Transcript
Speaker: what's up ladies and gentlemen what's up how we doing welcome back welcome back to welcome back to another episode of the bush league huddle fantasy well podcast. We're a man short today.
Speaker: It's myself, Fab. We got Roger rogers with me as well, but we're missing we're missing Knack. We're missing Anthony. nakarado He is right now, if I'm not mistaken, on the beach in Tropea, enjoying life with his family as he should.
Speaker: Probably thinking about Aaron Rodgers and all the touchdowns he will not score. But Knack, if you're you should be a listener, you better be listening to this podcast. And I'm sure you are right now. broke your Yes. We hope you're enjoying your vacation and and Send us a lot of pictures and all that fun stuff that that you've been doing over there. It's it's a beautiful time right now Everyone's in Italy on vacation and we're not. we're We're in a monsoon here in Montreal. It's been raining nonstop and people's homes are flooded and it's just been it's been a horrible summer. So for those of you that are vacationing,
Speaker: Congratulations. Enjoy. You got away from this horrible weather. um But what's not going to be horrible is this episode. Despite being one man down, Roger and I have a fantastic episode ready for you guys right now. we are we're we're <unk>re We're looking at some breakout candidates for second year and third year players.
Speaker: We're looking at some guys that you got to be looking at later on in your draft. that could win you championships. Because every year, Fast Team Market sleeps on year two and year three players while chasing new shiny rookie class toys. So we're going talking about, you know the rookies and all that stuff, right?
Speaker: But this episode, we're here identify the players from the 2024-2025 draft classes who are about to make everyone look foolish for not drafting them. Two feature players per position, plus honorable mentions, clear arguments, no fluff. That's what we got ready for you guys this episode. A lot of I'm looking at some guys over here and some people are going to be like, wow, I forgot about him. I forgot about that.
Speaker: So this is that you want to pay attention to this. You want to, You want to like you do all the episodes and everything that comes with Bushley, Hutto, Fancy Football Podcast. You want to follow us on YouTube, on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, on TikTok, on Instagram, on Twitter for for weekly fantasy football breakdowns, weekly, daily, hourly, whatever you want.
Speaker: Send us all of your questions. You know, like the draft season is right around the corner. We are June 22nd. Already the season is right around the corner. It's already June 22nd. I'm sure.
Speaker: Summer's almost over. Summer hasn't arrived in Montreal It's already over. Actually, yesterday was the first day summer, the summer solstice. And it's already done. Shout out Mother Nature for forgetting about our city.
Speaker: um So without further ado, we got a we got a we got a cracking episode. Let's get the let's get the <unk> let's hit the ground running right now. where It's a very simple format. Each one of us are going to have one honorable but one player for each position we're going mention, as well as we're going to some honorable mentions, some quick hitters, nothing crazy.
Speaker: But. Without further ado, I'm going to kick it off right now with quarterbacks. And one guy that I think a lot of people should have on their radar, especially from a two-quarterback perspective in Superflex League, is that Tyler Schuch, Mr. New Orleans Saints quarterback. yeah he So this he's going into his second year. He's drafted in 2025.
Speaker: He was a QB4 on a personal game basis last year with averaging 20.1 points per game since week 13 I think you have Kellen Moore's hyper tempo offense, which is super fantasy friendly.
Speaker: Travis Etienne, or A-Chan, as he likes to pronounce his name, is joining as A-Chan. He's a new shining RB toy in that backfield. So him and Kamara is going very interesting to see how ah that plays off from a running back perspective, but from a quarterback perspective.
Speaker: It's a very friendly offense for him because he has that extra toy, right? And then you got Chris Olave who caught fire at the end of the season, 24 catchers for 352 yards, four touchdowns in three games. You know, sophomore QBs in established systems with weapons tend to make massive leaps. And I'm looking at Tyler Shuck right now.
Speaker: um You're talking about a guy who, you know, for, for a nice amount of time last year was, was averaging QB like top five QB numbers. You know what i mean? So, And also the fact that they they drafted that wide receiver. I forget his name again. jordan enticson but Jordan Jordan Tyson. That's another weapon in this ah offense.
Speaker: So Tyler Shuck, like, how are you? You know what i mean? Like, if he starts your season as a qb as your QB2 next year, are you upset? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I think this is a fantastic, fantastic, fantastic opportunity for him to really make a jump in 2026. So, yeah, he's definitely some guy I'm going to be looking at and on but come draft day.
Speaker: the hi The hype is real on Tyler sch Shuck. I think you're going to start seeing a lot more about it as the pre-draft season starts. Fab, do you what what do you think is his realistic season ceiling excuse me ceiling by year's end? like Do you think he can legit be a top 10 QB from a fantasy perspective? Because, again, if you look at from what you said week 13 on, 20 points per game, he can very well be there. And and he's more mobile than you'd think, too.
