June 4, 2026 • 35 mins
Lots of news broke this week with major ramifications in the fantasy world! John and Jake are back with another offseason episode talking everything from AJ Brown's fit in New England to IDP chatter about Myles Garrett to the Giants basically holding open tryouts for wideout! We talk about older guys who may have one more productive year in them plus much more, so join us as we jump right into minicamps!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from iHeartRadio, your weekly
source for the nation's best fantasy speculation and advice.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
All right, what's going on? What's up everyone?
Speaker 3 (00:13):
And welcome back to Fantasy Football Weekly with your hosts
and faithful narrator John mcgae's at that same handle on socials,
my friend and yours in the sidecar. Mister Jake Shortbridge,
how are you doing in your drafting season now that
it's kicked off, mister Jake.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Oh, geez, drafting season is? It's unstoppable?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
You know.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
I keep waiting for a pause in this drafting season
and it just hasn't come yet. I don't know if
it's ever going to John, But I don't know how
I'm feeling today. I'll be honest with you, John, because
I heard some news earlier this week that's just it's
put me in a weird headspace. I heard that Russell
Wilson is pseudo retiring, I guess, and he's gonna be
(00:53):
moving on to like pregame analysis. This puts me in
a weird spot because, on one hand, I'm a Wisconsin
Badger and I appreciate Russell Wilson in his one magic
season that he gave us. But on the other hand,
I'm a Packers fan and he was a consistent, annoying
thorn in my side his entire time as a Seahawks,
So I don't know what to think. Do you have
any any takeaway on that, John?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
My only takeaway is that you somehow managed to, you know,
horn him into the conversation today.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I left him off the topic list. I don't know
what it is. And this is the worst type of
football analysis.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
It was the Subway commercials that put me off, and
totally that was it.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
I was like, I've done all the mister Unlimited stuff.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Oh my goodness, Well, well, you know what, I'm a
wrestling guy, and there's something to being a good heel
and he has like a like a heelish quality with
like a smile on. So there's always something that I
did kind of like anyway, best to him. I actually
think he might be good in that role. I was
worried when I saw the news that maybe he was
going to sign someway. There had been rumors of that,
and I was glad. I think we've seen the end
(01:54):
of that. But You're right, it really wasn't terrible. At points.
In fact, I think because of the joking like people,
maybe it was just doing I don't think he gets
maybe enough.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Credit for how good he was, because I really think
he was really good for a little while. And from
a fantasy aspect, it was a little time he was
running too, which is kind of exciting. All Right.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Today's show title, mister Jake is news, trades and old.
So we have a little bit of breaking news. It
was a big trade, and then we're gonna talk about
some old guys. Maybe they're giving us one last hurrah
before we get out of here. The breaking news today
and I'm gonna quote because it is legal, ease a
little it. A warrant for Brandon Ayuk's arrest has been
issued in Northern California. The forty nine er receiver is
(02:30):
wanted on a misdemeanor charge of exhibition of speed. The
Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office confirmed to the California Post.
You know, I have to be very clear when it's
legal stuff. I don't want to misframe at all. Now
I did a little bit of research. He posted a
video of himself doing over one hundred outside Levi Stadium.
Good advice for any of the younger people out there.
(02:51):
If you couldn't commit crimes, which I don't suggest, don't
record them. There's that thing called evidence. So now he's
in a little bit of trouble. I don't know if
it's gonna matter too much. He's at adyp Onets seventy
seven usually news, we'll drive someone down.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Did you have Ayuk and your plan at all, Jake?
I think that's the first place to start, because you
might not even care.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
No, I didn't.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Really.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
It's not that I don't care, is that I've had
no plan to draft him this year. It just feels
like the forty nine ers are dragging this out as
long as possible. They could have released them, They could
release them now. Hypothetically they could give him the option
to be traded. It just feels like they're gonna drag
this out into the very last minute. Ayuk has not
been on a football field and productive, and you know,
two plus years now, it feels like forever. I just
(03:32):
think he's on the Michael Thomas trajectory where it's like, hey,
enjoy him while you had him. But I think it's
just kind of over now. That's where I stand on it,
at least John.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
It's funny you mentioned the Niners.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
They really come off kind of petty sometimes, and I
like that.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
There's something about that.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I like, like, if you're out of line, like we're
gonna punish you, and we're not even gonna release you.
We're gonna really, we're gonna really kind of twist the hornes. Now,
the reason I mentioned it this had come up earlier,
when we first were really kicking off.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I have been drafting bring them.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
He's going really really late, and I think from a
talent perspective, he's the most talented wide receiver at that point.
You mentioned the rust. I still have the best bowl brain.
That's where I'm going. Remember he does have the shower
narrative with Jaden Daniels. They played together at Arizona State
in twenty nineteen and they're like best friends.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
So a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
In the Washington sphere have been hoping that you could
go there. I think he'd be a really good compment
they bring Daniels back. The reason I mentioned is because
I'm not even sure good I think I'll be. But
I do think if you signed with Washington, he probably
moves up around the two.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Would you give me that at least.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Yeah, just because Washington has no clear cut number two
right now, and you could argue if he goes there
that he's the one bee. I suppose with Terry mclaur
and just because Terry McLaurin looked a little bit off
last year, so I get that part of it, and
I suppose I would adjust if that happens.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, again, I were not trying to put him into
the top even one point fifty. I think I'm willing
to go up on the round if he signs. But again,
this is really just best ball brain and redraft. I
would want to see something first because I tried to
take early zero is where again in Best Ball is
a full season kind of macroview where if you think
you could get something right, they end up connecting to
(05:15):
get a little chemistry and we knock off some ross
by the end of the year.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
You could see me telling the fairy tale where it works.
All right, Enough of that.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
The big blockbuster trade funny. We're gonna talk about defense
for a second, but I do think it'll bleed into
the offensive fantasy stuff we care so much about. Rams
and Brown's finalized the trade. Miles Garrett to the Rams
Chefer reported it, and Cleveland gets back Jared First and
a twenty seven first round pick. Enough of me, what
did you take from the trade at all? And did
(05:43):
you pick up on any fantasy implications?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
I mean, I just got done actually writing an article
about Ty Simpson. For this. Ty Simpson, the rookie that
they took in the first round, the Rams did it
put him in a very strange spot once they did
that and then extended Matthew Stafford for another year. Okay, well,
this guy's not going to see the field for another
two years. And it got me you or of course
weren't thinking about Ty Simpson for this year for fantasy,
(06:06):
but for long term. It was curious. And then they
make this trade and they give away their first next
year and they go all in. So the fantasy side
of me for this, John says, they are I guess
you could call it hedging in a way, but it
actually does secure Ty Simpson as the successor to Matt Stafford,
which I actually did not believe was locked in if
(06:27):
they held next year's first round pick, because less Need
doesn't care about first round picks. We know he would
give it up if the young guy didn't move along
at a clip that they wanted him to during this
first year, but now they won't really have that option,
So I think it's interesting. I do think it means
that they believe Stafford's going to be healthy though for
this year at least and next. Like any worries about
(06:48):
his back and all that stuff from last offseason, it
seems like this really put that to rest for me.
So I'm not adjusting the ranks crazy on anybody for
this year on I their side, but I will say
when it starts, you know, the real fantasy season in earnest,
check your matchups when you're playing against the Rams, When
your players are playing against the Rams, it got even
(07:11):
scarier for him.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
So I've been sharpening my dynasty mind hanging around you.
Would you boost Simpson up now? Where like you're worried
maybe he was falling into more of a rotational backup,
a guy that's gonna get moved around and maybe never
be that viable. This I think you nailed. The main
thing for his future is at the very least right now.
(07:33):
That's a major vote of confidence. So are you boosting
Simpson up?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Like? Does he get a major boost for dynasty leagues?
Speaker 1 (07:41):
For this particular trade, it kept him from falling further
from me. I've been low on times since, and lower
than most people people are drafting in the first round
of rookie drafts. I was taking him in the early second.
It collectively the Stafford Extension plus this trade only had
him drop down a couple of spots. Without this trade, though,
for Miles Garrett, he would have fallen even further down
the second round for me, so it kind of helped
(08:02):
recoup some value for him.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Yeah, I was so excited to actually open up my
defensive stats. I'm a huge defensive guy. I really love it,
and it's the center point of a lot of my
analysis when we get into the season and stuff. So
people are trying to make this comparison between Verse and Garrett.
