Fantasy Football Today - Are We Buying It!? (04/13 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: April 13, 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.  We're looking back on some of the more noteworthy performers from 2022 and discussing if we can buy a repeat in 2023. First, quick news (1:50) on Saquon Barkley and Jamey's conversation with Chig Okonkwo. Then, are we buying Amon-Ra St. Brown as an elite wide receiver (8:55)? Geno Smith as a great quarterback (11:30)? The Eagles producing two elite wide receivers and a near-elite tight end (14:30)? ... Is Dalvin Cook no longer an elite Fantasy running back, or does he just need more touches (19:40)? Is DeAndre Hopkins still a star (22:33)? Are we sleeping on Marquise Brown (25:10)? Is Tyler Lockett better than DK Metcalf in PPR (28:50)? And is Rhamondre Stevenson a true breakout Fantasy stud (32:25)? ... We answer your questions (36:30) about the tight end position and keeper conundrums and then get to your YouTube comments (42:40) ... Your emails at [e-mail] 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. Thursday morning, welcome to Fantasy Football Today. Looking back at 2022, some of the things that really jumped out. How about Amandra St. Brown really becoming a fantasy star? Geno Smith becoming just an NFL star. The Eagles passing game taking off. Well, are we buying those things for 2023? This is a buy or sell episode looking at some standout performances

from the previous season. Will they carry over into this upcoming season? Adam Azer, Dave Richard and Jamie Eisenberg. Quick buy or sell. That's not fantasy football related. Dave, buy or sell. Super 8, the movie, was just Stranger Things five years earlier. Buy. Stranger Things with the terrible finish, by the way. Yeah. You watched Super 8 last night. I did, and it was on the recommendation of my daughter, who's a crazy Stranger Things fan, and she goes, Dad, you're never going to believe this, but there's a movie that was just like Stranger Things.

And I watched it, and the first three quarters of the movie was interesting and very much Stranger Things-esque. And then, I'm just not going to spoil the rest of it for everybody who wants to watch it, but I found it interesting that that movie came out in 2011, and Stranger Things started in, what, like 2016, 2017, something like that. Yeah, yeah.

Jamie, buy or sell? Jamie and Chig Okonkwo or BFF? Sell. We're not BFFs. But I did speak to Chig earlier this week. It was fun. All right, we'll talk about that. Basically right now, I only have one news item here before we get into buy or sell.

And it's Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports saying that the Giants don't have much of an interest in signing Saquon Barkley to a long-term deal. He doesn't have much of an interest in signing the franchise tag. So, Jamie, how do you see this playing out with Saquon Barkley? The big non-story that's a story that he didn't show up to voluntary off-season workouts. He'll be fine

until we get to training camp. I'm going to guess he plays. I'm going to guess he's ready to go. And it sucks. He certainly has proven to be one of the better backs in the league. He's proven to be a big piece of the Giants offense. He's proven that he deserves whatever contract extension that hopefully he warrants. But it's just the crappy position that he plays in the way the NFL views it right now.

So it's always so funny between fantasy players and NFL fans and how they view the running back position. I don't want my team to spend on a running back, but man, I want to draft those guys in fantasy. Yeah. Dave, any reason right now to be nervous about Barkley? None whatsoever. I don't think we've seen anybody hold out from the franchise tag

under the current CBA. We saw it with Le'Veon Bell under the old CBA. And boy, did that work out for Le'Veon. Okay. It didn't work out for him at all. I think Saquon will be there. What? It actually did work out for Le'Veon.

I think he would have made more money if he had signed the offer by the Steelers. Maybe. So that's what I was thinking of. And it definitely did not work out for fantasy managers. Saquon's my RB4 heading into 2023. OK, he was RB5 in PPR behind Eckler, McCaffrey, Josh Jacobs and Derrick Henry. He was RB6 in non PPR behind those guys and Nick Chubb. All right. So tell me about your conversation with Chigokonkwo, the second-year tight end for

the Tennessee Titans. He trains in Fort Lauderdale, which is underwater at this point, so hopefully everybody's safe. He's been there since February. It's always interesting to me when guys take almost their entire offseason

to continue to hone their craft. He's expecting a big year for himself. No surprise. You know, he's he's he's excited about his upcoming season. But he said he really learned a lot in his rookie year, you know, especially getting the opportunity to play later in the season. He's really excited about Ryan Tannehill coming back. You know, he said he's just a guy that settles the offense down and is going to give them an opportunity to make plays. I did ask him about, you know, the the team and the playmakers. And when I asked him about Traylon Burks, he immediately, not that he didn't say anything good about Traylon,

but he immediately pivoted to Kyle Phillips and said, you know, people overlook the start that he had to the offseason and camp and then getting hurt. And he said he's going to surprise a lot of people this season. So that's not a very, that's a very good late round pick. If you're looking to target someone, especially in PPR, looking at what this offseason has been for Tennessee. But he says, you know, another big year coming for Derek Henry. He's like, you know, that's a guy in particular, you know, you want to make sure you're making you're blocking for because he's such a, you know, tremendous playmaker.

But, you know, like the nerdy football stuff for me that I was excited talking about where he trains, which is XB Sports in Fort Lauderdale. I think you've heard me talk about these guys a lot. They actually crushed the combine last season, had a very good combine this year, but they were the guys that had three of the fastest times in the 40 last year with Tyquan Thornton, Tariq Wollin, and I'm blanking on the third guy, so I apologize. But, you know, those two guys certainly set the combine on fire.