Speaker: Yeah. well Listen, ah so there's always going to be the conversation of a sophomore slump. I know he's in a very good offense. He's in a very friendly, very friendly quarterback friendly offense. If Knack was here, he would say sophomore slump for sure. Like a sophomore slump. 100%. He's definitely primed.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: No. And the only reason why I don't think it's necessarily a sophomore slump, and even for the other you're talking about too, like they had good seasons, but they didn't have good seasons throughout the entirety of the season. You know what I mean? I love that point.
Speaker: He went through his bumps at the beginning of the year, and he got better as a season as this as the season progressed. And yeah, fine. So defenses have a whole year of tape on him. No problem. Who cares? They have a whole year of tape on everybody. So I think... i ah Can I see him as low-end QB1 numbers like throughout the entirety of the season? I think that's possible. I think he can fish as a QB12. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibilities. I think it's a viable...
Speaker: I am QB two. That's for sure. With the trajectory that on right now, I think it's a high end QB two. Uh, but I think the, i think it's a decent floor and I think the ceiling is higher than people think. I think there's, there's quite a bit of upside here with Tyler Shuck. I really do.
Speaker: and And don't forget this guy is older than all the other QBs or drafts. Great point. In that year. So he has more mileage on him. Sure. But that's also more experience. Right. So, and and when it comes to quarterbacks, they typically get better with age. They don't get worse.
Speaker: Yeah. so Tyler Shuck for me is, um, he's some guy that I'm really looking towards as well. Like, I don't know where he's being drafted at right now on on a quarterback basis, but you can definitely draft him later on and get some serious value.
Speaker: Yeah. I love the point you make about, Hey, like he didn't have a perfectly linear season. He already had his bumps, right? Like a lot of these quarterbacks who did have really good rookie seasons and then slumped in their sophomore seasons, they didn't have any bumps. you Think of like a CJ Stroud, right? yeah he he did It was a very clean season. Even if we look at Caleb Williams, who had a very rough rookie season and he really excelled aside from his completion percentage percentage last year. right So I see the same thing with Shook where he had his bumps. right he He didn't start right away either. It was Spencer Rattler who started. So I think that's a great call. And i think it's a good segue to, as you mentioned, QB, in this second 30-year breakout list, which for me, it's Cam Ward.
Speaker: So I think for me with Cam Ward, one of the biggest things is just the fact that Brian Dayball is the OC. And say what you will about Brian Dayball from an offensive coordinator, excuse me, head coach perspective, but as an offensive coordinator, as a play call, he knows how to scheme up an offense. So he, as an OC, ah working alongside Robert Salah with an improved defense as well, with much improved offensive weapons. Think about it. Last year, he had Calvin Ridley.
Speaker: And A, Calvin Ridley was damaged goods. And B, Calvin really, I think, played only seven games. And then his other wide receivers were Shemeri Dike and Ilyk Ayomanor.
Speaker: He adds Cardinal Tate, who was, for all intents and purposes, probably the best or second best wide receiver in the class. He added Wondell Robinson, who's steadily improved. He has familiarity with Brian Dable's offense with the Giants.
Speaker: Andrews, I'm rushing up upside to with cam Ward. He only had 30. He only had 39 rushing up ah attempts, but I think he could have he had 95 per season in college. So there's some upside there there as well. And look, if you look at the end, the totality of his stats, 59% completion percentage,
Speaker: thirty one hundred yards The talent wasn't there. The offensive line was not good at all, but it got better as the season went on. I could think of some of the games against, i believe, Kansas City. I believe he played Philadelphia as well. He played really well. So I think the roadmap, there's a roadmap there for him to have a breakout season. The arm talent is out of this world.
Speaker: The talent overall is really good. He also is a guy who i think started almost 60 games in college. So he has experience. So I'm a big, big proponent of Cam Ward, as is a lot of the film watching quarterback um kind of ecosystem in fantasy. I think he's primed for a very, very good season. And I think for him, his peak is I'm not ready to necessarily say top 10 QB because he doesn't he doesn't have the talent.
Speaker: around them like Tyler Shuck has. But I would be very, very, very I wouldn't be surprised if he has like a top 14 to 15 or 16 QB which season which would be very good from a 2QB perspective.
Speaker: Yeah, those are all great points. I think one thing that we have to emphasize is Brian Dable. I know you mentioned the right the beginning, but Brian Dable As an OC is a much different coach than as he is as an, as a head coach, right? Like I, there are certain coaches out there. They're just better as coordinators.
Speaker: I think Brian Dable fits the bill. So from an offensive, uh, so from our offensive coordinator perspective and, and, and just like a, full ball schematic perspective for cam ward with the guys that he, with the guys that were added in the roster.