Verse a very good player, and I think, you know,
Cleveland kind of a future team. I do think it
makes sense, so I'm fine with it. But we should
(08:26):
not be really equating the two of all one hundred
and fifteen front seven defenders. So we're talking, you know,
des edges, linebackers. You know, this kind of gets a
little vague now, but I call them front seven defenders
of the one hundred and fifteen.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
That had fifty tackles. The stat that people are.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Quoting to equate the two players would be Garrett had
eighty four pressures, he was third in the league, and
Verse had eighty, which was fifth in the league, which.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Is very good.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Again, this is a disruptor, and those things matter. There's
no question, however, any more of like a you know,
thread pull on any of the metrics. Garrett is such
a separator and such a difference maker. So sacks, Garrett
had twenty three to versus seven and a half. I
mean that is two other players worth of sacks. And
(09:11):
then I use splash plays, Jaeke, and I wonder if
the next time you go, if you want to chime
in this. So splash plays are just everything good. It's
a tackle for a loss. It's a run stop, it's
a battered pass, it's a fourth in short stop, it's
a third and short stop.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
It's a forced fumble, it's an interception.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
It's all the good things, right, It's all the impact plays,
the plays that make you go ooh. And Garrett, of course,
he was second in the league fifty four, Verse all
the way down at thirty fifth with thirty five, So
I think Garrett is, you know, a huge piece and
a difference maker right now. My question for fantasy does
it hurt the Rams pass game? I mean, gosh, you
(09:52):
mentioned you gotta circle it.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Why? Because the Rams are gonna be really tough.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
I think their points, you know, projected points against is
going who drop significantly. They could be in a lot
of positive LEA game scripts. Does this not Kua up
pooah coua Puoa behind JSN. That's been the question I've
been taking from that long tar read.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
What do you think?
Speaker 1 (10:13):
I don't know if this particular thing had me bumped
Puka below JSN, but I was already considering JSN as
a guy above Pooka for a number of reasons, not
the least of which is some of the off field
stuff too that's been happening here that you just have
to use as tie breakers. What I think is most
interesting about what you said, though, is putting Garrett on
the Rams and looking at it from a game script perspective,
(10:36):
is maybe this does actually bump up Kyron Williams more
than where I should have been having him or Blake
Koram if you believe that late in the games they're
actually going to use the second running back to kind
of salt things away a little bit more. I wonder
if we should be raising those two running backs up
in the ranks a little bit for the Rams, And
maybe on the flip side, should we be boosting the
(10:57):
Cleveland Patscutchers, assuming that now there's even a lesson chance
for them to stay in the games, Like should this
be a bump up for Fannin and Casey concept?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
She owned John, it's been a couple of weeks since
you hacked my topic sheet, Jake, And there you are
up in my nose because the next two things I
had was if the Rams pass game is too consolidated
to Pooka down at all, shouldn't it boost the two
headed monster in the Rams backfield? And then I wrote
and I quote conversely, does this boost the Cleveland pass game?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
And I think that is the yes. Garrett is such
a disruptor.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
There are very few players that get mentioned, you know,
in that elk. He really changes everything. And as good
as versus, he's not written in bold letters at the
top of a game plan, where Garrett absolutely is. And
even when you have an answer for Garrett, you could
be in trouble because the sacrifice you make to achieve
that goal opens up all types of other vulnerabilities. So
(11:57):
I'm kind of I think where we're going now, I
had jsna Headepooka anyway, so maybe we're in agreement there.
But yeah, I'm dinging the Rams pass game a little bit.
I'm getting vibes of this might have been like the Eagles,
remember the Eagles two years ago, just killing people in
the first half, to the point that even if you
(12:17):
like to throw and your past rate above expectation is
in the green, you are not out there taking high
risks when you're up three touchdowns, right, That's bad football.
That's not winning football. So I think people want to
you want to think about that, and wow, hard not
to be really bullish on the Rams. Lasting to you
with the Simpson thing. I'm having at hard. I'm getting
over the Simpson pick and the Garrett trade are kind
(12:41):
of mixed signals for win now for me a little bit.
And then especially with the extension of Stafford, because then
I'm thinking, oh, maybe they all worried about Stafford's health.
Well they extended him, so I don't know. They speak
really highly of Simpson and man I don't know, how
do you feel about him as a late best ball
paid if you have Stafford? Because I've worried, and I
(13:03):
think it's reasonable if you're worried about Stafford's health. He's
very much connected to you know, Nakua, and it would
ding it if you're worried about Stafford, not the Simpson's
a one v one replacement. But do you think he
can at least keep the ship afloat if they need
him in the double digit weeks?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
I mean, no, I don't like Ty Simpson at all
for this year. That's again why I was so low
on him for Dynasty. He has a track record in
college that is so rare for a true breakout to
happen in the NFL. Where I was giving him the
benefit of doubt, was saying, Okay, now he has two
years to actually sit if that's the plan, and have
(13:39):
that Jordan Love esque development which he so badly needs.
If he gets thrown in this year, I mean, the
best thing that will happen is that the defense will
keep them in positive game scripts. But I'm not expecting
fireworks from Ty Simpson. So if you are not of
the belief that Matt Stafford is going to be playing
out there in week fifteen, sixteen whatever. I would be
(14:00):
staying away from the Rams probably for best ball.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
And I love your prospect work and analysis. It's really
it's really helpful. And also I'm glad you know, we
shouldn't always agree. I'm glad that you know, you have
your takes and you kind of put the flag down
and say yes and no. People do tend to, you know,
swing in the wind a little bit. And when we're
making these investments or we're making these stands draft in
these teams, you have to kind of, you know, you
gotta kind of stand firm in your convictions. All right, Jake,
(14:25):
we're right at the halfway point. Let me just shift
a couple of papers around, because then we got to
get into another one. There was another trade that really
rocked the fantasy world. Okay, Jake, big news the other
day was ill, of course, me trying to for d
chest it. Are we sure AJ Brown is.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Going through New England?
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Well, yes, long story short, he did go right, there
goes Morgan Freeman narrator voice, Right, he did, in fact
go through New England.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Trade three time pro bowler AJ Brown to the Pats.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
They say, I had a twenty twenty eight first round
pick and a twenty seven fifth round pick to Philadelphia, So,
you know, initial thoughts on aj Brown Again, I don't
think the market has really reacted to it because a
lot of it was baked in.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah, this was already assumed. This felt like the thing
that we were just waiting until June first actually hit
for it to happen. And then it was like minutes
after June first, the clock rolled on that day, We're like,
when's it happening? And then we didn't have to wait long.
So I think the market isn't going to adjust because
this was a foregone conclusion. But sorting through the aftermath
of it, the things that I was already planning on,
(15:35):
and this just cements, I guess for me is I'm
heavily invested in mackay Lemon, both from a dynasty perspective
and from a redraft perspective. I was very bummed this
flashed across my little news desk, if you will. Earlier
that Lemon, I guess, injured his hamstring a little bit.
He's supposed to be good for training camp, so hopefully
(15:56):
it's not a big deal. But you never know what
those soft tissue injuries, but he's healthy. I expect a
one A, one B situation between him and DeVante Smith.
I know a lot of people and maybe yourself included,
are are hoping or projecting for Dvante Smith to sort
of take over that lead role. I don't know, because
I just think the Eagles offense is gonna look completely
(16:17):
revamped without aj Brown, Like they obviously have a plan
for what to do with this group and it's not
gonna look like the old offense. And maybe that means
Dallas Goddard gets tons of red zone looks this year.
You know, we're looking at a twelve touchdown season from him.
Maybe even Dantevian Wis gets involved. Is kind of like
the only bigger body receiver that they have, or maybe
(16:39):
it's wheels all the way up on Saquon. It just
feels like, I'm so good with Jalen Hurts. And that's
my question to you, was, how much, if any, are
you bumping Jalen Hurts down because I think I'm still
right there where I was with him.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, I'm I'm not really moving Hurts at all.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
I think the Eagles, I mean, they did pretty well
without Brown and while he was upset. And if you're
getting an excited lemon, I think the Eagles have shown
a lot of versatility announced I think hurts his style
of play, you know, opens himself up to a lot
of different styles of success, right, because he could break
plays down if you turn your back, he can take off.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
He could throw the deep ble, he could throw the
intermediate ball.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
I've always been a little bit higher on his throwing
ability than the market.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I don't think he's John Elway, but I do think
he's better. I think he took a lot of heat.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
That might have been unnecessary. Again, you want Aj Brown,
He's a very good player. You kind of worked it backwards.
