On this episode of the Weak-Side Podcast, Conor and Jenny pick award-winners and the playoff field for the 2020 season. Hint: If you like birds, come take a peck. Er, peek.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
Okay, guys, the weeks Side podcast is back. Uh. It is Wednesday, recording about three thirty in the afternoon, and Jenny and I still cannot get over how bad our performances were in our collective fantasy football drafts last week. We'll get into that a little bit more later in the show, but Jenny, it just seems like this is getting harder and harder the older that we get. I don't know, our performances declining and we can't make up for it with smarts, so we're just in a bad spot. Is this what, like you know, Mike Holmgren felt like at the end of his career, or like you know, a coach that won a Super Bowl and then for some reason just feels it slipping more greatly out of his grasp with each year. Like is that is this? Is this what it feels like? I wonder? Hold up in true week Site podcast fashion, you're forgetting to mention that you won last season, so you are a defending champion. I had a miserable performance last year and the year before, and I just them coming off a miserable draft, So you know, um, I think you've still got it, But I'm on the decline, but you know where we're not on the decline. Connor is our preseason awards picks not written, not yet right because we cannot be wrong yet. This is the best time of year. Yes, optimism abounds. Anything as possible. Um, I think we had some good picks though I like it too. UM, So I think we'll jump right into that. And uh, you guys can find our picks over at SI dot com NFL. Uh. They launched on Wednesday and they'll be up throughout the remainder of the week. So we did our full playoff bracket, which will get to but also all the award candidates m VP, Offensive Player the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive Rookie of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year, come back and coach. So, Jenny, why don't you start by walking us through? Um, I haven't seniors yet, so this is gonna be a fun surprise. Let me start by let's walk us through your player award picks first, and uh and we'll get into that a little bit there. Okay, So m v P to start with, I went with the obvious Patrick Mahomes and I just think in an unknown season, I stuck with a lot of knowns, as you'll see with some of my playoff picks. Same thing. I don't think a lot of explanation is needed for Mahomes winning the m v P Offensive Player of the Year Connor. I went with se Kwon Barkley. Interesting, sort of what we were expecting last season, maybe, but see the offense getting on track a little bit this year, Barkley taking on a big workload as they kind of break in Daniel Jones into the new offense and help him develop. So I could see it happening. You know. That was kind of a random pick, but that was spicy, a little different, a little different. Defensive Player of the Year, I went with t J. Watt. He was definitely in the conversation last year. He has a remarkable penchant for strip sacks, forcing turnovers um and it's just a major force to be reckoned with. He's a captain for the Steelers this year. He's just really blossomed every year of his career so far, and so going into year four, I think he'll just continue to take steps forward. I think it's been really fun watching his development. You know, early on he was kind of I don't want to mess up like, let me just you know, worry about my assignment in the Steelers defense. And as he's gotten more comfortable with that and grown in his role, I think you see him taking more chances, punching the ball, swiping the ball. So I think what could get one to take a step toward his brother's tally of three? So that was my defensive Player of the Year pick um offensive rookie. I actually surprised myself with this pick. I went with Clyde Edwards Hilaire and I feel like we talk talks about this on a podcast a couple of weeks ago, that it's like so much easier for quarterbacks to win, like the bar is lower for a quarterback of a quarterback is competent as a rookie, and especially in a weird year like this, And now we're seeing that Burrow is already voted as a captain for the Bengals, and you know what, maybe I should have gone with Burrows, but there has been so much hype around Edward's Hilaire, and I do think he is a player that can just neatly fold into that offense. They have a need at running back. He seems to perfectly fit. He has Andy Reid teaching him, So if anyone can step in as a rookie, I feel like it's Edward's Hilaire. And four out of the last ten offensive Rookie of the Year winners were running backs, so I don't think that's too um two out of control. You have Todd Gurley, Eddie Lacey, Alvin Kamara and say Kwon Barkley Eddie Lacey. Wow, um did not remember about that. And last year certainly Josh Jacobs could have been um the offensive rookie as well. So yeah, I think you know, it's a position where they have a good chance too. So that's