Fantasy Football Today - 05/23: 14-Team Draft Review - Are the TEs More Valuable? (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: May 23, 2019

Before we get to our 14-team non-PPR mock draft, let’s talk about a hot topic in Fantasy Football - Todd Gurley’s dynasty value! What is fair value for a stud RB with knee issues? We also revisit a conversation from our previous episode about rookie RBs (6:28). Let’s debate Devin Singletary vs. Justice Hill … How valuable is Travis Kelce in a 14-team league (12:00)? Adam somewhat successfully crunches numbers to give you an idea about ideal TE strategy … Looking at our teams (20:00) and trying to figure out how to avoid having a huge hole on your roster in such a deep format … 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, we did a 14-team mock draft the other day, and it was tough.

It was tough. You know, it's not easy to have an all-star team in a 14-team mock draft the other day, and it was tough. It was tough. You know, it's not easy to have an all-star team in a 14-team league if you're playing against some good fantasy competitors. We welcome you to the show, Fantasy Football, today on Thursday, May 23rd. Adam Azer with Dave Richard and Jamie Eisenberg. Yeah, they're challenging. We do a 14-team podcast league every year. Do you think there's any differences?

That's always PPR. This was non-PPR. Do you think one format is more challenging than the other when it comes to 14 teams? No. I think once you get past 12 teams, it's hard to have an all-star team, like you said.

PPR, non-PPR, you're always going to find some area of question. It's just a matter of how comfortable do you feel with that area of question. I feel like you're leaving points off the table in non-PPR. What do you mean? Well, catches count, so it makes every player more valuable, but it makes the receivers deeper.

You find more running backs that you'll feel okay starting in PPR than non-PPR. I think you could feel a little bit better about the depth in PPR. Sure. Like a Jalen Richard, last year's version of Jalen Richard, was pretty useless in non-PPR. But in a 14-team league, someone that you could have actually been starting in PPR. Should have been starting.

I was starting him in our podcast league. Yeah. So, okay. We'll talk about that draft. I want to react to a comment that Jamie made on Tuesday's show and get into a fake argument about it and read some emails at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com, like this email. This is from Trevor from just outside Kevin Durant's hometown.

He's from D.C., right? Seat Pleasant, Maryland. Oh, okay. Dear Al, Sean, Quinn, and Jonas. Sean, Quinn, Jonas. Jonas Brothers? Jonas Gray? I have no idea.

Following reports of arthritis in his knee and the Rams drafting Daryl Henderson, Todd Gurley's Dynasty stock seems to be taking a nosedive. His sock's awesome. His sock's, yeah, he's a no-sock guy. Will it reach the point where Gurley actually becomes a strong value in a trade? We haven't had our rookie draft yet, and I was thinking about offering either Sonny Michel or Aaron Jones and a mid-first round pick for Todd Gurley.

I mean, it's such an unknown that it's hard to say you could be getting a steal and getting Todd Gurley for those guys, or you could be getting completely ripped off. I mean, that's just the range of spectrum. Unfortunately, I'm a Gurley owner in a dynasty league. And this, I was looking at my team, uh, cause we're, uh, the rookie draft is coming up this week. So I was looking at my team and two years ago, it was a startup dynasty league. This shows you why you don't invest heavily in running backs and dynasty. Two years ago, my team was made, and I had

the highest scoring team. I ended up losing the playoffs because of some injuries. Highest scoring team because I had Todd Gurley and Jordan Howard. Now think about the Dynasty value of those two guys. Two years later, Jordan Howard is basically in the tank.

Slightly above it. But it was fun while it lasted. It was great while it lasted. But again, this is the short-term value of running backs in Dynasty. So I'm picking eighth, and I'm trying to make trade offers to get another pick in the back half of the first round because I want to take Daryl Henderson to sort of just lock up that backfield because I don't want to give up Todd Gurley for nothing.

But at the same time, I need receiver help. It's a five-receiver league, so I need to start. I need to find some of these young receivers to build up my team in that regard. What's your first-round pick in that league? Do you know where it is? So if someone came to you with Sonny Michel and the fourth pick in the draft for Gurley, would you give it up? No.

I don't think I would either. I think you're riding it out with Gurley, and if anything, you try and get Henderson on your team as well, or just another good running back for your bench. Yeah. I also had a startup dynasty last year. I drafted Todd Gurley first overall and lost in the finals. I had Gurley and Melvin Gordon. I did, yeah.

What happened? I traded. No, I, okay, I'm sorry. I don't remember. I think I had like the fifth pick. Yeah, I had the fifth pick. I traded up to one. I took Gurley, and then I was able to get Gordon in the second round.

Anyway, yeah, it's tough. And, you know, I was pretty happy because I also have Malcolm Brown, and he's pretty useless now. Oh, I don't know about that. You don't think so? For this year, I mean, look, it should be Daryl Henderson, but you know how sometimes coaches get. Like, a year ago, we were saying, oh, wow, John Kelly.

