Fantasy Football Today - 04/04: Year 2 and 3 TEs - Stars in the Making? (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: April 4, 2019

George Kittle has arrived, but which other young TEs can become stars? We tell you which TEs will be better (4:40), which will be worse (11:42), who has star potential (18:24) and who is a sleeper (23:00) ... NFL news (27:50) as Russell Wilson sets a deadline and Jordy Nelson leaves the door open for a return. Plus, which team has added the most OL this offseason? ... Highlighting some of Jamey's reporting from the NFL Owners Meetings. We've got his NFC notes (34:30) which include items on Jordan Reed, Todd Gurley, Kerryon Johnson and Devonta Freeman ... Email us at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at 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. Young tight ends!

We're going to talk about it right now. Please start that way. Please start that way. Please start that way. Don't stop it. Just go. I could just let this be the intro. Should I just keep it going? This is the best intro you've ever done.

Okay. I'm honestly keeping that 100%. This is the start of the show. Young Tide ends. We're going to talk about year two and three pass catchers that line up close to the line of scrimmage. Welcome to Fantasy Football Today, a very childish beginning to the show. Can we talk about busts too? No, but sleepers, yes. Young tight end busts. I'm Adam. That's Heath and Dave. Jamie's here as well. Jamie's

being the grown up in the room. I appreciate that. So, yeah, who's going to be better? Who's going to be worse? Sleepers. Who's got star potential? And also, hopefully we'll have time. We should have time for some of Jamie's notes from the NFC and the AFC, from the owners' meetings.

And you should definitely read all of it on the website, cbssports.com slash fantasy, and your emails, fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Those are coming next week. No emails today. Howballatcbsi.com. Those are coming next week. No emails today. How's everybody feeling? Great. You know, this is the happiest day of my life. How come?

I had a root canal yesterday. That's why he's happy? No, I don't take any joy in Dave's pain. Thank you. That would be really weird if I did. For the record, I'm not in any pain. Were you yesterday when it was happening? No because the dude Shot me up with like

Three vials of Novocaine That's probably what he should do No it was good What happened? That's what he should do you know Yeah I know I know but like that part of it's kind of annoying You've had dental work done, right? No, I've never had a root canal.

I've had cavities filled. Right, but like cavities. So they got to numb you up first and that whole process. You might wince a little bit. Yeah. But anyway, I saw he pulled out. This might be gross for some people. He pulled out the nerve in my tooth and showed it to me.

Yeah, that's gross. This little dark red pulpy mess is cool. Confirmed. I am grossed out. So let's talk about this Sean Payton quote. He said, quote, along came this great thing. I'll read it dramatically. Along came this great thing, fantasy football.

What fantasy did, it didn't change who was betting and who wasn't betting on the game. It changed what was being discussed though. There's nothing better now. That starts on Tuesday. Sit them, play them. It's exciting. Everyone you know has a skin in the game and they don't have to watch the whole game, right? They don't have to

watch three hours because they don't really want to watch three hours of a game. But they want to have some vested interest in what's going on. So I think that's brought more people to our game. So now in about two years, you're not just going to get pats on the back and office party hugs when you win your fantasy. You follow me? Now you're going to have a thing. I have $8

and I'm going to play. We're not going to be perfect. Certainly you have to appear like you're trying to be. I was following him until the office party stuff. He did go off the rails at the end of that quote. It's weird. But it's just awesome that somebody in the nfl uh values this because he's exactly 100 right

was the question that he was asked to give this answer what are you doing with latavius murray yeah i wasn't there when he was asked that question i think it might have been just as Latavius Murray. Yeah. I wasn't there when he was asked that question. I think it might have been just as I walked away. But I did come back and ask him about Latavius Murray. So, yeah, it was a cool quote. I do miss watching three hours of football. No, you don't.

Yes, I do. I miss watching three hours of football. But Red Zone's fun, fun too you know what i mean you have to watch the giants you don't miss any of that you're not gonna miss it yeah and the problem is like i never get to watch all of sunday night football because we're on the air and then like monday night football is always terrible uh and now they don't have witten so you're two and three tight ends they have his though. I don't like this negative attitude, Adam. I'm thinking we hire Sean Payton to replace you.

Not with those soliloquies like that. They make even less sense than mine. It made about as much sense as your outros. That's true, but not as good as today's intro. Year two and three tight ends. Who will be better? Who will be worse? Let's start with Heath.

Who will be better next year? I'll go with what might be the consensus easy pick but you asked me first so evan ingram is going to be better he has been outstanding without odell beckham and i don't think you can expect quite those same numbers because golden tate is there filling at least part of the beckham role but i still think there's a very good chance to see Evan Ingram as a top four tight end this year. I'm with you on that. And you're right. I don't think it's complete consensus among the three of us. Oh, totally.

Oh, okay. It is consensus among the three of us. That's the obvious one. He's going to be the number one pass catcher in New York. It just seems that way. Tate isn't a deep threat. Sterling Shepard isn't a deep threat. They've got potential to be, but they're not known for it.

