Fantasy Football Daily - 2022 Hansen's Hints: Preseason Podcast No. 1

Episode Date: August 5, 2022

John Hansen (@Fantasy_Guru) invites Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) on the latest Hansen's Hints for some NFL Insider info across the league as the 2022 preseason gets underway. --- 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 FantasyPoint.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. What is up, everyone? Welcome to another edition of the Fantasy Points podcast, the Hansen's Hints Version or section of the Fantasy Points podcast. I am John Hansen. But today, I'm not really going to be the man giving out the hints.

That would be Greg CoSell, who is ready to go here. It's August 4th. We are almost two weeks in, or in some cases two weeks into the training camps, and the preseason is underway. So here's what we do, just for those who are unfamiliar. We've worked with Greg actually now since damn near 20 years, I think. Greg is one of the preeminent experts on matchups and film study. I've been doing it for 40 years. Not a fantasy guy.

I'm the fantasy guy. So I cater fantasy related questions to Greg and right in his wheelhouse. And he answers in his terms, but we 100% apply that to the fantasy world. And before we get into it with Greg, it is August. It is time for us to promote our subscription services. This is when we get about 80% of our revenue. year number three of fantasy points.com. Years one and two went very, very well.

A lot of stuff going on this year. People are very happy. We've got everything covered. The Fantasy Points Data Group, which you'll hear more and more about. We are charting our own plays now, creating, inventing, not inventing, but coming up with their own stats. The Fantasy Points Generator draft drafts drafts, DFS Optimizer for your DFS optimizer for your DFS, you know, pleasure.

Data tools, news analysis. this podcast, live streams, Discord chat, all there at FantasyPoints.com. Pretty much guarantee you'll enjoy the site. And you can use the promo code Hansen 22 for 10% off. Without any further ado, we welcome in. Greg, he's been patiently waiting. He's been pretty much in the film room all off season, doing up all the rookie profiles for the Fantasy Points prospect guide.

You could add that, by the way, to your subscription. And you get an app. It's literally like having Greg Kossel on your phone. bone in your pocket, whenever you want to know about a rookie player, just call up the app and it's gold, good stuff there. But Greg, I cannot believe we are here. Another season is upon us. How are you today, sir? John, I'm doing great. You know, it's funny. The offseason, as you know, I do a lot of things. I still watch tape. I'm probably a little crazy in that regard. I don't think I've taken many days off even in the off season. So as you know, I watch a combination of college players

who'll be in next year's draft and then just NFL stuff that I kind of feel like watching. Some of it just is on a whim. Some of it is because it'll help me as the season moves along. And so right now I'm doing something that, you know, probably it's not a big fantasy thing, but it's just something I really wanted to do. And I'm kind of taking a deep dive into the Vic Fangio defense and kind of what it's all about because I think a lot more teams are going to be using a lot of those concepts and principles this year. Now, would that, not to go off in a tangent, would that be the similar scheme that, like, you know, the Vikings are running to with, like, Ed Donatel?

Well, I think you'll see a lot of that with Coach Donatel. There's a lot of coaches in the league who have a background with Vic Fangio. We know Brandon Staley does. We know that Gannon in Philadelphia. In fact, Vic Fangio was at Eagle's practice, I believe, either earlier this week or last week. but I think you'll see a lot of those concepts and principles throughout the league because everything is cyclical. You know this, John.

I mean, remember when Seattle was so good a number of years ago with the Legion of Boom and the cover three and everybody said, you know, let's play cover three. And then what happens is offenses catch up and they develop past game concepts that attack and break it down. And then defenses then have to adjust. So it's always cyclical. But I just wanted to sort of do a deeper dive. I had the opportunity to speak to a coach for quite.

a while who was with Vic Fangio the last number of years, a veteran coach, and he gave me a lot of the concepts and principles. And so now when I watch the tape, I have that background, so it really helps me. It's hardcore football stuff. It's over my head, but I know enough to know who to ask and what questions to ask. And that's one of the, it's a good example of Greg, what he brings to the table because obviously the fantasy game starts on the NFL football field. One other thought on that, by the way, I believe the Vikings, one of their thoughts behind bringing in Donatel

and changing up the system is because this scheme essentially has given Kirk Cousins a lot of problems. And I think I read that. And I actually brought that up to Paul Allen recently, their play-by-play guy. And there's something to that. Like, Kirk Cousins has struggled

against his scheme. So they're hoping he can get a little bit more familiar with it, running against it in practice every day. Well, and I think the second factor there as we move on to what we want to discuss is Kevin O'Connell is now the head coach there. And Kevin O'Connell came from the Rams and keep in mind that Brandon Staley was the D-coordinator for the Rams two years ago. And then last year he was obviously with the Chargers. And McVeigh, Sean McVeigh made Rahim Morris the de-coordinator. And they essentially kept the same

system because McVe kind of believes that he, number one, he wanted continuity. But number two, he believes in that system. So it does not surprise me that Kevin O'Connell coming from that now wants a defensive coordinator who sort of believes in that as well. True. Yeah. I think you'll, I think you'll see a lot of teams. Again, as you and I have discussed many times, John, nothing is 100% in this league. It doesn't mean that you're going to run cover four quarters every single snap. You know, nothing. I mean, I'm watching the Broncos D from a year ago when Vic was the head coach. And I'm actually surprised at how much. cover one I'm seeing man to man with a single high safety. So it's always, you know,

and it depends on the matchups, games, but there's obviously foundations of every defense and every defensive coordinator. Always a guessing game. We're always trying to stay ahead of the curve and, you know, and all that good stuff. But in the fantasy world, what we do, we're all in this together. We're all in the same boat. We don't know what these teams are going to do. We're going to get a lot of things wrong. We just want to be better than the competition. And we've done that. So while we're talking Vikings, Let's go. And what we do here with Greg is just go around the league.

I ask them fantasy-related questions based on the news coming out of camps. We started with Minnesota. We can touch on the Vikings. I haven't not heard much here. But generally, I am preparing for a little bit more passing. Obviously, Mike Zimmer is gone. Better protection. The interior is still sketchy.

I, Greg, would not be surprised at all if things went really well. if Kirk Cousins approaches 40 touchdowns this year. Yeah, Kirk Cousins' numbers have been really good. What I did watch, by the way, just for our conversation, is I did watch a lot of Justin Jefferson about a week ago. And the one thing that I think will be interesting, and this could have a fantasy impact, is even without Kevin O'Connell being there last year,

obviously it was not Kevin O'Connell. But Kirk Cousins had the third most empty set drive. in the NFL. Now, the reason I mention that is that the quarterback that had the most empty set dropbacks with Matt was Matthew Stafford. And that's obviously where Kevin O'Connell came from. So I think you're going to continue to see empty as a featured part of the Vikings pass game in 2022. And, you know, Jefferson, I was kind of blown away by watching his tape. He is really, really good. I mean, he, first of all, I think he's about six, too. I I remember him coming out of the combine, and I think he's six two.

On tape, he looks like he's six five. He does. He really does. His stride length and his play speed are really, really good. And he had a lot of reduced splits, which, of course, very often reduce splits, minimize press coverage. So it gets him, it allows him to really develop that stride length. And he's the kind of receiver that it looks like when he takes three steps, he's gone 15 yards.

Plus, I was really kind of blown away by how quickly he could cut at speed with that stride length. You don't see that very often. Greg, I'm blown away myself, and I have him ranked as the number one wide receiver. In fact, I have him ranked as the second best player in all of fantasy. So you're preaching to the choir here. Our guy, Scott Barrett, thinks I'm a little crazy ranking cup below Jefferson, but come on now. Cup is coming off the busiest season ever. He's 29 years old.

called Jefferson, boy, I mean, you can't get much more appealing than that, 23 years old with two impressive seasons in the books. Now you have a better offense, a little bit better coaching. Let's move on to Green Bay. This is another great example of what you bring to the table with Romeo Dubs because I was at the Senior Bowl. I watched him. I kind of liked him. He was one of these guys like I'm thinking, I don't love, love, love this guy right now. But if he goes to the right spot, man.

And then you do the prospect evaluation sheet for the prospect guide. You comp them the Devante Adams pre-draft, which blew my mind. And then once the Packers drafted him, I've been all over this. And well, Greg, off to a great start is Romeo Dubs. I mean, clearly with Aaron Rogers talking him up, that's a great sign. And there's a lot to like with him. Dare I say, he might be like their most complete receiver. I mean, I know that sounds crazy, but are way up there.

