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Draft Recap / Wk 1 Preview
42 Plays1 year ago
Football is here!
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Transcript
Episode Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
Good evening, League, and welcome to episode two of Stoned by Cornbread, an official League of Hard Knocks podcast. We've got a really exciting show for you guys tonight. Can't wait to dive into some of these topics. And some of the stuff we'll cover tonight will be draft recap. Things got a little spicy. We've got a little over under win totals.
00:00:27
Speaker
to get into hot takes on Norman Champ predictions. Even a word from the commissioner tonight, which should be very special. And believe it or not, we have gotten a couple sponsors for the show. We'll be reading their ads tonight. It's a growing podcast and we look forward to getting more sponsors should we see them be a fit for the podcast. And got some rapid fire at the end. Gonna be a great show. Let's get after it.
Football Season Excitement
00:01:25
Speaker
All right, league. What an exciting week. Fresh off of the draft and getting together. Tailgates were had. Cheese was had. And we got football less than 24 hours away. The league is officially about to begin. And couldn't be more excited about it. Got my co-host, the Marsh Cat with me tonight. How are you doing, Blake?
00:01:54
Speaker
Oh, man, I'm doing fantastic. It's 8.40 PM Eastern time. And we are less than 24 hours from football. We're one sleep till football. And I cannot be more ecstatic with this first matchup as well. I think we got a great one. We get to see my running back go up against Bommie's beloved team. So I couldn't be more stoked for Thursday night football.
00:02:21
Speaker
Who is the Thursday night football crew this year?
Amazon Prime's NFL Coverage
00:02:24
Speaker
Are they bringing Herb Street back? That is a great question. The Amazon Prime production kind of sucked, if we're being honest. At least the matchup is good, unlike most of the Thursday night games. And we're getting a rare Friday as well, just completely taking over high school football, Friday night lights. Goodell doesn't give a shit.
00:02:49
Speaker
Yeah, I'm just looking it up now. Looks like Al Michaels is coming back. Love Al. Okay. Getting up there. We got Kirk Herb Street, which was an interesting move for Kirk. I think this is his first like dive into the NFL. Kaylee Hartung, sideline reporter and Carissa Thompson is hosting. I like, I like this crew. Okay. I don't, I'm not a hater on Amazon crime. There's a cool view that you can look at, which is like the stat cast view.
00:03:16
Speaker
I don't know if you've checked it out. It's like a separate stream. I'm not going to nerd out over it, but it's literally like watching a video game. Every single yard your player gets in fantasy. It's like a little chart and lines charting exactly their running path or the path of the ball. It's pretty cool, but I think it's called stack.
League of Hard Knocks Draft Recap
00:03:33
Speaker
Good stuff. Well, we are fresh off the draft here. Uh, we got some hot takes as far as the draft goes, but let's, we, we're not going to dive in and give draft grades for every team because
00:03:46
Speaker
There's a lot of conflicting reports. Fantasy Pro's had you, number one. ESPN had you, number 10, Blake. It's all pretty much irrelevant. If you draft it off of your own sheet, you probably feel good about your own team. Well, some of us do, but I want to start with giving the actual League of Hard Knocks draft a grade. And I'm curious if you agree or disagree. I had it as a strong,
00:04:14
Speaker
C plus. It was teetering on being a B minus, but it's a strong C plus for me. You know, only nine members present, starting at late, pausing it to let Larry show up even later. It just lacked some flow. It took, I'm all for a long draft, but when you start it that late, it
00:04:39
Speaker
It just didn't really excite me. What do you think? What grade would you give it, Blake? You know, it's hard. It's hard on this kind of a scale. I'd go B minus. I'd go B minus. We learned some things this draft. We learned some things this draft. And I will say this on the record. It's Wednesday, September 4th. We are two days removed from Labor Day. We need to get it on the calendar. We need to lock it in now.
00:05:06
Speaker
If people are planning on adding to their families with more children, you need to time your pregnancies around this date. It's pretty simple math. I've recently been learning about it myself. This is a non-negotiable. Weddings, not acceptable. I think Friday night is another lesson we learned. Not ideal, not ideal. I'd rather have a Sunday leading up to Labor Day than a Friday night leading up to the start of college football season.
00:05:36
Speaker
And I know I knocked on Will's tailgate last episode. That wasn't fair. The tailgate is great. There should be a tailgate the first football game of the year. It was just the timing of everything. And you're right. Larry showed up fashionably late, but we did have some highlights. We had the national anthem. We had the plumbing issue. We had the cheese. There were some highlights. There were some highlights of the draft.
00:06:06
Speaker
I give it a B minus. B minus. We can get that. We can do better. That's fair. I do think we can do better. I did not have a C plus time. I had an A plus time, but I do think we can improve. Always room for improvement. Always room to change. So I've got, I'll let you, you go after me here. I've only got a few teams that I targeted. Of course I've been on the fantasy app as much or probably more than Rob this week.
00:06:35
Speaker
And I dove into some teams, and I'm not gonna give them a grade, but I got three teams that I really think had a great draft. And the first one kind of pains me to say it, but the Cougar, traditionally a great drafter, traditionally a playoff stalwart. And I think he may have done it again. If we break his team down really quick,
00:07:03
Speaker
You know, sometimes we get a little too deep into talking about depth and this and that, but sometimes depth doesn't matter. It's about getting off to a hot start in this league. And AJ's got a team that I believe can get off to a hot start. I see no weaknesses in the starting lineup. Anthony Richardson is kind of the darling of a lot of fantasy talk this year. And AJ took the bait.
00:07:29
Speaker
you know, an oft injured guy with not a ton of experience, but a lot of people are saying he could end up being QB one and doesn't really stop there with some of the strengths on this team. The Etienne Walker swift trio of running backs
00:07:47
Speaker
There's a lot of explosive play there, followed by his receivers. I would, again, just the word explosive stands out to me, kind of like the way the ship was coming out of the ground at Jake's house. Tyree Kill, Speed, DJ Moore, Speed, Tank Del, Speed. I see Speed everywhere on this team, and I think he had one of the better drafts, despite all the feedback from the Peanut Gallery, which may have influenced his picks.
AJ's Team Analysis
00:08:17
Speaker
That's my first one. I've only got a couple more. Any thoughts on that, Blake? No, I mean, I couldn't disagree more with you, to be honest. I think that AJ has swapped a bunch of old men for a bunch of young, commonly injured players. Let's take a look at Anthony Richardson, for example. You mentioned the darling of the draft. Second year in the league. Let's dive into his injury history here. Second game, week two versus the Texans, concussion.
