Fantasy Football Today - 03/12 Fantasy Football Podcast: Let's Go Browns!

Episode Date: March 12, 2018

We spend the first half of the show talking about the Browns and bringing in Cleveland Browns Senior Media Broadcaster (and former colleague) Nathan Zegura! Which CLE WR will put up the best numbers? What happens to Duke Johnson and David Njoku and what do we expect from the Browns with the #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft? ... Heath also has plenty of takes on these CLE trades (25:30), plus we discuss Doug Baldwin's potential (32:55), how good Jimmy Graham could be on NO (38:55) and Cameron Brate's new contract (40:56) ... Revisiting the Aizer/Friendship Strategy (51:35). Did it work? ... 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. Welcome, everybody, to Fantasy Football Today.

We are fired up. We are all about the Browns right now for the first time ever. What's up, Dave Richard? What's up, Adam? You know, the NFL League New Year starts on March 15th. Happy League New Year to everybody, by the way. Thank you. The Browns got started ahead of everybody else

in the National Football League, and four trades in 24 hours. Their offense looks completely different, and I don't think they're done. There's a lot more coming up for Cleveland in the very near future. Yes, they have nearly $80 million in cap space, second to the Jets right now. And they still have a ton of draft picks, early draft picks. Oh, yeah, that too.

We're going to talk to Nathan Zagura, who used to be our colleague. You might remember Nathan. And now he is the Cleveland Browns senior media broadcaster, and he must be really excited. I want to know how Cleveland's feeling about this right now. They have Jarvis Landry. They have Tyrod Taylor. They have cornerback Demarius Randle.

They have a ton of draft picks. They have a ton of money, so it is the year of the Cleveland Browns perhaps. Dave, before Nathan gets on, what's your fantasy take specifically on Jarvis Landry, who has been for three straight years top 14 in PPR, top 17 in standard? I have him dropping a little bit. I've got him as a low-end number two wide receiver in standard league, still a solid number two wide receiver in PPR. I don't think he gets quite the same amount of targets as he would normally get,

or at least that he got in Miami. Now that Josh Gordon's there, now that josh gordon's there now that cory coleman david njoku whoever the running back is duke johnson is probably still going to be on the team they're all going to collect targets as well and tyrod taylor specifically i i crunched some numbers on him not a fan of the slot receiver from his days in buffalo and that's just something that we do have to look at maybe Maybe Cleveland's going to throw a curveball here and start using Jarvis Landry more on the outside. The Dolphins did that last year. It kind of worked out for Landry, I'd say, but I don't believe he's going to be quite as prolific as a fantasy wide receiver as he was last year or the year prior.

Some numbers for you to consider before we get Nathan on. No Browns wide receiver has caught more than five touchdowns in their last four seasons. That's since Josh Gordon's been here. There's only been one guy since, I think, 2008 who's done it, and it's Gordon. Gordon. Tyrod Taylor's never thrown for 3,100 yards,

never thrown for more than 20 touchdowns in a season, never thrown for more than, I believe, 436 passes in a season. So a lot of mouths to feed there. We're going to see how he spreads the ball around. Let's bring on Nathan Segura. He is, like I said, the Cleveland Browns senior media broadcaster, and I hope all of you remember him from his days here at CBSSports.com. So get some great info from Nathan.

Nathan, how are the people feeling in Cleveland? You know what, gentlemen? It is great to be with you, and it's obviously an exciting time here in Cleveland as well. It's a flurry of activity. The Browns making trade after trade after trade on Friday night and then even into Saturday with the trade of Danny Shelton. But to bring in some guys that can help this organization that, unfortunately, has been six feet below the last two years with only one win,

get back to winning football games. And Tyrod Taylor can help at quarterback. Jarvis Landry, obviously, at wide receiver. And then Demarius Randle, who I think is going to come in and play some safety for the Browns, has an opportunity to help on the back end of this defense that was one of the worst in the NFL. It's exciting to see these changes happen.

I don't know where you wanted to go with this, Adam, but I want to go straight to the quarterback. Well, let me ask this Twitter poll real quick that I just posted because it is split 50-50. Now we're in the very early moments of the Twitter poll, 218 votes in. But I said, just knowing what we know right now about the Cleveland roster, who will put up better fantasy numbers next season, half PPR, Josh Gordon or Jarvis Landryry and it is split 50 50

what would you guys do there uh nathan you can have our your first take landry or gordon uh well half point ppr if it was full i would definitely say landry but half i'll say gordon but that is with a big asterisk in that he plays the 16 games but certainly i don't know if you guys saw the picture that he posted on twitter and on his instagram he looks to be in unbelievable condition and if he can keep himself on the field i think josh gordon will be one of the most dominant receivers in the nfl and in all of fantasy as well i think it's i think it's going to be hard for defenses to make a decision on how you go against gordon and coleman and landry all on the field at the same time now if you if you're in the red zone, I think it might be a little bit easier. Maybe you focus a little bit more on Landry.

But outside of that, I think Gordon is going to be the number one target. I'm with you, Nathan. I think that in full-point PPR, Landry has an edge. But otherwise, I think there's just far more upside for Gordon. I think he's got a much better shot at over 1,000 yards and six-plus touchdowns. Yeah, I think Gordon's the number one option. But the good thing for Landry is you think about you have Josh Gordon on one side. I don't think they're done at the wide receiver position.

A lot of people are saying that the Browns are very interested in Allen Robinson. Terrell Pryor wants to come back here. And Corey Coleman, frankly, hasn't been as advertised as that number one pick. And I think it's possible they could continue to move at the wide receiver position. So you could look at a lineup conceivably that's either Allen Robinson and Gordon on the outside with Landry inside. And don't forget that young tight end, David Njoku, a great athlete who can clear out the slot.

I just think Landry's going to have a ton of room to work underneath and will be, once again, a very high-volume receiver. And look, this is that Todd Haley offense. He knows how to get his wide receivers the ball. This has been a very rude interview so far, Dave. I didn't really say hi to Nathan. I just kind of jumped in with a fantasy question. What is

up, Nathan? To be fair, though, we already had the introduction and we had all the love, but my phone, my cell phone wasn't good enough, so now we're jumping back into this. So I feel the love still. It's there. Former colleagues, I love you guys and happy to be here. Okay, good. Then let's get back into football. Dave, feel the love still. It's there. Former colleagues, I love you guys and happy to be here. Okay, good.

All right, then let's get back into football. Dave, you wanted to talk about the quarterback. And as he relates to Jarvis Landry, I think that this is a big downgrade for Jarvis Landry. I gave the stats before Nathan came on, but he's never thrown for more than 3,100 yards, never thrown for more than 20 touchdowns. He doesn't throw that many passes.

Maybe we see a different Tyrod Taylor. I mean, this is definitely the best group of receivers he's ever had. But Sammy Watkins is the only wide receiver in Tyrod Taylor's three years as the starting quarterback with more than 613 receiving yards. So, Dave, that's what I'm a little concerned about with all these guys, really, is, like, look, it's better for the Browns. But also he runs the ball. He doesn't throw the ball that much.

