Jason Avant: "DeVonta Smith Is A More Well Rounded WR Than A.J. Brown"

0:00Drink up baby, fantasy football happy hours here to get you wins and have some laughs. Matthew Berry here and my podcast, fantasy football happy hour, has the sleepers bust and start to advice you need to win your league. We're diving into the tape, we're crunching the numbers to bring you sleepers, bust weekly start to advice, whether you're defending a title or desperately avoiding last place, I've got you covered every single weekday. The bar is open, it's fantasy football happy hour with Matthew Berry wherever you get your podcasts. It is the WIP afternoon show with Ike Spikens Fritz, no Fritz still on paternity leave. We are not at McGurks in Royars Ford for the rally in Royars for the technical issues, but we are here. We do love McGurks. The best seat on Sunday is at McGurks, Miller Light for less than four bucks and if I'll Sunday ticket, check out their calendar for pop-up shops and tailgate tastings for the ultimate game day atmosphere, make it McGurks. We still did get Jason Avon for a full hour, Jason. Thank you for where you on your way to McGurks when you got the, when you got the warning

1:02or no. I was actually at the stadium doing an appearance there. So yeah, I was fine. I was fine. I'm glad I even got to me in time because driving out there, I'd have been pissed by the time I would have been halfway. Yes, you had been ticked out there to ask you to turn around. Yes, exactly. You have way out there. I was on the blue route. It got me right through. I must have been right in front of you. Yeah, because we got here at the same time, right before the school. So it was fine. And actually, look, we're here. We're doing it. We'll be at McGurks another time. You guys, actually, we're just talking before we got back on air. I want to ask you both because NFL season starts tonight and there's another game tomorrow from Australia. Now me, as not a professional football player, obviously, the only frustration for me is fantasy football. I can't make, I'm trying to make a judgment about a guy who might be questionable on Sunday and I got to make a judgment. But as players go and the quality of the game, right, we have this Australia game where

2:03the Rams are flying in the day before the 49ers are there for a week. Their body clock is going to be all messed up when they get back. Games on every day of the week. Having gone through the schedule, the way that you guys did, there was less, less moving around, right? Sunday Monday was the Thursday, even? Yeah, Thursday. Thursday. Yeah. What do you think it eventually does knowing what it did to your body, even when you just had a play on Thursday? What do you think it does for the product overall? We let all of football, but does it take all this moving around games and overseas and playing on different days? Do you think it takes a toll on the overall product? I think it takes a toll, not necessarily moving around, but as far as the way that the game is structured in a preseason, I think the first couple of weeks, you see more special team touchdowns, you see more mistakels, you see more long touchdowns in general. And that's a result of guys not hitting and how lenient and favorable it is for player

3:05quote unquote, safety. But sometimes you have to be able to hit people and maybe that extra game can be beneficial. All that being said, football season is around and we're loving that. Will there be more touchdowns and more excitement for the fans? The fans probably won't even recognize it because it's actually more exciting when more touchdowns. But as far as overall product, we know that this is not going to happen in November. Right. Yeah. And I think we're starting to watch the game differently, right? It's almost as a fan, you're allowing for your team in some fan bases, not us here in Philadelphia. We don't care if you just started. We want you to win every week. But teams are so slowly ramping up. You heard Seikwam said a couple of years ago that teams are treating the first month of the season like it's the preseason because none of them actually tackle or hit during the preseason. And this thing is going to go to 18 games, right? At some point. And what they're trying to do is they're trying to balance having the more games they have

4:07and the different nights they play them on by giving them putting less stress on your bodies in the off season, right? The training camps. I'm not saying that I agree with them. I think that's what they're trying to do. They're trying to put less wear and tear on your body during training camps. That's why there's been no more two days. They've limited how much contact you can have. How many times you can wear the pads during the season? Like I think that's where the CBA sort of bargain. If you're going to make us play more games, then we're going to get less time to actually get the beat up on us. I'll say this. If it is fair, I'm okay with it. So you play a Thursday game as long as the team that you're playing the next week has played a Thursday game or something comfortable. Same amount of rest time, right? Same amount of rest time. So if you're going to play a game and not show you, make sure you play one in Brazil too. So all of us can have a equal playing ground the next week, right? So but when you have two teams and now another team is on their normal schedule and you're

