Fantasy Football Today - 02/26 Fantasy Football Podcast: Early Breakouts

Episode Date: February 26, 2018

We start the show with some of our favorite breakouts including two RBs (1:40) and a WR (5:30) who was the #3 WR on his own team last year ... Latest news from around the NFL including where we'd like to see Jarvis Landry end up (12:05), MIN possibly moving on from Case Keenum (14:20) and what Blake Bortles' contract means for Allen Robinson (16:19). Plus a controversial Twitter poll about breakfast cereals (21:14) ... Looking at Jamey's early breakouts list including DeShaun Watson (24:26), Jimmy Garoppolo (26:43), Dalvin Cook (29:10), two more sophomore RBs (33:36), Josh Gordon and a LAR WR (37:13) and Adam Shaheen (40:40) ... Your emails 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 fantasyfootballatcbsi.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. All right, welcome to the show.

Breakouts today on the Fantasy Football Today podcast from CBS Sports. Oh, I can't wait to tell you about cbs sports hq that's some awesome stuff also can't wait to read your emails fantasy football at cbsi.com the three of us are here but jamie's not here jamie is a dad for the third time and he is on paternity leave with his little beautiful baby boy and here's my beautiful baby boy dave richard hey dave hi dad i mean hi adam and it's good to have heath back on the show for little beautiful baby boy. And here's my beautiful baby boy, Dave Richard. Hey, Dave. Hi, Dad. I mean, hi, Adam. And it's good to have Heath back on the show for maybe 20, 30 minutes.

Heath, welcome to the show. I don't know why I'm welcoming you. Welcome back. Yeah, welcome to this. This is my first time ever on the show. I'd like to tell everybody a little bit about me. I've been at CBS Sports for three years, and Adam is just now inviting me on the Fantasy Football Day podcast

because he's a jerk. Now, are you Heath or Keith or Meath? Yeah. I answer to all of those things including teeth. Before you go, make sure that we have a Twitter poll that I want to read and I want you to be on the show for us. I want your expert opinion on it. But let's talk breakouts here.

We have a little less time than usual so we'll get right into it. Jamie has his breakout list out. You can read it. But let's talk breakouts here. We have a little less time than usual, so we'll get right into it. Jamie has his breakout list out. You can read it, cbssports.com slash fantasy. But if we want to go off the list or on the list, whatever, who's your favorite breakout? I'll let Dave go first. Heath just found out he was going to be on the podcast, so I'll give him a little

bit of time to think about his favorite breakout. Dave Richard, who are you going with as a breakout this year? I'm not sure if he's my favorite breakout, but I've been talking about him for what this is probably the third podcast in a row that I brought him up. So Chris Carson of the Seattle Seahawks. I really thought he was on his way to grinding to a thousand rush yards this past season. He got hurt, but Seattle's going to improve their offensive line. They absolutely have to. As of now, he's their best running back. I don't see them making a big splash of running back during the offseason.

So my chips are on Chris Carson right now. Okay. Chris Carson only played in four games against the Niners. He had a pretty good run defense, 20 carries for 93 yards, a little bit of pass catching. He had, I think, seven catches in four games, but five in his last two. His best plays were in the preseason. He had a few here and there during the regular season.

I think he's good. I really do. Do you like him better than any Redskins running back? I like him better than all the Redskins running backs. Even Chris Thompson? Even Chris Thompson. Even in PPR? Ooh, you're putting my feet to the fire. Yes, I'll say even in PPR. Okay. Heath, you ready? Oh, absolutely. I've Yes, I'll say even in PPR. Okay.

Heath, you ready? Oh, absolutely. I've been ready for this my entire life. Hit me with it. Everything I've ever done has led me up to this moment. And I'll just go with also a running back, Derek Henry. It has got to be the time where he finally gets 18-plus touches per game. We know what he's done whenever he's gotten 11 in his career. Give him 18 a game.

Watch him be a top five running back. I'm starting to get excited about the Tennessee offense. The more I learn about Matt LaFleur and how it's not Mike Malarkey. Saying his name is kind of LaFleur. And I think that that offense is going to look different, and I think they're going to be a lot more exciting and good for fantasy. My question is, what is LaFleur for Derrick Henry this year? Yeah, yeah.

If he plays 16 games, I think he's over 1,000 yards at the minimum. My question is, how early do you draft him? Because you're going to have to pull the trigger pretty early, second round for sure. Late round two, early round three, he's going to be right in that zone. Yeah. Listen, he could go higher than that, let's be honest. If DeMarco Murray's not there, they don't really add anybody else at running back, and he has a couple of nice runs in the preseason,

oh my God, people will be all over him as a top 15 pick. Well, and the LeFleur quotes will matter as well. Like if he says it's pretty clear, there can't be our guy. Or we could hear him say something like, I don't really believe in having a future running back. We're going to have multiple guys do the work. That's going to hurt his draft stock. That would mean that they'd have to add another guy along the way because I don't think DeMarco Murray is going to be that other guy.

I expect a third down back. Now, can you tell me the famous LeFleur from one of our favorite movies? A character in a sports movie. His last name was LaFleur Bobby No Matt Peter LaFleur

From Vince Vaughn character Peter LaFleur Dodgeball Dodgeball Very good Vince Vaughn's best sports movie Alright you want an interesting

Derrick Henry question here A keeper question From Aaron Dear Randy Poffo Elizabeth Hulett And Terry Bollea We want an interesting Derek Henry question here, a keeper question from Aaron. Dear Randy Poffo, Elizabeth Hulett, and Terry Bollea. Ooh, yeah. Those would be the mega powers. Oh, okay.

Those are the real names of the mega powers, Randy Savage, Miss Elizabeth, and Hulk Hogan. Miss Elizabeth, gotcha. Who would you keep in a standard scoring auction league in a $200 budget? Standard scoring, Devante Adams or Derrick Henry, both for $18? And that's really like who would you draft first, right? Adams or Derrick Henry? Really like Adams this year. Yeah, I think it's probably Adams.

