Transcript
Speaker: Hey fantasy friends and Swifties alike, welcome to the very first episode of The Playbook, where touchdowns meet tearful ballads and fantasy football gets a glittery makeover. I'm Sean, your moderator, here to keep things unbeaten and on track.
Speaker: And I'm Jake, your stat nerd, matchup junkie, and just general resident overthinker of every waiver wire pickup. If you've ever drafted just based on yak stats, you're my kind of people.
Speaker: And I'm Krista, your resident Swifty, as well as a drafter overthinker. Think of me as part fantasy manager, part Taylor Swift translator. I'll help you match teams to eras and also call you out if your bench outscores your starters.
Speaker: But don't worry, I'm Leighton, and I'm considered a professional dream crusher, here to trash talk your faves, my fre faves, anyone in fantasy sports overall.
Speaker: um And don't worry, because if you make a bad trade, I'm going to be here to point it out with popcorn. And I'm Lindsay, your unhinged fantasy philosopher.
Speaker: i draft with intuition. Make bold calls and sometimes cry over my benched players. Expect hot takes, lots of heart, and the occasional Swifty Mad Lib.
Speaker: And I'm Allie. I'm steering this ship and making sure that our recording doesn't sound like it's being recorded in a closet. Wish me luck.
Speaker: Today we are beyond excited to welcome a very special guest to our debut episode and the original creator of the super swifty fan, ah fancy football league, the tick tock legend herself, Missy Perez.
Speaker: Hi guys. Thanks for having me. a We're so excited to have you here, Missy. um For those, and I can't imagine anyone on the planet that is not familiar with you, but for anyone new to us, can you kind of give us the backstory on how all of this got started as well as what made you decide to blend Swifty culture and fantasy football?
Speaker: Sure. So I actually, i work in sports. I work in baseball. I work for the Phillies. um I've worked in sports for 10 years now, kind of on the social media content side of sports.
Speaker: So I've always been very, very in that world and involved in that world. um Taylor Swift obviously has been a big part of my life since I was in high school. I'm honestly going into high school, my freshman year of high school. So I've I started you know making TikToks probably 2022, 23, maybe like actually making them 22, 23. And that was kind of coinciding with the start of the Ares tour. And I would get traction on a lot of my Taylor Swift topics as she is the center of the universe and the center of the music industry. So everybody was really interested in anything kind of from a Taylor Swift perspective. So i was thinking like, what could I do or something that I think
Speaker: you know, interests me, but is maybe a little bit more niche than just talking about things that, you know, everybody was talking about. So I had an idea one night because i also I've worked, you know, in kind of marketing and and social for a long time. And I would say like copywriting is something that is one of the things that I my strong suit, I guess, probably will be overridden by Chad GPT in a couple of years here. And out of work. um I've always had a kind of a knack, but you know, that that friend that my friends would text or call and be like, hey, do you have a caption for this? Help me caption this Instagram photo. Help me kind of come up with that. It's always been something that I've I've been good at and kind of as you know my career has has developed, I think I've gotten even stronger at.
Speaker: um So I had an idea of coming up with those around the time. i mean, it wasn't even really. It was kind of the summer. So but sort of about to gear up to the time of fantasy football. And I was like, I'll be fun to make Taylor Swift inspired fantasy names. And it I posted that video and then like woke up the next day and it had blown up.
Speaker: um And so people were asking for more. and then a lot of people were like, wait, actually, though, could we do a Taylor Swift fantasy football league? And I was like, I mean, not with the amount of people that commented on this. I think it's you. that felt this the um And I'm also not.
Speaker: And I bless Allie's heart here. She's tried to reach out to me so many times, but I feel like I ah do have my... regular work job, you know, so I was like, I don't have time to and I know all all of you guys do too.
