Fantasy Football Daily - Free Agency Major Moves Roundup | Take Talk Podcast

Episode Date: March 25, 2023

Steve O'Rourke (@callmesteveo7), Brett Whitefield (@BGWhitefield), and Chris Wecht (@ChrisWechtFF) review the biggest moves from an active free agency period in the NFL so far on Take Talk Episode 48. Interested in playing Best Ball in 2023? There's no better place than Underdog Fantasy. Use our code FANTASYPTS to sign up for a new account at Underdog, and not only will you get a 100% deposit match up to $100... but you'll get a Fantasy Points Standard subscription for only $5!https://www.fantasypoints.com/underdog --- 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. Hello, everyone, and welcome into the Take Talk podcast. I'm Steve O'Rourke, and as always, I'm with my co-host, Brett Whitefield. And today we brought on one of our favorite guests, a recurring guest, Chris Webb. And today we're going to kind of round up free agency because the NFL doesn't stop no matter what. Chris, how are you doing today?

Doing good. There's still a couple interesting moves left. Still some pieces to fall. Excited to talk about it and see what you guys think about some of these a little bit lower tier signings. I thought you said I wouldn't have to think. You don't have to. I didn't say that. Brett's.

Brett's talking meter is at an all-time low here as he makes 38 appearances a week on 14 different podcasts, 30 different radio shows. And the man's voice can be heard all around the world just if you find the right place at the right time. Yeah. I heard he's starting his own TV channel. Actually, that's been talked about Twitch, Twitch stream, which is basically a TV channel. No, the disappointing thing about this is, you know, when my wife. comes home from work. She really wants to engage me in conversation. And sometimes I'm just like, I just need five, you know. I just need five hours. I have to push through because I can't,

can't do that to my wife. So, you know, I don't know if you guys ever heard of the book, men are from Mars, women are from Venus. Yes. It's an old school. I have not. Yes. No. Okay. It's, it's kind of a funny book about the differences between men and women. But one of the things the book highlights is that the cap for words a man can speak in a day is significantly lower than a woman before they really start to feel tired. I hit that cap usually before my wife and kids get homes. I got to push through, man. I got to push through.

But anyways, we're here. It's great. NFL's awesome. The draft is awesome. You can find the draft guide at FantasyPoint.com. It came out Monday. It's doing numbers, as the kids say. it's doing bits sorry it's doing bits

that's a thing people are saying I don't think that's does kids say that at all or did you just make that up I hear that all the time I don't know I mean my I'm probably in kid culture a little more than you guys I'm the only one of kids so maybe you're right yeah it's it's doing bits man it's doing bits so anyway all I know is busin and I hate saying it because I sound ridiculous

and so I never say it It means either. What does Bussin mean? It's like cool, I think. I think. He's just saying it has no idea if it's in the right context. Yeah, I've heard it a couple times and I'm like, oh, boy, I'm only 29, but I am out of touch. Something happened in the last like five years that I've just completely, I feel, I feel aged out now officially.

Dude, it happens quick. Have I ever told you guys this is my clapping cheek story? No, but you have to. Stories are off air, though. Actually, I don't know. I can tell it right now. I think I can keep it relatively PG. I didn't know what the term clapping cheeks meant.

And I heard some people say in this phrase, right? So I'm at like, Jiu-Jitsu, we're, you know, training. Yeah. I'm like, you know, coach is talking to me. like, you know, how'd that match go? I was like, oh, man, I was out there clapping cheeks, bro. Like, just saying that over and finally somebody pulled me aside, he's like, hey, do you know what

clapping cheeks means? And I was like, no, just like I beat him up real good, right? He's like, not at all, bro. Beating him up, but it's a different beating him up. Yeah, so, needless to say, I was ashamed at the time I was like 33, 33-year-old man, just completely embarrassed about my life, the state of I think. You lose touch with what the kids are doing pretty quickly here and all the hip

sayings and phrases. Good thing somebody spoke up and decided to see something. That's incredible. That's incredible. All right. Well, without further, on that note, let's dive into some free agency because we still had a few notable signings, a couple notable trades. Chris, I know you've got them sitting on hand. Where should we start?

Let's start with one of the bigger ones, Adam Thielen signing in Carolina. Do you guys think this is, you know, like how much does this move the needle for Carolina's offense on a scale of like one to ten? Like a four? I'll say that. Yeah, it does. It registers on the scale of like it tips it a little. little bit. I mean, they had nothing. So. Yeah, it was. So Theelan's cooked in your guys eyes, basically. Well, I don't think he's cooked necessarily, but he's not a dynamic playmaker at this

point in his career. He's not the elite separator he once was. I think he still separates well, but he's probably more, most useful as a guy who's beating zone consistently from the slot. I don't know. I, oh, he's a good red zone threat as well. Yeah. What I like is that if assuming they bring a rookie quarterback in and the rookie, most likely jumps in pretty early. Thielen at least offers a guy who's going to be in his spot every time. He's, like you said, he can win routes still. He's a good red zone threat.

And he can get you short, easy yards because of his ability to kind of win in the intermediate. And so I think that he offers a good safety valve and a guy that you could probably mesh with pretty quickly as a young quarterback. They're going to still be paying him when he's 36 years old. The contract was interesting. Yep, three years for $25 million technically, but there's some dead money on the back end of that that basically guarantees he's being paid till at least he's 36. Yeah, that's kind of crazy.

