Fantasy Football Daily - Scott Barrett's 2022 Annual Post-Draft Presser Review

Episode Date: May 2, 2022

In lieu of his post-draft coachspeak analysis, Scott Barrett (@ScottBarrettDFB) takes to the mic instead, analyzing the NFL Draft thru the lens of coaches, GMs, players, and more. What was said, what was meant, and what we can take away from both an NFL and fantasy football perspective. --- 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. Ladies and gentlemen, you are listening to the Fantasy Points podcast. I'm Scott Barrett, your host and guest. This is going to be a solo pod. This is not a let's recap the NFL draft podcast, though it's partly that. This is not a let's go over my rookie rankings podcast, though it's also partly that.

This is my annual post-draft presser review. Typically, I do this as an article. It takes me just about all week to. transcribe a number of these post draft pressers. But I decided I didn't want to kill myself like I do every year. And that article doesn't get a lot of reads every year anyway. So why not save me maybe three full days and just do this as a podcast? But this is something I find to be extremely valuable. It's honestly one of my most valuable things of research I do every year listening to these post-draft pressers. It's the rare time of where GMs, coaches, front office personnel

are shockingly honest. Typically, you know, coach speak, it's a loaded BS, you know, they have to say that. But with this, it's a rare time where these coaches, and GMs are being totally honest. They got their guy. They're excited over it. They're going to be honest when reporters ask, oh, is this guy a slot? Is this guy?

Why did you trade up for him? Or, you know, was he who you were targeting when you traded down? Things of that nature. And so it's some tea leaf reading that goes into this. You know, I'll have some theories sometimes that may or may not sound somewhat conspiratorial. but it is, I think, valuable and really lets us know what these teams thought of these various players, how they envision them. And this is definitely something that plays a role in my ranking.

So without further ado, let's get into it. First up, we can talk about the Jets who took Garrett Wilson with pick number 10, Breeze Hall at the start of round two, and then Jeremy Rucker in round three. there wasn't a ton of stuff to go on from these press conferences. I will say Joe Douglas was losing his mind. He was very pleased with himself and I really don't blame him. He took Garrett Wilson at 10. There are confirmed reports that the team did try to trade for Debo when he were at

pick 10 and were unsuccessful. So they did consider going with a different wide receiver than Wilson, but, you know, Debo's a really special wide receiver. Another interesting note is Joe Douglas said they took three players in their top eight. That was after round one. And he said last year they got three of their top 25 players. The Jets analytics guy said Elijah Moore was their 16th best player in the 2021 draft. So maybe you want to read into that and say the Giants had a higher grade on Wilson,

then we had Elijah Moore. Maybe they envision Wilson as the future wide receiver one. I don't know that we can say that. A lot of people are asking me for my thoughts on how Wilson fits into this offense, what that means for Elijah. I don't know. I'm still very bullish on Elijah. He has that rapport, although we didn't really see it in games during the NFL season.

he was actually more productive with the backups. He has the one-year advantage on Wilson. I'm bullish for this season. Joe Douglas did say a big reason he took him is he beats man. The numbers really bared that out. And every AFC East team runs an extremely man-heavy defense. They also tried to trade back up into round one for Breece Hall. That would have been their fourth pick in round one.

But instead, they were able to get. him in round two via a trade-up. There wasn't too much to go on here. Do you really like him for his elusiveness, his balance through contact, the fact that he's an accomplished home run threat with the ability to crack off 80-yard runs? They praised him for his ability in the past game, but they were careful to say every time we mentioned him that they really liked this room and, you know, other people are saying, well, you know, the offensive coordinator comes from San Francisco, the head coach comes from San Francisco, and Kyle Shanahan likes to use a number of running backs, not really target them too frequently in the passing game. A lot of questions over,

oh, is this a tandem with Michael Carter now, maybe even Ty Johnson getting third downs? And I told myself before the start of this draft, I was not going to overrate landing spot for Brees Hall and Kenneth Walker. I think with talented backs like that, the talent is just going to rise to the top. And especially if you wanted a sort of tandem where it's an early down runner and a pass catcher and Michael Carter takes third downs. I think they would have just taken Kenneth Walker, who I think is the better runner, but has some past catching question marks. Really, the way I see it is this is going to be a bell cow. Maybe not at the start of the season. Could be a Giovante situation. much to our chagrin, but I think he's going to be a bell cow at some point.

I think, you know, if you value this player this high, willing to trade up into round one, he's going to get the touches. And he's just a really talented running back with, you know, he was a bell cow in college, great pass catcher, and that's how I envisioned him in the pros. The tight end, Jeremy Rucker, the Jets had him in the senior bowl before he pulled out due to injury. he asked about the lack of receiving metrics. And he said, oh, well, he was in that stacked Ohio State Room. And, you know, when you watch the tape, you really saw flashes.

Oh, okay, this guy can do it. He just wasn't given many opportunities, but he really jumps off when given the opportunity. What I thought was interesting. And again, there wasn't much to go on with the Jets. But Robert Sala said how he views the tight ends. He said, C.J. Usoma, he's a fantastic inline tight end to do some of dirty work. But he's got the speed to run some high crosses and things like that.

But Tyler Conklin, you see, is someone who can do both. But first, second, third down, winning those one-on-one matchups, running concepts that beat coverage and stuff like that. So to me, I'm going to have Tyler Conklin ahead of CGA Usoma and my best ball rankings. Clear he's the preferred pass catcher. And then what he said of Jeremy Rucker, he said, well, he's, he said, well, he's he's going to have the chance to grow in this offense and develop and take a little bit from everybody, you know, the best, you know, the run-blocking ability of Usoma, the past-catching

ability of Conklin, and develop into an all-around tight end. And he has nice athleticism. You can win on third downs. So the way I see it is they're hoping he can be their tight end of the future, sort of do-it-all guy. I don't know that he has the fantasy upside of a Jolani Woods. or Greg Dulcich, and my ranks will probably reflect that. But it was a good draft capital, and it was clearly a guy they were high on. Next up is Chris Olave, I had picked number 11 to the Saints. The new head coach there, Dennis Allen said he was the guy they coveted from the very beginning, really tough, smart, competitive, productive.

I knew there was going to be a run on the wide receiver, so he really felt there was a need to rather than sit and wait to go up and get the guy that they wanted, they coveted from the very beginning. So he was the, he thought he was the best, most well-rounded receiver in the draft. Another point that I thought was at least a little interesting is assistant GM, Jeff Ireland, drafted Brian Hartline, the current Ohio Statewide receiver coach, and they're very close. And Heartline shared some information with them on Chris Olive. and when he was asked about that, what was it? Heartline said, hey, remember the conversation we had about Terry McLaurin?

And so, I mean, that's, I think that's interesting. I think, I think really there's a chance, you know, they didn't want Jameson Williams. They wanted Chris Olavet, you know, maybe, maybe Brian Hartline said, this is the guy. We thought, I think he's the best wide receiver. You know, James and Williams, we were prepared to demote him to wide receiver four had he not transfer, you know, could have been something like that. So just a little bit interesting there on ranking these wide receivers and how New Orleans viewed him. Next up, Jameson Williams, who was taken by the Lions via trade up with pick number 12.

