Latest / Fanatically Speaking with Kent / 2025 Players of the Year: NFL, NBA, and MLB Breakdown | Fanatically Speaking

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2025 Players of the Year: NFL, NBA, and MLB Breakdown | Fanatically Speaking · Fanatically Speaking with Kent

0:00
what's up everybody welcome to fanatically speaking
0:02
i'm kent i'm log off i'm the log off legend and
0:05
uh we're here to say everything that every fan
0:07
is thinking but louder and probably a little
0:09
crazier get ready this is fanatically speaking
0:12
with kent and log off you know what's funny like
0:15
i don't hate i don't i'm not a social media hater
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i'm a social media I don't want people to think
0:25
that I get on the internet and start hating people
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on social media. That's not what I do. The first
0:29
half was absolutely, absolutely horrible. You
0:33
know, just inept offense, inept defense, special
0:37
teams, you name it. I'm going to turn into Oprah.
0:40
Why were you so angry? He sucks this season.
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This game, whatever, whatever's going on, right?
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And then in the very next pitch, guess what they
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do? They double Homer. And he's like, told you
0:53
that. Why are you always knocking down people?
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Listen, you got the highs and the lows. Yeah,
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so I knew that. You need the highs and the lows.
1:01
So I do that, yeah. I'm trying to be the voice
1:04
of reason here. I am what I am. Hey, what's up,
1:19
everybody? Welcome to another episode of Fanatically
1:22
Speaking. I'm Kent, the co -host and promoter.
1:24
I am Log Off, the Log Off legend, the hater of
1:27
social media. I'm the co -host and producer of
1:28
the show. And we got an end of the year episode
1:31
today. And we're just going to go through the
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main three sports, football, basketball, baseball,
1:39
and go through our top athlete player in key
1:45
positions of each sport for the past year. So
1:49
like you said, from January to December 2025.
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2025. So just kind of our player of the year
1:57
for each key position in sports. We're just going
2:00
to kind of try to fly through them and just give
2:03
guys their flowers because all these guys aren't
2:04
going to win awards. All these guys are great.
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And you know, we'll just pick kind of our reasons
2:09
as to why we're going to pick them. And again,
2:12
it goes from the very beginning. So everything
2:14
that took place in January this year up until
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the very end of this year And yeah, we'll kind
2:19
of see what we can do to have some fun with that.
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Yep. And we'll start in the NFL. Yep. Good old
2:26
pig skin. What position you want to start off
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with? Man, we could start off hot with the quarterback.
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Or we could, let's start with the quarterback.
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Let's get it going. We're going to go all in.
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Okay. All in on the QB. All right. Now mine,
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it's going to be difficult, man, because I've,
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I'm one of these people that like to stick to
2:50
my convictions and I've, I've made some picks
2:53
and I've said some things and, and I, I want
2:57
to see if you do. Okay. So, all right. You want
3:01
me to lead off? I'll go. Yes, I, I am, I'm going
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to, I'm going to keep, I'm going to keep my feet
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set on it. And I am going to stick with my original
3:10
pick that I said in one of our earliest podcasts
3:13
ever that we recorded. I'm gonna pick a guy that
3:16
is consistent. I'm gonna pick a guy that is durable
3:19
I'm gonna pick a guy that over performs. I'm
3:23
gonna pick a guy that carries his team gets his
3:25
team wins and I think anyone I think anyone in
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the NFL if I gave you the option to have him
3:35
as your starting quarterback No matter who your
3:37
quarterback is right now. I Think you would take
3:41
him Give me Josh Allen over over raining, raining,
3:49
defending MVP and would you take all the other
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quarterbacks? And I know it's kind of unfair
3:53
down year, but um, for some of the other quarterbacks,
3:57
but I gotta go with the guy. He just, he's, he
4:00
is as consistent as he can be and his team's
4:04
not that great. And he's been carrying them all
4:07
season. You know, I mean, I think you can't tell
4:10
me that his wide receivers are great. You can't
4:14
tell me that his O -line is amazing. He doesn't
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have a great coach, not even in a great city.
4:20
Great sports market, but just the city as itself.
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You know what I mean? It's not flashy. You give
4:26
people a map of New York and say, hey, find me
4:28
Buffalo. They're not gonna be able to do it.
4:31
So yeah, give me Josh Allen. Okay. I could argue
4:36
against that, but I'm not. I'm just gonna let
4:38
you have it. No, no, no. Here's the thing. I
4:40
want you to make your pick and then argue against
4:42
it. Please, come on, man. Dude, this is Sports
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Podcast. What the hell else you think we're gonna
4:45
do? Let's do it. Yeah, let's argue against it.
4:47
I'll let you make your pick, though. So, this
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is not me being biased here. I'm gonna take Jalen
4:55
Hurts. I mean... Okay, hold on. Okay, hold on.
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Now, now it is, and I hate to interrupt you,
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this is encompassing an entire year. In this
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year, he won a Super Bowl, performed at an amazing
5:13
level. Go ahead, I'll shut up now. Exactly. He
5:18
performed in the playoffs. He won the Super Bowl,
5:21
Super Bowl MVP. And I don't know why they look
5:25
at like this current season as a as a bad year
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for him, right? I believe that career highs and
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touchdown passes at 24, only six interceptions,
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four came in one game. And that's at this moment,
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right? Season's not over, got a few more games.
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But yeah, so, you know, he doesn't put up a lot
5:48
of yards and that's just the offense that they
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run, right? Yeah. Call it what you want. But
5:54
he still performs and he still wins. He's now
5:58
as a starter in the NFL not counting his rookie,
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you know his first year where he came in for
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wince and all that as a starter five years in
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as a starter five playoff appearances Five winning
6:13
records not too many quarterbacks do that and
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You can talk about like Buffalo and what they
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have and don't have and everybody wants to talk
6:23
about the Eagles what they have It doesn't matter
6:27
You see teams that have talent, Dallas Cowboys,
6:31
and they don't make the playoffs, right? They
6:35
got all this talent on offense, two stud receivers,
6:39
great running game, a really good quarterback.