You say $25 million? Yep. I mean, kudos to Adam Thielen for getting that done. Yeah, I mean, to garner $8 million a year, At his age, that's on a multi-year too, right? Right. He's probably should have been a year-to-year guy at this point of his career. Yeah, I think he's, I mean, he just doesn't, obviously doesn't bring a lot.

I mean, I guess it's fine. The contract makes it probably not so fine. I would have liked even like a one-year deal for him. I wonder what kind of other offers he had out there if teams were looking to bring him in for a year or something and the Panthers bumping it up to a multi-year was enough to get it done. Yeah, that's probably, that's probably fair, especially if there's some guaranteed money in there. But he still put up consistent numbers last year with 70 receptions, 716 yards, only 1.14 yards per route run. It was dropped off a cliff the last couple years.

Yeah, and so, you know, he's not. like you said, he's not going to be this elite presence, but he can get you 50 and 500, for sure. Do you think the T.J. Hawkinson joining the Vikings late last year, basically just kind of made it hard for him to earn targets? Or do you think that was more T.J. Hawkinson. I'm not sure I'm familiar with that name. Have we talked about him on this podcast before? I think he's come up.

in passing. Yeah, I mean, obviously, when they got Hawkinson, Hawkinson started getting like 30 targets a game. So that definitely hurt Thielen a little bit. I think, like reflecting on this more, I think Thielen his skill set, the way he wins was never really predicated on like elite athleticism. You know, he's definitely not.

Technician. Whatever technician, yeah. Yeah. I think Carolina probably views that skill set aging well. And he's probably a veteran presence for whoever they're bringing in as well. So that's actually the conclusion for me is like as long as they're not done, I'm probably okay with it.

Like as long as he's not the last, like whether it's a DJ Chark who looks like they probably aren't going to sign him because it seems like that deal would have been done by now. Yeah. But whether it's DJ Chark or they draft somebody with a high pick because they still do have a second third round pick. So. Yes, but at best, I mean that receiving

court is led by Thielen Terrace Marshall, Shy Smith slash Leviska Chanel and a second round rookie. Like that's best case scenario for what it could be. That's better than some teams still, though. I mean,

especially I think a second round rookie this year is actually a, that's not a bad spot to be. You think that's better than some teams? What teams? What teams have worse? Houston? Houston's terrible. Yeah, Houston's rough.

Yeah, Houston's pretty bad. I mean, Chicago's not like great yet. Oh, it's way better than this. I wouldn't say it's way better. just having DJ Moore I was to say DJ more DJ more elevates it for sure but like I mean Mooney is

in my opinion movie's been one of the more overrated dynasty players that we've talked about not we but the dynasty community yeah not a huge Mooney guy I think he's a fine he's an effective third receiver that's fine and then Claypool is kind of buns like they still need to draft

someone at nine to me the Bears that is so or war with a second round pick yeah so yeah they might be better than the Carolina, but, or assuming Carolina drafts the receiver, but I don't think it's that far off. Like, New England's terrible too. Like, Ju-J. Like, what? That is the difference. Carolina is not even, they're where Chicago was last year, arguably, in the point of way, like, you know, new coaching staff, they're tearing it down. I think their roster's way better, though.

I like their defense is way better I like line which Chicago does not have right right but like as far as weapons they're at the same spot like they're still building out their stable of weapons I mean I can't imagine like Levisca's not I don't think he's a long term plan there but he's going to stick around he's going to get snaps this year

yeah yeah they're very gadgety for them last year yeah all right we can move on to I won't make you guys wait to talk about the Lions any longer. Chauncey Gardner Johnson signs a one-year $8 million contract to play with the Lions. Sounds like Chauncey and his agent misjudged the market a little bit. I heard that he was offered a multi-year deal from the Eagles and decided not to take it, thinking he could get more and then goes test for agency and doesn't see what he likes.

And Eagles had already moved on at that point. I'm sure other teams did too and ends up signing a one-year deal. Yeah, I mean, I love this, obviously. Huge position of need. They've tackled the secondary with Cam Sutton, Emmanuel Mosley, and now Chauncey Gardner Johnson. I love the positional versatility brings to the table too. I'm sure they'll use them as a safety in certain sets,

and I'm sure they'll use them as a slot corner in certain sets. So I love that. You're talking about one of the worst secondaries in the league last year, and they're replacing three starters with three new guys and all of those starters that are getting replaced are still on the roster. So, like, they have instant depth. This is a very favorable situation now for the lines. Yes, sir, what do you think, because we were talking about this a little bit yesterday,

like, what is the best 11 guys on defense they can line up, particularly the secondary? Is it taking more linebackers off the field? Is it moving guys around based off of down and distance and situation? Yeah, they don't really play three linebackers. So they're two linebackers. Anyways, they'll even go. one linebacker at times. So I think I do like as it stands right now, you know,

let's assume Mosley's back and healthy, Sutton and Mosley on the outside, Chauncey at Slot and then, oh, we're also assuming Tracy's healthy and then Tracy and Kirby Joseph at the safety spots. And then in camp though, you still have to make these guys earn it, right? Like if a kutha comes out at camp and is balling, yeah, give him one of those corner spots or don't give it to him. He'll earn one of those corner spots. And then you can use Chauncey more as a safety because Walker will be coming back from the torn Achilles.

