Rice on the Mics

Summer Might Be Over, But Football Is Here Now

• Ian • Season 1 • Episode 28

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Summer may be winding down, but football season is heating up with Justin Fields taking the captain's role at the Jets and a surprisingly functional Giants QB room featuring Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, and rookie Jackson Dart.

• NFL bombshell as Micah Parsons heads to Green Bay for Kenny Clark and two first-round picks in a trade that reshapes the NFC
• Cowboys may have severely undervalued their generational edge rusher who signed a record $188 million contract with the Packers
• Nolan McLean makes Mets history with three straight wins to start his career, besting legends like Seaver, Doc, and deGrom
• Yankees struggle against Boston before steadying against Washington, while Anthony Volpe's slump deepens despite a "mental reset"
• Cal Riley joins Mickey Mantle as only the second switch-hitter to hit 50 home runs in a season
• Fantasy football insights include Rasheed Rice's six-game suspension creating opportunities for Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown
• High-floor running backs like Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard offer stability in mid-rounds
• Late-round tight end targets Tucker Kraft and Hunter Henry provide surprising upside potential

Make sure to send your fantasy start/sits, Jets and Giants panic meter readings, and Mets/Yankees vibes to the mailbag for next week's episode.


Speaker 1:

I guess there's only one way to find out. Let's do it to it right. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. All engines running. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, don't be mad. Summer's almost over. Look on the bright side. Football is back. It's almost hoodie season, the most elite weather known to mankind, perfect for yelling at the TV and begging for one more catch for a player on your fantasy team.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to episode 28. I am Ian Rice. This is Rice on the Mics, and here's the lineup. Today we start local.

Speaker 1:

In the NFL, the Jets slapped a captaincy on Justin Fields' fourth system in five years. The staff is preaching patience and operation, but week one versus Pittsburgh will tell the truth and set the tone. Then we go over to the Giants, where the QB room is weirdly functional and actually fun. Russ is the adult in the room, Jameis is the late-night yoga personality hire and rookie Jackson Dart is there just soaking it up trying to figure it out. Then the league bombshell that just flipped the NFC Micah Parsons is a Packer. We'll talk why the Packers finally went all-in and why the Cowboys might have just set their own defense on fire. Baseball after that Nolan McLean did something Sievert, doc and DeGrom never did. The Mets' bats finally woke up. And another young stud is on the way up In the Bronx. Yankees got dog-walked by Boston and then took care of business with the Nats. Stanton, mash Schlittler shoved and Volpe's mini-benching didn't really fix much Around the league. Cal Riley joins Mickey Mantle, zach Wheeler's season is done and the Brewers might have peaked at the wrong time. We'll sneak in some US Open quick hitters and then we'll land this plane with some fantasy. Rasheed Rice suspension, najee Harris gets activated, joe Mixon's in trouble, plus some high floor running backs and late round tight ends that you can target. All right, crack the knuckles, grab your coffee. Locals. First Jets and Giants, then we'll get messy with Micah. Stay tuned. Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.

Speaker 1:

We kicked things off this week with the Jets and unfortunately it's with a little Justin Fields reality check the brass at Florham Park. They put the C on Justin and the messaging feels grown up, which is good. It's optimism. With a little side of patience, I guess GM Darren Mugee. Mugee got quoted as saying that he can be one of those guys, but it takes time and he was kind of referencing Baker Mayfield on another team, sam Darnold on another team.

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But this is his fourth system in five years and that is a lot of mental rewiring, from the verbiage to the checkouts to just alerting his new personnel. But I don't know, whatever stock you put into the preseason, it told the story of a QB still settling in you could see that Goes four for nine with 46, but no throws longer than nine yards in the air. But he did flash the wheels a little bit with a 13-yard TD run when the pocket collapsed. So they're trying to. He's figuring out out again it's preseason. Who cares? Right, tanner, engstrom, the oc. He just keeps hammering the same thing home operation and command. That's what he's telling the media and that's kind of the mountain that fields has to climb. Right, career 61% completion percentage. His game is going to be make the layups and don't miss the big plays when they present themselves and around him.

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After Garrett Wilson it's prove-it territory. I mean, josh Reynolds is somewhat steady, I guess, and they got a rookie tight end in Mason Taylor who could quietly put up some numbers just based upon volume alone. If he's going to be the number two and again they're going to start splitting Brees' haul out to the slot, maybe Week one versus Pittsburgh is going to be the truth serum, though. Being named captain is cool, but, third down, rhythm is what buys you some patience in this town. This team is going to play a boring brand of football this year. It's going to be run, run, short pass, but if it's one thing that this fan base knows, is that that is a path to success for us at least. Hard-nosed coach, tough defense, smash-mouth football with a QB that isn't asked to do too much that's how the Jets went to back-to-back AFC championships. So if that's what it takes to get there, shut up and take my money, I'm good, sign me up.

