Fitz's FAVORITE Fantasy Football Picks in Every Round: Jonathan Taylor vs. Jahmyr Gibbs (Ep. 1324)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, everybody, Welcome into the Fantasy Pros Football podcast. I'm
Ryan Warmley, joined today by Pat fitz Morris and by
a rare analyst on the shows that I host, Joey
p Joe. We don't do a lot of shows together
because typically we're one of us in the host chair,
So got of fun to have you on as a
guest here today. I appreciate you coming on.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Usually I don't see you two week twelve when all
the trade deadlines have ended and then I get to
spend some quality time with the Worm. But I just
want to say what a tremendous job that you're doing
on the show. Has been watching them, and just I
think we're all grateful, especially me that you're here doing more,
because that's a couple less ad reads for me to
do now and again. But I'll be over on VP

(00:39):
every single day. I'll still be here on Fantasy Pros.
But shout out to Worm, who's been holding it down
here with all the fantasy stuff, with all the Dynasty stuff,
and he's tweeting too and making tiktoks. It's a lot
of work Ryan does around these parts.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
If only the YouTube commentors agree that that's all I could.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Everybody knows I'm the worst, You're the worst, Everyone's the worst.
But you know what, they keep watching, So someone's doing something.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Right for some reason they keep watching. Well, maybe one
of the big reasons they keep watching is Fits who
is the star of today's episode? Because, Fitz, we were
talking about your top targets in every round of twenty
twenty four drafts. We have done similar episodes for ericson
for Debro. I think we did some Umi he fits
in bogging to myself on the Dynasty side as well.
We're not doing this for your top targets in redraft.

(01:24):
How are you feeling coming into this episode?

Speaker 3 (01:26):
Yeah, I have some reservations with Joe here.

Speaker 4 (01:28):
I mean, I feel like I'm cooking up this multi
course dinner, you know, back in the kitchen, sweating away
taking putting micro greens on all the plates with tweezers,
and then Joe gets to sit back and dine and
you know, complain that this is underseasoned and that's overcooked,
and like probably it's going to write a scathing review

(01:49):
at the end.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
So I'm old Gordon Ramsey on you today, Fitz.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
Yeah, I'm not. I'm not gonna lie I'm feeling a little.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
It sounds like Joe's actually the one with reservations to
your dinner or.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
See, that's why you're in that share right now, buddy, exactly.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
All right, old Jeff in here, We're gonna go through
round sixteen. We'll probably a little quicker on the back end,
just because those are more really personal preference by the
time you get to the later rounds and just kind
of you know, taking flyers on guys throwing darts. The
early rounds are where you can really make or break
your season. Just a quick reminder for everyone. All of
our twenty twenty four consensus rankings and tiers can be
found at fantasypros dot com slash rankings. Also a quick

(02:24):
reminder to get ready for the ultimate fantasy football showdown
with the fifth annual Fantasy Pros Fantasy Fest. Join us
live on our YouTube channel Monday, August nineteenth, starting at
three pm Eastern or twelve pm Pacific for a five
hour fantasy football extravaganza like no other. I've got a
star studded lineup of familiar faces and the best fantasy

(02:44):
experts from all around the industry coming together to bring
you the latest and greatest insights to help you dominate
your draft. We've got player rankings, breakouts, sleepers, busts, so
much more with Jake Seely, Jamie Eisenberg, Scott Pianowski and others.
But here's the best part. You can be part of
the action, join the live conversation and ask your burning questions.
If you can't make it live, no worries. You can

(03:05):
catch all the excitement later on your own time. But
trust us, you won't want to miss the live show,
So mark your calendars and set those reminders because the
Fantasy Pros Fantasy Fest is happening exclusively on our YouTube channel.
All right, let's start off with the early round targets.
Fits right at the top with round one. Who is
your favorite target?

Speaker 3 (03:23):
It's Jonathan Taylor.

Speaker 4 (03:25):
And let's start with the premise that I think the
most important league setting you have when you're mapping out
your draft strategy is not scoring system, whether it's PPR standard.
I think it's the number of receivers you have to
start every week. Like, if you start two receivers every week,
it becomes much easier to fill your wide receiver position

(03:47):
in a satisfactory way. So I think it really pays
to pay close attention to running backs in the early rounds. Meanwhile,
if you have to start three wide receivers a week,
I really think you should be hammering the wide receiver
position in the early rounds and maybe going with a
hero running back strategy where you take one workhorse or

(04:07):
kind of you know, top twelve fifteen heavy duty guy
who is going to be the anchor and then you
can sort of cut corners at RRB two spot. Now,
I still do want that one hero running back, and
there are only four running backs I feel with the
combination of elite talent and a workhorse role, and that's
Christian McCaffrey, Brees Hall, Bijon Robinson, and Jonathan Taylor, who

(04:30):
is always the fourth of those guys drafted and sometimes
he goes after Jamiir Gibbs. But I'm pretty excited about
Taylor this year. I think he can get back to
where he was in twenty twenty one when he had
eighteen hundred rushing yards and twenty total touchdowns. And I
think a big key to that is going to be
him playing with Anthony Richardson, whose rushing ability really is

(04:53):
going to open up things for Taylor when they go to,
you know, run pass option stuff in Shann Steichen's off
and by the way, Shane Steichen likes to push the
pace on offense, which we like. But you know, we've
talked about this on the Dynasty show a lot, worman
maybe on this show too. Going back to that Robert
Griffin rookie year where Alfred Morris had the crazy season

(05:15):
that was really opened up by the rushing ability of
Robert Griffin because linebackers it's hard to commit to a
running back when he puts that ball in your bread
basket and you don't know whether it's actually going to
be a handoff or if he's going to spin out
and take off around end. So I think that could
benefit Taylor. And he's just really good, which we saw
a couple of years ago. Last couple of years he's

(05:37):
dealt with injuries. But I feel really confident taking him
late in the first round. And if I do take
him in a league where you have to start three
wide receivers, then I'm just probably going to take like
receivers with my next three rounds and probably four of
my next five.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
Joe one round in fits has exclusively picked Wisconsin Badgers,
just playing out What do you make it?

Speaker 3 (06:00):
Taylor?

Speaker 2 (06:00):
This year, Fitz, I want you to touch this scout up
because it's raw, it's roll, sent it back, It's terrible.
No look, man, Jonathan Taylor is a very talented player,
but continuing to chase the numbers from twenty twenty one
are complete folly. Eighteen hundred rushing yards and eighteen touchdowns.
It's never going to be like that again for a
few reasons. Number one, the reason was like that in
the first place is because Carson Wentz was playing quarterback back. Then. Okay,

(06:24):
people forget that Jonathan Tywer was the offense because they
had no choice. Now they have a lot of different
choices here, and Anthony Richardson is a quarterback that's not
only going to take away from some of those rushing
opportunities at certain points because of what he can do
in some of those circumstances, He's going to take away
from what Jonathan Taylor can do in the passing game too,
because in some of those situations where a third and long,
he might just break off and go for a big run.

(06:45):
Anthony Ridgardson. Next thing, you know, you know, no third
and twelve is safe when you have Anthony Richardson as
a quarterback, he's also going to take away some of
those rushing touchdowns away from him. So what he did
a couple of years ago was glorious, but what he's
done since has been a far cry. And I think
when you talk about the it's not that he can't
be a three down back, it's not that he's a
good fantasy investment. He's just not a good fantasy investment

(07:06):
at this ADP in my opinion, because it's a different coach,
different system, different offense, and you have a rushing quarterback
that we all know and we've seen it a million times.
Typically those guys do cut into what great fantasy backs
can do because they take away from it, whether it
be the touchdowns, whether it be the yardage totals, And
it's just a different system, a different situation that you're in.

(07:28):
So chasing the old Jonathan Taylor of a couple of
years ago is just not good. And on top of it,
when you look at the number of injuries this guy
has had in the last two years, I don't know
why you'd want to start a fantasy team with him
when at the turn you could look at guys like
Jamior Gibbs, who I get it has a little bit
of issue right now, but look at what he did
last year with nothing basically in the first six weeks
of the season, he still had an incredible rushing year.

(07:51):
He still had ten rushing touchdowns. If I'm going to
take a running back there at the turn, I'm gonna
take the guy who's a little younger, and I'm gonna
take the guy in the Lions offense. I believe in
who's got room to improve instead of a guy where
I'm worried about what his floor is based on the
last two years and fits.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
You're not even waiting for the turn to get Taylor right,
You're taking kind of after that elite five receivers, elite
three running backs. You know again because you mentioned him
as one of those four kind of workhorse running backs.
He is behind those other guys. You just like him
in that like nine or ten range.