that's a helpful step for a ten connor. Thanks for pulling them. Uh, defensive rookie, I went with Chase Young. Um. You know, I think for pass rushers that's the position where stats show up the most. Right, you can be a good cornerback but not necessarily have a ton of interceptions. Um, so pass rusher, I feel like your presence is noted and you know there's a clip of you that will go viral of you bowling over some offensive alignment and getting to the quarterback. Those kinds of things influence voters. Let's be honest, right, you know you need the splash reel, So put down Chase young um come back Player of the Year. I think it's obvious he doesn't really even have to play to have earned this, And in my opinion, I think a lot of us agreed. Alex Smith definitely just even to make it onto the roster. And for coach, I went with Mike Tomlin. I'm predicting a resurgent year for the Steelers, and if so, Mike Tomain will win Coach of the Year. Jenny, tell that to everybody who sent me nasty d m s for picking the Steelers to go thirteen and three this. I know you got a lot of pushback for that. And I didn't really understand why their defense is fantastic. They are theoretically getting back their quarterback who says he's without elbow Paine for the first time in like a decade. So I mean it makes a lot of sense to me, by the way, And I was just looking up the defensive Rookie of the Year winners, and I think I made this point a couple of weeks ago when I did like a column on the outsider pit picks that could win these awards. I think credit goes to all the voters. Where you know, the voters have certainly taken their fair share of flack over the years for for different things. But in terms of defensive Rookie of the Year, UM, this is since and interior defensive tackle, an edge rusher, a middle linebacker, another interior defensive too, interior defensive tackles in a row thirteen and fourteen fifteen, A cornerback, um, and then edge rusher, cornerback, interior linebacker, edge rusher. So like Darius Leonard, Marshawn Lattimore, UM, Sheldon Richardson, Luke kick Ley, UM. So I thought it was it's a good job by the committee that there at least, you know, somewhat diverse safeties get banged here a little bit unfortunately. But at the same time, I think that they've at least explored a little bit broader of arrange there, um than maybe the offensive the you know, the vote the people who are getting votes on the offensive side. Yeah, And I was kind of just teasing about the sizzle real I mean, I vote for these awards, and I tried to take into account all aspects of the game, and you're right there is a big positional variety of players who have won that award. Another one I really thought about here was Isaiah Simmons. We both like the Cardinals or again has been a taste maker for the NFL, and this was high in the Cardinals early on, and Isaiah Simmons would be a big part of that. I think there's a lot of interest in what his role will be, how he kind of represents this positional position list defense trend, and just kind of the ability to contribute in multiple ways would also potentially make him an appealing candidate. So that was the other name I kind of waffled back and forth with for the Defensive Rookie of the Year. I'm hoping that I fall into that trap where I remember we were talking about this last year when I remember when Greg roman Uh and John Harbob were saying, well, we ripped up the playbook and we're giving Lamar Jackson something totally new, and you and I were thinking, oh, no, like this is not good. This is you know, they're they're moving away from what makes him good, when in reality they were doubling down him what makes it good. We were a skeptical Yeah, I think I'm the same way now with Isaiah Simmons and advanced Joseph because you know, all preseason he's been talking about how we can't play him like he played at Clemson and he can't be all over the place, and I'm just like, part of me is just hoping, like, man, please don't tell me you just drafted this guy to be a stationary outside for three linebacker, Like there has to be some plan in order to have drafted him this high. Yeah. I was reading those reports too, and honestly that played a factor into my not picking him. But I do think it's hard to believe that he won't contribute in multiple ways. I mean, obviously they'll slot a role for him, but when you have a player like that, isn't that why you drafted him, for him to be able to make an impact that a bunch of different roles on the field. I think so. Um, I totally agree. Uh so I'd like those picks and Jenny, as usual, we are in lockstep in several ways. So I will spare everyone in the suspense in saying that Chase Young is my defensive Rookie of the Year, Alex Smith is my comeback player of the Year, and like you, Mike Tomlin is my coach of the year. So look at that. I mean, we don't we don't plan this guy's This is just you know, next level s energy that you're getting. You know you're not getting this on every podcast. This is just two people