Instant Reaction to 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk Playing Soccer

[00:00:00]Absolute cinema.

[00:00:07][music] What's up? Welcome to Quality Control presented by Prize Pix. It's also an instant reaction presented by Prize Pix.

[00:00:25]I'm Grant Con presented by Prize Picks and I'm going to be talking about Brandon Aayuk today. He's not necessarily presented by Prize Picks yet. He might be at some point, but today he's presented by the US men's national soccer team. And um I just got to say I like the Brandon Iayuk uh series of videos. Maybe he's going through a mental health crisis, maybe not. Maybe he was upset last week, maybe he's really happy now. I don't know. But today it seems like he's really found his voice as a filmmaker. You know what I mean? A couple of weeks ago he was making sort of emotional one take videos that were experimental and they definitely were, you know, evocative.

[00:01:06]You know, they they pushed boundaries, but did they work? I don't know. He took them down. The the uh usefulness is debatable. Maybe maybe maybe they they worked and and they're helping him get out of his situation with the 49ers.

[00:01:24]Now he's posting videos that seem to be a little bit more PG-13, a little bit more socially acceptable, and it's still rich with meaning and subtext. So, uh, why don't we before I before I before I tell you what I think of the Bladeest Brand video, why don't we just watch it?

[00:01:41]How about that? Put it on the screen.

[00:01:43]Here it is. It's on Instagram. That's his preferred medium. And it's a it's a story which means it's not going to live in perpetuity like this dancing video did it is at least for now. It's going to be 24hour you know snippet. So, why don't we watch [music] there it is. What I like about this one, the framing. What What a beautiful setting with the trees in the front yard. I mean, he really has an eye for um setting and background. The the car there that was it a Mercedes was looked really nice. You know what I'm saying?

[00:02:35]He he was matching the the red fit.

[00:02:37]Clearly has foot skills. Has played some soccer before. I played soccer in high school. Can't do that. I was on varsity soccer at Bishop Odow High School in 2005. We won NCS. I didn't own a soccer ball. I could never juggle. I started on that team for a good portion of that season till they figured out I wasn't that good. I played IU can juggle is a professional athlete and you could see it.

[00:03:04]And then he brought out the the proverbial belt which means because when you think of the belt you think of Michael Irvin, right? Given the belt at the at the Miami game. Now now maybe Brandon Iuk is the new Michael Irvin. So A+ for the cinematography, A+ for the plot development, character development.

[00:03:22]I mean, the twist at the end, I didn't see it coming.

[00:03:25]I mean, it's incredible how much Brand and IU can communicate with no dialogue.

[00:03:33]But I I honestly I feel like this is an interesting video because what have people been saying about Brandon recently while as he's been making art?

[00:03:44]Well, okay, but like how come we can't see you play some sport? Why don't you play football? All right, we see you in a back. We see you talking, you know, we don't we barely see you walking. Can you walk? Can you run? Can you Can you Can you move? We want to see you play football if you really can play football. So, what's he do? He makes a video playing football.

[00:04:04]Football.

[00:04:06]He's a troll. He's hilarious. And it's like, well, okay, well, why won't he just run some routes? Because he has $50 million and he doesn't have to play football for money anymore. That's the whole point.

[00:04:19]He's not trying to drum up a a market for his services. Other players would have to do that. 99% of NFL players would have to do that. He's out of that bracket. He could never play football again and have the enough money for the rest of his life. He wants to play for for fun, for for the love of the game, which he probably hasn't felt since college when he played with Jaden Daniels. He wants to play for one team.

[00:04:43]If he starts running routes, who knows? Maybe the Niners trade him to the Cleveland Browns. So, I don't think it's an I think he's made it very clear the whole time he's not trying to get traded anywhere. He wants out so he can go to one team. But what it seems like to me is I mean, while he hasn't ran routes yet on film, a couple of months ago it looked like he was overweight, doesn't look like he's overweight anymore. He looks pretty he was he weighed himself in at 208. He keeps showing himself with his shirt off.

[00:05:16]looks like he's in better shape than I am. And now, I mean, we haven't seen him run, but we saw him shuffling around his front yard or Jaden Daniels front yard, uh, cutting left, cutting right, juggling with both feet. I mean, he looks like he's healthy. And frankly, he looked like he was healthy last year when he was running routes on the field before games at training camp. I mean, didn't he get in trouble for that?

[00:05:41]You're not allowed to do that when you're on IR. He was doing that and it was like I don't think the Niners wanted him to go out and run routes. He just did it. It's against the rules. They might have got in trouble or maybe they the NFL told him to cease and desist.

[00:05:56]But watching him do this today reminds me of all the running and cutting I saw him do last year when the Niners ultimately never cleared him.

[00:06:08]And it makes me wonder about the whole situation. Like the Niners haven't said a word and Brandon said too much. So, it's easy to take it's easy to say it's easy to take the Niners side because Brandon's making himself look bad. But, haven't the Niners sort of said things without saying things like Brandon did here? Like, did haven't the Niners insinuated, correct me if I'm wrong, please do.

[00:06:30]Haven't the Niners uh insi in insinuated that he blew off rehab and as a result his knee will never make a full recovery and he's cooked.

[00:06:45]Am I reading too much into their, you know, things they haven't said? I feel like they've insinuated that he blew off rehab. as a result, his knee is cooked and he will never be a good player again.