So yeah, I think the Phillies, the Phillies, the Eagles backfill.
I got baseball brain is very strong, right. I'm very
bullish on the Eagle still because I think the word
is consolidation. Right, even if you like Wis a little bit, A.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Lot of targets are going to go to the wideouts.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
And got it really eight on touchdowns and he may
get that also, So again, it's really consolidated. And I
think being excited about the Eagles is fine. I wanted
to look at the other side really quick. So so
aj Brown last year was still the wide receiver eleven.
Right now he's the wide receiver eight by ADP. That's
ADP twenty two. He had four top five finishes last
(18:11):
season and a lot of the stats look really good.
I'm up in the spreadsheet right now. He ran four
hundred and eighty routes, one hundred and twenty one targets.
He went seventy eight one thousand and three and seven,
which is over eight targets a game.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
We love it.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Only five catches, but we know the depth of target.
You know, it's gonna be a little bit more risky, right,
They're a little lower probability, but you do get over
two yards per route. You know, we had ninety five
air yards per game. Most of it is out wide
commander of a deep target. And I think that's why
I'm so bullish now on AJB. And you know he's
(18:45):
only twenty nine. People have talked about age. I think
the injury behind him now Drake made to hook him
up in this deep connection is really got me excited.
Jake sol Drake May last year had sixty seven deep completions.
That was number two he had a point ninety five
EPA per attempt on deep shots that was number one
(19:05):
with a bullet. I mean, the connection here seems a
little too obvious. We even saw somebody like Kayshawn Booty
compul I mean he thrived. He thrived as the deep
guy there. It's funny a couple of the best ball bros.
Are you know, really hitting Booty pretty hard?
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Man?
Speaker 3 (19:25):
He was super efficient And if you get anything like
that from AJB, I think first round return is there.
I'm drafting EJ. Brown where you're slotting him? Are you
okay with him? At you know, like I said, it's
ADP twenty two, so you'd realistically have to take him
over George Pickens and Nico Collins.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Could you rank those three for us?
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Yeah? First of all, hitting Booty pretty hard has to
be a fantasy team name for somebody out there. We
can't just we can't just breeze right past that, and
it has to happen. But yeah, assuming that that holds up,
assuming that Drake May in tougher competition. The other thing
with Drake May has been the schedule is easy last year,
It's gonna be a lot harder this year. Can he
(20:04):
hold up to it. My answer would be yes, especially
because he now has AJ Brown. So AJ Brown versus
Nico Collins, I think, just based on the quarterbacks, I
would want to go with AJ Brown. I'm as big
of a Romeo Dobbs apologist as there is as a
Packer fan. I love the guy. I think he's slightly underrated,
but for fantasy, he is in a distant, distant second
(20:26):
compared to AJ Brown. So I would take AJ Brown
over Nico Collins. And I'm sorry, who's the third guy
that you threw in there?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
George Pickens?
Speaker 3 (20:33):
So, George Pickens has the t Higgins vibe of yesteryear right,
the clear number two, but would be like the number
one overall which we saw. But I think that's really
the question is can you take a wide receiver who's
not the number one target on his own team over
guys who are the clear ones?
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And I wouldn't do it, So I would keep George
Pickens at a steady third that in that group.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, and actually I'm with you, I'm Lockstep.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
I needn't realize how how much I'd be into AJ
Brown until I really started looking deep into man the deep,
mays deep ball is known. It's really really great, and
I think the run game is gonna improve.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
I think he's improved. And to your Dobbs point.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Who man, I guess call me as a Jets fan,
this is like sacrilege, but I'm a big Patriots guy
this year because Dubbs at one point fifteen, I think
he's the type who benefits from getting a j Brown.
We don't you did not want Romeo Dubbs to be
the focal point of a passing offense. You know, people
people get themselves in trouble with this Drake. I think
you know, open here all the targets, it's all the attention. Also,
(21:36):
we don't want all the attention. Let aj Brown and
Trevion get.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
All the attention.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
I think Dubbs actually hurts a guy like Hunter Henry,
who is really more of a correlated pick. To me,
he doesn't really move the needle. I would not be
interested him in redrapping. I'm yeah, I'm a Dove's apologist.
Let's start apologizing because the price to me is right.
You know, he's a pick. He's even starting to slide
because I think people as oh, he's not the one anymore.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
I like him better.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
As the B than the A. All right, let's talk
about some olds that you think. Oh you know what,
I'm sorry, we had one more of it. The Giants
are very busy, how they forget this? All this is
gonna lead us into the olds. Okay, So I'm gonna
give you the three signings you could take wherever you want.
I can't believe this. The Giants signed Odell Beckham. The
Giant signed Juju Smith Shoester. I was joking they must
(22:23):
have found like an NB Fantasy Life magazine from like
twenty twenty, and I'm like, oh my gosh, this guy's
oh man Oldill Beckham's on the cover, Like this guy's
really good.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Well, I don't know. And then they also signed Braxton
Burials seems the third player of the Giant size.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
For the people, Jake visibly, you know, sighing. So talk
this about the three signings. Do any or all of
the matter to you?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
And none of the matter individually, Like, I'm not drafting
any of these guys for my fantasy team. Ohdell Beckham
is thirty three years old. He's on his fifth different
team since like twenty twenty one, and he didn't play
in two whole seasons during that stretch. So I did
just anybody with the name recognition seeing OBJ and with
all the stuff about Melik Neighbors, which is what we
(23:09):
really want to talk about, just say away, don't don't
do it. But with Malik Neighbors, you just wonder if
you're bringing in this many reserves, is it because you
want a bunch of steady wide receivers for your quarterback
to be throwing too during training camp? Like are these
camp bodies that you just want to inundate him with
to help his progress? Or is it Malik Neighbors. It's
(23:31):
looking worse the knee injury is like in week three,
is he going to be out there? We need somebody.
We don't want to spend a lot because we're the
giants and we don't know who to go get anyways
in earnest, so let's just throw a few bucks at
these guys. It has me a little nervous for Melak Neighbors,
and we'd already been nervous for Elik Neighbors.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
John, Yeah, I thought you're gonna segue into the softball
game that when viral that softball clip when your neighbors,
if anyone hasn't seen it again. I am not a
biomechanical sports scientist by any means, but I have seen
a lot of fat, broken old men playing softball, and
(24:12):
that's what that looked like. More than we're talking about, right,
the a premieer elite athlete that is getting ready to
take the world's most physical sport by storm in six weeks.
If you saw the gate on that run to first,
even if you're saying, oh, he's not sprinting, it didn't
(24:33):
look good.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
He didn't look comfortable.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
He did again forget fast, he just he did not
look comfortable at all. None of this, for me, is
a good sign for the Giants. I think you nailed
the can't body thing right. People also think, oh, they
signed them, doesn't matter. They are all veteran deals. They
could cut them all tomorrow. I think they're, you know,
trying to see if they could find anything. Maybe Odell
(24:57):
has enough burst to get you, right. I don't think
anyone realistically he's expecting seventeen games to know can maybe
Juju can operate underneath, Maybe he can. This is gonna
be crazy, But I actually think the big fantasy value
in this I've been talking about too much best ball.
This is a redraft play for me, is Braxton Barrios
in the last round of every single redraft league.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Don't since the.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Either right, you either die the hero or live long
enough to recommend Braxton Barrios.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
But again, the.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Premise is not that crazy, I think because the Giants
moved on from Wandale Robinson and that was quite literally
the most prolific piece from the least amount of talent
in fantasy football last year. Right there was that's nine
hundred and fifteen snaps, a hundred and forty targets vacated,
(26:00):
and a ton of those were in the slot I have.
This year, he ran twenty three slot routes a game.
He had over six slot targets a game.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
There is a.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Functional opening in the Giants offense that is in desperate
need of filling. Dark loves the underneath I mentioned hurts
with the breaking down of plays. A lot of times
mobile guys that's where they end up going. They take
their maybe I off the downfield and as they start
to shimmy and shake, the slot guy is the closest
but also moving to you.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Underneath.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
There's a world where Braxton Barrios and we gotta click
this right is a wide receiver two through the first
four weeks of the season. Now, as I was thinking
about it, I guess maybe that could be Juju also,
But man, Juju really has not looked goodies looked very slow.
