49ers Crush Rams & What's Freaking Us Out For Week 1

It's the Harris Bookball Podcast with your host, Christopher Harris. Welcome everybody and welcome in my name is Chris and this is a show about leafy green vegetables. Hello there, you yacht possums, thank you so much for being here today. I want to remind you, as if you needed reminding, that Sunday is the first full day of the NFL season and I will be live streaming for an hour before kick off new in the Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. I believe anti-bearance will also live stream earlier in the morning. So we hope to see you there. The way to get in those live streams and hang out and ask questions is to subscribe to the yacht club to get that podcast on Wednesdays. You can find the details at Harris football dot com. We will start of course today with the Thursday night game, the Australia game Rams 49ers and one team was obviously superior top to bottom than the other. And since we already know how the season is going to go, we already know which teams are good, which teams are bad. So I'll just take a big ol' sip of coffee here and tell you that in fact the Rams are not going to go undefeated. Our mind palaces took about two games to shatter them. For week one at least, it was very clear that the 49ers were significantly better than the Rams and they blew them directly out. We will talk about those 9ers soon because they are better, at least as of right now. But the headline for fantasy has to be what happened to the Rams. And I will say I did not actually think the Rams offense was that terrible. Like it wasn't great, it wasn't 7 points terrible. But we've spent two months trying to count on one hand the number of offenses we believed would be inevitable. These are the offenses that are truly the blue blood stocks from year to year. You can definitely trust them. And while again I will maintain the actual play from the LA offense wasn't terrible. We're going to see much worse this week from somebody. It also didn't explode. We can say that much. It didn't march up and down the field like last year. All caveats apply. They had a few sleepy offensive gains in September last year too. This isn't over. It's nothing close to over. But we can only work with what we've seen and what we just saw Thursday night or I guess Friday morning, Australia time. It was an okay offense. It made some good plays. I thought blew up in some huge running lanes and made a couple of splash plays that way. But also that offense choked in some big spots. But the real alarming thing if your Rams fan is that the defense is supposed to be great. It's supposed to not just be world historic. Miles Garrett plays there now, Trent McDuffie plays there now, Jalen Watson plays there now, Aaron Dottled will eventually return. And the nighters absolutely dog walked that defense up and down the field. That was alarming. Why is Miles Garrett coming off the game so much? Coming off the field. Why is the TV crew talking about how gas he looks? Why can't they get the nighters off the field? Even when the Rams were winning that game into the second quarter, the time of possession was just way off. If you're watching it, I think you might've been thinking like I was thinking, huh? I guess the nighters fed the ball for a long time in the first half, but they haven't made that much of it. So I've seen games like this before. The Rams defense will click in here at some point. And they absolutely never clicked in. It was a thorough steamroll job. Netflix had a highlight package showing Garrett rushing Trent Williams and he did not get close. It was no match at all. Garrett did nothing. And the nighters started that game, chipping Garrett and like accounting for him on every play and by the second half, it did not seem like they were even bothering with that anymore. But okay, even if we grant the fact that the Rams defense was the biggest disappointment in this game and in the second half, things got pretty out of control on the scoreboard. Don't you hear other fantasy shows and have them tell you, oh, no, no, I love that pass offense. The cardinals, you kid me. I love it. They're going to be playing from behind all the time get ready for some garbage fantasy points. I mean, first of all, ridiculous. If all it took was being terrible on defense, you know, let's weed that out of the discourse. Sometimes the Bengals being bad on defense helps the offense, but how about the Jets and the Titans last year? It's not a guarantee. That's for sure. But I will also grant that if the Rams offense is world historic, like they're supposed to be, they should be able to take care of a little bus or a time and save us there and give us some comeback points. And they basically, in the second half, did mount one big drive that should have led to points. I'll get to that drive in just a moment. It was 17, 7, 9ers by late in the third quarter. How had we gotten there? You know, to that point, it hadn't felt that alarming to me for LA's offense. They were legitimately blowing the middle of the San Francisco defense back. Iron Williams and Blake Corm were alternating and finding big space that I think kind of any NFL quality running back could gain yards through. Things were kind of on schedule. Their third drive, Pukinakua, makes a big play on a deep out to get them inside the 10. It's Williams in the game. He gets two carries inside the 10 scores a touchdown on the second. It's seven three Rams, early second quarter, sleepy, but things seem okay. Mark Purdy throws a pick. The next series, Blake Corm comes in, gets four straight carries in a platoon. You often don't see, you know, the one dude, either one, get four straight carries, which speaks to the quality of Corm's cardio pulmonary apparatus, I guess. But then Stafford throws his worst ball of the night, a third and long arm punt, trying to throw a deep over to Puka, intercepted right back. And then that time of possession really started to make a difference. Niners kept it for like five or six more minutes. They drive down, score, take the lead. And I'll admit, cracks started to show in Matt Stafford, late second quarter drive, Stafford blew a very makeable throw on third down to Davante Adams, where needed to put a little touch on it there, Statte Padford, rather than drill it, and he sailed it way over Adams's head. So by the time the Rams got the ball back, it's the third quarter. They're down 17, seven, like I said, they have this very good drive in the third quarter. Nakua, another big catch. Stafford really was looking for Nakua down the field in this game, five for 74. It's not great for Puka, but kind of the only semi decent number in that past game. Then Adams finally got his first catch, third quarter inside the 10, down inside the deep red zone again. We take note. It was in fact, Kyron Williams in there again, and he got a carry. Oh, he Parkinson gets a catch inside the five, which can we stop with that again this year. And then