Total Request Episode & Pound Foolish Is A Best-Seller!
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 11 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 3, 2026
Published
Thu, September 3, 2026
34
Player insights
32
Players mentioned
Topics
Keaton MitchellMike EvansAlec PierceBrian Thomas Jr.Chris BrooksChris GodwinChristian McCaffreyChristian WatsonDaniel JonesDe'Von AchaneGeorge KittleIsiah PachecoJa'Marr ChaseJahmyr Gibbs
Player analysis
Player insights
Alec Pierce
PositiveValue1:46
Christopher Harris has moved Alec Pierce up in his rankings to 67th overall (standard) and 75th (PPR) following news that Pierce is practicing and expected to be ready for Week 1. While acknowledging concerns about his ankle health and the Colts' target distribution, Harris believes his current 8th-round ADP (89th overall) is a reasonable price to pay for a player who showed growth last year and could have been a 5th-round pick if healthy.
Insight pageBrian Thomas Jr.
NegativeProjection2:04
Christopher Harris notes that Brian Thomas Jr. is currently ranked in the same neighborhood as Alec Pierce, specifically placing Pierce just ahead of him in his latest rankings.
Insight pageChris Brooks
PositiveSleeper63:04
Chris Brooks is highlighted as an interesting late-round sleeper who could emerge if Marshawn Lloyd struggles or gets injured, noting that it is unclear if Lloyd is truly the RB1.
Insight pageChris Godwin
PositiveProjection48:23
Chris Harris identifies Chris Godwin as a strong candidate to remain relevant into his thirties because he has never relied solely on speed and developed an 'old man game' early in his career.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
NegativeInjury71:56
Chris Harris views Christian McCaffrey as the test case for 'tiny bone' running backs, noting that his fantasy value has been volatile due to frequent injuries.
Insight pageChristian Watson
PositiveValue62:01
Christian Watson is viewed as a reasonable draft pick at his current ADP.
Insight pageDaniel Jones
NegativeInjury5:00
Christopher Harris notes that Daniel Jones is returning from a significant injury, which adds uncertainty to his outlook.
Insight pageDe'Von Achane
NegativeValue70:53
Chris Harris admits he was wrong to fade Devon Achane early in his career due to his small size, noting he is trying to be more open to 'tiny bone' running backs who are elite athletes.
Insight pageGeorge Kittle
PositiveValue7:18
Christopher Harris raised George Kittle from TE12 to TE8 in his rankings because Kittle traveled to Australia for the Week 1 game against the Rams, suggesting he is likely to play. Harris cautions that Kittle might be limited to 15 snaps initially, but views him as a potential discount if he returns to full health by October.
Insight pageIsiah Pacheco
NegativeInjury9:14
Christopher Harris confirms that Isaiah Pacheco has been placed on short-term IR and is currently not draftable.
Insight pageJa'Marr Chase
PositiveProjection45:49
Chris Harris suggests Ja'Marr Chase could potentially age well into his thirties by evolving his game beyond just speed, comparing his potential career arc to Stefon Diggs.
Insight pageJahmyr Gibbs
NegativeDepth Chart9:18
Christopher Harris notes that the backup running back situation for Jahmyr Gibbs remains unclear, leaving him without a clear handcuff.
Insight pageJames White
PositiveValue74:01
Denny Carter recalls his past successful call on James White as an 'RB1 PPR scam,' noting that he misses the era of satellite backs who provided consistent PPR value.
Insight pageJaylen Waddle
NegativeProjection47:33
Chris Harris does not believe Jalen Waddle will age well because his game is predicated on speed, which he expects to decline.
Insight pageJeremiyah Love
PositiveBreakout56:26
The speaker expresses genuine excitement about Jeremiah Love's running ability based on preseason film, describing his performance as 'insanely impressive' despite the lack of clarity regarding his health.
Insight pageJordan Love
PositiveProjection62:56
Jordan Love is recommended as a core piece of the Green Bay offense to target in drafts, ideally paired with one of his receivers.
Insight pageKeaton Mitchell
NegativeInjury45:29
Keaton Mitchell is highly regarded by the speaker, but his current injury status creates significant concern for his fantasy outlook.
Insight pageNegativeInjury75:29
Denny Carter identifies Keaton Mitchell as a player he likes, but expresses concern regarding his current injury status.
Insight pageKeenan Allen
PositiveProjection48:42
Chris Harris cites Keenan Allen as a prime example of a receiver who successfully adjusted his game as he aged, noting that he is likely the slowest receiver in the league but remains highly effective.
Insight pageKenneth Gainwell
PositiveSleeper75:25
Denny Carter suggests Kenneth Gainwell as a potential candidate to fill the 'satellite back' role that provides consistent PPR points.
Insight pageLadd McConkey
NegativeBreakout64:03
Denny Carter jokingly mentions that he will perform a goat sacrifice to determine the outlook for Ladd McConkey this season.
Insight pageLamar Jackson
PositiveValue73:41
Denny Carter notes that he has previously faded Lamar Jackson due to high touchdown rates, but now recognizes that some players simply maintain high efficiency due to their offensive scheme.
Insight pageMarShawn Lloyd
NegativeValue62:11
Marshawn Lloyd is a high-upside target in the eighth or ninth round because he has the potential to become an RB1 if he wins the job, despite the risk that he might not be effective.
Insight pageMatthew Stafford
PositiveValue72:30
Denny Carter references Chris Harris's take on Matthew Stafford, emphasizing that fantasy managers should not discount a player simply because they had a good season previously.
Insight pageMichael Pittman
NegativeUsage4:02
Christopher Harris questions who will inherit the targets previously directed toward Michael Pittman Jr. in the Colts' offense, noting that the team seems to rely on short-area weapons like Tyler Warren, Keenan Allen, and Josh Downs.
Insight pageMike Evans
NegativeBust45:06
Chris Harris believes Mike Evans has faded for oblivion and does not have a long career ahead of him, despite noting he will still draft him this year.
Insight pageNegativeInjury57:48
Mike Evans is used as an example of a player whose frequent soft-tissue injuries during training camp are often over-reported, leading the speaker to stop reacting to such news.
Insight pageNick Mullens
NegativeRole58:42
Nick Mullens is described as a player with limited talent who still managed to have some success within Kevin O'Connell's offensive system.
Insight pageSam Darnold
PositiveValue58:19
The speaker argues that the Minnesota Vikings should have kept Sam Darnold, suggesting he was capable of succeeding long-term in Kevin O'Connell's system.
Insight pageStefon Diggs
PositiveUsage46:34
Chris Harris notes that Stefon Diggs remained productive last year despite being limited in the number of routes he ran.
Insight pageTee Higgins
NegativeInjury46:59
Chris Harris views Tee Higgins as a player unlikely to last into his thirties due to his big-bodied frame and history of constant soft-tissue injuries, comparing him to Julio Jones.
Insight pageTorrey Smith
NegativeBust48:32
Torrey Smith is cited as a classic example of a 'bust' when analysts over-rely on the narrative that a player will step into a specific role in a new offensive system, referencing his failed transition to the 'Andre Johnson role' under Gary Kubiak in Baltimore.
Insight pageTucker Kraft
NegativeValue61:34
Tucker Kraft is considered a poor value at his current ADP, with the speaker noting that conflicting reports about his snap counts make him difficult to trust.
Insight pageZay Flowers
NegativeProjection47:23
The speaker clarifies that his positive outlook on Zay Flowers is not based on any specific knowledge of offensive coordinator Todd Monken's system, dismissing the idea that coaching schemes are the primary driver of his player evaluations.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00It's the Harris Fantasy Football Podcast with your host Christopher Harris.
0:04Welcome! Hey everybody, welcome in. My name is Chris and this is a show with bestsellers involved.
0:09More on that in a moment. What is going on?
0:13You children of the possum, how the heck are you?
0:16Thank you so much for continuing to make this very stupid show a part of your day.
0:22It is truly my honor to get to talk with so many of you and to have met a bunch of you out on the book tour.
0:31I'll talk about that in a few minutes. We really do have big news in the land of Pound Foolish, but I
0:39know that some of you have an itchy fast-forward finger.
0:42We are going to talk football first. We really didn't get too much NFL news that we can use in advance of
0:49fantasy drafts over the past couple of days. On the Yacht Club show yesterday, Andy Behrens and I did have a conversation
0:57about the biggest ADP changes and movers over the past week or so.