Well, to do a little shameless self-promotion, people should go take a peek at the guide, at the prospect guide, the draft guide, because it's very complete in my evaluation of dubs. And I want people to understand when I made a comparison to Devante Adams, people need to understand. I wasn't talking about Devante Adams the last three years in Green Bay when he's arguably the best receiver in football. I was comparing him to Devante Adams when Adams came out of Fresno State. And keep in mind, Adams was a second round pick.

So no one thought he'd become the best receiver in football or he would have been a first round pick. But Dubs has similar size and movement traits. And keep in mind, Adams did not have immediate high level success in the NFL. It took him a few years. So, you know, I really liked Dubs tape. I thought there was kind of a twitched up dynamic feel to his play. he has size he has length um i really liked him i thought based on his tape watching his tape and i watched his tape for two years just so people understand that to me he has a chance to be a volume receiver

in this league i mean i could again you never know as a rookie that's your job john i always say that i leave that to you to make the projections but you know given that they're lacking a bit of receiver or looking for more options given that adams is gone um If Dobbs would end up being a starter, which through the early part of training camp, he's moving in that direction, they do throw the ball. Couldn't you see Dubbs getting 100 targets? That would be amazing. And you know what I called him? My version this year of Amon Rae St. Brown, because I loved Aman Ra last year.

He was a fourth rounder just like Dubbs, you know, you take him one of your last picks. I mean, Amon Ra was quite out of the gate. Dubs probably would be too, but I wouldn't be shocked. I'm a different player, but I understand your point. Yeah. I wouldn't be shocked if it's a little quiet, a little slow, and then he goes on an eight-game run, you know, kind of a thing. But your comp on Devante was, to me, pretty simple, good size, inside, outside versatility,

and a three-level threat. The kid can run a little bit. Yeah. And I know people told me at the senior ball that he didn't show up great, but, you know, again, the tape. I think you had some drops yeah you know it's tough there it first of all the weather was bad they'd never work with these players i mean you know you tried them out on the field on a tuesday morning and then there's like let's go let's start practicing with guys you know you don't really know but yeah great start a great call there by you let's move on to detroit's not a ton going on here um we love the old line what are your thoughts on dandre swift he's bulked up just a little bit his running was not great last year. The receiving was wonderful. We've always liked him, but any thoughts on an elevation

for at least a number of carries and D'Andre Swift playing a little bigger than he was last year? Well, I think he's a key factor in what they're trying to get done. We know that Dan Campbell would like to have a physical dimension to both sides of the ball, obviously. That's what he believes in. I think they would like Swift. If not to be a back, that's going to get 250 or 200 70 carries, and maybe he's not that guy, but certainly to be a back in, I don't, the Alvin Camara mold, I guess would be the best way to describe, or the Aaron Jones mold, you know, where you, you might get 180 to 210 carries and be a significant factor in the past game. I think they would like him to be that kind of back.

Now, of course, staying injury free and being durable is a key part of that. Yeah, I do have questions if we're looking for him to be Camara for sure. or even Aaron Jones. He seems to be, you know, not a big frame. And, you know, he does have a little propensity toward injury. But we shall see it's a good old line, though. He's a tougher call this year, getting a lot of love in fantasy. But we have backed him for sure the last couple of years over in Chicago.

I have not heard a ton. This is going to be a little slow going for sure. I heard that weird report about David Montgomery playing special teams. Bellis Jones, though, I have not really heard much. but I'm pretty sure you watch Velas Jones. I did. We all think Byron Pringle is underrated. They did trade for Nikiel Harry, so they're looking for some lengths.

But Velas Jones kind of seems a little bit like dubs. I know they both went to senior bowl in that, you know, he's inside. He can, he's got speed. He kind of looks like a guy that they might need for, you know, some playmaking ability. Yeah, and I think he's also a guy that can help out your quarterback and help Justin Fields because he's really good in the tunnel screen game. He's really good in the quick game. He predominantly lined up in the slot this past year at Tennessee.

He's a kid who spent his first three seasons at USC before transferring to Tennessee. He's really more of a space receiver, John. So you need to get him the ball in space. I could see him used, as I said, in the screen game, in the jet sweep game. I think working out of the slot is where he's a. effective. He does have some speed and juice to him. I liked his game and I think he can transition effectively to the league. They didn't have a guy like that last year with some size for Fia. No, and that's the thing. He's not, even though the way I just described his game, he's not one of

those 180 pound receivers. He was 203 at the combine. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, some size and movement. So there's the Chicago Bears. We'll see how the summer in August plays out for them, listening to the Fantasy Points podcast here, the Hanson's Hintz version, along with Greg CoSell. I'm John Hanson. All this great insight is bursting throughout FantasyPoints.com. In Dallas, Greg, Michael Gallup, still real questionable. We do have the injury to James Washington,

in theory, opening things up for Jalen Tolbert. Another guy I saw at the Senior Bowl. I do like him, probably an outside guy, although he did play inside. he can do it, former baseball player. I think he's a very good prospect, probably not a stud. What do you think of Jalen Tolbert, the player? And then this year in Dallas, they certainly need him.

I know there's others in the mix here like Fahoko. Yeah, I think they're hoping that it's Jalen Tolbert or Simi Fahoko, who was a pick the year prior out of Stanford that can step in and get meaningful snaps and meaningful targets. Tolbert, to me, watching his tape, was he's very, very good size. To me, he was more of an athletic finesse receiver, smooth, fluid movement. He struck me more as an outside receiver, John, which of course, in the way coaches move receivers around now, that doesn't mean I think he can only line up there. But I think his game,

to me, sort of projected more as an outside receiver. He's got size. He's got length. I think he's got a three-level dimension profile to him. I think he's at his best when he has free access off the line of scrimmage. You know, Gallup was their X, and the X receiver lines up on the ball, which means he's easier to press. So the question is, who becomes their X? My sense is that's not Tolbert necessarily, although you never know how this is going to play out. Fahoko, on the other hand, he's a big dude. He reminded me just body typewise and straight line speedwise of Claypool. Chase Claypool. Now, I'm not saying they're the exact same receiver, but I think just body type and size.

I thought Fahoko was a really interesting prospect coming out of Stanford the year before. So I think one or both of those guys could end up getting snaps because they're really lacking it at wide receiver right now. You know, that kid, Don Tario Drummond, may be a factor too. He was at that senior ball. He's a big dude, big body like, you know,

possession guy over the middle of the field. He went on drafted. He's the kid from Ole Miss. I watched his tape as well. And you're right. He's much more of a short to intermediate possession type because he's a big kid close to 220. He had good run after catch. He's got a strong body. He worked primarily out of the slot at Ole Miss. But again, they ran what would be considered kind of a true college offense with a ton of RPO's. That was the foundation of what they did. Dallas is every team runs some to some extent. But that's, I don't believe that'll be a foundation of what Dallas does. But yeah, he's, he's, I like what he could be, but you have to understand what he could be. He's a bigger body.

He's a short intermediate receiver. Yeah. He's got strong hands. And he does have some run after catch. He does. Yeah. I think there's a place for him somewhere in this leg. Real quick before we move on, Gallup and Tolbert, they were almost the exact same draft

spot, like 85 overall third round. Any thoughts on maybe the best? better prospect, you know, obviously coming out? Yeah, coming out. I would say I like Gallup a little more than Tolbert if I think back to my evaluation. I thought Gallup was a really good prospect. I mean, when I say

that, I didn't think, I don't believe he should have been a first rounder, but I really liked his tape. And Tolbert, I liked his tape as well, but I like Gallup more coming out. Let's go to the Giants. Good vibes right now on everything, really. Daniel Jones and the offense.

I know you've done last two years really deep dives on Daniel Jones so start there share your findings I think they're positive and I feel even better with this new coaching staff and a pair of very good tackles yeah you know it's funny when I watch Daniel Jones tape I always feel like he's better than than what it seems that he is during a season you know what I mean John yeah yeah yeah I mean look in the name of full disclosure I watched all his third down drop so I didn't watch every single play. So that's what I watched. That was a lot of plays and they were all on third down. And keep in mind, it was an offense that had a revolving door both on the offensive line and

at wide receiver. So there was very little continuity a year ago of the Giants passing. And they let Jason Garrett go midstream. Right. So it was, it was in some ways a dysfunctional season. It was. And I thought when I watched Jones third down dropbacks, I was relatively impressed. Now, again, I'm not speaking about production. It's easy for someone listening to say, well, look at the numbers. They weren't very good. I know that. I wasn't looking just at the pure numbers.

