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August 20, 2021 45 mins

Subscribe to the Official Fox Sports Radio Fantasy Football Podcast! Mike Harmon and Dan Beyer rank the Wide Receivers before your Fantasy Draft. While many believe Davante Adams will continue to lead the pack, Mike makes the case for drafting Stefon Diggs ahead of all others. The three headed monsters in Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati give headaches to managers so who to target? They tell you who they're high and low on this year. Why bad teams boost the value of receiving corps and comparable pass-catchers go head-to-head. All that and much more!

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
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want experience during your football season, well, buckle up, sweet cheeks,
We've got all the experience in the world. This is

(00:44):
I Want Your Flex with Dan Buyer and Mike Harmon.
Mike and Dan breakdown everything you need to set your
line outs from physician rankings, two starts and sits. The
guys help you make those hard decisions at Now, let's
get your axn Here's Dan Buyer and Mike Harman back

(01:06):
at it for another episode of I Want Your Flex.
Get Mike on Twitter at Swallow Dolls. You can find
me on Twitter, Dan Buyer at Dan Buyer on Fox.
In our first episode of the season, we did quarterbacks
and tight ends we're gonna stick with the past catching
team focusing on wide receivers Mike for the season. And
this is actually my favorite grouping because this is the

(01:29):
one where people can absolutely love someone and then absolutely
hate someone and it be the same player that we
watched all of last season or the season before. I
think you get the widest range of opinions when it
comes to the wide receivers in fantasy football. There's no
question about it, right because it extends to the how
much do you love or hate the quarterback? And when

(01:51):
you and I get together, we start talking about the
five guys up front and how much we love or
hate them. Right now, I'm a hated man in Chicago,
get a radio appearance podcast aston and went after the
Bears offensive line, you know, before the second round pick
went to the I R because of a back surgery.
But you know, it's those kind of things. It all
has to play together to operate at the highest levels.

(02:13):
And even this year, when we look at the top
of the board, you've got the question marks of well
is this gonna break right? Can you replicate big numbers
of a year ago? Uh? And a lot of just
the hey, is there a number two? That's gonna come
in and leach things away. I love it. It debates
make this uh even that much more interesting. Year after year.

(02:35):
I'm coming off of a draft that I had, the
the draft with my buddies that has gone on for
twenty four years, and I drafted arguably the worst group
of wide receivers in the history of our league. Like
this is this is bad, Mike, and and I'm not
going to talk about my fantasy team, but you can

(02:55):
if you hate them, you'll hear some of the names. Actually,
you may hear all of the games because there's reasons
why I took certain guys. The point is this is
I realized that, all right, I wasn't gonna invest a
lot in wide receivers. It's a hold over league, so
there are traded draft picks that I was short, a
few picks here and there. However, with the wide receivers,
and specifically with the guys that I took, I've convinced

(03:16):
myself that these guys are the ones that are going
to perform. And I've done this before, I've done this
in years past. No, this guy, this guy is gonna
be the main guy. This guy is gonna be the target. Uh,
the the touchdown the lack of touchdowns one year was
a fluke. Like, those are the things that I'm thinking
when I'm drafting wide receivers. And that's why, you know,
the top of the draft board is also good for

(03:38):
debate as well. But to me, it's really when you
get past number ten, say, of of your wide receiver rankings,
of who do you think where? And it's actually in
draft places during a draft is where I think you
if as long as you like your guys that are
under ten, you probably don't have to worry about guys
taking those guys. Sure somebody's gonna take divid Day Adams,

(04:00):
that someone's gonna take Calvin Ridley. And if you want
to run of those guys, you're gonna you're gonna have
to figure out a way to get them in an
earlier pick. But once maybe the tenth or eleventh wide
receiver has gone, I don't think you have to worry
too much about maybe your wide receiver being taken. At
least it's it's much less of a problem than it
would be if if it was a running back you
were trying to grab a top tight end. Because I

(04:21):
just think that the opinions of the wide receiver's range
so much. Yeah, and you can get the bunch, is right.
I mean, you've got your obvious couple of guys off
the jump in whatever order you like them. But then
you you start the tears are a little larger, uh,
in this category, in this position than others. I mean,
I look, I've done all range of drafts. I've got
a long, slow draft, which is just a straight draft,

(04:42):
twenty players, twelve teams, and just the opinions based on
what's coming out of camp changing day to day. I did.
I'm in a guillotine league, which you're drafting in a
completely different way, thanks charging and our buddy Paul Charchy
and running those things. But eighteen teams and that, so
you're kind of looking at strategies of week to week

(05:03):
versus drafting for a full season, hoping you'll be around
to maximize. And then I did an auction draft and
I walked away and I threw, uh the can't empty
cocaine at the wall because I'm like, I hate my
team because here's here's the wide receiving corps. I can
tell you all right, I got feeling well, I don't
know if Kirk Cousin's gonna be there every day because
we still have the specter of his plexiglass room. As

(05:25):
we talked about in the Quarterback episode hanging over You,
uh Trey Kwan Smith Well Marquez Callaway and said, blank you,
I'm gonna be the number one while Thomas figures things out.
MBS in Green Bay, I don't know what he is.
Mike Williams with the Chargers, he thrills you and then
he um makes you tear your hair out. Uh Rashad Bateman,
I've drafted him before he ended up having to have surgery.

