Fantasy Football Today - 04/01: Year 2 WRs - Who Will Step Up? (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 1, 2019

Let's analyze those sophomore WRs. Last year, Calvin Ridley was the only Top 30 rookie WR, but this year he may not be the first one drafted. We give you one Year 2 WR who will get better (6:00), one who will get worse (10:00) and a sleeper (17:15) ... Which sophomore WR has the most star potential (20:00)? And we also touch on the guys we didn't mention in previous segments (22:40) like Michael Gallup, Anthony Miller and the GB WRs ... News and notes from around the NFL (31:40). Is Marlon Mack going to be an every down back? ... 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. A lot of wide receiver talk on today's show.

What's going on? Welcome to Fantasy Football Today, everybody. Adam, Dave, and Jamie here. Hoping to have Heath on later in the week yeah it is monday april 1st i was planning an april fool's joke but i already did it on the fantasy baseball today podcast this morning it was hilarious everybody loved it what was it i said that freddie freeman was out 8 to 12 weeks with a broken hand. And it was great. You should have stuck with your joke about how many announcing crews that you like. Nobody likes any broadcasters. That's what I've noticed.

But you like all of them, though, so there's a big disparity there. When you watch as much local baseball as I do, you realize there aren't that many good broadcasters out there. I cherish the good ones. Unfortunately, Jason Witten no longer. No tight end talk. No broadcaster talk. Wide receivers. Did you see Jason Witten's new hairdo? No.

Yeah. Google it. I'm doing it right now. Jason Witten hair? Just go Jason Witten, yeah. You'll see the difference. What am I... Oh. Oh, my God.

Really? That's what he actually looks like, yes. Okay. I think... He's got a piece? What? Is that what it is? Yes.

Wow. The jokes were hysterical. ESPN got to keep the hair, and the Cowboys got Jason Witten back. Everybody wins. Dave's going to start us off with some wide receiver trivia. My mind is blown right now. I did not realize that. Dave's going to start us off with some wide receiver trivia. Or what are we calling this?

Would you draft me? Would you draft me? Okay, go ahead. All right. Hi, I'm a receiver with over 10 yards per target in five of my last six years. I will play in a strong passing offense in 2019 and still have good separation abilities, albeit with a slowly declining catch rate. PFF has me with three drops in my last two years, but nine drops in my last three years. I'm going to be 32 years old when the season starts.

Would you draft me? Yes. You kind of sound like Antonio Brown. I sound like Antonio Brown. Jamie, who do I sound like to you? He's going to be 32? 32 years old. I don't know how old Antonio Brown's going to be. I think Brown's only going to be

31. 10 yards per target in five of my last six years. I don't think A.J. Green's at home, but is A.J. Green? It is not. Look, everybody's going to draft A.J. Green. What kind of a game would this be if it was, would you draft A.J. Green? A.J a game would this be if it was would you draft A.J. Green? A.J. Green and Antonio Brown, yeah.

Ten yards. Yards per target is not an easy stat here. He's 32, so he's been around for a while. Ten yards per target is a lot, right? Like, wow. That's a big number. Golden Tate. No, but this is one of Golden Tate's former teams that this receiver is going to.

Oh. Oh, Deshaun Jackson. Deshaun Jackson. Yeah, of course you're drafting Deshaun Jackson. Where are you drafting Deshaun Jackson? Toward pick 100. I think you can make the case in non-ppr to do it just before pick 100 overall that's too soon i think he's got a shot at 100 targets and if he's going to get over 10 yards

per target 100 times 10 is a thousand and i think he could get you five or six touchdowns maybe i don't like getting him as one of those receivers for good depth and potential to start on a week-to-week basis, and I like him in the role that he'll play in this Philadelphia offense. How many receivers got over 100 targets for the Eagles last year? I'm going to guess zero. One. Zach Ertz had 156.

Well, you said receivers. I wasn't thinking tight ends. Well, he's a receiver. So Aguilar was second with 97. He's still on the team. Jeffrey was third with 92. He's still on the team. So you're adding another 100 targets there.

Golden Tate had 44 with the team. Dallas Goddard, who everybody expects to take a little bit of a bump, had 44 targets. I don't see Deshaun Jackson getting 100 targets. Well, if he took 44 from Golden Tate, is that what you said? He's going to take some off of Nelson Aguilar.

Right, right. 20 from Aguilar? I don't think Aguilar is going from 97 to 40. It's hard to make the call that Alshon Jeffries' target number goes down. Unless he misses a ton of time. Ertz and Goddard, to make the call that Alshon Jeffries' target number goes down. Right. Unless he misses a ton of time, which would be great for Deshaun.

And Ertz and Goddard, I would say, could still combine for 200 targets. Hmm. That's a lot of targets for those two guys. That's what this offense is. This offense is looking for a deep ball receiver. It's going to be game plan specific. That's what they do anyway.

Zacherts is going to etch in his nine targets per game no matter what, but everything else is on the table for Goddard, Jackson, Jeffrey, Nelson, Aguilar, Jordan Howard. If you take Deshaun Jackson around and pick 100 in PPR, you're making a mistake. Oh, I think he goes a little after that in PPR, but not in PPR.

