Fantasy Football Today - 08/07 Fantasy Football Podcast: Cutler, Position Battles, Strategies

Episode Date: August 7, 2017

Jay Cutler's signing is the top headline from the weekend, and today we discuss what it means for the Dolphins Fantasy assets (3:10). Any upgrades or downgrades? ... We've talked plenty about ADP, but now we want to know what you think. We read listener comments on current ADP (18:48). Are Martavis Bryant and Tom Brady being taken too early (22:30)? ... Some WR strategy talk (13:20), all the latest news including notes on Adrian Peterson (28:44), WAS RBs (30:30), OAK RBs (32:00) and Devin Funchess (33:04) ... Your emails at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com Here we go! Your friends don't play fantasy? LOL. What a bunch of nerds. Let's go! Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.

Welcome to another week of the Fantasy Football Today podcast. Pre-season week one. Here it is. Adam Azer, Dave Richard, Heath Cummings, Jamie Eisenberg. This is Fantasy Football Today, and we're taking your emails. FantasyFootball at CBSi.com. All right, we're obviously going to talk about Jay Cutler and get some listener average draft position feedback,

and we're going to say hello to the boys. What's going on, guys? How we doing today? Yeah. Woo. Jay Cutler is back. And we're going to say hello to the boys. What's going on, guys? How are we doing today? Yeah! Jay Cutler is back! Smoking Jay Cutler! Can you sense the excitement in this room? I think it's better than Matt Moore.

I think it's better than Matt Moore. I think it's very, very similar to Ryan Tannehill. I think Matt Moore will end up starting more games than Jay Cutler this season. Wow! Is that just because Cutler is so injury prone and can't really last that long? And retired. Yeah, yeah. It's not ideal.

He's the same type of retired as like Marshawn Lynch retiring. Why is it different? Because he wasn't gone for a year. How many times do you think Jay Cutler has thrown a football since he got hurt last year? Oh, I bet he's thrown it at least two times. I'll say that's fair. Yeah. I'm going to guess he hasn't really done very much and has to work himself into shape.

And I think Matt Moore's better at this point in his career. I'm going to say this. I don't want him on my fantasy team. Well, Jay Cutler? Jay Cutler. That's not a huge surprise. Jay Cutler's not going to be on anybody's fantasy team except for two quarterback leagues and deep performance. The bigger question is the receivers, and I don't think that changes much at all because, again, Matt Moore will end up starting more games than Jay Cutler this year.

Man, wow. It's going right into it. Before we were going to get into all the news and such, I was going to thank you guys, not for doing the show without me on Friday, but for publicly acknowledging that I am, in fact, your boss. I did appreciate that, so thank you. I think I was the only one that did that, so you're just thanking me. Alright, thank you, Heath. You're welcome. I kind of questioned it. Does that mean that I'm going to get fired? No.

Reprimanded, yes. Fired, no. Not now. Maybe after this. How's the reprimanding going to go down? I'm not sure. Maybe we'll see. I think you should do it on the air. Okay. Try to figure it out. I also said I was going to sing Happy Birthday to Tom Brady on the air, but I forgot to do that, so I'm sure I'll forget. So, yeah, you guys talked about some crazy average draft position. You cited Tyrell Williams as the number 47 wide receiver off the board,

Devontae Parker number 42 off the board, Rob Kelly number 38 running back off the board. You talked about Quincy Enoma being underdrafted. I encourage everyone to go back in and listen to that show. But what I ask the listeners on Twitter, and you can follow us, I'm at Adam Azer, A-I-Z-E-R. The other guys, just search for their names. You can follow us on Twitter, and it's actually a pretty good way to get involved with the show if you follow me.

I asked you, take a look at current average draft position and tell me what stands out to you. So we've got a Mark Ingram comment, a Ty Montgomery comment, a Tom Brady comment, Martavis Bryant. But let's get to the big news. And let's talk about these Dolphins here as Cutler signs a one-year deal, $10 million, with some incentives that can be earned as well. And he's obviously familiar with Adam Gase's system. Jamie says it doesn't really affect the value of the wide receivers Do you want to expand on that, Jamie? Let's kick it off there

I still think Jarvis Landry is going to lead them in targets, receptions, and receiving yards I still think Devontae Parker has a ton of upside as a low-end number three receiver And Kenny Stills will have his moments But I don't think this changes very much for them at all It depends on how long you expect jay cutler to even if he plays all 16 games to me cutler is a little bit more of a gunslinger than matt moore and i don't then matt moore yeah look they're both gunslingers they're both way better yes i think they're the same type of guy i i think cutler is a better deep ball passer than matt moore and i think he'll also take

some chances that maybe matt moore might not take and i think that hurts landry i revised my expectations yesterday and it was not very much of a change at all i largely agree this doesn't have a huge impact i did take 10 targets away from landry he'll still lead the team in targets but he was like the connection he had with Ryan Tannehill, I don't know that you could expect him to just automatically have with either of the other two guys. He was better with Warren before he was emphasized than he was with those other guys. I don't know if I'd say that with Matt Moore, but I would say that with Cutler.

I agree with you, Cutler and Landry. I think there's going to be something left to be desired. I don't think it's a big difference, though. Parker maybe gets a few more targets. But the difference between these three quarterbacks is not that big in any direction. Yeah, I mean, if you just look at the passer rating, for example, like last year, Cutler had a terrible season. He played five games.

He just did not play well. He threw five interceptions to four touchdowns. You look at 2014 and 2015, and you just combine the stats, combine the passer ratings. Cutler and Tannehill were pretty close. I think what you don't get is people were hoping, not necessarily drafting Tannehill, but drafting all the other guys on the team. People were hoping that Tannehill, second year in the offense,

just getting more experience in the league, was going to take another step. And I thought it was realistic. But I don't think that Cutler is going to get to the point where Matt Moore is going to play as well as we hoped Tannehill could, and that could hold back Devontae Parker, who did not play well last year with Matt Moore under center as opposed to Ryan Tannehill, or did not put up big numbers, I should say. Their numbers were almost identical. Whose?