that for better or for worse, and definitely for worse for Jenny or sharing the sort of a brain wave, you know, which is something I'm very excited about because Jenny is a lot smarter than I am. So um my m v P uh is Russell Wilson. And here's why I have Seattle winning the Super Bowl for the second year in a row. But I think that there is going to be an overcorrection in the Russell Wilson department. I think that, um, regardless of how the year turns out. I think if there is a bunch at the top st Patrick Mahomes doesn't blow the field away, Tom Brady doesn't have an incredible year whatever whatever at Lamar Jackson, and there's sort of this group of them that's at the top, I think Russell Wilson gets to pull away because there is that sense that he has never had an m v P vote. Um, he has deserved an m v P vote, and now we're seeing that story. Momentum Ability was second in NFL Networks top one hundred, and I think there's that realization that, like, Okay, at some point, this guy is going to have to get his if he continues to play at that level. I assume that he will, And so that's kind of where I'm going there. I think Russell Wilson has as a chance if if, if all the things sort of play out that way. Yeah, I think that's a great pick. Connor, it's wild that he has never received an m v P vote because he accounts for so much of the offense and so many different ways, all of the different things that he does to move the football to advance the team forward. It's pretty impressive, and maybe this is the year that he gets his du I really like that pick. Yeah, so Offensive Player of the Year, I have Michael Thomas. Oh you know, I think, uh, you know, I have the Saints going fourteen and two, and uh you know, like they're prone to do losing very early in the playoffs. So I mean, I was honestly surprised when I saw your picks for the Saints. That was the one that set out to me the most connor. I was not thinking, you, we're going to go that direction. I think that everybody that listens to this podcast knows that there are certain things that I will do. Um. You know, if I if I begrudgingly believe that a team will be successful, then what you have to do is project them to be astronomically successful. So then that way you're sort of reverse jinxing them and bringing them back to back to the middle ground. You know, I think that's sort of the plan there, whereas the other there's other teams that you know, we don't like and we'll just flat out bang because you know, sometimes they're that's deserved to you know, fair fair, Um. Alright, so we're in lockstep on those lockstep gosh, am I an NFL general manager? What is this alignment? Alignment? Alignment? Uh, defensive player of the Year. I have Joe Boza. Uh So it's a pick that was probably generally celebrated by our own Albert Brier uh offensive rookie of the area of Joe Burrow. And it's such a you know, but I'm so glad that you went in a spicier direction because you know, it's just I think, if this guy makes it through the season and his middling you know what I'm saying, he's he's going to win the award because that's just kind of how this always goes, you know. Yes, I agree, UM, good picks so far. I like all of them. Yeah. And then uh, like we said, we're we're in uh, we're in alignment on a lot of this stuff. I mean, I think that Mike Tomlin, you know, it's amazing to me and I feel like I have to keep saying this and I'm repeating myself over time, but has never had a losing record as the head coach of the Steelers. Never, not even last year when the team was awful and had Duck Hodges and Mason Rudolph as their quarterbacks for the season. Um, and they almost backed into the playoffs. And I think, yeah, And it's one of those things where even still, if you go into Pittsburgh and you ask people who is one more games, who has a better winning percentage, who's a better head coach, Everyone's going to tell you it's Bill Kauer and that you know, he was really the real secret sauce down there, and that Mike Tomlin just took over a car that was already in motion. But I could not disagree more. I think this guy is so much more deserving of attention as a as a good head coach. And I said this um on a radio hit not too long ago, that if for any reason, if he was let go in Pittsburgh, he would be hired forty seconds later by another team. I think he's that good of a head coach. I think this year he's going to finally get a little bit of his due, which is exciting. Yeah, he's perennially underrated, and it's an interesting debate as to why that is. I don't really have the answers. But he was a Coach of the Year candidate last year, as you described, with a sagging quarterback situation, they were still in contention late in the season. That was one of his most impressive coaching jobs. Even though the season didn't alter that. They end up with a playoff run. And I think this is a year that's going to require a certain kind of leadership to go through an unforeseen circumstances of a pandemic, to support your players as they