I was looking at how he played the position. And I thought he hung in there. I thought he was tough in the pocket. I thought he knew where to go with the ball. They obviously got blitzed a good amount. And I thought he had answers to the blitz. So I was relatively impressed with Daniel Jones. And I have to tell you, John, I am more as intrigued.

with any offense this year and any quarterback as I am with Jones working with Brian Dayball and Mike Kafka. Hey, maybe it won't work and maybe I'll be wrong. But, I mean, I find that marriage to be really intriguing. And hopefully they've shored up their O line. They did draft Evan Neal in the first round. He'll play right tackle. They made another draft pick that I thought was really good.

And I believe the third round may be a North Carolina kid who I think has starting ability, Zoodoo, I believe his name is. Yeah, Joshua Zudow, I think, can be a starting guard in this league. So, you know, if that can be shored up and guys can be out there without being injured, we'll see. But I think Jones, there's something, I guess I will end this way. There's something there to work with. I'm not suggesting Jones is good enough to be a top five quarterback.

I'm not suggesting he's Tom Brady. But I think there's something there to work with. Absolutely. He's not perfect. but there's more than most quarterbacks have. So I've always been very enamored with them and I've always kind of kicked the tires, but I've never really gone all in.

This is the year. And last year I was all out because I knew it was going to be bad. I said the vibes are bad. It's going to be bad. This year the vibes are good. So I'm kind of all in is a late pick. I like Wondell Robinson too. He's a great kid.

I've interviewed him. Awesome dude. And Greg, another guy who you think on the surface, Gadgety, but again, we've been on this. The lines between Gadgety and, you know, traditional are being, you know, combined and blur here. So what does Wondell bring to the table? And this is the Mikovka influence,

because where did he come from? Kansas City. And how many times did we see Tyree Kill and Mikhail Hardman in motion? You know, and then I think Hardman is, excuse me, I think Robinson is one of those players that you can move all around, a motion guy, get him free access, get him moving off the line of scrimmage. He's really good run after catch. He's not a true burner. He's not Hardman in that regard, nor Hill. No one's Hill. But I think he can be used in a similar

fashion. And I think that's, you know, given the Mike Kafka influence there. And even what Brian Dable did a year ago in Buffalo at times with Isaiah McKenzie, you know, I think there's parallels to be made that could make Robinson a very interesting player for the Giants. I mean, the kid's just a football player. It told me that, you know, he was playing another position and two years ago they're like oh we need you to play wide receivers like yeah okay all right no problem uh Philadelphia eagles Greg and I guess it's been a little quiet for jail and hurts we all know what he did last year you've done some deep deep diving on jail and hurts what were your findings you know what when I watched you know 250 dropbacks in a row of jail on hurts

um I got to tell you I liked him more watching him this summer than I did watching him during the season. Now, having said that, there's still much that needs to be worked on and cleaned up, and I know the Eagles know that. But there were, I thought the Eagles did a good job with him. It was a lot of half-field reads, which is the right thing to do because he's a young quarterback without a lot of experience in sort of a full NFL pass game. But I thought, look, there were many, many snaps in which he showed flashes of playing the position with some subtlety and nuance. Now, he still has a strong tendency, and he may always have this tendency to leave the pocket too early.

He is a good runner. He's capable of gaining yards with his legs. But when you leave the pocket too early, too often you leave throws on the field, which he did quite a bit. So we'll see his progression. Obviously, they know that their offense can't be exactly what it was down the stretch last year when they played lesser competition and were able to dominate with the run game, they know to get to where they want to go, which is a Super Bowl, that the past game has to

become more efficient, more explosive. They've got weapons. So let's see what they've added to the past game. Let's see what they believe Hertz can be, and you'll get a feel for that early this season. Can they expand their concepts? Can it be more of a full field read passing game where, hey, if you're working to the trip side and it's not there, can he come back to the single receiver side and make a good throw? Things like that. But I was more impressed watching him this summer than I was during the year. Not sure about how he was going to do late in the down,

because I'm sure that was a problem because he's looking to take off and run. But early in the down, you know, with AJ Brown here, how much can he, you know, prop up? hurts i mean you would think defining reeds quick throws high percentage throws things like that can only help our rPO game will be critical because rpo game with the threat of look with with the zone reed threat and then the rpo game hurts being a factor as a runner that dictates how defenses react you'll see a lot of quick inbreaking throws to brown who is a monster run after catch um look they've got three really good receiving weapons yeah now devante is even

and better as the two. Yeah, and more than likely, he will now be the Z, the off-the-ball receiver, so you can get him in motion and get him with free access where that stride length is a big factor. And I'm not sure how it's going to play out in their backfield, but I think Kenny Gainwell is going to be a factor. And again, he may not be a volume factor. I'm not suggesting he's going to get 90 targets,

but he's a terrific receiver. And there will be a bigger role for him this year. than a year ago as a rookie. Yep, I've been on Gainwell all year. I only have them with 127 carries, but, you know, 35, 40 grabs. You know, if he keeps getting those goal line carries, that'll be good. Real quick, before we move on, Devante Smith is one of my favorite picks around 75 overall. There's a little pocket there where it's guys like ju-ju, and I'm like, no, no, no.

I want young ascending guys. How good, how much better was Devonthe? Smith, then maybe the narrative, because he was up and down, likely due to the quarterback. Yeah, but I think he's a really good player. I think he's one of those guys. I mentioned Jefferson, Justin Jefferson, when we started. I think Smith has that ability as well to be able to, with his stride length and play speed to be able to break. I think he's really good at that, to make sharp cuts. Smith's a really good receiver. So, no, they have a lot of weapons. So Smith's, you Look, his numbers last year were a reflection of the fact that this was not really a passing football team.

Yeah, of course, no doubt. When we, actually, let's go to the Washington commanders. Let's wrap it up here in the NFC East. I'll start in the backfield. And we all liked Antonio Gibson last year. We were incorrect. I think the mistake I made was, I just assumed that, okay, he was a former college receiver, got his feet wet in 2020. He's going to get better.

Well, you know, sometimes guys just don't. And I don't know exactly why, but he also developed a little bit of fumble problem. You know, our guys at Fantasy Points data, they noticed that on outside zone runs, he was very good. Inside zone, not so great, probably missing some holes. Would that concern you now with Brian Robinson added? Because it sure seems like they've added Brian Robinson to kind of patch up Gibson's problems and maybe even take over if Gibson has issues. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. I really like Brian Robinson coming out of Alabama.

It would not surprise me if he ends up being more of the feature back than Gibson. Look, Gibson came out of college as a receiver. And I've said this many times. Obviously, Washington didn't agree with me, as I'm sure many other teams didn't, but he was a slot receiver his last year in college in Memphis. And I thought that's what he'd be really, really good at in the league, because he's got size, he's fast, he's physical, but they made him a feature back. I'm not sure he quite has the skill set to be that, John.

So it would not surprise me to see Brian Robinson become that guy. Brian Robinson, 225 pounds. No, no doubt. We did oversell Gibson. So you're still making mistakes here. But at least we can, the worst thing is to double down this year and say, oh, no, he's really good. No, I'm out. I'm out on Gibson because of this Brian Robinson issue.