What is your take, Dave, on Tyrod Taylor and how he gets all these guys their numbers? Well, first and foremost, you've got to consider the context of what he was asked to do in Buffalo, which is take care of the football. Don't throw it all over the place. And I just want to illustrate a couple points. The last two years in Buffalo, slot slot receivers specifically we're not talking about the outside guys have had 141 targets 87 catches 1140 yards and nine touchdowns that's in two years in buffalo tie rod over the last two seasons has thrown the ball 856 times just under 6 000 yards 31 touchdowns so clearly

not a lot to the slot but then then I dug a little bit deeper. I checked to see how often they were in a three-wide receiver set. In 2016, this might have been the lowest in the league, 44% of the time they used three-wide receivers. The NFL league average in 2016 was over 60%, so 16% of the time less. I mean, you're talking about close to 12 plays a game, something like that. Now, last year, I don't have the percentage, but I'm sure it's up from 60.4 for the average of teams and 11 personnel. The Bills last year were in 11 personnel.

Remember, different offense. It was the West Coast scheme. Fifty three point five percent of the time. My theory is that the Browns with Hugh and with Todd Haley will be in that three-wide receiver set far more often. That's why they got Jarvis Landry. So he's going to have an opportunity to buck that trend. Tyrod should. But I still know that he's got that propensity to throw deep when a play breaks down.

I don't think he's looking five yards ahead as much as he might be 15, 20 yards ahead. And you're just not going to see Jarvis Landry there. You're going to see Gordon and whoever else might be there, whether it's Coleman or one of the other receivers that Nathan talked about. And then there's this other wrinkle that I'm going to throw in. Who says Tyrod Taylor is starting for 16 games this year? Right, Nathan? You guys have a top pick in the draft,

and maybe you look at a quarterback with one of the two top picks that you guys have. Yeah, I think the Browns are going to take a quarterback first overall, but I think Tyrod, as long as he's playing well, will play. And I think your point that you made there is very good. This is going to be a team that runs base 11 personnel. You're going to see that formation the majority of the time with the Browns. And Todd Haley, as I said, knows how to get the football out. I think Tyrod's going to throw it a lot more than he has in the past

from a fantasy standpoint. He still is a guy, because of his legs, that I think you're looking at as a high upside number two with the weapons he's going to have here, but I don't think I'm ready to go, at least not now until I see them running around in training camp to say he's a top 12 option, but your point about dragging everybody else down, they're going to want to throw the ball. I do think they're going to add a very good running back in this draft. It could potentially be Saquon Barkley at four, or it's going to be one of those guys like a Sonny Michelle or a Darius Geis or a Ronald Jones at the top of the second round. But I think this is going to be a very effective offense under Todd Haley with the

skill position players that they've got. And I think Tyrod will be asked to do a little bit more for this offense than he was in Buffalo. Yeah, Dave, I wonder if people are going to want to draft Tyrod Taylor. This quarterback is so deep. Have you updated your rankings, Dave, I wonder if people are going to want to draft Tyrod Taylor. This quarterback is so deep. Have you updated your rankings, Dave? I moved him up a spot. He's still way outside of the top 12. Nathan's right. Where is he?

Part of the problem has nothing to do with Tyrod landing in Cleveland. It's got everything to do with how many great quarterbacks there are in the NFL right now for fantasy. I mean, I've got studs that i i like outside of my top 12 is he but is he top 20 you know i love philip rivers he's not in my is he top 20 star tale on your top 20 i believe he's right around there okay well i'll take a look i've got it right here 23rd 23rd currently 23rd okay now listen things obviously are going to change what we're talking about on march 12th might not be the same on March 14th, much less August 14th.

So there's definitely room to improve. But I just feel like the tendency of Tyrod kind of going three years without using his slot nearly as much, I think that's going to be tough for him to break, especially with burners like Gordon and Coleman working down the sideline. They're going to pay Jarvis Landry a lot of money, and I just think he's going to be heavily involved in the game plans. But it will be an adjustment, and that's why they've got to get out here and start working

together, and I'll have a better idea of how they plan to utilize all of these wide receivers and the tight end. And don't forget Duke Johnson out of the backfield and whoever this rookie running back is. They're going to have a lot of guys to mix in. It is going to be an offense where, and it's funny to say this because you haven't thought this for a long time about the Browns, but let's say that they bring in another receiver in free agency, they draft one of these running backs early, as I said,

it's almost going to be like, who's going to get the ball? There might not be enough ball to go around, which is not something we've worried about before with the Cleveland Browns, but certainly would be fun to worry about. Is that a concern with Josh Gordon, that the ball, is he going to be able to put up elite receiver numbers if there are that many mouths to feed? Nathan? If you bring in Allen Robinson, then I think that,

and you've got Allen Robinson, Landry, and Gordon, then you have to wonder if somebody can be consistent week in and week out. If they keep Corey Coleman or bring in a Terrell Pryor, Josh Gordon is so special. The ball will be going to Josh Gordon. Make no mistake about it. I don't care who else they have. He's the guy that I would feel certainly the best about.

And then in a PPR, Landry is going to get a ton of room underneath because everybody you have, even if it is Pryor or Coleman, alongside Gordon with Najoku, they all can stretch the field. Underneath, there are going to be some big windows underneath for this Browns team in the passing game. But are you concerned at all about the number of targets that he would get? Because it was pretty consistent in Miami, and they definitely had burners in Miami with Parker and Stills

to try and take the top off of defenses. But Landry was just such a huge magnet for Tannehill. And then last year, Cutler leaned on him a lot, especially in the red zone. In fact, 14 of his last 16 touchdowns have come from inside the 10-yard line. I couldn't believe that stat about Landry until I saw it for myself. But I'm worried that what might have been 10 targets per game for Landry last year could shrink to eight per game in Cleveland it's possible I mean I definitely think that's possible the Browns have looked for somebody

though who can help them in the red zone so his touchdowns could be there he knows how to get open he catches everything that's thrown to him and knows how to find those little holes so we'll see I think that that from a fantasy standpoint it will be interesting to see the distribution, and we'll have a better picture, as I said, once we know all the principles on that offensive side of the football for the Browns. Well, let me give you some numbers, Dave. You talk about Landry going from 10 per game to 8 per game. That's 128 targets over 16 games.

He's never missed a game in his career, by the way. That's almost exactly the amount of targets that Landry had in 2016. 94 catches, 1,136 yards, 4 touchdowns on 132 targets, and he was 15th in standard, he was 14th in PPR. So people will take that, and that was with only 4 touchdowns. Let's talk

about something else. What was his receiving average there? Was that the year with his career high? Like 12-something? Yeah, it was right around 12.1. And that was the other thing I wanted to say. His yards per catch are going to go up here, I think, significantly for Todd Haley. I think it's going to get back to the 11-12, which makes a big difference when you're under 9. I didn't see it that way. That's interesting.

And that's just because you think of the coverage being so light underneath. He'll be lined up against a linebacker or whoever most of the time, you figure he'll break away and he's gonna right he's gonna have more room underneath he's also gonna have more room if they run some of the bubbles there but i also think if you look at todd haley he's gonna get his average depth of target to his receivers is gonna be significantly higher than what lambry was experiencing down in miami let's talk about duke johnson's duke johnson was the number 16 running back in standard, number 12 in PPR last year. And the year before, he was 40th in standard, 30th in PPR. And really, the yards weren't all that much different,

but he had seven total touchdowns last year. He had one touchdown, Duke Johnson, in 2016. So this is a guy who had 74 catches for 693 yards. How do he and Jarvis Landry fit together? And I don't know that they're going to show a willingness to give him a lot of carries. So what is Duke Johnson's role now? Because he was like the underneath receiver, right? Is he hurt by these moves?

