Joey P's Undervalued Players That YOU NEED on Your Fantasy Football Team in 2025 (Ep. 1602)

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome in everybody to Fantasy pros. This is the Fantasy
Football Podcast. It is me Joey P joe Pisapia, and
today we're gonna look at my favorite things. That's right, everybody,
I have a say for once finally in telling you
all my favorite players, and I may or may not
get roasted by these two guys on either side of me.
Here we've got Jake Seely here from the Athletic again

(00:21):
and Andrew Ericksson. I'm gonna tell you my favorite players
in twenty twenty five in terms of underrated values that
I think that you absolutely one hundred percent need on
your rosters this year. And these guys will tell me
if I'm wrong or maybe maybe I might be right. Gentlemen,
it's great to see you as always. Before we get going,
just a quick shout out too. We had a crazy

(00:42):
little trade happened unexpected here, the Steelers acquiring Jalen Ramsey
John new Smith from the Dolphins in exchange for Minka Fitzpatrick,
Jake Seely. I don't think a lot of us saw
this one coming. So Arthur Smith gets John new Smith back.
Is that what's going on? He just he missed his
long lost brother. Is that what's going on here? But
let's talk about this from the fantasy end of it.

(01:03):
John new Smith now as a Pittsburgh Steeler, your thoughts.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
No, So should I just make this sound againsh like whatever? Yeah?
I think I thought that was the best way to
put it. Like, he went from being inside my top
ten to just inside my top twenty. It's also a
tight end, so knocking off twenty fantasy points weld far
make you go that far. But really what it comes
down to is, yeah, it's Arthur Smith and he's gonna
run two tight ends. But even if you give John
News Kyle Pitt's share from when they were splitting that

(01:29):
and you saw about one hundred and sixty targets go
to each of them, and I know that was a
bad year quarterback for the Falcons and blah blah blah
blah blah, but it was still five hundred and thirty
targets on the season. So even if what seventeen percent
target share, but I don't see him getting that, I
think it'd probably be more like fifteen. And at fifteen
it's not a top ten tight end for me. Maybe
if he gets seventeen eighteen percent, and maybe if he's

(01:50):
like a solid number two and all the wide receivers
failed to take a step forward alongside Dk Metcalf like
Roman Wilson, Calvin Austin and all the rest, maybe he's
back inside the back end top ten. But I'm not
gonna risk it because unless this ADP gets down to
about eighteen to twenty range at tight end, I'm just
not gonna do it.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Ericson, give me the other side of this. John new
Smith gone from Miami and a lot of people liked
him as a sleeper tight end. Oh, it's such a
good year last year for the Dolphins. Well that's gone.
So now what remains here? What are the adjustments that
you might have to make around this Dolphins offense?

Speaker 3 (02:23):
Well, I think it means that Jalen Wattle bounce back season.
It's happening. It's gonna happen, people, So I'm really excited.
I think that this means that, all right, we've seen
the Dolphins offense through Mike McDaniel be very concentrated around
usually two guys. Most of the time, it's been Hill
and Waddle. Last year it was eight Chan and Johnny Smith.
So now it seems like all the big three that's there, Tyreek,

(02:43):
Jalen and a Chan, Well, two of these guys are
probably going to be hits in this potential offense. And
if I'm putting my chips on two players, it's going
to be the running back and Jalen Waddle.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
All right, everybody, so quick take on that trade, and
remember make sure you subscribe to fans for As YouTube channel.
Drop your comments again. We're trying to get the three
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We appreciate all of you hanging out with us talk
in football, and let's start talking about some of my

(03:13):
favorite things. That's right, I'm like Oprah today. I'm gonna
give you all my favorite things and number one my
first favorite thing. Here, we're going to talk about some
guys that are going currently in the top fifty of picks.
I'm not going to take guys, you know, in the
top twenty five. Most of them are pretty good, but
I want to highlight somebody. ECR thirty eight, Wide receiver
eighteen is Terry McLaurin because he is one of my

(03:34):
favorite things. Why because he is incredibly consistent, one of
my favorite bets. Last year, Andrew knows this. I smashed
the over. It was nine to twenty five and a
half on the receiving yards for him last year. This
is a guy who gets one thousand yards receiving every
single year with some of the worst slap nut quarterback
play you've ever get to see in your entire life.
And then he finally got Jayden Daniels last year, and
when you know it, he had one of his best seasons,
or probably his best season ever. He now has five

(03:56):
straight years of one thousand yards receiving. He was wide
receiver six and half PPR last year. Now he's being
ranked as wide receiver eighteen. I don't understand this. I
understand if the touchdowns regress a little bit at thirteen
last year, maybe it goes to nine or ten. I
actually think there's a world where Jake Daniels doesn't have
a sophomore slump, where even gets possibly better. So I
think the value proposition here for Ter McLaurin is a

(04:20):
complete buy. Jake, seely, talk to me about your thoughts
on Ter McLaurin because he is one of my favorite
wide receivers this year at value, and I think he's
being grossly undervalued in all of the early ranks.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
Yeah, I'm with you, honestly. Even if you look at
fancy points per game and include Rashie Rice and Chris
Godwin missing the big chunks of their seasons, he's at
worse wide receiver sixteen. So if anything, you're just going
off points per game last year, he's still undervalued. And
I would still take him at fourteen. And even if
you brought up the projection type situation and like I
don't have him for thirteen touchdowns, I have for eight

(04:52):
at eleven hundred and change yards, So that puts HM
about two hundred three fancy points most years. That puts
him as a fringe wide receiver one around two three
worst case probably wide receiver fifteen, which I feel like
I'm with you is the floor in my opinion. I'm
at fourteen. I'm taking in front of Adams as the
number two I'm taking in front of And this is
gonna sound a little crazy to a lot of people,
but I'll take him in front of Lad McConkey, Like

(05:14):
I just think that if everybody's expecting Jane Daniels to
take another step forward and what you bring in with
Deebo Samuel, like it's the corpse of Deebo Samuel at
this point that not even that one year that we
can kind of throw out that happened at San Francisco
with all the rushing, Like do we just know that's
never gonna happen again? Even if you take the best
years just receiving wise at Deebo Samuel, it'll be better
than anything they had running out there as the number two.

(05:36):
But if anything, that's just going to help free up
Terry McLaurin downfield more, which is what we love to see.
So I'm I'm with you. I think Terry McLaurin solidly
inside of the top fifteen wide receivers. So so far,
I am not coming for you or trying to roast you.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
Man, I'm mighty relieved. Let me tell you that, Andrew Erickson,
I want your thoughts on McLaurin because, Okay, maybe he
doesn't have the flashy explosiveness of the guys at the
very top, but that's fair, But he also is the
your ability of a guy you can count on every
single week, and I think that is very important and
sometimes underappreciated.

Speaker 3 (06:05):
What do you think So I'm not as high on McLaurin.
I'm more in line with where the consensus has him,
So I have him a wide receiver nineteen. I don't
think that either. You brought up the fact that this
guy hasn't showed up to OTA's and he's holding out
for a contract, So that's and that may be baked
into his rank here a little bit because we saw
last year a lot of the guys held out besides
Jamar Chase, who did start the season really badly, it

(06:28):
didn't work out for a lot of those guys that
held out, so that's something to keep in mind that
this could obviously change as we get closer to the
start of the season. But he is holding out for
a contract, so I think that does matter. And then
the second thing, and Jacob kind of interested to see
what you have, What did you have for his target
share in this offense? Because TERR mclorin has never really
been this major target share earner, even when he's played
with or he's been the clear established number one. Even

(06:50):
last year, I don't think that he really had more
than I think he had a twenty one percent target
share last year, which was thirty seventh in the NFL,
and there wasn't a lot of target competition last year. Yeah. Yes,
it is the corpse of Deebo Samuel that's coming into
this offense. But he's still a little bit more of
an upgrade from what they had there last season. So
I see it where he is more in the middle

