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The Boy's are Back in Town!
23 Plays4 months ago
After taking a break last season, Grant and Steve are back and excited to be talking about Fantasy Football for another season! The boys welcome you back to a new season of fantasy football and get you excited for the upcoming season. Grant and Steve dive into some of the key pieces of news that you may have missed this offseason and the injuries that are already starting to show up. This episode they also take a look at some of the major player moves that happened this offseason and break them down into the moves you should care about, the moves you shouldn't care about, moves you should be watching, and then the player moves that may be up for debate.
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Transcript
Season Premiere: Return of 'Talkin' Fantasy Football' with Steve and Grant
00:00:42
Speaker
Oh, it feels so good to be back here, Steven. Grant, it feels so good. I'm your host, Steve Johnson. Grant Freeman is here with me. And we are back for another season of Talkin' Fantasy Football. Life got a little crazy for us last year. Grant is kind of a big deal at his job now. And so he got real busy. I was meanwhile traveling all over the place, doing work all over the country. and we It just didn't work out to record last season, so we took a year off. We weren't sure if we'd ever be back, but here we are. We're back for another season. Grant, how does it feel to be back in a chair?
00:01:17
Speaker
It feels really good to be back in the chair. This was something that I think was ah was caught on my heart of like wanting to get back into it and start doing it again. and so You have been off being Mr. Jet Center across the continental United States and I have been diving into a new job that has taken a lot of time and effort to learn the ropes. but We're back, and it's exciting to be back and doing something that we love. We really love um doing stuff like this, so it's it's it's a lot of fun. I love talking fake football, so bear with us as we get back into the groove. We got we gotta to get our chops back after taking a year off, but
New Podcast Philosophy: Longevity over Weekly Advice
00:01:56
Speaker
we're back. We're here. We're good to go. We're talking about a new podcast format slightly this year, not so much changing the structure of the podcast.
00:02:03
Speaker
But more of the philosophy of what we are trying to accomplish with this podcast, as Grant and I were discussing things, ah we were trying to cover a little bit of everything. And this season, we're going to try to cover a lot of of fewer things. Is that a fair way to put it, Grant? I think that's probably the best way to put it. It's it's the idea that we're no longer, we're moving away from more of the, like,
00:02:30
Speaker
trying to set you up for success for fantasy beginners and more so of like, let's just like a look at the longevity. Like how do you, like making sure that you aren't burning yourself out, making sure you're still having fun, doing those things that really go help make fantasy football go the distance to where you can have leagues that go for five, six, seven, eight years, things like that.
00:02:53
Speaker
100% agree. So one of the things we're going to be doing this season is we're going to be looking more in depth at kind of the way we view the game of fantasy. How do we look at matchups? How do we evaluate players? What kinds of things go into the thought process ah behind setting our lineups? um How do we how do we make harder decisions?
00:03:12
Speaker
And then we'll get into some discussion about managing leagues, because we've both been doing this for a while. We've both had leagues disband in positive ways and negative ways. We've both ran leagues that are really fun to run. We've both run leagues that are really not fun to run. And so we want to we want to go to more of a high level view of the game of fantasy.
00:03:32
Speaker
instead of, there's there's a lot of great podcasts out there that are going to give you weekly start stit advice that have access to better stats than we have, that have access to better news than we have. So we don't want to try to offer you a lower quality product of something that's already out there. We want to offer something new. And so that's what we're going to try to do this season as we, as we re spark the 25 yard line.
00:03:57
Speaker
ah Unfortunately, i like I don't have access to like Adam Schefter and Ian Rappaport and those guys on ah on a regular basis, like some of our other some of those other fantasy football podcasts do. So you should listen to them for more of the insider and the injury news.
00:04:14
Speaker
Yep. But we're going to hear, we're going to be here. We're going to talk about fantasy football and hopefully it's going to be fun and productive. And so with that grant, are you ready to jump into another season of NFL fantasy football? I so am. Well, you know what?
Frustrations from Last Season's Fantasy Football
00:04:30
Speaker
Let's take a minute. How did you do last season, Steven? We don't need to talk about last season. I had, I had maybe the most frustrating. So, you know, how there's some seasons where you You know, pretty early on, like your best players go down and you, uh, you, you're just out from the beginning. It's like, all right. Well, I i tried my best. There's nothing I could do. but Last year was not that year for me. I was at the top of most of my leagues for most of the regular season. And then just simultaneously across the board and every league I was in, my teams just fell apart in the playoffs. I had yeah
00:05:07
Speaker
first round buys in over half my leagues and, uh, got eliminated in the next round of literally every league where I had to buy. Yeah. and It was, it was a frustrating and disappointing and to what felt like a year where I was going to walk away with three, four championships and it turned into zero. Yep.
00:05:29
Speaker
But the good news is we don't have to look back, Grant, because I know you had i know you had a similar year to me last year, right? I did. I So you and I, you you you're right. we We kind of had similar years where we had so I had some strong teams throughout the season.
00:05:49
Speaker
There was a couple, there was one league where I think it was just dumb luck that I kind of had the record that I did because I was in that league because I outscored you by like 300 points on the season. Yeah. But I think I finished that league with like a 12 and two record, which was wild. Hot garbage. um But yeah, so again, strong season ended up in playoffs and even in the championship of a few leagues. in And on all of them, I think I only walked away with one and it was the new work league that I was in. So yeah, you did.
00:06:23
Speaker
lots That was exciting there. ah But you know what was actually kind of depressing is I actually had my first like league where like I actually care about it because it's all like friends that I have played with for a long time and ah I was the worst guy in the league.
00:06:41
Speaker
o Ooh. When we started getting down into like clinching playoff spots, we had like a week and a half, like two weeks left in the regular season. I was the only person that had been mathematically eliminated from a playoff spot. That's a rough spot. There were still 11 teams fighting for a playoff spot.
00:07:04
Speaker
That's a rough spot to be in, Grant. We'll have good news for you. That season is over. And we are moving into bigger and better things this year. This is going to be a fun year. But I do have one
Minnesota Vikings' Challenges and Player Injuries
00:07:14
Speaker
question for you. As we as we get into it, we are still going to talk about some news on the show. Yeah, of course. I have one question for you as we talk about some of the major news of the offseason. And that is this, Grant.
00:07:27
Speaker
Is there a fan this offseason that has it worse than the Minnesota Vikings?
00:07:35
Speaker
ah I mean, maybe the like maybe the Steelers, because of that whole quarterback situation, but like I don't think anybody's anywhere close to the what the Vikings are currently going through, unfortunately. So JJ McCarthy, rookie quarterback for the Vikings, is done for the year.
00:07:56
Speaker
I believe he no longer has ligaments in his leg. I think they're going to have to rebuild them mechanically from from parts of robots. ah Yeah, he's yeah. So toward meniscus in the right knee. What they originally thought was just a like slight tear was actually like a full tear. And so now instead of JJ McCarthy under the helm to start the season in Minnesota, you get to roll with Sam Darnold.
00:08:27
Speaker
No one wants to do that. No one wants to do that. yeah So obviously, this is huge. like We didn't know what JJ McCarthy was going to be this season. yeah But he is the guy that they drafted to lead this team. They were scheming around him. They were building this ah offense around him. yeah Until about a week ago, the plan of the offseason was to have JJ McCarthy leading this offense. And we know what Sam Darnold is.
00:08:56
Speaker
Yeah, he he has spurts where he's really productive and really useful, but he's not long term going to be a productive quarterback for an NFL franchise or he would have done it by now. He's been in more positive situations than this.
00:09:11
Speaker
He's been in less positive situations than this, and he's always kind of been the same okay player who can support ye some inconsistent fantasy success from the players around him, but none himself. that Is that fair to say? I think that's probably the most accurate representation of Sam Darnold as you can get.
00:09:36
Speaker
So before we get into the next little bit of um of Vikings news, I do want to know how this is affecting your take on the Vikings playmakers. We'll get into some of them a little bit later, but they're often stacked right now at every position except the most important one. Obviously, Justin Jefferson being the primary one just coming off of a huge deal last year becoming the the highest paid non quarterback in NFL history.
