This is The Zone of Disruption! This is the I AM RAPAPORT: STEREO PODCAST! His name is Michael Rapaport aka The Gringo Mandingo aka The Charles Oakley of The Jews, The Monster of Mucous aka Captain Colitis aka The Disruptive Warrior aka Mr. NY aka The Inflamed Ashkenazi aka The Smiling Sultan of Sniff aka The Flat Footed Phenom aka Milk aka Mitzvah Mike is here from New York to discuss Fantasy Football with Dave Kluge on: Where to find the gold, taking Tyreek, Draft Day, Breakout players, who is making the leap to stardom, tight ends to look out for, defenses that will score points & a whole lotta mo'. This episode is not to be missed!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Boom have no fear of the im Rapaport Stereo podcasts. Here,
Big Eat Boom, have no fear the im Rapaport Stereo Podcast.
This year, it's Champion Chip Fantasy Football time. It's time
to go in, win your draft, dominate your draft, and
then dominate This season, I got my guy, Dave klugi
(00:28):
from the Football Guys Fantasy Football Show. These guys are
on top of it. They don't play games. They live, breathe, sleep, eat, drink,
burp all things fantasy football. Our episode last season was awesome.
He's back Dave Klugy, one of the hosts of Football
(00:49):
Guys Fantasy Football Show. We're talking sleepers, rookies, two quarterback solutions,
bus breakouts, and so much more on a high flying
fully fantasy football.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Dominate your Draft.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I Am rap Ports Stereo Podcast episode coming up right now.
Miles Jordan Ak the Bleach Brothers AK. That does brothers
start this puppy off? What something real, nice sticky? Start
this puppy over some real but most importantly, start this
puppy off with something really, really fantastically funky.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
See I Am rap Port Stereo Podcast. Let's go.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
All right. I Rapport Stereo Podcast It's fantasy football season,
the greatest time of the year.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I had him on last year.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I want to welcome back my guest, Dave Klugy, the
host of the Football Guys Fantasy Football show. It's like Christmas, Dave,
it's about to start. It's happening. How are you feeling.
How are you feeling about the fantasy football season, which
is about to start in a matter of days.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I know, man, it snuck up on us quick. We
were talking pre show and I was saying, like, feels
like the draft was just a few weeks ago. This
season really came up on us quick. And I'm a
Bears fan, and I know you're a Giants fan, so
you can relate to it. Getting to watch Hard Knocks, Man,
that's got me more excited for this season than I've
been in a long long time. I was trying so
hard not to sip the Bears kool aid, like you know,
(02:26):
I try to try to keep my expectations at bay.
But watch four episodes of Hard Knocks and I'm ready, Man,
Bear's super Bowl, Let's go.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Ha ha ha ha.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
You know, there's no feelings in fantasy There is no feelings,
there is no fandom in fantasy football. Before I get
to some specific questions, did you ever imagine when you
fell in love with fantasy football that it would be
as ginormous and so much a part of your life
and you know, millions of other people's lives. I never, ever,
(02:57):
ever thought that when I first started playing, that I
would be I can't even imagine a season without participating
in my fantasy football leagues. It's totally changed, I think
for the better, definitely for the better, the way I
view the season, the way I understand football, the way
I understand the league, whatever season it is, because I'm
(03:20):
you know, looking at the whole landscape of it, like,
what is your take on just where fantasy football was
and where it is now as we get ready to
start the twenty twenty four season.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
You know, I never thought fantasy football would be this big,
and I've been playing for a long time. When I
was ten years old, I got in my dad's fantasy
football league, and that was pre internet days, where you know,
they do their draft in person, and then we'd be
looking in the newspaper and you know, looking at the
box scores and adding the points up ourselves. That's when
I started playing fantasy football, and nobody was playing fantasy
football at that time. And then when I got a
(03:51):
little bit older, my seventh grade bath teachers started playing
this game called math baseball, which was pretty much the
same thing. You know, at the time, it wasn't even
called fantasy baseball, but we draft baseball players and then
based on how many bases they got, how many strikeouts
they got, you get points for that, and the same
thing we were adding up ourselves in the newspaper box score.
So I've been playing fantasy football since I was a
(04:12):
little kid. And then when I got into high school,
I commissioned a league, and still playing in that same
league with those same buddies from high school. And now
we stand up in each other's weddings. I think we're
going into year seventeen now, I want to say, but
it's been going for a long long time. But no,
I never thought this would be my job. I never
thought that fantasy football would be this big. You know.
I was a nerd for playing fantasy football when I
(04:32):
was fourteen years old, and then started writing some articles
and sharing them on Reddit, and you know, somebody reached
out and said they'd pay me five bucks for an article,
and then twenty five bucks for an article, and then
a podcast here, and a podcast there, and a YouTube
video here, and all of a sudden, I'm living the dream, man.
Could it be happier with it?
Speaker 1 (04:49):
That is crazy? That's crazy, man, that's really I love that.
Where are you guys at with the Football Guys Fantasy
Football Show this season? What are you doing? Where can
we find you? What are you excited about? In regards
to Football Guys Fantasy Football Show?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Well, thank you for asking. We actually just launched a
new YouTube channel that gives us a little bit more flexibility.
So at Football Guys, we've got a staff of almost
ninety people. And what I like about Football Guys is
we've got we've got data guys, we've got film guys,
we've got narrative guys, we've got beat reporters. We've got
everybody on staff. But Alfredo Brown, who was on the
show last year, he is traveling this week so unfortunately
(05:30):
couldn't make it. But he and I started our own
YouTube channel with just the two of us, because what
we noticed on YouTube is that we had a bunch
of different shows and we were just catering to different audiences.
So we decided just about three months ago to start
our own YouTube channel from zero, which is a scary
thing to do, but it's been growing really quickly here.
We just got nominated last year by FSGA and FSWA
(05:53):
for Best Football Podcasts. So it's really cool to see
the work that we've been putting in over the last
couple years of starting to get recognized and the show's
been great quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
That's awesome, man.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Congratulations And where where can I find Well, I say we,
but I say where can I find it? Because I
need this information. I text you a few times last
year during the season, where can I and.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
We find the gold? Gold gold throughout the week.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
And of course, you know in crunch time because everybody
on their Sunday morning where they're maybe even their Thursday
night or their Monday afternoon, like, where do we get
the gold from you?
Speaker 3 (06:28):
YouTube dot com slash at Football Guys Fantasy. It's a
little confusing, so YouTube dot com slash at sign Football
Guys Fantasy. But also if you just search football Guys
Fantasy football, search that anywhere where podcasts are recorded, you
could find it there. We're doing six episodes a week
in season, so you know, hitting waiver wires, trade targets,
(06:49):
injury updates. We do a live start sit show on Sunday,
So anything that you could possibly need during the season,
we're providing that for you.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
I love that, and I'm glad to see you guys
thrive in and uh you know, and and enjoying it
and business is good with the football guys Fantasy Football Show.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I just had my first draft. My first draft went well.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
I wound up taking Tyreek in the first my first pick.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I was number two in that league.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
This was the day that c D Lamb sign I'm
not worried about I'm not worried about c D. He's
a plug and play as far as I'm concerned. But
the question that I first want to ask you is
I feel good about my pick with Tyreek. He's been great,
you know, I know sometimes he breaks down.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. I
you know, it was between c D.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
It was between Tyreek and I really, you know, started
thinking about Breese Hall the Wrecking Ball, and I came
up with that nickname Breese Hall the Wrecking Ball and CMC.
But you know, everybody loves Christian McCaffrey. I love Christian McCaffrey.
Do you have concerns like a lot of people. I
was talking to my guy X in my building, you know,
and a lot of people, you know, are starting to
(08:04):
concern be concerned that Christian, you know, with the hamstrings
and you know, he might start slowing down a little bit,
just because I like him so much, But I didn't
pick him. I picked Tyreek over Christian. What do you
think of Christian? And what do you think of me
picking Tyreek over Christian with the second pick in my
money league?
Speaker 3 (08:23):
You know, I say it all the time, Fantasy football
is supposed to be fun, and like, if you're just
drafting off of ADP and like what exactly what people
are telling you to draft, it's not fun. So I
think it's okay to make little reaches here and there
to get guys you want to root for. First of all,
I think Tyreek Hill is a great pick. We just
saw this video come out where two Attack of Vaaloa
was on a podcast a few days ago talking about
how last year they were trying to get Tyreek Hill
(08:44):
to two thousand yards. Like you don't hear players and
coaches talking about these records all that much, but they
said they wanted to get him there, and then he
got hurt and they couldn't. I think they're going to
try to do it again this year like they've made no,
they're not hiding it that they're trying to set records
here in Miami. So I like that. Tyreek'll pick Christian
McAffrey is a tough one because if you look historically
at running backs throughout the NFL, they start to break
(09:06):
down at Christian McCaffrey's age. However, Christian McCaffrey isn't showing
those signs you know, typically before running back falls off
the age cliff, like we've seen with Leonard Fournett and
Zeke and Dalvin Cook over the last couple of years,
we start to see some warning signs before that happens.
Christian McAffrey isn't showing any of those warning signs like
he since showing up in San Francisco has been a
(09:27):
better and more efficient player than he was in his
younger years in Carolina. So I get why people want
to take McCaffrey one on one, the first overall pick,
but I also get why people pass on him because
there is some fear there also, as I'm sure you
know from your draft MIC, and we'll get into the
rest of it and kind of see who else you
picked here. But wide receivers dry up quickly this year.
(09:48):
So that's the other thing. If you start with McCaffrey,
then all of a sudden, you're in round two and
three look at some kind of shaky wide receivers that
you don't feel great about. So I think starting with
Tyreek Hill is a great start because then it gives
you more flexibility in the later US to target other positions.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Oh, I appreciate that. I appreciate that. I feel good
about that draft. I mean, it's fantasy football. Drafts are
so nuts and there's such a mind twist and they're
so fun. I don't know, it's such an insane fun crazy.
You know, you feel like you're you have it all
their control, but you never have anything under control during
(10:23):
a draft. And I think both of my leagues are
very competitive. You mentioned your your league that you've been
playing with in seventeen years. Is that your your blood
and guts league, Like, what's your league that gets you
the craziest.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
That's the only one that I even pay attention to
on Sundays. And I'm in other leagues, you know, high
roller leagues, five hundred dollars buy ins, whatever you want
to talk. I'm in dozens of managed leagues. I'm in
hundreds of best ball leagues. But the only one I
care about is the one with my buddies, and that
doesn't even have a big buying you know, it's a
hundred bucks. We keep it friendly. But it's the shit
talk that keeps me going, man, Like, That's what I like,
(10:58):
is just the trash talking in the group chat, going
back and forth, Like I still get clown for drafting
Toby Gerhart in the third round. What was that six
or seven years ago when he was in Jacksonville. And
those are the things that we remember that keep this
league fun is just the years of animosity between these guys.
