Gregg Rosenthal gets you ready for you Fantasy Football draft weekend with the help of Trevor Sikkema and The Fantasy Footballers. First, Gregg and Trevor discuss some of the strategies around drafting a quarterback. How early do you take Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson? Who is at the top of the QB2 tiers? Also, Gregg and Trevor tell you which tight ends they feel safest with headed into the season. After the break, Gregg is joined by Mike and Jason from the Fantasy Footballers to talk about the top of the draft board when they give you their first round mock draft.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to NFL Daily, where it's never too early to
take Michael Wilson. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm here in the
Chris Wessling podcast studio talking to my friend, my new friend,
my new coworker for sure, and the new host of
the new fantasy show. on NFL Channel, and wherever you
get your podcasts. It's Trevor Sykema. You're back for the
(00:26):
third time this month, but the first time as an
official member of the NFL family. Thank you, Trevor.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, there was a little pump fake because we thought
that the second show that we were going to do
was going to be my first show as an announced employee. But,
you know, we got here eventually, so it's good to
be on with you. And it's great to be teammates
with you, buddy. I'm very much looking forward to getting
to work with you a lot this year.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
But also competitors because we drafted... in the same fantasy
league and you sniped Michael Wilson from me. And I
have to admit that was one of the moments of
the draft was like, wait, how did I not even
see that? I would have taken him around or two before.
So I'm very angry about that, but Trevor's on because
it's an, it's going to be our last fantasy preview
(01:10):
show of the year. And like I mentioned, you know,
I'm for the NFL draft and he's got to be
hosting the the new show NFL Pro with Brett Coleman
and check that out on NFL Channel and they're going
to be diving deep. But I like talking fantasy with
people that just know ball and it's a conversation we're
(01:31):
going to have about quarterbacks, about tight ends, and then
some late round guys because that's what we didn't really
hit too much on our first fantasy show. And Michael
Wilson is one of those late round guys. How is
Michael Wilson a late round guy? I might as well
start there.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I don't really understand because... Michael Wilson finished wide receiver
10 last year in total fantasy points.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
That's crazy.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Greg, he's like average draft position is somewhere between 39
and 45 in all the places that I look. Like, okay,
if you think that, all right, the quarterback position, not
great at first year with Michael.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Flores as the head coach there.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Uh, they're hopefully not going to have to pass as
much in the third and fourth quarters that they did
last year. Like I get all of that stuff. There's
no way he should be wide receiver 40. There's just
no way. So yeah, I feel like every single draft
that I've done. I feel like 75 percent of the
leagues that I'm in, I have Michael Wilson just because
we get to round eight and I go, OK, yeah,
(02:34):
I'd much rather take him a little bit lower if
I scroll down a little bit than some of the
guys that are here.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So to me, he's just I mean, oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Sometimes you look at players and you think that it's
a like it's only an opportunity thing. Michael Wilson is
also talented. Like he's also an extremely hard worker. Like
you see that in who, like how he runs his routes,
how he is at the catch point, like all of
this stuff. I have faith in the player just as
much as I have faith in sort of the opportunities
that I think are going to be there for him.
So yes, you're not the only one to get sniped
(03:05):
by me on Michael Wilson. So at least you're, at
least you, you have a community behind you as well.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
It was one of those things where he was too
far down the line. I was like, Oh wait, I
would have, Yeah, to me, I could see taking him
in the fifth and sixth round. It's not that crazy
to me. To me, there's like in terms of the
full skill set, he gives me a little bit Nico
Collins vibes and just that whatever you think he can do,
he can do more than that. And the Ascension is
going to continue. And I think there'll be plenty of
passing yards to go around there for him and Marvin Harrison.
(03:31):
But if I had to choose one of the two,
I'd go Marvin Harrison. I got sidetracked with the late
round flyers. We're going to end the show that way.
That's our little tease or your part of the show.
We also have the fantasy footballers, one of the biggest.
fantasy football podcasts, uh, in the world, uh, who are
going to wrap up the show with me. And we're
going to do a speed mock draft just for the
(03:51):
top of the drafts. But Trevor, I wanted to get
to the quarterback position to start with you. Cause we
haven't hit that for fantasy. And it's interesting. After a
few years where quarterbacks were routinely getting taken higher, less
of that this year, it's Josh Allen and a decent
gap to Lamar, like Allen's second Lamar's. third are you
(04:15):
even interested in those two at those prices and kind
of how do you look at the the two big
dogs this.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Year honestly obviously like if you pick them they're going
to be there for you to produce the points but
i i i sort of approach fantasy football is like
everything kind of has its cost for you know if
you're picking this position here sort of where's the cost
versus you know how much points you might be losing
if you're waiting on a certain position right like that's
(04:42):
how i always I feel like I'm viewing fantasy drafts
and fantasy strategies. And so to me, if you're taking
one of Josh Allen really high or Lamar Jackson after that, you're,
in my opinion, passing up on running backs that are...
really really valuable this year because there's just not a
lot of backs that you draft and you just go
like yeah i feel totally good about this guy we're
(05:03):
going to be good to go basically the entire season
running back feels like it drops off pretty quickly this
year and so to me i wouldn't be picking those
guys not because i don't think they're going to deliver
from a fancy perspective i do but you know it's
always like would you rather have josh allen and this
running back or you know like derrick henry like whoever
i'm just like throwing out a chances are you probably
(05:26):
rather take the top running back because i think the
gap between one of those top running backs versus who
else you'd be able to get later is a lot
bigger so i think those again like i think they'll
produce for you those players you just have to then
get really lucky with how the rest of the draft
unfolds and anytime you're dealing with something that you can't
control if you gotta wait a long time before your
next pick i think that also goes in this strategy.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I lean that way too and and one of the
reasons i was excited to talk to you because it's
really just about evaluating the football of it all and
right I agree. You got to be careful of like
what positions are going to be available. You know, when
I made a strong case, we'll see if people listen
to it last show that.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Rounds three and four. I just want to load up
on receivers at that point. I'm already done with the
running backs. Like I'm with you. Like the cliff to
me happens, you know, around Chase Brown at pick 2025.
And then I love those receivers. And so you're passing
on them. And so I probably won't end up with
those two guys. And yet, Lamar is where I can
make the football case that he could be a league
(06:28):
winner this year. And either one of them potentially could be.
But to me, I can see a scenario where Lamar
has one great monster statistical rushing plus passing season that
in that offense that he is QB one by a
good margin and that you're getting the value out of him.
(06:50):
I think it's obviously riskier because of the injury possibility,
but it's just my spidey sensors are telling me he's
going to be in there. for the MVP again, Trevor.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Come on.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
And I mean, look, there's plenty of reason to believe it, right?
Because if you go to the first three weeks that
he played last year before he had the hamstring injury,
he had... nine touchdowns, zero interceptions. He was averaging almost
40 yards per game rushing. And he was averaging, I think,
right around or right over 240 yards passing per game.
(07:21):
So like Lamar was, and the efficiency numbers were up too.
I think the completion percentage for him was above 70%. So,
I mean, Lamar was absolutely cooking through the first three
weeks of last year. And something I do like about
the change, because there is some change, obviously, you know,
with them getting a new offensive coordinator with Declan Doyle
coming over. Doyle's coming over from the Chicago bears, the
(07:42):
Chicago bears. They ran a lot of outside zone concepts
last year. And that's also the Ravens under Todd Munkin
ran more and more and more off or outside zone
in three straight seasons. I think they were at like 16%
in 2023 or I think they were around like 24%, 25%
(08:03):
in 2024. And then last year, they were top 10
in the NFL in total outside zone rushes. And it
was like 35%, 36%, something like that. So the run game,
and I think the philosophy behind the run game, is
going to be similar to what it was last season,
which I think is going to give him a little
bit of familiarity. I think when people talk about familiarity
(08:23):
with quarterbacks, they often just kind of focus on the
pass catchers or the passing game, the philosophy. I think
the run game philosophy matters a lot too, and just
how you have confidence in the guys that you're giving
the ball off to, whether it's passing or running. So
I think there's going to be a nice baseline, especially
from the run game. And, you know, I think some
of this is Caleb Williams, certainly, but the Bears... think
(08:47):
we're number one last year in like time to throw averages.
And so when you have a player like Lamar, who
is now up, like given the freedom, I should say
to hold onto the ball longer, you just create so
much more of a potential rushing threat with him. And,
and I, I think that a lot is there for
him to have a monster to statistical season. So I
(09:09):
do agree with you and all that of the next
group of quarterbacks. And, On average, it's Drake May, Jaden Daniels,
Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts are kind of in a tier.
And then there's like a mini drop and it's Caleb, Herbert,
Dak in a close tier behind that. And that now
takes you to the majority of your QB1s.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Out of that group, both groups. like who stands out
to you the most that, that you wind up drafting
that you're most excited about. And then maybe we'll get
to that group who you're a little wary of.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Well, before some recent practice reports, I would have told
you that Jaden Daniels was the guy who I was
most excited about because, you know, when we talk about
quarterbacks who have rushing ability, go back to what Daniels
was able to do, not just his rookie season in
the NFL, but also what he was able to do
in college at LSU too, when he was winning the
Heisman trophy. I mean, this guy's a true dual threat.
(10:06):
You know, he's, he is able to rack up all
sorts of production and numbers. And in 2024, he was
that offense. And obviously last year, a lot of things
went wrong.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
They were really beat up.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Daniels had his own injuries, but Daniels, when he's fully healthy,
I have a lot of faith in this player and,
and I have faith that this offense can be certainly
a lot more explosive than it was last year. But
the reports were that the offensive line is not just like,
not good, but like bad, like maybe like the offense
can't run type of level. So there's a difference between
(10:37):
Jaden operating behind a bad offensive line and maybe being
able to afford it to scramble a little bit more
and just saying, okay, well, he's getting pressure in his
face so quickly.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Like it doesn't even matter.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Like he can't even produce or scramble or escape or
do anything off of that. So the name that I
like the most is Jaden Daniels from a talent perspective,
but that offensive line has to get so much better.
I'm also, I'm also pretty in on Dak Prescott this year.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
I think, I think the Cowboys overall could be in
for a really, really nice year. But when I look
at the Cowboys specifically, Dak hasn't been, the rusher lately
that he was early on in his career which obviously
sort of affects his fantasy ceiling but he's been really
efficient in his you know touchdown to interception ratio and
(11:24):
how he's taking care of the football he's got a
lot of different weapons to throw the ball to and
i think the cowboys are going to want to live
in this world where they're playing a lot of 11
personnel they're spreading things out a lot and when you're
spreading things out a lot it also gives you the
opportunity to pick up those first downs to maybe you
know have a boot and be able to scramble and
(11:45):
get into the red zone off play accurate, you get
into the end zone off a play action. And so
I think there's going to be a little bit more
rushing opportunity for Dak Prescott this year as well. So
he's been really efficient over the last couple of years
as a passer, but I wonder if how much they're
trying to spread the field out with all those receivers,
how much he's going to actually have some open space
to run a little bit more this year as well.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Now it depends how early quarterbacks go in your draft. Like,
you know, a lot of these expert rankings and I
used to, be one of the people making rankings. They
put the quarterbacks lower because they think like you and
you can wait. And there's some great guys that just
aren't getting taken until late. Jared Goff is going incredibly late.
(12:24):
Jordan Love is going incredibly late. And you can't always
wait at quarterback and get by. So you always have
to adjust to what your draft does because sometimes these
guys will go early. But I was quite surprised to
see for such a safe pick that Dak Prescott is
going as late as he is. And I don't think
the rushing is ever coming back. It's just, it's not,
(12:46):
it's not who he is. Maybe, I mean, a little
bit here and there and, you know, maybe he'll rush for,
for one or two touchdowns, whatever, whatever it's going to be.
He doesn't need to, if you're throwing for 4,500, 5,000 yards.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
And that's right.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I think, I think he is as safe along with burrow,
but to me, even a little safer, uh, that if
he's out there, he's just going to give you points
week after week. I do think Drake May and Hurts
have a little bit higher ceilings, though, because of the rushing.
May's rate stats were incredible, but they actually didn't have
(13:19):
him throw the ball that much. So to me, he could...
He could fulfill the Josh Allen comps with a little
bit more rushing, I could see happening, and then just
more volume in terms of passing. And then Jalen Hurts
has been the most bankable fantasy quarterback other than Josh
Allen for five years. And because he's coming off an
off year, you're buying him at a discount. And I
(13:39):
kind of love everything I'm hearing about their offense. And
I think he'll get back when you're talking about guys
who can maybe improve his rushing ability or at least
like get back to where he was. He was not
playing healthy late last year and he's coming a little thinner.
And I just think they're going to be a better
rushing team overall. And so I kind of like Hertz
(13:59):
just for the value of it all, because next year
he'll probably be back in the fourth or the fifth round.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
If they're still going to commit to the tush push
all the time, then obviously.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
It's not going away.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
It's not going to be valuable.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
So yeah, a lot of changes, you know, the offensive
play caller, obviously with Sean Mannion there, but like, if
they're still committed to running the tush push as much
as they have in the past, then yeah, obviously Jalen
is incredibly valuable because of that.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
And I, I have hope. And this happens every off
season with hurts and the Eagles like, Oh, this offensive coordinator,
he's really going to get it down. But, maybe he
should have been in this type of Shanahan tree offense
all along, uh, that, you know, taking a little bit
of the decision making process away from him. And, uh,
I think a strong running game and, and it would
(14:47):
be really impressive if you're helpful for him in fantasy.