Speaker: um But, you know, the logistics is not usually my strong suit on something like this. i was like, how do I even pull this off? Or, you know, come on, I'm not a super type A organized person. um so I was like, all right, well, I guess, you know, I'll create a Facebook group and then, you know, have people fill out this form and go from there. And I did, I spent like probably honestly like five days, one week, just like assigning people. And then I will say, you know, I cannot take credit for what it has blown up into because you guys have really taken it and run with it. And again, way more of the people that are, the people that should be doing this, who are on top of things and logistics and and in communication, just because
Speaker: I know my my faults and that is one of them. I'm not very good at that. So yeah, I mean, that was kind of how it started. um It was crazy. Like I think 2000 people, you know, had filled out the form initially. So it was like going based on geography of when people would be awake or talking and um you know, putting kind of somebody that would want to be the commissioner of each league and and organizing it that way. And I know obviously some better than others. Some people were less communicative, probably like like myself would have been if I'd made myself a commissioner.
Speaker: um And others, you know, really, really leaned into it and took charge of it. And I think it's been really cool to see kind of the transformation of where you guys have taken this silly TikTok idea and and made it into something that's really like a community of people who are I mean, at the core, just huge fans of Taylor Swift and her music, but also huge fans of sports or even not, you know, some people just didn't even really know what fantasy was. And they were like well, i like Taylor Swift. This could be fun. And ah you don't have to be a huge diehard football or sports fan to to really lean into it. So, um yeah, I mean, it's been really, really cool to watch.
Speaker: It's so important to also say that this was all pre Taylor Swift and Travis. Okay. Yes. Yes. And i I, is so funny because I think I made it, like I said, it wasn't quite football season yet. And I think it was honestly probably around this time, like late June of 23 that I made the video.
Speaker: And then it kind of started to blow up And I remember I was at the beach for the 4th of July and that was when i was like, okay. Cause everyone was commenting like, Oh, can we do a league? Can we, no, I was like, all right, um let me try and figure this out. Um, So totally pre and I remember obviously like you know, the Kelsey's had with just the Kelsey bowl, super bowl matchup of 23. was that 20, 22, 23?
Speaker: Yeah. Early 23 of that Superbowl. Um, they you
Speaker: um they had you know been gaining a lot of traction. I think just like new heights had been gaining traction and stuff, but obviously pre Taylor Swift bump. So a lot of people were asking about feltel like Travis Kelsey inspired names. And I was like, I ultimately somebody had sad, beautiful, sad, beautiful Travis, which I think is the best one for Travis Kelsey. But I remember being like, Oh, good.
Speaker: He was just pretty popular in general. um So then, yeah, when, when Taylor and Travis, said that it was us maybe late September, I think when they were first shown um at the game. But even, i mean, this was pre the Kansas City Ayers tour because that was like after fourth of July. So, i mean, I posted it right before that, um which is crazy because obviously then the intersection of Taylor Swift in football has become something that is way different than than what it had initially become. Maybe you manifested Maybe, honestly. I wish I could take credit for it, but it was cool because it did see the like boost in interest of Swifties in football, obviously, because people would tune in just to watch Taylor Swift. I know a lot of diehard football fans have had their issues with it. but
Speaker: That's the whole Chad's brads and dads of it all. But um I think like the coolest part of all of that too was a big thing for me, you know, like getting into sports was my relationship with my dad and watching sports. And I think all of the like daughters and dads and stuff that, you know, got into watching football because of Taylor Swift is just gave me the chills. But like they did a lot of really cool commercials and stories on that too. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: You know, that moment really felt so serendipitous, just the biggest crossover you could think of and perfect timing. Was there a moment like that you really felt that this had taken off or you were like, oh my God, this is a real thing. I can't believe this is happening.
Speaker: I mean, i think I think once the Facebook group really started and Allie pretty early on was like, oh, I'd like to help, like I can help you moderate. And i was like, please, yeah, if you if you wouldn't mind. And then really she kind of had taken taken it into her own hands in the best possible way. But I think it just kept growing. You know, every time I'd look, it's like what more people joining or more people excited about it. And then you guys had actually, because of my work, I cannot um participate even in fantasy baseball. We're not allowed to like you know, there's league rules and things like that. But then once it like started into different leagues and, you know, people wanted to to do fantasy baseball and people wanted to, and it just became something far more than just like one year's fantasy football league was really, really cool to watch.
Speaker: And, and I mean, For us, it's obviously become such a big part of our lives. um But like looking back, you made a TikTok and it literally turned into changing the world of sports and how women interact with sports.
Speaker: um What's been like the most surprising, rewarding part of it all? um ah does Does it even really feel real that your impact led to all of this?
