Fantasy Football Today - 07/09: Finding Studs in Round 3 (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: July 9, 2018

Debating upside and downside of DeMaryius Thomas, Juju Smith-Schuster and Allen Robinson (2:46). Does Thomas bounce back with a QB upgrade? Can Robinson ever be that amazing player again? ... Adam reacts to a new NFL.com list of top WRs (12:40) and Jamey reacts to his conversations with Travis Kelce (17:22) and Mark Ingram (20:24). Then we talk about a draft strategy (24:00) centered around upside and wonder who the next Todd Gurley is (27:45) ... Putting Le'Veon Bell under a microscope (38:30). Where are the TDs? Will another training camp holdout cause us to move him down in the rankings? Also the Fantasy Regulators are back (46:40)! ... Your emails at [e-mail] and voicemail at 954-689-3199 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. Well, some people are taking him number one overall,

but Le'Veon Bell has never has never scored double digit rushing touchdowns in a season we're putting him under the microscope today for the first time we think welcome everybody adam aser and jamie eisenberg here debating have we done this yet with levion bell i don't think we did jamie i think we're in the clear sure i mean listen you are the guru of planning shows. Yeah. As we had this conversation once before, I will share it with you again since you are probably remembering it for the first time. Since I know you spoke to Scott Fish recently. Yeah. He was so impressed by how you host your shows that when I met him in Minnesota, I showed him your notes.

Right. him in Minnesota, I showed him your notes. I gave him a peek behind the curtain, and he was like, oh my god, because of how much preparation you do and how in-depth you go with your notes. You gotta put the time in, man. So if you don't know what our show format or show history has been,

we're screwed because we depend on you. Oh, well, that is not true. There have been many shows without me, and they've been just fine. But, yeah, man, that's a game you've got to put down. Well, those are actually the ones that we submit for awards, but that's a different story. And that's why we don't win. Speaking of which, podcastawards.com.

Please nominate us, podcastawards.com. I'll tell you about that in a second. So I'm Adam. He's Jamie. Jamie is actually – and this is another reason why we have a good show. Jamie is working on his day off today. Jamie is taking a little vacation time, but nobody else is in. So Jamie said, I will hop on the podcast with you. We're going to talk upside and downside for

three wide receivers who are ranked very similarly in Jamie's rankings. We're going to read your emails, fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Listen to some voicemails at 954-689-3199. 954-689-3199. We're going to put, like I said, Le'Veon Bell under the microscope, and I ask people who's the next Todd Gurley, and guess what? The fantasy regulators are coming on the show a little bit later, so get excited about that. We also have the most absurd list of all time being published on NFL.com.

What are the fantasy regulators? So you haven't been here for the fantasy regulators. We answer commissioner questions with the Warren G. featuring Nate Dogg regulate song on in the background. And we groove. You like it? Sure. It's a big hit so far.

Alright, Jamie. Until you get sued for copyright for it. Nah, don't worry about it. Which of these three wide receivers has the most upside? Is it Demarius Thomas, Juju Smith-Schuster, or Alan Robinson? Who has the most upside, Demarius Thomas, Juju, or Alan Robinson? Juju. That is what the Twitter folks say.

1,300 votes. Juju. That is what the Twitter folks say. 1,300 votes. Juju has 43%. Alan Robinson has 41% right now. So very, very close. Juju slightly more upside than Alan Robinson. That would have been your answer, huh? It's not how I have it ranked, but we saw what he could be if Antonio Brown gets hurt.

And I think that is a level that is where you hope Allen Robinson will be because he's the number one guy in that offense. But if Brown, for whatever reason, misses time, Smith-Schuster was a beast last season when Brown was out. And he was awesome the one game Martavis Bryant was out too. Yeah, he was double-digit fantasy points in non-PPR in all three games without Antonio Brown. And yeah, one game—I don't remember what exactly was the one game without Bryant, but yes, he was great. It was the game that Bryant was suspended by the Steelers against the Lions.

I don't have the stats there. Oh, that was a huge game for him. Monster game, yep. Yeah, so Juju is— so how do you rank those three? Robinson, Thomas, Smith-Schuster, I believe. Robinson, Thomas, and Juju Smith-Schuster. All right, who has the most downside, Demarius, Juju, or Allen Robinson? I guess it's probably Thomas.

Let's see what the Twitter people said. They said Demarius Thomas, 2% more vote than Allen Robinson. This one was close, 39% for Demarius, 24% for Juju, 37% for Allen Robinson. So Demarius squeaks by, winning the downside polls so far, which could change, still going to be up for a little while. My fear with Thomas is that he gets overdrafted because of the new quarterback. Yeah. Like, all of a sudden, he's back.

And I hope that's the case because we've seen what he could do when he's had good quarterback play, which obviously was Peyton Manning. But the last couple of years have been bad for him. Not that he's crushed your fantasy team because he's still put up competent numbers, but not to where he was being drafted the last couple of years as a second and third round pick. I think second round 2016, third round 2017. But I just fear that Keenum's arrival will sort of push back expectations and he's getting older and they just drafted two receivers.

And I think that they'll be a little bit more committed to the run. So I just hope that he's in that range of where Smith-Schuster and Robinson will go and not really necessarily ahead of them. So Demarius Thomas, let's take a look at what he's done over the last five fantasy seasons and where he's finished. 2012 through 14, actually this is the last six seasons, 12 through 14. Demarius was a top five wide receiver. He was number one once. He was number two once. He was number four or five

in 2012. He was 1,400 yards or more every year. Double digit touchdowns every year. He had a season, Demarius Thomas, with 1,600 yards and 11 touchdowns when he led the NFL in targets. 2015, still top 12. 12th in non-PBR, 9th in PBR. 2016, he fell to 16th in both PBR and non-PBR, but he had 90 catches.

He only had five touchdowns. Last year, got even worse. 23rd in non-PBR, 16th in PBR. He had 83 catches, 949 yards, and five touchdowns on 141 targets. Career low, 11.4 yards per carry. So it's gotten worse per catch. It's gotten worse and worse for Demarius Thomas. And the quarterback situation has gotten worse and worse.

So I guess the question is, well, why can't he? He's gotten 141 or more targets six straight seasons. Why can't he be awesome again? They obviously have been dreadful at quarterback over the last couple seasons. Why can't he be awesome again? They obviously have been dreadful at quarterback over the last couple seasons. Why not, Jamie? Oh, I think he can. It's just a matter of what the expectations are because we're talking about a guy in Keenum last year's first time he played 16 games. Can he do what he did in Minnesota, for a full season where he clearly, I know you can sort of nitpick how good feeling and digs were based on their, their numbers respectively.

But clearly he supported those two guys to play at a, at a, at a good level, if not a great level. And I think just, you know, the thought would be is if you're a Thomas guy, if you think he has a chance to bounce back, you're going to say, OK, best quarterback he's had since Peyton.

