NFL Fantasy Football Podcast: Bijan Robinson to the Eagles?

Marcas Grant and Michael F. Florio are back for another edition of the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast! The draft is quickly approaching and the guys are here to educate you on what rookies will be the ones to look for next year and what teams may be the best fit for them. This week, the guys are breaking down the wants and needs for the teams in the AFC/NFC East. Including the question of: Bijan Robinson to the Eagles?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, wow, Wow. Hey everybody, It's Wednesday, April fifth, twenty
twenty three. Welcome to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast or
we're doing our own pro days. It's me your Man,
NAMG Marcus Grant joined by Michael F. Floria. We're in

(00:20):
studio today. She means, we got specialists, soba there, give
yourselves around up applause. We got a plan to talk about. Man,
this is the time of year where there's no actual news,
but somehow, Florio, we have devised a whole lot of
things to talk about for the next little bit. Yeah.
I feel like March and definitely April are like outside
of the season, are probably the busiest months, and everyone's like, oh,

(00:43):
what are you doing with all your free time? And
I'm like, we're still in the midst of like draft
season right now, maybe maybe after the draft. It's funny too,
because it's like, I feel like you for people close
to me, family friends, are like, yeah, this must be
kind of nice. You have so much downtime, and I'm like, look,
I'm not doing TV shows every day, but there's still
plenty of stuff to look at to research. I feel
like I'm behind on everything, like I dare to actually

(01:06):
take some time off because family was in town, and
now I feel like I'm like way behind it. To me,
this feels like the closest to like taking the bar
that I'll ever have to be, where like we're just
like crame because I don't watch much college football during
the season because the NFL takes over our lives in
the season, So now it's like playing ketchup. And I've
been trying to watch and like research as much as possible,

(01:26):
and I'm like, huh, lawyers do this for like months,
but I don't know how they do. Yeah, it's a
whole different thing. So we don't have to get licensed
to do what we do, which I don't know if
that's good or bad, but it certainly is. We're going
to start over the next few weeks kind of putting
together our desires and needs four teams. When it comes

(01:48):
to the draft, where we think they should go, where
they potentially may go, we'll sort of look at how
many picks they have, what they're being mocked as potentially
drafting that sort of thing. So that'll be the next
few weeks. Because of that. Again, the film Festival going
on a little bit of a hiatus, just because I
don't necessarily want these pods to be like two hours
long when we're doing this. So we'll get back to

(02:10):
that in a few weeks, probably after the draft. At
some point. It gives us a whole summer of movies
potentially to watch. So if you were ready for us
to talk about Desperado, just hold that thought. We'll get
back to that really, really soon. Today we're gonna look
at the AFC and the NFC East, gonna look at
each of the four teams and kind of figure out
where they may be going and whether or not this

(02:30):
impacts some of their guys fantasy. Why so, let's start
in the AFC. I'm doing this alphabetical order, lest you
think I'm trying to pick a finishing order for whatever
we're doing. So we're gonna start with the Buffalo Bills
in the AFC East. And I promise this isn't because
I'm trying to butter up Florio or anything. It just
happened to work out that way, that's all it is.

(02:52):
The Bills this year, they have six total picks in
the draft. They have the twenty seventh overall pick in
the first round. I went and looked up the team needs.
Article that Dan Pard Eric Edholme put together. You can
find that on NFL dot com. And according to their estimation,
the Bills could use a wide receiver, defensive tackle, and
a linebacker. Two of those three things don't really matter

(03:13):
for us in fantasy football. When I looked at some
of the most recent mock drafts on our site, all
of the or several of the analysts we have here
have them going offensive in the first round. Quentin Johnston
is mocked by Daniel Jeremiah. Bucky Brooks has them taking
Jordan Addison from USC and Lance Zerline. Maybe the eye

(03:35):
opener be Jean Robinson going to the Buffalo Bills. But
maybe the biggest question is, and you know this team
better than anybody's sitting in this room right now, is
it time for them to start spending some of these
early round picks on the offensive side of the ball. Yeah,
And uh, if if it was up to me, that
that would be the focal point, Like they've they've tried

(03:57):
doing it the way of building up the defense for
you year now like like and for a while it
was like if we we got to build up d
line and they use picks on like at Oliver and
their whole D line outside of von Miller. Is their
big free agent signing is picks that they use like
first and second round picks on and then every year
in the playoffs it gets punched in the mouth. So

(04:17):
invest in your best player, invest in why you are
a top team, a super Bowl contender, and that is
and always will be Josh Allen as long as Josh
Allen is playing at the peak of his ability. So
looking at the madraft, Quinton Johnson, Jordan Addison, b Jean Robinson,
I would be happy with any of those. Bijon is
the one that feels like as it's not a need,

(04:41):
it's a luxury, Like you're like, all right, we could
get this workhorse running back here, but then you have
a very crowded backfield. Quintin Johnson. Johnson is the one
that I'm most excited for if this was to work out,
because I think he has the upside to be a
true one at the NFL level, where I think, like
Addison is more of a number two. Johnston also, I

(05:03):
think works well because the Bills didn't really have a
lot of yat guys last year, Like Dave Davis is
more of a downfield stretcher, and Johnston is the best
YAK receiver in this class. I would say so, I
think he fits, but any I will be ecstatic if
they could take a running back or a wide receiver
in round one rather than like a defensive lineman, which
they've been doing year and year. Again, I said, I

(05:23):
was going back through their recent draft history, and you
go back to twenty fifteen, so where you're like eight,
eight years, nine years now. The only offensive player they
have taken in the first round since then is Josh Allen.
That's it. It has been very heavy on the defensive
side of the ball. Now, look, they've gotten some decent
players kind of in the second round. I mean they

(05:45):
got James Cook in the second round last year. I
mean Zach Moss didn't quite work out. He was a
third round pick the year before. Devin Singletary a third
round pick in twenty nineteen. So they are spending some
draft capital on that side of the ball. But they're
certainly not really investing very heavily in there. But this
isn't just because he's a USC guy. I like the

(06:05):
idea of Jordan Addison going there because I think he's
a really nice compliment to Stefan Diggs. There are two
guys who are very similar in the sense that, you know,
maybe more quick than fast. They win with route running.
They can find ways to get open and earn targets.
And when you've got a guy like Josh Allen, I
think that's sort of all you want, is just that
guy that can present himself as a really nice target.