another Kyron Williams carry, he gets stuffed. It's third down. Puka catches it on the goal line. I'm pretty sure he's supposed to run that route into the end zone, but doesn't, was correctly ruled down at the one, one inch line, I would say. It's fourth down, and for sure, this is Statte Padford. You know what's coming on fourth and inches at the goal line, right? Here was a jerk face touchdown in me, MVP. Wrong. Statford doesn't throw the jerk face one inch touchdown. Sean McVeigh calls a sneak, and I think he might have got in. I don't know. There wasn't a convincing camera angle to overturn it. My guess is that he might have been in, but he was ruled out. And what are you going to do? To turn over on downs. And Statford still gets two more drives in the fourth quarter to rack up some basura, and he did not. And in fact, another concerning touch throw, two atoms that sailed way over his head. So where does that leave us with the Rams? I don't think we lose our minds with worry, but if your mind palace didn't shatter a little, you are tougher than I. The defense was a problem, and not the good kind of problem. With anything, a weak defense is supposed to lend that air of needing to play catch up on the scoreboard. But here was one more instance where it did not do that. And generally speaking, I think it's terrible logic and very easy crutch argument logic to say, I want my defense to be bad. No, that often just means the team is bad. Statford made a few good throws. He made one awful one. I would say two that he just has to get more comfortable with and power down and figure out. And then maybe if those easier throws that he didn't make to atoms are completed, maybe there are more yards out there for everyone. For one game, my bluster about how the MVP deserves more respect in fantasy circles was wrong, but not really for the reason his doubter said, and it is one game. And I'm quite sure that Statford and Sean McVey are humiliated and barest. So they get 11 days to stew in it before they play the Giants a week from Monday night. And if they have 290 total yards in that one, it will truly be cause for alarm. Today's kickoff. Okay, on today's show, we will continue our look. look at what happened with the 49er side of the equation from the Thursday night game. We will take a quick spin around the injury news that will be tracking going into Friday practices and the weekend and then my guest will be Jim McCormick and Jim and I to get us ready for the real games that will continue to shatter our mind palaces. We're going to cop to the stuff that is simply freaking us out in advance of the rest of week one. I think you'll have fun listening. I thank you again so much for being here today. If you're looking to begin or keep up with a fitness habit here at the start of the football season, try FitBod. Long time sponsor, I use the FitBod app. It's really great whether you're looking to get started or you've maybe hit a plateau in your training or you're just bored with your training. I really think you'll like FitBod. You set your goal, there are several modes in the app like general fitness, bodybuilding, strength training, muscle tone, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, pick what aligns with your goals, change it any time, tell FitBod what equipment you have if any and it develops a plan for you and the plan adapts as you improve. You're always mixing up stuff. You won't get bored and FitBod tracks your muscle recovery as well and if you ever have a question about form, there's like a thousand form videos you can check out. The best part, you can try it free and also one year of FitBod costs less than one session with a personal trainer. FitBod builds the plan, you build the strength, try the app free for seven days and then get 25% off your subscription by going to FitBod.me/Harris. I took you with my first pick, CMC, my best friend, as I build a team of tiny men. The tiny man was okay on Thursday night. The nine are side of Thursday night doesn't deserve second billing to anyone. They were clearly the better team, their much maligned defense, got it stars back from major injuries and held their own with the supposedly super powered Rams offense and then going the other way, it looked like a pure mismatch. The Niners mostly did whatever they wanted against Miles Garrett and the LA defense. What did it look like? It looked like some interesting changes, some new guys, one former guy. We can talk about that backfield first. In the first half, we have to admit that was a lot of throwing. The Niners came out chucking it, I believe 17 of their first 20 plays were passes but almost everything short. There's sort of typical shanny, junior, west coast stuff, little screens, little stops, little slants and it didn't lead to a lot, a lot of clock domination but not a lot of points. If you're a Mike Evans believer, the good news that amid this dink and dunk attack early in the game, he was really involved in it. Evans had three catches on the first three series, all third down catches that were short but gained first downs, not just the wind sprint guy that he sometimes became toward the end in Tampa. On the first drive, more than seven minutes, ball control, Evans with an important catch. They get down to the two yard line, third down with McCaffrey in the game, Brock Party, the Posterior Horseshoe ran around and tried forward to Marcus Robinson in the end so it was no good. They kicked the field goal there, kind of found a bit cowardly by today's NFL standards but in retrospect, it was three nothing, didn't matter at all. The Niners went three and out on the next series, then the series after that, Party took his first downfield shot and he should not have taken that shot. The Posterior Horseshoe fell out on that play, George Kittle not open and it was picked. On the second quarter, I still personally didn't think this game was going to go the way it went. You had the non-contact injury from Dejan Stribling. It looked like it achilles to me but the Niners so far are saying it's not but either way he was carted off and I don't think we're going to see him play for a while. You had McCaffrey and Debo Samuel with drops on screens. You had CMC getting absolutely crushed on a hospital ball. It was sort of looking dink-and-dunk and okay we can control the clock but we're not really going to score a lot of points, not really a well-oiled machine and then in fact, late second quarter, Kaelin Black had seven carries and McCaffrey had two and Shani Jr, after the game, would tell the press CMC was dealing with cramps which it was not a hot day. So the idea that that's nothing after a month's worth of complaining about tightness, I don't know. I think we're whistling past the graveyard a little bit but we got who we got. McCaffrey did get some yards late in the first half on some screen passes and then the lightning strike. It was pretty to none other than DeMarcus Robinson for a long touchdown to take the