Speaker 4 (08:19):
Even youd a two running start two wide receiver league.
I'm willing to take him almost towards the middle, like
seven eights or whatever to start three wide receiver league,
more like eleven or twelve.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
But Joe, I would absolutely.

Speaker 4 (08:35):
Make you a wager on who scores more fantasy points
between Jonathan Taylor and Jamior Gibbs, who I think averaged
what like fourteen touches a game in games that David
Montgomery played last season after Montgomery came back from the rip,
Like I think the touch out look for Taylor, it's
like five to six more touches a game than Gibbs,
if not more.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
Look, I think running back is just not where I
like to start my teams anyway. And this is great
because you are somebody's so comfortable that I know Boggses,
I know Welsh's for me. I'm give me aj Brown,
give me Marvin Harrison Junior, give me those big time
wide receivers, and I feel much more comfortable with the
Garrett Wilsons of the world to start my fantasy team

(09:15):
that with a running back, because I think there's value
as you get later on. But philosophically, I think there's
a great discussion to let the people decide.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
Well, if Fits is building his teams based off of
his earlier round targets, then it will definitely be hero
RB because I think your next like five rounds are
all receivers.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
Fits.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
So yeah, there are quite a few coming up here.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah, let's get into that round two receiver here. Who's
your favorite guy in this spot?

Speaker 3 (09:35):
All right?

Speaker 4 (09:36):
The round that everyone hates, Round two and this is
there are a lot of uncomfortable choices here. So I'm
looking at what I feel like is a pretty safe option,
and it's Chris Olave, the wide receiver for the Saints.
And a little disclaimer here, so when we were looking
at ADP, I think number thirteen overall was Jamiir Gibbs,
but there is not. Sometimes Jamior Gibbs falls. Sometimes Pookin

(10:00):
of falls to like the top of the second round.
Sometimes Garrett Wilson falls. I don't think any of those
guys are consistently available because they often go in the
first round, So I'm excluding those three. Alave is a
guy who's always there in the second round, and I
love Devon Ahcha, but we know his workload isn't going
to be what we'd hope for.

Speaker 3 (10:19):
I mean, I'm.

Speaker 4 (10:20):
Really attracted to Derrick Henry more so than I have
been in the past, because I think he could potentially
have a monster year, but he is a thirty year
old running back, so there is some risk there. Olave
is just a safe second round option, especially if you
want to go wide receiver. He's got over one thousand
yards in each of his first two NFL seasons. Last
year eighty seven catches eleven hundred and twenty three yards,

(10:41):
twelfth in targets among wide receivers. Now, Olave hasn't scored
more than five touchdowns in either of his first two years,
but I do think there's touchdown upside for a guy
who scored thirty two touchdowns in thirty three games over
his last three years at Ohio State. The Sames didn't
really add any noteworthy pass catchers, so I think a

(11:02):
Lave is going to continue to have an enormous target
share in this offense. I mean, it's it's Rashid Shiheed
is the number two. They don't really have any prolific
receivers pass catchers a tight end. In fact, they don't
have another wide receiver tight end on the roster who's
ever had a fifty catch season, So things are lined
up for a Lave to be this target monster. And

(11:25):
I know Derek Carr isn't considered an elite quarterback, but
I mean he's averaged nearly four thousand passing yards a
season over his career. At one point, he's even floated
like two thousand yard receivers when it was Michael Krabtree
and Amari Cooper.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
In Las Vegas.

Speaker 4 (11:39):
So a Lave unquestionably is going to be cars number
one receiver. And I think that there's significant fantasy upside here.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
Joe, based on the most recently updated staff rankings on
the site, I'm guessing you're gonna disagree with this because
you are the low man on a Lave.

Speaker 2 (11:56):
I am, and I promise everybody there's actually a lot
of fits his picks that I really do, and we're
going to get to them. It's just not now. Olave
is fine. He is just fine. He is like that
brushetta that they give you at that Italian restaurant that
doesn't really taste good but you're hungry and you're like, well,
I'm gonna eat this, but there's a little bit too
much onion in it, and there's no like giant, wonderful
flavor in it. A guy that's got nine touchdowns in

(12:17):
two years. I think the thing with Olave fits his
one hundred percent correct. He is the guy. He's the
alpha in terms of wide receivers, and Car is better
than people give him credit for, but this offense did
struggle quite a bit in the red zone last year.
This is also an offense where the head coach is
on the hot seat, and I don't like situations where
if you get off to a bad start, all of
a sudden you fire the head coach and the's a
little bit of chaos there potentially too w everyone doing

(12:38):
jobs that aren't their job necessarily, and when it comes
down to offensive ecosystem, I would rather be going with
a guy like, let's say, Jalen Waddle, Nico Collins, guys
who are in better quarterback situations, better o hor should
I say, or explosive offenses, even Drake London Michael Pittman,
I would put above Chris o'lave because I think their

(12:58):
upside potential is more and I think they're floors are
very similar. So this really doesn't come down so much
as like not liking chrys Olave. I love him as
a number two. As a number one, he's a little
lackluster for me because of the offensive ecosystem that he
plays in.

Speaker 1 (13:10):
Do you find yourself doing a lot of wide receiver
wide receiver starts, Joe, because you mentioned liking wide receiver
in that kind of back end of the first round range.
So if you get like aj Brown or Puka or
Garret Wilson or whoever, are you often taking another receiver
in a round two or is that when you're then
pivoting to running back.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
I will break for Derek Henry at all times. He
can get in the car anytime he wants. I don't
care if he's thirty years old. He's a different sort
of running back. He's a generational talent. With those guys,
I especially being undervalue this year, I will make a
stop for him. But yeah, typically I do tend to
go early wide receiver because I feel like when you
look at the Zamir Whites, the Remandra Stevenson's, the Rashad Whites,
there's a lot of guys that I feel comfortable building

(13:46):
a group backfield where they're just solid, high end number
two guys. They're just gonna be the guy there, and
maybe they're not in the most explosive offenses, but the
explosive offenses, especially since most people are playing in PVR leagues,
I want those big wide receiver. I want the guys
that have thirteen hundred yard seasons and double digit touchdown potential,
and there's a finite number of those guys, so I
want to get as many as I can in the

(14:06):
first three rounds.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
It's funny I find myself really struggling in early rounds
this year because my favorite first round pick is like
one of Breez or Bijon running back. My favorite second
round pick is Dereck Henry running back. My favorite third
round pick might be Isaiah Pacheco running back. I'm not
going to start running back, running back, running back, but
I just love where these guys are going in drafts.
I couldn't agree more on Derek Henry. I've talked about
it plenty of this summer. Everybody knows that already. Let's

(14:28):
go to round three and fits. I will preface this
by saying, I'm pretty sure you picked the same name
that Ericson picked. It's the same name that Devro picked.
It's the same name that everybody's been talking about on
a recent shows. I will lets you say who the
name is, but this is This has been a very
consistent theme in round three for us.

Speaker 4 (14:44):
And I know Joe is not going to pan me
on this one because he just mentioned this name himself.

Speaker 3 (14:49):
It's Jalen Waddle.

Speaker 4 (14:51):
I have him ranked wide receiver thirteen, and I think
that's about four spots above consensus. Three NFL seasons for
Jalen Waddle, three thousand yard seasons. Did it last year
despite missing a few games, and he's done it the
last two years despite having to share targets with Tyreek Hill,
you know, a prolific target hog. So Wattle has been

(15:14):
very like just a safe play we like. Mike McDaniel's
a play caller. I know, to a tongue of ilo,
is not universally universally beloved among fantasy managers, but he
did lead the NFL in passing yardage last year. And yeah,
over the last two years, Jalen Wattle has averaged ten
point seven yards per target and almost two and a

(15:35):
half yards per route run. So that shows he is
a very efficient and very dangerous wide receiver. Like I
just I think he's the safest and best option in
the third round.

Speaker 1 (15:47):
Joe, I don't think there's really an argument against the
floor of Jalen Wattle assuming health, which is true for everybody.
But what do you think of his ceiling?