He's going to be the backup to Todd Gurley. Yeah. And then it was Malcolm Brown until he got hurt, and then obviously C.J. Anderson was a star. Right. Alright, so I brought this email up because we had like three different people in the last week email us asking about a Todd Gurley trade in a Dynasty League. So it is really interesting.

So I guess if – Again, not to cut you off. If you want to get out of it now before – because it could be worse. He could be – If he doesn't participate in training camp. He could be short-term IR. I mean who knows what the outcome could be... If he doesn't participate in training camp. He could be short-term IR. Who knows what the outcome could be? I'm just painting the most negative

picture. He may never play again. Who knows? Again, I don't think that's the case, but we don't know how serious this is, or he could be 100% fine, and they're just making him rest, and come week one, he's a superstar. But if you are concerned, and you could still sell Todd Gurley high,

I've seen Todd Gurley in redraft leagues go as high as fifth overall still. And I understand why. Yeah. So in the draft we just did, 14-team non-PPR. Do you know where he went? Eighth.

No, 12th. 12th. Okay. Yep, there he is. All right. So that's Todd Gurley talk. I'll read the other trade offers at the end of the show at fantasyfootballatc 12th. Okay. Yep, there he is. All right. So that's Todd Gurley talk. I'll read the other trade offers at the end of the show at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. I want to go back to the conversation we had on Tuesday's show.

We were talking about under-the-radar rookies. And, Jamie, I believe you said you would take Baltimore's Justice Hill over Buffalo's Devin Singletary. Yes. Seasonal leagues, would you do that? Yes. Not dynasty, seasonal. Right. Yeah, so I think that just sort of brings up an interesting philosophical question about drafting running backs.

Tell me why you would take Justice Hill over Devin Singletary. For 2019, I think he has a clearer path to playing time. Yes. Dave, what about you? Would you take Hill over Singletary? I think, yes, I would in redraft leagues because I think he's going to get around 10 touches per game. And we just don't know how much work Singletary will get,

certainly in the first half of the year. Leshawn McCoy is still there. Gore signed up there. T.J. Yeldon signed up there. If all three of those veterans still make the roster for week one, then where does Singletary fit in? Because I don't really see a scenario where he's going to get 10 to 15 touches in a game, and those other established guys don't get on the field nearly as much. But you can lay out that by 2020, maybe even the last four games of this 2019 season, Singletary will get in there.

Bills are going nowhere. They want to let this rookie get some experience. Then he'll play. I'm not sure what kind of a player LeSean McCoy is anymore. The offensive line was so bad for them last year. But I don't put much stock into Frank Gore or Yeldon, really. I think the philosophical question is, yeah, Justice Hill makes sense. If Ingram's healthy, if McCoy is healthy,

Justice Hill makes sense over Singletary because he has a bigger role, but he might not do much with it. And he's also really small, so if Ingram does go down, I don't know that he becomes a feature back. Nope. Whereas I think Devin Singletary has an easier path to getting a ton of work, scoring the touchdowns, and being a much more valuable player. But if their offensive line works and Lamar Jackson stays healthy,

Justice Hill can have significantly more fantasy value as a rookie than Singletary. I think that's the most likely thing, yeah. But I think who has more upside? It's also who are you willing to carry on your bench for the first three or four weeks of the year. Well, I'm not ruling out. I think with Singletary, you have to probably carry him without using him for maybe the entire year. Hill, I think you can get some flex play out of him, even with Ingram healthy. Again, you gave out the numbers, Adam, what Kenneth Dixon did in that secondary role.

Now, that's not to say that Dixon still is in the secondary role because he could be. But if you just look at, I think, how skill set works and kind of change of pace, etc., getting Justice Hill in tandem with Mark Ingram makes this team a lot more explosive. I would rather start the season with Hill on my roster just to see how he's used in those first three or four weeks.

And if he ends up not playing at all, then I'm probably going to end up cutting him for somebody else who I'm going to speculate on. I don't think Singletary is going to play much to begin the year. My fear with Justice Hill is that he's going to be, I've used this phrase before, too good to cut, but not good enough to start.

There's fantasy no man's land. I hate that. So that was the philosophy i wanted to bring up the justice hill maybe he's in that tevin coleman area where like he'll have some good weeks you never know when it's going to be you know coleman with a healthy davante freeman whereas singletary could just outright win the job at some point and have a ton of upside december no i why why not week one why not week one like the bills are serious the bills are they Bills are serious. The Bills are, they're not rebuilding anymore. I mean, they are, but they're going to go for it, right?

They're feeling pretty good about their team. I mean, they're going to go for it until they realize that they can't. But he's the future for them. Like, why waste time on all these old dudes? There is a tendency in this league to unwrap the future a little sooner than you expect to. And maybe that ends up happening in Buffalo. Let's see who's healthy among this backfield. Listen, McCoy and Gore are 36 years old combined.

TJ Eldon's significantly younger than that, but he's not a complete back by any stretch. Who knows if he even makes the team? There are a million variables that could go in Singletary's favor. But if the Bills have their druthers and they've got a healthy LaShawn McCoy, I'm pretty sure they're going to give him the first opportunity. Okay, I just need to clarify one thing because I call Justice Hill small, and he is. But Devin Singletary is 5'7". But he's thick.