(07:10):
teens of receiver. And I will also say that he
kind of goes in a range in the drafts where
you can poke a lot of holes and a lot
of guys. I like the point that Joe made that
he has that high floor, right, you're gonna get your
one thousand yards. So even if he's not necessarily, in
my opinion, the best pick that you can make in
the middle round, I think that he does offer a
decent floor assuming that his contract gets all solved.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
Do you want to jump me in and or just
set me up with the question? Yeah, yeah, Okay, Well no,
I was asking Joe he's hosting the show, like, yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:38):
I mean I was staying out of your way. I
like when you guys fight instead of in Jake fighting.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
For well, So I think that comes down to what
cites data too, because if you go to like True Media,
they have twenty three point two percent for his team
target share last year. So whatever, anyway, point being to
answer your question for me, I am at twenty two
point six. I don't think aggressive, and I don't think
it's too low, but I'll go back to that puts
him in at one hundred and nineteen. Targets last year
was one seventeen. The years before that one thirty one,

(08:06):
twenty one, thirty one, twenty, so it's in his wheelhouse. Honestly,
don't have him going up or down. I actually just
have him almost replicating last year as a projector without
the touchdowns. And it's so crazy that Joe brought up
with that touchdowns is because even if you take those
away and just replicate everything else, which I think would
be his floor at this point, it's still a wide
receiver top twenty at minimum, and that's assuming he's not

(08:29):
going to be better on a per catch basis or
a per target basis with Jene Daniels on year two
and the addition to Deebo Samuel, So that's where I'm
going with it. I think you could see better efficiency
and better per target outcomes for him this year, even
if the touchdowns real back in.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
I think we should also maybe assume that Jayden Daniels
could be better and understand that everything we see in
mard Hoss again, it was almost in spite of his
quarterback play. So look, I understand typically we look at
touchdown aggression and things like that year over year, but
I think McLaurin is a very interesting case study because
this is a player who has typically had zero help.
Now he's got a rookie quarterback last year who really

(09:05):
helped him break out, and who knows. I think there's
actually opportunity for everybody to actually come to this table
and actually feast a little bit more. Next guy on
my list is a running back at forty six of
the ECR RB eighteen, Chuba Hubbard last year finished as
RB fifteen in the half PPR, he had eleven hundred
and ninety five yards ten touchdowns, also caught forty three balls,

(09:28):
and I'm a big proponent of follow the money. And
remember he did all this and he missed the last
two games of the season too, so he's going to
be healthy going into this year. I think that people
continued to dismiss ericson the Carolina Panthers rightfully. So they've
been awful for quite some time. But I think last year,
if you were paying attention, and I know we were,

(09:48):
you really saw a different version of them that latter
part of the season where things really started to click
for this offense a little bit more. And I think
that it's time to take advantage of a Carolina Panther here.
And I got two of them on this list, so
this is the first one. He were Chewba Hubbard, who
I think is a really solid back for your fantasy
team that I think people are really if you just
take away the team, maybe take away the name, and

(10:09):
just look at the raw numbers from last year, it's
a pretty valuable player that I think is being undervalued.

Speaker 3 (10:14):
I think that he's being more closely valued. So I
will I'll push back here a little bit. I see
this backfield being more of a one two punch because
you look at the splits last year with Chuba Hubbard,
especially down the stretch when there really was no one
else in that backfield taking on any type of workload.
Miles Sanders, Scott Hurt, and Jonathan Brooks was coming back
from his injury. But when you include when those guys
were healthy in the offense, Jonathan or excuse me, Chewba

(10:36):
Hubbard was the RB nineteen in terms of points per game.
That's how productive he was when those guys missed time.
And it was clearly Chuba Hubbard when he be seeing
close to a ninety percent snap share as a full
blown workhorse, that's when he was the RB four in
pointsberg game. So that was the ceiling outcome. So I
think that the backfield there's more behind him than it
was last year. Between Rico Dawdle and the Trevor E. Tanahero,

(10:57):
they drafted in the fourth rond who can offer a
little bit as a pass as catcher. And the only
thing that to conserveer you with Hubbard is I don't
think that he's a dynamic receiver. I know that he
can catch jump off passes, but his yards per route
run was really poor last year, so I think that
he's more Again, I have him in the back d
RB two range, and it's more of a value proposition
for me, where you know RB two, I'm not trying
to put a priority on that in my fantasy drafts.

(11:18):
I feel like I can get that later on in
my drafts where I want to prioritize some of the
receivers and other running backs, especially he goes in the
range with a lot of these rookie running backs where
if I take Chub Hubbard, that means I'm probably not
going to get R. J. Harvey or Treveon Henderson. So
that's kind of the opportunity cost I'm looking at, and
I think I can replace Hubbard's production a little bit
farther down the line than one of these rookies that

(11:39):
could really have a big second half surge.

Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yeah, but we've also seen Chuba Hubbard actually contribute where
the other guys is still theoretical, and I will say too,
five to the last seven games that he played in
he finished as an RB one. I think that's also
something we should think about. And when the Panthers offense
was better is when Cuba was getting the line's share
of the workload. So, Jake, I'm going to put it
to you. With Chuba Hubbard, I feel like he's part
of the secret soft that turned this offense around last year.

(12:02):
So it's not trying to put him in a timeshare again,
it's trying to make sure that he is healthy for
the season and ready to rock and roll and ready
to be that lead back. And I don't look at
some of the guys at this roster is legitimate threats
to eating into too much of his workload.

Speaker 2 (12:14):
To you, I don't, and I promise at some point
I'm going to disagree with you. So so so far.

Speaker 1 (12:19):
I'm enjoying this. Typically. Yeah, I like when you actually
support me for a change in life.

Speaker 2 (12:25):
I know you like that.

Speaker 1 (12:27):
Here's why.

Speaker 2 (12:28):
So it's not just projections, because projections only has him
as RB eighteen in points, as in that's what he
would have been last year, and for two oh eight
that would have been RB eighteen and Abby RB eighteen
on most years. What we have to include here and
why we have ranks versus projections, and why some of
mine will skew differently. I actually have him at RB
fifteen because I think there's fewer questions. So no, or

(12:50):
RB eighteen at two o eight doesn't sound as appealing
as RB fifteen. And what we're trying to argue for Hubbard.
But when you say Hubbard in front of James Connor,
injury risk, Hubbard in front of Trevion Henderson, who you
know you just brought up ericson. But is he definitely
the guy? I'm a huge Trevion Henderson fan, huge, But
is he guaranteed to be the lead? Is he guaranteed
to see fifty percent of the work? Fifty five percent?

(13:12):
Is he guaranteed to see goal line work? DeAndre Swift?
I'm higher on the most questions there, Marion Hampton questions there, like,
it's just the fact that I know Hubbard is the
lead back for the Panthers, even if it's not the
same near twenty touch per game rate that it was
towards the end of the season that you're referencing Joe.
It's the good part here is you know he's going

(13:33):
to be the one. I am not afraid of.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
Rico Daddell.

Speaker 2 (13:36):
I brought this up in the comments for one of
the videos that we did a few weeks ago. The
Dallas Cowboys who just had Rico Daddle do Rico Daddle things, said,
you know what we saw that we're not even going
to offer you two and a half million. Instead, we're
going to offer three million to a dude's me who
might not even exist anymore. Like that's how much they
were kind of like, we don't care. Goodbye ried o'dalio
for your one year, two and a half million dollars.

(13:58):
That tells me what the NFL well thinks of Rito
Rico Daddle, which is different from fantasy, is that I
don't think he's a threat. I just don't think anybody
and I'm a Trevor Etang guy, I just don't think
he's a threat. I think Hubbard's going to be one
of the few running backs who has two hundred and
sixty plus touches this year, and everybody behind him in
my rankings have more questions.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
You know, I might just end the show here because
Jake has agreed with the first two players right out
of the gate that I saw.

Speaker 2 (14:23):
I'll give you an it's number three. This would be
a good time to end the show because I'm about
to I.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
Know, I feel like I'm pushing the envelope here, but
maybe Ericson will agree with his next one again. Look,
I like the rookie running backs, Henderson especially too. I
think he's that big play guy that they have lacked
in that offense for some time. But ramondre Stevenson is
still there and we don't know what that workloaded. I mean,
it could be eight nine weeks into the season until
we see Henderson even take that over completely. You just

(14:48):
don't know. But I know what I saw from Chew
Hubbard last year. And again I'm following the money. They
signed to a contract extension last year, which a lot
of us kind of went, wow, that's odd, that's interesting,
and then at the end of the season we went, yeah,
made a lot of sense. It a good thing they
did that because Jonathan Brooks isn't playing maybe ever again,
and what they were able to bring in wasn't great.
So last guy on my list of the top fifteen,
I just knuck him in here, Number forty nine, Courtland Sutton.