He hasn't had more than three hundred and fifty rs
or more than two touchdowns in the past three seasons.
So did I sell you on Burrios or at least
(26:52):
light the bulb for the slot route job in New York?
Speaker 1 (26:57):
You've got to be thinking, You've gotta be thinking about this.
Shame on me for pre judging that. First of all,
I should have heard you out first. I hear Braxton Barrios,
in my brain just shuts down. But I think you
are on to a point of he's gonna want to
attack the middle of the field. Me it's also just
my bias because I'm like, this is just more wheels
up for Isaiah. Likely this is just me pumping up
(27:19):
that adp on the tight ends and maybe even THEO
Johnson is still good there or something. But you're right.
So I'm gonna keep my eye on kind of camp
to see who sticks around and who actually looks decent
From that perspective, and I'm I might join you there
when we're in August. We'll see.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
In fact, i'll tell you what I think both of
those things can exist in the same plane of reality
where Burrios and Likely are the focal points of the
passing offers. I already liked Likely, and I think again,
it gets a little wonky when we try in a
bin football for machines and positions. Even what's a slot receiver?
(27:59):
You can have three, You could play a bunch. You
could have a tight end in line off to the slot.
You could have the tight end in line on the
end with a slot receiver next to them and have
them both release and cross, in which case there's.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Two slot receivers. Right.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
So I think the key point here is that's a
place that Dart looks to complete his passes, and that's
open now. And I think even if you're not buying
the Burials thing, which you shouldn't be, and I would
never pay any pick that isn't a very lass round
pick that I can easily get rid of. Again, I
don't think I wanted the best ball because it could
be a zero. But in redraft, right, maybe we like
(28:35):
these early hits, maybe undersung that we know we're gonna
cut after a month. All right, that was well, that
felt kind of dirty. Let's watch it off by talking
about old players. This is really tough for me, Jake,
because I to me, I say it all the time,
it's a young man's game. I generally am all veterans.
But you know everybody has a price for the thousand
dollars man, So who is your old guy you believe
can give us one nice send off performance?
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Why went real? Old John? You might have to hold
your nose at this because the old is going to
be wafting off of him. But Travis Kelcey, we're talking
about tight ends, and I know you and I talked.
I think it was even just last week. I mentioned
that I would rather take Travis Kelcey over Kyle Pitts.
And I understand the skepticism of anybody looking at that
and going, Okay, Kelsey's gonna be thirty seven years old
(29:19):
during the season. Not many tight ends have even played
at thirty seven years old. Way fewer have done anything
worth the spot on your fantasy rosters at that age.
So I get it. And in fact, there's only two
guys I could find two notable guys who played tight
end at thirty seven. Here's what they did. So Jason
Witten came out of retirement to play at age thirty seven,
(29:39):
and he put up sixty three catches, five hundred and
twenty nine yards, four touchdowns. It was actually a very
solid year. He was tight end eleven in PPR. That
to me is Kelsey's absolute baseline this year. His ceiling
probably looks like Tony Gonzalez, who played at thirty seven
eighty three catches, eight hundred and fifty nine yards, eight touchdowns.
(30:00):
He was the tight end two at thirty seven years old,
the tight end two. And I'd bring it up because
those numbers are pretty similar to what Kelsey did last year.
And that's not accounting for the return of Eric Beenemy.
And I can't stop shouting this for the rooftops enough.
John Eric Benemy was part of the magic for those
Chiefs offenses from twenty eighteen to twenty twenty two when
(30:22):
everybody was so high on Patrick Mahomes and the whole shebang,
because they never ranked worse than sixth in total yards
or points during that stretch. They were first in the
league in yards in three of those seasons with the enemy.
Then Matt Maggie comes to town, it takes a massive downturn.
They only ranked in the top fifteen in total yards
once during his last three years. So you factor that
(30:45):
in with Rashi Rice making poor decisions and no other
pass catchers really showing they can be a consistent source
of production, and I start to look at Kelsey pretty favorably.
He just has to hold up that old body of his,
just has to hold up for seventeen games, and I
think we'll be pretty happy with the results sold.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
You know, again, perfect redraft play if you, of course,
are not buying up into the elite tight ends, which
the more you and I are, you know, doing our
little sculpting right. You start with the big slab with
the sledgehammer, and as you get down to those little
kind of little baby pickaxe things. I'm getting away from
the early tight ends because of the options here, especially
(31:26):
in redraft out of the gate, I think to be
enemy calls fantastic. You know, this is why I love
my spreadsheets, because they remove the bias of me going, ah,
but he's old, it doesn't matter. He's a tight end
in fantasy football. I mean this is incredible. I gotta
put some more respect to this guy's name. Kelsey ran
five hundred and seventy three routes last year. He earned
(31:48):
one hundred and eight targets. He really seventy six balls
for eight fifty one and five. I mean, this is
this is great man. Nineteen target per route, one point
five yards per rout and he's even over five and
a half yards after the catch per reception, which is
the thing that I look for as the drop.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Off after age. Of course for tight ends.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
I once a tight end does the catch and fall thing,
that's when I'm out. That's when I was out on
Earth's That's when I got out on kind of God.
Or I'm out when you have to do the catch
and fall. Those are the three for thirty five and
one guys. Kelsey's not. He's a level up. He's the
five for fifty five in one guy. And to me,
that's a winning tight end in fantasy football because you're
(32:29):
not taking him inside the inside the top one hundred
and twenty pixel. I love it again. The Mahomes thing,
I think, especially if Mahomes is starting Week one total
boost fields of course, worries me as he should worry anyone, though.
I think when that announcement gets made, Kelsey's ADP will
probably slip around the two. All right, let me do
my old man, who's a spring chicken Gabe to yours mine,
(32:55):
A very spry thirty year old Mark Andrews. And now
the argument is pretty base, but again I think it
should be. I don't think you need to overcomplicate these right,
kiss method, keep it simple. Stupid Mark Andrews though thirty
years old. No Isaia likely, so that was always a thing,
kind of eating up routes, eating up targets. Baltimore does
like multiple tight end sets, but I think having a
(33:18):
second target earning tight end is not something a lot
of teams have, so getting rid of that.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Is gonna help. Now. He did get out of the
box very slow. I think Andrews was banged.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Up the first two weeks without likely week three because
likely missed the first two weeks. He went six ninety
one and two, and of course that's not good for
a tight end one. You'll take that every day, and
that really is the ceiling. Being Lamar's guy, he's the
number one tight end in touchdowns over the last three
years and he's had at least sixty targets.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Each of those years as well.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
I don't think there's an incredible breakout case in like
yardage and catches, but I do think there's an argument
for touchdowns again with a guy who's a five for
fifty one and one guy. So yeah, Andrews going right around?
If not, is he going right next to Kelsey? They're
going right next to each other. They're both at one
twenty two and one twenty five. I would take him
(34:11):
both in best Ball. I think they're both in redraft.
I think I like Andrews maybe better for best ball
because he might have a better you know, those seven years,
that's what those extra seven years of a youth may
come in.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
What do you think about Mark Andrews. I love it.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
I'm glad that you called attention to Mark Andrews because
I've been talking him up all off season. I think
another factor into this. I love every time there's a
change for an offensive coordinator that puts the arrow pointing
up at least and I do think that Declan Doyle
coming over to the Ravens from Chicago. I know it
was only one year with Chicago, but you saw notable
(34:43):
improvement with their quarterback. You saw a notable improvement with
their pass catchers as the year went on because he
was scheming those guys a certain way. He's very creative,
So I think Lamar could see one of his better
passing seasons, and Mark Andrews can absolutely be a big beneficiary.
So I love that.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Yeah's it sounds like a solid call. There was a time.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
Mark Andrews is a perennial top five tight end, you know,
and I think is every case for that again? Is
he gonna catch McBride or Bowers? Probably not, but I
want to include Kelsey and that too. Kelsey with seventeen
games for me, is a smash for a top ten
tight end season, Just a smash. So when redraft its
wheels up, all right. So that'll do it, everybody. From
Jake and John another offseason episode of Fantasy.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Football Weekly in the books, we appreciate you.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Hit you up if you you don't want to hear
about any topics, and if not, we'll be right back here,
same bad time, same bat chattel.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Everyone enjoy the weekend.