So that's one reason I love this too so much, Chris, is is Chauncey, he kind of backs up. If Mosley is unhealthy or if Walker's unhealthy at any point, he can kind of fill the gap, right? It's like if they need, if Walker can't be on the field, Chaunce can be at safety. If Mosley can't be on the field, that they can put a CUDA outside. The other really interesting thing is all of these guys have insane versatility. Like Sutton can play inside out. Akuta can play inside out. Jerry Jacobs has started a year in the slot and a year on the outside.

Will Harris went from outside safety to outside corner to slot by the end of last year. And he probably played his best football in the slot. Chauncey Gardner Johnson could play in the box. He can play free safety. He can play in the slot. Like Tracy Walker started a full season for the lines at slot corner. And now he's a box safety. So all of these guys have ridiculous positional versatility.

And if you look at Aaron Glouc, Glenn's best defensive years in New Orleans, this is what he was doing. I think I gave you the stat yesterday, Chris, there was a year. They had eight defensive backs play over 400 snaps each, which is like mind blowing. Like they just constantly, depending on offensive formations, they are rotating defensive backs for skill sets. I love that. That's how you get instant improvement out of your secondary.

Yeah, you hit on what I was going to say. And that's just like Chaunty Gardner Johnson is just a continuation of what Aaron Glenn is trying to make this secondary look like. And like you said, it's just a bunch of amorphous guys that can, you can drop into any position in the defensive backfield, basically, and see like solid returns on it. There's not, like, you don't, you're not strapped, which they had in previous years where if you get an injury,

now you're like trying to jockey between moving a slot guy to the outside or trying to move a safety who's primarily a safety into the slot, now you don't have those issues. If a guy goes down, you have three guys that can do three different positions and, you know, give you relief wherever you need it. And that's, I mean, that I think is the way the NFL is moving in general is to have a bunch of versatile guys in the defensive backfield because, you know, secondaries are becoming more and more important. And it just, yeah, I think it just like opens up your ability to play a lot of different

defenses and not lose as much when a guy goes down or a guy. guy you know a guy starts playing poorly so i i disagree a little bit on the it makes it easier to replace guys if a guy goes down because i kind of if you're if you have these set plans to use seven eight different guys yeah you're you're creating defined roles that you know maybe if chauncey went down that akuto can't fail or tracy walker can't fill because they do different things better i i'm not saying that that's necessarily true but it was something I was thinking about yesterday when trying to think about how they're going to use all these guys. I mean, in general, we just don't see it much in the NFL.

So many teams basically play the same five guys in their secondary, a nickel corner, two outside guys and a safety. With some versatility, usually, but it's usually not a ton of movement. I wonder if the reason is, I mean, if you got to bring a guy in off the street or a guy new to your team in offseason, like how do you, it's got to be harder to, to figure out new roles for guys who's going to fill an old role because somebody might just do something better than somebody else. Not to mention the communication that goes on if a guy, we already see communication issues all the time and now you're talking about guys having to know different positions and everything. I do think the best way to do secondary is to have five guys you trust the most, obviously.

there is some value though to having some positional flexibility based on looks you're getting you know if you have a guy like a will Harris who I think would really thrive as like a tight end eraser type because he's big and athletic and you want to get him on the field against certain teams that have good tight ends or play a lot of 12 personnel I think that's perfectly fine I don't think you necessarily want to do it to the level aaron Glenn was doing it in New Orleans but having that ability to just really speak to depth on the roster. We do have breaking news, by the way. So the Chauncey Gardner-Johnson terms of the contract actually just came in,

literally as we were talking about it. We've been waiting for over a week. It's actually a one-year, $6.5 million deal, not an $8 million deal. And it's got a voided year. So that pro-rated bonus of $4 million that guaranteed money, they avoided a year in 2024. So they're spreading that out between two years. So his cap number for the lines this year is only $4.5 million.

which just seems unfair to the rest of the league. Is that incentives to get it up to $8 million? No, there's no incentives. The incentive of this contract for Garder Johnson is it's basically fully guaranteed. Okay. So what happens, he's getting $6.5 million. He'll be playing for another big contract. He's going to tax his free agency next year.

Yeah. Yep. Man, you did not, not, I can't believe that. Him, to be honest, but. Yeah. I can't believe he's in this. situation after the what seemed like he had a great year in philly and i'm sure he was surprised as well but there was not nearly the market that he thought there would be it blows my mind because

proof of concept is a big deal to me right he was in new orleans played mostly slot for erin glen played a little box safety in 2021 and it was effective at that and then goes to the philly plays basically deep safety and was excellent so proof of concept three positions now he's been a starter at in the NFL and he's been good at all three of them. I do think he's horror, but it's... I wonder if character issues are the thing with it. Because now, just because we've seen multiple teams do it now, if you, like last year I didn't, I was like, I don't think there's much to that, but if there's multiple

teams that are worried about giving him long-term deals, that's when you know, start asking the question. Right. I mean, the Saints were rumored to trade him because they just didn't think they'd be able to afford him on their contract. and they obviously They obviously misjudge that. And it seems like he's one of those guys

who's endeared by guys he's played with. But it is the thing that he sent the tweet about the Eagles defensive coordinator. He's said some things. I think he just rubs people the wrong way with how vocal he is sometimes. That could be it. All right, let's move on to one of the bigger trades that happened.

Cowboys reversing time and trading for Brandon Cooks for a fifth and six-round pick, which was exactly what they got for trading Amari Cooper this time last year. Yeah, this is like a-seemed bad. No, I think it seems great. Yeah, I- Seems bad in retrospect that they could have just had Amari Cooper. I don't know. I don't know if I agree with that.