raise their voices, take a knee, uh, consider strikes, perhaps in relation to the racial injustice in our country. And Tomlin is a great leader. You know, he doesn't always, UM, I guess he doesn't always make a show out of the fact that I'm a great leader. And here's X, Y and Z that I'm doing to make sure that my organization is operating like Silicon Valley or something along those lines. Like that seems to be what gets the buzz right in NFL circles, like let me show you how much I'm doing to prove that I'm a good leader. And that's not his style to say that, but I think he leads in ways that are very strong and his players really believe in and I feel like that will be more important this year than ever. As an aside, I was doing UM on Friday. My list of future head coaches UM are is going to be up on SI dot com and one of the things and talking to people UM for putting this together, someone said, wait and see this year, UM, how the emphasis changes finally, because all this stuff is going to boil. Over All this stuff is going to come to the forefront. And wait until you see that. You know, you cannot convince a billionaire who to hire that is has been the NFL's curse for forty years, right, But wait until you see what happens this year, and wait until you see the way that that's going to change the way that people think like leaders, actual leaders, people who can handle this situation inside Now, which guys are spending all week with the quarterback and then emerging on Sunday to talk to the rest of the team, and which people are actually they're getting to know people, understanding where they're from, where they're come from. All this stuff is going to come to the forefront. I think that it's going to be a turbulent season, there's no doubt, um, you know. And just talking to fans um over the weekend, I went away for Labor Day, and you know, talking to people who know what I do for a living, the intensity of those conversations was very real, and it really kind of braced me to say, buckle up, because this is gonna be a season unlike anything we've seen before. And that's saying a lot given the last few years. But I do think that the good thing that comes out of this is better realization of what true leadership means. Hopefully, and uh, you know, I think that Tomlin is a good example that for sure, you know what the theme of your awards picks, Connor is, what's that underrated? People getting their do? Oh? I like that? Love it? I love it. Speaking of which, I just looked up your playoff projections and I almost let out an audible yes, like like, I was very excited when I saw this. So walk me through your A f C. Because I am just so jacked up about the number seven seed. It's not even funny, alright, yeah, it's a little a little spicy. I also, speaking of seven seeds, we have to give a shout out to one of our listeners, Wesley, who wrote in asking us to talk about the seven seeds, and that is what we're doing today. So we've got our seven seas in our playoff bracket. He correctly pointed out that we hadn't talked a little or talked much about that this year, about how the dynamics of becoming a playoff team will change now that the field has expanded. He also raises a good question, Connor, and I don't think any of us picked that picked it this way, but could we foresee a situation in which four teams in one division made it under the expanded field. UM. And that was a really interesting hypothetical to consider. It was I had UM in my predicting all two fifty six. I had a theoretical situation where three, so the Falcons, the Buccaneers, and the Saints would make the playoffs under the right circumstances. But I mean, it's bound to happen, I think because the strength divisionally very so much. I mean, you're gonna have the NFC West, we have the forty Niners, the Cardinals, the Seahawks, UM and the Rams that all those teams are very good um or could be very good, I think. And you know, the the a f C North, eventually, I think with Pittsburgh and Baltimore and Cleveland, I think is a division that has three really good teams. You know, I think they're gonna be dotted throughout the league. Certainly the NFC South, I could see three teams definitely for sure. Yeah, you know we have seen three from the a f C North, right, but the idea of four is kind of cantile izing. I don't know. Obviously this opens the door for that to happen. And yeah, right now, you know, if you had to say which division would it be. I guess NFC West is what you would might you might go for at this point in time, but I mean still obviously it would be difficult to have things fall that way, but the possibility is kind of fun to consider. So thank you Wesley for asking about that. All right, so, Connor, Yes, my a f C bracketts. I have the Chiefs as the one seeds, so they get the first round by I have the Steelers winning the a f C North two seed, the Patriots winning the a f C East, the Texans winning the a f C South, So then I have uh Steelers to Patriots three, Texans four. I've got the Ravens as