Fantasy Football Today - 08/02: Bust WRs; "Average Joe" Fantasy Perspective (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: August 2, 2018

We know our listeners don't love the Zero-RB strategy this year, but what about Zero-WR (1:40)? Is this a viable approach in 2018? And we revisit the Doug Baldwin news (3:30) and tell you how much the key members of the SEA passing game went for in an auction we did today. Plus, is Allen Robinson going to be a stud in 2018 (8:00)? ... Bust WRs (12:45)! Debating Brandin Cooks and Juju Smith-Schuster and then debating Tyreek Hill and Stefon Diggs (21:50) and breaking down the conundrum that is the Browns WRs (28:50) ... News and notes from around the NFL (36:05) and then we're bringing on J. Darin Darst to talk about his draft philosophies (40:15). Darst is an avid Fantasy Football player who can give an "average Joe" perspective on Fantasy ... Your voicemails at 954-689-3199 and emails at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. Here we go! We're here to help you win your league and have bragging rights on your friends. Let's go! Now, here's Adam, Dave, and Jamie. Brandon Cooks has been a top 12 wide receiver in non-PPR and top 15 in PPR.

Three straight seasons, but is he a bust in 2018? Also, the Patriots have a new wide receiver in non-PPR and top 15 in PPR. Three straight seasons, but is he a bust in 2018? Also, the Patriots have a new wide receiver. Patrick Mahomes loves throwing interceptions. There might be a little Juju Smith-Schuster disagreement today. Welcome to Fantasy Football Today on Thursday, August 2nd. I'm going to introduce you to the experts, Dave Richard and Jamie Eisenberg. What's up, Dave and Jamie? Hello, Adam.

Hello. Here we are again. Jamie Eisenberg. What's up, Dave and Jamie? Hello, Adam. Hello. Here we are again. Jamie, hello. I'm not an expert, so you have to rephrase that. What are you, an analyst? Analyst. You're an analyst, okay. I thought you were a writer.

That's what it says on my business card. I'm not a writer anymore. I also don't have a business card, so don't rub that in. But if you're tired of the fantasy perspective from those stuffy analysts, we're bringing on our Average Joe Our resident Average Joe fantasy football player today We'll tell you more about him in about a half hour You'll get to hear from him

He's very good at fantasy But mostly because he just listens to this podcast And he has three names Which means he's going to assassinate somebody, right? Is that the thing? You better not make any bad fantasy picks. Otherwise, Average Joe's going to get you. So remember,

it's running back slash wide receiver week, but for running back week, we asked about zero RB. Do people want to do zero RB? I asked today on Twitter in a 12-team league, what about zero wide receiver? Waiting until round five to draft your first wide receiver is a blank strategy.

Great, perfectly fine, ill-advised, or terrible? So when we did this for zero RB, ill-advised and terrible combined for 87% of the vote. People do not want to wait until round five to take a running back. Pardon me, running back. What do you think they said for a wide receiver? Great, perfectly fine, ill-advised, or terrible to wait until round five? Same. Terribly advised.

Same, but with a little bit less vigor because 25% said perfectly fine. 27% said terrible. 45% think it's ill-advised. And 3% say it's great. So we agree. Don't wait until round five to take your first wide receiver. Of course. Well, I mean, it depends.

Do you really want to have Jarvis Landry as your first receiver? No, you're not getting him in round five anyway, I don't think. No, it'd be like, well, ADP is different, but I was going to say like Corey Davis or somebody that. Yeah, maybe Marvin Jones. Robert Woods. Yeah, somebody like that. But what's a more winnable strategy to you, zero RB or zero wide receiver?

Zero RB. Neither. Zero quarterback. Yeah. Yes. Neither one. By the way, Landry's ADP is 58th overall. That's round five. Well, average Joe took him, what, 39th? Fourth round. I think he took him in round four.

Yeah, but that's probably his non-PPR ADP. Yeah, okay. You could get him in round five in non-PPR. Sure. All right. So that's our fun twitter poll Guess it wasn't that fun Do we want to revisit the Doug Baldwin news If you missed yesterday's show That news kind of broke at least the severity of it Broke about 50 minutes into our podcast

Have you guys made your rankings adjustments for Baldwin For Russell Wilson for Tyler Lockett etc Yep I moved them down Both of them Wilson and Baldwin So what are we looking at? Not by a lot because I still want to give him, like I said yesterday, the veteran benefit of the doubt. But he was in my top 12.

He can't be anymore. And this is the first time we're going to go through something like this with Baldwin where he's missing all the preseason with an injury. We don't know how he's going to come back from it. Sports Injury Predictor says that Baldwin hasn't been hurt since 2014. He's played 88 consecutive games. That's a lot. Yeah.

He's like an Iron Man who no longer has an iron knee. Yeah, he hasn't missed a game yet. Two games, I believe, in his career. Right, but he hasn't missed a game yet this season. No one has this season. Correct. Right. So it's not like he's missed anything of significance.

What did you do with Tyler Lockett? Because we actually did talk a lot about Wilson and Baldwin yesterday. He was already in my top 60. I moved him up about 10 spots. So, look, he's going to get an opportunity with or without Baldwin there. So, again, the expectation for me is the last time the Seahawks did not have Jimmy Graham, Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett were very good. Sure.

So would you rather have Tyler Lockett or Anthony Miller? Anthony Miller. Miller. Yeah? Okay. But Lockett's got a great opportunity. Look, if Baldwin misses any time, he's going to be great. If Baldwin plays, he's still going to be good.

So, oh, you guys did an auction today. Jamie has the greatest team I've ever heard in my life. It was the wildest auction we've ever done in the history of CBS Sports. We're going to talk about it in depth tomorrow. I just want to tell you. So, Average Joe walked past the auction while it was happening, and I said, you've got to see this team. So, he looks over my shoulder.

My third receiver, my third receiver is AJ Green. It is? My third receiver. Who's your second receiver? Well, just based on how I bought them. Oh, your third. I bought Michael Thomas first. I bought T.Y. Hilton second.

So I bought AJ Green third. In any event, so he went right into my reserves. So Average Joe is looking over my line and he goes, I hate A.J. Green. I'm like, go away. Just walk away. You hate A.J. Green. Wait, Average Joe, get on here, Average Joe. You hate A.J. Green.

That's not true. That's not true. You took A.J. Green. I took A.J. I said I hate Andrew Luck. Oh, I'm sorry. You said you hate Andrew Luck. I apologize.

Hate's a strong word. How about you just don't want to draft him? I dislike him in fantasy. Okay. Excuse me. I apologize. Hate's a strong word. How about you just don't want to draft him? I dislike him in fantasy. Okay. Excuse me. I apologize for the misinformation. Fake news. Yeah.

So how much did Wilson go for as a $100 budget? Wilson, Baldwin, Lockett. Tell me what they went for in the auction that you did on Thursday early afternoon. We're recording Thursday about 3.30 p.m. Eastern. Russell Wilson was the 16th player 3.30 p.m. Eastern. Russell Wilson was the 16th player nominated. He went for five. Wow! That's a lot.

Especially when you realize that the 67th nominated player was Doug Baldwin and he went for six. That's not that much. Tyler Lockett, two bucks. 89th nomination. I love when people spend early on quarterbacks. It makes my day.