Well, he also played out of the back. So now he did play the first game against Pittsburgh entirely in the slot and did line up in the slot from time to time last year. So that part of his game will be gone. But he still is one of the better third down backs in the league. And I think when you look at Duke Johnson, I think it'll be difficult perhaps for him to match the numbers that he put up a year ago, because I do think they're going to bring in a very good runner in this draft. But he's a playmaker, was the best playmaker on this team, frankly, last year. I know he is very highly thought of inside this building,

and they will find opportunities to use him. He'll get flexed out sometimes. Let's not forget, Todd Haley would go with Le'Veon Bell, flex him out and go a complete empty set a lot of the time, and you get him in those wide receiver routes against the linebacker, he's going to kill on those slants that they ran with Le'Veon Bell. So I just think maybe a decrease slightly in his opportunities, but I still think Duke Johnson is a guy that you'll be able to plug in

in your bye weeks as somebody that you can play, and especially in PPR and half PPR formats. Okay. How about the other hurricane, David Njoku? What do you expect from him in year two? You know, a lot of times guys make big leaps from year one to year two. He was just 21 years old. But talk about a raw talent.

That's what David Njoku is. I think he will vastly improve upon his numbers from last year. He, by the end of the year, was becoming really the best blocker of our tight ends. I think you're going to get to the point with David Njoku where he's not splitting time as much with Seth DeValve as he did last year. He's going to start playing a lot more. And this is a great athlete. If you think about just the weapons that are here, this guy has an opportunity to really have a lot of room to work

in the middle of the field, and he can stretch it vertically. I don't know if you guys have seen the highlight from Week 17, what he can do after the catch when he juked Joe Hayden and picked up about 40 yards on that play. He led all tight ends coming into the league last year in college for that rookie class in yards after the catch at the U. So he's an incredible athlete, and I think he is just going to get more and more opportunities as it goes on.

And David Njoku, in a dynasty league, if you can get him on the cheap, I think you'll be very happy that you did. Well, the problem, this is another strike against Landry, if you ask me, because I agree with you 100% on Njoku. I see that upside with him. And I do know, again, going back to tendency with quarterback Tyrod Taylor, when he was running out of guys to fire at in Buffalo, he leaned on Charles Clay. Oh, big time.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that David Njoku has more upside than Charles Clay. And so, again, Browns are in the red zone. I don't know how defenses are going to cover all of these guys. And to that extent, I don't know if that means that Landry is going to be targeted nearly as much down there. I think Njoku is going to take some. I think Duke could take some. I think a rookie running back, if it's the rookie running back, Nathan,

he could end up playing a lot more taking duke off the field and taking carries that take away catches from all these wide receivers and oh by the way you've got josh gordon and you know everybody else that's there so it's a lot of mouse it's the same theme that we've had and it just it concerns me about one of these guys being a superstar for fantasy? It is possible, but Josh Gordon is that kind of a transcendent talent. I mean, the good news is we're talking about this, like how are all these guys going to get the ball?

It's not something that I've dealt with at any point in my time here in Cleveland, so it's an exciting problem to have. And I think, as I said, we'll see how it plays out. Todd Haley has presided over the number two offense in the NFL over the last six years. I'm not saying this offense is going to do that until they get that trigger man, but Tyrod certainly can be competent. It's going to be fun. I just think the Browns will put points on the board.

I think that it could be a variable that you could have. Josh Gordon would be your number one option, but some weeks you're going to have Najoku because he's going to get in the end zone and have a big game. Same with Jarvis Landry who's going to be consistent, I think, in terms of catches and yards, but when he pops with the touchdown, he will be able to do that, and then you're going to have this new running back, and you talked about Duke, and you've got the other receiver, whether that's Coleman, whether that ends up being Terrell Pryor, whether that's Allen Robinson. It's actually exciting, and that's why I think Tyrod, when you look at his ability to run with the football as well,

and we know he's been very effective in that manner, 427 yards and four touchdowns last year, I think he's going to throw for over 3,000 this year. I think he's going to run for another 400, and then his touchdown total should get up, I think, at least near 20 in this offense, where he's going to be a guy that's not going to be that bad. And if he can put it together,

he has an opportunity to be one of those guys who creeps into that top 15 when the year's all said and done. He's always done a good job of taking care of the football, and I think that that'll certainly help the situation when he plays. But you're on the phone. I've got to ask you while I've got you. What's your take on the rookie quarterbacks in this draft, and do you have an inkling about what might fit best, or rather, who might fit best with the Browns? You know, I think when you look at him, the guy that if he can come through and refine the things that he needs to, some decision-making and obviously some footwork, some mechanical stuff,

but it's all lower half, so they do think that's something that you can fix. Sam Darnold seems to have the total package. Leadership, clutch, big, strong, can run, he's athletic, can make plays and extend plays so he can make the throws. So he seems like the top prospect to a lot of people I've talked to, but there is another group that absolutely thinks Baker Mayfield is the top prospect in this draft. And I know there are some people that are consulting with the Browns right now.

Scott McLuhan is one of them who think that Baker Mayfield is the top quarterback in this draft. And I don't know, you're not hearing a ton about Josh Rosen being linked to the Browns. Now he is, I think, the prettiest thrower in this draft. Reminds me a lot of Matt Ryan. I'd have no problem with him as well. The one guy that I'm not as enamored with is Josh Allen. But again, another guy that if he were to maximize his talent, has a lot of upside given his size, his arm, etc. But I'd prefer the guys that seem to be able to make those tight window throws that are accurate. And I think that would be those first three quarterbacks. Honestly, at the end of the day, whoever John Dorsey locks in on, take him number one.

The Browns have an opportunity to get their quarterback and solve this problem that has plagued this franchise for so long, and then you're still going to get a stud player at number four. But I think the two names I'm hearing the most with the Browns are Darnold and Mayfield with Darnold in the lead right now. Nathan, have you done any data research on which one of the rookie quarterbacks is the most accurate on the deep ball? Baker Mayfield is the most accurate at every single level of these quarterbacks. He's the most accurate from a clean pocket.

