August 30, 2022 • 35 mins
It's Fox Sports Radio's Official Fantasy Football Podcast! Dan Beyer and Mike Harmon look back on the preseason and identify the 3 most significant storylines to take with you into your fantasy seasons. Dan and Mike draft the top-25 in a 0.5 PPR draft.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ladies, you want experience during your football season, well, buckle up,
sweet cheeks. We've got all the experience in the world.
This is I Want Your Flex with Dan Buyer and
Mike Harman. Mike and Dan breakdown everything you need to
set your line ups from position rankings, two starts and sits.
(00:24):
The guys help you make those hard decisions. And now
let's get your flex on. Here's Dan Buyer and Mike Carman.
Welcome back to another episode of the I Want Your
Flex Podcast. He is Mike Carmen. Where you can get
him on twitterr at Swallen Dome and yeah, you can
find me on Twitter again at Dan Buyer on Fox
(00:46):
back at Action. That's a good sign for the season, Mike.
Social media is in full force, and now we've got
a regular season. As the preseason games now in our
rear view mirror, shock it on. It starts so quickly
and bam, it's like getting run into by insert power
running back here. For the purposes of our age and
(01:07):
maybe getting people to take a history lesson, we'll just
use Earl Campbell as our reference point in terms of
smashing you in the face with training camp practices and
into the preseason, so we got something special for you
in this episode. A little bit later on, we're gonna
start our top fifty draft. Mike and I are going
to do the first picks if who we think should
(01:28):
go in your draft, and a half point PPR league.
It's the middle point of those who play standard leagues
and those who play full point PPR, so we try
to customize it to the best of both worlds. We're
gonna do a half point PPR draft. Top fifty players
in our first twenty five will be coming off the board.
Later on this episode, however, we start with the preseason storylines. Mike,
(01:50):
now that the preseason games are in our rear view mirror,
and I guess my first storyline obviously close to home
is I'm a Seahawks fan. Is that Geno Smith did
win the starting job in Seattle. And that's one of
the one of the reasons, one of the things that
stood out to me. If Drew Locke gets the job,
I'm a little higher on dk Metcalf, I'm a little
higher on Tyler Lockett. But now that it's Gino Smith
(02:12):
job changes things with the wide receivers, with the running backs.
That situation is also interesting because throughout the preseason, Kenneth Walker,
their second round pick out of Michigan State, ends up
having a hernia issue that needed to be worked on.
We don't necessarily know his availability early on in the season,
and now you have her shot Penny, who was a
darling for so many in the fantasy world last year.
(02:34):
I actually give her shot Penny a bit of a
bump heading into the season and kind of take away
from some of the other Seahawks after Gino Smith was
named the starter. Yeah, so long is he can stay
healthy and off the jump, he is your guys. So
for draft purposes, going and grab him accordingly, waiting for
Walker to get himself back in full effect. And it's
(02:56):
something that you and I have talked about as well,
like these seasons are so long now where if Kenneth
Walker does come back healthy, he's maybe the guy down
the stretch that Seattle goes to. But in the in
the early parts, you just think Penny is your guy.
And if Penny is rolling stands the injury part that
you bring up in so many know about Penny and
(03:16):
his health. I just think it's really good value for
Richard Penny at this point, even with their young offensive line.
Certainly where he's rolling along. Obviously, we look at Green
Bay one of the big storylines, and no, we're not
going to get deep into Aaron Rodgers hanging out with
Joe Rogan. Now we just go to on the field
to play and the expectation that the running backs ruled
the day. A J. Dillon and Aaron Jones obviously both
(03:39):
heavy runners, but they'll be big in the past the game.
Remember your place replacing a hundred sixty nine targets left
and avoided by Davante Adams. So one guy I think
that's going on to the radar is touny In. Not
that we saw anything in the preseason to say, hey,
he's back and ready to roll, but just looking at
the way the targets have to go down. If you
(04:00):
to take a flyer in the receiving corps, then Dobbs
seems to be the guy that's made the biggest splash. Fortunately,
you're not gonna have to reach too highly because there's
not a lot of great expectations. It's kind of like
picking someone out of the New England running back room
for years on end, which guy is going to be
the favorite for Bill Belichick that week, so because because
(04:22):
that's the one of the other storylines I was looking at,
is the dismissiveness that Bill Belichick and company suddenly did
forgot how to coach football that and it's going to
be an abject failure and disaster. Is there anybody that
you reach for for fantasy purposes outside of Stevenson and
Damien Harris as two or three however you're drafting them. No,
(04:43):
but it still makes it intriguing. I did take Damian
Harrison to draft this past weekend, and knowing the headaches
that came along with it. But it's kind of like
the James Conner conversations that we have had in in
other episodes of how do you shy away from the touchdowns?
Is Damian Harris gonna score fifteen touchdounds? Probably not? But
(05:05):
your point about Belichick, uh is did he just forget
about football? Do you think they get in short yarded situations?
Is gonna move away from Damien Harris? Like? So? So
what is going to be the regression? Really when it
comes to the Patriots running back Even though you have
that two headed and maybe three headed monster whatever you have,
I still feel that there's value with what we've got
(05:26):
with Damian Harris in New England. Yeah, even if Harris
regresses back to what ten eight touchdowns, it's still going
to be among the leaders in the NFL. You look
at Hunter Henry. We'll see if John who Smith is
more of the receiving option they anticipated when they brought
him in last year. But otherwise, Harris has proved himself
(05:46):
as a short yardage and particularly a goal line back.
Bill Belichick is not running away from that. Okay, that's
one proven concept in whatever they're building for that offense.
That part they could block in a box and just
put off to the side while building everything else. Get
Mike on Twitter at swollen Alme. You can find me
on Twitter at Dan Buyer on Fox. Here's another storyline,
(06:09):
and I, honestly, I gotta know how to handle this
because Brian Robinson got shot shot, Yes, and what could
have been an absolute tragic situation in d C over
the weekend has at least we've we've heard positive things
the initial reports stable conditions, non life threatening injuries. Ron
(06:33):
Rivera spoke on Monday about Robinson's condition reports, saying that
he could be back later on the season, but that
was a spot where Brian Robinson was being taken earlier
in drafts, and you ever would have thought when the
you know, NFL draft comes around and he's taken in
the third round, Antonio Gibson almost doing special teams work.
(06:55):
Now with Robinson's situation, I just wonder how that plays
out in d C. Is it Antonio Gibson's job again?
I would assume that's probably the case, even though he's
got his fumbling issues. But I think you're gonna see
quite a boost from Antonio Gibson and now Brian Robinson
basically undraftable if you're having drafts. Yeah, Gibson slides back
into a back end too high end three with like
(07:18):
a what of wishing, wanting and hoping because someone has
to be the mail carrier and Jared Patterson and j
D mckissic that's not how they're built, that's not their
role in the offense. So someone's got to eat up
some carries. So one thing that might be in play
is there's some rumors of Alexander Madison insert the song here, uh,
(07:39):
and several other running backs that might be in for trade.
Potential guys that have fallen out of favor are on
the back end of depth charts. Here's my last storyline
that the thing is interesting, and I know it kind
of hits home to you, even though it's not really home.
Mitchell Drabinsky's by all signs, yeah, he is your guy.
He's gonna be the starter in Pittsburgh, and there does
(08:01):
seem to be um. I think Deante Johnson gets a
boost even though he dinged up his shoulder in the
preseason finale against the Lions. We love Nase Harris, we
talked about him in earlier episodes. You know, I don't
know if it's the best move for the for the
Steelers long term, It's to be seen, but at least
fantasy wise, I think all of the Steelers get a
(08:24):
bit of a boost because Mitchell Robiskie ends up getting
the job. Well, it's easier from a coaching perspective, and
I'm sure you covered this on your Sunday afternoon show,
and certainly sitting with Doug Gottlieb. Something I've been banging
the drum from all along, uh is traditionally it's easier
to take the veteran off to jump and if he
(08:44):
struggles and things are going a rye bring the young
guy in and then he's playing for lack of a
better term, because I hate it, but it's house money, right,
He's a Pittsburgh guy. Everybody's waiting to come in and
nobody has grand expectation that the rookie is gonna come
in and be a twenties seven and three touchdown to
(09:05):
inter interception ratio guy. So you have that at play.
