Fantasy Football Today - Best Destinations for the Top Free Agents; A Case for Kickers in Fantasy! (03/03 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: March 3, 2020

Where do you want to see Tom Brady, Jameis Winston, Melvin Gordon, Kenyan Drake and Austin Hooper end up? We'll tell you what we think the ideal destinations are and how it could affect Fantasy rankings. We begin with an Amari Cooper disagreement (1:00) before getting to the big news as LAC intends to franchise tag Hunter Henry (3:45). Is Henry overrated or underrated? Would he benefit from a new QB? We also react to a report that says Jameis Winston is likely out of TB (7:45) and a report about NE looking at Andy Dalton (11:04) ... The best pick to have in a Dynasty rookie draft (14:00) and cases for against having Kickers on your roster (18:00). Kickers are people too! ... Best free agent destinations for the top QBs (23:45), RBs (33:00), WRs (39:00) and TEs (45:21) on the market. Some of us like Brady to the Bucs a lot. How about Melvin Gordon to the Texans? Will he still be involved in the passing game? Is DAL really the best spot for Cooper? And would we like Austin Hooper in GB? ... Email us at [e-mail]. And tweet us questions using #AskFFT. 'Fantasy Football Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, Bullhorn and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @YardsPerGretch, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCviK78rIWXhZdFzJ1Woi7Fg/videos Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter 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. NFL free agency starts March 18th. Today we get to be general managers, decide where the marquee free agents should go. And that's a lot of responsibility. I'm Adam Azer, but I got three front office execs with me. General manager Dave Richard. Hello, Mr. General Manager. I like that title, Adam. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Vice president of player personnel Heath Cummings is here. Hey, Heath.

Is that because I'm a player? No. You're not a... No, you just crush a lot. And Director of Scouting Ben Schrager. Schraggy B, what's up? Is this pro scouting or college scouting? All scouting. That's how good you are at your job. You got it all. It's a lot of responsibility.

We consolidated two departments together. We're the Bengals. Oh, gosh. So anyway, we get to decide where Tom Brady's going to go, where Melvin Gordon's going to go, maybe Amari Cooper, maybe where he should. Should Amari Cooper just go back to the Cowboys? You know, he got fewer targets per game than Michael Gallup last year,

or would there be a better destination for Amari Cooper? How close was the targets per game for Michael Gallup and Amari Cooper? Because Cooper did have one game where I think he had one target and played like 15% of the snaps. And I'm wondering if that is the reason for... Cooper had 119 targets in 16 games. Gallup had 113 targets in 14 games. So any way you slice it, that's

a little bit troublesome for a true number one wide receiver. Right? Yeah, I mean there were, you can look through and there was a game against the Jets where he played like two snaps basically and then he played a game against the Patriots where he

only got two targets and he played a game against the Rams where he only got two targets. So he definitely a game against the Rams where he only got two targets. So he definitely disappeared in three different games, a couple of those due to injury. But Amari Cooper is what Amari Cooper is. He's a high-end number two wide receiver that's probably going to give you a stretch where he looks like the best receiver in football.

And then he's going to disappear at some point as well. That's what he does every single year. No, he's been a top 12 wide receiver in two of his five seasons. He was top 10 in 2019. So how can you just call him a top tier number two receiver? I think Adam Azar would argue that if you finish number 10 and play 16 games, you're a number two wide receiver.

All right. I can look up his 16 game pace, but I think we just sort of, I mean his per game pace. I think we just sort of established that Cooper played hurt in one game. He also had some really tough matchups. He had the Bills and the Patriots this year. He had Darius Slay.

He had Marshawn Lattimore. His schedule won't be as hard next season in terms of the elite quarterbacks. He faced almost all of them. But as he said, he's been inconsistent his whole career. He had four weeks as a top 12 wide receiver this year. Four weeks as a top 12 wide receiver last year. So it's nothing new. Amari Cooper is going to have huge upside

and he's going to have dud games. Those four games last year where he was what did you say? Top 12? Top 12. Were they all with Dallas? In the previous season? Three of the four were with Dallas. But in prior seasons, he had multiple elite weeks with the Raiders.

Yeah, sure. But he's got... Okay. You know what? I will ask you later where you want to see Amari Cooper end up because that's what we're doing today. And I'm an intern who just argued

with his vice president of player personnel. That was probably not a good idea idea for me news and notes the chargers are expected to franchise tag hunter henry his career 16 game pace is really not that good 53 catches 667 yards 6.6 touchdowns 667 yards and 67 touchdowns per 16 games. Not great. Last year, he was the number 10 tight end on a per-game basis in non-PPR, number 8 in PPR. Two questions. One, have we been overrating Hunter Henry?

And two, is he better or worse without Philip Rivers? And here I was thinking Hunter Henry had a good year given all the games he played. He had three games last year in PPR with eight or fewer points when he was actually on the field. He needs to have a quarterback that's going to find him. Rivers did a good job of using his tight ends when he was with the Chargers, and I think he's going to continue to get a lot of catches and opportunities

provided that that quarterback doesn't forget about him. Well, they've announced this morning that Travis Benjamin's not coming back, so that should free up some targets. No, in all seriousness, it's not really fair to look at a 16-game pace with Hunter Henry when two-thirds of his games were played with Antonio Gates and like three years ago. You look at last year, he played 12 games. He got 55 passes for 652 yards and five touchdowns. If he had played a full season, we'd be, I mean, he's, he is a starting fantasy tight

end that is still 25 years old and has the upside to take a leap at any moment. Sure. I think his first season, obviously Antonio Gates was a big factor. The two of them had both had really good years. His second season, obviously, Antonio Gates was a big factor. The two of them both had really good years. His second season, Henry had 63 targets. Gates had 52 targets in 16 games. He wasn't really that big of a factor. But I think what really stands out to me,

and the reason why I asked the second question about Phillip Rivers, is it better or worse for Henry, the running back targets. In two of Henry's three seasons, a running back has been second on the team in targets. So I'm wondering if they get a quarterback in there who's not going to throw to Eckler and Gordon as much, maybe that can really elevate Hunter Henry because his 16-game pace is only 75 targets per season,

which actually makes his numbers pretty good when you do it per target. I think the offensive philosophy is still going to be to throw to running backs a lot. It was not so much a situation with the Chargers where Phillip Rivers got in trouble and just dumped it off. They have a lot of designed

like that's a big focal point of their offense is putting Austin Eckler in the slot. Melvin Gordon is a running back, both of them running routes, and they're a huge part of the passing game. So I really don't think that will change. And the most likely guy to be their starting quarterback at the beginning of the season, I would say for the majority of the season, is Tyrod Taylor.