Speaker: Yeah, i'm I'm expecting a jump for sure. And last year for him, it was the worst year that he could have had. Like the offense was void of talent. The offensive line wasn't great. The coaching staff was a was a carousel. It just wasn't good. Now, like give the guy some stability. Robert Saleh is a great coach. He's a great, great, great coach. i don't I still think it was ah it was ah it was the wrong move for the Jets to get rid of him personally. Yeah.
Speaker: So I think there's going be some serious stability in Tennessee, and that's going to transit on the football field. I like your call. I think his ceiling is around that mid-tier, like mid-tier QB2, like high-end QB2. I think that's realistic.
Speaker: And the only reason why I'm giving him, again, same thing as your point. The reason why I'm giving a bit of a knock is because the offensive weapons, right? Having Wandel there is is such a security blanket. Carnel Tate. It's the right name for a security blanket. 100%.
Speaker: Carnel Tate. um i'm I'm optimistic. I think he's probably the most, because he comes from wide receiver university, right? So I feel like he might be the safest option of all of the wide receivers that were drafted, in my opinion.
Speaker: So we're going to see how that translates to the NFL. But yeah, I like all the moves they did. It just makes sense. It just makes absolute sense. Yeah, totally. And um we'll move on to our honorable mention. We're talking about Brian Dayball. Someone who's very close to Brian Dayball is Jackson Dart. So we see Jackson Dart as an honorable mention as a breakout candidate. Fab, what do you what do you think on on this front with regards to to Jackson? de and This is the ultimate high-risk high-reward for me. Jackson Dart can be a top 10 quarterback in the NFL from a fantasy perspective.
Speaker: and And taking away my giant's hat here for a second. But you know he does play with a little bit too much of that moxie that a lot of people don't want him to play with.
Speaker: um I'm excited to see him in an offense with Matt Nagy and all that. it's it's it's goodnna It's good. Whatever the Matt Nagy offense is. Listen, got see I'm blindly trusting in John Harbaugh. He hired Matt Nagy, who by all accounts is a good offensive coordinator and has played in some very good offenses.
Speaker: ah He's well who's the the Greg Roman, the Greg Romans, the the running game coordinator, but he's only for the running. Keep Greg Roman away from the passing game and we yeah will be OK.
Speaker: Well, that's what I'm saying, right? I feel like he's just he's placing again. This is just on paper. We don't know what's going happen. Game one, but on paper, he's supposedly i might say he I mean, John Harbaugh is putting all of the right coaching pieces in the right places. How will that translate? I don't know.
Speaker: That's why. But I do... like Do I think Jackson Dart can have a better finish than he did last year? Of course. Do I also think can get injured after the first six games? Yeah. yeah so so So that 43% of fantasy production that comes that comes from rushing, that has to go down, number one.
Speaker: Number two, he cannot be a breakout candidate if Malik Neighbors doesn't play... you know, whatever it is, call it like 14 games, you know, 13 games. Right now, it doesn't look promising that he's going to start the first at least three, four four weeks. He has to play games.
Speaker: the the The Giants official Twitter account was posting videos of neighbors with the prompt of he's going to be the comeback player of the year.
Speaker: They're expecting him to start like week one. They're expecting, i we'll see. we'll see yeah We're doing 22nd. We'll see. We're going to talk about some other Giants folks later when we get to some of the other positions. ah But we're going to move on now to the to the running back. maybe I'll just start it ah right away. i'm For me, my breakout candidate at running back is Vishal Tootin.
Speaker: So the the first thing to think about when you're thinking, hey, Vishal Tootin, as a breakout candidate is, don't look at the numbers from last year. because he was not really a factor, which was surprising because they had traded Tank Bixby to Philadelphia. i think a lot of people started adding Bashal Tootin to think, hey, maybe he might see a bit more burn. Etienne had a fantastic season, not only from a rushing perspective, but from a catching perspective as well. I think he caught, he had a game, I think he caught like three touchdowns from Trevor Lawrence. So right away, that production is gone. That's 1,400 yards of total Etienne offense that's completely gone.
Speaker: Boom, that goes into Bashal Tootin's lap. Secondly, He doesn't have much competition. We saw what we needed to see out Chris Rodriguez when he was with the commanders. That's not much of a competition. They did not draft another running back. So right away, Brasal Tutin becomes the quote-unquote bell cow potential back. And I think some of the underlying metrics were pretty decent. If you think of his, I think he had a really good success rate. He was fifth in rushing success rate as a rookie, 11th in missed tackle rate, 17th in yards after contact per attempt. So those are some really promising numbers. um
Speaker: I think if you look, if if you're someone who's drafting with you know maybe some less experienced players, they're going to see Bashal Tootin's numbers from last year and completely avoid him. He can be had at a relatively relatively good cost to be your RB2.