Parker's numbers over a four-game sample size projected over 16 games with Matt Moore. Identical to the numbers he finished with over 16 games last season. He didn't have that good of a year last year. No, he didn't. Yeah. But that's the whole thing. His season this year is predicated on him taking that next step. Whoever the quarterback is, it's still up to him.

I think it's also up to his quarterback. And none of these guys are going to make it dramatically better. You were hoping that Tannehill, at least I was hoping that Tannehill might be able to do that. I don't think that Cutler's getting any better obviously at this stage of his career. But what about Ajayi? You know,

Dave, you've talked about the black crowd excuse me, the black cloud, there it is, over the Ravens. But okay, now we have a report just recently that Jarvis Landry is under investigation for battery. We've got a left guard injury that you guys talked about on Friday. We've got Tannehill out. And you're the low guy to begin with on J.H.I.E., Dave.

I don't think the last couple weeks have been good for anybody on the Dolphins. Sure, but as long as all those receivers are healthy, it's going to be hard for defenses to crowd the box and slow Ajayi down. Is it? I've already been the low man. I'm not moving him down just because the quarterback is going to be Jay Cutler. Last time I checked, some running backs had some very

good years with Jay Cutler. To me, that quarterback change does not hurt. I think the only way Ajayi would be worse is if Moore and Cutler got hurt and then they're stuck as a Brandon Allen as their third-string quarterback. Dowdy. Brandon Dowdy. Yeah.

All right. That would be bad news. Or if Ajayi suffers another concussion. If Mike Pouncey's there, Ajayi will be fine. They're going to run the ball as much as they possibly can. Okay. And, by the way, Cutler has a history of giving you good wide receivers, too. If Mike Pouncey's there, Ajayi will be fine. They're going to run the ball as much as they possibly can. Okay. And by the way, Cutler has a history of giving you good wide receivers too. I mean, in 2014, Alshon Jeffrey was the number 12 wide receiver in standard scoring leagues.

Brandon Marshall also caught eight touchdowns that year, and Jeffrey caught 10. What kind of receivers are those, by the way? Big, tall ones. Big, tall ones. Guys that go deep, right? Yeah. Guys that don't run routes 10 yards and closer to the line of scrimmage. Yeah, that's true.

Alshon Jeffrey in nine games had a nice season in 2015. If he had played 16 games with that pace, he would have been the number nine wide receiver. So Cutler does have a very good recent history of making wide receivers good. I think we've covered the Dolphins, yes? Anything else you guys want to say? Can I do a quick straw poll on Landry? Yeah. Just among the four of us.

And everybody listening, feel free to raise your hand. Does he get over 1,100 yards again? I would say no. Yes. Jamie says yes. Adam? No. Does he get over 1,000 yards?

Yes. Jamie's obviously going to say yes. Heath, does he check in over 1,000? Probably There's a caveat, is he getting suspended from whatever? No, no, no, obviously not This is assuming that there's no Off-field stuff

I think he can get over 1,000, but not much more And that's assuming Cutler's the guy for at least half the year I'll still go back to what one of the beat writers said Adam Gase is going to feed him as a guy and a contractor. Yeah. All right. Two straight years with about 1,150 yards and a lot of catches,

as we know, for Jarvis Landry. Buffalo left tackle Cordy Glenn has a sore foot, but he did return to practice. That could have been big news, as there was a report that their left tackle, Cordy Glenn, might need foot surgery. Of course, he missed five games last year and LaShawn McCoy had three

massive games, 100-yard games. Average 6.5 yards per carry combined in those three games. He struggled in the other two. They were both against the Jets, but one of them he only had five carries and he left with an injury. But yeah, just want to bring that up. Looks okay right now for Cordy Glenn.

Travis Kelsey's been out with swelling in his knee. This is a knee that he had previously had surgery on. Who's concerned about Travis Kelsey and his swollen knee? I don't think the Chiefs are that concerned. Apparently this is something that has popped up every year, maybe even a couple of times a year. So no, this isn't something that's going to sway me on drafting Kelsey. I've not gotten to the point of concern yet, no.

Okay. And Martavis Bryant expected to be fully reinstated this week, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Yay. Yeah, that's good. We have a tweet about Bryant coming up a little bit later. Let me just say, first of all, I'm very excited to be back. I missed you guys on Friday. You did a great job.

I listened to most of the show. Good job. Thanks, boss. This is a big week. Preseason starts. We have the Flex Draft coming up this weekend. Jamie and I are participating in that. Do we have the thing yet?

Did he send it out yet? I don't know. Not that I've seen. We don't know which league we're in. Which league would you guys rather be in? What were the two choices? Do you remember off the top of your head? I think I'm fine.

Non-PPR and half PPR with Superflex. Right. You can either do a standard scoring league or half PPR with a Superflex. I hope that you are in the Superflex league. You requested it. Yeah, I requested it. Good for you. That's what I hope you're in.

For those of you that don't know what a super flex league is, it basically means you can put a quarterback, anybody you want, in flex. So it's typically a two-quarterback league. Yep, so hopefully Jamie and I will both be in the super flex league. But, yeah, man, like first real drafts. I don't know. We're going to do position previews starting tomorrow, quarterback preview tomorrow.

Also, we're changing our schedule a little bit. We're going to do position previews starting tomorrow, quarterback preview tomorrow. Also, we're changing our schedule a little bit. We're going to be a morning podcast pretty soon. Tomorrow will still be – hopefully get it out to you by 12, 30 p.m. Eastern, maybe by 1. But Wednesday will be a morning podcast. Friday will be a morning podcast. And then beginning next week, we'll be in the morning every day but Monday. We still have fantasy baseball today, which is why we're not fully a morning podcast as of now. So with Fantasy Baseball, we're going to do Monday morning podcast.

Everything else will be a little bit later. And football is going to take over the morning slot. And how about this? I want you guys to let me know what you think about this new idea. And just for the record, I don't listen to other fantasy football podcasts. I don't know if they do this. I don't care. We're going to do it anyway. Instead of

just reading emails and tweets, I thought it would be fun if we set up a little Skype account, we let our listeners call, leave their questions via voicemail, and play those on the show. Kind of like taking calls.

