FantasyPros - Are You DRAFTING Or PASSING on These Players in 2025? (Ep. 1597) - The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, everybody, Welcome into the Fantasy Pros Football Podcast. I'm
Ryan Warmley, joined today by Andrew Erickson and by Pat
Fitz Morris Fellas. We're talking some draft or pass on
certain players for twenty twenty five drafts. We put together
some names that our producer John put together, and they
are intended to be based on your guys' rankings, Names

(00:21):
that we think you will maybe disagree with each other on.
You don't have to force it if you don't disagree
with each other, but we tried to pick these names
ahead of time knowing that you guys, i'd at least
do differentiate in how you're ranking them. Currently, we're gonna
be going based off our half PPR rankings, so we'll
give everybody kind of the overall consensus ranking and ECR,
and then the guys will kind of share what they
think about this player and if at this cost they

(00:42):
are drafting or passing on these guys. Fitz, I am
glad you made the time because you it sounds like
have had quite a day.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yes, new furnace, new air conditioner, and you know, getting
those things changed over on a ninety eight degree in
degree day in Chicago. Met knowing see for a big
chunk of the day. And I'm a guy who likes
his ac So yeah, it's been a long, hot day.
But you know, I'm now I'm gonna get heated up
arguing with Ericson about some of these players he's totally

(01:11):
wrong about.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
I was gonna say, it's been a hot day, So
I'm expecting some hot takes from fits here as we
get into all the different players. Ericson, You've got a
move coming up soon yourself. You're just tell me about
that before the show.

Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah, we close on the wife and I closed on
our house last week, so very excited about that. Also
celebrated our one year anniversary, so very excited. Next steps, Yeah,
next month it's going to be moving into a new house.
I'm gonna have a whole new background set up, so
it should be a lot of fun. And regards to
the heat, I am now currently on my third shirt

(01:45):
of today.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
We we the last several days have been like one
hundred degrees out here Denver. Today it was in like
the low sixties for at least in the morning when
I was outside, so it was very surprise. I was
wearing a sweatshirt walking my dog this morning, which was
literally yesterday. I was like, I was doing some weeding
and I couldn't go for about more than fifteen minutes,
and I was just too hot and too drenched in sweat.

(02:08):
So very very sudden turnaround here in Denver. That's enough
complaining about the weather. Let's dive into draft or pass
quicker minder for everybody. Like I said, we're gonna be
referencing the half EPR rankings. You can find those rankings
and all of our consensus twenty twenty five rankings and
tiers at fantasypros dot com slash rankings. You can also
find Ericson's rankings and fits his rankings there if you

(02:29):
want to look at where they have these guys individually.
Let's start here at the top. We're going to kind
of work our way down through the draft, so we'll
start with some of the early round guys, then some
mid rounds, then a handful of kind of later round picks. Again,
I'm going to kind of present the player. You guys
will tell me if you're going to draft or pass
here on this player at their costs. We'll start off
with Saquon Barkley, who obviously is coming off a league

(02:50):
winning season. He was, you know, the best or second
best you himrh Jamar Chase a player in fantasy last year,
just a remarkable two thousand rushing yard season, his first
in Philadelphia. Right now, he is third overall in half
VPR and that is RB two actually behind Jon Robinson,
who a lot of folks are projecting to surpassing this year.
But third overall player fits is that a player you

(03:12):
are drafting or passing at his goss.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
I have done one draft for a redraft league, and
I did, in fact, end up with Saquon Barkley in
that league, getting him fourth overall. I believe and I
understand the point Ericson is probably gonna make here, which
is that it's kind of terrifying that Saquon had four

(03:37):
hundred and eighty two touches last season when you include
playoff games, and the pass catching upside isn't what it
used to be for Saquon. He had thirty three catches
last year, his lowest reception total in any full season
since he came into the league, any full non injured season,
that is. But Saquon's a special player and he has

(03:58):
pretty much the perfect ecosystem in Philadelphia, an outstanding offensive line,
a winning team with an excellent young defense, It's going
to give the Eagles a lot of run friendly game scripts. Yeah,
Saquon could break down after a season of such heavy usage,
but it's hard to envision a scenario where Saquin is
healthy but turning in unsatisfactory numbers. Like if he's healthy,

(04:21):
he's probably going to be excellent again and maybe not
as good as last year, but still a high end
RB one And I don't know how to quantify what
we perceive to be a greater injury risk because of
the heavy workload last year.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
So Eric, so base on your ranking. I'm assuming that
this will be a pass for you. And I'm wondering
if Fits's point about if he is healthy, it's hard
to see him falling off. Do you see it as
strictly hedging against injury and just the ability to stay
healthy over the whole season, or do you think that
even if he is healthy for the whole year, that

(04:54):
there's still a chance for not just summer regression, because
I think everybody thinks that, but maybe significant regression.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
I think that he's definitely due for significant amount of
regression from a production standpoint the fact that he doesn't
catch as many passes that we saw what he did
in New York, A point that for a stat that
I looked at that I thought was actually crazy when
you look at what he did his rookie year. He
actually scored more Fantasy points his rookie year than he
did this past year. Because of the reception total said

(05:20):
he could have put a monster numbers as in the
passing game as a rookie. He did not do that
in Philadelphia, and I don't think that's going to happen
with the way that offense operates with Jalen Hurts as
the quarterback, with all those other weapons between smith A. J.
Brown and Dallas Goddard. So I think that the receptions
matter a ton. It's not that he's not He's very
capable of catching passes that they don't just use him
that way in the offense. So that's that's part of it. Honestly,

(05:42):
I was definitely sweating out the push push type of ruling.
If that had been banned, I couldn't see, Okay, well,
Matt Barkley's going to score twenty plus touchdowns like that
would that could have been in his range of outcomes
where Okay, well, Jalen Hurt's still not going to be
locked and loaded for another fifteen rushing touchdown season. So
I think those are concerns about Saikuon Barkley when it

(06:03):
comes to if he is helping in on the field.
But again, my main thesis of the bet is guys
that are coming off this type of workload, it just
doesn't work out for them. I can dive a little
bit deeper into it. I know that it's kind of
been thrown out. I don't know if you guys are interested.

Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah, I'm definitely interested. We actually have I'm doing one
of our Microsoft Challengers reads later in this episode talking
about a player facing challenges and I'm actually gonna be
talking about Saquon overcoming some of this history of players
who have had this kind of workload. So I think
you should share it.

Speaker 3 (06:36):
Yeah, So only two running backs have finished arey one
following you after leaving the NFL and touches since twenty thirteen.
Of the last twelve running backs at least four hundred
or more touches the previous season, only one of those
running backs was a top five Fantasy running back the
next year. Running backs twenty seven or older in the
NFL that led the NFL in touches. Five of them
have done it. Zero top five finishes the following season.

(06:59):
So for me, it's following a process. I trust. This
process has worked out Last year with Chritian McCaffrey. I
was making the same claims for Christian McCaffrey again, also
a very special player, also in a great offensive environment,
also an older running back, and it worked out, and
he was a player that got injured and ended up
not being worth the one number one overall pick. And
the other thing too, is because you have to take

(07:21):
Barkley inside the top five. I mean, if you take Barkley, now,
I know that he's ranked below ECR, but you know
I like Bjeon more than Barkley. I'd rather have Gibbs
than if you take sake On Barkley. I means you
can't draft Jamir Gibbs. I want to draft these running
backs in their uber prime, along with some of these
round one wide receivers CD Lamb. He's got Dak Prescott back.
Last time we saw that combination. Ceedee Lamb was wide

(07:42):
receiver one. Justin Jefferson, one of the best wide receivers
in the NFL. So I think that the opportunity cost
for Barkley to get him in betting on that, I
think even the highest Barkley stands would say he probably
won't be as good as he was last year. So
I just don't see the I don't want to say
the upside. Obviously the upside is there, but I just
don't like the case this year for Saquon Mark Lee

(08:05):
versus some of the other guys at the top of
the board.

