FantasyPros - Must-Have Fantasy Football Draft Targets | Expert Picks For EVERY ROUND! (Ep. 1663) - The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody, Welcome into the Fantasy Pros Football Podcast. I'm
Ryan Warmley, joined by Andrew Erickson and by Tom Strachan. Guys,
we are talking must have expert picks four every round.
This is a jam packed episode. We are going through
our top targets through rounds one through ten. We are
also doing a more rapid fire version rounds eleven through fifteen.

(00:21):
We're gonna hit on kind of like our favorite guy. Overall,
a lot of names to get through, so we're gonna
do no like preamble, how you do it. No pleasantry
is at the top. We all know each other. We're
diving right in here round one. I do want to
remind everybody though, that all of our twenty twenty five
consensus rankings and tiers can be found at fantasypros dot
com slash rankings. Round number one, Like I said, we're

(00:44):
going all the way through round fifteen. Ericson, who is
your top must have expert pick target in round one?

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Well, assuming that you're not picking inside the top five,
because I feel pretty strong about that, I went for
a player that goes outside the top five that out
with a pick want six through twelve. You can get
this guy. I think almost every time Nico Collins wide receiver.
Of the few Houston Texans. If you look at the
betting markets, Jamar Chase surprising no one is the favorite

(01:12):
to leave the NFL and receiving yards right next to him.
According to the betting pros odds that we have listed
second chorist odds to leave the NFL receiving yards, it's
one mister Nico Collins. So I think that his ceiling
as the clearcut alpha in this Texans passing offense is immense.
Last two years with c. J. Stroud, he's top five
in receiving yards per game wide receiver six last year

(01:34):
in terms of points per game, I think that he's
going to see a boatload of targets. He's been super efficient.
So I think that when in doubt, if you're kind
of nervous about maybe some of the running backs at
the back end of round one, you just want to
lock and load with an alpha stud wide receiver who's
gonna put up fifteen hundred yards this season if he
stays healthy. Nico Collins is the guy for me.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Niko is my wide receiver for this year. The reason
that I basically have I have no neighbors. I have
no amen Ra, I have no Puka, I have like
no Derrek, Henry, Ash and Geny. This year is because
every time I'm on the board in the second half
of the first Nico is there. And I'm like, if
you take out that elite group of six guys, the
three receivers, three running backs that I think we all
agree our tier one overall. Like Nico is my seventh

(02:17):
pick and he's usually available a couple of spots later.
Some leagues maybe not, but he usually is. And I
just agree with everything you said. The only thing I'm
worried about is did they do enough to fix the
offensive line and will that kind of hamstring the passing offense?
But it's been bad the last two years, I agree,
But yes, that's it. We've seen that he can produce
with it being bad.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
But just for going the Bengals route, you don't care
about your offensive line and you just passed the ball.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah, And I like if they are doing I like
jayde Higgins, I like Jalen Nole, but like they will
be throwing to Nico Collins.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
And there's still rookies and.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
No part of me is worried about like, oh, Straut
took a step back in a year two, Like I
think that was offensive line related. I still think he's
really good, certainly good enough to support a guy who
like all the experts you know what they're talking about
with receivers, like like Matt Harmon is, like Nico Collins
is like the fourth best receiver in football, like like
like he is really really good. He's paired with a
great young quarterback. I think they've done at least just

(03:13):
enough to make the oppositie I'm better, And even if
they didn't, I don't think it matters. Like I love
Nico this year and I'm so happy to get him
late in the first. Every single time, Tom, you went
in a different direction where you didn't limit it to like, oh,
who can most people get that's available for your pick?
You got to have the number one pick.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
Look great, This is the favorite picks in each round.
So like, if I have to choose to favorite pick,
then it's Jamar Chase and look, getting the one O
one is a treat. I've done almost three hundred drafts
this offseason. If the amount of times I've got the
one oh one has been disappointingly small, So of course
I want to talk about Jamar Chase because there's good
reason why he is the consensus. Like last year he
had almost two hundred yards more than anyone else. He

(03:53):
tied with Justin Jefferson at eighteen end zone targets. He
just became a red zone monster. That's something that Andrew
was talking about last year about how you know, when
you lead the league in red zone targets, it becomes
much easier to have the chance to become the wide
receiver one overall. And last year was the first year
where it felt like T Higgins wasn't hampering Jamar Chase's

(04:14):
upside whatsoever. Chase actually averaged more points with T Higgins
out there twenty four point seven PPR points compared to
when Higgins was missing at twenty one point three. And yes,
it is quite rare for one or one players to repeat,
but I just don't doubt him at all because last
year the Bengals past defense ranked twenty eighth in DVOA,
and you can make the argument that it looks so

(04:35):
much worse this year. So yeah, I think this one
it's definitely a layup. But like I don't get enough
chances to talk about Jamar Chase because it's just been
assumed since like March, but he is the consentus one
on one and we don't need to talk about it,
and Jamar Chase deserves to be talked about.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
I love the genre Robinsoning. I think he's a really, really,
really strong second overall pick. But to me, even as
much as I love a guy like that at number two,
I don't think there's any question every time somebody asked
me who should I take?

Speaker 2 (05:03):
One?

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Oh? One? Like I don't care what the scoring format.
I don't care any Jamar Chase because unlike Saquon Barkley,
there's not this built in fear of taking this injury
related step back at this position like we have with Barkley.
And those were the two guys who had these historic
seasons last year. Barring a fluky, not predictable flukey injury

(05:23):
for Chase or Burrow. I don't understand what the case
is against Chase being the number one player in Fantasy
again this year. I really don't like. It's such a
It's like maybe the most perfect position. It's a situation
I should say that a Fantasy wide receiver has ever
been in, like marrying the talent, the quarterback, the defense,
just all of it. Like I Chase is such an

(05:44):
easy one, oh one for me. Having said that, I
really like picking late in the first round because I love, love,
love doubling up on receiver. My favorite two receivers to
double up on. It's rare that I can pull this off,
but it is doable are Nico Collins and Drake London,
which leads us to that's exactly who I was gonna say.
That leads us right into Ericson's pick here in round two. Ericson,
you are laying out my perfect draft here.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
It's worms for perfect draft. It's Ryckson's perfect draft. We're
holding your hand holding here. Yeah, Drake London, that's the
guy for me in round two, and I would take
him in round one if you forced me to. If
Nico Collins just got taken, I would easily take Drake
London in the first round. Again talking about the red
zone targets and how that's a signal for wide receiver
one overall seasons that are coming well. Drake London since

(06:28):
he's enter the NFL, is number one in wide receiver
red zone target rate. Last year, he was top five
in red zone targets, and the thing is he's putting
up the yardage it's been there. So he's one of
three receivers over the last two seasons to have at
least two thousand receiving yards. But he only has eleven touchdowns,
so could he put up a Terry McLaurin like touchdown total?

(06:48):
Attached to Michael Pennix, who I think is a wide
receiver elevator. We saw him do it at the college
level where guys like Jalen pol Roma doonsday Jameick McMillan.
We're getting drafted inside the top three rounds of the
real NFL draft because Michael Pennox helped boost their numbers.
So again, the right tackle injury is concerning for the
Falcons losing Kaler McGarry, especially when he is the blind

(07:09):
side protector for Michael Penix. Like the Falcons really couldn't
afford to lose a right tackle more like other teams
because Michael Penix is a left handed quarterback. But besides that,
I mean, everything else is wheels off for Drake London
to be a top five wide receiver if not put
his hat in the ring for wide receiver one overall
if Jamar Chase is unable to repeat.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
Nico Collins is by wide receiver four, Drake Leonard is
by wide receiver five, and you can come out of
drafts getting both of them. It's my favorite start that
you could possibly have for every I mean, I have
really nothing to add ericson every other reasons you laid
out Michael Penix, just the talent, everything we've seen. I
can't understand why he is currently the sixteenth overall player
in our expert.

