The Show: Super Bowl LX Preview, Part 2

00:00:00
Speaker 1: You're about to listen to a special edition of the Late Round Fantasy Football Show, which was recorded at Radio Row prior to this.

00:00:06
Speaker 2: Year's Super Bowl.

00:00:07
Speaker 1: If you want to watch it, you can find it on YouTube as well YouTube dot com slash at Late Round FF. The format's a little bit different than usual, but we hope that you still get a lot from listening to the show. Next week we'll be back in our normal schedule, but for now, we hope you enjoy.

00:00:34
Speaker 3: Welcome in, Welcome in to the Late Round Fantasy Football Show, live from Super Bowl LX Radio Row here on the iHeart and NFL Podcast Network sets.

00:00:46
Speaker 4: JJ, how are you feeling right now?

00:00:49
Speaker 2: Right now? Pretty good?

00:00:50
Speaker 1: Yes, we just had a pretty hilarious experience here on Radio Row, an awesome moment.

00:00:55
Speaker 3: I just want to take people behind the scenes, because that's why people enjoy what we're doing here.

00:01:00
Speaker 4: But we saw Joe Flacco.

00:01:01
Speaker 2: We did, There's Placo, there's Flacco.

00:01:03
Speaker 1: Well, the the reason that the Flacco thing matters is because for literally my whole career in this fantasy space, Uh, people have said that I that Joe Flacco is my doppelganger. Yeah, So I was like, man, it'd be kind of cool to meet him and get a picture with him.

00:01:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, and so he's he's late for it, you know, whoever he was with, he's late for interview.

00:01:23
Speaker 4: And so you and I were about to start this show and then I just hear.

00:01:26
Speaker 3: In my you know, headphones, Hey, am I too late for the y for the shot and you didn't see it, And so you're you're taking a selfie trying to make sure your hair is okay, that's right, and we turn around.

00:01:36
Speaker 4: It's Joe Black and we took a picture.

00:01:39
Speaker 3: Yes, so now we know that Joe Flacco and JJ are not at the same person.

00:01:44
Speaker 1: And to be clear, I took off my glasses for the picture because that would give the full effect of the of the dogging ganger.

00:01:50
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:01:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's actually walking behind us here in a second, so you might even be able to catch it.

00:01:53
Speaker 4: But yeah, it was.

00:01:55
Speaker 2: It was awesome. This is this is what radio Row is about.

00:01:58
Speaker 1: Just again said yes, on the show, you're connecting with players in a different way that that you typically are able to from a fantasy perspective, and you're able to see the human, uh side to it. And you know, it's great that we got to you know, exchange, you know, handshakes with with mister Flack.

00:02:13
Speaker 4: It is, it is surreal.

00:02:15
Speaker 3: JJ.

00:02:16
Speaker 4: You think about where you started from mom.

00:02:17
Speaker 2: From mom's basement, Yeah, Mom's basement to Radio Row, Babe.

00:02:21
Speaker 3: I mean we're looking right now at t O and MANTATEEO and all the guys. Yeah, I mean right next to us, and uh, and here we are talking about fantasy football.

00:02:33
Speaker 4: That's that's uh, that's living the dream.

00:02:36
Speaker 5: JJ.

00:02:36
Speaker 4: I want to just remind people to and.

00:02:40
Speaker 3: Subscribe to our our YouTube obviously, and go and sign up for the Late Round dot com, the free newsletter that we have and if you want to, we've already had a few people come up to us here at the Super Bowl and say they're Prospect Guide users. If you want to, The Prospect Guide is now available to pre order at Late round dot com. So with that being said, let's get onto today's news.

00:03:04
Speaker 4: Today's fantasy news.

00:03:07
Speaker 2: All right, not a.

00:03:08
Speaker 1: Lot of news today, but we got news overnight, which is cool.

00:03:11
Speaker 4: Yeah, we didn't think we're gonna do news.

00:03:14
Speaker 3: We got news, so obviously we're we're in here and we have our sheet that we've been working on as far as head coaches and offensive coordinators and it's almost full because we have I'm gonna let you say, since you're the Pittsburgh guy.

00:03:31
Speaker 4: JJ bro Well, let's just say the new offensive coordinator Brian.

00:03:35
Speaker 1: Uh No, it's so so what I've gathered because I don't know much about him, to be to be clear, this is gonna be more off off the cuff.

00:03:42
Speaker 2: But Brian, but yeah, he was.

00:03:49
Speaker 1: He was, you know, a pass game sort of like a pass game assistant for Minnesota. He's now taking over as offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh. I was, you know, as I said yesterday, I was a little bit in read by Scott Tolzen and then obviously we had Josh Johnson talk about how he like there are a lot of these backup quarterbacks are like brilliant minds of the game.

00:04:08
Speaker 2: And I think that we're seeing that trend, you know, throughout the NFL.

00:04:12
Speaker 1: Uh this hire, It's funny if you look at the Mike McCarthy's staff and what he's putting together, you get a lot of packers guys that he and look, when you hire somebody, and I know this from experience hiring you kitchen, when you hire someone, you want someone that you can trust, someone you ever.

00:04:25
Speaker 4: Pore with all that wild card.

00:04:27
Speaker 2: No, no, you don't.

00:04:29
Speaker 1: And so like I get when coaches go out and they get you know, other coaches that they've already coach with and they're comfortable with and uh with this, if you look at Anglicio's history in past or Unglikio, I think might even be the pronunciation.

00:04:44
Speaker 2: I'm sorry.

00:04:45
Speaker 1: You guys know that I'm a stickler for pronunciations, So it's really tilting me that I'm not not able to.