Speaker: Oh, I mean, I don't, I don't want to take credit for it. I think you guys really took it and ran with it um in so many ways. And I think, I think what's cool is something like this, right? Like you, none of you guys would have ever met probably, right? Without this.
Speaker: um And now here you are on a Saturday morning, you know, chatting and I'm, you said the text group texts are, you know, going all the time. and And it's like really cool to bring people together. I think always for things that are Like, obviously, very popular interests individually, obviously, and especially pre-Taylor Swift dating Travis, but I think very popular interests individually and then kind of putting them together. It's just it was it's so cool to pick people all over the country or, you know, wherever else interacting on this kind of thing and getting to meet new people. i think that's like mostly the the part of it that really is is awesome to me.
Speaker: I think it's been incredible. I do have to say when I bring this up in conversation out in the world, people don't realize the crossover between Taylor Swift fans and sports fans. And it's ah like the light bulb goes on in their head when they see two and two put together. like oh my God, I didn't think of that. That's so amazing.
Speaker: Yeah, it's funny because truly like not even, you know, putting it like for most of my adult life, those have been two of probably my largest interests and things that I like really get me passionate about, you know.
Speaker: And I think it's it's funny, like there are few things that, can make me like super emotional by listening or watching or I'm super invested in the result of things. Right. And a lot of it is sports and my fandom to different sports, but also anytime there's ah an album drop or anytime there's anything like that, it's like those kind of feelings are the, those, you know, really powerful sort of emotional things for me.
Speaker: Yeah, I feel the same way. And as a longtime football fan, this crossover has just been amazing. I think I can speak for all of us to say we're grateful that you made that TikTok. So thanks for doing that so that this happened.
Speaker: um But it's wild how one TikTok turned into a full-on movement. So let's take it all the way back. How did you actually become a Swifty in the first place? You said your freshman year of high school.
Speaker: Yeah, so I, it's so funny to me and I know now and obviously in retrospect, everyone's always like, oh, especially there's that TikTok trend going around now that's like, oh, you're just became a Swifty from the Ayers tour and then people will like scroll back and show when they followed Taylor Swift or whatever it is.
Speaker: um One, I think that people like you can't gatekeep the most popular person in the planet, right? The most popular pop star. So if you became Swifty yesterday or you became a Swifty in 2004, like it doesn't really matter. But, um, I remember when Tim McGraw came out, I downloaded the whole debut album on LimeWire on my parents' computer. Obsessed with it. And it's so funny because to this day, I mean, back then, like I didn't realize that I'd Lie wasn't actually a, uh,
Speaker: on any of the albums and I had downloaded that on LimeWire which became my favorite song so I'm I'm waiting for the the debut Taylor's version for that one to come out of the vault but um I just was like completely like I loved loved Taylor Swift and I like really like got into her music honestly kind of because of Tim McGraw I guess when it first came out but in 2006 um and then my 16th birthday which would have been right I guess right after Fearless came out because I Yeah, I would have turned 16 in December of 2008. So right after Fearless had come out, but still she wasn't like quite, you know, obviously to the level she is now, or I would say like the level probably 1989 propelled My
Speaker: um my mom had seen, I lived, i grew up in Florida, I grew up in Tampa and she was performing at the Florida Strawberry Festival in March of 20, 2009. And it was right after Fearless had come out, but it wasn't like a fearless tour. it was, she was just doing a show and it was some Fearless, some, you know, some of her debut album.
Speaker: And my mom surprised me and bought four tickets for myself and three of my friends to go to the Florida. And when I tell you, this is like a state fair, basically. um They were like $40 tickets. It was front row. And also I invited three of my friends to go with us um or to go with me. And like, they didn't, I mean, they might've known the words.
Speaker: I don't even think like you belong. I don't even think they like really knew the words to that. Like nobody really knew who she was, but they were all like, let's go, you know? And I was like, dying. I couldn't even, I'd just gotten my license, but my parents, it was a little bit of a ways out and it was going to get dark went after the show. So my parents drove us and they just like walked around the fair, the festival, and like could hear and basically see the entire concert, even without a ticket.
Speaker: Um, which is so crazy to think about now because obviously she would never, like if she played a venue, should um, insane. But I think that was really like, I mean, I was pretty, pretty early on in it.
