March 5, 2020 • 50 mins
The Spittin Statistician is back as a married man and Alex Fasano gets him caught up on all the news from the NFL Combine, the XFL, and the rest of the betting landscape. SPEEDZ tells the #StatsOverBeats Cipher about his wedding all as we put the FUN in FUNctional Sports content!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Enjoy the show, and thanks so much for listening. You
(00:37):
are now about to witness the strength of fantasy knowledge.
You know what it is, speaks to spin statistician to
see pre style. You know what it is. It's your boy,
(01:02):
Dane Martinez, a k a. Speeds a k a to
spitting Statistician a k a to Stable Genius and vocal Minority.
And welcome to another edition of the Fantasy Freestyle right
here on the Sports Grid Network, episode number four hundred
and thirty eight, the four hundred and thirty eight Convening
of the Status of a Beat Cipher, where we help
(01:23):
you win your leagues and win that cash. I do
represent the South South Bronx. I represent all sorts of things. Now,
as you know, I wasn't in here last week. I
am back now, maybe looking a little bit different. We'll
get to that a little bit later on, listen, we
got a lot to talk about. In my stead, my
man Alex Fasano was down there in the pit of misery,
(01:43):
and quite frankly, in this episode, we are gonna get
all caught up together. We're gonna talk about the big
time takeaways, the winners and losers from the NFL combine
last week. Okay, we will update you on what you
need to know for the XFL moving into week five.
Some trends have held true. We'll talk about that. I
also have a couple of interesting stories that you know
(02:03):
are similar to me in the vein of you know,
sports investors. Sports bettors need to really chill the f out. Okay,
you'll win some, you lose some, and when you lose,
the right thing to do is not necessarily go ahead
and troll the athletes or threaten the athletes that were
in that game. This is starting to become a thing.
(02:24):
I'll tell you about that a little bit later on.
My guys down in the pit, we will also be
updating what's going on with the cheating scandal in Major
League Baseball, the Houston Astros, the Buzzers. As you know,
I'm all about hashtag buzz al Tov and the like.
And then yes, we will share a little bit of
where I was the last for the last week, week
(02:44):
and a half, I was down in Jamaica. You may
notice a little bit different. We got something non a
finger right there, so we'll talk about that as well.
So we got a lot to get to and of
course we've got a pole question up for sure, all right,
and that pole question is what are you What are
you learning from the NFL combine? You know, we talked
about it all the time, the Wonderlick test, the bench press,
(03:06):
the forty, this shuttle run. Does it really matter? Do
the interviews matter to teams? Doesn't matter what they look
like in jim shorts and tank tops. Will find out.
But right now we go back down to the pit
when mom man Alex Vassano gets you caught up on
everything here from Scorts broad Come on back, sports grade
(03:29):
news Update. Welcome back the spitting statistician, Dame Martinez. I
am Alex Vassano, here with your sports grade news update
on the Fantasy free Style in the Association. Golden State
Warriors guard Stephen Curry will return Thursday against the Toronto Raptors.
He missed more than four months while recovering from a
(03:52):
broken left hand. The two time m v P tweeted
his excitement about rejoining Golden State after missing the previous
fifty eight games. Curry, who is thirty one years old,
suffered the injury on October thirty when Phoenix Sun center
Aaron Baines fell on Curry's hand after a collision under
the basket. Curry underwent two surgeries to repair the fracture.
(04:14):
Here is a quote from head coach Steve Kerr. This
has been a long, long haul for Steph. He loves
playing so much. I'm happy for us, I'm happy for
our fans, but I'm happiest for Steph. In Major League Baseball,
the Boston Red Sox starter Chris Sale he is not
expected to undergo Tommy John surgery. Sales elbow injury is
still a concern, and it's unknown for how long the
(04:35):
left hander will be sidelined. However, the surgery would have
ended his season before it even began. As the Red
Sox pondered sales future, they gathered several medical opinions. Interim
manager Ron Renicky told reporters earlier on Wednesday that the
team was still waiting to hear from renowned surgeon Dr
Neil a'l eltross and sticking with the association. Last night
(04:55):
we saw some great games. The Mavericks took on the
Pelicans three in oh For time it was Luca versus Zion,
but it was KP Kristaps Porzingis leading the way thirty
four points, twelve rebounds. Nice double double for him. Alonzo
Ball on the other side for the Pelicans, nice double
double twenty five points, eleven rebounds. We also saw the
Trailblazers take down the Wizards one oh four. Hassan Whiteside
(05:18):
led the way for the Blazers twenty four point sixteen rebounds.
Bradley Field for the Wizards led the way with twenty
nine points and six rebounds. You got a full slate
of NHL, NBA and college hoops tonight. Let's look at
the Hockey League because well, my Aisles will be going
to Ottawa to take on the Senators. Aisles are going
to half favorite. The total is five and a half.
(05:39):
We also got the Capitals visiting the New York Rangers
in Madison Square Guarden. The Capitals, you're going to have favorite.
The total is six and a half. And why not
the Dallas Stars taking on the Nashville Predators Stars your
goal and a half favorite. The total is five and
a half. I'm Alex Passano and this has been your
Sports Grid News update. Now back to Dame Martinez on
the Fantasy Fury Style. Thanks a lot, Alex. We're back
(06:04):
here in Studio thirty four making it happen. As I
mentioned before, we got a pull question up right now
on Twitter at spitting Speeds. How much do you learn
from the NFL combine? Right? Does it really matter? Do
you now know who you team, your team wants to draft,
who you want them to draft, who you think you
want to draft in fantasy doesn't help a little bit?
Or is it absolutely nothing? I'll tell you right now,
(06:25):
over two thirds of you think that is what it is.
Alex mentioned a couple of updates. You know, I've been
gone for a little while, but two things that I've
heard over the last twenty four hours that I wanted
to mention real quick. One yesterday Tom Brady and Bill
Belichick had a phone call, had a meeting whatever it was,
and reports are that it did not go well. Okay,
And I think, listen, people, the writing is on the wall.
(06:46):
They're just being coy about it, kind of similar to
Tampa Bay and Jameis Winston. All right, I think they
are just you know, waiting until the new league years starts, right,
and then they're gonna go ahead and announced that yeah
he's out there, or the buck set will announced yeah
they're not gonna go and look to retain Jamis Winston.
It is very very interesting. There have been rumblings for
years now that these guys didn't necessarily getting wrong get
(07:09):
along in New England. I'm talking about right, there was
that big piece that the trainer, Alex Guerrero TB twelve
and the gym's were all involved. But winning, it's a
great deodorant. Winning changes a lot of things. Just go
ask Charlie Sheen for goodness six right, But then all
of a sudden they're not winning anymore. That's when you're
starting to hear the cracks. And to be quite frank,
(07:31):
you know, there were odds up before around where were
these quarterbacks play? And the Tom Brady odds, you know,
continue to change a little bit, they really really do.
And now listen, I hear Tennessee, I hear the Chargers,
I hear the Vegas Raiders. And that's why Alex and
I were doing that kind of quarterback merry go round
with you guys over the last couple of weeks to
(07:52):
see where they may fall. Because if he goes to Tennessee,
what does that mean for Mariota and Tannehill. If he
winds up with the Vegas Raiders, what does that mean
for Derek Carr. But what is interesting is that I
believe these dominoes will start to fall in the next
couple of weeks as the new league year approach approaches.
But the riding is on the wall. In my opinion,
(08:13):
it looks like Tom Brady may in fact go elsewhere
that it's uh, finally time to move on. What will
the Patriots do? What they look at a guy like oh,
I don't know, Jacobe Brissette, who may not have a
starting job if Philip Rivers winds up on the merry ground.
These are things we have to know. The other thing
(08:33):
that may, in fact you'll get news on at the
start of this next league year is the fact that
the NFL is looks like they're gonna ratify a new
CB A possibly okay, the collective Bargaining Agreement. You've heard
everything from you know, the idea of the second by
to the playoff format being seven teams, to the games
out there in London that we appreciate. But here's a
(08:55):
little bit that we haven't talked about too much with
this new cb A. Alex and I don't know if
you've heard this, but they're saying in the new CBA,
the substance abuse policy is going to change in the NFL,
making it clear no player will ever be suspended again
for a positive drug test drug, in this case being marijuana. Now,
(09:19):
I ask you, Fasano, what do you think Josh Gordon
is doing right about now? Dude? Am I allowed to
say it? I mean, yeah, you can say it. But
here's the thing. Honestly, that man has had thousands, if
not millions of dollars, you know, in fines and suspensions
(09:40):
a whole year. Right. We were just talking about the
Browns Lineman a couple of weeks ago, right, Seantrelle Henderson
alignment for the bills. You know, you were getting suspended
as long for weed as you were for punching your
wife or wearing cleats that were not you know, deem
designer and fashionably appropriate. I think it's ridiculous, but it's sound.
It is like they are going to change this now
(10:02):
and kind of remove some of the penalties for the
drug testing. I think it's a good step in the
right direction, especially when you know twenty some odd states
have it legal. What do you think Josh Gordon's thinking
right about now, Alex, I'm thinking he definitely has another
opportunity does come into the league. I mean, he's saying himself,
I've only been suspended for marijuana abuse, and if it's
going to be pushed aside, then what's stopping you guys
from letting me play? But if you think from like
(10:24):
the player's perspective, is this enough to be like, all right,
we're gonna throw our bodies out there for another game
and other, you know, extra week in the playoffs? Is
that enough to be like, hey, give us the marijuana
policy and we'll we'll throw our bodies out there on
the line it helps their injury? I guess sure, profession
you gotta give something to get something, though, Alice, you
gotta give something to get it in negotiations, players, you
(10:45):
know what I mean? Is that enough to them saying huh,
I guess the league's giving us a little something something,
But I don't know it's gonna come down to their
health versus is this going to help it. Absolutely, we'll
keep your eye out on that. As they talk about
the new c b A. There are a lot of
factors in there, everything from revenue air in the TV
to the seventeenth game, to the buys to the London
to the policy on marijuana. So we want to keep
(11:07):
an eye out on that. I also was telling you guys, listen,
it was a bailor basketball game at this point about
a month ago, alright, where um a guy named mac otiges. Alright,
he's like an eight seven percent free throw shooter. They're Baylor,
you know, one of the top teams in the country.
They won this game by They won this game by five,
(11:28):
but they were favored by six. Okay. And Macotige starts
getting death threats, starts getting social media hate okay, and
you know, the head coach starts coming out talking about
this and this idea of what they are going to
have to face. You know, I mean he's getting and
and and the the quote here and some of these
(11:49):
articles are saying that he was getting you know, people
ven mowing him asking for money back because he missed
those two free throws right, and he's saying he didn't
even know what a spread was. He was like, he
won the game, he thought this would be good. But
that's not the worst of it. When we come back,
we're gonna talk about another guy who has literally be
going after something like three hundred different players in college,
(12:11):
in the pros, over in Europe on soccer, and the
man got arrested. We're gonna talk about this, and I
want to find out, Alex, where is the line for
you between heckling trolling, what's appropriate, what's legal, and what's not.
We'll get into that, and then the big time takeaways
from the NFL combine the XFL and more your boys spees.
The spitting Statistician is back. They're playing you know, thematic
(12:31):
music for me, But come on back, it's a fantasy freestop.
