Fantasy Football Today - 02/25: Best and Worst Offensive Lines; NFC South and West Team Needs (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: February 25, 2019

We know how important the offensive line is in the NFL and in Fantasy Football. We'll go through the best and worst offensive lines from 2018 (1:50) with some surprises and discuss what it could mean for 2019 ... News and notes (10:30) with a focus on TEs, then we discuss team needs for the NFC South. We cover ATL (18:30), CAR (23:30), NO (26:20) and TB (30:00). These teams need RB depth! CAR could use another good WR ... On to the NFC West as we discuss ARI (31:00), LAR (33:15), SF (36:30) and SEA (40:00). We'll monitor these offensive lines and hope for a #1 WR in SF. Finally, we talk about new Offensive Coordinators and their tendencies (42:00) and Dave tells you why he's pumped about Kellen Moore in DAL ... Email us at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. Here we go! It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Let's go! Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Welcome back, all of you AAF and fantasy football fans.

It is Monday, February 25th. We're talking about offensive lines today. Plus previewing, not really previewing, but giving you team needs for the NFC South and the NFC West today. I am Adam Azer with Dave Richard and Jamie Eisenberg. On the Weekend-O-Meter, how was your weekend? Zero to ten. I had a good time this weekend. I'll give it a solid eight.

Ten. All right. All right. We should have a good show this weekend. I'll give it a solid eight. Ten. All right. All right. We should have a good show. Lots of sports. Adam, get ready for lots of sports for young Andrew. I spent – we had, let's see, three baseball practices between – this is only between two kids.

Three baseball practices and one basketball, one soccer. Oh, and my baby turned one year – I was about to bring and my baby turned one year old on Friday. Is cake smashing a sport? Oh, yeah, he was awesome. Best cake smasher of the three. He actually stuck his face in the cake. No way. Yeah.

I tweeted out the picture of it. It was funny. All right, happy birthday. Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying the offseason a little bit. Oh, you need to get ready. Yeah, I know. I'm not going to have three kids, so not too worried about that.

Best and worst offensive lines. I want to start there. We do have a few news items in your emails. Probably not today, but definitely later this week. FantasyFootball at CBSi.com. It is a good time to send us emails, especially if you have keeper questions. Now's the time to get them read on the show so dave you sent me the uh pro football focus rankings of offensive lines and what kind of jumped out to you as you looked at it

there aren't a lot of offensive lines that ranked highly in pass blocking efficiency and graded out well in run blocking and when i say, I mean like in both categories, both offensive line, in both categories, an offensive line was top 10. Here's what we got. Atlanta was actually the best. They were fourth in pass-blocking efficiency and seventh in run-blocking. Baltimore, which is a lot more believable than Atlanta, top five in both. I guess that would make them the best.

Kansas City, third in run blocking, sixth in pass blocking. Philadelphia, fourth in run blocking, seventh in pass blocking. That's not a surprise. The Patriots, seventh in pass blocking, ninth in run blocking. And then Indianapolis. You knew that the Colts would be in here, right? Sixth in run blocking, tenth in pass blocking efficiency. Every other offensive line was outside of the top 10

in at least one of those categories, and plenty were toward the very, very bottom, including who do you think was the worst? Worst offensive line in pass blocking and run blocking. Buffalo is my guess. Adam guesses Buffalo. Jamie guesses Houston. One of you is right.

One of you is wrong. It's Jamie who's right. Houston, 31st in pass blocking, dead last in run blocking. Buffalo was not that bad in pass blocking, 14th, but they were 30th in run blocking. Well, because their quarterback runs. I guess that's true. I'm surprised.

How the hell were the Colts only 10th best in pass blocking efficiency? That's why these grades are not the best, Judge, if anything. You don't think so? No. They're a good talking point. They're not the best. They're not the end-all be-all. Is there an end-all be-all for offensive lines? That's the real problem. Because there's no end-all

be-all, going off of something like this is okay, but you really almost have to watch every single play of every single offensive line to really get a good idea of which ones has a lot of offensive linemen the best if you talk to offensive linemen they'll tell you that nobody grading outside of the team knows where those guys are supposed to be going right and that's part of the problem so if a guard is pulling and somebody misses an assignment on where he's supposed to be it's a negative grade but and maybe somebody did something correct and something they had to adjust.

There's a lot of different ways to go about it. Number one run-blocking efficiency was the Rams. And they could lose two important offensive linemen this offseason. So we're certainly going to be watching that. I think that will be part of our team need outlook for the Rams. Certainly Atlanta surprised to be top seven in both pass blocking efficiency and run blocking. I was a little surprised that Philadelphia was this high because I felt like the narrative was like, their offensive line isn't playing very well until later in the year when it turned around.

But to get a good grade, I guess, was a little surprising to me. Sure. It's cumulative. So they started the season playing fairly well, and then they went into the lull, and then they ended up the season playing great. How about the 49ers? Sure. Absolutely.

How about the 49ers? Second best run-blocking team, according to Pro Football Focus. And they ran the ball pretty well last year. I mean, most of it was good. Yeah, see, that to me is scheme. You can put anybody in there and they'll probably grade out better than they would elsewhere. You're talking about the linemen.

It's based on scheme. Yeah. See, some people might take that as you're saying the running backs are succeeding. The linemen succeeding because of this game. And they've got a couple of young guys on that line. They're headed in the right direction. The Niners.

And how – okay, this one's strange too. The Seahawks graded very poorly, 28th in run blocking. You know, DJ Fluker was a guy that we liked a lot this year, and he got negative grades from pro football focus. Right. So that's a really, I agree with you. I think that Fluker was good this year. I can't remember any times when he had bad moments or bad games,

but I really wasn't spending a lot of time watching DJ Fluker play this season. Oh, no? He's going to be somebody that's very coveted this offseason, too. Minnesota 24th. Oh, no? He's going to be somebody that's very coveted this offseason, too. Minnesota 24th. Yeah, go ahead. When Fluker missed time, was their run game worse? No, it wasn't. I think we kind of discounted Carson at one point this year

when Fluker didn't play, and it turned out that they ran just fine without him. That I remember. Yeah. Did he play? He played how many games? Only 10? All right.

