July 25, 2025 • 33 mins
Charch and Mat break down the 10 players who need to prove themselves with a big training camp. Plus, to nobody's surprise, Charch shoehorns in plaudits for Tank Bigsby.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from iHeartRadio, your weekly
source for the nation's best fantasy football advice, speculation, and
whatever stupid stuff they decide to drop into the show. Now,
here's your host, Paul Chargion.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, Training Camp Edition, Game on,
Matt Harrison. We've got actual players doing actual things on
actual fields, trying hard, trying to look good. Oh, it's
an exciting time of year.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
The final Friday in July is always a good one
for everybody.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yeah it is, Baby, It's game on, and we're going
to talk about the ten players that need to have
a great training camp and very salient to this conversation, Matt. Yeah,
we're not doing rookies because all the rookies need to
look good in their very first training camp except one.
(01:07):
I am holding back one rookie, but.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I have one. I have a half rookie.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
You have a half rookie. You know. Look, we all
hope cam Ward looks great and he can rescue the
Titans offense. We all hope Tyler Schuck can look great
and rescue the Saints offense. We're all excited to see
Ashton Genty and Omarion Hampton and Dylan Samson and all
the work here. Look, it's all the rookies. We love rookies,
and that's one of the great things about this time
of years. We get our first real look at these rookies.
But I don't think that's nearly as compelling to our
(01:36):
listeners as talking about the veterans that have something to
show in training camp, because all the rookies do. Now,
before we get there, I want to hit you with
a couple of just early most teams are like two
days into training camp. I want to hit you a
couple of key things that have caught my eye and
even changed my rankings a little bit before we get
(01:57):
into the ten players. Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said
he expects Chase Brown to be a household name by
the end of the season. Are you buying it? Is
it just camp talk or do you think there's something
to it?
Speaker 3 (02:17):
I mean, he's not a household name. He kind of
is in the fantasy world right now, but maybe not
quite a household household name. Uh No, I don't believe it.
I think I think that they go through the pass
and I think that Chase Brown's gonna be a fine
running back. But Zach Moss is back healthy, and Zach
Moss was a big part of that offense last year.
(02:37):
It wouldn't surprise me if he is again this year.
So well, I think Chase Brown's gonna be good. I
don't think he's gonna be otherworldly goods. He's not gonna
be Saquon Barkley all of a sudden.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I think Chase Brown's gonna be great. I'm okay, I am.
I am cautiously optimistic right now, and I'll tell you why.
If he can jump you know, the receiving potential up
last year, If he can take just like one more
step as a receiver, Chase Brown could end up be
you know, he's the lead running back on a like
(03:08):
top five offense in the NFL. I see a scenario
here where he runs for like thirteen hundred fourteen hundred yards,
and if he can chip in five hundred receiving yards,
I mean we're looking at a monster season, and I
think it's all it's possible. Double digit touchdowns. Chase Brown
has got, you know, for where he's going adp wise
(03:30):
third round in many leagues. I'm buying. I'm buying. I'm
really optimistic.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Well excited to see you, you know, spend a lot
of money in our startup auction for our new Dynasty league.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Jock, right, Well, the Empire League. Let's be clear about that.
You know, we love that, and at some point maybe
we'll talk more Empire League, but not in this particular show.
So I don't think it's so much coach speak from
Dan Pitcher offensive coordinated to the Bengals. I think, uh,
I think he's I think he's tipping his hand a
little bit. That Chase Brown is going to be used a.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Lot in this. I like how we have to decipher
whether or not it's coach speak for a coach to speak.
I think my guy's going to be really good here.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Well, of course, you know, yes, I feel like he's
he's just on criminally under undervalued right now. By the way,
I'm looking a little closer at ADP. Yeah, he's he
is last pick of the second round, first pick of
the third round. Is the area for Chase for Chase Brown?
All right, let me give you one more quote. Sure,
(04:37):
this was from the Jaguars. I don't recall which beat
beat beat writer, and if it was you, I apologize
because I know a lot of beat writers listen to
the show.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
It me.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Here's the quote from anonymous beat writer. If there was
one running back in Jacksonville who stood out in practice,
it was Tank Bigsby.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Baby. With the Jaguars coaching staff frequently singing his praises,
Bigsby got the bulk of the key reps for Liam
Cohen's offense, and as a result stood out quite a
bit more than Travis Etn who was mostly working with
the second team. Liam Liam Cohen's new Bucky Irving is
(05:23):
going to be Tank Bigsby. You've heard this before.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
I love how you have your guys and you're just
you're You're gonna stay on Tank Bigsby Mountain, just like
you were on Ryan Matthews Hill back in the day.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Uh look, John OHU Smith? Did I eventually get John
Ohu Smith?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Right? Hey? Yeah, you get a few right here and there.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
You know sometimes you sometimes I know before the teams
that they're on.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
No, and Tank Bigsby.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Bigsby is awesome. All right, Let's dive into our ten
players that need to have a big training camp. Nine
veterans and one more guy. We begin with you, Matt,
talk to me about the first player that you believe
needs to have a big training camp.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Sure, Anthony Richardson's the guy that I put in here,
and when we were kind of talking back and forth
on our slack message talking about players who would fit
this bill, that's the first one that just popped into
my brain. Camp couldn't be bigger for him this year
From a fantasy perspective, he finished right in line with
a bunch of second and third tier quarterbacks at nineteen
points per game. That's within a point of Gino Smith,
(06:32):
Russell Wilson, Justin Herbert, Dak Prescott, Jordan Love, Caleb Williams.
So he's right in that area. But he's definitely not
getting drafted like one of those guys right now. He
finished the year with five rushing touchdowns in his last
five games, but his passing leaves a lot to be desired.
Is he only completed forty seven point seven percent of
(06:53):
his passes last year, and that's down and Matt from
fifty nine and a half in his first four games
as a rookie, and.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Those were bad numbers. He's right now, Richardson is on
pace to be the least accurate starting passer in the
history of the league. And you know that's he's that's
the part that simply has to get into something.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yes, I mean yeah, from a reality perspective, the news
and the vibes surrounding him just wasn't good last year either.
He was injured again. Maybe he could have played in
a few of the games where he took himself out
and carried a shoulder injury into early summer. But Shane
Steichen has to be kind of on a warming hot
seat there in Indy. Yeah, for sure, very much year
(07:40):
to prove himself, and he brought in Daniel Jones and
it seems like they're they got Daniel Jones for a
little bit more than a backup role. They're definitely competing
for the starting job. The thing is, we know what
Daniel Jones is, and we know that Richardson has that
just rare physical upside that could produce a top ten
fantasy quarterback season. He just hasn't come close to putting
(08:03):
it together and only fifteen career games over two seasons.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Shane Stikeen doesn't have the luxury mat of sitting around
and waiting for Anthony Richardson to get better because he's
gonna cost him his job, and so the leash is
going to be very short when Richardson does get in
the game. And for all the freaky upside that we
believe Anthony Richardson should have, let me note this. The
last time we got a full season out of Daniel Jones,
(08:31):
granted three seasons ago, it was a while while ago,
he averaged eighteen PPR points per game. Because Daniel Jones
has got a little bit of running in there, he
was throwing effectively at the time. Anthony Richardson last year
sixteen Fantasy points per game, less than what Daniel Jones
had as a starter. I am openly rooting for Daniel Jones.
