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

Episode Date: May 28, 2021

John Hansen and the Fantasy Points staff break down the NFC West 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

It's time to the Fantasy Points podcast brought to you by FantasyPoints.com. Top level fantasy football and NFL betting analysis from every perspective and angle, from numbers to the film room with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. I think you can make a really good argument that the most interesting division in the 2021 NFL season will be the NFC West with a lot of teams that are trying to go for it here. I think each and every team in this division would be disappointed if you told them they will be out of the playoff hunt come January. We have the Rams going for it. The 49ers trading up for Trey Lance.

The third year of Kyler Murray and Cliff Kingsbury in Arizona. And certainly Russell Wilson coming back. And they're always in the mix in Seattle, despite maybe some fractures there that are, that hopefully don't sink the Seahawks. But this is a really interesting division. It was fun to talk about them. and get you a woman who loves you the way Greg CoSell loves Matthew Stafford. This is the NFC West breakdown on the 2021 Fantasy Points Powwow series. I hope you really enjoy it.

Fantasypoints.com virtual powwow number two continues here covering the NFC. You see the promo code there on the little screen, if you will, at the top. And if you're not a subscriber to Fantasy. Points.com, go ahead and then take advantage of that 10% off discount here as we move on to the NFC West. And we start with the Arizona Cardinals. Greg, your thoughts on year number two for Kyla Murray. You and I have discussed this.

Right. What's that? Yeah, you're number three. Second with, third with King. Is it third with Kingsbury? Yeah. Yeah. We've discussed Kylo Murray in the past, Greg.

He's a great fantasy player. Yeah. And we keep hoping he'll become a great quarterback, but he's a great fantasy player. Right. Well, that's what I was talking about. Year two. It was year two last year, was year two. That's where I was going with that.

And his running, they are so good with design run concepts in the red zone from the 20 end. And that's one of the reasons he's such a good fantasy player. They're so good with their design run concepts. He scores touchdowns running the ball. With ease in the red zone. That's my point. Yeah, that's all. That schemed really, really well.

They're really good at that. No doubt about it. But I'm a little underwhelmed with Kyla Murray, you know, the quarterback. I think here's what you're going to see, John. I mean, and then I don't want to be the only one talking here, but then other people can chime in. But given what they did, okay, in free agency and the draft, I think Kingsbury wants to go back to his roots. Don't forget, coaches coach what they know. And what Kingsbury grew up with is the air rate.

And that's what he knows. And the air rate has four wide receivers. Now, they played four wide receivers last year, the second highest percentage in the league behind Buffalo. But to me, I think Kingsbury wants that to be his foundational personnel package. Look at all those receivers, Greg. Yeah. They signed AJ Green.

Say what you want. Look, I'm not making it. It's John's job to protect, to project. I don't know if AJ Green's catching 70 ball. maybe he's not. But the point is, they signed him. So they're going to have Green, Hopkins, Kirk. They didn't draft Rondo Moore in the second round to sit on the bench.

So I think they're going to be much more of a 10 personnel offense. Which they were back in 2019 when Kala was throwing at the guys like Kishon Johnson and Trent Sherfield. And it wasn't bad. And by the way, they also have Andy Isabella. So assuming Larry Fitzgerald retires, assuming they're still super deep. and Greg's right. They're absolutely going to be four receiver offense.

And the tight ends there are, the tight ends there are there to block. They're not going to catch very many people. I mean, Max Williams isn't a bad receiver, but I mean, this is not going to be, they played 12 personnel last year in my view. Again, I'm trying to get into Cliff Kingsbury's head. In my view, they played it way more than he really would like to.

So you were, I was not overly impressed though. Would Kyle have thrown the football? Where were you at that? He's erratic. He can make unbelievable throws. where you go, wow, because he's got a really good arm, and he does have touch and pace. And, you know, in other words, he can, he can do every, see, here's the definition of arm talent. Arm talent is making the right throw.

Arm talent isn't just throwing it hard. When people say arm talent, I think people automatically think you're talking about a guy having a gun. Now, Murray does have a big arm in terms of arm strength, but he made some really good touch, pace throws. He can vary speeds. He was just very erratic. and at times scatter shot with his ball location.

He's got to become more consistent with that. And at this point, Greg, if he doesn't really take a step forward, I think after 2021, then we could look at the height issue. I think that's got to be. As long as Kingsbury is the coach, and again, we'll see where they go as a team. Obviously, they've addressed their defense big time in the last couple of draft, so we'll see.

But if they progress as a team, team, Kingsbury's not going anywhere and Murray's not going anywhere. Speaking of AJ Green, it's a little bit of a hedge, but I mean, the guy's not going to get a hundred targets most likely. I have him with 47 catches for 560. That's 11.9 yards a catch. I refuse to accept the narrative, Greg, that he mailed it in last year. I'm sure he was frustrated.

You know, I know separation was maybe not as good, but anything. jump out to you on AJ Green what you saw from him last year in Sensing? Well, I thought that Adrian Jeremiah Green had moments last year where he looked pretty good. And then there were other times where I thought, wow, he definitely lost something. So when I see that, I don't know what to make of it. Because when you see the positive, I go, wow, this guy can still play. But then I can distinctly see plays in my head where I thought a little bit of the juice was gone. So look, I don't know him.