1:01And whether there's something that we can apply in our Labor Day weekend drafts.
1:06The biggest change we talked about, the biggest change I made in my ranks, is to get maybe back in a little bit on Alec Pierce.
1:15He jumped up in my ranks with the news that he's practicing and the Colts simply seem to be preparing that he'll be ready to go week one.
1:24I now have Pierce 67 overall standard, 75 PPR, kind of like right in front of where I'm taking Brian Thomas.
1:31That's the neighborhood. And you know, I have so many good friends who do this very stupid show that I also do.
1:39And I called on them this week so that I could make some appearances on other shows and spread the word a
1:46little bit about this podcast and also about Pound Foolish.
1:50Truly, I want to say thanks to Pat and Denny from Rotowire and Dave Kluge from Football Guys, Jeff Erickson from Rotowire, Matt Harmon from Yahoo.
1:58I did their shows Tuesday and Wednesday. Today I'll be doing Jake Seeley from The Athletic Show and Matt Waldman from Football Guys.
2:06You could not ask for better friends. And the reason I thought to mention it is because I truly can't remember which
2:14show I was doing when we talked about Alec Pierce.
2:17But on one of them, the host said, you know, I hear you that he's a riser, but I have some reservations because of course they do.
2:26Because, you know, it sounds like Pierce's ankle was a mess and he certainly could be one more hit away from another ankle problem.
2:34And then, yeah, like the question of if what else the Colts have in that receiving core seems to be short area
2:42passing weapons like Tyler Warren and Keenan Allen and Josh Downs.
2:45Well, maybe Pierce gets kind of thrown into the deep role again and doesn't get any of the easy targets, only the difficult stuff.
2:54I think that's a smart point. Who's going to inherit those Michael Pittman targets?
2:58It's a good question. And also Daniel Jones coming back from his big injury.
3:03And so if someone expresses doubt about Pierce, I get it.
3:07I just think the price is still likely to be reasonable this weekend on Alec Pierce.
3:12I'm looking at the Fantasy Pros real-time ADP. I'm seeing it 89th overall, 8th round.
3:17Last week, before we got good news, I would probably have said that there's a bunch of better receivers you could probably
3:25take a shot on in the 8th round and not, you know, quote-unquote, waste an 8th round pick on Alec Pierce.
3:32Even weighing those negative considerations that still exist that are not health-related, I gotta say that price starts to be pretty...
3:39You know, I want good players. Pierce really grew in my estimation last year.
3:44I think he turned into a pretty good player.
3:47Certainly has a chance to get off to a slow start, considering he hasn't done anything in training camp or practice or anything.
3:54But that's a price that I can get behind if he's playing.
3:58I don't have to use him. You know, if he hadn't had this problem, if he had been a participant in training
4:06camp, where do we think he would have gone?
4:09Fifth round. I don't think the situation would have been enough to compress what he really looked like last year.
4:16So if we're getting him at the 8th, then we shouldn't take him in the 5th.
4:21But if we're getting him in the 8th, he's not a fantasy starter.
4:26And compared to other receivers I can get there, I think I will take the chance on putting him on my bench.
4:33And so that is a big, significant change that I made over the past two days.
4:38The other one being George Kittle, who I took from number 12 at tight end and raised to number 8.
4:45That is not a major hike in my overall ranks because I have tended to bunch several tight ends together in a little clump there.
4:54And Kittle was at the bottom of that clump and now he's at the top.
4:59But, of course, it means that if a draft stays away from tight ends for long enough for me to get to
5:06that clump in my overall ranks, then, you know, he's ahead of four other tight ends who I would have taken ahead of him previously.
5:15And now I would take him ahead of them.
5:18Because Kittle apparently did make the trip to Australia for week one against the Rams.
5:23I don't think he makes that trip if he's not playing.
5:26Absolutely, of course. Understand that playing might mean 15 snaps.
5:30So I won't be surprised when I do week one ranks next week that I have Kittle lower than 8th.
5:37But it sure seems to bode well for the season that Kittle can be ready to go right away.
5:43And it should go without saying that if he's able to get back to being himself eventually, like even by October, he
5:50will probably have come at a really nice discount.
5:54We had Isaiah Pacheco go on short-term IR. So he isn't draftable.
5:58And we just don't know who the backup is for Jameer Gibbs.
6:02So he accordingly doesn't have a handcuff. And we have a lot of quasi-injured or fully injured guys who we're going to
6:09be in limbo about for week one, for another week plus, and potentially going into games.
6:14Sometimes they just don't tell us in advance. Including guys like Ashton Gentie and Jeremiah Love and Emeka Abuka and others.
6:22And I have basically spent any time, say the last week.
6:25Yeah. Since I got back from the larger trip.
6:28The last week or so, anytime I wasn't doing guest appearances and doing readings and recording this show, I've been in front
6:36of the laptop grinding on the second Almanac edition.
6:39It comes out finally on Friday morning tomorrow. Tomorrow.
6:42I'm pretty much done. I have to do the ranks in the back of the book.
6:47But the write-ups are changed. The ranks are changed.
6:50So many profiles have changed. And you'll see red text.
6:54It's like the old text is crossed out. The new text is bolded.
6:58All of it in red. So it's an easy scroll to catch up and see what changed.
7:04You can do it in probably an hour. So let's all just cross our fingers that we don't get any more landscape-altering news in the next 24 hours.
7:13And then at that point, tomorrow morning, it's going to be sent to you automatically.
7:18If you already got the first edition of the Almanac, it'll be out of my hot little hands for good and into yours.
7:26And I'll get a little bit of sleep this weekend.
7:30All right. And even though I did talk some about it on the Yacht Club show with Andy yesterday, I want to
7:37spend a moment here today thanking the folks who came out to the Los Angeles reading on Tuesday evening.
7:43You want to talk about bad traffic that night?
7:46Oh, man. But we did get a very nice crowd.
7:50This was 30-plus people for sure. Awesome to meet some of you for the first time.
7:55Awesome to re-meet some of you who've come to meetups I've had in the past.
8:00That was fantastic. Fantastic. And then also many of my best friends here in L.A.
8:05came out, which was just so nice. I did the reading.
8:09It was super fun. Portland, you are still the grand champion of the tour.
8:14Congrats. That Portland crowd was unreal. Phoenix and L.A., also great.
8:18Tacoma, great. Vegas, you know, we didn't get that many people.
8:21Also great, though, because the ones who did come, I got to hang out with up close and personal and get to know.
8:29And I'll always remember you guys. Thank you to everybody who came out.
8:34And it's time for me to mention Pound Foolish is a bestseller.
8:38However we define that, I've got visual proof that in some way Pound Foolish is a bestseller.
8:43Cumulative Press has a tiger by the tail. Scholars will be asking decades from now, well, how in the world did a
8:51rinky-dink little publisher as tiny as cumulative press get a book as massive as Pound Foolish?
8:56That's a great question. We'll never know. I'm not sure how long it's going to last.
9:02Maybe it's not lasted by the time you're hearing this, but as of my recording this, if you go to bookshop.org right
9:09now and click the bestseller link at the top, it doesn't matter what format, Pound Foolish is there.
9:15That is crazy. We're ahead of Ann Patchett. We're ahead of Dungeon Crawler Carl.
9:20I mean, granted, that book's been out forever. Plus on Barnes & Noble, the audiobook is listed as a bestseller right now.
9:27So if you go there, you can see the little, there's a little square that says bestseller.
9:33This is, you know, I'm not sure if we're going to register on any, what I typically think of as like, you know, nationwide bestseller list.
9:42The way that there used to be like a New York Times bestseller list.
9:47I don't know if we're going to be on that.
9:50Maybe we will. We'll find out. But even this is so great and beyond what I thought was possible.
9:56It's all because of you. So many of you pre-ordered.
10:00And as we were talking about throughout August, the pre-order sales roll as a rolling tally and they get assigned to the release week.
10:08And that is what happened. So thank you so much.
10:11And if you haven't gotten a copy, maybe it's time to get on the train, don't you think?
10:17After all, this is a bestseller we're talking about for heaven's sake.
10:21Of course, the funny thing is that not that many people have read or listened to the book yet.
10:28You did this out of belief in me, which is absolutely lovely.
