August 22, 2025 • 35 mins
It's Fox Sports Radio's official fantasy football podcast! Dan Beyer and Mike Harmon are back to help you through another action-packed season of fantasy football! They run through Mike's top quarterback rankings before taking a look at some later-round value picks at the position.
Hosts: Mike Harmon, Dan Beyer
Producers: Ian Roddy, Ryan Burschinger
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ladies, and you want experience during your football season, Well,
buckle up, sweet cheeks. What we've got all the experience
in the world.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This is I Want Your Flex.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
With Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon. Mike and Dan break
down everything you need to set your lineups, from position
rankings to starts and sits. The guys help you make
those hard decisions. And now let's get your Flex ond.
Here's Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
It is that time of year, and it's another year
of the I Want Your Flex podcast. Find Mike on
ex at Swollen Dumb, find him in Blue Skuy's well
at Mike Harmon. You can find me at Dampire on
Box and also at the Empire of Blues. Guy. Ian
Roddy is our executive producer. Ian is not here today,
he's pulling different duty at Fox Sports Radio. So you
(00:55):
got Mike and I in our premiere episodes of the
twenty twenty five NFL And Mike, let's start out with
the position that sometimes gets overlooked but really is the
most important when it comes to a team building situation,
but fantasy wise, the quarterbacks. It's so funny to me
to see how and how much we're debating on running backs,
(01:17):
wide receivers, tight ends, and everybody's just like, yeah, I'll
just take a quarterback. But I feel quarterbacks are just
as essential to fantasy football as they are to real football. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
The difficulty has always been the case, and you and
I've been doing this a long long time, is that
once upon a time you had the Magnificent seven or thereabouts,
the guys that played every week and that you can
just set and forget, you know, two guys named Manning,
the Brady character, Ad Breeze, and a couple others and
away you went. Now it's shuffle up because the gaudy
(01:50):
numbers aren't necessarily there. You look at the last three years.
Last year you had five guys top thirty passing touchdowns,
twenty twenty three had four, twenty twenty two you had four.
But now you add all these guys with rushing touchdowns
and they're rushing exploits and it's changed the game immenseally.
But I still am curious as to how you come
(02:10):
out as well, Dan of you know where that divide
is at the quarterback position, because it seems to me,
if you don't get one of those top two or
three guys, they all start to look kind of the same.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah, you're exactly right, And I think the divide is
I say it's at four for as much as I
think we believe. And I'll just take Joe Burrow as
an example of how bad the Bengals offenses or defense
is going to be and what their offense is going
to need to do. Joe Burrow's not going to get
you twelve rushing touchdowns, you know, So that's where I
(02:45):
find the difference. And he could throw for fifty four
hundred yards and you have thirty five touchdowns. But when
you have someone who can get you double digit touchdowns
on the ground at some point, that just takes over
everything when it comes to the quarterback position and fantasy
points wise. That's why I just think that the runners,
(03:06):
the guys who can give you both passing yards, passing touchdowns,
rushing yards and rushing touchdowns are just kind of in
a class of themselves.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, it just seems, you know, we get the first
two guys off the board. You pick your poison.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Do you yell or Jackson?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah? Or you sing Alan Jackson songs just to tout
yourself there, singing way down the Yonder by the Chattahoochee
and away we go. Uh you know hey, and you
know get now, I've got it somewhat adding to their
playlist right now wherever you are, I thank you, But
yeah it's Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson. And then it becomes
the Okay, how much do I love that next group
(03:43):
of guys? Do I believe in a bounce back? You
know for one of the starwarts of yesteryear and Patrick
Mahomes you mentioned Burrow, you know you're not getting the
rushing work, or are you looking at one of the
young guys to break through, or maybe that somehow you
got bubble wrap for guys who've been injured on occasion.
(04:04):
So yeah, it's a really interesting position. But certainly I've
done a couple of mock drafts and I just finished
one the day before we sat down to record this,
and you know, it was a super flex League. So
it absolutely bastardizes everything. But just in the general discussion,
it's the all right, I need all the wide receivers
(04:24):
I can get because even the running back position starts
to get pushed a little bit anymore.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I'll tell you what I'm gonna come up with. A
New Country artist Daniel S. Hurts. So there's Jade and Daniels.
Jalen Hurts as the next one, because that seems to
be three and four. I think there is a question
on whether Burrow could overtake a Jalen Hurts. Could he
overtake a Jayden Daniels. I'm not necessarily sure what the
Commanders are doing with their running games since Brian Robinson's
(04:53):
on the trading block, but I do think that Burrow
has an opportunity to take Hurts down in maybe the
he goes having a bit of a regression from the
great Super Bowl season. But outside of that, I don't
see anybody else cracking that top four.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
No, I think that's it right. It's really kind of
I think a five man race when you add Burrow
in there. Jen Daniels to me is a whole different,
longer discussion. But for Jalen Hurts, right, Dickerson already had
to have surgery. They hope he's back for the opener.
Saquon Barkley, are you banking on another two thousand yard season?
(05:27):
I'm certainly not. I mean, given injury history, and let's
face it, you're playing for January, which means I think
you mix in some of these other guys along the way,
not that you want to give up games in the
regular season because the NFC got better, but you also
need to make sure that he's ready to go after
what was such a monster workload a year ago. The
(05:48):
thing with Hurtz is you're looking at four straight years
with the double digit touchdowns. The tush push has not
yet been banned, and he's got one hundred and thirty
nine or more carries each of those last four years,
so you know, week to week giving you the weekly
carry account. But it also is the exposure of you know,
at some point, does he take the hit that sends
(06:11):
him to the sideline for a game or two? Right, guys,
the year of living dangerously is really what it comes
down to. So anytime I can start going into one
of these top four guys, if I'm so lucky in
the draft order and I make that my fortune, I'm
certainly coming back for a second quarterback a lot earlier
than I would have otherwise.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Then let's get to that second tier. Those second tier
of guys that we've got Patrick Mahomes. We don't have
to include Joe Burrow in it. Because I think we
feel that he's the top of that tier. Anyway. Baker
Mayfield another one. Now there's a little bit of question
on the health of the Buccaneers receivers. We have Chris
Godwin being activated, Jayleen McMillan being dinged up, and Mecha
(06:53):
Buka is getting rave reviews. So you have the Baker
in that situation. Bo Nix is another name that's popular.
There's always the Kyler Murray's of the world. You know
how much I love dak Who do you see? How
do you see it playing underneath a guy like Joe
Burrow if he's number five?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yeah, the curiosity, you know, Just to not to belabor
the Jaden Daniels point, though, is a little step up
in class schedule wise, they've got the AFC West still
some issues mentioned the backfield, but certainly in the receiving core,
Like what happens if Terry McLaurin decides to hang around
and not get get to work. How does that But
(07:31):
all of a sudden, Deebo Samuel's your number one? Yeah, yeah,
that breaks pretty badly, even though well, hey, now we
got TV watching to do too. But Jaden Daniels last
year are nearly nine hundred rushing yards and the six touchdowns.
That's why we start to push him with the Jaalen
Hurt side of things. But again, you know a little
different year two, and we're not talking wins and losses,
(07:54):
but just straight from fantasy. You know, how much more
does he improve on what was a thirty five hundred yard,
twenty five touchdown passing season with the weapons that are
currently in tow that's the curiosity for me. But that
next batch, right Mahomes, can he even rEFInd the discover
the forum? Travis Kelsey doing all his you know, hey,
I'm a better, better athlete again because I'm not on tour.
(08:17):
I joked about it with you last summer. It's like
he was doing all the tour stops in Europe. Brought
worse than beer and everything hanging out on the Taylor
Swift Tour. Still had a great year for almost any
tight end that isn't named Travis Kelcey. Yeah, right, didn't
find the end zone, but still put up some numbers.