I'd have to take a look at all six games that he missed, which I can do. I will do that, actually, and tell you how Chris Carson did. But I remember the first game he missed, they ran the ball just fine. Minnesota had a bad offensive line. And a disappointing fantasy season for Kirk Cousins, a huge disappointment for Dalvin Cook with the injuries. That really strikes me as a team that could upgrade the offensive line. I mean, look, Thielen and Diggs are going to go early.

Cook's going to go in the second round. Cousins, though, he could be good next year. He might not be a great player, but he could be a good fantasy player. It just depends. I think you look at what their offensive philosophy is expected to be, and it doesn't necessarily lend itself

to him having a dominant season. He could be capable. He feels like what we talked about in Matthew Stafford for years. Like he'll end up 10th. Yeah. If he plays 16 games, and other guys for years. Like he'll end up 10th. Yeah. If he plays 16 games and other guys get hurt. And he really started on fire last year.

I talked to Thielen about that at the Pro Bowl. It mostly was like his start. Did you get a chance really to kind of just take a look back on it and sort of enjoy that? And he's like, he's one of those guys that I'll reflect on those things when my career is over, blah, blah, blah. But he said, we were just behind in so many games, and they don't want to play like that, clearly. Okay, I'm doing my DJ Fluker research.

Any other takeaways here while I don't pay attention? Wouldn't you say before you got this information that Arizona was the worst offensive line behind Houston. Right up there. They were dead last in pass blocking and 25th in run blocking. I was surprised that they were that good in run blocking. I'll give you one more that's interesting. Jacksonville finished 28th in pass blocking, 14th in run blocking, and they had a lot of injuries on that line.

A lot of good players are going to come back. That's going to be a plus for Fournette. Looks like he's going to stay. That's good. Whoever the quarterback is. I'm full! Excuse me. I think that that's going to be good for them as well.

I think this is an offense that could really be fairly improved. Okay. You see some pretty bad teams toward the bottom here. Miami, one of the worst. Arizona, obviously, as you just mentioned, one of the worst. Houston definitely needs an offensive line upgrade. I'd say the worst offensive line. Based on these numbers, they were 31st in pass blocking, 32nd in bottom. It was so bad. Yeah. So guys could certainly be better. A lot of talk about Le'Veon maybe going there.

If they don't upgrade the offensive line and sign Jadavion Clowney, that's a huge mistake on their part. So you'd let Clowney go to improve the offensive line? No, I'd keep Clowney and work on the offensive line and not worry about Le'Veon Bell. Sure. Works for me. Yeah. Okay, and there you go. And how about the Gi giants 21st and run blocking

not the pathetic unit they used to be which is good for saquon barkley obviously and um i think that's i think this is all the proof you need that this data is is good it's interesting but the number one overall pick in fantasy drafts in 2019 did very well last year with an offensive line that was outside the top 20 at each metric. Zeke?

No, he's not the number one running back in 2019. It's for Heath. This DJ Fluker research is difficult to do, but I will say, because I was looking at Chris Carson's game log, but one of the games that Fluker missed, Carson missed, and they actually ran the ball.

Rashad Penny had a huge game. This is the game against the Rams, where Rashad Penny had 12 carries for 108 yards and a touchdown. Mike Davis had 11 carries for 58 yards. Russell Wilson had 9 carries for 92 yards. But, you know, it was the Rams. Anyway, I don't think anybody cares all that much about that. News and notes for you, and that'll wrap up our offensive line discussion.

Rob Gronkowski told several teammates that he wanted to play another season, according to Michael Girardi of NFL Network. Delaney Walker is hopeful to be back for OTAs. And the New Orleans Times, Pecune expects Josh Hill to be the Saints' starting tight end. So how about that tight end attack for you right there? I can't wait for him to lie to me at the owner's meeting again, Sean Payton.

I would have zero interest in Josh Hill. No, but I would like to see him maybe get Jared Cook. That'd be fun. Would be fun. You know, Josh Hill, I went through his entire career, and I looked at all of his games with five or six targets.

I think there were four or five of them. He had three catches for 38 yards in 2015, two catches for 23 yards and a touchdown in 2016. These are game by game. Later in that year, six catches for 74 yards, three catches for 54 yards in the 2018 postseason. So these are his only four games

of his career with either five or six targets. He never had more. And he did respectively in three of those four games. But I just don't believe that if Josh Hill were their starting tight end, that he would you know, it's like this year. They're just like random guys catching touchdown passes.

They wouldn't feature him. I just feel like we're chasing Saints tight ends year after year after year, just hoping one of them can be what Jimmy Graham once was. Did it with Fleener. Did it with Benjamin Watson. Are we really going to do it with Josh Hill? I wish they'd give Dan Arndt a little more of an opportunity. Never trust a guy with two first names.

If they're going to go the stay-in-house route. Well, I would say that Ben Watson was kind of a success story because he was, I believe, the number eight tight end in fantasy. It was 2015, and he had 74 catches, 825 yards, and six touchdowns. So we'll never chase Jimmy Graham because that's not going to happen again, but can we chase Ben Watson? 825 yards, six touchdowns, that's a startable tight end, especially with 74 catches. Honestly, that's what I thought he might do this year.

Yeah. He just couldn't stay healthy. Well, he got half of it. He had 35 catches, 400 yards. That doesn't count. He also is, you know, old and retiring. Yeah. So again, not a lot going on in the news world around the NFL, unless you have something to say about Delaney Walker or Rob Gronkowski.

I'm surprised that Delaney's injury is lingering this long. Because there was some talk, I think it was like October, that he was going to try and maybe get ready for the postseason if they made it. Yeah, it was a lot. This is troubling. Because he could still be a decent player for them. And decent for fantasy. He could also be a cap casualty for them.

They would save $5 million and change if they designate him a post-June 1st cut. And he's 35 years old. I think the only way they do that, they think he's done. Well, if he's slow to rehab, then... Yeah, it's fair. But if he's the play, you can make an argument he's still their best receiver.

