Fantasy Football Today - 03/12: Free Agency Review! Wentz a Winner, Howard a Loser (Fantasy Football Podcast)
Episode Date: March 12, 2019We're still waiting for big names like Mark Ingram and Le'Veon Bell to sign, but for now there is plenty to react to. Do we have any interest in some of the WRs who are changing teams like DeSean Jack...son, Adam Humphries, Devin Funchess and Jamison Crowder? Also, who are the winners (3:10) and losers (9:30) thus far? We go in-depth on the CHI backfield ... A review of all the major headlines (16:00). We discuss Nick Foles, Frank Gore, Danny Amendola, Sam Darnold (21:00) and other players affected by free agency ... Which teams made significant OL upgrades (30:50)? And is it better to build around RBs or WRs in dynasty leagues (39:00)? ... Your emails at fantasyfootball@cbsi.com 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
Transcript
Discussion (0)
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.
Free agency 2019, ladies and gentlemen.
The NFL should be really ashamed of itself.
This is just dreadful.
This is terrible stuff.
Oh, what's wrong, Adam?
This is so boring.
I mean, come on.
Why is it boring?
Why?
What is this, an IDP show?
Because the Giants haven't done anything?
Because it's all defense.
It's all defense.
A lot of great defensive players.
Didn't you learn anything from the Super Bowl?
Defense is awesome.
I spent, like, over an hour today updating projections for offensive players
because of things that have happened in the last 48 hours.
Boring.
This free agency is no good.
This is so much worse than a year ago.
But, hey, we still have Le'Veon Bell out there, Golden Tate, Tyrell Williams.
We'll have another show for you on Thursday, so we'll get to that.
Which wide receiver are you drafting first in 2019?
Feel free to say none of the above.
Jets wide receiver Jamison Crowder, Lions wide receiver Danny Amendola,
Eagles wide receiver Deshaun Jackson, Titans wide receiver Adam Humphreys,
or Colts wide receiver Devin Funchess
half PPR
sure
I might go
D-Jacks in the
late double digit rounds
I'll take
I can't quit him Crowder
I'll go... I can't quit him. Crowder.
I'll go D-Jex.
Jameson Crowder is... Well, Nick Foles is obviously a terrible signing,
but Jameson Crowder is going to be possibly released next year.
There's always a few that are like,
oh boy, that's just way too much guaranteed money.
They're going to totally regret that.
Crowder at $17 million guaranteed, three-year $28.5 million deal.
How much did Adam Humphries get guaranteed?
He was a 436.
You don't think Deshaun's getting released after re-signing for three years and $27 million?
Well, how much guaranteed, though?
$13 million guaranteed, less than Crouch's.
He only got one year.
True.
Yeah, I mean,
people get overpaid. That's what happens in free agency.
So,
wait, Jamie said Crowder.
Dave said Deshawn. Heath, did you give
an answer? Yeah, I did.
You're going to listen to me?
What did you say?
No, no, no, don't tell him.
You also said Deshawn Jackson?
Nah, you have to go back and listen to it.
There you go.
Making it up to you, Heath. Sorry about that.
Alright, let's do some winners and losers
because some players were impacted even if they were
not signed as free agents.
So, Jamie, give me a winner
2019 NFL free agency so far.
Oh, by the way, if you missed yesterday's
show, we had Pete Prisco on. We talked
about Antonio Brown and Carlos Hyde.
And that was about 20 minutes on just those two players.
So probably not going to talk much about them on this show.
Please listen to yesterday's show.
It was very fun.
Jamie, big winner from free agency.
Chris Godwin.
You know, it already appeared as if both Humphreys and Deshaun Jackson were not coming back.
Now it's official.
So we'll see what they do to add another body at the position. Hopefully it's nothing significant in the NFL draft,
but if they stick with their current running back situation and with Bruce Arians now calling plays,
you have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin as the number two guys at the top two guys, excuse me,
along with the tight ends and OJ Howard and Cameron Bray. But if you look at the, I believe it's seven games that
Godwin has played without Deshaun Jackson in the last two years, in those seven games, I believe
four of them, he has either 100 yards or a touchdown. Okay. He had four games without
Deshaun Jackson last year, two great games, two terrible ones. But it's not just that. It's a guy coming into his own in his third year.
Had a really good year.
842 yards, seven touchdowns on 95 targets.
For a team that led the NFL in passing yards per game,
also led the NFL with 26 interceptions.
So Jamie says Chris Godwin is a winner.
Right now, what round would you say?
Is he a top 100 player?
Oh, for sure. 100%. Is he a top 100 player? Oh, for sure.
100%. Is he a top 70 player? Yes. He's a
top 25 receiver. Yes.
Ooh, alright. I think you could
talk yourself into taking him in
round 5 in full PPR
if the Bucs are done at receiver.
What about O.J. Howard? Do you think
he also improves here?
Yeah, but it's interesting.
Just Brazarian's track record with tight ends is not great.
He's never had O.J. Howard.
He's never had the third most talented tight end in football.
I don't think he had a—he didn't have a long history of pass-catching running backs before David Johnson, right?
To that extent.
Not a player like him, no.
Okay, Dave—oh, no, Heath.
Heath was going to surprise me with a winner he didn't
he didn't tell me beforehand i'm so excited it's eli manning i do think chris godwin's the correct
answer to this as far as who is the biggest winner but if i was choosing one that wasn't already
taken i'm gonna go with dd westbrook he goes from blake portals to a superbowl mvp at quarterback
a guy who has at times looked like a 20 million dollar quarterback and has an offensive
coordinator he should be comfortable with look nick foals isn't going to be fantasy relevant
except for two quarterback leagues this year but this is a much better situation if you like
marquise lee more than you could say marquise lee too i think both those guys much better situation
and a chance for westbrook to be a top 25 guy, I think he's definitely a top 36 guy.