Speaker: So he is someone that I relatively like quite a bit. From an ADP perspective, so far he's RB26 on various platforms. So again, leading to the fact that I think he could be had at a relatively good cost. and We saw that at Liam Cohen offense. It's the last thing I'll say that Liam Cohen offense was was amazing last year. Hope there's no regression, but I think Bashal Tootin could be a very solid running back candidate next year.
Speaker: Yeah, I love these calls. I really do. And and considering the other the running backs that are going around that area, I think he might have the highest ceiling. If you talk about guys like David Montgomery, you know what you're getting with david Montgomery. He's going as RB25. He's good. He's a mean potatoes guy, but Putin controls that backfield.
Speaker: RJ Harvey, you don't know what's going on in Denver. Trevor Hubbard, you don't know what's going on in Carolina. We're going to talk about that in a second too. like As much as he's been great and all that, but there's Jonathan Brooks that's back now.
Speaker: You Roger Stevenson Rico Dowell. Rico Dowell could be interesting, you know, but there's always going to Jalen Warren there. So it's, it's from a, like, like when you're drafting in the middle twenties for running backs, like you are right now, Tootin is the guy that gives you the highest ceiling and it's close. Exactly. And he's going to have a decent floor too, because who else is there in that offense?
Speaker: You know, totallyin like and Liam Cohen. That offense was humming towards the end. He was like, you know, you saw how good Trevor Lawrence was looking. It's only going to be a matter of time until that translates over to 2-2. So I like this call and people are going be, hopefully people sleep on him only so I can draft him later on. But I don't know if that's going to be the case though.
Speaker: Yeah, I love i love the point. on though, we're going to. Sorry, go ahead. You love the point. No, no, I just i was just going to agree with you. love the point on on ceiling. And yeah, like he's a bell cow. He's the number one guy there. So 100%, 100%.
Speaker: hundred percent hundred percent Speaking of a guy who's not the bell cow, but is still getting a lot of looks. Blake Corum. Blake Corum, LA Rams. So I i am, um everybody who knows me knows that I am i love my Kyron Williams. I love me some Kyron Williams. I really do. I think the guy is underappreciated in the NFL.
Speaker: But as we saw last year, Corum slowly started to take a lot of the carries away from Kyron Williams. The LA Rams are a team that will be looking to play a lot of games in the len at the end of the season. i have After trading for Miles Garrett and potentially having Aaron Dahl come out of retirement, you're looking at a team that's going be pushing for the Super Bowl. So what does that mean? They want to make sure that their best running back is going to be healthy.
Speaker: Enter Blake Corum. So I think this is going to be a complete committee, to be honest with you. I think this is going to be very much a 1A, 1B, and Blake Corum is going to be a very close 1B. And he played, by all accounts, played very well last year. We're talking about a guy who had a 50.9% explosive run rate, second in the NFL, only behind Devon HN, which is a huge number. 5.1 yards per carry, tied with Bijan Robinson, 10th best avoided tackle rate among 49 qualified running backs.
Speaker: like He was averaging 5.85 yards
Speaker: carries per game the first two months. Then it went to 10 carries per game in the final 13, and that includes playoffs. So they're going using a lot of the running backs. um From an ADP standpoint, I think you're going to be getting... This reminds me a lot of last year we spoke about Pukunukua and Devante Adams.
Speaker: about how you can get wide receiver one, three rounds later in Devante Adams for those people that were like, going to say reaching on Pukunukua, but drafting Pukunukua. I think it's a very similar scenario here. Obviously, the positions are different where people are going to be drafting Cameron Williams two or three rounds earlier than Blake Horham, but Blake Horham is going to be providing more or less the same production.
Speaker: And it's not a knock on Kyron Williams. I think it's just the I think it's just the how this offense will be manufactured this year for them to have a very, very long playoff run.
Speaker: And I think because of that, you're going to get Blake Corum way later in ADP. I think right now his ADP is RB 36. Karen Williams are ADP is RB 15. So you're talking about like 21 points to 21 spots after.
Speaker: And you're looking at a guy who has a much higher ceiling, in my opinion. Drafting a guy who's an RB4, basically. So that's where I'm looking at from a Blake Corrin perspective. he's He's a bit of a flyer, more of a lottery ticket at the end the year. But I think there's a really good chance that he hits. I really do.
Speaker: My sole argument for kind of passing not just on this backfield, but mostly on Kyron William is we see Sean McVay kind of as a shelf life with a lot of his running backs.
Speaker: Right. Like Gurley actually lasted a long time, but you saw that the the tread kind of on those tires starting to go go out quickly, like by 2019. Then he had the Cam Akers years and then he had the Sonny Michelle years.
