Full Send on These Players! | TOP TARGETS in Every Round of 2025 Fantasy Football Drafts (Ep. 1619) - FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast

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 Fitzmorris and by Heath
Cummings of CBS Sports Heat. Thank you so much for
making the time to join us today.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Really happy to be here with you guys. It's the
most wonderful time of the year, right we're getting ready
for fantasy drafts. None of our picks or calls are
wrong yet, it's just an exciting time.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Yeah, we're definitely not being too negative. We definitely weren't
just before the show talking about how nice they do
this to have players you can drop early in the year, Yes,
as opposed to thinking about, hey what if they hit,
So we're talking about players from a positive angle today.
I feel like I've done a lot of, you know,
players who are likely to bust, players who are overvalued
type of shows lately. Today we are doing the opposite.

(00:44):
We're doing top targets in every round. We're going to
go fourteen rounds deep, so we're gonna hit a lot
of different players today, but our top targets in each
round of drafts, we're gonna be going kind of based
on the consensus rankings, which you can find at fantasypros
dot com slash rankings. All of our twenty twenty five
consensus rankings and years are there, and you can find
different scoring formats. We're kind of going with the half PPR,

(01:04):
you know, baseline view, So if your ADP is different
on whatever site you're using, you know, that's fine. But
we're going based off the rankings who our favorite players
are in each round. Fitz, how are you feeling here
mid July, just a couple weeks away from August?

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Feeling really good. Great to have Heath on the show.
By the way, we had not ever done a show
together for years and years, and all of a sudden
we're doing two together in the span of like five
or six weeks, which is pretty cool. Yeah, I'm feeling great,
Like we are right on the verge of you know
that crazy time when their drafts every weekend and you know,
people are asking you to grade their drafts and hitting

(01:39):
you up with a million pre draft questions. So just
enjoying that lull before the storm.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
It's a great couple weeks stretch where we're really excited.
We're thinking about fantasy again. We're talking drafts, Scott fish
Bowl drafts, are going on, but it's not overwhelming quite yet.
We're not in that late August like real surge yet,
so it's a very fun, fun few weeks here.

Speaker 3 (01:59):
We haven't had our first depressing training camp injury yet either,
so we're probably just days away from that, so enjoy
it while.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
It lasts worst part of the summer for Sure's let's
dive in. We're gonna start with round one. Like I said,
go all the way through round fourteen. You have each
pick player that you guys like in this round and
obviously some of these earlier rounds. There's gonna be a
lot of players that we like, but you guys are
giving us your top targets here. He as the guest.
We will start with you. Who is your player in
round one?

Speaker 2 (02:24):
So yeah, looking at the consensus rankings, the guy that
I thought, you know, I like him more than consensus
would be Ced Lamb, and it really has. It has
something to do with Lamb and the floor and upside
that he's shown When Dak Prescott's been healthy, He's basically
always been over eighteen and a half Fantasy points per game.
When Deck's been healthy, he's shown us the twenty two
point upside when Deck's been healthy. And then the other

(02:46):
part of it is and you'll see this as we
go through the next few rounds. When I look at
consensus rankings or ADP right now, a lot of my
favorite players in each round are running backs, which is
an uncomfortable position to be in a format that really
everybody wants to get those wide receivers. So it's really
made me kind of push the wide receivers in round
one up a little bit more comfortable starting with one

(03:09):
of them to give me the freedom to take as
many running backs as I want in the next couple
of rounds.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
And I'm actually glad you mentioned like thinking about some
of these future rounds. We are not, to clarify, building
a team, and that's not what you're doing here. Of course,
this is just you are kind of pushing him up
because of the way you feel about guys later. But
we are not building out a team. So if these
guys say, like, oh, a tight end is my favorite
pick in the next ten rounds, you know that they're
not going to do that. But that's that would be
okay theoretically because we're just going with our favorite targets here.

(03:35):
So yeah, CD Lamb. Is he somebody heath that you
see as I mean, I would assume you have Jamar
Chase number one like everybody else, But is he wide
receiver two like ahead of Justin Jefferson for you?

Speaker 2 (03:46):
He is my wide receiver too, and I've actually got
him almost a full tier higher in terms of projection
than I do Jefferson. He's my number three player overall.
I'd go Chase than Bijon, then CD Lamb. But yeah,
I just think the addition of George Pickens seems to
have scared a few people about Well, maybe CD won't
see as many targets. Not just not the type of

(04:06):
guy that George Pickens has been. He is a very
efficient wide receiver on a per target basis. He can
make huge explosive plays, but he's not somebody who's going
to demand eight targets per game. I think he maybe
opens up the underneath for Lamb just a little bit,
makes the offense overall better, but doesn't necessarily impact Lamb's
target share very much.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
And Fitz Lamb isn't your pick here in round one,
but it looks like you also have him as a
top three player in your rankings on the site.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
I do in any league with a requirement to start
three wide receivers, I feel the same as Heath Lambs
my wide receiver too, my number three overall, and I
pretty much agree with Heath's take on pickins, like I
don't think it.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
Hurts at all.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
So who is the player you're going with in round one.

Speaker 3 (04:47):
Oh worm, it's Bijon and you and I did a
short form video about my favorite early round picks a
week or two ago. I believe I mentioned Ashton genty
as my favorite first rounder on that show, but I
told you I chose Genti because you didn't have to
pick early in the round to get him. But my
real preference, as I think I mentioned to you then,
would be Beijon. I generally like hero running back roster belts,

(05:10):
and Bijeon would be my first choice of Heroes to
put on the cape for me. Eighteen hundred and eighty
seven yards from scrimmage and fifteen touchdowns last season, fifty
eight catches his rookie year, sixty one last year. Bijon
hasn't missed a game in his first two seasons, and
unless you count the infamous Headache game in twenty twenty three,
when Arthur Smith pulled him after one carry. But Bijon

(05:34):
just he passes every eye test. He's fast, powerful, has
really good patients and vision. Falcons played a fast pace
and they have a strong offensive line. They're just no
holes in Bijeon's profile.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
Heath, do you see a case for Beijeon as number
one pick in drafts or do you think Chase is
very clearly in that spot and Beijon is just number two.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
I think that you pet you put Chase first because
there's more separation for me between Chase and the wide
receivers that you're going to find in round two than
there is Bijon and the running backs that you're going
to find in that range or even in round three.
It's weird because I don't actually have Bijon as my
number one running back in the projections. He is in

(06:14):
the rankings because I think one of the things that
Pat pat mentioned, he is probably the safest pick in
Fantasy no injury history, to be concerned with skill set
that we love and an offense that we know is
going to run through him. There's not that many workhorse
running backs left in the NFL, especially work horse running
backs that are not old or injury prone, and he's

(06:36):
all of those things just quickly.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
He actually before we move on round one, because Fits
mentioned Ashton Gent as a player he picked who maybe
more accessible to people like you have to have an
early pick to get Bijon, you can get genty later.
Do you like that as a back half of the
first round target?

Speaker 2 (06:50):
I absolutely love it. I almost chose genty as my
favorite book in this round. I just didn't want to
have seven running backs to start the show. But yes,
I think he is also one of those workhorse running
backs who is young and is not an injury concern.
I would not be really that surprised if fashion Gentyz
just goes out and scores more Fantasy points than any

(07:11):
other running back.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
Let's get around too, Fits. I'll start with you on
this one. Who do you have for.

Speaker 3 (07:15):
Us another Falcon Drake London. Now I wouldn't want to
double up with two players from the same team in
the first two runs, but there's really no danger of
that here. Bijon is going to be a top three
pick in every draft, and London is probably not going
to slip past the middle of round two. London just
fully arrived last year one hundred catches, one two hundred

(07:36):
and seventy one yards and nine touchdowns on a whopping
one hundred and fifty eight targets. Only Jamar Chase and
Elite Neighbors saw more targets than London did last year.
And what's nice is that London really clicked with Michael
PENNOCKX Junior when Pennox took over as as the starter
late in the season. So in three Pennock starts, London
was targeted thirty nine times and had twenty two catches

(07:59):
for three hundred fififty two yards and two touchdowns. I
think London belongs on the same tier as Malik Neighbors,
Brian Thomas Junior. I'man Ross, Saint Brown, Nico Collins, maybe
even Pukin Nakua, but London is typically drafted last among
that group. I think he's just a fabulous second round pick.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
Hef Do you see London in that tier that fits
just mentioned or it is he little bit lower for you?