[00:07:05]So that's why they had to take back the guarantees and that's why there's no future forward with him because he's not going to be good anymore. Well, they haven't come out and said it. And I' I've been skeptical like, well, I saw him run around last year, and just because he didn't rehab on your schedule at your facility the way you wanted to, doesn't necessarily mean he didn't rehab. I mean, a lot of players don't rehab at the Niners facility on their schedule, and they don't really say two things about it because, I don't know, they make exceptions for certain players, and I wasn't one of them, and that's fine, whatever. That's between them. But again, that's just their side of the story. Isn't there we and Brandon's side of the story has been convoluted and muddled and and and and tough to decipher like a David Lynch movie. Is it possible that you know he's a very he's a serious athlete who just hates his employer and doesn't want to play for them anymore but does want to keep playing football and when he gets back uh on the field whenever that is he's going to be good. Is that is that why the Niners are holding on to him? Is that why they're like, "No, we really got to trade him, man. Cuz when he goes to Washington and plays well and everyone sees that he actually made a full recovery, we're going to have a lot of explaining to do. We're going to have some explaining to do cuz everyone assumes right now that he's going to be terrible in Washington and that we handled this correctly and he was just a big baby, unprofessional."

[00:08:26]If he ends up in Washington and plays well and he looks like uh you know Brandon Iayuk, like a top 10 wide receiver, people are going to go back and be like, "Did you really need to start this war with Brandon started with the shorts, then it was the rehab? Did he rehab here? Did he rehab somewhere else? Did you need to do this? Couldn't you just let him do his thing? Yeah, he's an odd duck. You knew that. You let him do his thing for a while, then you paid him, then you stop. Could you just let him leave him alone?" But again, we didn't see him run around. We haven't seen him in pads. He wasn't in on grass.

[00:08:54]He was on what was that? Brick.

[00:08:59]So, we'll see.

[00:09:02]But I I think this is a big reason why the Niners haven't just cut him because they don't really know what happened to his knee. Or maybe they maybe they feel like, you know, actually, you know, he's going to be good for a couple more years and we don't really want him anymore. We'd rather have Mike Evans. We'd rather have Deshawn Stribbling. We'd rather have people that want to be here than have to work with this Malcontent, but he's going to be good the next couple years. And we have to play him this year at least once, maybe in the playoffs, too.

[00:09:38]And if he makes a full recovery, then he's better than any any wide receiver we have until Dejon's dribbling uh improves a ton.

[00:09:49]So, I do think it's interesting that Brandon I the these videos are not going to stop. You understand that, right?

[00:09:55]It's going to be every two or three days the rest of the off season.

[00:10:00]And I don't know. I guess the way to make it stop is by cutting him so he can go to Washington because he's trolling the 49ers and they can, you know, put their fingers in their ears and close their eyes and act like they don't notice. But it's kind of funny. Ultimately, people say he need if he really if he's serious, he needs to show up to the Niners organization to force his uh release. Are the Niners sure they want that?

[00:10:29]I'm not sure they want that.

[00:10:31]And it's like, you know, another It's like the Joker. It's like another video is going to come out in a couple of days.

[00:10:38]Do you need it? Anyway, maybe they do. I I I definitely need it. Remember when I was in college? This was like before streaming services, Spotify, Apple Music. Um, that PIFF was a huge thing. I was really I'm I like rap a lot and when I went went to college, I got like nerdy into it and you could get a lot of free music back then in mixtapz. Lil Wayne was put out hella mixtapz and made him really famous. A lot of people did. But then when I was in college like 2008 and nine, Gucci Mane was like one of the most well he he was good. He was kind of the most overrated rapper in the world, but he was really really popular at the time. I loved him. And he would come out with a new mixtape like every two weeks and it was so exciting.

[00:11:27]Oh my god, new Gucci drop. New Gucci.

[00:11:29]It'd be like 21 songs and maybe three of them were good maybe. But it was fun to find those three songs and it was fun that he always had something every couple of weeks. So I feel like what I'm trying to say is Brandon Iuk's the new Gucci Mane and I applaud his um you know sheer volume of work and I I I I approve of his work ethic and the fact that he keeps delivering. Also around the same time Lil B was dropping like one viral music video a a month maybe two a month back in 0809 2010. Lil B.

[00:12:03]They were so funny and everyone got so mad because they thought they was like a terrible rapper and it was like, well, that's kind of the point. Don't. It's kind of the point. So, I would have to say Brandon Iuk's actually a combination of Gucci Man and Lil Circuit 2009. And I think probably four of the 331 people watching know what I'm talking about.

[00:12:21]But if you do, I think you appreciate this whole saga and hope it goes on.

[00:12:27]Anyway, let's do top five storylines of training camp. I just uh wrote this article, put it out on si.com.

[00:12:35]Check it out. But uh it's about five weeks away, four weeks away training camp and I've been thinking like what are the issues that are going to be forefront on my mind when I get there. I always do this article every offseason. I've been doing it since I was 23 years old. Top three story lines heading into training camp.

[00:12:51]I think it's good to have like a big picture lens of what's going on before you just dive into position battles. Who's the third string right guard?

[00:13:01]So you guys free to correct me, disagree with me. I'd love to hear your takes on the top storylines, but in no particular order, I'm going to start with will Brandon Aayuk show up. I think every day that he's still on the team, the question in everyone's mind, the back of their mind, the front of their mind, media, fans, the team, the players, the coaches, is Brand is today the day Brand Nikes going to show up? If he does show up, is he going to do it in a really bizarre way? Is he going to like drive by the facility driving a 100? Is he going to drive by in a fire truck? Is he going to drive by with a Is he going to float in in a hot air balloon?

[00:13:39]Is he going to make a scene?

[00:13:43]Are we never going to live this down or are they just going to cut him and and and move on and he'll be a Washington commander story line? I have no idea. I'm 50/50 on this one. I think part of part part of me feels like the Niners can't bear for him to go over to Washington and play well and they're afraid he will. The other part of me feels like the Niners don't want him to be the number one storyline all off seasonason and he is. We're talking about him today. We're going to talk about him again in 3 days. What's today?

[00:14:11]Friday. He's going to post his next video no later than Monday.