And like you said, like you think you know what
you're getting into, you can. I know you do the
(11:19):
mock drafts under digress right where you're you're the drafting.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yes, yes, yeah, exactly. I do them on the freeway.
I do them underwater. I do the whole thing. I
do them in the shower, hot showers.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Upset down from a bar while somebody's punching you in
the stomach. Yeah, I get you never know.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
You never know what you're gonna be dealt with, what
kind of uh you know, twist is gonna happen on
the draft. You might get thrown into a shower and
have to make your seventh pick. You never know. You
have to be prepared.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
And that's the thing. No matter how much you prepare, though,
like you said, when you get into these drafts with
your buddies, everything goes out the window. All the mock drafting,
all the preparation. Some guys do some crazy stuff, pick
players ahead of ADP and by round three you're just
scratching in claw and trying to do your best.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Who are your breakout players this year? Who are your
breakout players, and specifically, who are your breakout running backs?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
That's a good question. Ken Walker is a guy that
we have seen kind of have some success over the
last couple of years, but I don't think he's really
scratched the surface. I mean, you look last year he
was splitting steps with Zach Charbonney, but when he was
on the field, he was getting so many more targets
and so many more carries. And now you look at
this offense in Seattle, they're going to change things up
a little bit. With Pete Carroll out of the picture. Now,
(12:48):
they brought in Ryan Grubb, the offensive coordinator from Washington,
and if you look at what they did, he really
leaned heavily on one running back and they're going to
stretch defenses vertically, which is just going to make even
more opportunities for big plays for ken Walker. And that's
what he does best is rip off these big plays.
So Kenneth Walker is a guy right now that I
think people are concerned about. You regularly see him falling
into like the RB fifteen to RB eighteen range. I've
(13:10):
got him as my RB eleven. He's the guy that
I'm willing to draft as early as round three because
even though I don't know if you can consider him
a breakout because we've seen the talent over the last
couple of years, but I think he's got an elite
finish in his range of outcomes that people aren't really
accounting for.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Who else give me the other breakouts across the board
from any positions that you're looking forward to seeing, you
know that are going from guys that listen. I think
that if you're listening to this podcast, if they're following you,
you have familiarity. So it's hard to say breakout. But like,
who are you looking to take the next step to
be stars this year or potential stars?
Speaker 3 (13:47):
So I don't know if this counts as a breakout
because he's a rookie and I guess technically every rookie
is going to break out right like they're going to
have their best season in the NFL. But Jonathan Brooks
is the guy that I cannot stop drafting. You know,
I've done a bunch of drafts already this offseason, and
he's such an easy pick. And I understand the concerns.
You know, he's coming off the acl tair, he's already
on the pup list, which means he's going to miss
at least the first four weeks. But I think the
(14:09):
thesis with Jonathan Brooks isn't that you're drafting him so
you can get a full season of production. You're drafting
him hoping then in the second half of the season
he can give you top ten, top five production. And
I think he's that good of a football player. You
start looking at his rushing grades and his receiving grades
by PFF. He was number one in his class and
he was drafted as that way. He was the number
(14:29):
one running back drafted this year despite coming off of
a n ACL tear. And there's so many concerns that
I can just kind of brush off with Jonathan Brooks.
You know, people talk about Carolina. Carolina was terrible last year.
I'm not going to argue with that, but they beefed
up their interior offensive line. They brought in Dave Canalis,
who resuscitated Gino Smith and Baker Mayfield. So I have
faith in Carolina being a better offense this year than
(14:51):
they were last year. And we saw last year. Dave Canalis,
who's now the head coach in Carolina, was the offensive
coordinator last year in Tampa Bay, and we saw the
way that he just fed the ball to Rashad White.
Rashad White wasn't even that good and they were still
giving him twenty plus touches a game. I think that's
what we're going to see over the second half of
the season with Jonathan Brooks. So you could draft him
as your RB four or your RB five, keep him
(15:13):
stashed for the first month of the season, and then
hopefully by the time he returns he's getting a huge workload.
We know he's a talented player, and if he's given
you twenty points per game over the second half of
the season, he's going to be a league winning draft pick.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I love that this is more of a sleeper question.
We're heading into the start of the season twenty twenty
four season. There's so many names, there's so many stars,
there's new names, there's there's wings, there's prayers, there's hopes.
Who's the one person that everybody is gonna be like?
(15:46):
I wish I knew about him in any position. I
don't care if it's a tight end, quarterback, RB, wide receiver, FLEXI.
Who's the one person that you feel like, the one
player that everybody is forgetting about that next year everybody
will know, oh his name or by Week four, Week five,
Week six, and especially going into the following season, everybody's
(16:07):
gonna know this guy's name.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I promise I'm not just trying to butter you up here.
Mike Malik Neighbors is a hell of a receiver man.
He is good, and I know there's some concerns don't
have a strong run game. They don't have a great
offensive line. Daniel Jones still has some question marks there.
But the type of a receiver Malik Neighbors is. He's
not a guy who is undersized and wins on timing
routes and needs good chemistry with his quarterback. They are
(16:31):
just gonna do whatever they can to get the ball
in his hands. Without Saquon Barkley there now, he is
hands down their best player and the best athlete on
that team. So they're gonna do anything they can, whether
it's just screens, slants, end a rounds, they are going
to get the ball in his hands. And when you
watch his tape from LSU, he's got just a different
type of speed and not just straight line speed, like
(16:51):
he could change direction make a ninety degree turn without
even slowing down. That's the type of guy that I
want in fantasy football because he doesn't need good environmental
factors around him to be his best. He's just a
guy who can single handedly take any ball eighty yards
for a touchdown. So right now, I think everybody's overly
concerned about Daniel Jones and the Giants and all this,
(17:12):
but I think we're gonna see Melik Neighbors just making
big play after big play after big play, and I
think next year we're gonna be looking at him the
same way we look at a guy like Garrett Wilson
who hasn't done much in his career this year, but
we say we know the talent's there and we're gonna
draft him in the first round. I think we're gonna
see Melik Neighbors next year as a first second round talent.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
I hope the Giants can do a little bit more
than all of us are expecting.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
And you know, Dimes is our guy. He's our guy now,
and I just hope.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
That he could stay healthy. I also feel like, you know,
he's been dealt a hand man. Some of these times,
he's like, I don't care if it's Michael Vick. I
don't care who's He was running for his life for
a lot of his career so far, and I'm not
saying he is Michael Vicker, but he there's sometimes I'm
just like this, nobody could survive this.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I don't care.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Patrick Mahomes like he's literally running for his life. So
hopefully they could protect him, he could stay healthy, and
you know, maybe we could do a little bit more
than people are thinking about. But like I said, we're
talking fantasy football. There are no feelings in fantasy football.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
You know, I gotta say, I don't even hate Daniel
Jones in fantasy football if you're in a two quarterback
leave league. Like people are writing Daniel Jones off for dead.
But we got to remember before the aclchair, this dude
rushed for seven hundred yards. Like, there are very few
running backs or quarterbacks in the NFL that can rush
for seven hundred plus yards. And you know how it works, Michael,
You've been playing fantasy football a lot like a rushing
(18:36):
yard from a quarterback is four times more valuable than
a passing yard. So when a guy like Daniel Jones
goes out and rushes for seven hundred yards, it doesn't
matter what he's doing as a passer. He's basically starting
the season off with twenty eight hundred passing yards and
then just adding on top of that whatever he actually
does through the air. So Daniel Jones, if he can
return to who he was pre aclchair now with some
(18:56):
better weapons around him and no Saquon Barkley to steal
the goal line, where we could be looking at kind
of a sneaky ceiling for Daniel Jones in fantasy.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
I would love that.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I would love that as a Giants fan, and I
would love that as just a you know, to keep
in the back of my head.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
You said two quarterback league.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I am not in a two quarterback league, but I
for the first time have been with the two quarterback
solution draft, the two quarterback solution draft instead of picking
a wing in a prayer in the fifteenth round. The
fourteenth round, I had set I'm getting a second quarterback.
I'm not going to deal with an injury in week
(19:33):
three or something bad happening in week six and there's
nobody on the board. I went for my backup quarterback
in my one quarterback league to have, and I'm happy
about that. My first quarterback was Kyler Murray, which I
just want you to give a quick overhead on. And
the second guy who the best available, although he's had
(19:53):
some shoulder injuries and I would love to him. Maybe
he needs a massage to Sean Watson. But where do
you feel about, you know, two quarterbacks in you know regular,
you know PPR leagues.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
So I don't think there's anything wrong with it. If
you've got deep benches, you know, if you've only got
four or five bench spots, I wouldn't recommend wasting one
of those guys on a quarterback. But if you've got
seven plus bench spots, I think it makes sense to
draft a second quarterback. Now. We just did a show
on Monday where we did our Guys where Alfredo Brown
and I each talked about our favorite guy at every
single position quarterback, running back, tight end, wide receiver, and
(20:28):
then we did one late round sleeper pick, and Alfredo
and I both picked Kyler Murray as our guy. Because
where he's getting drafted right now, I'm guessing you probably
got him as like the seventh or eighth quarterback off
the board. That's typically where he's going. And this is
a guy who his rookie season, he was the QB
twelve in scoring, and then after that for the next
three years he was a top five quarterback. He was
QB four, he was QB five, QB four again, and
(20:50):
then last year he had no weapons. Marquise Brown was injured,
DeAndre Hopkins was out of the picture. He was coming
off an ACL tear, so he wasn't rushing as much,
and he was He's still the quarterback nine on a
per game basis. So that's the worst case scenario for
Kyler Murray is, you know, coming off of an injury,
having no weapons, and he's still giving you top ten production.
Now you look at Marvin Harrison Junior in the mix,
(21:12):
He's going to be almost two full years removed from
the ACL injury, so we should see that rushing upset again.
I've got Kyler Murray as my QB five, but it's
really easy to see him even finishing better than that.
So I love that pick there. And then Deshaun Watson,
you know, I really feel like I'm buttering you up
on the show, Mic, and that's not what I'm trying
to do. But you made some good picks here. Deshaun
Watson is another guy that I like. You look at
(21:33):
it last year and as a whole, this season was
just abysmal, like there wasn't a lot of good stuff,
but you start kind of looking at the context a
little bit. He only started and finished five games last year.
One of those games was terrible. One of those games
he was QB fourteen, but in three of the other
games he was a top ten quarterback. So people have
written this guy off for dead, and you know, they
(21:54):
think that he doesn't want to play football, they think
that he's washed. Whatever it may be. This guy was
a perennial top five quarter back when he was in Houston.
We saw him last year in three of five games,
still being a top ten quarterback. Now he's got Jerry
Judy there. We've seen David Nijoku breakout. They brought a
Marii Cooper back on a restructure deal, and again, kind
of like I was saying with Daniel Jones, they don't
have Nick Jubb, just like Daniel Jones doesn't have Saquon Barkley.
