Fantasy Football Daily - 2021 Staff Pow-Wow: NFC East

Episode Date: May 27, 2021

John Hansen and the Fantasy Points staff break down the NFC East on the 2021 Virtual Pow-Wow livestream series. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Hi everyone, I'm Joe Dolan, and welcome to the 2021 FantasyPoint.com powwow series. These little conversations, I guess they're big conversations are intended as just a full-scale breakdown, mostly from a fantasy perspective, but also from a general NFL perspective of every team in the National Football League for the upcoming 2021 season. And these conversations with Adam Kaplan and Greg Kosell are generally informal conversations. And we used to actually do these in person.

And we're meeting virtually now because we're all over the country, our staff. And we just want to still have this conversation. And we decided with the, starting with last year in 2020, why don't we let everybody else in on the secret? So we're going to have these conversations in video form up on the website. We're going to have them in audio form here on the podcast. And I just hope everybody enjoys. Just remember these are supposed to be some informal conversations where we break down each and every team in the NFL. And we're doing them by division.

So this is the first one that we did. I don't think I'm going to do this kind of long intro for everything coming up. But without further ado, this is the breakdown of the NFC East Division with John Hanson, Adam Kaplan, Greg Cosell, Graham Barfield, and myself at FantasyPoints.com. I hope you guys learn something. I hope you're entertained and I hope you check out the other episodes. We are doing the NFC East and the NFC North today. So let's kick it off with, well, the Dallas Cowboys. and some continuity here, guys.

McCarthy back, obviously, Kellan Moore back, at least offensively. We are moving over to Dan Quinn, 3-4. Greg, I will start with you, actually. There's not much really to get to. Pretty much all the starters back on the O line. DAC, you know, clean bill of health here in May, which is certainly, you know, at this point, a good sign,

a great sign. We know the three wideouts. But how about Simi, Fahoku out of Stanford. I watched his tape a little bit. He kind of reminded me a little bit of Adam Thieling. I know he's a little raw and- A hooku reminded you of Adam's feeling?

A little bit. I saw a little Alham feeling and I know he ran well, but I kind of viewed him as a little bit more of a larger, more of a possession type of receiver. Kind of reminded me of Chase Claypool. Okay. All right. But your thoughts on that kid.

He's a big man who can run. Now, I didn't love Chase Claypool coming out, and he obviously did better than I thought he would. But Fahoko is big. He's fast. He can get vertical. Thielen is not big. Fahokos big. Yeah.

So, again, they have three starting whiteouts. I don't know what it means for him. They also brought Cedric Wilson back, and he got meaningful snaps a year ago. So, you know, barring an unbelievable offseason and training camp, I don't think Fahouca really is a huge factor in what they're going to do, John. Right. I know. But for those in Keeper Dynasty leagues, I think it's possible that he emerges as the fourth receiver, if you will, that was Cedric Wilson, as you mentioned, Noah Brown and all that. How important, Greg, I'll stick with you. How important do you think it is

for them to reestablish Zeke Elliott? I mean, we know he's great. We know the offense has gone through him. But I would argue that, you know, the offense that we saw in September with Dak Prescott, not really the offense that they won. They don't want to throw it 50 darn times. I mean, I guess we don't know that because as McCarthy's career in Green Bay evolved, he went from running the ball because if you think back to when he was there early in his career in Green Bay, they ran the ball quite a bit. But as he advanced, they threw a lot. So I don't know. That's a great question. I mean, obviously, Elliot's going to be a factor. I don't know if anybody else has any other thoughts, but I don't know if right now with this quarterback, who's pretty good, assuming he's healthy, and these weapons, I don't know if this is a 340 carry season for Elliot, given what McCarthy might think and certainly what Kellen Moore might think. So there could be a little bit of a transition, John. I don't know what you have for Elliott. in terms of projection.

But my sense is they're transitioning a bit to throwing the football. Well, that would certainly make sense, Adam. I'll go back to you. I mean, no doubt when you use number one, well, you trade away number one pick for Amori Cooper. You use that number one pick on CD Lamb. I've got Zik here with kind of to your point, Greg, and keep in mind, we have an extra game, 280 carries.

So I'm not going 315, you know, like I used to. Adam, how important do you think it is for, this is a big year for Zeke, obviously. I guess they're all big at this point. But, you know, in terms of the overall health of this offense, how important do you think it is for Zeke to, you know, quickly reestablish himself because that was never really done last year. Yeah, and I think they'll go back to him more, obviously.

I mean, you're not going to ask that. Dak Prescott was averaging over 40 attempts per game. That's just not going to happen because they're, they're going to a more traditional defense of 43 front with Dan Quinn. Greg could get into what, what he thinks it'll look like. But we know it's going to be the same. Seattle defense, his version of it. But getting back to the offense, I do think it still will start with Elliott. But as Greg said, and I would agree, I don't think the volume of carries will be

there like it had been before. Because when you go with the receivers that they have, Cooper is one of the highest paid receivers in the NFL, and he also is coming off a good year. Gallup could run, he's their D-threat. Lamb is a first-round pick. So those guys have to play. So they're no longer going to be a team that's going to line up in 12 personnel all the time. I think they'll have the ability actually to become more of 11 personnel team. That's something we don't know yet. But I would think because of those three receivers, John, that they'll start going with, their philosophy is going to change a little, but I do see that change.

And Greg, I'll go back to you. I mean, we certainly, it's worthwhile kind of revisiting Blake Jarwin, who does have pretty good chemistry with Dak Prescott, pretty athletic. Might be a vertical, straight lineish kind of a guy, man, but some juice there, Greg. and certainly defensive coordinators are not going to be, you know, all that bothered about Blake Jarwin. I think he'll get some nice one-on-one opportunities down that seam to make some big plays. Yeah, assuming he's healthy and even Dalton Schultz when when Jarwin got hurt came in and did

okay. So they've got a lot of weapons. You know, Jarwin, my guess is he, and I don't think you probably haven't projected this way, Johnny, he won't be a volume target, but he could be a factor as far as touchdowns. that I know for fantasy. Obviously, that's very important. Yeah, yeah. The Red Zone guy. Yeah, it could be. But it'll be very interesting. I'm fascinated. This is an offense that's going to be fascinating because I think Prescott, before he got

hurt, I thought that Prescott was, he's improved every single year. And he's become a really good player. And assuming he's healthy, you know, he's a good quarterback. And they've got a lot on the perimeter. And I agree with Adam. I mean, you know, you're dealing with Cooper, Gallup, and Lamb, those guys are going to be on the field. I mean, they did not expect C.D. Lamb to be there two years ago in the draft. And when he was there, they just gobbled him up. So he's going to play. He's, he's going to play meaningful snaps. So this is going to be in my view, percentage-wise.

I mean, I can't give you an exact number. It won't be 90%. But I think this is going to be a 70 plus percent, 11 personnel offense. What, what real quick, have you noticed from that in terms of the improvement? Is he a little bit more fluid in his movement? Is he processing things a little bit better? Is he seeing things? Is he more decisive?

What is it that you see about Dak Prescott in terms of his game being elevated as we move along? Definitely the two things you said. He sees it. He's more decisive. And I think that's a function too of comfort within the offense with Kellyn Moore staying. You know, every once in a while, Dak will miss one that with just his ball location is not as precise as it needs to be on some routine throws, some layups as my ball.

buddy Kurt Warner would say. But for the most part, Dack is a very comfortable player. He understands this offense. He understands where to go with the ball. As Adam said, they've got pretty defined roles. I mean, Gallup is the X. He's the boundary player. They use him more as the vertical threat. Cooper is the movement guy. He's the Z. And Lamb is the slot guy. That's pretty much what they do. And Prescott's very, very comfortable with that. Graham, the Cowboys ran off even without Dak for most of the year, like over 1,100 plays. What do you thoughts? And when we look at that for fantasy in terms of their play calling and their pace,

the number of plays that they run off. Yeah, like Adam said earlier, you know, I don't think Dallas is going to come back and ask tack to throw the ball 40, 45 times the game, especially coming off, you know, the brutal injury he had. But, yeah, for fantasy, we have to make note of their, I mean, just how much this offense changed last year. I mean, we only got four full games, four and a half, if you include the Giants game where you got hurt. But, I mean, this team ran plays at the fastest pace, literally in NFL history.

