten rid of the starting quarterback ahead of him, and they have invested into, we just talked about Jordan Mason being added to the team. This is a player I really, really believe in. For fantasy purposes, it's yet to be seen how glorious it will be for who projects to be mostly a pocket passer. He'll scramble a little bit. He's 22 years old. He was the 10th pick in last year's draft, if you don't remember J.J. McCarthy. They traded up for him. Here's an interesting thing. Teams that have traded up in the first round for quarterbacks over the last decade who have the same head coach in year two. So these are guys the team believed in, they invested in, and they have continuity going into year two. There's only a handful that have played the second season in its entirety. Carson Wentz was won. They won the Super Bowl. Deshaun Watson was won. Ten wins and was outstanding. Patrick Mahomes was one. He was the MVP. Josh Allen was one of those players.
10 wins. Lamar Jackson was one of those players, the MVP. That's basically the whole list. So he's in a situation. Trey Lance. Well, Trey Lance didn't play. No, I know. All those guys played as rookie, though, other than Mahomes, right? Yeah, Mahomes played one game as a rookie. So, yeah, I mean, obviously that's just a neat stat nugget. But this is a talented player on a team. Put it this way. Forget. Forget what other people have done. What have the Vikings done? Mike, you brought this up on the things to remember. Head coach Kevin O'Connell, he's been working wonders with whoever his signal caller is. It doesn't matter. Kirk Cousins was unbelievably great for years. Joshua Dobbs was a top five quarterback. Nick Mullins was a top 12 quarterback, three of four starts. Sam Darnold last year, who has always been just the butt of jokes, the sacrificial baby, was all of a sudden.
you know, a top 10 quarterback. He is beautifully set up by this organization, and we did a couple things wrong last year. We didn't account for the possibility of Sam Darnold being good for fantasy, right? We said, oh, maybe he could supply value elsewhere, but he himself, we underestimated his potential to be valuable for fantasy, right? Yeah. So that's something we can't do again with J.J. McCarthy, in my opinion. And the second thing is just, When you're drafted that highly, you should be able to, us as fans, expect a player like that to be a great player. I don't feel like that that is, it's all like, can he do what Darnold did? Like, what if he did more? Yeah, he should. What if you being a top 10 pick in that organization now with a forced red shirt season, which is sometimes very good for quarterbacks, maybe you're going to be a better than the previous.
quarterback. Like at least let's open the possibility that he's a good fantasy player and that he's a good NFL player. Yeah, I think this is a team with the quote on, you know, he's not a rookie, but he's a rookie. You know, he's going to play his first football this year in the NFL. This is a Super Bowl contending team. The way that they've built the roster, what they've done to their defense, it's awesome. The other second year quarterback that I think massive winner in free agency is Caleb Williams. Caleb Williams had 68 sacks taken. That was. most in the NFL, tied for the third most of all time. 31% pressure to sack rate. I mean, that's literally, only Will Levis was worse than that. And Will Levis is, which one is, I believe he is far-sighted. He can see far. He cannot see up close. If the line, the line in front of him, the defense, it's fuzzy. He can't see him. Caleb Williams had massive problems with the,
behind the line and the line coming through. And what did the lions go out? First of all, they got Ben Johnson, the bell of the ball, you know, as head coach. Yeah, the Bears. You said line. Yeah, I did. Go on. That's where he used to coach, which makes total sense. No more time off for this guy. What you said is perfectly, ordinarily the right thing. Exactly. Thank you. But they outbid multiple teams for a new center, Drew Dowman. massive three or $42 million contract. They traded for Joe Tooney, who's maybe the best left tackle in the league last year, even though he's a guard. And then Jonah Jackson. The interior of this line goes from horrific to awesome. It's very, very exciting. With the talent Caleb Williams has, having the, he's a massive winner from free agency.
just from head coach and offensive line. It will be exciting to see what other weird part of the Bears season goes wrong. Because I think the line will be in pretty good shape. So it's always a suspenseful thing to figure out what else destroys their season. I went with Baker Mayfield. Yeah. One of the things I loved about Baker's situation last year was the team chose to, they chose the value consistency on the offensive side of the football. And it paid off. in huge ways for fantasy players. Just running it back with, you know, you added Bucky Irving through the draft, but you had the core group of players. They chose to do it again. I mean, bringing back Chris Godwin, three-year deal for Godwin instantly. You know, $44 million guaranteed. He's looking healthy. Mike Evans is there. They are vacating.