(08:53):
You're right, Anthony Richardson needs to have a big camp.
I'm rooting for Daniel Jones because you can't start Michael
Pittman when Anthony Richardson's the quarterback. You can't start Josh Downs,
you can't start at Donnie Mitchell. You know, there's this
whole passing offense is just dead. Daniel Jones would at
least bring competency as a pass I.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Did see today on some of the camp twitter that
Richardson was working with the ones today and he was very,
very heavily targeting rookie Tyler Warren. There. He's got a
new target there, and maybe it's something that he just
didn't have the tight endy he really wanted to work
with over the last few years.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
My next player for first player who needs a big
training camp is Chargers receiver Quinton Johnston.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Yeah, Remember he was a twenty twenty three first rounder
and he was drafted in a block of four wide
receivers Jackson Smith and Jig Buck who's done really well,
Jordan Addison who's done really well, Zay Flowers who's done
really well, and then there's Quinton Johnston. Now he got
(10:02):
better last year.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Eight touchdowns left for dead after right after rookie year.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Yes, eight touchdowns only fifty five catches. So the eight
touchdowns is you know, you don't normally get those that
kind of touchdown numbers out of fifty five catches. The
perception is Quinton Johnston, heart of gold, hands of dark matter.
And on Wednesday's training camp practice, he had he had
(10:30):
a key drop on a wide open crossing route and
the fans were just on him. It was great. It
was very funny. So I looked up his drop numbers
because that's what we all think of with Quentin Johnston
is the drops. His drop rate actually not that bad.
As a rookie. It was a five percent drop rate.
As a sophomore last year, an eight percent drop rate,
(10:51):
you know, not great, but they're players with way worst
drop rates. I believe Tyreek Hill at a fifteen percent
drop rate last year. So the Chargers have got Lad McConkie.
That's their twitchy, elusive underneath receiver. They've got rookie Tray
Harris who's going to bring downfield passing attacks that we
haven't seen in this offense in years, and that would
leave Johnston to really be like a poor man's Mike Evans.
(11:15):
Is your big bodied goal line guy, go up and
get it contested catches. That's what he should do. We
want Johnson to prove that he can be more than
just fifty five catches, that he can be a volume
receiver that he can stay on the field for in
two receiver sets and you know, kind of beat out
Trey Harris for a lot of those reps and let
(11:37):
Trey Harris be like third down and long kind of guy.
And not yield those reps because Johnson hasn't been able
to get on the field enough.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Yeah, I think it's it's definitely going to be one
of those seasons for him that is make or break
for the career.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Really.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
And Mike Williams was initially coming back to the Chargers.
He retired last week. He was like, Yeah, I don't
really want to go to training camp.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
And I think that was it. I think that was it.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Money Badger did the same thing the night before the
Saints training camp. I would like, oh God, training camp. No,
I'm not gonna do that. I I'd rather retire. But yeah,
he's he's got the lead on that wide receiver two position.
And I feel like Harbaugh started trusting air Bear a
little bit more in the second half the season, and
(12:26):
they were throwing just a little bit more. It wasn't
a complete ground and pound attack. So I'm interested to
see a little bit more balanced offense in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
I wore my air Bear T shirt just a couple
of nights ago.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Nice, you get a lot of compliments I did.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
I wear it around town now, Yeah, makes it a
little bit more unusual. Is that The only thing I'm wearing,
and so the shirt tends to be something that a
lot of people comment on, like why you only wear
another bear?
Speaker 3 (12:53):
You were definitely winning the pooing it. I was well
well done.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Let's go to your next player who needs to have
a big training camp.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Another guy in a red shirt. That's Ricky Pearsall, Deebo Samuel,
he's gone, Brandon Ayuk recovering from a mid season torn
acl and he may or may not be fully healthy
at the beginning of the year. Now, Juwan Jennings is
asking for more money, and I think the Niners just
gave two big wide receiver contracts out in the last
(13:22):
two years, Samuel and Ayyuk, and I bet read them
both fields back. At this point, I get the feeling
that they're probably not going to pay Juwan Jennings exactly
what he's asking for, which means Ricky Pearsall in his
second year as the thirty first pick in the first
round last year, he gets to come in and he's
either wide receiver two or wide receiver won to start
(13:43):
the year. And remember he got shot last year in
a botched mugging and missed the first six games of
the season. Yeah, and it took him a while to
get up to speed because he missed most of training
camp and he had to basically take a reset button
and turn everything on a month and a half later
than he wanted to, And there were some glimmers of hope.
Last year. He had eight catches for one forty one
(14:06):
and a score and six catches for sixty nine and
a touchdown in his final two games of the season.
That was really the only time he was featured with
full offensive snaps. Yeah, a good camp gives him the
opportunity to be wide receiver one and a Kyle Shanahan offense,
and that's a guy one.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
He won't be wide receiver one. It's going to be
Jewan Jennings. But I still like Ricky Piersall and I
still would take him on my team. I love Juwan
Jennings and still think Pearsall is going to be a
good value at average draft position, which as I look
at look it up right now, Pierce saul is pick
one hundred and nine overall wide receiver forty five. I
(14:44):
think that's cheap. That's I think that's cheap. I think
that's cheap. That's if it were him or looking at
some of the players around him. I think I would
lean him over Justin Herbert, over Tucker Kraft, over John
hus Smith in Pittsburgh, So yeah, I like, I like
where you're.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Going over your boy, John John.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Well, it's niceke Dono keeps finding himself on teams that
already have a good tight end. Was very frustrating. I'm
tired of that. The next player I'm watching and needs
to have a big training cap. Kansas City running back
Isaiah Pacheco. Last year, he had the broken fibula that
just derailed his whole season, including when he came back
to action after Week thirteen when he looked Matt just feeble.
(15:29):
He didn't score the rest of the year and the
playoffs to the Super Bowl. No touchdowns for him.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Like barely pedestrian. Like pedestrians would make fun of how
slow he was last year.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
That's right, pedestrians only wearing shirts pointing and laughing at
his three point six yard per carry average after the injury.
Dead last in broken tackle rate after the injury at
four percent broken tackle rate. The other ninety six he
was getting tackled on the first hit.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Is that did he break one? Last years?
Speaker 1 (16:01):
That's what it feels like that's what it feels like.