I always argue, if the guy had needs to be benched,
he needs to be benched, and if that's going to
room him psychologically, then he was never your guy. So
I fall on the other side of that, But I
understand Travisky didn't go out and lose the job. So
(09:26):
that's something to watch. Little fears for the Pittsburgh offense overall,
the offense sublind seeing how those five guys gel. There
is a report now starting to circulate that Harris is
dealing with a Liz Frank injury, not a tear, but
something that's kind of bugging. Yeah, if he's in the field,
(09:49):
he's gonna have a huge workload as a runner and receiver,
no change, no no doubt about that. Uh Friar Muth
is a guy that's on the back end of your
t n t Yensk. I am struggling. Um, part of
it is just this in in my head. It's really
kind of disconcerting. It two points. Um, let me go
(10:11):
back to Friar Muth in three two, and then he
got Friar Muth who's being drafted as a back end
tight end one. I think he'd have a bigger role
with Pickett, but he'll certainly be viable with Trabinsky under center.
I've been strigued to see what Mike Tomlin's offense has
(10:31):
here and what Matt Canada, how creative he gets. I
I just look at it this way. I I thought
of Pittsburgh wanted to start the next generation. You go
with Kenny Pickett, like the move on, I said, I
think Pittsburgh has this fear of going six and eleven
of five and twelve, because that's just not the Steelers.
(10:53):
It's not the Steelers away breaks the streak. Dan, Yes,
absolutely that that is not a Pittsburgh thing to do. However,
or I do just think that when it comes to
the fantasy values of those guys and the and this
this Trabinsky conversation is so interesting because there it's almost
like there's three Camps Mike instead of like one side
or the other, there's the Mitchell Trabinsky second overall pick
(11:18):
bust or not a bust, and then it's was it
on Mattege's in the bare shoulders? Like there's this it's
just this weird sort of way where there's maybe all
tra Whisky fans and then there's no Trabisky fans, and
then there's just the ones that blame Mattnege that that
that's what it certainly owns his share of the blame,
(11:41):
particularly I justin fields ends up becoming anything of value,
then it's a larger question of how you ran the offense,
and not that Trabinsky is a guy that was going
to sprint around and be a sixty to seventy yard
rushing guy each week, but he was a guy that
could get to the edges and the fact that those
were never called designed likewise, with fields last year, it's
(12:03):
like you're leaving something that's a big part of their
games just locked away that you're not even bringing into
the into the tool set, and then you know you've
had a bad offensive line. How do you not account
for that? And that's something that I'd like to think
after a year in Buffalo, maybe a little louder trying
to make sure he fights for his second chance as
(12:25):
a starter, but certainly go into Pittsburgh where that's one
of the concerns that that became part of the discussions
with Matt Canada to say, hey, here's what we got,
here's what we could do, and maybe they get a
little more creative in that respect. I saw a tweet
that listed Mitchell Robinsky, Andy Dalton, Nick Foles, and Justin
(12:46):
Fields and rattled off their preseason stats and they were impressive.
They were they were impressive, but it was such an
anti Matt n egg Eat tweet. This be like, look
at what this guy has done to these quarterbacks. And
that's why I find it find an interesting and I
also find it interesting like that it's in a tweet
like that that now we consider the preseason to be
important where to to prove a point that a guy
(13:10):
was a bump because these quarterbacks are, you know, thriving.
I just that tweet needed to wait until about week
four or five. And I know that Andy Dalton is
not gonna be starting in New Orleans, so there wouldn't
be anything there. But if Trabinsky and fields have enough success.
I think that's enough of an indictment on Matt Naggie
than to cash in your chips after the final preseason game.
(13:31):
Oh I would, I would concur, but you know, you
take your wins when they pop up, Dan And certainly,
I think part of it for any of those that
thought Trabinsky from a media standpoint, fans standpoint, whatever, it
might have gotten a raw deal is I think they
were a little upset. And I can speak to this
because it's some a way I felt and still analyze
(13:54):
that situation is that there was a lot of dismissiveness
about what Trabinsky was able to do. Yet everybody would
trumpet the fact that Matt Naggi got to the playoffs twice. Sure, yeah,
it's like Travisky didn't. Was your quarterback, so he gets
no credit. Were able to work the offense in spots
to be advantageous and successful, but he gets no credit
(14:16):
for that. That's all Matt Naggy creating something out of air.
I I think that was part of the problem is
the number of people that still held giant buckets water
for the acumen of Matt Nagy while concurrently saying, well,
look at the trash he was dealing with that you
can't have it both ways. It's they you know, it
(14:39):
is kind of a bit of a package deal to
your point if you're getting success. And again, the double
doink was a double doink here. Not only did it
hit once, I it hit twice when the two opportunities
to go in. Like we we used double doink on
the Cody Parky field goal as such a description of
(15:00):
almost the Matt Nangui era, But what it doesn't say,
or even the Mitchell Tramsky ero. What it doesn't say
is that it had not one, but two opportunities to
actually go through and win the game, and it didn't
happen for Chicago. So we look at it in such
a negative and it's like, man, it's maybe just bad
luck that it didn't happen. And now I'll see Cody
Parkey's kick in my dreams when I try to lay down. Sorry, um,
(15:23):
anything else preseason wise that you want to get off
your chest before we get into the top fifty. Well,
I think, going back to the Belichick discussion, the same
thing in Kansas City. The absence of Tyreek Hill is
suddenly going to shut this down. Patrick Mahomes doesn't know
how to play quarterback. The rest of these receivers are
a bunch of guys that you picked up off the street.
And Andy Reid never had success in Philadelphia without a
(15:47):
bunch of all stars, at least that's how I read
between the lots. Well, you know, you know what happened
to me with the Chiefs. I started to get lured
into the c EH now the unquestioned lead back back
in Kansas City. That was the like, this is the guy.
You can talk about Ronald Jones and Jerick McKinnon and
Pacheco and all these other other guys, but in the
(16:09):
end c E H is the number one guy, and
so that is you know it is. It has been
a it has been a a love hate relationship with
me and Clyde Edwards E Layer over the last two years.
Mostly hate, and uh it's right when I was able
to separate myself, Mike, they start reeling me back in
being like he is the guy, like he is, he
(16:30):
is the unquestioned guy in Kansas City, and I'm like,
well we've his truly is his His best game may
have been the first game he ever played, which was
that Thursday night game against the Texans after they won
the Super Bowl, and you know, you know, scored a
touchdown to get over a hundred yards like that may
have been. He had a good game against the Raiders
at one point as well. But that's what that's what
(16:51):
reeled me in with the Chiefs, and I I'm glad
you brought it up because I was actually gonna leave
it on the sidelines, but I was able to get
in my c H therapy for today. No, we have
to do that. That's part of it, is the couch
therapy because you know what, you weren't alone in terms
of high draft selections a year ago and now because
of the way the Kansas City offense changes with Travis
(17:13):
Kelsey and a bunch of new parts and guys trying
to take on bigger roles. McCole, Hartman already hurt, Juju
Smith Schuster, what's he going to be this season? MBS
coming over from Green Bay. We got a lot of
new component pieces and then their c e H waving
at you again. I think, Juju, this may be this
may be an overstatement, but I honestly think that his
(17:35):
status is one of the top five most intriguing fantasy
storylines that we can we will see. The reason, Mike
is because of everything you laid out with Kansas City
and also about his time with Pittsburgh and then what
it means for Ben Roethlisberger, I mean, and and what
it did. Remember Antonio Brown was so mad that Juju
got Team m v P, and then Juju was you know,
(17:59):
resigned to uh, you know, four catches for eight yards
a roll with Ben Roethlisberger over the last two seasons,
like like if, like there is the real possibility that
he could really really re emerge in Kansas City, and
I think that that is super intriguing rank on my
wide receiver board coming in. But a guy that I've
(18:19):
certainly had circled a while trying to figure out exactly
what to do with them. Now that we've got the
preseason storylines out of the way, Mike, let's dive into
our draft. We're gonna be taking the top twenty five guys.