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And I'm talking about the Cowboys, yeah. So I
6:48
don't wanna hear that, well, he's got this, he's
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got this, and you still have to perform. At the
6:54
end of the day, you still have to perform. We
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see teams all the time that don't, they have
6:58
talent and they still don't perform. Again, Jalen
7:02
Hurts knows how to win. It may not always be
7:05
pretty. He does it his way. But at the end of
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the day, all year long, he's won. And five years
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now in a row, he will be going to the playoffs
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with a winning record. So I'm not going to knock
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you. Yeah, I'm not going to knock you even though
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your pick is biased as hell. And you acknowledge
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that in the beginning. It's not it is biased
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as hell, dude. It's OK. It's all right. Like
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I've it's OK. But if you're asking me, but yeah,
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but if you're asking me who's the best quarterback
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for the year. Fair enough. You gotta go with
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the guy who won the Super Bowl MVP and is making
7:43
the playoffs again for his fifth straight year
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as a starter. And all he does is win and put
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up numbers. I'll concede that. Go ahead and torch
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Josh Allen. I'll give you a minute. Torch Josh
7:56
Allen. I'm not gonna torch him. I'm just gonna
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say, Buffalo's better than people give them credit
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for. They do win. All he does is make the playoffs.
8:09
All he does is perform. He's always in the MVP
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conversation. So that's not a battle again. He's
8:15
the MVP. I mean, and I'm never gonna say Josh
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Allen's not a great quarterback. He's amazing,
8:20
right? Broke Cam Newton's Russian record. Now
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there's talk of him and Hertz, both our picks,
8:26
breaking Emmett Smith's touchdown record by the
8:28
end of their career, which would be insanity
8:30
that quarterbacks would break the Russian touchdown
8:33
record. Insane. Just even think about him, right?
8:37
But he's an unbelievable athlete, and he does
8:40
have talent. Like, James Cook's a good running
8:43
back, right? Like, he leads the NFL in rushing
8:48
right now. They don't have the sexy names, right?
8:52
Not at receiver, they used to. It was Stephon
8:54
Diggs, and they ran him out of town, right? So,
8:58
you know, he caused issues, because Josh Allen
9:00
didn't get him the ball, or whatever, you know,
9:02
how receivers are. We know that. We know that
9:04
kind of drama. But he's got pieces. He's got
9:09
really good tight end. I mean, they're a good
9:10
team, man. They win the AFC East every year.
9:15
They're being battled this year with the Patriots,
9:17
but they're a good team. So I don't think it's
9:19
a bad pick. I think when you compare the Bills
9:24
name -wise against other teams, then you would
9:28
say oh yeah they don't have talent they don't
9:29
have this but but i think at the end of the day
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they're always a solid team they just can't get
9:34
over the hump and um you know maybe a conversation
9:38
for another day but as you said yeah this year
9:40
yeah because they will make the playoffs we can
9:42
have a more in -depth discussion about it i was
9:44
just curious yeah um just curious your position
9:46
on that um that all that's fair fair you know
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i'm just saying like i think he's i think the
9:52
bills are better than you give them credit for
9:53
and other people give them credit because they
9:56
do win. They just can't get over the hump. They
9:58
do get wins. And yeah, let's do a Bills deep
10:01
dive. We can do that as we lead into the playoffs.
10:05
For sure. Let's switch over to running backs.
10:07
Your top running back of 2025, give me a name.
10:10
What you got? Derrick Henry. Wow. Okay. I mean,
10:17
it's pretty easy. If we're talking about the
10:19
whole year, you know, the playoffs, he was still
10:23
solid. He was still putting up numbers. And if
10:25
you piggyback last year to this year, he's having
10:31
another great season back -to -back. And as we've
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learned, man, just give him the damn ball. Got
10:39
it. Yes. And he will produce. He is a monster
10:42
of a running back. And again, that's my guy.
10:46
That's my pick. I'm not being biased on this
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one. It is that he is going back -to -back seasons.
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If you just you know like said if it kind of
10:56
just runs in last season playoffs into this season
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as well Just look at his numbers and he produces
11:03
when he gets the ball Got it. Okay. No, that's
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uh, that's a fair pick. I love King Henry and
11:11
I as much as I wanted to pick him I As much as
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I wanted to pick him When we when we brought
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up this topic, there was only one name that came
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to my mind when it came to Like kind of the running
11:27
back for for the year I'm gonna go with Jonathan
11:31
Taylor and I'm gonna go with Jonathan Taylor
11:34
for the Colts because and and I'm you'll sense
11:38
a theme here with this but the same thing with
11:40
with Josh Allen is Jonathan Taylor's consistent
11:44
and And I know this is I know this is a 2025,
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you know here Award, but for two consecutive
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years this guy's gonna have over 300 carries
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and he's averaging almost five yards of carry
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You know like like that that's insane and This
12:01
was a guy and we talked about this before who
12:04
you know almost had to hold out just to get his
12:06
money just to get paid the team didn't even want
12:08
to pay him and and rarely and especially in recent
12:12
years we rarely see guys who kind of are put
12:15
in that position and then they go out and And
12:18
outperform what their contracts actually you're
12:20
paying them So especially after like there's
12:23
a lot of contention and there's a you know, kind
12:25
of a we where we should we pay this guy Do we
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want to do this and he did it? Um, you know plays
12:31
every game You know doesn't you know doesn't
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fumble the ball a ton like it's just he's he's
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a nice solid running back Can catch can run cut
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break tackles. He could do it all and i'm just
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gonna i'm gonna stick with taylor Okay, yeah
12:47
Not a bad pick. He is solid. I do remember the
12:52
first of the season, they thought he was gonna
12:54
break Saquon's record and that died out along
12:57
with the Colts. No, true. True, but even though
13:02
the Colts have been slipping, that dude's still
13:05
been holding his own, which is all he can do.
13:07
He's solid, man. Obviously, that's a great pick.
13:11
He's a solid running back and carrying that team.
13:14
Gotcha. Yeah, let's uh, let's shift to the WRs.
13:17
Let's go to these wide receivers, man. What you
13:19
got? You go first. You want me to go? Okay, so
13:24
I want you to go. All right, man. I'm I'm just
13:27
gonna go with the guy that I believe is the most
13:31
elite and it's just kind of the I hate that word.
