Fantasy Football Today - BONUS: Antonio Brown to the Patriots! (Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: September 7, 2019

Instant reaction to the big news. Dave thinks Antonio Brown is right up there with Mike Evans, but Adam isn't so sure. What does this do to Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon? Is Gordon in the Will Fuller range now? Any impact on James White or Sony Michel? And wow, Tom Brady could be great.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Here we go! It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Let's go! Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Well, I think this should be the last Antonio Brown emergency episode.

Maybe. He's on the Patriots. What? this should be the last Antonio Brown emergency episode? Maybe? He's on the Patriots. What? What the hell is going on, Adam Azer? You know, I was expecting, Dave, to do a show about how he got cut, and gee, where could he end up? Where do you want to see him go? And right

before we went on, he signed with the Patriots. This is an emergency bonus podcast. If you want to hear about Antonio Brown, what his value is now, what about the rest of the New England Patriots? I think you know what to expect. You know what we're going to say about the Raiders, right? You've got to pick up Tyra Williams. You've got to pick up

Darren Waller. How could I forget his name? That's his name. I don't know how you could forget it. We've talked ad nauseum about that, but what a roller coaster with antonio brown's value huh yeah kind of kind of a incredible and yet kind of unpredictable end to antonio brown week although i guess if you said he's gonna get cut by the raiders you probably would have been like the patriots will probably just sign him right yeah and there were a bunch

there were already photoshops done of him in a Patriots uniform. They're out there on social media. My contention was that every contending team would consider having Antonio Brown. He's just too good of a player. And at this point, you've kind of got leverage on him to say, listen, you want to play this year. You want to make some money this year. You got to come over. You're not going to get a huge contract with a lot of guaranteed money this year. You got to come over. You're not going to get a

huge contract with a lot of guaranteed money and you've got to behave. And there are very few franchises that I think can create, or there are very few franchises that have the culture that the Patriots have where they just insulate players from getting into trouble or anything like that. And we'll see, this will be a test for them with Antonio Brown. But he's such a unique receiver. He's so dynamic. And now you're pairing him on the Patriots. This is going to be very, this is the best case scenario for Antonio Brown. Believe it or not.

Where do you value him? How do you value him right now? Remember how all preseason we talked about there were eight great receivers? Well, to me, it was like seven plus one. Seven plus Evans. Remember how all preseason we talked about there were eight great receivers? To me, it was like seven plus one, seven plus Evans. Well, now it's seven plus two or nine, however you decide to do your math. He's up there. You want to put Mike Evans ahead of him, that's fine.

I think I'm okay with that, but there's a part of me that's just so excited about the potential here that I might put him ahead of Mike Evans rest of season. Let me push back a little. Just tell me what you think. He's still an aging receiver who statistically showed some signs of decline last year. Yards per catch, but also I think

the percentage, his catch rate was down. He's on a team now that has Julian Edelman, who's going to get a lot of targets, Josh Gordon, James White, and they are going to run the ball among the most in the NFL. They were third in the NFL in rushing attempts last year. So I, and he's joining a new team,

and he doesn't know the playbook. So I would push back on that a little bit. Like, I still think Adam Thielen's better. I don't I guess I guess I can't say anymore that Julian Edelman's better. But like Edelman before like what I thought of Edelman before this is better than what I think of Brown now, if that makes sense. In other words, I still think he's like a mid third round pick if we were drafting today and not a mid second round pick. I think I think we could talk about Antonio Brown as a second round pick. Yeah, I mean, I can't. Yeah, I really do. And I think it would knock element back around maybe

two rounds in non PPR. And I think it hurts Josh Gordon a lot. I think he's going to be very up and down now. And yeah, I'm just thinking about how creative the Patriots can be with Antonio Brown, because they're not just going to use him as an outside receiver. They're going to move them all over the place. And even if he's an outside receiver, he's so skilled at going midfield and crosses, you know, crossing midfield, I guess I should have said all along. He's just so good at everything. And I think he's still quick. You watched the video of him practicing before the preseason game against Arizona. He didn't look slow. His feet look fine. Patriots are probably going to be very comfortable with whatever skill set he has left. I think he's got the upside to finish as a top five fantasy receiver,

and I think couching at his top nine just makes it a little safer and easier to digest. If you drafted him and you got him, congratulations. Yeah, you got lucky. Maybe, but you don't share my concerns. Like the Steelers last year threw 43.1 times per game, most in the NFL. The Patriots were 11th, 35.9. All right, which team had Antonio Brown? Seven times fewer.

