VSiN By The Books | August 27, 2026 | Hour 2

**Dave Ross** (0:01)
This is VSiN By The Books, on VSiN, the sports betting network.

**Dave Ross** (0:16)
Top of the hour is VSiN By The Books, Dave Ross right here at the Men's Gaming Hall, Franklin, Kentucky. There's our closer Jensen Lewis back home in Cleveland, Ohio. Gonna have Mike Palm join us a little bit later on this very hour. The maestro himself from Circuit in Las Vegas. Lots to get to here. A lot of football talk, obviously. We got some new rules. What about that Pro Bowl game? A lot to get to here in our highlights and headlines.

**Dave Ross** (0:40)
Help your bottom line with today's highlights and headlines.

**Dave Ross** (0:48)
So the Falcons are going to go down to Miami. Yeah, they're going to play down to Miami tomorrow night in their final preseason game, and Tua Tungavallola knows that field very well. He's going to take it again as a starter now for the Atlanta Falcons. So Michael Pennex Jr. will not play, which means that Pennex Jr. will not have played in the entirety of the preseason. Again, I don't think it matters as much to Kevin Stefanski and the coaching staff, but really I think what they're trying to gauge now is Tua.
And if the health of Pennex Jr. is still up in the air, Jensen, I wonder if this is the last audition for Tua to prove that he is the guy to get the week one job. As of now, Kevin Stefanski has not named that starter for Pittsburgh in week one.

**Jensen Lewis** (1:28)
And that fact is probably going to lead me towards a fade of Atlanta at some sort of fashion, whether it be on a money line, whether it be in a survivor. I think the Steelers could be a sneaky little play right there in week one. Speaking of, we're getting towards the end of the preseason.
We have player awards that we've talked about a lot here on this program in our VSiN NFL Betting Guide.
The great Swede, Dustin Swetelson, had a really intriguing thought for defensive rookie of the year. And I wanted to bring it to your attention because it has to do with the Dallas Cowboys. Dustin posting a little over 19 hours ago, J. Sean Barham at 200 to 1, defensive rookie of the year, that's at Circa. Here's his reasoning. Eight of the last 10 winners were on the front seven, Chief Barham is. Four of the 10 listed as a linebacker. Remember Carson Swessinger of the Browns, Jared First, Micah Parsons, amongst the four that were listed. He says, at that price worth a shot, he's 150 to 1 on DraftKings. I give you the floor. I think this is incredible that Dustin found it at that price worth a play in your mind.

**Dave Ross** (2:40)
I want to do the Zach Galifianakis gif at Dustin.
Absolutely love this play.
Barham is going to be a monster. Jensen, he doesn't speak a whole lot, but when he does, he's kind of that, you know, talk softly and carry a big stick type guy because he kind of commands that presence in that locker room. If you keep him healthy, he has got a really bad disposition. And I mean that in the very best way. So this is the type of guy, and I keep mentioning that this cowboy defense is going to look dramatically different, maybe six, seven new starters. This is one of them. I haven't been in Overshawn coming back, and if his leg is healthy, the linebacking corps is going to look so much differently than it looked a year ago. And I'm telling you, this is a really sneaky pick by the Big Sweet here. Love it. You get that at 200 to 150 to one. It is worth a pizza money bet. I don't bet these markets for the reasons that we've talked about, but subjectively, he's going to be right there in that short list. If he plays 17, watch out. He might be the short shot by the end of the year. I love where Dustin's head is at on that pick. Do we miss the Pro Bowl already? Because Jensen, it's gone from our lives here collectively. The NFL has announced that it is a thing no more. It really wasn't a thing last year either, and I think it had gone by the wayside.
Once it left Hawaii, it used to be a semi-competitive game, but it's changed through the years. I don't think anybody's gonna really miss it, right?

**Jensen Lewis** (4:09)
No, and this is more now the agents getting to work here for the incentives because there are no replacements per this, I guess, change up, if you will.