So my guess is he's had a pretty damn good career that he probably has some intensity to him because it's tough to play at that level that he did for so long without having some intensity, you know, mental intensity and competitiveness. So I would think he signed here knowing that they're going to throw the football and that he's ready to come back. So I can't speak to what that means is a projection, John, but I would bet that he'll look pretty good. Yeah, it's a little confusing, Adam, with Rondell Moore and Agent. Jay Green added Christian Kirk, Isabella, kind of on the outside looking in, and you would think Isabella is probably

worse off the thing. Well, I think what you're going to see, John, is Green and Hopkins on the outside and Kirk and Moore on the inside. That's what I think they're going to line up with the majority of the time. Yeah, I would think is it, the fact that they drafted another slot receiver, it does not bow well for Isabella, although I know in college he told us on NFL radio he played in the outside. Yep. But here, he was supposed to be a slot guy and he can't it on the field. I mean, just, in a sense, they're giving up on him by drafting more. And I know Moore's a different body type. He's shorter. He's very compact and very strong for a guy runs as well as he does. So, yeah, they're going to be a spread. They're going to, I agree with Greg. I think he nailed it.

Moore is phenomenal run after catch. And that's what this offense is built. And he's built like a fire hydrant. He's, yeah, oh my God. Yeah. He's, he's, he's, Mr. Olympia. I mean, did you see his pro day when I did. Well, I had a friend. I was a friend they were actually was filming it. And he said it to me. You know, do you have a comp on Rondell Moore in your mind? Rondell Moore is five feet seven. There's really not a lot of cons. Yeah.

He's another outlier, but he fits this offense. How many snaps and targets would you, would you imagine, you know, he gets? Like they drafted him. Is he going to play half the snaps right out of the gate? Tough call. That's a very tough call. I don't know. I think that's the plan.

I mean, you know, again, it's. It's always hard to know with a rookie, but I think that's planned. Fitzgerald needs to retire to help that happen. Right. I think he will retire, but that's just my opinion. Yeah, exactly. I mean, they've got way to hear you. I haven't chatted about that, even though I know, Larry.

We haven't discussed that recently. Nothing here at tight end, which is not a tragedy. They're not a tight end-based team. Yeah. Adam, the battle, I guess, between- It is. It's wide open. Chase Edmonds and James Con.

it clear it's wide open. I was not very happy with Edmonds when he got extended playing time last year. I still think he's more of a change up. They may think otherwise. Connor, we know about his injury history. He has versatility. He has size. He's not a bad receiver either. I know. Connor's always caught the ball well. Look, it could be just a two-man backfield. It could be a 60-40 split. We don't know yet because we're not there. They're not there yet. This competition will not be known until training camp once we get through it in the preseason. But Edmonds seems to be pretty energized. By the way, he's on the final year's rookie deal.

He's got a lot on the line here. I don't really see it as a battle. It's more jockeying for a position. 60-40 makes sense, Adam. And in that environment, I think you'd lean Connor 60, Edmonds 40. Well, he's built for it because he's done it before. Edmonds is not. Well, they're also going to, you know, again, if they go four wide,

even though the dimensions of the field are different in the NFL, due to the closer hash marks. They're going to look to spread the defense, try to get light boxes, and work off that. That's what they're going to try to do. That, you know, they're not going to line up as they've done, as they did quite a bit, actually two years ago with Kenyon Drake, where they lined up in 12 personnel and ran the ball conventionally. I think given what they've done a wide out, John, they're going to try to spread the field

and then play true air raid, true air raid run game. And in that environment, that could be great news for Chase Edmund. I would think so, but again, Adam's right. I'm not going to sit here and say Chase Edmonds is the guy because we don't know. Right. Yeah, that is intriguing, though. Certainly James Connor has the- They're an intriguing offense because Murray's got a ton of talent.

He's been very erratic, but the talent is there. He's certainly comfortable in this offense. He played it in college, you know, and two years in the league. So this is an intriguing. This could be a really good offense. defensively anybody have anything of note here they've got well they've addressed they've addressed sort of what has become important in the NFL and we'll see how it plays out the last two years with Isaiah Simmons and Zayvon Collins two multi-dimensional multi-positional

defenders who can line up theoretically in multiple spots so they're they're playing they're trying to play defense in the way the NFL now demands that you play defense. And they get Chandler Jones back. And if he's normal, you know, that guy, because of the fact that he's been Arizona the last number of years, that guy is a big time pass rusher. Yep. Did Isaiah Simmons, did that year one work out?

No, I mean, he improved as the year went on. And I think they started to figure out what he is because, you know, we've had, we've had this conversation a hundred times, you know, all these internet. gurus, you know, with guys like Simmons tell you, well, he's going to play five positions. Well, no, he's not. You got to learn how to play NFL football. So he's capable of that as he develops as is Zavid Collins. But they've made Zavon Collins a stackbacker right off the bat.

And that's the position he's going to learn. So Simmons will play multiple positions this year depending on the personnel package. Let's move on. NFC West here. Oh, boy, San Fran. I was just going to say, though, they're still very weak at corner. I know they addressed a couple in the draft, but the way you're going to beat them is you're going to throw against those corners.

