Fantasy Football Today - Are RBs or WRs Safer? Also ... Mailbag! (07/26 Fantasy Football Podcast)
Episode Date: July 26, 2024Want to be in our next mock draft and have a shot at being on air? Check out our St. Jude Draft-a-Thon Store here: https://tiltify.com/@fftfundraising/fantasy-football-today-draftathon-2024 If you sup...port the show, please nominate Fantasy Football Today for The People's Choice Podcast Awards in the "Sports" Category: https://www.podcastawards.com/app/signup/ Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts Looking at the last three seasons of average draft position, can we determine if wide receivers are actually safer to draft than running backs (1:50)? What does that data tell us? After that discussion, we look at the news and notes (8:15) and get to your questions via Draftathon donations (16:30), Apple Podcast (36:50), emails (42:55) at fantasyfootball@cbsi.com and YouTube (59:45). We discuss Kyren Williams, drafting two WRs on the same team, counting kick and punt return yards in your leagues and so much more Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1 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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Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.
Friday Mailbag, baby.
Your emails.
Oh, we got actually, we got questions from everywhere.
Your emails at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com.
Your Apple podcast questions.
Your questions on YouTube at the end of the show
and of course we have 10 people who purchased the opportunity to have their question read on
today's show by donating to saint jude at tinyurl.com slash draftathon 2024 hey we need somebody to beat
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available. We're going to read 10 per mailbag. Go ahead.'ve given poppy a lot of props for being the top donator so far
if someone beats him does that person get props every show moving forward yeah i would say so
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yeah well that's dave jamie's here as well happy friday jamie
happy friday been working on a little research here that i didn't quite finish but ran out of
time but i pretty much got the gist of it.
Trying to figure out which position's really safer,
running back or wide receiver.
Let's think about who the first two running backs off the,
who the first five wide receivers, let's say wide receiver,
first five wide receivers off the board last year.
Justin Jefferson, wide receiver 31, he finished.
Jamar Chase finished as wide receiver 11. Tyreek Hill, bam, wide receiver 31, he finished. Jamar Chase finished as wide receiver 11.
Tyree Kill, bam, wide receiver 2.
Stefan Diggs finished as wide receiver 9.
Devontae Adams, wide receiver 10.
Cooper Cup was also, you know, for a while, he was top 7 in ADP.
He got hurt.
Garrett Wilson was, I think, 9th.
Jalen Waddell was 11th.
Chris Olave was 12th in ADP.
Is that really better than what we get at running back last year?
McCaffrey, Eckler, bad.
Barkley, Bijan, Nick Chubb, Tony Pollard, Derek Henry, Josh Jacobs,
they're both bad.
It's really bad.
But I went back and I looked at the last three seasons,
and I think I've got more mega busts, actually,
at wide receiver than at running back.
Not by a lot, but guys who were drafted
as top 18 players at the position
and didn't even finish in the top 30 at the position
for whatever reason, injury, performance, whatever it was.
I think I got more at wide receiver.
Bottom line is, it's close.
I still think wide receiver's a little safer
than running back, but I'm not sure, Dave, I'm not sure if it's close. I still think wide receiver is a little safer than running back,
but I'm not sure, Dave,
I'm not sure if it's supported with evidence.
But it does feel that way,
and I think that that's
an important takeaway,
and I think people build
their teams that way.
I know that,
I think it was Jamie
in our draft yesterday
that did something like that,
and, you know,
three wide receivers
back to back to back that's awesome
um i i would uh i would say that the the i looked at your notes and i did a little bit of like math
with it and about 70 of the top 10 at each position came from that top 18 and adp so once
that tells me that once you get to like receiver 20 or even worse, wide receiver 25 on draft day,
the odds of having a top 10 player shrink dramatically.
You're in the water. It's really cold. Good luck.
So if you really want to prioritize those positions, go after them early.
Don't worry about quarterback and tight end.
You can find somebody later. Load up on wide outs and running backs.
And if you're worried about the fragility of running backs,
go with wide receivers first.
So two things.
I think if you extend it probably past the first round,
it's probably safer for receivers
because there's just more of them
and less likely that they're going to get hurt
based on just the nature of how they play.
But independent of each other,
receivers depend on more things than running backs do because because running back gets hurt he's obviously done receiver quarterback
gets hurt yeah they're screwed you know so you know you think about yeah garrett wilson's a great
call obviously jamar chase last year you know why did he finish what'd you say wide receiver nine um
uh he was a wide receiver, 11.
11, you know.
He got hurt.
He missed time, too.
It was 10.
Burrow got hurt, but yeah, Jamar Chase missed, I think,
maybe just one game, but like one and a half.
I think he missed two.
Whatever it was.
But yeah, I mean, obviously Burrow getting hurt really hurt Chase
more so than Higgins, I think, even.
It was weird.
Yeah, I mean, receiver and just the nature of how they play is going to be safer.
Okay, fine.
So let's go through this now.
How about running back 13 through 18
compared to wide receiver 13 through 18?
Do you want to know the successes or the major busts?
Busts.
Okay, so major busts.
So didn't even finish outside the top.
Didn't finish inside the top 30.
30 or worse when drafted as RB 13 to 18 or wide receiver 13 to 18.
And this is total points?
Total points over the last three seasons.
How many running backs were drafted between 13 and 18 in the position
and didn't finish in the top 30?
I got two, three, four, five, six, seven.
Seven running backs.
How many wide receivers drafted 13 through 18
did not finish in the top 30?
I've got two, three, four, five, five.
Seven to five.
A little bit worse for running backs.
All right, well, I was just thinking about really round three picks,
but now the problem is for wide receiver, you get to round three,
you are talking about a much deeper part of the pool than at running back.
So running back in round three, you're looking at maybe running back 12.
You might be looking at wide receiver 20, the way they're being drafted now.
So that's another thing to keep in mind,
which is why I started my team with three running backs in my first four picks yesterday.
And at one point I wrote, I hate fantasy football.
Yeah, I compared your draft and mine in the write-up.
I'm sure you liked your team better.
I like my team better, but you know, I think
you, you, you took an interesting approach in a three receiver league and I thought you recovered
well, you know, with, with the receivers that you took because you took very high upside guys
in neighbors and rice and Watson, you know, so if they hit and you're running back, stay healthy,
your team could be amazing. Um, but you also have, I think, just going into it,
potential whole quarterback too.
So it's like you have some major potential flaws.
Well, that was one of the things I learned.
So I'm not going to get into this too much
because read the recap, right?
We did a three wide receiver PPR draft yesterday
and I went running back, running back.
I had the ninth pick, running back, running back, tight end, which was Kelsey. And then another running back. And one thing I
learned was like, if you do that and all of a sudden you need three wide receivers and they're
all starters for you, I think it's going to be pretty hard for you to prioritize quarterback
at that point. So that was why I waited and waited as long as I could. I ended up with Caleb Williams and Trevor Lawrence.
Okay.
Anyway, you can read that on the website.
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Let's do some news and notes.
And then after that,
we will get into all of your questions here.
And Kirk cousins is practicing is full in full.
That's great.
Jamar chase is not practicing.
They are not saying it's because of his contract.
It seems likely that it's because of his contract.
Charles Robinson of Yahoo sports was at Rams camp.
And he says,
Kyron Williams is unquestionably the guy at running back.
He thinks the Rams game is running game is going to be even better this year because the interior
offensive line will be better uh Joe Biscaglia of the athletic he wrote about Dawson Knox's
impact on Dalton Kincaid poured a little bit of cold water on on the Dalton Kincaid hype train
is that how you felt about it Dave that was this was not a good report for Dalton Kincaid that basically he's still
kind of a co-starter with Dawson Knox.
I don't mind that they're co-starters and if the Bills want to go with a too
tight end approach on most of their plays, then it should be fine. But I
want to hear more about Dalton Kincaid being the alpha of the offense.