We're gonna do fifty, but we're gonna leave the last
twenty five for our next episodes. But these are the
top twenty five guys that you should draft in your
fantasy league. Doing it on a half point PPR basis,
(18:41):
let's get it going. Mike. I'm gonna take the first
overall pick because I know who you're gonna take number
one overall. We've talked about it in the previous episodes.
I'll get the odd picks, you get the even picks.
With the first overall pick, I'm taking Colts running back
Jonathan Taylor because it allows me then to find out
who Mike Harmon would take second in a draft, because
if if you've listened to previous episodes, we know that
(19:02):
Jonathan Taylor would go numero. You know, So Jonathan Taylor
goes number one, Austin Ekeler of your Los Angeles Chargers
at number two. Interesting. Now, I completely agree with you,
but we see so many rankings of Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook,
Derrick Henry, and there's just I'm with you. I go
with the injury uh situations with those three backs. Not
(19:25):
that Ekeler isn't uh free of of of maybe being
dinged up here and there, but it's that, um, it's
his offense. Uh, there's a lot there, There's a lot
there for a reason to take Austin Ekeler too. Well,
that's it. I mean, look at Minnesota. You've got a
lot of things spread out, and Dalvin Cook is a
guy and I mentioned Madison perhaps getting traded, but Dalvin
(19:47):
Cook's a guy that I would consider there certainly, Harris,
the Liz Frank thing leaves me a little reticent. And
Henry doesn't catch the ball, and you know my feelings
on McCaffrey, a ten minute monologue on that on an
early episode. So Ekeler moves back up. And if the
Chargers offense is going to be everybody everything everybody wants
it to be, he's the guy that drives the bus.
(20:09):
I know there's probably going to be some regression, but
the way that the Rams used Cooper Cup last year,
whether they were winning or losing, was just mind boggling
to me. Like even like in games, are you like,
oh the Rams are out of it, Like when they
were dominated by it was just we're gonna still throw
out to Cooper Cup wherever its silver hundred and fourteen
yards per game last season. Even if there is a regression, Mike,
(20:31):
the targets are going to be there during you know,
cracked one nine this past season, I'm going Cooper Cup
number three. I love it, big time target and we'll
see what Stafford's helps all about and how Allan Robinson
integrate sidto thing. But when we look at Cooper Cup,
he's just been magnificent. No matter what you throw at him,
he seems to find space. I will go back to
(20:52):
the running back position. Then here I will take Dalvin
Cook based on his running receiving and do them doing
everything they can to not put the ball in an
important spot in Kirk Cousins hands late in games. Dalvin
Cook just tucking into his gun and let him go,
I'd be apprehensive and taking the some of the running
backs that we mentioned earlier. I'm gonna take a running
(21:14):
back that we mentioned way earlier. I'm gonna go Najy
Harris because I don't think people realize how much he
was involved in the passing game last year, or maybe
just on the surface we talked about injury history again,
I'm just maybe i've CMC fears, but I am staying away.
I think that there's there's an area where you take
Christian McCaffrey. But at five overall, for me right now,
I'm not comfortable with it. So I'm gonna go Naji
(21:35):
Harris at number five. I don't want to bust. I
don't want a guy who's just gonna fall off the
face of the yearth if I'm having a top five pick,
So I'm going Naji Harris at number five. I stay
off that train as well. Let me move over to Buffalo.
I'm gonna take Stefon Diggs at pick number six. This
is interesting, second one off the board. One of the
second one receiver gone, so spicy there, Yeah, a little
(21:57):
spicy alright, So Stefon Diggs is gone. I'll take Derrick
Henry just sheer volume, and I think that this could
be the last hour off of the Tennessee Titans, so
why not try to make this thing work? Who knows
what Malik willis his role is going to be. Actually
think that there will be some role for him, but
it's not going to be enough for him to take
any points away from Derrick Henry. So I'll take the
(22:19):
King at number seven. Nicely done. I'll circle back to
the wide receiver position. Give me Justin Jefferson with volume,
especially if Adam Theland continues to become a distant number
two in that offense. He's really the comfortable guy in
the red zone. But yeah, when it comes to anything else. Um,
(22:40):
it's all Jefferson. I think you'll see more Osborne on
the wings of Love and some of these guys. Now,
I will take Christian McCaffrey the number nine. I feel
like I could take that that that would be said, like,
if you're sitting there at nine, you said Christian McCaffrey fell.
To me, it's worth the risk, and if you're in
a twelve team league, maybe you can you know, rebound
(23:00):
act on, you know, on the back side with somebody
that can can counter him. Just to me, five six, seven,
that area was still just too soon when they're I
think too many other shore bets in the in the
draft order. Yeah, it's one of those situations where people
think you're cheering against the guy. It's like, no, I'm
just trying to be pragmatic and looking at the offensive
line still a work in progress, even though I think
(23:21):
Baker Mayfield might be able to will Is big chip
down the uh down the field to create some sorts.
But overall, McCaffrey just scares me that I'm not getting
anywhere close to seventeen. And if that risk pays off
for folks, they're gonna win big. But as we always
say you win your draft later, you can lose it
in the first and he's a guy I'm not pushing
(23:43):
in to potentially lose it with. I'm gonna go to Cincinnati.
Let me have Joe mix in here. I think there'll
be some workloads split and obviously tons of receivers that
will be talking about here in short order, but still
a guy with massive numbers in a productive offense. We're
gonna make it back to back Bengals at number eleven. Overall,
I'm gonna go Jamar Chase. Uh, there's it's just a
(24:07):
magnificent rookie year. I also think that like the Jamaar
Chase factor and even of what we've seen over the
last couple of years, justin Jefferson in his rookie season.
You know, the rookie wide receivers that are out there
this year, I don't know how many I love compared
to these, to the to the other guys that have
just mentioned, like, I don't know, I don't think Garrett
Wilson is going to have that sort of year with
(24:28):
the Jets, especially if if Joe Flacco you know, is
the guy for you know, however long he is the guy.
But Jamaar Chase at number eleven. I think we'll be
able to back up his rookie season with great success
at number eleven. Number twelve looks like he's going to
avoid suspension at least for two based on everything we're reading.
(24:49):
There's nothing popping the in the headlines right now. Alvin
Kamara of your New Orleans Saints, this is about the
area where you and I in a previous podcast, we
had about ten or eleven guys that that we thought
were like sure first rounders. Now you take Kimara and
even Chase at that that that spot maybe like this
(25:11):
is this is where now you're seeing the blend. This
is where the blend comes in, where where there's a
different caliber player that we're dealing with then the first
nine or ten guys that we picked. You can totally
get that feeling divergence begin it, sir, Does you have
Alvin Kimara again halfpoint PPR league. I think there's gonna
be a lot of opportunities for him to catch passes
(25:33):
out of the backfield. DeAndre Swift is gonna go at
number thirteen, maybe because maybe I've taken them too high,
because I love hard knocks, even though there hasn't been
a ton of DeAndre Swift except Do Staley being like,
you could be that guy. But I think there'd be
great value for DeAndre Swift and if you're on a
keeper league or another, great value to keep him years
down the line. So DeAndre Swift will go off the
(25:53):
board at thirteen. Here and here. I thought you were
just focused on the v m AS announcement Taylor Swift
with their tenth album coming out on oct I missed that.
It's all that she showed up. She got an award
last night or something big award anniversary of the nonsense
with Kanye years ago. She'd won an award and then
she was dancing and singing along to everybody else who performed.
(26:15):
He's like, wow, she really is a fan of all
the other people's music. Supporting Yeah, the way to support Yeah,
Way to go Taylor Swift can help their brain operations
are absolutely By the way, I'll save you a ticket
for lover Fest West for next year. I mentioned I
mentioned last night. We are recording this on a Monday,
so there is news. By the time that this uh
podcast drops, which will be early Tuesday, on August thirty,
(26:38):
you'll have to forgive us for that, but recording this
on a on a Monday, So that's why I referenced
the last night was was was it the movie Awards?
The Video Music Awards? Right? Yeah? Yeah, alright? And hers
was actually a real uh it's like ten minutes long.