00:04:48
Speaker 4: We don't have that.

00:04:49
Speaker 3: It is literally just broke, so we don't have that much information about that's out there.

00:04:54
Speaker 6: It did just break.

00:04:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, But regardless, and I know that there's gonna be vikings fans that are like, you know, the mentions being like what you guys can from. That's his last name, all right, try pronouncing my last name. But anyway, like like with him, he has a history. He was he was in Green Bay. Uh, so there's a green Bay tie. Not only that kitchen, but you get a pitt Panthers tie. He was a he was a coach at pitt which again Mike McCarthy, Pittsburgh got there's all these tides. He was at Pit as well, there's all of these ties to both Pittsburgh and Green Bay with this McCarthy's staff. If you guys, you know, want to if you're bored at work one day and you wouldn't just look at the Steelers staff, go coach by coach and look at their history and see how tied they are to McCarthy in Green Bay or like pitt and and it's cool. From my perspective as a pit alum, I should have mentioned that the Flacco he.

00:05:41
Speaker 2: Went to pit for. You should have yeah, yeah, oh man, I just forgot. Just should have done that.

00:05:47
Speaker 1: But you know, like like there's I don't know how to really feel about the hire from like a fantasy perspective.

00:05:53
Speaker 2: You know, obviously, uh, he's he's been touched by.

00:05:55
Speaker 1: Kevin O'Connell, who has been known to be a passing game, if you will, or someone that we care about a lot from a fantasy perspective. A lot of his quarterbacks, even when Kirk Cousins went down a lot, even like Josh Dobbs was fantasy relevant and stuff in Minnesota. Now, obviously you had JJ McCarthy this past year and things didn't go very well there, and you might question the timing of a hire like this, But you know, we'll see, we'll see what happens.

00:06:19
Speaker 2: You know, It's just one of those situations.

00:06:21
Speaker 1: Where like we don't know for sure how this is really going to play out, and I don't want to pretend like I do.

00:06:25
Speaker 3: Okay, let's move on to someone who we also are not sure exactly how it will play out.

00:06:33
Speaker 4: The New York Jets found an offensive coordinator and Frank Reich.

00:06:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:06:37
Speaker 1: I mean, like, I think it's just another one of those like uninspiring type hires, a Matt Naggy type.

00:06:41
Speaker 4: Higher Now, I don't think it's quite to the Naggy.

00:06:43
Speaker 1: I don't know, man, The last time we saw Reich, the Panthers were rough, were rough, and then they if you guys recall when when Bright got fired for Carolina, they they were they started playing better, like like there was a night and day kind of switch. And then obviously they went out and they got Canalis and things have been a lot better with Canalis, and so, you know, I question it from that perspective. You know, there's some history there where he's been Okay, I just you know, there's not much going on in New York right now. From the standpoint of, like, we don't even know who that starting quarterback is going to be next year, and so you know, you're you're putting your trust in your faith in someone who you know. In my opinion, I would rather have Again, this is probably a bias because of what we do with fantasy football and like what we love, but I would rather have sort of like a young up and comer kind of teach whatever quarterback they bring in, as opposed to a guy like Frank Craig.

00:07:31
Speaker 2: But again, I don't know for sure. I don't know how this is going to go down.

00:07:34
Speaker 1: I personally am just not bullish on the Jets' coaching staff and situation right now with Aaron Glenn in the way that things have just generally gone down When you have to fire your entire coaching staff after a year, right, you know, I question your ability to hire the right people.

00:07:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, and in New York, we're just not sure.

00:07:54
Speaker 3: This is also pre draft, and things could change as far as how the draft goes, so you know, things can change, and we're all about giving people grace and second, third, fourth chances and.

00:08:07
Speaker 4: See how it works.

00:08:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, all right, Yeah, let's get onto today's data today's data.

00:08:14
Speaker 4: All right, JJ, you have MVPs.

00:08:17
Speaker 2: This is simple, and this is this is probably the simplest today's data that we've ever done ever. I'm just doing it quick. Yeah, yeah, I have just the MVP count.

00:08:25
Speaker 1: And I looked at this last night and I was like, why did I say that Hunter Henry was a sneaker, sneaky MVP candidate. Yeah, when there hasn't been a single tight end to win Super Bowl MVP in the.

00:08:33
Speaker 4: History of the game, is extra sneaky.

00:08:35
Speaker 1: Apparently Apparently that was a really Apparently we've also seen how tight ends have just risen up the ranks.

00:08:41
Speaker 2: Now, sure, yeah, I mean it's a different game where we.

00:08:43
Speaker 3: Are literally hating tight end profiles in the Prospect guy for the first time.

00:08:48
Speaker 4: That's true because of the importance of tight end.

00:08:50
Speaker 6: That's true.

00:08:51
Speaker 1: So I mean, look to take stands. It's already out on the internet, so it's got a stand. But it's really I mean, it's not surprising if you look at the sixty Super Bowls that we've seen over the last or the sixties. Over the last sixty years, right quarterback has won MVP thirty four times. Not that shocking. Wide receivers next at eight and then running back at seven. I would be shocked in this environment in this game, and I'll get to We're gonna get to the Seattle stuff here in a second. I would be shocked if we're running back. Not shocked, but surprised if we're running back. Did win Super Bowl MVP this year? Just based on matchups and such? You know, wide receiver? Of course, a guy like JSN. I even think steph On Diggs is you know I talked about yesterday, is not in a bad situation. But yeah, so like linebackers had four and then you just get under four with like defensive ends, safety's corners, made a returner in Desmond Howard, and so it's more than likely going to be quarterback.