That sounds like a lot of fun and a lot more work for you. Definitely that. If you're willing to do that work, Adam, then that's fine. And so Adam's number is 954- Hey! Just call and leave him a message. No, it's going to be a Skype call. Oh, that kind of call.

And I can't believe you just gave my number out on the air. Of course, I will be editing that out. So thank you, Dave. Already been edited. Wonderful. All right, let's get into fantasy football here. Email of the day is from Jacob in Santa Clara, California. Fantasyfootball at cbsi.com.

I was just in California. Had this argument on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. Why do people think In-N-Out Burger is overrated? You are wrong. Take it for what it's worth. It's the best fast food burger you're going to find. It's very good. I think it's excellent.

How do you get it? How do you order it? Oh, I went double cheeseburger animal style and fries animal style. It was way too much food. Oh, yeah. You're impressed, though, right? Oh, of course I am. You're a man after my own heart.

I would go double cheeseburger grilled onions. Okay, so that's like half animal style. Yeah, I'm not crazy about the sauce. Ooh, I like the sauce. I'm not a big sauce guy. Interesting. Yeah, yeah, it's true. It's weird.

How'd I get so fat? I don't know. I didn't know the sauces. All right,. Yeah, yeah, it's true. It's weird. How'd I get so fat? I don't know. I didn't know the sauces. All right, dear Randy, Chris, and Jake. Those feel like wrestlers. Chris, Jake. Wrestlers, no? Randy and Jake are wrestlers.

I guess there are wrestlers who have been. Many wrestlers named Chris. Many. Jericho, for example. Benoit. The WWE would prefer that you not remember that, but sure. Okay. I think a lot of people in position eight or nine in their drafts will have this problem.

I'm in a 12-team PPR draft, picking eighth or ninth, and it's two running backs, two receivers. So it's PPR, two running backs, two receivers. I'm a true believer in Heath's nips strategy. Is saying nips strategy repetitive, by the way? Isn't the S for strategy? Yes. Yeah. So just a huge believer in Heath's nips.

I've been doing a lot of mock drafts from position eight or nine and things that are playing just like they did for Dave in that industry draft. Round one, I get A.J. Green or Mike Evans. Round two, I get T.Y. Hilton, assuming luck looks fine. Round three, I take a third wide receiver as a flex, Sammy Watkins or Terrell Pryor. But in round four, after going with receiver, receiver, receiver, Dave got Crowell and had a solid, if not spectacular, running back core. For me, Crowell is usually gone.

So I end up either having to suck it up and take someone like Christian McCaffrey before I want him, or take my next best player, Devontae Adams or Alshon Jeffrey, but that makes a fourth wide receiver, or go Greg Olson. So no matter how you cut it, I'm always disappointed with my running backs. What am I doing wrong? Should I take Jordan Howard over T.Y. Hilton? You know, what do you do? In other words,

going receiver, receiver, receiver from the eight or nine slot, it seems fine in PPR, right? You got your receiver and your flex, but are you too weak at running back if you do that? It really depends on who you're drafting with because I will say a lot of the drafts that I've done this summer, guys like Carlos Hyde, Mark Ingram, Mike Gilleslie, Paul Perkins, all falling past the fourth round. If I can get three of those guys in rounds five through seven, then I'm perfectly fine with what he's just outlined for the first four picks. Do you take Olsen there or do you take your fourth wide receiver, which is a bench player? In a best ball format, I'd take the fourth wide receiver.

In something like this, I'd take the fourth wide receiver in something like this I'd take Olsen what do you think about passing over I don't like passing over Hilton assuming Luck's healthy in this type of a format but if Luck isn't healthy and Adam Schefter said on Sirius XM Fantasy I believe this morning that there is a chance he could miss the beginning of the year I think that's the perfect spot to go for Jordan Howard especially knowing serious XM fantasy, I believe, this morning, that there is a chance he could miss the beginning of the year.

I think that's the perfect spot to go for Jordan Howard, especially knowing that you can get good receivers in round three and round four. And if you like those receivers, then you just roll with them and you take that running back in round two. Yeah, I think another issue I have here, Jacob, is why don't you like Christian McCaffrey in a PPR league in round four? Yeah, that's another good call. Or Mixon. Mixon?

But I heard you guys talking about it on Friday with that report that Jeremy Hill was running ahead of him or was going to start week one, whatever. Yeah, I mean, there were dueling reports. One saying he's getting 20-plus touches in week one and one saying Jeremy Hill's starting week one. Guess what? We'll all see it in the preseason. Yeah. Give it a couple of weeks. If you're drafting tonight or tomorrow, I'm sorry.

I wish we had definitive news. Yeah, but in a PPR league, I'd be happy to get McCaffrey or Montgomery in the fourth round. Yep. Now, Mixon, I know he can catch passes. He's a versatile guy, but they do have Gio Bernard. How many passes do you expect Joe Mixon to catch this year? How many catches do you think he'll have?

30? 35? I'll say 40. If Gio gets hurt, the door is open for 40. If Gio's effective, the doors could be shut on 35. I'll take 40 even with Gio there. He's be shut on 35. I'll take 40 even with Geo's there. He's their best dual threat. I'll take 25.

Okay, yeah. That's a pretty low number. 25, 30? I think there were like 10, at least 10 running backs who had 50 catches last year. So, you know, you want probably at least 40 if he's going to— He could hurt you in PPR if he's got 25 catches. Could be one of those guys that's better in standard than PPR, you know? Right.

Just hypothetically. There could be a scenario that plays out where Joe Mixon does fine, but loses the goal line, carries to Jeremy Hill, and loses some third down work to Giovanni Bernard, capping him in two important statistics. I don't want to see it this way. I want to see Jeremy Hill win a free trip to Hawaii. Giovanni Bernard becomes an astronaut.

He should just get traded to Baltimore. They're not going to trade these guys to Baltimore. Okay, so when they cut him, he'll go to Baltimore. Well, that's different. Are we cutting Jeremy Hill or Giovanni Bernard? Hill. Yes, yes. The answer is yes.

