Fantasy Football Today - 2023 Rookies Class Breakdown With Special Guest Joe Pisapia! (05/03 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: May 3, 2023

Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  FantasyPros analyst Joe Pisapia joins the FFT Crew to review the 2023 NFL Draft! But first, the guys debate whether to draft Justin Jefferson or Ja'Marr Chase in redraft leagues (0:40). Then they dive into the rookie RB class, including Bijan Robinson (8:50), Jahmyr Gibbs (17:20), Zach Charbonnet (22:40), and Devon Achane (33:30). Next, they discuss the WR class's impact on the Chargers (43:10), Seahawks (45:35), and Ravens (48:30). Finally, they wrap up with Anthony Richardson's outlook (55:48)!  Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ 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

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It's a no-win game. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races, and he stays on his feet. He's just going to go the distance. Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Welcome to the Fantasy Football Today podcast. As you can see, our esteemed host, Adam Azer, told you on Monday he's taking vacation. We don't know if he's ever going to come back because he's going to Disney World and hopefully has a great time.

I'm Jamie Eisenberg. That's Ethan. We've got a special guest joining us today. Joe Pisapia from Fantasy Pros, host of the football podcast over there. Among many things, he was giving me the rundown of everything he's doing over there. But Joe's going to give us his takes on the NFL draft and everything that's happened in the coming days since then, in the days following the draft, excuse me. But all the excitement that we're talking about here on Fantasy Football today. Going to get Joe's takes on some of his rankings and some of the topics that we've been covering over the last several days.

So let's start with something that just happened to us, Joe. We did our first mock draft following the NFL draft on Tuesday, and Heath Cummings shocked the world already. He's already dropped justin jefferson from number one overall taking jamar chase first in the mock draft so i'm gonna let heath explain himself first joe and then you can sort of dive in on if jordan addison has dropped justin jefferson from the top spot for you i had jefferson i had jefferson one and chase two before the draft uh jefferson was 1.1 fantasy points per game better than Chase last year.

Chase entering year three, I think still hope for some improvement there, especially in terms of his efficiency on a per target basis. Went from over 11 yards per target in his rookie year to a pretty mediocre 7.8 last year. I don't think 7.8 is going to be the norm. I expect Addison to earn more targets than Adam Thielen did. And these guys were really pretty close before the draft. So it didn't take a lot for him to move. Now I'll say they're even closer now. If you say you want to take Jefferson over Chase, I have no problem with it.

Joe, who's number one for you? Well, last year going into the draft, it was Justin Jefferson, which I know ruffled a lot of feathers of a lot of people, but that ended up working out. I think along the lines of where Heath is, that it's very close between those two. I struggle back and forth with the same things that Heath was talking about

too, putting Chase. Cause if you look at Chase with Burrow, if both of them would just have a complete healthy season together for an extended period of time for all 17 games, that would be really nice. And I think that could possibly play out. I also think that there was a troubling trend at the end. It had nothing to do with the game in the finals there, you know, against Green Bay where Jefferson, you know, disappointed a lot of us who had a lot of shares as I did when you got to those finals. But I think the other thing you saw a lot of the bracket coverage and a lot of that stuff going on towards the end where people started to figure out a little bit about what they wanted to do in Minnesota and how they were doing it. So once you get figured out a little bit, you have to kind of go back to the playbook a little bit and make some adjustments to it.

And I think that they can do that, but I'm kind of where Heath is. I think it's very, you know, very much one, one, a, uh, those are the two top guys on my board as well. I'm a big wide receiver guy. Anyway, last couple of years, I've been pushing that in the blackbook, but I would still just lean Jefferson just one step there higher because we haven't seen a whole year of chase and burrow yet together. So it's more of the possibility that it is the actuality. And I'm not as big of a Jordan Addison guy, some other people too. So I don't see him being as a huge threat. If anything, I think it helps a little bit, just these presence on the field, if they can get him going, that's good. But Jefferson is still the alpha dog. He's still the guy. so i'm comfortable with him as the one but chase is the two if you give me either

of them i'm very happy to start my team that way where does for you joe cooper cup come into the equation because i know he you know citing the points per game last year cup was actually better and we know the year before he was a monster so does cup come to the equation or is it just because of age and maybe the stafford situation with the Rams that concerns you a little bit? It's more the Stafford situation. I think that's the smartest way to approach it because, you know, if we're looking at this depth chart of quarterback too, I mean, I don't know how long we're going to, you know, see Stafford for,

but are we going to see Stetson Bennett before we know it? I don't know. It's a terrifying idea. But look, I mean, look, I don't want to take too many shots at Bennett. Bennett did win back-to-back national championships. So if you give him some talent, he can be at least serviceable out there. But it's the Stafford health that I think has so much to do with it.

And then you add in the fact that Cooper Cup was hurt last year as well. So you're asking two guys, and one of whom who's been in the league a very long time to really step up to that plate one more time and have a healthy season. That's asking a lot, I think, at this point in Stafford's career. And then on a guy who's been, you know, injury

free in his career either. And it's football. Anybody can get hurt. We know that. But if you're giving me that one pick overall, that two pick overall, I'm going to go with chase. I'm going to go with Jefferson. I'm going to go with those guys.

Cup to me is even less appealing than Tyreek Hill because I think what's going on in that Miami offense is just, if I'm going to take take a risk it's going to be on the younger guy too is staying healthy despite all those you know very serious concussion issues but you see the explosiveness you see what this offense is capable of and they just keep adding track stars to it it's kind of crazy so Cup still is a little distance away from those two guys for me yeah I do have Cup first in projections I just it's the same thing Joe said, all those potential risks are much greater. Like one of the main reasons I like taking wide receivers in round one is they don't get hurt as often as running backs. And so I'm not going to take the guy who's going

to be 30 years old with a quarterback who wasn't able to finish last year when the 30 year old wasn't able to finish last year over the two young studs who are very close in projections. Yes. And for what it's worth, you know, you look at Jefferson's season from a year ago, everything Kevin O'Connell said he was going to do for Justin Jefferson, he did. 184 targets, that was basically the similar we all talked about. He's coming from the Rams offense, what they did with Cooper Cupp. So while Jordan Addison does come in with, I think, more potential than what,

as he said in the story that you read on the site about our draft, that, you know, Adam Thielen, 32, you know, Addison at his age should be better. But I don't know if he's getting more than those 107 targets. That's the concern for me, which is why I still also like Jefferson ahead of Chase. So Joe was telling me about his NFL draft experience. So what was it like for you, Joe, covering the NFL draft from a work perspective and obviously from a customer standpoint? Well, it's great because you have a great crew. I mean, you can attest to it when you have good people you like to work with who do all the work and put the work in, makes your job very

easy when you're hosting it. But the five straight hours looking straight ahead in one chair is a little harder. Rich Eisen gets commercial breaks. He gets to get up during montages and commercials and stuff like that. I didn't quite get to Scott Hansen level. I didn't get to seven hours of commercial free football, but I did five. So from seven to midnight, we did it. When I stood up, the back made some weird noises, I think. And I may or may not have had to take a nice deep breath.

You know, you're getting older whenever you make noises when you get up or sit down. I think you guys might be able to attest to that at some point, but it was, right? You know, you never did that when you were like 15 years old. That never happened. You just got up or you sat down. That was fine.