Well, we knew Foles was going to go to Jacksonville,
but now we know the numbers.
Four years, $88 million, $50 million guaranteed.
Man, you want to talk about somebody who's going to get cut?
Yeah.
Well, not with all the guaranteed money.
He'll get at least two years there, you'd think, right?
My guess is if they stink this year, which they could,
then they're drafting somebody next year
as using Foles as the quote-unquote bridge quarterback.
Bold prediction.
Jacksonville's not making the playoffs this year.
Oh, you're going back to back, huh?
That was your bold prediction last year.
That's right.
Oh, yeah.
So I spent, what is this, March?
I spent three months of listening to Pete Prisco drink,
say how terrible quarterback Nick Foles is.
Then we are on CBS Sports HQ yesterday,
and they show the projections for Sportsline of what the win totals will be
now that Nick Foles is part of the Jaguars.
And I think the over-under was six and a half wins.
Over. You take over? Yeah. So Pete says, oh, they can win ten games. that Nick Foles is part of the Jaguars. And I think the over-under was six and a half wins. Over?
You take over?
Yeah.
So Pete says, oh, they can win 10 games.
And I looked at him and I go, what?
You just told me for three months how bad Nick Foles is.
All of a sudden he's the answer?
And he went through this whole diatribe about the defense and whatnot.
I was like, okay.
I mean, it is true.
They have won. How many did they win two years ago? I don't know. They've It's, I mean, it is true. They have won, how many they
won two years ago?
I don't know.
They've won a lot of games,
obviously.
A lot of games, I think, two
years ago, right?
Without good quarterback play.
And their offensive line was...
But Foles was good, though, at
the end of the last two years
ago.
Well, Foles has been good.
Let's give him credit.
He's, as he said, he has at
times played like a $20 million
quarterback.
I mean, it wasn't just that
Super Bowl run.
It was 2013.
He had an amazing year.
24 touchdowns, two interceptions.
Two interceptions, right?
Yeah.
That was the Chip Kelly aberration year.
I was going to set the overrun at 9.5, so I think Pete's right.
Ten wins.
9.5.
Okay, yeah.
9.5 games started by Nick Foles, if that's what you were talking about.
Okay, so we're not too enthused about him. Two quarterback leagues for Nick Foles. Derek Carr by Nick Foles, if that's what you were talking about. Okay, so we're not too enthused about him.
Two quarterback leagues for Nick Foles.
Derek Carr over Nick Foles?
Yes.
Yeah.
Just barely.
Just barely.
Look, they got a left tackle, too.
That was pretty nice.
Dave, who's your winner?
My winner is Carson.
Oakland got the left tackle, not Jacksonville.
Go ahead, Dave.
Sorry.
Carson Wentz gets to Sean Jackson without losing a significant part of the passing game yet.
They've been looking for that downfield threat.
I think D-Jax can still do it.
He doesn't seem like he's slowing down.
So you're adding him with Ertz, Alshon, Aguilar.
It sounds like he's going to stay.
Plus, whatever they do at running back, the less they do at running back,
the better it'll be for Wentz, who's still protected by a good offensive line,
doesn't have Nick Foles breathing over his shoulder.
Touchdown rate, Heath.
We've talked about this stat.
If you're over 5%, that's pretty good, right?
Yeah.
Wentz has been over that each of his last 24 games spanning two seasons,
and now he's getting Deshaun Jackson to help him out.
And they kept Jason Peters, too.
I'm surprised he was over 5% last
year at touchdown rate because I thought the touchdowns
were kind of low because he completed about
70% of his passes.
They looked low compared to 2017, but
if you had listened to me all offseason, I would have told
you it was going to look low. No, but still, I thought he played
well enough. 5% is still really
good. That's what you should expect
for him.
And a lot of fumbles. Nine
fumbles last year in only 11 games.
Got to clean that up, Carson Wentz.
It's just a matter of who the backup's going to be
now. Is it going to be Nate Sudfeld?
Yeah.
It doesn't matter.
You should set an alarm on your phone
for Thanksgiving to pick up
Nate Sudfeld.
Alright, so the winners, Chris Godwin, D.D. Westbrook, Carson Wentz.
How about the losers, Dave?
And other than 2019 NFL free agency, who are the losers?
For now, the loser looks like it's Jordan Howard.
It's not that I think Mike Davis is coming in to take his job in Chicago,
but he's going to take a job in Chicago.
He's versatile enough to work three downs.
That's a problem that Jordan Howard has,
is that he isn't a good pass catcher out of the backfield.
Davis was pretty good last season when he had opportunities to play.
We'll see what the Bears do otherwise at running back
for the remainder of free agency in the draft,
but I'm thinking that they're not going to go into the season
as a three-headed monster i think they find a way to either move jordan howard or cut jordan
howard and save a couple million of cap space in the process it wouldn't be surprised if they
make some sort of deshaun jackson type deal where they swap late round picks with another team
and i think you could see a scenario of uh one of the teams that miss out on
levion coleman you know whoever it may be philly
uh the jets the ravens you know somebody that's looking to add somebody else
that that jordan howard's a good late pick swap type of guy because he's still gonna play yeah
but he's he's clearly not suited to be uh like you said dave and every down guy davis last season
had five games with double digits and carries he scored at least 14 PPR points in four of them
and it was surprising to see Jordan Howard actually his reception total went
down under Nagy I don't think Nagy loves him
oh he definitely doesn't love him I mean at the combine he basically said
here's the running backs that we look for and described everything that Jordan
Howard is not I thought you're gonna say he said the
combine they just didn't love him no that would have been weird
34 catches last year for Mike Davis.