00:10:04
Speaker
and was consensus last season, the number one wide receiver this season, not quite consensus, but a top three number one, number one overall pick for most fantasy for a lot of leagues. Yeah. Last season, this season for sure. A top five player, even prior to this injury was maybe slipping down to to three or four, but overall ah highly touted wide receiver the best to do it in the league. what Where are you taking Justin Jefferson? Or is he still a top five player for you? well How are you handling him? I mean, I think he ran
00:10:43
Speaker
Unfortunately, like I think it takes a hit, but I don't know if it's a big enough hit to really drop him out of the first round for me. Yeah, absolutely not. I think if I could get him late first round, like i'd be I'd be comfortable with that. So I think using a top like four pick on him I think would be too early. So that I guess that's that's really my question here.
00:11:10
Speaker
what players are you taking over him? I've got the i've got the ADP open right now. I'm using rotowire.com. that They have an aggregate of a lot of the major fantasy apps. It's pulling ADPs from Sleeper, yeah ESPN, and a few others. ah But those are the two big ones that matter. um Right now, Justin Jefferson is still Averaging about the number four receiver. He's falling though. Yeah, so um Right now he's going ahead of Jamar Chase. Are you okay with that? I think I'll still take Jamar Chase. I would take chase as well. I'm in Ross ain't brown ah Absolutely. I'm in Ross ain't brown same Bijon Robinson
00:11:58
Speaker
I think right here with Bijon, Breeze Hall, where you start getting these running backs, I think is where I could see an argument to take him. Yeah, I agree. Personally, I um i think he's fallen even a little bit more for me, but I don't yeah hate that opinion. I would rather have Bijon Breeze and AJ Brown.
00:12:22
Speaker
10 is Jameer Gibbs right now in ADP, and that's, I think, where I'd feel comfortable taking him. And I think I'm probably in a minority in that. And so I think what that means is I'm just not going to have Justin Jefferson on any teams this year. Yeah. I think that's the same probably for me. He's, he's.
00:12:39
Speaker
definitely good enough to be quarterback proof. But what you didn't really get with Kirk Cousins and what you probably weren't going to get with JJ McCarthy were those games that are just four interceptions, 130 yards, zero touchdowns from a quarterback. And that's a very real possibility on a regular basis. There's also a very real chance that Kevin O'Connell, head coach of the Vikings,
00:13:02
Speaker
decides we're just going to be a run heavy team this year. We're going to take some dump offs to our all pro tight end T.J. Hawkinson. And they're not pushing the ball deep. And so we don't know how many of those deep targets Justin Jefferson is going to get where he really thrives in the jump ball environment where where his quarterback is giving him a ah one on one chance to beat a defender downfield. It just seems like there's going to be less of those chances.
00:13:30
Speaker
yeah
00:13:32
Speaker
Well, Vikings drama isn't over yet. Talk to me about Jordan Addison, who is also ah in some hot water.
Off-field Issues: Jordan Addison's Potential Suspension
00:13:41
Speaker
Yeah, so this was like the really, so like, so the JJ McCarthy news is one thing, but the Jordan Addison news was shocking in, I think it was July, ah ended up ah being arrested on suspicion of DUI in l LA because his Rolls Royce was just parked in the middle of the 105 freeway headed towards LAX.
00:14:11
Speaker
Like, not like, and again, this isn't, he wasn't swerving, he wasn't driving, it was literally stationary in the middle of the freeway. just And he was asleep in the car.
00:14:25
Speaker
Yeah, just ah just a stupid decision by him. um We don't know for sure that he's missing time yet. But that seems incredibly likely at this point, right? Yeah. I mean, i you you typically see this with the NFL is they wait for the court process to play out. And then from there, they make their decision.
00:14:50
Speaker
But realistically, he's going to like the the there's going to be some sort of of of ah consequence with the state of California that he's going to have to face. And unfortunately, it's probably gonna come at the expense of anywhere from six to ten games with the NFL.
00:15:14
Speaker
Yep. His I mean, it's worth noting that the legal proceedings are likely not coming until much later into the season. So if there is a chance of a suspension, if the NFL does decide to wait until all the legal proceedings are done there, there is a possibility that that might not come until after the season, but I am not counting on it, especially with a charge as serious as this. He's looking at a potential six months in jail.
00:15:43
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not. I'm not looking to draft him in any leagues. Hey, I'm the guy that has them in a dynasty league.
00:15:57
Speaker
Yeah, he's still going. I mean, he's falling in ADP, but he's still going as in the first 10 rounds. Yeah. That's just, there's so much value in those picks, especially towards the the eighth, ninth round. That's, it's just such a big risk. But again, like he, he also falls into the same category as Justin Jefferson now of like, you don't have a quarterback that you really trust or feel confident in. So why would you, why are you going to put that same trust in, in a wide receiver in that offense?
00:16:31
Speaker
who Yeah, guys going after him right now in ADPR, um Nick Chubb. You could take a run on him for when he gets back. a Yeah, Marquis Brown, Javante Williams, Zach Moss, Deontay Johnson, all guys that we'll talk about in a little bit. But there's there are options with some high Curtis Samuels going after than him.
00:16:58
Speaker
there's There's just a lot of a lot of potential upside players coming after him. And I think we know what his peak is. And at best with Sam Donald at quarterback, I think he's going to be a boomer bust, touchdown dependent, wide receiver three. Absolutely. Absolutely. There's guys going after him that could be a weekly starter if if they hit.
00:17:24
Speaker
, and i've got some viking fans in my life that have already just given up on the season all i got it' like lets which like in the in the like like in the past for the nfc north like It's usually been Lions fans, it's usually been Bears fans that have had to deal with this. And like the Vikings have usually stayed middle of the road, very quiet, like could always count on them. And now it's like you're getting into the news for all the wrong reasons.
00:18:01
Speaker
Well, Grant, talk to me about Rondell Moore for a minute, another another injury. Yeah. So unfortunately, Rondale Moore is done for the season before the season has even started. He
Rondale Moore's Season-ending ACL Tear
00:18:15
Speaker
unfortunately tore his ACL during joint practices with the Dolphins back at the beginning of the month, which is brutal because here's a guy, here's a young wide receiver that I think was never really, get like never really had a quarterback to work with in Arizona since Kyler Murray was hurt. Whoa, whoa, you keep Kyler's name out of your mouth.
00:18:42
Speaker
ah but ah no so Again, here's a guy that I think had was was coming into a good was coming into a good situation because there really isn't a fully clear wide receiver one in Atlanta. what You mean wide receiver two because Drake London. Drake London, sorry, my apologies. Can you tell that it's been a year and a half since we last recorded? You just forgot Drake London existed.
00:19:11
Speaker
Well, I forgot Drake London existed because Arthur Smith's offense has been so bad with wide receivers for so for for three years. But your point is well taken that he did make Drake London forgettable. However, this is a depth chart where the wide receiver two position was was very wide open for the taking. You've got Darnell Mooney. You've got Ray Ray McLeod there and and you've got Rondell Moore and it really seemed like Darnell Mooney and Rondell Moore were were in a wide open competition for the third most targets on an offense that could potentially be very good this year. Yeah, absolutely.
00:19:53
Speaker
Well now you know how I feel about Darnell Mooney. But let's move on to a little bit more. Let's talk some contracts briefly. Brandon Ayuk has a team to play for this year. Is it the Patriots. It's not the Patriots. Thankfully.
00:20:08
Speaker
But the most recent reports is that it's either the Niners or the Steelers, which is wild to think about. yeah um But the Steelers The most recent report was the Steelers didn't weren't willing to give up enough capital or didn't didn't have a didn't really have a a a receiver on that they would be willing to give up for a deal like this. But the Niners are now also back into the like back into the contract negotiation stage and getting closer to a deal potentially. so
00:20:54
Speaker
It's as a Niners fan. It's just been so frustrating to watch. I'll see off season. Yeah, it's it's frustrating because this is a player who is. One of the best wide receiver twos in the league, but he's looking for he's looking for wide receiver one money and yeah, which which is which is wild.
00:21:20
Speaker
yeah Like, even as a Niners fan, knowing the value that he brings to the team, it's wild for him to be looking for a market setting contract. Yeah, and at this point, there's the league is not wide receiver hungry. there's There's not a team in the league right now that you would say is just desperate for wide receivers. Is a wide receiver away from being a contender?
00:21:46
Speaker
right yeah I mean you've got you've got New England is desperate for wide receivers but they don't even have a quarterback so yeah they got to figure out a quarterback situation they've got other issues ah I mean maybe Buffalo but there's there's not a situation that is just desperate to get a brand and I you can pay him stupid amounts of money when he has a real chance of winning in a Super Bowl in in San Francisco and he's been offered real money. I think the last offer I saw was what about 30 million a year from from the Niners and he's looking for closer to 40 million in the 38 range.