What was interesting about that was the GM Brad Holmes. You know, he didn't seem very excited. You got Aidan Hutchinson, he got James. And he said with regard to Hutchinson, we had all of those guys, all of those edge rushers. We had all of those guys kind of graded evenly. Just a little weird. You know, you'd think they'd be more excited they got their guy. But maybe he's just honest.

And then when he was asked about Jameson, you said, I was thinking if we made the jump on Jameson, I thought that if we weren't able to get Jameson, we could work out of trade to get some of those other guys, but those guys flew off too. So it didn't really seem like Jameson was their clear wide receiver one. It was honestly a weird, weird interview, but maybe he's just like a super honest guy. The offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, he said it was really important to them to find someone on the outside who can dictate coverage and well with that speed. certainly he checks that box.

You know, they also admitted he's a raw town in a lot of ways, but that there's also some untapped potential. And I think they're talking about him as a shorter to intermediate threat, his route running prowess on everything, but, you know, deep nine routes and sort of stuff like that. But yeah, I mean, that's what he's going to bring to an NFL team for sure, is, you know, just having his speed on the field, even if he's not getting very many targets per game, he's going to dictate coverage,

you know, pin the safeties back, and then you could have T.J. Hawkinson work in the short to intermediate middle portion of the field and feast, like we saw with Henry Ruggs and Darren Waller. Will Fuller was another guy. You look at Deshawn Watson's EPA per play splits when he was on or off the field, and he was so much better when Will Fuller was on the field, even when Fuller wasn't very productive. And it's just, you know, that's what it brings to an NFL team. The question is, what does it bring to a fantasy team? You know, is he just going to be one of these basketball guys who, you know, one week has three catches for 120 yards and a score? And then, you know, the rest of the time he's not doing anything very volatile, you know, doesn't have the upside of, like,

the PPR cheat code upside of a Treykland and things like that. You can read my article in analysis, but I'm pretty bullish on Jameson Williams. That perhaps he could be more. That was basically the gist of it there. Next up is Jahan Dotson at pick number 16. The reporter asked, what was it that had you sold on Jahan Dodson? And Ron Rivera answered.

I thought this was really funny. It was like, well, probably the biggest thing when you look at guys, you break them down, you look at who he's playing against and who he's playing with and not to knock any of his teammates, but dot, dot, dot. All right, listen, the quarterback that he had was a good player, okay? He wasn't a great player. And he, this, and John Dotson just seemed to make this guy better.

And you saw the catches that he made, dot, dot, dot. Listen, I'm not trying to kill the quarterback. He sighed heavily. But you sit there and think, well, he didn't throw a very accurate ball, but this guy was out there making him look good. And I thought this was funny. because, you know, Joe Dolan's been railing on Penn State's quarterback for years. Wes Heuber said, hey, listen, you're too low on Jahan Dotson.

His quarterback play was terrible. And he was right. And I moved him up because of it. And you could read my article. I talk about this in the article. And I guess it sort of matters now because Carson Wentz isn't the most accurate quarterback. But this is a really fun press conference. And, you know, Ron Rivera was very forthcoming. He really told us a lot. He said, Dotson reminds him a little bit of Deshawn Jackson and a little bit of Steve Smith. And that's high praise. He says, we expect to put him on the football field an awful lot in year one. It was important to us to get a guy that's ready to play right away. This was a guy we had rated highly in the first round. We were getting some offers to trade back.

but Jahan was just too valuable to pass up. They asked, what was it that makes you think he was such a good fit for the offense? That was something he said. And he said, his interior route running is one thing more so than anything else. And then he was like, well, you know, you could play every position. But really, you know, we envision him in the slot. And that was a question for me because really low BMI, great catch radius, good at contested catches, really good speed.

But just, you know, really skinny, which made me think you might have trouble getting off of press coverage. So it's good to know that they have a clearly defined role for him. And that's going to be in a slot. It's, you know, great for him, racking up those valuable PPRs. I came away much higher on Jahan Dodson

after this press conference. Really flirted with the idea of putting him ahead of Traylon Burks, who's someone who just in the back of my mind, is like fallen for me, although, you know, he fell to the nuts landing spot. So I couldn't do that. But just in terms of talent and fit, really feeling good about Jahan Dotson. And next up was Traylon Burks with the Titans, who, you know, seems to be replacing A.J. Brown. And that's what he told reporters.

He said he always looked up to A.J. Brown, watched his tape, tried to model some of his game after him. Lance E.Lierline comped him to A.J. Brown said he was A. Brown with more wiggle, which is obviously high praise. This is a funny press conference, though. They brought Berks up onto the stage for it, which I was like, all right, that's sort of cowardly. You know, you're bringing the rookie up there to use as a human shield to deflect you away from warranted criticism regarding the horrific A.J. Brown trade. But I was glad he did it. I really liked Burks.

I really liked his personality. They were really forthcoming. He was insanely honest, insanely accountable. He talked about how their first meeting at the Combine went really poorly. It was he just wasn't being honest and he wasn't being himself. He was trying to be something he wasn't. And again, wasn't being honest with them. And they knew it.

And you only have 16 minutes in those interviews. And so they invited him out to Tennessee. and as soon as he got there, he just immediately was like, thank you so much for giving me the second chance. I screwed up that interview. I wasn't being honest. And I'm ready to show you the real me. Thank you so much for giving me a second chance.

I sort of got goosebumps over it. And yeah, he praised him for his personality. Of course, he talked about hunting feral hogs and things like that. Mike Vrable said, yeah, you know, we watched some tape together. And I showed him some ugly clips. And I was like, what happened here? it seems like you're given a half-ass effort. And he was like, you know what?

Coach, you're right. I was. I'm sorry. I need to do better and I will do better. And just like, again, like really, really adorable kid. Really, really liked this kid. As far as anything else, the reporters weren't easy on them. It was interesting.

A lot of the narratives I've been hammering throughout the offseason. The reporters have done a good job of following up on those. He asked Birx about all of the manufactured touch. is and living in the slot, beating up on linebackers and safety, things like that. It wasn't a great response to that, but just interesting that he at least asked it. The biggest takeaway for me was that he told reporters that he knew he was going to go to Tennessee. His high school coach called him in the morning before the draft and said, hey, Tennessee is going to come up and get you. So, wow, yeah, this was clearly their guy the whole time. So,

Tennessee really high on Trayland Burke's potential A.J. Brown replacement. I think he's super raw, so I wonder how effective he can be in year one, but certainly, you know, all the opportunity in the world, all those vacated targets, Julio Jones gone, A.J. Brown gone. We'll see. I mean, I'm probably going to be a lot lower on him than the community, just due to how, you know, the talent and how NFL ready he is, but certainly an ideal landing spot. The Kenny Pickett Presser wasn't too interesting. He said things like high floor, pro-ready. They confirmed he's going to be given the opportunity to compete for a starting job.

