Latest / Know Your Personnel Pod / KYP - Ep#16 - We Ranked the NFL's Next Elite WRs, Contenders Vs Pretenders Part 2 and NBA Finals
Transcript
- Nathan Hawthorne: three Here we are. Every single week. Every single week. If we're recording KYP, which is every week, by the way, I am doing it. Great to be here. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of KYP, aka Know Your Personnel. My name's Nathan Hawthorne. This is my co-host Jared McEnroy, and you are in on episode 16. Jarod McInroy: Are you gonna do that every week? Nathan Hawthorne: You're early, but you're also late, and we are thankful that you are here. And if you haven't liked and subscribed, feel free to go ahead and do so. Right now, we would love to have your support here at the Know Your Personnel channel. Jarod McInroy: ⁓ Nathan Hawthorne: let's go ahead and dive right into it. We've got plenty to talk about today, highlighted with none other than the NBA finals. Jared, what's what's going on? What are you seeing? Jarod McInroy: Yeah. I'm gonna start it off with just ⁓ it's a mini rant here. I'm sick and tired. I'm sick and tired. You are one of the first people who've said it to me, but I've seen it a lot of non Knicks fans talking about how this is some sort of easy route to the finals, easy route through the finals. ⁓ like it's just a direct beeline. That's exactly what you said. You said they're playing a tired, an injured and a beaten Spurs team. Is word for word what you said. Nathan Hawthorne: Whoa through the finals. Okay. Jarod McInroy: But Hang on now. This is a rant. Let me go. Let me go. It was ⁓ when we were playing golf ⁓ last on Great Blue. Anyways, here's the deal. I'm tired of it. Also, I'm tired of the New York Knicks getting disrespected on the court. Twenty five more fouls for the S or f more free throw attempts, rather, ⁓ for the Spurs than the New York Knicks in this series. It's unbelievable. And not to mention the complaining. Nathan Hawthorne: I have I have no recommendation of that. Jarod McInroy: the getting the flagrant fouls, not giving the flagrant fouls when we're just shoving Jalen Brunson to the ground, when we're getting just a full on sprint from Stefan Castle into his chest, knocking him out. And mine listen, I get it. And on from from their perspective, great. You run through the chest of the guy. It's it's the Kobe mentality, like he did in the ⁓ Olympics with Pal Gasal. You run through the chest of the dude on the other team who's r who's running the show. So I get it. You gotta do what you gotta do and ⁓ it's physical, but let's let's call it evenly. I I think you were a hundred percent right. You looked at me and you said Adam Silver's not letting this thing go less than six games. It was as it was as vi I'm I'm not one of those conspiracy guys, but i y they're killing me, man. They they're really just not calling the game the same. And it's hard for me personally because we're obviously Blazor fans, so Nathan Hawthorne: Come on. Jarod McInroy: We we grew up watching Dame just get disrespected by every ref that entered the arena, ⁓ by every person who didn't want to call him a superstar for however long. He was getting snubbed from all star teams, ⁓ snubbed from all NBA teams, like just it it's one of those things where ⁓ you know, you got guys who are just bucket getters, ⁓ take it hard to the rack, ⁓ don't get foul calls and ⁓ they truly are superstars and and Jalen Brunson's kind of catching the the b ⁓ The bad end of it. But here's what I'll say. This finally can shut you all up. They lost. Now it's 2 1. You cannot sit there and tell me that these three games of these of this Spurs team have not been a tough team to beat. They've been tough both of the first two games, and that last game they came out ready to play. ⁓ so this is no easy feat. They now have probably one of the toughest games tomorrow. You have have to win that if you're New York because you do not want to give San Antonio ⁓ their the home court advantage back. ⁓ you you gotta win this thing to give yourself three chances to win one. I think that's that's if they lose this game it's gonna be tough. So MSG is gonna be rockin'. Game four is gonna be awesome, but this is no easy feat by any stretch of the imagination if New York pulls this off. Nathan Hawthorne: I tell you what, yes, I said Adam Silver. No way he's letting this go. Anything short of six games. For the first time, and it seems like forever, you've got an international superstar, not Shea from Canada, not Jokic from Serbia, but somebody who's from France, Victor Wimbenyana, Victor Wimbenyama, who has international gravitas. Like people love him internationally, all over France, all over Europe. It doesn't matter where. And he's so unique and he's so. in kind to media and makes them hard to dislike. So of course, of course, we're not gonna miss out on that money. Okay. We need viewership. We need people tuning in. But here's the deal, New York Knicks need to be careful. Okay. Watching each one of these games, this reminds me of the series that the Spurs just played against the Thunder. The Thunder, the older, more veteran team, looked like they were in control for large and parts of the game. But the younger team, the Spurs, just kept punching and punching back and playing scrappy and And even when they had like a two or three point lead, it still felt like the Knicks were in control of the game, which is what it looked like against OKC as well. If the Knicks aren't careful, they're gonna give this series up. I mean, we're a Wimby elbow jumper away from this being two-one Spurs, right? If they don't lock in, if they don't start playing more through cat and getting Wimby in foul trouble, you have to force the issue with Wimby. You have to. You talked about the fouls already. How lopsided it is. You have to force Wemby to be playing defense more than just jumping up and trying to contest shots. You need to get him playing body to body underneath the basket. And yeah, you might not want to turn up against because it's going to be hard to finish that, but you've got to get him going on that. You have to get him in foul trouble early, get him off of the court, and allow Jalen Brunson to have more space. Allow Ananobi to slash, allow Josh Hart to slash, and all those other sorts of things that has made New York so great. Again, ⁓ shout out to Stefan Castle, shout out to shout out to Dylan Harper. Like those guys are playing excellent perimeter defense. I love the physicality. And ⁓ one thing I also mentioned all the golf course was the potential for a New York injury to kind of turn the tide. When Jalen Brunson kind of went down with that little lower back injury, I was about to call you, say, listen, I've got to, I've got a line in somewhere. I'm not telling you who my guy is, but I've got to line in somewhere. Alright, but this is this is gonna be another great series. It sounds crazy to say, like it is good and honest hoops, right? Ethical buckets, but it is getting a little bit too unnecessarily physical. Like not physical in a good way. I no, no, I like I like physical basketball, but I don't like the overtly jersey pulling, shoving so aggressively, but the refs are swallowing the whistle, trying to call it physicality. I love physicality. Jarod McInroy: My God. Mm-hmm. I like it that way though. That's a that's a good product. Yeah. Nathan Hawthorne: But I don't like fake physicality that the refs are just swallowing the whistle 'cause they don't want to control the game. I want well just like we want ethical buckets, I want ethical physicality. Jarod McInroy: Yeah. Yeah, no, I hear you. And I'm not gonna be ignorant to the fact that like context matters with the with the the differentiation and in free throws. I mean there are the Spurs are a lot more of a downhill basketball club than New I mean New York usually is. Right now they are kind of adapting to having that seven foot six dude in the middle of the court and they're shooting the ball and I think this game is going to scare them back into their old way of play and like you said attack Wemby a little more and try and get him in foul trouble because when they go cold, it's a problem. And they went cold at the end of the game. They couldn't make anything, ⁓ shot them themselves out of it. They couldn't keep matching the Spurs buckets and the Spurs ended up taking a a lead and then it was kind of too little too late. OG kept making threes out of nowhere and and brought ⁓ right back into it. So Nathan Hawthorne: From way downtown. Jarod McInroy: Yeah, I mean if the