Ingram kind of can be, but he's going to be just more of that big-bodied red zone type of target. I think he'll lead the team in targets, catches, yards, and touchdowns. Last four games without Odell Beckham, 22 catches, 320 yards, and one touchdown. That gave him an 88 catch,

1,280 yard pace, only four touchdowns. That's a little high. He won't do that, but he was really good. Can I add just one last quick stat? This is my favorite stat about Evan Ingram. The guys have heard it before. Maybe if you've been listening a while, you've heard it before.

16 games in his career without Odell, 7-plus fantasy points, non-PPR in 10 of the 16, and he was the sixth most consistent fantasy tight end last year. And that's over the balance of the whole season, even when Odell played. I wanted to give a stat about tight ends, by the way. I just have to make sure I'm right about it, but I think I am. But if you think about yards and tight ends, 50 yards a game doesn't sound like a lot.

I think there were only four tight ends who had more than 800 yards last year. So let's see, one, two, three, four, yeah. Kittle, Kelsey, Ertz, and Jared Cook. So 50 yards a game is really good, and then hopefully you get at least six touchdowns and you've got yourself probably a must-start tight end. That's almost exactly what I've got them projected for right now, 69, 826, and 6. Ooh, that's not that good.

That's better. Is that better than what you've got Golden Tate for? I have Tate for seven more catches, six fewer yards, and one fewer touchdown. I mean, that's not that good, though, for Evan Ingram. What did you say? 826

yards and six touchdowns. Yeah, I mean, that's probably going to make him a top eight tight end, maybe even better, but not a breakout. No, that would have been good for the sixth best tight end. I thought the question was who's going to be better next year than they were last year. Sure, but that's barely better than what he was in 2017 when he had 64 catches, 722 yards, and six touchdowns. You're right.

This is a separate discussion. He will be better. Ingram was the 13th best tight end last year. He only played 11 games. But will he be better to the point where he has a huge breakout? That's my follow-up. I think what Jared Cook did last year is a good expectation, and Cook was the number

five tight end in fantasy. And those numbers were 68 catches, 896 and six. All right. I'd like to see a little bit more. Jamie, who's going to be better next year? I hope Chris Herndon is. I don't know if he will be, but I like what he showed as a rookie, the offense that he's going to play in.

He's going to have or he should have a strong rapport with Sam Darnold, and I think there's upside there based on what Adam Gase is saying. And it's hard to buy into Adam Gase, but when he's had good quarterback play, his tight ends have played well. And I think you see Herndon as somebody that could take a leap in the second season. It's just a matter of how much will Jameson Crowder, playing in the middle of the field, kind of take away from that.

And same thing with Quincy and Nuno. They don't really have any outside threats outside of Robbie Anderson, at least true outside threats. They're going to play one of those two guys outside, whether it's Crowder or Nunwa. But I think, you know, Darnold and Herndon got on the same page last year, and I think that's something they can build on. I like Herndon a lot, and I'm kind of in the same place Jamie is. I hope he's better.

It's really tough to project the Jets because the Dolphins under Adam Gase were always one of the slowest teams in the NFL in terms of the number of plays they ran. And I assume Le'Veon Bell is going to get 90 to 100 targets. So on CBS Sports HQ yesterday, get ready, Adam, Pete Prisco said that he had an on-air and off-air conversation with Adam Gase. And in both of those, he said that while Le'Veon's carries may not go up or may not be the same for where he was in Pittsburgh, obviously not going to go up, same word as he said,

they may use him more as a receiver. So that could certainly impact Herndon as well. But again, if you're just looking at the position and where somebody who showed some flashes can sort of take a step forward. I don't know if it will be a step forward enough that he's that much better than where he was as a rookie, but I do think he could stay in that range and potentially get a little bit better just with a slight uptick in targets. Jets were 25th in passing last year in terms of yards per game,

and I think there's certainly reason to be optimistic they could be significantly better than that. Dave, who will be better? I'm sorry, just one thing. In his last 11 games for Herndon last year, he hit double digits in PPR, which isn't a ton. Not huge games, but at least he hit 10 or more PPR points in five of those 11.

Let's see how many tight ends finished with 160 PPR fantasy points last year, which would be 10 per game. It is six. And I have five. You don't have Austin Hooper? Well, Hooper on decimal scoring, yes, on non-decimal scoring, he's at 155. So, yeah, six.

Okay. Dave, who will be better next year? Well, I agree with Evan In engram i think he will be and i i this is like a layup but hunter henry it's pretty much he's got nowhere to go but up after he missed all of last season but i do think that hunter henry will um be right back where no this is an easier layup than that uh I'm moderately happy to draft Hunter Henry. I would take him over Chris Herndon, but I wouldn't take him over Evan Ingram. I do think that Hunter Henry will see more consistent targets in the Chargers offense.

Dave, he's year four. He's year four. He's only year two and year three. Oh, I didn't know it was year two tight ends. I just thought it was tight ends in general. No, it's year two and three tight ends., I didn't know it was year two tight ends. I just thought it was tight ends in general. No, it's year two and three tight ends. I know he's not a second year tight end. I think that Jason Witten's also going to be better next year than he was last year.

There you go. Well, according to Twitter, he can't get much worse than he was last year, Jason Witten. You know what? This will be Hunter Henry's third year playing. So, yeah. Okay. So, Ingram. Sorry. Ingram or Henry. third year playing. So, yeah. Okay, so Ingram. Sorry, Ingram or Henry. I was distracted.

