Fantasy Football Today - Breakouts TEs! The Must-Have Guys (08/18 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: August 18, 2022

Donate to St. Jude as part of our Draft-A-Thon! Bid on pre-draft calls with our experts, a spot in our Podcast League, a guest spot on our show and more! https://ebay.to/3p4Dc3Z Can Kyle Pitts justify a Round 3 average draft position? Can Dalton Schultz repeat as a Top 5 TE or maybe even reach new heights? Can Dallas Goedert break out now that A.J. Brown is in town? Do we prefer Cole Kmet or Pat Freiermuth late (15:45)? 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. Tight end breakouts. Yes, there are some. Welcome to the show, everybody. We're going to tell you our favorite tight ends to draft based on either just good values or they're going to have their breakout seasons. Adam Azer, Dave Richard, and Jamie Eisenberg. Oh, man, I already ruined my intro.

I had this funny intro. Oh, we got a special guest today. It's Dave Richard of CBS Sports. This is the only Bonanza breakout episode. We don't have an industry guest. Tell us about yourself, Dave. Where do you hail from? I'm from Osaka, Japan, and I'm a sailor by trade, but I also dabble in the fantasy arts. Oh, well, we look forward to hearing your very unusual philosophies on fantasy football. Who are the breakout tight ends? Let's start

with that. Jamie, who are the breakout tight ends? Let's start with that. Jamie, who are the breakout tight ends this year? I think there are three that have a chance to exceed expectations. Travis Kelsey, Mark Andrews. No. Kyle Pitts, I think, will live up to the hype this year. I don't know if he's going to exceed expectations because he's being drafted as a top three tight end, but I think he will justify it. I think we will see Dallas Goddard also have his career best season and take a step forward. And then I think we'll see Cole Komet

be that probably the biggest leap, you know, for a guy that didn't score any touchdowns last year, but has a chance to be in the conversation, to be among the target leaders at the position, but a top 10 PPR fantasy tight end this year.

Kyle Pitts, Dallas Goddard, Cole Komet. Now you did not say Dalton Schultz. I don't think Schultz will necessarily be that much better than he was a year ago. He was top five. We're not drafting him to be top five based on ADP. And we could see him still finish in that range again.

So all three of these guys, I think, will finish better than they finished previously. I mean, the funny thing is you were joking about Kelsey and Andrews. Kelsey's going at the end of round one, beginning of round two. Andrews is going at the end of round two, more like late round two, not quite the end, 22nd overall. I mean, there's definitely scenarios where they crush that adp but um they definitely have had their breakout seasons dave any breakouts to add or do you want to talk about the must-have tight ends well we could talk about the must-have but i'm i am a fan

of dalton schultz and i love the way that he was used toward the end of last season we haven't really talked about it um but last eight games of the year, over 13 PPR points per game. And there were a lot of games in there. Lamb was on the field. Omari Cooper was on the field. Michael Gallup was on the field. And Schultz still did his thing. There was a point last year where I said, well, don't be so excited about Schultz because the receivers were getting healthy in Dallas. And he ended up continuing to be a factor in the offense. We know Omari Cooper is gone. We're not sure when Michael Gallup's going to come back. We're not sure how good he'll be when he does come back. We feel really good about CeeDee Lamb, but outside of Lamb, I don't think we feel great about Jalen Tolbert. You'll take him with a late pick. I

don't know if there's another receiver there that's going to necessarily take target share significantly away from Dalton Schultz. I think he could see more targets this year and be an even bigger factor in the passing game. I'm taking him over George Kittle. I've made that move, and I might be getting there with Goddard, too. I know Jamie mentioned Goddard, and he could have a career year. I'm thinking between what's going on with Devontae Smith, and I'm continuing to be impressed by Jalen Hurts. I think I needed to see it from Hurts. Goddard, somebody who might also make a jump over Kittle for me in my rankings.

Two guys who can end up being very good, who you don't have to take with a top 50 pick. Goddard scares me because of A.J. Brown and Devontae Smith. I don't know what to make of their offense coming out and throwing, throwing, throwing, throwing, throwing, throwing against the Jets in the preseason. But I would still would think they would be a low pass volume offense. And I just know how much better he was without Zach Ertz on the field. You know, he wasn't doing really anything before the Zach Ertz trade.