(15:11):
He is wide receiver twenty three right now in the ECR,
despite the fact that he was wide receiver thirteen last year.
Eighty one receptions, one hundred and thirty five targets, over
a thousand yards, eight touchdowns. Now, I know, we all
hope and think that Evan Ingram is going to contribute,
and it seems to make a lot of sense on paper.
A lot of people that like Marvin Mamms or some

(15:31):
other talent there. You know, people were excited about RJ. Harvey.
The only thing that I know is that bo Nicks
can find Courtland Sutton. That's all that I know about
the Denver Broncos that I feel good is investible that
I am looking at it in fantasy and saying, yes,
I know that's the number one guy in this offense
and I want him. And I think you're getting a
huge discount on Courtland Sutton this year. So I'm going

(15:52):
to ignore Jake Seely because I have a bad feeling
about this and instead go to the original og Courtland
Sutton guy for some support. Andrew Rickson, what say you, Well, he.

Speaker 3 (16:03):
Was wide receiver twenty three points per game, so that's
I think the fact that he played all the games
mostly last year kind of is bumping up his final
stat line. And I think Evan Ingram is going to
make a difference. I mean, last year, Quolton Sutton really
had no target competition. It was a bunch of rookie receivers.
You had Marvin Mims entering the second year still in
the doghouse. But now all these young receivers are now

(16:26):
taking another step forward another year in the Sean Payton system.
Marvin Mims entering year three, Troy Franklin. Entering year two,
they drafted Pat Bryant, They brought an Eman Ingram. We
don't know exactly who the joker is in this offense,
but it's not Quurlton Sutton. Like we feel pretty clear
about that. So even though you pointed to, yes, we
feel good about bon Nicks and this Sutton connection, but
I think that might have hit its peak potentially last year.

(16:46):
Sutton was gobbled of all the high value opportunities, everything downfield,
everything in the red zone. And I just think that
the Broncos they want to run the football. They tried
to do it last year. Again, to point to Jake's point,
Abu Jevonte Williams, they had a guy without any essentially
leaving the backfield, and it wasn't working out really that great.
So I think they run the ball a little bit
more with the dynamic running back with Jak Dobbins, with RJ. Harvey,

(17:07):
I think v Ingram's going to become bone Nicks's favorite
check down target in this passing game. I think that's
going to negally impact Courtland Sutton. So I mean last
year during his second half tear, when he was basically
it was after that Saints game where he said he
got no targets on Thursday Night Football and Sean Payton
like publicly apologized about for Carland sutt and then we
got to get the sky on the ball. He dominated

(17:28):
production from that point on, and no one else in
the offense had a twelve percent target chair or higher.
I just don't think that's going to be the case
this year, so I'm a little bit lower. I've met
wide receiver twenty eight.

Speaker 1 (17:37):
Yeah. It's interesting, though, you're dinging my guy Courtland Sutton
here because he played every game, and instead we're going
to think that Evan Ingram, who could barely get on
the field last year, is somehow going to be a
savior in fantasy. Jake, I like players who play football.
That's what I like, the guys who show up every week,
because you know what, the guys that don't ay Fantasy
points per game is important. I always talk about that

(17:58):
in the Black Book too, But playing games every week
is also important. Guys who get on the field, Guys
who are available and produce at a high level when
they are on the field. And I'm looking at Courtland
Sutton and to me, I look at these he are
and I see, you know, guys around him that have
some more questions than answers. I mean, I know Devanta
Smith is after him. Jamison Williams had a nice season.

(18:20):
I can understand making the case for him. But you
know we're still talking about Xavier Worthy, Chris o'lave. I'll
take Horton and Sutton or both of those guys, and
they're all in that same grouping.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
So one is I'm hiring on a lave than a
lot of people. So who won't get me on that one?
I can see the case actually have.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
That's a whole other show, because yeah, I have a sandwich, right,
I want to know why about that? But I'm not
going to ask for that. Today's that we don't have
the time for that one.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
He's actually you brought up to He's sandwich between Jamison
and DeVante Smiths for me at twenty seven. And it
really comes down to there's not a lot what you
said that was wrong. It just comes down to what
do we believe for this season. I feel like they
have for the first time Ericson are in the same page.
And maybe the question she actually be when is Rickson
going to agree with you? Because he's come after you
for all three so far. But the biggest thing here

(19:03):
is I look at it and Evan Ingram in the
joker role. It's not even just Evan Ingram. I've said
this a lot on these shows, and I would bring
Sean Payton's creating his Saints in Denver. It's not exactly
the Saints. It's not Drew Brees that he doesn't have
a Marquise Colston or Michael Thomas, but he has some
similar weapons. And if you look back at like the
Jimmy Graham years, the number one wide receiver for that

(19:24):
team averaged about one hundred and twelve to one hundred
and fifteen targets usually, And I'm not afraid of Emon
Ingram getting one hundred and thirty targets. I'm actually mostly
not drafting Evan Ingram. It's just that Sutton with everything,
and it was his highest team target share since his
second year, which back then with Joe Flacco had nobody
else on that team to throw to. But if you
look at it, you go down this list, it's like

(19:44):
there are weapons. There's Devon Veeley, who a lot of
people are giving credit for this offseason that might step
up as the number two, and nobody's even brought up
his name, including Marvin Mims and Pat Bryant who they
drafted who I think plays that kind of Marcus rolled
to Michael Thomas' role on the team, which some I said,
well maybe he's more Lance Moore, and I think that
makes sense too. But then the RJ. Harvey and everything

(20:04):
in the backfield a jkdut like there's just weapons galore
where I find it hard to give Courtland Sutton more
than one hundred and fifteen ish targets, which is why
I brought that up, and it's not again referencing the
Jimmy Graham seasons to say that's why. It's just I
just don't see where he's going to get back into
one hundred and thirty plus targets, which I think he
needs to get inside the top twenty. But you are right,

(20:27):
he is one of the safest like fringe wide receiver
two threes for me, like, I feel very good about him.
If I took a dice roll on my wide receiver two.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
I would agree. As a number two, I love it.
And you can get him just about as a three
in a lot of leagues, and you make a good point. Yes,
there's a lot of talent around this roster. Now, however,
it's a lot of is theoretical. I want to add
that word theoretical. Maybe Veley, maybe Harvey, maybe JK. Dobbins,
knees hold up, maybe maybe maybe Courtland Sutton. I know
what I'm getting. I'm taking it all right. Let's move

(20:57):
on to the next grouping here, players fifty one through
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Speaker 1 (22:16):
Next on our list here, coming in at number sixty four.
We kind of mentioned him already, Traveon Henderson. Now, I
do believe in the talent here. I also believe in
new regimes, and when a new regime comes in, it'
SARTs taking guys pay attention because they don't necessarily want
the guys that were there before. And Travion Henderson, I'm
sure you've heard it all. I don't know somewhere we've
seen one and about five thousand times that he's also

(22:36):
good at pass blocking. Do you guys know Travion Henderson
is a good pass blocking It's all anybody wants to
talk about this summer already is Trevon Henderson's passblocket, which
is great. Let's talk about the explosiveness, Let's talk about
the speed. Let's talk about the lack of playmakers the
Patriots have had, and Travion Henderson fits a Josh McDaniel's
offense very well. So before I get to mister Patriot,
because I think I know where he lies on this one,

(22:57):
I want to start with Jake Seely Jake On Henderson
right now currently, I'm looking at him as RB twenty four.
I think that is being very low on Trevion Henderson
and what his upside could be. I understand you mentioned
before we're not exactly sure how things are going to
work out. But what I do know is Mike Rabel's
come to town and losing is over for the Patriots. They

(23:18):
got a much better schedule, and I think Travon Henderson
is going to be a big part of what they
do offensively in twenty twenty five? What do you think?
So two thumbs up?

Speaker 2 (23:28):
If I had more thumbs if you could ai in
my hands, I'd like to give you more thumbs on too, because.

Speaker 1 (23:33):
I hate to make you count to twenty one. It's
the worst.