And we're not hearing that.
It's early.
He's looked good.
The reports have been positive on Kincaid, but there's been a lot of, well, the ball's being spread around,
and Curtis Samuel is in a bunch of different roles,
and everybody's involved, and they're using pre-snap motion.
I was going to say designing plays,
but it's really more like disguising plays really, really well.
And so that makes me a little bit nervous about Kincaid.
I did move him behind McBride in non-PPR.
Do you know how excited we would be about Dalton Kincaid
from his rookie season if there was no Sam Laporta?
You think so?
73 catches for a rookie tight end?
Yeah.
Like going into year two.
There's a lot to be excited about.
I don't care about Dawson Knox.
I think the bigger player is Stefan Diggs.
I tried to look at this.
I mean, the first seven games of the season
before Dawson Knox got hurt,
Dalton Kincaid was basically a nothing.
He was not running many routes.
He wasn't getting a lot of targets.
Then he was really big for five games without Knox.
And then Knox came back and Kincaid had a 20% target share with Knox back and with Stefan Diggs
having like a 28% target share. So I think it's still, he could have his breakout even if Dawson
Knox is there. That's what we're saying. Denver added $1.5 million in incentives to Cortland Sutton's contract.
Saquon Barkley's been catching a lot of passes in the first two days of camp.
Jalen Hurts looks really good.
They're still using his legs a lot.
He's throwing the ball all over the place.
Good stuff so far for him.
Oh, Jamie, I'm sorry.
You're back on the J.K. Dobbins train, huh?
No, no, not to the same level, obviously.
But look, I mean, you got Gus Edwards banged up right now.
I know he's in camp, but not doing everything.
And Vidal is
competing to be the third guy
with Jared Payton.
Jared Patterson.
God, what's wrong?
It's okay.
Don't worry, you're not going to need to know his name
by the time we get to September.
In any event, he's competing for the third spot. You're not going to need to know his name by the time we get to September. Uh, in any event,
he's competing for the third spot.
Dobbins has looked good.
So he's very confident himself.
That's,
that was good to read,
but the cost is,
is clearly much different right now.
So it's,
um,
it's an easy investment and it's an easy guy to move on from.
If he gets hurt again,
hopefully he doesn't,
it'd be great to see him,
you know,
have a,
uh,
a late career,
mid career,
um,
breakout, you know, sort ofcareer. Breakout.
You know, sort of renaissance.
Post-type breakout.
Yeah, exactly.
Russell Wilson has a calf injury.
Justin Fields took the first team work.
The Rams may have lost a...
I heard that didn't go so well.
Yeah, he's apparently quite inconsistent.
Justin Fields.
Rams cornerback...
Did you see he also got mad at his coaches?
No.
George Pickens was screaming at his receivers coach.
Oh, great.
Oh, that's good.
Darian Kendrick for the Rams cornerback.
He may have torn his ACL.
He started 12 games last year.
Don't think he was going to be necessarily a starter this year,
but that's not a good thing for the Rams.
No.
He did tear his ACL.
Oh, he did?
He did tear the ACL,
and he was going to be a huge depth piece for them.
Remember, one of the Rams' big moves this offseason
was getting Tredavious White, who's missed a lot of time.
So there was probably a decent chance
that Kendrick would have played a lot at some point this
year. This hurts their secondary.
Not like in a major way.
It's not like, oh, start everybody against the Rams.
We're not there yet, but it hurts them.
Okay, let's see what else.
Heaven, uh, Heaven,
Cleveland head coach Kevin
Stefanski. Kevin will call plays in 2024.
Trayvon Diggs is on the pup list for the Cowboys.
Xavier Worthy returned to practice.
Curtis Samuel for the Bills.
He's been lining up all over the formation.
Quinton Johnston, you know, they gave him a vote of confidence,
but he's currently not a first team wide receiver.
DJ Chark, Ladd McConkie, and Josh Palmer have been running
with the first team three receiver sets.
Cleveland defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson is going to have arthroscopic knee surgery.
They're hoping he's ready for week one.
And Colts head coach Shane Steichen says they're not going to get away
from Anthony Richardson as a rusher.
He said, you're not going to tell Steph Curry not to shoot three-pointers.
Let's see if there's anything
else. Pat Frymuth has been lining
up everywhere. The Raiders
quarterbacks are not exactly winning
the battle right now. O'Connell and Minshew
both have shown some flaws so far.
That's shocking.
Aaron Jones off to a good
start. J.J. McCarthy off to a good start.
We'll keep an eye on those developments.
So is Darnold, apparently, though.
Yeah. Darnold's the starter
if the games were tomorrow.
So, we'll see.
All right. We got your draft-a-thon
questions. That's coming up after this break
on Fantasy Football Today.
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How you guys doing? How's your Friday going?
Good.
It just started.
I've got to go pick up my car from the shop.
Aren't you in a good mood though?
It's Friday.
I'm in such a good mood on Fridays.
No,
you're not in a good mood.
You know,
come on,
get it,
get there,
get there.
Got a new TV show to recommend.
Yeah.
Any movies you've seen recently?
No, Jamie.
We're not bringing that up.
Everyone's talking about this one.
Presumed Innocent.
Have you seen this?
Have you heard about this?
No?
It's on Apple TV.
It's Jake Gyllenhaal.
Very good.
Well, I've seen one episode.
My wife's watched almost the whole thing.
So it's very, it's like that.
It's a new hot show.
Now you know. Did you watch House of the Dragon yet from last week? Yes, I did.
It's good.
There's a character named Adam.
I got
to tell you, I do like House of the Dragon.
I'm not dying to watch it
when it comes out.
Are you? Yes.
You're such a
loyalist.
All right.
Let's get to some draft-a-thon questions.
I want to thank everybody for donating at least $25.
Dave was reading a magazine during that discussion.
Sorry, Dave, you don't do anything outside of football.
I was reading a 2005 fantasy football magazine.
I want to thank everybody for their donations.
Really appreciate it.
If you want your question read on a mailbag,
I think we have 18 slots left, $25.
Your question will get read.
We'd appreciate no keeper questions.
That would be better.
No dynasty questions.
So here we go from Christopher Espin.
Are there any wide receiver duos
that you would want two of?
Infamously, Freddie in our home league
in Rahway, New Jersey.
I don't know how to pronounce that.
Went the last two years drafting both Dolphins receivers.
Oh, well, it worked out once.
But are there any wide receiver duos
that you would want two of?
So I think based on the cost
that comes into play for me is
you can take two of the Texans receivers
without killing yourself. comes into play for me is like you can you can take two of the texans receivers without you know
killing yourself um i'll tell you i did this yesterday i was i was thrilled with it it's
it's almost a friendship strategy but i took chris olave and rashid shaheed um yeah you know
just because there's such a lack of depth behind those guys that they should both have an opportunity
to play well um from a high-end standpoint i mean like if you can get both eagles guys why not
i'd rather have both bangles guys because he goes around later than smith
yeah i think when you do something like that you almost guarantee yourself one good player
each week how often last year did both higgins and chase or waddle and Tyreek both have
big numbers.
In fact,
I can tell you in the case of the dolphins guys,
cause I know it nine times out of the last 30 games that two has started,
have multiple wide receivers had at least 15 PPR points.
You can't say I can't get on board with spending too early picks on two
receivers from the same team,
but I don't mind doing one early and one late or two late.
And I think of the Packers.
And especially right now, the opportunity cost for Watson or Reed isn't steep.
And you can go and back one of them up with Dontavian Wicks or Romeo Dobbs.
That's the friendship strategy I like the most.
I'm kind of getting on board with the Bills because we don't know who the number one's really going to be,
but two of Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel.
Hopefully you'll find one starter from that group.
But anytime you've got an offense where there's a good quarterback
or better than good quarterback,
and there isn't a clear-cut number one guy as far as fantasy ADP goes,
I like trying to double dip and get two of them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think two points.