lead that they would never give up. The snap count in the first half for the San Fran running backs was 20 for McCaffrey, 16 for Black and whatever the coach said, it stayed pretty close in the second half too. I like it. I don't think it's any kind of death blow for CMC. How many times do I have to say, everything is some form of platoon but the Niners know where their bread is buttered, they know who the great playmaker is. I think if anything, it's good to keep McCaffrey fresher, but yeah, I don't know why you're cramping up in week one on a cool day, you know, that is its own thing. But Kale on Black, you have McCaffrey. You got to do what you could do to get to Kale on Black on your roster for sure. On the first drive of the third quarter, now it was the Niners getting a great push up the gut the way I described the Rams doing kind of an embarrassing performance for a defense. One was already nominating as great, they were not great at least in week one. The Niners got down in close. McCaffrey did get a carry near the goal line but couldn't convert and then Mike Evans did what he does. Not really open, but he just made Jalen Watson look like a little kid, plucking it out of the sky for his first San Francisco touchdown. Really good day for him and for his stocks. Like we had clearly as had the market become higher on him after the Ricky Pearson injury. I have him on a team, his price I thought was fair. After last night, I would tell you that price looked like a discount, didn't really do anything down the field, but Mike Evans as a volume possession receiver and red zone threat. I mean, if that's what it turns out to be, that's kind of interesting. And then this guy in Stribling's absence, the coconut de Boni, Debo Samuel. Well clearly looked, shall we say trimmer, by which I mean someone convinced him to lose a lot of weight because he no longer looked, I guess I would say roly-poly a little bit out there. No offense intended. One carry for him, but six touches and the death blow touchdown. It's good, really good, hard to know how much of that was in the plan because Stribling gets hurt, but like I said, I think Stribling's hurt and going to be absent. So Debo is going to look like a nice bench draft pick at least for now. In shallower leagues, he's probably available. He's going to be a waiver guy in shallower leagues. And as for Kittle, two catches, 12 yards, Jake Tonjes actually gets hurt in this game. And they're out there throwing it to Luke Ferrell. Luke Ferrell played way more snaps than Kittle. Kittle played 30 out of a possible 64 snaps. That one downfield shot to him did not work at all. So the return from that Achilles will be a work in progress. Injury news. As always, I do this segment on Friday, not because I'm an injury expert, because there's no such thing as an injury expert. We all find out how bad an injury is at the same time, but whereas you might not have time to scour the internet for such reports, it's my job. So this can be a clearinghouse for the injury related stuff. We'll have to track over the weekend, at least the stuff we know about right now. Two of Tongo Veloa may have had a recurrence of a back injury during Thursday's practice, sounding a little bit like Cooper Rush might be starting for the Falcons this weekend. We already know Michael Penex is not playing. If it's Cooper Rush, do we downgrade Drake London? I don't know. If you wanted to lower him three spots in the receiver ranks, okay, but I don't know how you're not starting him. You're just hoping it turns out okay. Jeremiah Love, not listed as the starter for the Cardinals, but at this point, expected to play against the Chargers, been listed as limited. Tyler Alger will also play this just in. That's not a disqualifier. Most of these teams are going to play two running backs. Ashton Genty is going to play. He's been practicing. You're starting these guys who you drafted to be starters, even if they're a little lower in the ranks for week one, Breeze Hall. And his multi-week groin injury, I don't know how you can sit him, even if he's not fully inside the circle of trust until we see him make it through a game, but he's been listed as practicing fully. Jonathan Brooks has been limited with a groin injury. We don't know much about his availability yet, though in the ranks. To this point, I've assumed he'll play. Jekoree Kroski merit and his groin injury was limited on Wednesday and Thursday, presuming he gets back to power. practice by Friday. It's a split with Rashad White, who is apparently practicing in full. Alvin Camera sounds like he has a chance to play in week one against the Lions. Cool. I'm not using him in a fantasy lineup. I would imagine maybe it could get annoying for Travis ETN owners, but you're using ETN. Keaton Mitchell talked about him inflectual healing so far has been limited in practice with a hamstring Wednesday and Thursday, even if he's active, not knowing his role, not exactly looking for a reason to use him in week one. Malik neighbors, we talked about him on Wednesday. If he's active, I'm sure you're using him. He's at this point, expected to be able to suit up against the Cowboys on Sunday night. But they're talking about how it's up to him. So I guess we'll probably get clarification on that beforehand. Zay flowers was listed as limited on Wednesday and practiced fully on Thursday. I don't think he's really any close at all to risk of missing time. I think you're using him if he's active, no matter what. Ameca Abouka has had the toe injury for a month. We talked about him on Wednesday, too, hard to bring him all the way into the circle of trust, site unseen. But he's listed as practicing in full, which is good. Probably if you have him in most leagues, you just be using him anyway. If he's suiting up, then we'll regroup and see what week one looks like. Roma Dunze talked about him yesterday. So far, limited in practice with a calf injury seems like he'll play. But for ranks purposes, we will stay tuned. Alec Pierce listed as limited Wednesday and Thursday, said it during flexible healing, very fine with looking for a reason not to use Pierce right away. Brock Bowers, we know he's out for week one. And the propaganda that was getting spread around yesterday. Oh, you know, no, this is fine. It's, it's like a one week absence. Yeah, that's starting to fall away being revealed as so much bluster and bladder. It's a knee scope that is not a one week injury. We can expect that the Raiders will be without Brock Bowers for multiple games. We are sponsored by Hungry Root. I talked about it on Tuesday when Greg was asking me questions on the show this time of year. I'm real busy. 