00:08:44
Speaker
Okay. Boom. There's one. And don't forget, he had, back in October, 2021, he went down against Georgia with a concussion. So that's two concussions on, on his record. He also suffered a meniscus tear in college. So he comes back to his from his concussion. Week five, he's out. That's a rough concussion. That's, that's almost a three week recovery period. Guess what? Out for the season.
00:09:13
Speaker
Season ending injury, throwing shoulder, second quarter week five against the Titans. And that's all the football we've seen from Anthony Richardson. He had a pretty solid week one, a decent like week four and week five until he got knocked up. The guy has played like not even a full three NFL games. He's been hurt the whole time. So I think Anthony Richardson, unproven. Could he be great? Yes. Is he more likely to get hurt and miss more of the season?
00:09:41
Speaker
then he'll play, I would say yes, yes, there. Kenneth Walker. Kenneth Walker, why would you touch Kenneth Walker? Not only are the Seahawks just bad, like the Seahawks are bad. I don't wanna touch the Seahawks. I didn't wanna touch a single Seahawks, this draft. But Kenneth Walker, he missed, I believe,
00:10:07
Speaker
How many games did he miss in the NFL right now? Let's see, hamstring. He had a sport tourney in 2022. Last year, he missed multiple games. An oblique injury, knocked him out right around the playoffs for three or four games. And then there was this guy that Rob loved. I don't remember if he was on Rob's team. Charbonnet, Zach Charbonnet. You guys gotta worry about that guy. Charbonnet can come out of nowhere.
00:10:36
Speaker
So I'm not here to poke holes. I think Tyreke's a great pick, but he's got a thumb injury. Tank Del literally got shot in the off season. We're starting that out there. So that's a different kind of injury history. Sounds like he's tough. Potentially, potentially. But yeah, I mean, Tank Del shot in Florida slightly after midnight. I was just back in April. Just a flesh wound, you know, bullet through the back of the leg.
00:11:05
Speaker
But I don't know. I don't know. I just think he swapped a bunch of old men for a bunch of, uh, well, he's got one misogynist and Harrison Booker and a bunch of other, uh, often injured players. And he drafted a Patriot. Who wants to touch a Patriot or a Seahawk this year? I'm just throwing that out there. Ramon Dre, uh, Kenneth Walker. I can't think of two running backs I'd rather not have than those two. Uh, none of this is biased, of course, because he's my week one matchup, but that's my take on AJ's team. Sure.
00:11:33
Speaker
Well, I'll dive into a couple more that are probably gonna be hot takes. My second team probably by his own admission would be the least prepared guy for the draft, Will Coley and the West Hillbillies.
Will Coley's Draft Strategy
00:11:50
Speaker
Let's talk about his lineup for a second. An obvious weakness would be quarterback, Joe Burrow.
00:12:00
Speaker
He's got this weird hand thing going on that nobody's sure about, but he could be just fine and be back to being Joe. Apparently, he dumped his girlfriend in his dating and only fans model. I don't know what that means for his on-field production, but we'll see. What I really like about Will's team is the meat of the lineup. Jonathan Taylor, stud. James Cook.
00:12:26
Speaker
A.J.'s nemesis A.J. Brown stud Drake London got some question marks around that one but I'm a believer in the Falcons this year a couple other league members are and then here's where it gets really interesting and where we'll season I think is really going to swing on this was Stefan Diggs a good draft pick currently on his bench and
00:12:53
Speaker
is Travis Kelce, still Travis Kelce or not? If he can steady the ship, maybe get one or two of those two to show up and maybe make a trade for a quarterback, I think Will's got a very solid team, but I think he drafted wisely is how I would judge his draft. I would say wise is relative.
00:13:19
Speaker
He went with some big, big names and some big egos. Joey B. I love Joey B. By the way, have you seen Joey B's new haircut? He's, he's gone totally buzzed with like a bleach blonde look. He's no longer got that signature like flip down, kind of like.
00:13:38
Speaker
It's kind of post-frat, is what I would call it, swoop, that he would always have, or he'd kind of brush his hair up, and then there'd be this little piece that would fall down. No more of that for Joey B. It is bleach-blonde, in-sync dye. Pretty electric. And then I think another thing that we have to hit on here with Kelsey is how is the Taylor Swift breakup gonna impact his performance? Because everyone knows that that
00:14:08
Speaker
is imminent because I don't know if you've seen the recent leaks, everybody's talking about it. There is apparently a leaked PR contract between their PR representatives that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey have already documented their breakup, but it's planned for the end of September. And they've already kind of like hashed out how they're going to address the media.
00:14:38
Speaker
the statements they're going to make. Oh, you know, this is just this is just a personal decision. We live very different lives. We're both on the road all the time. Yeah, that's that's a big storyline. Big storyline. So Travis Kelsey, huge question mark. Joey B will see how the blonde hair works for him. But I do I do agree. Will had a solid draft. Yeah, yeah, I really think he did. He was patient on quarterback and
00:15:09
Speaker
that has shown to pay off for some league winners in the past. I won't, won't quite go that far as calling him the champ or predict that to happen. Last one is probably my hottest take.
Larry's Key Players
00:15:22
Speaker
It's a man who showed up a little late and picked back to back. It's, it's Lizzie.
00:15:31
Speaker
Here's the deal with Lizzie. Every year on paper, his team looks incredible. And this year is no exception. Of course, he's got Lamar, Saquon, Jamir. He went very running back heavy, early, kind of going against the grain of the league. His team is going to come down to a couple things here. He's got good wide receivers, we think. Marvin Harrison, Zae Flowers, and Ayuk.
00:16:00
Speaker
Two of those three need to pan out well for him, and I think that they will. But here's where Larry's entire season is going to swing. If he can get off to even a 500 start through four weeks, he's getting Nick Chubb back. That, along with, is Brock Bowers a guy or is he not a guy?
00:16:23
Speaker
Chubb comes back in Larry's 500 and Brock Bowers is good. He may have had the best draft this year. That's my hot take. Oh, I'll believe it when I see it with Larry. I don't think that's a hot take. Larry having a good team on paper is a story that we have seen play out over and over and over again. And I know, come shame off time, his team's gonna perform.
00:16:53
Speaker
they're going to perform, but they don't perform from the get go. They don't perform from the onset of the season. And I think that's always been his, his flaw. So can Lamar get off to a hot start on Thursday night football? A lot of you guys will be listening to this podcast Thursday morning, or if you don't listen to it, you know, screw you and find, find a different league, honestly, but
00:17:18
Speaker
Can Lamar get off to a hot start? How does he pair with Derek Henry? How does Saquon fit in with the Eagles? Which some people say could end up being a dumpster fire. In Syria, it could be on the hot seat by the end of the season. That's something to follow. I think Jameer Gibbs.