I don't really care so much about them being great on the same week because
you're going to have to factor in who,
who would be the replacement there for the other player that you would have
taken.
And I'm sure there's probably similar comps of,
you know,
the success rate of them both being good that particular week.
It's probably more in the favor of the other side, including me on the, on the same team. But I think it just comes down to what, the, the success rate of them both being good that particular week, it's probably more in the favor of the other side,
including me on the,
on the same team.
But I,
I think it just comes down to what,
what,
what costs you're spending and what player you're getting.
Um,
Detroit is one for me,
uh,
with Jameson and how he's looking right now.
That'd be one I'd be interested in,
uh,
just to get St.
Brown early and,
and,
and Jameson late.
Um,
can we just say,
try to do it on a good offense.
That should be the number one parameter.
Yeah, let's not do this with Patriots.
Yeah, all right, let's go to our next question.
One last thing.
How many games last year did both Chase and Higgins have?
I'll even say 30.
That's such a bad example.
I do not care.
Throw it out.
They were all hurt at various times.
The answer is zero.
You want a different team?
No.
We got to move on because I've got like 50 questions.
Give me a good example.
Give me one team.
I'll look up Philadelphia while you go to the next question.
I think you're kind of missing the point because it's not like Chase and Higgins,
they may not have a great game on the same week.
Okay, but are Chase and the other guy that you were going to draft instead of Higgins going to have a good week?
Yeah, but are Chase and Higg getting both of them having a good game
on the same week because they're not on the same team sharing targets.
Yeah, but I don't know.
But then you also back yourself up in case your first guy gets hurt
because if you lose Jamar Chase and you have T. Higgins,
well, you probably just got like a top 10 receiver in Higgins.
All right, anyway, we have too many questions.
And Dave, you said nine times earlier.
Yet, if you say nine times
and you don't do the Ferris Bueller,
you're really missing a layup.
It doesn't count.
You're missing a layup.
My bad.
All right.
I have to read this one
because Michael donated.
Michael Eubanks.
He says, go Knolls.
12-team PPR.
I have the ninth pick.
It's a one keeper league.
Would you keep Jameer Gibbs 16th overall second round
or Devon Achan in the 12th round?
Achan.
I agree.
Okay.
From Andrew Van Milligan.
I have the first pick in a 10 team 2QB keeper league.
I'm keeping Brock Purdy, Garrett Wilson, and Rashad White.
All right?
He's keeping Purdy, Garrett, and White.
Garrett Wilson.
Stroud, Love, and Murray are keepers for other teams.
So now I am debating between Mahomes, Lamb, or McCaffrey
with the first pick in a 10-team, 2QB league.
He's already keeping Purdy. Do you keep Mahomes, Lamb, or McCaffrey with the first pick in a 10-team 2QB league? He's already keeping Purdy.
Do you keep Mahomes, Lamb, or McCaffrey?
Mahomes.
Agreed.
From Eric.
Standards.
Why do you sound like Kevin DeFrog there?
Or Pat Mahomes?
Eric.
It's the sound bite.
It wasn't me.
From Eric.
Eric, I'm at a standard scoring 14-team auction keeper league.
Each season, the eight teams that don't make the playoffs have a tournament where the higher you finish, the more starting auction cash you get next year.
Oh.
We do this to dissuade tanking.
Trade deadline deals still happen, but you always have to factor in making your team worse could cost you.
I want to get your thoughts on this,
as I've never heard you talk about it before.
I love it because, number one,
you're running an auction or a salary cap league,
and those are infinitely better than snake drafts.
And number two,
anything you can do to keep people from tanking in redraft is great.
Anything.
And this is something that would definitely help.
All right.
Thank you.
Eric!
From Rich.
14-team PPR league with six bench spots.
The commissioner thinks that more bench spots benefit the more skilled manager.
I say the opposite is true.
Anyone can stash a bunch of mediocre players
and wait for one of them to get hot.
What do you think?
And would the same apply to fantasy baseball as well?
Do deeper benches benefit
the more skilled fantasy managers?
I'd argue that it does,
but I don't think it's like a huge advantage.
Like I played in the league for years with a bunch of buddies that, you know, they're not like crazy into fancy football, but they like to play.
And every year my bench is loaded because they don't know, you know, they're not as quick to move on names as I am.
Let's just put it that way.
So there's an element to it.
But I've also like every time I make a move and I get one of those good players on my bench, I'm cutting somebody from my bench.
And I think I cut, I don't know who I cut somebody last year that ended up popping off and doing well in the second half of the season.
And that frustrated me.
So sometimes it bites me that it's like that.
But I think like there's a small edge, maybe like 10, 15% for those skilled managers.
Dave cut McCaffrey last year.
I cut Justin Jefferson for Peyton Barber.
You did make fun of Dave for cutting Jerome Ford a couple weeks ago.
I didn't make fun of him.
I just said it was unfortunate.
I don't even know if I did that.
I guess I did.
But when did I do it?
You picked him up in a league preseason,
and I think you cut him after week one.
And then Nick Chubb got hurt in week two.
I didn't make fun of him.
That kind of crap happens to me all the time.
Yeah, it happens to everyone.
Yeah.
Don't try to start beef here.
Come on.
It's Friday.
It's Friday.
Make fun of him.
He's going to critique my moves.
It's Jamie, not Adam.
That's why I was surprised that it was Adam.
I was just beating you to the punch.
All right.
From Nikki T. What right, from Nikki T,
what's the likelihood that Trey Benson
becomes RB1 for the Cardinals this year?
For the season?
It would probably take a significant Conor injury.
The interesting part of it would be
is if Conor misses time,
and again, he's missed three games,
three plus games in five of the last six seasons.
If he were to miss time and Benson goes crazy
in that timeframe that
Connor's out,
what happens when Connor returns?
Did he get Wally pipped or does he get his job back right away?
It's a good question.
Is there any split like almost evenly?
And that would get annoying.
Is there any doubt in your mind based on their depth chart?
I'll pull it up.
Just make sure I'm not missing anybody that That if Conor does miss time, that
Trey Benson is
a 15-plus touch guy.
Close to
it, because I think that they'll use a second
back, whether it's Michael Carter
or Amari DiMarcato.
But I would imagine that Benson would get the
first crack at replacing Conor. He would have to
be terrible not to get the first crack,
because those other guys are not great.
I think my question is, would he play on passing downs?
I mean, his
skill set suggests it.
But so do DJ Dallas's
and Michael Carter's and Amari DiMarcato.
They've got three guys
who could play on passing down.
So they don't have to overload the rookie if they don't want to.
All right. Josh is in a
10-team PPR two-keeper league,
and his options are Devontae Adams in the second.
Remember, this is a 10-team league.
Andrew's in the...
Oh, he has to pick two.
Okay.
I'm just going to tell you right now,
one of them is going to be Amon Ross St. Brown in the fifth round.
So pick one more.
Adams in the second, Andrew's in the third,
Jordan Love in the sixth, or Trey Mc adams in the second andrew's in the third jordan love in the sixth
or trey mcbride in the sixth i think mcbride is the one you go with yeah i think that's the
best value honestly i mean i'm on raw is the best value but after that then here comes mcbride so like parody right here we could right taking in round five
okay uh anonymous on our saint you tilt the five page is it a 10 team oh no
i put the same one in twice.
Okay.
I think I'm going to go with Amonrod McBride.
All right.
Anonymous.
Another Anonymous.
It's in a Superflex PPR Dynasty League.
Back-to-back rookie-only draft picks, 102 and 103.
Nice.
All right.
It's Superflex.
He's got the second and third picks.
He has Tua and Stafford.
He has Lamb,
St. Brown, Nico, Olave,
and Waddle.
He's got good receivers here. 101 is taking Marvin Harrison. Should I draft
Williams and Daniels or one
of them and neighbors?