Now he has a chance to put up those numbers again. But he's been older. He's battled a hip injury over the last couple of seasons. I think you'll see Emmanuel Sanders have a little bit of a resurgence as well where he was relatively bad. I also think that they will, for the first time, maybe since Thomas and Sanders have gotten together, have better complementary options with whether it's Sutton or Hamilton, the two guys that they drafted this year. Sutton would be the one I think you have to be the most optimistic about. And I also think that Jake Butt, if he's healthy,

has a chance to be a player for them and help out that tight end position, which hasn't been the same since Julius Thomas left. But you also have to look at the run game. Royce Freeman is somebody that they're high on, whether it's him or Booker. Both those guys I think are going to get their opportunity to get some touches. I would anticipate it being Freeman. But I just think it would be a more diverse offense instead of just Thomas and Sanders carrying the load like they did when Peyton Manning was great.

Do you think Thomas gets 141 targets again? I take the under, not by much, probably 130, 125, 130 in that range. But I think he's more of a mid-to-back-end number two guy than he is more of a high-end to number one guy. Again, I hope I'm wrong because he's been great. You don't hope you're wrong. Why would you hope you're wrong? I mean, because I like Demaryius Thomas. I've gotten a chance to talk to him quite a few times.

So I think he's a good player and certainly can put up great stats. Last thing on this topic, Jamie. How much does this mean to you? I want to talk about Allen Robinson. Now transition over to him. I looked at the last 10 years of an Andy Reid offense, which you think the Bears would run with Matt Nagy as their head coach. At least it would be similar.

And how many number one wide receivers have had big years in an Andy Reid offense? There have been some good ones. Last year was probably the best one with Tyreek Hill getting over 1,100 yards. In the last 10 years for the Eagles and the Chiefs, there have only been two instances of an 1,100-yard wide receiver. There has been – Chavis Kelsey got very close or maybe had that two years ago, but it hasn't been an offense that's had like majorly amazing number one wide receivers. Sean Jackson, Jeremy Macklin, Tyree kill. They've been very, very good. They haven't been, you know, incredible fantasy options. Does that matter at all for you? Because, because we

have seen a 1400 yard season from Allen Robinson just three seasons ago. Yeah, I mean you could say probably pedigree he might be the best. Tyreek Hill was a different type of receiver. Yeah, yeah. Deshaun Jackson, same thing. I think – I don't think Robinson is going to be 1,400 yards. I don't think he's going to be what he scored, your 14 touchdowns? Yes, yes. think robinson's gonna be 1400 yards i don't think he's gonna be what he scored that you're 14 touchdowns yes yes um i i think he got it he has a chance to be around a thousand yards and and

eight touchdowns okay that's kind of where i would sort of ballpark it remember he's still coming back from an acl injury that the the reports this offseason or the latest reports following minicamp and and otas were that he, you know, only started to practice toward the end with the team. So training camp, I think, is going to be big for him. He could be, you know, a faller in rankings, you know, myself, Dave Heath, you know, whoever you follow, if he's not, you know, doing everything in full and getting in some preseason games.

It's a new quarterback. We're putting a lot of faith in Mitchell Trubisky. Not just with Robinson, but with Trey Burton and potentially Anthony Miller if you're taking him late. But I think you just look at Robinson when he's right. I think the floor is what we saw in 2016 and the ceiling is what we saw in 2015. All right, that's going to wrap up our Twitter poll. And now during this time of year, it's going to wrap up our Twitter poll. And, you know, now during this time of year, it's a bit of a dead zone in NFL news.

There's not much going on. So I like to, on these shows, talk longer about fewer players because once the season gets closer, I find that, you know, I'm always in a kind of a rush to talk about a lot of players and we don't get to spend as much time. So I like on these shows we get to expand a little bit, kick our heels up, relax, talk about these guys in depth, and that's what we're going to do today with Le'Veon Bell. Also, I'm going to discuss three draft strategies this week and get your thoughts on them.

We'll talk about draft strategy number one as we talk about Todd Gurley today. A few quick notes here. Please vote for us on podcastawards.com. You can go there. I think you just have to use an email address and create a password, but it's really easy. Podcastawardsplural.com. We're in the sports and recreation category, and we're in the people's choice category. Just nominate us.

Fantasy football today. That would be very much appreciated. And a note about the voicemails. Thank you very much for leaving them. 954-689-3199. Very nice of you. I don't have the opportunity to respond to them, so if I don't play them on the air, you're not going to get your question answered. A lot of times I'd like to say, hey, thanks for the nice comment or something,

and I don't get a chance. A lot of times I determine who gets on based on sound quality. Sometimes the voicemails are choppy and I can't use them. Shout out to Oreo Salad on Twitter for leaving your voicemail. I'm not going to get to it on today's show, but I heard it. Thank you, dedicated listener, dedicated tweeter. Anyway, it means a lot that you guys take your time to leave those voicemails or to write your emails.

I wish I could respond to all of them, but it's just not possible. Jamie, the most absurd list of all time has been published. Gil Brandt of NFL.com ranked the top wide receivers of all time, and he is Calvin Johnson, 18th overall. What? No. Stupid. Terrible. Sorry, Gil Brandt. You're a brilliant person. You know a lot more about football than I ever do, but you are wrong on this one.

Calvin Johnson is number two, maybe number three of all time. I think you're both probably wrong, but I think he's probably a little bit closer to being wrong than you are. He's wronger than I am. Calvin is definitely a top ten receiver. As he noted himself, as Gil Brandt noted himself, Calvin Johnson

is third all time in yards per game. So he's just being penalized for longevity. But man, he was the most dominant player of his era. For sure the most dominant wide receiver. He's amazing. He's number two. He's not better than Moss or Rice.

He's not better than Rice. He's better than Moss. No, he's not. Per game, he's better than Moss. No, he's not. I mean, I think the stats bear it out. I'm pretty sure they do. Randy Moss took plays off.

I don't think he's better than T.O. He's better than T.O.? No. I was surprised Andre Johnson was ahead of Calvin Johnson. That was crazy. Yeah, that was very surprising. Alright, Gil Brandt. Sorry about that. I hope we can be friends. Jamie, you had a chance to talk to Travis Kelsey

and Mark Ingram today. That was awesome. Let me get your quick thoughts on the Packers running back situation. We did talk about it with Heath and Scott Fish last week, but you wrote a story about it on the website on CBSSports.com slash fantasy. What's your thoughts on Aaron Jones' two-game suspension and what it means? I mean, clearly it helps Jamal Williams because he's going to get the chance to be the workhorse type of guy early on.

It's almost like what's going on with the Saints running backs, which ties into talking about Ingram. But I think Williams now puts himself in that round five, six range where he was probably being drafted too soon. I know Dave was taking him in that spot, and I thought that was too soon, given the fact that Aaron Jones was going to compete for the starting job. I know you always like to focus on yards per carry. Hey, don't say that.

Don't say that. Well, I mean, you do. You put an emphasis on it. It's not a bad thing. I mention it a lot, but I don't want to be the guy who pays too much attention to yards per carry. No, no, no. It's not a bad thing. Okay, okay.

