February 7, 2026 • 38 mins
JJ and Kitchen are back at Radio Row for a second day — breaking down some NFL news items, diving into the Seahawks-Patriots matchup through a Seattle lens, and sharing exclusive interviews with a pair of NFL wide receivers.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Year's Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
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.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
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.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
JJ, how are you feeling right now?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Right now? Pretty good?
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yes, we just had a pretty hilarious experience here on
Radio Row, an awesome moment.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I just want to take people behind the scenes, because
that's why people enjoy what we're doing here.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
But we saw Joe Flacco.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
We did, There's Placo, there's Flacco.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
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.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah, and so he's he's late for it, you know,
whoever he was with, he's late for interview.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
And so you and I were about to start this
show and then I just hear.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
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.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
It's Joe Black and we took a picture.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yes, so now we know that Joe Flacco and JJ
are not at the same person.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
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.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yeah, he's actually walking behind us here in a second,
so you might even be able to catch it.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
But yeah, it was.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It was awesome. This is this is what radio Row
is about.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
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.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
It is, it is surreal.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
JJ.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
You think about where you started from mom.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
From mom's basement, Yeah, Mom's basement to Radio Row, Babe.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
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.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
That's that's uh, that's living the dream.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
JJ.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
I want to just remind people to and.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
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
(03:00):
being said, let's get onto today's news.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Today's fantasy news.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
All right, not a.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Lot of news today, but we got news overnight, which
is cool.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
Yeah, we didn't think we're gonna do news.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
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.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
JJ bro Well, let's just say the new offensive coordinator Brian.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
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.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
But Brian, but yeah, he was.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
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.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And I think that we're seeing that trend, you know,
throughout the NFL.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
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.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Pore with all that wild card.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
No, no, you don't.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
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.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
You guys know that I'm a stickler for pronunciations, So
it's really tilting me that I'm not not able to.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
We don't have that.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
It is literally just broke, so we don't have that
much information about that's out there.
Speaker 6 (04:54):
It did just break.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
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
(05:15):
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.
(05:37):
From my perspective as a pit alum, I should have
mentioned that the Flacco he.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Went to pit for. You should have yeah, yeah, oh man,
I just forgot. Just should have done that.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
But you know, like like there's I don't know how
to really feel about the hire from like a fantasy perspective.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
You know, obviously, uh, he's he's been touched by.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
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,
(06:17):
we'll see what happens.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
You know, It's just one of those situations.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
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.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Okay, let's move on to someone who we also are
not sure exactly how it will play out.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
The New York Jets found an offensive coordinator and Frank Reich.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I mean, like, I think it's just another one of
those like uninspiring type hires, a Matt Naggy type.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Higher Now, I don't think it's quite to the Naggy.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
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
(07:04):
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
(07:25):
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.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
But again, I don't know for sure. I don't know
how this is going to go down.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
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.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
Yeah, and in New York, we're just not sure.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
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.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
See how it works.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, all right, Yeah, let's get onto today's data today's data.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
All right, JJ, you have MVPs.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
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.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
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.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
History of the game, is extra sneaky.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Apparently Apparently that was a really Apparently we've also seen
how tight ends have just risen up the ranks.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Now, sure, yeah, I mean it's a different game where we.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Are literally hating tight end profiles in the Prospect guy
for the first time.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
That's true because of the importance of tight end.
Speaker 6 (08:50):
That's true.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
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.
(09:13):
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
(09:36):
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.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
We all knew that. But I'm just throwing that data
out there.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
You guys can visually see it on YouTube to know
which direction you might want to go with some of
these MVP bets.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
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.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
It's the late round main event.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
All right, JJ, we did New England yesterday. Yeah, we
gave the.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Or you gave the reasons you might want to take
New England.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Now let's do the favorites for Seattle.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Yeah, so let's look at what Seattle is gonna do this.
I think this matchup is way more interesting than others.