But for Mahomes, you're looking over the last couple of years,
(08:37):
fifty three touchdowns against twenty five picks as opposed to
the ridiculous run he had in twenty twenty one to
twenty three, I see him on average sixth and that's
just tough, even though I think you've got a better
receiving corps. Eventually Rashid Rice is going to face the suspension.
How long's he gone? Six games? Eight games? It's going
(08:59):
to be a huge detriment to what they're trying to do.
So you know, he's a guy that I would take
the under on if you're doing betting odds of you
know that six position where he currently sits. So I
moved down there. Bo Nicks. They make a trade in
the receiving corps, but it looks like they're pretty happy
with some of the young guys that have come in.
And last year, you know, he was a rookie and
(09:21):
he finished twelfth to passing yards. We have to believe
year two even better with Sean Payton. So you know,
bo Nick's a guy on the way up. Name that
you'll hear a lot over the next couple of weeks
when we talk about Pat Bryant and maybe Surefield breaks
in behind Casutton and Mims. As we go forward, Tony
(09:41):
Franklin getting a little bit of run. So you're talking
about depth and opportunity. Evan Ingram gives you a trusted
tight end well fantasy purposes. We've been burned by him,
so it's awful tough to go back to that well.
But certainly you've got at least guys that are become
check pieces for Peyton and for bow Nicks, so they
(10:05):
take a step forward. Dak, I love the potential there.
We've seen him at his best two years ago, thirty
six and nine with his forty five hundred yards. I
don't know how quickly you know the Micah Parsons issues
resolves itself, and it really doesn't matter. I've said this
all along with the Trey Hendricks hendrickson side of things
(10:25):
in Cincinnati. My defense was bad with him. It just
gives me a star to chase around and to give
me some highlight reels. But in the end they're gonna
give up a bunch of points. So if Dak can
stay up right, I think I agree with you. We
go odds evens thirty seven to ten, then twenty three, fifteen,
thirty six nine, last year eleven and eight in injury,
which means he's due for another big year.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Right, yes, absolutely, Now, the mobility may not be there
because again coming off of another injury. However, I think
he's gonna throw the ball around the field almost just
as much as Joe Burrow's going to do it. In Cincinnati,
we'll see different coaching regime obviously with Brian Schottenheimer now
in maybe not, maybe not to the extreme that Mike
(11:07):
McCarthy had Dak at certain times. However, I just I
don't see them doing anything well, Mike, if Dak isn't
throwing the football to Seedee Lamb, And isn't that why
you trade for George Pickens as well? Like those are
the reasons their running back room is still whatever for
the second story year. It just it all signs point
(11:31):
to Dak as being that shining star pun intended for
the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Yeah. I mean, you look at the George Pickens acquisition, right,
He's a guy that you're gonna need to feed downfield
if you want to keep him happy. You know, Pittsburgh
showing that great result. They do a great job in
drafting guys, and then they usually look around and say,
all right, this is turning right co on, So we'll
see what Pickens can do. But you add him and
Lamb together and then they paid They paid Jake Ferguson
(11:59):
a ton of mo Yeah, so I gotta think with
Pickens and Lamb taking the top off whatever Tolbert or
you know, Mingo's healthy enough to go and whatever else,
that Ferguson's going to scrape over the middle and catch
a ton of passes. So I think there's opportunity there all.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Right, as we wrap up this top portion at least
of the quarterbacks and we'll get to the to the
layers underneath. It does sound like you're not as high
on Jayden Daniels as we look at this group of five,
six or seven as a whole. Is that fair to say, Mike?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah, I think the biggest issue I have is, you know,
we watched a lot of narrow escapes last year, and
again separating wins from fantasy, the amount of rushing acumen.
I always want to see that a second time to
see how that breaks through, and there is concern in
that receiving core. Last year, Terry McLaurin was highly efficient,
(12:53):
right thirteen touchdowns career best for him, and a lot
of that was Daniel's making plays, but with the amount
of carries he had a year ago looking at the
red zone because now we're banking on the rushing total
to really take him over, and with a better schedule
ahead of him again afc wes, I mean we cop
(13:13):
to Chargers in theory having a better defense. The Raiders
at least have a good defensive front. I we'll see
what happens there. And Denver acknowledges one of the top
three defenses. Again, it's only a couple of games on
the schedule, but that's the strength of the at least
the Giants, right, not great example of what offense might be,
(13:36):
but their defense is pretty readily acknowledged as being a strength.
Dallas is what they are, and Philly can get after it.
So you know, there's not as exactly the easy path.
It's the wishing and hope because we need new stars,
no question about it, but perhaps a little reticent to
crown him just yet.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
How far would you drop him?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
I don't think he goes anywhere past five though. I
think five is where it stops. It's Allen and Jackson again,
make your jokes, Jalen, Hurts, Daniels and Burrow I think
are the top five ahead of everybody.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
All Right, there's Harmon's top five. As we look at
the top side of the quarterbacks in our preseason special
coming up next, we're going to take a look at
maybe the guy's lower Maybe you don't want to spend
any of your draft picks early on a quarterback, would
rather get value late. Who's the guys you need to target?
Who are the ones he needed to stay away from?
(14:30):
Ones got I'll tell you what new coaching staff, at
least on the offensive side of the ball. We'll see
how that affects him. Obviously, we're going to talk about
Caleb Williams. There's a new quarterback with the Jets as
Justin Fields. Takes over a whole lot to get to.
It's all coming up in our preseason preview looking at
the quarterbacks here on I want your flex. All right,
(14:54):
we talked about the top guys. Now let's look at
some back end starters for your fantasy team. Maybe some
guys he could get at value late. I think it
kind of starts. I'm going to just throw a name
out there. Okay, you ready for this? Hit me Kyler Murray. So,
Kyler Murray has everything that we think we would want
in a quarterback in terms of the fantasy because we
(15:16):
know he's mobile, he's got targets to throw to. He
can throw the football, but doesn't necessarily translate to a
top top guy like we have with the Allen's and
the Lamars and the Jalen Hurts is. So here's Kyler
Murray who does everything that we seem to like Mike,
but maybe we don't love Kyler Murray. Where do you
have the Arizona Cardinals quarterback?
Speaker 2 (15:37):
He is in that second tier towards I think towards
the middle.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Right.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
We look at Mahomes, Mayfield, Nicks would be that next
Dak Prescott we talked about, and I think Kyler Murray's
right in that mix, right, So that gets us if
my math is right right to our top ten with
maybe one other guy shuffling into that spot. But for Murray,
it's the and you finish the job right. That's always
(16:02):
been the case. Fast start looks like he's sonic, you know,
to steal from the Detroit Lions for a second. The
sonic the hedgehog kind of thing, watching him sprint around,
and you know me, I love guys that are how
do we say vertically challenged because I feel like, you know,
some kindred spirit out there. But we got to assume
Marvin Harrison Junior the second Marvin Harrison Junior the second. Yeah,
(16:23):
that's what I'm saying. Marvin Harrison the junior in his
second year, we'll take a big step forward. Michael Wilson
is one of those curiosities. Greg Dortch has been good
in spots. Trey McBride, I gotta think we had the
anomaly of the guy can't find the painted grass, so
we don't have Jason Witten part two and that kicks up.
(16:44):
I like the Connor Benson mixed together. Like I think
there's a lot to be said here and certainly the
drafting on defense, we get back to balance to where
Kyler Murray doesn't have to try to play superhuman, that
they can just go play a more structured offense and
perhaps get a little more balance and consistency.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I find him in one of the most polarizing players
when it comes to fantasy because either you love them
or you just you can't. You can't maybe get over
the height sort of deal. But his rushing numbers last
year five touchdowns on the ground, so even he's even
though he's now a few years in Mike and has
had a few dings here and there. To say the least,
(17:25):
He's still running the football. Maybe not to the level
of those top quarterbacks, but he's still giving you something.