00:09:44
Speaker 2: We all knew that. But I'm just throwing that data out there.

00:09:46
Speaker 1: You guys can visually see it on YouTube to know which direction you might want to go with some of these MVP bets.

00:09:52
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:09:52
Speaker 3: I mean a lot of people are used used to today's data being stuff that you know, it takes them a little while to wrap their head around. Sometimes it's nice. Just hey, let's keep it simple. Yeah, yeah, all right, let's move on to the main event.

00:10:06
Speaker 5: It's the late round main event.

00:10:08
Speaker 4: All right, JJ, we did New England yesterday. Yeah, we gave the.

00:10:12
Speaker 3: Or you gave the reasons you might want to take New England.

00:10:19
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:10:20
Speaker 4: Now let's do the favorites for Seattle.

00:10:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, so let's look at what Seattle is gonna do this. I think this matchup is way more interesting than others.

00:10:27
Speaker 6: Do you know.

00:10:27
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of talk about Seattle just destroying New England. I think that's an outcome for sure, but I don't think that's a lock at all. So Seattle's had a really run heavy approach this year. From a password over perspective standpoint, they're the third lowest in the league, behind only.

00:10:41
Speaker 2: Baltimore and the Jets.

00:10:42
Speaker 1: We know the Jets love to just establish it for whatever reason and then well more than likely because their quarterback situation this past year. But then you know the Ravens obviously, Lamar Jackson, Derek Henry, those are the only two teams that were more run heavy from a password over expected standpoint than Seattle. Seattle's but while Seattle's been run heavy, they've been bottom ten and rushing EPA per rush and success rate and so they're not that efficient running the ball.

00:11:05
Speaker 5: Now.

00:11:05
Speaker 1: Part of that could easily just be like game script and the fact that teams know what's coming late in games when Seattle's leading and their grinding clock, but they haven't been that efficient running the football. Now, you look at New England side. On the defensive side, Milton Williams is probably the biggest and most important player on defense in this game, maybe aside from a Christian Gonzales, just based on the JSN matchup, but Milton Williams he missed time this year week eleven through sevent teams because he left early in Week eleven. The Patriots allowed nearly twice as many rushing yards per game when Milton Williams was out of that lineup. And then when you look at when Williams has been active, stack boxes on defense have come at a bottom ten rate. So essentially, Milton Williams allows the Patriots to not have to stack the box nearly as much when he's active because he's such a beast there on the line. And there was a really interesting tweet from Pete Collins the Fox Fellows podcast. They cover the Patriots, but Kenneth Walker, Okay, he is the fourth best rushing yards over expected in the sixth best success rate against stack boxes. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that he can break those big plays.

00:12:13
Speaker 2: He's also a bruiser, like he.

00:12:14
Speaker 1: Can get it done between the tackles, but he's been bottom ten against neutral and light boxes and so what I think is gonna happen is New England is not going to have to stack the box to stop the run against this Seattle rushing attack. And so I think New England is going to be able to stop the Kenneth Walker and company, like Milton Williams being active being there, he's a big presence. They should be able to stop the run without having to stack the box. And as we know, that's going to allow for more coverage. And that's again when I was talking about the MVP stuff with the running backs.

00:12:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm a little bit worried about Kenneth Walker.

00:12:48
Speaker 4: We've also seen Kenth Walker. He likes to create.

00:12:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, and if there's stacked boxes, is like a lot of negative plays.

00:12:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, you could, that's definitely true.

00:12:56
Speaker 1: But the thing with Walker is that when he creates, he can he can breakout Like stack box is one of the things that's kind of a misconception, is that there's a lot of big plays that happened against stack boxes because you don't have those safeties back there.

00:13:08
Speaker 2: Or corners playing there.

00:13:09
Speaker 1: They're playing up tighter and so all of a sudden, these running backs can break free. Yeah, and there's no defenders in the secondary and they're just gone.

00:13:17
Speaker 5: Right.

00:13:18
Speaker 2: That doesn't make that much sense.

00:13:19
Speaker 1: To do that against a player like Walker, who's a home run threat, and I think New England can stop them because of Milton Williams.

00:13:24
Speaker 2: So now we go to the passing attack this game.

00:13:28
Speaker 1: It's obviously you know, it's a quarterback driven league, but my gosh, this is just gonna come down to Sam Donald, Like, how is Sam Donald going to see ghosts in this game? You know against New England Seattle, they were eighth best in EPA per drop back. This year, New England was ninth best in EPA per drop back allowed. So it's kind of a strength versus strength situation. But to be fair, that's not a schedule adjusted metric there, that's only looking at how New England performed, you know, regardless of who they faced. Seattle establishes the run and they do that because they want to get the play action game going. Now, there's a lot of research that's been done to show that rushing effectiveness does not actually help or dictate how well a team can be with play action. I think Seattle's actually pretty good example of that because they just run the ball a lot. It's they're not overly efficient doing so, but they're running the ball a lot, and then they run play action. Seattle was first in percentage of yards coming from play action this year, they were tenth in play action rate, they were first and EPA per drop back on play action passes. Then the question is, how does New England defend against those play action passes. Well, this year they were eleventh best and EPA per drop back on defense against play action, they were average and yards per play action pass allowed. You adjust that a little bit, maybe you'd say they're average to below average at stopping play action. But here's the really interesting thing, Kitchen, is that one particular thing to call out here for the Seattle offense. The Patriots are first and quarterback pressure rate when they're facing play action passes, which means they could get to Sam dar Arnold hypothetically on those plays. And so I do think the overall advantage on these play action passes goes to Seattle, but there is at least a little bit where New England can win. Now, speaking of getting to Donald, let's look at pressuring Sam Donald. Okay, we want to see if he's going to see ghosts this on Sunday. Donald's been above average and pressure to sack ratio this year, so that's good. But when pressured, Seattle actually has a bottom ten EPA per dropback in the league, and that's largely due to turnovers, not sacks. So New England can hypothetically generate those sacks and then those turnovers might just come naturally because that's what happens with Sam Darnald when he is under pressure. New England was tenth and pressure rate this year, again unadjusted for strength of schedule. But the one thing to point out is that in the playoffs and recently down the stretch, they've been blitzing more. Among their top eight blitz rates this season in a single game, five of them have come over the last five games.