They said they didn't necessarily view this position as a need, but at the end of the day, quarterback is the most valuable position in football. They did twice say they felt he had underrated mobility. I don't know about that, especially from a fantasy Konami standpoint, but maybe maneuvering the pocket, avoiding pressure, things like that. The Christian Watson pick is the next one we'll talk about. Green Bay traded up for him at the start of round two. Guadi, Brian Gutikounst said, yeah, we really did feel we had to go there and get him. We liked him a lot, obviously.

He talked about his athleticism, the rare traits, the size speed combo he offers, but also, of course, admitting, you know, yeah, he's still pretty raw. He still has some areas to improve. He didn't, you know, think his hands were an issue. I disagree. Or his physicality, again, I sort of disagree. but yeah, just another wide receiver falling into a dream landing spot. I really liked this kid. I think he has immense upside.

He's one of the top 20 most athletic wide receivers to come out since 2000. And massive upside in a perfect landing spot. So that's a guy I'm going to be really gravitating towards in rookie drafts. But I mean, everyone is. Everyone is. Next up, Kenneth Walker. There wasn't really a lot here. Some of these pressers are better than others, and we'll get to those.

But he said it wasn't necessarily they were targeting the position, but they just had him really highly rated on their board. But he did acknowledge that there's some uncertainty with the running back room. He didn't say it, but obviously Rashad Penny has struggled to stay healthy, struggled to handle a more robust workload, except for the tail end of last season. And he said with Chris Carter, coming off neck surgery. I said this twice.

Yeah, unfortunately, we don't have any updates yet on Chris. We won't know for some time. So we can't predict that yet. Really getting the vibe, Chris Carson might not ever play football again. Probably very likely to miss a lot, all, most of training camp. And then just the point I like, the GM, John Schneider made a point to say he felt, Walker was very underutilized in the receiving game. I think he can catch the ball.

So, you know, that doesn't really mean anything, but it's encouraging at the very least. Next up is Juan Dale Robinson to my beloved New York Giants in round two. This was a player I was really high on. I did a, we did a giveaway, a free subscription to whoever correctly predicted my three favorite projected day three wide receivers. And the correct answer is were Juan Dale Robinson, Tyquan Thornton, and Justin Ross, obviously Ross didn't get drafted due entirely to medicals. And he might not play in football. You know, the commissioner might say, hey, you know,

no one draft this guy. We don't want to run the risk of, you know, a lawsuit or the optics or just the morality of what would happen if he took a hit the wrong way. And that triggered serious issues with the surgery he underwent. Yeah. And so it was funny, Juan Dale Robinson and Tyquan Thornton both went in round two, which was much earlier than anyone expected. And so this was a good press conference. This was an interesting one. Robinson said he modeled his game after Percy Harvin,

who he watched growing up and then Cooper Cup this past year, you know, with the Rams coach running that offense. The GM said, yeah, he's a generator with the ball in his hands. He's great after the catch. Really good route runner. He can separate, really good fit for what we're trying to do offensively. They didn't really follow up on that, though. the reporters didn't be asked you know well doesn't he have a similar skill set to cadarius and the

GM was like yeah but is that a bad thing I don't think so they really liked him they were really anxious to get him someone asked about his height which was the big issue with him he's 5 8 you know since something like 2004 there's only been one wide receiver his height or smaller to have multiple seasons with 650 receiving yards, and that was Cole Beasley. And so the coach said, well, you know, I've coached a lot of smaller guys. Dion Branch was a Super Bowl MVP, Isaiah McKenzie last year. And a GM chimed in with a smirk, Smirk, Wes Welker. And it was just like this weird exchange.

The head coach didn't answer it. But Daible then said, your job is receiver to get open and catch the ball, however that may be some guys are quicker, faster, bigger, bigger, but all that matters is if they can get open and catch the ball, and we think this guy could do that. But the Welker thing was just interesting. It was like, was he given away a secret? And Brian Davel was, you know, didn't want him to throw that comp out. It was just like a sort of weird exchange that might have been easy to miss. The asked, do you think he'd be slot only or can he be outside to the coach said, I think he can do both. I think he can play inside.

and he's strong and fast enough despite his height to contribute on the outside. Really, we're just trying to get as many generating pieces to create space, to stretch the field, whether vertically or horizontally, and contribute via run after the catch, which is a really important aspect of it. We kept saying very clear vision for the player, but beside what I already said, they didn't really say anything. Luckily, he did ask Juan Dale and interview the reporters, how he thought he would be used.

And he said a little bit of everything, running back receiver, being all over the field, being a versatile guy. That's what I have to offer. Only concern there is that, you know, he's not going to be a true slot-wide receiver, PPR cheap code. He's going to be one of those positionless gadget type stuck in no man's land.

But, I mean, then again, Cordrell Patterson and Debo Samuel smashed in that role for fantasy last year. But typically there's not too many of those. The other interesting thing to mention is that the asses about Cadarius, the GM said we're not shopping Cadarius, but he wouldn't say we're not going to trade Cadarius. But the coach said Cadarius had a good week. They saw him. He'd jump right in. He was chugging along.

So I guess he was back at voluntary OTAs and he looked good. Next up is John Mechie, went to the Houston Texans. Nick Casario said he was a player that I would say we liked probably as much as any player in this draft. And, you know, that got me excited, but then especially given the fact that they gave up a haul for this pick, around three and two fours, after trading back with Philly and picking up around four and two fives a little before that. But he said it wasn't about METI. It was more about pockets of players, clusters of players. So it's hard to do. gauge how much they really liked him. But I mean, they did take him over George Pickens and a few

other notable names. He said they're not going to rush him back on the ACL. He said, no, no, no, we're not putting a timetable on it. We're not rushing him back. Metschi himself predicted July, but he, you know, Casario was like, no, no, no, we want to play it safe, which is smart. You know, you're not a very competitive team. In fact, it's probably in your best interest to finish dead last and get the top quarterback of next year's draft. So I do think he's going to be true to his word. And Metchy's, they're really going to take it easy on him in his rookie season. One interesting quote was that he said, some of the things that he and Derek Stingley,

Jr. played with, no normal people would do that. And they're talking about their injuries. And so that was a big thing on Stingley is that his play dropped off from his freshman season, but he was playing through serious injury. And then METCHI was seriously hurt at the start of last season. And you see that in the numbers through the first like five games. He averages 55 yards per game. And then over the final eight or whatever it is, 110 yards per game.