And Oconco was the number one tight end in terms of the 40 time. But those two guys certainly set the combine on fire. And Oconco was the number one tight end in terms of the 40 time. And so the nerdy football stuff for me was the guys who trained him, Tony Villani in particular, he said, we have to teach him to slow down as he's running his routes. And I asked him about that. And he said, it's so difficult to do that because you're taught your whole life to run full speed and do the things you're capable of doing life run full speed and and do you know the things you're capable of doing but he thinks this is going to make him a better tight end and part

of this is this is the place where Travis Kelsey has trained for many years in the offseason and they are doing a lot of the similar things that they did with Kelsey with Okonkwo now again you can't expect those type of expectations because he's the best tight end maybe ever but um tony when he introduced me to chiggy said yeah expect uh you know maybe maybe a 50 catch season coming for for chiggy he goes 50 you better double that so um uh he's he you know prior to this this is no bias uh he was one of my favorite break i mean we talked about this when we were doing sleepers and breakouts and i think think Keith had him as a sleeper. For me, I think he's going to take that second-year leap. Again, he fits the prototype of what we look for in terms of opportunity

because he could be first or second on his team as targets. I would probably put him second if things go right. But offense that needs a playmaker, he's got that opportunity and the ability and showed some things last year, so I'm excited about his upside. go right um but offense that needs a playmaker he's got that opportunity and the ability and showed some things last year so i'm excited about his his upside i i have better quotes i just didn't go through my my notes yet so uh there'll be a story on the site as well as um uh on top of the guys that they trained last year this group trained jordan addison jameer gibbs um josh downs Josh Downs. AT, what am I blanking on the last name? ATV.

ATV? Not ATV, Tank Dell. I'm blank. What's the running back from Auburn? And the running back from Georgia? Tank Bigsby? Bigsby, you're talking about? Tank Bigsby, yeah.

That's all right. I mean, it's okay. I got it here. All right, all right. Bigsby? Bigsby, you're talking about? Tank Bigsby, yep. That's all right. I mean, it's okay. No, I got it right here. All right, all right. While you... Oh, Tank Bigsby, Kenny McIntosh, and A.T. Perry, the wide receiver from Wake Forest. Okay.

So I got a lot of good notes on those guys, and when I go through my notes, I'll give it to you on Monday. All right. Chig Okonkwo, I've given out this stat. I'll give it out a lot over the next few months as we get more and more listeners Warren Sharp at Sharp Football I said in the last five years there have been only five players with a season of 0.35 expected points added per target or more 7.9 yak per reception or better and 30 or more catches. Those five players are Jamar Chase, Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown, George Kittle,

and Chigokonkwo. He was an advanced stat darling as a rookie. Oh, I told you about this yesterday. Let's hear about it again. CBS Sports Golazo Network, the first of its kind, free 24-7 channel dedicated exclusively to global soccer coverage is now streaming

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Dave Richard. We did this last year. And I remember saying sell on a Monro St. Brown, because I just didn't think he'd get the same type of target chairs he got in the final six games. And he didn't his target share in the final six games of 2021. It was like in the 30% range. It was crazy.

It was like one out of every three targets went to him. Well, he still had 26% of the target share last year for Detroit. I would imagine it's going to be real close to that. He averaged 16.7 PPR points per game. I think he'll be right around there again. I'm buying. I'm done trying to fight against a Monroe St. Brown. He's going to be an excellent wide receiver for your fantasy squad.

Jamie. Yeah, totally agree. I think again, he, he, he showed plenty in his rookie season. He showed even more in his second season.

I love the fact that, you know, Jared golf has played the way that he's played because it's certainly enhanced the ability of what this, this young player has done. He's entering his third season, which is typically the point where some of these guys get better.

And I think he's got the opportunity to do that as well. And so not hearing the greatest things about Jamison Williams so far this offseason, which is disappointing, but this is the guy that is going to be the catalyst of this passing game. So Mara St. Brown's got all the ability

to be one of the best fantasy options once again. All right, by the way, I'm putting three minutes on the clock. We're going to talk about these topics for three minutes, and then you're ability to be one of the best fantasy options once again. All right, by the way, I'm putting three minutes on the clock. We're going to talk about these topics for three minutes, and then you're going to be annoyed by the sound when we're done. My question about St. Brown is, there's a comp right now that I'm feeling it's Keenan Allen, who has been so consistent as usually about wide receiver 10 to 12.

Do you think that there's a higher ceiling than that for Amonra St. Brown? Because you're going to have to consider him over A.J. Brown, over Devontae Smith and T. Higgins. You know, is Amonra St. Brown, does he deserve to be treated as anything more than like at best wide receiver 8 to 12? No, I think that's the perfect spot for him.

It's the touchdowns. The touchdowns are going to be the – he just doesn't – I agree with you. I just don't think he profiles as a double-digit touchdown guy consistently. He may have one of those seasons. Right. But I just don't think that he profiles like that in the role that he plays and the offense that he's in, which is, again, not a bad thing. If you tell me he's Keenan Allen for his career,

I'm sure he would sign up for that in a heartbeat right now. Okay. All right. We're good. Moving on to the next one. Buy or sell. Geno Smith is a great quarterback because, Dave, not only was he a great fantasy quarterback, number five overall, number eight per game, he led the NFL in completion rate.