Yes. So to put it in perspective, Baldwin went for six. Which other wide receivers went for $5 to $7? Juju Smith-Schuster went for five. Thielen went for four. Fitzgerald, Larry Fitzgerald, you've heard of him? He went for three. Jordy Nelson went for three. Jordy Nelson went for three.

Pierre Garcon went for three. Demarius Thomas went for five. Tyreek Hill went for five. Devontae Crabtree, I think, for two. Julian Edelman went for four. How much did A.J. Green go for, Jamie? Ten. It's the wackiest.

I got A.J. Green for ten, T.Y. Hilton for 10, and Michael Thomas for 13. What? And I got DeAndre Hopkins for 29 and Julio Jones for 29. I'll tell you what. I knew going in because it was only a 10-team auction. I know we're going to get this tomorrow. But I knew there were going to be so many people that overspent early because there's going to be so many good players available.

You don't have that much money. I didn't realize it was a 10-team league. But I knew that too, and I still wanted to get two good receivers. Yeah, so did I, and I got three of them for what you spent on one. For what I spent on one, exactly. Here's another receiver question for you. Here's our email of the day. We're going to do bust-wide receivers in just a second.

But our email of the day is from Mike in Atlanta. Dear Joker, Two-Face, Riddler, and Penguin. I have no idea. Average Joe, do you know? second but our email of the day is from mike in atlanta dear joker two-face riddler and penguin i have no idea average average joe do you know joker i think that's from the spider-man yeah there you go what an average answer is alan robinson a legit number one receiver or were his numbers inflated by years of garbage time with blakeortles. Flash or fluke, Alan Robinson? You've got to say flash at this point. I'm sorry, you've got to say fluke at this point. But that doesn't mean he's a bad player.

He had so many targets those two years in Jacksonville, and one year he was fantastic, and one year he was not. And then he has the ACL, so he's got two seasons of, I think it was 140-plus targets? 150. 150-plus targets. Book-ended by two injuries. His rookie year was cut short, I believe, by 140 plus targets. 150. 150 plus targets. Book ended by two injuries. His rookie year was cut short, I believe, by a foot injury and then the torn ACL.

So the one big year, you have to look at it as fluky, but he's such a talented player. He was really good at Penn State. And I think somebody asked me this yesterday about Al Robinson. Maybe it was today during the auction. And does it come down to him or does it come down to Trubisky? And I think it just comes down to Trubisky. If Trubisky's good, I think he'll be good.

If Trubisky stinks, I think he's going to stink. Trubisky's been hot and cold so far in training camp for the Bears. Yeah, I mean, let's see when the game happens. You know, I have a tough decision to make right now in a keeper league. I think I brought this up before. I have four players to keep and about seven options. It's a PPR league. I can keep Allen Robinson as one of those guys for round 13 or later,

and it's between him, Alex Collins, Andrew Luck, and I think that might be it. Debating those. Oh, and the Jaguars' DST just because DSTs in this league are just ridiculously off the chart scoring wise but robinson's the one i'm struggling with because i keep him forever and hopefully he's great but he also just may not be that great yeah you think he gets a thousand yards yes i hope so i mean he didn't that 20 – what was it, 15 year? 2015, Alan Robinson – or 2016, he had 883 yards on 150 targets. Right, and that was 150 targets. Yeah, he was number 26 in non-PPR, number 25 in PPR. The year before, he was fourth in non-PPR, sixth in PPR with 1,400 yards.

And he joined a very exclusive list of 1,400 yards, and he had 14 touchdowns. But it was like the people who had had that kind of year in NFL history, it was a very short- Calvin Johnson, Randy Maul. Yeah, super short. It was amazing, amazing, because we had him on the show, and we jinxed him. We bonanzaed Alan Robinson. No, the one who bonanzaed him was Nick Costas, because he did something with him on a video

commercial where Alan Robinson's supposed to be dropping a touchdown, and he's screaming, no, Alan, no, and then Robinson walks up behind him, and he just kept on walking because he hasn't been the same since. If you want to see Nick Katsos, by the way, you can see him on CBS Sports HQ, which is an amazing streaming service that we've got for you. 24 hours, we've got live coverage, we've got scores, news, and highlights, coverage of big events. Really get you caught up on what's going on in the sports world. CBS Sports HQ. If you don't know about it, you can go to CBSSportsHQ.com.

You can also download the CBS Sports app on your mobile device. I've got it on my Roku. You can get it on your Amazon Fire. You know how it is. Any over-the-top device. Get the CBS Sports app and you can watch HQ. It's free. You don't have to sign up or anything.

It's the best way to get your sports coverage. And please check it out. We'd really appreciate it. And I think you're going to love it. We have great feedback on it. You're going to love CBS Sports HQ. Wait, there's more. There is?

Oh, yes. Tell us. Tell the people. Starting Monday at 12 o'clock Eastern, Fantasy Football Today makes its return from now until eternity. On CBS Sports HQ. On CBS Sports HQ, yes. Monday to Friday, 12 o'clock eastern we'll be uh back at it uh i think adam may be joining us at some points during the pre-season and season via skype like you did last year but it should be uh it should be fun we're still working out the details about uh who exactly will be on the show and

and what the show will look like, but it'll be great. I'm assuming people can watch it on CBSSports.com? They can watch it everywhere we have our programming. Right. Anywhere where there's internet. Bust wide receivers. Here we go. Oh, a note about the voicemails.

The number's 954-689-3199. I'll give it again in a second. I realize we're not getting a lot of voicemails lately. What's going on? Am I not giving the number enough? The inbox is full. And I have no idea how to clean it out. So I'm working on that. So wait a little bit and then leave us a voicemail.

I don't really have a phone, you know. Anyway, I'll get that fixed. 954-689-3199. We do have this somewhat old voicemail, but it's very appropriate for today's show. Here we go. Hey, team. This is Scott from Chicago. I just had a quick question about two wide receivers I'm struggling with, Juju Smith-Schuster and Brandon Cooks. I'm having

trouble understanding the crazy hype for Juju and a bunch of people in the industry calling for Cooks to be a bust. When I see their situations, it's very similar, both on high-powered offenses, lots of weapons, both have an elite running back catching passes out of the backfield. Big Ben, obviously a little better in real life than Jared Goff, but we know he's inconsistent for fantasy, and we don't have reason to believe Goff won't continue to make strides in year two with McVay.

Plus, Cook is the number one in L.A., and Juju has Antonio Brown to deal with. So just wondering what your thoughts are between those two wide receivers. Thanks so much for your help. Bye. Scott just made my case for Juju Smith-Schuster and for why he's a bust. I agree 100%. He might be the third fiddle in that offense. The reason why this was such an appropriate voicemail is Jamie has Cooks as a bust, Dave has Juju as a bust. That was a very professional voicemail from Scott. I love it.

Let's talk about these guys and, Jamie, why you have Cooks as a bust. Dave, why don't you start off, though, with Juju, who's going... And on CBS Sports, he's going like eight picks ahead of Alan Robinson in the fourth round, Robinson falling into the fifth round in a 12-team league. Why do you have Juju as a bust? I don't think he's going to bust as much as I just don't want to spend a fourth-round pick on him. I don't really even want to spend a fifth-round pick on him. I've got the numbers from how he did with and without Antonio Brown. There was a game where Brown left early.