00:17:34
Speaker
I got a shared backfield. Great RB2 to have. Could be a shared backfield. And Marvin Harrison taking a bet on a rookie that early. Could pay off, could not. IU just got paid. Is he going to try anymore? Is he just going to sit back and cash checks? A lot of question marks. The Zae Flowers, Lamar Jackson stack could be electric. And then he stashed a guy with a bum knee and Nick Chubb. I love Chubb on the roster lurking.
00:18:03
Speaker
because I think when Chuck comes back, he could be an X factor for Larry. Once again, back to my point, though, he's planning for the back end of the season to avoid that norm. He's not planning for that hot start, which gets you the playoffs, and I think that's what Larry's team's been
Draft Mistakes Reflection
00:18:17
Speaker
lacking. So, yeah, his team's gonna be around at the end of the season. Can they get a half to a hot start? I think that, that's honestly what's gonna make or break Larry's season, but I agree. Pretty solid draft, as usual, from Larry.
00:18:31
Speaker
We'll see, the Nick Chubb pick was definitely a peak late pick. So, be very scared of Lizzie around week 12 or 13, is what I would say, and beyond. I don't really have any other strong draft takes. I think I had a good draft, obviously, except for my one, we'll call it a nip slip, a little bit of a,
00:18:59
Speaker
A little bit of a faux pas, if you will. The Brooks Blunder, some are calling it. The Brooks Blunder, yeah. I think in that situation, I realized my mistake pretty early on. I did not think they would make stickers for more than one Brooks. And I made the fatal flaw of paying zero attention. This is not me defending myself. I paid zero attention to the Norm's picks all night. I don't know about you. Will was going up there and putting them on.
00:19:28
Speaker
The Norm should have been there. We've talked about this before, but I should have paid more attention to the Norm's picks because he's the guy with the right Brooks on his team. And, and I will say this about the white Rhino. I don't hate his team. I mean, obviously Kyron Williams and I'm on raw won me a title last year. So he has two players, very, very, very dear to my heart. Uh, Kyron.
00:19:57
Speaker
I love the Kyron Josh Jacobs combo at running back. Even maybe sliding in Tony Pollard there. We'll see how Tony Pollard does in Tennessee. But let's say that Tony Pollard becomes Tony Pollard of two years ago, and I know that's a sensitive subject for you.
00:20:15
Speaker
Indeed. But if he does, Rhino's got the best backfield in the league, in my opinion, because of that Green Bay offense's potential through the air. I think it's going to open up the run game. Josh Jacobs is more of a bruiser than Aaron Jones ever was. We know what Kyron's capable of now. Let's say Tony Pollard goes into his own form and, and Rhino's got the Sun God and Nico Collins. He's got a stacked team.
00:20:41
Speaker
Dak is gonna be Dak. He's gonna be good some weeks. He's gonna be absolute, as Larry would say, ass other weeks, especially come playoff time. But I'm not gonna say anything nice about the norm. Rhino, you're the norm. Decent draft. Screw you for taking the Brooks that I wanted.
Cheese vs. Pork Debate
00:21:02
Speaker
But yeah, cheese and pork, James. I think that's the only other thing we have to cover.
00:21:06
Speaker
Are you team cheese or team pork? Just give it to me really quick here. Rob's cheese, Jake's pork. Well, I'm going to go off the board here and say for those who missed out, Andrew did come through with the La Paz cheese dip. And that was a very strong play that AJ and I had about 90% of. So I was team cheese. I will say I did not even try Rob's cheese.
00:21:35
Speaker
I saw he went to the half and half very early in the night and it kind of threw me off. I got to be honest. So if we're talking cheese or pork, I will give Jake a little bit of credit, my new rival here, that he did make a good pork butt. But that's, you know, in talking to the smoking community, that's the easiest thing to do. So I would give it a B, a solid B on the pork.
00:22:04
Speaker
Okay, yeah, I know I'm team pork over cheese all day. I did get some of that La Paz cheese dip, and I will just say it was twice as appetizing as Rob's cheese dip. For the aforementioned comment, Rob, there's certain times that what happens behind the kitchen doors is completely fine. If you're gonna pour a full gallon of half and half into your cheese, I don't give a shit.
00:22:27
Speaker
I'll eat it. I just don't want to see you do it. Once you start pouring cream and milk in front of me from a baby bottle into a crock pot full of
00:22:38
Speaker
molten cheese after I've already have a belly full of pork and a former cheese dip that was honestly probably superior to your cheese dip. I will say that it's just not appetizing. Leave the half and half behind the kitchen doors, I agree with James. I'm going pork over Rob's cheese dip. Jake, thank you for hosting. But once you mixed in the sewage, it all became kind of a
00:23:06
Speaker
a little bit of a shit show. I will just say I woke up Saturday morning and I did not have an appetite for the first several hours of Saturday. It took me a while to really ease into the day. Yeah, it really stung the nostrils right there by the draft board.
00:23:28
Speaker
Maybe we don't pick that location again. Maybe we don't go to Knoxville again for the draft. We'll see. I agree. I agree. And I'll say it right now. One more time before we leave the subject entirely and we forget about the draft. Chattanooga is the spot to be.
Draft Location Suggestions
00:23:44
Speaker
It's centrally located. It pulls people away from their families in a good way. It gives us a full night where we don't have to return home or worry about Ubers or people driving.
00:23:57
Speaker
And guys, it's one night out of 365. It's worth it. We got to do it next year. We got to get it on the books. We got to get it on the books early. And I'm calling on you commissioner. I think we're going to have later on this episode. Very exciting. Calling on you commissioner to go ahead and get it booked. Because now is the time to lock it in. If you can't make plans around a 363 day notice, then I don't know.
00:24:25
Speaker
why would you be part of a fantasy football league? Which brings me to a good point, James, that I want to ask you, Norman Champ predictions. Let's recuse ourselves. I don't think it's fair. I mean, I can predict you for either one. You can predict me for either one, but I don't think it's fair that we include our own teams. I think that should be a common theme this season of Stone by Cornbread is that we try to recuse ourselves as much as possible from bias on our own squads.