He was fifth in passer rating. He was sixth in QBR. This is Geno Smith. And he did it with a lot of deep passes. Beautiful dropping dimes down the field by herself. Geno Smith is a great quarterback. Not ready to buy it. Not ready to say that he belongs in the same tier as Deshaun Watson,

Dak Prescott, Kirk Cousins. He was better than most of those. He was better than all three of those guys, actually, on a per-game basis last year. I think he's close to that level, but I know I can draft him after those guys. And so I'm not ready to say, oh, yeah, Geno Smith can be your starter week one.

Go ahead and wait till round whenever to pick him up in your league. I think you could draft him as a second quarterback if you wanted to. If you took Deshaun, Dak, Kirk, and you weren't really feeling them to be your only QB, Geno's a good quarterback to pair with them. He's going to be a good late round pick. I think the question is, let's take it a little bit away from fantasy.

Do you think Geno Smith is going to play as well in 2023 as he did in 2022? Yeah, I think he'll be about as good as long as he's not playing the 49ers. Like, I know those games are going to be the ones where he's going to struggle. But outside of those games, or really any game where he's going to have a crazy pass rush, I think he'll be okay. Jamie? We're going to find out in pass rush. I think he'll be okay. Jamie. We're going to find out in two weeks how the Seahawks feel. You know,

if they feel that he's, he's a guy that can get them two or three more years, then they probably don't take a quarterback in the top 10. If they feel like they need somebody for 2024 and beyond, then they're going to draft a quarterback, whoever that might be. It's not going to be one of the top two guys, but it could be Richardson or Levis.

And I think that will tell you that they don't feel that Gino Smith is a great quarterback. And so unless he's the second coming of Kurt Warner, who's a guy that, you know, just breaks out and has this great run late in his career, there's a reason why he's bounced around the league. Now, granted, he's put himself in some positions to be behind some really good quarterbacks, Russell Wilson, the latest one, and getting his opportunity with a great offense and great receivers and taking advantage of it. So I would sell this, but I do think what Dave said is right. And probably the best pairing you could do, if you don't want to necessarily take two quarterbacks, those guys,

if you buy Kyler Murray coming back and being Kyler Murray again, this is the perfect pairing. Take a guy like Geno, take a guy like Jared Goff, you'll love that situation. All right, Geno Smith, he only threw 11 interceptions, but 7 of them were in his last 7 games, plus another one in the playoffs. I think if there are going to be some doubts, people are going to point to that. That's

a little bit of a slump toward the end of the season where he said he was doing too much, and he threw some interceptions. There's a lot of tape on him at that point of the year. Also though, the schedule was pretty tough during that stretch. He faced the 49ers, he faced the Jets, he faced the Rams, and he didn't have Tyler Lockett in the one easy matchup he had at the Chiefs. All right.

Next topic is the Eagles have three elite or near elite fantasy pass catchers. A.J. Brown, I believe he was wide receiver seven per game. Devontae Smith was somewhere around 16. I think Dallas Goddard was number five tight end per game. Devontae Smith was somewhere around 16. I think Dallas Goddard was number five tight end per game. Um, you know, okay. I'm just gonna leave it at Jamie.

Buy or sell. The Eagles have three elite or near elite fantasy pass catchers. Three minutes on the clock. I don't know how you can't buy this. I mean, you know, you just gave them the numbers for what they did last year in really the first season with Jalen hurts playing with these guys.

And so now you get another off season of them being together you know change an offense coordinator that could maybe hurt some things but you know the pedigree is is certainly there A.J. Brown was an elite talent in college maybe got overlooked a little bit in the NFL draft Devontae Smith clearly was a star in college and has proven that you know in the second season the NFL going into year three and Dallas Goddard has done nothing but make plays really since his rookie season, getting the opportunity to escape Zach Ertz's shadow. So, yeah, they're all three elite-level fantasy options. It just sucks that they're going to cannibalize each other a little bit.

But I think you know what you're getting with what you saw from a year ago, and hopefully they get a little bit better in year two together with the three of them and their quarterback. Doing a little counting right now. Three, four, five, six, seven the three of them and their quarterback. Doing a little counting right now, three, four, five, six, seven. There were seven games last year where both Brown and Devante Smith each had 15 plus PPR points, including each game, uh, 14, 15, 16, week 13 through week 17. Yeah.

Well, I want to finish that really push. Yeah. I want to, I want to give you the counter here. It's the, it's this, the first nine games of the season were with Dallas Goddard. Jalen Hurts was the number three quarterback in football in fantasy.

AJ Brown was the number 12 wide receiver per game. Dallas Goddard was the number three tight end per game. Devante Smith was the number 12 wide receiver per game. Dallas Goddard was the number three tight end per game. Devontae Smith was the number 35 wide receiver per game. He took off after Dallas Goddard got hurt. If you look at the postseason, the three of them were like, you look at the three games that they all played, Brown, Smith, and Goddard in the postseason,

they were on pace for Brown, 125 targets in 17 games. Devontae Smith, 125 targets in 17 games. Dallas Goddard, 102 targets in 17 games. I would expect more pass attempts than 29 per game from an injured Jalen Hurts, but I think that's the argument, is that when they were all on the field, it wasn't like that. They were not all fantasy elites or near elites. There's also the issue that the defense isn't going to be as good. They lost a lot of pieces to that defense. We'll see how many players they can unearth to replace the guys that they lost.