(05:47):
Gabriel Davison, Buffalo Well, Emmanuel Sanders found the Fountain of Youth,
and then Darius Slayton. I put my hope in Daniel
Jones for crying out loud. That is an amazing list
of what the heck is that? What the hell is that?
I would say, Well, it could be good, it could
be terrible, it could be I'm right there with you
with Mike Williams. Like Mike Williams, this is who Mike

(06:11):
Williams is to me. Mike Williams is that TV show
that has sucked for the first eight episodes, and you're
still watching it. Stick with it, though, Dan, because the
number of those that I started watching and then I'm like,
I'm I'm okay with it and it's my kind of humor,
but it's gonna get canceled. Uh. Take for instance, The

(06:31):
Big Bang Theory. After about six episodes, I stopped watching,
thinking it's getting canceled, that's the word. And then it
goes on to be the number one show on television.
By then it was too late. I didn't jump back on.
Maybe maybe that's gonna be the case with Mike Williams.
But I just if you see like a good show
with previews, and or maybe you like the actor in it,
and you just give you know, you give that show
a little bit more time or a lot more time

(06:54):
than you normally would anything else. That's kind of how
I feel about Mike Williams. At least we're the same
bow to, I also have Mike Williams on my team.
And again, because Mike Williams nobody really wants him, you
convince yourself that it's a good pick and you take him.
That's the saga of Mike Williams will get into other
wide receivers like Mike Williams throughout boat, I do want

(07:14):
to start on top and I do want to start
with this, and I am sorry if I tell you this.
In every single episode of I Want Your Flex, Mike
has got the information. Mike has got everything that you
need to know and you need to follow. I like
to add in my stuff that I have opinions about
stuff that maybe I've tracked on, and I will tell
you them as well. But ultimately the decision is yours.

(07:36):
And so when it comes to draft time, if there's
a guy that you want on your team because maybe
you like that team, maybe you just like that player,
or you don't want to end up having to watch
a Lions games, so you don't want to take a
Lion draft the person that you want to take that
that's just the ultimate thing we're gonna tell you about it.
When you're setting your lineups, if you're on the fence

(07:57):
about someone, make the decision yourself. Gather all the information
from Mike, from myself, from other podcasts, if you want
from from information, gather all that. But in the end,
you make the decision. Don't let somebody else make the
decision for you. Well, in the bottom line is if
you do use Dan and I to help make your decisions,
and then you want to abdicate all responsibility. Look, I'm

(08:18):
not taking control of the way you failed in your
home and your work and and in your finances. But
for your fantasy team, yeah, blame me. You'll take the
heat I take. I will only take the credit. So
that's all that you need to know. So if I
tell you to play someone and it works out, I
will not let you forget about it, all right? Who who?

(08:40):
Do we have a top of the wide receiver rankings
Because there are a bunch of names. There's there are
names that were familiar with There may be some some
newcomers to the game, but the numeral UNO W are
a top your rankings. Mike Harmon is with great trepidation
based on the recent missing of a week of practice

(09:01):
Stefen Diggs target machine expecting another big year in Buffalo.
You look at what he did, not not only him,
but Jordan Palmer, whose day rate went up quite a
bit with his work with Josh Allen. But looking what
they're able to do and what that offense has in
in promise a little bit of balance with Singletary and

(09:23):
Moss in the backfield, I think there's big things I had,
which means Stefen Diggs continues to put up big numbers.
Allen in the past happy offense couldn't have. Like we
talked about in the in the Quarterback episode that that
we did the start off this season, Diggs last year
was third best in the National Football League in average

(09:43):
targets per game. Now, when you go to total targets,
Stefen Diggs, as you said, number one guy. But when
you see his target count and there was only one
game that he had in where he had six or
less targets, by the way, it was six, it was
on the number six. That tells you he's going to

(10:04):
have all the opportunities that he wants. He had twenty
three more targets than Davante Adams did, who's number two
in wide receivers. Add another eight down to Tyreek Hill
and then another six, so a full thirty seven targets
more than the guys tied for fifth on the list.
Travis Kelsey crashed the party at number two. But just

(10:26):
opportunity and that's all. And look when whenever we get
into our our rankings, and certainly when we start going
week to week, Dan the one thing that we always
want to emphasize is we're looking to give you the
best opportunity. Whether they do something with it as a
whole other problem, but I can guarantee your targets on
a weekly basis with Stefon Diggs, which is why he's