Yeah, but he weighs more than Justice Hill. Have you watched him play, Adam? No, but I imagine he's like nature on the ends. Take 10 minutes, go on YouTube, find one of his games against anybody, and he's a lot of fun to watch. I did that, I think, when we had Ryan Wilson in studio and I watched running back highlights that morning. And that's actually when I fell in love with Justice Hill

because he is super fast. Okay, we're getting to the draft right now. Minnesota and Kyle Rudolph are working on a five-year deal. Not a lot of news. It would have been cool if he had been traded to the Patriots. Tampa Bay signed a Dominican Sioux. But let's talk about this 14-team non-PPR draft. And looking at the draft results,

the first thing that really jumped out to me is Travis Kelsey going 10th overall, going after a bunch of running backs plus DeAndre Hopkins. One pick before Devontae Adams. So the first 10 picks were eight running backs. Again, this is non-PPR. One wide receiver in Travis Kelsey.

So I went, I tried. There were two wide receivers, Adam. Who did I miss? Oh, Julio. Julio went ninth. Sorry. Okay. So seven running backs.

Hopkins, Julio. By the way, Devontae Adams should definitely go ahead of Julio Jones. Right? Non-PPR? Nah. I like Julio. In all formats. Nah, I'll go the other way.

I mean, touchdowns are obviously. Make the case, Dave, for Julioio. In all formats. Nah, I'll go with the other one. I mean, touchdowns are obviously... Make the case, Dave, for Julio over Devontae Adams. I don't think that Devontae Adams will be the one-man show that he was last year. I think he'll still clearly lead the Packers in targets, catches, yards, and touchdowns. But I think Julio Jones has a chance to really erupt this year. He's going to have more targets. He always does, but... He's going to have more catches.

I think he's more reliable. I will take Julio ahead of Devontae Adams. Well, he will most likely have more catches, but Adams had 111 last year. It's just the touchdowns. I know Devontae Adams

is getting... Devontae Adams, to me, true or false, not to me, Devontae Adams, true or false, is the safest bet for double-digit receiving touchdowns in the NFL?

True. Dave? Yeah. I'm weighing it against DeAndre Hopkins. Sure. Yeah. All right. Well, anyway, Julio Jones goes ninth.

Travis Kelsey goes tenth. How valuable is Travis Kelsey, guys? I'll let you take the lead here. It's kind of a duh statement. Of course he's valuable. How valuable? 10th overall? Is he 10th overall valuable? So I would think

about it like this. This is a 14-team league, so there's already significant position scarcity among tight ends in a 10-team league, much less a 12-team team league much less a 12 team league much less a 14 team league so uh jeremy base is the one who who drafted him and he knew that he had an early second round pick so he probably realized i want to get the best tight end in fantasy and i'll deal with whatever is available in round two just to have the privilege of having

on my team because he must have assumed that he wouldn't make it back to him in round two which is probably correct i don't think travis kelsey is going to be a uh you know 18th 19th overall player on a consistent basis you'll see a draft here and there where he slides that fall that far but i think he uh he's worth it if you really have to have that tight end, then this is what you have to do in late round one. Put it this way. He took Joe Mixon in round two. Would anybody be arguing if he

had Joe Mixon and Travis Kelsey in a different order? I was thinking the exact same thing. No, that's awesome. The next two picks are really... Mixon may have been a gift. I wouldn't say that. Yeah, it kind of was.

Let's say Dalvin Cook is closer in that range. Cook went ahead to Mixon. Or, I don't know. Even if it's a receiver. Well, the receiver would have been Mike Evans. Mike Evans went at 20th. Okay, so the scenarios are... Would you rather have Kelsey and Cook

or Devante Adams and... Hurts. Hurts. I think I'd rather have Kelsey and Cook by you. Or Mixon. I mean, the way it worked out i'd rather have i'd much rather have mixing and kelsey than mixing and cook or kelsey and cook and i would take adams and urts over cook and kelsey because i'm not going crazy for dalvin cook okay i i tried to sort of calculate

travis kelsey's value because i value because I've mentioned this before. He was a top nine. I think he was number nine in non-PPR, number eight in PPR if you look at Kelsey and compare him to wide receivers last year. I did a lot of work last night, and then I had to throw it out because I did it wrong. So it was like 45 minutes of math.

I tried to do it again this morning. I looked at the average fantasy points for tight end 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 over the last five seasons. But I had to amend it to the last three seasons. And then I tried to compare that to wide receivers 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25. And what I found was wide receiver 5 typically outscores tight end 1 by a pretty significant amount. However, so tight end 1 is typically in the more closer to the range of wide receiver 10. So you could argue, well,

that's where the number one tight end should be drafted. And tight end five and wide receiver 25 were pretty comparable. So if you have a pick and you're looking at like the number five wide receiver or Travis Kelsey, based on the math over the last three years, it makes more sense from fantasy point perspective to take the number five wide receiver and then the number five tight end compared to the number one tight end and the number 25 wide receiver, who would go in about the same range,

at least they did in this draft. Does that make sense? There's a lot of numbers there, I know. Want me to say it again? Can you summarize that? Yeah. So tight end one over the last three years has performed kind of like wide receiver 10.