Speaker 1 (08:07):
So, Fitz, before we move off of Saquon, let's concede,
just for the sake of argument, that he should be
RB two, which is where you have him specifically amongst
his position. You know, I think it's a very valid
stance to take. Obviously, do you at least see the
case for maybe just going with a receiver in that
spot like Seed Lamb. I was just putting mine together,
my rankings together earlier today, and I had Lamb third,

(08:28):
and like almost wanted to try and make the case
for him to go higher because of what Ericson just said.
The last time we saw those guys healthy together. So
do you see maybe a reason even if you want
to keep Saquon as RB two, just to go in
a different position direction, like specifically wide receiver.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
If you're in the league where you have to start
three receivers every week, absolutely, if you're in a receiver
where you only have to start two, then I am
taking Saquon over every wide receiver except for possibly jamar Chez.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
All right, so let's go now to a tight end. Actually,
Trey McBride player I'm very excited about this year. He
is ranked twenty second overall in ECR that is tight
end two. Ericson Less are with you this time.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
So with McBride, I'm in line with consensus where I
have him so as the tight end two as twenty
second overall. But I don't think that he's someone that
I'm going out of my way to draft necessarily. And
that's not because of McBride the player. It's because from
a strategic standpoint, I just like a lot of these
late round tight end options. That's kind of the point

(09:32):
for me with McBride is do I think he can
pay off a top twenty four ADP. I think so,
especially with hopefully he can finally find the end zone
at some point and they're not just jamming targets to
Marvin Harrison Junior in the end zone, as I know
too well for losing so much money on Trey McBride
anytime touchdowns last season, as listeners of the show are
too familiar with. But I just think there's so many

(09:55):
late run options that I like at cost Tucker Kraft,
Evan Ingram, David and Joku. So for me, don't hate
the player, Rick Bride, don't hate the ADP, but I
like the tight end strategy of waiting at the position.
So he's going to be a pass for me.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
So he's a pass even though he's more aligned with
your rankings. Fits Are you also passing because your rankings
have him a bit lower?

Speaker 2 (10:16):
Yeah, I am passing, and I'm not here to Ritt McBride.
He's clearly one of the best tight ends in the league.
Eleven one hundred and eleven catches last year, eleven hundred
and forty six yards average two point one two yards
per out run, which is really impressive. But I'm not
spending a second round pick on Trey McBride, and he's
not my tight end two. As you said, Worm, I've

(10:37):
got Bowers tight end one, Kittle tight end two, and
like McBride, Kittle is coming off in eleven hundred yard season.
But Kittle averaged a freaky two point sixty two yards
per rout run last season, and Kittle actually scores touchdowns,
And look, I know McBride is due for some better
touchdown lock wouldn't shock me if he had seven or

(10:57):
eight this year. But we also have to consider the
possibility that mcmar is never going to be a prolific
touchdown score. He's had six touchdowns and forty nine NFL
games and never scored more than four touchdowns in any
of his college seasons at Colorado State. The other thing, like,
if you think Marvin Harrison Junior is going of a
better year two than he had in year one, and

(11:20):
there are some things about his usage that were kind
of funky last year, and hopefully the Cardinals are trying
to address. I'm sure they know that they have to
get this top five draft pick more integrated into the
offense used optimally. And if you think Marvin Harrison Junior

(11:40):
is going to have a much better year in year
two than he had as a rookie, you'd think that
would cut into Trey McBride's target load. So they're just
a lot of things that worry me here, and I
just don't think Trey McBride is worth a second round pick.

Speaker 1 (11:57):
I am very excited about Trey McBride this year. I
feel like there are just enough players that I like
better than him that I agree that I don't want
to take him in the second, but I would be
very happy to take him in with an early third
pick if I'm getting an elite player in the first round,
which I would presumably be getting if I'm having an
early third because I'm picking early in the first, then
just take a player I really like at whatever the

(12:19):
other position is that I didn't take in the first
round wide receiver, running back, and the McBride in the third.
I'm really happy with that. So I think this is
an appropriate ranking. You know it range at the very least,
even if you'd be a couple spots lower for me.
But I would much prefer to get him, like more
of an early third than a late second, which might
not be doable in a lot of cases. But I
think there are there are just enough players in that

(12:41):
back end of the second round range that I'm just
really excited about that. I don't imagine I'll be taking
McBride in many leagues where he's going in the second round.
So I think I'm kind of making it a consensus
opinion here to pass at twenty second overall on Trey
McBride and some of that. Like Ericson said his position.

Speaker 3 (13:00):
Deebro's not gonna be happy about that.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
Yeah, no, Well, the deebro is really high on George
Kittle too, Right, does he have McBride higher than Kittle
or does he have.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
Them Bowers about behind the boat?

Speaker 1 (13:10):
I believe, Oh, okay, it's Bowers that is making we.

Speaker 3 (13:12):
Actually all all three of us have three different tight end.
I'm the one that's the chalky. I'm the chalky guy.
I'm just following the ECR between uh, Bowers, McBride, Kittle.
But yeah, you guys are they will come with a
hot heat.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
I'm looking here. I would definitely be along the line
of eric said with Bowers with Bride Kittle, although I
really quite like all three of this year.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
Well, I think it's clear that there is a top
three tier, and that seems like it's that's consensus. Now,
if you want to mix and match them, I think
that that's okay, especially when you're playing the value game
that Kittle's the cheapest, so it makes sense if hey,
I want to get the elite tight end, just wait
for George Kittle. I know we're without talking about him specifically,
but like he's the guy in Bowers you have to
look at when you're like weighing the options Matine well

(13:52):
mc like, here's an example, like do you want Trey
McBride and Jonathan Taylor or Brock Bowers and Breeze Hall,
Like those are like combos you'd have to compare.

Speaker 1 (14:03):
So yeah, yeah, this month, if you want a chance
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(14:25):
vintage Stealers George Pickens jersey. Let's go to a receiver
here for draft or past Mike Evans. He's thirty fourth
overall in ECR. That is wide receiver sixteen fits. I'll
start with you here.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
As my buddy Scott Pinowski Yahoo says, when has anyone
ever drafted Mike Evans and regretted it? So I think
wide receiver sixteen thirty fourth overall is pretty spot on.
I think i've Evans wide receiver fifteen thirty fourth overall.
I'm not that worried about age. Evans turns thirty two

(15:01):
in August. I guess the one thing that makes me
slightly nervous is that when Chris Godwin was bawling out
early last season, Evans was actually below a thousand yard pace.
He averaged fifty one point seven yards over his first
six games, and he had seven or fewer targets in
five of those six games. Then came that faithful game

(15:22):
against the Ravens when Evan heard his hamstring. Godwin had
that gruesome ankle injury. When Evans came back in week
twelve and there was no Godwin around, Evans averaged six
point nine catches and ninety five point six yards a
game over his last seven games. So I just I
wonder if it might be a struggle for Evans to
give us a twelfth straight thousand yard season with Godwin

(15:43):
back from the injury and now first rounder of mechag
Buka possibly poaching some targets, but I don't know. I
would still be more inclined to bet the over on
a thousand yards than the under for Mike Evans, and
good chance he gives us double digit touchdowns for what
the fifth fifth season out of six. Like, the guy's

(16:03):
pretty bankable.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
I know that Hall of Famers kind of play by
a different set of rules, and yeah, so I do
think Mike Evans is a Hall of Famer, But like
we've seen it so many times that when it goes,
it does go fast, and you know, guy into his thirties.
I'm a little concerned to Erickson about just a new
play caller, although Tampa has done a really good job
of consistently getting quality new offensive coordinators in there as

(16:26):
their guys get hired away, so maybe they've done it again.
But you know, it is in the back of my
mind that it's now, you know, a new play caller there.
So Mike Evans for you again, thirty fourth overall wide
receiver sixteen. How does that look to you?

