Getting Ready for 2025 Fantasy Drafts with Actor Scott Porter

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Wow, Hey everybody, It's Tuesday, August fifth, twenty twenty five. Welcome to the NFL Fantasy Football Show where we're clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose. It's been your man named g Marcus Grand joined by Michael f Florio and Lakwan Jones.
00:00:24
Speaker 2: We're here one. We're all together in the same place.
00:00:27
Speaker 1: We can reach you and touch each other like that's a thing that hasn't happened in several months. But we're also here in the podcast studio again, a thing that hasn't happened in a while.
00:00:36
Speaker 2: We used to call this our home base, and if you.
00:00:38
Speaker 3: Listen for a while, this not only is this recognized from the pod we used to do Fantasy Live.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: We used to do fow Live in here once upon a time. But anyway, that's neither here North Area. The reason we are all together and the reason we are here in the podcast studio is we have a special guest coming on the show today.
00:00:55
Speaker 2: It is actor Scott Porter, who you may probably.
00:00:58
Speaker 1: Know as Jason stret from the show Friday Night Lights. He is not only a fantasy fan, he's a big time Denver Broncos fan. So we're going to talk to him about the Broncos, talked to him about his fantasy life and uh, you know, talking about some of the acting gigs as well too. So that should be a whole lot of fun. So a stick around for that. The meantime, we do have some news we want to get to before we joined our special guest, and news has just broke up.
00:01:23
Speaker 2: Literally just I'm so excited.
00:01:24
Speaker 1: A little bit before we started recording this show, Kyron Williams had been looking for a contract extension. All reports out of RAMS Camp were that it was going to get done. Hiren wasn't worried about it, less Snead Sean McVay. They didn't seem worried about it, and there's reason to not be worried about it because it gets done. Three years, thirty three million dollars is the extension for Kyen Willis.
00:01:46
Speaker 4: Oh it sound Juan Jones, your thoughts all eyes on me, Beau. Do you guys think I dislike Kyrin No.
00:01:56
Speaker 2: Just I don't know. We're just listening to your words.
00:01:58
Speaker 4: It's all listen. I'm happy boy is paid. Now we can get back to the road to the super Bowl. Thirty three days until we see Matthew Stafford and Kyra Williams into the end zone and we win week one.
00:02:09
Speaker 2: That's that's it.
00:02:10
Speaker 5: That's all.
00:02:10
Speaker 3: I will love to wager. Now, we're not going to see Matthew Stafford.
00:02:13
Speaker 5: Hold up, first of all, let's not put that he.
00:02:16
Speaker 3: Might throw a ball into the end. We are never going to see Matthew Stafford cross that goal.
00:02:21
Speaker 5: Listen, we might.
00:02:22
Speaker 4: Man, you see him pop off in that forty nine Ers game. Man with that rpo. Man, I don't know. McVeigh gets a little.
00:02:26
Speaker 3: Uh, are you?
00:02:28
Speaker 5: I don't know.
00:02:29
Speaker 1: I mean, and I don't say this to be mean or anything, but the longer this back issue goes, and the fact that he's seeing specialists, I mean, at some point you do have to worry about his availability for weekly Now I'm not talking about season long, but at least for week one. Availability at some point does have to come into question.
00:02:46
Speaker 4: It does, and again I'm not worried about it right now because mcveigh's not worried about it. Rams fans. We're kind of cool, calm and collected until we get new information that you know, we should start to worry. But we got one of the toughest sovs in the game, man, Like what we're talking about. When you talk about it, dog, you look in the dictionary, it's Matthew Stafford's face right there. Like what we I'm not doubt dogs get old, man.
00:03:07
Speaker 1: They don't stretch, apparently praying to Cole Beasley, Right, they don't stretch.
00:03:11
Speaker 3: That's what it is.
00:03:11
Speaker 4: Stafford needs to search, needs to stretch, do some yoga, man, Like, that's all.
00:03:15
Speaker 2: It is in all reality.
00:03:16
Speaker 1: I had a chance to be out at RAMS camp over the weekend talk to j B Long, the radio voice of the Rams, and I did ask him about Matthew Stafford, and you know, he said, look, right now in the building, there doesn't seem to be a lot of concern.
00:03:29
Speaker 2: But you know, he did concede that, Look, the.
00:03:31
Speaker 1: More this goes on, you know, the more it does become a little bit of an issue here. And just ideally they would love to see QB one on the field, right, I mean, just getting him some work. Especially you've got Devonte Adams a new wide receiver. They've never worked together before, so ideally, yes, it would be that he's there. But you know, JB also conceded that, as you mentioned, the Matthew Stafford one of the toughest guys in the that if it were a regular season game, he would try to find a way.
00:03:59
Speaker 2: To suit up and play. So we'll see.
00:04:01
Speaker 3: I'm not doubting any of this, but I'm going to keep going back to point me to a coach who was ever like, yeah, my guy is not. Like it's great to hear everything. And I'm not worried yet because it's only August fifth. If it was a week from now, I'd be a little bit more worried. But if we're at this point next week, I think then it's time to sad Chargers ring pad Chargers.
00:04:25
Speaker 4: That date is going to be a huge date, and I do thinky need to see him play.
00:04:28
Speaker 1: I do think there's a little bit of importance put on this week because the Rams are doing the joint practices and Oxnard with Dallas Cowboys, and you know how Sean McVay works, He treats these like the preseason, yes, right, because you're not going to see the starters during preseason on the field, so this work, these practices against the Cowboys sort of simulate that. And so I think there's you know, a little bit of I don't know, concern is the word, but just they would prefer that he were.
00:04:53
Speaker 2: There and ready to go.
00:04:54
Speaker 1: But at the same time they're also going to be cautious and make sure that he is healthy when in the time.
00:05:00
Speaker 4: Either today, see if he's on the sideline doing some backstretchers or something. Man, you're going you're gonna be massaging him up. I am like, look, man, how's the back. Look, man, let's go look, get a specialist. Man, get that back right, man, so we can get you back out there.
00:05:12
Speaker 1: While you're up there, can you ask Jerry Jones' thoughts on Nicki Minaj and Des Bryant.
00:05:16
Speaker 3: That was wild?
00:05:18
Speaker 4: Oh my god, no comment.
00:05:21
Speaker 1: I'm not going to get into it, but if you are curious, just google Nicki Minaj and Dez Bryant.
00:05:26
Speaker 4: That's a crazy random link up right there.
00:05:28
Speaker 5: It is sane.
00:05:29
Speaker 3: He was like, yeah, I don't want no problems. She was like, you're getting you're getting.
00:05:33
Speaker 2: I don't care what you want. You're getting beef anywhere.
00:05:36
Speaker 3: But before we move up from the rat yes, Karen Williams end of Round three, Steal right steal.
00:05:40
Speaker 5: I think so.
00:05:41
Speaker 3: I love that value.
00:05:42
Speaker 2: I think so.
00:05:42
Speaker 1: I think because he's a guy that doesn't get talked about amongst the workhorse backs, but the history of Sean McVay offenses suggest that as long as he's healthy and as long as the ball security is not outrageous, he's going to be the primary back. As much as it makes you sick to your stomach, lakwan, that's going to be the reality for this offense.
00:06:02
Speaker 4: Just split the ball, man, Just give it the Jarquez or Blake corn Man, please, man. I just think that this offense would be much better with a one to two punch.
00:06:09
Speaker 2: The only person gets that treatment is cam Makers.
00:06:11
Speaker 3: I I did have this thought. Well, one, I'm looking at adp right now on Underdog at least, and Karen Williams is not even an RB one and like he's the RB fourteen. Oh, that would put him in RB two like he has now, falling behind Hampton and brees Hall.
00:06:25
Speaker 4: That's crazy.
00:06:26
Speaker 3: I'm buying k I just you have to.
00:06:28
Speaker 2: It's a different conversation. I just don't understand the omar.
00:06:31
Speaker 3: Why receiver I'm getting I'm getting sucked into Himuch you are?
00:06:34
Speaker 5: Are you?
00:06:35
Speaker 3: Because the note the longer Nause's out, the more I think the season.
00:06:39
Speaker 4: Work goes to him. But what if it's an early season, he runs away with What if it's early season he gets that spike, you know, he gets the usage. Then Nagi comes in right in the middle of the season while you're on the playoff r What if that.
00:06:50
Speaker 3: If Hampton gets the backfield to himself to start the year, I don't think. I think Nasey has a role, but I think Hampton kind of runs away kind of we hope, but yes, no. But my thinking from the start was like Hampton early season probably split. I think as the year goes on, talent wins out and he kind of separates a bit. But the longer nause he's out, the more Hampton is getting further. But I was thinking about this in the car today, Kyen Williams. I was like, I could see if la Kwank gets his way, this backfield could operate like the Bills, where kyn is the guy, but then you have like a a hammer like Jarquez Hunter is your Ray Davis, and then Blake Cora maybe could play the Ty Johnson role. But but Kiren probably gets more past usage than James Cook. But I was like, I could see that be but it's still gonna be heavy.
