Fantasy Football Today - 05/31: Backfields to Avoid; Teammate Combos (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: May 31, 2018

Bottom five OL in the NFL (1:50)! Which lines will be terrible in 2018? Are there backfields we are simply avoiding in drafts (9:30)? ... We put Ezekiel Elliott under a microscope (12:45) and discuss the upside and downside of drafting Zeke. Is there any chance he is a bust this year? Also Dave eats something that sounds gross but isn't (17:35), Jamey gives an awesome Russell Wilson stat (19:15) and we take you through the NFL news (21:45) ... Teammate combos (29:03)! Devonta Freeman and Julio Jones vs. Kareem Hunt and Tyreek HIll. Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks vs. Ronald Jones and Mike Evans, plus more! ... Listener voicemails (40:22) as we try to make a realistic Fantasy dream team ... 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. Give me a call, everybody.

Call us up. We got your voicemails today, 954-689-3199. Fellas, Dave, Jamie, we have some wacky voicemails today. And sometimes we get hate email. Are you ready for our first hate voicemail? Yes! Jamie's smiling. I love it. Don't be too excited. Yeah, it's pretty funny. All this, we like you. You're great.

Adam's the best. Get that bleep out of here. Oh, yeah. And there's a voicemail that I had to bleep twice. Good. Yeah, the weirdos are coming out today. Bleep you. Thank you.

You were encouraging everyone. Yes. No, we don't want this. Oh, I don't mind the critiquing. I just don't want everyone to start calling in and cursing. It makes more work for Adam. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do that.

Do that. Well, first we got an email. Email of the day is from Joe. We'll get to that in a second. Here's what's coming up on today's show. I think we'll do this segment going forward for the next couple of weeks. We'll see how long. We'll see.

Let's put a first-round pick under a microscope and dissect the best-case scenarios, the worst-case scenarios. Today we'll do that with Ezekiel Elliott. We've got the Eisenstadt of the day, which comes from Jamie Eisenberg. I can't wait until you say that one again. I don't know why you're so opposed to Eisenstadt of the day. I'm not opposed to it. Because his name isn't like Eisenstein. I'm just in favor of what's going to happen afterwards.

I don't get it. We've got some teammate combos, and that's about it. Let's start with this email, though. Joe from a western Chicago suburb. Berwyn. Lots of talk about which offensive lines will be better in 2018. Which ones do you expect to be worse? Maybe give a five worst offensive lines going into 2018.

I picked out five before the podcast because I knew that this email was coming. And I can read them off to you. Would you like me to read them? Yeah, next time don't ask me a question when I'm taking a big drink of water. Thanks, Dave. Go. The Jets, the Bills,

the Cardinals, the Texans, and the Bengals. I would put them in my bottom five. I disagree on the Cardinals. I think they're going to be better than people think. Just overall? I'm just talking about their offensive line. I mean, getting Humphreys back I think is huge.

I don't mind what they've done with their offensive line. Oh, wait. The names were the Jets, Bills, Cardinals, Texans, and Bengals? Yeah. And Jamie disagrees about the Cardinals. I'll tell you when they got worse. Panthers. Panthers did get worse.

Sure, because they lost Norwell. Yep. The Niners got better. Well, forget better. Forget better. We do better all the time. The Texans is interesting. I mean, that's the most high-flying, high-powered offense of this group.

Jets, Bills, Texans, Cardinals, Bengals. Do the Texans have a bad offensive line to the point where we should be worried about the studs on their team? I'd be worried about their run game. I wouldn't worry about Watson because he can move out of the pocket and make plays. It's kind of what he did last year that made him so great. Yeah. But remember yesterday we did talk about A.J. Green and why he had somewhat of a disappointing year, and we cited the offensive line as a reason for it.

Now, actually, this is something I wanted to do. He did. A.J. Green had some really tough matchups last year. Segway alert. I think we're done with that offensive line conversation. Joe, thank you for the email. A.J. Green faced Jacksonville. One catch for six yards, and he got ejected.

He faced Denver and actually put up 11. He would have gone off in that game. Yeah, no. He did do very well against Denver. Four catches, 50 yards, and a touchdown. And he faced Minnesota and he had two catches for 30 yards. So he had a tough schedule.

That's all I have to say about A.J. Green. Jamie, welcome back. Thank you. Good to hear from you. I've been here for the last five minutes. Now here is... Yeah, but you weren't on the show yesterday. Here is a voicemail from someone who doesn't hate us. So here's the thing. Don't get mad when you hear it because at the end you'll hear his reasoning for the email.

But here is – Mad at me? No, just mad at us. Here's a man who did not give his name. He wants to remain anonymous, I guess. He wants to egg our houses. Here we go. Hey, what's up, Adam and CBS fantasy football fan, Jamie and the gang.

Just wanted to make a comment. I'm really, I'm just fed up of listening to you guys talk and you say PPR rank and then standard rank. Everyone knows that it's very different. Can you just get with the program and rank things per half point PPR? It's just so annoying hearing you guys go back and forth. Just if you go with half-point PPR in your rankings and discussions, we'll know to add a little for PPR with certain guys

and subtract a little with certain guys. We need something that isn't so annoying to listen to as far as rankings and debates. Thank you. This is elementary. Second point, you guys would not stop about players like Paul Perkins, who sucked and just liked his workload, but it was unproven, no talent. Giants had no line.

And I'm hearing similar things about this Kerryon Williams guy from Detroit. I mean, come on. Can we just get a fundamental, just some logic on our picks? Okay? Like, you guys just go on a rant about these guys. Danny Woodhead, Jamie, are you serious? Come on. Can you guys get me some sleepers like Thielen that I gave you last year

instead of recommending these bums? Detroit Lions cannot run the ball. Get it through your thick heads. Have a good one, guys. I love the podcast. Sorry for the negativity, but trying to make things better. head. Have a good one, guys. I love the podcast. Sorry for the negativity, but try to make things better. Peace. Have a good one, Adam.

No problem, KJ. He loves the podcast. And what did he call him? Carry-On Williams? Carry-On Williams. Carry-On Johnson is his name. Yeah, all right. So there are a couple things to address here.