Who do you like better? Ingram. Ingram. How about you guys? Ingram or Henry? I've got Ingram ranked higher. I do think Henry might have more upside. I have them back to back.

I think they're both top five caliber tenants. Okay, who will be worse? Let's go Dave Jamie Heath. Who will be worse next year? Is David Njoku? Does he qualify here or not? He's year three. You're two and three.

I totally looked over that part. No, I don't think he'll be better. He was second in the team in targets last year. He's not going to be second in the team in targets this year. He has two games in two seasons with over 70 yards receiving. That makes him a touchdown or bust tight end. He doesn't typically score a lot of touchdowns. I'm not going to be in a hurry to draft Njoku.

I'm assuming this is Beckham-related, right? It's Beckham-related. It's Landry-related. It's Nick Chubb-related. He's not as good of a player as we hoped he would be by year three. I think he's probably going to be worse. I think I agree with that. I do think there's a pretty decent chance he scores more touchdowns.

Agreed. So I don't think he probably has 600 yards even. He may be in the 450-550 range, but I wouldn't be surprised if he scored enough touchdowns where he's a top 12 tight end. Well, he was 8th last year in non-PPR. Njoku was 9th in PPR. I think he's somewhat or herndon.

More upside, though. Jamie, who is going to be worse next year? Antonio Gates. He's a little older now. Agreed. I didn't really find a lot of disparity in the guys that Dave and Heath

suggested because I think this is a pretty good group with a little bit more upside than downside. But at both the combine and the owners meetings, there was questions in regard to Gerald Everett maybe being a little bit better after what he showed last year. I think that's going to be hard looking at Cooper Cup coming back

because Everett's numbers were a little bit better than they were when the Cup was active. So he's the only one really that I could come up with that was a little different. Okay. Yeah, I understand that. We're not talking about running backs and wide receivers here. There aren't that many names to choose from just in year two, year three tight ends. All right, so then Heath. Oh, I think you got the uh the

headliner here who will be worse next year i i had the free space i i think george kittle is going to be very good i think george kittle is going to be a top three tight end but he's going to be worse next year most likely he had three receptions of more than 70 yards he had seven of more than 40 yards and that really elevated his yards per catch to a level that I don't think is probably sustainable at 15.6 for a tight end unless you're Gronk. Basically, nobody's done that. And so the reason it matters, it doesn't matter in where he's ranked at tight end, but I do think it matters in where he's drafted. There should probably be a little bit more space between Ertz and him than there currently is. I struggle with those two guys because I do like Kittle's potential.

And it's funny you say that because I asked Kyle Shanahan what makes George Kittle so special. And he said it's his ability to turn a 10-yard catch into a 20-yard catch and a 20-yard catch into a 70-yard catch. And he said that's something that he's never had at the tight end position. And so with this receiving core being what it is, he's, you know, I think this is kind of what Dave was alluding to with Evan Ingram. He's their big play threat. He's their number one receiver.

But it's not about that though because you could have a slot guy as your number one receiver. But he's the guy that can sort of separate from the guys who are covering him. And so when you're being covered by a safety, you're being covered by a linebacker or a slot corner, he's more physical in a lot of cases and faster in some other cases than the guys that are defending him. And so he's able to sort of make these difference-making type of plays similar to the guy that you mentioned in Gronk. Now, again, I agree he's not Gronk, but he's got some of that element to his game, you know, that he's just sort of a difference maker at that position. And in an offense that sort of needs it it you look at it uh two of the top five guys in yards per attempt at the quarterback position and kittle is a big reason why

garoppolo was two nick mullins was four yeah so two guys that that kyle shanahan coaches essentially that's the offense uh it's going to be plays down the field it goes back to the conversation we had the other day about dante pett. You know, I think there's a lot to like about him. So I do think that Kittle can come down in that regard, but I also could see maybe an uptick in one or two touchdowns.

So I have Kittle right now ahead of Ertz, but I can certainly go back and forth. The reason I don't like, the reason I like Kittle better than Ertz is because I do think

there's more coming from Dallas Goddard plus the addition of Deshaun Jackson that kind of makes me a little bit nervous about Ertz being the second guy, but they're both three oh yeah I mean Kittle if you want to talk about Heath you said Njoku the yards could go down but the touchdowns will go up I think Kittle

the yards are going down because he set a single season record for tight ends last year 1,377 yards only seven wide receivers had more receiving yards than George Kittle. But five touchdowns on 88 catches and nearly 1,400 yards? I mean, that's ridiculously low. Wasn't he over 90 catches? I have him at 88. Am I wrong? I don't know. I thought he was a 90-catch guy, though.

88 on 136 targets. That's what I've got, yeah. Okay. So, yeah, I mean, I guess you'd have to, like, I meant to do this, and I'm sorry, but how many fewer yards? Let's say he has 200 fewer yards. Well, he's what do you have projected? I think almost exactly 200 fewer yards.