(10:46):
the top of the board. When you were deciding number one,
was it a two player battle, was it Adams and Diggs?
Was it three with Tyreek Hill thrown in there? What
was the ultimate decision that the the bad all that
had the decision of Digs coming out the number one.
I'm already it's number four. And for those we're we're
doing and recording the podcast early on a Thursday before

(11:12):
it hits your your ears and sounds oh so good. Uh,
you've seen a lot of video and if you haven't
hit Twitter and searched the surname Ridley R I D
L E. Y. And I've had this in stone for
a while. Calvin Ridley is my number two, even though
you know I'm not the biggest Matt Ryan guy. But

(11:33):
Julio Jones is gone and Ridley is a monster that
creates separation at every level. And some of the moves
that you see in the joint practice with the Titans.
All these guys that have made some pretty big money,
or I should say the Dolphins, uh, some pretty big
money and and just undressing guys left and right. I
think we'll be in for a lot of that as

(11:54):
the season goes forward. I really like Calvin Ridley as
well in my amateur rankings because I have not turned
professional yet. I'm still saving it for the Olympics in Paris,
and I have digs in Ridley actually at three four,
and I I don't know if it's maybe, I hope
I'm not. I know I'm following the pack, Mike, I know.
I it's the the when you see rankings, you're seeing

(12:17):
tyree Keell, you're seeing Davante Adams. I just put Adams
one for I just couldn't find any reason to not
put him number one, even they've got green Bay has
a stretch. This should be the only this shouldn't be
the only knock against Davante Adams that I would have.
And where does Adams come in three or four on

(12:37):
your list? Number number three? Yet? The only the only
knock with Adams is if you go into green Bays
schedule and you're looking at things they have a tough
stretch between weeks twelve and fifteen. You have late By,
you have the Rams, so maybe there's a Jalen Ramsey matchup.
You have the Bears, and then you're at Baltimore. That's

(12:58):
the that's their stretch, rams By airs Ravens. That is
the only drawback, And honestly, I'm not even worried about
that as much. Um just it's playoff time. A lot
of teams have, you know, end of the regular season
entering the playoffs. Maybe in the first week of the playoffs,
that would be the only downside, But then you would
have Brown's vikings in week sixteen, in weeks seventeen. I

(13:18):
like that. I just like the the enormous number of
targets that he's going to get may not be in
comparison to what Digs got in Buffalo, but it is
close enough, and it's in more so than what Tyreek
Hill has. And by all accounts, Aaron Rodgers has looked
great in training camp and so so to me, it
seems like Green Bay maybe just doesn't miss that beat.

(13:39):
Even even the center position in the offensive line seems
pretty good for green Bay. So that was just enough
clarification and verification for me to keep Adam's number one.
You know, at some point I think something's gonna happen
with Tyreek Hille, but I just don't have enough guts
enough to to drop him down. But I also had
Digs Ridley, three and four, so our top four was

(14:00):
actually the same. Yeah, I got Hill sitting at number
four and and for him, it's a regression. I would
expect Edwards Hilaire and we talked a lot about him
last year, UH, to be a bigger factor here and
wider distribution. That doesn't mean that the aggregate won't be
the same. It's more than just the consistency for me,

(14:21):
and Tyree Hill is a guy that you'll have those
explosions two or three games. So at the end of
the year, if we're just doing best ball, then yeah,
I think I'd still have him number one. Likewise, Davante Adams,
when you look at the touchdown count, I'm curious to
see that distribution this year. Uh. Robert Tony and obviously
a double digit guy last year. I remember Aaron Rodgers

(14:41):
had fifty one touchdowns combined the prior to seasons before
last year's vpiece breakout. So for me, it's trying to
figure out where in between those numbers he falls or
can't he replicate? Is it it needed a little bit
of a juice, you know, uh, conversation with the fleur

(15:02):
for things to click, or is there you know, some
regression to be had there. But with all all four
of these guys, it works. And and you know, just
you brought up playoff weeks as we go, and it's
something that you and I will talk about a lot,
right it's the tiebreaker scenario as you laid out. But
for those that you know missed you to get it

(15:22):
a little more nuanced, I guess just the idea of
as much as I like to pay attention to them,
I gotta get there. So I'm I'm looking weeks one
through fourteen or fifteen or whatever your league is using.
Obviously another week of games changes complexion a little bit,
but we're we're looking at the idea of, you know,
we we still need to traverse through the regular season.