5:09coming back, that's when I say, I think that it gets unfair and you just have to suffer through it. But I don't think that that should be a thing. I think that everyone should have the same amount of time, same amount of rest. And so if you're going to play one game that you have to play too, that's what I think. Yeah, the first game of the season, I think is a little more fair and balanced now. The Rams. Yeah, everybody's been off the Rams and the 49ers are choosing, definitely how to handle Goentall Australia. And the 49ers have been there already for a week in the Rams. I'll be interested to see how this works out a day before the game flying that long. I, I'm assuming that they have science behind why they're doing it. Kelly thing. They do, they, they, they have a method to what they're doing. I'm just saying it'll be interesting to see. You got two different case studies there. One team has been there a little while trying to get acclimated and the other team says, now I'd rather stay on my normal clock and just go play it next day. Yeah, the thing that I think about with the Australia game is less so about this game and more so about the next game, right? So San Francisco, their players have adjusted the Australia time.

6:12But then they got to come back and play another football game. The other thing that days. So how many days do they take re adjusting to over here? Whereas I think the Rams probably deal with that less, you know, I have to deal with their, they'll go there. They'll play a game at 10 o'clock, their body clock time, 10 o'clock a.m. Then they'll come back. I don't know. Yeah, I don't. I think the thing with the days, the thing on the different days of the week, the way that I think about it, maybe affecting things is the one thing I would say I'm similar to in terms of like an NFL player during the season is I like everything to be like, I have a schedule. I like things to be regular. I like routine. I do this on this day, this on that day. Well, suddenly you're playing on a Wednesday and a Thursday and a Friday. That routine is all messed up. I like you. And I just wonder if it if the NFL is so big, I wonder if it can get degraded a little bit each time they do these things and we just wake up one day and it doesn't look the same. No, you may be right. And but here's the thing though.

7:13These boys are making so much money. Well, right. Yeah, I don't feel bad for them. They don't, well, they, they don't ultimately oppose to it. Yeah, right. Yeah. My, the, the NFL has to be careful. Yeah, because they're getting greedy. Sure. They're getting greedy and just look at all the sports leagues. Yeah. More games does not mean better. Yeah. Yeah. Right. So you have to figure out ways to get the dollars higher without putting more stress on the product and also the players. Right. So I think the NFL is in that range where after this 18 goes up that it got to be a no more, but they're going to keep pushing until the product gets, people get used to it and comment. And now you're in a 2024 game season and now it's okay to miss a home game. Right. Now it's okay to because they have so many it'll be fine. I think you got to expand the rosters. Why does it feel like nobody really gives us the inside scoop? Join us on the powers that be the podcast where insiders from Pock break down who has influence how they use it and what it actually means for you.

8:16New episodes every weekday. Listen to the powers that be wherever you get your podcasts. Well, they don't want to, they just means they want to have to pay more playing. No, they don't, they don't do that. Yeah, exactly. They don't want to do that. I would, I would get, I would get rid of the practice squad and make them all. Have any players you can put on the practice squad just make them on the active roster. Well, they'd almost see the way they've changed the rules. It almost seems like they kind of have and that you can move guys up and down. Yeah. It's just the differences that another. And you can say any of this they own the practice one longer. Yeah. Yeah. 30 years old on the practice. And you get paid. That sounds crazy. I should still be on the practice squad. Yeah, I, you're, now there's a massive difference between the number of games in NFL team plays and every other sport. But I think it's worth noting that in basketball, all that anyone talks about to improve the, the, the, the league is, they should play less games. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, bass playoff games. Yes. A big, like, baseball, I, I feel like it would probably benefit if they play.

9:16I love 162 games, but the league, like it used 140 to be good. Would be fine. They, they can, they can cut that thing down. You just thought about 64. 64. Yeah. Yeah. You want baseball fans to riot. Yeah. You're right. baseball fans will riot. Nobody watching baseball. I thought you taught us. You with the April major. Yes. This is Phil and I get it. You have your hard core, but I'm just saying if it's, you know what? Listen, I don't care. We, we, we, we just are not. Kiss my ass. That's it. That's it. Yes. Me and told me basically, excuse, excuse my friend. They, they, they, come on. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, so Jason. Right. Those are Jason's beliefs. We, those aren't 94 WIPs. Hey, listen, they got fillies. I'm not coming at you. I'm just saying the overall product. I have the fillies. The overall. I've always loved baseball.

