Fantasy Football Daily - NFC Coaching Changes

Episode Date: March 4, 2021

Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) and Tom Brolley (@TomBrolley) are back to break down the NFC coaching carousel and its fantasy implications. The guys start the pod by breaking down the Lions under Dan Campbell and the Falcons under Arthur Smith before jumping into the Eagles under Nick Sirianni to conclude the podcast (22:30). --- 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 for 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. Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of the Fantasy Points podcast at FantasyPoint.com. My name is Joe Dolan, and his name is Tom Brawley. And we're going to be talking NFC coaching changes this week. we've been doing some podcasts here discussing some of the bigger moves that have happened so far, notably the Matthew Stafford and the Carson Wrench trades, and also broke down some

AFC coaching changes on last week's podcast. So if you're interested in some of the big staffs, the new staffs, Tom and I got a take on that, and you can find that on our podcast feed wherever you subscribe to our podcast. It's good to be with you guys here as things are ramping up at fantasypoints.com. It's unbelievable. I love the NFL offseason because it is so segmented and we always have something else to focus on. I've been doing most of my time here in the last couple weeks. I've been editing rookie profiles from Wes Huber, who's our new full-time writer at FantasyPoints.com focusing on Dynasty Content. And then also I've been editing and filing Greg CoSell's rookie reports so we can get Greg's, well, his profiles into our fantasy points. draft guide, which you can pre-order on fantasy points.com right now for $25.

You do not need to subscribe to FantasyPoints.com to pre-order the draft guide. So if you're like, you know, I'm not sure I'm going to subscribe. I don't know if I'm going to play fantasy this year. I don't know if I want to drop the $40 on the Early Bird Special for the standard subscription. One thing you can do is go to FantasyPoint.com and get the Greg Cosell profiles in the fantasy points draft guide for $25. You do not need to subscribe to any other package to get that.

So I would recommend you do that. And you'll be notified whenever it's released. And when it's updated, Greg is sending me more and more profiles each and every week. So we're going to check out the, we have a Trevor Lawrence one up there, Joe. That's right. To get a little taste of, you know, how, I mean, Greg is as thorough as anybody watching these guys. You know, he watches, you know, eight, 10, 12 games of these guys and takes diligent notes. So if you want to get a little taste of what the draft guide's going to look like,

go check out the Trevor Lawrence one on the website there. Yeah, it's up there. And obviously, we're going to have in a nice, like, very readable PDF format. We're also putting an app together for it. But that's coming down the line, certainly plenty of time before the NFL draft, which is the last weekend in April and actually goes into May this year, Tom. So, I mean, draft time's coming up. We're focusing on free agents.

at Fantasy Points.com. You and I have been previewing the free agent class by position, and we have all kinds of articles there as well. And we also have some guys, for some of the higher-end free agents, we also have some not projected landing spots, but good fits, ideal landing spots that you might want to check out. So we're focusing on that, Tom, and we'll have all those positions done this week.

But we're a little bit behind on the podcast in terms of coaching changes. And like we did on last week's podcast with the AFC, we're going to focus on teams that have hired basically a new head coach. And with that new offensive coordinators, whatever, but we have covered at FantasyPoint.com, completely free. We have covered every team that's made like a major offensive hire. Like even if they have the same head coach, a new offensive coordinator, all of those teams you and I broke down and you can access those for free.

If you go to FantasyPoint.com and click on our coaching carousel. Banner. But Tom, without further ado and without, you know, continuing to plug ourselves here, so let's get into it. Yeah, let's do it. I mean, you know, we're plugging away. We did the coaching changes a while ago. We're just finishing it up now. But, you know, a lot of movement, once again this offseason. There's seemingly always, you know, six to eight jobs opening up. And, you know, a couple big ones in the NFC, a couple teams that actually went to the Super Bowl not too long ago. And then, of course, the Detroit lines who seem to be going through a new coaching staff every three to four years. But, you know, maybe one of these times they'll get it