(15:45):
So that's more for me, you know what, my maybe
my backup quarterback or some of the depth, uh, and
trying to vulture position wise as as we get deeper
in the draft, looking for opportunity. They say, if you
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this next group of wide receivers. And don't worry, I'm
not gonna do my stupid high rise building it. It
was my guys at the draft were telling me how

(17:09):
stupid it Wasn't that we ditched that after I built
out graphics, I was sending you a T shirt. If
you want more stupid ideas, though, continue to listen to
this podcast, because I will have them in the in
the next group, in the next tier of wide receivers.
This is where it starts to get interesting for me,
because I think that there is a tier two, and

(17:31):
then there's a tier three, and then I actually think
that's just absolute chaos in the wide receiver position. I actually,
in looking at this Mike, I make rankings and I
compare them to yours. I am really high in this
group on Justin Jefferson. Again, I don't have him at five,
but I have him at six. And he is the
name of of the of the hopkins Is, of the Metcalfs,

(17:53):
of the A. J. Brown's, the Terry Mclaurin's, of those guys.
Justin Jefferson's name is just popping out to me for
some reason. I don't know if it's because I don't
believe in a sophomore slump, or maybe don't believe the
Vikings are good. Maybe I believe that Kirk Cousins is
going to be able to figure out whatever is going
on with him, or maybe it's just a simple fact

(18:15):
of if I think, man, if he did this well
in his rookie season, what's going to happen in a
normal NFL season when he's getting getting some traction. But
of all the names in the tier two's I love
justin Jefferson's name, I've got him sitting at number ten. Again,
he's split between he and no. It's a beautiful thing.
But again, you know, this is the tier, the the

(18:36):
level after we've climbed a couple of flights of stairs
in the high rise analogy. I'm not letting it die,
Dan Fire, It's staying bury that baby, all right, I'll
find it in the rubble anyway. He's number ten for me.
And part of it is the Cousins quandary, right should
he miss time or whatever, and you can't predict that

(18:58):
either for injury, illness, whatever else. But it's also the
all right, let's let's look at our expectations, because we
obviously expect another huge workload for Dalvin Cook and Zimmer
a little bit on the hot seat. So I wonder
if it it isn't dialed back a little so Cousins
isn't taken as many shots down field, which has the
high risk, high reward situation. But again, you know, it's

(19:22):
it's that small differential because I'm not expecting huge, great
differences between the players in this tier. As you said,
I think it gets a little muddled, and then you're
looking at breakout, you know, one week to another between
the other players. Once we get a little deeper on
the wide receiver list at number five, I had a
j Brown looking for him. You know, I'm a big

(19:46):
Tannehill believer, and even though they have Derrick Henry, at
some point, I believe there's got to be a little
bit more of a shift. Not that you're going to
change your play calling altogether, but that you're not letting
him carry the ball thirty times a game because eventually
the body's gotta gotta break down, and you don't want
to hasten that. When you've got a team, especially bringing

(20:07):
Julio Jones in, that is set to do great things
if you can keep guys on the field. I'll say
the same thing as I said about the quarterbacks. I'm
still I'm curious about the departure of Arthur Smith and
how that affects Tennessee. I mean, I have a j
Brown and my my top ten he x I put
him at number nine, But I'm just not as high
as as uh as you are on him. What is

(20:31):
your five through ten when it comes to that, and
and and if that's not your entire second tier or
your tier is smaller, you know, feel free to speak out.
But who all is in that that rest of the
top ten that we haven't hit yet? Yeah, Jefferson would
be the end of that tier for me, and then
it starts getting into the all right, let's fight a
little bit. But a J. Brown, DeAndre Hopkins just that

(20:56):
like desperation comes in right break in with Arizona. They're
gonna need to score points. I don't care that they
got J. J. Watt. They're still figuring out some of
the other defensive pieces. But for Kyler Murray, for Cliff Kingsbury,
a huge year. I have Keenan Allen number seven. I
am a Herbert believer. And the injury issues that Allen

(21:17):
had had because remember we had a couple of years
where you felt really good about him coming into a
year and you watched him play six games while the
injury stuff is in the rear view mirror now around
the Chargers they I'm still getting ready to go walk
around with the sage brushes and anything else. Kyrie Irving
ever gave us in the NBA to make sure the

(21:38):
Chargers can actually get through a season healthy because one
we live in l A. Could that be fun? Uh too,
we got folks that we work with that are are
more pleasant when the Chargers are winning. But the larger
thing is I want to see what this team can
maximize between Herbert and this wide receiving corner. It's not
because I have a huge investment in Mike Williams. Uh.
Number eight, I've got Allen Robinson, top notch receiver, and

(22:02):
whether it's QB one, Andy Dalton or eventually justin Fields.
You know, once they figure out the five guys up front,
they're using Jason Peters for crying out loud, come on desperation. Uh,
duct taping a thirty nine year old man together, and
I hope he does well, fantastic career. Uh. For me,
it's just a lot of curiosity, which is why I

(22:24):
sent sent people a bunch of pictures of Joe Burrow
saying don't start justin fields. Look what happened. Uh. Number
nine is dk Metcalf and then justin Jefferson, Okay that
that we we weren't exact. You're a higher on Robinson
than I am, the name that I had in the
typer than I am not am my mind, maybe on Ham,
but uh, right now we're gonna try to focus on

(22:47):
fantasy football. I had Terry McLaurin in my top ten.
He is just outside for me. By the way, I
do have a nice pork shoulder smoking while you and
I record the podcast. Yeah nice, since seasoned wrapped beautifully
and by the way, said it and forget it bunny.
By the way, restaurants, when you're telling me that you
have like pork belly burn ends, they're not the same

(23:11):
as brisket burn ends. Sorry, don't try it. It's it's
don't order it at a restaurant. It's the biggest rip off.
You just come away disappointed. Burn ends are burn ends, don't.
It comes from the cow, not from the pig. That's
what I want the rankings like back to that I had.