10:16I would say that my, my three years in New York turn me into a baseball psycho. Because that town is baseball first. It's a beautiful ball. It's just, it really is. And the way they, they think about it, I just, I'll watch it. The way that I could watch any football game. Yeah. Yeah. Dude, if the, the cubs in the Marlins are playing and nothing else is on, I'll watch your cubs in the Marlins. I'll give you guys a funny story. Okay. I go to a baseball game from Chicago, socks fan growing up. I go to, I go to socks. Wow. And you get these socks. I get to look, a, a socks in Indian's game. Okay. They scored 32 runs between both teams. Wow. I was sitting in the outfield sleep. With 32 runs, you're like, is this real? Yeah. Yeah. Is anybody pitching? Yeah. Yeah. The game to be in like 16, like, I don't know, 16, 15 or 16 or 17 or 15 or 17 or 15. Yeah. Something like that. And you were asleep. Oh. Oh, there's another one. That's another home run. Yeah. Over the Ivy. I'm sitting out there watching the left field. Like, dude, what is he doing right here?

11:16Well, whatever. Not like you hate on baseball all our, let me stop. I'm messing up. I'm robbing up the fans. That's what we're doing. That is what we're doing, silly. You came to the right place, buddy. So, uh, so we play on Sunday. A lot of questions about the Eagles. I think one thing that, that, let's start with receivers. Yeah. Well, one thing that everyone always said while AJ was here is we have two number one while receivers. Devante is the number one, really, and AJ is the number one. But we will get to see whether Devante is really a number one. What is your belief in Devante as a number one? And what do you think the challenges he's going to face this year as the number one guy that he hasn't faced before when he played with AJ? Just better players, right? So, when you have AJ, a lot of times you're going to get the second best corner. So, we all know that. But that slant route, that's a must or that critical play that's a must is going to become the Devante.

12:18Now, do I think that Devante is well prepared for it? Yes. I think he gets the most separation. I think that he is built for this, especially when you're the number one receiver, you get number one priority when it comes to play calling too. So, what does that mean? Devante and Smith more so in motion. Now he gets a little bit more help coming between the tackle and the guard or now he gets a running start on the shallow cross rather than being stable at the expedition before, right? So, all of those things can help him out as well. But I think Devante is well equipped when it comes to just getting open to beat a number one receiver. Now, AJ is a guy that can just raw ability, just his physical strength to be able to get open. But Devante can do that in a way that it doesn't have to be beast in a guy, but he can beat him with his feet. He can beat him with his brain. And I think that's something that Devante can do and will do. Yeah, I think of Marvin Harrison, senior. Marvin Harrison was not very big guy.

13:19Wasn't going to overpower you as a wire receiver, but he was so quick and he was so precise with his route running that that's how he used that to his advantage to get open. He had good speed, didn't have blazing speed, but had good speed. But Marvin Harrison was a, he was a master when it come to running routes and he in the quarterback, he had paid many, was on the same page with every play. Yeah. And Devante has the ability to go down and Devante is going to make people scared because Devante is a builder. A 40-yard dash is not the right test for Devante. Devante is more of a 400 runner, right? When you go back to his high school days and that 200 400 runner. So those guys is built as they get down the field. So that is something to be afraid of with his ability to go up. But when you look at a guy like Chad Johnson, Chad Johnson was never a big guy. He was slender, but he's able to move his body in certain ways and also had great feet. And those are the attributes that Chad Johnson had. No one ever questioned, could he be a number one?

14:19And Devante Smith is that and maybe just as good at route running. You know, one guy that people have compared him a lot to, JS and having the year that he had last year. Yeah. If you had a question about Devante as a number one, what about his game or his body or whatever, what would be the question you had about him in this spot? It's just in a situation where a defense knows, this is the only scenario that I can foresee that could be a problem. When a defense knows that it's third and third and the only thing that can beat you is a short route and now they put a big physical guide there that's going to bank inside or do something of that nature. I think that's the only time you will have trouble. But I think maybe we don't rely on a slant in that situation as much. Maybe we open a route tree a little bit more and not play sticks, which we do, which we've done in the past. If we need third and fourth, we run in a third or third and fourth, we run a seven-yard route. The third, you know, something like that just beyond the sticks in order to get a completion.

