Fantasy Football Today - 05/16: Wacky Fill in the Blank; Talking Pats with Ben Volin (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: May 16, 2019

We touch on the NYJ front office situation and what it might mean for Fantasy (3:05). Should Le'Veon Bell owners be concerned? ... Fill in the blank! Who is one injury away from stardom (6:35)? Which WRs deserve the Friendship Strategy (9:42)? Which backfield will be the most annoying for Fantasy owners (17:00)? We also debate Alvin Kamara vs. Saquon Barkley and discuss Mike Williams' potential (23:30) and Sammy Watkins' dynasty value (29:30) ... Ben Volin of the Boston Globe joins the show (40:00)! Ben does a great job painting a picture of what the touches might look like in the NE backfield and what we should expect from rookie WR N'Keal Harry. Plus what's an underrated reason the Patriots have been the best team in football for so long? And what's a Bill Belichick press conference like? ... Your emails at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Here we go! It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Let's go! Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. All right, what's up?

Welcome to Fantasy Football Today. It's Thursday. It's Bay 16. We've got a fun show today. We've got a guest interview with Ben Bolin of the Boston Globe. And it's really awesome. I'll tell you about it in a second. I'm Adam Azer. Dave's here. Hey, Dave. What's going on, New Yorker? Jamie's here. What's up, Jamie?

Yo. And Heath Cummings back on the show. Congratulations. Thank you for something. I don't know for what. But thank you. Well, your team is going to get R.J. Barrett in the NBA draft. And you've always thought that R.J. Barrett was better than Zion Williamson.

That's kind of true. And so now the Knicks are going to get the better player. I don't know what everybody's complaining about. We're not complaining. We're not complaining. Morons. Every Knicks fan in the world is complaining. No, we're not complaining. We're moron. No, we're not complaining.

You are not complaining. I talk to Knicks fans. You don't talk to Knicks fans. We're not complaining. So you and your two friends who root for the Knicks are not complaining. We have a community. You're not part of. I thought that most people who went to Knicks games were just going to cheer for the other team. That's just not true.

They don't actually have any fans left. No, it's false. Gosh, gosh. Would you be more excited about R.J. Barrett or getting Anthony Davis for the other team. That's just not true. They don't actually have any fans left. No, it's false. Gosh, gosh. Would you be more excited about R.J. Barrett or getting Anthony Davis and giving up R.J. Barrett? Anthony Davis. Now, would I be excited about having Le'Veon Bell if I knew that the coach of the team didn't want him, didn't want to spend a lot of money on him?

It's an interesting situation with the Jets. What did we talk to Ben Volan about? We talked to him about the Patriots and the offense, and he gave some pretty interesting projections for the backfield, for the wide receivers. Really, you know, fantasy-relevant stuff. And we spoke to him for about 20 minutes at the end of the show. I also asked him about Bill Belichick and the press conferences, just what makes the Patriots dynasty great, kind of an underrated reason. So I encourage you to stick around to the end of the show, hear that interview.

And if you own a lawn, good lawn mowing conversation too. Very good lawn mowing conversation. Have any of you guys, I'm going to guess the answer is Heath. Have any of you actually ever mowed your own lawn? Yes. Nope. Before I moved down here i had five acres and i mowed like three and a half of it almost every

week wow what happened to the rest of it uh it was wooded oh how about that i did not take dave for a lawn mowing kind of guy but okay i'm sorry i doubted you. I'm out there every Saturday morning, bandana on, no shirt, drinking chocolate milk, sweating it up, and cutting lawns. I cut other people's lawns in high school to earn extra money. That is the best image, Sketcherdoodle. I hope you're listening. Let's get to the show. We got some fill-in-the-blank to get to. But let's start with that Jets news.

There's not a lot of news going on right now, but they fired Mike McKagnon. Adam Gase getting some more control. Reportedly did not want to. So was it that he didn't want to sign Le'Veon Bell or he didn't want to break the bank on Le'Veon Bell? I'm going to guess both, but I'm sure a lot of it had to do with the money.

Look, if you get him cheap, why would you say no? He seems to be of that mentality of you don't pay that position. And I'm sure that probably went into it. He also apparently did not want to pay for a center because they were in the Mitch Morse conversation as well. It kind of goes to what he said at the owner's meetings. He said that he doesn't want to overwork one guy. You look at the track record. Jay Ajay Jay Ajayi was, was good. And then they traded him because the personalities clashed. Uh, Kenyon Drake was good. He didn't work him a lot. You

know, he used the veteran guy in Frank Gore. So if you were excited about Le'Veon Bell, I hope you still are. If you weren't excited about Le'Veon Bell as I am, I'm not drafting him. We get the impression that Adam Gase would much rather have someone that's going to do exactly what he says in the exact way he says. In every way possible. Than someone that has talent. Look, I mean, we're based in South Florida, so I listen to a lot of local radio because I'm friends with a lot of these guys. And the overwhelming conversation in the last 24 hours has been, if Adam Gase did not get along with you, you were basically out of a job. Now, a lot of that had to do with the players.

And you look at the guys who he didn't get along with, and they were pretty high-profile guys. You know, Ajayi, Jarvis Landry, Damakensu. He had a problem with Rashad Jones. He didn't let him play in one game. He sent Jay Ajayi home in the season opener against Seattle in his first game as a head coach. He's got some pretty instead of working things out, he seems to just say goodbye. He couldn't work

things out with Mike McKinnon. Apparently, he won the power struggle. Thankfully, Le'Veon Bell is a team first guy. You don't have to worry about having any conflicts with the coaching staff. It's literally – I mean, you know, I've heard this a lot, again, the last 24 hours. And, Adam, you can certainly appreciate it. He won the Game of Thrones. Yeah, yep, yep. You know, he got his way in this power struggle for the Jets.

It's just – it seems very baffling. Now, if they get the guy that they want, the Douglas guy from Philadelphia to run things as the general manager, he seems to be a guy that a lot of people think can do the job. But you're coming into a situation where you have to sort of take a backseat to the head coach, and that's never a good thing as a general manager. He's going to have to bend the knee to the man on the Green Throne. Well, I've been on Twitter enough to know how this lingo works for Game of Thrones.

But the Green Throne is like a lawn chair. Well, when you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die. There's no middle ground. Not today. Cersei Lannister, ladies and gentlemen. Not today. No spoilers.

We're not spoiling anything. Don't worry. Any other big news items? That's three weeks old, buddy. Darren Lee going from the Jets to the Chiefs for a six-round pick. That might be an example of a player that Adam Gase didn't like. So he says, get out of here.

It happened right after Gase became the interim GM. Yeah, he was a big bust. And he goes to the Chiefs. Maybe they can revive him Let's get into fill in the blank, let's have some fun here Alright, so I got some wacky ones I think I have six fill in the blanks, I sent you guys three of them

Because I didn't want you to be prepared For the other three Here's the first one If blank gets hurt, blank will be a star Dave, you showed the most enthusiasm For fill in the blank. For fill in the blank, thank you. You go first. Well, I figured someone else will say the Rams

guys, so I went with Mark Ingram, who could get hurt. Almost 30 years old. If he gets hurt, Justice Hill will be a star. I like that one. If Tariq Cohen gets hurt, David Montgomery will be a star. What if David Montgomery is already a star? He's going to be good already, but he will be a star. What if David Montgomery is already a star?