00:24:54
Speaker
but yourself removed, who do you like for the norm? I think most importantly, and then who do you like to hoist the cup or rather take the cup from me at the end of this year? Just hot takes off the draft. Great question. I got two norm front runners as I see it and two people who have traditionally done very well in this league
00:25:22
Speaker
One of them has a title. One does not. One has been knocking on the door for quite some time. And I'll talk about him first. I hated Andrew's draft. And he has weaknesses all over the squad. And as a former drafter of Christian McCaffrey after a great season, when I took him number one overall, I can totally see this being an injury plague season.
00:25:52
Speaker
where Andrew almost quits the league. And if you look at the rest of the squad, trust me, Andrew, I had Devontae last year. I know he's burned you in the past. He's not what he used to be. And your only hope is that he gets traded out of Las Vegas because he is miserable there. Jerome Ford in your starting lineup. I know he's the starter for four weeks. I do not like the Browns offense whatsoever.
00:26:21
Speaker
CJ Stroud, good quarterback, probably drafted him too early. Camara, I love Camara, but when's the last time that he was really impactful? The Saints are horrible, the Saints are horrible, yeah. I just see draft picks all over the place where Andrew was after guys like DeAndre Hopkins, who hadn't been good in a few years, Zeke, Keenan Allen, George Kittle,
00:26:48
Speaker
Andrew's got like the all 2018 team and that's typically a very bad recipe in this league. You know when you look on ESPN like history, like probably half the league does this, half the league doesn't even know it exists, but you can go to the history of former champions and former standings. And you can actually look at former teams. If I looked at Andrew's team and I removed CJ Stroud,
00:27:17
Speaker
I would, I would say 2021, 2022 maybe, maybe 2020. This is kind of a retro team and I don't know if that's a good thing in fantasy football. It's a terrible thing. I've fallen victim to it before when you are panicking, when the guy you wanted gets taken a couple of picks ahead of you and you just see that comforting name and you have all the member berries. You just, it's like a magnet.
00:27:47
Speaker
You have to really go against the grain there and not pick those guys. But Andrew picked a lot of them this year and one or two is okay. But I see like four to five that are way past their prime. You couple that with the CMAQ injury history and likelihood. I mean, even starting the year, barely practicing. I don't know, Rosetta. I think you may have missed your window to win a title and I would love to see you be the norm.
00:28:16
Speaker
but let's move on. Okay, so that's your first one. You got one more norm? I got one more norm. I'll let you take the mic after this. Another guy who has traditionally performed very well in this league probably has the best draft algorithm. It's Bommie. I can't stand this team. I really, really, truly,
00:28:44
Speaker
truly wanted Jamar Chase this year, but he has shrouded in unknown contract hell right now. Might not play the first week. If he does, they're saying, I'm seeing reports that he might get a deal done Thursday night, just like Joe Burrow did last year, but he's not going to be ready for week one. Joey B, that weird hand thing. I don't love that.
00:29:14
Speaker
And then Bami takes zero risk ever in the draft. And he's just got a bunch of safe draft picks here. Najee Harris, Rashad White, Garrett Wilson, could he pay off? You could say that was his biggest risk of the draft. Deebo Samuel, we'll see. We all know he's playing a maximum of nine games this year. I just, I don't like this team when I look at it. It's kind of like the opposite of,
00:29:44
Speaker
the flash I see on AJ's team and the steadiness of playmakers on Larry's team. It's just, I don't know, Bommie. I guess he'll get a chance to defend himself on that take here in a little while, but I see a Norman Bommie's future. He handed me the Norman, a very tightly contested race there at the end one year, but could be your time, Bommie.
00:30:12
Speaker
I mean, that'd be a storyline. Bobby's taking a little bit of flack with his duties commissioner. I'm going to go against the grain here with you, James. I think Bobby's got a pretty good squad. He's got a pretty good squad. We saw some color-coded Excel action going on during the draft.
Emotional Drafting Pitfalls
00:30:30
Speaker
And if you look at his receivers, they could be scary good. He could potentially have Jamar Chase.
00:30:37
Speaker
Garrett Wilson and Deebo, and let's say they're all performing to the level we know they're capable of with healthy quarterbacks. Deebo, Garrett, Rodgers is throwing to him, Jamar with Burrow, and then he's got QB1, and we love to hate on it. I do think the Taylor Swift breakup is gonna impact this significantly from the homes. He couldn't resist, he had to take him.
00:31:06
Speaker
He had to take him again. Emotional picks do backfire. And that's the only thing I will say to your point. Emotionally, did I want to have Bijon, Sun God, and Kyron? For the record, why did I win a title last year? Well, I had three first round picks when the season ended on my team.
00:31:31
Speaker
for all the hate I get from my waiver acquisitions and moves during the season, bold trades, I will defend myself just a little bit. If I had picked in those players again, I could have fallen down a dark, dark rabbit hole of emotional betting, because that's what we're doing, James, for betting, betting on players. Most people might not view this as, and we've talked about this before, most people might not view fantasy football as gambling, it is 100%
00:31:59
Speaker
future gambling. It's like going to the casino and placing future vets on specific players and you can't do it emotionally. You can't do it emotionally. You can't take players you like. Chief's heavy. Bommie's always gonna, he's always gonna reach for a chief. Honestly, same for Andrew. Will's always gonna reach for a guy he likes, like character wise.
00:32:26
Speaker
or personality-wise, that's where you get the burrow in the Kelsey picks. My God, that guy's gonna be a good post-game interview. Will will reach there. Everyone's got their weak spots. Bomby reaching from homes once again. I think will be his downfall, but I like his draft otherwise. Let's flip it. Let's flip it. Champ prediction. Surely you got one that's not you. I'm sure it's me to defend, but who else do you like to hoist the cup?
00:32:55
Speaker
I'm going to double dip here because I mentioned him previously. And I'm not even sure if he listened to the podcast or if he's going to listen to this one. I do think the Cougar has drafted a title team. We've already gone through his lineup. I think he's on a revenge tour. He hasn't won in almost as long or longer than Rob. And that's just how I see it playing out. I don't have a second one. I do think.
00:33:26
Speaker
That is my pick for champ this year, the Cougar. The Cougar. Any thoughts there? I mean, I already ripped his teams to shreds. I think AJ's team is incredibly injury prone. I think Anthony Richardson is incredibly unproven. I think Kenneth Walker is going to be terrible. I wouldn't touch a Patriot running back. And Buckner is going to be
00:33:54
Speaker
shrouded in controversy the first time you miss is a kick. You know, the women don't like butt curve and then you also have Brittany Mahomes and Taylor before pre-breakup, Taylor up in the booth. So they're gonna be going from two powerful famous women and then panning to a misogynist kicker. I think even Al Michaels at his age is gonna get into that storyline a little bit.
