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: Who to take with the second overall pick, The Dallas Cowboys offense, if Saquon will have a regression, which teams to avoid, Tight Ends to Target, Running Back Upside, Mid Round Strategy, Rookies to Take, Defenses you want, Big Money Leagues & Tournaments, being in 35-40 leagues & a whole lotta mo'. This episode is not to be missed!
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Boom, Have no Fear of the Iron. Rapports Stereo podcast
is here. Boom, Have No Fear of the Iron. Rap
Reports Stereo podcast is here. Fantasy Football Gold Platinum, Gold
Platinum Fantasy Football Episode. It's almost Christmas. It's the most
wonderful time of the year. Fantasy football is upon us.
Fantasy Football season twenty twenty five is almost here. Have
(00:33):
no fear. Once again, He's back, Dave Kleueley. This is
the third time Dave Kluegy is with me d A. D.
K l uge You could follow him on Twitter from
the Football Guys Football Guys dot Com. He's getting me ready.
He's getting you ready. He's getting the world ready to
kick ass in your fantasy football league. Drafts are coming up.
(00:57):
This is going to get you fired up, prepped and
ready to rock and roll. He's back the Football Guys
dot Com. My guy, Dave Klugy is with me on
the im Rapaport Stereo podcast. Miles jordani Ak, The Bleach
Brothers aka the Dust Brothers. Let's start this fantasy football
episode off with something real nice. Let's start this fantasy
(01:18):
football episode off with something real, loud, but most important.
Let's start this Fantasy Football episode off with something real proper.
This is the im Rap Report stereo podcast. Rev up
your Fantasy football and Jets. It's Don Boom Iron Rapport
(01:40):
Stereo podcast is here. It's the greatest time of the
year because fantasy football season, and I say fantasy football
season is starting up in a couple of weeks, and
the NFL is also starting but fantasy football, which is
more important to me, is starting up. And I know
(02:00):
it's more important to my guest, who is joining me
again for the third year in a row. This is
an annual preseason think tank with one of the best
in the business. I appreciate you taking the time. I
know it is a busy, busy, crazy time. Dave Klugy
of the Football Guys is in the place to be
(02:21):
in the House football Guys dot com and you can
follow him on Twitter at Dave klugi k l u
g E. He's hosting nine shows a week where he's
giving you all his inside Dave. I appreciate you coming
back again with me on the im Wrap Wort stereo podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Of course, man, like you said third time, like it
feels like I'm part of the inner circle now Like
now you know I'm a regular guest on the show.
I feel like I know the players that you like,
I know your tendencies, I know the drafts.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
That you're in.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I feel like every single year I could just start
giving you better and better advice. This is the year, man,
We're gonna do it. We're taking down the league this year.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Well, Dave, listen, you're a champion, and I'm sure let's
just look at it like two champions, two great fantasy
football minds meeting. Now. I'm not gonna say that I'm
anywhere near as great of a fantasy football mine as you,
but you could just look at me as sort of like,
you know, we're both fantasy football gurus. Okay, we could
just like it's just too great. But it's like Bill Parcells,
(03:17):
Bill Belichick sitting down having a little coffee doing a podcast.
That's exactly how I think of this.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Man. It's always a good time. And you know you
say that like fantasy football season is just starting, and
that's what's fun. Is like this is the time of
year where a lot of people are starting to plug
in and they're catching up on training camp and looking
at preseason stuff like that. Dude, I have been deep
in the weeds. Like my first set of rankings came
out the day after the Super Bowl. I'm studying for
the NFL Draft. We're looking through the combine in preseason
and all this it never stops. Man, Like the NFL
(03:44):
has turned into a three hundred and sixty five day
media machine. They are just things to talk about every
single day.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, it's crazy, the NFL and the NBA. But like
I said, we don't care about the NBA right now.
We care about fantasy football. And I'm going to tell
you I am in a must win mode in my
money league. Okay, I took a bath, and not a
warm bath, not a hot bath, an icy freezing cold
bath from September all the way through the end of December.
(04:13):
In my money league, I have to win now. I'm
gonna just start with my first, very very first personal question.
In my money league, it's a full pp R league.
I have the second pick in a twelve team league.
One quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight
and one flex, one kicker, and of course one defense.
(04:36):
Put yourself in my shoes, Dave, what would your plan
of attack be? Should I be looking for a horse
running back? Or a stud wide receiver with the second pick.
These are competitive, competitive fantasy football players. So I'm guessing
that Jamar Chase is going to be taken first, but
you never know. But Jamar Chase, Bijean Gibbs, CD Jefferson,
(04:58):
in no particular order, Who do you think and what
would you do with the second pick in this very
competitive money league?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
So I'm going Ceedee Lamb. And you know, I've done
about one hundred and fifty drafts already this offseason, and
I'm taking Ceedee Lamb at second overall. And the reason
for it is I think there are so many good
running backs this year, and of course John Robinson, Saguon Barkley,
Jamiir Gibbs, those guys are great, but you could still
get some really good running back value with those second
and third picks. Chase Brown is hanging out there a
(05:27):
lot of the times. You can get James Cook there,
this rookie o'mari and Hampton the first rounder from the Chargers,
he's there as well. And when I look at Ceedee Lamb,
you know, fantasy football managers they got short memories, right,
and like right now, it's like Jamar Chase is going
number one overall because he was the number one wide
receiver last year. What about two years ago when Ceedee
Lamb was the number one overall wide receiver And the
(05:47):
only thing that happened last year the change was that
Dak Prescott was injured. So now Dak Prescott's back from
that hamstring injury, we see Ceede Lamb is just a
year removed away from being the number one overall scorer
in fantasy football. So I know, you know the old
adage in fantasy football is you want to get your
workhorse running backs early. But I think that, especially in
a full PPR league, Jamar Chase and Ceedee Lamb. Now
(06:09):
that Justin Jefferson is dealing with this hamstring injury, we
don't know if that's going to linger into the season
or not. I've got Jamar Chase and Ceedee Lamb and
a tier of their own ahead of all of those
running backs, and a lot of it just comes down
to the fact that you can get really good running
backs with your second and third picks, and you're not
getting a player anywhere close to Ceedee Lamb's caliber with
those picks.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Wow, Dave, I'm gonna be honest, I love this I
love this. I was thinking, you know, for myself, Bijon,
I was thinking running back. But this is why I
came to you, and this is why I came to
you early. And I love my motto in fantasy footballs
know your guys and get your guys, know who you
want and know who you don't want. I love that answer.
(06:49):
I respect that answer. I love this. These teams in
fantasy football, the offense is the Bengals, the Falcons, the Lions,
the Cowboys, the Vikings. These are the guys on the
first five picks. I'm imagining Chase Bejeon, Gibbs, CD, and
Jefferson respectfully. What do you think about those teams just
as offensive powers in fantasy football?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, I mean that's what you want, and that's why
you're really going to see a guy going in like
the top half of a draft that's not a bad offense.
Every once in a while we'll see the outlier here
and there, but you definitely want to invest in good offenses.
And a lot of times what I like doing too,
is like, if you're making that early pick in ceedee Lamb,
at that point, you've already kind of taken a stance
saying that Ceede Lamb is going to be good and
the Dallas Cowboys are going to be good. So then
(07:34):
what I try to do is when I get into
like the tenth round, is get Dak Prescott as well,
because that I'm just doubling my chances. And what happens,
you know, we call that stacking. I'm sure you've heard
of the term stacking where you get the quarterback and
the wide receiver together and basically what that does is
it decreases your variance. You're investing two of your picks,
two guys that you're going to be starting every single
week on the same offense. So with that, you know
(07:55):
comes potential downside. You know, if Dak Prescott gets hurt,
you're screwed. Or if the the Dallas Cowboys just end
up being a terrible team, you're not gonna feel great
about it. But if Dak Prescott throws for five thousand
yards and Ceedee Lamb is fifteen hundred yards, you know
you've got two pieces of a good offense there, and
it helps you stay away from kind of be in
that middle of the pack guy, Like that's how you
finish in first place. So the Cowboys, I think they're
(08:16):
gonna be a good team. They finally got Mike McCarthy
out of the picture. Brian Schottenheimer. I like what he's
doing there. They've got George Pickens. Now, this is the
first time that we've really seen like a good wide
receiver two alongside Ceedee Lamb. And then you look at
the backfield as well. It's terrible. Man like Javonte Williams
is already banged up. Miles Sanders looks like dust at
this point in his career. They've got this rookie Jaden
(08:37):
Blue or there's a little bit of excitement about him.