His floor, his lafleur is much higher than Derrick Henry's. He's going to be the number one wide receiver for Aaron Rodgers. It's not the popular answer, but it's the answer I'm giving. Okay, and then my breakout, I guess as of right now, don't hold me to it, but just for a little fun, I think Sammy Watkins will have his best season. And look, both Carson and Henry were on Jamie's breakouts list. They are great choices. Cooper Cupp is actually on Jamie's list. And I don't know.

Like, he led the Rams in targets with 95. That's kind of crazy, first of all. Nobody had more than 95 targets on the Rams. I'm just hoping that Sammy Watkins, if he stays with the Rams, second year in the system, I know he's a better player than Cooper Cupp and Robert Woods, right? Like, he was on a team with Robert Woods. He was always better than Robert Woods. Are you sure

he's going to be a Ram? No, but this is all contingent on him being a Ram. And actually, even if he's not a Ram, just don't get traded during the preseason. I think Sammy Watkins could have his best year. His best year so far has been 1,047 yards and 9 touchdowns in 13 games.

I could see him getting a 1,200-yard, 10-touchdown season. There you go. Yeah, I just have a, like, I think he's talented enough to do that. I have a hard time seeing that happening with Robert Woods and Cooper Cup. The way that Jared Goff, listen, they did a fantastic job designing their passing game to make Goff successful, but it's not great for fantasy purposes because they're taking advantage of matchups, and that's not the same guy every game. make Goss successful. But it's not great for fantasy purposes

because they're taking advantage of matchups, and that's not the same guy every game. Yeah, I agree. I just kind of feel like they'll get away from that maybe. Not intentionally. Why would they get away? It works so well. Not intentionally because Sammy Watkins has the potential

to be one of the best receivers in football. I still believe that. They don't get any playoff spots for Sammy Watkins' fantasy production. But they can be a better offense if Sammy Watkins... Sammy Watkins can do things that Cooper Cupp just can't. I think it's far more likely that offense progresses next year than finds a way to improve. I mean, that might be, but again,

I just don't know that he's going to spread the ball around as much. I don't know he's going to throw to Todd Gurley as much. If you want that offense to take the next step, you get the ball to Sammy Watkins, you get the ball downfield, and you have your best wide receiver make more plays. If they philosophically don't believe in what you're saying, then not only will your prediction not come true, but Sammy Watkins might not be there. Because then, if they don't think he's that important,

they're not going to pay him like he's that important. And he'll walk as a free agent. And there's already talk that he's not going to get the franchise tag. That's fine. And he can move on to another team. And I think there's a team in the same division where he could get those numbers. And that's San Francisco. Honestly, I don't know that a change of scenery wouldn't be good for him.

Bottom line is, we know he can be a great player, Sammy Watkins, when he's healthy. So let's give him that opportunity. And the other bottom line is I'm not really sure I believe he's a breakout. But I just wanted to go with a different name that we don't really talk about much. So there he is. I'd love to see him stretching the defense in San Francisco. All right. We got some things I want to tell you about.

First of all, I've kind of gone silent on the whole voicemail thing. Voicemails are fun. I've been enjoying them. So leave us a voicemail at 954-689-3199. Here's what you do. You call that number, 954-689-3199. You wait for it to get to the answering machine. You leave a little message and give us your name at the top and where you're calling from and then get to your question. And if the sound quality is good enough and if it works, I'll put it on the air and we'll

answer some voicemails. 954-689-3199. And how about CBS Sports HQ? We're really excited about this. This is your way to get the latest scores, news, and highlights. All your favorite sports, okay? It's going to be fantasy football, but it's going to be fantasy baseball. It's going to be regular non-fantasy sports. I was watching HQ this morning. Here's what it is, I should have mentioned. You got Roku, you got Apple TV, you got Amazon Fire, any connected device. You can download the app and watch CBS Sports HQ. It's actually on the CBS Sports app. And it's 24-7 sports coverage. So this is like how we used to love sports coverage.

I mean, we're not just talking about three topics in sports. We're not having stupid debates. We're getting out there, and we have really insightful guests on, and we have highlights. And I think it's a good throwback that real sports fans are going to like. So download the CBS Sports app. Yeah, go ahead. Did you mention it was free?

It's free. Totally free. Did you mention that you don't have to sign up for it? I didn't. You can literally go on our app right now. You can download the app, and without giving even a shred of information about yourself, you can watch it live.

Yeah. And you can probably watch it live anywhere where you download a podcast. So everybody listening has no excuse. So basically, it's the old school basics of sports coverage. It scores news and highlights. And I think you're going to really like it. It's old school, but it's also refreshing because we know what it's like now when you watch sports shows. So it's CBS Sports HQ.

It's on the CBS Sports app. All right. So to the news and notes. It's on the CBS Sports app. All right. So to the news and notes, the Texans could cut Lamar Miller and the Cowboys, they could cut Des Bryant. He's very expensive. What do you think? Oh, well, I guess what do you think of those two headlines, Heath? If they could cut Des Bryant and sign Sammy Watkins, then I think that would make a lot

of sense. But I don't believe that's what's going to happen. The problem for Dallas is they are talent deficient at wide receiver. Dez is not the same guy he used to be, but he's also by far and away their most talented wide receiver. They need to keep Dez Bryant and add a wide receiver. I was about to say they should have Dez and Sammy Watkins, and that would be incredible.