You never went when you sat down. That never happens when you're young. But I will say this. It was a it was a great time. You have, you know, Derek Brown and Thor Nystrom and all these amazing people who put so much work into, you know, the draft coverage of fantasy pros. We're very proud of what we did that night and our subsequent coverage before and after, but, um, it's, you know, it's a great thing to be a part of is one of the things I always wanted to do. And now like three years in a row to be a part of that kind of live draft coverage, it's just so much fun to be a part of that. It's like

the bucket list thing. If you're an NFL fan to be able to cover that draft live is great. Yeah. And, uh, you guys do a great job over there at fantasy pros. I'm in a dynasty league. I think you were part of this league as well at one point with, with Derek and he is a wheeler and dealer. He's definitely trying to make sure to, to, to turn around a franchise. So a great,

great fantasy crew that you guys have. They're a good crew in general, you know, so make sure you guys check out fantasy pros as well. You mentioned the NFL draft and the draft coverage for us just never stops, even though the NFL draft is over. So you may know Ryan Wilson is one of the hosts of the pick six podcast or for his fantasy football today appearances on our show during draft season. And you definitely know Rick Spielman as the guy that drafted fantasy studs like Adrian Peterson, Dalvin Cook and Justin Jefferson in real life.

Well, they keep going all year long with the first pick. That's the name of the podcast with the first pick. So Ryan and Rick have this draft podcast down with the first pick. That's the name of the podcast with the first pick. So Ryan and Rick have this draft podcast down with the first pick. They'll dive deep into the 2024 class and they'll keep going. So make sure you check it out again with the first pick. That's the podcast hosted by Ryan Wilson and Rick Spielman. So let's talk more about the NFL draft. And you said you have a very high,

spicy B. John Robinson take. So in this mock draft, and we're going to do a full podcast, bringing this down tomorrow, the draft that we did on Tuesday, but B. John Robinson goes where So in this mock draft, and we're going to do a full podcast breaking this down tomorrow, the draft that we did on Tuesday, but B. John Robinson goes where for you in the first round, or is he a second-round pick?

He's three overall for me. And I know that's going to be – some people will say you're crazy. And I'm not a hot take kind of guy. I told you this. That's not my bag. I don't go out there trying to say, oh, this is going to happen or that's going to happen. There's reason and logic behind it, and it starts with the football player himself. You know,

I've watched this guy at Texas for two years and a lot of people who even cover, you know, NFL fantasy, they don't really watch the games necessarily in college. And I understand that everyone's got lives and kids. I, I've been trying the last couple of years to do much more of that, not just to watch the highlights, but watch the games and watch and see what this guy can do. Cause everybody looks good in highlights for the most part anyway. But you you know you watch Bijan play football and then you watch the highlights and then you watch the combine and you see how there's just no holes in his game uh he is a special I think you know that once every 10 years or so we get somebody like this and I think it's a situation where they're going to have to run the football in Atlanta I mean that is going to be

their mo there they have a coach who wants to run the football. They have an offensive line that did it very well with Tyler Algier last year, rushing for over a thousand yards, which I don't think anybody had on their bingo card. I'm pretty sure nobody had that last year. And it's not as insane of a concept either. And, you know, in the black book, only twice have I ever put a rookie running back in the first round of a draft. It was rookie Ezekiel Elliott heading into that year, which I've had 10th overall.

And then I had Saquon Barkley in 2018 going sixth overall. Now, both of those guys that year and half PPR both finished second overall in fantasy points at running back. So it's not a crazy concept that rookies can come in and be that too. It's funny because they finished behind respectively. Saquon finished behind Todd Gurley, who had like 17 million touchdowns that year. And he and Zekiel Elliott finished behind David Johnson, I believe, that year of memory serves. So we're talking about some all-world seasons that were had by the guys ahead of them.

So when it comes to running back, you want youth, you want carries, you want health, you want all those things. And as great as Christian McCaffrey is, we all know the health has been an issue the last couple of years. It's also a couple of years in the league. And it's something that as guys get four or five years into the league, I start to steer away from them. I'd rather be out a year early than in a year too long. And if the argument people want to make is, well, Ziggy Lely went into a great situation with an offensive line and a good team that year. Sure, that's fine. What about Saquon Barkley with the Giants that won five games in 2018?

Let's not pretend like that was some prolific offense either. So I think when you look at Bijan, what they're doing here, I know Desmond Ritter has a lot of questions. Again, a player that I think is a great leader. I think it continues to work hard, and I think he might be able to at least manage this team a little bit and manage this offense. I don't have high expectations for him necessarily, but I have very high expectations for B John. I think the, you know, I spent literally two weeks trying to find a comp for this guy and I couldn't do it. This was back in January when I knew we were going to start the whole NFL mock draft season. And I was like, I got to have a comp for this guy.

And eventually I landed on Edger and James and I was watching the Edger and James football life. And I was like, that's Bijan. That's what he is. And I had a tweet about it and I put it out there and you look, the size is, you know, very similar. The game is very similar. There are three down backs.

They catch the ball, they run, they have burst, they have breakaway speed. They are not afraid of contact. Every single check mark, just keep checking the box. And Edger and James is one of only, I think, three guys in the last 25 years to lead the league in rushing two years in a row. So you're talking about Bijan being that guy who can come into the NFL, have an incredible season.

And you know what's funny? After I had that tweet, all of a sudden, NFL Network, literally about two, three weeks later, Edger and James, Bijan Robinson, that's the comp you saw everywhere. So I deserve some sort of tweet respect on that, but I'll never get it, Jamie. Not ever. You heard it from Joe first. There you go.

Edgar and James, Bijan Robinson. So Heath, third overall, I mean, that's pretty lofty for what the situation is. It's a great scenario. You surprised me when you told me how many times Atlanta ran the ball when we did our draft coverage, and that there's still room for not just Tyler Algier,

but maybe still Cordero Patterson to get some work as well. So how high are you willing to take, Bijan? Yeah, number three is exactly right in Dynasty. No. No. I see what you did there. He's number one in Dynasty, Cummings, number one. He's behind Jefferson and Chase still for me in dynasty.

He is the number three player. Number one running back though. And like, I don't necessarily disagree. I think the good argument for it would be of these 26, so many of the running backs who you would definitely project for more points than him this year are 26, 27, 28 years old. Like I have a hard time saying if Bijan Robinson and Derrick Henry both play 17 games this year, that Robinson's going to score more fantasy points than Derrick Henry. I don't, I don't believe that's true, but I do. I would listen to the argument that in fact, I am taking Bijan over Derrick Henry because he's at the point of his career where you're scared to death about him falling off or getting hurt. Now, if you want

to say, I know half of these 27 plus year old running backs that should be projected ahead of Bijan are going to get hurt. I don't know which half. So I'm just going to take the younger guy. I guess that makes sense. I think it more likely three or four of McCaffrey, Eckler, Henry, Jonathan Taylor, that group are going to outperform Bijan. Again, I don't know which three or four either, but I would still, especially in full PPR, I would definitely prefer McCaffrey. It's hard to overlook, but it's also hard to overlook the argument for him, just knowing how successful he can be. Heath is going to jump back in, Joe. We didn't lose him. We're just hoping to fix his connection. But Bijan's got so much upside.

And as you said, you know, you look at some of these rookies that have come in that have been drafted in the top ten and the production that they've given, he's got the chance to do it. You know, Arthur Smith, like you said, he wants to run the ball. He's going to use him as a pass catcher. You know, that's something that, you know, you heard Steve Sarkeesian say about his ability in college. You know, so there's a lot to love about it.