Very similar in fantasy point total. So to me, it comes down to just wanting to lock up that position, which is what I started this whole conversation with. Right. And I'm only comparing tight ends and wide receivers here.

Yeah. And the other part... Jeremy clearly did not want to... Either he's predicting an even bigger year for Travis Kelsey by taking him here, or he wants to have that advantage in his lineup by having a stud, super stud tight end on his team. It's as simple as that. And it's smart because he realizes

he's going to get another good player in round two. He's not reaching for Kelsey at third overall here. He's taking him at 10. He knows that someone will make it back to him. He was probably elated to have Joe Mixon fall into his lap in round two. That's really the long and the short of it. Yeah, yeah.

The other aspect of this, though, was what's better? Tight end in round one or early round two and get a wide receiver in round five or the opposite? Based on the numbers, the opposite

has been better. Taking a elite wide receiver, like the number five wide receiver and then the number five tight end four or five rounds later based on numbers has been better in terms of fantasy points than say Kelsey

and I'll give you a name and Tyler Lockett or DJ Moore. Kelsey and Moore would not have been as good as, like, in this draft, Evan Ingram and Odell Beckham, if that makes sense, based on history. Now, that's not looking at ADP. That's looking at final results, and I probably confused everyone.

So we will move on. I'm sorry. I think maybe if you listened carefully, you might have gotten something useful out of that. That should have been better. So how do you avoid that big hole on your roster, Jamie, that you talked about where pretty much every team has something wrong with it? It's not really avoiding it. It's feeling comfortable with it.

So I looked at three teams in writing the recap, mostly just based on our analysts. So Dave's hole is at his number two running back spot um and you have to you know just feel comfortable enough and i'll let you break down the teams when we get to it but his number two running back spot you have to feel comfortable enough that you're winning at the majority of the other spots which you know certainly dave can make the argument for uh heath i believe his hole is that it's not necessarily both his receivers, but he just has, you know, guys that aren't necessarily considered to be top 15 options at his, on his team. For me, it was, uh, I kind of was like, okay, I'm, I'm gonna take my chances at quarterback and tight end. And so that was

kind of my direction with, with my team. Let me get as much talent as I can at running back and receiver and just kind of, you kind of play with those two spots. Hopefully it's not both, but if that's the case, that's what's going to happen. So I kind of had a conscious effort in doing it. I don't know if Dave and Heath did. And then looking at your team, Adam, it was your flex spot. And just, again, a matter of is this a position that you can get by with for a couple weeks

or at some point in the season just hope to fill and that everybody else is great. It's just the nature of playing in a deeper league. You're going to have holes, and it's how you fill those holes. So I actually think I'm less likely to take, and I did it in this draft, and now I feel even more confident saying it. In a 14-team league, I think I'm less likely to take one of the elite tight ends. Because I feel like I have Zach Ertz, right? I have Cam Newton, Le'Veon, David Montgomery, Diggs, Tyler Boyd, Zach Ertz.

My flex is Ronald Jones. I don't even feel great about David Montgomery. Now, I also drafted Mike Davis. But if one of those guys has the job, then I feel good about it. But if they're splitting with Tariq Cohen, then I might have a really bad running back situation. You might have two holes in your lineup. Yeah, flex and RB2.

So I think that if I were going to do this again, I probably would have taken a running back instead of Zach Ertz. I actually think that in a deeper league where more teams are bad at tight end, it's easier to get away with being bad at tight end. And I think the opposite. I think it's to your advantage to have a great tight end. One who can put up points like a wide receiver in that spot. Because it's easier to find a receiver who could contribute to your team on a fairly consistent basis

than it would be for a tight end to perform like a top 12 receiver. There might be one tight end a year that you can find off waivers that ends up being super. Yeah, no, you're right. right actually we have this debate in baseball too is it more valuable to have gary sanchez or jt real muto in a shallower one catcher league or a deeper two catcher league and scott and i feel like the answer is in the shallower leagues

because position scarcity we feel like it matters more in shallower leagues where you can really make an impact at every position. And Chris and Heath, but this is the opposite of what you're saying. Chris and Heath would be, like on your team, like in the deeper leagues, it's better to have Gary Sanchez and Real Muto because so many teams have terrible catchers. But I feel like you can get away with bad players in deeper leagues

more so than in shallower leagues. Does that make sense? Have I made sense at all today? It makes sense. And I think you've got valid arguments on both sides. Yeah, me too. You know what? I think it's great to have a strong tight end

no matter how many teams are in your league. Yeah, but it's tough. How do you like that? I just want to have a great player at tight end to make my team different from most of the other teams in the league. But in a 10-team league, aren't you more likely to draft the elite player

at each position? Sure. There's more elite players available. But not at tight end. That you can put on your roster. Because it's a shallow... Yeah, but... You have a competitive

advantage either way. For having one of those top three tight ends, four if you really like Evan Ingram. I just think it's turning a weakness for nine of your opponents or eight of your opponents into a strength

for you by having that position. That's why I took george kittle in round two right but when you and when and okay so then let's break down your roster because when you do make this decision in a deeper league to take a tight end early it's a it's at a it's at a higher cost than in a shallower league it because because you're going to be weaker at a position there There's just a running back or wide receiver. But you should know that going into your deeper league draft that you're going to be weak in at least one spot. Right.