He averaged 5.5. The other two guys in terms of Montgomery and Jamal Williams were under 4. Yes. Williams was at 3.6 but he also was at 3.6 playing the majority of his games without aaron rogers right aaron jones had the opportunity to play with rogers when williams and montgomery first got hurt so um i i think you look at jones and you know his metrics may be better his his uh you know peripheral numbers may be a little bit better but you know williams i think is probably a little bit more of a complete player and has the chance to sort of take hold of the job. So I still say the same thing I said all along about these guys before the suspension,

there's going to be pockets of the season where all three of them are good, but great last year. You know, the early part of the season, you know, not necessarily from again, yards per carry or is overall numbers, but I think he had 18 catches through the first four games. So he's going to be involved in that part of the process. And then you look at Williams and Jones, they'll sort of cannibalize each other a little bit once Jones is back. But if Williams is playing well and that offense is clicking, I don't think you'll see Jones overtake him.

So I would still take Williams first. That's the way I always had it. Jones, to me, is now probably third. And Montgomery, especially PPR, is the second best option. I'm looking at an NFL 10 ADP, and you can do a date range here. And since Friday, that was the 6th, right? Yeah, Friday till today, I'm surprised by the ADP. Williams is going 82nd overall.

Jones is going 98th. Ty Montgomery is going 114th. I mean, Williams at 82nd overall is very surprising to me. It's a lot lower than I thought. I thought he'd be like in the 60s. For whatever reason, the fantasy community does not like Jamal Williams. I don't understand it. I think it's the yards per carry, to be honest.

It probably is, and it's probably the fact that he's got to share with two other guys, and it could be that Aaron Jones had the more explosive numbers. But they trusted Williams more in pass protection. They trusted him more in the passing game, and so I think he could take away from Montgomery in that regard. Mike McCarthy

always talks about wanting to be, you know, sort of keep the offense in flow and not have to rotate guys in and out, bring guys in and out for different situations. Williams does that better than Jones. Yeah. All right. We already talked about it on Friday or Thursday, so let's wrap that up.

That's the Packers running backs. Let's go on to your interviews today with Travis Kelsey and Mark Ingram. What did you learn from them? With Kelsey, it was a lot about Patrick Mahomes, obviously, just the new quarterback. He said they've already thrown together. He talked about having that it factor of just being able to show that. The thing he said was he already walks into the situation feeling like he belongs here. I think the point

that Travis was trying to make was he's not going to get overwhelmed by the moment. He said it's a learning process. He's learning the Andy Reid offense because Alex Smith has been there for years. The one thing he talked about, which I thought was interesting, was the dynamic of the receiving core. He's never had

complementary options around him like this with Tyree kill coming off the two seasons that he's had certainly last year. And now Sammy Watkins, um, you know, so I, I think it'll be interesting to see how those three guys work together. Uh,

I don't think it's going to hurt Kelsey, you know, very much. Um, but he could lose a few targets, um, in terms of where he's at right now. So he's working out at,

uh, XPE sports, which is a training facility out of Boca, Boca Raton, Florida. And he said it's the first time, I guess in a couple of years, I didn't look at this fully, but that he's battled off-season surgeries or is coming off some surgeries from the last couple of off-seasons. So I think he looks in great shape. And if that is the case, that he's healthy from week one of training camp on, that's a great sign because we know what he's been the last couple years when maybe he's been less than 100%. But I'm always a big fan of guys that don't just rest on their laurels. It's not really the case in today's NFL anymore.

These guys do so much from January to July, and I get a chance to see it quite a bit because I go to places like this. And I'm always impressed by how these guys, you know, just hone their craft. And, you know, I think for Kelsey, I asked him, you know, do you feel like you're in that tier now of the best of the best? And, you know, he said, yeah, you know, he feels like he's there with Gronk. You know, he mentioned a lot of the older guys, you know, Jimmy Graham, Greg Olson, Delaney Walker. But, you know, he feels like, you feels like he's there, and I think he's proven it. You have Gronk number one, right? Mm-hmm.

But in a keeper or a dynasty league, Kelsey? I think you have to. It just depends on what your mindset is. I got this question yesterday from a colleague of ours who is in a startup dynasty draft. Oh, yeah. I know him. He asked me the same thing. I didn't know he was going behind my back.

He's been asking me for advice with the number two pick. Okay. So he asked about his pick in the second round, and I said, the list of guys he gave me, I said, take Gronk and try and win now, especially with the tight end scoring being what it is in that league where I think it's a point and a half. I told him to take Mixon, I think. Or no, I think I told him to take Gronk and Mixon with the two picks. Yeah, I told him Gronk and McKinnon.

Oh, you like McKinnon better than Mixon and Dynasty, huh? Well, I just think in the PPR scoring. McKinnon, to me, has a chance for 70 catches. Okay. And what did Mark Ingram have to say? So Ingram, obviously the suspension. He said he was caught off guard. He said he hasn't done anything differently

from what he's done in the last couple years. Take that for what it's worth. I wasn't going to press him on this because that wasn't really the setting for it. But the other thing, like I said, I kind of like how players are the ones that take themselves to hone their craft. I also like it when guys are aware of their situation. And I asked them last year, I said, from week five on, that's when you took off last year.

And he said, yeah. He goes, I really couldn't get anything going in the first four games. He mentioned Peterson being there. And then we talked about when the suspension happened, that when Peterson was traded, which was, I think, going into week six, um, that's when Ingram and Camara really took off. And, you know, Ingram, I like the fact that he's aware of that, you know, he, so he understands that he can still have a great season from week five on. He said he had, you know, uh, which, which I didn't confirm, but, um, you know, over a thousand years rushing from that,

that point forward. So he's, um, you know you know, about 750 yards away from being the Saints all-time leading rusher. He said that's important to him, you know, especially going into a contract year where this could be his last year in New Orleans. And, you know, and one thing he talked about, which, again, I like when guys are aware of their situations. You know, he understands that he's an older running back now. And he said, he's like, one thing that's kind of helped me is the system I played in where we've rotated backs every year of my career. And so he feels a little bit fresher than some guys that are in the same situation that he's been in five years and six years and seven years.

And he mentioned that. So I think Ingram is still, I got a couple questions on Twitter when I mentioned I talked to him, that I still think he's worth drafting in that round five, round six range. Because while they brought in, they have guys, they drafted Boston Scott, they have Jonathan Williams, they signed Terrence West. You have to wonder, can Kamara hold up all season if he gets a heavy workload? And are they just going to go away from Ingram? I don't think that will be the case. I still think if you can manage it correctly, you can have a top tier, easily number two,

potentially number one type of running back from week five through week seven. And when did you say you want to draft Mark Ingram? In that round five, round six range. I'm not sure he's going to last that long. He might not Yeah, the same list that I'm looking at on MFL 10 38th overall But draft since Friday

You know, I can expand the date range a little bit Go to another month out June 6th When did he get suspended? Before June, right? I think so All right, well, since then Yeah, 41st, 42nd overall

So that's middle of the fourth round Early, or the third round No, fourth round, sorry Early to mid-fourth round Mark Ingram is being drafted And that's a little early A little early I think, you know, once you get past

The Drake, Mixon, Collins group, that's where he should come into play for you. So if you don't want to take the chance on Darius Geis or Rashad Penny, if you don't love Jay Ajayi, try to think who else is there in that range. That's basically the group. Yeah, yeah. That's where Ingram comes into play.