[00:14:18]No later than Monday. And he's going to keep doing this until he gets cut. He can do this for years.

[00:14:25]the most prolific filmmaker in NFL history. That's what Brandon's going to be unless the Niners cut him. So, will Brandon Aayuk show up and will he keep making videos if he doesn't show up and will I continue to enjoy them? I think the answer is yes.

[00:14:41]Two, who's the number one wide receiver?

[00:14:44]Meaning like who's going to develop that rapport with Brock Perie in camp? Um who's going to show up every day and catch the most passes? I remember when the Niners traded for Anquin Bolton. It was so clear that it was his team. I mean, Crabchi hurt his Achilles right away and he was out. Balden took over and like in camp he would catch all the passes every day relentlessly from Kaepernick. He established it immediately and it carried over to games.

[00:15:12]Is is Mike Evans going to do the same thing? Is he gonna have instant chemistry with Brock Pury? The players are acting like they do have instant chemistry. I've only seen two practices Evans wasn't at the first practice. At the second practice, he caught like three 8yard passes where he ran quick little out routes against off coverage.

[00:15:32]So, I don't know. I mean, George KD said he saw a bunch of stuff. We'll see. I to me, I feel like it can't be Mike Evans.

[00:15:40]If they're going into the season hoping Mike Evans will lead the team in targets and catches and yards and touchdowns, they're they're in trouble.

[00:15:47]I think the the the plan for Mike Evans should be what the Rams do with Devonte Adams. Don't target him too much. He's older.

[00:15:57]Don't ask him to be someone he was three, four, five years ago. He's your go-to guy inside the 5 yard line.

[00:16:05]If you use him correctly, he could have 10 to 15 touchdown catches. But a,000 yards, I I kind of hope he doesn't have 1,000 yards. I don't think he should have 100 catches. I don't even think he should have 100 targets. He seems like 50 catches would be good for Mike Evans this year. 7 800 yards and then who knows, he could have 14, 15 touchdown catches. He's that dominant in the red zone where you don't really have to run.

[00:16:31]You're just boxing people out, posting people up.

[00:16:35]So, who's going to be the guy who leads a team and catches it? It really shouldn't be Mike Evans or he'll get hurt at this stage in his career. He's had hamstring injuries each of the last two years. Hamstrings don't ever really fully recover. So, be don't invite the third one. The the the second one happened pretty early in the season last year and then other things started breaking down as well. So, be smart with Mike Evans and and don't ask uh Christian McCaffrey to carry the receiving, you know, the passing game.

[00:17:05]Again, 100 catches for for Christian McCaffrey is not good.

[00:17:10]To me, it's got to be Ricky Pearl. And I don't I don't really know that I'm that confident that Ricky can do it. He did it for three games last year. He was the number one receiver on the team uh week one for sure against Seattle, week three against Arizona, and then he got hurt week four against Jacksonville and was never not particularly effective after that. Those first three games he was among the league leaders in yards. Like he was up there with Jackson Smith and Jigba. The difference is that JSN lasted all freaking season plus the playoffs in the Super Bowl and Ricky was like, you know, shooting jumpers in the locker room after taking eight weeks off or whatever. So I I to me the Niners are going to be as good as Ricky Pieraw if he plays like he's supposed to. If he fills his promise and stays healthy and puts up 1300 yards, this Niners team could be really good.

[00:18:05]Because he's the one that has the potential to be a Pro Bowler this year.

[00:18:10]Do I think he will be one? No.

[00:18:13]I think he has as big of an issue staying healthy as anyone on this team.

[00:18:17]Just cuz he's seven years younger than Mike Evans doesn't mean he's going to play more games than Mike Evans. But if he does, if he plays 16 games and puts up 1,200 yards, the Niners are going to be really good.

[00:18:30]The biggest variance has to be with Pier Hall.

[00:18:34]So, what's he going to do? And again, I it's like week one of OTAAS. I thought he was one of the better players on the field. He beat Deodor Lenor. He caught a pass over the middle. It was It was thrown high. He went up and got it. Like all the things you want to see from Ricky Pierce all go over the middle. Put your body on the line. beat Lenor did it. He can do it. That's why I call him the white Odell Beckham. Not to make it racial, not to be racialist as Ali G would say, but I kind of he moves like Odell Beckham Jr. Compare their size, speed is their their w similar, but he ain't Odell Beckham uh yet. He has moments where he looks like he could put it all together and then he's not there the next week. It's like why? They give you a day off, you give you a week.

[00:19:19]Why? you haven't earned a week off. Mike Evans is practicing. You need to be out there proving that you can do this every day the way Brandon IU did for years.

[00:19:28]So, I'm still looking at Ricky as a main storyline. Um, I guess Mike Evans is too because he's new. And then is Desha is Dejan Stribbling ready to contribute?

[00:19:36]That's a third one because he had he did some good thing. Here's what we know about Dejon Stribbling.

[00:19:43]It's got people excited. One, he produced at Old Miss. That's for sure.

[00:19:47]He definitely plays to his 4-3 speed and he caught some long passes during OTAAS.

[00:19:52]That's all true, but that's also true of Jordan Watkins who caught a grand total of two passes during the regular season last year. He plays to his speed. He got he got open deep a bunch in training camp last year and Ot and mini camp and caught those passes. He had a deep catch in preseason. It all amounted to next to nothing in the regular season because Kyle Shanahan would rather play Kendrick Bourne who's on a one-year deal and has no future with the team and is 30ome years old then play Jordan Watkins and develop him for the future. We know that.

[00:20:24]So if Stribbling is just as good as Demarcus Robinson, that doesn't mean Stribbling's going to play. If Stribbling has like a good training camp, doesn't mean Stribbling's gonna play because, you know, Kyle Shanahan does not tolerate mental mistakes from rookies. He'll take it from Kendrick Bourne. Kendrick Bourne can not know where to line up, give no effort as a blocker, but he'll play, but god forbid a rookie, you know, lines up in the wrong spot for two seconds, never going to play again.