He's the most accurate from a contested pocket. Baker Mayfield was 6'3", 6'4", like Darnold. I think there's no question he's the number one pick in this draft. It's just that people have that pause with him. Now, the other guy who is accurate is Darnold. Darnold throwing the ball down the field makes a lot of bucket throws, and I think he's a guy that, you know, only 20 years old that you look at and say you can see from a size standpoint he was durable, didn't miss any time,

that this is a guy who could be your quarterback for 15 or so years. Now, knowing what I know about Todd Haley and Hugh Jackson, and particularly Haley since I figure he's going to be doing a lot more of the play calling, I think that that would make him more attractive because he's a better downfield thrower. You think about what Warner did in Arizona and what Roethlisberger did in Pittsburgh. A lot of aggressive downfield throwing, and I'm sure Todd Haley's going to try and bring that to Cleveland. Of course, and if you think about the group that we're talking about at wide receiver in Gordon and Coleman or maybe Pryor or Robinson and free agency and Najoku, you have big,

fast guys that you can play some basketball with down the field. No question about it. That's going to be a big part of this game. Then you've got safety nets working underneath the field who can make plays once they get the ball in their hand. This offense is set up pretty well to be successful, but I think a guy that can drive the football is important, but accurately, and I think

you hit on the key word there. Josh Allen has all the arm strength in the world, but you've got to be accurate with that. I think the best, you look at Rosen. Josh Allen has all the arm strength in the world, but you've got to be accurate with that. And I think the best, you know, you look at Rosen, Darnold, and Mayfield, the three of them all can do it. Mayfield has been the best. Will that translate to the NFL? I'm not sure. But those three all can sling it and be very accurate at all three levels of the field.

All right, I'm going to leave it on this. I want you to get into the building and float this. You don't have to say where you heard it from. You can even take credit for it. Just tell them with picks one and four, take two quarterbacks. Let them fight it out. Take two. It's not going to happen. Take two.

Get competition in there. They just traded a third-round pick for Tyrod Taylor. Who cares? Get as many – Tyrod Taylor is one year. Take two great prospects and nail one. And who cares if the other one's a bust? Take two. You identify the quarterback that you want.

Now, I have less of a problem doing that than the people now that are saying, hey, we don't even want to take a quarterback. And some Browns fans are very much still scared to take a quarterback, especially at number one, which I find fascinating. It's not going to happen, but if it did happen, it's because quarterback is that important. I would at least understand the logic of it. I think for the Browns, it's quarterback at one. And then at number four, you're either going to end up with Bradley Chubb. You're going to end up with Saquon Barkley, which I know the fans certainly want. I know fantasy people would be very interested in that.

Or you're going to end up with whoever the top defensive back on your board is, and that could be Minka Fitzpatrick. It could be Denzel Ward, the corner out of Ohio State. We saw what Marshawn Lattimore did last year. So I think that you're in a great spot taking a quarterback at one and seeing what you want to do at four, where you're going to get a blue chip elite prospect at one of the more important positions on defense, or you decide and say, hey, we realize the value's not there, but we're going to go ahead and roll the dice on this running back because so many people think Saquon Barkley can be just that special. All right, Nathan, well, thank you very much.

We're very happy for you. We are sad that we don't get to talk to you as much, but it's awesome that you are the Cleveland Browns senior media broadcaster and that you're going to have a ton of fun in the next several years. So thanks for coming on, man. It was great talking to you. Great to be back with you guys. A quality time as always.

And listen, we deserve to have some fun here after the last few seasons in Cleveland, and it would certainly be nice to be able to win and then even have Cleveland Browns players be fantasy stars, which would get me back to my old world. My new world would be a ton of fun. And I got to tell you, whenever the mega powers reunite, it's always a good time. So happy to be with you guys and we'll do it whenever you guys want.

Ooh, yeah, Nathan. It was great to have you on this very podcast. And I got a feeling we're going to be talking a lot of Browns this year, so don't be a stranger. I hope so. Will not. All right, guys, thank you. All right, take care, man.

Later, Nathan. All right, tough act to follow. Good stuff there from Nathan Zagura. We thank him, but we've got Heath Cummings, and he's got takes. He says, takes on the Browns situation. I hope that Nathan is as excited as I am for the Cleveland Browns. Oh, yeah. I just tweeted this not too long ago,

and you guys can tell me I'm wrong. I don't see an excuse for the Browns to be below.500. I think they are currently the second-best team in their division, and they should only get better with the draft picks they have upcoming. You say this without knowing who they take in the draft. Yep. Or who most of their—have you thought about their defense at all and how that's going to shake out?

I would expect their defense will be improved in the draft. And free agency. They still have plenty of money to spend. Right. And they have some talented defensive pieces already. Hugh Jackson, like the response I got on Twitter was, well, Hugh Jackson's their coach. That's hell.

Hugh Jackson took a team that had Jason Campbell and half of Carson Palmer, and their leading rusher was Michael Bush. Their leading receiver was Darius Hayward-Bey. I remember. And they went 500. This team is more talented than that team, and their division kind of stinks besides Pittsburgh. Well, here's the thing, and it's kind of not just a fantasy thing but also an NFL thing. What could hold them back?

Let's not forget that Buffalo fans really didn't want Tyrod Taylor anymore, that they benched him for Nate Peterman, which was a mistake, but they still did, that we're kind of acting like they've got this quarterback who's going to get them to 500 or better this year. I don't know. I really liked everything that Nathan said. And the biggest takeaway for me was that, and we'll update this Twitter poll, and here's what we've done today. We interviewed Nathan Zagura at noon Eastern.

Right now it's 3. So we took a little bit of a break, and now we're finishing up the podcast. So the Twitter poll is updated, that same one, Jarvis Landry versus Josh Gordon and it's still 50 50 with about a thousand votes in it Nathan at least convinced me that Josh Gordon not that we didn't know but like it was nice to hear from an insider he's an elite talent like he could transcend and and doesn't have to worry about too many you know too many mouths to feed so that was my biggest takeaway from what he said but also like I just think maybe he's being a touch optimistic,

and maybe a lot of people will be, because I don't know how good Tyrod Taylor is. I don't know that he can give all these guys fantasy production, and I don't know that he can get them more than six wins. Well, what I can tell you about Tyrod Taylor is he's never won less than six games as a starting quarterback in the NFL. He's gone seven and six, seven and eight, and eight and six in his three years as a starter for the Bills. He's got Josh Gordon. He's got Jarvis Landry. He's gone 7-6, 7-8, and 8-6 in his three years as a starter for the Bills.

He's got Josh Gordon. He's got Jarvis Landry. He's got Joku. He's got Duke Johnson. I've got a little sneaky suspicion he's going to have Saquon Barkley as well. Maybe not. Maybe it's not Saquon than one of these other rookie running backs. You missed what Nathan said, Heath, but he

believes that they will go quarterback with their first pick. That doesn't mean they won't get Barkley fourth, but if believes that they will go quarterback with their first pick. That doesn't mean they won't get Barkley fourth, but if you think Barkley's gone before the fourth pick, then according to the Cleveland Browns senior media broadcaster, it probably won't be him on the Browns. Of course, Nathan doesn't know, but he's more informed than any of us. But he does think they are going to invest early in a running back, yes. From a fantasy perspective, the interesting thing with Tyrod, and it's kind of the same situation as with alex smith only on a more extreme level the cleveland browns

have been one of the more pass happy teams partially because they're always losing yeah but they've been one of the more pass happy teams over the last three years hugh jackson generally throws the ball more than he runs the ball the bills tyrod hasn't thrown the ball more than 436 times in a season. And he's still been, most of the time, a borderline number one quarterback on a per-game basis. If he sees even a 10% increase in his pass volume, I will take Tyrod Taylor as a top 10 quarterback on a per-game basis this year. Well, I mean, he was 16th in 2015 and 16th in 2016. And he played 14 games of 15 games, I think.