But when I look at the roster, they're just gonna
be throwing the ball NonStop. And I think Ceedee Lamb
is the guy that can easily walk into a roll
where he's seeing one hundred and eighty plus targets.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Man, Dave, you're blowing my mind. I love this so much.
I love this so much. Last year there were land
mines in the first round. I texted you a few
times on Sunday more in just distress. Last year a
landmines in the first round. We're talking about Breese Hall,
the wrecking ball. We're talking about Tyreek Hill, who I
(09:11):
don't even want to discuss Tyreek Hill. I'm not picking
him in any of my leagues. I don't know who
the backup quarterback for Tua is and I don't. I
wish him nothing but the best with his health. But
who do you see as land mines? You know this
year in the you know, the top ten, top twenty thirty,
that are you concerned about that? You would kind of
(09:32):
like red flag already.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
So I'm, you know, a self proclaimed nerd, and all
the nerds are saying Saquon Barkley because they're like, oh,
look at how many touches he had last year, He's
gonna break down, he can't do it again. I'm not
buying into that. I think Saquon Martley is an outlier.
I mean, this guy is just a freak. I think
he's gonna be fine. I think we might see them
intentionally reel back his workload a little bit so he's
one hundred percent fresh in the playoffs. But Saquon Barkley
is the answer most people expect. That's not who I'm
(09:55):
going with. A Monra Saint Brown is the guy that
I have not drafted once so far this year, and
I think he's a very, very good player. But we've
got a lot of changes happening in Detroit this year,
mainly Ben Johnson now coaching the Chicago Bears instead of
being the offensive coordinator. And if you look every Ben
Johnson offense throughout his career, you can go back to
the Brian Hartline days. Like Brian Hartline, Jarvis Landry, Danny Amandola.
(10:19):
He has always focused his offense around the slot receiver
and that's why Minor Saint Brown has been so good
over the last couple of years. Now with Ben Johnson
out of the picture, I look at Jamison Williams there,
I look at Sam Laporta, Jamir Gibbs, David Montgomery. They
have so many good weapons on that offense. I don't
think the offense is going to flow through a minor
Saint Brown. And he's not a really efficient player. He's
(10:40):
a player who has always made up for his production
by getting a lot of volume. So if you just
shave a little bit of that volume off the top,
that's the difference between being a top five receiver and
being a top fifteen receiver. So people are still paying
up with him for a first round pick. I am
passing on a monro Saint Brown and I will much
rather draft Jamison Williams late, who is a very efficient play.
You just push a few more targets his way and
(11:02):
he's got an easy path to be in the top
ten wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Dave, you're getting me so ready for fantasy football. I
don't even think you understand how much I appreciate this man.
It just takes it like out of the cannon. Let's
shift to quarterbacks. Okay, what camp are you in this
season for quarterbacks? What kind of quarterback are you looking for?
Where are you looking to draft quarterbacks? I know you
(11:25):
gotta let the draft come to you, but just in general,
where are you at with quarterback and where you're at?
What round are you looking for quarterbacks? And is there
anybody you'd go for early?
Speaker 2 (11:35):
No, there's no quarterbacks I'm paying up for this year,
like I'm gonna wait and wait and wait and wait.
I mean a lot of the drafts that I do
this year, I'm drafting three or four guys on my bench,
like extra running backs and wide receivers at in depth
to those rooms before I'm even looking at the quarterbacks.
And you know, Josh Allen Lamar Jackson, Jade and Daniels.
These guys are great, but to get them this year,
(11:55):
you got to pay up for them with like a
third round pick. And then the third round you're passing
on guys like Abarrie and Hampon and Trevon Henderson. You know,
rookies that can win your league for you. You're passing up
on these wide receivers they can give you twenty five
points per game. So this year we've seen a big
change in the quarterback landscape. You know, last year's draft
class was loaded with all these guys that came in,
JJ McCarthy, Drake may Jaden Daniels, Caleb Williams, and now
(12:17):
we got Michael Pennox finally starting this year. So you've
got a lot of young guys that you can target late. Now.
The tough thing here is like, I don't know who
the guy is gonna be. But every single year there's
guys that pop up that went undrafted that end up
being league winners. Last year we saw Baker Mayfield be
a top three guy. We saw Jared Goff be a
top eight guy. So this year, I don't want to
pay up for the early guys and then a lot
(12:38):
of other people fall into the trap where they're like,
all right, I got my two running backs, I got
my two wide receivers, now I need to take a quarterback.
And that's how you see guys like Jared Goff and
Baker Mayfield who were good last year, but now they're
getting pushed up in drafts this year. And I don't
want anything to do with that. I'm just gonna wait,
and I find myself drafting a lot in that Dak Prescott,
Justin Herbert, Caleb Williams, Drake May, Trevor, Lawrence Range, and again,
(13:02):
I don't know who the guy is going to be,
and the guy that I draft might just be a
placeholder for a few weeks. If you're going to take
this approach, what you need to do is be active
on the waiver wire. Drake may for instance, might not
go drafted in a lot of drafts, but last year
he was sixth among all quarterbacks in rushing yards per game.
So that's a guy I want to draft late in
my round in my draft, knowing that he could be
that breakout guy.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
But it might not be him.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
It might be cam Ward who's not going to go
drafted in a lot of leagues who knows he might
be better than we expect. You pick him up off
of waivers. Bryce Young last year, of the final four
weeks of the season, was the number one scoring quarterback
in fantasy. Maybe now that he's got a good wide
receiver in Ted Roe McMillan, he takes that step forward.
So it's hard for me to plant a flag on
one guy saying this is going to be the breakout quarterback.
(13:45):
But I think that it just makes sense to pass
on all of the early quarterbacks and throw darts at
Jordan Love and JJ McCarthy and these young guys that
have potentially untapped upside.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
You mentioned teams that you think are gonna thrive offensively.
Last year I drafted DJ Moore and obviously Chicago, which
you are very familiar with, they struggled offensively. What teams
this year are you concerned about, just in terms of
Fantasy football and offense and putting up points across the board.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
The Dolphins, man, I just think they're one of the
softest teams in the NFL. And again, you know, you
just talked about Chicago. I don't know if you saw,
but they're Chicago and Miami. They were doing a joint
practice together a week ago, and they had to call
the practice off early because they said that Chicago was
being too physical. And then they play against each other
in the preseason game, stuff them four times in a
row at the goal line. I mean, I think Mike Daniels,
(14:51):
Mike McDaniels is on the hot seat. I don't think
he's gonna make it through the end of this season.
Just the way that they are playing football right now.
They are not a physical team. And now these guys,
guys that have relied on their speed are getting a
little bit older and they don't have that same speed anymore.
To a tugabay Looa. You could tell by the play
calling they're terrified about him taking a hit. They don't
want to see him on his back at all. So
they're throwing these little dinkin dung two three yard passes,
(15:13):
trying to get the ball out of his hand as
quickly as possible. That offense has a lot of names
that we know, Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle. Darren Waller
is there now, which I think a lot of people
don't even realize. Devon a Chan and I get it.
You know, there's a lot of big, flashy names there.
But that is one of those offenses I'm completely overlooking.
Then the other one that I think is kind of
obvious is the Browns. You know, they've they've got some
names there too, Jerry Judy and David Nijoku and Cedric Tillman.
(15:37):
But man, you look at that quarterback room. I don't
want to have to rely on Dylan Gabriel or Kenny
Pickett or Shader Sanders to be making sure my guys
are getting points on a weekly basis.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
I love this Dave Football Guys dot Com and you
could follow Dave at dave Klogie da v E k
l Uge. He's a great follow. I'm gonna just segue
into something that I saw you talking about on Twitter.
Odell Beckham has announced his retirement. Just to segue, there's
been a lot of Odell Beckham slander. There's been a
(16:10):
lot of Odell Beckham was overrated. And I see you
put out a great tweet with some fact stats and receipts.
Can you just break down Odell Beckham and how he
will be remembered as a wide receiver outside of the
persona and the star power.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And the thing I think people who weren't around twenty fourteen,
twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, they're going to say that Odell
is overrated. And I think that, you know, a lot
of people might have started watching football over the last
few years and not really understand the hype they saw
the Cleveland years. It's one of those things. And I know, man,
you've been a football fan for a long time. You
were there in twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen. I
(16:45):
don't know if I've ever seen a player doing the
things that Odell Beckham was junior was doing. And what
I pulled was, you know players who have scored or
have averaged ninety five plus receiving yards per game over
their first three seasons. It's Odell Beckham and Justin Jefferson
the only two guys that do it in NFL history.