Speaker 3 (16:38):
I just think he's a really solid fantasy wide receiver too.
I think that's what he's going to be. I don't
think that he's going to be a fantasy locked in
number one, a top twelve guy. But when the Buccaneers
meet in training camp and they go over their goals,
number one is it's when the division number two to
Mike Evans a thousand yards. It's just on everybody's narrative
that they want to get this guy his amount of

(16:59):
touch in the amount of yards so he can continue
this endless or his his streak, his historic streak. So
I understand that, yes, his production did fall off or
he was not as great during the beginning season with Godwin,
but it was still pretty good. It was around that
wide receiver to production under twelve fantasy points per game.
And yes, Evans has moments where he missed his games

(17:21):
with his hamstring injury or he just has these random
three target games against it. Also, you have to remember
Marshall Latimore is gone from the division, so that's a
big win for these Saints matchups with Mike Evans, so
we don't have to fade Mike Evans anymore on these
weekly Marshall Lattimore whatever matchup they're on now. So I
think that Evans is a great pick in this round,

(17:41):
that he's pretty safe. I get the age concerned, but
I mean he was still really efficient last year. I
think he posted career high or he did post career
high in yards per route run. So I don't think
that there's nothing about his game that's saying, hey, this
guy's clearly hit a cliff a Miika Buka. Yeah, we're
excited about he's still a rookie wide receiver. Mike Evans
has shown he can news with anyone else in his
office as good as Chris Godwin has been at times. Mike,

(18:03):
if it is stilver produced and when push comes to shove,
you know, Evans can drop thirty points at any point
in any game where he can win you a week.
So even though he has a couple of duds here
and there, I think the weekly upside he can deliver,
especially with Baker Mayfield, is Buccaneers defense still has a
lot of holes. I think Mike Evans is solid where
he's going.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
Let's go to Cuba Hubbard here. This is something that
we just mentioned Deebra earlier. Debro was tweeting earlier today
that he is moving Chuba Hubbard down in his rankings. Erickson,
do you agree with Debro that Hubbard is currently too
high forty six overall RB eighteen or would you go
against Debra.

Speaker 3 (18:38):
Debra must have been looking at my machichi figuring out
that I'm fading Cheuba Hubbard. Yes, I am lower on
Chewba Hubbard than the consensus. I think that it's really
not a slight on him either. I think that he
was really great last year, but I also think that
Rico Daddle was really great last year. Dabble had over
thirteen hundred total yards, two or seventy four touches, and

(19:00):
the amount of ballume that he saw last year was
the most added to any other backfield this season. So
he was averaging around seventeen touches per game compared Toubahubbard,
who was around nineteen touches per game. So I think
Ricou Dawell is a very capable running back. He showed
that by winning out the running back job in Dallas,
despite the coaches being very much against giving him a role.
It took forever for him. He had a breakout game

(19:21):
against Pittsburgh Steelers early in the season Week five, and
then the immediately go back to a committee, so he
forced the coach's hand and he did all of this
basically without Dak Prescott as the Dallas Cowboys quarterback. He
rushed for over a thousand yards last year when he
was playing with backup quarterbacks in the Dallas Cowboys offense.
So I think that we're going to see more of
a one A one B situation between Cheeba Hubbard and

(19:44):
Rico Dwell because I think both guys are very gamble
running backs. But we also saw Hubbard breakdown at the
end of last year, and the minute that Jonathan Brooks,
the rookie, when he came back healthy, he immediately took
on a sizeable role in the offense for the one
game he was healthy, took away targets from Chuba Hubbard.
So I think that Dowbell showed last year that he

(20:04):
deserves touches and opportunities. I think he's going to get them,
and it's going to be a more of a one
A one B. And I don't think Harver's going to
get near the amount of work that he saw last year,
and for those reasons, I'm going to be lower on him.
I think I'd rather just have Dowbell at his price
compared Toubahabbard at his price.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
I think I'm about even with where Hubbard is in
terms of ECR. I don't feel like he's too high
or too low. Part of it is just some of
the players around him. I have a hard time kind
of moving some of them ahead of him or below him.
Erickson obviously thinks this is too high fits What do
you think? Forty sixth overall RB eighteen.

Speaker 2 (20:36):
I think Erickson is never going to have any sort
of career as an investigator because he is overlooking the
principal rule, follow the money. The Panthers told us how
they feel about their running back situation with the contracts
that handed out. They gave Chewba Hubbard a four year,
thirty three million dollars deal with about sixteen and a
half million guaranteed. Rico Dowdell got a one year deal

(21:00):
two point seventy five million. So Hubbard's going to be
the guy to start the season. And it's possible Cuba
Hubbard could stank and Rico Dowell could be really good
and they change horses at some point, But no reason
to think Hubbard's gonna stink. He was really good last year.
Four point eight yards per carry, ranked eighth in yards

(21:20):
after contact per attempt among running backs with at least
one hundred carries. Cuba was eleventh among running backs and
miss tackles forced caught forty three passes RB twelve, and
fantasy points per game and half point PPR so man
even with the signing of Dowdell and the drafting of
Trevor Etn, I'm not that worried about Cuba's job security,

(21:41):
and there's a reason to be optimistic about the trajectory
the Carolina offense, which was pretty good down the stretch
in the first year with Dave Canalis's head coach, and
Carolina has got a good offensive line. PFF had the
Panthers ranked seventh and run blocking grade last season, So
I'm totally on board with Hubbard at that price.

Speaker 1 (21:59):
Erickson, you said, unless I'm misremembering or misshard, you that
you thought you thought it could be a one to
a one B situation. What kind of touch breakdown is
that for you? Is that like fifty five forty five,
Is it close to fifty to fifty or do you
think it could be more like sixty forty or more disparity.

Speaker 3 (22:17):
Fifteen ten, whatever, whatever, that would accumulate to be so
I can't do I can't do the math. You can't
put me on the spot like this. So for every fifteen.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
Touches you, yeah, that would be sixty four Okay.

Speaker 3 (22:28):
Sixty forty. Yeah, that's that's what I think is realistic.
I think doubtll. I mean, Fitz did a great job
of listing off, like how good Hubbard was last year.
I want to give him his credit, but both of
these guys rushed for one thousand yards last year. Both
the maverage over forore four point six yards for carry.
Both of them were top twenty four running backs by PFF.
They were both really good. So I just think that

(22:50):
the coaching staff recognizes that Dwell is a very capable
running back and to keep Hubbard healthy now that they've
invested in him, maybe they don't want to run him
into the ground because we paid this guy, so let's
keep it fresh. And I think last year they tried
to do it at times, but everybody kept getting injured.
Jarathan Brooks injured, Miles Sanders injured. So I think that
for those reasons, again, I think that that was the
better value where he's going because I think that he

(23:12):
could see a decent amount of work in his backfield,
and looking at other running backs that go in this range,
I like James Connor more than Choba Hubbard. He goes
in a very similar range to Chewba Hubbard, and I
think that he has a bigger gap on the RB
one role in Arizona versus Chewba Hubbard compared to Rico.
Doubt because trade Benson again, super exciting prospect, but I

(23:33):
think Benson really needs an injury to get unlocked in Arizona,
whereas Preco Dawdle. I don't think that he's based solely
on an injury happening now. Obviously, if an injury happens,
I think the TV really high end handcuffed at worst,
but I think that he might be able to be
a running back kind of or at RB two with
benefits or something along those lines.