00:22:27
Speaker
Come on man, come on. Yeah, he's he's looking for a deal in the range of what like a CD lamb or Jamar Chase or somebody like that would get. And unfortunately, because of his usage in the Niners, the way that he's used in the Niners ah offense, he's not gonna see that type of money. No, he's not. He's at best their fourth their fourth target behind Deebo Samuel Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle.
00:22:52
Speaker
Yeah. um So before before we go a little more big picture with that, let's just briefly touch on CD-Lam and Dak, also both looking for extensions. yeah
Cowboys' Contract Negotiations: Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb
00:23:03
Speaker
And Jerry Jones just doesn't care about winning. He just wants to win enough to make money. Jerry Jones is the most... odd owner in the NFL for somebody that every year talks such a big game about wanting to win a championship, but then nickels and dimes everybody on the team.
00:23:27
Speaker
is that Is that a fair assessment? 1,000%. And you know what? I'm i'm fine with Jerry saying Dak has shown us that he's a great regular season quarterback, but he can't win in the postseason. And we're looking for a championship. If that's what he wants to come out and say, no, this is Dak's last year here. We're going to let him play this year, and then we're going to move on for him. We're going to put the value on whether or not he can get that playoff win.
00:23:55
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. if That's what Jerry wants to do. Or if he's going to just straight up say he's shown he can't win in the playoffs. We're moving on next year. We're going to either look to the draft, look to trade around, look to look to get a veteran to come in. Maybe, maybe they want to move on from Dak. What baffles me is in what world are you going to get rid of seedd land in yeah either of those situations either dac is your guy and you're putting it on him and you're going with him that he he's got to get you to the playoffs he does every year he'll get you there and then he loses so he's just got to get over that playoff hump and you run with that or you go he's not our guy he's he's gonna get us a lot of division titles he's gonna get us a lot of wild card spots and that's all he's gonna get us and that's not good enough to be a Dallas cowboy that's a fine take to have
00:24:50
Speaker
I have you no issues with that. But in what world do you want to get a, let's call him a Kirk Cousins to come into this team and not give him CD lamb to work with? Let's say Baker Mayfield, if they're going to get a veteran, let's say Geno Smith in the future. If you're going to get a veteran to come into this team because you think that maybe they can do better than that can, then those three names I just named, i don't I don't know that they're the right names to do that. But if you're going to bring someone like that in,
00:25:19
Speaker
Why do you not want CD lamb there? It it just blows my mind. Like CD lamb would be the first person that I would have given an extension to the minute that there was like extension talk started. Yep. Because no matter what you lock him up and then it doesn't matter who the quarterback is because he's a good enough wide receiver to make whoever your quarterback is that much better.
00:25:43
Speaker
Right. It's, it's, it's insane. So, I mean, I think we agree that Jerry Jones is is insane, but, um, let's kind of big picture this for a second here. Yeah.
Impact of Contracts on Draft Positions: CeeDee Lamb and Brandon Aiyuk
00:25:55
Speaker
We've got Ayuk. We've got Dak. We've got CD lamb. When you are evaluating contract issues with players, how much does that affect your,
00:26:10
Speaker
view of their draft position. Right now, CD lamb is is the number three overall number two wide receiver in ADP where he's going. I've also been like been seeing him argued as being number one. Yeah, I honestly don't have an issue with that. Yeah. ah So how how are you? I guess I played my hand a little bit early, but how are you letting how are you letting this affect your view of these players?
00:26:38
Speaker
I mean, I think CD lamb like you're taking a risk with CD lamb if you dropped in top five because obviously if he continues to hold out into the season, you're losing him for those games. But the minute he comes back, he's he's the guy that you've always wanted him to be. And he's going to go out and put it like potentially win you a league.
00:27:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I agree in general with what you're saying, but I also I don't think it's affecting my view of CD at all. And let me let me kind of clarify a little bit. I don't think he's going to hold out into the season because players don't do that. He's not costing himself anything holding out in the preseason. But like, guys, don't don't hold out into the regular season more than like once every 10 years or so, every once in a while. Yeah, I guess like it was Chris Jones last year, hell out for the first game. Yeah, but I mean, he was always going to sign. It was, it was a, yeah. It's a, it's a, yeah. When, I mean, when was the last one before Chris Jones?
00:28:00
Speaker
Oh gosh, I don't even know. Yeah, exactly. I'm pulling up a list right now. um Maybe Levy on Bell? Yeah, maybe. That's probably a safe bet. When he when he held out for the full season? Yeah. um And how did that work out for him? I think that was a cautionary tale. Yeah, right. It didn't. Yeah.
00:28:26
Speaker
Where I put this as a qualifier, when you have a CD lamb who is obviously one of the absolute best talents in the league and is on a team with an established role and an established relationship with his quarterback,
00:28:41
Speaker
Yeah. It'll take him a game or two to get up to speed. Yeah. he He's got the same coach from last year. He's not learning a new offensive scheme. He's not building relationships with players. That offense runs through him. I don't think he's gonna take that much of a hit. I do worry about Brandon Ayuk and his value for the reason that Kyle Shanahan's offense is so strategically schemed in a way that maybe only Andy Reid is comparable when it comes to to offensive schemes. The play designs are just so much more complex and so yeah
00:29:19
Speaker
If Brandon Ayuk is not there for offseason workouts, if he's not there for preseason games, if he's not there in training camp, they're not scheming him into these plays. no And in a Kyle Shanahan offense, you rarely just get the ball.
00:29:39
Speaker
especially with Brock Purdy is is a phenomenal quarterback in Kyle Shanahan system, but he's not he's not Aaron Rodgers. He's not making plays and extending them down the road and finding guys where they're not there there. I he's a system quarterback and I don't mean that as an insult the way a lot of people do. He fits perfectly in Kyle Shanahan system. And if that system does not account for Brandon Ayuk, Brandon Ayuk is not going to be touching the ball as much as he would like.
00:30:07
Speaker
Well, and that's and that's and that's exactly the thing that you've started seeing is like Juwan Jennings like was a great third down back for him, was scheming into a lot of stuff last year. Juwan Jennings is a guy that they put a lot of value in because they ended up signing, they ended up giving him, re-signing him this offseason because he fits so well in the Shanahan scheme that you can see Juwan Jennings move up the depth chart to that ah wide receiver two spot.
00:30:35
Speaker
And then a guy like a Trent Taylor or their. um
00:30:42
Speaker
Or Ricky Pearsall slide into that wide receiver three spot like. Absolutely could happen. um I'm nervous about you if this continues much longer. Right now he's going twenty seventh in ADP ahead of Isaiah Pacheco.
00:31:02
Speaker
Um, wild to me. Wild to me. I would, I would, I would take Pacheco or Evans before I would take IU. Yeah, I think I would too, Evans. I'm fine with my homes going after him. Deebo Samuel is going after him. um which that's That's what I've always, I've never understood the way that that like the drafting of Niners wide receivers has worked out. I know. Because Deebo's always clearly been the wide receiver one, but he's always drafted after IU. Yeah, I think.
00:31:32
Speaker
I think because of his injury history, people are just worried about him getting hurt. And you know what? Let me say this about Debo Samuel and then we'll move on from the Niners. He's going to get hurt this year, but the 12 games you have him, he's going to do really positive for eight of those games. He's going to make or break your week. Yeah.
00:31:51
Speaker
So you can promise me eight good games from from a wide receiver. um I don't know that you're guaranteed that with Ayuk. The talent is there, the ability is there, but I just don't i don't. I don't know if this doesn't get resolved quickly. If he doesn't start getting more time, it's at least going to be a late start for him.
00:32:10
Speaker
And then if they trade him mid season, if they trade him after the preseason, then he's going into a new offense, learning a new scheme, no chemistry or relationship with the quarterback. There's just not a lot of upside for IU if this continues. Yeah.
00:32:25
Speaker
All right. Well, let's move on to our main topic of the week. Um, spend, uh, we'll, we'll kind of just move quickly through some of these moves just to highlight some of the things that have happened this past off season and evaluate how we think it's going to affect that player's value. So let's first, this will, was this probably the most, like the biggest off season of moves that we've seen in sometimes.