(23:33):
I had pork belly burn ends at a place I
won't say the name, but thinking like, okay, maybe this
will be good enough. And they they stunk. They weren't
even close to what their normal burn ends were, and listen,
you can't. You just can't replicate what what real burn
ends are. And that's from beef, not from pork. A

(23:54):
little bit more. And I'm actually higher on the Vikings
receivers as a whole as maybe others, but we didn't
have anybody different in our top eleven. And that's kind
of the theme of all of this is there may
be in different spots and maybe you've got somebody up,
you know, a couple of slots higher or a couple
of slots lower, But really the top eleven wide receivers

(24:16):
are my top Your top eleven are my top eleven,
are someone else's top eleven. It's what happens after that
that is that is pure chaos, and and that's let's
let's spend some time on that is we kind of
really try to dig into the wide receiver position. There
are some names that stand out, and there is a
there is a name that I think is standing up

(24:38):
more so than not, and it's because of the uniform
that he wears, but it's also because the offense that
he's in, and it's because of the potential What about
Ceedee Lamb in the Dallas Cowboys, because yeah, that's they're perfect,
perfect segue, because that is the name that I think
is most talked about in fantasy drafts on where do

(24:59):
you get this? Where does he go? And what could
he do in Dallas? Well, and that's the biggest, you know,
billion dollar question, and we tried to talk through it
as best. The information that we had during the Quarterback
episode that folks should be downloading and subscribing and evangelizing
all their friends and neighbors is what is Dak Prescott
and what are your expectations of him? Because I had

(25:20):
him ranked pretty low on a relative basis, you know,
with the information that we had. You know, some folks
had him in the top five. I think I had
him eighth or ninth as I'm recalling. And even then
I was trepidacious as to you know, where that is right?
And it is the whether that's too high because you
just don't know you're not going to see him in

(25:40):
the preseason and do you trust the guys that are
there now? Andy Dalton's not there. As much as folks
may have mocked him, He's a capable quarterback. Is he
an elite quarterback? No, He's a guy fighting for his
NFL life, fighting defend off justin fields. But you knew
what you had when you're looking at Gilbert and or
Dnucci bar the arrival of some random veteran to be

(26:02):
named later. Look at what happens to that offense. You
saw what happened to it a year ago, right even
with Dalton, you saw a little little bit of regression
going on, and certainly from the overall point total. But
now you have no confidence if Prescott can't go and
Mrs extended time. So as I put Lamb in and

(26:23):
then started looking at Amari Cooper, who isn't far behind him,
I've got him at sixteen. But both of them have
giant asterisks and are blinking at me like a warning signal.
Mm hmm. That is interesting because when we wrap up
the episode there may be a Mortal Kombat battle that
you just ended up answering, sweet who is the rest

(26:46):
of your top fifteen wide receiver wise Evans, mug Lauren Lamb, Feeling,
Julio Jones. Interesting, very interesting because we had one guy
in the same That's what I mean by all of this,
Like there are guys that are just I don't I Mike,
you and I. We did our season ending episode last

(27:09):
year and we talked about Mike Evans and the game,
you know, the the game line of game lines from
Mike Evans. I can't trust any Buccaneers wide receiver. Even
when Antonio Brown is punching Titans in practice. I still like,
you can maybe count on that, but I can't count

(27:30):
on the numbers. And just because I don't think again
that the Buccaneers goal is to set up a bunch
of records offensively, we know they're a defensive team. Their
goal is to win a Super Bowl and to see
Mike Evans and to see games where he got four
targets into targets and four targets and two targets and
two targets. It's just it's tough for me too. It's

(27:53):
tough for me to believe it. I I don't have
Evans or Godwin or even Antonio Brown in my top
fifteen just because I can't trust any Buccaneer's wide receiver.
You know what's funny as you break that down, Dan,
it's it's to me, it's as we're doing this, we're
looking at season long rankings on a week to week basis.
I would guarantee Mike Evans is probably gonna be much

(28:14):
lower once we're actually in season. But the aggregate gets
into this point, I guess is as I looked at it,
and you know, think about targets and red zone targets
and you know it obviously, UH just pretends and the
thinking is that you're gonna get some level of consistency
from Tom Brady to match the last year. I don't

(28:35):
expect forty touchdowns, but I don't expect to decide to
drop off either. But to that point, the distribution on
a week to week basis is going to be maddening.
So give me, give me that, Give me that again. Evans, McLaurin,
who you had top ten? Uh? Ceedee lamb Adam Feeling,
Julio Jones. Theelan is the guy that I think you