Speaker 2 (07:49):
Cause because it was adt is the same as it
was last year.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
I don't get it, Like.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
And I was fair much I remember doing.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
It like again, Like there's He's the reason. I love
Brian Thomas you this year right, like I want to
take swings on Christian McCaffrey. I love Derek Henry. I
don't understand why people aren't more excited about We just
saw this fit in Baltimore. He didn't slow down at all.
I love Ashton Genty as a rookie running back, but
I want to come away with Nico and London because
I like they are just that much better. Tom, you
said that you kind of knew that's the name I

(08:17):
was going to throw out there. Do you agree with
that as London is just like this ideal early second
round target.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
Yeah, absolutely and late. Unlike Ericson, I was in on
the Drake London height last year, so this year I
assumed that he'd be into round one for all the
reasons we saw down the back end last year. The
fact that Michael Pennix, with an offseason catered to him,
can take another step forward, and it's been surprising that
there's still this little bit of hesitation. I think it
links back to what Ericson said about the touchdowns. The

(08:44):
biggest surprise for me has been the fact that we're
heading into year four for Drake London and the Falcons
haven't locked him up with a contract already because that's
only going to get more expensive. And this time next year,
you know, you could be looking at like a market
second contract.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
If I don't take London, if I don't have like
this early second round pick where I'm getting one of
those like London Gen Henry Thomas, Like whichever of those
guys is falling there. My next favorite pick a round
two is actually the guy that you're going with here, Tom.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
Let's go again, like this is one which might seem
a bit of a layup, but Round two is so
stacked this year. There were several players that I really like.
There's several players that I think are going to outplay
their ADP significantly, but brock Bauers and I thought brock
Powers was going to be firmly part of round one
when drafts opened, like kind of like we saw with
Travis Kelcey, because the one hundred and fifty three targets

(09:35):
he got last year that's only been bettered once Zakertz
at one hundred and fifty six targets. I mean, only
Evan Ingram and zach Ertz have beaten one hundred and
twelve tight end receptions that brock Bauer's got in his
rookie year. And now we're talking about just huge upgrades
across the board. You've got Chip Kelly, who likes to

(09:55):
run fast paced offense the Raiders. Last year they ranked
fourth in past attempts, but in completion rate over expected,
Minshew ranked twenty seventh and O'Connell ranked thirty ninth out
of forty six quarterbacks for one hundred plus attempts. So
he was getting attempts. They were targeting him, but they
weren't that value much like elite neighbors. But Gino in
completions over expected ranked four last year, so the value

(10:19):
in the targets this year is going to be so
much better. Yards per attempt Gino ranked thirteenth last year,
and the two Raiders quarterbacks were back to back at
thirty third and thirty fourth. Even if Bowers doesn't hit
this kind of like one hundred and twelve hundred and
twenty receptions, there's room for him to grow with more
touchdowns because he only started scoring touchdowns later on in
the season. I just think the offense is going to

(10:41):
be more efficient, able to stay on the field much
more often, and we are looking at a true superstaff
for the next seven or eight years.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
He is eighteenth in overall ECR. I have him fifteenth overall,
and I'm much closer to moving him higher than I
am moving him lower. I have a very clear top fifteen.
I'm happy if I get any two guys in that group.
Bowers is in that group for me. I a generationally
good tight end prospect coming out of college who had
a record setting rookie season. Like we have never seen

(11:07):
any evidence that he is not going to be an
elite tight end. I don't know why we would talk
ourselves out of that continuing. And the reason I don't
like taking tight end early historically is because I'm worried
about them repeating and being correct. Like San Laporta maybe
more of a fluky rookie season, just relative to prospect pedigree,
he was really good. I don't want to diminish what

(11:29):
Laporta did. Bowers. I have full faith he is going
to repeat, if not maybe even add on to what
he did last year in year two with the quarterback upgrade.
So I like I have anybody who's like a tight
end second round is that? Yes, I would take him
and run if those other fourteen guys that I really
liked that top group off the board early second I
love him. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
And Laporte always looked that a little bit more fragile,
didn't it Because he scored nine touchdowns as a rookie.
Nobody else that year had scored more than six. So
it was easy right in with Bowers. I just don't
know what you can make for regressing him.

Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yeah, Eric said, we'll go a little quicker on some
of the later rounds, but I do want to get
your opinion on Bowers here as like that second round
tight end guy.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
Well, I think that the reason we sometimes get concerned
about taking tight ends as highs because they're usually coming
off like the Laporta seasons where they score a lot
of touchdowns. I mean, go back to the Jimmy Graham
Gronkowski years where they're scoring fifteen, sixteen, seventeen touchdowns and
then they don't repeat because them scores many touchdowns. But
and again we haven't talked about him, but Trey McBride
and Brock Bauers, like they didn't score touchdowns last year? Well,

(12:29):
like what if they actually do score touchdowns? Well, also
seeing the same amount of volumes. So that's where you
get concerned about if I don't take one of these
top tier tight ends and they end up scoring eight, nine,
ten touchdowns with Brock Bowers and now getting a quarterback
upgrade with Gino Smith, like that's I think that's under
discussed too. I know Tom mentioned it here a little bit,
but Gino Smith is a massive upgrade over eight O'Connell

(12:50):
as the quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders. They're scoring
more points, playing in more high paced games. They play
in a dome Man. Brock Bowers, Yes, he plays tight end,
but he's really more of a slot receiver, Like just
look at his routes run last year. He's running from
the slot, so not a traditional in line tight end.
And although the preseason usually hasn't necessarily been great, they
also haven't been running a lot of twelve personnel, which

(13:12):
I think is going to be something that they're going
to be playing more of. And that means brock Bowers
is competing for targets with Michael Meyer, Jacoby Myers, who
was very good but I still think not an alpha player,
and Donde Thornton, who is a fourth round pick that
didn't command a target share at Tennessee. So I think
that brock Bowers is going to be fine. And if
he scores the touchdowns, well that's when you see him
being a Round one pick.

Speaker 1 (13:33):
Next elite prospect who had an elite rookie season, who
upgraded his quarterback and his play caller and the offensive
situation around him, but without overly upgrading the pass catchers
around him, Like what could be more perfect than this?
So yeah, I'm all in on Bowers in that elite
group of players. All let's go to Round three, ericson.
This is the first one where I do start to

(13:54):
look a little bit of a different direction than you.
But I get it. Everybody is very much on the
hype with the guy you're about to say here.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, well, I'll admit I'll be the first admit Round three.
This is the last round that I picked when I
was doing my picks, because I think that there are
so many different directions you can go in. So I
went with Omaron Hampton running back for the Los Angeles
Chargers because I just want to make a bet on
a first round rookie running back with elite draft pedigree
where he should see as many opportunities as Ashton Genty,

(14:20):
potentially with Naji Harris just a non factor in this offense. Like,
I don't know what Najie Harris's role is going to be.
I don't know when he's coming back, And that's why
I was first hesitant about really buying into Omaron Hampton.
But the more time Naji has missed under a new
coaching staff, the more optimistic I am about Omaron Hampton
is going to be the guy here. So I just
think that when you zoom out first round rookie running

(14:41):
backs tend to be really productive from the get go
because they see immediate opportunities, and Array Hampton was an
immediate producer at the college level. He can catch passes
out of the back. He's a four down skill set.
That's what Arbad talked about. This guy can play on
every single down. And I'm just not convinced that Kamani
Vidal is going to force his way onto the field,
like after what they saw last year from JKD who
started out good but then sputtered out Gus Edwards, I

(15:03):
think they're going to see a Marion Hampton shot out
of a cannon and be yeah, I think we're going
to continue to use this guy as our bell cow.
So for me, it's a Maria and Hampton. But I'll
admit I thought about Tray mc bride here. I think
that the elite quarterbacks in this round are also just
the safest picks that you can make. You want to
go lamar Josh Allen and not try to take a
risk on a running back or receiver. I think that's
totally fine as well. So this was a round that

(15:24):
I struggled with, but based on my build here where
I went wide receiver, wide receiver. I wanted to get
a rookie running back, so I went with Hampton.

Speaker 1 (15:31):
There also are a lot of running backs in this
round three and round four, and you have a guy
in around four that I really like too, that I
would maybe even consider. In round three, there's a lot
of running backs in what is historically the RB dead
zone that I am just buying into, Like, I don't
care about what history says about running backs in this range.
I like a lot of the guys here. Hampton, like,
I hope you're right because I love the player, like
he was so good at North Carolina. I have him

(15:52):
on like a campus, the can League team, so I've
been watching him closely for a while. A great player,
and the idea of the fit is so strong. But
just because Greg Rowan likes to run the ball, does
it mean he likes to have a belcow. Historically he
does not give too many carries to any one individual
running back, and I don't know if Hampton will be
the guy to break that streak.