We need to see the old Isaiah Pacheco's not old,
the guy who ran with abandon, who broke tackles, who
drag tacklers, who powered for extra yards, who would fall
forward those three yards that we often talk about, Matt.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Yeah, because he's nine feet because.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
He's nine feet tall. If if Pacheco can return to form,
back to being the reliable starter that he was two
years ago, he was running back eleven in PPR two
years ago, running back thirteen in utilization score, even though
he rarely catches, you know, he's back to being very
fantasy viable. And by the way, a steal at his
(16:42):
at his ADP, which is pick number sixty five, running
back twenty seven. But if he doesn't come back now,
we're gonna get more stupid Kareem Haunt, Elijah Mitchell mucking
up the works. I think we're gonna see Bershard Smith
and they're down anyway, So we could really use big
camp of Isaiah Pacheco looking healthy and ready to roll again. Matt,
(17:05):
your next player up is.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
I've got Jalen Warren of the Steelers, And it was
very much a theme on this show for the last
two years that Jalen Warren in Pittsburgh was just a
flat out better back than Najie Harris and made a
lot of sense going into last year's draft season. But
then Warren kinda pooped the bed. Last year. His yards
per carry dipped from five point three to four point three.
(17:30):
He only scored once. He had twenty three fewer pass
receptions on twenty six fewer targets, And maybe that was
due to in twenty twenty three he had Kenny Pickett
throwing tiny little darts, yeah, just right over the line.
Or maybe it was due to the change in offensive
coordinator and having Arthur Smith and Arthur Smith's there again
(17:54):
this year. Nause is now gone, but they drafted Caleb
Johnson in the third round and Warren has the insight
I track on the job now. But from everything everybody
said about Caleb Johnson, he's a whiz in a zone
blocking scheme. Arthur Smith's offense runs a zone blocking scheme.
Right now, Warren is currently a late eighth or early
ninth round ADP. But if camp doesn't go well for him, yeah,
(18:16):
he could just be the change of pace guy and
all of a sudden Caleb Johnson's getting all the early
down works. So Jalen Warren is a guy who is,
you know, a top ten round player right now, but
he could fall completely out of that with a bad camp.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Caleb Johnson is really interesting to me. I loved him
at Iowa. He was that whole offense defense is knew
that Caleb Johnson was going to come at you and
mass and he was still good. So I'm up the two.
I'm on Caleb Johnson. We will watch Jalen Warren's training
camp closely. I think it's a great addition to the show,
and he does bear watching. We've talked about a second
(18:57):
your receiver in Ricky Pearsall. How about another one from
the same draft class. Buffalo wide receiver Kean Coleman Matt
last year to an early second round pick, and they
need a second wide receiver to step up. You know,
you know I love Khalil Shakir, love him. He was
one of my favorite sleepers last year. But he's not
(19:18):
a number one receiver. He just isn't. I mean, he's
he is a fill in guy for He's just an
ideal second receiver on a team they need. Kean Coleman
to step up. Last year, Coleman just a rotational guy.
He got hurt as well, for he missed a month
of the season that derailed some of his progress. But
he couldn't separate from Amari Cooper who's out of the league,
(19:39):
couldn't separate from Mac Hollins, who they let just walk
away in free agency, and the drops fifteen percent drop
rate last year as a rookie. That's got to get better.
And that's something we got to watch in training camp.
If Kean Coleman's dropping a bunch of passes in training camp,
this this team is not going to feel comfortable. This
coaching staf won't feel comfortable putting him back on the field.
(20:02):
So there's no real competition for him. He just needs
to step up and prove that he can be anywhere
close to the guy who got drafted where he did
two years ago, Josh Palmer, Leviscus Chaneau, Elijah Moore. Just
go beat those guys out. Keon Coleman, have a great
camp and turn into a viable fantasy target. He's his
(20:23):
ADP is ridiculously low. One hundred and forty three wide
receiver now fifty one for Keon Coleman.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
I remember back in the day, way way back in
the day at the old Fanball magazine when you were
running that, you guys had a big article about third
year wide receivers all every year and how that was
the breakout time for all all these wide receivers. That
doesn't happen anymore. You you need to break out in
your tiki or sophomore year or you barely get a
(20:52):
chance in the NFL anymore.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
You are correct, you know, twenty years ago it was
year three, now it's year two. Is the kind of
the make or break year for wide receivers. When we
come back, we've got five more players who need to
have a big camp. Find out who they are when
we return Segment number two Fantasy Football Weekly, Paul Charchie
(21:18):
and Matt Harrison with you talking through the players that
need to have big training camps. And Matt, you've got
a twofer coming up for us.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
I got a twofer because I don't know who's going
to win this battle, or if somebody's gonna win the
battle at all, but I think a lot of it
depends on how they show up in camp. And that's
the two initials, guys.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
R J.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Harvey and JK. Dobbins in Denver. One of these guys
is probably going to get a bigger share of the workload.
He's going to be the b one and what should
be a very good situation in Denver. They got a
halfway decent O line, Their defense should be good. It
should be a lot of running game scripts for them
this year, but it's yet to be seen who that's
gonna be. Despite drafting Harvey in the second round, the
(22:01):
Broncos still felt the need to add to their running
back room and they grab veteran JK. Dobbins off the
scrap heap in June. Dobbins had a decent showing in
a run heavy system with the Chargers last year. He
scored nine times charge what you don't say, finished nine time?
Nine time. There it is, and he might be the
preferred goal line option in this backfield. Harvey's a bit
(22:25):
on the small side, but he's pretty shifty in a
good pass catcher. We probably won't learn much in the
preseason games, but we might find out a bit more
from their joint practices with the Niners and Cardinals in
the first and second week of August. Those tend to
bring out a little bit more intel from the fantasy perspective,
But whoever has the edge and touches is probably going
(22:46):
to finish with a much better return than the current
eighth round ADP for Harvey or eleventh round to ADP
for Dobbins. One of those guys is gonna or maybe
both are going to finish a lot better than that
this season.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
I think Dobbins starts the year and as a reminder,
as a reminder, it up until he got hurt in
I don't It's like week ten or so. Last year, JK.
Dobbins was the leading candidate, the Vegas Line Leader for
Comeback Player of the Year, and then when he came
back off the mcl injury, it just he wasn't the
same guy. And you know, he struggled and the effectiveness
(23:24):
wasn't there, and they went to Gus Edwards and blah
blah blah. I think and Dobbins is young. We think
he's you know, because he's been hurt a lot and
he came in the into the into the the league
at a young age. We think he's old. He's twenty six.
Dobbins is still got, is still a young man, and
I think he's I think he's gonna be He's gonna
hold off our J. Harvey longer than people think. But
(23:45):
as us as you noted, this is what training camp
is for.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
We'll watch the players twenty six, but his legs are
sixty two.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yeah, it's it's been a lot. He's been through a lot,
for sure.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
The next player we'll be watching closely who needs a
big training camp? And I think this one's obvious. The
lowest scoring team last year was the Chicago Bears. Caleb
Williams has to get better in year number two. Needless
to say, struggled a lot last year. At one point,
at one stretch of the season, Matt He went a
month without scoring a touchdown starting quarterback in the NFL.
(24:19):
You know how hard it is to do that these days.
He also absorbed a league worst sixty eight sacks for
a league worst four hundred and sixty six yards. You
remember some of those times when he was trying to
scramble away from a sack and then running backwards and
then taking more losses, And yeah, he had four different
games with seven or more sacks. That's hard to do.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Caleb Williams Pro Football focuses thirty second ranked quarterback last year. Matt,
how many NFL teams are there?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
There are thirty two? Charge, I thank you.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Very much for that. I was I lost track briefly.
