Fantasy Football Today - 07/12: A.J. Green Talk; Fantasy Regulators; Kanell Interview (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: July 12, 2018

We've got CBS Sports Analyst and former NFL QB Danny Kanell joining us later in the show, but first we debate upside and downside of Robert Woods, Corey Davis and Kelvin Benjamin (2:20). Which mid-round WR can give you big draft value? ... Putting A.J. Green under the microscope (10:58)! Does he have WR1 upside? Does he have injury concerns? What do we think about the CIN offense? Also the Fantasy Regulators (17:25) are back to answer your commissioner questions and we spotlight an underrated player who has star potential (23:30) ... Danny Kanell (26:40) hops on to drop football knowledge. He thinks Matt Ryan could win the MVP again, discusses Carson Wentz and DeShaun Watson recovering from ACL injuries, gives us fun trivia about Matt Nagy and even discusses what it's like to play minor league baseball. It's a great 25 minutes with Danny that should help you Fantasy owners ... Email us at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Here we go! It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Let's go! Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. On today's episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast,

we are putting a probably early second round pick under the microscope, and I'm a little afraid to draft them. Find out why. We're also going to talk about the Titans' backfield, as we have a report about that. Marcel Darius facing a suspension, and much more. Hello, Dave Richard. Hello, Heath Cummings.

How you guys doing? What is up? Woo! Yeah, I'm pumped. Guy at the other end of the Skype call. You know what I'm pumped for? America? Yes.

Danny Cannell also. Great American. Danny Cannell coming on the show. He was an All-American. Perfect. There you go. It's a little conflicted for me. Conflicting feeling for me because he's a former Giant but also a Seminole.

So that's kind of tough. But, you know, we'll treat him well. You should probably put your personal feelings aside when you have a guest on our podcast and make it about the guest and not about you. It's good advice. Here's more good advice. Start your fantasy football league right by booking your draft party at B-Dub's Buffalo Wild Wings.

You'll get a free draft kit and enjoy a draft feast of boneless wings, three sides, and three shareables at a special price. Only at Buffalo Wild Wings. Wings, beer, sports. At participating locations while supplies last. Heath loves Buffalo Wild Wings. I do love Buffalo Wild Wings. Do you remember the correct way to order wing to Buffalo Wild Wings?

Dry rub, no sauce or something? It's no sauce. It's the Buffalo dry rub. Okay, Buffalo dry rub. There you go. I had those while I was on vacation in Orlando. Perfect. Perfect.

Beautiful. All right, go to Buffalo Wild Wings. Get your draft going there. So here's the stat you should know. With Marcel Darius, the Jaguars acquired him after seven games. With him, running backs average 3.5 yards per carry. Without him, they average 5.3 yards per carry. We'll get more on that later.

Let's start with a Twitter poll because we've got Danny Cannell coming on in about 30 minutes. So let's do some Twittering. And here was the question. Of these three wide receivers, who has the most upside? And then, of course, who has the most downside? The three receivers are Robert Woods, Corey Davis, and Kelvin Benjamin. Robert Woods, Corey Davis, Kelvin Benjamin. Let's start with upside, guys.

Who has the most upside? If you're asking me, it's Corey Davis. I think he's got the chance to be the bona fide number one receiver in an upstart tennessee offense i think he's got the physical tools to do it it's just a matter of coming through with knowing the game plan knowing the plays and uh being focused when the ball is thrown at him things that seem simple but not every player can connect that way i I think he's got upside of 1,200 yards, eight touchdowns. Damn. That's some big upside.

Well, the Twitter folk agreed with you 70% said Corey Davis. Heath, how about you? Yeah, I think if you're talking upside, I don't rank Corey Davis the highest of these. But I do think if you're talking absolute upside, if he delivers on all of his potential, I mean mean top five pick in last year's draft and he deserved to be i'll say cory davis just stay healthy please that makes sense robert woods maybe maybe could have gotten some votes he came in second he had uh 17 of the vote kelvin benjamin 13 robert woods had quite a stretch mid-season first two weeks

wasn't very involved it wasn wasn't really midseason. It was weeks three through ten, his next eight games. He had 43 catches, 642 yards, and four touchdowns. That's an 86-catch, nearly 1,300-yard, eight-touchdown pace. That was tremendous. Then he got injured and didn't do much at the end of the regular season, but Woods had 142 yards in the postseason in one game. All right, who has the most downside, Robert Woods, Corey Davis, or Kelvin Benjamin?

Another one that wasn't even close. I'm sure the voters chimed in on Kelvin Benjamin. Yeah. Yep. I will disagree. I will too. I think Corey Davis has the most downside. No, I think Robert Woods has the most downside.

Ooh, wow. Go on. Well, Brandon Cooks is now in Los Angeles, and the thinking is he'll take on a bigger role in the offense than what Sammy Watkins did. Cooper Cupp's going to step up in his second year. And this is a team, I don't know how many games they're going to have, where they're throwing 33-plus times.

I think that defense that the Rams have built is outstanding. games they're going to have where they're throwing 33-plus times. I think that defense that the Rams have built is outstanding. Like, out of this world, great. And I think there's going to be a lot of games where they're going to be up 20-6 in the fourth quarter, and Jared Goff is only going to throw it on third down. I don't necessarily disagree with anything that dave just said i just like if you just say cory davis stays healthy and played like he did last year he's awful even if he scores some touchdowns and has some yeah because he should he's still awful he played

11 games last year and he had an encouraging week one cory davis and that was basically it until the final game of the season in the postseason when he caught two touchdowns at New England. First week, six catches, 69 yards on ten targets, but they threw the ball so much in that game. They don't throw the ball that much. They didn't, at least under old management. I don't know what – we're actually going to talk to Danny Cannell about that,

what to expect from the Titans this year with a new coach, new coordinator. All right, so you guys disagree. Robert Woods has the most downside for Dave, Corey Davis for Heath, and Calvin Benjamin for 60% of the people who responded on Twitter. And I have no strong opinion. I can tell you what I like about Calvin. Okay. I like that he's healthy.