[00:20:53]Will will Kyle make an exception for Dejon dribbling? Maybe.

[00:20:59]Maybe.

[00:21:00]But he doesn't have to. He has so many veterans he can play. He has Jordan Watkins who knows the system better than him. I mean he stribbling knows the system worse than all the other wide receiver less than all the other wide receivers. That's going to come into play here. So when I like is he ready to contribute? I mean he's got the body to contribute but so does Jordan Watkins.

[00:21:19]He's got the speed to contribute but so does Jordan Watkins. He has the college pedigree to contribute but so does Jordan Watkins. The question is does Kyle trust him? Does Kyle want to play him?

[00:21:29]And I'm not sure that he does.

[00:21:34]He's a rookie. He Kyle only plays rookies if he absolutely has to.

[00:21:39]He didn't want to play Dominic Puny.

[00:21:41]Spencer Berford and John Feliciano got hurt and Puny played and they were like, "All right, well, he was going to take this job eventually. Like, why don't we just keep him here for continuity sake?"

[00:21:53]Canbling play well enough that he forces the hand for Kyle. Like, is he way better than Christian Kirk? Is he way better than Demarcus Robinson? If so, he'll play. But I watched OTAAS. He didn't look way better than Demarcus Robinson. Demarcus Robinson looked better. Not faster, but you know, caught more passes and he's older. He's what, seven, eight, nine years older. So that's that's storyline number three. Number four to me is how will Raheem Morris use Lenor?

[00:22:23]I feel like this has been a underrated controversial topic for the Niners since they lost the Super Bowl, right? Because Lenor keeps telling people how he wants to be used. He wants to shadow the number, the number one team's guy. He wants to be in the slot. He wants to be in the thick of the action. He doesn't want teams to avoid him. And Wilt was like, "You stay over there. We're going to put Logan Ryan in the slot." And then Logan Ryan gave up the Super Bowl losing touchdown catch. Then last year, he's campaigning to to shadow Jackson Smith and Jigba. And the whole year, Robert Salah keeps him on the left side of the defense. doesn't move him anywhere. Uh he's targeted a career low time. I mean, teams just basically avoid him. He's kind of disengaged for long periods of the game and then he ends up giving up some touchdown catches uncharacteristically because he's well, I don't want to make excuses for him, but it didn't seem to it didn't bring out the best in him.

[00:23:10]Robert Rosal's playing.

[00:23:13]Now, I want to see how Raheem Morris uses him. This is I think Lenor is one of the most underrated players in the league. Like the Rams traded a first round pick for Trey McDuffy. Trent McDuffy gets all this love because he was on the Chiefs and they won a Super Bowl. I don't think Trent McDuffy's better than Demodor Lenor. I think they're very similar guys who can play on the outside but are really good in the slot and guys who can shadow uh other teams number one receivers.

[00:23:41]And you know the McDuffy gets all this credit, Lenor doesn't. And I think it's partly because the Niners don't know how they want to use him. Imagine if the Chiefs just put McDuffy on the left side of their defense and didn't move him at all or the Rams did that. That'd be dumb.

[00:23:59]So, I'm curious, does does Morris use him differently? And at least looking at OTAAS, I feel like he did. I never saw Len Lenor in the slot. Doesn't mean he won't eventually get there, but I did notice one day he was on the left side of the defense and the other side he was on the right side of the defense. And I like that. I don't think you should have your best quarterback stand in one side of the field all the time. I know Richard Sherman used to do that, but they also had great DBs all over their that Legion of Boom defense. The NerS don't. It's so easy to avoid Lenor unless you have him, you know, moving sides of the field, shadowing the other team's best receiver. And it seems like Raheem Morris gets that.

[00:24:42]It seems like it. And I think that's huge. I think the Niners defense isn't good. Even if they bring back Raheem, uh, even with Fred Warner and Nick Bosa coming back and Dre Greenlaw coming back, like, this defense is mediocre at best, unless Raheem Morris is good. If he has a a vision for this defense and finds a way to actually get the most out of Lenor and make him a playmaker and not a a bystander, could be a good defense. A lot depends on Morris and Lenor. And so far, I'm encouraged, by the way. Um, that's going. So, you know what? It's a little prize pics time. Let's get the prize picks on the screen. Do I have prize picks? Hold on. Where you at? Prize picks.

[00:25:23]Here we go.

[00:25:27]I'm really enjoying doing Giants prize picks every day. I think it's But should I do World Cup instead? Maybe I should do World Cup instead since it's, you know, Okay. Shots on target, goals allowed.

[00:25:43]Not goals anymore. They They didn't really They don't want me to do goals.

[00:25:46]Shots on target. Okay, here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Crosses, shots, goals. All right, goals.

[00:25:53]I'm looking for someone I've heard of.

[00:25:54]Looking for someone I've heard of.

[00:25:58]Oh, how about this dude? How about Americans? Alex Zendeas, are you going to score?

[00:26:06]I think Alex Zendeas is going to score.

[00:26:08]He's an attacker for the United States.

[00:26:12]What about Alex Freeman? No. Uh, what about Brendan Aronson? No. What about Christian Pulicuch?

[00:26:23]No. Okay. What about Conor Metaf for Australia?

[00:26:31]No.

[00:26:33]Okay. Jackson Irvine.

[00:26:36]Boy, Australia's going to lose, huh?

[00:26:38]Jacob Italiano is a player for Jacob Italiano. I'm from I'm from from Australia.

[00:26:48]Max. Geez, this this team sucks.

[00:26:50]Muhammad Tore.

[00:26:54]Okay. Okay. You're going to score a goal against America today, I believe. Who Who are you? You're an attacker. What about Netor?