They can't. They're in a real tough spot right now, especially since they have to use the franchise tag on DeMarcus Lawrence. And, yes, I thought that Lamar Miller would be a cap casualty. He's definitely on the chopping block. I don't know if Houston's going to completely go with it because Deontay Foreman hurt himself during the season. But if Foreman had stayed healthy all season long,

you could kind of see him creeping his way into a bigger role before he got hurt. I think Foreman's the future of their nation. You want to talk about a breakout? That's a breakout candidate, provided that he's healthy. My guess is that we will see Miller restructure his contract, i.e. take a pay cut. Okay. And yeah, we're talking about not just any injury but an Achilles injury for Deontay Foreman,

who was pretty impressive, and Lamar Miller certainly wasn't. Career-low 3.7 yards per carry last year. The other thing about Dez is that he said he was playing hurt. He had tendonitis during the final month of the season. He's been playing hurt for, what, three years now? He also had a ton of balls go over his head. Dak was not as accurate as he was in 2016. Dave, you wrote a story about Jarvis Landry

who has been franchise tagged, but he could be traded. And you wrote your favorite destinations for Jarvis Landry. Absolutely. And San Francisco made that list too. I'd rather San Francisco get Watkins than Landry. I think Baltimore, especially now that there's news out that Macklin,

Danny Woodhead, both of them might get cut. I think they make perfect sense for Jarvis Landry. If they can afford him, that's a huge if. I think Chicago makes a lot of sense for Jarvis Landry. Chicago, you want to talk about teams that are deficient at wide receiver. Their best wide receiver last year was Kendall Wright. He didn't even have 650 yards. So there's a bunch of interesting places.

Carolina is interesting for Jarvis Landry. Tennessee would be very interesting. I think Miami is going to get away with this. They franchised him. It sounds like they did it so that they could trade him and get something in return. And I think they're going to get something for him because wide receiver isn't deep in the draft. It's not deep in free agency. And he's going to be the best name out there.

Heath, how many touchdowns did you expect from Jarvis Landry? These are his touchdowns in his four seasons. Five, four, four, nine. It would depend on where he goes. If he goes somewhere like Chicago where it's just clear they have really no other good options in the passing game, then I'm going to expect him to get a ton of targets just like he has, and I'm probably going to expect somewhere around eight touchdowns. Is there a correlation between a guy who has such a low yards per catch?

I mean, last year it was 8.8, which is terrible. But, okay, 2016 was 12.1. You can actually live with that. That's not terrible. But 10.4 in 2015, nine yards per catch in 2014. Is that why he doesn't score a lot of touchdowns? I think that's part of it. I think he's also been on teams that haven't thrown a lot of touchdown passes.

He's also played with a lot of conservative quarterbacks. Cutler was the first quarterback he ever played with who wasn't conservative. Certainly not like Ryan Tannehill was. He had eight touchdowns with him in, I think, 14 games. That's pretty good. It is, yeah. So the better the signal caller that Landry lands with, the better his touchdown production will be.

That sounds so simple. But really, I think a big reason why he didn't get a lot of touchdowns is because Ryan Tannehill was his quarterback, and Tannehill was gun-shy to throw to Landry in the red zone. All right, Minnesota not expected a franchise case Keenum, according to Ian Rappaport. That's interesting. Let's get some Kirk Cousins there.

That would be nice. I think that's what it signals. Yep, that's the answer. My guess is that they made a decent offer to Keenum and said, if you can beat it, great. If not, we'll gladly take you back. And as long as he doesn't sign that offer, they go out and try and make room for Kirk Cousins.

If Cousins goes to Minnesota and has Diggs and Phelan and Rudolph and Cook, would you rank Kirk Cousins or Carson Wentz higher next year? I still have Wentz higher because I already have Cousins higher. Well, we're expecting Cousins to land somewhere great. If Cousins goes to the Browns or the Jets, I'll probably move him below Wentz. And I'm obviously the Wentz hater. But if Cousins goes to Minnesota, he might be a top five quarterback. What about Denver?

I wouldn't like it as much. Really? No. Moving forward into next year, I would rather have Thielen and Diggs and Rudolph than Demarius and Emmanuel Sanders. And who knows if they have Demarius. If they're going and signing Kirk Cousins, they might have one of those guys.

Yeah. Money-wise. Yeah. They're both going to be expensive. But they can find other guys Kirk Cousins, they might not have one of those guys, money-wise. Yeah, they're both going to be expensive. But they can find other guys to cut. I think Derek Wolfe is one of the guys that they could cut. I'm not 100% sure. I think John Elway finds a way if he has the opportunity. And I'd love to see Cousins in either one of those two places. I would hate to see him with the Jets.

Jets and Cardinals, no, no, no. If Robbie Anderson was out of trouble, I wouldn't hate the Jets. But that's one receiver, and I don't like their receiving core nearly as much as I like Minnesota and Denver. Like Minnesota, Denver, and to an extent Cleveland, they are all set up for Kirk Cousins to just land at the airport, walk to the facility, get rolling, and I think all three of them could have a great offense with him. Yeah.

Cousins was the number five quarterback in fantasy two seasons ago, 2016. Last year he was number eight. Not necessarily on a per-game basis. He stays healthy, but he's had two good fantasy years in a row. All right, so there's that. There's Blake Bortles back to the Jaguars. Three years, $54 million. Could be worth more than $66 million.

Blake Bortles was the number 14 quarterback in fantasy last year. Do you guys have him ranked in your top 20? No. I don't believe I do. So what's your reaction to this? I'm a little surprised there. He's so cheap that there was really no argument against doing it. It's funny that you say that because a lot of people see $54 million and they go,

cheap? What are you talking about? It's cheap. It's cheap compared to what Jimmy Garoppolo, for example, is something like $27 million. And they basically have an out after every year. Right. They could cut him after next year. Well, they'll still owe him some money after next year.

Well, the newest thing I saw today was that next year is $6.5 million, but it includes offset language. Somebody's going to give him $7 million to play football. Bottom line is that they're paying him more money than they would have if they just kept him to the option year of this year. But it's over a longer period of time, so it's far more manageable on the salary cap, which is what Jacksonville needed. He actually, obviously the passing yards were way down last year, 3,687. But Bortles' pass attempts in his last three seasons, 606, 625,

and last year only 523 pass attempts. This team ran the ball more than any team in football. It obviously makes sense. By the way, Minnesota was number two in rush attempts per game. I guess now with Bortles back, let's say Allen Robinson is there. Is this good news, bad news, no news? What do you think about the wide receivers for Jacksonville with Bortles? Robinson's not – I don't think he'll have top five or top eight upside any longer

with them only throwing the ball 520 times. And I don't expect them to throw the ball more next year so that will hurt robinson's upside but he's still a number two wide receiver if he resigns yeah i've got him outside of there i've got him outside of my top 24 for the reasons why what he said and it's interesting to me that jacksonville and minnesota were the two leading teams in rush attempts when you look at their defenses it's kind of easy to figure out why oh yeah it makes sense you can look at their quarterbacks, too. Not like they had Aaron Rodgers back there.