the first wild card with the five seed, then the Chargers, and then in the coveted number seven spot, I have the Miami Dolphins. Trust the process. I love it. That's the I love it. I had them going eight and Nate and I was so excited that somebody was like, you know what, let's just punch the gas on this team right now. I totally dig it. Let's do it. I don't know, Brian Flores is a great leader. Going back to what you were saying earlier, Connor, about really resetting how we evaluate leadership, and he has demonstrated a unique leadership style that I think really resonates. They have gone all in obviously on this rebuild, but we're already seeing the fruits of that. I feel like they've assembled a lot of players, many of them from New England, showing his relationships with guys that he previously coached there, and I like it. The fun part about the expanded playoffs is you can you can look at that look at a playoff team a little bit differently now that there's one extra spot. So I liked that flexibility to consider a team that maybe wouldn't have made it in the past year, and for me that was the Dolphins. Love it. I think that's uh, that's awesome. What do you have for NFC? Alright? So I have the Seahawks, Connor, You'll like that. The Seahawks is my number one seed I have so obviously have them winning that division. I have the Eagles as the two seeds, so also betting big on a Wentz resurgence growing injury aside, I have the Packers as the three seed. I think you and I discussed this a little bit, Connor, we were kind of having trouble picking an NFC North winner. We didn't really love having the Packers in there as a division winner, but um I couldn't really, I don't know that was a scenario that made the most sense, So I went with them. Then I have the Saints as the four seed, the Rams as the five seed, Falcons as six, and Cardinals as seven. So basically my seven seeds in both conferences are a resurgent team. Essentially. I like that, And uh, give me, give me your Super Bowl pick and your Super Bowl champion. All right, So I've got the Chiefs over the Seahawks, and so I'm I'm with you, Connor. I'm thinking this is a good season for the Seahawks. I wrote in my explanation of my pick that teams with already well formed coach quarterback relationships, team cohesion that will be even more important this year when there was a shortened offseason, condensed preseason, and I just feel like it will be easier to build on the success of past years for teams that were already in a position to contend. So I have the Chiefs and the Seahawks, and then I went with the Chiefs. I just think right now it's hard to pick against Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. This is kind of entering this new realm where we what we used to say about Belichick and Brady. The odds are higher that it will be them than any of the other thirty one teams you would randomly pick. So that was kind of my thinking here, and correct me if I'm wrong. But do you have every single bird team in the NFL in the playoffs? The Ravens, the Seahawks, the Eagles, the Cardinals. Am I missing a bird team? Wow? I didn't even consider that angle. I don't know. I'm just saying that's a big that's big if Yeah, a lot of beaks in my bracket now that I'm looking at. Jenny really set the pecking order there. And does the dolphin have a beak as well? Uh? Is it a bill? Oh? Bill? Maybe it's a bill? You know, um dolphins pecking order? I like it. So, you know, just trying some old, some new little mix of both little dash of this, dash of that. Also have the Saints losing in the first round. And I will say, when our editor Mitch Goldich sent us the graphics, I did a double take because I saw the RAMS logo and was like, no, you have the Chargers in the NFC. What are you doing? And I realized that that logo, it looks so much like the Charger's bolt. Speaking of our edit or, Mitch, he's gonna eat up that bird's mascot trend story. He's gonna love that. If all the Birds make it to the playoffs in one year, that's right up his alley. There you go, Mitch, free story idea for you. That's great to a few years ago, right when there was a black cat that ran onto the field in Monday Night football and then all of the cat teams subsequently were on a losing streak. I believe, really, I do remember the black cat. I mean, the black cat was a superstar. I really hope that maybe we should get an update on the black cat. You know, maybe we'll do that for next week. I'll call the animal shelter and I'll see how the black cat's doing. Sounds good. Lots of cats teams, lots of birds in the playoffs. You know, well, I don't have any cat teams in the playoffs. All right, let's run through. Let's see if I have any cat teams here. Um, so I two in the A F C have the Steelers at number one. I have the Chiefs. Yeah, that Steelers thirteen and three, winning the a f C North uh and coming out there is the number one seed the Chiefs. I have finishing second in the division at ten and six, the Patriots finishing in three seed, also at ten