That makes him the lowest rated starting quarterback. Best thing
we saw from Caleb Williams last year just six interceptions.
That's pretty good for a rookie season.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
It's because he doesn't throw the ball. He just gets.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Sacked a lot. Yeah, maybe that's it. So the transition
is going to be from last year's coaching staff Matt
Eberflus and Shane Waldron and then Thomas Brown. You'll remember
he finished out the season for that. So now they
get Ben Johnson, So you know, it's a huge delta
in coaching staff and Johnson arguably the most successful offensive
(25:29):
coordinator in the league last year. So this should be
ultimately a good transition for Caleb Williams, but it could
be a difficult transition. Stylistically, what they had asked from
Caleb Williams last year is going to be nothing like
what Ben Johnson is going to be asking this year.
And we've seen it in these first few days of
(25:50):
training camp, where Williams looked bad and nobody's reading too
much into July training camp performances, but he has not
looked good to this point. I want to see how
he does here. I think we're gonna be looking at
a low volume season from Kayla Williams because I believe
that they're gonna want to be thoughtful about how much
(26:11):
they use him. So we'll be watching that for sure.
We'll find out how he looks. I think it's gonna just, hey,
Ben Johnson's gonna ask him, just get the ball in
the hands of your playmakers, get the ball into the
hands of Dj Moore and Romadoons and Colson Lovelin, and
just don't make dumb decisions. Be efficient. Efficiency does not always,
unfortunately equal fantasy points. But yeah, that's that's what I
(26:35):
think is heading our way.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Man.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
Well, and you segued perfectly into my next guy, because
you know, the Bears need to get the ball in
the hands of their playmakers, and Roshan Johnson might be
one of their playmakers this year. And when Ben Johnson
became Detroit's offensive coordinator in twenty twenty two, he had
DeAndre Swift as his running back. Yeah, what do you
do to He saw him for one year and he
(27:00):
made sure to trade Swift to Philly that next year.
Philly let him go after one decent season there in
favor of Saquon and I don't blame him, but he
ended up in Chicago last year was well below average.
He stays in Chicago. Ben Johnson's reunited, but he Johnson
didn't mind seeing him leave after watching him for just
one year. So that brings us to Roshan Johnson. He's
(27:22):
entering his third season. He was a fourth round pick
out of Texas. He had a few flashes in year one.
Last year, he scored six touchdowns, mostly in short yardage,
and most of his yardage was short yardage situations. That's
why you only managed two point seven yards per carry.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
That's how he read because so many of them were
short yardage carries. I agree.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
He did have thirty four catches in his rookie season,
which wasn't terrible for a guy who was battling with
two or three other running backs ahead of him. So
but in twenty twenty four, it was just really bad
for the whole Bears offense. So I think we can
wash this one off. But let's see if Rochan pops
and can. He's six feet tall in two twenty seven.
(28:02):
DeAndre Swift is five eight and two twelve. Anyone on
the Bears is going to play the bigger David Montgomery
Lions role, and it's not the David Montgomery Bears role,
because that's different. It's gonna be Rochean Montgomery scored thirteen
and twelve touchdowns in the last two seasons in a
Ben Johnson offense. That's just rushing touchdowns.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Not saying that that's a certainty or anything that we
can project, but Rochan had six last year. If he
shows up in camp and he shows well enough and
we believe that that Bears offense improves enough to be respectable,
we're looking at eight touchdowns for Rochan and that's a
flexworthy player in most leagues.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
I think that's light. The last time DeAndre Swift was
in a Ben Johnson offense, Jamal Williams scored eighteen touchdowns.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
I think Roshan Johnson sitting on double digituchuns he could.
I believe that's the case. All right. Our final player
that needs a big training camp Tampa Bay wide receiver Amikaka.
Now this I like we said only one rookie. This
is the only rookie, but his situation is fascinating and
it's really important. And let me mention this at the outset.
(29:21):
Here is what Baker Mayfield said a day ago about Egbuka,
and we've all were used to Okay, let me let
me preface this by saying, Matt, we know players lie
and always, always, always say good things about their teammates.
But there's good things and then there's amazing things. Listen
(29:43):
to this and tell me how much you think this
is just players speak versus reality. Baker Mayfield said Egbuka
has yack potential out the wazoo.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
You don't get that make up. That's that's not like, oh,
he's real good.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
He also described him as quote an absolute stud. So
I think I look, Chris Godwin not able to practice.
So let's talk this through. And this is why Amika
Buca's training camp is so important. He could pound nails
into Chris Godwin's career right here. You know, Godwin is
(30:25):
unlikely to start the season after that devastating ankle injury
from last year, and Godwin was doing great last season
running from the slot. He was getting targeted nine times
per game, nine nine times. So now Godwin isn't is
unable to start the season. Abuka ran eighty one percent
(30:45):
of his routes last year from the slot. He's going
to walk right into the Godwin role. And how many
targets will he get? Nine times? Nine times per game?
If he looks good in this training camp and builds
the trust to become a go to receiver. Now, Agbuca
NFL ready. Everybody believes it because he was highly productive
(31:08):
for years at Ohio State. Despite having elite level receivers
around him, he was still a hugely productive and the
coaches at Ohio State said his football IQ was already
at NFL level. He was the Ohio State team captain,
perfectionist on and off the field. If that coach comes
through in this training camp, Amika Agbuka sitting on potentially
(31:32):
a very good and hot start to his season.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
I like that one a lot.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
I hope I've built my case for a great training
camp for Amika Agbuka.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Well, I hope he's listening and he's like, dang, you
know what, Church is right? I could really go take
the league by storm if I have a good training camp.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Absolutely, let's hope that's the case.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Great motivator.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Well, thank you. We're gonna do out. We're gonna try
to move some draft positions here on these guys, and
you know we're out. But not all of these guys
are we necessarily personally high on. We're just saying with
these players that we think need to have a really
big training camp, they've got something to prove. There you go,
ten different players right there. Eleven if you count your
Bogo in Denver's backfield.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
Yeah, I'm excited about Denver's backfield this year. I think
they could be a real interesting team.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
I think they're gonna be an interesting team, But I
don't think I want any part of the backfield so
much other than Dobbins, who I think is a great value.
Let me double check his ADP while we're chatting right now.
Dobbins coming off the board at round one hundred and eleven,
running back thirty nine. Yeah, amazing. Also amazing. All the
stuff that you can get at Fantasy Life, tons of
(32:42):
great content and tools, including the Utilization Score, which we
love and is worth the price of your subscription just
for the utilization report. Incredibly important to see who's getting
the ball and who is not. Also Guillotine leagues dot
Com up and running. You've got you can get in
some get in some free leagues right now, can get
some drafting going. See if you see if you love
(33:02):
the guillotine format. We talk about it all the time.
Of course we love guillotine leagues. You have the opportunity
to join free leagues right now. Get your feet wet.