It was basically three games where he was alone without A.B. He averaged almost eight targets, seven catches, 110 yards per game with two touchdowns. In the other 12 games, including the playoffs, about five targets, three catches, 49 yards, six touchdowns in those 12 games. Which means, and this is what he did at Southern Cal, it comes down to touchdowns. Which is fun because we love watching him celebrate his touchdowns. He had the best touchdown celebrations. But I feel like he's a touchdown-dependent fantasy receiver, and given the yardage that he averaged with Brown on the field,

he might get you under 40 yards in a touchdown. That's nine fantasy points. That's okay. It's not what I'm looking for when I start a guy that I take in round four. Jamie, you don't share the bus sentiment for Juju, right? You've got him seven spots higher than Dave does. Yeah, I don't love his ADP exactly, but yes, he played well without Antonio Brown. He also had a monster game without Martavis Bryant.

Last time I checked, Bryant is not on the team anymore. And if you look at where he was, Adam, you're right. He's going to be the third fiddle in that – or the voicemail. He's going to be the third fiddle in that offense. But last year he was under 100 targets, and he's going to be – my guess is probably the second most targets. I think he'll pass Le'Veon Bell in terms of targets. This year he'll be about 110 to 120 would be my guess.

So without Bryant there, I know they like James Washington. I don't think Washington is coming in to be a significant contributor in terms of what the target share will be. And so I look at it and I disagree with the voicemail. Brandon Cooks is not the number one there. Robert Woods is one. Pete Prisco is actually out there right now. I spoke to him yesterday about this. And he said that Sean McVeigh does such a good job with the route tree that they use. And he thinks Cooks is going to be good. But he also said that he's been told Cooper Cup might be their most polished wide receiver. And so we saw what Cup was last year. He was their red zone leader in targets. Robert Woods was amazing. Career renaissance, just going from Buffalo and how he struggled to be a huge contributor there.

Cooks has been in a situation where he's been 120 targets each of the last three seasons, I believe. About that. He's just shy of it. And he's played with arguably two of the best quarterbacks of all time in Tom Brady and Drew Brees. And now he's going to Jared Goff. And as the caller alluded to, he's going to make strides in his second year with McVay. But I don't think he's going from where Sammy Watkins was as what could be the third option at 70 targets to a 50-target leap. So I'm worried about Cooks getting the same amount of targets. All these receivers are touchdown dependent.

None of these guys are 100-catch guys. Neither of these guys are 100-catch guys. They need to score to be fantasy relevant. And I think you're going to see Cook's touchdown come down. I think Juju will kind of sort of settle in between where he was when everybody was healthy and active and then where he was the game without

Bryant, the three games without Brown. But I do like that the target share, I think, will favor Juju in terms of how these two guys will operate in their offenses. You know what? Actually, let's bring in Darst. So Jay Darren Darst is the guy who we're calling Average Joe, Average Jay Darren Darst. And I play in a fantasy league with Darst most years,

and he always does very well in it. He always loses in the finals. And he's the fantasy bridesmaid. But I want to know, as a non-fantasy analyst, but you work at CBSSports.com. You are a huge sports fan. You a huge stewards fan actually how do you feel about the rams wide receivers what is your take on the rams wide receivers well i'm going to live up to my name because i actually believe i agree with dave and jamie on both parts because i'm mr average but

that's not but i do agree with both of them because I see Juju Smith as a number two. He only had two receivers basically, Brown and Smith. And then the Rams, like Jamie said, they have Kopp, Woods, and Cooks. So I see Juju being better because he's a two. But then I also agree with Dave because I had Juju Smith in my league last year. He couldn't cut off his last name. It's too much. He's so average.

The average people don't say three names. His name is three names, J. Darren Darst. I had him last year and Dave's right. He has games where he has two catches, 30 yards, zero touchdowns and it's like a waste. Then he has other games where he has two catches, 90 yards and two touchdowns.

Last year though, again, just looking at Brian, Brian had more targets than him. And so you're taking away such a big piece of what that offense is, not necessarily in the production, but Roethlisberger took shots with Bryant. They tried to make him a bigger piece of the puzzle maybe than he should have been. And so if you just look at that Detroit game when Bryant didn't play, you look at the end of the three games, that report, and to compare the

two that was his rookie season so now he has a full year of knowing what to do going into a second year i i'll take the guy that i think has more upside and and to me that's miss shuster in this offense yeah but i i also agree i don't with both you guys about his adp i don't i don't want to take him that early agreed yeah i think i think a round later would be perfect. If I could get him in the fifth, late fifth, early sixth, I would be very happy. That won't happen. Well, late fifth. If I could get him in the late fifth, I'd be very happy. Yeah, it's going to be tough.

In non-PPR maybe, in PPR obviously. He's going 43rd overall according to Fantasy Pros in non-PPR, and a little bit later than that on CBS Sports, like 47th overall at Juju Smith-Schuster. So that's mid to late fourth round. And he's going ahead of Demarius. You mentioned Allen Robinson. Those guys should, at least on paper, have better years than him. But Heath, I think, is the most aggressive with Roethlisberger,

and it's interesting because, Dave, you've talked about the Rams' defense being what it is. That's not going to help in how you because, Dave, you've talked about the Rams' defense being what it is. That's not going to help in how you present your argument, the passing game for the Rams. You want to respond to that? I don't know what I need to respond for. I don't like Brandon Cooks either. I like him better than Juju, but it's not like I'm –

the reason why I would take Cooks ahead of Juju is because what we've seen from Cooks over the course of his career, at least in terms of fantasy, is that he can have some big games. He's very much boom or bust. And a player like that, when you're searching for wide receivers, there's going to come a point in everybody's draft where you're going to run out of wide receivers that you're really going to like, that you're really going to target. And so the next ones that you go for after that point are the ones that can at least give you some upside from week to week. The other thing that I just want to put out there with Cooks is that his schedule, in addition to being on a team with a great defense and with a great running back, the schedule is terrible. Oh, his number one, if he is the number one.

If Cooks is number one. Which you just said he isn't, by the way. He's going to see a ton of tough corners. But you just said he isn't the number one. No, no, no. But if he is. They mix and match their guys. Like I was asking Pete. I asked him this today. I said, isn't the number one. No, no, no. But if he is. They mix and match their guys. Like I was asking Pete.

I asked him this today. I said, who's the number one? And he said, they move those guys around so much that there really isn't a true one, two, and three. Now, there's going to be a target leader, one, two, and three. But he also said, they're talking up Josh Reynolds, which to me could be the stupidest thing. If Reynolds becomes anything, that they just spent the two first-round picks on Cooks and paid him? A lot of money. Makes no sense.

And he also said the guy who actually looked the best of their receivers in the practice he watched was Michael Thomas or Mike Thomas, another guy that was in that draft class. So he said they may go to the season with six guys because they're keeping Pharoah Cooper. He's one of the best return men in the league. Okay. So can Cooks be better than 70 targets? targets yes can he be better than 100 targets i'll take smith schuster getting over 100 targets more so than i will cooks all right two more busts uh jamie's got tyree kill and dave has stefan diggs who we just put under the microscope jamie tyree kill as a

bust his average opposition is okay. We'll see how it sort of settles in. But right now he's going at 35th overall. I'm fine with him in the third round. In our drafts, he's been going around too, which to me is a little bit out of control. He's been good, but he's been dependent. Last year he was so dependent on Alex Smith being such a great deep ball passer, which is the most ironic thing I think I've ever said. But the fact that he had four red zone targets,

which is the same amount as Chris Ivory, which is one less than DJ Foster, it's insane to me. He had one target inside the 10. One. I know, but I have found that is amazing. Four red zone targets, one inside the 10. And no touchdowns in the red zone. I have found that to be a little bit of a fluid stat. Like you look at Julio Jones year to year, Jarvis Landry year to year.