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from iHeartRadio, your weekly
source for the nation's best fantasy speculation and advice.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
All right, what's going on? What's up everyone?
Speaker 3 (00:13):
And welcome back to Fantasy Football Weekly with your hosts
and faithful narrator John mcgae's at that same handle on socials,
my friend and yours in the sidecar. Mister Jake Shortbridge,
how are you doing in your drafting season now that
it's kicked off, mister Jake.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Oh, geez, drafting season is? It's unstoppable?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
You know.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
I keep waiting for a pause in this drafting season
and it just hasn't come yet. I don't know if
it's ever going to John, But I don't know how
I'm feeling today. I'll be honest with you, John, because
I heard some news earlier this week that's just it's
put me in a weird headspace. I heard that Russell
Wilson is pseudo retiring, I guess, and he's gonna be
(00:53):
moving on to like pregame analysis. This puts me in
a weird spot because, on one hand, I'm a Wisconsin
Badger and I appreciate Russell Wilson in his one magic
season that he gave us. But on the other hand,
I'm a Packers fan and he was a consistent, annoying
thorn in my side his entire time as a Seahawks,
So I don't know what to think. Do you have
any any takeaway on that, John?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
My only takeaway is that you somehow managed to, you know,
horn him into the conversation today.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I left him off the topic list. I don't know
what it is. And this is the worst type of
football analysis.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
It was the Subway commercials that put me off, and
totally that was it.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
I was like, I've done all the mister Unlimited stuff.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Oh my goodness, Well, well, you know what, I'm a
wrestling guy, and there's something to being a good heel
and he has like a like a heelish quality with
like a smile on. So there's always something that I
did kind of like anyway, best to him. I actually
think he might be good in that role. I was
worried when I saw the news that maybe he was
going to sign someway. There had been rumors of that,
and I was glad. I think we've seen the end
(01:54):
of that. But You're right, it really wasn't terrible. At points.
In fact, I think because of the joking like people,
maybe it was just doing I don't think he gets
maybe enough.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Credit for how good he was, because I really think
he was really good for a little while. And from
a fantasy aspect, it was a little time he was
running too, which is kind of exciting. All Right.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Today's show title, mister Jake is news, trades and old.
So we have a little bit of breaking news. It
was a big trade, and then we're gonna talk about
some old guys. Maybe they're giving us one last hurrah
before we get out of here. The breaking news today
and I'm gonna quote because it is legal, ease a
little it. A warrant for Brandon Ayuk's arrest has been
issued in Northern California. The forty nine er receiver is
(02:30):
wanted on a misdemeanor charge of exhibition of speed. The
Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office confirmed to the California Post.
You know, I have to be very clear when it's
legal stuff. I don't want to misframe at all. Now
I did a little bit of research. He posted a
video of himself doing over one hundred outside Levi Stadium.
Good advice for any of the younger people out there.
(02:51):
If you couldn't commit crimes, which I don't suggest, don't
record them. There's that thing called evidence. So now he's
in a little bit of trouble. I don't know if
it's gonna matter too much. He's at adyp Onets seventy
seven usually news, we'll drive someone down.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Did you have Ayuk and your plan at all, Jake?
I think that's the first place to start, because you
might not even care.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
No, I didn't.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Really.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
It's not that I don't care, is that I've had
no plan to draft him this year. It just feels
like the forty nine ers are dragging this out as
long as possible. They could have released them, They could
release them now. Hypothetically they could give him the option
to be traded. It just feels like they're gonna drag
this out into the very last minute. Ayuk has not
been on a football field and productive, and you know,
two plus years now, it feels like forever. I just
(03:32):
think he's on the Michael Thomas trajectory where it's like, hey,
enjoy him while you had him. But I think it's
just kind of over now. That's where I stand on it,
at least John.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
It's funny you mentioned the Niners.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
They really come off kind of petty sometimes, and I
like that.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
There's something about that.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I like, like, if you're out of line, like we're
gonna punish you, and we're not even gonna release you.
We're gonna really, we're gonna really kind of twist the hornes. Now,
the reason I mentioned it this had come up earlier,
when we first were really kicking off.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I have been drafting bring them.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
He's going really really late, and I think from a
talent perspective, he's the most talented wide receiver at that point.
You mentioned the rust. I still have the best bowl brain.
That's where I'm going. Remember he does have the shower
narrative with Jaden Daniels. They played together at Arizona State
in twenty nineteen and they're like best friends.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
So a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
In the Washington sphere have been hoping that you could
go there. I think he'd be a really good compment
they bring Daniels back. The reason I mentioned is because
I'm not even sure good I think I'll be. But
I do think if you signed with Washington, he probably
moves up around the two.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Would you give me that at least.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Yeah, just because Washington has no clear cut number two
right now, and you could argue if he goes there
that he's the one bee. I suppose with Terry mclaur
and just because Terry McLaurin looked a little bit off
last year, so I get that part of it, and
I suppose I would adjust if that happens.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, again, I were not trying to put him into
the top even one point fifty. I think I'm willing
to go up on the round if he signs. But again,
this is really just best ball brain and redraft. I
would want to see something first because I tried to
take early zero is where again in Best Ball is
a full season kind of macroview where if you think
you could get something right, they end up connecting to
(05:15):
get a little chemistry and we knock off some ross
by the end of the year.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
You could see me telling the fairy tale where it works.
All right, Enough of that.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
The big blockbuster trade funny. We're gonna talk about defense
for a second, but I do think it'll bleed into
the offensive fantasy stuff we care so much about. Rams
and Brown's finalized the trade. Miles Garrett to the Rams
Chefer reported it, and Cleveland gets back Jared First and
a twenty seven first round pick. Enough of me, what
did you take from the trade at all? And did
(05:43):
you pick up on any fantasy implications?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
I mean, I just got done actually writing an article
about Ty Simpson. For this. Ty Simpson, the rookie that
they took in the first round, the Rams did it
put him in a very strange spot once they did
that and then extended Matthew Stafford for another year. Okay, well,
this guy's not going to see the field for another
two years. And it got me you or of course
weren't thinking about Ty Simpson for this year for fantasy,
(06:06):
but for long term. It was curious. And then they
make this trade and they give away their first next
year and they go all in. So the fantasy side
of me for this, John says, they are I guess
you could call it hedging in a way, but it
actually does secure Ty Simpson as the successor to Matt Stafford,
which I actually did not believe was locked in if
(06:27):
they held next year's first round pick, because less Need
doesn't care about first round picks. We know he would
give it up if the young guy didn't move along
at a clip that they wanted him to during this
first year, but now they won't really have that option,
So I think it's interesting. I do think it means
that they believe Stafford's going to be healthy though for
this year at least and next. Like any worries about
(06:48):
his back and all that stuff from last offseason, it
seems like this really put that to rest for me.
So I'm not adjusting the ranks crazy on anybody for
this year on I their side, but I will say
when it starts, you know, the real fantasy season in earnest,
check your matchups when you're playing against the Rams, When
your players are playing against the Rams, it got even
(07:11):
scarier for him.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
So I've been sharpening my dynasty mind hanging around you.
Would you boost Simpson up now? Where like you're worried
maybe he was falling into more of a rotational backup,
a guy that's gonna get moved around and maybe never
be that viable. This I think you nailed. The main
thing for his future is at the very least right now.
(07:33):
That's a major vote of confidence. So are you boosting
Simpson up?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Like? Does he get a major boost for dynasty leagues?
Speaker 1 (07:41):
For this particular trade, it kept him from falling further
from me. I've been low on times since, and lower
than most people people are drafting in the first round
of rookie drafts. I was taking him in the early second.
It collectively the Stafford Extension plus this trade only had
him drop down a couple of spots. Without this trade, though,
for Miles Garrett, he would have fallen even further down
the second round for me, so it kind of helped
(08:02):
recoup some value for him.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Yeah, I was so excited to actually open up my
defensive stats. I'm a huge defensive guy. I really love it,
and it's the center point of a lot of my
analysis when we get into the season and stuff. So
people are trying to make this comparison between Verse and Garrett.