I mean, they ran a play every 20 seconds of game clock. And that was like four seconds faster than the next closest team. They were the most past heavy team in the league when the game was within eight points. So when the game was close, they're asking Dak to throw a ton. And I think this is just a different offense. I don't think Zeeq is going to get the ball, you know, 300 plus. times like we've seen in the past. I do think they'll dial it back a little bit with Dack, but for fantasy, I think Cooper, Gallup especially and Lamb are all undervalued in drafts right now.

I've been doing a bunch of best ball drafts to kind of get like a, you know, a firm, a firm feel for the landscape. And I think all three are undervalued based on just the volume that all these guys could have. I love this offense once again. I think I thought cowboys receivers were undervalued last year, and I feel the same way this year, especially with Dak looking like he's got a clean bill of health going into week one. A couple of things I just want to add. One of the reasons why they're high volume volume pass team is because they, defensively, they were so bad for well over half the season.

They started to play better at some point in the second half. There were some weeks, teams were telling me they thought Dallas's tape was not competitive defensively. The mental errors were so bad and embarrassing. Yeah. It was to the point where you like, you don't want, people, want to point the finger of Mike Nolan, which is easy to do. But the, the errors were so embarrassingly bad. And they, remember, they cut Don Terry Poe. They were just, they were so bad. And now you,

you add Parsons in there and Kelvin Joseph. The hope is they'll be more competitive. They'll be more competitive because the talent level is better. But I don't know if there'd be a great defense, because I just don't, particularly up front on their front floor, they've got some questions. Yeah, they don't. Also, Adam, it's a new coordinator, too. And, Dan Quinn. So there may be a little bit of transition there as well. Joe, let me go to you real quick. The three receivers that we've talked about here, the top three wideouts, each had 100 plus targets. Last year, I was kind of in on the cheapest option, which was, I believe actually C.D. Lamb, but it could be wrong there. I thought it was Ced lamb. But this year, I think I'm in on,

again, the cheapest option, which would be actually Gallup. I know he's volatile boom or bust, but damn good player. Who do you like out of the three? Well, I mean, I've always had kind of a blind spot to Amari Cooper. So I've been drafting him a little bit more. If I were to say, like, if I just want consistency, it's probably going to be lamb. But Gallup, John, the separation, last year, the three of those guys, I guess Cooper was a little bit separated from Gallup and Lamb, but Gallup and Lamb were going neck and neck. And now Gallup is like four or five rounds cheaper than CD Lamb. And that, that raises a question. and maybe I'll pose this to Greg a little bit.

If we were to look at Michael Gallup, let's just say you take Michael Gallup and you plop them on a hot air balloon and you drop him in, and you drop him in Jacksonville. How would we view Michael Gallup? Like what kind of player is? Well, I liked Gallup when he came out of college.

I mean, you know, obviously for fantasy, a receiver's targets and volume are dependent on how much they throw. it. And the Cowboys threw it a lot and they threw it reasonably well. I mean, obviously, when Prescott went out, it changed. But the year before, Gallup was good. Last year, he was good, you know, with Prescott. I think Gallup is a solid player. They clearly have made the decision, which is interesting because a lot of people might have thought it would be different, but they clearly have made the decision that he's their Boundary X, not Cooper. So, you know, the Boundary X is a receiver that gets a lot of one-on-one matchups.

And they obviously feel Gallup is that guy that can win one-on-one. He's a vertical receiver. And Prescott throws the ball vertically to him. So Gallup is a really good player. John, I guess for you, I don't know how you have this mapped out. I mean, Adam made the point that they don't want to throw 40-plus times by choice. I think we're close to that. I think they're going to be a passing football team.

You know, 40 is a big number. number obviously, so I'm not going to say that's going to happen every week. But I think they're going to be a passing football team. Well, let's take a look. I've got 33 to 35 is my, my 10th, little for DAC per week. I have him throwing 590 balls, which is a pretty big number and projecting him to play 16 and a half games. I'm guessing that's going to be like a 37 a game. Let's see here. 590 divided by 16 and a half 36, 36 times a game, which might be a little on the higher end. That would not surprise me at all.

Yeah. Now, real quick, before we move on, Greg, I was, you know, pretty impressed by Amar Cooper last year, actually. I thought despite the addition to C.D. Lamb, to me, it felt like he was like the alpha dog, like kind of the offense kind of went through him a little bit, the passing offense. your thoughts on what you saw to Cooper last year. I was actually very impressed. Yeah, I think you've got to be careful, though, because Prescott wasn't there for three quarters of the season. So, I mean, Cooper's a good player. He's always been a player that, and I don't have an answer for this, but he's always been a player where he has three or four great games, and then he has a lot of games where he's not a factor at all.

I can't speak to why that's the case. I never understand that. I just don't know why that occurs. It's actually on him. To be honest, to answer your question, I could tell you from talking to the coaches over the years. They think it's on him? Yeah. It's been his commitment and he gets, you know, he gets into these ruts. Now, you didn't last year, which is a good sign.

Not as much. He had three stinkers, but he was also dealing with Andy Dalton. Right. And you don't, it's hard to evaluate their situation because their line was, was destined. By the way, that's what I'm saying, John, it's hard to evaluate. Yeah. But Cooper always has three or four games, too, that are phenomenal.

And then that gives him numbers. You know early on, though, and I know again, they were throwing it 50 times a game. But man, the targets with DAC, 14, 9, 12, 16. Ooh, boy. Defense probably not going to be that great, as that I mentioned. Pass rush is probably an issue. Linebacker, you know, Parsons will see what rolls, Vandr-Shm kind of settle into, I guess, and Calvin Joseph.

Trayvon Diggs was great. But let's move on to, well, let's go. to the Giants. And Adam and I have talked about this a lot. Adam, at the end of the day, let's go to you. Love the addition to Kenny Ghaladay. Wasn't a huge fan of Cadarious Tony, that pick. But look, we're fantasy people, so we're not against it.

I don't know like Cadarius Tony. Because I wanted, I thought they had enough of receiver. I was, I'm very concerned about the Office of Live with Daniel Jones. I feel like he doesn't process real well. He's prone to turnovers. I want to build, I want to reinforce a line in front of him. And I'm not sure that they've done that. They got three guys who are third,

you know, third round or better picks on the O line. I know, but Adam, they're not that great. Yeah, they're okay. I mean, it's, they just didn't address it. Remember, they cut Zeitler, who signed a big deal with Baltimore, which is, you would think with the Giants cutting Zitler, maybe he's not the player he once was.

But the fact that Baltimore thought he was, they're paying him a lot of money. So they cut a starting guard. They've had, I mean, Will Hernandez is back. We'll see if Parrott is the right tackle. Andrew Thomas was up and down as being kind. Now, Soulder, we're early here in May, so I do wonder if Soder will, what they're going to do with Soder, because he, you know, he's back for this last year. The interior is not the greatest.