(22:17):
And a lack of a running game is going to
force them to pass more. It's going to force DeSean
Watson Watson to rush more. So I like it. I
think that, you know, Kyler Murray is obviously the better pick,
and he's going to be locked and loaded, but something
happens to him if he gets injured. He need to
make it through a bye week. I think Watson is
a great QB two to have.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
I love that. Don't butter me up. I love that.
I love that. I feel that. I love to hear that.
You said.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Marvin Harrison Junior is Marvin Harrison Junior every single thing
that we hope and wish that he's been cracked out
to be and proven that he can be. I mean,
I think he's going to be unbelievable. But like, what
are you seeing in training? I mean, he's his disposition
(23:01):
just feels like a pro. Obviously his father had the
same sort of chill disposition. You know, I love you know,
in all sports most of the time, if your father's
a pro, you have an inside scoop.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
What is your take on Marvin Harrison Junior.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
He's gonna be great. I mean it's as simple as that. Like,
I can't imagine a world where things don't pan out
for Marvin Harrison. This kid has been living in breathing
football since the second he was born, probably at a
football in his crib, Like you know, you talk about
it with his dad. The pedigree, like he is that
good of a player, and the situation here is just perfect.
Like we've seen Kyler Murray support elite wide receiver once
(23:37):
in the past. You know, he gave us a fourteen
hundred yard season with DeAndre Hopkins. Now, of course, I
think the expectations for Marvin Harrison are so high, and
I think that we need to be realistic in the
fact that a lot of times it does take rookies
a little while to warm up in the season here,
so you're talking long term over the next five years.
I think Marvin Harrison's gonna be one of the best
wide receivers in the NFL for this year. I'm a
(23:58):
little bit cooler on him, you know, consent this has
him around wide receiver nine or ten. I've got him
at wide receiver fourteen, so not crazy, crazy low. But
there's a few guys Nico Collins, Jalen Waddle, Cooper Cup
that I prefer ahead of Marvin Harrison. But I could
totally be wrong because Marvin Harrison, he's the unquestioned wide
receiver one, I mean, the wide receiver two right there?
Is it Greg Dortch or is it Zay Jones, Michael Wilson,
(24:20):
They don't really have anybody. They've got Trey McBride, but
he and Marvin Harrison operate in completely different parts of
the field. Harrison's going to be out wide, Trey McBride's
going to be across the middle of the field on
shorter routes. So they're complimentary pieces for each other. So
I understand why Harrison is getting drafted where he is.
The ceiling is potentially top three, top five at the position.
(24:42):
I just like some of those veterans a little bit better.
Like I said, Cooper Cup, Jalen Wattle, Nico Collins. I'll
take them ahead of Marvin Harrison. But if he falls
to me the back of the second round, really good pick.
He's going to be a good football player and he's
in a great situation.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
You mentioned you guys just did a podcast or an
episode of Football Guys Fantasy Football show. You said your guys,
You mentioned your guys. You said, my guy Kyler Murray
was also your guy. Who did you also have as
your guys? Like you know, cause I feel like in
a draft, you need to know your guys, get your guys.
(25:18):
It's almost more important to know who you don't want
than it is to know who you want, or it's
just as important to know who you just don't want.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
So who were your guys?
Speaker 3 (25:29):
So talked about Kyler Murray already and I already talked
about Jonathan Brooks as well. That was my quarterback and
running back. And I just mentioned that I have Cooper
Cup ahead of Marvin Harrison. Cooper Cup's my guy at
the wide receiver position, and I think people are just
quick to forget how dominant this guy was just a
few years ago. You know, over a two year stretch,
he averaged over twenty five points per game in PPR leagues.
(25:50):
If you look, he scored thirty plus points in one
third of his matchups over a two year stretch. Like
as soon as Matthew Stafford came into the picture, Cooper
Cup immediately became the best wide receiver in the league.
We haven't seen anybody putting up numbers like that since
Antonio Brown when he was in Pittsburgh. And I think
now people are just a little bit concerned because Pookin
a Coua is there. You know, Cooper Cup's getting up
(26:10):
there in age. He's dealt with some injuries. But you know,
I keep it closer to the beat reports this time
of year and everything that I'm hearing out of Los Angeles.
One Pookina Coupa has banged up right now, so he's
not going to be one hundred percent to start the year.
And everybody is saying that Matthew Stafford and Cooper Cup
look like Matthew Stafford and Cooper Cup from two three
years ago. So there aren't many guys that you can
(26:31):
draft in round three that are going to have legitimate
upside to be number one receivers. And I'm not saying
that like Cooper Cup. I'm not saying like a wide
receiver one is like top twelve. I'm saying he could
literally be the wide receiver one giving you twenty five
plus points per game, and you're drafting him in round three.
So I think all of the risk is baked into
his price with where he's sliding in drafts, and he
(26:52):
has so so much upside.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Damn podcast, you mentioned your hard knocks. Hard Knocks is
(27:14):
a part of my life. It gets me focused, the thrills,
the chills. Although I feel like the season of Hard
Knocks for the Bears, they haven't focused as much on
you know, these guys that might for a show. They
haven't focused as much as they normally do as guys
that might make the team not make the team. My
wife and I we watch it every season, and she's
(27:36):
always like, I'm gonna watch football this season, and then
she's telling me to turn it off and turn off
my red zone and all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
But you know, like as far.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
As the season, I don't think it's the best season
of Hard Knocks, but I watch it.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
I've never missed an episode.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
What are you thinking about your Chicago Bear Golden Boy quarterback?
Where do you think things are going to how do
you think things are going to start for him? And
how do you think they're going to finish? And because
you're a Chicago guy, I know you pay a little
bit more attention whether you try to or not. On
the Chicago Bears. I drafted Dj Moore. I'm hoping he
(28:13):
kicks butt. How do you feel about the quarterback and
the rest of the offense of the Bears?
Speaker 3 (28:19):
So, you know, it's tough being a Bears fan. Man,
I've been on this earth for thirty four years and
I've never seen a Super Bowl win. I saw him
make it to one Super Bowl and get picked apart
by Peyton Manning. So I feel like I'm an eternal
pessimist when it comes to the Bears, and I'm always
trying to like, you know, I don't want to be
the guy sipping the kool aid, but man, it's hard
not to with this team. Like Caleb Williams is just
(28:41):
a different type of athlete and a lot of the
special things that were showing up on his tape at USC,
you know, his ability to avoid pressure and get outside
of the pocket and make these offscript plays, and just
the arm angles and the throwing on the run. All
of those things that we saw in college are already
happy in the preseason. And you know, like that throw
(29:02):
that he made to Roma Dunsay down the sideline just effortlessly,
just like floated a perfect ball over defender into his hands,
then followed that up with an amazing almost touchdown throw
and Dunese had his toes out of the end zone.
So I don't want to sit the kool aid because
I've been hurt so many times. You know. I had
hopes for Justin Fields and Jay Cutler and Rex Grossman
and Cade McNown but I think Kayleb Williams is a
(29:24):
different type of player, and I'm definitely starting to warm
up to the idea that he could be a good quarterback.
As for the passing game, I'm really excited about DJ Moore.
And there's a lot of mouths to feed here with
Keenan Allen and Romadonsay and kolk Met, But I was
on NBC Chicago last week and we were talking about
the Bears a little bit, and I said, DJ Moore
is still, in my opinion, an elite wide receiver, even
(29:45):
with the added touch competition. I think all of these
guys are just going to help him get more open.
Last year, if you watch the team, the defenses were
keying in, they were double teaming Dj Moore because they
knew there was no other receiving threat, and he still
went for almost fourteen hundred yards. Now we're expecting more
passing yards as a whole for Chicago. This guy, throughout
his entire career has typically garnered about forty percent of
(30:06):
the air yards for the teams that he plays for.
So it's not crazy to think that DJ Moore, coming
off of a career year, can have an even better
year in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
And they got a lot of weapons, They got a
lot of people who can throw the ball. He could
throw the ball too, so I think they're setting him
up for success.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
What do you think of rome A Duneesa what you've
seen so far? How good do you think he's going
to be.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
I think he's going to be really good. And we've
looked back. My co host and I Alfredo, we looked
back at previous draft classes and we said, like, where
would we rank Roma Duneesa in these draft classes? Because
I think a lot of people see him as the
third wide receiver drafted off the board and think that
he's just the third best in this class. But you got,
I don't think people understand how good Molique Neighbors and
Marvin Harrison are. And if you start looking back at
(30:52):
previous draft classes, you know, we'd put Jamar Chase ahead
of Roma Doonsa, we would put DJ Moore ahead of
Roma Dunessay, woul put Garrett Wilson ahead of Romadonsay. But
he's basically he would have been the wide receiver one
in like five of the last eight draft classes. He
is that good of a wide receiver. So in my rankings,
I'm one of the few that's done this, but I
have Romadonsay ahead of Keenan Allen. You know, Keenan Allen
(31:14):
is thirty two years old. He stayed healthy last year
for the most part, got banged up at the end
of the season, but he's dealt with injuries throughout his career,
and I think that there's gonna be a breaking point
in this season where they say, you know, we're not
bringing Keenan Allen back next year on a contract. He's
kind of a one year band aid. He's going to
help develop Caleb Williams a little bit. But DJ Moore
is under contract for the next five years. Romadunzay and
(31:35):
Caleb Williams are both on the rookie deals right now.
They've got Cole Comet locked up for the next five years.
I think there's gonna be a point at midway point
in the season where they're going to say, we need
to get Romadunze out there ahead of Keenan Allen on
these two wide receiver sets. And the second half of
the year in fantasy football is so much more important
than the first half of the year. So even if
Romadonese gets off to a slow start, I'm going to
be trying to buy low on him in trades because
(31:57):
I think that over the second half of the season
he's going to be the second year weapon on this offense.
And what we've seen is that he is just a
great athlete. You know, you kind of talk about Marvin
Harrison just being a pro, just ready to work. You know,
showing up, none of the drama or anything like that.
And Rome checks all those boxes too. So I'm a big,
big fan of him. I've got him inside my top
thirty five receivers in fantasy.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Every single year, the tight end is discussed, not discussed.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Don't go high, you don't need a tight end.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
And then, you know, I'll say for myself, you know,
I've had game after game where I've had tight ends
where like, you're on the field, you're my starting tight end.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
I can't have zero points from you.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
You know, and aside from Travis Kelson, you know, Georgie
the Animal Kittle or you know, I wound up getting
Dalton Schultz. I think I went a little bit later
than I wanted to with my tight end. Dalton is
good when he's getting the ball. Hopefully he gets the
ball because he's my tight end, even though he's on
a team that I'm not a huge fan of personally.
(33:04):
But like I said, there's no feelings in fantasy football.
What are your feelings about superstar super No, he's not
even just a super star in the NFL, Travis kels Now,
he's a popular culture a phenomenon. What do you think
of Travis kels and what are your other tight ends
that people should be looking at and how early would
(33:25):
you go on tight ends?