00:15:50
Speaker 2: So this is my prediction for this game, Kitchen.

00:15:52
Speaker 1: I think what we're going to see from this New England defense is they might not be able to generate pressure naturally like Seattle can. On the defensive side, I think New England's gonna send the blitz a lot because they're underdogs in this game. They're going to create a more high variance environment for the Seattle passing attack. And what that means is the potential for a lot of sacks, a lot of turnovers, and then the opposite can happen to where they just beat them over the top and they and they destroy them that way. So I think that when you bring this all together, who would benefit from that. I think the high it's a higher variance passing attack for Seattle. JSN is likely going to get his even with Christian Goanzales on him. Team wide receiver ones have actually been fining against New England despite the fact that they have Christian Zales, And if Darnald is blitzed, I think he's gonna look for his first read and that's JSM. But if New England doesn't go blitz and pressure heavy, AJ Barner might be kind of sneaky. So here's another sneaky New England. New England was six and the adjusted target shair allowed to tight ends. But I think that if we do see New England.

00:16:50
Speaker 2: Blitz a lot.

00:16:50
Speaker 1: They're going to need that extra blocker in that extra help, so we might not see as many routes run for aj Barner.

00:16:55
Speaker 2: So let's just wrap all that up. Okay, let's just bring it all again.

00:16:58
Speaker 4: Take away key takeaways.

00:17:00
Speaker 1: New England has an advantage I think at stopping the Seattle rushing attack, but I think that Seattle has an advantage still by just going with volume on the ground and then running play action right because they've been really good at that.

00:17:12
Speaker 2: That's a Kubiak staple. So you would expect, I think.

00:17:16
Speaker 1: New England to blitz heavy, make it a higher invariance passing offense, a higher variance passing offense for this Seattle offense, and see if Sam Donald can beat them that way, like like force Sam Donald to win this game. So I truly think that this game is going to come down to Sam Donald being able to escape that pressure, read the blitz, get the passes out quick and because I don't expect the run game to really be there for them.

00:17:41
Speaker 2: So I'm bullish on JSN. I'm not bullish on Kenneth Walker. And if you want my sneaky MVP, another sneaky MVP.

00:17:49
Speaker 1: So we had we had the Hunter Henry yesterday, my sneak MVP for this game. Okay, So if New England blitz is a lot, that's gonna leave a lot of potential down the field.

00:17:57
Speaker 2: How about Rashid s shei heat.

00:17:59
Speaker 1: Not only could we see a special team's uh you know play happened, which obviously would boost his his ability to be MVP, but I think there's gonna be softer coverage down the field, and he is a field stretcher. Yeah, you know, he can. He can definitely create those plays, especially if he's one on one if they're blitzing a lot. So Rashid Shaheed kind of interesting. I think again, he's a very high variance play because this all depends on how New England ends up attacking.

00:18:21
Speaker 3: He's also an unrestricted free agent next year, so might be playing for a little bit of something other than just a super Bowl. It's gonna be interesting to see what happens in the Super Bowl as far as how it.

00:18:32
Speaker 6: Affects the offseason.

00:18:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, as far as always, Yeah, so and so has a good game, so and so has a bad game, that recency bias will affect things. So all right, do you have a final pick prediction for this game.

00:18:46
Speaker 2: I'm going really chocky.

00:18:47
Speaker 1: I've been saying this on other shows too that I've done, but I think Seattle wins this game. You know, I said that it's gonna be high variance. I think there isn't out for them to crush them, for sure, but I think it's gonna be.

00:18:56
Speaker 2: A little bit closer. I personally did bet Seattle much four and a half, and I'm like, maybe I don't.

00:19:03
Speaker 1: I don't know if I should have gone that with that line, but regardless, I have Seattle twenty four New England twenty in this game.

00:19:09
Speaker 2: But I look, guys, I'm not writing off New England. They have been.

00:19:14
Speaker 1: A very good team all year, who obviously, you know, facing the easier schedule, but they've gotten it done against that schedule. And as I said yesterday, there are parts of this game offensively for New England where they can take advantage of a spectacular Seattle defense. But I think analytically, yeah, every you know, if you bring it all together, it's hard to say that, you know, I think the line is pretty pretty on point for this game.

00:19:35
Speaker 4: Yeah, I would.

00:19:36
Speaker 3: I would expect that I'm gonna say, thirty one to twenty one. Okay, yeah, okay, And I think I'm just going to predict a we're talking about key takeaways, a key takeaway for the for the Seattle defense. Yeah, so I could see a trip sack, I could see a pick six something.

00:19:53
Speaker 5: I just have.

00:19:54
Speaker 3: It's crazy having that much confidence in Sam Darnold. But he played some good last game.

00:19:57
Speaker 2: He played great last I mean last time we saw them.