Offseason Player Moves and Fantasy Impacts
00:32:53
Speaker
Dude, it's it's been pretty... I don't think I've seen this many different players moving to new teams in one-off season.
00:33:02
Speaker
Yeah, I think the way we have to evaluate this past offseason, because we're coming off of a season where Aaron Rodgers moved teams. So that's we I don't feel that we had a big splashy move like that. Maybe Kirk Cousins to the Falcons, but it's nowhere near the Aaron Rodgers switching teams level or we had Brady to the Bucks a few years ago. Yeah. So in that sense, those seasons were probably more memorable. But let me let me tell you, if you are someone who
00:33:31
Speaker
finishes your fantasy championship and turns off notifications on your sleeper yeah ESPN app. And then a week or two before the draft, you download the app again and start listening to a couple podcasts. This is a season where you're going to be super confused.
00:33:47
Speaker
because there have been a lot of semi big name players. We haven't had the blockbuster moves this year, but there are a lot of players where I promise you, if you have not been following this offseason closely, you're going to go, wait, what? When you're when you start looking at some of these teams. So we just want to have a little overview. Yeah. And it's it's even like if you take if you were to take the guys out of the top 20 like ADP last year,
00:34:15
Speaker
and take that list and look at some of the names that we're gonna go. and we're gonna and well And then we look at some of the names that are about to go through. like Probably about half of them ended up moving teams this year. Yeah. Yeah, a lot of players that maybe didn't seem like they were gonna be moving moved this year. So let's just highlight a handful of them. We we don't wanna run too long, so we're not gonna get super in-depth on any of these players, hopefully, if I can shut my mouth.
00:34:45
Speaker
But we we do just want to kind of highlight some moves that we think are are positive moves. And I want to say positive moves because I don't necessarily know that all of these are better situations than the situations they were in before. But they're at least it's a fair assessment. These players are moving to a team where we think they can have some real value.
00:35:07
Speaker
Yeah. We're also going to look at some names that you don't really care about anymore. And this is an important category because again, if you are not a serious fantasy football player, you might see a name you recognize and go, that player was good for me. And then you draft that player and it's important to know they're not the same player. You need to reevaluate every season.
00:35:28
Speaker
And we'll highlight a couple players that we think are worth keeping an eye on if they fall to you in the draft, probably worth grabbing and put some some hope and a prayer and maybe grab a few of them. And then we'll talk about some players that I think are debatable. Whether they are in a good situation or a bad situation, or I guess whether their situation has improved or or degraded.
00:35:52
Speaker
So let's let's talk about some let's talk about some players in positive positions, Grant. Why don't you walk us through um some of these players, where what team they went to, and why we think it's a positive situation for them.
00:36:06
Speaker
ah Yeah, obviously, first up on the list that we were kind of talking about is ah Joe Mixon, which was I was actually surprised by that the Bengals let him go because that running game in Cincinnati ran through him. And it's what helped keep Joe Burrow on his feet a little bit because they could go between the the play action, things like that. so He ends up now in Houston, which I think is huge for them because here you go with an established running back to now help your your years your sophomore quarterback in CJ Stroud.
00:36:48
Speaker
and ah Realistically, we thought that the running game in Houston would be would have some opportunities last year. Damian Pierce and their rookies there, but it never really panned out. Now you get Joe Mixon, who is ah is a career 1,000-yard rusher, and you put him with CJ Stroud now. like You have yourself a solid three-down back to utilize on um in the game in their game plan.
00:37:19
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. He should be a workhorse back in an offense that is explosive and it is worth reminding anyone listening. The Texans offense last year when CJ Stroud was was going, which he was going for most of the season, this offense was explosive.
00:37:39
Speaker
and it's their, their wide receiver core is stacked right now. They've got Dalton Schultz at tight end there. This team is not the Texans of two years ago. No, this is a dangerous team titaneeb has seen a huge Texans back their Texas mid season form.
00:37:59
Speaker
Yeah, this Texas team has seen a huge, huge, huge bounce back and improvement just in a season and a half under D'Amico Ryans. And it shows because the front office is making like is back to making good moves.
00:38:17
Speaker
Yeah. A hundred percent. um And Damien Pierce, obviously there was some hype around him last year. He just didn't pan out. I'm not worried at all about him eating in on Joe Mixon's touches. I do think he will see some time on the field just to spell Joe Mixon a little bit with, with Mixon's injury history. I'm not envisioning mixing, getting 30 touches a game, but somewhere in the, in the 22 to 25 touches a game, which is a really good spot to be with a running back of Joe Mixon's caliber.
00:38:49
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Joe Mixon's only 28, so he's got a couple couple years where he could be still prime Joe Mixon left. Yep. So let's move on. I'm going to jump around on our list a little bit. um I apologize.
Zach Moss to Bengals: High-End RB2 Potential
00:39:05
Speaker
So Zach Moss, you mentioned the Bengals being willing to move on from Joe Mixon and your confusion with that. Man, I think they were targeting Zach Moss.
00:39:21
Speaker
Yeah, but it's like the the issue though is like you had him in in Buffalo for the last two seasons and just could never really get going, which like Sure, i think I think he's got the talent to be to be a top 20 running back, but he's still yet so unproven because you haven't seen it out of him in two and a half, three seasons in Buffalo.
00:39:55
Speaker
Yeah, I definitely think um his early seasons were were challenging in Buffalo. What we saw out of him when a team was able to utilize him last year in his time with the c Colts was
00:40:13
Speaker
so impressive. The way Jonathan Taylor was was out, Zach Moss came in, and the Colts offense didn't skip a beat in terms of the run game. Obviously, their passing game took took a hit with Richardson being out for a large portion of the year. But Zach Moss looked really freaking good in an offense that that utilized him effectively.
00:40:38
Speaker
And when is Buffalo used a running back effectively? Most recently, Fred Taylor. OJ. Yeah, right. we're We're talking about, we're talking about a long gap. so There's been a lot of running backs that would have been talented come through Buffalo and not been effective because Buffalo doesn't really need a good running back. That's true.
00:41:02
Speaker
So I like Zach Moss. He is gonna share some touches with Chase Brown behind him, but I'm not concerned about that. This offense, this is another offense. The same way we're talking about Joe Mixon, I think we should be having the same conversation about Zach Moss. Because this offense is so explosive that you just, you cannot stack the box against Zach Moss.
00:41:28
Speaker
You, you need to cover their plethora of talented pass catchers, including Mike Gosecki coming in now. And currently Zach Moss is going around the 10th round and 10 teams league, 10 team leagues.
00:41:46
Speaker
I just don't see any reason why you can't take him there. And worst case scenario, you get a flex option when you come to the bye weeks. Best case scenario, you get a high end RB two for a ninth round. Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:04
Speaker
i can't I can't get around what a good steal that is this year. I think I'm going to end up with ah yeah a ton of Zach Moss this year. I think for the value that you' that he's going at, I think is is right on the money. I think if you're drafting him to be your RB1, if you're thinking he's going to be your RB1, that's where you're going to be crazy.
00:42:24
Speaker
No, no, but, but no, Grant, I'm going to push back so hard on that. We'll talk about this. We'll talk about this on, on our draft episode. If you're drafting Zach Moss to be your RB one, there is one reason you have done it. And what is that reason grant? She's got zero RB because you're going zero RB in the draft. And if you're going zero RB in the draft and Zach Moss is your RB one, that means you already have AJ Brown.
00:42:52
Speaker
and Jalen Hurts as a stack. It means you've already got Michael Pittman. It means you've already got... um either Travis Kelsey or George Kittle or Sam Laporta. Your team is already so good at that point that all you need is a running back who's going to get 15 touches a game and get into the end zone 10 times this year. And that is freaking Zach Moss.
00:43:19
Speaker
Yes, we're back in mid-season form already. Let's go. I didn't expect a shout about Zach Moss tonight, but here we are. All right, Aaron Jones, Grant, take over from here. Take over from here.
00:43:30
Speaker
Hey, you know, the man that we have been asking to be free from Matt Loeffler for so many years is now free of Matt Loeffler. So Aaron Jones just moves across the across the bay in the Minnesota. And now again,
00:43:48
Speaker
You go from Dalvin Cook Alexander Matt, like what's shocking to me is like Alexander Madison last year had an opportunity to take over this run game and was the worst showing of Alexander Madison we've ever seen. And so now Eric Jones gets to walk right in, take the RB one job and immediately becomes your best value in Minnesota, because again, I don't know that you're trusting Sam Darnold to throw every game. So you're going to be hit with what's better way to keep your quarterback safe than to just turn around and hand it off to Aaron Jones.