13:35
I hate what are the I hate elite. I hate when
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it comes to I hate like when they call somebody
13:46
the goat when it's clear they're not the goat
13:48
Okay, but but in terms of like the best wide
13:53
receiver in the nfl to me is justin jefferson
13:57
And and I i'm gonna pick him for a couple of
14:02
reasons He's got all the size all the attributes
14:05
that you need size speed strength athleticism
14:08
He can he can make crazy catches great route
14:12
runner And the main thing is he's been able to
14:19
do it. You're confident that he can do it with
14:22
pretty much any quarterback that's competent
14:24
at throwing the ball. And his career has proven
14:28
that. But this year alone, I like the way that
14:32
he has been, the way that he goes out and plays
14:35
the game. He's not a six, five, six, six type
14:38
player, but at six, one, six, two, He's almost
14:42
a perfect type wide receiver that you can put
14:46
anywhere on the field. And you know he's dynamic
14:48
enough to make a big play at any second. And
14:51
yeah, I'm gonna take JJ, man. Okay. That's obviously
14:59
not a bad pick. He is unbelievable. He should
15:02
be a Philadelphia Eagle. He should. And he plays
15:05
with... And he normally plays with trash quarterbacks,
15:07
so you know. There you go. And for him to do
15:09
that, and you know how hard that is. To be, yeah,
15:12
still, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So that's not bad.
15:15
I like it. I'm going to go, again, if you told
15:19
me to pick one guy, one receiver, probably outside
15:23
of Justin Jefferson that just does it every season.
15:28
And there's like, again, I'm not going to name
15:31
names. because there's a couple guys I was looking
15:34
at and they've had a couple good seasons here
15:37
lately. It's a tough one. But if you ask me,
15:43
I would say Jamar Chase. Okay. Alright. I mean,
15:48
consistent produces. Obviously, you know, Joe
15:52
Burrows normally hurt, so he's got different
15:54
quarterbacks as well. Obviously, with Burrow,
15:57
he's better, which all receivers are with a good
15:59
quarterback. But yeah. I mean, he gets open,
16:03
he gets the ball. He's explosive, whatever else
16:07
you want to call a wide receiver. I think he's
16:10
right there with Justin Jefferson. I think those
16:12
two, like I said, your pick, my pick. One A,
16:14
one B. Can't go wrong. Yeah. Yeah. And again,
16:16
there's others that are really good and they
16:19
might put up some maybe better numbers. But again,
16:23
if you wanted me to pick, if I want to start
16:24
a team with a wide receiver, it would be, I would
16:27
go with Jamar Chase. Yeah. And I wouldn't be
16:29
mad at you. Yeah, I wouldn't be I wouldn't be
16:32
mad with him with him either and you know He's
16:35
been putting up great numbers this year and you
16:37
know Joe's burrow Joe burrows been out for a
16:39
nice chunk of the year And he's still been able
16:40
to produce. So no, I absolutely I'll give you
16:43
that Wholeheartedly. Yes, his touchdowns are
16:46
down. But again, he's still over 100 receptions
16:50
You know closing down 1500 yards. So he he's
16:53
still getting open. That's what I look at man.
16:55
And uh, yeah Yeah, no, I like it. I like it Where
17:00
you want to head next man? We're going to the
17:03
other side We're going to defense. We're gonna
17:06
pick one player on defense Okay. All right, whatever
17:10
you want. Oh Damn. All right, so I only get one
17:15
I Okay, this gives me anyone I I had a linebacker
17:26
and I had a corner kind of in my sights. Okay.
17:31
Okay. But what I'm going to do is I am going
17:36
to go with impact and I'm going to pick a player
17:42
that got a lot of flack for a lot of reasons.
17:46
Some of it deserved, but I like someone who Kind
17:51
of earns that reputation for being a pain in
17:53
the ass whether it's for contracts or you know
17:57
locker room behavior And then just goes out there.
17:59
You know what? I'm just gonna take my frustration
18:01
out on the opposition on the field and prove
18:04
everybody wrong I gave this guy a lot of crap
18:07
For being more focused on his podcast did his
18:12
own field play There was a lot of contract back
18:15
and forth and this dude ends up being traded
18:19
from the Cowboys to the Green Bay Packers and
18:21
has an instant impact that up until his injury,
18:26
everyone was saying, this guy can lead this team
18:29
to a Super Bowl because he's that dominant Micah
18:31
Parsons. Nice. Yeah. And consistent, consistent
18:36
double digit sacks. Yeah. Yes. And, and, and
18:39
I will say this too. He came in And I mean, I
18:44
think I think we all kind of if you watched football,
18:45
you know, they worked him into the defense with
18:49
limited snaps because he wasn't in perfect shape.
18:52
Still didn't matter. Even when they were putting
18:54
him out there, one out of every four snaps, when
18:57
he was on there, that old line was horrified
19:00
and they put every day would double and triple
19:02
team him to try to stop him from getting off
19:04
that corner and touching up their quarterbacks.
19:06
So, yeah, I got to go with Micah, man. I was
19:08
very impressed with him this year and he showed
19:10
out. Yeah, I mean one one thing he does is get
19:14
to the quarterback there's always talk about
19:17
his you know defense in the running game, but
19:20
Who who doesn't want a guy who gets to the quarterback
19:23
double digits single season that he's been in
19:26
the league That is a rare feat. He is an amazing
19:29
player and not a bad pick at all And I'm gonna
19:32
go the guy that definitely gets to the quarterback
19:34
and he plays on the trashiest of teams in the
19:38
NFL And he definitely earned his money. You know,
19:44
he chose money over winning, but he produces
19:47
no matter what. And I think what's impressive
19:50
about him definitely this season is, you know,
19:54
they added to the line. And, you know, it doesn't
19:58
matter who they add with him. And you would think,
20:01
okay, or maybe lack of what's on the line with
20:05
him. that you would just double them or what
20:07
you would do and teams still can't stop them.