I mean, there's a lot of injuries, fumbling, old lines of concern. There's a lot of issues. one issue that I don't have is with their first round selection of John Dotson. I watched them. My initial reaction was the kid was a baller. I'm mad at myself for not coming up with the same comp as you because it's unbelievably good. Deontay Johnson, it's right there. What are the chances that in three years, Jahan Dotson, we look back and firmly believe

that he's a better overall player than Terry McLaren. I think that'll be the case, but maybe I'm a McLaren hater. No, no, I really like that. to Han Dotson coming out. I loved him, in fact, and all reports up to this point have been positive, whatever that means, you know, but you can only take it a day at a time. What I loved about him, we know that he's got explosion to his game, but what I really loved about him, John, was his fearlessness and competitiveness working in the middle of the field. I mean, that's not quite ready to say in three years he'll be better than McLaren. Let's wait and see how everything plays out,

but I loved his tape and I loved his competitiveness. And I think he's an. inside, outside receiver. I think he's one of those guys. And I think that was a really strong pick by the commanders. And Carson Wentz, say what you want. They're going to be pushing that envelope down the field with both guys, I think, because Wents will throw it. That's kind of his specialty. The big chunk play, that's what he's looking for. Well, the other thing, too, is I think with Scott Turner as the offensive coordinator, who's really a descendant of his father, Norv Turner, this is an offense that fits Carson Wence more. Wence has the mentality of being aggressive and wants to push it down the field. Wence is not really a quote unquote West Coast quarterback in terms of

quick rhythm throws. His body type is not like that. He's long legged. He's a strider. He's not really compact in his delivery. He's not that kind of quarterback. He's a throw it down the field kind of quarterback and that's more of what this offense is. Like a Justin Herbert kind of. No, Herbert actually is more compact. Well, yeah, right. I mean, Herbert is better and can do anything. Yeah, Herbert, yeah. But Herbert's a better overall thrower, just in terms of consistent ball placement,

a better feel for the rhythm of an offense. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But the aggressiveness, you know. Yeah. He just sits back there when he has time, man. He looks unstoppable. NFC South. I don't see much.

Oh, you've covered Drake London before in the draft guide. and I don't have a ton here. I mean, I am still waiting for Tyler Algear. I mean, how much of an upset would it be? They don't want to run Cordero into the ground. Damien Williams is currently a little bit banged up. I mean, I guess how much of an upset would it be if Tyler Algear doesn't collect 150 plus carries in this backfield? Yeah, he's the wild card in this discussion because we know Arthur Smith would want to run the football.

So he's the guy, you know, his body type is such that he could. be a feature back. He was a fourth or fifth round pick because he wasn't viewed as special. That's the way people seem to draft backs now, just like Brian Robinson was a fourth round pick, unless you view a guy as special, you know, and I'm not sure what that means. For instance, I wouldn't describe Najee Harris as a special runner, but he was a first round pick. Maybe that's because he had the Alabama on his helmet. I don't know the answer to that. But it's very possible Al Jir could be their feature back. Just one quick comment. I think one of the things that will be interesting about their past game is both London and Kyle Pitts can line up

anywhere. And I think that's something that Arthur Smith will absolutely take advantage of. I mean, if it's third and goal at the nine, man, you know, they certainly have size to throw the football in the red zone. Like, and Arthur Smith, I feel like it is pretty good schemer and all that with Rigon. I feel like if they want to throw in the red zone, I feel like they'll have success. Yeah, I mean, they well could. Obviously, there's a lot of people who are not big fans of fade throws, but, you know, both those guys. That's true. Pitts is 6566, London, 64.

So you would think so. That's a good point, actually. You know, the fade is kind of fading a little bit. Well, it's not really a high percentage throw. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Let's move on to the Carolina Panthers. And we've talked on the radio about.

Baker added to the mix here. I think it's certainly an upgrade. And Baker is very difficult to evaluate coming off of last year's injury-plagued season. I don't even know where we are with him in his career, but I know it's better than Sam Darnold. So I really love DJ more. Terrace Marshall, though, in the receiving core, is the guy to watch. Would it be much of a surprise if he kind of usurped Robbie Anderson at this point? Marshall inside guy, but I believe he can line up outside as well. I would agree. Oh, there's no question. He has inside outside flexibility.

Showed some flashes a year ago and then got hurt. So we'll see. I mean, look, I think we know what Matt Rule ultimately wants to do. The hope is McCaffrey stays healthy. They did sign Deont de Foreman. And I think they signed him because they want to run the ball as the starting point. And I think that's the right approach. And I believe it will be Baker Mayfield. to me there's not a lot of question about that. So, you know, we'll see. But I think they want this offense to start with the run game

and then have it work off that with the past game. Not to the level of Stefansky with Baker and Cleveland. Maybe so. But that was pretty high the quarterbacky-ish, if you will. Let's go to New Orleans here as Pete Carmich takes over for Sean Payton. A lot of receiver depth here. Michael Thomas, apparently, you know, certainly off to a good start in camp. I don't know what to think of him, but, you know, I guess comparing and contrast the situation

with Michael Thomas, you're playing, you're coming out of Ohio State, pretty polished player, you slide in with Drew Brise and it's incredible. But, I mean, how much of Michael Thomas was a function of playing with a Hall of Fame quarterback and play caller, basically, is my point, I guess. I mean, that's hard to know. I mean, obviously, he had a ton of targets there for three, four years, a ton of receptions. You know, they did a really good job with Thomas as the Boundary X and Camara as the offset back to the same side. They were in a lot of two-man concepts.

It was difficult for defenses. You know, they've got a really good receiving core because they've got two alpha dogs in Thomas and Landry. And then they've got Alave, who's smooth and fluid. And it's a perfect spot for Chris Alave. this is not an alpha dog. So it's a perfect spot for him, though, because that smooth, fluid, vertical ability really ties in well with Thomas and Landry.

So, you know, Alave could be a guy that doesn't necessarily get a ton of volume relative to others, but could be a really important factor in that offense. Yeah, I mean, to that point, Drew Brie's lost some steam on whatever fastball he had. They didn't take a lot of big shots. Well, they're going to be taking them this year

with Alave out there. I'm sure. So, you know, Thomas might catch 80 balls, but, you know, the days of him catching 130 or probably long over. Moving over to Tampa, I am just very concerned here, Greg, with a variety of things. I thought the whole Brady retirement was weird. Bruce, that thing was a little weird. Now you've got, you know, Jensen potentially gone for the season, which is scary. Three new starters inside. No gronk. boy, I don't know, Greg. I'm adding it all up.

I'm quite concerned. I mean, everything I laid out there, I mean, am I possibly laying out a scenario in which the goat actually, I don't know, dare I say, you know, underwhelms a little bit this year. Well, I think the Jensen injury is a factor in this sense in that Brady is a pocket quarterback. He's a little bit of a strider.

You need the center and the two guards to be solid in front of you because they control the debt. of the of the pocket. And quarterbacks like Brady need the depth of the pocket controlled so he can step into his throws cleanly. So we don't know how that's going to play out. But they still have a big time receiving core. I've watched Mike Evans. Mike Evans is really good. He doesn't get as much respect, I think, just in general conversation as he should. And Godwin will be back. Maybe it's not week one. And, you know, they've got a really good received. Russell Gage, I think, is really good and who do they just get?

Yeah, Julio. What if we're relying on Julio? I don't think they're relying on Julio. I think, you know, I think he's more of a stopgap at this point. Right. Did you see any sign that Julio still had something in the tank? I saw maybe two or three of them.

I mean, I think at this point you're signing the name Julio Jones more than you are the receiver. I think that they're not, they're realistic. I don't think they're expecting him to be a star. I think they're expecting him to be a complimentary piece. And look, when everyone's healthy, you've got Evans, you've got Godwin, two really, really good receivers. Even Russell Gage, who they signed in the offseason, you know,

he's been really good the last couple of years in New Orleans. Another guy no one knows about. So I don't think they signed Julio with the idea that, hey, he's the guy now. I mean, sure. He's a stop. Yeah. Yeah, I wonder, did that, would that precede the Godwin non-P-up thing? Because I wonder about that too but you know we'll see we'll see what hollio can contribute and maybe it's better overall more healthy if godwood is playing early in the year now we're not really relying on julio just rotational guy and all that moving over to the nfc west i don't have much on the cardinals here um no de hop you know rondell moore's a guy gregg i didn't like last year i don't even know what to think of rondell more like what is he what is his role i mean he's really small he's

explosive. Again, I guess the question becomes, what is he in the context of an offense? Is he more of a guy that you have to sort of create things for? You know, tunnel screens, jet sweeps, motion. Can he line up and be a regular outside? When I say outside, I'm including slot, but a regular receiver who lines up on the line of scrimmage. I think that remains to be seen. What about comparing him to Wondell Robinson? Like Wondell can do more on the outside if need be. I mean, theoretically, are they similar? They could be.