00:44:24
Speaker
Yeah, 1,000%. My only concern with Aaron Jones is that their passing ah offense becomes so bad that defenses know. Just stack the box. Know what's coming. And look, Aaron Jones, you know my thoughts on him. I have not kept quiet how I feel about Aaron Jones as a running back. But he is not Derek Henry. If you put seven in the box against him, and you get to tell him no. Yeah.
00:44:52
Speaker
But overall, I do view this to be a very positive situation. Aaron Jones should get a lot of touches in this offense. No one really behind him to compete. Ty Chandler ah next on the depth chart. This is his job.
00:45:07
Speaker
um As long as he stays healthy. And honestly, I trust Kevin O'Connell to come up with some type of offense that utilizes the strength Sam Darnold does have, which is ah which is a strong arm. If there's one thing Sam Darnold does well, he can throw a football really freaking far. And so maybe maybe they utilize play action well enough that with Justin Jefferson out there, with T.J. Hawkinson out there when he comes back from from injury. ah They also signed Robert Tunion out of nowhere. yeah um So I mean, they're gonna have some pass catchers on the field, even if Jordan Addison misses time. And ah this could be a situation where where Aaron Jones has some space to work with. Also, an extremely underrated pass catcher. Phenomenally gifted as a pass catcher.
00:45:57
Speaker
Absolutely. So he's going about sixth round, seventh round, which I think is great value for him. Yeah. Like I think everyone upside. Yeah, absolutely. Are you wearing upside? I love it. All right. Talk to me about Derek Henry playing for the Baltimore Ravens.
Derrick Henry's Role with Ravens and Lamar Jackson
00:46:17
Speaker
Well, I guess now maybe this protects Lamar Jackson because now you've got Derek Henry. So maybe Lamar Jackson doesn't need to run as much anymore. So upside for Lamar Jackson owners in that you may actually see him play for a full season because he won't potentially hurt himself by week eight or nine.
00:46:39
Speaker
But Derek Henry, i mean this this this is still a huge move because it's like we've seen what the run game could do in Baltimore. The issue has been they've never been able to carry a running back healthy through the entire season.
00:46:56
Speaker
Like JK Dobbins, Gus Edwards, all of these guys who have had great potential, all have torn their ACL, had major like season ending injuries. And so now here you get Derek Henry, proven workhorse from Tennessee, not a huge amount of injury history going back with him.
00:47:13
Speaker
Like, here's a guy that you can turn into a workhorse and protect Lamar Jackson. your investment in The Bravens can protect Lamar Jackson and their investment in him while giving somebody giving the Brock to somebody who you know could go for 100 games to two touchdowns every game. And he should have a lot of space to run because defenses have to show so much respect to Lamar Jackson.
00:47:35
Speaker
You can't, you can no longer, like you, the thing that hurt Derek Henry in Tennessee was the quarterback play was so middle of the road that teams would just stack the box. And so while Derek Henry... And it didn't matter.
00:47:51
Speaker
It didn't matter. True. Correct. It didn't matter. But you still didn't see the like explosiveness of it because of that fact. But now here you go where a team can't stack the box because now you got to have somebody spying on the quarterback to double check for the RPO option ah or even just the the wildcat option. So now here you go with Derek Henry now is only going up against six, five to six guys in the box versus seven or eight guys.
00:48:17
Speaker
Yeah, they also they also have a lot of speed. In the words of Coach Beard from Ted Lasso, a lot of speed on the outside. Zae Flowers, Rashad Bateman, both still there. ah Funnily enough, Nelson Aguilar is currently slotted in as the wide receiver three. We'll see how that goes. A name that that may be familiar to some people, Russell Gage, longtime Atlanta wide receiver. He's a Raven now. So there's there's some threats on this offense where Derek Henry should should get some space like we haven't seen in a while from him yeah and and should see a lot of things.
00:48:53
Speaker
Saquon Barkley, another running back, going to a team with a mobile quarterback after spending a career in um over-performing on a terrible team. ah Yeah, accurate. I think that's accurate. um So first off, did you watch any of the the Giants hard knocks off season? Dude, i couldn't I couldn't bring myself to do it.
00:49:17
Speaker
So it was wild to see how the the the Giants valued Saquon in that they were more willing to try to stick it out with Daniel Jones than to try to get like than to try to go match any Saquon offer. Yeah. They're wild to me. They're an organization that just can't be taken seriously.
00:49:41
Speaker
Yeah. So we won't spend too much time on Saquon here in Philly. But here you go overall, this should be a great decision, right? Yeah. Saquon Barkley immediately slots into that number one RB slot where DeAndre Swift was. And now you get to, again, you get to have a mobile quarterback that you are going to. It helps Jalen hurts his value because now the teams have to protect both either for him or for Saquon. And it helps Saquon's value because here you go, like now you can't stack the box against him. And again, they've got speed along the outside with AJ Brown and Devonta Smith that Saquon Barkley is going to be, and Saquon Barkley is a good pass catcher that we've seen at times in in New York. And now here you go as a guy, you could use him as a dump off guy if if Jalen Hurts needs to.
00:50:39
Speaker
Yep. Totally agree. He's gone. His 80 P's about 12 right now. And we're saying 80 P that's average draft position. If you're listening as a, as a newer fantasy player, this is just where, where are they being drafted in general on average across a variety of different. it p is twelve He's the fifth ranked running back based off of on all the running backs right now. I think that's right where I'd put him. He's going behind Garrett Wilson, which I like. He's going ahead of Jonathan Taylor, which I also like.
00:51:07
Speaker
I'm not seeing anyone in front of him right now that I disagree with, and I'm also not seeing anyone behind him I disagree with. I think that's right where he needs to be. Yeah. All right. Well, one more player that we'll just we'll just touch on very quickly before we fly through a few more names. I think we're spending the most time on the good moves. We'll we'll move through the the negative moves pretty quickly, I think. But Kirk Cousins going to Atlanta.
Kirk Cousins' New Role with Falcons
00:51:35
Speaker
Goes to Atlanta. you finally Atlanta finally has done it. They've gotten rid of Arthur Smith. They've got a quarterback that you can trust. And with Kirk Cousins at the helm, Bijon Robinson gets a huge bump because you actually have to protect against the pass game. And guys like Drake London and um Darnell Mooney and Kyle Pitts now may actually see huge value bumps too.
00:52:05
Speaker
like the thingg with The thing that's hurt kyle Kyle Pitts for so long is he had a head coach that wanted to use him as a blocker. Now you have an offensive coordinator that understands that Kyle Pitts is a generational talent at tight end, and you have a quarterback that likes to throw to his tight end, you're going to see a lot of value from Kyle Pitts this year.
00:52:23
Speaker
Yeah, I totally agree. I think I think I'm I'll take any piece of the Falcons offense this year. The only concern is that they did pull a a baffling decision in the first round. They drafted Michael Penix Jr. at I believe it was eighth overall. Yeah.
00:52:41
Speaker
So that was the one move that as we were watching the draft, like my coworkers and I were looking at each other and we're laughing like that can't have just happened. This can't be a real thing. So we don't know what the Falcons plan is with the organization. So the downside is that Kirk Cousins is almost certainly not long for this world in Atlanta.
00:53:02
Speaker
His leash has to be so short this year. I don't know that I'm drafting Kirk Cousins anywhere unless he's very, very, very late. Because if he struggles a little bit, I won't be surprised if we end up seeing them go to Pennick's mid-season. At the moment, I do think that but he he is the starter all season. But Pennick's look good in the pre-season too.
00:53:26
Speaker
Yeah. However, he's currently going really and it could be that they're that they're just hedging their bet with cousins injury history, too. Yeah, he's going. He's going really late in drafts, too. We're talking like 15th round. So it's if you're going to pick him up at the end of a draft, if you're not doing defenses and kickers, which you shouldn't be anyway, use one of your last picks on Kirk Cousins. Fine.