Sometimes it's not the most reliable stat. It is pretty eye-popping. But the year before, he had 17 red zone targets or 15 red zone targets and seven inside the 10. So I don't know exactly what to make of that. Yeah, but remember, they used him differently, though, that year. It was a lot of coming out of the backfield, bubble they were they were very creative with how they used them especially in the red zone now i will say this andy reed doesn't typically target his number one receiver a ton it's not you're never going to see his number one receiver get 150 targets that's just not his offense so you're talking about 120

maybe as the cap and now he has the best complimentary receiver he's had in the three years he's been on the team because sammy watkins is better than albert wilson he's better than chris conley he's better than anybody else that they've trotted out there and so if watkins which the reports have on this offseason have been great but that's kind of the player watkins as he shows up when the you know shorts and t-shirts are on and doesn't necessarily show up all the time when the pads are on and has a hard time staying healthy but you're you're giving targets obviously to travis kelsey who dominated in the red But you're giving targets, obviously, to Travis Kelsey, who dominated in the red zone. You're giving targets now to a better complementary receiver. Obviously, the running backs, hopefully it's Kareem Hunt,

is going to be the guy getting targets there. So if Tyreek Hill takes a little bit of a downturn in targets overall and doesn't have the same success from the quarterback throwing the ball down the field, and oh, by the way, Patrick Mahomes, I guess the reports are eight interceptions and seven practices, getting a lot of attention, his interceptions right now. So hopefully he gets that straightened out. They just lost in practice. Hopefully he's okay. Eric Fisher, their left tackle, went down with, I believe, a shoulder injury. So the Chiefs could be in trouble a little bit. Again, I think Tyreek Hill is a very good number two receiver, but I don't think he's number one, and I think he's going to come down from misproduction last year.

So his ADP is very different on CBS compared to Fantasy Pros. Fantasy Pros, 29th overall, wide receiver, 10. On CBS, Tyreek Hill is 35th overall, wide receiver, 13. Who is going after him on Fantasy Pros that you would take ahead of Tyreek Hill? Right now, Adam Thielen, Doug Baldwin, T.Y. Hilton, Stefan Diggs. Hilton, 100%. And D Hilton 100% and Diggs. I like Diggs better. You know who doesn't like Diggs better?

Dave Richard. He says Stefan Diggs is a bust. Why did I say that? Stefan Diggs is a bust. It's, again, based on his ADP. What is that again? Is he a round four pick or a round three pick? Three.

Yeah. Late three. I feel like everybody remembers him for that big catch against new orleans and i think that that's what he does he'll do that a couple of times over the course of the season his last three games the regular season he scored he did but he he he has been so wildly inconsistent he um he has six career 100 yard games and 19 with fewer than 60 yards. He had 34.5% of his yards and half of his touchdowns in the first three games of the year, and you just said he finished the year with three touchdowns.

He's a great receiver. He's just not great for fantasy because of the inconsistency. And I know that Kirk Cousins is there, and you think that the passing game is going to be even better with Kirk Cousins under center. I think it will be more efficient, but I still think that there's a lot of passes that have to be thrown around in Minnesota. And the difference between them and other offenses is that the Vikings have a stout defense. I think they're going to hold back their opponents. I think you're going to see a lot of Dalvin Cook. That's why there's so much hype about Dalvin Cook on this podcast

and everywhere else. I'm worried about Stephon Diggs finally having that 1,000-yard, eight-touchdown season that people are probably pinning on him by taking him in round three. Well, why would Diggs be at Boston, not Thielen? Because we've seen Thielen come through with bigger numbers before. I know last year he didn't have the touchdowns, but he had over 1,200 yards. And I feel like he's going to continue to get a lot of work in the slot.

We saw Cousins rely on the slot in Washington. He's leaned on Jamison Crowder for a few years. I think that's good for Thielen. I have a question because you said this a couple times now especially when we put them under microscope so you think dalvin cook's gonna have games with how many carries on a weekly basis how many carries a weekly i think he can get to at least 15 per week with three catches a week and that will take away

from the passing no i i just think that they could use the run game in general dalvin Cook might not even get them all. I think Latavius Murray can end up getting some clock killing snaps. Well, just to put things in perspective, as those guys finish. I don't think they're throwing more than maybe about 34 times a week. Okay, so just to put things in perspective, though. Latavius Murray from week six on, and that's basically, I don't know what happened. Well, the first four weeks, obviously, were Cook, and he averaged at least, I'm assuming, 15 carries a game. From week six on, so put the one game in week five with McKinnon.

Week six on, Latavius Murray had one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine games with at least 15 carries. One, two, three, four, five games of those with at least 18. So he got a lot of work. To me, that's Dalvin Cook. I mean, I don't think that's a big difference in terms of the running game taking away from the passing game. And that doesn't include McKinnon's carry either.

Exactly. And that's with the same – I know it's upgraded a little bit, but the same defense. Defense was amazing last year too. Right. So you put the – to me, that's offset by upgraded quarterback. And I don't think the passing game, 34 pass attempts is probably fair, but I'm going to guess that's probably what around Keenum may have averaged.

Close to it. Not like they were a pass-happy offense last year, right? But they don't have to be because you saw what those guys were able to produce. Then you better hope that he's the most efficient Vikings receiver this side of Randy Moss. See, I just think his touchdowns stay the same, variants of one or two either way. I think his touchdowns stay the same. You know, variants of one or two. Either way, I think his catches and his yards go up.

So Dave, who would you take ahead of Diggs that's currently going behind Diggs? Amari Cooper? Yes. Juju Smith-Schuster? Fitzgerald? No. I'll take Fitzgerald and PPR. Josh Gordon? I've got Gordon one spot ahead of Diggs, and if Gordon keeps missing training camp, then I'll have no choice.

All right, and that brings me to my bust real quick. I don't know who it's going to be, but it's going to be one of those two Browns wide receivers. I don't see a chance in hell that both Josh Gordon and Jarvis Landry are good. I don't see that they both live up to round four ADP. Jarvis Landry is the one I'm really targeting because if Josh Gordon is ready to go for week one, I don't see... No, I'm targeting him as a bust, I should say. He had the most perfect situation

in Miami. And he goes to a much different situation with a legit number one wide receiver who is so much better than anything Miami has ever had, with a pass-catching running back who's a big factor in the passing game, and with a quarterback who has never thrown for 3,400 yards in a season in Tyrod Taylor. No, I don't know how long Tyrod Taylor will be the quarterback, but he will be the quarterback for some of it. I think the best way to have a Tyrod Taylor offense is to run the ball, be conservative, and let him do what he does best, which is not turn the ball over.

So Jarvis Landry is being treated like Jarvis Landry, and I just don't think his situation is even close to the same. And if Josh Gordon is there, Landry feels like a bust to me. Unfortunately, I don't think I can count on Josh Gordon being there right now, so he might be the bust. That's, I think, the gamble you're making when you're drafting Landry. Now, first off, I think in PPR, to me, Landry feels like what he was, I think it was two or three years ago, where he was like 90 catches. He averaged 10 yards a catch, so around 900 yards and five touchdowns. So non-PPR, I don't want him at that price whatsoever.