If he can just scramble a little more, when you
look at some of the guys that are QB twos
and you just look at the names, my homes, Stafford love, uh,
I mentioned earlier, Purdy is like right on the border.
It's kind of crazy, crazy that these guys are, deep
QB twos, and that's making the case for waiting. Jared
(15:09):
Goff is another one that's just very bankable. No one's
excited to draft him, and he's just going to deliver
good numbers for you. Who would be the guys that
if you were waiting and you just wanted to double
up on some relatively late quarterback twos, who are your
favorite players in that mix of players. Kyler could be
thrown in there. I was just going to say, it's Kyler.
(15:31):
It's Kyler.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Kyler's the guy that gets me the most excited because
just look, we can't even take anything away from the
2025 Vikings quarterback situation.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
There's no point.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Go back to 2024 when Sam Darnold was there. Sam Darnold, who,
all due respect to NFL athlete and Super Bowl champion
Sam Darnold, is a pocket passer type of a quarterback, right?
And when you look at him and Kevin O'Connell's offense
and the opportunity that he had in that scheme and
what they were asking him to do, he had the
most rushing attempts, the most rushing first downs, and the
(16:06):
third most rushing yards, and he was like 25 total
yards away from what would have been a career-high rushing
yards that season in 2024. And I think that.
It's not because like he tried to turn Sam Darnold
into something he wasn't. It's because the opportunities were there.
Now you have Kyler Murray to do that. And look,
(16:26):
I understand the unknown because for Kyler, it's basically his
entire football career.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
You can go back to college as well when he
was at Oklahoma.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
He has lived in this shotgun exclusive sort of like
spread it out, air raid at times with Cliff Kingsbury
and what he was doing at Oklahoma as well. Like,
That's been the offense that he has operated under. Kevin
O'Connell is going to run something different, but I think
that that could actually go into some of his strengths.
(16:57):
You could get a lot of play action game where
as long as he is comfortable turning his back to
the line of scrimmage and then, you know, when he
turns back around. identifying what he needs to identify. I mean,
this is a offense that, in my opinion, you talked
about this a little bit earlier, can actually kind of
simplify things a little bit for him, give him a
couple of easier reads. And I mean, Justin Jefferson, I
(17:19):
feel like is even being slept on a little bit
in these fantasy drafts. And it's like, guys, this is
still Justin Jefferson here. And I really do just think
that right now, all of the Vikings players on offense
are Nobody really knows what to do with. And I
think that Kyler's fit in what Kevin O'Connell is going
to want him to do is actually a good thing.
(17:40):
I know there's unknown there because he hasn't been asked
to do it, but I actually think it's going to
reap some rewards. And obviously, anytime you're talking about a
quarterback who can give you a lot of rushing value
as well, that's big in the fantasy world. So of
those players in that next year of quarterbacks, the guy
I like the most to have the highest ceiling is
actually Kyler.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
I love that. And I also think he could be
someone that is delivering for you as a fantasy owner,
much more in November, December.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Indoor teams. And more importantly, I just think he'll be
more up to speed. Even when you think about Darnold's
trajectory with Kevin O'Connell, you know, it was a little,
it was a fast start and then down, you know, it,
but it really took him a while until he balanced out.
But Kyler Murray, when he's been healthy position ranks in,
in fantasy eight, Third, he missed three games in 21,
(18:29):
still finished top 10, top 10 in 24. So, like,
he delivers. This is unquestionably, to me, the best weapons
he's ever had overall around him, top to bottom.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
And it's the best coaching he's ever had. So, I just,
I think he should, I think he should be going
a lot higher.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
I mean, that's, you know, Jonathan Gannon erasure there. You know,
just poor Jonathan.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Jonathan Gannon, good defense of mine. Didn't work out in Arizona.
Didn't work out in Arizona.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
So strategy in general, it's one of those where you
want the top level quarterback. If they're going too early
in your draft, just look at what the opportunity cost is,
what other positions are going then, what's that going to
cost you? I was hurt in the draft we did
together that Drake May went one pick in front of me.
(19:16):
But then you can be fine. You can wait and
you can get good guys ultimately. At tight end, I'm
curious if you... employ a similar strategy? Because to me,
it's a big three. It's Bowers and McBride, and they're going,
you know, second round for Bowers, maybe at the turn
(19:38):
or in round three for McBride. And Colston Loveland, I
would put in that big three. He's going more in
the third round. A, do you like to take a
tight end? Do you think there's value? there versus the receivers,
running backs that could be there or the quarterbacks? And
then B, do you agree that Loveland's even in that mix?
Speaker 2 (19:59):
So, yeah, this is a multi-layered question here. So, normally,
I am big on if you can get one of
those top tight ends. Like, when I say the top
tight ends, I truly mean, like, what you talked about,
Trey McBride, Brock Bowers. I will do it because I
love potentially... owning that matchup every single week. Like wide receivers,
(20:22):
running backs certainly are a little bit less, especially this year.
But like you can find wide receivers that can produce
for you. Like if the other person who you're playing
against in a week is like, yeah, I feel super
confident about my wide receiver too. And they're getting me
say like 18 points. You might be able to find
a wide receiver who gets you, you know, 13, 14.
You're only losing that matchup by, you know, four or
five points. There are times where Brock Bowers could have 26,
(20:46):
27 points for you. Trey McBride's the same way. And
the other team's tight end could put up a stinker
and they could have five.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Points for you.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
That's a 20 point swing. So anytime that I have
the ability to do that with somebody who I have
a lot of faith in a tight end, I'll a
lot of times take that opportunity. That happened in our
fantasy draft when I was picking back into the first round,
I was picking 12. So I'm picking 12 and then
I'm picking 13 in the snake. I'm not picking again
until a long time. And because of that, I took
(21:18):
Brock Bowers at 13 because I wasn't going to get him.
And then I was going to have to sort of
be scrambling for a tight end. This year's a little
different because there are– I'm mainly talking about Tucker Kraft
and George Kittle. George Kittle and Tucker Kraft have some
juicy average draft position numbers right now, so where you
(21:41):
could feel good about drafting one of those two guys.
But outside of them, yeah, McBride, Bowers, and then Loveland,
I do think can be fantastic for you. And then
I think that Tyler Warren as well. If Warren's fully healthy,
I think they're going to lean on him a ton more.
But I am one of those people who, if I
have the opportunity to take a tight end that I
(22:01):
know is going to be a target monster in their offense,
I'm going to do that more often than not because
I'm trying to dominate that matchup right there. And I
think that there's a lot of value in doing that.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
It's bold.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Don't worry about the average draft position all the time.
Make evaluations as a fantasy owner and just go with it.
Who's got to be great? And I wound up with
Loveland in that draft because he was still sitting there
late fourth. And I'm not a guy that was thinking
I'm taking a tight end there. And everything that, I
don't think he's quite as talented as Bowers, but he
(22:38):
is the number one receiver on the team that's trying
to break the all-time record and points scored. I don't
know if they're going to get there, but their defense
might be in the mix to give up the most
points in the league too. And so, I trust that
offense certainly more than the Raiders offense. And so I
actually think volume wise, he could end up with, with
(22:59):
those two guys at the very end. And then it
speaks to what you're talking about earlier, which is opportunity
costs where I think the cliff happens. Then I love
Tucker craft and George Kittle, of course, but you have
pretty major injury questions. You're not going to get maybe
the full experience of, in September, you know, fantasy season's
only so long. They'll probably round into shape, but health
(23:20):
questions are big. Let's transition to like late round flyers
before we leave. And you could start with a tight
end because if you have any, like, Terrence Ferguson is
a very late round flyer that I am very intrigued about.
I think Dalton Kincaid is more of a guy that
if you really didn't end up with a tight end
early in your draft and you need a starter at
tight end 10, 11, I think Kincaid is going to
(23:42):
have his best season. Maybe give me one tight end
and then we'll get into your other favorite late round flyers. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
So, I mean, I think that those are obviously guys
that could make a ton of sense. I have like
a super I guess I would call this a super
deep sleeper, just somebody who I don't think that you're
like starting him right away, but either to stash on
your roster if you've got a deep bench or just
really keep an eye on him when it comes to.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
The waiver wire.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
And that's A.J. Barner for the Seattle Seahawks. And the
reason why, I might just be convincing myself mad scientist here,
but Barner had one of the higher separation averages of
tight ends last year, so he had the ability to
get open, so you know that he has that in him.
Brian Fleury, who is their new offensive coordinator in Seattle,
(24:32):
taking over for Clint Kubiak, He was the tight ends
coach in San Francisco for the last four years. He
developed guys, not just like George Kittle, George Kittle's incredible
on his own, but Jake Tonges, Luke Farrell, like these
guys are involved in the offense. Last year, the San
Francisco 49ers, almost half of their passing touchdowns went to
their tight ends. So I just feel as though their
(24:53):
new offensive coordinator has a tight end position coach background.
They emphasize tight ends very heavily in that offense. I
think they're going to continue to do so. And so
Barner might be this sneaky player who, if you don't
get one of the top tight ends and you're kind
of just taking a flyer on a guy, you're I'd
stash him on your roster as long as you have
a pretty deep bench. And if not, then I'd really
(25:15):
keep an eye on him when it came to the
waiver wire. Cause again, like I just, I have a
passion for trying to emphasize that tight end position in
fantasy a lot. And Barner is somebody who could be
a sneaky good one.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Plus he's got the coolest touchdown celebration. If you ever
see him in person, he is just such an imposing
physical presence. You're like, this guy's got to be awesome.
And I wouldn't be shocked if he's second on that
team in receptions. Like I, you know, like cup and
Shaheed are going to get their share. But Barner could
be in the mix as kind of the number two.
(25:45):
I'm totally with you. I think he's worth drafting as
a tight end, too. Chica Conquo is another guy in
that range I kind of like. And then Isaiah Likely,
similar to Kincaid, if you didn't get one early. Yeah.
He's got a chance to be second in receptions if
Malik Neighbors is healthy.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
And.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
if Malik neighbors is missing games for that particular game,
likely is probably your favorite to lead in targets. Let's
go to a different position or just general late round flyers.
Before we say goodbye to you, I had to throw
out one name specifically. I promised my son Walker, who's
just addicted to fantasy and he wants RJ Harvey in
(26:23):
every draft. What do you think of RJ Harvey? And
then we'll, we'll talk other late round flyers.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
That's pulling on my heartstrings right there because I was
a big R.J. Harvey guy as a draft analyst.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
I thought it was because me and my son share
something and we're bonding over this, but you're just more
into R.J. Harvey.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
No, it's selfishly because I need my draft takes to
look good. So I need more public support for a
lot of those. But I think that R.J. Harvey obviously
has the skill set. to be able to contribute for
you on all three downs. He's got soft hands in
the receiving game. He can make you miss in open field,
which is a trait that is not always guaranteed with
running backs. I think a lot of times people just
(27:03):
go like, oh, yeah, he can find all this open space.
And then you go, okay, well, what does he do
when he gets to open space then? Does he panic?
Does he find the sideline? Does he run immediately to
the nearest defender? Or does he actually know how to
manipulate that space and make the most of an explosive run?
I think Harvey approaches things with a true playmaker's mentality.
the consistency hasn't quite been there for him the way
that it needs to, for him to, I think really
(27:25):
take the reins of that running back room. It's going
to be more by committee, but I do, I do
like RJ Harvey there.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Um, well, okay.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
This is another similar to me, by the way, like
family's important and all that's great, but it's the takes
that you root for ultimately being, being right.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Your own value has to, has to be, um, Blake,
Blake Corum's another guy who's very interesting. I talked about him, uh,
on the fantasy show, uh, that we did earlier this week.
And the reason why I like him is because very
clearly the committee with him and Kyron Williams is a true,
like it's, it's, it's one and two. Now it's one,
like Kyron is the one for sure. But then Blake
(28:03):
Corum is absolutely the two. When you look at last
year's snap counts, less than 2% of the total running
back snap counts last year went to somebody that was
not named Kyron Williams and Blake Corum.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
It was one of those two guys. That's it.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
So we know that Kyron Williams is going to be
their RB1. But if Kyron goes down or misses time
for whatever reason, it's just Blake Corum. They're going to
stick Blake Corum in the game for basically every single
situation because there's not a lot of experience with any
of the other backs on the roster. to really be
able to execute and have that experience to be relied
(28:37):
upon in a heavy snap count basis. So I think
that he's another one where, again, if you've got a
deeper bench, if you're on a deeper league, like make
sure you're prioritizing quorum as a legit handcuff, not just for, okay.
Like if he's, he's kind of handcuffing Kyron Williams here
game to game. But again, if Kyron ever misses time,
I mean, you might have a surefire RB two on
(29:00):
your team that you get to then just put in
your lineup with him.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
He could have standalone value. It's a great shout out.
I am surprised now to see how ladies going, right?
It will stick with me. I think for quorum's career
that ultimately in the NFC championship game, and they played
great offense. I mean, they were the one team that
made Seattle's defense look ordinary over and over and over again.
You know, who's on the field. It was Blake quorum,
(29:24):
like in the biggest of spots, Blake quorum, I think
played as much or more than Kyron Williams snap count
in the NFC championship game. Had great production, big plays.