And the year before that, he played 30% of the season with a very serious injury that caused him to miss all of practice for 30% of the season. I forget what the injury was. it's in my article, quad or something like that. But that's what really sold me on METCHI when I was doing this write-up was that, you know, making, he looks good. And then he makes the injury adjustments and he looks great. And, you know, people forget before Jalen Waddle's injury, when it was Devontas

Smith, Jailen Waddle, John Metchy, Metchie was really holding his own. His numbers were comparable to Devontas Smith on way fewer targets. So an interesting guy. I liked him a little bit more than consensus, and it seems the NFL did too. And we can say the same about my guy, Tyquan Thornton, who ran what was maybe the fastest 10-yard split ever. It's the fastest in my database. I, like, did digging online and the only other mentions of a faster 10-cone split. And it was only barely faster.

It was like 0.01. It was Chris Johnson. But that's more of an urban legend than a very very big. verified time. And I kept trying to find knocks on him because my model loved him. Fletus is a model loved him. I loved him on tape. Greg, Cassell loved him on tape. I kept looking for knocks. And it was funny, like, the knocks on him were so lame. It was like, is the thinnest wrists in the class. Like, I just don't care about that. Like, he's fast as hell. He can separate. he's competitive. He can make contested catches. He's tall.

So just thought that was funny. And hey, you know, smartest coach in NFL history agrees with me. But this was sort of a weird press conference just because Matt Groh, the Casario replacement, gives off weird Zuckerberg lizard person vibes. he just, you know, blinked like five times per second for a full three minutes at one point without speaking. He just like looks weird. Not to dump on this guy. But yeah. And so they kept asking about Thornton and what did you like in him?

And it sadly reminded me of the rugs presser where he was just like, well, you want to get faster. You take fast guys. and I don't know how many guys out there are as fast as this guy. Let me tell you he's fast. One thing this guy does well is he's fast and, oh, did I mention he's fast? And it's just like, is that the only reason why you took him? I mean, that was sort of factored into my love of him as, you know, NFL teams overdraft speed guys.

But it was just like a little disappointing and I'm sort of worried. He's just their new Chris Hogan or Philip Dorset where he's just running go routes all day. and he's not being targeted. But I mean, yeah, from an NFL perspective, it helps the offense. You know, it dictates coverage like we were talking about with Jameson Williams. This guy was just maybe a discount Jameson Williams. I'm optimistic there's more there. But, you know, just you would have hoped a little bit more.

But, of course, New England pressers notoriously give you nothing. And to be fair, they did press him. They were like, well, was it just the speed? And it was like, oh, no, no, no, his release is phenomenal. He's not just a linear guy. He knows how to get off the line. He's phenomenal in the red zone. He's 6-2.

He has the ability to get up and pluck the ball out of the air. He plays with some physicality. So, you know, wasn't terrible. And, of course, you know, he has draft capital now to back him up. So New England's invested in his success. Although, of course, you know, New England doesn't have the best track record with drafting wide receivers. But you know which franchise does. that's the Pittsburgh Steelers who took George Pickens.

Greg Cassell's wide receiver won in this class, who fell, we heavily suspect, due to off-the-field issues, not due to talent. The offensive coordinator Matt Canada told us that when the scouting staff finished up their process last year, they thought he was the best wide receiver in the class, and then, of course, you know, he was hurt basically all of last year. He asked how he fits into this. offense. He said they were kind of like noncommittal and evasive. He said he could play inside or out. They think really highly of Deonté, Chase, and Pat. Now he gives us great versatility in our

offense and allows people to decide who they want to double because you can't double them all. My guess would be Deontay play slot, which I think would be sick for fantasy. But we just don't really know. And the only other thing I'll mention is like they seem super high on Pat Fryermuth. They went out of their way to talk them up a little bit more than some of the other guys. Just like really excited about what he was able to do last year as a rookie. So it's rare for rookies to, rookie tight ends to be as productive as he is. So I really don't blame them. Next up is Alec Pierce, who went to the Colts also in round two. And he was interesting to me. So Athletis as a model loved him. He has really underrated upside, really a freak athlete with ideal size. And then the production

model didn't love him. In fact, like the production, you know, profile really didn't look great. You factor in, he has a day two quarterback and minimal target competition and really just the numbers don't jump off, even if you adjust for the fact that it's a super run heavy offense. And then I turn on the tape. And man, I love it. I love it. The tape. Insane explosion off the line. Really rare explosion and burst off the line. And underrated in the short to intermediate level. Every time he ran one of those routes and was targeted, he made the catch. And like 80% of the time he got the first down. And he just like didn't do that a lot. It's weird given how insanely successful and efficient it was. But he just didn't get too many of those. But I really like him. I like his upside. Now he is draft capital to back it up.

Frank Reich was super excited when they announced the pick. And the wide receiver coach, all-time great Reggie Wayne was even more excited, so pleased with themselves. I think he is a legitimate chance to just be the team's wide receiver too when he steps out on the field. Although this guy is raw, he's sort of like a discount Christian Watson. Frank Reich likes him best on the outside. Chris Ballard said, you know, we really like that he adds some explosive ability to our offense. Again, he's very fast, great on the deep ball.

A high percentage of his yards came on the go route last season. Ballard said, really good size, really good vertical speed. He's got work to do, but I mean like any rookie wide receiver to come into the league, but I think he has a chance to run. really assent. And both Alec Pierce and the front office talked about him being wrong in some areas, specifically that he needs to clean up his route running, which most receivers need to work on anyway. But he really like his upside. They really like that he can run and get behind people. Pierce, the interviewed, and he said the same thing, I need to be a better route runner,

work on technique, get cleaner in and out of my brakes, crisper in my cuts to get me more separation. But like I said, I watched the tape. I was really surprised. He got really good separation. Truthfully, I think I liked him more as a deep threat than I like George Pickens. And again, I really like the underneath stuff I saw with Alec Pierce, who Greg Cassell said he thought was a better prospect than Drake London. But again, he had George Pickens' wide receiver won. And he wasn't very high on Drake London.

And next up is Jelani Woods, tight end, Colts. He went round three. He wasn't the next player off the board, but just, you know, it's the same press conference. He said he's really unique. He told the GM, Chris Ballard, told reporters, he was like, I'm not going to lie to you. I sweated it out. I was worried. But they think he has really big upside.

That's a direct quote. He's got really big upside, both as receiving tight end and as a blocker. They think he's going to be able to block. He's just a very unique athlete, and he's a guy who was always open on the film. And this is a kid who can really run. So really exciting upside with Jolani Woods, basically like a rich man's Moe Alley Cox sort of thing. We know the coach loves tight ends and keeping them involved in the passing game. And so hopefully it's not going to be like the tight end committee situation we've seen for so long in Indian.

Maybe like he's just the guy. My comp for him was Albert O2.0 in the best way possible. Or maybe like a slightly richer man's Albert O. And just a freak athlete, probably the number one freak athlete tight end in this class. And, you know, an all-time freak. And the tight-end position, athleticism matters far more, so much more than for wide receivers and running back. So really good upside with him. I mean, I don't expect too much in year one, I don't think, but down the road, really excited.

