correct.

I was going to say the big takeaway is that the best place to pick this year is number two overall, right? Because Jameer Gibbs and B.

John Robinson is a good argument.

You could argue for either of them as the lawyer in court.

Probably too much lawyer talk in sports recently with this Clippers situation.

But I have no issue with...

So I personally have Bijan ranked one spot ahead of Jameer Gibbs, one and two.

Am I kidding myself? Am I looking at the

Am I kidding myself? Am I looking at the

logic? Yeah, no, no.

That's I mean, one of the things I try to remind people that play fantasy football that aren't novices.

Like if you have a minimum sort of baseline of football knowledge, you're going to be OK.

And it's your team.

Like you should follow your logic in your process.

No team.

Some guys that maybe people aren't thinking about that you think are going to have big seasons.

Yeah

... who are being drafted well ahead of him.

And CeeDee Lamb, understandably so.

CeeDee Lamb is an absolute rock star.

It was kind of a weird season for CeeDee last year.

But Parker Washington was awesome last season down the stretch, and he actually was helped when Jakobi Meyers was on the field.

So if one of your arguments against Parker Washington is, hey, lots of mouths to feed, Travis Hunter and Brian Thomas Jr., and Jakobi Meyers, well, he was a more efficient player when Jakobi Meyers was on the field versus off the field with Parker Washington.

But I know he's a sleeper for you this year.

And, Theo, in your mind, what's the best part of fantasy football, the best type of play that you can do in fantasy football?

Well, I will be sappy for a second and answer that question in a slightly different way.

But you guys, like your family might be a microcosm of this.

Obviously, you guys have a very close-knit family, but you are now spread out all over the country, right? You've got three children.

They're all over the place.

They're in different parts of the country at different phases of life.

Fantasy football is one of the ways in which I can kind of reconnect every year with a lot of different circles of my life, right? I've got a league with my high school buddies, a league with my college buddies, a league with my friends from around town.

Who would be a better fantasy quarterback for people if he were to start, Tua or Penix?

Who's out there that you're saying in the middle of the draft you can get?

Yeah, I've got a lot of different options there, but George Kittle is the player that I think right now is ...

And he could be s- just spiking up draft boards soon.

But Kittle in a different year, in a healthy year, we'd be talking about him as a top three tight end.

Because of the Achilles tear suffered in the playoffs this past season, we weren't talking about George Kittle in that way at all for much of the off-season.

He is now back at practice.

No way this guy is a human.

[laughs]

Can you justify that? Or is it Ja'Marr Chase, this is the answer, take him if he's there over Nacua?

Yeah, Courtney, at the top, you have a lot of these debates where it's like, if you hired me as the, the lawyer for either player, I could argue both for and against them.

In the case of Ja'Marr Chase versus Puka Nacua, I'm hedging a little bit on the possibility of Puka being suspended, which Adam Schefter has been reporting that if it does happen, it doesn't sound like one of significant length.

Maybe a one or two game ban would be my sort of takeaway from hearing that for Nacua if it does happen.

But you gotta bake that into the, to the evaluation right now because if you had seventeen-- if you had the chance for seventeen games from Ja'Marr Chase, that to me is better than the chance of sixteen games of Puka Nacua.

Chase has just been so remarkably consistent for a larger sample size, that if you're looking for an easy way to justify it over Puka Nacua, you could do so through that lens.

I would say this, though.

But continue.

Can you justify that? Or is it Ja'Marr Chase, this is the answer, take him if he's there over Nacua?

Yeah, Courtney, at the top you have a lot of these debates where it's like, if you hired me as the, the lawyer for either player, I could argue both for and against them.

In the case of Ja'Marr Chase versus Puka Nacua, I'm hedging a little bit on the possibility of Puka being suspended, which Adam Schefter has been reporting that if it does happen, it doesn't sound like one of significant length.

Maybe a one or two game ban would be my sort of takeaway from hearing that for Nacua, if it does happen.

But you gotta bake that into the, to the evaluation right now, because if you had 17, if you had the chance for 17 games of Ja'Marr Chase, that to me is better than the chance of 16 games of Puka Nacua.

Chase has just been so remarkably consistent for a larger sample size, that if you're looking for an easy way to justify it over Puka Nacua, you could do so through that lens.

I would say this, though.

But continue.

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If I said if you have the number one pick in your fantasy draft, you should take Jahmyr Gibbs, is that fantasy or reality?

I know,

really.

