Week 1 Love/Hate with Nate Ravitz
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 18 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 10, 2026
Published
Thu, September 10, 2026
43
Player insights
37
Players mentioned
Topics
A.J. BrownBrock BowersColston LovelandTerry McLaurinTony PollardBrian Thomas Jr.Bucky IrvingChigoziem OkonkwoChris GodwinChris OlaveDalton SchultzDavante AdamsDrake MayeGeorge Holani
Player analysis
Player insights
A.J. Brown
NegativeInjury15:27
AJ Brown is dealing with a high ankle sprain with an undetermined return timetable. Matthew Berry and Nate Ravitz are concerned, with Berry suggesting managers should assume at least a 3-4 week absence.
Insight pageNegativeInjury34:07
Matthew Berry projects AJ Brown to miss at least three to four weeks due to a high ankle sprain.
Insight pageNegativeValue45:21
Matthew Berry notes that A.J. Brown is in a difficult draft range due to uncertainty regarding his return timetable, though he still prefers him for touchdown upside.
Insight pageBrian Thomas Jr.
NegativeMatchup47:24
Matthew Berry expresses concern for Brian Thomas Jr. in Week 1, noting that Denzel Ward is likely to shadow him, which could limit his production.
Insight pageBrock Bowers
NegativeInjury0:39
Brock Bowers underwent a meniscus trim and is expected to miss a game or two. Matthew Berry has lowered him to TE2, noting that while he is awesome when healthy, his history of being banged up in college and missing games last year makes this an concerning start to the season.
Insight pageNegativeValue9:03
Matthew Berry now views Brock Bowers as a mid-to-late third-round pick. He notes that drafting Colston Loveland over Bowers is a defensible move given the injury uncertainty and the fact that Bowers has a history of missing time.
Insight pageBucky Irving
PositiveSleeper59:00
Matthew Berry is high on Bucky Irving for Week 1, suggesting the preseason hate went too far and noting the Bengals' poor defensive performance against RBs last season.
Insight pageChigoziem Okonkwo
NegativeValue8:45
Matthew Berry lists Chig Okonkwo as a viable tight end option available in over 50% of Yahoo and ESPN leagues for managers needing a replacement for injured starters.
Insight pageChris Godwin
PositiveProjection45:35
Matthew Berry ranks Chris Godwin as his WR30 for Week 1 against Cincinnati, labeling him a solid flex option while noting teammate Buka's health concerns.
Insight pageChris Olave
PositiveProjection42:43
Matthew Berry ranks Chris Olave as his WR7 for Week 1 against the Lions. Berry highlights Olave's strong production with Tyler Shuck last year (19 PPG, 29% target share, 82 YPG) and notes the Lions are missing two starting safeties and allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to WRs last season.
Insight pageColston Loveland
PositiveBreakout9:06
Matthew Berry expresses high interest in Colston Loveland but notes that the Bears' offense has many mouths to feed, including D'Andre Swift, Rome Odunze, and Cole Kmet, which creates a lower floor for Loveland compared to a healthy Brock Bowers.
Insight pagePositiveProjection43:58
Matthew Berry ranks Colston Loveland as his TE2 for Week 1 against the Panthers. Berry likes the matchup against a defense that allowed the eighth-most yards to TEs last year and notes that injuries to Luther Byrd and Dunes could increase Loveland's target share.
Insight pageDalton Schultz
NegativeValue8:45
Matthew Berry lists Dalton Schultz as a viable tight end option available in over 50% of Yahoo and ESPN leagues for managers needing a replacement for injured starters.
Insight pageDavante Adams
NegativeValue21:00
Nate Ravitz prefers an injured AJ Brown over Davante Adams in current draft rankings.
Insight pageDrake Maye
NegativeProjection37:21
Matthew Berry is lowering expectations for Drake Maye, moving him from a top-tier draft pick to a low-end QB1/high-end QB2, noting that the loss of AJ Brown and offensive line issues are significant concerns.
Insight pageGeorge Holani
NegativeUsage12:20
George Holani played 36% of snaps and handled all three red-zone carries for the Seahawks, which Matthew Berry suggests may be due to his perceived value as a blocking back following the injury to Sam Darnold.
Insight pageGeorge Pickens
PositiveMatchup43:08
Matthew Berry expects a big game from George Pickens against the Giants, citing the Giants' poor secondary and their league-high allowance of deep-pass completions last season.
Insight pageIsaiah Likely
PositiveUsage46:04
Matthew Berry ranks Isaiah Likely as a top-10 tight end for Week 1, noting that in nine career games with at least six targets, Likely averages 16.6 fantasy points per game.
Insight pageJadarian Price
PositiveUsage11:29
Nate Ravitz and Matthew Berry were impressed by Jadarian Price's performance, noting he looked like the better running back despite a limited workload. Berry suggests buying low on Price, attributing the usage split to the early loss of Sam Darnold and a potential preference for George Holani as a blocker.
Insight pageJake Ferguson
PositiveProjection43:38
Matthew Berry suggests Jake Ferguson as a viable tight end option for Week 1, predicting he will catch a touchdown against the Giants.
Insight pageJameson Williams
PositiveProjection45:08
Matthew Berry highlights Jamison Williams as a strong play against the Saints, noting that over his final 10 games last season, he was the WR12 in fantasy football.
Insight pageJared Goff
PositiveProjection44:11
Matthew Berry ranks Jared Goff as a borderline QB1 (QB12) for Week 1, noting his strong home splits since 2022 and the Lions' high implied team total against the Saints.
Insight pageJavonte Williams
PositiveProjection57:19
Matthew Berry ranks Javonte Williams as RB12 for Week 1, expecting him to dominate touches against a weak Giants interior defensive line.
Insight pageJaylen Warren
PositiveUsage60:01
Matthew Berry views Jalen Warren as flex-worthy against the Falcons, noting Atlanta's weak front seven.
Insight pageJordan Mason
PositiveRole60:22
Matthew Berry expects Jordan Mason to be the primary running back for the Vikings, with Aaron Jones relegated to third-down and passing work.
Insight pageJosh Downs
PositiveUsage45:51
Matthew Berry expects Josh Downs to see a high volume of targets against the Ravens, noting the Ravens' struggles against slot receivers and potential health issues for Keenan Allen and Alec Pierce.
Insight pageJustin Herbert
PositiveProjection40:56
Matthew Berry ranks Justin Herbert as his QB5 for Week 1, citing a high implied team total, a weak Cardinals secondary, and a finally healthy offensive line.
Insight pageJuwan Johnson
PositiveSleeper8:09
Nate Ravitz and Matthew Berry identify Juwan Johnson as the top waiver wire target for managers who drafted an injured tight end like Brock Bowers, noting the high over-under for the upcoming Saints-Lions game.
Insight pageLadd McConkey
PositiveValue20:24
Nate Ravitz prefers Ladd McConkey over an injured AJ Brown in a name-game scenario, placing McConkey in the same tier as Zay Flowers and Tee Higgins for rounds 4-6.
Insight pageMalik Willis
PositiveSleeper46:59
Matthew Berry advises picking up Malik Willis now, projecting him to be the top waiver wire add next week due to his rushing floor (40+ yards per game).
Insight pageMichael Mayer
NegativeDepth Chart8:45
Matthew Berry identifies Michael Mayer as the primary replacement for Brock Bowers on the Raiders while Bowers is sidelined.
Insight pageMike Evans
NegativeProjection48:31
Matthew Berry ranks Mike Evans at WR29, noting a difficult matchup against the Rams and a lack of practice time with his quarterback, placing him in the same range as Terry McLaurin.
Insight pageParker Washington
PositiveUsage47:16
Matthew Berry identifies Parker Washington as a focal point for the Jaguars' offense in Week 1, noting the slot receiver's success in Liam Cohen's offensive system and the likelihood of Denzel Ward shadowing Brian Thomas Jr.
Insight pagePatrick Mahomes
NegativeProjection52:16
Matthew Berry ranks Patrick Mahomes as QB21 for Week 1, citing a tough matchup against a Broncos defense that limits passing TDs and concerns about Mahomes' rushing volume coming off an ACL injury.
Insight pageQuinshon Judkins
NegativeProjection65:53
Matthew Berry ranks Quinshon Judkins as RB24, labeling him a touchdown-dependent flex play due to concerns about the Browns' offense in a low-scoring matchup against the Jaguars.
Insight pageRico Dowdle
PositiveUsage60:01
Matthew Berry views Rico Dowdle as flex-worthy against the Falcons, noting Atlanta's weak front seven.
Insight pageSam Darnold
NegativeInjury14:22
Sam Darnold suffered a hip injury early in the game and is undergoing an MRI. While the team is optimistic it is not serious, the injury significantly impacted the Seahawks' offensive game plan.
Insight pageSaquon Barkley
PositiveProjection55:06
Matthew Berry ranks Saquon Barkley as RB5 for Week 1, noting his historical success against Washington and the benefit of a healthy Eagles offensive line.
Insight pageTerry McLaurin
NegativeValue20:24
In a name-game scenario, Nate Ravitz prefers AJ Brown over Terry McLaurin, despite the injury concerns surrounding Brown.
Insight pageNegativeMatchup46:43
Matthew Berry lists Terry McLaurin as a 'hate' for Week 1, citing his poor recent history against the Eagles (single-digit points in three of his last four games) and a tough matchup against cornerback Quinone Mitchell.
Insight pageTony Pollard
NegativeUsage40:37
Matthew Berry notes that in the final 12 games Tony Pollard and Tajay Spears played together last season, Pollard played 53% of snaps with a 37% route participation rate. Berry projects Pollard as a low-end flex play (RB30) for Week 1, noting that if the Titans are trailing, Spears is the preferred option.
Insight pageNegativeUsage66:58
Matthew Berry is fading Tony Pollard, noting a 50-50 snap split with Tajay Spears and a low game total against the Jets.
Insight pageTrey McBride
PositiveProjection7:18
Matthew Berry has moved Trey McBride to the TE1 spot following the injury news regarding Brock Bowers.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00Well, it is noon on YouTube, but it means it's 5 o'clock somewhere.
0:04So brothers and sisters, friends of the revolution, have we got a great show for you today, a fantasy football happy hour.
0:11The bar is officially open. I'm your friendly neighborhood bartender, Matthew Berry.
0:14And joining me today is the original regular, the original OG.
0:17You know, so many people, so many of the regulars have been with me for so long, and I'm so incredibly grateful.
0:24And honestly, it all started with the Sane Kid himself.
0:27Nate Ravitz, off his high horse, stopped pushing papers for at least an hour to join me here.
0:32Lots to get to today, Nate. We actually had actual football last night.
0:36We've got LoveHate. We've got Week 1 LoveHate. Big injury.
0:39Brock Bowers, that happened after the show yesterday, so we'll talk about that briefly.
0:44And then, of course, it has been 12 years since you and I have been able to be on the air together.
