August 25, 2025 • 17 mins
Join Ryan Wormeli and Andrew Erickson as they highlight five players that you should be drafting a round early in your 2025 fantasy football drafts to ensure that you secure these studs for your teams!
Timestamps: (May be off due to ads)
Intro - 0:00:00
Chase Brown - 0:00:35
James Conner - 0:03:39
Renegade Fantasy - 0:06:05
Tyler Warren - 0:06:45
Jaylen Waddle and Jayden Reed - 0:11:36
FantasyPros Draft Simulator - 0:15:53
Outro - 0:16:18
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, everybody, Welcome into Fantasy Pros. I Ryan warmly joined
by Andrew Erickson ericson we are talking players to be
aggressive on. We're kind of labeling it is like players
to draft around early. You could think of these as
like flag plans for just players that you really want.
And we've kind of divvied up five names into a
couple of different categories and different archetypes of players.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Quick reminder that all of our twenty.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Twenty five consensus rankings and tiers can be found at
fantasypros dot com slash rankings. Let's start off at the
very top. Ericson who is the stud that you do
not want to miss?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
On Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals running back. I think that
this is the year we get seventeen game, full blown
Chase Brown season. And there's a reason why his ADP
has now gone from round three to the back end
of round two. If you check out the real time
ADP tool on the Fantasy Pros website, just dropped Chase
Brown is now inside round two. So gone to the
(00:57):
days of taking Chase Brown out a discount because people
are being aggressive on him, and I agree because he
is so set up to Smash in this Bengals offense
because he's going to see so much volume and an
offense that's going to have to score thirty five points
a game to try to keep pace and win games
this year with Cincinnati Bengals. So last year he flashed
(01:17):
an elite ceiling. Weeks nine tough eighteen, he was RB
five in points per game. He was the RB one
inter expected fantasy points per game. So just basically looking
at the way he was used and deployed now, it
probably won't be that extent of how heavily he's used
for a seventeen game season, But if there are stretches
during the year where the Bengals aren't happy with either
(01:39):
Smash a, Pete Ryan or Taj Brooks, they're going to
lean heavily on Chase Brown. He has Joe Burrow's trust.
He catches passes, so even though he doesn't play on
third downs, he's still catching passes out of the backfield
because Joe Burrow is dropping back to throw forty forty
five times per game. So I think that he is
going to I just think he's an excellent pick, and
(02:00):
it doesn't even really matter what your roster build is
whether you start receiverly start running back. If you're picking
out that two at the end of round two, beginning
of round three, you gotta have Chase Brown in your
que You know what.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
I struggle with every year Erickson is drafting early, You're like, oh, man,
what a great value Chase Brown is in like the
back half of the third, maybe even the early fourth
and some drafts, and you get so excited and you're like, like,
this is this is insane. He should be going way higher.
I'm crushing it taking him there. Then he starts to
actually go where he should be going, which is in
(02:32):
the second round, and I'm like, oh, gross, this isn't
a value anymore. But instead it's like, no, this is
still a good place to take you, Like, this is
the correct place to be. I need to like retrade
my brain to be like, just because you're not getting
him in the third anymore, it doesn't mean he's now
a bad value. He wasn't insane value now it's just
a smart pick. But you got to rewire yourself almost yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Sometimes And the way that I kind of use this experiment,
so drafting players around early. You know, if I'm in
a draft, you know, random people or whatever. You know,
some people go off the wall, especially some of these
home leagues. People get their guys. You know, if I
looked up and you were at the end of round one,
beginning of round two, and I just saw Chase Brown's
name come off the board, I'd be like, well, that's
crazy that I'm like, honestly, I'm here for man, like
(03:15):
get your guys, Like I can see the path or
Chase Brown as a top five Fantasy running back, and
that warrants at least a round two EIGHTP. So if
he is still available and you're picking him round three
or the end of round if you're concerned about hey,
running back is starting to dry up here in round two,
I think reaching for Chase Brown, I think that you'll
be okay.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
ADP is a myth except for real time ADP on
Fantasy pros boring value that you will regret passing.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
So for this one, I went with James Connor, and
that's because he always seems to meet his ADP. So
he's played four seasons now with the Arizona Cardinals, he's
never finished worse than RB nineteen, and right now where
his real time ADP is, it's right around that range
RB nineteen, RB twenty, So it's always a matter of
health with James Connor. I think that's pretty clear. When
(04:07):
he's on the field and playing and operating as the
Cardinals boucal, he absolutely smashes. And that was last year
RB eleven overall, RB fourteen Fantasy points per game. Now
it was him playing a career high in terms of games,
so not necessarily expecting that, but out of the gates,
I think James Connor can be a perfect running back
to help you get off to a hot start. And
(04:28):
that's kind of why I think you might regret not
drafting him, because I think that his value is going
to increase during the first month of the season. The
Arizona Cardinals have one of the easiest schedules to open
up the other planet, the Saints Week one. I absolutely
love that matchup for James Connor to start out here.