And you just ran down all the weapons where I
think that. I think Arizona's just a good, well coached
football team and I expect them to compete in the
NFC West. I don't know how high that bar is,
(17:47):
and because of that, I expect Kyler Murray to be good.
So I find value in the Cardinals quarterback. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
I think the biggest thing is can he stay healthy? Right?
That's the billion dollar questions with him eight games in
twenty three, eleven in twenty two. Go back fourteen to
twenty twenty one, last time he'd played a full season.
Go back to twenty twenty eleven touchdowns on the ground,
six point two a carry, and over nine or eight
hundred rushing yards to go along with a pretty strong
(18:14):
passing game. So yeah, I'm with you. I think he
I'm bullish that he outperforms his average draft slot, but
I know folks have been burned. So he's one of
those guys that becomes the two idea go back for seconds.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Do you feel that you could get
burned by Jared Goff? Now that Ben Johnson is in Chicago,
other members have left the Lions offensive coaching staff. How
do you see Goff and the Lions and the quarterbacks
performance this year?
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Golf is no better than a mid two because I
think you're going to see a lot more Jamiir Gibbs,
not that he won't have an active role in the
passing game, and we'll do that more in Earnest in
the running back breakdown. But for golf, I think you
can see Montgomery's healthy and Gibbs. I don't think you're
gonna have the same cheekiness that you had in the
(19:05):
play calling of Ben Johnson. Now you have the former
passing coordinator Morton at the helm. He was the guy
in Denver, so I think there's something to be said
for But I think this becomes more in game management,
especially if that defense is healthy. Remetbter how lost they
were by injury in the back half of the season,
(19:26):
so I think that helped with some of the Jared
Goff numbers and Ben Johnson need needing to push, I
don't think they do that this time. You look at
the end game for Jamiir Gibbs last year. They tried
to shorten those games as best they could.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Tanner Engstrand, the new offensive coordinator from the Jets, previously
the Lions passing game coordinator, so he's gone as well.
The reason I started with Murray and Goff is we'll
tell you here on I want your flax just as
a general consensus, We'll use the Fantasy Pro site because
it's an accumulation of so many insiders like one Mike
Harmon and their rankings throughout the season. It gives you
(20:00):
a pretty good sense of who is top, who is bottom.
That's your tier three right now, so it's Murray at
the top and Golf at the bottom of that. There's
an interesting mix of players in the middle because you've
got a guy like Brock Perdy who's now got his contract,
not necessarily sure on how everything's going to start out
with the forty nine ers wide receivers, but Purdy is
(20:22):
in that group justin Fields now is the job all
to himself with the Jets. And then you got two
second year guys in Drake May and Caleb Williams also
a part of that group. Sandwiched in between Murray and Golf.
So an interesting group of names in that tier three.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Well, that's just it, right, It is such an enigma,
right for Caleb Williams. Look, you've been part of what
the preseason has been. It's noise left and right. How
much does the Tyson Bagent signing sway you as to
like dislike of Caleb Williams. It's really fun theater on
a day to day basis, no question about it. But
(20:57):
if everything breaks right, you think that he pushes towards
the top of that tier three and is battling for
a top seven, top eight position if it all breaks right. Now,
when we look at Brock Purty, Ricky Piersoll is a
guy that, towards the back of the season look like
he can go. Do you trust anybody else in that
receiving corps? I mean, George Kittle's what thirty five now
(21:19):
and still blocks a ton Christian McCaffrey. Are they going
to use him as a wide out? Does he go
back to like twenty nineteen when he caught a hundred
passes and that becomes how he's utilized that? Okay, yeah,
brock perty wins then, But otherwise the receiving corps absolutely
scares me. So he's pushed down for me, justin Herbert
as much as you know, he's now everybody's favorite quarterback,
(21:40):
right he took that mantle I think from Stafford of
he's the guy that all quarterbacks like. But he doesn't
put up pinball numbers. That's not how they want to
run the game for the Chargers. And who in that
receiving corp truly scares you outside of Maconkey Nobody, nobody.
So he's another guy that I think perhaps under performs
justin fields. Do I get bonus points for a thousand
(22:04):
thousand like that? And it's not to disrespect my guy,
Jason Smith and his love of the New York Football Jets,
but I've watched the field show. It's a sixty percent
completion rate, and I feel bad already for Garrett Wilson
before the first snap's taken. And I don't believe a
lot of the preseason nonsense, because you know how it
(22:25):
is hot take theater with each little run in a practice,
and the way people, oh he was four of seven,
it's like you don't know what they were doing, or
four of nine or four of twelve or whatever. The
numbers are on a given. It's like, you know, when
Caleb Williams missed the net, it became the biggest thing.
It's like, yeah, he basically played hot potato and missed
(22:45):
the net and pretended to be mad, but it became
the biggest talking point in the world. So yeah, so
that's a little bit of the fear for Justin Fields.
He'll run. It's gonna be him and Allen and Breeze Hall.
I think for a time ton of action. But you
don't get Fantasy points per carry in most leagues, so
(23:05):
that doesn't help.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Yeah, that's the funny thing that I look at with
the Fields portion of it last year was for as
much as we want to criticize Russell Wilson, Russell Wilson
took over for Justin Fields in a manner where I
know some people said just stick with Fields because the
Steelers were playing good football, but the numbers were very
(23:27):
hit and miss. I mean there were four out of
the six games he played he didn't top one hundred
and fifty six yards passing, you know, so there's an issue.
He didn't turn the ball over, which was great for
the Steelers. But the point is is he didn't steal
the job from Russell Wilson, and at no point did
the Steelers end up turning back to him. So I
(23:49):
think that also then tells you a little something. I
feel that because we didn't see Justin Fields and because
Wilson was who he was, that we are changing our
thoughts and memories about him. But the fact of the
matter is is if he really was out playing Russell
Wilson last year, then he probably would still be in
Pittsburgh right now. And he's done. So that's kind of
(24:12):
my takeaway on Justin Fields is in a weird roundabout
saying of what you're saying is we've seen this before.
He is who he is. That was more of a
telltale sign for me of what we actually have at
the quarterback position with Fields.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Yeah, I mean you can win some games, right with
that defense. Same thing with the Jets. They've got a
really good defense. They might win a few games. Is
that going to translate to weekly fantasy bonanza? No? And again,
you know this is where we get into rankings and
it's the difficult part of the dan of We may
agree that, all right, say he stays healthy, Justin Fields
(24:49):
will in a best ball scenario get to the twelfth
highest scoring. But am I banking on my team to
win games week to week fantasy wise with him as
my quarterback? Hell no, because I'm gonna have too many
very low ceilings. Yeah, before it's all said and done, right,
go back to those Pittsburgh games. They're winning, but it's
not pretty. And for Fields, he was very much like
(25:10):
Caleb Williams in spots Now. Williams numbers overall were solid
except for the sixty eight sacks he took. But everybody
made a big deal about the interceptionless streak. That's great.
That means you're not willing to take a chance into
a spot that's willing, and you're not willing to push
the ball down field. Guess what, that's losing football. That's
what Justin Fields does too. Wait, Thezaro tied to the Bears, Dan,
(25:31):
what are we doing?
Speaker 3 (25:33):
God, we'll move away. We'll move to a guy who's
compared to the Bears quarterback just because they wear the
same draft class. Are we undervaluing Drake May at all?
Because again, this conversation that you and I have had
and I over the last thirty minutes or so here
has been about the quarterbacks that can do both. May
have shown that he's able to move and can run
(25:54):
the football. Maybe not the enormous passing stats that you
would get from a from a Lamar or Josh Allen
or Jaden Daniels, but still may's show that he's mobile
enough to do damage and get your points on the ground.