I don't have him that high. He's the fifth running back for me. I do have a few receivers ahead of him in the first round as well. Travis Kelsey also, but I don't, I don't think you can necessarily look at somebody taking him third overall or top five overall and say, Oh, you made a bad pick, you know? So he's got that much upside. I got him at 10 in the draft that we did on Tuesday.

I was pretty thrilled to do that, to get him in that spot. And Jamie, one more thing about that too. You know, I, a couple of years ago, we had the Clyde Edwards and Lair situation as I like to thrilled to do that, to get him in that spot. And Jamie, one more thing about that too. You know, a couple of years ago, we had the Clyde Edwards-O'Leary situation, as I like to refer to it. I don't know what else to call it, but the situation that a player who, you know, landed in a good spot, all of a sudden got grossly over elevated in draft stock. It went crazy. And I was screaming from the rafters, don't do this.

Like, this is nuts. We can't, Clyde Edwards-O'Leary is not an elite back. He was not an elite back in college. He played in an elite offense in college with, by the way, Justin Jefferson and Joe burrow and Jamar chase, keep trying to wrap your mind around that. Everybody that those three guys all played in the same team together and Clyde was layer, which was hanging out. I could have hung out and played running back on that team. I feel like no comment, but, but the funny part is like, i think that is going to scare people off of elevating bijan a little bit and i think that's a mistake because this is a guy much closer to

that saquon ezekiel elliott rookie year conversation than i think other people are willing to put and frankly you know eckler's not happy with his situation eckler's the guy that's had injury history mccaffrey we already saw last year you know they were easing off on him sometimes let's just manage him through the season because the playoffs are very important. Well, guess what? Your fantasy playoffs, you know, don't care about the real playoffs at the NFL. So there's really nothing to lose. And the one thing that I'll say too is, you know, he was making, uh, he was making that

Derrick Henry comparison. The difference is you're looking at Bijan being an outstanding pass catching running back. And that's not a piece of Derrick Henry's game. Look, he's improved upon it, but it's not his game. It is a piece of B. John's game. And I just think this is going to be a thing where the NFL is going to look up and they're going to say, my God, like this guy is such a monster.

And the fact that you saw a running back go top 10, that's not something you see very often in the NFL nowadays. People stay away from it. It tells you everything you need to know about B. John. And especially for a team that I don't want to say it was a luxury to get Bijon Robinson, but this is a system that allowed, as you said, Tyler Algier to get a thousand yards the year before Cordero Patterson to sort of resurrect his career. They didn't need to get a running back. They have a lot of needs on this team, but they got a player who's a difference maker and a guy that can sort of

change the, maybe the fortune of their team in a division that's really wide open. So he could be the type of guy that helps them win that NFC South. And it would not be a huge surprise just given all the openings and the holes in that division. You mentioned pass catcher out of the backfield. Let's talk next about Jameer Gibbs, who led Alabama in receptions last year with 44. He's joining now the Detroit lions with David Montgomery, no more Deandre Swift. What do you think about the lions backfield? Who's your favorite of the two and how high are you willing to take a piece of that backfield? The Lions draft was bizarre.

I mean, it's just like Thor and I were laughing about it because we said it was almost like if you reverse engineered it, you'd really like the draft. Like if they started with Branch and then they worked their way back towards, you know, Gibbs and then Hooker and Campbell, like all of a sudden then it makes a lot more sense, but it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, you got the players you got. Gibbs now without DeAndre Swift, I think is a sudden then it makes a lot more sense, but it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, you got the players you got, uh, Gibbs now without Deandre Swift, I think is a situation that is much improved.

Uh, now you can look at him for B, I would say, uh, going into redraft leagues as being a flex appeal kind of running back, because you know, this is a role that they wanted to use and have as part of this offense. And they just couldn't get Swift healthy on the field. Right? as part of this offense and they just couldn't get swift healthy on the field right so if gibbs is even you know kamara-esque in in just a little bit and i was very impressed with his combine again pass catching skills off the chart he has all that shiftiness and i think it's a good compliment with montgomery to handle more of the physicality so you're not asking that of jameer gibbs which keeps him a little healthier and from a fantasy perspective you want the pass catching

running back like that's the guy you want the pass catching running back. Like that's the guy you want because most of us play in PPR league. So they typically tend to stay a little healthier. He's going to get more points just for catching the football. So all he needs is that breakaway speed in order to make it. And you got to like what they've done in the offense too. I thought the Laporta pick was very good. Also, I'm still a huge Jamison Williams guy.

Like I, again, that was the playmaker at Alabama, you know, Metchie moved the chains, but Jamison Williams was. Like I, again, that was the playmaker at Alabama, you know, Metchie moved the chains, but Jamison Williams was the guy that won them games. Like that guy is just a special receiver. We're not going to see him for six weeks, but you know, I think if you have patience with Gibbs, you'll be rewarded.

I'm not looking for him in the first month of the season to just, you know, all of a sudden obliterate everything. But if you don't draft him and he becomes available after a slow September, I would be looking to trade for him. Cause I do think Gibbs is a guy that as time goes on, you're going to see him produce more and more. And I do think he is at least in that flex range of somebody you can feel really good about and much better now that Swift has been moved on from. So what round would you be looking at Gibbs?

And then conversely, what round would you look at Montgomery? For me, it's probably more of a fourth round for Jameer Gibbs. That's somewhere in that range. I think that makes kind of sense. Like for me, I'm more of an early wide receiver guy, right? So if my two favorite or three favorite wide receivers are gone and Bijan's on the board, then I'm going to pivot that way. But if you give me, you know, the top picks there, I'm going to come away with a wide

receiver, probably two in the first three rounds. I'm also not against the early quarterback because that's where NFL is. So we need to start grasping that to the super elites are a big notch above with the rushing that they give you too. But I think in that fourth, fifth range, depending on, you know, if you're in a 10 team league or a 12 team league, I think that makes sense. Especially because there's a lot of committees out there still, you know, we've got to figure out what's the bear situation.

What's, you know, there's a lot of situations that haven't even come close to flushing themselves out, but I think we all know what Gibbs role is. And I think it's good enough to say, you know, if you have the patience for him,

that is going to be productive. But I think it's more of a, for a fourth, fifth round pick right now for me. Heath, you still Montgomery over Gibbs. And when you, you know, dipping your toe in the pool of the lions back. I think round pick right now for me. Heath, you still Montgomery over Gibbs. And when you, you know, dipping your toe in the pool of the Lions backfield. I think round four is a perfect

time for both of them. I would slightly prefer Montgomery over Gibbs. I think Montgomery is more likely to do a few more things than Jamal Williams did in the passing game and outside of the red zone. And we should know that Montgomery is not going to score at the same rate as Jamal Williams did last year. Cause nobody's going to score at that rate or we should not project that. But I think if you look at it, that role, assuming Gibbs gets the full Swift role, was a top 15 running back role when Swift was healthy. And we have lots of reason to believe that Gibbs will actually be better in the passing game than DeAndre Swift was. I'm not sure he's as good a runner, but I think he'll be better as a pass catcher.