So, like, he's just not that good. He never tears it up. You know, like, you're not going to draft him 10th. No, I said, but partially I'm not going to draft him 10th because I don't, like, if the Browns really do take a quarterback number one overall, I'm not going to believe they're going with the Patrick Mahomes plan. If they take a quarterback at four, they take Barkley at one and a quarterback at four and say,

the reason we traded for Tyrod is we want this guy, Baker Mayfield, whoever it is to learn under Tyrod for one year, then I'm going to move them up even more right now. I'm going to rank him right around 16, 17, but this is, this will be the best situation he's had in terms of producing fantasy points. He has Josh Gordon, Jarvis Landry, all those weapons, and more pass volume.

Okay, so first and foremost, I agree. Best passing situation for him, no doubt about it. The weapons he's got better than anything he ever had in Buffalo. And yes, I think he's going to be asked to throw more in Cleveland than he ever did in Buffalo because Buffalo was pretty conservative for most of his time there last year. They changed their offense. We talked about it with Nathan. It's more of a West Coast game. He still didn't throw nearly as much. I don't know if he's going to be the guy for 16 games. So when you say what you're saying, it's totally tempered by the per game statement that you're saying. Because I have a hard time believing that the Browns are going to take a quarterback

at one and sit him Patrick Mahomes style unless he's just not ready and or Tyrod Taylor plays beyond anybody's expectation. All right. I think we're done here. Done here. Where did you put Jarvis Landry in your rankings? I did drop Jarvis Landry just a little bit. I think he has more better competition for targets than he had in Miami,

but more it's just an uncertainty thing. I felt relatively confident if he was in Miami, he's getting 150 targets or 145 targets or somewhere in that range. That might drop just a little bit in Cleveland. I don't know how they could have two top 20 wide receivers. Well, they could. Because they had a top 10 quarterback. Yeah, they'd have to.

They'd have to. But one of the things, the other thing that makes Tyrod Taylor, and you say on a per-game basis he was close to top 10, maybe a little. Yeah, no, that's possible. But he also runs the ball a lot. Like it's not passing yards that make him a top ten quarterback. So I don't know. This is the argument that I get into with Bills fans, and I try not to have it anymore on Twitter.

But the argument is Tyrod Taylor doesn't throw for enough yards. And it's really been Tyrod Taylor doesn't throw the ball enough for me. Because he's averaged right around seven yards per attempt. That's perfectly fine, if not good, for an around seven yards per attempt that's perfectly fine if not good for an nfl quarterback no that's fine i'm just saying again he has to throw the ball more which we expect to happen for for them to be able to have two wide receivers that are you know fantasy standouts absolutely what's your vote in the twitter poll half ppr knowing what we know now right now about the cleveland roster who will put up better fantasy numbers, Josh Gordon or Jarvis Landry?

I would personally take Josh Gordon. I think we've seen Tyrod Taylor, when he gets time and actually throws the ball downfield, he can be pretty accurate in that respect. I think he and Gordon could be a great combination, and I expect Gordon to score more touchdowns. That's the tiebreaker. All righty.

So that's our Browns take. I think the only thing I didn't say that I wanted to say Is that Tyrod Taylor Mobile quarterback Good for a running game Be a really good spot for a rookie running back to land Now Let's move on

Email of the day is from Eric from DC Eric? Eric? Dear Alec, Daniel, William, and Steven Those are bald ones Where's Doug? He's in this email Eric. Eric? Dear Alec, Daniel, William, and Steven. Those are bald ones. They are bald ones. Where's Doug?

He's in this email. Oh. Given that Seattle is disbanding the Legion of Boom and Paul Richardson and Jimmy Graham are heading out the door, we don't know that for a fact with them, but it seems that way. How high could Doug Baldwin fly? Wilson's coming off a career year. Tyler Lockett was not good last year. They're losing their number one red zone threat in Graham.

Could he get 100 catches, 1,300 yards, and 10 touchdowns? What do you think about Doug Baldwin? I like how he's thinking. Yeah, and we didn't talk too much about Russell Wilson when we mentioned all the defensive departures for the Seahawks. But, yeah, I mean, it's setting up like it could be a better passing game, but not more efficient because Wilson's awesome, but more prolific passing game. Sure, and also remember that they don't have a run game

that you can sink your teeth into. So there could be several weeks this season that are like last season where you're going to see the Seahawks being forced to throw a lot. And without Jimmy Graham there, and if they don't replace Jimmy Graham with a capable tight end, much less one with the upside that Graham has, then yeah, of course Doug Baldwin's going to have tons of targets. But he's also going to get tons of attention. Remember, it's a lot easier for defenses to focus on him when the next best red zone threat is Luke Wilson. But does that really come into play?

With a route runner like Doug Baldwin, I'm not sure it's as important. Yeah, like he had, what, 14 touchdowns two years ago. They can double him. I know, but when does that matter for a great player? They couldn't have done that last year. When does that matter for a great player? To answer Eric's question, how high could he fly, I've moved him up to 12th in standard, 11th in PPR,

and I think realistically top six or seven is not out of the question. I also moved Russell Wilson up to my number one quarterback. Wow. Really? Like Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson are both healthy for 16 games. I've got Russell Wilson ahead. You are crazy. You are. I love've got Russell Wilson ahead. You are crazy. I love it.

I love it. It's great. I love it. It's great stuff. You know what? I thought that Doug Baldwin was kind of a bust last year, like a mild bust, because he finished 13th in a down year for wide receivers, but he was five points away from being the number seven wide receiver

in standard scoring leagues. And aren't a lot of the guys ahead of him guys that we expect to maybe go backwards a little bit next year? Let me tell you. Possibly. Hold on. I can't even BS here. I have to pull up the – okay, here we go.

So seven was Michael Thomas, and then the next six wide receivers separated by five points in this whole group are Michael Thomas, A.J. Green, Larry Fitzgerald, Brandon Cooks, Devontae Adams, Jarvis Landry, Doug Baldwin. And then Adam Thielen is one point behind them. So it is like a big log jam. Thomas, A.J. Green, Fitzgerald, Cooks, Devontae Adams, Landry,

Baldwin, Thielen. I rank Cooks and Fitzgerald behind Baldwin, Thielen as well, but the rest of those guys I still have ahead of them. That would be Thomas, Green, Adams, and that's it. And Landry? Oh, I'm sorry. No, Landry's well behind. So Baldwin's in the middle of that group.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, he's pretty consistent. I mean, two years in a row as a top 10 wide receiver and last year top 13, but like I said, so close to being number seven. Yeah, like, I don't know. Is Russell Wilson going to throw 600 passes? He might if he gets there. I think that should be the expectation if they don't make huge moves to improve the defense. I don't think they have the ability to make huge moves to improve the defense.

He has thrown right around 550 passes two straight seasons. All right, then. Thank you for the email, Eric. Now let's get to our voicemail of the day. It is from Steve. Hello, Tom Servo, Crow, Gypsy, and Mike. This is Steve from Smyrna Park, Maryland. I don't have a question, but a quick story for you guys.

I was in a meeting at work today, and I had to draw an illustration on a whiteboard. At the end of my illustration, I was quite proud of my work, and I pulled a Dave Richard and said, da-da-da-da-da-da-da. It was not planned. I don't know what I was thinking thinking and it left the room extremely quiet so thank you dave for making me look like a moron bye it's my fault i love it that is so awesome you know what if people did that every time they were proud of themselves for something good that they did, I think there would be fewer instances like this where people were caught off guard.

