7 Overlooked Veterans That Could Win Your League | Fantasy Football 2025

7 Overlooked Veterans That Could Win Your League | Fantasy Football 2025

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Guys, every single season we seeNFL veterans become fantasy
football draft discounts. I am hitting you today with 7
veterans who right now in draftsare undervalued.

(00:20):
We will just jump right into thefirst player on the list, a guy
who's been on this list for three or four years in a row
now, and that is Mike Evans. He is undervalued again in 2025
right now, going around pick 40,pick 36 in drafts, right at the
end of the third round, top of the fourth round.
And quite simply, it's been 11 straight seasons here of 1000

(00:41):
plus receiving yards. Literally every year of his
career he has hit 1000 plus receiving yards with Baker.
The last two seasons he's been atop 9 wide receiver for fantasy
football. Wide receiver 9 in 2024, wide
receiver 6 in 2023, and even theyears before that 2021-2022 top
15. Both of those years with QB

(01:01):
transitioning and things like that.
Now, obviously Liam Cohen is no longer with Tampa Bay, so the
offense might take a little bit of a hit here, but just the
production year to year with whoever the quarterback is makes
Mike Evans undervalued again going low end wide receiver 2IN
drafts, you got to be all over that.
One of the best picks in the late 3rd, early 4th.

(01:24):
All right, Next up on the list is Tyree Kill.
Now I'll just come out and say it.
Tyree Kill is an early a July myguy contender for 2024.
He's a very polarizing player indrafts.
Excuse me for 2025. He's a very polarizing player in
drafts, but I am in OK. He has played three years so far

(01:45):
on the Dolphins. 2022 he was thewide receiver two overall, 2023
he was the wide receiver two overall.
And then last year was his worstseason as a Dolphin.
He finished wide receiver 18, but he played all 17 games with
a torn wrist ligament. And while that was going on, Tua
was out for six of those games and he still finished wide
receiver 18. His underlying utilization was

(02:07):
actually still pretty good. 37% air yard share.
It's wide receiver 6, 11.2 average depth of target, also
wide receiver 6. So he's still being utilized in
the same way. I really just think the injuries
to Tua and also to Tyreek got tohim.
And honestly, the fact that he finished wide receiver 18
overall, played every game through the injury, I think
that's actually a good sign. Like that's a testament to the

(02:28):
type of player he is. It's a testament to the fact
that he's not washed. So I'm in, I mean, I'm not going
to fall for the one down season washed instant wash tag, right?
We've made that mistake in the past with Christian McCaffrey
with Derrick Henry a couple years ago.
I'm just not going to fall for that.
All right, Next up, third guy onthe list.
Speaking of the aforementioned Christian McCaffrey, third guy

(02:48):
on the list here, third undervalued veteran is Christian
McCaffrey. Really the only question here is
how many games does CMC play in 2025?
If we see 1415, geez, a man can dream 16 games out of McCaffrey,
OK, that second round price for him is going to be a steal.
All right, The last seven seasons starting in 2018, I will

(03:11):
read you his finishes, OK, so in2018, RB two overall 2019
RB12020 injured, 2021 injured, 2022 RB 2/20/23 RB 12024
injured. So in four of the last seven
seasons he's finished the top 2 RB.
Another way of saying that is every time he's been healthy the

(03:32):
last seven seasons, he's finished a top 2 RB.
So like I said, the only question is how many games does
he play? I think that risk is worth it.
In round two, you can structure your roster in a way right where
you draft a McCaffrey in two. You come back in three with a
Chase Brown, a Breeze Hall, a Ken Walker maybe and Alvin
Kamara in round 4A. Guy like that where your RB2 is

(03:52):
basically a low end RB-1, high end RB2 and McCaffrey is kind of
just your wild card X Factor week to week.
That is an option. And then throughout the rest of
your drafts, beginning in in round one, you draft low risk
players. You draft the Nico O'Brien
Thomas a a high volume receiver in a Monroe St.
Brown, for example. So there are ways to structure
your roster here with McCaffrey on your team where you can