First of all, let's start with the most important one. Jamie, why is Danny Woodhead one of your sleepers for this year? I don't think he meant for this year. I think he meant in previous years. Kind of made it sound like it was for this year. No. Is he one of your sleepers for this year? Yeah, he is.

He's a sleeper NFL analyst. I hope he gets a job somewhere. He did me in previous years, I assume. And he had like three catches in one drive to start the year, right? Yes. And they got hurt. Yeah. Whatever. So the half PPR thing, look, I want everybody to play

half PPR. I do. I want everybody to play nothing but half PPR. It would make things easier. Well, of course. This was your call. It was you. That's not me. It wasn't me. But we know what people... It was Dave Azer.

We know what formats people use in CBS leagues, and half PPR... If we just tailored our discussion to half PPR, it wouldn't serve a quite big enough audience. So there's that. I mean, look, I get his point. It's easier to adjust that way than it is to adjust if you play in a non-ppr league versus ppr and going back and forth with whatever

our discussion is but look we don't talk about every format out there because there's not enough time yep right exactly exactly uh so there's that now the the carry on johnson, like you can't compare him to Paul Perkins. Carry on Johnson was a second round pick. Paul Perkins was a fourth round pick. Paul Perkins, fifth round pick. Paul Perkins is pretty bad, though. And this Detroit offensive line should be good. Right.

That's our whole premise. Like, maybe the Lions can't run the ball, but they want to run the ball. They should be able to run the ball, right? I'm Johnson's biggest detractor. I think he's kind of an average running back. He landed in a pretty good situation, but it's with a team that's habitually used, multiple running backs. I don't think he's going to be a big breakout running back this year.

So if you want me to bang the gong for him a little bit more, angry caller, angry voicemail. No, he agrees with you. I know, but I think he wants me to. You guys have bad takes. It's okay. They're not bad takes. It's an opinion. We both don't think Kerry Johnson is going to be great.

Kerry and Williams. Oh, excuse me. And Paul Perkins was never that great for the Giants. His value right now is awesome. So like him or don't like him, you're getting a starting running back in the seventh round. That's amazing. Right. And that was the theory with Perkins, too.

And that is what you got. You got a starting running back probably later than that, seventh to eighth to ninth round, something like that. How many points do I get for him starting? Yeah, but you want some opportunity, right? I'm not saying he's not going to get opportunities. When you get into that point in the draft and you're trying to get guys that are going to hopefully be good, that's the spot you take chances on players. Okay, but if we go back in time and look at Perkins and think,

well, the Giants, so we go back a year ago. The Giants didn't do anything to help their offensive line. They looked like they were going to have another bad offensive line. They hadn't been a good running team. We didn't know much about Perkins, but to be fair, in 2016, he did fine in his little audition. Is there a team now where you can say, gosh, I don't care who gets the job. He's just not going to be very good. I completely want to avoid this backfield.

Jets. Jets is a great one, and I kind of feel that way about the Lions. Really? Yeah. How come? Because we haven't seen them with a good running game for fantasy purposes for a long time. That was Jacksonville's run game before Leonard Fournette last year. Oh, so now Kerryon Johnson is Leonard Fournette?

But to say that a team hasn't run the ball in a matter of years means they can never run the ball again? You're right, but it took a fundamental change for that to happen. Okay, so what are the Lions trying to do? I don't think they're trying to make a fundamental change to their offense. They drafted an offensive line and a running back with their first two picks? That's not a fundamental change? I think they're trying to be better. That's not a fundamental change? I think they're trying to be better at running, but I don't think they're going to take the ball out of Matthew Stafford's hands.

Okay, but that doesn't mean they can't run the ball better. It's not a fundamental change. It's trying to improve at running the football. What the Jaguars did was a fundamental change. They said, we can't have Blake Bortles throwing the ball 35 times a game. Here's a great running back. Let's take him with our first-round pick. Let's put the best offensive, we can't have Blake Bortles throwing the ball 35 times a game. Here's a great running back. Let's take him with our first-round pick. Let's put the best offensive line we can around him,

and let's control the clock with a great defense. The Lions aren't doing that. They're on their way there, but they're not there yet. They won't do that until Matthew Stafford sucks. That's not going to happen for a while. He's only 30. I think they're trying to make Matthew Stafford better, and by making him better, they're giving him more help.

By giving him more help, they're trying to run the ball. Again, not a fundamental change in how they will call plays this year, but something that could – we agree that they're a run game. They're trying desperately to improve their run game. I think they could have done a better job than with Kerryon Johnson. They traded up to get him. They like him. That's great.

They still could have gotten a better running back. All right. See, he's. They like him. That's great. They still could have gotten a better running back. See, he's not Dave's guy. That's fine. And I wasn't a big Paul Perkins guy either, by the way. No, you were not. No, you were not. Let's put a first-round pick under a microscope. I'll also say if Andrew Luck is out, I wouldn't really care which running back was starting

in Indianapolis. Oh, that's another one. And even if Luck's there, I think it's going to be a guessing game every week. But if Luck's there, there's a lot of points. A lot of points. Yeah, but they're going to use a lot of guys. It already reports that Naheem Hines is lining up all over the place. He's not getting carries.

That's okay. He'll get a lot of catches. He'll get a few carries. But they're going to be like Philadelphia. They're going to use a bunch of running backs. Oh, and we'll talk about Jay Ajayi later because he says he wants to be a workhorse. Let's put a first-round pick under a microscope. Also, I forgot to tease this.

Dave is going to eat. What are you going to eat today, crackling oat bran? I have it right here, crackling oat bran and Greek yogurt. All right. I promised you I would do this. And if Heath were here, I would have brought in tacos with plain Greek yogurt for him to eat. And see if he could tell the difference between a taco with sour cream and a taco with Greek yogurt. I think he'll be able to tell the difference.

Sour cream and plain Greek yogurt is the exact same thing. No, he'll be able to tell the difference, but he'll like both of them. It's a very healthy, nice substitution. We'll do that some other time. All right. Let's put a first-round pick under a microscope, and let's do it with Ezekiel Elliott. He is entering his third season.