Speaker: Um, And I never wavered, you know, like obviously some people I think like fell off or got whatever and all of it. I never really did waver. I will say something that's crazy is prior to the Ayers tour, I think I'd been to four or five concerts. And in 2010 then, i went to the, I guess it would have been Fearless because I don't think it was the Speak Now tour yet either.
Speaker: But she played the like arena where the Tampa Bay Lightning play. Um, and we were like up in the nosebleeds and got that like stereotypical upgrade thing where, you know, like a, somebody comes up to you and I was in high school and brought us down to the pit. We met Andrea Swift. I have those photos.
Speaker: I didn't get to meet Taylor, i which in retrospect, but it was really cool. And then weirdly enough, my older sister in 2018, um, uh, the reputation tour in Philadelphia, which is where I live now, my sister came to visit and we went to the show and we were up, I mean, and also like at that point too, I mean, in 2010, I was, you know, whatever, 17 and going nuts in my, and I still go nuts, but I like the reputation when everyone wore an outfits and stuff. And I wasn't necessarily, ah my sister and I were in like black jeans and a black top.
Speaker: Um, And similarly, we were taking a photo and a security guard like moved us down to floor seats. So I've weirdly been upgraded at two Taylor Swift concerts. I will say once we got to air as I was had enough money that I wasn't buying the nosebleeds. So I was anyways, but anyways.
Speaker: But yeah, I've been I've been really tried or true, I will say, for a very long time. So a long winded way to answer that question. We need you to rub some of that luck on. I know. I know. Although to be fair, Ara's noseblades were not cheap.
Speaker: So. No. um And I actually lived in Tampa for 10 years. So I know everywhere you're referencing that. Yeah. um um And facts, the strawberry fair, the strawberry festival is small. So that is really impressive and awesome. I actually recently went back to look when I was telling the story to somebody like when it was, and it was March. It was like March 1st of 2009 or something like that. But the,
Speaker: strawberry festival the person that like puts it on did say from a talent perspective that like it was far more ah so she must have really like started to pick up steam there because i think it was like one of theirs where they were like oh my god we didn't anticipate this like you know i think my mom like called from the newspaper which is crazy to think about but like saw the ad classifieds or whatever and called right away to get the tickets i do think it was like pretty pretty popular so she must have really like really started to kind of get steam at that time. And it's out there too. It's not like yeah no it's like plant city or something. yeah plain city it is
Speaker: Yeah. it's awesome It's my parents were like, you're not, you're freshly 16. You are not. Um, okay. So we all have to ask this. You're basically the queen of Swifty fantasy team names. So we'd love to hear your top three.
Speaker: Okay. Top three. Um, I always love all to a well, I think all to a well is hilarious. Um, I really like your on Mahomes kid ah for for Patrick Mahomes. I don't know a third one.
Speaker: I mean, I think now with like Drake London, there's so much, and I feel like he's always a top pick with so long London or so long or London boy. i think he's a fun one to do for that, but it really totally depends. What's funny is like, I feel like every year there's a new person that like the first year I did it, like Jonathan Taylor was like the top pick. Right. And now it's like, he's not even on people's radar. So it's so funny now, like going into this next year, coming up with, coming up with something new for, for guys that are coming up or, or, you know,
Speaker: standout kind of fantasy guys. But those are some of the ones I really like. I like the ones to player specific more than like the generics, I think. Yeah, agreed. But we will definitely be watching for your new picks this year.
Speaker: Yes, yes. I know. I have to start thinking about it. Yeah. What about you guys? What are your favorites?
Speaker: think if you're playing on...
Speaker: if you're playing on sleeper yeah death by a thousand yeah if you're playing on sleeper uh sleeper spell spell spy that's a good one that's a really good one all right that one's my favorite i think yeah i had day flowers last season so mine was your wife waters flowers that's cute oh good good that's really fun yeah All right, Missy. So before we let you go, we'd love to hear what's next from you. do you have any big plans coming up? or ah Yeah. So it's funny. I actually kind of had stopped, which I've learned quickly. Like once you, again, back to me, just getting caught up with work specifically.