A little bit before. That would be the ninth round, 100th overall in a 12-team league. Yeah, too soon. Is really anything in the ninth round too soon, though? Of course. Kicker. Kicker, yeah. Defense, probably.

God, this Witten thing. Quarterback. Okay, so let's talk about year two wide receivers. If you missed our year two running back show, it was several weeks ago. It was fun. It was good. Give me one year two wide receiver who will be better. That's an easier question than one who will be worse

because only one of them was really all that fantasy relevant, and that was Calvin Ridley. He was 18th in non-PPR, 21st in PPR. He had 821 yards and 10 touchdowns. But give me a year-two wide receiver who will be better in 2019. Jamie, kick it off. Yeah, I like Christian Kirk's opportunity. I mean, there are a lot of guys that fall into this category with this draft class

that should be better. You know, you have the obvious guys like a DJ Moore, you know, just with Funchess gone. I do think Calvin Ridley will be a little bit better overall, maybe not touchdowns. But Kirk's opportunity is there as of now. They don't really have a deep receiving core. The fact that they bring back Larry Fitzgerald is good.

But Kirk is somebody that Cliff Kingsbury is excited about. At the owners' meetings last week, he talked about his ability to play both inside and outside. And I think he's going to use him in a variety of ways. And as we saw last season, he started to pick things up toward the end of the year. We'll see who the quarterback is. That's going to be vital, clearly, for what this Cardinals offense looks like as a whole, certainly for their receivers. But I like Kirk's opportunity to be the starter opposite Larry Fitzgerald

and certainly to have the chance for some big plays in this Kingsbury offense. Okay, the Arizona Cardinals last year had the worst passing game in the NFL. They had 2,523 passing yards. That was the lowest or the fewest amount of passing yards in a season since... Any guesses? Pick a year. Deshaun Jackson. 2011.

They had the worst passing offense since 2011. Jacksonville and Denver, both in 2011, were worse than last year's Cardinals. But they were really bad. So Christian Kirk is Jamie's bet to be better. In 12 games, he had 590 yards and three touchdowns. Dave, who will be better in 2019? I'm sold on Dante Pettis after what we saw from him at the end of last season. Five-game span, 20 catches, 359 yards, four touchdowns, caught almost 65% of his targets from Nick Mullins. And this is a 49ers offense that hasn't made a big splash in the receiving game. So I think Dante Pettis is in line to be a starting

outside receiver for the 49ers. Jimmy Garoppolo got better throwing the football deep. I'm excited about where he's going. I think he's got a chance to be the best second-year receiver in fantasy football in 2019. Kyle Shannon at the owner's meeting said, Dante had a typical rookie year where he had some

good games and some bad games with a lot of ups and downs. He battled through some injuries early on, which I thought set him back, but the way he finished the year was very exciting. He got a lot more opportunities at the end of the year. He earned those opportunities. You always want to see how guys do when they're out there, and he got better.

He didn't get worse. He got better the more he played. He got better with experience. I think that really helped him going into this offseason. I'm pumped to see him here in about a month. I think he'll play inside too. I don't think he's just going to be an outside guy. Oh, no, for sure.

In the slot as well. I don't think it'll be quite as even. I think he'll play inside, too. I don't think he's just going to be an outside guy. Oh, no, for sure. In the slot as well. I don't think it'll be quite as even. I think he'll be outside more than inside. But he'll... Jamie's right. You'll see him in the slot. Yeah, his best performances came when Pierre Garçon was not there. Would you rather have Dante Pettis or Alisson Jeffrey?

Pettis. Dante. Yeah, Pettis, his last five games, he had 13 or more fantasy points in PPR in four straight games. And then he got hurt in that fifth game. But he had three catches for 21 yards on five targets and then got hurt pretty early against the Chicago Bears. So he definitely came on strong. So Jamie says Kirk will be better. Dave says Pettis will be better.

By the way, I'm sure both agree that Kirk and Pettis will be better, but they just gave me one guy. Jamie, who will be worse next year? I mean, the only way to go for Calvin Ridley, by comparison to everybody else in this class, is down because nobody really had a standout performance from this group. So I like Calvin Ridley a lot. I don't think he's going to struggle very much. But based on the question you're asking, he's the only one that can decline. All right, so Ridley had 64 catches, 821 yards, 10 touchdowns, 92 targets. Five of those touchdowns

came in weeks two through four, and he is a reason to be patient in fantasy. Week one, three targets, no catches at Philadelphia. Weeks two through four, he just went nuts. He had a combined 15 catches, 264 yards, and actually six touchdowns, excuse me, in those three games. And we know the deal. He had a lot of really bad games, but he was a rookie. So what do you think the chance – I know obviously you're not going to rank it this way, but Ridley finished 18th in non-PPR, 21st in PPR.

What are the chances that he does better than that? Slim, barring a bunch of injuries. It's barring one injury. It's Julio Jones. Well, I mean, there are a lot of guys that can get hurt around the league that both guys can still finish ahead of 18 and 21 oh yeah that's true what about the argument that hey calvin ridley is really really good and you know maybe we just haven't seen the best of him yet that could happen also but again it goes back to targets you know i don't I don't think they're stopping throwing the ball to Julio Jones as much as they do. I think you'll still see plenty of opportunities for Austin Hooper, maybe even an uptick for him. Mohamed Sanu will still be in his

usual role. And then I think that they'll get back to Dirk Cutter. I think we'll get back to using the running backs a little bit more in the passing game than what Steve Starkeesian did. It's kind of funny. Matt Ryan, from 2017 to 2018, he had 829 more passing yards. And Calvin Ridley had 821 more yards. And Ryan had 15 more touchdowns, Ridley had 10. So it was almost like you just add Calvin Ridley to Matt Ryan's 2017 total. Also, the defense was terrible, and they threw the ball a ton. So those things, if they change, could work against them.