10:32And I want to just once again take a moment and talk about what I talked about at the beginning of August,
10:39about how much rejection there is in our lives.
10:42And it's natural. We all feel it. We sometimes feel like we're the only ones feeling it.
10:48But hopefully, you know, just hearing me talk about it, you realize, believe me, we all feel it.
10:54It would be easy for me to come on the show and grouse about how mistreated I have felt trying to convince people to care about this book.
11:04Like, remember, I asked you to suggest shows and things that you listen to.
11:08And we took every single one that you sent in.
11:12And it was dozens and dozens. And we have sent emails to all of them asking, hey, would you like to have me on?
11:20Talk about fantasy. Talk about the new NFL season.
11:23You know, talk about the book and the stuff that we have to ignore in order to stay football fans.
11:30And it was mostly crickets. 99% crickets. And that feels bad.
11:33But I think what I'm finally really feeling for myself is that it just doesn't do any good to obsess over the
11:41people who you feel wronged by or who didn't rate you the way that you believed you should be rated.
11:48We all do this. I know tens of thousands of people are hearing me right now.
11:53And a lot of you have had this in your life.
11:57It's hard to move on when you lose a job or a relationship ends or you're trying to start a business and whatever.
12:05Many other situations that apply to you. I am, of course, 100% part of that.
12:10And this time around, I'm trying really hard to be grateful for the small victories.
12:15I want to give you an example. If you follow me on social media, you already know what I'm about to say.
12:22On Tuesday, before the reading in L.A., I have a publicist who's working with me on Pound Foolish.
12:28He's awesome. He's been like a human shield trying to save me from the worst of the rejection.
12:34So there's this famous sign in front of a burger joint.
12:38It's Rick's Drive-In in Echo Park, which is now the official restaurant of this podcast.
12:43So however much free advertising Rick's Drive-In wants from now until the end of time, they have it.
12:49And so Rick's has this funny sign out front.
12:52For like years, people have been putting up small messages, personal messages, zany messages, nice messages.
12:58And the place is just kind of famous for this hand-lettered sign.
13:02And if you go in there and you buy a burger and you ask them, a lot of times they'll just change the sign for you.
13:11And my publicist went in there and he asked nicely and they were so cool.
13:16And they put up a congratulations notice for the Pound Foolish book launch on Tuesday.
13:21And I took a picture and it's on social media.
13:24It's just such a small, silly thing, but it was a win.
13:28And there just aren't that many wins for any of us in life.
13:33So I decided to be delighted by it rather than obsess over that wronged feeling that I described before.
13:39And it really is kind of liberating and it's kind of new for me.
13:44I'm kind of telling you about it in real time.
13:47It made me feel great. And I, you know, the reason I'm saying it is I've put out books with other publishers before.
13:55And I think I spent a lot of time thinking about things people weren't doing for me.
14:01And this time I'm trying to really appreciate the things that people are doing.
14:05And of course, not only is that Rix, that includes all of you.
14:10And good heavens, none of this even gets to the point where, oh, right.
14:15Many of you are just starting to read it or, you know, starting to listen to it or whatever.
14:21You're getting it in the mail. I hope you like it.
14:25All this hullabaloo. What if it's terrible? Ah, it's not terrible.
14:28If you do like it, the book has a Goodreads page.
14:32It would be awesome once you've read it if you could give it a good rating and you could give it a nice write-up.
14:40If you're reading either, you know, on your Kindle or just the paperback and you find a passage that you like and
14:48you think is good writing and speaks to you, wonderful thing to do is to take a screenshot of that chunk of
14:55text and quote, tag me in it. Like, you know, quote it on social media and tag me in it so I can retweet it or reskeet it.
15:05That really helps. If you see me skeeting or tweeting about the book, please retweet.
15:10Don't just like because that's how it goes viral, et cetera, et cetera.
15:14Anyway, launch is over. Hopefully the ride is not.
15:17I have all of you to thank for that.
15:20Today's kickoff. Okay, on today's show, it's a Thursday tradition.
15:24The week before the season kicks off, we do a total request show in which the entire rest of the podcast will be turned over to you.
15:33I have taken your questions in the Discord via email over social media and we will answer as many of them as we can get to.
15:41Denny Carter of Rotor World will join the show, so that means you know it'll be really fun.
15:48I also have a giveaway at the end of the show, so the Pound Foolish pre-orderers, you will have another victor amongst your number.
15:56I think you'll have fun and I thank you again so much for listening today.
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17:17Today's guest. Guess who's coming on the pod today?
17:20His name is Danny Carter and his hair is gray.
17:23That wrote a world now because there's bills to pay.
17:27He might be tilting, but he likes it that way.
17:30His hair was growing for a year and as a groom.
17:34He said, I'm gonna be like you, Dad. Growing out my hair like you.
17:39And the silver spoon. Little Danny Carter in my whole shampoo.
17:42And we have to ask him, first and foremost, does he still use horse shampoo?
17:47It is. Danny Carter from Rotowire. You can find him on Blue Sky where he is a luminary.
17:53A luminary of Blue Sky. One of the true ambassadors of sports on Blue Sky.
17:58I think that's actually true. You know, Blue Sky, we're always like, this is the day that sports became real on Blue Sky.
18:06We've been saying that for like three years. But I truly do believe you're one of the main ambassadors of sports on
18:14Blue Sky because you're following there as giant. Oh, yeah.
18:17I mean, I try to spread the word and it actually is really.
18:21I'll just say this about Blue Sky and sports, right?
18:25Is if you remember what Twitter was like back in the day where, you know, there was no like massive algorithm like
18:32showing you posts from 18 hours ago. Live sports were way better to watch back then on Twitter, right?
18:39Well, you can get the same thing on Blue Sky now and we have a lot of sports folks just posting craziness during like island games.
18:48You know, like it's wild. And I think it's more like it feels like more community based is what I'd say.
18:55Yeah. It's fun. I mean, I have some complaints about Blue Sky, but not nearly as many as I do about Twitter.
19:02That's for sure. I buried the lead, though. We still are using horse shampoo probably.
19:07You know, my doctor said after 40, you should not be using horse shampoo.
19:12So, you know, I take my doctor's recommendation seriously and I switched to Dove, you know.
19:17Well, when I get to 40, I'll let you know.
19:21Wait a minute. Hold on. We're looking into that.
19:24Yeah, we're doing closely. Exactly. So you can listen to Pat and Danny, I hope many of you do, on the Roto
19:31World Football Show very regularly, on which you just had me as a guest a couple of days ago.
19:38Thank you very much for that, helping me spread the word about the book.
19:42I don't know if you've seen, you didn't certainly hear the beginning that I just recorded of the show, but I've been
19:50massively posting here on socials here because the book actually is by some measure a bestseller this week.
19:56That's awesome. Yeah. Really? Right. It is. Congratulations. Honestly, I'm not surprised.
20:00I'll just say this for the listeners. Chris was nice enough to send me an advance copy months ago, many months ago, and I couldn't put it down.
20:09And I was, A, I was scared. It freaked me out.
20:13And the voice shifts that you have in the book are really something.
20:17I know, you know, I'm embarrassing you in front of your friends here, but it was really good writing as usual.
20:25Thank you so much. You're so kind. And, you know, folks can check on YouTube from the archives for when Tulsa, well,
20:32I think it wasn't when it came out, but within a few years of it coming out anyway, Denny was kind of,
20:39you know, I'm going to be a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of
20:47a little bit of a little bit of a little bit.
20:51Ken, I'll start with Philly Puka Possum fan. Any advice for putting yourself out there and enjoying the good interactions and having
20:58a goldfish memory for the bad interactions? I guess this person means online.
21:02Yeah, because Dolphins Talk Josh also said, how would your social media use be impacted if you didn't need to use it for work?
21:11So it is kind of the same question. Like, would you be on social media if you didn't have to use it
21:18for work and then also like putting yourself out there generally?
21:22Like, I guess, you know, putting a book out.
21:25I just talked about that earlier about, you know, trying to trying to not think of the bad stuff, the people who are ignoring you.
21:33Yeah, it's a good question. I mean, my I think I think I'm a born poster, unfortunately.
21:39I think Roto Pat is also a born poster.
21:42I think if I didn't have social media, I would be going door to door in my neighborhood and giving my takes
21:50on on fantasy stuff to people or politics or whatever.