And you look at his most recent season, LaShawn McCoy led that team in targets. Charles Clay was second in targets. So it might just be a really bad thing for Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. But who were his wide receivers? They had Sammy Watkins at one point. On that team, it was Kelvin Benjamin and

Zay Jones. The year before, though, we had Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods. Well, okay. Sammy Watkins was healthy when LeSean McCoy led the team in targets? Not that year, no. Right. So, yeah, it's interesting. I mean, I just, I remember you, and I'm not

going to bring up that discussion you had with Ben Gratch, because it was interesting. Well, I think, like, the year before is maybe even a better indicator, because he was a better fantasy quarterback that year. Yeah. And he had Robert Woods, Marquise Goodwin, and Sammy Watkins on his team, and Charles Clay led the team in targets with 87.

Okay. All right. Interesting. Dallas expected a franchise tag Dak Prescott, so we won't have to talk about him today. He'll be back with the Cowboys. Yanni Kingakwe, the defensive end for the Jaguars, he's going to get the franchise tag. He's not happy about it. He wants out. The Redskins are going to franchise

Brandon Scherf, and he's not going to be on the market, but he would have been the best offensive guard on the market. Big news, Dave. Jameis Winston, according to Peter King, not likely to be on the Bucs next year. Tampa Bay expected to move on from Jameis Winston. What's your reaction? My reaction is they must have a plan in place to find a successor.

I'm a little surprised that they're just going to slam the door on him and say, sorry, we don't want you no matter what the cost. I get them not wanting to franchise him, or I would get them saying, listen, James, go out there, see what you can find, and if you can find a good deal, maybe we'll match it, we'll let you know. But it will change. It's not going to change the philosophy of Bruce Arians, but it might change the quality of deep target

that Mike Evans and Chris Godwin get. I think we can all agree that there's a ton of quarterbacks who can hit short area receivers like Godwin. And I think all these quarterbacks, if they have time to throw, they can hit deep targets as well, and that includes Phillip Rivers, that includes Tom Brady, but then you've got to make sure that the offensive line in Tampa Bay is in good good shape so things are going to change here hopefully it's not going to be for the worse but tampa bay wouldn't wouldn't do this if they didn't have an

idea of who their next quarterback would be and maybe they go with somebody safe like a teddy bridgewater maybe he comes at a at a discount Jameis wants. And maybe they really do value those turnovers. And they say that that's just too much. We can't win with all those turnovers. And they'll go and maybe even be just a little bit more conservative than they've been in the past. Yeah, my initial reaction is ugh, because it's just terrible for everyone. Because Jameis is a good fantasy quarterback when he's a starter. And if he's not in Tampa Bay, he may not be a starter week one. And Jameis is better for Chris quarterback when he's a starter and if he's not in Tampa Bay he may not be a starter week one and Jameis is better for Chris Godwin

and Mike Evans as a combo than I think any quarterback they're going to bring into that situation yeah could it be good for OJ Howard is that I think we sort of thought it was more of a Bruce Arians thing that Howard struggled Jameis has targeted his tight ends very early throughout his career

I don't think it will be good for Howard I don't know know what would be good for him. Maybe a new team would be good for O.J. Howard. And remember, we do love Jameis for fantasy. He was great for fantasy last year and he helped us develop Chris Godwin and Mike Evans has been a stud. But Tampa Bay is going to look at what he's done. He's had one winning season as a starting quarterback for the Bucs in five years. I just wanted to say, Jason Light, their GM, said that he is, quote, more than excited about O.J. Howard this season.

What does that mean? I think he means that O.J. Howard is arguably the most talented tight end in the NFL. When are you going to let that go? Read a scouting report. I mean, he is very talented. He is very, very talented. He's really good at trying to catch balls behind his back

and then popping them in the air for defenders. Did you see that catch he made at the Rays game last year? It was amazing. One-handed grab? That might have been his best catch. Dude, just rewind to your breakouts from one year ago, Heath. O.J. Howard was one of your breakouts. Okay, you have to own that.

I did not write that column. You own that column. Right. Yeah, okay. I thought he was going to be a breakout last year. Okay, good. I was wrong about that. Because he must be talented then.

Yeah. That's right. You have to have talent to play professional sports. No one's ever said that O.J. Howard's not talented. You sort of intimate that he is not talented. No, I just intimated that he wasn't more talented than Travis Kelsey and George Kittle and Zach Ertz. And stop there. And stop there. And stop there.

All right. So anyway, New England apparently could be interested in Andy Dalton if Tom Brady leaves, according to the NRAP report. Ben, Shaggy B, how do you feel about Andy Dalton with the Patriots? It's fine. I'm not going to touch him in fantasy. I don't like any of their fantasy options, whether he's there or whether Bridgewater

is there. A lot of the options they're going to look at are going to be conservative guys, and they're not going to be attractive for fantasy. But what is Dalton going to do? Why do you love him so much in New England? I just would love for him to get an opportunity to go play with Bill Belichick after spending a decade with the Bengals and really leading them compared to where they were when he became their starting quarterback. He has a winning record, I believe as the starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals or very close to 500.

And I still have this hope that they're going to do the franchise and trade thing with AJ Green. And you're going to see Andy Dalton and AJ Green in new England, both fantasy relevant. That would be exciting. Yeah. First eight games of 2018 when A.J. Green was healthy, he was on pace for 4,200 yards and 34 touchdowns.