He missed six games last year due to suspension and still finished 10th in non-PPR, 12th in PPR at running back. If he had played 16 games, he would have been the number two running back in standard based on his points per game and top five in PPR. However, that is based on the 387 carry pace that Ezekiel Elliott was on, which would have tied for 13th all-time and been the most since 2006. All right, what is the best-case scenario? What is the worst-case scenario for Ezekiel Elliott, guys?

Let's start with best-case scenario. C,2016. Yeah. So best case scenario, I would say is most valuable player in fantasy. Right? Of course. Depends on how you define MVP. Yeah, not necessarily based on draft

value, but potential number one pick. First round elite talent. Worst case scenario? C-2017. No, no. He could be – he could – He can miss six games. He could get hurt because teams are stacking the box against him, so he takes on a lot of hits.

I mean, obviously, worst case scenario is he gets hurt. No. If he plays – I'm going to eliminate that. Okay, so this is the first time we're doing this segment, so let's – Taking injury out of it? Yeah, let's eliminate injury. What's the worst case scenario from a healthy –

Todd Gurley, 2016. Everybody knows he's great. Everybody's trying to stop him. Offensive line problems, whether injury or not. I mean, look, that offensive line did not play as well as it did two years ago, last year. It was still better than what the Rams put on Gurley. I'm not saying it's the same scenario. I'm just talking about the situation.

So it's one of those things where offensive line struggles or those guys get hurt. And you saw last year what Dak Prescott looked like. He had a sophomore slump. But his success rate for Elliott, 25 games over two years, double digits, fancy points, non-PPR league, 24 times. 20 touches in 21 games of the 25. I mean, it's so pretty, it'll make you cry. Yeah, the carries are amazing.

Are the carries a bad thing, though? Is it too much? Not yet. Eventually. Eventually. But, you know, they ran DeMarco Murray into the ground, and they let him walk. Run Ezekiel into the ground and let him walk.

I mean, not great for Dynasty, obviously. But, you know, this kid is young. He's talented. He's going to hopefully improve as a pass catcher. It's hard to find a flaw without factoring in injury. Do you think he could catch 45 passes? Yeah, he was on that

pace last year. He was on pace for 42. Okay, excellent. Yeah, and you'd think he would year. He was on pace for 42. Okay. Excellent. Yeah. And you'd think he would have to step it up a little bit. I guess the worst-case scenario would be that the Cowboys are terrible offensively. But he'll still be on the field. I know, but would it maybe— You'll get points for starting, Dave.

Would it cut into his touchdowns? You get points for touches. Would it cut into his touchdowns? That's the question. It's hard to find a knock on Ezekiel Elliott. He seems pretty damn safe now. He's my, I think he's my number two running back. Number two or number three.

Yeah, he's third for me in non-PPR, fourth in PPR. Sounds about right. Who's ahead of him? Kamara? In PPR? Yeah. David Johnson. David Johnson. Okay. ahead of him? Kamara? In PPR? Yeah. David Johnson. David Johnson.

Okay. Dave, you ready to eat? That's a silly question. What a stupid question. I'm not ready yet. First, I have to tell you about something even better than free food. Free hair! Well, not exactly.

66% of men lose their hair by age 35. So, fellas, if you're out there, if you think this could become a problem, let's be proactive about it. Let's go to 4hims.com slash FFT. F-O-R-H-I-M-S dot com slash FFT. What is HIMS? What is 4hims.com? A one-stop shop for hair loss, skin care, and sexual wellness for men.

Our offer code is about the hair loss feature. Our listeners get a trial month of HIMS for $5 if you get on there right now while supplies last and go to 4hims.com slash FFT. $5 for something that would cost you hundreds if you went to the doctor or a pharmacy. So we're giving you well-known generic equivalents to name brand prescriptions to help you keep your hair. There's no waiting room.

No awkward doctor's visits. You save hours by going to 4hims.com. Answer a few quick questions. And a doctor will review it. And then they can prescribe you what you need. 4hims.com slash FFT. F-O-R-H-I-M-S dot com slash FFT. Please take advantage of this, guys.

Five bucks if you feel like you need this product for your hair. 4hims.com slash FFT for a $5 trial month. All right, Dave. Let's do it. Sorry. That's me. The box of Kraken O'Brien has been opened. What is the genesis of this? What is the – Sorry. That's me. The box of crackling O'Brien has been opened.

What is the genesis of this? What is the – We got an emailer or a tweeter who said that I had to try this. And then he wrote in and we read his note on Tuesday. Oh, it smells so good. Here, Jamie, smell this. No. Smell this. I don't even smell cat food.

I'm good. It's not – oh, this is the best smelling cat food out there. And he says that I have to try it with Greek yogurt. Cracklin' Opran and Greek yogurt. And Cracklin' Opran is Dave's favorite cereal. Very controversial take. It's the best. Here we go.

That is Cracklin'. Oh. Don't fast forward. You've got to listen to this. I already fast forwarded in my mind. It was great. It's because of the amazing cereal that Kellogg's makes.

The best part is you already got yogurt on your shirt. I did? No. I looked. So is it good? Yeah, very good. I knew it would be. What kind of Greek yogurt did you get?

First off, anytime you add flavor to something that has no flavor, you're doing a good job. It just has flavor. It has kind of too much did you get? First off, anytime you add flavor to something that has no flavor, you're doing a good job. It just has flavor. It has kind of too much flavor. It's perfect. What kind of Greek yogurt are we talking here? 2%? Cold?

No, nonfat. Oh, good. Good for you. Strawberry banana. Oh, that's a lot of flavor. Strawberry banana, yogurt, and crack an oat bran? It's like the Fourth of July of fireworks going off in my gullet. Are you ready for your Eisenstat of the day?

I just accidentally got cereal all over the place. Okay, here's the Eisenstat of the day. Jamie sent this to me. Good stat. In 2017, after injuries to Richard Sherman and Cam Chancellor in Week 10 at Arizona. Russell Wilson averaged, in six-point-per-passing touchdown leagues, 24.2 fantasy points per game in the final seven games of the season. And he had four games with at least 27 points over that span. So, Jamie, do you think that is cause and effect?