Speaker 2 (23:36):
It's really difficult. Oh it comes after thirteen at some
point right before seven, I don't know. Somewhere in there,
Travon Henderson. Let's get back to Travion Henderson. The draft
comp I even threw out was people, remember if I
said this, You remember the little wheel cars that you
pulled back with the spring and it just like the
oh yeah, as far as and then you let oh,

(23:56):
that's Travion Henderson. And that's why I like him so much.
I also brought up why in my breakout running back
article why he can do it even without getting sixty percent,
because you go back to you something you just brought
up which was kind of buried in there is James
White is one of two running backs in the last
ten years to finish as a top twenty running back
and not touching the ball at least two hundred and

(24:18):
ten times. Why because of the receiving game. Oh, by
the way, who did he do that with with the Patriots?
And under that Josh McDaniel's offense is that Treveon Henderson
can do it on a two hundred. I want to
be touch to two hundred targets, two hundred touches. That
would be impressive. Two hundred targets, two hundred touches, that'd
be nice. I know the number one running back overall,

(24:40):
Screw you, Ashton genty really because that tires the two
hundred touches for Henderson that I believe is in play,
whether or not he liked to go back to my
point where we're talking about Hubbard, is if he is
the lead or not, it's okay because I believe in
what he can do on a per touch basis. Maybe
the touchdowns aren't high enough to push him as an
RB one, but I am an art be eighteen in

(25:01):
front of another rookie running back into Mario and Hampton,
and if you tell me talent versus talent, I'll take
Hampton every single time. But I like the situation for
Henderson mostly because of how much I think he'll get
value in the receiving game as well.

Speaker 1 (25:13):
Yeah, and James White was a I believe a fourth
round pick, if memory serves right, a little bit more
draft capital and Trevon Henderson and a little bit more
need to really just remake this offense. Erickson, I think
where Jacasim at eighteen is good. I think he's easily
you could see him by the end of the year,
especially in PPR league's cracking top fifteen. I think that's
the thing I'm looking for. That playmaking ability, pass catching ability,

(25:35):
all that in there where man like the fantasy points
I think are going to be a lot of Trevion
Henderson from that backfield. What do you think?

Speaker 3 (25:42):
I agree with you, guys. I think that he's he's
going I think that he's undervalued. And as more teams
in the NFL follow a running back by committee type
of offense, because that's where a lot of the league
is going. Especially with the two high safeties, you need
multiple running backs. There's not as many bell cows as
there once was, so how do you find the running

(26:02):
backs in the committees that still can be productive. It's
guys like Trevon Henderson who are built to operate on
all three downs, catch passes out of the backfield because
they can also operate an elite no, you're not given
enough credit. He's elite in pass bro as a rookie,
he's elite. That's okay, So we got to give him
more credit. We got to lax more credic about his
pass protection and he's super explosive. So my calm for

(26:22):
him coming out with Tony Pollard, and we saw it
Pollard where he needed Zeke in that backfield to be
uber efficient and be productive. It is when they overloaded
him with touches when he broke down, and we saw
it with Henderson at Ohio State. This guy was constantly
banged up. So he needs Remandre, He needs Intrudo Gibson
to take the in between the touch tackles to help
him stay fresh for a seventeen game season so he

(26:44):
can still deliver on all the jews and all the
explosive plays he can have as an outside runner out
of the backfield catching passes. So that's why I think
Henderson is just when you're looking at the archetype of player,
he's a good bet to make on, especially as a
rookie in this year's class that's so loaded with talent.
I think that he's a great pick. And Mike Rabel
he knows a couple things about Ohio State. Okay, I
think he has the intel about how good of a Henderson,

(27:05):
how good of a prospect, how good of a player
he can be. In this office, I think he's going
to be put in positions to succeed. He's not going
to be asked to do things that aren't going to
help him put up stats. So sign me up, all.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
Right, sign me up for the next guy here tenor
Rolla McMillan, another rookie wide receiver thirty four in ECR
at seventy four right now. And you know it's funny
because last year Brian Thomas was I think the wide
receiver forty six from where I'm looking at Fantasy Pros
consensus ADP. Last year he was a overall one hundred
and nine. Now, I'm not saying he's going to be
Brian Thomas junior, but I will say this, he's clearly

(27:38):
the best number one target in terms of wide receiver
at that position. Right He is the guy they spent
the big draft capital on. Correct, he also comes into
a situation where the offense was improving and oh wait,
the defense still sucks, which means at the end of
the day, They're still going to have to throw the
football a ton and trying to stay in these games.
That's good for fantasy. Maybe not so good for the

(27:59):
Panthers when lost record, but it's good for me in
my fantasy equity. And Ted McMillan, I believe it was.
I know Jake was on that show. I don't remember
who else was in this discussion with us Jake, we
were talking about the fatigue of like tech. McMillan was
really good, h and then eventually we got tired of
just saying it and we were trying to poke holes
and figure it out. Well, I'm not trying to poke
any more holes. In fact, I'm trying to just pick

(28:20):
Tenoro McMillan on my fantasy team. So Erickson, let's start
with you on this one, because you were by far
the guy leading the pack last year. If you watched
any of the shows, it was Andrew Erickson all Brian Thomas,
all the time, and he was one hundred percent right.
So I'm not saying this is copy and paste. I
am saying it's ierily familiar, and I want to take
advantage of it.

Speaker 3 (28:41):
Andrew, Well, if Jake had been on more shows last year,
we would have been handholding for Brian Thomas.

Speaker 2 (28:45):
You I don't even know who has to sign football
from Brian Thomas sitting next to him.

Speaker 1 (28:52):
I don't know, not you, that's right, don't don't.

Speaker 3 (28:56):
All I got is the winning ticket.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
You know what that could buy a lot of football?
Is that ticket? Exactly? Does it kind of like harken
back a little bit where it feels like a little
deja voudio right now?

Speaker 3 (29:07):
I think I wouldn't say it feels the same because
I think Brian Thomas Junior he just got undervalued because
he was the second fiddle to the leagueighbors who I
was also a generational wide receiver talent, and that's kind
of why he got knocked. Even though there was clear
opportunity in the Jacksonville Jaguars offense for him to vacuum
up targets after they had lost Calvin Ridley gave Davis
as part of that offense, we know he's never commanded

(29:27):
targets at a high level. So now with t MAC,
I think that this is such a good spot for him.
I think that stylistically he fits really well with what
Bryce Young does really well. He could work the intermediate
level of the field, and you look at this Dave
Canal's offense in terms of who's been operating as that
wide receiver one at times like they've been really productive
for fantasy. I mean, Adam Thielen had over one hundred

(29:49):
catches a thousand receiving yards during Bryce Young's rookie season.
Adam Fieln is no spring chicken. Okay, he's an older guy,
but he's been able to produce in this office with
Bryce Young last year. If you look at the Num.
One receiver in this offense between Deontay Johnson and Adam Fielan,
at times they were pacing for over eleven hundred yards
over a seventeen game sample size, thirty three percent first
read target share. And in Adam Fieland's last six games

(30:11):
when he came back from his injury again at thirty
four years old, he was averaging nearly fifteen Fantasy points
per game in half PBR that would have been top
eight among all wide receivers last season. So the Panthers
told us exactly what they want to do. Like you said, Joe,
they have one of the worst defenses of the NFL,
and what do they do with their first pick?

Speaker 1 (30:30):
In the draft, they.

Speaker 3 (30:31):
Draft a wide receiver because that's right by young. We
need to get Bryce Sung offensive pieces, and they thought
that Tetroo McMillan was that special of a guy that
despite all their needs on defense, like, Nope, we cannot
pass on this guy. We have to get Bryce Sung,
an alpha wide receiver. I think that could be him.
So he's firmly inside my top twenty four. I was
so shocked that his ECR is as low as it is,

(30:51):
as outside the top thirty.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
Jake, were you surprised too that McMillan's value is where
it is currently. I mean that might change by the
time we get into the thick of draft season and
is more and more you know, fantasy analysts are talking
up people, But right now, especially early on, I just
think it's way under where it should be, which is good.
Don't get me wrong. I want to take him there,
but I just see the floor being higher and maybe
even the ceiling being higher than people expect.