If the defense isn't as good, that means the offense might have to throw more. They might be in more high-scoring games where they can't just sit on the ball in the second half. There's also a question about what they're going to do at running back. Got 30 seconds. I think there is an opportunity for the targets to go up for all three of these guys, but rather they each stay healthy. So you have no problem drafting in the first three rounds, the two wide receivers, and then

as a top five-ish tight end, Dallas Goddard? Yeah, I don't really have a problem with that, specifically with the receivers. I mean, I'm not taking Goddard in the first five rounds. Okay, and Jamie, just wrap it up. No, I agree. I think they're going to be drafted that way. I think the early ADP that we're seeing in best ball leagues

reflects that and the upside of at least the two receivers. I mean, Goddard you can maybe be a little bit concerned about, but based on the position that he plays, it's hard to overlook his upside. Alright, we're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to talk about Dalvin Cook. Is he no longer fantasy elite? Are we buying that? Tell you what the big problem was

for Dalvin Cook last year, who finished as the number 14 running back per game in PPR right after this break. Did you know 66% of utility damage is caused by not requesting a locate? Don't let your project become part of this statistic. A quick locate request can save you from unexpected downtime, financial penalties, and keep you safe.

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Let's talk about Dalvin Cook. He had just 264 carries in a full season last year. That was really weird. 15.5 carries per game. And that was the big problem for him. They just became a passing team. So the question is, or the statement is, buy or sell, Dalvin Cook is no longer fantasy elite.

Jamie, first word. He's no longer elite, so I will buy that statement is correct. But we should show Thomas the way that he's dressed today because uh he might not be happy about the statement um i think there's a couple things first off again is he going to survive the nfl draft still being on minnesota at this point you probably feel comfortable about that but we'll see what they do the fact that they re-sign alexander madison i think is a little bit in the negative for him i am very curious to see because he's prolonged having the shoulder surgery for, uh, ever since he first got injured. And then finally having the surgery this off season, is that to, you know, be preemptive of, of what may

be coming or is that finally it's been too painful and too much to overcome that he needed to have the surgery. Maybe that helps him, but, uh, you said it, they became a passing team. This is what this offense has become now. And so, uh, I don't think he's done as a potential number one fantasy running back, but to use the word elites, I think that has passed him at this point. The round four pick for me. That's a huge change from where he's been over the majority of his career. 14 PPR points per game last year, 15.1 the year before. I have a hard time buying into the rebound,

not necessarily because of his shoulder or even his age, but because of the direction that this Vikings offense is going in. Jamie, you talked about that. And I wonder if there's an issue, even if they don't draft a running back, Jamie, because Madison is someone that they've been able to lean on. He's serviceable. And I kind of like, I liked the profile of Ty Chandler when they drafted him. And maybe he works into this rotation a little bit. So I would not have high expectations for Dalvin Cook coming into this year.

All right. I'll just say, I'll say we have a minute left. I forgot to put the timer on. I think that I'd love Dalvin Cook in round four if everything stays the same, because he still dominated the carries. I mean, completely dominated the carries. Madison had 74. Cook had 264. You know, I think there's an opportunity for more touchdowns. He still gets almost all of the

goal line work. You know, he had only 10 carries per game in their four losses. That was really weird. So they just got away from the run. But if things even out a little bit more, maybe if their defense gets a little bit better, it was awful. You're still talking about a good running back. He may not be great anymore, but he's still good. Dominating touches on a good offense. I don't know.

I see enough opportunity where I think he could, I think round four would be terrific. I'd draft him in round three, I guess if I'm being controversial, that's where his ADP will end up. But you know, I, I,

I would agree with you. Round four is fantastic for what the opportunity is for him, but it does. He, does he have top five upside? I just don't see that anymore. Yeah. All right.

Uh, how about this one? Buy or sell Deandre Hopkins is still an elite wide receiver. Dave, let's say elite fantasy wide receiver. I have him ranked 13th among wide receivers, so he's right on the cusp of being a wide receiver one for me. I wouldn't move him ahead of Devontae Smith

if I like where he ends up this year. There are very few teams where I would see DeAndre Hopkins go, and I'd be nervous. Where could he play where he's not going to be the target leader for like far and away the target leader, Kansas city might be one of those teams. Uh, maybe the jets, he might be the target leader by like 10 targets. If he goes to the jets, I know that that's been a rumor recently. I think he's still an outstanding talent. Love that. He averaged almost 17 PPR points per game last year. That includes a game where he had 1.4 fantasy points. So I'm good with

him. So I think he's still elite. Yes. I would sell this. I think, you know, the best ability is availability and he's had a hard time finishing the last two seasons. And so we're getting to the point, I think we got to worry about him being still at that level and maybe falling off a cliff, you know? So anytime you start to see these guys, I know money's a big part of it, but not being wanted by their current teams, that's a red flag for me. So when they start to move around the league, you know, we're getting to, you know, Julio Jones level at this point, uh, where he might, you know, start to, you know, really just disappoint. So I still think he could be a number two fantasy receiver in the right situation, but

just feels like we're getting to the end of where DeAndre Hopkins is going to be elite. And so I would say. He's been on pace for 170 or more targets per 17 games in five of his last six seasons. Jamie, why does Hopkins feel maybe more like Julio Jones and less like Devontae Adams or Tyreek Hill, you know, who also got traded by their teams and turned in phenomenal seasons? Just, again, injuries the last two years, you know, so what's been the reason for his body breaking down and, you know, how much of the supplement that he took in the end of two years ago was a part of that. So he's fantastic. He's just an absolutely amazing player

and has probably been overlooked a little bit in terms of his national recognition of what type of player he's been. But to me, it feels like we're getting to a point where there's going to be a fall off. There's nothing I can say statistically. There's nothing I can tell you factually. It's just that's how I feel for a player in his early 30s that's starting to get shopped around a little bit.