Alford hasn't really played in two years. Malcolm Butler is getting close to the end. They are very weak. Yeah, so just wanted to mention that. So go ahead. And that could help Kyler's past attempts right there, just getting in some shootouts. Sam Fran, and the news came down last night about Jeff Wilson with the meniscus. What happened to Jeff Wilson?

He had meniscus surgery four to six months. My son had the same surgery. It pretty much ended his high school baseball career. Adrian Peterson is the only running back that I know came back within three months. So Jeff Wilson is likely out for four to six months? Yeah, he's month. Yeah, so you won't see him until probably midseason. So now it's most dirt, it's sermon, it's hasty, and it's the gall of Wayne Gullman right now.

Boy, you know, again, with Kyle, you never know because he plays a lot of backs and the system allows backs to be effective. It's always been that way, you know, with Mike Shanahan, Kyle Shanahan. I just really like Trace Sermon a lot. Now, John, I can't sit here and tell you, Trace Sermon is going to get the bulk of the calories. No one, you know, look, it's the end of me. No one can answer that question. So I'm not going to say that.

But I think Sermon really fits Kyle Shanahan extremely well. As well as or better than anybody else here, like Mosterd? Overall, yes, but Mosterd has way more juice, you know, explosive. Vertical explosive juice. Right. What about Sermon's, hands and ability to have two of them yeah oh great proud of them not for right yeah but you know

mostard before you know wow he was hurt it was hurt a lot but most did get a little bit more action in the passing game last year um does tray sermon is he an unnatural or natural you know receiver uh i think he has receiving ability as i recall because i watched him in 2018 and 2019 at Oklahoma, you know, just to show you how crazy I am watching these guys. He actually ran some vertical routes. I think I remember him running each seam, you know, out of the backfield. So, you know, I think that there's something there in that regard. Right.

You know, I don't know if he's, you know, a big volume receiver. Sure. And he won't be in that offense, but I don't think he has bad hands. That's all we needed to know. There's something there because to your point in 2018 at Oklahoma, you average 15 yards of catch. Granted, it was only 12 grabs, but still, that was probably one of those routes you mentioned. I just really like him as a runner. I mean, again, you know, I haven't, you know, Kyle Shannon and I have not spoken about this, but I just, I really like this kid as a bad.

And where did they draft him? He was a third round pick, and that's exactly what I was about to ask. You know, like, Greg, you just mentioned, and Adam, you can chime in here as well. Kyle Shanahan has, his system has made backs. I mean, we're talking all the way back to Torell Davis, in a six-round pick. Mike Anderson, Alandis, you know. Al-A-S Gary,

I know it. Yeah. When a team drafts, when knowing that you can take UDF, the hell, they just did it with Moster and Jeff Wilson, when you can take those guys and turn them into really good players.

But on top of that, draft a running back in the third round, what does that tell you they feel about this kid? Because to me, that sends the bat signal. I mean, look, if you didn't know who Jeff Wilson was, okay? Yeah. And you watched him against New England.

It was the game he got hurt late in the game, last year when he hurt his ankle. But if you didn't know who he was and you watched that game, you would have said, this guy's a pretty damn good NFL back. Right. So, I mean, whether you want to say it's the system, whether it's your classic argument, again, about, hey, there's a lot of great backs. And if you run them a lot, they can all do, you know, be okay.

I mean, we're not going to get into that argument right now. But the point is, is they drafted Sermin in the third round and Elijah Mitchell, who's really an intriguing player as well in the sixth round. All these backs are not making the team. Sermon is, obviously. But, I mean, every back is not making the team. There's too many. But, you know, these guys, I kind of really like Elijah Mitchell's tape coming out of Louisiana.

I see, John, it's sort of a committee slash roles. Like, okay, Sermon might, most of it is obviously they're explosive guys. Sermon might be an early down back. Hasty will be in the mix there. So it'll probably be a three-man rotation as the way that I see it. I don't know that Goldman makes it. Do they really need to keep fourbacks? We'll see how healthy everybody is in training camp.

And then as Greg said, this Mitchell kid's interesting. You can't keep everybody. Wilson, we probably won't see him this season. So I think it's a committee. And it's, depending on Wilson,

they could put him on IR and say, yeah, right. But put him on IRR, put Jim Michael Hasty on the practice squad. They could just say Wilson, hey, we'll see you next year.

He'll be on PUP, physically unable to perform. But the fact of the matter is, John, to figure it out for fantasy. I think it's a, it's going to be a rotation. he's Kyle's big on a rotation and I don't know if they'll have a leadback fact I would be very

surprised if they did I see it being a rotation between Mostert sermon and hasty in terms of the leader in the clubhouse in terms of past targets right now I got to go Mostert yeah unless Gawman makes it and presses in past pro and receiving I got to go Moster there even though he didn't catch a ball the ball a ton two years ago when he broke out he did more so last year. Adam, I'll go back to you. My position on the quarterback situation is I feel like the Niners, obviously like Trey Lance quite a bit, but to me, they'd be more than fine if Jimmy G kept them on the bench all year.