And although there have been some rumors about Trey Benson
taking on a larger role, I think that's if we
(04:48):
start to see James Connor start to fall off a
little bit. So if you're looking for some early season
RB production, locked and loaded that doesn't cost a top
three round type of pick. I think James can be
your guy again. Last year he didn't shown any signs
of falling off in terms of his efficiency. He's very
good yards after contact per attempt, great in terms of
misstackles force per attempt. And he's also involved with the
(05:11):
passing game just by Kyler Murray being a mobile quarterback.
Because we look at that pass catching tree, there's Mormon Harrison,
there's Shaming Bride, and kind of a bunch of other
guys that the Cardinals aren't necessarily scheming up targets for.
That's why James Connor still gets dump off passes from
Kyler Murray. So for me, James Connor is a screaming
value where he goes and he's going to pay off
that ADP, especially early on.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
You know, I was gonna say this one doesn't excite
me as much, but like that's kind of the point, right,
This is supposed to be the boring value that will
will work out, and you know you will regret saying
you'll regret kind of going for the shiny new toy
because hey, James Connor was right there and just another
thousand yards eight plus touchdowns for what could be a
pretty good offense.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
We'll see.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
So yeah, he's almost like the poster child for this, right,
like the definition of the boring value, but one of
those words is value in boring value. So I think
he's a good choice. I want to talk to everybody
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(06:16):
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Speaker 2 (06:45):
All right, ericson who is your rookie buzz bet?
Speaker 3 (06:48):
There is no reason why you can't leave every draft
without Tyler Warren, rookie tight end for the Annapolis Colts.
And that's because he's gonna play almost every single snap
for the Colts this year on offense. And I don't
know if we totally are grasping that type of floor
that offers a fantasy tight end. That is so difficult
to do. And part of just the battle with tight
(07:10):
ends is usage and just being on the field enough
to accumulate enough fantasy points to actually be worth starting
on a week to week basis. So just based on
the role alone that Tyler Warren is going to see
in this Colts offense warrants him being a low end
fantasy tight end one, and then you factor in all
the upside of him as a talent and what he
can do actually on the field. Daniel Jones is the
(07:31):
starting quarterback in the Napolis Colts. Daniel Jones could not
stop feeding Wandell Robinson last year underneath with this low
average depth of target. Who's gonna be the dumb offf
guy for Daniel Jones when he's trying to beast, you know,
find his security blanket, don't turn them all over, because
that's how he knows he keeps the job. He keeps
the job if he just feeds Tyler Warren over and
over and over again. So I think Warren is the
(07:51):
best bet on this kind of ambiguous Colts receiver room
where we like a lot of the receivers Josh Downs,
Michael Pittman, ad Ni Mitchell. But if none of those
guys break out, I'd just rather push my chips in
on this guy that they drafted in the first round,
Tyler Warren to be the alpha of this passing attack.
So and then you layer on that he could also
take on a Taysom Hill type of role where he's
(08:13):
seen carries near the goal line. I mean, think about it.