I like that he's lost weight. I like that he's on a terrible team that is going to have to throw the ball a lot, volume. And that's the thing. When he had volume in Carolina, which is two of his three years in the league where he actually played, he was fine for fantasy. Wasn't a number one receiver, but a number two for sure. I think he's got to stay healthy. That's a huge for sure. I think he can – he's got to stay healthy. That's a huge caveat.

But I think he can do that. And I think he can get to that 120 target plateau with the Bills. How do you rank those three? I've got Corey Davis at the top. I'm going to bank on the upside with him. And then I've got I've got Benjamin I've got Woods in between him and Benjamin

Davis, Woods, Benjamin Benjamin, Woods, Davis Davis, Woods, Benjamin for Dave Benjamin, Woods, Davis Really? Okay Alright, that's very good Good productive segment So news and notes for you here

So I already mentioned Marcel Darius It is a big deal At least based on last year All right, that's very good. Good productive segment. So news and notes for you here. So I already mentioned Marcel Darius. It is a big deal, at least based on last year. They were so much better. They were terrible against the run before Darius came and really good against the run with Darius when you just look at what running backs did. So the first four games would be the Giants, Patriots, Titans, and Jets. We can worry about that when we get closer to the season,

but it would be a big deal We'll monitor the Marcel Darius situation Meanwhile, there is a report Out of the Buffalo News that Chris Ivory Would be first in line if McCoy is out We talked about that on our Tuesday show Not much interest from Dave

And Heath, if Chris Ivory Is the guy, when would you draft him? So we're saying In a world where we know that LeSean McCoy is not playing football this year. Sure. I think you'd have to take him in Isaiah Cruel range. So in a non-PPR league, you're looking maybe around 8 or 9, a PPR around 10 or 11. Okay. I don't think Heath could have said it any better than that.

Yeah, it was great. That was actually, that was bravo. Oh, we need the sound bite. You don't have the sound bite ready? That wasn't queued up. I'm sorry. It's okay. I'm sorry.

All right. We'll do it again later. And titansonline.com. So this is going to be a real big backfield to watch. titansonline.com's Jim Wyatt. He writes that the plan is for Derrick Henry to be the lead back And how many carries he gets Could depend on just how well he does

In that role So react That's exactly what we expected right I would expect At least that If not him Still being given a decent workload Even if he's not amazing if he's just

okay because i don't think deon lewis i don't think he i i know we saw him as the main back for the patriots but i said it earlier this week and i'll say it again being the main back for the patriots is a lot different than being the main back for the titans yeah the jerseys are completely different well and the quarterbacks are different Titans. Yeah, the jerseys are completely different. Well, the quarterbacks are different. The schemes are different. The way defenses play you is different. The one thing that's more in his favor, I would admit this,

is the offensive line. Patriots had a good offensive line last year, didn't they? I think Tennessee's got a good offensive line. And certainly, if you're comparing them this year, I'll take Tennessee's offensive line over the patriots now knowing that there's going to be i think at least one rookie starting potentially two well yeah all right so uh that is uh that is a controversial one what to do with derrick henry some people love him some people think deon lewis is going to be the guy in fact roto world was like deon lewis is three rounds later. That means he's a better value pick. I'm just not sure I agree with that.

Okay, if you're saying that you can get Derrick Henry in the fourth or Deion Lewis in the seventh, I do think I'd prefer Deion Lewis. I expect there's no question, as long as they both stay healthy, Derrick Henry gets more carries. Derrick Henry scores more touchdowns. But I do think Deion Lewis is going to get the lion's share of the work in the passing game and still gets probably close to eight, maybe eight to ten carries a game. And I expect he'll be very good in that role.

All right. So let's put a first-round pick under the microscope, and that would be A.J. Green. But first, another note about Buffalo Wild Wings. Buffalo Wild Wings understands that being a fantasy football league manager is a tough job. So it's important to get a good first impression. And that all starts with the draft. And if you want your league to love you, book your draft party at B-Dubs. You're going to get a free draft kit and enjoy a special draft feast of boneless wings, three sides, and three shareables. That's a ton of stuff for a special price to feed your league. Come in and get to drafting up some league manager love at Buffalo Wild Wings,

Wings Beer Sports, at participating locations while supplies last. I'm a little nervous about A.J. Green, guys. Are you? No, I've drafted him in a majority of the drafts I've been in this year. I'm not going to take him in the first round. But when it's early second round and I'm targeting a receiver, maybe I took a running

back first. Hell yeah, give me AJ Green. Right, we should probably rename the segment today. I'll rename it. Let's put a second round pick under the microscope. So, I don't know what it is that makes me nervous about him. He hasn't had a huge year since 2013. So it's four years in a row of top.

I think the highest he's finished is eighth. No, fifth. He finished fifth one year. He didn't finish fifth. He was on pace to finish fifth. You were unhappy with the almost 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns he had in 2015? He finished as the number eight wide receiver that year. No, I'm not unhappy with those numbers.

It's a damn fine year. It is. It is. And 2016, he was on pace for 1,600 yards almost. Yeah, he was. I have a feeling he wouldn't have gotten there because he's never done that before, but he was on pace for 1,600 yards almost. Yeah, he was. I have a feeling he wouldn't have gotten there because he's never done that before, but he was on pace for that. He was having a great year. But he would have been the number five wide receiver that year.

I don't think he has number one upside. That's one thing. And I think other guys drafted around him do. Yeah, I think the biggest question as far as nervous about ag green is do are you do you think he's an injury risk and i don't think he's had enough injuries to where i would say that because his 16 game pace over the last four years since 2013 86 catches for 1274 yards and eight touchdowns it's pretty good that's right that is so round two though Fine, but that's what we're talking about That's one-two turn

As a wise man once said If you're drafting at the end of the first round It doesn't really matter who you take with your first round pick And who you take with your second round pick I think he's It doesn't really matter But it does matter if you take A.J. Green Or Devontae Adams, Keenan Allen

You know, I don't think he has the upside of Allen, I don't think he has the upside of those guys. I don't think he has the upside of Mike Evans. Oh, he's been far more consistent than Evans. Oh, he has less downside than Evans for sure. And I do think he has more upside than Evans with what we saw from Tampa Bay last year and the way that they distributed targets. Mike Evans' upside was really dependent,

kind of like AJ Green, you might say. He got 178, 164 targets back in 2012, 2013. That's what Evans needed to be that successful. I don't think that's really possible with the weapons they've accumulated. I'm glad you mentioned the targets because the other thing is like they just – the Bengals just don't pass the ball that much. They're usually 25th or so in pass attempts. That's what they've been the last four years, 20th to 26th.