Okay. All right, Jamie, draft strategy talk, okay? Sure. First of all, forgot to mention this. Jamie's working from home today. Yeah, yeah. So if you're wondering about that, that's why. But he's the man for coming on. Okay, so I don't know why. I've just been thinking a lot lately. Every time I have a free moment in my head, I'm thinking about fantasy football and what my draft strategies are going to be. Truth is, I don't know if strategy is all that important. I mean, hitting on a player is the most important thing, or two players or something. Yeah, Todd Gurley last year, you probably won or came close to it.

So draft strategy number one that I'm going to throw out this week is this. Every single pick you make is about upside, and that is it. You only take players who have the potential to finish at the top of their positions, not necessarily number one, but close to it. So I think Leonard Fournette is a lot more upside than Melvin Gordon. I don't think Melvin Gordon is number one running back upside. I think he's more like a number five running back. I'm not saying – like as of right now, I'm taking Gordon over Fournette.

But if I were to use this strategy, I would take Fournette. I don't think A.J. Green is number one wide receiver potential. I do think Devontae Adams does, or number two or three. I think he has more potential than A.J. Green is number one wide receiver potential. I do think Devontae Adams does, or number two or three. I think he has more potential than A.J. Green. I would make that pick. Every single pick, at least for a while, is upside-oriented. Because, you know, the basis for this strategy is this. I play a lot of fantasy baseball, obviously.

I host the podcast. You've got a lot more players than fantasy baseball. It's not one guy carrying your team, typically. Fantasy football really can be one guy mostly. It could make a huge, huge difference. Ezekiel Elliott the year before, Todd Gurley last year. You get that guy, you're in great shape. So get that guy.

Do what you can to get that guy. And draft solely on upside, Jamie. What do you think about that strategy? Well, I'm glad you do that because I know we've had this conversation on air, off air, where for a while you were drafting a lot based on safety and who's the safer pick. In the first two rounds specifically. My strategy was always try to avoid busts in the first two rounds. Right, which again isn't necessarily a bad way to go either.

I think this is an interesting topic for Heath because Heath tends to take guys, or at least when it comes down to some of this, and I don't want to speak for him. But I just know some of the players over the course of the last couple of years since he's been working with us that their end of the year numbers are good but the week-to-week numbers may not be so great like the conversations we've had about larry fitzgerald over the last couple of seasons yeah you know where at the end of the year he finishes with amazing numbers or good numbers but sometimes the week-to-week consistency where is is a little bit lost where you know you may have taken somebody with more upside in that particular range. Doug Baldwin, right? Doug Baldwin is the poster child for that.

Sure, perfect example, which is funny because he's also a Doug Baldwin guy. But I think if you're looking at – when you started talking about this, I'm thinking of some of the guys he likes, like Rashard Matthews, for example, who may not be great, but he likes him better than Corey Davis, where to me, Corey Davis has much more upside. And so if I'm taking the two Titans receivers, I would much rather have Corey Davis in this scenario. Now, if we get to a point in the draft, I'll take Rashard Matthews' floor,

but I don't necessarily want to draft a guy's floor. I want to draft a guy's ceiling, and I think that's what you're talking about here, which I totally agree with. Yeah. It's why going back to last year, why I was hammering home, take Ezekiel Elliott. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because if the suspension was reduced, you have potentially the best fantasy running back. And so I'll always lean that way, and I'll always tell people to lean that way.

That's just the way I approach it. So that leads me to this question, which I ask people on Twitter. Who is this year's Todd Gurley? And I had one in my mind. I had kind of a sneaky one in my mind. But some of the suggestions are Jarek McKinnon. Well, I think before you get there, you should explain what you're talking about because I don't necessarily know exactly what you meant.

I assumed it was who's going in the maybe second or third round that could be the best running back in football. I think I left it open to interpretation, but yeah. Some people said like David Johnson I got. I'm not talking about top five, top seven picks or anything like that. I'm talking about, yeah, who's going outside the top 20, let's say, and has the potential to be the best player in fantasy or the biggest steal in the best player in fantasy.

The biggest steal in the draft, or the draft MVP, because even though Todd Gurley was probably taking around 25th overall, he still was probably the best pick in the draft. He was just that good. Oh, by far. Right? Yeah. Obviously, there were guys who were taken a lot later that had great seasons, like Tyreek Hill, and I'm not blanking right now, but you know what I mean.

But still, Gurley was on another level. Jarek McKinnon, Joe Mixon. I think everybody's sort of running back in that same range. You're talking non-PPR, PPR, or it doesn't matter? It doesn't matter. Okay. A couple people said Dalvin Cook, but he's going too early. So there were a few votes for Joe Mixon.

The guy that I thought kind of fit this criteria is Jordan Howard. And I think I brought this up fairly recently. But really, really impressive rookie year. Pretty disappointing sophomore year, even though Howard, I believe, finishes the top 12 running back. Now we got a new offensive coordinator. And can he go back and kind of

surprise us and be amazing again? He doesn't have as much upside as Gurley. No question. But Jordan Howard, Jarek McKinnon, Joe Mixon were three answers that I thought were pretty interesting. Alex Collins as well. So I guess, Jamie, the question is, oh, Derek Henry's were pretty interesting. Alex Collins as well. So I guess, Jamie, the question is, oh, Derrick Henry's in there too.

That was an answer. That, you know, once we get to about the beginning of round three in a 12-team league, 24th, 25th overall, the running backs that are going in that range kind of dominated these answers. Who do you think has the best chance to be this year's Todd Gurley? Henry was the one I was thinking about before you mentioned his name. But I think the one thing to sort of look at, and this is, again, something you harp on quite a bit, along with your love for yards per carry, is what's his role in the passing game? Because that really is what I think helped Gurley take even more of a step than maybe he would have was how much he was involved

as a receiver and I know just from I spoke to him twice you know at the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl and in both those conversations and then also talking to Le'Veon Bell about Todd Gurley you know that was something that was brought up from each of them was what his role was as a pass catcher so I don't think you're going to get that. So I don't think you're going to get that from Henry. I don't think you're going to get that from Collins per se. But the other two guys you talked about, I mean, you just heard me say a few minutes ago, I think McKinnon could be a 70 catch guy. I don't think that that would be a stretch in the Kyle Shanahan offense.