00:07:38
Speaker 5: Kyron.
00:07:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yen that's perfect segue.
00:07:42
Speaker 1: By the way, it's almost like you read the rundown because we go from the Rams to the Buffalo Bills where James Cook is holding in, which is kind of a relatively new phenomenon in the last few years, holding in like, yeah, I'm here, man, you can't find me. But I'm not saying not doing, but I'm here. It's literally the Marshawn Lynch, I'm here. So I don't get fun literact literally literally what it is. Anyway, James Cook holding it in Buffalo. People asked why he wasn't practicing, and he basically just kept saying one word over and over again, which was business.
00:08:13
Speaker 2: He is trying to get paid as well.
00:08:16
Speaker 1: It seems like Brandon Bean was unaware that this was going on. It feels like he was alerted to the hold in by reporters. I know his comment was something to the effect of it's not ideal. I know we talked about Terry McLaurin his trade request. You know everybody knows about Michael Parsons in his trade request. Those two guys seem to have a whole lot of leverage. I don't think James Cook has that amount of leverage. I'll ask you, Florio, is it about to be Ty Johnson's season in Buffalo.
00:08:43
Speaker 3: I still think this ends with James Cook getting a I don't know if it'll be the long term deal he wants. What I could see potentially maybe happening is them agreeing on a number for this year and moving forward. I was talking with it someone yesterday. Now, like, on one hand, you have to be concerned of like is he is this going to drag into the season and impacts his play? On the other, the Bills might look at at is like we know this is the last year with you. We're just gonna run wild, like we're gonna give you all the balls everything. And so I still like taking James Cook. And you talk about Kiren like being a little bit of a discount in the third James Cook is going late fourth round right now. Like to me, if you wait on running back, he's a great get to still be your one, even though you're paying an RB two price.
00:09:33
Speaker 1: That feels like people are kind of reading the tea leaves on the contract situation too, and they're like, hey, look, I don't know what's gonna happen, but I'm not willing to touch him in the first three rounds.
00:09:43
Speaker 3: I don't. I don't see a world where James Cook doesn't play this year, you know, yeah, that's for sure. Yeah, And I don't think the Bills trade him.
00:09:50
Speaker 2: Now.
00:09:50
Speaker 3: The Bills know they're the ones with the leverage, right, so I think he.
00:09:54
Speaker 4: Well, with Kyen getting paid, they have a number where they can start.
00:09:57
Speaker 3: That's the or they they would They've been talking about like eleven, I think they would give him, but he wants to fifteen plus that Saquon And it's like, and I love James Cook. The Bills themselves were like, look, you're not Saquon man, and like it's I know every athlete thinks they are. But like, realistically, if he got eleven million, that's that's something that works with sky Ron money.
00:10:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think I think that's that's appropriate for James Cook. In Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coording that Arthur Smith says, I've had to adapt that he is more willing to sort of build the offense around his personnel. Lakwan Look, a couple of years ago, he was Fantasy football public Enemy number one in terms.
00:10:40
Speaker 2: Of how he was using guys.
00:10:43
Speaker 1: Do we trust that he is going to get the ball to his best players.
00:10:47
Speaker 4: Trusting Arthur Smith. He is the Fantasy Streets boogieman, like you would be trusting Mephisto all the fans out there. That's the deal that you were making when you put your trust in any of the Arthur Smith pieces in the offense. And look, I was talking to Nick Farbar, he is a Steelers beat writer, and he was saying that this offense it looks like his DK Metcalf or nothing like. That's just basically what it is. Like Caleb Johnson, he has issues with blocking, he has issues being a starter, a workhorse of that backfield. Jayalen Warren is the starter right here as the number one. But it's like, I don't trust anything about this offensive personnel where Arthur Smith on the stick.
00:11:23
Speaker 3: So I'm good.
00:11:23
Speaker 1: By the way, if you see Mephisto in the comic books, there's nothing about him that looks trustworthy.
00:11:29
Speaker 5: Now.
00:11:29
Speaker 2: The dude is literally satan.
00:11:31
Speaker 5: If you just watch.
00:11:33
Speaker 4: Ironheart, he looks like a cool, calm collected guy with Reary Williams at the dinner, at that table, so it's like, yeah, he's a smooth guy.
00:11:40
Speaker 2: With him in the comic books.
00:11:41
Speaker 1: The dude straight up looks like Satan, Like why would you you wouldn't trust that man?
00:11:44
Speaker 4: He is the Fantasy Streets boogey man. He has proven who he is to us each and every year.
00:11:49
Speaker 1: So no, I do think it's interesting though that they're saying right now it's just kind of the DK metcalf show, because I was starting to maybe believe in Caleb Johnson a little bit, but this is maybe around you gotta pull.
00:12:01
Speaker 5: Back a little bit.
00:12:03
Speaker 4: I believe in Warren this year, though, and that's the only one that I feel like that has like a safe floor, like where he's.
00:12:08
Speaker 5: Going in drafts, that's something he's all flooring. I don't like them, marble floor he lives.
00:12:14
Speaker 1: He lives in a very tiny house man, Like the floor and the ceiling are very close.
00:12:18
Speaker 5: Together for Jalen, like close like that.
00:12:21
Speaker 3: But it's like I had Warren on teams last year and I'd start him and I'd be like, Okay, I'm going to get seven or eight points like and a good week, I might get eleven. You know, Like it's just I want nothing.
00:12:32
Speaker 1: And I said I bought in big on Jalen wore in last year. I felt like Okay, he's gonna be similar to Najie Harris, but the draft price is going to be better, and he was.
00:12:39
Speaker 2: The problem is neither one of them super at each other alive.
00:12:42
Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's what happened again.
00:12:44
Speaker 3: But Caleb is nause with big playability.
00:12:46
Speaker 2: That's the difference to me, snooze if you can't block anyway.
00:12:52
Speaker 1: Last little bit of news here Dan Quinn talking about Terry mclaurin's trade request, saying, quote, it is an emotional time. We haven't had a chance to talk about the tree request because it happened.
00:13:02
Speaker 2: It happened actually last Thursday.
00:13:04
Speaker 1: When we were doing our interviews out at RAMS Camp, so that was the show, so we didn't get a chance to talk about this. I know you are a Terry McLaurin, Stan, I know you were a Jade and Daniel Stan. Will Terry McLaurin be a Washington commander in week one?
00:13:19
Speaker 3: Like I have zero doubts of this because one Terry has all the leverage here, Like if you were the commanders, you have a rookie quarterback, franchise quarterback on a rookie deal. Not a rookie quarterbacks are on a rookie deal. You brought in pieces like like Tunsul and Debo. You're clearly in win now mode. You don't when you have this cap space to spend, you don't get rid of your best weapon.
00:13:41
Speaker 5: Yeah, so what you.
00:13:41
Speaker 3: Do is you And he even came out terry and was like, I don't want DK money. I just want more money than I'm getting paid right now.
00:13:47
Speaker 4: I want to get out the condo and get into a little big crab but in two car garage.
00:13:50
Speaker 2: That's about it.
00:13:52
Speaker 3: This is like, I know, trade, asking for a trade used to be a big deal. It has become a negotiation tactic at the NF. Yeah, Like that's all it is.
00:14:00
Speaker 4: Did he clean out his socials yet? Like as the off the bio, that's that he starts.
00:14:04
Speaker 1: When he starts changing his his social media avalues and stuff are scrubbing it.
00:14:08
Speaker 2: That's when we get.
00:14:09
Speaker 3: Did you see that?
00:14:09
Speaker 5: Now?
00:14:10
Speaker 3: They could apparently bring them back, Like I forget which athlete it was that deleted everything from the team, and then when they got his extension, it was all just back to name. It might have been, It might be it was one of these guys. And I'm just like, even that isn't cool.
00:14:22
Speaker 5: Anymore. Stop, you know what you're doing.
00:14:24
Speaker 1: So here's my thing about this, And I saw a lot of the takes about how you well, if you pay him, then you know there's a hamstring your ability to roster Bill down the line and he's you know, you never give a guy a wide receiver, this old, this kind of money. You don't get to say that when you are the Washington Commander. Yes, yes you don't. If you are a team that has a history of player development, if you are a team that has a history of success, right, if you know, right, if you're the Chiefs, if you're the Eagles, and you've been consistently successful, then I can listen to your argument of you know what, we're not going to pay you. We think we can find somebody or develop somebody to be just as good or better than you are.
00:15:03
Speaker 2: I would listen to that argument from those teams.
00:15:05
Speaker 1: When you are the Commanders and you have been a doormat for decades now, you have been a punchline.
00:15:11
Speaker 3: He's been the face of your franchise.
00:15:13
Speaker 2: He's been the face of the franchise.
00:15:14
Speaker 1: He's been the guy that has put together solid seasons regardless of who's at quarterback. You don't get to sit here with a straight face and tell me, yeah, this is not gonna help our roster building, because.
00:15:24
Speaker 2: He has been the roster. He's the glue. He's been the glue.