You want to make it go viral? I mean, I always just use it as the theme for when we previewed Thursday Night Games and occasionally use it whenever we were transitioning to another segment. It wasn't necessarily meant to signal pride. It's a touchdown dance is what he did. He did a little dance. He was proud of himself. Right.

It was never a touchdown dance. It was always just a little thing for people to hear, to know that we were done talking about Thursday Night Football. Well, I think it's terrific. Thank you, Steve. All right. Let's see if more people use it. It's great.

I'll try using it. My son has a basketball game tonight. It's a playoff game in his league. His team is the number one seed. They're taking on the worst seed. This team that they're playing hasn't won a game yet. So when they're done, I'll go up to my son and I'll go, na-na-na-na-na-na-na, and I'll even point at him,

and I'll let you know what he does. Please get a video. Get a video. Have your wife video that thing. All right. We'll see. Maybe I'll make a video happen. So video. Have your wife video that thing. Oh, all right. We'll see. Maybe I'll make a video happen. So here are some news and notes, some more non-Cleveland news and notes.

The Saints have strong interest in bringing Jimmy Graham back to New Orleans, according to Ian Rappaport. If he goes to New Orleans, Jimmy Graham is the number what? Number blank tight end. Oh, man. goes to New Orleans. Jimmy Graham is the number what? Number blank tight end. Man, there were times last year where he kind of looked like he had lost three steps. Twelve.

Eleven. I've got him seventh now. I'll move him to sixth. Far more optimistic, but he had dropsies. He had all sorts of issues going on in Seattle. I think he was never really comfortable there. I don't think he was really understanding of the role there. We know he knows what he's doing in New Orleans.

That system hasn't changed. Assuming that it still drew Breeze as the quarterback, that's not official. All the teams in the NFC South want to have two tight ends. Oh, I hate that. That's matter. That's not official. All the teams in the NFC South want to have two tight ends. Oh, I hate that. Wait, but Heath, you're saying that you would keep Graham around 10 to 12 if he moves to New Orleans? I don't. Yeah. You're basically saying you don't want him.

I don't. Because someone will take him well ahead of where you'll take him. Yeah, there's too many other tight ends that I'm fine with. Including Adam Shaheen? Including Adam Shaheen. I am excited about Adam Shaheen. Really? Over Jimmy Graham on the Saints?

Wait, wait, wait. You're drafting Shaheen over Graham? I'm drafting Shaheen over Graham. Ooh. You just don't want any part of Jimmy Graham. No. Look, Heath is never afraid to go out on a limb, which I certainly appreciate. No, no, no.

But he's justifying it because of what he's seen from him this past season. But he's got him seven. He's got Adam Shaheen eighth. So it's not just that he's going to walk away. No, it's not just I hate Jimmy Graham. It's that I think Adam Shaheen is going to have a big year this year. Okay. All right, then.

The Rams are interested in re-signing Sammy Watkins, according to Jason Lock and Fora. You know, I think it's – I don't like talking about the speculative stuff because by the time people hear it, it might be certain. So I'll just say some of the rumors, and we'll talk about the things that are actually happening. Like this stupid thing. Oh, I hate it. Tampa Bay re-signing Cameron Brate, six years, $41 million,

with $18 million in guarantees. Ew. Why are you saying ew? Because you know I like O.J. Howard. Congratulations to Cameron Braid is what I would like to say. I'm very happy for the young man. And listen, if it's a true six-year deal, $18 million guaranteed, that's only $3 million guaranteed each year.

He's probably not going to play six years, but he'll be there next year. I found it curious that he averaged about 38 snaps per game, whereas O.J. Howard averaged 44 snaps per game. I think he's the number two tight end. The bigger takeaway for me is not even so much Howard or Brait. I don't think this is good news for Mike Evans. The problem for him in the second half of last year was that Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick really spread the ball around.

And that they're investing in a second tight end tells me that they want to continue to do that. Should we care about the salaries? Because Evans did just get a massive contract. Does that mean anything to you? Well, I mean, it means he's one of the best receivers in the NFL. He's got to justify it.

But I don't think they're going to say, all right, it's first and goal. You better throw it to Mike Evans because we paid him whatever it is. No. But does it mean they call more plays for him, make him more of a featured part of the offense? No. Once the game's going on, I don't think they really think about contracts.

Trivia. They think about how they're going to score. Fun trivia. Impromptu trivia as I look at the stats. Who led the Bucs in receiving touchdowns last year? Mike Evans. No. Cameron Brayton.

And? He's smiling. It must be O.J. Howard. Can't be O.J Brait. And? He's smiling. It must be O.J. Howard. Can't be O.J. Howard. Yeah, it's O.J. Howard. They both had six. They both had six. Six, right. And Evans had five.

I thought maybe they spread it around so much that five would have been good enough for the win. Cameron Brait had 77 targets. O.J. Howard had 39. Well, does this really hold back OJ Howard's breakout potential? Yes. Name the last time a team had two tight ends regularly on the field and one or both were great and the quarterback was not Tom Brady. Well, no.

Well, I'm not saying – Cameron Bradyraid is not going to be fantasy relevant. He could be a blocking tight end. I'm going to be a jerk and say the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles. They didn't always have two tight ends on the field, though. And I think they did a lot. The inkling is that they're going to – I could go back and look, but I remember Nelson Aguilar playing quite a bit in the slot. It's usually what they did when they had three receivers.

We can go back and check that out if you want, but I don't think they were nearly as prolific with two tight ends as, as a Tampa Bay was. Well, yeah, it, it, it hurts OJ Howard.

I don't really feel good about starting the season with either one of these guys. And even if Tampa Bay had a great week, one matchup, they're taking on a team that got decimated at safety during the preseason and training camp which one would you feel better about starting you can't answer that well i this so it kind of knocks me this feels to me like let's wait and see what the reports are saying you know through it's because look it's march 12th if they're

saying in um in training camp oj. Howard's the guy, you know, Bray's going to block. Like, there are bad contracts handed out all the time. The thing is, O.J. Howard, one of the things that they felt like he was ready to do when he came to the NFL was block. He's a good blocker. That's fine. That's part of the reason why he played 44 snaps per game.

Yeah. All right. Well, it's not good for Howard. Denver not expected to cut C.J. Anderson, but they could trade him, according to 9News Denver's Mike Kliss. Oh, boy. How many teams are clamoring for C.J. Anderson? Zero. They might be able to trade him. They're basically floating something out there saying, would anybody take this guy?

We're not going to cut him. We swear. That's right. We're not going to cut him. We swear. That's right. We're not going to cut him. That's right, everybody. He's going to stay right here unless you really, really want him. Atlanta and Seattle are interested in Austin Safarian Jenkins, according to Jason Lock and Fora. Heath, if he ends up on Seattle,

would you rank Safarian Jenkins ahead of Jimmy Graham? I would not. Okay. We got the Jets, Titans, and Colts interested in Deion Lewis according to Jason Lock and Fora. We'll see where he ends up. And Baltimore is focused on Dante Moncrief. Wait a minute. Did you say the Titans

are interested in Deion Lewis? Am I not? Is that not what he wrote? That makes sense. That would be terrible for Derrick Henry. Yeah, I don't know. I would see that as... I think they're going to add a third down back. Well, they've talked about Henry being part of the passing game. He could still catch the 30 passes or something.