It would have been his best season. But that was only a year and a half ago, and that was the last time he had a true number one receiver, which he currently would not have with the Baylor. It would have been his best year barely. He threw for 42 93 and 33 touchdowns earlier in his career um and he does have a winning record 70 and 61 that's excellent now what if what if this is tampa bay's plan just combining the last two news stories that we're

talking about here together and he ends up in tampa bay is in tampa bay he'll be my favorite sleeper quarterback and ranked in my top 14. Yeah. Maybe 12. This might be the only way we could get excited about Andy Dalton in fantasy. I agree. Tom Brady is in close contact with Antonio Brown, according to ESPN. And Brown played one game last year.

He had eight targets. He caught four of them for 56 yards and a touchdown. And then he jumped into the stands very awkwardly in miami in week two did anybody draft antonio brown in that startup dynasty we did yesterday he was he was on the board for a long time that would be me okay i took him with my very last pick round 18 wow okay i took i took an xfl player before Antonio Brown in that draft. I mean... Donald Parham, baby. I just didn't really want to be the one who drafted him.

I think it's much more likely Donald Parham is on a roster week one than Antonio Brown. I would hope one of them makes it for my pretend startup dynasty team that I'm probably never going to look at again after this week. Cool. All right. So we got newsletters for you. Sign up at cbssports.com slash newsletter. Stay up to date with fantasy football content sent straight to your inbox all

offseason long. That's news, rankings, editorial pieces, prospect profiles, really good way to get you set for the NFL draft. cbssports.com slash newsletter. Before we get into the rest of the free agents, we had a leftover question from yesterday. We talked about it an hour into the show. It was part of an email. The best spot to pick in a rookie draft. Now, if you're in a rookie draft that's not a snake draft there's no incentive to draft late but if you're in a rookie draft that is a snake draft heath what's the most valuable spot in a 12 team rookie draft

i don't know of any rookie drafts that are snake drafts i'm sure someone's going to email now and say that they had one i still think and i'm not all the way through evaluating all the rookies, I would like to have a top two pick. I want one, and it may just be number one. I haven't looked enough, but right now I'd just say I want Jonathan Taylor. But I want one of the top two. I was going to say number three because I think you've got a good chance of getting almost anybody you want, but you could also, you know,

generalize a little bit and say, you're guaranteed one of the top three receivers or one of the top three running backs. Or you could say, I'm guaranteed one of the top two wide receivers or the top running back. Cause remember it's the third pick. One of those three will have to be there. Um, but if, if you've got a team that's just like loaded at wide receiver and you're desperate to get jonathan taylor three might not be the pick that works out for you does swift sneak

into either of your top threes not knowing what at the position or overall no not for me so who is taylor your one taylor is my one. I haven't decided on Dobbins yet, but I would take Lamb and Judy ahead of Swift. Taylor and Dobbins are the two guys I've looked at the most. There needs to be another running back between those two, or I'm going to feel like Taylor is like, I'd give up a lot to have 1.1. I think there's a big difference between Taylor and Dobbins.

I think it's kind of interesting that the wide receiver depth gets talked up so much and that we want high picks. And you know what? Look, maybe it's a snake draft. I think the context of the question yesterday was about trading and moving back in the draft. And you move back in the draft, but you pick up an asset in return, a veteran player or another pick or something like that. And so in that case, where do you want to be picking in the first round? Sounds like Dave and Heath want a top

three pick. Ben, how about you? I'm top four. I have Swift in my top four, and I think he's in that top four tier. So that's why I wanted the top four pick. But to your comment about the wide receiver depth, there's so much depth that I think I'm going to get a good wide receiver in the second round. So I'd rather pick higher in the first round if it is a snake. Yeah, right now if I had one, I just wouldn't trade down. If I had two, I'd probably be okay with sliding to like five or six if I could add significant other picks in the draft.

Okay. I think you just look at history, though, right? I mean, let's take a look at the running back class from three years ago. You had those big four, right? Fournette, McCaffrey, Mixon, Cook. What a crew. Right. Fournette was the first one off the board.

He's the third or fourth most valuable right now. And then you look at last year's wide receivers, and I mean, you basically look at every rookie wide receiver class since the Beckham year, the first round picks don't often do the best. So I don't know. In a deeper rookie draft, I'm surprised that you guys want the first pick that badly.

But maybe it's because of what Ben said. You feel like you can get a really good player in the second round too. And I guess that makes sense. Alright, so email of the day number one is from Matt. I've been listening to you guys for a couple years. I always thought Heath was contrarian. Never knew what to make of his takes. This offseason

I've started doing my own stats analysis and seeing things from a different angle. All of a sudden Heath is making a ton of sense. In Heath we trust. You're a sudden, Heath is making a ton of sense in Heath We Trust. You're number one, Matt. Chat. Chat. Chat.

Email of the day number two from Jeff in Lake Stevens, Washington. Played fantasy football for the first time last year with some coworkers. Won the championship. Been listening to your podcast. I have to ask a couple things. By the way, this is why I put the Heath in Heath We Trust email first, because Heath is so wrong about this next topic.

Why the disdain towards kickers? Looking at the season's total points scored, they're responsible for as many points as tight ends in our non-PPR league. So why do a vocal portion of folks want to see them removed from fantasy? And number two, why is PPR so popular? You kind of answered your own question so popular you kind of answered your own question there you kind of answered your own question looking at the season's total points scored they're responsible for as many points as tight ends they're kickers they're people

they're yet but referees are people i don't want referees in my fantasy football league points though kicker score points yeah i don't i don't want referees in my fantasy football league. The refs don't score points, though. Kickers score points. Yeah. I don't. Kickers do score points. Football would be better if they didn't exist. And fantasy football is a lot better. You must love the XFL. So the thing that I think about kickers, I get why you don't like them, Heath, and they are kind of annoying, especially because one week they could get six opportunities to try field goals,

and the next week they try two extra points and that's it. But they're kind of an X factor in a fantasy lineup, especially if it's non-PPR. Is that a problem? You don't want to lose a game because somebody's kicker goes off for 13 points? No, you don't want to lose a game because somebody's kicker goes off for 13 points. But shouldn't the fantasy manager get credit for starting a kicker and lucking into it a little bit? 95% of people are lucky.