20:09
And it's Miles Garrett. Yeah. And you know, you
20:11
know, it's interesting. I love the contrast in
20:13
our pick because I mean, I think it's fair. Uh,
20:18
we, I, Miles Garrett is, is, is great. He will
20:21
probably break the rec, the sack record and,
20:24
and I'm, and I'm rude and I'm rooting for him
20:27
to do it. He had a bad, a rough game, um, this
20:29
last, uh, last week, but he, um, And I'm at and
20:33
I'm still I'm rooting for him to break the record
20:34
But I just love the contrasts in our pick where
20:37
I think we're one guy got more credit For being
20:41
an impact of winning football on the defensive
20:43
side and how and no matter how great Miles Garrett
20:47
is He can't buy them a win. He can't all that
20:49
money. He made he couldn't buy them wins if he
20:52
tried Well, no, but they're also a horrible organization,
20:57
I think they need a complete You know, that's
21:01
another conversation. But again, they need a
21:03
new just a revamp of coaching staff and everything
21:07
of their philosophy and mindset on building an
21:11
offense and a winning culture there in Cleveland
21:14
Yeah, I know but the only thing that stopped
21:20
me from from taking Miles was The the lack of
21:26
winning. I know he's great and I know he got
21:28
that money and it's gonna and it's gonna make
21:31
it harder for them to be able to win games with
21:33
him taking up that much of that you know their
21:35
salary cap but another conversation yeah another
21:37
conversation for another day but yeah that's
21:40
another conversation yeah but Micah yeah Micah
21:42
you know or Myles Garrett you know is is weird
21:45
like i said i could have went with a linebacker
21:47
but no i'm uh i'm confident with who i went with
21:49
i i really want Garrett to break it uh also within
21:53
the with not not on the last game of the season
21:56
because that's that extra game they've added
21:58
because TJ White did that to tie the record.
22:02
And of course, we all know Strahan got the record
22:04
with Brett Farf just falling down. So let's get
22:10
a legit sack record in there. I mean, look, man,
22:14
it's not, listen, he didn't want to get, would
22:16
you want to get hit by him? I don't want to get
22:18
hit by Strahan. But it, but it always will look
22:22
like he just took a dive. And you know. And again,
22:27
Brett Farrar's got such good character that you
22:30
know. Oh yeah, fantastic character. Great role
22:34
model. Yeah, you don't want them to have your
22:37
cell phone number so you can send pictures to
22:39
you. But at the same time, it's like when you're
22:41
watching, when you watch that replay, Stray Hand,
22:45
and like they, I've seen it so many times. And
22:49
he just runs over and just touches him. He tags
22:51
Brett Favre down for the Sack record. It's sad.
22:54
He just falls down. He's just like, oh, I'm gonna
22:56
fall. Yeah. And it's like, oh yeah. And it's
22:57
like, all right, tag. All right, yeah, I got
22:59
the record. OK, let's switch to the Diamond.
23:08
All right, baseball. Diamond, you lead off. No
23:11
pun intended. All right, so I'm going to start.
23:19
with let's start with hitter. Okay. All right.
23:22
Now, now, now define hitter. I think this is
23:27
going to be like overall best hitter in baseball.
23:30
Okay. Okay. So we're not even getting in positions
23:33
yet because it's when I get in positions, it's
23:37
going to be a combination. Okay. So, so I'm going
23:40
to just go best hitter in baseball. Okay. 2025.
23:44
And I'm going to go Go. Yeah. And I'm going to
23:46
go Shohei Otani. OK. All right. And I do this
23:51
for a couple of reasons. All right. You know,
23:53
again, you can get into there's other players
23:55
that's got really good numbers and they hit big
23:57
home runs and all this stuff. Otani does it all.
24:00
And the biggest thing that I noticed this season
24:02
was he was getting Barry Bonds treatment, especially
24:06
in the playoffs, where they're just like, yeah,
24:09
we're just going to walk you. We're not going
24:11
to take the chance. We're not even pitching to
24:13
you. Unless we absolutely have to because you're
24:17
at, you know at home. He was just so good during
24:20
the playoffs at that one stretch and And of course
24:25
throughout the season every season he you know
24:27
again, we talked about him We've talked about
24:29
him before, you know 50 some home runs batting
24:31
around 300. He does it all And and again, he
24:35
is mainly a hitter right? We do know he's a DH.
24:37
He doesn't play the field unless he pitches So
24:40
that's where I say he is the best hitter in baseball
24:45
again generational once in a lifetime that we
24:48
will see a player like this and um again like
24:51
I said he gets that Barry Bonds treatment when
24:53
you get that Barry Bonds treatment where they
24:55
don't want to pitch to you and they will walk
24:57
you consistently multiple times in a game you
25:01
are the best hitter in baseball hard to argue
25:05
that and and I'll piggyback off of something
25:07
you said when you talk about Shohei and how they
25:12
would you know, walk him into playoffs. It wasn't
25:15
just because of a fear of him going yard on him.
25:18
It was also because maybe there's a man on first
25:20
and they know that he's talented enough to hit
25:23
that double and get that guy to third. You know
25:25
what I mean? Like, like it was just, it was always,
25:30
you knew that he could, he could make the hits
25:33
that you need to make in the moment to, you know,
25:36
to, to keep them up at bat. And I, I wanted to
25:40
go Shohei, but the phrases you say, chicks dig
25:46
the long ball, so do I. I'm going with his honor,
25:51
I'm going with Aaron Judge. And I hate on the
25:57
Yankees for a lot of reasons, but his numbers
26:02
are incredible. We know that he's a great hitter,
26:07
but I mean. RBI's, home runs, plate presence.
26:12
He's gigantic. I have to go with Aaron Judge
26:16
just because I feel like he's more, he's more
26:19
of a danger at the plate, even though he's not
26:22
that versatile as a hitter. Like he's mainly
26:25
a home run hitter, but it's such, it's such an
26:28
impactful stat that I couldn't overlook it. So
26:31
yeah, I'll just, I'll go, I'll go with Aaron
26:33
Judge. Again. That's that's not again. There's
26:37
no wrong answer. He's right there. He's the guy
26:40
that's right there with Otani and Every single
26:44
season. It's these two guys who are winning the
26:47
MVP And especially now they're in separate leagues.
26:51
So now they both get to win every year instead
26:54
of battling for the MVP. Yeah, and They're the
26:57
two best players in baseball got it, which leads
26:59
me to let's just go right into outfield Aaron
27:03
Judge is my pick for outfielder. I mean, you
27:08
know, because he does play the field. And of
27:11
course he is, you know, ridiculous at the plate.