And yeah, they trust him. All right. I'll throw out
some of my late round flyers. If you you have
one or two you just want to hit rapid fire
go for it i do like josh downs who's going
like in round 10 or 11 just think he'll have
(29:44):
a lot of high volume i was so thin at
running back in our draft that i loaded up on
these types of guys i think are the best bets
Kalen Black, I think, is a good late round pick
with the 49ers, with all the concern about Christian McCaffrey.
Mike Washington's going to be starting out the season, having
a role for the Raiders. I think it could last.
(30:04):
I kind of like Woody Marks to have a better
season than people expect for Houston. And then I'll even
throw out Marshawn Lloyd, a player... where I'm going against
what I normally say, I'm not sure I really believe
in the player, but I think people are sleeping on
how crazy this opportunity is unless they add some veteran.
He is going to get a lot of run this year.
I think Josh Jacobs is going to get suspended. And
(30:24):
I think Josh Jacobs is an injury risk too. So
those are some of my late round guys that are
my favorites. I don't know if you agree, disagree on
any of those and have any favorites you want to
throw out.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
One other one, one other one that I'll, I'll just
shout out is, is Jalen Warren. I feel, I feel
like in some drafts that I've done, Jalen Warren's lasted
a really long time.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Ninth, 10th, 11th round. And I go, OK, yeah, obviously
they they have Rico Dowdle now and he's going to
be a factor for sure. And and I get that
it's a new offense, but it's still Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Aaron Rodgers still doesn't want to get hit. Guess what
he's going to want on the field to not get hit?
A running back to dump the ball off to. So
if you are in a PPR league, I think Jalen
Warren's going way too late for how much he was
used as a receiver last year. Pretty sure the Steelers
led the NFL in targets and receptions to the running
(31:20):
back position. through the regular season. Either they finished first
or second. I can't remember because they were back and
forth towards the end of the season. But I think
Jalen Warren's going to get plenty of work still as
a receiver. So if you're in a PPR league, I
think he's going way too late.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
I totally agree. He is falling into that bucket of players.
It's no longer a cool young player. And he's not
declining in reality, but people are just bored of taking him.
He is lasting too long. And he wakes up making
people miss. I mean, he does every year. He leads
the NFL in broken tackle rate, missed tackle rate. Um, every,
(31:53):
every day Sycamore wakes up and he's just slinging takes
all day long. That that's what he does on a
variety now of, uh, NFL media programs. Uh, we're definitely
going to try to have you on an NFL daily
here and there. You're going to be busy, uh, during
the season, but good luck with everything with the fantasy show.
And then everyone check out, subscribe, uh, to NFL Pro.
(32:14):
It's already got its own YouTube channel. Trevor and Brett Coleman,
two of the best to do it. Appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
I appreciate you having me, man. Excited to be both
teammates and competitors here this upcoming season.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
I will be taking you down. And that's fine. You know,
we can do that as new friends. Let's take a
quick break. We'll talk to some other new friends after
the break. It's the Fantasy Footballers.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
See you then.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Back on NFL Daily, wrapping up our second fantasy football preview.
One thing I realized as I bring in the fantasy footballers,
we had them on a couple of years ago. We
got two out of the three here, Jason and Mike.
We're missing Andy.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
You got the best ones. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah, we did. They have one of the biggest podcasts
in the world. Not even fantasy football podcast, but just
podcast period. And I looked through kind of what we
did last week with Josh Norris. And we just talked
with our friend Trevor Sycamore. about strategy and wide receivers
in the middle of the draft and late round flyers
and tight end quarterback strategy. We haven't really hit the top.
(33:25):
So I'm going to keep this simple. This is all
my 11 year old son wants to talk about anyways,
is the first two rounds of the draft. And we're
just going to pretend like we're drafting, basically go down
our big boards and hit as many of the top 20,
25 players or so in some sort of order, just
so we can kind of look at what the first
(33:46):
two rounds are going to look like. So why don't we,
I'll start with Jason in this mock draft. That's not
a mock draft. Cause we're not really building a team.
Who is, who is your number one overall?
Speaker 4 (33:54):
It's, it is clearly the easiest.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
That's right. I get, I get the number one. It's Gibbs.
Speaker 4 (34:00):
Jameer Gibbs is, I think he's capable of breaking fantasy
this year. You know, Every couple of years, someone goes
nuclear and pretty much is on half of championship rosters.
This year, you know, people ask us all. One of
the most common questions we get is, where do you
want to draft? If you could pick your draft spot,
where do you want to draft? Most years, it's somewhere
(34:22):
like pick four, pick five. There's like a couple of elites,
and I want the last one of them so I
can get the highest second round pick.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
This year, I want the 101.
Speaker 4 (34:29):
Jameer Gibbs without David Montgomery with, you know, the quotes
from Dan Campbell talking about We haven't scratched the surface
with him.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
We're going to push him. We're going to see more.
It's like you can't see much more.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
But also, if you look at the games that Jameer
Gibbs has played without David Montgomery in his career, he
outscores LaDainian Tomlinson. He outscores Christian McCaffrey's best years. Like
he has the potential to truly by himself kind of
win a championship this year if he stays healthy and
does what his potential would allow.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
I like that Mike jumped in easy quickly and said, Oh,
that's the easiest pick. So you think there's a big,
I'll give you the second. Do you think there's a
big drop between whoever you have at two is I do.
Speaker 5 (35:10):
I don't know that it's a necessarily at the end
of the year, we'll have a huge drop in points.
It's just risk, you know, have like Demir Gibbs is
the bell cow and he's on a high powered offense.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
The number two pick. Am I, am I up? Am
I taking him?
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Yeah, go for it.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
It's Bijan.
Speaker 5 (35:27):
It's not, you're not going to mess around with it. I,
Kind of spent the beginning of the offseason more on
the side of Bijon over Gibbs just a little bit. But,
oh man, the news out of Atlanta is not.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
I know, it's tough. It's not the best you have.
Speaker 4 (35:46):
When you have a quarterback competition where one of them
isn't playing and they're winning the job.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
By not playing. Yeah, it's like, that's not good.
Speaker 5 (35:54):
But Bijan, he's a special talent like Jameer Gibbs. And
we know that he can hold up to all the touches.
And he will get all the touches. Similar to Gibbs,
his nemesis. Not his, it was probably his buddy. Our
nemesis in terms of. Tyler Algier stealing away a whole
bunch of goal line opportunities over the years from Bijan.
(36:16):
That threat is gone. I'm not as worried about Brian Robinson.
Make sure you're drafting the right B Robinson. Everyone from Atlanta.
The double check always measure.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
It happened. It happened to a friend of mine. Not
not this year. A couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (36:30):
It's harder now because they're both on the same roster.
It's like, no, I check. This is the Falcons.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
He retells that story all the time. I'm like, you
don't need to retell that story.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
You don't have to tell people embarrassing stuff about yourself.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
It just makes you look like an idiot.
Speaker 5 (36:47):
But Bijan will be a three-down workhorse, and we saw
some long touchdowns finally last year, so I'm pretty confident
in him as my second pick.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
All-time great.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
And they do have Bill Callahan as their offensive line
coach there and a bunch of guys who have started
a long time. So that would be one note of optimism.
The other is just that he's a freak. Now, this
came up in the draft I did. I'm going to
go nuts here. I'm so panicked about the wide receiver turn.
I don't want to repeat my takes because I made
(37:20):
a big Saquon over CMC stand on our previous show.
I don't think it's that crazy to go Saquon third overall.
I honestly think there's such a crazy.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
I don't want.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
I want a real running back.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
You don't have to do this. You don't have to
do this. You don't have to say this out loud.
You don't have to say embarrassing things.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
I know.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
We just went over this.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
If I don't want to get like made fun of
and like because I know in this particular quote unquote draft,
like I'll get him six or eight or whatever.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
But Chase Brown was my cutoff of running backs, and
I don't have Jenty in that group. I want one
of these eight or nine running backs, and I don't
want to get stuck at the turn with none of
the running backs. And I actually feel good enough about
the receivers that I don't think it's that crazy to
take Saquon here, but I know I.
Speaker 5 (38:04):
Don't have to.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
We always say on the shows, if you believe in
a guy, take him. It doesn't matter what we say
or anybody else says. If you are confident... I think
you're right strategically. The running backs in the middle rounds,
they're pushed up where they shouldn't be. They're terrible picks.
They're trash. So you really do need to leave the
first couple of rounds with a running back or three.
(38:29):
And there's tear breaks. So if you believe Saquon over
some of those other running backs, I mean, personally... Saquon,
to me, there's probably eight or nine more running backs
that I would prefer to have over Saquon. Now, obviously,
Lane Johnson, if he's healthy and the offensive line is
better and, you know, there's a bounce back. But it's
rare to see, you know, coming up to near age
(38:52):
30 off of a large workload, the efficiency numbers get
better after it dips for a year.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
And that's my fear with Saquon.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
I'm trusting the offense. I'm trusting the camp reports.
Speaker 5 (39:02):
I mean.
Speaker 3 (39:03):
Come on, Jason.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
Haven't you heard about the camp practice under the lights
that they just had? The team scrimmage where he's going like,
maybe I'm getting carried away.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
I mean, Saquon is a great player.
Speaker 4 (39:13):
And, you know, if that's the next running back you want,
you don't want to get stuck at the turn without one.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
Draft him. This is great news for me, though. Right.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
The crazy thing is taking him over the best receivers.
Maybe that's too far. It's maybe I just have him RB3,
but maybe he deserves to be more like 7th or
8th overall. So where would you go with the next pick?
Speaker 4 (39:30):
To me, it's Gibbs and Bijan at the top and
followed by four wide receivers. The next group of running
backs after those two are behind my elite wide receivers.
Jamar Chase is my number one this year. I think
in most years he would be, I think. You can
make an argument for a handful of these wide receivers
(39:51):
to be the best, but athletically, he's so special, and
I think he's got the best quarterback of the bunch.
So if they're healthy, I mean, we've seen it before,
the wide receiver one overall where he lapsed the field,
I'll pull the trigger on Jamar Chase.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
Do you have Chase number one overall as well? At receiver, rather.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
I do, yeah. I'm very... optimistic for the Cincinnati Bengals
this year. Very, very....
Speaker 4 (40:18):
I think they're the team that you want pieces of.
Mike is unhealthy levels of optimistic about the Bengals.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
I tend to agree. It's a tough call between him
and JSN and what we'll get to the other options.
But yeah, who are you going to take then? Who's
your second receiver if that's how you go?
Speaker 5 (40:34):
Well, I wouldn't take a second receiver. If we're doing
a draft, I would take McCaffrey here. I would take
on the risk of I mean, you want to talk
wide receivers, McCaffrey's receiving numbers would have put him as
a top 12 wide receiver last year, except he's not.
He's a running back and he gets a bunch of
carries on the ground. He, you know, we're like dribbling,
(40:57):
Dajon's dribbling the rookie, the second rounder. It's like there's,
you're trying to figure out what is, what's the answer
for San Francisco? Kittle, is he going to be ready
off of the Achilles? The answer is McCaffrey until the
wheels fall off. He's going to catch 100 passes or so.
He's going to carry the ball, or like the plan,
he'll carry the ball 250, 300 times or so. He
(41:19):
will do it again. The McCaffrey argument, it kind of just,
it's boring. It's old. It's tired because the entire argument
is if McCaffrey stays healthy, he's the RB1 at the
end of the, I believe he will be the RB1
over Jameer.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
Gibbs if he stays healthy. Healthy. That's the question because.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
There's previous years where he's led the league in touches.
He has not stayed healthy the next year. It did
freak me out. He was out of camp for a minute,
but I should point out.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
It was just a little tight.
Speaker 4 (41:51):
Part of the plan, right? Part of the plan, just tightness.
I'm a little bit more freaked out as well. I'm
less bullish, but obviously you can't really argue against Christian McCaffrey.
He's either been the running back number one or number
two overall or injured. And that's his range of outcomes.
Speaker 5 (42:07):
Three of four years with San Francisco as the number
two or number one running back in fantasy, and not
just like the number one in fantasy football, the number
one where if he was on your team, you made
the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (42:22):
What Gibbs is going to do this year. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
I'm not rooting against you, but I did draft Kalen
Black just.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
Without my cap.
Speaker 5 (42:32):
I have no problem with people wanting to hedge or
take the other side of the bet. It's just a,
does he stay healthy? Where, you know, like Bijan, things
could go really bad for the Falcons. We just talked
about the quarterback situation. Things outside of Bijan's control could
go bad, and McCaffrey will be fine.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
Look, injuries and things could go bad. I guess, you know,
we've done fantasy long enough.
Speaker 3 (42:55):
Every player.
Speaker 1 (42:55):
Yeah, for literally every player, but the... Kind of the
line for me, and it's weird, maybe Saquon shouldn't be
quite above it, is just those two running backs. And
then I just feel so good about the next receivers
that I'm just going to play it safer and go
with Jackson Smith and Jigba over McCaffrey and really over
any other running back. There's like a slight worry about
total volume and maybe the pie is split up a
(43:18):
little more this year. How could it not be with A.J.
Barner and Shahid's there the whole year? But the low
end of outcomes and watching hard knocks is definitely contributing
to this, that this guy's just like, you know, like
a future hall of famer. When you see him, he
just is so sick to watch.