And it was just bad injury luck. This guy snapped
his ankle in half, he tore his ACL twice. He
had so many injuries that piled up and could never
(17:07):
come back from it. But man, I will die on
the hill that if he stayed healthy and he avoided
those injuries, he'd have been a first ballot Hall of Famer.
What he was doing those first three years I've never
seen anybody do before. He'd take a little five yard slant,
catch the ball off the middle, across the middle of
the field, and then just run away from eleven defenders.
There was nobody catching him. And it wasn't just the speed,
it was the contested catchability, it was the acrobatic plays.
(17:29):
A lot of people remember that one catch too, and
I've seen that, like, oh, this guy, his whole legacy
is just off a one catch.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Nah.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
What that guy did in the first three years of
his career, he looked like the best wide receiver I've
ever seen.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
I agree, I agree, And you know, obviously his glory
years were those those seasons with the Giants, and I
mean and also off the field. I was at a
party once, a preseason party. I can't remember if it
was a Jets or Giants or if it was a
charity thing. And this is at the height of Odell Beckham.
And I've been around celebrit these you know, movie stars,
(18:02):
and Odell Beckham the way people were just tripping and
following him is up there with some of the biggest
movie stars that I had ever seen. In his prime
especially in New York and it was like Michael Jackson
or something crazy like justin Bieber star Power. I want
to pivot also now to tight ends, which you were
also talking about on Twitter, the debate about tight ends,
(18:24):
the theories about tight ends, when to take tight ends
and years past, I have waited on the position til
later rounds. Sometimes it works, sometimes it hasn't worked. Where
is your head at on who to target this year
as a tight end and why and where?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
So we talked about some of the guys were faded
in the first round, and Rockauers isn't technically going in
the first round, but a lot of people are taking
him in the early second and I can't do it.
Like we see this time and time again, these rookie
tight ends come out and they look great, and then
they always have the sophomore slump. Kyle Pitts, you know
a thousand yards four years ago, did nothing in year
to Sam laporta number one scoring tight end his rookie season,
(19:03):
and then was a middling tight end one last year.
And then just last year with Rock Bauers, you know,
it was unbelievable. He had a really good season. But
now it's a new offense. They've got Ashton gin T there.
They drafted a handful of receivers as well. I don't
think he can recapture the magic, so I'm okay passing
on him. I do like Trey McBride and George Kittle.
Trey McBride, you got to pay up for him a
little bit. George Kittle, though, is the guy that I've
(19:24):
drafted more than anybody else. He's fallen into around four
and five of drafts right now. He was a tight
end one last year. Deebo Samuel got traded away. Brandon
Ayuk is injured. We don't know what's going on with
Christian McCaffrey. They say he's healthy. I'm not really buying
into it, but I think that George Kittle is one
of the best values out there. But I think if
you miss out on those two, Trey McBride and George Kittle,
the trap you don't want to fall into is these
(19:45):
mid round guys. You know, Samuel Porta, TJ. Howkinson. I'm
not crazy about those for the same reason I'm not
crazy about the mid round quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
I think you could just get value later.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
And this year we got two tight ends that came
in as rookies that were both drafted inside the top fifteen.
Colton Lovelin with the Bears, Tyler Warren with the Colts.
And if you look historically tight ends who have been
drafted inside the top fifteen, every single one of them
over the last twenty five years has been a top
six fantasy tight end at one point in their career.
The worst case scenario that you can think of is
(20:15):
Eric Ebron and Eric Ebron, you know, rough start to
his career, but he ended up having a thirteen touchdown
season at one point. I think both of these.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Players are better.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
So the best case scenario here is that you're getting
a guy that can do what Sam Laporta did his
rookie year and just be the number one scoring tight end.
But these are young, hyper athletic guys who can be
mismatches all over the field. So those are the guys
that I really like drafting. But then there's a few
other guys that you can get later to Tucker Craft,
I'm a big Tucker Craft fan. Jake Ferguson, you know,
going back to the Cowboys, I think they're going to
(20:44):
throw the ball a lot. And then there's this rookie
on the Jets Mason Taylor, and I'm always a big
fan of betting on NFL bloodlines. His dad obviously Hall
of Famer Jason Taylor. His uncle is Zach Martin, so
he's got an uncle and a dad who are both
going to be NFL Hall of Famers. And then you
look at the Jets this year. They don't have anybody
outside of Garrett Wilson. And I know a lot of
(21:05):
people are scared about justin Fields. You know what he
can do with this offense, But justin fields two years
ago and he was starting for the Bears, he turned
Cole Comet into a top ten tight end. So I
see Mason Taylor a similar player to Cole Comett. A
big guy, a really good athlete, a guy who could
make plays after the catch. Mason Taylor is a guy
you can get in the very last round of your draft,
and I think top five upside is easily within his
(21:26):
range of outcomes.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
This is fantasy football gold Dave. I love this stacking,
stacking stacking. You mentioned this earlier. Which position are you
stacking as much talent on? You know, I like to
say running back, but it feels like a wide receiver.
The wide receiver pool is deeper where you ad on
stacking receivers versus.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Running backs this season, so I think this year the
way ADP is shaken out. You get the elite receivers,
you know, Jamar Jason, Ceede Lamb are going in the
first round, and then, like I said, you get this
nice little pocket in rounds two and three where you
can get some really good running back value. And even
if you get into round four you can get Alvin
Kamara there. Sometimes James Cook falls in a round four.
(22:10):
So what I found myself doing a lot this year
is paying up for a receiver in round one. Then
even if you're picking at the end of round one,
I like Drake London there a lot. I think he's
a really good player. I like Nico Collins, I like Pukinakua.
So I like getting a round one wide receiver. And
then in rounds two, three, and sometimes in round four,
that's where I really find myself liking the running backs.
And then once you get back into rounds four, five, six, seven, eight,
(22:33):
these middle rounds, there is so much good wide receiver
value there. So you're probably familiar with the running back
dead zone, you know, you get these running backs that
aren't really that good, but people draft him because they say, hey,
you know, he might get a lot of touches. So
that's where that is, those rounds four, five, six, seven, eight.
So all of my league mates are taking running backs
in that range. That's where I see so many guys
(22:55):
with sky high ceilings, Ricky Piersoll, Jamison Williams, Stefan Diggs,
Xavier Worthy, Calvin Ridley, Cordon Sutton, a Mecca Buka, Matthew Golden.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
So I think that's.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Really like where I'm where I'm really hyper targeting one
position this year are in those mid rounds, rounds four
to eight. I want to get as many wide receivers
as I possibly can.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
You mentioned Pooka. What's the word on Stafford and the injury,
because obviously without Stafford, Pooka, you know, is you just
you just have to have a little bit more of
a question mark.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah, I get what you're saying, and I'm definitely a
little bit concerned about Matthew Stafford not playing. I think
if Matthew Stafford has to miss any time, I think
Devanta Adams is the one that takes a bigger hit
because DeVante Adams, he runs more downfield routes. He's a
guy who needs a good quarterback to get him the ball.
Pooka Takua, on the other hand, he isn't really doing that.
He's not running the routes twenty yards downfield. He runs
(24:03):
a lot of the screens and slants and little crossing routes.
And if you think back to what Jimmy Garoppolo did
when he was in San Francisco, he was able to
feed Deebo Samuel in a very similar role. Where Deebo
Samuel is getting these short little catches, creating plays after
the catch, That's exactly what Pouquinakua does. So I can
go on and on about this situation. I don't think
it like if Matthew Stafford, if his back really a
(24:25):
shot and he's not playing this year, I don't think
the Rams are going to go seventeen games with Jimmy Garoppolo.
My guess is that they would call up the Atlanta
Falcons and see if they can trade for Kirk Cousins
and bring him in. I don't think they want to
go into this season with Jimmy Garoppolo. But if it's
just a handful of games, you know, we know Stafford's
going to be back week three or week four or
something like that. I do have confidence in Jimmy Garoppolo
(24:47):
just dumping the ball off to Pukinakua and letting him
do what he does.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Okay, And as far as dumping the ball off, I
told you both of my leagues are PPR leagues. What
running backs that catch passes? Pass catching running backs do
you have your eyes on?
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Like?