So I think there's a strong possibility if these guys both somehow stay healthy that the Lions have two top 24 running backs at the end of the year. And if one of these guys gets hurt, either of them has top 12 upside. I started, you know, I assume draft night, I think probably a lot of us that thought

that they would try to move Swift in some way, shape, or form, you know, after they made this selection. So I started with you know, I assumed draft night. I think probably a lot of us that thought that they would try to move Swift in some way, shape, or form, you know, after they made this selection. So I started with, okay, Montgomery, 17 touchdowns is what he's stepping into. Probably, let's say, at best, he's scoring 10. You know, so if you want to give him those 12, you know, one-yard plunges that Jamal Williams had, you know, so 10 is probably the ceiling. But the more I look at it as they're telling us what they think of Jameer Gibbs

by drafting him at 12, saying they would take him at 6. And this is after having spent basically a month in whatever capacity with David Montgomery. And this isn't that Montgomery's not going to have a role because he is. I agree with you. He's, I think at this point, a better version of Jamal Williams. But they are obviously in love with what they think Jameer Gibbs can be. And if he can become that, maybe top 15 is even too low, you know,

because of what the upside is as a potential pass catcher. We know that Jared Goff, not the most mobile of quarterbacks. This is one of the most creative play callers in the league in Ben Johnson. And now they're down Jamison Williams for six games. And so how are they going to sort of recreate themselves a little bit without having a Marvin Jones or somebody else, or I'm sorry, having March, without having a DJ Chark, you know, to sort of change things around. No TJ Hawkinson is trying to figure out where Laporta is going to fit in as a

rookie tight end. I think Gibbs could be their second best receiver. The first six weeks of the season would not be a huge surprise. So for me, it's Gibbs over Montgomery. I think round four is a little bit too soon for him, just given the fact that if he doesn't score those touchdowns, he might be a little bit trouble. But I think Gibbs is a, is the one you want to target uh one more running back

situation i'll look at here with you joe before we get into some news and notes uh the situation in seattle so ken walker was was great last year you know i think a lot of us were hoping he's going to build off that season i went to the owners meetings you know i know you like when i when i give you some of these uh name drops that i lost my favorite um so i'm just jealous i don't get to go anywhere you get to go all these places i I'm, I'm in New Jersey. Like, where do I go? Nowhere. Uh, I asked, I asked Pete Carroll, you know, how does Ken Walker get better? And he said, you know, we're going to ask him to be a little bit more involved in the passing game. Now that might be something that he needs because of the addition of, of Zach Charbonnet from UCLA in the second

round. So how do you view this, uh, this backfield battle as Pete Carroll called it, you know, he, he came out and addressed it. He said, they're going to battle for the second round. So how do you view this backfield battle, as Pete Carroll called it? You know, he came out and addressed it. He said they're going to battle for the lead role. I feel like this was, you know, sometimes people have, you know, scars from, you know, PTSD things and stuff like that. Like that's kind of Pete Carroll's thing with the running backs in the last five years, I feel like. Like just everyone's always hurt.

He can't get a healthy one. It's Chris Carson. It's DJ Dallas. I mean, they've gone through so many different names in the last three or four years rashad pennies had his moments so he just couldn't get any consistency and i think all of us collectively were very i would say um upset by the landing spot of zach charbonnet because we all looked at him as a potential three down back and not only would potentially hurt charbonnet's value but also hurt ken walker's value this is why it's good to take a couple days and kind of simmer and think about things because will potentially hurt Charbonnet's value, but it will also hurt Ken Walker's value.

This is why it's good to take a couple of days and kind of simmer and think about things. Because I think the more I thought about this one and you see the draft capital they used on Zach Charbonnet, I feel like he has the inside track to kind of win out over time. Ken Walker is a very good running back. There's deficits to Ken Walker's game. You mentioned, you know, being more useful in the past game. You mentioned also something that Charbonnet does well, which is he can catch the ball in the backfield. To me, I think Charbonnet is the guy that I want to target because I think he will have the lesser draft capital, number one. And I think to me, I always want the lesser draft capital guy who might be as good, if not better than the guy ahead of him.

It was sort of like last year going into the situation where, you know, Khalil Herbert was kind of a steal and like, give me Khalil Herbert really late than David Montgomery is. And what's a very questionable offense. I think the Seattle offense can be much better than that Chicago situation. But to me, when I'm talking about draft capital, I think it redrafts. Charbonnet is going to be one of those guys that kind of just drifts off and drifts off because people are afraid and don't know what to do with it. And I'd rather have that on my roster because if there is an injury to Walker, who by the way, you know, Ken Walker had a couple of really big smash games, but then as time got on,

I know he played San Fran a couple of times and that's a tough run defense. You know, there were some moments there where towards the end, Walker was, I think, less than exciting. And we started to get that same feeling. I think Pete Carroll did was, oh no, here we go again. So let me get the insurance policy, but they might have to actually cash that insurance policy sooner than you think so sharpening to me is the more appealing target because it's going to cost me less he might be the better guy when all said and done he could end up having more fantasy points than walker who i think is going to go a few rounds ahead of him especially you know unless something changes when we get to august yeah we Heath, just real quick, just to tie in what Joe was saying.

In the draft that we did, and we'll get into more of this in depth tomorrow, Walker was in round three and Charbonnet was round nine. To me, that's a no-brainer. It's a no-brainer. Charbonnet in round nine. So Heath, is that the philosophy you would approach it as well? Probably two rounds too early for Walker and maybe a round too late for Charbonnet there.

I think like Joe hit on one of the things that's a concern for Walker and that is that Charbonnet he's got more proof that he's good in the passing game already in college than Walker does after a year in the NFL. The other problem is, and Chris Towers brought this up last week, I think Ken Walker was just about league average in terms of rush yards over expectation, but he was next to last in terms of the number of runs where he outperformed expectation. He had some huge boom plays. He had a lot of plays where he lost yardage on plays where there was a positive expectation. That's the type of thing that leads to a DeAndre Swift, Jamal Williams situation where we need one yard. I don't know if DeAndre Swift can get us one yard. I know Jamal Williams can get us one yard. I think Charbonnet could get that short yardage

role over Ken Walker as well. If Walker ends up with very little passing game work, very little short yardage work, it's hard to see how he justifies a fifth round pick, much less a third round pick. So I'm definitely with Joe here. At cost, I prefer Charbonnet over Walker. I do prefer Walker if they were the same cost. I think I've got Walker at RB 24 or 25 and Charbonnet over Walker. I do prefer Walker if they were the same cost. I think I've got Walker at RB24 or 25, and Charbonnet is closer to RB36. But that third to ninth round difference is way too big. He's the best man of the rounds, too, is so right. One is going around too early, one's going around too late.

You nailed that. I think that's exactly my big take from what you just told me. Yeah, the way I've been saying it is it feels like p carol wants a little bit more of a guy that can get you some singles and doubles as opposed to just waiting for walker to hit the home run and so that's that's something that we could certainly see and this is obviously a coach that has proven um he's going to let them compete and the draft capital is the same both second round picks in the nfl draft and we'll see if uh if walker could hold him off but yeah this was this was the worst situation that came out of the nfl for, for fantasy. I'm going to take a

quick break. We come back, get into some news and notes and some more draft recap with Joe PCP. What does possible sound like for your business? It's having the spend to powers your scale with no preset spending limit, more cash on hand to grow your business with up to 55 interest-free days. And the ability to reach further with access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide. Redefine possible with Business Platinum. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms and conditions apply. Visit amex.ca slash business platinum.