He's got Tua and Stafford,
so he's got to plan for Stafford's
eventual retirement.
Caleb is absolutely locked in with 102.
I'm not bashing on him.
I might take both.
Yeah, his receivers are Lamb, St. Brown, Nico, and Olave.
You're good at Waddle.
Your receivers are awesome.
It's a 10-team league or 12-team league?
Doesn't say.
Don't know.
I'm taking the quarterbacks.
Because the thing about that is you could take both quarterbacks
and maybe trade Stafford for something that could help you.
Okay.
Yes.
All right.
And from TPN.
Actually, I have two more here.
They're toilet paper.
I have the one from Anonymous that I accidentally copied
and pasted the wrong question.
Thomas has got my back there.
From TPN, 12-team full PPR keeper league.
I'm drafting from the 10 spot.
I can keep Jonathan Taylor in the fifth round or Olave in the sixth.
You're keeping Taylor in the fifth.
I would keep Olave in the sixth.
Okay.
And here's the other question.
Is the rate at which wide receiver one level prospects
enter the NFL faster than the rate
that real NFL wide receiver ones
stop being wide receiver ones for decline or retirement?
This is a veiled question about whether we can expect more JSN situations in the future.
Odunze, Pearsall, Thomas, Burton.
So he's basically saying that these prospects that get drafted that we're super excited
about, they come in, but wide receivers have such long shelf lives of being good that we
have to wait for them basically to break out.
It's kind of an interesting premise.
And sometimes the opportunity never comes for a number of reasons.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's interesting.
So aside from...
Go ahead.
Who are the examples, JSN and who else?
So he's got Odunze, Pearsall.
No, no, no, I'm talking about...
He's listing the receivers who are coming into crowded...
I'm not worried about the guys coming in.
I'm talking about guys that are.
The only one he named was JSN.
But he named four rookies that he was afraid would.
Yeah, right.
He's worried about it.
I don't think Thomas falls in that category because there's a wide open receiving core there.
Yeah.
I wouldn't put.
He put Jermaine Burton on here.
I mean, that's not a guy that we're talking about as a wide receiver one level prospect.
I don't even know if Brian Thomas is, you know, personally.
I don't think so.
Well, I mean, Thomas was a first round pick,
so you have to put him in that category.
Yeah, but is he a wide receiver one,
like a top 12 overall type of wide receiver?
Oh, he absolutely can be.
All right, we'll see.
What was he drafted in, like 24th-ish or something?
Around there, yeah.
Yeah, I don't think so.
I think it's going to be situation-specific.
We didn't like JSN's situation, but...
Correct.
But it's not common.
I'm thinking about Drake London and Garrett Wilson.
They had bad quarterbacks,
but they didn't come into crowded receiving rooms
or anything like that.
Chris Olave.
Even Chris Olave with Michael Thomas. And again, it's easy just to say that he's a flop but quinn
johnston came into a crowded receiving core and then those guys are gone now yeah right yes you
know so like he was one that you looked at and said okay he's got to play behind keenan allen
and mike williams we don't know for how long but he's going to be behind those guys like pierce
all is a good example because if they sign that uke then you're screwed you know so they give him
a contract extension you're you're in trouble there with what his
upside could be um barring obviously trade of debo but um i'm trying to think like
other situations like like like doomsday makes the most sense because if keenan allen hangs on
for another year or two yeah then it could be problematic dj more still there you know so it
could be problematic and what what happened still there. It could be problematic.
And what happened with Quentin Johnson is that that front office and coaching staff wanted to get a wide receiver that they liked
because they knew they'd lose at least one of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.
And then Quentin Johnson had a terrible rookie year.
He isn't making his way up the depth chart with a new coaching staff,
and he's just going to fall out of favor.
So that is something that could happen with a dunze with pierce all i don't know if i'd like
i don't know i don't know what the track record is of that that's an interesting idea to research
though it's just it's just situation specific i guess but and that's the league like zach
charbonnet could be a first round pick if he ended up on a different team, but instead I was just,
I was just thinking about that.
Cause you remember the Seattle draft last year was they had these extra
picks from the Russell Wilson trade and it felt like they didn't use them
appropriately to build out their roster from other areas.
Like they took best player of L,
but almost felt like doing a fancy draft,
you know,
like they,
they didn't necessarily have needs at wide receiver and running back.
Clearly they're great players if they hit,
but that was just weird picks.
They could have built out depth on their
offensive and defensive line. They could have taken more secondary
help. It was just weird what they did.
They didn't really draft for need that much.
I think JSN made sense.
It's the best player on their board, and that's fair,
but you're right.
It's more star rating than JSN.
We said at the time
the pick made zero sense.
Yes, we did.
You want a hot take?
Get ready.
Get ready.
The 49ers should not sign Brock Purdy to a long-term deal.
There, I said it.
Why?
I just feel like they...
I like Purdy. I just feel like they, I like Purdy.
I just feel like they can basically put anyone in their system and have him
be an above average quarterback and go to the Superbowl with that quarterback
because they've got so much talent otherwise,
and they need to lock.
I don't know that they need to lock up by you.
I guess they could draft a wide receiver,
but I think they,
I think a lot of teams really screw themselves by giving mega, mega contracts to quarterbacks that don't necessarily deserve it.
And I just don't know if Purdy—I think Purdy has played that well, but I also think a lot of quarterbacks could step into San Francisco's system and play well.
Not this well, but well.
So should Lawrence have gotten paid?
I mean,
I think,
I would rather,
like if I was starting a franchise,
I'd rather have Lawrence
than Purdy.
If Lawrence played
for the 49ers,
I believe Lawrence
would be a pro bowler.
Just a guess.
I don't know
if that's true or not,
but I believe that.
I mean,
coaching matters,
absolutely.
It,
yeah,
like,
you know,
Dolphins have this dilemma with Tua because he wants to get paid a mega deal. I wouldn't pay him. I wouldn't coaching matters. Absolutely. It, yeah, like, you know, Dolphins have this dilemma with Tua
because he wants to get paid a mega deal.
Yeah, I wouldn't pay him.
I wouldn't do it.
The problem is, is what's your plan for after that?
If you do, if you're paying,
oh yeah, I'm just going to go and find another quarterback.
But it's easier said than done.
Like you basically have to tank for a year
in order to do that.
And they're not tanking now.
It's really hard to go and find that at next quarterback.
Not every team gets a Dak Prescott or a Brock Purdy that falls into their
lap.
I would pay Purdy because he does exactly what that coaching staff wants him
to do.
And he's gotten better.
Like when you watch him play,
like his movement after the snap and the way that he can flip his hips,
like that's gotten better.
His accuracy has always been good. That's gotten better. His accuracy has always been good.
That's gotten better.
His decision-making has gotten better.
Like he's a really good for what the 49ers do.
The big thing will be for Purdy is what happens when McCaffrey's not there.
And if they trade one of the receivers or lose Iuke and Trent Williams is
gone,
like when,
when it's a perfect situation,
you know,
aside from just Shanahan, it's really a perfect situation you know so do do they have the ability does he have the
ability to overcome the the utopia that he's in and and that's the question what a great i think
he's terrific i really do believe in purdy i think he's a good player um but i just know that your
point is more anybody in that system could do well.
My point is that somebody, Andrew A. in our chat,
is saying Purdy deserves bottom half
of top eight quarterback money.
He's going to get...
When he signs his contract,
it will possibly be the richest in quarterback history.
And then like a year later,
it'll probably be like the third richest or whatever.
He's not going to get a discount necessarily.
I mean, he's going to get...
He's not getting paid what my homes.
You need to nail it.
You need to absolutely nail it.
Otherwise you're the giants or the Browns.
And you're really hamstrung.
Nobody's the Browns.
Nobody's going to pay that type of money.
No,
I just,
in general,
I just mean,
you know,
quarterback salaries are so expensive.