Speaker 2 (15:54):
Well, I think the ceiling looks a lot like it
did two years ago when he was healthy, which was
a tremendous season for Jalen Wattle. You know, so any
guy who comes in the league and has one hundred
receptions as a rookie and that follows it up with
a thirteen hundred yard receiving season. Oh wait, Tyreek Hill
is around too, So the upside might be a little
bit more. If Tyrek kill Mitch is any time for injury,
he becomes a little bit more of a target hog.
But the floor is so high already. I'm with fits

(16:16):
one hundred percent on this one. Wattle in the third
round is a great value coming into draft season. He
was grossly under ranked in my opinion. And I keep
going back to the ecosystem thing and the black Book.
This year, I put together this concept, which is grading
the quarterback, the offensive line, the coaching system, the continuity,
the skill position players. And when you put all those
things together, which you have is a grade of how

(16:36):
good of an offensive ecosystem that exists. And the Dolphins
are one of the best ones because of the continuity,
because of the coach, and because of the efficiency. They
check a lot of boxes. And that's the kind of
offense that you want to be invested in, and I
know it can be a volatile one at times in
terms of health, But you can't just peg Jalen Wattle
as a guy that is injury prone based on one year.
That's not fair to Jalen Waddle and always follow the

(16:58):
money they paid him this offseason, which means the Dolphins
believe in him and they are absolutely thinking about him
as a crucial part of this offense going forward.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
Fits just because we did pick this name on the
other iterations of the show that we've done. Was there
anybody else that you considered? If if Wattle in your
league is gone because somebody takes him in round two
or whatever? Is there another round three guy? You're pivoting two?

Speaker 4 (17:20):
Yeah, I don't have the ADP page in front of me. Weren't,
but his Pacheco round three guy, I think he was right?
Or is he round two?

Speaker 3 (17:27):
Now?

Speaker 1 (17:27):
He looks like he's now moved up actually to late
round two? Yeah, round three. Looking at guys like Jacobs, Laporta, Diebo,
Nico's round three in some spots, I'm looking at the
ADP consensus on Fantasy pros right now? I you who
I know you're down on Mahmes Evans. I mean, Wattle
seems like the clear option in reading out these names.

Speaker 4 (17:48):
Yeah, really, Evans is the only guy I might have
considered there, and I have Evans I think ranked one
spot behind Wattle.

Speaker 1 (17:53):
Anybody standing out to you, Joe in that range.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
It's interesting to consider one of the tight ends there.
Waddle for me, is definitely one of those guys. Nico
Collins definitely one of those guys for me. Pittman, that's
kind of that wide receiver class. Yeah, another good week,
Okayleb Williams in preseason, maybe I'll start to feel a
little bit more comfortable with DJ Moore. But yeah, I
think that's kind of where we're living there. However, I've

(18:17):
done a lot of drafts where Derrick Henry has slipped
because he's thirty to that third round and anyone where
he slips there, I am just going right for Derrick Henry.
And I've seen that happen in our mock drafts. I've
seen that happen in our you know, expert league drafts
recently too. There's just way too much fading. And I
know everybody can't believe I came on here to pump
up Dereck Henry to Ryan like, how did that happen?

(18:38):
I don't know, but I think that's where you start
to look at that running back position. You say, Okay, well,
you know, if you're gonna give me Dereck Henry or
the lottery ticket that is Devon h Chan after I
have two solid wide receivers, I think I'm gonna take
that lottery ticket and see how it plays out, and
then be a little bit more aggressive in the back
end of drafting a guy like you know, Jalen Wright
later on, because I do want to back that up

(18:59):
because I know how of all what all that stock
of a HM could be.

Speaker 1 (19:02):
I feel like I have a pretty good sense of
where I would need to take Henry to get him
in these you know, all the expert leagues I've done,
I'm really curious in like home leagues, more casual leagues,
more casual managers, as fits would call them squares. I'm
kind of curious where Henry will fall in some of
those drafts, so I'll be keep in a close eye
on that. If it's one more early round target, here

(19:23):
give us your round four.

Speaker 4 (19:24):
Guy, DeVante Smith, and I think he's sort of in
the same basket as Jalen Wattle is in that they're
both being underdrafted because people seem turned off by their
status as the number two wide receivers on their respective teams.

Speaker 3 (19:40):
But both guys are just terrific players in their own right.

Speaker 4 (19:43):
And DeVante Smith might be even more underrated than Jalen Waddle,
Like he is one of the best route runners in
the league. I love watching this guy play like he
is so fun And obviously AJ Brown takes up a
lot of oxygen in the Eagles offensive ecosystem, but man
and Davante Smith has averaged eighty eight catches in eleven

(20:03):
hundred and thirty one yards over the last two seasons,
with seven touchdowns in each of those years. And Joe
talked about the you know, implied upside that Jalen Waddle
would have if anything ever happened to Tyreek Hill, and
I think we have to consider the same thing with
DeVante Smith if anything ever happened to AJ Brown. So
he's shown us a very sturdy floor and the price

(20:27):
in the fourth round, I think DeVante Smith is being
drafted like at least a full round lower than he
should be.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
Joe, where do you have Smith ranked probably lower than
some other folks do. Smith is steady, and I think
what Fitz is doing here is really clear, and I
think it does have a lot of merit, and I
want to point that out. So just because I can
sit here and pick up heart stuff, it's really easy
to sit here, you know, and play in ret tattooy
be Anton ego and say I don't like this, I
don't like that. But I think at the end, I

(20:54):
bet you didn't have a rat tattoo reference on your
bingo cards today, folks. But I think what Fits is
showing you is how to build a great floor team.
And that's great because Fits is really great at identifying
breakout talents. So he's going to make up for that
later on in this draft. That could assure you that
where DeVante Smith is for me in terms of the rankings,

(21:18):
he is a very good wide receiver two. I'd rather
have him as a three. So Fitz's ability to have
him as the three makes a lot of sense to
me because what you're trying to do from a relative
position value standpoint is you're trying to have guys in
spots that are going to outperform their spot on a roster,
so most people are gonna have a wide receiver one.
Most people are gonna have a wide receiver two. The

(21:38):
reason why Olave falls short for me because I feel
like he is a below average wide receiver one in
Fantasy League average. If you combine the scores of the
ten here and get an average or the top twelve guys,
Olave is gonna fall underneath that. So I don't want
to be behind at wide receiver one. However, jail n Wattell,
I think is going to be above the Fantasy league
average wide receiver two. Same thing with Smith as a three.
He's a distinct advantage. So Fitz is showing you way

(22:00):
to make up that ground, and Smith is certainly one
of those guys that you could do that with. I
have Smith probably a little lower than some other people too,
looking at my rankings, and I will be lower than him.
I have him behind guys like Moligue neighbors right now,
because again I'm looking at target share right off the bat,
So he is more like a wide receiver twenty to me,
but a terrific value here for fits in the fourth.

Speaker 1 (22:22):
I am not a fancy enough eater to have gotten
some of the references. I do get the ratitude of
your reference.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
Stay for the culture, folks, come for the football.

Speaker 1 (22:30):
I named my dog that I got last summer Wally,
and everybody was like, oh, like the Pixar movie and
I was like, no, I just like the name Wally,
and getting a Pixar reference, I will be. I will
be on board.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
Fits.

Speaker 1 (22:40):
Are you a Pixar guy?

Speaker 4 (22:42):
Oh yeah, I mean I've I've got two kids who
watched a lot of Pixar movies with so absolutely.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
Okay, I wasn't. I mean, I know I'm a glad
jokes by your age, but obviously the kids that makes sense,
So I get that in there. It is time to
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Speaker 1 (24:02):
Slash mma fits, I've subjected you to my Australian accent
enough this week. I figured I just do a very clean,
straightforward read. Finally, and I liked.

Speaker 3 (24:11):
When you leaned into it work.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
I'm disappointed I didn't get it live, but whatever, Oh well,
maybe maybe the next one I'll read it. I gotta
feel it really in the moment. All right, let's go
to round five as we kind of entered into that
mid round target range, and Joe just referenced this guy fits.
It's Milik Neighbors.

Speaker 3 (24:27):
And Joe's right.

Speaker 4 (24:28):
I have been aiming for a lot of high floor guys,
so let's shoot the moon with an upside play here
with Malik Neighbors.

Speaker 3 (24:35):
And I think he's going to be a star.

Speaker 4 (24:38):
And we have been getting highlight reel catches from him
on a daily basis. From training camp, we certainly got
a lot of highlight reel catches and run after the
catches in when he was in baton rouge making big
plays for LSU. And it just there was a debate
in some quarters about whether Melik Neighbors should have actually

(25:00):
been the first wide receiver off the board this year's draft,
ahead of Marvin Harrison Junior. And I love Marvin Harrison
Junior worm as you well know, but I saw merit
to that debate. I think Neighbors is fantastic, and he's
just really good route runner, exceptional after the catch. And
a lot of people are reluctant to buy to rookies
because they have not given us any sort of NFL

(25:20):
track record, there's nothing to go on. I am happy
to take the most obviously gifted rookies at a discount
and buy them at what is inevitably going to be
the lowest price that they will ever have in fantasy
drafts until they get into the twilight of their careers.
And I want to do that this year with Malik Neighbors.
I mean, so far, in the actually the actual managed

(25:44):
redrafts re draft leagues I've done so far, I think
I have Neighbors in either half or maybe even more
than half of those drafts.