Did you know that across Ontario, utility damage happens 19 times a day? That's over 4,222 incidents a year. Don't let your next dig be one that causes costly delays or safety risks. Before you break ground, make it a point to request a locate. It's not just the law. It's a step to keep your team and community safe visit ontarioonecall.ca and avoid unnecessary damages to get the job done right data sourced from the orcga 2023 dirt report all right and we're back so let's get some uh news and notes here for you guys so uh joe mentioned this uh heath i think you were dealing with the connection issues the uh

the clyde edwards hilaire situation so jared m McKinnon re-signs with the Chiefs on Tuesday, and same day that the Chiefs also declined the fifth-year option on Clyde Edwards-Hilaire. No surprise there. So, Heath, Mr. Chief, what do you think about the Chiefs' backfield now that McKinnon is back? Isaiah Pacheco, still Clyde Edwards-Hilaire. How is this all going to work for those three guys?

I mean, I didn't want to draft Clyde Edwards-Hilaire really in the first place. So, this makes me want to draft Clyde Edwards-Lair really in the first place. So this makes me want to draft him less, I suppose. I don't like it for Pacheco. Just because we have seen them move these guys in and out. I don't know. You never know with a Chiefs running back what the share of goal line carries is going to be. Because half the time the goal line carries turn into flips to Meikle Hardman or Travis Kelsey or Kadarius Tony or somebody else. And I don't think Pacheco has much hope at all of expanding his role in the passing game

with Jarek McKinnon there. I do think early in the year, you'll see Pacheco and Clyde Edwards. They're both probably playing more than McKinnon because the chiefs don't believe McKinnon at his age can play 17 games, then play a full playoff season and be there, be there when they need them in the Superbowl. And that's what they're playing for. So I wouldn't necessarily get excited about McKinnon either. He'll probably be a mid-season waiver wire ad.

Pacheco more of a number three running back for me, though, behind all the guys we've talked about so far. Do you feel the same way? Yeah. I mean, the other year older, I think, is an important piece there, too. I mean, I've got to give the Jerick McKinnon, man. I mean, that guy's had more jobs than I have over the other year older, I think is an important piece there too. I mean, I got to give the Jerick McKinnon, man. I mean, that guy's had more jobs than I have over the years. Like he's, he really just, he can't stop.

Like it's, it's great. Good for him. And he had a terrific run last year. He picked him off the waiver wire. I mean, that was some pretty good productivity. You were getting that flex spot with Jerick McKinnon. I like Isaiah Pacheco as a football player. You know, one of the pluses I don't get to, you know, in New Jersey, I don't get to hang out with Pete Carroll,

but I did get to see a lot of Rutgers football, unfortunately. And I saw Isaiah Pacheco for a couple of years again there, and I knew what kind of guy he was. And that's why I took him in Dynasty League, because I know the character of the kid. He's, you know, kind of a local, you know, rah-rah story that you can really get behind. But Pacheco's a really hard worker,

and he's more physical for a smaller back than you realize. I think people saw that in the playoffs too, where he would just go in and attack guys. And, you know, he's a very fearless runner. He's a very hardworking kid. But at the end of the day, the lack of definition there makes him, as he said, unfortunately, it's an RB3. He's got more appeal than some other RB3s, though, because he plays in the Chiefs offense. So at the end of the day, there's going to be more scoring opportunities because you have the most efficient quarterback on the planet. Patrick Mahomes is going to continue to, you know, I mean, the guy took less, almost half as many sacks as anybody else last year.

That's not just because the offensive lines, because Patrick Mahomes awareness, getting rid of the football of being able to get rid of the football of knowing what he wants to do of extending plays. And all of that ends up showing up in the fantasy box scores at the end of the day. And Pacheco will be a beneficiary of that but it's tough because again he's not the the lone guy he is not a highly drafted pick so there's a lot of issues there with pacheco but i think it's a guy that i want on my roster still because i want pieces of good offenses and pacheco still that but the jerry m re-signing is, is not surprising and it's a little unsettling.

Yeah. Yeah. You guys nailed it. You know, so we'll see. Hopefully Pacheco does get a little bit more, takes that next step in a second season, full-time as a starter, you know, to whatever the starter means for the Chiefs. But yeah, hopefully there, there's a few more rushing touchdowns. Not that Mikko Hardman is gone. At least, you know, we don't know if they're going to use Racy Rice in that role or whatever they decide to do because Andy Reid is just so creative. But bad news for CEH continues and more crowded backfield in Kansas City.

According to an ESPN report, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, quote, lobbied heavily for Devon A-chain. Devon A-chain, Devon A-chain, Devon A-chain. So we got the Miami backfield now a little bit crowded with Jeff Wilson and Raheem Mostert with A-chain. So, you know, Joe, what do you look at? A the rookie and his potential, you know, coming out of Texas A&M and what he could do for the dolphins, obviously a lot of speed, but again,

a lot of mouths to feed at least in the 2023 campaign. Yeah. But I mean, when we're talking about Mostert, we're talking about Jeff Wilson and look, Wilson was a guy that I drafted last year. Cause I thought like, he's going to do something somewhere. I don't know where it's going to be. And then the McCaffrey trade, like, well, that's the end of that. And he got second life with Miami.

And he was pretty good in the games. He got those opportunities. But none of those guys were the answer. The only thing I could say is as far as Devon A-chain goes, this is a guy with that enormous speed on a team that's already super fast and with a offensive mind that knows how to utilize it and that to me is the most important thing so although you might look at the size and say he's 5'9 he's 185 he's a little bit smaller guy he's going to be utilized in ways that make it really tough to stop him and i think the explosiveness is one of

those things where he's going to be a fascinating DFS play some weeks in certain matchups where you have teams that struggle against running backs who can catch the football, right? You know, you get this guy out there in space a couple of times. He has that monstrous playmaking ability in him because of that breakaway speed that he has. And he's a tougher kid too. Again, people, I think sometimes with the smaller RBs, they don't get a lot of credit for being the tougher guys. But when you look at what's ahead of him on the steps chart, it's nothing that you feel confident about. It's guys that have been retreads, guys that have, you know, undrafted free agents, guys that don't have a lot of capital. So I don't expect to be a three down back. But if one of those situations you miss out on Jameer Gibbs, which you want some explosiveness in your flex RB spot some weeks,

maybe later down in a redraft, you take a shot on Devon Ache, but you want some explosiveness in your flex RB spot some weeks, maybe later down in a redraft, you take a shot on Devon H. And you think, okay, maybe this is a guy that can give me some good matchup plays at some point, but he landed in the spot with the right coach, with the right system. And I think that to me is the most appealing part of it. Yeah. I mean, it's good to know that Mike McDaniel, one of them, um, I like that better than if he didn't. You should not expect Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson, either one, to play 17 games. And I'm not sure you should expect the two combined to play 17 games. I do believe there will be a chance. But I also believe that week one, I would expect Wilson and Mostert to both be healthy. And I don't know that I expect A-Chain

to have double-digit touches. So I think A-Chain's one of those guys. In RB3, yes, but in RB3 that you draft with the patience of waiting until he actually gets the role. It might be you combine him with someone like a Pacheco who you can start early in the year, and then eventually A-Chain takes over and shows more upside than Pacheco. This could be one of those guys we say, oh, why did you drop him?