00:53:54
Speaker
but ah But your point is well made that the rest of the offense should get a really big boost from having a new organization and a quarterback that that is proven himself to be competent not only for himself, but for everyone around him. yeah There's been the list of players that have been really productive in fantasy with Kirk Cousins as their quarterback is such an incredibly long list. right He gets a lot of hate because he loses in prime time, and so I think people view him as ah as a quarterback in the, maybe in the Baker Mayfield or the San Arnold camp. if When you look at just his overall stats, like and the guys that he's he's brought to some like pretty significant fantasy glory, like it's it's good. There's a long history of players that have been helped by Kirk Cousins, so yeah draft your Falcons.
00:54:46
Speaker
yep Grant, what names don't we care about anymore in in fantasy? and And by this, we mean you're going to be coming up to players in a draft. And you're going to go, oh, I recognize that name. I had that player last year. I had that player two years ago. And they were really good for me. Maybe I'll draft them again. Which players are we saying don't don't do that?
Steelers' Quarterback Dilemma: Wilson vs. Fields
00:55:11
Speaker
No.
00:55:12
Speaker
ah
00:55:18
Speaker
um I mean, realistically, the first place you start is in Pittsburgh because with the russell wilson has ah the Russell Wilson experiment in Denver is over before it even really got started. And they traded him to Pittsburgh for like a third round pick and a bag of bones this offseason. And then they also went out and they grabbed Justin Fields from the Bears too because Unfortunately, your Bears decided that they wanted to throw him to the side without ever really giving him some like good ah good weapons to use. ah So ah you now have two quarterbacks in a situation where you kind of don't know because Matt Canada has the last like three seasons was running an offense that nobody could understand. like He was basically running an Iowa, University of Iowa offense.
00:56:14
Speaker
ah And we all know how bad that was. So ah here you go with Russell Wilson, Justin Fields. Nobody has any idea who really is gonna be the number one. Everybody's guessing it's gonna be Russell Wilson, but neither one has looked particularly good.
00:56:28
Speaker
Honestly, I think we see both guys start at some point this season, regardless of injury. I think Russell Wilson starts the season. But everything you need to know about Russell Wilson is that Denver is currently paying him almost $38 million dollars to play against him. Yeah, exactly.
00:56:49
Speaker
You don't want, you don't want any part of this. And obviously we all know Justin Fields is talent. If, if fields ends up starting at some point, he's probably worth grabbing. Yeah. Just because the the value is so good with him running the ball. Yeah. Honestly, latent drafts. I've got Russell Wilson or not. Russell Wilson. No, I have no part of him. oh I've got fields.
00:57:11
Speaker
I've got fields in a dynasty league and I'm honestly thinking about hanging on to him just because the value of this place. I think it's a safe bet because Russell Wilson has looked so bad the last two seasons that I don't think anybody, he's got probably one of the shortest leashes in the NFL. In redraft, you don't want either of these guys. I'm staying away from a lot of this offense.
00:57:36
Speaker
yeah All right. Who else know the name i care about ah the workhorse of the l LA chargers is no more.
Austin Ekeler's Reduced Value with Washington
00:57:46
Speaker
Austin Eckler signed a two year deal with the Washington commanders and you kind of just don't care about it because He's going to split time with Brian Robinson. He is not going to get as best utilized in the dump off pass game like he was in LA and you've got a brand new rookie quarterback that you have no idea what is how that's going to work. So you just.
00:58:14
Speaker
A guy that tried so hard to get an extension in LA and didn't get it and now has moved teams and immediately the value has completely just disappeared.
00:58:25
Speaker
Agree with everything you said and also it's worth knowing he looked really bad the second half of last year He just looked slow. He was not the explosive off Austin Eckler, you know, he he He was not fast. He was not yeah seeing the field. Well um You it's important the reason we bring him up is because We're coming off of only last year. I guess two seasons ago two seasons ago where he was the number one player in fantasy football. Yeah. A lot of people were making making a case for him to be the number one pick. A lot of people there leagues two seasons ago and was really a lot of the like most everybody's overall consensus number one pick last year. And now here you go that he's completely fallen off.
00:59:20
Speaker
I've got him in a dynasty league and I i don't even think there's, like, I don't even think I can get any value to try to move him this offseason. Depending on the league, I'll maybe give you a dirty sock.
00:59:33
Speaker
Stay away from him. yeah ah We're just gonna rattle off three names and it's all pretty similar. Gabe Davis, Odell Beckham Jr., and Ezekiel Elliott. Any notes on them other than don't... Gabe Davis is the perennial boomer bust, and he's now in a complete office that's absolutely boomer bust. We're always taking a flyer on him. Now you're even taking less of a flyer on him. OBJ, he's been middle of the road every season since his last major injury. It's whatever. And then it's just hilarious that Ezekiel Elliott has ended up back in Dallas, where his career started, on like a league minimum contract. So yeah. it's
01:00:14
Speaker
it's yeah like You wish that Tony Pollard would have actually worked out for the Cowboys because he could have actually had some value in that offense. Ezekiel Elliott, it's like, I don't care. Yep, 100%. So you're staying away from all of them. So let's talk about a watch list.
01:00:34
Speaker
um First name Curtis Samuel to the Buffalo Bills. why are we interested why do we care because because body dick is gone yeah So there's there is a there is a whole large amount of a target share that has now needs to go somewhere. And Curtis Samuel is one of the best names in the wide receiver market, one of the best names in that wide receiver room to to capitalize on that on that target share. Yeah, Gabe Davis is gone.
01:01:14
Speaker
Staphon Diggs is gone. This on your is when wide open. when you're When your current wide receiver depth chart has Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman slotted in as the number one and number two wide receivers, you absolutely can be going and taking some people's jobs.
01:01:35
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, 100%. And obviously, um Coleman, a rookie drafted in the second round. So he he could very easily ah take over this offense. yeah So it's worth watching Khalil Shakir good as a third option last season, but was not ever really able to consistently take it over.
01:01:58
Speaker
So I really like Curtis Samuel's yeah path to being the number one target catcher. yeah I just noticed KJ Hamler's playing for the Bills now. Good for him.
01:02:11
Speaker
It's also what's also what's also crazy what like I think what you also compete with too is Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox because the Bills do like utilizing the tight ends and Dalton Kincaid had a very good rookie season last year. Yeah, he's really the guy worth worth drafting in this offense But yeah that being said Curtis Samuel does have a wide open path to earn a lot of targets in a very very good offense ah Like, if you were to look at just about every wide receiver room in the NFL, I think this is probably the one where there's a ton of opportunity for a guy like Curtis Samuel. Yep. Hey, maybe they get Brandon Ayuk later. Talk to me about Mike Williams next.
01:02:58
Speaker
ah what's What's... I mean, it's...
01:03:04
Speaker
The biggest question with Mike Williams is can he stay healthy? He has yet to ever play a full season. full season And because of that, you like the fact that he went off and he got paid by the New York Jets, but you're not really sure if that value's actually there because you've never seen him play a full season.
01:03:35
Speaker
Yeah, he's he's going pretty late in in about the 15th round, 145 ADP. Looking at the names around him, I'm uncomfortable taking him there. It's worth keeping an eye on him. The reason we're so interested is that he is likely the number two target on the Jets ah offense. There is the competition with Alan Lazard there. Obviously Garrett Wilson is going to be up up number one. But which there's a chance of him. And Lazard has some prior
01:04:14
Speaker
Prior relationships with Aaron Rodgers. Yep, so it's it's no guarantee but Draft being drafted that late He's super worth keeping an eye on throwing a late-round flyer on and maybe he ends up being a flex option He's not gonna move up and be a wide receiver too most likely yeah but he could he could be a a flex option matchup dependent get some targets and End up having a pretty decent season. So he's worth keeping an eye on and But again, you're rolling the dice on it whether or not he can stay healthy for the full season. He's got he's got like like glass knees. Yeah. he He is likely not going to be healthy the whole season.
01:04:55
Speaker
Two more names to just keep an eye on. um The first one I'm just going to hit real quickly, and then I'll have you talk a little bit about the the final one. But Marquise Brown, Hollywood Brown going to the Chiefs. It's going to be interesting to watch because Patrick Mahomes has not had a true wide receiver one since Tyreek Hill left. He's kind of bounced between some other guys. So so it's it's a crowded wide receiver room full of players who are good, not great.
01:05:25
Speaker
Marquis Brown being the new addition has an opportunity to rise to the top of that pile because it's it's the guy that but that that Mahomes hasn't played with before. Yeah. ah Talk to me about Deontay Johnson though after a long time in Pittsburgh has moved on to the Carolina Panthers.