You're going to lose a lot of good players because of it.
Like you just,
you just are.
So anyway,
no, one's going to agree with that take.
So fire away, come at me.
We're going to take another break.
We got your Apple podcast questions,
your emails and your YouTube comments
after this on Fantasy Football Today.
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All right, we are back. Let's talk about some keepers from T-Mar.
Anthony Richardson in the fifth round, CJ Stroud in the fifth round,
or CeeDee Lamb or AJ Brown in the third round.
Pick one.
You got Lamb and Brown in the third.
You got Stroud and Richardson in the fifth.
And I have no idea what the format is.
If it's super flex, it's Richardson for me.
Or is it fifth and sixth or fifth and fifth?
Fifth and fifth.
Yeah, I'll take Richardson if it's super flex.
If it's non-super flex, give me Lamb. Yeah, I'll take Richardson if it's super flex. If it's non-super flex,
give me Lamb.
Yeah, I'm down with that.
Okay.
From Pasco Magic, do I keep a 12-team half PPR league,
keep two guys?
Do I keep B. John Robinson
and Amon Ross St. Brown?
Yes.
Or, hold on, trade both of them, B. John and Amon Ross St. Brown. Yes. Or, hold on, trade both of them,
Bijan and Amon Ross St. Brown,
for third and fourth round picks
while keeping Brees Hall and Sam Laporta.
Oh, I abhor this.
What?
You can trade players for picks
and still have other keepers.
You should have to keep the player before you trade them.
But if you can get away with this and you can get
Brees and Laporta and extra early
round picks, I think I'd do that.
If you're only getting third and fourth round picks for those guys, the league should go crazy.
Yeah, that's kind of true.
Yeah, that's a very fair point.
Okay, this is from Orchids of Asia. How much does point per first down bump up running backs?
And I will tell you that 33 players gained 60 or more first downs last year,
and 22 of them were running backs.
So it bumps them up.
The position gets more first downs.
Yeah, I mean, look, any three down back is going to be a benefit.
It's receiving first downs too, right? Yep, yep. That's a total of all first downs. Any three down back is going to be a benefit. It's receiving first downs too, right?
Yep, yep.
That's total all first downs.
Any three down back is going to be huge.
Christian McCaffrey had 28 more first downs last year
than number two on the list, CeeDee Lamb.
I mean, he has such a big advantage,
but actually three of the top five are wide receivers,
but for the most part, first downs go to running backs.
I mean, that's oversimplifying it, but they benefit.
And from Gambino Mafia, who is a frequent Apple podcast commenter,
says, hey, Barry, Calvin, Wayne, and Lem.
Lions.
Lately, who's Lem?
Lem Barney, I think.
I don't know who that is.
Double check.
But they should not pay him.
They should let him walk.
I've been shocked in some 10-team mocks.
I've been able to snag Amon Ross, St. Brown,
and then Jameer Gibbs at the start of the second round.
Is there any world you'd feel comfortable starting with both Lions?
PPR.
Yes, 2023.
Yeah, I would do it.
Unfortunately, I was a big proponent of
Pollard and Lamb, but
you still got the number one player
and one bust.
That was last year.
I would have no problem. I would love to start
my team with Gibbs and
St. Brown. Why did you pass on A.J.
Brown for Gibbs? Yes. Fine. You want
to talk about that?
We got the Elite Eight in Fantasy. We got St. Brown. So why did you pass on A.J. Brown for Gibbs? Yes. Fine. You want to talk about that? Yeah.
So we got the elite eight in fantasy.
We got the top three running backs,
the top five wide receivers.
And then you got the ninth pick,
which is when your first difficult decision
probably comes in.
And for me, it was Jameer Gibbs or A.J. Brown.
You have no way of knowing
what the next three people in the draft are going to do.
I didn't know that the next four picks were going to be wide receivers.
So the question was, would anybody fall to me?
Would Puka or Garrett Wilson or Marvin Harrison fall to me?
Would Jonathan Taylor or Saquon Barkley fall to me?
You really thought that those receivers were going to make it back to you?
I thought there was a chance that one of them would.
They didn't, and neither did Jonathan Taylor.
I thought Taylor might.
So I took Kyron Williams, which is really like,
is that such a bad pick?
No.
It's not a bad pick, but I think when you play it out,
if that's A.J. Brown and then what you did.
Yeah, I mean, I didn't draft a wide receiver until round five.
Right, but if it's A.J. Brown and you're starting running backs
or Kyron and Kamara with Kelsey and then neighbors and Rice, let's say.
Yeah, but if you look at average draft position,
I think it's not unrealistic to expect Marvin Harrison to be there
at, what, 16 overall?
You have to know who you're drafting with, though.
Analysts and expert fantasy players
are going to take receivers earlier.
That was, I mean, yeah, it's still early.
I mean, there's still some great players on the board.
But, you know, I think what I learned was
I've been saying there's 17 players that I really,
that I think are worthy of being taken
in the first two rounds. I feel like there are 15 players that I
really want. And then there's two more Kyron and ETN that are 16 and 17 for me
that I like, I'm a little nervous about when I have to take them in the top 20.
Anyway, I have that, you know what? I have no regrets. I like Jameer Gibbs better than A.J. Brown, slightly.
If I had to do it again,
if I were drafting 10 times,
probably take Brown five times and Gibbs five times.
I'm okay with that.
I just think, I love Gibbs.
I got no problem with it.
I'm not going to overanalyze it.
I'm fine with it.
Jamie, I'm fine with it.
Feel good.
It was a mock draft.
You don't have to really sweat it.
I had the ninth pick in our St. Jude draft yesterday,
and I started A.J. Brown-Kyron,
and I think my third round pick was James Cook,
which was thrilling.
That's a good one.
The funny thing is I almost shocked the world
by taking Travis Kelsey in round two,
and I was like, that's too early.
And then I got him in round three.
What a feeling.
Wow. Yeah, that's always the best. All right got him in round three. What a feeling. Wow.
Yeah, that's always the best.
All right.
Emails.
Fantasyfootballatcbsi.com.
This is from Anthony.
Where is Anthony from?
Breadloaf, Vermont.
You can't just make up.
What is this?
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs?
Right?
Okay.
My league. Oh, he says, Dear Eric. Oh, dear. right okay uh my league
along
oh he says
dear Eric
oh dear uh
oh damn it
David
oh John
Eric
there we go
dear Eric
hide Michael and Fez
that 70s show
my league
along with many others
are putting an emphasis
on return yardage
with the new kickoff rules
who is returning kicks
how do I find this out?
Are you confident?
Who are you confident today will be returning kicks for teams?
So who was just talking about this the other day?
I know Tutu Atwell was for the Rams.
He talked about it.
I don't know if he was doing it.
There was somebody else that said they want it.
The guy that we know is going to do it in Pittsburgh is hurt,
and that's Cordero Patterson.
But there was somebody who's a significant player,
I thought at least.
Tank Dell said he wanted to do it.
Oh, maybe it was Tank Dell.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I mean, we're doing the Scott Fish Bowl,
which does reward points for return yards.
I know you got Xavier Gibson for the Jets.
You've got...
Who's the first one that gets drafted?
Oh, Rashid Shahid.
Shahid.
Greg Dorch.
But I was talking to Rich Rebar off the air
about Greg Dorch, and he was like,
well, they have DJ Dallas now,
and he could do that too, and that's true.
I suspect that week one waiver wire in any league that rewards points for
kicker punt return yards is going to be wild.
They're going to overreact for sure.
I don't even know if it's overreacting,
but we just don't know necessarily how it's going to look.
You could maybe look at preseason.
That might actually help.
Nope.
No, it won't.
They're not going to show their hand at all.
No, they got to practice.
No, no, no.
I know what you mean.
You're looking at who's going to be back there.
Who's going to be back there, yeah.
Yeah.
Right?
If they're putting somebody...