And yeah, as Dave just said, 35 years old in August, Delaney Walker. People, I guess, don't realize he's had such a good career in his 30s. But yeah, dude's old. He was Vernon Davis' backup in San Francisco. Started his career. He's almost older than I am.

I'm a month older than him. Two months. I forgot my birthday. He's way more talented, though. I guess so. Juju Smith-Schuster played pickup football in a Florida ball. It was weird. Did you guys see the video?

My kid showed me. He's amazing. It was weird. Did you guys see the video? My kid showed me. He's amazing. He's fun. I just hope he doesn't get swallowed up by defenses with Antonio Brown out there and expectations are too high. Okay, listen. I'm going to say something here. I'm going to say it. Ben Roethlisberger is not being a good teammate when he

calls people out on his radio show. And the Steelers are the organization, the front office. Like, you got to call Ben out, too. Okay, because this is partially his fault. They are unraveling. They are. It's amazing.

It's the whole deconstruction of this team. Yeah, the last two off-seasons have been really bad for them. They don't have Le'Veon Bell anymore. They're not going to have Antonio Brown anymore. Like, Ben Roethlisberger's partially responsible for this. You mean the 52 kids in the locker room? I'm sorry. You can't just let him talk

about people like that in public, airing it out on the airwaves. Step up and be like, no, Ben's wrong too. It's so weak for them to be like, no, Ben's our leader. He's allowed to do... I was very disappointed. Very weak. But I think they were just backed into a corner because they've already lost two of their three best players.

They're not going to lose off the roster, Ben Roethlisberger, but you don't want to be on bad terms with him. No, but I mean, you have James Harrison saying Mike Tomlin's at fault here because he's allowing stuff like this to happen. You think about some of the things that have gone on, just

small things. Antonio Brown recording the stuff in the locker room, things like that. The off-field things, Le'Veon Bell getting suspended. It's been a slow unraveling and now it feels like it's completely coming undone, which is unfortunate if it does happen because

they've been such a good team for so long under this regime. Do you guys feel like they're a playoff team next year? Yeah. I feel like they should be, but there's so much going against them. And you guys mentioned it feels like there's an unraveling going on that it could extend well into the season, and they end up being 7-9.

Who's winning that division? That could be the best division. You know, Baltimore, I think, can be the most stable. The Browns are going to be the one that everybody hypes up. Yeah. Yeah. Let's see what they do. They've got a lot of cap space this offseason.

Bengals could still be interesting, though, if they get the right pieces in place, but they don't typically tend to do that all the time. The Ravens have just dreadful skill position players. I'm sure we'll talk about that when we do our team needs. They need an entirely new offense around their quarterback. It's Monday, but we've got a Team Name Tuesday submission. It comes from Bobby, and he has Sherlock Mahomes and Watson.

Sherlock Mahomes and Watson. Sherlock Mahomes and Watson. That's pretty good. Three quarterbacks and one team name. Thank you, Bobby. I want to promote something real quick for you here. It is Sportsline. Sportsline.com. It is a great website. Gambling, fantasy analysis. If you want to try it

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use the code HUDDLE when you sign up. Get your first month for just $1. We've got team needs for the NFC South and the NFC West, and some new offensive coordinators. What are their tendencies? We've been meaning to get to this, but we haven't had an opportunity. So we will get to that later today. Let's come back after

this with the NFC South. We'll be right back. and celebrate every highlight reel play. And as an official sportsbook partner of the NFL, BetMGM is the best place to fuel your football fandom on every game day. With a variety of exciting features, BetMGM offers you plenty of seamless ways to jump straight onto the gridiron and to embrace peak sports action. Ready for another season of gridiron glory? What are you waiting for? Get off the bench, into

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Find their products through banks, credit unions, and associations, or visit SecurianCanada.ca. Securian Canada. Insurance designed for life. Start in the NFC South with the Atlanta Falcons. And Jamie, I gave you this division. Dave gave me the NFC West team needs. Jamie, the NFC South with the Atlanta Falcons. And, Jamie, I gave you this division. Dave gave me the NFC West team needs. Jamie, the NFC South team needs. What do you think the Falcons need as they enter their offseason?

Offensive line and running back depth, assuming that Tevin Coleman is gone as expected. You know, you look at the offensive line, they gave up 42 sacks. Last season, Ryan was hit a career high 108 times, so he wasn't exactly protected as well as he usually has been. Wait, wait, wait. They were fourth in pass blocking efficiency. Happy to hear that for them.

So they obviously must have been one, two, or three in the previous few years based on Matt Ryan's body. In any event, Alex Mack was a Pro Bowl center. They could use some upgrades along the line, but I think that's something that they are planning to address, which allows the open offense that's filled with skilled players, especially in the passing game when you have Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, and Mohamed Sanu and Austin Hooper. So I think, you know, from what our perspective is, if they can help improve the line a little bit

and then give some semblance of another body potentially to their backfield because if Devontae Freeman can't hold up, and you know Smith didn't hold up last year when he was put into that starter's role at the end of the season, those are two spots I think that will be interesting to keep an eye on. So I'm going to go ahead and make a case for Devontae Freeman. Where do you guys think he gets drafted? Is he a top 15 running back, top 20? Freeman? If we get to camp and he's, or OTAs and he's healthy, I think you look at him as a top 20-ish

type of guy. He was number one in 2015, number six in 2016, and 13th in non-PPR, 14th in PPR in 2017, but only had 196 carries. When he got to work, he was great. I've given this stat a thousand times, but it's been a while. 2017, Freeman had five games with 18 to 24 carries, and he averaged 20.8 fantasy points per game in PPR. He would have been the third best running back in fantasy based on those games. That's a lot of work. He had eight games with 12 or fewer carries, and he only

had one good game. And I'm excluding week 10 when he got hurt after two carries. So he basically played 13 games and was a top 14 running back. I think he's going to be underrated if they commit to Devontae Freeman. At least give him, let's say, 230 carries, something like that. He had 227 in 2016 and was the number six running back, but he gets a ton of work in the red zone. He scores touchdowns, very good in that category.