00:34:22
Speaker
So a lot of things just shrouding AJ's team, but Anthony Richardson, his injury history, multiple concussions and missing most of the season last year, suddenly becoming this top, top pick. I would have taken Jayden Daniels way, way before I took Richardson. I would have definitely taken CJ Stroud. I know we called him out earlier. Honestly, I would have taken Caleb Williams way, way, way before. I sure as hell wouldn't have taken Brock Purdy, Kafka for Rob, but
00:34:51
Speaker
That was due to apparently myself for claim to run on quarterbacks that sparked Rob strategically without one of his picks for QB. I'll give you my hot takes on Norman champ really quick.
00:35:03
Speaker
Norm, I love Rob this year for the Norm, for a lot of reasons. And I know you're not my rival anymore, but Andrew already called it out, I think, on the group chat earlier today. Brock Purdy is a Norm quarterback. That's just Brock Purdy. You look at Brock Purdy, you don't need to see the rest of the lineup. You say, that looks like a guy that's going to find himself in the shame offs.
00:35:24
Speaker
fully project Rob to be in the shame offs this year. And it's gonna be a bad season for the cheese dip. Champ, outside of myself, I'm gonna give it to Jake. I'm gonna give it to the chef. Yeah. And that's because I think I actually, despite my title, I think I drafted Bijon the wrong year to draft Bijon. I know I said I don't wanna make any emotional picks. Bijon,
00:35:52
Speaker
And he inherited the Bijon jersey with the Bijon Dijon mustard. I love that team. I love Jalen Hurts. Everyone's kind of hating on the Eagles just because Philly media is crazy, but the tush push is real for TDs. I think Aaron Jones is going to tear it up in Minnesota. Love Puka. I mean, Puka, Alave, Laporta. That's a lot of passes.
Win Totals Predictions
00:36:22
Speaker
And then he's, he's stacking on the Dallas special teams. Yeah. I love that. I love that. They play indoors. They score a lot of points. He's got Aubrey kicking and the Dallas D I think last year outscored most position players. That's what kept the balmy in it all year. I like the chef. I like the chef to take the title. Well, that does not bode well for my, my side action, which we'll get into later. Interesting.
00:36:50
Speaker
You didn't come to stone by cornbread for cold takes. These are getting a little spicy here. A little spicy. James, let's do this really quick. And then I know we got the commissioner joining us. Over under on wind totals, I just want to call out a couple team names. And I want you to give me an over under on their wind total for the season. We can rapid fire this one a little bit. Some teams you've called out.
00:37:18
Speaker
Andrew, over under, what would you set that line at for win total for the bandwagon? Just a little bit of backstory before we go into rapid fire. Traditionally, it takes about seven wins to be in the hunt for the playoffs in a very tightly contested league. So that that number is going to be reflected a lot in some of these over unders. And I'm going to set Andrew at five and a half. What about what about the commissioner?
00:37:49
Speaker
Bommie. The commissioner, this is a good one. I might be clouded by some of my norm prediction here, but I'm actually calling Bommie three and a half. I think he's going to be the worst team in the league. Wow. And the only three-win team we saw last year, we only actually had one team below five wins. But the only three-win team we saw last year was Rhino, who is an arm. Interesting. Interesting.
00:38:16
Speaker
I will actually set Rob's over under at six and a half. I'm not quite as low on him as you are. And we know Rob's got a trade up his sleeve, maybe with me. It's just going to be how much can I pry away from him? And that will really dictate whether this goes over or under. Love it. I love it.
00:38:35
Speaker
All right, we'll come back to over unders and another episode on another day. I know this is a segment we've been really excited about. Jane bringing on the commissioner. A lot of criticism is, has been out there. You know, he's not engaging with the league. Giving his draft overall a C plus B minus a lot of chaos surrounding the draft. You could say that a lot of team members and league members picked him up.
00:39:00
Speaker
and really carried him. You know, Jake coming through hosting. Rob, I was joking about the cheese, man. That's clutch, right? Bring in the cheese. Andrew with the La Paz dip. You know, I brought the draft board. It's nice. It's a subtle flex, but you know, someone's got to bring the draft board. These are things the commissioner wasn't coordinating. And so we say, okay, Bommie,
00:39:23
Speaker
We appreciate you putting in the draft in your computer live during the draft. That was helpful right after the draft to be able to analyze. That was great. Talk to the league. Tell us where we're at. The people wanna hear
Commissioner Segment Cancellation
00:39:37
Speaker
from you. So I think it's gonna be recurring segment, State of the Union. We got the commissioner on. James, I see you with your hand to your ear right now. Do we have some breaking news from Big J?
00:39:56
Speaker
Wow, just coming across my desk here, some breaking news for the League of Hard Knocks. The commissioner is backing out of his commitment stating I have a quote unquote conflict and it's not a good night for me. I'm still in a little bit of shock. I was stoked for this segment and I feel like the commissioner has let us down once again. We're trying to give him a voice.
00:40:25
Speaker
Fair and balanced on this podcast is what I say. And I'm at a loss of words. The text is coming through right now. Tonight's not the best night if I'm being honest. Now, it's now 9.20 and a half, almost 9.21 on a Wednesday night. Bobby, what are you doing?
00:40:55
Speaker
What right now, and I think the whole league should be able to ask this question because we're looking forward to the stadium. What are you doing at 9.21 on a Wednesday that makes it not the best night, if you're being honest? And what aren't you being honest about? Yeah, this is big news. It begs the question, what could be a bigger
00:41:24
Speaker
I can pivot to Fran. I mean, I'll text Fran. I'll see what she's up to. I'm going to text you right now. Hey, we are, uh, we will take any and all to come on this podcast. So if we do reach out to you and you bonus like this, it's just not cool. That was really excited for that segment. All right. Well, I guess big J out, huh? All right. Well, uh, we'll have to move on.
00:41:52
Speaker
We got some new rivalries developing, James. I think this is a topic that we have seen develop, right? Ever since I relieved Rob of his duties as my rival. And Rob, this again was nothing personal. It was simply that I needed to seek a higher level of competition and engagement. And I really needed more excitement in my rivalry.
00:42:20
Speaker
Now, back in 2016, when you were Fat Rob and you were on top of the world with your Fat Rob Championship team, Tom Brady is your quarterback. I know that period you were worthy of being my rival, but Rob, it's been eight years. It's been eight years. And yeah, you're not relevant anymore. And I had to move on to Will
00:42:49
Speaker
who is, again, my new rival for a couple of reasons. One, he won a championship, I won a championship. We've been political allies in the past, but now he's adapting this kind of de-gaff attitude towards the league that is actually really working at getting under my skin.