(04:13):
minimize that risk. And if he plays, I mean, you're
going to have one of the best teams in the league.
We're going to hit a mock draft at the end of this episode,
guys. So stick around for that.
Maybe we'll try to draft a team with McCaffrey.
OK, Next guy on the list is Devante Adams.
Typically when a wide receiver is traded mid season, right at
the age of 31, that is a death sentence basically to the

(04:33):
fantasy season. I mean, the only time that's
basically worked is like a Brandon Marshall, for example,
years back on The Jets. It's basically the only time
we've seen age 31 plus wide receivers succeed.
As for Adams though, weeks 9 through 18 last year again
traded mid season to a whole newoffense. 20.1 fantasy points per
game. That was wide receiver, 332%

(04:56):
target share earning targets among the best in the league.
Wide receiver three. OK and this is just a sign that
he is not watched at all. The fact that he is earning
targets. Now I get Rodgers was the wide
receiver, but we look at the landing spot for 2025 on the
Rams. They went out and got him.
Adams wants to be there. Stafford is the type of guy to
air it out. If you're earning targets,

(05:17):
Stafford's going to get you the ball.
We've seen it with Nikua, we've seen it with cup.
We've seen it at the same time with both those guys.
It's one of the reasons I'm not worried about Nikua.
I think he's one of the best picks in round one.
There's such a high floor with these Rams receivers and Matthew
Stafford at QB. So honestly, with Adams, this is
I mean, the Rams are this is thebest offense he's been in in the
last couple years at least. So you have to be in here on

(05:41):
Adams in that fourth round, third round, whatever it might
be. I think the 4th is the spot for
him. I'm taking Evans ahead of Adams,
for example. OK, next veteran on the list, we
have Travis Kelce. And again, guys, if you are
listening, if you are watching, you're like, no way washed.
That's the point of the episode.OK.
And there are players where I'm like, no, actually I'm kind of
out like Cooper Cup, for an example, is not a guy who's

(06:02):
going to make this list. Going back to some concerns or
some things that I actually wasn't worried about for Adams,
where, you know, switching A-Team as a receiver after the
age of 31 is typically not good.Like you think of like Julio
Jones going to the Titans, like that kind of vibe.
Cup kind of fits in that category because we saw signs of
regression last year with Adams.We did not.
But anyway, Travis Kelce is nexton the list and he's still

(06:24):
earning targets. I think targets are really the
stat here with a with aging receivers, aging tight ends,
aging pass catchers, OK, even running back like Alvin Kamara,
the targets are still there. The rushing is not right.
So for example, Kelsey when he gets the ball, maybe he's doing
a bit less with it after he getsthe ball, but the targets are
there weeks 8 through 17. Last year for Kelsey, he had 10

(06:46):
plus targets per game, tied withMcBride and Bowers, I believe
for for the most of the position.
So for reference, when receiversare averaging 9 plus targets per
game and they play, you know, a majority of games in the season,
over 80% of those receivers finish as a top 12 wide
receiver. And that's for the receiver
position. Kelsey's averaging 10 plus
targets per game to finish last season, weeks 8 to 17.

(07:08):
That's over two months. So he's absolutely still a
valuable piece of the offense. I'm aware that Rasheed Rice was
out. I'm aware that they share that
kind of target distribution overthe middle of the fields.
I'm aware that Kelsey's 35. But I'm also aware that for
fantasy football purposes, Kelsey is the best tight end of
all time. I don't think it's particularly
close and he is going in the seventh round like if he was

(07:30):
going in the 4th, jeez, even the5th, right, But he's going in
the seventh guys, the seventh round like tight end, six or
seven off the board, a Kelsey paired with a guy later like a
Loveland, a Warren, OK, a rookietight end could be the play, a
Bretton Strange later, someone like that.
So I'm still in on Kelsey plug and play week one.