Speaker: And then he got kind of like... janenna Darnell Henderson? Darnell Henderson as well. Yes, absolutely. There was Trey Mason. There was Zach Stacey. Malcolm Brown as well. Oh my God, Zach Stacey. Wow. So it's almost...
Speaker: it's almost yeah Karen Wilson has almost bucked the trend, actually. He's he's lasted longer, i almost as long as as ah Todd Gurley. I just think, like again, does this does play a factor or not? like they They drafted Blake Corham as a second-round pick, and the proof is in the pudding. Those final 13 games, the increased carry usage, they it became more of a 60-40 split compared to an eighty twenty which it was last year, and I think it's going to be closer to almost fifty fifty this year.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. but We're saying the same thing, honestly. It's going to be very hard for me to draft Kyron Williams, like, uh, like three rounds above Blake Corum. I think he's going to drop precipitously. don't think it's going to be, uh, don't think it's gonna very clear split. I think you're looking at a serious committee.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure. Uh, but, uh, we're going to jump quickly into our honorable mentions, if you don't mind. And one guy who won't be a split committee, but should be getting a bulk of the of the workload is Ashen Gentry. I mean, he had, by all accounts, he didn't have a great year one.
Speaker: i think I think it's also from a question of question for expectations, you know, but the Raiders have objectively gotten better this off season, especially their offensive line, which was a big issue last year, you know,
Speaker: Signing Tyler Lindenbaum to like the the most amount of money ever for for for a center should help to stabilize that offensive line. um They had an elite offensive coordinator, elite head coach.
Speaker: You're talking about a completely revamped offense. I think you're going looking at a completely different Ashton Gentry. He's, there's reason why he's an honorable mention is because he's already going to going as an So that won't necessarily change.
Speaker: But yeah i think this provides a little more confidence to the people that will be drafting him. Christian Juntins, John Judkins, excuse me, new head coach and Todd Munkin, who was the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens.
Speaker: He brings credibility to the offense. You're expecting about maybe 18 to 20 touches per game. i don't think Dylan Sampson is much of a threat to qui more of a passing down, passing down guy. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. Plus I don't think it was a lot of confidence in him last year to begin with. Like Quintin Jenkins did have some games where he really tore it up last year. Right. So I think it's going to be, I think it's going to be a continuation of that too. And then last one, and this one i'm really excited about.
Speaker: Jonathan Brooks, year three. This guy, when he was drafted, he was drafted as the best running back in that class. And he was also highly touted coming out of college out of Tennessee, Texas, taken in Texas, Texas, excuse me, Texas.
Speaker: Yeah. yeah Despite having two ACL tears and never really playing the Panthers, let Rico Dotto walk for a reason. Despite the fact that Rico Dotto leading the NFL in rushing yards after only playing like half the games at one point.
Speaker: So as far as I'm concerned, if the Panthers think that this is their guy, I'm good with that. And this is my guy too. He's a bit of a boomer bust late flyer, but I think, i don't know, man. Like i'm I'm chasing the talent here. I hope he's i hope he's fully recovered from those ACL tears. This is a serious flyer that you can get at the end. That's going very, very, very exciting. I can win you championships for sure.
Speaker: Texas running backs, man. They performed very well in the league. We saw, obviously, it would be John Robinson. And his last year at Texas, 187 attempts, almost 1,200 yards, 10 touchdowns, 103 yards per game.
Speaker: This guy can be absolutely electric. So I like that call as an honorable mention. And just for Ashton Gentry, it's Ashton Gentry to the moon. I think the Clint Kubiak signing as as head coach is going to propel him to finally propel him to ah an RB1 season, potentially.
Speaker: Yeah, definitely. Definitely three serious names to keep an eye out when you are drafting. That's for sure. um i think we're going to jump into wide receivers now. I'm just going to keep the train rolling. So this guy, i I love this guy. I know I've been saying that a lot about a lot of players we've been talking about right now, but but Luther burden, the third man, like he really came on in the last five, the last eight games of the season, including the playoffs with a 26% target share.
Speaker: Like, this guy basically made DJ Moore expendable. You know what i mean? Like, him and Roman Dunze, like, these are going to be the guys going forward. And, like, no rookie wide receiver has averaged more yards per route run than Burden's 2.71 over the last decade. 74% of his season receiving yards came after the week nine buy. So, Arrow is pointing up, in my opinion.
Speaker: And with DJ, with the aforementioned even DJ Moore now moving on to trading being traded to Buffalo, so that opens up about 85 targets and six touchdowns that just vacated. Ben Johnson has said, I want to buy stock in Luther Burden.
Speaker: So he didn't say that about Odunze. That tells you a lot, man. Like, we I remember when this we were looking at candidates and wide receiver candidates for our draft profile of, like, last year, and this guy really stood out, man. He really did. Like, I think there's a lot of people but that are sleeping on this guy.