00:15:28
Speaker 1: Like you don't get that luxury you pay Terry McLaurin, and then you work around it and you figure out the rest of the things.
00:15:34
Speaker 3: You know you have cap these next two years, and you know you have two years before you have to pay Jayden front load that contract. Be like, we're gonna give you seventy percent of what you want the first two years, and then after that make it where you could get out of the contract or whatever. Like like, I'm sure he'll accept that. He wants to get paid.
00:15:49
Speaker 4: Now, let's take care of your guys.
00:15:52
Speaker 3: These athletes are smart. They know the end is closer than the beginning. Right, thirty years old. He wants to get paid now, Pay him now also and wins.
00:15:59
Speaker 1: They can look up salary cap situations too. They have access. They have access to the same social media and the same they do. They got the same access to Beyonce's Internet that the rest of us.
00:16:09
Speaker 2: They can look up all this information. All right, there you go, there's our news.
00:16:13
Speaker 5: For you.
00:16:13
Speaker 1: Take a break, come back with Scott Porter, get his thoughts on the Denver Broncos and more.
00:16:18
Speaker 2: That's coming up next on the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Glad to be joined now by Scott Porter.
00:16:27
Speaker 1: Actor Scott Porter, you know him as Jason Street from Friday Night Lights, Fantasy Fan. You're on Fantasy Live. It's been a few years now, man, but it's good to see you again.
00:16:34
Speaker 5: More than a few, right, it's been a while. Man. We're getting up there. We are there. We are grays and the beard now.
00:16:41
Speaker 1: But it looks good, man. You know, it's like aging gracefully. We're all, you know, we're all trying to trying to age gracefully here, sir.
00:16:46
Speaker 5: Man. I saw a report the other day that real aging doesn't start until you're forty six, and that's what I just turned.
00:16:51
Speaker 2: Oh, so I'm gonna I'm gonna battle it all the way. So I've been real aging for years now at this point.
00:16:58
Speaker 1: So yeah, but you know, gonna do a little getting to know you for folks who maybe don't know you grew up in Nebraska where obviously football is a big deal, but there's not an NFL team. Uh, you know, you're wearing the Denver Broncos shirt. You were a Broncos fan. How did you land on that?
00:17:13
Speaker 5: Well, I mean, I guess I could have followed like a Husker to the NFL, But back then it was like Irving Friar and a bunch of offensive line. So it's like I wasn't gonna be a Pats fan. People don't understand, I think when you know, I'm forty six. When I was growing up, what was on for the one or two games you would get on a Sunday is who you would start to follow. So being in Nebraska, you know, we get a Chiefs game. We you know, maybe sometimes the Vikings. There are a lot of Cowboys fans. Yeah, Nebraska, you know, but you know the Broncos proximity wise, I got to see the Broncos play a lot. And you know, this was during the eighties, like during the height of Lway and so it's funny, you know, I was talking to my buddy from Philly the other day. There's a bunch of Cowboys fans in Philly because they would black out the games for the Eagles because they wouldn't sell out, And then they put a Cowboys game on instead. So it's like you figured out teams you loved and teams you didn't love, and man, I just loved watching Elway play. And I also kind of had like become a fan of Patrick Ewing. He went to the Knicks, Let's go, and so any team that was like playing the Knicks consistently in the NBA, I didn't want to be a fan of any of those cities. So, like the Bears were on every Sunday, okay, and I didn't want to be a Bears fan. So I landed on the Broncos. And it was it was mostly just because of the grit of John Elway and geez his arm, man, just the power of it all. Man. So Elway was my guy. The Broncos were my guy. I watched them lose a lot in the eighties. This guy is telling my story.
00:18:43
Speaker 4: Man, he give me crap because I'm a Rans fan from Jersey, But come on, man, the loyalty is built when you're watching the game.
00:18:50
Speaker 5: There you go, brother, That's exactly what for me.
00:18:52
Speaker 3: For two decades or probably two plus decades, you made the right choice, right, Like you went from Elway, they had Payton Manning, like winning Super Bowls, but now are you ever like maybe the Chiefs were.
00:19:04
Speaker 5: No man. You know, the thing is is there was a change in ownership. Pat Bowlin understood the game of football, and he honestly loved the game of football. And you saw when you know, the mental decline happened for him, and it went pretty quickly. Uh and and so much uh you know, love and praise to his family and everything, and you know, they went through all that. The ownership started to change, the management started to change. We taken some big shots on some on some you know, younger guys, and and we just kind of missed a bunch in a row. But it happens to every franchise, oh a certain point. But I think we're in good hands now with bo Nicks, and I think the ownership is starting to try and figure it out. We do have some money to throw around, so you know, it is what it is. And and I'm hoping this next you know, decade or so, because we we had a we had a record setting run of playoff appearances for the Broncos, you know, couple of decades, and I hope we can get back to that winning culture. But all shouts out to the Bowlin family. Man, they they were one of the best ownership groups that a fan could ever ask for when I was growing up and watching that franchise.
00:20:12
Speaker 4: So I gotta have to you, do you think Sean Payton's the guy to get you back to the big dance?
00:20:17
Speaker 5: You know, I was a little bit taken aback last year when he took over some of the moves that had happened, the way he was throwing Russell Wilson under the bus, the way he was throwing other coaches under the bus, like with Hackett. I mean, listen, he is he a shot? Is he wrong? I don't know, right, he's been proven right, yeah, I'm trying to be Look, I play a mayor on television right now.
00:20:40
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, yeah, politically see your angle.
00:20:42
Speaker 5: But you know what I mean, Like, I think he is getting his guys into his system. Now, yes, I think he is a guy who has his way, and he walked into a situation where he just didn't have the right suite of players to do what he wanted to do. But this year, you look at our draft. He started drafting team captains, even Pat Bryant, who people saw is a little bit of a you know reach, I was like, no, man, I watched this guy play in the Big Ten. I'm from Nebraska. I saw Pat play a lot. He doesn't drop the ball. He's a team captain, strong body. He could do everything that you had Michael Thomas doing back when he was playing, you know, for the Saints and when he was at his hYP right now. And that's and so for me, like strong hands, goes attacks the ball, knows how to box out. Sean loves those guys. Courtland Sutton knows how to box out. Now we've got Evan Ingram at the joker, Like you see, all these moves he's making is to fit what he wants to do. And when somebody has that strong of a system and also the ability to identify the guys that are going to work in it, yeah, you know, I think I think the arrow's pointing up and that helps that help health un stay strong and we can figure it out.
00:21:52
Speaker 3: We know the coach is awesome, but football is a quarterback driven sport. And you said you're on bow Nicks, but talk about like Pat Bryan people calling a reach a year. People were like bon Nicks that kind of reached on him a little bit, and it started off a little slow, but it look I'm a Bills fan. We played you guys in the playoffs. Bon Nicks made some plays against the Bills where I was like, this guy has me worried now, so like, your future looks like it's in very bright hands.
00:22:16
Speaker 5: You know. At the beginning of last season, two coaches did, I think, a fantastic job with young talented quarterbacks at different points in their life. Jaden Daniels in Washington early on, the playbook was not open for him. Yeah, and you could see it, you could tell. But Kingsbury took him, you know, pretty slowly, and they kept on pushing. They opened it up, opened it up. By the end of the season, you watch this man just completely blossom. Same thing kind of happened in Denver. If everybody remembers that that first game against Seattle last year, I think it was Seattle. It just was it was atrocious. Every sideline it was rough. They were trying to make Julia McLaughlin a forty catch guy. Yeah, Like they were just trying to get the all out to him every single chance they got, and Bo just didn't have the playbook open to him. The one thing I hope that Bo does this year that he wasn't doing a lot last year was placement on these little cover two breakers where you've got these these corner routes, and you saw it against the Bengals a couple of times.
00:23:16
Speaker 3: That game was awesome.
00:23:17
Speaker 5: It was an incredible game. A couple of throws that Bow wants back, you know, a couple of couple of throws that Bow wants back. And as soon as he starts hitting that, I mean the whole field is open, man. I mean, he showed he can make throws at every level. You want to talk about that game that big Mims catch in the end zone. Incredible catch by Mims, but also for for Bo to get it there on the run like he was was was pretty awesome.
00:23:42
Speaker 3: So you're someone with poll, do you think you could ever call up Chean Payton and like, hey, you know, Marvin Mims.
00:23:46
Speaker 5: Is a he's a guy, maybe we.
00:23:49
Speaker 3: Get him the ball more.
00:23:50
Speaker 5: I don't have that kind of I will say this coach Rule in Nebraska followed me on Instagram.
00:23:57
Speaker 4: Oh that's a big guf you. I want to ask you about this backfield though. I know you got to be excited to see R. J. Harvey back there.
00:24:06
Speaker 5: JK.
00:24:07
Speaker 4: Domin's. I mean, does this backfield get you really excited to draft one of these guys on your rosters this year?