That's more than Jordan Howard had.
Yeah, Jordan Howard actually went – his receiving totals in 2016 and 2017 each year were better than what he had in 2018.
And in 2018, he had a coach that actually throws the ball to his running backs.
That clearly helped Tariq Cohen, but you would think that just by being around and being on the field,
he would get a little bit more of that, but no, it didn't happen.
So what does the Bears' backfield look like?
I mean, do they stay with Mike Davis?
Is he a starting running back now?
Well, Nagy talked about getting Tariq Cohen more work.
I talked to Cohen at the Super Bowl.
He said he would love the opportunity to touch the ball a little bit more, but any player is going to say that.
I think you can get away with bumping up his touches a little bit more using davis as a complimentary option um and then still probably adding a third guy if they do move on from howard
because i don't think that that's the end of it just being howard and cohen there have been some
rumblings that they might be in part part of the levy on bell discussions too that'd be amazing
well it would it would crush terry cohen obviously but it would be amazing to see him in that system
if you had a draft right now which running back back are you taking first in both formats, Davis and Cohen?
Oh, it's not close.
Cohen.
It's not close.
Excuse me?
I mean, who's to say that Mike Davis isn't the primary ball carrier?
There's a chance that that happens, but it's got to shake out that way.
Yeah, right now, it's Cohen.
If we get to August and it's those two guys and you're seeing Mike Davis being treated as a starter, then it changes.
But right now it's still Cohen.
I mean, Cohen was fantastic last season.
He just didn't touch the ball a lot.
Well, that's the thing.
I don't know that he might want more and they might say they're going to get more, but I don't know that he could handle more.
Well, it could be three to five more carries a game and another catch per game, and that makes him much more attractive.
And it's not like they gave Mike Davis starting running back money.
If he's your backup running back at $3 million a year, that's okay.
You know what it is?
They kind of did studies on all the running backs that were out there,
and they said, hey, this guy isn't that much worse than Tevin Coleman,
who isn't that much worse than, well, I guess he's significantly worse than Le'Veon Bell.
But we can get him
at a real cheap price.
What's the deal you had in front of you?
$3 million a year for two years?
Two years, $6 million. Incentives could push it up to $7 million.
That's one year of Tevin Coleman.
Is Mike Davis
that far off of Tevin Coleman?
Some might say yes. Bears obviously
think he is good and they'll
be in play for running back in the draft not on day one but day two or day three or day six
do they have picks on day six everybody does okay so tevin coleman is not signed yet right
no okay the eagles are neither is marking all right okay so we saw you know what you know what
i was a little hard on free agency.
Just all the defensive guys and the players that don't really matter have been signed up to this point.
So, Heath, who's your loser?
Surprise me.
I'm not supposed to say Antonio Brown, right?
You could say Antonio Brown, but –
Antonio Brown's the loser.
Okay.
I mean, he went from Ben Roethlisberger to Derek Carr. And I am having a little bit of trouble with his projection right now
just because if Derek Carr is more like he was last year,
then I do think there's a chance that Brown could still catch 100 passes
because they're all four yards away from the line of scrimmage.
But it's going to kill his yards per reception.
It's definitely going to kill his touchdowns.
And it's possible with what we saw last year,
there's been a slight decline in his skill as well.
Okay, so that's your answer, Antonio Brown?
Yes.
Okay.
And Jamie, your loser?
Adam Humphreys.
I think he'll be okay in Tennessee, but this doesn't help him
just based on what we've seen Marcus Mariota do with his receiving core
in a conservative offense.
I mean, he was great in Todd Monk and system with, you know,
quarterbacks that are going to take risks,
but that's not going to be the case in Tennessee.
So I don't love the signing there for his fantasy value.
Adam Humphrey.
So our losers, Jordan Howard, Antonio Brown, and Adam Humphrey's winners are
Chris Godwin, D.D. Westbrook, and Carson Wentz.
Okay. We'll go through the rest of it here.
We'll read some emails at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com.
We'll have some nice discussions.
Hopefully something will break during the show.
Like news breaking, not like an object.
That would be bad.
We'll come back.
We'll talk about all the news right after this.
Kick off an exciting football season with BetMGM,
an official sportsbook partner of the National Football League.
Yard after yard, down after down,
the sportsbook born in Vegas gives you the chance
to take action to the end zone
and celebrate every highlight reel play.
And as an official sportsbook partner of the NFL,
BetMGM is the best place to fuel your football fandom
on every game day.
With a variety of exciting features,
BetMGM offers you plenty of seamless ways to jump straight onto the gridiron
and to embrace peak sports action.
Ready for another season of gridiron glory?
What are you waiting for?
Get off the bench, into the huddle, and head for the end zone all season long.
Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions.
Must be 19 years of age or older.
Ontario only.
Please gamble responsibly.
Gambling problem?
For free assistance, call the Connex Ontario Helpline at 1-866-531-2600.
BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario.
Did you know that across Ontario, utility damage happens 19 times a day?
That's over 4,222 incidents a year.
Don't let your next dig be one
that causes costly delays or safety risks.
Before you break ground,
make it a point to request a locate.
It's not just the law.
It's a step to keep your team and community safe.
Visit OntarioOneCall.ca and avoid unnecessary damages to get the job done right.
Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report.