Somebody said it was a mini movie. I think you'd
enjoy it. You should check it out. Well, I'll give
(27:00):
it a chance when I'm not chasing the kid around. Okay,
that's good, alright, is a dangerous thing for those youngsters.
Let me tell you. You're up at number four after
DeAndre Swift just went off the clock. There you go
at number fourteen. Overall, I'm worried about the quarterback play,
but I'm not worried about the dominance of this player
as a runner and receiver. So give me Deebo Samuel.
(27:21):
I will go high risk eyge reward here. Yeah. I
love I love Deebo. I love him in that spot.
I am a I am a big, big fan. So
Deebo Samuel is off. I was kind of hoping he
would fall to fifteen. That didn't happen. I don't know
what's happening in Dallas. I really don't. I don't know.
We we think we know about Ezekiel Elliott, and we
(27:42):
know that Tony Polloch probably the better running back offensive
line now. Tyren Smith's knee injury a big question, a
lot of questions in Dallas. I'm gonna roll the dice
with Ceedee Lamb here at fifteen and just even if
Dallas thinks Mike, you know, Dad can throw the ball
and they'll be throwing the football a lot. I like
(28:03):
Dalton Schultz's value pushed up because I think he's option
number two in Dallas. But Ceedee Lamb at fifteen maybe
a bit of a stretch, But for everything that's gone wrong,
I just think that there's gonna be a lot of
opportunities for him there. So I'll take him at fifteen. Well,
that's just had a lot, a lot of opportunities for
for Dad to throw the ball. Just keep moving the pocket,
protecting from bad offensive lind anybody noticed the theme developing
(28:26):
here as we talk about quarterback play for yeah, bad front,
Five's no question about it. I'll stay in the wide
receiver realm and I'll take Tyreek Hill, and I'll do
it while holding my nose a little bit, just because
I think he's the best ball hero. In other words,
for the rankings, he'll find his numbers. But I think
(28:47):
week to week there might be some that you're just
holding your breath waiting for that big play, which which
wasn't which was also kind of the case in Kansas
City last year. I mean there were there were some
down weeks for sure, so it wouldn't be any thing different,
uh different in Miami. But also, you pay them that
much money, you got to figure that a they're going
to give them the football. Do they use them like
Devo at times? Yeah? Right? Do they get creative and
(29:10):
take a bunch of that San Francisco playbook down there
and say, look, I know this could get you beating
up a little bit, but it could if we block
it right. You've got some pretty big glory video highlights
that will start making the rounds. At number seventeen, I
think this is great value and I actually like this
spot for this player, and other people may have them higher.
(29:31):
Uh Davante Adams, and not because it's anything about Davante
Adams or his relationship with Derek Carr. Just a lot
of weapons Derek Carr has to throw too, And it
was not the case in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers,
where Davante Adams was the absolute, positively number one, and
there was a grand canyon gap on who was number two,
(29:52):
and that's It's not the case of Darren Waller and
how to Renfro being there. I also don't think that
Josh McDaniels is he cares about somebody getting eight hundred
yards and I think that's like, let's run this offense,
Let's do it like this. So I think that there's
a reason for, you know, our regression with Davante Adams,
but I think that this is a nice spot for
(30:13):
him if you are drafting, and if he goes any earlier,
I think it could be a bit of a reach.
I'll go Nick Chubb here from the Planet Cleveland, expecting
him to see a heavy dosage of touches earlier in
the season, and then when it comes down for the
back end, assuming health and availability, UH and Deshaun Watson
(30:33):
there's the name that has to be mentioned. When he
comes back down the stretch offense opens up, you might
have some big explosive plays on the table when it's
money time. There are a bunch of intriguing names that
are that are they are popping out to me that
I should pick half point PPR as we get close
to our top twenty of doing our top fifty draft.
(30:55):
I know not everything's gone right in Tampa, but the
one guy that is still there that Tom Brady likes
to throw two is Mike Evans. So I'm gonna go
Mike Evans. I love Mike Evans in the first six
weeks of the season. Mike. I think like like like
like he is. He is going to be the guy,
and I think that's enough to to carry through. So
I'm gonna take Mike Evans right now at number nineteen.
(31:17):
Hey man, he's forty five, and there's a lot of
blank going on. I'll turn back even though it's split.
By the way, has there have been more truer words
spoken than what Tom Brady said when you're forty five,
that's the greatest analysis of my world blew up about
that time. I know well that of which he speaks. Hell,
I can relate to a lot. I'm nowhere near a
(31:38):
goat in any way, shape or form, and certainly don't
have the money, means and businesses he does, or the dominance.
But I can relate to a number of things that
he's going on that are going on and swirling around
for Tom Brady at that age. So hey, good luck. Alright,
So Mike Evans goes in at at nineteen, you're up
(31:58):
at number twenty. I got Aaron Jones. I know a j.
Dillon is gonna leach a bunch out of the backfield,
but I'm still looking at Jones as a fifty catch guy.
There's my half PPR, but also being a viable option
in and around the red zone as well. So that
is the top twenty again. Get Mike on Twitter at Swollendol.
You can find me on Twitter at Dan Buyer on Fox.
(32:19):
Let's round up this final five of this episode is
we're going to be drafting the top fifty players of
the draft. We've got the first twenty five for you
here coming in at number twenty one. I know Melvin
Gordon's got a role, but I still think that Javonte
Williams is going to be that guy. I am staying
away from Travis Kelsey as that we've talked about in
previous episodes. I'm going to Javonte Williams at number twenty one.
(32:43):
I can't argue it. If this is gonna work. He's
gonna have to play play a big role. I would
come back if I still ascribed to the whole handcuffing idea.
I'd be reaching back for Gordon because I do think
he'll still be a factor in the red zone. Um,
let's see, I don't like next running backs. I mean
there's one I like, but I think it's more homerism
(33:03):
than anything else. So I'm gonna go with Keenan Allen
and his stats for days out of the Los Angeles
Charges one. It will keep our colleague Steve Disager from
chasing me down and wagging paperwork in front of me.
Uh too. This is a guy that just look at him.
He had some injury issues early in his career, those
got pushed aside, and now he's been one of the
most dominant receivers year in year out in the National
(33:25):
Football League with very little fanfare. Mind you, because while
the Chargers are never playing in January, you and I
were lockstep in in this decision. I'm going Mark Andrews
first time to end off the board at number twenty three.
Uh I think good value with that position. I'm going
Mark Andrews in at number twenty three huge potential for
(33:46):
him in that slot. All right, I'll circle back to
the running back position and this becomes a wishing, wanting, hoping. Uh.
And I look at three guys that are going to
come off the board in fairly rapid success in here,
and all of them could be boom er bus potential.
I'll look at Montgomery in Chicago, just that they spread
(34:07):
the offense a bit and he still still has the
explosiveness to make big plays. And to round out our
top twenty five of our draft of fifty that we're
gonna spread out over two episodes. Here, this is tough, Mike,
this is this is really really tough. I am going
to go listen. I think that there's a boost and
(34:28):
I think when you have a new quarterback in I
know the touchdown numbers haven't been there, but if Baker
Mayfield and d J. Moore get on the same page,
I think d J. Moore could have I mean, his
numbers through bad quarterbacks have been very good. And now
if Baker locks in on him, we we know Baker
kind of wants to, you know, throw to the main guys.
(34:51):
There was problems in Cleveland and here and there. I'm
gonna go DJ Moore in at number twenty five for
our final pick. Love that he's a guy that I'm
been trying to figure out exactly how much I love her, don't. Yeah,
And again someone's got to catch the ball right and
in this day and age the quarterbacks at three thousand yards.
And that's even if you split between two or three
(35:11):
bad guys. Uh, you're getting George three thousand yards. Your
number one is gonna have a good chunk of that.
If you get eight touchdowns, it would be such a
great improvements. And then you add a few yards and
we're gonna go d J Moore at number twenty five.
So there it is your top twenty five so far.
When we reconvene, Mike and I will uh not only
look ahead and to the upcoming season, but also finish
the rest of our draft. So you can make hay
(35:34):
in your rounds as well. So for Mike Carmen, you
can get on Twitter at Swollen Dome. I'm Dan Buyer.