[00:27:04]What about Nishan? No, it's going to be Muhammad as I'm a big Muhammad fan.

[00:27:10]Always have been. Why don't we go MLB?

[00:27:12]Get back to my comfort zone. Giants.

[00:27:15]Wherefore art thou Giants against Miami?

[00:27:18]Wow. Okay. Landon Rup. Five strikeouts more or less.

[00:27:24]I don't want to touch that. How about Lake?

[00:27:29]His name is Lake. Two and a half strikeouts against the Giants. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Rafie Des, you're going to strike out today.

[00:27:37]Yep. Where's Willie Adamus?

[00:27:41]Yep. Thank you, Willie, for being Willie. And then is there anyone else that I can count on to be themselves?

[00:27:48]Yeah. Arise. Getting a hit. That's right. Doing the bull dance. Feeling the flow. Okay, that's my lineup. Alex and Deas, Muhammad, Toué, Lake Bakar, Bachar, Rafie Devers, Willy Adamis, Louisa Rise. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to flex it. I'm going to put I don't know. I'm going to know how about 50. That's a reasonable amount.

[00:28:13]And I'm going to submit it. Boom. Go to app.pricepix.com.

[00:28:16]Use promo code HMA. Play five bucks. Get 50 instantly in lineups when you use that promo code, which is HMA.

[00:28:24]Okay.

[00:28:26]Have you guys heard about this thing called the Sack Summit?

[00:28:31]It's a It's an annual thing. It's a gathering of NFL pass rushers. takes place every summer and uh it was started by Von Miller. It's originally called the Von Miller Pass Rush Summit and I guess it's been going on for like 10 years. Um this year Max Crosby and Cam Jordan are also running the event along with uh Von Miller. Lawrence Taylor is going to be there. Um and a lot of NFL players will be there. I will list the non49ers who are going to be there. Uh, Leat Leah, I forget how do pronounce a dude's name. Latu from the Colts. Ruben Bane, the rookie. Uh, Trarevon Walker from the Jaguars. Quinnon Williams from the Cowboys. Jaylen Phillips from the Panthers.

[00:29:23]Dexter Lawrence from the Bengals. Eric Armstead from the Jaguars. Another Jaguar. Josh Hines Allen from the Jaguars. Three Jaguars.

[00:29:32]Kiza Cany from the Bucks and Rashawn Garry from the Cowboys. These are players, NFL players who have already committed. Maybe more will in the future. Here is the full list of 49ers pass rushers who were attending the sack summit.

[00:30:00]That was it. That was the full list of 49ers who were attending this year's sack summit.

[00:30:06]None of them are. Now, Nick Bosa is rehabbing. Um, Muel Williams is rehabbing. You'd think maybe they could get something out of it, but Romelo Height, Osa, Diggizua, uh, Sam Okawanu, anyone buler. I mean, they canled mini camp.

[00:30:31]It's not like they're doing anything.

[00:30:33]They had the worst pass rush in the league last year.

[00:30:39]Armstead's going to be there. They're all friends with him.

[00:30:43]None of them.

[00:30:45]Wouldn't it been cool if one 49er would go to I mean, they go to tight end U.

[00:30:51]I bet you I bet you freaking Jake Taj is going to be a tight end U. I bet M.

[00:30:55]Jones will be a tight end U. I bet kid will be a tight end. You he can't even play because it's his thing.

[00:31:03]I'm just saying, man, the thing with the Niners is like they always say that the defensive line is the most important position and it's all about getting to the quarterback and putting them on the ground and that's a great equalizer.

[00:31:14]Man, they're awful at drafting and developing defensive linemen. Maybe let someone else do it. Maybe encourage your guys to go to this sack summit and like get to know Max Crosby.

[00:31:27]because Nick Bosa's expertise doesn't seem to be, you know, osmosising itself over to, that's a word, to the other players. Maybe get to know Von Miller. Maybe get to know Josh Hines Allen.

[00:31:45]I don't understand why the Niners were so intent on taking the whole offseason off. What? What are you Is it just because they're old?

[00:31:55]I don't know. Miles Garrett isn't there either. So maybe maybe this means the Rams aren't going to go to the Super Bowl.

[00:32:00]Three Jaguars are there. Maybe that means the Jaguars are going to the Super Bowl this year.

[00:32:06]No one's really taking the Jaguars seriously.

[00:32:10]They did go to the playoffs last year.

[00:32:12]They lost a close game what to the Bills.

[00:32:15]They have a secondear coach who's pretty good. They have three guys at the [clears throat] at the summit is they have a pretty good quarterback.

[00:32:25]I mean, but they got Brian Thomas Jr. who can't catch. They got Jacobe Myers who's okay.

[00:32:30]They got Parker. Yeah, their team's kind of whatever. Kind of the same exact team they had last year, but they have the sack summit to hell. They have Nate Bergkshire now. Manuel Pregnant. Yeah, I don't know about them.

[00:32:44]Anyway, I I guess I didn't have that much to say other than it's good to see that the Niners are doing a whole lot of nothing this offseason except for Upton Stout. Upton Stout quietly working his ass off, posting videos, actually playing football. How many Niners are doing that this offseason? Upton Stout is one.

[00:33:03]So, he's all in. Got to love that.

[00:33:06]Great. I need to get to know Kyle. How do you know I haven't?

[00:33:10]I hang out with Kyle at the owner's meets every year. I've hung out with his wife. Um, I given I've given Kyle bro hugs.

[00:33:20]Now, I've gotten to know Jed a lot better. Jed Jed will me and Jed will talk. Kyle he's like kind of like you got to like talk to Chris Sims first.

[00:33:27]He's like he's a moving target. He's a little tough. I've talked to Chris Sims a lot though. Chris Sims is a cool guy.