Speaker 3 (33:27):
I think tight ends are the position that I'm most
interested in this offseason and probably spent the most time
talking about, because the tight end landscape has changed dramatically.
You know, like for the last five years, it was like,
if you don't have Travis kelce you're screwed. And you know,
when you play against Travis kelcey, it's almost impossible to
make up that difference that he's giving you as a
positional advantage. But then Mark Andrews broke out in Baltimore,
(33:51):
and then TJ. Hockinson got traded to Minnesota and he
broke out, and then Evan Ingram ended up in Jacksonville
and he broke out. And then we saw all these
young guys, you know, Dalton Kincaid and Sam Laporta and
Trey McBride all kind of burst onto the scene. And
now all of a sudden, we're not living in this
Travis kelceer bust world. There are like seven good tight
(34:11):
ends that you can feel decent about drafting. So the
way I'm trying to do it this year, Travis Kelsey's
still my tight end one. You know, we saw him
dip a little bit in production last year, but on
a per game basis, he was still the tight end one,
even dealing with injuries and all that. So Travis Kelsey
is still my guy at number one. But what I'm
trying to do is wait, you know, let some other
(34:32):
guys pay up for Travis Kelcey and Sam Laporta in
round three. What I find myself liking to do is
wait for everybody else to pay out for those guys,
and then in round five, George Kittle's usually sitting there.
And like you said, you called him Kittle the animal.
I think you did. I mean, the dude's a beast
when he's on the football field. And the big knock
with George Kittle in years past has been that he
doesn't run enough routes, that he's always blocking and not
(34:54):
running routes, and you don't get points in fantasy football
for blocking. But his route participation rate, meaning how often
he runs a route on passing downs, has gone up
for six consecutive seasons, and last year he had the
third highest route participation in the NFL. And while doing that,
while maintaining this, you know, growing role as a pass catcher.
(35:14):
He still led the league in receiving yards yards per route, run,
yards per target, yards per reception, yards per team pass attempts, EPA,
deep targets Like I could go on and on. You
look on an efficiency standpoint, and this guy was top
three in every single efficiency metric. So Kittle is the
guy that I find myself really liking. But after Kittle
goes off the board, and you probably experienced this, there's
(35:36):
a falloff where you know, when you start looking at
David Djoku, Jake Ferguson, Brock Bauers, Dalton Schultz, you know,
these guys could have some big weeks, but it's going
to be kind of shaky. So my advice, Mike, are
you in a PPR league or is it non PPR PPR?
All right, so he's not quite as valuable in PPR
leagues as he is in non PPR leagues. But Taysom
(35:59):
Hill has been a top ten tight end for four
straight seasons. And I think if you miss out on
those top seven guys that I mentioned, kind of ending
with George Kittle and Evan Ingram, the guy that I
like to pick up is Taysom Hill because he's gonna
have highs and lows, and the reality at the tight
end position is the lows aren't going to kill you.
You know, if you're getting three or four points from
(36:19):
your tight end, the tight end you're playing against is
probably only given seven or eight, so it's not a
huge difference. But Taysom Hill is those weeks where he
gives you twenty twenty five points and you're not getting
those from a lot of other tight ends. So Taysom
Hill's a guy that I like if I miss out
on the early guys as kind of a late round target.
And the other guy that I like picking up is
TJ Hockinson. And TJ Hockinson is probably not playing the
first six or eight weeks, but if you got an
(36:39):
ir spot or if you've got deep benches, just stash him,
wait for him to come back, and you could potentially
be getting a top five guy over the second half
of the year.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
Yeah, I like that, and I like TJ.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
I Again, you know, tight ends and this is something
that I feel like in fantasy football is underrated, underappreciated
until you're getting every single week, or until you see
somebody else in your league or until you have the
good fortune of defense's scoring points. Is there one or
two defenses you feel like are you need to get,
(37:14):
even if it's a pick early or just to keep
your eyes on that are gonna score points for you.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
Yeah, the two that jump out to me are the
obvious ones, the Ravens and the forty nine ers. They're
gonna have a ton of sacks, they're gonna have a
ton of turnovers, They're gonna score touchdowns on defense and
special teams. So I'm okay paying up for those guys.
But if I don't get the Ravens or the forty
nine ers, I'm probably just committing to streaming defenses. And
I think that scares a lot of people, Like, you know,
you want to have that rock solid option that you
(37:41):
could just plug in week in and weak out, like
you know, three years ago, like if you had the
Patriots defense, they were giving you like twenty points per
game as a defense and you didn't have to think
twice about it. But those are so rare to stumble across.
So I'm gonna shout out one of my co workers,
Sigmund Bloom. He's been doing this for twenty five years,
he's a great writer. He hosts one of our shows
of the Audible, and he writes a weekly article about
(38:03):
streaming defenses. And what he does is he looks at
the defenses that are owned in less than fifty percent
of fantasy leagues and he matches them up against the
or he looks at the best matchups every single week.
And it's unbelievable. But he's been doing this for the
last twenty twenty five years now. And if you look
at what he does on a weekly basis, taking these
low owned defenses that are going up against good matchups
(38:25):
almost every single year, if you look at his weekly
recommendations and add up the points that they score, you're
gonna get more points with them than you would with
the top scoring defense. So it's scary, and you got
to play the waiver wire all season long and you're
constantly churning through defenses on your bench. But defenses are
so heavily skewed by matchups that I think that's the
(38:45):
way to do it, even if it is a bigger headache.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
I love that. I love what you just said, and
I love that plan of attack. Where can we see
that article every single week? Because that's something that I'm into.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
Yeah, football, what I'll do, I'll send you the link
for it. First of all, if you're listening, you want
to sign up, you can go to football Guys dot
com and sign up for our email newsletter that goes
out every single day. We've got over seven hundred and
fifty thousand people on this newsletter with NFL News. But
we also share all of our content in there. So
this article that Sigmund does comes out every Tuesday morning,
(39:20):
so that way you can read it before you have
to put your waiver claims in. But he's been doing
it for the last twenty something years and it's a
fantastic article. So I'll send that your way when we're
done recording here, Mike, and you can just check it
out every week.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Podcast. All right, Well, you've given me so much, you
given me a lot. What is one other thing that
you want to share? What is one other thing that
(39:55):
I didn't ask? What is one other thing that is
exciting you? One other player, one other high powered a
offense that you can give me, Dave, And I say me,
I'm being selfish, but I mean the listeners, but I
also mean me.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
All right, Can I just zoom out rather than talking
about a player and just talk about like my favorite
strategy this year overall. Yes, yes, all right, So I'm
a Sickoh, Mike. I know you do two drafts a year.
I do about three hundred drafts a year, and a
lot of those are best ball where you don't have to,
you know, manage in season. You know, I just do
the draft and then they pick the best scores for
(40:28):
you every single week. But I've done over three hundred
of these drafts this offseason, and I've played with all
of these different team builds, and then you know, you
run simulations and see how these teams finish, and it
seems like this is the year that you just want
to wait on running backs. You don't want to pay
up for running backs this year because there's so much
good value late in your draft. So we talked about it.
(40:48):
The wide receiver well kind of dries up a little
bit quickly this year. So what I'm trying to do
is start almost all of my drafts with three straight
wide receivers. You know, you talk about those guys going
in Round one, Tyreek Hill, Ceedee Lamb, Amon ra Saint Brown,
Chase Justin Jefferson. You get one of those guys in
round one, and then in round two you target you know,
Cooper Cup, Nico Collins, a guy like that. In round three,
(41:09):
you could follow him up with Jayalen Waddle, DJ Moore,
somebody like that. You know, start off with three good
wide receivers, and it's scary because you're passing on some
guys that I really like, Like I like Bresee Hall,
I like Bjon Robinson, Jamir Gibbs, Jonathan Taylor. These guys
are good. But the nature of the NFL is that
running backs get injured and then they also will see
(41:29):
their workloads just kind of disappear or they end up
splitting touches with the back and we don't expect it.
So rather than paying up and investing premium draft capital
in these guys, I like waiting on some of the
later guys, you know, David Montgomery, Alvin Kamara, James Connor,
Ramadre Stevenson, Najie Harris, these guys that we think are
kind of boring running backs because they might not finish
number one at their position. But you get one or
(41:51):
two of those guys and then what I do late
late late in drafts is I just load up on handcuffs,
and I think a lot of people when they think handcuff,
they think they're team's handcuffs. So like if you draft
Christian McCaffrey, you want Jordan Mason, or if you draft
Breese Hall, you want Braylan Allen. But what I do,
I just get greedy and I take all of the
backups from all the other teams. So I'm taking Trey
(42:12):
Benson and Blake Korum and all these young guys knowing
that they're basically lottery tickets that are sitting on my bench.
Like right now, Blake Korum might not have any projectable
work in week one, but if Kyen Williams tweaks his
ankle in week one, then going into week two, we're
looking at Blake Korum as a potential top five running back.
You drafted him in round twelve at the very end
(42:33):
of your draft and potentially got top five production. We
never really see that happen with the wide receiver position.
I mean it happens occasionally, like people are going to
talk about pookinakooah things of that nature, But the reality
is we as an industry and that's what bleeds into
ADP are way better at projecting for receivers. So take
those safe assets early in your draft. Walk away with
three or four receivers in your first three or four rounds,
(42:55):
and then just load up on these middle to late
round running backs, knowing that the chaos of the NFL
eventually is going to make some of these guys that
you're getting for absolutely nothing at the end of your draft,
guys that you can count on starting.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
I love this, Dave. I love this. I love the information.
Speaker 1 (43:10):
I love the football guys, Fantasy football show, send me everything,
send me the links, send me the articles, because I'm
going to use them, and I think it's important for
everybody to use them and to be ready to know
their guys, to get your.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
Guys, know who you want, know who you don't want.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
And I just appreciate you joining the im rap port
stereo podcasts and you know, giving me all these little
piece of the jewelry, these gold mines of fantasy football
jewels that I need, So I appreciate you. I'll definitely
be checking out all the shows, the links, the articles
throughout the season because it's championship time now, it's now
(43:49):
we're not here to play games, We're not here to
hold hands.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
It's championship Fantasy football time.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
I hope you win your league this year. Hopefully with
the help of football guys, we can get you there.
But yeah, man, fantasy football is fun. Unbelievable that the
season is so close, Like we said, it just kind
of snuck up on us. But best time of the year, man,
just seventeen weeks of football. Eighteen weeks of football now,
I'm sorry playoffs. I mean, it's a good way to
spend the winter.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
All right, Dave, I appreciate it. I appreciate you joining
the podcast, and I'll talk to you soon, my man.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
Thank you, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
Mike, I want to thank Dave Kloogi one more time.
Football guys, Fantasy Football show for all the diamonds, all
the gold, all the jewels. Are you ready for some football?