(07:52):
Get those week, those early weekwins out of the way in your
season. OK, next veteran on the list,
Calvin Ridley. I mean, last year there really
was no QB mean. Instead of waiting around to see
what Calvin Ridley would do weekto week, how he'd produce, we're
waiting around for the next WillLevis meme to pop out.
OK, This is not the type of environment that you know it's

(08:14):
going to breed fantasy success for receivers.
With that being said though, weeks 8 through 17, the back
half of the season, it was pretty promising.
He had the most area yards amongall wide receivers over 1100
area yards. He was top eight among wide
receivers in receiving yards, 760 receiving yards, and he was
a top 20 fantasy wide receiver overall.
Calvin Ridley back half of the season was wide receiver 17.

(08:37):
So if he's producing a a wide receiver 17 clip and right now
he's going outside the top 50 wide receivers in drafts, I
mean, that's a great pick outside the top 50 wide
receivers, outside easily the top 100 players in draft.
It's a very good pick as a wide receiver 4 on a roster with a
high ceiling. Who knows, maybe Cam Ward comes

(08:57):
out as the first overall pick that he was drafted to be and
goes crazy. That'd be awesome.
Calvin Ridley would really benefit from that.
OK. I view him as a safe floor, a
good ceiling and all around justa value pick.
Still producing to close last season.
So not many signs of of being washed there, but overlooked in
drafts. Next up, we have James Conner.

(09:18):
Now, I labeled 2024 as the best season of Connor's career.
Maybe that one season in Pittsburgh, you know, was a bit
better from a pure production standpoint.
But just from the bell cow meter, OK, the workhorse RB
meter, 2024 was Connor's most impressive season.
I think maybe that's a better word.
If you remember this time last year, everyone was saying that

(09:40):
James Conner can't draft him. He's never played a full season.
He's never done this right. Always misses at least one game.
I was one of those people. I was not in on Connor, OK, Trey
Benson was in town, all that stuff.
Then in 2024, he did play every single game.
There was one game where he wentout very early, but technically,
quite quite literally, he playedin every single game.

(10:01):
But one of them was not usable for fantasy.
So say what you want, but most opportunities in his career
since 2018, so 6-7 years ago wasthe last time he saw the amount
of work he did last year. Pretty insane.
Not a sign of being washed to meor not being able to carry a
workload. He had the most carries in a
single year of his career last year. 18 plus opportunities per

(10:22):
game. For those of you who follow the
channel, follow my content on X,you know that 18 plus
opportunities per game extended to a whole season is really the
golden number for RB-1 output. For top 12 output, there are
only 2 running backs last year in the top 12 who didn't hit
that number. James Cook was one of them
because of so many touchdowns for example.
So. But yeah, second best yards per

(10:42):
attempt of his career last year.James Connor.
So all I see here is still a bell cow.
I see some legitimate competition in the form of Trey
Benson in the backfield, but I don't see anyone else added to
the backfield other than Benson,who had a chance or two last
year and didn't do too, too muchwith it, to be honest.
And As for right now, Connor's the lead running back again in
Arizona. I think you must handcuff him

(11:03):
with Trey Benson, OK, Just because he had an amazing year
last year doesn't mean that these risks don't exist with
him. The age, right, the career
touches. So I would cuff him with Benson,
but I mean, as an RB2RB3 in a roster, he could really
supercharge your team. All right, now let's hop into
the mock draft. Guys.
As always, we're just going to start it right up and see if we
can capitalize on some of these veterans.
We'll do a random draft selection here for our pick.

(11:25):
We are given the second pick. Let me turn off my face Cam and
my face Cam border so you guys aren't upset in the comments
that you can't see the board. Valid complaint.
By the way, don't get me wrong, valid complaint.
But we are up at the one O 2 nowone O 11-O2.
Believe it or not, I think this year this these are the best
picks in drafts. You know last year 456 even I

(11:46):
really liked because I just couldn't order those top five or
six players. I couldn't do it.
A lot of them had RB, one overall ceiling.
A lot of them had a wide receiver, one overall ceiling.
1012620262025, Excuse me, 101 ceiling.
But this year there are really two top players for me in
drafts, and it's Bijan Robinson and Jamar Chase.
So I get the question all the time, what pick should I select?