if they could have just heated up just a little bit sooner, they might have had a chance to actually pull away with it. But ⁓ yeah, dude, no, they're they're they're scared to go at this guy and and it's it's literally like they they don't think they can get a foul call with him guarding them because he can play straight up. Like there's he he has no reason to foul you. So it's hard to get a guy like that in foul trouble. ⁓ but the first two games we saw a cat attack him. Nathan Hawthorne: Yeah. Jarod McInroy: ⁓ a lot differently than he did in game three. So certainly expect him to to do the same thing. ⁓ I don't know. I just there's a lot of Landry Shamit's playing a lot of minutes. And he's playing great. He's shooting the ball great. Nathan Hawthorne: They were they were calling they're calling his name way too many times, okay, for this to be an NBA finals. I love, you know, you gotta have that that bench star that rises to the top to help lift you over in some of these moments. I love ya. That's a lot of shots for him to be taken. And one of them like was this pull up like just out of transition, but not quite transition. I'm like, who's allowing him to take this shot? Jarod McInroy: I hear ya. Induce McBride too and he's not making any of ⁓ right now. He's gone completely cold and I'm like, these guys are getting a lot of run. They're getting a lot of run at the same time when Jalen Brunson's on the on the bench, but I'm like, this is when Mikel and O. G. should be stepping up. And tr OG's been playing fantastic, but I feel like most of his buckets have been when he him and Jalen are both on the court at the same time. So it's like we need somebody to to run the offense when Jalen's on on the bench and ⁓ Nathan Hawthorne: I'd a rip No. Jarod McInroy: If you're gonna be running Landry Shaman and Brunson at the same time, let's not let Bro just hug threes over and over and over again 'cause that's how you shoot shoot your team out of a game and out of a win. So Nathan Hawthorne: Do the New York Knicks have too many slashers? I think about Andinobi, I think about Mikhail Bridges, I think about Josh Hart, and I see a lot of their impactful buckets, whether those are backdoor or kind of some broken plays cutting to the hoop, or Jalen Brunson's kind of looking last minute for an outlet because he's taken twenty seconds of the shot clock. Do we do they have too many, too many guys that do sort of the same thing? Jarod McInroy: No, no. No, they have they have the right slashers. Mikel and OG both can work the mid midi game. If they didn't have that in the bag, then I would agree with you. Cause then it's like you're especially against a team like this when you have somebody who's such a good rim protector slashing, it's just go to the rim, kick out because you don't want to go up against Wemby. Next guy takes it, goes to the rim because they're still, you know, rotating their defense and it's just endless. Nathan Hawthorne: Okay. Okay. Jarod McInroy: And then you run out the shot clock and then somebody takes a bad shot. So it ends up being good defense, even though it looks like they're kind of scrambling. So ⁓ and you saw New York do a lot of that. ⁓ if somebody can commit, and again, it's just gonna come down to bridges, it's gonna come down to OG. ⁓ Josh Hart just he's not really working too versatile of an offensive game right now. ⁓ he's kind of just shooting threes when he has the opportunities and they're wide open. ⁓ somebody's i it's it's gonna be in that that mid range game. It's going to old man basketball. If somebody can get a Tim Duncan bank bank shot going, then ⁓ that might be helpful. But it's it's tough against a team like this. This is literally a the the only team they play all year that's like this. So you you really have to scheme differently. Nathan Hawthorne: Yeah. I will say the Spurs defensively, I think Mitch Johnson has done a great job mixing up the looks across all the series, changing how they're defending each and every team, each and every player, depending on what's working, right? Offensively, they do the same thing. They haven't changed a thing on offense. It like you said, it is just downhill attacking in transition and when possible. And it makes it easier, right? Because as soon as you go over to help. They lob the ball 9,000 feet in the air where nobody else can get it. And Wimby just kind of touches it in. I haven't seen anything different from this offense. That's gotta be just incredibly disheartening to stop. And then you just got Champigny or Vassel randomly out there hitting it just dagger threes. And no, it just it's tough. It's so tough. This Spurs team is good. Jarod McInroy: Yeah. It's that's the recipe, man. You have two guards who can shoot you have two guards who can shoot at ⁓ just they're snipers. And then I mean you can call Vassel kind of a forward ⁓ Champagne, I guess kind of also, but ⁓ then you got two guards who are just fast downhill kick out and whether that be ⁓ a mix of Castle, Fox or Harper, two of them are on the court at any given time. And then yeah, you got two snipers lined right there they're ready to rock at any point in time also. So it's a tough team to beat. It's a tough team to keep up with. ⁓ Yeah. Castle had another huge bucket man in this last game. Just pulled up like you think that he he's a streaky shooter, but when it when you get toward the end of the game and he's got the ball Nathan Hawthorne: We're gonna go. Fuck it. Jarod McInroy: Some people just get in rhythm off the dribble, man. They they don't need help. They don't need anything. They wave off the ⁓ the pick and they just say, I'm gonna go get a bucket and he did it and won him the game. Nathan Hawthorne: Nah, don't worry about it. It's impressive. Let's go let's go classic sports stick here. Does the winner of game five win the series? Sorry. Does the winner of game four win the series? Jarod McInroy: More on game four. No. ⁓ yes and no. It's hard because it's like if the Knicks win, like again, they got three chances. The r the writing's on the wall, right? Like you said, they're not gonna leave money on the table. They want this thing to go back to San Antonio. So I think and they want it to come back to MSG one more time. If I'm just thinking from Adam Silver's perspective here, I think the Knicks go out, they win game four. Spurs win game five, Knicks win game six, get the chip, add MSG. Nathan Hawthorne: That's hard, right. Jarod McInroy: I think that's I think that's the the perfect ending. ⁓ but I it's anybody's game if the Spurs win game four. It's anybody's. Like 'cause then you think about ⁓ what the Knicks did in the first two games. They're going to San Antonio's. San Antonio's a lot more pressure to win at home. If they clinch that game, then they're bringing it back to the garden up up ⁓ three two. So Anything can happen if if the Spurs win game two, but I think the writing's on the wall if if Knicks win. Game four rather, sorry. Nathan Hawthorne: That's fair. That's fair. Well tell you what. I'll I'll hit up my guy. I'll let him know what the script is looking like for game seven when it inevitably gets there. So, you know, well guys, tune into KYP. We're gonna give you all the information. Go ahead and place your bets. Not like Brendan Soresby, legally place your bets. Okay. Anyways, we got some NFL. We got some NFL to talk about. AJ Brown. Jarod McInroy: Yeah, let them know. Nathan Hawthorne: The trade has finally been completed for him to go to the New England Patriots. He is paired up now with Drake May. And I want to take a look. There's actually quite a few wide receivers who kind of shifted their teams this year. They've got new landing spots, new quarterbacks. Kind of wanted to review, you know, how we how we want to grade those out. Is it the right place for them to be? Is there any value in them being there? Like, let's take a look at it. AJ Brown, first off, B plus. I like it. Very simple. He's got a great quarterback, a good quarterback. You've got Keyshawn Booty and ⁓ my goodness, Pop Douglas on the team as well. You just signed Romeo Dobbs. My only concern is maybe Drake May has a little regression. Maybe enough tape is out on him now after the the Super Bowl run there. I don't know. But I like the grid. I like where AJ Brown's at. And I'm also just worried, you know, you have a mentally taxing couple of years like that in Philly. Can you dial back in? I don't know. B plus. Jarod McInroy: I I don't think it's anything less than an A minus, honestly. It he's he's a this is the perfect fit