00:24:13
Speaker 5: We're talking about other leaders like RJ. Harvey. Yeah, also team captain. When I played at UCF, where I was an invited walk on. Actually oh back in nineteen ninety eight. Yeah, yeah, myself a little bit so go Knights actually got eyes on this guy in college quite a few times because I still check back in with the old program, and I can tell you this guy can do three down backwork. He'll give up his body in pass protection, he catches the rock and in zone seems to space like he can go. He can flat out go. Our offensive line was really solid last year. If we take one more step forward in that, like sky's the limit for him. And again, you know, I think they were trying to make Javante do a lot of things that Javonte wasn't necessarily the guy to do. I think RJ can be that guy. So if you want this joker back guy to do everything, that's fantastic. I've been a massive JK. Dobbins fan for a very long time, to the point that in a Dynasty League I traded away Zeke when he was still kind of at the top, but I saw him kind of go to that age Cliff where I need to move him now, and I moved him forward JK the year that he was drafted, and without this string of unfortunate injuries, I do believe that JK would have been one of the best peer runners in the league, and we saw flashes of it last year. He's smaller than people think he is, but he's tough as nails man. Last year he looked great in Los Angeles for most of the season. I hope that we get that part back to him, a really good veteran back if he's healthy, and then a rookie that can do it all. I'm super excited.
00:25:49
Speaker 1: I know there's a fantasy podcast we talk mostly offensive players, but I do want to ask you about this Broncos defense because they were very good last year. And I say this is a forty nine er fan. Because they've added dra green Law, they added Talano, who funk. It just feels like, I mean, the offense I think is gonna be good for Denver, but it feels like you don't have to score a ton of points just because this defense gonna shut people down this year.
00:26:09
Speaker 5: What people don't remember about Peyton Saints, I think is not only does he like to get upfield fast on offense, he likes his defensive players to come downfield fast. We're gonna we're gonna create turnovers. We are going to attack you, and we're gonna dare you to put that ball up. We are going to come after you. And the guys that we have right now are the guys that can do that we haven't seen. I mean, Nick Bedino was fantastic last year, but now having green lag go sideline to sideline. Last time the Broncos won a championship, the unsung hero of the defense was Danny Trevathan who gets sidelined to sideline and can cover most tight ends like that was a big problem spot right this year, I don't think we're gonna have an issue like that. So we were great last year, we could be incredible elite this year. And shout out to the ownership. This is what I was talking about earlier. We paid our guys. Allen's paid, Sir Tannas paid. We're ready to go, man, like we are ready to wheels up, babe.
00:27:06
Speaker 3: Huge right now because there's like four or five teams waiting on their some of their best players to get paid and get into camp and not having to worry about that. I feel like it's huge for a team.
00:27:15
Speaker 1: Like talk to Cowboys fans right now, yeah, holding Outs fans, Ye yeah.
00:27:24
Speaker 3: I did mention Evan Ingram playing the joker role, and it feels like since Jimmy Graham, right like, we have one been chasing Sean Payton tight ends, but also we've been chasing Broncos tight ends for a while now. Albert oh, Albert troutman like like he is clearly, in my opinion, the best tight end since Jimmy Graham that just Sean Payton's had. How do you think his season looks?
00:27:45
Speaker 5: Uh?
00:27:45
Speaker 2: With the Broncos.
00:27:46
Speaker 5: What's interesting to me is like over time last year they were kind of asking Courtland to play a bit of that. Courtland was all of a sudden like lining up inside and running these seams, these high posters, like you know, he'll just find the guy that fits the mold. The fact that this could be Evan Ingram now is just huge for this offense. I mean, he's shown at every stop that he's played at in the NFL, both in New York and down in Jacksonville. That he's a guy that finds space, and he's long, he's athletic, he can go get it. He's just got to he's just got to really really want to work inside. Because that's I think a lot of people underestimate because we always talk about Jimmy Graham is like this off ball guy. Right. He never really lined up and blocked. He never did that, but he was still tough too. Man. He wasn't afraid to say kids, he would he would go up there and and you know, I think I heard Tom Brady talk about this last year. He was talking about how quarterbacks have not learned how to keep their receivers safe and healthy. That everybody just throws up these medicine balls all the time. Now, you know, we saw, we saw Graham get get lucky because he had quarterbacks who knew where to put the ball so he wouldn't get hurt. But he still wasn't afraid to stick his head in there and like stick his nose in there and got the thing. So you know, hopefully bo knows how to keep him safe, how to keep him, you know, keep these defenses from being able to truck him too much. But uh, you know, health is the only thing with Evan over the over the last couple of years. If this team stays healthy, man like, is this it's tough?
00:29:16
Speaker 3: Is this the ear that someone up takes the division from Kansas City?
00:29:19
Speaker 5: I don't think you can ask me, but you can't, but you can ask the team, right And we can see from the outside looking in, no one has asked for a trade. No one's complaining about where they're playing in the in the scheme, no one's asking for the ball more, no one's demanding anything. Guys are getting paid and the guys that aren't getting paid art are waiting till next year. No one's out there complaining. There's no noise coming out, which means things are good. And if things are good and these guys are believing in each other, they're buying into Peyton's system, then your.
00:29:52
Speaker 3: Division might be the toughest in the NFL though Chargers, And I don't think the Raiders are gimme anymore. They're and like I think also, this might be the greatest assortment of head coaching talent one division has ever had.
00:30:07
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's gonna come down to defense in our division. And I'll put my money onto Broncos defense.
00:30:13
Speaker 2: Let's go the chief I know the Chiefs.
00:30:15
Speaker 1: The record was fifteen and two last year, but it seemed like they were as vulnerable as they have been in a long time. I mean it was fifteen and two, they easily could have had five six losses.
00:30:23
Speaker 5: So I'm gonna say this, we're a fantasy show. Yes, I've been talking about the Broncos, but the Chiefs this year are also like in line for an offensive bounce back. And I think we're gonna talk later about players avoiding or play players that I end up drafting more often than not. The fact that Pat Mahomes is all the way down in like seventh eighth round, like is kind of crazy when you consider he's getting Rashie Rice back, Xavier Worthy. He's going to take another step. Maybe Travis Kelsey is a little more focused on football, Isaiah Pacheco's getting healthy. They might have found in the late first round, which Andy Reid always does, a left tackle that can actually anchor an offensive line. Next thing, you know, like Pat's got a little bit of time, This team defensively might be a little worse. Are we gonna get Pat from four years ago.
00:31:08
Speaker 3: This is what I've been saying all summer, like I'm in on the Chiefs.
00:31:10
Speaker 4: Of He's got a rank every gotta ranked over bull though he's not a believer.
00:31:15
Speaker 3: He's my homes you know, it's.
00:31:18
Speaker 2: What are we talking about?
00:31:20
Speaker 3: Did we watched what he did last year? Is a rookie?
00:31:22
Speaker 4: Stop it?
00:31:23
Speaker 5: But for me, you know that division, there's gonna be a lot of fireworks, except for when they go and play the Broncos. Oh yeah, you're gonna sit your stars. Okay, come coming to mind.
00:31:34
Speaker 2: I have to check the schedule.
00:31:35
Speaker 1: It would be great to see if one of those is like an Island game, like a Sunday night or Monday.
00:31:39
Speaker 5: That might be kind of fun. That might be kind of fun.
00:31:41
Speaker 1: Let's talk a little bit of fantasy football here, though, because you are a fantasy guy. I mean, that's why we got you in here. I mean, let's just let's go way back back into time. What when did you start playing? Do you remember, like that first year, who you might have had on those teams?
00:31:54
Speaker 5: I do. I went to New York to do a musical and it was the first time I was in one place for a solid year because I did a show called Altar Boys. I lived in Long Island City.
00:32:09
Speaker 3: Oh, I'm a queen's guy, okay, right.
00:32:12
Speaker 5: I lived down by the water, Long Island City, off the Broadway stop Oh beautiful over the Yeah, And so I go in. I do a show and our stage manager was a huge football fan, and I was a huge football fan. But I had never played fantasy because I'd never been in one place long enough really with a group of guys that you know, I could actually go and draft with and then you know, smack talk all season. But I was on a year contract, and you know, we fired it up in January. So by the time football season came around, we were all like we were ready to go. So Dennis put together a fourteen team.
00:32:48
Speaker 2: Oh you jumped in on fourteen?
00:32:50
Speaker 5: God? Yeah, full ADP.
00:32:53
Speaker 4: Wow my god.
00:32:54
Speaker 5: So for me, I immediately was like, okay, full ADP, all right, what am I doing here? I'm taking Jonathan Wilma taken? Uh, And I had Andre Johnson was my offensive star. But I had Andre Johnson, I had Drew Brees. Uh. These are some of the early players that I had, uh, way back in Zach Thomas, Jonathan Wilma, I had high tackle guys and my linebacker spots and it carried me to the championship game my my rookie year in fantasy.
00:33:24
Speaker 4: How it always is, yeh, it started. It starts at work and you win the league like everybody's fortune story bro.
00:33:30
Speaker 5: But we start overthinking in year two, Yes, it's gotta be perfect.
00:33:37
Speaker 3: Fourteen team full I dp that is. Yeah, you put your feet to the fire.