But PPR, I think he rolls out of bed 90 catches. That's just the type of player he is. And I agree with you, Adam. Tyrod Taylor's never done X, Y, and Z, but he's also never played in a system like what Todd Haley does. And Haley's, and again, quarterback makes a huge difference here, but Haley's offenses in the time he was in Pittsburgh, they averaged 590 passes a season.

Tyrod's never thrown over 430. You think that's going to happen though? No, but I think it's over 430, and I think he's probably closer to 500 if he plays 16 games. So let's just say the Browns quarterbacks throw 500 passes. I think that's fair given what Haley's offenses have been. And so, yes, he's never played with a secondary receiver to the level of Josh Gordon. Yes, he's never played with a pass-catching running back like Duke Johnson.

And you have to factor in, during his time in Miami, Njoku might be the best tight end he's ever played with too. So there are things that are happening to Landry that are a little bit different. But you're playing a gamble, especially if you're in, you know, best ball or whatever, you know, type of format you're talking about right now, that if Gordon misses the season again, yeah,

that's gone. Then Landry now becomes, I don't think 160 targets like we saw last year, but probably 140 plus. And then all of a sudden you justify his ADP. So it's a gamble that you're taking. And it's probably the same thing, you know,

to a lesser degree with Tyler Lockett. You're hoping that if you're invested in Landry, if you're invested in Lockett, if you're invested in a guy that has a questionable situation around him, that could be a home run play. But if Gordon plays, is Jarvis Landry a top 20 wide receiver? Should he be going ahead of guys like Allen Robinson? No. Like I said, I think he's going to be a volume pass catcher, but he's not going to be a big yardage or touchdown guy because last year those two numbers spiked.

I've got some reports on Landry if you want to hear them real quick. From our buddy Nathan Zagura. This is on the Browns website, so take this with a grain of salt. Jarvis Landry is the unquestioned top target for Taylor as they have connected for big plays and touchdowns on a daily basis. Gordon's not there. Landry has been the best player on offense every single day. He knows how to get open and catches absolutely everything thrown his way. So he's doing the things that he was known for in Miami. What's not in here is that, and this is what I heard on Sirius radio,

which goes on a training camp tour and I listen to the Browns stop, Landry's lining up everywhere. He's not going to be just a slot guy for Cleveland. And honestly, I think it helps him if Josh Gordon's there drawing coverage away because then he's in single coverage underneath, and Tyrod will take that. I just don't see the math. I think it's kind of like the Brandon Cooks argument that Jamie makes. I just don't see the math there.

If Josh Gordon is there, I don't see the math working out for Jarvis Landry. Guys, I really want to get Darst on to talk about his team and what he was thinking. He had the – Darst, eighth or ninth pick in the draft? Nine. You had eight. You kept stealing guys from me. Yeah, well, that's what I do.

Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. Ah, you did. Yes, I want to hear what he was thinking at the nine slot. We have some news and notes to get to. And as I mentioned, Darst is a great guy. Yes, I want to hear what he was thinking at the nine slot. We have some news and notes to get to. And as I mentioned, you know, Darst is a great guy.

The three of the – those three guys are, from the time I worked at CBS in Fort Lauderdale, my three best friends in the office. So I love those guys. And why not Heath? Because Heath and I actually never worked together in the CBS sports office. So that was not a swipe. You hate Heath. Not a swipe at Heath at all. But Jamie is the only one who came to my wedding out of the three of them in the room,

so let's make that known. Is it your anniversary already? You passed, right? Yeah, a month ago. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, thank you. Anyway. God, so much has changed for you in a year.

I know. You want to step up your game, Darce? You want to be a little bit above average? Get yourself an Indochino suit. The world's largest made-to-measure menswear company. It's been featured in GQ, Forbes, and Fast Company. Made-to-measure suits are awesome. This is something I did not fully appreciate until I got my Indochino suit.

It fits me perfectly. I have a lot of trouble getting suits that actually look good on me. They're always too big. They might be a little bit cheaper than the Indochino suit, and I'll tell you that's really not expensive. I'll tell you about that in a second. But then I have to go spend $100 or $200 or $300 at the tailor. At the end of the day, I spent way too much on a suit that doesn't look as good as my Indochino suit. So go to Indochino.com, or you can visit a showroom and pick your fabric, choose your customizations, customize everything, the pants, the pleats, the lapel, the monogram on the inside, the collar, whatever you want.

Make it yours. Submit your measurements, and your suit's going to arrive in just a few weeks. You can get any premium Indochino suit for $379, a great deal for a custom suit. You do that by, you enter FFT at checkout on Indochino.com. You get 50% off a made-to-measure premium suit with free shipping. So go to Indochino.com, enter FFT at checkout for any premium suit for $379 and free shipping. An incredible deal for a suit that's going to fit you better than anything off the rack ever could. So, Dars, I want to ask you a question.

Okay. You listen to our podcast from time to time, I want to ask you a question. Okay. You listen to our podcast from time to time, right? All the time. All the time. We appreciate that. Thank you. So Adam just professed his love for you. Yes.

And said how great of a friend you are. Obviously, Dave and I know you a long time. We feel the same way about you. Not quite. I like it more than you guys like it. Okay. know you a long time we we feel the same way about you no not quite i like it more than you guys like oh okay um if you were to say somebody gives free stuff to the show who on the show should get the free stuff dave and i or adam like who's more important to the show i think it's also important to point out that jamie and i have been doing the podcast longer than anyone else. Don't cloud his judgment. My answer is Azar. Wow!

I edit the show. I post the show. I promote the show. You do more than us. You do more than us. I'm not taking away, but I just wanted to get Darce's perspective on this just because he is the judge and jury today. He is. He's now above average J. Darren Darce.

Quick news and notes. A.A. J.D.D.? Yeah. He is. He's now above average J. Darren D'Arcy. Quick news and notes, North Turner. A.A.J.D.D.? Yeah. North Turner said it's realistic for Christian McCaffrey to get 25 to 30 touches

per game. It's also realistic for all of us to grow hair again. Well, you do. D'Arcy. I can't grow it. No, you are.

We're not. No, but they are talking him up to get much more workload than what we saw yesterday. Last year. Unless you're talking about my back. It would be nice if they did that, but that's just not going to happen. Patrick Mahomes, all the interceptions.

Are we worried yet? No. Aaron Rodgers has like seven interceptions in training camp. Oh, okay. I would be worried, though, if Eric Fisher is hurt. Yeah, he and Cam Irving, two offensive linemen, left with what Andy Reid said were tweaks. They don't need offensive linemen. That's true.

They can just put Sammy Watkins there. He may have. I went back and watched Garoppolo's games last year, and the two guys that stood out to me, Garoppolo was not one of them. It was George Kittle and Marquise Goodwin. Goodwin was outstanding. Just unbelievably quick.

It makes you wonder what the hell Buffalo was doing for all those years after they drafted him. Yeah, I mean, you get a play caller. And Robert Woods, I mean, you think that was a bad year for Buffalo. Even though they made the playoffs, they looked bad doing it. Denver rookie wide receiver, I should clarify so the Bills fans don't get mad at me. Too late.

It was a good year for them. They made the playoffs, but it was bad that those two receivers kind of went off at other places. Cortland Sutton for the Broncos, having a good camp according to the Denver Post. Is Cortland Sutton draftable in a redraft league? He could be. He could be if he puts on a good show in the preseason. But they've never supported three receivers. And so, you know, Sanders is starting to get nicked up a little bit over the last couple years.