and six, the Titans winning uh their division, uh, just by the hairs on their chinny chin chin. And then to round out the wild cards here, I have Baltimore at five uh, the Texans at six, and the Chargers sneaking in at number seven. Um. You know, this is a show, This is a pro Chargers podcast. Despite the despite the noise to the contrarian, despite the Derwin James injury, I still think that they'll be able to sneak in there. Um. But yeah, I don't know. That's my What are your thoughts on my a f C field. I like it. I like that you have the Ravens. Well, I don't want to ruin your super Bowl pick, but I'm going to. I like that you have the Ravens as a five of seed advancing to play in the Super Bowl. Yeah. I think that that would be fun. Um. You know, I think that maybe if there's one team, and I realized that the NFL is going to catch up with the Ravens too. But if there's one team that could slow down the Chiefs in a head on matchup, it's a team like Baltimore who controls the clock for so long. And that'll be the sort of the theme of my NFC pick as well. So, um, number one there, I have the New Orleans Saints. I have them is the number one overall seed winning their division. Number two, I have the Seahawks obviously division winners. There three, the Eagles winning the NFC East, for green Bay winning the North. That's gonna be a weird division. I can already feel it, like you and I are down on the Lions, but it would not be weird to see, you know what I mean, Like I could see them coming out of nowhere and having a strange season, or even the Bears, where a lot of people are down on the Bears, um, but I don't know, I could see something weird happening there too. Something funny is going to happen there, and I don't think it's gonna be the Packers, But it's just kind of what you're left with almost, you know, right, it's hard to get a handle on that division, and we banged the Lions picks a couple of weeks ago. But maybe that's just where it's coming from, is that it feels like the division is pretty wide open. Yeah, definitely. Um So, number five, I have the Rams of Los Angeles, Number six the Falcons, and number seven Tampa Bay. You know, I don't know. Our our coworker, Greg Bishop has them going to the Super Bowl. Um Greg with a has that flair for the dramatic. Good for him. I could not bring myself to have them advance past the first round. So I have them getting beat by the Seahawks. I have this, you know, I have the Saints losing or very early on their first playoff game to the Falcons. Falcons and Seahawks Danny Quinn heat Carol showdown in the NFC title game before the Seahawks advanced to beat the Ravens in the Super Bowl. Jenny, we're talking about points and the offensive revolution. It's all about clock control in this playoffs. It's gonna be boring, it's not gonna be sexy, and I'm gonna love it. Oh, I would love that too. Connor, you have an all Bird Super Bowl and an all Bird NFC Championship game. This is really the year of the Bird. Yeah. I really had an ornithological edge um to to my playoff picks and in true sportswriter fashion, rooting for teams that run the ball more than anybody else. So on Sunday when we're filing game stories, we actually have a decent amount of time to get that done before the last bus drags us out of Tampa Bay Raymond James Stadium. So I love it. I like this field. I think you've got a couple of surprises in there as well. Certainly the Steelers as the one seed is a bold pick. You have gone with Tampa Bay, which I left them out of the playoffs, not that that's surprised, but just a difference in our brackets. And uh yeah, I think this is good all around. Connor, I have a Tampa Bay related oracle, if that's okay, if we can dovetail right into that, which I think goes nicely. And here is something that I think that all of you need to hear out there. Um And the players that you think are going to be good for the Buccaneers this year are not going to be good um. And what I mean by that is when they signed Shady McCoy and when they signed Leonard four Nette, everyone out there is like, oh man, just adding weapons to the arsenal, like unbelievable. How is this team gonna lose? They can lose very easily. Like la Sean McCoy was available because nobody else wanted him. Leonard Fodette was available because the Jacksonville Jaguars cut him. Do you realize how embarrassing that was for the Jaguars to cut the guy that they drafted instead of Patrick Mahomes. I mean they wanted him not on the team that badly that they got rid of him and nobody claimed him on waivers. So this is not, like, you know, unless he's converting to defensive end and he's got some pass rushing talent that I haven't seen before, this is not going to aid your Super Bowl chances. I don't think that Rob Gronkowski is going to help you win a Super Bowl. I don't think that Shady McCoy, Leonard four Nett, any of these like quote unquote sexy moves that you made in the off season outside of Tom Brady, are actually going to make any difference at all. I think if this