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(25:03):
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Speaker 1 (25:09):
All right, guys, let's shift into more of the mid
round section here. We'll start with Jamison Williams. He's fifty
third overall wide receiver twenty six. A lot of hype
coming from Detroit about him as a major breakout potential
this year. Fits a start with you this time.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
I'm going to pass on him at wide receiver twenty
six and as a fifth round pick at fifty three
overall a little too rich for me. I've him ranked
wide receiver thirty one. JMO is a really talented dude
with a lot of big play potential, but it's going
to be kind of a bumpy ride because he is
not a high volume guy. He averaged six point one

(25:46):
targets a game last year. Then factor in the departure
of Ben Johnson along with the likelihood that Jared Goff's
career high touchdown rate from last year comes down, and
you know, Gough is maybe closer to thirty touchdown passes
in the thirty seven he had last year. So I
just I'm not quite on board with Jamison at that price.

(26:07):
I like him better in Best Ball than in managed leagues.
You know, if you can get him as your wide
receiver three or something, I'm okay with that. But I
don't know, this just seems a bit too rich, Eerxon.

Speaker 1 (26:19):
I want to hear what you think about Jameson Williams
at fifty third overall wide receiver twenty six. But I'm
also curious if you agree with fits that you'd rather
have him in Best Ball as opposed to redraft or
are you just interested, regardless.

Speaker 3 (26:31):
Interested regardless in James Sibiliams. So I'm going to be
drafting him. I just think that this is the year
that it's going to be all gas, you know, breaks
for Jamison. The fact that they're talking about him as
a breakout candidate after what he did last year where
I wasn't high up on Jamison. I was kind of
fed up the suspensions and the injury a prospect I

(26:51):
was really high on coming out of Alabama and just
never lived up to the draft capital. We finally did
that last year, and that was despite him getting suspended
again for doing for doing non football related activities. So
I think with Williams, he's just a really exciting player
week ten on where he was the wide receiver ten
and fantasy points per game, we saw him start to
really eat into I'm on Ross Saint Brown's target share.

(27:13):
Weeks go through eighteen, they had a very similar target share.
Now it's still in favor of the Lion slought receiver
because of an eighteen target game that he had in
week fifteen, But if you kind of remove that one
outlier game from the sample, it's pretty flat across the
board between JMO, Samuel Porda and I'm on Rossaint Brown.
Super explosive third NIFL yards catch per reception, and I

(27:36):
do agree with Fitz where if Jared Goff is taking
a step back and he kind of finishes more as
a middle in quarterback. I know, like I'm specifically not
high on Golf in fantasy because I'm concerned about the
lack of rushing and some pending touchdown regression coming for him.
But if a player can make up for that, it's
by their own ability, and we've seen Jameson make plays
on his own regardless of the quarterback play. So he

(27:58):
scored fifteen career touchdowns, nine of them been in plays
of forty or more yards. So this guy is just
an explosive playmaker. If anything, when I think about how
exciting me is, it reminds me a lot of the
to michell A season that was Will Fuller, where you
just see this guy play and he just has these
insane weeks, but then he gets injured and you're just
pulling your hair out. You absolutely love the player, but

(28:19):
he's so frustrating. And that's been the Jamison experience the
first three seasons of his NFL career. Just super high highs,
especially last year, but really low lows. But I think
this year again, away from Ben Johnson, there's an opportunity.
I think that a new offensive coordinator comes in and
puts his wrinkle on this offense, and maybe that means, hey,
we're gonna feature Jameson Williams more. We're gonna give him
more layup, We're gonna get him in space because we

(28:42):
need to help Jared Goff a little bit more because
of the offensive line concerns. You know, the center retired,
So putting it into your most expulsive playmaker's hands, that's
why I'm still have confident in guys like Jamo and
Jamier Gibbs. And why again my concerns with Jared Goff
or more related to aman Rossaint Brown. Where was he
more favoring from the system, from the slot, gobbling all

(29:02):
the volume? What if the volume evens out? You know,
James Wims is a former first round pick. He because
a twelfth overall pick in the NFL draft. This guy
is super talented. So I want to make the bet
in round five on a guy taking a major leap
and I think that he's a dark horse to be
a top twelve wide receiver.

Speaker 2 (29:17):
Ericson can't ever be an investigator and he can't be
a salesman because he's trying to make a case for
Jamison Williams and he's thrown will Fuller's name around.

Speaker 3 (29:25):
Remember the will Force start with DeAndre Hopkins was gone
for that offense?

Speaker 2 (29:28):
Oh wow, Spectach it was.

Speaker 3 (29:30):
It was amazing fits.

Speaker 1 (29:34):
Unlike a lot of the other players were talking about today,
there's a lot of names on here that are maybe
they would fall under the umbrella of like a boring,
veteran type of pick. Jameson Williams is the up and comer,
like high upside. It's fun to imagine the possibilities when
you make a pick like that when you pass on him,
given your ranking fits, do you feel any fomo like
this is a pass that could really burn me Because

(29:56):
some of the other names on this list, it feels
like it's more of a you know, maybe you value
the floor instead of the ceiling, stuff like that. This
is one where the ceiling is fun to think about.

Speaker 2 (30:05):
It is, and you know, I think the scenario that
could make you regret it would be like if anything
happened to a'm and Ross Saint Brown, who's been really
durable throughout his career, but like, obviously they would endeavor
to get the ball into Jamo's hands a whole lot
more if a'man Ross Saint Brown ever missed time.

Speaker 1 (30:23):
Jameson Williams could be anything. He could even be will Fuller.

Speaker 3 (30:26):
We'll see who not suspended able Fuller.

Speaker 1 (30:31):
Let's go to a quarterback here in the mid round.
Patrick Mahomes obviously considered by pretty much everybody to be
the best quarterback in football, but not the best quarterback
in fantasy football. He's QB seven in ECR sixtieth. Overall,
this has been a multi year stretch of him being
disappointment in a disappointment in fantasy relative to this type

(30:52):
of quarterback he is in real life ericson I'll start
with you on this one. Are you drafting or passing
on Patrick Mahomes at sixtieth overall?

Speaker 3 (30:59):
So similar to the Trey McBride conversation, I think that
he's fine where he is in the quarterback rankings. I'm
actually higher on ECR than him, have QB six, but
looking at the twenty twenty five quarterback board, I'm going
on a round quarterback. There are so many guys entering
their second season that off a rushing upside that go
outside the top one hundred picks. That's the value that

(31:20):
I want to play here. I think that with Mahomes specifically,
he's probably a player i'd be interested in super flex
where he is going to fall a little bit more
compared to past years where he's basically been a top
five super flex selection. So in those scenarios, I want
to say that I'm in on Patrick Mahomes because I
think that to your point where and you just talked
about how he's one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL,

(31:40):
but he's not scoring fantasy points. Eventually, that's that's not
gonna be the case. Eventually, the Chiefs are going to say,
you know what, we're sick of winning all these games.
We just want to have fun again. They went for
the three p last year. It didn't work out. They
were trying to win all these close games, playing really
really close to the best. No, like, we're gonna go
out and have them. We're gonna have my home sling it.
That's why they drafted Xavier Worthies so I could throw
the ball down again. Screw the two I safeties, don't care.