right. I'm not, I'm not too positive. They got it right with their hire this time around either. But we'll see how it all plays out. Hopefully they do a little bit of a tank job up there after trading away Matthew Stafford. They are not going to be very good this year. And I think the Detroit lines are not going to be good this year by design. Brad Holman. Holmes, the new general manager. He brings in Dan Campbell from the States. And Tom, I mean, his press conference, when he was talking about, like, eating people and cracking bones and all this stuff, like, it was, it was the most talked about NFL story,

kind of the week before the Super Bowl and that dead week. He was a football guy, you know, that's what he was. the, I mean, just all his rhetoric that he used. And, you know, vocally, he kind of sounded like Buffalo Bill from Silence of the lamps, I mean, which was really scary to me. But Dan Campbell is going in to Detroit, Tom. And essentially what Dan Campbell is going to do is he is going to attempt to change the culture. It seemed like everybody in New York, in Detroit just hated playing for Matt Patricia.

And I'm a little surprised they went. went with somebody who is so overtly football guy, meatheady, masculine, testosterone, you know, type of guy. But maybe they think there's a genuineness to Dan Campbell that Matt Patricia didn't have. Yeah, I'm a bit surprised too. I mean, you know, they did hire Chris Spielman, you know, legendary linebacker for that franchise. You know, he's that type of guy, you know, played with a physicality to him. But they brought in Brad Holmes from, you know, a scout from the Los Angeles Rams the last few years.

I thought, you know, maybe they might go, you know, more of the analytics way. You know, they was Sean McBay. And, you know, they brought him Brandon Staley last year, which was off the high, you know, off the grid higher for them. But, you know, they went with an off the grid hire here with Dan Campbell. He's been kind of, you know, I don't even know if he was, you know, necessarily getting interviews in the, the, you know, the hiring cycles over the last couple of years here, but that's where they went. And, you know, he has, you know, a little bit of previous experience there. He was on Tony Sperano's, you know, coaching staff in Miami, was an interim coach there.

Maybe that's where he gets a little bit of that Richard in the soil, you know, mentality from. So, you know, that press conference, you know, if I'm a Lions fan, I'm sure, you know, they're not too enthused, but, you know, this is going to be a team that, as we said, it's not going to be very good. They, you know, traded away their marquee player in Matthew Stafford got a haulback from the Rams. They also got Jared Goff here, former number one overall pick just a few years ago. So, you know, we'll see if he can resurrect his career and, you know, maybe get it back on track. I'm not too optimistic about that. But, you know, this is a team that's going to struggle this year.

We've seen teams, you know, I don't know necessarily, though, with the type of personalities that they have kind of leading this team, that they're, you know, necessarily going all in on a tank. But they might do a tank, even if they're not trying this year, you know, based on the talent level on this team. And, you know, we've seen at work here in recent years with the dolphins. You know, they quickly turned around in about two years. You know, Cleveland Browns took a little bit longer.

but they're certainly one of the AFC, you know, AFC North and AFC conference contenders now. And we just saw it with Jacksonville. You know, they're positioned to be, you know, an up and comer here over the next year or two, especially if Trevor Lawrence lives up to the hype. So maybe they're not doing it intentionally, but, you know, the tank could be on here in Detroit,

you know, could be helping to build up that roster here in the near future. So you look at Campbell and all, Obviously, I think you maybe want to draw a parallel to Brian Flores in Miami, like culture change, make the team a little bit more competitive than people might expect. And I mean, this is a roster that needs a lot, Tom. So especially on the defensive side of the football. So who knows that they'll draft a quarterback with their top 10 pick. And obviously, they've got future first.

So this is not a team that's expecting to compete this year. We know it stinks on. With that pick in the top 10, I'll be curious. I mean, if they really are maybe going for a tank, maybe they trade down. You know, they don't necessarily need a quarterback with Jared Gough there. But, you know, if they would trade down, maybe that is a bit of a signal here that they're looking more toward the future and not necessarily for this year. Because, you know, they could easily get a guy that could help out Jared Gough.

There's plenty of good receivers up there at the top. So I think, you know, what they do with that pick could kind of signal what their intentions are. for the next year or two. Yeah. But here's my question. You know, I mean, I think it's easy to make fun of Dan Campbell, but, you know, Brad Holmes comes from the Rams, very analytical kind of staff. Dan Campbell comes from New Orleans.