Now, he should get a lot of the targets, but that's not a throwing offense. And last year was not like – let's not ignore the fact that last year was not a very good year for him. 75 catches, 1,100 yards, and eight touchdowns. It's a good year, but it's not great. And he was the number 10 wide receiver in fantasy in a down year for receivers. And there was a lot at there were a lot of problems with Cincinnati

last year. The offensive line was terrible. As soon as Tyler Eifert got hurt and there wasn't really a good number two option stepping up for them in the passing game, Green got double teamed out the wazoo. And he had a catch rate of 52.4 double team with your quarterback under pressure you're not going to have a great year it's a friggin miracle he had the year that he had given all the problems that they had in

cincinnati and he looked like he was having some focus issues in the second half. Well, you had the fight with Jalen Ramsey. Yeah. One thing. And yeah. And things had gone way downhill for them. He was frustrated. He had some terrible games in the second half. I think the offensive line is going to be better. I think he and Dalton both bounce back this year. Oh, OK. Well, that would help. He also had a tough schedule. I mean, he did have Jalen Ramsey. He had the Broncos secondary. He had the Vikings. Those are three tough games. I mean, he did have Jalen Ramsey. He had the Broncos secondary. He had the Vikings. Those are three tough games.

He actually did well against the – well, he's caught a touchdown against the Broncos. Four catches, 50 yards, and a touchdown on nine targets. So not exactly an easy schedule for A.J. Green. Yeah, he's got them again this year, Week 13. I think the other thing that concerns me is I understand the optimism for the Bengals getting better, but that team just seems like they're going in the wrong direction. It's amazing that Marvin Lewis is still there. What if they have another bad year?

It's really not out of the realm of possibility. I don't think they'll be good. Yeah, they could easily be last place in that division. It hasn't stopped A.J. Green from being a good fantasy receiver despite the Bengals' record. No, they have been a good team in the A.J. Green era, haven't they? Sure. He's going to be in my DFS lineup week one.

Who's he playing? At Indy. Yeah, that's nice. That's a bad secondary. All right, so ADP has him 18th overall, A.J. Green, and it looks like he's going behind every Tier 1 wide receiver except Devontae Adams and Mike Evans. I don't think Mike Evans is a Tier 1 wide receiver.

It's debatable, sure. Fair enough. But you think Adams is, right? Yeah, I would say I would take him ahead of Adams. I would too. But would you take Keenan Allen, Michael Thomas, Julio Jones ahead of AJ Green? Yes. I'll take Julio ahead of him.

In full point PPR, I'll take Keenan Allen ahead of him. That's it. Michael Thomas? No? No. I'll definitely take Thomas in PPR. I think it's pretty much a toss-up in non-PPR. Okay.

So to sum it up, he's a solid, safe number two wide receiver for you guys? I think that's the perfect way to put it. No, no, no. Second round. Oh, no. Second round. You know what? It's funny. You said the wrong thing, and yet it hit me the same way as you meant it, not as you said.

He is a safe round two receiver. And I am probably the highest on A.J. Green. I would be okay taking him at the one-two turn. Should we do the fantasy profile or the fantasy regulators now? What do you think? I would vote regulators, but I always vote regulators. Regulators! Mount up! We're mounting up. Regulators! Mount up!

We're mounting up. Regulators are back, baby. If you have a league issue you want regulated, send us an email, fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. Fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. Put fantasyfootball regulators in the subject line. This is from Brandon in Cleveland. All right, let's regulate.

12-team half PPR league. Ten geniuses and two idiots. We've been talking about adding an IR spot to our bench. With the new probable and doubtful tags, how do you all fantasy regulate who goes into the IR spot? Does the player have to be out for a certain number of games before they can go into that spot or just have a certain tag? I think you keep it simple, and anybody who's on injured reserve can go into that spot. Remember, injured reserve doesn't mean the same thing it did five years ago. Injured reserve used to mean, well, when you're on that, you're done for the year.

Now it means you can come back later in the year. Who wouldn't have loved to have an IR spot for David Johnson last year just so they could use him for that big return that he had late in the season? Man, he was on fire. Oh, that's right. He didn't even come back. Yeah, this does not

work near as well as it does in baseball. It's really, I think the IR spot as a bench spot should be reserved mostly for dynasty leagues. It does not have a huge use in redraft. If you want to have it, that's fine, but I agree with Dave. They have to be on the IR and there's very few players

that are going to be fantasy relevant at the end of the year that go on IR. Now, I will give you... What about this? This guy twisted his ankle. He got a high ankle sprain. He's out four to six weeks. Can you put him on IR? He guy twisted his ankle. He's got a high ankle sprain. He's out four to six weeks. Can you put him on IR?

He's not on IR. All right. Tough cookies, man. All right, we've got to go to our next one. We've got to go to our next one. Consider that issue regulated. Next up, we've got Mitchell. It says, Dear Russell, Matt, Charlie, and Travaris.

Seahawks? Seahawks quarterbacks. Yeah, yeah. Starting a 10-team league this year. we're stuck at the crossroads, though, not sure whether or not to do a keeper or dynasty. We have three co-commissioners, and no one agrees on the same thing. One person wants dynasty. One person wants to keep five.

Another wants to keep all starters. What do you think we should do? We all listened to the show and decided we will listen to either Adam or Heath's opinion because we're dedicated fantasy baseball listeners. Therefore, you two are our favorites. How about that? You better not ever catch me on the street, Mitchell, because you don't want my opinion? I might have to regulate you.