Zero targets from the wide receiver and tight-in group. That's wild. That's insane. And how good were they last year? So if you want a known commodity and fantasy, fourth and points per game, third and yards per game. And Buck Irving's coming into year two. Like this is a great situation for fantasy players because I feel like you're going to think you're getting something and you're going to get it. That's what I think the Buccaneers' offense represents. It's like we are often... you know, trying to predict the future in fantasy. Let's accept a few situations where we know pretty much what you're going to get. Baker has done it now for two years under different coordinators. I feel very confident in their offense, and he's a winner because they didn't go and break up what they know works. Laser. I'll jump in. Joe Burrow is one of the big winners, but we kind of already went over that. So I'm going to bring up Devante Adams.
Because I think that he is in an incredible position for fantasy for this year. He's old. He's 32. Devante Adams is one of the outlier guys that can just keep doing it. Last year, he was getting it done. Once he fully acclimated onto the New York Jets, back with Rogers, he was fantastic for fantasy football over his final six games. 11.3 targets on average, 7 for 96 in his score. That is what he was averaging. That would have been wide receiver 3 over that time, just over Mike Evans, just over Justin Jefferson. He's going right now as the wide receiver 21 in the best ball format. And it's like, yeah, okay, I will make the bet that Devante Adams with Matthew Stafford. Stafford and Sean McVeigh's offense can sustain two wide receivers.
That's not a concern for me at all. He's going as a wide receiver 21. I will bet that Devante Adams is going to be a top 20 wide receiver. And then, hey, the guy who missed how many weeks last year? I was going to bring it up. I was going to bring it up. He played 11 games last year, Pooka Nakua. When you have these guys where things are already going to be great for them. And then you have upside contingency built in should Puka miss time. If Pooka misses time, Devante Adams, you'll be looking at him as a top five option on a weekly basis. So I think that he got himself in such a great position. And for the Alan Robinson, I get it. That was a catastrophe and felt so, so bad. Over that whole off season, before the Rams with their monies and things and the way they were talking about Robinson and training camp, changed opinions.
On this show, we had just watched him on the Chicago Bears, that final season of Robinson on the Bears, and it was atrocious. Alan Robinson on the field was washed. He was toast. The Rams just, they wanted, they chose to believe that what he did on film last year wasn't the truth. It was. And Devante Adams last year on film, still great. Devante Adams last year was better points per game than C.D. Lamb, Brian Thomas Jr., A.J. Brown, Drake London. Better points per game than McLaurin or Rashi Rice or Devante Smith. He was a top 10 in points per game in a season where he got traded halfway through the year, which is very, I mean, his points per game went up two points. Well, yeah, it should. Do you want to know why? Because after the buy week when he was on his new team with his bestie Aaron Rogers, take a guess how many targets he was on pace for during that second half of this.
season six thousand hundred and ninety two target page which he will not be getting that that's what we're drafting him as the wide receiver 21 we're not projecting him just to be clear the jet's office was horrendous sure the targets were up maybe we can get some touchdowns in los angeles yes and things with stafford i i i think it's going to be so much better for adams look as as as a man who rosters old players and dynasty i can't help but be really encouraged by mike's thoughts on Devante Adams as a winner. It was, I mean, it's as close to a best case scenario for a 32-year-old player. Yeah, I'm not sure that there would have been a better scenario for Adams. Because there are teams that he could have gone to that we would have been like, ooh, that's exciting. I mean, Buffalo or something. Right. But like from a. He's in a West Coast dome team. Yeah, I was going to say from, and a clear who's the starters, right? Like, if you went to Kansas City, Adams could be great.