Where are you with the Patriots second year signal caller?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
I like him as a high end too. I think
there's certainly some upside, particularly if the defense takes on
the Mike Rabel style and gets after a little bit
a little concerned receiving cor I mean, the best story
was Mac Collins throwing the ball into the crowd to
get people fired up. I don't know if that's really
the thing I need when it's all said and done.
(26:30):
I don't know what Diggs has left tomorrow. Douglas has
been fine in spots, and you've got a lot of
guys around Polk go all lay down the line, Hunter, Henry,
Austin Hooper, your tight ends. We both love the running
back position that they have, Henderson certainly more than Stevenson,
but you've got depth and guys that can play there,
(26:51):
so I don't think it has to be on May's arm,
so if he's judicious about things, that they'll be able
to take care of it. So I think the passing
ceiling is fairly low on him because I think they're
going to try to grind games out, but his acumen
with his legs that they're gonna win you a game
or two, There's no question about it.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
This is my favorite part of all of the mock
drafts that I've done because it becomes late in the
round and if you haven't drafted a quarterback, there are
some names that you recognize and names that you know,
and you say to yourself, how did they fall to
that point? Who are we undervaluing Mike in this fourth
tier of quarterbacks with some hot name properties still available
(27:34):
likely in many drafts.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yeah, as it currently sits. I think you and I
both kind of look over at number twenty three on
the list for the Fantasy Pros World Michael Pennix Junior. Right,
you look at what he's got Bejean Robinson. Well, I
want to make sure he pronounce his name right so
he doesn't come and track me down, Bijon Robinson. And
(27:56):
you look at that receiving court, like there's and forget
about Kyle Pitts. He'll get his numbers fine, but you know,
the world beating stage is not going to be there,
but the receiving core solid as a guy with a
big arm, big opportunity here. Kirk Cousins will eventually get
spun off somewhere else, so that won't even be a
specter anymore once they you know, swallow their pride and
(28:17):
you know, eat some of that money. But I think
he's the guy that stands out to me as that
far back for what that offense could be in division,
et cetera. So he would he would be first c J.
Stroud looking for a little bit more. Now again, the
wide receiver staying healthy would be nice as well as
a little specter of what's going on in a cloud
with Joe Mixon. As you and I sit here, but
(28:40):
you bring in Nick Chubb, You've got a couple of
young running backs to build out the depth there, so
opportunity and then I'd be remiss if I didn't give
a nod to Trevor Lawrence. I don't know what Travis
Hunter becomes, but certainly Brian Thomas, you know, it didn't
matter what the logo on the side of the helmet
was he was able to perform and put up big numbers,
(29:00):
and this is kind of a go get it kind
of year with any new head coach and Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
If not now when, Yeah, I think you're right about that.
I think they could be a fun team. But I
just don't know if I'm ready to put him up
there in His availability at least over the last couple
of seasons has also been a bit of a question.
Matthew Stafford has fallen because of all of this preseason
stuff as well. High on the executive and head coaches
(29:29):
tier list, but he's been a big drop. It's interesting
I look at someone like Jordan Love who's sitting there
green Bay. I get Matthew Golden's like a first round pick, Mike.
I understand all of that, and there's certain stats that
you try to spin with Green Bay, but I think
(29:49):
if they're going anywhere, it's probably going to be on
the quads of Josh Jacobs. So when you're green Bay
trying to battle for that division crown, trying to make
it to Super Bowl, where are you with Jordan Love
and what he does with the green Bay Packers.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Fantasy wise, I don't have a guy that scares me. Right.
That was the stat that kept coming up, and you
and I talked about this a little. As you know,
the preseason football was running around as we were doing
our Fox Sports Sunday shows of like, hey, they've got
this many guys that had at least four hundred yards.
I'm like, who cares? Do you have one guy you
trust when it's a go get a play?
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Right?
Speaker 2 (30:27):
I mean, that doesn't matter, and I don't think they have.
Maybe Golden becomes that guy, But as it stands right now,
I think you got a great array of receivers, so
you'll move the ball. But I agree with you one
hundred percent. I think it's all on Jacob's legs to
make things happen. So Jordan loved to me is a
back end Tier four guy. I'd almost switch him all together.
(30:47):
With the back end as it's currently situated in the
Fantasy pros world and your guy Sam Darnold showing up
in Seattle, that I'll take a shot that he figures
it out and that we put up some pinball numbers
more so than.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
We'll wrap up this quarterback episode this way. If you
are drafting, if you are in a draft, how many
quarterbacks would you carry on your roster? I was talking
to a buddy of mine this offseas and he says, honestly,
he goes, I'm only going to carry one. He goes,
there's enough guys that if something happens that I could
(31:22):
just go and pick up and be fine with. How
many would would you carry? Would you carry a backup
or do you think that this quarterback position is so deep?
Obviously not in a super flex league, but in a
deal where you're only starting one quarterback? Where would you
How would you construct your quarterback room on your fantasy team?
Speaker 2 (31:44):
I need a second guy if nothing else. It's just
like a security blanket, right. I go the full Linus
as I'm walking around, going to the Peanuts character, and
I'm just gonna have that with me no matter what, cause,
I mean, we've watched it, especially if you're going towards
the top. We talked about how many of these guys
the main thrust of what they do is that they
(32:05):
put up huge rushing numbers. Well, that's every extra carry
is you know, a lump in my throat potentially, right,
And I've been burned too many times that way. You know,
there's certain leagues if the bench is deep enough, I'll
carry a third. I'll let someone have to scramble and
start starting. You know the best of the Steelers, Colts, Browns,
(32:29):
and they can roll the dice. I'm not playing that game.
I'd rather be have a guy rotting on my bench
than showing up and beat me in week twelve.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
It's flying without a parachute. That's how I felt like that.
Anybody is going with it. I'll tell you what what
I do in those situations to carry a backup. I
just look at the bye week of my quarterback. And
then then the tiebreaker is who is playing, what team
that could end up getting a lot of points or
what defense would be susceptible to allow a lot of points,
(33:02):
and then take that other team starting quarterback.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Absolutely, if that's if that's available to you short, certainly
there's your U tried and true, and and then start
playing games and playing defense as we get deeper into
the season.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Yeah, I think that's that's the way to go. I
would feel weird to not have a backup quarterback, but
people are willing to roll the dice because heck, there
are names that we haven't even talked about Aaron Rodgers.
Anthony Richardson still on some draft boards because he never
knows what's gonna happen. With Daniel Jones. I saw Jalen
Milroe was higher than Kirk Cousins on the preseason charging,
(33:37):
so yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
I mean, just go on down the line right other starters.
We didn't even get to Gino in Las Vegas or
Bryce Young. You know he's got a new shiny new
toys your year two with Canalis the breakthrough. The answer
is probably not, but it'll be fun to watch. And
then to a tongue of I Lowe was once upon
a time that guy. He's still trying to figure out
(33:59):
whether Tyreek Hill likes him or not. Dan, So I'm.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
And at the time of this recording, we don't know
who the Saints are going to go with with Tyler
Shuck or Spencer Rattler. So even but Mike for a
team that we don't think is gonna win a lot
of games this year, there could be some garbage points
with I'm not telling you, you know what, I'm just
gonna stop myself because I'm not gonna tell you to
draft the Saints quarterback that is not what I'm saying
(34:23):
at all. Those guys are further down the list. But
it's fun talking some quarterbacks because I don't necessarily think
they get the love or a lot of the attention
that we usually make for our pre preseason drafting strategies
and whatnot, because we're so focused on running max wide
receivers and tight ends. So it's good to look into
the quarterback position. Well the future episodes coming up of
(34:45):
those positions that I just talked about. Plus we'll do
our top sixty pre draft, Yes, the sixty players that
we would take in a draft. Mike, myself and Ian Roddy,
our executive producer, will dive into that in a future
preseason episode. So for my Karmen, I'm Dan Bayer. There's
your info on the quarterbacks. Stick around for more great
info here, and I want your flex for the rest
(35:06):
of our preseason preview. Talk to you soon.