Especially, right, especially that they're getting all these guys back who were injured last season, COVID issues and everything. They were really devastated by it. So they should be, because we've got seven playoff teams in each conference, they should absolutely be competing for a wildcard spot. No question. Now, if Jimmy G. plays well, I think they're, again, great, you know, but if he goes down and gets hurt, that's probably it, right? I mean, yeah, well, that's, just so you know, this is exactly why they, they kind of said, okay, we've had enough. Yeah, I know. I all doesn't have patience. He's like his father.

So they're going to move on after the season. And we'll see. This one, I would agree with. If they're winning, I don't see them pulling Groplo for Lance. I don't see that. I got to say, I don't think you move up and trade away all those picks to go to three overall to let Tray Lance set. But it comes down to your record. I mean, if they're 0 and 3, there's your excuse to put the kid in. If they're 3 and 0, I don't think they're doing that. It's a long-term investment, too, I kind of agree with Graham here, by the way. I mean, I'm not going to sit here and say Trey Lance is the week one starter.

I'm not going to say that. But I think if Trey Lance has a really good training camp, I, they gave up an awful lot. That was their guy. I mean, you know, that, again, we, we never know this, so I don't want anybody to say you're wrong. There's no right or wrong right now. It's the end of May. That's right.

But, Trey Lance is a pretty talented kid, and he's, from what I've heard from people who know, and Adam's heard the same thing. I'm sure, I'm sure he's a super smart kid, like off-the-chart smart, a phenomenal leader, whatever that means. you know, you have to be with a guy every day to know that, but that's what you hear. So, you know, I, we'll see. We'll see. That's all I can take. Just one question on, John, for Greg, on his mechanics. Talking to quarterback coaches, a lot of guys said to me, and offensive coaches in general, who graded his tape,

they thought he was the farthest away from a mechanical standpoint from being ready to go. Is that accurate, not accurate? What were you thought? I think his delivery was a little elongated. I think there were times where he had sort of a pause in his, motion, not his motion per se, but when he hit the back foot, there was a pause. And in the NFL, you know, fractions matter. So I think that that's something that you want to clean up. I don't think that is a major flaw. I think that can be cleaned up. The delivery is always a

question because guys end up when, you know, pressure is, when the game is going at speed, guys throw it the way they throw it. So then you have to decide what that means. Some guys, and Adam, you know, you and I don't talk to every single guy. We talk to a select group and the group that we talk to. If that's the group that has issues with it, that's what we're told. So are there some mechanical issues? Yes. Are they truly problematic?

I would say no. Greg, Real quick. Greg, they gave up a lot, obviously, for Lance, but I would argue it's, again, long-term investment. And as Adam said, they are. just fed up with the lack of availability. But you have also told us recently that Jimmy Garoppolo does play extremely well in this

system. So Jimmy G's at his absolute best. This guy may complete 70% of his balls for like 8.5 yards in attempt. But I know Kyle to some degree, okay? I'm not going to sit here and act like, you know, he's my best friend, but we've talked. And Kyle, like his dad and like a lot of coaches, they are all a big. about perfect execution. And I can guarantee, I can guarantee this. And this doesn't come from Kyle. This is just me talking. I guarantee that to this day, Kyle is bothered by the Super Bowl in the

fourth quarter where he dialed up. And I'm not talking about the miss to Sanders. That's just an overthrow. Guys missed throws. But he missed two plays in the fourth quarter on third down. One was second, one was third. He dialed it up. A great. great design and for whatever reason Jimmy G. went brain dead. And I guarantee that to this day, that's eating Kyle Shanahanna. One thing that, you know, even if Jimmy Garoppolo doesn't go brain dead, Greg, and you could, I mean, not just make the argument, it's a fact that if he doesn't, they win the Super Bowl. But one thing, even at his best, he's not giving this offense is the

designed run game at the quarterback position. And obviously Lance, Does. It gives you that. Now, I'll be now. And by the way, the design run game works really well off of, you know, your base run game concepts. We think of Kyle as being pure as own, but last year they incorporated much more gap scheme with pulling guards. So he's expanded the run game.

I think he probably wants to expand the quarterback run game. And you know when you've got Lance that that's what you're getting. Right. So they drafted Lance. I agree with Graham. They drafted Lance for a reason. here. This is not just, oh, let's, you know, let's see what happens in 2022. You know, it would not surprise me if Trey Lance plays this year meaningfully. He'll play, but the question is, when did they pull the plug?

Yeah, we don't know the answer. Yeah, the situation is very simply this. And I remember talking to the Seahawks in 2012. So the draft Russell Wilson, to be their eventual starter, they didn't have any dreams of playing them year one. But he was so advanced when they got him to their OTAs in May, ironically, they were like, okay, let's just see if you can continue this. And once training came, once they got the second week train camp, it was over. They're like, why are we waiting? So, yeah, sure. Same with Justin Fields, okay?