00:33:41
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, yeah, no we were and you got return yardage.
00:33:44
Speaker 4: So sick that sick man.
00:33:47
Speaker 5: We Actually it was.
00:33:48
Speaker 2: Before this was like this is like full on, like you started on hard mode.
00:33:51
Speaker 5: I know, I know, but to see that's my problem. Like I sit down to play a video game, I'm like, what is this ultimate mode? Oh? Wow? Play it? And then I'm then I don't get off the first level for seventeen days.
00:34:06
Speaker 4: I can just grind.
00:34:08
Speaker 1: You throw the game in, You get your butt checked for a while, and you're like, maybe I should look up exactly what I'm doing here and the figure it out.
00:34:13
Speaker 5: But another like story about my early days is on the first season of Friday Night Lights, which was like two years after I started in fantasy football, I was all right, I'm going to be first time commissioner the other league. All right, first time commissioner. I'm going to get ten guys together, you know. So a couple of cast members are on, like Zach Gilford, who played Matt Saras and he's a big Bear fan, so he was just drafting every Bear he could. And one of our stunt guys, Ryan Nale, shout out to him. He at a time when nobody whatever take a receiver or a quarterback in the first round or the second round because it was all running backs all the time. Like I took Sean Alexander, Like I was like, these were the you know, he took Tom Brady and Randy Moss.
00:34:53
Speaker 2: That worked out though, was this one league? Yeah, Crystal, it worked out.
00:35:01
Speaker 5: He had never played you want to talk about a first time or he went in the league those two guys and we were mocking him. Oh he was ridiculed as the winning spirit. I mean that year. I had a good team too, Reggie Wayne, I had. I had all these guys like top of their game, and he just he just had seventy touchdowns.
00:35:24
Speaker 3: One of the best QB and receiver seasons ever ever.
00:35:28
Speaker 5: Just our head in our hands.
00:35:29
Speaker 3: Everybody else would you guys like to talk as you're like, obviously not while you're filming the show, but like in between sets and stuff. Was fantasy like something that was like a rivalry on set or something.
00:35:40
Speaker 5: I would say there was like four guys in that league that really cared and the rest of us like along for the ride, my lineup for two weeks because well, a lot of our stunt guys, like at the time, they were former collegiate football players, and like back then, it wasn't cool for a guy in the league or who wanted to be in the league to play playing fantasy changed now, like we've had some guys players Austin Eckler did a world of good, Like you know, we.
00:36:07
Speaker 2: Will always love Austin for that reason.
00:36:09
Speaker 5: You know what I mean. But like back then, it was very much like fantasy. What's fantasy?
00:36:13
Speaker 2: Like?
00:36:13
Speaker 5: That's so like a lot of our guys that were even the league were like, I don't care football, I'm over here, Like you paid one hundred dollars to be in the league. This is real. This is a real deal. Man.
00:36:26
Speaker 4: I gotta ask you, what is your draft prep though?
00:36:29
Speaker 5: Man?
00:36:29
Speaker 4: Like are you going super serious in it? Like before draft Day and like how early are you pods?
00:36:35
Speaker 5: Like what are you doing man watching college football the year before? How I start?
00:36:40
Speaker 2: No, he's a veteran.
00:36:41
Speaker 5: The thing is, man is even in redraft now, like we have to know who these rookies are, right, We have to know who these guys are, We have to know where they landed, we have to know what these coaching changes are. We have to so you know, the season, the fantasy football season doesn't ever really quit. Like even in the NFL playoffs, you're watching Kellen Moore and just waiting to see where is he going? Right, the Eagles are winning a Super Bowl and for us, we're like, okay, who's going to hire him? Where is he going? And can I still remember that when he was in Los Angeles things weren't great? So like what happens in New Orleans this year? All we all think of Callamore as like the wonder kid, right, But at the same time, like, am I laying off of Saints players? That's a hot time?
00:37:24
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, oh yeah, it's funny you bring up the college football thing. I my home league has been around some time in high school and there's a person in the league who Bob's cover years like doesn't love the NFL but loves college football but plays fantasy. So every year he's always drafting like the big guys out of college, and for years he'd finished in like towards the bottom of the league. But the last couple of years he's had a lot of success because I feel like rookies are just they're hitting the ground running now. So like being a college football guy, you have to have some edge in your league, i'd imagine.
00:37:54
Speaker 5: Yeah, and watching a lot of Big Ten football has been really a good place to be the last few years. I know the SEC truthers and and they're not wrong about the profile and athletes that come out of you know, their conference. But the Big Ten has been turning out.
00:38:13
Speaker 2: I'm a USC guy, so yeah we are. We are conference mates now.
00:38:16
Speaker 5: I was at that game last year.
00:38:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's wild. I'm still I still wrap my head around the fact that you know, Nebraska and Rutgers and like our conference games with them.
00:38:23
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was crazy. Home cooking last year just held that flag in his populous takedown in the end, was leading the team to glory. Oh well, you know. But but the thing is is, like we talk about LSU as being wide receiver you but people are just like, how are we? How did people for a couple of years miss the fact that Ohio State is just much just on the run, you know, wide receiver us as LSU is right, you know, so you just have to know these players coming in. Brian Thomas was probably my most drafted player last year. And uh, you know, Jayden Daniels was a target for me and for a lot of guys out here on the West Coast. They didn't watch LSU as much because LSU wasn't competing for a championship necessarily, but there are some fantastic players on that team and you got to be able to watch that figure out what these profiles are. A lot of people thought Jayden Daniels was too slight. A lot of people had opinions on him. But this guy is a gamer, gamer gamer, and if you saw him in college, you knew where this thing was going to go. If you watch bo Nicks for nine years in college, a lot of maturity, you know, so no, but the offseason prep and then you know, I kind of just ignore the noise and actually I don't touch a mock until maybe the second week of August because even right now I'm looking at these players ADPs and I'm understanding that I've got to give plus around to this guy, plus around to this guy. Helium's going to start to go. Just went up.
00:39:53
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, guys get paid.
00:39:54
Speaker 5: There are guys I love the fifth round running backs right now, and I know that they're all going to go on the third round, right so everybody out they were seventh, fifth, yeah, yeah, So you know, I don't start really mock drafting in ernest till like the second week of August this year. It's really unfortunate though, because I have a draft on the twelfth. I'm like, what a week?
00:40:18
Speaker 2: One week, one week?
00:40:20
Speaker 5: And it's too early. It's too early.
00:40:24
Speaker 3: But it's how many leagues do you play?
00:40:25
Speaker 5: If you don't mind me playing six leagues?
00:40:29
Speaker 3: That's I got up.
00:40:30
Speaker 5: At one point when I was on Heart of Dixie, I did a couple of fan leaks for charity, and I had way too many leagues as a part of and I was I was up to fourteen leagues, and my wife looked at me and she was like, too many to stop.
00:40:43
Speaker 2: Stop.
00:40:43
Speaker 5: And then like three years later and and God bless her, thank you so much, kelp, like, you need to trim it down. Yeah, five, I think negotiated with you to get a six because it was for charity. I was like, what, but what about this one for charity? She's like, you know what the secret is?
00:40:59
Speaker 3: You got to at your what Like I got my wife into a family league. I'm not in the league, but she's in. That'll hell now, like Sunday she'll be like, like week one, she didn't care, but by like week seven, eight, she Jayden Daniels and Terry mclaurren and she's like, how are the commanders doing?
00:41:14
Speaker 2: Like what what are you?
00:41:16
Speaker 5: My wife? My wife played in our best friends league for a number of years and h she played in all women's league and won a couple of championships and uh, once we had kids, though, she was like, I'm stepping out. I'm out here.
00:41:28
Speaker 3: I can't do so she's the fantasy player in.
00:41:34
Speaker 5: Recent champion she cheered at the University of Texas. She was there with v why the hornst a championship against usc Uh.
00:41:43
Speaker 1: I'm glad you're here, but like, I don't know, I feel like I feel attacked her.
00:41:48
Speaker 3: The way that might be your low point of film sports fans feeling a little.
00:41:52
Speaker 2: Bit of tack today.
00:41:53
Speaker 5: You guys got yours.
00:41:54
Speaker 2: We're fine, We're fine. We're taking a quick break, come back dived.
00:41:58
Speaker 1: It's more fantasy football stuff with Scott Porters around for more of the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Talking with actors Scott Porter about his fantasy football journey. Though we got into the you know, the backstory of the history of all of the Let's let's look at this year, right, You're coming into this year when you approach a draft and you said you got one next week, even uh, do you have a preferred draft strategy? Are you a zero r B guy? You waiting my quarterbacks? How do you tend to operate?