for him and he needs to go to a place where they they have a a culture of winning already. there's not much he's gonna do to really like fracture a locker room like unless he's not getting touches. He's gonna get he's gonna get his he's gonna get his targets in this offense. So I yeah, ⁓ yeah. You'll see it early and often. ⁓ when you have it Nathan Hawthorne: Willy? Josh McDan Josh McDaniels is known for spreading the ball around. Jarod McInroy: Hear me out. No, I I I I got you. I got you. But we we talked about this. Every time I think there's a fringe team, ⁓ they know it, we know it, we all know it. You gotta have the superstars and you gotta have the playmakers to win the big game. We we've seen it time and time again. Look at I feel like the perfect example of this is the Rams from a couple of years ago. They had a great roster, they had a couple great seasons, they you know looked promising. Then they went out they just got Jalen Ramsey for no reason. They had Aaron Donald already. They had like they just went and kept getting name after name after name after name. And everyone's like, These guys are stockpiling, they're creating a super team. That that's the recipe these days. You have to have at least a couple real superstars to do it and you gotta make them happy also. So, with that being said, Drake May is gonna wanna sling the ball. He's got everything it takes to sling the ball around. Nathan Hawthorne: Absolutely. Jarod McInroy: ⁓ there's no shortage of you know, he'll throw seventy times if he needs to, spread it around, but make sure AJ Brown gets twelve of them things. That's all that matters. Nathan Hawthorne: If he's throwing seventy, AJ Brown's probably getting twenty. And if he's not getting tw if he's not getting twenty five, he's screaming at somebody in the locker room. Jarod McInroy: Exactly. No, I think it's a great great fit. Nathan Hawthorne: I think it's a great fit. I tend to lean more on the emotional side. And again, you partner up a young QB with a superstar wide receiver who on the sideline is going to be visibly upset when he's got getting the ball. You even in practice, going to be visibly upset. So how is Drake May going to be able to handle that? Man, I might have to force some targets his way to keep him happy versus hey, let me play within the offense. Right? Jarod McInroy: Yeah. Nathan Hawthorne: We digress. We'll move on to DJ Moore. What to the Buffalo Bills? I mean, with Josh Allen, he'll never see more targets in his life than he will with Josh Allen. My problem, Josh Allen does not like moody wide receivers. Stefan Diggs got quietly moved out the door because he wanted the ball a ton. While while DJ Moore doesn't make it as obvious with his mouth that he's not getting targets, He certainly gives you some body language that says, hey, I'm really not happy with what's going on right now. I think it's a great situation. Obviously, I'm going to give this one an A minus. They've got a great run game. ⁓ Shakir and Palmer all are solid enough for your kind of two and three guys. You've got Kincaid, you've got Dawson Knox, plenty of weapons. I again, he's going to see a ton of targets. I'm happy for him. A minus. Jarod McInroy: Dawson Knox is just a name. Let's let's not throw that name in there for targets, but ⁓ listen. Hot tech incoming. Stefan Diggs is going to return to the Buffalo Bills. Nathan Hawthorne: Okay, let's hear it out. Jarod McInroy: I think I think and maybe I'm going on a tangent here. I'll I'll use this to wrap up my my grade. I think Stefan Diggs is coming back. Him and Josh Allen have talked over and over again about how tight they still are. The reunion is ready to come. You just said it their next two options are are Palmer and ⁓ and Khalil Shakir. Why not just throw Stefan Diggs on the other side of Shakir? You know, it's it's a pretty good offense. Nathan Hawthorne: Let's let's hear it out. Jarod McInroy: With that being said, having a guy like Diggs on the field, ⁓ will make DJ Moore even more open. So I am right there with you. I think it's about the same grade. ⁓ he's a sure handed receiver. We know ⁓ he's he's a pretty crisp route runner, although he gets lazy at times if he's not getting the ball. ⁓ it's if they can manage his his attitude and his ⁓ ability to stay locked in at all times, ⁓ in any flow of any game. 'Cause Nathan Hawthorne: Mm, mm. Jarod McInroy: You got James Cook. You know there's gonna be games where he's just gonna be running the rock over and over and over again. He had a game with like four touchdowns last year. If you c you need to stay locked into those types of games. So ⁓ if they can manage him and his ego, it's gonna be a good fit. And Stephon Diggs will be joining. Nathan Hawthorne: If and when Stephon Diggs joins the Buffalo Bills. Huh. Wow. I think that's gonna be a pretty good look for him. I I think he didn't look nearly as explosive coming off that ACL injury. He is a little bit older now in the NFL. Yeah, but it it certainly can't hurt. Certainly can't hurt. Again, Josh Allen's loving that connection with him. But after getting married to Haley Steinfeld, recording the movie Sinners with Michael B. Jordan, do you want to bring Stefan Diggs around Haley Steinfeld? It's a question you have to ask. Jarod McInroy: Perfect place to be. Nathan Hawthorne: I know nobody wants to ask it, but I'll ask the question. Okay. Juwan Jennings. Juwan Jennings is the next name. Listen, for the team, this is an A plus. This probably gives you the best receiving core in the league, if not top four. Other guys you're looking at would be like Dallas with Pickens and Lambs. ⁓ Cincinnati, you've got Jamar and Higgins, Rams, you've got Puka and Devante. But as far as like that third guy, he's the best third guy. And also. Jarod McInroy: Okay. Who's the next name? Nathan Hawthorne: Could this be the first time we have a clear one Justin Jefferson? Do we have a two A and two B Seer? Do we have a two A and two B situation here with these guys? It we very well could be because we don't necessarily know a ton about Juwan Jennings yet. ⁓ I like this. I I he's a he's a very good receiver. Is he better than Jordan Addison though? I don't know. Jarod McInroy: I think we know a good amount. He's a good receiver. No. I'm sorry. I I'll put the end I'll put the end of the conversation right here. Jordan Addison's really good. Jordan Addison's a really and that's not to say anything bad about Juwan Jennings. It's we we've seen teams like this. This is great. This is great for all three of them. The Nathan Hawthorne: Is it? Okay. Okay, totally totally fine. He is really good, but Yeah. Right. Right. I again like I love A plus team grade, but for Jawan Jennings, you just said it, right? You confirmed it. Right. So for him, it's probably it might be just a B. You're gonna lose some targets. Not some targets, you're gonna lose a lot of targets. Bonus, you're getting a QB upgrade, arguably, with Kyler Murray, or maybe a horizontal QB move, depending on how you wanna view the situation. I don't know. ⁓ I know how you feel about br I know how you feel about. Jarod McInroy: He's gonna get the shortest end of the stick. Horizontal from nine? Or who are we horizontal from? Nathan Hawthorne: From Brock Purdy to Kyler Murray? Jarod McInroy: ⁓ okay. I'm s I see what you're saying. I thought you meant ⁓ within the Minnesota team they were moving horizontally. Okay. Okay, thank God. Nathan Hawthorne: No. No, no. I simply mean you're moving horizontal potentially in terms of your QB situation. But again, we haven't seen Kyler Murray with a strong offensive coordinator outside of Cliff Kingsbury, who's just a glorified offensive coach or college offensive coordinator. Jarod McInroy: Yeah. Yeah, I'm right there with you. That's same same grade I got for you. Nathan Hawthorne: Okay. Michael Pittman. What do you think about Michael Pittman and his move to the Pittsburgh Steelers? Jarod McInroy: Yeah, th the this one's tough. I feel like any time a receiver goes to the the Steelers, it's tough. ⁓ Rogers is back. McCarthy's there now. It's a new system. I don't see how it's really a bad thing right now with all this unknown, but I feel like this could be detrimental to him if this doesn't work out. Because then you have a stain on your name in association with this dumpster fire if it does not work out. And then all of a sudden it's like, who even wants Michael Pittman? All of his best years are behind him. Well like what what can he really do? He didn't really show too much. And he's been kinda on and off the field already