Speaker 4 (43:34):
He is definitely it. I don't blame anyone for making
him your wide receiver one. I think you can make arguments.
Like I said, for, for four different guys, uh, at
that position. And obviously what he did last year, leading
the league in receiving, having double-digit touchdowns, winning a Super Bowl.
You can't really ask much more from him. But it
was such a perfect year. Everything went right. When you
(43:57):
have that many receptions and you're over 15 yards of reception,
that just doesn't happen back-to-back years. So I think there
will be a little bit of regression, but I'd still
love to have him. If I'm now on the clock,
I'm going to live dangerously. You know, there's there's some
risk out there, maybe off the field, but I'd pull
(44:18):
the trigger here on on Puka Nakua. You've got a
guy who could easily lead the league in receptions in
yardage is finally used around the goal line. Just a
dominant player. And my favorite part is the consistency. You know,
it's like he's not one of these boom-blast wide receivers that,
you know, at the end of the year, he looks great,
(44:38):
but that's because half his games were great and half
his games were bad. He's just every single week going
to put up tons of points, catch a million balls,
plays through injury. So Puka is really just the only
worry is like, you know, he's more between the ears.
He's doing some dumb stuff.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
But yeah, being a knucklehead is not that kind of knucklehead. Yeah.
You can't cross off all the knuckleheads. Well, what if
you knew he suspended week one, which I think is
a realistic.
Speaker 4 (45:08):
If I knew that right right now, Puka is my
wide receiver to ahead of Jason. And if he was
if he was suspended week one, I would take the
other two guys in my top four over Puka for sure.
Speaker 1 (45:21):
I agree that you wouldn't knock him down, though, too far.
To me, it's one game. You're playing the long game.
And to me, he'd still be a top eight pick.
Where do you go then, Mike?
Speaker 5 (45:32):
So it's between the there's two players. I would narrow
it down to.
Speaker 3 (45:38):
And. You know, are the.
Speaker 5 (45:41):
What you're saying about the running backs, I tend to agree.
So I would just I'm going to take James Cook here.
James Cook is here that he's elite. And people don't
think of James Cook as elite, but you really should.
The guy seems to just get better each and every year.
(46:02):
He is a perfect fit for the offense. Yeah, Josh
Allen's going to take some rushing touchdowns away. That hasn't
stopped James Cook from piling up rushing touchdowns in recent memory.
And maybe we get a little bit more pass. There's
whispers in the bushes of maybe a little bit more
passing work this year. If you added that Then James
Cook is someone who can actually go for that RB1
(46:25):
overall position. But I would feel very confident with him
as a running back one here.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
And he's just, he's great at football in a way
that people don't seem to recognize. I'm not really sure why.
Josh Norris and I talked about that too, about just like,
you know, First, you want to know who are the
best players. My theory is maybe it's just a boring name.
And he was Dalvin's brother. He was supposed to be
Dalvin's lesser brother, but he's turned into Dalvin's equal or
(46:51):
better brother. Or he's just lost in the Josh Allen sauce.
Speaker 3 (46:55):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (46:56):
I think it was expectations coming in you know he
wasn't a first overall you know a first round pick
a highly drafted superstar running back he wasn't supposed to
be that and then he got off to a slow
start in his rookie season so by the time you
got to year two it was like the priors were
confirmed but it's just it's dumb and wrong and obviously
he's on a great team when you when you're drafting
(47:17):
running backs you're gonna very soon you know you just
talked about genti not being in the top there's there's
a lot of these great running backs it's like man,
how does it work for the Raiders and the Dolphins
to score enough points? But if you're on the bills,
you're okay.
Speaker 1 (47:33):
I totally agree. If listeners out there aren't really feeling
my Saquon Barkley or Dye flag plant, I think James
Cook could slide right in there. I think he fits
with all these top wide receivers. You probably couldn't take
him too high for me to think it's a reach.
Even if he went third or fourth overall, that seems
fine to me. I'll go... I'll go Justin Jefferson here. Whoa, man.
(47:58):
I have the benefit that I kind of ignore all
fantasy until like second week of August. Like a lot
of fans out there. But I used to do it
for a living like you guys. And there are these
ADPs out there that I'm just like, what?
Speaker 3 (48:12):
Really?
Speaker 1 (48:12):
And to me, I'm just, I'm not worried. To me,
it's like, This is one of the greatest receivers I've
ever seen play football. To me, he's right there. I
don't mind that he's in my pecking order behind the
three receivers that were taken already. But to me, they're
kind of 1A, B, C, and D. I think they're
going to produce offense. Kyler can produce offense, whether he's
(48:35):
like a great NFL quarterback. I don't know, but they'll
have plenty of yardage in Justin Jefferson's Justin Jefferson. So
I just feel like there's I maybe you guys disagree.
I feel like there's very little downside in Justin.
Speaker 4 (48:45):
There's well, there's definitely downside. There's all the upside in
the world. I mean, if you want to say he's
the best wide receiver in the league, neither one of
us would ever argue against that. um the downside is
just if kyler can't get it done i mean we
saw last year justin jefferson played 17 games you know
he wasn't injured at all and you can't even believe
(49:06):
that because i don't know do you know where he finished.
Speaker 5 (49:08):
Wide receiver 22 at 9.4 points per.
Speaker 4 (49:11):
Yeah it was it was not to accept that yeah
yeah throw that up i don't think that's gonna happen
again either we've seen down years from like deandre Hopkins
where he was bad one year and then he came back.
Speaker 3 (49:22):
He was the wide receiver one the next year.
Speaker 4 (49:24):
If you want to call your shot and say the
Vikings are fixed without JJ McCarthy and the problems of nine,
that's totally fine.
Speaker 3 (49:30):
We're from Arizona. We had to deal with Kyler.
Speaker 4 (49:33):
Here for a long time. And I think we're not
skeptical that it could work. But we can definitely see
how it doesn't. And then so like my pick next,
if I'm on the clock now for it is Amon
Ross St.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
Brown. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (49:47):
And so maybe Justin Jefferson could be number one and
Amon Raw might not be number one. But Amon Raw
has been number three, three years in a row. And
so I'm getting him here as the fifth wide receiver
off the board. Nothing has changed for him. His team
is the same. His coaching staff is the same. His
quarterback is the same. Their schedule is much easier now.
(50:09):
this year since they've got the fourth place schedule. So
Amon Ross St. Brown to me is, is I think
he is not given. I mean, obviously he's a first
round pick. Everyone knows like James Cook where it's like, yeah,
he very similar. He should be thought of with the
elites of the elite.
Speaker 3 (50:24):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (50:24):
And he's just, he's not because he's not that archetype
of player. Another guy who will play through any injury imaginable.
Speaker 1 (50:31):
It's true. And you're right about the schedule and all
the indoors games. Although, you know, Justin Jefferson gets him
to at home at least. I'm with you like that.
That is like the less sexy pick. If Sam Laporta
is actually back, you know, maybe that cuts into to
him a little because, you know, they're both over the middle.
(50:51):
I think that helped Amonra. But you're right. It's been
in three, you know, a bunch of straight years. So
it's hard to argue there.
Speaker 3 (50:56):
All right.
Speaker 1 (50:56):
Let's make this like a first-round mock. So this will
be your last pick here, Mike, and we'll end with
my pick here at 12, so choose wisely.
Speaker 3 (51:06):
All right.
Speaker 5 (51:06):
So this is where I throw the ADP out a
little bit, and I'm just going with my rankings. I
will take Kenneth Walker of the Kansas City Chiefs, who
he is.
Speaker 3 (51:21):
Just the man I love so much.
Speaker 5 (51:23):
I've been a Kenneth Walker truther since the very beginning.
And there's been some highs and there's been a lot
of lows here. It's been mostly lows.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
And you're buying high. You're buying high right now. You're
buying the peak. But I'm 100% in of the Andy
Reid's offense has been For what we know of Andy Reid,
it has been broken, truly broken for a couple years now.
And their decision this year to fix it was to
(51:58):
throw a whole bunch of money at Kenneth Walker and immediately.
When people are looking at free agency, who went where,
I love the day one, whatever, the tampering. It's like
the deal's not even done, but it's agreed upon. And
the free agency isn't even open. They went and got
Kenneth Walker. And I'm sure Walker had tons and tons
(52:20):
of suitors, but he gets to go play with Patrick Mahomes,
Andy Reed, running backs, not in the last five years
when they've just been bad. They've been bell cow players
who are getting, you know, 25 plus opportunities a game.
He's Andy Reed was our running back guru for a
long time. He was a wizard. You went Kareem hunt
when there went there and he's a third round pick.
Speaker 3 (52:41):
You went, don't care. Give me Kareem hunt.
Speaker 5 (52:44):
And then, Up until he was a knucklehead, he was
a fantasy superstar in Kansas City, and I think that's
what's going to happen with Kenneth Walker, not just on
the ground, but through the air. And I think that
Walker really, really helps this offense in terms of the
wide receivers aren't top-tier guys, but you didn't have to
(53:05):
worry about the running back at all. You didn't have
to worry about Pacheco or the husk of Kareem Hunt.
It was like But now you really, really have to
worry about it. And I think they're going to feed
him tons. This dude is going to be barfing on
the sidelines.
Speaker 1 (53:21):
I like that you guys disagree so much on this
because I don't think....
Speaker 4 (53:27):
I like Kenneth Walker a lot this year. I don't
disagree with the premise. I wouldn't take him here. I
love where he's going in most drafts at the back
of the second. I think that's thievery. And I want
to personally keep him there. so that I can draft
him there in these drafts. But I know if I'm
in a draft with Mike, he will never make it there.
Speaker 1 (53:47):
It's tricky because you guys now have a big enough
platform that you can impact the ADP. If you all
agreed Kenneth Walker is a first-round pick, that'll just move
things a little bit.
Speaker 4 (53:59):
Yeah, we had our My Guys episode yesterday, and I
saw Kenneth Walker, and I saw a bunch of ADP
today of some of these guys.
Speaker 3 (54:08):
They're around up now, and that's tough.
Speaker 1 (54:11):
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (54:12):
The power that you have. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (54:13):
Kenneth Walker is on my list of guys like I
would accept. It's like as my second round running back.
And so I don't disagree with the overall point. Chase
Brown's definitely on that list.
Speaker 3 (54:22):
Yeah. Love Chase.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
Jonathan Taylor is someone I'm considering here, but he certainly
would be on that list. And that's that's about it
for me. I feel a little anxious about H.N. And
then after that, I think I would actually rather have
the receivers and even the Brock Bowers is of the
world and just play it safe and just hope for
the best later at wide receiver, which means I got
the last pick and I'll go CD lamb here. It like,
(54:47):
who would have you guys been thinking heavily?
Speaker 3 (54:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (54:50):
It would have been between CD lamb and Jonathan Taylor.
And I would have gone CD lamb.
Speaker 3 (54:55):
Same.
Speaker 1 (54:56):
Um, just, just bankable. I think George Bick, George Pickens
is a little more bankable than I've seen in draft.
So if he's there on the two, three turn, um,
I'm feeling good about that too. I think there's enough
for them, them both to eat. And I do love
all the reports of, of Pickens kind of coming in
hungry and ready for this season, but he's still not
(55:16):
CD lamb, just like as a consistent overall talent. So,
Lamb is my pick. That's our first round.
Speaker 3 (55:22):
We did it.
Speaker 1 (55:23):
I gave you the easy stuff, kind of like the
low-hanging fruit. We hadn't hit that yet, but I wanted
to hit the top of the draft.
Speaker 3 (55:29):
That's the most exciting part.
Speaker 4 (55:30):
I mean, the top of the draft is what people
care about the most. They leave their draft and they go,
who did I get in the first? That's what they
care about.
Speaker 1 (55:37):
Appreciate you both. We'll have to give Andy some grief,
but that's Jason Moore and Mike Wright, of course, of
the Fantasy Footballers. Thanks, guys.
Speaker 3 (55:46):
Hey, thank you, man. Always a pleasure, man.
Speaker 1 (55:49):
Thanks again to the fantasy footballers. Thank you to Trevor Sykema. Man,
I got a lot of fantasy takes out in the
last couple of weeks. Just guys I don't want, like
Ashton Gentry. I think we've gone over it at this point.
Those receivers, and especially the Titans, are going to be bankable.
Couple items of news before we finish up for the week.
(56:09):
Leonard Williams signed a big contract. Congratulations to him for
the Seahawks. I noticed the Texans tackle Braden Smith got injured.
That's not a good sign for their Offensive line, Trent
Brown probably at right tackle. But most importantly, so many
people have reached out in the last 24 hours about
the NFL canceling the Pro Bowl and the Pro Bowl games.
(56:31):
And if you've been with me going back to around
the NFL and especially JRVP, you know how much the
Pro Bowl has meant to me and Anthony over the years.
And I appreciate all the well wishes. And just ask
for a little bit of privacy here.
Speaker 3 (56:48):
At this time. Um, it's tough.
Speaker 1 (56:50):
It's tough for everyone here at the NFL. Sorry to
hit end the show on such a down note. Let's put,
put the music on Eric. Um, but yeah, I, um,
it's going to take a little while to recover from this.