That's exactly right. And Chris Towers would argue that luck makes fantasy football better and more accessible to more people, and I want that. So in my leagues, I don't want to have kickers. I'm glad that everybody else uses them so that they can have a more balanced playing field. But kickers to me are not as easy to predict as everything else or predictable at all and so i would prefer to just uh have the other positions it's like playing poker without community cards you just get your cards and whoever wins wins because there's you know that that's the extent of because i don't get to draft your players and that's i don't get to

choose my cards i get to choose my players yeah your players and that's it. I don't get to choose my cards. I get to choose my players. Yeah, but there are some players that you can't choose because other people take them. Now, it's different from cards, whereas your dealt cards, obviously. It's not the best analogy. I admit that it's not the best analogy. But the point is that there's luck involved in fantasy football just as there is in anything else that isn't hard and fast. And there will always be luck involved's luck in sports there's always going to be luck involved in fantasy football injuries all types of things i just would like to minimize the kicker part of the luck

i don't mind them as much you know what i mind them when when they're on by and i don't realize they're on by until 90 minutes before kickoff and i've got to go and I've got to stop what I'm doing to go. How many of the top five kickers can you name from last year? It's a fun one. Will Lutz. How many mistakes do I get? Will Lutz was number two. Harrison Bucker was top five.

Harrison Bucker was number one. Now I don't know if this is counting the playoffs because I'm in a different league. So in that case it's going to be all kickers from playoff teams. No, I got you. I don't know if he made it last year. Justin Tucker is number three according to this list. Okay.

Yep. The next two, I don't think you're going to get the next two. It can't be Robbie Gold because he didn't play all year. It's not Greg Zerline. Zerline didn't play all year. It's not Gostkowski because he didn't. I mean, kickers get hurt too often is the problem. Oh, yeah.

Last year especially, they were crazy. That's what it is. It's too injury prone a position. Get it out of fantasy. Number four was Matt Gay. Yeah. Zane Gonzalez. Number five was Zane Gonzalez.

Yeah. Okay. Well, I don't really know what point you're proving there. So, Dave, your poker analogy. I actually played poker a couple weeks ago for the first time in years. Very fun. You know what? I'd love to see you try and have a poker face.

No, I can. I just, yeah, I mean, I'm like, oh! My poker face is great, but I make an audible moan when I get good cards. So that usually gives it away. You know the game Split the Ocean? No. Split the Ocean is like you throw out one card on the left. You throw out another card on the right.

And then you have to choose the next card. Is it going to be in between the two cards? We just called that in between. And that is an extremely dangerous game. Very. But it's the most fun. Very dangerous game. It's the most fun game. But it's the most fun. Very dangerous game. It's the most fun game

and it's purely luck. So you have to bet based on whether or not you think the next card that comes out is going to be in between the two cards that are already out.

And if you lose, you have to throw in however much you decided to wager. And if you win, you get what's in the pot. And if you hit, if the next card that comes out

is the same as one of the cards that's already been thrown out, you have to double the pot. So it's very fun. It's a terrifying game. It's very fun. That sounds fun. Yeah, that's why kickers are fun, because random luck is fun.

All right. They're the split the ocean of fantasy. Exactly. All right. The top free agents, a quarterback. Who would win a game of poker between the four of us? Dave has a lot more experience. I would guess the experience goes Dave, me, Ben, you.

No, I have more experience than Ben playing poker. Ben does not play poker. I don't know. Ben is the shraggy bee. He's not a poker player. He was a college athlete. He had more fun in like one semester of college than you've had in your entire life. But he's not allowed to gamble.

That's 100% true, by the way. I was not allowed to gamble, though, ever. That's right. Okay. Phillip Rivers is going to the Colts, according to yesterday's show. So I guess we can sort of talk about him. But Rivers, Brady, Tannehill, Jameis, Bridgewater, Mariota. We expect Tannehill to be back with the Titans.

But this is an amazing free agent crop. So where do you want to see these guys go in general? Well, if Tampa Bay is open, let's make that probably destination 1A and the Chargers 1B. Almost any quarterback, as long as they can understand what Bruce Arians wants them to do, we think they're willing to do it. And Tampa Bay promises everybody that they improve their offensive line. Let's get Rivers there. Rivers would be the guy

I don't want Brady in Tampa Bay. I think that would be really bad. But what do we know about Tom Brady? He was behind an uncharacteristically bad offensive line with a terrible running game and no outside wide receiver. So he played one game last

year. This is a really tough case to make. But he played one game last year. This is a really tough case to make, but he played one game last year with Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon and Julie, all of his weapons similar to what he'd have in Tampa Bay, I guess. And he had like 130 something passer rating. It was against the dolphins, but he completed 75% of his passes almost for 9.4 yards per attempt.

He had 124.7 passer rating i my point is like i don't think you can judge him too harshly on last year when he was actually pretty good for the first eight games julian edelman got hurt at the uh you know down the street he had nothing he had nothing last year you know i don't want to write his numbers showed it for sure his completion rate was down five full points from 2018. His yard for attempt was down one full yard from 2018. He just was not, his numbers were really, really bad. I don't know if those are a byproduct of him as much as it is the byproduct of what was around him. I would not be opposed to Tom Brady being the quarterback of the Bucs. I think he'd be,

I think he'd be pretty good for Tampa Bay. I'd be more concerned about Tampa Bay if they got Brady, they didn't improve their offensive line, and then they somehow found a way to get Jonathan Taylor in the 2020 draft. That could mean that they could be way more balanced, and Bruce Arians wouldn't air it out unless he absolutely had to. Adam, you've talked about their defense getting better. That would make things a little bit more troublesome for those receivers troublesome for fantasy, for those receivers there in fantasy. Because that's what we're thinking about here, right? What does the quarterback in Tampa Bay mean for those two big targets

that finishes top 10 guys in fantasy? Brady would be great for Godwin. No question. I'm really scared about Evans in the deep ball because Brady didn't have to throw deep this year. But when has Brady thrown deep in recent memory with success? I'm going to look up something. Yeah, who was it, Brandon Lloyd?