Speaker: And he still has 60 targets as a rookie, but the volume is coming. You know, so there is a little bit of a concern just from the fact fact that, like, there are a lot of mouths to feed in that offense with but Colson Loveland and obviously Roman Dunsay too.
Speaker: But if we're expecting Caleb Williams to have a top three quarterback season like we did last episode, it doesn't matter how many mouths there are to feed. There's a buffet and his name is Caleb Williams, my friend. So just get on some Luther burden. That's all I can say. Luther burden the third. Thank you very much. Doesn't matter about number one. Number two, the three is the one that counts the most. This guy right now, he is going as wide receiver or is he's all the way so far down list. I can't see him 23, 23,
Speaker: twenty three Yeah, I think the ceiling is high on this guy. the see He's going around guys that i'm ah ah to I'll be completely honest here. I would much prefer. I'll take Devante Adams at that spot instead.
Speaker: and were oh Yeah. Well, dude, that's he's a touchdown merchant, man. It's still Devante Adams. Come on. But like, what would I be taking Luther burden over Terry McLaurin?
Speaker: Maybe. Honestly, I don't think it's as, as close as people. I don't think it's as far away as people. ah Maybe like even Z flowers is at 19. I'm taking Luther burden over Z flowers. Even Jalen, Jalen Waddle is in an absolute committee.
Speaker: with courtland sutton he's a good offense he's in a very good offense but he could easily get lost i didn't happen and i love what i saw out of luther burn last year and if you factor in that dj moore was there like you said dj moore was there loveland was there odunze was there cole comet was there yeah uh so yeah i to the moon
Speaker: so for for my breakout candidate at the wide receiver position i'm cheating a little bit this guy kind of almost broke out basically uh from a wide receiver perspective in his rookie year i'm going with a mecca abuka obviously we all know that what the story is the first five games of 2025 he was averaging 20 and a half points fantasy points per game he was basically wr3 wr5 so we know the talent is real that we know it is proven There was kind of an underlying hamstring injury that kind of derailed him. you know, he went through some games where Tess Johnson was getting more targets than him. Some other players were getting more targets than him. So he only had one TD after week nine and double digits just twice the rest of the season.
Speaker: Sorry to say this, Fab, but Breaker Mayfield heavily regressed too last year. I don't know if he was hiding an injury, but he just was not as good as he was in kind of his like QB five, five QB eight season. He was ranked QB 27 in on target pass percentage after finishing 10th in 2024. The upside aspects though are very promising. No more Mike eit mike Evans. So he's gone to San Francisco.
Speaker: Chris Godwin is 30. He had a whole slew of injuries, mostly the ankle injury. He never really came back strong from that point. um But he is projected for 122 targets in 2026. So to me, he's the very, very clear WR one.
Speaker: And they have a new offensive coordinator. I believe it's Zach Robinson, who was previously with the Falcons. The Josh Grizzard offense never really took off. Robinson is also a disciple of Sean McVay. So we know how Sean McVay can scheme up touchdowns with the best of them. So.
Speaker: Really, really promising. and I think you're going to be able to buy low on Emeka Ibuka because of the finish. think people are going to be scared of the finish that he had last year. I agree 100%.
Speaker: He's going around the same spot as Luther Burden, which to me is is a pretty good angle for him because I see him finishing as a top 50. I could see an avenue where he finished as a top 15 wide receiver.
Speaker: I don't think it's a fluke that the way he started off last year. Again, ah you go back to where this kick came from, right? The Ohio State wide receivers are legit, man like They have the pedigree to go with it, and he's one of them too. Yeah.
Speaker: I like this call a lot. I think he does have it a jump in year two. um Plus the fact that, again, you you look at the scenarios like Sam, similar to Luther Burden, you had a vet that was there who is now gone.
Speaker: You know what? Target's going vacated. And you have to assume that
Speaker: it's going to be funneled to the most active and acceptable player. And you're looking at Muka Buka, in my opinion. yeah You want to run through the yeah the honorable mentions, Raj? Yeah, let's do it. There's quite a few honorable mentions here. We have Jack Besch from the Raiders.
Speaker: Pretty much lost rookie season, but ah Kubiak being there, he could be a dynasty by low. There's not much from a wide receiver perspective and in in Las Vegas. So they drafted him in the second round. they got they They have to see what they get from him this year.
Speaker: Matthew Golden, year two growth candidate. It was a really rough rookie season. I owned a lot of Matthew Golden stock. There was those one or two catches per game that made you kind of okay, look, we we might be we might see something out of him. And then he was always kind of jettisoned as the third or fourth option there. What's helpful is that there's no more Dontavian Wicks. And I believe, is there an... Yeah, so yeah, it's... And Romeo Dobbs. Yes, Romeo Dobbs. So he steps in right away as ah you know a top two, three candidate easily.
