July 29, 2025 • 52 mins
Marcas Grant and Michael F. Florio kick off the show with the latest training camp injury updates, Deebo Samuel’s growing role in the Commanders offense and a surprising riser in the Saints QB competition. (5:45)
Then, the guys break down the offenses they’re avoiding the most in drafts this year and make the case for the few players they would be willing to take a chance on. (21:20)
Then, they celebrate the return of football as they preview the Hall of Fame game taking place on Thursday between the Chargers and Lions! (42:42)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, Hey everybody, It's Tuesday, July twenty nine, twenty twenty five.
Welcome to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, where attentions kind
of split at the moment. It's me and your man,
NAMG Marcus Grand joined by Michael F. Florio no LaQuan Jones.
(00:22):
Today he is doing research for the network for a
inside training camp. So I don't know, maybe we can
tacking text him and tap in see if you can
give us some information about what's going on or something
that'd be fun.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
He's gonna find the six thring string running back and
be like, this is someone you need to add to
your to your watch list right now.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
This is primetime for RB three right now. For sure.
For sure, I say that we are a little bit
distracted at the moment because Florio and I a LaQuan actually,
for that matter, we are all right now doing a
live mock draft. Our friend Andrew Cooper over at Fantasy
Alarm is doing a super Flex month draft. He's going
(01:03):
to be riding about it, so keep your eye out.
If you don't follow him, you should absolutely do that
across social media platforms. So we agreed to be in
the monk. It's happening at this exact time. We said
we might talk about it a little bit. We may
talk about it on occasion throughout this pod. But if
one of us pauses awkwardly in the middle of a sentence,
it's probably because we are on the clock. In fact,
(01:26):
we are what We're in the third round right now.
Who have you taken? And you're with your first two picks?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
H I'm on deck with my third. But it's a
super flex, so pick Look, pick three is the pick
you want in a super flex in my opinion, because
I think there's a clear cut top three. And oh
I just got sniped. I wanted aj Brown, so I'll
take let So I took Josh Allen at three. He
fell to three. Uh, and then I took Devon a Chen,
who I love at the end of round two. And
(01:53):
I'm going to take very polarizing player on this show,
Glad McConkie, with my third.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Overall, all right, all right, and you are You said
you're picking from the third spots, So yeah, I am
picking from the eighth spot. So by the time it
came around to me, and you know, no surprise in
a superflex, most of the top quarterbacks were gone. So
instead at the number eight pick, I went with Jean Robinson, who,
by the way, we have learned officially it is bijon.
(02:20):
It is not bijon. It does not rhyme with a
type of mustard.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, I will apologize in advance that bijon is going
to slip out of my mouth at least a couple
of times this preseason.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, I'm sure a lot of folks are gonna have
to readjust at that. So but I took Bejon Robinson
with the number eight pick, and then on the return
the fifth pick in the second round, I was like, well,
I got to get at least one quarterback before the
first two rounds are up. So I took Patrick Mahomes
and I am two picks away trying to figure out
(02:52):
what I do with my next move here.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
So laquant team is very lakwan.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
I saw you just took Tyreek.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Hill in the things Joe Burrow bo Nick's Tyreek Hill.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Oh yeah, it's one hundred percent of.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
You could have guessed it by covering up the names.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah yeah, all right, So there you go. So we'll
kind of keep you updated on kind of what are
what is happening, what things are going on, uh in
this in this mock draft as we continue, but be
sure to go follow Andrew Cooper if you don't already
at Fantasy Alarm once this is over. He's gonna do
a big ride up on sort of what happened, and
you know, you can kind of get the taste of
(03:29):
but a lot of interesting names here, Dave Klugy, Mike Fayelah,
Jagger may Yeah, a lot of a lot of really
interesting people. Uh in. Andrew Erickson also in this draft
as well. Oh I'm on the clock now, So do
I take my second quarterback and just be done with
it or do I do something else? See, I got
(03:51):
another pick coming up, realiselusent. So I'm gonna go. I'm
gonna get my second quarterback. I'm gonna take Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Okay, yeah you can't. I mean you can't go wrong there.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah, yeah, you know what, there's another name there and
maybe I wanted, but you know what, I'm fine. I'm
fine with Baker. So I got Baker Mayfield in the third,
Patrick Mahomes in the second, John Robinson in the first round.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So yeah, I'm happy about you and NLQ of two
quarterbacks because now I could say this, no one else
is here in this right now, justin fields might make
it to me I was afraid might not make a pass.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
You guys, yeah, yeah, all right, this could That would
be a very Florio team if you if you got him.
We are talking today about offenses that maybe we're avoiding,
but we're doing our best to make a case for
at least one guy on all of these bad offenses
at least projected to be bad offenses. Right Because I
(04:46):
was having a conversation with somebody recently. We were kind
of running down the list of all these teams where
it's like, do I really want somebody off this roster?
And you know, I feel like if we look at
it and we actually think about it, every roster has
at least one or two players where you can make
a strong case for. And it wasn't just a yeah,
I guess I'll take this guy if he falls to
(05:07):
me at ADP, but like, guys, you can look at
and say, you know what, I can make a really
strong case why you should be drafting this player. So
we're gonna try to do that today as well. Also,
we've got football like substance coming up this week. We
are two days away from the Hall of Fame game
in Canton, Ohio, so we'll kind of preview what we
expect for that obviously. Look, I always refer to it
(05:30):
as football like substance. It's not exactly what we're expecting.
You know, it's the Chargers and Lions kind of in
name only, but you know, there's always something, there's always
something to talk about and to watch for that. But
when it started with a few news ish headlines, obviously
training camp is going on, which means we've had a
(05:51):
lot of injuries to sort of pay attention to. Last week,
the big one was justin Fields that caused a little
bit of a mini freak out when he was card
it off. Turns out it wasn't really that serious. It
was a dislocated non big toe. Fact. He was back
on the practice field the very next day. So we've
got some other guys who have left practice things I
guess to sort of keep an eye on, but maybe
(06:14):
nothing to freak out over just yet. Xavier Worthy was
reportedly hearted off. Again. I don't know if this is
a serious thing or if this is just like a
justin Fields thing. Can you ellaborate on that, because I
am on the clock, right Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
No, I we're looking for updates and stuff. Last I
saw it was just that that he exited the field. Today,
I know more. Keith Brown was also a little bit
banged up. But we're also at that time of year
where teams are being overly cautious and like I'll speak
from the Bills standpoint, like they have like seven or
(06:54):
eight players right now being held out because of like injuries,
and a lot of them have said, like if it
was a and we could play. And I think that's
with a lot of these injuries right now, because one,
it's the ramp up period, so you don't want anyone
to push it and then maybe take something that's a
minor injury and turn it into major. But also you
got five and a half weeks before Week one, Like
(07:16):
if you can ever be cautious and optimistic and stuff
like that, it's right now.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yeah, So Xavier Worthy appeared to be shaken up again.
I'm not going to freak out until we get more
information that it's actually serious. Malak Neighbors had a shoulder issue.
He left practice. It sounds like he's kind of done
for the day, but it also sounds like again the
Giants are just exercising an abundance of caution with a
player that's going to be critically important for them this year.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Where are you like? Look, I love them. The leak
neighbors that's known if he listened to this show, but
I think he should like be a top five wide
receiver all of that. But does it worry you at
all that he dealt with the shoulder injury last year
as well?
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I mean it does now that you said that. It
was not the first thing that popped into my head. No,
I'm I'm gonna just say, Look, they're just sort of
a you know, exercising caution. I yeah, I don't even know.
Do we know if it's the same shoulder, if it's
a different shoulder, I do not.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I just love shoulder And I first thing I thought
it was like, I don't know that bothered him last
year too.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, So right now I'm choosing to not freak out
over any of these things. But we are going to
be hit with a deluge of these sorts of tweets
and posts and stuff for the next few weeks, So
we're gonna have to learn to kind of temper our
our emotions at this point one that does appear to
(08:43):
be a little bit serious is Joe Mixon dealing with
a foot injury. He is on the team's non football
injury list, but Florio there's talked that he could be
out for an extended period of time and it's possible
he could miss Week one. I know you're on the
clock right now. So oh yeah, I believe you're on
(09:04):
the clock. Yeah you are. Which, by the way, for
an update, my fourth round pick was DJ Moore. I
feel like I needed to get a wide receiver before
too many more of them went, so he was my
fourth round pick. But back to Joe Mixon foot injury.
NFL networks ian Rappaport reporting that it could be an
(09:25):
extended period of time that he is out of action,
chance that he misses Week one of the season, a
game against the Los Angeles Rams. I'm with this news.
I mean, we talk about missing regular season games and
that's going to affect ADP. How far do you think
he's going to fall down draft boards at this point?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
I wish we had Lakwan here today because Lakwan has
been the Joe Mixon believer on this show. But looking
at his ADP before he got hurt. He was. I'm
pulling it up now, but I believe he was going
in like the fifth round.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Yeah, late fourth, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
That needs to fall like it and for me, it
needs to fall a good amount, like so on underdog ADP.
Right now, he's in the sixth round, but like the
seventh round has like DeAndre Swift, Isaiah Pacheco, I'm taking
those guys over him. The eighth round is like Brian Robinson,
Jordan Mason, etn ninth round, So like eighth, ninth round,
(10:24):
I guess is probably where I expect his ADP to settle.
But maybe this is just me being like I already
was kind of out on mixing. But injury history, plus
he's had, he's getting up there in age. He already
missed a bunch of time last year. I think he
missed like four games last season. I have concerns, big
(10:47):
concerns with Joe Mixon because it's not like this is
just a foot injury that popped up at training camp,
Like the Texans have admitted that this has been going
on since the spring, and they downplayed it when he
missed Mini camp and stuff like that. So to me,
this this is really concerning and football is such a
(11:07):
violent game where where players are going to get hurt
in season that I don't know if I like, I know,
in the past I've been like, I'll take an injury
discount on a player, and sometimes it works out, sometimes
it doesn't. But I think when you have a back
that's already up there in age and who already has
a history of missing time, it's a little bit different.
(11:28):
And so for me, I don't really see myself unless
we get a huge discount on Joe Mixon really being
in on him. But with that said, like I think
I'm out on this Texans backfield altogether. Like I don't know,
if you saw the quotes on Nick Chubb, they are
not good. They're like he's not the same guy, and like, by.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
The way, you're on the clock, you got less than
a minute. By the way, I'm trying to wait for
you to finish, but you were gonna keep going.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
So I was like, yeah, no, thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Yeah. So I mean the thing with mixing is to
your point, he has been good to miss a couple
of games pretty much every year. There's only been a
couple of times in his career where he's played every
game during the season. I know that that is sort
of the case with every running back, but you know,
with mix In especially just because his production week to
(12:16):
week tends to be a little bit inconsistent, the fact
that he could miss some time, especially early in the year,
and the fact he's gonna miss kind of that ramp
up time, you know, I think being able to be
there in camp work with this team. I get it.