Speaker 2 (08:22):
He's one tier lower for me. But I think that
there's no doubt he has the upside to prove that
he belongs in that tier. I've been a little bit
more skeptical of the Michael Pinnock's splits because they are
such a small sample size, because it was against terrible defenses,
and because Darnel Muoni missed one of those games. Right,

(08:42):
But I believe in the talent. I'm not of London.
I'm not quite as sure about the talent of the
quarterback or how great the passing game's going to be.
If Pinnis is good, then yes, London deserves to be
in that range.

Speaker 1 (08:55):
I'm excited to get to your player here for Ron two, Heath,
because I was looking at the CBS sportsve rankings earlier
today and you guys are all much higher, especially you
on this player than we are in the expert consensus
rankings on Fantasy Pro. So who do you have for
us a round two?

Speaker 2 (09:10):
So I have this thing about my projections, where for
the most part, unless we have a long injury history,
I just project guys to play seventeen games. And if
I project hn for seventeen Devon Han for seventeen games,
I project him to be the highest scoring running back
in fantasy football this year. Now there's an asterisk next
to that because you also maybe have to project his
quarterback to play seventeen games. Also, he averaged more than

(09:32):
twenty three Fantasy PPR Fantasy points per game twin Tua
was healthy last year. I projected him to lead all
running backs in catches, in targets, and in receiving yards.
He had a massive role in the passing game last year,
and that was with John hu Smith having a big role.
They've replaced John hu Smith with Darren Waller, which whatever
Darren Waller may have left, I don't think it's going

(09:53):
to be those targets close to the line of scrimmage
where they asked him to run with the football like
a running back. I think we may even see a
Chan's target share go up a little bit from last year.
He showed the ability last year to play seventeen games.
He's one of the most explosive running backs in all
of football. And again this is where the projections diverge
from the rankings, because I do want to take Jon

(10:14):
ahead of him because Bijeon's a much safer pick, and
round one's the place where I really worry more about that.
But I don't think there's any reason at all that
a chance should fall to around two. He's a surefire
top ten pick.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
For me, so he's obviously you have to pick him
in a round two for the sake of our argument
because of where he falls in ECR. Where would you
take him? Is he you said top ten? Do you
have a specific spot?

Speaker 2 (10:35):
I've taken him fifth in a couple of drafts recently fifth.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
Okay, Now, Fitz, you have long been a big Devin
a Chan fan as well, So I don't know if
you're quite as optimistic as Heath, but I assume you
like the pick.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
I do certainly a top fifteen, and I don't think
first round is crazy at all. And you know, I
wondered if there might be some pullback on the passing
game usage if the Dolphins try to reinstore the principle
of verticality in their passing game since it really disappeared
and we saw Tyreek Hill and Jalen Wattle fall off
last year. But like any concerns about a Chan's target

(11:12):
drop off were sort of laid to rest by the
John hu Smith trade. Like, now a Chan is going
to consolidate those short area targets and have a massive
share of those for the Dolphins, And like, I'm not
worried that he might not be the goal lineback. Fine,
give Ali Gordon the goal line carries, but who's going
to be in there when the Dolphins are at the
four or five yard line or the three yards It's

(11:33):
probably still going to be a Chan and he can
absolutely score from there, So not worried about that. I
think what we see from a Chan this year could
look a lot like early career Alvin Kamara, where maybe
he doesn't get to one thousand rushing yards, but has
like eighty receptions, six hundred receiving yards, you know, and
collectively double digit touchdowns.

Speaker 1 (11:55):
This might be a weird thing to say considering a
guy like Christian mccaffre. You just missed you know, so
the last season is inside the top two rounds, But
is a Chan the riskiest guy in the top two
rounds because it's not just him staying healthy. It is
like Heath just alluded to his quarterback needing to stay
healthy as well. Does that added risk play into your
ranking of in fits?

Speaker 3 (12:15):
Those guys were so the backups were so bad last
year and now I mean Zach Wilson the much yeah,
also bad. Like I'm not gonna try to spin him
up into a you know, something better than he is,
but I do think it would be non disastrous if
Zach Wilson had to play some games.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
Okay, that's the first time that sentence has ever been said.
Let's go around three. You've got a running back here,
and I will tell you this is also the player
that Fitz would have picked if you didn't pick him already.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yeah, Chase Brown. I'll be honest. I went into this offseason,
like a lot of people have with DeAndre Swift, just
thinking well, they're going to add somebody else that makes
me feel worse about him. I couldn't believe. I mean,
I didn't think coming into the league that Chase Brown
was the type of running back that teams would give
an eighty percent snapshare week after week after week and
give him twenty touches a game. Basically, that's what the

(13:10):
Bengals did in the second half of last year, and
they didn't add anybody this offseason. That scares me even
a little bit. This will be one of the best
offenses and this is a true workhorse running back in
that offense. And so I think you get that in
round three. You feel like you just received a gift.

Speaker 1 (13:28):
Yeah, and fits you can chair your other player, but
obviously you also wanted to pick Chase Brown here, so
a strong agreement on this player.

Speaker 3 (13:35):
Yeah, totally agree with Heith. And maybe Chase Brown is
not getting ninety percent snap shares anymore. Maybe someone from
among Zach Moss, samajp Ryan and you know, my personal
favorite TJAJ Brooks steps in a steel a few of
the carries, but like Chase Brown is still going to
be a workhorse, and you just have to love that.

(13:56):
The Bengals offense is so consolidated, and you know, it's
this potent offense that really only goes through three guys
plus the quarterback.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
Yeah, it's it's I mean, I didn't sit down and
put together a list like this, but I can't imagine
the list is very long of running backs who are
very clear workhorse number one backs in what is very
clearly expected to be a top five scoring offense, you know,
top ten. To make the longer list, like I, that
list cannot be very long. To get a guy like

(14:26):
that in round three is really exciting, So you know,
like agree him across the board. I guess there's not
really much I can add to that one. But Fitz,
you actually went with one of his teammates in round
three to go in a different directionaire.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
I did, and like Chase Brown, who is a second rounder,
who we've got is a third rounder in ECR, I
think T Higgins should probably be going late in the
second round. Two getting him in the third is a
really good value. I just I think this Bengals passing
game is going to cook this year because, well, because
it's really good. Joe Burrow is one of the best
care passers in the game, and because the Cincinnati defense

(15:00):
is likely to be really bad, so the Bengals are
gonna have to put up a lot of points to
win games. There are three good ways to tap into
this passing game. You could draft Jamar Chase, but that
requires you to have the one on one or maybe
the one oh two. You could draft Burrow, but he's
kind of expensive for a quarterback who doesn't run much.
Or you can draft T Higgins in the third and

(15:20):
I know some people don't like drafting a guy who
isn't the top receiver on his own team, but I
think Higgins will outperform a lot of teams number one receivers.
He scored ten touchdowns in twelve games last year and
was pacing for almost thirteen hundred yards. He missed five
games last year, also missed five games in twenty twenty three.
But the perception of injury risk is why Higgins is

(15:42):
there in the third round and not the second. He's
He's really good. He's averaged nine yards per target for
his career, almost two yards per route run. He's just
a fabulous receiver paired with one of the top two
pure passers in the game. The lowest yardage total for
Joe Burrow in any of this full seasons it's four
four hundred and seventy five yards, and the fewest passing

(16:04):
touchdowns for Burrow in any of his full seasons thirty four.
And like, what if? I know Higgins has considered the
injury risk, but what if Chase were to miss any
time over the last three years, Chase has missed five games.
In those five games, Higgins has averaged one hundred and
two point two yards and twenty PPR points per game.

Speaker 1 (16:24):
Heath, do you see this as assuming health limiting the
upside of your team if you're taking guy who's not
the number one target in his offense as early as
round three, or you with fits like the offense is
just so good it won't matter.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
No. I think he inherently has upside at his cost,
because we are all factoring in not just the ten
missed games over the last two years, but the fact
that he's had a lot of partial games to a
lot of games he's left early that have kind of
really held down his per game stats, not just as
overall stats. And so with that being factored in, there's
the upside that T Higgins just plays seventeen games and

(16:58):
right there, you're getting a better player than what you drafted.
And I think that people do focus a little too
much on the time he's missed and not enough on
the contingent upside that fits talked about that if if
Jauar Chase missus time, T Higgins might be the number
one wide receiver in fantasy.