Speaker: um Always like in the February to March time, I go down to Florida for three weeks for spring training and I'm just like busy from 7am till it's just the craziest days. um I always fall off on content at that time and I am so bad at posting and then I've learned because probably like about a month or two ago I've like started to try and post again every single day but once you kind of fall off of it, ah TikTok definitely fored like favors people who are posting all the time.
Speaker: um it is It's hard to get back into it. So I have started posting again because I really do miss it and from the perspective of what you guys are saying just like the community of it all it's fun to like talk to people and um you know, get to meet people that way. So I have started, started posting again, but again, just with work and stuff, sometimes it's, it gets crazy. um But yeah, I mean, I'm just, just, you know, living, working, um hoping to kind of get back to that a little bit more and, and get to, you know, engage with people and and talk obviously all things Taylor Swift and sports and life and,
Speaker: um all those fun things but i'm really excited to see how how things go with you guys just even the the transition one the podcast is really exciting but two just the transition from you know specifically the fantasy to just more of a realm of of overall kind of sports and that intersection of taylor swift and sports because like i said earlier those are two of the two of the things i am most passionate about in this world As are we.
Speaker: All right. So we have, we're going to do a lightning round of questions. So this is just, these are questions that we compiled from people in, in the, in our discord. Okay.
Speaker: So there's just 25 random questions. Some of them are football. Some of them are sports. Some of them are Taylor and some of them are just random. All right. I'm ready. We're going to give you 60 seconds to we'll get through as many as we can.
Speaker: All right. We got a minute on the shot clock starting now. If you could ask Taylor Swift one question, what would it be? oh God. um I would ask her who who every song is about.
Speaker: Once and for all. All right. What is your go-to game day snack? really The first thing that popped into my mind was Sour Patch Kids, so we're going to go with Sour Patch Kids. Ooh.
Speaker: First Taylor song that comes to your mind. Cowboy Like Me. Ooh. Who's your Roman Empire player? The one you just can't quit drafting?
Speaker: It's honestly prior to last year, always been Saquon Barkley, and I didn't get him last year, and then that was how did that play out for me. What is your favorite flavor of Uncrustable? Grape. Solid.
Speaker: Solid. Would you rather win your league or get surprise Ares tour tickets? Surprise Ares tour tickets.
Speaker: One NFL player you think would thrive in a Taylor music video that's not Travis. Oh, got to hear it. We've got to hear the answer to that. You can't leave us hanging like that.
Speaker: I mean, if it could be former, because I think Gronk would be fantastic. I think. Oh, yeah. Wow, those fun. I was pretty well singing next to her, though. That was that was pretty good. Yeah, yeah, that's true. And after after that video, you might have changed my mind. I'm trying to think like current. I feel like so many guys would be really fun. the NFL has a lot of really good personalities. So true. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: So is that everything we have for Missy? think so. yeah Any final final departing thoughts, Missy? No, no. I just, thanks again for having me. If you guys ever want me to hop on again or talk as we get closer to the season, I'd love to. You guys are doing a really cool thing. So I'm excited to follow along and and participate. um But yeah, no, thanks so much for having me. This was a lot of fun.
Speaker: Yeah, will. We thank you right back for being our origin story. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Bye.
Speaker: That made my heart so happy. I know. i im ah i'm so excited. Like, I can't stop shaking. That's just one of the coolest moments of my life. Knock a line. It's like changing moments for all of us, right? It really changed our lives and our pathways. So, so cool.
Speaker: We'll always be grateful. She's awesome. Yeah. yeah We should make her a more regular, like a monthly check-in or something like that. If she's willing to do it, like she's, that was awesome.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. We'll call it monthly Missy and we'll just get some time with her. I love it. I love it. So why are we here? Because we love fantasy football and we love Taylor Swift.
Speaker: And honestly, the overlap is real.
Speaker: All right. So each week we're going to bring you stats and strategy and obviously Swifty style fun, um including team name power rankings, just like we did with Missy. You'll get real fantasy advice for every sport too, between drafting, trading, managing your roster.
Speaker: We'll have you covered. And don't worry if you need someone to maybe call out someone in your league who started 0-4 and decided to blame injuries instead of their poor management.