[00:33:32]Up and stout baby. All right. So this is I want to talk about this for a second.

[00:33:37]It seems to me that the Ner's number one assignment this year is to figure out a way to score a touchdown against the Seahawks because you haven't done that in a long time. And if the Niners have another if Kyle Shanahan has another year where he can't score touchdowns against Seattle, teams are going to look the Niners are going to look at him differently and and you're going to look at him differently because everyone just assumes that he's the best and he has the answers. But if he can't do it this year, you're going to have to look at him as like just another coach who can't figure out these new wave defenses.

[00:34:11]Shawn McVey seem to figure it out a little bit, but not that many. I mean, it seems like the best coaches in the league aren't necess the best offensive coaches in the league aren't necessarily coming from this tree anymore.

[00:34:23]And it seems like Mike McDonald owns him except for McVey. So, why does he own the Niners? I feel like the Niners offense was starting to dip in 2022 and then they traded for Christian McCaffrey and that changed everything. And you know, Kyle gets a lot of credit and Brock gets a lot of credit, but I think we need to really dis like pinpoint what Christian did and continues to do for this offense, even though he's not the player he used to be.

[00:34:49]I think Ed McCaffrey broke this down recently, his dad, on a on a radio show.

[00:34:55]The thing with Christian is like teams really can't or shouldn't play their base defense ever when he's on the field.

[00:35:06]Okay? Because if you do, if you play three linebackers or four linebackers with McAffrey on the field, then he can split out whenever. They can always, you know, change the play. Kyle gives the quarterback two plays, right? if they see a base defense whenever they want, they can split out uh or just check to a pass and have Christian McCaffy running routes on linebackers whenever they want.

[00:35:34]And teams know it. So, a lot of teams won't play base defense against the Niners because they're more worried about Christian beating them as a receiver than as a runner, especially last year.

[00:35:49]So, at his best, he could force you into a a nickel defense. He could force you into zone coverage because do you really have someone who can cover him manto man? Can all your linebackers cover him manto man?

[00:36:03]And that opens up the offense for everyone else. It opens up the running game because you got a light box. It opens up the running game for Christian McCaffrey who's not like, you know, he's not built like Saquon Barkley. He's built like a scatback. But they you but he he was used as a bellcow for years large in part because teams were kind of scared to load the box to play, you know, to have a bunch of run stuffers.

[00:36:25]They were his his threat as a receiver opened up opportunities for him as a running back.

[00:36:32]Um so now it's like, okay, the Seahawks see that it's okay, we can't play base against McAffrey. Okay. Um can't really play man against McAffrey.

[00:36:44]All right. All right. So, they don't even try. They just built a nickel defense that's great in zone coverage and great against the run. They don't ever load the box. They don't ever go to base. There's never a linebacker that the Niners can pick on. Those those those that those small defenders are flying around the field. They're way faster than the Niners. They're way faster than Christian McCaffrey.

[00:37:09]And so, yeah, they they'll let the Niners check it down to Christian McCaffrey throughout the game, but he's not getting yards after the catch against the Seattle Seahawks. He's doing nothing against him as a as a running back. And this, you know, bind that he puts other defenses in, it doesn't put the Seahawks in a bind because that's their defense anyway. It's like, oh, damn, we have to play nickel. We always play nickel.

[00:37:33]So, they need a new trick. The Christian McCaffrey trick worked for a long time, but it doesn't work anymore. Teams get it. Okay, we can't play base anymore. We don't want to play base anymore. Every team has a big nickel defender like, you know, or is looking for one. The Niners, I mean, Upton Stout, he's he's 58, but he freaking hits like a linebacker. He's a run defender in the slot.

[00:38:02]Christian McCaffrey, his dad said his he was the greatest uh receiving running back of all time. Is he? I don't know, man. I grew up with Marshall Faulk. I feel like Marshall Faulk was just as good or better.

[00:38:13]But yes, the thing with Christian is that his ability to receive, to split out, to abuse linebackers in coverage, uh has been the Niners special secret sauce on offense since 2022. and it's why they couldn't win in in 2024 without him. Even though this dude for the last two years has been averaging like 38 39 a carry, it doesn't really matter. It's not good. It's below average.

[00:38:42]Um but his presence on the field does so much and eventually he won't be out there anymore because that's how it works, you know, age and whatnot.

[00:38:54]But if he can give the Niners another 17 games and 3.8 8 yards per carry and 80 catches. That'll help against a lot of teams, just it won't help against Seattle.

[00:39:04]So, I don't know what Kyle's going to do. Maybe he thinks Mike Evans is is the answer. Or maybe he thinks Demarcus, this can't be Demarcus. It's got to be Mike Evans. Mike Evans is going to fix all the Niners problems. I can't wait to see what Mike Evans does against Seattle with Christian McCaffrey on the field.

[00:39:22]I guess we'll see. All right, we got a little We got a little uh SeatGeek promo for you. Check it out. I am so excited to see the Giants. Not because they're good, mostly because I want to get outside the house and they have a nice stadium. Which is why I want to give the sponsor of today's video, SeatGeek, a huge shout out. With over 35 million downloads, SeatGeek is the number one rated ticketing app. There are more than 70,000 events listed on SeatGeek, including concerts, sports, festivals, and more.

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[00:40:51]Thank you, SeatGeek. All right, I got a a topic for you. This is a bit of like a fantasy football topic.

[00:40:58]Um, but like who should you invest in on this offense this year? Who is underrated? Who's a sleeper? Christian McAffrey has been one of the best fantasy football guys in the league for the last couple of year. I mean, not in 2024, but 2023 and 2025. I didn't want him last year. I was wrong. I would not go anywhere near Christian McCaffrey in fantasy football this year after the 450 touches last year. I wouldn't do it.