This doesn't feel like he's still at that level. And again, like Dave said, we'll see where he ends up. That's going to be a big part of this. But I'm going to stay to what I said last week. I feel like he's going to be a fantasy bust more so than still an elite level talent. Cool. Next up, Marquise Brown is a top 12 wide receiver. If DeAndre Hopkins is not on the team and Kyler Murray is back. And that was the case, Dave, last year. He was the number five

wide receiver in PPR, number seven per game in the first six games of the season. And then Brown got hurt and Hopkins came back. But with Kyler Murray and Marquise Brown and no Hopkins, we're talking about a top seven wide receiver. So by or sell Marquise Brown as a top 12 wide receiver on the Cardinals with Murray without Hopkins. I'm going to sell that Adam. I know that he had 18.3 PPR points per game in those first six games, but I'm so nervous about what this Cardinals offense is going to look like. Different offense, different play caller. We don't know when Kyler Murray will be back or if he'll be any good when he does come back. And Marquise Brown's never been the pitcher of consistency when it comes to fantasy. And so I don't mind waiting to draft

him with the hope that he finishes as a wide receiver too. Stop me if you've heard that line from us before, but I don't know if he's somebody that we should reach for on draft day and certainly not expect to finish as a top 12 guy. So the scenarios are no Hopkins, Murray's a hundred percent week one. No, I think, you know, let's just say Murray's a hundred percent by week five, and you're still going to get a long stretch of Marquise Brown as the top target for, uh, for Kyler Murray and, and kicking ass basically. Um, I I'd sell that scenario, but the, the, the Kyler Murray ready for week one, then I would buy

it because I think by week five, then you don't have to worry about any concerns at that point, you know? So, um, we saw last year, you know you know, and again, you know, I don't want to use his numbers or production in Baltimore. No, this isn't a Lamar Jackson. It's just an offense thing. You know, they're going to be more pass happy and pass friendly to what Marquise Brown showed us in the beginning of the season last year. I mean, it was fantastic.

And so, yeah, I would buy that all day. You tell me Kyler Murray's ready to go, Hopkins is off the team, no injury concerns for the receiver or the quarterback, love that. Love that from Marquise Brown. Where are you drafting him if that's the case? If that's the case, round four. Yeah. I just think it's a sleeper situation that we haven't spoken much about

on this show, and I think if you even look at 2021, when Lamar Jackson was throwing 34.4 passes per game in 11 games, in those same 11 games, Marquise Brown was on pace for 100 catches, 1,275 yards, 9 touchdowns on 153 targets. So he has shown this wide receiver one ability when he's been featured. It's interesting. I mean, even in the current situation, let's assume DeAndre Hopkins is moved. He's great value.

Great value. You get him after round six. I don't know what his value is. You don't have to necessarily. You put him in your third receiver rotation. And so whoever the quarterback may be, Colt McCoy, whatever they decide to do until Murray is right. So to your version of it, Adam, week five on, steal.

I would buy that in round six. Yeah, Fantasy Pros consensus ranking on Marquise Brown in PPR is wide receiver 31, just after Christian Watson, Deontay Johnson, Christian Kirk, just ahead of Mike Evans, Brandon Ayuk, and that's around 68th, 69th, 70th overall. So that's round six. All right, next up. Oh, it's perfect timing, guys.

Tyler Lockett is better than DK Metcalf in PPR by herself, and he has been better than DK Metcalf in PPR two straight seasons and was almost tied with him the year before Metcalf's best season. Half a point worse per game, actually, than Metcalf and PPR two straight seasons and was almost tied with him the year before Metcalf's best season. Half a point worse per game, actually, than Metcalf in 2020. So buy or sell, Jamie, Tyler Lockett is better than DK Metcalf in PPR.

This is one where, like, you know, I don't care what the numbers tell me. You know, it's like, or maybe it's just I don't want to believe it. I don't want to buy it. So I'm going to sell it for this season because I do think that, you know, Tyler Lockett is, I believe, 31. And so you have to worry a little bit about age catching up to him.

You know, we've seen, you know, a couple of injuries the last couple of years. Not that they've been long-term, but they have been something that's crept up a little bit. So at some point, there's going to be a changing of the guard from a production standpoint where DK Metcalf is consistently better than him. And I'm going to hope that this year is the case. So I'm going to sell that Tyler Lockett is better than DK. He'll be 31 in late September. So basically he's aged 31 season.