Ladies, and you want experience during your football season, Well,
buckle up, sweet cheeks. What we've got all the experience
in the world.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This is I Want Your Flex.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
With Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon. Mike and Dan break
down everything you need to set your lineups, from position
rankings to starts and sits. The guys help you make
those hard decisions. And now let's get your Flex ond.
Here's Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
It is that time of year, and it's another year
of the I Want Your Flex podcast. Find Mike on
ex at Swollen Dumb, find him in Blue Skuy's well
at Mike Harmon. You can find me at Dampire on
Box and also at the Empire of Blues. Guy. Ian
Roddy is our executive producer. Ian is not here today,
he's pulling different duty at Fox Sports Radio. So you
(00:55):
got Mike and I in our premiere episodes of the
twenty twenty five NFL And Mike, let's start out with
the position that sometimes gets overlooked but really is the
most important when it comes to a team building situation,
but fantasy wise, the quarterbacks. It's so funny to me
to see how and how much we're debating on running backs,
(01:17):
wide receivers, tight ends, and everybody's just like, yeah, I'll
just take a quarterback. But I feel quarterbacks are just
as essential to fantasy football as they are to real football. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
The difficulty has always been the case, and you and
I've been doing this a long long time, is that
once upon a time you had the Magnificent seven or thereabouts,
the guys that played every week and that you can
just set and forget, you know, two guys named Manning,
the Brady character, Ad Breeze, and a couple others and
away you went. Now it's shuffle up because the gaudy
(01:50):
numbers aren't necessarily there. You look at the last three years.
Last year you had five guys top thirty passing touchdowns,
twenty twenty three had four, twenty twenty two you had four.
But now you add all these guys with rushing touchdowns
and they're rushing exploits and it's changed the game immenseally.
But I still am curious as to how you come
(02:10):
out as well, Dan of you know where that divide
is at the quarterback position, because it seems to me,
if you don't get one of those top two or
three guys, they all start to look kind of the same.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah, you're exactly right, And I think the divide is
I say it's at four for as much as I
think we believe. And I'll just take Joe Burrow as
an example of how bad the Bengals offenses or defense
is going to be and what their offense is going
to need to do. Joe Burrow's not going to get
you twelve rushing touchdowns, you know, So that's where I
(02:45):
find the difference. And he could throw for fifty four
hundred yards and you have thirty five touchdowns. But when
you have someone who can get you double digit touchdowns
on the ground at some point, that just takes over
everything when it comes to the quarterback position and fantasy
points wise. That's why I just think that the runners,
(03:06):
the guys who can give you both passing yards, passing touchdowns,
rushing yards and rushing touchdowns are just kind of in
a class of themselves.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, it just seems, you know, we get the first
two guys off the board. You pick your poison.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Do you yell or Jackson?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah? Or you sing Alan Jackson songs just to tout
yourself there, singing way down the Yonder by the Chattahoochee
and away we go. Uh you know hey, and you
know get now, I've got it somewhat adding to their
playlist right now wherever you are, I thank you, But
yeah it's Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson. And then it becomes
the Okay, how much do I love that next group
(03:43):
of guys? Do I believe in a bounce back? You
know for one of the starwarts of yesteryear and Patrick
Mahomes you mentioned Burrow, you know you're not getting the
rushing work, or are you looking at one of the
young guys to break through, or maybe that somehow you
got bubble wrap for guys who've been injured on occasion.
(04:04):
So yeah, it's a really interesting position. But certainly I've
done a couple of mock drafts and I just finished
one the day before we sat down to record this,
and you know, it was a super flex League. So
it absolutely bastardizes everything. But just in the general discussion,
it's the all right, I need all the wide receivers
(04:24):
I can get because even the running back position starts
to get pushed a little bit anymore.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I'll tell you what I'm gonna come up with. A
New Country artist Daniel S. Hurts. So there's Jade and Daniels.
Jalen Hurts as the next one, because that seems to
be three and four. I think there is a question
on whether Burrow could overtake a Jalen Hurts. Could he
overtake a Jayden Daniels. I'm not necessarily sure what the
Commanders are doing with their running games since Brian Robinson's
(04:53):
on the trading block, but I do think that Burrow
has an opportunity to take Hurts down in maybe the
he goes having a bit of a regression from the
great Super Bowl season. But outside of that, I don't
see anybody else cracking that top four.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
No, I think that's it right. It's really kind of
I think a five man race when you add Burrow
in there. Jen Daniels to me is a whole different,
longer discussion. But for Jalen Hurts, right, Dickerson already had
to have surgery. They hope he's back for the opener.
Saquon Barkley, are you banking on another two thousand yard season?
(05:27):
I'm certainly not. I mean, given injury history, and let's
face it, you're playing for January, which means I think
you mix in some of these other guys along the way,
not that you want to give up games in the
regular season because the NFC got better, but you also
need to make sure that he's ready to go after
what was such a monster workload a year ago. The
(05:48):
thing with Hurtz is you're looking at four straight years
with the double digit touchdowns. The tush push has not
yet been banned, and he's got one hundred and thirty
nine or more carries each of those last four years,
so you know, week to week giving you the weekly
carry account. But it also is the exposure of you know,
at some point, does he take the hit that sends
(06:11):
him to the sideline for a game or two? Right, guys,
the year of living dangerously is really what it comes
down to. So anytime I can start going into one
of these top four guys, if I'm so lucky in
the draft order and I make that my fortune, I'm
certainly coming back for a second quarterback a lot earlier
than I would have otherwise.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Then let's get to that second tier. Those second tier
of guys that we've got Patrick Mahomes. We don't have
to include Joe Burrow in it. Because I think we
feel that he's the top of that tier. Anyway. Baker
Mayfield another one. Now there's a little bit of question
on the health of the Buccaneers receivers. We have Chris
Godwin being activated, Jayleen McMillan being dinged up, and Mecha
(06:53):
Buka is getting rave reviews. So you have the Baker
in that situation. Bo Nix is another name that's popular.
There's always the Kyler Murray's of the world. You know
how much I love dak Who do you see? How
do you see it playing underneath a guy like Joe
Burrow if he's number five?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yeah, the curiosity, you know, Just to not to belabor
the Jaden Daniels point, though, is a little step up
in class schedule wise, they've got the AFC West still
some issues mentioned the backfield, but certainly in the receiving core,
Like what happens if Terry McLaurin decides to hang around
and not get get to work. How does that But
(07:31):
all of a sudden, Deebo Samuel's your number one? Yeah, yeah,
that breaks pretty badly, even though well, hey, now we
got TV watching to do too. But Jaden Daniels last
year are nearly nine hundred rushing yards and the six touchdowns.
That's why we start to push him with the Jaalen
Hurt side of things. But again, you know a little
different year two, and we're not talking wins and losses,
(07:54):
but just straight from fantasy. You know, how much more
does he improve on what was a thirty five hundred yard,
twenty five touchdown passing season with the weapons that are
currently in tow that's the curiosity for me. But that
next batch, right Mahomes, can he even rEFInd the discover
the forum? Travis Kelsey doing all his you know, hey,
I'm a better, better athlete again because I'm not on tour.
(08:17):
I joked about it with you last summer. It's like
he was doing all the tour stops in Europe. Brought
worse than beer and everything hanging out on the Taylor
Swift Tour. Still had a great year for almost any
tight end that isn't named Travis Kelcey. Yeah, right, didn't
find the end zone, but still put up some numbers.
But for Mahomes, you're looking over the last couple of years,
(08:37):
fifty three touchdowns against twenty five picks as opposed to
the ridiculous run he had in twenty twenty one to
twenty three, I see him on average sixth and that's
just tough, even though I think you've got a better
receiving corps. Eventually Rashid Rice is going to face the suspension.