Speaker 4 (16:11):
Now.

Speaker 1 (16:12):
The fact that Naji is dealing with the I stuff
helps O'maron Hampton in that regard, But the offensive line
takes a hit without Slater. I'm not sure what kind
of bellcout usage there's going to be. Greg Roman offensive
simply don't throw to the running back a lot. So
I don't know how many passes passes he's going to catch.
So there's just enough for me to say, like in
the third round, that's too aggressive for my blood. I

(16:32):
like the player, I like the idea of the fit,
and I would be really thrilled to be proven wrong.
But I'm just looking elsewhere in this round. Ericson, Now, Tom,
you do pick one of these elite quarterbacks here instead
of looking at running back or a receiver.

Speaker 3 (16:46):
Yeah, I mean it would have been very easy for
me to pick our guy Lama, but like I'm a.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
Little insulted, we didn't. Honestly, given that you and I
are on the show together, we do have a.

Speaker 3 (16:56):
Habit to stand away from Ravens when we're both fund
with child. But I went with Jane Daniel. And it's
more because I think that there's still some meat left
on the bone there. I think that he can still
ascend to another level. Like there's only three quarterbacks who,
across the course of their career average over fifty rushing
yards per game. It is Lamar Justin Fields and Jane Daniels. Now,
obviously Jane Daniels has done out on a much smaller

(17:17):
sample size than Lamar and even Justin Fields, but last
year he led the league in yards per attempt on
Froze outside the pocket, which was something I wasn't expecting
to see from him. It just showed a level of
calmness that I didn't necessarily expect to see, because look,
I got things wrong last year on Jane and Daniels,
not to the point where I wasn't drafting him, but
I was out there cutting up all these videos of

(17:39):
him getting absolutely sandwiched by linebackers and taking these monstrous,
big hits, and I just thought, this guy is not
going to survive. And then you see him in the
NFL under pressure and just looking so incredibly calm and
so good with it that I think that he really well,
he proved me wrong, and he proved a lot of
doubts wrong. And now you're throwing Deebo Samuel. Yes, there

(18:00):
was that moment where it was like, oh, look at
fat Debo who can't run very fast, and everybody had
a great time for a couple of weeks on the internet.
But now he seems good like we saw only a
snippet of him in pre season, but he looked like
he had some bursts to him and Jane Daniels. This
kind of goes back to the brock Bauers point about touchdowns.
He didn't get there last year on touchdowns. It was

(18:21):
only six Russian touchdowns, which isn't an unsustainable amount there,
Like the numbers of it Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts
get every year where you're talking double digits, it's easy
to make arguments a year on year that those numbers
might regress even though they don't. But Jane Daniels did
it with just rushing the ball at reasonable rates, six
Russian touchdowns and passing the ball really damn well. And

(18:43):
now he gets Deebo Samuel's upgrade. I would really like
to see Terry mcclaurin out there soon, but it's just
so hard to ignore that only Lamar Jackson had more
Top twelve weekly finished than Jane daniels twelve last year.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
I So, for me, if I'm taking it to one
quarterback and I agree that Daniels belongs in t your one,
I'm not trying to make the point that people should
be fading him in general, I would just rather reach
a little earlier and get the guys who have done
it multiple years in Alan and Lamar. Or I would
rather wait a half round or a round and take
Jalen Hurts because they didn't get rid of the toush
push right, like He's still going to be his usual self,

(19:18):
like we've only seen it once for Daniels, and the
other guys are so strong around him in this tier,
Like I would take him well ahead of like Joe Burrow,
for example, but of the elite four, he is the
one I am targeting least, because I would rather wait
and get Hurts, or I'd rather reach and say like
Alan and Lamar are just a different kind of animal
when it comes to fantasy production and just get one

(19:40):
of them. Ericson, I'm curious when you approach an elite
quarterback build, is Daniels somebody that you're getting.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
I think that I kind of agree with what you said,
where kind of just pay a little bit more to
get Lamar, Josh Allen, or wait to get Hurts a
little bit because he seems to always kind of fall
into that round four territory and it's just about this
Tarr McLaurin, right, Like, the guy's still not there and
he was their number one wide receiver. So how I mean, look,
we've been proven wrong, but for this guys have lost

(20:08):
their number one receivers. Patch Mahomes lost Terry kill and
three for five thousand yards next year. Josh Allen lost
all of his receivers last year, didn't matter he won
the MVP. So maybe we're reading too much into the
McLarin thing, But I would feel much better about taking
my elite quarterback in round three if his number one
wide receiver was actually on the field and not getting
ramped up for Week one. So that's my only hesitance

(20:32):
on Jane Daniels.

Speaker 3 (20:33):
They'll say out, they'll figure it out. They've got to
get it done before the season. It's just not they
can't treat Terry mccluarin out.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
By the way, I want to highlight something, so Marion Hampton,
if you look at the rankings that I mentioned at
the top of the show, is more of like a
mid fourth round pick. The reason Ericson hasn't been round
three is because he's basing his off of real Time ADP,
which is this really awesome feature that Fantasy Pros added
literally earlier this week. It is brand new. ADP is
like a bit of a lagging indicator in terms of
like there's a lot of noise built in from earlier

(21:03):
drafts on the season. So guys like Amaron Hampton who
have a lot of helium, guys like Bill Krosky Merritt
who might come up later, those guys they're ADP that
you might look at on a pre existing sheet is
not going to be reflective of where they're actually going
in drafts. Amaron Hampton in real time, ADP is RB
thirteen right smack in the middle of the third round.

(21:23):
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Speaker 1 (22:49):
Also, everybody who's listening to that should also listen to
Ericson and Tom who draft best ball stuff all the time,
and it's available on our audio feeds and on video
as well, So be sure to check out those streams
that they've been doing for how many months? At this
point it's been going on for you. Guys have drafted
a lot of teams together.

Speaker 3 (23:08):
A lot of teams.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yeah, let's go to round four here, Ericson, I know
I didn't agree with you in round three. We're back
to our round one and two, love, because this is
my favorite pick in round four. You could possibly make.

Speaker 2 (23:20):
Well over round three, saying that it was the toughest
round for me to pick a player. So Homary Hmpton
is probably not my most confident pick, but here I
feel much more confident, and it's Kenneth Walker as my
pick in round four. I just think the upside case
for him in this Clint Kuback offense is a top
five fantasy running back we saw last year Alvin Kamara
was number one and expected Fantasy points per game in

(23:41):
this Clint Kubiak offensive scheme. And I know that Zach
Scharbonay has looked pretty good. I still think that he
is going to be just the backup to Ken Walker.
I think that he has will have opportunities at Walker
missus time to smash as that backup in full Dalvin
Cook Alexander Madison fashion. But I think that's what this is.
And Kubiak was with Minnesota during that Dalvin Cook Alexander

(24:01):
Madison during those heydays, and they had one guy that
was the bell cow and then when he missed time,
they had someone else be the bellcow. So that's what
I think it's going to be like with ken Walker.
And he's been out, he's following the script of what
McDonald has talked about in terms of their resting him,
making sure that he's maintenance and he's ready to go
for week one for the season, because once he's writing
and out there playing, I think that he's going to

(24:22):
be their bell cow. He showed last year the pass
catching chops that we were waiting to see if he
still had bet on guys that are explosive, that catch
passes and favorable offensive schemes, and that is ken Walker
to a t. So he showed no signs last year
besides the injury, and the guy's a mistackle, broken tackle machine.
That's all he does. So if he stays healthy, he's
going to be a top off fantasy running back. I'm

(24:44):
very convinced of that. And we're making bets about Christian McCaffrey.
What if he stays healthy, demon a Chan what if
he stays healthy? Well, ken Walker's available round four, and
I think he has a ton of upsides. So that's
why I'm circling as my running back one of the
guys i'm drafting.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
Yeah, Tom, I'm curious what you think about Walker because like,
if you guaranteed me health, i'd say, like Eric, and
I'm like, yeah, this dude's top six running back in
fantasy for sure, but that he's not going in the
top six. That the health risk, which to me is
the only risk. I am not overly concerned about Sharbonney.
The health is the only risk, and that is baked it.
He's RB fifteen in real time ADP, and he's closer

(25:18):
to moving down. He's very close to RB sixteen and seventeen.
There's a gap between RB fourteen and RB fifteen, Like
he is not in that range. I don't agree with that, Like,
I'm very happy to take him there. If he gets
to the fourth round, I am taking him one hundred
percent of the time because the upside is a guy
that produces like a first round pick.