21:53So I guess I would still use it maybe not the same way or maybe not quite as much.
21:59There is a real need, unfortunately, that kind of develops inside me, at least, to constantly like push my work.
22:06And, you know, and I do that primarily on Blue Sky, mostly because links are not suppressed on Blue Sky, which is nice.
22:14And my work can actually be shared. But if I didn't have that to share, I probably would not post as much.
22:21Yeah. Yeah, I probably wouldn't post as much either.
22:24I like there's a there's a fine line between.
22:27Being, you know, sharing how you are excited you are about something that you experienced or did and bragging.
22:34And I'm especially with the book coming out, I'm very much feeling like I'm walking that line.
22:40I don't want it to come across like I'm awesome.
22:43I'm awesome. I'm trying to share it because honestly, like the people who are listening to us right now are the ones who let's face it.
22:52Nobody knows this book except the people who know me because I've been mercilessly hyping it to them for a month.
22:59So like the reason it's any success is because of the folks listening.
23:03So I want to share that success, but I don't want it to come across as like and now I'm great.
23:10Because trust me, I don't think I'm great. I'm sure you've had this feeling before.
23:15You know, I've written, you know, books, mostly like, you know, e-books available online where I don't know if they're good.
23:23You know, like when I'm done with them, I'm like, this might be bad, but I'm going to put it out there anyway and see what people think.
23:32And so it's yeah, I've definitely never finished a big project and been like, this is amazing.
23:38You got to check it out. Yeah, I mean, hopefully I kind of inadvertently answered the first question with the beginning of
23:45the show, which is to say to focus on the good stuff and to ignore the feeling of rejection is work.
23:52Oh, yes. Right. Right. Bottom line, that's that's work.
23:55And and like people who troll you on social media who don't agree with your post or think your take was bad or whatever.
24:03You know, the best thing you can do is not is just like let it wash over you.
24:10Don't reply. You know, like, yeah, don't. Yeah, I would say don't reply.
24:14I used to when I was young, when I was in my early 30s, I used to reply to every negative post
24:21and just go back and forth forever. And it was so stupid.
24:25And it honestly it it makes it colors and animates everything else in your life, at least for me, while that feud is going on.
24:34Like it may it puts me in an irritated state when I'm interacting with other people, my family most prominently.
24:41And and so, yeah, just save yourself the grief.
24:44Don't do that. Nestling Helmsman says, If you could guarantee one championship for any team or individual in any sport at any
24:51level, professional or otherwise, who would you choose? Does it have to be a current player or?
24:57I'd say current. Yeah. OK. I mean, yeah, it could be a team.
25:01Yeah. I mean, honestly, I feel for my bills, people.
25:05You know, like I might just choose the bills just today.
25:08Actually, I was at my kids middle school. Right.
25:11And one of the office workers knows what I do for a living for better or worse.
25:17And and she came up to me and she goes, I have a question.
25:22I said, yeah. Yeah. And I thought it was going to be about my kid.
25:27Right. And she goes, is this the Buffalo Bills year?
25:30And I said, probably not. And I really do.
25:33I find myself rooting for them. Like last year in the playoffs, I felt like a bills fan.
25:40So is it OK if I choose the bills?
25:43Of course. Absolutely. There's a lot of bills fans who listen and we love them.
25:48Um, I would probably go. I want another Boston Bruins championship.
25:51I, I got to say, that's probably the team that I have the most pure attachment to in any sport right now.
25:59You know, I love all the Boston sports teams, but I really love hockey.
26:04And it probably the Bruins were the first team I was aware of when I was like three or four, you know,
26:11like the first sports experience I ever had was watching Bruins games.
26:15And it just doesn't have the professional attachment. I've never covered it.
26:19I used to cover baseball and obviously cover the NFL.
26:23The NBA is fun. It's not. The regular season is just interminable and I don't really like the games.
26:29Yeah. Um, so I would, I would say the Bruins.
26:32Yeah. I mean, oh, sorry. Go ahead. I'm sorry.
26:35I'm sorry. With the NHL, it seems like the regular season matters and that they try.
26:41Yeah, they do try. They try hard. It's hard to play hockey.
26:45Not trying. Uh, Joe K says, Chris, you were still high on Larry Fitzgerald as he was getting older, yet remaining productive
26:52while other analysts were starting to write him off.
26:55Do you think any, any current older wide receivers could follow in Larry Fitzgerald's footsteps by reinventing their game or role and
27:03keep their fantasy relevance up for a couple extra years?
27:06Um, not Mike Evans. You don't think so? No, no.
27:10I think he's, he's faded for oblivion. I'll draft him this year, but I don't think he has a long time ahead of him.
27:18Um, okay. Yeah. Players who, who could keep it up for a, like into well into their thirties receivers.
27:24It's funny when I wrote the, when I copied the question and put it in the show notes, I had someone in
27:32mind and I kind of don't remember now who I was thinking of.
27:36Anybody come to mind for you? Yeah. Well, so this person doesn't have to be currently in their thirties.
27:42It just, right. But has a game that could translate.
27:46Um, I mean, I feel like Jamar Chase probably.
27:49He might, I mean, I mean, he's the speed, but has the chops kind of.
27:54Right. I mean, you know, like kind of like Stefan Diggs, um, was good last year on the limited routes that he got, you know?
28:02Um, I feel like that is somewhat of a path for Jamar Chase, even though Chase at his peak is obviously better than Diggs at his peak.
28:11Um, right. But Chase, I think Chase, I, when I, when I think of guys who won't last into that, that part
28:19of their lives, I think of honestly T Higgins.
28:22I think of big bodied guys who just get dinged up and have the constant soft tissue injuries, kind of like Julio Jones, you know?
28:30Um, so those, those are the guys who I don't think have a great chance of doing that.
28:36I, I'll say maybe like they, this kind of need to be gamers, you know, like someone who was fast and doesn't have to be fast anymore.
28:46That's true. And, but they have to like be, just be like real, we think of them as like really good football players.
28:53Uh, like Jalen Waddle. No, cause I think he's all about speed.
28:57And once the speed goes away, you know, I just, I don't think that'll age great.
29:03Um, Chris Godwin. Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. I'll, I'll say, I'll say Godwin seems like a good candidate to me because I think
29:10he, he's never really done it with speed. It's not like he's slow, but, um, he, he, he, he kind of had
29:18like old man game before he was an old man, you know?
29:22So maybe I'll say same with Keenan Allen. He kind of is old.
29:26Oh, he's, yeah, he's an example. He was, he was faster.
29:30He's a great example of someone who, who adjusted his game for sure.
29:34He might be the slowest receiver in the league.
29:37I know. No question about it. Rick nine, a Z for both you and Denny.
29:42What's your favorite thing you have read or watched this year?
29:46Movie TV or book? I mean, besides pound foolish.
29:49Oh, disqualified. Let's see. What have I watched? Um, I, I, I watched, um, widow, widow's Bay on TV.
29:56Um, people said it was very fun. Yeah. That it is.
29:59It's fun. Um, honestly, it takes a little while to, to kind of ramp up.
30:04Um, I was a little on the board side for the first few episodes, but you know, um, uh, our mutual buddy,
30:12Tom Everett Scott, uh, uh, recommended that. And he said, if you like creepy new England stuff, then that's, that's the show to watch.
30:20And I said, I love creepy new England. Uh, yeah.
30:23So it was, um, uh, that, that, that was, that was a good one.
30:28How about you? Yeah. I'm going to be boring and go right at the top of the board, but I thought Pluribus was great.
30:36Hmm. I didn't see it. Oh, I thought it was great.
30:40I thought it's the Vince Gilligan Apple TV show.
30:43Uh, Rhea Seahorn's the star. She's amazing in it.
30:46It's just a high concept, great concept, really well executed.
30:49I really, really liked it. It, it of course will wind up being as it's corner.
30:55It's kind of a puzzle box show. So in the end we will think of the quality of the show based on
31:02whether it could be a good, it had a good solution to the puzzle.
31:07Um, but like, uh, what's the, what's the Ben Stiller show?
31:11The office show? The, Oh, Oh, Oh yeah. Uh, what is that thing called?
31:15I can never remember the damn name. It's not session.
31:19It's, uh, I've seen the whole thing. Me too.
31:22It's a severance. And like severance, I loved the first season.
31:26And now that we're deeper into it, I'm like, Oh, I have a feeling they don't, this is a lost situation.