Evans. That had the last good outside receiver that the Patriots had. His average intended air yards last year, according to Pro Football Reference, was around 7'6". I think it was 7'9", the year before that. That's about 2 1⁄2", 3 yards below where was 7'9", the year before that. That's about 2.5", 3 yards below where Jameis has been the last two years.

Jameis has one of the elite deep ball receivers in football, though, right? Can we say that? Sorry? Evans? Yeah, with Evans. Would you say Evans is one of the elite deep ball receivers? I can look to Troy and quantify that with a stat. The first thing I did, you went to pro football reference, Heath, you went to pro football reference.

I went to pro football focus. Both Jameis and Brady were top 10 in deep ball passing in 2019. Jameis had a completion rate of 44.4%. Brady had a completion rate of 41.9%. The difference is that Jameis attempted 99 deep balls. Brady had 62. So it's certainly a little bit better looking for Jameis in that regard than Brady, but Brady wasn't horrible in the grand scheme. I'm now going to look at deep

passing for wide receivers last year just to see where Evans finished up. And he was 21st among receivers, qualifying receivers as far as deep ball catch rate um he had 11 catchable deep passes he had three touchdowns i'm just doing this on the fly 25 deep ball targets so he had 11 catchable deep balls on 25 targets between 14 of them weren't even catchable he got nine of them i would imagine that the quality of target would be better coming from Brady than Jameis. It certainly would be for Godwin. You know what? I think I would really like it if Tom Brady went to Tampa Bay.

Because I think Tom Brady can probably throw a better deep ball than Jameis based on just on the fact that Jameis probably had a bunch of deep ball targets. I don't think that's accurate. That went way over Mike Evans' head. Or way out of bounds. We've not seen Tom Brady consistently attempt deep balls for half a decade. But if he's going to be ordered to... I know I just gave a scenario where we're tipping Bane down somewhere where he's going to be ordered to do something. Do you think a quarterback doesn't want to throw deep?

A quarterback doesn't want to take chances at making big plays? He doesn't want to hold the ball as long as he needs to hold it to throw deep, I don't think. Sure, so that could be the problem with the offensive line. But if they do improve the offensive line, and they don't go in and splash big at running back, and Brady's the quarterback there, and it's Bruce Arians sticking with the no-risk-it, no-biscuit approach, I think I'd be okay with Brady. I think he'd be the type of quarterback that I'd look for late on draft day because those targets are so good. And by the way, both those guys can make

plays after the catch. So a quick 10 or 12-yard slant in that Brady hits them for, and we know Brady can do that. Just about every quarterback in this free agent class can do that. They can make a play after the catch. Brady gets those numbers. He'll be on a team that throws the ball a lot. But those are the routes Godwin runs,

not the routes that Evans runs, not the routes Evans runs. Evans can run those routes if he's asked to. Can I just bring something up real quick? I talked about Brandon Lloyd. That was a really long time ago. 2017, Rob Gronkowski averaged 15.7 yards per catch. Brandon Cooks averaged 16.6 yards per catch. Is Tom Brady really that much worse now than he was in 2017?

Maybe the answer is yes. He's hit that age where it's very very possible but he goes if he goes to tampa bay he'll have the most talented tight end he's ever thrown to hey i just wait for the laughs uh it would be a good situation would you okay how about this if if philip rivers goes to indianapolis and If Philip Rivers goes to Indianapolis and Tom Brady goes to Tampa Bay, who would you draft first? Rivers. Brady. Brady. Brady, by the way, was number three in deep ball passing, according to Pro Football Focus, in 2017.

Okay. Yeah, Brandon Cooks helps, I guess. And I remember Josh Gordon was pretty good in 2018 when Gronkowski was not on the field. So I think as recently as 2018, he showed that an outside receiver can be good. Obviously, I don't know what the air yards were or whatever. Back to the quarterbacks, Ben.

Bridgewater, if we assume that Tannehill is going back to Tennessee, you got Winston, who's a fantasy prize if he becomes a starter. Bridgewater, who's been, I think, a pretty conservative quarterback. And then Mariota, who's no thank you. Well, what do you think about those guys? I mean, get Bridgewater to the Patriots. Allow him to make those short, quick throws that the Patriots love. He did fine filling in for Breeze, making short, quick throws. So I think that's the best fit. That'll help Edelman's value not go completely through the floor. So Bridgewater to Patriots

is kind of the one I'm targeting out of that list. Yeah, and also Jameis to the Chargers. Just because they need a quarterback. Yeah, I just want him to start. The Chargers feel like somewhat similar to the... I'd say fairly similar to the Bucs. Sure. I mean, I don't think we can look at Mike Williams and Keenan Allen

and say that they're spitting images of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. They're certainly similar in some ways and different in other ways. Allen is probably the best route runner of the four. I mean, the Chargers obviously have a better tight end. Chargers have a better tight end. That would help out Jameis Winston. It's a similar roster. Jameis is going to have to check down those passes

to Austin Eckler and whoever else they have at running back. I think that would probably be a great fit for Winston, for fantasy. All right, Jameis goes to the Chargers, and he's starting week one. Rivers goes to the Colts. Brady goes to the Bucs. How would you rank them?

Jameis, Rivers, Brady. Jameis, Brady, Rivers goes to the Colts. Brady goes to the Bucs. How would you rank them? Jameis. Rivers. Brady. Jameis. Brady. Rivers. Rivers is going to be third for me, but I'd still be intrigued by him in Indianapolis. Top of my head, I think I'm still going to go Brady over Jameis.