But we also saw Hopkins go there and get shoved to the sideline. And then Rashi Rice is coming back. And you have a rookie. Like clarity is very valuable. And at least in Los Angeles, look, Adams is going to fall off a cliff at some point. So that's going to be a risk. But the ADP being outside of the top 20, it is interesting. He wasn't there yet. Obviously he didn't fall off last year. Sean McVeigh knows how to use his players if his players have anything to give. And he's got something to give. So I. I agree. And, you know, we talk about the fall off of Cooper Cup. But the first, you know, when Cooper Cup was playing, even with Pooka Nakua, he was on a massive target pace for the majority of that season. So this is not, you know, I wanted to at first when I saw this is like, I'm not sure it's a great landing spot. It's not as good as it was with the Jets last year, I don't think. But when you look at where he could have landed, it doesn't get much better. Maybe Buffalo, but Buffalo.
I don't know that they want a number one. And we know they love to run their football now. So real quick, though, let's make it fun. Devante Adams, so you just talked about. Or JSN. Oh, my goodness. That's an easy JSN for me. Just from philosophical principle of taking the young up and coming versus the older, you know, going to sunset soon. I think that that's a question that most people will scoff at, but I think it is a fair debate. I'm going to read off some other winners that we had listed. We didn't pick them out as our favorites. But, you know, Jaden Daniels were getting, you know, picking up Debo, getting Ertz back, Jalen Warren, the clarity. The Warren one. That was almost the one I went with was Warren. That one can still get blowed up by the draft. But if they're, I mean, if they go in with any sort of depth start like that, Jailen Warren's going to be awesome. More than 10 points, a lot.
Debo's departure for Ricky Pearsall is a good thing. Brock Bowers gets Gino Smith, a consistent quarterback. So, you know, some other winners there, including maybe even Cole Comette with Ben Johnson knowing how to use a competent tight end, having an offensive line that maybe he doesn't have to block as much and Gerald Everett being cut. So we'll take a break and we'll get into our free agency losers. All right. I guess we'll... We'll hand the baton back to Jason. Free agency losers. Well, from my guy to biggest loser. Oh, no. My biggest loser of this offseason is Isaiah Pacheco. Last year, going into the season, loved Pacheco.
primarily and almost solely because of the opportunity he had in front of him. He was going to be the guy. He was going to get all the carries, all the opportunities. And we saw that start the year. 18 opportunities, game one, 24 opportunities game two, was averaging 14 and a half fantasy points, was on pace for like, you know, 1,700 all-purpose yards, plenty of touchdown, 60 receptions. He broke his leg and his... horn what to be broke his leg i didn't know i knew he was going to transition to the sad part of it and so i timed it up with the sad i didn't know he's going to go into the injury though i can't have children yeah that was very debby downer look it does kind of feel like a death of a potential genuinely
No joke, it makes me sad for the man because his career. How sad? Isaiah Pacheco's career is done. That's how it feels. He's on the final year of his contract, but he's 26 years old. He was drafted as a little bit older of a rookie. And what they did is they went and brought in Elijah Mitchell. And they re-signed Cream Hunt who they were using ahead of him anyways. What I know for sure. And they're going to use them the same way. Exactly. Even if Isaiah Pacheco is the 1A, he is not a bell cow. He's not going to receive the volume of 18 and 24 opportunities a game the way it was before the leg got broken. And honestly, he wasn't good after the leg got broken. So I don't blame the chiefs for doing this. Among 51 running backs with 80 carries last year, Pacheco was 49th at explosive rush rate.
50th in yards after contact, tied for 51st and forced mistackle rate. Just not the same guy. He was hurt. He should not have come back that early. He did. Kudos to him. But the problem is he is now a committee back. And for fantasy purposes, is pretty irrelevant going forward. Around the goal line, I think they're going to use Hunt more. I think they're going to draft more. They might still draft one. They are not invested in Pacheco. And this is the continued and forever warning. to all great emerging running backs who do not have draft capital. If they weren't a first round pick, a second round pick, when they have great opportunity, if they grab it and hold on to it, they can have it as long as they hold on to it. But if they miss it, the team is not invested to just say, hey, we got to give this guy another chance. No, they just move on. This was the seventh round pick.