(06:25):
They do, without a doubt need a consistent second wide receiver.
And I think you've got a guy in Gabe Davis
that can be a field stretcher. He can kind of
take the top off the defense, get down the field,
open some things up underneath for you know, for Diggs,
for here, whoever, if it's Addison, if it's Dawson Knox,
and just kind of create that space in the field.
But I think we learned this past year that Gabe

(06:47):
Davis is not suited to consistently be a number two
wide receiver week in and week out. Interesting you mentioned
Quinton Johnston because our pal and wide receiver grew. Matt Harman,
just as you were speaking, tweeted out his reception perception
profile for one Quinton Johnston. I mean it's almost like
Harmon is listening to what we're saying right now and
tweets it out this as you were talking about, and

(07:08):
I would just give you the bullet points. Very good
success rate versus man coverage, but on a relatively small
handful of routes, middling results versus press coverage, very poor
against zone coverage. And the thing a lot of people
have been saying is that kind of a body catcher,
which is kind of a thing. There's a lot of
negatives with him, but um there's pob I do think that,

(07:32):
like with the right coaching staff, you can mold him
into a very useful receiver. But to your point of
them needing a number two last season, through like the
whole second half of the season, teams were doublings to
Fund Diggs and I would like repeatedly be on Twitter
like why are you choosing not to your best player?
You're doing what the defense wants. But teams figured out

(07:55):
like if we takes the Fund Diggs away, good luck.
Josh Allen's not gonna have to scram because the old
line was poor, and then he's gonna have to try
to find Gabe Davis one of these secondary options, like
another pass catcher. There will go such a long way.
They definitely need somebody there. I will ask you, though,
do they need to at some point, you know, and
it doesn't have to be early in this draft. Do
they need to add to their backfield just because it

(08:18):
seems like there isn't any real plan there? Right? We
can talk about they bring in all these guys who
catch the football out of the backfield, but then they
don't throw them the football. I know they're leaning on
James could potentially this year, but do they need to
add somebody there? Like I would love a Bijean Robinson
and to have someone that you can finally be like, Okay,
we could take some pressure off of Josh Allen. But

(08:39):
I don't think the one. I'm not sure if he
falls to twenty seven. And I would be shocked if
being traded up to get a running back because their
GM is always like all the running backs to taker
in the third round. I actually, I do think they'll
add someone, but I think it'll be day two, maybe
even day three, because I think they're gonna feel better
about James Cook. I think last year was about getting

(09:01):
his feet wet and letting him kind of play that
secondary role, and this is the year they want to
let him go. But there's Damien Harris there, and then
I think people keep overlooking that he Hans is there
as well. So I do. I don't think they have
a great back or a great backfield or anything, but
I do think they have depth. So I would be
surprised if they did anything huge, like a big splash,

(09:23):
like I would be shocked if they got Bijeon or
Gibbs at this point. Even though a lot of people
are mocking Bijean to the Bills, Yeah, I've seen a
lot of that. You know it. I don't want it.
So I remember a few years ago, right, we were
like the chief need to get a running back, and
they traded up. They traded back into the first round
to get Clyde Edwards, Hilaria. We were fired up about that.

(09:45):
That didn't work out. Bijeon is better than ceh Oh,
So I don't think. I don't think. I think if
the Bills decide to go that route, I don't think
we'll have any sort of sort of fear about that.
Typhon Kalani makes a good point too. A thing that
Daniel Jeremiah Bucky Brooks always talk about is if you
are if you are finding yourself as a competitive team,

(10:06):
right if your goal is to win the Super Bowl,
you have to figure out how to keep up with
the Chiefs, and that means adding pieces on offense, because defensively,
nobody has found the skeleton key to lock this defense up.
That means you just got to keep scoring. And in
that point, I think what the Bills have done for
the last since the twenty twenty AFC Championship Game where

(10:27):
the Chiefs blew there the doors off of them, I
think every move the Bills have made has been about
beating the Chiefs, and to be honest, they've had success
doing it. Like they've beat them both times in the
regular seasons the last two years, and then in the
playoffs when they met it was the thirteen second crazy game.
Like the Bills I think are building this defense solely

(10:48):
in the idea of trying to slow down Patrick Mahomes.
But what we've seen is that like the defense with
the top offenses with the Bengals that happened last year
against the with the Chiefs, like they can only slow
them down to a point, and then you're asking Josh
Allen to keep up with these offenses and when like

(11:08):
the Bengals showed everything like, if you can limit Josh Allen,
this Bills team has no chance of winning in the playoffs.
So I think you need to make it as hard
as possible to slow down Josh Allen. And because yeah,
I agree, I think the only way the Bills get
over this hump is they're gonna have to not only
be able to outscore the Chiefs, but the Bengals as well. Yeah.
I mean, like, I know, everybody wants to play defense,

(11:28):
and that's important and you gotta get stops. But the
way this league is going, when you're talking about the
top level teams, it really is who can win the
track meet who can score more points? And for all
that you want to do defensively, you know you might
have to score forty to beat the Chiefs. To beat
the Bengals, the Chiefs are doing it with a hodgepodge
of nobody's at waters. Like I love Kadarius Tony, but

(11:50):
like he's ere a one going into this season right now.
It is it is a grab bag of wide receivers
that they got there in Kansas City. Let's look at
the Miami Dolphins. They have four total picks in this draft.
They do not have a first round pick. They had
to forfeit it after the league found Stephen Ross guilty

(12:11):
of game violations integrity of the game violations. Basically, this
is their punishment, so they don't have a first round pick.
Their first pick is number fifty one in the second round.
Going back to the team needs document offensive line, running back,
tight end, so basically beefing up that offense. Defense I