Amari Cooper is notoriously unreliable. He's hurt in every single season he plays, especially when he was in a Cowboys. Not last year. He wasn't hurt. He played the whole year last year. He was uniform last year. I mean,

it's the first year he played the whole season unfazed. It's actually crazy. So Cooks has been a super reliable guy. Other than he had the concussion year and was that 2018 with the Rams where he was hurt. Yeah. That was a scary year for him. But other than that,

He's been a very reliable guy. Skill set-wise, too. I mean, it's kind of a win. Another guy can really thrive on the outside and allow C.D. Lamb to focus most of his time in the slot. Yeah, I mean, I don't think Cooks is the issue here. It's just that they wasted a year. I mean, they could have went to the Super Bowl last year

if Amari Cooper is on this team. You think so? We talked about all season how they desperately needed another guy in that offense. Yeah. You don't disagree that they needed a guy, but you think they would have gone to the Super Bowl? I think they would have had a shot. I mean, it kind of seemed like they didn't have a chance without another guy. I'm not saying they would have, but they certainly would have had a better shot at it.

Which of that I think is the essence of this deal is that, like, you saw that pop up with when they needed a second guy to go to in the passing game. They didn't have a guy that DAC could get the ball reliably to. Noah Brown would make an appearance. Schultz would make an appearance. Like, you'd have guys that would pop in for a game or, two but there was no unreliable and cooks it assuming he continues playing at the level he's played at for the last you know six seven years he he raises the floor of that wide receiver too and a guy that hopefully dac can rely on a little bit more because he can win routes he's not like he adds a

little bit more speed to an offense that lacked speed from outside receivers yeah and it does keep cd in the so yeah i love the fit now it's just it's just it's just Like they were already kind of here. So he's a $6 million cap hit this year. So not a big deal. But that jumps to $13.5 million next year, which is pretty big for what will be a 30-year-old, Brandon Cooks.

I don't know. They could get out of that and have a $6 million dead cop. Does this feel like a one, really like a one-year try to make this happen thing? Or do you guys think they're, you know, he's in their longer term plans as well? I'd say he's in the short, the short long term. Like, two, like, I'd say two, I'd say they have, they're going to keep him for two years and then reevaluate after that. It's a big cap hit next year.

So I don't think 13 million is that big of a cat pit, is it? For, for, I mean, I'm sure Gallup's number is going to be higher. Is CD on a new deal yet? No, right? Yeah, he's got to be coming up. He was 20. What year was he draft? 2020

Not really Is it up? That's right So just played his third year Yeah he was first round Of the 2020 draft Yeah I mean

So yeah They could probably afford it I don't know They're always just in cap hell So it's hard to know I'm interested to see Where the Cowboys go in the draft I think I like what they've done this offseason

I think that Bringing in Cooks bringing in, I mean, Gilmore is kind of dicey, but bringing in Gilmore and not taking swings at some of the big name free agents and overpaying. I like what Dallas is doing this offseason so far. I'm just interested to see what they do in the draft because I know I've seen a lot of Cowboys who, Cowboys fans who are dreading the possibility of taking another running back. Oh, I think there's a good chance that happens. Oh, I mean, Jerry's going to.

been so open about wanting to pound the rock this year. And Jerry's going to do what Jerry's going to do. And he loves himself a bell cow running back at all costs. Oh, poor Tony Pollard. Well, he's at least getting paid this year. Yes, he's getting paid. Anything else on the Brandon Cooks in Dallas fit? No, I like the fit.

I mean, I think. deck his arm looked pretty cooked at times last year so i don't know that he'll be able to take advantage of cooks's deep ability but they're still gonna have teams are still have to respect it so i think it's definitely going to create more space in the middle for cd lamb to work so i think that's a schematic win yeah they're probably i think they might draft a tight end in the first round which that i would feel i'd feel better about considering that like i don't know there's there's There's tight ends that can step in and contribute right away and be an athletic asset to that offense, which is like, like I said, I think their biggest deficit was in having athletes on offense. And so I think I'd feel better about going a tight end in the first round, like a Kincaid, than going like Bijan, in my opinion.

Yeah, they double-tapped tight end last year in the draft, drafting Hayton, Hendershot, and, Big Ferguson. Yeah. Yeah. Who both showed flashes at times. Yeah, they're just not in line guys. They're move types. And Hennershot's not, he's not even a very good athlete and he's a move type.

Which one do you think is, because both, so Hendershot was definitely more of a receiving tight end in college. And Ferguson was like the screen king of tight ends in Wisconsin. Which one do you think they view as what roles they fill? I think right now they feel the same role. That's the problem. That's why they need a tight end. Right.

Neither of those guys are in line dudes. They're F-type tight ends. They're going to move around the formation. Henderson shot just lacks the physical traits you look for in a receiving tight end. I know he did that in college. I just don't see him being a plus player in that role. Yeah. He's also too skinny to be an in-line blocker and an effective one at that.

So Henderson's just kind of generally lacking in skill set right now. He probably needs to develop a little bit more. Ferguson's probably a little bit more ready to go, I think. But like a Michael Mayer would be a great, that would be a great spot for mayor, a guy who gives you the inline blocking prowess. He's going to give Dak another target. You know,

he doesn't stop you from playing 12 personnel because you do have Ferguson in the fold. Yep. I think that. Yeah. It sounds like they're going to have to add a tight end. Yeah. And unfortunately,

a lot of the second round guys this year that we're talking about, like, uh, same Laporta. and Coontz and Will Mallory. He's not a second-round guy. Yeah, Tucker Kraft. Exactly, yeah.