Demarius has battled through a hip problem. But he could be, you know, maybe a better version of what we hoped Kenny Galladay was last year. I've read that Emmanuel Sanders is looking outstanding. Yeah. And Kenny's a better quarterback too. Yeah, that's another thing. Broncos are over the moon for Case Keenum. Josh Doxson may have suffered a minor injury in his shoulder.

It looks like Josh Doxson is fine. Jay Gruden said that he'll be okay. So he might miss a preseason game. So who are you more excited to draft, Josh Doxon or new Patriots wide receiver Eric Decker? Doxon. None. If I had to draft one, it's Doxon. Not interested in Decker?

I'm interested in a triple Decker. I think it's more of what Jordan Matthews was going to be. Four games of being somewhat relevant, and then with Edelman's back, you know the targets are going to be in Edelman's favor. Does it hurt Chris Hogan at all, Eric Decker signing? No. The Bengals released Brandon LaFell, who had just 548 yards and three touchdowns last year.

Cleveland is moving Joel Batonio from guard to left tackle. They're now going to start a rookie at guard. Corbett, right? That's who's going to move to guard? Yeah. Austin, is it? Yeah. Do the Browns have a good offensive line? Last year we were touting them. They don't have Joe Thomas anymore. What's their line like? Petonio was awesome for them as a run blocker. But that was as a guard. And the assignment will be a little bit different as a tackle. I'd like to see this unit in action.

Yeah. And I'd like to see this unit in action. Yeah. And I'd like to see Chris Thompson in action because he is still not 100% recovered from his broken leg and he doesn't fully trust it yet. I hated reading that because if a player is still thinking about an injury and he's out there playing, I wonder if that's going to slow him down or make him a little cautious. And typically when players do that, they get hurt again. That's Chris Thompson we're talking about.

I read that, and I wanted to draft Darius Geis. Yeah. In our half PPR draft, Thompson went later than I would have expected, last pick of round seven. Good value for him? Not now. Not now, yeah. Okay, and Jonathan Ciprian out for the year for the Titans.

That's our safety. They are considering signing Eric Reid. And Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack don't appear to be getting closer to signing deals. Darst, I apologize. I left you hanging way too long. Introduce yourself to the people. What do you do at CBSSports.com? Well, I'm a site production manager. I'm the guy

behind the guy behind the guy, for you swingers references. I help build the site. All the other stuff you see on the site besides video and editorial, like the pages get built, the standings, the stats, I'm kind of in charge of all that. So if

anybody out there sees something broken, call Azar, tweet to Azar, and we'll get it fixed. I got to say, we just had a company-wide meeting before the podcast started, and Darce was one of the people called out in a positive way. He was lauded for his work so far and his efforts. Yep. Yep.

Congratulations. He was. He got a shout-out from the big boss, man. Wow. And now here we are on a podcast. And now we get to tear apart your team. And I like Darce's perspective because he knows his football. It's August 2nd, and he's not as into it as Dave and Jamie have been.

But this is just, you know, if you want to sit around the water cooler and talk fantasy football, Darce is perfect. So you had the ninth pick in our half PPR 12-team league. And obviously, so you had the 16th pick as well. And what were you thinking with your first two picks? 12 teams, two running backs, two receivers, flex. What were you thinking with your first two picks going in? Well, honestly, that's the biggest question mark I had coming into this draft. And when I looked at it and I had the ninth pick,

I started going through my head all the different scenarios, and I tried to see. I wonder if other people do the same thing. They think to themselves, well, you kind of know who's going to be there at nine. So you kind of figure to yourself, I can go running back here and I can go running back in the second or I can try to go wide receiver, wide receiver, or I can go running back wide receiver. So we can talk about the first five picks.

And I also looked at other scenarios and other ways i could have gone and i think i could have drafted some better players did you did you make a top nine list knowing that you get one of those nine guaranteed no but you know you know you're not getting girly and bell and those and antonio brown and stuff so you kind of have it in your head who you're going to get and i honestly thought my choice was going to be between hunt and barkley azer you took hunt right in front of me thought my choice was going to be between Hunt and Barkley. Azra, you took Hunt right in front of me, and so I was prepared to take Barkley.

And then I thought, well, Kamara's still on the board, so I can't pass on him, can I? I mean, you can't take Barkley over Kamara, could you? You could if you don't believe in Kamara doing what he did last year. This is where the scoring is interesting because full PPR for me, it's Kamara. I just think while Barkley should be involved in the passing game, you know Camara is going to be 75 plus catches. In this scoring though, if you lean more towards standard or non-PPR, Barkley's rushing numbers should surpass Camara if everything goes right, even for both guys guys so if you lean just with the catch a catch bonus in the half ppr

setting you're gonna you know probably come out on the commercial side i've now in other leagues i've gone receiver receiver first and second and i always feel like i'm just scrambling to find a running back in the third round but i i see there was more options and the two guys that keep coming up all the time in that late third is Alex Collins and Kenyon Drake. It seems like they're always there. Every mock I've done, they're there. So then you're thinking to yourself, well, you could go receiver-receiver and get one of those guys in the third. Maybe two.

Maybe both. But I went Kamara in the first, but then it kind of put me in a corner for the second round because I really wanted Michael Thomas. But then I thought to myself, do I really want to have Saint Saints? So then I kind of put myself – and then I was like, well – so then I took A.J. Green. And then I kept thinking about it. Well, maybe I should have gone – I could have gone Julio Jones in the first and then gotten Michael Thomas in the second and gone two great receivers. So, I mean, Kamar and Green, I guess, I mean, that's not a bad start. I was so happy that you took Green because I wanted Michael Thomas

and I got Michael Thomas for the next pick. That is interesting, the not wanting to double up on the Saints. Dave and Jamie, you know, if you rank Michael Thomas ahead of A.J. Green, which I think you do, right? I do. I think they both. Well, yeah, I was looking at both of them. I mean, for me, I probably would have Thomas, but I was just curious.

Do you risk that, take a chance and go Saints-Saints? I mean, you'd go Bell-Brown in a heartbeat, but that's a little different. Sure, and probably Beckham-Barkley too, just depending on how it shakes out for your team. I don't think it's bad. Clearly, Drew Breeszes had a lot of success with his receivers um and obviously we saw what camaro was able to do last season there were four games last year where thomas and camaro were good for double digits and fantasy

points there were another three games where both of them were good for at least nine fantasy points seven total out of 16 games it lets you know that you'll get one good week, potentially two good weeks, one great, one good, all from those two Saints fans. I would say this, though. Thomas was actually a little disappointing last year because his touchdowns were so low, which made no sense. I think his touchdowns go up. He only had five last year on 149 targets. Like, that's ridiculous. Yeah.

I mean, that's kind of why the Breeze scenario, you expect him to bounce back too. And he's entering his third year. And Kamara, though, could regress in touchdowns for sure. So there's the yin and the yang, I guess. All right, Darce. So you go with A.J. Green in the second round, Kamara in the first round. And now I took LaShawn McCoy right before your third pick. Yeah, I wasn't going to take him anyway, so that wouldn't hurt me.