Find me on Twitter at Dan Buyer on Fox. We
we'll talk to you next time here and I want
your flax
Ladies, you want experience during your football season, well, buckle up,
sweet cheeks. We've got all the experience in the world.
This is I Want Your Flex with Dan Buyer and
Mike Harman. Mike and Dan breakdown everything you need to
set your line ups from position rankings, two starts and sits.
(00:24):
The guys help you make those hard decisions. And now
let's get your flex on. Here's Dan Buyer and Mike Carman.
Welcome back to another episode of the I Want Your
Flex Podcast. He is Mike Carmen. Where you can get
him on twitterr at Swallen Dome and yeah, you can
find me on Twitter again at Dan Buyer on Fox
(00:46):
back at Action. That's a good sign for the season, Mike.
Social media is in full force, and now we've got
a regular season. As the preseason games now in our
rear view mirror, shock it on. It starts so quickly
and bam, it's like getting run into by insert power
running back here. For the purposes of our age and
(01:07):
maybe getting people to take a history lesson, we'll just
use Earl Campbell as our reference point in terms of
smashing you in the face with training camp practices and
into the preseason, so we got something special for you
in this episode. A little bit later on, we're gonna
start our top fifty draft. Mike and I are going
to do the first picks if who we think should
(01:28):
go in your draft, and a half point PPR league.
It's the middle point of those who play standard leagues
and those who play full point PPR, so we try
to customize it to the best of both worlds. We're
gonna do a half point PPR draft. Top fifty players
in our first twenty five will be coming off the board.
Later on this episode, however, we start with the preseason storylines. Mike,
(01:50):
now that the preseason games are in our rear view mirror,
and I guess my first storyline obviously close to home
is I'm a Seahawks fan. Is that Geno Smith did
win the starting job in Seattle. And that's one of
the one of the reasons, one of the things that
stood out to me. If Drew Locke gets the job,
I'm a little higher on dk Metcalf, I'm a little
higher on Tyler Lockett. But now that it's Gino Smith
(02:12):
job changes things with the wide receivers, with the running backs.
That situation is also interesting because throughout the preseason, Kenneth Walker,
their second round pick out of Michigan State, ends up
having a hernia issue that needed to be worked on.
We don't necessarily know his availability early on in the season,
and now you have her shot Penny, who was a
darling for so many in the fantasy world last year.
(02:34):
I actually give her shot Penny a bit of a
bump heading into the season and kind of take away
from some of the other Seahawks after Gino Smith was
named the starter. Yeah, so long is he can stay
healthy and off the jump, he is your guys. So
for draft purposes, going and grab him accordingly, waiting for
Walker to get himself back in full effect. And it's
(02:56):
something that you and I have talked about as well,
like these seasons are so long now where if Kenneth
Walker does come back healthy, he's maybe the guy down
the stretch that Seattle goes to. But in the in
the early parts, you just think Penny is your guy.
And if Penny is rolling stands the injury part that
you bring up in so many know about Penny and
(03:16):
his health. I just think it's really good value for
Richard Penny at this point, even with their young offensive line.
Certainly where he's rolling along. Obviously, we look at Green
Bay one of the big storylines, and no, we're not
going to get deep into Aaron Rodgers hanging out with
Joe Rogan. Now we just go to on the field
to play and the expectation that the running backs ruled
the day. A J. Dillon and Aaron Jones obviously both
(03:39):
heavy runners, but they'll be big in the past the game.
Remember your place replacing a hundred sixty nine targets left
and avoided by Davante Adams. So one guy I think
that's going on to the radar is touny In. Not
that we saw anything in the preseason to say, hey,
he's back and ready to roll, but just looking at
the way the targets have to go down. If you
(04:00):
to take a flyer in the receiving corps, then Dobbs
seems to be the guy that's made the biggest splash. Fortunately,
you're not gonna have to reach too highly because there's
not a lot of great expectations. It's kind of like
picking someone out of the New England running back room
for years on end, which guy is going to be
the favorite for Bill Belichick that week, so because because
(04:22):
that's the one of the other storylines I was looking at,
is the dismissiveness that Bill Belichick and company suddenly did
forgot how to coach football that and it's going to
be an abject failure and disaster. Is there anybody that
you reach for for fantasy purposes outside of Stevenson and
Damien Harris as two or three however you're drafting them. No,
(04:43):
but it still makes it intriguing. I did take Damian
Harrison to draft this past weekend, and knowing the headaches
that came along with it. But it's kind of like
the James Conner conversations that we have had in in
other episodes of how do you shy away from the touchdowns?
Is Damian Harris gonna score fifteen touchdounds? Probably not? But
(05:05):
your point about Belichick, uh is did he just forget
about football? Do you think they get in short yarded situations?
Is gonna move away from Damien Harris? Like? So? So
what is going to be the regression? Really when it
comes to the Patriots running back Even though you have
that two headed and maybe three headed monster whatever you have,
I still feel that there's value with what we've got
(05:26):
with Damian Harris in New England. Yeah, even if Harris
regresses back to what ten eight touchdowns, it's still going
to be among the leaders in the NFL. You look
at Hunter Henry. We'll see if John who Smith is
more of the receiving option they anticipated when they brought
him in last year. But otherwise, Harris has proved himself
(05:46):
as a short yardage and particularly a goal line back.
Bill Belichick is not running away from that. Okay, that's
one proven concept in whatever they're building for that offense.
That part they could block in a box and just
put off to the side while building everything else. Get
Mike on Twitter at swollen Alme. You can find me
on Twitter at Dan Buyer on Fox. Here's another storyline,
(06:09):
and I, honestly, I gotta know how to handle this
because Brian Robinson got shot shot, Yes, and what could
have been an absolute tragic situation in d C over
the weekend has at least we've we've heard positive things
the initial reports stable conditions, non life threatening injuries. Ron
(06:33):
Rivera spoke on Monday about Robinson's condition reports, saying that
he could be back later on the season, but that
was a spot where Brian Robinson was being taken earlier
in drafts, and you ever would have thought when the
you know, NFL draft comes around and he's taken in
the third round, Antonio Gibson almost doing special teams work.
(06:55):
Now with Robinson's situation, I just wonder how that plays
out in d C. Is it Antonio Gibson's job again?
I would assume that's probably the case, even though he's
got his fumbling issues. But I think you're gonna see
quite a boost from Antonio Gibson and now Brian Robinson
basically undraftable if you're having drafts. Yeah, Gibson slides back
into a back end too high end three with like
(07:18):
a what of wishing, wanting and hoping because someone has
to be the mail carrier and Jared Patterson and j
D mckissic that's not how they're built, that's not their
role in the offense. So someone's got to eat up
some carries. So one thing that might be in play
is there's some rumors of Alexander Madison insert the song here, uh,
(07:39):
and several other running backs that might be in for trade.
Potential guys that have fallen out of favor are on
the back end of depth charts. Here's my last storyline
that the thing is interesting, and I know it kind
of hits home to you, even though it's not really home.
Mitchell Drabinsky's by all signs, yeah, he is your guy.
He's gonna be the starter in Pittsburgh, and there does
(08:01):
seem to be um. I think Deante Johnson gets a
boost even though he dinged up his shoulder in the
preseason finale against the Lions. We love Nase Harris, we
talked about him in earlier episodes. You know, I don't
know if it's the best move for the for the
Steelers long term, It's to be seen, but at least
fantasy wise, I think all of the Steelers get a
(08:24):
bit of a boost because Mitchell Robiskie ends up getting
the job. Well, it's easier from a coaching perspective, and
I'm sure you covered this on your Sunday afternoon show,
and certainly sitting with Doug Gottlieb. Something I've been banging
the drum from all along, uh is traditionally it's easier
to take the veteran off to jump and if he
(08:44):
struggles and things are going a rye bring the young
guy in and then he's playing for lack of a
better term, because I hate it, but it's house money, right,
He's a Pittsburgh guy. Everybody's waiting to come in and
nobody has grand expectation that the rookie is gonna come
in and be a twenties seven and three touchdown to
(09:05):
inter interception ratio guy. So you have that at play.