Were back in the chair. Daily Rhodo dot Com learned
from the game's best DFS players. We don't just give
you premier advice. We play every day, all major sports,
all year round. We never stopped industry leading DBS tools
(12:51):
and custom projections, and now Daily Rhodo dot Com optimized
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Arnie word from the game's best DFS players, jointed daily
rhado dot Com Fantasy Freestyle right here on the Sports
(13:22):
grid Network Command speeds and spitting statistician back from jommick
Man you know what I mean, and back with a
little piece of jewelry as well. But I was talking
about it before, you know, and you heard it. You
heard it in the commercial break, Okay, my man, Gabe
Morncy talking about it as well. I was talking about
this Baylor game of a couple of weeks back where
Macot you know, and he says, and I quote, it
(13:42):
can really affect the mental health of some players. I'm
an older guy, so it doesn't really affect me. But
we've got younger guys like Jared and Jordan, they're an
eighteen and nineteen years old that might get under their skin.
If they see that on their Instagram, it may affect them,
and who knows, it could force even some guys to
give up basketball. I'm glad they did it to me,
a stronger, older person. It could have really affected someone else.
(14:03):
This is a guy playing college for basket for Baylor,
did not even know what a point spread was his
team won the game, they just didn't cover okay, and
he was getting the vile, the vitriol that we are
now seeing as commonplace. Alex, I want to ask you
because you know you're a millennial, right, and so I
kind of try to compare it to if I'm at
(14:25):
a stadium, I can scream out almost whatever I want. Right, So,
what is the difference in your opinion between maybe a
guy getting heckled at the arena and this kind of
social media trolling that is going on right now, fueled
I guess by the stakes and the investment raised by
sports betting. I think my personal take on this whole thing,
(14:48):
if you're at a sporting event, basketball, soccer, baseball, whatever
you want to be at, you can go as far
as taking it to the player based on their skill. Okay,
you can go, oh, you're the worst first basim I've
ever seen. You have hands, You've got no handles, your
footwork is terrible. The second you bit personal about family,
so like for example, so for example, your throat will
(15:11):
be severed open with a dull knife. Um, your entire
family will be beheaded and burned alive. Just a little behind, Okay,
I will enter your home as you sleep and kill
you just a little past of line. Interesting, interesting, interesting.
I mean I don't know where the line is, right,
(15:33):
I don't know where the line is. But I mentioned
these because you know you've probably heard the story by now.
Gabe is talking to about it on the commercial. I
I threw out the bailer thing as an example, but
these things are continuing, right, And so twenty three year
old New York Or a guy named Ben Pat's a
k a. Parlay Pats, right, He's got something like hundreds
of social media accounts and it is hitting up all
(15:54):
sorts of players with this stuff, like I said, severing
your throat with a dull knife, right, And he is
the funny part. Here's a funny part, Alex. I don't
know if it's funny, but here's the interesting part. To me.
This guy hit a ten team parlay back in December
for one point one million dollars. So what does he
have to complain about if he's missing a bet here
(16:16):
were there? He just had a hit. He hit a
ten team or three months ago for one point one
million f in dollars. Alex, you don't think that would
subside some of the hate. How do they not find
the guy? And actually, like after the minute you you
fought you win a million dollars, don't they swarm you
and trying to find out more about you? Word up?
And he did have his little fifteen moments of fame.
But then they started tracking this and you know, he
(16:38):
he went hard on Julian Edelman over the playoffs. And
here's the thing, ron Kowski, and you're talking about it.
You know, he was going after their wives and girlfriends
and their kids as well, you know. And and in
my younger, non married days, I I said some nonsense
in the stands. I said some stuff that I'm not
pleased with now, you know. But I wonder do you
(17:00):
think it is a different standard, because I believe, you know, people,
these trolls, they hide behind the computer also, you know,
And I believe like when I was doing this back
in the day, I was at least right there, you know,
and they saw me, everyone in the section saw me.
These guys that are not hiding behind the Internet or
hiding behind their handles. I think it's even more weak, Alex,
(17:20):
you know, the generational thing. I mean, look at That's
why I'm asking you about it. Absolutely, you know, I'm
never wanted to go behind a screen and do it.
You know, I'm right there with you. You're gonna say something,
you stand up in you, you say it. I I
face to face like like a man, but or a
woman or woman absolutely or whatever whatever. Um, But you're right.
It's just it's easier nowadays a phone, you know, even uh,
(17:44):
a buzzer in the jersey and things like that to
cheat the system, whether it be against the game or
against players. It's it's it's kind of disrespectful and a
little it is. But here's the other thing, because I
read some of this article, not the not the one
about this guy, the twenty three year old New Yorker,
but back the Bailor kid. You know. Um. Their head
coach is um Scott Drew. You remember his son, Bryce Drew,
(18:05):
you know, from Valpo with a big shot back in
the day, about ten twenty years ago at this point.
But right, he also said this, though players are dealing
with mental illness and anxiety these days, and now they
have more issues to deal with than ever before. Trust me,
college players weren't dealing with anything like this ten or
twenty years ago. Now. Slow down, though, Okay, because I
(18:27):
think this is part and parcel of being an athlete.
Whether it's the college level, maybe okay, you should get
a pass, but at the pro level, like, I don't
care if players are dealing with mental illness and anxiety.
Oh boo hoo. Isn't this part of it? Though? I
understand when I'm going over the line talking about children, family,
blunt knives and whatnot, But isn't it part of the
game to get heckled? You know what you're getting into
(18:50):
what I'm saying, so like, oh, we have to be
gentle with these kids. I don't know if I'm all
the way there yet either, though, Alex, you know what
I mean to me, that's part millennial softness and part
these trolls are just shook and hiding behind the computer.
I think it's really should be something in the middle.
Well yeah, like, like there's one thing being a troll
and there's another thing of being disgusting and disrespectful. I
(19:11):
like being witty, that's the best, you know, and so
how how can you do that? You know in a
way that seven year olds around you or the internet
doesn't understand what you're saying or just kind of laughs
at it. Being you know, disruptive without disrespectful. That's what
I'm going for, you know, So we will see. I
(19:32):
just think it's very interesting. But listen, I deal with
trolls all the time. As you guys know, if you've
been on this network, you have seen and heard the vitriol.
And I just think, you know, especially in this climate
that we're in, we all need to take a damn
chill pill, Okay, and especially this dude. I mean, my
man just is coming off a one point one million
dollar win and now he's facing five years in prison
(19:53):
for some of this nonsense that he's putting online. And
quite frankly, I am completely cool with it. All right,
we do want to move Vaughan to what is actually
happening on the field, and Alex you know, you know
after the Super Bowl, you know, we have a little XFL,
but the NFL is starting to come back into focus
with the new league year happening. We'll get to see
where this free agent quarterback carousel that we have been
(20:15):
talking about, you know, where that pops off. But the
other thing that really happened since I was gone, since
the last convening of the Status over Beat Cipher is
the NFL Combine, Alex. You know, and this is always
interesting to me because you know, you run them out
there in shorts and and under armour, right and they're
doing their bench press and they're doing their forty times.
Nobody had a chance to win an island this year
(20:37):
or anything like that. But the first thing I want
to ask you, and we have the poll question up
because right now, Alex, you know, like seventies some odd percent,
like two thirds of the people believe that you learn
absolutely nothing from the combine. Do you agree with that?
Or are there certain things you can learn? Like maybe
the teams are more interested in the interviews they have,
(20:59):
not the one their lick tests, but the interviews they
have to see if they'll mesh as a culture fit,
you know, Or are there any of the drills out
there where you're like, this can actually tell me something
about their skills. I think what you just said right there,
based on like the the interviews and whatnot, I think nowadays,
because we've seen it every single year, will this forty
dash be broken? No? But it's it's essentially the same time,
(21:19):
and everybody's fast, everybody's skilled, you know, everybody going to
the combine has the talent. You said it focusing on
the interviews maybe coaches. Nowadays, you're gonna start looking at
character and how they portray themselves. You know, we've seen
diva's left and right in any sport take over the
media outlets in the news, and that's what floods timelines.
How about the guy who stays humble and stays quiet
(21:40):
and just wants to play football for the love of
the game. Yeah, I agree with you, Alex. I think
this is less about if you put up a four
three three or a four three six. I think this
is less about if you put it up twenty five
or twenty seven times. I think it is less about, um,
you know your shuttle run. Although obviously, because here's the thing,
these scouts they have mom if not years of tape, right,
(22:02):
and that tape is more than the snapshot of what
you look like against no defenders in a controlled environment. Right.
But what you can start to learn about people is
are these young men? And I mentioned this because the bailor,
you know, one of the bailor kids, he just said,
you know, these are eighteen and nineteen year old. What
I think these teams get a better read on is
is this young man ready to be a professional, right,
(22:26):
because you have to prepare for it, right, So you
should be dominating all the drills at the combine because
you're practicing for it. But when I get you up
on the white board, can you process the information when
I ask you a weird question in an interview? Do
you exhibit leadership? Can you handle it? Or do you
crack the Do you fail the drug test, which in
essence is an idiot test because you know it's coming.
(22:49):
You know it's coming four months, So if you fail that,
then you know, I know they may be changing into
the C B A. But I think it's a you know,
I think it's more of a test on can you
are you ready to be a pro fessional? And I
thought there were some interesting things. We'll talk about it
a little bit now, we'll continue on the other side
of the break. But I have to um stats that
I thought were interesting when it comes to the numbers
(23:11):
that were out there. Right. The first is an offensive
lineman named Tristan Worth's. Okay, this tackle out of Iowa,
and I was talking about this guy a while back. Okay,
I thought this guy had some agility for a tackle,
mobility for a tackle. I saw it on tape when
he pulled around was blocking dudes twenty yards down field.
But check this out, Alex tristan Worth did his vertical jump.
(23:34):
Okay for context A J. Green thirty four and a
half inches, Ceedee Lamb wide receiver thirty four and a
half inches, DeAndre Hopkins thirty six inches, Amari Cooper thirty
three inches. These are wide outs that you need to
catch radius and extend right. Tristan Worth's thirty six and
(23:56):
a half inches. Talk about athleticism right there. He is
a guy that I think is gonna be in the
mix at the when the Jets pick at like ten
or eleven. This is a guy I want right now.
And then you were talking about this also right for context.
Reps on the bench pressed Rob Gronkowski twenty three, Jadeveon
Clowney one, Chandler Jones twenty two. Yeah, Alex. Then this
(24:20):
punter out of Arizona State, Michael Turk, Yeah, he put
it up twenty five yo. But here's my question, does
it matter if you're punter is the most YO guy
in the weight room. I don't know. I don't think
it does. I don't know, but I found those things interesting, Alex.
When we come back on the other side of the break,
(24:41):
I want to hear from you. What did you think
were the biggest takeaways? Who are some people that were
winners or losers at the combine? Will cover all this
and what it means moving forward. We are back. It's
Fantasy Freestyle, me and the status over beat Cipher and
the pit. Dilly Dilly. You know what it is Daily
Rhodo dot Com from the game's best DFS players. We
(25:01):
don't just give you premier advice. We play every day,
all major sports, all year round. We never stopped industry
leading DFS tools and custom projections, and now Daily rodos
dot Com optimized in minutes, building optimized line up for
cash games and turneys learned from the game's best DFS
(25:22):
players joined Daily Roado dot Com. Well my dogs at
a welcome back Fantasy Freestyle. You know what it is
Episode four and thirty eight with smitten statisticians right here
(25:43):
on Sports Grid. Make it happen, Alex. People are lucky man.
After my wedding, I didn't have my voice for like
three days. Bro, I expect you to come back here
with like no voices. I didn't have a voice. I
told Mr Sussman or feeling this leader a couple of
days ago. I was like, yo, man, I got about
like have voice, and I'm on air for like three
or four hours on Thursday day, but you know I'm
coming to post. We always make it happen. We've been
doing it here on Sports Grade for a while. So listen, Alex.