I've got him for 86 catches and 1,149 yards. How many touchdowns? Six. Okay, so that's the thing. You only have him. He would need three and a half touchdowns, basically, to make up for 200 fewer yards and still finish with what he was last year, which was second in non-PPR, third in PPR. One touchdown won't get him there, but will still make him really good.

So, okay. That's George Kittle. And in fairness, he did have 19 red zone targets last year and only scored two touchdowns. I think the inferior quarterback play, because I do think Garoppolo's better than the combination of Nick Mullins and C.J. Beathard, I think the upgraded quarterback will help him. And it's coming from a guy in Garoppolo that, remember,

the five games that he started the previous season, he leaned on both tight ends. It was Garrett Selleck and George Kittle in those five games. Adam, can you name the only other player last year to have at least 19 red zone targets and score two touchdowns in the red zone? No, but I have this red zone stat. Let's see. So 19 red zone targets, 14th most in the NFL,

eight targets inside the 10-yard line, 15th most in the NFL, but only two red zone touchdowns.th most in the NFL, 8 targets inside the 10-yard line, 15th most in the NFL, but only 2 red zone touchdowns. Both were inside the 10. Who's the other guy who had that many? Not a tight end? Not a tight end. Julio Jones.

It is not Julio Jones. He did not have that many targets in the red zone. They hate him. Jarvis Landry. That is correct. Hey! Wow. I'm actually quite impressed with myself.

Good job, Adam. Which year two or year three tight end has the most star potential other than George Kittle? Ingram. O.J. Howard. Thank you. Finally, it took us 20 minutes to say O.J. Howard's name in this tight end show. I hope we're all right about him because he's he's he's a fascinating player he's really big he's fast for his size he's got good hands but we've already talked about it since the day bruce arians became the bucks head coach this is an offense that typically does not feature the tight end there is the the story, though, from I think it was Jason Light, the GM of the Bucs, who said when Arians walked into the room

and either saw O.J. Howard, I don't know how that's possible unless he was in the training room because he's coming off injury, said his eyes lit up like he's never seen a tight end. I think they're allowed to see the players when they're in the training room. I think that they can. I don't know if they can have serious football conversations. I mean, look, it's a new coach. I'm sure that you bring people in press conference to meet

them, etc. Whatever. It could happen during their mini camp now, right? It could have been the same restaurant. But this was a few weeks ago. Anyway, he's clearly not the same type of tight end. We're talking about a guy that worked with Jermaine Gresham. That's the caliber of tight ends that he was dealing with. There is breaking news about a guy that is, I'm sure,

near and dear to Dave and Adam's heart. Mark Walton. Cut. He's about to be cut. He was shot by a police taser and arrested for the third time this year. Jeez, man. Let's go Canes. Well, I think it is a very interesting debate.

Who has more upside, more star potential, Evan Ingram or O.J. Howard? David Njoku was the third guy who was drafted in the first round in that draft, and people really like Dallas Goddard, I'm assuming. If Zach Ertz got hurt or Davey won the lottery and retired, Dallas Goddard could have a huge year. Yes. If you were the Eagles and the Patriots offered their first-round pick for Dallas Goddard, would you trade him?

Yep. Well, no, because it's the 32nd pick, right? That's barely better than the value they got for him on draft day. So? They drafted him in the second round. That doesn't feel like a win to me. Okay. That feels like a win to me.

A first and a fifth for Goddard and a sixth A first and a fifth for Goddard and a sixth. First and a fourth for Goddard and a sixth. Oh, my God. That's the difference? That puts it over the top for you? Yeah. There are no good fifth-round picks. There have been three good fifth-round picks in NFL history.

Everybody knows that. What are the three? Nobody knows that. They just know there's only been three. No, I can't do it for a first-round pick. But if you turn this sixth round pick into a fourth round pick let's go so i don't know if you want to get into it at all but why jamie said ingram why heath said howard and i don't even know what dave's answer would be for most star potential

i was just trying to make you happy it's ingram okay yeah i do think um howard is physically freakish but yeah ingram is ingram is no slouch himself he's not as big you think oj howard is more talented than george kittle i mean i did a year ago i just i guess at that point i don't think i knew how good george kittle was but i really think that oj howard is on that level in In fact, I don't think you were on the show, but we were talking to Ryan Wilson. We were talking about the NFL draft prospects at tight end. And I went back and I saw a quote about O.J. Howard from a GM or an evaluator or a scout. He said, he's the most complete tight end prospect, what did he say, in 10 years? Something like that.

Well, he's an exceptional blocker. O.J. Howard isard is right that's how he's going to stay on the field and that's how dirt cutter kind of leaned on him more so more often than not the problem is how is oj how we're going to have the same kind of consistent targets that kittle and engram are going to get when he's sharing the field with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and probably another receiver to be determined later. Right. I think that's a great case why he has more downside. I just wonder if he has more, not in 2019 necessarily, but in a dynasty situation, if Howard has upside that Ingram doesn't.

But I don't know that that's true. I'm just asking. Well, I mean, we've seen Ingram when he has a dominant receiver on the field. That's true. We've also seen Howard in the same situation. Howard's been better than Ingram in those same situations. Howard has averaged 16.6 yards per catch, which is, like, amazing, two years in a row. Kittle averaged 15.6 yards per catch, which is amazing. Two years in a row, Kittle averaged 15.7 yards per catch.