(12:08):
I have the option to, you know, pick my pick in my draft.
I think 102 is the best because you're just getting one of Chase
or Robinson and that's it. I know it sounds very basic, but
sometimes there's no need to overcomplicate it.
Now we go Bijan at the one O2. All right, so let's see if we
can implement a bit of a hero RBstrategy here and capitalize on
maybe a James Conner later as our RB2.

(12:30):
OK, for example. So let's at the 211 more backup.
Let's see what receivers are available.
And right away, you know Tyree kills here.
Now his ADP is 26. So technically outside of Round
2, I don't know if I want him inround two per SE.
All of the round two receivers are gone.
We're looking at lad off the board, JSN London, A.J.
Brown, they're all gone. But Trey McBride is still on the

(12:53):
board here. I'm going to take Trey McBride.
OK, let's implement the hero running back strategy with a
hero RB. With a hero wide receiver, you
have to draft elite tight end and elite QB.
And again, I'm talking 1QB1 tight end leagues right now.
There will be a super flex episode coming out, a three wide
receiver episode coming out. Don't worry, there always are.

(13:14):
You guys know that. Follow on Twitter at Joe Rico FF
at no expert FF for those strategies as well.
But if we're running hero RB andTrey McBride is available in the
late two, we are taking him. He is a value pick.
Now you might say no, he's not second round for tight ends.
Crazy when you compare his ADP to Brock Bowers who was going
sometimes in round one top 15 pick and you consider that

(13:35):
McBride is basically equivalent to Bowers.
McBride 12 picks later becomes avalue.
It's all about perspective. Now if you were to say to me,
well Kittle's available in the 4th so McBride's not a value,
maybe Kittle's better. I would agree with you too, it's
all about perspective. I do think though that Bowers
and McBride are in a clear tier above the rest in terms of risk.

(13:55):
Everything staged in their career, guaranteed targets,
offense scenario. Bowers and McBride are tier one
tight ends above Kittle. So I'm going to quote, pay up
and view McBride as a value to Bowers.
Anyway, this is not a McBride episode, so let's continue.
Now in the third round, Tyree kills the pick, a veteran we
mentioned today. So I look at my team through

(14:16):
three rounds and I'm going to turn the face Cam back on,
ladies and gentlemen. So take a look at those picks
coming in right now at the 312 and the 401, James Cook and DJ
Moore. OK, face Cam's going back on and
I'll talk a little bit more about Tyreek and the team right
now. So through three rounds, we have
Bijan, McBride and Tyree kill. Those are three players with

(14:36):
wide receiver, one tight end, one RB, one OK, best overall at
their position ceiling fact. Those three players, we're going
to lean on Bichon here and we'regoing to continue to draft wide
receivers or QB. Now here for QB, I'm looking at
Holmes, Mayfield, Goff, that tier.
I'm not going to pay up at the end of the 4th for that.

(14:57):
If Burrow or Hertz was there, I most likely would have.
So let's head over to wide receiver Courtland Sutton, Zay
Flowers, Damonte Smith. I like Sutton.
Let me just peek at running backeven though we're hero R being
yeah, James Conner 55 overall. Kamar is there and Marian's
there. OK, let's go ahead and draft
Cortland Sutton. So we have Tyreek and Sutton as

(15:18):
our two wide receivers through 4rounds.
They are on the same team for usas McBride and Robinson.
And I don't like the wide receiver options here available
in the 5th. Zay Flowers, Monte Smith, Olave
too early for worthy. OK, I'm targeting that Worthy,
Waddle, Pickens, Williams tier kind of at the end of the 5th.
The way the board's shaping up right now at the one O 2 for us,

(15:41):
we're not going to get those guys, but that's OK.
Let's look at RB. Maybe we go the RB route.
James Conner is there, Alvin Kamar is there, Chuba Hubbard's
there, bunch of guys that I like.
As for QB, we do have Mahomes again, no more of a late 5th
pick. So I'm in a bit of a pickle here
with who I want to take because I wanted to really wait on
running back. But looking at the receivers, I