27:15
Average homers are everything. Like you said,
27:19
dangerous as anybody, especially in a regular
27:23
season. He's just one of those guys that hasn't,
27:26
you know, they got to the World Series and you
27:30
know, there's always those, baseball is that
27:31
thing like You perform and then what do you do
27:34
in the playoffs? What do you do when you get
27:36
to that next level and he just hasn't done it
27:39
yet You know crucial error a couple years ago
27:40
in the World Series dropping a fly ball You know
27:45
it is what it is, but again, yeah, he's the he's
27:48
my outfield pick I am going to ditto everything
27:52
you just said. He's my outfield pick, too And
27:56
I mean, and I know it's a redundant cause I picked
27:59
him as the hitter, but no, I mean, I mean, he,
28:01
like you said, he's out there, you know, and
28:03
we know that he can feel, like I said, he's going
28:05
to have those blunders. It happens historically.
28:07
It happens even with great players. So yeah.
28:11
Yeah. I'll go with Aaron judge. I'd rather have
28:14
him out in the outfield over anybody. Okay. Let's
28:19
switch to infield. And again, this can be anybody
28:24
who plays the infield. So any position, outside
28:28
of pitcher, because that's going to be a separate.
28:30
OK. This season, if we're going this season,
28:38
it's going to be tough not to go with Cal Raleigh.
28:41
Damn it, you took mine again. That's OK. Go.
28:44
And I'll give you another name. No, no, no, no,
28:48
no. Go on Cal Raleigh. Because I'm curious on
28:50
your angle on him. But go ahead. And again, a
28:53
lot of people wanted him to be the MVP. I did
28:56
not, because I don't think you can win MVP batting
29:00
247 when Aaron Judge was batting 331. That's
29:05
just too big of a disparity, right? You can't
29:08
say, well, he was, and the big thing is he plays
29:11
catcher. And a catcher hitting 60 home runs,
29:15
he hit that magical number, 60 home runs, playing
29:19
in Seattle. and again he was really like he could
29:22
he could have been our pick for hitter uh you
29:25
know what i mean like he had a really good year
29:26
but that that but that 247 batting average yes
29:29
that's the stuff i can't i can't look past that
29:32
if you're looking for being the best and being
29:35
like MVP level things like that i can say he
29:38
had one of the greatest you know seasons for
29:40
a catcher if not the greatest um again being
29:44
a switch hitter also helps so you know he broke
29:48
a lot of records But I'll give them the infield,
29:51
you know. Catcher's a key piece to that infield,
29:54
obviously. And him doing it at the plate as well,
29:59
kudos to him. I'm gonna give him my infield award.
30:02
Got it. And same for me, echoing everything that
30:05
you just said. But the main reason for me is
30:08
that it was a breakout year of a breakout. It
30:11
came out of nowhere, man. No one saw that coming.
30:15
I mean, like just... And he'd been a consistent
30:18
player since he came into the league. So he was
30:22
playing games. He was getting the reps. The batting
30:24
average, yeah, a little disappointing, but still
30:26
impressive for him to stay at it and still hit
30:29
60 home runs, 125 RBIs. And we don't see this
30:35
from catchers. I feel like it's only appropriate
30:37
to give him these flowers this year because it
30:41
may not happen like this again. And it's going
30:43
to be hard for him to It's gonna be hard for
30:46
him to supersede these this year So I just want
30:50
to give him that credit this year while he's
30:53
earned it because he did earn it and Yeah, and
30:56
I think and I think that's fair to do All right,
30:59
we move on to pitcher and I got two names and
31:04
I gotta make a decision What you got man go go
31:11
who you got I'm gonna stay with the guy who's
31:14
done it back -to -back years, Cy Young, and that's
31:17
Tariq Scubal of the Detroit Tigers. Okay. Again,
31:22
he's been the consistent guy two years in a row,
31:26
so I'm giving him that, again, have a good year
31:29
and then back it up with another good year. You
31:34
can't go wrong with him, and I think he's a key
31:36
reason why Detroit's had their resurgence of
31:40
being a good team. If you got that one ace pitcher
31:45
man, it makes a huge difference in baseball,
31:47
especially if you can get to the playoffs You
31:50
just really need you to really one it helps to
31:52
have a couple but Detroit's got them an ace and
31:56
Time will tell if they're gonna pay him or he'll
31:59
get to go, you know to the big markets how baseball,
32:01
you know We see that happen all the time. But
32:04
yeah, Tariq scoobal. That's my pick okay, I You
32:11
went with a purists pick on that and and I can't
32:17
I can't fault you for it. I have to take Shohei
32:22
and the only reason I have to take him is because
32:26
we know that if he just pitched. He would still
32:33
be a top three pitcher in the league. Is that
32:35
fair to say? Oh, if he was just pitching, right?
32:40
and again this season he came off injury so anything
32:44
he did you know but it's but again he I mean
32:46
he is you're exactly right yeah if he's just
32:50
pitching he is a top three top three pitcher
32:52
even if you want to go top five like he he's
32:55
in the running for the side yes definitely top
32:58
five so so the only reason I'm gonna take him
33:01
is because you get everything else that comes
33:04
along with him Right, and and that's I mean,
33:07
that's it. I can't I can't take anything I can't
33:10
take anything away from school like I understand
33:12
what you're saying But but just knowing that
33:14
having having shohei on my roster I know all
33:17
the other benefits that I get from them and you
33:20
know, it's like, you know It's like being with
33:22
a you know, a beautiful gorgeous woman and she's
33:24
intelligent I'll take her, you know, just give
33:27
me yeah, I'll take I'll take it all She's got
33:29
the full package that show hey, and she can cook
33:31
and she can cook and you know, and she keep the
33:34
house clean Wow, but uh, okay It is what it is.
33:40
Um, but no, yeah, give me yeah, give me give
33:41
me show Hey, man, and again, no, we already know
33:44
we know how great he is But that would be the
33:47
only other reason I'd take him Okay, I like I
33:50
like I like You don't think about that like that
33:53
part when you're thinking about Pitcher. I agree.
33:56
You're a pure. You're a pure. You're more of
33:57
a baseball purest than I am. And I and I respect
34:00
that. And you took the batting with it. And that's
34:03
and that's a great. That's a great way to look
34:05
at it. All right. So now we're we're done with
34:10
baseball and we are going to hardwood basketball,
34:13
basketball. And we're going to. Yeah, we're going
34:16
to get my hands together. Motherfucker, let's
34:17
go. We're going to hit guard forward center.