Speaker: I got you. And i have the ability to write them up a full obituary in the smallest man who ever lived style. ah definitely do not want to be on the obituary list.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: All right. With that, then you should manage your roster properly. famous sister You got it. that That gives me all the encouragement I need. yes Yes. Sitting behind your computer weekly, just waiting. this Yeah. That should be motivation for everybody to keep right. with their Exactly. Who's going in the black book this week?
Speaker: You know, Well, with that, you know, we're releasing this on July 31st. We're coming right up on draft time. It's time to talk draft strategy. You have to think about this like folklore.
Speaker: Layered, intentional. You can't panic. Right. and ah what are we thinking about everyone's favorite tight end right now? Travis Kelsey. He's entering his 13th season. Are we panicking? yeah Is he still your tight end number one?
Speaker: What are we thinking? I mean, if you're asking me, he is still definitely my tight end number one. He has something and someone to think about.
Speaker: I mean, i think that is motivation enough. ah So, yes, he is still my Roman Empire 1000%. thousand percent But I think when you're drafting, like, don't just stick to Swifty intuition or, like, drafting all the hottest players.
Speaker: Have one or two of each, but then get focused. This also gets into my really good first tip. You can't chase last year's points from really great players. You can't make this summer a cruel summer just because last year's was a good one. So really be mindful. Do your research.
Speaker: You know, you don't have to go all in, but just a little bit of scouring so you feel confident going in. I think confidence can be the biggest boost going into a draft, regardless of whether you're a diehard football fan or you're just getting into it.
Speaker: Yeah, but I mean, like... don't be stupid. You should draft Saquon Barkley, you know, or, you know, the people who have consistently performed year after year, George Kittle, Saquon.
Speaker: I mean, even throw in Christian McCaffrey. He may not have hit his 2023 performance last year because of injuries, but The big names are the big names for a reason.
Speaker: So don't try to be way too niche and overthink it. Like draft Saquon. If Missy's telling you she always draft Saquon, you should draft Saquon.
Speaker: Amen. Tip number two. Week one, he's going to tear his ACL. I'm telling you, I had him. Let's not put that juju into the air, please. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. got on the cover of Madden this year. We're good.
Speaker: Tip number two. Look for players of big potentials in rounds four through eight. That's your cruel summer moment. It's like your high risk, high reward. Like, find players with great situations with question marks and backups getting promoted, receivers from injury on a second high-scoring team, or like a QB with new weapons.
Speaker: Who knows? Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf. Aaron Rodgers, Sean, come on. Look for guys where everything could go right. Aaron Rodgers the guy we know all too well now.
Speaker: good This coming from a Steelers fan.
Speaker: Wow. The Hurts. Okay. Tip three. Have fun with your team name. Obviously. Shake it off. Shake it golf. Chef's kiss. But you might be fighting others for some of the more generic ones.
Speaker: I mean, I think definitely having a cute name is the most important part. That's definitely what's going to win you a championship. So ah that's the most solid tip I've heard yet. Definitely. um but Again, ball too well, you're going to be fighting for that name.
Speaker: But I like that approach Missy gave us that, you know, she looks more so at the players and who's around. I always do mine similarly. I draft first and then I come up with a name based on who ended up on my roster. So have fun with the draft. Enjoy it.
Speaker: But enjoy the team name too. You have to love what you're doing. you're not having fun, what's the point?
Speaker: And the last thing we've got for you as well is don't sleep on depth, especially when you get to those late round picks. Your bye weeks are going to hit like surprise songs. You have to be ready for when they drop, when they come out, when they're announced.
Speaker: Because if you have a team that's so heavy on the front end, and then everybody's got the same bye week, and your bench looks like guys who maybe get one catch a game, you're going to be feeling really bad for yourself for a week or two.
Speaker: The bi-week has, in fact, killed me before. Yeah. It can feel like a curse if you're not paying attention, that's for sure. I've definitely sat in round 12 of a draft and be like, wait a second. My wide receiver folks have by week 11. I didn't think about that. Who do i who that doesn't have that? oh I know. Yeah, panic mode.
Speaker: Occasionally, I may or may not draft, you know, like my backup quarterback based off of looks and not talent. I don't know who that would be. um But then that screwed me over on by weeks one too many times. And so I had to abandon that strategy.