Kelsey, 13. Ertz, 10 yards per catch. And Howard blew them away. He probably won't get there again this year. Who is a sleeper at tight end? You're two and three, guys. I'll go with a deep sleeper and that's mike kasicki with the dolphins we've got basically patriots light coming to coach the dolphins in 2019

it's an offensive coordinator that enjoyed seeing what rob gronkowski could do the defensive coordinator for the patriots is now the head coach of the Dolphins. He knows what Rob Gronkowski is capable of doing. And they fall into this big, giant oaf who actually has some good speed. And it's a passing offense that's going to be on the field a lot in 2019. I hope you're right, but every move that they made this offseason suggests otherwise

by bringing in two tight ends. Who have they brought in? Dwayne Allen and Clyde Walford, which suggests a little bit more of a run-based opportunity at that spot. And then if they're going to have the three receivers on the field by bringing back Parker and getting a healthy Albert Wilson, it's going to be hard for him to see

the playing time. Because he should be somebody that gets featured in an offense like this. But it speaks to them not necessarily viewing him as maybe the Dolphins' previous regime viewed him and then failed to use him in this regard because he was just miserable as a rookie from the jump. Training camp on, he could not understand a playbook, couldn't get on the field, and really struggled,

which was a shame because in college he was a star. Could it be that he needs to put together a solid camp and preseason in order to i think so yeah but i mean like everything i heard about this tight end group is he's he could struggle i i i hope he doesn't because i like him but you know you you just start talking to people that cover the team and and people around the team and it does not necessarily feel as if there's upside there where there should have been a year ago. I mean, you go back to this. We were talking about Gusecki, Hurst, and Goddard as the top three guys, and Gusecki landed in as good a spot as any of them.

Okay. Jamie, who's your guy, sleeper? It's Ian Thomas, but a lot of it's going to depend on what happens with Greg Olson. If Olson is back, then it's going to hurt Thomas. If Olson's gone, then I think Thomas has a shot. Last five games for Ian Thomas, 25 catches, 246 yards, two touchdowns on 32 targets. 16-game pace for Ian Thomas in those five games,

and Olsen got hurt in one of those games and missed the next four. So the 16-game pace was 80 catches, 787 yards, and six touchdowns. Would have made him the number six tight end in fantasy. I just give that stat to give you an idea but he was pretty productive um not great but productive down the stretch heath who is your sleeper this was a really hard question i think thomas is a fine answer i i said johnny smith because delaney walker's 117 years old and there was a stretch before smith got hurt where he started to make some connection and kind of remembered how to play football again. He had three touchdowns over five games, 214 yards before he got hurt.

So he's a deep, deep sleeper. More like Delaney White Walker because he's so old, right, Jamie? What's a White Walker? Are you excited? Fired up? Yeah, man. There's a Game of Thrones office pool. Are you in it?

I saw it. I haven't looked at it yet. It's fun. It's fun, yeah. You can choose who's going to live, who's going to die, who's going to become a White Walker. I told you I re-watched the first two seasons, right? You did.

I'd like to talk about this with you off air. Sure. A lot to discuss. Okay, we're going to take a quick break here. When we come back, the AAF is going away. How sad. And what's up with this Russell Wilson deadline? And what did Jamie learn from the owners' meetings?

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For free assistance, call the Connex Ontario helpline at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. So the news and notes, and again, your emails are at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Please send in your emails. We're not going to read any today, but next week we certainly will. The AAF, yeah. I heard I was listening to the Pick 6 podcast yesterday. Please listen to it.

Great football show every day. It's probably folding. It's not a certainty, but it's disappointing. Well, I mean, they canceled the rest of this year. Right. So it's probably folding. It sucks. It's disappointing.

I enjoyed it. There were some players who might find a spot in a training camp roster. I hope so. Yeah. I hope so. Charles Johnson could be back in the NFL. What do you guys make of Russell Wilson

setting an April 15th deadline for a new contract? Nothing. Right. 15th deadline for a new contract? Nothing. Sounds like he doesn't want to deal with the back and forth of contract negotiation once he gets focused on the 2019 season. I was thinking he met with his accountant and they did his taxes and he realized

he owes a lot of money and so he wants the bonus so he can pay his taxes. Well, the season, it's April. You don't need the next four months, basically, to get ready for the season. You could set a training camp deadline. Well, I mean, look, if you're Russell Wilson and you look at the highest paid quarterbacks and you find you're behind Joe Flacco and Alex Smith and Nick Foles,

I think that's probably a slap in the face. If they came to him May 15th and said, here's your mega deal where you're now the highest paid player in nfl history or you know amongst the top five quarterbacks uh being paid is he gonna say nope sorry you're past uh you're past my deadline i'm not i'm not taking that deal um but you know you know the hot rumor right the trade made up rumor that he's gonna get traded to the Giants. Right. That was made up.

Yes. Look. Not by me. If you're Dave Gettleman, Adam, and thankfully you're not, would you give two firsts for Russ Wilson? Only if I was getting a sixth-round pick back. That's true. Of course.