But it was the same thing where it's like now you have the third round. Obviously you're not taking a quarterback yet. I really don't want to take a tight end that early. I mean, Zach Ertz, Jamie, you took Ertz ahead of me. So I just thought to myself well it's either running back or receiver basically and you know it's it's i had amari cooper last year in one of my leagues my big money league and that just really you know stabbed me in the heart a little bit so i wasn't really sure about going there and then you know we talked about the josh gordon and

demarius thomas jordan howard was on the, and I worry about Cohen, but I just— That was a steal. I just figured take him in the third. Yeah, an absolute steal. Yeah, it was a good pick. Jordan Howard, ninth pick of round three. You're right, Darcy. I mean, you get to the point, the previous wide receivers to go were Thielen, Diggs, and Tyreek Hill.

And then there's like four picks off the board before Amari Cooper goes, and Cooper went right after Jordan Howard. But that is a dilemma, I think, for a lot of people is how do you feel about Cooper, Thomas, Josh Gordon, Larry Fitzgerald? Fitzgerald would have been, I think, a good pick there if it were full PPR. Yeah. Safe. Yeah, safe pick there.

So I totally feel – But you also have to gamble as to who's available in round four because you're coming up very soon. Well, i i honestly again we talked i think i thought i could get alex collins maybe in the fourth if i took a receiver here but if i'm gambling and if i take amari cooper and now collins isn't there for me in the fourth now i'm really in trouble right and he wasn't and he wasn't and then my biggest question mark... But he might have been because you're pushing now Howard down another spot. True. He could have been. Right. And Kenyon

Drake went after me in the fourth too. That was another guy I've been looking at too. But the biggest problem I had was the fourth round. I didn't know what to do. I think I ran... The clock ran about two seconds before I had to make a pick. Would you have taken... Well, you didn't.

Did you give any consideration taking Drake and just taking stud receiver and two running backs and a flex? Did that cross your mind at all? No, because I already had two running backs, and I thought if I didn't take – I don't know. The only question was in a really, really hard discussion. I know Azar and I have this discussion all the time, and he actually took the pick right after me, is Rodgers. Should I have taken Aaron Rodgers there in the fourth instead of who I took as Jarvis Landry?

My thinking was that I could get Brady or Russell Wilson either in the fifth or the sixth. Which is what you did. Which is what I did, but then I think to myself, well, I could have taken Rodgers and just taken another guy in the in the fifth of the six anyway but it would have been somebody like a jai michael crabtree you know one of the the lesser tiered rookie running backs marvin jones yes any of those guys you know no no but that's No, but that's to me the hardest part of drafting. And again, you don't want to get stuck into taking, I've got to take a running back here.

I've got to take a receiver here. But it feels like that's what you did. A little bit. It does feel that way. But that's a good point. Darcy, I felt the same exact way as you did. That's why I did take Aaron Rodgers. And I understand why you didn't.

You took Russell Wilson in the following round. This was before the Doug Baldwin news. I get it. But that is the big dilemma. It's like you feel obligated. You don't want to be weak at wide receiver or running back. So you took your second guy in the fourth round. You have two running backs, two wide receivers.

You just don't love the pick. It might be a great pick. We talked about Jarvis Landry 10 minutes ago. If Josh Gordon's out, it's a great pick. Well, yeah. And again, I thought the same thing. It was a half-point PPR league, so I figured he's going to get 90 catches by accident. So it's fine.

I mean, he's not an elite receiver, but he's fine, and I just figured, well, then, again, you're right. I got Russell Wilson in the fifth round, so I was happy about that. See, I think that if you like Kenyon Drake more than Jarvis Landry just in a vacuum, I think you should have pulled the trigger and just filled your flex there and taken a guy that you really liked rather than settling for a second wide receiver. Yeah, and I guess that's the big – for somebody, like I said, myself who plays in fantasy and other people who are average fantasy players, you have it in your head, okay, I need to get a running back. I need to get a number one running back,

I need to get a number one receiver. But then you start going, well, if I take too many running backs, now I have three running backs and only one receiver, you know, maybe I panic and I should take a receiver here when I could have taken somebody else, a better tight end or a better quarterback instead of saying myself, I've got to get this guy now. I've got to take this wide receiver spot now. Well, look, I don't think you did a bad job.

This is through four picks. So we can fuss and stress about all you want. You've got Kamara, A.J. Green, Jordan Howard, and Jarvis Landry. That's a pretty good start. Then you go Russell Wilson around five. Right, but here's – so I played with some scenarios on different... Instead of going... I went running back, receiver, running back, receiver.

I did it where I go running back, running back, and I could have had Barkley and Fournette first and second round, and then I would have had Amari Cooper in the third and Aaron Rodgers in the fourth. Now I have two stud running backs and the best quarterback in fantasy. My fifth wide receiver is Crabtree.

My fifth pick would have been Crabtree. I don't know if that's better. I don't know if Amari Cooper-Michael Crabtree is a good enough wide receiver combo. It is when you're starting running backs or what they would have been. And Aaron Rodgers is your quarterback. I mean, I said this last year, and I'm going to say it again this year. I want to do whatever I can to get one of the top 8 to 10 wide

receivers. And I understand that line of thinking, but let's just say you get those two guys that you did, and you didn't take Rogers there, and still took Landry. And then you get Russell Wilson in round 5. Or not even. Maybe just your line of thinking changes a little bit, there and still took Landry. Right?

And then you get Russell Wilson in round five. Or not even. Maybe just your line of thinking changes a little bit because now you're somewhat chasing wide receiver. If you're going by Adam's sort of theory, not necessarily per se, but not feeling comfortable with the receiving core that you have. So if Cooper's your one, Landry's your two, and then you mentioned Marva Jones, would be his three. By all accounts, is having a good preseason. Or someone else, and then maybe round six, another receiver.

And then, okay, now it's starting to backfill your running back spot, and quarterback being what it was. And we talked about this when we went over the draft yesterday. Did you at any point have any quarterback buyer remorse seeing Breeze and Wentz in round eight and some of these other guys that went later? Well, in my head, I was trying to get one of the top three, Rodgers, Wilson, or Brady. And you took Brady around later, I believe. Okay, so even so.

So I could have said yes. So I could have waited on Russell Wilson, taken somebody, and then had my choice. Again, you worry about the people picking behind you as it gets back to you if they take both two guys then you're like oh man i really messed up now i gotta really wait and you know i had the same quandary with the kamara michael thomas issue because i took jordan howard and then alan i could have taken alan robinson but i said to myself do i really want to have two bears on my team so yeah, rounds three and five or rounds three and four? I think it was three and four because I think I could have taken Allen Robinson in the fourth.

Yeah, I understand. That's definitely a dilemma. Where are you on tight end? I know you wanted Trey Burton. I took him in the seventh round right before you were about to pick and you were pissed off. But where are you on tight end right now, Darsh? I got Kittle in the 10th. Well, what's your overall, like, you want a top three quarterback.

What's your tight end strategy? Well, I mean, you know, obviously Travis Kelsey is the guy you want. For me, Gronk scares me. He's always, you know, just a scary guy fantasy-wise, I think. So, I mean, I wanted Kelsey, you know, maybe Ertz, and that was kind of it. But, again, I think maybe when you took Burton, I don't know what round you took him in. Seven. I think maybe I got a little scared saying, I got to take a tight end here,

so I thought I would take Burton. But thankfully, Kittle was in the 10th. I think that's just fine. Okay. Garst, you want to listen to some voicemails with us? Well, I got one more thing for you real quick. Okay, okay. For average Joe who may be thinking.