We don't want to cut Giovanni Bernard. Make no mistake about it. The reasons why I'm not as excited as Jamie is on Joe Mixon has nothing to do with Joe Mixon. It's got a lot to do with the dopey coaching staff in Cincinnati. All right. So I asked the listeners, hey, what do you think about average draft position, ADP? Take a look. Let us know.

And here's what they said. Matthew Bell says, Marshawn Lynch is too high, 24th overall, RB12. Yeah, I think we agree. And Mark Ingram is too low, 58th overall, the 22nd running back off the board. Agree with both. I get, on average, about one tweet every three days telling me that I'm psychotic for ranking Marshawn Lynch as low as I do. Which is where? Every three days, I've got to write, well, he's 31 years old, and he hasn't played well in over two years, and he looks pretty hefty to me why what's the reason what's the excitement and it's just people who are just either diehard raiders fans or diehard marshall lynch fans

i i can't pull the trigger on it i don't know if i if i will be even if he looks good in the preseason and you like him i i do like i. But I like him as a round five pick. I don't like him as a 24th overall pick. I want somebody to take him at 24th overall in my league. Pushes down somebody else to me later. Okay. So thank you. So we agree.

Lynch too high, Ingram too low. Steve says, in PPR, T.Y. Hilton's too high, 14th overall, given some concerns with Andrew Luck. And Ty Montgomery looks way too low at 44 overall in PPR, running back 17 off the board. He's going behind Christian McCaffrey, Isaiah Crowell, Joe Mixon. Yeah, so Hilton too high at 14. That's interesting. So this weekend when we're drafting, I don't know what I'm going to do with T.Y. Hilton. I mean, you've got to be concerned about the situation here. And 14 does seem a little early to me. What do you guys think?

I've always been the high guy on Hilton, and I did finally drop him at the end of last week all the way down to 15th. You did it. 15th. He's out of your big nine. Oh, 15th overall. I thought you were saying 15th at wide receiver. No, 15th overall. did it. 15th. He's out of your big nine. Oh, 15th overall. I thought you were saying 15th at wide receiver. No, 15th overall. That's a big jump. 15th overall would be a big jump.

Yes. Yeah, I don't know, man. I mean, that's because of luck, right? Yes. Yeah. So if you're dropping him there, are you dropping him in your receiver rankings? He is behind... Is he ninth for you? I think that's the question.

He's counting. Behind Michael Thomas. Tenth. He's tenth for you. Tenth. So Doug Baldwin has jumped him. Baldwin and Thomas have jumped him. Baldwin, wow, okay.

You're going to see his stock drop the longer we go without Andrew Luck. Yeah, but if Luck misses, the only way I'm dropping T.Y. Hilton is if Luck's on the pup list. That's it. But are you, let's say you're drafting, that's September 2nd when the Colts have to announce that. So if you're drafting August 30th, you're still going to draft Hilton as if Luck is going to be fine for 16 games? Yep. I can't do that. I can't do that.

No, I'll take into account you can miss week one. Okay. All right, guys. So what about Ty Montgomery? Is Ty Montgomery in PPR going 44th overall? Way too low. And I know you guys talked about Montgomery on Friday, and you mentioned that Dane Brugler, one of our draft experts on CBSSports.com,

said that rookie running back Jamal Williams is this year's Jordan Howard. See, I listen to the podcast. But Ty Montgomery, 17th running back off the board, 44th overall on PPR. Too low? One round too low. I don't know if I'd say way, but one round. Just right. Dave?

Close. Close. I don't think I'd take him at 44. So Dave thinks it's too high. I think it's a little too high. Okay. Danny Perez. At this point, he's too high.

Danny Perez tweets us that Martavis Bryant is being overdrafted because he's going to be third in targets behind Brown and Bell. At best, 60 receptions, 950 yards, and 10 touchdowns. So that would be... Okay, yeah. So Bryant is 64th overall. Martavis. 25th wide receiver off the board. He's going ahead

of Golden Tate and Standard. Ahead of Emmanuel Sanders, Larry Fitzgerald, Stephon Diggs is in Standard scoring. As the number 25 wide receiver, as a 6th round pick in a 12-team league, is Martavis Bryant being overdrafted? Well, 60, 950, and 10 would be 155. That's a huge year.

But that's his best-case scenario. That would be a number 11 receiver last year? That's what Danny thinks is the best-case scenario. Well, he's being drafted as a 25th. If his best-case scenario is 11th, then 25th seems fine to me. Yeah, I mean, like, even in PPR, if he catches 60 passes, that hurts. But if he scores 10 touchdowns, which could happen. I mean, this guy scores a lot of – he scored, like, 14 touchdowns in 21 career games.

Yep, that's the stat. He's maybe a little too high at 25. Yeah, well – Where is it overall? 64th overall? Yeah, 64th. That seems about right to me. That's where I'm looking at him.

I've got him 58th overall. All right, Martavis Bryant. But I've always liked this guy. Adam White says, in PPR, O.J. Howard being drafted as the number 12 tight end off the board. Howard over Eric Ebron and Jack Doyle. Absolute madness.

And an update here. Ebron has pulled slightly ahead of Howard, but they're basically back-to-back. Ebron, Jordan Howard, and then Jack Doyle. Is that absolute madness for O.J. Howard to be there with those guys right around tight end 12? Yes. Ridiculous. Are you nervous at all about Ebron with all the Galladay hype? A little.

A little. There's question marks, but there's not anybody I have ranked behind him that I'm really feeling good about either. So I haven't been motivated to move him down. Okay. Do you think that they could both take leaps or call day be good especially in the red zone and you brought take the leap you're hoping for i mean really i just want if he brought just does what he did last year and play 16 games and catches four touchdowns he's the number top 10 tight end right it doesn't take a lot but it's not a good top 10 tight end right it's a very uh i don't want to

start this guy every week top 10 tight end i don't know he's very, I don't want to start this guy every week, top 10 tight end. I don't know. He was on pace for 80 yards. I mean, it's five fantasy points, and he gets a touchdown in a third of the games. Every four weeks, you're happy about that? Well, for a guy I'm taking to the 12th round, yeah. Would you start him every week? If he begins the season, first four games, one touchdown, and, you know,

20, 70 yards a game, you're still rolling him out there every week? Yes. I guess if it's 60, 70 yards a game, you'll still roll him out there. What if it's only 50? I probably would. I'd consider some other options. I don't know if I'd cut him, but we're drafting this guy late. I don't have a problem with Ebron as a late pick.