Speaker 2 (31:16):
I think the ceiling is higher. I don't know what
the floor is. I think this is the one where
I'm going to kind of come down on. I think
the ECR is about right. I am at wide receiver
thirty four. I think because there's questions like and this
is coming from somebody and not to be like, hey,
look at me, because I could certainly be wrong about
this. This is not happening. So like I am on the
let's look at Bryce Young at the end of last year,
for those last five or six games and say, oh,

(31:37):
look at how well he played under pressure, look at
how well he started to look like the quarterback from Alabama.
Let's talk about the improvements he finally made and maybe
that carries over this year. But carrying that over to
this year still has to go further than just the
way that he played, including the rushing touchdowns for us
in fantasy, is that there was still completion percentage concerns,
as in the completions that he left on the field,

(31:59):
as in being.

Speaker 1 (31:59):
Off at times.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
So what I come down to is does Teterero McMillan
have sixty sixty one completion percentage as a rookie or
does he push up to like the sixty eight seventy
percent which he's capable of doing, but doesn't come down
to Bryce Young's play because the biggest to come back
the next level from that, The biggest factor is I
have him for about one hundred twenty five targets. One
hundred and thirty hundred and forty is probably what we

(32:22):
want to see to get him in that wide receiver
one territory. But a big difference between catching sixty percent
of the balls and sixty eight percent of the balls
one hundred and twenty twenty five targets is going to
be the difference when you're in this conglomeration of wide
receivers that like it's one point per game difference from
about wide receiver twenty two to about thirty two. So
the range of outcomes for McMillan is quite large, Like

(32:44):
you could be right at the end of the year
just by other wide receivers taking a slight step back
or falling off, or I could be right just because
other wide receivers stepped up and finally hit their season.
So I have him in this range mostly because he's
alongside names like Juwan Jennings and Calvin Ridley and himself
and Xavier Worthy and stuff like that, where I'll take

(33:05):
him if he's in this range as the wide receiver,
but I'm just not going to take him at the
top of this tier, which is probably like the only
difference we have.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
I'm in on him.

Speaker 2 (33:13):
I just would take him more at his floor than
his ceiling.

Speaker 1 (33:16):
Fantasy Pros projections you can go look right now on
the website. Sixty six receptions, eight hundred and seventy eight yards,
five touchdowns. I think it's more like about eighty something receptions.
I think you're getting closer to one thousand yards in
his rookie season, I honestly do. And I think we're
looking at maybe seven to eight touchdowns, and I think
I'm right in between that respect seventy four nine and six. Wow,

(33:37):
which that happens pretty good. I gotta say once again,
a Chris o'lave who's had concussion issues, who has no
quarterback play, that team is a complete disaster. They're going
two picks away from each other. Ah. Sorry, Like I'm
gonna take McMillan every single time. There another rookie here,
A lot of rookies in this area, but that's kind
of what you're getting. Outside of that top fifty to
one hundred range of the guys that are undervalue, there

(33:59):
will be a vetter in here. I assure you. Caleb
Johnson is next on this list. And you know, once
we get into the oh, the leaves start to fall
in Pittsburgh, you know, and all of a sudden it
gets a little chillier. I just think Caleb Johnson is
the perfect fit here for what the steat Whaters want
to do, which is run the football. And I'm a
little tired of all the Jalen Warren hype. He's had
three years and not one of them as he finishes

(34:20):
an RB two, So can we just stop with the
Jalen Warren stuff, like, yeah, okay, he does some fun things,
and yeah, he's had some injury issues. Caleb Johnson, I think,
is the perfect fit for the Pittsburgh Dealers, the perfect
fit for this offense, what they want to do. They're
gonna have to support Aaron Rodgers because he's one hundred
and twelve years old and that's important with a run game,
and he is going to be the guy at the
goal line. He is going to be the guy that

(34:41):
you get those fantasy points in those standard leagues and
those half PPR leagues, those touchdowns are gonna matter. I
think Caleb's going to be that guy there. And personally,
I'm looking at Caleb Johnson right now at RB twenty
nine and ECR seventy five is a pretty darn good value. Jake,
what are your thoughts on Caleb Johnson. I know we've
had this discussion before, but do you see him as
that same kind of undervalued player that you kind of

(35:04):
need on your roster as well, especially if you are
an early wide receiver builder kind of a manager.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
I would say yes, value, I need only because I
think there's plenty of running backs kind of in this
range that could go either way. I'm at twenty five,
so I'm ahead on consensus on this one. And it
comes down to something you said in there is like
we can stop with Jalen Warren at this point. The
Steelers have told us they do not want Jalen Warren
to be the lead. Like pay attention to these teams.
They tell you a lot of things, and like we

(35:30):
can sit back and play armchair quarterback. That's hell, that's
our job right now, and sit here and be like, oh,
why don't they do this? Why shouldn't they like give
this more touch? And then the teams don't do it. Well,
oh surprise. Maybe sometimes these teams know Lamar Miller, but
give more touches. Give the more touches, give more touches,
they give more touches on a new team, and guess
what happens. He's Lamar Miller putting up the same damn
numbers at a worse efficiency. Actually, to bring up to

(35:52):
Tony Pollard, thing that Erickson said before is like, sometimes
these teams know who are they replacing Naje Harris with,
not Jalen Warren with Caleb Johnson. And this is coming
from somebody who got attacked during the draft process for
calling Caleb Johnson Tayler Algier like that was a bad thing.
Let's go back to Tyler Algier's rookie season when the
Falcons had nothing else and it was like, hey, let's

(36:12):
see what Tayler Algier can do. Only two hundred and
ten carries. He was inside the top twenty because he
was very effective and some of those games were volume.
But Tyler Algier is not a negative for Caleb Johnson.
And if he had those two hundred and fifty ish
about touches as a rookie, which I think is certainly
in play, then RB twenty five might be low. Honestly,
so I think he's more likely to also be the

(36:34):
goal line option than Jalen Warren. So I'm with you,
is like, do I have to get him? No? But
if I'm in this range and saying, who am I
more likely to take the lead running back on the
Steelers or the backup time share running back on the Lions,
who were just assuming everything's going to be gravy and
good when Ben Johnson's gone and it's just gonna be
David Montgomery's glorious days all over again, I'd rather take

(36:55):
Caleb Johnson to David Montgomery.

Speaker 1 (36:58):
All right, Andrew Erickson, how do you feel about the
Caleb Johnson experience in twenty twenty five?

Speaker 3 (37:04):
I absolutely love it. Sign me up. I got him
right where Jake hasim rank, so I have him at
RB twenty four, And to me, it's such a great
system fit. And I think it's kind of telling that
a player like Hilli Johnson, who I think that if
you were projecting his draft capital, we thought that he
would probably be a round two pick. He ended up
falling all the weight to round three, and the Steelers
really rolled the dice because they didn't have a second

(37:25):
round pick because they traded it to get DK Metcalf,
So for him to fall because I think that there
were things you could poke in his profile based on
his running style, very boomer bust type of rusher, where
he could have been a massive bust. I think on
a lot of different teams where he just wouldn't fit
what they look at stylistically. I know when we talked
about him really early the offseason, I comped him to
Derrick Henry. I thought he was a mini Derek Henry.

(37:46):
He just run so stylistically he needs time to build
up speed, build up that acceleration and then he hits
the home run. Well, Arthur Smith knows how to work
with a Derek Henry type running back like he's done
it before, so it's the perfect fit. It reminds me
so much of when McDaniel drafted two years ago. It's
so perfect for what this head coach wants or what
this officive coordinator wants to do and run their offense.