Verse a very good player, and I think, you know,
Cleveland kind of a future team. I do think it
makes sense, so I'm fine with it. But we should
(08:26):
not be really equating the two of all one hundred
and fifteen front seven defenders. So we're talking, you know,
des edges, linebackers. You know, this kind of gets a
little vague now, but I call them front seven defenders
of the one hundred and fifteen.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
That had fifty tackles. The stat that people are.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Quoting to equate the two players would be Garrett had
eighty four pressures, he was third in the league, and
Verse had eighty, which was fifth in the league, which.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Is very good.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Again, this is a disruptor, and those things matter. There's
no question, however, any more of like a you know,
thread pull on any of the metrics. Garrett is such
a separator and such a difference maker. So sacks, Garrett
had twenty three to versus seven and a half. I
mean that is two other players worth of sacks. And
(09:11):
then I use splash plays, Jaeke, and I wonder if
the next time you go, if you want to chime
in this. So splash plays are just everything good. It's
a tackle for a loss. It's a run stop, it's
a battered pass, it's a fourth in short stop, it's
a third and short stop.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
It's a forced fumble, it's an interception.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
It's all the good things, right, It's all the impact plays,
the plays that make you go ooh. And Garrett, of course,
he was second in the league fifty four, Verse all
the way down at thirty fifth with thirty five, So
I think Garrett is, you know, a huge piece and
a difference maker right now. My question for fantasy does
it hurt the Rams pass game? I mean, gosh, you
(09:52):
mentioned you gotta circle it.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Why? Because the Rams are gonna be really tough.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
I think their points, you know, projected points against is
going who drop significantly. They could be in a lot
of positive LEA game scripts. Does this not Kua up
pooah coua Puoa behind JSN. That's been the question I've
been taking from that long tar read.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
What do you think?
Speaker 1 (10:13):
I don't know if this particular thing had me bumped
Puka below JSN, but I was already considering JSN as
a guy above Pooka for a number of reasons, not
the least of which is some of the off field
stuff too that's been happening here that you just have
to use as tie breakers. What I think is most
interesting about what you said, though, is putting Garrett on
the Rams and looking at it from a game script perspective,
(10:36):
is maybe this does actually bump up Kyron Williams more
than where I should have been having him or Blake
Koram if you believe that late in the games they're
actually going to use the second running back to kind
of salt things away a little bit more. I wonder
if we should be raising those two running backs up
in the ranks a little bit for the Rams, And
maybe on the flip side, should we be boosting the
(10:57):
Cleveland Patscutchers, assuming that now there's even a lesson chance
for them to stay in the games, Like should this
be a bump up for Fannin and Casey concept?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
She owned John, it's been a couple of weeks since
you hacked my topic sheet, Jake, And there you are
up in my nose because the next two things I
had was if the Rams pass game is too consolidated
to Pooka down at all, shouldn't it boost the two
headed monster in the Rams backfield? And then I wrote
and I quote conversely, does this boost the Cleveland pass game?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
And I think that is the yes. Garrett is such
a disruptor.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
There are very few players that get mentioned, you know,
in that elk. He really changes everything. And as good
as versus, he's not written in bold letters at the
top of a game plan, where Garrett absolutely is. And
even when you have an answer for Garrett, you could
be in trouble because the sacrifice you make to achieve
that goal opens up all types of other vulnerabilities. So
(11:57):
I'm kind of I think where we're going now, I
had jsna Headepooka anyway, so maybe we're in agreement there.
But yeah, I'm dinging the Rams pass game a little bit.
I'm getting vibes of this might have been like the Eagles,
remember the Eagles two years ago, just killing people in
the first half, to the point that even if you
(12:17):
like to throw and your past rate above expectation is
in the green, you are not out there taking high
risks when you're up three touchdowns, right, That's bad football.
That's not winning football. So I think people want to
you want to think about that, and wow, hard not
to be really bullish on the Rams. Lasting to you
with the Simpson thing. I'm having at hard. I'm getting
over the Simpson pick and the Garrett trade are kind
(12:41):
of mixed signals for win now for me a little bit.
And then especially with the extension of Stafford, because then
I'm thinking, oh, maybe they all worried about Stafford's health.
Well they extended him, so I don't know. They speak
really highly of Simpson and man I don't know, how
do you feel about him as a late best ball
paid if you have Stafford? Because I've worried, and I
(13:03):
think it's reasonable if you're worried about Stafford's health. He's
very much connected to you know, Nakua, and it would
ding it if you're worried about Stafford, not the Simpson's
a one v one replacement. But do you think he
can at least keep the ship afloat if they need
him in the double digit weeks?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
I mean, no, I don't like Ty Simpson at all
for this year. That's again why I was so low
on him for Dynasty. He has a track record in
college that is so rare for a true breakout to
happen in the NFL. Where I was giving him the
benefit of doubt, was saying, Okay, now he has two
years to actually sit if that's the plan, and have
(13:39):
that Jordan Love esque development which he so badly needs.
If he gets thrown in this year, I mean, the
best thing that will happen is that the defense will
keep them in positive game scripts. But I'm not expecting
fireworks from Ty Simpson. So if you are not of
the belief that Matt Stafford is going to be playing
out there in week fifteen, sixteen whatever. I would be
(14:00):
staying away from the Rams probably for best ball.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
And I love your prospect work and analysis. It's really
it's really helpful. And also I'm glad you know, we
shouldn't always agree. I'm glad that you know, you have
your takes and you kind of put the flag down
and say yes and no. People do tend to, you know,
swing in the wind a little bit. And when we're
making these investments or we're making these stands draft in
these teams, you have to kind of, you know, you
gotta kind of stand firm in your convictions. All right, Jake,
(14:25):
we're right at the halfway point. Let me just shift
a couple of papers around, because then we got to
get into another one. There was another trade that really
rocked the fantasy world. Okay, Jake, big news the other
day was ill, of course, me trying to for d
chest it. Are we sure AJ Brown is.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Going through New England?
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Well, yes, long story short, he did go right, there
goes Morgan Freeman narrator voice, Right, he did, in fact
go through New England.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Trade three time pro bowler AJ Brown to the Pats.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
They say, I had a twenty twenty eight first round
pick and a twenty seven fifth round pick to Philadelphia, So,
you know, initial thoughts on aj Brown Again, I don't
think the market has really reacted to it because a
lot of it was baked in.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah, this was already assumed. This felt like the thing
that we were just waiting until June first actually hit
for it to happen. And then it was like minutes
after June first, the clock rolled on that day, We're like,
when's it happening? And then we didn't have to wait long.
So I think the market isn't going to adjust because
this was a foregone conclusion. But sorting through the aftermath
of it, the things that I was already planning on,
(15:35):
and this just cements, I guess for me is I'm
heavily invested in mackay Lemon, both from a dynasty perspective
and from a redraft perspective. I was very bummed this
flashed across my little news desk, if you will. Earlier
that Lemon, I guess, injured his hamstring a little bit.
He's supposed to be good for training camp, so hopefully
(15:56):
it's not a big deal. But you never know what
those soft tissue injuries, but he's healthy. I expect a
one A, one B situation between him and DeVante Smith.
I know a lot of people and maybe yourself included,
are are hoping or projecting for Dvante Smith to sort
of take over that lead role. I don't know, because
I just think the Eagles offense is gonna look completely
(16:17):
revamped without aj Brown, Like they obviously have a plan
for what to do with this group and it's not
gonna look like the old offense. And maybe that means
Dallas Goddard gets tons of red zone looks this year.
You know, we're looking at a twelve touchdown season from him.
Maybe even Dantevian Wis gets involved. Is kind of like
the only bigger body receiver that they have, or maybe
(16:39):
it's wheels all the way up on Saquon. It just
feels like, I'm so good with Jalen Hurts. And that's
my question to you, was, how much, if any, are
you bumping Jalen Hurts down because I think I'm still
right there where I was with him.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, I'm I'm not really moving Hurts at all.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
I think the Eagles, I mean, they did pretty well
without Brown and while he was upset. And if you're
getting an excited lemon, I think the Eagles have shown
a lot of versatility announced I think hurts his style
of play, you know, opens himself up to a lot
of different styles of success, right, because he could break
plays down if you turn your back, he can take off.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
He could throw the deep ble, he could throw the
intermediate ball.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
I've always been a little bit higher on his throwing
ability than the market.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I don't think he's John Elway, but I do think
he's better. I think he took a lot of heat.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
That might have been unnecessary. Again, you want Aj Brown,
He's a very good player. You kind of worked it backwards.