Next up is Sky Moore, who went to Kansas City at Pick 54. So Kansas City held Pick 50, and they traded down to 54. New England with that pick, pick 50 that they traded up for Tycoon Thornton. And then Pickens went off two picks later, and Alec Pierce, the pick after that. And then it was Sky Moore with the Chiefs. And more was a guy I sort of got a lot of heat for it. It had him supposedly too low. Talked to some people who had him wide receiver four and like that high.

I don't wide receiver 10 and honestly could have talked myself into pushing him to wide receiver 12. It seems the NFL agreed with me. He went wide receiver 14, I think, off the board. But I mean, this is now just such a nuts landing spot that I'm going to end up moving him above where I had him. probably wide receiver 10 to wide receiver 9, so not too high. But just didn't really love the talent as much as everyone else did. Didn't think the production profile was that great. Didn't love the tape.

But he is a high-level athlete despite his size. It wasn't much from this press conference. They asked about trading down and then the run on wide receivers. And he said, yeah, you know, there was a pocket of wideouts that we liked. And we had a couple of players really close. So we got a guy in Moore that we would have taken there at 50. But I don't know that it means that that was who they had as the top wide receiver the whole time. It could have been that the guy that he wanted ended up falling to them.

And that's great. It also could have been that, you know, maybe it would have been Alec Pierce if he and Moore both were still on the board. It wasn't really too much else besides that. Andy Reid said a unique player, tough kid, not the tallest, but long arms, biggest hands in the class, quick release, doesn't drop a pass. You think his game's going to translate to the NFL immediately. He said Patrick Mahomes is happy with the pick. He thinks he plays big enough despite his size that you could play him inside or outside.

He talked about the other receivers. He said, well, we like MVS who offers rare size and speed. Nicole, who offers speed, Juju, who has size. And you just want to add the best players who can contribute right away, and Sky is one of those guys. So, you know, a lot of his dynasty valuation has to do with not just this landing spot, but, you know, contributing year one because of this landing spot that's devoid of high level wide out talents. And so, yeah, this is exactly what you want to hear. You know, they want to see him on the field year one. He's going to have to compete with those other three names, but they want him to contribute.

So we'll see. Again, he'll be my wide receiver nine, but I certainly don't like him as much as the rest of the industry seems to. Honestly, I could talk myself into Alec Pierce above him. I'm not going to do that, but I could. Next up, Trey McBride, who goes the exactly one pick after to the Arizona Cardinals. Love the player. Obviously, don't love the landing spot.

Ertz there. He's going to be there maximum of two years, I think, just looking at the contract. But there is a chance that he get rid of him after this year. The contract allows for that in terms of dead money. But they took him really because this was just the highest player on their board by far. He had really high grades on him. They were asked why did you take a tight end? and Steve Kime, the GM, said he had the highest grade, by far the highest grade. When they called him to tell him he was going to be an Arizona Cardinal, he said, we did not think we had any chance to get you. That's what Cliff Kingsbury told him.

He said, we're excited to get you. So get ready to play. There ain't no red shirt now. Me to get you in there now as a weapon. So, hey, you know, maybe they're going to run some more 12-per-year. personnel. I don't know. Maybe that doesn't mean anything, but just thought it was interesting enough to note. He said he can do it all. He can flex. He can play in line. He can motion. He can play out of the backfield. He has tremendous hands. Great catch radius, really strong in a crowd.

But he did make mention of how hyperproductive he was and they do seem to view him as a past catching tight end. Seems like they'll give him a chance to develop and learn behind Zach Ertz. their other tight end, more of a blocker, Max Williams, he's injured. He says there, he said there's no timetable on him yet. So, uh, we'll see with that. Next up James Cook, who I thought was one of the surprising picks. The bills took at the tail end of round two, pick 63, pick 65 was, was round three. The GM was quoted as saying, he's kind of like a wide receiver in a way. You know, we didn't get J.D. McKissick and Free Agency.

We wanted J.D. McKissick. We didn't get him. But this is a guy who really stood out to us with the ball in his hands. You can split him out. You can run routes similar to a receiver. He's also a good guy to hand the ball off too. And he'll have to learn a little bit more about the pro game protection-wise. That's probably the biggest hurdle for him being able to protect. And then asked how he fits in the running back room.

He said he would compete. We see his best skill set as a subback. So like a scatback. But we think he can handle carries too if you want to give him some more carries. We really liked his skill set similar to the one we saw with McKissick. Really good hands, really instinctive in the past game. Sort of has the natural feel of a slot wide receiver. Now that doesn't mean they're going to play.

playing in the slop, just that, like, you know, rare route running for a running back that's almost like a slot-wide receiver. You really like his speed. And yeah, I mean, I'm not going to be as high on James Cook as everyone else is. In fact, I'm going to have him ranked tightly in line, same tier as Rashad White and Brian Robinson. And my big issue with James Cook was always, I don't trust his Belkow upside. And I mean, if they view him as Jady McKissick, like, what is Jady McKissick worth in fantasy? Like, just about nothing. So I'm not saying he's not valuable, but he's just not the type of running back guy

tend to value. And I think the industry is going to overvalue him a little bit. A guy the industry is not going to value at all. And maybe he shouldn't is Vialis Jones Jr., who I think was a freshman. when Sean McVeigh was a senior. He's just like insanely old. He was on that USC team with Drake London, Michael Pittman,

Amundra, St. Brown, and I think he finished ninth in receiving yards, despite being a senior. This is a weird, interesting presser. They really like him with the ball in his hands. The offensive coordinator and special teams coach were insanely happy. They had a clear vision for him. and it's exciting one.

Again, explosive playmaker helps in different areas. One quote I have is not going to compare him to Debo, but he sort of has that versatility, backfield, special teams, inside wide receiver, outside wide receiver. He asked what the offensive coordinator's vision for him was. And he was like, well, we could put him in different areas, the backfield, the slot. And oh, boy, you know, you motion that guy around. That's such a pain for defense. is to prepare for every single week.

And to me, it just seems like, all right, they drafted a punt returner who might also get some snaps on the field as like an annoying positionless gadget guy. Industry is going to be low on this kid, and I'm going to be pretty well on this kid. But hey, you never know. Maybe he's Cordarell or Devo 2.0. He's a freak athlete, but obviously I'm not optimistic.