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Hungry Root.com slash Harris and use the code Harris, 40% off your first box and a free item for life. Try it out. Hungry Root.com slash Harris. Today is guest. He'll see on the score. A pair of another keyboard scene. You'll get a penny more. So don't forget to use it when you scream. Jim McCormick's coming on the Harris football queue. And that's right. That's his original walk up song. It is Jim McCormick covering for cousin Josh. He's taller. Is he smarter? We're all going to have to figure it out together. You can find him. He's on social media. You can you can find him. He doesn't post that much anymore. He's educating America's youth. And it is Jim McCormick. Hello. Hello. Yeah, you'll just get some LeBron tweets from me now. I'll just say in like the Madelco accent. Yeah, LeBron. Very excited. Very, very excited. Obviously. We were doing a topic today that let's face it is Taylor made for the King of Panic himself, cousin Josh. He's not with us. He's with us thankfully, but he's not with us in the country. He's going to miss this show. He's missing next week. I think he flies back like on next Friday. So we're going to let him sleep. But he's in Italy. And he's the freak out king. Obviously. And so this is the, well, I guess what I'm getting at is, you know, you spend all day talking with third graders at this point. And I'm sure they have freak outs much like cousin Josh's. Yeah, mostly about the same things like New York sports. He hates New York sports, but I know. So this is, so I guess this is, it's good, you know, you're in practice. But you have to now inhabit cousin Josh's mind or the mind of a third grader, very, very similar. You have to become the freak out, not the freaky. I get it. I'm there for it. Alright, so the mission here is just, okay, we've drafted our teams. We are committed to what we're committed to. And now we realize, oh my God, these games are all going to happen at the same time. And I'm going to have to watch them and figure stuff out. And things could go horribly wrong. So we're going to each count down five things that are freaking us out. One five things that are freaking out Jim McCormick and five things that are freaking out me. Do you have anything to add to this assignment? I'm just ready to freak out really. And let's just say I'm not trying to spoil things, but I am a Gary might might get rolled into this somehow. I mean, one can only hope that such a thing could happen. Yeah, for the folks of the of the dealer dearly departed YouTube show that we did for years, where we made all the picks against the spread for draft Kings, Gary, Gerber was involved. There was a there was a stuffed Eagles bag. So he's he's I don't want to say too loud, but he's like Chucky, like he's he's he'll get you. Like if the Eagles make the playoffs, he's really dangerous. Oh, he doesn't don't he really is a he's a bear of extremes. Bear of extremes, it is Gary. Alright, so we're going to count them down. The order doesn't matter, but it matters very much. What's the number five thing you're freaking out freaking out about in advance of Sunday of week one? Alright, so unfortunately, I think I could pronounce this now as Jaguars. Oh, that is unfortunate. I know, you know, it's with my school mascot now. So I can't say Jaguars. So like it's just impossible. I have to actually like have some fidelity with with my pronunciation. So yeah, the Jaguars, not the Jaguars, unfortunately, but they'll always be the wires for me. I really don't have any piece of them really. I have like one strange Brian Thomas spot on a team where he just like like slipped in one of those weird super flex leagues where people forgot that school players exist. But yeah, I have no Parker Washington or no, like, I guess you can't draft Liam Cohen. I don't have the superstar Saluki anywhere. And I just feel like there's a potential for this. Like they finished so strong. And I guess, I don't know why I didn't draft them. The backfield was somewhat tough to read. I just, that's not the point. I didn't invest anywhere or don't have any stake in this. And I think that might really hurt me that golden teal or whatever it is might just be shiny this year. And I could just be watching like an ice cream truck like being driven by a man with beautiful blonde hair. And I'm any won't stop for me. It's funny because Chris Rodriguez was a flag player of mine. And then I don't really draft them. I did. It was an accident. Like I think that the key of perpetrator in that case is just that I was drafting with other people who listened to the show and had them on their list too. And he just wasn't lasting as long. I do have Parker Washington on a team. But I don't have that many. I don't have any bushel Tutten. Oh, I've written strange. Okay, so I do have written strange. But that's much more of a I never had a draft to be a starter. So it's much more of a let's see if I'm smart kind of thing, which you know, I think maybe not as possible. That would be something to be freaking me out. I'll do my number five. You know, cousin Josh scared the hell out of me about Devon H and and I did I had him as it turned out unbeknownst to me because I'm not really looking at ADP yet that I was like kind of aggressively going to get to Von H and in every end of the first round. If I left him there. And I the thing that's freaking me out is kind of like double sided. Like on the one hand, it's freaking me out that I might still have had him too high. And the dolphins, you know, the reason I lowered him is because I got scared straight by those joint practices that apparently the dolphins just looked historically bad during. And I think I wound up getting him down to roughly where ADP is. So it freaks me out just the idea that like, I don't know if I got him. I have him on one team. I think I'm in the fishbowl. But that was like a weird tight end premium league superflex. Like, you know, it's kind of not the same thing. I don't really have any of them as an early second round pick. But it's like that freaks me out that Miami's just bad enough. But I got to say the reason it made the list is because But also keeps me up more is that if he's awesome and my original take was You should be taking him at the whatever eight pick nine pick or something and then it turned out I Coward it out That's that would really stink. I'd be like, oh, it was a good take that it got solid I think you should one should be willing to change one's take based on very unanimous input and it did seem to be first-handed observers did seem to be pretty unanimous and being very scared But yeah, I guess I'm freaked out both ways with the one agent Well, I suppose it's one of those moments where we've you know We've done the show before where we discuss one of the potential things in the preseason that can actually have some sort of Like residents into the season or what could matter and yeah, that would be one of them right like when you hear something I know like you said you You hear various reports about any team right you hear like for example, Jalen hurts like you know Has been throwing a lot of more more interceptions in this offense But that's not gonna make you panic. I don't think you're not really there's no referendum there But with