You just don't know until you got there. And then you have to recalibrate and have to make a tough decision. Because you don't want to, you know, when you're coaching, you guys know this, when you're coaching the quarterback, the only people know are the people there. They put their jobs in the line. If they're going to pull the trigger early, they've got to be right. Well, Russell Wilson was advanced. He also played four years, two different schools, but still, he did play

four years. Probably was a little older. And, and Tray Lance didn't play last year, or very few. Yeah, you'd play one game and it wasn't really good, apparently. It was, it was like a scrimmage. I watched the tape. Yeah. Yeah. Again, I mean, I see both sides of the argument for sure. But Adam, the receiving core outside of Debo and Iyuk is pretty damn thin. So might they be in the Julio Jones conversation? Yeah, look, Kyle, Kyle, actually, I sold this transcript of, I don't know if they were playing Atlanta like three years ago, but he was, you know, pretty strong in his He coached. He coached Julio. No, I know that, but I'm talking about, he was asked about

Julio Jones, and I don't know if they were playing him. Only one year, though. Right. But I don't know why he was talking about him because in the article, they weren't really setting it up why he was talking about. But anyway, his affection for the player and what Julio does tilt coverage, John, as I was telling you, Monday, Debo Samuel would be the odd man out to me. Now, what does that mean? That doesn't mean like they're not going to play him. But if you're only going to be a 12 personnel offense, someone's not going to be

on the field, I don't see how you take. guy who go off the field. I mean, he is, he is so advanced. The figure, and obviously. I think the guy they're really hoping, and he's healthy now, and again, he's an unknown, but I think they're counting on Jalen Hurd. Oh, oh, yeah, to be, well, as a backup, yeah, if they don't add Julio Jones, sure, yes. Yeah, well, he'll be, he'd be their slot guy, which is what he played his last year in college, and he was really good. Who's third round pick? Oh, I know. They took him. He's a big dude, man. I believe they took him over Tara McLaurin.

Well, I was, I don't know, was it last summer? Bill and Hurd went to college as a running back and as a true freshman in the SEC. He is a long. He gained over 1,200 rushing yards before he transitioned to wide receiver. And they played him over Alham Camaro, didn't they? As the number one feature back, correct. Yeah. Okay.

So they're counting on Hurd. That's what they drafted him for. I mean, it's unfortunately been two years that he's been heard. And so, again, now you get into availability. but this kid's got some talents. Oh, so I've Trent Sherfield. He's the new Kendrick-B, basically. Richie James actually looked pretty good

in that one game he had to fill in there. I actually really like Austin Watkins tape coming out of UAB. We'll see. He was undrafted, right? Yeah, and he should have been. He was a draftable player without question. Okay. Austin Watkins, UAB.

defensively, I mean, we get Varet back. Yeah, they're hurting at the other corner right now, which is why they drafted Ambrie Thomas out of Michigan, who's really a very aggressive, competitive, feisty man-to-man corner. I can't sit here until he's going to win the job, but that's why they drafted him. And Vrette's a feisty man-to-man corner, too, isn't he? Oh, yeah, he had a good year last year, too.

He's a good story. He's a super talent, Jason Verrett. Oh, I thought he was phenomenal. I mean, again, you could say this about a lot of guys, you know, I guess I'm allowed to say this on a, because I was going to say if, if he didn't get hurt, my dad always used to say if the queen had balls, she'd be the king, you know. But, you know, Jason Varek, to me, when he came out, I thought he had everything to be a great corner. And it's a shame he got hurt.

But he's, he had a really good year last year. Adam, you think we'll see Nick Bosa on the field here, week one? Shannon talked about it yesterday. I guess apparently he's doing really well and it sounds like he'll be ready for training camp some sort of... I would also expect Juvon Kinlaude really take a step forward. That kid's got a lot of talent.

Let's head on over to Seattle. Not a ton going on here with DK and Lockett. Lockett locked in as the top two guys. Carson is back. How important is the summer of Penny in your mind, Adam? Rashad Penny.

If he's healthy, clean bill of health, heading into week one. I say we pencil them in for 10 touches a game. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I could see that. They also, I know talking to them, they like to use them on third down as well because he's explosive.

He's just, you know, it's been unfortunate, these knee problems. This offense is, this is going to be, the way that they explained to me is that this is going to be an old school West Coast offense. It's literally going to force Russell Wilson if he does his job to get rid of the football quickly. We know that's always been a challenge for him.

That's why Shane Walton is there. Russell Wilson signed off on it. He liked his meeting with him. But we'll see what happens. You know the run game's going to have to happen because this is what Pete Carroll believes in. If you look at the first half play calls of last season of the second half play calls, this is where Pete Carroll came in. So we'll see what happens.

Team's going to play cover two and all that. That could be where Gerald Everett comes in. They said that was what the tape showed them. They said that was part of it. But I still would argue. look at the first half of each game in the first eight games. So the play calls of the second half, they're different. We could say all we want about they play cover two.

That's fine. But there's a reason why Brian Schottonhover is not still there. Wilson did not play well at all down the stretch. His last seven, eight games were bad. Yeah, Greg, I mean, he, do you get surprised at all at how streaky Wilson is? He's always been that way. If you go back with Seattle, even, and again, this is not a knock on Wilson. We know he's a great player.

That's not the point. But Seattle's always been very odd offensively. They've always had two, three, four games every year where their offense is just not very good at all. And it's very strange. And, you know, I think, I'll say this. We're not there, okay? And it's easy to say that Pete Carroll, defensive guy wants to run the ball. That's easy to say.

but every coach wants explosive plays and they make their share no question but why does pete carroll want to run the ball you know maybe he knows and i don't know the answer to this but maybe he knows that that's the best way to get the most out of russell wilson you know maybe russell wilson is not the quarterback you want dropping back 40 times a game by choice yeah not a structure guy. Yeah. I mean, so, you know, they brought back Chris Carson for a reason. You know, they drafted Penny for a reason, you know, even though he's been hurt, but they drafted him for a reason, you know, so they want to play a certain way. Do we know why they specifically want to play that way? That's open to speculation. But this is the way they want to play. Because I know

Russell's a playground mentality type of guy. Well, again, you know, I, we can speculate on that, but this is the way they want to play. It's the way Pete wants to play, yes. Yes. Dwayne Eskridge. Love him. What do you love about Dwayne Eskridge? And is he ready?