I mean, you know, more is really, more is more explosive than Wondale Robinson, just pure explosion to his game. So I'm curious to see what they do. Obviously, he's going to get a big chance. Hopkins is going to be gone for the first six games. Yep, yep. And we'll see about Daryl Williams or Eno Benjamin. I thought, you know, when they got Daryl, that that does make a ton of.

don't think much of Darrell Williams as a runner, but in a pass happy offense, you know, delays, draws, and screens, that's his jam, right? So I thought this was a great landing spot for Darrell Williams, right? Yeah, I mean, I think, look, they're looking for, I think, another back, you know, James Connor is solid. They also drafted the Ingram kid from USC. So I think they're looking for a second back because, you know, I like Connor, but, you know, he seems to have some durability issues. So we'll see who that second back is. By the way, would we, would you have concerns about this O line? I know Humphreys has been pretty good, but, you know, Pew, Rodney Hudson, and Beecham are like 33 years old. That's, that's getting up there.

Yeah. No, I think, you know, and I think obviously Kyler Murray's the kind of quarterback that can can then compensate at times with his ability to make plays with his legs. He's obviously special and dynamic in that regard. But we'll see. I mean, they had their moments where they struggled a year ago. San Francisco, our guy, Adam Kaplan, was out there just a day or two ago. Trey Lance, little scattershot still, trying to stay patient. But I feel like we are going to be where we kind of thought we were going to be last year.

Of course, I said, be careful because Jimmy G. I think is going to keep the job longer. but it seems like they know that he has still some work to do. I don't know what's going on with the accuracy. You know, that must be a mechanical thing below the waist there, I guess. But, you know, it seems like they're going to run their system, run the ball, and then just try and set up opportunities for defined reads, scheme guys open, and just kind of, right? I mean, just kind of a little handholding here with Trey Lance.

What do you think of Lance entering this year as their start? I think that's what they're going to do. They're going to run their system and try to scheme throws. The Rams do a lot of that. I spent a lot of time earlier this week watching the Rams offense. Okay. And it's easy to say, boy, Cooper Cup's great or this guy's great. But it's all scheme for the most part.

The Niners will do the same thing. There's two things you think that they could possibly add. Well, three things that Lance theoretically gives you and some practically. One, do they start throwing the ball outside the numbers? They rarely ever did that with Garapolo. Two, design boot action. They rarely ever did that with Garapolo. And then the second reaction playmaking ability,

which obviously Garapolo does not have. Lance has that. So do they add those things? The second reaction plays are just natural ads. But do they add the other things? Obviously, the other factor is the deep ball. Lance can throw the ball down the field. Garapolo is not a very good deep ball thrower.

How bad would it be? and how concerning, though, if the deep ball, they're trying and he's just not connecting because of a lack of ball placement. Well, I guess we'll find that out. That's a problem. They don't have a true. I mean, I watched a turn of. Yeah, that's true. I yuk is balling out, though, Greg.

Our guy Kaplan said I yuk is a man on a mission. Yeah, no, I was going to say, Debo's not that guy as great as he is, and I watched him as well. But I yuk does have vertical ability, and I yuk does have an explosive element to his game. and I loved him coming out of college. And we know in the second half of last season, you really started to play like a first round pick. Danny Gray ran very well, too. I don't know if he's a deep threat, but he runs well.

Danny Gray is a deep threat. Yes. The rookie, yeah. I saw him do a lot of short stuff, but who knows? I mean, that has nothing to do with anything at the Senior Bowl. I actually kind of liked him, too. Moving on Seattle, I don't have much here on Seattle. We'll actually pass through them.

and wrap up the NFC with those Rams. And, you know, just like Tampa, I'm a little worried about everything here. You know, Stafford, man is throwing the ball a lot and, you know, they're limiting him. This elbow thing is a little worrisome. How about the depth of receiver or lack thereof? You know, Van Jefferson hurt now, Greg. Alan Robinson apparently doing very well. I think he's going to get a lot of volume.

I think he has to. But, man, Greg, you know, we're down to Ben Skoronic already as the third receiver technically right now. That concerns me the loss of Whitworth as well. I don't know what to think. I mean, I'll tell you one thing, Tyler Higby is going to have to finally step up here, I would think. But what are your thoughts in this current roster right now? I don't even know about their running game. Yeah, I mean, look, I know they're resting Stafford a lot, I guess, with his elbow,

but let's assume, you know, he's fine. Like I said, I watch a ton of Rams, and Stafford's a big-time throw with a football. When you watch tape of him and watch his 250 throws in a row, he's a big time thrower of the football. They're a highly schemed offense, John, highly schemed. They get their big plays predominantly, predominantly on scheme concepts, not one-on-ones. They're not a, you know, a boundary X team. They're not a team, you know, they became a little more of that when Woods got hurt and Beckham became the boundary X because they moved Jefferson from X to Z.

And Beckham could win some one-on-ones. They don't really have that guy right now. So they're going to be highly, highly scheme. And McVeigh is a master at that. Yeah, well, you have to be because Alan Robinson and Cooper Cup, they don't run all that well. I mean, it's probably the slowest two receivers in the league. You know what I mean?

Yeah, but they do such a good job with creating throwing opportunities. It's, it's, and then Stafford just makes big-time throws. I just have quite, I don't know about Cam Acres. I don't know if you have any thoughts. I guess it's a tough call. You got a lot of carries. Didn't do very well with them last year, but, I mean, they're going to have to go with them. They do want to run the ball.

Yeah, I know. Yeah. A lot. But I don't think they have trust in Darrell Henderson. So they got to get, that's why they made that Sony Michelle move. You are listening to the Fantasy Points podcast here, recording this on August 4th. I'm John Hansen, along with Greg CoSell. And once again, a reminder, this is our busy time, FantasyPoint.com, blowing up this year,

all kinds of great tools, data, best data around real soon when we get our Fantasy Points Data Group truly rolling. You can use the promo code Hanson 22 to save 10% off your subscription to FantasyPoint.com. AFC. We'll just cover like, you know, storylines here in training camp. There's not much that I'm hearing out of Buffalo. I still really very much like Gabe Davis. But I guess Isaiah McKenzie is moving the needle a little bit and maybe even starting.

Greg, as their third receiver. Any thoughts on McKenzie potentially going from almost all gadgety to a little bit more volume? I mean, that's certainly possible. Look, it's still going to be a passing team. You know, I think they ran the ball with a little more volume later in the season and had some success. But obviously, it's still going to be a Josh Allen lead offense. The guy I'm most curious about is James Cook. James Cook, I loved his tape coming out of Georgia. He runs like his brother Dalvin, but he's a terrific pass receiver who's, who's equally as good coming out of the backfield or being split out wide. So I'm just curious to see how he gets worked into the mix. Still very high on Gabe Davis. I am, that's for sure. Still my breakout receiver this year. In Miami, Tyree Kill, apparently making a big plays here. I'm getting a good vibe early on. You know, I'm not maybe not a lot with the tight ends, but

between Waddle and Hill, I certainly, it's hard not to feel good, Greg. I don't have anything on the running game, you know, but, you know, when you look at how they've set this up, piecemeal in it, maybe a little bit in the running game, you add to Ron Armstead to try and help out that protection, and then you add Hill. Like, you know, surveying that with Mike McDaniel,

I know it's a lot going on here, but, you know, would you lean toward the positive that this will be a successful first season? I know it's still early. I am saying yes. Yeah, I think it will be. I mean, look, Mike McDaniel, his entire NFL career has been with Kyle Shanahan.

So he's going to run the Kyle Shanahan offense. So they're going to run the ball, and they're going to use the RPO game. The RPO game will be big. Two is really, really good at that. And you want to get the ball into Waddle's hands and Hill's hands with room to run. That's what you're trying to do.

They're both dynamic run after catch. They have Cedric Wilson, who I thought was really good in Dallas a year ago. So they have a deep receiving court. They've got Gaseki. Now, Gosecchi is not quite Kittal, but Giskei is a very interesting receiver to be able to be used in that style of offense. Kittal, you know, would line up in many different spots in the 49ers offense. You will see that with Goseki. So this is an intriguing offense.

They're going to ask, too, to make a lot of throws between the numbers because that's his game. He's not really an outside the numbers thrower. So he's going to have to make a lot of tough, confident throws between the numbers. Hey, Jimmy Garapolo's numbers have been incredible in this game. Maybe not Super Bowl wins or maybe not fantasy, but like yards per attempt, completion rate, right? If Jimmy G can do it, why can't Tua? I think you're talking about a very similar offense. And they're going to be, Tua is in a sense going to be asked to be Jimmy Garoppolo.