Because you drafted him, he didn't do anything for a few weeks you drop him unfortunately and then then there's that Wilson injury then there's that Mostert injury and then he comes in and does some wonderful things as Joe alluded to earlier in the show just how creative Mike McDaniel is and how much speed they like to get on the field so it should be fun to see his his opportunity there especially knowing that McDaniel did lobby heavily according to the reports to go get him uh we sort of glossed over this on on Monday's show but the bills bring back latavius murray so heath now you have another crowded backfield that seems to not have an answer of who the number one guy is you know uh sean mcdermott what he said at the owners meetings that they're really in love with

damien harris just the ability to be a physical back that also has some speed james cook we know i think is the one we're all more the most excited about because potential pass catcher and somebody who could build off a moderate rookie season and then really see a lot of what Cook can do. Maybe he could do it this year, but now you've got Murray there in Buffalo. He says he's a different running back than the other two. How do you see this backfield checking out? Well, I would agree with him that he's a different running back than the other two. I'm not sure I would agree in the same manner that he would, but no, I think that he does, like he provides some veteran leadership for Cook and he provides some short yardage backup for Harris. And I don't think if both

Damian Harris and James Cook are healthy, that Latavius Murray probably plays very much or does very much. The key to this whole thing is how much does Josh Allen change? We've got Sean McDermott talking about him changing. We have Josh Allen talking about him changing. If he is going to run less and dump the ball off to his running backs, like Joe talks about avoiding sacks and avoiding hits when he's running the ball as well, if he's going to run less in the red zone where he takes some of his most terrifying damage, then I think both Harris and James Cook could have some value as high in flexes. I prefer Cook right now. I think there's more juice and more upside there, but the path for Harris is simpler. The path for

Harris is that Josh Allen actually stops running so much inside the 10 and he gets to score 10 rushing touchdowns this sounds as sure. Yep. Well, you know, for me, I make fun of Derek Brown all the time for the range of outcomes conversation. You know,

I like to always tease him about it, but cook is to me, the biggest, one of the biggest range of outcomes guys. There's a scenario you can paint where James cook all of a sudden really takes off in year two. And people were just way too impatient in year one. There's also one where i

think it's on the other side of that scale where harris gets touchdowns harris is more of that three down back kind of guy uh especially in pass protection situations too where i think they're going to value him a little bit more it's something belichick always valued and that's you can't play for the patriots if you can't pass protect that's why harris was around and then you draft dalton Kincaid. And if a lot of the targets are going to him and he ended up becoming a Kelsey ish, sort of a player who is that hybrid guy,

like, you know, like we saw Kyle pits in your one use to like that hybrid tight end slot guy, then it puts cook on a different trajectory altogether. So that's a player that I think is big risk reward of all the players out there. So it's hard for me to get excited about this backfield because I know just Josh Allen wants

to keep running the football and throwing the football. And until he starts to be a little bit, you know, more sharing of the wealth, it's hard to really get excited about any running back there. And I think that's where I struggle. I do believe the best version of the bills is the more balanced version where they do run the football and they do commit to it and they do diversify the offense, but it's been something they, they try and start out. And then eventually they go, Nope, you know what? We're going to scrap it. And just Josh Allen's just going to go be Josh Allen. I don't know how many years you can get away with that. But like I said, this, this backfield has a lot of question marks in it. And to me, it's one that I would prefer to stay away from unless getting a huge discount.

Yeah. And the, I mean, the discount obviously is going to be Latavius Murray, who just has become the new cockroach. It just doesn't go away and just keeps, you know, finding a way to be productive in some way, shape or form. But, um, he's the oldest of the group and maybe he ends up being the most productive of the group, which would be frustrating for anybody looking at James Cook or Damien Harris as the better of the two are going to take one more break when we come back and get into some wide receiver quarterback talk.

And then we'll wrap this up with Joe and get you on your way. So stay right here to Fantasy Football today. All right, welcome back. I want to do a quick rapid fire with Joe here, and then Heath will get your takes on these wide receiver situations. So just give me a name, however you want to break it down, but we're going to do rapid fire here on these wide receivers. So the best wide receiver, Joe, for the Chargers in 2023 is?

Healthiest. Keenan Allen is probably the answer there. So there's my lightning round one answer. Yeah. Keenan Allen. The best wide receiver for the Seahawks in 2023 is? DK Metcalf. Okay.

And the best wide receiver for the Ravens in 2023 is? Odell Beckham Jr. Oh, wow. Okay. Odell Beckham Jr. All right. So let's start with the chargers here. So you got Keenan Allen. I think we probably all agree. Keenan Allen, the best wide receiver for the chargers. They had Quentin Johnson, Quentin Johnston in the first round. It feels a little bit like a Mike Williams clone, but we'll see how things go there. So Heath, I'll give you the first word since Joe goes with Keenan Allen. So do you agree is Keenan Allen the best receiver there? And how do you

see these three working together? Yeah, I think it's Keenan Allen in full PPR for sure. It's probably Keenan Allen in half PPR. In non-PPR, I'd take Mike Williams. I just don't know what Keenan Allen's going to do with those targets. I like him as a low-end number two wide receiver. Williams is a mid-range number three, and Johnston really, I think, for me, is going to be bench depth as long as those two guys stay healthy, a similar thing to how I feel about the Seattle wide receiver, which just absolutely crushes me right now. But yeah, it's, it's Allen. Then it's Williams. Then it's Johnston, at least for this year.

Joe, how do you look at the two big threats? The problem is the age of Keenan Allen, the health of Keenan Allen, the perennial disappointment of Mike Williams. And you mentioned clone. He is a clone, Quentin Johnson of Mike Williams. And I think that they finally realized and smartened up as I did because I stuck my neck out last year because two years ago, Mike Williams gave you that tease where you're like, okay, just play 12 games, maybe 14. Can we just get 14, 12 games, something like that. And you can't get it out of Mike Williams.

I've had it. I'm over. It's done. I think the charges are over it. I think Herbert's over it. And if you're talking about a guy like in dynasty that could have a quicker impact than you realize it's not Addison, it's, it's this guy, it's Quinta Johnson because Quinta Johnson, I think immediately fills that same kind of role that Mike Williams can do. And they desperately need that guy to get up and go get it. And a bigger, stronger, faster, you know, wide receiver, you know, two or one, a kind of guy. I Johnson's a guy, once again, draft capital,

Keenan Allen's going to be high Mike Williams. God knows where it's going to be, but I think late shares of Quentin Johnston is a really smart play this year. It's going to be fascinating to see, obviously the biggest winner is Justin Herbert, you know, getting another piece, you know, not just for this year, but for, you know, hopefully the next several years that Johnson can become a healthier version of Mike Williams. That would be a lot of fun. And just, you know, getting Keenan Allen to stay healthy.

He was a monster to close the season at the end of last year. But those, you know, six, seven games that he missed to start the season or missed parts of six or seven games to start the season with that hamstring problem were very, very frustrating. But, yeah, I think you look at it, Allen right now, Williams number two, and then Johnston might be just the type of guy that you have to sit on on your bench, or maybe he gets dropped, you pick him up off waivers in the redraft league and could absolutely be fantastic. All right, you say DK Metcalf is your favorite Seahawks receiver. I'm going to guess we all agree on that. But Heath, where do Tyler Lockett and Jackson Smith and Jigba come in now that they added another first round rookie? And we haven't really seen three receivers in Seattle in the Pete Carroll era. How are these guys all

work together? Yeah, it's hard for me to believe they're going to find enough touches for two running backs and three wide receivers to make us happy with any of them really. But DK Metcalf, a low end number two wide receiver, just slightly ahead of Keenan Allen, Tyler Lockett, just slightly behind Mike Williams. I do think there's a good chance that for like the 17th year in a row, Tyler Lockett outperforms his ADP and expectations. And it's either bad news for DK Metcalf once again, or it's bad news for JS. And I think most likely very similar to what I said about Quentin Johnston,

Jackson Smith and Jigba is someone you're drafting in the double digit rounds. And you're just trying to hold onto him until he gets the opportunity. Cause I expect him to be in a five to seven target role. Now the problem for him compared to Johnston, Johnston's targets might be 15, 20 yards downfield. He might take five targets and turn them into 80 yards and a deep touchdown. I don't think Smith and Jigba is going to be doing that. It's his targets going to be closer. So the lower target share really makes him even less valuable. I don't like him very much at all for 2023. I'm not taking him before round 10.