Start with the quarterbacks.
Hey, Case Keenum is a redskin.
Washington is getting Keenum and a 2027th round pick from the Broncos for a 2026th round pick.
Anyone care?
Nope.
Okay, great. And we know
Nick Foles is on the Jaguars. They're still going to get another quarterback
too.
How about New Orleans
re-signing Teddy Bridgewater? Let's talk about
Dynasty and Teddy Bridgewater and what you guys
think.
He's still hanging on to a little bit of value.
That's... I think he's hoping hanging on to a little bit of value that's i think he's hoping that he takes could be a lot of value how much longer are we going to wait for teddy bridgewater to be a starter
he apparently turned down a chance to be the starter in miami which okay yeah right yeah
but if i'm a dynasty leaguer and i've got teddy bridgewater on my team i want to see him play i don't want to see him back up drew breeze here's the question yeah will he be the saints starting quarterback in 2020
and if i know the answer to that question is yes then i am more than happy to hang on to teddy
bridgewater or trade for him in dynasty but that's a pretty big if well and i think the other question is when drew braes leaves
does sean payton leave sure that's possible but i don't think michael thomas is going to leave and
i don't think alvin camara is going to leave and i think that offensive thomas may be gone they
haven't signed him yet so they haven't signed camara yet either so by the time those guys are
camara camara i'd be surprised if the saints let those guys go versus breeze and payton who
probably just breeze decides he doesn't want
to play.
And Sean Peyton says, I'm not going to win any games without Drew Breeze.
I'm out of here, too.
One more quarterback item.
The Dolphins could be looking at Tyrod Taylor.
Yes.
Great.
Now I have to hear how great Tyrod Taylor is again.
It's going to be fun when it's Tyrod as the starter on paper and Blake Bortles as the
backup.
And those two guys are competing in August for the starting job?
The Dolphins' plan is working perfectly.
It is.
They have been the most mediocre team
for 10 straight years.
They need to be terrible.
This is a great plan by the Dolphins.
That's why they've got to get Bortles.
Yes.
There's no better way to tank
than getting Blake Bortles.
Tyrod Taylor is not bad enough for that.
Running back, the Bills signed Frank Gore to a one-year, $2 million deal.
Ten years from now, I'll be saying the same thing.
Different team.
He'll be with the Las Vegas Raiders.
46-year-old Frank Gore.
And the Bears signed Mike Davis. It's two more yards to break Emmitt Smith's all-old Frank Gore. And the Bears.
He needs two more yards to break Emmitt Smith's all-time rushing record.
I think it's actually good for the Bills as a team, but for fantasy.
To have two 30-year-old running backs, that's fantastic for their roster.
No, I think he's going to bring something.
Don't forget about Chris Ivory, too.
That's another great player.
Their total age is like 100, the three of them combined.
Now, I don't know why they did it, but he'll be good for their locker room,
and maybe he knows a thing or two about Adam Gase that he can tell them.
Help Josh Allen develop as a runner.
Well, that'll bring us to wide receiver, and we've talked about a lot of it,
but all right, let's get into it here.
Jamison Crowder, three-year, $28.5 million deal with the Jets,
$17 million guaranteed.
Danny Amendola, I mean, look, we saw what Golden Tate put up four straight years with 90 catches,
usually about 1,000 yards, about five touchdowns, and was actually on pace for pretty good numbers
with Detroit last year before getting traded to the Eagles. Danny Amendola's not Golden Tate,
but I guess he's got an opportunity there.
The Eagles getting Deshaun Jackson and Devin Funches to the Colts, Adam Humphreys to the Titans.
So, yeah, we sort of poo-pooed it at the top of the show.
Nobody's too excited about drafting any of these guys, but let's be optimists about these wide receivers.
Well, let me ask you a question, Adam, because there's a gambling site.
I'm not sure we can say their name, but I'll just use their over-unders as a talking point.
Who do you want to start with?
Crowder.
Okay, so Crowder.
Over-under, 700.5 receiving yards.
Under.
I'm going to get my updated.
I'm going to say over.
I think so, if he plays
16 games. Last year was the first time he played less than
15. 700.5.
I'm going under. Under? Adam?
I said under, yeah. What do you have him projected for?
588.
Okay, over, under. Four receiving touchdowns.
Under.
So you hate him? Yeah, I don't.
Well, and I don't... They're already paying
quite a bit of money to Quincy Inouye.
And they put a second-round tender on Robbie Anderson.
That's their receiving core.
And Chris Harden is supposed to be a thing.
I mean, if you watched the Dolphins last year,
you know that Adam Gase likes mediocre receivers.
Well, actually, this does bring up a good talking point
because they didn't have a lot of options, obviously, on free agency.
But if Sam Darnold, who looked really good, finished the year strong,
is going to become a great quarterback,
I don't know that he can do it with these guys.
They're not that bad.
Like Anderson, Herndon, and Nunwick Crowder, it's not that bad.
It's an improvement on last year.
There's just no number one guy.
Right. They don't have greatness there.
Unless, Heath, you've always been the Robbie Anderson advocate.
Do you think he's a number one? I going back to the dolphins to see who led them
in receiving yards last year it was danny amandola with 575 that's ridiculous but darnold's obviously
better quarterback than right the tan yeah osweiler combination but you think about how
slot receivers have done under adam gaze and you get a little excited over what Jamison Crowder could be. Robbie Anderson's still my favorite of the three. Yes. I would not be
surprised if Crowder leaves them in receptions just based on what his role will be. It's just
odd fit because Anunua's best trait is playing inside. And so now you have another slot receiver
here to push him potentially outside. Now Crowder can play outside too, but again, his best trait
is to play inside. Why did they pay Anunua? Why did they sign Crowder can play outside too, but again, his best trade is to play inside.