We'll do it by Sunday, Sunday evening, big show live
on YouTube. And in your ears, a few hours later,
Jordan Rodrigue and I will break down all the cuts,
(57:14):
all the trades and, All the teams getting ready for
week one. It is happening on Sunday. We will see
you then.
Welcome to NFL Daily, where it's never too early to
take Michael Wilson. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm here in the
Chris Wessling podcast studio talking to my friend, my new friend,
my new coworker for sure, and the new host of
the new fantasy show. on NFL Channel, and wherever you
get your podcasts. It's Trevor Sykema. You're back for the
(00:26):
third time this month, but the first time as an
official member of the NFL family. Thank you, Trevor.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, there was a little pump fake because we thought
that the second show that we were going to do
was going to be my first show as an announced employee. But,
you know, we got here eventually, so it's good to
be on with you. And it's great to be teammates
with you, buddy. I'm very much looking forward to getting
to work with you a lot this year.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
But also competitors because we drafted... in the same fantasy
league and you sniped Michael Wilson from me. And I
have to admit that was one of the moments of
the draft was like, wait, how did I not even
see that? I would have taken him around or two before.
So I'm very angry about that, but Trevor's on because
it's an, it's going to be our last fantasy preview
(01:10):
show of the year. And like I mentioned, you know,
I'm for the NFL draft and he's got to be
hosting the the new show NFL Pro with Brett Coleman
and check that out on NFL Channel and they're going
to be diving deep. But I like talking fantasy with
people that just know ball and it's a conversation we're
(01:31):
going to have about quarterbacks, about tight ends, and then
some late round guys because that's what we didn't really
hit too much on our first fantasy show. And Michael
Wilson is one of those late round guys. How is
Michael Wilson a late round guy? I might as well
start there.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I don't really understand because... Michael Wilson finished wide receiver
10 last year in total fantasy points.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
That's crazy.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Greg, he's like average draft position is somewhere between 39
and 45 in all the places that I look. Like, okay,
if you think that, all right, the quarterback position, not
great at first year with Michael.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Flores as the head coach there.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Uh, they're hopefully not going to have to pass as
much in the third and fourth quarters that they did
last year. Like I get all of that stuff. There's
no way he should be wide receiver 40. There's just
no way. So yeah, I feel like every single draft
that I've done. I feel like 75 percent of the
leagues that I'm in, I have Michael Wilson just because
we get to round eight and I go, OK, yeah,
(02:34):
I'd much rather take him a little bit lower if
I scroll down a little bit than some of the
guys that are here.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So to me, he's just I mean, oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Sometimes you look at players and you think that it's
a like it's only an opportunity thing. Michael Wilson is
also talented. Like he's also an extremely hard worker. Like
you see that in who, like how he runs his routes,
how he is at the catch point, like all of
this stuff. I have faith in the player just as
much as I have faith in sort of the opportunities
that I think are going to be there for him.
So yes, you're not the only one to get sniped
(03:05):
by me on Michael Wilson. So at least you're, at
least you, you have a community behind you as well.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
It was one of those things where he was too
far down the line. I was like, Oh wait, I
would have, Yeah, to me, I could see taking him
in the fifth and sixth round. It's not that crazy
to me. To me, there's like in terms of the
full skill set, he gives me a little bit Nico
Collins vibes and just that whatever you think he can do,
he can do more than that. And the Ascension is
going to continue. And I think there'll be plenty of
passing yards to go around there for him and Marvin Harrison.
(03:31):
But if I had to choose one of the two,
I'd go Marvin Harrison. I got sidetracked with the late
round flyers. We're going to end the show that way.
That's our little tease or your part of the show.
We also have the fantasy footballers, one of the biggest.
fantasy football podcasts, uh, in the world, uh, who are
going to wrap up the show with me. And we're
going to do a speed mock draft just for the
(03:51):
top of the drafts. But Trevor, I wanted to get
to the quarterback position to start with you. Cause we
haven't hit that for fantasy. And it's interesting. After a
few years where quarterbacks were routinely getting taken higher, less
of that this year, it's Josh Allen and a decent
gap to Lamar, like Allen's second Lamar's. third are you
(04:15):
even interested in those two at those prices and kind
of how do you look at the the two big
dogs this.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Year honestly obviously like if you pick them they're going
to be there for you to produce the points but
i i i sort of approach fantasy football is like
everything kind of has its cost for you know if
you're picking this position here sort of where's the cost
versus you know how much points you might be losing
if you're waiting on a certain position right like that's
(04:42):
how i always I feel like I'm viewing fantasy drafts
and fantasy strategies. And so to me, if you're taking
one of Josh Allen really high or Lamar Jackson after that, you're,
in my opinion, passing up on running backs that are...
really really valuable this year because there's just not a
lot of backs that you draft and you just go
like yeah i feel totally good about this guy we're
(05:03):
going to be good to go basically the entire season
running back feels like it drops off pretty quickly this
year and so to me i wouldn't be picking those
guys not because i don't think they're going to deliver
from a fancy perspective i do but you know it's
always like would you rather have josh allen and this
running back or you know like derrick henry like whoever
i'm just like throwing out a chances are you probably
(05:26):
rather take the top running back because i think the
gap between one of those top running backs versus who
else you'd be able to get later is a lot
bigger so i think those again like i think they'll
produce for you those players you just have to then
get really lucky with how the rest of the draft
unfolds and anytime you're dealing with something that you can't
control if you gotta wait a long time before your
next pick i think that also goes in this strategy.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
I lean that way too and and one of the
reasons i was excited to talk to you because it's
really just about evaluating the football of it all and
right I agree. You got to be careful of like
what positions are going to be available. You know, when
I made a strong case, we'll see if people listen
to it last show that.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Rounds three and four. I just want to load up
on receivers at that point. I'm already done with the
running backs. Like I'm with you. Like the cliff to
me happens, you know, around Chase Brown at pick 2025.
And then I love those receivers. And so you're passing
on them. And so I probably won't end up with
those two guys. And yet, Lamar is where I can
make the football case that he could be a league
(06:28):
winner this year. And either one of them potentially could be.
But to me, I can see a scenario where Lamar
has one great monster statistical rushing plus passing season that
in that offense that he is QB one by a
good margin and that you're getting the value out of him.
(06:50):
I think it's obviously riskier because of the injury possibility,
but it's just my spidey sensors are telling me he's
going to be in there. for the MVP again, Trevor.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Come on.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
And I mean, look, there's plenty of reason to believe it, right?
Because if you go to the first three weeks that
he played last year before he had the hamstring injury,
he had... nine touchdowns, zero interceptions. He was averaging almost
40 yards per game rushing. And he was averaging, I think,
right around or right over 240 yards passing per game.
(07:21):
So like Lamar was, and the efficiency numbers were up too.
I think the completion percentage for him was above 70%. So,
I mean, Lamar was absolutely cooking through the first three
weeks of last year. And something I do like about
the change, because there is some change, obviously, you know,
with them getting a new offensive coordinator with Declan Doyle
coming over. Doyle's coming over from the Chicago bears, the
(07:42):
Chicago bears. They ran a lot of outside zone concepts
last year. And that's also the Ravens under Todd Munkin
ran more and more and more off or outside zone
in three straight seasons. I think they were at like 16%
in 2023 or I think they were around like 24%, 25%
(08:03):
in 2024. And then last year, they were top 10
in the NFL in total outside zone rushes. And it
was like 35%, 36%, something like that. So the run game,
and I think the philosophy behind the run game, is
going to be similar to what it was last season,
which I think is going to give him a little
bit of familiarity. I think when people talk about familiarity
(08:23):
with quarterbacks, they often just kind of focus on the
pass catchers or the passing game, the philosophy. I think
the run game philosophy matters a lot too, and just
how you have confidence in the guys that you're giving
the ball off to, whether it's passing or running. So
I think there's going to be a nice baseline, especially
from the run game. And, you know, I think some
of this is Caleb Williams, certainly, but the Bears... think
(08:47):
we're number one last year in like time to throw averages.
And so when you have a player like Lamar, who
is now up, like given the freedom, I should say
to hold onto the ball longer, you just create so
much more of a potential rushing threat with him. And,
and I, I think that a lot is there for
him to have a monster to statistical season. So I
(09:09):
do agree with you and all that of the next
group of quarterbacks. And, On average, it's Drake May, Jaden Daniels,
Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts are kind of in a tier.
And then there's like a mini drop and it's Caleb, Herbert,
Dak in a close tier behind that. And that now
takes you to the majority of your QB1s.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Out of that group, both groups. like who stands out
to you the most that, that you wind up drafting
that you're most excited about. And then maybe we'll get
to that group who you're a little wary of.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Well, before some recent practice reports, I would have told
you that Jaden Daniels was the guy who I was
most excited about because, you know, when we talk about
quarterbacks who have rushing ability, go back to what Daniels
was able to do, not just his rookie season in
the NFL, but also what he was able to do
in college at LSU too, when he was winning the
Heisman trophy. I mean, this guy's a true dual threat.
(10:06):
You know, he's, he is able to rack up all
sorts of production and numbers. And in 2024, he was
that offense. And obviously last year, a lot of things
went wrong.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
They were really beat up.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Daniels had his own injuries, but Daniels, when he's fully healthy,
I have a lot of faith in this player and,
and I have faith that this offense can be certainly
a lot more explosive than it was last year. But
the reports were that the offensive line is not just like,
not good, but like bad, like maybe like the offense
can't run type of level. So there's a difference between
(10:37):
Jaden operating behind a bad offensive line and maybe being
able to afford it to scramble a little bit more
and just saying, okay, well, he's getting pressure in his
face so quickly.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Like it doesn't even matter.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Like he can't even produce or scramble or escape or
do anything off of that. So the name that I
like the most is Jaden Daniels from a talent perspective,
but that offensive line has to get so much better.
I'm also, I'm also pretty in on Dak Prescott this year.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
I think, I think the Cowboys overall could be in
for a really, really nice year. But when I look
at the Cowboys specifically, Dak hasn't been, the rusher lately
that he was early on in his career which obviously
sort of affects his fantasy ceiling but he's been really
efficient in his you know touchdown to interception ratio and
(11:24):
how he's taking care of the football he's got a
lot of different weapons to throw the ball to and
i think the cowboys are going to want to live
in this world where they're playing a lot of 11
personnel they're spreading things out a lot and when you're
spreading things out a lot it also gives you the
opportunity to pick up those first downs to maybe you
know have a boot and be able to scramble and
(11:45):
get into the red zone off play accurate, you get
into the end zone off a play action. And so
I think there's going to be a little bit more
rushing opportunity for Dak Prescott this year as well. So
he's been really efficient over the last couple of years
as a passer, but I wonder if how much they're
trying to spread the field out with all those receivers,
how much he's going to actually have some open space
to run a little bit more this year as well.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Now it depends how early quarterbacks go in your draft. Like,
you know, a lot of these expert rankings and I
used to, be one of the people making rankings. They
put the quarterbacks lower because they think like you and
you can wait. And there's some great guys that just
aren't getting taken until late. Jared Goff is going incredibly late.
(12:24):
Jordan Love is going incredibly late. And you can't always
wait at quarterback and get by. So you always have
to adjust to what your draft does because sometimes these
guys will go early. But I was quite surprised to
see for such a safe pick that Dak Prescott is
going as late as he is. And I don't think
the rushing is ever coming back. It's just, it's not,
(12:46):
it's not who he is. Maybe, I mean, a little
bit here and there and, you know, maybe he'll rush for,
for one or two touchdowns, whatever, whatever it's going to be.
He doesn't need to, if you're throwing for 4,500, 5,000 yards.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
And that's right.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I think, I think he is as safe along with burrow,
but to me, even a little safer, uh, that if
he's out there, he's just going to give you points
week after week. I do think Drake May and Hurts
have a little bit higher ceilings, though, because of the rushing.
May's rate stats were incredible, but they actually didn't have
(13:19):
him throw the ball that much. So to me, he could...
He could fulfill the Josh Allen comps with a little
bit more rushing, I could see happening, and then just
more volume in terms of passing. And then Jalen Hurts
has been the most bankable fantasy quarterback other than Josh
Allen for five years. And because he's coming off an
off year, you're buying him at a discount. And I
(13:39):
kind of love everything I'm hearing about their offense. And
I think he'll get back when you're talking about guys
who can maybe improve his rushing ability or at least
like get back to where he was. He was not
playing healthy late last year and he's coming a little thinner.
And I just think they're going to be a better
rushing team overall. And so I kind of like Hertz
(13:59):
just for the value of it all, because next year
he'll probably be back in the fourth or the fifth round.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
If they're still going to commit to the tush push
all the time, then obviously.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
It's not going away.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
It's not going to be valuable.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
So yeah, a lot of changes, you know, the offensive
play caller, obviously with Sean Mannion there, but like, if
they're still committed to running the tush push as much
as they have in the past, then yeah, obviously Jalen
is incredibly valuable because of that.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
And I, I have hope. And this happens every off
season with hurts and the Eagles like, Oh, this offensive coordinator,
he's really going to get it down. But, maybe he
should have been in this type of Shanahan tree offense
all along, uh, that, you know, taking a little bit
of the decision making process away from him. And, uh,
I think a strong running game and, and it would
(14:47):
be really impressive if you're helpful for him in fantasy.