And though he put on that meat, heady, rah-rah performance, Sean Payton is a very analytical mind, and that's where Dan Campbell's been coaching the last five years. But I got to be honest, Tom. I'm a little less than impressed with the offensive staff that Dan Campbell is put together. I mean, look, a very analytical coaching staff, you know, throwing on early downs, throw to go ahead, run to win. I just don't see that happening with Anthony Lynn as the offensive coordinator. And, you know, Anthony Lynn, here's the good news. He just headed a staff that put together the greatest rookie quarterback season of all time for Justin Herbert.

But consider what it takes to get fired if you just helped coach Justin Herbert to the best rookie season a quarterback's ever had. And in-game decision making, just mind-bogglingly bad decisions to not go forward on fourth down, or to kick 57-yard field goals instead of going for it on fourth and three. To run the ball when you don't have any timeouts left with 15 seconds left in the half. I just, I'm less than inspired by hiring Anthony Lynn ostensibly to be the play caller here, Tom. And I think you can say, look, they have Anthony Lynn, they have Deuce Staley here. It's great news for DeAndre Swift. Also great news for DeAndre Swift is all three of their top wide receivers.

Goladay, Marvin Jones, and Danny Amandola are all free agents. They just signed Tyrell Williams. Not exactly inspiring from my perspective, but somebody who's going to help out there probably to replace Marvin Jones. Tom, I just don't know why I should feel inspired by Anthony Newman as a play caller. Yeah, I mean, you're completely right. The terrible decision maker as a head coach. And a lot of these decisions you can see coming, you know, a couple of plays before. Now he's going to be on a play clock, 40 seconds at a time, you know, making quicker decisions.

You know, I'm not, you know, exactly optimistic. But, you know, he did, you know, he called some plays in Buffalo a few years ago back in 2016, which really helped him to get a job, you know, as the Chargers head coach. And LaShawn McCoy had a pretty special season that year. a 1600 rushing yards in 2016. So that, you know, that at least makes me feel a little bit better about a guy like Dianngris Swift. And, you know, all indications are that they're ready to kind of give him a huge workload.

You know, we'll see in free agency. If they would bring Adrian Peterson back or they go out and, you know, hire, you know, kind of a bigger back to take, you know, take touches away from him on early downs, you know, that optimism will certainly shrink here and will be a little bit more pessimistic. But at the very least, I think Swift should, you know, see a ton of touches. He should be pushing for 300 touches this season. I wouldn't be surprised. So that has, has him kind of in the second round tier for me. After the, you know, after the, you know, basically the after the first two tiers of running backs in the fantasy rankings. So, you know, there's at least some optimism there. But this passing game,

You know, it's going to be Marvin Jones as good as gone. I don't see him coming back. Danny Amandola's gone. Maybe that's good for Kenny Galladay. It certainly looks like they're probably going to franchise tag him. You know, they can't let all the good talent leave town. And, you know, that's a guy that they, you know, they discovered. And, you know, he wasn't exactly a sought after prospect when he was drafted, you know, a few years ago out of Northern Illinois. So, you know, that's a guy. He should at least. heavy targets and maybe T.J. Hawkinson, you know, you feel good about, you know, at least Dan Campbell's, you know, worked as a, you know, he played as a tight end for a decade in the league, you know, worked with some pretty good tight ends in New Orleans. So, you know, there's

a little bit of optimism there. But overall, this is going to be an offense that really struggles and very skeptical of Anthony Lynn calling the plays. I mean, I'll probably have some DeAndre Swift. They'll probably have some T.J. Hawkinson, but overall, this is probably going to be an offense that I'm pretty much avoiding for fantasy. Well, one thing I will say is in three of his four seasons as the Chargers head coach, Lynn had a running back finish in the top 10 at his position in targets. And the year in which one of them didn't in 2018, both Melvin Gordon and Austin Echler ranked in the top 20 of that department. Now, Philip Rivers love to check the ball down. Obviously, both Echler and Melvin Gordon, very good receivers. That being said, I still think DeAndre Swift's a very good receiver. And Jared Goff isn't necessarily checked down averse. So I would think DeAndre Swift could get