And I don't know if they really want Adam's opinion because he doesn't play in Dynasty Leagues. I have a Dynasty League rookie draft next week. Oh, do you? Let's see if I agree with what Heath says. Because maybe somebody else is out there with the same problem. They're interested in what I say. I'm going to try to give a nuanced answer, which isn't typically what we do on regulators, but I will say

Dynasty is the best way to go. I love Dynasty Leagues. I think that is what you should do assuming you and you have to like legitimately evaluate your league this is not necessarily a good thing if you have six guys that are really really into this and four guys that are in this league because you've been friends and you use this league to stay in touch with your friends if that's the type of league it is then then I'd probably go to the Keep 5 version because in a full Dynasty format, if it's an unevenly balanced league,

it can get really ugly after a couple of years. Okay. Dave, do you agree with that? Nope. Oh, I can't play The Heath is On then. No. Well, you can. I could just be right.

Mitchell's going to listen to me anyway. The Heath is on. You know, I agree. You got to be all in. You got to have everybody be all in. Let's hear what Dave has to say. Yeah, what do you have to say? I think you take baby steps and you start this year by keeping five players in the next year.

And then the year after that, if you like how it's going, turn it into a dynasty league. And if not, keep the keepers. I guess I have to break the tie then, right? No, because this dude doesn't care what I have to say. Well, I would go with what Dave says and take baby steps. And it's been regulated. Next up, we've got Adam in Baton Rouge. Okay, so he's got a dynasty league.

Everybody's good friends. That's good. After the 2017 season ended, free agents were locked until a date to be determined. This is actually pretty funny, which ended up being a couple weeks ago. We were given a one-week waiver period to go in and put fab bids on players. And I put in an $8 bid on Geronimo Allison. It's a deep league. One of my friends put in our group text that he put a $10

bid on a wide receiver, but he didn't specify which one. So I upped my bid on Geronimo Allison to over $10, and it turns out that's who he had the $10 bid on. This led to a heated argument between my friend and I. He says that he told us his bid amount in confidence and said,

I'm a jerk, not his words, for changing my bid amount. I say that since he didn't give me the name of the player, what I did was perfectly fine. His counter argument was that since free agency is so bare, what other receiver would it be? Please regulate this for us. It came back up again because he said he almost offered me Chris Ivory for Allison, but he didn't. And after the recent shady news broke, he texted the group and says, karma's a B word. Who's right?

Who's wrong? That was so G-rated. Yeah, it was. Warren G. Listen, Adam, the only person your friend should be mad at is himself. You're not talking to me. You're talking about the emailer, Adam in Baton Rouge. Yes.

The only person he should be mad at is himself for spilling the beans in a group text about how much he bid on a wide receiver. Completely agree. He's a dope. Completely agree. Like, you shouldn't have said anything, man. What's he supposed to do with that information? What do you mean you told him in confidence? There's no such thing.

There's no such thing. This has been regulated. You ever heard the song, Adam? Of course. Yeah, it sounds just like that. Because you just murdered it. I regulated it. All right, hey, we got a new segment. We got a new segment, and then we've got Danny Cannell coming on.

It's time for our Fantasy Profile, presented by Buffalo Wild Wings. We are profiling an either unknown or underrated fantasy football player who listeners should get to know as they could be the key to winning your draft or season. And we went pretty deep on this one, Dave. We went with David Njoku, Brown's second-year tight end. And a potential fantasy superstar that people are going to look for in those late rounds. I've been banging the drum for drafting two tight ends. I think this should be one of

them. Njoku had flashes last year, and I think there's a very good opportunity for him to continue making flashes. Yes, he's going to share the field with Jarvis Landry and Duke Johnson. These are all short-range targets, and maybe Njoku will end up being more of a red zone threat than all-around threat. So he'll be a little more Kyle Rudolph than Rob Gronkowski. But this is a Cleveland team that's going to throw the ball a lot. This is a very athletic guy who's learning the nuances of football still. He was very raw when he played at some school.

And he was raw last year when he came into the National Football League. I think he is just covered in warm, gooey upside. And when you're in the late rounds of your draft, you want players like that. So do you believe, Heath, that David Njoku could be a superstar this year? I believe he has the talent to be a superstar. I love everything about him that Dave loves about him. My problem and the reason I have him ranked lower than probably most people do,

I think around 17th at tight end, is volume concerns. And it's Josh Gordon, it's Jarvis Landry, it's Duke Johnson. You've got two other running backs there that are going to touch the football. I just don't know that he can get enough targets that unless he just has a ridiculous – I'm trying to think maybe like Hunter Henry's rookie year where he scored, what, eight or nine touchdowns but only had 500 yards receiving. That's his path to being a top 10 tight end.

I don't see a way that he does it on receptions and yards. Sure, that's going to be a fear. So that's why – yeah, Dave, that's why you're saying make him a second tight end. You don't want to draft David Njoku to be your starter. I mean, you can. He's taking on Pittsburgh in week one, at New Orleans in week two, the Jets at home in week three, and at Oakland in week four. In this day and age, that's not a bad start.

I know it sounds like a bad start. You're not going to do it, though, are you? You're not going to make him your starter. You might find yourself cornered into him being your starter. I don't know what's going to happen in your draft. You don't plan on it. Let's put it that way. Yeah, sure.