Are you ready for some fantasy football? It's the greatest
time of the year. Great episode, Share it with a friend,
Dominate your draft, know your guys, get your guys, know who.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
You want and know who you don't want. Miles Jordan
akd The Bleach Brothers.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Take me at it with something real nice, take me
adding it with something real lound. But most importantly, end
this puppy with something real funkyes I.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Am rapports the real podcast. I'm out
Boom have no fear of the im Rapaport Stereo podcasts. Here,
Big Eat Boom, have no fear the im Rapaport Stereo Podcast.
This year, it's Champion Chip Fantasy Football time. It's time
to go in, win your draft, dominate your draft, and
then dominate This season, I got my guy, Dave klugi
(00:28):
from the Football Guys Fantasy Football Show. These guys are
on top of it. They don't play games. They live, breathe, sleep, eat, drink,
burp all things fantasy football. Our episode last season was awesome.
He's back Dave Klugy, one of the hosts of Football
(00:49):
Guys Fantasy Football Show. We're talking sleepers, rookies, two quarterback solutions,
bus breakouts, and so much more on a high flying
fully fantasy football.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Dominate your Draft.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I Am rap Ports Stereo Podcast episode coming up right now.
Miles Jordan Ak the Bleach Brothers AK. That does brothers
start this puppy off? What something real, nice sticky? Start
this puppy over some real but most importantly, start this
puppy off with something really, really fantastically funky.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
See I Am rap Port Stereo Podcast. Let's go.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
All right. I Rapport Stereo Podcast It's fantasy football season,
the greatest time of the year.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I had him on last year.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I want to welcome back my guest, Dave Klugy, the
host of the Football Guys Fantasy Football show. It's like Christmas, Dave,
it's about to start. It's happening. How are you feeling.
How are you feeling about the fantasy football season, which
is about to start in a matter of days.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I know, man, it snuck up on us quick. We
were talking pre show and I was saying, like, feels
like the draft was just a few weeks ago. This
season really came up on us quick. And I'm a
Bears fan, and I know you're a Giants fan, so
you can relate to it. Getting to watch Hard Knocks, Man,
that's got me more excited for this season than I've
been in a long long time. I was trying so
hard not to sip the Bears kool aid, like you know,
(02:26):
I try to try to keep my expectations at bay.
But watch four episodes of Hard Knocks and I'm ready, Man,
Bear's super Bowl, Let's go.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Ha ha ha ha.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
You know, there's no feelings in fantasy There is no feelings,
there is no fandom in fantasy football. Before I get
to some specific questions, did you ever imagine when you
fell in love with fantasy football that it would be
as ginormous and so much a part of your life
and you know, millions of other people's lives. I never, ever,
(02:57):
ever thought that when I first started playing, that I
would be I can't even imagine a season without participating
in my fantasy football leagues. It's totally changed, I think
for the better, definitely for the better, the way I
view the season, the way I understand football, the way
I understand the league, whatever season it is, because I'm
(03:20):
you know, looking at the whole landscape of it, like,
what is your take on just where fantasy football was
and where it is now as we get ready to
start the twenty twenty four season.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
You know, I never thought fantasy football would be this big,
and I've been playing for a long time. When I
was ten years old, I got in my dad's fantasy
football league, and that was pre internet days, where you know,
they do their draft in person, and then we'd be
looking in the newspaper and you know, looking at the
box scores and adding the points up ourselves. That's when
I started playing fantasy football, and nobody was playing fantasy
football at that time. And then when I got a
(03:51):
little bit older, my seventh grade bath teachers started playing
this game called math baseball, which was pretty much the
same thing. You know, at the time, it wasn't even
called fantasy baseball, but we draft baseball players and then
based on how many bases they got, how many strikeouts
they got, you get points for that, and the same
thing we were adding up ourselves in the newspaper box score.
So I've been playing fantasy football since I was a
(04:12):
little kid. And then when I got into high school,
I commissioned a league, and still playing in that same
league with those same buddies from high school. And now
we stand up in each other's weddings. I think we're
going into year seventeen now, I want to say, but
it's been going for a long long time. But no,
I never thought this would be my job. I never
thought that fantasy football would be this big. You know.
I was a nerd for playing fantasy football when I
(04:32):
was fourteen years old, and then started writing some articles
and sharing them on Reddit, and you know, somebody reached
out and said they'd pay me five bucks for an article,
and then twenty five bucks for an article, and then
a podcast here, and a podcast there, and a YouTube
video here, and all of a sudden, I'm living the dream, man.
Could it be happier with it?
Speaker 1 (04:49):
That is crazy? That's crazy, man, that's really I love that.
Where are you guys at with the Football Guys Fantasy
Football Show this season? What are you doing? Where can
we find you? What are you excited about? In regards
to Football Guys Fantasy Football Show?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Well, thank you for asking. We actually just launched a
new YouTube channel that gives us a little bit more flexibility.
So at Football Guys, we've got a staff of almost
ninety people. And what I like about Football Guys is
we've got we've got data guys, we've got film guys,
we've got narrative guys, we've got beat reporters. We've got
everybody on staff. But Alfredo Brown, who was on the
show last year, he is traveling this week so unfortunately
(05:30):
couldn't make it. But he and I started our own
YouTube channel with just the two of us, because what
we noticed on YouTube is that we had a bunch
of different shows and we were just catering to different audiences.
So we decided just about three months ago to start
our own YouTube channel from zero, which is a scary
thing to do, but it's been growing really quickly here.
We just got nominated last year by FSGA and FSWA
(05:53):
for Best Football Podcasts. So it's really cool to see
the work that we've been putting in over the last
couple years of starting to get recognized and the show's
been great quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
That's awesome, man.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Congratulations And where where can I find Well, I say we,
but I say where can I find it? Because I
need this information. I text you a few times last
year during the season, where can I and.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
We find the gold? Gold gold throughout the week.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
And of course, you know in crunch time because everybody
on their Sunday morning where they're maybe even their Thursday
night or their Monday afternoon, like, where do we get
the gold from you?
Speaker 3 (06:28):
YouTube dot com slash at Football Guys Fantasy. It's a
little confusing, so YouTube dot com slash at sign Football
Guys Fantasy. But also if you just search football Guys
Fantasy football, search that anywhere where podcasts are recorded, you
could find it there. We're doing six episodes a week
in season, so you know, hitting waiver wires, trade targets,
(06:49):
injury updates. We do a live start sit show on Sunday,
So anything that you could possibly need during the season,
we're providing that for you.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
I love that, and I'm glad to see you guys
thrive in and uh you know, and and enjoying it
and business is good with the football guys Fantasy Football Show.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I just had my first draft. My first draft went well.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
I wound up taking Tyreek in the first my first pick.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
I was number two in that league.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
This was the day that c D Lamb sign I'm
not worried about I'm not worried about c D. He's
a plug and play as far as I'm concerned. But
the question that I first want to ask you is
I feel good about my pick with Tyreek. He's been great,
you know, I know sometimes he breaks down.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. I
you know, it was between c D.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
It was between Tyreek and I really, you know, started
thinking about Breese Hall the Wrecking Ball, and I came
up with that nickname Breese Hall the Wrecking Ball and CMC.
But you know, everybody loves Christian McCaffrey. I love Christian McCaffrey.
Do you have concerns like a lot of people. I
was talking to my guy X in my building, you know,
and a lot of people, you know, are starting to
(08:04):
concern be concerned that Christian, you know, with the hamstrings
and you know, he might start slowing down a little bit,
just because I like him so much, But I didn't
pick him. I picked Tyreek over Christian. What do you
think of Christian? And what do you think of me
picking Tyreek over Christian with the second pick in my
money league?
Speaker 3 (08:23):
You know, I say it all the time, Fantasy football
is supposed to be fun, and like, if you're just
drafting off of ADP and like what exactly what people
are telling you to draft, it's not fun. So I
think it's okay to make little reaches here and there
to get guys you want to root for. First of all,
I think Tyreek Hill is a great pick. We just
saw this video come out where two Attack of Vaaloa
was on a podcast a few days ago talking about
how last year they were trying to get Tyreek Hill
(08:44):
to two thousand yards. Like you don't hear players and
coaches talking about these records all that much, but they
said they wanted to get him there, and then he
got hurt and they couldn't. I think they're going to
try to do it again this year like they've made no,
they're not hiding it that they're trying to set records
here in Miami. So I like that. Tyreek'll pick Christian
McAffrey is a tough one because if you look historically
at running backs throughout the NFL, they start to break
(09:06):
down at Christian McCaffrey's age. However, Christian McCaffrey isn't showing
those signs you know, typically before running back falls off
the age cliff, like we've seen with Leonard Fournett and
Zeke and Dalvin Cook over the last couple of years,
we start to see some warning signs before that happens.
Christian McAffrey isn't showing any of those warning signs like
he since showing up in San Francisco has been a
(09:27):
better and more efficient player than he was in his
younger years in Carolina. So I get why people want
to take McCaffrey one on one, the first overall pick,
but I also get why people pass on him because
there is some fear there also, as I'm sure you
know from your draft MIC, and we'll get into the
rest of it and kind of see who else you
picked here. But wide receivers dry up quickly this year.
(09:48):
So that's the other thing. If you start with McCaffrey,
then all of a sudden, you're in round two and
three look at some kind of shaky wide receivers that
you don't feel great about. So I think starting with
Tyreek Hill is a great start because then it gives
you more flexibility in the later US to target other positions.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Oh, I appreciate that. I appreciate that. I feel good
about that draft. I mean, it's fantasy football. Drafts are
so nuts and there's such a mind twist and they're
so fun. I don't know, it's such an insane fun crazy.
You know, you feel like you're you have it all
their control, but you never have anything under control during
(10:23):
a draft. And I think both of my leagues are
very competitive. You mentioned your your league that you've been
playing with in seventeen years. Is that your your blood
and guts league, Like, what's your league that gets you
the craziest.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
That's the only one that I even pay attention to
on Sundays. And I'm in other leagues, you know, high
roller leagues, five hundred dollars buy ins, whatever you want
to talk. I'm in dozens of managed leagues. I'm in
hundreds of best ball leagues. But the only one I
care about is the one with my buddies, and that
doesn't even have a big buying you know, it's a
hundred bucks. We keep it friendly. But it's the shit
talk that keeps me going, man, Like, That's what I like,
(10:58):
is just the trash talking in the group chat, going
back and forth, Like I still get clown for drafting
Toby Gerhart in the third round. What was that six
or seven years ago when he was in Jacksonville. And
those are the things that we remember that keep this
league fun is just the years of animosity between these guys.
And like you said, like you think you know what
you're getting into, you can. I know you do the
(11:19):
mock drafts under digress right where you're you're the drafting.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yes, yes, yeah, exactly. I do them on the freeway.