Speaker 1 (17:13):
Winning your fantasy league starts before draft day, and the
Fantasy Pros Draft Kit gives you the knowledge to do
it right. Get insight on proven strategies, must have, players
to avoid, and more from analysts like Pat Fitzmorris, Eric Brown,
and Andrew Erickson. Don't walk into draft day guessing. Read up,
lock in win your league. Go to fantasypros dot com
slash kit all right, guys, it's head to round four. Fits.

(17:36):
I'll have you go first here, but I will mention
that you also for the second consecutive round. Wanted to
pick the player that Heath will take.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
Yeah, Heath stole him for me. He was Heath is
just being a rude guest, came into the house track
mode on the carpeting. No, but that's okay. Heath is
a great guy, so we'll forgive him. But yeah, So
it's Alvin Kamara for me, and I love him him
as a fourth rounder. He is only going that late
because people are worried that the Saints' offense is going

(18:05):
to be a dumpster fire, and it most likely will
be a dumpster fire, but with Kamara, I would encourage
people to warm their hands by the flames. He was
RB five in PPR points per game last year and
the Saints were not exactly an offensive juggernaut last year either.
Kamara always catches a ton of passes, and that is

(18:25):
probably going to be the case again since neither Tyler
Shuck nor Spencer Rattler are like these guys are going
to be eager to check down if they don't see
anything they like downfield. A few seconds after the snap
and the pass rush starts to close in on them.
So I think there's gonna be a lot of designed
dump offs to Kamara. I just I think he's a
value in the fourth round because what he can give

(18:47):
you as a pass catcher in addition to his eight
or nine hundred brushing.

Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yards Heath Is this the right area for Kamara?

Speaker 3 (18:55):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (18:55):
One percent. I don't like him here as much as
the guy I picked, But no, I think there's so
many reasons to just avoid the Saints. But if you're
going to draft one, this is the guy to do
it with because he is the security blanket for quarterbacks
that are very very much going to need security blankets.
I don't know that we get as much out of
him as a rusher as we have in the past,

(19:16):
but this team's gonna be playing from behind so often
that Kamara is going to have to be involved in
the passing game.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
Who do you have here that you stole from Fits?

Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yeah, I'm gonna go with ken Walker. And this one
is also, I guess a little bit polarizing because I
actually think he should be taken like mid round three,
and sometimes you see him fall all the way to
round five, He's had some injury concerns, he had some
real efficiency problems, but I think Kubiak fixes the rushing
efficiency of this offense, and they've made it very clear

(19:47):
that they want to run the ball a lot more
than they did in twenty twenty four. So I think
it's a run heavy system where Walker's the clear lead
running back, sharing passing downs and a little bit with
Zach Charbonnay, but he's definitely the one eight and the
explosi of ability he's shown in combination with the receiving
upside that he showed last year, I think really gives
him top twelve upside without a doubt.

Speaker 1 (20:09):
This is one that his ranking in ECR I think
is even dragged down a little bit by folks that
are not here at Fantasy Pros because I know, like
Derek Brown is very big on Kenneth Walker. Fits obviously
wanted to pick him to like. As a team, I
think we are collectively pretty high on him. Also, Fits,
do you want to weigh in on why he would
have been your pick two?

Speaker 3 (20:29):
Yeah. So, in addition everything Heath mentioned, there is the
Kubiak Dennison combination coaching, with Clint Kubiak being the OC
and Rick Dennison being I think the run game coordinator.
That combination, well, at least Kubiak family, because going back
to Denver, it was Clint stad Gary as the Broncos

(20:49):
offensive coordinator under Mike Shanahan, and Rick Dennison was either
the O line coach or the run game coordinator, and
like that was the Terrell Davis Clinton Portis era and
they were always turning out big yardage. But after those guys,
it was dudes like Rubin Drones and Tatum Bell and
Mike Anderson having these one off great fantasy seasons and

(21:09):
it was because of that run game scheme, like it
was just gold no matter who was in the backfield.
And you know, not only that, but Kenneth Walker didn't
do much as a pass catchers for ast couple of years,
and then we saw a big spike in his passing
game usage last year, which is encouraging.

Speaker 1 (21:25):
Let's got around five here, he Hooty have for us.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
This is the guy that I talk about on every
podcast that I do. It seems like it's DeAndre Swift
who has really gotten a bad rap in the fantasy community. Mostly,
I would say because our expectations have been so sky
high two or three times for him, and he fails
to live up to those But what he has done
is be a top twenty four running back on a
per game basis. Every single year of his career, he's

(21:51):
shown us that borderline top twelve upside. People talk about
how Ben Johnson doesn't like DeAndre Swift, but the best
season of DeAndre Swift's career came when he was on
the same team that Ben Johnson was coaching. He was
when Jamal Williams was scoring all those touchdowns. DeAndre Swift
was finishing as a top sixteen running back in PPR
and full game basis on a per game basis. Another

(22:12):
team that everyone expected to bring somebody else in. It
was going to be Nick Chubb, or it was going
to be JK. Dobbins, or it was going to be
Mr n Hampton, and it was nobody. I think Ben
Johnson's pretty comfortable with DeAndre Swift as one of his
two running backs. Roshan Johnson's a great value also, But
what it feels like when you look at where he's
being drafted usually just outside of the top twenty four

(22:33):
running backs. We are drafting DeAndre Swift at the floor
that he's shown us over and over and over again,
and now you get a chance to also have the
upside of what we thought he could be earlier in
his career. I expected a big role in the passing game,
and I expect this bears offensive line and offensive philosophy
to be greatly improved from last year when he was

(22:54):
still a low end RB two.

Speaker 1 (22:55):
Yeah, just looking at his finishes, you know, five years
RB night t and RB twenty three, RB twenty two,
RB nineteen, RB eighteen. That's in HALFVPR scoring is just
like they you always talk about, like you learn in
size class scoring out the difference between accurate and precise.
He is precise. He is in the same area every
time every single season fits. You are roughly in line

(23:18):
with ECR on Swift. Ironically, Ericson and Debro, who aren't
on the show today, are both way lower on Swift,
so I'd be curious to get their opinion why they
disagree You're more along the lines with Heathier though.

Speaker 3 (23:30):
Yeah, I have moved him around pretty restlessly. I would
say I've moved him around probably more in my offseason
rankings than just about anyone else. I'm kind of conflicted
on him. Like, if you go to NFL Next Gen Stats,
they have this stat for running backs rushing yards over
expected rushing yards over expected per carry. DeAndre Swift rank
dead last in that category last year. I think he

(23:51):
was like minus zero point six y nine rushing yards
over expected per carry, so he was pretty far underwater.
But like, how much does that factor in what a
disaster the Bears offensive line was last year? And they
have completely overhauled the middle of that line in the
most impressive way possible, bringing in like three studs to
man the middle of the offensive line. So that's gonna help.

(24:14):
Ben Johnson is going to help, and you know then
it's it's behind him Roshan who well might talk about
a little later, and uh Kyle Manangai a seventh round pick.
So yeah, I mean there is plausible upside for DeAndre Swift,
no question.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
What they're actually in. Fits did you go in for
round five?

Speaker 3 (24:33):
I went with DeVante Smith, And I'll be honest, I
did not love any of the fifth round options, but
DeVante Smith is one of the best route runners in
the game. He's dangerous After the catch, DeVante would have
had his third straight thousand yard season last year, if
he had missed four games, he scores touchdowns. He has

(24:54):
averaged nine point one yards per targets and one point
nine to two yards per route run for his career.
Those are outstanding numbers. And you know, again, people are
often reluctant to draft a player who's the number two
target on his own team, and you know, DeVante Smith
does have to share targets with aj Brown. But Smith
was ride receiver seventeen in PPR Fantasy points per game

(25:17):
last season, even though the Eagles were the run heaviest
team in the league. So Smith offers this sturdy floor
and we could get a high ceiling season from him
if the Eagles are forced to throw a little more
this year.