(12:32):
think has been pretty good over the last couple of years.
I went and looked at some other second round mocks
around the internet, and some of the names that sort
of popped up Kendram Miller from TCU, the running back there,
Devin ah Shane. I think I'm saying that right. I'm
probably not. I apologize if I'm not, but running back
from Texas A and M and a tight end Luke
Musgrave from Oregon State. So a lot of suggestions that

(12:57):
the Dolphins are going to add some pieces to the offense.
Could a rookie pass catcher succeed here when you already
have Tyree Hill and Jalen Waddle? Admittedly Mike Gasiki is
now gone. Is there room for another pass catcher in
this offense? I don't think so. I think it could
be a situation, especially like if they get one of

(13:18):
these rookie tight ends, because I know it's such a
deep class where they'll be good weeks for them, but
I don't think it'll be consistent enough where for fantasy
you'd be like, Okay, I could trust this guy, because
we know Tyree Hill and Jalen Waddle pretty much are
gonna get close to double digit targets each and every week,
and the weeks that they don't get that many targets,

(13:39):
it could be because you know, Tyreek Hill broke a
sixty yard touchdowns, just less pass plays that you need,
because that's how explosive these two are. So we saw
last year the third option in this offense was different
each week almost because that's the other thing with Mike McDaniel,
like he's gonna game plan your weakness and he's gonna
find it and attack it. And so I would like

(14:01):
to see them add to this offense here to give
to just even some more weapons around him, But I
don't think for fantasy it would do a whole lot.
I'm on the side thinking that they should get a
running back because Raheem Mostart Jeff Wilson, Like, those guys
are really serviceable, but that's all they are, you know,
and like they're also both misstime due to injuries, and
you don't want it to be a situation like they

(14:22):
had at the end of last year, where like you're
digging deep into your running back depth. So I would
like to see them add an explosive running back because
I think someone that's fast and has breakaway speed could
do a lot of damage in this offense. Yeah, by
the way, devon a chain a chain, I have been informed,
So sorry for blowing at the first time, but I
was surprised in free agency hearing all this talk that

(14:47):
the Dolphins wanted to do something big, that they wanted
to make a big splash and maybe add a big
name running back. Now I know some of the wind
was taken out of their sales when a lot of
those names were franchise tag, right, they immediately didn't have
a shot at se Quan or Tony Pollard or Josh Jacobs.
So that's where it took a lot of it out
of their hands. But didn't the turnaround and basically resign

(15:10):
the guys you had to bring back. Wilson Mostard and
Miles Gaskin that that surprised me a little bit, and
so maybe it is. Maybe it's opening the deck for
them to go out and draft a guy in the
second round, and I think that's potentially where we see
them go. I mean, I'm looking at the targets right
last year, Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle took fifty percent

(15:33):
of fifty one percent actually of the targets in that offense. Look,
there's still room potentially for somebody to go out and
maybe get another fifteen percent in there. But it seems
really really difficult to do. Like you really got to
make yourself available. You have to be a high level
target earner. And I don't know that where the Dolphins

(15:55):
are picking, there is that guy available. And I think,
you know, you're going to see a lot of wide
receivers go first round, probably early second round when you're
talking about getting to the mid to later part of
that second round, I don't know that there's that guy
that comes in and he's immediately a big play guy.
I know the scouts love Musgrave at tight end. They

(16:16):
really like his upside, what he can be. I think,
you know, you look at his sample size at Oregon
stay you look at the production you had. You know,
there's some nice things about it. There are also some
things that are worth questioning here. It was a very
deep tight end class, so it could be that running
back is the place to go. If that happens, though,
then how do we how do we handle this this
Dolphins offense? Right? We know that most certain Wilson are

(16:39):
going to get touches. You know, if they draft another
rookie running back, does this mean we stay away from
this backfield altogether? I think it would be a backfield
where the like if we're talking like eighth, ninth round,
maybe later you could be like probably in the double
digit rounds even you could be like, I'm okay taking
a stab at it here and seeing what I can get.

(16:59):
But outside of that, yeah, I wouldn't paston if it's
three running backs and we're true because last year with
Mostard in Wilson week to week was like a head scratcher.
Like some most weeks, Wilson played the more snaps, but
most sometimes we'll get more carries. They would split targets.
It was very confusing to figure out. So if you
had a third piece in here, it makes them at

(17:20):
best flex options and probably later round picks. Yeah, it's just,
you know, it just really is not a great situation
for fantasy if we're talking about a three headed potential attack.
You know, I would imagine that whoever, if they draft
the running back, whoever it is, is going to be
in competition for snaps and touches, and that's just going
to be a really gross situation for us to try

(17:41):
to monitor at any point in the offseason. The Patriots
kind of an interesting situation there in New England eleven
total picks there one pick in the first round comes
at number fourteen. There needs the need defensive back, they
needed offensive tackle, They need a wide receiver. I sort
of chuckled to myself when I saw that they needed
a wide receiver, because at this point, do we trust

(18:04):
Bill Belichick to draft a wide receiver. It's just it
has been a It has been a glaring weak spot
throughout his career. All the other things he's accomplished, he
has not been able to scout wide receivers very effectively.
Looking at some of the mocks though on NFL dot Com,
Daniel Jeremiah has been taking Bijean Robinson, which sort of

(18:25):
seems great unless you like remind Ray Stevenson, which kind
of destroys both of those guys. Bucky Brooks has been
taking an offensive tackle Broderick Jones from Georgia, and Lanzerline
has been taking Anthony Richardson from Florida. So you say no,
all right, which is which is sort of funny. But
you know, there are rumors out there, and again it

(18:45):
might just be rumor, but that you know, Bill Belichick
and Robert Kraft are sort of butting heads over the
future of the quarterback position and whether or not it's
time to move on from Mac Jones. So maybe this
is just sort of wish casting based on you know,
just the sort of the rumor mill. But you're why

(19:05):
are you so against Anthony Richardson going to New England
Because everything that Bill beck like, Look, he's the goat,
he's a legend. I don't want to take anything away
from him. But everything he has touched since Brady left
has been bad, Like the offense has been awful. Like
I understand cam Newton was broken down at that point

(19:26):
in dealing with shoulder injuries, and but then he showed
some promise with mac Jones, and first of all. Not
only do I not trust Bill Belichick to draft a
wide receiver, Let's look at the pass catchers that he
gave a boatload of money to just a couple of
years ago. John hu Smith is now on the Falcons.
Nelson Aghilor, who he made one of the highest paid
receivers in that free agent class, is with the Ravens.