Wow. Would you move Keenan Allen in this scenario where Jameis Winston goes to the Chargers? Would you move Keenan Allen ahead of Mike Evans or Chris Godwin? No. No. No. Would you rather have Julian Edelman with a new quarterback or – I guess he's really kind of in his own little rankings land because he's –

Well, Keenan Allen, Keenan Allen or Edelman. The one guy that's affected the most by all this would be Mike Williams. But we'd want Jameis Winston for him. That would be great for Mike Williams. So would you take Mike Williams ahead of Julian Edelman if Edelman's catching Bridgewater balls? Not in PPR, but probably in none. I think it'd be really close in none.

All right, let's go to running back. Derek Henry, Melvin Gordon, Kenyon Drake, Jordan Howard. Tennessee. Tennessee for Henry, right? For all of them. Well, with Tennessee,

I don't know if we know that they throw the ball to running backs, but Melvin Gordon, Kenyon Drake, it's obviously been a big part of their success. Would they change their strategy if they didn't have Derrick Henry? Maybe. But you could... Henry, obviously, we want to see him go back to Tennessee.

Is that the same answer for Melvin Gordon and Kenyon Drake? I want to see Gordon go to the Texans. Yes. They run the ball a ton in the red zone. They're willing to throw to the running backs. Hyde won't be there. Duke Johnson was used in the past game a bit this year. It wasn't too effective.

I would love Melvin on the Texans. And they don't have a lot of draft capital this year, so they can't really dig into this draft class like the other teams in the league can. They can add Melvin Gordon. I bet he'd come at a relatively cheap price compared i don't think he'll be one of the top five highest paid running backs this year this year who's going for more than him than him besides henry no i'm talking about overall oh okay i'm not talking about oh yeah as far as the free agents yes he will be one of the five most expensive running

backs but i don't think do you think he gets more than $8 million guaranteed for this year? I think he probably is. He doesn't sign very early if he doesn't. Right. And so Houston can certainly, they've already taken steps to upgrade their offensive line. They did that last year. They can do that again in the draft if they so choose. They can just add Melvin Gordon in free agency.

They've got a nice veteran running back that can play three downs, fit right into that offense. Yeah. And they don't have to give up a draft pick for him like they would have had to back in August or September or October. I think the guy that, for me, that made more sense to Houston, because I don't think Duke Johnson's going anywhere, and Duke Johnson's very good at what he does,

I think the guy that makes sense is Jordan Howard. He's a better version of Carlos Hyde and Lamar Miller that they've used over the last couple of years in that role. And Howard could come right in and do it. And you don't have to take him off the field if you want to throw it a little bit. So I'd like to see Howard go to Houston and probably become someone we're drafting

as a number three running back if that happens. I got to tell you, though, I think Houston's a terrible destination for running backs. Running backs don't score rushing touchdowns on Houston. And running backs don't really catch passes on Houston. I mean, Duke Johnson had 44 catches. That was okay for him, but Lamar Miller's never been good in PPR. Houston, where have they ranked in rushing touchdowns the last four years under Bill O'Brien? 29th, 25th, 20th, and last year they were 10th, but Deshaun Watson led the team in rushing touchdowns.

Carlos Hyde had 245 carries. He had six touchdowns. They do run the ball a lot, but inside the 10th, they run it with Deshaun Watson. They don't get rushing touchdowns from, let me see what Lamar Miller is, rushing touchdowns. Carlos Hyde was top 15 in red zone touches, red zone rushes this year.

But you need green zone. He just wasn't a very good red zone running back. I guess, but I don't know. Melvin Gordon is a double-digit touchdown guy on the Chargers. That just hasn't happened with Lamar Miller. The three seasons before last year, he ranked fourth in rush attempts, fifth in rush yards, and 24th in rushing touchdowns. Yeah, I don't think Melvin Gordon is going to find a situation, He ranked fourth in rush attempts, fifth in rush yards, and 24th in rushing touchdowns.

Yeah, I don't think Melvin Gordon's going to find a situation. Assuming that Derrick Henry goes back to Tennessee, Melvin Gordon I don't think is going to find a situation that's as good for him as the Chargers was. And if Carlos Hyde's going to have 16 carries inside the 10, then Melvin Gordon's going to get at least that many. That's a lot. Yeah. Okay, so what about Kenyon Drake? Where do you want to see kenyan drake go right back to the cardinals and if not there city oh that would be

fun that would definitely be fun yeah anywhere where he's with the with a creative play caller that will use him you know 12 times a game as a use him 12 times a game as a ball carrier, 5 times a game as a pass catcher. Arizona and Kansas City, I think Kansas City would do that. Certainly if they're going to spend up to get him, that would make sense. See, to me, I think of

Kenyon Drake in a place like Houston and I don't get as excited as I would with Melvin Gordon because I just think Melvin Gordon is more of a three down back type and I think the Texans would see him that way compared to Drake and just get rid of Duke. They could. They can cut him right now and save four million bucks. They own nothing in 2020.

I think Duke Johnson has always been better as a pass catcher than Melvin Gordon so I would just think that's making your team worse. By letting go of Duke Johnson? Right. I think they'd let go of Hyde first before they do that. Oh, yeah. I think you've got it.

But a Gordon-Duke backfield, especially where it's a team where they didn't use Duke as much as we thought they could have or should have, that would still be good for Melvin. And I just don't know if it would be quite as good for Kenyon Drake. Maybe that's just me looking at Melvin Gordon as a better running back talent overall for 2020 than Drake. Long term, he's not going to be. Drake still has more tread on the tire. But I'm just thinking about 2020. Is there a spot for Jordan Howard that would have you actually excited to draft him?

Houston. I think Tampa Bay as well. If he's the top guy anywhere, I'd be interested in drafting him. Yeah. He's still relatively young. Can we talk about his age yet? Tampa Bay was where I'd be interested in drafting him. Yeah. He's still relatively young. Can we talk about his age yet? Tampa Bay was where I would have said for Melvin. That's the place I'd like Gordon to go.