(38:07):
So I love it here. Javin Warren, yes, a nice
back at times, but not a three down rusher. I
think that he'll be a good compliment to Cale Johnson,
especially in pass protection, catching pass out of the backfield.
But the fact that Aaron Rodgers is back there, I
think Cale Johnson is still going to catch a couple
passes on early downs, even if that's not really his
claim to fame. So when this offense has opportunities to

(38:27):
run out games in the second half play strong defense,
I think Cale Johnson is going to be the guy
their feeding the ball to twenty twenty five times potentially
in some of these games. So I'm on board.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
The next player on my list at eighty two in
the ECR tight End six is Mark Andrews, and he's
also the topic of today's Chasing Challenger segment, brought to
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(38:57):
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Microsoft empowers you with the expertise to say, bring it on.
And this segment, we're gonna talk about Mark Andrews. Why
because the first six weeks of the season were not
good for Mark Andrews. Just ask Andrew Rickson. He knows
he knows a thing or two about the pain of
the drafting of Mark Andrews last year and maybe the
pain of those people who dropped him or traded him away,

(39:19):
because from Week seven on, Mark Andrews was tight end
four overall and half PPR and he led all tight
ends in touchdowns with ten over that span. But nobody
seems to care and there seems to be a negative
stigma attached to him. Why because at the end of
the year he had that terrible drop and a really
tough catch in Buffalo in the cold, back pedaling and
he couldn't hold onto a touchdown that might have sent

(39:40):
the Ravens eventually to a Super Bowl. Well, things happened sometimes,
and I think we also forget that Mark Andrews also
was involved in that car accident in the summer last
year and maybe that had something to do with the
slow start to the season for him. So yeah, Isaiah
likely still floating around, but Mark Andrews still the go
to guy in the red zone for Lamar Jackson. And
that's why taking him this year once again, where you

(40:02):
have to take some tight ends really early, like McBride
and Bowers, I like the value I'm getting on Mark Andrews,
and that, my friends, is this week's Chasing Challenges segment.
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(40:24):
Visit Microsoft dot com Slash Challengers to learn more. So
Andrew Erickson, what was the Mark Andrews experience like for
you last year and are you letting that impact your
decision making this year.

Speaker 3 (40:36):
It's like going on a roller coaster that you didn't
realize how big the drop was and you want to
get off, but you're already halfway up the thing. You're like,
I want to get off the roller coaster please. It
was not a fun ride. And I know that I
was with a lot of people because I recommended Mark Andrews.
He was my tight end that I wanted all my teams,
and just watching that Week one game against Kensey Chiefs,

(40:57):
it's just like in my memory in grand and it
was not a fun time for me. I'm not trying
to get emotional about it, but I'm not going back
to Mark Andrews. I can't do it after last year
and this is the overall vibes around him so far
this offseason, when you talk about he's been thrown on
in every single trade room wor you could talk about
when teams have been asked about Mark Andrews entering a

(41:18):
contract year whereas Isaiah Likely. I know you mentioned him
as well. They've talked about extending Isaiah likely. So what's
more likely to happen is it Mark Andrews is gonna
run back the second half of last year. He's gonna
score a bunch of touchdowns. Even though Lamar Jackson threw
forty one touchdown passes last year, something that he's never
done before. Is he gonna throw forty touchdowns again back
to back seasons?

Speaker 1 (41:37):
Maybe?

Speaker 3 (41:38):
Or more likely that Andrews probably isn't gonna catch a
many touchdowns he did last year. You have other guys
in this offense that can also eat Jay Flowers entering
year three, he could catch more touchdowns. He can catch
many touchdowns last year, Whereean Bateman if he's healthy. Obviously
Derek Henry. We know he's going to score double digit touchdowns.
So if I'm making bets on Isaiah Likely, an ascending
player that the coaches talk about as this guy could
be an all pro versus Mark Andrews. Yeah, he caught

(42:00):
a lot of touchdowns last year. That's how they talk
about him in the building. So for me, I'm just
I feel like I can get better value elsewhere. I'd
rather have guys like a David and Joku who could
be the number one on his team in terms of
total targets. Tucker Craft is in up in a sandy,
explosive playmaker who can make yards after the catch Andrews's
touchdown or bust, and I feel like I can get
that later and I'm not going to take that at

(42:21):
tight end six. So I think that he's overvalued.

Speaker 1 (42:23):
If you score a touchdown in a week, you're a
tight end one. I think we all know that that's
pretty much what it is. And Mark Andrews scores touchdowns,
and I don't want to oversimplify it, but we're talking
about one of the best, if not the best offensive
ecosystem there is in the Baltimore Ravens, and I think
this is a great way to get a piece of
it at a position that has a lot of questions.
And they just took another hit today when John new
Smith went to the Steelers so let's not forget we

(42:46):
just lost. Let's pour some out for our homie Johnny
who's not here anymore, and can pour a little bit
out here, you know, he's still Here's an easy miamisy
eusy easy the ranks. So but Jake, look, it's the NFL.
The younger guy's always eventually gonna take your job. But
this is a contract years the last year. I think
you churn and burn him and you ride to the

(43:08):
sunset one more time. With Mark Andrews. If you're Lamar
Jackson company, what do you think?

Speaker 2 (43:13):
I think it's fine, Like I'm not actually no, I
was just like, honestly, that's how I feel. It's fine
with Mark Andrews because you can poke holes and you
can speak positively about him. So I'm kind of like
fine either way. Because you can say almost twenty two
percent of his targets were in the red zone and
it had an end zone target rate that was almost
pushing Mike Evans. Now does that carry over and you

(43:34):
can say, like, why would in it? Because he's that
guy for the team. But then you say, okay, Lamar Jackson,
he's gonna throw forty one touchdowns again, what if it's
only thirty five, which doesn't sound like a huge number,
but it's a big difference when you're talking about that
target share even carrying over and what if that target
share comes.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
Down a little bit?

Speaker 2 (43:50):
But then you could spin it the other way. You
can bring out what you said he was a nothing
factor to start the year. He was injured, which could
possibly play a part of it. So I say all
to say, like, why am I answer is he's fine?
Is because I think in this range you're kind of
getting the fine value for him, because would I rather
take him than Evan Ingram and hoping that he's the
joker for the Broncos, Probably because I feel like last

(44:11):
year might even have been what it sounds like this
is crazy to say because the touchdowns were so high,
but like worst case on the receiving side on it,
like take out the touchdowns, the targets, receptions yards. Is
that the worst case of Mark Andrews? Is it possibly
gonna get better? It could. If you want to say
I'll take him over and Joko, I'd be like, okay, fine,
you know, it just comes down to Titans. In this range,

(44:32):
I'm just usually not taking anyway, mostly because if I
don't get the top three. I'm just throwing a dart
in the last round anyway, because I feel like they're
so replaceable. So that's why I say, it's fine. This
is the one where I'm not really on your side
and I'm not really coming for you.

Speaker 1 (44:46):
I guess that's why he's tight end six. Then right,
he's right there in the middle of all of them.
All right, let's move on here to the next grouping here,
and then I'm gonna give you a bonus guy and
the pick that I'm going to plant my flag in
the hill that I'm gonna die on this year, So
tack around for that in the show. Some late round
guys that I want to smash here and take every
single chance I get outside the top one hundred. Let's

(45:09):
start with Stefon Diggs at one old one. To me,
he looks pretty good in a lot of the footage
i've seen early on, way further ahead than I thought
he would be. I do still expect that he's going
to be a little slow in September, but I do
believe that you're eventually going to get Stefon Diggs kind
of with something to prove and a chip on his
shoulder and already kind of had to kind of get
his ship pointed in the right direction. Not to mix

(45:31):
metaphors here for a second there, but I think that's
already happened with the coach and the player, and I
think that's a good thing that happened now and not
during the season. So for me, there's a lot of
the line here for Stefan Diggs and a lot of
money on the line too, And again I always come
back to following the money. I think Stefan Diggs could
be that number one guy for Drake May and you
could see a real breakout season for maybe because of that.

(45:52):
Jake Seally, share with me your thoughts on Stefon Diggs
and this outside one hundred value he's going.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
At, and now the one that I'm fine with because
it comes down to how healthy is he? Are we
talking about this is an injury that carries into halfway
through the season and he's just miserable for the first
couple of weeks and you're Here's what I'm gonna say
is why I'm fine with it now is because you're
drafting him as a non starter, so you don't even
have to worry about it. If you are drafted, like
if this is positive news, positive note, and then we

(46:19):
get to the middle of August and all of a
sudden he's going as a wide receiver three or four.
I'd be out because I don't want to have to
put him in my lineup.

Speaker 1 (46:26):
I want to be able to be a hundred percent
with what you're saying. I think that's exactly true. Uh,
this is very early value kind of thing. Andrew, do
you agree with that sentiment? Is that three for three two?
When it comes to Stefan Diggs, this is the value.
If it raises to a price where it becomes a
little bit more dangerous, then that's the time to be
realistic and realize it is a player coming off in ACL.
We don't want to rely on him too much, especially
early on.