Defense will be better. I mean, you don't lose Keanu Neal, Deion Jones, and those guys and play at the same level that they would have had those guys been there. So those were tremendous losses in the middle of that defense. They were just awful. Right out of the gate, too. Right out of the gate, right. Right out of the gate, right. So I think you look at that,

but that also should give them a little bit more time of possession when they have the ball more. Dave, who will be worse? So I don't know if Cortland Sutton is going to be worse than 704 yards and four touchdowns, which is what he ended up with last season. But I'm not feeling him. I'm not feeling this Broncos offense, even with the change at quarterback to Joe Flacco. I guess that's supposed

to be a big positive for Denver. I don't see it being a big one, if even a small one. And Sutton, to me, with a 50% catch rate last season, don't see him making a big second-year leap, especially when another second-year receiver on that team, Deshaun Hamilton, kind of outshined him in a bunch of games when both of them had an opportunity to play last season. Sutton's going to be one of those receivers that I'm not going to buy into with a

top 80 pick. I think he's going to pretty much go around that spot in fantasy drafts. I don't see myself buying in on Corlin Sutton. Corlin Sutton is right in between Golden Tate and Sterling Shepard as I look at the fantasy pros' consensus rankings, and just behind Dante Pettis. So Golden Tate, Corlin Sutton, Sterling Shepard,

and then there's Christian Kirk. Would you guys rather have Christian Kirk than Corlin Sutton, Sterling Shepard, and then there's Christian Kirk. Would you guys rather have Christian Kirk than Corlin Sutton? I would. Yeah, I think so. The thing about Sutton, which will be interesting to see, is where does Emmanuel Sanders come at the start of the season? Because then it becomes a crowd of receiving corps when you have Sanders and Hamilton and Sutton there.

I think just talking to John Elway at the Combine and hearing what he said about both the two young guys in terms of Sutton and Hamilton, he wants them to be good. At the time, that was the news that came out when they were picking up the option for Sanders, which I think was a surprise to many people. You look at what Sutton does, though, and I think the quarterback change helps him more so than probably the the other guys because if you saw last year john brown played really well with joe flacco and then the quarterback change came and john brown was a disaster uh sutton did not really win with case keenum i don't think that skill set matches keenum is much more of a slot guy type of receiver and that's why deshaun hamilton had the numbers that he did and even emmanuel sanders before he got hurt

so i i think flacco will help suttonton if you're looking for a silver lining, but he's a little bit risky in that range. I think if you can get him a little bit later, then you're in a much better spot. Not only was Deshaun Hamilton better than Cortland Sutton after Emmanuel Sanders got hurt the last four games of the season, Tim Patrick was also better than Cortland Sutton. He had five more targets. He had five more targets.

He had five more catches. He had nearly 100 more yards. He had 96 more yards than Cortland Sutton. He's taller than Sutton, and he's faster than Sutton, Tim Patrick. We're still in the Dynasty League, and we can make add drops. I can't find it in my heart to let go of Tim Patrick. He might be the worst player on my active roster right now. And sadly, that's where he's at because my receivers stink. But I think he's got a chance.

Okay. Hey, who's the first year two wide receiver drafted? Is it going to be Dante Pettis? No, it'll be DJ Moore. Should it be? It's debatable. You know, I mean, it probably comes down to how healthy Cam Newton is and what the perception is of him.

But, you know, you look at just opportunity. Both guys are in very similar spots. You know, should be the number one receiver on their respective teams. Ton of upside. You know, I think it just, you know, it might be personal preference. But what Pettis showed you at the end of last season should give you some encouragement. But I do think D.J. Moore's hype will probably be a little bit more.

In terms of draft value, it would be hard to resist. Two things about DJ Moore. He played two games without Devin Funchess last year. He had eight catches for 91 yards on nine targets against Seattle, and four catches for 81 yards on eight targets at New Orleans.

Two very productive games without Devin Funches for DJ Moore. Yeah, he should be good. He should be good. Cam Newton averaged the most passing yards per game of his career, second most, behind his rookie year. I was surprised by that. Also, one more thing about DJ Moore.

He led the team with eight red zone targets. That's a very low number, but he led the team. Surprised to see that. It's not what really they do in the red zone, though. That's true. And no Greg Olson for a big portion of the season, which may not have him again. Adam, do you know how many total touches DJ Moore had in the red zone? Like, did he have any carries?