A couple of years ago, we were throwing ourselves or
we were very aggressive trying to play Taysom Hill as
a starting tight end in fantasy football because of the
upside he offered because of his red zone role around
the goal line. So for me, when you're looking at
a rookie that I just don't think is priced accurately,
I mean, again, the rookie running backs, we love them,
(08:35):
but they are priced up like they are expensive for
a reason. I don't think the market is quite caught
on to wait. Rookie tight ends are like hitting, like
these guys are breaking out right away, Rock Bauers last year,
Sam aported two years ago, and yet still we have
two guys that we went.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Kyle Pitts has been bad since, but his rookie season
also eight thousand yards.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
It's just so fun. It just happened so long ago,
it just seems like it never really actually happened. But
that's the point that these rookie tight ends just drafted
so highly, are just I think they're being undervalued. So
I think that when you once you get Warren, you're
just getting a stock that's just going to continue to increase.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
We talked about this on a longer episode with Tom
Strachan about how Tucker Crafts and Tyler Warren were some
of our favorite tight end targets. They're going very close
to each other and the other tight ends aren't really
around him, and Joke, who's about around ahead of Kraft
and Ferguson is about a round behind Warren. They're kind
of their own little pocket, and I'm happy getting.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Either of them.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I think Warren is a great pick as sort of
this rookie buzz guy who like he's outside the top
one hundred picks right now. I think that's a mistake.
I think, honestly, like the only three tight ends that
I'm one hundred percent positive are going to be better
than Tyler Warren this season, like, you know, barring injury
and stuff, are Bowers, McBride and Kittle. There are maybe
three others that I'm pretty certain will be better than Warren.
(09:47):
That's Laporta, Mark Andrews, and you know, I do like
Tucker Craft, but that's like basically it like, I think
Warren should not be ranked outside the top ten at
the position he's going to be, I think the top
target in this offense. I like Shane Seikin's ability to
use tight ends. They the Colts haven't had a great
tight end to use now they do. I just don't
(10:10):
get this this ADP quite frankly, honestly, this real time
ADP is tight end eleven, one hundred and first overall,
that's into the ninth round. I just think that's wrong
for a guy that, like, if he finished tight end
four this year, I would be not surprised in the
slightest And if he finished inside like that Tier one
along those top three, I would be surprised, but my
jaw wouldn't be on the floor like this dude is
(10:31):
really talented, was a high first round pick, has all
the runway in the room to get a high volume workload,
has looked great in the preseason, Like, what are we
waiting for here?
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Why is he not higher? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
I think that part of it has to do with
the fact he does play tight end, and you kind
of feel less less drawn to taking a player that
might be the second tight end on your rostering, because
that's how I feel. Right you draft an elite tight end,
one of the big three, you're like, I don't need
another tight end. But but I just think that Tyler
Warren is such a safe bet to increase his value
that there's there's trade equity with Tyler Warren or the
(11:08):
other title that you draft. So if Tyler Warren ends
up being the guy, you can flip Trey McBride or
Bowers or George Kittle for a stud running back or
wide receiver and then you're absolutely cooking. So again, my
one of my favorite strategies we talked about Tucker Craft,
draft Tucker Graft and one of these rookie tight ends,
either Loveland or Tyler Warren. Draft both those guys. It's
gonna work out in your favor ericson.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Let's loop together the two league winners you want on
your team. The two guys that you picked here for
this category are.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Jaylen Wattle for the Miami Dolphins, who is going to
smash this year because I think that tyreer Khill is
going to decline and Jaylen Wattle just checks off all
the boxes. He's a positive touchdown regression candidate. He showed
out at the end of last year, which people kind
of forget. Finished the season strong, nine plus target the
three of his last four games, two ninety nine yard
outings over thirteen fantasy points per game. Twenty six years old,
(11:59):
has three two one thousand yard campaign's already been a
fantasy wide receiver one before, So can he be a
top ten wide receiver again with no John new Smith
Davon ah Chan already banged up. Yeah, I think that
he can because he's already been it and done it
with two tongue Loola as his quarterback. So I'm going
with Jamila Wattle as a guy outside the top fifty
overall and then going a little bit deeper player going
(12:20):
outside the top one hundred, just to finish as a
top twenty wide receiver this year is Jaydan Reid, and
I know a lot of people hate this pick. I
know that I lost Jayden Reid in both fantasy courts.