(28:57):
can get really good value. And I did a draft
this past weekend and I kicked myself for not drafting
him because it's the one pick that I that I regret,
and I think if you look at Theeeland stats, he go, man,
this guy is touched independent. I think now though that
that I think defense has changed because now they figure out, okay,
we gotta worry about Dalvin Cook, and we gotta worry

(29:17):
about Justin Jefferson. And I'm not sure on how much
Justin Jefferson. I know we caught defenses off guard by
his performance. But now if you've got time and you
kind of realize who they are. I I like Theeeland's value.
I I really, I'm there with you like I. He's
a guy that I have that I have higher up
than I think I've seen in other rankings, and you've

(29:38):
put them higher than I've seen him in other places
as well. Don't be down on Adam Feeling just because
last year's maybe yardage numbers weren't, you know, off the charts. Yeah,
still looking for solid UH target counts from him on
a on a week to week basis. Again, the kirk
Cousins folks love him or don't, regardless of his vaccine

(29:59):
status is and comments and whatever. He's been a polarizing
guy going back years. But for me feeling, you know,
I probably overpaid for him in that auction league. But
there's very few receivers that have the the length the
longevity of all Right, I get consistent production and even
if there's a little bit of a dip I don't
see him falling through the floor, So putting him in

(30:21):
the top fifteen was not a hard choice. If you're
one of those guys who went running backs, quarterbacks, got
all your guys, would you take a flyer on Michael Thomas, Yeah, once,
I'm looking at him as probably a high end number three,
right if I've solidified the rest of the squad and
I've seen him drafted all over the place thus far,

(30:42):
Dan in those that I've I've conducted, because you've got
folks hoping that the back end right the second half
of the year, saying, all right, if he performs as
a top fifteen, then I win out right that you
know I can get by cobbling together w R three's
and fours while waiting on him to come back. So

(31:03):
i've seen him, uh, teams reach for him a little bit,
just hoping that the recovery and that he and Sean
Payton make nice. They're also making big bets on Taysom
Hill and Jamis Winston, which I don't know that I'm
on board. Trying to figure that out right outside of
a third or fourth wide receiver that are a plug

(31:23):
in play, because let's face it, most leagues at this
point are two running backs, two wide receivers on a
flex so I don't know that. You know, most weeks
the other wide receivers that are part of the Saints
run are getting in other than injury. And by if,
if you're willing to take a chance on Mike Williams Thomas,
you should be willing to take a chance on Michael Oh. Yeah, yeah,

(31:43):
there's certainly that. Yeah, I mean Williams with his own
injury history search as well as trying to figure out
the target distribution. Yeah. And by the way, I'm not
saying they're gonna be drafted in the same spot. I'm
just saying for the thinking, like, if you're a guy
who's like, alright, if I a drafted any wide receivers,
I think that Michael Thomas would be a guy worthy

(32:04):
of it. All Right, I'm gonna throw out I'm gonna
throw out a name that I love, Mike and a
name that I did that I don't like. I love
Robbie Anderson with Carolina, and I love Robbie Anderson. I
can't believe I'm saying this, but I think it's the
dots that everybody's connected is because of being reunited with
Sam Donald. And this is off of Robbie Anderson having

(32:25):
a really good year for Carolina with Edny Bridgewater as
his quarterback. I know he had Dj Moore dinged up
a bit in camp, and I don't think it's anything
to worry about long term. The biggest worry would probably
be the return of Christian McCaffrey. However, I just I
like Robbie Anderson this year. I don't I don't know
if he can replicate what he did a year ago,

(32:46):
but I think he's actually got a really good chance
and at least matching the numbers that he had in Carolina,
especially with Curtis Samuel Kan. I like that He's just
outside of my top twenty. DJ Moore did find his
way in there on a sleeper list that I had
to submit for an event I'm doing. Sam Donald was
number two, So while I'm not perhaps our colleague Colin

(33:07):
Cowherd has them as a twelve and five. It seems
like he's backtracking based on preseason, but he had some
excitement and I'm not all in on Donald, but I
think the offense is intriguing and I think Anderson is
the guy that could make things work. So I've got
him sitting at number twenty two right now, d J.
Moore sitting at eighteen alright, one other name total boomer

(33:27):
bus guy. And I actually think it's busted. With how
we play fantasy on the aggregate, it looks great, as
you said, with someone like Mike Williams. Tyler Lockett in
Seattle worries me a little bit, just because he had
six games last year we received five or less targets,
and one of the games that he had last year
twenty targets. I think that was the highest of anybody

(33:49):
in the National Football League last year in a game
he had twenty targets in a game, but there were
six occasions where he had five or less targets. And
I just don't want to be in the I'm guessing
on which week Tyler Lockett blows up if I'm putting
him in my lineup. That's what worries me about Tyler Locke. Well,
and you get into the whole yardage conversation with him,
because he's not a Hey, I busted out for a

(34:10):
hundred and twenty in most of those games either, right,
Usually he's in that you know, if you look at
air yards per throw. It's in that six to twelve range. Uh,
and and Yaku as we know, varies greatly, so uh, yeah,
he's a guy that I've got outside of the the
top twenty four comes in high end three for me.