Speaker 6 (10:27):
Do you know.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
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.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Baltimore and the Jets.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
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
(11:04):
running the ball.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
Now.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
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
(11:28):
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
(11:49):
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
(12:10):
that has to do with the fact that he can
break those big plays.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
He's also a bruiser, like he.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
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,
(12:36):
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.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, I'm a little bit worried about Kenneth Walker.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
We've also seen Kenth Walker. He likes to create.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, and if there's stacked boxes, is like a lot
of negative plays.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Yeah, you could, that's definitely true.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
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.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Or corners playing there.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
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.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
That doesn't make that much sense.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
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.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
So now we go to the passing attack this game.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
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,
(13:49):
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
(14:11):
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,
(14:34):
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
(14:54):
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
(15:16):
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
(15:36):
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.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
So this is my prediction for this game, Kitchen.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
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
(16:14):
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
(16:35):
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.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Blitz a lot.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
They're going to need that extra blocker in that extra help,
so we might not see as many routes run for
aj Barner.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
So let's just wrap all that up. Okay, let's just
bring it all again.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Take away key takeaways.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
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.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
That's a Kubiak staple. So you would expect, I think.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
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
(17:39):
I don't expect the run game to really be there
for them.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
So I'm bullish on JSN. I'm not bullish on Kenneth Walker.
And if you want my sneaky MVP, another sneaky MVP.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
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.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
How about Rashid s shei heat.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
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.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
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.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
Affects the offseason.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
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.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I'm going really chocky.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
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.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
A little bit closer. I personally did bet Seattle much
four and a half, and I'm like, maybe I don't.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
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.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
But I look, guys, I'm not writing off New England.
They have been.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
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.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Yeah, I would.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
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.
Speaker 5 (19:53):
I just have.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
It's crazy having that much confidence in Sam Darnold. But
he played some good last game.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
He played great last I mean last time we saw them.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
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.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
Like is there any outcome that will really surprise?
Speaker 7 (20:13):
No?
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Right, Like, like both of.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
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.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
He's been awesome, That's right.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
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?
Speaker 2 (20:50):
I mean, we'll see all the answer right.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
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.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 6 (21:07):
I appreciate you for having me.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
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.
Speaker 6 (21:19):
Uh, you know, it is different. You know, it's kind
of in college.
Speaker 7 (21:22):
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.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
A new beginning.
Speaker 6 (21:33):
And but you know, I'm super grateful.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah, I want to talk about that offense that you
played in this past year.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
You have a really young wide outcore there.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
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.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Right, But but what what was that like?
Speaker 1 (21:53):
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?
Speaker 6 (22:08):
Yeah, I mean it was easy.
Speaker 7 (22:09):
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.
Speaker 6 (22:23):
Know, give them what they need to be successful.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
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.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
Do, how to win this, and how to do that.
Speaker 7 (22:37):
And but I mean as soon as he left, you know,
just realized we all had to flip a switch.
Speaker 6 (22:42):
Like you said, we're a young receiver corps.
Speaker 7 (22:44):
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.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
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?
Speaker 4 (23:04):
You're getting like shout outs on socials or way as.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
We were asking, were people obnoxious?
Speaker 7 (23:08):
Was it not?
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Like real talk?
Speaker 6 (23:09):
Like was it?
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Was it obnoxious?
Speaker 1 (23:11):
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.
Speaker 6 (23:26):
Year, shoult. I.
Speaker 7 (23:27):
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.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
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.
Speaker 7 (23:57):
I feel like it was a big switch for me
as far as more from k to the league.
Speaker 6 (24:01):
With the rest.
Speaker 7 (24:02):
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.
Speaker 6 (24:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (24:15):
So yeah, just being you know, as a year went on,
I realized like how how how I'm.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
Able to play?
Speaker 7 (24:21):
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.
Speaker 6 (24:28):
So just gotta get used to that.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
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.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
You know, you know, guy like Cooker can really play
in that area.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
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
(25:05):
able to get in the slot more.
Speaker 7 (25:06):
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
(25:27):
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,
(25:49):
he playing inside, he can play outside, and we got
a bunch of playmakers on the offense.
Speaker 6 (25:52):
So you know, see what happens.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
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.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
A different guy down south. So what's the vibe like
in the locker room?
Speaker 6 (26:07):
I mean, man our receiving room is jokes man. We
have a we have a wide variety of people.
Speaker 7 (26:13):
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.
Speaker 6 (26:32):
We have a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
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.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
And I think the real.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
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.
Speaker 6 (26:51):
Yeah, yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 7 (26:52):
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.
Speaker 6 (26:57):
People don't really give credit where its due.
Speaker 7 (27:00):
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
(27:20):
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.
Speaker 6 (27:29):
You know.
Speaker 7 (27:30):
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.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
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.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
And ability to create those plays.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
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.
Speaker 5 (28:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (28:03):
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.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
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.