peppered with targets in this offense. So that's very good news for fantasy. And then also saying in the last, you know, the last week, you know, and it could be all bullshit, it could be all talk, you know, but they have big plans for them. They want to get them out in the space. They want to do some creative things. But we'll see how creative they get. Because it seemed like, you know, the last month or two in Los Angeles there, when Justin Herbert was kind of getting going there with Shane Steichen and, you know, Lynn seemed to put the reins on them a little bit, kind of brought the offense back. It did work a little bit. They won some games down the stretch. But, you know, we certainly don't want to see that for

fantasy. So, but they might not have a choice. They might be. friggin' terrible, so they are going to probably have to throw a lot and be chasing points in a lot of second half of games. The Atlanta Falcons, Tom, another team that's hired an entirely new coaching staff. And that's going to be headed up by Arthur Smith, the former offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans, who in two brief years as offensive coordinator there, completely changed Tennessee into one of the more unique and efficient offenses in the entire NFL. He's 38 years old.

And this is going to be a different kind of task than Dan Campbell has in Detroit because you presume the Falcons are going to have Matt Ryan at quarterback. You still have Julio Jones. You still have Calvin Ridley. I would think the immediate focus for the Falcons while acknowledging Tom that they need to build up the talent for the future there is probably to try to coax another run or two out of this core. I mean, that's kind of what you have to do when Matt Ryan and Julio Jones are getting up there in age. You would think that the Falcons are going to try to get a new perspective in there and to try to compete in that competitive NFC South Division. Yeah, there were some thought that maybe they could go quarterback. They pick fourth overall, you know, but it seems like the sentiment now, you know, those contracts,

it couldn't really get out from underneath them, you know, with Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. But they probably still have at least another good year or two. Matt Ryan was playing at a fairly high level through the first half of the season. And just the stink of the whole season in 2020 just kind of came crumbling down on the offensive line. I don't even know if I want to pin it all on the offensive line. I pin a lot of their problems on their running game. Todd Gurley, the Todd Gurley signing was a complete bust. Edo Smith and Brian Hill.

or just guys behind him. So, you know, that was a huge problem for them last year. And, you know, obviously Arthur Smith, coach and Derek Henry here the last couple of years, they've been one of the most run-heavy teams, just, you know, right up there, you know, behind, you know, the Baltimore Ravens and in terms of, you know, type of, you know, the best rushing teams in the league here. So, you know, and a big problem for the Falcons, you know, the last couple years and probably has to do what their running game is, you know, their efficiency overall. And, you know,

they were one of the worst red zone offenses in the last couple of years, Hunter Dirk Cutter. And, you know, that was one area where Arthur Smith really excelled and, you know, in his play calling. And, you know, that's the Titans. They would capitalize whenever they had their chances to score. And that was, you know, that was the biggest problem, I think, for the Falcons the last couple of years besides the defense. So that's one area where we could see some gains for the Falcons. And we talked about the MVP numbers a couple of weeks ago. You know, I kind of fleshed it out with you on the air there that I really liked Matt

Ryan's 100 to one odds. You know, I don't think he's a favorite or anything like that. But those long shot odds seem pretty nice, you know, considering that he still has Holyo Jones. Calvin Ridley became a top 10 type of receiver. Hayden Hurst continued to disappoint last year, but he's certainly athletic enough and can do some nice things. So, you know, I have some optimism for this offense next year

with Arthur Smith leading the way. And, you know, we've heard good things about Dave Ragon as well. So, you know, they just got to fix. That's going to be their top priority is running back in free agency or the draft. and improving that offensive line. They've spent some high picks on some draft picks here the last couple of years, and it really hasn't panned out. So that's the era they really need to improve on offense,

and then the whole defense is a best. But, you know, there's reason for some optimism there on offense for Matt Ryan to have a little bit of a bounce back year this year. Yeah, they do have that top five pick, and it is a top heavy tackle draft. So Sewell from Oregon is probably going to be in play. and I want to highlight that, Tom. The Falcons last year ranked 26th in football outsiders' run blocking metric at the

offensive line and 18th in their past blocking metric. By comparison, Arthur Smith's Titans were second and 11th, respectively, and that's including losing Taylor Luan to a knee injury early in the season. So I would think Arthur Smith is going to decide that's the position if we're going to try to compete here in the next year or two where we've got to make our improvements. But another thing I want to highlight, Arthur Smith, his Titans last year, Ryan Tannahill, used play action per pro football focus on 36.4% of dropbacks that led the NFL. Mitchell Tribisky, 36.0% under Dave Ragone.