Would you rather have Allen Robinson, assuming he's a Jaguar, or Juju Smith-Schuster? Robinson. They're in the same type of spot for me. They're really close together. Okay. I think I would take Smith-Schuster a little bit ahead of Robinson. And we should probably start

thinking that Martavis Bryant's not going to be on Pittsburgh next year. All signs point to no, right? Yes. Apparently Buffalo tried to trade for him during the season. They got Kelvin Benjamin instead. I heard about another team trying to get Martavis at one point during the season,

but they couldn't. Pittsburgh really wasn't that interested, I don't think, but now I think they might be. Apparently, Geno Smith thinks the earth might be flat. So there's that. Tyler Eifert's been cleared for OTAs, according to Adam Schefter. With what team? He's an Olympic athlete of – I don't know.

He doesn't have a team. I was trying to make an Olympic athletes of Russia joke. Right. Because they didn't really have a country. O-A-R. Football athlete of the NFL. That would make him a fan. Of Notre Dame.

How about a football player? Football player, yeah. Okay, Tyler Eifert cleared for OTAs. The Rams will acquire Marcus Peters from the Chiefs. Oh, really, Chiefs fan? That was a terrible deal. Well, now that you know the compensation, it's a terrible deal. It was an awful deal, yes.

What was the compensation? They gave up Marcus Peters and a sixth-round pick for a fourth-round pick this year and a second-round pick next year. They did not want Marcus Peters on their team. And he did not want to be on their team. Apparently, after the Titans game, he requested a trade. He got a second-round pick out of it? That's not so bad. Yeah, but it's not for another year.

All right, well, yeah. And he is under control for at least two years. He's 25 years old, and he's one of the best corners in football. Yeah, the Rams definitely won that trade. But they also might have a little bit of a headache now. Their defense might be... They're going to be blitz mania. By the way, here's one that I just don't believe to be true.

Samaj P. Ryan expected to start the season as the Redskins starting running back, according to NBC Sports Washington. I say no way. That would be a terrible idea. They have to address the position. And even if P. Ryan is the starting running back in week one, he probably won't be by week three. It's going to be a camp competition between him, Rob Kelly,

and whoever else they bring in to be the running downs back. You know what Chris Thompson's going to do. And you know what he's not going to do. They're not going to give Chris Thompson a chance in that competition. No, I don't think so. I think they learned their lesson after Thompson hurt himself this past season. Again. All right, Heath, I'll let you go, but you're here for the Twitter poll.

Are you ready? Yes, I'm ready. What is the best cocoa cereal? A, Cocoa Krispies. B, Cocoa Pebbles. C, Cocoa Puffs. What do you guys think? I know what it's not.

Me too. It's not Cocoa Puffs. No. It is. I remember. Cocoa Puffs are the worst. I must have been in high school or something. Maybe at some sort of camp retreat or something when I was a kid.

And my parents were one of those parents that were like, you can't have sugary cereals, David. So I had to wait until I was away from the house to finally get my hands on the good stuff, like Lucky Charms and Apple Jacks. And then I tried Cocoa Puffs, and they were nasty. They are not what they say they are. Right.

So what would you guys pick, Krispies, Pebbles, or Puffs? Obviously not Puffs. I'd probably pick Pebbles. I would too. All right. Let me tell you the Twitter results. The Flintstones make really good cereal. Let me tell you the Twitter results here.

I'm really starting to question humanity, guys. Cocoa Krispies, 19%. Cocoa Pebbles, 37%. Cocoa Puffs, 44% in the lead. Yeah. Yeah. What are people thinking? Hurts my brain. Really bad. Bad serial

take, Twitter people. Heath, you good? Want to snag around? Thank you very much for letting me be a part of the podcast. Welcome to the podcast. I hope that I get to do this again someday. I'm sure you will. I look forward to having you on. Thank you, Heath Cummings. There he goes. Heath is out of here. Alright, so

Heath with good stuff there. If you want to hear more from Heath, you can hear him on the Sportsline DFS podcast. The Sportsline DFS podcast every day. Five days a week, he will give you some NBA advice along with Mike McClure, who's our Sportsline.com expert. And they also talk PGA. We'll do

baseball. But anything you can play DFS, that's not true. But a lot of things you can play DFS, they'll give you the advice. Now, that will help you make money. Here's what will help you save money. SeatGeek, the best ticket app around. Or go to SeatGeek.com. But either way, you need to start using it. Download the SeatGeek app. I have it on my phone. I use it all the time. And with the promo code FFT, you will save $20 on your first SeatGeek purchase. Just think about that. You want to go to a game or a concert or comedy or theater, whatever it is. Got an awesome Foo Fighters tour coming this summer.

Got great concerts coming up, actually. Baseball season is right around the corner. I'm going to be going to a bunch of Yankees games via SeatGeek. Just take $20 off. That's a really good offer. $20 off your first purchase. Use the promo code FFT. Even when you are done with the promo code, you've already used it,

you're still going to want to use SeatGeek because it searches multiple ticket sites and compares prices and finds the best deals. That's how you know you're getting the best value, guys, because it pulls in results from multiple sites, and it's just about getting more competition in there, getting more options, and you get the best deals, and you benefit. So SeatGeek will save you time and money. Download it.