Speaker 1 (25:30):
Heath with a guy like Smith kind of the same
thing as Higgins, right, you know, in a different sense.
But you're taking a guy who's not the number one
target on his offense. Do you like him in round five?

Speaker 2 (25:40):
I'm just a little bit lower on this. I don't
like it though, because I think that everything that fits
said about Smith is accurate. I think he is an
exceptionally talented player. The problem is he plays in one
of like t Higgins is the second option in one
of the best pass offenses in the NFL. Davante Smith's
the best, and that's why he's going three rounds later.
I think they're great. Thing about Smith and the reason

(26:01):
that I rank him higher than his projection is that
he has been so good if either aj Brown or
Dallas Goddard is out. When both of those guys are healthy,
he's been a little bit of a bust that costs
most of the time, more of a wide receiver three
than a wide receiver two. We saw goddardt miss extensive
time last year, Brown missed a little time last year,
and so DeVante Smith finishes at the top twenty wide receiver.

(26:24):
It's good to have that type of contingent upside. I'd
rather wait just a little bit longer. But the thing
I like about drafting him is I know he's very good,
and who knows, maybe the Eagles throw just a little
bit more this year.

Speaker 1 (26:35):
Yeah, I'll be curious to see what the offense looks
like in general, just you know, the Super Bowl champion
every year, you see the brain drain, you see you know,
talented players go. Also, it's still a really, really good team,
but I'll be curious if maybe they are forced to
throw just a little bit more than they did last
year too, even if it's not their plan going in.
Let's go to a round six here. Fitz will start
with you on this one.

Speaker 3 (26:54):
Calvin Ridley, I think he can give you wide receiver
two numbers and a wide receiver three like. He's just
such an easy click for me in the sixth round.
Ridley has given us two straight thousand yard seasons after
missing the twenty twenty two season because of that gambling suspension.
He got to one thousand yards last season with Will
Levis and Mason Rudolph as his quarterbacks. Now he gets

(27:17):
to play with number one overall draft pick cam Ward,
and I know Ward is going to struggle at times
most rookie quarterbacks do, but he's an aggressive downfield thrower,
and he's more accurate than either Levis or Rudolph. There's
also very little target competition for Ridley. I just I
think there's a great chance Ridley sees significantly more than

(27:38):
the one hundred and twenty targets he saw last year.

Speaker 1 (27:41):
Heith Calvin Ridley is sixty ninth overall wide receiver thirty
two in HALFVPR. Is that too high to low or
just right.

Speaker 2 (27:48):
That's pretty much just right for me, don't. I don't necessary.
I think there's upside with where you're taking him, and
there's risk, and it really just comes down to can
this Titans offense with a quarterback look a little bit
more competent, And if it does, then I think Ridley
probably pays off just a little bit at value. He's
one of those guys that I just haven't I don't

(28:10):
have a lot of takes on. I think he's a
round six pick. He's a number three wide receiver who
has huge upside on a given week.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
You have got one of the rookie running backs here
in around six Heath, and this is kind of the
range for a couple of these guys, and I think
it's really interesting. I know you've been really high on
this player, you know, since the draft, so I was
kind of expecting you to pick him if you're going
to go in a rookie running back direction. But I'm
curious to hear your thoughts on why you're going with
the guy you did.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
Yeah, Trevion Henderson was my second favorite running back in
this class before the draft, and I'm pretty much still there.
I didn't like the fact that he didn't get drafted
quite as high as I would like, But I think
the situation actually works out really well for him. First off,
we know what Josh McDaniel's history is with pass catching
running backs, and Trevion Henderson profiles with somebody who could

(28:55):
be very, very good at that, and so he doesn't
necessarily even have to win a large share of the
rushing down work to pay off in round six. But
I think he has a chance to, partially because of
Vermandre stevenson struggles and the one thing that can keep
the two things that can keep veterans on the field
over rookies who are more exciting, or when you have

(29:16):
veterans that are really good in pass protection or really
good at ball protection and Ramondre Stevens is bad at
the Stevenson is bad at both of those things. I
think Henderson might be a better pass catcher the first
day of training or a better not pass catcher pass
blocker the first day of training camp than the Stevenson is.
So I think there's a real opportunity for him to
begin the year in that third down role with some
explosive playmaking in the running game and then as the

(29:38):
season goes on, he becomes the number one guy for
hopefully an improving Patriots offense.

Speaker 1 (29:44):
And I believe this is what you just said, but
I just want to clarify for the listeners, this isn't
that you see him like, oh, round six Henderson is
a better value than round five R J. Harvey. You
actually have Henderson ranked ahead of guys like Harvey and Hampton, right, absolutely, yes, yeah, fits.
How do you feel about that ranking of the rookies?

Speaker 3 (29:59):
Yeah, I mean I think Heath is smart to focus
on what Henderson can give you as a pass catcher
and then what he gives you as a runner is gravy,
but it could be a lot of gravy. Like it
could be a double ladle of gravy, because I love gravy.
Because Stevenson had the fumbling problems, man, I mean, like
they sat him on the bench for Antonio Gibson last year,

(30:20):
but like Henderson is going to own those passing downs
because he's electric on screens and because I mean you
would think a guy like Henderson who's not a big
prospect like Omarion Hampton, but he is a dog as
a pass blocker, like he's really good at it. That
did's not coming off the field on passing downs.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
The thing I really like about Henderson as opposed to
somebody like Hampton is, you know, we have concerns about
how much work is Hampton gonna get early in the
season with Najee Harris there. If Henderson doesn't get a
lot of the work, He's still getting really valuable work
catching passes, getting explosive plays like maybe not the short
term like touchdowns, but everything else, the most valuable stuff
you can be doing as a running back right off
the bat. I think Henderson is going to be doing

(31:01):
that for what I expect to be a better offense
in Drake May's second year. So yeah, I think it's
a great pick. And he's not somebody that needs to
be a workhorse for it to pay off, kind of
like a poor man's Junior Gibbs in that sense where
he's just gonna be doing stuff that we like to
see in fantasy. So I think it's a great call,
and you know, I think it's smart to play your
flag on him compared to some of the other guys
going in this range. I want to let everybody know

(31:22):
about DraftKings get in the game. Best Ball is live
at DraftKings. Fifteen million dollars is on the line with
real stakes and real excitement. Best Ball is the biggest
fantasy contest at DraftKings. We're taking a fifteen million dollars
guaranteed prize pool with two millionaires being crowned for first
and second place. Play season long fantasy football the DraftKings way.
With best Ball, there's no waiver wires and no roster management.

(31:44):
You get bigger rosters so injuries won't end your season.
Just draft your team in your set. If a shot
at winning a share of fifteen million dollars isn't enough
to get you excited, check this out. DraftKings is offering
everyone a Draft one, get one special. Your twenty dollars
entry scores you a bonus ticket. Download the DraftKings app
and use code Fantasy Pros. That's code Fantasy Pros for
all customers who enter the NFL Best Ball fifteen million

(32:05):
Millionaire contest to get a bonus ticket and get a
shot at being crowned one of two millionaires only on DraftKings.

Speaker 4 (32:12):
Gambling problem call one eight hundred gambler in New York
called eight seven seven eight open wire, text hope and
wy at four six seven, three six nine. In Connecticut.
Help is available for problem gambling called eight eight eight
seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG
dot org eighteen and over in most eligible states, but
age varies by jurisdiction. Eligibility restrictions apply. One per customer
enter the Best Ball fifteen million Headliner contest by nine

(32:34):
four to twenty five to get one bonus entry. Twenty
dollars entry fee required. Reward expires in thirty days. See
terms at DraftKings dot com. Slash NFL Dash Best dash Ball.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
All right, let's head to round seven. Heath thro D
have for us.