How long's he gone? Six games? Eight games? It's going
(08:59):
to be a huge detriment to what they're trying to do.
So you know, he's a guy that I would take
the under on if you're doing betting odds of you
know that six position where he currently sits. So I
moved down there. Bo Nicks. They make a trade in
the receiving corps, but it looks like they're pretty happy
with some of the young guys that have come in.
And last year, you know, he was a rookie and
(09:21):
he finished twelfth to passing yards. We have to believe
year two even better with Sean Payton. So you know,
bo Nick's a guy on the way up. Name that
you'll hear a lot over the next couple of weeks
when we talk about Pat Bryant and maybe Surefield breaks
in behind Casutton and Mims. As we go forward, Tony
(09:41):
Franklin getting a little bit of run. So you're talking
about depth and opportunity. Evan Ingram gives you a trusted
tight end well fantasy purposes. We've been burned by him,
so it's awful tough to go back to that well.
But certainly you've got at least guys that are become
check pieces for Peyton and for bow Nicks, so they
(10:05):
take a step forward. Dak, I love the potential there.
We've seen him at his best two years ago, thirty
six and nine with his forty five hundred yards. I
don't know how quickly you know the Micah Parsons issues
resolves itself, and it really doesn't matter. I've said this
all along with the Trey Hendricks hendrickson side of things
(10:25):
in Cincinnati. My defense was bad with him. It just
gives me a star to chase around and to give
me some highlight reels. But in the end they're gonna
give up a bunch of points. So if Dak can
stay up right, I think I agree with you. We
go odds evens thirty seven to ten, then twenty three, fifteen,
thirty six nine, last year eleven and eight in injury,
which means he's due for another big year.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Right, yes, absolutely, Now, the mobility may not be there
because again coming off of another injury. However, I think
he's gonna throw the ball around the field almost just
as much as Joe Burrow's going to do it. In Cincinnati,
we'll see different coaching regime obviously with Brian Schottenheimer now
in maybe not, maybe not to the extreme that Mike
(11:07):
McCarthy had Dak at certain times. However, I just I
don't see them doing anything well, Mike, if Dak isn't
throwing the football to Seedee Lamb, And isn't that why
you trade for George Pickens as well? Like those are
the reasons their running back room is still whatever for
the second story year. It just it all signs point
(11:31):
to Dak as being that shining star pun intended for
the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Yeah. I mean, you look at the George Pickens acquisition, right,
He's a guy that you're gonna need to feed downfield
if you want to keep him happy. You know, Pittsburgh
showing that great result. They do a great job in
drafting guys, and then they usually look around and say,
all right, this is turning right co on, So we'll
see what Pickens can do. But you add him and
Lamb together and then they paid They paid Jake Ferguson
(11:59):
a ton of mo Yeah, so I gotta think with
Pickens and Lamb taking the top off whatever Tolbert or
you know, Mingo's healthy enough to go and whatever else,
that Ferguson's going to scrape over the middle and catch
a ton of passes. So I think there's opportunity there all.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Right, as we wrap up this top portion at least
of the quarterbacks and we'll get to the to the
layers underneath. It does sound like you're not as high
on Jayden Daniels as we look at this group of five,
six or seven as a whole. Is that fair to say, Mike?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah, I think the biggest issue I have is, you know,
we watched a lot of narrow escapes last year, and
again separating wins from fantasy, the amount of rushing acumen.
I always want to see that a second time to
see how that breaks through, and there is concern in
that receiving core. Last year, Terry McLaurin was highly efficient,
(12:53):
right thirteen touchdowns career best for him, and a lot
of that was Daniel's making plays, but with the amount
of carries he had a year ago looking at the
red zone because now we're banking on the rushing total
to really take him over, and with a better schedule
ahead of him again afc wes, I mean we cop
(13:13):
to Chargers in theory having a better defense. The Raiders
at least have a good defensive front. I we'll see
what happens there. And Denver acknowledges one of the top
three defenses. Again, it's only a couple of games on
the schedule, but that's the strength of the at least
the Giants, right, not great example of what offense might be,
(13:36):
but their defense is pretty readily acknowledged as being a strength.
Dallas is what they are, and Philly can get after it.
So you know, there's not as exactly the easy path.
It's the wishing and hope because we need new stars,
no question about it, but perhaps a little reticent to
crown him just yet.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
How far would you drop him?
Speaker 2 (13:57):
I don't think he goes anywhere past five though. I
think five is where it stops. It's Allen and Jackson again,
make your jokes, Jalen, Hurts, Daniels and Burrow I think
are the top five ahead of everybody.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
All Right, there's Harmon's top five. As we look at
the top side of the quarterbacks in our preseason special
coming up next, we're going to take a look at
maybe the guy's lower Maybe you don't want to spend
any of your draft picks early on a quarterback, would
rather get value late. Who's the guys you need to target?
Who are the ones he needed to stay away from?
(14:30):
Ones got I'll tell you what new coaching staff, at
least on the offensive side of the ball. We'll see
how that affects him. Obviously, we're going to talk about
Caleb Williams. There's a new quarterback with the Jets as
Justin Fields. Takes over a whole lot to get to.
It's all coming up in our preseason preview looking at
the quarterbacks here on I want your flex. All right,
(14:54):
we talked about the top guys. Now let's look at
some back end starters for your fantasy team. Maybe some
guys he could get at value late. I think it
kind of starts. I'm going to just throw a name
out there. Okay, you ready for this? Hit me Kyler Murray. So,
Kyler Murray has everything that we think we would want
in a quarterback in terms of the fantasy because we
(15:16):
know he's mobile, he's got targets to throw to. He
can throw the football, but doesn't necessarily translate to a
top top guy like we have with the Allen's and
the Lamars and the Jalen Hurts is. So here's Kyler
Murray who does everything that we seem to like Mike,
but maybe we don't love Kyler Murray. Where do you
have the Arizona Cardinals quarterback?
Speaker 2 (15:37):
He is in that second tier towards I think towards
the middle.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Right.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
We look at Mahomes, Mayfield, Nicks would be that next
Dak Prescott we talked about, and I think Kyler Murray's
right in that mix, right, So that gets us if
my math is right right to our top ten with
maybe one other guy shuffling into that spot. But for Murray,
it's the and you finish the job right. That's always
(16:02):
been the case. Fast start looks like he's sonic, you know,
to steal from the Detroit Lions for a second. The
sonic the hedgehog kind of thing, watching him sprint around,
and you know me, I love guys that are how
do we say vertically challenged because I feel like, you know,
some kindred spirit out there. But we got to assume
Marvin Harrison Junior the second Marvin Harrison Junior the second. Yeah,
(16:23):
that's what I'm saying. Marvin Harrison the junior in his
second year, we'll take a big step forward. Michael Wilson
is one of those curiosities. Greg Dortch has been good
in spots. Trey McBride, I gotta think we had the
anomaly of the guy can't find the painted grass, so
we don't have Jason Witten part two and that kicks up.
(16:44):
I like the Connor Benson mixed together. Like I think
there's a lot to be said here and certainly the
drafting on defense, we get back to balance to where
Kyler Murray doesn't have to try to play superhuman, that
they can just go play a more structured offense and
perhaps get a little more balance and consistency.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I find him in one of the most polarizing players
when it comes to fantasy because either you love them
or you just you can't. You can't maybe get over
the height sort of deal. But his rushing numbers last
year five touchdowns on the ground, so even he's even
though he's now a few years in Mike and has
had a few dings here and there. To say the least,
(17:25):
He's still running the football. Maybe not to the level
of those top quarterbacks, but he's still giving you something.
And you just ran down all the weapons where I
think that. I think Arizona's just a good, well coached
football team and I expect them to compete in the
NFC West. I don't know how high that bar is,
(17:47):
and because of that, I expect Kyler Murray to be good.