0:50So we're going to walk down memory lane. So here's what we're going to do.
0:55You and I can talk a little bit. We'll get into the news, the game last night, LoveHate.
1:00And then, you know, this show airs on the Matthew Berry Fantasy Life Amazon Fast Channel.
1:05It's on Amazon Fire TV. It'll be on Amazon Prime here in a few weeks as well.
1:10But for those that watch on the Amazon Fast Channel, we have to do 52 minutes for commercials and because it's part of a larger network, right?
1:18But if you're watching this on YouTube, if you're listening to this on the pod, we will go longer than 52 minutes.
1:25So just so you know, just give you a heads up here because it has been 12 years since Nate and I
1:31have gotten a chance to do this. So we don't want to shortchange ourselves, candidly.
1:36And this way, Nate can get back to, hey, wrap it up.
1:40We got to go. And I can be like, no, one more thing.
1:44One more thing. But Nate, so you're no longer pushing papers at ESPN.
1:47You're now pushing papers at the Score Bet. Talk to me about what you're doing these days.
1:53Well, first of all, Matthew, thank you for having me on the show.
1:56I don't know about this 52 minute thing. I was told there would be no math.
2:01So, yeah, about nine months ago, I joined the score, actually.
2:05So as my title is officially head of the score.
2:08Okay. And so what that means is oversee the score business on the media side.
2:12So I'm responsible for our mobile app, our audience on social and just growing that overall audience and network.
2:18Our broader company, Penn Entertainment and Penn Interactive also operates the score bet and Hollywood Casino and a number of casinos all around the United States.
2:26I do a little bit of work on the score bet side, but mostly focus on the score.
2:31And for those that don't know, you know, the score is a mobile first company, was one of the OG mobile scoring apps in North America.
2:39It's actually the number one sports app in Canada from a daily active user standpoint.
2:43We are number two in North America. But but but it's it's a tremendous way to follow your teams, follow your leagues, keep track of scores.
2:51We try to keep it simple, Matthew, get you into the scores and the news that you care about.
2:57So give it a shot. I think you'll like it.
3:00Yeah. And it's honestly, that sounds like a big job.
3:03And I feel like people really don't have business cards anymore.
3:06But I really wish it'd be fun if at least because I know you and I've talked about this.
3:12People still recognize you. People still come up to you and mention the show, even though it's been literally 12 years since you and I did Focus together.
3:20But you should have a business card and maybe you just give it to those people that recognize you.
3:26That just says that says, you know, I'm a paper pusher, bitch.
3:30Like that would be very cool. That would be like a a very cool business card if you just handed that out.
3:36It's not really my brand. Yeah, I wouldn't say it feels a little bit more like your brand.
3:42Like yours. I'm in a professional background with like sports stuff.
3:45And, you know, I got score hats and the score bet soccer towel here.
3:49You are in I don't know if that's an actual bar.
3:53I mean, it looks tremendous, though. Thank you. And so I feel like that business card is a little bit more you than me.
4:00Probably true. I mean, listen, I'm finally out on my own, freed from corporate shackles.
4:04You know, again, nothing bad to say. Nothing bad to say.
4:08I still have corporate shackles, though. So don't leave me straight here, please.
4:12I know you do. So my job is to try to push you over the edge.
4:16I know I have, you know, listen, nothing bad to say about my time at Disney and ESPN.
4:22Had an amazing time there. Still friends with them.
4:24Still root for them. Had a great time at NBC Universal.
4:28Still root for them. Still have a lot of friends there.
4:31Nothing bad to say about they were both companies were incredibly gracious to me and are to this day.
4:37They've been incredibly gracious to me. But I no longer have to worry about corporate mandates the way that I did there.
4:43And so, yeah, man, like, you know, you and I have been social and known each other for probably 25 years at this point.
4:51Pretty close, yeah. You know, you know, I like me a drink every once in a while.
4:56So the bar, the show is called Happy Hour.
4:58So, you know, own it is. And yeah, I am wearing a margarita shirt, as one of the commenters said.
5:04Yeah, when you got to do the show at noon, but a Jimmy Buffett concert at one o'clock.
5:10Boy, oh boy. As regular Rudy says, wow, Barry put on a college shirt for today.
5:15Yeah, I had to dress up for Nate, man.
5:17It's a big deal. Regular Rudy? You have a fan called Regular Rudy?
5:21We got a lot of friends. The regulars are awesome.
5:24So I assume that he is a regular and his name is Rudy.
5:28I put that together. So the nicknames that we used to have on our old show, so you're still doing that today?
5:35Like Ronan from Ireland and all that stuff? Okay.
5:38Regular Rudy. I like that. No. Like, if you know anything about me, like, I don't update the material.
5:43You know what I mean? It's all still the same stuff.
5:47It's all still the same jokes. Yeah, it's just, I try to update the references.
5:51But it's all basically the same jokes. Hey, let's start real quickly with some news, Nate.
5:56And we'll get into all of this. And, you know, I appreciate you getting off your high horse, taking off your I
6:03Love Derek Ward t-shirt, and coming down to spend some time with us here at the Happy Hour Bar.
6:08This was a surprise. Anyways, yesterday, just sort of out of the blue, Brock Bowers has a meniscus trim, and he's expected to miss a game or two.
6:17You see the tweet there from Adam Schefter, our former colleague.
6:20Raiders All-Pro Titan Brock Bowers underwent a meniscus trim Tuesday in Dallas with Dr.
6:24Daniel Cooper and is now expected to miss, quote, a game or two, league sources told at Rap Sheet and me.
6:31Bowers got banged up, quote, a little in camp, and the injury was diagnosed last week's surgery scheduled.
6:36Interesting because we can go all into it. And I saw the, I don't know if you saw this, the Coach Speak
6:43Index, that guy just has a, Greg Branos does just a great job.
6:46And he had a, literally like, Clint Kubiak earlier in the day was like, yeah, we expect to have all of our players healthy.
6:54He was asked specifically about Bowers, and I think Crosby, but as it relates to Brock Bowers, he's like, and he's just
7:00like, so anyway, I'll let the NFL investigate that.
7:03But I think from a fantasy perspective here, Nate, you know, not ideal.
7:07And I will say that everyone that drafted Brock Bowers early, everyone that drafted Brock Bowers early, you guys drink for free today at the Happy Hour bar.
7:15I know you're no longer a fantasy expert, Nate, but you are active.
7:19You play in a bunch of leagues. You're still, you're still, you're still Nate Ravitz.
7:24You're, you're still the man. So, you know, you're, if you were having a draft today, are you lowering Bowers?
7:30Because I lowered him to tight end two. I had him in one.
7:34I mean, yeah, but I probably look, I wouldn't have had him number one to begin with.
7:39I've ended up with Trey McBride on a number of teams.
7:42But yeah, I think if you're still drafting, you have to bump them down, like at least that far.
7:48And more importantly, I think for the teams that already drafted, like a lot of those teams didn't draft a backup, right?
7:54If you, if you spend early draft capital on one of those top tight ends, you're probably not drafting a backup.
8:01So like now it's to the waiver wire and I would defer to you, Matthew on, I don't know the world of
8:07waiver wire percentages available anymore on all the prominent fantasy websites.
8:11I know, I know the guy I like a lot, which he may not be available is, is Juwan Johnson.
8:17So if you can still get Juwan Johnson, I think maybe in some of those leagues, maybe he's available.
8:22I'm not sure. No, that's a great call. Shout out to my friend, Heike, who drafted Bowers and was just showing me
8:29the free agents that are available in his league.
8:32And Johnson was available. And yes, if Juwan Johnson is available in your league, I agree with you.
8:37He's the number one, number one target. That's one of the highest over under slate games on the slate, the, the saints lines game coming up.
8:45But in terms of tight ends that are available in over 50% of Yahoo and ESPN leagues, Dalton Schultz, Chigakonkwo and Michael
8:52Mayer, who's going to be the main replacement on the Raiders.
8:55I think if you still have a draft, I actually have one tonight and I know there are drafts that are going on tonight, Friday, Saturday.
9:03If you have a draft tonight, I moved Bowers to number two.
9:06I moved McBride to number one, but more importantly, I moved him a lot closer to Colston Loveland in the overall.
9:13So I think Bowers is like a mid to late third rounder.
9:16And if you drafted Loveland two, if, if you drafted Loveland over Bowers, I'm not looking at you weird.
9:22Cause I think it's really close. Bowers, I think is, is, you know, when he's out there, he's awesome.
9:28But this is a guy who missed multiple games last year.
9:31He was banged up a little bit in college.
9:34Like this is not a great sign, um, uh, to start at the season already hurt after missing time.
9:39Well, that's what I was going to say. If you're drafting tonight and you're sitting there and whatever that is like late
9:46third round, early fourth, and both Loveland and Bowers are available.
9:49You're really still taking Bowers knowing the bare minimum he's missing is a couple games.
9:54Yeah. I mean, it's like a bridge too far for a minute.
9:58I hear you. I, my only, the reason I did that and I went back and forth on it.
10:03I just, the truth is as much as I love Loveland and I, he was the runner up for my ride or die.
10:10We just, we still have a small sample size on his success.
10:14And there are a lot of talented mouths. I think the bears offense is going to explode this year, right?
10:20And I want as much of the bears offense as I can, but I do think that, um, there's probably not as
10:26weirdly, I don't think there's as much of a floor with Loveland as there is with a healthy Bowers because it could
10:33be a big Luther burden game, a big remote Roma dunze game.
10:37Caleb Williams goes crazy and, and runs for a lot.
10:40Deandre Swift, like they just have so many guys there.
10:43Suddenly Cole commit comes out of the shadows. Like, whereas with the Raiders, like, I'm not worried about, ah, why they can't get back.
10:50It's all Jack Besh today. Like I just, you know what I mean?
10:54Like, uh, they can't get it to bow, uh, Bowers because Jalen Naylor is going off.
10:59I just, you know, like there's more of a floor with Bowers.
11:02So that's why just longer track record of success for Brock Bowers, but it's close.
11:07And like I said, wouldn't look at you weird if you drafted Loveland over Bowers.
11:11Let's move over quickly now. Um, uh, the game last night, Nate, did you, did you watch the game last night?
11:18Do you have any reactions? What was your first thought on the, um, the Seahawks, uh, and the Patriots?
11:23So I did watch the game. My first thought right out of the gate was Jadarian, Jadarian Price looks good.
11:29And I was glad I ended up with them on a bunch of teams.
11:34Yeah. I was then disappointed that, uh, the workload wasn't quite, uh, what I hoped it might've been.
11:39Um, so that was, that was an early reaction.
11:42Um, you know, Ramondre looked really good and, um, it felt like the hype on the Patriots backfield kind of swung during
11:48the, the draft, uh, ramp up where early on it was Henderson.
11:52And then I think people started to realize like, this may not go the way you think.