Round nine. Not even late pick. Round nine. Not even round nine. Round ten. That's cool. All righty. Finally, Mr. Odinga says, Tom Brady, 25th overall, is ridiculous. He's fine, but the only quarterback worthy of being a third-round pick is Aaron Rodgers.

Tom Brady, third round, nope. Too high, according to Mr. Odinga. 25's too early, but I start considering at the end of the third round, so I wouldn't necessarily disagree. I don't mind it. You want to get a stud quarterback and you're not in the mood to wait and you think

that Brady's going to have a monster year, I guess that's when you take him. Well, if you have the 25th pick in a 12-team league, that means you had the first pick and then you're taking Tom Brady with one of your swing picks. So you're going like David Johnson and then probably, I would guess, a wide receiver. I don't know. Yeah, probably a wide receiver there. Maybe if Gronk was still there, you do the Gronk-Brady pairing with David Johnson.

It's over. It's over. Win. Everybody stays healthy. You're going to win every week by 20 points. I would hate to play that team. I would even look at the rest of the team. I'd be just, oh, man, he is Johnson, Brady, and Gronk.

That sucks. So we're going to talk about some more news. And read your emails at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com And I hope everybody's getting excited for the quarterback preview That to me, once we start doing position previews It means, you know Game on But game on, yeah, football's coming up

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download the SeatGeek app right now. And our listeners get $20 off their first purchase. Just download the SeatGeek app and enter the promo code FFT. That's promo code FFT for $20 off your first SeatGeek purchase. So let's play a game called Is This News? Because, you know, you get a lot of reports right now. Does it matter? Is this news? Mike Gillisley is third on the Patriots' depth chart. Is this news? Because, you know, you get a lot of reports right now. Does it matter? Is this news?

Mike Gillisley is third on the Patriots' death chart. Is this news? I don't think it is. It's an unofficial death chart. Right. He's also been dealing with a hamstring injury for, I guess, a few days. So maybe that's why. Not news.

Adrian Peterson is mostly vegan. Is that news? Can you be mostly vegan? Isn't that like being kind of a virgin? I can't comment on that. But, you know, he said 80% vegan. You know, look, great diet, in good shape. He might be old, but freak of nature, Adrian Peterson.

Remember when Arian Foster went vegan so that he could stay healthy? That's probably why Adrian only went partial. Yeah, exactly. Give himself the out. Chuck Pagano has been impressed with running back Marlon Mack and says Mack could be a special player. Is this news? Sure.

Great. But I mean, like, they've got Gore. They've got Robert Turbin. They don't have a quarterback. They're going to need some sizzle in that offense. I don't see a role coming down the tracks at 90 miles an hour for Marlon Mack as a 15-touch player as a rookie. And we could always say, well, what happens if Frank Gore gets hurt? Then the door is open for Marlon Mack.

Frank Gore doesn't get hurt. He's a cyborg. He'll be splitting with Turbin. It's going to be a two-back committee. Frank Gore is made of Teflon. Teflon Frank, they call him. Yeah, it's almost like a lot of these guys that you want to take

a flyer on, I get taking a flyer and putting them on your roster, but I think there's an even better chance that if Marlon Mack makes an impact on your team, or Joe Williams maybe, it's going to be off the waiver wire later in the season. I'm not saying you shouldn't draft them, but just be aware that you might have

to drop them, and it could take a while for these rookie running backs to make anything happen. All right, Rob Kelly is ahead of Samaj P. Ryan, and you guys did talk about this on Friday, and it is news, yes? Yes. Yeah. So Rob Kelly or Spencer Ware? Ware.

Kelly over Ware. Jamie? I'll take Ware over Kelly because I think there's a better chance that if Ware is the starter in Kansas City, he's better than Kelly as the starter in Washington. How about I don't want either of these running backs on my fantasy team? All right. I'll take Kelly at his price. That's much better than where

his price tag right now. Where are their prices? Where's going still as if he's guaranteed to start a job? Where's the 7th rounder and Kelly's in 11th? I take back what I said. Is where going that low? I was guessing.

I was not looking at it. Oh, Heath, just throwing it out there. I got a pretty good grasp on ADP. I bet I'm guessing. I was not looking at it. Oh, Heath, just throwing it out there. Okay. I got a pretty good grasp on ADP. I bet I'm close. It's true. But Kelly is going to prove up. Ware is being drafted as... You are way off.

Ware is being drafted in the fourth round as the 42nd running back off the board. Yeah. There's 42 running backs going in the first four rounds? I'm sorry. The 18th running back off the board. Wow. Whoa. Kelly is being drafted 92nd overall as The 18th running back off the board. Wow. Whoa. Kelly is being drafted

92nd overall as the 35th running back. 18th running back. My goodness. Spencer Ware. Wow. So if you're getting Spencer Ware in the seventh round, congratulations to you. Okay. DeAndre Washington is ahead of Jalen Richard. Is this news? Well, I don't think anybody on this podcast

is in the Marshawn Lynch is going to be awesome bandwagon Aren't you by where you have him ranked? Fine, I have him ranked as a fifth round pick Yeehaw, let's go Marshawn I would say Washington is the late round guy to get If you end up with Lynch on your team I still would rather have Rashard But it's going to be messy because in that same report

it's also said that Elijah Hood will be the guy as the insurance policy. So my guess is it would be a three-headed monster if we somehow lose the 31-year-old coming out of retirement. Nelson Aguilar could be Philadelphia's wide receiver, his slot-wide receiver. Nelson Aguilar, a third-year guy, could be Philly's slot-wide receiver. Is this news? It's news because it could mean that Jordan Matthews gets traded before the start of the season.