Well, that's what happens is when you spend a lot of time with these people, you start to come up with stupid nicknames for them.

We were texting this morning, so Ziggy is on there.

Potters, he's hosting the draft this year.

Spence.

cochran in person draft yeah we're looking forward to i think i got everybody there did i say breck if i didn't say breck i got him i'm sure i forgot one person i'm in big trouble if i didn't uh we have a great time and every week uh we spin the wheel and whoever has the lowest score spins the wheel and has to do a punishment now some of the punishments were actually fun like one punishment is whoever if you lose and you spin the wheel and you land on a round of beers you gotta you gotta pay for a round of beers which is a punishment but it's It also means we're all going to hang out again.

Give me five guys, Field, who you are higher on than what the ADP is right now.

So was the goal initially be an athlete like everyone else's goals? And now, and, and you eventually played college, so that had to be semi-realistic in your brain at some point, right?

For, like, the first four years of my life.

Uh, beyond that, it became pretty clear that my career in sports, if it was gonna involve sports, was not gonna be me playing.

I always say that, uh, I'm a decent self-scout, uh, 'cause I knew when I was pretty young that, uh, playing professionally was probably not going to happen.

But I always wanted to be in the world of football.

I thought I wanted to be, as you mentioned, a scout or a coach.

So I'm, I'm not gonna say that my a- my academic experience meant nothing.

Right

Are, are you buying the Bengals off season improvements enough to keep this team and core coaching staff, quarterback intact beyond this year?

I am buying it, but I'm also very closely monitoring it.

Like, I think this team's gonna be good.

Uh, health provided, they'll be real- really good on offense.

And then on defense, I think they're gonna be improved enough to be a factor in the AFC.

But being a factor in the AFC versus winning meaningfully in the AFC are two different things.

And if they come up short, like they could have a good season.

But where, where do you think they are in respect to possibly have the highest scoring offense in the NFL?

Would you feel that way? Lamar, where you put him in that? Can he bounce back a little bit? And what do you think of Patrick Mahomes coming back off? How would you be scared to touch him? Patrick.

So Josh Allen to me is sort of a one man tier at his position because the best version of Lamar Jackson or even Patrick Mahomes can compete with Josh Allen.

We're doing our best though to deal in known quantities.

And over the past six seasons, Josh Allen's been the number one scoring quarterback four separate times.

The other two times he was the second highest scoring quarterback.

So there's a security in drafting Josh Allen that no other player at the quarterback spot offers.

With fantasy though, one of the most important things to educate our drafters on is what we call value-based drafting, which is you could get Josh Allen probably somewhere in the second, early third round in most drafts.

Is there a favorite sleeper? Is there a guy who people maybe may not be as high on that you think can sneak in and be a productive impact fantasy player?

What does a realistic year two leap for Ward look like? And how are you setting your expectations for Tate in his rookie year?

Yeah.

So with Cam Ward, I think a realistic year two leap is a guy that if there are any questions left over at this point, there will be none by the time we get to the end of this upcoming season.

I think Cam has the physical traits that are pretty obvious.

If you were to go on YouTube and just search Cam Ward rookie highlights, you'd see a lot of plays that leave you saying, "Wow." Now, that's the case with a decent number of quarterbacks around the NFL.

These are the best of the best.

The part that I have remained most optimistic on with Cam Ward, though, is the wiring, the way in which he is driven and motivated and can lead.

So how does that affect the running game? And if you're looking at Tony Pollard, who has been a real consistent back, if not spectacular, where does that put Tony Pollard, uh, at how you project him with fantasy and his production with, with, uh, Tennessee?

but

I think if you're a franchise that's experienced some high highs and just sort of time, think of the Giants in this regard.

I live in Connecticut, lots of Giants fans around me, and they've been frustrated with recent losing.

They've also won two of the last 20 Super Bowls.

That's an amazing market share, 10% of the last 20.

So I'm sort of like, if you have to tumble...

in one of these seasons in recent years to get a great quarterback, that's worth it.

Is it a media invention? Or are you hearing this from scouts, general managers, people who really know the sport, that they're convinced this has the potential to be historic? Yeah, I think this is talking to people

You know,

here's what I would say.

Sorry to jump in here quickly.

No, no.

I think if you're a franchise that's experienced some high highs and just sort of time, think of the Giants in this regard.

I live in Connecticut.

Lots of Giants fans around me, and they've been frustrated with recent losing.

Is there one who you feel like isn't being talked about enough?