(34:34):
Again go into the aggregate. But let me give you
a couple of names down down the list a little bit.
And one of the popular sleepers for popular people ninjas
as we call them here, uh Darnel Mooney of the Bears,
uh fifty plus receptions a year ago. But he's a
guy with Dalton. We're doing a lot of work and
even you know, some of the veterans pointing out, yeah,

(34:56):
this guy's made some strides. But if when just Ston
Fields is in there and he starts letting it fly,
Mooney's the guy that's gonna be running under it. So
in your depending on your setup, because some of some leagues,
if you don't pass sixty yards and or a touchdown,
you get a big fat zero. Mooney's gonna be one
of those guys that has some value uh in situations

(35:19):
like that. The other going back to, uh the New
York area, and again health is going to be a
question mark. But looking at Elijah more of the Jets
might be thrust into a level of prominence right away.
So as a w R four option, look, because they're
gonna be down. They've already got a bunch of injuries
hitting their defense. And Zach Wilson, we may not know

(35:41):
a lot about him, but we know he's got a
big arm and a live arm. And I think, you know,
rookie coming in extra reps with him on the practice
field could be a big opportunity late in a draft.
I well, I will just say this. I jumped on
Rondale Moore in like the last round of my draft

(36:03):
for the for the just the simple fact of I
have no idea how it's gonna work out. I have
no idea on if what we saw in the preseason
opener is going to translate to the regular season. It's
just the fact, Mike, that I think that he could
be a guy that wets a lot of appetites and
I'd rather just take him. I ended up taking him,

(36:25):
I believe it. The second to last pick in the
draft had a wide receiver spot open, so ended up
jumping on Rondale Moore. I'm not saying that he's a
guy that you would want to play. But when you're
at the end of the draft, there could be a
name if you're looking to add someone that could have
a little bit more value than than maybe that, you know,
taking that place kicker in the second in the last

(36:45):
round instead of the second to last. Maybe you want
to take Rondale more just in case. Yeah, just getting
back to you know, the draft philosophy. Right, depending on
the level of bench spots that you have and lead
to league, I mean it varies greatly. I mean a
couple of leagues where you've only got two or three
to try to promote waiver wire activity, i e. Everybody's
got to cough up a buck for an addition and

(37:06):
make some hard roster moves. Some of these leagues have
a huge rosters and huge number of teams, so you
start whittling down viable players a bit more. But but yeah,
the wide receivers on teams where you're expecting a lot
of passing, right, I mean obviously that that sounds obvious,

(37:27):
but you know, instead of adding that extra running back,
we may never see you down. You know, those young
wide receivers at some point will be thrust into the spotlight,
particularly on bad teams where all they're doing is throwing
on every down. You know we've got plenty of those
each year. Yeah, we You know we put DeAndre Hopkins
up high in the rankings for the same reason that

(37:47):
I say, take a flyer on Ronda absolutely understruck A
shocked in amazed by the power of riding Bolt, the
world's first roller coaster. We'll see probably got understruck so
hard is nine three year old grandmother felt it three
thousand miles away in Nebraska and immediately booked the cruise

(38:08):
Get understuck starting at two nine Carnival shoes on Cruise US.
I was a person. Double documentcy Texas fees and port
expense adition restricts and apply for details on cardio dot
com SIPs red STREAMA. Before I get your final thoughts
on the wide receiver position, let's do our Mortal Kombat showdowns.

(38:29):
Let's get it one of them. You kind of touched
down a little bit earlier. But it is the battle
of the star, Amari Cooper versus Ceedee Lamb. If it
comes down to those two, who do you take? You
give me Ceedee Lamb. I like Amari Cooper. I think
better than the reputation has been. I think, you know,
he's one of those guys that kind of got caught
in the crossfire of hot take nonsense in our business.

(38:51):
But I'll look at Seedee Lamb as the the more
explosive downfield option, assuming Dak Prescott is right. What about
Adam Feeland versus Cooper Cup. Oh, if you know PPR
league PPR dependent, you know you you may take a
look at Cooper Cup. But I think you're gonna have
bigger distribution because I do have Robert Woods cracking the

(39:14):
top twenty uh in my rankings as well. So look,
with no cam akers, be curious to see how much
Darrell Henderson and company are able to keep the line moving. Maybe,
you know, you look at a little Xavier Jones to to,
you know, add a little preview of the running back position.
But for me, I'll take feeling buy a hair. But

(39:35):
it's not that that that desparate this time around. It's
not that I disliked the rams wide receivers. I just
think that they're going too high. I think that was
just going too high. I think Cup is going too high,
especially when you don't know which one and you've got
other actually guys there as well. That could that could uh,
you know, take up some take up some of the room.