So the other scenario I could have gone was wide receiver, wide receiver, and I could have taken Julio Jones and Michael Thomas. Then my running backs would have been Collins and Drake, and then I would have gotten Howard again in the third, and then either Kenyon Drink or Alex Collins in the fourth, and then I would have gotten yeah howard again in the third and then either kenyan drink or alex collins in the fourth and then i would have gotten brady or russell wilson in the fifth so i would have had julio jones and michael thomas two great receivers but then my running back situation is not as strong as a barclay or a four net that's that's like the ppr dream

and even in non-ppr i think it's good yeah right so then you go drake instead of howard there but i i don't mind that either. You know me. I'm crazy about running backs. And I think your roster is differentiated when you do start with two stud running backs like that. I'm not saying it's good to do that. Well, I know. But I'm talking about the other example where you had Saquon and Fournette.

So that would be a good example. I think that differentiates your roster. I think you could say the same thing about going with two wide receivers. It does make your roster a little different. I think that comes down to how you feel about Collins, Drake, Howard, Nixon, those guys that are going to go in rounds three and four. Well, Nixon will be gone. If you like those guys, whether Nixon's there or not,

then maybe you do plan on starting out with two receivers. Yeah, that's, I mean, you know, the draft is, and I want to say to you guys, too, and I know you guys do a ton of mocks and you're always doing different positions, but, I mean, when you, when the thing comes out, like you have the seventh pick or the tenth pick, you automatically say, okay, here's my top ten,

and I'm going to go off this list. I mean, you kind of, like I said, again, you know, girly bell. I know. You built it. But you know what I'm saying, is you kind of have it in your head. If I go running back here, are you planning again for the second round? Or you just wait until it gets there and see what happens? I mean, I'll always know the group of guys that I'm going to be looking at.

And so, okay, this guy may go if this guy's available. Like I didn't expect Fournette to make it back to me after taking DeAndre Hopkins at six. So that was a little bit of a surprise. I was really thinking when I saw my draft spot, I'm probably going Hopkins and Adams, maybe Hopkins and Gronk, maybe Hopkins and Evans, just the group of guys that are typically going to be in that range. I mean, I have an idea in my head, like you said, doing all these mock drafts, but I think it's always a good idea to have an idea of what the players that are going to be there

for you, but not necessarily say, okay, this is the guy I'm taking because he'll definitely be there because most what the players that are going to be there for you, but not necessarily say, okay, this is the guy I'm taking because he'll definitely be there because most times it's probably not going to happen. And then the one thing that I'll do, especially when I'm picking late in round one like you did, I'll map out my rankings for the first two rounds. So in your case, I think 16 overall was your second pick. Yep. So I'll have a list of my top 16 players, and I'll assume that I'll take the top guy at nine,

and then when I'm up at 16, I'll consider some other guys that might be, say the highest guy is going to be 12th or 13th. I might consider the guys at 14th and 15th, but I'll probably end up taking whoever I've ranked the highest there too. Yeah, like I said, you kind of know who in the vicinity is going to be there. And then obviously I just,

I'll just real quick. I had Deion Lewis, Cooper Cup, you know, a couple of the guys, you know, and then bench guys. All right. For those of you at home, if you want to compare the two strategies of running back, running back, wide receiver, wide receiver, you could have in half PPR Barkley and Fournette and then any combination of these two. Cooper, Fitzgerald, Gordon, Landry, Allen Robinson, Juju. But Barkley and Fournette to start, and then two of those receivers. Or Julio and Michael Thomas to start, and Howard, Drake, Collins, Geis. Those types of guys.

You can get two of those four. Howard, Drake, Collins, Geis to go with Julio and Thomas. Personally, I like the wide receivers to start with better, but it's up to you. I want to end the show with one phone call here, one voicemail. Tomorrow is going to be a mailbag and an auction review, so we'll do a couple of voicemails tomorrow and some e-mails. Let's hear from Brian.

Hey, guys. This is Brian from Central California. I'm the guy who emailed Dave's mom a Brian. Hey, guys. This is Brian from Central California. I'm the guy who emailed Dave's mom a couple years back, bought a couple copies of Naughty Mamets, joined the podcast league. Nice. Two questions. What are your top five favorite pizza toppings in order from one to five? Question two, who are your top five favorite rookies in order?

Basically, I'm in a 12-team dynasty league, and I have picks three and five, and I'm wondering what to do with them. Thanks for the advice. All right, let's do the top five rookies first. Barkley won. I'm going to run out of pizza toppings, so I'll go first. Barkley won, Geist two, Jones three, Freeman 4, and Penny's now slipped to 5. I'm just getting nervous now with this whole thing with him

and the whole thing happening with that team. Saquon 1, Ronald Jones 2, Geist 3, but they're back-to-back. Freeman 4, Sonny Michel 5. No wide receivers? No. Okay. Not yet, but Anthony Miller is apparently a darling at Bears camp. Dars, what are your top five pizza toppings?

I can't go five. I don't think I can either. Top three. What's the matter with you people? I'm very plain. I'm average. I'm plain. But I'll go two, and I'm sure everyone's going to yell at me.

Pepperoni one, pineapple two. Have you ever had them both together? Yes. Pineapple on pizza is one of those things where either you love or you hate it, and it probably depends on whether or not you like pineapple. I'll go mushrooms three. I don't like it, but I will eat it. If there's a few slices and it's mushrooms, I'll eat it.

Come on, Darcy. You can give us two more. Two more toppings. I can't do it. Really? Extra cheese and extra sauce. There you go. I can't do it. Come on, Darcy. I'm hungry now. You can give us two more. Two more toppings. I can't do it. Really? Extra cheese and extra sauce. There you go. I can't do it.

Peppers. Sausage. Nope. Nope. Can't do it. Caviar. I can't do it. I have a feeling Azar is cheese one, pepperoni two.

No, I don't like pepperoni that much. Mushrooms one. I love a sausage pizza. I like a grilled chicken pizza. And I will piggyback off the pineapple, but I'll go with the pineapple ham, the Hawaiian combo. Those are good. That's it. That's pretty much all I got.

And then if I had to go with a fifth, maybe meatball. The meatball and ricotta at Anthony's Coal Fire Pizza is about as good as it gets. It's fantastic. It's fantastic. Dave? The correct answer is sausage one, spinach two, giardiniera three, pepperoni four, and I'll go green pepper five. What is that third one you said? Giardiniera. Giardiniera. What the hell is that?

It's like pickled – they put it on Italian beef in Chicago. Oh, okay. Like pickled vegetables. Okay. That's – yeah. You are way too healthy. Like three of your five are vegetables. Healthy?

What the hell? Spinach? You know how much pizza I eat in a week? With spinach? On pizza. Oh, gosh. You just have to have a pizza eating contest. I'll win.

By the way, I love – You might. You might. I love when the office orders pizza for everybody like on big events like the nfl draft we had it this week yeah and everything else and you go in there four hours after the delivery and there's like seven boxes and you open it and it's like broccoli onions it's always meat lovers and veggies that's the one day he's taking home you just you know you heat it up for about 30 seconds and you're good. D'Arce, thank you, dude. That was fun stuff, man. Yeah, thanks for having me.

I appreciate it. J. Darren D'Arce. Anytime. D'Arce is the man. He is. Jamie Eisenberg, Dave Richard, my best friend. All right, bye. I got to go.

He's leaving again. All right, we're out of here. See you later, everybody. Na, na, na, na, na, na. It's all right. I've got Le'Veon. It's all right. Not George Le'Veon.

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