And are you okay with that? The goal is to make it so that you're weak at one spot. In a perfect world, you wouldn't be weak at any spot, but you don't want to be weak at two or three spots. So your team, I actually love, except your RB2 is rough. I've got some regrets. Okay. Well, I think it's great.

So you have Matt Ryan, Aaron Jones. I'm going to just save RB2 for last. DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley, George Kittle, Cooper Cup at flex. RB2, you have Ido Smith with Rykel Armstead, that's Jacksonville's rookie, Minnesota rookie Alexander Madison, Jamal Williams. Yeah, so you're really strong.

I mean, it's a who's who of fantasy running back studs. When you get to Rykel Armstead, really the conversation's over. Yeah. So the mistake I made was passing on Tevin Coleman. That's what it's come down to. So I'm up at 51st overall and Calvin Ridley is one of my crushes and I really want to get him on my team. And he's looking me square in the face and I only have Aaron Jones, George Kittle, DeAndre Hopkins on my squad.

And in a non-PPR, I should have gone Tevin Coleman there because then I would have had that RB2 spot locked up. And what I realized is if I'm going to have a weak spot on my 14 team roster, it should probably either be a quarterback where I can wait on the position, or it should be a wide receiver where I know I can use waivers to my advantage during the year to try and cultivate someone to fill that spot. And when I say wide receiver, that could also mean flex. So I shouldn't have taken Calvin Ridley there. I should have taken Tevin Coleman. I just didn't feel like Tevin Coleman was necessarily worth it until I got to round seven, I think it was.

And I'm looking at the running backs that are left, and Ido Smith is the best one. And that's where I went, holy crap, I should have taken Tevin Coleman. And then I should have taken Matt Ryan in round six. There was a weird quarterback dynamic that happened in this draft. I don't know if I can go on this tangent. But Jeremy, the same guy that took Travis Kelsey in round one, took Baker Mayfield 75th overall with luck Rogers and Matt Ryan and Cam

Newton and all the other quarterbacks still on the board. I believe Baker was the number two quarterback taken in the draft. And when people saw that, and this happened four spots in front of me, I think everybody, like the light bulb went off going, oh, wow, well, if Baker's gone, I've got to go and get my quarterback now too. So I was hoping Andrew Luck would follow me, and I wouldn't complain about taking Andrew Luck in round six in any draft. But Luck went the very next pick.

Aaron Rodgers went two picks later. And I wanted to collect a great quarterback. So I took Matt Ryan. I probably should have gone receiver there. Guys that were left were guys like Will Fuller. Geronimo was still there. Although, oh, Dante Pettis was still there. And I liked Dante Pettis.

So I could have taken Pettis there. And now my lineup looks drastically different. My quarterback would probably be a combo of Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz, something like that. But I would have had a much more solid lineup, but not necessarily spectacular lineup. Yeah, I got to say, if you want to feel comfortable with your team in a 14-team league,

quarterback is the obvious place to wait. I just can't see myself taking one early. I took Cam Newton in round eight. And, Jamie, what did you do at quarterback? I was the last one to take a starter, and it was Jimmy Garoppolo. I think it was round 11 or 13. It's the best pick of the draft. Round 12.

Late round 12. You just got the MVP. You took Jimmy Garoppolo a spot behind Kenneth Dixon. Yeah, it was. Now, the quarterbacks you mentioned in Wentz and Murray, they went at the 11-12 turn. That was from Andrew Balmer. He was actually the second-to-last owner to take a quarterback.

I was hoping for one of those two guys to fall to me. That didn't happen. So Garoppolo... Yeah, that's a pretty good consolation. He's in my top 15, so I'm okay with it. The fact that 14 quarterbacks went in front of him, so it's the best I can do. Okay, so Dave, you have Ido Smith as your RB2.

What I think you should do is trade Calvin Ridley and I have no idea. You should trade for Devante Freeman. What if I think that Ido Smith could be the better value?

I don't care about value. He's not the running back. I know that Devontae Freeman has had a hard time staying healthy for the last two seasons. Well, get them both. But I think I... In a perfect world,

in a regular draft, I'm drafting Ido Smith to be my third or fourth running back. Did you hear what Matt DeBeek said? I had to go higher. I know, I know. Did you hear what Matt DeBeek said? Kadri Olesen.

Yeah. And so what could end up happening is that by the time we're drafting in August, if Olesen ends up being that number two guy, then it's him we're drafting. And Ido Smith gets kicked to the curb. I don't believe Olesen was picked in this draft. Should have been by you. You have all those running backs. Okay, we are going to take a break here.