11:57Um, Well, people that have been listening, people have been listening to the show.
12:01We've been on Ramondre the entire preseason. Uh, you know, one of the stats that I gave my hundred facts column was
12:08literally like 25% of Travian Henderson's rushing yards last year came on four plays.
12:12You know, he was just so boom or bust.
12:15And so let's get back to Jadarian Price there for a second though, played 45% of the snaps.
12:20George Helani played 36% of the snaps, but more importantly, Helani got all three red zone snaps.
12:25Now, um, and I've seen a lot of people like kind of freaking out about that, about the lack of usage with
12:32price and the fact that, you know, he wasn't in when they got in close.
12:36I guess my take there is, is that I think it's, I thought he was clearly the better running back.
12:42Like, I mean, you know, like you'd be more concerned if Helani looked good, but he didn't.
12:48And price looked the part you, you, you watched him and you're like, okay, yeah, I get why they use a number
12:54one, a first round draft pick on him. I just think I wouldn't take too much away from this game because, you
13:01know, they lost Sam Darnold, I think on play five, maybe it was play six.
13:05I forget exactly what number play it was, but, um, so now they've got drew lock and you have to understand that
13:12whatever game plan they had is now out the war, uh, out the, out the door.
13:17And so maybe like they felt better about price in there with Darnold because Darnold's a veteran and he's like, uh, he can adjust more.
13:24Whereas they feel like Helani is the better blocking back maybe.
13:28And now you've got drew lock in there who probably didn't get a ton of reps in the preseason.
13:33They never expected to have to use drew lock and now here they are.
13:37And so I think when a situation like that happens so early in the game where your starting quarterback goes down, it's
13:44just sort of like, okay, let's, let's turtle it.
13:47Right. Let's just kind of like, okay, what can we do?
13:50What are the, what's the, you know, what are the plays that we can do, um, that we feel good about with,
13:57you know, with drew lock, um, under a center.
13:59And so just maybe they felt better about having a veteran presence there.
14:03I don't know if that's true and that, you know, maybe they don't trust price yet in, in close, but, um, I
14:10honestly, after last night, I would be, I would be trying to buy low, uh, on a, you know, if there's a
14:17panicked Jadarian price manager, uh, out there. Speaking of Sam Darnold, Nate hip injury, he's having an MRI today.
14:22They're optimistic that it's not a serious injury. Um, and I don't know that there's much else to take away.
14:28Like Cooper cup looked good. He had the one amazing catch.
14:32He caught a touchdown. It got called back due to penalty, but I don't know that you can, I think I feel
14:38the same way about the Seahawks offense that I did going into the game, which is like, you want Jackson Smith and Jigba.
14:45He's a superstar, no matter who's on her center.
14:48Um, I think you want a piece of the running game.
14:51Uh, and that's about it, you know, like again, low rate, you know, low scoring game, uh, defensive effort, there'll be better
14:58days ahead, but you know, we don't expect, you know, huge fantasy, uh, games from Sam Darnold.
15:03I don't think any of the complimentary wide receivers, whether it's Rashid Shaheed or Cooper cup or AJ Barner or pass catchers,
15:10I should say, um, are interesting as well. So, you know, that just sort of confirmed my priors on the Seahawks.
15:16And again, it was just a weird game because Darnold went down so early.
15:20Um, the more interesting team fantasy wise, Nate is the Patriots because AJ Brown is now believed to be dealing with a
15:27high ankle sprain, not a low one, not a mid one, but actually a high ankle sprain.
15:32His timetable, um, uh, at the moment is undetermined in terms of when they will return.
15:37This was not good. Why can't we have nice things, Nate?
15:40Yeah. And you know what, to be honest, even before the injury, I was already getting a little bit of a bad
15:47vibe around like, well, it just wasn't as, wasn't as, uh, as active as I kind of thought he would be.
15:53Yeah. Um, so I, I will tell you like, this isn't a case where it going back to the Seahawks for a minute.
16:00If you found out today, later today that, that Darnold was going to miss, I'm making it up six games.
16:06Would that affect your draft evaluation tonight for JSN?
16:09I don't think it would. And for me, it definitely wouldn't.
16:12Um, no, because Drew Locke has that kind of YOLO effort.
16:15He's down there somewhere vibe. Like, you know, like JSN, I mean, whatever, when he got 11 targets last night, he's still going to be the focal point.
16:24Honestly, it would make me feel even better about JSN because while Drew Locke isn't as accurate or as good a quarterback
16:30as Sam Darnold, that also, it also means he's probably going to focus on his first read a lot more often.
16:37Like he's not gonna be able to go through his progressions as well as Darnold is.
16:41And JSN is gonna be the first read on every effing play.
16:45And so, you know, I mean, like what he, what he lacks in efficiency, it'll make up for in volume with JSN.
16:52Like, yeah, I, I'm with you. It doesn't affect Smith and Jigba for me at all.
16:56So, so back to Brown, like for me, like, even if we hear like a day to day, good chance he plays
17:03in week two, if I'm still drafting, I'm actually still knocking him down a little bit to the combination of the injury
17:10and just like didn't love what I saw last night.
17:13There was part of me that thought this was going to be a little like Randy Moss's first game in New England
17:19of like, okay, he's now unleashed with like, you know, quarterback that can throw the ball downfield.
17:24We're going to see some of that. And granted it was only, he got hurt early in the second half.
17:30Right. Yeah. But I, what did he have? What are two targets in the first half?
17:35It felt like, like, it just didn't seem like.
17:38I think he got three, either three or four.
17:41I mean, they had the one long play that set up the, where he got a pass interference.
17:46They, that one long play and Drake may underthrew it.
17:49And I think that like, if, if may connects on that, we feel a lot differently about, about AJ Brown.
17:55But look, I mean, you know that if you want to say I'm the injury aside and if you're drafting tonight, obviously
18:02like if you're drafting tonight, I would assume, I would assume at least four weeks for AJ Brown.
18:07Like I would, I, to me, AJ Brown, you know, again, we, by the time this airs, hopefully we will have some sort of a timeline.
18:15We've got no timeline on AJ Brown. Hopefully like I have a draft tonight.
18:19Could we play a name game? Oh yeah. Let's do a name game.
18:23Let's do that. Do you have some names for me?
18:26Let's do that. So it's a hypothetical, but it's a hypothetical.
18:29Yeah. Yeah. Because here's the world. AJ Brown is going to be fine for week two.
18:34Okay. Oh, I don't think that's going to happen.
18:37But you know what? Actually, no, no. Here's how we should do it.
18:41Nate, two things. First off, I wanted two things you should say about, I actually had a name game ready to go like an, an actual drop.
18:49And I also had the original Eric Hutchinson 06010 theme song, you know, you're in the 06.
18:54So what no fantasy. I'm familiar. Yeah, yeah. Yep.
18:57And so I had that ready to go. It's queued up.
19:00But my production team tells me that, that it will be a, like a YouTube violation.
19:05And they're worried that like any kind of music like pulls down a live stream.
19:09And I just, I didn't want to risk it.
19:12And then. I wouldn't mess with it. Yeah. And then you got to, you know, you got Amazon lawyers and I'm just like, ah, too bad.
19:20So, but, but I will tell you that if you miss the old theme song, which I do, there's a bunch of different versions of it on YouTube.
19:28If you just search like fantasy focus 06010 theme song, Eric Hutchinson, shout out to international recording superstar, Eric Hutchinson.
19:34Indeed. Wherever you are Hutch. There's a, there's, you know, a handful of versions of it where people have just posted the song.
19:41And I was able to find like, there's at least three or four versions of it that we did over the years,
19:48you know, Hutch, you would usually update it. Yeah.
19:51I was trying to, I was trying to find the sheepdogs song.
19:54Do you remember the sheepdogs song for us? So, um, uh, so it wasn't able to pull that.
20:00It wasn't able to pull the name game, but yes, let's play a name game with AJ Brown.
20:05And I think it should be as it is today.
20:08Like just as you enter a draft tonight, we know that AJ Brown has a high ankle sprain, but we don't know the timetable for his return.
20:16Who would you rather name game? So go ahead and give me some, uh, name game draft tonight.
20:22Your scenario, AJ Brown or Jamison Williams? AJ Brown.
20:24AJ Brown or Lad McConkie? Lad McConkie. AJ Brown or Terry McLaurin?
20:28AJ Brown. Your guy, your guy. I know. I'm a, I'm aware.
20:32We're going to talk about him later. All right.
20:34And last one, last one. AJ Brown or. You, uh, you, your, your audio just went out there for a second.
20:41Got me now. Uh, Nate. Um, but you know, I mean, I like, I think like the, those, you know, I think
20:47he probably, AJ Brown should be in the, like the, the, there's a, there's a range of wide receivers that are going
20:54in rounds four to six and McConkie's one of them.
20:57And, uh, Zay Flowers, T Higgins. Devontae Adams. Devontae Adams.
21:00I would rather AJ Brown than Devontae Adams. But basically to me, AJ Brown is in that tier.
21:05Cause I, I'm, I'm assuming that if a high ankle sprain to me means he's missing at least three to four weeks.
21:12Yeah. You know, it would be my guess. Right.
21:15Um, so I think he's at, I think he's in that tier and I think I prefer the, the Zay Flowers, Ladd
21:21McConkie guys that are on my love list. I prefer them more than him, but.
21:26Fair enough. You know, AJ Brown over Jameson Williams, Terry McLaurin, Devontae Adams.
21:30Anyway, so that's where I would be, uh, with those guys.
21:33Okay. Um, and then the last thing here, just very quickly, cause I want to get to love hate and then I want to get to nonsense.
21:41Um, but, um, but in terms of, uh, Drake May bad day at the office for Drake May, the Seahawks seem to
21:48have his number that often the offensive line issues like again, Seattle can bring pressure.
21:52Um, uh, but you know, if there's a positive here, you know, Drake May over 40 yards rushing, he used his legs here.
21:59He did throw the touchdown pass. Um, the interception at the end, obviously very bad.
22:04Uh, I know all the, the boo birds are out, but I believe they play, I believe they play the Cardinals next week.
22:11Right. Who play it? One, it's, um, I believe the Patriots play that they haven't.
22:15You know, you can check this on the score, Matthew.
22:18I'm sure I can. Yeah. You can check this on the score.
22:22I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this right now.
22:25Okay. So week two, uh, the new England Patriots are playing at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
22:30Okay. Sorry. Say, say one more time, Nate, you were doing Pittsburgh Steelers.
22:34Oh, the Steelers. Okay. So the Card, the Seahawks are playing the Cardinals.
22:38Yes. They're playing the Steelers. So right. Tough matchup.
22:41But, um, I know they've got a couple of easy games coming up, including, including your jets.
22:46So, um, uh, I'm not ready to hit the panic button on Drake May just yet, but there's a reason why I
22:53had him ranked 14th going into this week. Like, um, and him losing AJ Brown, obviously, uh, that's a big loss.