These guys are also moved tight ends. Yeah, Will Mallor. I'm trying to think of like the next one after the fur. Will Mallory is not one. They'd have to dig into like the Davis Allen area maybe. Vince Allen, Luke Schoonemaker, you know, that. So you're looking maybe early day three, really. And I just not going to expect a lot of that guy as a rookie.

So it is definitely a hole for them. Yeah. I'm surprised they passed on this tight end market in general. and Freedency, which was not great, but I thought they'd bring it a body for sure. Like Hooper would have been a good spot. Hayden Hurst. Yeah, that's what I was thinking Hurst. All right.

Another not as flashy of a signing, but still a pretty big deal. Isaac Samalo's guard signs with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Their offensive line was not good last year. So I think this is a pretty good move for them. Three years, $24 million. a little bit smaller than what I would have expected for a guy. He's had some injury history, so maybe that is what is keeping his numbers down a little bit,

but Ben's very good when he's played. Yeah, I'm looking up the specifics of his deal right now. It is three-year-24-mill. We don't know the details yet. No one knows the details. Huh. Like you said, though, it was a terrible offensive line that needed help right away, and this fills a gap.

there yeah i mean if there's if kenny pick it's going to have a shot to be something they've got to give him better line protection than what he had last year because they've got weapons they just have no protection really yeah nausea desperately needs this too nausea cares you need not so nausea feel like he feels like he's aged like seven years and he's only been in the league two years he wasn't old to begin with so and it's fun Because like the way, I feel like the way the fantasy community talked about him before last year and during the year, it felt like he was a 29-year-old running back on the back end of his career. It's like, well, you can, you might get something out of Harris, but like it's going to be inconsistent. It's like, are we talking like this guy's what, year two, year three?

And we're talking about him. Like he's like he's got one foot off the cliff. Yeah. But that's a factor of their offensive line being atrocious. and like he i don't think last year but his rookie year he like led the league and forced miss tackles and it's because he was making guys miss all the way in the backfield over and over and over again right what's crazy right now they only have two offensive tackles on the entire roster so it's still got a long way to go yeah and a lot of people have been mocking like

a corner to them jay quarter is always mapped to the steward yes see how they at this point they don't go O tackle there. Right. Especially because there's probably going to be one that falls around there. Because there's not a lot of... Dr. Jones would be a great, a great spot. It would be a great for them. He can play either.

It'd be great. All right. Let's see what else we got here. Mike Gisicki signs a one year, $4.5 million deal in New England, New England adding tight ends, as they always do, every off season. Yeah.

Does this feel like... Also add Juju Smith-Soucester, so basically the same player. Yeah. It's New England and their receiving talent will always baffle me on who they go with and who they rely on. Because, I mean, even like what you have, Gisicki and Devante Parker, who are both like, throw it up, you're not going to get any yak from them. And then Smith Schuster occupies the same area of the field. is Gisicki. And it's like, I just don't get what they're trying.

I don't ever get what they're trying to do with their offensive weapons. And every year they have a chance to change it up and they never do. There's still, I mean, New England's still sitting there with the rumors of potentially bringing in Hopkins. But even, but like, there's no guarantee that goes through at all. So like right now, I mean, like you said, Brett, is New England one of the, like New England's, what, 30, 31, 32 and offensive, what, receiving weapons? Yeah.

Ever since Brady has left, I just don't understand what they've done on offense. It seems like they're trying to build a receiving core is literally as possible. So like all these different skill sets and they're just like, let's acquire a guy who only does that thing. So think about this. They have Taekwon Thornton, who literally only is a deep threat. They have Devante Parker, who's literally only a contested catch guy at this point. They have Junete Smith-Schuster who literally only can play in the slot. So yeah, they have those three roles covered,

but they have them in guys that literally can't do anything else. Hunter Henry is literally just an inline tight end. He's not a thing. I was going to see the most versatile receiver on the team. If he is, and he might be. Oh, Ramandre Stevenson is. Yeah. Yeah.

That's a good point. Bring in Mike Gisicki, who is literally cannot play in line. Like, it's, I don't understand. It's like, it's like a 10-year-old who gets basic concepts. Like, oh, you want a deep threat. Oh, you need a guy who can play in the slot. Oh, you need a contest, a ball winner. And so they just are collecting guys that can only do those specific jobs.

They don't have anybody that has any versatility who can run a, like, Kendrick Bourne, actually is probably their best. route runner at this point. It's like they have a rule book and they have to fill in. Yeah. Yes, I have this. And then they sit there at the end of the season go, why did our offense suck? Yeah.

You filled in the rules. Yeah. Because you're like all over the field. And like you said, they're all the one dimensional, but they're not even elite at that one dimension. They're just okay at the one dimension. I mean, Gisicki, like, I had high hope. for him last year.

If there was ever a year where he was set up to have a good year with the field open for him and things like that, obviously Miami had quarterback stuff going on. But last year was the year and Gisiki would go completely dark for games at a time. Yeah. In an offensive system that has schemed tight ends open very well over the years. Yeah. The guy would just go dark. There's no way Gisiki is as bad as his one year, four and a half. million dollar contract makes it sound he's a better player than that i he he was just yeah didn't fit in

the miami offense uh was you know didn't really have a great supporting cast prior to mcdaniel's getting there i don't really know what this i mean has shot at making something of himself in new england doesn't seem super awesome right now watch watch them use him in line oh like what we're looking like a Hback or something, like a full slash just completely neuter him. Yeah, just completely neuter him. Yeah. Like, hey, go run H21s

out of the backfield, Mike. Sick usage. The guy who like is even more of T.J. Hawkinson after the catch than T.J. Hawkinson is. Like, T.J. Hawkinson doesn't get yak. Mike is sick. He does not get yak.