Why did they pay in NUNWA?
Why did they sign Crowder?
They had so much money to spend,
and they're just spending it.
And the Jets are really upgrading on defense too,
with Mosley and Barr.
They traded for Kelechi Yosemite.
I mean, the Jets are... They're having a good offseason.
They're making moves, man.
And they still could get Le'Veon Bell.
And they still could get Le'Veon Bell. You know, I mean, it's an exciting time, I guess, to be a good offseason. They're making moves, man. And they still could get Le'Veon Bell. And they still could get Le'Veon Bell.
You know, I mean, it's an exciting time, I guess, to be a Jets fan.
But I just wish they could take all that money they're spending at wide receiver
and throw it at, like, one great one.
But it's not possible.
Those guys aren't available, really.
Well, it would have made more sense to sign, like, Tyrell.
Spend an extra.
Yeah, go get Tyrell.
Have him play outside.
Have Robbie Anderson outside and have Quincy Inouye inside.
No, or Golden Tate.
Don't sign Quincy Inouye.
But they did that already, though.
Yeah, well, that was dumb.
But if they don't do that, then they can just get rid of Inouye,
get Crowder, get Tyrell Williams, get Robbie Anderson, get Golden Tate.
Now they have too many receivers, but who cares?
They'll throw the ball a lot and Sam Darnold will be good.
Okay, who's next, Adam?
Which one do you want?
I guess Ammon.
Well, just a quick follow-up.
Is Quincy Anuma someone you're drafting?
No.
He would have been late without Crowder there,
but Crowder being there doesn't help.
He's not in a standard CBS league.
He probably is in like a 20-round, like the best ball drafts, yes.
Okay, then.
Danny Amendola, one year, $4.5 million to Detroit.
Any interest?
No.
None.
Zero.
Does it help or hurt anyone?
Stafford.
What does it do?
It just gives them another option.
When you look at this receiving core, they still need to fix the tight end spot.
I don't think Jesse James is the answer.
I think he's more of a complementary option.
But when you look at Galladay and Marvin Jones,
now you have somebody to at least be a threat in the middle of the field,
whatever that may be.
I do think it's a small ding on Galladay and Marvin Jones
just because if they were going in with those two
and nobody of name value at all at slot,
I'm afraid Danny Amendola is going to get 90 to 100 targets.
But the problem is he can't stay healthy, and he's 34 years old.
And so I don't really – you're right.
It's a slight downgrade, but it's maybe a 5% downgrade.
Is he an upgrade on Bruce Ellington, which is who they had in the slot last year?
That's all they wanted. Maybe not an upgrade
in terms of performance, but
he's an upgrade in terms of name and the
fact that they brought him in for a reason,
and especially he's a former
Patriot.
Former Patriot, that's right, and obviously their
head coach, former Patriot. But yeah, I'm glad
you mentioned Bruce Ellington. Just think about it
in deeper leagues, like 14-team PPR.
Bruce Ellington was actually someone we were recommending
because he had his first three games after the Golden Tate trade.
I know he missed some time.
So his first three games without Golden Tate.
Bruce Ellington had 19 catches, only 105 yards,
but 26 targets in those three games.
Then he got hurt in Week 14 at Arizona.
Wasn't Marvin Jones hurt then, too, though?
I think... And at Galladay,
he might have missed some time, too. They were really down to
next to nothing. I think Marvin Jones was
out, yeah. Okay, I'm just
saying, like, Stafford has shown that he does
throw to the slot receiver quite a bit.
Sure.
Alright, to Sean Jackson. Let's go to him. The Eagles getting
Jackson in a seventh rounder from
Tampa Bay for a sixth rounder. So the over-under isunder is 900.5 receiving yards and 4.5 receiving touchdowns.
I'm going to take the under on the yards but the over on the touchdowns.
Agreed.
I think he's like an 850 in six.
You're still right there though with the yards.
I've got him for 817 in five.
He's over also.
His touchdowns.
The yardage is crazy.
Hasn't he scored four touchdowns like three years in a row? Yeah, he doesn't score touchdowns. The yardage is crazy. I mean, hasn't he scored four touchdowns like three years in a row?
He doesn't score touchdowns anymore.
He averaged
18.9 yards per catch last year, which led
the NFL.
So that's his best asset, but he's 32.
His last four years
touchdowns, 4-4-3-4.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know. For some reason,
I still want to give him 5 or 6.
Yep, me too.
The last three times Deshaun Jackson played 15 or 16 games.
In non-PPR, he finished 10th, 15th, and 31st.
In PPR, he finished 11th, 20th, and 39th.
But he often misses games.
It's kind of been a problem for Deshaun.
Next up.
Yeah, this one's interesting.
Devin Funchess, one year, $13 million.
Over under is 650 and a half receiving yards and four and a half receiving touchdowns.
I would take the over on the touchdowns.
Over on both.
I'll take, I got seven, 14, and six.
I mean, you saw what they did with Eric Ebron last year.
This is probably bad news for Eric Ebron.
I think it is. I've got three tight ends now.
I knew somebody was going to call.
Well, Doyle's not healthy.
That could be why they signed Funchess.
Does this help Andrew Luck at all?
You know, or whatever. Kind of the same.
I mean, you're still going to draft Andrew Luck
as one of the best quarterbacks in fantasy.
Sure, this helps.
This is another big target that he's going to lean on in the red zone.
It's also another guy that has a problem catching the football.