(19:48):
Hunter Henry's been okay, Kendrick Bourne has been okay. Like
Bill Belichick hasn't really done a great job of building
up this offense. As of job, Myers is maybe the
best in that group. He was undrafted gone, And the
only thing that makes sense to me is with what
he decided to do last year with the OC, bringing
in a special teams coordinator and a defensive coordinator and

(20:09):
being like YouTube figure out the offense each week, is
that he probably is sick of Mac Jones already and
was like I want to make him look bad and
not develop or whatever. But like, I don't feel confident
that Anthony Richardson will go there and we will get
the best version of Anthony Richardson. Like I think that
it fits the ground and pound style that like the

(20:30):
Patriots wanted to do with Cam Newton where they're controlling
the ball the clock and they're just running the ball
the whole time. But like for fantasy, there's much better
landing spots for him. I will say this, if there
is a silver lining to Anthony Richardson landing in New England. Again,
this is all is your mock drafts, This is all speculation,
but it's Bill O'Brien now being the offensive coordinator there

(20:53):
in New England coming back to the Patriots after kind
of being all around the place for the last few years.
Deshaun Watson certainly was much more of a finished product
when he got to the NFL. I mean, he had
played at a really high level in college. There was
very little doubt that he was going to be successful
in the NFL. Whereas we're still sort of looking at
Richardson as kind of a guy with tools that may

(21:15):
need a little bit more refinement. Bill O'Brien could be
that guy to sort of build him up there. Now.
The other part of it, though, is what does he
have around him if he does go to New England.
Who's catching the football? What are they doing for him
at as pass catchers? And that still remains up in
the air, which goes back to our earlier point about
Bill Belichick not doing a very good job with that position.

(21:40):
Is there a player or should we actually be rooting
for a player that we like, Say it's Robinson Richardson,
say it's b Jean Robinson. Should we be rooting for
one of these guys to land there? And do we
want them to stay away? I very and I don't
say this as like a Bills fan who watched the
Patriots dominate the division for two decades, because I think
those days are long gone. I do not want players

(22:01):
I like ending up in New England. Let them take
an alignment a defensive player. Yeah, Bill Belichick, you still
do good to work on the defensive side. Why don't
you just load up on there, try to win your
seven to nine games this year, and then let us
enjoy the fun pieces of this draft. Because they're gonna
bring Beijan there, let's say, and like they're gonna like
it's not gonna be a hey, we're gonna give Bejean

(22:24):
Robinson three hundred touches, which is what other teams I
think will do. I think it's gonna be a situation like, hey,
Stevenson will get involved We'll probably find some guy off
the street to give ten carries too in random games, because,
like we say it all the time, Bill Belichick does
not care about fantasy, and the Patriots offense have made
that abundantly clear in recent years. Yeah, I mean, they

(22:46):
really don't. They don't care. They're gonna put together what
they think is the best team or the team that
can most win games. It may not be exciting, it
may not be interesting. I don't want Bijon there because
you know, we want the door to stay open for
Ramandre and we wanted to be able for Bijan too.
You put them both in the same backfield, and that

(23:06):
limits both of their potentials there. I don't know, the
idea of Anthony Richardson is sort of intriguing, but I
would need to know they're going to spend some more
draft capital, some more resources to put an offense around him,
And I would like for somebody not named Bill Belichick
to be scouting some of these pass catchers. If that's
really the case about his dog, I think I want
his dog scouting them either. But eleven total picks, right,

(23:28):
I mean that means there's an opportunity to go out
and get somebody. Even if this isn't the deepest wide
receiver draft class, there is a chance to go out
and maybe take a few swings at the position. Maybe
that's what they need here if they're going to really
go and spend a first round pick in the middle
of the round a quarterback. The other part of this, though,
and I think this is sort of a new philosophy
among NFL teams, is not being afraid to go back

(23:51):
to the quarterback. Well, if the guy you drafted isn't
doing what you expected him to do. And I immediately
think of Josh Rosen in Arizona, h you know, the
Cardinals spent the high pick on him. I think number nine.
I think excited. I think I think if I remember right,
he was going sort of Arias Stark and like was
listening the names of all the people drafted ahead of him,

(24:11):
sort of thing that didn't work out. So it wasn't
that long after that they went out and they drafted
Kyler Murray mac Jones is better than Josh Rosen. I'll
just put that out there right now. That's not really
an argument. Mack Wilson, though, another one went second and
they two years in they they've given up on They're
given up on him, right, They're they're trying to make
a move for Aaron Rodgers, and I think this is
potentially what the Patriots were looking at. Remember last year

(24:33):
there was real talk about should Bailey Zappi take over
the starting job at some point? So there is at
least some discontent with mac Jones and maybe that's leading
to this, this rumor that Anthony Richardson could be the guy.
I do like the way that a lot of teams
like the direction that's going in because my philosophy was
always like if I was a GM, I guess more
so would have to be the owner because if I
was a GM, I would get fired if I wanted.