00:42:25
Speaker 5: For quite some time when the wide receiver first round, things started to break like kind of you know, twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, I was steadfast three RBS, round one, two, three, and I was I was winning leagues that way. I was. I was sticking around till the fourth and the fifth and finding the juju Smith Schuster in his breakout, finding you know, like these these different guys that I saw and I really believed in, you know, and kind of seeing these wide receiver breakouts and being able to grab them late. You can't really do that anymore because all the receivers that you were able to wait on you just can't wait on anymore. And with the diverse backfields that we have now across the NFL, it's like really tough to do that. So listen, I go into each league, you know, based on whatever the point structure is, with a little bit of a plan. I think, I think you should have a structure to what you're going into. But this year especially, and we talked about this earlier, I love these later round group of rbs. There's like a group of like six of them that are are solidly fifth six rounders right now. ADP wise, that allow me to say, okay, I do want to play around a little bit with this elite tight end guy Like last year, Trey McBride, I had a plan. I had a plan last year. Trade McBride in the third, ken Walker in the fourth. Big plan for me last year. And you know, when you target players, it's it can be really really rough. But I also teer everybody out. I've got my tier breaks, I know where I want to go. But you know, McBride, let me do it to a championship last year in a fourteen team league, so I'm, you know, have that same kind of approach this year. I think he could be even better. You know, so because I like these later round ourbs. Gives me a little flexibility at the top of the draft to maybe take this elite onesie position. Can I take an elite quarterback? Can I take an elite tight end and get away with it and still have enough depth on the backside? Right? But no, man, I think you just got to be water in these drafts. So you know, for me, I have players I love. I really look at new systems, I really look at coaching changes, I really look at offensive line upgrades. There are teams I like to target, and you know, if it breaks my way, I get all the guys I love. But when does that ever happen?
00:44:47
Speaker 1: Never? Ever?
00:44:48
Speaker 4: So you talked about the players you love, But is there any players that are like red flag caution, like I am fading no matter what?
00:44:55
Speaker 2: You definitely hinted at the Saints for sure.
00:44:57
Speaker 5: Of course there I mean. But but the thing is to see football, it's all just cost right. There are players I will tell you I will not be drafting Travis Kelcey is pretty high on that list for me. But if I don't have a tight end and I'm in the eighth and Travis Kelsey is still sitting there, I'm starting to go, hmm, maybe he's getting younger.
00:45:17
Speaker 4: You start playing in your mind like that, you know, So you know the thing is is like, yeah, I mean there are players definitely I'm avoiding.
00:45:26
Speaker 5: There are situations I want to avoid. But if we just blanketly say, oh, the Browns are bad this year quarterback play, that's that's a whole thing, right, But their suite of skilled possession players are actually not too bad as far as pass catchers. Right, And you've got Judy, You've gotten Joku, who I'm okay leaving a draft with than Joku late. It just depends on where I'm getting him, right. So, uh, there's nobody that I officially X out unless I think Mixing might be that guy for me this year. Scott. The thing is, the thing is, I just I don't love uncertainty to start the sun Now, I don't mind back half of the season players. I would almost much rather have that guy than a first six game star, right, like the Adam Thielen from last year, like whoever it is right, because nobody believes in that guy anyway, you can't trade him. People are just waiting for the wheels to come off at the first player, right, and you're trying to pedal and you're like, hey, what's up? Going to keep this on? So backgund players. I don't mind, you know, picking up, but I don't like uncertainty. New offensive scheme. It's got to be better than Bobby Slowck's system. But at the same time, like foot injury, what really is it? How severe? Actually is it? What do you like? What are we not getting here? Because it seems like every week it's like, oh, yeah, no it's a little worse than we not yeah no, no, it's still a little worse than we. I mean, he's been going on since May I know, so so for me that that kind of thing is the only thing that really scares me off a player. I loved mixing last year. I loved an older back, new scheme, quarterback, you know, not better quarterback, but you know, but but but a young rising you know, quarterback, a great head coach like I liked mixing last year and and but this year it's just injury stuff that really. And that's like with Chris Olave, I'm like, you know, this is He's a guy I love.
00:47:27
Speaker 4: I'm back in now he is in the Saturl discontent.
00:47:31
Speaker 5: But but you get to this place where you're like, Okay, the injury last year should not be discounted because it's it's something that we've seen be repetitive over time for for other players. So so where are we at exactly on that? And who's playing quarterback? Boy? This man is a beast. I love chrys Olave. He's on both my Dynasty teams. Traded up to grab him, uh in one of my leagues, and and I really believe in the talent. I just I just don't know what's going on around him. And then the injury thing, it's uncertainty. So that's that's the thing that will make me back off players.
00:48:05
Speaker 3: I don't really have a question here, but for the people listening, I think you should try to take Scott's approach, like, because we talk about it a lot, but everyone always wants to know what do you think of this player? And like you have to think about it situationally, and it starts with the play caller, and like this scheme that you're in and I think that is the most overlooking and fantasy football, Like people always look at the quarterback and the receivers and that's it. But like, starting from the top down, I easily understand why you have so much success in your leagues with that approach.
00:48:34
Speaker 5: Like, you know, man, we got some guys like Ryan Neill who will win one every now and darts at aboard and that's what makes this sport.
00:48:46
Speaker 2: Exactly.
00:48:47
Speaker 1: Or I mean you talk a little bit about you mentioned the Browns, right, and I like David and Joku like you, I'm sort of so so on Jerry Judy. How much does that quarterback situation make give you pause?
00:48:59
Speaker 5: Though?
00:48:59
Speaker 2: In Cleveland right now?
00:49:00
Speaker 5: I mean, I mean that's the whole thing, right, Can we put a train through the pause of I mean, you know it gives me a lot of pause, man. But also you look at Stefanskin, say what has he been able to do year over year? When we constantly discount the offense year over year, back when they didn't have any skill position players, They're like, there's no way the run game still still trucks. Well it? Did you know Nick Chubb was a beast you know on a year when everybody said that don't touch a single Brown because there's no way that offense is going to move at all, and yet he figured it out. I think he's as far as NFL head coaches go. I think people are a little misunderstanding of how good he is as a schemers as making sure that his offense is still function Man. I saw a Broncos Browns game last year where them Browns just decided to go crazy, yeah against this defense that we're talking about is like one of the most vaunted in the leagues. I mean, they had Jamis at quarterback, just slinging that thing.
00:50:04
Speaker 3: Big Jamis one quarterback.
00:50:06
Speaker 5: They don't have Jamis this year. But if Joe Flacco's starting at quarterback, are we really super completely scared of these guys? I don't know.
00:50:13
Speaker 4: I'm actually in on them if it's Joe Flacante Johnson because I don't like Jerry Judy.
00:50:18
Speaker 3: I think Jerry Judy was a product of the perfect circumstances, Like Jamis locks in on his wide receiver one. Their play caller for that stretch was a Ken Dorsey. He likes to lock in on the one. But I'm like Deonty Johnson. I know he's he's Deontay Johnson at this point, you know, like like all this stuff he's pulled the last year, but he still gets open better than anyone in the NFL or most people in the NFL. So like, I'm like I could get in on that. I did want to ask you though, being such a big college football guy you talked about like RJ. Harvey and some of these other rookies, what other rookies, Like are you really excited to watch this year?
00:50:54
Speaker 5: This year? And I know we we had the run a show like players you're super in on or players you're super out on. Spoiler alert a Mecca Agbuka rookie that I'm really in on. We're talking about established quarterback who has really found himself. We're talking about even though we've lost the offensive coordinator, a coaching staff exactly the structure is there, Chris Godwin. We're not really sure what's happening. Mike Evans is still fantastic, but aging and trust me, the other three is from Nebraska. I saw him for a very long time playing up and Husker red and Ameca Agbuka is just a He's a special player and he could be everything that Chris Godwin was and is, and I know they extended him, but there is a wide receiver vacancy coming in that organization very soon, and Agbuka can do kind of it all. And so for me, like he's a guy that I'm looking Last year, the four players that I really targeted or that I knew I wanted to leave every draft with was Josh Jacobs, Brian Thomas, and Mecca Buka. Fits at Brian Thomas for me this year Trey McBride and Kyler Murray, and I know they didn't work completely well, but that leads me down the same process of this year. Where am I getting values? Where am I getting the elite guys? You know? And who are they? You know? Why are people hesitant on a player that I'm super high on? Right? So Josh Jacobs last year for me, I did not understand why that man was not a second rounder long. I didn't understand it. And this year that's kind of where I'm at on these all these like fifth round running backs, Ken Walker specifically, but James Connor is way too low. I love James Connor, you know, Chuba Hubbard way too low. He's not getting his respect man, he's not. I had him last year on a team that went to a championship, and I know that they want to vary up the offense a little bit. I know that Canalis wants to get the ball out on first down a little bit more this year. It's not going to be all true. But even when people knew it was coming last year, the man was just totally the rock. Yeah he's going in the sixth round, you know, So so other backs that people are deflating a little bit I want to target. But this year, for me, Brian Thomas, that breakout guy could be a mechag Buka Because if Godwin gets a slow start and he's out there on day one just catching the rock. If we see Mike Evans tail off a little bit towards the end of the year and Godwin come forward, it doesn't mean that Iguka is completely displaced. This is a guy that could have a place all season long on an offense that we know can throw up points. So that's a guy that I'm I'm really super in on as far as like tight ends go. Man, we were we were talking about Trey McBride earlier. I mean, if that guy scores more than one touchdowns by the way. Yeah, yeah, they gave me pause because I grabed. I draft him in the third round league, the third round of a fourteen team league last year, and I won the chip. So I'm picking fourteenth overall and it's a keeper And I even thought about keeping him at the one two turn.