Speaker: There's the aforementioned Roma Dunze. This one is... It's TBD, but it was really promising the first 12 games, 90 targets. He has to catch the ball. That was his main issue. Second half of the year, he dropped way too many balls. ah Ricky Purcell, his issue is more so that he just can't stay healthy. Eight targets per game pre-injury. He's an explosive player, but he cannot stay healthy. And, you know, does Mike Evans coming to San Francisco might actually help open things up for him?
Speaker: But health is the factor there. And then there's Mr. Xavier Worthy. It feels like we're we're kind of just you know on the brink of where we need where we want to be with Worthy. But whether it's health, whether it's you know Patrick Mahomes not being there, we want to see more out of him. That's not just him being ah ah you know an outside deep deep threat guy. So Those are the honorable mentions. I think, you know, potential for all a lot of these guys to have really, really big seasons. um But otherwise, we're going to move on to the tight ends. Our last breakout session, it'll be the tight end. So I'm going to start us off from a tight end perspective with Mr. Aranda Gatson Jr. So Gatson had a really nice week, four-week stretch between weeks six and 10, 24 receptions, almost 400 yards, two touchdowns. He's actually a former wide receiver. And you see it when he runs. He is very fast, not much of a blocker. So you're going to see him on the slot. You're going to see him at X receiver.
Speaker: And i what I love about it is that Mike McDaniel is there. And they added David Njoku as a another tight end. And we're seeing more and more teams that play two tight end sets.
Speaker: It is not an impediment for one or both tight ends to be really successful. You see it in New England. yeah You see it in Chicago with Cole Komet and Colston Loveland. And you're definitely going to see it with the with the Chargers. I am buying all the stock all the stock on Charger players, including Aron DeGatz. And I think he's going to have a really, really strong season and improve upon what he did last year.
Speaker: Those Harbaugh's, they like their jumbo sets. And i I love this call. I think there's going to be a very nice jump for him in year two. ah Mike McDaniel, like, you know, it's easy.
Speaker: Again, this is another guy that potentially was is probably going to be better as an offensive coordinator or coordinator than he was as a head coach. And I think he fell into a very good scenario here working with John Harbaugh. So I like this a lot.
Speaker: um This is a very good value tight end spot ah that you can get much later on in rounds that can bring you back some significant, significant returns. ah My guy, we're going to continue with the tight ends, obviously.
Speaker: Likely going to be a top 10 tight end. Likely. i mean, this is he's Is he a sleeper? i don't think he's a sleeper. I think this is the worst kept secret. I think he's a breakout candidate for sure. We're cheating a bit. This is a...
Speaker: year four tight end but he was playing in baltimore for three years behind mark andrews now he has the pass to being a number one tight end on this ah offense i mean john harbaugh went to go get him on purpose you know what i mean and he's working in an offense that was being is being led by matt nagy we all knew what matt nagy did in in Kansas city, which Travis Kelsey. So there's a lot of, lot of reasons to be very excited about this.
Speaker: and Another reason since we're on reasons, uh, last year, Jackson's are through 22% of his passes to tight ends, Theo Johnson and Daniel Bellinger. um likely is a better pass catcher than both of those guys.
Speaker: And it's not close. And he's also a better target for them as well. And it's not close. so he's averaged an elite 1.96 fancy points per target in Baltimore, which is amongst the best amongst tight ends were and from an efficiency standpoint.
Speaker: So I... I don't know how else to say this. he's He's a great tight end. He's an excellent player, and he's in a very good situation. And we just talked about how like teams that add other tight ends to their roster, like we're going to talk about, we're talking about jumbo sets here lining up. He's going to be lined up with another tight end on the other side, either Theo Johnson or Daniel Bellinger, but he's going to be the guy, especially if Malik Neighbors is going to be injured the first few games and miss, you' be he will be the target because you have no more Wanda Robinson there.
Speaker: Slayton can't catch a cold. So the only other option right now is really going to be Isaiah Likely. So i I don't see how this doesn't pan out. I mean, this is top five tight end upside all day, every day. And this is a huge, huge, huge, huge huge breakout candidate in my book.
Speaker: I don't mean to be too optimistic either, but I find it nuts that he's going after like the likes of Dalton Kincaid, Jake Ferguson, Even Dallas Goddard, I agree with you. I'm very, very high on the Azealea likely this year, especially depending on what happens with Malik neighbors.
Speaker: Yeah. It could be name value. Could be name recognition because Dalton Kincaid last year when he played, which wasn't very often, but he was, i had him on a few rosters. The guy was a machine. He's very efficient.