They should have a pretty good offense. I think Freeman's got the chance to be very underrated, guys's got to be healthy that's the biggest thing you know i think you know we we spent a lot of time the last couple of seasons saying how good tevin coleman could be if davante freeman is not there well how good could davante freeman be if tevin coleman's not there yeah right you know so ito smith may be um a successful complementary option and again could be the tevin coleman uh we talked about this a couple shows ago about again, could be the Tevin Coleman. We talked about this a couple shows ago about what he could be if, in fact, he gets that opportunity to be the number two guy

and if Freeman can't stay healthy. But look, if Freeman starts to get more work, the 2016 season, I believe, was with Dirk Kutter, right? Wasn't Kutter there 14-16 as the offensive coordinator? No. Kutter's been in Tampa Bay at least three years, if not four. So he was 2012 to 2014? I believe that's right.

Maybe so. Yeah, no, 2016 was their Super Bowl year. So that was Shanahan. Or 2017 was Super Bowl. In any event, I think you look at what Freeman could be. Yeah, if he's healthy, he's going to be a great bounce back. I don't know if you can count on him to get over 15 carries very often. Look at what Freeman could be. Yeah, if he's healthy, he's going to be a great bounce back hitter. I don't know if you can count on him to get over 15 carries very often.

Because in 2017, did it a bunch. It just depends on Coleman's replacement. He didn't do it a bunch in 2017. He only did it five times. And he was great every time. But they also didn't use him enough in the passing game. That was kind of my big issue in 2017 with Devontae Freeman. He only had 36 catches in basically

13 games, officially played 14. That's not enough. He's a really good weapon and they need to involve him more in the passing game. But again, at the end of the day, he was a top 14 running back and he basically played 13 games. He's just very good and needs to be involved.

When we talk about Dirk Cutter a little later on, you'll like what you have to hear about how running backs he's just very good and needs to be involved and needs to stay healthy. When we talk about Dirk Cutter a little later on, you'll like what you have to hear about how running backs play a role in the passing game. I would be concerned about Freeman even having five games with over 15 carries. 15 touches, I think, is a different story. There you go. The last stat on Freeman. Like I mentioned, running back in fantasy in 2016, he averaged 14 carries per game, but he also had 54 catches in 16 games that year. He is a little touchdown

dependent, but I sort of buy it with him. I mean, they are a good team, and he gets the red zone work, and he gets the carries near the goal line typically. Okay, Jamie, what's the need for the Carolina Panthers? Offensive line also, but also wide receiver. Ryan Khalil is going to retire. Darrell Williams is a free agent. Matt Khalil stuck last year and didn't stay healthy. So they need some help around Trey Turner. So I think you look at what this scenario is.

Ron Rivera has been basically saying we've got to protect Cam Newton, as we saw last season, dealing with his injuries and how things fell apart for him toward the end of the year because he couldn't stay on the field. So that's a huge need for them on the opposite side of the ball. And then wide receiver. With Devin Funchess, a free agent, who knows if they decide to bring him back. But this

receiving core could use a true number one. They're not going to find one in this class. Probably not draft or free agency, but they need some help with that spot for sure. So guys, do you think DJ Moore is a true number one? Doesn't sound like it by the way Jamie's speaking. I don't think he's a true number one, but he can ascend to that role. You know, I mean, that was my argument for him last year was they didn't have a number one receiver and I thought that he would be better than Funchess. So he didn't exactly prove himself to be that type of player, but he can be, you know, when we talk about teams that don't have a true number one,

he could easily fall into the borderline number two, number three fantasy receivers with a chance to push himself toward the top 20. I don't think he's going to be a top 15 or top 10 guy. But you just look at what the scenario could be if, in fact, they don't add anyone of significance, including bringing back Funchess, then that will certainly help DJ Moore's upside. I think he's a round six pick by the time we're drafting in August.

Okay. What would prevent that? If they bring someone in, would you be less willing to take him in round six? That's pretty high. It's a pretty big investment in DJ Moore. Well, I think you're counting on him. Well, I think he can lead the team in targets provided that greg olsen um does not stay healthy

for 12 plus games if olsen gets hurt again his foot's been a problem for two seasons now i think dj more will fall into being their target leader and i think that'll keep him afloat in ppr and we know that he can make plays after the catch. I think that's what they're going to rely on him for, and I think he'll be a good volume receiver who you'll probably start as a flex more often than not. When are you guys coming out with your early sleepers, breakouts, busts, or an updated version of it? I usually do one.

I usually have done one already, but this year I'm just going to wait until after free agency. I'll do one pre-draft and then post-draft ian thomas gonna have to be in there right if olsen's done olsen said at the super bowl that he still wants to play it was funny because um uh we talked to him on radio row and he said uh you know in in the past tense um uh p prisco drink asked him about some of the elite tight ends and his thoughts on them. And I think he phrased it somehow like, you know, you used to be one of those guys. He's like, what do you mean used to be?

By the way, I'm going to drink. I'm very thirsty. Thank you. New Orleans. All right, Jamie, what's the team need for the Saints? We kind of talked about this already. Tight end. You know, I think you just look at it.

Their offense is pretty solid. I think they could use a receiver as well and some running back depth. But, you know, if they address the tight end spot, that would, I think, eliminate the need for another receiver because with getting back healthy, with Traquan Smith there, obviously Michael Thomas,

and what Kamara will do out of the backfield. But I think it's either tight end or receiver. I think it kind of goes hand-in-hand that they need to address one of those spots. But tight end would be the glaring need because, like you just said, Josh Hill is expected to be their starter, and that's not exactly very attractive. And then with Mark Ingram, if he goes, who's going to be the complementary option? Really more so backup to Kamara. Dave, what do you think about the Saints, what they need?

They could definitely use another pass catcher, whether it's a tight end or a wide receiver. Absolutely, because they tried to fill that role with Cameron Meredith, Des Bryant, Keith Kirkwood, Trey Quonsmith, Austin Carr,

and Trey Quonsmith had flashes. Ted Ginn had flashes. That's really about it. I think they've got to find another wide receiver in the draft. I think they can just add another running back. I don't think they have to re-sign Mark Ingram. If he comes back to the team on a team-friendly deal, that makes sense for them. Sure, they'll bring him back.