with little knickk knack injuries here and there. ⁓ So with that being said, I'm gonna just give it a B minus. It's a great fit. I think again there's not too many mouths to feed over there. So I think like he'll he'll get his targets, he'll fit in great. ⁓ he's gonna play on the outside where he's comfortable. ⁓ it's just I don't know. I think Aaron Rodgers is done, man. I think he's kinda old. I think it's I think the the chapter just might be done. It just I don't know. You tell me, am I wrong? Nathan Hawthorne: Yeah. I I originally had this as a B minus, but I started looking at the roster a little bit more. You've got Mike McCarthy as your head coach, which means you are going to throw the football more, regardless of how Aaron Rodgers feels. You're going to. You brought in Rico Dowdle, who had an excellent season in Carolina last year. I really like that move. You've got him paired with Jalen Warren. That's a solid one two punch. Even it's not the greatest one two punch, very solid one two punch. Receiving core like side, like you said, there's not a ton of competition for targets. Jarod McInroy: Am I being over dramatic? Nathan Hawthorne: But you do have DK Metcalf. And while they are different in terms of their ability to explode, DK Metcalf is unbelievable. They both kind of do the same thing. A bigger red zone target, slants, hooks. Like, I feel like they're not as dynamic in the route tree, either of them are. And so when you start asking these guys to be on opposite sides of the field, like these are both your big body backside X receivers. And how do you create an offense that allows both of them to shine. And I mean, again, like Aaron Rodgers is gonna put the ball in a keyhole and give these guys opportunities. But outside of like back shoulder fades, I'm I'm not really seeing how those two guys work in tandem together. Jarod McInroy: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, we saw MVS make him make a name for himself off of being a target for Aaron Rodgers. So if one of them could just kinda do that, I mean, probably fine. But if have if you've ever heard a Seahawks fan talk about DK Metcalf, you would think that this guy was the worst receiver to ever play football. They say he can run in a straight line and got breaks for hands. I I don't quite see it that way, but I Nathan Hawthorne: That's so true. Jarod McInroy: Again, going on a tangent here. I I d it's just one of those things. I think it'll be an interesting ⁓ dynamic, it'll be an interesting fit, ⁓ and we'll see what the the volume looks like. He's another guy that he plays better with higher volume. ⁓ so we'll see. I let's use this as as a as a little little segue here, 'cause we're kinda talking about a lot of names that might be involved in this category. And I think you and I have kind of solidified the top five, right? And and again, tell me if you disagree with this, but I feel like the top five right now is Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase in whichever order you want it. It's Puka Nakua and ⁓ JSN, whichever order you want it. And then yes, I would agree with that. It's JSN, then Puka. But and then I feel like Amon Ra has fully deserved, earned, and solidified that right this second he is that number five receiver. Nathan Hawthorne: JSN. Jarod McInroy: Okay, so let's talk about who are the top five that are not in the top five? Who are your next your six through ten receivers that ⁓ and I got a list here, I know you got a list there. A lot of these are gonna be similar to the names that we were just talking about. So let me let me hear who's your in do you want to do this in order of like six, seven, eight, nine, ten, or do you wanna do this in like these are just the five names I got? Nathan Hawthorne: Okay. Okay. I've got numbers and I've got rankings specifically for these guys. Okay. And I want you guys to understand this is your top five, not this is your top five that are not in the top five wide receivers. Thinking about fantasy football here in particular. Okay. So we're we're thinking about this from a holistic perspective. We're thinking offensive coordinator. We're thinking what the team's doing on the defense. We're thinking about your position coach. Okay. We're getting in depth, not just, ⁓ you know, he's quarterback, he's wide receiver one. Okay. This is serious. Jarod McInroy: Let's go. Okay. I'm here for you. Nathan Hawthorne: This is no joke. Okay. Number eight. I'm not even going to give you number six off riff. Number eight. No, I'm not giving you six. We're going number eight right off rip. Okay. It's Marvin Harrison Jr. Okay. He's been plagued by an inconsistent offense with Arizona. Now he finally gets an offensive coach who cares about getting the off getting the ball to his wide receivers, right? We got Mike LaFleur. He's coming from the Sean McVay system. I love that for him. And Jarod McInroy: Whoa, no, give me six Well let's start Nathan Hawthorne: In his own words, Mike LaFleur said that Marvin Harrison Jr. is going to be the backside wide receiver, going to play the Devontae Adams position. I love that form. Does it concern me that he's got Jacoby Brissett as quarterback? Yes, but we've seen that Jacoby Brissett can be more than proficient in delivering the ball to wide receivers. ⁓ somehow in his first two years, he still managed 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns. I like how this is extended. You've got McBride helping taking some of the attention. We've got Marvin Harrison Jr. at number eight. Okay. You down with that? All right. Number number number six. Number six. And this guy could have been in the top five. Honestly, he could have been as high as four, if you're asking me. CeeDee Lamb. And I don't think I really need to explain this one. You've got Dak Prescott, one of the most elite regular season football dealers. Jarod McInroy: Okay. He's n he's not in mine. He's not in mine. Nathan Hawthorne: Okay, CeeDee Lamb could have a record year this year, I think. No, not necessarily record year, but he's gonna have a ton of opportunity. If they get George Pickens in the door and they resolve that, again, you can't double team both of them. Tons of opportunity, tons of touchdowns. He's got that connection with Dak Prescott, who loves to throw the football. I've got CeeDee Lamb at number six. Jarod McInroy: Okay. You wanna hear my six? Or are you just gonna deliver your five? Nathan Hawthorne: I don't want to hear your six. I don't want to hear your six. I'm going to go to my number nine. This is going to be a sketchy one. We've got Malik neighbors. Jarod McInroy: Jesus, what are we going what are we s flip flopping around here for? Nathan Hawthorne: At number nine, I don't want I don't want you thinking, okay, this okay, where this is this is electric. This is KYP. At number nine, we Malik Neighbors. And the only reason he's at number nine is because he's coming off that ACL injury. And that's gonna be hard to trust for a guy who relies on being as explosive as he does. The good news is that he tore it in September of last year. So he's gonna have almost a year to recover. You know, it wasn't like a December or January tear where he's really working back to be ready for week one. ⁓ he's already practicing right now. He's looking great. The other problem though, Matt Nagy is your offensive coordinator. And I'll leave it at that. That's why he is at number nine. You know, and I'll go three right there. You give me three other guys. Jarod McInroy: No, you give me finish your list. Give me seven and ten. Nathan Hawthorne: Okay. Number seven. Can you even guess who number seven is? I'll give you two guesses. Jarod McInroy: AJ Brown. Nathan Hawthorne: No, at number seven, we have got Jalen. I almost said AJ Brown. At number seven, we have got Jalen Waddell, fresh off of a trade from the Dolphins. He is poised for a massive season. Okay. I'm talking, I'm talking Michael Thomas 2019 slant boy. Okay. That's how serious this connection can be with Bo Knicks, Sean Payton, and Jalen Waddle. You've got Cortland Sutton on the other side. Who can finally play that true backside player? You've got Troy Franklin taking the top off the defense. I love the situation here for Jalen Waddle. It couldn't be any better. Now, Bo Nicks, again, coming off that injury, we'll see how he responds. But Bo Knicks is a guy who's proven capable of standing in the pocket and delivering the football, but uses his mobility as a bonus, not as the only way he plays. So I love this for Jalen Waddle. He's gonna get one of the best