And I know when people hear that, they think, oh, well, Jimmy Garoppolo stinks. Jimmy Garoppolo was asked to make a lot of difficult throws between the numbers. Every once in a while, he'd throw one that was a head scratcher. We know that. But those are difficult throws to make. There's a lot of bodies in the middle of the field in the NFL because the hash marks are closer. So two is going to be asked to make the same kinds of throws. I personally think that's the strength of his game.

But we'll see how that works out. But they certainly have receivers. Yeah, I think it's going to work out pretty darn well. New England, Greg, they're like changing their offense here, as we see. They're moving away from the, what is it, the Earhart Cori-L system installed by Charlie Weiss and like, you know, whatever that was, 1996, 1995. Seems like they're, hell, speaking to Kyle, speaking to Kyle, Shannan, seems like we're going that way a little bit, Greg. Removing the full back, getting Taekwan Thornton in. in the mix here, you know, want more speed, athleticism, you know, are you keeping up with this?

Because, you know, this offense in New England seems to be changing. Yeah, no, until they really play a regular season game, I mean, I don't know what it's going to look like. So, you know, I can't answer that. But that could very well be the case. A lot of the beat guys, you know, Tom Curran is great. And he's, that's what he's talking about, you know. So he's saying that, yeah, maybe they'll, obviously they played a lot with a full. a year ago. That was sort of the way they stabilized their offense. They may feel that

Mac Jones is now ready to do a lot more from what you read. They believe that. So we'll have to wait and see on that. And that will impact the receivers, of course. But they've got, you know, obviously they've got new receivers. They've got Devante Parker. They've got a different batch of receivers here. Yeah, yeah. And I think they want to stretch the field a little bit too. but you know if they're evolving into a shanahan based offense that seems to be more than fine for Mac Jones I mean without question perfect no I agree with that yeah all right well oh and and and of course I think the big story here is we keeping it on James White but I mean I talk with Mike Reese a couple weeks ago and it wasn't looking good for James White so we'll see but I don't think he's going to do much

And right now, Ramandre looks like he's getting all those reps. He's slimmer and trimmer. Boy, it looks like Ramandre Stevenson is going to have a little role alongside Damien Harris and maybe even be there passing down back. Could be the case. You know, they also drafted strong from this North Dakota State, I believe it was. South Dakota State. South Dakota State, excuse me.

Yeah. And I think he has receiving traits, but he's a rookie, so you just don't know. It's obviously a tough offense to pick up. We don't know if he's ready early, but it could be Stevenson. I mean, Stevenson has really light feet. And if he lost some weight and maybe he's down to 215 or 220, he could be the guy for sure. I went with that Levi-on-Bel comp, but kind of transforming the body. Yes, yes.

You know, I mean, I could see that a little bit. Levy on Bell was a lot bigger at Michigan State than he was in the NFL. Sure was. Yep. Oh, he was like a heavy back. He was 245. I mean, ridiculous. Then he goes to like, you know, Mr. Tiptoeing through the tulips back there in the NFL.

Jets, Laj Moore, he's bawling. You know, Breece Hall, you had said early in the podcast about like special and you don't know what that is. I don't even know if I know what it is, but I've been doing it for so long. I know it when I see it. And I do think Brice Hall is special. I think Kenneth Walker probably has a chance to be, but I'm pretty sure Bruce Hall is special, Greg. I mean, there's nothing the kid does not do well, right? No, I thought Brees Hall was the best running back prospect in this draft.

He was drafted to be the feature back, so that's what's going to happen. I think they have a really good one-two punch with Michael Carter, who's an excellent receiver. Now, Hall is a good receiver as well. So I'm not sure how you have this mapped out, John, but, you know, I'm not sure what Carter's volume would be either as a runner or as a receiver. I don't know how they see that through camp. But no, Hall can do pretty much, he can do it all, in my opinion. I've got Hall with 100 more carries. And I've got Carter with seven more catches.

So I've got Carter with 170 touches and Hall with 260. So, you know, that's just a guesstimation. Right. I don't think they took Hall when they did to put them in a full time share with Carter? No, I would agree with that. I think Hall was drafted to be a feature back, but as a rookie, and you just don't know. The bigger question is what their past game will look like.

Oh, man. How good do you think Elijah Moore could be? Because talk about special. I mean, I think he's special. I like Elijah Moore a lot. Now, obviously, it depends on Zach Wilson. And we have to wait and see how that plays out to see what the past game looks like. And if Moore not only gets targets, which you would expect,

but if that translates to receptions. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. AFC North, let's move on here, along with Greg Kosell. I'm John Hansen on the Fantasy Points podcast. Apparently, Lamar's been throwing the ball really well in camp. It seems like a two-passing dude offense, though. Mark Andrews and Rashad Bateman.

I know we've been, you know, talking well of this kid from day one, plays a little, looks a little bigger than he really is. I just feel like he's savvy. I mean, this is a slam dunk, Greg. Bateman's going to be their one. And based on his tape in college and what he showed last year and a little bit of a lost year, like this guy's going to be pretty good. Your thoughts on Bateman being the taking over here, the number one is a little different

number one role than Hollywood Brown, probably not as many vertical routes. I would agree. I mean, I really like. Bateman a lot. You know, I watched him. Obviously, his last year in the Big Ten of Minnesota was his shorter season, he wasn't quite as good. But the year before, I thought he was really, really good, and I loved his tape. And, you know, Lamar's an interesting guy. Lamar, I watched a lot of Lamar this offseason. And, you know, he is not, he's a better thrower than I think, you know, everybody has this debate about Lamar. Lamar is an interesting player to watch because he's not really conventional. And you

have to accept that. You have to accept what he is. He's not going to look like Tom Brady throwing a football. Yeah. And by the way, you said this before Lamar took a snap in the NFL. You said that he's raw, but he throws it a lot better than people think. Yeah. And, you know, I think that he's just one of those guys. He makes a lot of off-balance throws, but yet he has a strong core when he throws and he does transfer his weight. He's a better throw over the football than I think some. give him credit for. He just will not often look that pretty throwing the ball, but there are times he does look really good throwing the ball. And I think that when you watch their first down pass game in particular, they do a good job with presenting defined reads and throws from using all their

multiple run game concepts. That creates a lot of conflict for second level defenders at open voids and opens voids and zones. I think this past game is actually, you know, assuming Lamar can play a full season, which we hope so. I think that this past game is going to be better than some people might think it will be. What is it a, what is, you know, Bateman like encapsulate him quickly, if you can. Like, what are some of his best quality? I mean, I just look at him. I just see a professional receiver who you can line up anywhere.

Yeah, so Bateman came out. I'm going to go back to my notes on Bateman. So Bateman came out in the 2021 draft, right? Yeah, yeah. Right. So he was, did he just finish his second season? I think it was, oh, yeah, no, no, he's going into his second season right now. Right. So he was in the 20, 21 draft. Yeah.

All right, I'm going to pull my notes on Bateman because I remember liking him a lot. I remember we were a little surprised because he's listed at 6-2 or 6-1. He only came in at 1-19, as I recall, and I thought he was going to be bigger. Yeah, exactly. I had the same thing. take why remember that. I'm like, yeah, this guy's 6-3, right? Oh, no, he's 6-1, 6-2? In fact, when I watched his tape, he kind of reminded me of Michael Thomas, and then I saw that he came in at 190, and I said, wow, Michael Thomas is much bigger than that. But I thought, as I look at my notes, I thought that he showed the look and feel of an NFL wide receiver

with his size, stridling, throughout running, and separation quickness, his hands, his run after catch. I liked him a lot. You know, it's funny, because, you know, it's funny, because, Because the comparisons I made when I watched him were for bigger receivers because I thought he looked bigger on tape, John. I agreed. No, he looked six-three. And I was like, wow, this guy's 190? Because I thought of Michael Thomas. I thought of Alan Robinson.

I thought of like Brian Edwards, like a little smaller than Brian Edwards. Yeah. But I like him. I think that, you know, even though he's not big, I mean, and maybe bulk up a little, who knows. But I thought he worked the middle of the field really effective. effectively based on his college team. And that's critical with Lamar. Correct. Correct.