That was second in the NFL. Matt Ryan was at just 25.8% 22nd in the NFL. And when the Falcons went to the Super Bowl during the 2016 season, Ryan led the NFL, play action rate under Kyle Shanahan. Now, that was at just 27.6 because play action rates have gone up around the league, but that's still a startling drop. Now, in order for the Falcons to run more play action, Tom, they also have to be in situations where it makes sense.

Their defense needs to improve, and that's where I think Dean Pease is going to come in. 71 years old, well regarded for his pressure concepts. The Falcons had no pass rush whatsoever. I think Dean Peas is going to manufacture a lot of pass rush here. I would anticipate that just a new perspective is going to make these Falcons a lot better this year. Do I think it's going to make them a Super Bowl contender? I do not. But I think it's going to make them a lot better.

And I think it's going to make them a more complete kind of fantasy team. And I would anticipate that they'll probably spend a second or a third round pick on a running back in the draft. Yeah, you know, this team isn't too far away. You know, as we said at the top there, they're, you know, not too far removed from a Super Bowl appearance. I mean, last year, their win total was at eight wins. It's not like this roster is devoid of talent. They just need a bit of infusion on defense. But, you know, we saw what the Titans defense did, you know,

with Dean Peas's retirement last year, you know, at crater. I mean, they had no pass rush at all. You know, secondary really struggled, you know, in part because of the pass rush. So maybe he can remedy some of that. But they do have to attack it on, on. in free agency through the draft. But, you know, this roster isn't too far away, but the NFC South is looking like one of the more competitive divisions in the league next year.

I mean, Carolina Panthers seem like they're like a team on the rise here with Matt Ruhl, you know, putting his stamp on the team last year. They were very competitive every week. Obviously, they have the Super Bowl champions in Tampa Bay. And, you know, I don't think New Orleans is going to crater, you know, with Drew, Drew Brees potentially retiring here. We haven't gotten anything official yet. So that NFC South is going to be highly competitive,

but I see, I have a difficult time seeing Arthur Smith just being a complete bust here. It was probably my favorite hire of the offseason. So I'm feeling, you know, optimistic for the future here for the Falcons. But how are you feeling for fantasy here? You know, it's going to be a more efficient offense. but a lot of... That's an interesting point. Yeah, a lot of the production from Matt Ryan

and Holio Jones and Pallin Ridley has been, you know, it's all volume-based. So, you know, if we see those 600 attempts, you know, shrink, you know, even if it's just like five attempts per game, you know, it's going to take a lot more efficiency for this passing game to really get the production here. So, you know, Holyo Jones is, you know, by age, is just moving down my draft boards a little bit.

he is. Matt Ryan is as well. But, you know, how are you feeling about about this passing game going forward? I'm in on Ridley. I think unfortunately Russell Gage is going to be a guy who's going to take a hit here because, again, I drafted him a ton in the late rounds of best balls just because I expected Matt Ryan to lead the NFL and pass attempts. He was actually second in the NFL and pass attempts. So I'm a little, I'm down on Julio. We'll see where he falls. But Ridley, I think, think is going to be fine. And I do have to look at the fact that Arthur Smith in Tennessee, he still got good performances despite a lack of volume. A.J. Brown, Corey Davis. Obviously, Derek Hendring, none of these guys really disappointed you for fantasy purposes. Yeah, you're right.

You know, you're talking about Gage. Yeah, I do see them, you know, going to more, you know, they were, you know, a lot of two tight end sets with, you know, John Hussman, Berkser, you know, Mikel threw it. And, you know, so I could see the Falcons being in the market for maybe one of these veteran tight ends. We heard Delaney Walker might be getting back into the league, obviously he played under Arthur Smith a bit. So, yeah, a guy like Russell Gage, you know, it's going to be a little bit more out of the mix. But, you know, it is going to be a different looking offense, I think, next year with, you know, just even the personnel as well. You know, I wouldn't expect Gage to be a guy that would be very much on my radar here next year.