31:33They don't really have an answer. And a lot of the things are just going to get left unsolved.
31:39And yeah, like that can happen to a puzzle box show, you know?
31:44So it could happen to Pluribus, but I definitely enjoyed it.
31:47I have a take that everyone hates and I just want to put it out there.
31:53Um, almost every show ever would have been better with just one season.
31:57It should be limited to one season. I get, I mean, I guess I get it, but I, I, like I just
32:05rewatched Mad Men again and I actually really liked Mad Men all the way through.
32:10Breaking Bad, I like all the way through. Sopranos I like all the way through.
32:15Yeah. Sopranos is great. Uh, severance though, man, like that, that would have been an amazing one season show.
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33:28PolicyGenius.com slash Harris. We are back with Denny. We are answering your questions in our Total Request episode.
33:34We've got Seattle Canuck. Denny, would you rather watch three Hollywood movie blockbusters starring Pat McAfee from start to finish or start
33:42every draft going with three straight running backs for the rest of your life?
33:46This is a horrible choice. That's a Sophie's Choice right there for you.
33:51It is. This is Sophie's. Wow. This is worse than Sophie's Choice.
33:55God. Yeah. McAfee is in a Netflix movie somehow.
33:58I'll go with the... I'll just do the running back drafting.
34:02Whatever. I mean, you know. The league... Look, the league is trending toward hyper run game defense thing.
34:08So whatever. We'll just do that. Yeah. I think you don't need to be suffering with Pat McAfee in things.
34:14No. No. I'm okay. You made the right choice.
34:17You know, I've noticed... Go ahead. Sorry. I can identify some good receivers in the fifth to eighth round, you know.
34:25Right. Exactly. I'm realizing now that there's precious little chickpea questions in these.
34:29And I feel like as the fantasy industry's two biggest proponents of chickpeas, I feel slighted.
34:34Yeah. Yeah. What's going on with that? I don't know.
34:38Why did you all not ask about... I guess they know our stances.
34:42That's boring to them. They know. Yeah. They already know.
34:46I will say, I recently got into... I'm in a new chickpea phase.
34:50Can I share about that? Yeah. Yeah. It's a Greek chickpea can of chickpeas, right?
34:55And it's already like pre-made and olive oil and oregano and all this stuff.
35:00It's amazing. I get it from Harris Teeter grocery store.
35:03And it is so good. And filling. This is the thing about chickpeas.
35:08It actually fills you up. They actually fill you up.
35:11Yeah. It's protein. It's like pure... It's pure protein.
35:14I love it. I mean, it's not pure protein.
35:17It also has carbs. But in moderation, it works out very, very well.
35:21I'm going to try the seasoned chickpea cans now going forward.
35:25Yeah. Feast Mode says, do you guys watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia?
35:30Season 18 is currently airing. Favorite character? Favorite episode?
35:33I'll just answer by saying that would have been one that...
35:36If it had been one season, I would have liked it.
35:40But 18 seasons of that does not sound necessary to me.
35:44Yeah. So here's the thing for me with shows or movies or musicians with huge discographies, is once I get too far behind, I completely ignore them.
35:53And I can never, ever get into It's Always Sunny because there's too much.
35:58There's too much. I can't ever catch up. And it looks like a funny show.
36:03And I like the actors, I think. But no, I've never seen an episode.
36:07Oh, I mean, I really liked it when it first came out.
36:11That was... I think I was 12. It's been on for a long time.
36:16You know, I can't remember how many seasons I watched.
36:20Probably more than one. Probably a few. And I really liked it.
36:24It was very funny. But it kind of got less funny to me as it went along.
36:29And the whole... You know, it's like meaner Seinfeld.
36:32Oh, okay. Okay. When Seinfeld to me got bad was when the characters all became George.
36:38Like everybody just became George. Like loathsome. Yeah, everybody was loathsome.
36:42And what was sweet about it was Elaine was nice originally.
36:45And Jerry was nice originally. And the problem I had, you know, with many, many seasons of that show, It's Always Sunny, is just that everybody's horrible.
36:54Like there's no... It's one note to me. But again, like you don't tell people don't like things.
37:01Feast Mode obviously likes it. So... I know. You know, I struggle with that, Chris.
37:06Like yucking people's yum. But like sometimes I'm like, can you have a little better yum?
37:11You know, it's... RJT says, Denny, do you ever get asked about your favorite running back...
37:16Sorry, I misread the question. Sorry, RJT. Denny, do you ever get asked about your favorite RBs and get confused about whether
37:24they mean running backs or places that have the meats?
37:27Does this cause traumatic flashbacks to the meat mountain?
37:30Yeah, for those of you who may not remember, during COVID, I sat in a dark, empty Arby's parking lot in Rockville,
37:38Maryland and ate an Arby's meat mountain on live stream.
37:41And it got... I don't actually remember the live views, but it was in like over 10,000.
37:47It was crazy. Oh, my God. And like someone told me that they were watching it on their TV with their family.
37:54And I'm like, I don't understand how this happened.
37:57But yeah, I recently told my nephews about that.
38:00They were too young at the time. But I told them about that and they were like, I don't understand your life.
38:08You know, like, what do you do? Like, what is it you do exactly?
38:13Oh, and I wanted to share a McDonald's across the street closed a few months ago and it's being replaced by an Arby's.
38:20So I have that going for me. I guess during COVID, people's viewing habits probably shouldn't be judged because they were probably just bored, you know?
38:29Bored and drunk. Yeah, maybe. Mr. A says, Denny, what do the spreadsheets and or goat entrails say are the breakout players to watch this season?
38:38Yeah, we are. I do have a live stream coming up of goat sacrifice and we're going to see what it says about Ladd McConkie.
38:46Yeah. That's a good enough answer. We don't actually need breakouts.
38:50It's fine. That's a good enough answer. We'll move on.
38:54But TJ Starr, what are the top three great novels in the Chris Harris canon?
38:59And we'll say the Denny Carter canon too. You don't have to say three, but...
39:04Oh. Well, does anything come to mind as far as like your favorite novels?
39:08Again, present company, of course, except it. Wait, are we talking about things we've written or things we've read?
39:15Read. Read. Oh, okay. Okay. Man, I'm actually just turning around to look at my bookshelf.
39:20All I can do is mine. I mean, I did a...
39:24It's a rotating, of course, cast of characters. But I did...
39:28If people want to listen, I did a podcast.
39:31Holy cow. 20... 15, maybe? I can't remember. Where I did...
39:34I counted down my top 10 novels of all time.
39:38So that is still somewhere out there. I'll link to it in the show notes.
39:43I'd say Pale Fire is always my go-to as my number one by Nabokov.
39:48That's... It's just so brilliant. I actually have a copy of it in LA.
39:52I bought a copy of it so I could have it here, too.
39:57It's so great. Jesus' Son by Dennis Johnson, not by Denny Carter.
40:01Yep. Is awesome. One of my favorites. Infinite Jest.
40:04No. London Fields by Martin Amis. Did you ever read that one?
40:08No. I know of it, but I... Yeah. I'll say those are my three.
40:13Okay. I'm just looking at my bookshelf. I'm going to go right now.
40:17I loved the book Endzone by Don Delilo. Delilo.
40:20Delilo. Sorry. I've never said his name out. If you've ever read Slotback Rhapsody, my first book, then you've read Endzone by Don Delilo.
40:28I remember talking about it with you, yeah. And I just...
40:32I ate that one. That was... Yeah, it's so good.
40:35Well, it's not... So... So... He's not an easy read, but it was super interesting and, of course, well written.
40:42I'll go with... I kind of love The Wild Boys by William Burroughs.
40:46Sure. Really great. Yeah, yeah. I mean... It's great.
40:50Hard to read. Hard to read. Yeah, yeah. The punctuation was curious, but I thought it was incredibly creative.
40:56Yeah, it's an experience. You're almost... You have to let it wash over you, any Burroughs, you know?
41:02Yeah. Yeah, don't fight it. You know, that's what I would say.
41:06And then, I mean, can I just be basic and say Fear and Loathing on the campaign trail?
41:12That was an amazing book to read. Who wrote it?
41:16Oh, that's Hunter S. Thompson. Oh, okay, okay. Yeah.
41:19So I know Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
41:22I didn't actually know he wrote more Fear and Loathing books.