Put it on your phone. Go to the website, SeatGeek.com, whatever it is. Use the promo code FFT for $20 off your first SeatGeek purchase. Promo code is FFT. Before we get to the emails, here are Jamie's breakouts. And our email address is fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. First breakout. And by the way, this is like a whole bunch of second-year guys,

and it's good because, like, last year's rookie crop, solid, really solid stuff. And this is not the full list, by the way. Get that on the website. Deshaun Watson, Dave, time for his breakout season. He averaged on a per-game basis 29 fantasy points per game. This is Deshaun Watson we're talking about. Now, that includes 7 fantasy points off the

bench against the Jaguars in Week 1. 29 points per game and 6 points per passing touchdown leagues. Number 2 was Carson Wentz at 25.8 fantasy points per game. So Watson was incredible and seems like an obvious breakout candidate. Yeah, what do you think? Averaged 31.2 fantasy points per game and was the number two most

consistent quarterback in fantasy last year. 31.2 in his starts? Yes. Yeah, right. 29 if you include the game he came off the bench, 31.2 in his starts. And the consistency factor is just off the hook as well. You know what the upside is because you saw it game after game early on in 2017. Yeah, it's going to be a tough schedule for him. You know that Tennessee's defense is going to get better. Jacksonville's defense is great. A lot of other tough matchups ahead for them. They've got to play the patriots at foxborough

for example but he went into seattle last year if you recall and i this is on the top of my brain because i'm watching this film right now and from the get-go he was awesome and that was against a tough seattle secondary in their building i think it's just the beginning for him. I know that he is – I believe he's jogging now. That's where he's at in his recovery from the ACL. That's jogging. Yogging. Yogging? Come on.

It's Anchorman. Come on. Right. I'm just – Well, here's what – I'm wrapped up in football. Here's what he did at Seattle in Week 8. Yeah, go ahead.

19 for 30, 402 yards, four touchdowns. He did throw three interceptions, but 67 rushing yards for 40 fantasy points. 40 fantasy points. That was only his third best game of the season, which is amazing. 41 points in week four, 45 points in week five. It makes perfect sense to buy into him as a monster breakout candidate and a top five fantasy quarterback. What about Jimmy Garoppolo, also on Jamie's breakout list?

With Garoppolo and with Watson, do we have enough of a sample size to really feel comfortable? I think you do. I think you've seen enough. Obviously, with the 49ers, they've seen enough to feel really good about Garoppolo. I think fantasy owners will, too. And I think by the time the drafts come around in August,

we'll see a 49ers offense that doesn't look quite the same as the one that we saw late last season. I think the offensive line will be better. I think the run game will be as good, maybe a little worse. I don't see them making huge splashes at running back. They're going to draft somebody. And I think they're going to improve at wide receiver. And I just love so much of what I saw from Garoppolo.

It really felt like I was watching Brady for a lot of those games. Good decision maker, going to lean on tight ends, really good in the red zone. I feel a little bit more comfortable with him because Watson was just so – you almost get the sense that he's boom or bust, but all we saw was the boom. The bust was the injury with Watson, and Watson's going to get drafted way ahead of Garoppolo. But I think both of them have potential to finish, like I said, top five for Watson, top ten for Garoppolo. Yeah, now Garoppolo, in the latest draft that we did, a PPR mock draft, he went in round ten.

And I like the combo that George Maselli used. Garoppolo in round ten, Ben Roethlisberger in round 10, and I like the combo that George Maselli used. Garoppolo in round 10, Ben Roethlisberger in round 11, and I think we are now calling it Garoppolo's Burger. Everybody aim for Garoppolo's Burger in your drafts. But Watson's got the gaudy fantasy numbers. Garoppolo really didn't. He started five games. He scored more than 21 fantasy points and six points for passing touchdown leagues only once.

But the yards were great. 293, 334, 381, 242, and 292. So in five starts, 292 or more yards in four out of five games. You'll love the Shanahan thing. Yeah, I mean, first of all, who would you rather have, Garoppolo or Roethlisberger? I have Garoppolo a spot ahead of Roethlisberger. Oh, how about that? How about Garoppolo or let me see other quarterbacks who went around him.

Carson Wentz. I know you have Wentz ahead, right? I'm going to take Wentz. How about Garoppolo or Stafford? I have Stafford ahead. That could change depending on what Detroit does at running back. Okay. Speaking of running back, here are three running back

breakouts. Dalvin Cook, Joe Mixon, and Jamal Williams, all going into their second year. And with Cook, we're seeing him go at the end of round one. These are all Jamie's breakouts, by the way, just reminding you. We're seeing him go end of round one, maybe early round two. I thought Dalvin Cook, I'm pretty sure I said this, would be the best running back last year of all the rookies.

I love him. I mean, there's a reason why he fell to the second round. It was off the field stuff. He's tremendous. He was really good in four games. And Minnesota did run the ball the second most times in the NFL. What do you think? Could that change? Would he be hurt maybe by Kirk Cousins coming aboard? Dalvin Cook? I think the coaches love him so much that he would not be hurt by Cousins coming aboard.

Yeah. He can catch passes too. I don't think he's leaving the field nearly as much as Latavius Murray did. Remember, after he got hurt, Murray and as much as Latavius Murray did. Remember, after he got hurt, Murray and McKinnon, they were splitting work. There were games, obviously, where Latavius had 20-plus carries, but he didn't do it alone. And McKinnon was out there a decent portion of the time.

And I think they viewed Dalvin Cook as a special player. And it's exactly what we saw in Dalvin Cook. And the numbers bore it out for fantasy. He was a top five running back in terms of consistency last year. What is not to like about him? He just got hurt. Yeah, he tore his ACL. I mean, that sucks. Well, that's kind of a red flag.

I mean, you don't want to go after a running back coming off of an ACL. I know that's going to scare a lot of people off. I'd like to see how he looks before I really write Dalvin Cook in ink as a top 12. I've got him as a top 10 running back right now. Top 10 running back? Top 10 running back. But not a top 10 player. Do you have Melvin Gordon ahead of him?

I've got him 12th overall. 12th overall, okay. In non-PPR. Melvin Gordon or Dalvin Cook? I have Gordon ahead of him. But you have Cook ahead of, let's say, Devontae Freeman? Yes. And Derrick Henry?