and a guy who stayed in school for six years and didn't really do anything. Next up is Desmond Ritter to Atlanta, but I'm actually going to skip all the quarterbacks. There just really wasn't anything meaningful from those press conferences. So we'll move on to Greg Dulcich to Denver at Pick 80. When I asked why they took him, they said, it was easy. Best player on our board, we were looking at him all day. one of their scouts said really love him because he's a complete tight end we love his ability to stretch the field big catch radius soft hands big easy target for us especially with our scheme

and what we're going to be doing this upcoming year and that's something he kept hitting at he kept hyping up him as a deep threat his ability to get vertical and how that's sort of rare for a tight end you really see that in the stats I wrote about that. that. But they kept saying, yeah, they really value tight ends in this offense. Their offensive coordinator, Justin Uten, or Atten, he's Green Bay's former tight ends coach. He said, very excited to have him. As you know, the tight end position is very near and dear to my heart. Coach Hackett, when he was on the phone with Dulcich, he said, we can't wait to get you here and throw you the ball a whole bunch, this quarterback, all he's been telling me is how he wants to keep throwing to tight ends over

and over again. And so I wonder if this is going to be like a heavy 12 personnel offense. I wonder if they are going to get their tight ends heavily involved in the passing game. Obviously with Russell Wilson there now, this is a very valuable and exciting offense and passing attack for fantasy. But I mean, if you have two tight ends and you got Sutton and you got Judy and Tim Patrick, that's a lot of mouths to feed where it could be something of a headache for players in typical start sit leagues. And then Jalen Tolbert went to Dallas a little bit later. Ole Miss took pass rusher Sam Williams with the pick prior in the second, but they said

the Cowboys were seriously considering taking Tolbert in the second round, and then they got lucky and he fell to them in the third round. Dak Prescott called him earlier in the process, you know, before the draft. And those two really connected Prescott said he really likes him. And then we have Ty Davis Price and sorry about that. Ben, if you hear this, can you edit that out? And then we have Ty Davis Price, the running back to the 49ers at Pick 93. and then with pick 105, still in round three, the last pick of round three,

they took Danny Gray, the speedy SMU wide receiver. When asked why they took Ty Davis Price, whether it was a position or need or just the highest player on their board, he said, well, we thought we needed a running back. And then they expanded on it a little bit later. At the time, we just thought he was a tremendous fit for exactly what we are looking for. I think a great compliment to Elijah. Dot, dot, dot. So, you know, I'm seeing this as a sort of one-two punch.

But then he was quick to add, oh, and I think we envision a great role for Trace Sermon going forward for Jeff Wilson. That was Kyle Shanahan. So, yeah, again, I think they're hoping he's, you know, it's a one-two punch with with him and Elijah, Elijah being the lead back, the one. They wanted to add some depth, obviously. The running backs haven't been able to stay healthy. And Trey Sermon's probably dust. I mean, we'll see, but I think he's probably dust. And Ty Davis-Price was interviewed. He asked how he envisions his role in the offense. And he said, well, pretty much

just going in and helping Elijah, making a one-two punch and dominating. So he kind of confirmed that, you know, these guys, they'll talk to the coaches. And then coaches will say, you know, how we plan on using you. And Danny Gray, the wide receiver, was asked the same question. And he said, I don't really have a role yet. But whatever it is, I'm happy to contribute, whatever. But yes, apparently they told him, I mean, maybe not. Maybe this is just speculation.

But maybe he doesn't have a role yet. They really like his speed. They talk about how he won the 100 meter in Texas and high school as a sophomore. And just to clarify the pick, he said, Kyle Shanan. This wasn't at all a position we had to go do, but when you look at there in the third round, you look at the speed asset this guy has that brings something different to the rest of our guys. That's one of the reasons it was important for us to have Travis Benjamin last year. He was our main speed guy that didn't get a lot of balls or anything, but he did things to help

coverages out. And if we could find a guy like that at the right spot, we thought it was good to add him. So you're seeing a trend here with first James William's and then with Tyquan Thornton and now Danny Gray where it's yeah maybe these guys aren't super productive for fantasy but they're a little bit more valuable to their NFL teams just their mere presence on the field you know not in terms of actually getting getting balls and then a really exciting pick really early in round four oh I'm sorry this is this is still round three I went out of order here Rashad White, yeah, he went pick 91. So he went before Ty Davis Price, before Brian Robinson, before David Bell, before Jeremy

Rucker, before Danny Gray, who all ran round three. Sorry for not doing that in order. And he went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is a player I was really high on. Obviously, great fit, not for year one, but, you know, if they move on from Leder-Frenet, maybe he's their bell cow. And if Tom Brady plays till he's 60, you know, know, Rashad White could be a really valuable dynasty asset.

The ask why they made the pick. GM James Licked, Light, sorry, James Light, said, well, truly this one, we went with the best player on the board. I think when you get in round three, you go with the best player. This one truly was the best player. All right. And so why'd he take him? I said, well, a big reason why we liked him, why we took him where we did is his past

catching abilities. He's very involved in that offense in the passing game, great hands. It's very important to him. Takes a lot of pride in that. There's a lot of backs that are two-down backs. But when you have a three-down back, you put him a little bit higher on your board for us, especially in our offense. I think he has a big, I think he has a chance to be a really big asset for us in that regard.

Also likes him as a runner, very smooth, more of a slasher, outside runner, great vision, great patience. So it wasn't just his past catching upside. It's not that he's a scatback. Again, he said it's a three down back. And you put those guys a little bit higher on your board. And that's exactly what I do. That's exactly what my model does.

You want bel cow running backs. You know, scatbacks are not worth much. Early down, two down, running backs, workhorses, nowhere near as valuable as running backs getting both carries and targets. And so Rashad White has that Belcal upside. They're high on him for that reason. I'm high on him for that reason. Really like him.

He's a really good pass blocker, he said, has the willingness. It's sort of a lost art in college, running backs working on pass blocking. This is what Light said. But he has the willingness to do it, the smartness to do it, wants to work on it. He has the passion. And so, yeah, that shouldn't be something that holds him back. Obviously, you know, Leonard Fernett in front of him is going to hold him back. but if he were to go down, I think he, I'll have him on every single one of my DFS lineos because

that's how he profiles as a, as a, as a, as a, as a, as a, as a, as a, as a, as a, as a, Ronk and James Light said they're just going to give him all the time he needs to make that decision. So it doesn't seem like there's any clarity there. Although I know Tampa Bay recently moved some money around, maybe that's for Indomacan Siu could also be for Rob Grancowski. Brian Robinson, pick number 98, Washington Commanders, this is still round three. So that's pretty good draft capital. This is my RB3 pre-draft. he'll be my RB4 post-draft, maybe RB5. Yeah, sorry, RB5 post-draft.

But I mean, I think this was a pretty good landing spot. You know, it's certainly not ideal for Belkow upside, but just compared to all the running backs coming after him, he's going to get touches year one. I think the biggest takeaway is that Antonio Gibson, his dynasty value has fallen off of a cliff. and we were warned about this. Adam Kaplan told us about this.

The team was souring on him. The team wanted badly another running back, in addition to JD McKissick. He didn't want to lose McKissick. Ron Rivera said this was a position that he did want to add via the draft. It was a player they like, but also a position of need. He was asked, is this a one, two, three situation, or could it be a hot hand? And he said, I think it's a mixture of both.