So yeah, I think the Phillies, the Phillies, the Eagles backfill.
I got baseball brain is very strong, right. I'm very
bullish on the Eagle still because I think the word
is consolidation. Right, even if you like Wis a little bit, A.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Lot of targets are going to go to the wideouts.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
And got it really eight on touchdowns and he may
get that also, So again, it's really consolidated. And I
think being excited about the Eagles is fine. I wanted
to look at the other side really quick. So so
aj Brown last year was still the wide receiver eleven.
Right now he's the wide receiver eight by ADP. That's
ADP twenty two. He had four top five finishes last
(18:11):
season and a lot of the stats look really good.
I'm up in the spreadsheet right now. He ran four
hundred and eighty routes, one hundred and twenty one targets.
He went seventy eight one thousand and three and seven,
which is over eight targets a game.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
We love it.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Only five catches, but we know the depth of target.
You know, it's gonna be a little bit more risky, right,
They're a little lower probability, but you do get over
two yards per route. You know, we had ninety five
air yards per game. Most of it is out wide
commander of a deep target. And I think that's why
I'm so bullish now on AJB. And you know he's
(18:45):
only twenty nine. People have talked about age. I think
the injury behind him now Drake made to hook him
up in this deep connection is really got me excited.
Jake sol Drake May last year had sixty seven deep completions.
That was number two he had a point ninety five
EPA per attempt on deep shots that was number one
(19:05):
with a bullet. I mean, the connection here seems a
little too obvious. We even saw somebody like Kayshawn Booty
compul I mean he thrived. He thrived as the deep
guy there. It's funny a couple of the best ball bros.
Are you know, really hitting Booty pretty hard?
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Man?
Speaker 3 (19:25):
He was super efficient And if you get anything like
that from AJB, I think first round return is there.
I'm drafting EJ. Brown where you're slotting him? Are you
okay with him? At you know, like I said, it's
ADP twenty two, so you'd realistically have to take him
over George Pickens and Nico Collins.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Could you rank those three for us?
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Yeah? First of all, hitting Booty pretty hard has to
be a fantasy team name for somebody out there. We
can't just we can't just breeze right past that, and
it has to happen. But yeah, assuming that that holds up,
assuming that Drake May in tougher competition. The other thing
with Drake May has been the schedule is easy last year,
It's gonna be a lot harder this year. Can he
(20:04):
hold up to it. My answer would be yes, especially
because he now has AJ Brown. So AJ Brown versus
Nico Collins, I think, just based on the quarterbacks, I
would want to go with AJ Brown. I'm as big
of a Romeo Dobbs apologist as there is as a
Packer fan. I love the guy. I think he's slightly underrated,
but for fantasy, he is in a distant, distant second
(20:26):
compared to AJ Brown. So I would take AJ Brown
over Nico Collins. And I'm sorry, who's the third guy
that you threw in there?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
George Pickens?
Speaker 3 (20:33):
So, George Pickens has the t Higgins vibe of yesteryear right,
the clear number two, but would be like the number
one overall which we saw. But I think that's really
the question is can you take a wide receiver who's
not the number one target on his own team over
guys who are the clear ones?
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And I wouldn't do it, So I would keep George
Pickens at a steady third that in that group.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah, and actually I'm with you, I'm Lockstep.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
I needn't realize how how much I'd be into AJ
Brown until I really started looking deep into man the deep,
mays deep ball is known. It's really really great, and
I think the run game is gonna improve.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
I think he's improved. And to your Dobbs point.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Who man, I guess call me as a Jets fan,
this is like sacrilege, but I'm a big Patriots guy
this year because Dubbs at one point fifteen, I think
he's the type who benefits from getting a j Brown.
We don't you did not want Romeo Dubbs to be
the focal point of a passing offense. You know, people
people get themselves in trouble with this Drake. I think
you know, open here all the targets, it's all the attention. Also,
(21:36):
we don't want all the attention. Let aj Brown and
Trevion get.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
All the attention.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
I think Dubbs actually hurts a guy like Hunter Henry,
who is really more of a correlated pick. To me,
he doesn't really move the needle. I would not be
interested him in redrapping. I'm yeah, I'm a Dove's apologist.
Let's start apologizing because the price to me is right.
You know, he's a pick. He's even starting to slide
because I think people as oh, he's not the one anymore.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
I like him better.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
As the B than the A. All right, let's talk
about some olds that you think. Oh you know what,
I'm sorry, we had one more of it. The Giants
are very busy, how they forget this? All this is
gonna lead us into the olds. Okay, So I'm gonna
give you the three signings you could take wherever you want.
I can't believe this. The Giants signed Odell Beckham. The
Giant signed Juju Smith Shoester. I was joking they must
(22:23):
have found like an NB Fantasy Life magazine from like
twenty twenty, and I'm like, oh my gosh, this guy's
oh man Oldill Beckham's on the cover, Like this guy's
really good.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Well, I don't know. And then they also signed Braxton
Burials seems the third player of the Giant size.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
For the people, Jake visibly, you know, sighing. So talk
this about the three signings. Do any or all of
the matter to you?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
And none of the matter individually, Like, I'm not drafting
any of these guys for my fantasy team. Ohdell Beckham
is thirty three years old. He's on his fifth different
team since like twenty twenty one, and he didn't play
in two whole seasons during that stretch. So I did
just anybody with the name recognition seeing OBJ and with
all the stuff about Melik Neighbors, which is what we
(23:09):
really want to talk about, just say away, don't don't
do it. But with Malik Neighbors, you just wonder if
you're bringing in this many reserves, is it because you
want a bunch of steady wide receivers for your quarterback
to be throwing too during training camp? Like are these
camp bodies that you just want to inundate him with
to help his progress? Or is it Malik Neighbors. It's
(23:31):
looking worse the knee injury is like in week three,
is he going to be out there? We need somebody.
We don't want to spend a lot because we're the
giants and we don't know who to go get anyways
in earnest, so let's just throw a few bucks at
these guys. It has me a little nervous for Melak Neighbors,
and we'd already been nervous for Elik Neighbors.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
John, Yeah, I thought you're gonna segue into the softball
game that when viral that softball clip when your neighbors,
if anyone hasn't seen it again. I am not a
biomechanical sports scientist by any means, but I have seen
a lot of fat, broken old men playing softball, and
(24:12):
that's what that looked like. More than we're talking about, right,
the a premieer elite athlete that is getting ready to
take the world's most physical sport by storm in six weeks.
If you saw the gate on that run to first,
even if you're saying, oh, he's not sprinting, it didn't
(24:33):
look good.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
He didn't look comfortable.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
He did again forget fast, he just he did not
look comfortable at all. None of this, for me, is
a good sign for the Giants. I think you nailed
the can't body thing right. People also think, oh, they
signed them, doesn't matter. They are all veteran deals. They
could cut them all tomorrow. I think they're, you know,
trying to see if they could find anything. Maybe Odell
(24:57):
has enough burst to get you, right. I don't think
anyone realistically he's expecting seventeen games to know can maybe
Juju can operate underneath, Maybe he can. This is gonna
be crazy, But I actually think the big fantasy value
in this I've been talking about too much best ball.
This is a redraft play for me, is Braxton Barrios
in the last round of every single redraft league.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Don't since the.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Either right, you either die the hero or live long
enough to recommend Braxton Barrios.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
But again, the.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Premise is not that crazy, I think because the Giants
moved on from Wandale Robinson and that was quite literally
the most prolific piece from the least amount of talent
in fantasy football last year. Right there was that's nine
hundred and fifteen snaps, a hundred and forty targets vacated,
(26:00):
and a ton of those were in the slot I have.
This year, he ran twenty three slot routes a game.
He had over six slot targets a game.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
There is a.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Functional opening in the Giants offense that is in desperate
need of filling. Dark loves the underneath I mentioned hurts
with the breaking down of plays. A lot of times
mobile guys that's where they end up going. They take
their maybe I off the downfield and as they start
to shimmy and shake, the slot guy is the closest
but also moving to you.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Underneath.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
There's a world where Braxton Barrios and we gotta click
this right is a wide receiver two through the first
four weeks of the season. Now, as I was thinking
about it, I guess maybe that could be Juju also,
But man, Juju really has not looked goodies looked very slow.