Or Torrey Smith gets cut, which is the more likely scenario because Torrey Smith's been running as the fourth guy. So does that mean that Matthews runs as an outside receiver? Mm-hmm, which is not good for him. No, I don't like that. And Devin Funches having a good camp, according to the Charlotte Observer. Funches in two seasons has only caught 54 passes, but nine touchdowns. So that's for the amount of catches he's gotten.

That's impressive. Terrible catch rate, too. Yeah, I don't know how good of a receiver he is, but he's having a good camp. Another third-year guy, Devin Funches. Is this news or just a report we can dismiss? Remember when we were talking him up last year? It's something to keep in mind if you're in a deeper league with a late-round pick. Yeah, I don't think we should completely ignore it.

It's news. Ted Ginn is gone. Curtis Samuels hurt. Greg Olson's a year older. Calvin Benjamin's a year fatter. There's a chance for Benjamin, for Funchess to take a step up in targets. We do Team Name Tuesday here on the Fantasy Football Today podcast. We can start tomorrow with the quarterback preview. I'm fine with that. It's on a Tuesday.

Do not submit Honey Funchess of Oats. We got that about 500 times over the last two years. Honey Funchess Funches the votes. I will not read. I am eliminating it. Plus, it's not a good cereal. So, you know. Other news items. Quarterbacks. Josh McCown leading the Jets quarterback race.

Trevor Simeon outplaying Paxton Lynch, according to Yahoo. I'm sure you guys are not happy about that. We are rooting for Paxton Lynch to take the next step, right? Yes, we are. Yeah, like part of my liking Demarius Thomas early in the third round in PPR is I'm expecting better quarterback play. And if it's Simeon, I don't know that I will expect that anymore. Thoughts?

Yes, I agree. 100%. Wonderful. Brock Osweiler expected to start Cleveland's preseason opener. What do you make of that? Trade bait. Yeah, I guess the thinking is that the other guys have not done very well with the first team. My expectation is that they want to make sure they see Osweiler fail with the first team too,

so then they can go back to the other guys. You know, somebody's got to make a stand here. Adam, I think Honey Bunches of Oats is a good cereal And they come in many different varieties And I think they're A good combination of sweet and filling I'm with Dave Honey Bunches of Oats are good Is there another crap you like?

What Cracklin' Oat Bran? Cracklin' Oat Bran is the best No I don't know that I've ever had Honey Bunches of Oats It just doesn't look like something I would like. So there's that. I just assumed that one of their main competitors had become a recent sponsor of yours, and you're paid to badmouth them. Mine personally. I want to tell you guys what was said to me at the wedding that I was at this weekend.

Remind me once we get done with the news and notes. Baltimore optimistic about Joe Flacco's back injury. We hope to see him back soon, but definitely a situation to monitor. For running back news, Arizona rookie running back and kick returner TJ Logan is going to miss 12 weeks with a dislocated wrist. This

is not all that significant, but it's a tough break for him. Wide receivers, Alshon Jeffrey returned to practice for the Eagles. Corey Davis is week to week with a hamstring injury. And Quincy Anunma hurt his neck. And he also hurt his neck during spring practices. So you guys talked about Anunma being underdrafted, has very low ADP.

He's like the 47th receiver off the board, number one guy for the Jets presumably, but got this neck injury. Do you want to comment on this or should we just wait and see? I think you have to wait and see. Okay, we will wait and see. A couple of defensive notes. Falcons cornerback Jason Collins suspended 10 games for violating

the PED policy and San Francisco linebacker Malcolm Smith may be out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. This is a guy they signed as a free agent. Remember, this is a linebacker here. They had the worst run defense in the world last year, the worst in the league,

and for a while it was like the worst in over a decade. So they got Bowman right now, but this is obviously not something that you wanted to see for the 49ers. Malcolm Smith out for the year. Just a quick bookkeeping note. It's Jalen Collins. Oh, thank you. Not Jason.

I don't want people to think that all of a sudden – wasn't there a former basketball player named Jason Collins? That must have been where your mind was. It's Jalen Collins. He would have been a better linebacker probably in a corner. He was really tall. Agreed. Maybe a right tackle. Yeah, I'd see him as a tackle.

Yeah, sure. So this is something that was said to me at the wedding I was at by former colleagues of ours, actually. And it gets said to me kind of a lot, and I think I take it as a compliment. But people say that I – whenever they meet my wife, they tell me that I outkicked my coverage. Happens all the time. Oh, 100%. I don't disagree. But do you say that to somebody somebody i've never even met your wife

i'm pretty sure you do i get told that all the time all the time is it a compliment i don't know it's a compliment to your wife i think well yeah i think i don't know maybe it's a compliment to the guy wow you're ugly and she's pretty. Nice work. Yeah. I mean, I did outkick my coverage, but I don't know that I would tell anyone that they outkicked their coverage. They're basically saying your wife is hot. It depends on how well they know you. Like, obviously, I think we know you well enough to tell you that.

I would imagine, I don't know the other. I know, what, three of the people, four of the people who you were there with? The person who told me I outkicked my coverage I had not spoken to in about seven years. And I'm not good friends with the person. It was not the groom. It was not the person who just moved. Correct. Right.

Right. That was someone who worked with us a while back. I didn't know he was going to be there. I was like, oh, great to see you. He's like, yeah, good to see you too. You're ugly. Your wife's hot. Would you feel better if somebody walked up to you and just said, man, your wife is hot?

No. Like really hot. Super, super hot. How did you do that? If they said your wife's beautiful, then I think that would be okay. But your wife's hot is not something you should say to people. Okay. They did.

Let it go. All right. But, you know. What can you do when somebody tells you that? It's an awkward position to be in. I thanked him. You probably were just like, oh, thanks. I did. Or you could say, boy, you didn't.

Okay. Emails, fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Since we're doing the position previews. We'll do, I think, just quarterback and tight end this week and running back and wide receiver next week. I don't know. We'll figure it out. But we don't take a lot of emails on those shows, so let's hear from the people now. This is from CJ.