(26:06):
We got this pole question up right now. Sixty of
people right now say the combine does absolutely nothing for them,
thirty one percent say it helps some, and six percent
say I now know who I want. And I don't
think it's absolutely nothing. As I mentioned, I think you
get to read on the maturity and the professionalism on
(26:26):
some players you like, you know, it's almost an idiot test.
You cannot do well, but you can certainly mess it
up right. And then in some of the skills we
talked about it, it's funny that the punter, you know,
you yoked up, you know, pounded out twenty four bench
bench presses and and Tristan Worth is a guy that
I was looking at, and I believe now what I saw.
I also another thing you see, Alex is the depth
(26:50):
at certain positions. And I think this is very important. Okay.
There seems to be a good amount of offensive lineman
in the first round. Okay, I've seen a few that
have been talked about. Works is not the only one, okay.
So that's good if you are a team that is
looking to build in the trenches. And I hope my
Jets are the other thing I saw, Alex, I've seen
(27:12):
some mock drafts where my Jets, among others, are looking
to go wide out in the first round. And correct
me if I'm wrong, Alex, but what I've seen is
that the wide position, wide receiver position is stacked coming
out of this draft. I've seen reports that they may
be as many as twenty wide receivers taken in the
(27:33):
first couple of rounds of the draft coming up next
month in April. And I think that makes sense. Okay,
I think that makes sense now because teams, it's a
passing league. We are moving into your running out three
wide sets a lot. You need that slight that slot receiver.
And to be quite honest, because the free agency market
this year at wide out is thin, you know, since
(27:54):
I've been gone. Correct me if I'm wrong, Alex, But
it looks like the Bengals franchise A J. Green. They
were talking, right, it looks like they'm gonna franchise a J. Green.
I thought he was a guy that might be on
the move Amar that would leave Amari Cooper as the
next man up in the wide receiver market. But it
seems like Dallas is going to do whatever they need
to buy Hook or by Crook to retain him. Then
what we're talking about Alex is like Robby Anderson right
(28:17):
as like the top of the market. He's gonna get offers,
which means the Jets will probably not be competitive. But
it looks like whether it's Henry Ruggs out of Alabama,
whether it's Jerry Judy all of Alabama, whether it's a
guy like Jefferson out of l s U or Ceedee
Lamb from Oklahoma, it's there are options at the wide
receiver position. Do you think any of these wide receivers
(28:38):
really showed the skills to make you want to I
don't know draft him. At Fantasy. We saw rookie wide
receivers this year in Fantasy make an impact. My Man
john over him. Johnson would be an example. My man
A J. Brown in in in uh Tennessee, dk Metcalf
coming on late in the season with Seattle. I used
(28:59):
to say that I don't like the wide receiver in
year one because it takes some I used to love
the running backs in year one. But maybe with the
passing league and the way schemes are coming to the
NFL people, you know, some of these rookie wideouts may
need to be on some people's radar. I think it's
totally right in that one. But I mean what you said,
it like the league is changing. We're all changing from
like it's a passing league. It's explosive, the offense is
(29:21):
all there. But I'm looking at all these top forty
times and it's like a lot of dbs cornerbas are
up here to safeties. Are you're seeing these players really
shine in like the speed test specific interesting and what's
the you know, is it really that outlandish to expect
maybe a corner will migrate to like a special teams
position or even a slot receiver. Your gunners on puns
(29:44):
those are you know your your special teams coverage? Absolutely.
That's why I think when when it comes to these
drafts and in this combine specifically, teams go in all right,
we need this position. We need this position. But if
we find a diamond in the roof at a totally
outlandis position that we could mold and fit into our system,
why wouldn't you take an vantage of that? Right? Absolutely?
And you know we've been talking about the quarterback position,
um as it relates to the merry go round in
(30:05):
free agency. And now you know, you don't know, maybe
Jamis will be on it. We're hearing buzz about Tom
Brady as well. We already know people like Philip Rivers
are probably moving on, you know. And there's where we've
heard though that Cam may stay in Carolina. You know,
we'll see as the dust settles over the next couple
of weeks. But when we were talking then about the draft, Alex,
remember we talked about toa We talked about, um Justin Herbert,
(30:28):
who I actually think is gonna wind up with the
Los Angeles Chargers, whether that's at the seven pick or
if they trade up, you know, to try and hop Miami.
But um, I'm now hearing a lot of buzz Alex
about Jordan's love. Okay, this kid out of Utah State.
I have even heard comparisons to Patrick Mahomes of all people,
(30:48):
which is probably a little bit too far from me.
As you start laughing, I understand, right, But when we
look at some of these guys Alex Dak Prescott third round,
Russell Wilson third round, you know, second round eyes, it
doesn't have to be the top names that we've heard
about that we've profiled, whether that's the Joe Burrows of
the world, the two is the Herbert's you know, everyone
(31:08):
from like I say, a Jordan's love to a team
that wants to take a chance on Jalen Hurt and
actually have it be that kind of system. With the
mobile quarterback, there are gonna be some fantasy viable quarterbacks
out there as well. And like we've been saying this
whole time, like the combine itself, I for for the record,
I've voted it helps some Okay, yeah, I believe I
agree with that um And to that point, I think
(31:29):
the players take more pride in it, if anything, you know,
they look at it. It's like, oh, I got a
four five on on my care about their Madden rating, maddening.
They want to they want to be, they want to
set a goal for themselves essentially, so it's like, oh,
if I get drafted. Cool. Let me see if I
could beat my own forty time once I make make
a team. Yeah, it sets the precedent, sets the bar,
that kind of thing. I think the combin is becoming
(31:50):
more of a personal player, you know, motivator if anything,
then a team utilizer. Wept like like as a weapon
for a team to use. Said of sort of thing.
That's fair. That's fair. And then I also, you know,
because we're here on the fantasy freestyle here on sports Grade,
we talked about what this means for some of the markets,
right in terms of some of the quarterback in the future.
Is that sort of thing, but at the running back position,
and honestly, Alex was when we talk about fantasy sports
(32:11):
the running back position, that's where rookie running backs can
do work. Okay, these are guys that are going to
get drafted this year. Josh Jacobs help people, right, you know, so, um,
the young running back can be a big piece. There
are two guys that I want stats beat Cipher to
keep an eye on one's cam acres out of Florida State, Alex.
(32:33):
This guy is a mini mouse piece of nothing, but
he can burn and I think he can be that
kind of pass catching back in PPR formats that are
very very important. All right, And the next name I
want you guys to know is Jonathan Taylor. Jonathan Taylor
at of Wisconsin. Okay, this guy, in my opinion, You're
gonna hear other backs, alright. You're gonna hear names like J. K.
(32:56):
Dobbings and others, you know, but I believe Jonathan Taylor
um proved himself to be the number one wanting back
in this class. Atta Wisconsin, So we know a lot
of running backs have come from there, ran a very
good forty. This guy is a bigger back Alex Okay,
and he has he showed I think four three speed
or four four speed. There you go running back in
(33:19):
the class. And they thought this guy was a bigger back,
a three down back. But this is a guy who
could carry the load like a Devin Singletarry, like a
you know, Josh Jacobs from this rookie class of this year.
Totally fine, you're right. I mean he's five to two
twenty six, he's got a seventeen reps on the back.
That's a big frame. It's he's very're right, very big frame.
(33:39):
A seven second three cone drill like the guy is
all around the field, and I think you're right, Jonathan
Taylor is is someone we have to have to have
to keep it on, especially because we're looking at running
backs nowadays. Now, how I guess you. I don't want
to use this word, but how disposable are they because
of the injuries? Yeah? They are? You know, teams, I
mean every team is using a committee these days, right
Like there are very very few teams that have the
(34:02):
quote unquote workhorse back anymore. And I completely agree with you, Okay,
I can. I don't know, maybe in in Carolina, in
Dallas with the Giants and the Jets, maybe one or
two others around the NFL. Otherwise they're going at it
by committee. And so what I want to do is,
you know, you gotta look at the roles these guys
(34:24):
will play. There are gonna be some pass catching backs. Okay,
that starts slow, but then you know, come on, at
the end of the season. Look at what Devin Singletary
and Buffalo did towards the end of the season. Look
what Miles Sanders for Philadelphia did towards the end of
the season. Okay, So you want to keep an eye
on these guys as the draft buzz continues. What's up? Point, Um,
(34:44):
we saw like you look like Derrick Henry, the big
guy powerhouse dominated the league postseason. He was like the
face of running backs, say towards the end of the season,
is the idea that running backs need to have hands
becoming a necessity? Like are we seeing like obviously I
just said Eric Henry, you know, to control the playoffs?
He was the power running back. That's what are we
(35:05):
gonna see eventually the point where every running back has
to be able to catch the ball? I believe so.
I believe so. But and here's the thing though, to
a point, right, because the other thing we said previously, Alex,
is that every team is going with a committee these days. Right.
And so it's fine if one member of the committee
is that kind of third and one goal line in
(35:27):
between the tackles guy, Right, But I think more and
more you need to be versatile because I remember back
in the day with the Jets, they used to have
Chris Ivory, you remember him, Alex. He was a he
was a yeah, he was a pounder kind of back, right,
And they also had Ladanian Tomlinson. And it was obvious
to opponents that when Ladanian was in, it was gonna
(35:49):
be a pass or they might use him out of
the backfield. When Ivory was in, they knew it was
going to be more ground than pound, more punch you
in the mouth. So what I believe teams need to
do is everyone needs to be able to do everything. Now,
it's kind of in the NBA. You need to be
able to switch on all screens, you know what I mean,
And here you need players that can do everything so
(36:10):
that it's not a tell for the defense. Right quarterbacks
are reading the matchups and stuff. Defenses are doing the same,
and I think that, to your point, is very important.
You need the jack of all trades. They are in
the backfield, so it is not a tell for the defense.
So you know, safeties don't start to walk down and
things of that nature. But Alex, what you know, what
were some of the big takeaways for you from the combine?
(36:31):
Quite honest, Yeah, I was just gonna say, it really
is the punter um, you know, being the leader in
the bench press. But to that point, like I said
earlier in the show, it's more for the player's benefits.
So my biggest takeaway is that the combine is becoming
a player motivator. So as a punter, you're sitting yourself.
I just led the class in bench press What does
that mean for the career. I'm just gonna be the
(36:52):
guy who punts balls down. I'm gonna prove something as
a punter who not only lead the entire draft class
in bench presses, but I'm also going to be a
motivator on the field. I'm gonna do, you know, the
best punting that I can. Maybe they'll become a field
goal kicker. To who I think it's more of a
player personal motivator if anything. All right, Well, we learned
a lot about some of the players, and then we
(37:12):
are going to you know, the new league year will start.
The merry round will continue. When we come back on
the other side of the break, I get caught up
on the XFL. We're talking a little bit about where
I was the last week, and I have come on back.
Fantasy Freestyle Daily Rhodo dot Com learned from the game's
best DFS players. We don't just give you premier advice.
(37:35):
We play every day, all major sports, all year round.
We never stopped industry leading DFS tools and custom projections,
and now the Daily Roado dot Com Optimized in minutes building,
optimize line up for cast games and turneys learned from
the game's best DFS players joined daily Rodo dot com.
(38:08):
You know what it is, Fantasy Freestyle back in the building.
It's been Statistician is back. We'll talk a little bit
about hashtag Jamaican me Martinez in a little bit. You
got some picks. Yes, people dancing, having a good old time.