(32:02):
They're going to have more fun. And it reminds me
a little bit about the Patriots dynasty, where there were
some seasons where Tom Brady wasn't really there statistically. Everyone
still knew he was a top tier quarterback. No one
it would suggest, oh, he's really fallen off his game,
but the numbers weren't there as they were kind of
going through, all right, what's our offensive identity. And we've
seen the last couple of years with Mahomes or like
you said, he's been down in the last two seasons.

(32:24):
I just think eventually it's going to increase and Chase
were second and pass right over expectation. They love to
throw the ball, love to throw the ball. In the
red zone. Are we expecting Pacheco to score fifteen rushing
touchdowns this season? I don't think so. And if Rashie Rice,
if you ever worthy or healthy, I think we could
see Mahomes go back to averaging over twenty fantasy points
per game from Week eight onward. Last year, he was

(32:45):
averaging twenty one points per game once we saw a
worthy kind of hit his stride. So again, strategically, I
want to go late run quarterbacks, so I won't be
drafting necessarily a ton of Mahomes, but especially in super flex,
where I could see him going in the end of
round one, maybe even round because there are concerns where
you could see some of the top running backs and
receivers go before him. That's where I'm gonna be circling
him on draft boards.

Speaker 1 (33:07):
Fitz, I wonder if you have a similar approach to
Erickson here, because it looks like based on your rankings,
you are higher than consensus amongst quarterbacks, but lower than
consensus on the overall rankings on Patrick Mahomes.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
Yeah, so I've got well, let's see, I've got Mahomes
QB six and fifty ninth overall. So I think I
am maybe a little bit above consensus on him.

Speaker 3 (33:28):
Overall.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
I'm sort of with Ericson in that I kind of
wouldn't wait on quarterback two and I think, you know,
I'll be fighting Ericson for Drake may and drafts we're
in together. Justin Fields is another favorite target. But there
is an upside case to be made for Mahomes, especially
now that he's getting drafted. Behind the big five at
quarterback Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jaden Daniels, Jalen Hurts, Joe

(33:54):
Burrow and sometimes behind Baker Mayfield. Mahomes is now pretty
flush at wide receivers with Rashid Rice healthy again, Xavier Worthy,
Hollywood Brown rookie Jalen Royals, and Travis Kelsey is still kicking.
So I just I wonder if maybe we'll see more
verticality in the Chiefs passing game. Mahomes has averaged under

(34:16):
seven intended air yards per pass in each of the
last two years. He averaged a career low six point
two intended air yards per throw last season. He was
at seven point two in twenty twenty two. He was
over eight in twenty nineteen and twenty twenty like not coincidentally,
Mahomes averaged a career low two hundred and forty five

(34:37):
point five passing yards per game last season. He's also
pretty low touchdown rates in each of the last two
years four point five percent both seasons. Before twenty twenty three,
mahomes seasonal touchdown rates range from five point four percent
to eight point six percent. So Mahomes could conceivably get
a bounce in some of these categories. Now that it
looks like the wide receiver position isn't going to be

(34:59):
a liability the Chiefs.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
I find myself approaching quarterback position like I am not
saying that I will definitely go late round no matter what,
because I am actually kind of interested in getting one
of Lamar, Josh Allen or Jaden Daniels. But if I
don't get one of those kind of elite top three
or four, there is like no chance I will be
drafting the sixth or seventh quarterback off the board this

(35:23):
season because if I'm not getting an elite guy, I
want to take the thirteenth or fourteenth quarterback off the
board because I don't see a wide gap between QB
seven and QB fourteen this season. I think it's a
massive tier between the elite and the guys that you
really don't want. I think the guys that you're going
to be excited about and paint a picture of upside
from is like twelve names deep. So I will not

(35:43):
be taken the first of that group, where Mahomes tends
to be at the top of that range. So I
anticipate having very little Mahomes this year. I think I
will either get a true stud early or be waiting
to go later. Eric said, I know you said you're
doing late round. Do you have any interesting kind of
that elite three? By the way, before we move off this.

Speaker 3 (36:02):
I think for me, not really. I just like the
late round quarterbacks has always kind of been my strategy.
And maybe that's to my detriment that I haven't been
drafting the more of these elite mobile quarterbacks. But last
year I was with the I mean, I think a
lot of us were straft Jane Daniels. I don't need Lamar,
I don't need josh Awen, just need Jane Daniels. And
I just see so many guys with a potential to

(36:24):
be last year's Jane Daniels. Not gonna say rookies, but
second year, quarterbacks up and coming better systems that rush.
Caleb Williams and Drake May are the top two names.
I mean, guys like a bo Nix, like Kyler Murray.
You see so many players that offer rushing juice that
can also you know, we're expecting improvement as passers. So yeah,
I think for me it's still like late round.

Speaker 1 (36:47):
Yeah, I mean that is true, and we all as
a show were very high in Jane Daniels, but I
do feel like a lot of yours there are quarterbacks
that don't hit. I mean even last year. I was
also high in Caleb Williams as a rookie, and that
really backfired even though you know, so I hte one
for two out of those two. But you can wait

(37:08):
and then you are left very behind at a position
that scores the most points.

Speaker 3 (37:12):
Well, I think it's important to recognize that when you
are approaching with a late round quarterback. I know, in
the one league that I one of my bigger leagues
that I won last year, you know, the first quarterback
GO drafted was Anthony Richardson. He was horrible, but you
know why, I also drafted Jane Daniels, So it didn't
it didn't matter that I had wasted that six round pick,
kind of similar to where Mahomes is going, because I
ended up going the late round quarterback. So I do

(37:33):
think go because I've seen with Mahomes in some of
these best fall drafts where he falls because there are
people that are kind of fed up with the last
two years and the two I safety Mahomes is not
fun anymore, blah blah blah, and he starts to fall.
And that's why I pointed out super flex formats where
that's really where I'm kind of interested to see where
he goes, because I think you're going to start to see,
like fits a Living too, top five quarterbacks, bang bang

(37:54):
bang bang, and then you can see, Okay, here goes Chase,
and there goes b John and maybe Barkley and then
maybe I Mahomes kind of trickle down to the end
of round one or beginning of round two, where I
don't care remember the last time he ever went that
late in a super flex draft.

Speaker 1 (38:09):
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(38:33):
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(38:55):
best offensive line in football, but there is a long
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and nobody had more touches than Saquon three hundred and
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He's got a top three consensus ranking right now. So

(39:16):
fantasy managers need a healthy Saquon Barkley this year, But
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(39:36):
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Microsoft dot com slash challengers to learn more. All right,

(40:01):
let's go to Brian Robinson fits starting with you here
are drafting or passing seventy seventh overall, RB thirty.

Speaker 2 (40:09):
Yeah, I guess drafting, because that's exactly where I have
him ranked RB thirty seventy seven overall. Yeah. And I
can make the analysis pretty short here, solid if on
spectacular early down back for an ascendate offense with a
pretty good offensive line. I think it's the right price.

Speaker 1 (40:26):
Ericson keeping it short and simple too.