So I find value in the Cardinals quarterback. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
I think the biggest thing is can he stay healthy? Right?
That's the billion dollar questions with him eight games in
twenty three, eleven in twenty two. Go back fourteen to
twenty twenty one, last time he'd played a full season.
Go back to twenty twenty eleven touchdowns on the ground,
six point two a carry, and over nine or eight
hundred rushing yards to go along with a pretty strong
(18:14):
passing game. So yeah, I'm with you. I think he
I'm bullish that he outperforms his average draft slot, but
I know folks have been burned. So he's one of
those guys that becomes the two idea go back for seconds.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Do you feel that you could get
burned by Jared Goff? Now that Ben Johnson is in Chicago,
other members have left the Lions offensive coaching staff. How
do you see Goff and the Lions and the quarterbacks
performance this year?
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Golf is no better than a mid two because I
think you're going to see a lot more Jamiir Gibbs,
not that he won't have an active role in the
passing game, and we'll do that more in Earnest in
the running back breakdown. But for golf, I think you
can see Montgomery's healthy and Gibbs. I don't think you're
gonna have the same cheekiness that you had in the
(19:05):
play calling of Ben Johnson. Now you have the former
passing coordinator Morton at the helm. He was the guy
in Denver, so I think there's something to be said
for But I think this becomes more in game management,
especially if that defense is healthy. Remetbter how lost they
were by injury in the back half of the season,
(19:26):
so I think that helped with some of the Jared
Goff numbers and Ben Johnson need needing to push, I
don't think they do that this time. You look at
the end game for Jamiir Gibbs last year. They tried
to shorten those games as best they could.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Tanner Engstrand, the new offensive coordinator from the Jets, previously
the Lions passing game coordinator, so he's gone as well.
The reason I started with Murray and Goff is we'll
tell you here on I want your flax just as
a general consensus, We'll use the Fantasy Pro site because
it's an accumulation of so many insiders like one Mike
Harmon and their rankings throughout the season. It gives you
(20:00):
a pretty good sense of who is top, who is bottom.
That's your tier three right now, so it's Murray at
the top and Golf at the bottom of that. There's
an interesting mix of players in the middle because you've
got a guy like Brock Perdy who's now got his contract,
not necessarily sure on how everything's going to start out
with the forty nine ers wide receivers, but Purdy is
(20:22):
in that group justin Fields now is the job all
to himself with the Jets. And then you got two
second year guys in Drake May and Caleb Williams also
a part of that group. Sandwiched in between Murray and Golf.
So an interesting group of names in that tier three.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Well, that's just it, right, It is such an enigma,
right for Caleb Williams. Look, you've been part of what
the preseason has been. It's noise left and right. How
much does the Tyson Bagent signing sway you as to
like dislike of Caleb Williams. It's really fun theater on
a day to day basis, no question about it. But
(20:57):
if everything breaks right, you think that he pushes towards
the top of that tier three and is battling for
a top seven, top eight position if it all breaks right. Now,
when we look at Brock Purty, Ricky Piersoll is a
guy that, towards the back of the season look like
he can go. Do you trust anybody else in that
receiving corps? I mean, George Kittle's what thirty five now
(21:19):
and still blocks a ton Christian McCaffrey. Are they going
to use him as a wide out? Does he go
back to like twenty nineteen when he caught a hundred
passes and that becomes how he's utilized that? Okay, yeah,
brock perty wins then, But otherwise the receiving corps absolutely
scares me. So he's pushed down for me, justin Herbert
as much as you know, he's now everybody's favorite quarterback,
(21:40):
right he took that mantle I think from Stafford of
he's the guy that all quarterbacks like. But he doesn't
put up pinball numbers. That's not how they want to
run the game for the Chargers. And who in that
receiving corp truly scares you outside of Maconkey Nobody, nobody.
So he's another guy that I think perhaps under performs
justin fields. Do I get bonus points for a thousand
(22:04):
thousand like that? And it's not to disrespect my guy,
Jason Smith and his love of the New York Football Jets,
but I've watched the field show. It's a sixty percent
completion rate, and I feel bad already for Garrett Wilson
before the first snap's taken. And I don't believe a
lot of the preseason nonsense, because you know how it
(22:25):
is hot take theater with each little run in a practice,
and the way people, oh he was four of seven,
it's like you don't know what they were doing, or
four of nine or four of twelve or whatever. The
numbers are on a given. It's like, you know, when
Caleb Williams missed the net, it became the biggest thing.
It's like, yeah, he basically played hot potato and missed
(22:45):
the net and pretended to be mad, but it became
the biggest talking point in the world. So yeah, so
that's a little bit of the fear for Justin Fields.
He'll run. It's gonna be him and Allen and Breeze Hall.
I think for a time ton of action. But you
don't get Fantasy points per carry in most leagues, so
(23:05):
that doesn't help.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Yeah, that's the funny thing that I look at with
the Fields portion of it last year was for as
much as we want to criticize Russell Wilson, Russell Wilson
took over for Justin Fields in a manner where I
know some people said just stick with Fields because the
Steelers were playing good football, but the numbers were very
(23:27):
hit and miss. I mean there were four out of
the six games he played he didn't top one hundred
and fifty six yards passing, you know, so there's an issue.
He didn't turn the ball over, which was great for
the Steelers. But the point is is he didn't steal
the job from Russell Wilson, and at no point did
the Steelers end up turning back to him. So I
(23:49):
think that also then tells you a little something. I
feel that because we didn't see Justin Fields and because
Wilson was who he was, that we are changing our
thoughts and memories about him. But the fact of the
matter is is if he really was out playing Russell
Wilson last year, then he probably would still be in
Pittsburgh right now. And he's done. So that's kind of
(24:12):
my takeaway on Justin Fields is in a weird roundabout
saying of what you're saying is we've seen this before.
He is who he is. That was more of a
telltale sign for me of what we actually have at
the quarterback position with Fields.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Yeah, I mean you can win some games, right with
that defense. Same thing with the Jets. They've got a
really good defense. They might win a few games. Is
that going to translate to weekly fantasy bonanza? No? And again,
you know this is where we get into rankings and
it's the difficult part of the dan of We may
agree that, all right, say he stays healthy, Justin Fields
(24:49):
will in a best ball scenario get to the twelfth
highest scoring. But am I banking on my team to
win games week to week fantasy wise with him as
my quarterback? Hell no, because I'm gonna have too many
very low ceilings. Yeah, before it's all said and done, right,
go back to those Pittsburgh games. They're winning, but it's
not pretty. And for Fields, he was very much like
(25:10):
Caleb Williams in spots Now. Williams numbers overall were solid
except for the sixty eight sacks he took. But everybody
made a big deal about the interceptionless streak. That's great.
That means you're not willing to take a chance into
a spot that's willing, and you're not willing to push
the ball down field. Guess what, that's losing football. That's
what Justin Fields does too. Wait, Thezaro tied to the Bears, Dan,
(25:31):
what are we doing?
Speaker 3 (25:33):
God, we'll move away. We'll move to a guy who's
compared to the Bears quarterback just because they wear the
same draft class. Are we undervaluing Drake May at all?
Because again, this conversation that you and I have had
and I over the last thirty minutes or so here
has been about the quarterbacks that can do both. May
have shown that he's able to move and can run
(25:54):
the football. Maybe not the enormous passing stats that you
would get from a from a Lamar or Josh Allen
or Jaden Daniels, but still may's show that he's mobile
enough to do damage and get your points on the ground.
Where are you with the Patriots second year signal caller?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
I like him as a high end too. I think
there's certainly some upside, particularly if the defense takes on
the Mike Rabel style and gets after a little bit
a little concerned receiving cor I mean, the best story
was Mac Collins throwing the ball into the crowd to
get people fired up. I don't know if that's really
the thing I need when it's all said and done.