I'm glad the stats over beat Stiffer is sticking with
me as we return. I ain't going anywhere for a while,
so right here you'll catch me on Fantasy Freestyle, on
(38:29):
the early Line, and right here on sports Grid. Alex,
I want to talk about the xfl um because, first
of all, we've been talking about this for a while.
The Unders, it seems like, continue to reign supreme in
the betting markets, so much so that now the totals
are coming down. I mean I'm seeing totals of thirty seven,
thirty nine this week expected exactly. So it is interesting
(38:50):
that Unders are still reigning supreme. And I got a
question for you, Alex. You know how I've been on
the Houston Roughnecks. Remember this, I said, this is what
you're getting. They were my team. They were at plus
five fifty to win the championship when I got them
at Week one. They are now plus one and the favorites.
Remember what I also said, Alex that I thought this
(39:11):
was driven by the to the dual threat, dynamic quarterback
play of p J. Walker. Let me ask you this,
do you think p J Walker gets signed by an
NFL team? Is he on the merry go round as well?
For example, the Chicago Bears, what if they needed a
(39:33):
low risk option to try to push Mitchell Trabinsky. What
about Miami if they lose out in the two sweep
Steaks and they want to kick the can down the road.
What about Tennessee if they don't get Tom Brady, if
they don't want to spend the money to franchise Tannehill.
Do you think p J. Walker is on an NFL
(39:54):
roster next season? So so you go four and in
the XFL. That's all it takes to get to the NFL.
I mean, this dude is the m v P of
the league. You're absolutely right, he has. He has a
case for it. The only thing to counter that is
what is it gonna look like? Two fans if the
NFL has to dig into the XFL's best team roster
to get a quarterback, is that I mean there were
(40:15):
guys from the A A F that then latched onto
the NFL. Does that speak more for the free agency
the NFL? Does that speak more for the XFL that
the talent is there? It's a valid point. We'll find out, Okay,
But here's what I want to know. What has happened
in the last week because I remember that Matt McLoyd
popped off with all access on the microphone and he
was no longer a starter, right, But it sounds like
we've had some other transitions, like in Dallas we have
(40:36):
a new starter as well. Landry Jones is gone. I'm
looking at it right now. Yeah, it looks like land
he had a couple of injury right. I think he
had an injury as well. So you tell me, because
remember I've been on Houston. I've gotten him, right, So
what do I need to know moving into week five
of the XFL. One thing, I would definitely keep an
eye on DC defenders. They were the powerhouse. I They're
(41:00):
fading right, fading immensely. The week three right before you
left up they got demolished by the Wildcats, and then
when you were getting hitched, they got shut out by
the Vipers. Interesting, So this is a good this is
a good question, right because d C started hot, now
starting to fall off the mat and started fall off
the cliff, defecate the mattress. Right. This week they host
(41:22):
the St. Louis battle Hawks, and the battle Hawks correct
me if I'm wrong, lost Week one, but have won
three straight since then, including I believe like the first
ever kickoff return four touchdown. They got the quarterback Tiamu,
who's starting to do some things there for St. Louis.
But the question is, now DC is back at home.
Do you think St. Louis has built to cover a
(41:43):
four and a half point road? Uh? You know favorite, Well,
actually it was a St. Louis one week one and
they lost Week two. They got they got beat by
everybody got exactly n um. But to that point, d
C is home, as you said, and these are the
two of the best crowd home field advantage team. Really,
(42:04):
d C they get loued for Cardel Jones. D C
they get a Loued for Cardel Jones and St. Louis
they're packing it with thirty thou fans. They're actually gonna
open the second deck and the stadium St. Louis. So
it's like, it's it's amazing how quickly these teams have
have found their their their homes, so to speak, in
the fandom. But I would definitely keep an eye now
that d C is home. Those two losses, those two
blowout losses for d C, we're both on the road
(42:26):
l A and Tampa Bay, two different types of the country.
Now now they're home, actually for home for the next
two weeks and their home and they're getting points okay,
So that could be a little bit of an upset.
Special watch out for the DC defenders. And then also Houston,
the team I'm on. You know, they're laying twelve and
a half now, but they are home against Seattle this week,
and you know their total is the only one that's
still up there at forty six. Houston can score okay,
(42:49):
And that's why I was on them. June Jones is
his scheme is doing well. I'll lay the points, okay
until I see otherwise, I will lay the points in
Houston is running it up against everybody about Alex After
this week, we will be halfway done with the XFL season,
all right, so definitely something to keep in mind. All right,
A lot of people are asking me, Alex. You know,
(43:09):
you guys are playing the music and all that fun stuff.
We did have in fact, hashtag jamaking Me Martinez last
weekend and it was a lot of fun. Here's what
I want to do, all right. I want to first
put up there, um and I know I gave you
some pictures, guys. I gave you some pictures for us
to talk about. The first thing is I've been traveling.
I do not have coronavirus. Okay, I know the antidote
(43:32):
for coronavirus. It's red stripe and I had plenty of
those down in Jamaica. It was one of the safest
places for coronavirus. But you know, Alex, they had a
m They had an earthquake there a few weeks ago,
a big one, a seven point seven one, and created
a crazy tsunami between Cuba and Jamaica. And I kid
you not. There was a boat that shipwrecked up on
(43:53):
the beach right by the place where we were doing
our wedding. It just added to the festivities and it
looks beautiful there. Ye, shipwrecked boat right there on the beach.
It was a great landmark. So that was beautiful sitting
that literally arrived there about a month and a half
ago and it's just been so there we go. That's
good stuff, right, And then here's what else happened checks
weather related. I thought you could take that off the
(44:14):
screen now. And then um, there was a big it
looked cloudy. Bro it was cloudy and rainy in the morning,
and I was like, oh, wedding day, what are you
dinna do? Right? But its beautiful. It brightened up literally
right before we were going to start our wedding. It
turned out to be perfect. Um, the people weren't too hot,
you know, because it wasn't ninety degrees all day, and
it really broke out beautiful. So here's some of the
(44:36):
setting right. Put up the arch, you know, so this
is where we were when we got married. We're walking
on there, so that happened. To take that down. Then
you can see me and my mom walking down the aisle.
You can show yeah, yeah, so I'm looking good at
my suspenders making a pop, right, and then there you go,
and then after it you can show, uh, you know,
show whatever you want. Um, yep, there's a beautiful sunset
(44:57):
starting to come on out. And then show me and
my eighty you can show me and my lady that's
us that the rehearsal dinner, making it pop off with
the red stripe in hand. I'm trying to battle the coronavirus, okay.
And then you know, afterwards, we take some beautiful pictures. Yep,
there you go for the wedding and all that good stuff.
I gotta tell you though, take those but I don't
need to see myself. Take those pictures off. Take those
pictures off. Yep. There we are fantastic, all right, So
(45:20):
as you can see it actually happened. Okay, I got
to ring the show for it, Alex. I'm gonna tell
you something, but you got I was the scariest I've
ever been in my life the day after the wedding.
Really yeah, the day after leading up to it, you know,
because people say you get nervous. I wasn't nervous. I
felt good, I felt ready, were ready to go. It
wasn't a problem. Okay. We're in Jamaica, right So the
(45:41):
next day, um, we're all chilling on the beach. You
know it. Everyone kind of reconvenes again. And uh on
the beach. I go in the water with my you know,
my god daughter, some of my newest nieces and nephews
and some family and all this stuff. I gotta tell
you some than anyone who's been married for a while.
(46:01):
Tell me what to do, Guys, hit me up on
Twitter at spit and speeds. I was petrified of losing
my ring in the ocean, Alex petrified, petrified and because yeah,
and so I'm going in right and you know, it's
like it's not slippery or anything, but you know, it's
it's new for me to be wearing a ring like this, right,
And so I go in. Every time I go under,
(46:23):
I check for it right away. You know, I gotta
check for it right away to make sure that it's
still actually on my damn hand. And it was mortifying.
I was. I was freaking out, bro to the point
where I literally went back in to the sand in
my hotel room put the ring away because I didn't
want it to slip off. And my wife was okay
with this, Bro, I was freaked out. You were worried
(46:45):
she was gonna be upset about it. No, I was
worried that it would fall off and then I'd lose
my damn ring literally twenty four hours after right down
at all. I guess the biggest takeaway here is the
fact that you're lovely now. Wife is not upset that
you're taking your rings now. She tells me she takes
it off sometimes, like when they play, when she plays golf,
or when she's doing certain things like that. And then
it conducted a poll and I meet people on Twitter
(47:06):
on YouTube chat help me out what are you doing
these situations? Like one of these guys, one of my boys,
told me Alex that he what he does. He has
a backup ring, like a little silicone ring or some
cheapie that any day he knows he's going to do
something athletic or something like that, he switches it out
or on a vacation, you know. And that it's commonplace
for people to even take their rings off when they're
(47:27):
showering and things of that nature. I don't know, man,
what do you think is acceptable? I know you're a
couple of years away from this, you know. Yeah, that's
what do you think? What do you think I should do?
From my personal experience? You know what a clotter ring is? Yeah?
I like the iris iron hand. I never take my
clotter ring off. But to that point, a clotter ring
is not a wedding ring. And uh, I was giving
(47:47):
it to my uncle. You know, it's not like you
know how a fiance togain. Yeah, that makes sense. Um
So I think to that point, the wedding ring obviously
takes precedents over anything. And what if I'm gonna be
like playing uh, you know, football flag football on satur.
I personally see nothing wrong with taking it off for
the activity. I mean, hey, you already said it your
your your wife is okay with it, and that's the key.
(48:08):
You know, I'd be I'd be more concerned if you
had to deal with how dare you take your ring off? Everything?
If she was like that, she wouldn't be missing Martinez.
You know what I'm saying. Hold on, we got a
little advice here for you. But do we have all right?
What we got Dane is someone that has been wearing
my ring for almost a year now. Yes, I will
tell you this. When it comes to certain things like
going to the beach, going to the gym, he's like that,
(48:30):
take it off. I can take it off, okay, thank
you are better off leaving it in your room, leaving
it somewhere, leaving somewhere safe. You'll get another little one,
like a backup of b ring that like one of
those silicon ones that could put on just so people
know I'm taking. It's all of yes, you can do
that too, or you know, you could just go to
somebody like, oh, I'm married and I'm happily married. You
(48:52):
can just tell people that if if the subject comes up, listen,
it's all good. Thank you, Thank you for the advice.
Mr Bivona, thank you, thank you. But everybody out there
at spitting speeds, let me know what I need to do,
and I appreciate it. We are in fact back. Here's
what's gonna happen, guys. Okay, next week here on Freestyle,
we're gonna do our Major League Baseball preview, all right, Alex.
(49:12):
So we're gonna go division by division. We're gonna talk
when uh, you know, win loss over unders. We'll talk
division odds. I'll give you diamonds and fool gazes for fantasy.
I'll give you my leans for the m v P
Award to Cy Young Award, all that good stuff. Okay,
and then we turn into March madness the following week,
we're gonna be doing in game live. It's the first
day of the damn tournament. We're gonna make it happen.
(49:35):
But the spitting Statistician is back in the saddle thanks
to the status Beats cipher and all that good warm wishes.
I'm out. I give you everything you need to know
about MLB heading into the season next week on Freestyle.
Come on back, you've been locked here on sports Grid,
I'm out Daily Rhodo dot com learning from the game's
(49:56):
best df best players. We don't just give you premier ice.
We play every day, all major sports, all year round.
We never stop. Industry leading DFS tools and custom projections,
and now the Daily rodo dot Com Optimizer. In minutes,
build an optimized line up for cast games and tourneys.