We'll talk about Jamie's team when we come back and some more 14-team strategies and thoughts on the draft. And I'll see if I can come up with extremely confusing statistics for you. Be right back. 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,

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Don't let avoidable damage cost you time and money. Click before you dig. Ensure your next project is safe. Visit OntarioOneCall.ca. It's free's free it's easy it's the law data sourced from the orcga 2023 dirt report all right jamie so take us through your approach to this draft i mean like i said it was kind of a conscious effort to wait on quarterback for sure. And I was going to see how the tight end board played out. It was a choice to pass on Evan Ingram, who I've taken almost in every draft in the 4-5 swing.

So I had two shots at him after, I think those are the first three. The first three tight ends were off the board. So Eric Ebron went after I picked in round four where I took Miles Sanders. And then I thought, when I picked Sanders, I thought, should I take Ingram? I'm like, no, running back depth is going to get a little bit of a problem. Then I thought maybe round five. And I'm like, you know what? I'm going to play this out and just kind of let it go and see how it all works out.

So that was two spots where I could have holes. But like I said, I feel like I have good depth at running back and good depth at receiver. And I'm comfortable with how this roster was built. Jimmy Garoppolo, Alvin Kamara, Miles Sanders at running back. Amari Cooper and A.J. Green at wide receiver. Austin Hooper at tight end. Tevin Coleman at running back flex. On the bench, Matt Breida to go along with Tevin Coleman,

Justice Hill, LaShawn McCoy, Will Fuller, Deshaun Hamilton, and Debo Samuel. So, yeah, it's weak at tight end with Hooper, but I can't, like, I... I mean, potentially. He was a top-ten guy last year. Yeah, I think it was six. If he goes from six to 12, I don't love it,

but it's not going to crush my roster. I don't even know if you're a weak quarterback. The last guy to take a quarterback is Garoppolo. Every time I talk about Garoppolo, I'm going to blush, so maybe you have to talk me down from that. Well, that's why you're wearing red, too. That's right. Did you know that when you're trying to sell your house,

you're supposed to put red somewhere to make the room pop, like a red blanket or a pillow or something? Are you moving already? I was looking to move, but no, I'm not going to move. Red. You don't even have to be selling your house. If you want to make it pop, put some red somewhere.

Okay, more thoughts on this draft. That's the clearest thing I've said the entire show. Hashtag Acer decorative. I will say this. We did the draft before the news of Chris Carson with his knee surgery. Before the news of Matt Breida

with the torn pectoral. Both guys are expected to be fine for the start of camp. So I probably would have taken Breida in the same range. Also, it's a good idea when you're selling your house to light a match in the bathroom before people start coming in to see the place yeah you know why once i figured out that lighting a match is about a thousand times more effective than air than air freshener. It was a game changer for sure.

So other – Jamie, you wrote the recap. Were there other picks that really jumped out at you or teams? Well, I think his team is interesting also with what he did. So he went kind of the opposite of Dave in terms of going heavy at running back. And so his running backs are – he picked fourth. He took McCaffrey. He took Fournette in round two. He took Phillip Lindsay, I believe, in round

three. And his starting receivers are Chris Godwin and Jeronimo Allison. And he has Evan Ingram. And he has Evan Ingram. So, you know, strong at running back, strong at tight end. And those receivers have a ton of upside.

But I think, like what Dave was saying about Ito, you know, you'd rather have him as your third running running back you'd rather have godwin as your two years two and allison as your three you know and so you know heath is going to have to hope that those guys have the career seasons that you know i'm hoping they have for sure but you know certainly heath is as well and i'm wondering if he should have drafted more wide receivers because his bench, his first three picks are running backs. And the other two guys, his only bench guys are the two Jaguars guys. He's got Jay Ajayi.

He's got Kenneth Dixon, Naeem Hines, and then two Jaguars wide receivers, Mark Eastley and DeeDee Westbrook, which neither of them might be trustworthy in this format. You know, it's funny. You can wait on quarterback in this league. I'm not sure these two quarterbacks really do it for me. Ben Roethlisberger and Lamar Jackson. I like Lamar Jackson as my number two quarterback if I feel better about my number one.

But I don't really feel good about Ben. He's still in the Ben Roethlisberger camp. Are you? better about my number one. He's still in the Ben Roethlisberger camp. Are you? I would prefer him to be the guy I wait for as opposed to the guy I target. Pittsburgh led the NFL in past tense last year.

If that's the case again, Roethlisberger will end up being a number one quarterback. Losing Antonio Browns is such a tough sell to say take him as your starter he took him in round eight seems like seems uh but he likes a little sure right so you take him where you like him but in my mind I would have gone in a different direction I would have taken Wentz I would have taken Russell Wilson ahead of him. Yeah, but again, he likes him more than that. I think

also one thing with leagues like this and clearly where there's different levels of people drafting in this league. The three of us, Heath, Chris Towers, Ben Gretsch, we're... It's basically mid-season for us because

we're looking at all these things. Somebody like Jeremy, for example. Jeremy's one of our sales guys he's the one that basically uh fits adam with everything that adam has in his house oh yeah he gets me my indochino i just got an omaha steaks package by the way go to omaha steaks.com type in fbt in the search bar you're gonna get a 74 discount on an unbelievable package thank you jamie right so adam says that jeremy gets some steaks that's why jeremy's in all of our drafts. So, you know, Jeremy's a very astute fantasy player, but he's just not very, you know, dialed into it to the same level that we are. And the point I'm getting at is when you're in a league like this,

so like instead of he's taking a second quarterback, I guess it's a bad example because he likes Rothsburg. But there are guys like you could just take flyers on. Like I'm going to give you an example. I'm going to write a story next week about five completely off-the-radar receivers on teams that could play significant roles. And two, the reason I thought of this is I was watching a Nick Foles highlight reel that the Jaguars sent out of Chris Conley catching passes.