00:19:59
Speaker 1: So it's it's you know, I think that you know, if I'm just being honest, like, I don't think we can look at this in such a concrete way because we you know, if it's a Tom Brady Super Bowl, if it's a when you have known entities like quarterbacks, is a lot easier.

00:20:11
Speaker 4: Like is there any outcome that will really surprise?

00:20:13
Speaker 7: No?

00:20:14
Speaker 4: Right, Like, like both of.

00:20:15
Speaker 1: These guys could completely you know a s the B or they could they could completely dominate. I wouldn't be surprised at either outcome because they're both you know that that's the way that they've you know, with Darnold, it's the way his career has gone, and with Drake May that's what his season has gone.

00:20:27
Speaker 2: He's been awesome, That's right.

00:20:29
Speaker 3: So we that that'll conclude our Super Bowl lex analysis part of this. Now we're going to get to some fun stuff as far as players player interviews, and we're going to ask some questions as far as like, I don't know, like it might do you think these questions will influence how you do things?

00:20:50
Speaker 2: I mean, we'll see all the answer right.

00:20:56
Speaker 3: All right, we are with someone who people are going to recognize from the fantasy scene because they had high hopes and they paid off last year. It's Team Mac with the Panthers. T Mac.

00:21:06
Speaker 4: Welcome to the show.

00:21:07
Speaker 6: I appreciate you for having me.

00:21:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, man, I got to ask you first, what was that transition like for you going from I mean you've not played a year in the league. What was that like going from Arizona and then and then going to Charlotte and playing for the Panthers.

00:21:19
Speaker 6: Uh, you know, it is different. You know, it's kind of in college.

00:21:22
Speaker 7: You know, you played with the same guys pretty much for three or four years, So just being able to be on a new team with new people and new faces is different. So you know, it's kind of just.

00:21:32
Speaker 4: A new beginning.

00:21:33
Speaker 6: And but you know, I'm super grateful.

00:21:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to talk about that offense that you played in this past year.

00:21:40
Speaker 2: You have a really young wide outcore there.

00:21:41
Speaker 1: Obviously, you know, the get was already there whenever you whenever you showed up, and and Cocher was too, and then like we we're coke heads here, we're big Jaalen Coker guys.

00:21:51
Speaker 2: Right, But but what what was that like?

00:21:53
Speaker 1: Because you know, obviously like you had steeling there at the start of the year, and then he gets traded and you guys didn't necessarily have that guy that had been there for a ton of time. It's a young offense. Was that difficult for you guys? Or did you have the leadership in the locker room to kind of help you out there?

00:22:08
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean it was easy.

00:22:09
Speaker 7: Like you said, at first, Adam was still there, so you know, he kind of just so well Top meter Ropts obviously was my first year, but you know he kind of instilled into Exavier and Jalen the year prior just to you.

00:22:23
Speaker 6: Know, give them what they need to be successful.

00:22:25
Speaker 7: And then he did the same for me when I got in, So he kind of already said the standard, you know, gave us the wisdom and knowledge just you know, just a quick quick brief as far as you know what to expect from the league, what to.

00:22:36
Speaker 6: Do, how to win this, and how to do that.

00:22:37
Speaker 7: And but I mean as soon as he left, you know, just realized we all had to flip a switch.

00:22:42
Speaker 6: Like you said, we're a young receiver corps.

00:22:44
Speaker 7: Just realized that, you know, they're counting on us and they believe in our young guys to make plays. So we kind of just took that with a great of salt, and you know, we took advantage of the opportunity.

00:22:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, from a fantasy standpoint, this is your rookie year, So first time being in the fantasy football scene, did that change anything for you?

00:23:04
Speaker 4: You're getting like shout outs on socials or way as.

00:23:06
Speaker 2: We were asking, were people obnoxious?

00:23:08
Speaker 7: Was it not?

00:23:09
Speaker 2: Like real talk?

00:23:09
Speaker 6: Like was it?

00:23:10
Speaker 2: Was it obnoxious?

00:23:11
Speaker 1: Like we can't stand when because the fantasy football world, it's great for the game and from our perspective, but it's there's also just morons out there that hate on players when it's not their fault or just like it's stupid. And but like what was your general experience with fantasy football, like like you being a rookie this past.

00:23:26
Speaker 6: Year, shoult. I.

00:23:27
Speaker 7: I mean I didn't really get too much of the heat. You know, we shouldn't have Yeah, I mean yeah, like you said, I feel like when you're one of those players that people expect a lot from you, then you get the hay so uh but you know, I wasn't really one of those players this year.

00:23:40
Speaker 3: So, but you're a household name now now in the fantasy circle, you're a household name heading into year two. I mean that's a pretty big jump as far as we've seen from rookies to year two. What's some of the things that you think that you might want to change going into year two? Work on work on your game.

00:23:57
Speaker 7: I feel like it was a big switch for me as far as more from k to the league.

00:24:01
Speaker 6: With the rest.

00:24:02
Speaker 7: The rest was a big difference interest just because you know, I got a lot more calls. You know, I earned my stripes and cause to where you know, I got, I got some calls. But you know, this year, being the rookie, I learned that I got to earn my stripes.

00:24:15
Speaker 6: Yeah.

00:24:15
Speaker 7: So yeah, just being you know, as a year went on, I realized like how how how I'm.

00:24:20
Speaker 6: Able to play?

00:24:21
Speaker 7: What I can get away with, what I can't get away with just being able to be more physical and like, like I said, the rest let us play.

00:24:28
Speaker 6: So just gotta get used to that.

00:24:30
Speaker 1: So one thing that I loved when I was prospecting you is that you did a lot of inside out stuff. I mean, you played a decent amount of slot, like twenty five percent slot rate or so when you were in college, you didn't quite get to that mark, and obviously personnel is going to dictate that.