Speaker 3 (25:38):
Yeah. I think the kind of the knock on him
has always been that we haven't really seen as much
of a receiving role. But I don't think it's because
he can't do it. I just think it's like Zach
Chavney is probably a little bit best, so why not
split that work load? And as Ericson kind of touched
on briefly, like all off season, everything the Seahawks have
done have made as convinced that this is going to

(25:59):
be a round and pound offense. They've got rid of
DK Metcalf, moved on from Tyler Lockett, they moved on
from Gino and taking a cheaper option in Satwell sorry,
a younger option in Sam Donald, but I would say
not necessarily as good as passer of the ball. And
it all just feels like they're doing this as a
big reaction to Ryan Grubb, who was the offensive coordinator.

(26:20):
Last year, there seemed to be a few occasions where
Mike McDonald seemed annoyed that they hadn't run the ball
more in games, particularly against the Giants, was one that
stands out that reports suggested he was particularly annoyed about.
So I'm very much in on Kenneth Walker. I like
both the Seahawks Seahawks running backs at costs, I take
eve of him.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
I promised that I want to disagree with ericson Moore.
I'm looking ahead at some of his picks. Sound like that.
He really did lay out like my perfect draft, which
is kind of discouraging and I should stay scary to me, Tom,
who's your picking round for?

Speaker 3 (26:54):
It's Stevane Adams wide receiver eighteen overall, and I would
have taken him in in round three. To be honest,
I feel really good about him. I just think that
he is the perfect kind of piece to not only
unlocked Pook and a CUA, unlock Matthew Stafford again, but
unlock this Rams offense. Last year, it felt like they
had to rely on the ground game, perhaps a little
bit more than they like. And what davantay Adams brings

(27:15):
is the fact that he can get open, whereas Cooper
Cup just couldn't get open. Last year, DeVante Adams ranked
fifty eight for ESPN's Open score metric, compared to Cupp,
who ranked one hundred and eighth out of one hundred
and sixteen qualifying wide receivers last year. Adams like, it
was obviously a slow start to the season, but once
he got out of Vegas, he averaged two point two
yards per out run seventy six point six yards per game,

(27:37):
even with like the ghost of Aaron Rodgers. And I
think the Rams need somebody like Davontae Adams, who has
been a red zone threat for years. Because Pook and
a Coua, on two hundred and sixty six targets across
the last two years, has nine receiving touchdowns, which is
just that's inefficient. And I'm not putting all of the
blame on Pook and a Coua, but you need somebody

(27:58):
who can be a reliable its own weapon, and I
think Devanta Adams can be that. And I wouldn't be
surprised at all if he hit double digit touchdowns this year.

Speaker 1 (28:06):
You're not worried about Stafford's back, I guess. I mean,
if you're saying that you would even take DeVante as
highest Round three.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
Yeah, I mean the fact that he's out there now.
I mean, we've got a good couple of weeks. Matthew
Stafford is one of those guys who's been banged up
for his whole career, hasn't he Like it just felt
like the whole time he was in Detroit, he was
constantly dealing with stuff. It's not the first time that
we've done this kind of thing with Matthew Stafford. And
when the game start being played, unless it's really drastic,

(28:33):
then I'm okay taking that risk, and I think that
it's a significant upside swing.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
He has an argument as like the toughest player in football.
He plays through a lot for sure. Round five ericson
make me happy again.

Speaker 2 (28:46):
That's Roald McMillan, wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers. I
just think that he's being drafted closer to his floor
than his ceiling, which I mean he could be a
fantasy wide receiver one this year. That would not surprise
me at all, just based on what we've seen from
Dave Canals' offense over the last two seasons, the wide
receiver one in his offense just absolutely eats. We've seen
it with Adam Feln be really productive, even with Bryce

(29:06):
Young struggling at times over the last two seasons. So
I bust love this opportunity for Tetro McMillan that went
out drafted him inside the top ten, and you just
look at the average production of a wide receiver drafted
in the top ten of the last four seasons. Eighty
catches over a thousand yards, just shy of six and
a half touchdowns. That's fantasy wide receiver to production. So

(29:28):
that's where you're getting Tetro McMillan. But then you get
all this potential upside based on the talent the fit.
If Bryce Young takes a step forward in year three
as a quarterback and the Carolina Panthers again a defense
is still bad, Like, yes, it can't be worse than
it was last year, But I don't think the Panthers
are in a situation well, oh yeah, we'll just run
the ball in the second half, will be great. I
just think that it's all kind of set up for
Tetro McMillan, who I just think has been undervalued and underspoken,

(29:51):
under talked about in this draft class because he's not
Travis Hunter, because he wasn't taking second Hall, because he
doesn't play the defense. But hey, it's not gonna matter
because against the Jaguar, he's gonna get the face Travishner
who's going to be playing defense, and he's going to
catch touchdown. It's gonna be a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (30:05):
I anybody who's been listening to show this summer has
heard my spiel about Tetero McMillan a lot, So apologies
if you've heard this before, but this time a year,
we get a lot of listeners that weren't listening earlier
in the summer, So I'm going to do it again.
I think he's not as good a player as Milik Neighbors,
but I think the best comp is Melik Neighbors in
terms of where he was going last year and where
he will be going a year from now. This is
the cheapest that Tedro McMillan will be available in fantasy

(30:27):
drafts in his entire career, at least for the next
you know, eight to ten years. Like I feel really
strongly that you know, again, top ten receivers tend to
be really good, especially in the current era. He is
the clear number one in this offense. He's in a offense,
you know, designed by a play caller who can take
advantage of a clear number one. And the other thing
is Bryce Young doesn't need to take a step forward

(30:48):
compared to what he was in the second half of
last year. He just needs to be what he was
in the second half of last year, and that is
more than good enough to support an elite talent, which
I think TEDROA. McMillan is. I think a year from now,
this guy like an early second round pick at worse,
Like I genuinely believe that. I just think he's really,
really good. And the offense, the situation is so good
and the defense is bad, like they're going to need

(31:08):
to throw a lot. So he is one of my
favorite picks you could possibly make. I don't understand why
he's available in round five. I don't understand why his
real time ADP is wide receiver twenty six, like, not
even inside the top twenty four. For me, he's inside
the top twenty, probably inside the top eighteen. Honestly, Like
I want to be aggressive, I want to be over
my skis on Tetro McMillan, because I think he will
work out for it. He is somebody that I want

(31:30):
to come away with every single draft, especially if his
his capital state, you know, his you know cost days
where it is right now? And now, Tom, I know
I keep talking about Ericson's picks. I do really like
your pick here as well.

Speaker 3 (31:42):
Well, I mean I've got to point now Ericson beat
me to the show sheet, and there's definitely a lot
of crossover and players out to chose, including tet Or.
But yeah, Xavier Worvy. I just think that it's all
setting up to be another good season for Xavier Worvy.
Now Rashie Weis is going to serve a suspension at
some point that is TBC, but it's hard to imagine
it's going to be less than what five games at
a bare minimum, and by that point you're talking. It's

(32:07):
been a good run of games where Xavier Worthy has
been able to integrate himself into the offense. We know
down the stretch last year, but he really came along.
He average fifteen point six PPR points from Week eleven,
which was good for wide receiver nineteen across that time.
The one area where you can put sort of like
pull holes in the process. Last year was that he
only had three receptions on passes of twenty plus yards.