Who's to say he's not their best receiver this year? It's possible. And the other guy is Demarcus Robinson, who Sammy Watkins can't stay healthy, and Mecole Hardman's a rookie. Robinson's probably going to end up starting for them. Like, these are type of players, like, it goes back to the rookies we were talking about.

Deebo Samuel's somebody that should be drafted in this league, clearly, but 12-team leagues, you know, if you have the freedom to just play with a roster spot, there are a lot of guys you can speculate on, and certainly the deeper the league, it's easier to do. So you don't necessarily need to take – I know why Dave did, and Dave's a great example of that. Take Rock Armstead.

Take Alexander Madison. Take guys that may not play for you, but if an injury happens, they're stars because you have the freedom to do so. The old lottery ticket philosophy. I actually think Jeremy did a really good job. I don't want to undersell Jeremy's ability as a fantasy player. I'm just saying he's just not studying it to the same level that we are right now. No, I was just on a separate thought.

He ended up with a good team. Mayfield at quarterback, Mixon and Jacobs at running back, Josh Jacobs at running back, Kenny Galladay and Mike Williams at wide receiver. If the trends continue from last year, Mike Williams is going to be a lot better in non-PPR than in PPR. And this is non-PPR. Travis Kelsey at tight end.

Golden Tate's his flex. That could be a total dud. That's the hole. That's the hole and that's fine. Having a bad flex. Deontay Foreman, he's got on his bench. His bench kind of stinks and I think when you look at his bench, that's probably where you say Jeremy's not so dialed in right now.

Actually, it's not that bad. I think he did a good job. I actually think he's got a... It's not that bad. I don't know how big... The weak link is going to be Golden Tate and the flex but he's got Deshaun Jackson on his bench. I like him. I think he'd got a... Yeah, it's not that bad. I don't know how big... The weak link is going to be Golden Tate in the flex, but he's got Deshaun Jackson on his bench. I like him. I think he'd be a good flex.

Jalen Samuels sounds like he's going to have a little role each week for the Steelers. Deontay Foreman could be the Texans' starting running back. Yeah, that could be a big one. Could be. I think the point would be to what Adam was saying. There's just not anybody that if he needs to start someone week one that you could say, I feel comfortable with him as to what Adam was saying. There's just not anybody that if he needs to start someone week one that you could say,

I feel comfortable with him as my week one flex option. Well, other than Golden Tate, who he just throws his hands up in the air and says, all right, I guess this is just who I have. He could be the best receiver for the Giants. I'm not sure in a non-PPR I wouldn't prefer Deshaun Jackson to Golden Tate. You could, but again, it's still a hole no matter how you look at it. Your team's a good example because right now, Ronald Jones could be the best running back at Tampa Bay.

Oh, last thought on my team. So, friendship strategy with Deontay Johnson and James Washington. Two receivers for Pittsburgh. I loved it. Yeah, I think that that's a good example of it. It may be not in a shallower league, but maybe, maybe it's not a in a shallower league, but maybe.

Maybe it's not a 10-team league, but maybe 12, but certainly 14-team league taking both of these young Steelers wide receivers and hoping one emerges. And you got Washington in what round? That's a good question. Washington. Round nine. So you got round nine and then one of your last picks?

Or was it last pick? That was of what? Washington was round nine. Yeah. And Deontay Johnson was... Round 14. Round 14, yes. I mean, that's perfect.

Yeah. Okay, great. So let's read some emails here. Fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. Oh, I have a food announcement I think you might be interested in. We'll let everybody know. You know I am.

I'm pretty determined to make it happen this weekend. I'm ready to try an impossible burger Have you had one yet? Yes How are they? I've had several from different companies They're fine

They actually look like a burger Both before you eat it and while you're eating it I'm disappointed I was hoping they were awesome It's almost like anything else If you put a bunch of crap on something you're eating it? I'm disappointed. I was hoping they were awesome. It's almost like anything else. If you put a bunch of crap on something, it's going to taste like the stuff you put on it more so than... True.

You're going to taste the ketchup, the mustard, the onions, the pickles. Stop with the pickles and mustard, but mostly the pickles. Disgusting. How do you have a burger without pickles and mustard? How do you have a burger without pickles and mustard? How do you have a burger without a slice of pineapple? That is what I want to know. It is the

best topping I've ever had on a burger. It's a fairly recent revelation for me. I've spoken about it before. I need to speak about it more. It's amazing. Pineapple on a burger? Amazing. I've had pineapple on pizza on a number of occasions. Also great. It's delightful. Okay, here are some emails.