He's going to be good already, but he will be a star if Cohen gets hurt. Yeah, I'll go with if Chris Carson gets hurt, Rashad Penny will be a star. Oh, yeah. Those are good. These are good. How about... And if Le'Veon Bell gets hurt... Never mind. Ty Montgomery's not going anywhere.

No, but Elijah McClure could be good. He'll mix and match, guys. It'll be horrendous. So what if we didn't do running backs? Because those are the easy ones. What if we go wide receiver, tight end or something? Probably wide receiver.

If we went tight end, I'd say that if Kyle Rudolph gets hurt or gets traded, then Irv Smith would have a pretty good opportunity. Same in Philly. Zach Hurts gets hurt. That's a great one. Got her. We already have an example of this.

I don't know if he gets hurt, but if he doesn't come back on time, Emmanuel Sanders with Deshaun Hamilton. Do you think he could be a star? Hamilton was pretty good at the end of the last season, the final four games. In an inexperienced situation. I don't know if the quarterback

situation is an upgrade or not. We'll find out. I like Deshaun Hamilton's chances, even if Sanders plays, but I think he could be very good if Sanders is out. How about if Julio Jones gets hurt, Calvin Ridley will be a star? Again, I'd say Calvin is already pretty well established. A star. Not a starter for your fantasy team.

Okay. A star. I mean, we kind of saw this last year, too, in Houston with Will Fuller with Kiki Kuti. Yep, that's a good one. And, of course, if Eli Manning gets hurt, then Daniel Jones takes the field. And Dave Gettleman's visions come into focus. What about if Eli Manning and Daniel Jones get hurt, Sterling Shepard will be a star? and Dave Gettleman's visions come into focus. What about if Eli Manning and Daniel Jones get hurt,

Sterling Shepard will be a star? He'll be the quarterback? No. He just might have a good quarterback. Oh, I see. Very funny. Okay, so... Another one we saw last year, too,

A.J. Green with Tyler Boyd. I don't think that was really dependent on A.J. Green, though, was it? No, but, you know, again, you hope that further maturation. You're probably right. He was good enough before him. So let me give you a hypothetical. Let's say it's week six, and Emmanuel Sanders is out for the season, unfortunately. And Zach Ertz, even more unfortunately, is out for the season.

Who's leading your waiver wire column? Dallas Goddard or Deshaun? Yeah. Yeah, Goddard. But Deshaun Hamlin is going to get drafted. Dallas Goddard is not going to get drafted. Okay, here we go. Let's see.

I'll give you the fill in the blanks that I already told you about, and then I'll mix in the kind of wacky ones. If I were going to use the friendship strategy, it would be with blank and blank. Every time I try to interpret what the friendship strategy is, I get it wrong. So I'm going to try, and you're going to tell me, no, that's not the friendship strategy.

I think you should define it based on what you think it is. But I'm going to say D.D. Westbrook and Marquise Lee. Two very cheap wide receivers one of the two i expect will be nick foale's favorite i don't know who it's going to be i think this offense is going to throw the football more i think either of them could be a starting fantasy wide receiver and you could probably get them with like your 10th and 14th round picks i that was dave's sort of spin-off of the friendship strategy, two late-round wide receivers from the same team.

I think that they have to be, at least one of them has to be like a top 60-ish pick. Like one of them has to be pretty established. The strategy, if I remember correctly, was built off of the Raiders guys, right? With Cooper and Crabtree? You're taking Cooper in the first five rounds and Crabtree in the first nine rounds. Keenan Allen and Tyrell Williams was one that I did. What about now, assuming the suspension does happen as we expect,

Sammy Watkins and Meikle Hardman? Yes, 100%. Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, I think. Mike Williams is going to go a little bit too early, I think. Or the two Colts guys now with T.Y. Hilton and Paris Campbell. Although there was a great story in the Indianapolis Star. Apparently Chris Ballard allowed the local media to go watch film with him of all the draft picks that the Colts had already selected. I think I read it correctly.

They already had selected them. Right, yes. And so his quotes on Paris Campbell are pretty telling. They seem to want to use him quite a bit, but he's also kind of, I think, limiting the expectations of what he's going to be as a rookie. Like he said, he could be great as a rookie

or we may not get the best of him until year three. Interesting. So it makes me a little bit nervous to go all in on him as a key contributor to my fantasy roster. But I think there's certainly a ton of upside there. Like, I would not be surprised if he's the fourth best rookie receiver this season at best.

Would you be surprised if he was the first best rookie receiver? Like, I just think that that reign is in play. Oh, for sure, for sure. It is in play for a lot of these guys. A hundred percent. But I think it's, especially in PPR, I think it's definitely the case for Campbell. Yeah, or he may not play very much. I mean, they also said kick returns and punt returns.

So he's going to have a wide range of roles, I think, on that team. And Adam, you talked about this, you know, with how Andrew Luck spreads the ball around. I think, you know, again, if the Tyreek Hill suspension happens, there's probably more targets in place for Hardman. There's more targets in place now with Baldwin out for Metcalf. There's more targets potentially in place for Nikhil Harry and maybe even Devo Samuel. Okay, so this was all talking about Paris Campbell

because we're talking about the friendship strategy. If you don't know what the friendship strategy is, it's basically my thought of drafting two wide receivers from the same team. They're supposed to independently have good value where you're drafting them. You have to like them, but you also have to be willing to accept that you might just get one great player out of them and be fine with that. So if Tyrell Williams wasn't good when I drafted Keenan Allen and Tyrell Williams, well, that probably meant Keenan Allen was a star and the Tyrell Williams pick, whatever.

He was a bust, but it didn't matter because you got great return from Keenan Allen. Meanwhile, if Keenan Allen had gotten hurt, Tyrell Williams, in theory, would have returned amazing value from round eight. Actually, the Chargers would work well for this scenario. Dave, you had two guys that are sort of in the friendship strategy.

It was the Texans, number two and number three receivers. Fuller and Kiki QT. Where does Fuller go? Where does Fuller get drafted? Anywhere from round six to eight. He has a wide range, I feel like. I think Hopkins and Fuller are a great friendship strategy.

Fuller falls a little bit in PPR just because he doesn't catch the ball very much. He's clearly touchdown dependent. So if he falls, I think past round seven, he qualifies. Adam, you and I are probably a little bit aggressive on Geronimo Allison, but I think Adams and Allison fall in this category too. Yes, for me.

Dave, you said Fuller and Q2. They definitely do, but I think you and I push up his value a little bit. Right, right, right. Most drafts right now are not taking Geronimo and we're united. So to go back to Dave and the Texans, guys, you want to talk about, you take Fuller and QT. And it's the idea that QT is someone you'd only start when Fuller doesn't play.