Speaker 1:

Now on to the Giants, the room and the rookie. This QB room, which everybody thought was maybe a disaster to start, actually looks kind of fun and functional, if I'm being honest. Actually looks kind of fun and functional, if I'm being honest. Russell Wilson is the disgustingly consistent adult in the room. He's policing tempo and showcasing that he can still throw the deep ball, being on wide receivers' asses by texting them about route, detail and all that good stuff being the real leader of the room. Right Then it's James Winston. He is the real leader of the room. Right Then it's Jameis Winston. He is the vibes guy, the personality hire, the teammate that keeps things light and makes sure everyone is having some fun staying out of their own heads Between a little late-night yoga and stretching with Jackson Dart. He's been the QB that's been last off the field thrown to the young receivers to make sure that everyone is getting involved, and that's a tough role to swallow this late in your career. But then he's also eaten Ws on the sideline with Dart after the Patriots game. So the front office tried everything right. They poked around Stafford, they maybe wanted Rodgers, they considered moving up for Cam Ward, they even studied Shador. And here's where they landed Russ and Jameis for now, jackson Dart for tomorrow. That's not bad. They even told teams no on trading Jameis, because he matters to the room and he matters to the kids. He's really come a long way since stealing crab legs out of Florida State.

Speaker 1:

Now my sermon to Giant fans. I know, I know, I know you want to see the kid in action, but trust me when I say this the worst thing that you could do is rush Jackson Dart. Look at the schedule and the front sevens that you're going to be facing and setting up for that's a. It's going to be a recipe for disaster if you want to start it right away. First off, you got Washington's line, which is no joke. Then you got Chiefs with Chris Jones and Chargers with Khalil Mack. That's exactly how you teach bad habits fast by putting him against players like that, to quote the replacements.

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What's your biggest fear? Quicksand. One thing goes wrong and then another, and then another, and before you know it you feel like you're getting swallowed up like quicksand. The best thing for Jackson Dart is to let him marinate, let him learn. It's clear that his time will come, but for now, don't rush it.

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Wilson is enough of a pro to sneak out some wins that you guys probably could have had last year without Daniel Jones. And if he gets hurt, jameis will come in and, yeah, he'll throw some picks, but guess what? He's also going to throw some bombs to neighbors. Speaking of neighbors, by the way, he said the back tightness was a minor thing and that he's going to be ready for week one. He lives on volume and he led the league last year in 11.3 targets per game. So with Russ and calling him a threat at every depth level on the field, that's your heartbeat right there, that's your bread and butter. So, mixing some hard running with Tracy and Scadabo along with a stout front seven that is being touted as a strong Giants defense. I hate to even say this. The Gi Giants even with a terrible schedule, they could maybe make a little bit of noise here.

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Now you'll notice that when I was reading off the D-lines that the Giants will be facing in the first four weeks, I left off Dallas, and that is because Micah Parsons is now a Green Bay Packer. Like I've been saying the past couple weeks, if you've been listening, I've been all over this. Jerry Jones and his ego gets in the way of holding on to a generational player and Dallas shifts him off for Kenny Clark and two first-round picks. Green Bay follows that up immediately, gives him a four-year $188 million, 120 fully guaranteed richest non-quarterback deal ever. Here's my plain English take, okay, the Cowboys straight up got fleeced. Look, they get Kenny Clark back and he's a good pro, don't get me wrong. But he turns 30 this season and, with all due respect, he can't hold Micah's jock.

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And the two firsts. If Micah is Micah, which, now that he got traded, he's going to be playing with a fucking vengeance. Green Bay is going to be picking late like mid to late 20s, more than likely. So you traded an apex predator for a solid defensive tackle. Green Bay is going to be picking late like mid to late 20s, more than likely. So you traded an apex predator for a solid defensive tackle and two likely late first round picks, which you'll probably be using to try and find an edge rusher. Cool man, cool plan.

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Here's what else you could have done. You could have just paid the youngest best edge rusher in football. And this is. This isn't like the jets trading jamal adams to a fading seattle where the picks age like wine. By the way, those picks turned into avt and garrett wilson. For the record, this is micah parsons, 26 year old in prime, getting traded to an ascending Packers team that already broke character by drafting Matthew Golden in the first round, first time they drafted a receiver in 20 years. They spent in free agency, and now they've added the league's scariest non-Aaron Donald defender. They acted like a team that sees a window and they jumped all over it. And as for Dallas. Well, congratulations. You have now created a leadership and identity void.

Speaker 1:

A week before kickoff, once again prove to the league that your owner is a hothead. Got absolutely fleeced in a trade for a player. I mean, the Khalil Mack deal was two first rounders, a third and a sixth. And Khalil Mack nothing against him is shit on the shoe compared to Micah Parsons. Gave you four years, four Pro Bowls, never less than 12 sacks a year and he he totaled 52.5 over those four years. Him and Reggie White are the only two guys to start like that. Reggie White, you don't replace that guy with a committee of picks and you don't trade that guy away. You put your ego aside and you figure out the differences. Paradoxically, though, from a fantasy aspect, this actually helps Cowboys fantasy pieces. A worsened defense equals more shootouts and by losing Micah they are going to be in more shootouts. So that's more volume for Dak, more volume for CeeDee Lamb and more volume for George Pickens.