He's still, though, my second favorite wide receiver in Dynasty. Joe, how do you see them all working? I could not agree with Heath more about the redraft value of JSN. I think it's exactly the point. And Tyler Lockett's still going to be ahead of him for one more year at least. I like Jackson Smith and Jigba. I'm not as excited as some other people are about him in terms of profile-wise. And the reason is I watched him play with Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson.

And again, it's really easy to be a good slot-wide receiver, and those two guys are just eating everywhere, of course. You're going to be one-on-one coverage all the time and you're gonna have mismatches all over the place um the same thing even last year you know he's playing with Marvin Harrison Jr. he's playing with a lot of talent over there at Ohio State so uh and a very good quarterback with CJ Stroud so I think this year it's going to be disappointing I think people are going to look at him as the consensus wide receiver one off the board get too excited about him in 2023 long-term. Yeah. It starts to look a lot better once Tyler Lockett is gone, which makes him a fascinating trade target in any keeper dynasty format,

because if he has a down year, the bloom will be off the rose and that's when you should be buying him, buying him for 2023, I think is a tough sell. It's going to be interesting. You know, we've the Seattle draft was just so fascinating for fantasy because they had another running back. We've never seen the two running back, you know, system there that's been productive. They had another receiver. We haven't seen three receivers be productive there. So kudos to the Seahawks. So they got a lot of talent, but you know, how's it all going to work for, for us that play, you know, fantasy,

hoping to see, you know, sort of the concentrated targets and the concentrated production from, from the backfield. So we'll see how things go there. I'm surprised by your answer of Vodell Beckham. I don't know. It's the New Jersey bias, you know, being in,

in, in giant land where he started. But Beckham has the best receiver for the Ravens, knowing that they add Zay Flowers to Rashad Bateman. Beckham's coming off the second ACL, didn't play last year. So why Beckham over Flowers and Bateman? Well,

Rashad Bateman's a ghost. He never plays. A. B. I love Zay Flowers. He's a ghost. Is Rashad Bateman a ghost? He is a ghost. Well, Rashad Bateman's a ghost. He never plays a, uh, B I love Zay flowers. We're going to go. God Bateman, a ghost. He is a goat.

Well, look, I can point to Odell Beckham seasons where he's been good. And you know what, before the, like, I mean, we could joke all we want. I think everyone's having a little short-term memory loss of what he did in that stretch run for the Rams. It's really hard to come into an offense and do what he did at any point while the season's already going. I think that's something that's always studied to me when anybody can like what Hawkinson did last year, going into an offense mid season or late in the season, all of a sudden being productive in it. That's a really hard thing to do. I am not an Odell Beckham fan. I am far from a giants fan. Like there is no bias whatsoever.

This is just looking at it. Uh, the real answer is Mark Andrews, but you said receiver, you didn't say pass catcher. So again, that's, that's the one caveat. I love say flowers. He is one of my favorite guys in the draft, high, high caliber human being, um, great, you know, going for the ball skills. I just think he's going to be, you know, learning on the job here a little bit. And I, and I will be taking plenty of shares of Zay Flowers because I do think he is, again, he's a smaller wide receiver, very physical for a smaller wide receiver. You know, the theme of the show today, don't discount the little tough guys because they're going to go up there and catch the football. Now I've heard the Steve Smith comps for Zay Flowers, which I get it from the, from the attitude perspective and the fighting perspective of, of, you know, the intensity level, but he does not have the same strength in the lower half that Steve Smith had. He is not that

same kind of powerful guy, but he is very fast. He does have all the tools you want. I think it's going to be a really good weapon here. And I think like he's saying a lot about these players, you have to have patience with all these rookies. I mean, how many years do we have to get hit over the head with it? For the most part, these guys are more second half productivity than they are first half because it takes even the best guy sometimes a little bit of a time to acclimate not bijan robinson though day one let's go on bijan but zay flowers on the other hand i think is going to have to figure it out a little bit and i think odell beckham again it's not because i'm excited about drafting odell beckham it's because i think he's the best pass catching option they have. And I'm tired of waiting for Rashad Bateman to play football.

Sorry. Heath, who's the best for you? I'm going to go with flowers first. Um, I don't have any of these guys in my top 40 wide receivers, so I'm not advising drafting any of them in the single digit rounds. Um, I will probably end up with Bateman second and Beckham third, just because like, if you look at the trajectory of the last five years of Odell Beckham, who is now going to be 31 years old this season, he averaged 87 yards per game back in 2018, the next year, 64, the next year, 45 with the Browns in 2021, he was at 38.7 with the Rams, 38.1 yards per game. I know they gave him a bunch of money. They sure paid him like they think he has something left. I kind of think that was part of Lamar Jackson's contract. You must get Odell Beckham and then I will agree to the deal. And so

I don't know that that was a great choice by Lamar, but I'm very skeptical of what Beckham has left or how many games he will play this year. Flowers is the only one I'm probably going to draft in a standard 12 or 13-round draft. And like Joe said, the answer is Mark Andrews. Yes, the answer is Mark Andrews. I do think it is interesting, though, that this does feel, for the first time, because of the coordinator change, we're going to see a more pass happy offense in baltimore to whatever extent you know

but with todd monken coming in clearly the aggressiveness like you said he's maybe to just make uh lamar jackson happy but spending a first round draft pick on a wide receiver going out and getting odell beckham you know hopefully having a healthy rashad bait and you get those three guys in the field and maybe could be special clearly with the tight end being the catalyst of it all. But I am curious, Joe, you know, you said at the start of the show, you're not as high on Jordan Addison, just from a rookie only draft. When you look at Addison, Smith and Jigba, Flowers, Johnston, what's the rank for you?

You know, Quentin Johnston won because I think he's got the most potential to impact this year. And I don't like to wait I'm impatient I want to win um and I think the you combine that with the fact he's got a long-term good situation there where the quarterback was not going anywhere you know Herbert's not going anywhere folks like he is going to be the guy there for a very long time and he's a very good quarterback in the NFL so Johnson would be my one because I think he suits in right away and will play right away and be productive right away and And the long-term is good. So that's a good combination.

Smith and Jigman, I think, would be the two there for me. But again, it's a two, but I'm not excited about it. Zay Flowers, a very close three. That's, I love Zay Flowers. Like I said, when you're talking about guys you want on your football team, that's a guy I want on my football team. And people forget, they forget how good of a passer Lamar can be. What kind of an arm strength he has.

I think we start to lose focus a little bit because when he's hurt or the team is bad around him or the play calling is bad or the structure of the offense is very reserved, we forget what he did in Louisville. We forget what he did when he was MVP. And I think everybody should go back and watch a couple years ago and see some of that film and have a nice little reminder about the upside of what Lamar Jackson

is. And then Addison's a little bit further down that trough for me. Like, I think if you look at the Mingo's and you look at the Rashi Rice's and where they landed potentially, you know, I don't know who's going to be quarterback of the Vikings in two to three years, but I know, you know, there's a shot there, but Bryce Young, you know, outplays his size and Mingo becomes really interesting. Rashi Rice certainly has, I think, every opportunity to carve out a role here. MVS is not long for the Chiefs.