I did to defend him both times, and I lost
both times defending Jayde Reid. And now he's even cheaper
because he's been dealing with his foot injury. He although
he is out of the boot. Latest update he is
(12:41):
out of the boot, so he is walking around bootless.
Hopefully he has shoes on, but so if his health
checks out. I mean Jayden Reid the last two seasons,
the way that people talk about Reid. I mean the
last two seasons were him wide receiver twenty six and
wide receiver twenty three, and he's wide receiver forty six
and his ADP. So I understand that people are just pointed.
But if we get healthy Jordan Love, I think Jane
(13:03):
Reed's can easily pay off a wide receiver forty six
price tag. Whereas Matthew Golden doesn't necessarily profile as an
alpha target earner, I think that he can be efficient
in this offense. But Jordan Love is going back to
twenty twenty three version where he tossed for over thirty
touchdowns nearly forty two hundred yards. I mean, Jan Reed
has been so efficient through two years in the NFL,
I think the upside case is there for him to
(13:25):
be a top twenty wide receiver, if not top ten
again third year breakout. That is the most common year
that a receiver becomes a wide receiver one for the
very first time. Jaden Reid entering year three. Just if
we can get just some more targets in this offense,
I think that he could smash so Jane Reid. He's
freeing drafts and I'm taking the swing.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Far be it from me to argue against you and
your Jade and Wattle Love. I will not be the
guy pushing back on it on Reed. The only thing
I would say, like my approach, I guess is how
I'll put it is I am just investing in Jordan
Love as a later on quarter because then I'm not
trying to figure out where the ball is going. I
know it's coming from him, and I do think they're
going to throw more this year, you know, assuming he's
(14:07):
back and fully healthy, so Reid can benefit from that.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Certainly.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
I'm not saying it's a terrible pick here, but my
rather than try and guess on this receiving room, I just.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Kind of want to get the quarterback here.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Honestly, No, I couldn't agree more. I think that I
moved Jordan Love up in my quarterback rankings. And to
your point about that tier of quarterback where it seems
like there's so many guys where you could paint the
picture of the optimistic case, I think for me, the
most guy that I'm optimistic about is actually Jordan Love.
And it's a combination of I feel good about his
offensive line. I like that he has a lot of
depth at the receiver and tight end position, like there's
(14:40):
a multiple guys that can be productive, and I think
the defense of the package is kind of overrated. I
don't want to call them Bengals s because it's definitely
not that bad, but I think the Packers are going
to be in some shootouts. And just don't forget about
Jordan Love and how excited we were after his first
year as a start in twenty twenty three, when in
that second half of the season he was a top
five fantasy courts. He was averaging nearly twenty points per game,
(15:03):
and that was mostly as a pocket passer. So again,
Greenmy packers' offense I think is going to be exciting
this year, and you want to get parts to it.
Craft Jane Reed, Matthew Golden, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I would argue, by far of the quarterbacks outside the
top two tiers, he has the highest combination of floor
and ceiling. There are other guys who have a higher ceiling,
other guy who have a higher floor.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
He is the highest combination.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
I think he was QB six in twenty twenty three
and he's QB eighteen now.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Yeah, like no, I'm all in it as a later
on guy.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
It's kind of bonkerous, especially because Dak, who was also
kind of a similar profile of twenty twenty three QB five,
he's QB ten in real time.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Dak is like my other favorite.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
I mean, May is my favorite because I think the
ceiling is untouched, but he just has a lower floor.
Dak is my other favorite of like the combo of
floor and ceiling that I think is getting really overlooked
this year. It's Dak in love for me, I'll be
really happy with either of them. One to let everybody
know that you can use our draft simulator to test
how your teams build, how your team builds change when you.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Take your favorite players around earlier.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
The Draft simulator allows you to practice quick and fun,
realistic mock drafts based on your league settings in minutes.
Use the pick predictor to see the percent odds that
any player will be taken ahead of your next pick.