Which is like half the weeks. Right. Or QT just outplays them. And if you have to drop one of them, fine. But the theory is one of those two guys is going to be really good. Right. Yeah. Which is a little bit different than banking on the two Chargers receivers

because I think you could start both of those guys every week. And one of them will be great, and I think there will be weeks where they're both good. And there will be some weeks where both stick. Okay. Jamie, do you want Packers guys? I mean, yeah, I'd just throw names up. Okay.

You could probably do it with Alshon and Deshaun in Philly. Interesting. See, that's an interesting one because if Alshon got hurt, would Deshaun Jackson's role, you think, increase significantly? No, I think then you'd see the rookie in our Segal white side get an increased role. I bet you'd see more targets for Deshaun. I don't know. I don't think so.

I don't think he's got – let me say this. I think he's got a role carved out as that deep ball receiver. Sure. That's three, four targets a week. And if Alshon's not on the field and J-Jaw, as his initials go, isn't ready, then I think Deshaun Jackson would take on a bigger role on the offense and he'd see an uptick in targets.

Yeah, but I can't see him going consistently above six targets a game. Right, so that's why, to me, it would... I'm not saying he's going to do a lot with it. I think he would get it. I think you can make this case with any of the 49ers receivers

or the Cardinals receivers as well. Yeah, Pettis and Debo? Pettis is not going to go before round seven in most leagues. And Kirk is going to be in that same range also. And I certainly would take my chances on Pettis and Samuel as reserve receivers, both of them.

The same thing with Kirk and any combination of, most likely Fitzgerald, but Fitzgerald or Isabella or Butler. Okay, so just last thing on friendship here, because we're all friends. The injury angle does play into it for me, because you're ideally getting two receivers We're all friends. The injury angle does play into it for me. You're ideally getting two receivers that you could start every week or most weeks with the second guy. But if you're giving yourself a little insurance,

because if you take Hopkins and Fuller and Hopkins gets hurt, well, the good news is Will Fuller all of a sudden becomes a stud. I'm not saying that would definitely happen, but I think it's possible. So is Ridley going too early for this? Yeah, I think so. I don't know what his ADP is right now. It's got to be around 5. He's top 60.

Yeah. Okay, so moving on. Next one, fill in the blank. The most annoying backfield for fantasy owners will be blank. We all want to say it at once. This is the easiest one. Yep. Go ahead. 49ers. Yep. Yep. want to say it at once. This is the easiest one. Yep. Go ahead.

49ers. Yep. Yep. That's what I had too. Matt Breida also came out today recently and said we're all going to have a role. I'm not going to give away any secrets, but we're all going to play a lot. Yay. So I guess I can pull up the draft we did last week. I know, Jamie, you said

Tevin Coleman was good value. Yeah, I think if you're getting any potential starting running back, and I still think Coleman's going to be the starter in round six or later, that's a good gamble because especially what this backfield should be able to produce. Now, if you're talking maybe on a best-case scenario, 30 touches for their backfield, which again is high, and they're all getting 10. It's going to be frustrating.

But I think at some point we'll start to see a little bit of a pecking order. And you would expect Coleman to be a top-notch pecking order. I would expect Coleman to lead the pecking order. But look, it's also one of those scenarios where if you're not counting on any of them, and in that draft in particular, Adam, it went Coleman and then McKinnon very soon after, I think a round or two later. No, five picks later. Okay, so even worse. And then Breida, I'm sure, went very late

if he even got drafted at all. It wouldn't be a shock if Breida's the best guy. He did. I'll tell you where they went. I'm just looking at it now. Tevin Coleman went 72nd overall, last pick of round six. Jarek McKinnon went five picks later. Too soon. Round seven. And then Matt Breida

went in round nine. So that would be 99th overall. Yeah, looking at their best ball ADP right now, Tevin Coleman's, and just since May 1st, Tevin Coleman's at 71. That's under round six. McKinnon's at 71. That's under round six.

McKinnon's at 78, so almost exactly where he went. I don't get it. And Breida is at 122. Don't you just skip McKinnon here? And if you're going to take those two running backs. If that's the ADP, yeah. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Well, let's say it was an auction, and you're spending the money, and you know it's only going to take a buck or two to get McKinnon or Breida.

Well, if you're going to throw a buck, I think you do it. Which one would you rather have, McKinnon or Breida? McKinnon. Yeah. The 49ers were 11th in the NFL in rush attempts per game last year, 26.4 per game. Yeah, but their defense was horrid, and the quarterback was out. So, I mean, those things are going to significantly improve in huge capacity. Not disagreeing at all.

All right, here we go. Fill in the blanks. Some weird ones here. What's the second worst backfield? Tampa Bay is pretty bad. Most annoying backfield? Almost annoying. Most annoying. Bears?

Could be the Bears. Yeah. Washington's going to have a lot of guys that have talent, but you're not going to be comfortable. The Browns? Come week nine. I'm sorry. Come week nine, the Browns.

Could be. Week 10, you're right. Well, the Lions will be annoying. They won't give Kerryon Johnson. Unless guys get hurt, they have no choice. I think they're going to give Kerryon Johnson a pretty big workload. Yeah. Okay, next up.

Next up. In PPR leagues, blank Camara should go ahead of blank Barkley. What the hell is going on? As is me saying that Camara should go ahead of Barkley. Making you guys say it. I agree with it. I don't. Let's see what Twitter said.

I put up the poll a little while ago. Heath, what do you think? Who should go first, Barkley or Kamara? Barkley. They're very close. I mean, you should be happy with either one. Barkley had, I think, 36 catches in his last eight games. If that.

Double check. How many did Kamara have in his last eight games? Probably less. Why? Really? I have no idea. I'm just assuming that Heath knew, and that's why he said that. 33 catches.

Hmm. No, no, not Kamara. Barkley. 33. Who do you like in PPR? Saquon Barkley, Alvin Kamara. 63% of the vote goes to Saquon Barkley. Yeah.

I don't know. We all saw what Kamara did when Mark Ingram was out. He was the best running back in fantasy in PPR. 35 catches in four games. But they replaced him. Did they? They did. I think it's fair to say that they replaced him.

With what? A better player? Latavius Murray. Equal. Really? To what Mark Ingram was last year? Absolutely. To what he was last year, maybe, but not to what he is.

In his last eight games, Alvin Kamara had 34 catches. Get out of here. It was about even. Well, he had one more. So he's on pace for two more catches. I'll take those two points in PPR. Yeah, I'm psyched about Kamara and the Saints offense. I think he'll get a little bit more work.

Not to say that he'll get all the work, because Latavius is going to get 10 touches a week. But I think that he's just going to continue to be used in unique ways, exciting ways. It's a great offense. And I'm just not sold on Saquon without Odell Beckham taking the top off. He's going to get a ton of volume,

and he'll get good numbers. I'm just taking Kamara first. I need to clarify something on my end. I actually would take Barkley first. I just thought it was an interesting topic, and I'm not worried about Barkley's kind of decrease in catches late in the season. I imagine he'll be around

80, but I think it's certainly plausible that Kamara's the number one running back in fantasy and PPR, but I just I don't know. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that Barkley is going to go ahead of Kamara, and I just wanted to bring the debate up. Does everyone on Twitter wish they loved their team as much as you love the Giants?