But if he's looking for a bigger, you know, one last contract before he's out the door, I don't think he'll belong in New Orleans. Saints don't have a first-round pick this year. That's going to hurt them in their chase for whatever they need. It's not just receiver. It's not just tight end or backup running back that they need. They've got a couple of holes on defense, especially

in that D-line. If they start resigning their guys there, then that'll help things out. But they're going to be hurting a little bit, so they're going to have to be real choosy about what they do, and I think that that's what hurts Mark Ingram. The contract that he's going to have to come back to is going to have to be a sweetheart deal for the Saints. I'm looking at Ted Ginn's game log right now,

and I'm just going to make the case for him as a late-round flyer because he was getting about seven targets a game during the regular season. He did not play much, and then he had seven targets against the Eagles and six against the Rams. But if he's getting more than 100 targets, there's going to be – because seven per game is a 112-pace target. 112 target pace, excuse me. If Ted Ginn's getting 100 targets, he's going to be up and down because that's what Ted Ginn is.

He's a big play guy. He's not going to catch a high percentage or anything. But he's probably going to show up and down because that's what Ted Ginn is. He's a big play guy. He's not going to catch a high percentage or anything. He's probably going to show up as a number three wide receiver. I would say probably closer to number four, but your point is dead on. He's somebody you take with one of your last picks, especially if you're playing a three receiver league.

When you get to bi-weeks and injuries, it's not a bad thing if he's still the second option in terms of what the receiving core looks like if they don't find anything else to upgrade it. He's not going bad thing if he's still the second option in terms of what the receiving core looks like if they don't find anything else to upgrade it so he's not going to be somebody that wins your league but he's also going to be somebody that some weeks will help you maybe in a significant way the problem is that breeze's arm is getting worse he's just not in terms of his you know downfield throws so what gin does best is not exactly being accentuated by where breeze is now

in his career you know you saw that with some of the throws late in the season. But still, he's going to get schemed up enough. He's going to see a lot of single coverage. And in this offense, he's proven to be, you know, successful at times and successful enough that he can help your fantasy roster from time to time. Last team in the NFC South, Dave, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Oh, Jamie. Sorry, you're still Jamie. Jamie, team needs for the Buccaneers. I mean, the biggest thing offensively,

they need some offensive line upgrades, but running back. Peyton Barber is a restricted free agent. Ronald Jones is, yeah. So they need to figure out that spot. I mean, there's a guy out there that wouldn't be very interesting. You love him, Bill. Yes, you would. Tampa Bay. We're going to talk about that depending on when you're listening to the show

and about 20 minutes on CBS Sports HQ. And I was pretty surprised to see Tampa Bay rank 20th in pass blocking, but 27th in run blocking. Made sense. In fact, I wouldn't have been as surprised if they had been lower. They had a bad offensive line. The Buccaneers had the fourth worst running game in the NFL, 22nd in rush attempts, second to last in yards per carry,

ahead of only Arizona. So if Bell goes there, behind an offensive line that's going to be worse than what he played with in Pittsburgh, clearly. Level of excitement? Give me top 15 overall pick? 10? 12?

Probably top 12. Not for me, but I would like the landing spot just because of Bruce Arians. He's going to make me nervous no matter where he goes. I'm probably the wrong person to ask, but I think it's a favorable destination, more so than the Raiders or Jets or one of those money grab type of spots. Okay, Dave

Richard, let's go to the NFC West and tell me what the Arizona Cardinals need. They need a whole new offensive line. Their left guard and right tackle are both free agents. They're not coming back. They need to upgrade at the other three spots. It was terrible how bad their line was last year, and now they're moving into an offense where the quarterback must be protected.

So I would expect Arizona to go very deep at offensive offensive line i think they could also use another receiver on the outside it's definitely gonna be somebody with speed that fits in with what kingsbury looks for he looks for that more so than than height than size um maybe even more than route trees so there's a couple free agents that are out there that have that quality that he could go and chase uh but that's really about it i think they're set at running back. I think they're set at quarterback. I think Josh Rosen's going to be their guy, unless Kingsbury falls in love with Kyler Murray

and convinces the whole organization to take him at number one and then trade off Josh Rosen. But that would be fairly shocking at this point. Yeah, David Johnson did manage to finish as the number 10 running back in fantasy. Do you guys like David Johnson or Le'Veon Bell better? I know it clearly depends, but let's

play the Tampa Bay scenario. Let's say Bell goes to the Bucs. Would you take Johnson or Le'Veon? I'll take Le'Veon. Johnson. Jamie, you missed this amazing new stat that I discovered, even though I've been looking at this page for years, didn't see it. David Johnson got 100% of his team's carries inside the five-yard line. He's headed for a big bounce-back season, it might be.

Is he still a great player, just needs better talent around him? 100%. Better coaching. If David Johnson is an example of how dependent football players are on the talent around them, he's been the number one running back in fantasy. And last year, he wasn't really that good. He was 10th, but he played all 16 games. He had over 300 touches. It was not really his fault, I think. I probably feel confident saying that.

All right, how about the Rams? The Super Bowl runner-up Los Angeles Rams, Dave. Well, let's see what happens with Andrew Whitworth. There's talk that he'll retire. If he retires, then they need a new left tackle. Their left guard, Roger Saffold, is a free agent. So right off the bat, the blind side of Jared Goff is very much up in the air. They need a new left tackle their left guard roger saffold is a free agent so right off the bat the blind side of jared goff is very much up in the air they need a back quarterback as well no one cares about that for fantasy

and that's really about it so because they don't have anything that's really exciting for fantasy purposes i'm going to make something up all right and what if what if they need a cap space to extend jared goff he's in the final year of his deal and one of the players they can move out to get some cap space relief is robert woods and then they would enter 2019 with cooks cup and reynolds as their three receivers how would you how would you feel about that would that be something that would help keep Goff in the top 12? Losing his best receiver? Losing Robert Woods.