Yes. Yeah. I don't know. I'm trying to look for knocks here just to play devil's advocate other than the knee. His opponents, New Orleans, this is who he played in four games, faced New Orleans. They were 12th in fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs. We didn't know it at the time, but they had a better

defense. That was week one. They had a better defense than we realized. At Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, and Detroit were the final three opponents that Dalvin Cook played. Weeks two, three, and four. They were all 25th or worse in fantasy points allowed to running backs. But if you remember,

Pittsburgh was actually good when they had Ryan Shazier. So I don't know. You could say he had an easy schedule, or you could just stop nitpicking and move on, and we could just accept that Dalvin Cook's awesome. Do you believe in the Lions, Packers, and Bears defenses coming into the year? Do you believe that they're going to be suffocating run defenses? No.

I think he's going to crush them. I think the Bears might be the best of the three coming into 2018. And I've got questions about their linebackers. Yeah, no, he's going to crush them. And, of course, you've got to factor in Minnesota's defense and the fact that they've got a lot of matchups coming up. Not a lot, but a decent amount of matchups. Against teams that aren't prolific offensively.

The Bears twice. The Cardinals, I think, could be a mess. Buffalo could be a mess. The Jets might not be great. Those are games where the defense, you know they're going to come to play big in those games, and then there's other games that they're going to play that figure to be low scoring. The home game against Green Bay, I doubt that becomes a high-scoring game.

Plenty of other ones on the schedule. And low-scoring games, that'll favor the running back getting a lot of opportunities. And that's how Minnesota probably would prefer to win games as of now. If Kirk Cousins comes in, I don't think it really changes the philosophy that much. It just means that they're ready to go if they have to play in a high-scoring game. Now remember, we talked about this when we reviewed the PPR mock draft. Teams 10, 11, and 12 in a 12-team league, they all started with one running back and one wide receiver,

and Dalvin Cook is certainly in play there. So these are the three combos you could be looking at as of right now if you're in a 12-team league. Michael Thomas and Melvin Gordon, that's my favorite one. That's a good one. Yeah, Kareem Hunt and A.J. Green, that was my team. And Dalvin Cook and Keenan Allen. So all three teams, 10, 11, and 12, they went running back receiver in some order,

and they all have two good players to start their team with. Okay, so the next two running backs, more questions about rather than Dalvin Cook. Joe Mixon and Jamal Williams. Your thoughts on these two guys? Who's more likely to be a breakout player next year? Mixon's got a much better chance, in my opinion, to be a breakout player because there's nowhere near as much competition. Mixon, we saw the Bengals coaching staff,

and it's still the same coaching staff as last year. They did not make a wholesale change. Bill Lazor is still the offensive coordinator. They stuck with Mixon. And by the end of the year, I think they were using him right way he was he looked a little bit more patient as a runner and and i think he was starting to get into a groove injuries befell him as well and i i just think that he's going to have more opportunities than williams who if he comes out playing like crap you could see aaron jones get the starting job you could see Bay, I've said it before, I'll say it again,

getting a running back in the draft. That's especially if they move Ty Montgomery to wide receiver, which is a philosophy that we floated here on the podcast. So I kind of can get behind Jamal Williams. I know he had a lot of really good games. I still feel like he's a volume running back, whereas Mixon is not. I think Mixon could get in there, and even if he averaged 15 touches per game,

could have really good numbers. I just want to see the Bengals have a better offensive line, and I really think that that's the key for them. If they do a better job protecting Dalton, that's going to be great for A.J. Green. It's going to be great for whoever else is catching the ball for them, and it's going to be very good for Mixon, who, by the way, can catch the ball very, very well. Yeah, I'm not really feeling it with Jamal Williams,

but I like the thought of drafting Williams and Aaron Jones because nobody really wants Aaron Jones right now. I'll take a look at where they went. Jamal Williams went in the fifth round in this PPR draft that we did, 58th overall, and Aaron Jones went in the ninth round. So, you know, that kind of combo wouldn't be such a bad idea to me, but I can't get over the fact that Jamal Williams was like really bad as a rusher. He did nothing. He was good in the passing game, but, you know, he averaged 3.6 yards per carry. Now, we know rookies can do that and improve dramatically the next year. But I didn't see anything from Jamal Williams that makes me think he's a breakout.

He's just on the Packers. He had those three big games, weeks 12 through 14, where he had a ton of fantasy points. And that's what people, certainly the people that had him on their fantasy team late last year, they're going to remember that. And they might go after Jamal Williams just based on it. I don't mind him in the fifth round. But everybody else, that's not everybody. Yeah, I don't mind him in the fifth round.

But one other thing, like, yeah, he's doing really well. Weeks 12, 13, 14. At Pittsburgh, I'm pretty sure without Shazier, yes. Tampa Bay, they were terrible. At Cleveland, actually had a good run defense, and he had a good total yards game. He had seven catches for 69 yards and a touchdown. Jamal Williams we're talking about at Cleveland.

Next game is at Carolina. At Carolina, they have a great run defense. We know that. Ten carries for 30 yards, whatever, but no catches. And that was the game Aaron Rodgers came back to. Exactly. So I don't know how much a part of the passing game he'll be. All his passing game production came with Brett Hundley.

One game with Aaron Rodgers, zero catches for him. And they went to Aaron Jones before they went to Jamal Williams. So I'm not really there on the Williams hype. You sound like you're not quite there. No, I'm not. In fact, I'm going to predict that he will be off of Jamie's breakout list by the time August hits the calendar. All right, so let's get a couple of wide receivers.

Josh Gordon and Cooper Cup. Anything to doubt with Josh Gordon? I have a problem with these guys being listed as breakouts. Josh Gordon would be a re-breakout. Yeah, he would be he's broken out already yeah he's gonna do better than he did when was it 2014 uh 2013 87 catches 1646 yards and nine touchdowns number two receiver at fantasy okay so i don't think he's putting up numbers better than that i think he could have have a better—I think he could have his second best year ever.

Yeah. Which we could quantify as saying 1,400 yards and eight touchdowns. But who's his quarterback? What's the rest of this team going to look like? He can't have Deshaun Kizer as his quarterback. He's got to have somebody good. I don't think he will either. So definitely— Like A.J. McCarron as his quarterback. He's got to have somebody good. He won't. I don't think he will either. Like A.J. McCarron as his quarterback?