League Rivalries Overview
00:43:13
Speaker
He legitimately frustrates me by his perceived apathy to the league.
00:43:19
Speaker
And we gave him a little bit of a hard time for the tailgate being more important in the draft. But I still think that could have been a tactical move, James. I don't know if you're feeling the same way, but in our political history, now we've kind of gone against each other. There's a true rivalry there. Rob, I know we talked about it, but I don't have a place in my heart for two rivals. And so for right now, I'm going to keep Will as my primary rival, and I will keep you
00:43:49
Speaker
you know, firmly in my memories and you gotta have a backup. So Rob, for what it's worth, you are my, me or my Zach Wilson, you're my backup, maybe backup to the backup rival. You're the Jared Stidham to my Bo Nicks.
00:44:13
Speaker
Wow, I never thought I'd see that day coming. You and Will is a great storyline that's taken a lot of years to develop and I look forward to seeing what this this one will become. I do know that Blake leans into the rivals very well. So it should be good and it could be exactly what Will needs. He's got to have something to focus on more than just the league. So what better person than Blake to bring that
00:44:43
Speaker
that competitive spirit out of them and engage a little bit more. I think that's great. And it's very spot on. I'll get into my, if we're just talking about our own rivals, very clearly. I've got a new one. Jake's been a little testy lately. Has anyone else noticed that? I mean, he smacked Will on the head at the draft. Midlife crisis. And here's the best thing about Jake being my rival.
00:45:14
Speaker
Name a man that's got thinner skin than him in this league right now. Can you? That's great for me, because I'm an absolute jackal, and I'll be going at him with every chance I get. And the fact that a couple of draft picks that we disagreed on, him taking Puca, a lot of people said I reached for Cooper Cup, which led to the $100 over-under
00:45:41
Speaker
or who has the most wins in the regular season, but I'm very excited for this new developing rivalry and I'll be feeding Jake Bud Light's every chance I get just to really get a rise out of him whenever I can. Do you think Jake will ever go back to Bud Heavy? You know, he does look a little too skinny right now. He said he's been working out, but I think he's even lost some muscle mass.
00:46:10
Speaker
I hope he does. Bud Light's kind of gay, still. I don't know, maybe Jake gets a Bud Light tattoo, though. We can't rule it out. He might be really firmly planted in that stance. We'll see. We'll see how it goes. I think that's definitely a developing storyline for the year. It's like, what will Jake's third tattoo be? Yeah, I think he will get another tattoo before the season is over. I'll say that. That's my take.
00:46:39
Speaker
I mean, potential side, potential side bet. I'm just throwing it out there. Now that ink is out in the league, I don't, I don't see a reason why we couldn't see in the future, a tattoo side bet or even a tattoo norm punishment. I threw it out there with the draft, but there's a lot of options. There's a lot of options. Yeah. Now that ink is out there, it could be expanded upon. We'll just leave it at that.
00:47:02
Speaker
You want to dive into the next rivalry? I mean, Larry and AJ, the Grasshopper incident, I mean, the Grasshopper incident was significant. I feel like Larry and AJ have always kind of gone at each other. Of all the people, I feel like they're really rile up, Larry.
00:47:16
Speaker
AJ is one of those people, and I can just hear him. I can hear him just say AJ in my head. Just AJ, like I can hear it coming out of Larry's mouth. I know that AJ gets under his skin, and AJ took it next level by dropping a large grasshopper onto Larry's skin. Safe to say, Larry has not yet enacted his revenge, which,
00:47:44
Speaker
builds just a volcano of emotion and excitement in me surrounding whatever Larry decides to go for his revenge here. Is it next year's draft? God, I hope so. Maybe it's before then. Maybe Larry just goes on an absolute rage-induced rant on video and sends it off to group me calling out AJ for all of his nonsense. Whatever it is, I'm looking forward to Larry's revenge.
00:48:14
Speaker
I think the other one is, is like, I mean, you probably know it as well. And you can comment on both of these, please. Like, Bommie and Andrew, especially with the politics, Andrew changing Bommie's picture in his phone to, to a picture of a decrepit Joe Biden and renaming his, renaming his contact as, as Mr. 35.3.
00:48:42
Speaker
Again, Bami is very sore about the 35.3 and lowest score ever in the league of hard knocks, which I did add to the constitution. And we can talk about that a little bit, Jay, here in a second, but.
00:48:54
Speaker
I think it should be out of the constitution. I'm going to keep it there. I'm not going to get Bommie editing rights to our constitution. I will continue to defend democracy. I just want to go on the record saying that. I know we kind of got off topic there, but yeah, I think, I think for me, I want to make sure you agree. Bommie and Andrew and then Larry and AJ both have some contentious rivalries brewing. My favorite part about the Larry and AJ rivalry is
00:49:25
Speaker
The tone in Larry's voice when he's talking to AJ reminds me of the way that Dr. Hosenfeld used to talk to AJ. It just has a father-son vibe to it, which brings me great joy. And it's almost like AJ is trying to fill that void. It's almost like he misses having a
00:49:48
Speaker
someone come down on him really harshly now that he's his own own man and father and watching Larry try to son AJ is great and really adds adds to everything. It's I really hope we get a good rant from from Larry and maybe a little physical altercation would be even better. Portrait. Yes, that I would love to bet on.
00:50:19
Speaker
And Bommie and Andrew is my favorite rivalry in the entire league.
Bommie vs. Andrew Rivalry
00:50:25
Speaker
They're made for each other. Andrew's loud, usually drinking a lot while he's on the signal, group me, whatever we're calling it. Bommie, kind of quiet, usually saying very well thought out, measured remarks in return, trying not to stir the pot.
00:50:47
Speaker
Yeah, probably generated by AI. Andrew's may be generated by Miller Lite and Baumie's are generated by chat GBT. Yeah, that is a perfect take on the situation. So I love that one. And I don't see it going away for years to come. Yeah. I mean, there's also just some like contentious topics around politics, gender association. I mean, they're going at it top to bottom. And Andrew has been, I would say the most vocal.
00:51:17
Speaker
critic of the commissioner as of recent. I know we've asked some questions. We've asked some questions. Why did he not show up on the podcast after committing to the State of the Union segment? Why did he let the norm escape the draft? But Andrew's been just coming at him. He's coming at him hard. So yeah, I'm excited to see that one develop. Very, very excited to see that one develop.