Speaker: So weird. Well, it just so happens that he's talented as well. So it worked in your favor.
Speaker: All right. So we're going to go to the next segment. This is a reoccurring one. It's going to be called Start, Bench, or Break Up With. And we're going to make it Swifty Edition, obviously. And Leighton, give us the rules.
Speaker: So basically, we're going to take three players based off of their real-life fantasy football performance and assign them a fate. Who we're starting, who were who's riding the bench, and who we're breaking up with...
Speaker: like Maddie Healy, um and what you should do for your league. And also, why is he trolling her again? know. What?
Speaker: Leave her alone. Yes. A Peter Pan button. Also, like, okay. Well, he understands that the only way he's relevant is his association her. is totally trying to relevant with her now.
Speaker: Yes. Yeah. He sees her happy and he's jealous and yeah. Maddie freaking Healy. i sorry I'm sorry. I digress. Please continue. I mean, you could break up with him 1975 times, I think we all would at this point.
Speaker: Very well said, Jake. Very well said. ah Since the season hasn't started yet, and we are going to do a classic dilemma today instead. Should you draft your favorite player?
Speaker: That's a tough one. You know, I'll start with Justin Jefferson, who I feel like is a universal fantasy favorite. He tends to be the 101, the first pick of the first round.
Speaker: And yeah, he's had injuries, you know, one or two years, but he's genuinely one of the top three fantasy widest years, if not the top, almost every single year. And he's just entering his prime.
Speaker: Whatever Vikings quarterback they have this year, it'll be JJ McCarthy. It's been Kirk cousins in the past. They're going to get him the ball. He is the guy who drags your team and drags the Vikings as far as they can go, hopefully in fantasy to championships.
Speaker: But if you're drafting him, it's a no brainer. Don't even hesitate. Lindsay, I can see your hair turning purple as she's talking. but There still might be a couple streaks from last season left behind and before I get the new one going again this August.
Speaker: ah love it. Okay, but I think we need to maybe go a little bit deeper. I don't think anyone's really questioning whether or not they should draft Justin Jefferson. Can we get like slightly more depth in there? What's what's a bench pick?
Speaker: Yeah, okay. I gotcha. And I'll call it another former Viking, I guess. He lives on in Vikings lore for the Minnesota Miracle. It's a team that, ah they're my favorite team.
Speaker: They're Krista's favorite team. They had so much hype this offseason. It's the Patriots. It's Stefan Diggs. He's my bench. you know it It breaks my heart to say that, but... um There's so much going on around this Patriots team between the new wide-out room with Stephon Diggs, Matt Collins, Kyle Williams, the new running backs with Travion Henderson, um all the depth that they got on the offensive line, drafting Will Campbell, um everything they did on the O-line and the D-line, ah Mike Rabel as the new coach, Josh McDaniels is back as ah offensive coordinator. My head is spinning just thinking about the amount of things that the Patriots have done.
Speaker: And so while there is a lot of hype, and there should be, I think the Patriots finally are laying the foundation post-Belichick the way they should have last year They're just not ready yet.
Speaker: It's going to take at least a couple of weeks. I know Josh McDaniels' playbook is insane in the membrane. It's going to be insane for anybody, whether you're Drake May, whether he's a quick learner or not.
Speaker: Stefan Diggs, he's a league veteran. It's going to take time. It's going to take time to develop of that chemistry. It's going to take time to learn this playbook. I would say draft him for your bench for now.
Speaker: It's a great mid-season reevaluation, but you know, it's hard having a superstar like Stefan Degs, a guy who's been so prominent in the league for so many years, warming your bench. But I think that's the right move right now.
Speaker: All I can say is somewhere his nephew, Aiden, you're hurting his feelings and that hurts my heart a little.
Speaker: I'll also throw my sponsors for any Cardi B hate.
Speaker: Oh my God. I think the Patriots are going to really turn it around this year. I'm not sure if Diggs can thrive in the style of offense that they're going to have to have where it's not one person being a superstar.
Speaker: um And I think if you look at McDaniel's history with the Patriots, what back in the Brady era. And if you look at how Vrabel handled Tennessee, i think that it's very much not a one person gets the ball type of offense. And I think that that's really where Diggs excels and that's what he wants to be.