And Mixon, you know, for as much as Giovanni Bernard is there, he's got, you think he had 38 catches last year. He was right under 40. So he could be that type of player also that can make the leap to close to 50 catches. And I think that's the type of guy you want to sort of pin this on, is who can be that dual threat type of player. Because Howard, I agree with you. He's been almost numbers- numbers wise not to the same

level but not far off especially given the the draft discrepancy nfl draft discrepancy but jordan howard and ezekiel elliott are are very similar in what they've done through the two first years of their careers um from the secondary metrics and so you know i think if howard could be a little bit more involved in the passing game too but i don don't think that will happen with three Coens. So it's really hard to sort of look at all these guys. If you're just going to say who has the best chance to do it, I would probably say Mixon just because of what his dual threat role could be. And he's got the pedigree.

I mean, let's not forget that. We know Gurley was a highly drafted prospect. He was a stud in college. Mixon was a second-round pick, but he fell because of off-field issues. He's got more pedigree than Jordan Howard, certainly, than Jarek McKinnon. But, yes, even in a standard scoring league, even in a non-PPR league, you do have to look at role in the passing game. It's an extra few hundred yards.

It might be an extra touchdown or two. But, you know, I'm going to bring up a few draft strategies this week, and you guys are going to give draft strategies. And I wish I didn't care so much about results and i could just sort of experiment this year maybe i will because i don't really play i'm probably going to play in like nine leagues it's usually what i do and maybe three of them will be for money and not a lot of money so maybe i'll just sort of try different strategies and see what works and well i'll give you an example. First off, with Mixon, we get asked about this a lot, and I know I don't want to overstep my bounds

in terms of how you prepare your shows, but I'm sure once we get past all the first-round guys, you'll start to expand it to putting second-round guys under the microscope. Oh, I pretty much already have. We did Fournette yesterday. We're doing the borderline ones. In terms of Mixon, we get asked about him a lot because he's very

polarizing we don't talk a lot enough about they added two significant pieces to their offensive line yeah and that's the same thing that happened to girly yep two significant pieces to the offensive line so while he doesn't have the coaching change he doesn't have the potential upgrade in quarterback because jared goff clearly took a huge step from year one to year two i don't think andy dalton is making that type of leap. But the addition of Billy Price, the addition of Cordy Glenn, that could really, really, really help this run game in a big, big way. Yeah, I am starting to get more excited about Joe Mixon.

I just wish I had more faith in the Bengals offensively. I just need them – they just need to be like average. Just be average offense. Look at what Mixon did. That was as bad a year as you can have for the Bengals offensively from what they were a year ago compared to where they've been the last few seasons. So in the Dalton Lewis era when everybody's been healthy. Mixon from – I think it was week three to week 11. He was like – he averaged like nine points in non-PPR.

Yeah. Yeah. The problem was he had— It was up and down. But he had only one game with more than 11 points. He had a 22-point game against the Browns. He had 23 carries in that game. Right, but that's also when they were trying to figure out what Jeremy Hill's role was and trying to figure out what mixing could do.

They really never turned him loose. I think this year they're going to turn him loose. He had four touchdowns on 178 carries. That's a pretty low rate. But the team was terrible. Yeah, exactly. I know. That's the thing.

If they could just be like a top 18 offense or something like that, I'd have a lot of faith in Joe Mixon. Offensive line, I'm telling you. I have no idea what they finished as last year. I guess we could look that up. As we look that up, let's remind everybody about the best way to get some tickets this summer or to football games in the fall. But you need to go to a game or a concert or comedy or theater.

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Use SeatGeek, the app, or the website. And the code is FFT for $20 off your first purchase. So almost done looking this up here. The Bengals – Just for one second. While you're looking it up. 26 last year. Go ahead.

Okay, so – And scoring. I think the three guys – and if you want to throw Jordan Howard in there, I'm fine with it. Maybe Derrick Henry also. But the three guys I think that I've struggled ranking, I've seen them go almost in the same range, are Mixon, Drake, and Alex Collins. They may be in the same range ADP-wise too. I heard from someone that I trust that you could see a lot more Frank Gore than we anticipate. Now, how long that lasts remains to be seen because he's 35. But that makes me a little bit skittish about Drake,

especially since he's never been a featured guy, college or pro, until that stretch we saw last season. I remember Adam Gase struggled to give him the featured role because of – which Williams is it? Damien Williams. I always get confused because the Chiefs have signed all of them. But Damien Williams. Remember at the beginning point when they traded Ajayi, how that went?

Yeah, sure. So Drake makes me a little bit nervous. Not that I'm running away from him, but if I'm nitpicking, I'm nitpicking. And then we know what happened with Collins, who I loved Collins last year. And now you're having Kenneth Dixon back healthy. They still have Javoris Allen. And they could be one of the teams that signed DeMarco Murray, for all we know. And the fumbles.

Got to remember the fumbles. And the fumbles. Gotta remember the fumbles. And the fumbles. And I don't think while he played a role in the passing game toward the end of the season, I don't think that's necessarily what they want him to do. I like all three guys, but if I'm looking at the three of them, I'm taking Mixon

first. Because I think he has the best chance to be that feature type of guy. As much as they may use Giovanni Bernard, I think that they're going to really give Mixon the full opportunity. But you're taking McKinnon over Mixon. I think McKinnon's in a better spot.

Yeah. Do you think he has more upside? I do. Yeah. I'm saying this, but I don't know if he has that girly factor, just because I think if Mixon hits to the level that he could hit. Yeah, yeah, that's interesting. Like McKinnon might have more realistic upside, but the best, best-case scenario, Mixon's probably higher than McKinnon.

Does that make sense? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so that's another interesting way to think about it. I was going to do some news and notes. I'll save them for tomorrow. Let's put a first-round pick under the microscope. We don't think we've done Le'Veon Bell. I think we talked a lot about Bell as we talked about Todd Gurley a few weeks ago.

But we've done Zeke, Gurley, Gordon, Barkley, Hunt, Fournette, Hopkins, Brown, Beckham, Julio Jones, Michael Thomas. I think we did Dalvin Cook, too. No, I think we just talked about him on Heath Sleepers, or Breakouts, rather. All right, Le'Veon Bell is 26 years old. He's entering his sixth season. We're going to try to nitpick. We're going to try to find positives and negatives. This is the bottom line with Le'Veon Bell.

You can expect 2,100 total yards or more based on his last three healthy seasons. In fact, two years ago, he was on pace for more than 2500 total yards. So stop there for one second. If he would have gotten there, it would have been the best season in NFL history. Two years ago? Yeah. Chris Johnson has the best in NFL history with 2509 total yards in 2009. And Bell would have beaten him with 2511.

That was amazing. Now, last year, he was on pace for about 20 – no, he had 15 games, and so he had about 1,800 yards, I think. Last year he was on pace for 2,075 if he had played 16 games. He had 1,946 total yards last year. All right, so total yards machine, not exactly a touchdown machine, usually around 10 to 12 total touchdowns a year. For whatever reason, the guy just doesn't get that many carries inside the five-yard line.