41:25I'm not... I don't think I've read anything by him ever.
41:29Yeah, it's the 72 presidential race. And I've never read anything that gets to the maggot-filled heart of American politics.
41:36It is just gross. Wow. Everything, both parties, everybody who's involved is just disgusting.
41:41You will come away being like, where do I live?
41:44In what country do I live? Well, and that's 1972.
41:47So, like, you know, it was still going on then, you know, as though it's new.
41:53You know, that's amazing. I'm going to check that out for sure.
41:57Josh says, what have been the biggest areas of improvement with your fantasy analysis from when you started to now?
42:04What are your biggest blind spots that still require work?
42:07Hmm. Improvement-wise, I try to stay the course on players during the season that might start slow.
42:13And that's something that I struggled with when I was younger and newer to the industry.
42:18I just wanted to pull the plug and be like, okay, that didn't work.
42:23We're on to the next one. But, you know, I think as statistics and metrics have become better and more informative, I
42:30think that you can kind of see, okay, this guy is actually getting the opportunity that he'll need.
42:36It's just a matter of converting. And it doesn't always work, but that is something I think I've improved on.
42:43I don't know if I'm a great judge of what I've improved on.
42:48But I can say that blind spot, you know, tiny bones, the tiny bone running backs.
42:53I'm trying to be more open to Devon HN.
42:56You know, I really didn't have any shares and recommended no on Devon HN for the first couple years of his career.
43:04Last year, I was in on him. But the first two years, I just like, I don't know if a player that's small.
43:11I know he's a great athlete. I don't know if he can do it.
43:16Like McCaffrey, I feel like, you know, either I've been super right or super wrong on McCaffrey every alternating year because, you
43:23know, he gets hurt so much that he seems to be like the test case for the tiny bones running back.
43:31But, like, I don't think they're going away. They're still growing them small and they are really great athletes.
43:37So I need to keep working on not automatically believing in them, but like being open to the idea that they could be exceptions, I would say.
43:46Sure. Yeah, that makes sense. I'm kind of in the same boat.
43:50But as far as my blind spot, I would say this kind of relates to your Matthew Stafford take for the season.
43:58Don't discount a guy because he's good. I think that's such a – you said that on your show when I was the guest a couple days ago.
44:07That's such a great encapsulation. I'll spend 10,000 words to figure out how to say that and you just tweeted it out.
44:15I just tweeted it out. Yeah, that's exactly it.
44:18That's like why are we punishing players for having good seasons?
44:21Yeah. The next year. I've done that with, like, Lamar.
44:25I've done that with guys with high touchdown rates and it's like, well, they just kind of score a lot of touchdowns.
44:32It's just the way they are. It's the way their offense is, you know.
44:37Yeah. Matt says, famously on a guest appearance years ago, Denny once predicted an RB1 season for James White as the ultimate
44:44PPR scam, which was a great call in the history of this show.
44:49Do you have an honorary James White PPR scam for this year?
44:53Well, you know, the satellite backs are kind of a dying species in fantasy football.
44:58We don't really have those scams anymore. And I miss them.
45:02God, I miss them because they really made zero RB or hero RB or whatever.
45:07It made that work to be able to scoop those guys up and be like, hey, I got my 13 PPR points
45:14from James White for doing nothing, you know. And, you know, so it felt like a hack.
45:20We don't really have that. I guess if I could point to anyone who might be able to fit that, it would be like Kenneth Gainwell in Tampa.
45:29Keaton Mitchell, maybe. Oh, yeah. I mean, Keaton Mitchell's my guy, but now he's hurt and I'm afraid.
45:35Yeah. I'm going to guess he's not hurt that bad.
45:39But, man, how do I know? I don't know.
45:42But, I mean, McDaniel, Mike McDaniel loves that guy.
45:45Like, he really is into him. Speaking of whom, Elliot says, for Denny, who is the most Marxist offensive coordinator and why is it Mike McDaniel?
45:54That's funny. Yeah. I actually posted a chart a couple months ago of woke coordinators versus unwoke coordinators based on their use of pre-snap motion.
46:02And what was the other thing? Oh, and pace.
46:05Pace of play, right? And, yeah, the most unwoke guys were Matt Nagy and the guy from the Bengals, Zach Taylor.
46:12And then, yeah, McDaniel was at the top. He was off the chart, basically.
46:17So, yeah, I think you're right. So woke. So incredibly woke.
46:21Invader Coda says, does the play caller, the offensive coordinator, or the head coach have any bearing on your evaluation of players?
46:28Example, coach XYZ loves calling slants in the middle to their tight end.
46:33Or running backs under this coach usually end up getting more goal line work.
46:37I can start by saying, I sure hear that stuff a lot.
46:41I find it to be somewhat instructive. It's not completely useless.
46:45But I do sometimes think that it's a trailing indicator of an analyst's interest.
46:50In other words, you find yourself interested and you're coming up.
46:54Not you. One finds oneself interested and comes up with it's trying to come up with reasons for that interest.
47:00And then kind of retrofits the reason saying, well, I can see a world where that offensive coordinator is a perfect fit for that guy.
47:09And you kind of already liked him anyway. And the fact that the system might fit them and you don't really know
47:16that if it's a brand new system. You know, I get a lot of questions about like, you love Zay Flowers.
47:23Is this because of Declan Doyle? And I go, dude, I couldn't point Declan Doyle out in a Where's Waldo poster.
47:30Like, I got no idea. I don't know what that's going to be.
47:35If you walk in the room right now. Yeah, I would not.
47:39And like, so, you know, people were asking that question about the Eagles two years ago.
47:44New offensive coordinator. I bet that's great, right? You know, no, it wasn't.
47:49The bottom line for me is that I feel like it's more of a trailing indicator for somebody that people already want to like.
47:57That makes sense. I think I pay more attention to it when that play caller or coordinator represents like a big departure from the previous regime.
48:06For instance, just to get back to Mike McDaniel, like Mike McDaniel runs an offense that is 180 degrees different from Greg Roman.
48:13In the way they use under center, the way they use pre-snap motion, you know, early down run rates.
48:20Like, that's a big difference. So I tend to pay more attention to that.
48:25But I try not to get too caught up.
48:28Because you're right. Do you remember this, Chris? I'm sure you do.
48:32When Kubiak went to Baltimore. With the dad Kubiak.
48:35And he said, we're going to put Torrey Smith in the Andre Johnson role.
48:39And this was the thing for months. Well, Torrey Smith is Andre Johnson now.
48:44And, you know, Torrey Smith was terrible that year and got hurt, whatever.
48:49And so that was a bust. And so that's like a great example of not getting too caught up in it.
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50:02Varies by state. We are back with Denny and we're going to try to get to as many of these questions as we can.
50:10I've been guilty of going slow. We'll do, as we get going, we'll do lightning round.
50:16But yeah, we'll just give answers as we can.
50:19McMoulton says, How does your relative position value or overall ranks change for deeper leagues?
50:24For example, a 14-teamer with an extra wide receiver who starts.
50:2814-teamer with an extra wide receiver. And so you're saying, the question is, how do I value players according to that lineup?
50:35Yeah, does it change? Like, if you were using your own ranks in such a draft, would you shuffle them because you
50:43recognize that, ooh, now tight end can be a little scarcer.
50:46Ooh, quarterback now can be a little scarcer. Ooh, wide receiver could be a little more scarcer.
50:52Yeah, I think you need to do that. I mean, if you treat every league the same, even like a 10-teamer where
50:59you only start two receivers, you're going to treat receiver a lot differently than a 14-teamer where you can start up to five receivers, you know?
51:08So I think you do need to adjust. And also as a PPR, as a standard, you know, that sort of thing as well.
51:16I just try not to get too cute with those really deep lineups.
51:21Like, I'm trying to, like, picture who I'm going to start as I draft, you know?
51:26Yeah. You know, I'm in a 16-teamer, been a commissioner for a league we talk about on the show for a long, long time.
51:34And, yeah, now suddenly quarterback is more scarce. Tight end is more scarce.
51:39They need to go higher. They absolutely do. Yeah.
51:42It's no longer wait forever. It's, like, certainly feel the room, but try not to get avalanched by a position run if you haven't gotten positions yet.
51:51It's good. It balances out more. It's the same thing that Superflex does, you know?