The Knicks, not the Giants. So you don't love the Giants as much as the Knicks? No, I don't. That's sad. So Heath has thrown me off. Okay, next up. You know which offense is going to be surprisingly awesome this year? I'll tell you which one.

Blank. Dallas. Oakland. Whoa. Okay. What did I just do there? Did you say surprisingly awesome? Yes.

Or just awesome? Surprisingly. All right, so Atlanta wouldn't be a surprise. Maybe Dallas wouldn't even be a surprise. No, it would be a surprise to me. Dallas, Oakland, Heath? I'm trying to think, like, surprisingly awesome. I think you could build a case.

Why not Carolina? Carolina could be fun. Okay. You love Wilbur. He did not have a good rookie minicam, according to reports, unfortunately. Don't worry. He's going according to reports unfortunately don't worry he's gonna have about five of them because he's never gonna play all right here's a weird fill in the blank it's probably not gonna go over well i think blank is the best blank on the blank even though

his teammate blank is being drafted first you spend a lot of time on these questions yeah i think blank is the best play the benvol interview now yeah You spend a lot of time on these questions, huh? Yeah. I think Blank is the best Blank on the Blank. Can you just play the Ben Vol interview now? Yeah. Even though his teammate Blank is being first. Is it Blank? His lawnmower is more exciting than this question. I think Devin Singletary is the better running back in Buffalo,

even though LaShawn McCoy is getting drafted. Thank you, Dave. See, that's a really good fill is getting drafted. Thank you, Dave. See, that's a really good fill in the blank. Thank you. Confirmed. Great fill in the blank. Can you repeat the question?

Sure. I think blank is the best blank on the blank, even though his teammate blank is being drafted first. Arthur? What? That's very good. Blank stares across the room. How about this one? Arthur? Whoops. That's very good. Blank stares across the room. How about this one?

I don't really believe this, but again, just to spark discussion. I think Robert Woods is the best wide receiver on the Rams, even though his teammate Brandon Cooks is being drafted earlier. I don't know that Brandon Cooks is being drafted earlier, actually. By ADP, he is. Best baller or not best baller? Yes. Okay, that's fair. I was going to say,

I think, and again, I don't believe this, but I think it's worth debating. Wait, wait, ask the question one more time. I think Mike Williams is the best wide receiver on the Chargers even though his teammate Keenan Allen is being drafted first. That's terrible. Is it? Because Mike Williams caught 10 touchdown passes last year

and Keenan Allen's never had more than eight. And Keenan Allen does not catch passes. He can catch touchdowns. It's weird. He just doesn't do it. I think Greg Williams is the best coach on the Jets, even though Adam Gase has been paid as the head coach and the GM. That's good.

That's good That's good Hey look Mike Williams Doesn't he have two of the The saints Former saints coaches that were on the The Bounty Gate team On his coaching staff now Greg Williams is there

And he's related to Joe His father-in-law right This seems like an enormous money grab For the chess coaching staff Greg Williams is there, and he's related to Joe. I was going to say, his father-in-law, right? Yeah. This seems like an enormous money grab for the Jazz coaching staff. Can I give a Mike Williams stat now? He only had five games last year with more than four targets. In those five games, he scored 13, 24, 7, 35, and 17 fantasy points. Give this guy the ball.

He produces. He's got a chance. Let me ask you a question. They have to, and I don't remember what I'm talking about. I think it's right around 110, if I'm not mistaken. Tyrell Williams and Antonio Gates targets. I can tell you, actually, it did that. Go ahead. It's 45 for

Gates and 65 for nice work, Jamie. 110. Where do the 110 targets go? Because you're bringing back, clearly, Hunter Henry, who should take on more targets than what Gates had. That should be 80.

Keep in mind, before you even go any further, Philip Rivers had his fewest pass attempts in nine years. So, there could be more pass attempts coming. I'm just looking at the numbers from a year ago. Was it a low number, though? Just the vacated targets.

Assume that Allen's in the same range. Assume that Mike Williams is in the same range for now. No, I want more. He had 66 targets, so I have to assume that some of those targets are going to him. I think you'd give him half of that many more. Give him 100. Yeah, I'd give him 100 targets.

Fair. So, but 80 goes to Hunter Henry. Yeah. And then maybe Melvin Gordon loses some. Loses some? Yeah, maybe. The running backs in general lose some. Or maybe Phillip Rivers just throws more.

Because like I said, fewest pass attempts in nine years. I don't know. I think that defense is going to be nasty. Yeah. It just seemed kind of low for him, but sure. But the run game was better. Yeah, I know. I mean, it made sense to be lower.

But it surprised me. Fewest in nine years, that's all. Yeah, obviously I'm taking Keenan Allen first. No, Mike Williams is a good value pick. I wanted to talk about him. I think once you get past what is probably the consensus top 20 receivers based on ADP, he is one of my favorite targets to look for. It's just too bad he's not one of Phillip River's favorite targets to look for.

We will be back after this blank to read your emails and talk to Ben Volan. After this bad question, then another good advertisement. Exactly. There we go. Okay, we're coming right back on Fantasy Football today. Kick off an exciting football season with BetMGM, an official sportsbook partner of the National Football League. Yard after yard, down after down, the sportsbook born in Vegas gives you the chance to take action to the

end zone and celebrate every highlight reel play. And as an official sportsbook partner of the NFL, BetMGM is the best place to fuel your football fandom on every game day. With a variety of exciting features, BetMGM offers you plenty of seamless ways to jump straight onto the gridiron and to embrace peak sports action. Ready for another season of gridiron glory? What are you waiting for? Get off the bench, into the huddle, and head for the end zone all season long. Visit betmgm.com for terms and conditions.

Must be 19 years of age or older? Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem? For free assistance, call the Connex Ontario helpline at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Emails, fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. This is from Bruce. 14 teams.

Wait, wait, wait. Before you go on. What? Can our audience send in some fill in the blank questions for our next show sure you could email it or you can tweet us and the best one will get a spot in the podcast

Jamie you shut your mouth did you ever figure out who won the draft contest no I will this weekend honestly I will no one believes you I think there were a few people who had seven right. So I just have to say we're almost at the 2020 draft. So you might want to hurry up.

14 team half PPR league. What is Sammy Watkins dynasty value? I can't see it. I can't say it's very high. I think you're you're in win now mode with Sammy. I think he's got at least one solid year left, and it could be as many as three or four, but I don't think you can look at him and say,

this is a guy who's going to be my wide receiver two for the next three years. It's difficult. I have him at 27th in my dynasty wide receiver rankings. I think he could be top 10 this year, and he may never be top 20 again. How old do you think Sammy Watkins is? I think Sammy Watkins is 27 years old. I was going to say 27.