(24:55):
But like my approach would be churning burn quarterback like
rookie draft uarterbacks until I found a franchise guy. Like
if you're just a league average quarterback, I'm gonna sit
ship you off and I'm gonna try to find because
I truly believe you can only win a Super Bowl
either if you have a franchise quarterback or everything else
in your roster needs to be perfect. Yeah, it really does.
I mean, I think you know what's I think franchise

(25:16):
quarterback is the important part. I don't even think it
has to be a quarterback on a rookie deal. I
think it was Warren Sharp recently to put out a
tweet thread about how few quarterbacks on rookie deals are
actually having great success at the NFL level. You can
get a couple of them here and there, but for
the most part, the guys winning Super Bowls are our
franchise quarterbacks who are probably on their second or third

(25:37):
contract at this point. I think Pat Mahomes into an extent,
Joe Burrow spoiled this a little bit, like that's the right.
It's like, if it was that easy, everybody would do
it right. Exactly. Last one in the AFC East, the
New York Jetropolitans, they got six total picks. They do
have a round one pick. It is number thirteen. Now.
According to Dan Parr and Eric at Home, their needs
are offensive line, defensive tackle, in safety. And I would say,

(26:00):
as of this moment, as we are recording this in
the morning on April fifth, they need a quarterback. Now,
we assume they're gonna get this done with Aaron Rodgers,
but as of this moment, until it is done, they're
missing something at the quarterback position. Now, the mocks for
them in the first round, nothing that is immediately fantasy relevant.

(26:24):
Daniel Jeremiah hasn't taking Nolan Smith and edge rusher from Georgia.
Buckie Brooks has been taking oh Sirens Taurus offensive lineman
from Florida, and lanzer Line hasn't taking Roderick Jones to
tackle from Georgia. Do the Jets have any actual needs
on offense if they're able to get this Aaron Rodgers
thing done, do they really have any needs on offense,

(26:44):
especially at the skill position. It's insanely wild to say
about the New York Jets, but I don't think so.
Like they'd be set at quarterback with Aaron Rodgers, and
they've already said Zach Wilson will be their number two
running back. They're set with Breeze Hall, Ozonovian Knight in
Michael Carter at receiver, like Garrett Wilson is a young star.
They have Alan Lazard, There's still Corey Davis there. They

(27:06):
brought in Mikole Hardman maybe tight end, but I mean,
I don't know. I think they're comfortable with that. To me,
the only thing they really need to improve upon for
offense is their offensive line. Especially if you're bringing in
a forty year old quarterback, you do not want him
taking hits like that. So I think they use this
pick because I don't even know if they have a

(27:27):
tone of needs on defense either. Like, the Jets are
a really well constructed team, which is probably the first
time we could say that this millennium. But they're really
built well and if you put Aaron Rodgers in there,
they don't have a big need outside of a line
in my opinion, No, they really don't. I mean to
tight end is probably the place if they need a
skill position guy they can they can maybe take a
swing at, and this is the draft to do it

(27:48):
because there are a lot of guys I believe. I
believe DJ said he has thirteen guys that he has
a starting level grade on in this draft, and that
that is, you know, that's a huge, huge number. I'm
really trying to think because I'm not sure when the
last time the Jets had a credible tight end. I
mean literally, you might be going back to the I

(28:09):
don't know if they ever have. You might be going
back to the George Bush Senior administration. Since they have.
It's been a really long time. They've just basically punted
on the position. So I guess if they wanted to
spend some draft capital on that, they could probably do that.
But but I think skill position wise, I think they're
they're really set. It really is just the quarterback that
they got to figure out. Um, if they do get

(28:32):
Aaron Rodgers, are they legit contender to win the AFC East? Yes,
so whin the AFC East. I think the AFC East
would be the most competitive division in football potentially because
people keep saying like, oh, Bills or Jets. It's like,
did you guys forget how close the Dolphins were last year?
We didn't get hurt? How that might have went. So, yeah,

(28:53):
the AFC East might have three teams that could compete
for playoff spots, super Bowl contender. I would still put
the Jets behind the Chiefs, Bengals, and Bills, But after that,
I think they're end the Eagles if we're talking NFC
teams as well. But after that, I think they're right
in the mix. I mean, you know, again, assuming this
Aaron Rodgers thing happens, which it seems like it will,
the AFC East is going to be absolutely loaded. You know,

(29:17):
the Patriots look right now like the worst team in
that division. They could still win eight games this year.
It's going to be a brutal, brutal division. Potentially. We're
not done. We're halfway through with this. When we're gonna
take a break, come back, and we're gonna look at
the NFC East teams Cowboys, Giants, Eagles, and Commanders dive

(29:38):
into what we think they should be doing come this
draft season. Stay tuned for more of that after the
break here on the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Turning the
page to the NFC East now, and we'll start with
the Dallas Cowboys. They've got seven total picks. They have
the twenty first or twenty sixth pick, I should say,

(29:59):
in the first round. According to Parr and ed Home,
the Cowboys could use a defensive lineman, an offensive lineman,
and a tight end. Of the big three first round
monks that I took a look at on NFL dot Com,
Lance Zerline is the only one that has them going offensive,
taking Quinton Johnston from TCU, Daniel Jeremiah hasn't taken Mozzi

(30:19):
Smith from Michigan defensive tackle, and Bookie Brooks has him
taking Brian received the defensive tackle from Clemson. But what
is not listed in the mocks, but we know is
hanging out there because Jerry is always going to Jerry.
They just moved on from Ezekiel Elliott. But Jerry likes
to be old school. He wants to play defense, he

(30:40):
wants to run the rock. Could they go and take
a star running back from the state of Texas and
draft Vjen Robinson And if they do, do we have
to pour one out for Tony Pollard. I Jerry Jones
will do this. I think if he falls to twenty six,
I'm not sure if you will make it that far.