Sink your league for free and try it today at
fantasypros dot com slash mock, or download the Fantasy Football
Draft Wizard app for ericson I'm Ryan warmly.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
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Fantasy Pros
Hello, everybody, Welcome into Fantasy Pros. I Ryan warmly joined
by Andrew Erickson ericson we are talking players to be
aggressive on. We're kind of labeling it is like players
to draft around early. You could think of these as
like flag plans for just players that you really want.
And we've kind of divvied up five names into a
couple of different categories and different archetypes of players.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Quick reminder that all of our twenty.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Twenty five consensus rankings and tiers can be found at
fantasypros dot com slash rankings. Let's start off at the
very top. Ericson who is the stud that you do
not want to miss?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
On Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals running back. I think that
this is the year we get seventeen game, full blown
Chase Brown season. And there's a reason why his ADP
has now gone from round three to the back end
of round two. If you check out the real time
ADP tool on the Fantasy Pros website, just dropped Chase
Brown is now inside round two. So gone to the
(00:57):
days of taking Chase Brown out a discount because people
are being aggressive on him, and I agree because he
is so set up to Smash in this Bengals offense
because he's going to see so much volume and an
offense that's going to have to score thirty five points
a game to try to keep pace and win games
this year with Cincinnati Bengals. So last year he flashed
(01:17):
an elite ceiling. Weeks nine tough eighteen, he was RB
five in points per game. He was the RB one
inter expected fantasy points per game. So just basically looking
at the way he was used and deployed now, it
probably won't be that extent of how heavily he's used
for a seventeen game season, But if there are stretches
during the year where the Bengals aren't happy with either
(01:39):
Smash a, Pete Ryan or Taj Brooks, they're going to
lean heavily on Chase Brown. He has Joe Burrow's trust.
He catches passes, so even though he doesn't play on
third downs, he's still catching passes out of the backfield
because Joe Burrow is dropping back to throw forty forty
five times per game. So I think that he is
going to I just think he's an excellent pick, and
(02:00):
it doesn't even really matter what your roster build is
whether you start receiverly start running back. If you're picking
out that two at the end of round two, beginning
of round three, you gotta have Chase Brown in your
que You know what.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
I struggle with every year Erickson is drafting early, You're like, oh, man,
what a great value Chase Brown is in like the
back half of the third, maybe even the early fourth
and some drafts, and you get so excited and you're like, like,
this is this is insane. He should be going way higher.
I'm crushing it taking him there. Then he starts to
actually go where he should be going, which is in
(02:32):
the second round, and I'm like, oh, gross, this isn't
a value anymore. But instead it's like, no, this is
still a good place to take you, Like, this is
the correct place to be. I need to like retrade
my brain to be like, just because you're not getting
him in the third anymore, it doesn't mean he's now
a bad value. He wasn't insane value now it's just
a smart pick. But you got to rewire yourself almost yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Sometimes And the way that I kind of use this experiment,
so drafting players around early. You know, if I'm in
a draft, you know, random people or whatever. You know,
some people go off the wall, especially some of these
home leagues. People get their guys. You know, if I
looked up and you were at the end of round one,
beginning of round two, and I just saw Chase Brown's
name come off the board, I'd be like, well, that's
crazy that I'm like, honestly, I'm here for man, like
(03:15):
get your guys, Like I can see the path or
Chase Brown as a top five Fantasy running back, and
that warrants at least a round two EIGHTP. So if
he is still available and you're picking him round three
or the end of round if you're concerned about hey,
running back is starting to dry up here in round two,
I think reaching for Chase Brown, I think that you'll
be okay.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
ADP is a myth except for real time ADP on
Fantasy pros boring value that you will regret passing.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
So for this one, I went with James Connor, and
that's because he always seems to meet his ADP. So
he's played four seasons now with the Arizona Cardinals, he's
never finished worse than RB nineteen, and right now where
his real time ADP is, it's right around that range
RB nineteen, RB twenty, So it's always a matter of
health with James Connor. I think that's pretty clear. When
(04:07):
he's on the field and playing and operating as the
Cardinals boucal, he absolutely smashes. And that was last year
RB eleven overall, RB fourteen Fantasy points per game. Now
it was him playing a career high in terms of games,
so not necessarily expecting that, but out of the gates,
I think James Connor can be a perfect running back
to help you get off to a hot start. And
(04:28):
that's kind of why I think you might regret not
drafting him, because I think that his value is going
to increase during the first month of the season. The
Arizona Cardinals have one of the easiest schedules to open
up the other planet, the Saints Week one. I absolutely
love that matchup for James Connor to start out here.