(26:30):
I don't know what Diggs has left tomorrow. Douglas has
been fine in spots, and you've got a lot of
guys around Polk go all lay down the line, Hunter, Henry,
Austin Hooper, your tight ends. We both love the running
back position that they have, Henderson certainly more than Stevenson,
but you've got depth and guys that can play there,
(26:51):
so I don't think it has to be on May's arm,
so if he's judicious about things, that they'll be able
to take care of it. So I think the passing
ceiling is fairly low on him because I think they're
going to try to grind games out, but his acumen
with his legs that they're gonna win you a game
or two, There's no question about it.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
This is my favorite part of all of the mock
drafts that I've done because it becomes late in the
round and if you haven't drafted a quarterback, there are
some names that you recognize and names that you know,
and you say to yourself, how did they fall to
that point? Who are we undervaluing Mike in this fourth
tier of quarterbacks with some hot name properties still available
(27:34):
likely in many drafts.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yeah, as it currently sits. I think you and I
both kind of look over at number twenty three on
the list for the Fantasy Pros World Michael Pennix Junior. Right,
you look at what he's got Bejean Robinson. Well, I
want to make sure he pronounce his name right so
he doesn't come and track me down, Bijon Robinson. And
(27:56):
you look at that receiving court, like there's and forget
about Kyle Pitts. He'll get his numbers fine, but you know,
the world beating stage is not going to be there,
but the receiving core solid as a guy with a
big arm, big opportunity here. Kirk Cousins will eventually get
spun off somewhere else, so that won't even be a
specter anymore once they you know, swallow their pride and
(28:17):
you know, eat some of that money. But I think
he's the guy that stands out to me as that
far back for what that offense could be in division,
et cetera. So he would he would be first c J.
Stroud looking for a little bit more. Now again, the
wide receiver staying healthy would be nice as well as
a little specter of what's going on in a cloud
with Joe Mixon. As you and I sit here, but
(28:40):
you bring in Nick Chubb, You've got a couple of
young running backs to build out the depth there, so
opportunity and then I'd be remiss if I didn't give
a nod to Trevor Lawrence. I don't know what Travis
Hunter becomes, but certainly Brian Thomas, you know, it didn't
matter what the logo on the side of the helmet
was he was able to perform and put up big numbers,
(29:00):
and this is kind of a go get it kind
of year with any new head coach and Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
If not now when, Yeah, I think you're right about that.
I think they could be a fun team. But I
just don't know if I'm ready to put him up
there in His availability at least over the last couple
of seasons has also been a bit of a question.
Matthew Stafford has fallen because of all of this preseason
stuff as well. High on the executive and head coaches
(29:29):
tier list, but he's been a big drop. It's interesting
I look at someone like Jordan Love who's sitting there
green Bay. I get Matthew Golden's like a first round pick, Mike.
I understand all of that, and there's certain stats that
you try to spin with Green Bay, but I think
(29:49):
if they're going anywhere, it's probably going to be on
the quads of Josh Jacobs. So when you're green Bay
trying to battle for that division crown, trying to make
it to Super Bowl, where are you with Jordan Love
and what he does with the green Bay Packers.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Fantasy wise, I don't have a guy that scares me. Right.
That was the stat that kept coming up, and you
and I talked about this a little. As you know,
the preseason football was running around as we were doing
our Fox Sports Sunday shows of like, hey, they've got
this many guys that had at least four hundred yards.
I'm like, who cares? Do you have one guy you
trust when it's a go get a play?
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Right?
Speaker 2 (30:27):
I mean, that doesn't matter, and I don't think they have.
Maybe Golden becomes that guy, But as it stands right now,
I think you got a great array of receivers, so
you'll move the ball. But I agree with you one
hundred percent. I think it's all on Jacob's legs to
make things happen. So Jordan loved to me is a
back end Tier four guy. I'd almost switch him all together.
(30:47):
With the back end as it's currently situated in the
Fantasy pros world and your guy Sam Darnold showing up
in Seattle, that I'll take a shot that he figures
it out and that we put up some pinball numbers
more so than.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
We'll wrap up this quarterback episode this way. If you
are drafting, if you are in a draft, how many
quarterbacks would you carry on your roster? I was talking
to a buddy of mine this offseas and he says, honestly,
he goes, I'm only going to carry one. He goes,
there's enough guys that if something happens that I could
(31:22):
just go and pick up and be fine with. How
many would would you carry? Would you carry a backup
or do you think that this quarterback position is so deep?
Obviously not in a super flex league, but in a
deal where you're only starting one quarterback? Where would you
How would you construct your quarterback room on your fantasy team?
Speaker 2 (31:44):
I need a second guy if nothing else. It's just
like a security blanket, right. I go the full Linus
as I'm walking around, going to the Peanuts character, and
I'm just gonna have that with me no matter what, cause,
I mean, we've watched it, especially if you're going towards
the top. We talked about how many of these guys
the main thrust of what they do is that they
(32:05):
put up huge rushing numbers. Well, that's every extra carry
is you know, a lump in my throat potentially, right,
And I've been burned too many times that way. You know,
there's certain leagues if the bench is deep enough, I'll
carry a third. I'll let someone have to scramble and
start starting. You know the best of the Steelers, Colts, Browns,
(32:29):
and they can roll the dice. I'm not playing that game.
I'd rather be have a guy rotting on my bench
than showing up and beat me in week twelve.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
It's flying without a parachute. That's how I felt like that.
Anybody is going with it. I'll tell you what what
I do in those situations to carry a backup. I
just look at the bye week of my quarterback. And
then then the tiebreaker is who is playing, what team
that could end up getting a lot of points or
what defense would be susceptible to allow a lot of points,
(33:02):
and then take that other team starting quarterback.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Absolutely, if that's if that's available to you short, certainly
there's your U tried and true, and and then start
playing games and playing defense as we get deeper into
the season.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Yeah, I think that's that's the way to go. I
would feel weird to not have a backup quarterback, but
people are willing to roll the dice because heck, there
are names that we haven't even talked about Aaron Rodgers.
Anthony Richardson still on some draft boards because he never
knows what's gonna happen. With Daniel Jones. I saw Jalen
Milroe was higher than Kirk Cousins on the preseason charging,
(33:37):
so yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
I mean, just go on down the line right other starters.
We didn't even get to Gino in Las Vegas or
Bryce Young. You know he's got a new shiny new
toys your year two with Canalis the breakthrough. The answer
is probably not, but it'll be fun to watch. And
then to a tongue of I Lowe was once upon
a time that guy. He's still trying to figure out
(33:59):
whether Tyreek Hill likes him or not. Dan, So I'm.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
And at the time of this recording, we don't know
who the Saints are going to go with with Tyler
Shuck or Spencer Rattler. So even but Mike for a
team that we don't think is gonna win a lot
of games this year, there could be some garbage points
with I'm not telling you, you know what, I'm just
gonna stop myself because I'm not gonna tell you to
draft the Saints quarterback that is not what I'm saying
(34:23):
at all. Those guys are further down the list. But
it's fun talking some quarterbacks because I don't necessarily think
they get the love or a lot of the attention
that we usually make for our pre preseason drafting strategies
and whatnot, because we're so focused on running max wide
receivers and tight ends. So it's good to look into
the quarterback position. Well the future episodes coming up of
(34:45):
those positions that I just talked about. Plus we'll do
our top sixty pre draft, Yes, the sixty players that
we would take in a draft. Mike, myself and Ian Roddy,
our executive producer, will dive into that in a future
preseason episode. So for my Karmen, I'm Dan Bayer. There's
your info on the quarterbacks. Stick around for more great
info here, and I want your flex for the rest
(35:06):
of our preseason preview. Talk to you soon.
Fox Sports Radio News
Host
Jonas Knox
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