Definitely it's exciting. I know that you've said he'd be a top 10 or 12 quarterback if Cousins were there. I'd love that. Yeah, but I don't know. Just to ask the question, are we sure Gordon's still capable of doing what he did? That was a long time ago.

That was 2013. He's going to be five years removed from his last good season. But this is an offseason in which he knows he's going to be playing football. He seems to have his head on straight after suffering setback after setback and problem after problem. If he has an offseason that's boring, nothing happens to him, he's focused on football, he's in training camp on time, he gets into game shape, I'm not going to put it past him.

I think he could have a very, very good year. All right, Josh Gordon. Now let's go to Cooper Cup. And this is the one I don't really see, and you know, because I think Sammy Watkins is a breakout candidate. I don't see how Cooper Cup breaks out and Sammy Watkins doesn't. You know what I mean? Like, Cupp is the third best receiver on the team, in my opinion.

And that's not really a knock on him. That's just they have three good receivers. So I don't think he's better than Watkins or Woods. He finished with 62, 869, and 5. And he really should have had closer to, 79-25-7, something like that. He dropped a couple of touchdowns. And missed a game. He missed a game.

I think he might be the best wide receiver in L.A. for fantasy purposes. He's a red zone threat. He's a big guy in the slot. He's going to be in single coverage all the time because of what the Rams have. This is assuming Sammy Watkins stays. I think he could do better than 869-5. I don't know if he's 1,008. He might be.

He might get to that point, Adam. It won't be much more than that if he does, but I really see him continuing his role as a touchdown-dependent wide receiver whose volume helps him get good yardage. So Cup maybe – did you say the touchdown – I'm sorry. What did you just say about touchdowns? I think he's still very touchdown-dependent. It matters a ton for him.

I think he could be a good touchdown guy. But I kind of think that that's what he can be for the Rams. Yeah, I think he could be. I think he sticks be a good touchdown guy. But I kind of think that that's what he can be for the Rams. Yeah, I think he could be. I think he sticks in that role, and I think Jared Goff liked him. Yep. Cooper Cupp led the team in targets. He's my favorite Rams receiver. He's not going to do that again.

For fantasy. All right, that's interesting. I guess I'll have to come around on that. And convince me on Adam Shaheen. Adam Shaheen is in. O.J.ard is also on the breakout list i'm sure jamie likes howard better than shaheen but uh he does have shaheen on the breakout list this guy caught almost all of his targets only problem is he had 14 targets he caught

12 of them uh in 13 games what do you think about the bears second year tight end I think that he's got potential just based on his gargantuan size. He's 6'7 and 260. Huge catch radius. He's not really fast, but you kind of see what the Bears are looking at with him, hoping that he could be the next Gronkowski. And certainly a mismatch in the red zone and out of the red zone. Matt Nagy comes from a place where they use Travis Kelsey a lot. Kelsey's a lot faster than Shaheen,

so I think that that's something that probably will be taken into consideration. I think O.J. Howard might have a little bit more upside. I could see Howard continuing to be an every-down player for the Bucs. Not sure if Cameron Brait's going to stick around there. We know that Jameis Winston loves his tight end. Trubisky doesn't necessarily have that same type of quality that Jameis has. We know it with Jameis. We're not sure of it with Trubisky. Yeah.

Okay. Well, Shaheen, top what? Where do you have him in the rankings? He's not in my top 12 at tight end. I've got guys like Delaney Walker, George Kittle ahead of him. I've got O.J. Howard ahead of him. I've got David Njoku ahead of him. You want to talk about Cleveland and a sleeper tight end?

That's definitely one. He's past those guys. He's 17th for me. Njoku ahead of Shaheen. All right. Yeah. I think he's got a better chance of making a second-year leap than Shaheen. Dave, let's read some emails at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com.

From Tennessee Roberts, last week you had a voicemail question regarding luck versus skill in the playoffs. I have a potential solution. Create a regular season points race that concludes at week 13's end. The team slash owner with the most points in my league wins 40% of the prize money, along with their name on the traveling trophy. Having such a heavily weighted prize for the points race has multiple benefits, such as rewarding week-to-week regular season excellence,

along with potentially having several teams battling it out during week 13. The most challenging aspect of this layout is that the points champ can potentially win the Super Bowl II, a truly epic accomplishment. As always, thanks for everything you do. The addition of Heath really ties the room together. If you were a band, you'd be the Beatles. I don't know if there's a higher compliment than that. Right?

Yeah, I like the Beatles. That is high praise. Thank you, Tennessee Roberts. Thank you, Tennessee Roberts. I wouldn't personally – I don't play in leagues with enough money to give out 40% of the pot to the points leader, but I play in a baseball league like that, so I have no beef with that. I like it.

Would you give the number three seed to the points leader if the points leader didn't already have a division win? Would you say it again? So, for example, you're in a league. You've scored more points than anybody, but for whatever reason, you're in a league. You've scored more points than anybody, but for whatever reason you're in second place in your division. So the team first place in your division is going to get the one seed. Number two seed is going to be the first place holder in the other division. Right.

Most points scored gets you the three seed. Yeah, that's fine. I mean, you're rewarded with 40% of the pot. You still have to play in the first round. All it does is it gives you, I don't know, the satisfaction of being the three seed. It's certainly not 40% of the prize pool. I'm okay with there being a prize for the most points scored in the league. I think that that's important. And it keeps people invested in the league later into the season.

I'm fine with the seeding staying the same. The reward for the points is the money. 40% too much for you? Kind of, yeah. I wouldn't like that if I thought I had a seeding staying the same. The reward for the points is the money. 40% too much for you? Kind of, yeah. I wouldn't like that if I thought I had a chance to win the league. I think 30% is where I'd be at. Lower. Okay.