I think I know what I'm going to have for lunch. Jeff from Kansas City. I'm not sure I get this one. Dear Rye on Rye, Rye on Rye on Rye, and Rye on Rye on Rye on Rye. What the hell is that? It's kind of near where you live, right? Yeah, there's a Rye near me.

Isn't there a place called Rye on Rye? Not that I know of. Dynasty Trade proposed to me. I give up Chris Godwin. I get Corey Davis and David Njoku. Oh, I know what it is. The whole Rye on Rye thing? Yeah.

It's related to a brewery. These are names of beers. Heath would know that in a second. Okay, yes, he would. Would you trade Chris Godwin for Corey Davis and David Njoku? He's pretty good at wide receiver. I mean, that's... Look, Corey Davis entered his third season, so is Godwin.

Njoku, if he does hit, that's a position scarcity problem that you could solve. So it's a fair trade. I think it comes down to Njoku because he does need a tight end. Well, it's also how much you value Godwin. There are people that expect him to blow up this year. What happens if he doesn't? Right, that's the thing. Then it's over.

Whereas I think if Corey Davis has another bad year or maybe even another bad two years, another team will take a chance on him. Oh, I don't think Chris Godwin's career is over. But the opportunity for him to be a fantasy stud I think would take a huge hit.

Whereas Corey Davis I think still has a little bit more potential in that regard. I'd love to see Corey Davis on a different team. So I'll take the Davis and the joke who said. All right, this is from Stu. Dear Tyron, Zach, Travis, and Lael. How do you pronounce his first name? Lael Collins.

Cowboys lineman. I'm curious to know if you've had any rookie drafts that are linear rather than snake format. I'm having trouble finding a place my league can host this type of draft. Everywhere seems to only offer snake rookie drafts. I just picked his nose, by the way. No, it is a – I have a cold. You know my son is sick. I have a freaking cold now.

Your son is forcing you to pick your nose? He gave me a cold. I got the sniffles. Maybe it makes him laugh a little. You mean leagues that host it? You could do it on CBS. Of course, yeah. We just did one two weeks ago.

Yeah. Also, I think most fair... So I used to hate the non-snake rookie draft. I've come around on it a little bit. But I think what you should do is first two rounds non-snake and then beyond that snake. What do you think? Sure.

Either linear or what you just said is fine. Okay. Next email. John, who's in the back of Dave's favorite Chicago restaurant. Ooh. So he's obviously in Chicago. Yeah, but what restaurant? Giordano's.

Okay. Dear Rick, Dave, Randy, and Hunter, those are wrestlers? They are. Okay, another Todd Gurley trade in a Dynasty League. This was someone else, I guess. i guess yeah okay it was in his league he gave up todd girley and pick 2.6 for 1.8 and 2.3 oh god that's somebody who just wants to get out of the todd girley business yep that's terrible. Yeah, that's horrible. Unless it's terrible for him.

Now, wait. Real quick. It is a two-quarterback league. So could a... Is it too early to take Kyler Murray at 1-8? No. If you need the quarterback. Right. He might not be there.

So then is this a better trade? Would Haskins be there? I wouldn't want to take Haskins. Yeah, you're right. You're waiting for Haskins at 2-3 in that case. Now, you're not trading Todd Gurley for a mid-one in a rookie draft and to move up three spots in round two. You're giving him away.

And then in a month from now, we're like, God, that guy should have traded Todd Gurley for that. I hope it's not like that. Of course. I have a conference call in two minutes, so I have to read these emails here. This is from Josh in Pennsylvania. I have Gurley and Malcolm Brown.

I gave up Gurley and Malcolm Brown. I got James Conner and Matt Breida. That's fine. That's fine. Okay, yeah. He had the 10th pick in the rookie draft, and Daryl Henderson went 9th. So you're okay with giving up Gurley and Brown for Connor and Brita? Yep. Okay, it's Malcolm Brown, by the way, not

Antonio. From Brandon, would you rather have Trubisky and a three or Russell Wilson in a 12-team, two-quarterback league? Trubisky in a third round pick? It just says a three, so I'm guessing that, yeah. Trubisky in a third or Russell Wilson in what?

In a 12-team, two-quarterback league. Like, would you trade Russell Wilson for Trubisky in a third round pick? in what? In a 12-team quarterback league. Would you trade Russell Wilson for Trubisky in a third round pick? I'm assuming there's keepers in this. Is this a keeper league where the third round pick is going to... If it's a traditional league, I will gladly take Trubisky in a third round pick over Russell Wilson. Yeah, agreed. So I have a conference call now.

It's about something very exciting that I hope to be able to tell our listeners about soon. Ooh. Sounds like quite a cliffhanger you're leaving us with. That's right. So hooray for that. More free stuff for Adam. No. No. Well, maybe more

free stuff for the listeners. Who knows? Thank you for listening, everybody. We'll come back at you on Tuesday. Have a great three-day weekend. Enjoy the holiday. Barbecue. Omaha Steaks. Na-na-na-na, na, na, na, na, na.