No, he still has Cooper Cup. Okay, Robert Woods is his third best receiver. Robert Woods is his best receiver. Third best. Okay. All right, listen, I'll give you second. You give me whatever you want. I know how I'm making it.

Okay, wait, are you talking fantasy or you're talking talent? No, I'm give you second. You give me whatever you want. I know how I'm making it. Okay, wait. Are you talking fantasy? You're talking talent. No, I'm talking his best receiver. His best fantasy receiver is Brandon Cooks. His best receiver is Robert Woods. Well, I think Woods finished ahead of Brandon Cook. He did.

Cooks was 14th. Woods was 10th in non-PPR, 11th in PPR. Cooks was 14th in non-PPR, 13th in PPR. So they were very similar. They had very similar seasons. And Robert Woods is probably a better example of your David Johnson scenario about talent around him. Well, that's what I'm saying.

I mean, I feel like Brandon Cooks is a better receiver. If they were both free agents, Brandon Cooks would get more than Robert Woods. And if they were both – like if Robert Woods had to be the number one guy and get the double coverage or the best cornerback, it wouldn't go so well for him. He wouldn't be able to do what Brandon Cooks does. You disagree with that, Jamie? No, in terms of what their skill set is, but I think Robert Woods and what he means to the Rams is more important than what Brandon Cooks means to the Rams right now.

I think you could argue that Cooper Cupp brings something to the Rams that's even more important. I mean, he's their red zone. Sure. If he was healthy, Dave's point is correct. He probably is their best receiver, but who knows how healthy he is. Yeah. Well, we're just making it up. Right.

I'm pretty sure they're going to keep Robert Woods. Sure. Goff was sixth, by the way, in both four-point and six-point for passing touchdown leagues. 32 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, about 4,700 yards. Tenth in the NFL in pass attempts. Yeah. All attempts. Yeah. All right.

Okay. Then we're done. You'll hear a lot about Jared Goff, and will they franchise him? Will they give him an extension? That will be a storyline that you'll start hearing about in 2019. You'll probably hear about it in a few days. I think I know the answer to this. Sure, sure. I'll get asked about that. I think I know the answer to this. Sure, sure.

He'll get asked about that. I think I know the answer to this. I think it's going to be a little surprising for people. Jamie, would you take Jared Goff or Jameis Winston? That's a great question. Right now, I will take Jameis Winston. Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say. And people are like, oh!

So I'm sorry for startling you while you're driving, everybody. Let's go to the 49ers. What do they need, Dave? First and foremost, they need a number one wide receiver. With all apologies to the Dante Pettis truthers out there, they need a number one guy. And they seem to be a team that's linked very closely to Antonio Brown. He might be their guy.

That would be great. That's really the biggest thing that they need. They're right guards of free agent. Maybe they add another running back just as a backup. Maybe they draft a guy later. Knowing Kyle Shanahan, he'll probably just find somebody that didn't get drafted to come in and play behind McKinnon and Breida.

That's really about it. They're great at tight end. They're great at quarterback. They've got good second and third type wide receivers. I think they need a number one, and that's it. This team's in pretty good shape. But if they don't get Antonio Brown, where are they getting a number one

wide receiver? I would assume that they would try and find somebody that they can develop in the draft. Yeah, but that guy's not going to step in and be a number one as a rookie. Correct. Most likely. He wouldn't be a number one. That would be very good for Dante Pettis. I think it'll be interesting not just for Pettis, but also for Marquis Goodwin.

I mean, you know, this was a guy that we liked going into last season. I liked going into last season, you know, with the thought of what he could be building off of what he did with Jimmy Garoppolo at the end of the year, and then it was just a disaster from the start of the season. He couldn't stay healthy, and then Garoppolo got hurt. So they have an interesting receiving core, but I agree. They need to help it out in a significant fashion. I just love Jimmy Garoppolo. I mean, they are going to have an interesting receiving core.

It's going to be good. We haven't even talked about their best receiver. It's obviously George Kittle. But first of all, his nickname is apparently Jimmy GQ, Prince Aladdin, and Great Garoppolo, according to Profootballreference.com. So that's great. But the only thing that jumps out, I mean, he's thrown eight interceptions and eight starts with the 49ers.

So you do have to keep that in mind. This year, this past year, Garoppolo threw three interceptions in week one at Minnesota. He was pretty good after that. But Nick Mullins was seventh in the NFL in passing yards per game and fifth in passing yards per attempt. I just think Shanahan's a

genius, and I think Garoppolo's going to be awesome this year. I don't understand why more people aren't so super excited to draft Jimmy Garoppolo. It's because the receiving core is what it is. I don't think it more people aren't so super excited to draft Jimmy Garoppolo. It's because the receiving core is what it is. I don't think it's bad. I think it's good. I agree with you. I don't think it's horrible, but it could certainly improve. I mean, if he gets Antonio Brown, Jimmy Garoppolo's

going to be drafted. It changes the entire dynamic of what his fantasy outlook looks like. I won't get him if he gets Antonio Brown. You might. What's that? You might. Then people are going to take him. I don't get him if he gets Antonio Brown. You might. What's that? You might. Then people are going to take him, I don't know, ahead of Breeze, I bet. He will slingshot into at least the first eight rounds.

I would say round eight. I would say QB. You're talking our drafts. He's a little higher than that. Yeah, I think he's a top eight quarterback on draft day. That doesn't necessarily mean he goes in round eight. No, but where do you think he'd be in terms of rankings? If he's a top eight quarterback, he's going in the first five rounds based on ADP.

Would he be a top eight quarterback? Would Garoppolo be a top eight quarterback if they add Antonio Brown on draft day? I think he'd have to be. Yeah. Right near there. All the weapons that they have, plus throwing to the running backs. think he'd have to be. Yeah. Right near there. All the weapons that they have, plus throwing to the running backs. And he played well last year in three games. He's good.

So as long as his knee's fine, we see him at OTAs, we see him in training camp. Yeah, Kittle told me at the Super Bowl that he thinks he'll be ready to go OTAs. Seattle, Dave, our last team for today. Yeah, another team that really doesn't need much. Sweezy's a free agent, so they might resign him or they'll bring in somebody else. They typically don't really spend a lot of capital on a backup quarterback. Maybe they look for another receiver.