I always argue, if the guy had needs to be benched,
he needs to be benched, and if that's going to
room him psychologically, then he was never your guy. So
I fall on the other side of that, But I
understand Travisky didn't go out and lose the job. So
(09:26):
that's something to watch. Little fears for the Pittsburgh offense overall,
the offense sublind seeing how those five guys gel. There
is a report now starting to circulate that Harris is
dealing with a Liz Frank injury, not a tear, but
something that's kind of bugging. Yeah, if he's in the field,
(09:49):
he's gonna have a huge workload as a runner and receiver,
no change, no no doubt about that. Uh Friar Muth
is a guy that's on the back end of your
t n t Yensk. I am struggling. Um, part of
it is just this in in my head. It's really
kind of disconcerting. It two points. Um, let me go
(10:11):
back to Friar Muth in three two, and then he
got Friar Muth who's being drafted as a back end
tight end one. I think he'd have a bigger role
with Pickett, but he'll certainly be viable with Trabinsky under center.
I've been strigued to see what Mike Tomlin's offense has
(10:31):
here and what Matt Canada, how creative he gets. I
I just look at it this way. I I thought
of Pittsburgh wanted to start the next generation. You go
with Kenny Pickett, like the move on, I said, I
think Pittsburgh has this fear of going six and eleven
of five and twelve, because that's just not the Steelers.
(10:53):
It's not the Steelers away breaks the streak. Dan, Yes,
absolutely that that is not a Pittsburgh thing to do. However,
or I do just think that when it comes to
the fantasy values of those guys and the and this
this Trabinsky conversation is so interesting because there it's almost
like there's three Camps Mike instead of like one side
or the other, there's the Mitchell Trabinsky second overall pick
(11:18):
bust or not a bust, and then it's was it
on Mattege's in the bare shoulders? Like there's this it's
just this weird sort of way where there's maybe all
tra Whisky fans and then there's no Trabisky fans, and
then there's just the ones that blame Mattnege that that
that's what it certainly owns his share of the blame,
(11:41):
particularly I justin fields ends up becoming anything of value,
then it's a larger question of how you ran the offense,
and not that Trabinsky is a guy that was going
to sprint around and be a sixty to seventy yard
rushing guy each week, but he was a guy that
could get to the edges and the fact that those
were never called designed likewise, with fields last year, it's
(12:03):
like you're leaving something that's a big part of their
games just locked away that you're not even bringing into
the into the tool set, and then you know you've
had a bad offensive line. How do you not account
for that? And that's something that I'd like to think
after a year in Buffalo, maybe a little louder trying
to make sure he fights for his second chance as
(12:25):
a starter, but certainly go into Pittsburgh where that's one
of the concerns that that became part of the discussions
with Matt Canada to say, hey, here's what we got,
here's what we could do, and maybe they get a
little more creative in that respect. I saw a tweet
that listed Mitchell Robinsky, Andy Dalton, Nick Foles, and Justin
(12:46):
Fields and rattled off their preseason stats and they were impressive.
They were they were impressive, but it was such an
anti Matt n egg Eat tweet. This be like, look
at what this guy has done to these quarterbacks. And
that's why I find it find an interesting and I
also find it interesting like that it's in a tweet
like that that now we consider the preseason to be
important where to to prove a point that a guy
(13:10):
was a bump because these quarterbacks are, you know, thriving.
I just that tweet needed to wait until about week
four or five. And I know that Andy Dalton is
not gonna be starting in New Orleans, so there wouldn't
be anything there. But if Trabinsky and fields have enough success.
I think that's enough of an indictment on Matt Naggie
than to cash in your chips after the final preseason game.
(13:31):
Oh I would, I would concur, but you know, you
take your wins when they pop up, Dan And certainly,
I think part of it for any of those that
thought Trabinsky from a media standpoint, fans standpoint, whatever, it
might have gotten a raw deal is I think they
were a little upset. And I can speak to this
because it's some a way I felt and still analyze
(13:54):
that situation is that there was a lot of dismissiveness
about what Trabinsky was able to do. Yet everybody would
trumpet the fact that Matt Naggi got to the playoffs twice. Sure, yeah,
it's like Travisky didn't. Was your quarterback, so he gets
no credit. Were able to work the offense in spots
to be advantageous and successful, but he gets no credit
(14:16):
for that. That's all Matt Naggy creating something out of air.
I I think that was part of the problem is
the number of people that still held giant buckets water
for the acumen of Matt Nagy while concurrently saying, well,
look at the trash he was dealing with that you
can't have it both ways. It's they you know, it
(14:39):
is kind of a bit of a package deal to
your point if you're getting success. And again, the double
doink was a double doink here. Not only did it
hit once, I it hit twice when the two opportunities
to go in. Like we we used double doink on
the Cody Parky field goal as such a description of
(15:00):
almost the Matt Nangui era, But what it doesn't say,
or even the Mitchell Tramsky ero. What it doesn't say
is that it had not one, but two opportunities to
actually go through and win the game, and it didn't
happen for Chicago. So we look at it in such
a negative and it's like, man, it's maybe just bad
luck that it didn't happen. And now I'll see Cody
Parkey's kick in my dreams when I try to lay down. Sorry, um,
(15:23):
anything else preseason wise that you want to get off
your chest before we get into the top fifty. Well,
I think, going back to the Belichick discussion, the same
thing in Kansas City. The absence of Tyreek Hill is
suddenly going to shut this down. Patrick Mahomes doesn't know
how to play quarterback. The rest of these receivers are
a bunch of guys that you picked up off the street.
And Andy Reid never had success in Philadelphia without a
(15:47):
bunch of all stars, at least that's how I read
between the lots. Well, you know, you know what happened
to me with the Chiefs. I started to get lured
into the c EH now the unquestioned lead back back
in Kansas City. That was the like, this is the guy.
You can talk about Ronald Jones and Jerick McKinnon and
Pacheco and all these other other guys, but in the
(16:09):
end c E H is the number one guy, and
so that is you know it is. It has been
a it has been a a love hate relationship with
me and Clyde Edwards E Layer over the last two years.
Mostly hate, and uh it's right when I was able
to separate myself, Mike, they start reeling me back in
being like he is the guy, like he is, he
(16:30):
is the unquestioned guy in Kansas City, and I'm like,
well we've his truly is his His best game may
have been the first game he ever played, which was
that Thursday night game against the Texans after they won
the Super Bowl, and you know, you know, scored a
touchdown to get over a hundred yards like that may
have been. He had a good game against the Raiders
at one point as well. But that's what that's what
(16:51):
reeled me in with the Chiefs, and I I'm glad
you brought it up because I was actually gonna leave
it on the sidelines, but I was able to get
in my c H therapy for today. No, we have
to do that. That's part of it, is the couch
therapy because you know what, you weren't alone in terms
of high draft selections a year ago and now because
of the way the Kansas City offense changes with Travis
(17:13):
Kelsey and a bunch of new parts and guys trying
to take on bigger roles. McCole, Hartman already hurt, Juju
Smith Schuster, what's he going to be this season? MBS
coming over from Green Bay. We got a lot of
new component pieces and then their c e H waving
at you again. I think, Juju, this may be this
may be an overstatement, but I honestly think that his
(17:35):
status is one of the top five most intriguing fantasy
storylines that we can we will see. The reason, Mike
is because of everything you laid out with Kansas City
and also about his time with Pittsburgh and then what
it means for Ben Roethlisberger, I mean, and and what
it did. Remember Antonio Brown was so mad that Juju
got Team m v P, and then Juju was you know,
(17:59):
resigned to uh, you know, four catches for eight yards
a roll with Ben Roethlisberger over the last two seasons,
like like if, like there is the real possibility that
he could really really re emerge in Kansas City, and
I think that that is super intriguing rank on my
wide receiver board coming in. But a guy that I've
(18:19):
certainly had circled a while trying to figure out exactly
what to do with them. Now that we've got the
preseason storylines out of the way, Mike, let's dive into
our draft. We're gonna be taking the top twenty five guys.