22:59So, I mean, I think Drake May is going to be much more of a low end QB one, higher end QB
23:06two, where you're hoping for some rushing than the top three or four guy that he was drafted as at least until AJ Brown comes.
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24:26Comes back. All right, let's get to love, hate, Nate.
24:30And what I would like to do, I, you have, you actually did some prep and I think good comes from hustling, but you actually did hustle.
24:38Nothing good comes from hustling, but I've given you my names.
24:41And so what I would like to do is go back to the old school and turn it over to you.
24:47Let you host the love, hate section here. It's crazy.
24:50And we'll get into it for week number one.
24:53All right. Matthew Barry's love, hate for week number one.
24:56The first name I have here on the quarterback list is, is Justin Herbert going against the Arizona Cardinals.
25:02Yeah. Yeah. For example, Chargers have the highest implied team total in week number one.
25:06And the Cardinals have like one of the worst secondaries in the NFL, right?
25:10Last year, Cardinals, by the way, 27th in pressure rate.
25:13Like they just can't get after the quarterback. Herbert uses his legs a lot.
25:18And by the way, Joe Walt is healthy. Rashawn Slater is healthy.
25:21The whole offensive line is finally healthy here. I'm so excited to see what this Chargers offense looks like under Mike McDaniels.
25:28Well, he's my number five quarterback this week. Just, you know, a rocket emoji for Justin Herbert this week, Nate.
25:34Implied total, you say, Matthew? That sounds like the kind of thing you could find on a sports betting app like the score bet.
25:41And by the way, I should mention, by the way, for the old schoolers, this is turnabout is fair play because as
25:48everybody knows, Matthew is the king of self-promotion. Any chance he gets on anybody's podcast and unabashed about it, which we all love Matthew for.
25:55I did neglect to mention earlier that if you use both the score and the score bet, you can actually follow your
26:02bets right along the scores all day on Sunday.
26:05There you go. But with that out of the way, so Justin Herbert and Eric.
26:09What's the total? What's the total on the score bet?
26:12What's your guys' time at? I don't have that, right?
26:15You're going to make me look this up every time?
26:18The total, which you can find on either the score or the score bet for the Chargers and the Cardinals is 47 and a half.
26:26Yeah, exactly. So we expect a lot of points to be scored and honestly, we expect a lot of them to be from the Chargers.
26:33All in on Justin Herbert this week. I'm also all- The next quarterback.
26:37Yeah, what do you got? Oh, I thought you wanted to make it up.
26:41No, you should do it. It's your show. You should do it.
26:45But I thought you wanted to make it up.
26:48It's been 12 years. Sorry, our timing's a little off.
26:51The next quarterback on your list is Jared Goff going against the New Orleans Saints.
26:55Yeah, you know, Jared Goff's at home. I mean, like also, by the way, another one that's got an incredible- Yeah, factually correct.
27:02Exactly. When he's at home, since the start of 2022, Nate, when Jared Goff is at home, he's averaging over 20 fantasy points per game.
27:10He's averaging almost 280 passing yards per game, over two passing touchdowns per game.
27:14And now he gets the Saints, right? This is the second highest implied team.
27:18Detroit has the second highest implied team total on the week one slate.
27:22I think the Saints are actually going to be able to put up points against the Lions.
27:27The Lions are missing two starting safeties. They're two starting safeties.
27:30So I think this game's going to be a shootout.
27:33So give me all the Jared Goff this week.
27:36I'm at QB 12 this week. I think he's a borderline QB 1.
27:40He doesn't run, which hurts a little bit. But otherwise, I'm excited about the Lions offense, especially today, or this week in
27:47a dome against the New Orleans Saints. I'm going to- Matthew, you're- Oh, you're going to do this part?
27:52Of the others receiving votes? Yeah, I'll just roll into others receiving votes here, Nate.
27:57Fair enough. Real quickly, Baker Mayfield playing at Cincinnati.
28:00Bengals allowed touchdown passes at the third highest rate last season.
28:03They improved their defense in the offseason, but Baker just got paid.
28:06He's fully healthy. I like him as well. I just mentioned Tyler Shuck opposite Jared Goff in that shootout between the Saints and the Lions.
28:14Seven of nine career starts for Tyler Shuck. It leads 17 fantasy points in seven of them.
28:19And finally, give me some Malik Willis. I think that Malik Willis is somebody that people should pick up, regardless of whether you need a quarterback or not.
28:28Malik Willis is somebody that should be picked up because I think he is going to be the number one waiver wire guy on next Tuesday.
28:35Like, again, this is a guy that averages over 40 rushing yards per game and starts.
28:40He's going against Las Vegas. I know you're like, wait, he's thrown to Chris Bell and Caleb Douglas and who?
28:46But I'm just telling you, Malik Willis is, I don't know if he's going to be a great NFL quarterback, Nate, but
28:53he's going to be a very good fantasy quarterback.
28:55And you should pick up now, beat the rush to the waiver wire.
28:59I like Caleb Douglas. Got him late on a couple of fantasy teams.
29:03All right. Should we roll into the quarterback hate?
29:06Mm-hmm. Well, this is you, the Sane-A kid, the Lord of hate, the negative Nate.
29:11This is you. This is your section. You say that, but I appreciate greatness.
29:15You, on the other hand, hate all things that are great in the world, starting with Patrick Mahomes.
29:20So Patrick Mahomes shows up on the hate list in week one.
29:24Yeah. I just, in general, I hate great things because it makes me feel so, it reminds me of my inadequacies, my
29:30mediocreness, how mediocre I am, including my fantasy advice.
29:33But Matthew, you're not mediocre. You are an Emmy award winner.
29:36Yes. And by the way, Nate, I'm an Emmy award winner and I'm Emmy award loser as well.
29:42So you're an Emmy award winner. That's, that's this one right over here.
29:46I don't know if they're going to go back to the one shot here.
29:50So that's this one over here. But do you have one or more like, cause I just only have the one.
29:56I only have the one. So I have one more than you.
30:00Okay. Yeah. Factually correct. Two more than my sister, which drives her crazy, by the way.
30:05As rightfully show, because your sister is much smarter, smarter than you.
30:08And, and let's be clear, much hotter than you.
30:11So, you know, if everyone wants to know, Nate's sister still hasn't got it going on.
30:16Anyway, Nate, going back to the hate though, going back to the hate.
30:20Patrick Mahomes makes the hate list this week. Yeah.
30:22I was trying to figure out what else I was going to.
30:26Oh yeah. My Emmy losing football night in America.
30:29You know, my show at NBC football night in America.
30:32We were nominated for best studio show limited run for our playoff coverage and really super bowl 60 coverage.
30:37So, but we did not win. Do you think it's because you didn't get enough airtime?
30:42I would think so. I don't know if clearly NBC didn't agree with that, but I mean, it feels like you would
30:49have won if you'd gotten more airtime. That's, that's how I like to think about it.
30:54I just, all I know is I didn't get a ton of airtime and we didn't win.
30:59We got nominated, but we didn't win. So ergo ipso facto.
31:02But yeah, so I do have a plaque. They, they, the Emmys will send you, would you like a plaque, you know, noting your nomination?
31:10They don't call it your loser-ness, but they, you know, they say, would you like to commemorate your, um, your nomination?
31:16Yeah, that's nice. Yeah. So I, I ordered it, you know, I, I got it.
31:21Cause you know what? Like I'm, I'm, I'm proud of the work that I did at NBC and I'm, I'm definitely proud
31:27of my work on super bowl 60. So, um, so I was flattered, uh, that we got that.
31:33All right. Here's the reason Patrick Mahomes makes the hate list this week.
31:36Nate, first off bad matchup with Denver, right? Second fewest, uh, they, they, the Broncos allowed touchdowns at the second fewest.
31:43I'm going to start this one over. I'm all discombobulated thinking about your sister.
31:47All right. But it's a live, but it's a live show.
31:50Like in the old days, you would say, cut three, two, one, go.
31:54Sometimes they would leave the three, two, one in by accident, which always was fun.
31:59But we're live now, Matthew. I know. We're live.
32:01Okay. I just want to make sure you know that.
32:04But, but my social team will, will cut out all that and they'll just cut.
32:09They'll, they'll make it seem like I'm smooth. Like I'm a professional broadcaster when you watch it on, on the gram or somewhere.
32:16So the reason Patrick Mahomes makes the hate list, Nate, is that it's a bad matchup, right?
32:21Broncos allow passing touchdowns at the second lowest rate last season.
32:24And 70%, literally 7% of the quarterbacks that the Broncos faced last season scored under 15 fantasy points.
32:30We talked about this a lot in the preseason, but Patrick Mahomes, about 33% of his fantasy points last year.
32:36I think I have that number right. Over 30% of his fantasy points last year came from his legs.
32:41He ran a lot more last year than people realize.
32:44And so first game off the ACL against Denver, how much does Patrick Mahomes run?
32:49You know, there was a question as to whether he was going to play.
32:53So he's my QB 21 this week. Just, you know, I'm nervous about Mahomes against the Broncos in his first game back off the ACL.
33:01All right. Should we move along to running backs?
33:03Yes. Yes, sir. We'll get back to the love.
33:06First running back on your love list. Interesting because phenomenal year two years ago, very disappointing year last year.
33:12It's Saquon Barkley. Well, he's playing my commanders. So you know he's going to go off, Nate.
33:17You know he's going to go off. He's played four, as in Philadelphia Eagles, Saquon Barkley has had four games against my Washington commanders, including the playoffs.
33:25And he's averaging 136 yards and six yards per carry.
33:28Now, my commanders actually had a nice offseason. They improved the defense significantly, but they're still, I think, going to have a below average defensive line.
33:36Last year, commanders gave up the six most fantasy points to opposing running backs.
33:40I don't know that they improved their D line enough this offseason that they can stop Saquon Barkley, especially behind a very healthy Philadelphia Eagles offensive line.
33:48Like, that's the other thing is that one of the reasons Barkley had a bad year last year is their line was so beat up.
33:56But it's healthy now. I think Barkley is much closer to 2024 than he is 25 this season.
34:01I feel like it's the rare occasion where even though they lost a great player in A.J.
34:06Brown, it just feels like it all might work better.
34:09You know, if there isn't all the extra pressure on Jalen Hurts, how many times did you get it to A.J.
34:16this week? Let me throw a line at you, Matthew, courtesy of the score bet.
34:20But 98.5 rushing plus receiving yards. I'm assuming you love the over there.
34:24Yeah, I'm taking the over there. I mean, again, I mean, I say Kaquon at running back five this week.
34:30Yeah. Feels like it could be a big game incoming.
34:33All right, staying with the NFC East, Javante Williams is the next name up going against the New York Giants.
34:39New York football Giants. I'm all in on the Cowboys offense this week, just overall.
34:44And we expect Javante Williams once again to dominate backfield touches, average 18 touches a game last year.