He was there last year, had a very good year,
but I still think there's something to be said for
just getting that timing down as as you get into
(12:38):
the regular season, and then he thought that he could
miss possibly Week one, and who knows beyond that a
little bit, a little bit disconcerting, I mean, real quick,
Let's give you some names, though, Joe Mixin, Er, Caleb Johnson,
Caleb Johnson, Joe mixoner, Tony Pollard, Tony Pollard, Joe Mixon,
or Brian Robinson.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
That we're getting to a range where I think Mixon
belongs in that group. All right, I probably go the
healthy Robinson though.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Okay, a couple more Joe Mixon or Tyrone Tracy.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I'm the cam Skataboo guy. But yeah, so I guess
I'll go Mixon.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
There, all right, Joe Mixon or Jalen Warren.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I feel like there's more upside with mix in, but
I don't feel great, like I don't want to be
in the market for.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Needing it, like like.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
In that range, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
All right, yeah, okay, So then you're so right now
you're looking at you know, based on Fantasy pros ADPs,
you're looking right around running back thirty one, thirty two
something like that for Joe Mixon, which kind of right
now puts him in the mid RB three range.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I'm Brian Robinson though, I just want to mention this name.
Jacorey Krosky Merritt is getting so much hype out of
their camp right now. So just another headache maybe for
that backfield because Robinson and Eckler probably aren't going away.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah, I think that's kind of something to to pay
attention to. I'm back on the clock. The wide receivers
have thinned out.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
And also I don't want to say what site we're
playing on, but the rankings on this site are not great.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Nothing site is great, but yeah, the wide receivers have
thinned out really really quickly. I Am going to go
and I'll take Davonta Smith. All right, so my wide
receivers Davanta Smith and Dj Moore to go along with Mahomes,
Baker Mayfield, John Robinson.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
All Right, pretty good start.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
I think I feel okay about it. Debo Samuel says, quote,
I got a lot left in the tank. He's getting
a lot of positive reviews for what's going on at
training camp in Washington. We haven't talked a ton about Debo,
but your expectations for him now that he's in a
new place.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Well one. I can't wait for the day where a
player comes out and it's like I'm on E, like
I got.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Left, I'm washed, y'all.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Cordell Patterson did call himself, which was pretty funny. I
think Deebo is a better real life player at this
point in his career than fantasy. But I do think
his him being in Washington is a great thing for
Jaden Daniels because last year they had no one that
(15:24):
could really get them yack and and Deebo had more
yak than any commander's wide receiver and a lot of
those like short, quick like catch and run type of throws.
We're going to zach Ertz and no offense to zach Ertz,
he's got no catch and run ability left in him,
like he was kind of a catch and go down
type of targets. So I think if you add in
(15:44):
that Yak like, think about how good Jayden was and
now if he has the chance to turn short passes
into big chunk plays because Deebo can still do that,
I think that helps a lot. But I also worry
about Deebo's impact on this backfield because we already said
now they got the rookie, they got Brian Robinson, they
got Austin Eckler. Deebo is maybe he's not gonna be
(16:04):
a full time running back, but he he will get
some carries here and there. So for me, this as
good as I think this Commander's offense could be. It's
like Jaden and Terry and and those are the pieces
I want from it. After that, I think it's like
a it's a grouping that is gonna be much better
for real life purposes. But I think very inconsistent week
(16:25):
to week for fantasy.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Right, And I think that sort of sums up debo right,
is that there will there very well might be a
couple of spike weeks in there, right, because I think
they're going to use him in a similar fashion to
what Kyle Shanahan's done the last couple of years, where
he will do a lot of the you know, a
lot of the underneath, a lot of the dirty work,
a lot of short routes. They'll look for him to
have yards after the catch, all those sorts of things.
(16:49):
But you know, I think the big plays are gonna
come from Terry McLaurin. I think they're gonna They're gonna
try to find them in the running game. I'm not
sure how, but I think debo on a week's week
base is gonna be inconsistent. It'll be great for the
commander's offense, not great for your fantasy team. Yeah, you're
on the clock. So I am on the clock. I
know I'm listening to a couple of guys.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
It's really hard because I don't know about you. I
turned the sound off so I'm not hearing like everything.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I've thought about doing that, but I left the sound
on just so I knew what I was coming up.
On the clock. I'm looking at a couple of guys
that I know you like, and I'm debating which one
of them I'm going to take and is it.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
A running back? Yeah, please take the one I'm hoping
to get.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I will I will skip the one that I think
you want to get. So I am going to draft
Isaiah Pacheco, and I thought about not doing it. It
sort of worried me because I have my homes like
do I really want Pachecko as well? But I do
think Isaiah Checko's down is due for a bounce back
this year. There's another running back who is a rookie
(17:55):
who plays in the AFC East, who I know.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
You really really like those fair Those were I either
one of those two running backs were the two I
was like, I want this to be my next pick.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yeah, well, because I was looking for maybe DeAndre Swift
or James Connor and both those guys went off the
board just before it got back to me.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
So for what it's worth, like we're in the sixth
it's super flex. Usually this like fifth six round in irregular,
But like I love the running backs in this range.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, No, there's a lot of good running backs here.
I felt good about about a lot of options.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Lakwan with another la Qualm pick, taking R J.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Harvey r J Harvey Man. This is classic Lakwan. Other
quick bit of news ish, According to head coach Kellen Moore,
Jake Hayner is getting a real shot at a three
man race at the quarterback position in New Orleans. We're
gonna talk about the Saints in just a little bit,
but when you look at this group, I mean, I
don't think the expectations are high. I know you're on
(18:52):
the clock right now, so I will kind of fill
a buster.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
And all the running backs I wanted are gone.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Unfortunately, so somebody took Trevon Henderson huh just before Yeah yeah,
see well yeah it could have been me, but it
wasn't because you know, we're sort of collaborating here, I guess.
But obviously I think the talk right now is that
Tyler Shuck's gonna get maybe the first crack at thing.
Spencer Rattler is very much in the mix. The idea
(19:18):
of Jake Hayner getting a shot maybe throws a little
bit of a wrinkle into things. But Florio, I know
the expectations aren't high for the Saints offensively this year.
What is the best case scenario? And I guess I
guess my question really is who do we want to
be the quarterback here.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I think personally Tyler Shuck is who I'm rooting for
because a lot of college experience, which you could say
about Spencer Ratler as well, good arm, not great, but
has that like gunsant slinger mentality. I don't think he'll
be afraid to take deep shots and stuff like that.
Will they work sometimes not all the time. But I
(19:57):
think best case scenario though, is the Saints hick one
and ride with that player. Because we could talk about
lots of experience in the past, but nothing is more
frustrating than when an offense is constantly changing its quarterback
because obviously the tendency has changed, but also like which
player does this quarterback have the chemistry with and and
(20:19):
stuff like that, and it makes it almost where you
have to take a wait and see approach every time
a quarterback changes. So, look, I'm not going after the Saints.
I know we're going to talk about them, but if
you are, you just hope that one of these guys
wins the job.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Yeah, I think that's sort of the thing, and I
you know, I feel like that's the thing in a
lot of places, right I think you could say the
same thing in Indianapolis, where where whichever way you decide
to go at quarterback, if it's Daniel Jones or Anthony Richardson,
just ride with that guy. I me know, barring injury
or something like that. I just don't want a revolving door.
I think you could say the same in Cleveland too,
(20:54):
Right with whatever of the four quarterbacks the Browns decide
to land on, just just have that be the guy
for as long as you possibly can. So, yeah, we'll
talk about the Browns, We'll talk about the Saints. We'll
talk about some offenses that were a little bit queasy about.
But the guys that you that we feel like you
can probably ride with a little bit during the season.
Stick around for that and more coming up here on
(21:15):
the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Back on the show, we
are still mock drafting. Shout out to our pal Andrew
Cooper over at Fantasy Alarm. We are about midway through
round seven. I'm gonna be on the clock in just
a bit, so I uh, oh, guy, scroll, I see
(21:36):
Joe Mixon not drafting him in the seventh round.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Here the running back run in the sixth round was crazy, was.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Insane because I was sitting there, like eight picks away like,
there's six running backs I'm good with here, and they
none of them made it to me. Yeah, if you
want to go through the run, it was Javonte Williams,
DeAndre Swift, James Connor. I took Isaiah pa check O,
Chuba Hubb went right after that. JJ McCarthy breaks up
the run. But then you get R. J.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Harvey and Trevion Henderson before Florio takes TJ. Hawkinson. So yeah,
just an insane running back string there. In the sixth round,
we finished up the first segment talking about the Saints offense.
Whether or not Jake Hanner does get a real shot
at quarterback remains to be seen. What does that mean
(22:26):
for the regular season. I think it's way too early
to be able to tell. But I finished with that
on purpose because wanted to get into offense is that
we aren't really super excited about. In fact, I made
the title of this show most Scariest Fantasy Offenses parentheses derogatory.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Because emphasize right, like they're.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Not scary and like, oh my goodness, there's so many weapons,
like what are we gonna do? This is like scary,
as in, like I don't want to draft these guys
because this could sink my year. But let's start it
with the Saints, right, because you know they had that
explosion the first two weeks of the season where they
scored like ninety one points and then it was a
slog the rest of the year. With this group, now
(23:10):
they're going through major quarterback changes, They've overhauled a lot
of things. The expectation is this team is going to
be bad this year. But is there somebody there in
New Orleans that you can look at and say, you
know what, I can make a really strong case for
drafting him. Not just a hey, I'll take him at
ADP or if he falls in my lap. Just a
guy that you're like, hey, look I will I would
(23:31):
be proud to tell you that I have this player
on my team. There is not.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Mine is solely the first reason he said, because of
the ADP. And that's CRUs O lave. Because my thinking is, like, look, one,
I'm avoiding this Saint like I like Kellen Moore as
a play caller, but it's possible we see all three
quarterbacks play this year, and like I was talking about
last segment, that could be a headache for fantasy purposes.
(24:00):
But the one thing I feel good about, and then
you can make a case Alvin Kamara, right, but he's
at that age cliff where any year could be the
year that he falls off, and he was starting to
approach that before last season, which gives me pause. So
the thing I feel best about is that one he's
healthy and out there, Chris Olave will be the top
(24:20):
target for the Saints. What will that look like? Probably
a lot of inconsistencies, but at ADP of wide receiver
thirty four right now, where this is a guy that
for years was going as a top twelve wide receiver,
going as a first or second round pick. Like last year.
I remember we were all arguing, I is he worth
a second round pick and stuff? Now you're getting him
(24:43):
rounds later. At look at the wide receivers going right
after him. It's like Juwan Jennings, Jordan Addison, Deebo, Samuel
Jerry Judy. I could argue that he brings Alave brings
the most upside maybe outside of Juwan Jennings. I can
make an easy argument that he brings the most upside
of those receivers in his immediate range. So at that cost,
(25:04):
it's not a I'm proud to have him on my team.
It's more like a there's there's still some upside here
to reduce costs.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
All right, that's fair. I think Olave is kind of
the guy you know he's gonna go earlier. I would
say the three earliest guys are gonna be Alvin Kamara,
who like, look, it could be great, this could be
the year it all falls apart. Who knows for Kamara?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Do you find yourself targeting him?
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Because I don't know, Yes, I do not h Then
there's gonna be a Lave who I think a lot
of people are look at and like well at ADP
and the fact that a healthy Olave is probably gonna
be the target leader that makes him worth taking. The
guy that I am willing to take a swing at
is gonna be Rashid Shahed. You know, he's had a
(25:50):
an extended period of time to get healthy after an
injury last year. He's kind of low key, a B
S B S O H L candidate. He apparently has
bulked up this year trying to just get stronger. He's
already fast, we know that. And I think though he
is a guy where he could be sort of quarterback dependent.