(31:02):
But let's not forget when when the Cowboys took Ceedee Lamb,
the receiving corps was a Marii Cooper, Michael Gallop and
Randall Cobb and and that's when people thought Cob could
still play and they were like, they're the last thing
the Sea needs is another receiver. But it fell to
him and Jerry was like, this is the best player
available and I'm gonna take him. So yeah, I would

(31:22):
not put it past Jerry to take Bijean Robinson, but
I think we'd have to pour one out for both
of these running backs, at least that their current ADP.
They're both going as top ten running backs and rightfully so.
But with them on the same team, yeah, I would.
I would have struggle to have both of them be RB.
One's probably put both of them more in the like

(31:43):
somewhere between like ten and fifty because they're too good
to put lower than like RB fifteen, right, but they're
not guaranteed enough work to put in the top ten.
It would be it would be really frustrating. So by
the way, as we were talking, it's almost like people
are knowing what we're talking about, helping us out here.
Daniel Jeremiah just posted his updated top fifty prospects for

(32:06):
the draft, and Bijean Robinson right now sitting at number
three of the top fifty prospects. I was just gonna say,
before anyone says, oh, don't take a running back in
the first round, like, if you believe be Jean Robinson
is as good as we all believe he is, I
think it is super smart to take him in the
first round because then you get five years of him

(32:26):
and then you could franchise him for the smallest franchise
at in tag at any of the positions, and you're
getting six seven years out of this running back before
you even have to think about giving him a second contract. Yeah,
I mean, I think it's I think it's worth talking about,
and especially where they would be drafting him. Right You're
talking about a late first round pick for the Cowboys.
It's not like you're taking him at twelve. And look,

(32:48):
here's the thing. The scouts believe he's good enough to
go that high. It's just more of a business side
of football thing that's sort of keeping him down at
this point. Side note, DJ has Jordan Addison as his
why receiver one right now. Yeah, you got him thirteenth
overall in the top fifty, the first wide receiver off
the board, or at least the most talented of the

(33:09):
wide receivers in this class, I should say, according to
Daniel Jeremiah and the latest Top fifty that just landed
on NFL dot com. Um another maybe more relevant question though,
outside of the Bijean Robinson thing, because that you know
that that's sort of a long shot. Which side note
to this, If Bijean's still on the board when the

(33:29):
Cowboys come up, everybody's going to keep you know, keep
their eyes on Jerry. It's going to be like when
Johnny Manziel was available and everybody knew that Jerry Jones
wanted Johnny Manziel so badly, and you feel like, I
feel like everybody in the front office had to basically
tie him to a chair and stuff a sock in
his mouth so he didn't just grab the phone and
scream Johnny Manziel's name, you know, and they went offensive

(33:51):
lineman and that was a much better choice for them
at that point. But maybe more relevant here Dalton Schultz
is gone. Could a rookie tight end actually be more
of a help, at least fantasy wise in this offense?
I think so. Um, I'm not gonna say that like
I've dove into the tight end class like like Daniel

(34:14):
Jeremiah has, yet I'm working my way through the position still.
But everything that you hear and read about the tight
ends is how deep of a class this is and
how much playmakers there are here. So yeah, there's a
lot of work up for grabs because Dalton Schultz was
the number two target of this offense last year behind
Cede Lamb. I think either a tight end or like
I don't love Quinton Johnson going here because he's more

(34:37):
of an outside receiver and they have Brendand Cooks and
Cede Lamb. I would like to see someone who could
play more in the slot and out. Why maybe it's
a Flowers, Jordan Addison fits that as well. But another
pass catcher, whether it be someone who could play the
slot receiver as well or a tight end, I think
will be enough to really push this offense over the top.
You know, I'm interested to see what happens. Would say

(34:58):
like a guy like Dalton Kincaid, if a fair looking
tight end, Dalton Kincaid, the guy out of Utah doesn't
really offer you much as a blocker, but is a
great pass catcher. I'm still shuddering. And the fact that
he would for was sixteen I think two forty five
and a touchdown against USC. I was like, how did
I've watched that game. I'm like, that's not fair that
they get to play Travis Kelsey on their team. I

(35:19):
don't understand how that works. But could be a guy
that sort of gives you that pass catching Now, he doesn't,
as I said, give you much as a blocker. If
they do want to go tight end, Michael Mayor maybe
more of an all around guy. I see. The comp
I saw for Michael Mayor is Jason Witten, which I'm
sure would warm Jerry's heart to bring in another Jason
Witten type guy to kind of run routes and be

(35:40):
a little bit of everything for you there. I think
the issue is adding a pass catcher for the Cowboys
fantasy wise, is great for Dak Prescott. Maybe not so
much for that player individually, because you know, Ceedee Lamb's
going to get his They went out and they got
Brandon Cook, so he's there to catch the football. Tony
Poll is going to get his targets. So you add

(36:01):
another pass character to the mixing, it's gonna be hard
for that player to consistently get looks. But man, that
means great things for Dak. He has that many more
weapons in this offense. The New York Football Giants who
made it to the playoffs this past year, they have
ten total picks, one pick in the first round that
is number twenty five. They need a wide receiver. They
need a lot of wide receivers. They need wide receivers

(36:22):
in the very worst way. They could use an offensive lineman,
and they could use a cornerback as well. Two of
the three mock drafters I looked at have them going
offensive line in the first round. DJ hasn't taken Joe
Tipman from Wisconsin, Buckie has been taking John Michael Schmidt's
the center from Minnesota, and Lands Airline has them going
defensive back. Brian Branch the corner from Alabama. The Giants

(36:46):
just need a wide receiver, but they have a whole
team full of slot receivers. You know, Sterley Shepherd is back,
They've got jan Dale Robinson. What they said that there
is slate, they just have a ton Actually I don't
think is there a slate and officially signed. I think
he might to actually be a free agent, but I
know they brought in Paris Campbell and Jamison Crowder who
were both slot guys. Like they just have so many

(37:08):
slot receivers. Hodgens for sure is one that could play
out wide. And I think they did get a deal
done with They did get it. Yes they do. They
do have Slayton back. He just he resigned a couple
of weeks ago, so he is back. If they need
an outside receiver, is there one? Is there one that
they can easily attain in this draft. I mean, maybe