Speaker 3 (40:28):
I mean, I don't know if I can follow up
this his ringing endorsement for Brian Robinson, but I kind
of feel the same way. And hey, like carbon Copy
Fantasy RB two got some touchdown upside that just kind
of feels like Brian Robinson. He's fine. If you need
a RB two RB three with some touchdown equity, that's
your guy. I will point out, though, I think where

(40:50):
I'm going to project projecting him, I'm going into my
oracle phase here where Brian Robinson is going to be
a guy we talk about on the trade show if
we're on it together this year, as a guy we're
going to sell high. Because you look at the Commander
schedule Giants Week one, Packers, Raiders, Falcons, pretty favorable schedule
for a early down running back. Commander's offense starts out

(41:10):
winning a lot of these games. But we kind of
know who Brian Robinson is. I don't think that he's
going to a send as an elite talent, so I
think that if he runs hot with touchdowns. He saw
a lot of the red zone usage for the Commanders
last year. I pulled this from Deep ro ten games
at least a forty percent snap rate, Robinson had the
fourth most carries inside the ten yard line, So Scott

(41:31):
touched on upside. I think he's going to cash in
early on in the season. They could probably sell him
a lot for them more what he's probably worth.

Speaker 1 (41:39):
Yeah, fits with Robinson. Is it like for somebody on
this show. It feels weird to say this, but it
feels like he the range of outcomes barring injury is
not very wide for him. It's very hard for me
to paint a picture that he finishes as a league
winner who's like RB seven at the end of the season.
But it's also hard for me to imagine, barring injury,

(41:59):
that he too much lower than where he's ranked. It
feels like this is just kind of where he is,
and maybe that's a good thing in terms of finding value,
because people on draft day your fancy managers like the
big exciting thing. It's harder to paint that picture with him,
but it feels like more of a sure thing.

Speaker 2 (42:15):
Right because Austin Eckler is going to get some of
the work there, He's going to get a lot of
the snaps, and if Factler gets hurt, it's not just
going to be all Robinson. It's going to be some
other tag team partner for Robinson. And you know, the
only threat. I know some people like Jacry krossky Merritt,
but he was what a seventh rounder, so that would
be pretty far fetched for him to come in and

(42:36):
poach Brian Robinson's job. Not that it couldn't happen, but
so yeah, I agree with you. It's a pretty narrow
range of possible outcomes, or so it seems.

Speaker 1 (42:47):
Let's go to I think probably the oldest name on
this list. I didn't actually check, but I can't imagine
anybody's older Travis Kelcey as a mid round pick here,
obviously a guy who's been in the early rounds many,
many times over his career. He's tight end seven eighty
third overall. Ericson are you drafting or passing on Kelsey?

Speaker 3 (43:03):
Here, I am not drafting Travis Kelcey. Here. We saw
last year he hit the age cliff, and I know
that the offseason reports have been pretty positive for Kelsey.
Samon feels good. He didn't really think that much about retiring.
He always knew he was gonna come back. But just
the way that things ended last year was just so bad. Me.
He had that one big catch and run in the
Houston playoff game and everyone was convinced, myself included wrongly,

(43:27):
that oh he's back, like Travis Kelcey, playoff mode is back.
And then he just was a non factor in the
Chief's other two postseason games. I think for him it's
just he's touchdown or bust. He still has a really
good red zone role in the Chiefs offense. He was
number one in terms of red zone targets last year
from mahomes. But how does that change with Rashie Rice

(43:49):
and Xader Worthy? You know, taking steps forward if Rice
is healthy and if Worthy takes a step forward in
year two, what about markis Brown and coming back? Just
say they have healthy receivers. So I get seeing Kelsey's
ninety seven catches last year and thinking, oh man, this
guy is a screaming value. But I don't think that
he and Rice necessarily overlap to benefit each other. I
think it's really one guy or the other because you

(44:10):
just look at the first three games Kelsey had. Now
we're near the amount of volume he saw without Rice
in the lineup, So for me, it's just too early.
Similar of he has a Mark Andrews season from last
year where he scores some touchdowns. His final numbers don't
look that bad. But the ride that you're on with
Travis Kelcey in twenty twenty five, if it's anything like

(44:30):
Mark and Andrews last year, which I was on way
too much. It was not fun and I don't want
to go on it again.

Speaker 1 (44:37):
Do you think Kelsey ends up as like one, just
like every other tight end essentially that is just tight
end or touchdown or bust each week.

Speaker 3 (44:46):
I do. I think that's kind of what his skill
set is. I mean, he's a diminishing skill set and
he's thirty five years old. Yes, he can catch touchdowns,
but there's a lot of tight ends that can touch
touches it and even in his area. Again, I talked
about some of these late round tight ends, David and
Joku goes after Travis Kels Gavin jo who could lead
his team in target David Joke would see over one
hundred targets in the Browns offense, and he's basically free
where Travis Kelcey goes several rounds ahead. So I'd rather

(45:08):
have a joke who in some of the other late
round Titans I've talked about already.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
Yeah, I asked that because even if you view him
in that light, even in the last two years prior
to you know, possibly falling off the age cliff, he's
only had eight combined touchdowns, Like like twenty twenty three
he only had five receiving touchdowns and then last year
obviously just three. So if he is touchdown or bust,
like if Mark Andrews is touched down our bust, we
know he's still getting touchdowns at the very least, even

(45:32):
if he's not doing anything else because he's a favorite
target there. I don't even know if that's the way
the Chiefs are really using Kelsey at this point in
his career. Fits again. Eighty third overall tight end, seven
draft pass I'm drafting.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
I think he's a value and like the dude's still
in ninety seven catches last year and he was held
out in.

Speaker 3 (45:50):
Week but Rice wasn't playing. That's the only thing. How
much does that matter if Rice is back? I got
to cut. I agree, he's kind of like I don't know.

Speaker 2 (45:59):
Like my my over under for Kelsey on receptions is
probably closer to seventy five than up in triple digits.
So like, I'm not expecting a vintage Travis Kelce season.
And yeah, you have to acknowledge that he was way
down last year in the efficiency stats yards per catch,
arts per target, yards per outrun. But like he had
really bad touchdown luck, as you said Ericson, Like he

(46:20):
led the team in red zone targets twenty five nine
targets from the ten yard lineter closer only three touchdowns.
I mean that suggests he had some touchdown misfortune last year,
So we could get a bounce there. And yeah, like
I know, if the receivers stay healthy, because the Chiefs
now look pretty good at wide receiver, like that could

(46:41):
cut into Kelsey's target share. But like, I still can't
understand why TJ. Hockinson is being drafted ahead of Travis Kelce.
Like I still think there's much more reception in yardage
upside for Kelsey than Hockinson. So man, like, if you
want to let Travis Kelcey go late, Granted I'm not
really looking to draft him much above this ADP of

(47:05):
eighty three overall, but like you give me him around there,
like I'm I'm taking.

Speaker 1 (47:11):
Him ericson you mentioned in DJOKU. Obviously, Evan Ingram is
somebody that you know, we've talked about a lot in
these shows this offseason. There's not a ton of names
after him that I'm feeling that great about, though, Like
you know, you start to get into a couple of
names past Travis Kelcey and the two names that you mentioned,
it's like Tucker Craft, Dalton Kincaid, Dallas Goddter, Like yeah,

(47:32):
Like I can kind of squint my eyes and see
a case for guys like Craft and Kincaid, but it's
not like I'm drafting them feeling like that drastically different
about my tight end position than I would be Travis Kelcey.