If Tank Dell is going to be the Texans guy,
you're not going to see that in the preseason.
Well, week one, we'll learn a lot more.
Yes.
Are there any players...
I think to your point, though, in terms of waiver wire, that's what you're looking for.
Because everybody's drafting Tank Dell.
Everybody's drafting Shaheed at this point, you know, in normal leagues.
So you're looking for, you know, who's third string running back that didn't get drafted.
Who's fifth receiver that didn't get drafted that could be a return guy.
And then maybe something you know so like um isavis for example in in cincinnati right yoshivas yoshivas
whatever yeah um he's gotten some buzz yesterday you know in terms of maybe being the slot guy for
them but with chase not playing he's getting some opportunities there if he's the return guy for
example in cincinn, let's just say,
and then becomes the slot receiver for the Bengals,
so they keep Burton as the fourth receiver, Chase stays outside,
Higgins stays outside, that's somebody that's going to get a lot of attention.
How many of you think that there will be a lot of plays where there's between 25 and 35 return yards i almost feel like the way
the play is designed you're either going to get like eight yards or you're going to get all the
yards i have no idea i'm not even gonna guess i i watched there's gonna be a lot of touchbacks
i've felt that way since the they announced it and i'm really scared that it's going to be a lot of touchbacks. I've felt that way since they announced it,
and I'm really scared that it's going to become a throwaway play again.
If it is, then they'll make the starting point the 35-yard line in 2025
and just to discourage touchbacks.
Then it won't be. You're right.
But I would not award.
I'm not ready to say that a point for every 10 return yards is a good idea.
I hate it.
Yeah, go ahead if scoring is is up and there's still a lot of touchbacks they keep it the same or they
may go back to what it was previously if they weren't their mother if that's the case they'll
just throw the play away if scoring is down they're going to do whatever they can to bring
scoring up yes i think that i've kind of grappled with this and I've
already given my Brock Purdy take, which I know like 5% of people are going to agree with. So
this one, I think it will be also unpopular, but I'm nothing if not honest, I don't want to play
in leagues that return that reward return yards. I feel like we spend months and just like hours and hours trying to analyze fantasy football, trying to help you win,
trying to find any way possible to, you know, to discuss, to, to rank players appropriately and
dig into the data and watch the tape and all that and figure out who the best players are.
And then your fantasy matchups are going to be decided based on kickoff return yards.
Like I am just not interested in that.
If you are fine, I am not going to criticize you at all to each his own, but I just, it
just feels like a little too fluky to me.
I also think it's hypocritical for any fantasy manager to say, I don't want to play with
kickers.
Let's ban kickers, but let's reward points for return yards.
I think that's kind of silly.
Kickers are actually going out there and putting points up on the board
almost every time they perform.
And then there's a question of should you count,
like let's say you have Rashid Shahid and you also have the Saints DST.
Should you get points for both if he returns one for a touchdown?
I say no.
Someone on Twitter took exception to that
and made a good point and said,
hey, it's not just Rashid Shaheed.
It's the whole entire return unit
that deserves credit for that.
That's why it should go to the DST and not to Shaheed.
No, but I think the point would be
if you have the Saints DST and Rashid Shaheed,
who's getting the points?
I think it should be the DST.
But if you're in leagues that reward return yardage,
then it should be both. Rewarded be the DST. But if you're in leagues that reward return yardage, then it should be both.
Rewarded to the DST.
But if you're in leagues
where we're rewarding return yardage to players,
it should go to both.
Yeah, I don't know.
I don't want to double count it.
That seems even crazier to me.
That just seems like...
Okay, hold on.
Let's say you stack Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown.
Can I not finish my point?
Don't you get double points for that?
But they both...
Jalen Hurts throws a touchdown to AJ Brown.
Yes.
They're both doing something.
It's just double points.
Right.
So then in that,
you know what?
I'm going to change my answer.
All right.
I do think though,
if you are rewarding,
he is blocking for Rashid.
That's fair.
It's fair.
I,
but I,
I hear you getting out of it.
We should do it.
I'm changing my answer.
If you're,
if you're rewarding,
uh,
return yardage, it probably should be removed from the DST score. Yeah you're rewarding return yardage,
it probably should be removed from the DST score.
Yeah.
I just feel like...
What about the touchdown?
That's what I'm saying.
It should just be defensive scoring
as opposed to the special teams aspect of it.
If you're rewarding individual return yards.
I don't mind if you decide to give return yards
to just the ST unit this year
and touchdowns, obviously,
to the special teams unit
and not do anything with the players.
And let's just see how it goes this year
and then make a decision again next year.
Yeah, somebody asked me this
in the chat for St. Jude yesterday.
I said, just wait a year.
Wait a year.
I know.
I'm going to be really frustrated
when I spend all this time
on my start-sit decisions
and the advice that we give.
And the fantasy matchups are determined by, oh, this guy's on a terrible defense.
So he's going to be returning five kickoffs this game.
And he's going to get 80 yards on that.
You know, it's just silly.
I don't know.
Did you draft any return guys?
No, I haven't.
I kind of wanted to, but I haven't.
But my plan is really just to wait till week one.
And then we'll see.
And honestly, I'm being open-minded about it. I'm going to, but I haven't. But my plan is really just to wait till week one, and then we'll see. And honestly, I'm being open-minded about it.
I'm going to, maybe I'll enjoy it.
But right now, I'm just thinking like,
I kind of love fantasy the way it is.
And this just feels-
You're showing your age.
Yeah, I do feel that way.
I feel like I'm going to get off my lawn right now,
and I don't want to be that way.
But we work so hard to find advantages,
and this just feels a little fluky to me. And,
and it feels like it could be a lot of points. It's not like kickers, you know, where there
maybe again, you had like nine, 10 points or this, this feels like, and by the way,
they're getting you nine, 10 points. They're not outscoring other kickers.
You did a good job. I think when we were talking about the Scott Fishbowl, about the
just strictly return guys and what their points per week would be
in this type of format.
But that's because this format rewards points
for first down, tight end premium, all that stuff.
No, no, I'm not talking about the Fishbowl.
I'm talking about just what the return guys.
You did a good job of highlighting
what their scoring would be,
just with the return production alone.
And it's minimal.
The guys that are going to break this format are the Rashid Shaheeds,
because if he hits and is legitimate fantasy receiver,
aside from his return yardage and does something in the return game,
like he's capable of, he is going to be a first round pick.
You know, I, like I told you, I think it was, um, I forget the site.
So I apologize for not referencing.
There was, there was a site that did Scott fishbowl rankings.
And she was a first round pick.
I know.
But Jamie, what I'm saying is the return guys in that league,
other than Shahid, other than the guys who are actually going to catch some passes,
they don't rank that high because there are so many points being scored
because you get point for first down.
I'm not talking about Fishball.
No, I know.
I'm just saying that in a league where you're not playing tight end premium
or you're not doing points for first down, those true returners are actually going to rank even higher because the other players aren't scoring as many points. So they are going to have a big impact.
But how many guys do we think are going to be legit players that are going to be return guys? That's the biggest question. Because if Kyrie Kills returning kicks, then he's going to be the easiest first overall pick.
If you knew.
If you knew he's returning every kick.
I'm going to guess that each team will have four players that they're ready to go with for returns.
And remember, you have to have two guys back on a kick return.
So there's two different players.
You can love Rashid Shaheed all you want. If the other guy is the one that ends up catching the kick, Shahid's not going to get anything for it. Well, they used to have back in the day,
two guys returning kicks also. It was always the return guy would still get the kick.
Sure. But I don't know if they're going to do that this year. And then also I am sure that
one of those four players will be a high profile player. I guarantee you the dolphins will be ready
for Tyree kill to return a kick and walk. I mean, because it's the fourth quarter and they're down three points.
We've seen that from them the last couple of years where they put.
Yeah.
So I guarantee you,
we'll see that from time to time,
but it's not going to be every time.