See if it's right for you.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
Awesome, All right, Matt, Guillotine league again this year. I
don't have a draft set yet, but I got to
get into a couple.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Yeah, we'll get you in for for sure, no doubt
it'll that'll be. That'll be a piece of cake. Thanks
for listening, everybody. We'll be back next week with more
Fantasy Football Weekly. Fantasy Football Weekly is a production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
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Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from iHeartRadio, your weekly
source for the nation's best fantasy football advice, speculation, and
whatever stupid stuff they decide to drop into the show. Now,
here's your host, Paul Chargion.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, Training Camp Edition, Game on,
Matt Harrison. We've got actual players doing actual things on
actual fields, trying hard, trying to look good. Oh, it's
an exciting time of year.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
The final Friday in July is always a good one
for everybody.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yeah it is, Baby, It's game on, and we're going
to talk about the ten players that need to have
a great training camp and very salient to this conversation, Matt. Yeah,
we're not doing rookies because all the rookies need to
look good in their very first training camp except one.
(01:07):
I am holding back one rookie, but.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I have one. I have a half rookie.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
You have a half rookie. You know. Look, we all
hope cam Ward looks great and he can rescue the
Titans offense. We all hope Tyler Schuck can look great
and rescue the Saints offense. We're all excited to see
Ashton Genty and Omarion Hampton and Dylan Samson and all
the work here. Look, it's all the rookies. We love rookies,
and that's one of the great things about this time
of years. We get our first real look at these rookies.
But I don't think that's nearly as compelling to our
(01:36):
listeners as talking about the veterans that have something to
show in training camp, because all the rookies do. Now,
before we get there, I want to hit you with
a couple of just early most teams are like two
days into training camp. I want to hit you a
couple of key things that have caught my eye and
even changed my rankings a little bit before we get
(01:57):
into the ten players. Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said
he expects Chase Brown to be a household name by
the end of the season. Are you buying it? Is
it just camp talk or do you think there's something
to it?
Speaker 3 (02:17):
I mean, he's not a household name. He kind of
is in the fantasy world right now, but maybe not
quite a household household name. Uh No, I don't believe it.
I think I think that they go through the pass
and I think that Chase Brown's gonna be a fine
running back. But Zach Moss is back healthy, and Zach
Moss was a big part of that offense last year.
(02:37):
It wouldn't surprise me if he is again this year.
So well, I think Chase Brown's gonna be good. I
don't think he's gonna be otherworldly goods. He's not gonna
be Saquon Barkley all of a sudden.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I think Chase Brown's gonna be great. I'm okay, I am.
I am cautiously optimistic right now, and I'll tell you why.
If he can jump you know, the receiving potential up
last year, If he can take just like one more
step as a receiver, Chase Brown could end up be
you know, he's the lead running back on a like
(03:08):
top five offense in the NFL. I see a scenario
here where he runs for like thirteen hundred fourteen hundred yards,
and if he can chip in five hundred receiving yards,
I mean we're looking at a monster season, and I
think it's all it's possible. Double digit touchdowns. Chase Brown
has got, you know, for where he's going adp wise
(03:30):
third round in many leagues. I'm buying. I'm buying. I'm
really optimistic.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Well excited to see you, you know, spend a lot
of money in our startup auction for our new Dynasty league.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Jock, right, Well, the Empire League. Let's be clear about that.
You know, we love that, and at some point maybe
we'll talk more Empire League, but not in this particular show.
So I don't think it's so much coach speak from
Dan Pitcher offensive coordinated to the Bengals. I think, uh,
I think he's I think he's tipping his hand a
little bit. That Chase Brown is going to be used a.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Lot in this. I like how we have to decipher
whether or not it's coach speak for a coach to speak.
I think my guy's going to be really good here.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Well, of course, you know, yes, I feel like he's
he's just on criminally under undervalued right now. By the way,
I'm looking a little closer at ADP. Yeah, he's he
is last pick of the second round, first pick of
the third round. Is the area for Chase for Chase Brown?
All right, let me give you one more quote. Sure,
(04:37):
this was from the Jaguars. I don't recall which beat
beat beat writer, and if it was you, I apologize
because I know a lot of beat writers listen to
the show.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
It me.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Here's the quote from anonymous beat writer. If there was
one running back in Jacksonville who stood out in practice,
it was Tank Bigsby.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Baby. With the Jaguars coaching staff frequently singing his praises,
Bigsby got the bulk of the key reps for Liam
Cohen's offense, and as a result stood out quite a
bit more than Travis Etn who was mostly working with
the second team. Liam Liam Cohen's new Bucky Irving is
(05:23):
going to be Tank Bigsby. You've heard this before.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
I love how you have your guys and you're just
you're You're gonna stay on Tank Bigsby Mountain, just like
you were on Ryan Matthews Hill back in the day.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Uh look, John OHU Smith? Did I eventually get John
Ohu Smith?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Right? Hey? Yeah, you get a few right here and there.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
You know sometimes you sometimes I know before the teams
that they're on.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
No, and Tank Bigsby.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Bigsby is awesome. All right, Let's dive into our ten
players that need to have a big training camp. Nine
veterans and one more guy. We begin with you, Matt,
talk to me about the first player that you believe
needs to have a big training camp.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Sure, Anthony Richardson's the guy that I put in here,
and when we were kind of talking back and forth
on our slack message talking about players who would fit
this bill, that's the first one that just popped into
my brain. Camp couldn't be bigger for him this year
From a fantasy perspective, he finished right in line with
a bunch of second and third tier quarterbacks at nineteen
points per game. That's within a point of Gino Smith,
(06:32):
Russell Wilson, Justin Herbert, Dak Prescott, Jordan Love, Caleb Williams.
So he's right in that area. But he's definitely not
getting drafted like one of those guys right now. He
finished the year with five rushing touchdowns in his last
five games, but his passing leaves a lot to be desired.
Is he only completed forty seven point seven percent of
(06:53):
his passes last year, and that's down and Matt from
fifty nine and a half in his first four games
as a rookie, and.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Those were bad numbers. He's right now, Richardson is on
pace to be the least accurate starting passer in the
history of the league. And you know that's he's that's
the part that simply has to get into something.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yes, I mean yeah, from a reality perspective, the news
and the vibes surrounding him just wasn't good last year either.
He was injured again. Maybe he could have played in
a few of the games where he took himself out
and carried a shoulder injury into early summer. But Shane
Steichen has to be kind of on a warming hot
seat there in Indy. Yeah, for sure, very much year
(07:40):
to prove himself, and he brought in Daniel Jones and
it seems like they're they got Daniel Jones for a
little bit more than a backup role. They're definitely competing
for the starting job. The thing is, we know what
Daniel Jones is, and we know that Richardson has that
just rare physical upside that could produce a top ten
fantasy quarterback season. He just hasn't come close to putting
(08:03):
it together and only fifteen career games over two seasons.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Shane Stikeen doesn't have the luxury mat of sitting around
and waiting for Anthony Richardson to get better because he's
gonna cost him his job, and so the leash is
going to be very short when Richardson does get in
the game. And for all the freaky upside that we
believe Anthony Richardson should have, let me note this. The
last time we got a full season out of Daniel Jones,
(08:31):
granted three seasons ago, it was a while while ago,
he averaged eighteen PPR points per game. Because Daniel Jones
has got a little bit of running in there, he
was throwing effectively at the time. Anthony Richardson last year
sixteen Fantasy points per game, less than what Daniel Jones
had as a starter. I am openly rooting for Daniel Jones.