Yes. That would be great. I'm worried. I don't want any of these guys to go to Buffalo. I feel like Jordan Howard at Buffalo, he just kind of becomes a better Frank Gore. I'm going to go ahead and put him in the projections on the Buffalo Bills. He's going to score eight touchdowns.

Devin Singletary is going to have like 1,200 yards and five scores. And how many carries for Frank Gore inside the 10? A dozen. Yeah, that would be slap-o. Jordan Howard's 25, by the way. He'll be 26 in November. All right, wide receivers.

So, Amari Cooper, where do you want to see him go? I think he's the same in any top 15 passing offense for the most part. So, go back to the Cowboys if he wants. Yeah, I don't know that it really matters all that much, but I'd like to see him in Dallas because it's good for deck. Do you care? I gave the stats about the targets. I'd like to see him in Dallas because it's good for deck. Do you care? I gave the stats about the targets.

Basically, the same amount of targets as Michael Gallup. Do you want to see him go to a place where he is the unquestioned number one? And where would that... Buffalo? No, there's John Brown. No. That'd be bad. Philadelphia? He had 120 targets in 16 games, and one of them he was hurt.

You give him 150 targets in Buffalo, and one of them he was hurt. You give him 150 targets in Buffalo, I'd rather him be in Dallas. It was a... I jumped the gun. Jumped the gun. Okay. Philadelphia makes a lot of sense since they don't have any receivers that we can pencil in as surefire starters

to begin 2020. We know that Alshon's hurt. We know that our Stegow Whiteside and Greg Ward just don't really have a ton going for them. Cooper could be schemed up. He's a really good route runner when he's on the field, so that's something that could really help them out. He'd be the number one in Philly. It's an offense that I still think wants to throw the ball quite a bit, so I'd be excited if he went there with Carson Wentz. It's a close call for me between there and Dallas. I think I would take Philly over Dallas.

Other wide receivers, A.J. Green is going to be with Cincinnati unless the dream scenario for Heath comes true, and he goes to New England with Andy Dalton. But Robbie Anderson, Emmanuel Sanders, Brashad Perryman, Randall Cobb with a really nice bounce-back season. He averaged 15.1 yards per catch after four straight seasons averaging around 10 yards per catch. So probably not repeatable for Randall Cobb.

Then there's like Devin Funchess, Nelson Aguilar, Demarius Thomas. Not guys we're going to get excited about, but maybe Robbie Anderson or Emmanuel Sanders or Brashad Perryman. You know, what do you think about those guys? Where do you want to see those guys end up? And maybe it's more about the quarterbacks that they go to rather than the wide receivers themselves. Yeah, Robbie Anderson's the only one that I really am going to care about,

probably no matter where he goes. But I would be interested to see Robbie Anderson in Indianapolis opposite TY. I think he needs to be somewhere where there is a number one, or at least a number 1A, number 1B type of situation. I don't want him going somewhere where he's the number one. But yeah, Indianapolis

would be interesting. So what about Green Bay? Especially with Rivers. Green Bay would be interesting. Green Bay would be very, very interesting, as long as they don't go sign Austin Hooper, too. I don't they don't go sign Austin Hooper too. I don't think I want him there with Hooper and Adams, and there's been a lot of talk about that. And then Philadelphia, if Deshaun Jackson's not coming back.

Yeah, Philadelphia seems like a good spot if there's room for a number one wide receiver. Are you keeping your eye on Devontae Adams? Could an impactful signing or an early draft pick, more like a free agent signing I would think, and throw in a tight end. Do you think Devontae Adams right now has a lot to lose in the offseason?

I wouldn't use the term lot. I would say a little. He could lose a little bit if they make a big splash in free agency. And we're talking huge. We're austin hooper and maybe i don't know if robbie anderson would qualify if he ended up could you imagine like that would be ridiculous and green bay would probably be the odds on favorite to win the nfc and then like have aaron rogers as the passing arts leader for 2020 if all that happened and, a situation like that would be very bad for Devontae Adams. But Adams has done a good job being that number one guy.

He did it last year. They're going to do something to add there. I would imagine that they do it through the draft again and not in free agency, and that will keep his value nice and high. I think the key word was and. I'm okay with Robbie Anderson. I'm okay with Austin Hooper. I'm okay with Judy or whatever rookie wide receiver they want.

I'm not okay with two of those. Right. The magical dream team type scenario. Even Hooper Robbie I don't think is good for Adams. That's just a little bit bad for him. I don't think it's that bad. There's a big difference between Robbie Anderson and any receiver they had on that team last year. And there's a big difference between Austin Hooper and Jimmy Greer.

How big is the step up from Marquez Valdez-Scantling to Robbie Anderson and any receiver they had on that team last year, and there's a big difference between Austin Hooper and Jimmy Greer. How big is the step up from Marquez Valdez-Scantling to Robbie Anderson? And I know that might sound silly to you. Like 17 Marquez Valdez-Scantlings. I was going to say like maybe two steps up, not 17. I think it's enormous. Because 17 times zero is still zero. Brashad Perryman, his last five games, he had 70 or more yards in all five games.

His 16-game pace based on those five games 80 catches 1619 yards and 16 touchdowns uh you know on 118 targets he he was awesome he was a fantasy league winner that's for sure is there any scenario where you see yourself drafting Prashad Perryman? He could end up being the second place prize for people who miss out on Robbie Anderson because he's fast. I don't think he's got as good of hands, and I'm not so sure about the route running, but he's a big dude. He made some great plays last year. Talk about playing to try and boost your stock and in free agency perryman did exactly

that yeah there's there's probably some destinations where he could go where he could have a nice role probably get yeah look man buffalo they're probably looking for another receiver like that to try and stretch the field but i don't think i there's... If I rack my brain, there's probably a couple places where he can go, and I'd say, yeah, maybe with a late-round pick. But that's... We could make a list of probably about 10 teams where that would work for Perriman. Put him in Kansas City with Mecole and Tyreek,

and he's a best ball hero. But he's not somebody I'm going to draft. How about Baltimore? He was there already. I know. Bring him back. Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen. Yeah, I know. I'm good there with Willie Sneed.