01:05:44
Speaker
And a guy that you and I were very, year after year, wished that he could have seen the touchdowns. Because you knew that he had the targets. Huge PPR monster, but just could never get you the touchdowns.
01:06:01
Speaker
Immediately slots in as wide receiver one in that Panthers depth chart I think the biggest thing you were looking to see is if Bryce young It has improved this offseason and if there's a very noticeable leaps forward in his development Because as we saw last year they were not good even with Bryce young and like Now I think they've made some good moves to hopefully protect him on the offensive line. But again, you still need to see him have show some real upside. And again, Deontay Johnson is a PPR monster when he gets the ball. It's just you're hoping for those touchdowns to show up this year.
01:06:47
Speaker
Yep, totally agree. he's worth He's worth grabbing, keeping an eye on. It's worth remembering Adam Phelan is still there, who was a monster last year. But he's getting older. Every season is the season where I say that Adam Phelan is too old to do it again this year. So I'm going to say it once again this year. Adam Phelan is too old to do it again.
01:07:10
Speaker
I mean, you call him a monster when it's like you had 103 receptions for a thousand yards and four touchdowns from Bryce young. yeah He was great for the Panthers last year. He was their best receiver and it wasn't close. He wasn't, he wasn't winning you any leagues, but he was for that offense.
01:07:34
Speaker
Yeah.
01:07:37
Speaker
He was fine, but Deontay Johnson has a chance to really jump in there. He's going in about the 10th round, 11th round. So worth' worth snagging, keeping an eye on in that range. you're You're betting on, you're betting on receptions here. You're not betting on the touchdowns. You're betting on no him touching the ball a number of times.
01:08:01
Speaker
Nope. So we're going to look at one more category. Just a couple. Couple players here. This is our up for debate category. What do you think is the fun digs this year?
01:08:14
Speaker
I mean, he's immediately going into an explosive offense as we saw last year. Because i i don't think I don't think the Texans go backwards from what they did last year. But you're immediately going into a wide receiver room that was one of the best last year before, and that was before Tank Del got hurt.
01:08:35
Speaker
yeah You now got to go up against Tank Dell, Nico Collins, D'Vern, Dalton Schultz was a huge impact in that passing game. And then you add in a guy like Joe Mixon, like you've got, you've got four or five weapons to choose from each drive. I don't know that he's going to be the like the clear number one receiver on a weekend and we got basis.
01:09:01
Speaker
Yeah, I 100% agree. he He's going really high in draft still. I just view him as a toxic locker room presence. I don't know why they yeah brought him there when their offense didn't need another wide receiver.
01:09:18
Speaker
they were doing just fine. He is going, his ADP is 32. So it does seem like the name has kind of balanced out potential role, but I'm i'm not feeling good taking him ahead of guys like Jalen Waddle.
01:09:38
Speaker
ahead of guys like Deebo Samuel, even Jalen hurts is going right after him and I've a draft position right now. And that's just not something that I'm comfortable doing at this point. Mark Andrews is someone else. I would also consider taking ahead of him who's going later.
01:09:57
Speaker
I think you're drafting and based on talent and name i don't and he may obviously this offene is super explosive if he gets twelve touchdowns this year i'm not going to be shocked but i also won't be surprised if he starts a bunch of drama in the locker room and is being given the cold shorter shoulder by his quarterback by week six. He's just but he's also a healthy player to have on the team.
Stefon Diggs' Uncertain Role with Texans
01:10:23
Speaker
He's he's it's a it and it's a and it's a it's a double-edged sword for him right now because the they you got traded to the Texans. They he essentially voided out the the the X the last two years of his contract. So he's
01:10:41
Speaker
He's playing one. He's he's playing on a prove it. It's a prove a deal for him right now to try to make to try to do something. So he's got an um it's it's a matter of just trying to figure it out. Which is even more reason for her to for him to throw a hissy fit and demand targets. Yeah. And cause drama and make it a big deal. I I'm very nervous about him at that range.
01:11:11
Speaker
Yeah. Josh Jacobs. I was texting you about him earlier this offseason because I don't know what to think about him. Josh Jacobs, obviously a productive running back almost his entire time in Oakland and then Las Vegas. And now he's playing for Matt Lefleur. What the heck do we do with Josh Jacobs?
01:11:32
Speaker
ah You stated it yourself. He's a running back playing for Matt Loeffler. Matt Loeffler, for whatever reason, hates running backs. So even though he's clearly slotting into a like a running back one position, Loeffler has never schemed for a running back one to be pretty like to be a workhorse.
01:11:57
Speaker
So I think like you could get lucky where like you're hoping for a say a top 10, top 15 season from him, but don't be surprised if he ends up in like a top 20, top 25. Yeah, I i agree.
Josh Jacobs' Potential with Packers
01:12:16
Speaker
i'm just The upside is so high, though. The Packers offense, unfortunately, is really good with Jordan Love. AJ Dillon was not good last year. There's not really any competition for touches. That's never stopped Matt LaFleur before. But ah you you literally, every every piece of logic
01:12:39
Speaker
when it comes to evaluating a fantasy football running backs role in an offense points towards Josh Jacobs being a stud this year. He's in a high powered offense. He's, he's the guy, the guys behind him have a history of being inconsistent and not very good. Literally the only reason he's not going in the top 20, as far as I can see it is Matt LaFleur. And that is,
01:13:08
Speaker
the Gosh, it is wildly varied it's between sleeper and ESPN. It's the wildest very like variable like variation between sleeper and ESPN. He's a third-rounder in sleeper. He's a fifth-rounder in ESPN. I would take him in the fifth round. Third round makes me really nervous. Third round, I don't think you ever see the return on value. Fifth or sixth round, you probably get the return on value. Yeah, that's probably a good spot to put him.
01:13:53
Speaker
that's that's like that's it's just like That's what it is. is like If you're taking him before the fifth round, you're crazy.
01:14:03
Speaker
Are you see, but that's the thing though. I don't think you are. I don't think you're crazy. I think you've just not been wronged by Matt LaFleur often enough in your life. This is, this is what's so frustrating is that but again, this is where you and I come into play because we have been wronged by Matt LaFleur for so many years.
01:14:24
Speaker
yeah are Every metric says he should be good. what i this This could be the year where AJ Dillon is bad enough that josh jones get Josh Jacobs gets to be a workhorse. There there is no logic.
01:14:43
Speaker
preventing him from being drafted much higher outside of his head coach. And like like we have a history of Bill Belichick being a terrible running, uh, coach for a fantasy running backs. And then you get one year of Ramondre Stevenson being a high-end running back to what's to say that this can't be the year where we're Matt LaFlore. So there, this is, this is my, this is my emotional struggle with this because I don't think you're crazy. If you take him in the third round.
01:15:13
Speaker
I'm not doing it, but you're not crazy.
01:15:20
Speaker
I, so let me tell you how I handled this and then we'll move on to the next player and we'll get out of here shortly. But I had him in a dynasty league and I just don't want to deal with it. So I traded him away for Trey McBride because I needed a tight end. So yeah and I, so I, I gave him up with a, with ah a draft pick. I think it was a,
01:15:41
Speaker
I can't remember what draft pick it was. I think it was a late first round yeah to get Trey McBride back. ah Arizona Cardinals tight end. I just didn't wanna deal with it. I didn't wanna deal with the drama. I didn't wanna deal with the frustration. And I am totally comfortable if Josh Jacobs ends up being an RB one this year. I'm still totally comfortable with that deal I made.
01:16:04
Speaker
Oh, you traded him in that wild trade. Yeah, it was a three-way trade. It was a good time. Yeah. It was a good time. Yeah, so you got Trey McBride. You gave him Jacobs in a second.
01:16:17
Speaker
ah Great. It wasn't even a first rounder. Now I'm even happier. Your wife got Jalen hurts in your second and then our other buddy got Jacobs and her 2024. Actually it wasn't even a second rounder this year. It was a second rounder next year. Dude, this deal just gets better and better for me. Love this.
01:16:39
Speaker
So to summarize, I can't believe you got away with giving away Josh Jacobs at a second round of next year. but Yeah, it's brilliant. I love I love how that deal worked out for
JK Dobbins' Injury Woes with Chargers
01:16:49
Speaker
me. So to summarize this, you are not crazy if you take Josh Jacobs early in this draft, but you're also not crazy if you want to sit back and wait. but I'm just looking at the names after him. The the ones that are immediately insane to me, Isaiah Pacheco is going after him in ADP.