I'm asking. I don't know. I'm curious if he did. I can look it up. I mean, that's just part of how they use him. It wouldn't surprise me if he had one or two carries or uh you know bubbles backwards right screen passes that went his way and counted as a carry and not a catch okay we'll look into that and give me one year two sleeper

i'll go first i'll say maybe i should say tim patrick based on what i just got done talking about i'll go i'll go with Robert Foster in Buffalo. Deep, deep sleeper. I know they added John Brown, who's a lot like Robert Foster, but that's a team that I see throwing a lot, playing from behind. They've got a quarterback that can chuck it deep. Foster did a nice job catching those deep balls late last season from Josh Allen. I think he'd be okay to take with a late pick,

just to see how he starts the season off. Robert Foster for Dave. And DJ Moore, by the way, had three carries in the red zone. Jamie, give me a sophomore sleeper. Trey Quinn. You look at this Washington receiving corps right now, they are, as of Monday, April Fool's, this is not a joke, working out Kenny Britt.

But losing Jamison Crowder is something that they have to replace in the slot. And Jay Gruden talked about what he likes about Trey Quinn. And so there's an opportunity there. And so a guy that was drafted in the seventh round played a little bit last season. It's a late-round fly round flyer deeper leagues but just keep an eye on them trey quinn robert foster some sleepers for you jamie says christian kirk will get better calvin ridley will get worse dave says dante pettis better courtland sutton worse and dj moore calvin ridley those guys will be the first two off the board and again the other reason i say ridley will get worse because you made me yes yes he had 10 touchdowns last year that's pretty hard to do uh replicate now okay if i'm surprised as i look at the fantasy pros

consensus rankings like dj moore is 57th uh overall wide receiver 26 calvin ridley is wide receiver 27 so they are both like top 60 picks dante pettis is wide receiver 36 86 overall in the consensus rankings i i just don't get it's great value if you do it yeah because i think i would take him ahead of both of them yeah again you know you make make the argument now a lot of what pettis did again happened with uh with pierre garcon out butquise Goodwin, not necessarily a huge part of this offense, and I think they're counting on him to rebound and play a big role. They brought in Jordan Matthews. Kyle Shannon talked about what his role could be.

That's a slot guy that could take Pettis and kick him outside. Obviously, you look at what George Kittle does in this offense and the running back. So just look at when you stack up the two teams, because I think, again, the situations are similar, the Panthers and the running backs. So just look at when you stack up the two teams, because I think, again, the situations are similar, the Panthers and the 49ers. It might be more mouths to feed for the 49ers, even though they're not great mouths to feed.

I was going to ask later which wide receiver has too many mouths to feed. If we talk more long-term, who has the most superstar potential? DJ Moore. I think it might be Moore. Of this group you mean? Of all the year two receivers? Yeah. Superstar potential.

I think I'd say Ridley but I think Moore. Yeah, yeah. Can I say Anthony Miller? Can I still go to that guy? We haven't talked about him, sure. You know, I think that the Bears are going to try and just spread defenses out more. That's kind of the hint that I got from when they traded away Jordan Howard. They want to just dink and dunk a little bit with some more deep balls.

I still buy into Anthony Miller as a productive receiver. By the way, when I said superstar potential, I wasn't necessarily meaning this year. You know, I looked at the rookie stats for Julio, Green, Antonio Brown, Beckham, Michael Thomas, Juju Smith-Schuster, Devontae Adams, Tyreek Hill, T.Y. Hilton. And look, Julio Jones, A.J. Green, Odell Beckham, Michael Thomas. These guys had unbelievable rookie years.

Julio only had 54 catches, but he played 13 games, 959 yards, 8 touchdowns. Antonio Brown did almost nothing as a rookie. Caught only two touchdowns as a second-year guy. Juju Smith-Schuster, 917 yards, seven touchdowns. Very good as a rookie. Took a huge step in year two. Devontae Adams, first two years, he had like combined 900-something yards and four touchdowns.

Tyreek Hill, first year, he did have three rushing touchdowns, but as a receiver, 61 catches, 593 and six. So T.Y. Hilton, 861 and seven in 15 games as a rookie. Not every superstar wide receiver puts up Julio, Green, Beckham numbers as a rookie. It's something to keep in mind. So most superstar potential has got to be one of those first round picks from last year. There's also going to be probably one or two guys that get impacted by a rookie receiver as well. Like Christian Kirk, for example.

Dante Pettis. Those are teams that are going to be active in the draft looking at receiver. Who figures to benefit the most from better quarterback play? Kirk. Kirk should benefit just from the scheme. Yeah, even if it's Rosen. This isn't necessarily a change in quarterback. I think Garoppolo will help Pettis.

Not that Mullins was bad for him. Okay. All right. I think we're done here. Any other rookie wide receivers you want? Michael Gallup. We haven't talked about Michael Gallup. Say something about Michael Gallup.

Looks like he's going to be the... I think he'll be the number two receiver in Dallas. It'll be interesting to see what they do in two receiver sets. It'll probably come down to how healthy Randall Cobb is. I don't think Cobb takes Gallup off the field unless they're, you know, want a slot receiver. Who's the better run blocker? That's probably what it'll come down to, honestly, for who plays more in two receiver sets. And fantasy owners shouldn't care about

that anyway, but Cobb's arrival should hurt Gallup. How about Traquan Smith? I think Kenny Britt. I'm Kenny Britt. Ted Ginn. Being healthy hurts Traquan. How about

Jared Cook coming to New Orleans? Yeah, but different skill sets, different opportunities. I mean, you're talking about who's the guy on the field when they want to take shots. I guess when I tell you a name, tell me if you're drafting the player and if you are when you're drafting the player. So for Michael Gallup and Traquan Smith, are they draftable? Late. Kiki Cutie.