51:56The reason we start taking quarterbacks and Superflex is because you go, oh, crap, I'm going to run out.
52:02You know, I'm going to be starting Geno. And you don't want to do that.
52:07Kevin says, my Fantasy League has attempted a book club a couple of times and only made it through a couple of books.
52:15Tell me how to sell Pound Foolish to some light readers.
52:19That might be tough. I mean, not that it's a bad book.
52:23You know, I really enjoyed it. But light readers, I don't know.
52:27Do you think a light reader would be able to get into it?
52:31I think so. You know, the question is, maybe not.
52:35The answer is, like, I have literary aspirations. So if the person is like, I want to be able to read at,
52:42you know, let's face it, a lot of adult fiction, unfortunately.
52:46I mean, I just heard what's on your bookshelf.
52:49You are not this kind of reader. Like, people need it to be written at, like, a seventh grade level.
52:56It's true. You know, Harry Potter is written at a seventh grade level, you know.
53:01And if you need the book to be written at a seventh grade level, I don't think you're going to, like, Pound Foolish.
53:09But if you're willing to just kind of read and keep going, I think there's – I mean, that's the point.
53:16Why you and I read books that aren't written at that level mostly is that we find pleasure in the kind of
53:23sticking with it, unpacking it, trying to meet the author on their own terms.
53:28You know what I mean? I mean, I like the challenge.
53:32I like a challenge of, like, reading something that is not easy to read.
53:36And I don't mean your book is not easy to read.
53:40I know – it sounds like I'm trashing your book right now.
53:44Not at all. It doesn't sound – I think anybody picking this book up will not be like, wow, I can't make sense of these sentences.
53:53No, no, no. But, like, it moves around. Suddenly you're in somebody else's head, and you have to figure it out as you go.
54:01It doesn't really hold your hand. And, by the way, you don't have to say anything, Chris, but, like, for the listeners,
54:09when Chris goes into player voice in these extended paragraph sentences that last – I don't even know, Chris.
54:15What is it? 400 words sometimes for a sentence?
54:18And it is – but it comes off as, like, real and, like, true.
54:23And I just – as a writer, I struggle with that.
54:27I was impressed. Thank you very much. Adam says, given the principles of value-based drafting, why do wide receivers seem to have
54:34essential parity in Chris's ranks with running backs after Jamar Chase?
54:38Can you explain why running backs are not more top-heavy in your ranks?
54:42Obviously, this is more a question for me. Because, in the end, when we get to every season, running backs will always
54:50outpace the replacement-level running back by more than wide receivers outpace the replacement-level wide receiver or tight ends or quarterbacks.
54:56And so why not just make ranks that are fully running backs?
55:00And the answer is because we don't know which running backs yet.
55:04There comes a point where you kind of lose faith that this is going – the one guy that you would pick
55:12at this particular spot is definitely the guy who's going to outpace the replacement-level guy.
55:17You get down to the point where you're talking about, you know, David Montgomery, and he could have a good season, but
55:24I don't suspect he's going to be the one who winds up outpacing at the top.
55:30And so I want a receiver who's got a better chance to outpace.
55:34It is a really good question, but this is why you do blend ranks because the players – we're drafting players.
55:41We're not drafting positions. Exactly. I would just add that David Montgomery doesn't seem like the guy you need.
55:48And I think there are other players in that part of the draft that you could maybe pin that label on.
55:55Right. Justin says, this year it seems there were a lot of minor injuries that happened throughout the offseason.
56:01Players got hurt and missed a week or two of practice time.
56:05What made you determine how far the players should drop?
56:09Was it how bad the injury was or something different?
56:12I mean, the injury stuff is so crazy because, like, they don't even have to tell you anything during the preseason.
56:19You know, like, with Ashton Gentry right now, who knows?
56:23Who knows? I mean, you have – Jeremiah Walker.
56:26Jeremiah Love. Yeah, right. I feel a little better about Jeremiah Love.
56:30Did you see him delivering pizzas? We talked about it.
56:33I don't know that I consider that to be evidence, but – I think we have to adjust our ranks based on that.
56:41They're not that heavy. I don't know, man. Jeremiah Love – okay, can I ask you something?
56:47This is a little off topic, but when you saw him in the pre – did you see his preseason carries?
56:54Oh, come on, Chris. I don't watch it. I wanted to get your film take.
56:59No. You got to watch it. I was almost freaked out by how he was running.
57:04It was actually insanely impressive, I thought. I hope he's healthy.
57:08For me, the answer is probably there is no rule, and also I think there are always this level of injuries.
57:15Every year we're surprised. You know, the genius of the NFL is the extent to which it brainwashes us and makes us
57:22think that what we're seeing is brand new when it just never is.
57:27And then also, you know, we just forget how much it changes from year to year.
57:32We just assume we know all the good teams, and then we get to week three, and we're like, wait a minute.
57:40That team's good? What the heck? But the answer is it is a case-by-case basis, and it really usually is about whether it's a multi-week injury.
57:48If it's a Mike Evans soft tissue – I think he had five soft tissue injuries during camp – I just stopped
57:56reacting to them because you realize that they're just over-reporting.
57:59Yes. Yes. Yeah. JC says, thoughts on the quarterback carousel in Minnesota under Kevin O'Connell.
58:04Is he really a quarterback whisperer, or is he just a self-proclaimed quarterback whisperer?
58:09I think there's evidence that he's a whisperer. I mean, he's had some really, really bad quarterbacks there.
58:15Like, that front office has completely botched the quarterback position.
58:19Obviously, they should have kept Darnold. I think that was very clear at the time, by the way.
58:25But – and not that Darnold is like a world beater, but he was okay enough to, I think, succeed long-term in that system.
58:33But you're talking about Josh Dobbs, right? You're talking about like a fifth-string quarterback in Josh Dobbs.
58:39You're talking about Nick Mullins, who's like an XFL material, right?
58:42And those guys had a little success in that system.
58:46So I think he's a whisperer. I do, too.
58:49I think he's pretty legit. Tony says, hey, Harris, did you give Denny a copy of your new book?
58:55Indeed. As we've discussed, we did. Jonathan Daly says, I've adopted a wide receiver slash tight end flex spot in my league for the last few years.
59:04I'm a big fan of it. I'm thinking about going to super flex, but I'm hesitant.
59:10Are you yay or nay on a league changing from season to season to super flex?
59:15I'm a nay on that. Interesting. I'm a pro.
59:18I'm in favor. I just, I don't know. Why?
59:21I don't know. It's just like, if that's not what people signed up for.
59:26I mean, if Lee's okay with it, go ahead.
59:29But I feel like if there's pushback from a few people who are like, I don't know.
59:35I don't know about super flex, man. Like, I'm just trying to live my life.
59:40Because, I mean, super flex is a whole different animal, right?
59:43I mean, you really have to completely adjust how you see not just quarterback, but every other position.
59:50And I would feel out the league. Feel out the league.
59:53But then again, it sounds like Jonathan was able to get through the phasing tight end out as its own position and
60:01making a tight end wide receiver flex spot instead.
60:04And so if your league is able to adjust to that, I think they eventually will like super flex.
60:10They'll realize, oh my God, like four quarterbacks go in the first round.
60:15That makes it more fun. And just, I think any league where the draft strategy can be more varied and you don't have to be programmatic is great.
60:24It makes it more about skill. Shurn asks, what's your favorite part of publishing the book?
60:29You're always worried or stressed about it, and rightfully so.
60:33But what parts have you genuinely enjoyed about doing the publishing part?
60:37Because as you know, Denny, I actually published this one.
60:40Yeah. First time I've done this. I mean, my publicist has become my friend, and I have worked with him really closely on this.
60:48And that part has been really fun, even though it's been so frustrating to try to get publicity.
60:55But he's been so supportive. I don't think this could have happened without him.
60:59So I think I have genuinely enjoyed that. The actual mechanics of making it happen, the saving the files the right way,
61:07and the acquisition of the cover graphic in the right thing, and then uploading at the right time, and then putting in the right metadata.
61:15None of that has been fun. Metadata. You know, this is why we get into writing, so we can do metadata.
61:22Real joy. That killed me. FFT Buck said, which Green Bay offensive players do you like the most now at their cost?
61:30Oh, man. That's a great question. I don't like Tucker Craft at his cost.
61:34I feel like he's going way too early. You know, two weeks ago, it was like snap count, pitch count, this and that.