Speaker 1 (25:53):
I was gonna say, if I'm on the clock in
round five and leak Neary's is available, it means that
my computer died and I ought picked in round four,
because otherwise I would have taken him there and he
would not make it to round five. I think he's
an absolutely like auto smash receiver in this range ten
out of ten like I will be taking him everywhere
if I can get him at this point, even with
some of the ankle like injury question mark stuff like,

(26:15):
I just think he's too good, and I love what
your point about. He will never be this cheap again.
If he is the guy that, if he's eighty percent
of the guy we think he can be, he will
never be this cheap again. Joe, you obviously mentioned him
in the last round, so I assume you're on board
with this pick.

Speaker 2 (26:27):
I am, and I think the only way he last
of the fifth round is maybe in a ten team league,
because I can tell you in any league you're playing
it with people who know what they're doing. He is
not gonna last this long. So you're gonna have to
pull the trigger, most likely earlier. What you're seeing in
the early ADPs, you know, some casual drafting on some
of the bigger sites. On Fantasy pros, you could see
the consensus ADP. But I was just in a draft yesterday,
in the last couple of days actually for the Black

(26:48):
Book charity league that we do, which is raised his
money for Saint Jude's. It's got a lot of sharps
in it from our discord people like DVR and fox Worth,
like all the sharps of the sharp right they're all
in this league together with me. I will tell you this,
Malik Neighbors McLaurin, like all the guys that we think, oh,
they're gonna be there later, they're moving up the boards
where the sharps are, So be aware of that. If
you want Neighbors, you're gonna have to take him over Smith.

(27:09):
Which is a question I would ask you fits like
with that probably being the case in the next couple
of weeks, is that ADP has obviously gotten closer together
for these two. If you could only pick one of
those guys, would you take the safety net of the
Eagles offense, which is the better offense and maybe you know,
the lesser target share with Smith, Or would you take
Melik Neighbors with all the upside, all the target share,

(27:30):
but he plays with Daniel Jones.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
I am taking I right now.

Speaker 4 (27:35):
I have Neighbors ranked wide receiver sixteen and DeVante Smith
wide receiver eighteen. So yes, I love Neighbors and I
know some people, so maybe he does go in the
fifth round if it's not an industry draft and it's
not a draft in the New York, New Jersey metropolitan area. Joe,
like I'm a West Coast Home League. I could see

(27:56):
neighbors sneaking in because not only are people you know,
do people have a little trepidation about drafting rookies, but
people are terrified of Daniel Jones with a good reason.

Speaker 3 (28:07):
Yeah, with good reason.

Speaker 4 (28:08):
But two years ago, when Daniel Jones was healthy all
year in Brian Dables' first season as the head coach,
the Giants were sixteenth in offensive touchdowns. I think they
had thirty seven tds that year, which was actually the
same number the Chief scored last year, I believe, so
like they were not a train wreck of an offense.
Maybe that's as good as it ever gets with the

(28:29):
day Bill Daniel Jones combination.

Speaker 3 (28:32):
But there is a ray of hope there.

Speaker 4 (28:35):
And I know Daniel Jones can throw a spiral and
just you know, put the ball in the Leak neighbors
area code, you know what, you'll go and get it.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
The one thing I would just say to that to
counter it a little bit, just for fun, is that
the numbers when Daniel Jones has Saquon Barkley and didn't
have Saquon Barkley are so stark that that's my big concern.
Can he operate an offense that doesn't have a run
game with a big time running back in it that
the defenses have to account for. Because no matter what
you think Singletary, you can like Devin Singletary this year,
you can like what they have on the depth chart.

(29:04):
It's not Saquon Barkley in terms of talent. We all
know that. So what that offense looks like, how Daniel
Jones performs, it is a huge if. Now is Malik
is a three sign me up? I'm still good for
the upside. I know Fits is too. But if you
are in drafts in the tri say area or you know,
let's not forget that hard knocks effect too. People are
gonna start watching the Bears one. They're gonna go, oh,
let's watch this Giants ones too, and they're gonna start

(29:24):
watching this. This coaching staff in the front office just
gush over Malik Neighbors. He was the number one guy
on their board over Harrison. Well, Harris is going there.
I can get Malik here. It's gonna change. The only
thing that might suppress us is this early injury that
he's had that doesn't seem like a big one, but
injuries sometimes do scare people off.

Speaker 1 (29:41):
Just uber elite talent. He's gonna get all the targets
he can possibly handle. Like it. Just don't overthink it,
like just take the super talented guy. Speaking of talented guys.
Next up for you, fits, and it's Terry McLaurin. And
I want us to say that I wrote him up
recently for one of our collaborative articles on the site
as a guy that I don't understand why his ADPs

(30:02):
as low as it is. It's the lowest it's been
since his rookie year, when he was a Day two
pick who was totally unproven, and yet he is the
best quarterback of his career. So I mean, tell me
why I'm right on Terry McLaurin.

Speaker 3 (30:13):
You are right.

Speaker 4 (30:14):
And let's look at the quarterbacks with whom Terry McLaurin
has played at least two games during his career in Washington.
Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Allen, late career, Alex Smith, Carson Wentz,
Taylor Heineke, Sam Howell, Jacoby Brissette. And now he gets
to play with the number two overall pick and a

(30:36):
reigning Heisman Trophy winner and a guy who scored through
I believe thirty one touchdown passes to his top two
wide receivers last year in just thirteen games.

Speaker 3 (30:47):
So and that's it.

Speaker 4 (30:48):
Now there's touchdown upside for Terry McLaurin, who's only had
twenty five touchdowns in eighty career games. And I think
we are going to see Jayden Daniels ate that touchdown
ceiling a little bit. And McLaurin has had seventy seven
catches or more and a thousand yards or more in
four straight seasons, so like he is very safe. But

(31:10):
now I think Jayden Daniels raises the ceiling. I'm surprised
that he is typically ranked in like mid range to
even low end wide receiver three range.

Speaker 1 (31:20):
Why do you think that is fits? I mean, he's
an ADP right now. It's seventy second overall, so like
back end of the sixth round, not even just in
the sixth round, and wide receiver thirty one. I think
he finishes. He's not going to be a wide receiver one,
but I think he's closer to that point than he
is too, like a wide receiver three.

Speaker 2 (31:35):
Like.

Speaker 1 (31:35):
I just think again, he's really talented. I don't understand
the ADP. It's very confusing to me.

Speaker 3 (31:41):
Yeah, the lack of touchdowns have kind of tamped down
his overall fantasy finishes.

Speaker 1 (31:46):
This is a much better offense, you would think, much.

Speaker 4 (31:48):
Better offense, and Cliff Kingsbury is going to push the
pace like Kingsbury offenses always go really fast, like I
think the Washington offense.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
I don't want to.

Speaker 4 (31:56):
Say sleeping giants, but like I have been, I've probably
drafted more Washington Commanders so far this year than anyone
from any other team, which is a little scary. Not
gonna lie about that, but uh hey, no more Daniel Snyder.
It's a brave new world for Washington Commanders fans, and
I'll climb aboard the bandwagon.

Speaker 1 (32:17):
He's also still only twenty eight. I mean, he'll turn
twenty nine early in the season, but it's not like
he's in his mid thirties or anything. Joe, where are
you atam McLaurin This year?

Speaker 2 (32:24):
Very high, super high. I think it can make a
case for him over Mileague Neighbors, to be honest with you,
because I think the quarterback pure talent of Jaden Daniels
just flat out better. And I don't know if that's
a hot take. Necessarily, I believe in dan Quinn. I
think second time around the NFL you get a lot
of head coaches who are good football coaches. They seem
to get it that second time around. I think dan
Quinn's gonna be one of these guys with fits too.

(32:47):
I find myself drafting Commander or something I don't usually do.
But when Mayer asked us for the write up of
the Bowld predictions, one of mine was that Terry mclaurin's
going to finish as a wide receiver one this year.
And the reason why is if you look at the
baseline of what he does every year, thousand yards receiving,
with all these horrendous quarterbacks that he's had to play
with all this time. In the last three years, he's
never had more than five touchdowns in the season. What

(33:09):
if it's just an incremental change. What if he gets
to eight to nine, maybe even ten touchdowns this year,
which is not absurd at all, considering now that you
have a little bit more balanced with the run game
with Brian Robinson and Austin Eckler. You have a rushing
quarterback who's going to extend plays, but with the chains.
The biggest deficit for the Commanders has been turnovers, right,
Guys like Sam Hawthorn a million picks in situations. Right.