I'm not going into my draft saying, got to get David Njoku, and he's going to be my guy. That is our fantasy profile presented by Buffalo Wild Wings. And that's going to do it for the Heath Cummings portion of this podcast. But good news. Good news, everyone. We're doing another show tomorrow, probably on Fridayiday probably going to air it either sunday or monday and heath is planning on being on that so that should be awesome he thank you sir it was great to be here the heath is off the heath is off all right we're gonna get danny cannell to join us now

on fantasy football today here we go for the first time on the Fantasy Football Today podcast, we've got CBS Sports, I'm told, all-around awesome football guy and host of the Off the Bench podcast, Danny Cannell, former NFL quarterback. Danny Cannell, what's up, Danny? How you doing? I am fantastic, man. I'm excited to be on. Hopefully this is the first time of many getting on your guys' show. I love it. And let's do it, man. I'm excited to come on hopefully this is the first time of many uh getting on your guys show i love it and uh let's do it man i'm excited to come on danny how'd you do in your fantasy leagues last year so i did not play last year you guys gonna be mad at me am i allowed to talk about it if i didn't play in leagues you can talk about it but that was that oh go ahead the last two years i haven't played in the league in two years so i actually i'm going to join maybe you guys will let me in one of yours uh i'm going to join this year i'm going to start it up again because i do enjoy it but i the problem was and you guys i'm sure know this

better than anybody like the expectations that are on you once you're considered you guys are much more fantasy experts than i am but just having played like i all like i'll get so much trash talk coming my way if I'm not winning the thing. And I'm very fragile, mentally weak. That's why I didn't last very long in the NFL. And that just destroys me. So that's why I'm nervous about winning. But now that I can look for you guys for insight, I'm golden. I'm good to go. There's no way that you are mentally weak in the NFL. There's no way. But yes, if you haven't played fantasy football in two years, you could be in all of my leagues, Danny.

That sounds like a great plan. Just send in the money, right? Just give me the Venmo, the money, right? Please, everybody, listen to the Off the Bench podcast with Danny and Rajabell. They cover all sports. It's really awesome. In fact, before we get into this, I'll tease it. You think that the Falcons will have the number one offense of the NFL this year.

That's extremely fantasy relevant. We're going to talk about that. But before we get into that, just tell us real quick a description of why people should listen to your show. I think what Rajah and I have is pretty unique because a lot of times when you see typical podcasts, typical sports shows, morning shows, whatever you watch on TV, usually you see somebody who is the quote, like broadcaster type paired with a former athlete type. And I think we're the only like podcast slash show that has just two athletes from two different sports. You might have some football guys that do it together or some NBA guys do it together,

but we've got both sports covered. And I think we give a pretty unique perspective of what it was like to be in those locker rooms. We can relate to a lot of situations that are going on. Like when guys, you know, NBA free agency is going on. Nobody's better to talk about it than Raja who's been through that process. You know, I've been cut a bunch, so I can relate to that one. You know, playoff games where we just finished up at the playoffs.

Rajah played in NBA Finals games. I did get a start in the playoffs. So just a unique perspective on stuff. And I think we have a ton of fun, too. I think it's pretty laid back, just two dudes talking about sports and all the stuff that's going on. So hopefully people check it out and they enjoy it. And you got some baseball insight, too.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that yeah so i i did play uh minor league baseball uh for about a season with the newark bears and i played my first two years at florida state and i'll let you guys in on a little secret baseball was my true love like that was my passion like baseball was my favorite sport it still is um and football just kind of kept presenting opportunities that's kind of why i just kept going along with the flow going with the flow playing football i'm sorry i i have to ask this i've always wanted to ask someone was playing minor league baseball what was it like because i mean the money's so bad and the conditions don't seem great and you're on buses and stuff like what was minor league baseball like well if you don't have any money it would

be brutal but i actually had the advantage i played five years in the nfl and went and played my so i had i had made some decent money but i mean i made 1200 bucks a month playing minor league baseball but i did see guys that i played with that were trying to make a living off that and they actually slept in the clubhouse at night i mean it was nuts like you see stories of guys just trying to chase their dream down. But it also was like the most fun I ever had. Because if you're doing it for that, like to chase your dreams and you're doing it for 1200 bucks a month, you love what you're doing and you're chasing a passion. And that's, I love being surrounded by that because when you get to the NFL, it is very much a business. Guys are worried about the paycheck.

They're worried about the money. A lot of them are playing just for the money. You take some of that passion away from it when that's the case. That's good. Honestly, this is why you have a great podcast. You have some really cool insights. All right, let's get into fantasy football here. The Atlanta Falcons will have the number one offense in football?

Yeah. You're going Steelers, I'm assuming, is probably the other option you're looking at. I will say, and I think the direct quote I made, whether it was on Off the Bench with Rajah or if it was on CBS Sports HQ, was Matt Ryan will win the MVP again. And I think the way you look at it is a couple of things. One, and this is obviously making the assumption that Julio Jones gets worked out. And I think it will. I think it'll be contentious.

But ultimately, I think he's playing for the Falcons on week one. So I'm making that assumption. But they drafted Calvin Ridley. They have an unbelievable depth at the running back position with Freeman and Coleman. They've got Moh Muhammad Sanu as well but most importantly this is year two of Matt Ryan with Steve Sarkeesian the offensive coordinator and if you go back and look at the numbers with Matt Ryan and Kyle Shanahan they didn't exactly they didn't get off to a high-flying start like they they had their you know learning

curve where they got better and then once kyle shanahan got comfortable with matt ryan what he likes then you saw that offense explode and i think you'll see a similar type of jump in year two with steve sarkisian and matt ryan you can certainly make the case for a lot of teams i think this is what makes the nfl really interesting in 2018 is we could probably rattle off 12 teams that could have the number one offense. You mentioned Pittsburgh. I think they're definitely in the conversation.

The Patriots are always in the conversation. The Saints are always in the conversation. But there's teams all over the place. The Packers have to put in there. I think the Texans could potentially be one of those teams. If Andrew Luck is healthy, Indianapolis could be one of the top offenses in the league. There's even a bunch that we're not even bringing up at this point. Right, right.

So are you in on the Texans with Deshaun Watson coming off an ACL? As long as he's ready to go and participating in training camp, the answer is yes. Right. ready to go and participating in training camp the answer is yes right so you're you're project you're assuming that the projection stays on track from what we saw uh in his rookie season and i would make that safe i think that's a safe assumption too to make uh i i love what i saw of him coming out of college i love what he did in his you know limited uh window that we saw this past season but there always is kind of that looming RG3 shadow, I think, that is over him. That, you know, RG3 was spectacular his rookie year.