Speaker 3 (46:47):
Yeah, I think that he's appropriately valued. Just no, he's
an older player coming off at ourn ACL, right. I
know that he can look good in these off season clips,
but until he's actually on the field, you know, with
the flying bullets, I'm just concerned and about how how
much time it will take him to get back up
to speed. And I mean the Stefon Diggs that was
a number one wide receiver in fantasy, that guy's not

(47:07):
coming back. No, like that guy wasn't in Houston. So
I mean this is a third team and third three years.

Speaker 2 (47:12):
Last year, but wide receiver three, a wide receiver three
and fointasy points per game.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
So yeah, And he was on pace for a pretty
good season too last year statistically speaking, with an awful
offensive line around CJ. Stroud. And let's not forget I'm
the guy that was telling you two years ago when
he was a Buffalo that I was fading Stefan Diggs
and people thought I was nuts until that second part
of that season rolled around and I say, look, he's
an older wide receiver. It's gonna start to catch up.
But now now the values changed considerably, and I think

(47:37):
it's got a lot to prove. Cam Scattaboo at one
twenty two, RB forty two, I just see so much
upside here. I think the first time he trucks over
some linebacker, MetLife Stadium is going to erupt and go crazy,
and it is going to be just vibes. As the
kids like to say, it really is. And look the
argument of like well cam' scadwill played Arizona, you didn't

(47:58):
play it like go watch the tape against x All
those guys basically got drafted in the NFL. He played
an NFL team and he kicked a crap out of
him in that game. Was unbelievable to watch. He can
catch the football, he can score touchdowns. He brings an
edge of the toughness that the Giants sorely lack. They've
had none of that in the last few seasons. So
why Jake Sealley left town on the Giants and just
turned his back on that organization. Andrew Rickson camp Scataboo

(48:21):
undervalued or just I don't know a gimmick to you,
what do you think? I think it was a little undervalued.

Speaker 3 (48:29):
He would be my bet to take over the backfield.
I think that he has the three down skills. I
think Tyrone Tracy is a better compliment to what he
does as a leadback versus the other way around, with
Tracy as the lead back to camp Scataboo. So yeah,
he does everything, and you're just concerned about how many touchdowns,
how many opportunities are there for the Giants in this
offense that we definitely have question marks about. But look,
if this team is down and I need to generate

(48:50):
some plays, you know, just give the ball, scataboo, just
keep giving him, feed him the rock. So I'm not
going to be pushing back against many of the rookie
running backs as.

Speaker 1 (48:57):
Pleas and Tracy. Last year, Jake did struggle with fumble
lightness a little bit. That's also not going to win.
Dear you to coaching staff, especially one that is on
the edge of extinction the way the Giants are.

Speaker 2 (49:07):
The one that also bench Tracy despite how good he
looked for the corpse of Devin Singletary and Evan Gray
and all the rest of those jokers back there. So
Eric Gray, sorry, Like I'm with you, Like it's going
to be scataboo over Tracy. It's not that Tracy can't
be a factor, but this perception that comes into the
NFL and Fantasy is like, oh, Tracy was undervalue, And

(49:27):
mind you, this is coming from somebody that pumped up
Tracy last year. But the perception was, oh, we got
shocked by how good Tracy was, and then everybody's like, oh, good,
we've found this running back. We need him in fantasy
and blah blah blah. Well he still has a ceiling,
and I think that's what we need to pull back
perspective wise, he is, like Ericson said, he's a Jalen Warren.
He's a better compliment than he is a lead.

Speaker 1 (49:47):
All Right. Two more guys here in this grouping both
also rookies, Trey Harris at one sixty four and wide
receiver sixty four and Jaden Higgins wide receiver seventy ECR
one one. And I think Higgins is fascinating because the
first guy ever to get a fully guaranteed contract as
a second round pick. I think that matters. I think
the void is there, and I think the need is

(50:08):
going to be there for Jayden and Higgins. This season
is when you don't have Stefan Diggs there anymore, and
you don't have Tank Dell, Higgins is gonna have to
step up. And I just don't know what Christian Kirk
is at this point in his career. I feel like
he's the insurance policy. But Higgins is the guy that
they want to emerge, So it might take a little patience,
and Trey Harris might also take some patience. But what
I saw last year was a lot of moments, a

(50:29):
lot of Charger games Jake where Quinn Johnson had opportunities
to really break open some games, and he let them
literally slip through his fingers. And I just don't think
Trey Harris is going to do that again. Both these
guys might take a little time in the pressure cooker,
but I think at the end we're going to be
guys that you want to have on your roster and draft. So, Jake,
are they undervalued in your mind? If so, who do

(50:50):
you prefer? Higgins? Harris? You're on the clock, who do
you take?

Speaker 2 (50:53):
Well, they are vastly undervalued, and I will take Higgins
every single time. But that's no slight to Trey Harris,
because Higgins, I think is step in. I compared it
to Marvin Jones. But Dan Brugler over at the Athletic
my colleague actually said Nico Collins, which, if you're telling
me I'm getting two Nico Collins is well, then are
we worried about Christian Kirk? Is that the plural Collins

(51:15):
Kellen's I I don't know. I don't know it works,
but I think both of them are stepping into number
two situations. I'm big on Higgins. There's a world of course,
if Kirk can stay on the field. Kirk has proven
to be good when on the field. So I'm not
saying he's definitively Higgins walking into twenty two target percent,
but it's possible, and I would take Higgins, but I
don't think Harris is that far behind. Because are we

(51:36):
gonna stop with this at this point, Quentin Johnston, I
thought he could potentially have an NFL career. As you said,
it's slipping through his fingers, and that's pun intended. I
know that Erickson is a key Andre Lambert Smith fan,
but I don't think he's on Trey Harris's level. I
think that's more of the number three wide receiver for
this team. Which can we stop with Mike Williams, by
the way at this point, like we're really concerned? Please,

(51:57):
I know exactly see you.

Speaker 3 (51:58):
Already keep forgett he's on a team still, he will
even be there on day one.

Speaker 2 (52:02):
But I say, and then we were looking at the
tight end situation, and we're talking about Gatson as a rookie,
who I like. But a rookie tight end is very
rare to actually hit. And so if everybody's waxing poetically
about Justin Herbert bouncing back this year, it's not only
going to be Lad McConkey. There's going to be somebody else,
and it's going to be Tree Harris.

Speaker 1 (52:20):
Yeah, I think both are grossly undervalued. Do you have
a preference? They're kind of close in the ecrh Higgins.
Actually no, Harris is actually still twenty ahead almost of
Higgins almost kind of crazy almost, Yeah, Like that's where
I have him too, Jake, what are your uh, what's
your opinion? Andrew? When you look at these two guys,
you have a preference here? Would you rather wait for

(52:40):
Jaydanon Higgins or do you want to take Harris in
his scenario?

Speaker 3 (52:43):
I prefer Jadan Higgins. I'm just concerned about the Chargers
offense as a whole at points with Greg Roman, and
do you really ever need to have the number two
receiver in a Greg Roman offense? Like that's something that's
just kind of like holding you back from being all
Like I don't know exactly, I'd have to look historically
to see what that guy has been, but I have
to image it's probably not great having a number two
guy in Greg Ruman's offense. So I think that Trey

(53:05):
Harris definitely fits with Justin Herbert again as a downfield weapon.
I think Johnston just he might be annoying where he's
still running routes, not necessarily high commanding a high target shair,
but annoying enough where maybel like weak guy.

Speaker 2 (53:17):
He's running a lot of straight lines at.

Speaker 3 (53:20):
A lot of straight lines. So I prefer Higgins. I just,
I mean, I feel really confident about this Texans offense,
bounce bouncing back, And I actually wanted to ask you
guys a question when it comes to because it seemed
like neither you're really confident in Christian Kirk. So just
shouldn't Jalen Nole get some love now too? Because if
if Higgins is now maybe competing with Nico Collins and
Jalen Nole, but Higgins is the redundant asset to Nico Collins,

(53:43):
wouldn't that mean Noel would be in a pretty opportunistic
role as the slot vertical receiver in this offense. If
Christian Kirk is like totally dust, I can think he's
really undervalue to the receivers are undervalued.