(26:12):
I think you're gonna want a quarterback who's gonna be
willing to take shots down the field, and that's where
Shaheed's value is is going to lie. Now, I'm curious
whether or not Kellen Moore is going to draw some
extra things up to kind of get him a little
bit more involved in the offense, to kind of find
different ways of getting him the football. But I just
(26:33):
think one, you know, and maybe this is me falling
back into this trap where the ADP is definitely helps,
But I do think you're gonna see an expanded role
for him this year. And so you know, when you
look around and the guys that are going around him
at wide receiver, you know, Trey Harris is still very
much and unknown. Same with Jayden Higgins in the Texans
wide receiver room. You know, there's just not a lot
(26:55):
of clarity there beyond Nico Collins. I think Marque's brand
and actually might be being underdrafted. I think I think
he's gonna, you know, outperform his ADP for sure. Marvin
Mims maybe if he ever is officially introduced to Sean Payton,
we can start talking about Marvin Mims again, Jack Besh.
I mean, it's like there are a lot of names
around where he is going, Yeah, where It's just like
(27:17):
there's so many question marks where at least we have
some idea of what it looks like with with Rashid Shahith,
so I feel like I can make a pretty good
case for him.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
In New Orleans, mandatory shout out to Patrick Claybonn because
we talked about.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Yeah, yeah, that's that's been his dude for the last
year or two, So a shout out him for sure.
Over in Cleveland the Browns. Obviously headlining them from a
fantasy perspective is the fact that there are four quarterbacks
that are there that we're sort of trying to sift through.
(27:54):
Are you of the belief that Joe Flacco is the
Week one starter?
Speaker 2 (28:00):
I think most more than likely.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I think the early camp battle for like who's gonna
start is between Flacco and Picket, and then I think
the rookies are battling for who's going to play more
in the second half of the year because it ain't
gonna work out with with Flacco or Picket. So especially
worth mentioning two like they have no idea what's going
on with Quishawn Jenkins right now and if he's going
(28:25):
to be there or not this year. It's starting to
look more and more like he might not play for them.
So there goes the running game as well. Like it,
this is a gross offense.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
It is really really bad. Yeah. Quin Shawn Judkins, obviously
away from the team, has not signed his contract, was
arrested a couple of weeks ago on charges of battery
and domestic violence. The Browns sort of trying to navigate that,
but you know, certainly is not off.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
He's on the sign too.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Yeah, I believe he is the last draft pick to sign,
So that's definitely a big, big thing going on with him.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
You are a thet lock.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Yeah, I'm scrolling as I'm talking here, trying to figure
out what I want to do, like and we gotta
keep scrolling. Ish the wide receivers or are not great here.
Uh so I'm gonna go back to the running back. Well,
and all right, maybe he's old, but I still believe
in Aaron Jones, So I will take him with my
(29:22):
eighth round pick, and that leaves Jordan Mason for La
Kwan later on in the draft. You can take him.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Being that.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
The Browns offense, though, is gross. If you had to
mildly softly pound the table for someone, maybe tap the table,
knock on the table for a Brown Who would it be?
Speaker 2 (29:45):
I am the one who knocks. Look, I'm not the
Jerry I've already kind of bede vocal on this, like
I'm not the Jerry Judy supporter. I think it was
just a perfect storm of having a play caller Pepper's
his wide receiver one with targets, and having a quarterback
like Jameis Winston who is just locks in on his
wide receiver one that really led to him having that
(30:06):
stretch last season. But Deontay Johnson, I know, he's coming
off of one of the weirdest years in recent memory,
but none of it had to do with his talent.
In fact, when he was playing for the Panthers, he
outperformed Marvin Harrison Junior on a per game basis, like
he outperformed Khalil Shakiir on a per game basis, Like
he was productive and now he is still one of
(30:27):
the best at getting open, creating separation. All of that
he is though maybe like the Browns were the only
team that offered him a contract, I think he knows
that like this is yeah, so if his head is
on straight, we know we could get open. And I
believe he has a chance to be this team's top target.
But yet not only in best ball drafts. To see
(30:48):
like an eighteenth round pick. In most of your home
leagues when you're drafting this month, he's gonna go undrafted.
So at that's such a cheap reduced cost. I am
in on Deontay Johnson.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
All right, So Deontay Johnson being one, I'm gonna go
with David and Joku. Just I look at what this
offense potentially is. I look at the quarterback options, and
I'll say this, I think they're going to make Joe
Flacco the week one starting quarterback. I honestly think they
would be better off going with either Dylan Gabriel or
(31:23):
Shad or Sanders as their QB one from the beginning.
Because you are not expected to go anywhere, right, there
are no expectations that the Browns are going to be competitive,
that they're going to be a playoff team. Why not
put the young guys back there see what you have,
see if there's something to develop and to build around,
(31:45):
and if it turns out that neither of them are
the answer that they are both bad. Put yourself in
position to take another bite at the quarterback apple in
next year's draft. Right, maybe you are in on the
March for Arch for next year, which, by the way,
so I can get your your thoughts on this, I've
(32:05):
come up with March for Arch. I've had a friend
who came up with Arch madness. Which one do you prefer?
Arch Madness is really good.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
I was really good from March for Arch, But Arch madness,
I think I think my clear it.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Arch madness is really really good. Like I'm willing to
stand down on March for Arch.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
When you first I was like, that's not gonna be topped,
and then yeah, that might have been topped.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Arch arch Madness is really really good. So anyway, the
Browns could be in on Arch Madness. Yeah, but why
not give what I mean, there's no point. I just
feel like there's no point on having Joe flacko or
can he Pickett start? You kind of know what that
is and you know you're not going anywhere, Like those
guys aren't gonna be the key to suddenly make you
a playoff team, So like why would you bother? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (32:48):
I think it was the Browns owner today who said
he thinks arch madness. He was like, I know the Mannings.
They go to college for two years, so he doesn't
expect it to happen right away.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
All right, you're back on the clock again. By the way,
So this range in this draft is awful. It's it's
weird for sure. Anyway, there's a long way of saying
that I'm in on David Njoku because I look at
this team and the quarterback situation is a mess. The
offensive line is not particularly going to be great. I
just think you're gonna have quarterbacks whoever they are, under
(33:22):
a lot of duress. You also don't necessarily have a
ton of mobile guys. I think I think Shouduur Sanders
is probably more mobile than he gives himself credit for.
Like I when I watched him at Colorado, there were
plenty of times where I felt like he could have
and probably should have taken off and run. Instead, he
wanted to stay in the pocket and try to make
big plays with his arm, And I mean it's commendable,
(33:44):
but I don't know that it helps you or your
offense in the long run. But either way, whoever the
quarterback is is going to be a under pressure a lot,
which means a lot of quick short throws right, getting
it out quickly, getting getting the ball in the hands
of your playmakers, and letting them more. And I think
that's going to apply a lot to David in Djoku,
so you know he's not going off the board. Is
(34:05):
one of the first six or eight tight ends. But
I do think the ceiling has him amongst that group,
just because I think the targets are going to be there,
because they're gonna have to be there more than anything.
With this group, it gets into the Tennessee Titans, and
all apologies to our pal and former podcast producer here
(34:27):
justin Graver, the Titans are going to be bad. And
I know people are trying to get excited about cam Ward.
I've seen a lot of cam Ward's got that dog
in him and you know whatever, but the personnel around
him is not particularly great. Who are you at least
willing to maybe take a swing at and be like,
all right, I can sort of live with this.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
This is one that like when you ask about the Saints,
like who are you proud to roster? It's this one.
Calviny is my guy, a right, he has been for
like three years now, I feel like, but you look
at what he did last season, one hundred and twenty
targets over one thousand yards only the four touchdowns, Like
to me, it feels a lot like that was his floor,
(35:10):
and you look at it, like the quarterback play ranged
from awful to slightly less awful last year, Like Will
Levis wasn't good. Mason Rudolph. I know people thought he
was good, but I think that's only because people watched
Will Levis play for so long. By comparison, Like to me,
cam Ward brings way more upside than either of those
two quarterbacks last year. And I think you could make
(35:32):
an argument that cam Ward could I don't know if
I had a rookie outperform what Trevor Lawrence was two
years ago, but like could play in that range. But
unlike those last two years, there's not a clear cut
number two target. Like I know de Hop was kind
of washed last year, but he was still getting volume.
(35:52):
And then in Jacksonville there was Christian Kirk. So I
think it's possible that we see Calvin Ridley get back
to that like hundred thirty five hundred and forty target
range that we've seen him have some years in the past,
a better quarterbacktually lead to more scoring opportunities. Really, I
find myself a lot higher on Calvin Ridley than consensus.
(36:12):
I thought I could wait in this draft and maybe
still end up with him. But our boy La Kwan
also likes him. But yeah, for me, like the I
don't really find myself in many Titans, but Calvin Ridley
is one that I like, will pull up a little
bit if.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
I have to, All right, Uh, yeah, Ridley he is one,
I guess because I'm just generally sort of meh about
the Titans offense. I think it. I think Ridley falls
under that category.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
For me, just has a number one QB ever gotten less.
I know this is Kyle Bryant talking point, but like
at this point, it's it's true, Like I don't think
we've ever talked less about a number one pick.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Yeah, no, you're right, yeah, because like I mean, we've
talked more about Shudur Sanders than we have cam Ward
and even during the draft.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Process it was like our rewards won, like that was
the most we talked about him.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
Like pretty yeah, I don't know if you've seen you know,
Drew me, Drew Maggory does his yearly uh why Your
Team Sucks series, which is always hilarious. I just happened
to come across the Titans one the other day, and
it always is funny because he includes emails letters from
fans of the particular team at the end and somebody
(37:26):
was talking about that one of the letters talked about
cam Ward and it's like, no one's talked about cam Ward,
Like I'm surprised that the TV networks didn't just cut
away immediately once it wasn't Shador Sanders at the number
one day first, that's it, you know, so, uh no,
you're right for a number one overall pick. He's gotten
very little, very little hype. I'm stinking with the guy
(37:48):
that I have been on pretty much all off season long,
and that's Eli Ioman Or you know, there was always
a chance he was one of two fourth round wide
receiver picks for the Times. But he's the one who
I think has gotten the most attention, and that's continued
so far in the early part of training camp that
you know, you look, you watch the beat reports and
(38:10):
they have said that you know, not only just off
the field, has he proven to be just a very nice,
engaging guy. But that he seems to be picking up
the playbook very quickly and getting up to speed very quickly.
And it's a wide receiver room that doesn't have much
I mean, I think the best description I saw somebody
wrote that the depth chart at wide receiver for the
(38:31):
Titans had Calvin Ridley followed by Hopes and then prayers
like that was that was the wide receiver room. So
there's very much a chance for ioman Or to come
in and be an impact player. And granted, look you're
not drafting him expecting you're just going to throw him
in the lineup every single week. But he's one of
those guys that you can draft late, see how he
(38:52):
develops and maybe by the time, you know, we get
a month or two into the season, Uh, you know,
he looked like a guy that that could be a
nice flex option for you.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
So this Titans receiver room would have dominated the NFL
in twenty eighteen. They got Ridley, Lockett, and Van Jefferson.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Like, yeah, I've seen early talk that Tyler Lockett is
like number five on the depth chart right now.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Like, I'm convinced that Tyler Lockett's in Tennessee right now
because he knows Nashville is an up and coming city,
and he's trying to sell real estate.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
You know what, he's got the real estate thing like
that he's working on right now. I know he was
doing that in Seattle, trying to help people find homes.