(32:31):
Last year, they really try to get that going. He
was targeted on seventeen of them and ranked sixty first
among wide receivers with ten deep targeting catchable target rates,
so Mahomes wasn't able to get him the ball deep downfield.
Mahomes had talked extensively about being better in the deep
game this year. So with a couple of those two
three turn into touchdowns, it's very easy to see Xavier

(32:52):
Worthy paying off like that. It's easy to see him
having a really good run of games where Rashi Rice
is out and he becomes a volume hug. And I
think at this we still see what we get in
a discount based on the fact that we don't know
how many games Rushie Rice is suspended for. So I'd
be very comfortable taking him here, and I'd be comfortable
pushing him even a couple of picks higher among wide receivers.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
Eric said, I want to go to around six. And
this is maybe the name that I've heard you say
on the show that since we have started doing shows together,
most often I think.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
It's Jalen Wattle round six, Jamon Wattle. Every single time
Jonah Smith is gone, Terry Kill may not be on
this roster by the time Week four, Week five rolls
around and Devon ae Chan has already banged up. Like
this is all they got left is Jalen Waddle as
the focal point of this offense. They have no choice
but to feature Jalen Waddle unlike last year where they

(33:45):
just totally forgot about him. So Waddle to me, yes,
I know that last year and even the year before
that just not exactly what we wanted to get from him.
But I just can't forget the first two years that
he did in the NFL, where he was I believe
top ten and then top thirteen three one thousand yard
seasons started his career. He's shown that he can win
in multiple ways, whether it be a ton of volume

(34:06):
as a rookie or high indeficiency years two and three.
So I'm just not willing to write off Jalen Wattle
as this guy's not a talented player. He's twenty six
years old. I think that if we're expecting Tyreek Hill,
which I do, to take a step back or if
the Dolphins decided to move on from him, because clearly
the chemistry with Tua is not there. There's no chemistry
issues with Jalen Wattle in Tua, Like these guys have

(34:27):
been playing together since Alabama. So that's what I'm banking on.
If this defense is horrible, they have a major question
marks in their secondary they're playing in shootouts. I think
Wada is gonna be the main benefactor and I think
that his costs and values is going to increase as
the season goes on. So Jalen Watta for me, uh
this maybe this is my last year backing Jalalen Watta.

Speaker 1 (34:47):
I say, you know you need you're going to go.

Speaker 2 (34:52):
Down with the ship because I've done this before where
I've hopped off the bandwagon too earlier. I was too
early on a player. Courtland Sun comes to mind after
he's had a couple of really great seasons after I
went too aggressive on him earlier in my fantasy analyst career.
So I'm trying to learn from that, and yeah, I'm
not backing off Jalen Wall yet.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
Wattle is a sneaky Kyle Pitts All Star, Like how
many times do you go back to this well and
keep getting you know, burned by it. Well. See, I
do like the pick, Like round six, I think it's
a very good, good pick to me, this is actually
probably the single round where I liked outside of the
early rounds where you like everybody, I think this is
the round where your guys' picks like. I don't know

(35:29):
that I could pick between them. I really like both
of them. I think they're both very very strong and
pretty like dead even in my eyes in terms of
where they should be ranked. So, Tom, you have Calvin
Ridley here, and why do you like him?

Speaker 2 (35:40):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (35:40):
I mean, much like Ericson, Kevin Ridley's been my go
all off season. I think he's just been undervalued compared
away should be. There's only seven teams who have the
wide receiver one drafted later than Calvin Ridley right now,
and I don't think that reflects how good of a
player Calvin Ridley is. Last year, Will Levis absolutely killed
this fantasy value among wide receivers fifty plus targets. Last year,

(36:01):
Kelvin Ridley ranked seventy eighth in catchable target rate. That
was out of eighty five players. Like the ball was
just it was coming his way, but it wasn't particularly useful.
But when he did of the ball, he ranked fifteenth
for mistackles forced, eighth and yards per reception. Camp reports
have been positive about cam Ward or Summer. It looks
like the offensive line is going to be better and Ridley.
He's been over a thousand yards in each of his

(36:23):
last three healthy seasons, including last year with will Levis.
I just can't imagine. But he's not more productive this
year when his main source of competition is Elchaiamna, Tyler
Lockett and Chegozie Macconquo.

Speaker 1 (36:35):
Yeah, like he's still he's why did she for thirty
in real time ADP? By the bay Waddle is why
does she were twenty nine in real time ADP? So
they're back to back of the position. But I'm just
like he should be in the twenties. Like I'd rather
have him than Zay Flowers. I'd rather have him than
James and Williams. I might rather have him than Courtland Sutton.
I'd rather have him the DK metcalf I just like
I don't it should not be in the thirties. His

(36:56):
his ADP of almost.

Speaker 2 (36:58):
People are afraid of the Week one match up and
then they know the sharp plays, don't draft him.

Speaker 1 (37:03):
Trade for him after week one. Yeah, sure he will
be a value this season, assuming health. Like I'm extremely
confident on that weekly draft. Fantasy football is here. Welcome
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only available in select states. Visit draft battle dot com
for details. All right, let's go to round seven here, Erickson,
another good pick by you. Ricky Piersaal talk us through it.

Speaker 2 (38:20):
Yeah, San Francisco, forty nine Ers. I think he's going
to be the number one wide receiver on this team,
at least out of the gates. But showed out at
the end of last year week seventeen and eighteen, and
this forty nine Ers team just needs wide receiver bodies
out there. Everybody is banged up. Branda Yuk is not
going to return till at least week six when o
Juwan Jennings is dealing with a calf and contract injury dispute.

(38:42):
Deebo Samuel is no longer on the roster now on
the Commanders, So Ricky Piersaal again, we see a lot
of receivers take a step going from year one to
year two. And I can't get it out of my mind.
Where in twenty twenty three, the talk of forty nine
Ers training camp was brand Nayuk. Oh my god, Brandon Yuke,
he's gonna break out, He's gonna smash. That's exactly what
he did. He was an absolute monster. And this year
the talk of training camp out for the forty nine

(39:03):
ers has been Ricky Piersaw. So the fact that he's
actually had a full off season where he's not recovering
from a gunshot wound. He's not a rookie anymore. He's
more familiar with Rock Purty actually getting reps with his quarterback.
I think that matters so much. And why I like
buying into Pearsaw here in round seven is I don't
have any concerns about his quarterback. I know Brock Purty
can support offensive receivers in this Kyle Shanahan's scheme. I

(39:27):
have no issues with that. So getting someone that's attached
to Rock Purty in round seven is a former first
round pick from just one season ago. I think Rickey
Piersaw is just one of the easiest clicks that you
can make ericson.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
We did the segment on Fantasy Fest, which if anybody
miss they should go and check out. It's still available
on YouTube. You can go rewatch, you know, pick and
choose whichever segments you want out of this. Several hours
we were streaming, we did a segment with Andy Barns
and he picked Pearsaw as his favorite wide receiver breakout.
I think he said he had him correct me if
I'm misremembering inside his top twenty four receivers. Isn't that
what he said?

Speaker 2 (39:59):
Yeah, he had very aggressive. Yeah, I think that he
was in the conversation of do I want Dj Moore
and I want Ricky Arsa. So that's where he was
at with Pearsall just But I mean, if he is
the forty Niners and wide receiver one goes out leak
one sees ten targets, he's gonna be ranked. I mean,
it's the top twenty.

Speaker 1 (40:16):
It's like Calvin Ridley where it's like the ADP is
just rot like he's just flat out wrong. He's wide
receiver thirty five in real time ADP going in the eighties,
and it's jumped up a lot. He's moved up fourteen
spots in the overall ADP inside the last week. But
that's not high enough.

Speaker 3 (40:29):
Tom No, It's not like last year was so abbreviated
for him because of the gunshot and all of that
went into it, and obviously the Nineers just weren't particularly
great last year. But in the nine games he played,
he had twenty eight receptions for three hundred and seventy
six yards. If he'd held that pace across the entire season,
he'd have pushed Marvin Harrison for the fourth most receiving

(40:50):
yards among rookies. He was on track for a good season.
It just, you know, didn't work out. And I think that, yes,
you can point holes slightly and say maybe he didn't
earn targets at as higher level as we might have
liked to cross some of the games early on. But look,
I'm not gonna pull holes in anything to do with
Vicky Pearsall. He was a former round one pick for

(41:11):
the Niners and they've been pretty good at drafting wide receivers.

Speaker 1 (41:16):
Who's your guy in this round? And would you have
considered Piersol here if he wasn't already taken by Ericson?

Speaker 3 (41:20):
Yeah, I mean it's probably not. It's not an easy
one for me, But I like both Piersol and Juan Jennings,
So if I can leave drafts with either of those,
I tend to be happy. But I don't have a
massive lean to one or the other. My guy is
Jalen Warren. I'll be twenty nine in real time ADP
and somebody that spent a lot of time talking about
last year, and I've been surprised at how many people

(41:41):
were on board of Jalen Warren expressed last year and
have completely jumped off and it's slowly starting to take
hold again now. But look, Najie Harris average three hundred
and nineteen carries per year in his time in Pittsburgh.
Last year he had two hundred and fifty. Now, Jalen
Warren's never had more than one hundred and fifty, but
he said this offseason that he focused on training differently

(42:02):
to be ready for more carries. We know that Caleb
Johnson is doing awful in past protection, so it seems
like there's a chance for Jalen Warren to really not
necessarily become a bell cow or VRB one consistently for
the entire season. But if he's able to average more
touches per game, then we know that he can be explosive.