He said Gibson probably isn't going to get 20 carries like he was, but we really like Robinson, the physicality, the different nature that he brings to this offense. He has a certain physicality, whereas Gibson's going to be, he's a different mold. He's the slasher style with deceptive speed and they complement each other nicely. And then we have J.D. McKissick in the passing game. So we have a trifecta of guys. And Rivera said throughout my career, I've had a lot of good running back combos, and now we have another good one. This is a full-on three-way running back by committee situation. And if I had a guess, I'd say

Jading McKissick leads all of them in Fantasy Points scored, and I'm not going to be drafting any one of these guys. If you own Gibson and Dynasty, it's probably too late to sell. And I don't know, You just hope he works on his vision. That was the big issue, why the team soured on him. And maybe some team down the road will remember he was a wide receiver in college and turn him into a bell cow. But, yeah, not looking pretty right now. One player, things are looking pretty good. It's David Bell.

I struggled with where to rank him just because my production model really liked him. He went, picked 99 in round three to the Cleveland Browns. So, yeah, production model really liked him, though not as much as a lot of the other models from people within the industry. And then the athleticism model really disliked him. And so what I wrote up in my article was just that, okay, this is a red flag, but it's not if an NFL team wants to move him to the side. slot. He spent like 95% of his time in college out wide, but it's certainly possible an NFL team

views him differently and wants to move into the slot. Again, I would because athleticism is generally overrated at the wide receiver position. But when you get to the slot, it's like probably has a negative correlation. So really just like route running prowess matters so much more than athleticism there. You can look at Hunter Renfro, Cooper Cup, Charvis Landry. A lot of guys who not very athletic by my metric sports score, but they get it done for fantasy. And that's what happened here. The GM, Andrew Berry, was like, yeah, well, he fell because he ran bad at the Combiner Pro Day.

But he has some of the best hands in the class, very savvy as a route runner, very nuanced and polished, and the ability to separate. we think he can play inside and outside, but we really believe homemaker's living for us in the slot with his size and his savvy in his hands. So, you know, maybe not ideal draft capital for some of the people who had him a lot higher. This is, you know, sort of in line with where I had him. But I'm moving him up just because this is a great fit. Cleveland said exactly what we were hoping for.

They view him as he should view him, a slot wide receiver. That's perfect for him. And he has Deshawn Watson as his quarterback and not much target competition besides Mari Cooper. So really exciting. And now moving into day three. But the second pick of day three, first pick was KDOTN to the Buccaneers. Nothing really of note there. They didn't really talk about Bronch too much.

They said they just view them as an inline tight end, which, you know, you typically want, instead of a Y, a flex tight end for fantasy, just, you know, you really want to hear a lot of praise with regard to your past catching abilities, I guess more of a blocker. But they said they don't know the status of Rob Grancowski, so it makes sense to add some depth at that position. But the pick after was Damien Pierce to the Texans. And this was a player I kept going back and forth on. So my production model did not like him, not at all.

But when I play around with my model, I make arguments and I look at different things. And one thing Lance Zeerline said was it was a fireable offense from the Florida coaching staff that he didn't have at least twice as many touches. And so I played around with that. I was like, well, what if that was true? It was true for Alvin Kumar in Tennessee. So I just doubled his touches, doubled his production. And he would have jumped all the way to RB3. So I liked that upside when I did my final rankings.

I factored that in with my ranking on him. otherwise you'd have ranked like, you know, 18th or something like that. So I factored that in, insanely hyper-efficient or per-touch basis as both a runner and a receiver, yards after contact, this tackles forced, touchdowns. But obviously, yeah, you know, the lack of touch is a concern. That coaching staff did get fired, though, to lands earlines credit. But again, yeah, so really like that upside. another concern, so I was forgetting, is he ran one of the worst three cones ever,

which is not good. I do think I was a little too high on him, certainly by draft capital. It seems I was a little too high on him. But he sort of made up for it with the dream landing spot to Houston. You know, like really not much competition there. So that got me excited. The press conference, a little less exciting. You know, it's Nick Casario, so, you know, he doesn't really give you too much.

He comes from the Belichick school where it's just like, well, we'll see what he can do on special teams. You know, year one, he's a rookie. He has to learn the playbook. So, you know, they're typically not as optimistic on rookies as other GMs and front office personnel. But here's my takeaway from that. So unprompted, he did bring up the lack of touches. He said, well, he kind of played a little bit of a rotation there at Florida this year. So he had him and another back.

He rotated in. what's the reason again that's ultimately up to the coaching staff for them to determine how they want to deploy their players but you're talking about a guy that's 5-9-217 pounds that's built strong lower the ground good contact balance good lower body strength good lateral quickness lacks top-end speed but has decent hands so it seemed like he didn't really know the reason he just he agreed that it's a question you know it's like sort of a concern that you know Although he was so much more efficient, a similar amount of touches to the other running back. When I had Jim Nagy on the podcast, maybe I'm reading too far in between the lines,

but he kind of hinted, I think, that there is often the situation where, you know, you have one guy, maybe Damien Pierce, who's a team player, and then another running back who's maybe not and, like, threatens to transfer at the end of the year if he's not getting his touches. but that's a little conspiratorial. So who knows? At least Casario, it seemed, it just agreed it was a question and didn't provide an answer. And then he talked about him on special teams,

which you don't love to hear. He said his mindset and skill set potentially projects to a role in the kicking game. So we talked about a player trying to create multiple roles for themselves on a roster. So I'd say in Damien's situation, I think we'll have an opportunity. I don't think this is going to be all about offense

and who is going to carry the ball, and is he going to be a lead runner? That's a bunch of BS. I think he has to earn his opportunity on the team and create a role for himself, and I think his ability to potentially play on four downs is probably what's more important than any particular thing about how many yards he's going to run for in early downs. And then here's the last quote. It doesn't get much better. Casario said, we have a lot of good backs in this building, and I would say he is a part of that

group. but I wouldn't say he is any better than the guys that we have in the building. We'll let the competition kind of play itself out and see what happens. Again, you know, comes from New England, so take it with a grain of salt. But yeah, I mean, it seems like they drafted some running back depth, guy with some upside, who they envision immediately, maybe not the most important thing, but it could be, is playing on special teams. So initially I was really depressed.

He didn't go in day two. And then I was really excited when he landed with the Texans. And now I'm a little less excited. Next up, Daniel Bellinger to the Giants. Really interesting guy. He is another hyper athletic tight end. By sports score, he was the number one tight end. I mean, I think Jolani Woods is more athletic, but he just didn't participate in some of the events

that are predictive at the combine. He did that at his pro day, and then if you factor that, he's more athletic, but just like officially, Ballinger's more athletic by sports score. And he played at the Senior Bowl, but still very, very athletic,

like 90th percentile. He was at the Senior Bowl, and he was actually voted the top tight end on his team by the opposing linebackers. That was above Greg Dulcich. That was above Isaiah likely. Danny Kelly, his conference, for him was Dawson Knox, like his upside comp. And I like that a lot because Knox is another guy