So you're right, you know, Nashville is booming. Apparently it
is booming of the sun Belt area of the country
doing well when it comes to housing. So look, man,
I'm I mean, look, I've always said, as I'm on
(39:46):
the clock here that one of Peyton Manning's most brilliant
business moves was buying a slew of pizza places right
as Colorado legalized marijuana.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Like why wouldn't you and not just regular pizza places.
The pizza places are open late.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
Night, yes, exactly, like you know, you knew what was
going on.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
He also he doesn't have to pay an adverte. It's
like uh, Ryan Reynolds with mint mobile, right, Like, he
doesn't have to pay an ad guy. He just buys
a green screen and recorded himself.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
He doesn't.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
It's pretty smart.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
Yeah, for sure, I just took uh it's it's it's
kind of mid to late rounds, so I'm taking guys
that maybe are injured, but I think have upside when
they're healthy. I took Chris Godwin the ninth round. I
took our boy Joe Mixon in the tenth. He was
just hanging out. There's a syenth round. Joe Mixon was
still there, Like, I'm I'm gonna take that at that point. Yeah,
I get that. I'm taking Joe Mixon, all right. So
(40:45):
through nine rounds my team I have Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield,
Jehan Robinson, Isaiah Pacheco, DJ Moore, DeVonta Smith, Chris Godwin,
Sam Laporta, Aaron Jones, and Joe Mixon. I of like
this team. I do as well, Chesstee, what is your
What does your roster look like? Right now?
Speaker 2 (41:04):
I'm on deck in the ninth but I have Josh Allen, Devon, Han,
Lad McConkie, Justin Fields, Terry McLaurin, T J. Howkinson, Caleb Johnson,
Juwan Jennings camp.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
Oh, you're the one who took Juwan Jennings. Yeah, yeah,
I had him. Sorry, I I him ready to go.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
I'm gonna take another. I don't know how you feel
about him, but kind of similar to your point with
like when the guys are like, that's how I viewed
Brandon Ayuk, Like, I'm not drafting him to be a starter,
but the second if he could get back to Brandon
Ayuk even close to that in the second half of
the year, I have an every week starter now, So
I find myself drafting him a good amount.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
Yeah, I know I'm one hundred percent there that, you know.
I think what we saw before the injury seemed to
be where he was trending. You know, last year, without
a doubt was a bad year. He had the holdout,
then he got hurt. All that was bad. But I
think if he can put that behind him, I think
you end up with a solid you know, at worst,
(42:05):
I think high end wide receiver too. So now I
have no problem with that at all. There. You know,
those are offenses, Saints, Brown's, Titans making some cases for
guys that maybe you want to take a shot at
in your drafts. Not done yet, because we got a
football game coming up on Thursday. Yeah, the Hall of
Fame game kicks off from Canton, Ohio on Thursday between
(42:28):
the Chargers and the Lions. Will take a break, come
back and talk about what we are looking for in
those sorts of games coming on next. I can talk
today on the NFL Fantasy Football podcast Football Like Substance.
It's your television on a Thursday night, the Hall of
Fame game eight pm Eastern on NBC and PECAI more
(42:50):
realistically probably like eight twenty eastern. Can I have a
minor complaint here? Can I just I? Can I old
man yell at cloud for a second? Yeah? One thing
that sports and other countries do better than us. They
don't lie about the time the game start. Like when
(43:10):
a soccer match says it is starting at noon, you
turn on at noon and they are kicking that thing off.
It's not that you turn it on at noon and
they want to do pregame interviews with the coaches and
they show you the anthem and then do the players like, no,
we told you this game is starting at new and
it is starting at noon, Like, you know, we should
do all the pregame stuff in the pregame show. We
(43:33):
have a whole lass pregame show that you know what,
if I, as a fan want to tune in, if
I want to see a pregame interview with the coach,
if I want to see the national anthem, if I
want to watch the guys run out on the field,
do all of that in the pregame show. But if
you tell me the game is gonna start at eight,
when I turn it on at eight, I want them
to be kicking the ball off. Ye's all, and especially
(43:55):
the Super Bowl, especially Super Bowl, Like you have eight
whole hours that you can do all this, Like we
don't need I enjoyed, I enjoy watching cooking videos as
much as the next person. We don't need a whole
hour on like what people are grilling on Super Bowl Sunday. Like,
we can cut that out and then we can do
all the like we can have the Rock give his
pregame speech from the field during the pregame show, so
(44:15):
that we're ready to play the Super Bowl. We just
play the super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
But how are they going to get those extra commercials in? Marcus?
Think about all the capitalists who need their advertising.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
I'm going to hold my tongue on that anyway. The
Hall of Fame game is scheduled for eight pm Eastern
Thursday on NBC and Peacock. Look, I know people are excited.
Football in its own special way is back. We know
how this thing goes, right? How much of the Hall
(44:47):
of Fame game do you expect you're going to tune
in for?
Speaker 2 (44:50):
So, I won't lie. I will be on my couch
with it on as if it was week one of
the kick I'm look like it's been since February, where
what like eight months since our last football game. I'm
sorry there, I want to watch it, but then by
like the second quarter, I'll be like, who are these guys?
(45:10):
I'll keep an eye on, but yeah, I'll be cooking
or eating, eating or doing something like that. This game, Look,
it's fun, it's exciting. It gets our football juices flowing again.
You get nothing out of it fantasy wise, You get
nothing out of it, you know, like analysis wise, because
the one thing we thought we could take away from
(45:31):
it a couple of years ago was Josh Jacobs to
be a bad thing and then he had his career year.
So you know what, it signifies more than anything, Marcus,
that a week from then we will be in Catin, Ohio.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
Yes, Yes, the Fantasy Football Expo is coming in just
a couple of weeks, so that's gonna be a lot
of fun. We should talk more about that probably in
the week or so to come. For those of you
who are planning to go, would love to see you there.
If you are not planning to go, it's probably not
too late. You can maybe cobble something together and get
out there. It is a great time. I will admit
you that I will probably turn it on, but I
(46:07):
will be doing other things at the same time as
as that's going on. I mean, I'll be honest with you.
It's uh, it's late July. It's also the same day
as the MLB trading deadline, so that's gonna I.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
Do like that. The deadline is at three our time,
and the game is I take that five four or five.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
Yeah, so we had a couple of hours to talk
baseball trades before football happens.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
I think the Mets are off, Yeah, they are.
Speaker 1 (46:38):
They're off Thursday to the Dodgers are off that day too,
so I don't have to worry about watching that.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
The metsage you guys a favor and swept the Giants
this past weekend.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
And we thank you for your service.
Speaker 2 (46:49):
Almost they should have been the Padres last night, but
that's they're reliever didn't cover first base.
Speaker 1 (46:56):
Oh, pull the pull, the Garrett Cole pull, the Garrett Cole.
Good uh, yeah, now I will. I will have the
game on. I'm sure I will be doing other things.
And I think, especially as you mentioned, by the time
we get to the second quarter, and definitely by the
time we get to you know, the second half, very
little attention will be paid to it. I will come
(47:16):
back and maybe check. I'll check social media and see
who you know who seem to put up decent numbers
in that game.
Speaker 2 (47:23):
I know it's called the Hall of Fame game, but
friend of the show, I think we should call it
the Emory Huntball because only Hunt is going to know
the players in the second half. Like that's it.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
Yeah, anybody in particular that you are checking for.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
In this thing, who's going to be playing, you know,
like that if any of the starters or any even
the rotational pieces, any of those guys are in. And look,
if you want to pay attention, like we will hear
that day, like who the team is going is planning
on giving reps to and stuff. But it's kind of
(47:58):
a guessing game until then. But yeah, that that's what
I'll be looking more than anything. And that's what I
think preseason, I look, not the Hall of Fame game really,
but like preseason. I don't want to see like huge performances.
I more want to see who's getting the snaps with
the with the starters and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (48:16):
Yeah, I think that's sort of the important thing. Gavin,
our producer, who also is a resident Charger fan, is
giving a shout out to KeAndre Lambert Smith, who right now, Hey,
I'm not gonna lie to you. I took him with
I think my last pick in the scott Fish Bowl,
So who knows, maybe something happens there. Yeah, I think
I think we'll get to see some of these rookies,
(48:38):
you know. I would imagine we'll see a little bit
of Trey Harris. I think we will see Lambert Smith.
You know, I don't know how much of Omari and Hampton.
He may get a couple of carries here and there.
So I think that's gonna be so interesting to watch. Yeah,
I think that'll be kind of interesting to watch on
that side of things. I think on the Lion's side, you.
Speaker 2 (48:56):
Know, I.
Speaker 1 (48:58):
Don't know, you know, I I would be shocked if
we see Golf or Gibbs or Montgomery Laporta. You know,
I'm on raw, like those guys are proven, Like, yeah,
I mean, those guys will probably be in street clothes
for the majority of it. Curious the Isaac Teslaw? Is
it Teslaw? Is it Tesla? I'm not sure how we I.
Speaker 2 (49:18):
Like Tesla because it doesn't sound like the car.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
That's fair. So we'll see him. I think for sure
he was a guy who got a lot of hype
I think coming out of the draft. So you know,
I'm here's kind of how he how he performs if
he gets an opportunity in this one. So you know,
I'm kind of with you. I just want to see
who is getting the early snaps I think is kind
(49:42):
of the way to go. And then the second half.
If there's somebody who has a good second half, I
think that becomes sort of a name to pay attention to.
But you know, I think more than anything that people
are just excited to watch a football game.
Speaker 2 (49:55):
Yeah, that's what this is more than anything, right, Like,
don't go in you would expect him to get answers
for this season. Just enjoy that football is back on
your screen for a couple hours.
Speaker 1 (50:06):
You know, there will be takes. There will be takes
had over the weekend like Friday, Saturday, Sunday. There will
be takes, you know, because that's just what people do.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
I am getting excited though, because the Hall of Fame
game is usually like Hard Knocks comes right after that.
Speaker 1 (50:27):
Yeah, yeah, your bills are the feature team, aren't Hard
Knocks August fit.
Speaker 2 (50:33):
So next Tuesday? Yeah, so perfect?
Speaker 1 (50:35):
Like all right.
Speaker 2 (50:36):
I saw I was driving over the weekend and there
was a huge billboard that had Christian Benford on it,
and I was like, this is why I like Hard
Knocks because no one knows who that is, but he
deserves to shine.
Speaker 1 (50:47):
Like, oh man, that'll be fun. By the way, a
quick note, Flora and I will be at RAMS training
camp this week, so look for our interviews. They should
be dropping on Thursday. No, no cheat sheet coming up
this week. Instead, we will hit you with our interviews
that we do out at RAMS camp. I'm not sure
(51:07):
who we're going to talk to just yet. We are
we're efforting some big names. We are not We're not optimistic,
like you know, we're not optimistic that they're gonna send us.
Matthew Stafford or Puka Nakua or DeVante Adams would be great.
We will see, but stay around. Should be interesting though
(51:28):
to see, uh kind of watch them at work there
and you know, talk to some guys about what their
expectations are for the year for sure. So there you go.
I'm not on the clock for a while, so I
got a little bit of time before I get back
on the clock for the draft. Very interesting again, Go
check out Andrew Cooper over at Fantasy Alarm. He'll be
doing a whole ride up on this mock draft. Hopefully
it will sound a lot clearer than we made it
(51:50):
sound as we were interjecting during the course of this podcast.