Ebron was one of the worst last year in terms of dropped passes or missed opportunities,
and Funchess is right up there with him.
Funchess' best season was 63 catches, 840 yards,
and 8 touchdowns.
So what was the over-under on the yards again?
The over-under was
650.5. Yeah, I'd still have to take
the over on that.
We know that Andrew Luck
likes tight ends in the red zone.
So if we expand it to Andrew Luck
likes big old targets in the red zone,
he could be a real good standard scoring option at some point.
I don't know about PPR.
It also depends what they do on the other side.
Remember, Deion Kane's coming back from an ACL injury.
We'll see how he does.
What do they do with Ryan Grant and Chester Rogers if Grant stays?
Next up.
They still have a lot of money to spend, too.
Adam Humphreys to Tennessee.
Over under 750 and a half receiving yards and four and a half receiving touchdowns.
No way.
Under, under.
Under.
Oh, my gosh, under.
I'm going to Vegas.
I can't believe they projected him to leave the Titans in receiving yards.
I'm going to New Jersey to place that bet.
I wish he would have signed someplace that had a high-flying offense.
Yeah, he's not that good. Helying offense. Yeah, he's nothing.
No, he's a good player.
Wow.
He's in a bad spot.
He's had like a three-game stretch or something like that where he was really good.
I think he's a capable slot receiver.
I'm a capable slot receiver.
No, you're not.
It's the easiest job in football.
You would get tagged, and you would be running off the field. Well, you wouldn't get tagged and you would be running off the field.
You'd be helped off the field.
I am a slot receiver with my thin wrists.
I've never seen your quickness.
I don't imagine you can catch very well.
How about your hands?
You'd be surprised, actually.
Pretty good hands.
We're talking NFL-sized football.
Put your hand up to the camera.
I want to measure your hand.
No, they're small, but they're good.
Heath, you missed this yesterday.
What size bracelet would you think that Adam would be ordering for himself?
Junior.
Oh, he designed a baseball pocket?
No, no.
I would guess junior.
I'll have to give you the size options.
Children?
Petite?
Toddlers?
I'll send Heath a link.
I don't want to make people go through this again.
Heath, you could tell me which size I should order.
New England gave Josh Gordon an original round tender.
That's a second round tender.
So they can match any offer for Gordon, who's ineligible right now.
But if he comes back, he'll most likely be on the Patriots.
And if not, the Patriots will get a second round pick.
And apparently, according to The Athletic and other reports,
Giants still having trade discussions about Odell Beckham.
We're seeing the 49ers link to Odell Beckham.
Yeah.
You know, you were praising the Dolphins for tanking.
I think you should praise the Giants, too.
If they trade Beckham, yeah.
You're three of the tank.
They can keep all their players and still tank.
So, easy stuff there.
Tight ends.
Dolphins are signing Dwayne Allen.
Lions are signing Jesse James.
Bengals re-sign CJ.
Dave?
Uzama!
The Bills will sign Tyler Croft.
And that's tight end for you.
Yeah, I'm a little bit excited about Uzama
Oh yeah, okay
Go ahead, discuss
I mean, Tyler Croft is gone
Tyler Eifert's still Tyler Eifert
There's a decent chance Uzama
We're going to use him as a streamer
Regularly throughout the year
Great
Thank you
Can I have said that in any more of a high-pitched voice?
Great.
Offensive line, kind of interesting.
There's only four sizes here.
Yeah.
Go ahead and read them and tell me which one you think would fit best for me.
Okay.
So offensive line, we got Kevin Zeitler going to the Giants,
Cleveland's right guard, olivier vernon pass
rusher going back to cleveland they've upgraded they also signed sheldon richardson so they're
getting better up front vernon's not great but he's he's fine uh but zeitler is a real nice
addition to the giants offensive line raiders signing trent brown decides what do you what
do you guys lost it i just can't decide if usually fits adolescents and women with
thin wrists or usually fits teenage boys and most women i think it's probably the adolescents no
it's that one it's teenage boys with most women okay what colors do you think you have um why i
assume green and orange and white actually i think i'm I'm going to go with a Yankees color, just like a white and blue.
I think I'm going to go professional color route.
So why don't you tell me which team did the most on the offensive line
to fire you up for 2019?
It's not the Bengals.
Bobby Hart.
Bobby the Hitman Hart.
I cannot believe Bobby Hart got a three-year $21 million deal.
Also, did I forget to say Jesse James with the tight ends?
I think I did.
No, you said it.
I said it?
Okay.
He's pretty forgettable, though.
Which offensive line got better?
Yeah.
The Jets?
The Broncos?
Broncos are a good one.
Raiders, I mean, just getting Trent Brown is good.
Is it?
Yeah. I mean, he's good. He shouldn't be the highest- I mean, just getting Trent Brown is good. Is it? Yeah.
I mean, he's good.
He shouldn't be the highest paid tackle in football, but he's good.
It's like the Giants getting Nate Solder.
Right.
Beware of players going from New England's amazing system
with the best offensive line coach,
like Hall of Fame caliber offensive line coach,
and going to another team.
You're probably not going to get the same results,
especially for a guy like Trent Brown, who was not highly regarded.
Same ground pick.
And the Raiders do still have Tom Cable, right?
Yeah.
So that's probably not going to help.
Yeah, from Skarnack, you had a Cable.
Broncos might be the best one.
They're apparently backing on Matt Paradis.
Denver getting Jawan James, Miami's right tackle, four years, $51 million.
That's nice.
And look, not that Saquon Barkley needed any help,
but this is a good addition for the Giants.