00:51:48
Speaker
Let's state the obvious here. There's two guys without a rival, right? Rob, who is desperately looking for one now, he feeds off the energy between you and him, but it's gone now. And based off of draft night this year and other draft nights, it begs the question, is Kelsey Rob's biggest rival? Wow. Shot across the bell.
00:52:17
Speaker
maybe, maybe not called for, but he's without one. So maybe he'll, he'll dive into that. And then of course the norm, he doesn't really deserve a rival right now. He's never really had one. Spice it up, Rhino, if you're listening. Um, a quiet norm is not good for the league. And it has been a while since we've seen Rhino verbally come out to one. I think
00:52:42
Speaker
I think going back many, many years, Rhino and I actually used to get into it a little bit. And we even were at one point challenged to a foot race. We were debating our speed and agility. Rhino, you can take the norm two ways. I'll just bounce off what James said. And I hope you're listening to this. I'm sure you are.
00:53:09
Speaker
You can idly sit by and let the year evaporate,
Encouraging League Engagement
00:53:15
Speaker
or you can take it like a man, talk a little bit of shit. You can talk a little bit of shit. It's okay. People will tell you to shut up, Norm, as they should, but at least put yourself out there enough to tell people, hey, I'm still here, and get them riled up. Let them say, shut up, Norm, stay out of this.
00:53:39
Speaker
Back to the dungeon with you. You worthless norm. Draft Dodger. We want to hear from you, Rhino. We missed you at the draft. We really did. Not just because you're the norm. I will state that for the record, James. Put it on the record. Rhino was missed at the draft, regardless of norm status. We don't want a phone-in participant for the draft. It's not acceptable. I know we've already hit on this. Of course. Of course. Couldn't have said it better myself.
00:54:09
Speaker
So as previously mentioned, we do have a couple of sponsors for this episode. Looking forward to having some more ads to read to put some money in our pockets. Episode two of Stone by Cornbread is brought to you by River Ridge CPAs, where we put the customer second because ripping trout lips is our main priority.
00:54:34
Speaker
Yeah, we're incredibly excited to partner with River Ridge, counting this year. River Ridge has a prestigious, prestigious history. We couldn't recommend working with AJ Moore. Multiple, actually just one five-star Google review from Craig Hildreth said, AJ and his firm do an amazing job. They're extremely professional and very honest in the way they do business. I would highly recommend placing your trust in his firm.
00:55:00
Speaker
AJ responded to this saying, thanks, Greg, it's been great working with you. But River Ridge CPAs, individual tax and accounting, they will find loopholes so that you don't have to pay your taxes. If you're a small business operating anywhere in the world, AJ can probably figure out a way for you to circumnavigate any sort of governmental constraints. Yeah, River Ridge, great sponsor. Also brought to you by Ryan Construction.
00:55:28
Speaker
We may never get the job done on time, but at least we're expensive. Wow. Ryan Construction. First off, know this guy. He's a friend of the podcast. He's got an Instagram account if you guys want to follow him at Ryan Construction Co. or just at JakeRyan1217. This is a fine craftsman. Does a lot of great work around the Greater Knoxville area.
00:55:57
Speaker
If you use promo code chef knife, 10 to 20% off your next kitchen right now. Thanks Jake for being a sponsor, Ryan Construction. Good stuff. Thank you to our title sponsors at this point, being the first two to hop on board. We appreciate your financial investment into the pod. Blake, one of the things that makes this league great is trades.
00:56:23
Speaker
And we've had years with very few. We've had years with many.
Trading Reluctance
00:56:29
Speaker
In recent years, there's been a lot of people too scared to trade saying that it's tanked their season, yada, yada, yada. So I'm gonna open it up with this. I've got an over under for the first week that a trade will happen. I'm gonna set it at four and a half. And that is pretty low. I'm curious if you have any
00:56:51
Speaker
Comments on that and how you could see things playing out I'll take the over For a couple reasons and it actually it's really one reason this league is So scared to get a deal done There are three people I can think of that are willing to trade Three people two of them are on this this podcast. The other is Andrew Can you name another player willing to actually deal in the league? I can't
00:57:21
Speaker
Bobby never been able to trade with him. Always has to think he won based off of his analysis and spreadsheets. AJ won't touch a trade unless he thinks he's getting, I don't know, 80% of the value out of the trade. He's kind of like that classic meme, like, you know, you get my bench player, I get your best player. I guess Rob might be willing to trade, but he hasn't had assets in so long. Rhino not doing business with him. Larry refuses to trade.
00:57:51
Speaker
But Jake probably doesn't even see your trade request in time to push it through. It probably expires before Jake even looks at it. And Will, like I said, has become apathetic towards the league. I don't think there's enough people willing to trade, so I'm taking the over. Interesting. I see two things that could move us towards the under. One, Nick Chubb coming back after week four. That could encourage some movement. And I do think Rob,
00:58:19
Speaker
is a trade guy and I could have something up my sleeve for Rob early on in the season. So that could be affecting the line. But I agree. There's very few willing to make serious deals and very few willing to take risks. So you could be right on the over. I would say the over is probably juiced to like minus 175 minus 200.
00:58:46
Speaker
I mean, the league is so adverse to any sort of risk. It's truly amazing. I got some criticism on the group, me like, oh, Blake, must be a record for transactions before the season starts. Like, I made three moves, right? Again,
00:59:00
Speaker
own it, took the wrong player, dropped him, had to pick up a kicker. Okay, there's one. I did some research. Guess what? I had Kirk Cousins. He has the same bye week as Josh Allen. I can't have two QBs with the same bye week. That's the whole point in having a backup. I pick up Jared Goff. I think he's a dark horse for MVP for what it's worth. And then I did score analysis. I needed a better defense. I didn't want to go up against Lamar and Derek Henry week one. Pick up the Bears. I liked their matchup this week. Honestly,
00:59:30
Speaker
I think the Bears could be pretty good. So I will say this, I love the Bears matching up against the Titans. I think the Bears D does well. I'm just gonna defend my picks. But like guys, stop with the adverse to transaction mentality. I think it's negative for the league. Yeah, I agree. Speaking of things that make the league great and risk, what about side bets?
Side Bets Importance
01:00:00
Speaker
We had a couple of years there where they were electric. A lot of them involved eating things. I've had a number of side bets, most of which I've lost that were financial. And I've got another one on the line this year, $100 wager. It's exciting for me. It's boring for everyone else. Do you see side bets kind of becoming a thing again? Will you be partaking in any this year? Where do you see that going?
01:00:29
Speaker
I mean, I love a side bet. I love a side bet. I think that a side bet is very, very, very important because one, it just, it just makes, makes the week more fun. Two, I think it brings out some people that weren't paying as much attention to the league in certain moments. Like, oh man, Blake's gonna have to eat an onion raw. If he loses this week, like maybe I'm not too cool for fantasy this week.