00:24:42
Speaker 2: You know, you know, guy like Cooker can really play in that area.

00:24:45
Speaker 1: Do you see as you move forward in your career because there's players out there, like a CD Lamb for instance, who got a lot done out of that area of the field, and that that obviously is one where you can take more advantage from a matchup standpoint, You're gonna want studs in there to be able to do that. Do you think that moving forward there's a chance we see because especially from fantasy perspective, we get a little bit more of that output from you whenever, whenever you're able to get in the slot more.

00:25:06
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean I feel like that was a big thing for me coming out of the draft, where I feel like I set was set apart from everybody, every other receiver in the draft was my versatility. I feel like I can do everything, play inside and outside, run every route, the route to you while being six four, being the bigger receiver, and you know, I mean I want to play wherever I can. I can I can play like you know, I feel I can play everywhere inside, outside, But I mean the people saw when when we played the Falcons, you know, I was able to have the equal amount of reps or targets or something in this from the slot and I was outside, and that was probably my biggest game in the league. So you know, obviously I'm hoping for a lot more of those. But like you said, we have a lot of people that that can take up that role. Yea Coke, you know, he playing inside, he can play outside, and we got a bunch of playmakers on the offense.

00:25:52
Speaker 6: So you know, see what happens.

00:25:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, what's the vibe in that in that wide receiver locker room as far as zaber Ly get Coker, all those guys zaberlygain obviously is uh you know, is.

00:26:03
Speaker 4: A different guy down south. So what's the vibe like in the locker room?

00:26:07
Speaker 6: I mean, man our receiving room is jokes man. We have a we have a wide variety of people.

00:26:13
Speaker 7: You know, obviously, we have X, we have Coke, and then a lot of people don't realize, but we got Jimmy in there. He's a he's a different gat himself, you know, He's one of those interesting guys. And we had we have people in that locker room room every aspects of life. So yeah, no, I mean our our locker I mean our room and in our locker room is is very diverse, and it's jokes man.

00:26:32
Speaker 6: We have a lot of fun.

00:26:33
Speaker 1: Can you can you talk a little bit about Bryce and what you've seen from development standpointyhim this year as as you played with him and what you kind of expect.

00:26:40
Speaker 2: And I think the real.

00:26:42
Speaker 1: Takeaway that I want is what do you think that you see the team sees that maybe the rest of the world doesn't see with him as a quarterback.

00:26:51
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, I don't know.

00:26:52
Speaker 7: I feel like, you know, he he's up to part with some of the best in the league, you know, and people don't really see that.

00:26:57
Speaker 6: People don't really give credit where its due.

00:27:00
Speaker 7: You know, he they obviously you see a bunch of people saying that other quarterbacks are better than him. But yeah, he might have had a better year, you know, but people don't really realize that. And you know, I got to give credit credit to Bryce because obviously when he came to the league, he was put in in a in a terrible situation. But you know, I mean his third year in the league, he was able to take the scene to a playoff. So I mean, that's that's everything you want in your franchise quarterbacks. So you know, and obviously you know he's he's a good player, but I think he's an even better person.

00:27:29
Speaker 6: You know.

00:27:30
Speaker 7: He's one of those dudes that you know that that people play for and also at the same time that one of those dudes where he wanted to play for others. You know, he always puts the team before himself and the very humble dudes. So you know, I give him a lot of respect for you.

00:27:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think that he's just like more mobile than people realize too. Would you agree like it' it's it feels like people just you know, they look at the lamars et cetera. Obviously he's probably not in that level from a And I fought this is some standpoint.

00:27:53
Speaker 2: And ability to create those plays.

00:27:55
Speaker 1: But the dude has jets like he can make those plays out of the pocket, and it just feels like that that there's not enough love and that that part of his game too.

00:28:03
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:28:03
Speaker 7: No, I mean he has a great ability to extended plays. And you know most of our big players were on extended plays, right, and that was due to him and him moving out the pocket being mobile, and yeah, he's really good at that for show.

00:28:15
Speaker 3: All Right, any players that you kind of look up to you want to model your game after being a rookie year in the league. Yeah, yeah, I like that answer. All right, So you're Team AC. You were here with spam. Your shirt says Spam versus everybody.

00:28:31
Speaker 7: Come on, you know, it's something that I grew up on. You know, I grew up in well, my family from Hawaii, so we grew up on spam and we at spam pretty much everything. But U you know, I'm fortunate enough to be the first ever NFL athlete to partner with Spam and obviously it's been something I grew up on. Like I said, so it's a life launeer for me to be able to partner with somebody that I'm familiar with and.

00:28:54
Speaker 6: Spam versus everybody. Man, so love it.

00:28:56
Speaker 4: That's awesome.

00:28:57
Speaker 2: Well we have Tam mac here T.

00:28:59
Speaker 3: Really appreciate you spending time with us and good luck in the year two.

00:29:03
Speaker 6: I appreciate you all for having me. Thanks many.

00:29:09
Speaker 3: All right, I am happy to introduce our next guest because he just has a certain vibe around him.

00:29:15
Speaker 2: Your ear energy is wild.

00:29:16
Speaker 5: I love it.

00:29:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's the best. It is awesome, especially for a wide receiver. It's Kendrick Born. Kendrick Welcome to the lay Round Fantasy Football.

00:29:26
Speaker 5: Thanks guys, thanks for having me. Bro. Pleasure to meet you, guys. Happy to be here.

00:29:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, man, I got a first talk about you know, obviously Ruth New England last year.