He's interesting. You know, he's got to stay healthy. Will Fuller's got to be healthy. Bill O'Brien at both the combine and the owner's meetings, you know, kind of talked at length about that. Because when he was on the field, he was great. But can he stay on the field? So he's better than those two guys, certainly in PPR. Yeah, right.

Round 10 or 11 in PPR, round 11, 12 in non-PPR. And maybe he's the receiver handcuffed to go with Will Fuller. So are you taking Kiki Cutie, I guess, after Deshaun Jackson? I'd take him out of PPR. I would take Deshaun Jackson. Okay. How about the Packers guys? EQ St. Brown, Marquez Valdez-Scanley, Jimon Moore,

who had two catches last year. Mostly the guys with the long names. Late. One of those three will get a lot of hype in training camp in the preseason. They'll end up going in round 10 or 11. Don't forget John O'Meal, he'll be better than all of them. Right, he'll go ahead of those guys. Okay, how about

i think that's pretty much it maybe we should talk oh james washington for the steelers he was a good one to talk he was one i was going to put a sleeper but i think it's too obvious to call him in that category when you're just talking about these guys in the overall scheme of fantasy he's a sleeper but um you know the dante moncrief signing will be interesting to see how they use those two guys together, but the opportunity is clearly there. You're losing 150 plus targets from Antonio

Brown and 15 touchdowns. I think you'll see a lot more from Vance McDonald, which will help this offense. You do? I do. Why? For the eight games that he's on the field. Maybe.

Health will be important. But I think Vince McDonald is going to be the biggest benefactor from Antonio Brown being gone. All right. Yeah. I mean, makes sense. Dave's going to tell us a funny story that happened to him over the weekend. And we're going to talk about some news and notes. Jamie's NFC notes.

Great column on the website, cbssports.com slash fantasy. Check out. He's got notes on every NFC team except he hates the Vikings, so he didn't put the Vikings in there, which is weird because I kind of like the Vikings. So I kind of felt like that was a personal shot at me. But we'll look at some of the highlights from that story and much more, including a note on Marlon Mack right after this. Kick off an exciting football season with BetMGM,

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So, Dave, how was your weekend? My weekend and the days before were great. I visited my cousin in chapel hill north carolina got to tour the university of north carolina and that was my brackets busted yeah uh we were there when auburn beat them we were at a at a bar right down on franklin street in chapel hill and uh it was it was sad times all around. People were not very happy. But I was happy I got to meet my cousin's baby girl for the first time. She was a year old. She's adorable. So shout out to Penny Jacobson. And yeah, great time brought the whole family,

including the pooch, and led to an interesting flight home from Chapel Hill. It would happen. So first of all, I've got the most chill dog in the world. He thinks he's a human. Totally kind, cute, easygoing, never makes a peep. I should also mention, hasn't had an accident in years. We're on the plane. It's an hour into the plane ride and all of a sudden the dog starts flipping out in his little carry-on bag. It's under my wife's seat. I'm on the other side It's an hour into the plane ride. And all of a sudden, the dog starts flipping out in his little carry-on bag. It's under my wife's seat.

I'm on the other side of the aisle with my daughter. And my wife says, Alvin's acting a little crazy. And he's like trying to get his head out of the bag as much as he can. And he's panting and just odd behavior. And so Karen just keeps stuffing his head in the bag we offer him a treat no won't take the treat won't take water from a cup he goes back in the bag and is pretty quiet for the remaining i'd say 40 minutes of the flight we get we land we get off the plane and my wife says why don't you take the dog out of the bag and so i start to take the dog out of the bag and all of a sudden my

my my gray and white dog is a little bit of brown in his color. You couldn't smell it? Well, I couldn't. My wife is sitting on the aisle on the left side of the plane, and I'm all the way on the window on the right side of the plane. And no, I couldn't smell it. She couldn't smell it. I wonder if the old lady who was sitting in the seat where Alvin was under could smell it. But yeah, major catastrophe at the airport when the dog pops out of the bag.

There's boo-boo all over him. People at the airport, they see him from afar. They come close like, oh, we've got such a cute dog. Oh, my God. So my wife and my daughter run him into the bathroom to try and clean him off at the airport my son and i take his carrier into the bathroom to try and wash it off and uh the the carrier is lost oh yeah it's just it's just kind of it's it can't point an overturn but i'm surprised that nobody smelled it on the plane.

That's what I thought this was going to be. Well, you know, Adam, how many times have you taken an airplane ride in your life? Yeah, many. All right, so you've probably smelled some stinko on the plane. And I don't think you get up when you smell something and look around at your other passengers and go, All right, who dealt it? Right, you probably don't do that. You probably just suck it up and deal with the foul odor. For 45 minutes?

What else are you supposed to do? What are you going to do? Tell the flight attendant, man, somebody has farted nonstop. No, I just felt like, okay, if it smelled like boo-boo, as you called it, then you would have noticed, you would have taken the dog into the bathroom on the plane and fixed the situation. First of all, it wouldn't have been me. It would have been my wife. Right.