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Also, wide receivers and QBs, get a little bit of bump against Dallas defense and the Packers defense. If you want to stream now, gets a little bit stronger. Look, the longer, the short. If I had to explain team building in four steps to someone brand new to the game, to an alien that just landed on the planet. Right, this is how it would go. It would be step one get a quarterback. Step two, get someone to attack their quarterback. Step three, get someone to protect your quarterback. And step four, get someone for your quarterback to throw to. Four easy steps right, dallas just traded away arguably the best player in football at the second most important job on that list. Well done, guys.

Speaker 1:

All right, we'll wrap this segment up with some league news. Rasheed Rice accepts his six-game suspension. Kc keeps eight wide receivers on their roster planning for this, and we'll dive a little deeper in that in the fantasy segment later. Najee Harris gets activated by the Chargers. Doesn't guarantee he's going to play week one in Brazil, but it does signal that they don't expect him to be in as bad a shape as they thought he was. I mean, at one point it looked like he couldn't even open his eye. So I guess Harbaugh's willing to trust somebody that has vision problems already. Joe Mixon gets sent to the IR and he's out at least four weeks, and Nick Cassero won't commit to him playing at all this season, which is crazy to think about. That backfield is now going to be led by Nick Chubb and Damian Pierce. Nick Chubb has one knee. Maybe Terry McCormick gets the bag, ends his hold in $44.65 million guaranteed over three years and Jaden Daniels gets his wide receiver one back. I think my tune is starting to change about Dallas.

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Go back to Washington. This year Vikings brought home Adam Thielen in a trade, which is great for him. It was a great video, it was cute. He got traded back home and he was telling his kids hey, we're going home. That's always fun. Jaguars two-way rookie Travis Hunter is cleared. They still plan to use him both ways and his camp reps have been 50-50. He won the Heisman, won the receiver award. He is the best receiver coming out of this draft, which is crazy. But him playing both ways I'm still a little nervous about. And again, matthew Golden been showcasing that 4-2-9 speed, made a beautiful contested 39-yard catch in practice. That wide receiver was dying for a true alpha and Jordan Love might have just found him was dying for a true alpha and Jordan Love might have just found him. So that's what's going on around the league.

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Baseball is next and we're starting in Queens first, because Nolan McLean just made some history. Then we're shooting over to the Yankees, trying to steadily ee the ship a little bit, followed by some league headlines Cal Riley's record chase, zach Wheeler's brutal injury. Brewers are wobbling. We'll sprinkle in some US Open quick hitters a little bit later and we're going to close with some fantasy football, some high-end four-running backs and some late-round tight ends. Plenty left to talk about. Keep it right here.

Speaker 1:

The vibe has flipped in Queens and the rally really started with the Nolan McLean debut. The kid gets called up, goes five and a third scoreless against Seattle. Eight strikeouts, two hits and the crowd goes nuts flashing all the pitches high 70s, curve, sweeper, cutter, sinker, heater in the high 90s. Not a bad debut, if I do say so myself. Then Edwin Diaz comes in, finishes it off, gets saved number 24, continuing to be the best closer in baseball and the big three, lindor, soto and Alonzo, got the job done for a 3-1 win. Okay, that's start one for them.

Speaker 1:

Then on to Atlanta. Mclean goes right back out and stacks seven strong innings a rare feat for Mets pitchers nowadays. Win number two, four hits, two runs, zero walks all while the lineup dropped 21 hits. Soto goes yard drove in four. Brett Beatty has a career-high four hits. Game two the bats continue to stay hot too. Mcneil and Vientos both banged two, six homers in total in the game and I guess it's contagious, because Clay Holmes gives you six and a third. Yes, six and a third for a guy that can't get out of the fourth. Steady work, they get a 9-2 win in Atlanta. Atlanta took the finale 4-3 but, more importantly, the Mets left town with a series W in the house of horrors that Atlanta has been and so much needed. We can do this oxygen.

Speaker 1:

Then they roll right into the monumental Philly series at City, and I was there for game one. The place was jumping. They go down 3-0 early and then it just avalanched. Luis Terrence matched his career high with a five-ribby night, filling in for Francisco Alvarez. Who's hurt? Mark Vientos has come alive.

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In his last couple games Rips a two-run RBI double, jeff McNeil pushes across another three and the Mets, for once in their life, hit with runners in scoring position going 11 for 19. A rare feat for this team the whole year. They put up a 13-3 answer. Now Senga wasn't his best, but the Metsies got after Christopher Sanchez, who gave up a season-high six runs and on top of it we even had a 10-minute delay in center field over a parabolic mic. That's for TBS, for SNY, Alec Boehm, you know. Leave it to the Phillies to blame something else for why they're losing than their own actual performance. Never a dull moment, right Phillies postgame we've been ripped into Alec Boehm, calling him an idiot for pointing something out that had nothing to do with the game and delaying Sanchez's ability to get back on the field. It was a 19-minute delay. You cost your pitcher. Okay, so fine.