(08:53):
You're right, Anthony Richardson needs to have a big camp.
I'm rooting for Daniel Jones because you can't start Michael
Pittman when Anthony Richardson's the quarterback. You can't start Josh Downs,
you can't start at Donnie Mitchell. You know, there's this
whole passing offense is just dead. Daniel Jones would at
least bring competency as a pass I.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Did see today on some of the camp twitter that
Richardson was working with the ones today and he was very,
very heavily targeting rookie Tyler Warren. There. He's got a
new target there, and maybe it's something that he just
didn't have the tight endy he really wanted to work
with over the last few years.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
My next player for first player who needs a big
training camp is Chargers receiver Quinton Johnston.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Yeah, Remember he was a twenty twenty three first rounder
and he was drafted in a block of four wide
receivers Jackson Smith and Jig Buck who's done really well,
Jordan Addison who's done really well, Zay Flowers who's done
really well, and then there's Quinton Johnston. Now he got
(10:02):
better last year.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Eight touchdowns left for dead after right after rookie year.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Yes, eight touchdowns only fifty five catches. So the eight
touchdowns is you know, you don't normally get those that
kind of touchdown numbers out of fifty five catches. The
perception is Quinton Johnston, heart of gold, hands of dark matter.
And on Wednesday's training camp practice, he had he had
(10:30):
a key drop on a wide open crossing route and
the fans were just on him. It was great. It
was very funny. So I looked up his drop numbers
because that's what we all think of with Quentin Johnston
is the drops. His drop rate actually not that bad.
As a rookie. It was a five percent drop rate.
As a sophomore last year, an eight percent drop rate,
(10:51):
you know, not great, but they're players with way worst
drop rates. I believe Tyreek Hill at a fifteen percent
drop rate last year. So the Chargers have got Lad McConkie.
That's their twitchy, elusive underneath receiver. They've got rookie Tray
Harris who's going to bring downfield passing attacks that we
haven't seen in this offense in years, and that would
leave Johnston to really be like a poor man's Mike Evans.
(11:15):
Is your big bodied goal line guy, go up and
get it contested catches. That's what he should do. We
want Johnson to prove that he can be more than
just fifty five catches, that he can be a volume
receiver that he can stay on the field for in
two receiver sets and you know, kind of beat out
Trey Harris for a lot of those reps and let
(11:37):
Trey Harris be like third down and long kind of guy.
And not yield those reps because Johnson hasn't been able
to get on the field enough.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Yeah, I think it's it's definitely going to be one
of those seasons for him that is make or break
for the career.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Really.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
And Mike Williams was initially coming back to the Chargers.
He retired last week. He was like, Yeah, I don't
really want to go to training camp.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
And I think that was it. I think that was it.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Money Badger did the same thing the night before the
Saints training camp. I would like, oh God, training camp. No,
I'm not gonna do that. I I'd rather retire. But yeah,
he's he's got the lead on that wide receiver two position.
And I feel like Harbaugh started trusting air Bear a
little bit more in the second half the season, and
(12:26):
they were throwing just a little bit more. It wasn't
a complete ground and pound attack. So I'm interested to
see a little bit more balanced offense in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
I wore my air Bear T shirt just a couple
of nights ago.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Nice, you get a lot of compliments I did.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
I wear it around town now, Yeah, makes it a
little bit more unusual. Is that The only thing I'm wearing,
and so the shirt tends to be something that a
lot of people comment on, like why you only wear
another bear?
Speaker 3 (12:53):
You were definitely winning the pooing it. I was well
well done.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Let's go to your next player who needs to have
a big training camp.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Another guy in a red shirt. That's Ricky Pearsall, Deebo Samuel,
he's gone, Brandon Ayuk recovering from a mid season torn
acl and he may or may not be fully healthy
at the beginning of the year. Now, Juwan Jennings is
asking for more money, and I think the Niners just
gave two big wide receiver contracts out in the last
(13:22):
two years, Samuel and Ayyuk, and I bet read them
both fields back. At this point, I get the feeling
that they're probably not going to pay Juwan Jennings exactly
what he's asking for, which means Ricky Pearsall in his
second year as the thirty first pick in the first
round last year, he gets to come in and he's
either wide receiver two or wide receiver won to start
(13:43):
the year. And remember he got shot last year in
a botched mugging and missed the first six games of
the season. Yeah, and it took him a while to
get up to speed because he missed most of training
camp and he had to basically take a reset button
and turn everything on a month and a half later
than he wanted to, And there were some glimmers of hope.
Last year. He had eight catches for one forty one
(14:06):
and a score and six catches for sixty nine and
a touchdown in his final two games of the season.
That was really the only time he was featured with
full offensive snaps. Yeah, a good camp gives him the
opportunity to be wide receiver one and a Kyle Shanahan offense,
and that's a guy one.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
He won't be wide receiver one. It's going to be
Jewan Jennings. But I still like Ricky Piersall and I
still would take him on my team. I love Juwan
Jennings and still think Pearsall is going to be a
good value at average draft position, which as I look
at look it up right now, Pierce saul is pick
one hundred and nine overall wide receiver forty five. I
(14:44):
think that's cheap. That's I think that's cheap. I think
that's cheap. That's if it were him or looking at
some of the players around him. I think I would
lean him over Justin Herbert, over Tucker Kraft, over John
hus Smith in Pittsburgh, So yeah, I like, I like
where you're.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Going over your boy, John John.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Well, it's niceke Dono keeps finding himself on teams that
already have a good tight end. Was very frustrating. I'm
tired of that. The next player I'm watching and needs
to have a big training cap. Kansas City running back
Isaiah Pacheco. Last year, he had the broken fibula that
just derailed his whole season, including when he came back
to action after Week thirteen when he looked Matt just feeble.
(15:29):
He didn't score the rest of the year and the
playoffs to the Super Bowl. No touchdowns for him.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Like barely pedestrian. Like pedestrians would make fun of how
slow he was last year.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
That's right, pedestrians only wearing shirts pointing and laughing at
his three point six yard per carry average after the injury.
Dead last in broken tackle rate after the injury at
four percent broken tackle rate. The other ninety six he
was getting tackled on the first hit.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Is that did he break one? Last years?
Speaker 1 (16:01):
That's what it feels like that's what it feels like.
We need to see the old Isaiah Pacheco's not old,
the guy who ran with abandon, who broke tackles, who
drag tacklers, who powered for extra yards, who would fall
forward those three yards that we often talk about, Matt.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Yeah, because he's nine feet because.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
He's nine feet tall. If if Pacheco can return to form,
back to being the reliable starter that he was two
years ago, he was running back eleven in PPR two
years ago, running back thirteen in utilization score, even though
he rarely catches, you know, he's back to being very
fantasy viable. And by the way, a steal at his
(16:42):
at his ADP, which is pick number sixty five, running
back twenty seven. But if he doesn't come back now,
we're gonna get more stupid Kareem Haunt, Elijah Mitchell mucking
up the works. I think we're gonna see Bershard Smith
and they're down anyway, So we could really use big
camp of Isaiah Pacheco looking healthy and ready to roll again. Matt,
(17:05):
your next player up is.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
I've got Jalen Warren of the Steelers, And it was
very much a theme on this show for the last
two years that Jalen Warren in Pittsburgh was just a
flat out better back than Najie Harris and made a
lot of sense going into last year's draft season. But
then Warren kinda pooped the bed. Last year. His yards
per carry dipped from five point three to four point three.
