In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Bud Light:
The NFL Combine is underway (we got a full preview from Thor below), mock drafts are flying, and NFL trade rumors are starting to heat up.
Here are three things on my radar this morning …
Quick Hitters Across The League
🍑 A “mystery” team wants the tush push banned. An “unidentified” team submitted a proposal to ban the play. It didn’t take long to figure out who that team was, however, thanks to a recent Q&A with the Green Bay Packers President, Mark Murphy.
Murphy, who clearly did not watch the Bills go 0-for-4 on the tushy pushy in the AFC Championship game, claims there is "no skill involved” with the play.
In related news: this old tweet aged gracefully.
💸 Matthew Stafford wants $50 million+. Peter Schrager explained the dynamic well in this report. The TLDR is that Stafford wants to get paid and the Rams are hesitant to do so. That leaves us with two big questions:
1) Is Stafford actually willing to uproot to go play in a less-desirable city for the pay bump?
2) Would said teams actually pony up the compensation required to pry him away from the Rams?
You know Aaron Rodgers already hit the QB group chat with a “dibs” if a starting spot opens up in LA.
😴 Ashton Jeanty doesn’t need to prove anything? Similar to Shedeur Sanders, Jeanty announced that he will only be participating in medical evals and team interviews this week. The sad reality is that most of the top athletes have far more to lose than they do to gain participating in the NFL Combine drills.
Either that or Jeanty is terrified to run on a surface that isn’t blue turf.
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Make-or-Break Weekend Ahead
So … we won’t get to see Shedeur Sanders, Ashton Jeanty, or Cam Ward run through tests at the NFL Combine this week. Sure, they’re the high-draft-capital stars who we’re going to be obsessing over in fantasy football this summer. But we don’t need Combine testing results to convince us of that.
The Combine is where players can pop up on a radar out of left field. Piss-poor Senior Bowl performance? Here’s a shot at redemption (Sorry, Jalen Milroe).
Thor Nystrom went position by position to identify those exact players, who can flip the script with a good weekend, or watch their dreams slip away with a bad one.
So, who has a make-or-break NFL Combine ahead?👇
PLAYERS TO WATCH AT THE 2025 COMBINE
2025 NFL Combine Small Schools Player Preview: Marcus Yarns Leads The Way
Coach Gene Clemons is digging deep when it comes to this week’s NFL Combine, and it doesn’t get any deeper than the small schools players invited to participate in this marquee event. Seven players from the FCS, some you’ve already heard about from the postseason all-star games, are headed to Indianapolis to run, jump, bench, and interview with NFL teams in attendance. You’ll likely be hearing about these players in the coming days, starting with one of the top running backs in the land no matter the level of play.
Marcus Yarns | RB | Delaware
In such a deep year for running backs, it is surprising for any back to get an invite. But for an FCS back to get the invite must mean he brings something to the table that people need to see more of. At first glance you will not see anything impressive looking about Yarns. He is listed at 5-foot-10 and 189 pounds. When you dig a little deeper you find that he is one of the most versatile backs in this draft. First, he has “right now” speed and it is home run hitting. He gets through an open hole so quickly that it catches the defense off guard. He also has natural pass-catching ability. The Combine will present Yarns with the chance to face all of the backs who are considered elite at the position.
WHO IS READY TO STEP UP FROM THE SMALL SCHOOLS?
The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds:
👀 ICYMI: Thor and Kendall mocked a high-impact player to the Raiders at No. 6.
💪 Full NFL Combine schedule. Saturday is the fun day.
📊 Matthew Berry’s Updated Way, Way, Way Too Early Top 50 for 2025. Love the Bowers rank.
🔮 What could the Ravens possibly need to get over the hump?
🗑️ The trash talk never stops between these two. Love it.
🖥️ Peak fantasy UI?! The good ‘ol days.
👸 Name a fantasy team The Princess McBride? As you wish.
🥱 Jake shows life between the Super Bowl and NFL Draft is … interesting.