Speaker 1:

Game two Lay in and gut check. Diaz came in early and struck out four of five, cleaning up Ryan Halesley's mess, who coughed up the lead to a Harrison Bader three-run home run. Even Lindor had to give him a little bit of credit and the boos were so loud for Ryan Helsley. But that ninth inning with Diaz was a chef's kiss Tie. Game four straight singles off Philly's big trade deadline acquisition Johan Duran, marte bang, alonzo bang, beatty bang. Then here comes Nimmo boop, little 6'5" single walk-off, how you doing? Okay.

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Now game three, aka the McLean show, the guy that got this whole rally started, and it was historic stuff, literally not an exaggeration. He's the first Mets pitcher to ever win his first three starts and he did it with eight scoreless on 95 pitches, faced the minimum into the seventh and then gave up a couple bloops here and there. Mendoza, let him sit forced, weak contact to escape an eighth-inning jam. Mendoza, let him sit, forced, weak contact to escape an eighth-inning jam. He now sits at a .89 ERA with 21 strikeouts through three starts. That's the lowest rookie ERA over the first three in Mets history, which is a crazy stat to say out loud, knowing that the pitchers the Mets have had in their franchise history. That's better than Seaver's 1.19. It's better than franchise history. That's better than Severs 1.19. It's better than Doc and it's better than DeGrom. And on top of it, those 21 strikeouts only trail Matt Harvey and Nolan Ryan over a Mets pitcher's first three starts. Matt Harvey and Nolan Ryan and the bats stay hot

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too. Vientos continues to rake. He added another RBI single and a two run home run to really like hammer it home. Nimmo had three hits 6-0. Final little suck. This how's the sweep? How you doing? The kid came up, saw the moment in front of him, didn't back down and he attacked the hill and honestly, it definitely lit a spark under a bunch of these guys's asses too. They hit 568, with runners in scoring position for the whole series and now they're seven and two versus Philly this year. So now they own the tie break on the season, meaning if they finish with the same record somehow at the end of the year, they win the division. They cut the division gap down to four games and they have a four-gamer with Philly from September 8th to September 11th. Aka it's business time. And the kids' theme keeps on rolling

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too. Jonah Tong akathan, aka baby lincecum, is finally getting the call up and starting friday against miami. He's been the best pitcher in the minors, 10 and 5, with a 143 era. He's got 179 strikeouts in 113 innings across double a and triple a. He's almost got 200 strikeouts on a year. Opponents are hitting 148 against

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them. Management is playing it slow, saying you know the plan is turn by turn and there's matchups, but let's be honest, this is the next shot in the arm that this team needs and meanwhile the team is holding the players accountable. Aka Senga, they want him to be more consistent and, honestly, they say he might need more rest. Okay, message sent. David Stearns plays no games and he has a short list of friends. So if you're not doing your job, there is a very short leash and you can expect to have a conversation in his office sooner rather than later If you're fucking up the clean. Just set the table and made history and, unfairly, mets fans are going to look to Tong to do either the same thing or be even better. So we're going to have to temper our expectations a little bit. But God man, oh man, if this kid comes up and dominates just how McLean is doing, the Mets are on a fast track to success. One quick note Francisco Alvarez, in his rehab game ropes a double and then his next at bat gets plunked on the left hand and fractures his pinky. So he said he's going to try, because he's a tough son of a bitch, but not what you want to see for a guy who's already down rehabbing trying to get better from a broken thumb. Now let's take it to the Bronx, because it's time to get on the Yankees a little bit, from getting dog-walked to beating teams that they're supposed

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to. But let's not sugarcoat that Boston series. The Red Sox came into your house, into your stadium, and beat the hell out of you. Game 1, 6-3 loss to Boston. Rookie Roman Anthony owned the night completely. He's got an RBI single and then a ninth inning two-run bomb. Boston went 3-for 19 with runners in scoring position, and they still beat New York because they kicked it around. The error machine continues to plow its way through Yankees defense. Nathaniel Lowe's RBI double in the seventh put Boston ahead for good. Lucas Gilito gave up three and four and two thirds but they still couldn't get after it because the Sox bullpen stacked a five and a third scoreless. Not to mention Chappie comes in and nails his 23rd save of the year. Luis Hill came in, walked five in five. Another disappointing outing from someone who was supposed to be back in May. Disappointing outing from someone who was supposed to be back in

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May. So let's go on to game three, game two, excuse me, one nothing Boston win in Yankee Stadium. They let Brian Bellow, who's quietly had a pretty good year, just shove his way on the hill and do whatever he want. Seven innings, three hits, only four base runners the whole game and with that loss Boston clinches the season series. Connor Wong drove in the only run, garrett Whitlock struck out Stanton on three outside pitches to end the eighth and Chapman grabbed yet another save against his old club. Yankees were held to three hits or fewer for the ninth time this season. Just another example of the home run or bust mentality with this squad. So okay, two games down, two to go. You know, worst case, let's get the split. Yeah, good