this there kind of is right so I Think it's just one of those cases where yeah, like meaning not a referendum We just know and we know they're all awful. I guess there was a new referendum on how awful they are like so yeah Yeah, yeah, like nobody expects them to be a winning team, but can they be a five-win team? Right They are two in team are they this way right if there are five win team a chance got a potential to be great You know got a potential. He's a really good player like he does so anyway that freaks me out a little bit You don't have him in large, right? I so I drive down the street sometimes and think about that Like I thought about I didn't like like there was I didn't really think about my ability that I was like I'll first round. I don't have a first round pick. I should probably keep So yeah, don't think about that. Yeah, you don't you do not have him you used to have him He was very good to you in large for a while. Yeah What's your number four freak out factor? This would be just the kind of layer Mary. I can go into the Kalamari Experience just like a little spicy marinara with the hot peppers. It's just it's a little intimidating to invest like I have Just a lot of I just I just doesn't Jefferson just ended up on my team a lot We just his advertising's got to me. I don't know what it was and Addison as well. He just felt like free enough free and drafts But like he was just in a spot where he ended up on many of my rosters. I like the player. I don't know if I like this offense particularly so it's just like Kyler marries like if Josh Jones had like creatine in an Xbox account like he's just tiny And and it's like I'm just convinced that like it's like some like B movie where he's the line holding us back from Carson Wentz and JJ Michigan or whatever So it's just scary. It's a scary world's living and I'm invested in it And sometimes he looks like an NBA jam character and so It's feet go really fast. They just don't take it. It's like yeah, he's like chasing the road runner or he is the road runner. Yeah So you wound up with Jefferson in the second round of fair amount Yes, I have a it's okay. I have a good like I'm invested. Yeah like for sure And Addison as well as he might be like almost like might be my most like common player Well, I you know, that's as a backup. So I'm not that way like he just ended up being 11th or 10th or something Right. Well, I'm looking at your large roster and you fortunately don't have either one. Yeah, so you should be safe When Jalen Hertz is throwing the ball to I'm looking right now I guess Jalen Waddle a mecca booka. Yeah, this is you went for it last year. Yeah, this is gonna be a rough team Yes I actually don't think I have Jefferson except for in La Liga where I've had him his entire career I don't have any like intentionally drafted Jefferson Maybe for exactly that reason But I didn't find his draft capital required to be like offensive But I can totally understand why that is would be freaking about absolutely my number four It's just this little voice in the back of my head that says what if the chiefs are just suddenly an instant Lee back I've just kind of taken it as an article of faith that we're gonna get to what they play on Monday night and They're just not you know, they're favorite in that game and I'm like wow that's just that doesn't seem Right, I guess are they have a very public team maybe But I would think that line would move if if it was only about being public people maybe believe in them a lot more than I do They changed so much. I guess I don't need to give that speech again if you listen to any show I made in August there was some oblique reference to the idea that I don't really even think that roster got Is is all that good is the offensive line any good? I can't really tell anymore Is the receiving core good? I mean like where she rises okay? He's particular kind of okay. Kenneth Walker's good They give away the entire secondary Like they're it just seems to me that Usually teams don't come back from the abyss like this, but It's Patrick my homes and if anyone in the league is capable of just Grabbing one team by the scruff of the neck and bringing them back from the abyss. It's Patrick my homes currently So I might just be wrong and they're good again, and I'll have completely missed everything Yeah, I mean, this is the whole an entirely different experience. I suppose it is an entirely different experience than the Andy read Philadelphia experience But there are some feelings of late stage not capitalism but read is him Just like like meaning like he like like it becomes this like Russian doll of the things he likes until you're just like This is so small. Oh, yeah, like he just he gets his stuff. He gets his things, and I do suppose um Like not that this is endgame at all, but no it does feel like kind of a pivot point for like the franchise like whether Because this is like the whatever iteration of it of this version except they have they don't have the shiny toys that they always would have Like they've tried, but they just don't have them Yeah, and I might be making the mistake Of saying just because I don't know that corner backs name he's not good Right exactly. You know this like they they spent some draft capital on The best corner in the draft were told you know like that could be awesome and immediately All my concerns that the defense is a sieve like go away and suddenly. Oh cool. They're gonna win 14 games again Um, I'm that's certainly freaking me out from a I mean be fun I like it when the chiefs are good because it's fun because my home is awesome and seeing him play like Whether he whether he's hero or villain to people he matters and that makes it fun and then Um, you know cheese fans got our what they are and when they're in the mix. It's you know That's fun. They believe me. I'm not allowed to talk about cheese fans because I'm a Patriots fan and we were cheese fans before Cheese fans were cheese fans like The entitlement uh, like you know, we invented the game of football That's the Patriots were that for the 21st century and then you know that got taken over by cheese fans, but um Yeah, I will have missed entirely. How about your number three? my number three uh, I continue to be uh a little bit worried about jaden daniel's not that I'm not that anybody else knew that so I don't know what I'm continuing um But yet like I just I have a number of I have them on a number of my teams, but I just don't know how sustainable his style is in terms of the concern isn't that he can't run It's just whether that it's gonna keep like continuing to The stay on the field the way. I don't know the volume. He's not Lamar. He's not hurts Obviously, he's jaden daniel's, but it just feels like his ultimate fantasy ceiling Is something that is a not ideal for maybe his actual NFL career Um, and that may be true with several players, but it just seems like that's the dream or the ideal with jaden daniel's as a fantasy