Can you respectfully reflect on the curse of 370? Is David Johnson really at risk? We should put Ezekiel in there too right Not if he's going to be suspended Um Is he at risk to have Breakdown next year if he gets all the work this year Yes is he

At risk this year no Well because Johnson went over 370 touches last Year right it's not touches it carries If you're just going by the Theory oh okay well Then nobody's at risk that never Happens you know well It's not touches, it's carries. If you're just going by the theory. Oh, okay. Well, then nobody's at risk because that never happens. Well, it could happen in a full season. It wouldn't happen in the regular season.

DeMarco Murray got that three years ago, but 370 carries for a regular season is absurd. But if it is, yeah, I mean these guys that go to the Super Bowl and they get all that work. Ezekiel Elliott, I don't know how many carries he had overall, but in the regular season, Zeke had 322. He was under 370. Yeah. Well, we looked at that chart, that ESPN.com chart, guys, remember? And it was pretty telling. Every running back who had reached a certain threshold of touches, pretty much every one had a decline the following year. But while saying that, most of them still had very good years.

They just didn't duplicate. You guys remember the chart, right? And you might remember it better than I do. Yeah. Yeah, I think like two-thirds of them still had good years, but almost all of them went down in production. Hey, Jamie, I got breaking news for you. What's that, bud?

Anquan Boldin is signing a one-year deal this afternoon. Which team do you think is signing Boldin? Buffalo? Yeah, how'd you know that? You saw the news? That's the only place that he worked out for and visited. Well, then I guess I shouldn't have asked the question. Yes, he's signing with Buffalo, according to Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com.

Bad for Zay Jones and bad for Charles Clay. Good for Tyra Taylor and Sammy Watkins. Good for Anquan Boldin. Good for you, buddy. Good for Anquan Boldin. All right, where's Steve from? Oh, Steve's from a town west of where? Is that a typo?

I-N-C-H-O-N? West of Inchon? I-N-C-H-O-N? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. It's Albuquerque, New Mexico. Let's just go with it.

Perfect. 12-team, half PPR. Half PPR, three receivers. Would you feel comfortable in a three-receiver league starting running back, running back, and then taking either Watkins or Demarius Thomas as your number one wide receiver? If that's the way that the draft fell to me, yes. Right, because you're getting two running backs that you really like,

and by doing that, you're clearly passing on the top shelf of receiver talent, but there's still good receivers left after that, and Watkins and Thomas qualify. Ooh, man, three-receiver league. I could not see myself going running back, running back in a three-receiver league. What if your first two picks were LeSean McCoy and Melvin Gordon? Okay, it would be Gordon in round one and then I'm sitting there in round two

And nobody's taking McCoy Or the opposite of that could happen No, because I would take Gordon first I guess Sure Especially since it's half PPR And those guys should get enough catches Yeah, I don't know

I'll put it this way I'm never setting out to go running back, running back In a three receiver league Right, but that's the type of thing that has to happen For me to go that route in a league That's PPR and starts three receivers But you might do it if you pick early in the first round Okay, that's true

Yes That's true Okay, that's true Yes That's true Okay, cool This is from, oh man, I don't have a name or a city Dave, I need your help Trent from San Francisco Hey, Adam, Kreeth, and Damie Can somebody explain why you think Brandon Marshall is done?

I remember him going at the beginning of the second round last year Now he's on a better team, better quarterback A situation where he can't be consistently double-teamed. Is there a reason why I shouldn't be thrilled that Brandon Marshall is regularly my fourth wide receiver? How has he dropped so unanimously? I think it's a fourth wide receiver. Yeah, that's perfect.

It's drafting him as your second or maybe even, I don't know, deeper league. I think he's okay as the third receiver even there. Yeah, fourth I'm even okay with. I don't know about feeling thrilled about it. I just feel appropriate about it. So in every year he's had at least 1,000 yards, he's also had at least 140 targets. His best performances have come recently when he switched teams.

Not necessarily when he went from Denver to Miami, but when he went from Miami to Chicago and from Chicago to the Jets. Those were two of his best seasons in his last five years. He also got those targets and those opportunities. Right. He's not going to be the most target. If he's the most targeted receiver in New York, something went very wrong. Odell Beckham got hurt. It's the only explanation.

Something went very horribly wrong. Yeah, I think the drop-off you're seeing is, yes, he was double-teamed a lot last year, and he had a bad quarterback, but he himself was not very good either. He's 33 years old. People are afraid that he's just washed. And he's going to a place to where he's, at best, going to be second on the team in targets. Which he's never had. He's never been the second guy.

Could you argue that Brandon Marshall was the second guy in 2014? That's when Jeffrey had his big year. He played 15 or 16 games. And Marshall didn't have a lot of yards, but he caught eight touchdowns that year. He also played, I believe it was eight games, because he had a punctured lung and a bad ankle injury for a good portion of that season. In 2014, he played 13 games, and he still had over 100 targets in those 13 games. Right, and I could see him having a good touchdown year. As soon as he signed with the Giants, that was the season I compared him to, but 16 games, not 13 games.

Yes, touchdowns will save him, but catches yards, this may be a 16-game low for him. It's really weird. Here were the Giants' touchdowns last year, receiving touchdowns. Beckham had 10. Beckham had 10. Sterling Shepard had 8 on 683 yards. Nobody else had more than 2. Roger Lewis had 2. Nobody else had more than 1. I mean, it was 26 touchdowns. 18 of them went to 2 guys.

I don't know how the touchdowns are going to look this year. I'm a little worried about Beckham. I know I really shouldn't be, but also with all this talk about Evan Ingram looking good and being a red zone target, Shepard was really good in that role. Marshall's tall. Is Beckham at risk of not getting 10 touchdowns this year? If anybody's going to lose touchdowns, I don't think it's going to be him. Yeah, I mean, he gets so many targets. He's just such a dominant force, especially if Shepard's, you know,

this ankle injury lingers for whatever reason. Yeah. I would say that if Marshall replaces Shepard, who was the 34th best receiver in standard leagues last year, that's probably a good expectation for him. Okay. Jake in Portland. What's all this hype about Derrick Henry?