(33:29):
You can't score points if you give up the football.
If Jad and Daniels can not only not give up
the football but also extend drives, it's gonna give Terry
McLaurin a lot more chance to score fantasy points. And
I think the floor is so enticing, the upside is
so much more that if he has a twelve hundred
or even thirteen hundred yard receiving season and nine or
ten touchdowns, it sounds like a wide receiver one to me.

(33:51):
So I'm aggressive on McLaurin. Again. If you're in a
draft with me, he ain't gonna last this long. But
if you're in a ten teamer and he's still there,
take him every single time.

Speaker 1 (33:59):
Manoe. I just put up the article because you mentioned
that in that same Bold Predictions article. We both picked McLaurin,
and you went bolder than I did. I said he
was going to be close to a wide receiver one.
You said he would be a wide receiver one. So
you enough to get there. But I totally agree, obviously.
And the point that I made, you know, in my
little blurb on this is that like Garrett Wilson, talented
receiver who finally gets a cute quarterback upgrade, he's wide

(34:20):
receiver seven, Drake London, talented receiver who finally gets a
quarterback up grade, he's wide receiver eleven. McLaurin, talented receiver
who finally gets a quarterback upgrade. And he's like a
mid wide receiver three. Like, I'm not saying he should
be ranked with those guys, but I just I don't
get the disparity being as big as.

Speaker 2 (34:33):
I don't either. And Terry McLaurin is proven that he's
been quarterback proof, you know. Garrett Wilson, Yeah, maybe a
little bit of times, but like I know, the jest
situation was so bad last year. Drake London, I don't
think he's been quarterback proof. It's not like DeAndre Hopkins
who was having huge seasons with you know, Brock Ospweiler
and Brian Hoyer and all the guys that he had

(34:54):
to play with. That's a guy that was quarterback proof
that we can say that about. Some of the other
guys haven't proven that. So is your point, Saint Term
McLaurin much closer. I think theoretically, of those guys. And
if you are somebody who's going running back early, like
you two have talked about some of these backs, or
if you want to go here orv you're trying to
make up ground. McLaurin is the quintessential guy that is
just being ranked way too low. A wide receiver three

(35:14):
who can finish as a high end two if not
a one. That is just a value you can't pass on.
And that's how you win leagues at the end of
the day.

Speaker 1 (35:21):
Yeah, I love it, I absolutely love it. All right, fits,
let's get to your first quarterback here.

Speaker 4 (35:26):
It's Jordan Love And I know some people are going
to accuse me of making Homer selection with this one,
But so we've been trying to figure out how to
play the Green Bay wide receivers. They have four good ones,
maybe even five if you include bow Mountain, who oddly
enough was the first Packers receiver to have one hundred
yard receiving game last season. They also have two good

(35:48):
young tight ends with Luke Musgrave and Tucker Craft. Maybe
the way to tap into all of that exciting young
pass catching ability is by just drafting the quarterback and
not having to worry about the week to week volatility
of all those wide receivers and tight ends. Just draft Love.
I mean, he's affordable quarterback. Ten is his ADP. So

(36:08):
last year, over his first nine starts, Love was averaging
two hundred and twenty three point two passing yards a game.

Speaker 3 (36:14):
Over his last eight starts.

Speaker 4 (36:15):
Of twenty twenty three in the regular season, two hundred
and sixty eight point eight passing yards per game, eighteen
touchdown passes, one interception, a seventy point three completion percentage,
and seven point seven.

Speaker 3 (36:29):
Yards per attempt. Like those are star numbers.

Speaker 4 (36:32):
And I know they did face some opponents who were missing,
like some key defenders, but like he was terrific. I
mean it just he looked the part. He's got exceptional
arm talents and not just like a guy who's rocketing
every pass as hard as he can, Like he can
feather a ball in between two defenders if he needs to. Yeah,

(36:56):
So I'm I'm totally sold on Jordan Love's talent. He
does add a little bit of rushing value. He had
two hundred and forty seven rushing yards and four t
D runs last year, So not a lot, but just
enough to give you a little, a little taste of
that I think he's going to finish in quarterback one
range again this year, and maybe with all that pass

(37:17):
catching talent the Green bed Packers have, there's room for
like a top five or top six finish.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
Joe, I'm curious your opinion on Jordan Love, but also
what your approach to quarterback as a position is this year.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
Well, first, let's just get an opinion from somebody without
a cheese head hat, somebody who doesn't, you know, bleed
the Golden Green. I also love Jordan Love this year
for a lot of the reasons why Fist pointed out.
So if you're looking for the non Homer version of
everything that fits ind I'm just going to basically give

(37:49):
you the same stuff. That guy was brilliant the second
half last year, and to say that he was brilliant
would be an understavement considering I don't think he was
working with a whole lot. I mean, he didn't have
Aaron Jones for most of that run that he had
in that second half, right, he kind of showed up
at the very tail end of that. He was working
without Christian Watson, who to me is by far the
most talented on paper wide receiver and on the field.
So if you get better running back play, more consistent,

(38:12):
and if you're gonna get a healthy Christian Watson, it
may be an evolution of Dantavian Wicks as another you know,
fun explosive wide receiver where you've already established Dobbs and
obviously Jayden Reid had a really good season, there's a
lot more room for Jordan Love to be great. Love
is one of my favorite pivot points at quarterbacks. So
to me, I look at quarterback whereas you know, you
get that red flair that goes up in every single
draft to talk about this in the single quarterback league

(38:34):
where Mahomes goes or Alan goes, wherever it is goes first,
So you then know, okay, well, is it gonna be
around two? Is it gonna be around three where that
first quarterback run happens. The later it happens, the more
I am apt to follow it. So if it happens
in round three or four, I'm much more apt to
jump in the pool for a Lamar Jackson in the
fourth round. That's a tremendous value. You can get a
guy like that, and you know when it's gonna start.

(38:55):
When it starts to get to that other grouping. I
love Richardson. It's a huge upside. In a ten team league,
I'm more apt to do it because the replacement value
wide receiver is going to be greater based on supply
and demand. It's just a numbers game at that point, right,
So you can have the elite quarterback, have your cake
and eat it too, because guys like McLaurin, guys like
Molikue neighbors, they're gonna get suppressed and ADP just based
on the number of players that have ever been taken.

(39:16):
When you get to the twelve team it gets a
little dicier. And if that quarterback run happens earlier and
then those mid tier Burrow Richardson, Kyler Murray, that whole
discussion point goes. Then I am very happy waiting. And
if you've seen all these mock drafts I do time
and time again. I've been taking Jordan Love and that's
typically my fallback guy because I do think he is

(39:39):
going to continue to build on what he did last year.
Can he be quite as good? He doesn't have to be.
All he's got to do is carry over eighty percent
of what he did in the second half last year
in the last eight game, so the first nine games,
and if he could do that, he's gonna finish the
top five quarterback potentially. That's in the range of outcomes,
as Derek Brown likes to say. So we checked that

(40:00):
the box today. But I am also where fits this?
I'm very inamorative Jordan Love.

Speaker 1 (40:04):
I've got him QB eight this year, and quite frankly,
I think he if I'm if that he's not QB eight,
I think he's more likely to be better than that
than he is to be worse. I I've got him at.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
Seven, so I don't think that's do you have him
met one that we haven't fit?

Speaker 4 (40:17):
Uh No, I think i've him at QB nine. I'm
trying to be higher than you, Love, I know, I know.

Speaker 1 (40:24):
It, Tates Love.

Speaker 2 (40:25):
Come on, wow, this is very enlightening about your shocking.

Speaker 3 (40:31):
Just for the record, Joe, I do bleed melted cheddar
for the record.

Speaker 1 (40:37):
All right, let's go to round eight. Here fits that
you got?

Speaker 4 (40:41):
All right, I've got Deontay Johnson and it's nice to
have the opportunity to get a high volume receiver this
late in drafts. And I know the Panthers offense was
kind of a train wreck in twenty twenty three. But nevertheless,
through eleven weeks of the twenty twenty three regular season,
Adam Thielen was wide receiver ten in full point PPR scoring.

(41:02):
He was averaging over nine targets in like seven and
a half catches a game. And now Deontay Johnson is
going to be the alpha targets of Bryce Young, and
we're hoping the Panthers can get some offensive improvement with
quarterback whisper Dave Kanalis hopefully working the same magic on
Bryce Young that he worked on Baker Mayfield last year.