player Um, and it might not line up like he's probably a good enough passer that it's not always has to be that much exposure And I wonder as the team gets further into his career and also continue to not support him somehow with skill players That it just becomes I don't know Not rg3 of course, but just like Like kind of a bad version of this story I mean, I'm making notes as you say these for the Um, for the show notes so that people can see you know summary of what we said and as you were describing the topic, I wrote As your number three. What if jaden daniel's is robber grip on the third so I mean, I mean, I mean, it is kind of the That's kind of the worry that he's very slight and mobility has to be a part of his game and He's so good at it. He's fast. He's you know agile all that stuff should be a good enough thrower in general But if they can't protect him, which you know, it's feeling like There's consensus. I actually thought about the other way around I don't have any jaden daniel's and I almost put on the list. What if the Over the offensive line that everybody should decide that they're positive it can't work a lot of times when people decide some The positive something can't work. It actually winds up working. Yeah Yeah, well, especially it's one of those things like you mentioned about the cornerback thing like um Just not pressed up on like the like the levels of not that I don't know like like offensive lineman But I also don't know when you introduce new ones what that means and what it means to the line like those things seem pretty volatile Not that you can't predict a quality of the line But I also can't tell that it's like middle the lead would be fine for that team too. It's just It just seems like a not exactly a pivot point But it does it just feels like who is this guy exactly? I know he's a really good quarterback. I know that I'm kind of more trying to figure out his fantasy I get it We're sponsored by better help you hear me say sometimes, not everyone hearing the sound of my voice, this very instant needs psychotherapy, but I do think there comes a time in everybody's life when having someone to talk to can help us feel better. And better, that's really a feeling that's defined by you. And for better help, it's a better help therapist who really gets you. It's a focus on global emotional well-being with thousands of therapists and millions of members in over a hundred countries. It's progress, however you define it. Sometimes we've got something specific that's difficult to get around in our lives if we can't talk about it with somebody. Sometimes it's just kind of general unhappiness that's in the way. I do therapy online. It really helps me. And it's great to know that it's there when I need it. If you could use somebody to talk to now, you can try it right now. Take a brief quiz, get matched with a therapist, and you can change therapists at any time. Sign up now. You'll get 10% off at betterhelp.com/Harris. That's better. H-E-L-P.com/Harris. Betterhelp.com/Harris. We are back with Jim and Jim. You get to stand in the shoes of a tiny giant right now because cousin Josh usually comes back from break and gives us a selection that he likes for the upcoming week. And on Drive Kings, of course, we're eternally indebted to Drive Kings for how well they've supported us for the years. And so I will put it out to you. You have your pick of the weekend games. Is there a spread out there that you are particularly into? Yeah, I'm going to break every convention of logic and take a road division dog. I'm in favorite, which is actually worse, meaning home division dogs are usually really a good play. I'm going to go the opposite way and take the Cowboys Giving Points in northern New Jersey. I did a brand new right now. It's the Cowboys Giving Three Points. So I get it, but these games do often come down to that and Brandon Aubrey can kick from like 94 yards. But at the same time, I feel like this is just a much better team. I continue to doubt. Like Harball is just like he's like the guy who just like says the same thing is Brian Dable, but like just in a suit. So like not that he is, I'm just saying I don't think the roster is significantly different. He could be a better coach. I don't think there's enough time for this to be different. And so with that said, I just think Jackson Dodge can just throw it to the wrong team. Well, there you go. That is that is a road road favorite in division. No, no, but it's also week one. And we don't really know what these teams are. And so your feeling is roster wise, it's a big gap. And I get it. I'll just mention that the Draft King Sports app is now live in all 50 states from Texas to California to Florida. Every fan can get in on the excitement. And this September, Draft King's gives customers the opportunity to get boosted every football game day. All month long, Draft King's customers can get a football profit boost. And so like some places you can do some games and some you can do others. I'm just psyched that I can do some in California now. And so take what Jim has said. And sometimes it'll be a point spread sometimes not. But check it out. One app every sport, all 50 states. Remember to sign up using the code Harris. Let me play the disclaimer. Gambling problem called 1-800-Gambler 1-800-Mire reset Connecticut called 8-888-7-8-9-77-7-7-7 or visit ccpg.org on behalf of boothookasino and Kansas. Mettax pass through may apply in Illinois 21-on-over void in Canada. Bed with Draft King Sportsbook to get bonus bets that expire in seven days or trade with Draft King's predictions to get predictions dollars that expire in one year. Event contract trading involves risk of loss. Predictions offer void in New York. Nonwithdrawable rewards issued as $50 click to claims every seven days for 21 days. One single use boost per customer per day. Expires at the end of the final select game win offered valid for select football transactions on the platform for which it's been issued terms at dkng.co/offer limited time offer nationwide based on sportsbook predictions and free-to-play sports contest availability theories by state limited time offer. Okay, we're back and we're counting down five things that are freaking us out before the full slate of games actually shatters our mind palaces. My number three. Jim is what if Bryce Young is simply as good as he'll ever be and it's just not good enough. Like I think I have Ted McMillan on a team one team. He went high but I got him one time and then I definitely have Chuba Hubbard and Jonathan Brooks people are you know thinking about using I'm I'm using Chuba in one league because it's a deeper league where you have multiple flexes and all of this does presuppose that there is maybe not like infinite progress out of Bryce Young but it is like assuming that the good stuff from last year is real and it can be a functional offense and oh hey they were in the playoffs and played the Rams pretty tough and what if that was