Every time I see Derrick Henry on the field, he looks extremely slow, runs upright, doesn't look very elusive. Is is it me or can you guys explain why people think derrick henry is going to be good so marco murray gets hurt and there you go are you sure you're not watching like old tape of travis henry in his last year or chris henry when he was with tennessee that was a guy i liked a lot maybe so the day. Maybe so, because that's not what I've seen when I've seen Derrick Henry run. I see the Incredible Hulk playing football. Maybe not quite that big, but he's just a load on his feet. It's impressive, and that offensive line is great, and an opportunity there for him to run behind it a lot would be just a boon for fantasy owners.

Yeah. Big guys don't always look so fast, but he had a very encouraging 40 time last combine, two combines ago. So it might just be a little deceiving the way you see him because, yeah, he's huge, Derek Henry, but very athletic for a guy his size. Danny from Fort Lauderdale. Hey, Frank, Bernard, Mitch, and Dean Gordon. We know them, right?

Old school. I was actually just watching that this weekend. Great. And still didn't get it. Great movie. Why the hate on Brandon Cooks? In 2014, Gronkowski received 21.5% of the targets. Edelman, 22%.

LaFell, 19.5%. Give Cooks 20% of 600 passes, and that's 120 targets, more than Cooks received last year in New Orleans. What did he have, like 119 last year? Yeah, right. It was right on that number. Sorry, Heath, but Cooks over Baldwin this year. I don't know why you're saying sorry.

Unless it's just for an incorrect take. Well, I guess, yeah. I mean, it's realistic that he could get 120 targets, right? Yeah, that's more than I'm expecting. I would say that's the very, very high end. I think that's right on the money because that's where he's been the past two years That was in an offense Didn't have as many weapons as this

It had plenty of weapons Not like this They didn't have weapons as No where close to it It's no where close to this Well The second receiver there was better than anybody In New England as a receiver

But everywhere else in New England is better. Right. Yes. Sure. So, yeah. I guess the third receiver is better too. Yeah. Like, New Orleans has some good talent.

Not to the depth of what New England has. No. But, you know, the lost part of this equation is that, and we remind people sometimes, is that Brandon Cooks has a really bad history outdoors. Yep. You know, it's year after year. It got to the point where we're playing start or sit with Brandon Cooks when he's on the road.

Just, you know, it's a difference. It's got to matter a little bit, but we'll talk more about that. I remember that game where I poo-pooed all over Cooks when he played at Philadelphia, and with four seconds left to play, he scored. Yeah. I think I lost a bet on that. Yeah, it was a tough break.

Tough break. That was a bad day. Let's see. We got Ben. And where's Ben from? Ben is from somewhere in Ohio, Solon, Ohio. Melvin Gordon or Devante Freeman? Who will have more fantasy points?

Freeman. Gordon. Gordon. Definitely standard. PPR could be Freeman. Gordon. Gordon. Definitely standard. PPR could be Freeman. Yeah, Gordon had 295 touches in 13 games. 295 touches in 13 games. Devontae Freeman.

Couldn't hold up to it. They've got to get Brandon Oliver involved. He's not going to have that many touches per game, I would guess. But 295 in 13 games. Freeman had 281 in 16 games. But still had a tremendous year. Really did. And he's done it two years in a row.

Yeah, he's so involved. It's true, man. He's really good. The guy he shares a backfield with has a hard time staying healthy. It's true. Finally, Eric is from where, Dave? Eric? Eric.

Bel Air, California. Oh, yeah, that's nice. This year, my commissioner decided to change our scoring format from full PPR to half PPR. What changes in strategy should I bring to the draft room? And also, Adam, how about that Game of Thrones episode last night? Wow. Yeah, it was good. Very good.

I don't want to give anything away. I don't even want to react to it, but it was a good episode. Wow. You both are reacting right now. Well, I just like – I haven't seen it yet anything away I don't even want to react to it But it was a good episode You both are reacting right now I haven't seen it yet I'll have you know You don't watch Game of Thrones I haven't seen any of Game of Thrones I know that there's a character named Lannister

There are many There's dragons There are dragons Half PPR to PPR. All right. So the first problem I have is that the commission just decides this, and Eric and all his friends in Bel Air just go along with it, whatever the commission says. If the commission says we're starting nothing but defenders, then that's how it goes. Was there a vote?

Was there a discussion? Was there a panel? A panel. Assigned to this? Yeah. I mean, I just – I think it's a little nervy. Let's assume that in August. It was a league decision.

Guys, we're going to eliminate half of every point per reception. League decision. League decision. So he went from full to half point PPR. So what do you guys suggest in terms of strategy now? It's basically the same as full point. Yeah, I guess obviously guys like Julian Edelman lose a little bit of value. Guys like Stefan Diggs, guys like Larry Fitzgerald lose a little bit of value.

Danny Woodhead loses a little bit of value. My guess is people are going to overreact to this change, and you're going to get those guys at a better value. Yeah, I think my hardest question when I'm doing half PPR is, what do I want my flex to be? In a PPR league, I'm almost always going to have my flex be a wide receiver. I suppose it could be a pass-catching running back, but I tend to think those guys are overrated except maybe Woodhead.

So in standard, I could go either way, but probably go in with a running back at Flex. And in PPR, the last time we did a half PPR draft, I think my Flex was Eddie Lacy, and I was sort of lukewarm on that. But do you guys have any guidelines or just kind of let the draft play out and see best available? I think you aim best player available, but you're mindful of what it means, what half-point PPR means.

The number one receiver last year, I've got Jordy Nelson there. He averaged 12.5 in standard, 15..5 and half ppr and 18.6 in full ppr so the best receivers you might get a few extra points from each week i would assume that would be the same for pass catching running backs and tight ends it increases their value but just a little not a lot enough to probably continue to draft them like it matters. Great. Hey, it's nice to be back, guys. It's great to be podcasting with you, sir.

We missed you. You missed him? I mean, we missed you. It's always good when the boss is back. The boss is back in town, and position previews are coming back as well. And I'll let everybody know about the voicemails thing. I think we have a lot of fun with it. Got a little more personality in there.

What was that number again they have to call? No, stop. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. See you. Bye.