(17:30):
He only scored once. He had twenty three fewer pass
receptions on twenty six fewer targets, And maybe that was
due to in twenty twenty three he had Kenny Pickett
throwing tiny little darts, yeah, just right over the line.
Or maybe it was due to the change in offensive
coordinator and having Arthur Smith and Arthur Smith's there again
(17:54):
this year. Nause is now gone, but they drafted Caleb
Johnson in the third round and Warren has the insight
I track on the job now. But from everything everybody
said about Caleb Johnson, he's a whiz in a zone
blocking scheme. Arthur Smith's offense runs a zone blocking scheme.
Right now, Warren is currently a late eighth or early
ninth round ADP. But if camp doesn't go well for him, yeah,
(18:16):
he could just be the change of pace guy and
all of a sudden Caleb Johnson's getting all the early
down works. So Jalen Warren is a guy who is,
you know, a top ten round player right now, but
he could fall completely out of that with a bad camp.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Caleb Johnson is really interesting to me. I loved him
at Iowa. He was that whole offense defense is knew
that Caleb Johnson was going to come at you and
mass and he was still good. So I'm up the two.
I'm on Caleb Johnson. We will watch Jalen Warren's training
camp closely. I think it's a great addition to the show,
and he does bear watching. We've talked about a second
(18:57):
your receiver in Ricky Pearsall. How about another one from
the same draft class. Buffalo wide receiver Kean Coleman Matt
last year to an early second round pick, and they
need a second wide receiver to step up. You know,
you know I love Khalil Shakir, love him. He was
one of my favorite sleepers last year. But he's not
(19:18):
a number one receiver. He just isn't. I mean, he's
he is a fill in guy for He's just an
ideal second receiver on a team they need. Kean Coleman
to step up. Last year, Coleman just a rotational guy.
He got hurt as well, for he missed a month
of the season that derailed some of his progress. But
he couldn't separate from Amari Cooper who's out of the league,
(19:39):
couldn't separate from Mac Hollins, who they let just walk
away in free agency, and the drops fifteen percent drop
rate last year as a rookie. That's got to get better.
And that's something we got to watch in training camp.
If Kean Coleman's dropping a bunch of passes in training camp,
this this team is not going to feel comfortable. This
coaching staf won't feel comfortable putting him back on the field.
(20:02):
So there's no real competition for him. He just needs
to step up and prove that he can be anywhere
close to the guy who got drafted where he did
two years ago, Josh Palmer, Leviscus Chaneau, Elijah Moore. Just
go beat those guys out. Keon Coleman, have a great
camp and turn into a viable fantasy target. He's his
(20:23):
ADP is ridiculously low. One hundred and forty three wide
receiver now fifty one for Keon Coleman.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
I remember back in the day, way way back in
the day at the old Fanball magazine when you were
running that, you guys had a big article about third
year wide receivers all every year and how that was
the breakout time for all all these wide receivers. That
doesn't happen anymore. You you need to break out in
your tiki or sophomore year or you barely get a
(20:52):
chance in the NFL anymore.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
You are correct, you know, twenty years ago it was
year three, now it's year two. Is the kind of
the make or break year for wide receivers. When we
come back, we've got five more players who need to
have a big camp. Find out who they are when
we return Segment number two Fantasy Football Weekly, Paul Charchie
(21:18):
and Matt Harrison with you talking through the players that
need to have big training camps. And Matt, you've got
a twofer coming up for us.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
I got a twofer because I don't know who's going
to win this battle, or if somebody's gonna win the
battle at all, but I think a lot of it
depends on how they show up in camp. And that's
the two initials, guys.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
R J.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Harvey and JK. Dobbins in Denver. One of these guys
is probably going to get a bigger share of the workload.
He's going to be the b one and what should
be a very good situation in Denver. They got a
halfway decent O line, Their defense should be good. It
should be a lot of running game scripts for them
this year, but it's yet to be seen who that's
gonna be. Despite drafting Harvey in the second round, the
(22:01):
Broncos still felt the need to add to their running
back room and they grab veteran JK. Dobbins off the
scrap heap in June. Dobbins had a decent showing in
a run heavy system with the Chargers last year. He
scored nine times charge what you don't say, finished nine time?
Nine time. There it is, and he might be the
preferred goal line option in this backfield. Harvey's a bit
(22:25):
on the small side, but he's pretty shifty in a
good pass catcher. We probably won't learn much in the
preseason games, but we might find out a bit more
from their joint practices with the Niners and Cardinals in
the first and second week of August. Those tend to
bring out a little bit more intel from the fantasy perspective,
But whoever has the edge and touches is probably going
(22:46):
to finish with a much better return than the current
eighth round ADP for Harvey or eleventh round to ADP
for Dobbins. One of those guys is gonna or maybe
both are going to finish a lot better than that
this season.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
I think Dobbins starts the year and as a reminder,
as a reminder, it up until he got hurt in
I don't It's like week ten or so. Last year, JK.
Dobbins was the leading candidate, the Vegas Line Leader for
Comeback Player of the Year, and then when he came
back off the mcl injury, it just he wasn't the
same guy. And you know, he struggled and the effectiveness
(23:24):
wasn't there, and they went to Gus Edwards and blah
blah blah. I think and Dobbins is young. We think
he's you know, because he's been hurt a lot and
he came in the into the into the the league
at a young age. We think he's old. He's twenty six.
Dobbins is still got, is still a young man, and
I think he's I think he's gonna be He's gonna
hold off our J. Harvey longer than people think. But
(23:45):
as us as you noted, this is what training camp
is for.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
We'll watch the players twenty six, but his legs are
sixty two.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yeah, it's it's been a lot. He's been through a lot,
for sure.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
The next player we'll be watching closely who needs a
big training camp? And I think this one's obvious. The
lowest scoring team last year was the Chicago Bears. Caleb
Williams has to get better in year number two. Needless
to say, struggled a lot last year. At one point,
at one stretch of the season, Matt He went a
month without scoring a touchdown starting quarterback in the NFL.
(24:19):
You know how hard it is to do that these days.
He also absorbed a league worst sixty eight sacks for
a league worst four hundred and sixty six yards. You
remember some of those times when he was trying to
scramble away from a sack and then running backwards and
then taking more losses, And yeah, he had four different
games with seven or more sacks. That's hard to do.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Caleb Williams Pro Football focuses thirty second ranked quarterback last year. Matt,
how many NFL teams are there?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
There are thirty two? Charge, I thank you.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Very much for that. I was I lost track briefly.
That makes him the lowest rated starting quarterback. Best thing
we saw from Caleb Williams last year just six interceptions.