Speaker 2 (32:47):
This is kind of kind of one of my guys
this year. In terms of value, it's Jerry Judy, and
I think if Joe Flacco wins the starting job, this
is way way way too low, and if anybody else
wins it, this is probably just about right. I'm a
little hesitant to buy mid career breakouts, especially as like
a year, five, year six, and then believe that's going

(33:09):
to continue. But he was only twenty five years old
last year. I think people don't realize how young Jerry
Judy is he'd shown us flashes in the past, took
off last year with Jameis Winston and Joe Flacco at
this stage of his career is basically older Jameis Winston.
We've seen him ele of eight pass catchers, like he
did with Josh Dowens last year, like he did with
teammate David Njoku a year before. And I really believe

(33:31):
that Judy, who was a top five wide receiver in
the second half of last year, has top fifteen upside
for as long as he's playing with Joe Flacco.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
It's funny, Fits, I'm realizing that you were the wrong
person have on the show because once again I'm looking
like Ericson is lower the consensus, Deebros. Lower and the consensus.
You are above consensus. So I'm assuming you're going to
agree with Heath here.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
Yeah, I'm just here to be the Greek chorus for
Heath today.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
I like it. I could use this more often.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
So. Yeah. The funny thing is is Judy averaged three
catches and thirty eight yards last year in the seven
games that Deshaun Watson started like he did not work
well with Watson obviously just smashed in the Jameis Winston
games and even was really productive in the Dorian Thompson
Robinson and Bailey Zappie games. So did not click with

(34:21):
the Shawn Watson, but everything else was just gold. Like
he said, he's still young, and if you draft Judy
are just praying that Joe Flacco makes a bunch.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
Of starts fits. We've talked about some of the younger
guys available in previous rounds. You have, I think probably
the oldest player we're talking about today as your choice here.

Speaker 3 (34:40):
Yeah, and this is probably going to be controversial. It's
Travis Kelcey. And it's funny that it's controversial because we've
been debating for so long whether he should be a
first round pick in fantasy. Now you can get him
in the seventh round. And I feel like the only
way he doesn't pay off on this price is if
he gets hurt. And Travis Kelcey is not missed more

(35:00):
than two games in any season since its rookie year,
and a lot of the games he's missed have been
regular season finales when the Chiefs had a bye week
wrapped up already, or if he just collapses. I suppose
the collapse as possible he's thirty six. Last year was
the first time he averaged under ten yards per catch,
but he's still had ninety seven catches last year. Like,

(35:21):
do we really think Travis Kelcey isn't going to be
a big part of this offense again, that Patrick Mahomes
isn't going to look for him? Like, come on, I'm
just I'm not buying that. So seventh round, Yeah, I'll
take it.

Speaker 1 (35:33):
Heath Let's loop in your a round eight pick. Who's
David and Joku? Because it's the first tight end that
you brought up on the show. How do you compare
a guy like Joku in the eighth to Kelsey in
the seventh?

Speaker 2 (35:42):
I have them both. I think back to back in
my rankings. I love Fitz's call here. I think one
of the things he didn't talk about was that I
think Kelsey outscored Sam Laporta and Mark Andrews per game
last year, despite the fact that he only scored three
touchdowns and those guys lived on touchdowns, and we know
touchdowns are not the stickiest stat We've seen big touchdown
seasons from Kelsey in the pack. I would be more

(36:03):
likely to believe he was going to ride into the
sun off into the sunset. If it wasn't for how
hard he's been working this offseason to get in shape
and how all the things Patrick Mahomes is saying about
how much better he looks. I think Kelsey wants to
have one more great season. So great call there, n Djoku.
It's a lot of the stuff I said about Jerry Judy.
The difference is that he's actually safer because they're layups

(36:25):
in that Brown's offense and the Kevin Stefanski system. I
know they got a new offensive coordinator, I still think
Stefanski has a big impact on things. The layups go
to the tight ends. Joku had a five yard eight
OT over the last two years. If they play one
of the younger guys, kind of like the Alvin Kamara
is the guy that they dump it off to in
New Orleans and the Joku is the guy they dump
it off to in Cleveland. So I think he's a

(36:47):
little bit safer in terms of if Joe Flacco is
not the starter. But it's worth remembering that in twenty
twenty three he played five games with Joe Flacco and
averaged eighteen fantasy points per game in those five games,
So big time upside for as long as Flacco was starting,
and I think he might be better than an eighth
round value even with one of the other guys.

Speaker 1 (37:07):
Flacco has always loved his tight ends from day one.
What is your approach generally, Heath on the tight end position?
Is it to I know you didn't mention these guys earlier,
but is it to try and get a Bowers or
a McBride or a Kittle early or is it more
to get you know, this mid tier or do you
just want to kind of punt and wait till even
later to get your tight end.

Speaker 2 (37:25):
Yeah. I wish almost that Ashan had been twelfth in
the rankings, so I could have set him for round
one and I could have said one of the tight
ends for round two, because my plan so far this
year has pretty much been take Bowers or McBride in
round two. If I miss both those guys, it's take
Kelsey or Nijoku in round seven. So yeah, these are
the four guys that I usually end up with.

Speaker 1 (37:46):
Am my misremembering? Did I see you took Bowers first
overall in scott Fishbowl? That's its own same.

Speaker 2 (37:51):
I took him first overall on Scott fish Bowl. I've
heard some of the arguments about why he won't be
as good as he was last year. I just can't
believe in a better off with a better quarterback and
no significant target competition added that he's going to be worse.
I think brock Bauers might be worth a first round
pick and just a standard PPR league.

Speaker 1 (38:09):
I've got the third pick in my draft this weekend,
so maybe if he's there, I'll go the very nicely.

Speaker 3 (38:14):
I took him at one oh four, and okay, I
saw a lot of people getting him at like one
oh nine, one eleven. I Mike, did I reach? But
so Heath is making me feel better about that. But yeah,
I like powers at one o four. Scott Scott fish
always pumps up the tight ends in his league for sure, Fits.

Speaker 1 (38:31):
We have not done your round eight player yet. Who
do you have for us?

Speaker 3 (38:34):
Yeah, it's Brock Purty. So in his two full seasons
as an NFL starter, Perty has finished QB seven and
QB ten among quarterbacks who made at least six starts.
His ADP is QB thirteen. Pretty is averaging eight point
nine yards per attempt for his career, and just to
put that number into perspective. The single best one season

(38:57):
YPA that Tom Brady ever had in his care was
eight point six yards per attempt in twenty eleven, So
pretty averaging eight point nine yards per attempt over forty
careers game shows that one he's good and two Kyle
Shanahan's system is good. So I mean Perty even gave
us some rushing value last year three hundred and twenty

(39:18):
three yards five touchdown runs. Maybe the rushing numbers dry
up a bit, but Perty could be due for some
positive regression and touchdown rate. Only four point four percent
of his throws resulted in tds last year. That's below
his career mark of six percent.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
Yeah, heth I'm curious. I'm curious where you have Pretty
ranked amongst quarterbacks. But also because you didn't pick a
quarterback for this kind of the same thing about tight ends.
What's your approach with the position.

Speaker 2 (39:42):
So the last three drafts that I've done, I've drafted
Bruck Perty, So all I can do is just one
hundred percent agree. I think he's going to smash his
career high in pass attempts. I think people focused on
the weapons that he's lost, But I think this forty
nine ers defense may not be near as good as
a spin during the time that he's been there, I
expect he's my QB seven. Absolutely love it. The reason

(40:04):
I didn't put him here is because I've been spoiled
by all these analyst drafts where I get brought party
in round ten or around eleven. But he is my
QB seven, and amongst the quarterbacks, I think he is
probably the guy that I am highest on amongst all quarterbacks.

Speaker 1 (40:20):
Before we get to the rest of the show, I
want to take a quick second to talk to everyone
about fan Tracks. Guys, if you want customization and your
fantasy platform, look no further than fan Tracks, offering the
greatest fantasy experience for your dynasty, keeper, redraft, and best
ball leagues. Their free NFL Fantasy Football League Manager is
the most customizable, easy to use, feature rich platform in

(40:42):
the industry. They can easily import any current leagues you
have on other platforms and begin customizing your settings immediately. Personally,
I use fan Tracks for my college football fantasy league,
my dynasty baseball league, my dynasty college basketball fantasy league.
Yes that's a real thing, and of course my longtime
dynasty NFL league made the switch as well, whether it's

(41:02):
debbie leagues, IDP leagues, decimal scoring, tight end, premium, unique
matchup settings like weekly doubleheaders. There's a reason why fantasy
players who try fan tracks make it the permanent home
for all their fantasy leagues. Because they have it all
and I haven't even mentioned the best part yet. Sign
up for free today and you will be entered to
win a signed at Jamar Chase Jersey. Head tofantracks dot

(41:23):
com slash Fantasy Pros and sign up today. That's f
A N t r a x dot com slash Fantasy
Pros for your chance. How to signed jamar Chase Jersey.
Fan Tracks the home of fantasy sports. Let's stick with you.
Fits you for your pick in round nine because you're
going back to the quarterback.