Uh, I I'm, I'm with you a hundred percent on this one, Jamie. I think that DK Metcalf is easier to buy into because he's younger and stronger and all that stuff. But you can't forget about Lockett on draft day because you know what he's capable of doing. And you've got to love the fact that he's been better than DK each of the last two years. Can't write them off anymore, even at the older age. So you'll take the chance

on Lockett. I think he's in that round five, six pocket. And just you'll draft him as a low end number two wide receiver. He's got to be, if we're just looking back on the year, one of the best draft picks from 2022. Just we all wrote him off because, oh, it's Geno Smith. There's no more Russell Wilson. Yeah, you'll take a chance on Metcalf because it's Metcalf. Lockett, there's no way there's going to be these downfield plays. And he was a star.

I think the answer is Kirk, but who do you think was drafted earlier? I'm going to look on Fantasy Football Calculator. Christian Kirk or Tyler Lockett last year? Last year? Yeah. I would guess Kirk. There was no excitement for Lockett last year. Let's see if I can double check

on that. And the data is not loading. All right. Let's see if I can double check on that. And the data is not loading. All right. Well, anyway, I think it was Kirk. I'll tell you the CBS ADP. Okay, yeah. Someone tell us something. I tell you, I watched a movie last night too, Dave.

What'd you watch? I didn't finish it, so no spoilers on YouTube here. Oh my gosh, it was freaking awesome. I cannot wait to finish it tonight. John Wick Chapter 2. I am way behind on the John Wicks. I've only seen one of them. I watched Chapter 2 last night. I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed it.

Every now and then you get a movie like, I am loving this. It was so good. Listen to this ADP. Ready? Yeah. 89th overall, Devontae Smith. 91st overall, Amara St. Brown.

94th overall, Amari Cooper. This is just receivers. 101 overall, DeAndre Hopkins. 103 overall, Christian Kirk. Wow. 105, Hunter Renfro. 106, Brandon Ayuk. 111bert woods 113 drake london 116 tyler lockett wow oh we were there were we taking i wasn't taking robert woods ahead of tyler lockett last

no but there was a lot of people that were excited oh my gosh 166th garrett Wilson. Ah, not bad. All right, last one here, guys. Doing great. Buy or sell, Ramondre Stevenson is a breakout star. Ask me in two weeks. For now, sure, because he figures to be the lead running back in New England's offense.

Could potentially be their running downs guy or their passing downs guy. We've seen him succeed in both of those roles. And we know that the coaching staff really likes him a lot. I'd be surprised if they, you know, spent significant draft capital on Bijan Robinson, for example, or even Jameer Gibbs. Like that would surprise me too. Um, yeah, I'm buying it.

Somebody that you'll take before the end of round three for sure. And maybe even in round two, I know you're buying it. I've said he's around to pick for, you know, wow. Now, um,

yeah, I, I think there's a, there's a lot to love about his situation, you know, better offensive system because finally I have a coordinator there. It's still going to be a run first team. Um,

I think really the big surprise will be if they move on from Mac Jones more so than they move on from Romandre as the lead guy there. You know, there's surprisingly talk about, you know, what James Robinson might do in this offense. But, you know, as we saw from Robinson after leaving Jacksonville, it wasn't pretty. And so I think Romandre has just star potential for fantasy managers. So he's one that I struggle with in terms of do I want to put him ahead

of Derrick Henry and Nick Chubb and Josh Jacobs and those guys because that's how excited I am about what he has the opportunity to show in this offense based on what he did a year ago. All right. I brought something up on a previous show about him. I was a little concerned that, you know, the last two games, Damian Harris comes back and out-carries

Ramondre Stevenson, 22-14. But you said, Jamie, that you thought Stevenson was playing through something, and you're right. He had an ankle. Yeah, he had an ankle injury. But Stevenson also is a bit of a fumbler. He has six in his career.

He's only lost two of them. He fumbled four times in the last six games of 2022. So that is something that we will have to keep an eye on. Good job, guys. Now I'm going to call out Schaefer here because we have a little bit of time. He did a great job with the Dalvin Cook lower third on YouTube, youtube.com slash fantasy football today.

It said Dalvin cooked with a question mark, but I don't think there were any other puns, Schaefer. I think you had Marquise Brown trending down. I don't know. I feel like you could have done something. I mean, again, look what he's wearing. We hurt his feelings after that. That's right.

He only has puns for the Vikings, I guess. He's got his Viking shirt on. Can we go back and change anything? I mean, I just was making those up as we go, and it was kind of obvious. It was kind of too easy. But you're right. Maybe I need to do a little bit better. What can we do for – is Geno Smith is a great quarterback?

Geno? Yeah. Primo Geno? Yeah. All right. Geno? Primo Geno? Yeah. All right, we'll work on it. We're going to take a break here, read some of your emails, fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. And you know what, YouTube,

if you're watching youtube.com slash fantasyfootball today, first of all, hit the like button. We'd appreciate that. Ask us some questions on YouTube. We'll do a little mailbag here for you. We'll be right back. All right, let's start with some emails. Fantasyfootball at cbsi.com.

And if you're watching live on YouTube, go ahead and ask us a question and we'll try to answer it. Here's a question from Kevin. He has a quote from yesterday's show. Quote, kickers are completely random. They're a nuisance. There isn't a whole lot of logic to picking one

other than this is a kicker who plays on a high-powered offense, who plays with a great quarterback. That was Dave making his pitch for removing kickers yesterday. Now, Kevin says, I agree with most of Dave's pitch, but I thought it was interesting how closely it mirrored the ways that the tight end position is discussed in fantasy. And then he goes on to basically comparing tight ends and kickers.