All right, Tom, we have one more team to break down. That's the Philadelphia Eagles. And let's go to noted Eagles fan Ben Cucanis for a word from our sponsors before we talk Nick Siriani and his staff. Thank you very much, Ben and Tom will talk Philadelphia Eagles here, and I think this is a team that's really tough to get a grasp on right now. The Eagles have a top 10 pick in the draft. They obviously just traded Carson Wentz. We don't really know are they going to spend that pick on a receiver? Are they going to spend it on a quarterback? And they're in rebuilds. mode right now. They obviously traded Wentz for some high picks. They got a third round pick this year. They got a pick that they hope becomes a first rounder next year. This is probably not a

team that anticipates to compete this year. But the thing that makes it interesting is Jalen Hurts flash last year. And was he great? No. But this was a bad football team. The offensive line was banged up. The receiving core was terrible yet again through the fault of Howie Roseman, the general manager there. Doug Peterson completely lost the plot. He got fired. And I think the Eagles, Tom, you know, people say, oh, they fired Peterson to bring a Siriani to try to appeal to Carson Wentz. I made a lot of criticisms of Howie Roseman and Jeff Lurie here in the last couple of years. I don't think they were delusional enough to think that just firing Peterson was going to fix everything here. I think they very much knew that they were going to trade Carson Wentz

this offseason. But the question becomes for the Eagles for fantasy, is Jalen Hertz the quarterback? And if he is the quarterback, who is he throwing to? We know Jalen Rager and Dallas Goddert are going to be here. I do not expect Zach Ertz to be here. I think the Eagles will probably try to get a pick for him to try to help in their rebuild. But there is a lot of unanswered questions here, Tom. I do know if Jalen Hertz is the starting quarterback,

we're going to love him for fantasy. But other than that, I'm not really sure how we can project Philadelphia accurately for fantasy at this stage. Yeah, it's very difficult. You know, we have our best bow rankings on the website right now. I haven't projected, you know, I have him ranked in my, basically in the 120 range, you know, in that QB12, the QB14 range. But if they don't do anything drastic in the draft there at number six, if they don't take one of the top four quarterbacks there, you know, I can easily see him sliding into the top 100 of my rankings. So many good receivers that are going to be available there too, Tom, including potentially Kyle Pitts, the tight end from Florida. Don't forget about him.

Yeah, that's the other piece there. I would expect them to upgrade at receiver. You know, it doesn't necessarily, I think number six is definitely in play with Jamar Chase and Jalen Waddle and Devante Smith all in that mix there. But they can also do it later in the draft in the second third round as well. but, you know, I expect the cast to kind of improve. I expect Dallas Goddard to have a much bigger role, which is something we want to see. You know, Miles Sanders played better down the stretch with Jalen Hertz in the lineup. And, you know, Hertz is very intriguing.

He, you know, he was great in those three games that he got full starts in, you know, toward the end of the year, you know, was certainly put up the passing yards and definitely the rushing yard is, and, you know, that's really what we're looking for. with our fantasy quarterbacks at this point, if we can get that extra bonus in terms of rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. So certainly showed the capability of doing that. You know, we'll see.

I would think I'm leaning towards them going towards the receiver, you know, with that number six pick. And kind of giving Hertz a chance to play. You know, if he sinks, you know, they can reassess next year. And we're seeing, you know, just with, the QB movement here this offseason and even a little bit last year with Tom Brady, you know, this is, the league is changing.

You're not, you know, if you don't have your quarterback, you're not totally screwed. You can make moves and guys are trying to get out of situations. And, you know, that gives them, I think, a little bit more flexibility to give a guy like Jalen Hertz a real chance to start. And he certainly, he showed enough that I think, you know, he warrants a chance here to play at least early next year. I wouldn't be surprised if they bring in a Tyrod Taylor or somebody else to, you know, a veteran backup that's capable if he does struggle. But I think they should give him every chance to beat a guy, at least at the beginning of the season next year.