01:17:08
Speaker
That's immediately insane to me. I would, I would not do that. But a lot of these other names, I'm personally taking, I'm personally taking Evans over him, personally taking Nico Collins, Stefan Diggs, Deebo Samuel, Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Waddle, DJ Moore. Uh, I would rather have him than Rashad White. So I guess that's the spot for me. Yeah. A fourth, late fourth rounder.
01:17:33
Speaker
late fourth round start of the 5th. Yeah. Yeah. I and don't think you're crazy. Don't let Grant call you crazy. Grant JK Dobbins coming off of a torn Achilles. He's now a charger with his buddy Gus Edwards following him over there. What are we doing with the Chargers running back JK Dobbins? I mean, I think you're just avoiding everything on the Chargers.
01:18:02
Speaker
do not touch the chargers like her. The only player of any worth is Justin Herbert. Yeah, they're they have they have no wide receivers like Quentin Johnson can't catch Josh Palmer is there to prove it. It's a proven fact that Quentin Johnson just can't catch. I mean, I guess you're like kind of hoping that DJ shark comes into some play like some value but honestly like if you've got Justin Herbert you're not excited for what his value is going to be end of season.
01:18:41
Speaker
yeah they traded up for a rookie wide receiver lad mcconkey but he was they traded up that 34 he was a second rounder um fast fast wide receiver 4 3 9 40 time yeah but there's just still not still not a lot of weapons in this offense. Also, JK Dobbins And JK Dobbins, again, they're players that haven't been able to stay healthy for the last three seasons. No. And JK Dobbins is coming off of a torn Achilles. And we talked about this last year with Cam Akers. Or I guess i guess we talked we didn't have a podcast last year, so we talked about this two years ago with Cam Akers. But running backs don't come back from Achilles injuries. They just don't historically. That's clearly what we saw with Cam Akers.
01:19:29
Speaker
Yeah, he had a few good games and people started saying he was back and then he fell off and he's no longer a relevant player. He ended up as a Minnesota Mike and now he's on any teams. Now I think he is officially nowhere after spending half a season as a Viking. Let's see. Let's see. yeah Is he anywhere free agent?
01:19:51
Speaker
Oh, he's with the Texans. Look at that. with The Texans. Nice. Yeah. He's not seeing the field. So don't touch JK Dobbins. um All right. I'm going to take this one, Grant. Chicago Bears wide receivers.
01:20:05
Speaker
This is a situation that will either bring you insane joy or insane disappointment. And it all rests, it all rests on Caleb Williams being able to be better than his coaching staff allows him to be. The Chicago Bears have maybe the best wide receiver core in football right now. I.
01:20:31
Speaker
I would say the Eagles are better. The Eagles are better wide receiver core. Like you throw a wide receiver with the tight end. Wide receiver with the tight end, with the running backs. The the Bears offense out of nowhere, because Ryan Poles is trying to put weapons around his young quarterback. What a concept. What if we'd done that before? Oh, what a concept. the The Bears offense is is contingent on Caleb Williams. Shane Waldron, the new offensive coordinator, came from Seattle, performed really well with Geno Smith. So there is that potential, at least. He's being given way better coaching.
01:21:09
Speaker
and way better opportunity than any past Bears quarterback coming out of the draft. But you are putting a lot of faith in a rookie quarterback being able to sustain multiple wide receiver targets. DJ Moore, obviously, being the wide receiver one. Romo Dunesay is probably the guy that I want next, a rookie first rounder, and then Keenan Allen after that.
01:21:34
Speaker
but This is, you you are risking with DJ Moore. His ADP is 37 right now. Obviously one of the most talented receivers in football, but there is not a lot of rookie quarterback seat.
01:21:49
Speaker
I need to say this, CJ Stroud was an outlier. CJ Stroud was an outlier. You don't get rookie quarterbacks like having seasons like CJ Stroud. Trevor Lawrence is a much more realistic expectation for a really good young quarterback who started slow and honestly is still not really come into his own yet, even though he's gotten paid the big bucks.
01:22:15
Speaker
But CJ Stroud is all in a recent memory. So you go, that's what a really good rookie quarterback season looks like. No, that is what a historically good rookie quarterback season looks like. Trevor Lawrence looks like a normal rookie quarterback season. I don't know what i don't know what Caleb Williams is going to be able to support this year. i'm I'm nervous about these wide receivers. Are you drafting any of them, Grant?
01:22:41
Speaker
I think DJ more and I think it dynasty like I think Rome is probably a top like for target I Believe that's where he's going right now, but I disagree with that being a thing In dynasty There's no way
01:23:09
Speaker
i'll I believe you're right. I believe he's a number four going in in Dynasty right now. Overall, he's going as ah ze on this wide receiver 34.
01:23:23
Speaker
Overall, but it's again, this is another one of those wild spreads because he's going early seventh round in sleeper and he's going late 12th in ESPN. Yeah. I.
01:23:43
Speaker
I really trust his talent. It's just, and honestly, like I need it. I'm a Bears fan. And so i'm I'm very harsh on them, but I don't trust the Bears organization to handle his career responsibly.
01:24:01
Speaker
So what you don't know I know I know it's like maybe they Kind of did this something similar to another yeah like Young like potentially talented rookie quarterback like three years ago four years ago and again like six years ago There's mr. Biscuit saga Yeah. Yeah. We had Trevis come through and we had fields come through and now it's Caleb Williams. So what's going to happen? So really you're on like a four year rotation. Yeah. Our rookie quarterback struggles. So we fire the coach, hire a new coach that doesn't care about that quarterback.
01:24:37
Speaker
that they struggle, they get rid of the quarterback, bring in a new new quarterback. new That quarterback struggles, they get rid of the coach. It's the same cycle since John Fox was the coach of the Bears. It's not gonna stop, it's not going anywhere. This is what the Bears are. No, no, no, no. this is You've gotta remember though, this is the first season that they actually have gone out and gotten weapons to surround their rookie quarterback with.
01:25:08
Speaker
They didn't do that any of the other three seasons. Mitch Trubisky had Darnell Mooney coming into the league and he had peak Allen Robinson, one of the best jump ball threats in the league at the time.
01:25:24
Speaker
it was not anywhere near what we have now but you they didn't have a didn't ask of course with david peak david montgomery yeah there's you can't say that trebisky didn't have weapons he didn't have weapons as good as we have now he had weapons what he didn't have was coaching because matt mag you was a fool So hi grant we got to get out of here. Don't have the coaching or you don't have the or you don't have the weapons. Yeah. We we don't have anything. We got to get out of here. There's one more player you wanted to talk about. Why don't you hit it and we'll sign off. I mean it's Sherry Judy. He's now out of the the hellhole that was Denver ah for the last three seasons ends up in Cleveland. I think he's a guy that you just kind of watch because
01:26:08
Speaker
If like Amari Cooper is still the number one guy there, but there's still. If even if just like who knows what the Sean Watson does this season, but hopefully it's not as bad as it was last season, which means that there's more value for your wide receivers this year.
01:26:26
Speaker
Yeah, he's going late enough that I don't care. But, uh, ADP 139, he's going as a late 14th rounder. I'm fine taking a risk that late. I just don't want to really touch this offense that much. Amari Cooper is going to be getting all the targets. You can grab him if you want. Grant said you can grab him. When it blows up in your face, just remember who told you.
01:26:54
Speaker
ah Well, ladies and gentlemen, this was this was a bit of a long episode because we haven't been here in a minute. But we're going to we're going to keep coming back. We are. ah we're We're you know, we have a surprise later this week, but we're going to save that. So we're we're actually going to come out with ah with a second episode ah later this week. will Probably be to you by the weekend in time for draft stuff. But we are excited for another season. Grant, any final thoughts before we get out of here?
01:27:24
Speaker
I mean, it's fantasy football. Have some fun. Do it with your buddies. Make the best of what you're doing. And it's like, go out and win your league. Yep. Go. Go get out there. Go draft well. It's closing in on draft weekend for a lot of leagues. I've got a lot of drafts coming up in the next week or so. I can't wait. I think I've got six in a span of like four days.
01:27:52
Speaker
I haven't even counted yet. I've just been agreeing to him. So but that being said, we we still have our email active to 25yardlineatgmail.com. We are still on
01:28:35
Speaker
Peace out, everybody.