Does it really matter to focus on tight ends if they don't have top two upside? I'm not saying it's easy to determine who has that level of upside and the likelihood of reaching it, but it seems like that is the only type of difference

making performance worth pursuing. So, Dave, can you make the same case for getting rid of tight ends? I did already this offseason. There's a video on YouTube with my seven suggestions for fantasy leagues, and one of them is that when Travis Kelsey retires, fantasy managers and commissioners should retire the tight end position because there's so much randomness to that position as well.

Now, that also makes fantasy fun, the fact that there's randomness. Every week, if you don't have Kelsey, you don't have Mark Andrews or anybody of that ilk, you're going to go to your waiver wire and you're going to try and find somebody who has the chance to catch a touchdown. Well, when you're wrong four or five weeks in a row, it's a real pain in the ass to deal with fantasy tight ends at that point. I don't know how much fun it is when you get there, when you keep shuffling through tight ends and you can't find the next Chig Okonkwo or anybody like that. So I kind of agree.

It's, it can be a pain in the butt to try and find that tight end from week to week. And then there's such a huge, and this is something that kickers don't have. There isn't a kicker like Travis Kelsey, who's just head and shoulders better than every other kicker in fantasy football. You know, that's the huge advantage that Kelsey gives you

when you're taking him in round one. That's why you take him in round one. Don't eliminate tight ends. Did we retire the position when Gronk retired? No, it was different then because we still had other great tight ends. Look, there could be other great tight ends. Look, we got Dalton Kincaid and Michael Mayer coming, baby. Okay.

Maybe. You might be right. They're going to be good, I think, moving forward. Oh, Conquo! Come on. All right. It's harder sell than getting rid of kickers. For sure. Please don't follow that advice. Hold on, hold on. You could still use tight ends in fantasy.

You just don't use them at the tight end position. Include them. Use them in flex. And then they still have a role. There. Now you can go draft Dalton Kincaid. Yeah. I love tight. It's my favorite position. It has the most strategy, I think.

Draft Travis Kelsey and be done with it. I think that's unfair to some of the other really good tight ends that you can get maybe in the middle rounds. Let's see what Kyle Pitts can do. Alright, this is from Dustin

from Stranger Things. Dear Duke, Janet, and Johnny or Bert. I never would have gotten those. Those are alter egos from Parksanger Things. Dear Duke, Janet, and Johnny, or Bert. And I never would have gotten those. Those are alter egos from Parks and Rec. Full PPR, 10-team keeper league. Players drafted after the 13th round and undrafted cost a 12th round pick.

So keep three. Again, PPR. Damian Pierce in the 6th. DeAndre Hopkins in the 7th. Devante Smith in the 9th. Garrett Wilson in the sixth. DeAndre Hopkins in the seventh. Devontae Smith in the ninth. Garrett Wilson in the eleventh. Justin Fields, Calvin Ridley, Khalil Herbert in the twelfth. So none of the guys in the rules matter, right?

I'm guessing Fields, Ridley, and Herbert were drafted in the 13th round or later. Right. Oh, he keeps them in the twelfth. I got you. Oh, he keeps them in the 12th. I got you. Yeah, he keeps them in the 12th. We're keeping three? Yeah, just so for the people at home, I'll read them again. Damian Pierce in the 6th, Hopkins in the 7th, Devante Smith 9th round, Garrett Wilson 11th round,

Justin Fields, Calvin Ridley, Khalil Herbert 12th round. Wilson, Fields, Ridley, and Wilson. Wilson, Fields, Ridley for both of you? Yes. Okay. Okay, this is from... No name. Dave, name and city.

It's Thomas from Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. He says, hey, Travis, Tony, and Antonio. I got it. Very appropriate for what we were just talking about. Travis, Tony, and Antonio. I got it. Very appropriate for what we were just talking about. Travis, Tony, and Antonio. Oh, tight ends. Yeah. Stud tight ends.

I can keep three in PPR. Salary cap league. Salary cap is $210. I'm Justin Jefferson, and my keepers for the next two are as follows. I think he meant to say I'm keeping Justin Jefferson. It'd be pretty amazing if it were Justin. Yeah. Okay. So anyway, the options keep two of these. A.J. Brown for a maximum of two years at $16 and $21. Chris Olave for $8 can keep up to five years. Calvin Ridley for $1 can keep up to five years. Amandra St. Brown for $8 can keep up to five years. Calvin Ridley for $1 can keep up to five years. Amandra St. Brown for $15 can keep up to five years.

And you're keeping three? No, two. He's keeping Jefferson and two others. Oh. A lot of A and St. Brown. Probably the best bet. As tempting as Ridley is,

that could change if you can make the decision right before the season starts, and if Ridley's tearing it up in training camp and all the reports are good, but then who do you throw back if you do that? I don't know. That's a tough one. Well, Olave's the easy one, right? He's the easy one.

I think you're keeping Olave. And A.J. Brown is a no. A.J. Brown's a no because the other ones are better values long term. Yeah, so in that case, you're throwing back Amon or St. Brown. And you know what? St. Brown has age on his side compared to Calvin. Yeah. All right, let's see what the YouTubers have to say. Thank you for your questions.

This is from Jonathan. Keep one. DK Metcalf in the fifth. Miles Sanders in the tenth. Half PPR. Ten teams. Values too good. As long as it's a one-year keeper, it's Sanders.