coaching jobs of his career. And he's going into a team that has an elite defense, which means they're gonna have the ball a lot, which means he's gonna have a lot of opportunity. Jarod McInroy: Who's your town? Nathan Hawthorne: And number ten. Do you want to guess who number ten is? You don't want to guess? You want no guesses? Number ten, we've got Lad McConkie. And don't hate me. Don't hate me. Just love the situation. Okay. The Chargers didn't bring in any new talent into the wide receiver room at all. So his competition is Quentin Johnson and Trey Harris. Trey Harris, the guy who could potentially break out this year. You've got Justin Herbert at quarterback, but the best part, you've brought in Mike McDaniels to be your offensive coordinator, an excellent schemer. Think about what Tyreek Hill was doing. Think about what Jalen Waddell was doing. Think about Park, think about what Washington was it Parker, Washington? Jarod McInroy: Malik Washington. Nathan Hawthorne: Malik Wa yeah, think about ⁓ Malik Washington was doing last year. And now you've got nothing but opportunity for Ladd McConkie to continue to get the football. He was already excellent the last two years. And now again, you're giving him an offensive coordinator who's gonna put him in the best possible situation. You know you're gonna have a better run game. Hopefully the O Lions stays healthy. You're gonna have the best quarterback of your career with Justin Herbert. I love it for Ladd McConkey. Again, don't hate the situation. Don't hate it, okay? This is Lad McConkie. Jarod McInroy: Okay, you d did your wonky thing. No, give me just a quick summary. Who give me your six through ten, just the names, just so we summarize it. Nathan Hawthorne: Six, six CD Lamb, six CD Lamb, seven, Jalen Waddle, eight, Marvin Harrison Jr. Nine, Malik Neighbors, ten, Lad McConkie. Jarod McInroy: Okay. So now it's my turn. ⁓ I I let you have your little spotlight for a second there before I dive into it. This the Lad McConkey take is absurd. We're talking about the next five guys. We're talking about top ten receivers in the entire NFL. And you delivered sh shut your mouth. You delivered me Lad McConkie. That's exactly what we're saying here. This is what we're doing. This is top five, not top five. Nathan Hawthorne: Give me a list. No no no. I didn't I didn't say top ten wide receiver. I didn't say top ten wide receivers. I said the top five who are not five for fantasy football. And again, I said don't hate the I said don't hate the situation. Jarod McInroy: Fantasy Fantasy is strictly but that listen, fantasy is also strictly based on production. It is it's a hundred percent what it is. I know I hear ya. I have watched season after season of Mike McDaniel football. That man has no chance. Come back to this if you want to in the middle of the season. Nathan Hawthorne: I just laid out the case for why he's gonna have crazy production. Jarod McInroy: We're talking about he doesn't throw the ball on if he is if he has as much impact on the offense as we expect him to, he doesn't like to throw the ball on third and more than twelve. He likes to give up on the freaking series. No, shut up. Two a through for freaking five thousand yards a couple years ago. He was almost the MVP. We all just ignore that for whatever reason. Regardless. Nathan Hawthorne: Because you had Tua because Tua can't throw the ball twelve yards down the field. And then people fig and then people figured out, ⁓ just don't let him throw it to the middle of the field and he turns out he can't throw it anywhere other than behind the line of scrimmage. He's got Justin a Herbert, brother. Totally different game. Jarod McInroy: Regardless. It's absurd. I I have so many names that I would put above Lad McConkey. And let me give you my five. Number six it's CeeDee Lamb. And again, he should be in the top five. He might be in the top five by the end of the season. ⁓ injuries were the reason why ⁓ he wasn't in it last year. It's and I think the emergence of ⁓ George Pickens is only gonna make his life easier. It's gonna be ⁓ they're gonna be focused on what's going on on the other side of the field. He's gonna keep getting his ⁓ his Nathan Hawthorne: Totally fine. Jarod McInroy: his throws from from Dak Prescott, you know, it's it's gonna be money. I'm I'm still hopped up on this lad McConkey thing. no, but you already you already know listen hang on, hang on. ⁓ I know. I know, I know. Nathan Hawthorne: This guy's worked up. This guy's worked up right. But I agree with you on CD Lamb. We're agreeing a lot. We're on the same team. I want you to relax. We're on the same team. Jarod McInroy: But anyway, CeeDee Lamb is you know what I think about the Cowboys. I think that they're gonna make a huge step this year. I think Dak's gonna have a great season as well. And I think it's gonna be because C D and Pickens are gonna have such high production. ⁓ number seven's gonna be AJ Brown. We just talked about him. I like his fit in his new spot. I think he's gonna get a lot of targets. ⁓ and the the production's gonna be there. ⁓ eight, I got Drake London. Now the quarterback situation's gonna be iffy. Nathan Hawthorne: Are you wait, are you skipping numbers on me? Jarod McInroy: No, I did six CD Lamb, seven AJ Brown, eight Drake London. Nathan Hawthorne: Yeah. ⁓ you just didn't spend a lot of time on it. Just went way past me. We did. We did. Okay. Jarod McInroy: Yeah, we we just talked about it. I gave you I gave you everything I needed to on AJ already. ⁓ yeah, eight Drake London. I really like one, let's just talk about his skill set a alone. He gets open, he does it he does it at three levels of the f the field. it's gonna be it's gonna come down to his his quarterback play. It's gonna be tough. ⁓ and I d listen Nathan Hawthorne: Drake London. Excellent skill set. Jarod McInroy: I fall victim to it every year. We see Tua out there with no pads on, no one rushing him, and he just slings the ball around and you fall in love with it. I'm seeing highlight clips, man, and I think I think Tua could be back. And I know, listen, you don't like Kevin Stefanski, you're gonna shit on it all you want. Nathan Hawthorne: He's gonna run the ball 70 times a game with B. John Robinson. He's gonna end his career in three years, and Drake London's gonna get two targets a game. Jarod McInroy: I hear ya. I hear ya. But this is what I'm gonna tell you. Drake London, number eight. You can hate it. You can hate it all you want. You can hate it all you want. Nathan Hawthorne: gonna be doing so much he's gonna be doing so much cardio. So much cardio. Jarod McInroy: Drake London, number eight. Number nine, I think Pickens is gonna take a step back because CeeDee's gonna be back. If we're talking just purely which is a better receiver between CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, I think anybody with eyes who's watched or played football for at least five years in their life can tell you CeeDee Lamb is the better wide receiver. ⁓ and I think the Cowboys know that they're gonna want to keep him happy, they're paying him more money, they're more committed to him long term. ⁓ So I think Pickens is gonna take a step back. With that being said, I still think he's gonna be highly productive. ⁓ and he's still a great receiver. ⁓ he's gonna still be the take the top off ⁓ guy for the the Cowboys offense and ⁓ I think there's no reason to not think he's gonna be number nine because I think Dak Prescott's gonna have a hell of a year and when you throw for four thousand to five thousand yards, that's a lot of yards that you can dish out to two receivers. So ⁓ I got him nine. Nathan Hawthorne: Yeah, no doubt. So we're so what with the Cowboys with the Cowboys that you're kind of looking at like a Matt Stafford with DJ Shark and Kenny Galladay. What are those kinds of seasons? When was that? Like twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen? Where they were both like they were wide receivers one and two in fantasy football for like the first nine weeks of the year or something crazy like that? Jarod McInroy: ten I had a tough time. can't say I completely remember that. ⁓ I'm not a big chart ball knower, but ⁓ yeah, p potentially. That's exactly what I'm thinking. Yeah. I was thinking more of like the Peyton Manning year where you know he had Demarius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, like all those guys just yeah. They all could have been the top receiving target on any team that year. So ⁓ my number ten was tough. I'm gonna tell you the four names I