There you go. That'll do it for this edition of
the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. They happy, safe and healthy,
do good and live well. Enjoy the days everybody, enjoy
the Hall of Fame game, because we will talk to
you again for a live show until afterwards, but we
will talk to you all again very very soon. Wo
Wow, Hey everybody, It's Tuesday, July twenty nine, twenty twenty five.
Welcome to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, where attentions kind
of split at the moment. It's me and your man,
NAMG Marcus Grand joined by Michael F. Florio no LaQuan Jones.
(00:22):
Today he is doing research for the network for a
inside training camp. So I don't know, maybe we can
tacking text him and tap in see if you can
give us some information about what's going on or something
that'd be fun.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
He's gonna find the six thring string running back and
be like, this is someone you need to add to
your to your watch list right now.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
This is primetime for RB three right now. For sure.
For sure, I say that we are a little bit
distracted at the moment because Florio and I a LaQuan actually,
for that matter, we are all right now doing a
live mock draft. Our friend Andrew Cooper over at Fantasy
Alarm is doing a super Flex month draft. He's going
(01:03):
to be riding about it, so keep your eye out.
If you don't follow him, you should absolutely do that
across social media platforms. So we agreed to be in
the monk. It's happening at this exact time. We said
we might talk about it a little bit. We may
talk about it on occasion throughout this pod. But if
one of us pauses awkwardly in the middle of a sentence,
it's probably because we are on the clock. In fact,
(01:26):
we are what We're in the third round right now.
Who have you taken? And you're with your first two picks?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
H I'm on deck with my third. But it's a
super flex, so pick Look, pick three is the pick
you want in a super flex in my opinion, because
I think there's a clear cut top three. And oh
I just got sniped. I wanted aj Brown, so I'll
take let So I took Josh Allen at three. He
fell to three. Uh, and then I took Devon a Chen,
who I love at the end of round two. And
(01:53):
I'm going to take very polarizing player on this show,
Glad McConkie, with my third.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Overall, all right, all right, and you are You said
you're picking from the third spots, So yeah, I am
picking from the eighth spot. So by the time it
came around to me, and you know, no surprise in
a superflex, most of the top quarterbacks were gone. So
instead at the number eight pick, I went with Jean Robinson, who,
by the way, we have learned officially it is bijon.
(02:20):
It is not bijon. It does not rhyme with a
type of mustard.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, I will apologize in advance that bijon is going
to slip out of my mouth at least a couple
of times this preseason.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, I'm sure a lot of folks are gonna have
to readjust at that. So but I took Bejon Robinson
with the number eight pick, and then on the return
the fifth pick in the second round, I was like, well,
I got to get at least one quarterback before the
first two rounds are up. So I took Patrick Mahomes
and I am two picks away trying to figure out
(02:52):
what I do with my next move here.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
So laquant team is very lakwan.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
I saw you just took Tyreek.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Hill in the things Joe Burrow bo Nick's Tyreek Hill.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Oh yeah, it's one hundred percent of.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
You could have guessed it by covering up the names.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah yeah, all right, So there you go. So we'll
kind of keep you updated on kind of what are
what is happening, what things are going on, uh in
this in this mock draft as we continue, but be
sure to go follow Andrew Cooper if you don't already
at Fantasy Alarm once this is over. He's gonna do
a big ride up on sort of what happened, and
you know, you can kind of get the taste of
(03:29):
but a lot of interesting names here, Dave Klugy, Mike Fayelah,
Jagger may Yeah, a lot of a lot of really
interesting people. Uh in. Andrew Erickson also in this draft
as well. Oh I'm on the clock now, So do
I take my second quarterback and just be done with
it or do I do something else? See, I got
(03:51):
another pick coming up, realiselusent. So I'm gonna go. I'm
gonna get my second quarterback. I'm gonna take Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Okay, yeah you can't. I mean you can't go wrong there.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah, yeah, you know what, there's another name there and
maybe I wanted, but you know what, I'm fine. I'm
fine with Baker. So I got Baker Mayfield in the third,
Patrick Mahomes in the second, John Robinson in the first round.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So yeah, I'm happy about you and NLQ of two
quarterbacks because now I could say this, no one else
is here in this right now, justin fields might make
it to me I was afraid might not make a pass.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
You guys, yeah, yeah, all right, this could That would
be a very Florio team if you if you got him.
We are talking today about offenses that maybe we're avoiding,
but we're doing our best to make a case for
at least one guy on all of these bad offenses
at least projected to be bad offenses. Right Because I
(04:46):
was having a conversation with somebody recently. We were kind
of running down the list of all these teams where
it's like, do I really want somebody off this roster?
And you know, I feel like if we look at
it and we actually think about it, every roster has
at least one or two players where you can make
a strong case for. And it wasn't just a yeah,
I guess I'll take this guy if he falls to
(05:07):
me at ADP, but like, guys, you can look at
and say, you know what, I can make a really
strong case why you should be drafting this player. So
we're gonna try to do that today as well. Also,
we've got football like substance coming up this week. We
are two days away from the Hall of Fame game
in Canton, Ohio, so we'll kind of preview what we
expect for that obviously. Look, I always refer to it
(05:30):
as football like substance. It's not exactly what we're expecting.
You know, it's the Chargers and Lions kind of in
name only, but you know, there's always something, there's always
something to talk about and to watch for that. But
when it started with a few news ish headlines, obviously
training camp is going on, which means we've had a
(05:51):
lot of injuries to sort of pay attention to. Last week,
the big one was justin Fields that caused a little
bit of a mini freak out when he was card
it off. Turns out it wasn't really that serious. It
was a dislocated non big toe. Fact. He was back
on the practice field the very next day. So we've
got some other guys who have left practice things I
guess to sort of keep an eye on, but maybe
(06:14):
nothing to freak out over just yet. Xavier Worthy was
reportedly hearted off. Again. I don't know if this is
a serious thing or if this is just like a
justin Fields thing. Can you ellaborate on that, because I
am on the clock, right Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
No, I we're looking for updates and stuff. Last I
saw it was just that that he exited the field. Today,
I know more. Keith Brown was also a little bit
banged up. But we're also at that time of year
where teams are being overly cautious and like I'll speak
from the Bills standpoint, like they have like seven or
(06:54):
eight players right now being held out because of like injuries,
and a lot of them have said, like if it
was a and we could play. And I think that's
with a lot of these injuries right now, because one,
it's the ramp up period, so you don't want anyone
to push it and then maybe take something that's a
minor injury and turn it into major. But also you
got five and a half weeks before Week one, Like
(07:16):
if you can ever be cautious and optimistic and stuff
like that, it's right now.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yeah, So Xavier Worthy appeared to be shaken up again.
I'm not going to freak out until we get more
information that it's actually serious. Malak Neighbors had a shoulder issue.
He left practice. It sounds like he's kind of done
for the day, but it also sounds like again the
Giants are just exercising an abundance of caution with a
player that's going to be critically important for them this year.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Where are you like? Look, I love them. The leak
neighbors that's known if he listened to this show, but
I think he should like be a top five wide
receiver all of that. But does it worry you at
all that he dealt with the shoulder injury last year
as well?
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I mean it does now that you said that. It
was not the first thing that popped into my head. No,
I'm I'm gonna just say, Look, they're just sort of
a you know, exercising caution. I yeah, I don't even know.
Do we know if it's the same shoulder, if it's
a different shoulder, I do not.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I just love shoulder And I first thing I thought
it was like, I don't know that bothered him last
year too.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, So right now I'm choosing to not freak out
over any of these things. But we are going to
be hit with a deluge of these sorts of tweets
and posts and stuff for the next few weeks, So
we're gonna have to learn to kind of temper our
our emotions at this point one that does appear to
(08:43):
be a little bit serious is Joe Mixon dealing with
a foot injury. He is on the team's non football
injury list, but Florio there's talked that he could be
out for an extended period of time and it's possible
he could miss Week one. I know you're on the
clock right now. So oh yeah, I believe you're on
(09:04):
the clock. Yeah you are. Which, by the way, for
an update, my fourth round pick was DJ Moore. I
feel like I needed to get a wide receiver before
too many more of them went, so he was my
fourth round pick. But back to Joe Mixon foot injury.
NFL networks ian Rappaport reporting that it could be an
(09:25):
extended period of time that he is out of action,
chance that he misses Week one of the season, a
game against the Los Angeles Rams. I'm with this news.
I mean, we talk about missing regular season games and
that's going to affect ADP. How far do you think
he's going to fall down draft boards at this point?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
I wish we had Lakwan here today because Lakwan has
been the Joe Mixon believer on this show. But looking
at his ADP before he got hurt. He was. I'm
pulling it up now, but I believe he was going
in like the fifth round.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Yeah, late fourth, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
That needs to fall like it and for me, it
needs to fall a good amount, like so on underdog ADP.
Right now, he's in the sixth round, but like the
seventh round has like DeAndre Swift, Isaiah Pacheco, I'm taking
those guys over him. The eighth round is like Brian Robinson,
Jordan Mason, etn ninth round, So like eighth, ninth round,
(10:24):
I guess is probably where I expect his ADP to settle.
But maybe this is just me being like I already
was kind of out on mixing. But injury history, plus
he's had, he's getting up there in age. He already
missed a bunch of time last year. I think he
missed like four games last season. I have concerns, big
(10:47):
concerns with Joe Mixon because it's not like this is
just a foot injury that popped up at training camp,
Like the Texans have admitted that this has been going
on since the spring, and they downplayed it when he
missed Mini camp and stuff like that. So to me,
this this is really concerning and football is such a
(11:07):
violent game where where players are going to get hurt
in season that I don't know if I like, I know,
in the past I've been like, I'll take an injury
discount on a player, and sometimes it works out, sometimes
it doesn't. But I think when you have a back
that's already up there in age and who already has
a history of missing time, it's a little bit different.
(11:28):
And so for me, I don't really see myself unless
we get a huge discount on Joe Mixon really being
in on him. But with that said, like I think
I'm out on this Texans backfield altogether. Like I don't know,
if you saw the quotes on Nick Chubb, they are
not good. They're like he's not the same guy, and like, by.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
The way, you're on the clock, you got less than
a minute. By the way, I'm trying to wait for
you to finish, but you were gonna keep going.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
So I was like, yeah, no, thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Yeah. So I mean the thing with mixing is to
your point, he has been good to miss a couple
of games pretty much every year. There's only been a
couple of times in his career where he's played every
game during the season. I know that that is sort
of the case with every running back, but you know,
with mix In especially just because his production week to
(12:16):
week tends to be a little bit inconsistent, the fact
that he could miss some time, especially early in the year,
and the fact he's gonna miss kind of that ramp
up time, you know, I think being able to be
there in camp work with this team. I get it.
He was there last year, had a very good year,
but I still think there's something to be said for
just getting that timing down as as you get into
(12:38):
the regular season, and then he thought that he could
miss possibly Week one, and who knows beyond that a
little bit, a little bit disconcerting, I mean, real quick,
Let's give you some names, though, Joe Mixin, Er, Caleb Johnson,
Caleb Johnson, Joe mixoner, Tony Pollard, Tony Pollard, Joe Mixon,
or Brian Robinson.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
That we're getting to a range where I think Mixon
belongs in that group. All right, I probably go the
healthy Robinson though.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Okay, a couple more Joe Mixon or Tyrone Tracy.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I'm the cam Skataboo guy. But yeah, so I guess
I'll go Mixon.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
There, all right, Joe Mixon or Jalen Warren.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I feel like there's more upside with mix in, but
I don't feel great, like I don't want to be
in the market for.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Needing it, like like.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
In that range, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
All right, yeah, okay, So then you're so right now
you're looking at you know, based on Fantasy pros ADPs,
you're looking right around running back thirty one, thirty two
something like that for Joe Mixon, which kind of right
now puts him in the mid RB three range.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
I'm Brian Robinson though, I just want to mention this name.