Teams adjusted. He didn't have the same mobility, had to deal with injuries. And all of a sudden, he's out of the league. And now he's back in, but he was out last year. So I think there's always that. You've got to prove it to me over time. You can consistently perform, but you can consistent consistently perform but you can also consistently stay healthy that would be my only concern with deshaun watson but i i

don't think you'll see a repeat of rg3 with deshaun watson uh but i think that risk is always there no i i agree i don't think he he's like rg3 the thing with rg3 was i felt like he couldn't adapt once defense has had a year of his film. Right. And he was kind of a one-trick pony. I think Deshaun Watson can run pretty much any type of offense. But the thing that just gets me is that he can devastate your defense with the long ball when things just don't go according to plan. Right.

You know, the first read isn't there and maybe he's pressured he's got to move well i mean he can just flick of the wrist and it's 50 yards downfield and wool fuller's there for a touchdown or deandre hopkins is there for a touchdown and i think this is a houston team that's going to have a hard time running the football i think deshaun watson is in perfect position to keep the numbers coming and to keep that texans offense rocking yeah absolutely and i think you have to have the same type of conversation with Carson Wentz and the Eagles, him coming off another spectacular year, MVP type season when he goes down with his ACL. But I think it's only fair that if I'm concerned about Deshaun Watson backing it up, saying, all right, you've got to put a stamp,

do it again, that you have to have the same consideration for Carson Wentz. Again, I feel like both of them, I feel comfortable saying that they're going to be fine. But you just never know. Because we've seen, and it's not only RG3, like we've seen one hit wonders before in this league. They're all over the place. And it's a lot of expectations. It's a lot of staying healthy. And I think that would be my only concern for those two guys is are they able to get back to the elite level of playing that we saw last season. And I think you will, but I'd be – I'm still – there's a little bit of me where I'm a touch nervous for both of them.

Danny, can you think of an example from your playing days of a prominent player who suffered a major injury, came back the following year, and just wasn't the same? I have a guy who was my roommate on the New York Giants, and it was Jason Sehorne. I don't know if you guys remember. He was – Adam will remember. He was an elite – Adam will remember that. He was an elite-level defensive back, and he was my best friend on the team.

We were roommates. I'm sure adam remembers this he and i wanted him to play receiver because he was that return man why was he returned to the punt so so that was the thing so we we were always harping on like hey find ways to get this guy to football like he's an incredible athlete let's utilize him let's you know have him do more than just defense and it was the preseason and i believe it was the jets because it was on like prime time it was out here maybe it was just on the new york market but he returned a kick it was actually a kick comes back comes out with the acl and i don't think he ever and i think he would

admit this too he would never the same as he was after that and at that position you've got to have the explosive firepower you know with theness, the ability to chase down guys. And he was still very good, but he was on target to be this sensational perennial pro ball type player. And I just don't think you saw that out of him, what you could have had pre-ACL. Okay. So my follow-up to that question is, was it a mental issue with him or was it just his hamstrings, his legs just didn't fire?

I think for him it was probably both. I would say it was a little bit of both. Because there's always that once you lose something that you could just rely on, you take it for granted. Like, hey, I can close on this guy. If I get beat just a little bit, I can close on him. And if you lose that just a tenth or two tenths of a second on a, you know, 40 yard dash or whatever it is, then all of a sudden it does mess with your mental psyche,

because then you're thinking, oh, maybe I have to play off a little bit more. Maybe I have to give him a little bit more room on this jam. And I think that's just human nature. Like, I think it's very, you know, for somebody to be able to come back and return to form in a position like that, I think is very unique. Like, that's why when we're talking about deshaun watson and carson wentz there's not as much of a concern because they don't rely on their top tier speed as much now both of them are mobile quarterbacks but they're not guys that are running away from defenses they're guys that can make plays and i don't think you'll see a major you know loss of speed in those guys so you're talking about two quarterbacks that are pretty interesting to the fantasy community.

I mean, you look at Carson Wentz last year, and Heath and I, he's not on the show anymore. He was 10 minutes ago, but Heath doesn't really buy into Wentz being able to do what he did last year, his touchdown rate a little bit too high. I see a superstar. I think he's an amazing player. And even if he's not, maybe he's a product of the system. The system's still there, and it worked for Nick Foles. And no, people don't really talk about Bill O'Brien. He doesn't have the reputation right now that he had when he first took the job. But I think he does a pretty good job with what he's got. So I think you look at both quarterbacks, Wentz and Watson.

What do you think about them just being in those systems? Are they in great systems? And are they great quarterbacks? You know what I'm trying to say. What's the combination of great system and their quarterbacking skills? I think what you see happen with Carson Wentz last year is what you have, the perfect combination of both. Because I really – and there's something different about playing for a coach

that played the position. And Doug Peterson, you know, never was a tremendous starter, but played in the league for a long time and played around some great quarterbacks. So when you come to the sideline, when you're having those film sessions and you're breaking down film, you can say things to that coach that you can't say to a lot of coaches because they haven't been in the pocket they haven't seen those windows they don't know what it's like to trust that a receiver is going to be open and a lot of times there's just there's there's not a you know it's just a struggle in communication i've had that a bunch with different coaches um and i would say

that was why i would feel a little bit more comfortable about the, about Philly's offense and Carson Wentz than I do about Bill O'Brien. Now, Bill O'Brien, great quarterback guru is supposedly as what I'll say, because when your guy is Tom Brady, like,

and that's, that was who he was linked to. Then yes, you've got, you, you, you, there should be an asterisk with that with Bill O'Brien

on his side right because Tom Brady's one of the greatest ever play like how much did he develop him yeah I'm sure it was some of it but you've also got one of the greatest ever I like do we just forget that Bill O'Brien went with Tom Savage over Sean Watson to start last season you know like what was he seeing there in that game now you can harp on that and you know we don't know what practice looked like we don't know what you know what went into that decision making process but is there another quarterback like is who are the other quarterbacks bill o'brien has developed uh i think it's more like overall i think he's had some pretty bad teams and he manages to do well with them right But weren't those defensive teams?