But we pretty much know who they are right now. Well, how about a tight end? Do you think they can go for a tight end? They really haven't invested heavily in that position, Jimmy Graham notwithstanding, and I think they learned from that. And I think they're pretty happy with the group that they have now. Disley will be back. Vanette will still be there.

Disley, yeah, he was fun. Yeah. Yeah, that one big play. It was funny because when I did this fantasy show with John Clayton, who is on the radio team, he told me Disley would be their guy this year. Yeah, well, it looked like a pretty good call at first. Yeah, no, he said he's a year away.

And we're really interested to see what happens with Carson and Penny. Chris Carson was a top 15 running back. He was right around 15th in both formats. Not a big pass catcher. Only had 20 catches. But he played 14 games, Carson. He missed two with injury. He barely played in weeks one and two.

So he more or less did all of this in 12 games. And Chris Carson had nine games with more than 14 carries. If you take those nine games, you take his fantasy averages, and you give him 16 games, Carson was on pace to be the fifth best running back in non-PPR, sixth best in PPR. He was outstanding. They ran the ball well. He averaged 4.7 yards per carry, scored touchdowns, nine touchdowns in 14 games. Really good year for him. But I still want to see Rashad Penny in there. I think a lot of people do.

You'll see them both. It's just going to drive people crazy. That would stink. You know, Dave, if we talked about offensive coordinator tendencies a year ago and we talked about Seattle, I don't know that we would have expected them to be this run heavy, but we knew they'd be run heavy. They ran the ball the second most times in the NFL behind only Baltimore. But how about this year?

You talked about the head coaches and what they might bring to the table in terms of their play calling. How about some new coordinators and new spots and what we can expect from them? We've got nine new offensive coordinators that will call plays there's a bunch of new offensive coordinators who aren't going to call plays i'm not worrying about those guys but nine new offensive coordinators that's going to call plays i ranked them i went back into as much of a track record as i could find some of these guys are first-time play callers

and um long story short like we we've got an idea of some of their tendencies and and what to expect. The number one guy for me is Dirk Cutter in Atlanta. We know that he had some great numbers with Matt Ryan. Ryan had a career year at the time in 2012 with Cutter. Julio had his only double-digit touchdown season with him. But speaking more broadly, running backs have tallied a minimum of 21% of all receptions under Cutter. In nine of his last 11

years he's been calling plays for a long long time including 24 or more in all three of his seasons in atlanta so when we were talking about those catches for davante freeman and having that supplement his stat line it's gonna happen as long as he's upright yeah so do it so 12 13 carries two three catches a game for freeman i i think you're making the case for him to be a top 50 pick. I've got him just outside of there right now, but when push comes to shove, we could see him inside that top 50 on draft day. Tight ends have also caught about 20% or more of Cutter's team's passes eight of the last 11 years, including each of the past three seasons in Tampa Bay. I do think it's a little bit more dependent on who he's got at tight end versus force-feeding that position.

And if he likes Austin Hooper, he didn't have Hooper when he was in Atlanta the first time. He had Tony Gonzalez. That was pretty good. I think if he likes Hooper, you're going to see Hooper get two out of every 10 catches for the Falcons in 2019. Dirk Cutter in Atlanta, you're number one. We won't go through all nine, but who are a few others that you like? My second favorite one is Kellen Moore with the Cowboys,

who has yet to call play in the NFL. He's taking over for Scott Linehan in Dallas. And the big complaint with Linehan is that he wasn't creative. Kellen Moore has been, he's a coach's son. He was on Boise State and they ran a bunch of fun plays when he was their quarterback. I think he's going to be outstanding for them. I think he's going to come up with ways to really utilize Cooper, utilize Gallup, find something at tight end,

make passes easier for Dak, make plays that are easier for Dak to throw downfield. I think he's going to continue to lean on Zeke. He's only 31 years old. I think he's the next Sean Mc lean on Teague. He's only 31 years old. I think he's the next Sean McVay in the NFL. Oh, Jamie, let me get Jamie in there. What do you think? Are you as excited or in the ballpark of excitement level for Kellen Moore?

No. I don't think anything changes for what Dallas does. He may get credit for it, and he may become the next Sean McVay, but I don't think anything changes for Dallas. You kind of know what they are. I think it keeps Dak closer to the top 12 than some people might think. I'm kind of excited

about Dak. I think this is, as status quo, is a team that you will find from what they did a year ago. I think there's a couple teams that are like that, but I don't think Dallas is. I think they'll be a little bit more aggressive and a lot more fun. DeFilippo's in Jacksonville. I think you can assume that there's going to be a lot of passing going on there. That might not necessarily happen. I think they'll be closer to 55-45 pass run. I don't think

it'll be 60-40 like it was when DiFilippo was in Minnesota. Darryl Bevel is in Detroit. I know that Darryl Bevel is associated with running the football, but he had Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch as his running backs. I think he's smart enough to lean on a good running back when he has one. And hopefully he does that with Kerryon Johnson. If Kerryon proves it, then you're going to see Kerryon Johnson get fed the ball a lot, and I'm looking forward to that. I'm curious about

Chad O'Shea with the Dolphins. I think that offense is still going to be pretty bad, but I think O'Shea will make the most out of his players. He's bringing that same offense that he learned from Josh McDaniels in New England. I think he'll be fun. Kevin Stefanski, I don't even know if he's necessarily going to be the full-season play caller in Minnesota.

Gary Kubiak's there whispering in his ear, and all it'll take is a three-game losing streak for Mike Zimmer to lose his head, fire Stefanski, and Kubiak is in charge. But that offense is going to stay the same. Are they going to be a heavy run team like Mets ever was? I think so. I think that's pretty – I think that's going to be – I mean, that was what Stefanski fell into when he became the offensive coordinator last year. Jamie has something to say real quick, Jamie.

Got to go, bye. Jamie has to go do HQ. Watch CBS Sports HQ, everybody. Dave and I will finish the show. We're more than capable. Greg Roman is next up for Baltimore, but he's just going to run the ball like crazy. That's what he does.