I don't mind if they do it in the draft or if they do it with a cheap free agent. But Deion Lewis isn't going to come cheap. What was the last news, though, after that? That Baltimore is focused on Dante Moncrief. That seems like a really good fit. They have cornered the market over the last few years on bad receivers, and I think he would fit in really well. You know, I think he could actually be a decent receiver

if he could just stay healthy. Big body, good in the red zone zone Not a number one guy Not really a number two guy Dante Moncrief Parker Floyd Dante Moncrief Parker Floyd Sure Sure I'm just going to ignore that one

The Ravens cut Ladarius Webb And Miami expected a cut in Dominick and Sue And the Seahawks re-signed safety Bradley McDougal to a three-year, $14 million deal. Anything else on your mind? Big free agent stuff? It's going to be a lot of fun this next week or so. It's going to be a good time. A good time to be a football fan and a sports fan because of the brackets.

Oh, right, the brackets. I'll make the announcement. Heath, go ahead. You want me to go first? No, I was just going to say that I made the Delonte Parker joke. That's probably the other thing on my mind is the Dolphins wide receivers. It's a boost for both of them.

Kenny Stills did some good work out of the slot last year. He may be a sleeper. Who's the quarterback? Good question. Probably won't be worse than last year. Who's the right tackle? Who's the slot receiver? Which has been a key part of the offense.

You think he moves to the slot? That's a strange fit. He ran a lot of snaps there last year. I guess just because he's not slow like Jarvis Landry doesn't mean he can't do it. Let's just go back. How on earth is Jarvis Landry going to put up big numbers?

I'm sorry to redo the podcast. This is the best quarterback he's ever played with. Yeah, but it's also by far the best receiving unit he's ever played with. And actually, I don't agree with that. I think you're underselling Tannehill. I think Tannehill and Tyrod Taylor are pretty similar. Maybe in style they aren't, but in terms of just overall, they're both average quarterbacks. Okay, I'm not saying that Tyrod is much, much better than Ryan Tannehill.

I'm just saying he is better than Ryan Tannehill. Yeah, but Gordon is better than any wide receiver Landry's ever played with. That's true. Yeah, I don't know. If the Joku becomes anything, then he's better than any tight end that Landry's played with. I moved Landry down. He was the biggest loser over the weekend. How many targets a game do you think he gets?

Let me just look. I said eight earlier. Seven-ish. I think like 115 targets for the year. All right. So that's closer to seven than eight. I've got about 123 targets. Okay.

So that's slightly under eight, but close enough. He's caught 70% of his targets over his career. And that may go down just a little, but yeah, it's right in there. Why would that go down? I don't know that he's going to run all the exact same routes that he's ran for Miami over this time. I mean, hopefully he's going to average more than nine yards per reception. Well, to me, that's where it comes down to for him because what do we know about Josh Gordon? He's not slow. No. And you know that he's going to make the most out of many receptions. I don't see Jarvis Lander

getting a lot of deep balls in Cleveland. He's averaged 10.5 yards per catch or less in three or four seasons. I think it's generous to give him 10 yards per catch. Nathan's argument earlier was that he's going to have more room to roam because of coverage underneath being a little lighter, but he's not a burner. They can catch up to him pretty quick. Between 85 and 90 catches, I could buy that,

but that means we're talking about 850 to 900 yards, maybe nine and a quarter yards. I'm doing a Twitter poll for you, Adam. Okay. Yeah. Now the other guy that really factors in is Duke Johnson. I mean, I brought it up with Nathan. It's just, there are too many guys doing what Jarvis Landry does best.

Now I will say that I'm looking at Miami game logs from last year, and there's a two-game stretch, weeks 14 and 15, against New England and Buffalo. Jarvis Landry had 18 catches and two touchdowns in those two games. So big-time performances for fantasy. Eighteen catches in those two games. Why do I bring those two games up? Because Kenyon Drake had 11 catches in those two games.

So that is encouraging that a running back had 11 catches and Landry had 18 over a two-game stretch last year. But I don't know. It's just so many mouths to feed. It's such a different situation. And there's no track record of, as Dave has mentioned, Tyrod Taylor throwing to slot receivers. But I don't want to rehash the whole podcast. So far, 100% of people think Tyrod Taylor would be the best quarterback Jarvis Landry has ever played with.

Is that what you phrased it as? Yes. That's what I said that you disagreed with. No, it's just that to say that is almost to imply that he's a lot better than Ryan Tannehill, and I think they're pretty close. You're forgetting about Jay Cutler. Actually, I'm not sure I wouldn't take – There's a thing.

The Bills fans are the only people that don't like Tyrod Taylor. There's got to be a reason for that. We all think he's better than he is. We're going to assume the fans of the particular team are the most rational actors here? Absolutely, and the most knowledgeable by far about their players. Most knowledgeable, I would agree. Most rational, that's not – I'm not the most rational about the teams that I like. But aren't fans usually homers?

No. Yes. Yes. Yes. Dolphins fans love to be upset over things their team has done. Well, it's justified. Okay, emails, fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. This is from Jameson and Terrell from Washington, D.C. Dear Thielen, Wes, Lambert, Levine, Oates, Schefter, Shaheen, Gregory, Sandler, Scott,

Jones, Vinatieri, Ant, and 12. At about this time last year, Fantasy Football Today podcast host Adam climbed onto his soapbox and started spreading the gospel about his amazing new Acer strategy. It was also sometimes referred to as the Friendship Strategy and a few other things I've since forgotten. The idea, as I recall, was to use any early and middle round draft pick on a receiver and later draft a second receiver from that same team. This dynamic duo was guaranteed to catapult every fantasy team into the playoffs and beyond.

I'm just wondering how that worked out because I'm not hearing too much about it these days. Which wide receiver tandems were you especially high on last year? How many of them delivered anything near the level of success you were anticipating? How is this not the email of the day? Yeah, that's a good one. Most important, would there be anything like it? Because it rips on Adam, that's why. I would have left it out if I didn't like it. So,

the funny thing is, my two favorites were the Chargers with Keenan Allen and Tyra Williams, and the Cardinals with J.J. Nelson and John Brown. Those are my two favorites. And the Cardinals one didn't work. I think quarterback getting hurt had a lot to do with that.

And the Chargers one absolutely worked because it's okay if one of them is a bust if you get a great player out of it, and it absolutely worked. So I never really brought that up. Also, I never even considered the Vikings. I had no faith in Adam Thielen. That probably would have been the best one.

It wasn't that good of a strategy. It just wasn't. But the Chargers worked. If you'd gone with the Steelers before the season, Smith-Schuster wouldn't have been on your radar. You would have gone with Brown and Martavis. No, I think I would have gone with— Because Brown and Juju both finished in the top 25.

I think I would have gone with Martavis and Juju, to be quite honest. That probably would have been more of the Acer strategy. It wasn't usually one of the elite receivers. But remember, Keenan Allen was like a third-round pick. So I don't know. I mean, I think there's still probably something to it of like, hey, this guy's going to be really good if this guy gets hurt. So I'm going to draft both of them and guarantee myself one good player.