(50:17):
Learned from the game's best DFS players, joined Daily rodo
dot com
Hey, thanks for downloading the podcast. If you want to
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Enjoy the show, and thanks so much for listening. You
(00:37):
are now about to witness the strength of fantasy knowledge.
You know what it is, speaks to spin statistician to
see pre style. You know what it is. It's your boy,
(01:02):
Dane Martinez, a k a. Speeds a k a to
spitting Statistician a k a to Stable Genius and vocal Minority.
And welcome to another edition of the Fantasy Freestyle right
here on the Sports Grid Network, episode number four hundred
and thirty eight, the four hundred and thirty eight Convening
of the Status of a Beat Cipher, where we help
(01:23):
you win your leagues and win that cash. I do
represent the South South Bronx. I represent all sorts of things. Now,
as you know, I wasn't in here last week. I
am back now, maybe looking a little bit different. We'll
get to that a little bit later on, listen, we
got a lot to talk about. In my stead, my
man Alex Fasano was down there in the pit of misery,
(01:43):
and quite frankly, in this episode, we are gonna get
all caught up together. We're gonna talk about the big
time takeaways, the winners and losers from the NFL combine
last week. Okay, we will update you on what you
need to know for the XFL moving into week five.
Some trends have held true. We'll talk about that. I
also have a couple of interesting stories that you know
(02:03):
are similar to me in the vein of you know,
sports investors. Sports bettors need to really chill the f out. Okay,
you'll win some, you lose some, and when you lose,
the right thing to do is not necessarily go ahead
and troll the athletes or threaten the athletes that were
in that game. This is starting to become a thing.
(02:24):
I'll tell you about that a little bit later on.
My guys down in the pit, we will also be
updating what's going on with the cheating scandal in Major
League Baseball, the Houston Astros, the Buzzers. As you know,
I'm all about hashtag buzz al Tov and the like.
And then yes, we will share a little bit of
where I was the last for the last week, week
(02:44):
and a half, I was down in Jamaica. You may
notice a little bit different. We got something non a
finger right there, so we'll talk about that as well.
So we got a lot to get to and of
course we've got a pole question up for sure, all right,
and that pole question is what are you What are
you learning from the NFL combine? You know, we talked
about it all the time, the Wonderlick test, the bench press,
(03:06):
the forty, this shuttle run. Does it really matter? Do
the interviews matter to teams? Doesn't matter what they look
like in jim shorts and tank tops. Will find out.
But right now we go back down to the pit
when mom man Alex Vassano gets you caught up on
everything here from Scorts broad Come on back, sports grade
(03:29):
news Update. Welcome back the spitting statistician, Dame Martinez. I
am Alex Vassano, here with your sports grade news update
on the Fantasy free Style in the Association. Golden State
Warriors guard Stephen Curry will return Thursday against the Toronto Raptors.
He missed more than four months while recovering from a
(03:52):
broken left hand. The two time m v P tweeted
his excitement about rejoining Golden State after missing the previous
fifty eight games. Curry, who is thirty one years old,
suffered the injury on October thirty when Phoenix Sun center
Aaron Baines fell on Curry's hand after a collision under
the basket. Curry underwent two surgeries to repair the fracture.
(04:14):
Here is a quote from head coach Steve Kerr. This
has been a long, long haul for Steph. He loves
playing so much. I'm happy for us, I'm happy for
our fans, but I'm happiest for Steph. In Major League Baseball,
the Boston Red Sox starter Chris Sale he is not
expected to undergo Tommy John surgery. Sales elbow injury is
still a concern, and it's unknown for how long the
(04:35):
left hander will be sidelined. However, the surgery would have
ended his season before it even began. As the Red
Sox pondered sales future, they gathered several medical opinions. Interim
manager Ron Renicky told reporters earlier on Wednesday that the
team was still waiting to hear from renowned surgeon Dr
Neil a'l eltross and sticking with the association. Last night
(04:55):
we saw some great games. The Mavericks took on the
Pelicans three in oh For time it was Luca versus Zion,
but it was KP Kristaps Porzingis leading the way thirty
four points, twelve rebounds. Nice double double for him. Alonzo
Ball on the other side for the Pelicans, nice double
double twenty five points, eleven rebounds. We also saw the
Trailblazers take down the Wizards one oh four. Hassan Whiteside
(05:18):
led the way for the Blazers twenty four point sixteen rebounds.
Bradley Field for the Wizards led the way with twenty
nine points and six rebounds. You got a full slate
of NHL, NBA and college hoops tonight. Let's look at
the Hockey League because well, my Aisles will be going
to Ottawa to take on the Senators. Aisles are going
to half favorite. The total is five and a half.
(05:39):
We also got the Capitals visiting the New York Rangers
in Madison Square Guarden. The Capitals, you're going to have favorite.
The total is six and a half. And why not
the Dallas Stars taking on the Nashville Predators Stars your
goal and a half favorite. The total is five and
a half. I'm Alex Passano and this has been your
Sports Grid News update. Now back to Dame Martinez on
the Fantasy Fury Style. Thanks a lot, Alex. We're back
(06:04):
here in Studio thirty four making it happen. As I
mentioned before, we got a pull question up right now
on Twitter at spitting Speeds. How much do you learn
from the NFL combine? Right? Does it really matter? Do
you now know who you team, your team wants to draft,
who you want them to draft, who you think you
want to draft in fantasy doesn't help a little bit?
Or is it absolutely nothing? I'll tell you right now,
(06:25):
over two thirds of you think that is what it is.
Alex mentioned a couple of updates. You know, I've been
gone for a little while, but two things that I've
heard over the last twenty four hours that I wanted
to mention real quick. One yesterday Tom Brady and Bill
Belichick had a phone call, had a meeting whatever it was,
and reports are that it did not go well. Okay,
And I think, listen, people, the writing is on the wall.
(06:46):
They're just being coy about it, kind of similar to
Tampa Bay and Jameis Winston. All right, I think they
are just you know, waiting until the new league years starts, right,
and then they're gonna go ahead and announced that yeah
he's out there, or the buck set will announced yeah
they're not gonna go and look to retain Jamis Winston.
It is very very interesting. There have been rumblings for
years now that these guys didn't necessarily getting wrong get
(07:09):
along in New England. I'm talking about right, there was
that big piece that the trainer, Alex Guerrero TB twelve
and the gym's were all involved. But winning, it's a
great deodorant. Winning changes a lot of things. Just go
ask Charlie Sheen for goodness six right, But then all
of a sudden they're not winning anymore. That's when you're
starting to hear the cracks. And to be quite frank,
(07:31):
you know, there were odds up before around where were
these quarterbacks play? And the Tom Brady odds, you know,
continue to change a little bit, they really really do.
And now listen, I hear Tennessee, I hear the Chargers,
I hear the Vegas Raiders. And that's why Alex and
I were doing that kind of quarterback merry go round
with you guys over the last couple of weeks to
(07:52):
see where they may fall. Because if he goes to Tennessee,
what does that mean for Mariota and Tannehill. If he
winds up with the Vegas Raiders, what does that mean
for Derek Carr. But what is interesting is that I
believe these dominoes will start to fall in the next
couple of weeks as the new league year approach approaches.
But the riding is on the wall. In my opinion,
(08:13):
it looks like Tom Brady may in fact go elsewhere
that it's uh, finally time to move on. What will
the Patriots do? What they look at a guy like oh,
I don't know, Jacobe Brissette, who may not have a
starting job if Philip Rivers winds up on the merry ground.
These are things we have to know. The other thing
(08:33):
that may, in fact you'll get news on at the
start of this next league year is the fact that
the NFL is looks like they're gonna ratify a new
CB A possibly okay, the collective Bargaining Agreement. You've heard
everything from you know, the idea of the second by
to the playoff format being seven teams, to the games
out there in London that we appreciate. But here's a
(08:55):
little bit that we haven't talked about too much with
this new cb A. Alex and I don't know if
you've heard this, but they're saying in the new CBA,
the substance abuse policy is going to change in the NFL,
making it clear no player will ever be suspended again
for a positive drug test drug, in this case being marijuana. Now,
(09:19):
I ask you, Fasano, what do you think Josh Gordon
is doing right about now? Dude? Am I allowed to
say it? I mean, yeah, you can say it. But
here's the thing. Honestly, that man has had thousands, if
not millions of dollars, you know, in fines and suspensions
(09:40):
a whole year. Right. We were just talking about the
Browns Lineman a couple of weeks ago, right, Seantrelle Henderson
alignment for the bills. You know, you were getting suspended
as long for weed as you were for punching your
wife or wearing cleats that were not you know, deem
designer and fashionably appropriate. I think it's ridiculous, but it's sound.
It is like they are going to change this now
(10:02):
and kind of remove some of the penalties for the
drug testing. I think it's a good step in the
right direction, especially when you know twenty some odd states
have it legal. What do you think Josh Gordon's thinking
right about now, Alex, I'm thinking he definitely has another
opportunity does come into the league. I mean, he's saying himself,
I've only been suspended for marijuana abuse, and if it's
going to be pushed aside, then what's stopping you guys
from letting me play? But if you think from like
(10:24):
the player's perspective, is this enough to be like, all right,
we're gonna throw our bodies out there for another game
and other, you know, extra week in the playoffs? Is
that enough to be like, hey, give us the marijuana
policy and we'll we'll throw our bodies out there on
the line it helps their injury? I guess sure, profession
you gotta give something to get something, though, Alice, you
gotta give something to get it in negotiations, players, you
(10:45):
know what I mean? Is that enough to them saying huh,
I guess the league's giving us a little something something,
But I don't know it's gonna come down to their
health versus is this going to help it. Absolutely, we'll
keep your eye out on that. As they talk about
the new c b A. There are a lot of
factors in there, everything from revenue air in the TV
to the seventeenth game, to the buys to the London
to the policy on marijuana. So we want to keep
(11:07):
an eye out on that. I also was telling you guys, listen,
it was a bailor basketball game at this point about
a month ago, alright, where um a guy named mac otiges. Alright,
he's like an eight seven percent free throw shooter. They're Baylor,
you know, one of the top teams in the country.
They won this game by They won this game by five,
(11:28):
but they were favored by six. Okay. And Macotige starts
getting death threats, starts getting social media hate okay, and
you know, the head coach starts coming out talking about
this and this idea of what they are going to
have to face. You know, I mean he's getting and
and and the the quote here and some of these
(11:49):
articles are saying that he was getting you know, people
ven mowing him asking for money back because he missed
those two free throws right, and he's saying he didn't
even know what a spread was. He was like, he
won the game, he thought this would be good. But
that's not the worst of it. When we come back,
we're gonna talk about another guy who has literally be
going after something like three hundred different players in college,
(12:11):
in the pros, over in Europe on soccer, and the
man got arrested. We're gonna talk about this, and I
want to find out, Alex, where is the line for
you between heckling trolling, what's appropriate, what's legal, and what's not.
We'll get into that, and then the big time takeaways
from the NFL combine the XFL and more your boys spees.
The spitting Statistician is back. They're playing you know, thematic
(12:31):
music for me, But come on back, it's a fantasy freestop.