00:53:57
Speaker 3: I might know end had more red zone usage last year than trainment Bride. It is like they tried on purpose not to get him hard to throw that ball that many times.
00:54:10
Speaker 5: But outside of McBride, I mean, you know, Kittle looks fantastic. But the other, the other tight end that I am one totally in on, is a late round guy. He's a top ten talent. I don't know why he's going in round twelve or later. I won a championship two years ago with Sam Laporta as my tight end. Colston Lovelin's Yeah, I know. Tyler Warren's got a ton of highlight reel stuff out there. I know the Colts are very high on him. He is just exciting for them because we've been watching Moiley Cox. We've been watching all of these guys in Indy for a long time and to see yeah, that's a poll uh Fleeana the cleaner. But to see Tyler Warren is like, you know, people are very excited. Right, But Colston Loveland was drafted by the guy that made Laporta Laporte right, his first ever pick as the Bears coach. Right, was Colston Loveland over Warren, Warren over Comet's running with the two's right now Loveland's out there. There's a lot of uncertainty with what exactly DJ Moore does in this offense, with the step that Roma Dunze may or may not take. Caleb Johnson to me, I'm a big Husker fan. Watching the Huskers last year in Dylan Riola and watching Caleb Williams in the NFL. There was a lot of similarities between the two of them holding the ball just a little too long, not using their feet the way that they should not, unlocking that kind of part of their offense. And they both can run, right. Caleb can run, but he would get himself into tricky situations because he is able to process the game. He just didn't have the time to get it out and so he's got to know when it's time to go. But Colston Loveland's gonna help with that. I think a whole lot. I think the Ben Johnson of it all is fantastic. So for me, you know, if you miss early on these elite tight ends, like I'm not taking many shots early. I'm kind of waiting if and Djoku drops and you compare him with Loveland or even if you take an elite guy and take leveland let him tell a combination.
00:56:17
Speaker 3: It's my favorite way to Like I'm in on mcbrid in the third round if you could get him there, but if not, like take one of these rookies and pair him with like a n Joku or your favorite veteran like Tucker Craft, whoever it might be. I love addressing tight end that way because you get the floor with the veteran. But the rookie Colson Lovely could be Sam Reporter from two years ago, like I said, like he brings.
00:56:38
Speaker 5: All the upside. Yeah, one tight end. I don't draft a lot of his brock powers. And it's only because not because I don't believe in his talent, not because he's a raider. It's because of the skill position talent that is drafted around him and what I can do for my team with them, versus who gets drafted after Trey Right, like the group of players in the late third round, I'm not as enamored with as I.
00:57:04
Speaker 3: Don't like taking a tight end in the first two. Like if you've flipped Bowers and McBride, I'd be more in on Bowers if he was going in the third round. So I agree one hundred percent with you.
00:57:13
Speaker 5: But last year, Kyler Murray, if we're gonna switch to quarterbacks, Kyler Murray was like my big target in almost every draft. I really thought his legs, his health, his weapons, everything was getting upgraded. He just he didn't see it and it didn't work out completely. But I'm not Hey, you know, we got to take the losses. Can't just be all hits, right, I'm gonna come in here and tell you, yeah, I had all these got I did draft a fair share of Jaden Daniels and a fair share of Bo Nicks, But Kyler was the vet guy that I was targeting in almost every draft, and I was really trying to stack him with Tray everywhere that I could. This year, the guy that I like at quarterback that I end up with more often than not is a guy that because of the weapons upgrade around him and nothing done in the run game and hopefully offensive line improvement could just have a big year. People love George Pickens, people love Ceede Lamb. Jake Ferguson just got paid, Let's go Scott. Dak Prescott is still like kind of deflated. Is interesting to me. So you know, if you're gonna go elite tight end early, if you're gonna wait on a vet who can have a big season, I think Dak is still kind of that guy. He's not a top five, top six guy, but I mean he's not too far off. If those weapons, if we love all these weapons, and we want to talk about like touchdown regression for Trey McBride, Jake Ferguson is another guy who is in line for that. Like, so you know his targets in the red zone versus you know, his touchdown you know, expected touchdowns versus what he actually had. I mean, Jake Ferguson, And we gotta remember he got paid too. Yeah, right, so no money repass catchers, what did they do in their backfield? I'm not quite sure. This might just be another year where Dak's got to really sling it. So that's another guy that I'm kind of targeting.
00:58:59
Speaker 2: So I do.
00:59:00
Speaker 5: I love that.
00:59:01
Speaker 2: I think that's great.
00:59:01
Speaker 1: I thought a big thing you talked about too, Like you talked about drafting a tight end early. It's sort of that opportunity cost, right, you're taking a player there when you could have had you know, you could find yourself a top running back or a top wide receiver.
00:59:12
Speaker 2: You can get another tight end a little bit later on in the draft. So I thought that was very cool.
00:59:19
Speaker 5: Word point.
00:59:19
Speaker 1: Now in the history of entertainment where reboots reunions are a lot of fun, ah, I gotta ask, would you be down if they did it Friday Light Friday Night Lights reboot or reunion? I mean, like, what is Jason Street up to after high school?
00:59:33
Speaker 5: So this is always a tricky question for me because I don't want to sound desperate, but hell yeah, Friday Night Lights is one of the greatest shows in television history. And I say that knowing that I was a part of it, but I'm also a fan. Like what people have to remember is like Jason Street did a very isolated journey on the show. So I watched every week when it actually aired on TV live to see what my co stars were doing, and they were just turning in incredible work week after week, and I knew how good the scripts were, but I didn't get to work with them a lot. So I watched as a fan. So as a fan of the show, like who would say no? That being said, you know, I do believe it's a new location, a new team, a new situation. However, Jason Street, if he allowed me to pitch a little bit appearances, went to New York. You know, he became a sports agent. That was how he ended the show. You know, his beautiful wife, Aarn. They've got a kid, maybe they got a second kid now you know, but nil is a thing. Yeah, high school kids are getting researched and covered by these agents all the time. Now, you know, agency doesn't start in college now, it starts in high school. So now Jason Street might have a chance to come down to some part of Texas Texas football players. So look, if they asked me, and if it serves the story, yes one percent, I would come back. Regardless, I'm gonna be watching as a fan.
01:01:02
Speaker 3: So I love Friday Night Lights. How did you spend time like in like Texas or like preparing for the role Because I grew up in New York high school football is not a big deal there. So watching that show, I was always envious of, Like, it must be so cool to to like live there is that go into your prepp or anything like that.
01:01:22
Speaker 5: So for me being from Nebraska, you know, the one thing that is spoken for is that you are a Husker. Okay, you know, Husker red or Husker dead. That's like, that's the phrase Nebraska right, thanks, unless you have a crazy uncle like my uncle Noa who decided get a wild hair up but and just become a Sooner fan just to piss everybody off like that, that could it just shows up with the Sooner hat on and everybody's like, but but I went to high school and college in Florida, and you know, at the risk of upsetting Texas football fans, high school football in Florida is also a very big, huge deal, I mean, and those teams are a raw and they are hungry, and they don't get to play in multi million dollar stadiums, you know, so their passion for the game is driven a little differently. And I feel like a lot of the SEC have that same kind of opinion about football, and that's why they're so passionate about SEC right, Texas football comes from just that, like pride in their state, their ability to spend the money in all these stadiums. So that was one thing I had to go down and get a grip on. Early was not the passion for football, but like the situation that these kids play in. I went to a high school football game in Flugerville, Texas, which the Dylan Panther p is based on actually the pe of the Fluggerville football team. And I went there and they had this incredible multimillion dollar, eighteen thousand seed stadium. Wow, for like a town that like really the population is only like eighty k, like a quarter of the town is expected to be just you know, at the state have on Friday night. And it's north of Austin, It's not too far away from like a big city, and still it is just attended sold out, not just by the kids that go to the school, but by the generations that had come before them. And so that I had to get a grip on. But it was so funny. I was. I was actually doing this off Broadway show that I talked about earlier. It's about a struggling Christian boy band. I had blonde hair like Justin Beaker before the Beaver and the first ad calls me three weeks before we start production on the pilot, Casey Holdenfeld, and he goes, Hey, Scott, and I can hear the panic in his voice. And It's a Sunday afternoon. I've got two shows this day and I'm just sitting on the stairs. I'm just keeping up with scores. I'm just looking looking through the app, you know, and he's freaking out. He's like, can we didn't ask you? And I was like, didn't ask me? What? Casey? He's like, can you throw a football? And I was like, yes, I got you.
01:03:57
Speaker 2: I got you.