Like, weren't those defensive teams? Yeah, well, Osweiler was obviously terrible for them. Yeah. But I don't know. I feel like he's gotten – like, Brian Hoyer. I think he got the most out of Brian Hoyer. It's to be determined for sure. So you have more confidence in the Eagles offense?

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. But I do think when you see Nick Foles come in and you don't see any drop and you see him have an MVP game against the Patriots, I think that is a huge testament to Doug Peterson and that system. And not to take away from Nick Foles because he did have to make those throws,

but that should speak volumes about the success of that system and how good it can work and some of the pieces that they have there. Dave, quick fantasy take. Deshaun Watson looking at MFL 10 over the last month or so. Deshaun Watson is going 74th overall and Carson Wentz 95th overall. Should there be that big of a discrepancy? I spent most of the offseason with Wentz ahead of Deshaun Watson in my rankings. And about two weeks ago, I made the switch because I think that Watson just has a little

more excitement to him, a little more upside. And because of all the quarterbacks that are around this year, it's not that hard to find another capable starter to carry on your bench if you want to, if you go with Deshaun Watson as your main quarterback. The upside is just ridiculous with him. You saw it last year, averaged something like 30 fantasy points per game. It's unheard of. That's what you're going for.

And I think he's going to end up being the only quarterback that will be worth taking at a fair value. You know what I've been hyping up. And, Danny, I'll tell you this. When you draft a quarterback in fantasy this year, you have to feel like you're stealing him from the rest of your league yeah like you've got to hope that it's aaron rogers in round four because aaron rogers in round two just doesn't sound as good this year because there are so many other quarterbacks deshaun watson might be the exception to the rule and it's because of that potential that he has is there downside he got hurt he tore his acl last year of course there's downside with him but so did carson wentz and you probably didn't think that Wentz would tear his ACL last year.

I just think that I love them both. I think they're both top five quarterbacks. I think they can finish the season as top five quarterbacks, and I think that they can be outstanding for fantasy owners who take them. Watson certainly, or Wentz rather, certainly the better value going 20 picks later than Watson. You know what else Deshaun Watson has going for him is DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller. That is a really strong receiving pair tandem to be thrown into as well. Yeah, and I'm sorry to kind of bounce back and forth, but I wanted to ask you another question about the Falcons.

Because Calvin Ridley doesn't seem to have too much love in the fantasy community. He's going 146th overall um yeah i think he should i think he should absolutely because i think just by the nature of who he's playing with like if you're the guy playing opposite of julio jones you're gonna get a lot of man-to-man matchups and that's what quarterbacks look for like when you are when you're steve sarkeesian and your value like you're up in the booth and you're watching the game unfold and you're Matt Ryan at the line of scrimmage, you're saying, all right, if those safeties are cheating to help Julio Jones, then you know you've got Calvin Ridley on an island. You're going to try to manipulate motions. You're going to try to manipulate the play calling.

So you take advantage of those. And I do feel like he's a player who suffered in college because he didn't have great quarterback play and i think once he gets into a system where he's got a quarterback of matt ryan's caliber and he's going to get man-to-man matchups i think he could have a huge year and it's a lot of it's by just by nature of the the matchups he's going to draw playing on the opposite side of julio jones But that does play into why Matt Ryan is an appealing fantasy quarterback again. Totally. Right.

Because they're adding Ridley to this offense without taking anything away. Mm-hmm. And you're getting the second year of Sark with him. So there's a lot of reasons why the Falcons are appealing and Matt Ryan, too. So let's stick with rookies here because there is not one but two rookies on the New England Patriots that Danny Cannell likes this year. Who do you like on the Pats? I've been a big fan of Sonny Michel in that pick.

When they took him, I was like, uh-oh. This is going to be something that Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady are going to find a way to get him the football. I know the running backfield, the backfield is crowded. I know you're like, people are like, well, how many touches is he going to get? Trust me, when you have basically lightning in a bottle, like you have with Sonny Michel, they will find ways to get the football in his hand. So I think that's just a given.

Like I think, and you'll see creative ways. I think you might even see him motion out from the backfield, put him know motion out to the slot have him learn some routes and that is one thing where tom brady is exceptional that's one of me obviously you know it's kind of a no-brainer statement but the pinpoint accuracy that he throws either backs coming out of the backfield or the slot receivers to keep them running like the yards after the catch yeah it's it's such a thing that's taken for granted like all you know a lot of times all we look at is completion percentage you know touchdown interception ratio giving guys catchable balls that they can continue running at the speed which what they caught it at like it's a very underrated you know stat that you could find

and brady does it better than anybody so i think he's going to excel there and then if you look a little bit deeper in the draft you dig you mine for some gold braxton barrios from the university of miami the u i have to give him some love i think he is going to be right in the line of all the patriots receivers that we've seen and yes you can say they're all white and they look the same you know but they he is going to do that trust me as somebody saw him as he torched florida state yeah uh you know and he was such a go-to guy for that uh hurricane team i think he's got the work ethic i think he's got the attitude to fit right in the patriot way and i think brady's gonna and especially with edelman being out like he's got an amazing opportunity

those first four games to really make some inroads that's funny because that was the game the seminoles game people started paying attention to barrios more and everybody kept saying oh the patriots are going to draft him and then they drafted him like we do it we do it right yep absolutely so i think he's gonna have a monster year yeah and i'm with you all the way on sony michelle uh there's a thing you don't get fantasy points for and that's pass protection and he can do that yeah there aren't many rookies who can and i i feel like new england for years has tried to um not necessarily decode but make it so that defenses can't decode what they're doing based on who's in their backfield right because it used to be that they would always rely on a certain back when they were going

to pass it. And sometimes they'd run it with that guy. But when they had LeGarrette Blount, you kind of knew that they weren't going to throw very often because Blount was back there. There was a decent probability that they would run the football. Not that they stopped LeGarrette Blount. There were some amazing years that Blount had with the Patriots. But I think they learned with Deion Lewis last year that if they can find a

running back who can do it all, they can keep defenses uneven a little bit more. And I think Sony is that guy. I think fantasy owners are going to need to be patient with him, though, Danny. I agree that in time he's going to be the man for them, but I don't think it's going to happen right away. I think it's going to take maybe four or five weeks until that happens i would i would tend to agree because one of the things that's tougher for young running backs coming out of college is the pass protection schemes and you are not going to risk tom brady's health

on a young rookie running back unless he is completely 100% dialed in on who he's got. And it's not so much of the physical capability to be able to do it. It's all the mental aspect of being able to recognize defensive fronts. Who do I have? Who do I have to pick up? Because I've always believed the biggest jump is not the physical jump for guys coming from the college game to the NFL. It's the mental leap that you have to make. And the day-in, day-out study, not only of your own offense, but of the defenses that you're faced.