It's a below average line. So I, I, there's some concern there. But they're so loaded receiver. Getting Kyle Rudolph and he'll be ready for week one. It's just, he's not going to do much before. temper. He'll help they're blocking, actually. Right. And you know, Ingram doesn't have to, not that Ingram would ever be in line, but he definitely will be catching, he'll be out there as a slot tight end. And you get Barkley back. There's, there's a ton of offensive talent. It's just,

hey, can they protect Jones and can he deliver the ball accurately? And, and his, his variances are just, he's just so up and down. But we should mention this. His fifth year option is due next May. This season goes a lot into that where they pick it up or not. And they picked up an extra number one pick by the way, right? So if Daniel Jones doesn't get it done this year, they could turn that page. theoretically, yes. Yeah. Greg, I think to answer your question, I would have been, I would have felt better if they invested a number one pick and a really nice line. I don't even care where. Interior tackle. Tony is nice. You have to look at what they, how they probably see it. Okay, they drafted Andrew Thomas with a number one pick, okay?

So he's going to play tackle. Matt Pert was a third round pick, okay? And he's actually a really talented guy who I'm sure they feel with a full off season will take a significant step up and likely be the right tackle. Hernandez was a second round pick, okay? So now you're dealing with, and I'm just looking at the depth chart right now. So if it's Lemieux and Gates, and again, I guess that remains to be seen. And so that's where you'd say, hey, maybe those guys are not super strong.

But the other three guys, they probably feel pretty good about. And, you know, again, you never have enough offensive line. And we know that. But they wanted a receiver because, as Adam could probably attest, there was a lot of talk at pick 11 before the Eagles moved up ahead of them that they were going to take Devont to Smith. So they clearly had their eyes on a receiver. They're building weapons here.

And they've got a lot of weapons. But might it be a little bit of a move point if Daniel Jones doesn't progress, Greg? As you know, I've been a Daniel Jones. I mean, I'm something of an apologist. I think he's very talented. I'm rooting for him, obviously. I'm sure he works at all. I think this is also where we get caught up in.

It has to happen right now because Jones had a pretty good rookie season. The only knock on his rookie season would be that he fumbled a few too many times. Okay. But as far as playing the position of quarterback, he had a good. rookie season. Then last year, the entire Giants offense was bad. Okay, they, they, people were hurt on the O line. They lacked weapons and Jones struggled. So, I mean, I know it's easy to say, well, if he doesn't have a good year, and maybe that's the case. None of us can answer that. But I think it's really difficult to decide that Daniel Jones is not a good player right now.

Look, he's 24, just turned 24, by the way, or getting ready to turn 20. I guess, yeah, getting ready to turn 24. So he's still very young. New system last year, second year now in this system. You know, he's obviously a smart guy. Weapons are there. A lot of weapons. They can line up in a lot of different personnel packages.

I mean, they've got tight ends. They've got wide receivers. This is going to be an interesting offense conceptually. I don't know if anybody else has a feel for it, but I'm not sure what they'll hang their hat on here. Yeah, I mean, Adam, because they were looking, apparently as we mentioned, to get Devante Smith and Cadar is Tony a little bit of a different player. So, but clearly they, they want to surround Daniel Jones with as many weapons as possible. But actually, Greg, let me go back to you on Daniel Jones because might, might his issue be somewhat similar to Sam Darnold in that he might not be able to just process very quickly.

I mean, he did make some pretty quick decisions as rookie year. Well, I think there was a lack of decisiveness to him. Now, when you see that, that's hard to know whether it's because he's not seeing it, or maybe he's just not comfortable. Maybe he didn't have a lot of confidence in who he was throwing to. Only he could answer that. I can't answer why there was at times a lack of decisiveness to his game. And then when you're not decisive as a quarterback, you get stuck in the pocket, obviously,

and bad things usually happen. Because even though he's got some mobility, he's not a runaround guy. So he got stuck a lot. And like I said, he'd have to tell you why that is. But, you know, I think that that's something they feel with weapons now and another year in Jason Garrett's system that they probably feel that that can be cleaned up. I think, Adam, back to you. I feel like I got tipped off on what was going to happen when I talk with Jordan Renan, maybe third week in August where I said, hey, how is Jordan Renaud of ESPN?

How's, how's Daniel Jones doing? I said, well, you know, it's been a little uneven in camp, like not real comfortable to Greg's point. So I think maybe we'll get tipped off this summer if we're getting great reports in year two of Jason Garrett's offense with these weapons and with the talent that Daniel Jones brings at the table. Then I'll feel good, but we're not there yet.

Your thoughts there. Yeah, yeah. The good thing is Greg was touching on it. They've got speed like you can't. I mean, all sorts of speed with Tony Ross Slayton, right? Shepard is a very good slot receiver when healthy, and we know that's a problem, but he's very talented. Galdet's a true X, that this is what they've needed. They didn't have last season. So the excuses are over. He's just got to play better, but he is only his third year.

Let me ask you guys a question. A year ago, how did we talk about Baker Mayfield? Well, he was the same way. I was concerned. My God. He was coming off a terrible season. It's the same thing, Greg. Right. So I mean, all I'm saying is, and now Mayfield with a good system, you know, and Adam knows that system well as I do, you know, had a very nice year. And we'll see. I mean, I think, and again, we're talking fantasy. So I know it's sometimes different than talking about, you know, football in a strict sense. Real world.

Right. Real world football. But all I'm saying is I think that if we're talking football, it's hard for me as someone who sits here and watches tape all the time and talks to coaches to sit here and say, well, Daniel Jones can't play based on what happened last year. Yeah, we need it. First of what, we need another year. He's only played two seasons.

You can't just give up on a guy. We need to see progress. We definitely need to see progress. Greg, to your point, though, and to my point about Baker Mayfield, yeah, I was very concerned at the conclusion of the 2019 season. But then they went out and got Jack Conklin. Then they drafted Wills, and I'm like, oh, okay. And I think that's where it all started.

I would attribute Baker Mayfield's year three success to arguably the best offensive line of football. Well, the other thing, too, is Barclay was not there last year. And my guess is they would like Barclay. I don't think they're going to give them the ball 380 times. But I think they would like Berkeley to be a foundation of the offense. Whereas last year, hey, Wayne Galman had a really nice season for the Giants, given who he is and what he was asked to do. But, you know, Barclay is a big time player.

and hopefully you can play a full season. That changes things. No doubt, no doubt. Adam rolls here. Kenny Gallaudet, your number one outside receiver. Yeah, he'll be the X. I mean, the past, the past target tree will be, Ghaladay will definitely be number one.

After that, theoretically should be Ingram or Shepherd. The problem with Shepherds, he just, he has trouble staying healthy. He's had all sorts of injury issues. That could be Sheparders, the two, could be Ingram as the two. Those will be your top three.

I don't think Slayton's going to be much of a factor anymore. This is the way it is. Greg, your thoughts on, obviously you know Jason Garrett. You've studied Cadarious Tony. Your thoughts on, you know, how they can utilize him immediately. And as he, let's assume, he grows in his real year. I mean, what might he be doing at the end of the year? They drafted Tony in the first round.

So he's not going to be just used as, hey, he lines up here and that's it. Because as Adam said, if Shepard's healthy. and Shepard's played outside too. Now, was the ideally an outside guy? No. But Tony was draft. Tony can line up in multiple positions, which he did at Florida, by the way.

You can even line him up in the backfield. So assuming he picks things up, he's going to get meaningful snaps, and I think you'll see him move around. You'll see him as a motion guy. You'll see him as a jet sweep guy. You'll see him doing a lot of different things. They've got a bunch of guys who can line up in different spots.