Speaker 7 (28:31):
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
(28:52):
with and.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
Spam versus everybody. Man, so love it.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Well we have Tam mac here T.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Really appreciate you spending time with us and good luck
in the year two.
Speaker 6 (29:03):
I appreciate you all for having me. Thanks many.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
All right, I am happy to introduce our next guest
because he just has a certain vibe around him.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Your ear energy is wild.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
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.
Speaker 5 (29:26):
Thanks guys, thanks for having me. Bro. Pleasure to meet you, guys.
Happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Yeah, man, I got a first talk about you know,
obviously Ruth New England last year.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
They're in the super Bowl right now. I want to
talk to about Drake.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
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?
Speaker 8 (29:44):
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.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
And that's a that's a twenty two year old, right
because he's a younger exactly.
Speaker 8 (30:06):
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.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
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.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
We remember you from the from the Fantasy World.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Do you know?
Speaker 2 (30:31):
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?
Speaker 1 (30:41):
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?
Speaker 8 (30:48):
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,
(31:09):
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.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
They couldn't stop the crosser in that game. It was
the same Did you run the same play like.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Over four times?
Speaker 5 (31:32):
Yeah? Yeah, they were hot.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
I'm watching it. I'm just like, what is it? I
know because it was a Thursday night game.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
And so you guys have different prep right for those games,
and so do you think that played kind of a role.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
It's like, all right, it's harder. Is it hard to adjust.
Speaker 5 (31:46):
Yes, it is.
Speaker 8 (31:46):
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.
Speaker 5 (32:02):
As a team.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
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.
Speaker 8 (32:15):
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
(32:36):
come into a different system, it was still connected. So
it's almost just a relationship is strong and I love
that guy.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Man.
Speaker 5 (32:42):
He kind of got the Sam Donald story going. Is
looking good.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
So right now you're a free agent right now? Right
are you looking?
Speaker 5 (32:50):
Like?
Speaker 2 (32:51):
How sweet would it be if you guys are like
a package gym?
Speaker 8 (32:54):
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?
Speaker 5 (33:03):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 8 (33:04):
I always consider it basically, so you know, it's love, bro,
that's my guy.
Speaker 5 (33:07):
Man.
Speaker 8 (33:07):
He really helped me in a time in New England
where I was changing, growing, transitioning into like who I
wanted to be as.
Speaker 5 (33:12):
A player with some tough enough time, you know what
I'm saying.
Speaker 8 (33:15):
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.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
Yeah, all right, let's talk about the San Francis. How
are you feeling? How's your good man?
Speaker 5 (33:42):
You know, making it out healthy is always a blessing, well.
Speaker 4 (33:44):
Especially especially because of this is we gotta do.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
We gotta talk about.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
This electrical compulsation conspiracy theory.
Speaker 8 (33:52):
All right, where are you at with that? I'm doing,
good man. It's funny, bro, because I got a story I'm.
Speaker 5 (33:57):
Running off with.
Speaker 8 (33:58):
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
(34:22):
main't make sense.
Speaker 5 (34:22):
But it just is what it is.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Right now, when did it like start getting into the
locker room, Like, when did y'all start talking about.
Speaker 8 (34:28):
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?
Speaker 5 (34:39):
But I don't know.
Speaker 8 (34:40):
And then Jerry Wright says something like, nah, we practiced
there one two super Bowls.
Speaker 5 (34:43):
So now we gotta fight against Jerry. But it's just
so funny.
Speaker 8 (34:47):
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.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
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.
Speaker 8 (35:12):
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.
Speaker 5 (35:21):
At a time.
Speaker 8 (35:22):
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,
(35:43):
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.
Speaker 5 (35:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
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
(36:19):
this year, did that feel different for you?
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Like what?
Speaker 7 (36:21):
Like?
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Was there a tangible difference from one offense to another.
Speaker 8 (36:24):
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.
Speaker 5 (36:40):
So I started to kind of adjust then. So they
work could do a good job working together, you know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 8 (36:45):
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
(37:06):
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.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Yeah, awesome.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
Talk to us before we get out of here about
the born and ye born blessed Man.
Speaker 5 (37:22):
It's my brand.
Speaker 8 (37:23):
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.
Speaker 5 (37:38):
Though you know what I'm saying. You're born blessed.
Speaker 7 (37:40):
You know why.
Speaker 5 (37:40):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 8 (37:41):
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.
Speaker 5 (37:51):
Man, just trying to.