battled over. Nathan Hawthorne: I w it was crazy. Okay. Julius Thomas. Yeah, that that year was crazy. Jarod McInroy: and then I'll I'll finish it. No, I have four names that aren't Lad McConkie. So it's Jalen Waddell, Terry McLaurin, Nico Collins and and Devontae Adams. My issue is Nathan Hawthorne: Lad McConkey was obviously one of them. Jarod McInroy: I'll give you my issue with why I don't think it's Terry. I don't know how Jaden Daniels is gonna come back. It's as simple as that. I know he's he can be productive. He's gonna be the number one target. We don't know if the rumors of IU going there is actually real or not. We'll see. ⁓ Nico, I don't know if he's gonna be healthy. We never know if he's gonna be healthy. The skill sets there. ⁓ So it comes down to the last two. I have a I have a tough time, and this this could be a hot take. I think Devontae Adams is a top five all time route runner. Like he he I think he's he's very arguably top five. Maybe if you want to say top ten, fine. I think he might be top five. And he's still doing it. Like you s you watched some of the Rams games last year and he's still doing it. And Matt Stafford loves a guy who can get open on his own. Nathan Hawthorne: He's up there. Jarod McInroy: He loves he he has great timing with his receivers. He does a lot of work with his receivers to make sure they're ⁓ they're all on the same page. So I I would like to think that with this weird Puka situation that Devante's gonna get a lot more opportunity. ⁓ My issue with Waddle then being we don't know how Bo Nicks is gonna come back. We don't know what their offense is gonna look like. So I'm gonna solidify Devontae Adams at ten. That's my list. Quick rundown summary. Top five that's not top five. I got CD six, AJ Brown seven, Drake London eight, George Pickens nine, Devontae Adams ten. Nathan Hawthorne: Okay. I like yeah, I don't I don't hate that pick. So we're looking at some of those wide receiving cores that we talked about earlier. We had Devontae Adams and Puka Nakua listed. So you've got both of them in your top ten, right? One just on the fringe. With Dallas Cowboys, you've got two of them in your top ten. You've got Pickens and Lamb. But then we don't have Higgins, T. Higgins, but we also know he's probably gonna get injured, so we can probably rule that out. We talked really highly of Jordan Addison and Juwan Jennings. Do you think there's any chance that paired next to Justin Jefferson? That one of those two guys could slide into the top ten, talking about Juwan Jennings or Jordan Addison with Kyler Murray. More likely Jordan Addison? Jarod McInroy: More likely Jordan Addison. Kinda like what I was talking about earlier. I think he's just a better receiver. I think he's he's more versatile. ⁓ again, Juwan Jennings is that big target, you know, that I feel like when you have have that big target, they they're more visible. They're more visible in the field. he's a little bit slower than Jordan Addison. He doesn't run as crisp of a route as Jordan Addison. Like it's it's easier to kind of defend against and be aware of. than these shifty guys who fit into little windows and pockets w downfield. So I think it's more likely Jordan Addison than Juwan Jennings. Nathan Hawthorne: Fair. I don't hate that. But yeah, what a treat some of these quarterbacks have with their wide receiving cores. And just never been more stoked in his life. He gets a great offensive head coach who like really pours into the guys, like really loves them. And then you get a crazy great wide receiving core. Like I I love that for Kyler Murray. I'm stoked for him. Again, your NFL MVP, Kyler Murray. Jarod McInroy: ⁓ yeah. Kyler Murray's never been happier in his life. this brings me into my next segment. And it's gonna be a little throwback to last week. I got some contenders and pretenders for you, but this time I got new names for ya. Are you ready? You did now let's be ⁓ let's a quick recap to anyone who might have missed last week. I brought five names to Nathan ⁓ and said, Tell me if these teams are contenders or they're pretenders. And this man told me all of them are pretenders. He said the Steelers. He said Nathan Hawthorne: Yeah. I am ready. Jarod McInroy: The Vikings, he said the Lions, the Forty Niners, all these people are nothing but pretenders. So I got five more names for you. Let's see if you like any of these better. Nathan Hawthorne: And let's be clear, make sure you go back and watch that video because the definition of contender is hotly contested. What does contender really mean? So stick around right now and you'll find out. Jarod McInroy: And you brushed over the Jaguars. Let's not even forget that. You didn't even give ⁓ the time of day. Yeah. All right. So here's our first name up. We've we've just talked about ⁓ quite a bit. Are the Dallas Cowboys contenders this year? Nathan Hawthorne: They're just not ready, sorry. No, they're not contenders. Jarod McInroy: So they are pretenders, is what you're saying? Nathan Hawthorne: I every it's it's what we do every year on paper. The Dallas Cowboys, they are pretenders. Every year on paper, they look fantastic. ⁓ this really could be the year. The media loves to talk about it. Dallas Cowboys, big brand, Jerry Jones, blah, blah, blah. Dak Prescott in prime time in a playoff game. Just won. Now again, you've got CeeDee Lamb and you've got George Pickens, so you can really kind of close your eyes and chuck it down there. But until otherwise noted. Pretenders. And again, Schottenheimer, we saw this last year. That offense started to try to struggle towards the back half of the year. People started to figure out what was going on. And that's what kind of concerns me for them this year as a whole. You've got your offensive coordinator, glorified head coach now with tape on the team. It's again, it's hard to guard two elite wide receivers like that, but when teams start to figure out the offense and scheme against it, the these opportunities that felt easy last year. Are gonna be a little bit tougher to get this year. So that's my only concern. But again, like I just don't think they're pretenders. And or I don't think they're contenders. And part of that is just the sharpness. I didn't see an attention to detail that you see from the elite teams. I didn't see an Eagles type sharpness. I didn't see a Seattle type sharpness. I didn't see a Rams type sharpness. Where everything down to the special teams, so the offensive and defensive operations is just buttoned up. I like them on paper, I really do, but they're just pretenders. Jarod McInroy: Okay. For the clip, give me the give me the final statement. Nathan Hawthorne: Dallas Cowboys are pretenders. Once again, or hold on, let me do it this way for the clip. Once again, Dallas Cowboys are pretenders. Jarod McInroy: Alright. So that's six names. Let's see if you like this one. Are the Chicago Bears contenders or pretenders this year? Can they go win a Super Bowl? Nathan Hawthorne: Contenders. Chicago Bears are contenders. Why? I love Ben Johnson. I love what he's building. I love the intensity and just the growth we saw last year in the Chicago Bears team, specifically from Caleb Williams. The defense needs a little bit of work, but that's fine. They're getting better. But what I love the most is they moved on from DJ Moore, a guy who was in their locker room that they didn't feel passionate about that needed to be there. Those are the kind of moves that we saw ⁓ Those are the kind of moves we saw Mike McDonald make when he was in Seattle. Like, hey, like, guys don't really love being here. We're gonna move on from you. It's you're a great player, but we just can't have you in the locker room. You're ruining the flow of things. You get another year of Roma Dunze. You've got Luther Burden coming back. I feel really positive about this team on on many levels. And I think that playing this gauntlet of the NFC North, you've got to go against the Green Bay Packers. You've got to go against the Minnesota Vikings. You've got to go against the Detroit Lions. Those battle scars across those six games you're gonna have this year are gonna show who you really are. And I think that because of that, they are going to be contenders. Jarod McInroy: Got it. You didn't say either of those things for the Lions or Vikings last week, but we'll move on. Nathan Hawthorne: Well exactly because the 'cause the 'cause the bears are the big bad dogs in the division now. Jarod McInroy: They are. And I agree with you. And again, you know I've said this time and time again, Ryan