I do them underwater. I do the whole thing. I
do them in the shower, hot showers.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Upset down from a bar while somebody's punching you in
the stomach. Yeah, I get you never know.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
You never know what you're gonna be dealt with, what
kind of uh you know, twist is gonna happen on
the draft. You might get thrown into a shower and
have to make your seventh pick. You never know. You
have to be prepared.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
And that's the thing. No matter how much you prepare, though,
like you said, when you get into these drafts with
your buddies, everything goes out the window. All the mock drafting,
all the preparation. Some guys do some crazy stuff, pick
players ahead of ADP and by round three you're just
scratching in claw and trying to do your best.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Who are your breakout players this year? Who are your
breakout players, and specifically, who are your breakout running backs?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
That's a good question. Ken Walker is a guy that
we have seen kind of have some success over the
last couple of years, but I don't think he's really
scratched the surface. I mean, you look last year he
was splitting steps with Zach Charbonney, but when he was
on the field, he was getting so many more targets
and so many more carries. And now you look at
this offense in Seattle, they're going to change things up
a little bit. With Pete Carroll out of the picture. Now,
(12:48):
they brought in Ryan Grubb, the offensive coordinator from Washington,
and if you look at what they did, he really
leaned heavily on one running back and they're going to
stretch defenses vertically, which is just going to make even
more opportunities for big plays for ken Walker. And that's
what he does best is rip off these big plays.
So Kenneth Walker is a guy right now that I
think people are concerned about. You regularly see him falling
into like the RB fifteen to RB eighteen range. I've
(13:10):
got him as my RB eleven. He's the guy that
I'm willing to draft as early as round three because
even though I don't know if you can consider him
a breakout because we've seen the talent over the last
couple of years, but I think he's got an elite
finish in his range of outcomes that people aren't really
accounting for.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Who else give me the other breakouts across the board
from any positions that you're looking forward to seeing, you
know that are going from guys that listen. I think
that if you're listening to this podcast, if they're following you,
you have familiarity. So it's hard to say breakout. But like,
who are you looking to take the next step to
be stars this year or potential stars?
Speaker 3 (13:47):
So I don't know if this counts as a breakout
because he's a rookie and I guess technically every rookie
is going to break out right like they're going to
have their best season in the NFL. But Jonathan Brooks
is the guy that I cannot stop drafting. You know,
I've done a bunch of drafts already this offseason, and
he's such an easy pick. And I understand the concerns.
You know, he's coming off the acl tair, he's already
on the pup list, which means he's going to miss
at least the first four weeks. But I think the
(14:09):
thesis with Jonathan Brooks isn't that you're drafting him so
you can get a full season of production. You're drafting
him hoping then in the second half of the season
he can give you top ten, top five production. And
I think he's that good of a football player. You
start looking at his rushing grades and his receiving grades
by PFF. He was number one in his class and
he was drafted as that way. He was the number
(14:29):
one running back drafted this year despite coming off of
a n ACL tear. And there's so many concerns that
I can just kind of brush off with Jonathan Brooks.
You know, people talk about Carolina. Carolina was terrible last year.
I'm not going to argue with that, but they beefed
up their interior offensive line. They brought in Dave Canalis,
who resuscitated Gino Smith and Baker Mayfield. So I have
faith in Carolina being a better offense this year than
(14:51):
they were last year. And we saw last year. Dave Canalis,
who's now the head coach in Carolina, was the offensive
coordinator last year in Tampa Bay, and we saw the
way that he just fed the ball to Rashad White.
Rashad White wasn't even that good and they were still
giving him twenty plus touches a game. I think that's
what we're going to see over the second half of
the season with Jonathan Brooks. So you could draft him
as your RB four or your RB five, keep him
(15:13):
stashed for the first month of the season, and then
hopefully by the time he returns he's getting a huge workload.
We know he's a talented player, and if he's given
you twenty points per game over the second half of
the season, he's going to be a league winning draft pick.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I love that this is more of a sleeper question.
We're heading into the start of the season twenty twenty
four season. There's so many names, there's so many stars,
there's new names, there's there's wings, there's prayers, there's hopes.
Who's the one person that everybody is gonna be like?
(15:46):
I wish I knew about him in any position. I
don't care if it's a tight end, quarterback, RB, wide receiver, FLEXI.
Who's the one person that you feel like, the one
player that everybody is forgetting about that next year everybody
will know, oh his name or by Week four, Week five,
Week six, and especially going into the following season, everybody's
(16:07):
gonna know this guy's name.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I promise I'm not just trying to butter you up here.
Mike Malik Neighbors is a hell of a receiver man.
He is good, and I know there's some concerns don't
have a strong run game. They don't have a great
offensive line. Daniel Jones still has some question marks there.
But the type of a receiver Malik Neighbors is. He's
not a guy who is undersized and wins on timing
routes and needs good chemistry with his quarterback. They are
(16:31):
just gonna do whatever they can to get the ball
in his hands. Without Saquon Barkley there now, he is
hands down their best player and the best athlete on
that team. So they're gonna do anything they can, whether
it's just screens, slants, end a rounds, they are going
to get the ball in his hands. And when you
watch his tape from LSU, he's got just a different
type of speed and not just straight line speed, like
(16:51):
he could change direction make a ninety degree turn without
even slowing down. That's the type of guy that I
want in fantasy football because he doesn't need good environmental
factors around him to be his best. He's just a
guy who can single handedly take any ball eighty yards
for a touchdown. So right now, I think everybody's overly
concerned about Daniel Jones and the Giants and all this,
(17:12):
but I think we're gonna see Melik Neighbors just making
big play after big play after big play, and I
think next year we're gonna be looking at him the
same way we look at a guy like Garrett Wilson
who hasn't done much in his career this year, but
we say we know the talent's there and we're gonna
draft him in the first round. I think we're gonna
see Melik Neighbors next year as a first second round talent.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
I hope the Giants can do a little bit more
than all of us are expecting.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
And you know, Dimes is our guy. He's our guy now,
and I just hope.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
That he could stay healthy. I also feel like, you know,
he's been dealt a hand man. Some of these times,
he's like, I don't care if it's Michael Vick. I
don't care who's He was running for his life for
a lot of his career so far, and I'm not
saying he is Michael Vicker, but he there's sometimes I'm
just like this, nobody could survive this.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I don't care.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Patrick Mahomes like he's literally running for his life. So
hopefully they could protect him, he could stay healthy, and
you know, maybe we could do a little bit more
than people are thinking about. But like I said, we're
talking fantasy football. There are no feelings in fantasy football.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
You know, I gotta say, I don't even hate Daniel
Jones in fantasy football if you're in a two quarterback
leave league. Like people are writing Daniel Jones off for dead.
But we got to remember before the aclchair, this dude
rushed for seven hundred yards. Like, there are very few
running backs or quarterbacks in the NFL that can rush
for seven hundred plus yards. And you know how it works, Michael,
You've been playing fantasy football a lot like a rushing
(18:36):
yard from a quarterback is four times more valuable than
a passing yard. So when a guy like Daniel Jones
goes out and rushes for seven hundred yards, it doesn't
matter what he's doing as a passer. He's basically starting
the season off with twenty eight hundred passing yards and
then just adding on top of that whatever he actually
does through the air. So Daniel Jones, if he can
return to who he was pre aclchair now with some
(18:56):
better weapons around him and no Saquon Barkley to steal
the goal line, where we could be looking at kind
of a sneaky ceiling for Daniel Jones in fantasy.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
I would love that.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I would love that as a Giants fan, and I
would love that as just a you know, to keep
in the back of my head.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
You said two quarterback league.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I am not in a two quarterback league, but I
for the first time have been with the two quarterback
solution draft, the two quarterback solution draft instead of picking
a wing in a prayer in the fifteenth round. The
fourteenth round, I had set I'm getting a second quarterback.
I'm not going to deal with an injury in week
(19:33):
three or something bad happening in week six and there's
nobody on the board. I went for my backup quarterback
in my one quarterback league to have, and I'm happy
about that. My first quarterback was Kyler Murray, which I
just want you to give a quick overhead on. And
the second guy who the best available, although he's had
(19:53):
some shoulder injuries and I would love to him. Maybe
he needs a massage to Sean Watson. But where do
you feel about, you know, two quarterbacks in you know regular,
you know PPR leagues.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
So I don't think there's anything wrong with it. If
you've got deep benches, you know, if you've only got
four or five bench spots, I wouldn't recommend wasting one
of those guys on a quarterback. But if you've got
seven plus bench spots, I think it makes sense to
draft a second quarterback. Now. We just did a show
on Monday where we did our Guys where Alfredo Brown
and I each talked about our favorite guy at every
single position quarterback, running back, tight end, wide receiver, and
(20:28):
then we did one late round sleeper pick, and Alfredo
and I both picked Kyler Murray as our guy. Because
where he's getting drafted right now, I'm guessing you probably
got him as like the seventh or eighth quarterback off
the board. That's typically where he's going. And this is
a guy who his rookie season, he was the QB
twelve in scoring, and then after that for the next
three years he was a top five quarterback. He was
QB four, he was QB five, QB four again, and
(20:50):
then last year he had no weapons. Marquise Brown was injured,
DeAndre Hopkins was out of the picture. He was coming
off an ACL tear, so he wasn't rushing as much,
and he was He's still the quarterback nine on a
per game basis. So that's the worst case scenario for
Kyler Murray is, you know, coming off of an injury,
having no weapons, and he's still giving you top ten production.
Now you look at Marvin Harrison Junior in the mix,
(21:12):
He's going to be almost two full years removed from
the ACL injury, so we should see that rushing upset again.
I've got Kyler Murray as my QB five, but it's
really easy to see him even finishing better than that.
So I love that pick there. And then Deshaun Watson,
you know, I really feel like I'm buttering you up
on the show, Mic, and that's not what I'm trying
to do. But you made some good picks here. Deshaun
Watson is another guy that I like. You look at
(21:33):
it last year and as a whole, this season was
just abysmal, like there wasn't a lot of good stuff,
but you start kind of looking at the context a
little bit. He only started and finished five games last year.
One of those games was terrible. One of those games
he was QB fourteen, but in three of the other
games he was a top ten quarterback. So people have
written this guy off for dead, and you know, they
(21:54):
think that he doesn't want to play football, they think
that he's washed. Whatever it may be. This guy was
a perennial top five quarter back when he was in Houston.
We saw him last year in three of five games,
still being a top ten quarterback. Now he's got Jerry
Judy there. We've seen David Nijoku breakout. They brought a
Marii Cooper back on a restructure deal, and again, kind
of like I was saying with Daniel Jones, they don't
have Nick Jubb, just like Daniel Jones doesn't have Saquon Barkley.
(22:17):
And a lack of a running game is going to
force them to pass more. It's going to force DeSean
Watson Watson to rush more. So I like it. I
think that, you know, Kyler Murray is obviously the better pick,
and he's going to be locked and loaded, but something
happens to him if he gets injured. He need to
make it through a bye week. I think Watson is
a great QB two to have.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
I love that. Don't butter me up. I love that.