And that's a better one for Lamar in theory than Hollywood. Yes, yes. Hollywood's not that guy. There you go. We're all in on Rashad Bateman this year at FantasyPoints.com. Bengals, I don't have a lot. We all know Burroughs good. The old line stuff is great. I mean, I don't really have much here. Although maybe Hayden Hurst can give him a little bit more juice. Do you think Hayden Hurst can give me a little bit more juice down the seam than Yuzama? It all depends on how much they want to throw to the tight end.

They got three really good whiteouts. Yeah. Seems like it's like a checkdown thing. You know, when Burroughs in trouble, he's looking for the tight end. Yeah, and then it becomes, yeah, a volume issue, a target volume. Right, right. Because obviously Chase Higgins, I think Higgins is really good. I mean, he's obviously number two on that team, but I think he's really good.

And Boyd's, you know, the numbers may not be there from a fantasy perspective, but he's a terrific slot receiver. Higgins is definitely better than I thought. I didn't think he could be this good. I mean, I know you said his play speed was good. I like his team. I'm not surprised. Yeah, I am a little bit of a hater on these big receivers these days, I will say.

I mean, usually I'm more right than wrong, but I am a little bit of a hater on these big receivers. I will admit that. Browns, and we still don't know about the damn Deshawn Watson's situation. So it looked like we were okay. Now we're going to play 11 games. Now we're not sure here on Thursday morning. But you know, the word was that, you know, in practice, he was clicking with Donovan People's Jones. I think we all know Omar Cooper's pretty good. David Bell's a great kid. Very

not dynamic. But I am intrigued by DPJ. He kind of reminds me a little bit like D.K. like in terms of some limitations like straight lineish, but do you think Donovan People's Jones, based on what you've seen, could potentially grow and, you know, be a more complete receiver, or is this guy kind of like a role player?

I mean, I think, ideally, he becomes more than that. He's got size. He's got speed. He's, you know, he's big. I think the goal is that he's more than just a vertical dimension, whether that happens or not. You know, if Jacoby Brissette, I mean, I can tell you this honestly, based on Brissette's track record, if Brissette is the quarterback for a meaningful amount of time,

I think your numbers for your wide receivers are not going to be really, really strong. Oh, God, no, no, he's quite poor, Berset, very slow. You know, there was a time where we thought, okay, this kid's got a chance, but, yeah, he's not to Sean Watson. That is for sure. Let's move on here, the Fantasy Points podcast. Pittsburgh, apparently the quarterback battle has been not great with Mitchell Trubisky and Kenny Pickett struggling a little bit. It's early.

We shall see. Still like the prospects here, Austin and Pickin. So really not much else other than the quarterbacks coming out of the gate, a little sluggish. So we can move on to the AFC South. And what a shame about John Metchy, man. I absolutely love that kid. Yeah, me too. It really does.

And he's, Greg, I'm telling you, I've interviewed probably 200 kids. He may be like top five in terms of just a great kid, you know, a good vibe. So rooting for him and all that. But it does open up a great opportunity for Nico Collins. I think Nico Collins is kind of like a almost like a poor man stud. I mean, he's not considered a stud, but he has stud-like qualities here. What did you see? Do you see anything out of Nico Collins last year?

Well, I did a deep dive on Davis Mills. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Really, really liked his tape from a year ago. And when I say that, I want people to think that, oh, he's Tom Brady. You know, that's unfortunately, you know, when I do some of this stuff, John, and you know, I do radio shows as well, and I make a comment about liking a player. You know, I get a lot of those Twitter comments. Well, well, get the gold jacket on him, you know. Right, right.

That's not the point of any of this, you know. But I think. It was stunning. It was stunning how solid he was. Yeah, and by the way, he was on a really bad team. Very poised and like it didn't seem too big for him. No, not in the least. And I really liked his tape.

You know, I thought there was a lot there too like. You know, I think, look, he's essentially a pocket quarterback. Now, he has some movement. And I thought what was really good about his tape. was I thought that he repeated his mechanics really well. And pocket quarterbacks, you know, people forget about that. That's the way the position is taught now, by the way, is you're trying to teach guys to throw the ball with mechanics, with fundamentals, step to their throw, you know, do all those things that lead to consistent execution from Tom Brady, Tom Brady.

Correct. So, which doesn't mean that the quarterbacks who move around a lot, and there are a lot guys like that. We're not saying that that's a bad thing, that, you know, Patrick Mahomes' ability to do that. Russell Wilson, Josh, that's a bad thing. But Davis Mills is not necessarily going to make those kinds of plays. So therefore, what does he need to do to be a good quarterback? He needs to be as efficient and consistent with every element of quarterbacking from the pocket. Deficive. For a rookie, he showed a lot of those traits, playing behind a bad old line and, you know, a revolving door on the O line as well. And you asked about Nico Collins. Nico Collins is long. He can run. He's a really interesting guy to look at for this season. Yeah, no doubt. Did Davis Mills do anything

like on the run, like rollouts, things like that? Yeah, yeah, he's not immobile. In fact, his last year at Stanford, he played with a big knee brace due to injury. And then this year in the NFL, he did not. And while you wouldn't say he's a dynamic second reaction player, He's not an immobile statue in the pocket. Yeah, I recall a couple of rollout throws, I believe, going to his right where it wasn't too bad. I haven't heard too too much about the backfield here, but I'm still going with Damien Pierce as the best guy for the long term

over the course of this season. Indy Colts, Alec Pierce, basically Greg, plug-in-play as we thought. Yes. And he's good. You know, do you worry a little bit about maybe they need a little bit more speed and juice here. I mean, what do you think of Pitman Pierce? And I guess we can, for now, count on Campbell. He's got some speed here. They'll work in dueling. But, you know,

what do you think about Pittman and Pierce just as a duo? Well, they're both big. Pierce Pierce has vertical ability. Pierce ran a 4-4. Pierce can run and he's got stride lane. Pitman is not slow, but Pittman is not truly a vertical receiver. Yeah. But Campbell can be. It's just that, you know, he was starting to come on a bit last year. He caught a deep touchdown in the game in which he got hurt. I forget who that was against, but it was a, you know, a great play. And then he got hurt. And he's

been hurt way too much. But he's a big kid who can run. So obviously they're hoping he can stay healthy. Look, it's easy right now to say it's an unknown receiving core, and it is. Because Pittman's own going into a second year. He looks like he'll be a player. Pierce is a rookie. And Campbell has not played enough to have a feel for what he may or not. may not be, but there's a lot there in terms of size and talent. Run heavy offense probably with Taylor, but, you know, with your new quarterback, you got some big receivers, wide catching radius. You know, Matt Ryan will get these guys the ball.

So got to shore up the old line. You know, two, three years ago, we just assumed the Colts had a great all line. Yeah, left tackle. It was not really that good. And they've got a couple of holes that need to be plugged in order for this team to be what they want to be. This O line is not what people think it is. Well, left tackle, Greg, is the big one. And I think right guard might be an issue as well. Yeah, Danny Pinter. I mean, you got Nelson, Braden Smith, and Ryan Kelly. Three out of the five are solid. But I think after that, you know,

they've got major issues at left, as we speak today, obviously, major issues at left tackle. And right guard is a question mark. Let's head to Jacksonville. Not a ton going on here. as they try and jockey for position and James Robinson, surprisingly not on the PUP. So, you know, that Greg will be very interesting because, you know, if James Robinson was 100%, I'd have to give him the lead in carries, but he's probably not ETN bulked up here.

I mean, I know you don't have the answers, but let's say Robinson is 80% of what he was last year. You know, how many carries can you envision ETS? getting or garnering or meriting if Robinson is like you know 80% of the James Robinson that we've seen how many carries you think ETN deserves well I think ETN is going to get a good amount of carries and I think you're going to see a complementary backfield you know when Doug Peterson was in Philly with a Jai and le garrette Blunt I think you're going to see something like that you don't want you got to get ATN on the field because he's an explosive player John now that doesn't mean

He's a 250 carry a year guy, but you want ATN on the field. That guy can take it to the house. Yep, yep. That's no doubt about that. I mean, between him and Bruce Hall as my ideal third round pick at running back in the fantasy world, it's a tough one. Right now I'm going Hall, but ATN's been on my radar. I've been in on this all year with ETN. It's a pretty obvious call.