We're gonna do fifty, but we're gonna leave the last
twenty five for our next episodes. But these are the
top twenty five guys that you should draft in your
fantasy league. Doing it on a half point PPR basis,
(18:41):
let's get it going. Mike. I'm gonna take the first
overall pick because I know who you're gonna take number
one overall. We've talked about it in the previous episodes.
I'll get the odd picks, you get the even picks.
With the first overall pick, I'm taking Colts running back
Jonathan Taylor because it allows me then to find out
who Mike Harmon would take second in a draft, because
if if you've listened to previous episodes, we know that
(19:02):
Jonathan Taylor would go numero. You know, So Jonathan Taylor
goes number one, Austin Ekeler of your Los Angeles Chargers
at number two. Interesting. Now, I completely agree with you,
but we see so many rankings of Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook,
Derrick Henry, and there's just I'm with you. I go
with the injury uh situations with those three backs. Not
(19:25):
that Ekeler isn't uh free of of of maybe being
dinged up here and there, but it's that, um, it's
his offense. Uh, there's a lot there, There's a lot
there for a reason to take Austin Ekeler too. Well,
that's it. I mean, look at Minnesota. You've got a
lot of things spread out, and Dalvin Cook is a
guy and I mentioned Madison perhaps getting traded, but Dalvin
(19:47):
Cook's a guy that I would consider there certainly, Harris,
the Liz Frank thing leaves me a little reticent. And
Henry doesn't catch the ball, and you know my feelings
on McCaffrey, a ten minute monologue on that on an
early episode. So Ekeler moves back up. And if the
Chargers offense is going to be everybody everything everybody wants
it to be, he's the guy that drives the bus.
(20:09):
I know there's probably going to be some regression, but
the way that the Rams used Cooper Cup last year,
whether they were winning or losing, was just mind boggling
to me. Like even like in games, are you like,
oh the Rams are out of it, Like when they
were dominated by it was just we're gonna still throw
out to Cooper Cup wherever its silver hundred and fourteen
yards per game last season. Even if there is a regression, Mike,
(20:31):
the targets are going to be there during you know,
cracked one nine this past season, I'm going Cooper Cup
number three. I love it, big time target and we'll
see what Stafford's helps all about and how Allan Robinson
integrate sidto thing. But when we look at Cooper Cup,
he's just been magnificent. No matter what you throw at him,
he seems to find space. I will go back to
(20:52):
the running back position. Then here I will take Dalvin
Cook based on his running receiving and do them doing
everything they can to not put the ball in an
important spot in Kirk Cousins hands late in games. Dalvin
Cook just tucking into his gun and let him go,
I'd be apprehensive and taking the some of the running
backs that we mentioned earlier. I'm gonna take a running
(21:14):
back that we mentioned way earlier. I'm gonna go Najy
Harris because I don't think people realize how much he
was involved in the passing game last year, or maybe
just on the surface we talked about injury history again,
I'm just maybe i've CMC fears, but I am staying away.
I think that there's there's an area where you take
Christian McCaffrey. But at five overall, for me right now,
I'm not comfortable with it. So I'm gonna go Naji
(21:35):
Harris at number five. I don't want to bust. I
don't want a guy who's just gonna fall off the
face of the yearth if I'm having a top five pick,
So I'm going Naji Harris at number five. I stay
off that train as well. Let me move over to Buffalo.
I'm gonna take Stefon Diggs at pick number six. This
is interesting, second one off the board. One of the
second one receiver gone, so spicy there, Yeah, a little
(21:57):
spicy alright, So Stefon Diggs is gone. I'll take Derrick
Henry just sheer volume, and I think that this could
be the last hour off of the Tennessee Titans, so
why not try to make this thing work? Who knows
what Malik willis his role is going to be. Actually
think that there will be some role for him, but
it's not going to be enough for him to take
any points away from Derrick Henry. So I'll take the
(22:19):
King at number seven. Nicely done. I'll circle back to
the wide receiver position. Give me Justin Jefferson with volume,
especially if Adam Theland continues to become a distant number
two in that offense. He's really the comfortable guy in
the red zone. But yeah, when it comes to anything else. Um,
(22:40):
it's all Jefferson. I think you'll see more Osborne on
the wings of Love and some of these guys. Now,
I will take Christian McCaffrey the number nine. I feel
like I could take that that that would be said, like,
if you're sitting there at nine, you said Christian McCaffrey fell.
To me, it's worth the risk, and if you're in
a twelve team league, maybe you can you know, rebound
(23:00):
act on, you know, on the back side with somebody
that can can counter him. Just to me, five six, seven,
that area was still just too soon when they're I
think too many other shore bets in the in the
draft order. Yeah, it's one of those situations where people
think you're cheering against the guy. It's like, no, I'm
just trying to be pragmatic and looking at the offensive
line still a work in progress, even though I think
(23:21):
Baker Mayfield might be able to will Is big chip
down the uh down the field to create some sorts.
But overall, McCaffrey just scares me that I'm not getting
anywhere close to seventeen. And if that risk pays off
for folks, they're gonna win big. But as we always
say you win your draft later, you can lose it
in the first and he's a guy I'm not pushing
(23:43):
in to potentially lose it with. I'm gonna go to Cincinnati.
Let me have Joe mix in here. I think there'll
be some workloads split and obviously tons of receivers that
will be talking about here in short order, but still
a guy with massive numbers in a productive offense. We're
gonna make it back to back Bengals at number eleven. Overall,
I'm gonna go Jamar Chase. Uh, there's it's just a
(24:07):
magnificent rookie year. I also think that like the Jamaar
Chase factor and even of what we've seen over the
last couple of years, justin Jefferson in his rookie season.
You know, the rookie wide receivers that are out there
this year, I don't know how many I love compared
to these, to the to the other guys that have
just mentioned, like, I don't know, I don't think Garrett
Wilson is going to have that sort of year with
(24:28):
the Jets, especially if if Joe Flacco you know, is
the guy for you know, however long he is the guy.
But Jamaar Chase at number eleven. I think we'll be
able to back up his rookie season with great success
at number eleven. Number twelve looks like he's going to
avoid suspension at least for two based on everything we're reading.
(24:49):
There's nothing popping the in the headlines right now. Alvin
Kamara of your New Orleans Saints, this is about the
area where you and I in a previous podcast, we
had about ten or eleven guys that that we thought
were like sure first rounders. Now you take Kimara and
even Chase at that that that spot maybe like this
(25:11):
is this is where now you're seeing the blend. This
is where the blend comes in, where where there's a
different caliber player that we're dealing with then the first
nine or ten guys that we picked. You can totally
get that feeling divergence begin it, sir, Does you have
Alvin Kimara again halfpoint PPR league. I think there's gonna
be a lot of opportunities for him to catch passes
(25:33):
out of the backfield. DeAndre Swift is gonna go at
number thirteen, maybe because maybe I've taken them too high,
because I love hard knocks, even though there hasn't been
a ton of DeAndre Swift except Do Staley being like,
you could be that guy. But I think there'd be
great value for DeAndre Swift and if you're on a
keeper league or another, great value to keep him years
down the line. So DeAndre Swift will go off the
(25:53):
board at thirteen. Here and here. I thought you were
just focused on the v m AS announcement Taylor Swift
with their tenth album coming out on oct I missed that.
It's all that she showed up. She got an award
last night or something big award anniversary of the nonsense
with Kanye years ago. She'd won an award and then
she was dancing and singing along to everybody else who performed.
(26:15):
He's like, wow, she really is a fan of all
the other people's music. Supporting Yeah, the way to support Yeah,
Way to go Taylor Swift can help their brain operations
are absolutely By the way, I'll save you a ticket
for lover Fest West for next year. I mentioned I
mentioned last night. We are recording this on a Monday,
so there is news. By the time that this uh
podcast drops, which will be early Tuesday, on August thirty,
(26:38):
you'll have to forgive us for that, but recording this
on a on a Monday, So that's why I referenced
the last night was was was it the movie Awards?
The Video Music Awards? Right? Yeah? Yeah, alright? And hers
was actually a real uh it's like ten minutes long.
Somebody said it was a mini movie. I think you'd
enjoy it. You should check it out. Well, I'll give
(27:00):
it a chance when I'm not chasing the kid around. Okay,
that's good, alright, is a dangerous thing for those youngsters.