(37:32):
if Quinton Johnston was to fall to them, but I
don't know if he makes it to twenty five. I
also don't know if they take a receiver at twenty five.
I could see them more going with the secondary crop,
maybe like a Jalen Hyatt, who is someone who could
win down field, be a field chatcher for them, who
I've recently fallen in love with the idea of him
ending up on the Chargers. But I don't know if

(37:54):
they'll do it in the first round go for a
wide receiver. I wouldn't more so think they might load
up maybe a second and third round receiver or something
like that, because at twenty five there's a chance that
the four top receivers could all be off the board already.
You mentioned Jalen Hyatt to the Chargers. I've seen that
mocked in a few places, and that's another one that
I think is great for the Chargers, not so much

(38:15):
for Hyatt's fantasy value, because there's just a lot of
targets to sort of deal with their Yeah, you know,
you're right. I don't think they spend that first round
pick on a wide receiver because I think a lot
of the guys that could potentially be difference makers for
them are going to be gone and will probably still
be around in the second or third round, maybe a
guy like Cedric Tillman, although I'm starting to see more

(38:36):
buzz about him potentially moving up draft boards. The wide
receiver out of Tennessee. You know, I just don't know,
because this isn't This isn't the deepest class. We've had
a lot of really deep draft classes over the last
few years. This one isn't that. So it could be
that maybe you wait until Day two and you try
to take that swing at a wide receiver. But I

(38:57):
do think it's something they have to try to figure
out because right now they got a whole bunch of
slot receivers and Darren Waller like, that's it, That's all
I got. So I love Darren Waller. Right now, so
many targets are gonna go his way, so many targets
Darren Waller. I saw our pal Derek Brown d bro
who says Darren Waller's his number two tight end right

(39:19):
now behind Travis Kelsey. He the trade happened, and I
came on the network and because that was like one
of the move the big moves. They were like, all right,
let's talk about this for fantasy. And I was like,
he's back to being a top five tight end and
I thought that was manbe be a little spice. Nope,
I don't know if I have him tight end two.
I will say I think he's in obviously one as
Kelsey after that, I think Waller deserves to be in

(39:40):
the discussion. I don't know if I would quite have
him met too, but to me, he's in that second TiO.
I think he sort of fits in that. You know
that Andrew's Kittle Hawkinson. I think he's sort of in
that group there, Pits. Yeah, we're gonna say it. We're
gonna keep saying it. You know. I'm waiting for all
the casuals to log back in and be like, you
guys are talking about this dude, still like get him
out of our lives. Anytime I tweet something positive about Pitts,

(40:02):
it's like, why will you not let trust me? He's
a good play. He's actually good. He's actually good. He's
just in a bad situation. The Philadelphia Eagles, you're defending
NFC champions. Six total picks, including two in the first
round because Howie Roseman continually fleeces all all the other
gms around the league. They got the tenth pick in

(40:26):
the draft, which they acquired from the New Orleans Saints,
and they have a number thirty. This team is very
good offensively needs safety, offensive lineman, and maybe a running back,
but that is way down the list. So the mos
here Daniel Jeremiah has them going Lucas Vaness and edge
rusher at the tenth pick, and another edge rusher from
Kansas State Felix and a dk Uzoma at the thirtieth pick.

(40:49):
Bucky Brooks has them going defense with both picks Nolan Smith,
the edge rusher from Georgia, Mozzi Smith the defensive tackle
from Michigan, and Lance has been going offensive lineman Peter Scronsky,
the old lineman from with Western and an edge rusher
Keyon Right White from Georgia Tech. So does Bijean fit here?
Does he does? He? Does he fit in Philadelphia? One

(41:09):
hundred percent? He does? But I think this is the
pie in the sky. Uh, Like, like hope, and I'm
seeing a lot of people. I mean, it's no surprise.
Everyone's like, oh my god. If Bijean was on the Eagles,
he'd be the RB one, and it's like, yeah, I
don't disagree, but I don't know of howe Roseman is
gonna pull the do that at ten, and I don't
know if Bejean to do it at ten. Yeah, and

(41:31):
I don't think he's gonna make it to thirty. And
I don't think Roseman is gonna trade up to get him. Um,
Bijean would thrive here. But the thing is the Eagles
lost Aligneman, they lost pieces from that defense. I think
they're gonna use those picks to build up those areas
because no offense to Bijean. I think when you have
a quarterback like Jalen Hurts, most running backs can succeed.

(41:54):
So I am super excited to see what Rashad Penny,
when healthy, could be for this team. They like Kenny Will,
they like Boston Scott, and it wouldn't surprise me if
they were because this running back class is pretty deep
as well. It wouldn't surprise me if they grabbed a
running back on Day two or Day three rather than
taking Bejan. But obviously I think Bijean to the Eagles

(42:14):
would be amazing for fans. Yeah, I should, I should
sort of rephrase what I said, because Bijean fits anywhere.
I mean I think I think right like I said,
does he fit in Philadelphia? Yes he does. He fits
pretty much everywhere. So that's maybe not the thing. But
does it make sense? And I don't know that it
does just because of where the Eagles are drafting and
what some of their other needs are and what they
currently have, because I do think they're very interested to

(42:37):
see what they have in Rashad Penny. They sort of
like the supporting pieces around him, So I could see
them maybe taking a swing at it sometime late in
the second day, maybe sometime in Day three, I see
they take a shot at a running back there. I
wouldn't expect that they're going to do a lot of
big moves offensively in this draft. I mean, they have

(42:59):
all the things they need. They were in the super Bowl,
you know, they just they ran up on, you know,
the guy who could end up being the greatest quarterback
of all time and they lost. So there's really no shame.
I don't think there's anything that they really need to
change significantly from what they've done last year. So I
don't imagine they're going to add any pieces that become
immediately Fantasy relevant come in twenty twenty three. They're in

(43:21):
a place to where they're gonna like they've already paid
aj Brown, but they're gonna have to pay Jalen Hurts
and Rubers where he's gonna ask for fifty million a year,
they're gonna have to pay Devonsa Smith. So I think
taking a running back when you're gonna have that much already,
like it's a luxury that I don't, they're going to
see better use for those picks. Yeah, I think I
think that's probably gonna be the point with the Eagles.