00:29:34
Speaker 2: They're in the super Bowl right now. I want to talk to about Drake.

00:29:38
Speaker 1: Yes, did you like when you first caught when you caught your first pass from him, did you just know, like what was it immediate?

00:29:44
Speaker 8: Like this dude, This dude's a great question. So yes, when I first noticed it was actually not to me. I was just watching him on the sideline and uh, he went through his full progression like almost five reads. Yeah, and he got to five he moved a backer and went back to four and I was like, oh my goodness.

00:30:03
Speaker 2: And that's a that's a twenty two year old, right because he's a younger exactly.

00:30:06
Speaker 8: And I was like, bro, he just got me so but he knew he was skipping just to move, he knew he was processing it that fast. And I was like, bro, he was a rookie. And so yeah, after that, I was like, oh, yeah, this is exciting. He's going to be special. So that was my story about him.

00:30:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's crazy, man. I mean so obviously you're in with San Francisco this past year. You guys went through a lot of injuries, a lot of stuff going down.

00:30:29
Speaker 2: We remember you from the from the Fantasy World.

00:30:31
Speaker 1: Do you know?

00:30:31
Speaker 2: You know what I'm about to say that we remember that RAMS game that you go absolutely not did you? Did you? Did you?

00:30:41
Speaker 1: Did you know going into that game that you were going to be a focal point in that offense? And I have some follow ups about that too, But did you know going in that this was going to be?

00:30:48
Speaker 8: I am you know, Kyle Us. I think Ricky went down. I think JJ was down too, So uh, my opportunity presented. So they like, hey, you're going this week, you to one. We need you to you know what I'm saying, be ready, And and I understand that already. Didn't have to tell me, but I just kind of knew going into practice. Had a great week of practice connecting with Mac, and I didn't know it was gonna be that crazy because his three I remember it went for a game like that, you know what I'm saying. I did it in year nine, which is just a blessing. My best game was like one hundred yards in New England, like a hundred on the dot. So it was just it was just dope to experience. But I definitely was familiar and maybe this could be a good game. But then when I caught that first pass and I broke across, I was like, oh, yeah, we're cooking.

00:31:26
Speaker 1: They couldn't stop the crosser in that game. It was the same Did you run the same play like.

00:31:31
Speaker 4: Over four times?

00:31:32
Speaker 5: Yeah? Yeah, they were hot.

00:31:33
Speaker 2: I'm watching it. I'm just like, what is it? I know because it was a Thursday night game.

00:31:37
Speaker 1: And so you guys have different prep right for those games, and so do you think that played kind of a role.

00:31:42
Speaker 2: It's like, all right, it's harder. Is it hard to adjust.

00:31:46
Speaker 5: Yes, it is.

00:31:46
Speaker 8: It is, It's just how it goes. So you game plan and you try to see what to attack, and then they may adjust halftime, they may adjust the next game, so it's just different. But Kyle does a good job of just putting us in position. Adjusting will too. But it just it's so much that going to the game that you just got to be prepared.

00:32:02
Speaker 5: As a team.

00:32:03
Speaker 1: And then you mentioned Mac. You guys had a report from from before. How much does that play a role and that game, especially when you're stepping up for injured guys, But then also in general, just the quarterback wide receivers is powerful.

00:32:15
Speaker 8: So just me being connected to Mac, the story how it all evolved was just amazing. But then us being ready for the opportunity is powerful in itself. So we're trying to think about our careers, but also be within the team, you know what I'm saying, Be team friendly, be a team player, And that's what happened. So we took advantage of our time. But just that connection is real and people know you know what I'm saying. It happened in New England. We had it connected and then come into a different system, it was still connected. So it's almost just a relationship is strong and I love that guy.

00:32:41
Speaker 1: Man.

00:32:42
Speaker 5: He kind of got the Sam Donald story going. Is looking good.

00:32:45
Speaker 1: So right now you're a free agent right now? Right are you looking?

00:32:50
Speaker 5: Like?

00:32:51
Speaker 2: How sweet would it be if you guys are like a package gym?

00:32:54
Speaker 8: Absolutely, we always tease about it, but we always talk about it, like, hey, where we going? He signed my jerseys swapped at the end of the year, and like, hey, where I'm going?

00:33:03
Speaker 5: You know what I'm saying.

00:33:04
Speaker 8: I always consider it basically, so you know, it's love, bro, that's my guy.

00:33:07
Speaker 5: Man.

00:33:07
Speaker 8: He really helped me in a time in New England where I was changing, growing, transitioning into like who I wanted to be as.

00:33:12
Speaker 5: A player with some tough enough time, you know what I'm saying.

00:33:15
Speaker 8: Tough phase in New England, he did too, and so for us to have the year we had was just special. You know, it always warms our hearts. So yeah, I definitely wanna be with my guy. I'm gonna see where he's going. I don't think they're gonna let him get out of there though he's under contract, so you know what I'm saying, But they might they might trade, never know, might he got good trade value. So but but san Fran and coling him know they know value when they have it. So we're gonna see what happens.

00:33:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, all right, let's talk about the San Francis. How are you feeling? How's your good man?

00:33:42
Speaker 5: You know, making it out healthy is always a blessing, well.

00:33:44
Speaker 4: Especially especially because of this is we gotta do.

00:33:48
Speaker 2: We gotta talk about.

00:33:49
Speaker 4: This electrical compulsation conspiracy theory.

00:33:52
Speaker 8: All right, where are you at with that? I'm doing, good man. It's funny, bro, because I got a story I'm.

00:33:57
Speaker 5: Running off with.