15:22So if you're going to have a disadvantage, you may have to take more of a shot or you may have to call a play that gets everyone open rather than depending on a slant like we have in the past. Yeah, I look at it this way also. I think when a defense knows you need a big catch and where the ball is going, can't they still get the ball to you? You know, that's your number one receiver mentality as well. Sometimes we measure it rightfully so in numbers. Everybody want to see the bottom line numbers, but I also want you to look at it as who's that guy that quarterback is going to on third and seventh when they need to pick up a big first down or down in the red zone, third and gold and they need to pick up a touchdown there. Can you get him the football and can he make place? Steve Smith was not the biggest wide receiver. Can't tell you he was the number one wide receiver. Yeah, but Steve was a pit bull though. He can't out physical. No doubt about it. But he still was five nine. Yeah. He was five nine a bug 80, right? But he just he had that dog getting.

16:23He had that dog getting. And I think now Smitty does it a different way, but Smitty has that dog getting while Steve Smith may have been a pit bull. I look at Smitty as a doverman pinter. Okay. And he knows about doverman pinter. They're just as dangerous. They can get on you very annoying. Yeah. Very annoying. Yeah. I think that's what Smitty is going to show up more than anything is that we're going to we're going to begin to have that same confidence that we would have an AJ on big place. Get him the ball. We're going to have the same thing as me. As Smitty's going to make those catches. He's made them before the only difference was you had AJ on the other side. Yeah. Now he's got to make them on his own, but he's made the actual plays. The big games. He's made them. He shows up every time. Yeah. And here's here's something that I think the fans can get used to is that Smitty is a more well rounded overall football player than AJ Brown when it comes to just his approach to the game. So him being able to catch more passes out of slot and being more willing to you're

17:27going to see that. And you talk about JS in year. His year was the way that it was is because there is multiple clips of him lining up in the backfield him lining up in the well next to the tight end or him being able to move around. AJ Brown does not have that in his ability. AJ Brown is line me up here. Do this type of a guy. Devonta Smith knows the offense well enough to be anywhere. And I think that'll help him out. So how much I mean, he's the guy thrown him the ball, but how much of an adjustment. So many of the balls that we saw AJ catch were really just AJ beating the guy, right? I mean, he had man coverage, Jaylen saw he had man coverage, he gave him an opportunity to beat the guy. Might not be the same thing in this one. So how much of Devonta success will rely on Jaylen playing sort of a different brand of football than he's played in the past? All of it. And that's the, that's like the nature of it because of the way that he goes to play football

18:27the last few years is, OK, AJ Brown is to the left. We run him on a stop route. We run him on a, you know, a slant. We run him on a go. It's very, very elementary, right? So you're going to have to have Jaylen hurts to go to a different level in order to get Devonta the touches that he needs and also for the other guys to be involved in the offense because Nantevin Wicks can get open, but you have to be able to utilize him in a certain way. Hollywood Brown can get open, but he has to be utilized in a certain way. And the more mature and the better quarterback play, the more these other guys can get touches. Right now, the Philadelphia Eagles is a good match. It's a graveyard for the third receiver. Whoever the third receiver is like, when, like, it's a graveyard for that person. Just think about our third receiver the last three, four, five years. Like, has anybody been productive? Well, yeah, Jahan Dawson, really, 15 catches like that. Like, it's a graveyard for that person. And that goes to the quarterback when, when, when quarterbacks are at the top of their

19:30game, the third and a fourth receiver, the second tight end, all of those guys get balls because sometimes the defense dictates that. And if you're playing the game the right way, you're going to get to that person, but when you're not playing the game the right way, you're going to force it into a situation that a guy gets the ball and complete is intercepted or it's an incompletion or you've run forward. Well, it does seem like they've built the team that way. I mean, I don't want to keep comparing to the Niners, but the Niners, like, you know, they didn't have a number one by the receiver last year. You know, Puril Salvatore was hurt most of the year. It was a kiddle, I guess, to an extent. But it was McCaffery was probably the number one, right? Obviously, it was all over the place. And it does seem like the Eagles. It's not like they went and signed a bunch of all pros, but they did go and get a bunch of guys who have had successful years in the league. Elijah Morris had successful years in the league. Don Tavian Wix has had successful years in the league. Hollywood Brown has had successful years in the league. You don't think they would go get all the other guys. If it does seem like they don't want to make up for AJ's catches with one guy.