And I will say, before you answer, the three games before that, he was even better. 32 points, 43 points, 26 points at the Giants against Houston against Washington. What do you think about the correlation between the injured defensive backs and the production for Russell Wilson? You know, I was looking at the game logs. It's not like there was big shootouts

in those games either, so it's not like he was chasing points. But I do think that this defense is going to be worse. I don't think you you get around that given the guys who they've lost, whether they're aging and starting to fade anyway. But Chancellor, good chance he doesn't play this year. We know that Sherman is gone. Michael Bennett's gone. Cliff Averill's gone. And we don't know what the status of Earl Thomas is given his contract situation. So there's a lot of talk about the Seahawks wanting to run the ball, be better at running the ball, you know, go back to the Lions situation if you want to make a

comparison, except the Seahawks probably in a little bit of a worse spot. So they add a running back in the first round of the NFL draft, which, by the way, Brian Schottenheimer said will handle 70 percent of the touches, which is, you know which goes without saying, I think, given the other guys they have there. And they signed DJ Fluker. They don't replace Jimmy Graham with a pass catcher. They're replacing him more with a blocker, a vet Dixon. And as we know, the only significant change to their receiving core that they've made, unless you're a Jerron Brown fan, is signing Brandon Marshall. So I still think Russell Wilson is going to have a similar workload to what he had last year, be right around 550 pass attempts, and still have a chance to be the number one fantasy quarterback.

I don't think he'll get there if Aaron Rodgers is healthy, but this whole thought about the run game taking away from Wilson, who accounted for 37 of the team's 38 total touchdowns last year, I don't think it's going to change very much. Russell Wilson threw the six most pass attempts in the NFL last year, and he keeps increasing that number. 483, 546, 553. Those are Russell Wilson's pass attempts in his last three seasons. All right, thank you for the eyes and stat of the day. Time for news and notes. Sterling Shepard is going to play outside wide receiver this year,

at least more than he did last year and the previous season. He's been primarily a slot guy. Sterling Shepard to the outside. The Giants will use fewer three wide receiver sets. What do you think about that? Does that change Shepard's value at all? I don't think it helps, but

look, if they're not going to use three receivers, that means he's going to be still involved to a significant level. So his targets should be in a healthy spot. He's probably looking between 80 to 100 targets for the season, assuming everybody stays healthy. So he's a good guy to put at the end of your bench.

He's going to be touchdown dependent. According to titansonline.com. I probably didn't need the.com. It's kind of self-explanatory. It's the official team website. Could be.org. Could be.

That's not the official team website. Corey Davis is impressing. He has been very good during OTAs, according to titansonline.com. I would have been more surprised if they were like, Corey Davis sucks during OTAs, according to TitansOnline.com. I would have been more surprised if they were like, Corey Davis sucks during OTAs, according to the official team website. The fact that he's out there practicing probably is enough to say that he's impressing. Yeah.

JJ wants to be a workhorse. And based on where he's been going in our drafts, if JJ does become a workhorse, he might just be the best pick in the drafts. He's not going to be a workhorse. You don't think so? No. Not unless a bunch of other running backs get hurt. Well, Blunt's gone.

Or unless he does really, really well. And he could. He was pretty good for them. They don't have LeGarrette Blount. You look at the playoffs, the postseason, three games for Jay Ajayi. He had 15 carries, 18 carries, and then nine carries. Blount was the guy in the Super Bowl. What did you say? Blount was the guy.

Blount was the better of the two in the Super Bowl. He was the guy in the Super Bowl. It was a revenge game. That's what mattered. Very true. But no other running back for Philly had more than three carries other than Blunt and Ajayi. So who becomes the Garrett Blunt? I think Ajayi is good, but I think he's going to lose passing down work because they're bringing back Sproles.

They brought back Sproles. And they, you know, I mean, look, this is offseason time where everybody is getting glowing reports or wants more work or is going to be fantastic. And so Corey Clement's another one that they talked up, and he talked up being more of a factor and wanting more work. So when I say they talked up, I mean the media in Philadelphia. And he's somebody that deserves more touches too. The interesting thing about their backfield, I think, is the reports of who's going to be the fourth guy.

Because you would assume it's Wendell Smallwood, just based on what his, you know, sticking around with the team. They drafted DJ Pumphrey last year, who had a lost rookie season. But they signed Matt Jones off the street. And right now, according to reports, he's the frontrunner to be the fourth guy. And so if you're talking about who's a big physical runner of the guys that they have on the roster, he could steal a couple touchdowns from Ajayi if he does make the team.

And that could be a little bit of a problem. Or is he just the backup battering ram? Because let's just lay out a situation where Ajayi if he does make the team, and that could be a little bit of a problem. Or is he just the backup battering ram? Because let's just lay out a situation where Ajayi gets hurt, then it's Clement and Sproles, and you lose that physical element to your run game. So that's why I think Matt Jones could end up making the team. Not that he's fantasy relevant. He wouldn't be unless Ajayi went down.

But that is the one nice thing about Ajayi when you're looking at him for fantasy purposes is that he has a role that the only other guy that can do it is Matt Jones, and they're not going to put him on the field very much. I think Corey Clement can. You've got to be big physical to score touchdowns, I think, is relevant. Corey Clement can score touchdowns inside the five. Okay, just looking at our most recent drafts and our non-PPR draft,

Jay Ajayi went in the fourth round of a 12-team league. He went 39th or 40th overall. 40th overall. And in the PPR league, he went to me 62nd overall. Second pick of the sixth round for JGI in PPR. One running back ahead of Royce Freeman and Marlon Mack right before them. All right, next news item. Allen Robinson practiced for the first time since tearing his ACL in week one.

Good to see. Do you guys know who my favorite football player is? Probably you. For your Thanksgiving game. No, it's Judevion Clowney. I love Judevion Clowney. He's your favorite? Yeah, I love him.