(43:41):
Last one here the Washington Commanders. They have eight total picks,
one in the first round. It is number sixteen. Their
needs already corner, an offensive lineman, and a tight end.
And to that point, Daniel Jeremiah has been taking Dalton
Kincaid to tie it end out of Utah, Bucky Brooks
hasn't take, and Joey Porter junior the corner from Penn State,

(44:02):
and Lance Zerline hasn't taking Paris Johnson, junior offensive tackle
from Ohio State. The interesting part of this whole thing
is I think, you know, they've got some good wide receivers.
They got Terry McLaurin that I like Johan Dotson. They
have Curtis Samuel those, They've got some some nice pieces
at wide receiver. Their running backs aren't awful. I mean,

(44:22):
Antonio Gibson can show show that he can still play
a little bit. Brian Robinson looks like he can be something.
But right now they're going into the season looking at
a quarterback battle of Jacoby Brissette and Sam Howell. Now
Ron Rivera says he's cool with that. I think the
rest of us are gonna like, really, dog, really, his

(44:44):
job's on the line. Like, I don't think I want
to trust that to Jacoby Brissette or Sam Howe. That's
just me. Do they have to make a move for
a quarterback at some point in this draft? Um? I
guess they don't have to, because they could be telling
themselves that they're cool with seeing what Sam Howell is is.
I think the front office might be more cool with
doing that, taking a long approach, rather than Ron Rivera,

(45:05):
whose job very well could be on the line if
the Commanders don't make the playoffs this season. The issue
is at sixteen, maybe Hooker falls to them and that's it.
Like I think the other four quarterbacks are all gone,
so they'd have to either trade up. I continue to say,
I think the play for them would be to trade
for Lamar if you're trading up at that point. But

(45:27):
they are a sneaky team to me. I think that
if any of the teams were to jump into the
top ten, maybe three, maybe with the there's a lot
of spots in the top ten you could jump because
like five and six could both be up for grabs
potentially with Seattle and the Lions. So the Commanders have
opportunities to jump back in that top ten and get
a quarterback if there's one that they like. I think

(45:49):
they are a sneaky team to make that. If you're
Ron Rivera, if you're the front office in Washington and
you know that you know the seat is getting hot, right,
do you take a guy like Hendon Hooker and sort
of use that as a way to buy yourself another year?
You know, he suffers the ACL injury midway through last season.

(46:10):
There are reports that he could be ready to go
potentially buy week one of this upcoming year. But you
know that that means he's not gonna get that much
time to maybe work. He's still going to sort of
be rehabbing. He's not gonna be one hundred percent healthy.
But if you decide that, hey, we're gonna take a
chance on this guy. Admittedly, he will I think, be
twenty five by the time the season starts. He's gonna
be an older rookie. Do you take that shot and say, hey, look,

(46:33):
this is our guy. Give us another year to see
if we can develop him. You know, you put him
up there as a guy to compete with with Brissette,
to compete with Howell, and say, hey, you know, we
think he could give us some really usable seasons, but
this year is sort of a red shirt year for
him as we try to get him up to speed
and get him healthy again. I know it sounds cynical,

(46:55):
but it sort of solves your quarterback issue at least
in the short term, and if you're head coach, maybe
buys you one more year to try to put things together.
If I'm Ron Rivera, I'm gonna sit there and be like, okay,
so you want me to use the sixteenth overall pick
this year on a quarterback? Like he said, who's gonna
red shirt? Who is one year and six days younger

(47:15):
than Lamar Jackson? I would be like, no, let's turn
this sixteenth pick and next year's first into Lamar and
let's just let's go. Because if you're talking about Hooker, yeah,
I do think a team's going to take him in
the first round to get that fifth year of control
on him and let him red shirt. He's freshman year,
but he's older, he's in a system that struggles to
translate to the NFL. Like, at that point, I don't

(47:38):
see any way you could convince yourself that that is
a better use of the asset rather than trading it
for a quarterback who is again one year and six
days younger, older, and already has a bunch of NFL
experience in an MVP and we know could play at
this level. Like, I get it. I get the line
of thinking. But to me, if I was Ron Rivera,
I would just continue to be like, why would we

(47:58):
go this route when we could go this much safer
route and put us in a chance to win a
Super Bowl? I mean, which again brings us back to
our point that from a couple of weeks ago, why
are people more interested in Lamar Jackson? I don't understand.
It doesn't make any sense to me A twenty six
year old former MVP who can still play at a
high level and seems like nobody wants him. I I

(48:21):
will live hopefully a much longer life. Uh, And I
don't know that I'll ever be able to figure out
the answer to that one. Who knows? Uh? There you go.
That's why I look at the AFC and NFC East.
So we are off and running with our draft coverage.
Side note, we are going to attempt to get some
some other draft analysts in here. Hopefully we're able to
maybe maybe talks to land zero line. I don't know,

(48:42):
maybe we can even try to a move the Sticks
crossover event or something like that. I don't know. I'm
putting it out in the atmosphere, right, be a lot
of fun, see if we can make that happen. I'm
just putting it out in the atmosphere and seeing if
maybe these scheduling gods allow something like that to happen. Um.
And then you know, the draft is coming starting on
April twenty seventh. We're gonna do a little bit of

(49:02):
extra content for that as well. Maybe give you a
Day one recap pod and then we'll recap the whole thing.
Of course, the week after that, so stay tuned. We
got plenty on tap as we get close to the
NFL's onboarding process when they hire some new employees, so
we'll let you know all about that. In the meantime,
it feels like a good place to set this one

(49:23):
down for the day. We appreciate you hanging out with
us as you always do and as we always do.
So that'll do it for this edition of the NFL
Fantasy Football Podcast. He's Mike. I am Marcus. Stay happy,
safe and healthy, do good and live well and we'll
talk to you next week. Wow wow w to make

(50:02):
all back to day