Speaker 3 (41:41):
Well here again, I am so I have to admit
that Perty is not my favorite click at quarterback in
drafts this year. It's Drake May. And you know this worm.
I mean, after doing shows with you all off season,
you could probably recite my Drake May sales pitch for me.
And I've been giving it to our viewers and listeners.
You know, they've been getting the hard sell on Drake

(42:02):
May off season, So I will spare all of you
a long breakdown of why I think Drake May is
going to run for eight hundred yards and at least
four or five touchdowns this year, and why I think
he'll put up solid passing numbers. I'll just say that
if anyone out there believes in Drake May and wants
to get him this year, use justin Fields as your
alarm clock. Like when Fields gets picked, take Drake May

(42:25):
in the next round, and Fields ADP is ninety three overall,
May is one fifteen overall, So you'll probably be picking
May a full round ahead of his ADP, but you
will be assured of getting him, and I think it's
well worth it to get him this year.

Speaker 1 (42:40):
Heath, Again, we just talked about how Purty is such
a great target for you. Is May kind of also
in that conversation. In this round of drafts, no.

Speaker 2 (42:47):
I My Drake May ranking was so low that we
have our Saint Jude Draftathon coming up and just starting actually,
and we had somebody make a donation if we would
do a weekly segment about how wrong I will about
Jake May, because he's just convinced I'm gonna be eating
Crow all season long. So we appreciate the donation and
we're gonna do the segment and hopefully I'll look dumb.

(43:07):
I'm probably still more of a Steffan Diggs skeptic in
terms of his health and his age, and I think
if Diggs is not good, this is still the worst
receiving cores in the NFL, and so that's what worries me.
I loved what May did as a rusher last year,
but also there's some efficiency there that's just probably not repeatable.

(43:28):
He had some very long runs and he'll have a
couple of those. But I think we see the yards
per attempt come down a little bit. I'm hopeful that
the rush attempts go up, but in the Josh McDaniels
get it out quick system, I'm a little bit more
worried they're going to train him to not take off
and run but dump it off to Trevion Henderson instead.
And so we'll just we'll see if I'm wrong. I
like the player. I like him a lot more in

(43:50):
Dynasty than I do in Redraft. And if Stefan Diggs
is somehow at thirty one coming off of an acl
Steffan Diggs again then I'm gonna bag on my face.

Speaker 1 (43:59):
So who are you going round nine?

Speaker 2 (44:00):
Then in round nine, I'm gonna go with Ricky Pearsall.
And this feels like cheating because from the moment the
Dwan Jennings trade request or contract request happened, it seemed
like a switch flipped and everybody started taking Piersall a
couple of rounds ahead of Djuwan Jennings. I like both
of them. I'm happy to take whichever one goes second.

(44:21):
I think in the consensus rankings, Piersol was showing as
the second one, so I chose him. There's big time
upside for Ricky Piersoll, and he showed it in the
last two games of last year. The reason we can't
rank him any higher is because it was two games,
and I think I don't expect much from Brandon Auk
until probably week seven. Week eight gives him a great

(44:42):
runway to establish himself as the number one receiver in
this offense. Either way, I think if I can get
at the eight to nine turn both Jennings and Piersol,
I feel great about that.

Speaker 1 (44:53):
Fitz, what do you think about Pearsal?

Speaker 3 (44:55):
Like him a lot. It's funny because people on a
bunch of Finns analysts on Twitter this week. We're sort
of fighting the Juwan Jennings crusades. People on either side
of that battle and I have tended to be I
did not join in with my sword and shield, but
I have been on the Ricky Pearsol side of things.
I feel better about Pearsaw. I mean, I never trust

(45:17):
Age twenty seven breakouts. And if you look like Juwan
Jennings yards per route run last year was fabulous, it
was like two point twenty six. But like for the
rest of his career, which I think amounts to more
route runs than he had last year, it was like
one point four. Like it just wasn't good. So I'm
not sure I trust the breakout for Jennings. I trust
more in the draft pedigree and athleticism. And you know,

(45:41):
Pearsaw gave us a pretty good audition in the last
two weeks of twenty twenty four.

Speaker 1 (45:46):
Sorry he did you say where you would take him?
Because you said round nine is almost like cheating at
this point, where is the round that you would be
wanting to reach for him?

Speaker 2 (45:54):
Well, what I'd like to do is take one of
them in round eight and one of them at the
start of round nine, like, I'd feel pretty good that
I've considered it in round seven, but I think round
date's probably the sweet spot.

Speaker 1 (46:04):
Let's go to round ten. Here he will start with
you who you.

Speaker 2 (46:08):
Have, Well, we're not going with the youth this time.
We're going with the old man, and it's Cooper Cup.
And I do have like I've been taunted by our
listeners over this, I have kind of a theory that
if a guy shows you that in his thirties that
he's done, believe him. The problem is kind of like
I can't quite believe the last two games for Ricky Piersol.

(46:28):
It was only really the last four games for Cooper Cup.
Through Week fourteen, he was on a twelve hundred yard
ten touchdown pace, and then those last four games he
just disappeared. I'm I'm hopeful that was some sort of
injury and he's Cooper Cup again at the beginning of
this year, which is probably a big time problem for JSN.
I love the fact they're talking about playing him predominantly

(46:50):
in the slot. He's just been elite too recently for
me to see him fall this latent drafts. I would
actually prefer Cup to the forty nine ers, and I'd
take him as early as round seven.

Speaker 3 (47:02):
Do you think I don't know if I've taken him
in any draft yets. I mean, I'm not one of
these people who's done two hundred Best Ball drafts already.
But yeah, I just I don't know if he, like
he said, like the switch just flipped off very abruptly.
I don't know if he turned to dust, or if
there was some sort of hidden explanation and injury or

(47:23):
something else. I'd like to believe that he goes back
to his home state and has like one more really
nice season. I just I don't know. I'm very sort
of torn on him and have aired on the side
of not drafting him.

Speaker 1 (47:36):
Fits Who's year round ten pick.

Speaker 3 (47:38):
It's Jordan Mason, and I actually think both of the
Minnesota Viking running backs are pretty attractive. Aaron Jones might
even be the better value at this point because Mason
is starting to get expensive. I'm just not sure if
people can actually get Jordan Mason in the tenth round.
So please don't yell at me in the YouTube comments
about Mason not being available here, but if you can,

(47:59):
and that's where he has him like Mason should have
some standalone value this year, and if anything happens to
Aaron Jones, who's thirty now by the way, Mason will
be a guy that we will be ranking in the
top ten or even in our top five at running
back every week that Jones is out. So Mason showed
us what he could do last year when when Christian

(48:20):
McCaffrey was hurt early in the year, Mason averaged one
hundred and twenty scrimmage yards a game in five point
one yards per carry before getting hurt himself. And the
Vikings run games real heavy on the outside zone, which
is just totally suits Mason's abilities. I think if you
can get Mason in the tenth round, you should pounce
on him.

Speaker 1 (48:40):
Heath, is Mason a target for you as sort of
like a handcuff plus type of player?

Speaker 2 (48:45):
Yeah? Yeah, I think he's got flex appeal. Even with
Aaron Jones healthy, I would not be surprised if he
just has more rush attempts than Aaron Jones this year,
and I certainly wouldn't be surprised with jones fumbling issues
if he has more rush attempts inside the five or
ten yard line, and maybe even more rushing touchdowns. I
hope that this high flying Vikings pass game can still

(49:07):
be that with a first year starter at quarterback. I
do think there's a chance that with a first year
starter at quarterback they go a little more run heavy
than they have in the past. And there's room for
Aaron Jones to touch the ball fifteen times a game.
And Jordan Mason still be a contributor in fantasy. So
I think if if you can find him in round ten,
that's great.

Speaker 1 (49:24):
Fits Who is your round eleven.