I'm interested, you know, was it Adam who said, Adam, you feel Slayton could not be a factor here? I just don't think he's going to be the guy that the reason, just so you understand, the reason why they drafted Tony and they brought John Ross in and the big one was obviously Gallaudet. Slayton just did not take the step with Daniel Jones that they were expecting. This is the way he was explaining me. I'm going to say, I don't know, last November I was talking to someone with the Giants and they were, for some reason, Jones and Slate, you would know better by your tape study, Greg, but I could just tell you the way they felt. I started to get the picture that Slayton was not, and I didn't know they were

going to do all this. Trust me, I didn't know that. Right. And again, we're not, you know, the one thing we're not is we're not there. We don't know how we're studying, we don't know all that stuff. Right. But I could tell you, Slayton did not step up to the plate. Did he have a decent amount of catches? Yes. But he just would, for ever reason, he was not who they thought he would be last season. And they're telling you by all these transactions. It's just remarkable. The Giants of all teams, Gallaudet, Tony, John Ross. And not that he'll make the team, but Dante Pettus is there, former second round.

Don't forget Kelvin Benjamin. Benjamin, yeah. Right. And who's going to play Hback and receiver if he could stay under 250 pounds. And Austin Mack who was a surprise last year? Although I wish I could forget Kelvin Benjamin's existence, honestly, because he's been a little annoying.

Greg, real quick on Ingram. There's a big year for Ingram, final year of his rookie deal. I personally felt, I don't know if you recall it, but it was so slow going early on. Like, wow, can we get this guy to the ball? I did see him come on down the stretch. He got targeted, only one touchdown.

But I did see some improvement with Jason Garrett. I kind of wondered if Jason Garrett was just feeling his way out with Everton Ingraham first half of the season. I think he was probably feeling his way out with a lot of things. Yeah. And it's going to be interesting because it's another team with weapons now. I have no idea, John, how this is going to map out. I mean, they got a lot of guys who can line up in different spots.

They have a lot of multi-positional players. I don't think we know who's going to be getting the meaningful snaps right now. Now, you don't draft Cadarious Tony in the first round and not to put the guy on the field. I would argue that you kind of brought in Ghaladay. I feel like you're going to hang your hat on Gawley. He's playing. No, he's playing the most snaps. Yeah, Galdet's the guy.

I mean, he was signed to a big deal. He's a classic X. He's big. He's physical. He can make contested catches. He can win one on one. He's one. He's one of those guys that when he's covered. He's open. So Ghaladay's the guy. He's the ex. Hey, let me ask, let me follow up Greg on that point you just made. Did you notice a tape study last year? And it's sort of a, it's sort of a discussion on Slayton. The way that I understood at the timing between Jones and his receivers was not great. And I know Shepard missed some time. But is he really had it in his two years? Did he really have a true ex? No.

No. Matt, this, you would think this is a, this is a big step for them, getting a guy. And what Jones is going to have to do, which wasn't really a problem as a rookie, but I thought it was a problem last year. And again, that's why only he could tell you is Jones is going to have to get comfortable throwing it to Gallaudet, even when Gallaudy appears covered. He's always covered. He's Mr. Contested Catchers guy. But what I like about it is, you know, there's a guy in Goladay who can make plays at all three levels of the defense. You'll take your shots to them. But, you know, Greg, on those third and sixth

place, you know, if Barclay's covered or something, you know, like you just throw them a quick little inbreaker with the physicality and move the sticks, right? Well, you know, you have to feel comfortable with that. I mean, obviously in Detroit, where Ghalty came from, Matthew Stafford's never had a problem turning it loose. You know, Jones is going to have to become that guy. Anybody else have anything on these giants before we move on? Tough. call, tough team, kind of all comes down to the quarterback. A lot of weapons, but we need the quarterback to maximize these weapons. Yeah, and one thing I do want to add, Greg made a very good point in Barkle. He seemed to forget, and I know he's coming back to a tour in the ACL. If he's

anywhere close to what he was before the injury, Jason Garrett is an old school balance team. They're, they're not going to ask him to throw the ball 37 times a game if they could help it. And their defense is pretty competitive. But when they throw it, they're so deep and available past It's just crazy. I'm going to pass targets they have. I mean, between Slayton, Galdet, Shepard, Tony, we'll see what his role is. There, and the other thing, too, is to play off what Adam just said, and then we'll move on, is even if they want to bring Barclay back a little slowly, Devante Booker is a nice second back. So, I mean, we've seen that through his career. That's what he is. So, I mean, they can run the football. I mean, this is not, they're not going to drop back 40 times

a game by choice by any means, no matter how many weapons they have. And do you know that Devante Booker turns 29 in a couple days? Me too. How about that? How did that come from? Greg, what do you think of, well, real quick, your thoughts on the defense last year? I know you thought they were very disciplined. Now you had Aziz O'Jolari. You got a little James Bradbury now with Dory Jackson. Yeah, I really like this team. I feel like they're ready to compete. What did you think of the defense and what do you think of them? I thought the defense was pretty good, given that they didn't have great, great players. I thought that Patrick Graham did a really good job.

You know, obviously Leonard Williams had his best season. You know, I think that, I mean, I really like O'Diulari's tape. You know, I think they expect him to be a factor. You know, I don't know how many snaps he plays, but I think they expect him to be a factor. I thought the rookie Darnay Holmes was a really nice slot player. You know, Adori Jackson's been very up and down in his career. They drafted the kid from UCF, Aaron Robinson, in the third round. And Robinson played both outside and slot at UCF.

And it would not surprise me if he competes with the Dory Jackson on the outside. Wow. Wow. I guess you didn't get, by the way, back to offense, Gary Brightwell. I guess you didn't get to him out of Arizona. Okay. Yeah. I think it was a seventh.

But, you know, they also signed, and we have no idea what he is because he missed a whole season due to COVID. They signed Armstead, Raquel Armstead, you know, former Temple kid. I like him. Now, I don't know if he can still play. Who knows what the season off with COVID. I mean, he was the one guy that. had severe complications. So I couldn't begin to tell you that.

But he's a grinder. He's a sustaining grinder. Also I have Elijah Penny and who was there last year, Rashad's brother and then Corey Clement as well here. One thing I do want to add on Dory Jackson, he'll be starting. There won't be, they own 27 over two years and the money's fully guaranteed.

He ain't going anywhere. So Dory Jackson is Greg's right. I could just tell you from talking to the Titans. They were not happy. He didn't play last. season. He's been very up and down. And I'll tell you what, though, it actually might be good for fantasy. John, if when teams go play the Giants are going to go after Jackson because he's just not a consistent

player. Yeah. Paying him 13 million a year, which is absurd for a guy coming up. And Bradbury traveled quite a bit, not quite a bit, but definitely did travel. So not every week, but he did travel. Right. So Jackson's the guy teams are going to go after. Graham Barfield real quick. Saquan Barkley at his ADP. Let's even knock it down one spot. Let's say Seyquan Berkeley at five, Graham. Are you in or out?

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, the biggest question we're talking about all these great weapons, talking about Gallaudet, talking about Tony. Sure, the offensive line is a concern. My biggest concern with this team is can Jason Garrett make all these pieces work? Because like Adam alluded to, man, he is an old school, let's run the football type of coach. which last year, even without Barclay for a full season,

the Giants were one of the most run-heavy teams in situation-neutral game scripts. So that's like within seven, eight points. I think we're going to see a big dose of Barclay. Maybe not week one or two, but once he kind of gets his legs back underneath them, I think we're going to see a lot of Barclay. I think that after McCaffrey and Cook,

I think Henry Barkley and Camara are really close at like three, four, and five, John. and I really don't have like a strong opinion on on where to go if you're at five. I think if one of those three are available at five, I think that's completely fine. And, you know, I kind of, for like half PPR leagues, I've been kind of leaning on Henry a little bit more because Barclay and Camara should have a slightly higher floor and full PPR. But really that that tier after Cook and McCaffrey, I think, is really close. Jason Garrett, I just went back and looked, you know, his last five years, kind of all. over the map in terms of offense six one year then 22nd in points four then 14th then fifth then

31st joe dolan saquan barkley's on the board five overall mcalfrey cook camara and let's say henry are gone are you going barkley or someone else i'm taking barclay um that's that that's where i'm going to take him he can catch the ball um everybody i think you can nitpick pretty much everybody at the top, maybe with the exception of McCaffrey, but even he's coming off an injury. Dalvin Cook might be the safest, but no, the Barclays, Barclay's a top five pick for me. I think there's questions about Jonathan Taylor's role in the passing game with Wentz there. Kelsey at five isn't for me. I think he can make the argument for Devante Adams if Aaron Rogers were to say he's playing, but Aaron Rogers hasn't said he's playing.