Second of all. The collective you, Richard family. Right, right. One member of the Richard family would do it. I can barely get into a bathroom on an airplane on my own. You're asking me to clean a dog on top of it? It's not going to happen. But happy to report that the dog is back home and back to chill mode and uh we need

a new carrier for him jamie that was a fun ride home yeah that's terrible jamie though um is such an idiot for not liking the movie i recommended to him sorry that was harsh i'm just so bad all right i called you a moron the other day. This is A Star is Born? Yes. I told him to watch it because I watched it on a plane. He watched it on a plane. He watched half the movie and hated it. I didn't hate it. I just did not like it as much as you did. And as I pointed out to you, flaw after flaw after flaw, which you agreed with most of them.

No, I agreed with one of them. No, you agreed with most of them. What? It's not the greatest movie that you made out to me. It's a great movie. Did you know the ending before you watched it? Yes. Well, that's ridiculous. Why is that ridiculous? You can't judge it if you know it. The movie's been out forever.

Yeah, but that's okay. I didn't know the ending. Well, because you don't pay attention to anything. You only knew because... Oh, I get my water. You only knew because Pete Prisco told you what happened at the end. Alright, let's get to news and notes. Hold on. GM Chris Ballard of the Indianapolis Colts.

Indianapolis. Got to say that word a little slower. Thinks that Marlon Mack could be in every down back. Let him do it. Give him the chance. Show us. Prove it. They're going to be in the...

This is going to be hard to say. The J.I.J. sweepstakes. Oh. There's a sweepstakes for J.I.J. That's why I was trying to think of the right way to frame it. They're going to be in a car where J.I.J. is panhandling? He visited there. They did not sign him.

That's not odd for them. They bring in lots of guys and work them out. It's not like most teams where a guy comes in and automatically gets signed. But I think that's something that they will consider, which may not be bad for Mac, just given the fact that who knows how healthy Ajayi will be coming off the ACL injury. Okay, here's where Adam says something crazy. If every running back plays 16 games

and Marlon Mack is an every down back, catches, let's say, 50 passes, he will be a top five running back in fantasy. But the last part, though, is the one thing that, not the top five, but he's just not so involved in the passing game like you expect. Well, I guess that's how I interpret every down, that he would be in on third. Yeah, that's the thing.

I think he's going to be their primary rusher, if he can stay healthy. And if you look at it, over the games that he played, including the playoffs, he ran for over 1,100 yards. This offensive line is going to be among the best in football. Great quarterback, great passing game. And I think you want to have as much stock in Marlon Mack as you can get. It means taking him in the right range, don't reach for him. I think you get him around round four, you'll be happy with Marlon Mack's production.

It's like early round four, too. I don't really think he's that good of a running back. I just want to say that. Really? Yeah, not really. He's got a great quarterback and maybe the best offensive line in football. I think he's kind of a jab. But I love him in fantasy.

I love him in fantasy. It's like a poor man's Ezekiel Elliott. Situation is comparable. Nowhere is he near as talented. Yeah, yeah. The Eagles acquired Jordan Howard for a six-round pick in 2020. Now, we talked about this on Friday's show on our Dynasty episode. But, Dave, would you like to comment on Jordan Howard of the Eagles?

Speaking of Jay Ajayi, Jordan Howard's going to go into that role. He'll probably be in line for 12 to 15 carries a week, maybe a couple catches, maybe even a little boost in catches for Jordan Howard, just given the offense that he's in. He's fresher, healthier, and I believe, I don't know if he's cheaper than what Jay Ajayi would have been. Obviously, he would have been close. So, I think it's a good move for Philadelphia. I think it's a good move for

his fantasy stock. I think it keeps him as a low-end number two fantasy running back. And probably one of the zero RB targets you'll have in late round five, round six. He'll be gone before then. I'm not getting Jordan Howard in any of my drafts, though. Maybe PPR you get in there, but non-PPR he'll go in that round five range for sure.

Well, I mean, it depends. If you want to look at fantasy pros average, he's 68th. Yeah, but that's before the move. That's pre, right. So that'll creep up. But that's the thing. Is this better for him? Absolutely. Yes, yes.

Oh, because of Mike Davis? Yeah. Well, if he had stayed in Chicago, he'd be part of a three-headed running game. In Philadelphia, he'll probably be the top guy of a— if Sproles is back, then he'll be three-headed. If not, then two-headed. Is this better— It's the same offense.

—for Jordan Howard than Jordan Howard going into 2018? Well, he was a pretty big fantasy disappointment. Yeah, I like Jordan Howard going into 2018. He was a pretty big fantasy disappointment. Yeah, I like Jordan Howard. I think his numbers will be the same. He'll be right around 1,000 total yards. They scored 12 rushing touchdowns last year without a really good primary running back. Yeah.

I mean, they tried it with Josh Adams. They tried it with Corey Clement. They tried it with Wendell Smallwood. Jay died before he got hurt. Yeah. He's an upgrade over all those guys. Dallas acquired Robert Quinn from Miami for a 2026 round pick. It's a defensive end. Oakland signed Isaiah Crowell to a one-year $2.5 million deal.