And although there have been some rumors about Trey Benson
taking on a larger role, I think that's if we
(04:48):
start to see James Connor start to fall off a
little bit. So if you're looking for some early season
RB production, locked and loaded that doesn't cost a top
three round type of pick. I think James can be
your guy again. Last year he didn't shown any signs
of falling off in terms of his efficiency. He's very
good yards after contact per attempt, great in terms of
misstackles force per attempt. And he's also involved with the
(05:11):
passing game just by Kyler Murray being a mobile quarterback.
Because we look at that pass catching tree, there's Mormon Harrison,
there's Shaming Bride, and kind of a bunch of other
guys that the Cardinals aren't necessarily scheming up targets for.
That's why James Connor still gets dump off passes from
Kyler Murray. So for me, James Connor is a screaming
value where he goes and he's going to pay off
that ADP, especially early on.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
You know, I was gonna say this one doesn't excite
me as much, but like that's kind of the point, right,
This is supposed to be the boring value that will
will work out, and you know you will regret saying
you'll regret kind of going for the shiny new toy
because hey, James Connor was right there and just another
thousand yards eight plus touchdowns for what could be a
pretty good offense.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
We'll see.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
So yeah, he's almost like the poster child for this, right,
like the definition of the boring value, but one of
those words is value in boring value. So I think
he's a good choice. I want to talk to everybody
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Speaker 2 (06:45):
All right, ericson who is your rookie buzz bet?
Speaker 3 (06:48):
There is no reason why you can't leave every draft
without Tyler Warren, rookie tight end for the Annapolis Colts.
And that's because he's gonna play almost every single snap
for the Colts this year on offense. And I don't
know if we totally are grasping that type of floor
that offers a fantasy tight end. That is so difficult
to do. And part of just the battle with tight
(07:10):
ends is usage and just being on the field enough
to accumulate enough fantasy points to actually be worth starting
on a week to week basis. So just based on
the role alone that Tyler Warren is going to see
in this Colts offense warrants him being a low end
fantasy tight end one, and then you factor in all
the upside of him as a talent and what he
can do actually on the field. Daniel Jones is the
(07:31):
starting quarterback in the Napolis Colts. Daniel Jones could not
stop feeding Wandell Robinson last year underneath with this low
average depth of target. Who's gonna be the dumb offf
guy for Daniel Jones when he's trying to beast, you know,
find his security blanket, don't turn them all over, because
that's how he knows he keeps the job. He keeps
the job if he just feeds Tyler Warren over and
over and over again. So I think Warren is the
(07:51):
best bet on this kind of ambiguous Colts receiver room
where we like a lot of the receivers Josh Downs,
Michael Pittman, ad Ni Mitchell. But if none of those
guys break out, I'd just rather push my chips in
on this guy that they drafted in the first round,
Tyler Warren to be the alpha of this passing attack.
So and then you layer on that he could also
take on a Taysom Hill type of role where he's
(08:13):
seen carries near the goal line. I mean, think about it.