Nope. 25. Yeah. So a 25-year-old Sammy Watkins, let's just say he plays 16 games, and he puts up the Tyreek Hill season. Forget about how it gets done. Fantasy points at the end of the year. Where's his dynasty value

then? Top 10? Yeah. And Tyreek Hill never plays for the Chiefs ever again. Right. So that would be an example of him giving you three more good years. I've got him as a top 30 receiver on the yet to be published dynasty fantasy trade values chart. So, Jamie, what do you think? I know you gave a hypothetical, but what do you think his Dynasty value is? Top 30 is a big group there, Dave.

I mean, is he 25? Is he 30? 29. 29? Yeah, I mean, that's pretty low. I'm not saying it's wrong, but it's low. He had five games last year with more than five targets, but never more than nine. So seven, eight, or nine targets. And in all five of those games, Sammy Watkins had 74 yards or a touchdown.

And you have to hope that Patrick Mahomes gets better because he only was a first-year starter. So as he gets better, he gets more understanding of how to use his receivers. And Watkins, if he stays healthy, will be his number one guy, assuming Tyreek Hill is gone. There's a lot to like. What do you think? Give me give me a number like top 20.

Top 20. How many rookie wide receivers would you rather have than Sammy? What? Zero. Zero. Yes. Interesting. Would you rather have Tyree kill or Sammy Watkins in a dynasty league?

Watkins. Watkins. I mean, no. Look, Hill's probably going to play again. This is a huge year for Sammy because the team can cut him and save $14 million on the cap before 2020. That's interesting.

Yeah, he's got a ball out. All right, next email. Am I wrong to say that Sammy Watkins, that Tyreek Hill's going to probably play again? Almost for sure, I would say. Dan in Liverpool. We have a small standard scoring league. Six members.

To make up for the small amount of players we have deep rosters. Two quarterbacks, three running backs, three wide receivers, tight end, two flexes, kicker and DST, and seven bench spots. Due to trading up for picks, I have managed to secure myself the fifth, sixth, and eighth overall picks.

What would you do in this spot? 3 picks, 5, 6, and 8. Remember, he starts 2 quarterbacks, 3 running backs, 3 receivers, 2 flex. I'd probably start with 2 running backs and a receiver. Standard scoring, so yeah. Favors the running backs. And just because it's a two-quarterback league, normally we say, oh, you've got to get a quarterback

early, but there's only six teams, so there's only 12 starting quarterbacks. You're going to wait a long time on quarterbacks. Do you for sure then in the second round, if he has a second round pick, for sure take a tight end? The eighth overall pick is a second round pick.

You're right. Yeah, I would take Kelsey with one of those picks. I don't know what he's got after eight. If he's got like 12, 13, 14, then I'd target a tight end with one of those picks. You know what? Here's why I wouldn't take a tight end. Because you're starting two quarterbacks, three running backs,

three wide receivers, two flex, and one tight end. So that one tight end is not... But end is not going to really have as much impact on the roster because you're starting so many players. You know what I mean? But you're still going to start a player there

if you get one of the really great ones who's going to have an advantage over the guy that's forced to start Austin Hooper. No, nobody's starting Austin Hooper. You've said this many times, Adam, about how where Kelsey ranks as a receiver. But nobody's starting Austin Hooper. Well, they might. You're starting Evan Ingram.

You would hope that the three guys that were at the top last year finished at the top again. And then after that, it's a gamble still. I guess you're right, Adam. Because there's only six teams, it's a gamble still. I guess you're right, Adam, because there's only six teams, only six starting. But still, again, you know, you're you're hoping Evan Ingram is great. You're hoping O.J. Howard is great. You're hoping safer. Right. Of course. Yeah. And he's got so much capital at the top of the draft. Let's not forget that there's going to be great running backs in round five and great receivers in round eight. You know, it's not

like he has to reach for those guys that necessarily that much earlier. One running back, one receiver, one tight end? You could start that way. But that tight end has to be Kelsey, right? I mean, he's the only one that we could justify there. I don't think he would go in one of the first seven picks either. Probably not.

All right, from Joseph. Hey, Moe, Blair, Dawn, and Tiff. I don't know. 10-team PPR league. We keep two veterans and a rookie. I'm keeping McCaffrey and Green. Name the rookie I should pick. Now it's a second-year player.

Darius Geis or DJ Moore? I have the second overall pick. I'd go with Moore. I have not hit the Google search yet, and I'm just going to say – I almost searched before I said what I thought it was. I have. I'm going to go ahead and put it out there and say what I think it is. Is that the Facts of Life?

It is Black Monday on Showtime. There was definitely a Blair and a Tiff on the Facts of Life. No, it's a Tootie. No, no Tiff on Facts of Life. There was Toot a Tootie. No, no Tiff on facts of life. There was Tootie, there was Blair, there was Joe, and Nat, Natalie. Yeah, you guys are old. Along with Mrs. Garrett.

Mrs. Garrett, yep. Mrs. Garrett is so hot. I never saw the facts of life. Sorry. That explains a lot about you. Yeah, right. I didn't even hear your answer. Geis or Moore?

I'd take Moore. Moore. You saw the au pairs of my life. No, but I have unfortunately watched way too much Days of Our Lives in my life. My mom and sister are in on that. Joey C says, I work the graveyard shift in Las Vegas right now, loading trucks with a forklift. LOL, it's 1 a.mam here. You guys read so many people of all walks of life and do an amazing job. Thank you very much, Joey C. He says, one complaint. Make the podcast

longer. LOL. No. Okay. He's got a couple of questions. Let's see what we can answer here. Jarvis Landry in the sixth round. What do you think about that value? Are people sleeping on Hunter Henry? There you go. There's questions.

No and yes. No to what? Jarvis Landry. In the sixth round? Right. What's the format? I would say no in standard, but yes in PPR. Or no in non-PPR, yes in PPR.

Okay. Okay, good. Thank you, Joey. I appreciate your email, and thank you so much for listening uh this is from levi dear patrick baker davis and graham oh those sound like texas tech or quarterbacks yep mahomes mayfield davis webb graham oh i know this. Graham Harrell? Yes. Graham Harrell.

That sounds familiar. Yeah, yeah. So those are Texas Tech guys, right? Oh, I know who Ben Volan's favorite quarterback is. Who? Gardner Mishnew. I don't get it. I know who his favorite mascot is.

Okay, here's the question. This is the song, right? Take the good, you take the bad. It's a fun song. I made a trade in my Dynasty League. I wanted to know what you thought. I gave up Leonard Fournette, Chris Godwin, and the 14th pick in the rookie draft for Antonio Brown and the first pick in the rookie draft for Antonio Brown and the first

pick in the rookie draft. Winner. Fournette, Godwin and the 14th pick for Brown in the first pick. You've got the first pick in the rookie draft. He moved up 13 spots. He's got Antonio Brown. We don't know how long Fournette's going to be playing for.

You know how long Antonio Brown's going to be playing for? Three, four more years. Maybe. And he's got Josh Jacobs. He's got two Raiders. I don't feel as passionately about this trade as either Dave and Jamie do. I'm just going to call it a C.