He's my favorite to watch. He had arthroscopic knee surgery and will be out until training camp. That's a bummer. Stay healthy, sir. That team, man, they just can't get over these injuries. As a guy who had Judevion Clowney in the IDP League,

and I watched him like a hawk, I feel like he got dinged up so much. I was always like, oh, no, Clowney got hurt, and then he'd be back in four plays. It's something to watch. And Brandon Marshall. So Brandon Marshall had surgery while he was recovering from the ankle injury. He had toe surgery, and he said his toe has been bothering him since midway through the 2015 season. and he hasn't been good since then, but now he's got the toe and the ankle

healed. Jamie, why don't you weigh in real quickly on the topic we addressed yesterday, Brandon Marshall going to the Seahawks. None of us seem enthused about drafting Marshall. If he makes the team, he's not a bad late-round flyer. I still would rather have Tyler Lockett over him as the second Seattle receiver. But there's so much production that has to be replaced there. 16 touchdowns, 1,200 yards, 100 catches from two guys who were big contributors for them last year, which would be Graham and Paul Richardson. So the biggest thing Marshall will bring to the table is his ability to find the end zone. And prior to last year, three straight years of at least eight touchdowns. So could he be six to eight touchdowns if he plays 16 games? Yes. Will he be 700 yards and do what Paul Richardson did? Maybe. 40 catches?

I mean, 50 catches? Who knows? I think it's an offense outside of Baldwin. They'll spread the ball around. But it's not a guarantee he makes the team. The way that the contract is set up, as far as I understand it, most of it's in incentives to get to the $2 million. They could walk away from him in training camp and really not blink an eye. So it's a wait and see right now, but nothing more than a late-run pick. And he's 34 years old and looked lost last year. Brandon Marshall. And finally, Jacksonville

offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett says he needs to get running back Corey Grant the ball more. Does that matter at all to you guys? Corey Grant, who averaged over 8 yards per carry last year. Corey Grant. I think he could be in a camp competition

with TJ Yeldon to be that guy behind the guy. And when it's third and ten, I don't know if Fournette's the best running back to be on the field for Jacksonville. That's something that Grant could do. It's something Yeldon could do is play in that role and potentially catch the ball, make somebody miss, and get the first down. Grant had a 58-yard run on a fake punt. Take that away, and he only averaged 6.6 yards per carry last year. All right, let's do some teammate combos,

and we'll finish off with voicemails. I know Dave has to leave soon, right? I got a little more time. Yay! Thank you, thank you. All right, teammate combos. Who would you rather have? Devontae Freeman and Julio Jones or, voice crackage, Kareem Hunt and Tyreek Hill.

Devontae Freeman and Julio Jones or Kareem Hunt and Tyreek Hill? I'll take the Chiefs, guys. I'm a fan of Tyreek Hill. I'm a fan of Kareem Hunt. And I think that offense is going to be on the field a lot and throw the ball a lot. Jamie, Freeman and Jones or Hunt and Hill? No, I would take the Chiefs guys as well. It's more so for Kareem Hunt because I think Devontae Freeman has a little bit less potential.

Just given the fact that Tevin Coleman, I think, will continue to steal from him as a pass catcher. I don't really know who's going to be the number two guy in Kansas City because Spencer Ware is still trying to come back from that knee problem from a year ago. And so if Ware is healthy, he could be a little bit of an annoyance. But I think the other guys, the Kerwin Williams, Damian Williams, Sharkandrick West group, none of them bother me as much. But Julio Jones is so much far and away better than Tyreek Hill as a ceiling play that I

think, you know, it makes a little bit difference. It's a good comparison. Do you worry about injuries with Freeman? Based on last year, the concussions. No, I mean, concussions are, you know, the ones that are reported, the ones that are not reported. You know what I mean? It's going to be a problem all the time.

To me, it's more the lower body that would take him off the field. Okay. So we're going with the Chiefs guys, Hill and Tyreek Hill and Kareem Hunt, excuse me, over Devontae Freeman and Julio Jones. All right. Next teammate combo, Packers or Dolphins? Devontae Adams and Jamal Williams or Devontae Parker and Kenyon Drake? Devontae Adams and Jamal Williams or Devontae Parker and Kenyon Drake?

This is a no-brainer for me. It's the Packers. You've got Adams as the number one receiver for Aaron Rodgers. You have Williams as expected to be the lead back to begin the season for Green Bay. me it's the packers you've got adams is the number one receiver for aaron rogers you have williams is expected to be the lead back to begin the season for green bay i think those are two guys that people are going to start immediately when the packers play the bears week one yeah i would i would hope that's the case um it's very interesting the the split on jamal williams right now um so i actually just answered this

for the mailbag column that I do every week. Somebody asked me a question on what's the Packers running back situation and do you anticipate one lead guy or a 60-40 split? And I did two drafts recently. One was our PPR mock draft. Dave took Jamal Williams in the fifth round.

The other draft I did was an analyst draft for a different publications magazine. Aaron Jones went in the sixth round. I took Jamal Williams in the eighth round. And if you look at their rankings on fantasy pros, Aaron Jones by the industry is being ranked ahead of Jamal Williams, which, you know, you go back to last year how they finished. And Williams looked like the better running back um i think a lot of people like jones's uh metrics his ability um what he showed in in the short time he was

healthy last year i think it's gonna be a frustrating backfield to be honest with you i keep moving williams down and you know how i felt about jamal williams last year he was my favorite packers running back. The way I answered the question was, take the one that's left. Ignore Ty Montgomery. If you're in a draft and people like Aaron Jones, take Jamal Williams. Don't reach for him. If you think that Jamal Williams goes too soon, just wait on Jones. Our drafts have seen Jones go much later than he probably should.

I don't agree with him going in the sixth round, and I would take Williams over him still. But in this case, I'll still take the Packers guys because I do think that Jamal Williams has a higher ceiling as a running back than Devontae Parker does as a receiver. But don't be surprised if Aaron Jones is the best running back in Green Bay. Teammate combo number three, Todd Gurley and Brandon Cooks or Ronald Jones and Mike Evans?