A couple of years ago, we were throwing ourselves or
we were very aggressive trying to play Taysom Hill as
a starting tight end in fantasy football because of the
upside he offered because of his red zone role around
the goal line. So for me, when you're looking at
a rookie that I just don't think is priced accurately,
I mean, again, the rookie running backs, we love them,
(08:35):
but they are priced up like they are expensive for
a reason. I don't think the market is quite caught
on to wait. Rookie tight ends are like hitting, like
these guys are breaking out right away, Rock Bauers last year,
Sam aported two years ago, and yet still we have
two guys that we went.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Kyle Pitts has been bad since, but his rookie season
also eight thousand yards.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
It's just so fun. It just happened so long ago,
it just seems like it never really actually happened. But
that's the point that these rookie tight ends just drafted
so highly, are just I think they're being undervalued. So
I think that when you once you get Warren, you're
just getting a stock that's just going to continue to increase.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
We talked about this on a longer episode with Tom
Strachan about how Tucker Crafts and Tyler Warren were some
of our favorite tight end targets. They're going very close
to each other and the other tight ends aren't really
around him, and Joke, who's about around ahead of Kraft
and Ferguson is about a round behind Warren. They're kind
of their own little pocket, and I'm happy getting.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Either of them.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I think Warren is a great pick as sort of
this rookie buzz guy who like he's outside the top
one hundred picks right now. I think that's a mistake.
I think, honestly, like the only three tight ends that
I'm one hundred percent positive are going to be better
than Tyler Warren this season, like, you know, barring injury
and stuff, are Bowers, McBride and Kittle. There are maybe
three others that I'm pretty certain will be better than Warren.
(09:47):
That's Laporta, Mark Andrews, and you know, I do like
Tucker Craft, but that's like basically it like, I think
Warren should not be ranked outside the top ten at
the position he's going to be, I think the top
target in this offense. I like Shane Seikin's ability to
use tight ends. They the Colts haven't had a great
tight end to use now they do. I just don't
(10:10):
get this this ADP quite frankly, honestly, this real time
ADP is tight end eleven, one hundred and first overall,
that's into the ninth round. I just think that's wrong
for a guy that, like, if he finished tight end
four this year, I would be not surprised in the
slightest And if he finished inside like that Tier one
along those top three, I would be surprised, but my
jaw wouldn't be on the floor like this dude is
(10:31):
really talented, was a high first round pick, has all
the runway in the room to get a high volume workload,
has looked great in the preseason, Like, what are we
waiting for here?
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Why is he not higher? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
I think that part of it has to do with
the fact he does play tight end, and you kind
of feel less less drawn to taking a player that
might be the second tight end on your rostering, because
that's how I feel. Right you draft an elite tight end,
one of the big three, you're like, I don't need
another tight end. But but I just think that Tyler
Warren is such a safe bet to increase his value
that there's there's trade equity with Tyler Warren or the
(11:08):
other title that you draft. So if Tyler Warren ends
up being the guy, you can flip Trey McBride or
Bowers or George Kittle for a stud running back or
wide receiver and then you're absolutely cooking. So again, my
one of my favorite strategies we talked about Tucker Craft,
draft Tucker Graft and one of these rookie tight ends,
either Loveland or Tyler Warren. Draft both those guys. It's
gonna work out in your favor ericson.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Let's loop together the two league winners you want on
your team. The two guys that you picked here for
this category are.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Jaylen Wattle for the Miami Dolphins, who is going to
smash this year because I think that tyreer Khill is
going to decline and Jaylen Wattle just checks off all
the boxes. He's a positive touchdown regression candidate. He showed
out at the end of last year, which people kind
of forget. Finished the season strong, nine plus target the
three of his last four games, two ninety nine yard
outings over thirteen fantasy points per game. Twenty six years old,
(11:59):
has three two one thousand yard campaign's already been a
fantasy wide receiver one before, So can he be a
top ten wide receiver again with no John new Smith
Davon ah Chan already banged up. Yeah, I think that
he can because he's already been it and done it
with two tongue Loola as his quarterback. So I'm going
with Jamila Wattle as a guy outside the top fifty
overall and then going a little bit deeper player going
(12:20):
outside the top one hundred, just to finish as a
top twenty wide receiver this year is Jaydan Reid, and
I know a lot of people hate this pick. I
know that I lost Jayden Reid in both fantasy courts.
I did to defend him both times, and I lost
both times defending Jayde Reid. And now he's even cheaper
because he's been dealing with his foot injury. He although
he is out of the boot. Latest update he is
(12:41):
out of the boot, so he is walking around bootless.