[00:41:25]Mike Evans, I'd stay away.

[00:41:27]Yes, he might catch a lot of touchdown passes. That's true. And if he does, you could benefit. But are the Niners really going to be prudent with him? Are they going to use him judiciously? Are they going to are they going to hope they can give him 100 catches and 1300 yards? I think it's that, man. They hope a lot.

[00:41:41]And they don't do a good job of keeping people healthy. Although they did keep Christian healthy last year. Did they keep Christian healthy or did Christian keep Christian healthy? It's not like they went light on his workload.

[00:41:52]So, I would stay away from Mike Evans. I would stay away from Ricky Pearl. I drafted him in the fifth round last year. I instantly regretted that. What was I thinking? He needs to prove that he can stay healthy through an entire training camp before I would go anywhere near him. And he missed a second week OTAAS. No, I have Jake Tandis on my dynasty team, but the fact that Jake, you know, KD's trying to come back so quickly, the Niners don't use Jake Tandis when KD's on the field, it's annoying. I wouldn't touch KD. Pause. Coming off that torn Achilles. No. No. The guy that I think is really good value who's completely going under the radar on the Niners is Demarcus Robinson. I doubt he gets drafted in fantasy football, but I think that he's gonna go for more than 600 yards, more than 50 catches, more than five touchdowns.

[00:42:42]Does that make him a fantasy football factor? I don't know. Maybe, maybe not.

[00:42:47]But I think he's going to have I think he's gonna be the third leading receiver behind Evans and Pearl. I think he's gonna have more catches in dribbling. I think he's going to have more catches than Watkins and Cowing and Kirk. And I base this on OTAAS. He got a ton of catches, particularly in the second day. The first day he was he didn't practice. Neither did Mike Evans.

[00:43:05]The second day he was the slot receiver and he kept catching the dig route over the middle, which is the Niners bread and butter. Like Mike Evans catching those those passes on the perimeter.

[00:43:14]That's nice, but it's not it's not the the fast ball in the Niners offense. The fast ball in the Niners offense is that 12 yard square in route from the slot.

[00:43:22]That's Demarcus Robinson. was Jawan Jennings. He caught a bunch of those passes. And I I I I believe that the reason the Niners signed Robinson last year was to replace Jawan Jennings. They knew Jennings was not going to get an extension. They knew he had he was going to they were going to need to replace him sooner or later and they knew that he p might um hold out and they didn't know how long they were going to hold out. Who knows? there was a scenario where they would end up trading Jawan last year and maybe they should have. It's not like keeping him led to them going to a Super Bowl. He didn't have a great year. He got hurt.

[00:44:00]They probably could have traded him last year instead of letting him go and getting nothing. And I think they felt that, you know, Jawan's good, but his stats that he were was using to leverage an extension were a function of the offense and Kyle Shanahan and the system and the quarterback and all that. And I think they felt that if Jawan could go for 900 yards like he did in 2024, then in this offense that Demarcus Robinson could do. And I'm not saying Robinson's going to go for 900 yards. Although although if Evans and Pierce all get hurt and Robinson stays healthy, then he might put up numbers just, you know, by default. But let's say everyone plays at least 14 games, I still think he gets at least 45 catches, at least 600 yards, and at least five touchdown. And I think that makes him a factor this year. A sleeper. I don't think Stribbling's going to do much. And I don't think it's his fault. I thought Watkins was good in training camp. I I didn't like the pick.

[00:44:51]I watched him for an offseason. I was like, you know what? I do like the pick now. I think he's a good player. And then it's like Kyle drafts him. He's like, I like this guy. And I'm like, what are you doing? Why would you draft a wide receiver? Why would you trade for him? I don't like this guy at all. Then he gets on the field and I'm like, oh, okay, Kyle. Actually, I see it. I like it. And he's like, no, I changed my mind. I don't like him at all anymore.

[00:45:07]I'm like, why? What are you talking about?

[00:45:11]He was pretty good.

[00:45:14]That's Kyle. I don't know. So, I think as long as Robinson's healthy in here, Stribbling's gonna have a tough time.

[00:45:21]We'll see. I could be wrong, but I'm usually right. And then last thing, movies I've watched recently. I've been watching hella movies recently. Been on a movie kick. So, if you want to watch along with me, I'll tell you what I've been watching. I don't have that many interesting things to say about them because I'm not that smart. Maybe I'm watching them too fast.

[00:45:41]But the last week I've watched three at least starting with uh raising errors.

[00:45:46]Well, I watched Blood Simple a couple of weeks ago. This was the Cone Brothers first movie. And damn, I got to say that movie, it's 90 minutes. It's everything I like in a movie. It's really tight.

[00:45:57]It's really well edited. It's 90 minutes. It's tense the whole time.

[00:46:03]It's like it it's one of the most underrated thrillers ever. No one ever talks about it.

[00:46:10]But damn, man. It's every bit as good as Reservoir Dogs. It's on that level.

[00:46:18]Blood Simple. So, that's a Cone Brothers first movie. Then I wanted I was like, I got to watch their second movie cuz I've seen, you know, Fargo and Big Labowski um and Miller's Crossing, which is my favorite Cone Brothers movie. So, I watched Raising Arizona, which to me was just hilarious and every bit as funny as Big Labowski. And you know, I grew up with Nicholas Cage during his action film era where he was making those like goofy over-the-top The Rock and Face Off and Gone 60 Seconds and they were funny and campy and weird and it was Nicholas Cage, but like he was almost like, you know, doing a spoof of himself at that point in his career. It's cool to go back and see him in the 80s when he was actually just funny. He was hilarious in Raising Arizona. John Goodman was in it. He wasn't fully formed as a comedic actor yet, but he was very funny in that movie. Um, I would recommend it. Moves very quickly.