He's back on the radar again. Crowell or Jordan Howard? Howard. More interesting, though, is Crowell or Mike Davis. I would take Davis, but Crowell is not far behind. But we talked about this Friday that the Chris Warren truthers are probably going to be waiting disappointed again. So is it crazy to yeah, I guess it is based on the way you're

talking, to take Mike Davis over Jordan Howard? I don't think that they'll be that far apart if things go really, really well for Mike Davis. But he has a chance to make things go really, really well for him. I mean, the Bears have very little draft capital after the trades that they made last season. They have other holes to fill.

Matt Nagy really likes Mike Davis based on hearing him talk. And, you know, you look at the skill set, he can catch the ball probably at a better rate than what Jordan Howard has been in the NFL. I don't know if they're better or worse as receiving options standalone players, but Mike Davis has proven to be a better receiver. He's going to be their thumper in compliment with Cohen. Did you get the sense that they

felt that Mike Davis was a bargain because of all the things that he could do and the price that they got him at? I think that there's a chance that if they don't add another running back, give him the draft capital that they have, that Mike Davis could be one of the best bargains on draft day as well as a great bargain for the Bears.

Yeah, for sure. They're looking at him to replace Howard. I don't think he's going to get the same amount of work. I don't think he's going to get 250 carries. But he's probably going to be 200 plus touches if he stays healthy. Now, Tariq Cohen, as we talked about, he had 170 total touches last season. I think that number can get to 200, just a slight increase in touches per week. But that makes a big difference if you still give him his same per-touch numbers,

his yards per carry, his yards per catch. So Cohen benefits with Howard being gone. Mike Davis really benefits with Howard being gone. But in terms of the draft value, you're going to really like if you get Mike Davis. All right, we're going to save Jamie's notes on the owners' meetings for later in the week. I had four for the NFC.

I'll get four for the AFC. We'll do them all on the same show. Rest of the news and notes, Greg Sciano stepping down as New England's defensive coordinator before actually becoming New England's defensive coordinator, well, for coaching. Jordy Nelson is retiring. Cliff Kingsbury said that wide receiver Kevin White can be a dangerous player. And we will have to see that to believe it. Mike Vrabel wants to build the offense around Derrick Henry. And we don't have to see that to believe it. We believe that. I asked the offense around Derrick Henry. And we don't have to say that to believe it.

We believe that. I asked him specifically about Derrick Henry at the owners' meetings, and he was very, as you would expect, praiseworthy of him. But Mike Vrabel is one of those guys, like he's an old-school football guy and doesn't necessarily – he's not Pete Carroll. He's like the anti-Pete Carroll. So it was a lot of what he still has to do, what he still has to do, what he still has to do. But I like him a lot.

Right. Gotcha. I like that. I like a little honesty there. He is definitely somebody you can walk away from talking to and say that was an honest answer. Right. That's good. I like Pete Carroll.

I mean I get the positive approach but it doesn't really help us for fantasy purposes when he just raves about everyone. I think one thing reading your column, though, what you said about the Seahawks, I'm starting to... It's not anything that was said. It's just a thought that I had now. I'm starting to feel like Doug Baldwin is a broken-down receiver

that will never... Oh, totally agree. Yeah. Yeah, it's hard to get excited about. Like, you'll still draft him if you get him late, but the people that are taking him based on name, like this, he's entering the Jordy Nelson phase. It feels like a very sudden entrance and only one injury-prone year, right? But his entire body's breaking down.

Yeah. The knee, which he said, you know, I'll be 90%, whatever he said last year. I think it was 80%. 80%, right. And then the shoulder was a problem, and now he's got a sports hernia that's going to keep him off the practice field, OTAs, and probably going to end up missing minicamp. The only saving grace for him is that they do not seem to be, now granted we probably said the same thing about the running backs,

but don't seem to be in the market for a receiver. Okay. And pass interference is now reviewable. Do we like that? Yes and no. It's going to be strange. I think it's good. You're going to get a lot

of... I don't want it to slow down the game. It's going to slow down the game because I think what you're going to end up getting a lot of is two guys fighting for a ball where most times it would be called defensive pass interference on the field and not reviewable. They go back and look at it, and the offensive guy had his hands on the defensive guy first. Yeah.

And it's going to be negated and played it down over again. I guess I don't know exactly how it's going to be executed, but I know they have it in the CFL, and they are very happy. So I imagine it'll work out. I hope anyway. Read some emails here, fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Some of these are your Dynasty emails I didn't get to on our last show. This is from Chase.

When the dust settles and we get close to the beginning of the season, if Darius Geis is looking good and he's the starter in Washington, where is Darius Geis going to be ranked? I'm just imagining him flashing in the preseason and his stock shooting up. Why aren't we ranking him like we ranked Dalvin Cook last year when he came back from the ACL? It's a tough situation for Geis because the offense in Washington could be taking a step back.

I don't know why I said could. It is. Case Keenum's the quarterback. The receiving core is in bad shape. Adrian Peterson's still there. He's going to take work away from Geis. And I feel as if he won't have enough hype to jump over the Mark Ingrams, Devontae Freemans, Tariq Coens of the fantasy universe. He's going to be behind those guys as someone you'll end up being okay with taking,

knowing that there's potential starting in round five or round six. It's a good comparison to Dalvin Cook, but I do think that even though for Cook it was only like three and a half games as a rookie, at least we saw something, and he was really good. And then we ended up being too high on him, I guess. Okay. Well, we're seeing a lot of Geis. We're seeing it on Instagram.