Hopefully he has shoes on, but so if his health
checks out. I mean Jayden Reid the last two seasons,
the way that people talk about Reid. I mean the
last two seasons were him wide receiver twenty six and
wide receiver twenty three, and he's wide receiver forty six
and his ADP. So I understand that people are just pointed.
But if we get healthy Jordan Love, I think Jane
(13:03):
Reed's can easily pay off a wide receiver forty six
price tag. Whereas Matthew Golden doesn't necessarily profile as an
alpha target earner, I think that he can be efficient
in this offense. But Jordan Love is going back to
twenty twenty three version where he tossed for over thirty
touchdowns nearly forty two hundred yards. I mean, Jan Reed
has been so efficient through two years in the NFL,
I think the upside case is there for him to
(13:25):
be a top twenty wide receiver, if not top ten
again third year breakout. That is the most common year
that a receiver becomes a wide receiver one for the
very first time. Jaden Reid entering year three. Just if
we can get just some more targets in this offense,
I think that he could smash so Jane Reid. He's
freeing drafts and I'm taking the swing.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Far be it from me to argue against you and
your Jade and Wattle Love. I will not be the
guy pushing back on it on Reed. The only thing
I would say, like my approach, I guess is how
I'll put it is I am just investing in Jordan
Love as a later on quarter because then I'm not
trying to figure out where the ball is going. I
know it's coming from him, and I do think they're
going to throw more this year, you know, assuming he's
(14:07):
back and fully healthy, so Reid can benefit from that.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Certainly.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
I'm not saying it's a terrible pick here, but my
rather than try and guess on this receiving room, I just.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Kind of want to get the quarterback here.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Honestly, No, I couldn't agree more. I think that I
moved Jordan Love up in my quarterback rankings. And to
your point about that tier of quarterback where it seems
like there's so many guys where you could paint the
picture of the optimistic case, I think for me, the
most guy that I'm optimistic about is actually Jordan Love.
And it's a combination of I feel good about his
offensive line. I like that he has a lot of
depth at the receiver and tight end position, like there's
(14:40):
a multiple guys that can be productive, and I think
the defense of the package is kind of overrated. I
don't want to call them Bengals s because it's definitely
not that bad, but I think the Packers are going
to be in some shootouts. And just don't forget about
Jordan Love and how excited we were after his first
year as a start in twenty twenty three, when in
that second half of the season he was a top
five fantasy courts. He was averaging nearly twenty points per game,
(15:03):
and that was mostly as a pocket passer. So again,
Greenmy packers' offense I think is going to be exciting
this year, and you want to get parts to it.
Craft Jane Reed, Matthew Golden, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I would argue, by far of the quarterbacks outside the
top two tiers, he has the highest combination of floor
and ceiling. There are other guys who have a higher ceiling,
other guy who have a higher floor.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
He is the highest combination.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
I think he was QB six in twenty twenty three
and he's QB eighteen now.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Yeah, like no, I'm all in it as a later
on guy.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
It's kind of bonkerous, especially because Dak, who was also
kind of a similar profile of twenty twenty three QB five,
he's QB ten in real time.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Dak is like my other favorite.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
I mean, May is my favorite because I think the
ceiling is untouched, but he just has a lower floor.
Dak is my other favorite of like the combo of
floor and ceiling that I think is getting really overlooked
this year. It's Dak in love for me, I'll be
really happy with either of them. One to let everybody
know that you can use our draft simulator to test
how your teams build, how your team builds change when you.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Take your favorite players around earlier.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
The Draft simulator allows you to practice quick and fun,
realistic mock drafts based on your league settings in minutes.
Use the pick predictor to see the percent odds that
any player will be taken ahead of your next pick.
Sink your league for free and try it today at
fantasypros dot com slash mock, or download the Fantasy Football
Draft Wizard app for ericson I'm Ryan warmly.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football podcast.
If you love the show, the best freeway to support
us is by leaving a positive review on Apple podcasts
at fantasypros dot com slash review or on Spotify. Follow
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Fantasy Pros
Hosts And Creators
Andrew Erickson
Joe Pisapia
Derek Brown
Thor Nystrom
Ryan Wormeli
Pat Fitzmaurice
Matthew Freedman
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