You also give it up to Chris Godwin here, so that's not nothing. Gave up Fournette, Goblin in the 14th pick for Antonio Brown in the first pick of the rookie draft. He's a Tyreek Hill owner. He needs a wide receiver. Do you have Dynasty ADP? Have you seen that yet? Yes. What's the 14th pick right now?

Okay, I don't have it in front of me, but it's right around Kyler or one of the tight ends. I was going to say that could be Daryl Henderson. It could be. I think he was a little earlier than that. He might be, but I'm thinking ranges. If you were doing a startup Dynasty League right now, who would you take first? Antonio Brown or Leonard Fournette?

I think I'd take Brown. I think I'd take Fournette. I would probably take Fournette as well. You know what, Levi? I think this is a good trade in the sense that both teams probably won. I mean... I would take Brown. You just looked something up and saw that you had Brown?

Yeah. All right. So Ben Volin is about to come on. We recorded this a few days ago. So if any breaking news happens with the Patriots, we don't know about it. So when they trade for Calrullo. Yeah, they trade for Calrullo, exactly. We had a great time talking

to him, and I think you will really enjoy it. It's actually very fantasy-relevant stuff. So please enjoy Ben Volan, and thank you so much for listening. And we'll come back on, not sure if it's going to be Monday or Tuesday, but we'll talk to you early next week with another awesome edition of Fantasy Football

Blank. Time for today's guest. We got Ben Volin, an NFL and Patriots writer for the Boston Globe. You can follow him on Twitter at Ben Volin, V-O-L-I-N. Hello, Ben Volin. Thanks for coming on. Great to have you. Thank you for having me. Yes. You know Jamie and Dave, old friends. I do. We go way back. I'm the only idiot who moves from South Florida up to Boston and not the other way around. But yeah, back in the day, Jamie and I used to work together down in Palm Beach Post, Florida. That's right.

Very nice, very nice. Ben's gone on to bigger and better things than I have, though, so congratulations to you. In 30 or 40 years, you move back to Palm Beach and come full circle. How about that? So the Super Bowl champion Patriots drafted McKeel Harry in round one. Obviously very fantasy relevant. Drafted running back Damian Harris in round three.

Drafted, I don't know, Ben, the two offensive linemen with the hardest names to pronounce in the draft. Is that fair in rounds three and four? Very fair. Yodney Kajust from West Virginia and Yalta Froholt from Arkansas by way of Denmark. Only the second player from Denmark ever drafted in the NFL. The first was a kicker you may have heard of, a Hall of Famer named Morton Anderson. That was all the way back in 1982. So Froholt is the first position player ever drafted by the Patriots fourth round. And they like him. The Patriots have Brett Bielema on their staff and he coached Frohold at Arkansas. And I've been told they like him as a center. So we'll see if maybe not this

year, but the Patriots usually red shirt their offensive linemen. But maybe next year he competes for a starting interior line job. Cool. So let's start with the running game. They had the third most carries in the NFL last year. Why did they draft Damian Harris in round three, and what role will he play? Even though they had, I think, a well-stocked backfield already heading into the draft, you can never have too many of those guys. And especially the Patriots, they all do a little bit of different roles. And like Rex Burkhead, great player, a real Swiss Army guy for them, but is always nicked up, is always battling injuries,

has been tough to depend on in that department for the last two years. James White has been great out of the backfield, but he's really pretty strictly a third down kind of pass-catching receiver and sony michelle is was there between the tackles guy last year and i don't think that's really his true role uh they wanted jeremy hill uh from cincinnati to fill that role he tore his acl in the first game of the season uh and sony michelle by default was the between the tackle guys but i don't think a he he came into the league with knee injuries and knee issues and b i don't think he's a 25 into the league with knee injuries and knee issues and b i don't think he's a 25 carry game guy so uh there was room for another back and they they got a young cheap legs and in harris damian harris and they got a guy who's pretty productive in a

limited role at alabama so um just with with injuries and depth and how important the run game is to that offense now i think you can never have enough running backs. So Ben, how do you see it all breaking down? I don't know, percentage-wise or carry-wise, you know, how do you see the backfield touches being distributed this season? Well, I do think that Sonny Michel struggled a lot in the short yardage and the goal line situations last year. So I could see Harris picking up the slack in that situation. James White has such a defined role as the third down back. He's a slot receiver. He does carry the ball, but only out of the shotgun when the defense is playing back and expecting to pass. Those type of situations when the Patriots have blocking advantages.

So I think it's going to come down to Harris and Michelle for first and second downs. And they're probably just going to ride the hot hand hand Burkhead will be a change of pace guy again he's more I think of a receiver type like like like James White so they have four backs who all kind of do different things in different roles but I think if you're looking for rushing touchdowns and first and second down guys you know Harris is a decent bet because Sonny Michelle the numbers look good but I think his rookie year could have been better last year so when bill belichick hears this it's going to be brandon bolden as their uh their full-time guy right yeah if not a tight end although bolden um he'll make the team as a special teamer and but you know he's not a

ball carrier here but he had two huge touchdown runs against them last year when he was in miami and it almost cost them or it did cost them playoff seating and everything so brandon bolden in an emergency you're right he's the fifth guy but i would expect him mostly to be special teams so dave and jamie why don't you uh react to that and um if you think we need to start you know considering or if we already have downgrading Sonny Michel? I continue to drop him. I mean, it's... I think Ben is 100% accurate. It's going to be another frustrating Patriots

situation, aside, I think, from what James White does. Michel should be the first guy taken in certainly non-PPR leagues, but I think the addition of Harris and how they want to sort of operate is going to make it frustrating to say Sonny Michel for 16 games can be or for, you know, a 13 game fantasy season can be a guy you can confidently start. We can we got certainly the beginning of the season. So you see how it all sort of works out.

Yeah, my jaw is kind of on the floor. Ben, I've been reading your stuff for years and I totally trust you on this uh i loved what i saw from sony michelle last year and i really loved what i saw from damian harris in uh at alabama and maybe i knew in the back of my mind that this was a possibility the the fact that it's going to be an annoying three-headed monster i'll tell you what it makes me want to take james white first in ppr put him ahead of the pack you know he's going to catch a lot of passes right no i had sony ahead of the ppr yeah but it was close now i don't think it's close anymore and now i i this is great for me because i definitely love damian harris coming out now i've got a reason to take him late and just to wait and see what happens um yeah i my reaction to that is I shouldn't be surprised, but I am.

I think that's really how I'm feeling right now. Right. Well, if I could chime in, I for sure would keep an eye on Harris, and he'll definitely be the better value than Michelle. So to Michelle's short yardage rushing was bad enough last year that they started handing off to James Devlin, the fullback. And you look at his rushing numbers, he had a career year in terms of carries and touchdown runs. And that was because Sonny Michel wasn't getting it done.

And I don't know if that's the role they necessarily drafted him for. Like I said, they wanted Jeremy Hill to be in that role. So I think Harris kind of slides into the Jeremy Hill role. And that's a guy who was going to have a nice role for the Patriots until he tore his ACL in week one. Just depth is so important for that team because they really do want to be a running ball control play action type of offense, big and physical. And you can't just rely on one running back.