[00:47:17]And uh, yeah, classic Nicholas Cage. And then I watched Basic Instinct. I I watched Show Girls a few weeks ago and it was the I've never seen Starship Troopers. I saw Robocop and I've seen Total Recall, but not since I was a kid.

[00:47:32]And I watched show girls and I was like, "Oh man, this director is kind of unhinged." Like what else did he do? And Basic Instinct's even better.

[00:47:41]Sharon Stone, holy [ __ ] I mean, I've seen uh Casino. Love Casino, but this is clearly like why she's in Casino cuz Scorsesei watched this movie and was like, "Yep, that's that's who we need."

[00:47:53]She's way better than M Michael Douglas.

[00:47:55]I mean, he's fine in this movie, but like it would have been better if they got like Alpuccino or something. So, they had Michael Douglas, but damn, Sharon Stone makes the whole movie. It's all set in San Francisco.

[00:48:07]It's a like a noir movie. I love noir movies where like, you know, there's some woman who's clearly insane and and a criminal and there's some like main character who's kind of an anti-hero who just can't resist her even though it's obvious she's going to ruin his life.

[00:48:22]And there's this really good girl right over here and he has no interest in her.

[00:48:27]Anyway, Basic Instinct liked it.

[00:48:31]very much. And then Freeway. I watched Freeway last night. Never seen Freeway.

[00:48:36]Have you guys seen Freeway? It's kind of a cult classic. It came out 30 years ago. Um it's one of Reese Witherspoon's first movies.

[00:48:47]It's with her and Kefir Sutherland. It's a remake of um what's uh Little Red Riding Hood.

[00:48:56]It's a good movie.

[00:48:59]Uh, I don't want to give away too much, but Reese Witherspoon, I I don't know how old she is when she made she like 16 when she made this movie. She's incredible. [snorts] She carries the whole movie. I mean, you can't take her I mean, she's just so good. And it's like dark, but it's hilarious.

[00:49:18]Um, I mean, there's a lot of dark stuff in the movie. It's stuff that you wouldn't normally, if I if I told you what the movie is about, you'd be like, "This isn't funny." It's really funny.

[00:49:28]So, I don't want to give that one away, but Freeway was really good.

[00:49:35]And it's like it's totally unrealistic.

[00:49:38]There's so about a halfway through the like maybe half hour into the movie, you're like, well, I I mean, my suspension of disbelief is completely none of this could happen, but it happens and it's fun.

[00:49:52]I mean, she like shoot she I don't want to give it away, but I will. She she shoots Kefir Suther than like seven times and then he walks to the hospital. It's like, "Yeah, sure. I guess he did that. Why not?" Cuz I'm watching the movie. We're like 45 minutes in and she shoots Kefir. I'm like, "What? How is the co-star going to die halfway through?" But he doesn't.

[00:50:14]I'm like, "Of course, of course he can't die."

[00:50:17]So, I was really glad that they brought him back, but I'm like, "She shot him seven times, but who cares? It's a remake of a fairy tale. Who cares?

[00:50:28]I really liked it. Thought it was a hell of a movie. But yeah, I've been watching like a movie at night. Lot of 90s movies. Lot of lot of 80s movies. Doing a Paul Verhovven kick. I do want to watch Starship Troopers.

[00:50:46]And I'm going to watch The Straight Story to finish my David Lynch. I've seen it before, but I want to watch it again soon. That's the one movie that's not super confusing, hence the straight story.

[00:50:57]Anyway, thanks for watching. I saw Disclosure Day today. Today was terrible. I'll look through um the comments to see if you guys have any uh suggestions about what to watch.

[00:51:08]Basic Instinct. Yeah, man. I watched Basic Instinct in Show Girls back to back. Paul Verhovven was a was a nasty dude, but he definitely knew how to get people to watch his movies. Can you imagine the word of mouth on Basic Instinct in 1992?

[00:51:23]Free internet.

[00:51:27]I bet Grant loves Killer Clowns. I do like a good horror movie, but I mean Pennywise in part. Yeah, it's fine.

[00:51:37]Slow Newsuesday. I mean, no, dude. Are you kidding? Did you see Brandon I posted a video playing football? You see that dude? Everyone's talking about it and they're talking about the movies I've been watching recently. I'll watch more and I'll keep you ab breast. If you want to watch the movies I'm watching, go watch those. Raising Arizona, Basic Instinct and Freeway. I would say that if you're young, Raising Arizona would be the one to watch. Basic Instinct, a little bit pretty intense, but that's a rated movie. Borderline NC7. No, it was Yeah. And then Freeway is very violent.

[00:52:09]How about Usual Suspects? Yeah. I mean, great movie. Saw for the first time when I was like 13. Seen it a bunch of times.

[00:52:14]Love it. Love that movie.

[00:52:18]Give me the keys, you [ __ ] Give me the keys, you [ __ ] [ __ ] with the hug.

[00:52:24]Great movie, man. A lot of quote a lot of quotables in that one. Chaz Palment Terry. There was a time when Chaz Palment Terry was just the best. I have seen Obsession. Obsession. I liked it very much. I watch weak movies, says Mil. You don't like anything about me, but you watch all my shows, Mil Ticket.

[00:52:40]I've noticed that.

[00:52:42]I think you have a lovehate relationship with me. I think you want to kiss me. I think you want to make out with me. No, I won't make out with you, Mill ticket.

[00:52:49]You know what I'm saying? I got I got professor over here talking about chlorophyll, talking about god knows what. All you want to do is make out with me. No, I won't make out with you, meal ticket.

[00:52:59]Get back with the chlorophyll.

[00:53:02]Thanks for watching. Uh, have a great weekend. I'll be back. I I work every day and you know Bren's gonna come out with something stupid in the next couple of days. So, I will try to match his stupid. Hopefully the Niners don't, but I will cuz I'm only 38.