I went back. I looked at each of his last three healthy seasons, three of his last four years. It's the strangest thing. Usually gets about six carries inside the five all year and has not had 10 rushing touchdowns in a season. It's very weird. But you know what you're getting. You're getting great production. He has finished number two in non-PPR

Number one in PPR in 2014 He was top five in 2016 Fifth in non-PPR, third in PPR But he only played 12 games And last year Le'Veon Bell was Oh gosh I don't have that How could I not have that?

He was number two last year in both formats. I have two cool stats for you. He's four yards shy of 8,000 total yards for his career. If he gets those four yards in his next game, which hopefully will be week one, it would be the 63rd career game of his career that he's gotten to 8,000 total yards.

It's the fastest player in NFL history to reach that milestone. Eric Dickerson is the fastest at 64 games for 8,000 total yards, it's the fastest player in NFL history to reach that milestone. Eric Dickerson is the fastest at 64 games for 8,000 total yards. So clearly he's been a monster, like you said, total yards. And I think you mentioned this, and you phrased it one way. I'll phrase it a different way. So every time he's played 12 games, at least 12 games, he rolls out of bed 1,400 total yards and eight touchdowns.

Yeah, it's amazing. The past three times he's done that, though, 1,800 total yards and nine touchdowns. 12 or more games. 12 or more games. Now, the thing is, Todd Gurley had like 19 total touchdowns last year. When these guys have their big years, they get close to 20 total touchdowns. Bell has not been that guy, but he could be. I mean, there's no reason.

It's like Julio Jones almost. You've got to feel like there's more touchdown potential with the amount of touches that he gets. So let me talk about the one thing that I could see going wrong for him, Jamie. I'm the yards per carry guy. He averaged four yards per carry last year. He had only three carries of more than 20 or more yards. Oddly enough, he had only four of those carries in 2016 when he had a great yards per carry.

The training camp holdout. He held out of training camp last year. Le'Veon Bell, it looks like they're trending that way again this year if they can't get to a long-term agreement. Did that make him a less effective runner? Does that even matter? Because he was significantly worse than Todd Gurley last year. He was 63 points worse in non-PPR and like 42 points worse in PPR,

something like that. Yeah, it's exactly what it was. So the training camp holdout is pretty much the only negative I can see with Le'Veon Bell, who is clearly a top three pick, if not number one. I think it hurt him in the beginning of the season. I'm going to look at his game log right now, and I think if you look at, you know, like we were just talking about with Mark Ingram, you know, at what point in the season did Le'Veon really get going?

And so, you know, early in the season at Cleveland week one, if you were to say Le'Veon Bell versus the Brown browns 10 for 32 and 3 for 15 that's not him no then he goes to face minnesota which you would think okay tough run defense which they were last year 27 for 87 he grinded his way to you know okay production four for four catching the ball still not what you expect week three against chicago 15 for 61 finally finds the end zone six for 37. Okay, he's finding his groove a little bit, almost 100 total yards. And then we get to Baltimore week four, and this is why you draft Le'Veon Bell.

35 for 144 and two touchdowns, 4 for 42. He got a fumble in that game, didn't lose it, but still, that's the guy you're expecting when you're drafting first or second overall. Now, he didn't follow it up against Jacksonville, but 10 catches in that game. That's Le'Veon Bell. So he's not getting the job done running the ball. That was such a bad game for the Steelers. Roethlisberger threw like five picks that game or something. They scored nine points.

And, yes, Roethlisberger was miserable in a home game against Jacksonville. But he still found his way to 93 total yards, 10 catches. So it was a star in PPR. And then follows that up with, again, Le'Veon Bell-type numbers. 179 against Kansas City, 134 against Cincinnati. So it took him some time to get his feet under him because missing training camp, missing the preseason, not necessarily in game shape. And then you saw what he's capable of.

So if your play is, I really want Le'Veon Bell on my team, but I'm not picking one or two, you want to hope that this happens again, and you maybe overpay a little bit for what the numbers are, but you know you're overpaying for somebody that could be special in the second half of the season or from that week four or five point on, given what he did a year ago. Is there anything that scares you about Le'Veon Bell other than maybe a slow start? No. I mean, you know, there's the injury risk. Yeah, I'm saying, like, why would there be anything?

There's injury risk. He did before last year when he stayed healthy, he had finished three straight seasons injured. Roethlisberger's always an injury risk that could hurt him. But how do you rank him overall? I have him, too, in both formats. You know, I certainly the the want to take him one overall in ppr i think he has that at least of the the three of us he's the only one that does it um i i just think that you know the the rams are are trending in the right direction

and not that the steelers aren't but you know i i just think that girly being a couple years younger being from that you know week one ready to go, no issues. And you just wonder if the Steelers do piss him off at some point, does the holdout linger maybe into the beginning part of the season? We'll clearly address that before the majority of drafts. But if you're doing a startup dynasty right now, I don't think there's any question you're taking Gurley ahead of him. And it's just a matter of at what point does Le'Veon go?

In a dynasty league you're talking about. In a dynasty league, yeah, because you have to wonder, where is he playing next year? Absolutely. Absolutely. So, yeah, I mean, you're taking Gurley ahead of him. I'd take Zeke ahead of him. In dynasty.

Yeah, in dynasty. Oh, yeah, I would take Barkley ahead of him, too. I'd take Barkley ahead of him, and then probably Beckham. No, I'd take David Johnson, too. Okay, yeah, Beckham and Hopkins could go ahead of him and then probably Beckham. No, I'd take David Johnson too. Okay, yeah. Beckham and Hopkins could go ahead of him. I think Le'Veon might be like the 6th or 7th pick in a Dynasty League. Yeah, he's still

first round, still top 10. But it depends on your mentality. Do you want to win now or do you want to win now and two or three years from now? And so that's when you start to nitpick. And maybe Kareem Hunt too. I think the other part of this with Le'Veon is who's the backup in Pittsburgh because we've seen that player get drafted from time to time.

We've seen that guy certainly be a little bit relevant. I think right now Fitzgerald Toussaint could be the one, which is not fun. Steven Ridley is another one. But the one that I'm excited about is Jalen Samuels, who's not necessarily a pure running back. I believe he played tight end in college or H-back in college. Okay, interesting. Yeah, and he might be somebody worth handcuffing because they do like –

what was it a couple years ago? Not a very good running back, filled in for Le'Veon Bell, did pretty – D'Angelo Williams. Oh, D'Angelo's great. He was so good for fantasy. Yeah, James Conner also. James Conner. Hopefully he gets his act together because he wasn't great last year.

All righty, let's regulate. So we're going to listen to some regulators. We're going to listen to some voicemails, see if we have time for emails. If not, we'll have at least two more shows this week. We'll have plenty of time to listen to your questions. All right, Jamie, get your regulating hat on. And... There we go.

Regulating is in session. Let's start with Scott. Scott's in a keeper league. He had a team quit and he's having a hard time filling the last spot. $150 league. His only good keeper is Diggs for an 11th round pick.