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Who are a few of the names outside of the
obvious ones.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
I mean, Alvin Kamara is probably obvious at this point,
but he's still going in rounds four and five. For
whatever reason, people just aren't paying up for him. Last year,
before he got injured in PPR leagues, he was the
RB two. He was second in scoring last year, behind
only Saquon Barkley. But then what happened is he got
injured late in the season, and because he got injured,
people who drafted him lost their fantasy football matchups. And
(25:27):
I think it's this out of sight, out of buying thing,
like he didn't help people win trophies last year, so
now everybody has just written him off. But the reality
is he's still relatively young. You know the way that
he plays, he doesn't take on these big hits, he
doesn't get blown up in the backfield. He's getting out
in space, he's making big plays, he's racking up his
points as a pass catcher, and his efficiency hasn't diminished yet,
(25:47):
Like he still looks just as good as he did
two three years ago. So he's a guy that I'm
drafted really aggressively. Treyon Henderson is another guy. We know
that he was a good pass catcher at Ohio State.
I don't know if you watch the preseason game last
week weekend from the Patriots. His first touch was a
one hundred yard kickoff return, first sem he ever touched
the ball on an NFL field, And then he comes
out on offense catching passes NonStop. Just today in practice
(26:11):
he caught a seventy yard touchdown from Drake May. So
he's a rookie, and I think this is a deep
rookie class with Ashton gent and Omari and Hampton, and
because of that, Trevion Henderson is getting pushed down the
boards a little bit. I think if we didn't have
Ashton Genty and Omarion Hampton in this draft class, Travion
Henderson would probably be getting drafted in round two. But
people don't want to steam all of these rookies up,
(26:32):
so he makes for a really really good guy that
catches a ton of passes that you're gonna be able
to get in round five or six of your draft.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Dave, I want you to give me. I don't want
a sleeper. I want to beyond sleeper. Who is going
to be the guy by week four, week five, maybe
week six, week seven, who nobody's thinking about, nobody knows about,
who's going to change lives for the better. Give me
a few guys that are gonna change lives for the better.
(27:01):
And this is I'm not even gonna publish this part
of the podcast. This is like secret secret, top secret stuff.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
All right, Tory Horton, You probably don't even know the
guy's name. I mean, this is like a very very
deep poll. He played at Colorado State University last year.
Ended his season early because he went down with the
torn LCL and tore the hamstring off of his bone,
so had a brutal October injury that ended his season.
This dude came back in March for the NFL Combine
(27:27):
and ran a four to four to one just a
few months removed from tearing as lcl and he's a
player that I just love. And he came out of
a smaller school, so he didn't get a lot of
the buzz that you'd expect, but he went out and
smoked the combine. His athleticism is in the ninety seventh percentile.
And here we are. He got signed by the Seattle
Seahawks and in the first depth chart that came out,
(27:47):
he was already ahead of Marquez Waldes Scantling. And I
know that doesn't sound like a huge hurdle to clear,
but this is a day three wide receiver who has
already established himself as the wide receiver three on the team.
And now I'm gonna get I'm gonna know it out
for a second, so bear with me, please the better.
Clint Kubiak is the offensive coordinator for the Seahawks. Now,
this is his first year with the Seattle Seahawks. Last
(28:10):
year he was with the New Orleans Saints. Now there's
the X, Y and Z receiver. The X receiver last
year for the New Orleans Saints to start the year
was Rashid Shaheed. And if you remember, Rashid Shaheed was
red hot to start the year, ended up getting injured
now for the season, so they went out and they
traded for Marquezvaldez Scantling in the middle of the year.
Mark Hezvaldez Scantling is not a good player, but they
(28:32):
dropped him into that X receiver role. In his first
three weeks with the team, he had two hundred and
forty two yards and four touchdowns. So this X receiver
in Clint Kubiak's offense, it needs to be a fast
guy who can get behind defenses and rip off big plays.
So you look at the Seattle Seahawks right now. They've
obviously got Jackson Smith Njigba, and they've got Cooper Cup.
Both of those guys are slot receivers. We'll see Cooper
(28:53):
Cup move out to the Z occasionally. But Tory Horton
is a guy six foot two, tall and fast. He's
gonna play that X receiver role. So a guy that
nobody's talking about right now. His ADP is like two
hundred and eighty. You know, unless you're in a super
super deep league, you're not even thinking about him. But
he's a guy that I think by week two, Week three,
week four, people are gonna see him and start picking
(29:13):
him up. And he's a guy that I'm just willing
to draft in the last round of my draft, so
I don't have to worry about that bidding war.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
I love that, I love, love love that. I believe
in real football defense wins championships, and I believe in
fantasy football defense wins championships. Which defenses are you most
excited about or most fearful of for your teams to
face this season? And who would you want to be
(29:41):
your starting defense and how high do you normally go
on defenses?
Speaker 2 (29:46):
So this year, I really like the Philadelphia Eagles. And
you know, I'm not telling you anything that you don't
already know, but I'll reach for them a couple of
rounds early. A lot of people say, you know, save
your last round for the kicker and the round before
that for the defense. But I'll go maybe two three
rounds early to get the Eagles. First of all, this
is a team that knows how to manage the clock
on offense, so they're not gonna have the defense out
there a bunch. When they're on offense, they are slowly
(30:07):
marching down the field, they're bleeding in the clock, so
there aren't a lot of opportunities for teams to score
against them. They've also got one of the best defensive
fronts in the NFL, so they're going to generate a
lot of sacks. They're going to generate a lot of
turnovers as well. Those are two things that I want
are sacks, turnovers, and then of course if they're not
giving up a lot of points as well. So the
Eagles are the team that I find myself pretty happy
to pay up for.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
All Right, Dave, this is awesome. I appreciate this so much.
Let me ask you a question. How many leagues are
you in and what is your most competitive league?
Speaker 2 (30:40):
So, first of all, I do Best Ball and I
don't know if you do Best Ball drafts or not.
They're not like real fantasy football leagues. You pay money
and you draft a team, but then it automatically sets
your lineup every single week. So that's kind of where
I get my reps in. Like, that's where I do
a lot of practice, and I'll do about two hundred
of those, but there's no n season management on that.
I also do a lot on the NFFC, which is
(31:01):
a high stakes tournament website, So those buy ins for
those leagues are three hundred and fifty bucks. I'm gonna
do about ten of those this year. And what that
is it's a tournament where you're playing against a bunch
of other people with a grand prize at two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars. So I do a lot of
those tournaments. My biggest league that I'm in though, is
a fifteen hundred dollars buy in with nine of my buddies,
So we do that one. No prize for second place,
(31:23):
third place, most points or anything like that. It is
winner takes all, So that's a nice little pay to have.
Yet to win that one, but hoping that I can
take it down this year. But in total, when it
comes to like the amount of leagues that I have
to manage in season, first of all, remember this is
my job. You know, I don't have a day job
that I'm doing this on the side of. So I'm
in this year, it'll be about thirty five or forty
(31:44):
leagues that I'll be playing in.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Wow, that's crazy. But I have to imagine the one
with your friends for the money, and I'm sure all
your friends are serious fantasy football people. If they have
you in the league, I'm sure that's the one. There's
always the one league that it gets the hard rate
up a little bit more than the other ones because
of you just want to beat and stick it and
stuff it to the other guys.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
And that's the one that, like, I really care about
more than anything else. And as we got older, you know,
I put this lead together. This is year nineteen that
we're doing this now, and I go back home every
single day Labor Day, weekend and we draft in person.
This is all of my best friends in real life.
And you know, as we started getting older, we all
graduated college, started making some more money. We were up
in that buy in every single year. Then there was
(32:28):
one year where things got messy. You know, there was
a trade that some people didn't like, and it almost
like fractured the friendships. So we said, all right, guys,
we're going to drop the buy in down to fifty
bucks bragging rights, you know, a fifty dollars buy and
have a little skin in the game, but not too much.
But yeah, this is the one. Like we stand up
in each other's weddings for the godfathers to each other's children,
and we still get together for this draft every single year.
(32:48):
So yeah, that's the one that I care about most,
even if there is a lot of money in it.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
All right, well, I appreciate this fantasy football gold. I
appreciate you answering all my texts during the season. Trust
I will be hitting you up early, early in a
Sunday morning a frenzy. Follow Dave and the football guys
at football guys dot com and you can follow Dave
at Twitter at Dave Klugi and once again football Guys
(33:14):
dot com. I appreciate you taking the time. I know
it's a busy, busy, busy preseason in fantasy football. So again,
third time you're with me, and hopefully we're going to
bring the chip and the cash home in both my leagues.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Let's do it. Thanks for having me, Mike.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Thank you very much.