34:49Giants last season, 5.5 yards per carry to opposing running backs.
34:52That was the highest in the NFL. No one gave up more yards per carry to opposing running backs than your New York football Giants, Nate.
35:00I don't think they're going to have a— Whoa, whoa, my New York football Giants?
35:05I mean, I didn't know if you'd bailed on the Jets yet, if you'd kind of weaseled your way out of being a Jets fan.
35:12Of course not. Of course not. All right, fair enough.
35:15I'm stuck for life. Fair enough. And I also feel like the Giants, this is going to be one of the weaker interior defensive lines in the NFL.
35:24And so I just think on the road at New York primetime, my expectation is that you're going to see a lot of Javante Williams here.
35:31The entire Cowboys offense should go off, but Williams likely to get a touchdown here.
35:36I'm at running back 12 this week. I'll quickly move into others receiving votes.
35:40Nate, a couple of running backs. Like, I'm in on Bucky Irving this week.
35:44I feel like—I talked about those Nate Tice, our friend Nate Tice, earlier in the preseason, but I feel like the hate
35:51on Bucky Irvin went too far this preseason. No team allowed more fantasy points to opposing running backs last year than the Cincinnati Bengals.
35:58That's another team that improved their defense in the offseason.
36:01It remains to be seen how much, though. I think both Steelers running backs against the Falcons, right?
36:07This is another team. Atlanta projected to have one of the worst front sevens.
36:11We know Rodgers doesn't want to throw deep, so I think you'll see both Jalen Warren and Rico Dattel be flex-worthy as you see it there.
36:19I have them at 27 and 28, respectively, against the Falcons.
36:22And how about Jordan Mason? All the talk in the preseason, as much as we love Aaron Jones, free Aaron Jones, Jordan
36:29Mason, I think he's going to be a very good fit with this team's running scheme now.
36:34And all their talk in the preseason—this is another thing that we talked about with Nate Tice—but all the talk in the
36:40preseason is that Mason is going to be the running back you want in Minnesota.
36:45And that Jones will be there for third down.
36:48He'll be there for some passing work. He's there because he's a great locker room guy, and KOC loves him.
36:54But Jordan Mason ultimately is going to be the Vikings running back you want for Kyler Murray in Minnesota.
36:59By the way, Nate, speaking of Aaron Jones for a second, really fun moment because I believe—you know, it all runs together.
37:06It was 12 years ago, but I believe free Aaron Jones was with me and you, right?
37:11I believe that started with me and you. The free Aaron Jones thing on O6.
37:16It sounds familiar. Who was he battling against at the time?
37:19I think it was— Obviously in Green Bay. It was in Green Bay.
37:23Was it A.J. Dillon? I'm trying to think who it was.
37:26No, it was way sooner than that. Producer Damien, who was it that Aaron Jones was— Jamal Williams.
37:32Oh, Jamal Williams. I think it might have been Jamal Williams.
37:35I don't remember. I'll tell you what, though, Matthew.
37:38That's a good pivot here. So I have this shirt that was sent to us by a listener way back in the day.
37:44Yeah, yeah. The white's going to wash it out.
37:47I don't see free Aaron Jones on this shirt.
37:50So this shirt has basically a number of the major gimmicks and catchphrases and what have you from the old show.
37:56So it's got Woody Repartee and Bonifat or Bonifacio, the Emmy award-winning Jacqueline Purdy.
38:00I don't see free Aaron Jones on here. So, I mean, it's possible that this was in our era or it's possible
38:07it was with, you know, some of the lesser fantasy hosts that you worked with.
38:12I'm almost positive. Like our friend in Field Yates.
38:14Yeah, yeah. Love you, Field. I'm almost positive, Nate, it was in our era because I just remember people sending us photos
38:21of, like, we were, like, to get into the Man's League.
38:24And we didn't really do the Man's League once—oh, I think we went away from it once Field— Yeah, that would make sense.
38:31Join the show. And I just remember—I remember somebody got into the Man's League because we were talking about free Aaron Jones.
38:38And somebody, like, held a sign at WrestleMania with free Aaron Jones.
38:41And another guy, I remember, like, he got seats at a Packers game by the end zone.
38:46And that, like, there was a field goal kick, you know, and so, like, the uprights.
38:51And he literally held up a big sign that said, hashtag free Aaron Jones next to the uprights.
38:57And that, like, got him into the Man's League the next year.
39:00Look, the chat is telling us this was with Field Yates, Matthew, which, I mean, look, it's not, you know, it's no
39:07shame that you would confuse myself and Field. Both extraordinarily handsome young, young, young men.
39:11Yes, as compared to me. All right, so the chat's telling me it was 2017 was his rookie year, and your last year was 2014?
39:192014, yeah, yeah. So it was Field Yates. It was Field Yates.
39:23All right. Well, it all runs together. Sorry, Field, wherever you're at.
39:26Appreciate you. But anyway, Aaron Jones, I saw him at the Super Bowl, and when he found out that I was the
39:33guy that invented free Aaron Jones, he hugged me.
39:35And he hugged me and signed a football for me that says free Aaron Jones.
39:40That's nice. That's nice. All right, we got to, look, this is like bringing it back.
39:45We got to keep it rolling here. I'm looking at the clock, Matthew.
39:49So let's move to the running back hate, the number one on the list.
39:53Actually surprised me here. Quinshon Judkins of the Cleveland Browns.
39:56Well, here's the thing. It's going to be like, anyway, so I'm Quinshon Judkins at running back 24.
40:01I think he's a touchdown dependent flex play. Maybe he falls into the end zone.
40:06I hope so. I like the player, but I'm just really nervous about the situation, both with Watson against the Jaguars on
40:12the road and what should be a low scoring game, at least on the Brown side of the ball.
40:18The other guy that I hate, Nate, this week is Tony Pollard going against your New York Jets, by the way.
40:25Yeah. You love the Jets. Well, I don't know that I love the Jets so much as I hate his participation.
40:31I think people feel like he's going to be the lead back and Tajay Spears is like, it's literally 50-50 split.
40:37In the 12 games last year, the final 12 games that Tony Pollard and Tajay Spears played together, where Tajay Spears was
40:44active, Tony Pollard played 53% of the snaps, 37% route participation.
40:47The game total in this one, 38 and a half.
40:50So that's the lowest in week one. So you just don't expect a lot of scoring.
40:55And by the way, I have a sneaky suspicion that your Jets are going to be like dangerously close to competent.
41:01They're going to be like, they're not going to be bad.
41:05They're just going to be mediocre. They're going to be mediocre.
41:08And so in a world where the Titans, Titans could be down.
41:11And if the Titans are down, it's going to be Tajay Spears, not Tony Pollard.
41:16So I have Pollard at running back 30. I think he's a, again, he's a low end flex and you hope he falls into the end zone.
41:24I need you to promise me something right now.
41:27If you and I ever do a full-time show together again.
41:30Yeah. Dangerously close to competent. I mean, it's a, what a perfect show title for that.
41:35Dangerously close to competent with Matthew and Nate. I love it.
41:38I kind of like, that's kind of pretty funny.
41:41Dangerously close to competent with Matthew and Nate. Dangerously close to competent.
41:45Well, when I was, I was re-listing to all the theme songs this morning.
41:49And one of them was, one of the lyrics was, it's the 12th best fantasy podcast, which I had forgotten.
41:55That's part of the thing. Yeah. Yeah. That was always one of our jokes, but I'd forgotten that line.
42:00Like, you know, it's been so long. Like some of the stuff I remember and some of the stuff, like, it's so
42:07funny what I remember and what I don't. Like, you know, obviously I remember the war by the shore or Bonafide and Bonafacio.
42:14I forgot up until you said it. And of course, then immediately, like, but I forgot about Emmy Award winning Jacqueline Purdy.
42:21Yeah. Right. Absolutely. And then once you mentioned that, shout out to Jacqueline, wherever she is.
42:25And I thought about, like, you know, the wise and sage-like Mark Harine.
42:29Of course. Of course. You know. A lot of characters over the years.
42:33All right. We got to keep it rolling. Let's jump into the pass catcher love here.
42:38Yeah. A couple names we've kind of already touched on given their team situations, but Chris Olave going against the Detroit Lions.
42:45You know I like Shuck. You know I like this game environment.
42:48Well, last year with Tyler Shuck as his quarterback, Chris Olave averaged almost 19 fantasy points per game, had a 29% target share, over 82 yards a game.
42:57And then you think about Detroit missing their two starting safeties.
43:00And last year they gave up the fifth most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers.
43:05Olave is my wide receiver seven this week. All in Olave.
43:08I think an easy one next, George Pickens. You already talked about your love for the Cowboys.
43:13George Pickens going against the New York Giants. Yeah.
43:16Which, by the way, the Giants allowed the sixth highest completion rate on deep passes last year.
43:21They're also projected to have one of the worst secondaries in the NFL.
43:25John Harbaugh's got his work cut out for him.
43:27I don't know that he's going to solve everything week number one.
43:31George Pickens should have a big game. The entire, like, I'm in on Dak.
43:35I'm in on CeeDee Lamb. I call him eights.
43:38Ferguson, like, if you're desperate for a tight end, I bet you Jake Ferguson catches a touchdown in this one as well.
43:45Yeah. I mean, and obviously, Javante makes the love list.
43:48Yeah. I think the Cowboys, unfortunately for this Commanders fan, will have a good game on Sunday night against the Giants.
43:54And the last name on your pass catcher, your primary love list.
43:58Again, we already talked about earlier. Colston Loveland at the Carolina Panthers.
44:01Matthew, I do want to point out here, courtesy of the score bet, the over-under on his receiving yards, 54 and a half.
44:08Give me the over. Give me the over. This is a guy going against the Carolina Panthers team that allowed the eighth
44:15most yards per game to opposing tight end. So you love the matchup.
44:19Meanwhile, Luther Byrd missed most of camp. Dunes is dealing with his calf injury.
44:23So Colston Loveland, who last year had five different games where he saw at least a 20% target share, and he scored
44:29over 20 fantasy points in four of those games.
44:32I think he starts off very, very strong. Again, I still have Bowers slightly ahead of him if you're drafting tonight or through the weekend.
44:40But wouldn't look it weird if you went Loveland.
44:42And I love Loveland this week. He's my tight end, too.
44:46Others receiving votes? Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's right. Sorry.
44:48I thought we had one more. Others receiving votes real quickly.
44:52Lad McConkie, I believe, will be McConculus against Arizona, which is a real word, Nate.
44:56McConculus. Look it up. Last year, the Cardinals allowed the fifth most receptions to the slot last season.
45:02Again, very excited about McConkie. This entire passing offense.
45:04I think a Herbert-McConkie stack will be very popular this weekend.
45:08Jamison Williams, you mentioned him. Certainly love him in games like this that are track meets that are going to be indoors going against the Saints.