Speaker: um I was a little surprised when he went to new England because of that. um So I, I agree. I think he right now for he's a bench player. um And maybe maybe later on in the season, he'll get in a groove and and everything will be phenomenal. But um I wouldn't draft him as a wide receiver one right now.
Speaker: You know, coming off of his injury as well to his torn ACL, you know, he's not going to be your starting X. He might be the Y. He might be the Z. He's still a great route runner. Don't get me wrong.
Speaker: But I think they're going to put him in a place where he's not exerting too much force on that knee. Yeah, he might be making lots of cuts in the slot or like just past the 10-yard line. He's not busting it down the field like he used to. So that might hamper his fantasy production as well.
Speaker: Good call out. That's fair. Yeah. It's also possible this coaching staff can get him back to the heart he had during the Minneapolis Miracle Play, where he said, get me the ball and I will make this happen.
Speaker: Since then, there's been rumors of can have a cancer in the locker room. So is who is he? Which Stefan Diggs is going to show up this season? Look, I don't mean to diss on any AFC East opponents, Sean McDermott, but maybe it takes a Mike Vrabel, a guy who's like very boisterous and big and has a giant personality to wrangle a guy like Stefan Diggs in the shape. And it's not necessarily the Patriot way that Bill Belichick had it.
Speaker: It's like Patriot way 2.0 where you're allowed to express yourself. You have that wiggle room, but you still have that umbrella of like, this is how we operate. We have a team culture that everybody truly has to buy into.
Speaker: With Vrabel, all things are possible, and I am here for it.
Speaker: We're just going to move past the Bills slander because I'm well aware of your guys' record recently, and we're on top of the AOC, so say all you want. Just wait.
Speaker: We're coming for you. I guess we're going to talk about Stefan Biggs's ACL injury. Let's talk about someone who I'm just not even thinking about drafting because he's injured so much at this point.
Speaker: It's Debo Samuel. He's been great for so long when he's on the field, but at this point he's off of it more than he's on. Football is always a what have you done for me lately kind of business.
Speaker: I'm breaking up with him because of that. What he's done lately is he's been hurt. He's lost a step. He's in a new team with a new situation. He's definitely not going to be relied on for wide receiver one, maybe not even wide receiver two at this point. and You know, the hard truth is if you're looking to use Debo effectively, he's maybe a flex.
Speaker: At that point, maybe he's your RB1. Maybe he gets a little position change in there. I don't know. I'm breaking up with him because there's so much uncertainty to the way that he's playing and frankly, how much he plays. I can't do it with him right now. As much as I love him in that Netflix documentary, he seems like such a great that guy, such a great dad, just not a great football player right now.
Speaker: This isn't personalist business. Exactly.
Speaker: I mean, and I didn't think we were going to get to these ah personal deep ah hot takes until until the season started. But we're going straight for the throat opening opening podcast. This is great.
Speaker: ah Make sure you check in next week and stay tuned ah throughout the season because we're going to be calling out real players, real issue, ah real league moments, and real emotional breakdowns. But for now, consider this your preseason warmup.
Speaker: And here's what's next. Here's some trailers, teasers, special drafting advice, and more just for Discord members. That's right. We're dropping content on all our socials, keeping our website updated for new fantasy signups, and there might even be some Swifty merch giveaways coming up.
Speaker: And speaking of content, yeah, we'll have a content calendar. You'll know what's coming. You know we're not winging it, mostly. Which means if you want to seek certain content, speak now. Okay.
Speaker: And if you're listening, send us your favorite Taylor lyric that doubles as a fantasy motto. It could be on the podcast. This has been the playbook where we draft like masterminds and talk trash like it's rubb reputation to our night. Subscribe, follow, and tell your league's most dramatic manager to tune in.
Speaker: Is that really what you're going to tell them? Sorry. Had to. Well, you know. Just we'll be back next week and we'll have more tips, more Swifty takes, and most importantly, more advice that we'll probably deny we ever said.
Speaker: Just stay off Layton's obituary list. Yeah, please. Here's hoping. a big thank you to our special guest, Missy Perez. We hope to see her back in the future. And thank you all for joining us.
Speaker: is The Playbook. See you next time.