Jacorey Krosky Merritt is getting so much hype out of
their camp right now. So just another headache maybe for
that backfield because Robinson and Eckler probably aren't going away.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah, I think that's kind of something to to pay
attention to. I'm back on the clock. The wide receivers
have thinned out.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
And also I don't want to say what site we're
playing on, but the rankings on this site are not great.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Nothing site is great, but yeah, the wide receivers have
thinned out really really quickly. I Am going to go
and I'll take Davonta Smith. All right, so my wide
receivers Davanta Smith and Dj Moore to go along with Mahomes,
Baker Mayfield, John Robinson.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
All Right, pretty good start.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
I think I feel okay about it. Debo Samuel says, quote,
I got a lot left in the tank. He's getting
a lot of positive reviews for what's going on at
training camp in Washington. We haven't talked a ton about Debo,
but your expectations for him now that he's in a
new place.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Well one. I can't wait for the day where a
player comes out and it's like I'm on E, like
I got.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Left, I'm washed, y'all.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Cordell Patterson did call himself, which was pretty funny. I
think Deebo is a better real life player at this
point in his career than fantasy. But I do think
his him being in Washington is a great thing for
Jaden Daniels because last year they had no one that
(15:24):
could really get them yack and and Deebo had more
yak than any commander's wide receiver and a lot of
those like short, quick like catch and run type of throws.
We're going to zach Ertz and no offense to zach Ertz,
he's got no catch and run ability left in him,
like he was kind of a catch and go down
type of targets. So I think if you add in
(15:44):
that Yak like, think about how good Jayden was and
now if he has the chance to turn short passes
into big chunk plays because Deebo can still do that,
I think that helps a lot. But I also worry
about Deebo's impact on this backfield because we already said
now they got the rookie, they got Brian Robinson, they
got Austin Eckler. Deebo is maybe he's not gonna be
(16:04):
a full time running back, but he he will get
some carries here and there. So for me, this as
good as I think this Commander's offense could be. It's
like Jaden and Terry and and those are the pieces
I want from it. After that, I think it's like
a it's a grouping that is gonna be much better
for real life purposes. But I think very inconsistent week
(16:25):
to week for fantasy.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Right, And I think that sort of sums up debo right,
is that there will there very well might be a
couple of spike weeks in there, right, because I think
they're going to use him in a similar fashion to
what Kyle Shanahan's done the last couple of years, where
he will do a lot of the you know, a
lot of the underneath, a lot of the dirty work,
a lot of short routes. They'll look for him to
have yards after the catch, all those sorts of things.
(16:49):
But you know, I think the big plays are gonna
come from Terry McLaurin. I think they're gonna They're gonna
try to find them in the running game. I'm not
sure how, but I think debo on a week's week
base is gonna be inconsistent. It'll be great for the
commander's offense, not great for your fantasy team. Yeah, you're
on the clock. So I am on the clock. I
know I'm listening to a couple of guys.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
It's really hard because I don't know about you. I
turned the sound off so I'm not hearing like everything.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I've thought about doing that, but I left the sound
on just so I knew what I was coming up.
On the clock. I'm looking at a couple of guys
that I know you like, and I'm debating which one
of them I'm going to take and is it.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
A running back? Yeah, please take the one I'm hoping
to get.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I will I will skip the one that I think
you want to get. So I am going to draft
Isaiah Pacheco, and I thought about not doing it. It
sort of worried me because I have my homes like
do I really want Pachecko as well? But I do
think Isaiah Checko's down is due for a bounce back
this year. There's another running back who is a rookie
(17:55):
who plays in the AFC East, who I know.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
You really really like those fair Those were I either
one of those two running backs were the two I
was like, I want this to be my next pick.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yeah, well, because I was looking for maybe DeAndre Swift
or James Connor and both those guys went off the
board just before it got back to me.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
So for what it's worth, like we're in the sixth
it's super flex. Usually this like fifth six round in irregular,
But like I love the running backs in this range.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, No, there's a lot of good running backs here.
I felt good about about a lot of options.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Lakwan with another la Qualm pick, taking R J.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Harvey r J Harvey Man. This is classic Lakwan. Other
quick bit of news ish, According to head coach Kellen Moore,
Jake Hayner is getting a real shot at a three
man race at the quarterback position in New Orleans. We're
gonna talk about the Saints in just a little bit,
but when you look at this group, I mean, I
don't think the expectations are high. I know you're on
(18:52):
the clock right now, so I will kind of fill
a buster.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
And all the running backs I wanted are gone.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Unfortunately, so somebody took Trevon Henderson huh just before Yeah yeah,
see well yeah it could have been me, but it
wasn't because you know, we're sort of collaborating here, I guess.
But obviously I think the talk right now is that
Tyler Shuck's gonna get maybe the first crack at thing.
Spencer Rattler is very much in the mix. The idea
(19:18):
of Jake Hayner getting a shot maybe throws a little
bit of a wrinkle into things. But Florio, I know
the expectations aren't high for the Saints offensively this year.
What is the best case scenario? And I guess I
guess my question really is who do we want to
be the quarterback here.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I think personally Tyler Shuck is who I'm rooting for
because a lot of college experience, which you could say
about Spencer Ratler as well, good arm, not great, but
has that like gunsant slinger mentality. I don't think he'll
be afraid to take deep shots and stuff like that.
Will they work sometimes not all the time. But I
(19:57):
think best case scenario though, is the Saints hick one
and ride with that player. Because we could talk about
lots of experience in the past, but nothing is more
frustrating than when an offense is constantly changing its quarterback
because obviously the tendency has changed, but also like which
player does this quarterback have the chemistry with and and
(20:19):
stuff like that, and it makes it almost where you
have to take a wait and see approach every time
a quarterback changes. So, look, I'm not going after the Saints.
I know we're going to talk about them, but if
you are, you just hope that one of these guys
wins the job.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Yeah, I think that's sort of the thing, and I
you know, I feel like that's the thing in a
lot of places, right I think you could say the
same thing in Indianapolis, where where whichever way you decide
to go at quarterback, if it's Daniel Jones or Anthony Richardson,
just ride with that guy. I me know, barring injury
or something like that. I just don't want a revolving door.
I think you could say the same in Cleveland too,
(20:54):
Right with whatever of the four quarterbacks the Browns decide
to land on, just just have that be the guy
for as long as you possibly can. So, yeah, we'll
talk about the Browns, We'll talk about the Saints. We'll
talk about some offenses that were a little bit queasy about.
But the guys that you that we feel like you
can probably ride with a little bit during the season.
Stick around for that and more coming up here on
(21:15):
the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Back on the show, we
are still mock drafting. Shout out to our pal Andrew
Cooper over at Fantasy Alarm. We are about midway through
round seven. I'm gonna be on the clock in just
a bit, so I uh, oh, guy, scroll, I see
(21:36):
Joe Mixon not drafting him in the seventh round.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Here the running back run in the sixth round was crazy, was.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Insane because I was sitting there, like eight picks away like,
there's six running backs I'm good with here, and they
none of them made it to me. Yeah, if you
want to go through the run, it was Javonte Williams,
DeAndre Swift, James Connor. I took Isaiah pa check O,
Chuba Hubb went right after that. JJ McCarthy breaks up
the run. But then you get R. J.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Harvey and Trevion Henderson before Florio takes TJ. Hawkinson. So yeah,
just an insane running back string there. In the sixth round,
we finished up the first segment talking about the Saints offense.
Whether or not Jake Hanner does get a real shot
at quarterback remains to be seen. What does that mean
(22:26):
for the regular season. I think it's way too early
to be able to tell. But I finished with that
on purpose because wanted to get into offense is that
we aren't really super excited about. In fact, I made
the title of this show most Scariest Fantasy Offenses parentheses derogatory.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Because emphasize right, like they're.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Not scary and like, oh my goodness, there's so many weapons,
like what are we gonna do? This is like scary,
as in, like I don't want to draft these guys
because this could sink my year. But let's start it
with the Saints, right, because you know they had that
explosion the first two weeks of the season where they
scored like ninety one points and then it was a
slog the rest of the year. With this group, now
(23:10):
they're going through major quarterback changes, They've overhauled a lot
of things. The expectation is this team is going to
be bad this year. But is there somebody there in
New Orleans that you can look at and say, you
know what, I can make a really strong case for
drafting him. Not just a hey, I'll take him at
ADP or if he falls in my lap. Just a
guy that you're like, hey, look I will I would
(23:31):
be proud to tell you that I have this player
on my team. There is not.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Mine is solely the first reason he said, because of
the ADP. And that's CRUs O lave. Because my thinking is, like, look, one,
I'm avoiding this Saint like I like Kellen Moore as
a play caller, but it's possible we see all three
quarterbacks play this year, and like I was talking about
last segment, that could be a headache for fantasy purposes.
(24:00):
But the one thing I feel good about, and then
you can make a case Alvin Kamara, right, but he's
at that age cliff where any year could be the
year that he falls off, and he was starting to
approach that before last season, which gives me pause. So
the thing I feel best about is that one he's
healthy and out there, Chris Olave will be the top
(24:20):
target for the Saints. What will that look like? Probably
a lot of inconsistencies, but at ADP of wide receiver
thirty four right now, where this is a guy that
for years was going as a top twelve wide receiver,
going as a first or second round pick. Like last year.
I remember we were all arguing, I is he worth
a second round pick and stuff? Now you're getting him
(24:43):
rounds later. At look at the wide receivers going right
after him. It's like Juwan Jennings, Jordan Addison, Deebo, Samuel
Jerry Judy. I could argue that he brings Alave brings
the most upside maybe outside of Juwan Jennings. I can
make an easy argument that he brings the most upside
of those receivers in his immediate range. So at that cost,
(25:04):
it's not a I'm proud to have him on my team.
It's more like a there's there's still some upside here
to reduce costs.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
All right, that's fair. I think Olave is kind of
the guy you know he's gonna go earlier. I would
say the three earliest guys are gonna be Alvin Kamara,
who like, look, it could be great, this could be
the year it all falls apart. Who knows for Kamara?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Do you find yourself targeting him?
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Because I don't know, Yes, I do not h Then
there's gonna be a Lave who I think a lot
of people are look at and like well at ADP
and the fact that a healthy Olave is probably gonna
be the target leader that makes him worth taking. The
guy that I am willing to take a swing at
is gonna be Rashid Shahed. You know, he's had a
(25:50):
an extended period of time to get healthy after an
injury last year. He's kind of low key, a B
S B S O H L candidate. He apparently has
bulked up this year trying to just get stronger. He's
already fast, we know that. And I think though he
is a guy where he could be sort of quarterback dependent.