And they're like, okay, well, he wasn't that good. So what else do we do? We're not paying him a lot. We didn't invest in him a lot. The running back position needs to be upgraded. We're not committed there. Let's just look at the whole world at our disposal. They went out. They found a couple other guys. They might not be done. So Isaiah Pacheco, sorry, it's a massive loss. I don't think he'll ever be very fantasy relevant again, literally until the day I die. Oh, I know. It's sad. And it's such a bummer of. He was a seventh round pick, so he's made some money, of course. Not much. But he's going to be 27 going into free agency. It's a bummer. I would leave, you know, I leave a 10% chance that, look, Elijah Mitchell's never been healthy. It's not even a guarantee that, you know, he has a functional role in this offense if he doesn't prove himself in camp. And Kareem Hunt is getting older. He's a year older and was already losing his step. Yes, he could be a goal lineback. There is still a.
cracked window here where if Pacheco has a great camp is 100% healthy, comes out running like he used to ferociously, and those other two guys just kind of fade away. That's not impossible. Sure. But right now you would have liked to have seen a bigger commitment to him that instills confidence. You didn't see it. For me, I'm going to put Jalen McMillan at the tippy top of the list as a fantasy loser and then George Pickens as well. McMillan, it's pretty clear. This is the gamble. of fantasy football, dynasty leagues, keeper leagues. Like Jaylen McMillan, in the absence of, you know, Chris Godwin had his opportunities and took advantage of them. He was very famously touchdown guarantee on the show. He had a big fantasy week in my matchup against Al Borland, not big enough to beat Al Borland. But he had a big week. He was showing flashes at the end of the year. No, his career is not over in any way, shape, and form. But you were sitting there going into free agency saying,
The outcome here could be you're the number two receiver for Baker Mayfield, who is a top tier offense. So you get the promotion. And so everybody's holding him, hoping for the promotion. And it goes from that to a big money deal for Chris Godwin. He never stepped in and took the Chris Godwin roll on. He never came in and was able to fill that slot roll in the offense at all. In fact, they brought Sterling Shepherd back again this offseason who. filled in for Chris Godwin. And Ryan Miller did it as well. Like McMillan just seems like he has now settled into a bit part player right now, unless something happens with Mike Evans, maybe we're a year or two away and he's that good. But it's hard now looking at this offense and saying, you know, Kate Otten gets targets in this offense. You've got the two backs. You've got the two premier wide receivers. How in the world does Jay and McMillan become a weekly...
reliable fantasy option. I just don't see it. It goes back to being a flex play. And this was a player who finished five consecutive weeks in the top 24 to finish the season without Godwin on the field. So, you know, it was an amazing run, but now you're going to slip back into maybe some mediocrity. The other guy Pickens, I mean, it's just a weird one. D.K. Metcalf was handed all the money in the world. You're probably going to have an Aaron Rogers signing in Pittsburgh. And George Pickens, while he is 24 and incredibly talented, he's got a skill set overlap with Metcalf. He's a deep threat guy. I was going to make D.K. Metcalf my loser, but I figured we'd just wrap it into here because both of them, this is not a good situation. Who's the quarterback? At best, Aaron Rogers, and that's not great. Yeah, and if it is Aaron Rogers, I think that he's going to be looking to D.K. Metcalfe more. And, you know, George Pickens goes from kind of a deep...
de facto number one, even if he isn't really won, he was one there with the volume in big plays. Big plays are going to go to DK Metcalf as well. Pickens is a good player, but from an offseason perspective, this is not build around you category. This is you're going into the final year of your deal and we just traded for DK Metcalf to be our guy for the future. It's a one-year kind of lame duck situation for George Pickens if he's not traded. I think there's a chance he's traded. I do too. I think that there's a chance they just kind of reset that room and move on. If you're not going to re-sign him and I mean, yeah, look, you want to win. I get it, but you can probably get a decent amount of draft capital.