Can he be utilized right away, maybe in a limited role? Yes. Explosive, super competitive. He was a defensive back. He's only played full-time wide receiver for one year. You can line them up in the slot. line him up outside. In fact, I think despite his size that he can play on the outside, and I guarantee that they will do that because Lockett can certainly line up in the slot.

Eskridge is an explosive guy. He's explosive as a route runner. He's explosive vertically. He's explosive run after catch. He was one of my favorite receivers to watch, and he was totally virgin for me. I knew nothing about to, in fact, the reason I watched him right after the senior ball because Adam told me that, Dean Eskrit had a great week at the senior ball. I knew nothing about it. Everyone bragged about him. Every scout that I talked was there.

He just, he came with a purpose, Greg. He was like he knew this is his one chance from playing at a, not, you know, a top school. Hey, these guys are there. I got a ball out and he was just amazing, apparently. And he's super competitive. They've been looking for a slot guy, Adam, right? Yeah, they try with John Arsua.

He's still there. He's still in the roster, but it didn't work. So what I understand is that Greg's right. they're going to they're going to move eskridge around a little bit he'll definitely be their third receiver they don't have a floor well that freddie swain would be that guy but he won't really play well again they obviously drafted escridge for a reason yeah swain did okay i mean it was he'll be their four right escridge will be their three and also i love the signing of gerald ever who's who's definitely burned them i know i know seattle's had some games where they didn't cover very very well

and now they got a playmaker because will disley did not you know john as you know he started he really surprised them first couple years and then he too many knee injuries so Everett now is going to be their move guy and this is this is I'll tell you what this adds another dimension this when they do throw it there there are some playmakers on this off is yeah Everett and Eskridge is that enough to differentiate ourselves from last year basically terms of impact yeah well Metcalf Lockett Eskridge and now we Eskridge has got to keep up to speed on the offense you know this is going to be certainly different for him but And Everett's a slot tight end.

So, yeah. I mean, they really got nothing other than DK and Lockett. They got four pass targets. Swaiting to be the fifth. Makes sense. Not very encouraged with the defense, honestly, but I don't even think we need to address it. I'm just going to say the offensive line is still a work in progress. They think it's going to be better.

The right tackle position is where they struggle a little bit. It's better work in progress since Walter Jones retired. Yeah. Well, you know, they did, they have Gabe Jackson now at right guard. They feel that their guards are really good. Damien Lewis was a good rookie list here. But yeah, the right tackle on center would be, you know, POSIC, I think, is probably better as a sixth or seventh guy, but we'll see.

Finally, last team to cover here in today's volume two edition of the offseason powwow here at fantasy points.com. the L.A. Rams and looking good. Greg, I know you've always been a Stafford guy, a bigger arm, more downfield throws probably coming. All right. Here's my ball. I'm going to be a social media guy now and I'm going to make a bold statement. Hot take.

Do it. Come on at you. All right. Yeah. I want everybody to put my seatbelt on. Hold on. Hold on. Yeah.

Buckle in. You ready? I'm ready. I think if he plays all 16 games and there's 17, excuse me, and there's no injury, I think Matthew Stafford could be in the running for league MVP. I love it. I love it.

All right, all right, all right. 40 touchdown season? I was just going to say 40. Just going to say it. Just going to say it. I mean, I think that you're dealing with a high-level talent, a really good schemer on offense, solid weapons. I mean, Cup, Jefferson Woods, Deshaun,

who, again, won't be a volume target, Stafford can throw it out of the building and Deshaun can still run and go get it. They drafted 2-2 Atwell in the second round. That's a very intriguing pick. I, you know, he weighs 149 pounds, which I think I weighed when I was 10 years old. That's about that. When's the last time we wait? Other than Graham, who probably weighs 127 right now,

and the last time we weighed 149 pounds. So, I mean, but when you draft a guy in the second round, you have a plan for him. And he's a player with a plan. Because when you're 1-49, you have to have a plan. So they have a plan. It's a pretty solid all line. It's not bad at all. You know, it's not the best, but it's not bad.

I really like Cam Acres. I think he showed if he can stay healthy that he can, you know, be a solid back. I think this is a pretty good offense. How about Cam Acres playing with a guy who's going to challenge defenses vertically? more so than golf. And second reaction, move the pocket, do more with his legs. I mean, it's nothing earth-shattering. But, and Stafford was a better quarterback anyway.

So, I mean, all good news for Cam Acres. John, let's keep in mind, too, what McVeigh had to do with this offense, especially last year, they ran tight, like just tight formations. Yeah. Almost every single play. There was no, they, that was so highly schemed to get Woods and Cup on these simple, simple drag routes. I think McVeigh is going to be able to really open this offense up and try to run some more of the traditional like three wide stuff and not run tight every single time.