Were back in the chair. Daily Rhodo dot Com learned
from the game's best DFS players. We don't just give
you premier advice. We play every day, all major sports,
all year round. We never stopped industry leading DBS tools
(12:51):
and custom projections, and now Daily Rhodo dot Com optimized
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Arnie word from the game's best DFS players, jointed daily
rhado dot Com Fantasy Freestyle right here on the Sports
(13:22):
grid Network Command speeds and spitting statistician back from jommick
Man you know what I mean, and back with a
little piece of jewelry as well. But I was talking
about it before, you know, and you heard it. You
heard it in the commercial break, Okay, my man, Gabe
Morncy talking about it as well. I was talking about
this Baylor game of a couple of weeks back where
Macot you know, and he says, and I quote, it
(13:42):
can really affect the mental health of some players. I'm
an older guy, so it doesn't really affect me. But
we've got younger guys like Jared and Jordan, they're an
eighteen and nineteen years old that might get under their skin.
If they see that on their Instagram, it may affect them,
and who knows, it could force even some guys to
give up basketball. I'm glad they did it to me,
a stronger, older person. It could have really affected someone else.
(14:03):
This is a guy playing college for basket for Baylor,
did not even know what a point spread was his
team won the game, they just didn't cover okay, and
he was getting the vile, the vitriol that we are
now seeing as commonplace. Alex, I want to ask you
because you know you're a millennial, right, and so I
kind of try to compare it to if I'm at
(14:25):
a stadium, I can scream out almost whatever I want. Right, So,
what is the difference in your opinion between maybe a
guy getting heckled at the arena and this kind of
social media trolling that is going on right now, fueled
I guess by the stakes and the investment raised by
sports betting. I think my personal take on this whole thing,
(14:48):
if you're at a sporting event, basketball, soccer, baseball, whatever
you want to be at, you can go as far
as taking it to the player based on their skill. Okay,
you can go, oh, you're the worst first basim I've
ever seen. You have hands, You've got no handles, your
footwork is terrible. The second you bit personal about family,
so like for example, so for example, your throat will
(15:11):
be severed open with a dull knife. Um, your entire
family will be beheaded and burned alive. Just a little behind, Okay,
I will enter your home as you sleep and kill
you just a little past of line. Interesting, interesting, interesting.
I mean I don't know where the line is, right,
(15:33):
I don't know where the line is. But I mentioned
these because you know you've probably heard the story by now.
Gabe is talking to about it on the commercial. I
I threw out the bailer thing as an example, but
these things are continuing, right, And so twenty three year
old New York Or a guy named Ben Pat's a
k a. Parlay Pats, right, He's got something like hundreds
of social media accounts and it is hitting up all
(15:54):
sorts of players with this stuff, like I said, severing
your throat with a dull knife, right, And he is
the funny part. Here's a funny part, Alex. I don't
know if it's funny, but here's the interesting part. To me.
This guy hit a ten team parlay back in December
for one point one million dollars. So what does he
have to complain about if he's missing a bet here
(16:16):
were there? He just had a hit. He hit a
ten team or three months ago for one point one
million f in dollars. Alex, you don't think that would
subside some of the hate. How do they not find
the guy? And actually, like after the minute you you
fought you win a million dollars, don't they swarm you
and trying to find out more about you? Word up?
And he did have his little fifteen moments of fame.
But then they started tracking this and you know, he
(16:38):
he went hard on Julian Edelman over the playoffs. And
here's the thing, ron Kowski, and you're talking about it.
You know, he was going after their wives and girlfriends
and their kids as well, you know. And and in
my younger, non married days, I I said some nonsense
in the stands. I said some stuff that I'm not
pleased with now, you know. But I wonder do you
(17:00):
think it is a different standard, because I believe, you know, people,
these trolls, they hide behind the computer also, you know,
And I believe like when I was doing this back
in the day, I was at least right there, you know,
and they saw me, everyone in the section saw me.
These guys that are not hiding behind the Internet or
hiding behind their handles. I think it's even more weak, Alex,
(17:20):
you know, the generational thing. I mean, look at That's
why I'm asking you about it. Absolutely, you know, I'm
never wanted to go behind a screen and do it.
You know, I'm right there with you. You're gonna say something,
you stand up in you, you say it. I I
face to face like like a man, but or a
woman or woman absolutely or whatever whatever. Um, But you're right.
It's just it's easier nowadays a phone, you know, even uh,
(17:44):
a buzzer in the jersey and things like that to
cheat the system, whether it be against the game or
against players. It's it's it's kind of disrespectful and a
little it is. But here's the other thing, because I
read some of this article, not the not the one
about this guy, the twenty three year old New Yorker,
but back the Bailor kid. You know. Um. Their head
coach is um Scott Drew. You remember his son, Bryce Drew,
(18:05):
you know, from Valpo with a big shot back in
the day, about ten twenty years ago at this point.
But right, he also said this, though players are dealing
with mental illness and anxiety these days, and now they
have more issues to deal with than ever before. Trust me,
college players weren't dealing with anything like this ten or
twenty years ago. Now. Slow down, though, Okay, because I
(18:27):
think this is part and parcel of being an athlete.
Whether it's the college level, maybe okay, you should get
a pass, but at the pro level, like, I don't
care if players are dealing with mental illness and anxiety.
Oh boo hoo. Isn't this part of it? Though? I
understand when I'm going over the line talking about children, family,
blunt knives and whatnot, But isn't it part of the
game to get heckled? You know what you're getting into
(18:50):
what I'm saying, so like, oh, we have to be
gentle with these kids. I don't know if I'm all
the way there yet either, though, Alex, you know what
I mean to me, that's part millennial softness and part
these trolls are just shook and hiding behind the computer.
I think it's really should be something in the middle.
Well yeah, like, like there's one thing being a troll
and there's another thing of being disgusting and disrespectful. I
(19:11):
like being witty, that's the best, you know, and so
how how can you do that? You know in a
way that seven year olds around you or the internet
doesn't understand what you're saying or just kind of laughs
at it. Being you know, disruptive without disrespectful. That's what
I'm going for, you know, So we will see. I
(19:32):
just think it's very interesting. But listen, I deal with
trolls all the time. As you guys know, if you've
been on this network, you have seen and heard the vitriol.
And I just think, you know, especially in this climate
that we're in, we all need to take a damn
chill pill, Okay, and especially this dude. I mean, my
man just is coming off a one point one million
dollar win and now he's facing five years in prison
(19:53):
for some of this nonsense that he's putting online. And
quite frankly, I am completely cool with it. All right,
we do want to move Vaughan to what is actually
happening on the field, and Alex you know, you know
after the Super Bowl, you know, we have a little XFL,
but the NFL is starting to come back into focus
with the new league year happening. We'll get to see
where this free agent quarterback carousel that we have been
(20:15):
talking about, you know, where that pops off. But the
other thing that really happened since I was gone, since
the last convening of the Status over Beat Cipher is
the NFL Combine, Alex. You know, and this is always
interesting to me because you know, you run them out
there in shorts and and under armour, right and they're
doing their bench press and they're doing their forty times.
Nobody had a chance to win an island this year
(20:37):
or anything like that. But the first thing I want
to ask you, and we have the poll question up
because right now, Alex, you know, like seventies some odd percent,
like two thirds of the people believe that you learn
absolutely nothing from the combine. Do you agree with that?
Or are there certain things you can learn? Like maybe
the teams are more interested in the interviews they have,
(20:59):
not the one their lick tests, but the interviews they
have to see if they'll mesh as a culture fit,
you know, Or are there any of the drills out
there where you're like, this can actually tell me something
about their skills. I think what you just said right there,
based on like the the interviews and whatnot, I think nowadays,
because we've seen it every single year, will this forty
dash be broken? No? But it's it's essentially the same time,
(21:19):
and everybody's fast, everybody's skilled, you know, everybody going to
the combine has the talent. You said it focusing on
the interviews maybe coaches. Nowadays, you're gonna start looking at
character and how they portray themselves. You know, we've seen
diva's left and right in any sport take over the
media outlets in the news, and that's what floods timelines.
How about the guy who stays humble and stays quiet
(21:40):
and just wants to play football for the love of
the game. Yeah, I agree with you, Alex. I think
this is less about if you put up a four
three three or a four three six. I think this
is less about if you put it up twenty five
or twenty seven times. I think it is less about, um,
you know your shuttle run. Although obviously, because here's the thing,
these scouts they have mom if not years of tape, right,
(22:02):
and that tape is more than the snapshot of what
you look like against no defenders in a controlled environment. Right.
But what you can start to learn about people is
are these young men? And I mentioned this because the bailor,
you know, one of the bailor kids, he just said,
you know, these are eighteen and nineteen year old. What
I think these teams get a better read on is
is this young man ready to be a professional, right,
(22:26):
because you have to prepare for it, right, So you
should be dominating all the drills at the combine because
you're practicing for it. But when I get you up
on the white board, can you process the information when
I ask you a weird question in an interview? Do
you exhibit leadership? Can you handle it? Or do you
crack the Do you fail the drug test, which in
essence is an idiot test because you know it's coming.
(22:49):
You know it's coming four months, So if you fail that,
then you know, I know they may be changing into
the C B A. But I think it's a you know,
I think it's more of a test on can you
are you ready to be a pro fessional? And I
thought there were some interesting things. We'll talk about it
a little bit now, we'll continue on the other side
of the break. But I have to um stats that
I thought were interesting when it comes to the numbers
(23:11):
that were out there. Right. The first is an offensive
lineman named Tristan Worth's. Okay, this tackle out of Iowa,
and I was talking about this guy a while back. Okay,
I thought this guy had some agility for a tackle,
mobility for a tackle. I saw it on tape when
he pulled around was blocking dudes twenty yards down field.
But check this out, Alex tristan Worth did his vertical jump.
(23:34):
Okay for context A J. Green thirty four and a
half inches, Ceedee Lamb wide receiver thirty four and a
half inches, DeAndre Hopkins thirty six inches, Amari Cooper thirty
three inches. These are wide outs that you need to
catch radius and extend right. Tristan Worth's thirty six and
(23:56):
a half inches. Talk about athleticism right there. He is
a guy that I think is gonna be in the
mix at the when the Jets pick at like ten
or eleven. This is a guy I want right now.
And then you were talking about this also right for context.
Reps on the bench pressed Rob Gronkowski twenty three, Jadeveon
Clowney one, Chandler Jones twenty two. Yeah, Alex. Then this
(24:20):
punter out of Arizona State, Michael Turk, Yeah, he put
it up twenty five yo. But here's my question, does
it matter if you're punter is the most YO guy
in the weight room. I don't know. I don't think
it does. I don't know, but I found those things interesting, Alex.
When we come back on the other side of the break,
(24:41):
I want to hear from you. What did you think
were the biggest takeaways? Who are some people that were
winners or losers at the combine? Will cover all this
and what it means moving forward. We are back. It's
Fantasy Freestyle, me and the status over beat Cipher and
the pit. Dilly Dilly. You know what it is Daily
Rhodo dot Com from the game's best DFS players. We
(25:01):
don't just give you premier advice. We play every day,
all major sports, all year round. We never stopped industry
leading DFS tools and custom projections, and now Daily rodos
dot Com optimized in minutes, building optimized line up for
cash games and turneys learned from the game's best DFS
(25:22):
players joined Daily Roado dot Com. Well my dogs at
a welcome back Fantasy Freestyle. You know what it is
Episode four and thirty eight with smitten statisticians right here
(25:43):
on Sports Grid. Make it happen, Alex. People are lucky man.
After my wedding, I didn't have my voice for like
three days. Bro, I expect you to come back here
with like no voices. I didn't have a voice. I
told Mr Sussman or feeling this leader a couple of
days ago. I was like, yo, man, I got about
like have voice, and I'm on air for like three
or four hours on Thursday day, but you know I'm
coming to post. We always make it happen. We've been
doing it here on Sports Grade for a while. So listen, Alex.