Yeah, but philosophically, you know they're going to be a little bit different. You think they throw more now? The Patriots' philosophy is pretty simple, Adam. They're going to do what they think is best to attack the weaknesses of the other team. So if they take on a team that's got a great front seven and they're weak in the secondary, I guarantee you they're going to throw on them. And that might happen week one against the Steelers because I think the Steelers have bulked up nicely up front. and they're weak in the secondary, I guarantee you they're going to throw on them. Just like if they take on... And that might happen week one against the Steelers

because I think the Steelers have bulked up nicely up front. Now, Antonio's not going to play in that game, from what I understand. Yeah, so let me... So that's what I had thought. I've been out all day. I was not expecting to work today. I have to go in for the radio show tonight.

So if you're listening to this and you want more analysis, we should have a better picture of it tonight at 10pm Eastern. So listen to Ion Fantasy Football. But what I had read was that he's not eligible to play until week two. And I'm not sure a team signs him on Saturday and plays him on Sunday night. So even though it is the Steelers and that's amazing that the Patriots are facing.

Yeah. So I would not assume that he... I would not think he's playing until week two. Let me ask you how you feel about Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon now. And I went back, Edelman has been incredibly consistent. He's basically been first or second on the team in receiving in 2014, 15, 16, and 18. He led the team in receiving in 18. He led the team in receiving in 16. He was second in 15. He was second in 14. He led the team in receiving in 2013.

He did play with Gronkowski, but there were a couple years where Gronk got hurt. He never played with a wide receiver like Antonio Brown. He obviously played with Josh Gordon and was the best receiver on the team,

but this sucks. I don't know what else to say. But this, I mean, this sucks. I don't know what else to say. It's bad for everyone except for Brady. What if I told you that this wouldn't suck for him, though, and that he would still probably get, on average, nine targets per game? I think the touchdown.

So last year he had six touchdowns in 12 games, I believe. He was on pace for eight. And that's a lot for him. Eight touchdowns would have been good. That's where I think I thought he could replicate that without Gronkowski. I think now the touchdowns go down. The touchdown rate goes down for Edelman. I agree. I don't think the target

rate goes down, which means the catch rate won't go down because he's pretty consistent there. The yardage rate, I don't know if it gets much higher than where it's been. It's been right around 11.3. Last year it was 11. than where it's been. It's been right around 11, 11.3. Last year it was 11.5. I think it's going to be right around there. But I could see him finishing with four or five touchdowns.

So it's going to damper him a little bit. It might still keep him in the low-end number two receiver range in full PPR. Not quite a flexer in number three. So it kind of stings if you drafted him. I think this impacts Gordon significantly. I have so much Josh Gordon. I have so much Josh Gordon. I have so much Josh. I've got plenty of Josh Gordon, too. There's probably a team I've got where I've got Gordon and Brown. Well, but I think this just I think it caps Gordon. I think it eases

the transition for him back into football, too. It takes a lot of pressure off his shoulders. Now he's not going to have to be relied on for six, targets per game if the matchup dictates going to Antonio Brown that's fine it's it's for the pick from the Patriots perspective it's going to work out great for Gordon uh assuming that they keep him I think they are I don't think he's going to be the one that loses a roster spot because Antonio Brown comes there I could no way I would be pretty stunned if that were to happen but I do think that he's not going he's going to be their third receiver. How about that? That's amazing.

That's amazing. And I don't I mean, like James White. I don't know. I probably will. He still have his he'll still have his role here. Just just some philosophy. And this is just some football philosophy. I think what's going to happen is defenses are going to throw their hands up when they look at all the talent on the field. They're going to say, I guess we got to play zone,

which means that they don't want to get beat deep. So the safeties are going to play back. The corners are going to play about 10 yards off the line. They're not going to play man to man because I think they could get burned there. The safeties won't blitz as much, maybe an aggressive defense would. I bet Tom Brady sees 800 snaps minimum of zone coverage. That works out well for Edelman. That's why I think he's going to continue to get the targets. And it's going to work out okay for James White, but we knew already that James White wasn't going to have the type of year that he had last year. He had almost 1,200 yards and 12 touchdowns, something like that. Yeah, seven and five, yeah.