Speaker 8 (37:52):
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.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
Yes, Sir Kendrick, thanks so much for joining us.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
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.
Speaker 4 (38:22):
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.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
All right,
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.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Year's Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
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.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
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.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
JJ, how are you feeling right now?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Right now? Pretty good?
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yes, we just had a pretty hilarious experience here on
Radio Row, an awesome moment.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I just want to take people behind the scenes, because
that's why people enjoy what we're doing here.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
But we saw Joe Flacco.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
We did, There's Placo, there's Flacco.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
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.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah, and so he's he's late for it, you know,
whoever he was with, he's late for interview.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
And so you and I were about to start this
show and then I just hear.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
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.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
It's Joe Black and we took a picture.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yes, so now we know that Joe Flacco and JJ
are not at the same person.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
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.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yeah, he's actually walking behind us here in a second,
so you might even be able to catch it.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
But yeah, it was.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It was awesome. This is this is what radio Row
is about.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
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.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
It is, it is surreal.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
JJ.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
You think about where you started from mom.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
From mom's basement, Yeah, Mom's basement to Radio Row, Babe.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
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.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
That's that's uh, that's living the dream.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
JJ.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
I want to just remind people to and.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
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
(03:00):
being said, let's get onto today's news.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Today's fantasy news.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
All right, not a.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Lot of news today, but we got news overnight, which
is cool.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
Yeah, we didn't think we're gonna do news.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
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.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
JJ bro Well, let's just say the new offensive coordinator Brian.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
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.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
But Brian, but yeah, he was.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
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.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And I think that we're seeing that trend, you know,
throughout the NFL.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
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.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Pore with all that wild card.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
No, no, you don't.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
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.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
You guys know that I'm a stickler for pronunciations, So
it's really tilting me that I'm not not able to.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
We don't have that.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
It is literally just broke, so we don't have that
much information about that's out there.
Speaker 6 (04:54):
It did just break.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
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
(05:15):
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.
(05:37):
From my perspective as a pit alum, I should have
mentioned that the Flacco he.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Went to pit for. You should have yeah, yeah, oh man,
I just forgot. Just should have done that.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
But you know, like like there's I don't know how
to really feel about the hire from like a fantasy perspective.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
You know, obviously, uh, he's he's been touched by.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
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,
(06:17):
we'll see what happens.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
You know, It's just one of those situations.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
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.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Okay, let's move on to someone who we also are
not sure exactly how it will play out.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
The New York Jets found an offensive coordinator and Frank Reich.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I mean, like, I think it's just another one of
those like uninspiring type hires, a Matt Naggy type.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Higher Now, I don't think it's quite to the Naggy.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
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
(07:04):
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
(07:25):
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.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
But again, I don't know for sure. I don't know
how this is going to go down.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
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.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
Yeah, and in New York, we're just not sure.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
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.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
See how it works.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, all right, Yeah, let's get onto today's data today's data.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
All right, JJ, you have MVPs.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
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.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
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.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
History of the game, is extra sneaky.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Apparently Apparently that was a really Apparently we've also seen
how tight ends have just risen up the ranks.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Now, sure, yeah, I mean it's a different game where we.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Are literally hating tight end profiles in the Prospect guy
for the first time.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
That's true because of the importance of tight end.
Speaker 6 (08:50):
That's true.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
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.
(09:13):
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
(09:36):
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.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
We all knew that. But I'm just throwing that data
out there.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
You guys can visually see it on YouTube to know
which direction you might want to go with some of
these MVP bets.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
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.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
It's the late round main event.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
All right, JJ, we did New England yesterday. Yeah, we
gave the.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Or you gave the reasons you might want to take
New England.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Now let's do the favorites for Seattle.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Yeah, so let's look at what Seattle is gonna do this.
I think this matchup is way more interesting than others.
Speaker 6 (10:27):
Do you know.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
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.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Baltimore and the Jets.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
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
(11:04):
running the ball.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
Now.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
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
(11:28):
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
(11:49):
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
(12:10):
that has to do with the fact that he can
break those big plays.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
He's also a bruiser, like he.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
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,
(12:36):
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.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, I'm a little bit worried about Kenneth Walker.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
We've also seen Kenth Walker. He likes to create.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, and if there's stacked boxes, is like a lot
of negative plays.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Yeah, you could, that's definitely true.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
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.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Or corners playing there.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
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.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
That doesn't make that much sense.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
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.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
So now we go to the passing attack this game.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
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,
(13:49):
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
(14:11):
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,
(14:34):
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
(14:54):
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
(15:16):
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
(15:36):
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.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
So this is my prediction for this game, Kitchen.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
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
(16:14):
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
(16:35):
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.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Blitz a lot.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
They're going to need that extra blocker in that extra help,
so we might not see as many routes run for
aj Barner.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
So let's just wrap all that up. Okay, let's just
bring it all again.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Take away key takeaways.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
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.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
That's a Kubiak staple. So you would expect, I think.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
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
(17:39):
I don't expect the run game to really be there
for them.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
So I'm bullish on JSN. I'm not bullish on Kenneth Walker.