45:15Over his final 10 games last season, he was the 12th best wide receiver in fantasy football, Jamison Williams.
45:21And he's like, he's necking. I still think I want A.J.
45:24Brown because I think there'll be more touchdowns. But that's about the range for A.J.
45:29Brown at the moment if you're drafting tonight, if we don't get a good sense of his timetable for return.
45:35I think Chris Godwin against Cincinnati. I'm at wide receiver 30th, so I think he's a solid flex this week.
45:41Buka missed a lot of time in camp. We just don't know if that toe is 100% healthy.
45:46And I think that's going to be an exciting game too, Bengals and Bucs.
45:51How about Josh Downs? Ravens allowed the seventh most yards to the slot last season.
45:55Downs, Keenan Allen just got there. He's dealing with some off-the-field stuff.
45:59We don't know if Alec Pierce is healthy. Downs should see a ton of targets against the Ravens.
46:04And finally, if the Cowboys are killing the Giants, the Giants are going to have to throw.
46:09You've got Malik Nabors banged up. Isaiah Likely is competing with Malachi Fields and Darnell Mooney.
46:14So I think Isaiah Likely, as I was a top 10 tight end, I think he's going to get a ton of targets against the Cowboys.
46:22In nine career games where Isaiah Likely has gotten at least six targets, Nate, he's averaging 16.6 fantasy points per game.
46:28You're not the best in the business for nothing, Matthew.
46:31Amazing, amazing, amazing stat there. All right, let's move on to the pass catcher.
46:35Hey, starting with one of your favorites. How does this most break your heart have Terry McLaurin on the hate list in a week long?
46:43Yeah, I mean, look, I'm a homer, but at some point you just can't ignore facts that Terry McLaurin's been single-digit fantasy
46:50points in three of his last four games against the Eagles.
46:53He's going to play – he's going to be matched up against Kenyon Mitchell, Quinone Mitchell, who, you know, is one of the best in the league.
47:01You've also got Diggs and Chigacocko there. It's a new offensive system.
47:05I think he's going to play against the Cleveland Browns.
47:08I did not know what to do with the Jaguars' wide receiver core in draft season.
47:13I'll just be honest about that. Well, the answer is Parker Washington.
47:16But, you know, one of my concerns about Brian Thomas Jr., again, we all love that rookie year, but Chigalby Myers was really good last year.
47:24Parker Washington is like a real player, right? And we've talked a lot about the slot receiver in Liam Cohen's offense.
47:30And just throughout his stops, both college and NFL, the slot guy has always produced well when Liam Cohen's been on the staff.
47:37And so I think Parker Washington, who's so good down the stretch, is going to be a main focal point this weekend,
47:44especially because Denzel Ward is likely to be matched up on Brian Thomas for much of this, as we talked about.
47:50Over-under is 39.5 in this one. That's the second lowest in week number one, tied for the second lowest.
47:56Hot game. Ugh. You know, and I just don't think the Jaguars are going to need to throw as much against the Browns.
48:03Just because I bet you Deshaun Watson turns the ball over and, like, you know, it'd be a short field for the Jaguars.
48:10I think you'll see a bunch of dump-offs to Bashal Tootin as well.
48:14I think it's a Bashal Tootin-Parker-Washington game, maybe some Jacoby Myers in there.
48:17And the Jaguars' defense might score one as well.
48:20I just, I don't have a lot of confidence.
48:23Let's throw one more name game at you real quick.
48:26Yeah, let's do it. Like, let me, I want to frame this Terry McLaurin thing.
48:30So, like, for week one, Terry McLaurin or Mike Evans?
48:33Mike Evans. I have to, let me pull up my ranks here, make sure I'm not saying anything stupid here.
48:39But, um, because I don't have all my rankings.
48:42Oh, Mike Evans. But here, I mean, you're a homer for Mike Evans, right?
48:46Texas A&M? Like, hop along, Horned Frogs. Yeah. That's, that's not the Aggies.
48:50But yes, I mean, that's, um. I thought I was.
48:53They're not the Horned Frogs. So, I mean, I think they're, you know, the question on.
48:58I'm sorry, I caught you off guard here. Bad hosting by me.
49:02No, it's all good. I'm going to have a minute here while you look up your ranks.
49:07It's all good. I have them right in the same range, McLaurin and Evans.
49:11They're all, they're just both right there, you know, 27, 29.
49:14Um, I feel better about, um, uh, I guess I have McLaurin higher just in the sense that, you know, my initial
49:21instinct was Evans, but I forgot that they're playing the Rams.
49:24Um. Yeah. So that's a. It's a tough one with the Niners.
49:28It's a tough one. With Kendall coming back from the injury, they're down in Australia.
49:32Nobody knows anything about stripling. Like, yeah, Evans did not get a lot of.
49:37He did not get a lot of practice time with, with 30.
49:40It's a weird one. Yeah. So anyway, I've, I've McLaurin at 27.
49:44I have Evans at 29. Well, uh, Matthew, that concludes my hosting duties.
49:48Yeah. We're going to stick around for a little while longer, but I will turn it over to you for, uh, for, uh, the rest of the hosting.
49:56Yeah. Well, so we, we, we have about three and a half.
50:00Like, um, uh, Stuntman Chuck says, quote, make sure I don't say anything stupid, but why?
50:05This is why we watch the show. It's a good point.
50:08Um, Stuntman Chuck. Exactly. The, the, the stupidity is, uh, is, is a feature, not a bug.
50:13Absolutely. As they say, uh, Nate, let me ask you, here's a question.
50:17Cause you're fairly objective, um, and you're fairly negative, but you're also a Michigan man through and through.
50:22I am. Who won the game? Who won that game?
50:25Michigan or Western Michigan? There's no question that there's no question that Michigan won the game and that Western Michigan was the more deserving team.
50:33Um, they, they, you know, I, I, true story, Matthew watching that game.
50:37I will, I will say wholeheartedly when that second Hail Mary happened, did not pump my fist, did not yell.
50:43I honestly only felt, uh, I felt bad for Western Michigan and their fans.
50:47It really did. You know, I think by that point, the result for Michigan was already.
50:52You know, you're going to get kicked out of the rankings as you should.
50:56Um, so, but I, I, I don't think the call was wrong.
51:00It just feels wrong and, and, and dirty. So that's not what I'm feeling good about.
51:04I had a joke prepared of like where, Oh, like, no, I don't know.
51:09My cable cut out for like 30 seconds and then came back.
51:12But no, but no, I, I don't feel good about it.
51:16No, and you shouldn't. I mean, Western Michigan got just hosed.
51:19And I think the, I think the way it all happened, like there was a, you know, and, and the, and the
51:26Mac conference released this statement where they're talking about the fact that like, you know, Hey, the protocols weren't followed.
51:32And so I think it just like, it doesn't feel right because like everyone watched the same thing.
51:37We're watching the game clock. The ball is still in the air.
51:41Hasn't touched a player yet. Clock hit zero game over Western Michigan wins.
51:45Good for them. You know? And then, and then there's like, no, there's a secret clock that you haven't heard of that had one second on it.
51:53You know, it's right. You know, um, tops, you know, double secret probation clock or something.
51:57Yeah. It's Brett DeBear says Martin McFly on the play clock.
52:01Yeah. It was, it was a, so that's a, it's a weird one.
52:05Um, it's a weird one there. So, um, say though, like if it, if it was a bad outcome, like, yeah, it's fantasy life.
52:12Like, you know, there you go. Hashtag fantasy life.
52:15I got your book right up here on the shelf.
52:18Yeah. Do you? Asbury Park press bestseller, right? Yes.
52:20And, and, and New York times and USA today.
52:23Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I didn't know that.
52:27Good job. I, you're in, do you know, be honest.
52:30Cause I'm you're, you're absolutely in the book. Um, do you know what page you're on the book?
52:35I have no idea. I have read the book.
52:38I helped you edit the book, but I. Yes.
52:40I know. No, I know you do. I was just curious if you did.
52:45I don't remember what page you're on. What? Several pages.
52:48Yeah. Yeah. I didn't know. Um, but I have, uh, I've done this before.
52:52Okay. Listen, we've got 30 seconds left, Nate. So here's what we're going to do real quickly.
52:57Um, coming up tomorrow, uh, Alex cups the, so you, you know, fantasy life.
53:01Uh, he's a data scientist in his real life and he's a fantasy life, uh, a columnist.
53:06So he'll do the show tomorrow live at noon.
53:09Um, and then, uh, so we're excited about that.
53:12Check out my 10 facts column, which is up on fantasy life.com.
53:15My 10 facts. You need to know for week.
53:18Number one, uh, YouTube and podcasts stick around. Cause we're going to come back with some bonus, but for Amazon, it's closing time.
53:25You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here for Nate.
53:29I'm Matthew. Peace out. All right. We are back, Nate.
53:32And, um, now this is just pure nonsense. Um, so, uh, I mean, we talk about the award winning fantasy analysis you just got.
53:39This is yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I don't know if it was award winning, but, um, I, it was mediocre.
53:45You know what? So, um, I went in, do you remember the 06010 board?
53:49There was a, we had a fan that put together a, a WordPress basically about, um, up with the league.
53:55And so, uh, I'm curious how you'll do. Do you want to explain what this was?
54:00What this was, was when you and I would have arguments on the show.
54:04Right. We would eventually say, well, this is one that we'd want to put a friendly wager on.
54:10And we would track all the wagers on the board.
54:13Yes. And, uh, somebody became, I think originally, the original keeper of the board was Matt Restivo, right?
54:18Former, former ESPN developer turned, uh, media magnate Matt Restivo.
54:21Put it on the board. Uh, Vincent says exactly.
54:24I don't, I don't was, I feel like was Restivo the first keeper of the board or was he the first ESPN
54:31keeper of the board because I feel like fans like started up.
54:34And so there's one guy and I forget the name of it, but like, so it's, it's 06010 board.wordpress.com.
54:40Yeah. Rose off the top. Uh, is yeah. And so, um, anyway, uh, let's see, here's what he said.
54:46Uh, this site originated after discovered that there was a need for someone to actually keep track of the board wagers that Matthew and Nate made.
54:53The version of this board has been kept on the ESPN website has the, the version of the board that has been
55:00kept on the ESPN website has been notoriously out of date and missing information.
55:04The goal with this site is to keep track of these wagers, eliminate any controversy.
55:09So, um, so that you're right. Um, uh, so you're absolutely right, Nate.
55:13Yeah. I think Matt Restivo was the first, um, and he is, he's a big, uh, um, he is a, um, he's a big muckety muck.
55:21He's a big muckety muck. That's right. Muckety muck.
55:23There you go. He's a paper pusher. He's a paper pusher.
55:27Just like me. Yeah, exactly. Um, let's see. Uh, okay.
55:30It's so funny. Like, I'm just looking at this.
55:32Um, what are you trying to do right now?