Oh, yeah. This team also has the last pick in the draft, so you've got to take over a crappy team with one good keeper, the last pick in the draft, and it's a $150 buy-in. The other members in my league can't agree on what to do to make the last spot more desirable. Should we give them another keeper? And if so, how good of a player should we give them? And what round?

Maybe discount the league fee? Any ideas would be great. Well, I think the first question I have is, did the guy win and leave the league if he's picking last? I don't know, but I doubt it based on his crappy keeper. I Well, he could. Somebody

could have one and just not have good... We don't know what the keeper rules are. It could be you're only allowed to keep players for a certain number of years. You're only allowed to keep players past a certain round. I would love Diggs in the 11th round. Yeah, but there's only one good keeper. What do you do? It's not fair

for this person. Does it say how many keepers they're allowed to have? No, it doesn't. They're trying to fill the last spot of their keeper league. $150 buy-in. Bad team. Drafting last. What do you do to incentivize someone to join? I think the first thing I would do is maybe have a supplemental draft

for the new owner. If they're allowed to keep multiple players, let's assume that that's the case based on what the tone of the email is. Saying that the only good keeper is Diggs, because if it was just a one-keeper league, Diggs is fine. So if you're allowed to keep multiple players, what I would do is let's say everybody's allowed to keep two or three, let those guys lock in their three keepers, and then let this new owner, he's the only one that's allowed to do the supplemental draft. Before everybody goes back in the player pool, let him take the two best non-keepers.

I like that. I like that. Or the one best non-keeper, depending on how many they keep. So then that makes it a little bit better. So he has the chance to, let's say, somebody had Camara, Hunt, blah, blah, blah. And they can't keep all those guys. So he has that chance. And look, picking 12 is not necessarily a bad thing

in the snake trap. Consider that one regulated. Next up, Jake from Detroit has a situation that needs regulation. At the beginning of last season, myself and two other owners decided to make a side bet

on who would finish with the best regular season record. The last place team of the three would have to drink a side bet on who would finish with the best regular season record. The last place team of the three would have to drink a beer from a boot. I happen to have lost this bet, and I do intend on following through with my obligations to chug beer out of an old boot. Because that's the right thing to do, obviously. My hang-up is that the two other teams did not have the league dues paid before the start of the playoffs, which as commission was annoying to me, but also they're placing

bets on the season without buying in. I feel that going forward, they should be fully paid up before enforcing any side bets in the future. It's interesting that you have to give an answer on somebody paying off a bet completely. And it's interesting that you have to give an answer on a commissioner forcing his league members to pay up, which is not your strength.

No, not my strength, but they always eventually pay up. You, however, don't fulfill your end of the bet all the time. Look, I'm not vomiting on the air, so I just won't do that. You could have done it off the air. You didn't necessarily make that offer or gesture. I'm afraid to vomit. I'm sorry. I have vomiphobia. You could have done it off the air. You didn't necessarily make that offer or gesture. I'm afraid of vomit. I'm sorry. I have vomophobia. You're welching on a bet.

I agree that they should pay their dues. Next time you need to be a little bit more strict with them. Hey, you want me to drink from a boot? Better pay up, buddy. That's what I would do. Honestly, that's good enough for me. It's regulated. Alright, last one.

Nick in a small northeastern Ohio town. We'll have to ask Dave. My league has always been a non-PPR league for the past five years. Now there's talk about moving to half PPR, and I feel I have too little time to prepare myself. I may sound crazy, but I actually feel better playing in standard

as not only do I feel more prepared, but I feel the league would be more competitive as there are only two or three people who actually prepare in our league with me being one of them. What format should my league use? So they voted to go to half PPR? I don't know if they voted.

It just seems like there's some talk about it. He doesn't want this because he thinks it requires preparation. Not that many people in the league will put in the work. And he thinks it'll hurt the competitiveness of the league. I don't think so. I think you're overthinking it a little bit.

Yeah, I think so too. There's really not that dramatic difference in that scoring. Preach. Huh? Preach. Yeah. Regulate. I don't think you have too much to worry about.

Go to half PBR. Half PBR is better. It's the best. Do it. Enjoy the best format. I think you and I will be competing in the half PBR Flex League. Yeah. That's the word.

I'm sorry. I'm not listening to you. I'm listening to Nate Dogg, Warren G. And I'm going to listen to our voicemails at 954-689-3199. 954-689-3199. Bear with us. First one here is from a youngster. We like when kids get into fantasy football, so we're going to hear his question.

And I don't know if we'll get to e-mails today. Might just save them for tomorrow. We'll do a lot of e-mails tomorrow. All right, Jamie, let's get it started here. This is Tommy from Denver. This is not a youngster. It's a weird question. I feel gross even asking it. I'm in a league where our defenses score as much as quarterbacks. I looked, and last year

the Jaguars actually were only outscored by any player. The only player that outscored them was Russell Wilson. Having said that, I'm in a keeper league. We keep one player. The middle rounds start to get kind of shallow. Looks like most years the defense goes for the first time in the sixth round or seventh round on average. I'm wondering in a case where a dominant defense can be just as good as the best quarterback,

is it worth taking the Jaguars in the fifth round? The difference between the quarterback 1 and 12 was 110 points. The difference between the defense 1 and 12 was 130 points. Tell me if I'm crazy. Love you guys. Bye. We love you too. Thank you, Tommy. He probably said that. He was like, oh crap, I wish I didn't say I love you. Excuse me, Jamie.

Yeah, so defense is rule here. When would you take the number one defense? So I'm in a similar dilemma where I have a keeper league where I have to keep – I keep four players or four keepers, and they don't kick in until round 13. It's a PPR league. As of now, my plan is to keep DeAndre Hopkins, Julian Edelman, Jarvis Landry, and Allen Robinson. But the fifth option is the Jaguars defense.

And I also think if I don't keep the Jaguars defense, the keepers don't start until round eight. So how early do I want to take the Jags defense knowing I have those four receivers locked up from round 13 on? And so in this case, given the fact that there are keeper ramifications, I would look at the Jaguars defense, I don't know, round five, but maybe round seven, six or seven. I think it depends on your scenario. And if you're so inclined to draft it, I saw we got one email.

I forget what it was about, but somebody drafting just their starters right away. Yeah, and always winning. I don't know if it was always winning, but always having success and making the playoffs. We've seen some turnover from the number one defense the last couple of years. Everybody was all in on the Seahawks, and we've seen them fall apart a little bit. The Broncos, same thing. They've fallen apart a little bit.