And if you want my sneaky MVP, another sneaky MVP.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
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.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
How about Rashid s shei heat.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
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.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
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.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
Affects the offseason.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
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.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I'm going really chocky.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
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.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
A little bit closer. I personally did bet Seattle much
four and a half, and I'm like, maybe I don't.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
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.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
But I look, guys, I'm not writing off New England.
They have been.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
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.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Yeah, I would.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
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.
Speaker 5 (19:53):
I just have.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
It's crazy having that much confidence in Sam Darnold. But
he played some good last game.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
He played great last I mean last time we saw them.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
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.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
Like is there any outcome that will really surprise?
Speaker 7 (20:13):
No?
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Right, Like, like both of.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
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.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
He's been awesome, That's right.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
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?
Speaker 2 (20:50):
I mean, we'll see all the answer right.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
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.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 6 (21:07):
I appreciate you for having me.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
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.
Speaker 6 (21:19):
Uh, you know, it is different. You know, it's kind
of in college.
Speaker 7 (21:22):
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.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
A new beginning.
Speaker 6 (21:33):
And but you know, I'm super grateful.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah, I want to talk about that offense that you
played in this past year.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
You have a really young wide outcore there.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
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.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Right, But but what what was that like?
Speaker 1 (21:53):
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?
Speaker 6 (22:08):
Yeah, I mean it was easy.
Speaker 7 (22:09):
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.
Speaker 6 (22:23):
Know, give them what they need to be successful.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
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.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
Do, how to win this, and how to do that.
Speaker 7 (22:37):
And but I mean as soon as he left, you know,
just realized we all had to flip a switch.
Speaker 6 (22:42):
Like you said, we're a young receiver corps.
Speaker 7 (22:44):
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.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
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?
Speaker 4 (23:04):
You're getting like shout outs on socials or way as.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
We were asking, were people obnoxious?
Speaker 7 (23:08):
Was it not?
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Like real talk?
Speaker 6 (23:09):
Like was it?
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Was it obnoxious?
Speaker 1 (23:11):
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.
Speaker 6 (23:26):
Year, shoult. I.
Speaker 7 (23:27):
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.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
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.
Speaker 7 (23:57):
I feel like it was a big switch for me
as far as more from k to the league.
Speaker 6 (24:01):
With the rest.
Speaker 7 (24:02):
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.
Speaker 6 (24:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (24:15):
So yeah, just being you know, as a year went on,
I realized like how how how I'm.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
Able to play?
Speaker 7 (24:21):
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.
Speaker 6 (24:28):
So just gotta get used to that.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
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.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
You know, you know, guy like Cooker can really play
in that area.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
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
(25:05):
able to get in the slot more.
Speaker 7 (25:06):
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
(25:27):
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,
(25:49):
he playing inside, he can play outside, and we got
a bunch of playmakers on the offense.
Speaker 6 (25:52):
So you know, see what happens.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
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.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
A different guy down south. So what's the vibe like
in the locker room?
Speaker 6 (26:07):
I mean, man our receiving room is jokes man. We
have a we have a wide variety of people.
Speaker 7 (26:13):
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.
Speaker 6 (26:32):
We have a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
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.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
And I think the real.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
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.
Speaker 6 (26:51):
Yeah, yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 7 (26:52):
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.
Speaker 6 (26:57):
People don't really give credit where its due.
Speaker 7 (27:00):
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
(27:20):
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.
Speaker 6 (27:29):
You know.
Speaker 7 (27:30):
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.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
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.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
And ability to create those plays.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
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.
Speaker 5 (28:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (28:03):
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.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
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.
Speaker 7 (28:31):
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
(28:52):
with and.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
Spam versus everybody. Man, so love it.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Well we have Tam mac here T.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Really appreciate you spending time with us and good luck
in the year two.