I would agree with that. That'll help Acres too because I mean, their run game, man. I mean, these defenses, when you run tight personnel like that, these defenses can kind of key in and just drop safeties down. That was like Schottenheimer was coaching the offense there at times last year. Marty, Marty, Marty, Marty Ball. Well, you got Stafford. I'm not, I'm not going to say I'm to throw it 45 times a game, but there's so many more throws you can make that you would ask him to make that you wouldn't ask Gough to make. That's kind of what I've asked people who've looked at both

quarterbacks. I can't wait to see this. I just can't wait because there's just, Gough is a limited passer. Now you had Van Jefferson, Deshaun and by the way, Deshawn and Sean McVeigh are very close. They became very close when they were at Washington together. Is McVegan to appear on Deshawn's next rap album? What was that? It's producing it, actually. He's producing it.

Sean DeVeyer going to be on Deshawn's next rap album. What was that last rap album for trivia? Do you know what was called? Oh, I forget. I can tell you're bum. No, but he's there for a reason. He's going to be, you know, he might only get 15, 20 snaps a game. Robert Woods, we love.

Higby, I don't know that he'll get the ball a lot, but hey, this offense, the only issue is their offensive line isn't great. I mean, it's okay. It's not great. But it's, you know, yeah. Boy, I mean, it's just, still felt very cohesive, though, Greg, last year. Right? I mean, is that me? Or it just

felt like they were not a problem, really? No, I would say, you know, look, Stafford's just way more talented than Gough. Gough, by the way, is a nice thrower of the football. Gough is a way better than average throwler. When he's comfortable, he throws a pretty ball. I mean, he made a lot of really good throws in his career with the ramp. You know, it's easy to kind of rip him now and say, oh, he's not very good. You know, he's not a top five guy, but I mean, he's, you can line up and play with Goff. It's just he has some potential limitations when he struggles with pressure and he has no

secondary action ability. And those are two would be seen as two meaningful limitations. Stafford is just, well, Stafford is, Stafford's probably been an elite thrower since he's two years old. I cannot wait. This is going to be, this might be the most fun offense we're going to see this season. can't wait of course Stafford

the high school teammate of Mr. Kirshaw in L.A. there are big buds and now they can hang out in L.A. They can do some clubbing. Oh,

absolutely. No doubt about it. Matthew's married. Kershaw. They both are. Yeah, actually I met Kershaw. I hope nobody's taking that seriously.

Yeah. Oh, you met Kershaw, Adam? What said? I met him actually. It, um, spring training really? In Arizona, NFL owners.

means yeah he apparently has this uh it was like two seconds uh somebody knew him we were at uh cheesecake factory this is probably like six or seven years ago in phoenix john i was having a good year too he's seven and three just moved up to seven and three last night he was actually brilliant so the only quick but a strong seven and two thirds one arm run oh no real good absolutely that was a you know that short porch and left in houston that was that home run yeah he was great so getting back to this acres is their full time back we know that he did a good job coming back. You know, he became the guy late and did a very good job. I mean, the only question is, will Higby get the ball anymore with Ever gone? Theoretically, yes.

I know Greg likes Bryson Hopkins. We'll see if he's ready. Well, again, I mean, I like his college tape. I don't know what their plans are. Right. We'll see, we'll see if you get involved, but the tight, the offense is not go through the tight ends. That's been very clear. I don't think that's going to change. One fantasy nugget, Joe Dolan, just randomly. I feel like Darrell Henderson is a great stash and hope guy because he is a cam acres injury away from being like a top 15 back. Oh yeah. And I mean, I just drafted him as my fourth running back in the best ball draft. Just, you know, as much as I love acres this year, guys do get hurt. I think this offense is just going to be spectacular. I think it's an offense that quite frankly, in general,

John, is undervalued right now. I just did a video breakdown for the player profile or draft kit and Robert Woods is wide receiver 17 right now. I don't see why Robert Woods can't catch 90 passes this year. I mean, he's done it with Goff, but I just does it every year. He does it every year. I just think this is going to be, I'm so, I am so excited. Like, just like, if the Bears decide they're going to start Justin Fields week one, man, I'm going to love that Sunday night football game between the Bears and the Rams.

I'm excited to see Stafford in that in that uniform. I'm excited to see what he does with this offense. And, you know, I think Sean McVeigh, we just talked about Kyle Shanahan being just completely fed up with the execution. I think Sean McVeigh was fed up with having to do everything himself. Like, I think he was fed up with saying, man, I've got to put Jared Gough in a perfect situation, didn't think he was, I think he wanted, once a quarterback who can bail him out. And this like goes back to the whole, you know, the whole Mac Jones argument when, when Shanahan trained. it up and they're like, oh, we trade it up for Mac Jones because Mac Jones fits that system.