Him running around at the Redskins bubble. Cook was featured, and he was awesome as a rookie. Gave us a lot to be excited about. Skyler Lambert from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Not a Patriots fan. Go Lions. I could use advice for keepers in my half PPR league. I gave up a first-round pick and Beckham before the Browns trade.

And Mahomes. Gave up a first-round pick, Beckham and Mahomes for a girly Andrew Luck and a first-round pick, Beckham and Mahomes, for Gurley, Andrew Luck, and a fourth-round pick. Why? Yeah, that's not good. Yeah. Who should I keep and who should I trade before the season starts? So he has to pick four keepers.

Todd Gurley, Andrew Luck, Amari Cooper, Adam Thielen, George Kittle, Damian Williams, and Tariq Cohen. Man, it looks a lot better when you have Beckham and Mahomes in that group. And a first-round pick. And a first-round pick. I mean, the hope, obviously, is Gurley is Gurley. And if that's the case, then you at least break even in the trade.

How do you throw back luck after you just traded for him? Yeah. You got to keep Kittle. You got to keep Kittle. You got to keep Gurley, Thielen, and Kittle? I'd keep Cooper over Thielen. You'd keep Cooper over Thielen?

Okay. Yeah, I would too. You look at the target share for Thielen compared to Diggs after Stefanski took over, and it was very much a Diggs offense. Now, obviously, that's going to go back and forth. It was a small sample size, but they definitely went to Diggs more than Thielen. If he didn't have to keep Luck because of the trade, would you

keep Damian Williams ahead of Luck? No. I'd keep the two receivers, the tight end and Gurley. I think Damian Williams is going to be bust. You don't have to keep him because of your trade. It was a bad trade. Don't make it worse by throwing back Adam Thielen and keeping Andrew Luck. That's how I see it.

This could be an April Fool's joke. So I preface it by that. But Ian Rappaport has just tweeted that Joey Bosa will be making a guest appearance in Game of Thrones. Really? Yeah.

I hope that's an April Fool's joke. Otherwise, it just shows how much worse that show is getting. I've been's an April Fool's joke. Otherwise, it just shows how much worse that show is getting. I've been re-watching it. So I'm through season two, episode five, I believe. How good is season one? It's amazing how season two is. Season one is so good.

Season one is amazing, but after you've watched it already, you don't realize how many things are teased in season two. Oh, in season two exactly oh in season two really well season one also but like season two like there's so many things like i and i guess that you know i just didn't watch it with the same eye i didn't realize how much they uh they foreshadowed brand being a warg oh really yeah being a? That's what they call a warg, right? When he turns into an animal? Oh, I don't know. Dude, I don't know. I'll check. I need like a glossary when I watch that show.

Okay, Trent from a city in southwest Indiana. Southwest Indiana. Is Carmel near there? Probably not, but that's where he's from. Dear Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC, I'm currently in a... Yes, warg is the name for PPR 10 team Keep Forever Dynasty League. We have a limit of 6 running backs for competitive balance. I am keeping McCaffrey, Mixon, Connor, Carson, and Damian Williams.

Which handcuff should I target in the draft? He's keeping McCaffrey, Mixon, Connor, Carson, and Damian Williams. Which handcuff should I target in the draft? He's keeping McCaffrey, Mixon, Connor, Carson, and Damian Williams. Should he target Bernard, Samuels, Hyde, Artis Payne, or maybe someone that gets drafted? What do you think? It's Hyde as of now. It's Samuels, and it's not close. In a dynasty league, if something happens to James Connor,

whatever reason, you saw it last year, Samuels played really well. That's what the Steelers running backs do. Yeah, but what if something happens to James Conner, whatever reason, you saw it last year, Samuels played really well. That's what the Steelers running backs do. Yeah, but what if something happens to Damian Williams? I don't think they're done in their backfield. But as of now, it's Hyde. Yeah, I'll still take Williams. In any sort of long-term format, you take the younger player with a chance of the guy that could be the starter.

I get that, but I want to make sure I've got that Kansas City backfield. You've got six guys there. Dude, he's got McCaffrey, Mixon, and Connor in person. He's got enough young running back talent. If James Connor goes down, there is 100% the most fab budget you will see spent is on the backup running back there, which will be Jalen Samuels. That's true. Pittsburgh is a pretty good place for running backs as well.

But if Damian Williams goes down, you know. Who's the bigger bet to bust between Conor and Damian Williams? And think about what happened last year. Well, how about this? When Kareem Hunt went down. If Damian Williams goes down, how about if Damian Williams doesn't go down? If you take Jalen Samuels over Carlos Hyde, at least with Carlos Hyde, you have a chance right now of him winning that job.

In a seasonal league, I am 100% on board with that. In a dynasty or keeper, long-term keeper format, you take the younger player when you don't have the need to play these guys. Yeah, but does Jalen Samuels really have a bright future in your mind? More so than Carlos Hyde. Okay. All right, we'll end it on that. Thank you very much.

Your email is at fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. We'll talk to you later in the week. For Dave and Jamie, I'm Adam. Happy April Fool's. Na, na, na, na, na, na, na.