Speaker 1 (53:54):
I think the I think the answer that is maybe,
I think if I feel better about the offensive line,
I feel better about more Rode receivers and a lot
of people being able to feast. But I just think that,
like I don't want to bite up more than I
could chew with the Texans, Jake. That's my point of view,
what's yours?

Speaker 2 (54:07):
I could also see that. I mean, the big thing
is CG s Drout getting back the four thousand plus
yards and hopefully pushing thirty plus touchdowns for us in fantasy.
But even if that's the case, like I think, to
your point, Ericson is more of if I didn't think
as much as I do of Higgins, like if you're
talking about a Quinton Johnson actually who could catch, and
I'd be like, Okay, he's talented enough to be a

(54:28):
wide receiver three on a lot of teams, so that
doesn't necessarily mean he's going to be the teams too.
I'd be like, there's a threat that the slot option
ends up being as if not more valuable. But I
would still say as much as I also like Noel,
I think Noell is clearly a threat to Kirk, but
I don't think Noel and Higgins are close as that
like I think Kirk and Noel are close, I'd still

(54:50):
put a gap between Higgins and Noel, and I might
be wrong about that all in the end to say
your question is still valid. Of like, take a flyer
at Noel at the end of the draft, Kirk gets hurt, yeah,
and Higgins a bus. I mean, wouldn't be a shock
that he's a bus as a rookie like these things happen. Uh,
Noel could certainly be in play in the tank Dell role.

Speaker 1 (55:08):
One more guy. I'm gonna give you post two hundred,
So if you're in deeper leagues, I'm just gonna have
this guy because I feel like we're just gonna end
up spending fab on him in September anyway. So I
just want to draft Kamanan guy RB sixty eight, ECR
two thirty five Rutgers product reminds me a bit of
David Montgomery. Guy who's gonna fight for you. And I
gotta tell you, you know, once again, Ben Jonson's the
new guy there. This is the guy that he specifically wanted.

(55:32):
And I know Roshawn's there theoretically is the number two
in the depth chart, but I just think that Manong
guy becomes the David Montgomery basically in this offense sooner
than later, and that means he's gonna be the guy
that gets the touchdowns. And what do we always say
every single year about DeAndre swift Man? Oh Man, he
doesn't really have as many touchdowns because guys typically don't
trust him in the goal line and other scenarios, and

(55:53):
you no matter where he goes, somehow somebody else ends
up kind of eating around him a little bit. And
guess what, I know a lot of people might think
it's Roshan, I don't. I think it's kaman on guy.
So that's your late round sleeper that I gotta have
on all my teams. And finally, last, but certainly not least,
the hill that I'm gonna die on. And I know
that I'm gonna die on it again, and I'm comfortable

(56:14):
with it because I was ready to die on this
hill last year, and I feel like I was right,
but Mike Tomlin was just wrong. And now Mike Tomlin
has to deal with a year of Aaron Rodgers because
he couldn't just be patient and let justin fields play.
You couldn't do it, could you. You had to just
push the kid and replace him with an old fart
instead of trying to see if you had maybe a
franchise quarterback at twenty six years old, that you could

(56:36):
play no, no, let's go play with Russell Wilson. So
we can get also from the playoffs in the first round. Again,
I was a big supporter from last year. Jake knows this.
In those super flex leagues, I was already ahead of
the curve there. I was taking Justin Fields and people
didn't think he was gonna even start. Guess what he did,
and it was pretty good. In fact, I think things
could be even better here with the Lions former passing

(56:58):
game coach here tender Egg and taking over as the
offensive COORDINATY. I think that's really good. I think the
continuity there and the communication is going to be really
good with the head coach having worked together in that
building for quite some time. And I think we also
have to remember that Justin Fields was QB six last
year in fantasy points QUB six for the first six
weeks of the season, and that was just kind of
learning a new offense. I was gonna have to learn

(57:19):
new offense again. But I think he has set up
for success there with the Jets, and I'm ready to
die on this hill. I'm ready to have him be
my QB one in a single quarterback league. If I'm
waiting on quarterback and in super flex, I'm willing to
be aggressive and even you know, take a Chase or
a Jefferson or a Bijon in the first round and
see if I can come away with Justin Fields in
the second round, because I think I'm still gonna possibly
get a top ten quarterback. So, Jake Seally, is this

(57:42):
a hill I should be dying on two years in
a row, and can I resurrect myself here in twenty
twenty five?

Speaker 2 (57:47):
Oh, I also want to chime in, I'm a no,
no not. I love that running back mostly you can
do both real quick. Yeah, Like I think he's Zach Moss,
which I don't think DeAndre Swift is going to be
a massive, massive touch option for this team. So I
think that that's a great option to take me not
a guy that late. I'm with you on that one.

Speaker 1 (58:05):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (58:06):
So, by the way, Eric the Enemy has a little
tied to the record situation with Isaiah Pacheco, who by
the way, is the offensive coordinator. Just throw that out
there and keep an eye on.

Speaker 3 (58:15):
Doesn't miss with seven with seventh rounders.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
Yeah, he just loves it.

Speaker 1 (58:18):
Doesn't.

Speaker 2 (58:18):
So I like the Monona guy one that already he
had all the map e been matth the charge like
the whole thing, Charlie Day is that that one is
and then you know this and that's why you set
it up. I could not be more with you on
Justin Fields actually have him at QB seven. I'll draft
him as QB seven mostly because you brought up the
QB six And if you go back to that season

(58:39):
in twenty twenty two when he threw twenty two hundred
yards and seventeen touchdowns, whip the flipping do oh, by
the way, QB six and fancy points per game and
that year and his points per game would have been
QB six and fantasy points per game last year because
he's going to run. If he starts fifteen games, he's
going to run for a thousand yards and six seven
eight touchdowns. It's just going to happen. Oh, by the way,

(59:01):
the only two games that he scored over twenty fantasy
points last year that you're referencing, Joe and I know
you know this, you know how many combined touchdowns he
threw for on those two games. One because we don't
need him to throw to be good.

Speaker 1 (59:13):
Yeah, I don't need it to be pretty ericson. I
just needed to be productive, That's all I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (59:18):
I just love that last line from Jake. We don't
need him to throw it to be good.

Speaker 1 (59:23):
It's the best, just use his legs. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (59:25):
I also haven't met QB seven, so yes, I'm there
with you, Joe. I do have a question, though, Joe,
for you as we close out here, would you so
in Afteh, in a fifteen round draft, you draft Justin
Gilz to QB one. Are you ridding? You're dying like
he's your only quarterback your draft? Would you draft another quarterback?

Speaker 1 (59:41):
Just in case it's a good question, It's not just
in case it's a I would draft on the quarterback
because of the style of play. Because we do have
a quarterback that runs as much as fields do. You're
opening yourself up to more injuries. I'd rather have a
Herbert or a golf or somebody like that that I feel,
you know, like, okay, God forbid things go wrong here,
he pulls a amsterring, he gets lit up, you know,
trying to you know, run mill of field. I think

(01:00:01):
because the style will play, I want to back them up.
But that is a good question, I think, and I
think one everybody has to ask themselves here. If you
do take fields, are you going to take somebody else?
I think you do because you have to understand there's
risk involved. And it's also New York and it's a
different environment too. I think it's an environment he's going
to succeed in. But what do you think? What is
the hill you're dying on? Drop your comments below? Who

(01:00:22):
is that player for you? I want to know the
player that you are absolutely planning your flag on in
twenty twenty five fantasy Drop those comments in their subscribe
to the channel like the stream, and go try to
draft some of these guys right now with the draft simulator.
It's free, it's fun. Sink your leagues at Fantasypros dot
com and go to Fantasypros dot com slash mock or
just download Draft Wizard today and start your mock draft

(01:00:44):
preparation for twenty twenty five. It's never too early to begin.
That'll do it for us. But the story of the
game goes on for Jake Seally and Andrew Ericson. I'm
Joey P. We'll see you next time, kids.

Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy football podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:00:58):
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 2 (01:01:07):
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Andrew Erickson

Joe Pisapia

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Joey P's Undervalued Players That YOU NEED on Your Fantasy Football Team in 2025 (Ep. 1602)