Injuries are going to happen. They need to have depth there. So I do think Sonny Michelle will probably be overdrafted and Harris will probably be underdrafted. Well, I love that Ben plays fantasy. Yeah, it's always good. I love talking to the writers who play fantasy.

Let's talk about the passing game then. Tom Brady, I believe he was the number 11 quarterback in four point per passing touchdown, number 12 in six point per passing touchdown. They still had a very good year, but they obviously are a running team at this point. So, Nikhil Harry in round one, bringing back Julian Edelman, new tight ends in the mix.

I could ask you specifically about players, but you know what? You did such a nice job with the running backs. Why don't you break down the pass catchers and how you see it looking in 2019? Well, the good news is Julian Edelman's back. And we saw last year how good of a connection he with brady and how he's the engine of the offense it really goes through edelman um he i see no reason why him and brady won't connect and as long as he stays healthy he'll have a great productive year look they don't have gronk anymore and he wasn't the same gronk for most of last year but the offense did struggle when he

wasn't playing as well and now they really are just taping it together with band-aids trying to replace him. They signed Matt Lacoste from Denver, who I think at best is probably realistically a number two tight end. They just signed, they brought Ben Watson out of retirement. We'll see how much he has left in the tank. If he makes the team same kind of deal with Austin,

Safarian Jenkins, a big enough tight end where he can do the, the inline blocking and the receiving um but they only gave him like 80 000 50 000 guaranteed so i i don't think he's a lock to make the team by any stretch um i they and honestly they might just be using their tight ends as blockers this year they might they might not be emphasizing them in the offense as much and and if you look at who they've got on the outside of receiver they've they've drafted or signed like seven or eight receivers this year and they they're all 6'2 or 6'3 and 210 pounds.

It's uncanny. It's like they have a type. Nikhil Harry is those dimensions. He's actually a little bit bigger at 228. Demarius Thomas is that size. The undrafted rookies they signed are all that size. Josh Gordon is obviously that size. So I think they liked what they got out of Josh Gordon last year, that big physical presence on the outside, but they obviously, they know they can't

rely on him to stay active for most of the games this season. So they went out and got Brady a shiny new target, Nikhil Harry. Demarius Thomas coming off a torn ACL, I think is a good candidate to be a second half of the season type of guy. They stash him on Pup maybe for the first six weeks and then bring him back slowly, give Brady a new weapon in November and December. Brady, I'm not optimistic on him having a bounce back here. I think he's probably looking at similar stats. He still has Edelman. He still has James White.

Frankly, those are probably going to be his top two receivers. But after that, there are a lot of question marks and a White. Frankly, those are probably going to be his top two receivers. But after that, there are a lot of question marks and a lot of unknowns. And Brady is going to be 42 years old. So this is really going to be a running team. James Devlin, the fullback, being the lead blocker. Harris and Burkhead and Sonny Michel leading the way. And then a lot of play action passing. So I'm not quite sure what to make yet of Brady and his weapons.

We'll see what Josh McDaniels and those guys can come up with early in the season. I mean, it sounds to me like they're going big. And the fact that you said what you said about the tight ends kind of lends itself to that. Even getting Jared Valdez adding to that depth. And one of the things that I liked about Nikhil Harry at Arizona state was his blocking that he is able to push guys way out of the way and,

and open up a room for other players to gain yards. Is that part of what they liked about Harry? What is it that they specifically see beyond that with him? Yeah, I'd say his physicality and his willingness in the run game to be a blocker. That's always a plus for the Patriots. They are a running team, you know, like you don't think like Robert Kowski was always a a blocker that's always a plus for the Patriots um they are a running team you know like you don't think like Rob Gronkowski was always a great blocker Julian Edelman is a great

blocker so having your guys who are receivers who can also uh carry their weight in the run game is very important the Harry draft pick was interesting for two reasons one this was Bill Belichick's 20th draft with the Patriots this was the first time he ever used a first round pick on a receiver um they had used one in the past at number 36 they took chad jackson obviously didn't go so well but it was unique for belichick to use a pick that high on receiver also harry is not the swiss army knife usually the patriots love these guys who are versatile and they play in the slot and they played quarterback and you can hand them the ball and line them up all over the field Nikhil Harry is really just an ex he's a big physical outside receiver who can win contested catches um he can beat you know smaller cornerbacks with his physicality and as you said he can uh dominate the run game and I think it's the the Patriots are

again when most of the NFL zigs they they zag i think the nfl is going to a speed league um and i see the patriots countering and trying to go big and physical the offensive line jared jared beldeer they just signed for offensive tackle six eight 325 pounds uh they went out and got another between the tackles running back and harris they love their fullback james devlin they're going out and getting a bunch of six foot three receivers and oh by the way their secondround pick was a cornerback, Joe Juan Williams, who's 6'4. So I just think both sides of the ball, the Patriots are going for big,

physical size, and that's the type of offense they just want to bully. The other team where you saw it in the Super Bowl, their linebackers, Mark Barron for the Rams is 220 pounds. That's where the NFL is going. The Patriots are countering by going more big and physical. Ben, if you had to pick one of the Patriots receivers to mow your lawn, who would it be? It would probably be Edelman. He's a real grinder.

Yeah, unfortunate timing with the lawnmower. Those are the pitfalls of working from home, I guess. It's all right. We're in a soundproof studio here. It's all right. We're sitting in a podcast studio that the air conditioning is out. So imagine that in Florida in May. I'm very comfortable in my home right now.

Nobody likes you, though. That's true. That's a good point. I like you, Adam. Thank you. So who has a better chance? It's probably an easy one. Who has a better chance of playing for the Patriots this year,

Josh Gordon or Rob Gronkowski? Josh Gordon does. I think he's coming back. I think Roger Goodell wants to bring him back. He has actually developed a relationship with Josh Gordon and likes him, and they've been trying to help him, and they've been bending over backwards, like creating new rules for him to try to get him back also I think he'll be back at some point whether that's training camp or September or October I'm not quite sure but I

do think Gordon will be back I'm not so bullish on Gronk coming back um I don't think he's going to stay in football shape I don't think he's just gonna like that's a different kind of workout than what I think he wants to put his body through. I think he wants to do a lot of yoga and hang out in Miami, which frankly is what we should all be doing. I don't think he can just snap his fingers and show up in September and say I'm ready to go. So I just – I don't think he's going to stay in football shape. And I think he's done.