(42:23):
We know he can be fantasy relevant. He's averaged fifty
one receptions per year in his three years in the NFL.
Now breshold just at fifty seven with Aaron Rodgers last year.
Aaron Jones in Rogers last healthy season in Green Bay
had fifty nine, So I think he's going to be
bolstered by receptions, and I just think when you're talking
about a player this late in the draft, it's very
easy to buy into what Jalen Warren brings.

Speaker 1 (42:45):
Ericson what do you think about Warren in round seven?

Speaker 2 (42:48):
I think it's fair value there. I think that he's
a bet on early season production while Caleb Johnson gets
up to speed. But I'm just I'm in love with
the Caleb Johnson fit and Arthur Smiths offense, so I'm
not as concerned about pass protection in the long term
because they didn't draft him to go out there on
pass pro and catch pass out of the backfield. They
drafted him so he could be the hammer in the
second half to win games ten to seven or seventeen

(43:11):
to ten in the AFC North Like that's why they
drafted Caleb Johnson. So I agree that Jalen Warren probably
goes too late based on all value Keen offer, especially
in full PPR where he's going to catch passes from
Aaron Rodgers. And when I draft Cale Johnson, I'm looking
at Jalen Warren too, because I can acknowledge I may
not be able to start Cale Johnson out of the gates,
and I might have to rely on Warren until Caleb
Johnson gets caught up to speed. But I still think

(43:33):
that the upside play for the rest of the season
is Caleb Johnson. But I do see Warren as a
value where he goes.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
It's interesting to me that there are only two spots
apart in real time ADP at the position, but they're
fourteen spotches fourteen and a half spots apart in terms
of the overall real time ADP. So even though they're
very close amongst the RB rankings, people are taking Caleb Johnson,
you know, around ish around plus earlier than Jalen Warren,
despite you know, the level of uncertain there. Let's go

(44:01):
to round eight. Eric. This is another round where I
love both your picks. By the way, I want more
disagreement here, but you guys made good picks and it's
it's bothering me.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
Sorry, did you want to come on here and make
These are all my best picks that are actually wanted.

Speaker 1 (44:13):
I wanted your hottest takes that were terrible.

Speaker 2 (44:15):
I just like spoiler for next week. Next week is
gonna be the worst picks of every round.

Speaker 1 (44:20):
Yeah, yeah, next week it's the first take episode where
we just make stupid arguments.

Speaker 3 (44:27):
We talked about highest exposed pas.

Speaker 2 (44:29):
Oh yeah, that'll that'll be fun. What do we regret
before the season even started? You're my exposures. So for
for me, Round and I think too, just to be transparent,
I think with Round, I think this is where you
can start to reach a little bit and just get
your guys. It's kind of this is where the beginning
of my guys list kind of starts. And that's going
to be With Jordan Mason running back for the Minnesota Vikings,

(44:51):
I think that I've been on the Mason train. I
think ever since he landed in Minnesota, I just always assume, like, yeah,
he's going to have a big role in this offense.
He's going to be the early down grinder. He's going
to see red zone opportunities. And I think the Vikings
showed what they did in the offseason by improving the
interior offensive line. They want to play a little bit
more bully ball with a younger, more inexperienced quarterback. Let

(45:12):
JJ McCarthy get accustomed to the offense. Let him come
back from the injury a little bit slowly. Don't have
him don't put everything on his shoulders right away and
have to drop back to throw forty five times per game.
You have two talented running backs there. I don't think
that Aaron Jones is dust by any means, but in
terms of offering a lot of value from a touchdown perspective,
especially in half PPR, George Mason's going to have some

(45:32):
big weeks behind this Vikings offensive line. So for me,
he's an auto pick. Every time I'm drafting, I'm always
looking for late round running backs, and Jeordan Mason's usually
the first guy that I'm looking for.

Speaker 1 (45:43):
I really like I said, I like this one a lot.
He feels like like he's obviously way more than a
handcuff you think of as like a backup like Bears
a world where he's just flat out more productive than
Aaron Jones. And in a world where Aaron Jones gets
hurt or anything, he becomes like a weekly top ten
running back. So I really really like this pick, strongly
favor of it. Nothing to add here, Tommy. You can

(46:04):
add to it if you want, or you can go
to your player.

Speaker 3 (46:06):
Yeah, I mean for Smiths tackles at the sixth highest
rate among running backs last year, and he was also
really good on zone concept runs, some of which the
Vikings do a lot of. So it's an easy pick
for me. And look, another easy pick for me in
this range was a mecareg Booker, somebody I'd be willing
to pull ahead of this I half expected. I refreshed
the real time ADP just before we came on, and
you'd only moved from wide receiver thirty seven to wide

(46:27):
receiver thirty six. I will be pulling a Macro reg
Booker much higher than that, So if you're in my
home league, please do not listen to this. But like,
it's just a reminder of not sweat landing spot A
year after year we get to the draft and people like, oh,
I loved that player, but now I can't draft him
because I don't feel good about this. But now we're
sure of a good clean run for a Macro reg
Booker at a start this season, Jaylen McMillan, sadly heading

(46:49):
to I r DU at sprain neck could be out
as long as like week ten or so. Some reporters
saying Chris Godwin that injury is nasty that he had
last year dislocated and fractured ankle, but not putting a
on ir at start this season, but he's unlikely a
practice even until Week two. And now we're talking about
an incredibly talented wide receiver who has the potential to

(47:09):
go in and be the slot receiver from day one,
playing on a team which we know campastable well with
Baker Mayfield, Like this one just seems really easy, and
I would definitely be willing to put in, Like I
moved him up to my wide receiver thirty yesterday, so
I'd take him six spots ahead of this.

Speaker 1 (47:25):
Yeah, you know, Guka is really interesting, eric Son. I'm
curious where you have him ranked because I feel like,
like being in the mid thirties, there are so many
just talented receivers in football that it's hard for me
to say, like these are the names that he should
be moving ahead of specifically, But I just feel like
he should be moving up like ten spots on like, like
it would not shock me in the slightest given what's

(47:45):
going on in that receiver room. If he's a top
twenty four receiver this year, I'm not going to rank
him that way because I don't know who I would
move down, because again, there's a lot of good options,
but I just really think that is in his range
of outcomes. And it's a great point by Tom about
not sweating, you know, the landing spots and everything. This
is a player we all really liked. He got middle
to first round draft capital. Like even setting aside landing spot,

(48:07):
that's a great news for somebody like him. He's somebody
that everybody's really confident is just a capable going to
be a very good NFL receiver for a long time.
He gets a gunslinger and Baker like, this is an
offense that is stow on the ball. I mean, it's
a new play car. So we'll see. But there's just
a lot to really like here. And what I'm really
curious about Erickson. The real time ADP is where it

(48:27):
is right now. I'm curious what it's going to look
like after this weekend because this is their second to
last weekend of drafts. We have even more news you
know about Jalen McMillan and Chris Godwin. So it started
to move a bit already. It jumps up about nine
spots in the last week. I think this weekend this
might jump up even more. Maybe not amongst the receiver
ranking but the overall ranking, I think it will.

Speaker 2 (48:48):
I think he's gonna move up both categories. I think
that he's, you know, someone that someone was asking me about,
and I think that was a decision me and Tom
had to make, was Puresol versus ag Buka on the
DraftKings Best Ball Draft we did a couple of days ago,
and now this was before we got more information about
McMillan and Chris Godwin and they're not going to be
there definitely for the first month. We know McMillan's gonna

(49:08):
miss at least half of the season, so at the
time it was already kind of close. But now is
like Muka now going ahead of Pearsall in round seven.
I mean, if you want, if I saw him go
ahead of jay Len Watto, am I like surprised by that?
I don't think so. I mean, right now they're both
number two wide receivers for Week one on their respective teams.
I think that the Pearsol comparison is the best because

(49:29):
they're both going to have to fend off guys coming
back from injuries at a later point down the year.
So where at Buka was at first to bet on Okay,
he's going to be more productive in the second half
of the season. Evan's God, when these guys are older,
they get banged up and now it's okay, Well he
needs to hit right away or else we're now more
concerned about we now Chris Gobin's coming back and Buka
still has it fired yet like we thought he would.