Like he's in the air and he's on the ground. Those are the two. He does not, there's no staying on his feet when the ball has reached his hands. Yeah. There's funny banter on Twitter about Gassiki all the time. You know he had that freaky vertical jump at the combine, right? Oh, yeah. Always memes like Mike Gisicki has the best vertical jump for a guy who's never jumped in the NFL.

Like not even once. That's funny. So, Chris, you mentioned a guy or Steve mentioned a guy in that New England discussion, DeAndre Hopkins. I'm curious to see where he lands. And God, I hope it's not New England. But could that be a guy like Carolina targets maybe to help that squad? I don't think Carolina has the capital left to do it. Capital.

It's going to cost like a fifth round pick. No, really? How is the deal not happened yet if it costs that little? Two things I know about Hopkins is he's very expensive. He is a big, and he is a super weird guy. So I think there's teams that probably just objectively don't want that in their locker room. Like he was rumored to the lions like a couple days ago,

and I'm like, yeah, right. There's no chance they're traded for Hopkins. Like there's just no chance. From what I know about Hopkins, he just would not be a culture fit. So I think that's probably similar to like, and why his market was dried up. I don't think there's necessarily character concerns with Hopkins.

I just think he's a strange bird. Yeah. I think that's going to limit his market a little bit. But where would you like to see him? Hopkins? Yeah. That's a good question. What about like New Orleans, I think, would be interesting to play opposite

Chris Olive and you still have Shaheed there? in Mike Thomas for a game or two. Yeah. I kind of always forget he's still. I legit, when you said that, I was like, Mike Thomas. He took a big of say because he wanted to play with. You know. Mike Thomas, famous Cincinnati wide receiver.

Yeah. I think he would fit well with Derek Carr, though. I'm trying to think where else. I mean, if Baltimore gave a damn about anything, they would go make a... They wouldn't do it. They wouldn't, but that'd be a place that if they're going to keep Lamar, I'd like to see them give an effort. You have an extra second. Yeah.

Do you have, they have an extra pick, don't they? No, they don't. They gave up a pick for Roquon. Yes. But, like, I mean, that's a place where if you're going to give Lamar a chance, why not bring in a Hopkins? He would immediately elevate that offense in a big way, but they're never going to do that deal. I got a crazy one here. Do you know who really could use a guy like DeAndre Hopkins?

Who? The Arizona Cardinals could. Yes, they could. Listen to them. If they trade Hopkins, their three top receivers are all going to be five, ten, or shorter. Rondale Moore. Rondale Moore, Hollywood, Brown, and Greg Dorch. Yes.

Like, what are we doing? I thought Cliff got fired. They're in a full, they're in full tank mode. Jonathan Cannon is already a lame duck head coach and he just got there. Arizona, I think, has the longest odds to win their division in the NFL right now. Wow. I mean, and they probably have what, a top 15 QB? I mean, who knows when he plays because his injury.

He's not UCLA, but. I mean, yeah, if he's healthy, he's for sure in the top half of the league. Sounds like he should be ready for week one, although this is the time of year where every medical report is promised. Yeah. Like I heard someone say yesterday, Hendon Hooker might throw it as Pro Day. And I'm like, I mean, that would be awesome. Yeah.

I don't think that's going to happen, but that would be awesome. Or no, it wasn't Pro Day. Sorry, it was OTAs. He might be ready for OTAs. He is already throwing. I have seen videos of him throwing, but he's not doing any footwork. So, yeah. Yeah, this is the time of year, though, where every medical report is promising.

Oh, he'll be back. Perfect. Everything's going great. What do you guys think of the, so we had two running back signings, Damien Harris lands in Buffalo and Devin Singletary lands in Houston. It feels like an upgrade for Buffalo. I freaking love that. It's the first move that Buffalo's made that I like as far as grabbing someone from free agency. I think that's an immediate bump up from Singletary for them.

And a guy that can do, I think, what their offense calls for better than what Singletary. he could do. What do you think does this affect James Cook at all in his role in the offense? Naim Hines is still there, I believe, too. I think it probably could get on the field a little bit. Yeah. Even Harris is an upgrade. I think he is a little more one-dimensional than Singletary.

Harris is a bad dude running the football. Yeah. Physical, he's capable of forcing mistackles, although he didn't do much of that last year, admittedly. You know, yards after contact guy. Like he is a very physical runner. And the amount of space he's going to get in Buffalo is attracted to me. You're going to give him light boxes.

You're going to have linebackers in conflict, not keen the fit, you know, properly. Like Harris should shred. Yeah. They don't have John Hussmith and Hunter Henry on his on his team anymore. Now, Dawson Knox, who is basically a receiving tight end is the tight end. Like you're not going to see stack boxes against Damien Harris. Yes. Exactly.

So I really do like that fit. And then because he is so one-dimensional that I think this actually carves out a nice role for James Cook. And you're going to see a lot more one-two punch action there. Yeah, I think Cook now dominates third down, third down burn for the bills. Like you've got Harris to be between the tackles, ground and pound if you need them for first and second down. And then you bring Cook in third down to where, you know, light box, he can still run the ball. but he's a solid receiving option out of the backfield. Yeah.