Speaker 3 (49:26):
Guy, Keon Coleman. So we saw glimpses of Keon's big
playability in year one. He averaged nineteen point two yards
per catch, just under ten yards per target. He just
needs to get more consistent and earn more targets. But
the Bills don't really have anything close to an alpha
receiver on their roster. There's substantial target upside for Coleman.
I'm hoping for a big step forward in year two.

Speaker 1 (49:49):
I wonder I fits since, especially since we do the
Dynasty Show together. If I've heard you talk more about
Drake May or Kean Coleman or for the last year, because.

Speaker 3 (49:57):
It's a lot of being May. But there's been a
lot of Holman.

Speaker 1 (50:01):
Hype too, Heath, are you buying into any of Fitz's
Keon Coleman hype?

Speaker 2 (50:06):
I hate the bills offense so much, and then Josh
Allen's awesome. They are very good, but just their offensive
philosophy of even our best skill position player, James Cook. Yeah,
let's just give him two hundred and thirty touches or
something and mix in Ty Johnson and Ray Davis and
let's throw it to seven different pass catchers. I think

(50:27):
that the Keon Coleman breakout path is like James Jones
season where he doesn't actually have a thousand yards and
he doesn't catch that many passes, but he scores ten
touchdowns because he plays one of the best quarterbacks on
the planet. And so if you can get that in
round eleven, I think it's not the guy that I
generally click on that range, but he certainly has that
potential upside because of who he plays with.

Speaker 1 (50:49):
Who is the guy that you click on here?

Speaker 2 (50:51):
So my round eleven guy was Tank Bixby, and I
want to apologize and advance to all the baseial Tuton Tilts.
I know everybody loves him. Well, I looked at ADP
earlier this week, and there's some site where he's going
earlier than both Travis CTN and Tanks Bigsby. Already. Tank
Bigsby has had a terrible time catching the football and
past protecting. He's not been passing Down's guy, but he

(51:12):
was one of the most efficient rushers in the NFL
last year. And I think that there is a chance
everybody looks at Toot and says, well, he's the Bucky Irving,
And I think there's a chance that Tank Bigsby is
the Bucky Irving. And I would much rather take a
chance on him if he's going third in this group
in round eleven than drafting one of the other guys
in round seven, eight or nine. I don't think we
really know anything about the Jacksonville backfield heading into training camp,

(51:37):
but the narrative that the day three running back is
going to be the guy because he's the one the
coach chose doesn't hold as much weight with me as
it seems to be a flaut of people fits.

Speaker 1 (51:46):
What's your approach with this backfield?

Speaker 3 (51:47):
Yeah, I mean kind of lean into it. I want
to get a piece of it in every draft, just
because the ambiguity is keeping the prices low, and if
you don't get the right guy, it's really easy to
cut ties and just wave them after a while, but
the potential rewards if you hit on the right guy.
And maybe Bigsby well, as he said he's not going
to plan passing downs. I'm kind of just scratching him

(52:08):
off my board in full point PPR leagues and half
point that's different. He was so much better as a
runner than ETN was last year. It wasn't even funny.
Like all the metrics yards after contact, per Kerry rushing
yards overexpected. ETN just got blown away by Tank Bigsby.
So I see why Heath is attracted here. And like

(52:29):
bay shal Touton is a fumbling issue, laquint Allen isn't
really an early down guy, so it wouldn't surprise me
if Tank got the vast majority of the first and
second down work.

Speaker 1 (52:40):
Round twelve, we've got one rookie and one guy in
his thirties, so opposite end of the spectrum here, Heath.
Let's start with the rookie.

Speaker 2 (52:47):
Yeah, I'll go with Matthew Golden. I again, another guy
I would take three or four rounds earlier than what
the ECR shows right now, it seems like some people
really hate Matthew Golden.

Speaker 3 (52:57):
I know.

Speaker 2 (52:57):
The downside is that so far Green Bay hasn't had
a number one wide receiver. They just spread the ball
around too much. But the other thing they haven't had
is a first round pick as a wide receiver. It's
something the Packers didn't do for basically two decades, and
they did it this year. I think that's because they
looked at their roster and said, we've got like four
number two guys, we need a number one. And the
thing that Golden possesses that the other guys don't is

(53:20):
two hands. He can catch the football exceptionally well. They
really had a problem with drops last year. He's also
better as an intermediate route runner than he gets credit for.
People see the forty time and think, oh, he just
runs down the sideline. No, he can do other things.
He really seems to be building a good report with
Jordan Love already, and I expect Golden to function as
a true number one in this packer's office. That doesn't

(53:41):
mean one hundred and forty targets like some teams, but
I do think there's a chance for one hundred and
twenty targets, which would be the most I think in
the Matt Laflorra at least since DeVante Adams left. And
I love, love love him if you can get him
in the double digit rounds.

Speaker 1 (53:54):
Fits your in house packers fan, What do you think
about this pick?

Speaker 2 (53:57):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (53:57):
Were? I mean, we've talked about how conflicted I am
with Golden. The guys in our business who do like
models for rookie first round rookie receivers in general, but
especially the first rounders, point out that every first rounder
with a profile similar to Golden, like it's just littered
with guys who have been busted. I mean, he two

(54:17):
years ago, he was like the third best receiver in
the University of Houston, and that was after Tank Dell left.
But the scouting guys Daniel Jeremiah mel kiper Junior Dame Brugler,
they all had Golden as a top fifteen overall prospect
in this draft, like they loved him, and what he
did down the stretch against some really quality competition was

(54:38):
so impressive for Texas. So I don't know what to
think here, but I do I'm encouraged by the fact
that Matt Lafleur is one of the best play callers
in the NFL, and he if he and Brian Goodi
Kunts the Packers GM were on the same page about
drafting this guy. That Lafleur has a plan for him
and it's going to get him involved and get him

(55:01):
the ball. So yeah, mixed feelings for sure.

Speaker 1 (55:05):
Let's go with the older guy here now fits. Who's
your pick for round twelve?

Speaker 3 (55:09):
Austin Eckler. I was never really that big an Eckler
guy when he was a first rounder, and I missed
out on some good years. But now that he's so cheap,
he plays in an exciting, up and coming offense with
an electric quarterback and a much improved offensive line. And
Eckler was productive when he was healthy last year. He
scored double digit PPR points in eight of his twelve games,

(55:31):
and I think there's some upside here too. When Brian
Robinson Junior missed a pair of mid season games last
year with a hamstring injury, Eckler at one hundred and
thirty four yards from scrimmage in three touchdowns in those
two games, and one of those games was against the Steelers,
who have a pretty good defense. Heath.

Speaker 1 (55:47):
Is this somebody that interests you as a later on target.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
Oh, this is the guy that sits in my rankings
as the best player available by rankings for a couple
of rounds. And I just don't want to click it
because it's an old running back who's sharing work. But
I think that he's an incredible value, especially at this cost.
And I don't really fully understand the difference in the

(56:10):
ADP of Brian Robinson Junior and Austin Eckler because if
you just look at the games when both of those
guys were healthy last year, first off, neither one of
them was great, but they were both within like a
point and a half of each other, right around ten
or eleven Fantasy points per game. I think Brian Robinson
Junior is being overdrafted, Austin Eckler's being underdrafted.

Speaker 3 (56:28):
And Jacory krossky Merritt I think could steal carries from
Brian Robinson, but he's not going to steal any work
from Macklaer.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
Quick note for everybody on Draft Assistant. Draft Assistant helps
you make the best decisions during your fantasy draft. It
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 customized
cheat sheets and suggests picks based on your rankings, team build,
adp and other factors dominate your draft in real time

(56:56):
without the guestwork with Draft Assistant at fantasypros dot Com
assistant or on the Fantasy Football Draft Wizard app. All right, guys,
two rounds left. Will go quicker here because these are
kind of the range of I don't want to say,
like lottery tickets, but like kind of lottery tickets guys
that you'll be willing to drop if they don't pan
out pretty early on in the year. Heath, who do
you have in round thirteen?

Speaker 3 (57:15):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (57:16):
I don't have a lot of things to say about
Jaydahon Blue, so I'm glad that you said that we're
going to be quick on these guys. I'll just say
that if I can take a running back with receiving
upside who's currently behind Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, who
have both failed plenty over the last couple of years,
that seems like a decent bet to make.