If we're talking DK in the fifth for many years, I might keep DK. Ten-team league, Metcalf in the fifth is probably where he goes in redraft. No, he'd go earlier. Oh, no, 10-team league. Maybe you're right. Sanders would absolutely go before the 10. From Brock, will the Broncos make the jump on offense? What do you think?

Make the jump to where being an elite offense? You asked this question like a week or two ago, right? Which offenses have the jump to where being an elite offense, you asked this question like a week or two ago, right? Which offenses have a chance to. Sure. I don't remember what I said yesterday, really, but yeah,

it sounds right. Um, no, I don't think they have a chance to make a leap. I think they'll just be better just because of better coaching and hopefully a better Russell Wilson, but to make a leap, I don't think they become an elite offense,

even though they have on paper, a lot of elite level players. Oh, great. I don't think they become an elite offense, even though they have, on paper, a lot of elite-level players. Agreed. I mean, they've got nowhere to go but up. Right. And there was some promise at the end of last year once they got rid of Nathaniel Hackett. I think there's potential here.

Yeah, I think there's a lot of potential here. They could be a top-16 offense. Yeah, I think they could be a top 10 offense. Probably aren't that many. I'll tell you who was 10th last year. It's probably not going to blow you away. What is this, total offense? Points.

Total yards per year, or average yards per year. In their division, they're third at best. That's okay. The 10th highest scoring team last year was Jacksonville. I would take the Jaguars over there. Well, this year, but... This year you would. 9th was Seattle.

11th was the Dolphins. Can they be that good? You know, that kind of offense? No. Interesting. Okay. Close, but no. Somewhere between 12 and 16. From Jkid, are there any backfields you can take management of somewhere between 12 and 16 from

jkid are there any backfields you can take management of in today's NFL that can be viable starters in fantasy week to week so is that like multiple running backs on the right team yeah right like a cook in Madison type of a deal well no I think he's saying start both

I think that you can start both right now? Yeah. I don't think there's almost ever one where you can start both guys. You know, maybe there was a point where Pacheco and McKinnon were starters, you know, that

kind of thing. Yeah. McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell. Where you could start both? I mean, if you're saying as flexes, I could see you could start maybe the Dolphins, both guys as flexes. You could start maybe the Bears guys as flexes, especially half PPR.

Foreman's getting the carries there and Herbert's getting work in the passing game. The Lions? The Lions. The Lions, for sure. The Bills. I think the flex conversation, you know, between Harris scoring touchdowns

and maybe James Cook in the passing game. But wouldn't that get annoying if you draft those backfields and they stay healthy? Especially, like, I'm thinking about Buffalo. Well, I think it comes down to cost. Like, NFC ADP right now for best ball for the NFFC has James Cook as a top 24 running back.

Like, that's just too pricey. But if you're getting those guys, you know, depending on your roster build, and you're talking about Hero RB, for example, and you're going, you know, James Cook, let's say round six or round seven, and then piggybacking Damian Harris two rounds later, or, you know, the Texan situation. You know, you're getting Damian Pierce, let's say, round four, and then you're coming back and getting Devin Singletary round eight. You know, those are good scenarios to me because, you know,

A, there's the injury potential, but, you know, take out the Texans because I think we're all hoping that Damian Pierce is still going to be the future guy there. But, like, the Bears situation, the Bills situation, the Dolphins situation where there's no clear-cut guy right now, at least based on, you know, the, the information that we have, then you can, you know, maybe just hope that one is just out producing the other, or both are producing enough that you're able to use them depending on, you know, what, what we know going into that week or what's coming off the previous week. All right.

Next question. Probably our last question from Connor. Who do you think finishes higher next year in PPR, Olave or Garrett Wilson? Wilson. Wilson, barring a DeAndre Hopkins addition. That's fair. Okay. Thank you.

Or an Aaron Rodgers back out. And they're stuck with Zach Wilson. As long as it's not Zach Wilson. I mean, what we saw last year for Gary Wilson was very good with Flacco. Very good with Mike White, you know, 17 plus PPR points per game. Yeah.

At one point it was over 20, you know, so hopefully that's the case that we get, you know, that type of, uh, that type of production for him without Rogers. But yeah,

Rogers can hopefully unleash the superstardom. Weekend! It is 10.55 a.m. on Thursday, and the weekend is about to start for me. How great is that? Maybe I shouldn't have said that. I don't know. I mean, there are people that are still in the middle

of their workday on Thursday, have a full workday on Friday. I'm going to work. Some people actually work on the weekends, Adam. I have a lot of, you know, I have some good research today. I had some really fun research for this show. I want to look at ADOT and how it relates to top five wide receivers. I don't know if there's been a top five receiver in the last five years that's

had an ADOT as low as a Monroe St. Brown's. Uh, so I think that's an important context for you to know if you want to draft someone in the second round who doesn't have top five upside. Um, I want to take a look at that and I want to dig into more of the Eagles passing game because I think it's a really interesting topic. I think there's a chance for some serious letdown here if all those guys stay healthy, but that probably won't happen. Also, at some point last year,

Devontae Smith just basically became better than A.J. Brown. Or very, very close. I would say better. No, he was better. Yeah, so it's worth looking into. I'll be doing some research. And we'll talk to you on Monday, barring some breaking news. Have a great weekend everybody. Get your taxes paid.

And we'll talk to you later on Fantasy Football.