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luck. Game three a 12-1 Boston win Again in your house, and this one got sideways quick. Crochet goes out was in full command of everything. He went seven strong, racked up 11 strikeouts. Trevor Story goes deep, drove in three, omar Nevaez hit a late two run shot and as for the Yankees, stanton just continues to drive in useless home runs. He's been hot and I will give him credit, but he is the king of either up 12 or down 12 and hit a home

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run. Meanwhile, will Warren, who might have supposedly been the kind of savior, maybe not gets battered around and Boston bang out 17 hits against them, even after getting embarrassed at home, though the schedule softens up a little bit and they walked into a get-right series against the Nationals because Game 1, 10-5 win over the Nats. Cody Bellinger drove in three, ben Rice shout-out Rice on the mics hit a 435-foot tank and Jazz launched number 25 and cam schittler excuse me, cam schlittler worked six scoreless, which you love to see. Jason dominguez got after it too a little three run shot and uh, it's a good thing. They did all that too, because they had to white knuckle it. In the ninth the gnats put up five, a Jacob Young grand slam. Damage was done already, but just goes to show how that bullpen looks 10-1, all of a sudden

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10-5. Anyway, game two take care of business. Again 5-1. Win Stanton had his best night in a while, to be honest with you. Bases clear and double and then hits a 450, fun 451 foot nuke, which is his fifth home run in seven games. And Luis Hill bounced back after his bad start, looked a little better. Goes five. Only gave up one run. Listen, the Yankees beat up a solid pitcher in Mackenzie Gore, which is what you want to see. Again, it's home run or

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bust. With this team, the big problem is the big, giant, enormous, astronomical elephant in the room. It's Anthony Volpe. He gets benched to quote-unquote reset himself and then only to return to go to the lineup to go to 0-4. This slump is real and the fans are only getting louder and louder. He got a two-game mental reset after going 1-28, and then he still comes back in the lineup and goes 0-4. So now that's 1-32, hitting around 2-06, and oh, not to mention he's leading the majors with 17 errors. In fact, he did what every baseball player dreads and made two outs in one inning because they batted around and on top of it, when they were up so big, he got struck out by a fucking position player late in the game. He's been out in front of breaking balls and just expanding his zone so much he looks so lost at the

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plate. And Boone just continues to feed the fans the same old garbage saying to keep the faith. And he's wired right and he's got good swings and he hits the ball hard, but it's just right at somebody. The fans don't want to hear that. The fans are restless, they don't give a shit. They're looking at a shortstop which was Derek Jeter and then Didi and then this any, and this guy was supposed to be the next Jeter. That's what Cashman sold them on. The fans are

Speaker 1:

restless. I got a starting shortstop that you miss the window on sending him down to try and fix him and now you have to just deal with it and try to get him right while he's playing, which might cost you games. He's batting below the Mendoza line and leading the league in errors. Yeah, I'm allowed to be pretty annoyed with his play and also, honestly, I'm allowed to question your management. Boom, what are we doing it? I understand trying to give the kid a rope and like let him try to figure it out and play through it, but it's past that now. It's past. He needs to sit. You traded for a shortstop that plays a better shortstop for

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him. If I was a Yankee fan and I watched him throw a ball 10 feet over Goldschmidt's head one more time, I might literally throw my fucking remote just as far as he threw that ball into the stands. I sound like I'm bitching and moaning like I am a Yankee fan and I promise you I'm not even close to a Yankee fan, but I'm in touch with the people. I understand the Yankee fans' vitriol that they have with this kid. It has to stop. All right, anyway, let's do some stories from around the

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league. Okay, cal Riley is just on a video game level heater. Sunday he hits number 48 and 49 to set the single season catcher home run record, passing Salvador Perez. Then the next night hits another one, becomes just the second switch hitter ever to hit 50 in a season. You know who the other guy was Mickey fucking Mantle. He's also got nine multi-home run games as a switch hitter, which also passes Mickey Mantle's record of eight. He's got 31 games left to chase Mantle's 54 and Griffey's Mariner's mark of 56. And, honestly, if he stays hot, he might even pass Judge's 63. He's done this all while playing a ton behind the plate and in a park that, honestly, isn't home run friendly either. Only nine of his home runs have been when he's de-aging, so we might see some history

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here. Moving on to this is a little bit of a sore spot. Even though he is a philly I I got a soft spot for zach wheeler. He is, uh, he's done for the year with thoracic outlet surgery syndrome. However you want to put it, it's pretty much a death sentence for pitchers. The timeline is six to eight months, but realistically and based on history of this surgery, he probably will never be the same pitcher that he was, which is a shame too, because, I've said it before, the worst thing the Wilpons did was let him walk and go to the Phillies, and if he kept this trajectory up, he was probably going to go into the Hall of Fame. And the worst part was he would go into the Hall of Fame as a Philly, not a Met. I mean, he was having a ridiculous season this year. He had 195 strikeouts in 149 innings with a .27 ERA. That's literally one of the best pitchers in baseball and he's gone just like that. Now the Phillies do still have depth, I guess with Sanchez and Suarez and Lizardo and Nola, but there's no replacing a guy like Wheeler. There