I love that. I feel that. I love to hear that.
You said.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Marvin Harrison Junior is Marvin Harrison Junior every single thing
that we hope and wish that he's been cracked out
to be and proven that he can be. I mean,
I think he's going to be unbelievable. But like, what
are you seeing in training? I mean, he's his disposition
(23:01):
just feels like a pro. Obviously his father had the
same sort of chill disposition. You know, I love you know,
in all sports most of the time, if your father's
a pro, you have an inside scoop.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
What is your take on Marvin Harrison Junior.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
He's gonna be great. I mean it's as simple as that. Like,
I can't imagine a world where things don't pan out
for Marvin Harrison. This kid has been living in breathing
football since the second he was born, probably at a
football in his crib, Like you know, you talk about
it with his dad. The pedigree, like he is that
good of a player, and the situation here is just perfect.
Like we've seen Kyler Murray support elite wide receiver once
(23:37):
in the past. You know, he gave us a fourteen
hundred yard season with DeAndre Hopkins. Now, of course, I
think the expectations for Marvin Harrison are so high, and
I think that we need to be realistic in the
fact that a lot of times it does take rookies
a little while to warm up in the season here,
so you're talking long term over the next five years.
I think Marvin Harrison's gonna be one of the best
wide receivers in the NFL for this year. I'm a
(23:58):
little bit cooler on him, you know, consent this has
him around wide receiver nine or ten. I've got him
at wide receiver fourteen, so not crazy, crazy low. But
there's a few guys Nico Collins, Jalen Waddle, Cooper Cup
that I prefer ahead of Marvin Harrison. But I could
totally be wrong because Marvin Harrison, he's the unquestioned wide
receiver one, I mean, the wide receiver two right there?
Is it Greg Dortch or is it Zay Jones, Michael Wilson,
(24:20):
They don't really have anybody. They've got Trey McBride, but
he and Marvin Harrison operate in completely different parts of
the field. Harrison's going to be out wide, Trey McBride's
going to be across the middle of the field on
shorter routes. So they're complimentary pieces for each other. So
I understand why Harrison is getting drafted where he is.
The ceiling is potentially top three, top five at the position.
(24:42):
I just like some of those veterans a little bit better.
Like I said, Cooper Cup, Jalen Wattle, Nico Collins. I'll
take them ahead of Marvin Harrison. But if he falls
to me the back of the second round, really good pick.
He's going to be a good football player and he's
in a great situation.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
You mentioned you guys just did a podcast or an
episode of Football Guys Fantasy Football show. You said your guys,
You mentioned your guys. You said, my guy Kyler Murray
was also your guy. Who did you also have as
your guys? Like you know, cause I feel like in
a draft, you need to know your guys, get your guys.
(25:18):
It's almost more important to know who you don't want
than it is to know who you want, or it's
just as important to know who you just don't want.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
So who were your guys?
Speaker 3 (25:29):
So talked about Kyler Murray already and I already talked
about Jonathan Brooks as well. That was my quarterback and
running back. And I just mentioned that I have Cooper
Cup ahead of Marvin Harrison. Cooper Cup's my guy at
the wide receiver position, and I think people are just
quick to forget how dominant this guy was just a
few years ago. You know, over a two year stretch,
he averaged over twenty five points per game in PPR leagues.
(25:50):
If you look, he scored thirty plus points in one
third of his matchups over a two year stretch. Like
as soon as Matthew Stafford came into the picture, Cooper
Cup immediately became the best wide receiver in the league.
We haven't seen anybody putting up numbers like that since
Antonio Brown when he was in Pittsburgh. And I think
now people are just a little bit concerned because Pookin
a Coua is there. You know, Cooper Cup's getting up
(26:10):
there in age. He's dealt with some injuries. But you know,
I keep it closer to the beat reports this time
of year and everything that I'm hearing out of Los Angeles.
One Pookina Coupa has banged up right now, so he's
not going to be one hundred percent to start the year.
And everybody is saying that Matthew Stafford and Cooper Cup
look like Matthew Stafford and Cooper Cup from two three
years ago. So there aren't many guys that you can
(26:31):
draft in round three that are going to have legitimate
upside to be number one receivers. And I'm not saying
that like Cooper Cup. I'm not saying like a wide
receiver one is like top twelve. I'm saying he could
literally be the wide receiver one giving you twenty five
plus points per game, and you're drafting him in round three.
So I think all of the risk is baked into
his price with where he's sliding in drafts, and he
(26:52):
has so so much upside.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Damn podcast, you mentioned your hard knocks. Hard Knocks is
(27:14):
a part of my life. It gets me focused, the thrills,
the chills. Although I feel like the season of Hard
Knocks for the Bears, they haven't focused as much on
you know, these guys that might for a show. They
haven't focused as much as they normally do as guys
that might make the team not make the team. My
wife and I we watch it every season, and she's
(27:36):
always like, I'm gonna watch football this season, and then
she's telling me to turn it off and turn off
my red zone and all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
But you know, like as far.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
As the season, I don't think it's the best season
of Hard Knocks, but I watch it.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
I've never missed an episode.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
What are you thinking about your Chicago Bear Golden Boy quarterback?
Where do you think things are going to how do
you think things are going to start for him? And
how do you think they're going to finish? And because
you're a Chicago guy, I know you pay a little
bit more attention whether you try to or not. On
the Chicago Bears. I drafted Dj Moore. I'm hoping he
(28:13):
kicks butt. How do you feel about the quarterback and
the rest of the offense of the Bears?
Speaker 3 (28:19):
So, you know, it's tough being a Bears fan. Man,
I've been on this earth for thirty four years and
I've never seen a Super Bowl win. I saw him
make it to one Super Bowl and get picked apart
by Peyton Manning. So I feel like I'm an eternal
pessimist when it comes to the Bears, and I'm always
trying to like, you know, I don't want to be
the guy sipping the kool aid, but man, it's hard
not to with this team. Like Caleb Williams is just
(28:41):
a different type of athlete and a lot of the
special things that were showing up on his tape at USC,
you know, his ability to avoid pressure and get outside
of the pocket and make these offscript plays, and just
the arm angles and the throwing on the run. All
of those things that we saw in college are already
happy in the preseason. And you know, like that throw
(29:02):
that he made to Roma Dunsay down the sideline just effortlessly,
just like floated a perfect ball over defender into his hands,
then followed that up with an amazing almost touchdown throw
and Dunese had his toes out of the end zone.
So I don't want to sit the kool aid because
I've been hurt so many times. You know. I had
hopes for Justin Fields and Jay Cutler and Rex Grossman
and Cade McNown but I think Kayleb Williams is a
(29:24):
different type of player, and I'm definitely starting to warm
up to the idea that he could be a good quarterback.
As for the passing game, I'm really excited about DJ Moore.
And there's a lot of mouths to feed here with
Keenan Allen and Romadonsay and kolk Met, But I was
on NBC Chicago last week and we were talking about
the Bears a little bit, and I said, DJ Moore
is still, in my opinion, an elite wide receiver, even
(29:45):
with the added touch competition. I think all of these
guys are just going to help him get more open.
Last year, if you watch the team, the defenses were
keying in, they were double teaming Dj Moore because they
knew there was no other receiving threat, and he still
went for almost fourteen hundred yards. Now we're expecting more
passing yards as a whole for Chicago. This guy, throughout
his entire career has typically garnered about forty percent of
(30:06):
the air yards for the teams that he plays for.
So it's not crazy to think that DJ Moore, coming
off of a career year, can have an even better
year in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
And they got a lot of weapons, They got a
lot of people who can throw the ball. He could
throw the ball too, so I think they're setting him
up for success.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
What do you think of rome A Duneesa what you've
seen so far? How good do you think he's going
to be.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
I think he's going to be really good. And we've
looked back. My co host and I Alfredo, we looked
back at previous draft classes and we said, like, where
would we rank Roma Duneesa in these draft classes? Because
I think a lot of people see him as the
third wide receiver drafted off the board and think that
he's just the third best in this class. But you got,
I don't think people understand how good Molique Neighbors and
Marvin Harrison are. And if you start looking back at
(30:52):
previous draft classes, you know, we'd put Jamar Chase ahead
of Roma Doonsa, we would put DJ Moore ahead of
Roma Dunessay, woul put Garrett Wilson ahead of Romadonsay. But
he's basically he would have been the wide receiver one
in like five of the last eight draft classes. He
is that good of a wide receiver. So in my rankings,
I'm one of the few that's done this, but I
have Romadonsay ahead of Keenan Allen. You know, Keenan Allen
(31:14):
is thirty two years old. He stayed healthy last year
for the most part, got banged up at the end
of the season, but he's dealt with injuries throughout his career,
and I think that there's gonna be a breaking point
in this season where they say, you know, we're not
bringing Keenan Allen back next year on a contract. He's
kind of a one year band aid. He's going to
help develop Caleb Williams a little bit. But DJ Moore
is under contract for the next five years. Romadunzay and
(31:35):
Caleb Williams are both on the rookie deals right now.
They've got Cole Comet locked up for the next five years.
I think there's gonna be a point at midway point
in the season where they're going to say, we need
to get Romadunze out there ahead of Keenan Allen on
these two wide receiver sets. And the second half of
the year in fantasy football is so much more important
than the first half of the year. So even if
Romadonese gets off to a slow start, I'm going to
be trying to buy low on him in trades because
(31:57):
I think that over the second half of the season
he's going to be the second year weapon on this offense.
And what we've seen is that he is just a
great athlete. You know, you kind of talk about Marvin
Harrison just being a pro, just ready to work. You know,
showing up, none of the drama or anything like that.
And Rome checks all those boxes too. So I'm a big,
big fan of him. I've got him inside my top
thirty five receivers in fantasy.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Every single year, the tight end is discussed, not discussed.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Don't go high, you don't need a tight end.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
And then, you know, I'll say for myself, you know,
I've had game after game where I've had tight ends
where like, you're on the field, you're my starting tight end.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
I can't have zero points from you.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
You know, and aside from Travis Kelson, you know, Georgie
the Animal Kittle or you know, I wound up getting
Dalton Schultz. I think I went a little bit later
than I wanted to with my tight end. Dalton is
good when he's getting the ball. Hopefully he gets the
ball because he's my tight end, even though he's on
a team that I'm not a huge fan of personally.
(33:04):
But like I said, there's no feelings in fantasy football.
What are your feelings about superstar super No, he's not
even just a super star in the NFL, Travis kels Now,
he's a popular culture a phenomenon. What do you think
of Travis kels and what are your other tight ends
that people should be looking at and how early would
(33:25):
you go on tight ends?
Speaker 3 (33:27):
I think tight ends are the position that I'm most
interested in this offseason and probably spent the most time
talking about, because the tight end landscape has changed dramatically.