That's pretty good for a rookie season.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
It's because he doesn't throw the ball. He just gets.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Sacked a lot. Yeah, maybe that's it. So the transition
is going to be from last year's coaching staff Matt
Eberflus and Shane Waldron and then Thomas Brown. You'll remember
he finished out the season for that. So now they
get Ben Johnson, So you know, it's a huge delta
in coaching staff and Johnson arguably the most successful offensive
(25:29):
coordinator in the league last year. So this should be
ultimately a good transition for Caleb Williams, but it could
be a difficult transition. Stylistically, what they had asked from
Caleb Williams last year is going to be nothing like
what Ben Johnson is going to be asking this year.
And we've seen it in these first few days of
(25:50):
training camp, where Williams looked bad and nobody's reading too
much into July training camp performances, but he has not
looked good to this point. I want to see how
he does here. I think we're gonna be looking at
a low volume season from Kayla Williams because I believe
that they're gonna want to be thoughtful about how much
(26:11):
they use him. So we'll be watching that for sure.
We'll find out how he looks. I think it's gonna just, hey,
Ben Johnson's gonna ask him, just get the ball in
the hands of your playmakers, get the ball into the
hands of Dj Moore and Romadoons and Colson Lovelin, and
just don't make dumb decisions. Be efficient. Efficiency does not always,
unfortunately equal fantasy points. But yeah, that's that's what I
(26:35):
think is heading our way.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Man.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
Well, and you segued perfectly into my next guy, because
you know, the Bears need to get the ball in
the hands of their playmakers, and Roshan Johnson might be
one of their playmakers this year. And when Ben Johnson
became Detroit's offensive coordinator in twenty twenty two, he had
DeAndre Swift as his running back. Yeah, what do you
do to He saw him for one year and he
(27:00):
made sure to trade Swift to Philly that next year.
Philly let him go after one decent season there in
favor of Saquon and I don't blame him, but he
ended up in Chicago last year was well below average.
He stays in Chicago. Ben Johnson's reunited, but he Johnson
didn't mind seeing him leave after watching him for just
one year. So that brings us to Roshan Johnson. He's
(27:22):
entering his third season. He was a fourth round pick
out of Texas. He had a few flashes in year one.
Last year, he scored six touchdowns, mostly in short yardage,
and most of his yardage was short yardage situations. That's
why you only managed two point seven yards per carry.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
That's how he read because so many of them were
short yardage carries. I agree.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
He did have thirty four catches in his rookie season,
which wasn't terrible for a guy who was battling with
two or three other running backs ahead of him. So
but in twenty twenty four, it was just really bad
for the whole Bears offense. So I think we can
wash this one off. But let's see if Rochan pops
and can. He's six feet tall in two twenty seven.
(28:02):
DeAndre Swift is five eight and two twelve. Anyone on
the Bears is going to play the bigger David Montgomery
Lions role, and it's not the David Montgomery Bears role,
because that's different. It's gonna be Rochean Montgomery scored thirteen
and twelve touchdowns in the last two seasons in a
Ben Johnson offense. That's just rushing touchdowns.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Not saying that that's a certainty or anything that we
can project, but Rochan had six last year. If he
shows up in camp and he shows well enough and
we believe that that Bears offense improves enough to be respectable,
we're looking at eight touchdowns for Rochan and that's a
flexworthy player in most leagues.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
I think that's light. The last time DeAndre Swift was
in a Ben Johnson offense, Jamal Williams scored eighteen touchdowns.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
I think Roshan Johnson sitting on double digituchuns he could.
I believe that's the case. All right. Our final player
that needs a big training camp Tampa Bay wide receiver Amikaka.
Now this I like we said only one rookie. This
is the only rookie, but his situation is fascinating and
it's really important. And let me mention this at the outset.
(29:21):
Here is what Baker Mayfield said a day ago about Egbuka,
and we've all were used to Okay, let me let
me preface this by saying, Matt, we know players lie
and always, always, always say good things about their teammates.
But there's good things and then there's amazing things. Listen
(29:43):
to this and tell me how much you think this
is just players speak versus reality. Baker Mayfield said Egbuka
has yack potential out the wazoo.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
You don't get that make up. That's that's not like, oh,
he's real good.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
He also described him as quote an absolute stud. So
I think I look, Chris Godwin not able to practice.
So let's talk this through. And this is why Amika
Buca's training camp is so important. He could pound nails
into Chris Godwin's career right here. You know, Godwin is
(30:25):
unlikely to start the season after that devastating ankle injury
from last year, and Godwin was doing great last season
running from the slot. He was getting targeted nine times
per game, nine nine times. So now Godwin isn't is
unable to start the season. Abuka ran eighty one percent
(30:45):
of his routes last year from the slot. He's going
to walk right into the Godwin role. And how many
targets will he get? Nine times? Nine times per game?
If he looks good in this training camp and builds
the trust to become a go to receiver. Now, Agbuca
NFL ready. Everybody believes it because he was highly productive
(31:08):
for years at Ohio State. Despite having elite level receivers
around him, he was still a hugely productive and the
coaches at Ohio State said his football IQ was already
at NFL level. He was the Ohio State team captain,
perfectionist on and off the field. If that coach comes
through in this training camp, Amika Agbuka sitting on potentially
(31:32):
a very good and hot start to his season.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
I like that one a lot.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
I hope I've built my case for a great training
camp for Amika Agbuka.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Well, I hope he's listening and he's like, dang, you
know what, Church is right? I could really go take
the league by storm if I have a good training camp.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Absolutely, let's hope that's the case.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Great motivator.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Well, thank you. We're gonna do out. We're gonna try
to move some draft positions here on these guys, and
you know we're out. But not all of these guys
are we necessarily personally high on. We're just saying with
these players that we think need to have a really
big training camp, they've got something to prove. There you go,
ten different players right there. Eleven if you count your
Bogo in Denver's backfield.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
Yeah, I'm excited about Denver's backfield this year. I think
they could be a real interesting team.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
I think they're gonna be an interesting team, But I
don't think I want any part of the backfield so
much other than Dobbins, who I think is a great value.
Let me double check his ADP while we're chatting right now.
Dobbins coming off the board at round one hundred and eleven,
running back thirty nine. Yeah, amazing. Also amazing. All the
stuff that you can get at Fantasy Life, tons of
(32:42):
great content and tools, including the Utilization Score, which we
love and is worth the price of your subscription just
for the utilization report. Incredibly important to see who's getting
the ball and who is not. Also Guillotine leagues dot
Com up and running. You've got you can get in
some get in some free leagues right now, can get
some drafting going. See if you see if you love
(33:02):
the guillotine format. We talk about it all the time.
Of course we love guillotine leagues. You have the opportunity
to join free leagues right now. Get your feet wet.
See if it's right for you.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
Awesome, All right, Matt, Guillotine league again this year. I
don't have a draft set yet, but I got to
get into a couple.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Yeah, we'll get you in for for sure, no doubt
it'll that'll be. That'll be a piece of cake. Thanks
for listening, everybody. We'll be back next week with more
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