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just isn't. Staying in the NL too. The Brewers they might have peaked at the wrong time. They look like the best team in baseball right now and they have the best record and climbed the charts. But you got to peak in September because now their all-star closer, trevor McGill. He's on the 15-day IL with a flexor strain, which aka probably means Tommy John, and before that he blew three of his last four save attempts. If the playoffs were to start today, I think the Mets play either the Dodgers or the Padres, which would mean that the Phillies would play the Brewers or the Cubs, or the Brewers would play the Cubs, but either way, this is another case of I'll see it when I believe it in the playoffs for the Brewers. They always seem to choke it away. That's it for baseball

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right now. But I want to touch on the us open, because this isa new york-based show and we are so blessed that we get a tennis major in our city every year and some people might scoff at tennis, but let me tell you something right now Seeing tennis in person, man, it's electric, it's so fun. So just a quick couple of hitters on some of the Americans right now. Coco Gauff, winner last year, survived a three-setter, 10 double faults. She got broken six times. She's working on her serve. They're trying to figure things out but she won six, four, six, seven, seven, five. She barely pulled it out so good for her. Francis tiafoe rolled through round two 15 uso wins since 2022. He loves ash. He literally was quoted as saying it just feels different. Here I feed off

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the crowd. And madison keys she had a rough one man. She had 89 unforced errors and 14 double faults in three match upset against renata zarusa, zarua, zarua, whatever it is. I was in the stands for that one. I was at the us open that that day. I knew she was going to lose. I could just tell Keys didn't have it and Renata is a smart player. It was like 11.30. The sun was slamming down on Arthur Ashe and whenever Keys was in the sun, renata just played defense, made her play in the sun went back and forth, made her make the errors and then, whenever it was her turn to serve in the sun, she just tried to hammer her serve home as fast as she could to get out of the sun. She had a game plan, she stuck to it and it worked. Hey, that's how sports

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go right. And my boy Medveded I. I like him, I think he's a good player, but he's also a fucking head case, as of late. He's not wrong. He was a photographer, walked on the court between serves on match point, which is like a big no, no, and Medvedev lost his mind. He rallied to a fifth set and then he lost it, but he like blew up about it, blamed the photographer, and then the photographer's credentials got pulled too, which is I don't know. It's a little aggressive for me, but to be honest, it's kind of on brand for new york, because new yorkers don't give a fuck where they're walking, they just need to get where they're going right, all right, well, well, that's it for the diamond and a little dash

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of tennis. Fantasy football closes the show. I got Cowboys fallout with Micah Gunn, chiefs, wide receiver pivots with Rasheed Rice out, and I got some high floor running backs to stabilize your roster and little late round tight end darts that actually hit. So stick around, you don't want to miss it. Here we are on to fantasy time to help you win your league. Quick heads up though this is some late fantasy news to get you ready

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for kickoff. If you want the full deep dive, the rankings, the tiers, the sleepers, the fades, the stacking maps, the who to avoid that's all in last week's episode, the Fantasy Extravaganza. That's your master file. I promise you if you listen to it and you pay attention, you will not be disappointed in the info that I give you. And, by the way, also don't be afraid to DM me if you have any questions. But this is the update since then, because some news broke over the past couple days Rasheed Rice is suspended for six games and he isn't going to appeal it. So that's why the Chiefs kept eight wide receivers, for a reason I guess Seems like they might have had a little bit of inside information that he'd be gone for these six weeks. So, while his ADP falls and don't be afraid to snag him if he falls real, real late here are some players that you can snag late at a discount that will do well while he's gone, and these are Kansas City players. So, as a side note, mahomes is still Mahomes and he has a little bit of that Aaron Rodgers in him where once he finds a guy that he trusts, it doesn't matter if it's the next guy in line or it's peanut boy out of the stands. If he finds someone that he likes, he sticks with them. So this is just a small disclaimer that any one of these guys could

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blow up. But first on the list is hollywood brown. He's kind of probably the safest play. He's got wide receiver two usage and he gets the red zone looks. But xavier worthy is where I'd spend my money. He's a little bit boom or bust flex option, to be sure, but even with his rise in ADP now you can probably snag him as a bench player with potential in the seventh. He's got explosive touches. He takes the ball to the backfield, sometimes he takes deep shots. Xavier Worthy is where I'd spend my money. Juju honestly I forgot he was even on this roster. He's boring, boring floor. Even in a full PPR he gets slot volume on third down. I don't know I'd pass on him Unless you're in a 16-man league. And don't know I'd pass on him Unless you're in a 16-man league and you're desperate, I'd pass

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on him. Now some other players of note that have big fantasy implications. First on the list is Najee Harris. Well, with his bad eye, nobody thought he'd be ready to go. He got activated, so it doesn't exactly guarantee week one, but that means that he's tracking and he's probably going to see some snaps. Now expect a committee with Omarion Hampton and I would say my outlook early season Najee's going to get some touches, but he's probably going to get the goal line and the short yardage touches, whereas Amarion is going to get the big space touches, the dump-offs, whatever. They're both going to be flex-worthy early in the season. But I fully expect that Amarion Hampton is going to explode on the scene and it's only going to take one or two big runs for Harbaugh to go. Okay, you're an every down back and we'll give you the occasional breather