I do wonder Harris is going to have to show some kind of receive, whether it's pass protection or being able to catch the ball somewhat because of how pass-heavy Buffalo is. The last thing they would want is Damien Harris is in the game. We know they're not passing here. True. They thrive on, you know, passing a lot and are going to need a running back that can do, whether it's past protection or receiving does something

without having to have James Cook or Naim Hines on the field. Yeah Harris is pretty good in past row I would say he took a step forward this year as well Now granted he was never used a ton there You're talking 30 to 50 rep season Yeah I do think he's pretty good in that part of the game

So that should help He could probably catch better too than we're giving him a credit for New England is just right I agree with that Type the running backs so You know remandre is an excellent receiver James White was an excellent receiver So it's possible Harris just didn't really get the opportunity because of that. Because I remember Alabama, he was decent receiving the ball.

Goes back to New England, finding the guy that they want for a role and then pounding it into the ground. Fits the archetype. Yep. They are consistent, if not anything. What about Devin Singletary in Houston? Damien Pierce is there? I mean, is Singletary nothing more than just a guy? And it just kind of...

Yeah, I think this is the evolution of... Singletary becoming a, you know, tier two back of like a career backup from here on out where, you know, he'll bounce around the league. He can bring you some juice in both the running game and the passing game, but you're not going to look at him as a lead back. He's more of a, you know, spell. Give him, you know, 25%, 30% of the carries to not completely bury Pierce into the ground. Because, again, if Houston's offense is going to be.

tough this year. And so Damien Pierce is, I think they're going to run him a lot. And so I think Singletary just gives you a good second option for when you want to give Pierce a break. And it's, you don't have too much of a drop off. Right. Yeah. Only 40% of Singletary's carries last year had contact before the line of scrimmage.

So that's, that was 13 best in, in the league. So that part of that is. the bills had a decent offensive line. And the other part is that they just spread defense out so much all the time. There's not as many defenders in the box. Yeah. He's not going to be the case in Houston, given their receiving core. But he does show juice, though, when he does get space, he had 7.3 yards per carry when he does not get backfield contact.

That was 10th best in the league. So he can rip off runs, but. Where is this data coming from, Chris? That is coming from fantasy points data. Okay. I just wanted to make sure. that yeah all that charting we do all year uh so yeah he does have some juice so i i mean it feels like a fine chase of pace back but yeah i i still think damien pierce will be their

main back do you say chase of pace or change of pace chase of pace i think maybe we're underestimating how many touches singletary is going to get this is a very well-established running back he had over 150 carries in every season he's been in the league he's caught at least 30 passes masses roughly, averages like 35 catches a year. So we're talking about a guy who's touched the ball 180 to 200 plus times in every season of his career. I don't think they signed him to just be second fiddle. I think this is probably a timeshare for sure, which sucks because I really like

Damien Pierce. Do you think it's just too? Do you think it's foresight on their part of like saying that we don't want to burn out our rookie running back who does have break tackle ability and does have the ability to break a long run to kind of increase his longevity. Yeah, I think there's probably an element of that, you know? I mean, they had nothing behind him last year.

Yeah. Yeah, it was bare bones. Yeah, Rex Burkhead and... I don't remember who else it was. The guy that was going to break fantasy there for a while. All right. Well, there's a couple other signings we can just touch on quickly. Dalton Schultz signs in Houston on a one-year deal.

Isaiah McKenzie lands in Indianapolis, Trent Sherfield in Buffalo, and then Elijah Moore just traded yesterday. Any things you guys want to hit with anything? That's fantastic. I mean, that's a really good move for Cleveland. Yeah. I loved Moore coming out.

He was a top 40 player for me. barely missed out on a first round grade. I mean, I think he's a really solid player. Seems like he fell out of favor with the new staff there just because of personality differences, not because of on the field performance. When he's been on the field, he's looked great. So I think I love Cleveland adding him to the mix,

getting a young receiver. Cooper's getting a little older. You now have Cooper, Elijah Moore, Donaldman People's Jones. That's a really good trio for a quarterback. And they don't have a ton of draft capital to throw at getting better there. It didn't cost them much. They just swapped second and third round picks.

Basically nothing. I think Brad Spielberger, who, spoiler alert, was on take or on the clock this morning with me, he tweeted out that it was like with his model, it was like the equivalent of the 217th overall pick is what they gave up. Yeah. So that's not much for a former star rookie receiver. Yeah, and for a guy that I think that usually everybody will badmouth a guy for falling out of favor for being too vocal in a locker room. But this is a situation where I feel like everybody was on his side throughout the entire year. Every fan that wasn't in New York's camp agreed that Elijah Moore needed to be released or needed to be given a chance, needed more touches.

He can provide juice to an offense right away. Yep. Yeah. And they signed Mikul Hardman. And when that, he was not traded prior to that being announced. When he was signed, it did seem like, okay, where does more fit in this offense now? Because if you're signing Mikul Hardman, you clearly don't have big plans for Elijah Moore. I still would like to know where Mikul Hardman fits in that offense.

But apparently they think Garrett Wilson can play on the outside more than they didn't show that last year in the way that they used him at all. Even all of his outside reps, like I've gone back and watched this thoroughly. because I'm just confused by what they were doing. Even the outside reps he got, they were in super reduced splits, really tied to the formation, where he had typically had a slot receiver that was lined up on the line of scrimmage next to him,

which was taking, basically eliminating that contact window for Wilson. So he's getting those free releases. So he didn't really play any true outside receiver last year. Yeah. I don't know what they're going to do with Mekyll. Because Mekul, yeah, he's got the juice outside, but he's really done it at a high level.