Todd Gurley and Brandon Cooks or Ronald Jones and Mike Evans? Todd Gurley and Brandon Cooks or Ronald Jones and Mike Evans? I think that's a good one. It made me pause. I'm going to take Gurley just because it's Gurley. He's going to be the consensus number one overall pick in fantasy

drafts. Jamie, Cooks and Gurley or Evans and Jones? I think Cooks is goingley or Evans and Jones? Ronald Jones. I think Cooks is going to be a fantasy bust this year, but I'll still take him and Gurley just because of Gurley. Yeah. Would you guys take just Gurley or the Tampa combo of Evans and Jones? Interesting.

I think I would take just Gurley. I was pretty much doing that anyway. Yeah. Because, you know, whatever Iland. I was pretty much doing that anyway. Yeah. Because, you know, whatever I get with Brandon Cooks is an added bonus. I think Jones can be very good this year. I don't think he's going to be like a top 10 fantasy running back. I think Evans can be a top 10 receiver. That's not saying much.

The thing about Evans is you figure he's going to be around 140 targets like he was last year. So he had a drop off of I think it was 30 some odd targets from the year before 170 targets is uh is is not realistic with everybody they have there now um and i know he likes to joke uh touchdowns no touchdowns touchdowns no touchdowns for him you know so hopefully he gets back in in the end zone on a more regular basis with evans um jones i i love jones potential i just worry about them screwing him up from our perspective. Like, he'll be their best running back, but will Peyton Barber steal enough touches to make it annoying? Will Charles Sims steal enough passing downs work to make it annoying?

Will they sign Adrian Peterson? No, he's going to the St. Louis Rams. St. Louis Rams? Yeah, he said in a post or an interview, I forget where it was, he listed the teams he wanted to play for, and he said the St. Louis Rams. Good luck, buddy. All right, last teammate combo, Lions or Panthers, Matthew Stafford and Marvin Jones or Cam Newton and DJ Moore?

Matthew Stafford and Marvin Jones or Cam Newton and DJ Moore? Matthew Stafford and Marvin Jones or Cam Newton and DJ Moore? That's another tough one. I like Newton better than Stafford in fantasy. I've got Jones ranked higher than Moore, but it's not by a lot. I will go with the Panthers combo, citing Newton's upside and whatever Moore can bring to the table.

You have Marvin Jones and DJ Moore ranked in the same area? No i mean i've they're not as close as cam is to stafford but i've moved marvin jones down some um yeah i i think marvin jones is another receiver that's going a little too soon he's he's a guy that i've you know put in the bus column um but i would take the lions guys easy over this one uh in this one just just because DJ Moore is one of my favorite rookies at any position. He's certainly my favorite rookie wide receiver, but he's got a lot of work to do to get to where Marvin Jones was, or should be at least this year. Just to be clear, I've got Jones as a borderline number two fantasy wide receiver

and more outside of the top 36. So not quite the same group. This is the noise I make, the noises, when I draft Marvin Jones. Really? Yep. All right. Look, he was awesome last year, but if you look at what his targets were and his production was when Kenny Galladay was healthy and on the field,

it's not the same. I just felt like he was very up and down. Yardage was up and on the field, it's not the same. I just felt like he was very up and down. Yardage was up and down. Touchdowns were better for him than they had been. But that's any of the second, third-tier wide receivers. I mean, you know, there are going to be a lot of boom and bust with those guys. Do you think he can get the same amount of targets that he had? No, again, when Kenny Galladay was healthy.

The one saving grace is their tight end position is blech. So they can go to more three-receiver sets, spread the Ebron production around. But, again, whether it's trying and being successful or just trying, they are going to try and run the ball more. So whether it's Kerryon Williams, Kerryon Johnson, LeGarrette Blount, whoever's going to beat the guy there, somebody's going to run the ball. Well, let's go back to some voicemails then. We are at 954-689-3199.

Now Dave might have to hop off the podcast because he has some HQ responsibilities. What is HQ? CBS Sports HQ is our 24-7 streaming video channel. You can get it on your Amazon Fire, your Roku, your Apple TV. You can watch it on CBSSportsHQ.com if you just want to sample it, but I recommend putting it on your device and sitting down on your TV and watching it on your TV, on your Roku, which is what I do. It's awesome. It is smart analysis. Great time to be watching CBS Sports HQ. We'll get you some fantasy help. Also talk NBA finals, Stanley Cup finals, anything relevant that's going on.

If you grew up loving sports coverage and you don't really like it that much anymore, I recommend you try CBS Sports HQ. It is the best. All right. Before you go to voicemails, I got a quick trivia question for you. Love it. Can you name the five receivers who had the most receptions from the slot last year, according to Pro Football Focus.

Golden Tate. He's one. Jarvis Landry. Two. Larry Fitzgerald. That's not the order. I'm sorry. Two guys are on the list.

Yeah. Larry Fitzgerald. Three. Now it gets tricky. Yeah, sure does. And the orders, you got the top three. Landry was one with 68 catches. Fitzgerald was two with 65.

And Golden Tate tied him with 65. Can you say receivers or players? The thing I'm looking at from pro football focus is just wide receivers. Okay. So saying a tight end. I'm going to guess Keenan Allen. I don't know how much he lined up in the slot. No.

And just think about the numbers I just told you. Landry 68. Fitzgerald and Tate 65. So under 65 catches from the slot. Jamison Crowder. Nope. I don't know if he had 65 catches for the season. No, but he probably had a lot more from the slot. One guy you might get, one guy you'd be surprised if you get

Dave you're working on this too? Yeah Would Adam Thielen make the list? He's not on the list And remember he wasn't the slot guy Diggs was the slot guy last year Diggs on the list? Nope

Oh man I have no idea I'm drawing a blank Emmanuel Sanders No no no I'm not ready to give up Emmanuel Sanders Nope Yeah I'm drawing a blank. Emmanuel Sanders. No, no, no. I'm not ready to give up on that. Emmanuel Sanders. Nope. Yeah, I'm not ready. Aguilar.

Wilson Aguilar. Aguilar is one. Okay. That's not the one you were surprised about. No idea. All right, I'll give you a clue so we can wrap it up. He switched teams this offseason. Allen Robinson.

Thank you. Brandon Marshall. Paul you. Brandon Marshall. Paul Richardson? Nope. Oh, no. Albert Wilson? No. Oh, Danny Amendola.