It's an offense. He likes to run it and then go over the top with the pass. I think that Lamar Jackson can be okay with that. He's perfect for Baltimore, right? Yes, he really is. And I think if Baltimore upgrades at running back, I would love to see Le'Veon Bell go to Baltimore. Not just for the storyline purposes, because he's going to take on Pittsburgh twice a year.

I know. But just that backfield, Lamar Jackson and Le'Veon Bell, I think that they would be a nightmare for teams to defend. The last two that I don't like, Rick Scangarello with Broncos. He's been around for a long time. It's his first time calling plays. I know that he's coming from a Kyle Shanahan offense. I don't know how much he really learned from Kyle Shanahan. He was only with him for three years, I think, of his 24 years.

I'm not a big fan of his, and I'm really not a fan of Arthur Smith in Tennessee. Tight ends coach, becoming the offensive coordinator, using somebody else's playbook. Typically when coaches use somebody else's playbook um i typically when coaches use somebody else's playbook it's bad he's a first-time play caller on top of that that i i have a feeling that tennessee i i downgraded derrick henry when uh when they promoted arthur smith to offensive coordinator and i'm uh it makes me nervous i'm not a huge fan of his and i don't know how many Titans players I'm going to end up drafting this year. The last two teams you mentioned, Tennessee and Denver, both got good to great offensive line play, according to Pro Football Focus. Denver was eighth best in run blocking.

Tennessee was tenth best. And they both were a little bit worse in pass blocking. But, you know, it's very interesting. Denver ran the ball really well. Phillip Lindsey was outstanding. And now they have a quarterback upgrade, kind of, but not really. But, no, it's an upgrade. I mean, Flacco's an upgrade.

If you asked Heath, he would say that it's not an upgrade at all. Yeah, I don't know that I agree with Heath, which is not surprising to anyone. I just want to throw that out there because Tennessee finishing 10th in their run blocking efficiency

is actually kind of lower than you would have thought going into the season. They were expected to have one of the very best offensive lines in football. I thought they would have one of the best offensive lines, too. And, yeah, they were surprisingly off. And then I actually think where they finished ranked was a little high. You know what I think the problem is, man? Mariota's just not good enough.

It's like I don't know how many teams really want to be ground and pound this day in the NFL. You want to be able to run the ball, but you also want to be able to throw the ball. And he just isn't good enough at throwing the football, especially in the pocket. They're going to have to go back to being a run team, I think. At least they're probably going to have to start that way. They don't have the horses to be a great passing team. So this is where I think play caller makes a difference because I think that they can be very,

they can be creative with how they use Mariota. There's certain strengths that he has, namely his mobility, that I think they could really take advantage of. And, you know, Arthur Smith just hasn't proven it yet. I'd like to see if he leans on that and decides to just go full on kyle shanahan and just use bootlegs all the time and keep the pocket going from one side of the field to another uh to keep mario to clean they've got to keep them upright

the offensive line's got to be huge and derrick henry has to be able to do what he did at the end of last season for a full season and if he he stinks, if he gets hurt, this whole thing could collapse. Yeah. I can't believe they almost made the playoffs last year. They had a pretty good year. So I want to go back to Kellen Moore and finish on this. Do you think Ezekiel Elliott is still going to be a 300-plus carry guy? Sure.

Sure. Because I don't think Kellen Moore is going to come in and make him share. Then how is how is Dak Prescott going to I think it's just I think it's going to be a matter of efficiency.

Okay. Because with Linehan there was definitely some stale elements to the offense and predictable elements to the offense. And I just

I think that Kellen Moore is going to dial up some fun stuff in the red zone. All right. Here's Adam's theory since no one asked. Hold on. If anybody wants just – what really helps sell me on this, you can find it on YouTube. Remember when Gruden had those quarterback camps on ESPN?

Yeah, of course. He'd sit down with the draft prospects. I mean, I never watched them, but I remember them. Go watch the Kellen Moore one. Why? You will learn a lot about Kellen Moore and his background and and his philosophies. And now that he's in charge of calling plays and he's sticking with the same offense, the offense that so so like Arthur Smith, he's taking over the same playbook from Linehan. But the difference is that this probably would be his playbook anyway

because he's Linehan's guy. Linehan had Kellen Moore on his team for like five years. Well, then why do we think he's going to be so much different? Just a new set of eyes? I think it's as simple as new set of eyes and 20 to 30 new plays on top of tweaks to old plays all right i think i think he'll be special i need to get this off my chest dallas cowboys coaching staff unfairly maligned scott linehan unfairly maligned they have been 13 and 3 9 and 7 and 10 and 6 their last three

years and you know what when they went 9 and 7 2017 they lost Zeke for six games Tyron Smith got hurt they probably would have made the playoffs that year they may have won the division all three years for all we know um they do a pretty good job and Scott Linehan had for the last three seasons really when Des Bryant started getting hurt didn't really have much in the passing game, and obviously had a great running game. I don't understand why everybody's so pissed off about the way the Cowboys perform. You know how many teams in the NFL have, let me see, what is that, 32 wins over their last three seasons? Very few, I'm sure. I don't know how many, but I'm sure it's very low. Cowboys have done a nice job. Their coaching staff's done a nice job. They play to the strengths of their team. This has

nothing to do with Kellen Moore, by the way. I just want to say, Scott Linehan, I've got your back. Wherever you are listening right now, I've got your back. Scott's listening? Of course. He's one of our biggest listeners. Why'd you lie to me about Gallup, Scott? He's listening. All right, Dave.

I think the defense had a huge—there's a reason why Dallas—their defense was played—they were coached so well. Their defense is coached very well every year by Mary Kelly. Well, that's part of the reason why they're 9-7 or better. Okay, but what do you want them to do on offense? They have a great offensive line and a great running back, so they run the ball a ton, and they win a lot of games. Okay, Dave, thank you very much.

Jamie, thank you very much. Listeners, thank you very much. I'm Adam. We'll talk to you on Thursday. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na. listeners thank you very much I'm Adam we'll talk to you on Thursday na na na na na na na