(49:51):
Now are we getting concerned about him? And the same
day with Pearsall at Pearsol has to fire right away
because I don't think it's sssily going to get easier
for him if Jennings is back now oh and now
brand now you can back in the life. They're trying
to get him back and going. So it's kind of
weird because it's kind of flipped. Its flipped on its
head a little bit in terms of we like rookie
receivers to produce in the second half of seasons, but
Buka now has the path to produce right away and

(50:11):
is he ready for it? But I mean, with all
the training camp reports, his profile, it seems like he's
going to probably hit the ground running the.

Speaker 1 (50:18):
Names immediately ahead of him besides Pearsall, who is the
one spot ahead of him in real time adp Roma Dunsay,
Chris olave Rashi, Rice, Travis Hunter. I would take a
Buka over all four of those guys right.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
Now, that's what it seems like a pretty clean sweep.

Speaker 1 (50:30):
Yeah, I might even Again, we always talk about me
fading Za Flowers, and I might take I would probably
take a Buko over Flowers, honestly. I just think the
ceiling's higher, and I think they both have similar floors, honestly,
Like I just think Buka's is really good and you
don't have to take him that early. Although again, I
want to see what the real ADP does and everybody
should be checking that out after this weekend if you
have a draft the following weekend, to kind of see

(50:51):
what it looks like updated. But I think he's a
screaming value right now. Let's go to round nine ericson
who do you have for us?

Speaker 2 (50:59):
My favorite late round time end, Tucker Craft. I think
that he could be a top five Titan when we're
drafting next year. He's a yards up to the Catster Monster,
and a lot of the package receivers are banged up.
I think that he could step up and be the
alpha in this Packers passing game. And I think that
Tucker Craft. I think Jordan Love overall is just being
underrated as a quarterback that can fuel fantasy success. I

(51:19):
mean two years ago in twenty twenty three, in his
first year as a starter, he threw for over thirty
touchdowns and forty two hundred passing yards. If he's healthy,
look out for Tucker Craft. Look out for this packers
passing offense.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
Seriously, there are only two tight ends within a thirty
five pick range in real time ADP. In this range
that Craft is in its Kraft and Tyler Warren. If
I don't get one of the elite tight ends this year,
which is kind of my preference, and then maybe I
take like I do think Andrews is a little undervalued.
But if I'm not getting one of those guys I'm

(51:51):
really sure about when one of Kraft Warren goes, I'm
taking the other. Like I think they are both really
excellent picks.

Speaker 2 (51:58):
Tucker Craft's the only reason I don't have more talent one.

Speaker 1 (52:01):
Yeah, they go four spots apart in real time ADP.
Warrens moved up a lot to kind of catch up there,
but again, like in Djoko, is way ahead of Craft
in real time ADP Ferguson is way behind Warren. Like
these two are kind of back to back in their
own little little pocket. If one of them goes, I'm
just immediately taking the other if I don't have an
elite tight end already. So I really like that one. Tom.

(52:21):
I know that you really like Craft. We're going to
get to Ayu like him later. Who is your picking?
Round nine?

Speaker 3 (52:26):
Yeah, it's just in Fields and like, look, I'm not
sure he's ever cracked the mental side of the game
in the same way that guys who took a leak
like Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts have as they've developed.
But then he's not had the stability that they've had.
This is for a different team now. Last year it
felt like he was really done dirty by the Steelers,
like they were playing to an okay standard. But just

(52:47):
see Mike Tommlin being Mike Tommlin. We know how incredibly
headstrong he can be when he's made up his mind.
He had it in his head he wanted Russell Wilson
be the star. So Russell Wilson was the star. Now
in those six games, but Field's played, he averaged thirty
eight Russian yards, he havingges fifty points two across his
career since the Detroit lines by Week in twenty twenty two,

(53:07):
they've allowed a player to reach one hundred plus rushing
yards against him just six times in forty six games,
and three of those six games were just In Fields
and Aaron Glenn was the defensive coordinator for all of
those games. Now, obviously the camp reports haven't been great,
the stuff in the preseason hasn't been great, But we
don't really need Justin Fields to be great like that,

(53:28):
because in twenty twenty two he completed twelve point eight
passes per game for Bears and he was still QB
five in points per game. So yeah, I think that
at this point, if you're looking for a massive upside
swing at quarterback, Justin Fields, it's hard to go past him.

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(55:48):
Round ten ericson who do you have?

Speaker 2 (55:51):
The only reason I'm not hired on Justin Fields is
because i want Drake May. That's who I want as
my quarterback in round ten. I think that he is
the elite combination of what you're looking for in a
late run quarterback. He offers the rushing upside thirty rushing
yards per game last season, and I think that he
has a higher ceiling as a passer than Justin Fields does. Again,
what we saw last year. He threw one touchdown pass

(56:13):
in every single game that he fully completed last season,
and he was in a garbage situation. Now. It's not
a great in terms of relative to other NFL teams,
but compared to the twenty twenty four in England Patriots, Oh,
it's night and day difference for Drake may So throwing
the ball to Efton Chisholm Stefan Diggs. How can you
not be obsessed with Drake May as the best late

(56:35):
run quarterback you can draft? And I think that gives
me so much confidence in Drake may is Week one,
Week two Raiders Dolphins, two matchups that I feel confident
that he can win in So you're feeling good about
not just drafting Drake May late, but also plugging him
into your Week one lineup.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
I believe we agreed it's Efton Hissm, not Chisholm, So
please get that right. Show some respect for our breakout
favorite of the summer. But yeah, Drike makes QB fifteen.
That's like crept up a bit throughout the offseason. He
is my favorite late late round QB. Like, yeah, we've
talked a ton about him. Eric, say, Tom, where does
May rank for you amongst the late round QB options?

(57:13):
Because there is a lot of depth here. You already
already mentioned fields in the previous round. Caleb Williams, c
J Stroud, Jordan Love, JJ McCarthy, Trevor Law, It's Michael Penix, Junior,
Bryce Young all I think really reasonable values. We are
all going after May. So there's a lot of good
names here, but May is my favorite. Like, if I
had to pick one guy outside the top ten to
finish as QB one overall this season, I'm not saying

(57:33):
I would bet on it, but he would be my pick.

Speaker 3 (57:36):
Yeah, there's two paths to consistently be in a top
end quarterback in fantasy, it's either passing for two point
seven touchdowns and average in like two hundred and forty
passing yards or more, or it's rushing for about thirty
five rushing yards per game. Like consistently, you go back
over years and you look at the majority of the
players who make up the weekly high scorers or the

(57:58):
guys at the end of the season, and they come
down to one of those factors by a rate of
about sixty percent. And Drake Maye is going to give
us the rushing yards. He's got significant upgrades as pass
catcher this year. And yeah, it's very hard for me
not to click drag mate if I don't have a
caught back by the time I get to him.

Speaker 1 (58:15):
Tom, who is your pick in round ten?

Speaker 3 (58:17):
It's Zach Charboney, So you know I kept my bit
my tongue earlier while Andrew was singing Kenneth Walker's praise.
But like Charbone at cost RB thirty five four games
last year where he touched fall fifteen or more times.
In three of those he finished as top eight running
back if that included scores of eighteen points, twenty five
and thirty eight points, Like, he is a really good player,
and it's just one of those situations like taller LGA

(58:39):
where you just get stuck behind perhaps just a slightly
bed or running back or a much better running back
in case of Algier, but he ranked twelve yards b
target among running backs into fourth highest catch ray as well,
and I think that's something that Sam Donald's gonna love.
Like Sam Donald gave Aaron Jones fifty nine targets last year,
and I think he's going to be checking down to
Charboney plenty. And we know the continuent upside with Shabney

(59:02):
is about as high as any backup running back in
the league.

Speaker 1 (59:06):
We're into our rounds eleven to fifteen, this is going
to be more rapid fire, and I think because we're
running along, what I actually want to do is have
you guys do these guys as a group for each
of your picks here. The exception is because I think
we do need to talk about Ericson's first pick here,
just given what has been going on in the last
week in terms of the helium this guy has in
the space. I'll pull up his real time ADP to

(59:26):
see what it is right now. But Ericson, who is
your picking round eleven and then we'll speed through all
the others.