So he's going to fall back a little bit. But I still think that there's going to be plenty of opportunities for him because of the coverages that they face. That's what playing the matchups, giving, get taking what the defense gives you. That's what that is. So, and that might mean that there are going to be a couple of weeks where

Antonio Brown only gives you 60 yards, 70 yards. Cause the Patriots just will not force feed him quite like the, the Steelers did. But I think it's still going to be pretty close. There's still, yeah, I'm excited about Antonio Brown going to New England. When I said seven and five for white, I meant seven receiving five rushing touchdowns. It's just not happening again.

I think you're a little too high on Brown personally, but I don't think you're crazy. I mean, I think you could easily be right. I just think guy going to a new team, no training camp, you know, I lower my expectations for guys like that. And a lot of guys to get the ball to, a lot of mouths to feed there

in what could be a run-heavy offense. I mean, yeah. But obviously it's good. I mean, it's better than him being... I still think it's better than him being on the Raiders. Agreed. Even with less competition for targets. It's better than him being on the Bears. It's

better than him being on... I'm just thinking of contending teams off the top of my head. The Ravens were mentioned. The Ravens, sure. It's better than that. It's among the best places to get ended up. Okay, so let's do some trade chart stuff and then we'll end the show.

Julian Edelman or Chris Godwin? Godwin. Julian Edelman or Kenny Galladay? I still have Edelman a spot ahead of Galladay in PPR. I think they're even in non-PPR. Julian Edelman or Cooper Cupp?

You know how I feel about Cupp, so he's going to be higher. I didn't realize that. I knew you liked Cupp this week a lot. I didn't know you liked him season long as much as that. Yeah, season long. I think he's going to have his best year yet. Josh Gordon or Robbie Anderson? I've got Robbie a notch higher.

And I've got Gordon in the same neighborhood as Landry, Fuller, Kirk, Deedee. And even that might be a little too high for Gordon. Oh, man, I just don't know. That could get broken into a million pieces. Am I allowed to say, like, I just don't know? Am I allowed to be like, I don't know? I don't know how that's going to work. Usually when you get to that point and you go, I don't know,

that usually doesn't mean good things. You're right. So if that's how you're feeling about Josh Gordon, that probably means he's not about to have a great year. I really have had such bad luck, no pun intended, so far with fantasy, with Andrew Luck, because I didn't have a ton of luck, but I had Hilton, Josh Gordon. Josh Gordon, I think, is on more of my teams than almost anyone.

Will Fuller, too. And I think the Kenny Stills thing, I'm not sure, but it could be bad for him. Trades have not helped me. It's only going to be good for Stills when Fuller gets hurt. Or QT is really hurt. Yeah. Well, that's a topic for another show. Last question here.

Any impact on Sonny Michel? Oh, I think it'll help him. Can't hurt him. I don't think it necessarily raises his trade value. I think he stays right where he is as a number two fantasy running back, better in non-PPR than PPR.

But again, a receiver like Antonio Brown does wonders for the run game. Right. Because he's going to force coverage to play back, lighter boxes. The Patriots, am I allowed to change my Super Bowl pick? Yes, I think you are. Patriots are going back to the Super Bowl.

Saints, Patriots. So now the super-duper last question, the actual real question. If you were drafting today, Tom Brady would be QB? Oh, man, I didn't even think about that, but he'd have to be in the top 12. Yeah, he would. He would have to be. Absolutely. Roethlisberger or Brady? Brady. Winston or Brady?

Heath Sy Brady. Trubisky or Brady? Well, do you want me to answer this as Dave or Heath? Nobody. It does not.

Everybody knows the answer. Yeah. Goff or Brady? Last one. I think that's hard. Goff. All right. And I think I, you know, I still like Russell Wilson.

No, I think I'd go Brady over Russell Wilson. So that does it. He's a top 12 quarterback for me. All right. And I think I, you know, I still like Russell Wilson. No, I think I'd go Brady over Russell Wilson. So that does it. He's a top 12 quarterback for me. All right, man. Thank you, Dave. Thanks for hopping on from home. Appreciate it.

My pleasure. Thanks for listening, everybody. Hope this was helpful. Talk to you Sunday night, or maybe we'll talk to you in 30 minutes. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.