(41:23):
So I'm pretty excited about the past catching potential for
Deontay Johnson. We know he's probably not going to average,
you know, fourteen or fifteen yards a catch, and he's
probably not going to score double digit touchdowns. But if
we can get ninety to one hundred receptions for Deontay
Johnson from an eighth round pick, you're going to turn
a significant profit.

Speaker 1 (41:43):
Joe, do you think of Johnson?

Speaker 2 (41:45):
Well, you know, Deontay Johnson is a guy that a
couple of years ago at zero touchdowns. I remember that,
and look, the best place to go for that repeat
would certainly be the Carolina Panthers offense. However, I do
like Dave Canalis, and I think what he has done
with the Geno Smith situation, the Baker Mayfield situation does
give you hope for the Bryce Young situation. I love
ol Fitz has went from all these exciting sexy picks

(42:06):
to like the most boring pick you could possibly make here,
But I get it. I think the Xavier Worthy pick
isn't that similar. Range is one that I would prefer.
They're going very close in ADP. It depends on how
you build your team, right, I'm somebody that is getting
some bigger name wide receivers early on, so in this range,
I'm more apt to go with the Xavier Worthy type.
Whereas Fitz has built that wide receiver floor grouping and

(42:29):
then he went a little sexier than now he's back
to the floor, So that makes a lot of sense.
In PPR, Yeah, he's gonna probably be a double digit
guy most weeks, but he's capped because of what that
offense most likely is going to be. So that's where
I struggle with it. Whereas I'll take the guy that
plays with Patrick Mahomes and maybe there's some boom or
busts in there, but the upside is huge, and when
we're looking at flex wide receivers, I want the upside
of the big offense.

Speaker 1 (42:50):
Guys, I'm sitting here with a couple of baseball fans,
and anybody who knows me knows there's basically nothing in
the world I love more than going to baseball games
all summer long. In fact, I've already made plans to
attend not one, not two, but all three Orioles games
out here in Denver when they play the Rockies at
the end of this month. And to make sure I
get the best seats for those games at the best price,
I turned to Game Time with killer last minute deals,

(43:13):
all in prices if used from your seat, and their
lowest price guarantee. Game Time takes the guesswork out of
buying MLB tickets. I'll be planning ahead for the OS series,
of course, but one of my favorite things about game
Time is the last minute deals. You can save up
to sixty percent off buying last minute for not just sports,
but concerts, comedy, theater, and more. I'll be headed to
a concert at Red Rocks this month two and you

(43:34):
can be sure I'll be checking out game Times deals.
Two other features that I love for how much it
takes the frustration out of ticket buying are game Time
seat views showing your view from the seat before you buy,
and all in pricing so I know the total upfront
with no hidden fees. Game Time is simple to use,
but more importantly, the app gives me all the information
I need to make an easy ticket purchase. So this summer,

(43:54):
take the guestwork out of buying MLB tickets with game Time.
Download the game Time app, create an account and use
code Fantasy Pros for twenty dollars off your first purchase.
Terms apply again creating an account and a redeem code
f A N t A S Y p r OS
for twenty dollars off. Download game Time Today, Last minute tickets,
lowest price guaranteed. Joe, have you made it to a

(44:14):
lot of baseball games this summer?

Speaker 2 (44:17):
I've made it to a few summers of Patriot games
the Double A Yankees because they're around the corner, so
that's a much easier left. Plus there's fireworks at the
end at night, and that's fun and the kids love
the fireworks. You get a funnel cake in the fireworks.
That's pretty good, and I gotten to see, you know,
some of these Yankee prospects that have come through too
and moved up, So that's been kind of fun.

Speaker 1 (44:34):
This is the closest I've lived to a baseball statum.
I'm about twenty twenty plus nearly twenty two minutes from
the Rocky Stadium, and it's pretty cheap because they're terrible,
So it's a it's one place to go.

Speaker 2 (44:43):
Hey, when is that gamer? Are you gonna see them
clinch the organ?

Speaker 1 (44:46):
I'm going It's Labor Day weekend, so it's Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
could be. I mean I might see.

Speaker 3 (44:52):
The Rocky Champaigne eliminated.

Speaker 2 (44:54):
Yeah, I think that's a long time past.

Speaker 1 (44:58):
Exactly. All right, if it's let's go to your round nine.

Speaker 4 (45:01):
Favorite target Jadeen Daniels, and we have talked about him already.
He offers the same sort of rushing potential that Anthony
Richardson offers, and daniel is considered a more accomplished passer
coming out of college than Richardson was, And yet jade
and Daniels is significantly cheaper in drafts this year than
Anthony Richardson over his final two years at LSU. Jane

(45:23):
Daniels had twenty nineteen rushing yards, and that's factoring in
that sack yardage is deducted from rushing yardage for college
quarterbacks for some reason. Not only that, but like the
passing potential, like he averaged three hundred and seventeen passing
yards and three point three touchdown passes a game for
LSU last year, so there is some pretty big upside.

(45:45):
I think we should be excited about him playing in
a Cliff Kingsbury offense since we saw Kyler Murray finish
in QB one range as a rookie in Cliff Kingsbury's offense.
High upside here. Rushing ability is the cheat code for quarterbacks.
The Konami Code had tip to our friend Rich Reebar
for coming up with that Grates Fantasy football phrase, and

(46:08):
Jane Daniels is unquestionably a Konomi Code quarterback.

Speaker 1 (46:12):
Joe, I'm curious where you have Jade Daniels. I find
myself ranking him in that back end of QB one
territory and like I almost wish I was less of
a coward and what could rank him higher? But also
like I see the downside, you know, like the way
he runs like injuries. I know Debro hates when people
bring that up. He also checks a lot of the
boxes of quarterback prospects that I tend not to like,

(46:32):
like a late career breakout, that sort of thing. And
then you watch him play and it's like, how is
this dude not going to be a top five fantasy quarterbacks?
So so where do you come down on him?

Speaker 2 (46:39):
Well, how he's on the top five fantasy quarterback is
if he gets hurt because he doesn't change his running
style because he has to start slotting more. This is
not a situation that is up for debate at this point.
And guys in the NFL, you're going to get your
ass kicked if you don't hit the deck a little
bit more. So you can't do that same and sexual
thing where you're trying to get that extra yard with us,
You're going to get lit up in this league. So
it's the only thing that I think can keep him.

(47:01):
I'm have him at twelve. Actually just updated my ranks
this morning on him, and I think the only point
that I would make here is like, there's something you're
can to add. We already know how great Daniels is
a talent. The unknown is there. If you're gonna draft
Jordan Love just in a draft, I would not be
even pivoting to Daniels at all. I would make that decision.
So you're either somebody who wants to go late quarterback
with Jordan Love and you're happy with that, or you're

(47:21):
somebody that wants to go really late and be aggressive
by a round maybe even two on Jane Daniels. The
question I had, and it was a great debate. We
had a discussion on the CBS podcast. I was a
guest on there yesterday and we were doing the quarterbacks
and talking about the upside. QB is a breakout potential.
And the one thing I would put in there is
we had this discussion about do you draft a second
quarterback if you have Daniels. I'm of the mind, do

(47:42):
you draft certain quarterbacks. If it's Jared goffit's around. If
it's Kirk Cousins, it's around. Maybe Matthew Stafford like those guys. Yes,
at the whatever the ADP at the back end of
last round of a draft or second and last round. Cool,
If those guys all go, then you just hope and
pray that Daniels is that guy. Otherwise, you miss out
on depth. That's the other thing too, is if you
draft Jordan Love and you gotta take Daniels, you don't

(48:04):
want to do the same thing. So I think what
Pat's doing is just saying, hey, this is the best
guy in the round, not necessarily do this as a strategy. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (48:10):
Fits. We talked a lot about Daniels, like on the
Dynasty pod, and I was more hesitant there with the
running style and all the stuff Joe mentioned. You know,
I always people say, well, you know, Lamar's not that
big and he gets hurt in the pocket and not running.
I'm like, yeah, but he like knows how to take
hits when he's running, Like Jay Daniels just like jumps
head first over the line in the first quarter of
a game, you know, against against the Citadel, Like I mean,

(48:32):
it's just like he's reckless as a runner. And I
hope that changes because he's so fun to watch. He's
so clearly talented.

Speaker 4 (48:38):
Yeah he I mean that it cost LSU a chance
to be at Alabama last year because they were in
that game. I think he got crash test dummied by
Dallas Turner, got knocked out of the game, and then
Alabama just roared ahead and won the game, So yeah,
he does have to start sliding and not taking those
ridiculously head on shot.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
And at the same time, like, I'm as a draft
definitely of the mindset of like league winner vibes only,
and like, if Jane Daniels does stay healthy, where he's
going could absolutely be one of these quarterbacks that turns
into a league winner, which is not easy to do,
but he's got the skill set to do it. So
I totally am on board with the pick. Here round ten,
a name that you have brought up pretty much on
every show we've done all summer.