He hasn't had more than three hundred and fifty rs
or more than two touchdowns in the past three seasons.
So did I sell you on Burrios or at least
(26:52):
light the bulb for the slot route job in New York?
Speaker 1 (26:57):
You've got to be thinking, You've gotta be thinking about this.
Shame on me for pre judging that. First of all,
I should have heard you out first. I hear Braxton Barrios,
in my brain just shuts down. But I think you
are on to a point of he's gonna want to
attack the middle of the field. Me it's also just
my bias because I'm like, this is just more wheels
up for Isaiah. Likely this is just me pumping up
(27:19):
that adp on the tight ends and maybe even THEO
Johnson is still good there or something. But you're right.
So I'm gonna keep my eye on kind of camp
to see who sticks around and who actually looks decent
From that perspective, and I'm I might join you there
when we're in August. We'll see.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
In fact, i'll tell you what I think both of
those things can exist in the same plane of reality
where Burrios and Likely are the focal points of the
passing offers. I already liked Likely, and I think again,
it gets a little wonky when we try in a
bin football for machines and positions. Even what's a slot receiver?
(27:59):
You can have three, You could play a bunch. You
could have a tight end in line off to the slot.
You could have the tight end in line on the
end with a slot receiver next to them and have
them both release and cross, in which case there's.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Two slot receivers. Right.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
So I think the key point here is that's a
place that Dart looks to complete his passes, and that's
open now. And I think even if you're not buying
the Burials thing, which you shouldn't be, and I would
never pay any pick that isn't a very lass round
pick that I can easily get rid of. Again, I
don't think I wanted the best ball because it could
be a zero. But in redraft, right, maybe we like
(28:35):
these early hits, maybe undersung that we know we're gonna
cut after a month. All right, that was well, that
felt kind of dirty. Let's watch it off by talking
about old players. This is really tough for me, Jake,
because I to me, I say it all the time,
it's a young man's game. I generally am all veterans.
But you know everybody has a price for the thousand
dollars man, So who is your old guy you believe
can give us one nice send off performance?
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Why went real? Old John? You might have to hold
your nose at this because the old is going to
be wafting off of him. But Travis Kelcey, we're talking
about tight ends, and I know you and I talked.
I think it was even just last week. I mentioned
that I would rather take Travis Kelcey over Kyle Pitts.
And I understand the skepticism of anybody looking at that
and going, Okay, Kelsey's gonna be thirty seven years old
(29:19):
during the season. Not many tight ends have even played
at thirty seven years old. Way fewer have done anything
worth the spot on your fantasy rosters at that age.
So I get it. And in fact, there's only two
guys I could find two notable guys who played tight
end at thirty seven. Here's what they did. So Jason
Witten came out of retirement to play at age thirty seven,
(29:39):
and he put up sixty three catches, five hundred and
twenty nine yards, four touchdowns. It was actually a very
solid year. He was tight end eleven in PPR. That
to me is Kelsey's absolute baseline this year. His ceiling
probably looks like Tony Gonzalez, who played at thirty seven
eighty three catches, eight hundred and fifty nine yards, eight touchdowns.
(30:00):
He was the tight end two at thirty seven years old,
the tight end two. And I'd bring it up because
those numbers are pretty similar to what Kelsey did last year.
And that's not accounting for the return of Eric Beenemy.
And I can't stop shouting this for the rooftops enough.
John Eric Benemy was part of the magic for those
Chiefs offenses from twenty eighteen to twenty twenty two when
(30:22):
everybody was so high on Patrick Mahomes and the whole shebang,
because they never ranked worse than sixth in total yards
or points during that stretch. They were first in the
league in yards in three of those seasons with the enemy.
Then Matt Maggie comes to town, it takes a massive downturn.
They only ranked in the top fifteen in total yards
once during his last three years. So you factor that
(30:45):
in with Rashi Rice making poor decisions and no other
pass catchers really showing they can be a consistent source
of production, and I start to look at Kelsey pretty favorably.
He just has to hold up that old body of his,
just has to hold up for seventeen games, and I
think we'll be pretty happy with the results sold.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
You know, again, perfect redraft play if you, of course,
are not buying up into the elite tight ends, which
the more you and I are, you know, doing our
little sculpting right. You start with the big slab with
the sledgehammer, and as you get down to those little
kind of little baby pickaxe things. I'm getting away from
the early tight ends because of the options here, especially
(31:26):
in redraft out of the gate, I think to be
enemy calls fantastic. You know, this is why I love
my spreadsheets, because they remove the bias of me going, ah,
but he's old, it doesn't matter. He's a tight end
in fantasy football. I mean this is incredible. I gotta
put some more respect to this guy's name. Kelsey ran
five hundred and seventy three routes last year. He earned
(31:48):
one hundred and eight targets. He really seventy six balls
for eight fifty one and five. I mean, this is
this is great man. Nineteen target per route, one point
five yards per rout and he's even over five and
a half yards after the catch per reception, which is
the thing that I look for as the drop.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Off after age. Of course for tight ends.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
I once a tight end does the catch and fall thing,
that's when I'm out. That's when I was out on
Earth's That's when I got out on kind of God.
Or I'm out when you have to do the catch
and fall. Those are the three for thirty five and
one guys. Kelsey's not. He's a level up. He's the
five for fifty five in one guy. And to me,
that's a winning tight end in fantasy football because you're
(32:29):
not taking him inside the inside the top one hundred
and twenty pixel. I love it again. The Mahomes thing,
I think, especially if Mahomes is starting Week one total
boost fields of course, worries me as he should worry anyone, though.
I think when that announcement gets made, Kelsey's ADP will
probably slip around the two. All right, let me do
my old man, who's a spring chicken Gabe to yours mine,
(32:55):
A very spry thirty year old Mark Andrews. And now
the argument is pretty base, but again I think it
should be. I don't think you need to overcomplicate these right,
kiss method, keep it simple. Stupid Mark Andrews though thirty
years old. No Isaia likely, so that was always a thing,
kind of eating up routes, eating up targets. Baltimore does
like multiple tight end sets, but I think having a
(33:18):
second target earning tight end is not something a lot
of teams have, so getting rid of that.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Is gonna help. Now. He did get out of the
box very slow. I think Andrews was banged.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Up the first two weeks without likely week three because
likely missed the first two weeks. He went six ninety
one and two, and of course that's not good for
a tight end one. You'll take that every day, and
that really is the ceiling. Being Lamar's guy, he's the
number one tight end in touchdowns over the last three
years and he's had at least sixty targets.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Each of those years as well.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
I don't think there's an incredible breakout case in like
yardage and catches, but I do think there's an argument
for touchdowns again with a guy who's a five for
fifty one and one guy. So yeah, Andrews going right around?
If not, is he going right next to Kelsey? They're
going right next to each other. They're both at one
twenty two and one twenty five. I would take him
(34:11):
both in best Ball. I think they're both in redraft.
I think I like Andrews maybe better for best ball
because he might have a better you know, those seven years,
that's what those extra seven years of a youth may
come in.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
What do you think about Mark Andrews. I love it.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
I'm glad that you called attention to Mark Andrews because
I've been talking him up all off season. I think
another factor into this. I love every time there's a
change for an offensive coordinator that puts the arrow pointing
up at least and I do think that Declan Doyle
coming over to the Ravens from Chicago. I know it
was only one year with Chicago, but you saw notable
(34:43):
improvement with their quarterback. You saw a notable improvement with
their pass catchers as the year went on because he
was scheming those guys a certain way. He's very creative,
So I think Lamar could see one of his better
passing seasons, and Mark Andrews can absolutely be a big beneficiary.
So I love that.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Yeah's it sounds like a solid call. There was a time.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
Mark Andrews is a perennial top five tight end, you know,
and I think is every case for that again? Is
he gonna catch McBride or Bowers? Probably not, but I
want to include Kelsey and that too. Kelsey with seventeen
games for me, is a smash for a top ten
tight end season, Just a smash. So when redraft its
wheels up, all right. So that'll do it, everybody. From
Jake and John another offseason episode of Fantasy.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Football Weekly in the books, we appreciate you.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Hit you up if you you don't want to hear
about any topics, and if not, we'll be right back here,
same bad time, same bat chattel.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Everyone enjoy the weekend.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.