Give me a number. If there's 10 teams in the league, you can say 20%, and then that way that guy's getting double his membership feedback. Okay. Kevin Rossetti's question. I've been running a Dynasty League for about seven or eight years. That way that guy's getting double his membership feedback. Kevin Rossetti's question. I've been running a dynasty league for about seven or eight years. I've always had the rookie draft several weeks after the actual NFL draft. What are your thoughts on the best time to have rookie drafts?

Oh, I think several weeks after the actual NFL draft is fine. I think any time between when the draft is over and when training camp ends, when the preseason ends, any time in there is fine. I might even argue that the later the better. That way you get to see these rookies a little bit. Yeah, that's the thing. Rookie drafts are usually fairly early, I feel, and I don't really know why.

If we think that regular fantasy drafts should be as late as possible, why not rookie drafts too? Don't know. Yeah. They could be. They should be. They will be. Okay.

This is from Aaron. Oh, we already read this. This was Devante Adams or Derrick Henry for 18. Okay, then. This is from, what's your stinking name? Trace from Maple Ridge in British Columbia, then. This is from, what's your stinking name? Trace from Maple Ridge in British Columbia, Canada. You ever see the movie Houseguest? No.

Sinbad? No. Maple Ridge is the name of the camp they attended in that terrible movie. Is it in Canada? No, I don't think so. Keeper question. PPR, 12 teams. Keep two players forever. No, I don't think so. Keeper question. PPR, 12 teams.

Keep two players forever. Two players forever, Dave. A lot of movie references today. Antonio Brown, A.J. Green, Keenan Allen, Dalvin Cook, and Joe Mixon. Wow. Brown, Green, Keenan Allen, Dalvin Cook, and Joe Mixon. I'm playing it safe and going with Brown and Green. Brown? No. What? Really?

Yeah. In a keep forever league, you're taking Brown and Green? Full point PPR. I can keep them forever. They're still going to play several more years. Oh, man. I think a Dalvin Cook has to be one of my guys. I understand where you're coming from with that, but I think you can't overlook the receivers in a PPR. Those guys are studs. We're not talking about Robbie Anderson here.

We're talking about two tried-and-true fantasy football heroes. That's a really— Antonio Brown is so obviously going to get drafted ahead of Dalvin Cook in a redraft league, in PPR standard. But in a PPR keeper league, that's really tough for me. I think you're playing with fire if you throw back one of those wide receivers for Dalvin Cook. And I love Dalvin Cook.

Yeah. All right. How many good years does Antonio Brown have left, do you think? Dude, if Roethlisberger retires? I know, it's risky. Ben might only play one or two more years. We don't know what the quarterback situation will be like. Dude, if Roethlisberger retires, I know it's risky. So Ben might only play one or two more years. We don't know what the quarterback situation will be like.

Are we sure Antonio Brown will stay in Pittsburgh? Who knows? I'm going to put the number four on it, four more good years. Okay, well, if that's the case, then yes, I'd keep him. Final question is from Andre, I believe. No, Mario from Brazil. Go ahead and read it. I'm going to play this one. Dear Jim, Chris, Paul, and Kevin.

Dear Jim, Chris, Paul, and Kevin. Oh, no. 14 team, 18 player league. You keep 14 of your 18 players. So it's basically a dynasty league. I'm okay at quarterback. I'm good at running back. But wide receiver depth is an issue.

Odell, Martavis, Funchess, D.D. Westbrook, John Brown. There's nobody in free agency. All right, Dave, here we go. Let's focus. Sorry, I was bragging. Let's focus. There's nobody in free agency. One time. All right, Dave, here we go. Let's focus. Sorry, I was bragging. Let's focus. All right, so he needs some wide receiver depth in a dynasty league.

He's got the first pick in his rookie league, his rookie draft. I intend to grab Saquon Barkley with it. Smart. After that, my next pick is 23rd overall. So all the good wide receivers will be gone. Should I drop the Saquon Barkley hype and grab a wide receiver? B, draft Saquon Barkley, try to

trade up in the draft and get a Calvin Ridley, Cortland Sutton, James Washington kind of rookie? Or C, keep my 23rd pick and take my chances with Geronimo Allison, Ryan Grant, or Curtis Samuel? Like those are the guys you'd be taking at 23? Well, oh, I guess it's not a rookie draft.

I guess Saquon Barkley is just going to go number one overall in the draft since so many players are being kept. Yeah, there isn't a stud-wide receiver that can touch Saquon. I mean, everybody just looks at Barkley and says that he's got it. And I agree. He's really, really good. I'd hate to pass him up. You could certainly take offers for the number one pick

and see if somebody's going to give you a very good wide receiver and a first-round pick for number 1.01. You can consider that. Otherwise, I think you just Stand pat And you hope to get As good of a receiver As you can at 23 Yeah like you'll have

He's got Zeke Jordan Howard Chris Carson Matt Brita Thomas Rawls You add Barkley to that And now you just make a trade Just make a trade

Maybe he moves Jordan Howard Yeah And you get a wide receiver Back for him But you need to Accumulate the best players And by the way Jim, Chris, Paul and Kevin Were the four names From the American Pie And you get a wide receiver back for him. But you need to accumulate the best players.

And by the way, Jim, Chris, Paul, and Kevin were the four names from the American Pie movie franchise. We'll just tell her we ate it all. Dave Richard, everybody. Thank you, Dave. Have you ever eaten a whole pie in one sitting? I'm not really a pie guy. I'm more of a cake guy. I'm more of a cake guy. I prefer cake. Pie for me.

I don't get that. Me and The Rock, we like pie. A lot of people. I think more people like pie than cake, which is kind of like the Cocoa Puffs thing for me. It doesn't make any sense. Thank you to Dave. Thank you to Heath. Congratulations to Jamie.

Thank you all for listening. Send us your emails, fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. Your voicemails, 954-689-3199. And make sure you download the CBS Sports app and start watching CBS Sports HQ. It's freaking awesome. Tell us how much you love it. We'd actually really like to hear some feedback. Thanks, everybody.

Talk to you later in the week. Good. Thanks everybody Talk to you later in the week Good