I think if I understand it correctly, he's under control for them with their franchise tags for what? Four more years? Three more years? Right. The franchise. I also talked about this on the Pick 6 podcast yesterday. Yeah, they could just franchise him.

I don't know how many years, Jamie, but yeah. He could be going nowhere. But I just thought it was a weird, a very early deadline. Well, that's the start of their OTAs. So that's the reason for that date. It's also when your taxes are due. It is. Mine are already done.

Could be that. I already paid mine. Buffalo signed guard Quinton Spain. They have signed six offensive linemen this offseason, those Buffalo Bills. So cool. How many of them are any good? I don't know. Only takes five.

Oakland signed wide receiver Ryan Grant. Does it matter? No. It was bad news for Seth Roberts. Who has more career 100-yard games, Ryan Grant or a turtle? Ryan Grant. Wrong. It's a tie.

The other Ryan Grant. Jordy Nelson said it would be hard to say no if Aaron Rodgers asked him to un-retire. You know who's going to say no? Aaron Rodgers? The Packers. You know what? If he actually did come back, I think he'd be fantasy relevant. I'm sure you would say that.

By the way, the Bills did sign a couple of good offensive linemen. I should take that back. Who did they sign? That's good. Tynan Enseke is good at tackle. I think he'll be good at right tackle. Mitch Morse was real good for Kansas City at center. Hopefully he can stay healthy.

And we'll see what they get in Spencer Long. This has been your Buffalo Bills offensive line analysis. So, yeah, when Jordy Nelson last played with aaron rogers the first five games of the season he caught six touchdowns and really only four of those games were were did he play because he got hurt in one of them jordy nelson i feel bad for your wife and child that you spend time researching that information and left them alone that's true oh he slept through the night last night what congratulations what a joy. So let's see.

Baltimore expects right guard Marshall Yanda to return, and those are your news and notes. That's a big one. Ravens had a lot of success running over Yanda. It is a big one, not because of the pun, but he is an important player for them. I've been staring at the notes for the last five minutes just waiting for that note. You would have had a lot of fun calling games for Yonder Alonso as I did in college.

Give us your best call. He hit that one over Yonder. No, your best call. I never said anything stupid like that. Where do you think the best destination would be for Duke Johnson? Patriots. Cut James would be for Duke Johnson? Patriots. Cut James White, get Duke Johnson. Eagles.

I agree. Are you going to want Duke Johnson no matter where he goes? No. Like, late-round PPR guy. I mean, if he went to the Eagles, I would be pretty interested. He really is such an interesting player, because if you just sort of extrapolate his stats and give him a workload, he looks like a great player.

I just don't know that Duke Johnson can handle a big workload. I'd like to see him get the opportunity, though. No, I wouldn't be interested, because I think Philadelphia would give him a big workload, but I think they might use him more where he's really good. I know. I'm just saying I'd love for him to get 14 carries a game.

It will never happen. He could beat Tariq Cohen. Yeah, he could. So we're talking like 6-7 carries, 5-6 catches, something like that? Yeah. I mean, Cohen got 170 touches last year. If he goes to Philly, that means Darren Sproles is hanging him up.

Here's the problem. Just look up Cohen real quick. I feel like the problem with these types of running backs is Duke Johnson is a perfect example. It just comes down to receiving touchdowns in terms of where they're going to finish in fantasy. And that is two years ago, Duke Johnson was like a top 20 running back in both formats. He had a bunch of receiving touchdowns in terms of where they're going to finish in fantasy. And that is two years ago, Duke Johnson was like a top 20 running back in both formats. He had a bunch of receiving touchdowns. That's such a hard stat to predict. I know touchdowns in general are hard to predict, but running back receiving touchdowns, it's

really difficult to rely on that. When they wash up, when they're not there, you've got basically a useless player. Yeah, that's what Duke's been for pretty much all of his career. Except 2017, I think. Right, yes. Right? Correct. Yeah. Well, listen, if anybody knows how to use players the right way, it's Hugh Jackson. Here we go.

Jamie's NFC notes. I feel like he's laughing at me right now. I mean, the day ends at Y, doesn't it? Jamie's NFC notes. There's one on every team, except the Vikings. I picked my favorite four. Jay Gruden said that Jordan Reed will

be healthy. He was coming off off-season surgery entering 2018, so Reed has the opportunity to head into 2019 healthy, Jamie. He was very emphatic about it, too. I mean, you know, you see, he's like, I think he said, I promise you he'll be healthy. Look, the guy we know is notorious for missing time.

Last year he started the season with a toe injury. I think he also had a foot problem. He's had lower leg extremity issues for the majority of his career, hamstring, knee, all those things. Concussion. Concussion problems. Yeah, he's just a beat-up player, unfortunately. But when he plays, he's great. And this is a team that certainly needs help at the receiver spot.