So that that's that's why I'm taking Barclay there. But just what I'm going to change gears here a little bit. Adam, they sign Kyle Rudolph here. I'm in no way enthused by this signing. But do you know. A block. Yeah, but he's there to block. Is that going to affect Ingram at all?

No, he's this error to block. That's what he is. He's in Y tight end and that's the way that they're going to use them. And is Levine Tuololo still there? All he does is block. He's a giant. Yeah, yeah. He's a giant.

Yeah, he might not even, you know, some of these guys aren't going to make the team because they still have Caden Smith, who did well. I mean, they're not going to be carrying five tight ends. Right, but Toy Lolo might have to stay because Rudolph will not be ready until late August, early September. But, yeah, he, he, look, the reason why the guy got the big, his last contract was because his ability to block, and that's what he does. Do they, do they go a little bit more two tight end sets here, even though they had this

embarrassment or rich? Boy, I'll tell you, that's a great question. And this is, this is, Jason Garrett has. not been he's not been put to the test like this before with all this talent i'm very interested to see if they're more 12 or 11 theoretically they should be more 11 with the talent that they have but i don't know yet well john also brought in rudolph you mentioned john that they're you know garrett's track record is pretty mixed got to keep him high tony romo is probably the most underrated quarterback of all time they had an all world offensive line when when garratt was was

was there he isn't called plays just so you know he's not called before the Giants, remember, he had he had off to Scott Linnahan. Yep. And that's what I was just about to say. Lennonham was calling plays. Right, right. So he's, yeah, so we'll see. Garrett, his rap, Adam, is probably what, quarterback tutor, like number one?

Yeah, you know, they just, the last thing on, on Daniel Jones, I know talking to some the Cowboys coaches over the years, though he was far removed from calling plays, he, when he, when they would see him work with Romo and then Dak, he's really, good teacher with the quarterback position, like really good, these guys said, one of the best they had seen. And that obviously as a head coach, people could say what they won about him. But he does teach fundamentals very well. He's very hard on it. So year three, let's hope that Jones, you know, takes the step that we've been looking for him to make is, man, I know we're going to talk probably Philly next. Tell me another NFL team other than maybe Denver that could go

with past target groups. They're legit, like five, like five. 16 and even John Ross for goodness sake who could run for me and we're going to be talking to people all summer it to me it all comes down to how are we looking in camp is is Daniel Jones sharp is he more consistent do they perform pretty well in the preseason games if so john pass pro yeah if so i will be in on daniel jones that is ADP i will also be in on jail and hurts even at his ADP which is kind of high at 85 i believe as we mean move on to the Philadelphia Eagles here on the fantasy points 2021 offseason powwow here. It's a little bit of a preview of all 32 teams.

Greg Hosell, Adam Kaplan, Joe Dolan, Grand Barfield. I'm John Hanson. Let's get into Philly, Greg. Offensively, I know it's a projection and obviously we don't know much yet, but your thoughts on how things change under Nick Siriani and Shane Stikeham in terms of the offense. Any noticeable change? I don't think we know the answer to that. I mean, you know, I think there's, see, we're at the time of year where everybody talks about things and I don't know because I don't think coaches, they watch tape, okay, right now, but then they got to get on

the field with their players. And that's just starting. Okay. And obviously, I think we're going to have a pretty normal offseason. But, you know, I mean, I find it interesting. And maybe Adam knows more. you know, I've been grinding away because I had a project that I had to do with NFL films, and now I'm starting to watch tape again. But so I haven't talked to anybody in the last number of weeks because I had to get this project done. So, and Adam, you know, talks more to people than I do generally. But I thought it was very intriguing that they came out unless they've changed it since

and pretty much said that the quarterback situation is open. Adam, is, have any change going on there? I mean, look, they want and expect Hertz to start. What, Nick Siriani, their head coach, he's super big on accountability and particularly competition. So he doesn't feel a need to name Hertz the starter. But I think that's interesting in and of itself. Yeah.

Yeah. But look, if Hertz doesn't start week one against who the hell they, they're playing at Atlanta, then he really had a terrible training camp in preseason. They are fully expecting Hertz. I can just tell you. Boring a trade for Deshaun Watson. And if Hertz doesn't start, he will have to have had a very disappointing training camp and also preseason, which we're going to have. And Adam, I think that, you know, they'll give him some rope too during the season.

I talk with Dave Spadaro about this recently. You're not yanking him in week three if he's struggling, I don't think. Maybe week six or seven. Right, right. They really want to evaluate Hertz. I mean, they really, they need to know. Well, they have to evaluate Hertz because Joe Flacco is not the answer. And, you know, it's so interesting how this all plays.

out because Jamie Newman coming off his junior year at Wake Forest was being and then he obviously transferred to George and sat out but coming off that junior year at Wake Forest he was in the conversation as a top 60 pick as a quarterback and then he sat out and was an undrafted free agent. So I'm not saying he's in the mix, but I'm just saying it's interesting how this stuff plays out. So no, but all you guys are right. Jalen Hertz right now on this present roster is the quarterback. And I guess John, what you're asking me is what is their offense going to look like if he's the quarterback. It's not going to look like the offense that Suriani just came from because

that was Philip Rivers. It's not going to look like that. Now, when I say it's not going to look like that, the playbook is going to be the same because when all said and done, all the playbooks, you know, everybody has their playbook. It's just what parts of the playbook you use and you emphasize and you focus on. They'll be focusing on different parts when it comes to jail and Hertz. One thing that's big is obviously the status is Zach Earth. That'll tell us a lot. you know, I mean, sometimes we could get tipped off in terms of what the offense is going to look like by the moves that teams have made and, you know, not really seeing a ton here until we see something developed potentially with Zach Ertz. Devante Smith, obviously the Heisman trophy winner. I like to pick. Eagle fans like to pick your thoughts on.

I feel like he's kind of a plug-in number one receiver, Greg. And do you think that this is a better situation for a Jalen Rager who did seem a little, miscast is kind of the one relate, you know, with Hertz. Might Rager be better off, you know, playing second fiddle to Devante Smith? Well, I'm going to be fascinated to see how they use both Rager and Smith because I think to me, Smith is not a true X. Now, that doesn't mean he can't line up there depending on who your opponent is because if an opponent plays a lot of off coverage, then Smith can line up at X. but I don't think he's a true X the way we just spoke about Kenny Ghaladay being a true X.

So to me, Smith is a guy you want off the ball, you want him with movement, you want him with free access, you want him to stride out. The question is, is Rager next? Could he be? I think more so than Smith, if Rager were to reach his potential, which I think is pretty good. But I'm curious, you know, how they see the rest of this receiving corps. I mean, Fogham had three, four good games. He's still there. Hightower's still there. Ward has actually done a really nice job as a slot. Later in the season, Watkins had some plays. I'm not sure how they see, you know,

in an ideal world, Smith and Rager are the two main guys. Yeah. But you're dealing with a rookie and a second year player. So I think there are, I don't want to say there are questions as if they can't play, but there are some unknowns. Adam might fulgum be a key then. Yeah. Because he could be the X. Yeah, he could be. By the way, they have the NFL's youngest receiver core, one of only two teams to not have a vested veteran, which is almost hard to believe.