Speaker 2 (59:31):
Bill krossky Merritt running back for the Washington Commanders. So
maybe you've heard of him.

Speaker 1 (59:37):
I don't know, maybe you've seen a highlight here or there,
some tweets about him. He's RB forty one in real
time ADP that has jumped up in the last week
twenty seven spots, so there's still more to go. I
don't think he's going to end there, but it's obviously
moved up a ton already.

Speaker 2 (59:52):
Yeah. I just think that the play on him, I
think the upside case frame is pretty clear. Just he
could take over that Brian Robinson role, but maybe get
a little bit more and be the more explosive version,
which is why the Commanders think that Brian Robinson is expendable.
And right now he's still on the Commanders, but all
indications are if he's not traded, he's getting cut from
this team. So somebody in this commander's backfield showed out

(01:00:12):
enough during training camp in all indications where it was
Bill that was doing it, that made the team look
and see Brian Robinson and say we don't need this
guy on the team. And Brian Robinson again We talked
about him throughout the offseason. He's an average running back.
He's not terrible, but he's an average running back. And
they saw something in Bill where this guy can be
more than average, and I want to buy into that upside. Again,

(01:00:33):
there's obviously risk involved, but as long as you're not
drafting him in round five or getting out of control,
I think that round eight is probably the most aggressive.
I would push him up because that's kind of where
Brian Robinson was going, and if he is in that role,
then I think he can pay off that round eight
ADP while working in tandem with an Austin Eckler. So
I think it's a matter of just trying to play
the ADP game with Jacroy krossky Merit. Try to get

(01:00:55):
him on your roster, find out where he is going
using the real time ADP. This is why this app
was made, like why this tool exists so that you
can have an edge and understand where crossky Merrit is
being valued to your specific platform, trying to figure out, Okay,
when can I pull the trigger on him and don't
feel like I'm over extending. So I don't know if
round eighty is too rich for you. Guys. I feel
like that's probably where I was from up the most.

Speaker 1 (01:01:16):
But I was going to ask Tom, what's the right round?

Speaker 2 (01:01:18):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:01:18):
Well, So, like I said, I had Matthew Berry on
with me yesterday, and being a commander's fan of the
first thing I had to ask him was about Bill
and he said that the feel he gets from sources
he knows when the team and we all know that
Matthew Berry knows a lot of people around the league
is that they really love Chris Rodvegas as well, and
that they're gonna really be okay if this is a

(01:01:39):
three headed committee. So I think that Chris Rodriguez later
in drafts in deeper leagues is definitely worth it. But
I'd absolutely be fine taking Crossky Merriort in this kind
of range, and I have taken him in a bunch
of drafts over the last few days in this kind
of like round eleven to twelve range.

Speaker 1 (01:01:57):
Art ericson speed through your rounds twelve through fifteen that
you're interested in.

Speaker 2 (01:02:01):
Yeah, So, round twelve is Bishal toot And running back
for the Jaguars. Round thirteen is Bringlan Allen running back
for the New York Jets. Round fourteen Marvin Mims wide
receiver for the Denver Broncos with a full time role.
Now Devon Bailey's season is over, Martin Mims is about
to take over the world and round fifteen my bet
on a fifth year wide receiver breakout the annual tradition

(01:02:22):
like no other. Josh Palmer wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills.

Speaker 1 (01:02:26):
Tom running through your rounds eleven through fifteen.

Speaker 3 (01:02:29):
Yes, Colston Loveland, Austin Eckler, then Tyler L. G. Cam
Ward and I've a missed one'm one Dale.

Speaker 1 (01:02:36):
Robinson this month. If you want a chance to win
a signed AJ Brown Eagles Salute to Service helmet for
free courtesy of our friends at Pristineauction dot com, all
you to do is subscribe to the Fantasy Pros YouTube
channel right now, drop a comment below on any video,
and that is it. We will be announcing a winner
right here on the channel, so make sure to turn
on those notifications so you can know when new videos

(01:02:57):
are up and to claim your prize. Guys, last question here,
if you could leave with one player from every single
draft at cost you know routs to where they're going,
who would it be? Tom. I'll let you go first,
because Erickson stole this guy from you in the main
part of the show.

Speaker 3 (01:03:14):
Yeah, and it's a good job. We've drafted him a
whole boat load on our Best Ball drafts every Monday,
four pm Eastern on Twitch. Took a Craft like just
such a good player, and I can't understand why he's
going outside of the top twelve tight ends. Like he
was a leading yard after the catch last year he
had nine point three eight. No other tight end had
more than seven. He also got there in touchdowns with seven.

(01:03:35):
The only guys who had more touchdowns than him with
George Kittle who had eight, and Mark Andrews said ten.
He's shown us everything we need to see. And I
think if the Packers lean more pass heavy, which feels
like some of they want to do. Now we've added
Matthew Golden, their first round one wide receiver in twenty
plus years, then took a Craft is absolutely going to
benefit as well.

Speaker 1 (01:03:54):
Ericson Obviously you like Craft a lot because you picked
them there, But who was your number one player you
want to leave every draft with.

Speaker 2 (01:04:00):
Still one from Tom kind of just picked m Chase.
He did no, no, no, no, because you only get
Jamar Chase out the one on one and one out
of twelve chance. So for me, it's obvious drake Man,
straff track mane Guys, fans, football doesn't have to be
hard Straff trick man.

Speaker 1 (01:04:14):
I know we're talking about this from a snake draft
perspective and you're making a joke about Chase. Would it
be somebody like Chase if the if this was a
salary cap draft where like you can choose to spend
your I mean, it's a lot of money to spend
of your draft budget. But would it be somebody like Chase,
like I just want to get the best player in
fantasy or would it still be like I'd rather get
like a two dollars drink may or something.

Speaker 2 (01:04:35):
I'd still just want Jamar Chase. I just think that
he has he has the situation where, yes, we don't
see a lot of wide receiver ones repeat, but I
mean his situation is a lot of that's because there's
always things that are changing, right like quarterback injuries and
off it's a coordinator changes and head coaches. But there's
nothing different about the Bengals than last year, except their
defense might be worse.

Speaker 1 (01:04:56):
Like that's the thing.

Speaker 2 (01:04:57):
The defense might be worse. So h yeah, just continue
to draft Jamar Chase and just be happy. There we go.

Speaker 1 (01:05:05):
When you're on the clock, these decisions come fast. Draft
Assistant connects directly to your draft and provides both real
time pick suggestions and estimations on which players might get
taken before your next pick. Draft Assistant fully integrates your
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(01:05:25):
dot com slash Assistant or on the Fantasy Football Draft
Wizard app. Try it for free during your draft by
claiming your three day trial at Fantasy Pros Premium at
Fantasypros dot Com slash Premium. Guys, we got through a
whole lot of names. I didn't count them all, but
it was a bunch of them on that episode. Thanks
everybody for tuning in. No, it would have been like
thirty Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:05:45):
We copied names, thirty one.

Speaker 1 (01:05:48):
We also definitely named. We threw out other names, like
in the process of discussing it, like who we would
take these guys over, Like Zay Flowers wasn't picked, but
we mentioned him a couple of times, so it was
a lot.

Speaker 2 (01:05:57):
Two Ravens fans. Of course we're gonna talk about day flowers.

Speaker 1 (01:06:00):
It was. It was a lot of names. Shouts to this,
shouts to be.

Speaker 2 (01:06:04):
Talking about flowers even though no one's.

Speaker 1 (01:06:06):
Targeting, including us. All go ahead and get out of
here on that four time and Eric Sai thanks everybody
for tuning in. We'll see you again next time. Thanks
for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football podcast. If
you love the show, the best freeway to support us
is by leaving a positive review on Apple podcasts at
Fantasypros dot com, slash review or on Spotify. Follow us

(01:06:28):
on x, Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy Pros, and subscribe
to our YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash Fantasy
Pros

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FantasyPros - Must-Have Fantasy Football Draft Targets | Expert Picks For EVERY ROUND! (Ep. 1663)

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}FantasyPros - Must-Have Fantasy Football Draft Targets | Expert Picks For EVERY ROUND! (Ep. 1663)