They should be shopping, though, for a receiver. Well, it depends on how they feel about it. Emmanuel Sanders could be good there. As an upgrade over Willie Sneed? Robbie would be great there. As an upgrade over Myles Boykin? Yeah, if they don't like what they got out of Myles Boykin, then, yeah, Robbie could be really, really special there.

Tight ends. Austin Hooper, Hunter Henry. Hunter Henry's going to stay with the Chargers. Eric Ebron, Jordan Reed. These are free agents, so it's really Hooper, Ebron, and Reed that we're looking at here. It's really Hooper. Why? What do you think about Ebron?

You mean you're just not interested in the other guys? I don't think that Ebron's going to get an opportunity like he had in Indianapolis because he kind of botched that opportunity last year. And Reed, I hope he gets an opportunity, but I think teams are going to be very nervous about trusting in him, knowing what his injury history is. Yeah.

So Ebron's not a sure thing by any stretch. Reed's got the injury track record. Henry's getting franchised And Austin Hooper's going to be able to hit the road And it's a draft class Adam That doesn't have a lot of great tight ends in it So Austin Hooper's going to get it It's a good time to be Austin Hooper

It's a great time to be Austin Hooper I'd like to see Ebron or Reed Replacing Hooper Like if Ebron Lands in Atlanta Then we're drafting Eric Ebron lands in Atlanta, then we're drafting Eric Ebron again. The funny thing is, I want Ebron to be with Phillip Rivers in Indianapolis.

It's not going to happen. I'd like Austin Hooper to be with Phillip Rivers in Indianapolis. So, Ben, do you want Austin Hooper to go to Green Bay? In the last 10 years, Green Bay has had a good fantasy tight end twice. 2011, Jermichael Finley. 2015, Richard Rogers was a top 12 tight end.

He had eight touchdown catches. It's personnel as part of it, but do you want Austin Hooper on Green Bay? I'm fine with him on Green Bay. I'd rather him go somewhere like New England, where whoever's the New England quarterback is going to target their tight end a lot. I'd rather him go to Jacksonville England where whoever's the New England quarterback is going to target their tight end a lot. I'd rather him go to Jacksonville.

I just don't. The Aaron Rodgers to tight ends has not been a thing for a very long time. And even with your Michael Finley, it was for one or two years. I'm a little scared of it, but it's still Austin Hooper. He's still a top seven, top eight tight end if he goes to Green Bay. But I'm not in love with the fit there. I wouldn't be scared of, of that because Hooper I think is more receiver than blocker. So if you think of him more as a number two wide receiver for green bag,

and there's no scenario where Amari Cooper's with them or Robbie Anderson's with them and they draft a rookie, you know, I think that Austin Hooper would be very good there. I think Hooper would be good almost anywhere he goes. I think he's going to be a top 10 fantasy tight end anywhere. But if he's in Green Bay, I'm going to be pretty excited about him there because I think he's going to benefit from Devante Adams drawing some coverage away. I think they're going to be smart scheming him up. The biggest concern would be whether or not they're just going to keep

running the ball like they have been. And you heard Matt LaFleur talk about it at the combine, how he wants to, you wants to keep getting running backs. He thinks you need three of them to make it through a season. It's kind of frustrating if you're an Aaron Jones stockholder in Dynasty. And it could cost Hooper some targets, but I still think he's got plenty of good upside there. I mean, listen, he put up great numbers in Atlanta with Calvin Ridley, Julio Jones and Devante Freeman. But Matt Ryan, top three in red zone attempts, top three in passing touchdowns. He's always throwing in the red zone. That scares me a little bit. Would you rather have

Henry if he returns to the Chargers or Hooper on the pack? I think I'd rather have Hooper on the Packers, but I think they're both going to be that second tier of tight end. Agreed. Well, we kind of skipped over one of the most marquee free agents. Guy has been a lead at his position for several years now. So Heath, let me throw this at you. Where do you want to see Greg Zerline end up? He's an unrestricted free agent.

For the record, Heath is kind of smiling. That's kind of a smile on his face right now. Okay, that's all I hope for. So I think he appreciates what you're doing. He sees what you're doing here. Well, that's going to do it for today's show. I can't wait to talk to Ben Gretsch so I can talk to him about Omni Fantasy.

On Thursday, we're going to start looking at team needs. Team needs. Yes. And we'll talk to some beat writers as we get into our team needs. We'll read your emails, fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. If you have any questions that you want to leave via Apple Podcast, we'll start reading those as well. And, of course, we'll have that XFL episode for you later in the week.

Thanks, guys. Good day at the office. Go out and get some lunch. What are we having for lunch, in the week. Thanks, guys. Good day at the office. Go out and get some lunch. What are we having for lunch, Dave? Pizza. Pizza sounds good. Pizza sounds good. I had that for lunch yesterday.

I'll do a calzone today. For those of you, I had flatbread, which is basically pizza, last night for dinner. For those of you who are at home still listening at the 50-minute mark, how do you feel about cauliflower rice i don't like it

at all and i i know heath and ben do like it dave you can't have it by itself no i didn't have it by itself it was bad i just like give me actual rice you got you got to put stuff on it make a little stir fry out of it i would be interested in what percentage of our listeners make an E sound when they say cauliflower. That would be an interesting poll as well. I was very happy to see Will Brinson, Adam, yesterday say that he is not going to have time to put his son's basketball goal together. Who says a basketball goal? That was so weird. I mean, he has to put the hoop on the goal.

Very strange. Well, that's it for put the hoop on the goal. Very strange. Well, that's it for our strange show. Thanks for listening, everybody. We're back Thursday with some team needs. Thanks for listening. See you. Oh, Dave. Nah, nah, nah, nah. Dave, no. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.