(26:12):
I think you're gonna want a quarterback who's gonna be
willing to take shots down the field, and that's where
Shaheed's value is is going to lie. Now, I'm curious
whether or not Kellen Moore is going to draw some
extra things up to kind of get him a little
bit more involved in the offense, to kind of find
different ways of getting him the football. But I just
(26:33):
think one, you know, and maybe this is me falling
back into this trap where the ADP is definitely helps,
But I do think you're gonna see an expanded role
for him this year. And so you know, when you
look around and the guys that are going around him
at wide receiver, you know, Trey Harris is still very
much and unknown. Same with Jayden Higgins in the Texans
wide receiver room. You know, there's just not a lot
(26:55):
of clarity there beyond Nico Collins. I think Marque's brand
and actually might be being underdrafted. I think I think
he's gonna, you know, outperform his ADP for sure. Marvin
Mims maybe if he ever is officially introduced to Sean Payton,
we can start talking about Marvin Mims again, Jack Besh.
I mean, it's like there are a lot of names
around where he is going, Yeah, where It's just like
(27:17):
there's so many question marks where at least we have
some idea of what it looks like with with Rashid Shahith,
so I feel like I can make a pretty good
case for him.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
In New Orleans, mandatory shout out to Patrick Claybonn because
we talked about.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Yeah, yeah, that's that's been his dude for the last
year or two, So a shout out him for sure.
Over in Cleveland the Browns. Obviously headlining them from a
fantasy perspective is the fact that there are four quarterbacks
that are there that we're sort of trying to sift through.
(27:54):
Are you of the belief that Joe Flacco is the
Week one starter?
Speaker 2 (28:00):
I think most more than likely.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I think the early camp battle for like who's gonna
start is between Flacco and Picket, and then I think
the rookies are battling for who's going to play more
in the second half of the year because it ain't
gonna work out with with Flacco or Picket. So especially
worth mentioning two like they have no idea what's going
on with Quishawn Jenkins right now and if he's going
(28:25):
to be there or not this year. It's starting to
look more and more like he might not play for them.
So there goes the running game as well. Like it,
this is a gross offense.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
It is really really bad. Yeah. Quin Shawn Judkins, obviously
away from the team, has not signed his contract, was
arrested a couple of weeks ago on charges of battery
and domestic violence. The Browns sort of trying to navigate that,
but you know, certainly is not off.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
He's on the sign too.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Yeah, I believe he is the last draft pick to sign,
So that's definitely a big, big thing going on with him.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
You are a thet lock.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Yeah, I'm scrolling as I'm talking here, trying to figure
out what I want to do, like and we gotta
keep scrolling. Ish the wide receivers or are not great here.
Uh so I'm gonna go back to the running back. Well,
and all right, maybe he's old, but I still believe
in Aaron Jones, So I will take him with my
(29:22):
eighth round pick, and that leaves Jordan Mason for La
Kwan later on in the draft. You can take him.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Being that.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
The Browns offense, though, is gross. If you had to
mildly softly pound the table for someone, maybe tap the table,
knock on the table for a Brown Who would it be?
Speaker 2 (29:45):
I am the one who knocks. Look, I'm not the
Jerry I've already kind of bede vocal on this, like
I'm not the Jerry Judy supporter. I think it was
just a perfect storm of having a play caller Pepper's
his wide receiver one with targets, and having a quarterback
like Jameis Winston who is just locks in on his
wide receiver one that really led to him having that
(30:06):
stretch last season. But Deontay Johnson, I know, he's coming
off of one of the weirdest years in recent memory,
but none of it had to do with his talent.
In fact, when he was playing for the Panthers, he
outperformed Marvin Harrison Junior on a per game basis, like
he outperformed Khalil Shakiir on a per game basis, Like
he was productive and now he is still one of
(30:27):
the best at getting open, creating separation. All of that
he is though maybe like the Browns were the only
team that offered him a contract, I think he knows
that like this is yeah, so if his head is
on straight, we know we could get open. And I
believe he has a chance to be this team's top target.
But yet not only in best ball drafts. To see
(30:48):
like an eighteenth round pick. In most of your home
leagues when you're drafting this month, he's gonna go undrafted.
So at that's such a cheap reduced cost. I am
in on Deontay Johnson.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
All right, So Deontay Johnson being one, I'm gonna go
with David and Joku. Just I look at what this
offense potentially is. I look at the quarterback options, and
I'll say this, I think they're going to make Joe
Flacco the week one starting quarterback. I honestly think they
would be better off going with either Dylan Gabriel or
(31:23):
Shad or Sanders as their QB one from the beginning.
Because you are not expected to go anywhere, right, there
are no expectations that the Browns are going to be competitive,
that they're going to be a playoff team. Why not
put the young guys back there see what you have,
see if there's something to develop and to build around,
(31:45):
and if it turns out that neither of them are
the answer that they are both bad. Put yourself in
position to take another bite at the quarterback apple in
next year's draft. Right, maybe you are in on the
March for Arch for next year, which, by the way,
so I can get your your thoughts on this, I've
(32:05):
come up with March for Arch. I've had a friend
who came up with Arch madness. Which one do you prefer?
Arch Madness is really good.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
I was really good from March for Arch, But Arch madness,
I think I think my clear it.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Arch madness is really really good. Like I'm willing to
stand down on March for Arch.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
When you first I was like, that's not gonna be topped,
and then yeah, that might have been topped.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Arch arch Madness is really really good. So anyway, the
Browns could be in on Arch Madness. Yeah, but why
not give what I mean, there's no point. I just
feel like there's no point on having Joe flacko or
can he Pickett start? You kind of know what that
is and you know you're not going anywhere, Like those
guys aren't gonna be the key to suddenly make you
a playoff team, So like why would you bother? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (32:48):
I think it was the Browns owner today who said
he thinks arch madness. He was like, I know the Mannings.
They go to college for two years, so he doesn't
expect it to happen right away.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
All right, you're back on the clock again. By the way,
So this range in this draft is awful. It's it's
weird for sure. Anyway, there's a long way of saying
that I'm in on David Njoku because I look at
this team and the quarterback situation is a mess. The
offensive line is not particularly going to be great. I
just think you're gonna have quarterbacks whoever they are, under
(33:22):
a lot of duress. You also don't necessarily have a
ton of mobile guys. I think I think Shouduur Sanders
is probably more mobile than he gives himself credit for.
Like I when I watched him at Colorado, there were
plenty of times where I felt like he could have
and probably should have taken off and run. Instead, he
wanted to stay in the pocket and try to make
big plays with his arm, And I mean it's commendable,
(33:44):
but I don't know that it helps you or your
offense in the long run. But either way, whoever the
quarterback is is going to be a under pressure a lot,
which means a lot of quick short throws right, getting
it out quickly, getting getting the ball in the hands
of your playmakers, and letting them more. And I think
that's going to apply a lot to David in Djoku,
so you know he's not going off the board. Is
(34:05):
one of the first six or eight tight ends. But
I do think the ceiling has him amongst that group,
just because I think the targets are going to be there,
because they're gonna have to be there more than anything.
With this group, it gets into the Tennessee Titans, and
all apologies to our pal and former podcast producer here
(34:27):
justin Graver, the Titans are going to be bad. And
I know people are trying to get excited about cam Ward.
I've seen a lot of cam Ward's got that dog
in him and you know whatever, but the personnel around
him is not particularly great. Who are you at least
willing to maybe take a swing at and be like,
all right, I can sort of live with this.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
This is one that like when you ask about the Saints,
like who are you proud to roster? It's this one.
Calviny is my guy, a right, he has been for
like three years now, I feel like, but you look
at what he did last season, one hundred and twenty
targets over one thousand yards only the four touchdowns, Like
to me, it feels a lot like that was his floor,
(35:10):
and you look at it, like the quarterback play ranged
from awful to slightly less awful last year, Like Will
Levis wasn't good. Mason Rudolph. I know people thought he
was good, but I think that's only because people watched
Will Levis play for so long. By comparison, Like to me,
cam Ward brings way more upside than either of those
two quarterbacks last year. And I think you could make
(35:32):
an argument that cam Ward could I don't know if
I had a rookie outperform what Trevor Lawrence was two
years ago, but like could play in that range. But
unlike those last two years, there's not a clear cut
number two target. Like I know de Hop was kind
of washed last year, but he was still getting volume.
(35:52):
And then in Jacksonville there was Christian Kirk. So I
think it's possible that we see Calvin Ridley get back
to that like hundred thirty five hundred and forty target
range that we've seen him have some years in the past,
a better quarterbacktually lead to more scoring opportunities. Really, I
find myself a lot higher on Calvin Ridley than consensus.
(36:12):
I thought I could wait in this draft and maybe
still end up with him. But our boy La Kwan
also likes him. But yeah, for me, like the I
don't really find myself in many Titans, but Calvin Ridley
is one that I like, will pull up a little
bit if.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
I have to, All right, Uh, yeah, Ridley he is one,
I guess because I'm just generally sort of meh about
the Titans offense. I think it. I think Ridley falls
under that category.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
For me, just has a number one QB ever gotten less.
I know this is Kyle Bryant talking point, but like
at this point, it's it's true, Like I don't think
we've ever talked less about a number one pick.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Yeah, no, you're right, yeah, because like I mean, we've
talked more about Shudur Sanders than we have cam Ward
and even during the draft.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Process it was like our rewards won, like that was
the most we talked about him.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
Like pretty yeah, I don't know if you've seen you know,
Drew me, Drew Maggory does his yearly uh why Your
Team Sucks series, which is always hilarious. I just happened
to come across the Titans one the other day, and
it always is funny because he includes emails letters from
fans of the particular team at the end and somebody
(37:26):
was talking about that one of the letters talked about
cam Ward and it's like, no one's talked about cam Ward,
Like I'm surprised that the TV networks didn't just cut
away immediately once it wasn't Shador Sanders at the number
one day first, that's it, you know, so, uh no,
you're right for a number one overall pick. He's gotten
very little, very little hype. I'm stinking with the guy
(37:48):
that I have been on pretty much all off season long,
and that's Eli Ioman Or you know, there was always
a chance he was one of two fourth round wide
receiver picks for the Times. But he's the one who
I think has gotten the most attention, and that's continued
so far in the early part of training camp that
you know, you look, you watch the beat reports and
(38:10):
they have said that you know, not only just off
the field, has he proven to be just a very nice,
engaging guy. But that he seems to be picking up
the playbook very quickly and getting up to speed very quickly.
And it's a wide receiver room that doesn't have much
I mean, I think the best description I saw somebody
wrote that the depth chart at wide receiver for the
(38:31):
Titans had Calvin Ridley followed by Hopes and then prayers
like that was that was the wide receiver room. So
there's very much a chance for ioman Or to come
in and be an impact player. And granted, look you're
not drafting him expecting you're just going to throw him
in the lineup every single week. But he's one of
those guys that you can draft late, see how he
(38:52):
develops and maybe by the time, you know, we get
a month or two into the season, Uh, you know,
he looked like a guy that that could be a
nice flex option for you.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
So this Titans receiver room would have dominated the NFL
in twenty eighteen. They got Ridley, Lockett, and Van Jefferson.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Like, yeah, I've seen early talk that Tyler Lockett is
like number five on the depth chart right now.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Like, I'm convinced that Tyler Lockett's in Tennessee right now
because he knows Nashville is an up and coming city,
and he's trying to sell real estate.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
You know what, he's got the real estate thing like
that he's working on right now. I know he was
doing that in Seattle, trying to help people find homes.
So you're right, you know, Nashville is booming. Apparently it
is booming of the sun Belt area of the country
doing well when it comes to housing. So look, man,
I'm I mean, look, I've always said, as I'm on
(39:46):
the clock here that one of Peyton Manning's most brilliant
business moves was buying a slew of pizza places right
as Colorado legalized marijuana.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Like why wouldn't you and not just regular pizza places.