Speaker: he's He's very efficient. He does a lot with not a not a lot of targets, yeah but DJ Moore is there now. So. Yeah, exactly. so it's going very interesting too from from that standpoint.
Speaker: ah You want to run off the the honorable mentions? Yeah, we'll go through the... ah We just have two honorable mentions here, AJ Barner and Shiga Konkwo. We'll go with AJ Barner first. Your boy! Yeah, well, we we'll start with AJ Barner. I think really started really solid under the radar season. 52 catches, 519 yards, six touchdowns in his second season. He was kind of the tush-push guy for the Seattle Seahawks. Scored a a Super Bowl, a TD in Super Bowl II as well. And he was actually second on team in reception. So let's see what happens. It'll depend on what happens with Clint Kubiak being gone, obviously. And, you know, could there be some year two in sad Seattle regression with Sam Darnold, TBD, but a really solid get as a tight end if you need a tight end streamer.
Speaker: More so if you want someone with upside, Chigakonkwo. So as anyone knows, I've been banging on the Chigakonkwo drum for a very long time. I've always felt that he could be a very, very solid player with Tennessee. If you watch some of his tape or you watch some of his film, you see the absolute amazing speed. You see the great route running sideline catches.
Speaker: He got a $27 million dollars contract with the commanders. So there is a lot of target upside on from that perspective. and I could see him being a, you know, a ah big time sleeper at tight end. He's going at tight end 20 now.
Speaker: um He's going after the likes of Hunter Henry, Brenton Strange, Juwan Johnson, you know Mark Andrews. Aconco is a legitimate potential second option in Washington.
Speaker: i don't know about you, but I'm looking at the names of tight ends. There's a lot of, there's, there's a lot of depth. I think we said this last year or too, but there's a lot of that. and stuff It's going to be very, yeah. Yeah. It's gonna be super hard to like the pinpoint that, like that seven to 15 range for ti tight ends is going to be clip a coin on so many of these guys, because you could make an argue, a argument for any one of them, whether they'll be higher up in the category or lower down in the category.
Speaker: Well, mean, George Kittle, you can never count them out. Jake Ferguson is still the only guy in Dallas right now. Travis Kelsey is Travis Kelsey, right? Dallas Goddard is the only one that I'm I'm really pumping the brakes on.
Speaker: Mark Andrews, same argument you have for Isaiah Likely, you also have now for Mark Andrews. He's the only guy there. well Like healthy or not, like the ceiling is high. Juwan Johnson, New Orleans. I could take him down a few pegs because now there's that ah offense has got them a little bit more competition a lot.
Speaker: Yeah. hundred percent. Brenton strange in Jacksonville. I feel like a lot of people have expecting him to, but to, to boom at some points it's been, it's been tough sledding. lot of buyers remorse for him last year. Oh, same for me.
Speaker: And then you have Hunter Henry who, if you time it right, you get a tight end one on certain weeks of the season. Let me tell you. I know from the experience, it's very nice when you time it right. It's horrible when it isn't.
Speaker: So you talk about Chick as tight end 20. I can see him finishing as tight end 15, tight end 12, and having weeks of like top 10 because that ah the the Washington offense has regressed.
Speaker: and this is their This is their best offensive weapon that they have signed this offseason, in my opinion. They haven't done much else. And Chig is a good tight end. So I can see Jaden Daniels when he's under duress by every single pass rush that's in the NFC East, which is which is diabolical from pass rush perspective. I can see him throwing it out to the flat to Chig.
Speaker: And I can see this being a thing. So Chig is a very nice sleeper for me. I like this a lot.
Speaker: So that I mean, that's the episode, guys. It was short. It was sweet. It was to the point, but it's kind of what we want to do right now. It's usually how it is when Mac isn't with us on the episode. Much more efficient, much more streamlined. I'm kidding, Mac. I'm kidding. youre You're sipping your you're sipping your spritz over there on the beach in Tropea with your eating oysters and squid and whatever.
Speaker: I can't say what I want to say on, on, on, but you want you know what I'm, you know what I'm thinking around. You son of a, anyways, guys, that was our episode. Uh, thank you very much for listening. Thank you very much for jumping on with us. Uh, we're going to be back in about a few weeks again with another great episode. Like we always have, where we're previewing very interesting things for, for the off season right now, leading up to the NFL fancy football season. Uh, as always, please follow us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast, Tik TOK, Instagram, Twitter, uh, for, for any, for all of our weekly stuff.
Speaker: all of our reels, all of our questions, all that. We still have content going out and we're still interacting with our fans as much as possible. So thank you very much for listening to this episode. Thank you very much for for tuning in every week or every other week.
Speaker: um I'm Fab. That's Raj for the Bushley Cotto Fantasy Football Podcast. We'll see you in a few weeks, guys. Thank you very much.