00:33:58
Speaker 8: So our field, our field on the on this on our side, it's brown, but in the field, the soccer field is always green. So like I'm like, bro, why is our field brown? They taking care of the heavy. So I'm not Jay York. I ain't saying nothing crazy. I'm just saying putting it out there. But I'm a conspiracy theorist. Time I'm like, yeah, nah, but this time main't make sense.

00:34:22
Speaker 5: But it just is what it is.

00:34:24
Speaker 3: Right now, when did it like start getting into the locker room, Like, when did y'all start talking about.

00:34:28
Speaker 8: Oh wait, when it kind of went viral when the guy came underneath the fence and like it just starts being a frenzy. You see it on Twitter feed, you see it on the Instagram feed. So we talk about it, like, bro, do you think it really affects?

00:34:39
Speaker 5: But I don't know.

00:34:40
Speaker 8: And then Jerry Wright says something like, nah, we practiced there one two super Bowls.

00:34:43
Speaker 5: So now we gotta fight against Jerry. But it's just so funny.

00:34:47
Speaker 8: I love the antics of it, but it is crazy, man, what research can do. So John said he gonna look into it. I heard him say it on the podcast, and we're gonna see what happens. But it's just you, oh what you want the best for the team. So they're gonna look out for us because that's the kind of people they are.

00:35:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, I got to ask about those injuries, like what was the vibe like when when dudes go down in the way that they were for you guys this past year, And tell me about like Kyle's leadership in the locker room too, and what that meant.

00:35:12
Speaker 8: Yeah, man, you never want to lose your best guys. It's tough, man, Like even GK the last game, Like that's tough. You know what I'm saying. That wasn't the last game. But it's just tough to lose them.

00:35:21
Speaker 5: At a time.

00:35:22
Speaker 8: Everybody, man, but col and them do a good job of bringing in depth, you know, like bringing in Matt, bringing in me, bringing in Jake Tongs, just these people that can carry it the low. You know, we may not be later in our careers or whatever, but we can do the job. And so they do a good job of that. But it just sucks losing your best guys. You're fighting against that, you're fighting against a good team like Seattle we did at the end. Not making excuses, but just it's just reality, you know what I'm saying. We have our best players. It can be a different game, but we just we do a good job of having depth. They do a good job bring the team together. And so this year, man, I'm trying to go back and get these guys healthy so we can make another run.

00:35:57
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:35:57
Speaker 1: I want to ask too, because like from a fantasyive, like I'm analyzing OC's all the time and seeing what kind of tendencies they have, and it's always the McVeigh Kubiak tree that always has these really advantageous offenses and a lot of I mean it started with a lot of these spread concepts. They're running a lot more like twelve and a lot a lot more heavier personnel and such now. But like you playing in that Shanahan system this year, did that feel different for you?

00:36:21
Speaker 2: Like what?

00:36:21
Speaker 7: Like?

00:36:21
Speaker 2: Was there a tangible difference from one offense to another.

00:36:24
Speaker 8: It is funny because I didn't have Kubiak when I was there. My first tenor so was Kyle kind of running everything oc drawing the plays. And then when I got back, I didn't know. I didn't really even know do my research. So I just walked in the door and Clay came in in the room and he was like, yeah, were drawing the plays, and I was like, oh shoot.

00:36:40
Speaker 5: So I started to kind of adjust then. So they work could do a good job working together, you know what I'm saying.

00:36:45
Speaker 8: Obviously, Kyle calls the plays, Kubiak draws it up, gets his team going looks, and so it was a little different but similar. It was just kind of a like a more I don't know, I can't explain it, but it is better. Kyle knows he adjusted, brought somebody in and so it was dope. It was dope just to learn it was the same offense. So I fit in really well. I knew what to do and just playing my role. But those guys do a good job of building the script of the plays of Scout team looks and things like that and what we're going to see. And those guys are googles, bro. So that's why you see the kind of year we had.

00:37:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, awesome.

00:37:18
Speaker 3: Talk to us before we get out of here about the born and ye born blessed Man.

00:37:22
Speaker 5: It's my brand.

00:37:23
Speaker 8: I got a clothing brand, making music man, and I got a foundation. But the clothing brand man is allway about a mindset. You know what I'm saying, Like you was born for a reason. You know what I'm saying, You got a purpose in life. You hear for a reason. So it takes time to figure it out. It takes adversity, it takes relationships interactions when you figure it out.

00:37:38
Speaker 5: Though you know what I'm saying. You're born blessed.

00:37:40
Speaker 7: You know why.

00:37:40
Speaker 5: You know what I'm saying.

00:37:41
Speaker 8: Then I'm making music man. My artists name is born Blessed, So making gospel rap man. It's been fun man going to you. And then I got a foundation man, promoting the kids, helping the kids and under privileged areas.

00:37:51
Speaker 5: Man, just trying to.

00:37:52
Speaker 8: Get an opportunity like I had with football. I had a great coach in my life, rest in Pieces soul Man put me in the right path and what he did for me is powerful. So I'm trying to just create that lane for other kids. Man, some way, somehow. It's still a work in progress. It's always worked every lane, but it challenges me man, So it's fun.

00:38:08
Speaker 4: Yes, Sir Kendrick, thanks so much for joining us.

00:38:11
Speaker 3: I appreciate everyone that has been with us at Radio Row this week. Next week we'll be back with our regular scheduled nerdy analysis from JJ and their prospect Guide everything else.

00:38:22
Speaker 4: So on, behalf of Kendrick On, behalf of JJ. I'm David. We'll see you next time here in the Late Round Fantasy Football Show.

00:38:29
Speaker 1: All right,