Speaker 6 (29:03):
I appreciate you all for having me. Thanks many.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
All right, I am happy to introduce our next guest
because he just has a certain vibe around him.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Your ear energy is wild.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
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.
Speaker 5 (29:26):
Thanks guys, thanks for having me. Bro. Pleasure to meet you, guys.
Happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Yeah, man, I got a first talk about you know,
obviously Ruth New England last year.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
They're in the super Bowl right now. I want to
talk to about Drake.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
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?
Speaker 8 (29:44):
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.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
And that's a that's a twenty two year old, right
because he's a younger exactly.
Speaker 8 (30:06):
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.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
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.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
We remember you from the from the Fantasy World.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Do you know?
Speaker 2 (30:31):
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?
Speaker 1 (30:41):
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?
Speaker 8 (30:48):
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,
(31:09):
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.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
They couldn't stop the crosser in that game. It was
the same Did you run the same play like.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Over four times?
Speaker 5 (31:32):
Yeah? Yeah, they were hot.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
I'm watching it. I'm just like, what is it? I
know because it was a Thursday night game.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
And so you guys have different prep right for those games,
and so do you think that played kind of a role.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
It's like, all right, it's harder. Is it hard to adjust.
Speaker 5 (31:46):
Yes, it is.
Speaker 8 (31:46):
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.
Speaker 5 (32:02):
As a team.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
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.
Speaker 8 (32:15):
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
(32:36):
come into a different system, it was still connected. So
it's almost just a relationship is strong and I love
that guy.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Man.
Speaker 5 (32:42):
He kind of got the Sam Donald story going. Is
looking good.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
So right now you're a free agent right now? Right
are you looking?
Speaker 5 (32:50):
Like?
Speaker 2 (32:51):
How sweet would it be if you guys are like
a package gym?
Speaker 8 (32:54):
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?
Speaker 5 (33:03):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 8 (33:04):
I always consider it basically, so you know, it's love, bro,
that's my guy.
Speaker 5 (33:07):
Man.
Speaker 8 (33:07):
He really helped me in a time in New England
where I was changing, growing, transitioning into like who I
wanted to be as.
Speaker 5 (33:12):
A player with some tough enough time, you know what
I'm saying.
Speaker 8 (33:15):
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.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
Yeah, all right, let's talk about the San Francis. How
are you feeling? How's your good man?
Speaker 5 (33:42):
You know, making it out healthy is always a blessing, well.
Speaker 4 (33:44):
Especially especially because of this is we gotta do.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
We gotta talk about.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
This electrical compulsation conspiracy theory.
Speaker 8 (33:52):
All right, where are you at with that? I'm doing,
good man. It's funny, bro, because I got a story I'm.
Speaker 5 (33:57):
Running off with.
Speaker 8 (33:58):
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
(34:22):
main't make sense.
Speaker 5 (34:22):
But it just is what it is.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
Right now, when did it like start getting into the
locker room, Like, when did y'all start talking about.
Speaker 8 (34:28):
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?
Speaker 5 (34:39):
But I don't know.
Speaker 8 (34:40):
And then Jerry Wright says something like, nah, we practiced
there one two super Bowls.
Speaker 5 (34:43):
So now we gotta fight against Jerry. But it's just
so funny.
Speaker 8 (34:47):
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.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
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.
Speaker 8 (35:12):
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.
Speaker 5 (35:21):
At a time.
Speaker 8 (35:22):
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,
(35:43):
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.
Speaker 5 (35:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
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
(36:19):
this year, did that feel different for you?
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Like what?
Speaker 7 (36:21):
Like?
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Was there a tangible difference from one offense to another.
Speaker 8 (36:24):
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.
Speaker 5 (36:40):
So I started to kind of adjust then. So they
work could do a good job working together, you know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 8 (36:45):
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
(37:06):
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.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Yeah, awesome.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
Talk to us before we get out of here about
the born and ye born blessed Man.
Speaker 5 (37:22):
It's my brand.
Speaker 8 (37:23):
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.
Speaker 5 (37:38):
Though you know what I'm saying. You're born blessed.
Speaker 7 (37:40):
You know why.
Speaker 5 (37:40):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 8 (37:41):
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.
Speaker 5 (37:51):
Man, just trying to.
Speaker 8 (37:52):
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.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
Yes, Sir Kendrick, thanks so much for joining us.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
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.
Speaker 4 (38:22):
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.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
All right,
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