Yeah, I don't think I'd be expecting big numbers from Mekul, but I think what you just touched on is exactly what the plan will be. I mean, Wilson will still play on the outside, but it'll be in certain sets to keep press coverage off him. And, you know, and Mekyll will sometimes play in the slot, and they'll just kind of move those two around. And Lazard will be basically all the time outside. Corey Davis is also still on the team for now, anyway. Yeah, I mean, I guess I guess Mekyll does they he does give them some flexibility. So you can do you can do some more unique sets, I guess, with him. He can play Z.

You know, you can bring the Lizard and Elijah Moore to the same side. Lizard can be like a big slot type and, um, and Wilson can be the reduced outside receiver there. I guess it just seems like a weird fit to me as all. Yeah. What about the other slot corner signings, the McKenzie in Indianapolis and the Trent Sherfield in Buffalo? I like Sherfield in Buffalo. Sherfield, he was doing well in San Francisco.

Was it like getting talk from their coaching staff? Goes to Miami. Miami, he was making headway in an offense that had a, you know, with Terry. There's not a lot of room. Yeah. Yeah, there's not a lot of room. And he still made plays here and there. I think in my opinion,

I think Sherfield should be looked at getting more playing time than like Deontah Hardy, who got the bigger deal from Buffalo. Yeah, they probably fits better. I like both signings in Buffalo. I like Sherfield and Deonti Hardy. They really needed that juice component in that offense, especially someone in the slot who, you know,

can run a deep over and crush a line. backer safety against zone. I think Hardy fits really well because of that. I also like the the rack ability of Sherfield. I think he's got some big play potential as well. I like that they acknowledge they needed help there and they are, you know, signing some high upside guys for relatively low cost. Like I love that they did that.

We've been critical of the way they've handled their receiving core the last year or so. So I think that's a good star. I'd still go draft the guy too. They still have Khalil Shakur. But ideally you're bringing six, and eight guys to camp and you're going to let the best five six win you know but neither's hardy and let's let's roll with it so feels better than rolling in with isaiah mackenzie and jameson crowder as that third best fly receiver last year absolutely an upgrade

it just the the big playability from those guys like crowder's and like he's like a juju like yeah he'll get you eight nine yards here and there great yeah you can find a lot of guys that same with cole beasley like they the offense has evolved past that point you know I think their point last year. And now they don't have to rely on Gabe Davis to be their only deep threat.

Yeah. Yep. And even if they do, even if they do, at least they have guys that can do other things as well. You know, the problem is like,

Gabe can't contribute really if he's not winning deep. So it's like, so then Josh has to do what run. And I think they want to eventually take carries off of his plate, which another point about that Damien Harris signing could have goal line implications for Buffalo.

And I know the fantasy listeners won't want to hear that because that's what makes Alan a cheat code, right? And I'm not saying Allen will score significantly less touchdowns, but at least they have a guy who's going to be a lot more effective on a goal line than Singletary was. Yeah. Who was you asked about, oh, Isaiah McKenzie. Where did he end up? Colts. That's right. That's a Paris Campbell retread to me.

Yeah. Yeah. That's what it feels like. Yeah. but that's a different offense or different coordinator coach so I don't I don't know why they I don't know I don't know what maybe the role so it's Stuyken what role does he play the I have no idea it doesn't really fit honestly yeah I can't the name's escaping me who's your fasty Ques Watkins I has to say Ques wakins he's not that yeah I mean he's more of that than he is

a traditional receiver sure he's a gadget player Yeah, but I don't think he's got the speed to take off the top off the defense. He's got the burst and acceleration for sure. Yeah. And those pop passes, jet sweep, screens, things of that nature. Let's probably help. Yeah, he's manufactured yardage for whatever rookie quarterback they have this year. Yeah.

Yeah. Use him in the screen game. Although he's not that great at that either. There's somewhere? The Giants. Oh, did he? Oh, that's right. He did.

Yeah, he went to the Giants last weekend. They were big on adding speed. That's really funny. So McKenzie goes to where Campbell was and then Daibald brings the new, like Campbell's the new McKenzie basically. Yeah, I don't think McKenzie was released from the bills before Campbell signed, but I wonder if Dayball would have been more, you know, would have gone after it if he had known that McKenzie would have been available. Yeah. All right. I think we should wrap this up.

I know, Steve, you have a hard out. We're pushing an hour here. Before we get off, any announcements. Yeah, well, the prospect guide. I think I've mentioned it already, but I'll mention it again. It's free on fantasy points.com. Please go check that out. A lot of hard work went into that.

I know Chris was, I would say, extraordinary behind the scenes. He ended up doing a lot of the research components of it. So you'd be supporting Chris and I. If you go check that out, it's, I think you just need a login, right? So you go to a fantasy point. Yeah, if you don't have an account, just make one. You just make a group out and then you can access the draft guide from there. In April, we'll be launching a new app in the iOS app store or Apple App Store and maybe Google.

I'm not sure. But the app will just be the draft guide actually. So you'll be able to live with that thing right on your phone. Chopped up real nice. We have the data tool coming out sometime early June is the goal, I think, for public launch, public consumption. Yeah, big things happening at Fantasy Points. Thank you for listening. Thanks for checking out all of our work.

And we are out. 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.