Well, yeah, he might fit the system. Jared Gough might fit McVeigh's system. But to me, that doesn't mean that McVeigh doesn't want a quarterback who occasionally is going to be able to bail out the system or when the defense wins, bail that out or give him expect. I don't, I don't think anybody who's a great schemer is going to intentionally restrict himself simply because he thinks his scheme is better than everybody else's. So I think I'm just really excited to see, you know, this is an offense that has gone down from the top three in yards per play at the beginning of McVe's tenure to an offense that was in the bottom half of the league in yards per play. To me, that absolutely eats at McVeigh. And I think he's really, let's just say he's going

to whip it out. Just so you know, Joe, one thing I'll say about that is McVeigh was the one who basically pushed the general manager to trade Gough. He had had enough. They inherited Gough as we know. You're right. He definitely won him off the roster. That's 100% correct. Was Stafford the guy Adam or were they exploring other evidence?

There was Stafford and other quarterback. But Stafford was the one. Well, Stafford won it out and it just made so much sense. And I think we've, I think Greg really pointed out very well. There's so much more you can do with Stafford. There's in a throw that he can't make. I can't wait to see this. And I'm happy for him because he was sick of the losing.

Now he's got a chance to win and be pretty special with a really good group of past targets. Defense lost a couple of key guys, but they should still be good. But Greg, we can end on the Camakers question here. Like if Cammakers is healthy and really, you know, shows us the best that he can be. What kind of upside is it? I feel like he could be, he could challenge for the league rushing times. title, honestly, based on what he showed late last year, especially late. He said this last year, you know, the nuance to his game, the patient, it was definitely

on display in like November, December. Yeah, if he can stay healthy, he's not small either. He was 2.17 at the combine, so I don't know what he played at, but I mean, he's not small. I really liked the way in which he ran. I mean, is he the most explosive back out there? No. He's a slasher. He's a glider.

But I thought he was very skilled, workmanlike. You hit it on the head. He had patience, vision. He understood fronts. He understood where to run, where not to run, based on the blocking scheme versus the defensive fronts. And by the way, you have to learn this at the NFL level. He had a great feel for that coming out of college.

So I really like Cam Acres. You know, your point about challenging for the rushing title, obviously that depends on number of carries. And we'll see if McVeigh, based on what Adam just said, if they end up throwing it a little more because the quarterback is better. We don't know the answer to that. That's true. That's hard to answer.

I know he wants to run the ball. McVeigh is a guy who does believe in balance, and he does believe that the run game clearly sets up a lot of things you do with the past game, just as Kyle Shanahan does. So they won't abandon the run game, John, but it's just hard to know right now what that balance will be. I'm calling it right now. Jake Funk will be a cult hero on the Twitter.

in a year and a half. Just throwing that out there. I guess he's like a fullback. Or is he? John, he's a super athlete. He's the kid from Maryland, right? Yeah, yeah. He's an incredible athlete.

Yeah, he is. So they drafted a lot of just freak athletes too. Right. John, what are you giving staff for past attempts? I'm curious. Yeah, let me pull that up. Bap-a-bap. Try to keep it.

You know, I understand the, defense is very good. So unlike the years in Detroit, corner is a little bit, corner's actually a little shaky. Yeah. But, but it's nothing like, didn't he throw it 700 times one year in Detroit?

26 and 19. Okay, I mean, 700 seems to be absurd. No, I'm talking, I'm sorry, I'm talking about Goth.

I'm sorry, Tom of God. Oh, um, so Stafford, I have him with, oh, Jesus,

let me find it. Sorry, I got to re-sore here. Yeah, just to make a point, well, well, you're looking that up,

John. you know, every year we do the draft, obviously, and we talk more about it, you know, and I've been watching quarterbacks coming out next year. And every year we talk about, this quarterback has a gun. What an unbelievable arm. Yeah. You know, I mean, we say that, you know, Matthew Stafford, no, no. That is a gun.

That's freaking high level. Matthew Stafford has a true hose. How it's her? How it's her? Wants to start comparing, well, this guy's got a gun. Watch Matthew Stafford throw it. Right. right 35 attempts a game i have for stafford 16 games actually would go higher you know to

Greg's point do want to run the ball i don't know i can't answer that yeah these are the things i'm thinking of though when i when i i'm going 37 38 but that's just yeah but the defense is good they do want to run the ball i mean 35 a game it's still a pretty healthy number it is all right so you know have them with 32 titty passes uh one rushing um there is some upside to be had here uh but I'm not going to project the guy to throw 41 touchdowns, but it could absolutely happen. Well, what could also happen is we could reconvene next week and crank out part three

and four of a four-part little series here on the interwebs. Same time, Tuesdays and Wednesday, Tuesday and Wednesday? I believe we need to kind of fire that up and, you know, you know, run it up the flagpole and see what everyone's time is.

All righty. But we'll get to that. And you can check out the first two divisions that we covered, the NFC East and the NFC North on FantasyPoints.com, on the multimedia section there. Just click on the archives. Of course, this one. And then next week we're back with the AFC.

And Greg CoSell's draft guide is still available. Still believe we're getting some purchases there. It's absolutely great content. And your subscription to FantasyPoint.com, you can save 10% using that promo code. that is promoted here on the screen. So I'll wrap it up here. We thank Ben Kucanis for keeping us on the air and all that.

I believe we've had a little bit of a technical problem at the top, but all good there. We thank Adam Kaplan, Greg Cosell, Grand Barfield, Joe Dolan. Have a great Memorial Day weekend. And we will catch you next week with the AFC version of the Fantasy Points virtual powwow. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast. Remember to subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite platform, and come join the roster at FantasyPoint.com.