Keep in mind, Tom, when it comes to Philadelphia, and I think this is probably part of Howie Roseman's rationale here. If Jalen Hurts stinks this year, Philadelphia is going to stink. So they'll have a high first round pick. And then you look at it from the perspective of the Wents trade. All right. So if Philadelphia stinks this year, they're going to have a high first round pick and a high second round pick just by nature of them sucking. If Wence is solid in Indianapolis, just solid, they're going to have a second first round pick. And if Went stinks in Indianapolis, Indianapolis is going to have a high second round pick that then conveys to Philadelphia.

So you're going to have all this draft capital next year. And as you said, ammunition to move to make a quarterback, draft a quarterback, whether, hey, look, Matthew Stafford got traded this offseason. Deshawn Watson wants a trade. Russell Wilson might want to trade. Like, who knows what's going to happen next off season? So it could, I agree with you there that they're not stuck. And I think they're probably going to stick with Hertz, maybe draft a receiver there, and see what happens. I guess the one concern is that next year's quarterback class isn't nearly as good as this year's class. We have four to five great prospects. But that, you know, I have a, that changes

every year too. Exactly. I have a difficult time just saying, you know, this class is definitely better than next year because, you know, a guy like Zach Wilson was, you know, pretty much off the radar last year. We're seeing that pretty much every year at this point where there's somebody that's off the radar that comes storming up board. So, you know, it doesn't look as strong next year right now, but things can certainly change. And, you know, next year we'll get a full, you know, schedule for these guys to get their games in terms of the college football games. So that could easily change. So I don't think, you know, I've heard that floated around a bit, you know, the last couple of weeks.

But I don't think that should be a deterrent to make them draft a quarterback with that sixth overall pick this year. By the way, I mean, one of the things to point out about Nick Siriani staff in Philadelphia, it's very young. Offensive coordinator, Shane Steichen, who we talked about, by the way, he helped develop Justin Herbert, 35 years old. Their passing game coordinator who came over from Indianapolis, Kevin Petulow, he's 39. The defensive coordinator, Jonathan Gannon, is 35. The special team's coordinator, Michael Clay, is 29. And here's the interesting one. Quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson is 34.

He was the offensive coordinator at Florida last year. That's interesting, because considering Kyle Pitts might be available with the east. He might have a good word or two to say about it. Yeah, exactly. And Johnson helped develop Dak Prescott at Mississippi State. And he's known Jalen Hertz since Jalen Hertz was a toddler. Seems like that was intentional. Yeah.

Just something to keep in mind there when it comes to Philadelphia and what it might do offensively. Tom, this is an offense that we're probably going to have to wait a while to get a decent feel for. No doubt about that. Am I, do I think the Eagles are going to draft a quarterback? If I had to wager, I would probably say, I'd say minus 170 that they're not going to. And maybe that's a little high. But it's certainly not impossible.

I know that. But do I think the Eagles are going to trade up? Absolutely not. I think that this is not a team that's in a position roster-wise where trade-up would be wise. So I tend to think they're going to draft a receiver. And if they draft a receiver, whether it's Jamar Chase, whether it's Devante Smith, Jalen Waddle, or Pitts, I expect that person to come in and probably be an immediate contributor because they need them to be.

Yeah. And overall, you know, you brought up about how young the staff is. You know, I think that's good overall for our perspective, for fantasy. I think they'll be, you know, a little bit more progressive. and maybe a little, you know, even with Jalen Hertz, a quarterback, you know, a little bit more pass heavy, you know, I think they'll upgrade the receiver position. So I think this is probably good. You know, we'll see how it all plays out.

But I think this offense is going to be one that I'll probably be buying, you know, low on quite a few of these guys. You know, we'll see Dallas Goddard probably going in that eighth, ninth round. You know, maybe he could turn into a little bit of a gem. Ringer is a guy I struggle with. I didn't see too many great flashes from him last year, but the situation was terrible. It was a bad situation. Yeah, he was in and out of the lineup as well with the injuries.