You know, like for the last five years, it was like,
if you don't have Travis kelce you're screwed. And you know,
when you play against Travis kelcey, it's almost impossible to
make up that difference that he's giving you as a
positional advantage. But then Mark Andrews broke out in Baltimore,
(33:51):
and then TJ. Hockinson got traded to Minnesota and he
broke out, and then Evan Ingram ended up in Jacksonville
and he broke out. And then we saw all these
young guys, you know, Dalton Kincaid and Sam Laporta and
Trey McBride all kind of burst onto the scene. And
now all of a sudden, we're not living in this
Travis kelceer bust world. There are like seven good tight
(34:11):
ends that you can feel decent about drafting. So the
way I'm trying to do it this year, Travis Kelsey's
still my tight end one. You know, we saw him
dip a little bit in production last year, but on
a per game basis, he was still the tight end one,
even dealing with injuries and all that. So Travis Kelsey
is still my guy at number one. But what I'm
trying to do is wait, you know, let some other
(34:32):
guys pay up for Travis Kelcey and Sam Laporta in
round three. What I find myself liking to do is
wait for everybody else to pay out for those guys,
and then in round five, George Kittle's usually sitting there.
And like you said, you called him Kittle the animal.
I think you did. I mean, the dude's a beast
when he's on the football field. And the big knock
with George Kittle in years past has been that he
doesn't run enough routes, that he's always blocking and not
(34:54):
running routes, and you don't get points in fantasy football
for blocking. But his route participation rate, meaning how often
he runs a route on passing downs, has gone up
for six consecutive seasons, and last year he had the
third highest route participation in the NFL. And while doing that,
while maintaining this, you know, growing role as a pass catcher.
(35:14):
He still led the league in receiving yards yards per route, run,
yards per target, yards per reception, yards per team pass attempts, EPA,
deep targets Like I could go on and on. You
look on an efficiency standpoint, and this guy was top
three in every single efficiency metric. So Kittle is the
guy that I find myself really liking. But after Kittle
goes off the board, and you probably experienced this, there's
(35:36):
a falloff where you know, when you start looking at
David Djoku, Jake Ferguson, Brock Bauers, Dalton Schultz, you know,
these guys could have some big weeks, but it's going
to be kind of shaky. So my advice, Mike, are
you in a PPR league or is it non PPR PPR?
All right, so he's not quite as valuable in PPR
leagues as he is in non PPR leagues. But Taysom
(35:59):
Hill has been a top ten tight end for four
straight seasons. And I think if you miss out on
those top seven guys that I mentioned, kind of ending
with George Kittle and Evan Ingram, the guy that I
like to pick up is Taysom Hill because he's gonna
have highs and lows, and the reality at the tight
end position is the lows aren't going to kill you.
You know, if you're getting three or four points from
(36:19):
your tight end, the tight end you're playing against is
probably only given seven or eight, so it's not a
huge difference. But Taysom Hill is those weeks where he
gives you twenty twenty five points and you're not getting
those from a lot of other tight ends. So Taysom
Hill's a guy that I like if I miss out
on the early guys as kind of a late round target.
And the other guy that I like picking up is
TJ Hockinson. And TJ Hockinson is probably not playing the
first six or eight weeks, but if you got an
(36:39):
ir spot or if you've got deep benches, just stash him,
wait for him to come back, and you could potentially
be getting a top five guy over the second half
of the year.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
Yeah, I like that, and I like TJ.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
I Again, you know, tight ends and this is something
that I feel like in fantasy football is underrated, underappreciated
until you're getting every single week, or until you see
somebody else in your league or until you have the
good fortune of defense's scoring points. Is there one or
two defenses you feel like are you need to get,
(37:14):
even if it's a pick early or just to keep
your eyes on that are gonna score points for you.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
Yeah, the two that jump out to me are the
obvious ones, the Ravens and the forty nine ers. They're
gonna have a ton of sacks, they're gonna have a
ton of turnovers, They're gonna score touchdowns on defense and
special teams. So I'm okay paying up for those guys.
But if I don't get the Ravens or the forty
nine ers, I'm probably just committing to streaming defenses. And
I think that scares a lot of people, Like, you know,
you want to have that rock solid option that you
(37:41):
could just plug in week in and weak out, like
you know, three years ago, like if you had the
Patriots defense, they were giving you like twenty points per
game as a defense and you didn't have to think
twice about it. But those are so rare to stumble across.
So I'm gonna shout out one of my co workers,
Sigmund Bloom. He's been doing this for twenty five years,
he's a great writer. He hosts one of our shows
of the Audible, and he writes a weekly article about
(38:03):
streaming defenses. And what he does is he looks at
the defenses that are owned in less than fifty percent
of fantasy leagues and he matches them up against the
or he looks at the best matchups every single week.
And it's unbelievable. But he's been doing this for the
last twenty twenty five years now. And if you look
at what he does on a weekly basis, taking these
low owned defenses that are going up against good matchups
(38:25):
almost every single year, if you look at his weekly
recommendations and add up the points that they score, you're
gonna get more points with them than you would with
the top scoring defense. So it's scary, and you got
to play the waiver wire all season long and you're
constantly churning through defenses on your bench. But defenses are
so heavily skewed by matchups that I think that's the
(38:45):
way to do it, even if it is a bigger headache.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
I love that. I love what you just said, and
I love that plan of attack. Where can we see
that article every single week? Because that's something that I'm into.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
Yeah, football, what I'll do, I'll send you the link
for it. First of all, if you're listening, you want
to sign up, you can go to football Guys dot
com and sign up for our email newsletter that goes
out every single day. We've got over seven hundred and
fifty thousand people on this newsletter with NFL News. But
we also share all of our content in there. So
this article that Sigmund does comes out every Tuesday morning,
(39:20):
so that way you can read it before you have
to put your waiver claims in. But he's been doing
it for the last twenty something years and it's a
fantastic article. So I'll send that your way when we're
done recording here, Mike, and you can just check it
out every week.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Podcast. All right, Well, you've given me so much, you
given me a lot. What is one other thing that
you want to share? What is one other thing that
(39:55):
I didn't ask? What is one other thing that is
exciting you? One other player, one other high powered a
offense that you can give me, Dave, And I say me,
I'm being selfish, but I mean the listeners, but I
also mean me.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
All right, Can I just zoom out rather than talking
about a player and just talk about like my favorite
strategy this year overall. Yes, yes, all right, So I'm
a Sickoh, Mike. I know you do two drafts a year.
I do about three hundred drafts a year, and a
lot of those are best ball where you don't have to,
you know, manage in season. You know, I just do
the draft and then they pick the best scores for
(40:28):
you every single week. But I've done over three hundred
of these drafts this offseason, and I've played with all
of these different team builds, and then you know, you
run simulations and see how these teams finish, and it
seems like this is the year that you just want
to wait on running backs. You don't want to pay
up for running backs this year because there's so much
good value late in your draft. So we talked about it.
(40:48):
The wide receiver well kind of dries up a little
bit quickly this year. So what I'm trying to do
is start almost all of my drafts with three straight
wide receivers. You know, you talk about those guys going
in Round one, Tyreek Hill, Ceedee Lamb, Amon ra Saint Brown,
Chase Justin Jefferson. You get one of those guys in
round one, and then in round two you target you know,
Cooper Cup, Nico Collins, a guy like that. In round three,
(41:09):
you could follow him up with Jayalen Waddle, DJ Moore,
somebody like that. You know, start off with three good
wide receivers, and it's scary because you're passing on some
guys that I really like, Like I like Bresee Hall,
I like Bjon Robinson, Jamir Gibbs, Jonathan Taylor. These guys
are good. But the nature of the NFL is that
running backs get injured and then they also will see
(41:29):
their workloads just kind of disappear or they end up
splitting touches with the back and we don't expect it.
So rather than paying up and investing premium draft capital
in these guys, I like waiting on some of the
later guys, you know, David Montgomery, Alvin Kamara, James Connor,
Ramadre Stevenson, Najie Harris, these guys that we think are
kind of boring running backs because they might not finish
number one at their position. But you get one or
(41:51):
two of those guys and then what I do late
late late in drafts is I just load up on handcuffs,
and I think a lot of people when they think handcuff,
they think they're team's handcuffs. So like if you draft
Christian McCaffrey, you want Jordan Mason, or if you draft
Breese Hall, you want Braylan Allen. But what I do,
I just get greedy and I take all of the
backups from all the other teams. So I'm taking Trey
(42:12):
Benson and Blake Korum and all these young guys knowing
that they're basically lottery tickets that are sitting on my bench.
Like right now, Blake Korum might not have any projectable
work in week one, but if Kyen Williams tweaks his
ankle in week one, then going into week two, we're
looking at Blake Korum as a potential top five running back.
You drafted him in round twelve at the very end
(42:33):
of your draft and potentially got top five production. We
never really see that happen with the wide receiver position.
I mean it happens occasionally, like people are going to
talk about pookinakooah things of that nature, But the reality
is we as an industry and that's what bleeds into
ADP are way better at projecting for receivers. So take
those safe assets early in your draft. Walk away with
three or four receivers in your first three or four rounds,
(42:55):
and then just load up on these middle to late
round running backs, knowing that the chaos of the NFL
eventually is going to make some of these guys that
you're getting for absolutely nothing at the end of your draft,
guys that you can count on starting.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
I love this, Dave. I love this. I love the information.
Speaker 1 (43:10):
I love the football guys, Fantasy football show, send me everything,
send me the links, send me the articles, because I'm
going to use them, and I think it's important for
everybody to use them and to be ready to know
their guys, to get your.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
Guys, know who you want, know who you don't want.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
And I just appreciate you joining the im rap port
stereo podcasts and you know, giving me all these little
piece of the jewelry, these gold mines of fantasy football
jewels that I need, So I appreciate you. I'll definitely
be checking out all the shows, the links, the articles
throughout the season because it's championship time now, it's now
(43:49):
we're not here to play games, We're not here to
hold hands.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
It's championship Fantasy football time.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
I hope you win your league this year. Hopefully with
the help of football guys, we can get you there.
But yeah, man, fantasy football is fun. Unbelievable that the
season is so close, Like we said, it just kind
of snuck up on us. But best time of the year, man,
just seventeen weeks of football. Eighteen weeks of football now,
I'm sorry playoffs. I mean, it's a good way to
spend the winter.
Speaker 1 (44:13):
All right, Dave, I appreciate it. I appreciate you joining
the podcast, and I'll talk to you soon, my man.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
Thank you, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
Mike, I want to thank Dave Kloogi one more time.
Football guys, Fantasy Football show for all the diamonds, all
the gold, all the jewels. Are you ready for some football?
Are you ready for some fantasy football? It's the greatest
time of the year. Great episode, Share it with a friend,
Dominate your draft, know your guys, get your guys, know who.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
You want and know who you don't want. Miles Jordan
akd The Bleach Brothers.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Take me at it with something real nice, take me
adding it with something real lound. But most importantly, end
this puppy with something real funkyes I.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Am rapports the real podcast. I'm out
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