Moving on to Tennessee and with Charlenebergs, I guess, hanging in there. Your thoughts on what were. we're looking at, how much of an ask is it if they need Berks to replace even 80% of what A.J. Brown brought to the table when healthy? I mean, it's a big ask because A.J. Brown's a big time receiver, and Trelonne Burks is a rookie. So we'll have to wait and see, but they clearly drafted him to replace A.J. Brown. So barring anything unforeseen, Berks, who does have traits. I mean, I really like Traylon Burks tape in his last year at Arkansas. And I even watched him the year before as well. He's a big kid. He can run. He ran.

Band by people in the SEC. He's got big, big mitts. He can catch the football. He was competitive in college. So obviously, in the minds of many, he got off to that bad start because of OTAs where I guess he had asthma and he didn't really practice. But that seems to be okay now.

So we'll see. But it's no question. It's a big ask. But he's going to play and he's going to get targets. I feel like they're going to throw the slot receiver a little bit more in the tight end this year with Austin Hooper. Yeah, well, the big question is, John, one thing they did a ton last year,

and I'm curious to see what they do, there's two factors here. Number one, last year, particularly on third down, they often kept the tight end and back into block, and that's why they had no tight end production. I can't imagine they signed Austin Hooper to block. And number two, they brought

in Tim Kelly as an offensive assistant who has a Bill O'Brien background and is highly schooled in an empty set. So, and from what I've heard, they've been really working on that in practice. So obviously, if you go empty, five receivers are going out. So that could dictate, too, that Hooper becomes a much bigger factor. Yeah, I got him catching 60 balls here for these Titans, which is, I mean, that's a lot for a tight end.

Moving on over to the AFC West in Denver, the Tim Patrick injury. the guys wanted to ask you about that and your thoughts on, you know, how this changes things. I certainly, you know, look, obviously it's good news for, I think Jerry Judy would kind of be the big winner because I was already looking at Cortland Sutton as a guy who's going to get his, the vertical routes and all that. But the Tim Patrick injury, how do you think that change, changes their approach, their lineup, their wide receiver rotation? I thought Tim Patrick was a really good player. If you talk to people out there, they're telling you that he was the best football player on their offense.

Which is not to say he was their best receiver, if you're just looking at receiver, but he was big, physical. He could play every wide receiver position, okay? There's not a lot of guys who can do that. Plus, for a team that does want to run the ball, he was a really good blocker. You could insert him into the formation,

and he could block. So he's a big loss. Now, when people just look at the receiving element, they think, oh, well, he's not great, you know, but he was, he's a big loss. So, you know, I think that, look, I love Jerry Judy coming out and people will remember that. And that's fine. I thought his college tape warranted that. His rookie year was okay. And then he got hurt last year. So this is a big year for Jerry Judy. Now that Patrick is out, Judy is, he's got to become a, the player that I believe he can be. He's got to be a hot, for this team, he's got to be their volume guy. Correct.

And all of a sudden in the NFL, he's had major issues with drops, which I did not think was a big issue at Alabama. But it's been a big issue in the NFL. That has to be cleaned up. No question. Yeah, I'm not in a Russell Wilson this year, by the way. I wasn't in before the Patrick injury, but we shall see there. Kansas City, man, it just keeps getting better.

and better for Sky Moore. Looking at a tweet right now from today, Sky Moore said he likes to sit behind Patrick Mahomes during meetings so he can tap his shoulder and ask questions if needed. He added that the offense is really starting to click for him. He was off to a great start. He had that injury. You know, those big-ass meat hooks, a pretty damn good 10-yard split, some explosion off the line. It's all adding up to Andy Reed and Eric B. Enemy and everybody taking advantage of Sky Moore, Greg. I mean, I'm projecting him from day one to lead the wide outs and catches. So we'll see. But, I mean, you could certainly conjure up that image, right, based on

Sky Moore's game and tape. What do you like about Skymore? Yeah, Sky Moore, I mean, look, he's in a great offensive system. So, you know, he was used both as an outside and slot receiver in college. So I think he has the inside, outside flexibility. And in that offense, even though I thought watching his tape that he probably would project best as a slot receiver, we know in Andy Reeves offense that he'll line up. everywhere. You know, he's got a really strong compact frame. He doesn't have length, but

he's physical. He's competitive. He was very effective working inside slant routes, glance routes. He was strong run after catch. You know, like I said, he's location versatile. You know, I think he's a good prospect, you know, given that they have a whole, basically other than McCall Hardman, they have a totally new receiver room. So he's going to get an opportunity. How about the other rookie, Isaiah Pacheco out of Rutgers, opening up some eyes here, lower end prospect here, but your thoughts on Pacheco? I mean, we have to put this kid on the radar.

I did not see him, John, so I have not. Oh, okay. He's one guy I did not see. Well, you know, we'll see about Edwards Aller, Ronald Jones. I don't see Jerry and Ely. Does something happen with him? I don't see him on the depth chart here. but Isaiah Pacheco, we'll check in on that,

and you did not see that tape. Moving on, and I think we're winding down here. Raiders, not a ton going on here. I really don't have much to say. Zemir White, though, do you? I'm curious. He's the guy I'm most curious about because I could see Zemir White

in the mind of Josh McDaniels being similar to Remindra Stevenson. I don't think they're exactly the same. kind of runner. I don't want people to think I'm saying their skill sets are exactly the same. But I think if Josh wants to get heavy with his offense, you know, which obviously they did in New England very well, I could see as Amir White potentially being that guy. And then last but not least here on the Fantasy Points podcast, the L8 Chargers. And it's been a little slow going in the backfield between Isaiah Spiller, the rookie Joshua Kelly, Larry Roundtree. I still think Spiller,

has the best talent here behind Echler. Yeah, that's about it, Greg. Don't have much else in terms of... The guy I'm curious about is Josh Palmer. I love that kid. Me too. Yeah, I'm curious to see, given that they have Williams and Allen, what his target share will be,

because I think he's really a good receiving prospect. I mean, he's going into his second year. I know they really like him out there. But, again, you know, three guys can't all get 130 targets. So I don't know what. that means for you from a fantasy perspective, but I think he's a really good player. It's a weird thing in that I base my rankings and projections

off of actual stat projections. And because he's only the three, I'm actually a little under the markets on him, if you will. But any opportunity I get to say something good about him, I say it. I do think he's a great, not great yet, but damn good football player. What kind of player is he?

I classify him today, actually, as possession plus. I mean, I don't think he's just a possession guy, but he's not a burner, like an Alan Robinson type? Yeah, oh, no, I got to tell you, watching Palmer in college, he ran by Patrick Certan a couple of times when I watched him, you know, at Tennessee. Yeah, that's true. He's sneaky. He's sneaky. I think your possession plus is probably a very good way to describe him. I don't think anyone would say, wow, that guy's a vertical threat, man.

That guy can run. But I think he can get on top of corners at times. But he's got an NFL body for sure. He's a big dude. He's physical. He's competitive. You know, I don't want to sit here and say he's Keenan Allen because Keenan Allen is one of those special guys with his understanding of the game.

But, you know, I wonder if he could be like that as he gains more experience with a little more juice to him. Final one here. I missed this in the NFC. But our guy, Brawley, wanted to know your thoughts on, because we're already congratulating ourselves about our Romeo Dubs love for the last three months. But Alan Lazard, your thoughts on Alan Lazard taking over as that one and dealing with volume. I do have some questions there, but man, if he doesn't produce, if he's on the field,

that would be a huge shock. Well, he's going to get targets. I mean, they're going to throw the ball. They have Aaron Rogers. So Lazard could catch 90 balls, John. I mean, he's the receiver that's there. and that Aaron Rogers feels comfortable with. So he's going to get a ton of targets.

I mean, he could get 140 targets this year. All right. Well, that'll wrap it up. And we took an hour and 20 minutes. So we were a little, you know, a lot more to get to next week. We'll reconvene. And it'll probably be 45 minutes. Just touching on the news of the week, if you will, in the preseason.

I'm the fantasy guy. Greg Cosell, the NFL film guy. And we pretty much come together and get stuff right. That's what we do at FantasyPoint.com. So use the promo code Hansen 22, H-A-N-S-E-N-H-N-N-22, for 10% off your subscription. For Greg CoSell, I'm John Hanson. Stay tuned to the Fantasy Points podcast feed

because we're cranking them out big time, and we'll be back with Greg next week. Also, before that, we'll do a little insider one with Adam Kaplan. a lot going on here at the Fantasy Points Podcast feed. We'll talk to you next time. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast. Remember to subscribe, rate,

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