Boom, Have no Fear of the Iron. Rapports Stereo podcast
is here. Boom, Have No Fear of the Iron. Rap
Reports Stereo podcast is here. Fantasy Football Gold Platinum, Gold
Platinum Fantasy Football Episode. It's almost Christmas. It's the most
wonderful time of the year. Fantasy football is upon us.
Fantasy Football season twenty twenty five is almost here. Have
(00:33):
no fear. Once again, He's back, Dave Kleueley. This is
the third time Dave Kluegy is with me d A. D.
K l uge You could follow him on Twitter from
the Football Guys Football Guys dot Com. He's getting me ready.
He's getting you ready. He's getting the world ready to
kick ass in your fantasy football league. Drafts are coming up.
(00:57):
This is going to get you fired up, prepped and
ready to rock and roll. He's back the Football Guys
dot Com. My guy, Dave Klugy is with me on
the im Rapaport Stereo podcast. Miles jordani Ak, The Bleach
Brothers aka the Dust Brothers. Let's start this fantasy football
episode off with something real nice. Let's start this fantasy
(01:18):
football episode off with something real, loud, but most important.
Let's start this Fantasy Football episode off with something real proper.
This is the im Rap Report stereo podcast. Rev up
your Fantasy football and Jets. It's Don Boom Iron Rapport
(01:40):
Stereo podcast is here. It's the greatest time of the
year because fantasy football season, and I say fantasy football
season is starting up in a couple of weeks, and
the NFL is also starting but fantasy football, which is
more important to me, is starting up. And I know
(02:00):
it's more important to my guest, who is joining me
again for the third year in a row. This is
an annual preseason think tank with one of the best
in the business. I appreciate you taking the time. I
know it is a busy, busy, crazy time. Dave Klugy
of the Football Guys is in the place to be
(02:21):
in the House football Guys dot com and you can
follow him on Twitter at Dave klugi k l u
g E. He's hosting nine shows a week where he's
giving you all his inside Dave. I appreciate you coming
back again with me on the im Wrap Wort stereo podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Of course, man, like you said third time, like it
feels like I'm part of the inner circle now Like
now you know I'm a regular guest on the show.
I feel like I know the players that you like,
I know your tendencies, I know the drafts.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
That you're in.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I feel like every single year I could just start
giving you better and better advice. This is the year, man,
We're gonna do it. We're taking down the league this year.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Well, Dave, listen, you're a champion, and I'm sure let's
just look at it like two champions, two great fantasy
football minds meeting. Now. I'm not gonna say that I'm
anywhere near as great of a fantasy football mine as you,
but you could just look at me as sort of like,
you know, we're both fantasy football gurus. Okay, we could
just like it's just too great. But it's like Bill Parcells,
(03:17):
Bill Belichick sitting down having a little coffee doing a podcast.
That's exactly how I think of this.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Man. It's always a good time. And you know you
say that like fantasy football season is just starting, and
that's what's fun. Is like this is the time of
year where a lot of people are starting to plug
in and they're catching up on training camp and looking
at preseason stuff like that. Dude, I have been deep
in the weeds. Like my first set of rankings came
out the day after the Super Bowl. I'm studying for
the NFL Draft. We're looking through the combine in preseason
and all this it never stops. Man, Like the NFL
(03:44):
has turned into a three hundred and sixty five day
media machine. They are just things to talk about every
single day.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, it's crazy, the NFL and the NBA. But like
I said, we don't care about the NBA right now.
We care about fantasy football. And I'm going to tell
you I am in a must win mode in my
money league. Okay, I took a bath, and not a
warm bath, not a hot bath, an icy freezing cold
bath from September all the way through the end of December.
(04:13):
In my money league, I have to win now. I'm
gonna just start with my first, very very first personal question.
In my money league, it's a full pp R league.
I have the second pick in a twelve team league.
One quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight
and one flex, one kicker, and of course one defense.
(04:36):
Put yourself in my shoes, Dave, what would your plan
of attack be? Should I be looking for a horse
running back? Or a stud wide receiver with the second pick.
These are competitive, competitive fantasy football players. So I'm guessing
that Jamar Chase is going to be taken first, but
you never know. But Jamar Chase, Bijean Gibbs, CD Jefferson,
(04:58):
in no particular order, Who do you think and what
would you do with the second pick in this very
competitive money league?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
So I'm going Ceedee Lamb. And you know, I've done
about one hundred and fifty drafts already this offseason, and
I'm taking Ceedee Lamb at second overall. And the reason
for it is I think there are so many good
running backs this year, and of course John Robinson, Saguon Barkley,
Jamiir Gibbs, those guys are great, but you could still
get some really good running back value with those second
and third picks. Chase Brown is hanging out there a
(05:27):
lot of the times. You can get James Cook there,
this rookie o'mari and Hampton the first rounder from the Chargers,
he's there as well. And when I look at Ceedee Lamb,
you know, fantasy football managers they got short memories, right,
and like right now, it's like Jamar Chase is going
number one overall because he was the number one wide
receiver last year. What about two years ago when Ceedee
Lamb was the number one overall wide receiver And the
(05:47):
only thing that happened last year the change was that
Dak Prescott was injured. So now Dak Prescott's back from
that hamstring injury, we see Ceede Lamb is just a
year removed away from being the number one overall scorer
in fantasy football. So I know, you know the old
adage in fantasy football is you want to get your
workhorse running backs early. But I think that, especially in
a full PPR league, Jamar Chase and Ceedee Lamb. Now
(06:09):
that Justin Jefferson is dealing with this hamstring injury, we
don't know if that's going to linger into the season
or not. I've got Jamar Chase and Ceedee Lamb and
a tier of their own ahead of all of those
running backs, and a lot of it just comes down
to the fact that you can get really good running
backs with your second and third picks, and you're not
getting a player anywhere close to Ceedee Lamb's caliber with
those picks.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Wow, Dave, I'm gonna be honest, I love this I
love this. I was thinking, you know, for myself, Bijon,
I was thinking running back. But this is why I
came to you, and this is why I came to
you early. And I love my motto in fantasy footballs
know your guys and get your guys, know who you
want and know who you don't want. I love that answer.
(06:49):
I respect that answer. I love this. These teams in
fantasy football, the offense is the Bengals, the Falcons, the Lions,
the Cowboys, the Vikings. These are the guys on the
first five picks. I'm imagining Chase Bejeon, Gibbs, CD, and
Jefferson respectfully. What do you think about those teams just
as offensive powers in fantasy football?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, I mean that's what you want, and that's why
you're really going to see a guy going in like
the top half of a draft that's not a bad offense.
Every once in a while we'll see the outlier here
and there, but you definitely want to invest in good offenses.
And a lot of times what I like doing too,
is like, if you're making that early pick in ceedee Lamb,
at that point, you've already kind of taken a stance
saying that Ceede Lamb is going to be good and
the Dallas Cowboys are going to be good. So then
(07:34):
what I try to do is when I get into
like the tenth round, is get Dak Prescott as well,
because that I'm just doubling my chances. And what happens,
you know, we call that stacking. I'm sure you've heard
of the term stacking where you get the quarterback and
the wide receiver together and basically what that does is
it decreases your variance. You're investing two of your picks,
two guys that you're going to be starting every single
week on the same offense. So with that, you know
(07:55):
comes potential downside. You know, if Dak Prescott gets hurt,
you're screwed. Or if the the Dallas Cowboys just end
up being a terrible team, you're not gonna feel great
about it. But if Dak Prescott throws for five thousand
yards and Ceedee Lamb is fifteen hundred yards, you know
you've got two pieces of a good offense there, and
it helps you stay away from kind of be in
that middle of the pack guy, Like that's how you
finish in first place. So the Cowboys, I think they're
(08:16):
gonna be a good team. They finally got Mike McCarthy
out of the picture. Brian Schottenheimer. I like what he's
doing there. They've got George Pickens. Now, this is the
first time that we've really seen like a good wide
receiver two alongside Ceedee Lamb. And then you look at
the backfield as well. It's terrible. Man like Javonte Williams
is already banged up. Miles Sanders looks like dust at
this point in his career. They've got this rookie Jaden
(08:37):
Blue or there's a little bit of excitement about him.
