PMT DB
PMT DB
Ryen Russillo on the NBA Draft, James Harden, and Bench Pressing Billy
The Chicago Bears are officially making football a chore to watch. After a miserable Monday Night performance that featured roughly zero offensive highlights, Big Cat is finally ready to admit that the house of cards has collapsed. Between an offensive line that can't block and a quarterback room that inspires no confidence, the five-and-one start feels like a lifetime ago.
Big CatNick Foles is not a consistent starting quarterback in the NFL
Nick Foles... He's not good. He's not good at playing football. Like, he's not good at being a quarterback. It's just... Objectively, he's just not. He's just found himself in a couple good situations. Right. He's reached incredible heights, and he's had incredible moments. But, like, game to game, he is not a consistent starter in the NFL.
The frustration in Chicago isn't just about one bad game; it’s about the long-term damage of a missed evaluation at the most important position in sports. Big Cat is looking at a decade of pain thanks to the Mitch Trubisky era.
Big CatThe Bears will be chasing the mistake of drafting Mitch Trubisky for a decade
These are the repercussions of missing. When you take a swing for the fences on a quarterback in the first round and you miss, you feel it for a decade going forward. The Bears will be chasing that mistake for a very long time.
PFT Commenter tried to offer some solace by pointing out that the defense is still elite, though even they can’t win games when the offense struggles to cross the fifty-yard line.
PFT CommenterThe Bears' defense is good enough to win a Super Bowl if they were paired with even an above-average offense.
The defense is good. I think the Bears' defense, it's still... Oh, it's very good. It's a defense that you could definitely win a Super Bowl with if you had an above-average offense. But [the Bears] don't.
Theo Epstein and the Tired Idea of the Week
Theo Epstein is stepping down from the Cubs a year early, and Big Cat thinks he might be eyeing a much bigger seat in the sports world. With Rob Manfred currently at the helm of MLB, the bar for improvement isn't exactly in the stratosphere.
Big CatTheo Epstein will be the next MLB Commissioner
I actually think he'll be the next commissioner. He should be the next commissioner. I think Manfred's got to be nervous because Theo Epstein's a fucking genius, and everything he does turns into being great.
PFT also introduced a "tired idea" regarding social media's obsession with copying features. As Twitter rolls out "Fleets," everyone seems to be chasing the high of an app that actually understood the format.
Big CatVine was the perfect social media app
Vine, it was the most perfect app that's ever been invented. Vine was everything that TikTok and Instagram stories and fleets always wanted to be. Vine was the perfect app. Six seconds. It also, Vine was like the greatest, because TikTok, anyone can do anything... Having to be funny in six seconds or less is very hard to do.
Hot Seat/Cool Throne
On Hot Seat, Big Cat is retiring from the injury prediction business. After being very "woke" about Drew Brees having a secret shoulder injury, it turns out Brees actually had about five broken ribs and a punctured lung. Meanwhile, PFT is standing firm on his stance regarding Twitter features and the sanctity of the original post.
PFT CommenterTwitter should not add an edit button; I prefer to live my life by the seat of my pants and 'fire and forget.'
For the record, I don't want an edit button. No. I live my life by the seat of my pants. I just fire off. I fire and forget. I don't want to have to go back and edit shit. Everyone says give me an edit button. I'm team not edit button.
Billy Football also defended his betting spreadsheet, claiming that his parlay system is basically a foolproof way to manage your finances, despite going 0-5 on his recent picks.
Billy FootballIt is mathematically impossible to lose all your money in my parlay system.
Is it possible to lose all your money in your parlay system? No, you can't lose all of it. It's impossible. Impossible to lose all of it. You can lose some of it. You can win a lot more, but you can't lose all of it.
Ryen Russillo on the NBA Draft and Harden
Draft expert Ryen Russillo joined the show to help navigate an NBA Draft that feels a bit light on star power. Russillo isn't sugarcoating it; while there might be depth later in the first round, the top of the board lacks the surefire franchise alterers we usually see.
Ryen RussilloThe 2020 NBA Draft might be historically bad at the top
It's a bad draft at the top, and it may be historically bad. I know the closer we get to this, it happens every year where it'll be a bad draft... But at the top, you always hope every year there's maybe one or two guys that can really impact a franchise... And this one has a chance to have zero.
Despite the weak class, Russillo still has his favorites, particularly James Wiseman, who he believes has the physical tools and touch to be a force if he can put it all together.
Ryen RussilloJames Wiseman is the best player in the 2020 NBA Draft
I like Wiseman... I like him this much in comparison to everybody else... The thing I like about him is yes the size and all that stuff he catches everything... Wiseman also has another level that I don't know if he's going to get to, but he'll show it with his handle. He'll show a really soft touch where he almost has some of these offensive small forward skills that you start to get really, really excited about.
The conversation shifted to the blockbuster rumors surrounding James Harden and a potential move to the Brooklyn Nets. Russillo broke down why Harden's box score stats in Houston might be a bit deceiving when considering how they would translate to a team with other superstars.
Ryen RussilloJames Harden's production is inflated by about 25% due to the Rockets' system
I also think Houston's style is almost like the best Instagram filter... where when you go play in Houston's system when it's Harden... you're 25% better... it's very clear, at least to me, and I don't know why more people don't say this, that you almost have to shave off like 25% of it [Harden's production].
Man Strength and Guys on Chicks
Things took a turn for the weird when the topic shifted to lifting. Billy Football tried to flex on Russillo, only to realize he was bringing a knife to a gunfight. Russillo casually dropped his bench numbers, proving that man strength is a very real phenomenon that hits around age 28.
Ryen RussilloI benched 315 pounds for three reps today just messing around
Fucking put the microphone down. I put up 315 three times today fucking around. Get back to me in a couple years.
We wrapped things up with Guys on Chicks, featuring a listener asking about the social ramifications of her boyfriend being moved from quarterback to wide receiver. Big Cat didn't stutter with his advice, noting that the status of a QB girlfriend is a heavy crown that shouldn't be traded for a special teams contributor.
Big CatIf your boyfriend switches from playing quarterback to wide receiver in college, you should dump him immediately.
How long do I have to wait to dump him without it being obvious it's not about him being a quarterback anymore? Do it now. Do it now. Because you know what? You don't actually love him. He said he's a wide receiver, but he's really just going to get in on a couple of random special teams plays.
If you need a racing pigeon, apparently anonymous bidders in China are willing to pay almost two million dollars for one.