Speaker 3 (47:43):
Yeah, I think that this is kind of the weird
tier because the middle range of tight ends, traditionally, the
you know, tight end seven to tight end twelve, it's
usually a bad just range to be drafting tight ends,
and because it's clear that we talked about in the
beginning of the show, where there's a clear top three
that we all feel pretty good about. We all have
different orders, but it's like, do we have these top

(48:05):
three guys and it's a tear drop and just being
the next guy in that tier, it's just hard for
those guys to pay off because it's not like Sam
Mport's fault that he's tight end for and ECR or
in ADP, but just that guy in particular, Oh, you're
the number one not elite tight end, Like that's not
a player that oh I want to draft the first
non elite tight end Like that doesn't sound like a
good bet to make. So that's the other thing to

(48:25):
a lot of the Titans in this range where Kelsey's going,
where Mark Andrews is going, these guys tend to finish
closer to the guys going behind them than the guys
going in front of them. So can Kelsey because this
is where Kelsey was last year? Right, he was tightened
six overall tight end seven points per game. So if
we're getting Kelsey, have we got to end last year? Okay?
Then I get fits his argument a little bit more

(48:47):
where you're not drafting them in the second round wherever
he was last year, so you're getting value in that perspective.
But I think maybe I'm just kind of shooting for
like maybe a Rock Bowers or John whi Smith type
of tight end in the late rounds and I don't
think that's Kelsey unless you catches like fifteen touchdowns. But
like you point out, which I wasn't really aware of,
that really hasn't been a major touchdown score, which is

(49:09):
kind of interesting.

Speaker 1 (49:12):
I think my takeaway is less that I want to
wait till late round and more that I want to
get one of those first three guys.

Speaker 3 (49:18):
We need to re record and say training Bride draft
you guys.

Speaker 1 (49:22):
Listen, I said, I said I would love McBride early third,
So you know, I I don't know that you get
in there. Maybe this makes me more inclined to take
him in the late second just to make sure I
get him. But yeah, I'm I'm not really excited about
any of these tight ends up.

Speaker 3 (49:38):
If you want, for one thing, so would you take
would you rather wait for for Kelsey or draft Kittle
where his ADP is like, what would you prefer doing?

Speaker 2 (49:48):
Kittle is third round early third.

Speaker 3 (49:51):
Third, third, fourth, yeah, third, fourth.

Speaker 2 (49:53):
Yeah yeah, I mean I would rather of Kittle.

Speaker 1 (49:57):
All right, let's go to the late round. Guys, we
can a little bit faster here because obviously the lady
you get it. It kind of just gets into more like
personal preference, but that is what we were highlighting, your guys'
personal preference. Here are we drafting or passing on Travis
Etn ericson a guy who you were very excited about
a year ago. He's now one hundred and fourth overall,
which is reflective of the year he had and RB
thirty five drafter pass this season.

Speaker 3 (50:19):
I'm gonna be drafting him at this at this price
because this is I think his floor. This is what
he finished as last year when he was terrible. He
was RB thirty six last year going as the RB
thirty five ECR ADP, and all indications right now have
then that the skin new coaching staff is more than
happy to have him as their potential RB one. I
think they're still figuring out who they want to be
their lead running back, but I think right now Travis

(50:41):
Etn is in the driver's seat. You know, Tank Bigsby
is dealt with fumble problems in the past. He also
is not a established pass catcher, despite his mini breakout
last year that was really based on a lot of
big rushes and give credit to him, like he did
break off a lot of big runs last season, but
still not trusted as a receiver out of the backfield.
And that's where Travis Etn has been used, especially with
Trevor Moore. It's not only with Jacksonville, but also dating

(51:02):
back to their days with Clemson. So if Trevor Lawrence
has say in this offense, I think that he's going
to go to bat for his guy, Travis Etn. I
think that means he's going to have a role on
this team. And I'm optimistic about this offense overall. With
Liam Cohen and RB thirty five. I think that he's
just he's just really cheap, and I think that there's
a clear upside case where Etn has been a top
five fantasy running back before. Now I don't think that
that's really like what we could see for me because

(51:24):
I don't think they're going to go back to him
as a bell cow. I think he's shown that he
can't really handle that type of workload. But can he
be more efficient not banged up in an improved offense.
I think so. So I like Etn here probably thirty five.

Speaker 1 (51:37):
Fit's unless you've changed your ranking since we put this
outline together. I think this is the player that you
guys have the widest gap in terms of how you
are ranking them on. And you appear to be much lower,
much much lower than ericson on Travis Etn.

Speaker 2 (51:50):
Yeah, I'm lower, but I'm also sort of torn on Etn.
Like on the one hand, Travis Etn is going into
the final year of his contract. The Jaguars drafted base too,
and they still have Tank. It would be pretty easy
for the Jaguars to just fade out Etn and this year.
And Etn was objectively bad last year three point seven

(52:10):
yards per carry only for seventeen missed tackles all season.
In terms of rushing yards over expected per carry, that's
the next gen stats stat, Etn was underwater minus zero
point two eight rushing yards over expected per carry. He
was getting less than expected when he carried the ball,
But then again, Etn missed two games with a hamstring

(52:31):
injury last year, may have played some games at less
than one hundred percent. We are talking about a twenty
six year old running back who had twelve touchdowns and
almost fifteen hundred yards from scrimmage two years ago. So
I don't think I don't think he's a bad buy
at this price by any means, Like he does have
plausible upside, and if he's not getting enough touches early
in the season, you can just drop him, Like having

(52:53):
a ninth rounder failed to pan out is not going
to crush you fits.

Speaker 1 (52:57):
Let's sick with you for the next player. Javonte Williams
one hundred twelfth overall RB thirty seven, So just a
few spots behind Eatn.

Speaker 2 (53:04):
Yeah, and I'm a little lower than this with Javonte
and my rankings, but I'm not totally opposed to taking
this ride again. Javante said recently that he's starting to
feel like his old self after he had that major
knee injury in twenty twenty two where he tore his
ACL and LCL. He was so impressive as a rookie
back in twenty twenty one, but he was sharing work

(53:25):
with Melvin Gordon. Javante averaged almost three point five yards
after contact per carry as a rookie, forced a lot
of mistackles had forty three catches, but then Javonte after
the injury just has not been the same guy. Not
surprising given the severity the injury. So did have a
career high fifty two catches last year, but for only

(53:46):
three hundred and forty six yards no touchdowns. Didn't have
a one hundred yard rushing game all season. Is season high
was eighty eight yards against a really bad Saints run defense.
He had two of his four touchdowns in that game.
All other games besides that game against the Saints, Chavante
averaged six point seven half point PPR Fantasy points per game,

(54:07):
but only twenty five. He's competing with Miles Sanders and
two rookies, Jayden Blue and Phil Maffa. And I know
Jayde Blue is fast, but the twenty twenty one version
of Javonte Williams is better than Jayden Blue. So it's
not inconceivable that Javonte takes the lead RB role for
the Cowboys and runs with it.

Speaker 1 (54:26):
He's also a lot better than this version of Miles Sanders.
I like to me, Jontay Williams will definitely be ranked
inside my top one hundred, and he will definitely be
ranked inside my top thirty six running backs. And it's
not even about like, oh, it's been long enough removed
from the injury, and now I think he's getting back
to this stud that he was, you know, or appeared
to be becoming as a rookie. It's just the opportunity

(54:50):
is here in what I think will be a good offense.
Now that again, Dak Prescott, Seedee Lamb, George Pickens, this
is an offense that I think is going to score touchdowns.
And like, if you Thinkante Williams has washed, like, I
will show you Miles Sanders and show you what washed
it really looks like. And then you're talking about a
fifth round rookie whose skill set doesn't even appear to
be the type that would detract too much from Javante. Like,

(55:12):
I just don't see any world where a healthy Gavante
Williams this season finishes outside the top like thirty three,
thirty two even running backs, just based on the opportunity
to score touchdowns alone, I just don't see a path
there barring injury.