(16:01):
like the guys later better. Looking at QB, I like the guys
later better looking at tight end.
We already have McBride, so the pick is going to be a running
back. Like I think this is a good
moment to kind of outline that when you go into a draft of the
strategy. That's a great idea, but if it
doesn't seem to be playing out for you, don't jam it, OK?
Don't, don't force it right now.Don't say to yourself, no, I'm
doing hero RBI, have Bijan. I cannot draft an RB until the

(16:24):
90th overall pick. Don't do that, OK?
Right here. The pick is very, very obviously
a running back. We have Kamara, Hubbard and
Connor on the board. I do prefer the two former
players to James Conner, even though it's a Connor episode.
Let's just go ahead and draft Alvin Kamara.
OK, So through 5 rounds, the rosters looking pretty good.
We have Bijan and Kamara, Tyree Kill, Courtland Sutton and Trey

(16:45):
McBride. All right, let's see who ends up
on our board here. Closing out the sixth round,
moving into the 7th and we'll start to rapid fire these picks
just a little bit. All right, so coming back to us,
I am going to swerve RB here. So the RB candidates, we have
two already and we're looking atTyrone Chasey, Tony Pollard.
I like Judkins, but I don't needhim right now, OK, Two former

(17:07):
names I don't like very much at all.
As for wide receiver, Hunter Odunze, Shakur Ridley, OK, some
names. We like Ridley.
We talked about him today. Let's look at QB.
We have Gough, Nix, Murray. OK, yeah, the pick here is going
to be Bone Nix. I have Bone Nix clearly ranked
ahead of guys like Jared Goff, Kyler Murray, Patrick Mahomes.

(17:28):
I like some of those players, but but Bone Nix is the pick
with Courtland Sutton on the team.
We'll go back to the wide receiver position here, and
Calvin Ridley's a selection. So like I said, a guy like
Ridley who we talked about already, all right, on the
episode, wide receiver 17 to close the season, quarterback
upgrade, we presume with Cam Ward going in the seventh round
guys and I reached on him. I mean, he's really an eighth

(17:49):
round pick as your wide receiverthree.
That's exactly what we're what we're talking about.
OK, coming back to us in the eighth here, Cooper cups on the
board. Jacoby Myers goes right before
us. I'm not super in love with the
wide receivers. Josh Downs is a very good pick.
He'll probably end up on the roster here.
But looking at the running backs, we have ETN, he's our
guy. We'll take Cam, just add some RB
depth back to wide receiver. We'll take Josh downs.

(18:11):
OK, so just kind of filling in the roster here and it's very
nice, right When you have an elite tight end, when you have a
somewhat elite QB and Bonex, I think another, you know, top
eight season from him. We'll we'll start to call him
elite, but I can just fill in myroster now with value.
All right, coming into the 10th round here, who's on the board?
We have Keon Coleman, Jalen McMillan, Jawan Jennings and

(18:34):
Mecca egg Buka. Jaden Higgins.
These are these this is the round for wide receivers 10 and
11. I love those names.
I'm not super in love with Rashad white tank Bigsby, those
RB options. Let's go Coleman here.
We'll double back on wide receiver here and we'll take in
a Mecca egg buka, right. Let's just do that.
So at the moment, 4 receivers, we're probably done.
We have Hill, Sutton, Ridley Downs, Coleman, Igbuca, so we're

(18:55):
probably done there. We're really going to end this
draft. The last two picks here with two
running backs as the board makesits way back to us here in the
12th round. Let's see who's available.
Austin Eckler is Don, darn it, at the 1209, but we have Jaden
Blue, we'll grab him and we'll grab a Ray Davis.
OK guys. So that's going to do with the

(19:16):
final roster here. Very happy with how this turned
out and a good lesson to be fluid in your drafts and not be
super locked in. Bo Nix at QB, Bijan and Alvin
Kamara at the Arby's, Tyree Killand Courtland Sutton OK
capitalizing on that hill. Veteran discount Trey McBride at
tight end, Calvin Ridley and Etienne and the flex who can be
interchanged with Josh Downs, Coleman, Ibuka, Jaden Blue and

(19:36):
Ray Davis on the bench. Guys, I hope you enjoyed the
episode today. I appreciate all the support,
fellas. All right, please.