who didn't see a lot of targets in college, sort of like Jeremy Rucker, where he was playing on a stacked team with a bunch of elite NFL wide receivers. And so it was just a gamble on athleticism. And I think that's what the Giants did here. They echoed what I've been saying for a long time, which is for past catching tight ends, really athleticism is so important. Speed score is the big one. And the GM said, size speed, athleticism, that's why we took him, should help on special teams, a guy we liked throughout the whole process. I'm summarizing and paraphrasing, but yeah, again, so just, you know, they saw the traits, the size speed and athleticism, and they hope he can be a little bit more than that. But yeah, he would be a valuable dynasty piece in tight end premium leagues because

he has that athleticism and he is more of a past catching back or at least that's how it seemed they were viewing him. And then the Ravens did something weird. They took two tight ends, Charlie Kohler and Isaiah likely. And those are two tight ends I really liked. I think that was my tight end three and tight end six pre-draft. Likely, he was my tight end three by the production model, but he fell because his combine was really bad. But I mean, insane amounts of production. And Peter King had a recent article where I guess he was in the room for the Baltimore

draft, or at least he'd spent some time interviewing them. And they really wanted Charlie Kohar. They said, yeah, we were really holding our breath, hoping he would fall to the Ravens. Harba confirmed their plan on carrying four tight ends. De Costa said he's a big target or receiving tight end who's willing to block. You can throw it up to him, great contested catch guy. But the bottom line is he's a big receiver. He's got a great catch radius, great box.

body control. He's good over the middle. He can catch it in every kind of direction. He makes big plays. He's very smart, very tough. Can be a really effective, big receiver for us in the middle of the field. Really good hands, fluid athlete, runs by people consistently. So I think that's the big takeaway is they view him as a past catching tight end, which is why I had him rank so highly. That's what you want in fantasy. Obviously, he's going to be buried. behind Mark Andrews. So there's not much fantasy upside for another, I don't know, three years until his contracts up. Unless they run more 12 personnel without Marquise Brown. Certainly a possibility, but I'm not getting my hopes up. And like I said, you know, he did fall. He did go behind some of

these other tight ends. So he's not going to rank too highly. Landing spot doesn't seem great, but at least these seem high on the player. And they do view him as a pass catching tight end. and who knows, maybe Mark Andrews goes down with injury, and then it's sort of like a Foster Moreau situation from last year where you'd have some big DFS week, so it's something to keep in mind. And then they took the punter, and then with their next pick,

Calvin Austin went right before them to the Steelers, and they really wanted Calvin Austin. And so they missed out in him, and they were bummed about that, and they took Isaiah likely, but they weren't super excited, to take likely. It seemed like De Costa had a sort of sell Harbaugh on it, or maybe it was vice versa. But Harbaugh was asked what he saw on the player, and he said, yeah, I think it was vice versa.

Harbaugh was asked what he saw on the player, and he said, very intriguing guy. I remember watching his tape early on. It was just like, man, this guy is making plays all the time. He lines up as receiver. He's catching the balls of wide receiver. He lines up a tight end, but you watch him, and it's not like an obvious position fit. He's just sort of a playmaker type guy. So I think he's really intriguing, and it's going to dot, dot, dot. We're excited about trying to figure out exactly where he fits, but he definitely fits as a playmaker. And so, yeah, I mean, this is sort of what I said in the production model.

This is what Mike Renner said a few times or said in his, draft guide is that insanely productive. Guy was a playmaker. He was, you know, dominant. But he's sort of a tweener, both his size, and then you factor in the athleticism. Remember, athleticism is super important at the tight end position, maybe less so in the slot for a wide receiver. And he is sort of, so it's like they kind of, I guess, just drafted him based on the numbers and based on the tape. And they'll have to try and figure out what to do about this guy later. But again, they weren't super high on him. And I don't think we should be for dynasty, especially, you know, Andrews is there. And then there's Colar. You know, who knows, maybe he could

play slot-wide receiver for them. But you'd have to beat out Devin Duvenet. So this is sort of a weird, complicated one. But it was a guy I liked, so I wanted to spend a little bit of time talking about him. And then what was interesting is DeCosta was a little upfront and honest about his assessment of the wide receiver class. He said he didn't think it was a great one, especially compared to some of the more recent years. He thought there were very good players at the top, but didn't really buy into the narrative that it was like a really special, especially deep class. though he did say that about the other positions due to COVID, which is something West Huber has been harping on. And then he talked about the other wide receivers.

Very excited about Bateman and DuVernay. He said that. We're very excited about Bateman and DuVernay. Dot to dot. Tylon Wallace, too. So maybe he's sort of an afterthought. But he said, Tyler Wallace last year,

he's a young player and we were really excited to get him last year. He's a guy we got in the fourth round. and we probably would have taken a round and a half earlier. So, I mean, at least that's interesting. Maybe he didn't really impress them in camp last year, but they did have really high grades on him. I'll do quick hits on the next three guys, and then we'll wrap it up.

Tyler Al Jir was another play I really liked. And again, I was disappointed by draft capital. I saw you went to the Falcons in round five, and it was like, oh, did I just get bailed out by a landing spot? This is a great landing spot. spot. But the GM, Terry Fontno, said, yeah, we're hoping he can contribute on first down, second down, third down, and fourth down, which is special teams. All right? Four down player. So basically the value he's going to bring is in the kicking game. So yeah, don't get your

hopes up on Tyler Algier, another day three special teams guy, running back depth. Isaiah Spiller is the last guy I'll talk about. So my production model wasn't high on him. My athleticism model was really low on him. I had him like RB7. I think industry consensus was RB3. And that's both like Dane Brugler, Lamzeerline, Daniel Jeremiah types, but also the fantasy community. I actually never even watched him on tape just because I talked to Graham.

he was like, oh, dude, he's, he's my RBA8. The community's way off on him. And clearly by draft capital, I think, I think Graham and I were proven correct. But the head coach said, did a lot of work on the running backs, felt he was a really good fit for what they're looking for, very complete runner, very easy transition to the pro game, good size, excellent pass protector. He was a three-down back in college. pro style offense. He never left the field. And there was a lot of production in the passing game. I think this is a complete back. We're excited to add him to this group and allow him to compete. What was interesting about this, too, was he mentioned the predictive value of mistack tackles forced that stat, which is something I've been talking about for like four years now.

It's just the single most predictive variable when analyzing college running back. and projecting them to the next level. So it's really cool to see he's analytically minded and correct on his analysis. But what's funny is that it's just not true. He didn't really pop by mistackles. Last year was his best year, and I think he finished like sixth in the class, maybe eighth, but in the Power Five. But really nothing else throughout his career.

otherwise did not pop analytically for me. It seems he was somewhat high on him, but I really don't see any valuable, I have any real value with Austin Echler there, probably just a handcuff. Hey, maybe he's their goal line back and vultures some touchdowns, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. And really, that's just about it. I hope you found this entertaining and valuable and not really boring. You know, I just spent the past 48 hours grinding post-draft press conferences.

And the good news is this is, what, just a little over an hour long. So I saved you a bunch of time and gave you the important bullet points. My final rankings are up. They're live on the site. You can check those out. And we have a bunch of a bunch more interesting, valuable draft content coming your way soon. And thanks for listening. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast.

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