Yeah. Right now, if the season started today, it's, well, John, you brought up Earths because Earth's is still on the team. What I do believe, if they're able to move Hertz, or Earth's, if he's not on the team in September, my sense is there'll be more 11 than 12 in terms of, of structure. This is going to be an old school West Coast offense, as I understand it. Big timing routes. Not that accuracy isn't important. Obviously, it's important at quarterback. Super important to have pinpoint accuracy because a lot of crossers, a lot of short air rack. Run after the catch is a major component, I'm told by two people in this offense. And that's a function of the quarterback more than wide receivers.

Right. And you've got to lead that guy and you've got to be accurate. And I know from early on here, I had heard it back in. February. Like this is going to be completely different from structure than Doug Peterson's offense. And this is just going to be a different mindset. So, and I like what Stuyken said. He talked about Rager in his press conference last week. And he talked about his ability to run after the catch. That is going to be very big with these receivers. Greg, well, we all know in the fantasy world that Jalen Hertz is a cheat code, as we say, because when a quarterback runs and no one ran like he did down the stretch, it's great for fantasy. We know that. But,

We also need him to be, you know, serviceable and capable throwing the football. He did turn that ball over quite a bit. You know, talk about the pros and the cons of Jalen Hertz. The small sample size, the good, the bad, and in between. Yeah, I mean, I think what you saw is what probably was expected. I think you saw a guy that's capable of making some good throws from the pocket. And then you saw a guy that's also capable of not really having a clearly defined sense of timing. anticipation, ball location can be very inconsistent and erratic. You know, I think that that's what he

was coming out. And I think people knew that. I mean, he was a surprise second round pick. So, you know, I think you're dealing, let's put it this way. I think you want to use his legs as part of your offense. That's what he brings to the table that he's capable of doing that. Now, he's obviously not Lamar Jackson. He's a totally different kind of runner. But I think you want to use his legs by design. And you probably don't want to stop him from running when he drops back if he feels that he sees it. You know, you don't want to say to Jalen Hertz don't run with the ball. So you're trying to define the reeds and the throws for him, which is tougher when it's third and long, obviously, than when it's first and ten or second and four. You want to define the reads and the throws and then allow him to use his athletic dimension.

He's got an athletic dimension that you don't, you don't. don't want to stop him from using. Now, we haven't talked about the run game at all. Yeah. I think they would like the run game to be a factor. Don't forget, Suriani just came from Indy where down the stretch, Jonathan Taylor carried the ball 20 times a game. So, you know, I don't know if they see Sanders carrying it 20 times a game,

but I think they want to run the football. Yeah, and again, I talk with Dave Spadero, and he feels pretty good recently. He feels pretty good about Miles Sanders in his role. he doesn't believe touches are going to be a problem at all. And running behind a quarterback like Jalen Hertz can open up opportunities. And they're talking about Miles Sanders in the passing game using him more. Yeah, well, apparently, Lane Johnson spilled the beans. Apparently the screen game is going to be major, you know, in recent years with the Eagles.

And part of it is because Wentz's unwillingness to check the ball down. He just doesn't like doing it. They were huge in indie. The same game's huge. Right. In 17, it was a part of it. But after 17, boy, the screen. green game for whatever reason. We don't have time to go into the coaching staff and all the

issues. But apparently in this offense, screen game's going to be big. And I'll tell you what, Kerry on Johnson will give them a breather every once in a while and third down. His deal is his deal is past protection. And then the other thing is Gainwell. Now, I talked to Ryan Silverfield, his coach at Memphis yesterday. And he just thinks that putting, he had a great point. He's like, can you imagine if they put Gainwell and standards on the field at the same time? Which they will. Yeah. And Gamewell at the slot. And Greg, you had broke it down beautifully. Gainwell's tape for the draft guy and you were talking about how to line up at X. So what could this think conceptually with all the speed that they have? And I get these guys aren't fully developed at receiver.

Well, here's what they're going to try to do. Keep in mind who the quarterback is. The quarterback's not fully developed yet as a true understander, not only of the offense, because it's a new one and of defenses in the NFL. So what do you do? try to do when the quarterback is that guy. What you have to try to do is through the use of personnel formation and concepts is you try to define it as clearly as possible for him so that he can develop as he's learning. Okay. That's what you're trying to do. You're not going to try to put too much on Jalen Hertz's plate. You're going to try to really define it for him because when you put out certain personnel, when you line up in certain formations based on the opponent you're playing in film study, you're anticipating based on probability and tendency what you're going to get defensively. So that's what you're trying to do. You're not asking Hertz to come to the line of

scrimmage and have to start to figure it out. Okay. You want the personnel and the formation to do that for him. That's what you're trying to do with Jalen Hertz. And they've got a lot of ways to do that. And I personally think gain was a big factor in that. Back to Devante Smith, how much of a factor is he? Obviously, play with Hertz in college. He can line up anywhere. I feel like Devante Smith. Which Rager can too, by the way. Yeah, true. True. So they have those kinds of weapons, players that can line up anywhere in your formation, and they all can be movement guys in terms of motion. So that's what they're going to try to do. Greg, isn't it funny two years ago you told us on our show in series that you're just going

by what the tapes told you that the Eagles were the slowest offensive tape. Right. Now you look at these guys, okay, Rayer could fly, explosives. Smith is explosive. Smith is an explosive player. I don't care what his feet. He didn't run a 40. I don't care what his 40 time is. Stylistically, you know, certain guys just, you can tell by watching the tape, they can move.

Right. So Fulgum, he's not speed, but he runs well for a size. Yeah, Tyrrwood Watkins could fly. You told us that got her to way better athlete than Ertz. They've got some, they've got the ability to move here. Yeah. Adam, if Ertz is on the roster, can we still dress? gotter with confidence because it does feel to me like they want goddard to step up and be the

tired yeah this is what i heard yeah this is what i heard from a couple people that this staff and i guess they studied him when they were with the cults in 18 they are very high on him they liked him they liked his tape coming out of college you're talking about goddard yeah they like him a lot so even if earths by his surprises on the roster this fall i still think goddard will will be the guy at head in. Now the question is, what does that really mean in terms of targets? It's impossible to answer. We need to get through training camp first. I got to see if Ertz is on the team, how much is he's going to the field? I don't know. And then the problem with Ertz being on the team is to justify the 8.5 million, you're going to be more 12 personnel. I know that they don't

want to do that. I'm not saying they're going to be heavy 12 like in the past, where they're basically leading the NFL in it. But you got to justify the guy being on the field. If they're paying him 85, he's got to play. Well, that'll be interesting to see if that plays out because that won't be their best use of personnel, given what's on the roster. I agree. It'll be very interesting. Yeah. And with that speed, I agree.

Well, we'll worry about the defense later. We'll see who starts opposite Darius. Slay. We'll see if these old guys can, you know, still some names up here in the front. But I just wanted to touch on the office of line. Yeah, I want to get that. Yeah. So I'll tell you what, Lane Johnson's good to go.

Brandon Brooks is good to go. Kelsey hasn't felt this good in years, I was told. Samalo is a side. solid player, their left guard. Milata will be their left tackle. He's don't won the job yet, but he'll win it. Wow. So Dillard's your swing tackle? Well, if they don't trade him, yeah.

Because my lot of, I could just tell you that the former coach staff before they got fired, they felt the light went on from Milata as the season went along because remember he'd never play football in his life until 18. He started to get it. And they have not seen anybody like this before. He meant six foot eight, 360 pounds with feet like he has. And by the way, his reaches, his arms are really long where Dillard's arms are very short for left tackle. This, now the chances, John, of this line holding up for 16 games is slim, based on three guys in the 30s.

But the talent's there, the talent's there. Let's move on to the football team here. Ronnie Rivera. I have one question, John. Oh, yeah. I wanted to get to a couple. I know where you want to go. First and foremost, I want to talk to Greg about, like, how.