You know, Gruden mentioned Josh Doxson and how he's failed to live up to expectations and losing Crowder and talking about Trey Quinn. We had this conversation the other day about sleeper receivers from the draft class from a year ago. It's a lot of no-name guys or a lot of guys that haven't lived up to expectations, but Jordan Reed has at least delivered once upon a time. So if he does stay healthy at a position that certainly needs some help, he would be great. I think he's somebody that you should take a flyer on with a late-round pick. And if he hits, you're great. And if he struggles or gets hurt out of the gate come i mean he's the most fantastic type of tight end to begin your season with if you're if you miss out on

the stud tight ends and you don't want to take a chance on the middle of the late round tight ends if he survives the preseason and training camp without any ailments, someone will take him in round 10 or so. And that's good value. Oh, sorry. It didn't sound like you were done with that sentence. So I just sort of remember us feeling at one point last year, Jordan Reed is just not the same player anymore. Maybe that's because he was playing hurt, but he feels a little broken down. He's currently, according to Fantasy Pro's consensus rankings,

tight end 18. Tight end 17 is Vance McDonald. Jamie, you talked about him on our last show. Who would you guys rather have, Vance McDonald or Jordan Reed? McDonald. If Reed's healthy at the end of camp, I'd say Reed. I'm saying Reed. Okay.

But we're talking about two very injury-prone tight ends. Next news item. Matt Patricia hinted that he may limit Kerryon Johnson's workload. Jamie? I mean, that's kind of been the storyline, plus they just signed C.J. Anderson. So, you know, you have two things working against Kerryon Johnson, which are unfortunate. I mean, you know, I was so excited about him last year. He finally started to get going.

Then he had the knee injury and, you know, missed the final five games of the season. It's one of those guys I think that is someone you can draft with the hope to be a starter for you. But his upside is appearing to be limited. Kerryon Johnson. Okay, so let me check the consensus rankings. Running back 18 in between Kenny Galladay, in between Derek Henry and Phillip Lindsey. It's too soon for me.

I've got him 22nd. I haven't moved him down yet from the C.J. Anderson signing. Still thinking about it.'s it's hard to take him with a third round pick yeah and they still have riddick there you know between bob quinn and and and the gm and patricia they're still gonna i think use him in a passing downs role so you know i i think carry on johnson it's like what we had the conversation about the colts on a much lower scale. You know, Marlon Mack's the head of the committee, but in a very good situation.

Kerryon Johnson's the head of the committee, but not in a suite of a spot. It would be awesome if Theo Riddick somehow did not make the final roster, and they went in with Kerryon and C.J. Anderson as a one-two punch instead of it being a one-two punch and like a little third sidekick along the way. And then Carrion will get those passing downs, and that would really help his fantasy value. C.J. Anderson said he promises he will be in better shape. He had, quote, man pregnancy weight. No, no, no. Stay the way you were.

First Carrion. He was great. Yeah. Dan Quinn is excited to have Devante Freeman back. And I am also. I feel like I'm going to be drafting Devante Freeman in every league. So am I. No, not in my leagues.

Yeah, look, if he's right, you're going to get a pretty good player. You know, Quinn spoke at length about how much he likes Ido Smith too. But we still have to see that. With Coleman gone, that's a lot of work. And Freeman, I think, will benefit from Dirk Cutter's presence as opposed to Steve Sarkeesian because I do think there will be a little bit more passing to the running backs. I also think that the offensive line is going to be better. They made improvements at both guard spots, and that will go a long way.

Freeman, we've seen it for years. When he gets that good opportunity, the numbers are great. Fantasy owners don't even think twice. Well, when he's healthy too. I mean, last year was a disaster. Obviously he only played two games with a groin problem. The year before he closed the season with that knee issue, had some concussion problems. So, you know, he's got to prove he can stay on the field and he's not getting younger.

He's going to be, I think, 28 during the season, but he's 27 now. So he's in the prime of what should be his productive seasons, but staying healthy is a big key. Do you think – remember when he came back last year, they had a hard time giving him a lot of work. It seemed like he maxed out at like 12 carries a game. He came back just one time? Yeah.

And basically for almost the entire season. I heard early then he missed a bunch of games. And then he came back. Right. No, it seemed, I felt like. I think it went two years ago. Am I? Yeah.

So maybe that's what it is, is that they're not giving him a lot of work. I'll go back and double check it. Yeah, no, you're right. It's two years ago. Because we're talking about Devontae Freeman still, right? Yeah. Yeah. Last year he only played two games and it was really spread out.

But it was two years ago and it was, it was that weird thing where he either had 12 or fewer carries or 18 or more carries in every game. Well, the 18 or more carries was when Tevin Coleman either got hurt or didn't play. Not every game. No. When he came back from the injury,

the second time. Yeah. Oh, the second time. Okay. Yeah. Not, not in the beginning of the season.

Right. But, but the big games at the end of the season was when Tevin Coleman was hurt. Right. And it was just so weird. It was like most of the time he got 12 carries, but when he got 18 or more, he was an absolute beast. Yeah.