The pizza places are open late.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
Night, yes, exactly, like you know, you knew what was
going on.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
He also he doesn't have to pay an adverte. It's
like uh, Ryan Reynolds with mint mobile, right, Like, he
doesn't have to pay an ad guy. He just buys
a green screen and recorded himself.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
He doesn't.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
It's pretty smart.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
Yeah, for sure, I just took uh it's it's it's
kind of mid to late rounds, so I'm taking guys
that maybe are injured, but I think have upside when
they're healthy. I took Chris Godwin the ninth round. I
took our boy Joe Mixon in the tenth. He was
just hanging out. There's a syenth round. Joe Mixon was
still there, Like, I'm I'm gonna take that at that point. Yeah,
I get that. I'm taking Joe Mixon, all right. So
(40:45):
through nine rounds my team I have Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield,
Jehan Robinson, Isaiah Pacheco, DJ Moore, DeVonta Smith, Chris Godwin,
Sam Laporta, Aaron Jones, and Joe Mixon. I of like
this team. I do as well, Chesstee, what is your
What does your roster look like? Right now?
Speaker 2 (41:04):
I'm on deck in the ninth but I have Josh Allen, Devon, Han,
Lad McConkie, Justin Fields, Terry McLaurin, T J. Howkinson, Caleb Johnson,
Juwan Jennings camp.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
Oh, you're the one who took Juwan Jennings. Yeah, yeah,
I had him. Sorry, I I him ready to go.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
I'm gonna take another. I don't know how you feel
about him, but kind of similar to your point with
like when the guys are like, that's how I viewed
Brandon Ayuk, Like, I'm not drafting him to be a starter,
but the second if he could get back to Brandon
Ayuk even close to that in the second half of
the year, I have an every week starter now, So
I find myself drafting him a good amount.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
Yeah, I know I'm one hundred percent there that, you know.
I think what we saw before the injury seemed to
be where he was trending. You know, last year, without
a doubt was a bad year. He had the holdout,
then he got hurt. All that was bad. But I
think if he can put that behind him, I think
you end up with a solid you know, at worst,
(42:05):
I think high end wide receiver too. So now I
have no problem with that at all. There. You know,
those are offenses, Saints, Brown's, Titans making some cases for
guys that maybe you want to take a shot at
in your drafts. Not done yet, because we got a
football game coming up on Thursday. Yeah, the Hall of
Fame game kicks off from Canton, Ohio on Thursday between
(42:28):
the Chargers and the Lions. Will take a break, come
back and talk about what we are looking for in
those sorts of games coming on next. I can talk
today on the NFL Fantasy Football podcast Football Like Substance.
It's your television on a Thursday night, the Hall of
Fame game eight pm Eastern on NBC and PECAI more
(42:50):
realistically probably like eight twenty eastern. Can I have a
minor complaint here? Can I just I? Can I old
man yell at cloud for a second? Yeah? One thing
that sports and other countries do better than us. They
don't lie about the time the game start. Like when
(43:10):
a soccer match says it is starting at noon, you
turn on at noon and they are kicking that thing off.
It's not that you turn it on at noon and
they want to do pregame interviews with the coaches and
they show you the anthem and then do the players like, no,
we told you this game is starting at new and
it is starting at noon, Like, you know, we should
do all the pregame stuff in the pregame show. We
(43:33):
have a whole lass pregame show that you know what,
if I, as a fan want to tune in, if
I want to see a pregame interview with the coach,
if I want to see the national anthem, if I
want to watch the guys run out on the field,
do all of that in the pregame show. But if
you tell me the game is gonna start at eight,
when I turn it on at eight, I want them
to be kicking the ball off. Ye's all, and especially
(43:55):
the Super Bowl, especially Super Bowl, Like you have eight
whole hours that you can do all this, Like we
don't need I enjoyed, I enjoy watching cooking videos as
much as the next person. We don't need a whole
hour on like what people are grilling on Super Bowl Sunday. Like,
we can cut that out and then we can do
all the like we can have the Rock give his
pregame speech from the field during the pregame show, so
(44:15):
that we're ready to play the Super Bowl. We just
play the super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
But how are they going to get those extra commercials in? Marcus?
Think about all the capitalists who need their advertising.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
I'm going to hold my tongue on that anyway. The
Hall of Fame game is scheduled for eight pm Eastern
Thursday on NBC and Peacock. Look, I know people are excited.
Football in its own special way is back. We know
how this thing goes, right? How much of the Hall
(44:47):
of Fame game do you expect you're going to tune
in for?
Speaker 2 (44:50):
So, I won't lie. I will be on my couch
with it on as if it was week one of
the kick I'm look like it's been since February, where
what like eight months since our last football game. I'm
sorry there, I want to watch it, but then by
like the second quarter, I'll be like, who are these guys?
(45:10):
I'll keep an eye on, but yeah, I'll be cooking
or eating, eating or doing something like that. This game, Look,
it's fun, it's exciting. It gets our football juices flowing again.
You get nothing out of it fantasy wise, You get
nothing out of it, you know, like analysis wise, because
the one thing we thought we could take away from
(45:31):
it a couple of years ago was Josh Jacobs to
be a bad thing and then he had his career year.
So you know what, it signifies more than anything, Marcus,
that a week from then we will be in Catin, Ohio.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
Yes, Yes, the Fantasy Football Expo is coming in just
a couple of weeks, so that's gonna be a lot
of fun. We should talk more about that probably in
the week or so to come. For those of you
who are planning to go, would love to see you there.
If you are not planning to go, it's probably not
too late. You can maybe cobble something together and get
out there. It is a great time. I will admit
you that I will probably turn it on, but I
(46:07):
will be doing other things at the same time as
as that's going on. I mean, I'll be honest with you.
It's uh, it's late July. It's also the same day
as the MLB trading deadline, so that's gonna I.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
Do like that. The deadline is at three our time,
and the game is I take that five four or five.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
Yeah, so we had a couple of hours to talk
baseball trades before football happens.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
I think the Mets are off, Yeah, they are.
Speaker 1 (46:38):
They're off Thursday to the Dodgers are off that day too,
so I don't have to worry about watching that.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
The metsage you guys a favor and swept the Giants
this past weekend.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
And we thank you for your service.
Speaker 2 (46:49):
Almost they should have been the Padres last night, but
that's they're reliever didn't cover first base.
Speaker 1 (46:56):
Oh, pull the pull, the Garrett Cole pull, the Garrett Cole.
Good uh, yeah, now I will. I will have the
game on. I'm sure I will be doing other things.
And I think, especially as you mentioned, by the time
we get to the second quarter, and definitely by the
time we get to you know, the second half, very
little attention will be paid to it. I will come
(47:16):
back and maybe check. I'll check social media and see
who you know who seem to put up decent numbers
in that game.
Speaker 2 (47:23):
I know it's called the Hall of Fame game, but
friend of the show, I think we should call it
the Emory Huntball because only Hunt is going to know
the players in the second half. Like that's it.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
Yeah, anybody in particular that you are checking for.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
In this thing, who's going to be playing, you know,
like that if any of the starters or any even
the rotational pieces, any of those guys are in. And look,
if you want to pay attention, like we will hear
that day, like who the team is going is planning
on giving reps to and stuff. But it's kind of
(47:58):
a guessing game until then. But yeah, that that's what
I'll be looking more than anything. And that's what I
think preseason, I look, not the Hall of Fame game really,
but like preseason. I don't want to see like huge performances.
I more want to see who's getting the snaps with
the with the starters and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (48:16):
Yeah, I think that's sort of the important thing. Gavin,
our producer, who also is a resident Charger fan, is
giving a shout out to KeAndre Lambert Smith, who right now, Hey,
I'm not gonna lie to you. I took him with
I think my last pick in the scott Fish Bowl,
So who knows, maybe something happens there. Yeah, I think
I think we'll get to see some of these rookies,
(48:38):
you know. I would imagine we'll see a little bit
of Trey Harris. I think we will see Lambert Smith.
You know, I don't know how much of Omari and Hampton.
He may get a couple of carries here and there.
So I think that's gonna be so interesting to watch. Yeah,
I think that'll be kind of interesting to watch on
that side of things. I think on the Lion's side, you.
Speaker 2 (48:56):
Know, I.
Speaker 1 (48:58):
Don't know, you know, I I would be shocked if
we see Golf or Gibbs or Montgomery Laporta. You know,
I'm on raw, like those guys are proven, Like, yeah,
I mean, those guys will probably be in street clothes
for the majority of it. Curious the Isaac Teslaw? Is
it Teslaw? Is it Tesla? I'm not sure how we I.
Speaker 2 (49:18):
Like Tesla because it doesn't sound like the car.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
That's fair. So we'll see him. I think for sure
he was a guy who got a lot of hype
I think coming out of the draft. So you know,
I'm here's kind of how he how he performs if
he gets an opportunity in this one. So you know,
I'm kind of with you. I just want to see
who is getting the early snaps I think is kind
(49:42):
of the way to go. And then the second half.
If there's somebody who has a good second half, I
think that becomes sort of a name to pay attention to.
But you know, I think more than anything that people
are just excited to watch a football game.
Speaker 2 (49:55):
Yeah, that's what this is more than anything, right, Like,
don't go in you would expect him to get answers
for this season. Just enjoy that football is back on
your screen for a couple hours.
Speaker 1 (50:06):
You know, there will be takes. There will be takes
had over the weekend like Friday, Saturday, Sunday. There will
be takes, you know, because that's just what people do.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
I am getting excited though, because the Hall of Fame
game is usually like Hard Knocks comes right after that.
Speaker 1 (50:27):
Yeah, yeah, your bills are the feature team, aren't Hard
Knocks August fit.
Speaker 2 (50:33):
So next Tuesday? Yeah, so perfect?
Speaker 1 (50:35):
Like all right.
Speaker 2 (50:36):
I saw I was driving over the weekend and there
was a huge billboard that had Christian Benford on it,
and I was like, this is why I like Hard
Knocks because no one knows who that is, but he
deserves to shine.
Speaker 1 (50:47):
Like, oh man, that'll be fun. By the way, a
quick note, Flora and I will be at RAMS training
camp this week, so look for our interviews. They should
be dropping on Thursday. No, no cheat sheet coming up
this week. Instead, we will hit you with our interviews
that we do out at RAMS camp. I'm not sure
(51:07):
who we're going to talk to just yet. We are
we're efforting some big names. We are not We're not optimistic,
like you know, we're not optimistic that they're gonna send us.
Matthew Stafford or Puka Nakua or DeVante Adams would be great.
We will see, but stay around. Should be interesting though
(51:28):
to see, uh kind of watch them at work there
and you know, talk to some guys about what their
expectations are for the year for sure. So there you go.
I'm not on the clock for a while, so I
got a little bit of time before I get back
on the clock for the draft. Very interesting again, Go
check out Andrew Cooper over at Fantasy Alarm. He'll be
doing a whole ride up on this mock draft. Hopefully
it will sound a lot clearer than we made it
(51:50):
sound as we were interjecting during the course of this podcast.
There you go. That'll do it for this edition of
the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. They happy, safe and healthy,
do good and live well. Enjoy the days everybody, enjoy
the Hall of Fame game, because we will talk to
you again for a live show until afterwards, but we
will talk to you all again very very soon. Wo
Hosts And Creators
Marcas Grant
Adam Rank
Michael F. Florio
Kimmi Chex
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