team succeeds, it's because of Brady, certainly, but the way that he meshes with that coaching staff, Bruce Arians, Byron Leftwich, Todd Bowles. I think having a resurgent defense there, and it might My fear is that it's just going to be overlooked, right. I mean, Todd Bowles had the fourth best defense in the NFL last year and nobody was talking about. All they're talking about is how great it is that Tom Brady's coming back. No, you have a great defense, and now you have a serviceable, totally not insane offense like you had in the past. So that's my soapbox moment. I would not buy the Leonard four net jersey if I'm a young child. They're sitting there on NFL Shop in Tampa. Yeah, I think that's a smart take. Connor, you improved just by having a quarterback that is not routinely turning the ball over. I mean, in theory, Brady has never been that guy. I'm assuming he won't be that guy even in a new offense. Uh not, certainly not to the level that Jamis Winston was last year. So that is automatically a big improvement. Is it just me? Or am I? Like? Am I overplaying this in my mind? But when they signed Leonard Fournett, was there this like whole baby thing going on? Yeah? I agree there was immediately Like this really puts it over the top. And I'm skeptical of dream teams to begin with, and I don't feel like that signing makes that much of a difference. I'm with you, Connor, what about us as a collective society? And maybe it does show that we're hopeful people and that we like to be entertained, which would be a good thing. But why do we always fall for the dream Team? Why, like, if anything, we should all be biologically pre programmed to pick against the dream Team? Right? Yeah, I feel like this is a roor shock test. I think it's your glass half empty, glass half full type of thing. You and I are skeptics. We are firmly in the skeptics camp. I think we will always be distrustful of hype in general, dream team hype in particular. That is our personality. The other personality type is to be all in with the dream Team, to think that there are going to win the Super Bowl and there's no other possible alternative to consider. You're either one or the other. There's really no in between. This is true. Great note from producer Shelby. By the way, in the zoom chat, dolphins do have beaks. This just in Uh so, if you're following along, thank you, Thank you Shelby. I thought there were bills. I guess not. So my bracket is really a beak forward bracket. I really really enjoy that. Um. All right, so let's hear your Prentice consensus for the day. What do we got? Alright, So, going off of the theme that Connor and I are very in sync, we evidently went into our fantasy draft with the exact same strategy. Unknowingly, we didn't learn this until after the draft. And I know nobody wants to hear about other people's fantasy teams. But we'll get around to a point just in case you happen not to have drafted, although I can't imagine that on Thursday morning you would have. But maybe you can sympathize with me in this conundrum that I found myself in. But Connor and I both planned to draft Patrick Mahomes in round one and James Connor in round two. Honestly, we both had this in her mind. He said it to me after the draft, and I was like, this was my plan, but I happened to pick six. So I just took Mahomes at six because I figured I'm sick of picking a skill position player that sometimes they produce. Sometimes they don't. Let me just go with the sure thing in the first round. And I had to say the year I won the championship, I want quarterback in the first round. That's just always been my thing because I feel like a lot of times a star quarterback is the surest player you can pick. So I went my Homes at six. So then we are looping around and I'm thinking, great, I'll take Connor on a loop around, and Connor snagged Connor before we could go back around because you were at pick number nine, and so on the Snake Draft you picked in the second round before me. So then here I am the middle of the second round. You know, most people are picking a running back or a ride receiver, whichever one you didn't pick in the first round. I obviously went quarterbacks, so you're thinking I'll get the best running back or receiver available. And then yet again I fell into the tight end trap. I am not saying that George Kittle will not have a good year. I am sure that he will have a good year. Well, I'm not sure of that. I project him to have a good year. But I seemingly fall into this trap all too often of taking a tight end too high, and there are just some game plans where tight ends responsibility may vary and he might not be as productive and that's just how it works out. And so I am dissatisfied with my decision to draft George Kittle in the second round. So if you two are a perennial draft a tight end too high, maybe you can relate and we can commiserate, and maybe we can all hope that the tight ends just have a really great year. I don't like, I'm I pulled up my roster while you're saying this, and