(26:06):
We got this pole question up right now. Sixty of
people right now say the combine does absolutely nothing for them,
thirty one percent say it helps some, and six percent
say I now know who I want. And I don't
think it's absolutely nothing. As I mentioned, I think you
get to read on the maturity and the professionalism on
(26:26):
some players you like, you know, it's almost an idiot test.
You cannot do well, but you can certainly mess it
up right. And then in some of the skills we
talked about it, it's funny that the punter, you know,
you yoked up, you know, pounded out twenty four bench
bench presses and and Tristan Worth is a guy that
I was looking at, and I believe now what I saw.
I also another thing you see, Alex is the depth
(26:50):
at certain positions. And I think this is very important. Okay.
There seems to be a good amount of offensive lineman
in the first round. Okay, I've seen a few that
have been talked about. Works is not the only one, okay.
So that's good if you are a team that is
looking to build in the trenches. And I hope my
Jets are the other thing I saw, Alex, I've seen
(27:12):
some mock drafts where my Jets, among others, are looking
to go wide out in the first round. And correct
me if I'm wrong, Alex, but what I've seen is
that the wide position, wide receiver position is stacked coming
out of this draft. I've seen reports that they may
be as many as twenty wide receivers taken in the
(27:33):
first couple of rounds of the draft coming up next
month in April. And I think that makes sense. Okay,
I think that makes sense now because teams, it's a
passing league. We are moving into your running out three
wide sets a lot. You need that slight that slot receiver.
And to be quite honest, because the free agency market
this year at wide out is thin, you know, since
(27:54):
I've been gone. Correct me if I'm wrong, Alex, But
it looks like the Bengals franchise A J. Green. They
were talking, right, it looks like they'm gonna franchise a J. Green.
I thought he was a guy that might be on
the move Amar that would leave Amari Cooper as the
next man up in the wide receiver market. But it
seems like Dallas is going to do whatever they need
to buy Hook or by Crook to retain him. Then
what we're talking about Alex is like Robby Anderson right
(28:17):
as like the top of the market. He's gonna get offers,
which means the Jets will probably not be competitive. But
it looks like whether it's Henry Ruggs out of Alabama,
whether it's Jerry Judy all of Alabama, whether it's a
guy like Jefferson out of l s U or Ceedee
Lamb from Oklahoma, it's there are options at the wide
receiver position. Do you think any of these wide receivers
(28:38):
really showed the skills to make you want to I
don't know draft him. At Fantasy. We saw rookie wide
receivers this year in Fantasy make an impact. My Man
john over him. Johnson would be an example. My man
A J. Brown in in in uh Tennessee, dk Metcalf
coming on late in the season with Seattle. I used
(28:59):
to say that I don't like the wide receiver in
year one because it takes some I used to love
the running backs in year one. But maybe with the
passing league and the way schemes are coming to the
NFL people, you know, some of these rookie wideouts may
need to be on some people's radar. I think it's
totally right in that one. But I mean what you said,
it like the league is changing. We're all changing from
like it's a passing league. It's explosive, the offense is
(29:21):
all there. But I'm looking at all these top forty
times and it's like a lot of dbs cornerbas are
up here to safeties. Are you're seeing these players really
shine in like the speed test specific interesting and what's
the you know, is it really that outlandish to expect
maybe a corner will migrate to like a special teams
position or even a slot receiver. Your gunners on puns
(29:44):
those are you know your your special teams coverage? Absolutely.
That's why I think when when it comes to these
drafts and in this combine specifically, teams go in all right,
we need this position. We need this position. But if
we find a diamond in the roof at a totally
outlandis position that we could mold and fit into our system,
why wouldn't you take an vantage of that? Right? Absolutely?
And you know we've been talking about the quarterback position,
um as it relates to the merry go round in
(30:05):
free agency. And now you know, you don't know, maybe
Jamis will be on it. We're hearing buzz about Tom
Brady as well. We already know people like Philip Rivers
are probably moving on, you know. And there's where we've
heard though that Cam may stay in Carolina. You know,
we'll see as the dust settles over the next couple
of weeks. But when we were talking then about the draft, Alex,
remember we talked about toa We talked about, um Justin Herbert,
(30:28):
who I actually think is gonna wind up with the
Los Angeles Chargers, whether that's at the seven pick or
if they trade up, you know, to try and hop Miami.
But um, I'm now hearing a lot of buzz Alex
about Jordan's love. Okay, this kid out of Utah State.
I have even heard comparisons to Patrick Mahomes of all people,
(30:48):
which is probably a little bit too far from me.
As you start laughing, I understand, right, But when we
look at some of these guys Alex Dak Prescott third round,
Russell Wilson third round, you know, second round eyes, it
doesn't have to be the top names that we've heard
about that we've profiled, whether that's the Joe Burrows of
the world, the two is the Herbert's you know, everyone
(31:08):
from like I say, a Jordan's love to a team
that wants to take a chance on Jalen Hurt and
actually have it be that kind of system. With the
mobile quarterback, there are gonna be some fantasy viable quarterbacks
out there as well. And like we've been saying this
whole time, like the combine itself, I for for the record,
I've voted it helps some Okay, yeah, I believe I
agree with that um And to that point, I think
(31:29):
the players take more pride in it, if anything, you know,
they look at it. It's like, oh, I got a
four five on on my care about their Madden rating, maddening.
They want to they want to be, they want to
set a goal for themselves essentially, so it's like, oh,
if I get drafted. Cool. Let me see if I
could beat my own forty time once I make make
a team. Yeah, it sets the precedent, sets the bar,
that kind of thing. I think the combin is becoming
(31:50):
more of a personal player, you know, motivator if anything,
then a team utilizer. Wept like like as a weapon
for a team to use. Said of sort of thing.
That's fair. That's fair. And then I also, you know,
because we're here on the fantasy freestyle here on sports Grade,
we talked about what this means for some of the markets,
right in terms of some of the quarterback in the future.
Is that sort of thing, but at the running back position,
and honestly, Alex was when we talk about fantasy sports
(32:11):
the running back position, that's where rookie running backs can
do work. Okay, these are guys that are going to
get drafted this year. Josh Jacobs help people, right, you know, so, um,
the young running back can be a big piece. There
are two guys that I want stats beat Cipher to
keep an eye on one's cam acres out of Florida State, Alex.
(32:33):
This guy is a mini mouse piece of nothing, but
he can burn and I think he can be that
kind of pass catching back in PPR formats that are
very very important. All right, And the next name I
want you guys to know is Jonathan Taylor. Jonathan Taylor
at of Wisconsin. Okay, this guy, in my opinion, You're
gonna hear other backs, alright. You're gonna hear names like J. K.
(32:56):
Dobbings and others, you know, but I believe Jonathan Taylor
um proved himself to be the number one wanting back
in this class. Atta Wisconsin, So we know a lot
of running backs have come from there, ran a very
good forty. This guy is a bigger back Alex Okay,
and he has he showed I think four three speed
or four four speed. There you go running back in
(33:19):
the class. And they thought this guy was a bigger back,
a three down back. But this is a guy who
could carry the load like a Devin Singletarry, like a
you know, Josh Jacobs from this rookie class of this year.
Totally fine, you're right. I mean he's five to two
twenty six, he's got a seventeen reps on the back.
That's a big frame. It's he's very're right, very big frame.
(33:39):
A seven second three cone drill like the guy is
all around the field, and I think you're right, Jonathan
Taylor is is someone we have to have to have
to keep it on, especially because we're looking at running
backs nowadays. Now, how I guess you. I don't want
to use this word, but how disposable are they because
of the injuries? Yeah? They are? You know, teams, I
mean every team is using a committee these days, right
Like there are very very few teams that have the
(34:02):
quote unquote workhorse back anymore. And I completely agree with you, Okay,
I can. I don't know, maybe in in Carolina, in
Dallas with the Giants and the Jets, maybe one or
two others around the NFL. Otherwise they're going at it
by committee. And so what I want to do is,
you know, you gotta look at the roles these guys
(34:24):
will play. There are gonna be some pass catching backs. Okay,
that starts slow, but then you know, come on, at
the end of the season. Look at what Devin Singletary
and Buffalo did towards the end of the season. Look
what Miles Sanders for Philadelphia did towards the end of
the season. Okay, So you want to keep an eye
on these guys as the draft buzz continues. What's up? Point, Um,
(34:44):
we saw like you look like Derrick Henry, the big
guy powerhouse dominated the league postseason. He was like the
face of running backs, say towards the end of the season,
is the idea that running backs need to have hands
becoming a necessity? Like are we seeing like obviously I
just said Eric Henry, you know, to control the playoffs?
He was the power running back. That's what are we
(35:05):
gonna see eventually the point where every running back has
to be able to catch the ball? I believe so.
I believe so. But and here's the thing though, to
a point, right, because the other thing we said previously, Alex,
is that every team is going with a committee these days. Right.
And so it's fine if one member of the committee
is that kind of third and one goal line in
(35:27):
between the tackles guy, Right, But I think more and
more you need to be versatile because I remember back
in the day with the Jets, they used to have
Chris Ivory, you remember him, Alex. He was a he
was a yeah, he was a pounder kind of back, right,
And they also had Ladanian Tomlinson. And it was obvious
to opponents that when Ladanian was in, it was gonna
(35:49):
be a pass or they might use him out of
the backfield. When Ivory was in, they knew it was
going to be more ground than pound, more punch you
in the mouth. So what I believe teams need to
do is everyone needs to be able to do everything. Now,
it's kind of in the NBA. You need to be
able to switch on all screens, you know what I mean,
And here you need players that can do everything so
(36:10):
that it's not a tell for the defense. Right quarterbacks
are reading the matchups and stuff. Defenses are doing the same,
and I think that, to your point, is very important.
You need the jack of all trades. They are in
the backfield, so it is not a tell for the defense.
So you know, safeties don't start to walk down and
things of that nature. But Alex, what you know, what
were some of the big takeaways for you from the combine?
(36:31):
Quite honest, Yeah, I was just gonna say, it really
is the punter um, you know, being the leader in
the bench press. But to that point, like I said
earlier in the show, it's more for the player's benefits.
So my biggest takeaway is that the combine is becoming
a player motivator. So as a punter, you're sitting yourself.
I just led the class in bench press What does
that mean for the career. I'm just gonna be the
(36:52):
guy who punts balls down. I'm gonna prove something as
a punter who not only lead the entire draft class
in bench presses, but I'm also going to be a
motivator on the field. I'm gonna do, you know, the
best punting that I can. Maybe they'll become a field
goal kicker. To who I think it's more of a
player personal motivator if anything. All right, Well, we learned
a lot about some of the players, and then we
(37:12):
are going to you know, the new league year will start.
The merry round will continue. When we come back on
the other side of the break, I get caught up
on the XFL. We're talking a little bit about where
I was the last week, and I have come on back.
Fantasy Freestyle Daily Rhodo dot Com learned from the game's
best DFS players. We don't just give you premier advice.
(37:35):
We play every day, all major sports, all year round.
We never stopped industry leading DFS tools and custom projections,
and now the Daily Roado dot Com Optimized in minutes building,
optimize line up for cast games and turneys learned from
the game's best DFS players joined daily Rodo dot com.
(38:08):
You know what it is, Fantasy Freestyle back in the building.
It's been Statistician is back. We'll talk a little bit
about hashtag Jamaican me Martinez in a little bit. You
got some picks. Yes, people dancing, having a good old time.