Could you please tell him that this is year two new offense and there are going to be some hurdles and there's going to be some struggle before it actually looks the way it's supposed to?

I probably shouldn't say this, but I am starting to get to the point where everything that I see or hear or read about during training camp is taken with nothing more, I should say, at least a big grain of salt.

And that's not because reporters aren't working their butt off and doing their best to depict what's taking place, but I would just say that there's a lot of evidence that things that look amazing during training camp over the years, when the games actually begin, don't look so amazing.

At the same time, there have been plenty of cases where guys who looked terrible at the beginning of training camp have been absolute stars once the regular season began.

It's hard for us sometimes on the outside to remember this, but training camp is a process of getting to where you want to be it's not arriving at full throttle and mid-season form for Jackson and really the entirety of the Giants offense this is a brand new world there are some guys that probably have a little bit of the understanding of a Matt Nagy offense I'm sure Juju Smith-Schuster right now feels like he's the most well-versed guy in the room having played for Nagy but this is an offense that is basically learning on the fly a new language so um Am I deeply concerned about Jackson dart and whether the performance has been a plus or more like C plus? No, I'm not.

I still have a lot of optimism about the guy as a second year player.

Cause I think by the end of last year, The Giants' instability and the fact that he was checked, I think it was four times during a regular season game for a concussion, kind of overshadowed how good Jackson Dart was, and not just as a runner.

Are you surprised that Baker's having as much trouble as he is in Tampa getting a new deal?

Th-there are gonna be some, some hurdles, and there's gonna be some struggle before it actually looks the way it's supposed to.

You know something? I, uh, I probably sh- shouldn't say this, but I am starting to get to the point where everything that I see or hear or read about during training camp is little more than, like, it, it's taken with nothing more, or I should say, at least a, like a big grain of salt.

Um, and that's not because reporters aren't working their butt off and doing their best to depict what's taking place, but I would just say that there's a lot of evidence that things that look amazing during training camp over the years, when the games actually begin, don't look so amazing.

At the same time, there have been plenty of cases where guys who looked terrible at the beginning of training camp have been absolute stars once the regular season began.

Um, it's hard for us sometimes on the outside to remember this, but, you know, training camp is a process of getting to where you want to be.

It's not arriving at full throttle and mid-season form.

Uh, for Jaxson and really the entirety of the Giants offense, this is a brand-new world.

Are you surprised that Baker's having as much trouble as he is in Tampa getting a new deal?

When you look at the running backs, is it Jameer Gibbs? Is it Bijan Robinson? Who's number one for you? Where do you slot Christian McCaffrey in there? Can you count on him after all those touches last year?

Yeah, I land on Bijan with the narrowest of margin ahead of Jameer Gibbs.

And really, Rob, I tell people that I'm not wasting too much energy on debating between these two.

It's sort of six in one hand, half dozen in the other.

I would say two of the three most talented running backs in the NFL.

Both play behind capable offensive lines.

Atlanta has not been held back by their offensive line.

Who's your number one? Is it someone out of those top three?

When it comes to Joe and just how he can continue to elevate this offense, where is maybe an area or two that you want to see him take the Spangles offense to in 2026?

Man, really, it's hard to pinpoint areas of Joe's game that are limitations right now, right? The skill set is amongst the very best in the NFL.

It really just comes down to availability for Joe.

I know my colleague Dan Orlovsky has talked about this a lot, which is that Joe plays the quarterback role I don't want to – I know Dan has talked about it as like amongst the very best, maybe even the best.

It may not be the exact same thing you see in he's the best player, but he plays the quarterback role at such an incredibly high level, right? The distribution, the control of the line of scrimmage, the accuracy, the decision-making from Joe, the leadership, the poise, the tenacity, the toughness.

All of those things I really think the mental game are as good as – from a quarterback in the NFL.

So I do think that Joe, it's really nothing more than just staying on the field and available, which I kind of struggle with the idea of telling a player he has to stay healthier because I don't think there's ever been a time in Joe's career, certainly not during his NFL career, where he missed a game that he could have been playing in.

Is he a guy that has the potential to maybe be a household name across the NFL by the end of 2026? Yeah,

He said, eh, not the second half of the season, but the second half of summer.

Well, I would say there's a guy that maybe not even the second half of the season, but maybe the second half of the summer, and that's Stephon Diggs, who until he's signed, I am going to put some credence into the idea of the Chiefs being one of the teams that would appeal to Diggs and perhaps vice versa as well.