And there will be a learning curve there for Sonny Michel to really, like, have an expertise. But the one thing he's got going for him, he's got Tom Brady next to him in the backfield in the shotgun, where Brady can kind of help him out in that area. But, yeah, I agree with you. I think it will take a little bit of time. So you've got to be patient when you draft Sonny Michel, and it's never a bad idea to have the Patriots running back

because defense has played Patriots running backs a lot differently than they would the Jets running back, the Bills running back, any running back pretty much on any team. Okay. When you were in Denverver you played for mike shanahan you worked in the west coast offense that's part of the new offense that's coming to chicago with matt nagy uh as a first year play caller for the bears not a second year guy like sarkeesian in atlanta can can nagy have a similar effect on this rebuilt Bears offense like Sean McVay had on the ramps last year?

I don't think so, but it's not because of Matt Nagy or his capabilities or his abilities to relate to Mitch Trubisky. But the last time I checked, is Todd Gurley on that roster? You know, like I think McVay was outstanding with Jared Goff. Like the play calling he dialed up to protect him a little bit better, but man does it help when you have a back like Todd Gurley coming out there to take some of that pressure off. When you can get better situations on second down and six

as opposed to second down and 12 because you had to suffer a loss on that first out. Side note, Matt Nagy was my teammate on the New York Football Dragons in the Arena Football League. I don't know if you guys knew that or not. Oh, I knew Nagy played arena ball. Yeah, he's got a great story. And I actually talked to him about a month ago, and I was giving him a hard time because Mike Furry was a guy

who played for the Detroit Lions. He was our wide receiver on the New York Dragons, and he's now the wide receiver coach for the Bears. And I was giving him a hard time. Like, hey, you signed Furry. Can I get a spot coaching the quarterbacks or something? So he's a great dude. But I don't think their roster is as close as what you had with McVay

and Goff were dealing with. I mean, they still have some issues at wide receiver. Like, is Kevin White finally going to stay healthy? Is Allen Robinson going to be back to top-tier form coming off an ACL, coming from Jacksonville? Is the offensive line going to be able to protect? I think they have more significant issues to iron out, but I really do think, and Maggie's a guy who's going to,

having been with Andy Reid, having been with great quarterbacks like Alex Smith, I think he will relate really well to Mitch Trubisky. But I think, again, like Sony Michel, I think Bears fans are going to have to be patient. And I don't like saying it, but I just don't see the turnaround like you saw with McVay and Goff and the success they had their year. But I would say in year two, they get some more help. They get a little more comfort level. I think you could see it then.

Dave, I'm going to ask you to rank three quarterbacks. All right. Mitch Trubisky, Matt Ryan, Eli Manning. Oh, that's easy. Yeah, that's simple, right? It's Matt Ryan, Eli, and then Mitch, right? It's not that easy. I bet you. Oh, I don't know. I think that's's easy. I don't have the stats in front of me, but if you expect Beckham and Ingram or Beckham and Shepard to have good years and Saquon Barkley to catch 50 balls, that would practically guarantee Eli Manning a top-12 finish based on last year. So people think that Ryan's a better quarterback, but they think that Eli, because of the weapons, could have the better fantasy season.

Well, I do have them back to back. They're 14th and 15th in my rankings. I do like Ryan better, but I think they're both two guys that you can wait for on draft day. If you just find yourself waiting, waiting, waiting for a quarterback, which again, this is a great year to do it,

you can take both of them. Play the matchups each week or just wait for one to be so dominant that you don't even have to think about it when it comes to sending your lineup. But Trubisky is a distant third. Yeah. Oh, it's not even close. He's definitely a distant third. And I really feel like it's pretty clear cut.

I mean, you've got to remember, too, Eli's getting up there. He's 37 years old, and I don't think he's the Tom Brady TB12 37. I think he's a good old Southern boy who likes some fried chicken, a couple beers after the game, which I have no problem with. And I like the fact that they went with Saquon Barkley over a quarterback. I think he's got another year or two. But also you've got to consider, how's Odell Beckham's health? Is he going to

be fine? We think so, but you just don't know that. And I like Pat Shermer. I think he's going to do some good things with his Giants offense, but I think from a fantasy perspective, I think you take the easy lock as Matt Ryan out of those three, and I don't think it's close.

All right. Yes, interesting stuff. There are going to be a lot of differing opinions. Like I talked to Heath about Matt Ryan because he's got him like 20th. Dave's got him 14th. And he just thinks that the Falcons defense, well, one of the things he thinks is the Falcons defense is going to be really good this year. And Matt Ryan might not pass the ball that much. It might just be a volume thing.

Right. Which could be true, too. Yeah. And he's, I mean, he's not exactly coming off a fantastic year, either. No, he's not. A lot to consider there with Matt Ryan. And, Danny, thank you for taking up so much time to hang out with us and talk football with us.

This was great. We really appreciate it. This was a lot of fun, man. Hopefully we get to do it again soon. Please. That would be awesome. Look forward to talking with you. And if you want more from Danny Connell and Raja Bell,

please listen to the Off the Bench podcast. That's going to do it for Fantasy Football today. We're recording an episode on Friday. Going to air it on probably Sunday or Monday. So have a great weekend, everybody. Dave, we are out of here. Na, na, na, na, na, na, na. Not George Le'Veon I've got Le'Veon Bell