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with Najee. Next on the list is Tony Pollard. He gets the runway in Tennessee. He is locked into an RB2 role with volume and pass game, with Tajay Spears going on the IR with an ankle injury. The only people behind him are Julius Chestnut and Kalel Mullins. So let me know if you've ever heard of any of them before. So maybe those guys are deep bench stashes if Tony Pollard gets hurt, but honestly it's not even worth it. So if you're doing like a zero running back strategy or like a hero running back strat and you have your guy or you have your three solid receivers and now you're looking for like a RB1, rb2 kind of guy in the fifth, sixth, seventh round, pollard is the guy 100%. Now Joe Mixon to

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the IR. A lot of people have been drafting Joe Mixon because oh, he might come back, he might not. Well, he's on the IR now. He's out at least four games and the coach has been ho-hum about it if he's even going to play this season, which leaves Nick Chubb to be the lead man. But if you watch Nick Chubb's college career and you watch his professional career, he has about a half a knee on his one person and it's also his seventh year at age 29. So that leaves Damian Pierce. He's the change-up pace back. But he's got experience with his team and in this system. So if I was a betting man I'd be putting my money on Pierce. I would say he's probably going to be the lead back sooner rather than later, whether it be from injury from Chubb or just like a

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performance takeover. Now Micah getting traded has a water effect ripple on everything. So the Cowboys defense now gets way worse. Without him there, nobody to sack the quarterback, nobody to sack the quarterback, nobody to rush the quarterback. More time behind, that leads to more shootouts. So that bumps Dak, that bumps CD, that bumps Pickens and, honestly, it bumps Jake Ferguson too. All their volume, there really is no running game to speak of in Dallas. And if they're going to be down in games, dak is going to have to play some hero ball so he may throw some more interceptions but honestly, the yards that he's going to be throwing for it'll make up

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for it. And now with Micah going to the Packers defense, if you're looking for a streamer option week to week and just need a couple sacks and need like six points, eight points, five points out of your defense Packers, might be a pretty solid option to stream for the year. So how about another scenario for you? Let's say you're drafting 10th out of 12, or 12 out of 14, or even 12 out of 12. And for whatever reason, nico Collins or Malik Neighbors or Puka Nakua falls to you in the 12th and now you're on the wraparound and you don't want to go receiver, receiver, it's important to make sure you build your floor as high as you can. That's the whole point in fantasy football. Right? Get guys that will raise the floor of your team in total to the highest it can be. So let's say, you take that big name wide receiver or even Brock Bowers or something, right? Okay, whatever, who cares? Right, these are the guys to take to raise your floor on the wraparound to keep your team balanced and also

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explosive too. So first on the list is Derrick Henry. He might not fall to you that late, but Derek Henry has an elite floor and he's got a super high ceiling with a super positive script offense. Uh, lamar being there, it's light boxes and Mockadin loves to feed running backs. The only risk is his health. Production isn't really the worry. Again, it's. You know it's a far shot that derrick henry falls that far to you, but if he does, that's number one a on the list to take on the wraparound. Next on the list josh jacobs. He's somebody who definitely will be there. Okay, he's a bell cow on an ascending offense in green bay and even if green bay throws more, he is the closer and he's the goal line guy, uh Marshawn Lloyd's dinged up and now with the addition of Micah on the defense. If the defense becomes as good as it looks like it might be, you're gonna run into a lot of game scripts where you're running the ball late to kill the clock and that falls right to Josh Jacobs, so

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that's great. Next on the list that you can definitely grab even later is, uh, isaiah Pacheco. Okay, for some reason he's falling in drafts. I don't know why. I guess maybe it's because of Kareem Hunt, but his, his burst looks back. The depth chart behind him is very thin. Again, don't really worry about Kareem Hunt. He might vulture a TD here and there or maybe grab a pass here and there, but honestly, pacheco is one open hole away from a huge play. And the Chiefs without receivers now and Kelsey aging, you're probably going to see a lot of dump downs

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to Pacheco. Next on the list Tony Pollard, tony Pollard, I mentioned it before. Spears the Toshie Spears injury gives Tony Pollard super volume early. Cam Ward looks to be the truth. At least he talks like he's the truth. I'm putting some stock in him. And Cam's got some running ability and he's got an arm and Calvin Ridley is no slouch. So Cam's going to want to throw the ball to Calvin Ridley, which, once that starts happening, the box is going to be lighter. So Pollard's going to get some run game and Pollard also has some pass game usage. I don't know if you know rookie QB means checkdowns. Tony Pollard is a

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great pickup. Late Aaron Jones, next on the list, still efficient, and he gets some catches. Jordan Mason is definitely going to siphon some carries. The head coach already said this is going to be a committee and Jordan Mason is definitely the goal line guy. But Jones might be the better every down play and he's getting super discounted in drafts. So those guys are definitely the guys that you can take even third, fourth round that could function as an RB1 on your team or at least have potential to be an RB1 on