Speaker 4 (49:19):
Yeah, let's celebrate my five hundredth offseason mention of Chase Brown.
And like, this is as much a bet against Zack
Moss as it is a bet on Chase Brown. Because
Chase Brown had fifty eight touches last year as Joe
Mixon's backup, Like we do not have much of a
track record to go on, made some big plays, but
he did put down a pretty impressive track record at

(49:39):
the University of Illinois. In his last season there, he
averaged twenty seven point three carries a game, twenty nine
point six touches a game, eighteen hundred and eighty three
yards from scrimmage, thirteen touchdowns in twelve games, so he
could be a workhorse if the Bengals decided he was
better than Zack Moss and they wanted to give him
the Joe Mixon roll. And let's see what other teams

(50:02):
have decided that someone else is better than Zach Moss. Oh,
the Bills made the decision three straight years that Devin
Singletary was better than Zack Moss and gave him more
snaps and touches. And I don't think anyone thinks Devin
Singletary is a star level running back. Moss did have
that excellent four game stretch early last season when Jonathan
Taylor was on IR but then from Week six on,

(50:25):
Moss averaged three point six yards per carry. I do
think it's going to be a split to some degree
in the Cincinnati backfield, But I want to bet on
the guy who's faster, younger, a better pass catcher, and
more explosive.

Speaker 1 (50:38):
Joe, are you team Chase Brown or team Zach Moss.

Speaker 2 (50:42):
Well, I have to choose. I really don't want to
because I'd rather just go look somewhere else. I'll choose
Chase Brown to I'm not a believer in Zach Moss.
I know last year was really fun, but it was
a unique situation. And you know Shane Styke, and I
think is a genius. If he can make Zach Moss
a star, sure he can make anybody a star. Right.
I'm sure that's why Pat loves Jonathan Taylor so much
at the top. I just don't think that offense is

(51:04):
going to support what he did a couple years ago.
But yeah, Chase Brown to me, another one of these
guys where this is the Rico Doudle, Chase Brown, Trey Benson.
You're throwing darts at running backs, Blake Korham, you know,
secondary guys that you think can break out. And Brown's
as good as any. I just don't know how big
of a role he's going to have in this offense,
which I think is going to be much more pass heavy.
But between Moss and Brown, I'll take my chances with Brown.

Speaker 1 (51:26):
Let's go to round eleven, kind of start the late
round targets fits. You're starting off with Pat Fryarmuth aka
Pat Fitzermuth, because you also love this guy, talk about
him on a lot of shits I do.

Speaker 4 (51:36):
I believe in leveraging the depth at the tight end position,
the rare depth that's unusual.

Speaker 3 (51:41):
To have this sort of depth there.

Speaker 4 (51:43):
And if you are extremely patient at tight end and
can find Pat Friarmouth waiting for you in the eleventh round,
here's my pitch on him. Arthur Smith is now the
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator and play caller. And although you
know Arthur Smith is sort of a curse word among
fantasy managers, his tight ends in Atlanta last year collectively

(52:04):
combined for one hundred and seventy four targets, one hundred
and fourteen catches, thirteen hundred and eighty yards, and seven touchdowns.
It was chopped up among several players Kyle Pitts, John
hus Smith, some others, But man, I mean, like, who's
going to share with Pat Fryermoth, Dearnell Washington, who's mostly

(52:25):
a blocker, Hayward, Michele Pruitt, Like it's gonna be Friarmouth basically.
And even if the Steelers do end up trading for
Brandon Ayuk and have the ayukin Pickens combination, I think
there are gonna be plenty of tight end targets in
this offense, and Pat Fryarmuth could have the most prominent.

(52:46):
He's already had a couple of sixty plus reception seasons
like I think we could see him push like seventy five.

Speaker 3 (52:53):
This year, Joe.

Speaker 1 (52:55):
Similar to the quarterback discussion, I'm curious both your thoughts
on Friarman and kind of you approached position For me,
I really want one of those Elite six or seven names.
If I don't get them, though, Friarmuth is right at
the top of my list.

Speaker 2 (53:07):
Yeah, it's the guy that I drafted in the Flex
League this year, and the Expert League is the guy
they just took in that Charity League that I just
mentioned too. I am with the one hundred percent. I
think that's exactly the route, which is, if you can
get one of these top guys in a good spot, great,
If you get one of those guys in the middle,
even better, because I think that allows you the upside
of all those big wide receivers that you want to

(53:27):
take in those rounds two and three, and then still
the upside of guys like Kyle Pitts and Kinkaid and
all those other dudes that I think can well outperform
their ADP. Then after that it's like Evan Ingram, who
I think is gonna surprise people again. I think there's
gonna be plenty of targets and full PPR again, he's
going to be a better player than people realize. But
the pivot pointed tight end again is Friarmuth and the
longer this Ayuke thing drags on again as a recording

(53:49):
this we don't have clarity on it. But if I
doesn't show up there, that's good for friar Mooth's value
in that term. The only thing is if Ayuk shows up,
I think it's maybe better for Friarmuth in the red
zone potentially as a target, because then I think it
becomes a really tough team to defend against when you
have a Yuke n Pickens and friarer Mouth could really
benefit in the red zones. Maybe the touchdown total goes up,
but I think targets go down, So it's a give

(54:10):
and take. But friar Mouth again, Pat mentioned it, You
mentioned it. The depth of tight end is great this year,
a far cry from last year's board, and we're so
concerned about what it looks like. Now you can wait
on tight end and friar Mouth is exactly the guy
that I tend to wait for.

Speaker 1 (54:25):
I'm so tired of having to give the caveat of
As of the time we were recording this auk has
not been moved yet, but it's.

Speaker 2 (54:31):
Yeah, everybody at the top of every show and pretty
right forever.

Speaker 1 (54:34):
Yeah, all right, fits wrout twelve. Who are you targeting?

Speaker 4 (54:38):
So all of these Green Bay Packers receivers have their fans, uh,
certainly Christian Watson and Jayden Redo and Dontavian Wicks is
everyone's sleeper. But the guy who kind of gets overlooked
is Romeo Dobbs. And I know Packers cornerback jay R
Alexander thinks that Romeo Dobbs is like the best wide
receiver on the team, And actually JayR said that he's

(54:59):
the and best receiver in the NFL, behind only DeVante Adams. Now,
I'm not quite willing to go that far with Dobbs,
but he has reportedly just been killing it in training
camp this year. Like, Dobbs is taking a big step
up and maybe again it's gonna be messy with these
wide receivers, but like, I don't mind having Romeo Dobbs
as like my fifth receiver as a potential filling guy,

(55:22):
because it does seem like he is a receiver who
Jordan Love consistently leans on and it seems to show
up most games like it hasn't equated to any sort
of fantasy relevant season yet, but I wonder if there
might be one coming. And maybe it takes an injury
to one of the other guys, maybe it takes another

(55:43):
Kristen Watson injury for Dobbs to really pop, But this
late in the draft, I think he's a worthwhile flyer.

Speaker 3 (55:49):
Joe.

Speaker 1 (55:50):
At cost, do you have a personal preference among the Packers' receivers.

Speaker 2 (55:54):
Ah, that's the question. Yeah, at cost, it's still Christian
Watson because the cost is wide receiver and the upside
is incredible. But at cost, Romeo Dobbs is not a
bad investment either. So I think what Pat's doing is
very astute, which is, hey, just take the guy in
a good offense. Again, in the good offensive situation typically
leads to good fantasy points because there isn't clarity with

(56:15):
the health of Christian Watson yet. So I think that's
a savvy move by a very savvy individual in Pat Fitzmorris.

Speaker 1 (56:22):
Are you tired of draft day uncertainty? The cheat Sheet
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(56:45):
Draft Wizard app, and use the cheat Sheet Creator to
dominate your draft. All right, four rounds left. We'll move
a little quicker through these, because, like I said at
the top of the show, you kind of get into
more just personal preference to the guys that you want
to be throwing darts on this year. Round thirteen fits.

Speaker 3 (57:00):
Are you taking Josh Palmer?

Speaker 4 (57:02):
The Chargers are another team with an ambiguous wide receiver situation.
Palmer could very easily lead this team in receiving yards
and TD catches, and he's going pretty late in drafts. Yeah, granted,
we know the Chargers are going to be run heavy
with your boy Greg Roman calling the plays warm, but
still someone's got to catch those perfect justin Herbert's spirals,

(57:26):
And I think Josh Palmer will be on the receiving
end of a few.