Hertz played vis-a-vis how you evaluated him coming out of college? Were you surprised or did he play as expected? And what did you see from Milata on tape? Like Adam said, he's a unique player. Those are the two most interesting guys on this offense for me. Well, Ertz last year to me, when he did play, did not look quite the same. I mean Hertz, Hertz, Jalen. Oh, Jalen Hurts.

Oh, I'm sorry. You know, when I watched Sheila Hertz in college, and he was in a very defined offense at Oklahoma, all quarterbacks do well there because it's very defined. You know, I made it in my notes when I did my evaluation, I kind of said, well, what is he? How will teams see him? Will they see him as someone like Lamar Jackson, where you have to structure an offense around the run game as much more of a foundation? or will they see him as someone who can develop into a quarterback that has running ability, like a Dak Prescott down the road? I didn't think he was Dak Prescott coming out.

So that's where I stood on Hertz. I think that's kind of what he showed last year in the four games in which he started. I think it was four. And, you know, now we go through an offseason and we'll see. My lot of clearly improved. He clearly improved as the year went on. and I thought that was pretty evident. You could see that.

He had a few bad snaps every game where his technique got away from him, which is not surprising because he's not ingrained in repetitive technique and repetitive mechanics of the position, given that he hasn't grown up playing the position. But I thought he improved, and I think he'll end up being a good player. And they've got some depth. I mean, this old line could be pretty good. Well, certainly if they keep Dillard, their depth of tackle would be decent.

moving on to that football team and looking good, looking real good here coming off a 7 and 9 campaign. Ronnie Rivera's first year, Turner. You had Fitzmagic into the mix. I actually start with Diamie Brown, Greg, the rookie. I know you think he could, you know, probably line up in multiple places. A lot of people think he's very fast and all that,

but I think you have some concerns in terms of maybe his ability to get over the top of NFL corners? I like Diary Brown. I just didn't, you know, he was one of those guys to me that, and even though he's totally different body type, he kind of reminded me of James Washington coming out of Oklahoma State, guys who were vertical players in college, who I wasn't exactly sure if they'd be vertical players in the NFL.

Now, I think I'm probably in the minority on Diami Brown, in that most people say that's what he'll be. and he could well be. I watched his 2019 tape and his 2020 tape, and I thought he improved in 2020. I think he's a good prospect. Now, to me, he got drafted exactly where he should have been drafted, which I believe was the third round.

And given who else they have on their roster, I'm curious to see if he gets meaningful snaps here because we know McLaurin's getting snaps. We know Curtis Samuel is playing. They like Kelvin Harmon. And Kelvin Harmon's an interesting player, given that you have McLaurin and Samuel. So I'm not sure where Brown fits into this, John,

but I thought, you know, I think Brown is a good prospect. I just didn't think he was a special prospect. Much like a rotational guy, not really a guy that's going to get like the dirty, do the dirty work underneath and all that, right? I don't think he's quite that guy, but, you know, we'll see how he develops. On Harmon, let's leave the knee injury to the side here. his pre his pre draft tape um in 19 what did you think of him coming out of north carolina state oh i i i i think that harmon to me was to be cliched but true it was kind of a classic

possession receiver classic big physical tough inside not a burner but every once in a while could get over the top because she could run routes um but fit again my point is he fits with mcclorn and samuel um because you want that guy um yeah because even a lot of Logan Thomas has come on and been a solid tight end. He's not a tight end. I don't know. Maybe he's going to just keep getting better and better. That's a tough call.

But Harmon to me fits as the third wide out with this group because he's a tough physical competitive between the numbers kind of guy. And Greg, if it's not Kelvin Harmon, also a really good red zone receiver there at North Carolina State. Maybe Cam Sims, who did look pretty good as a big guy. who can run a little bit, and we're not going to forget about Antonio Gandy Golden. You know, they also signed Adam Humphrey, who when he's healthy, has been a very serviceable slot receiver. So, you know, we know McLaren and Samuel, their definites.

But the third guy, I think, is probably a little bit open for discussion. Yeah. And it's certainly that all the players that we've obviously mentioned. Logan Thomas, I don't know if you have any other insight. We all know he was great. I mean, came on Strong, did a lot of work with Alex Smith. I'm going to throw a name out of, totally out of the blue here, but I really liked his tape.

And I think he's going to be one of those guys who just ends up being a solid NFL receiver, okay? Dax Mill, the seventh round pick from BYU. I really liked his tape. He knows how to run routes. He knows how to get open. If you watch his tape, I don't think the ball ever hit the ground. I mean, this guy catches the football.

You know, I think he's going to be one of those guys. we're talking about in three years. And when I say talking about, I don't mean he's going to catch 90 balls for 1,400 yards, John. That's not my point. But I think you guys know what I mean. Yeah. Wow. I think he's a really intriguing player. I tell you what, John, if you talked to us last year about this, I would have really questioned the receiver core. Now you get harm in a year removed from the knee injury. Curtis Samuel, who's a really interesting player. Ganey Gold now has one year under his belt. Greg likes this mill and kid. It's good. There's some hope. Yeah, there's definitely is. And you know, the John Bates kid at tight end is an interesting player. The issue, though, is their offensive line. They've got some real questions at left tackle. I can tell you that. Well, I'll tell you what, Greg, though.

I can tell you, he did not play well last season. I know he didn't play well. But I mean, he's been like a six or seven year starter. So, I mean, I'm sure they hope that with a new coaching staff now and maybe maybe getting cut and, you know, maybe he'll be rejuvenated. because he has played well enough in his career, but you're right. Last year he did not play well. I think, you know, that right side's been good, although they let Morgan Moses go. I said maybe that's one of the big issues here. Cosmy, I'm assuming Cosme will move to the right side

because in the rookie camp he took spots, he took snaps at left. Yeah, Morgan Moses, that surprised me. Maybe Greg has a better idea because, you know, it's not like I'm studying up. Where is Moses now? he hasn't signed with anyone yet he's on his couch yeah oh Greg got to get into Antonio Gibson because yeah let's go boy I was really impressed I mean this kid boy you want to talk about just the

natural power I saw it's a big dude I mean he's close to 230 pounds with really good feet I would you know again it's a function of the O line to some degree but I would expect him to continue to improve and I'm really curious well you know Scott Turner essentially runs the North Turner offense and the run game does matter. So they do want to run the ball. And look, Ryan Fitzpatrick, I mean, the guy,

what can you say about the guy? There should be like a special Hall of Fame for this guy. You know, but you also don't want him dropping back by choice 40 times. Yeah. I want the Ryan Fitzpatrick journeyman Hall of Fame. Yeah, I mean, you know, he's the good.

The guy's going to play with every team in the league by the time he's done. I mean, I had a, I had a coach who worked with him earlier in his career. He said there's just some. Sometimes when no matter what you tell fits, he does what he wants. And sometimes it's really good and sometimes it's really bad. Adam, Jady McKissick kind of out of nowhere last year, although we did see it coming, 110 targets. Gibson only 44. We know Gibson was a college receiver.

I'm thinking 75 plus targets at least for Gibson this year. Or do they keep McKisick in that specialized role? I mean, look, Gibson had a decent amount of targets. for having to learn the running back position on the fly. I mean, I was talking to his college coach yesterday. And when they got into Memphis, they didn't know what he was because he was over 230. I mean, I don't want to, we interviewed him for Inside the Birds.

He had Ryan Silverfield, a great line. He goes, we thought he was just an overweight slot receiver. We just didn't know what he was. And the story about him last season was just remarkable. And I remember talking to Washington because they knew early on he was probably going to be the guy. They didn't want to give him a ton of volume. in terms of, okay, you need to do this, this, this, this and this.