34:21
OK, yeah. Now we're not going to do. Point guard,
34:24
shooting guard, we're gonna just do guard? No,
34:26
no, just guard. And the same thing for forward,
34:28
we're not gonna do small forward. Power forward,
34:29
just forward, and then we'll do center. Yep.
34:34
So, you gonna make me go first? Yeah, I'll let
34:40
you. So, out of every position in all of sports,
34:46
I think guard is the deepest. I don't care if
34:50
you're talking every position in football. baseball,
34:52
basketball, guard play. I think it's the deepest
34:57
when it comes to you just being able to pick
34:59
the greatest or the best player for the year
35:02
2025 and by position. And I don't like this particular.
35:11
I don't like this particular players style of
35:14
play. But my my metric is someone. that I know
35:22
what I'm going to get out of them. And they never
35:25
disappoint me when it comes to me getting that
35:28
from them. And that's been consistent with every
35:31
single pick that I made. I got to go with SGA,
35:35
Shea Giles just Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder.
35:38
And there was somebody else I wanted to go with
35:41
just a little too inconsistent for me. But SGA,
35:46
clearly they won the championship. Clearly they're
35:49
playing well, you know into this year, even though
35:51
it's early You know, even though they've hit
35:53
kind of hit a you know, a bumpy, you know stretch
35:55
recently But a spurs bump the spurs bump, you
35:58
know the Wimby bump But I had I got to go with
36:02
SGA man He can do it all mid -range shoot threes
36:05
passing getting his teammates involved making
36:08
his free throws The drawing the fouls is a little
36:11
bit of a hand for me But at the same time that
36:14
takes a level of skill and I know it's coming
36:17
If you're late in the game and the game is closed
36:20
and you need that guy to draw a foul for you
36:23
He's gonna do it and then go to the line and
36:25
make those free throws Give you the ball back
36:27
and then make you come back down and beat him
36:29
going with SGA Yeah, that's my pick too, I mean
36:34
I don't think you can go against the MVP Championship
36:39
winning guard and still putting up over 30 a
36:43
game and still leading the team top team in the
36:47
in the NBA. Yeah. And so everything you said
36:51
on top of that with with a man again, again,
36:55
it's just we've talked about him before. He was
36:58
on our he was on my nice list for Christmas.
37:02
I mean, he's got the whole package, really. And
37:05
I think they can keep pushing him as the face
37:09
of the league. You know, more commercials, more
37:13
exposure. He's more personality, too. He needs
37:16
a little, but again, he needs a scandal. Well,
37:20
we don't want that. He needs something to where
37:23
everyone goes, wait, what's his name? Like that's
37:25
what he needs. He needs something that thrusts
37:29
him into the national spotlight. His play is
37:32
great and basketball should speak for itself,
37:34
but come on, man, it's 2025. There's a lot of
37:37
stuff going on. He's got to do something to shake
37:39
things up a little bit. I think what would help
37:42
him is like last year he won the title but they
37:44
beat Indiana. Okay. It's like you gotta beat
37:48
like the Knicks. Boston. Boston. Well, a good
37:53
Boston. No, I know what you mean. No, I know
37:54
what you mean. But yeah, but you gotta beat,
37:56
yeah. But like the Knicks are good this year.
37:59
So if the Knicks would make it and you get that
38:02
New York spotlight, maybe it gets a little more
38:06
eyes on the NBA and on SGA. Okay All right Forwards
38:14
who do you have and I have and I have to admit
38:17
this to you I'm looking at who they classify
38:20
as forwards and it's kind of bothering me because
38:23
I feel like it's a lot of sinners on this list
38:26
that they just call in forwards, but Let's see
38:30
I'll say this I'm gonna pick a traditional forward.
38:34
I'm not going over who they telling me is a forward,
38:36
you know, but They're just way too, you know,
38:39
tall. Okay. Go. I want to see. You go first.
38:44
Oh, goodness. Damn it, man. I like players. Okay,
38:55
the forward position has evolved a lot. It used
38:59
to be, you know, defensive forwards, offensive
39:05
forwards. you know, forward setting screens,
39:09
getting rebounds. And the game has evolved to
39:12
where they're spreading the floor a lot more,
39:15
you know, where they're shooting threes and where
39:19
you want a more versatile, wingy type forward.
39:26
And sticking with my metric, man, I want to go
39:29
with somebody that's consistent. I know what
39:30
I'm going to get high level at their position.
39:35
And in basketball, it's more important to have
39:38
someone that is a great team forward than a selfish
39:43
one, especially in this league. Okay. I'm going
39:47
to go with Aaron Gordon. Wow. Yeah. I'm going
39:51
to give me Aaron Gordon. He's he had an injury
39:56
played through it. His three point shooting has
40:00
been unbelievable. He has turned himself into
40:04
a great three -point shooter We know that he
40:06
could rebound we knew it was athletic winning
40:08
dunk contest or competing in dunk contest had
40:11
a couple stole from him, but yeah, but but playing
40:15
on that team and Being kind of the everyman where
40:20
he could get defensive stops and you're confident
40:23
that he's not gonna mess up a game for you I
40:27
Want to have Aaron Gore and and even when he
40:30
is injured He'll still go out there and give
40:33
it a go, and you still know what you're going
40:35
to get out of him. I'm going to take Aaron Gordon,
40:38
man. Wow. I did not see that coming. Yeah. Again,
40:43
I wanted to be true. I wanted to be true to ...
40:46
There is no question in your mind that dude is
40:48
a forward. Oh, for sure. There's some sinners
40:51
on that forward list that I could have picked,
40:53
but I'm not doing it. I'm going with a forward.
40:56
Okay. I'm gonna go with a forward as well. A
41:01
traditional. Okay. And they're old. Because I
41:09
think the two best forwards... I think the two
41:11
best forwards in the league are old. They are.
41:15
And I'm just gonna do... Not a coin flip. I'm
41:18
just gonna go based off of... I mean, I don't
41:24
want to look back too far on head -to -head,
41:26
but... When they ever did go head -to -head this
41:30
guy won who got the edge. Yeah, and it's Kevin
41:33
Durant Okay Yeah, I I mean he's still He's still
41:40
smooth. He's still ballin 37 years old. I could
41:45
have went with Leflop LeBron Lebum James who
41:50
is still playing at a high level at his old age.