20:30They would rather have three guys get 30 catches than one guy get 90 catches. And that's what let's see that. And that's the way this offense is really designed to go. It was never designed to be. You look at the Mike Shanahan, Ren, where Rod Smith, Shannon Sharp, Easyhead, McCaffery, back in the mid 90s when they were winning back to back Super Bowls. It wasn't to just predominantly throw one guy to ball. It was to spread the ball around and hand that thing off the TD to Real Davis and let him run it. And everybody is sort of they, they, they, they take her with the offense a little bit and put their own little spin on it. But for the most part, it's an equal opportunity offense. Yeah, it should be. Yeah. The, the game of football should be, it's not always equal opportunity that I would say because the person that is the most prolific offensively, this is how it often should be run. The guy that has that needs the, the fewest touches to score touchdown should be number one in getting the football. Right. We knew that was the signed Jackson. We knew that was the signed Jackson. It took him about five or six touches to score a touchdown.

21:31So he gets the priority of the targets or the lion's chair. And then it goes in order after that. And so if the quarterback is playing the game the right way, it'll lead to a guy having 40 catches. That's the third receiver, 50 catches. I think our third receiver thing is Arthur Wendell this year. It does seem like it. It will. No, no, no, no. I don't mean literally Arthur Wendell from him. I mean, the idea that he's not going to be productive. Oh, no, yes. I think I want to get it. I hope that's the catch. Yeah. They didn't draft his kid to put him in that slot to not be a part of his offense. He, the only way he's not a party office is if he's not affected about his player. I'm saying they're going to go into games trying to get him the ball at times. But that's why they picked him. Well, yeah, that's yeah, that's why you drafted him. We will, we'll ask Jason about McCoy lemon, what he's seen, but also coming up next. I do want to present to him a situation that I want to find out if Jason thinks is fair or unfair that you're going to have to judge. There will be a visual aid to this as well. So we are not at the rally in Royale's Ford at McGurks because we had some technical difficulties.

22:35We do love McGurks, pub and grill in Royale's Ford coming soon. A brand new McGurks and why I'm missing Jason about with us until four o'clock. We'll get to that next to one five five nine two ninety four. This is the WIP afternoon show at Ix bike and Fritz. So football starts tonight and then there's football tomorrow and then there's football on Sunday. It's football season. The players are ready, but is your kitchen ready for football season? If the answer is no, we moved into our new house in South Jersey. The answer was no. So we went over to National Appliance Warehouse and what an experience in National Appliance Warehouse. So we went to the one in Wilmington. There's also one in tax remittletown Delaware as well. The showroom is enormous. Every brand you could possibly want. So I know you care about the price. You're always going to care about the price. You know you're going to get the best price at National Appliance Warehouse. They have some go price ashore there which updates the prices in the store to make sure that you're getting the best price. They also because they're so big, they have huge buying power so they guarantee you the lowest price.

23:36But what really stuck out to me even though the price is great is how I was treated, right? You could walk into a showroom like that and see all these brands and all these fridges and all these ranges and all these mattresses and be overwhelmed. But that isn't the way that they treat you. They treat you as if you were family. That is the policy there. What if this was my mom, what if this was my dad, what if this was my kid and they treated us like that. My wife and I, the experience was great. We wound up with a bunch of appliances in our kitchen that we feel awesome about a five-star experience which you're going to get to. And as I mentioned, they have every appliance and mattress as well. The Labor Day Maga Sale, even though Labor Day is over, the Labor Day Maga Sale is still underway at National Appliance Warehouse. In Wilmington or Tax-Free Middle Town, they're both tax-free. They're both in Delaware. We'll go to NationalPlianceWarehouse.com. When you go there, tell them Fritz and Spike sent you. What the heck is going on with all these promotional popcorn buckets? The giant shorts that all of Gen Z is wearing now and whatever the heck high-rocks is?

24:36I'm comedian and certified hater Matt Bellesai and these are the types of questions I'm demanding answers to on my podcast. What the heck with Matt Bellesai? Listen or watch every Thursday as I rant about all the internet trends, pop culture stories, and personal mayhem that makes me scream, what the heck? Follow what the heck with Matt Bellesai wherever you get your podcasts.