But when I look at the roster, they're just gonna
be throwing the ball NonStop. And I think Ceedee Lamb
is the guy that can easily walk into a roll
where he's seeing one hundred and eighty plus targets.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Man, Dave, you're blowing my mind. I love this so much.
I love this so much. Last year there were land
mines in the first round. I texted you a few
times on Sunday more in just distress. Last year a
landmines in the first round. We're talking about Breese Hall,
the wrecking ball. We're talking about Tyreek Hill, who I
(09:11):
don't even want to discuss Tyreek Hill. I'm not picking
him in any of my leagues. I don't know who
the backup quarterback for Tua is and I don't. I
wish him nothing but the best with his health. But
who do you see as land mines? You know this
year in the you know, the top ten, top twenty thirty,
that are you concerned about that? You would kind of
(09:32):
like red flag already.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
So I'm, you know, a self proclaimed nerd, and all
the nerds are saying Saquon Barkley because they're like, oh,
look at how many touches he had last year, He's
gonna break down, he can't do it again. I'm not
buying into that. I think Saquon Martley is an outlier.
I mean, this guy is just a freak. I think
he's gonna be fine. I think we might see them
intentionally reel back his workload a little bit so he's
one hundred percent fresh in the playoffs. But Saquon Barkley
is the answer most people expect. That's not who I'm
(09:55):
going with. A Monra Saint Brown is the guy that
I have not drafted once so far this year, and
I think he's a very, very good player. But we've
got a lot of changes happening in Detroit this year,
mainly Ben Johnson now coaching the Chicago Bears instead of
being the offensive coordinator. And if you look every Ben
Johnson offense throughout his career, you can go back to
the Brian Hartline days. Like Brian Hartline, Jarvis Landry, Danny Amandola.
(10:19):
He has always focused his offense around the slot receiver
and that's why Minor Saint Brown has been so good
over the last couple of years. Now with Ben Johnson
out of the picture, I look at Jamison Williams there,
I look at Sam Laporta, Jamir Gibbs, David Montgomery. They
have so many good weapons on that offense. I don't
think the offense is going to flow through a minor
Saint Brown. And he's not a really efficient player. He's
(10:40):
a player who has always made up for his production
by getting a lot of volume. So if you just
shave a little bit of that volume off the top,
that's the difference between being a top five receiver and
being a top fifteen receiver. So people are still paying
up with him for a first round pick. I am
passing on a monro Saint Brown and I will much
rather draft Jamison Williams late, who is a very efficient play.
You just push a few more targets his way and
(11:02):
he's got an easy path to be in the top
ten wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Dave, you're getting me so ready for fantasy football. I
don't even think you understand how much I appreciate this man.
It just takes it like out of the cannon. Let's
shift to quarterbacks. Okay, what camp are you in this
season for quarterbacks? What kind of quarterback are you looking for?
Where are you looking to draft quarterbacks? I know you
(11:25):
gotta let the draft come to you, but just in general,
where are you at with quarterback and where you're at?
What round are you looking for quarterbacks? And is there
anybody you'd go for early?
Speaker 2 (11:35):
No, there's no quarterbacks I'm paying up for this year,
like I'm gonna wait and wait and wait and wait.
I mean a lot of the drafts that I do
this year, I'm drafting three or four guys on my bench,
like extra running backs and wide receivers at in depth
to those rooms before I'm even looking at the quarterbacks.
And you know, Josh Allen Lamar Jackson, Jade and Daniels.
These guys are great, but to get them this year,
(11:55):
you got to pay up for them with like a
third round pick. And then the third round you're passing
on guys like Abarrie and Hampon and Trevon Henderson. You know,
rookies that can win your league for you. You're passing up
on these wide receivers they can give you twenty five
points per game. So this year we've seen a big
change in the quarterback landscape. You know, last year's draft
class was loaded with all these guys that came in,
JJ McCarthy, Drake may Jaden Daniels, Caleb Williams, and now
(12:17):
we got Michael Pennox finally starting this year. So you've
got a lot of young guys that you can target late. Now.
The tough thing here is like, I don't know who
the guy is gonna be. But every single year there's
guys that pop up that went undrafted that end up
being league winners. Last year we saw Baker Mayfield be
a top three guy. We saw Jared Goff be a
top eight guy. So this year, I don't want to
pay up for the early guys and then a lot
(12:38):
of other people fall into the trap where they're like,
all right, I got my two running backs, I got
my two wide receivers, now I need to take a quarterback.
And that's how you see guys like Jared Goff and
Baker Mayfield who were good last year, but now they're
getting pushed up in drafts this year. And I don't
want anything to do with that. I'm just gonna wait,
and I find myself drafting a lot in that Dak Prescott,
Justin Herbert, Caleb Williams, Drake May, Trevor, Lawrence Range, and again,
(13:02):
I don't know who the guy is going to be,
and the guy that I draft might just be a
placeholder for a few weeks. If you're going to take
this approach, what you need to do is be active
on the waiver wire. Drake may for instance, might not
go drafted in a lot of drafts, but last year
he was sixth among all quarterbacks in rushing yards per game.
So that's a guy I want to draft late in
my round in my draft, knowing that he could be
that breakout guy.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
But it might not be him.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
It might be cam Ward who's not going to go
drafted in a lot of leagues who knows he might
be better than we expect. You pick him up off
of waivers. Bryce Young last year, of the final four
weeks of the season, was the number one scoring quarterback
in fantasy. Maybe now that he's got a good wide
receiver in Ted Roe McMillan, he takes that step forward.
So it's hard for me to plant a flag on
one guy saying this is going to be the breakout quarterback.
(13:45):
But I think that it just makes sense to pass
on all of the early quarterbacks and throw darts at
Jordan Love and JJ McCarthy and these young guys that
have potentially untapped upside.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
You mentioned teams that you think are gonna thrive offensively.
Last year I drafted DJ Moore and obviously Chicago, which
you are very familiar with, they struggled offensively. What teams
this year are you concerned about, just in terms of
Fantasy football and offense and putting up points across the board.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
The Dolphins, man, I just think they're one of the
softest teams in the NFL. And again, you know, you
just talked about Chicago. I don't know if you saw,
but they're Chicago and Miami. They were doing a joint
practice together a week ago, and they had to call
the practice off early because they said that Chicago was
being too physical. And then they play against each other
in the preseason game, stuff them four times in a
row at the goal line. I mean, I think Mike Daniels,
(14:51):
Mike McDaniels is on the hot seat. I don't think
he's gonna make it through the end of this season.
Just the way that they are playing football right now.
They are not a physical team. And now these guys,
guys that have relied on their speed are getting a
little bit older and they don't have that same speed anymore.
To a tugabay Looa. You could tell by the play
calling they're terrified about him taking a hit. They don't
want to see him on his back at all. So
they're throwing these little dinkin dung two three yard passes,
(15:13):
trying to get the ball out of his hand as
quickly as possible. That offense has a lot of names
that we know, Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle. Darren Waller
is there now, which I think a lot of people
don't even realize. Devon a Chan and I get it.
You know, there's a lot of big, flashy names there.
But that is one of those offenses I'm completely overlooking.
Then the other one that I think is kind of
obvious is the Browns. You know, they've they've got some
names there too, Jerry Judy and David Nijoku and Cedric Tillman.
(15:37):
But man, you look at that quarterback room. I don't
want to have to rely on Dylan Gabriel or Kenny
Pickett or Shader Sanders to be making sure my guys
are getting points on a weekly basis.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
I love this Dave Football Guys dot Com and you
could follow Dave at dave Klogie da v E k
l Uge. He's a great follow. I'm gonna just segue
into something that I saw you talking about on Twitter.
Odell Beckham has announced his retirement. Just to segue, there's
been a lot of Odell Beckham slander. There's been a
(16:10):
lot of Odell Beckham was overrated. And I see you
put out a great tweet with some fact stats and receipts.
Can you just break down Odell Beckham and how he
will be remembered as a wide receiver outside of the
persona and the star power.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And the thing I think people who weren't around twenty fourteen,
twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, they're going to say that Odell
is overrated. And I think that, you know, a lot
of people might have started watching football over the last
few years and not really understand the hype they saw
the Cleveland years. It's one of those things. And I know, man,
you've been a football fan for a long time. You
were there in twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen. I
(16:45):
don't know if I've ever seen a player doing the
things that Odell Beckham was junior was doing. And what
I pulled was, you know players who have scored or
have averaged ninety five plus receiving yards per game over
their first three seasons. It's Odell Beckham and Justin Jefferson
the only two guys that do it in NFL history.