01:03:58
Speaker 5: High school football, you know football. So no, I was a wide out around four or five three. I had good hands. I grew up watching l Way Yep and the Three Amigos and you know some of the other players in the in the eighties that no one else in the world can name for the Broncos but me. But I also grew up because that the Seattle Seahawks used to be in the AFC West. I grew up watching Largent a lot too, Okay, so for me, like Largent was always like the way he attacked the ball, how he ran his routes. He was very very smart with it, so that that was kind of how I patterned my myself. And uh, you know, I called him. I was like, I could I could throw football? I got you ball. It was really cool though. They they brought the quarterbacks coach and the head coach out from Compton Community College. Uh, we did a two and a half week football camp before we started shooting the pilot, and then you know, the football aspect of it, like we just had we had athletes as our stunt guys, and I got to give them a round man because they were they were incredible. And then my research became how do I play someone who has suffered a catastrophic spinal injury? And that was a much different thing. And I got to give a shout out to coach James Gumbert, who coaches our US Paralympic Quad rugby team. Man has won medals for the country playing the sport that Jason Street learns in the show. He was there with me day in and day out telling me what life is really like for a Wheelshair and like how it affects you, you know, what you can accomplish all of these things and I wanted to make sure that we respected that story in such a huge way, and so him and occupational therapist named Rob cadu Or were are two technical advisors. I had them with me at all times, and all my research then went into how do we tell Jason Street's story respectfully, honestly and really get this out to the country, Like you know what it's like if you suffer an injury like this.
01:05:51
Speaker 3: You know this wasn't on the rundown, but I could ask you questions about fridaying that life all day. How did your football knowledge did you think? And did the other actor and actresses know as much football? It doesn't seem like you know your stuff.
01:06:04
Speaker 5: Yeah, no, I know my stuff as far as like pure athleticism. Taylor Kitsch played junior league hockey, so he had like he had the athletic structure and the passion for a sport. Okay, so he understood Texas. But he's from BC, Canada. He's from Colonna, Canada. You know, but you can imply how they feel about junior league hockey to how they feel about high school football in Texas. Gotch so he was able to really go there. Jesse Plemons actually played high school football from Mark, Texas. He was their quarterback, sneaky athlete, actually sneaky. But outside of that, a lot of the cast could kind of care less about. Outside of eg Zach Gilford Saracen just a Chicago guy and he's Chicago everything all day long. So he's a big barrissman. He follows them. Didn't really play the sport as much, but he definitely knew his stuff. But outside of that, I mean, you know, it's tough in this industry in Hollywood to like find guys on every set or women on every set that are like really passionate about sports the way that I am because I'm a maniac.
01:07:04
Speaker 1: So we'll say, yeah, ah, one last question for you. Yeah, you need one drive to win the Super Bowl? John Elway or Peyton Manning.
01:07:14
Speaker 5: Oh it's easy for me, I think, I mean because talking about him, you.
01:07:20
Speaker 1: Know, you and I are about the same age. I have a good guess, but yeah, I forgot to put it out there.
01:07:24
Speaker 5: I mean, Peyton Manning might be the single greatest regular season quarterback we've ever seen, and he was able to get a couple of chips late in the career. LWA kind of similar Lway when he retired, though led NFL history and wins at quarterback. He led NFL history in comeback victories even more than Captain comeback Roger Staubach himself. Right. El Way was the guy that would sacrifice every single part of his body to will a team to win. And the teams that he took to victory in the eighties against the brown who were better teams, like it.
01:08:03
Speaker 2: Could stack it up. Those Browns teams were really good.
01:08:06
Speaker 5: The fumble in the drive, people forget what happened. After the fumble, Elway still had to go get it done. Yes, and he went and got it done. The drive, he went and got it done. And one of the greatest NFL football games I've ever seen in my life actually was just a regular season I think it was a Sunday nighter. It was after Montana went to the Chiefs, and it was Montana versus Elway, and there were four touchdowns scored in the final two thirteen of the game. It was insane, and it was the two of them going back and forth, two giants who just did not want to lose, just going after each other. That was the kind of fire that Elway had. Peyton is so cerebral. He also has a fire. Trust me. I mean the guy also like really really really wants to win. But I would take Elway just for the element of his arm strength, his ability to sacrifice his body. All we need to see is the helicopter in the Super Bowl. Wow, that this man will a sacrifice.
01:09:01
Speaker 4: So when you're pulling up to the Broncos games, what is the fit like I'm doing? What is the Kicks rotation looking like?
01:09:07
Speaker 3: Which, by the way, got some I know you can't see it at home, but some dope four z on right now?
01:09:12
Speaker 5: No three three three? So I got, I got whatever, I'm gonna stink out the students. Those color these are the Knicks Jordan threes actually, which works because it works. You know, I'm a huge Nick fan because growing up in Nebraska, uh Saturday Morning cartoons. Immediately afterwards, the Big East Basketball will come on, boya Destroyer playing Georgetown. Patrick Ewing himself. That's when I fell in love with the sport of basketball because it was something so foreign to a kid from Homanska. What is this music? What are those starter jackets branded? Basketball? Is this like? And so I followed Ewing to the NBA when he got drafted and became a massive Knicks fan.
01:09:52
Speaker 3: Worst out, this is the year, right and it's taking us the glory.
01:09:59
Speaker 5: I will be pos about the Broncos all day, but the Knicks, it is like sack religious to be like, this is the year we got this.
01:10:07
Speaker 3: I flew to Indiana for Game four to watch them go down three to one this year.
01:10:11
Speaker 5: Yeah, I was. I was heartbroken, you know, man, this year was was special though. I love this team almost more than any next team I've ever time, I hope, but even then Yeah, so yeah, yeah, man, no, I uh the fit check. Let's see. Uh man, I said starter jackets. I've got this. Uh there's a company out of Columbus, Ohio homage. Oh yeah yeah, they did a line of NFL starter jackets a couple of years back. So I got this really nice Broncos starter jackie with they got the number. I got a number of now I get am I am I superstitious. I'm a little stitious. I have a few Broncos T shirts that are like these are the these are the game day ones, right, yeah, the ones they get to go to the stadium, they get to go.
01:10:57
Speaker 2: Uh.
01:10:57
Speaker 5: And then I've got a number of J's because of the Nicks and Bulls rivalry. I've got a number of J's that, out of respect, like Jordan made Knicks color ways, a number of different shoes. So I've got my threes that I'm wearing right now. I've also got my ones that are orange and blue, nice and bright. I have those.
01:11:15
Speaker 3: Are they white as well?
01:11:16
Speaker 2: Yeah?
01:11:16
Speaker 5: They got white on the on the bottom.
01:11:17
Speaker 3: I have the same one.
01:11:18
Speaker 5: Yeah, but I put a black lace on them because they really clean. But but yeah, that's that's the fit check. I walk up. You know, I got the starter jacket. You know, because of course you're in Denver in the fall, so you gotta stay a little bit. Well you can.
01:11:33
Speaker 3: You could see them here, I mean they play right next door once.
01:11:35
Speaker 5: Yeah, you could see them a home game.
01:11:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, exactly, exactly.
01:11:41
Speaker 5: No, the Chargers don't let me come to the games. They're like Scott come to any other game. Last year I saw Chargers Bengals here, and I just I just love seeing football. So I'm on a show right now called Ginny and Georgia. My wife loves it, by the way, that's tell her, thank you, We'll do you should also watch it. But we I'm in Toronto, so two hour drive down to Buffalo. I have seen a number of Bills games the last few years. I've seen some duels between Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. I just I just love going and seeing football anywhere, anytime, any place.
01:12:18
Speaker 3: I've yet to go to Buffalo for a game. I'm a Bills fan. I need to get there.
01:12:22
Speaker 5: There are very few stadiums I have not seen games in now I've been able.
01:12:26
Speaker 3: To do a lot, which ones.
01:12:28
Speaker 5: If you still haven't seen a game in Arizona, Nope, that's a lie. I haven't seen Arizona play in Arizona, but I did see the Patriots perfect season get ruined by the Giants. You're going to, Yeah, let's see Carolina. I haven't seen a game in Carolina. I haven't seen a game in Jacksonville. And the one that I want to go see a game in that I haven't yet is Pittsburgh. I think that that's like a fan that's that's a fan atmosphere that I haven't experienced personally yet that I would love to experience. I've been to every the other NFC North team games, so even Cincinnati, I've been to a game and since e so uh, you know, that's another interesting fan experience. They're just expecting the worst if I go to Pittsburgh, they're all expecting the best. Absolutely, oh man.
01:13:15
Speaker 3: But before we say goodbye, Yeah, could you for old time sake hit us with the Clear Eyes Full Heart can't lose?
01:13:23
Speaker 5: Yes, sir, And I'm sorry.
01:13:24
Speaker 3: I'm sure you get acts all the time, but as a fan of the show, I mean I can't pass on this opportunity.
01:13:29
Speaker 5: Yeah, man, well I gotta say the first two.
01:13:31
Speaker 2: You got it? Of course, all three of us fish it off right.
01:13:34
Speaker 5: All right, thanks for joining us everybody today, Clear Eyes, Full Hearts dist