41:53
I Just couldn't bring myself to do it I'll just,
41:58
I'm just going to go with Kevin Durant. Okay.
42:00
Yeah. And Katie, you know, Katie was an option
42:04
for me. I slipped back on him mainly due to the
42:12
age and the questionable durability. I know he
42:18
likes to win, but I couldn't go with him because
42:21
I know how he begins when things start to go
42:24
downhill, he goes downhill with him, right? Yeah,
42:29
it's true. Yeah, so that's the only other thing
42:31
that kind of stopped me from going with him.
42:33
But you know what's funny is like you said, you
42:35
talked about centers being considered forwards.
42:38
I mean, I look at some of the guys they can put
42:40
at guards and, you know, the way they do lineups
42:44
now is kind of like the positions is kind of
42:48
our almost obsolete now. Agreed. You know what
42:52
I mean? Yeah. But like you said, you wanna go
42:54
traditional. Uh yeah, I'm gonna go with KD. Okay.
42:58
It it it either way. It was gonna be him or Lebron
43:00
James. Yeah and and they're both traditional
43:02
forwards. Like I'll I'll give you that. Yeah.
43:03
Yeah. Yeah. I'll give you that. Um I think I
43:07
mean we could just cut the **** man. We go to
43:10
center. We like we know who it is. I mean it's
43:15
we gotta have the same one. I mean, is Jokic?
43:19
Like, yeah, it's Jokic. And this is no disrespect
43:24
to Wimby. I think Wimby will get there. But for
43:30
Jokic to have the seasons consistently that he's
43:35
had, to come into this year to always have that
43:39
team in contention, and him to be the one true
43:42
centerpiece of any NBA team, and it's not even
43:46
a question. Stats are nuts. He can do it all.
43:50
Rebound, pass, shoot. And I don't think he gets
43:58
a lot of credit for being a good leader. Those
44:01
guys follow him. They understand that he's the
44:04
best player and that he's a dominant player without
44:10
being ball dominant. Yeah, so yeah, I mean, I'm
44:15
not sure what words you have for him, but yeah,
44:17
I figured that was easy Yeah, it's you know,
44:21
and I think if if I could go back and we talked
44:23
about who our top player in the league was I
44:26
think we I want you honest. Yeah, I want you
44:29
honest Yeah, I think yeah, and I think I agreed
44:31
and and again, I think we had to do that over
44:34
We would go with Jokic, but but again, that's
44:37
not to be honest. Like we said, it's very consistent
44:39
every single season but I mean, again, he put
44:44
up, you know, 55 -15 -15 game. Yeah. Even though
44:50
in an overtime, I don't care. That is ridiculous.
44:55
And like you said, man, he loves horses, but
44:57
he plays basketball. And it doesn't look like
45:02
he would be the best player in basketball, but
45:04
he is. Yes, yes. He obviously is the best center.
45:10
I saw a funny thing, you know, he loves playing
45:13
against Rudy Gobert, apparently, the top, you
45:17
know, alleged top defensive player in the league,
45:20
which I don't agree with. And again, another
45:24
night, Rudy Gobert, and he puts up 55, 15 and
45:27
15. It was actually 56, 16 and 15, but you know
45:30
what I mean? And I saw a stat where, you know,
45:33
before he had put up like 60, 10 and 10 on him.
45:37
So yeah, Jokic. No question. Yeah, easy. No question
45:42
easy answer and I'm just gonna throw the numbers
45:43
out. He's averaging 30 points 60 % from the field
45:48
44 % from three 85 % from the free throw line
45:53
averaging 11 assists in 12 rebounds That's nuts
45:56
averaging averaging a triple double averaging
45:59
a triple double as not ago as the as the heaviest
46:03
guy on the court at all times that can't jump
46:06
Yeah, and like I said, he brings the ball up.
46:10
I mean like sometimes he's point guards sometimes,
46:12
you know He does it all does it all and again
46:14
it might be the least athletic guy on the court
46:17
in a league that's with athletes and it doesn't
46:22
matter. He's able to get to every spot, find
46:25
every guy, every guy cutting, you know, loose
46:28
balls, rebounds, offensive rebounds, put backs,
46:31
you know, like you said, walking the ball up,
46:33
walk up threes. It's insane to watch, man. Without
46:37
the athleticism in this world's NBA, I think
46:42
that's what makes it even more impressive. It
46:45
is very impressive. So that was easy. Very easy.
46:52
How are we going to close this out? I think we
46:55
want to say we was going to go with who we think
46:57
our number, our one guy, any sport, any position.
47:02
Kind of a look into the future and say who is
47:06
going to be the guy and have a great 2026. Yes.
47:15
And. How How do you want to measure that do you
47:23
just want to go on gut? Do you want to go on
47:25
instinct? Do you want to go on impact? Like how
47:28
do you want to do that? I Think you just have
47:32
a great season or gonna be right up there like
47:35
and it doesn't have to be a guy Or a player who's
47:39
gonna who is like not good now and just all of
47:42
a sudden is it's nothing like that It's like
47:44
who do you think is going to be? Have a great
47:54
year, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe. Yeah. I
48:02
so this this is this is an educated guess. Okay.
48:07
This is an educated guess based on this player's
48:11
production, their and gotten over the hump this
48:21
year, and will have more of an opportunity to
48:27
do so going into 2026, I'm gonna go with CJ Stroud.
48:36
Okay. Give me CJ Stroud. He was a guy who struggled
48:41
coming into the league. He had a lot of ups and
48:44
downs. I know there was a there was a thing on
48:46
him where there were like reports where like
48:48
people were giving him shit because he was like
48:49
crying at the losing games and stuff like that,
48:52
you know, and and he, you know, young guy, definitely.
48:56
I mean, I mean, we're both in our 40s, man. He's
49:00
a different type of younger quarterback player
49:03
than than what we're used to seeing. So the way
49:07
he's doing things is is just different than what
49:09
we're used to. But He settled in, he's been able
49:14
to find a groove and playing well this year.