55:35This does not feel like award-winning TV. You just, you're scrolling the, the 0601 award.
55:39Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly right. To come up with some of the stuff that, uh, was on it.
55:45I was going to ask you some trivia. Okay.
55:48Um, uh, okay. You got it. You ready? Where did Pod Vader get his name?
55:52I mean, I think you gave it to him.
55:55I know there's definitely some controversy over, over the origin of nicknames, but I feel like I don't claim that one.
56:01I feel like you gave it to him. I feel like I did too.
56:05But according to the 0601 award, Jeremy Green gave Jay the nickname of Pod Vader on the Football Today podcast.
56:11Well, remember Jeremy Green on the Football Today podcast?
56:14I do. Probably best if we move on. Yeah.
56:17What's this about weasels? The origins of the weasels comments can be traced to a Man's League contestant, Weasley Bryan.
56:23Um, oh, here you go. Um, do you remember FW Dales?
56:26Of course. FW Dale was, uh, Frank Dale was a producer, podcast producer at ESPN long ago.
56:31And FW Dales was his, uh, his imaginary, uh, sports bar and grill that he operated in his spare time.
56:37Raise the flags too, says Matthew, can we watch you order stuff on Amazon next?
56:42I guess they didn't like me scrolling. No. I mean, it does remind me when you would get bored sometimes of me
56:48hosting the show and you were just playing fruit ninja off on the side.
56:53Um, so, uh, yeah, they have all these questions.
56:55Here's one that I don't remember. How often does Matthew Berry eat Canadian bacon?
57:00I don't remember that at all. I don't either, but it says apparently at least once a week.
57:05Um, I don't remember, I don't remember that. Um, when it's well.
57:09Fantastic. Um, what are comedy goalies? This is usually in reference to Nate and Pod Vader wanting to cut one of Matthew
57:15Berry's jokes because it's often inappropriate for the podcast blocking his, I mean, this is look a hundred percent true.
57:21And to be honest, I, you know, you are to be commended for many things, Matthew.
57:26And certainly your, your success in this industry is unassailable.
57:29Um, I never would have imagined you would have succeeded for this long once the show went live because in the, in
57:36our day, like, by the way, you know, we didn't even have a video show.
57:40I obviously, you know, did television with you at various times and fantasy football now, but the fantasy focus show was not,
57:47uh, was not on video nor was it live.
57:49And yeah, I would say two to three times a show, uh, we would have to pause, stop down and that's going to have to get edited out.
57:58So yeah, Jay and I were the, the comedy goalies and, um, you know, had we not been, I'm not sure either
58:05of our trajectories would have been what they were.
58:07Yeah, no, I probably, uh, by the way, sweep the lake says Matthew, the best was when you guys did an entire
58:14episode about Beverly Hills 90210 on 902 2010. Respectfully.
58:17I don't know. Is that an insult? I don't know if Nate, is that an insult?
58:21Who should be more insulted by this comment? You or Bill Simmons?
58:25Because the truth is, is I did this show.
58:28I did do an entire show. It was actually a two-parter about Beverly Hills 90210, but it was with Bill.
58:34Nate and I are both big 90210 fans and it came up on the show a lot, but.
58:39I mean, look, if people aren't confusing me for Field Eights, they're confusing me with Bill Simmons.
58:44It's the curse that I just, you know, I must bear.
58:48But no, that show was with Bill. You know, we certainly referenced 90210 a lot.
58:52Um, but, uh, no, the complete shows were you and Bill.
58:55Well, that's where 06010 came from because we, that's where we, we would talk about Beverly Hills 90210.
59:01And we're just like, I think it's cool how they have a zip code in the name.
59:06And they're like, what's the zip code for Bristol?
59:09And it was like, it's 06010. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
59:11And so we were just like, we should call this show the 06010 or fantasy focus 06010.
59:16Yeah. Um, uh, yeah. Um, this one's a good one.
59:19Who is the official tough guy of the 06010?
59:22Oh, wow. The official tough guy of the 06010.
59:25I don't know the answer to this. Showtime Eric Young.
59:28Okay. Yes. Professional wrestler, Showtime Eric Young. Yeah. Yeah.
59:31Uh, this was decreed on the nine 15 11 podcast.
59:34Um, uh, okay. Who is, uh, what, who is the official Taylor Swift podcast of the 06010?
59:39You know, there's, there's a show. It was called like the Swifties something or other.
59:43Yep. And I, and I remember this because I went on the show and like, you know, I got rid of an
59:50old computer recently and like on the, on the desktop was saved.
59:53Like the audio file of that show. I don't know how, like how this happened, but somehow I ended up on the Swifty podcast.
60:01Did you go with me? Yeah, no, no, I don't think I, I think I did that show as well.
60:07So the official Taylor Swift podcast of the 06010 was the Swift cast.
60:11Okay. They were wrongly identified. They were wrongly identified as another Taylor Swift cop, uh, as an, they were wrongly identified as another Taylor Swift podcast.
60:18It was up for a podcast award, which was the, we were battling for a people's choice award.
60:24Like when we, we were up for those podcast awards back in the day and then we ended up like, we won
60:30a bunch of them and we ended up, uh, never, you know, not submitting ourselves anymore.
60:35But, um, uh, yeah, we, we were up against a Swift cast pod.
60:39We were up against a Taylor Swift podcast. Um, not called the Swift cast.
60:43It was something else. And we were making fun of it, not because we had anything against Taylor Swift or that particular
60:50podcast, but just because we were like, just trying to like, Hey, like we should win this, you know?
60:56And we were just making fun of whoever the fellow nominees were trying to talk ourselves up so that we could try to win.
61:03We were constantly picking fights with the fellow nominees, whether it was the muggle cast for Harry Potter or Jonas brothers, which
61:10obviously led to us miraculously playing a softball game against them at new Britain stadium.
61:14Um, but yeah, that was, look, that was, that was one of the things like, you know, we certainly felt like their
61:21show was, uh, entertaining and was maybe not getting the full throated support of the company out there.
61:26And so we had to, uh, to, to generate buzz on our own by, uh, by picking obscure fights with other podcasts.
61:33But what happened at the podcast awards was some, one of the hosts of whatever Taylor Swift podcast that we, that we,
61:39you know, made fun of, like came up and was very angry and, you know, like got right in my face.
61:46And I was just like, dude, like, I, you know, um, I was just like, man, we, we got nothing against you, man.
61:53We were just, you know, it's just cause you were a nominee in the podcast, the people's choice award.
61:58And so anyway, like this person got very huffy.
62:01And so then we told the story on the air the next day and we're just like, well, their rival, we, the
62:08Swift cast, because the Swift cast wasn't nominated, you know, they weren't our rival.
62:12So they became the official Taylor Swift podcast. Oh, so we threw our support behind them.
62:17Okay. Yes. We threw our support against them as the official, uh, uh, Swift cast.
62:21Here's a good one. Wow. Who is the Morocco mole?
62:24These are obscure. Morocco mole. I don't remember this one, but I do.
62:28Once you answer this one, I do have a question for you that sort of goes back to this era.
62:34The Morocco mole. I don't know. Uh, Gabe Biscayne, Gabe Biscayne.
62:37Remember like he was, we had Daniel Dopp was our producer.
62:41He was secret squirrel. And then Gabe Biscayne, uh, became a producer for a while when Daniel was doing some other stuff.
62:47And so we needed a similar secret squirrels buddy was Morocco mole.
62:51So I literally, some of these, I'm just like, wow, they're so obscure.
62:55Are you sure that that doesn't, that isn't after me, but all right.
62:59But going back to that era, Matthew, one of the things I remembered was you did a world of former, uh, Pittsburgh pirates, third baseman, Pedro Alvarez.
63:07Hey, it's me. The question everybody wants to know is why did he have an Italian accent?
63:12Why did he have an exaggerated, you know, cartoonish Italian accent?
63:15Uh, just because it was funny. And because I didn't think I would get in trouble for it.
63:21Right. Because I mean, I think Pedro Alvarez, it's a Hispanic sounding name.
63:25And I think if I did an exaggerated Hispanic, um, yes.
63:28Voice. That would have been a bad idea. That would have been a bad idea.
63:32It would have been inappropriate. That would have been a bad idea.
63:36Inappropriate. But Pedro, I don't know. Pedro Alvarez. I just, uh, it just, for some reason, just Italian came to me and just like, Hey, it's me.
63:44And Pedro Alvarez. Rolled off the top. That was a good one.
63:48That was one of my favorites. Okay. That was, that one was fun.
63:52Um, uh, do you remember who the untire is speaking of baseball?
63:55Oh, of course. Of course. Xavier Nady. Xavier Nady the untire.
63:59Yeah. Shout out to the good one. Yeah. Xavier Nady the untire, which by the way, um, just, uh, really, you know, everything old is new again, Nate.
64:07Do you remember who came up with the nickname, uh, the untire for Xavier Nady?
64:12Yeah. I just said it. Gabe Goodwin. Uh, I don't, was it Gabe Goodwin or was it Ed Eck?
64:17Oh, I think you're right. It was Ed Eck.
64:20Apologies. Yeah, it was Ed. It was Ed. Yep.
64:23Well, and by the way, I am working with Ed Eck right now.
64:27So. Oh, there you go. Well, then he's going to be mad at me.
64:31So I apologize, Ed. So, um, uh, so you know what?
64:34It's so funny is I feel like we, I'm looking through this board and I feel like we had better stuff for baseball than we did for.
64:42Well, that's, I mean, look, I think that the, the secret, the true old schoolers, like the baseball show was probably the
64:49better show at the time, you know, because, because we had more space to just kind of go wherever we wanted.
64:55Where as on the football show, you know, for good reason, we felt the need to at least cover every game, talk about all the key players.
65:03And it made, you know, particularly the Monday and Friday shows like a bear to get through, which is why I was constantly trying to hurry you up.
65:12And you were constantly trying to say one more thing.
65:15Cause you wanted to deliver that fantasy analysis. So baseball, we had a little bit more room to work with.
65:21Um, but man, what a grind. Yeah. Um, one that comes up a decent amount whenever I do like Reddit, MAA, MAA,
65:27MAA, MAA, MAA, Reddit AMAs or like even on social media or something like that is the war by the shore.
65:34Yeah. Um, where, uh, do you remember what the war by the shore was?
65:38It was, uh, it was Dave Bush against, uh, Barry Zito and I was a big Dave Bush supporter back then.
65:44Yeah. Yeah. So my, uh, so, and then, so the, so anyway, you clearly said on 5, 12, 08, we discussed who
65:51would have the better pitching performance, Barry Zito or Dave Bush.
65:54You clearly said, uh, put it on the board.
65:57My response was not clear. The loser of the bet would have to record blank is the greatest fantasy analyst alive.
66:03Um, and so the fact that I, I basic, and so I think, uh, Dave Bush had the better performance that night.
66:10He did. And it was that year he had the better performance.