I'm glad the stats over beat Stiffer is sticking with
me as we return. I ain't going anywhere for a while,
so right here you'll catch me on Fantasy Freestyle, on
(38:29):
the early Line, and right here on sports Grid. Alex,
I want to talk about the xfl um because, first
of all, we've been talking about this for a while.
The Unders, it seems like, continue to reign supreme in
the betting markets, so much so that now the totals
are coming down. I mean I'm seeing totals of thirty seven,
thirty nine this week expected exactly. So it is interesting
(38:50):
that Unders are still reigning supreme. And I got a
question for you, Alex. You know how I've been on
the Houston Roughnecks. Remember this, I said, this is what
you're getting. They were my team. They were at plus
five fifty to win the championship when I got them
at Week one. They are now plus one and the favorites.
Remember what I also said, Alex that I thought this
(39:11):
was driven by the to the dual threat, dynamic quarterback
play of p J. Walker. Let me ask you this,
do you think p J Walker gets signed by an
NFL team? Is he on the merry go round as well?
For example, the Chicago Bears, what if they needed a
(39:33):
low risk option to try to push Mitchell Trabinsky. What
about Miami if they lose out in the two sweep
Steaks and they want to kick the can down the road.
What about Tennessee if they don't get Tom Brady, if
they don't want to spend the money to franchise Tannehill.
Do you think p J. Walker is on an NFL
(39:54):
roster next season? So so you go four and in
the XFL. That's all it takes to get to the NFL.
I mean, this dude is the m v P of
the league. You're absolutely right, he has. He has a
case for it. The only thing to counter that is
what is it gonna look like? Two fans if the
NFL has to dig into the XFL's best team roster
to get a quarterback, is that I mean there were
(40:15):
guys from the A A F that then latched onto
the NFL. Does that speak more for the free agency
the NFL? Does that speak more for the XFL that
the talent is there? It's a valid point. We'll find out, Okay,
But here's what I want to know. What has happened
in the last week because I remember that Matt McLoyd
popped off with all access on the microphone and he
was no longer a starter, right, But it sounds like
we've had some other transitions, like in Dallas we have
(40:36):
a new starter as well. Landry Jones is gone. I'm
looking at it right now. Yeah, it looks like land
he had a couple of injury right. I think he
had an injury as well. So you tell me, because
remember I've been on Houston. I've gotten him, right, So
what do I need to know moving into week five
of the XFL. One thing, I would definitely keep an
eye on DC defenders. They were the powerhouse. I They're
(41:00):
fading right, fading immensely. The week three right before you
left up they got demolished by the Wildcats, and then
when you were getting hitched, they got shut out by
the Vipers. Interesting, So this is a good this is
a good question, right because d C started hot, now
starting to fall off the mat and started fall off
the cliff, defecate the mattress. Right. This week they host
(41:22):
the St. Louis battle Hawks, and the battle Hawks correct
me if I'm wrong, lost Week one, but have won
three straight since then, including I believe like the first
ever kickoff return four touchdown. They got the quarterback Tiamu,
who's starting to do some things there for St. Louis.
But the question is, now DC is back at home.
Do you think St. Louis has built to cover a
(41:43):
four and a half point road? Uh? You know favorite, Well,
actually it was a St. Louis one week one and
they lost Week two. They got they got beat by
everybody got exactly n um. But to that point, d
C is home, as you said, and these are the
two of the best crowd home field advantage team. Really,
(42:04):
d C they get loued for Cardel Jones. D C
they get a Loued for Cardel Jones and St. Louis
they're packing it with thirty thou fans. They're actually gonna
open the second deck and the stadium St. Louis. So
it's like, it's it's amazing how quickly these teams have
have found their their their homes, so to speak, in
the fandom. But I would definitely keep an eye now
that d C is home. Those two losses, those two
blowout losses for d C, we're both on the road
(42:26):
l A and Tampa Bay, two different types of the country.
Now now they're home, actually for home for the next
two weeks and their home and they're getting points okay,
So that could be a little bit of an upset.
Special watch out for the DC defenders. And then also Houston,
the team I'm on. You know, they're laying twelve and
a half now, but they are home against Seattle this week,
and you know their total is the only one that's
still up there at forty six. Houston can score okay,
(42:49):
And that's why I was on them. June Jones is
his scheme is doing well. I'll lay the points, okay
until I see otherwise, I will lay the points in
Houston is running it up against everybody about Alex After
this week, we will be halfway done with the XFL season,
all right, so definitely something to keep in mind. All right,
A lot of people are asking me, Alex. You know,
(43:09):
you guys are playing the music and all that fun stuff.
We did have in fact, hashtag jamaking Me Martinez last
weekend and it was a lot of fun. Here's what
I want to do, all right. I want to first
put up there, um and I know I gave you
some pictures, guys. I gave you some pictures for us
to talk about. The first thing is I've been traveling.
I do not have coronavirus. Okay, I know the antidote
(43:32):
for coronavirus. It's red stripe and I had plenty of
those down in Jamaica. It was one of the safest
places for coronavirus. But you know, Alex, they had a
m They had an earthquake there a few weeks ago,
a big one, a seven point seven one, and created
a crazy tsunami between Cuba and Jamaica. And I kid
you not. There was a boat that shipwrecked up on
(43:53):
the beach right by the place where we were doing
our wedding. It just added to the festivities and it
looks beautiful there. Ye, shipwrecked boat right there on the beach.
It was a great landmark. So that was beautiful sitting
that literally arrived there about a month and a half
ago and it's just been so there we go. That's
good stuff, right, And then here's what else happened checks
weather related. I thought you could take that off the
(44:14):
screen now. And then um, there was a big it
looked cloudy. Bro it was cloudy and rainy in the morning,
and I was like, oh, wedding day, what are you
dinna do? Right? But its beautiful. It brightened up literally
right before we were going to start our wedding. It
turned out to be perfect. Um, the people weren't too hot,
you know, because it wasn't ninety degrees all day, and
it really broke out beautiful. So here's some of the
(44:36):
setting right. Put up the arch, you know, so this
is where we were when we got married. We're walking
on there, so that happened. To take that down. Then
you can see me and my mom walking down the aisle.
You can show yeah, yeah, so I'm looking good at
my suspenders making a pop, right, and then there you go,
and then after it you can show, uh, you know,
show whatever you want. Um, yep, there's a beautiful sunset
(44:57):
starting to come on out. And then show me and
my eighty you can show me and my lady that's
us that the rehearsal dinner, making it pop off with
the red stripe in hand. I'm trying to battle the coronavirus, okay.
And then you know, afterwards, we take some beautiful pictures. Yep,
there you go for the wedding and all that good stuff.
I gotta tell you though, take those but I don't
need to see myself. Take those pictures off. Take those
pictures off. Yep. There we are fantastic, all right, So
(45:20):
as you can see it actually happened. Okay, I got
to ring the show for it, Alex. I'm gonna tell
you something, but you got I was the scariest I've
ever been in my life the day after the wedding.
Really yeah, the day after leading up to it, you know,
because people say you get nervous. I wasn't nervous. I
felt good, I felt ready, were ready to go. It
wasn't a problem. Okay. We're in Jamaica, right So the
(45:41):
next day, um, we're all chilling on the beach. You
know it. Everyone kind of reconvenes again. And uh on
the beach. I go in the water with my you know,
my god daughter, some of my newest nieces and nephews
and some family and all this stuff. I gotta tell
you some than anyone who's been married for a while.
(46:01):
Tell me what to do, Guys, hit me up on
Twitter at spit and speeds. I was petrified of losing
my ring in the ocean, Alex petrified, petrified and because yeah,
and so I'm going in right and you know, it's
like it's not slippery or anything, but you know, it's
it's new for me to be wearing a ring like this, right,
And so I go in. Every time I go under,
(46:23):
I check for it right away. You know, I gotta
check for it right away to make sure that it's
still actually on my damn hand. And it was mortifying.
I was. I was freaking out, bro to the point
where I literally went back in to the sand in
my hotel room put the ring away because I didn't
want it to slip off. And my wife was okay
with this, Bro, I was freaked out. You were worried
(46:45):
she was gonna be upset about it. No, I was
worried that it would fall off and then I'd lose
my damn ring literally twenty four hours after right down
at all. I guess the biggest takeaway here is the
fact that you're lovely now. Wife is not upset that
you're taking your rings now. She tells me she takes
it off sometimes, like when they play, when she plays golf,
or when she's doing certain things like that. And then
it conducted a poll and I meet people on Twitter
(47:06):
on YouTube chat help me out what are you doing
these situations? Like one of these guys, one of my boys,
told me Alex that he what he does. He has
a backup ring, like a little silicone ring or some
cheapie that any day he knows he's going to do
something athletic or something like that, he switches it out
or on a vacation, you know. And that it's commonplace
for people to even take their rings off when they're
(47:27):
showering and things of that nature. I don't know, man,
what do you think is acceptable? I know you're a
couple of years away from this, you know. Yeah, that's
what do you think? What do you think I should do?
From my personal experience? You know what a clotter ring is? Yeah?
I like the iris iron hand. I never take my
clotter ring off. But to that point, a clotter ring
is not a wedding ring. And uh, I was giving
(47:47):
it to my uncle. You know, it's not like you
know how a fiance togain. Yeah, that makes sense. Um
So I think to that point, the wedding ring obviously
takes precedents over anything. And what if I'm gonna be
like playing uh, you know, football flag football on satur.
I personally see nothing wrong with taking it off for
the activity. I mean, hey, you already said it your
your your wife is okay with it, and that's the key.
(48:08):
You know, I'd be I'd be more concerned if you
had to deal with how dare you take your ring off? Everything?
If she was like that, she wouldn't be missing Martinez.
You know what I'm saying. Hold on, we got a
little advice here for you. But do we have all right?
What we got Dane is someone that has been wearing
my ring for almost a year now. Yes, I will
tell you this. When it comes to certain things like
going to the beach, going to the gym, he's like that,
(48:30):
take it off. I can take it off, okay, thank
you are better off leaving it in your room, leaving
it somewhere, leaving somewhere safe. You'll get another little one,
like a backup of b ring that like one of
those silicon ones that could put on just so people
know I'm taking. It's all of yes, you can do
that too, or you know, you could just go to
somebody like, oh, I'm married and I'm happily married. You
(48:52):
can just tell people that if if the subject comes up, listen,
it's all good. Thank you, Thank you for the advice.
Mr Bivona, thank you, thank you. But everybody out there
at spitting speeds, let me know what I need to do,
and I appreciate it. We are in fact back. Here's
what's gonna happen, guys. Okay, next week here on Freestyle,
we're gonna do our Major League Baseball preview, all right, Alex.
(49:12):
So we're gonna go division by division. We're gonna talk
when uh, you know, win loss over unders. We'll talk
division odds. I'll give you diamonds and fool gazes for fantasy.
I'll give you my leans for the m v P
Award to Cy Young Award, all that good stuff. Okay,
and then we turn into March madness the following week,
we're gonna be doing in game live. It's the first
day of the damn tournament. We're gonna make it happen.
(49:35):
But the spitting Statistician is back in the saddle thanks
to the status Beats cipher and all that good warm wishes.
I'm out. I give you everything you need to know
about MLB heading into the season next week on Freestyle.
Come on back, you've been locked here on sports Grid,
I'm out Daily Rhodo dot com learning from the game's
(49:56):
best df best players. We don't just give you premier ice.
We play every day, all major sports, all year round.
We never stop. Industry leading DFS tools and custom projections,
and now the Daily rodo dot Com Optimizer. In minutes,
build an optimized line up for cast games and tourneys.
(50:17):
Learned from the game's best DFS players, joined Daily rodo
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