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your team. Now, if you're going to punt on running backs, fine, but if you're going to punt on tight ends, that's a different story. You know how it goes. You either have to pay up early for a stud or I'm going to be sitting around watching red zone on a Sunday hoping that in joku can snag a touchdown to give me eight points for the day. Well, I'm here to tell you, if you punt on tight end early and want to snag those high-end receivers or high onend running backs, there's some late-round guys that you can snag that will give you consistency with big game potential. Okay, first on the list is Tucker Kraft. He is a sneaky yards-after-catch monster. When he gets the ball he's thick, he's strong, he bowls guys over. He was top 12 in yards-per-out run last year too. He was top 12 in yards per out run last year too, and now, with the addition of Golden, the deep ball is going to be open. So Kraft is going to eat over the middle. Tucker Kraft is a sneaky, very, very good tight end

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this year. Next on the list Hunter Henry. Okay, I know Hunter Henry. He's the guy that everybody picks up in drafts when waiver wire, when they have their guy on by whatever Not so much anymore. Man, a rookie quarterback's best friend is their tight end, and this is May's second year, and when May played last year, hunter Henry, that was his security blanket. They were in sync. So May is going to look his way more often than not right away and also red zone targets with

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hunter henry. Tyler higby he's another one. He's a waiver wire fighter guy but he's viable while the rookie terrence ferguson ramps up, and he's going to get consolidated targetry. He's going to get tight up. He's going to get consolidated targetry. He's going to get tight end work. He's going to Devontae, adams, puka, nakua, whatever they're all going to double those guys. So over the middle is going to be Tyra Higbee. So if you're looking for 8 to 10, 12 points,

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it plays. Now the last two on this list. They're a little shaky but they're definitely possible. First is Mason Taylor from the Jets. I said it before earlier in the NFL segment. He's a rookie but he's super athletic and Justin Fields can't throw the ball more than fucking 12 yards. Okay, garrett's going to be double teamed because he's the only one there and they're going to stack the box against Brees. So that leaves Mason Taylor open over

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the middle. Just on volume alone, he could easily be a tight end too. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten points a week with the potential for a touchdown of 15, you take that all day. And then he's probably not even being drafted or going, I don't know in the last round of super deep drafts. And the last guy that falls in that category same thing is Dallas Goddard. He's not really like a late dart, but he is discounted tight in one production. So if you miss out on the elites, he is probably one of your best pivots. I think you'll be all right with any of these

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guys late. The rule with tight end is consistency. But you don't want to chase low variance nobodies either. Okay, I mean, yeah, the elite guys, kiddo, mcbride, bowers, they have the highest elite game rates. But if, if you don't want to, if you don't want to take that guy, if you don't want to spend the price that they're going for, if you punt on tight end and you want usable weeks with some spike potential, not just the six-point every week, guys, those are the guys to take Tucker, craft, hunter, henry, tyler, higbee, mason Taylor, dallas, goddard they won't do you wrong, I promise. Well, that's the

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board Draft. Smart, don't chase last week's box score and remember floor wins you september, ceiling wins you december. Now let's go steal a league and let's land this plane. Huh, all right, that's episode 28 in the books covered all the locals. Jets appear to have a plan with Fields, a Giants quarterback room. That actually kind of makes sense. Micah to Green Bay flipping the entire NFC on its head. We hit the diamond. Mets might go on a run and Nolan McLean is already writing franchises. First, yankees steadying the ship as best they can with a soft schedule ahead. Kyle Riley is launching into history Wheelers. Brutal news and the Brewers might have peaked too early and we sprinkled in some US open chaos. Before closing with some late fantasy news, don't forget the full blueprint is in last week's fantasy

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extravaganza episode. If you want to dominate your league, make sure you give that a listen. I promise you this is an Ian Rice guarantee. If you listen to that episode, you will not do bad this year in fantasy. So do me a favor. If you had fun, if you like what you heard, tap five stars on whatever platform you're listening on. Drop a quick review, even if you want Just a little. Hey how you doing this was great. And send this to a friend who argues about sports like it's a full-time job, but really they don't know what the fuck they're talking about. Right? The mailbag is open for next week Fantasy start and sits. Send me your roster Jets and Giants, panic meter Mets and Yankees vibes. Hit the DMs with

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it all. I listen to everything, I respond to everything and make sure you check in every Wednesday for the weekly mic check on the Instagram stories. That's at Rice on the Radio. Polls, sliders, quizzes for the week. Let your voice be heard. I want to hear the pulse of the people. Small programming note as football ramps up here. Small programming note as football ramps up here. We might spin up a second quick episode some weeks. Here and there A little early recap, late week preview, maybe some potential collabs. So keep an eye on the socials for any schedule changes. But hoodie and short season is upon us. Don't be mad that summer's over. Just be happy that football is back as always. Spread good energy in this world and make sure you tell someone you love. I am your host, ian Rice, and this has been rice on the mics. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next week.