61:42And then suddenly it's like no pitch count, no snap count, full bore.
61:47I don't know what to believe there. I love it.
61:50Yeah. Right. That's a good, I think that's a good call.
61:54He's going too early for me. I guess I would, I would say Christian Watson, I think is reasonable at ADP.
62:01Me too. Me too. And to be honest, you know, it's going to, we'll see.
62:06This weekend is going to be the wild, wild west for Marshawn Lloyd drafting.
62:11I don't think we really have an ADP that can tell us what people are going to experience in draft rooms this
62:18weekend because it's such a unique situation. Like the numbers can't catch up in time for this last weekend.
62:25That's true. If Marshawn Lloyd is going in the eighth or ninth round, like his ADP says he is, I'm okay with that.
62:32He might stink. He might not be able to play at all.
62:36But nobody else in the eighth or ninth round can become Josh Jacobs, can become like an RB1 without much, if he's good.
62:44Now that's a major if. So I don't mind that too much.
62:48But just real quick on the Packers, Pat and I talked on the show the other day about the way to play
62:56the Packers offense now might be Jordan Love, either Christian Watson or Reed or somebody.
63:01And then Chris Brooks, who's the RB2 right now.
63:04Sure. And, you know, in case Lloyd gets dinged up or whatever.
63:08Or stinks. Or is bad, yeah. Or just gets benched.
63:11I think that's an interesting way to look at it.
63:15To be honest, we don't really even know Chris Brooks isn't the RB1.
63:19They've talked like Lloyd's the RB1, but like why are they telling us the truth?
63:24Like it could be a very split thing and Brooks could be the one you want.
63:29We might emerge from week one thinking, yeah, as a very late rag guy, I don't mind Brooks at all.
63:36Oh man. A dual question. And I filtered out.
63:39I just took two of them. Rob says, why does Denny hate Tom Petty's music so much?
63:45Dadbod says, can you please shame Denny for his ungodly Tom Petty is bad take?
63:50I know. Look, I worked with my PR team on a statement.
63:54I've been on this matter. I worked on it powerfully over the past week.
63:59And I want to say that the hard seltzers made me do it.
64:03I had no choice after drinking three and a half hard seltzers to immediately say, I don't like Tom Petty.
64:10And this is about yucking people's yum. And I try not.
64:14I used to do that all the time. I used to do it as a hobby, Chris.
64:20But I try not to do it. And I did it.
64:23And I feel bad about it. I just want to say, I just want to say, maybe.
64:29Look, I ran it by Rotopat. He said, it is god awful.
64:33You should be ashamed of yourself. Okay? For saying Tom Petty's bad.
64:37I think he's right in saying that I'm just tired of hearing Tom Petty over the years.
64:43And I will say, I really like a Tom Petty album called Southern Accents.
64:48Okay? That's all I'll say on the matter. I definitely don't have anything bad to say about Tom Petty.
64:54And like Pat Finnerty, who folks heard, if you're a Yacht Club subscriber, he's become a friend.
65:00He's a YouTuber. He's absolutely brilliant. He's an unbelievable musician.
65:03But he's a really funny comedian, too. And makes great videos.
65:07And couldn't recommend Pat Finnerty's YouTube channel more. But he is so into Tom Petty.
65:12He just considers him as foundational as the Beatles.
65:15Like, he just loves, loves, loves Tom Petty. He talks about him all the time.
65:20And I don't have anything bad to say. But I would say I don't reach to listen to Tom Petty very often.
65:28It's like, it's roots music that's like deceptively simple.
65:31And it's really hard to pull off. And there are a lot of people over the years who've tried to and couldn't
65:38do it as well as Tom Petty did. But it just doesn't make me, it doesn't compel me to continue to listen constantly, if that makes any sense.
65:47Me too. No, I feel the same way. And for those who say, oh, okay, Denny's too cool for Tom Petty.
65:55Like, he's way too woke for Tom Petty, whatever.
65:58Here's what I'll say. Here's what I'll say. And I'll be honest about this.
66:02I think a lot of you know this. I like the Eagles.
66:06Unabashedly. I like the Eagles. Okay? So I'm not cool.
66:10And really, it's funny how those two entities should be a pure overlap.
66:14If you like the Eagles, you should like Tom Petty.
66:18It's the same thing. I know. And yet, man, it is so, like Pat would say, he doesn't like the Eagles at all.
66:25And he would say some of the songs are fine, but he would say, eh, I don't really care about the Eagles and I love Tom Petty.
66:35And I probably feel about the same about the two of them, which is I don't reach to listen to either one,
66:42but neither one is like offensive to me. You know what it is?
66:46I grew up with the Eagles playing constantly in my house.
66:50I did too. And I think my family's first CD ever was the Eagles' greatest hits.
66:55Okay. Yeah. I mean, my dad loves the Eagles.
66:59Loves the Eagles. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Last one.
67:02JD says, very personal, but we'll answer it. Do you have an innie or an outie belly button?
67:08I saw that. Let me check. It's an innie.
67:11Me too. I can confirm. I just looked into it.
67:14This seems like not something in a person's control.
67:17Like that's pretty much about the person who gave birth to you, who helped you give birth, you know, who helped your mom give birth.
67:26Yeah. Right. Right. I haven't seen that many outies in the wild.
67:30You? Neither, man. Yeah. No, I mean, do you have to have like a DK Metcalf 12 pack to have an outie?
67:37I mean, because I, you know, I don't, sadly, I don't have that.
67:41Well, Danny, this was such a pleasure to have you on once again for the Riff Fest.
67:47And you made me laugh very hard. My sides ache at the end of this show, always every year.
67:54You can find Danny on Blue Sky. He's a luminary there.
67:57He makes sports fun on Blue Sky. And of course, listen to him and Roto Pat on the Roto World Football Show every dang day.
68:06That's a great show as well. My friend, you're the best.
68:10Thank you for doing it. Thanks so much, Chris.
68:13And thank you so much for listening. What a delight that was.
68:17I laughed a lot. Let's thank the sponsors because with no sponsors, there's no show.
68:22We had Wild Grain, Policy Genius, and DraftKings. If you were interested in anything I had to say, get some Wild Grain, by the way.
68:30My, I just got a new delivery. Come on, Wild Grain.
68:34It is so good. Find all information about today's sponsors in today's show notes.
68:39All the current sponsors are listed at harrisfootball.com. We have a drawing winner for a Zoom session.
68:44I just figured here at the end we would just do Zoom sessions.
68:49This is the second to last of the drawing winners because tomorrow's the grand prize drawing where the person who wins tomorrow
68:56will be on the show next week. That's going to be pretty fun.
69:01The Zoom winner for today, as I cough, Sean Dooley.
69:04Sean Dooley has been listening to the show for a very long time.
69:08We've had some longtime listeners come up. The random number generator has been very kind to the long timers.
69:15I guess we just have a lot of names I know.
69:19I know Sean's name. And so, Sean, I have probably by now emailed you and we will schedule a Zoom here for
69:26the next few days if you have a draft coming up.
69:30We'll make sure we get a Zoom in front of that draft.
69:34It should be really fun. Looking forward to that.
69:37It's not too late. If you hear this on Thursday and register real quick, you can get thrown in the pool to
69:44be a winner for tomorrow's big drawing. And then I will go to sleep.
69:49After that, the Almanac comes out tomorrow, the second edition.
69:52And I'll put the finishing touches on that today, as well as doing a couple of drafts and making a couple of
70:00other appearances on Jake and Matt Waldman's shows. And we'll keep track of what the heck the book is doing as well.
70:07On the actual podcast tomorrow, I'm bearing the lead a little bit because it is the Huggies and Baggies.
70:14You love those awards. I will give out some hardware for what I expect for the season.
70:19But obviously, you'll tolerate it. Clearly, you will tolerate it.
70:23But what you're actually getting and what you're actually there for is Cousin Josh because he will have the Baggie Awards.
70:30He always pulls out all the stops for that as well.
70:34So look forward to being here on Friday as well.
70:37Until then, thanks again so much for listening. Your hat is awesome.
70:41You're awesome for wearing it. I will talk to you tomorrow.
70:45The Harris Football Podcast's opening theme is Under the Gun by Apex Manor.
70:49The closing theme is Say Yes by The Wellspring.
70:52Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and never miss an episode.
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