I could see it happening. I think you need to go to the next level with this strategy this year and use it on tight ends and draft Cameron Brayton and OJ Howard. No, no thanks. Also, I would not consider Josh Gordon and Jarvis Landry. Why not? I don't think they'll be drafted far enough apart. Right.

They're both going to be top 60 picks. Yeah. Now, would I consider Devontae Adams and Jordy Nelson? I'm not sure because if Devontae Adams got hurt, I'm not sure that Nelson would be able to fill in and be awesome. What about Devontae Parker and Kenny Stills? I don't think so. I don't think so. I don't think so. But what else is

a good one? Like, okay, like Odell Beckham and Sterling Shepard, right? That would have worked. Kind of. Yeah, you got almost nothing out of your first round pick. Well, that, no, okay, but Shepard was pretty good, right? Okay, but would you do that this year?

How good would Sterling Shepard be if Beckham got hurt? I think he'd be about as good as he was this past season. Yeah. I think maybe one like I just saw. How about Josh Doxson and Paul Richardson? Just on the win that Richardson goes to Washington. I don't know. Maybe. Actually, I don't like it. How about Allen Robinson and

Cameron Meredith? Yeah. Chicago. I don't like it. Also Jeffrey and Nelson Aguilar. Not bad. That's not a bad one. I don't like it with... Sammy Watkins and Pierre Garçon. I don't like it with first round picks. I just gotta say that. Stop overlooking Markey's good one, Dave. The Beckham thing was not applicable. I hate him. Alright, next email is from

Greg in the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay. Clam chowder. Virginia. Hey, Nick, Joel, Coach Steve, and Hormone Monster. What the heck is that? Big mouth, apparently, is a thing. Big mouth. I have a keeper philosophy question for you guys.

I mainly play in Dynasty League, so I'm new to the concept of only keeping two guys versus my entire roster. When deciding on your keepers, do you look at it like you would in Dynasty, where youth and or their round plays a big role in their value, or just keeping studs on your team is more important, knowing a big portion of the top 24 overall guys will be off the board to start the draft. For example, does keeping Juju in the 14th and Ingram in the 12th, Evan Ingram, in the 12th have more value than keeping Brown in the first and Gronk in the second, knowing there's a one-round penalty every year you keep them?

So like Juju in the 14th, Evan Ingram in the 12th, Antonio Brown in the first, Gronk in the second. What would you do there? There's certainly a point where youth matters. But if I have the chance to keep Antonio Brown and Gronk in the first and second, I'm just going to do that. And that's fair value for both of them. And it doesn't hurt to keep players for fair value. But you'd almost prefer in this situation to keep at least one player at fair value

and one player at a better than fair value. For example, if you could keep Brown and Gurley for your first and second round picks, it's a no-brainer. You stick with it. In this case, I'm with Heath. You're still going to keep those guys, and you just hope to draft well this next season. And then if you need to replace Gronk or Brown going into 2019, you've got some keepers to do it with.

But there could be no worse feeling in the world than keeping Juju, keeping Evan Ingram, throwing back those other two guys, and then you're drafting from less than ideal players in the first and second rounds. It's not going to be your typical fantasy draft because, like he said, a lot of guys are being capped. Well, you're probably not getting Brown or Gronk back. And, well, it depends on where you pick in the first round.

You might get one of them. Well, if you can get one of them, then you don't keep them both, obviously. You've got to know who's being capped and where you're picking. But you might not know that before you make your cut or make your decision, I should say, not make your cut. But imagine keeping Juju and Ingram and then watching them both fizzle out. What's a better value, though? Gronk in the second or Ingram in the 12th? You could probably make the case for Ingram in the 12th being a better value

because I think Evan Ingram is going to end up going round 6-7, not even close to 12 and not even close to 2. And Gronk's going to go round 2 every draft. All right. Well, yeah. So you guys say Brown and G even close to 2. And Gronk's going to go round 2 every draft. All right. Well, yeah. So you guys say Brown and Gronk, though. I just take the easy way out. The bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.

Right. This is from Steve from Seoul. I currently hold picks, the 8th pick of round 1, the 8th pick of round 2, and the 10th pick of round 2 In a 12 team dynasty league And that's in the rookie draft 8th pick in round 1, 8th pick in round 2 10th pick in round 2 in the rookie draft

Because I am unfamiliar With the value of late second round picks In a rookie draft, I'm wondering if I should try to Package those two second rounders With a player and try to move into The first round or just stand pat with my three picks uh the the value of the picks in the second round are not very good so it'd have to be a very good player to pair with them to move up i would say even considerably

yeah i agreed with david completely but there's a chance that someone that has a first-round pick doesn't. So I would not be afraid to azer it here. I would be making offers to most of the teams in the first round, and if I could get rid of those two picks for an earlier pick, I would do it. Offer the pile of slop for the gold bar, something like that? Exactly. I forgot to mention the Podcast League stuff, by the way, the bracket stuff. We're doing an NCAA tournament bracket March Madness Challenge.

Podcast listeners of the Fantasy Baseball Today and Fantasy Football Today podcast, join it. I will tweet out links. So follow me on Twitter at Adam Azer, A-I-Z-E-R. If you are not on Twitter, you can email us, fantasyfootballatcbsi.com, and I will email you a link. So if you want to be in. By the way, the person who's in the lead after the second weekend, so heading into the Final Four,

the person in the lead is in the Fantasy Baseball Today Podcast League, if they so choose. If you're a football listener and you don't want to be in it, that's fine. But I guess I could put you in the Football Podcast League. Could do that. So that's cool. Alright, so yeah, if you want to be in the bracket, we had over 1,400 people last year. We want more this year.

Follow me on Twitter at Adam Azer or email us fantasyfootball at cbsi.com And Kyle Wilson needs help with a keeper question. I can keep two for the same round pick that I took them in. Standard scoring. Antonio Brown in the first. K can keep two for the same round pick that I took them in. Standard scoring. Antonio Brown in the first. Kareem Hunt in the sixth.

Zach Ertz in the seventh. And Derek Henry in the tenth. Well, Hunt for sure in the sixth. Yeah. And Henry in the tenth. Yep, Hunt and Henry. Okay, Hunt and Henry. That's an example of two players

at exceptional value. Like you're stealing them versus the one guy at fair value, Hunt and Henry. That's an example of two players at exceptional value, like you're stealing them, versus the one guy at fair value, which is Brown. Ertz is better than fair value too, but the other two running backs are better. Well, that is Dave and Heath, and we want to thank Nathan Zagura for joining us. Excellent show today.

We will be back on Thursday. By the way, if you leave us a voicemail at 954-689-3199, please no keeper questions, and if it is a voicemail at 954-689-3199, please no keeper questions. And if it is a keeper question, just two keepers max. Gotta be real quick and easy. So please keep that in mind. We want some more general questions or fun stories about the

na-na-na-na-na-na for Dave, for Heath, for Nathan. I'm Adam. We'll talk to you later. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na It's alright I've got Le'Veon It's alright Not George Le'Veon It's alright I've got Le'Veon Bell Yeah