Danny Amendola. All right. 54 catches from the slot along with Nelson Aguilar. Cool. By the way, I just got an email that I lost a bet on the baseball podcast and I have to eat Peeps tomorrow on the air. Are you averse to them like you are to the bamboozle? Who likes Peeps?

Scott White and four-year-old kids like Peeps. They're the worst. All right, let's listen to some voicemails. Here we go. Now, here we go. I am so bad at operating this board. Hey, Adam. Hey, Jamie and Heath. This is Josh in Alameda, now. Here we go. I am so bad at operating this board. Hey, Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.

This is Josh in Alameda, California. Last year you guys discussed drafting out of the number two hole in the draft and taking the strategy of grabbing Le'Veon Bell with the first pick and on the turn in the second round coming back grabbing Zeke and Ezekiel Elliott. So my question this year is, do you have another player with a similar situation like Ezekiel Elliott that could slip in the draft but deliver number one round value? That's all. Thank you for all your shows and your advice. Yeah, well, Zeke was a pretty unique situation.

I guess Mark Ingram comes to mind, right? Sure. I mean, if you get what he did a year ago, this year, you'll be thrilled. Could we say it about Dalvin Cook, or is he too expensive? Yeah, he's too expensive. He was one of the first names that popped in my head. The other one is, you know, just in terms of delivering first-round value, is Gronk.

Yeah. And then you have the receivers that will slip oh i got one ty hilton uh that's another great one uh you'll have the receivers i think that slip into round two not necessarily that far to the end of round two but you're gonna see potentially beckham almost certainly the chance of Julio Jones, Michael Thomas, and A.J. Green, you know, guys that were or have been awesome at times. Mike Evans, that's probably the one. Mike Evans could slip to the middle of the back end of round two. And if he bounces back in terms of the touchdowns,

you'll obviously be thrilled about that. Devontae Freeman, maybe too. And LaShawn McCoy, you know, two guys that are going to go into round two, beginning of round three. Did you say Allen Robinson? Do you feel that way about Allen Robinson? Well, are you talking about, like, second round picks? Or are you talking about guys that are just going to be available to you later in the draft? Because Robinson and Ingram aren't going into the end of round two.

No, I was thinking fourth round the latest. Oh, I mean, Amari Cooper? Yeah, I don'tari Cooper? Yeah. I don't know if I feel that way about him. Huh? I don't know if I feel that way about him. I don't know if he has first round upside. And are we talking about players that you draft in rounds two, three, and four

that will finish as like top five at their position or number one? First round, what he said was first round return. I think that's what he said. All right. Well, yeah, I'll go back to those receivers. Jordan Howard? I'd say Freeman, McCoy, and Howard are three. Okay.

All right, cool. That'll do it. That's good. Thank you, guys. All right, next email. This is from Pat in Ohio. We've heard him before. I had to get rid of his greeting because I wasn't sure if it was something that shouldn't be said on the air.

Probably wasn't, but had to play it safe. Here we go, Pat. What is up, fellas? If you could draft your dream team of fantasy realistically, who would you love it to be? Choose your own format to have your opponents run and scare. Short and sweet ain't good for my teeth. Oh, Jeopardy's on. Gotta go. Have a lovely evening. Okay, thank you. What was the question? If you could pick your fantasy dream team in any format, what would it be?

And I am somewhat prepared to answer this question. So why don't you start and give us an example. I started out in a PPR league, and we always do 12-team drafts pretty much. We'll do some 10-teamers and 14-teamers, but we mostly do 12. In a PPR league, I started out with Le'Veon Bell with the second pick and Christian McCaffrey with my second pick, 23rd overall. And just looking at another PPR draft, if I could go Bell. So wait, I'm sorry.

So it's realistic players in those draft slots? That's kind of how I'm approaching it, yeah. Not just your all-star team? No, I mean, no. Okay, I got it. No, it makes more sense your way. Bell, McCaffrey, Doug Baldwin. Or Bell, McCaffrey, Zach Ertz, or Travis Kelsey.

Kelsey would be better there. If I could start with Bell, McCaffrey, and either Baldwin or Kelsey or Ertz. Probably Kelsey. I don't think I'd take Ertz there. That would be a great start for me. And then in round four, gosh, Golden Tate went in this slot there. That would be huge. So I'm looking at an actual 12-team draft and who was realistically available.

Bell, McCaffrey, Baldwin, and Golden Tate in a PPR league would freaking love it. And then Juju Smith-Schuster I could have gotten with the next pick. That would have been an amazing start, I think, in a PPR league. I would love to have a top three pick so I could get one of Gurley, Le'Veon, and Zeke. And in a dream world, Gronk would be there for me in late round two. And then in round three, maybe somebody like, I don't think Mike Evans would slip that far, but Tyreek Hill has slipped that far for me. And I think he's a top 24 player.

I'd love to start with those three guys on my team. Say it again? One of the top three stud running backs, and then Gronk, and then Tyreek Hill. Okay, I like that. Jamie, you want to maybe take a later pick in the draft? Yeah, I'm looking at a draft, again, that one I referenced with Jamal Williams going after Aaron Jones. I picked ninth in a PPR league. DeAndre Hopkins slipped to ninth.

So this is a realistic thing from a magazine you'll see. I took Hopkins in round one. A.J. Green round two. Zach Ertz round three. So that's pick 34. Kenyon Drake round four. This would not make Heath happy, but Julian Edelman, round five. In PPR or standard? In PPR.

The 26th receiver off the board, I'll take that all day. I think even he would be happy with that. No, I don't think he would, but I was thrilled with it. And then I just started taking running backs. Marlon Mack in round six. Kerryon Johnson in round seven. Jamal Williams in round eight. DJ Moore, Rashard Matthews. He would like that one.

So, yeah, it's kind of what we talk about. Take stud receivers at the end of the draft if you can. If you can get a tight end, do it, and then load up on running backs. And that's a three-receiver league, so I'm starting Julian Edelman. Good, good for you. So you heard me say that I want Christian McCaffrey in PPR at the end of round two. This voicemail, I don't really get it, but I had to bleep it. Here we go.