66:13Eventually I couldn't find it. Somebody sent me a hat with like a fish on it that said greatest fantasy analyst alive
66:20from this, but I don't know that you paid off the bet.
66:24Matthew, I will say, and I see the comment here from stuntman Chuck.
66:28Um, I feel like we are getting dangerously close to, um, you know, that old Chris Farley SNL sketch where he says, remember that?
66:35That was awesome. It's your show. Is this, is this entertaining the audience?
66:39I don't know how we're doing it on, on live streamers right now.
66:43If the audience is staying, we can continue. Yeah.
66:45You tell me, Damien, is the audience still there or they, have they bailed on this thing yet?
66:51They're holding strong. Holding strong. Of course. Holding strong.
66:53So I appreciate this. I appreciate the, uh, the 06010 or, sorry, the, the regulars, uh, sticking with us.
66:59Um, uh, so yeah, I mean like the war by the shore anyway.
67:03Um, yes, I lost the bet. It says that I paid it off and I said, Nate is the greatest fantasy analyst alive.
67:10Because I feel like we played that clip a lot.
67:13I feel like you would call for that drop.
67:16Um, yeah, we did. And you know what though, I, I, I will say today on a, what is it?
67:22September 10th, 2026. I will relinquish that title. I'm definitely not the greatest fantasy alive.
67:26They added the list alive. And so I don't know where you are, Matthew, but you get to move up one spot in the rankings.
67:34So whether that's from 82 to 81, seven to six, and not for me to say, to be honest, I'm not in
67:40the business of ranking fantasy players anymore. And I'm definitely not in the business of ranking fantasy analyst anymore.
67:46Although I will shout out our, our own, uh, Eric Patterson at the score.
67:50It was very fine work. Yeah. Eric Patterson's great.
67:53Um, as, uh, at ed ec 8590 says, talk more about this ed ec guy who came up with the untired nickname.
68:00He sounds hilarious and handsome. I agree with you.
68:02He does. He absolutely is. Well, no, he sounds hilarious and handsome.
68:06He isn't Nate, but he definitely sounds like he is.
68:09That's unkind. That's unkind. No, it's, I take it back.
68:12I take it back. He's very handsome. Um, all right.
68:15So, uh, you know, Oh, the millennial Falcon says we're waiting on the ankle content.
68:20That's something that, um, Nate bypassed you, but since we were in full on nonsense mode, I will tell you that people
68:26love, they love the fact that I, the ankles, they love, they love like my.
68:31Yeah. I saw you showed this off on the Stefania episode and she correctly declined to participate as will I.
68:37Uh, fair enough. I think it's just, I think the problem is why everyone declines is this.
68:42My ankles are so hot. I've just got such good looking ankles and was like, I'm not putting my ankles up against that.
68:49So I think it's fair. Yeah. That's fair. Yeah.
68:51Um, Nate, we are both of a certain age.
68:54You're a few years younger than I am, but, um, you've managed to maintain your hair.
68:59You've got a strong head of lettuce still, uh, 12 years later.
69:03Uh, it's a little gray, but you know, I mean, I mean, it's a lot gray.
69:07Uh, you catch me now. I grew it out last year, but yeah, I am.
69:12But they am Matthew. Uh, not ashamed to admit, uh, recently turned 49.
69:16Um, you of course look amazing for a man that is, uh, almost 72.
69:20Um, you know, so yeah, we're good. Yeah. The hair, the hair, the hair is going strong.
69:25Yeah. Well, I'm desperately, so I'm, I'm, I'm 72 years old, but I'm, uh, I'm 81 on the, uh, the fantasy analyst rankings.
69:32So I'm hoping that I can, I can close the gap and, uh, at least do they have, maybe they have like
69:39an over 60 league that you can be number one in, in the fantasy analyst.
69:43Yeah. I should. Yeah. I, uh, I should look into that.
69:46I should look into that. Do you, Nate, do you still play, uh, do you still play fantasy baseball?
69:52Cause that baseball was always your sport back in the day.
69:56Yeah. You know, I don't. And Matt, it's so cliche, but it just, it became a casualty of, of life, right.
70:02Of having a couple of kids, you know, and, and a career.
70:05And I, you know, I don't want to say like takes too much time because I, I enjoyed the time.
70:11I love doing that. Um, but it just got to the point where I didn't know the players well enough anymore and
70:18just didn't, I guess I didn't want to play if I didn't feel like I could be good at it.
70:24Whereas like, I think fantasy football, given, uh, there's so much randomness, it feels like you can still, you know, have a
70:31good time, even if you're not following it the way you used to.
70:35Yeah. I mean, that's the brilliance. But I do, I do miss it every now and again.
70:40I do miss it every now and again. That's the brilliance of, um, that's the brilliance of fantasy football is that it's,
70:46you know, hard to master, but easy to play.
70:49And that you can sort of just like, if you don't know a ton about the NFL, you could still open up an app, draft a team.
70:57And, you know, even if you just go down default rankings, like you won't embarrass yourself.
71:02You know what I mean? And like, you'll, you know, you're, you're likely not going to win, but you're also likely not
71:09going to finish, um, uh, last place either. And so, but yeah, baseball's intense, man.
71:13You know, you have to like, and for me, like it was, it was tough for me to give it up.
71:19But again, football has become such a massive sport year round, uh, you know, um, that it's, uh, that, you know, just,
71:26I just felt like, and I know you and I always felt like when we were doing the show, cause for a
71:33long time we were doing, we were doing a baseball show and a football show.
71:37And I know we always felt when we got to August that we were just phoning in the baseball show over the
71:44last two months because football was so intense. You know what I mean?
71:48Like it just, it got tough. Um, you know, and ultimately then we turned it over to, to Tristan and Eric, because
71:54it just, we felt like we weren't, we were, we were short changing.
71:58They were better fantasy analysts than us. Um, yeah, a better fantasy analyst than us.
72:03And also like, like we felt like we were short changing the audience.
72:07I will say this and I say this, and I say this with no disrespect to Eric, who's terrific.
72:12But, uh, to this day, Tristan Cockroft is the greatest fantasy baseball analyst I've ever met in my life, by the way.
72:19And at my peak, he was better than me when I was at my peak, you know, like he's Tristan's phenomenal.
72:25Tristan's phenomenal. Love Tristan. Uh, love Eric. And yeah, like not to be like, woe is us because we, um, we're living
72:32a dream or still living a dream. Um, but like back at, back then we were doing two episodes a day before
72:399am every day, like, you know, during that overlap period and in late July into, into late September.
72:44Um, and then going off and doing everything else, right?
72:47You were going off and writing columns and going on sports center and I was going off to push papers the rest of the day.
72:55Um, so it was a lot like August was a lot to come in at seven, whatever, do a baseball show, pause
73:01for three minutes, do a football show, try to make sure we didn't get fired.
73:06Yeah. And, uh, and then move on with the rest of the day.
73:10So, yeah. Especially because we didn't, back then we didn't have a, um, uh, we didn't have the resources that, you know,
73:16I have today that, you know, I had later in my career at ESPN where you had researchers, you know, I mean,
73:23we always used to joke about Pod Vader cause like he would steal a research packet from the NFL guys.
73:29And so that was where they all, you know, sometimes they'd get mad about that.
73:33Yes, they would. But, you know, say they would, um, yeah.
73:37Uh, there's a whole nother podcast about internal ESPN politics that you and I could do, but, um, we will not be doing that podcast.
73:44But, um, uh, yeah, no, I, I agree, but, um, we could do one, but yeah, like, yeah.
73:50And so, but like, that's where it would be like, you know, like what were all the Pod Vader phrases like back
73:56in the day, you know, something like that. There was just like, um, Pod Vader would always, the dings that caused the dings.
74:03It was the three things that caused the dings were Arrowhead.
74:06Um, uh, God, what was, God, why am I blanking it?
74:10Okay. So, um, cause you're 72, it's fine. Yeah.
74:12Yeah. I know, I'm losing it. Um, uh, by the way, Somebody's gonna remind you either in the chat or on Twitter,
74:19somebody's gonna remind you what it is. Yeah. But whatever it was, it was always the same thing where he was just
74:26like, you know, um, it, the research pack was, Yeah, they're saying dating back, dating, dating back.
74:31That was it. Dating back. Dating back. Yep. It was always a big one where we would ding it.
74:37Um, uh, Nate, I know you've got to go.
74:39You've got those papers won't push themselves. They won't.
74:42Look, they're right here. Yeah, exactly. Um, everyone should follow you on, uh, on social media at Nate Rabbits.
74:48You don't tweet a lot, but, um, you know, you, uh, you, every once in a while you will, so they can all follow you there.
74:55And, uh, if you'd like to support Nate, uh, go download the score app, uh, and, or the score bet.
75:01Is it a separate app? Is score bet a separate app?
75:05There are two apps. The score bet is available in 20 U S States plus Ontario, Ontario, Canada.
75:10We recently launched in Alberta. The score is available everywhere.
75:13So, you know, you know, check your local, check your local listings, Matthew, if the score bet is available for you, but, uh, the score is available everywhere.
75:22Um, absolutely dude. I really enjoyed this. Thanks so much.
75:25Um, uh, 12 years been too long, but, uh, you know, our, our careers have taken us in different paths, but, um,
75:31it's, uh, it's awesome that we were able to, um, uh, at this moment come together.
75:36It's been one of the things I've really enjoyed about being out on my own is being able to like, you know,
75:43I wasn't able to do this when I was at ESPN or NBC, like, you know, anyone who's at NBC, I couldn't
75:49have Stefan your Nate, uh, or field on, like couldn't have had you on.
75:54Have let me, you know, in a world where I went back, like you couldn't have Jay or anyway, so, or Connor and Lawrence.
76:01So anyway, it's, um, this has been a treat and, uh, uh, we'll, uh, hopefully we can get to do this again.
76:07So, um, we'll, uh, we'll talk offline and, uh, my love to Andrea and, uh, your kids and, uh, you know, thank you.
76:14You as well. I can't believe Beth did not call and interrupt the show.
76:19I can't believe Beth did not call and interrupt the show.
76:22She's getting better. Does she call, even though she knows you do the show from 12 to one every day?
76:28Does she call in the middle of the show?
76:31She does still not nearly as much. That was one of my favorite recurring gimmicks.
76:35Not nearly as much. She doesn't call at nearly as much, but it's, it's, it's, she does still sometimes.
76:41All right. Um, all right. Love you Beth. Do that.
76:44Yes. Um, so she sends her love as well.
76:47And, um, and you know, and, uh, and I loved your sister as well.
76:51So, um, all right. Uh, listen, that's it. All right, guys, it's really closing time now.
76:56So for Nate Rabbits, I'm Matthew Berry. You don't have to go home, but you can stay here.
77:01We're back tomorrow with Alex Cupps. Peace out. Hi, it's Sarah Gibson Tuttle, founder of Olive and June.
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