But the training at Memphis, because the Silverfield said they give him, they give their receivers and their backs a lot of different roles, particularly at running back. They give you, you got to do this, this, this, and this. But Turner did a smart thing. He said, you know what? You'll catch the ball here, but we didn't have an offseason with you. Just learn how to run the football.

And as you know, I mean, he averaged just under five yards per carry. Man, it looked good. Yeah, 75 targets probably a bit much. maybe 65, 60 something. I understand John, just so you know, their plan was not to give him a lot of volume in the past game. I think they're going to give him a lot. Well, that's my point.

Yeah, exactly. Now, I'm not saying, you know, eight targets a game, but he was getting what? Three, just over three. I think he could just under two maybe. Well, the big question becomes, do they expand his role in the past game? I'm not saying just by targets, but by formation.

Oh, okay. That's something we don't know yet, because this kid was a slot receivers last year in college, so he can line up as a line of scrimmage receiver. So the question is, in certain situations, you know, is he in the slot? You know, because they do have other backs. I mean, certainly they still have Peyton Barber,

who's a very serviceable number two type back. You know, I don't know what Lamar Miller's situation is at this point in his career. There's been injuries. I think they got the kid from Buffalo, Jared Patterson, Yep. That was a good one. As far as the undrafted free agent running backs, I could see him sticking there, Greg. Yes, me too.

I kind of liked his tape. He came in at 5-6, though, at his pro day, which is, oh, which is a little short. Yeah, wow. Wow. Gibson, I've got for 42 catches, 22 yards or 225 rushing attempts. RB 11 on the board here. Greg, how was Ryan Fitzpatrick's tape last year? Because, you know, Adam has told us people he's talked to.

they really liked his tape last year. It didn't seem to me. I was going to say his tape. I thought his tape was very good last year. Yeah. I mean, it's he's, you can line up and play with Ryan Fitzpatrick. There's no question about that.

Then you just have to, you know, obviously you try to control him to some degree because he seems to have a couple of those snaps every game, but you probably feel you can take care of that with your play calling. Graham, I know you have a question about Curtis Samuel. here as we wrap up the football team.

Yeah, Adam, I just wanted to ask you if you've heard anything about how Turner is going to use him because I know, you know, back when Turner was on the Panther staff in 19, they kind of used them as a deep threat and he was completely miscast in that role. And last year, they finally used him like in the slot, like 70% of the time. And I know, I think Greg mentioned Adam Humphreys

is going to play a little bit there. Yeah, so yeah, just curious. I think you might see him line up. In fact, I know you will. You see him line up in the backfield at some point. because he can do it. Slot, they'll be using him out wide. I think he's going to be a jack of all trades.

And Turner coached him in Carolina, so he knows the player. And let's not forget, they're paying him $11.5 million a season, which is ridiculous. I talked to a team that was in it, and they said they saw him as a $5 million player. They didn't see what Washington did.

And obviously Rivera and Turner know him very well. To justify the contract, he's got to get touches. It's not, I could, he's a very interesting, very unique wide receiver. I wish someone saw me as a $5 million a year player, you know. Greg, real quick, Jammin Davis, the linebacker. One of my favorite guys in the draft. The rich get richer.

I'm so disappointed in myself, John. It's one of those guys that I just, I watched him early in the process, okay? And I loved his tape. And toward the end of the draft, when everybody, you know, was talking about him and all that, I almost said a couple of times on different shows, I said it would not surprised me at all. And I didn't say it. And I'm pissed to myself. I almost said that it would not surprise me if he's a top 20 pick in the draft. Wow. And he was. And you know what I've learned, Greg. And the tape tells you that. Every time I don't go with my initial reaction, I'm wrong. Yeah.

Trust the gut. Yeah, I know. I mean, that's the way I felt about watching his tape. You know, because you guys know what I do. I don't, you know, I don't get caught up in, well, you know, he's rising on draft. I mean, that's, that's all BS. but I watched him, you know, pretty early on, probably when was the draft end of April? I probably watched Davis early March, okay? And I loved his tape. I just came away saying this guy's a three down linebacker in the NFL. Now, I didn't know if that's going to happen week one, which I think they'll probably put

him out there week one, but that's what I thought of his tape. Final thought here on the football team, back to offense, Adam. How many targets does Terry McLaren get from the pepper? Mr. Fitzmagic who loves to pepper his top guy with targets. Well, it all depends. It strictly becomes how much chemistry. It's too early to know because he's, Fitzpatrick is new to this team.

I mean, he's on yet another team. McLaren should be their number one past target. It's not like anyone else would. Curtis Samuel's not going to be a high target guy. He's not going to get eight a game. I don't see that. I think he's, I think based on this receiver core, I mean, it's deeper.

I mean, if he's healthy, you know, he played with two different injuries and very good credit to him. He played with two different ankle sprains. One was a high ankle sprain. I could see him not eight, 100 catches this season. I really do. The good news is from McClure,

is they obviously have way more pieces to take the pressure off from. I remember that Steelers game, they just bracketed him. I mean, that was like his worst game of the year against the Steelers. And he was also playing, if I recall correctly, I was told he was playing with a high ankle sprain in that game,

and he just tossed it out. Greg, did you notice when you think back, like McLaren getting doubled a lot. I mean, they'd really, it really was the only time at times, at times for sure. But they've got weapons now. Plus, McLaurin, surprisingly, he lines up at X and he can, he's a physical, competitive kid. I mean, that shows up on tape. I mean, he's not big, you know, he's not 210 or 215, and I don't think he's even over

six feet, but he's, he can line up at X. They've got a lot of weapons here. I'm really curious to see how this maps out. You know, real quick, one final thought. I know I said that, but in the number one, I'm, I like the speed. They've added speed, you know, with Samuel and Brown. But do we have any thoughts on the identity of this offense? Obviously, they're probably going to be nice and balanced, but I'm almost thinking it's pass-oriented.

No, well, that's a relative term. No one, very few teams truly run more than they throw. But, right. Scott Turner and, and I've. talked with Scott Turner. So, and I know Adam speaks with them as well. It's very much the North Turner offense. They want the run game to be foundational.

Now, I can't sit here and say that means they're going to run at 52%. But they want it to be foundational. This is not going to be a drop back. Let's throw it around offense. And get behind a back that can do that because he's big. Right, right. I do think they're going to sling it, though, enough. But again, you have to define that, John.

Right. Certainly not a conservative, you know, kind of a boring offense. I mean, kind of maybe a lean toward, I mean, certainly running, sure, but maybe a lean toward, you know, throwing. Don't forget, they got a really good defense. You could see them take the old school approach of, let's throw early to get ahead. Exactly. And because our defense then can rush the quarterback and we can rush the quarterback. And then they'll run it to close out games. I think that would be their. ideal. And here's, and to add to that, the big issue is Fitzpatrick. If he, if he fits tragic, John, yeah, you, you're, you're going to, he's going to make them throw from behind. This is the problem that you get with this guy because he, talking to the guys who've coached before. That's true. Yeah. He's got a mind of his own sometimes. And this is why teams fall out of love with this guy. And I'm not going to sit here and say that he's, you know, obviously Fitzpatrick's the starter, okay? Yep.

But the coaching staff kind of likes the Henneckee kid. I'm not saying he's going to win the Johnnykey. Yeah. Scott, Scott, I saw Scott years ago and he raved about him and I, he throws it very oddly the way of his passing motion, but it works. He played very well in the playoff game. Yeah, he did. Let's move on over to the NFC North behind as usual here. And if you're not a subscriber to FantasyPoint.com, welcome to the powwow here, if you will,

the live stream. We'll be doing one tomorrow on Wednesday, the 26th. then we'll do the AFC next week. Early Bird Miss 21 is a promo code that you could use for 10% off your Fantasy Points subscription. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast. Remember to subscribe, wait, and review on your favorite platform. And come join the roster at FantasyPoints.com.