If he can just scramble a little more, when you
look at some of the guys that are QB twos
and you just look at the names, my homes, Stafford love, uh,
I mentioned earlier, Purdy is like right on the border.
It's kind of crazy, crazy that these guys are, deep
QB twos, and that's making the case for waiting. Jared
(15:09):
Goff is another one that's just very bankable. No one's
excited to draft him, and he's just going to deliver
good numbers for you. Who would be the guys that
if you were waiting and you just wanted to double
up on some relatively late quarterback twos, who are your
favorite players in that mix of players. Kyler could be
thrown in there. I was just going to say, it's Kyler.
(15:31):
It's Kyler.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Kyler's the guy that gets me the most excited because
just look, we can't even take anything away from the
2025 Vikings quarterback situation.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
There's no point.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Go back to 2024 when Sam Darnold was there. Sam Darnold, who,
all due respect to NFL athlete and Super Bowl champion
Sam Darnold, is a pocket passer type of a quarterback, right?
And when you look at him and Kevin O'Connell's offense
and the opportunity that he had in that scheme and
what they were asking him to do, he had the
most rushing attempts, the most rushing first downs, and the
(16:06):
third most rushing yards, and he was like 25 total
yards away from what would have been a career-high rushing
yards that season in 2024. And I think that.
It's not because like he tried to turn Sam Darnold
into something he wasn't. It's because the opportunities were there.
Now you have Kyler Murray to do that. And look,
(16:26):
I understand the unknown because for Kyler, it's basically his
entire football career.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
You can go back to college as well when he
was at Oklahoma.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
He has lived in this shotgun exclusive sort of like
spread it out, air raid at times with Cliff Kingsbury
and what he was doing at Oklahoma as well. Like,
That's been the offense that he has operated under. Kevin
O'Connell is going to run something different, but I think
that that could actually go into some of his strengths.
(16:57):
You could get a lot of play action game where
as long as he is comfortable turning his back to
the line of scrimmage and then, you know, when he
turns back around. identifying what he needs to identify. I mean,
this is a offense that, in my opinion, you talked
about this a little bit earlier, can actually kind of
simplify things a little bit for him, give him a
couple of easier reads. And I mean, Justin Jefferson, I
(17:19):
feel like is even being slept on a little bit
in these fantasy drafts. And it's like, guys, this is
still Justin Jefferson here. And I really do just think
that right now, all of the Vikings players on offense
are Nobody really knows what to do with. And I
think that Kyler's fit in what Kevin O'Connell is going
to want him to do is actually a good thing.
(17:40):
I know there's unknown there because he hasn't been asked
to do it, but I actually think it's going to
reap some rewards. And obviously, anytime you're talking about a
quarterback who can give you a lot of rushing value
as well, that's big in the fantasy world. So of
those players in that next year of quarterbacks, the guy
I like the most to have the highest ceiling is
actually Kyler.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
I love that. And I also think he could be
someone that is delivering for you as a fantasy owner,
much more in November, December.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Indoor teams. And more importantly, I just think he'll be
more up to speed. Even when you think about Darnold's
trajectory with Kevin O'Connell, you know, it was a little,
it was a fast start and then down, you know, it,
but it really took him a while until he balanced out.
But Kyler Murray, when he's been healthy position ranks in,
in fantasy eight, Third, he missed three games in 21,
(18:29):
still finished top 10, top 10 in 24. So, like,
he delivers. This is unquestionably, to me, the best weapons
he's ever had overall around him, top to bottom.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
And it's the best coaching he's ever had. So, I just,
I think he should, I think he should be going
a lot higher.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
I mean, that's, you know, Jonathan Gannon erasure there. You know,
just poor Jonathan.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Jonathan Gannon, good defense of mine. Didn't work out in Arizona.
Didn't work out in Arizona.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
So strategy in general, it's one of those where you
want the top level quarterback. If they're going too early
in your draft, just look at what the opportunity cost is,
what other positions are going then, what's that going to
cost you? I was hurt in the draft we did
together that Drake May went one pick in front of me.
(19:16):
But then you can be fine. You can wait and
you can get good guys ultimately. At tight end, I'm
curious if you... employ a similar strategy? Because to me,
it's a big three. It's Bowers and McBride, and they're going,
you know, second round for Bowers, maybe at the turn
(19:38):
or in round three for McBride. And Colston Loveland, I
would put in that big three. He's going more in
the third round. A, do you like to take a
tight end? Do you think there's value? there versus the receivers,
running backs that could be there or the quarterbacks? And
then B, do you agree that Loveland's even in that mix?
Speaker 2 (19:59):
So, yeah, this is a multi-layered question here. So, normally,
I am big on if you can get one of
those top tight ends. Like, when I say the top
tight ends, I truly mean, like, what you talked about,
Trey McBride, Brock Bowers. I will do it because I
love potentially... owning that matchup every single week. Like wide receivers,
(20:22):
running backs certainly are a little bit less, especially this year.
But like you can find wide receivers that can produce
for you. Like if the other person who you're playing
against in a week is like, yeah, I feel super
confident about my wide receiver too. And they're getting me
say like 18 points. You might be able to find
a wide receiver who gets you, you know, 13, 14.
You're only losing that matchup by, you know, four or
five points. There are times where Brock Bowers could have 26,
(20:46):
27 points for you. Trey McBride's the same way. And
the other team's tight end could put up a stinker
and they could have five.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Points for you.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
That's a 20 point swing. So anytime that I have
the ability to do that with somebody who I have
a lot of faith in a tight end, I'll a
lot of times take that opportunity. That happened in our
fantasy draft when I was picking back into the first round,
I was picking 12. So I'm picking 12 and then
I'm picking 13 in the snake. I'm not picking again
until a long time. And because of that, I took
(21:18):
Brock Bowers at 13 because I wasn't going to get him.
And then I was going to have to sort of
be scrambling for a tight end. This year's a little
different because there are– I'm mainly talking about Tucker Kraft
and George Kittle. George Kittle and Tucker Kraft have some
juicy average draft position numbers right now, so where you
(21:41):
could feel good about drafting one of those two guys.
But outside of them, yeah, McBride, Bowers, and then Loveland,
I do think can be fantastic for you. And then
I think that Tyler Warren as well. If Warren's fully healthy,
I think they're going to lean on him a ton more.
But I am one of those people who, if I
have the opportunity to take a tight end that I
(22:01):
know is going to be a target monster in their offense,
I'm going to do that more often than not because
I'm trying to dominate that matchup right there. And I
think that there's a lot of value in doing that.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
It's bold.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Don't worry about the average draft position all the time.
Make evaluations as a fantasy owner and just go with it.
Who's got to be great? And I wound up with
Loveland in that draft because he was still sitting there
late fourth. And I'm not a guy that was thinking
I'm taking a tight end there. And everything that, I
don't think he's quite as talented as Bowers, but he
(22:38):
is the number one receiver on the team that's trying
to break the all-time record and points scored. I don't
know if they're going to get there, but their defense
might be in the mix to give up the most
points in the league too. And so, I trust that
offense certainly more than the Raiders offense. And so I
actually think volume wise, he could end up with, with
(22:59):
those two guys at the very end. And then it
speaks to what you're talking about earlier, which is opportunity
costs where I think the cliff happens. Then I love
Tucker craft and George Kittle, of course, but you have
pretty major injury questions. You're not going to get maybe
the full experience of, in September, you know, fantasy season's
only so long. They'll probably round into shape, but health
(23:20):
questions are big. Let's transition to like late round flyers
before we leave. And you could start with a tight
end because if you have any, like, Terrence Ferguson is
a very late round flyer that I am very intrigued about.
I think Dalton Kincaid is more of a guy that
if you really didn't end up with a tight end
early in your draft and you need a starter at
tight end 10, 11, I think Kincaid is going to
(23:42):
have his best season. Maybe give me one tight end
and then we'll get into your other favorite late round flyers. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
So, I mean, I think that those are obviously guys
that could make a ton of sense. I have like
a super I guess I would call this a super
deep sleeper, just somebody who I don't think that you're
like starting him right away, but either to stash on
your roster if you've got a deep bench or just
really keep an eye on him when it comes to.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
The waiver wire.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
And that's A.J. Barner for the Seattle Seahawks. And the
reason why, I might just be convincing myself mad scientist here,
but Barner had one of the higher separation averages of
tight ends last year, so he had the ability to
get open, so you know that he has that in him.
Brian Fleury, who is their new offensive coordinator in Seattle,
(24:32):
taking over for Clint Kubiak, He was the tight ends
coach in San Francisco for the last four years. He
developed guys, not just like George Kittle, George Kittle's incredible
on his own, but Jake Tonges, Luke Farrell, like these
guys are involved in the offense. Last year, the San
Francisco 49ers, almost half of their passing touchdowns went to
their tight ends. So I just feel as though their
(24:53):
new offensive coordinator has a tight end position coach background.
They emphasize tight ends very heavily in that offense. I
think they're going to continue to do so. And so
Barner might be this sneaky player who, if you don't
get one of the top tight ends and you're kind
of just taking a flyer on a guy, you're I'd
stash him on your roster as long as you have
a pretty deep bench. And if not, then I'd really
(25:15):
keep an eye on him when it came to the
waiver wire. Cause again, like I just, I have a
passion for trying to emphasize that tight end position in
fantasy a lot. And Barner is somebody who could be
a sneaky good one.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Plus he's got the coolest touchdown celebration. If you ever
see him in person, he is just such an imposing
physical presence. You're like, this guy's got to be awesome.
And I wouldn't be shocked if he's second on that
team in receptions. Like I, you know, like cup and
Shaheed are going to get their share. But Barner could
be in the mix as kind of the number two.
(25:45):
I'm totally with you. I think he's worth drafting as
a tight end, too. Chica Conquo is another guy in
that range I kind of like. And then Isaiah Likely,
similar to Kincaid, if you didn't get one early. Yeah.
He's got a chance to be second in receptions if
Malik Neighbors is healthy.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
And.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
if Malik neighbors is missing games for that particular game,
likely is probably your favorite to lead in targets. Let's
go to a different position or just general late round flyers.
Before we say goodbye to you, I had to throw
out one name specifically. I promised my son Walker, who's
just addicted to fantasy and he wants RJ Harvey in
(26:23):
every draft. What do you think of RJ Harvey? And
then we'll, we'll talk other late round flyers.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
That's pulling on my heartstrings right there because I was
a big R.J. Harvey guy as a draft analyst.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
I thought it was because me and my son share
something and we're bonding over this, but you're just more
into R.J. Harvey.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
No, it's selfishly because I need my draft takes to
look good. So I need more public support for a
lot of those. But I think that R.J. Harvey obviously
has the skill set. to be able to contribute for
you on all three downs. He's got soft hands in
the receiving game. He can make you miss in open field,
which is a trait that is not always guaranteed with
running backs. I think a lot of times people just
(27:03):
go like, oh, yeah, he can find all this open space.
And then you go, okay, well, what does he do
when he gets to open space then? Does he panic?
Does he find the sideline? Does he run immediately to
the nearest defender? Or does he actually know how to
manipulate that space and make the most of an explosive run?
I think Harvey approaches things with a true playmaker's mentality.
the consistency hasn't quite been there for him the way
that it needs to, for him to, I think really
(27:25):
take the reins of that running back room. It's going
to be more by committee, but I do, I do
like RJ Harvey there.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Um, well, okay.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
This is another similar to me, by the way, like
family's important and all that's great, but it's the takes
that you root for ultimately being, being right.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Your own value has to, has to be, um, Blake,
Blake Corum's another guy who's very interesting. I talked about him, uh,
on the fantasy show, uh, that we did earlier this week.
And the reason why I like him is because very
clearly the committee with him and Kyron Williams is a true,
like it's, it's, it's one and two. Now it's one,
like Kyron is the one for sure. But then Blake
(28:03):
Corum is absolutely the two. When you look at last
year's snap counts, less than 2% of the total running
back snap counts last year went to somebody that was
not named Kyron Williams and Blake Corum.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
It was one of those two guys. That's it.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
So we know that Kyron Williams is going to be
their RB1. But if Kyron goes down or misses time
for whatever reason, it's just Blake Corum. They're going to
stick Blake Corum in the game for basically every single
situation because there's not a lot of experience with any
of the other backs on the roster. to really be
able to execute and have that experience to be relied
(28:37):
upon in a heavy snap count basis. So I think
that he's another one where, again, if you've got a
deeper bench, if you're on a deeper league, like make
sure you're prioritizing quorum as a legit handcuff, not just for, okay.
Like if he's, he's kind of handcuffing Kyron Williams here
game to game. But again, if Kyron ever misses time,
I mean, you might have a surefire RB two on
(29:00):
your team that you get to then just put in
your lineup with him.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
He could have standalone value. It's a great shout out.
I am surprised now to see how ladies going, right?
It will stick with me. I think for quorum's career
that ultimately in the NFC championship game, and they played
great offense. I mean, they were the one team that
made Seattle's defense look ordinary over and over and over again.
You know, who's on the field. It was Blake quorum,
(29:24):
like in the biggest of spots, Blake quorum, I think
played as much or more than Kyron Williams snap count
in the NFC championship game. Had great production, big plays.