Oh, 100%.
Yeah, that's a great call.
That's a great call, yeah.
Yep.
You know, it's a good addition for the passing game, too,
like for Beckham if he stays.
Sure.
Plus, we can give him credit two years now for being out on Bobby Hart.
What do you mean?
Wasn't he formerly with the Giants?
Yeah.
Who's getting credit for that?
Then he went to the Bengals, and now the Bengals re-signed him and gave him 21 mil.
Yeah.
I don't understand.
Who's getting credit for what now?
The Giants for getting rid of him.
Never mind.
Keep going.
Let's keep talking about offensive line.
Okay, great.
And defense.
Defense.
So, the Jets. Big winners. And defense. Defense. So the Jets.
Big winners.
Barr and Mosley.
Adam Gase had his eyes on the Packers.
The Packers.
Baltimore linebacker Zadarius Smith.
Washington linebacker Preston Smith.
Chicago safety Adrian Amos.
Yeah, that's pretty good.
I do think, though, that, again, guys leave Baltimore, I feel like they're not as good.
You have examples?
Pernell McPhee is the only one I can think of.
But I just sort of feel that way.
Ed Reed hasn't been nearly as good since he retired.
That's true.
Ray Lewis has fallen off.
Yeah, he hasn't been as good.
Eric Weddle is pretty good, though.
No, he just left Baltimore. No, no, no. He went too far. I was thinking he left the Chargers, yeah. Yeah, he hasn't been as good. Eric Weddle is pretty good, though. No, he just left Baltimore.
No, no, no.
He went too far.
I was thinking he left the Chargers.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Baltimore's having a rough offseason.
They are.
And that's really, I mean, this is always one of the best defenses.
So all of the AFC North that faces Baltimore twice,
I mean, they lost some serious talent there.
That's probably a good thing for those teams.
Maybe they can just plug and play.
Like Terrell Suggs isn't that big of a loss at this point, but Mosley is.
But he's still a good situational pass rusher.
It's really setting things up for the Browns to win that division.
Right?
Yeah.
Oh, they should be.
Yeah, they should be.
They probably win it by three games.
Landon Collins to the Redskins, $45 million guaranteed.
Huge contract
for Collins. They could have a decent
defense. They did for the first half of last year.
And if Darius Geis
can be 100% at the start
of camp, he could be
like if they could just try to play
slow and ugly and beat you
13-10 and he could get a ton of work.
He won't be the only back, though.
That's the problem.
You're right.
That's the formula.
And it's going to be interesting to see if they're really the team that's in on Rosen.
If they get Rosen and he's the guy or Keenum's the guy, that's what they're going to have
to do because their receiving core is a disaster.
So I don't have any clue about when DSTs
are getting drafted and who's going high, but
I love Tyra Matthew
on the Chiefs, and they are a
sleeper DST.
Well, except they cut
Justin Houston. They're trying to trade D4.
Well, they have to keep D4.
But if Eric Berry can regain his form...
I still think they need pass rush help even if they keep D4.
So they're not a sleeper DSA?
They're inching closer.
I do love the signing, and I think that Matthew might be the best safety in fantasy football
because nobody in front of him can tackle.
This is becoming trendy to just bring up the Browns all the time,
but I love what the Browns are doing on defense.
And I think their pass rush could be really good this year.
Oh, their front's going to be devastating.
It's going to be good.
And they're going to draft someone to bolster the secondary.
Sheldon Richardson, three years, $39 million to Cleveland.
And obviously, like I said, they acquired Olivier Vernon.
And they already have talent up front.
Right.
They had Ogba, Ogunjobi, Garrett, Denzel Ward-Corner.
They've got some nice pieces, man.
They could definitely make a play here.
Anything else here?
Anything else?
Philadelphia getting Malik Jackson.
The Patriots acquiring Michael Bennett.
Martellus Bennett, is he going to be their starting tight end next year for the Patriots?
He says he wants to come back and play with his brother.
Yeah.
With Yoda,
as he called Bill Belichick, as Michael
Bennett called him.
Okay, and finally,
Philadelphia wants
any scoring play or turnover that
is negated by a penalty to be subject to
replay review to make sure the call is correct.
So, I think they want the penalty to be reviewed, yeah.
And Denver wants to eliminate the onside kick,
and Washington wants to make every play reviewable.
Denver wants to replace the onside kick with 4th and 15
from the team's own 35-yard line.
God, you see it once or twice in the AAF,
and now they want to
indoctrinate it into the National Football League.
They need to change
the onside kick rules.
What they did last year had too
much of a negative effect. You cannot
recover onside kicks. It was like 4% or
something like that. They have to
change the rule.
I will not...
I will go in and spend the last 20 minutes of this show talking about that.
Jamie, this is when you say, got to go bye.
It actually is.
Got to go bye.
Oh, you have to go?
This is when I start making noise.
Wait, no.
We have emails.
Oh, all right.
Fine.
Okay.
Fantasy.
Jamie has to go do his CBS Sports HQ.
Hey, everybody, you should be watching HQ.
Okay, let me tell you about CBS Sports HQ.
I'll tell you that.
Jamie closes the door.
So, like, let's just be real.
The sports coverage on TV, it's garbage.
It's garbage.
I can't watch any of it.
CBS Sports HQ is smart.
It is simple.
You know, simple as in, like, not a lot of distracting bells and whistles
and people screaming for no reason and stuff like that.
It's just good sports talk, and it's news, and it's highlights,
and it's what you grew up watching.
And get it on your over-the-top device.
I watch it on my Roku.
If you just want to give it a little shot, go to CBSSportsHQ.com.