Yeah.
I don't want my fantasy.
It's a total unknown other than like what we've seen from the XFL.
Looks like it'll be more of a running play than a receiving play.
And the question I asked about the yardage is I think,
I think either a guy's going to go all the way or he's going to get stopped
as soon as he's contacted or within five yards of when he's contacted,
which means that every kick return,
you might get two points out of your return guy,
or you might get 70 plus a touchdown.
So that's 13 points from your return.
It's just not going to happen.
There's going to be any in between.
It's not going to happen.
Of course,
there's going to be in between.
I mean,
you're painting.
I don't think there will be a lot of scenario.
I know you're scoring every other time.
No,
he's saying he's basically saying it's going to be a boomer bus play.
It's a,
it is going to be a boomer bus.
Yeah.
I think you're probably saying it in too strong of terms.
I don't want to put you on the line for that,
but if you think it's going to be boomer plus play in my,
I played in a league back in 2009,
I believe.
And Josh Cribs was a first round pick because we rewarded one point for every 10 return yards.
And I never want to play in a league like that again.
If next year Rashid Shaheed is a first round pick, I want the best players in the NFL as first round picks in my league.
But we'll see.
Like I said, I will try to be open minded.
I will be open minded.
I can't wait till Malik Neighbors is returning kicks.
I won't crap on your leagues and your decision.
I'll have him ready to do it, James.
I'm not saying that you're making a bad decision if you're doing this.
I'm not particularly interested in it.
Let's see how it plays out.
All right, this is from Sean.
Where's he from?
Let me see if I can find another funny name.
We're Adam Liz.
Yeah, and I'm in a good mood, too.
It's Friday.
I'm going with Butternut Ben Vermont.
I recently joined a league that uses Roto scoring.
Does this change draft strategy at all
compared to head-to-head matchups?
Is it best ball, or is it...
I don't know what...
That's categories, right?
So, like, what, you... Touchdowns, yards for each position? I don't even know what that's wrong it's that's categories right so like what you touchdowns
yards for each position i don't even know what you got to win each category yeah um i don't know
we can assume if you're if you're trying to win categories so touchdowns is obviously
we've noted time and time again it's the hardest thing to chase right so you try and win receptions
if you can you try to win passing yards if you can.
Rushing yards if you can.
I mean, you know, those are the easy ones to go after.
I wonder how many categories there is, though.
Yeah, I don't know.
We probably need some more details. Well, I mean, we could probably take a stab at it.
Passing yards, rushing yards, receiving yards.
Right, but do you do first downs?
Do you do...
Catches and touchdowns, that's five.
First downs would be six.
Field goals? Turnovers? Yeah. Catches and touchdowns, that's five. First downs would be six.
Turnovers?
Yeah.
The question is, when it gets interesting,
do you draft Chris Olave, Michael Pittman,
maybe Aaron Jones,
guys that we don't think are going to score a ton of touchdowns and just try to win the yardage and
catch categories and almost punt touchdowns and then you would never draft a guy like david
montgomery on that team right i would try to win touchdowns and i'm quarterback like hertz and
josh allen with all the touchdowns they score makes sense to prioritize them plus they'll get
you like allen will get you huge passing yards along with it. Yeah, I would think the quarterbacks are huge. I would probably lean toward quarterbacks early.
Yep.
Okay.
This is from Ryan.
I'm drafting 10th in a 10-team PPR league with two flexes.
There's a possibility that Bijan or Brees Hall
could make it to me at the 10 spot.
Do I go double RB with Hall or Bijan
and then either Taylor or Barkley?
Remember, this is a 10-team league.
And then take a combination of Waddle, Cup, and or Neighbors
at the 3-4 turn?
Or do I go with conventional wisdom
and take best running back available,
either Bijan or Brees Hall,
and then Garrett Wilson with my first two picks?
I think if you love Waddle and Cup and or neighbors,
you take the running backs first.
I would take Garrett Wilson around too.
Yeah, I would too.
I would want to get one.
I like getting one and one.
I would not take Brees Hall and Garrett Wilson because that feels like,
yeah, that's right.
That doesn't feel like Gibbs and Zayn Brown to me.
No. No.
Okay.
Could work out great, but I just wouldn't want to take two jets.
This is Brandon from?
Brandon is from Skunks Misery, Vermont.
Why are all these names in the Northeast, I wonder?
Because, first of all, there's a lot of generous people in Vermontont thank you for your donations to the draft-a-thon and second of all i couldn't think
of a city in vermont earlier this week so i'm getting to know vermont better okay this is not
a draft-a-thon donation just a regular old email oh what a cheapskate i know go back to vermont
punk 12 team half ppr double flex league. I have the seventh pick.
In mock drafts, I really like the way my team looks
when I load up on running backs early
because I like the mid-round receiver value.
Based on ADP, I am hoping Bijan or Brees falls to me
and then ETN in the second round
and then James Cook in the third
with the seventh overall pick.
But if I went this route,
my three running backs would all be on by in week 12 how do you
how do you feel about that worry about it later okay i'd worry about in week 12 all right and
then last one no name or city dave this is going to be john from texas vermont i play in a ppr league
with i think dave has been having some maple
syrup lately or something.
I just got a list of funny named
cities in Vermont here. Kansas
Vermont, Hortonia
Vermont. That's near Orwell, Vermont.
Satan's Kingdom, Vermont.
Hard Scrabble Corner, Vermont.
Egypt, Vermont.
This state sounds
bussin'. PPRpr league two flexes
12 team league when it comes to draft strategy should i prioritize getting four to five solid
wide receivers before an rb2 i found the mocks where i do go rounds one through five going all
wide receiver and one running back i like them the most i I dig it. I like hero RB a lot this year because I think you could still find some
decent running back values in round six,
seven,
eight.
Yeah,
absolutely.
And I don't know if I do this in a two receiver league,
but three receiver league.
Absolutely.
All right,
YouTube.
Now let's see what our questions are.
Adam, what do you think the best restaurant is
in Smuggler's Notch, Vermont?
I would say it is Pete's Barbecue on Crinton Street.
I don't know.
How many rounds...
Let's find out.
How many rounds earlier should stud rookies go in a keeper league
where you keep multiple players?
I mean, I think you treat it almost like a dynasty league in some capacity
with not necessarily reaching for guys like Neighbors or Odunze.
Harrison's going to go early regardless already.
So if Neighbors, let's throw out his ADP, but let's say Neighbors is a round five pick, Harrison is going to go early regardless already.
Let's throw out his ADP, but let's say Neighbors is a round 5 pick.
Then he probably goes in round 4, maybe even round 3.
I'm enjoying all the Neighbors talk today. Keep it going.
This is from JR Let's Go.
His avatar is my face, so that's very off-putting.
How much should you overpay for the last player in your RB1 tier?
Which for JRLet'sGo, it's HN.
How desperate are you to acquire an RB1?
If you've let the draft go and you've kept letting other guys pass and maybe they're all going for a lot more,
if you really
have to have that guy in rb1 you should probably be willing to spend at least two three extra
percentage points of your budget i think you better be pretty convinced that that guy's an rb1
which i don't think hn is correct so you gotta he does you got and you also have to feel like
is there that much separation between the last player in the first tier versus the first player in the second tier?
You know, not getting a ton of questions here because so many people are talking about towns in Vermont in the chat.
But here's one.
Thanks for that, Dave.
Oh, this is a great one.
And I would like to do a guillotine league.
So Reese is doing a guillotine league for the first time. Any tips or advice on the draft? It's an 18-teotine league. So Reese is, yeah, Reese is doing a guillotine league for the first time.
Any tips or advice on the draft? It's an 18 team league. Jamie, you want to just do a quick
guillotine league one-on-one and then give some tips. So the way that it works is the team with
the low scoring gets chopped every week, uh, hence the term guillotine. So those players then all go
back into the free agent pool and you have to make a decision on how much you want to spend on those
particular players,
because there's probably going to be several good ones every week because someone might be dealing with an injury and you're looking ahead to the later part of the season.