But that's a huge difference between 12 and 18. I don't know. I think the bottom line is Vontae Freeman is good. When he plays, he's good. I think this is one of those backfields that you want to get both guys. It really can. You can get standalone value from Ido Smith because if he's going to get some of, if not the majority of what Tevin Coleman's workload was

when both guys were healthy, you're going to like that. At least to sit on your bench. And then if, for whatever reason, Freeman gets hurt, Ido Smith becomes potentially a star. But if Freeman's healthy, then you know what you're getting. You're getting the guy that should get the majority of touches there. Whether it's 12 carries, 18 carries, 18 touches, he's going to get the majority of work if Freeman's healthy, then you know what you're getting. You're getting the guy that should get the majority of touches there. Whether it's 12 carries, 18 carries, 18 touches,

he's going to get the majority of work if he's healthy. The best part is, what did that duo, the Atlanta duo, cost you on draft day last year? We were taking Freeman in round two, and Coleman was round six? No, five. Five or six? What's it going to be this year? Freeman might slip a little bit. Oh, Freeman's not going

before round four. I think it's round four for Freeman. Yeah, and then Ido Smith is probably round six at the earliest.'s it going to be this year? Freeman might slip a little bit. Oh, Freeman's not going before round four. I think round four for Freeman. And then Ido Smith is probably round six or eight. I was going to say seven or eight. Seven or eight is probably more realistic, but he's going to get a lot of hype, especially if Freeman's not right in training camp at any point. So as of now, it stands to reason that it's a better bargain in 2019 than it was

in 2018. Oh, yeah. Yeah. All right, Heath, you haven't spoken much, so I'm going to give you the last note I want to talk about it from the nfc and we'll actually save the afc for next week uh sean mcveigh feels good about malcolm brown backing up todd girley and i feel good too so i have malcolm brown in a dynasty league um yeah what do you make of this? I guess it makes me feel a little bit better about Todd Gurley if Sean McVay feels good about Malcolm Brown backing up Todd Gurley because I don't really think, and Sean McVay probably likes Malcolm Brown more than I do.

I don't dislike Malcolm Brown, but he's just a guy. And the way I was feeling about Gurley is they needed to have somebody there that could be the running back if he was unable to do it. I don't think they have that guy, which makes me think they are more confident in Gurley's ability to do it. I don't think they're done. That's the problem. I think their backfield is still going to be.

They're going to draft somebody? Yeah, or that was one of the the when you know when i asked the question adam was going through some of the the names duke johnson it would be an interesting fit there because he could take some passing downs work off of uh off of girly but they'd have to you know not only trade for him but he's got three years left on his deal um yeah i think they're still gonna explore adding somebody so if they do come out of the nfl draft and this is what their top two guys are you should feel happy about it. But at the same time, they did pluck C.J. Anderson off the street. And got great pressure.

I'm a little worried about the Rams in the future. I think a lot of people are. Really? I'm not alone here? No. So why? Because I feel like they've given up a lot in trade recently. They don't have any dominicates.

They did some short-term stuff what was it got to the super bowl okay like it worked i mean a 3-3 tie going into the fourth quarter was a bad situation no no i'm saying i know you're saying yeah it was it was a you know it worked it was a gamble they didn't win the super bowl but still and like they have a young quarterback young running back but their offensive line's getting older they lost their guard they're going to lose their tackle probably they lost the interior of their offensive line completely. Left guard, center, right guard, all gone.

And they'll lose their left tackle probably after this year. And he was a big reason why they improved. They have to pay Goff at some point, which is going to... Right. But don't worry, they signed Blake Bortles. How much does it keep to leave have left? So, yeah, I don't know what the future holds for them. I just want to see how many draft picks

they have. Anybody know off the top of their head? Four. I guess they don't have their first, right, from Brandon Cooks? No, they do have their first. Yeah. They gave up the first round pick last year. 31st overall they have.

And I do not think they have a second round pick. 99th. 94th. Okay, so they have a... They've got 31, 94, and 99. Yeah. And then...

And look, the division should be better. I don't think the Cardinals would be the pushover that they were. See how this roster ends up looking. And the 49ers are getting their quarterback back. All right, I'm going to say right now, 49ers win the division. Bam. Bold, Adam. You were right on these crazy ones last year.

You were right on one of these crazy ones, right? Jacksonville missing the playoffs. Right. I don't think you need to call your shot with who's going to win the division. You just need to go with the Rams are missing the playoffs. No, I think they're going to get the wild card. But they're not going to win the division. Well just need to go with the Rams are missing the playoffs. No, I think they're going to get the wild card, but they're not going to win the division. Okay, give us the rest of the NFC then.

Alright. Let's go with the it's got to be the Eagles. Or the Cowboys. It doesn't have to be the Eagles. It could be the Cowboys. It's been like 15 years since the team won the NFC twice in a row.

It just never happens. They've got a better number one receiver, better quarterback, better running back? They're better, but it just never works out that way. Eagles. I'm also a little worried about the Vikings. Not the Bears? All right. I think the Bears are in great shape.

I'll give it to the Bears. Eagles, Bears. Who plays in the South? The Saints. They win the Super Bowl this year. And the 49ers. Rams will get the wild card. And I will give the Dallas Cowboys the other wild card.

Okay. Yeah. No Packers. No Vikings. No Fal card. Interesting. Yeah. No Packers. No Vikings. No Falcons. No Falcons. Oh! Falcons.

Falcons wild card. Cowboys don't get it. I picked the Falcons to go to the Super Bowl last year and then they all got hurt. So, that definitely was the reason why

they were so bad, right? Thank you for listening, everybody. And have a wonderful weekend do you guys have anything to say you would like to say goodbye to our listeners jamie goodbye listeners no bear thee well gotta go all right