Speaker 2 (55:27):
Yeah, here's the thing where the three of us are degenerates,
We're going to be in like a dozen or more
redraft leagues, and my stance is that I want to
get some exposure to Javante. But if you're only in
one or two leagues, like a lot of our viewers
and listeners like, I don't know, Like I guess I'm
okay with the current asking price on Javante. I'd probably
want to get a little bit of a deal if
I'm only drafting in one or two leagues.

Speaker 1 (55:49):
Ericson, I kind of you Javante similarly to a guy
that we liked a lot last year in JK. Dobbins,
where has this injury history? He's going really late, but
there's such a clear path to opportunity. There's nobody else
in the offense that it feels like it's gonna be
a significant challenge, and it's an offense that we think
is gonna be good enough to score touchdowns. I see
a lot of similarities there. Where do you have Dravonte

(56:11):
Williams again one hundred and twelfth overall in ECR RB
thirty seven?

Speaker 3 (56:14):
Yeah, I have him in this range, So he's very
much draftable here. And you want to see washed, I
can show you my laundry where you're really interested, just
just was ready to go right ex to Miles.

Speaker 1 (56:23):
Sanders, you want to see cooked, let me show you
my dinner.

Speaker 3 (56:27):
We can be here all day, we're run out of time.
I mean, I agree with mostly with everything that fits
and kind of what you outlined. I think in particular builds,
it makes sense to understand what Javonte can offer you.
I don't think that he's going to be a fantasy
RB one. Even with Dobbins last year, we kind of
saw it fizzle out as the season progressive. You just
couldn't handle taking on that worklok because of the history

(56:49):
of his injuries. Javonte is a little bit different really
just one devastating injury. But they're gonna trust him in
pass pro. He's gonna catch jump off passes from Dak Prescott.
So I think that he's fine. And with the amount
of running backs that you're going to draft before Javonte
that are rookie running backs that may not have great
week one roles. For example, Caleb Johnson, right, I love
Cale Johnson, I cannot guarantee what his role is going

(57:12):
to be week one. You're probably not gonna be able
to start in week one, but you know you can
probably start week one when you draft him one hundred
twelve overall. Dallas Cowboys running back Javonte Williams, although he's
placing the Eagles, so maybe I don't want to start him,
but you get the thesis of the play where you
have some of these veteran guys kind of you start
them to open the year, kind of like what chu
U Hubbard was last year, right, so cheap, super late
because oh we're all afraid about the rookie taking over. I

(57:34):
think that Javonte can be a bridge to some of
these running backs that were waiting for second half surges
because we know that you can at least hold the
job for first couple of weeks of the year.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
If Davonte Williams is healthy the whole season, I think
he finishes inside the top twenty four at running back, honestly.
And part of that is that's almost cheating to say,
because any running backer stays healthy the whole year is
going to be.

Speaker 4 (57:56):
Doesn't stop the hot thing.

Speaker 3 (57:58):
You can't come with the cavit. You can't be like
top twenty four next player.

Speaker 1 (58:02):
I think if he's healthy the whole season's not toy
for on opportunity alone. It's not even saying that he's
gonna look like the Givonte Evold. I just think the
opportunity is so clear there, so I will definitely be
drafting him there. Darnell Mooney next up, Ericson's starting with
you on this one, one hundred and seventeenth overall wide
receiver forty nine.

Speaker 3 (58:19):
I think that I'm going to probably be passing on
Darnell Mooney. And it's not that I don't like the
player necessarily. I just think he's kind of more of
the boom or bust type of wide receiver that I
have on my bench that I kind of struggled to
figure out. Okay, my starting sky this week. I know
if he's playing Tampa Bay, Yes, DARNALLD Mooney's going to
be locked into my starting lineup. And I do like
the fit with Michael Pennix, But the range he goes in,

(58:42):
there's a lot of running backs that I like that
I'd rather have on my bench. Kaj Spekers, Jordan Mason
goes in his range. I love Jordan Mason this year
as a running back to draft in the Vikings offense
and Rico Daubele we talked about a little bit earlier
when talking about Chub Hubbard. So those guys are all
in the same range, and even some of the receivers,
like some of the rookies going the same just Darnel Mooney,
Kean Coleman, a second year receiver that I think could

(59:03):
be a major breakout guy, goes in this range. So
although I acknowledge Mooney has a pretty solid floor, and
I think that in leagues where you have to start
a lot of receivers, it probably makes sense guy like
Mooney because you almost had a thousand yards receiving last year.
I think he's a good player, but does he have
like top tier you no, this guy to be a
league winner upside, probably not without an injury to Drake London.

(59:27):
So I think that I would rather stash some other
guys in his range than draft Mooney.

Speaker 1 (59:33):
Fit's Darnell Mooney draft or pass draft.

Speaker 2 (59:35):
I like him as a wide receiver for wide receiver five,
he's been underrated since coming into the league. What I
like about Mooney for this year he is not coming
off the field very much. He had a ninety two
point nine percent snapchair last season, and the Falcons made
no significant additions at wide receiver. It's Drake London Darnell
Mooney and then man, I don't know. Number three is

(59:57):
either Ray Ray McLeod again or maybe Nick Nash and
undrafted free agent. So Mooney's gonna play a lot. And
I believe in the arm tellent of Michael Pennix Junior.
I think he's gonna put up good passing numbers this year.
So yeah, I love Mooney as a wide receiver. Four
or five.

Speaker 1 (01:00:13):
Last name here fits will stick with you. Romeo Dubbs
one hundred and fiftieth overall wide receiver fifty seven? Are
you drafting or passing on the Packers receiver?

Speaker 2 (01:00:24):
Pass? They're just isn't that much upside? The targets are
going to be spread around in Green Bay, the Packers,
who were one of the run heaviest teams in the
league last year. I just don't think there's any real
I don't know, no ceiling with Dobbs Erickson.

Speaker 3 (01:00:41):
I'm going, I mean the Packers fan wasnt gonna draft
Romeo Dobbs, then yeah, I'm good. I think that he's
He's like an innings eater, right is that the baseball terminology?
He's just out there getting routes, occasionally catches touchdowns, he's
a starter. I think he's good in basketball when you
need guys to just fill in bye weeks, but in
redraft he's a I think that his ceiling is five

(01:01:02):
receiver three at max. I think he's just like much
worst version of Darnell Mooney. So yeah, pass for me.

Speaker 1 (01:01:09):
You can't be doing baseball analogies. Fits and I are
facing each other for the one of the final spots
to make the playoffs in our fantasy baseball this week,
so it's yeah, we finish up this league before football
drafts using gets going because everybody here is working for
a company that has to dive so much into football,
so it's I mean, listen, I'm not excited about the
way the playoff setup is, but it's the way it is.

(01:01:30):
So this is the last week of the regular season.
Fits and I are both contending for a playoff spot
and facing each other, So it's it's hate week here, right.

Speaker 2 (01:01:38):
I get to knock Worm out of the playoffs. That's
gonna be glorious.

Speaker 1 (01:01:42):
All right, we'll go ahead and rap up there. Thanks
everybody for tuning in to draft or pass for Ericson
and Fits. I'm Ron Warmley. We'll see again next time.
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football podcast.
If you love the show, the best free way to
support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple
podcasts atantasypros dot com slash review or on Spotify. Follow

(01:02:03):
us on x, Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy Pros, and
subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash
Fantasy Pros.

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FantasyPros - Are You DRAFTING Or PASSING on These Players in 2025? (Ep. 1597)

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}FantasyPros - Are You DRAFTING Or PASSING on These Players in 2025? (Ep. 1597)