(39:56):
I just I'm not letting you do your Matt Stafford
slander here, scan Byer, Oh, you're not slander. I just
I I don't think that they're gonna I don't think
Matthew Stafford is going to throw for five thousand yards
between the defense and some combination of those running running
backs there. I don't. I don't think it's Detroit and

(40:16):
winging in around. Yeah, and you know Van Jefferson is
there as well. That could you know, get some Actually,
I just I'm not, I just I don't. I don't
think that Woods and Cups should be going as high
as they're going. All right, how about this dandy? You
you ready for this battle of former first rounders? Will
Fuller in a Dolphins uniform now and the aforementioned Mike Williams.

(40:37):
Mike Williams more likely to play more games. Sure, we
know Fuller's already out for one because of a suspension
to open up this season, and I'll trust Herbert to Yeah,
and there are a lot of like Miles defeated Miami. Now,
I mean, you use the first round pick on Jalen Waddle.
DeVante Parker still there. There's yeah, there's there's a lot
to get. Yeah, I get Sicky absolutely. I actually I

(40:59):
am with you that battle of the juniors. D J.
Chark Jr. Or Odell Beckham Jr. I hate you. I'm
going to go Odell Beckham Jr. On the potential that
he has w R one potential, whereas d J. Chark,
I think he's gonna have a couple of, you know,

(41:21):
top twelve games, but overall he's a back end too.
I think when we look at the aggregate, because, like
you say, with Miami, Jacksonville's got a lot of mouths
to feed. Finally, in our triple threat match, Chase Claypool
against Deonte Johnson against Juju Smith Schuster, who comes out

(41:41):
on top Deonte Johnson. For me, at times my opic
was Ben Roethlisberger. Claypool was the touchdown guy. But I
think that's an aberration. I don't think that holds up.
I think you see more split on that. And Deonta
Johnson's gonna be your target leader. Yeah, especially in the
PPR leagu Johnson would be the way to go. I
will say this about Claypool after the final ten games

(42:04):
of last season or over that span, he did average
about eight and a half targets per James. He had
games earlier where he got to where he got one,
then he had that huge game against Philadelphia where he
burst on the scene. I know the inconsistent production was there,
but the targets were at least there. And you're also
talking to a guy, Mike, that drafted Chase Claypool, So
of course I'm going to I am going to look

(42:27):
on the bright side of things, all right. Your final thoughts,
Mike Harmen on the wide receiver position and what do
people know as they enter their draft. Well, as we
talked about, I mean we we were dead on just
reordering the top eleven, and then once you get to
tier three, starts to become a dissection of target counts,
expectations for teams, and really more a holistic tea team approach,

(42:51):
right of looking, all right, how good is their defense?
Are they gonna lean on the run game a little
bit more? Do you trust their quarterback whether it be
health or just performance on a year to year basis,
week to week basis, what's the schedule look like? Uh,
starts to come in a little bit, a little less
for the wide receivers, but again owing back, it's all

(43:11):
dependent on the quarterback making things happen. So I think
you know this one requires a little more research and
a little more dialed down approach to go through those tiers,
but the separation won't be as large, So I think
you can make more mistakes here without it costing you horribly.
As evidence that you're differential, say between your wide receiver

(43:35):
number twelve and wide receiver twenty four is about two
and a half points per game, So it adds up,
but on a week to week basis, isn't going to
be the thing that does you in looking just even
looking at at numbers and and taking guesses and and
there's there's that span that you talk about. There are

(43:57):
names that are going to be in the mid forties
that you could actually talk yourself into, maybe even more
so than some of the guys in the mid twenties.
That's that's the wide receiver position. It's also interesting to
Mike as we wrap this up, is to see a
place like San Francisco where Brandon I Yuks getting a
lot of love. But then you got to say, alright,
is Deebo Samuel healthy George Kittle healthy, who's gonna be

(44:17):
the quarterback there? Cincinnati's got three wide receivers and he
had Jamar Chase is the first round pick. High first
round pick, but te Higgins seemed to have some rapport
with Joe Burrow last year. We know Tyler Boyd's been there.
So now you're picking within three guys that are on
one team, kind of like you did with the Steelers,
and they're gonna be some tough decisions to make when
it comes to draft time. Yeah, just to use last

(44:38):
the last couple of years data, uh to to kind
of punctuate the point between wide receiver twelve and wide
receiver thirty six. It's about three point three points per
game round, so you know on a week to week basis,
you know that that's what we're talking about. Boom bus
potential and trying to figure out consistency and all you

(44:58):
can get promised his charge. It's along the way what
they do with them. We'll be here for the glory
and the agony throughout the season. Get Mike on Twitter
at Swollen Dome if you can find me on Twitter
at Dan Buyer on Fox. It's been fun. Next week
we'll we'll chop up the running backs. About that Mike
locked in loaded, We'll go a d deep for my Carmen.
I'm Dan Buyer. This has been another award winning episode

(45:20):
of I Want Your Flax Stocked in next week

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