all just fake and Bryce Young is not a starting quarterback as of 2027 like that's definitely out there as a possibility and then all my plans for Panthers would be doomed. Yeah I mean this is true in like your fantasy context and also obviously the real franchise like it's almost like this is the demand. Tepper came out like he does this often but like led the press conference by basically saying like you know this is this is going up like that this is obviously the expectation would be that you make the playoffs it just seems because so contextual like like I remember watching I watched the quarterback show this year that's why it was pretty tied into like I don't know Jayden Daniel season I kind of had sympathy for him somehow as an Eagles fan but you know the the point being I'm so sorry I lost my thought David Tepper and Bryce Young David Tepper and Bryce Young yeah so either way there's this progression coming you would expect with with the with this team that very possibly might not be there like you've mentioned they're giving him all the opportunities though which is interesting whereas like maybe you'd say Jayden Daniels haven't hasn't been furnished with like you know them investing in skill players and like I don't know continuing to seemingly try so I give them credit for that but I do have the same worry that you know just going that high in this much investment and it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work I do respect that they've given them the opportunity to know. Yeah I guess I mean you mean the McMillan basically that. I mean McMillan and I suppose the idea that like this is an offensive minded coach I didn't like we'll see how good it is but the idea is they like kind of gave him some of the the building blocks you would want like not to say this is the ideal setup but it seemed like the ingredients are there to see what you have I suppose. Yeah that makes sense compared to Dan Quinn as your head coach that I understand the distinction that you're making exactly yeah and then just I'm like from Brownville like whatever the whole Rivera was before that but the whole concept of that franchise could continue to be in its own way. Right I mean I think they did take the pickup Bryce Young's fifth year option and so it's a big chunk of cash. It is big year but yeah but still like he's essentially I guess next year technically he would be a lame duck but starting quarterbacks who are good don't this is when he would get if they believed in him he would already have a contract so they're basically viewing this as a fulcrum point no question about it. How about your number two freak out factor. All right this would be somewhat equals related in the sense that like Shane Stikin was I believe a really great coach coach in Philadelphia and then has continued to be fairly excellent outside of the Anthony Richard experience which is like it's he just doesn't he doesn't include those years he's like a gap on his resume um Stikin he was like just he was busy doing things um but he is somewhat of a QB whisperer I mean they had like a top 12 offense with um Gardner-Minshu so it's just not that the float like I just think this looked this team was at a mirage last year completely probably like it's not sustainable to be a top the number one offense in the league but I just have no shares of this offense other than like maybe like one Josh Downs that like came free like as just like a prize um I'm maybe more overthinking it but there's a real possibility I just completely overlooked an offense that could be really useful for fantasy like no time to warn just John at the time Jonathan uh Taylor you have to be in this position to get him I didn't the point is I didn't know I didn't like actively go out and get any of this roster and I think that could hurt me basically the entire AFC South you were like I'm out and now I'm worried that I'm out pretty much yeah yeah yeah like like the wrong division so I mean maybe not but you're allowed to freak out about it until we see yeah that's a big one because I think Taylor you know kind of earns his pedigree it's about his staying healthy but you know nobody else got drafted at any kind of premium given that they were like you said for a couple of months there close to the best offense in the league and so like any somebody who was going to beat the drum for the cults to be real would have picked up a bunch of shares of various players because they wouldn't have even had to pay starter prices for all of them except Taylor and uh and the decision not to do so absolutely can keep you up at night so I know where you're coming from um my number two it's about the number one flag player who I talked earlier in the week about having a lot of uh ownership of on my teams what if Zay flowers is never going to score touchdowns what if Zay flowers is a good player but not a great player What if we look back and Zay flowers was a number two type receiver thrust into a number one role that he wasn't good enough for? Essentially, I'm so in, so everybody listening should not think this is me regretting buying on Zay flowers. I'm super happy I have them everywhere. But we have to admit that he's very short, and he plays on a team with two very tall, very good runners, and it could just be not in the cards for him to be like an extremely good fantasy receiver, even though I think he's an extremely good player, but it could absolutely turn out that whatever he's five nine and the only good five nine or shorter receiver in the past, however many years was Steve Smith, and I keep hanging my hat on that. But if you're not Steve Smith, that's no crime because that was a really good player. So yeah, I'm I'm worried I'm hanging with it, but I am worried. I yeah, I can understand the way they're like, I guess the terrible pond would be like, well, there's flower bloom, but it's awful to scrub that, but yeah, this is just move on. So I've had the same concern, but I do a salary draft with my friends, and we had at this, it's like a 25th year, and my one friend was having that same conundrum with Zay flowers wondering like he's got this really bankable kind of like role, right? He's 116 targets, 118 targets, very similar yardage, and then you look at the TV column and like, oh, what's going on there four or five? Is there a force field? Like you said, they've been a really tough offense before without requiring him to, you know, to complete those plays without him serving that role. But then again, like it doesn't seem so intentional, right? Like they're not like saying, no, I mean, we famously remember the fumble right by the end zone. It's not like he's a punisher then like there's not a collar where he's like, you know, or like like a GPS thing that freezes him. It's just a matter of, it's a matter, I think, of volatility. Like I would trust actually because the team he's on, and I don't know, like the bar is still such a brilliant passer as well, that yeah, I think I think this is actually something that like very likely could just change within obviously a single year and the narrative changes. I mean, like for some players, it's true. I just don't know with the player what would really make it so true, like like you said, the only player who maybe put up a big touchdowns or was so, but that's also not how he plays either. He doesn't play like Steve Smith obviously. He doesn't go like he's not like a jump ball guy like that, but I don't think that's necessary. I think kind of like he can score five nine running back score. I mean, I know it's a different position, but you can put them in positions, like like screens and stuff, blah, blah, blah. I think he's do agree, I agree with the statements. I do have a little bit of freak out over it. All right, I have a feeling number one is going to involve the home team. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So I'm going to be in Gary University. And he's like, yeah, you know, like, yeah, we've been listening to sports radio at the highest legal volume in Delaware County, just binging on the worst tastes in the world. But it's true. We've been blaring our eardrums. Like I have to bring him a year, as you know, and it's from sports radio. And all this man in offense stuff, that sounds fun. It really does. Speaking of like training camp, like speak, like whispers that the offense seems really fun for everybody except when you watch Jalen Hurts play. And I think I'm not like anti Jalen Hurts obviously. He's been the most successful quarterback of my lifetime, which is also contextual. I'm an Eagles fan. But a cold start wouldn't be ideal. I know there are real sticky points like in terms of like if your team doesn't score, you know, over 24 points in week one, there's not a very good chance for them. Like not chance. I'm saying like outcome wise, you know, like only 30% of those teams become a top 10 offense. So you kind of do have to show up. I'm a little bit worried that even against this commander team, that it's just difficult for them to get going. I think it's not the same Kyler Mary fear, but it's the fear that the middle of the field just doesn't have hasn't existed yet for Jalen Hurts. And we're in like year eight or whatever. So I just feel like that middle third of the field could matter in football. And I'm worried about that. It's a great one. It's a double worry because you're worried about it for fantasy and you're also obviously worried about it for the home team. I will also say my number one has a double meaning and the folks will understand why when I say it's bucky Irving and the double meaning is sure he was a flag player and I think I have him on one team. Did I say I didn't get him that much, but I do have him and I'm definitely invested because I made the call that I felt like I liked his ADP when I made the flag list anyway. Of course, the other reason that I care is that cousin Josh is on the other side of it and called him one of his five buss of the year. And so my worry is what if buck Irving just never quite puts it all together this year? What if he's too tiny-boned and something else on him breaks? Basically the worry is what if cousin Josh wins? I'm like, what if Kenneth Cannell gets everybody like Android phones and doesn't give one to him and he's not even on the tech exchange? I mean, it's possible. I can see Kenneth Cannell just like knowing exactly how big or like things. No, but I'm on the other end. I'm not on like that he's completely bad and like Josh, I don't think he's I'm not really sure. I don't have much of him anymore. I did have him in large for a few years and enjoyed his when his highs are awesome. I'm scared of actually I don't really have any of the bucky years offense other than that one and Buka like like in large. So I'm kind of afraid actually because I think it's kind of more real to buck's offense than I'm willing to give. I hope you're right insofar as it relates to Bucky Irving because we need to not give cousin Josh too many wins. You know, he kind of does walk around thinking that various parts of his anatomy don't stink. So we need to- He's out there, he's out there in the birthplace of any test of herty just enjoying life. He definitely is. There's no question about that. And so all of you out there listening, you all can agree with me that we need to root for Bucky Irving for multiple reasons. Jim, this was fun, a great way to get ready. Of course, I hope the entire point of this segment comes through which is that we really don't know anything and it's all just kind of supposition and that's what gambling on sports is, that's what rooting for sports is. It's all guessing until they go play and of course we will have lots of action to talk about. As of Sunday and Monday and I'll be back on Monday to start doing film review. In the meantime, Jim will be educating the third graders of the Jaguars and we're all so pleased that you came along. I'm glad you could be here. Thank you so much for doing it. Thank you. And thank you so much for listening. Let me thank the three sponsors that made today's show possible, FitBod, HungryRoot and BetterHelp. If you were interested in anything I had to say about today's sponsors, you can find their details in today's show notes. If you use the codes, if you use the URLs, it helps the show so much. It's not that I'm making a commission. It's that they track how many people use the codes. And if you do, that makes them more likely they come back and over the years you've taken such incredible ownership of the show being receptive when you have a need of course and you have the means. If you don't currently have the means, I'm very lucky to have you listening. Thank you so much. All the current sponsors are listed at Harris football dot com. That is going to do it for the preseason on this show. I mean, we've two games that we've already talked about. But I think the real magic of this show begins next week because I will watch every single game that happens on Sunday and we will talk about them on Monday and Tuesday of next week. I'm very excited to get going. Remember, if you'd like to come live stream with me at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Sunday, join the Yacht Club and you're going to get a link in your email and also in the discord where you can hang out with me leading up to the kickoff. And then we'll all meet back here on Monday and we will review some film and try to learn some lessons and figure out what the NFL is this year. I'm looking forward to it. Sam Gold is going to join us to talk about a few of the week one games and then I'll talk about the rest of them. Until then, thanks again so much for listening. Your hat is awesome. You're awesome for wearing it. I will talk to you on Monday. The Harris football podcast opening theme is under the gun by Apex Manor. The closing theme is Say Yes by the Wellspring. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and never miss an episode.