The one thing about the Jags from a year ago, it's twofold, is nobody got hurt on that side of the ball of significance. And they benefited with Deshaun Watson only playing seven games and Andrew Luck missing the entire season. So two premier quarterbacks in their division. So while I still think they'll be the best defense, I still think they're worth drafting as the first defense. It's drafting them early and sacrificing some talent at the other spots,

clearly at the running back or wide receiver position. So if you walk into a situation like in my case where you have talent and you can sort of maybe bypass a fourth keeper or a third keeper you know whatever the situation may be um or you just have really good value late i think it's worth taking a shot on them a little bit earlier but i still think the earliest i would look at them in most cases, this not necessarily being one from the guy who loves us. Tommy. Tommy. Sorry, Tommy.

I love you too. Is maybe that round eight range. Yeah. The other thing about the Jaguars DST, well, the good news is one of their games against Houston is in week 17. But outside of their division, they are playing potentially three of the best offenses in the NFL. Patriots, Chiefs, and Steelers. So they will have a tougher schedule this year for sure. All right, now – The Patriots played well against them.

The Steelers lit them up in the last two playoffs. Yes. But they are also a young, young defense just getting better. They could be the next version of the Seahawks or the Broncos for sure. Right, but a Miles Jack injury or a Jalen Ramsey injury, and you don't know what this team could look like. A Jalen Ramsey injury could hurt because they lost their slot cornerback too, but their front set, yeah, yeah, you're right, you're right. But injury, injury, you never know.

All right, this is our youngster, Lucas. Hey, guys. This is Lucas from San Francisco, and I was wondering about the first overall draft pick at the Atlanta Two Leagues. Lately, I haven't seen Bell and Gurley go first, and I was wondering why Zeke Elliott wasn't in the conversation. Dallas' number one wide receiver is Alan Hearns, which means Zeke Elliott is bound to get 400-plus targets at least.

And this really has me wondering why he is behind Bell and Gurley. Thank you. Goodbye. So, yeah, I think he was trying to say Zeke should get 400-plus touches, not targets, but good, good voicemail, Lucas. Good point. You know, this time last year,

Ezekiel Elliott certainly was in play as the number one player. I don't know that anyone's doing that, but three certainly seems realistic. Jamie, should we be talking more about Zeke at number one overall? I would also extend the conversation to David Johnson. We could talk about that another time because what he did in 2016 when he was healthy.

But obviously Elliott's track record is amazing. He's played, I think it's 25 games in his career, and 21 of them – I have it right in front of me here. He had 25 games. He scored double digits in fantasy points in a non-PPR league 24 times. He has at least 20 touches in 21 games of those 25. So the workload is there. And as Justin, you said his name was? Lucas.

Lucas, I'm sorry. As Lucas alluded to, with their receiving core being what it is, that his role in the passing game should step up and go back to the conversation about Gurley. That really helped Gurley last year. It should help Elliott this year. So where he was right around a 30-catch guy, his rookie season, 32 catches last year.

I think he was on pace for like 38. He should be 45 catches, maybe 50 catches. So let me speed you up just because we're running out of time a little bit. Is it crazy to take Ezekiel Elliott number one? It's not crazy, but you're passing on two guys that I think have a little bit of a higher ceiling. Alright, let's go to our

next voicemail here. Hi guys. Just want to tell you guys you have the best podcaster in all of the land because you guys are genuinely good guys you care about each other and you're all funny you guys could all be comedians in your own right okay this is seth from a town on the north shore of lake tahoe good luck with this one dave i'm gonna half point ppr 12 team lead i've got keenan allen and michael th and I've got, he's the devil, Mr. McCafferty.

One of my league enemies, he wants McCafferty and either Thomas or Allen for Doug Baldwin and Jarek McKinnon. I know what Jamie would do in this situation, because you're in love with Mr. McKinnon, but what would the rest of you guys do? I don't think you know what Jamie would do. First of all, very nice voicemail. We are all very funny, aren't we? Yeah, but the first part about that, though, I hate the three of you. Exactly. No, we're not that funny.

Thank you so much for the voicemail. I don't know that you're going to be right about this. I don't think Jamie would make this trade, giving up Keenan Allen or Michael Thomas plus Christian McCaffrey for Baldwin and McKinnon. I think your enemy is trying to rip you off, buddy. No way you make this trade. Yeah. No way. I mean, if you were to say that there's a different receiver coming back to you,

but it's got to be Hopkins, Brown, Julio, or Beckham. I forgot what the format was, but do you like McCaffrey or McKinnon better? Standard, half PBR, PBR? Everything but PBR, I like McKinnon better. Because while I think McKinnon could be a 70-catch guy, I've seen McCaffrey catch 80 passes. So I don't think that that will change. So I like McCaffrey better in PBR, but in the other two formats, I think McKinnon is better. He may not be safer, but I think he's better.

And I think Keenan Allen's got top five potential. So while Doug Baldwin should be great with Seattle's offense maybe changing a little bit or becoming a little bit more pass-reliant while I know they're trying to be better at the run, I think we've seen how that's gone. Keenan Allen is in a different level when he's playing at his best compared to what Doug Baldwin's playing at his best. And Michael Thomas, too. And Michael Thomas, yeah. One more real quick here.

What up, guys? This is Dave calling you from Salt Lake City. This is a redraft league half-point PPR. I would like to know if you think this is a fair trade. I was offered Joe Mixon and Sonny Michel for Devonta Freeman. Appreciate the help. I'm listening to you guys all the time. Peace out. Mixon and Michel for Devonta Freeman. Appreciate the help. I'm listening to you guys all the time. Peace out.

Mixon and Michelle for Devonta Freeman. He would get Mixon and Michelle half PPR. Did he say dynasty? No, he said redraft. He did say redraft. I'm going to pass. Really? Yeah.

Interesting. Because I'd like to see what Michelle could be, and I think that Mixon may not be far off from Freeman. Okay. Interesting. Because I'd like to see what Michel could be, and I think that Mixon may not be far off from Freeman. Okay. Wait, wait, wait. If you have enough depth to make that trade. Wait, wait, wait. So which side would you rather have?

I'd rather have the two running backs. Oh, so you're going to accept. He has Freeman. I'm pretty sure he's getting Mixon and Michel. Okay. Well, whatever works out, I'd rather have the two running backs. Unless you have a lot of depth already and you don't really need the— That's why I was so surprised. Because I thought you were going to take the two— I thought you were going to take the two running backs unless you have a lot of depth already. You don't really need the – That's why I was so surprised because I thought you were going to take the two running backs side.

I am. Yeah, that's why because – well, no. Originally, I thought that. Then when you gave your answer, I thought you were leaning towards Freeman. I was like, really? But no, we're on the same page. No, no, no. I would – again, unless you – like Freeman is the best player, but I don't think it's by much.

Right, right. So, yeah, make the trade Get the two running backs Give up Freeman Get Nixon and Michelle Thanks for your voicemails Your emails Your regulations

We'll read some standard emails tomorrow And talk hopefully to Danny Connell tomorrow And Dave Richard will be back from Europe So we get to hear about that Jamie, thanks for coming in on your day off We appreciate it My pleasure. See you later.

Bye. It's alright. I've got Le'Veon. It's alright. Not George Le'Veon. It's alright. I've got Le'Veon Bell.