They've got a whole bunch of players where you're looking at go. I don't know what to make of these wide receivers, but you got the best quarterback on the planet. So I think you look at the short and long term. I think those situations are better than Addison's because I, even though, you know, Jefferson is brilliant out there. I don't know how much longer cousins is going to be the quarterback and what that looks like in two years.

And I think Jefferson being the alpha caps Addison of what he could do potentially. Heath. I know we addressed this on the dynasty show, but give everybody's listening here for the first time. You're you're, you're ranking of those four guys. Well,

I agree completely with Joe on number two. JSN is number two for me. I think that's the only guy that we ranking of those four guys. Well, I agree completely with Joe on number two. JSN is number two for me. I think that's the only guy that we have in the same place. Good. And Addison is my number one. I've got JSN at number two. I've got Quentin Johnston at number three. And I've got Zay Flowers at number four.

This is pretty close to the order I had them. I had JSN and Addison flipped. But I do like, I think Addison and JSN, that quarterback concern, who's the quarterback in two years, they both kind of have that same concern. I'm a little bit more worried about the fact that JSN is behind three guys. So I do think Addison will be better than them this year. It's going to be very interesting. And I think I said this on the dynasty show, I had that decision to make between Johnston and flowers in the first rookie only draft that I've done so far. I took Johnston. I think Joe said it best. He's tied to Justin Herbert, which is an easy selling

point. And just looking at the rookie campaigns, it could be somewhat similar, just knowing that there's going to be an adjustment for Lamar Jackson with the other guys there. And then Johnston just, I think, has to wait a little bit to get those targets that we're looking for, but still might happen with Mike Williams and Keenan Allen knowing the injury track record there. I will wrap this up with a little quarterback talk. Uh, Anthony Richardson, clearly the darling of the draft for fantasy managers. So you're aggressive in how you're ranking Bijan. Are you aggressive in how you're ranking Anthony Richardson for redraft leagues? Can he be a number one quarterback right away?

Oh gosh, that's hard. I mean, you can't say you can't, right? But you don't have to put that. I think if you're in single quarterback leagues, you're looking at Richardson going, why not? Once the first eight, nine quarterbacks are off the board who you feel really good about being fantasy quarterbacks. I think we can all look at the Herberts, Lamars, Justin Fields, what he did last year was very special. You want all those guys. But then you get in that conversation about Deshaun Watson. Okay, is he going to bounce back? Are we going to be in that situation? Maybe. So I think once you get past that version,

and it becomes very easy in single quarterback leagues to be aggressive on Anthony Richardson and then take a Goff or an Aaron Rodgers who all of a sudden has found his smile again in New York and those kind of situations where you feel like, okay, I can take a Dak Prescott and I can get Anthony Richardson, but let me do that first

and then I'll get some other veteran guy. I don't think there's anything wrong with that because if you have that and you feel like, okay, I can take a Dak Prescott and I can get Anthony Richardson, but let me do that first. And then I'll get some other veteran guy. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Cause if you have that and you're right, even if it takes all of September to figure it out, he could absolutely break the wheel in super flex. It becomes a little bit more interesting because then quarterback, just like last year is not deep. And I know everyone's like, how can you say that last year? Well, it wasn't. And guess what guess what it turned out not to be and i think the same thing we're looking at is a lot of youth a lot of inexperience a lot of changeover of offenses of coordinators of personnel it's it's ugly out there in the streets so taking a shot on richardson makes a ton of sense i would rather go a little bit more stable uh personally but i get the upside and i get it

i get all the excitement i wish he landed in a little bit better spot, but again, Steichen, I think knows what to do with him and to create a playbook around him. So I'm cautiously optimistic because this kid obviously has all the capabilities to just break fantasy. Yeah. He's my number 13 quarterback right now. He'll be top 10 once he's named the week one starter. Um, I just, I need to see him win that job. Cause I did have concerns about whether he was ready to play in the NFL yet, and we'll see if they can get the offense. I love the fact that he's going to have the Jalen Hurts offense. I think when games he starts, you can pencil him in for 10-plus rush attempts, and you can throw for 150 yards a game. If you're rushing the ball 10 times, you're a top

12 quarterback. I'm fascinated. Absolutely fascinated. Just to see, you know, it's not going to take much. You know, Daniel Jones was 3,200 and 700 last year. That's not a huge ask for Anthony Richardson, probably more so on the 3,200. But Justin Fields was just over 2,200 passing yards last year and ran for over 1,000 yards. So Richardson, we know, has that type of potential. If he is the week one starter, I don't see how you don't draft him as a number one guy and Joe laid out the plan. You know,

there are so many good secondary quarterbacks like Gino Smith last year, you said it, it was a terrible year for quarterbacks was a top five guy, not on per game basis, but he was close. You know, you pair those two guys together, knowing that there's still so much upside, Daniel Jones, how he finished Jared golf, what he has in front of him. You know, there's, there's guys to fall back on, not the Aaron Rodgers and the Kirk Cousins which are a little bit ahead of those guys for me but I'm I think this is the position like you said Joe you know you can swing for the fence there is a fallback because you have a little bit of a safety net while you don't have the top tier guys but if he hits my gosh he can sort of as you said break the wheel so it should

be fun to see all right we don't need to get into the other guys because I don't think anybody's drafted Bryce Young or CJ Stroud in redraft leagues, but it'll be fun to see how these guys go. But before we go, Joe, just tell everybody where they can find you on Fantasy Pros, how they can follow you on Twitter, and just get all of your great content at Fantasy Pros that you get.

Well, first of all, thanks for inviting me. It's always fun to chop it up with you guys. Love talking football. I love disagreeing with Heath, too. It's my favorite thing. He's so great. Yeah, you can find me over at Fantasy Pros doing the football shows over at our MLB channel. We have as well. We do a daily baseball show on there on our YouTube channel for fancy pros MLB. Uh, we have our betting pros channel also. So, uh, great stuff there. And every Sunday morning from eight to 10, I'm on sports grid hosting a fantasy sports today, which is great. And myself and Matt striker, former WWE superstar. We have a great time on that show. So, and the fantasy black book I saw in the comments, people asking, it'll be out June 1st. That's what we're working for. So hopefully June 1st, fingers

crossed as always. So you can go out and get that on Amazon when it drops, but thanks for having me guys. Always fun to talk to y'all. Oh, we appreciate you taking the time. Make sure you check out the black book, check out everything that Joe is doing at fantasy pros, which seems to be like everything at fantasy pros. But, you know, great having you on to talk about the NFL draft. And again, we will have our show tomorrow to break down the mock draft that we did coming off the NFL draft. Make sure you check out Heath's Dynasty show that he hosts on Tuesday that we had a great time talking about our rookie-only mock draft as well. That article will be on CBSSports.com also. So again, we'll be back on Thursday. Fantasy Football Today. No Adam Azer, but, we'll keep you entertained as we always do.

Thanks, Joe. Thanks, Pete. That's Damian Eisenberg. Thanks a lot. Thanks for listening. Weight loss. It needs to be fast and sustainable. Noom GLP-1 starts at just $149 and ships to your door in seven days.

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