But if you download the CBS Sports app on your over-the-top device,
you will get HQ for free.
You don't have to sign up for anything.
It's great.
Now let's read some emails.
FantasyFootball at CBSi.com.
Steven from Deerfield, Illinois.
Dear Mike, Matt, Dave, Dick, and George.
Those are great defensive linebackers.
Those are Bears head coaches.
Oh. Defensive linebackers. Those are Bears head coaches.
In a dynasty league, do you prefer to build your roster around wide receivers or running backs?
It depends on the league.
I'll tell you what. I built mine around running backs, and I'm regretting it quite a bit.
But a lot of it has to do with the fact that one of my running backs held out for a year.
Another one got cut from his team midseason for domestic violence.
I think balance is definitely the way you want to go.
You want to try and get one real good running back, one real good receiver, and then build around that.
Don't try and go all in on one position or the other because if calamity hits,
you're starting Carlos Hyde and Jordy Nelson
in a meaningful fantasy game in an important long-term league,
and you're crying, and when you cry, the tears get in your mouth,
and they taste kind of funny, and Heath's laughing at you.
And I should apologize to Stephen.
My answer was not helpful.
What I meant to say was snips.
Seriously, no intentional positional strategy so steven's
argument is that the single biggest advantage you can have in football is a stud running back
but wide receivers are safer safer and can lead to you being in the hunt but always second or
third place you know well the wide receiver will call it the bridesmaid strategy. And yeah, I mean, I get it.
You definitely want to get that stud running back. But hey, if you've had Julio Jones,
you've had a great receiver. If you've had Antonio Brown for so long, they've been amazing.
Obviously have longer shelf lives. Yeah, it's a tough call. I like Dave's idea. Balance. Balance. Okay. Justin from
South Lake Tahoe.
Dear Clay, Tyson,
Leonard, and Lewis.
Boxing champions. Linebackers.
Oh, yeah. Boxing.
Just kidding. That was a joke.
I knew they were boxing champions. I have a keeper
question for you. I can keep
four players. Three are no-brainers.
I have a $110 total
budget for the draft. I'm keeping
Mahomes for $7.50,
Michael Thomas for $31.50,
and James Conner for
$1.00. For the fourth
spot, am I keeping
Damian Williams for $1.00,
Jamal Williams for $1.00,
Lamar Jackson
for $1.00, or McKinnon for $4.00? Damian Williams for $1, Lamar Jackson for $1,
or McKinnon for $4?
Damian Williams for $1.
Yeah, I think Damian Williams for $1 is the correct choice,
and I wasn't here for the Carlos Hyde talk.
I'm probably more concerned about Carlos Hyde than anybody else would be,
but it's still the right call now. More concerned about Williams' value or about Carlos Hyde than anybody else would be, but it's still the right call now. Where would you— More concerned about Williams' value or about Carlos Hyde?
About Williams' value.
Don't you feel like you have to draft them together?
And don't you feel like everybody will be after Carlos Hyde whether they draft him?
I don't know.
It's going to depend on ADP, but if Damian Williams stays a third-round pick
and Carlos Hyde's an eighth-round pick, I'm going to draft a lot more Carlos Hyde than Damian Williams.
We're all in agreement. We're going to be beating each other up to and Carlos Hyde's an eighth-round pick, I'm going to draft a lot more Carlos Hyde than Damian Wade. We're all in agreement.
We're going to be beating each other up
to draft Carlos Hyde.
Yeah, but it reminds me of Devante Freeman,
Tevin Coleman.
If Hyde gets to
round six or seven, then yeah.
I don't think it will be that.
Andy Reid doesn't do that.
It's
who wins that job. I don't really think we're
going to see a situation where in a given game one of them's getting 12 touches and the other
one's getting 10 so i by the way just to go back to this email like would you consider keeping
a four dollar jerek mckinnon over a $7.50 Patrick Mahomes?
No.
No.
Okay.
From Trace, he says,
The Grim Reaper, the Hammer, Cement Head, and the Boogeyman.
Those are linebackers.
Question.
PPR, 12-team league, snake draft, can keep two players forever.
I also have picks thick 36 and 37 after my keepers and any suggested strategies for rounds three and four um okay that's the question what would
you do with picks 36 and 37 so what is he oh oh two keepers okay okay there we go antonio brown
keenan allen george kittle and Nick Chubb are the four.
Brown, Allen, Kittle, and Chubb, who are you keeping?
Chubb and Allen.
I'm going to say Chubb for sure, and I might take Kittle over Allen.
So now what do you do? So if you said Chubb and either Keenan Allen or George Kittle.
Well, the great thing is you've started with balance,
so you're not pigeonholed into any one strategy at 36-37.
If any of those four were there at 36-37, I would take them.
I don't know who the Grim Reaper, the Hammer, Cement Head, and Boogeyman are.
I think they're bad guys.
Who's Cement Head?
A bad guy. Yeah, he's a bad guy. Who's Cementhead? A bad guy.
Yeah, he's a bad guy.
You're right, Heath.
Did we answer Trace's question?
I tried.
Okay, that's all I can ask for.
Thanks, guys.
We'll have...
I think Thursday's show will be fun.
I think we'll have Ingram news.
We'll have Le'Veon Bell news.
We'll have Tyrell Williams News.
And...
Tevin Coleman News.
Tevin Coleman News.
And...
USC...
What sport is it?
Rowing?
We may have Blake Bortles.
USC Crew.
Crew, yep.
News on that.
Google it.
I have to, apparently.
I'm done.
We're out of here.
Thanks for listening