I think he's tired of the hits and always being bruised and all the rehab and all that stuff. Like I think he's tired of the hits and always being bruised and all the rehab and all that stuff like I think nine years in the league was plenty for him I think he shored up his hall of fame uh credentials and and he's going to be a lock so I think rock is done when do you think Josh Gordon could realistically be back yeah I don't know it could be august it could be september um last year he came back for a training camp at some point with the browns and then he you know they they released him and he the pagers claimed him and and he showed up the next day and all that stuff so it we haven't gotten any sort of clarity from roger goodell and that's why you know the

patriots are certainly not counting on him and they've drafted other players who can i think fill his role and i think that's how they seem to kill Harry but uh anything Gordon gives them this year as a bonus and I do think he'll be back at some point and uh you know we'll see if he can stay uh you know stay clean and stay off the suspended list and all those things but I do think he'll be back but the Roger Roger Goodell and the Patriots really have offered. And I don't think they know yet. I think they're waiting to see how Gordon's doing and his off field stuff as well. But I do think he'll be back. Dave, I want to I want to go back to Harry. If you had to tag a stat line to him, do you see him contributing to the point of 800 yards and five touchdowns this year?

Do you think it could be more than that? I know it's rare when we've seen a perimeter receiver put up good numbers in this Patriots offense. I don't know about that, but it's hard for rookies to come in and be very productive right away it's a demanding offense that relies a lot on option routes and uh both the quarterback and the receiver reading the defense both before and after the snap and knowing if this guy goes this way we're going to go here and just you know julian edelman years and years of working with tom brady you can see how good they are and how they're just so compatible it's going to take nhil Harry a little bit to get on that same page I think the Patriots feel like how they integrated Josh Gordon last year that gives them confidence

they don't have to give Nikhil Harry a hundred different things just here are five different ten different things here's your role and let's see what you can do so I would temper expectations maybe five six hundred yards forty something catches four or five touchdowns. Maybe, you know, it's going to be a tough rookie year for him at some points. I don't think he's going to be able to come in and have the same impact that Josh Gordon did. You know, Josh Gordon had experience in the NFL and at one point was a first team all pro. We'll see what Nikhil Harry becomes. So I would temper expectations, but he's going to get snaps. He's going to get opportunities on the outside. And assuming he can stay healthy, he'll be an option, but he'll be the third, fourth, or fifth option in the offense.

So, Ben, how long have you been on the Patriots beat? I have six seasons, six AFC championship games, four trips to the Super Bowl. It's been quite a ride. That's pretty fun. How would you describe a Bill Belichick press conference? Talk to me about the first one. Were you intimidated? How have things changed over the years? I think he's gotten a little bit looser now that he's won a few more Super Bowl titles.

His legacy is pretty much secure as, I mean, the greatest of this generation and, you know, all time. He's certainly on the Mount Rushmore. So I just, I,

I think this run of winning three and five years has really validated everything they've done for the last two decades in terms of having two different dynasties. Anyway, you know, sometimes you kind of know when he's going to be grumpy and grumble and snort into the microphone and um after games he very rarely will talk about anything negative like won't explain what happened on a bad play or anything and uh his wednesday press conferences

a lot of times it's usually when there's cameras there that's when he's bad because he's no he knows those clips are gonna be played ad nauseum on sports center and local sports radio and so that's that's him setting the tone but he'll do um he'll do conference calls like on the phone where he's just great or friday press conferences he's a lot more relaxed um if you want to learn about the history of the game if you want to learn about certain tactics or like i said how a lot of the league is trending towards slower or quicker players so they've you know countered with bigger faster players he he'll go on for 20 minutes about that stuff and again he's a guy who um not only is he winning superbowls now but he game planned against

mean joe green and the steel curtain and he coached lawrence taylor and game plan for joe montana like just the wealth of history and knowledge this guy has incredible so there are days where he he's just great with stories like that and insight even into his current team and then there are times where he stares you down and gives you a sarcastic answer and grumbles and snorts into the microphone and whatever yeah it can be intimidating at times but you can't let him win like we all know there are certain questions that have to be asked you can't let him win and even though you know what he's not going to give you an answer, you still have to go through the whole dog and pony show

because you can't have a press conference where you're not asking him a key question about Deflategate or Aaron Hernandez or whatever, the big play that you guys messed up on third and seven or why'd you lose in Miami last week, what happened on the final play. You can't not ask those questions. So you just have to go through the motions. And I think at the end of the day, Belichick actually respects it when people are professional journalists and ask hard questions

but in a fair and respectful way. Sure. And I guess last thing for you, you've been around them for six seasons. Is there anything you've noticed that's not obvious? We know they have Belichick, they have Brady. What makes them the superior team in the nfl maybe kind of like an underrated reason why the patriots are the patriots yeah i mean those two certainly um glossed over a lot of the team's personnel mistakes a lot of

the coaching mistakes um brady and belichick uh overcome a lot the one thing i think is underrated is the continuity they've had and that that's actually being tested this offseason. They've lost a bunch of coaches, not just Brian Flores, but assistant coaches, front office guys, scouts. There is a lot of turnover, but they still have, you know, Brady, Belichick, McDaniels, Nick Casario, Ernie Adams, guys that have been with the operation, key guys for all 20 years, basically, and the wealth of knowledge they have. It's like they could say, oh, remember that play we ran against the Chargers in 2007? What if we brought that back, but we had a diswrinkle this time?

And you're the Dolphins or the Bills or the Jets, and you're changing head coaches every three years, and you're constantly churning the front office and the coaching. How are you supposed to compete with just the institutional knowledge that the patriots bring to the table every year so i just you know their film vault is 20 years old at this point um you know just the the knowledge that that those guys have and having brady as a coach on the field too it's just i think their continuity and and their institutional knowledge is a real real big advantage over the other teams in the NFL. Who's going to be the defense coordinator?

So what I've heard is that it's going to be Bill Belichick. At this point in the season when Greg Sciano leaves in mid-March, who's left at that point? All the coaches out there pretty much have their jobs for 2019 already set. So I've heard that Belichick is just going to handle it himself and i don't think it'll be that much more responsibility for him he's already pretty invested in the defense during the game a lot of times when brady and the offense is on the field it's really mcdaniels is the coach and belichick has his back to the field coaching up defensive linemen and doing that stuff so i've heard that belichick's going to do it um brett bielma is

really the only other guy i think would be qualified and he's going to be the defensive line coach. Gerard Mayo knows the defense, but he's a first year coach. Steve Belichick, the coach's son. I just, I don't think he's ready to call the plays yet. And I don't think there's anyone out there. So I think it's going to be Bill Belichick. Hey Ben, thanks so much for coming on. Great stuff.

We really appreciate it, man. Thank you, Ben. I hope you guys can fiddle with the levels there and work with that lawnmower. No, it's very natural. I hope your landscaping is as great as the Patriot. You certainly need it. It's been raining a lot, and the grass is growing pretty thick, so the lawnmower needs to be done. It was honestly very strange.

Just before we started the interview, I did ask Jamie how much it costs to have your lawnmower. I was telling Adam that I just had some ring cameras installed on my house. Nice. And it's the first time that they're mowing the lawn since the cameras have been installed. So my phone keeps buzzing every five seconds that there's motion in my house.

So Adam was asking me about that. It's first world problems. Thank you for tying that all in. Yeah, perfect. That's a comfortable circle again. All right, that's Ben Volan, Dave Richard, Jamie Eisenberg I'm Adam Azer and that's it for Fantasy Football today, everybody enjoy your weekend

we will talk to you on Monday, see you then