And it's basically an incomplete first season for him. But overall, I think this is an offense. I'll probably be buying low on. The prices aren't going to be that bad. Even like a guy like Miles Sanders, I think he'll probably be a mid to late second round pick. you know, that's a price that, you know, that's a pretty good price for a guy that was going in the, at the end of the first round and certainly flashed at different times last year with a couple big runs. We just need a little bit more consistency from him. You know, a little more consistency with his hands as well. That was one area where he really disappointed last year were the drops. But overall, I think this is probably going to be an offense that I'm going to be buying low on next year in draft. But we still need to see the direction that they go out. at quarterback and with that number six overall pick. So, by the way, let's talk about one of the changes on this coaching staff that didn't change.

That's probably great is the offensive line coach. Jeff Stoutland is still there. He's been there since Chip Kelly, and he might be the best line coach in football. So I think that's huge for the Eagles as they try to get younger on the offensive line. Jordan Milata, who was one of the best stories in the NFL last year, became a solid left tackle. I mean, basically having never played. professional football before. He was on the roster for the last two years just to develop him, and he held his own this year. So that's good news for them. And then when it comes to Rager,

Tom, apparently this new staff likes him quite a bit. And the one thing Siriani did in Indianapolis, scheme up yards after the catch. And I just feel like the Eagles just didn't have a great grasp of Rager, you know, go routes. And they tried to do some of that stuff. But I feel like they might have a more comprehensive plan for him this year. And like you said, there were some flashes, but he got hurt. The offense was broken. He had some bad moments. Like you said, I think incomplete is the best grade you can probably give him.

Yeah, your Eagles, just even their past game constant, I got vibes from like the Steelers as well. A lot of individual routes expecting their receivers to win one-on-one. And, you know, that's pretty tough for a rookie, you know, limited training camp, limited time early in the season, erratic quarterback. in terms of, you know, his accuracy. So, you know, the passing game concepts probably, you know, more towards the West Coast, you know, combination routes and half-field reads for Jalen Hertz. You know, that's kind of stuff that is going to help the receivers as well.

So, you're right. I think rigor is going to excel in the after-the-catch kind of stuff. So, you know, less one-on-one, you know, where you've got to win against a quarterback and, you know, more half-field reads, more comprehensive. combination routes. And, you know, I think that's kind of stuff that can help him out, you know, in his second season here. All right, Tom, that'll do it for this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast. Hopefully you guys really enjoyed that. And you and I will be back next week to break down free agency. I think we're going to do two podcasts, probably quarterback running back on a pod

and receiver tight end on the other just to, you know, talk through the guys, pick some landing spots, have a lot of fun with that. It might get a little wild here next week as well. We might be adding to that. I mean, we're already seeing guys get cut here this week. Kyle Rudolph, Golden T, you know, guys that have been relevant, you know, have big contracts. You know, we know the salary cap is going to be a little tighter this year. So we're going to see some bigger named, you know, veterans here probably get cut over the next week or two as teams try to get their cap situation in, you know, in order here before free agency opens up on March 17. So, you know, it could be a wild couple of weeks here.

You know, we're going to be probably seeing some guys that are, you know, were fantasy relevant type of guys here over the last couple years, you know, going to some teams on some like veteran minimum type of deal. So it could be pretty wild, little free agency period that we're going to have here over the next couple of weeks. All right, Tom, that'll do it here. Follow us on Twitter at FG underscore Dolan for me at Tom Raleigh for Tom, at Fantasy PTS for the site.

get all the updates on when we do our free agency breakdowns and when the draft guide's going to be ready that we talked about whenever Wes Huber publishes a new dynasty profile, we're going to get some best ball content coming down the pike here too, Tom. It's going to be great. Scott Barrett's been working on that. We have some contributors who I've been talking to this week who are going to come in and help us out with some really interesting content. There are so much good stuff to read at FantasyPoints.com to listen to to watch. So much more coming. Our Early Bird Special.

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So make sure you subscribe before then if you want to save the 20%. For Tom Broly, I am Joe Dolan. Thank you for listening to this edition into the Fantasy Points podcast. Thank you to Ben Kukainis for his ad read, and we will talk to you guys next week. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast.

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