My colleague Adam Schefter on his most recent podcast discussed Von Diggs, who recently calls himself, by the way, as good as any wide receiver, too, in the NFL.

I would say that's at least close to accurate.

Diggs was really good last year, playing 55% of the snaps for the Patriots and still finishing second.

12th in receptions in the NFL and 16th in receiving yards, north of 1,000.

So if Diggs wants to go somewhere for the chance to win, and certainly Stephon Diggs at this point of his career would be motivated by that, having made a ton of money, the Chiefs would present one of those options.

evaluating the process is what makes being a fan fun as well like like a hardcore

Do you have someone that maybe could emerge in the second half of the season for the Kansas City Chiefs as a target?

Well, I would say there's a guy that maybe not even the second half of the season, but maybe the second half of the summer, and that's Stefon Diggs, who until he's signed, I am going to put some credence into the idea of the Chiefs being one of the teams that would appeal to Diggs and perhaps vice versa as well.

Uh, my colleague Adam Schefter on his most recent podcast discussed Stefon Diggs, who recently called himself, by the way, as good as any wide receiver too in the NFL.

I would say that's at least close to accurate.

Diggs was really good last year, playing 55% of the snaps for the Patriots and still finishing 12th in receptions in the NFL and 16th in receiving yards, north of 1,000.

So, uh, if Diggs wants to go somewhere for the chance to win, and certainly, uh, Stefon Diggs, uh, at this point of his career would be motivated by that, having made a ton of money, uh, the Chiefs would present one of those options.

Diggs has also played with some outstanding quarterbacks in his career.

Mm-hmm

Do you have someone that maybe could emerge in the second half of the season for the Kansas City Chiefs as a target?

Well, I would say there's a guy that maybe not even the second half of the season, but maybe the second half of the summer, and that's Stefon Diggs, who until he's signed, I am going to put some credence into the idea of the Chiefs being one of the teams that would appeal to Diggs and perhaps vice versa as well.

Uh, my colleague Adam Schefter on his most recent podcast discussed Stefon Diggs, who recently called himself, by the way, as good as any wide receiver too in the NFL.

I would say that's at least close to accurate.

Diggs was really good last year, playing 55% of the snaps for the Patriots and still finishing 12th in receptions in the NFL and 16th in receiving yards, north of 1,000.

So, uh, if Diggs wants to go somewhere for the chance to win, and certainly, uh, Stefon Diggs, uh, at this point of his career would be motivated by that, having made a ton of money, uh, the Chiefs would present one of those options.

Diggs has also played with some outstanding quarterbacks in his career.

One.

How did you come to be at that game when you had not yet, um, you had not yet been born?

That's correct, yes.

My parents somehow managed to sneak three people in for the price of two, which back then a Super Bowl ticket might have been slightly affordable, certainly more affordable than it is today when people mortgage their, uh, entire future to attend a Super Bowl, uh, and sit in the nosebleeds.

But yes, my mother was six months pregnant with me when, uh, she and my f- my, my dad traveled out to Pasadena, California, amongst a group of other friends as well, and took in that legendary Phil Simms performance, one of two Super Bowls the Giants won during that era.

And so, you know, it's funny, Jeremy, actually knowing we were gonna have this conversation prompted my wife and I to go through a book that my mom put together, uh, recently.

She gave each, I'm one of three children, each of us a book, and it was old family Christmas card letters that she had kept a copy of, digitized them, and we now have in chronological order basically every family letter that my mom wrote, uh, in which me and my siblings were pictured in said letter.

And it was unique seeing how many times she referenced my, my sort of sports-crazed childhood, including the fact that I was born, uh, just months after attending my first Super Bowl.

Biggest underdog since the Jets in Super Bowl III.

So who are the juxtapositions of that?

Yeah, good question right there.

You know, Denver's got a lot of pressure coming into this season, I believe.

You know, the team obviously hosted the AFC Championship game last year.

Bo Nix is unavailable.

On the one hand, you could say to yourself, like, this is a team that is trending up.

And in ways, they certainly are.

What do you think about the five men up front protecting 15?

So who are the juxtapositions of that?

Yeah, good question right there.

You know, Denver's got a lot of pressure coming into this season, I believe.

You know, the team obviously hosted the AFC Championship game last year.

Bo Nix is unavailable.

On the one hand, you could say to yourself, like, this is a team that is trending up.

And in ways, they certainly are.

What do you think about the five men up front protecting 15?