For me, I always try to look at the early part of the schedule and target guys that have opportunities to perform well.
You know, hopefully they're a little bit safer. You don't have to finish first to continue to advance.
You just want to survive and continue to advance.
So last year, I believe I was in the final four.
And, you know, the problem I always have is like week seven, week eight,
because I think it's like four or five years I've done this now,
is there's somebody that's a significant free agent.
And like, I got to hold, be a little,
have a little bit more restraint to spend on that player
um but you want to try and manage your budget to the end and you know try and out bid your opponent
or opponents to uh load up your roster which there should be an opportunity to do so okay
those are guillotine leagues very uh fun concept i do think maybe we could change the name to
something a little bit less violent what do you think
based on all your thoughts today i'm sure you'll come up with like you know the cabbage patch league
maybe there's got to be one more take that i have that
yeah i'm getting a little that like everyone will hate i am getting a little bit bored
with house of the dragon you said that already i said the air? I thought I said it off the air.
No, you said it on the air.
Okay, well that's my third take.
It's good, but it's not gripping me.
Anyway.
Are you gripped, Jamie, by House of Dragon?
Am I what? I'm sorry?
Are you gripped by House of the Dragon?
Am I gripped?
Yeah, is it gripping?
I'm enjoying it. Yeah, I'm enjoying it.
Yeah, I'm enjoying it.
I'm not hearing grip level enjoyment there from Jamie.
Dave, this one I know you like to do.
From Mr. Grapefruit.
Not a very good fruit.
Are you guys drafting Blake Corum where you draft Kyron Williams,
or is that just plain foolish?
Meaning?
I especially like it now because
quorum's price tag is dropping
all the news of Kyron being
the number one guy which I'm I'm happy
to see it I want Kyron to be great this year
you can get quorum now
in round 10 round 11
absolutely I'd back that up
back him up from grant is
that
thoughts on Jamison Williams this year will this really be the year he breaks out Back him up. From GrantIsThatGuy. Back that ass up. Jeez.
Thoughts on Jamison Williams this year?
Will this really be the year he breaks out?
How will this affect the other Lions?
Again, there's 64 targets available with Josh Reynolds gone.
Does anybody expect Jamison Williams to be a 4-5 catch guy consistently throughout the course of a season?
I'm not ready to rule it out, but I'm not there yet.
Okay, 6-7 catch guy each week?
No.
There would have to be an injury for me to believe that.
So, I mean, we're talking he's going to make a splash play or two every week.
Some weeks he's going to make two or three.
Some weeks he's probably going to make three or four.
So I think there's an opportunity here for him to have his best year and maybe push himself into the conversation of a top 30 wide receiver.
But that's the extent of it, like Dave said, without an injury.
So I think St. Brown is still as safe as you could find in the first round.
And Laporta has an opportunity to be one of the top five tight ends.
If you want to just sort of give yourself a little bit of a,
of a barrier of him necessarily flopping,
but what,
what would you have to read or see for you to move St.
Brown and or Laporta down because of Jamison Williams?
What would it take?
Think about what it would tell you.
Exactly.
For me,
it would be like they're changing his role.
If he remains one of the highest ADOT guys in football, What would it take? Think about what it would take. I'll tell you exactly for me. It would be that they're changing his role.
If he remains one of the highest ADOT guys in football,
then he is doomed to be a better version of Gabe Davis.
If they really make him a more complete wide receiver and he starts running more routes
and is like a 12-yard ADOT guy instead of 16,
that is how you break out.
He cannot break out if he is simply a deep threat.
So I would need to hear and hear
and read from reporters that Jamison Williams is becoming an all around receiver and they are using
him differently this year. Right. But he could still, he could still have a big season without
necessarily breaking out that way, because it's going to come from a touchdown perspective,
you know, so he can have the, the James Jones season, you know, where he scores,
you know, eight to 10 touchdowns and still has a 60 catch
year you know not necessarily but that wouldn't affect the other guys what i'm saying right but
i think the thing that you got to be a little bit worried about if you are concerned about the other
guys is you're hearing jameson williams breaking out you're hearing jameer gibbs getting a bigger
role you know david montgomery's still gonna have opportunities and so does saint brown go from
what he scored 10 touchdowns last year yeah um does does that go to six and does laporta go from, what did he score, 10 touchdowns last year? Yeah. Does that go to six? And does Laporta go from 10 to five?
And then we really have an issue.
So if it's all these other guys who are really talented players,
first-round picks that they've acquired,
and Montgomery plays that role of scoring 10-plus touchdowns,
they either have to just be the best offense in the NFL,
or it's going to come from the other two guys
who are extremely productive and extremely successful. So there is a path for them necessarily. There's a
path for them, you know, failing a little bit, but you really got to buy into both Gibbs having
that much bigger role in the passing game, for example, and Jamison Williams just taking that
huge of a step forward. Okay. Two more questions here. And yeah, I want to give a... I would also say that if we get reports
that Gabe Davis is being used differently
than he was in Buffalo.
So I don't know if you remember
that one Thursday night game,
I feel like it was against the Bengals last year,
where he had one of the lowest route depths
of his career.
He had one of his best games.
He was like, I don't know,
just off the top of my head,
it was like eight catches
for 100 yards or something.
You're right, yep.
If they could just,
I feel like they,
I don't want to say
they misused him.
They obviously knew
what they were doing.
But if they could use
Gabe Davis a little bit
differently in Jacksonville
and make him a more
complete receiver,
there's no reason why
he can't lead the team
in receiving.
All right, you ready
for a week one prediction?
Yeah.
Or a week two prediction?
Gabe Davis is going to be
one of the most added
players in vancouver yeah i'm right yeah i mean i see the why the path why oh is he playing the
bills he's playing the dolphins that don't have chubb don't have phillips have a revamp secondary
that game has shootout written all over it yeah all over it because the dolphins always get off
to a good start and i think we're going to see a lot of points in that game.
And I think we're going to see something from Jacksonville
that is going to surprise us.
Like, you know, it's easy to say, okay, Kirk will get his
and Ingram will probably get his.
But that game has shootout potential.
And maybe start of the week.
And after that, they play Cleveland, Buffalo, Houston.
But it's, I mean.
Their schedule does not get easier
after week one.
Forget about week one.
I mean, forget about after.
I'm just talking about guys
that are not going to get drafted universally
that have a chance to do something
in week one.
He is on the list.
All right.
Two rapid-fire questions here
from Connor.
Are you comfortable having
Derrick Henry as your RB1?
What scoring format
would you not want Derrick Henry in?
Yes and... None. Agreed. Unless it's like... what scoring format would you not want Derek Henry in? Yes.
And none.
Okay.
Unless it's like six point per catch.
Mike says if Malik neighbors were drafted to Arizona and Marvin Harrison to
the giants,
where would you draft them?
I don't even want to think about it.
Cause it's neighbors early round too.
Yeah.
And probably, probably right behind him. Round four. I don't even want to think about it because it's... Neighbors early round two. Yeah. And Harrison probably...
Probably right behind him.
Round four.
So that means you like Harrison better than neighbors,
just in a vacuum.
Yeah, in the situation.
Well, you're taking Harrison earlier
in his hypothetical Giants jersey
than you are neighbors this year.
Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.
All right.
That's it for today's show.
That's Dave and Jamie, Thomas Schaefer, our wonderful producer.
We'll talk to you on Fantasy Football Today Express if you'd like to tune into that.
Thank you, everyone, for donating to St. Jude, and please nominate us.
And that's it for me.
Seven times.
Nine times.
Seven times did both AJ and Devontae Smith have at least 13 PPR points in the same game.
That's pretty good.
Alright, we'll talk to you next week.