And yeah, they trust him. All right. I'll throw out
some of my late round flyers. If you you have
one or two you just want to hit rapid fire
go for it i do like josh downs who's going
like in round 10 or 11 just think he'll have
(29:44):
a lot of high volume i was so thin at
running back in our draft that i loaded up on
these types of guys i think are the best bets
Kalen Black, I think, is a good late round pick
with the 49ers, with all the concern about Christian McCaffrey.
Mike Washington's going to be starting out the season, having
a role for the Raiders. I think it could last.
(30:04):
I kind of like Woody Marks to have a better
season than people expect for Houston. And then I'll even
throw out Marshawn Lloyd, a player... where I'm going against
what I normally say, I'm not sure I really believe
in the player, but I think people are sleeping on
how crazy this opportunity is unless they add some veteran.
He is going to get a lot of run this year.
I think Josh Jacobs is going to get suspended. And
(30:24):
I think Josh Jacobs is an injury risk too. So
those are some of my late round guys that are
my favorites. I don't know if you agree, disagree on
any of those and have any favorites you want to
throw out.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
One other one, one other one that I'll, I'll just
shout out is, is Jalen Warren. I feel, I feel
like in some drafts that I've done, Jalen Warren's lasted
a really long time.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Ninth, 10th, 11th round. And I go, OK, yeah, obviously
they they have Rico Dowdle now and he's going to
be a factor for sure. And and I get that
it's a new offense, but it's still Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Aaron Rodgers still doesn't want to get hit. Guess what
he's going to want on the field to not get hit?
A running back to dump the ball off to. So
if you are in a PPR league, I think Jalen
Warren's going way too late for how much he was
used as a receiver last year. Pretty sure the Steelers
led the NFL in targets and receptions to the running
(31:20):
back position. through the regular season. Either they finished first
or second. I can't remember because they were back and
forth towards the end of the season. But I think
Jalen Warren's going to get plenty of work still as
a receiver. So if you're in a PPR league, I
think he's going way too late.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
I totally agree. He is falling into that bucket of players.
It's no longer a cool young player. And he's not
declining in reality, but people are just bored of taking him.
He is lasting too long. And he wakes up making
people miss. I mean, he does every year. He leads
the NFL in broken tackle rate, missed tackle rate. Um, every,
(31:53):
every day Sycamore wakes up and he's just slinging takes
all day long. That that's what he does on a
variety now of, uh, NFL media programs. Uh, we're definitely
going to try to have you on an NFL daily
here and there. You're going to be busy, uh, during
the season, but good luck with everything with the fantasy show.
And then everyone check out, subscribe, uh, to NFL Pro.
(32:14):
It's already got its own YouTube channel. Trevor and Brett Coleman,
two of the best to do it. Appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
I appreciate you having me, man. Excited to be both
teammates and competitors here this upcoming season.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
I will be taking you down. And that's fine. You know,
we can do that as new friends. Let's take a
quick break. We'll talk to some other new friends after
the break. It's the Fantasy Footballers.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
See you then.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Back on NFL Daily, wrapping up our second fantasy football preview.
One thing I realized as I bring in the fantasy footballers,
we had them on a couple of years ago. We
got two out of the three here, Jason and Mike.
We're missing Andy.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
You got the best ones. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah, we did. They have one of the biggest podcasts
in the world. Not even fantasy football podcast, but just
podcast period. And I looked through kind of what we
did last week with Josh Norris. And we just talked
with our friend Trevor Sycamore. about strategy and wide receivers
in the middle of the draft and late round flyers
and tight end quarterback strategy. We haven't really hit the top.
(33:25):
So I'm going to keep this simple. This is all
my 11 year old son wants to talk about anyways,
is the first two rounds of the draft. And we're
just going to pretend like we're drafting, basically go down
our big boards and hit as many of the top 20,
25 players or so in some sort of order, just
so we can kind of look at what the first
(33:46):
two rounds are going to look like. So why don't we,
I'll start with Jason in this mock draft. That's not
a mock draft. Cause we're not really building a team.
Who is, who is your number one overall?
Speaker 4 (33:54):
It's, it is clearly the easiest.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
That's right. I get, I get the number one. It's Gibbs.
Speaker 4 (34:00):
Jameer Gibbs is, I think he's capable of breaking fantasy
this year. You know, Every couple of years, someone goes
nuclear and pretty much is on half of championship rosters.
This year, you know, people ask us all. One of
the most common questions we get is, where do you
want to draft? If you could pick your draft spot,
where do you want to draft? Most years, it's somewhere
(34:22):
like pick four, pick five. There's like a couple of elites,
and I want the last one of them so I
can get the highest second round pick.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
This year, I want the 101.
Speaker 4 (34:29):
Jameer Gibbs without David Montgomery with, you know, the quotes
from Dan Campbell talking about We haven't scratched the surface
with him.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
We're going to push him. We're going to see more.
It's like you can't see much more.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
But also, if you look at the games that Jameer
Gibbs has played without David Montgomery in his career, he
outscores LaDainian Tomlinson. He outscores Christian McCaffrey's best years. Like
he has the potential to truly by himself kind of
win a championship this year if he stays healthy and
does what his potential would allow.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
I like that Mike jumped in easy quickly and said, Oh,
that's the easiest pick. So you think there's a big,
I'll give you the second. Do you think there's a
big drop between whoever you have at two is I do.
Speaker 5 (35:10):
I don't know that it's a necessarily at the end
of the year, we'll have a huge drop in points.
It's just risk, you know, have like Demir Gibbs is
the bell cow and he's on a high powered offense.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
The number two pick. Am I, am I up? Am
I taking him?
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Yeah, go for it.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
It's Bijan.
Speaker 5 (35:27):
It's not, you're not going to mess around with it. I,
Kind of spent the beginning of the offseason more on
the side of Bijon over Gibbs just a little bit. But,
oh man, the news out of Atlanta is not.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
I know, it's tough. It's not the best you have.
Speaker 4 (35:46):
When you have a quarterback competition where one of them
isn't playing and they're winning the job.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
By not playing. Yeah, it's like, that's not good.
Speaker 5 (35:54):
But Bijan, he's a special talent like Jameer Gibbs. And
we know that he can hold up to all the touches.
And he will get all the touches. Similar to Gibbs,
his nemesis. Not his, it was probably his buddy. Our
nemesis in terms of. Tyler Algier stealing away a whole
bunch of goal line opportunities over the years from Bijan.
(36:16):
That threat is gone. I'm not as worried about Brian Robinson.
Make sure you're drafting the right B Robinson. Everyone from Atlanta.
The double check always measure.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
It happened. It happened to a friend of mine. Not
not this year. A couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (36:30):
It's harder now because they're both on the same roster.
It's like, no, I check. This is the Falcons.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
He retells that story all the time. I'm like, you
don't need to retell that story.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
You don't have to tell people embarrassing stuff about yourself.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
It just makes you look like an idiot.
Speaker 5 (36:47):
But Bijan will be a three-down workhorse, and we saw
some long touchdowns finally last year, so I'm pretty confident
in him as my second pick.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
All-time great.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
And they do have Bill Callahan as their offensive line
coach there and a bunch of guys who have started
a long time. So that would be one note of optimism.
The other is just that he's a freak. Now, this
came up in the draft I did. I'm going to
go nuts here. I'm so panicked about the wide receiver turn.
I don't want to repeat my takes because I made
(37:20):
a big Saquon over CMC stand on our previous show.
I don't think it's that crazy to go Saquon third overall.
I honestly think there's such a crazy.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
I don't want.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
I want a real running back.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
You don't have to do this. You don't have to
do this. You don't have to say this out loud.
You don't have to say embarrassing things.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
I know.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
We just went over this.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
If I don't want to get like made fun of
and like because I know in this particular quote unquote draft,
like I'll get him six or eight or whatever.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
But Chase Brown was my cutoff of running backs, and
I don't have Jenty in that group. I want one
of these eight or nine running backs, and I don't
want to get stuck at the turn with none of
the running backs. And I actually feel good enough about
the receivers that I don't think it's that crazy to
take Saquon here, but I know I.
Speaker 5 (38:04):
Don't have to.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
We always say on the shows, if you believe in
a guy, take him. It doesn't matter what we say
or anybody else says. If you are confident... I think
you're right strategically. The running backs in the middle rounds,
they're pushed up where they shouldn't be. They're terrible picks.
They're trash. So you really do need to leave the
first couple of rounds with a running back or three.
(38:29):
And there's tear breaks. So if you believe Saquon over
some of those other running backs, I mean, personally... Saquon,
to me, there's probably eight or nine more running backs
that I would prefer to have over Saquon. Now, obviously,
Lane Johnson, if he's healthy and the offensive line is
better and, you know, there's a bounce back. But it's
rare to see, you know, coming up to near age
(38:52):
30 off of a large workload, the efficiency numbers get
better after it dips for a year.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
And that's my fear with Saquon.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
I'm trusting the offense. I'm trusting the camp reports.
Speaker 5 (39:02):
I mean.
Speaker 3 (39:03):
Come on, Jason.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
Haven't you heard about the camp practice under the lights
that they just had? The team scrimmage where he's going like,
maybe I'm getting carried away.
Speaker 3 (39:10):
I mean, Saquon is a great player.
Speaker 4 (39:13):
And, you know, if that's the next running back you want,
you don't want to get stuck at the turn without one.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
Draft him. This is great news for me, though. Right.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
The crazy thing is taking him over the best receivers.
Maybe that's too far. It's maybe I just have him RB3,
but maybe he deserves to be more like 7th or
8th overall. So where would you go with the next pick?
Speaker 4 (39:30):
To me, it's Gibbs and Bijan at the top and
followed by four wide receivers. The next group of running
backs after those two are behind my elite wide receivers.
Jamar Chase is my number one this year. I think
in most years he would be, I think. You can
make an argument for a handful of these wide receivers
(39:51):
to be the best, but athletically, he's so special, and
I think he's got the best quarterback of the bunch.
So if they're healthy, I mean, we've seen it before,
the wide receiver one overall where he lapsed the field,
I'll pull the trigger on Jamar Chase.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
Do you have Chase number one overall as well? At receiver, rather.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
I do, yeah. I'm very... optimistic for the Cincinnati Bengals
this year. Very, very....
Speaker 4 (40:18):
I think they're the team that you want pieces of.
Mike is unhealthy levels of optimistic about the Bengals.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
I tend to agree. It's a tough call between him
and JSN and what we'll get to the other options.
But yeah, who are you going to take then? Who's
your second receiver if that's how you go?
Speaker 5 (40:34):
Well, I wouldn't take a second receiver. If we're doing
a draft, I would take McCaffrey here. I would take
on the risk of I mean, you want to talk
wide receivers, McCaffrey's receiving numbers would have put him as
a top 12 wide receiver last year, except he's not.
He's a running back and he gets a bunch of
carries on the ground. He, you know, we're like dribbling,
(40:57):
Dajon's dribbling the rookie, the second rounder. It's like there's,
you're trying to figure out what is, what's the answer
for San Francisco? Kittle, is he going to be ready
off of the Achilles? The answer is McCaffrey until the
wheels fall off. He's going to catch 100 passes or so.
He's going to carry the ball, or like the plan,
he'll carry the ball 250, 300 times or so. He
(41:19):
will do it again. The McCaffrey argument, it kind of just,
it's boring. It's old. It's tired because the entire argument
is if McCaffrey stays healthy, he's the RB1 at the
end of the, I believe he will be the RB1
over Jameer.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
Gibbs if he stays healthy. Healthy. That's the question because.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
There's previous years where he's led the league in touches.
He has not stayed healthy the next year. It did
freak me out. He was out of camp for a minute,
but I should point out.
Speaker 3 (41:49):
It was just a little tight.
Speaker 4 (41:51):
Part of the plan, right? Part of the plan, just tightness.
I'm a little bit more freaked out as well. I'm
less bullish, but obviously you can't really argue against Christian McCaffrey.
He's either been the running back number one or number
two overall or injured. And that's his range of outcomes.
Speaker 5 (42:07):
Three of four years with San Francisco as the number
two or number one running back in fantasy, and not
just like the number one in fantasy football, the number
one where if he was on your team, you made
the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (42:22):
What Gibbs is going to do this year. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
I'm not rooting against you, but I did draft Kalen
Black just.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
Without my cap.
Speaker 5 (42:32):
I have no problem with people wanting to hedge or
take the other side of the bet. It's just a,
does he stay healthy? Where, you know, like Bijan, things
could go really bad for the Falcons. We just talked
about the quarterback situation. Things outside of Bijan's control could
go bad, and McCaffrey will be fine.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
Look, injuries and things could go bad. I guess, you know,
we've done fantasy long enough.
Speaker 3 (42:55):
Every player.
Speaker 1 (42:55):
Yeah, for literally every player, but the... Kind of the
line for me, and it's weird, maybe Saquon shouldn't be
quite above it, is just those two running backs. And
then I just feel so good about the next receivers
that I'm just going to play it safer and go
with Jackson Smith and Jigba over McCaffrey and really over
any other running back. There's like a slight worry about
total volume and maybe the pie is split up a
(43:18):
little more this year. How could it not be with A.J.
Barner and Shahid's there the whole year? But the low
end of outcomes and watching hard knocks is definitely contributing
to this, that this guy's just like, you know, like
a future hall of famer. When you see him, he
just is so sick to watch.
Speaker 4 (43:34):
He is definitely it. I don't blame anyone for making
him your wide receiver one. I think you can make arguments.