Let me tell you. You're up at number four after
DeAndre Swift just went off the clock. There you go
at number fourteen. Overall, I'm worried about the quarterback play,
but I'm not worried about the dominance of this player
as a runner and receiver. So give me Deebo Samuel.
(27:21):
I will go high risk eyge reward here. Yeah. I
love I love Deebo. I love him in that spot.
I am a I am a big, big fan. So
Deebo Samuel is off. I was kind of hoping he
would fall to fifteen. That didn't happen. I don't know
what's happening in Dallas. I really don't. I don't know.
We we think we know about Ezekiel Elliott, and we
(27:42):
know that Tony Polloch probably the better running back offensive
line now. Tyren Smith's knee injury a big question, a
lot of questions in Dallas. I'm gonna roll the dice
with Ceedee Lamb here at fifteen and just even if
Dallas thinks Mike, you know, Dad can throw the ball
and they'll be throwing the football a lot. I like
(28:03):
Dalton Schultz's value pushed up because I think he's option
number two in Dallas. But Ceedee Lamb at fifteen maybe
a bit of a stretch, But for everything that's gone wrong,
I just think that there's gonna be a lot of
opportunities for him there. So I'll take him at fifteen. Well,
that's just had a lot, a lot of opportunities for
for Dad to throw the ball. Just keep moving the pocket,
protecting from bad offensive lind anybody noticed the theme developing
(28:26):
here as we talk about quarterback play for yeah, bad front,
Five's no question about it. I'll stay in the wide
receiver realm and I'll take Tyreek Hill, and I'll do
it while holding my nose a little bit, just because
I think he's the best ball hero. In other words,
for the rankings, he'll find his numbers. But I think
(28:47):
week to week there might be some that you're just
holding your breath waiting for that big play, which which
wasn't which was also kind of the case in Kansas
City last year. I mean there were there were some
down weeks for sure, so it wouldn't be any thing different,
uh different in Miami. But also, you pay them that
much money, you got to figure that a they're going
to give them the football. Do they use them like
Devo at times? Yeah? Right? Do they get creative and
(29:10):
take a bunch of that San Francisco playbook down there
and say, look, I know this could get you beating
up a little bit, but it could if we block
it right. You've got some pretty big glory video highlights
that will start making the rounds. At number seventeen, I
think this is great value and I actually like this
spot for this player, and other people may have them higher.
(29:31):
Uh Davante Adams, and not because it's anything about Davante
Adams or his relationship with Derek Carr. Just a lot
of weapons Derek Carr has to throw too, And it
was not the case in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers,
where Davante Adams was the absolute, positively number one, and
there was a grand canyon gap on who was number two,
(29:52):
and that's It's not the case of Darren Waller and
how to Renfro being there. I also don't think that
Josh McDaniels is he cares about somebody getting eight hundred
yards and I think that's like, let's run this offense,
Let's do it like this. So I think that there's
a reason for, you know, our regression with Davante Adams,
but I think that this is a nice spot for
(30:13):
him if you are drafting, and if he goes any earlier,
I think it could be a bit of a reach.
I'll go Nick Chubb here from the Planet Cleveland, expecting
him to see a heavy dosage of touches earlier in
the season, and then when it comes down for the
back end, assuming health and availability, UH and Deshaun Watson
(30:33):
there's the name that has to be mentioned. When he
comes back down the stretch offense opens up, you might
have some big explosive plays on the table when it's
money time. There are a bunch of intriguing names that
are that are they are popping out to me that
I should pick half point PPR as we get close
to our top twenty of doing our top fifty draft.
(30:55):
I know not everything's gone right in Tampa, but the
one guy that is still there that Tom Brady likes
to throw two is Mike Evans. So I'm gonna go
Mike Evans. I love Mike Evans in the first six
weeks of the season. Mike. I think like like like
like he is. He is going to be the guy,
and I think that's enough to to carry through. So
I'm gonna take Mike Evans right now at number nineteen.
(31:17):
Hey man, he's forty five, and there's a lot of
blank going on. I'll turn back even though it's split.
By the way, has there have been more truer words
spoken than what Tom Brady said when you're forty five,
that's the greatest analysis of my world blew up about
that time. I know well that of which he speaks. Hell,
I can relate to a lot. I'm nowhere near a
(31:38):
goat in any way, shape or form, and certainly don't
have the money, means and businesses he does, or the dominance.
But I can relate to a number of things that
he's going on that are going on and swirling around
for Tom Brady at that age. So hey, good luck. Alright,
So Mike Evans goes in at at nineteen, you're up
(31:58):
at number twenty. I got Aaron Jones. I know a j.
Dillon is gonna leach a bunch out of the backfield,
but I'm still looking at Jones as a fifty catch guy.
There's my half PPR, but also being a viable option
in and around the red zone as well. So that
is the top twenty again. Get Mike on Twitter at Swollendol.
You can find me on Twitter at Dan Buyer on Fox.
(32:19):
Let's round up this final five of this episode is
we're going to be drafting the top fifty players of
the draft. We've got the first twenty five for you
here coming in at number twenty one. I know Melvin
Gordon's got a role, but I still think that Javonte
Williams is going to be that guy. I am staying
away from Travis Kelsey as that we've talked about in
previous episodes. I'm going to Javonte Williams at number twenty one.
(32:43):
I can't argue it. If this is gonna work. He's
gonna have to play play a big role. I would
come back if I still ascribed to the whole handcuffing idea.
I'd be reaching back for Gordon because I do think
he'll still be a factor in the red zone. Um,
let's see, I don't like next running backs. I mean
there's one I like, but I think it's more homerism
(33:03):
than anything else. So I'm gonna go with Keenan Allen
and his stats for days out of the Los Angeles
Charges one. It will keep our colleague Steve Disager from
chasing me down and wagging paperwork in front of me.
Uh too. This is a guy that just look at him.
He had some injury issues early in his career, those
got pushed aside, and now he's been one of the
most dominant receivers year in year out in the National
(33:25):
Football League with very little fanfare. Mind you, because while
the Chargers are never playing in January, you and I
were lockstep in in this decision. I'm going Mark Andrews
first time to end off the board at number twenty three.
Uh I think good value with that position. I'm going
Mark Andrews in at number twenty three huge potential for
(33:46):
him in that slot. All right, I'll circle back to
the running back position and this becomes a wishing, wanting, hoping. Uh.
And I look at three guys that are going to
come off the board in fairly rapid success in here,
and all of them could be boom er bus potential.
I'll look at Montgomery in Chicago, just that they spread
(34:07):
the offense a bit and he still still has the
explosiveness to make big plays. And to round out our
top twenty five of our draft of fifty that we're
gonna spread out over two episodes. Here, this is tough, Mike,
this is this is really really tough. I am going
to go listen. I think that there's a boost and
(34:28):
I think when you have a new quarterback in I
know the touchdown numbers haven't been there, but if Baker
Mayfield and d J. Moore get on the same page,
I think d J. Moore could have I mean, his
numbers through bad quarterbacks have been very good. And now
if Baker locks in on him, we we know Baker
kind of wants to, you know, throw to the main guys.
(34:51):
There was problems in Cleveland and here and there. I'm
gonna go DJ Moore in at number twenty five for
our final pick. Love that he's a guy that I'm
been trying to figure out exactly how much I love her, don't. Yeah,
And again someone's got to catch the ball right and
in this day and age the quarterbacks at three thousand yards.
And that's even if you split between two or three
(35:11):
bad guys. Uh, you're getting George three thousand yards. Your
number one is gonna have a good chunk of that.
If you get eight touchdowns, it would be such a
great improvements. And then you add a few yards and
we're gonna go d J Moore at number twenty five.
So there it is your top twenty five so far.
When we reconvene, Mike and I will uh not only
look ahead and to the upcoming season, but also finish
the rest of our draft. So you can make hay
(35:34):
in your rounds as well. So for Mike Carmen, you
can get on Twitter at Swollen Dome. I'm Dan Buyer.
Find me on Twitter at Dan Buyer on Fox. We
we'll talk to you next time here and I want
your flax
Fox Sports Radio News
Host
Jonas Knox
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