And it was just bad injury luck. This guy snapped
his ankle in half, he tore his ACL twice. He
had so many injuries that piled up and could never
(17:07):
come back from it. But man, I will die on
the hill that if he stayed healthy and he avoided
those injuries, he'd have been a first ballot Hall of Famer.
What he was doing those first three years I've never
seen anybody do before. He'd take a little five yard slant,
catch the ball off the middle, across the middle of
the field, and then just run away from eleven defenders.
There was nobody catching him. And it wasn't just the speed,
it was the contested catchability, it was the acrobatic plays.
(17:29):
A lot of people remember that one catch too, and
I've seen that, like, oh, this guy, his whole legacy
is just off a one catch.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Nah.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
What that guy did in the first three years of
his career, he looked like the best wide receiver I've
ever seen.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
I agree, I agree, And you know, obviously his glory
years were those those seasons with the Giants, and I
mean and also off the field. I was at a
party once, a preseason party. I can't remember if it
was a Jets or Giants or if it was a
charity thing. And this is at the height of Odell Beckham.
And I've been around celebrit these you know, movie stars,
(18:02):
and Odell Beckham the way people were just tripping and
following him is up there with some of the biggest
movie stars that I had ever seen. In his prime
especially in New York and it was like Michael Jackson
or something crazy like justin Bieber star Power. I want
to pivot also now to tight ends, which you were
also talking about on Twitter, the debate about tight ends,
(18:24):
the theories about tight ends, when to take tight ends
and years past, I have waited on the position til
later rounds. Sometimes it works, sometimes it hasn't worked. Where
is your head at on who to target this year
as a tight end and why and where?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
So we talked about some of the guys were faded
in the first round, and Rockauers isn't technically going in
the first round, but a lot of people are taking
him in the early second and I can't do it.
Like we see this time and time again, these rookie
tight ends come out and they look great, and then
they always have the sophomore slump. Kyle Pitts, you know
a thousand yards four years ago, did nothing in year
to Sam laporta number one scoring tight end his rookie season,
(19:03):
and then was a middling tight end one last year.
And then just last year with Rock Bauers, you know,
it was unbelievable. He had a really good season. But
now it's a new offense. They've got Ashton gin T there.
They drafted a handful of receivers as well. I don't
think he can recapture the magic, so I'm okay passing
on him. I do like Trey McBride and George Kittle.
Trey McBride, you got to pay up for him a
little bit. George Kittle, though, is the guy that I've
(19:24):
drafted more than anybody else. He's fallen into around four
and five of drafts right now. He was a tight
end one last year. Deebo Samuel got traded away. Brandon
Ayuk is injured. We don't know what's going on with
Christian McCaffrey. They say he's healthy. I'm not really buying
into it, but I think that George Kittle is one
of the best values out there. But I think if
you miss out on those two, Trey McBride and George Kittle,
the trap you don't want to fall into is these
(19:45):
mid round guys. You know, Samuel Porta, TJ. Howkinson. I'm
not crazy about those for the same reason I'm not
crazy about the mid round quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
I think you could just get value later.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
And this year we got two tight ends that came
in as rookies that were both drafted inside the top fifteen.
Colton Lovelin with the Bears, Tyler Warren with the Colts.
And if you look historically tight ends who have been
drafted inside the top fifteen, every single one of them
over the last twenty five years has been a top
six fantasy tight end at one point in their career.
The worst case scenario that you can think of is
(20:15):
Eric Ebron and Eric Ebron, you know, rough start to
his career, but he ended up having a thirteen touchdown
season at one point. I think both of these.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Players are better.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
So the best case scenario here is that you're getting
a guy that can do what Sam Laporta did his
rookie year and just be the number one scoring tight end.
But these are young, hyper athletic guys who can be
mismatches all over the field. So those are the guys
that I really like drafting. But then there's a few
other guys that you can get later to Tucker Craft,
I'm a big Tucker Craft fan. Jake Ferguson, you know,
going back to the Cowboys, I think they're going to
(20:44):
throw the ball a lot. And then there's this rookie
on the Jets Mason Taylor, and I'm always a big
fan of betting on NFL bloodlines. His dad obviously Hall
of Famer Jason Taylor. His uncle is Zach Martin, so
he's got an uncle and a dad who are both
going to be NFL Hall of Famers. And then you
look at the Jets this year. They don't have anybody
outside of Garrett Wilson. And I know a lot of
(21:05):
people are scared about justin Fields. You know what he
can do with this offense, But justin fields two years
ago and he was starting for the Bears, he turned
Cole Comet into a top ten tight end. So I
see Mason Taylor a similar player to Cole Comett. A
big guy, a really good athlete, a guy who could
make plays after the catch. Mason Taylor is a guy
you can get in the very last round of your draft,
and I think top five upside is easily within his
(21:26):
range of outcomes.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
This is fantasy football gold Dave. I love this stacking,
stacking stacking. You mentioned this earlier. Which position are you
stacking as much talent on? You know, I like to
say running back, but it feels like a wide receiver.
The wide receiver pool is deeper where you ad on
stacking receivers versus.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Running backs this season, so I think this year the
way ADP is shaken out. You get the elite receivers,
you know, Jamar Jason, Ceede Lamb are going in the
first round, and then, like I said, you get this
nice little pocket in rounds two and three where you
can get some really good running back value. And even
if you get into round four you can get Alvin
Kamara there. Sometimes James Cook falls in a round four.
(22:10):
So what I found myself doing a lot this year
is paying up for a receiver in round one. Then
even if you're picking at the end of round one,
I like Drake London there a lot. I think he's
a really good player. I like Nico Collins, I like Pukinakua.
So I like getting a round one wide receiver. And
then in rounds two, three, and sometimes in round four,
that's where I really find myself liking the running backs.
And then once you get back into rounds four, five, six, seven, eight,
(22:33):
these middle rounds, there is so much good wide receiver
value there. So you're probably familiar with the running back
dead zone, you know, you get these running backs that
aren't really that good, but people draft him because they say, hey,
you know, he might get a lot of touches. So
that's where that is, those rounds four, five, six, seven, eight.
So all of my league mates are taking running backs
in that range. That's where I see so many guys
(22:55):
with sky high ceilings, Ricky Piersoll, Jamison Williams, Stefan Diggs,
Xavier Worthy, Calvin Ridley, Cordon Sutton, a Mecca Buka, Matthew Golden.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
So I think that's.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Really like where I'm where I'm really hyper targeting one
position this year are in those mid rounds, rounds four
to eight. I want to get as many wide receivers
as I possibly can.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
You mentioned Pooka. What's the word on Stafford and the injury,
because obviously without Stafford, Pooka, you know, is you just
you just have to have a little bit more of
a question mark.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah, I get what you're saying, and I'm definitely a
little bit concerned about Matthew Stafford not playing. I think
if Matthew Stafford has to miss any time, I think
Devanta Adams is the one that takes a bigger hit
because DeVante Adams, he runs more downfield routes. He's a
guy who needs a good quarterback to get him the ball.
Pooka Takua, on the other hand, he isn't really doing that.
He's not running the routes twenty yards downfield. He runs
(24:03):
a lot of the screens and slants and little crossing routes.
And if you think back to what Jimmy Garoppolo did
when he was in San Francisco, he was able to
feed Deebo Samuel in a very similar role. Where Deebo
Samuel is getting these short little catches, creating plays after
the catch, That's exactly what Pouquinakua does. So I can
go on and on about this situation. I don't think
it like if Matthew Stafford, if his back really a
(24:25):
shot and he's not playing this year, I don't think
the Rams are going to go seventeen games with Jimmy Garoppolo.
My guess is that they would call up the Atlanta
Falcons and see if they can trade for Kirk Cousins
and bring him in. I don't think they want to
go into this season with Jimmy Garoppolo. But if it's
just a handful of games, you know, we know Stafford's
going to be back week three or week four or
something like that. I do have confidence in Jimmy Garoppolo
(24:47):
just dumping the ball off to Pukinakua and letting him
do what he does.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Okay, And as far as dumping the ball off, I
told you both of my leagues are PPR leagues. What
running backs that catch passes? Pass catching running backs do
you have your eyes on?
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Like?