Speaker 1 (57:29):
If anybody has ever been less my guy than Greg Roman,
I haven't met them yet, Fitz, you'll appreciate the reference.
To me, he is the Mark Turging of offensive coordinators,
and I know that's a very niche reference for our audience.
I'm all in on the Josh Palmer call, though. I
think if Justin Herbert winds up healthy for most of
the season, then I think Palmer is a huge value. Joe,
are you high or low on Palmer?

Speaker 2 (57:52):
I think it's a good value there, and I think
it's hilarious that people think, well, Greg Roman's there, so
the Chargers will never throw the football again. Justin Herbert's
gonna have ten pass attempts, a crazy like you just
can't compare Justin Herbert as a passer to Lamar Jackson.
Not to mention like the potential weapons that might be
out there too. Not to mention, oh wait, any is
there a dominant running back in this backfield? Because I

(58:13):
don't see it yet, So let's not pretend like they're
not gonna throw the ball. Fits. He's very aus dupe
by making this Josh Palmer pick. It's got a lot
of upside in a good situation with a good quarterback.
So yeah, you can do a lot worse than Josh
Palmer to cover some biyewings for.

Speaker 1 (58:25):
You, Like, there is a world where Josh Palmer is
very clearly the number one ride receiver in this offense,
and they will throw enough that if you are clearly
the number one ride receiver with Justin Herbert throwing you passes,
that you should be going a lot higher than in
the wide receiver fifties range. Round fourteen fits.

Speaker 4 (58:41):
Julia McLoughlin, running back ten Ver Broncos showed some juice
last year as in undrafted free agents, and Sean Payton
keeps talking him up, talking about his worth ethic and
how he is a guy who's like always in the
facility early, one of the last to leave. And really
the appeal here is the pass catching potential, because Sean

(59:03):
Payton's offense is always funnel targets to the running backs. No,
by the way, they drafted a quarterback Bo Nicks who
was a screen and checkdown guy at college. I mean
he like threw so many more screens and dump off
passes than any other QB.

Speaker 3 (59:18):
Prospect in this draft class.

Speaker 4 (59:20):
The Broncos led the NFL with one hundred and fifty
three running back targets last year. I think only one
other team had more than one thirty, and just throughout
Peyton's tenure in New Orleans, the Saints were always funneling
balls to.

Speaker 3 (59:34):
Their running back.

Speaker 4 (59:35):
So I think there's pretty significant pass catching upside for
Jillian McLoughlin, and you know, maybe some rushing upside too.

Speaker 1 (59:43):
I know deebro had McLoughlin, and round fourteen I think
Ericson might have two. I don't remember that episode, Joe,
are you gonna make it a clean sweep?

Speaker 2 (59:50):
You guys are spending way too much time together. You
guys got a doubt more. But look, mldaughlin to all
of the guy's credit, is somebody that if you're taking
shots in RBLA, why not a guy that could take
over this backfield. You can make a case for maybe
some of the Bears guys too. You know, with the
early usage we saw a Khalue Herbert in that preseason game.
Maybe that's the right pick here, but I can't argue
against McLoughlin here.

Speaker 1 (01:00:11):
Round fifteen fits Damian Pierce.

Speaker 4 (01:00:14):
Maybe the Texans have rejected the idea that he is
their running back of a future. But I still think
he's one of the better handcuffs in the league. Like
I liked him two years ago. I know last year
didn't really work out. I mean when he started the
years they're running back, I think they had like one
of their projected offensive line starters actually healthy.

Speaker 3 (01:00:33):
So I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:00:34):
I still think Pierce is a pretty talented running back.
And you know, at this point, I'm looking to take
flyers at the RB position.

Speaker 1 (01:00:40):
You know the meme of like the car dealership where
it's just a big sign that says zero percent interest.
That is me with Damian Pierce. I have zero percent
interest in drafting Pierce this year, even late. I just
did not. He was so bad last year, Joe Damian Pierce.

Speaker 2 (01:00:55):
Any thoughts if Pierce was any good, why they bring
in Mixon like that? That's at the end of the day.
You have to follow the money. Follow the money, and
I will often tell you the answer you need with
certain players. Now, sometimes it goes the other way. Sometimes
injuries change the dynamic of a situation. Pop Douglas in
that round, justin fields, if you took a quarterback, you
don't love it's really interesting in that round. And Jermaine
Burton another talent that's really interesting in that round too.

(01:01:17):
Those are the sign of the pivot points.

Speaker 1 (01:01:18):
I would go to last pick here fits round sixteen
and you're not taking a kicker.

Speaker 3 (01:01:23):
No I'm not.

Speaker 4 (01:01:24):
And in a round where if you look at ADP,
this is where the kickers and defenses dwell. But I'm
going to take the human Swiss Army knife, Taysom Hill
of the New Orleans Saints. And you know, like they're
talking about once again using Taysom Hill in a lot
of different ways, and apparently he is going to play
that super utility role that he has been playing for them,

(01:01:48):
and man like, it's sometimes tough to figure out when
the big weeks are coming, but we are going to
get that handful of big weeks from Taysom Hill again.
And you know, here's a guy you can plug in
at the tight end position and get rushing and passing
yardage from in addition to the occasional pass reception. Round

(01:02:09):
sixteen this is a what the heck?

Speaker 1 (01:02:12):
And you know, the way they use him, he probably
could kick too. I mean they've tried him everywhere else
Joe Taysom Hill like it as a last pick.

Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
Well, I talk about you know, the full coming full
circle here, not one but two Saints Hero Lave and
Taysom Hill. So basically you're hedging that big o' lave
pick early on fits. I don't get it. Look, I
understand it. Bye. Weeks can be crushing, injuries can be crushing.
If you're gonna take a dart at the end of
a draft, I'd still be taking it on more running
backs than I would on the Swiss Army knife that

(01:02:40):
is Taysom Hill instead of a lackluster Saints attack. But
I certainly get it because the question is not you know,
Canny be good. The question is what week will he
be good? That's the tough thing, and you hope it's
the week that you need to play him. That's the
only thing you gotta worry about with Taysom Hill.

Speaker 1 (01:02:55):
One last thing before we get out of your fits.
I'm just curious, in the process of sitting down and
actually coming up with your nae F each round, did
you kind of learn anything about your strategy this year?
Did it kind of reveal to you that, oh, you
know it actually really like the wide receivers in this round,
or I really want to go running back early. Did
anything kind of become apparent as you made this list?

Speaker 4 (01:03:12):
Yeah, it worked out a lot like the way I
like to draft, where it's like, get a running back
early and then just hammer wide receiver for like the
next five or six rounds. And yeah, that's kind of worked.
How it worked out here wait on quarterbacks and tight ends.
It pretty much mirrored my strategy in twenty twenty four drafts.

Speaker 1 (01:03:29):
Joe, is this a five star experience at fits his restaurant?

Speaker 2 (01:03:34):
I will get to give it four and a half
because everything else is. There may be a few disagreements,
but at the end of the day, it's a delicious
meal cooked by a very worthy chef always. But again,
it's a difference of approach, and I think that's what's
so great these shows. You want to talk about the
differences of approach. I'm the heavy wide receiver person and
taking shots on running back, and the one place I

(01:03:54):
can always find running back help typically on the waiver wire.
Elite wide receivers. Pooka Akua. That was a fun story
with that doesn't happen every year.

Speaker 1 (01:04:02):
It was a five star experience for me to get
to chat with you guys today, So I appreciate you
guys making the time. I appreciate everybody listening. Please everybody
do check out the Fantasy Fest on Monday. Monday is
my birthday, so that's like my birthday present can be
that you listen to the show and tune in and
watch and follow along. We've got, like I said before,
tons of awesome guests and we've put a lot of
time and effort into planning this thing. So I hope

(01:04:22):
everybody checks it out and has a good time for
the fifth annual Fantasy Fest from Fantasy Pros. For Joe
and Fits, I'm Ryan warmly thank you everybody for tuning
in and we'll see again next time. Thanks for listening
to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast. If you love
the show, the best free way to support us is
by leaving a positive review on Apple podcasts at Fantasypros
dot com, slash review or on Spotify.

Speaker 3 (01:04:44):
Follow us on

Speaker 1 (01:04:45):
X, Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy Pros, and subscribe to
our YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash Fantasy Pros,

(01:05:13):
sh

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Hosts And Creators

Andrew Erickson

Joe Pisapia

Derek Brown

Thor Nystrom

Ryan Wormeli

Pat Fitzmaurice

Matthew Freedman

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