Paul's most underrated GM in all of football. He's he's done tremendous things there. again, you got a young quarterback who's kind of coming into what is third year now. having tight ends is really important and he's got Nathan Hawthorne: Mm-hmm. Jarod McInroy: Two dogs. He's got Loveland, he's got Col Komet, and I saw an interview. They said they they just went and got another one. I haven't really looked at who this man is, but ⁓ apparently there's gonna be another name on the scene in Chicago. So we got our first contenders. Wow. I I'm hopeful for this list today. I'm hopeful for this list. I I wanted to bring you some good Nathan Hawthorne: They're they're contenders. Yeah. And and again, the thing I the thing I love is it's the new and the fresh blood. Like I've heard enough and I've seen enough of those other teams to know that they're not gonna break through. You can't run back the Green Bay Packers. You can't run back the Lions as as talented as they are offensively. But could be wrong they are on the Lions. I'll I'll admit that. I they they've got some potential. I just don't I didn't see it. That's fair. Anyways, keep I I digress. Jarod McInroy: Okay. I think you are wrong. But next name. Next name. And for this exercise, let's assume health. Okay? Let's assume everybody's healthy. Are the Cincinnati Bengals contenders or pretenders this year? Nathan Hawthorne: Contenders. Jarod McInroy: Yeah Really? What do you like about them that you'd haven't liked about these other names? Let's go through it. Nathan Hawthorne: I love their quarterback, Joe Burrow. Okay. You as long as you've got Joe Burrow, it's been proven that they can get themselves to a Super Bowl. They did it one time already. Granted, it was the the COVID year Super Bowl. I get that. He's just he's just that dynamic. And again, he's proved it. If he can stay healthy, and I think that was one of your your prerequisites. Yeah, I think this team is a serious contender. And again, this this is what I love about quarterbacks. Is when you have a guy that can control the pace and the tempo of the game and never let games get away from you, it's really, really hard to blow out the Bengals because Joe Burrow knows when it's time to score quick. He knows when it's time to give your defense a rest. He knows when it's time to feed his guy. He knows when it's time to get the at the other guy activated. Now, here, the shortcomings, Zach Taylor, I don't know why the Bengals brought him back, and Trey Hendrickson is out the door. Those two things scare me a little bit, but again, you've got Joe Burrow. And anytime you've got a top three, arguably top three quarterback in the league, you're going to be a contender. Period. Jarod McInroy: Whoa, top three quarterbacks. Nathan Hawthorne: Give me three quarterbacks right now better than Joe Burrow. Jarod McInroy: Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson. Nathan Hawthorne: Lamar Jackson hasn't been to a Super Bowl yet. Joe Burrow has. While being the most sacked quarterback in the NFL. Jarod McInroy: That's fine. You didn't win it. If you don't win it. But regardless, I hey in I'm fine with his name being around there, but that was like a definitive top three, not even like wow. Okay. Bengals contenders. We love to see it. But what a turn of events. Nathan Hawthorne: Contenders. No, let let me be clear. The Bengals are not contenders. Joe Burrow is a Joe Burrow is a contender. Jarod McInroy: Joe Burrow's a contender. Okay. Hey, he could be on the move for all we know. We don't know what the the future in Cincinnati looks like. And he's gonna make a different team a contender. Nathan Hawthorne: There's been a there's been a lot of weird has there been more chatter about a elite quarterback in their prime being moved? Like Matt Stafford, end of his career, Peyton Manning, end of his career. But there's been just a lot of strange conversation about Joe Burrow being moved. I don't know. Jarod McInroy: Well similar to Matt. People are convinced that he's gonna be the successor to Stafford and LA's gonna keep that thing rolling. ⁓ we'll see. Nathan Hawthorne: That would be disgusting. Is wait, is is that the play? Ty Simpson Ty sim Ty Simpson, you hope he does just okay enough, and you go tie Ty Simpson and eight first rounders for Joe Burrow? ⁓ Jarod McInroy: Next name up. That would be the play if you're the Rams. Yeah. Next name up. Same division. Baltimore Ravens. Are they contenders or pretenders? Nathan Hawthorne: Mm, pretenders. Jarod McInroy: ⁓ my Nathan Hawthorne: They're pretenders. They're pretenders. Again, and this goes back to what I was saying about the this goes back to what I was saying about the Lions, the Packers, and some of the and the 49ers, teams that we've seen around the circuit, not enough has changed and changed positively, quite frankly, for me to think, okay, yeah, they're they're getting over the hump here. Okay, you've got Jesse Mentor as your as your new head coach, a defensive focus guy, again, right? The defense is gonna be fine. Jarod McInroy: This man kills me, said Nathan Hawthorne: Again, you've got a lot of great pieces. You've got one of the best safeties in the league and Kyle Hamilton. That's fine. You've got Lamar Jackson, one of the ultimate game changers, playmakers in the league. You've got that's that's fine. I love Trey Hendrickson and I love that for him. He's gonna have a lot of sacks and a lot of numbers. Again, the defense is gonna be great. We've seen the literal best Ravens team in the league find a way to choke in the AFC championship. Now you got Jesse Minter, a first time head coach. Jarod McInroy: Top five edge rusher now. Nathan Hawthorne: You've got Declan Doyle, a first time offensive coordinator. I don't really know about this team. I don't. And because there's too many unknowns, and because there's too many and because there's too many unknowns, I'm just not convinced that enough has changed for this team to make them contenders. Jarod McInroy: Kobe Lane, Elijah Surratt. So you confidently can look at me and tell me you think the Bengals have a better chance than the Ravens. Nathan Hawthorne: Yes. Jarod McInroy: Alright. Listen, we all got our opinions and you got yours. We got one last name for ya. Hey, you don't have to explain it to me. You d you gave me the full rundown. You did it. You did your job. I gotta accept it for what it is. For the clip? Nathan Hawthorne: Yes. And again, right like Yeah, yeah. I ain't gotta explain it. For the clip, the Baltimore Ravens are pretenders. Jarod McInroy: You got it. All right, here's our next name. The Denver Broncos. Nathan Hawthorne: See, this is a tricky one because their Super Bowl r run, I think they still would have lost in the Super Bowl. Seattle to me was the best team in football and it wasn't close at the end of last year. Mi I mean, technically it was close with the Rams, but it wasn't close. I have a I have a tough time with the kind of injury that Bo Nicks has coming back next year. I love I if we're assuming health, then yeah, they gotta be contenders again. You've got one of the best defenses in the league with one of the best defenders in Pat Surtain locking down at least half the field for you. Again, you've added Jalen Waddle, you still have Cortland Sutton, you've got a young you've got RJ Harvey, you've got a collection of young players who can really make an impact on offense. Jarod McInroy: Let's assume health. Nathan Hawthorne: And be more than a surprise comeback sort of team in the fourth quarter, which is a little bit of what they were last year, hanging around with the gritty defense and then scoring what it matters or scoring when it matters. I think that this year they have a potential to kind of punch through more of that and be more impactful right off rip. So assuming health, this team has to be contenders again. Because if it wasn't for that injury to Bonex, they're probably in the Super Bowl and reloading again. Jarod McInroy: Yeah. Yeah, I have a really tough time with this one because of the Bengals team we're talking about earlier. We saw them go to the Super Bowl, we saw them make that that run, and then we never saw them that way again. And it makes me wonder like, is this Broncos team did they just take advantage of a year of a bad AFC or are they really pretenders? So I think this could be a a good prove a year of are are they actually legit or are they not? And I think they're more of the Bengals team. I think if we're looking at contenders pretenders, I'm not sold on ⁓ But it's not my list, it's not my