Speaker 1 (57:35):
Are you interested at all? I know I said, we
go quick here, Heath, but are you interested at all
in Javonte Williams just as like a guy who we
don't think is like what he used to be, But
there's just so much opportunity here.

Speaker 2 (57:45):
Yeah. Yeah, I think if if he falls to that
round nine, round ten range, then sure, it's especially if
it's one of those teams where I started.

Speaker 3 (57:52):
Now.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
The reason I don't end up picking him a lot
is something I said at the start of the show.
A lot of my favorite picks in the first few
rounds are running backs, and I think Williams is the
type of guy you target. If you started off with
three wide receivers, an elite tight end, and a good quarterback,
and now you're trying to piece together that zero RB team,
then Javonte Williams is a good option if you already

(58:14):
have three running backs by the time you get to
round nine. I'm not sure that Williams has the upside
to really ever matter on your team, but yeah, I
think any of the Cowboys running backs are a worthwhile
click in the double digit rounds for sure.

Speaker 1 (58:25):
Fitz, we've talked a lot about Javonte. Do you have
any thoughts on Blue as a pick here.

Speaker 3 (58:30):
Yeah, I mean, I think you're getting pretty good pot
odds on him, as you know, in the thirteenth round. Basically,
like I don't know how he's going to work into
that running back rotation, but there's a chance he is
a pretty substantial role.

Speaker 1 (58:42):
You are picking round thirteen here. Fits is a longtime
fantasy pro's favorite.

Speaker 3 (58:46):
Yeah, Marvin Mimms Junior, And I know people have heard
me talk about him and how he scored six touchdowns
over Denver's last seven regular season games despite let's see,
sixty two yards per game in those seven games, despite
playing fewer than half the offensive snaps in all of them.
So he averaged zero point seventy two PPR fantasy points
per snap in those seven games, which is almost double

(59:10):
the zero point three eight PPR fantasy points per snap
that Jamar Chase averaged last season. And I realized it
was a lot of schemed up production, Like Mims got
a bunch of yards and screens. Sean Payton was putting
him in the backfield some of the time. And now
the Broncos have RJ. Harvey and Evan Ingram to steal
some of those short area targets. But Mims averaged up
to the target as a rookie was fifteen point one

(59:31):
yards in college. His last two years at Oklahoma, he
averaged more than twenty yards per catch in each of
those two seasons. Like, if he goes back to being
a downfield receiver this year, fine, Like there's still a
chance for him to produce that way, and he just
turned twenty three. I think there are a lot of
potential pass to value for this guy, and I like
him as a late run dart throw.

Speaker 1 (59:52):
Heath Is Mims somebody that interests you in this range.

Speaker 2 (59:55):
I love Mims. I loved him as a prospect. I
got too excited when Sean Payton took him in round
two and then talked about how Invaldi was going to
be I got too excited last year when Sean Payton
talked about how they had to get him on the
field more and then a snapshare actually went down. And
it's probably part of the reason where I've been skeptical
about the things Sean Payton says about RJ. Harvey, another
second round pick that he keeps talking good about. So yes,

(01:00:18):
if I'm definitely interested in drafting Mems at this point
in the draft, and I will be optimistic, but I
really don't think Sean Payton's going to let it happen.

Speaker 1 (01:00:27):
You beat me through the RJ. Harvey comparison, so we'll
done on that. Let's go to round fourteen. And there
were three players in this exercise that you guys both
wanted to pick. One was in round three, one was
in round four, and one was all the way down
at round fourteen. You guys had the same guy again,
Heath who did you take and snake away from fits?

Speaker 2 (01:00:46):
I don't know how so many people hate DeAndre Swift
and think that Ben Johnson hates DeAndre Swift, and yet
nobody wants to draft for Sean Johnson until round fourteen.
It doesn't make any sense to me. But yeah, he
should be in that Jamal Williams slash David Montgomery role.
He was already basically the goal line back last year.
If this offense takes the leap that we're hoping it does,

(01:01:07):
with Ben Johnson and hopefully Caleb Williams turning into the
guy he was drafted to be, then this could be
a team that scores forty five touchdowns in a season,
and Rochean could definitely get to double digit touchdowns. I
don't know that he does much in the passing game.
I don't expect him to be that efficient and as
a rusher, but he doesn't necessarily have to be. If
it's blocked well and he gets the short yardage opportunities,

(01:01:27):
he's a value here.

Speaker 1 (01:01:28):
Fitz, you wanted Roshan, where did you go instead?

Speaker 3 (01:01:31):
I went with Isaiah Likely just to pander to you,
the Ravens fan worm. Yeah, I mean, it's just if
Mark Andrews stays healthy all year. Isaiah Likely is probably
someone I don't know. You're cutting fairly early in the season.
You're just needing an extra spot, and you can't draft
him as your top tight end. But if anything were
to happen to Mark Andrews Warm We've talked about this

(01:01:54):
in games. Andrews has missed. Likely has produced at a
rate that I think, like, if you pro rate it
over a full season, works out to almost nine hundred
yards and like eleven touchdowns. And I just think the
guy's really good and I'm willing to kind of throw
a dart and hope that the opportunity presents itself. We've
heard talk that they're looking to lock up Likely with

(01:02:16):
the long term contract, which maybe bodes well for him
getting used a little bit more aggressively this year. So yeah,
I think he's worth a shot this light.

Speaker 1 (01:02:25):
The rumor around Baltimore is that they've made him the
same contract offer that they extended Andrews to a few
years ago, kind of that four year. I think it's
like fifty two million, like as an offer, which obviously
hasn't been accepted yet, but they are looking to extend him.
From what I can tell, it is likely he somebody
that if you do end up waiting late on tight
end or as like a second tight end that interests you.

Speaker 2 (01:02:47):
Yeah, I think when you get to round fifteen of
a draft, or around fourteen of a draft, what you'd
like to do is draft people that you know are
good at football. If they get the opportunity, they're going
to smash. And I think likely is exactly that. The
hard part last year was that Week one was so
good you couldn't drop them. You just had to hold

(01:03:07):
them on your bench all year long and wait just
in case. And that's kind of a pain when you've
got short benches in a redraft league. But the potential
is so good, the offense is so good, that it's
worth having him on at the end of your bench
for as long as you can handle that.

Speaker 3 (01:03:22):
Keith.

Speaker 1 (01:03:23):
Before we get out of here, you mentioned already the
Saint Jude Drafts of thought. Just such a cool thing
that you guys do. Do you want to take a
moment to let everybody know in case some people listening
don't know what that is. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:03:32):
Yeah, Basically from now until the end of August, we
are raising money for Saint Jude. Last year we raised
over one hundred thousand dollars. We're going to smash that
number this year. We'll have all types of opportunities for
people to get involved in, including play in leagues with us,
do mock drafts with us, have your question read on
the air, all kinds, and then there'll be other things
throughout the year. You'll get to watch Dan Schneier beat

(01:03:53):
at a mazer at tennis. Again, it's one of the
best thing I feel like that we get to do
in this industry is stuff like the Scott Fish Bowl,
like the Saint Jude Drafts on anything we can do
to use this game that we love to help other people.

Speaker 1 (01:04:07):
Yeah, it's super, super awesome. So in the off chance
anybody listening wasn't aware of that. Definitely check that out
throughout the next several weeks that they got going on
with CBS Sports. Thank you again so much, Eth for
making the time here. Good luck throughout draft season the
next several weeks, Enjoy the chaos that is incoming for
all of us here in the next month and a half.
Four eighth and fits, I'm Ron Warmley. Thanks for tuning in.

(01:04:28):
We'll see everybody 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. Follow us on x, Instagram,
and TikTok at Fantasy Pros, and subscribe to our YouTube
channel at YouTube dot com slash Fantasy Pros

Speaker 4 (01:05:08):
Bus

All Episodes

Full Send on These Players! | TOP TARGETS in Every Round of 2025 Fantasy Football Drafts (Ep. 1619)

Episode Transcript

Hosts And Creators

Andrew Erickson

Joe Pisapia

Derek Brown

Thor Nystrom

Ryan Wormeli

Pat Fitzmaurice

Matthew Freedman

Popular Podcasts

Crime Junkie

24/7 News: The Latest

Stuff You Should Know

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Full Send on These Players! | TOP TARGETS in Every Round of 2025 Fantasy Football Drafts (Ep. 1619)