I don't understand how this team, how my team is that bad? Like, um, we just I I did the tight end in the third round. Uh, and it's just like I don't know what we're doing. You know, it feels like you know what it's like, it's like buying a since I just basically did this, buying a brand new twenty nineteen car when all the rights are going on the lot, you know what I mean, There's gonna be something better out there that's gonna last you a little bit longer and the price is the same, but for some reason, you just you grab something else, like and I don't I don't know why um, but yeah, I'm not thrilled at all with um with this unit, you know, just not just not thrilled at all. And I don't know why it keeps happening, Like why is professionals who covered the NFL do And I'm not saying you do this. I'm saying that I do this panic in the first round when a player that I assume is going to be there is not Like how I'm not allowed to make fun of any GM for the rest of time. You know. It's just like, as soon as you took Patrick Mahomes, my world just exploded, and I should not expect the best player in football to be there and the ninth pick of a fantasy football draft. Well, I will say that a person we've mentioned on the show in previous episodes did roundly criticize the fact that both Mahomes and Lamar Jackson went in the first round. I believe this person proclaimed this draft is drunk. So there were some Connor that thought a quarterback going out high was a poor decision. But I'm with you. Once you took James Connor in the second round, I totally panicked, didn't evaluate my other options, saw George Kittle, and just clicked draft and again just falling into that same perpetual situation of where I always fall for tight ends. There was one year that I had Tony Gonzalez and Rob Gronkowski and I ended up playing Gronkowski most of the year. It was a year when I got him in the middle round, obviously before he exploded really onto the scene. And I had used a pretty high pick on Tony Gonzalez, and so I think I did win that year because Gronkowski was so good. But it was just like I could have been even more dominant. You know, this year is not going to be a year when it could have been even more dominant. It will be limping to the finish line. Yet again, we can revisit this, you know what, and I will say I'll add this to um because you know everyone says nobody cares about your fantasy football team. We here at the week's side Pod. Do care about your fantasy weak Side Pot at gmail dot com. Send us your fantasy football teams, maybe we'll do some fantasy football fun stuff at the end of fun question or something absolutely and also a question for our fans. You can also email us the answers at weak Side Pot at gmail dot com. Does a team whose receivers are Calvin Ridley and Julian Edelman of any chance at winning a fantasy football league? Is this? Is this possible? Um? I don't think so. And the more that I look at it, the more I'm like, why did I neglect one entire position group until the very end of the draft? That was a big mistake on my end. So, but let us know, we want to hear, We want to hear from you. Please advise. And here's my question, Connor that I would like people to weigh in on so that you can answer Connor's question and my question. If you are in a Yahoo draft, do you find that the commissioner of your league gets the number one we'll pick at a higher eight than anyone else in the league. This discussion reared its head. Mitch Goldisch claims that his brother gets the pick too often the same is true in the league that Connor and I are in. The commissioner told me I've only gotten it four times in twenty years. That's already a higher rate than expected in a twelve person league. But I also don't even think that's true because I've only been in the league like ten years, and I can remember three times in those ten years, so I think it's higher. But is this a trend? Does Yahoo randomly select the commissioner more often than others? I think the answer is yes. And then they give out bullshit grades. Give you give me a C plus last gave me a C plus last year, and I won the league and you won the league. So there we go. Providing hope to all woful fantasy drafters is what we're here for, Connor and other other issues. As Connor mentioned, right into us anytime, and we will be back next week after some games are played. How about that al right? The MMQB week site podcast is me, Jenny Rendis and Connor or. We are produced by Shelby Royston. Size Executive producer of podcasts is Scott Brody, Ben Eagles, Director of editorial Projects and product Mark Murravik is emeritus executive director of the mm QB. Keep up with our entire lineup of podcasts five days a week by subscribing to the mm QB NFL podcast for free on Apple Podcasts. And while you're there, please do us a favorite and leave a rating and review. It really does help other people find the show, which is also available on Spotify Radio dot com, Stitcher, si dot com, and wherever else you listen to podcasts.