49:18
His team is winning games and I'm just going
49:21
to get out ahead of it. I don't know what they'll
49:23
do in the playoffs. I don't know. I don't know
49:26
what next season is going to look like, but I
49:29
think the franchise has, they understand that
49:31
right now they have a franchise quarterback,
49:34
a guy that can compete at the highest level in
49:37
the AFC. And I think that they're gonna do their
49:41
best to kind of cultivate and surround him with
49:42
good talent and good skill position players and
49:44
a great line. So that way they can get the most
49:47
out of him and have Houston have a winning football
49:53
franchise team in the state of Texas. Okay, you
49:57
know so you know who I'm taking a shot at when
49:59
it comes to that For them to be for him to be
50:01
able to go out and do it and do it with that
50:03
guy I think would be incredibly impressive So
50:07
I'm just gonna I'm gonna put a hat on him super
50:09
early and claim CJ Stroud 2026 let's see what
50:13
he does Okay, I Like a little hot takey, but
50:19
I'll you know a little hot little hot takey It's
50:22
it's it's a guy that like you say you wouldn't
50:24
think would have a you know and i and i think
50:26
and i think that's what i wanted to go with where
50:29
much like how you know what cj stroud is my cow
50:33
rally that's who cj go he's gonna come out of
50:37
nowhere everybody's gonna say that no no no you
50:39
didn't say it first i said it first he's gonna
50:42
take that next step the next step the next leap
50:45
he's gonna he's gonna catapult himself into one
50:47
of the top quarterbacks in the league i like
50:50
it all the sports you got all the sports man
50:54
The world is your oyster. Yeah, I got two names.
51:00
I'm going to go with the guy who has been there
51:02
before. He has an MVP. He is one of the top players
51:07
in the sport. The team had a down year last year.
51:14
And he has battled injuries. And I think he's
51:19
due to have a monster, another monster year.
51:23
This coming season or next season or next year,
51:27
right a little biased Which both my picks would
51:31
be biased So I'm gonna go Ronald Acuna jr. Okay
51:39
Okay, like I said, he was limited last year.
51:43
He had to start to you know, coming off injury
51:45
started the season late Went through a few things
51:49
again. The team had a down year So number wise
51:53
it was like, oh, that's a pretty good year But
51:57
considering, you know, he had an MVP season,
51:59
you know a few years back With the you know 40
52:03
home runs 70 stolen bases. I Think he's going
52:07
to be back at that again So I'm gonna say Ronald
52:12
Acuna jr The other the other name I had was Wimbiana.
52:16
So I think I do think he may If anyone's in any
52:22
team may, you know, obviously based off this
52:24
month could take SGA and the Thunder. It could
52:28
be them, but I'm just going to go safe pick.
52:31
Okay. Ronald Cunha Jr Atlanta Braves. Uh, I will,
52:35
I believe he will have another monster. Okay.
52:38
And I will say that not only is your pick, um,
52:42
and this isn't an insult. Your pick is really,
52:46
it's going to sound like an insult. Your pick's
52:49
really safe. I told you, it's safe, yeah. No,
52:52
it's a safe pick. And the reason why, above anything,
52:56
I think it's safe is just because the reason
52:59
why he hasn't been in the running for anything
53:01
is just due to a lack of availability. He's just
53:04
been injured. He just hasn't played enough of
53:06
the games. And if he did, I'm confident that
53:09
he would be able to put up the numbers that you're
53:11
used to seeing from him. Exactly. So I just I
53:14
just predict he's gonna have a I'm gonna go with
53:17
him having a good come a good strong comeback
53:20
year Okay Yeah, okay back to that MVP form 40
53:25
home runs. I don't know if you'll ever be at
53:28
70 stolen bases again But again, if you just
53:31
again around batting 340 if you have a 40 -hundred
53:35
season, that would be great. Okay All right.
53:38
No, that's uh, that's not bad at all. I like
53:41
that I didn't see that one coming either. I like
53:43
that. You want to close this out? Yep. So that
53:47
is another episode of Fanatically Speaking. Again,
53:49
I am Kent, the co -host and promoter. I am Log
53:52
Off, the Log Off legend, hater of social media,
53:55
co -host and producer of the show. Thanks again.
53:58
This has been another episode of Fanatically
54:00
Speaking, just kind of an end of the year rap
54:03
episode, just going over, you know, just kind
54:07
of our, the best names for the 2025 year. you
54:11
know, from January to December. This is kind
54:15
of off the cuff, man. I like that we didn't really
54:17
do a ton of prep. We just kind of went off the
54:21
dome, and I felt like an asshole for throwing
54:23
this at you at the last second, but I feel like
54:27
we handled it well. Yeah, I mean, we know it.
54:31
That's the thing is things, you know, topics
54:33
like this are easy. We watch sports off -season.
54:38
We know who's good and who's not. Yeah, and I
54:40
and I'm and I know that and I know Aaron Gordon
54:43
kind of came out of nowhere for you But no man,
54:45
I've I gotta I'm again if you if we looked at
54:48
every single one of my picks I just had to go
54:50
with somebody that I felt was gonna be consistent
54:52
and And that that's very important to me. I just
54:56
want to know what I'm gonna get from that guy
54:58
win or lose You know, and yeah, and I think they
55:02
all matched up and you had you had great counters
55:04
for everybody I threw out there and vice versa.
55:07
So Yep, good stuff again Listen to us on all
55:13
podcast outlets Follow us and and keep up with
55:18
us on social media Instagram Facebook tik -tok
55:23
YouTube and The new saying that I thought of
55:28
and is corny and call me whatever call it a dad
55:31
joke but I just want to tell everybody go out
55:34
there and Tap that app Yeah, that uh, that's
55:40
absolutely a dad joke But but I can respect it
55:45
and I've I was like why is he saying tap that
55:48
ass? Switch it up for me. I was like, what is
55:51
I don't know what kids doing here. What's going
55:53
on? But no, but it but it worked out. Yeah subscribe
55:56
man like share Post and I guess yeah, everybody's
56:01
doing it from their phone. So I guess technically
56:02
yeah, it is tap or if it's a mouse You'd have
56:05
to tap it, too even though it's technically a
56:07
click, but you still gotta tap it with your finger,
56:09
so. Okay, yeah. I like tap that app. Tap that
56:13
app, yeah. Yeah, I was like, yeah, I don't know,
56:16
what are you doing? No, that fits, man. No, that's
56:23
it. That's all I got. All right. You good? That's
56:26
a wrap. Yup.