segment. You nailed it. Nathan Hawthorne: Yeah. Interesting. I can I yeah, I just I wanna I wanna push back on that Bengal's take. It's not Zach Taylor, it's Sean Payton. And I think that's one of the bigger differences. And then also, again, we're we're assuming health here. Joe Burroughs' health impacted the following year. And then he had a great year. Remember they had that one year where ⁓ I think it was in twenty twenty three, where they just had a really, really bad start and then turned it on late, but it was too little, too late. Like Jarod McInroy: Yeah. Nathan Hawthorne: The the Burrow injuries combined with Zach Taylor as a head coach have caused more problems and made the Bengals not a contender. But I tell you what, nobody wants to play the Bengals late in the season when they're healthy. Everybody's terrified. You don't want to see them. So I think that's why it's a little bit different. Jarod McInroy: Okay. Zach Taylor, the coach with nine lives. All right. That's it for contenders and pretenders. Nathan Hawthorne: He got listen there's a there's a guy named Jeffrey that he may be working with and he 'cause he's got something on somebody, if you know what I'm saying. There's no way that this guy's he know he know no, he knows a lot about everybody, clearly, 'cause there's no way. Jarod McInroy: Yeah. Yeah. He knows somebody he knows something about somebody. Alright, that's contenders pretenders. ⁓ there's some news with Texas Tech this week and I want you to give me the quick breakdown. Nathan Hawthorne: trending up. Yeah, Brendan Soresby. ⁓ it was ruled in the Texas Supreme Court that he is, after gambling over nine thousand nine thousand times as a collegiate quarterback, is now only serving a two-game suspension instead of being ineligible. Woof. Horrible. Horrible. I'm sorry. Placing one bet one time because you were curious and like you thought you might make a couple dollars. That's one thing. I can forgive that. But you were actively Betting on a number of games, including your own, that's embarrassing. And you shouldn't be doing it. And I get there's a lot of college players who bet. It it like it's just it's a fact. And I know that we don't always have the evidence and we can't always prove everything, but there's the bookies now, the ease of DraftKings and how many friends and people they know. Like everybody's betting. And they just throw gambling in your face everywhere. It's on ESPN. They have e they they're partnered with DraftKings. Like it's almost impossible to avoid it. But to protect the integrity of the game, if you're playing in that game and you have access to information that people don't have and it's games that you're a part of, you cannot be gambling. And again, it's not one bet one time. Oops, my bad. This is over 9,000 place bets trying to hide things. Inexcusable. He should absolutely be banned from college football. I'm sorry, if you want to try now try and make it in the NFL. Maybe you got to go to the Canadian Football League. Maybe you got to go to the to the UFL or the AFL. I can't even remember the name of that spring league now. Then yeah, you got to go take your lumps that way, but don't think that you can come back to the NCAA and make try and make money from NIL and try and play for a college football team. You you've disgraced your opportunity. That's how I feel. Talk to me. Push push back on what? Jarod McInroy: I'm gonna push back. I think you you you you fully explained it. Like these companies, first off, these th NCAA in general, the NFL, all of these companies have these gigantic deals with all these these companies. They're getting so much money from DraftKings, from ⁓ FanDuel, from all you got Rob Gronkowski doing the fan duel kick. Like we got people everywhere working with these companies. They're shoving it down our throats. And then they want to sit there and talk about the sickness of people gambling and losing their money when they're literally shoving it down their throats. We're getting beer ads. We're getting that. We're getting all of the things that they say we shouldn't be doing. And then you wanna go and you wanna punish a kid, bro. He's a kid. What are we doing? Nathan Hawthorne: He's a he's a kid, but where I draw the line, if he was betting on a bunch of NBA games or NFL games because he knew some guys, that's one thing. You bet you bet on your own yes, but he bet on his own teen games. So as soon as that done, you're done. Because you know better than that. Cause that's Jarod McInroy: It should be anything that's not your your game. Exactly, so only penalize them. As only penalize him on the games he b he did on his own. That's that's that's my thing. Two games is plenty. From my understanding of it, the majority of his betting wasn't even on his own games. It was a like a couple that they were able to trace back to his own games. And I don't think he was even playing in it, right? Nathan Hawthorne: That you're able to trace back to him. No, he wasn't. But the problem is is you have privilege information and you're still participating. I don't I don't care. Jarod McInroy: Exactly. He's not on the field. He's not in Yeah, I it's bad. You shouldn't be betting on any team that you in any game that your team is involved in. I fully agree with that. But I will always side with the player. I side with the players and NIL. I side with the players in any, you know, talks when it comes to the players' associations, anything like that, I will always side with the player. They're the product. They're the people. Nathan Hawthorne: ⁓ and I And and here's the deal. I I did I did miss misspeak her, I want to be clear. It wasn't nine thousand bets. It was over forty bets and it was nine thousand dollars worth, which is not ⁓ ninety thousand? Did I misread that too? Jarod McInroy: I think it was ninety thousand. I think I think you need a check. I think it was ninety thousand. It's even worse than you thought. Nathan Hawthorne: the see, this doesn't help his case for me. I I just 'cause it 'cause you start teetering into gambling addiction and I th you know, that's part of his plea case, right? Like, you know, I got caught up this, that and the other and Jarod McInroy: Like. Nathan Hawthorne: I I just I don't I don't stand for it. Cause it gambling is one of those things where again, like if he was gambling on NBA, on NF, on anything but college football in his own team's games, I would have been fine with it. But you took that extra step and you went that extra step, whether you were playing or not, to gamble on your own team. Right? That's that's where that's where the draw, that's where you draw the line, that's where you gotta draw the hammer. Now, if you want to give if he has another ill year of eligibility. Jarod McInroy: Yeah. I hear ya. Nathan Hawthorne: Yeah, suspend them for a full season, but two games doesn't let other players know that hey, if you gamble on your own team's game, like you gotta make an example out of somebody. And for everybody after that, you continue to No, and for everybody after that, you have to continue to make an example. Jarod McInroy: Ugh, I don't like that either. You'll need to make examples out of these kids. I don't know. Nathan Hawthorne: You're right, they're but but how how but how old is he now? I'm gonna look up how old Brendan Sworesby is. Because he could be 'cause he could be nine Jarod McInroy: Doesn't matter as long as he's under twenty five. Your prefrontal cortex doesn't fully develop until you're twenty five years old as a male. Anything less than that, I'm not accepting it. Yeah, exactly. That's that's a kid, bro. He's in he's he's on the books. He's he's literally he's studying, he's in classrooms. Nathan Hawthorne: Doggy's twenty two. He's twenty two. So he's playing beyond four years of college. I know he he is a kid. And that's and that's what that's what my bleeding heart as a as a as a coming father is. You are a father. I've got one on the way. Jarod McInroy: Mm-hmm. Nathan Hawthorne: But still you you do know better though. You know better. Right? And that's why and that's why you did that's why you did that's why you discipline children. If the if the kid doesn't know better, then that's one thing. But he knew better. Jarod McInroy: You know, you'll learn from it. Nathan Hawthorne: So ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning in to episode sixteen of the Know Your Personnel podcast. My name's Nathan Hawthorne. This is my co-host Jared McEnroy, and we will catch you guys on the next one. Jarod McInroy: ⁓ yeah. It's not