01:00:58
Speaker
Maybe I could hop on the group chat. Maybe I could engage with my friends. See, I think side bets are important. On an emotional level, not just on a humor level. Important on an emotional level. I love the Jake and you storyline coming into this. It's the most engaged I've seen the chef so far. He might even listen to the podcast, you never know. But I mean, it's sparking up, it's sparking up. Just as we're recording this podcast, we do have some other breaking news.
01:01:30
Speaker
I'm gonna flip the script on you. Andrew put out a offer of a $1,000 side bet to Rob on Purdy versus Stroud, who's gonna outscore who. Rob responded back with a very strongly worded comment. I took Purdy in the 16th to Stroud in the fifth.
01:01:57
Speaker
but I paid the price for the waiting games. I also find it amusing you think Schefter is in charge of drafted algorithms. Andrew fires back with, that wasn't, and this is censored, effing joke, dumbass. And then Rob responds back with, did you hit the muddy water at lunch violence on a Wednesday? This is what side bets can bring, James. $1,000 bets being thrown out. Rob,
01:02:22
Speaker
and Andrew just hurling insults at each other. We have effing dumb ass accusation of muddy water at lunch. This is what side bets are all about. I think it's driving hunger point. That's wonderful. It could be, you know, Miller time Wednesday for Andrew. He always sends the group me a picture of him drinking a beer. He'll like
01:02:48
Speaker
It'll be five minutes before noon and Andrew will be like, hey guys, you want to go get some lunch? And no one will respond. And Andrew will send a picture of a beer with his lunch on a weekday. I'm like, more power to you, but it's hard to get there on short notice, Andrew. So maybe like 839 in the morning, I might be able to join you. And I think the only.
01:03:11
Speaker
problem that Andrew made there was going so high with the dollar amount that Rob didn't think about it. Andrew, if you're listening, which you will be in the morning
01:03:27
Speaker
You know, maybe offer something else besides money and you might be able to get this bet back on the table is all I would say. James, let's go rapid fire here. We're coming up on time that Rob already stopped listening 20 minutes ago because his bandwidth is very limited. He's got a lot of important things to do. We can't listen to you and I talk about the league.
Week 1 Matchup Predictions
01:03:48
Speaker
Let's do predictions for week one.
01:03:51
Speaker
Let's start with bomb squad versus hustle and Russell. Uh, this is a team that you really don't like in the draft versus a team you really do like in the draft. I'm guessing you're taking Larry in this matchup. Absolutely. I, I do think Larry's going to get off to a good start this year. I'm looking at the projections. It's got balmy by I'm just under two points here. I, I just see Larry.
01:04:17
Speaker
kind of having some early pop and getting the job done against the Kamesh. Love this matchup tomorrow or today. If you're listening on Thursday, Mahomes versus Lamar. I love this matchup. Week one, I love a quarterback battle on the same night. It's electric. So Mahomes, Jackson, I think whoever comes out of that matchup wins that game. I'm actually taking Bonnie by a hair. Hillbillies versus the Rhino. I like thebillies in this one. How are you feeling?
01:04:48
Speaker
I'm aligned on this. We haven't agreed much tonight, but I like the Hillbillies. I think they got a very soft matchup for Joe Burrow, even if he is a little wonky with that hand going against the Patriots. And I just think he's going to get off to a good start and it's really going to kickstart a season and get him engaged. Last match that neither you or I are involved in, historian versus the chef.
01:05:15
Speaker
I'm going, and I said this early on, he's my title winner. I gotta go chef here. Hurts versus Purdy, it seems like a no brainer. Who do you like in this matchup? I hate to agree with you with the side action that I've got, but I actually do have Jake winning this matchup. I just, I could see it being a huge Bijon game that makes a lot of people jealous, including yourself and
01:05:42
Speaker
Jake getting really engaged and talking shit to me. It's going to be interesting though. Going to be interesting. All right. We said we'd recuse ourselves. I'm going to predict smooth moves versus bandwagon or you can predict my matchup with AJ. Looking at this on paper, we had a lot of talk about Stroud already tonight.
01:06:05
Speaker
I actually do, for whatever reason, trust Andrew. I trust him. Even as ridiculous as his drafts have been, I trust him in this matchup because I like Stroud against the Colts a lot more than I like Kyler at Buffalo. Now, thankfully, Kyler's not catching Buffalo in cold season. I do think he had a leg up there. But I don't like the A-chain split backfield
01:06:35
Speaker
Joe Mixon on the Texans could be great, could be a bust. There's a lot of weapons there. And who is throwing to Justin Jefferson? I'm not even sure. I'm not trying to rag on your team here. I just think we've won a lot to be uncovered there. I'm going with the retro team. I'm going with Andrew by about 10. Interesting. Yeah, with my comments about Andrew being a norm front runner, I could see those comments coming back to bite me.
01:07:06
Speaker
We will see though, Andrew, I've traditionally had his number, but maybe that script is beginning to flip. So I'll dive into your matchup Blake. It's very simple for me. I didn't rag on your team a lot here throughout the podcast, but it feels top heavy to me. And I don't see you getting off to a hot start. Derek Henry is going to make or break your week here.
01:07:34
Speaker
And I'm very excited to watch that game and see the Ravens offense and see what it looks like. But we talked about AJ's injury-prone guys. They're healthy right now. And I see the Coug putting up about, I'll call it 135, week one. Ooh. Ooh. That's a fair analysis. That's a fair analysis. James, coming into the season,
01:08:03
Speaker
I think we've had a great start. I think we've had a great start. I'm, I'm really looking forward to week one here. I just want to say this to the league. If you'd like to be on the show or if you'd like to sponsor the show, we are still accepting guests spots, uh, filling in through the rest of the year, uh, for future pods. We are still accepting sponsorships. So just wanted to highlight that we are.
01:08:31
Speaker
We are willing to sell out and we would like to one more time thank our sponsors for their generous financial contributions to the bot. And we do hope, we do hope to hear from the commissioner this season. Yeah, I really hope that we do. It was kind of something we had planned to be a recurring segment and it's not off to a great start. All I'll say to close here is enough talk here,
01:08:59
Speaker
Let's watch some football and be keyboard warriors tomorrow night. We got four, four days of football coming up in a row and it's going to be beautiful. So that does it for episode two of stone by cornbread and official league of hard knocks podcast. And we are signing off. Peace.
01:09:46
Speaker
Yeah.