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Who are a few of the names outside of the
obvious ones.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
I mean, Alvin Kamara is probably obvious at this point,
but he's still going in rounds four and five. For
whatever reason, people just aren't paying up for him. Last year,
before he got injured in PPR leagues, he was the
RB two. He was second in scoring last year, behind
only Saquon Barkley. But then what happened is he got
injured late in the season, and because he got injured,
people who drafted him lost their fantasy football matchups. And
(25:27):
I think it's this out of sight, out of buying thing,
like he didn't help people win trophies last year, so
now everybody has just written him off. But the reality
is he's still relatively young. You know the way that
he plays, he doesn't take on these big hits, he
doesn't get blown up in the backfield. He's getting out
in space, he's making big plays, he's racking up his
points as a pass catcher, and his efficiency hasn't diminished yet,
(25:47):
Like he still looks just as good as he did
two three years ago. So he's a guy that I'm
drafted really aggressively. Treyon Henderson is another guy. We know
that he was a good pass catcher at Ohio State.
I don't know if you watch the preseason game last
week weekend from the Patriots. His first touch was a
one hundred yard kickoff return, first sem he ever touched
the ball on an NFL field, And then he comes
out on offense catching passes NonStop. Just today in practice
(26:11):
he caught a seventy yard touchdown from Drake May. So
he's a rookie, and I think this is a deep
rookie class with Ashton gent and Omari and Hampton, and
because of that, Trevion Henderson is getting pushed down the
boards a little bit. I think if we didn't have
Ashton Genty and Omarion Hampton in this draft class, Travion
Henderson would probably be getting drafted in round two. But
people don't want to steam all of these rookies up,
(26:32):
so he makes for a really really good guy that
catches a ton of passes that you're gonna be able
to get in round five or six of your draft.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Dave, I want you to give me. I don't want
a sleeper. I want to beyond sleeper. Who is going
to be the guy by week four, week five, maybe
week six, week seven, who nobody's thinking about, nobody knows about,
who's going to change lives for the better. Give me
a few guys that are gonna change lives for the better.
(27:01):
And this is I'm not even gonna publish this part
of the podcast. This is like secret secret, top secret stuff.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
All right, Tory Horton, You probably don't even know the
guy's name. I mean, this is like a very very
deep poll. He played at Colorado State University last year.
Ended his season early because he went down with the
torn LCL and tore the hamstring off of his bone,
so had a brutal October injury that ended his season.
This dude came back in March for the NFL Combine
(27:27):
and ran a four to four to one just a
few months removed from tearing as lcl and he's a
player that I just love. And he came out of
a smaller school, so he didn't get a lot of
the buzz that you'd expect, but he went out and
smoked the combine. His athleticism is in the ninety seventh percentile.
And here we are. He got signed by the Seattle
Seahawks and in the first depth chart that came out,
(27:47):
he was already ahead of Marquez Waldes Scantling. And I
know that doesn't sound like a huge hurdle to clear,
but this is a day three wide receiver who has
already established himself as the wide receiver three on the team.
And now I'm gonna get I'm gonna know it out
for a second, so bear with me, please the better.
Clint Kubiak is the offensive coordinator for the Seahawks. Now,
this is his first year with the Seattle Seahawks. Last
(28:10):
year he was with the New Orleans Saints. Now there's
the X, Y and Z receiver. The X receiver last
year for the New Orleans Saints to start the year
was Rashid Shaheed. And if you remember, Rashid Shaheed was
red hot to start the year, ended up getting injured
now for the season, so they went out and they
traded for Marquezvaldez Scantling in the middle of the year.
Mark Hezvaldez Scantling is not a good player, but they
(28:32):
dropped him into that X receiver role. In his first
three weeks with the team, he had two hundred and
forty two yards and four touchdowns. So this X receiver
in Clint Kubiak's offense, it needs to be a fast
guy who can get behind defenses and rip off big plays.
So you look at the Seattle Seahawks right now. They've
obviously got Jackson Smith Njigba, and they've got Cooper Cup.
Both of those guys are slot receivers. We'll see Cooper
(28:53):
Cup move out to the Z occasionally. But Tory Horton
is a guy six foot two, tall and fast. He's
gonna play that X receiver role. So a guy that
nobody's talking about right now. His ADP is like two
hundred and eighty. You know, unless you're in a super
super deep league, you're not even thinking about him. But
he's a guy that I think by week two, Week three,
week four, people are gonna see him and start picking
(29:13):
him up. And he's a guy that I'm just willing
to draft in the last round of my draft, so
I don't have to worry about that bidding war.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
I love that, I love, love love that. I believe
in real football defense wins championships, and I believe in
fantasy football defense wins championships. Which defenses are you most
excited about or most fearful of for your teams to
face this season? And who would you want to be
(29:41):
your starting defense and how high do you normally go
on defenses?
Speaker 2 (29:46):
So this year, I really like the Philadelphia Eagles. And
you know, I'm not telling you anything that you don't
already know, but I'll reach for them a couple of
rounds early. A lot of people say, you know, save
your last round for the kicker and the round before
that for the defense. But I'll go maybe two three
rounds early to get the Eagles. First of all, this
is a team that knows how to manage the clock
on offense, so they're not gonna have the defense out
there a bunch. When they're on offense, they are slowly
(30:07):
marching down the field, they're bleeding in the clock, so
there aren't a lot of opportunities for teams to score
against them. They've also got one of the best defensive
fronts in the NFL, so they're going to generate a
lot of sacks. They're going to generate a lot of
turnovers as well. Those are two things that I want
are sacks, turnovers, and then of course if they're not
giving up a lot of points as well. So the
Eagles are the team that I find myself pretty happy
to pay up for.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
All Right, Dave, this is awesome. I appreciate this so much.
Let me ask you a question. How many leagues are
you in and what is your most competitive league?
Speaker 2 (30:40):
So, first of all, I do Best Ball and I
don't know if you do Best Ball drafts or not.
They're not like real fantasy football leagues. You pay money
and you draft a team, but then it automatically sets
your lineup every single week. So that's kind of where
I get my reps in. Like, that's where I do
a lot of practice, and I'll do about two hundred
of those, but there's no n season management on that.
I also do a lot on the NFFC, which is
(31:01):
a high stakes tournament website, So those buy ins for
those leagues are three hundred and fifty bucks. I'm gonna
do about ten of those this year. And what that
is it's a tournament where you're playing against a bunch
of other people with a grand prize at two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars. So I do a lot of
those tournaments. My biggest league that I'm in though, is
a fifteen hundred dollars buy in with nine of my buddies,
So we do that one. No prize for second place,
(31:23):
third place, most points or anything like that. It is
winner takes all, So that's a nice little pay to have.
Yet to win that one, but hoping that I can
take it down this year. But in total, when it
comes to like the amount of leagues that I have
to manage in season, first of all, remember this is
my job. You know, I don't have a day job
that I'm doing this on the side of. So I'm
in this year, it'll be about thirty five or forty
(31:44):
leagues that I'll be playing in.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Wow, that's crazy. But I have to imagine the one
with your friends for the money, and I'm sure all
your friends are serious fantasy football people. If they have
you in the league, I'm sure that's the one. There's
always the one league that it gets the hard rate
up a little bit more than the other ones because
of you just want to beat and stick it and
stuff it to the other guys.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
And that's the one that, like, I really care about
more than anything else. And as we got older, you know,
I put this lead together. This is year nineteen that
we're doing this now, and I go back home every
single day Labor Day, weekend and we draft in person.
This is all of my best friends in real life.
And you know, as we started getting older, we all
graduated college, started making some more money. We were up
in that buy in every single year. Then there was
(32:28):
one year where things got messy. You know, there was
a trade that some people didn't like, and it almost
like fractured the friendships. So we said, all right, guys,
we're going to drop the buy in down to fifty
bucks bragging rights, you know, a fifty dollars buy and
have a little skin in the game, but not too much.
But yeah, this is the one. Like we stand up
in each other's weddings for the godfathers to each other's children,
and we still get together for this draft every single year.
(32:48):
So yeah, that's the one that I care about most,
even if there is a lot of money in it.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
All right, well, I appreciate this fantasy football gold. I
appreciate you answering all my texts during the season. Trust
I will be hitting you up early, early in a
Sunday morning a frenzy. Follow Dave and the football guys
at football guys dot com and you can follow Dave
at Twitter at Dave Klugi and once again football Guys
(33:14):
dot com. I appreciate you taking the time. I know
it's a busy, busy, busy preseason in fantasy football. So again,
third time you're with me, and hopefully we're going to
bring the chip and the cash home in both my leagues.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Let's do it. Thanks for having me, Mike.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Thank you very much.
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