Like I said, for, for four different guys, uh, at
that position. And obviously what he did last year, leading
the league in receiving, having double-digit touchdowns, winning a Super Bowl.
You can't really ask much more from him. But it
was such a perfect year. Everything went right. When you
(43:57):
have that many receptions and you're over 15 yards of reception,
that just doesn't happen back-to-back years. So I think there
will be a little bit of regression, but I'd still
love to have him. If I'm now on the clock,
I'm going to live dangerously. You know, there's there's some
risk out there, maybe off the field, but I'd pull
(44:18):
the trigger here on on Puka Nakua. You've got a
guy who could easily lead the league in receptions in
yardage is finally used around the goal line. Just a
dominant player. And my favorite part is the consistency. You know,
it's like he's not one of these boom-blast wide receivers that,
you know, at the end of the year, he looks great,
(44:38):
but that's because half his games were great and half
his games were bad. He's just every single week going
to put up tons of points, catch a million balls,
plays through injury. So Puka is really just the only
worry is like, you know, he's more between the ears.
He's doing some dumb stuff.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
But yeah, being a knucklehead is not that kind of knucklehead. Yeah.
You can't cross off all the knuckleheads. Well, what if
you knew he suspended week one, which I think is
a realistic.
Speaker 4 (45:08):
If I knew that right right now, Puka is my
wide receiver to ahead of Jason. And if he was
if he was suspended week one, I would take the
other two guys in my top four over Puka for sure.
Speaker 1 (45:21):
I agree that you wouldn't knock him down, though, too far.
To me, it's one game. You're playing the long game.
And to me, he'd still be a top eight pick.
Where do you go then, Mike?
Speaker 5 (45:32):
So it's between the there's two players. I would narrow
it down to.
Speaker 3 (45:38):
And. You know, are the.
Speaker 5 (45:41):
What you're saying about the running backs, I tend to agree.
So I would just I'm going to take James Cook here.
James Cook is here that he's elite. And people don't
think of James Cook as elite, but you really should.
The guy seems to just get better each and every year.
(46:02):
He is a perfect fit for the offense. Yeah, Josh
Allen's going to take some rushing touchdowns away. That hasn't
stopped James Cook from piling up rushing touchdowns in recent memory.
And maybe we get a little bit more pass. There's
whispers in the bushes of maybe a little bit more
passing work this year. If you added that Then James
Cook is someone who can actually go for that RB1
(46:25):
overall position. But I would feel very confident with him
as a running back one here.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
And he's just, he's great at football in a way
that people don't seem to recognize. I'm not really sure why.
Josh Norris and I talked about that too, about just like,
you know, First, you want to know who are the
best players. My theory is maybe it's just a boring name.
And he was Dalvin's brother. He was supposed to be
Dalvin's lesser brother, but he's turned into Dalvin's equal or
(46:51):
better brother. Or he's just lost in the Josh Allen sauce.
Speaker 3 (46:55):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (46:56):
I think it was expectations coming in you know he
wasn't a first overall you know a first round pick
a highly drafted superstar running back he wasn't supposed to
be that and then he got off to a slow
start in his rookie season so by the time you
got to year two it was like the priors were
confirmed but it's just it's dumb and wrong and obviously
he's on a great team when you when you're drafting
(47:17):
running backs you're gonna very soon you know you just
talked about genti not being in the top there's there's
a lot of these great running backs it's like man,
how does it work for the Raiders and the Dolphins
to score enough points? But if you're on the bills,
you're okay.
Speaker 1 (47:33):
I totally agree. If listeners out there aren't really feeling
my Saquon Barkley or Dye flag plant, I think James
Cook could slide right in there. I think he fits
with all these top wide receivers. You probably couldn't take
him too high for me to think it's a reach.
Even if he went third or fourth overall, that seems
fine to me. I'll go... I'll go Justin Jefferson here. Whoa, man.
(47:58):
I have the benefit that I kind of ignore all
fantasy until like second week of August. Like a lot
of fans out there. But I used to do it
for a living like you guys. And there are these
ADPs out there that I'm just like, what?
Speaker 3 (48:12):
Really?
Speaker 1 (48:12):
And to me, I'm just, I'm not worried. To me,
it's like, This is one of the greatest receivers I've
ever seen play football. To me, he's right there. I
don't mind that he's in my pecking order behind the
three receivers that were taken already. But to me, they're
kind of 1A, B, C, and D. I think they're
going to produce offense. Kyler can produce offense, whether he's
(48:35):
like a great NFL quarterback. I don't know, but they'll
have plenty of yardage in Justin Jefferson's Justin Jefferson. So
I just feel like there's I maybe you guys disagree.
I feel like there's very little downside in Justin.
Speaker 4 (48:45):
There's well, there's definitely downside. There's all the upside in
the world. I mean, if you want to say he's
the best wide receiver in the league, neither one of
us would ever argue against that. um the downside is
just if kyler can't get it done i mean we
saw last year justin jefferson played 17 games you know
he wasn't injured at all and you can't even believe
(49:06):
that because i don't know do you know where he finished.
Speaker 5 (49:08):
Wide receiver 22 at 9.4 points per.
Speaker 4 (49:11):
Yeah it was it was not to accept that yeah
yeah throw that up i don't think that's gonna happen
again either we've seen down years from like deandre Hopkins
where he was bad one year and then he came back.
Speaker 3 (49:22):
He was the wide receiver one the next year.
Speaker 4 (49:24):
If you want to call your shot and say the
Vikings are fixed without JJ McCarthy and the problems of nine,
that's totally fine.
Speaker 3 (49:30):
We're from Arizona. We had to deal with Kyler.
Speaker 4 (49:33):
Here for a long time. And I think we're not
skeptical that it could work. But we can definitely see
how it doesn't. And then so like my pick next,
if I'm on the clock now for it is Amon
Ross St.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
Brown. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (49:47):
And so maybe Justin Jefferson could be number one and
Amon Raw might not be number one. But Amon Raw
has been number three, three years in a row. And
so I'm getting him here as the fifth wide receiver
off the board. Nothing has changed for him. His team
is the same. His coaching staff is the same. His
quarterback is the same. Their schedule is much easier now.
(50:09):
this year since they've got the fourth place schedule. So
Amon Ross St. Brown to me is, is I think
he is not given. I mean, obviously he's a first
round pick. Everyone knows like James Cook where it's like, yeah,
he very similar. He should be thought of with the
elites of the elite.
Speaker 3 (50:24):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (50:24):
And he's just, he's not because he's not that archetype
of player. Another guy who will play through any injury imaginable.
Speaker 1 (50:31):
It's true. And you're right about the schedule and all
the indoors games. Although, you know, Justin Jefferson gets him
to at home at least. I'm with you like that.
That is like the less sexy pick. If Sam Laporta
is actually back, you know, maybe that cuts into to
him a little because, you know, they're both over the middle.
(50:51):
I think that helped Amonra. But you're right. It's been
in three, you know, a bunch of straight years. So
it's hard to argue there.
Speaker 3 (50:56):
All right.
Speaker 1 (50:56):
Let's make this like a first-round mock. So this will
be your last pick here, Mike, and we'll end with
my pick here at 12, so choose wisely.
Speaker 3 (51:06):
All right.
Speaker 5 (51:06):
So this is where I throw the ADP out a
little bit, and I'm just going with my rankings. I
will take Kenneth Walker of the Kansas City Chiefs, who
he is.
Speaker 3 (51:21):
Just the man I love so much.
Speaker 5 (51:23):
I've been a Kenneth Walker truther since the very beginning.
And there's been some highs and there's been a lot
of lows here. It's been mostly lows.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
And you're buying high. You're buying high right now. You're
buying the peak. But I'm 100% in of the Andy
Reid's offense has been For what we know of Andy Reid,
it has been broken, truly broken for a couple years now.
And their decision this year to fix it was to
(51:58):
throw a whole bunch of money at Kenneth Walker and immediately.
When people are looking at free agency, who went where,
I love the day one, whatever, the tampering. It's like
the deal's not even done, but it's agreed upon. And
the free agency isn't even open. They went and got
Kenneth Walker. And I'm sure Walker had tons and tons
(52:20):
of suitors, but he gets to go play with Patrick Mahomes,
Andy Reed, running backs, not in the last five years
when they've just been bad. They've been bell cow players
who are getting, you know, 25 plus opportunities a game.
He's Andy Reed was our running back guru for a
long time. He was a wizard. You went Kareem hunt
when there went there and he's a third round pick.
Speaker 3 (52:41):
You went, don't care. Give me Kareem hunt.
Speaker 5 (52:44):
And then, Up until he was a knucklehead, he was
a fantasy superstar in Kansas City, and I think that's
what's going to happen with Kenneth Walker, not just on
the ground, but through the air. And I think that
Walker really, really helps this offense in terms of the
wide receivers aren't top-tier guys, but you didn't have to
(53:05):
worry about the running back at all. You didn't have
to worry about Pacheco or the husk of Kareem Hunt.
It was like But now you really, really have to
worry about it. And I think they're going to feed
him tons. This dude is going to be barfing on
the sidelines.
Speaker 1 (53:21):
I like that you guys disagree so much on this
because I don't think....
Speaker 4 (53:27):
I like Kenneth Walker a lot this year. I don't
disagree with the premise. I wouldn't take him here. I
love where he's going in most drafts at the back
of the second. I think that's thievery. And I want
to personally keep him there. so that I can draft
him there in these drafts. But I know if I'm
in a draft with Mike, he will never make it there.
Speaker 1 (53:47):
It's tricky because you guys now have a big enough
platform that you can impact the ADP. If you all
agreed Kenneth Walker is a first-round pick, that'll just move
things a little bit.
Speaker 4 (53:59):
Yeah, we had our My Guys episode yesterday, and I
saw Kenneth Walker, and I saw a bunch of ADP
today of some of these guys.
Speaker 3 (54:08):
They're around up now, and that's tough.
Speaker 1 (54:11):
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (54:12):
The power that you have. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (54:13):
Kenneth Walker is on my list of guys like I
would accept. It's like as my second round running back.
And so I don't disagree with the overall point. Chase
Brown's definitely on that list.
Speaker 3 (54:22):
Yeah. Love Chase.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
Jonathan Taylor is someone I'm considering here, but he certainly
would be on that list. And that's that's about it
for me. I feel a little anxious about H.N. And
then after that, I think I would actually rather have
the receivers and even the Brock Bowers is of the
world and just play it safe and just hope for
the best later at wide receiver, which means I got
the last pick and I'll go CD lamb here. It like,
(54:47):
who would have you guys been thinking heavily?
Speaker 3 (54:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (54:50):
It would have been between CD lamb and Jonathan Taylor.
And I would have gone CD lamb.
Speaker 3 (54:55):
Same.
Speaker 1 (54:56):
Um, just, just bankable. I think George Bick, George Pickens
is a little more bankable than I've seen in draft.
So if he's there on the two, three turn, um,
I'm feeling good about that too. I think there's enough
for them, them both to eat. And I do love
all the reports of, of Pickens kind of coming in
hungry and ready for this season, but he's still not
(55:16):
CD lamb, just like as a consistent overall talent. So,
Lamb is my pick. That's our first round.
Speaker 3 (55:22):
We did it.
Speaker 1 (55:23):
I gave you the easy stuff, kind of like the
low-hanging fruit. We hadn't hit that yet, but I wanted
to hit the top of the draft.
Speaker 3 (55:29):
That's the most exciting part.
Speaker 4 (55:30):
I mean, the top of the draft is what people
care about the most. They leave their draft and they go,
who did I get in the first? That's what they
care about.
Speaker 1 (55:37):
Appreciate you both. We'll have to give Andy some grief,
but that's Jason Moore and Mike Wright, of course, of
the Fantasy Footballers. Thanks, guys.
Speaker 3 (55:46):
Hey, thank you, man. Always a pleasure, man.
Speaker 1 (55:49):
Thanks again to the fantasy footballers. Thank you to Trevor Sykema. Man,
I got a lot of fantasy takes out in the
last couple of weeks. Just guys I don't want, like
Ashton Gentry. I think we've gone over it at this point.
Those receivers, and especially the Titans, are going to be bankable.
Couple items of news before we finish up for the week.
(56:09):
Leonard Williams signed a big contract. Congratulations to him for
the Seahawks. I noticed the Texans tackle Braden Smith got injured.
That's not a good sign for their Offensive line, Trent
Brown probably at right tackle. But most importantly, so many
people have reached out in the last 24 hours about
the NFL canceling the Pro Bowl and the Pro Bowl games.
(56:31):
And if you've been with me going back to around
the NFL and especially JRVP, you know how much the
Pro Bowl has meant to me and Anthony over the years.
And I appreciate all the well wishes. And just ask
for a little bit of privacy here.
Speaker 3 (56:48):
At this time. Um, it's tough.
Speaker 1 (56:50):
It's tough for everyone here at the NFL. Sorry to
hit end the show on such a down note. Let's put,
put the music on Eric. Um, but yeah, I, um,
it's going to take a little while to recover from this.
We'll do it by Sunday, Sunday evening, big show live
on YouTube. And in your ears, a few hours later,
Jordan Rodrigue and I will break down all the cuts,
(57:14):
all the trades and, All the teams getting ready for
week one. It is happening on Sunday. We will see
you then.
Host
Gregg Rosenthal
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