Jesus. Let me tell you a couple, three things. You got some b****. You got some b****. McCaffrey? McCaffrey? McCaffrey? McCaffrey? That's it. I have no idea.

That's my favorite call of all time. Let me... Let me tell you a couple three things. Let me tell you a couple three things. Honestly, that's the best call we ever had. I could clip that. Let me tell you a couple three things. Yeah, you should.

All right, I might. You could clip McCaffrey, too. McCaffrey? I also clipped this from months ago. Acer, you suck. Yeah, there's that. Was that Costas? I don't know.

That's somebody called and just left that voicemail. Actually, he made me listen to like two and a half minutes of music and then just goes, Acer, you suck. All right, here's a real voicemail. Actually, he made me listen to like two and a half minutes of music, and then just goes, Acer, you suck. All right, here's a real voicemail. Hey, guys, this is Greg from central Pennsylvania. Wanted you to grade the trade for me real quick. I'm in a 12-team PPR dynasty league. I traded away Allen Robinson and Jarvis Landry for the number one overall pick.

Great job. Great job, Robinson and Landry. It was PPR, overall pick. Great job. Great job. Robinson and Landry. It was PPR, right? For Saquon Barkley. Yeah, it's great on paper. I just would like to know what his receiving core is because you're giving up a lot of capital.

Yeah, I mean, those are pretty good players right there. It's worth it. It's worth a shot at what Barkley could be. But, you know, if you're left with just a terrible, terrible receiving core, you know, you're adding one spot and hurting another. Last voicemail here, 954-689-3199. We've answered this a lot, but if you still have questions, we'll still answer it for you.

What's up, CBS football gurus? This is Phil, a.k.a. Phil from MD. Last year was my first year having first took overall in 15 years of fantasy football, and I went with David Johnson. Obviously, that didn't work out. Thomas. Do you guys think we can go David Johnson first round again this year? Is it worth it?

Is he safe? Is he injury prone? What do you guys think? Appreciate the show. Appreciate the time. Have a good one. Thanks. Bye.

Do people really believe that David Johnson's injury prone? Well, over the last two years, he hasn't been able to finish his last two games. So I think people look at his knee injury in week 17 and his wrist injury in week one and say— So he's gotten hurt in his last two games. His last two games over two years. But he would have come back last year if the Cardinals weren't in it. Yeah. I mean, he missed a lot of time.

But he still would have missed more than half the season. Huh? He still would have missed more than half the season. Oh, no doubt. No doubt. But that's also because of the decision they made. If they decided not to put him on short-term IR, he may have been back sooner. Ooh, I don't know.

I mean, if he could have been back sooner, they would have brought him back. Well, I mean, he was pushing to, you know, he wouldn't, I don't think at least he would have been out the full eight weeks. Okay. He would have been out enough where he would have been a bust. He would have been six weeks. Well, bust if you're counting injuries, yes. Yeah. I wouldn't label him as injury prone.

I think he's absolutely worth a first-round pick. And, you know, again, you can look at the Cardinals quarterback and offensive line and say bad. You could look at it maybe from my perspective, which is a little bit more optimistic. I still think there's an opportunity for him to reach his goal of 1,000 to 1,000, which is what he's talking about, 1,000 rushing yards, 1,000 receiving yards. He was a 2,000 total yard guy two years ago, you know, and put up a ton of production with, you know, probably better quarterback situation.

You know, remains to be seen what the combination of Bradford and Rosen will do compared to what Carson Palmer was at the end of his tenure. But I just think what his workload will be, what his success rate should be, I think he's no worse than the fourth-best running back coming off the board, depending on format. I think he'll get a ton of catches. I think that's what really saves him. The injury-prone thing is something that I just – I've said this before.

I just am not sure I really believe it anymore. I believe it with Rob Gronkowski, and this is a guy who's had a lot of back issues, and he could take those hits over the middle. There are certain guys I fear it for. Jordan Reed is injury-prone. Tyler Eifert is injury- yes absolutely um but but there's you know for the most part like the argument we're making about that some people are making against david johnson is the same argument that was made last year by myself about levion bell levion bell got hurt three seasons in a row ended the year

hurt three seasons in a row i believe twice the year hurt three seasons in a row. I believe twice it was in the playoffs. But that seemed like something that we really needed to consider. And if you downgraded him because of that, then you lost. I think, I don't know if this is true, but I think that the Cowboys offensive line is so good that it helps keep running backs healthy. And Ezekiel Elliott having a ton of carries and not getting hurt in two seasons is one thing. But how about DeMarco Murray and Darren McFadden,

who were the two most injury-prone running backs probably, or at least among them? They were able to stay healthy for Dallas. And let's be fair. Look, the knee injury in Week 17, if they played a game the week after, they were in the playoffs. Who? The Cardinals. Were they in the playoffs that year game the week after they were in the playoffs? Who? The Cardinals. Were they in the playoffs that year?

No, they weren't in the playoffs that year. No, I don't think so. He probably played in that game. Oh, I don't think so. Well, I don't know that's true. He got carded off the field. Yeah, so I think for the most part there are certain situations where I can say injury prone or not injury prone.

Yeah, well, you had this question with Keenan Allen last year. It's kind of a crap shoot. It's Keenan Allen injury prone. He tore his ACL and lacerated kidney kidney you know dave asked a question about devante freeman you worry about injuries i again you can look at the concussion it's a it's a huge issue that we you know we talk about whenever the nfl is discussed when it comes to injuries but again how many guys get reported concussions and how many don't you know it's it's hopefully getting better but i don't know if you could take that into account.

In David Johnson's situation, he's had one major injury, but it's something like Dave said, he could have come back from had they been in a better standing with their team. And as one of our emailers pointed out for David Johnson, it was a hand injury. If he had back-to-back leg

injuries, more concerning. Hand injury, not as bad. All right. Thanks, Dave. Thanks for hanging out the whole time. Happy to help. Cool. And thanks for reading on the air.

This is disgusting. We are back next week. We'll talk to you most likely on Monday. Have a great weekend, everybody. See you later. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Bye.