And then he was pretty good after that. He was on about a thousand, thousand fifty yard pace after the Ertz trade. What's going to happen when it's AJ Brown, not Zach Ertz trade. And then he was pretty good after that. He was on about 1,000, 1,050-yard pace after the Ertz trade. What's going to happen when it's A.J. Brown, not Zach Ertz? I know one's a receiver and one's a tight end, but one guy is going to demand a lot more targets, I think, than Zach Ertz did. So that's why I get nervous.

You want to know what I think is going to happen? Because, by the way, I think the other calls are, not that anybody cares, but I agreed with all of them. So just picking Dallas Goddard, that's for a little bit of a disagreement, I guess. I think the coverage gets lighter for him. And I think the Eagles scheme him up.

I really do. Well, you think he was getting a lot of double coverage last year? I don't know. No, it wasn't that he was necessarily getting a lot of double coverage, but was Devontae Smith scaring coverage last year i don't know i mean no it wasn't that he was necessarily getting a lot of double coverage but i don't i it was was davante smith scaring defenses last year maybe his deep speed was and that might have changed how teams were covering them but again you look at the eagles really last year you want to talk about what the eagles were like last year they were running the ball we've talked about it we've talked about every time i bring up anybody in

philadelphia there's going to be more targets available because i think that they're going to end up throwing i mean if they can aj brown they've got to at least try to throw the ball more they're not going to go back to being a 56 percent running great team it's i think it's also you know when you look at what jalen hurts is going to do a lot of and when he's escaping the pocket and not looking to run, his first option is probably going to be A.J. Brown. His second option is probably going to be Dallas Goddard. You know, when you start to, you know, secondary level. I guess that's what scares me a little bit. I don't know that it won't be Devontae Smith.

It certainly could be Devontae Smith, but I also think it's going to be, you know, depending on which side of the field he's running to. You know, so Goddard's going to be everywhere for him. You know, those other two guys are going to be probably, unless they're lined up on the same side of the field, which I don't know how much they're going to do that. Um, but if they, if they're not, you know, if he's rolling, right, it's going to be one of them. He's rolling left. It's going to be the other one. Goddard's going to be probably someone he's looking at depending on how they design their plays, which he's such,

I think a safe target in the middle of the field for him. And you saw it in the touchdown catch. Yes. Yeah. So would you rather have Dalton Schultz? Let me just get some rounds here. Six? Yeah. Is Dalton Schultz in round six or Goddard in round seven? Yeah, that's pretty much what you're going to have to decide.

Or Hawkinson. Let me just tell you the three. Dal schultz 70th hockinson 79th goddard 89th what's goddard by mile i think i'll say goddard but what would say give me schultz one more time it was before so this is an nfc adp over the last week and it's just kind of funny how it works out dalton sch Schultz, 69th. TJ Hawkinson, 79th. Dallas Goddard, 89th. That's easy enough.

I'll say Schultz. And how far, Jamie, you said Goddard 20 picks after Schultz. How far after Schultz does he have to go before you say, I'd rather have Goddard at that value? Because obviously if they had the same ADP, you'd take Schultz. So how, like, was it a round later? You'd rather have Goddard at that value? Because obviously if they had the same ADP, you'd take Schultz. So how, like, was it a round later that Goddard?

I'd rather have Schultz at that value. Yeah, I'm sorry. How far past Dalton Schultz does Dallas Goddard have to be drafted for you to say, okay, that's when I want Dallas Goddard over Schultz? All around, full round. A full round, okay. Kyle Pitts. Jamie, where are you comfortable taking Kyle Pitts?

Round three. I don't mean to be too pedantic or whatever, but when in round three? Oh, back into round three. Okay. Dave, how about you? I moved him into round four. After being at the preseason game and kind of being reminded of what Marcus Mariota is as a quarterback

who's got great mobility, no doubt about it, but also not the greatest thrower in the world. He's okay, better than serviceable, better than a couple of quarterbacks that are going to start for teams around the NFL. His world's better than Jacoby Brissett, but I don't know if that's necessarily saying anything. And knowing that Drake London's going to get some targets in that offense too, I just wonder how much upside there really is for Kyle Pitts

with Mariota or Desmond Ritter at quarterback this year. I think he'll be okay. I think he's worth taking as the third tight end. He just got 1,000 yards last year with Matt Ryan. To me, as a passer, Mariota's a downgrade compared to Matt Ryan. But I still think he can get close to, if not over 1,000 yards, and the touchdowns will be better. I just don't know if he's worth that third-round capital

where you can get some really good running backs and wide receivers in the same spot. And I just want to say that, you know, people are going to compare Matt Ryan to Marcus Mariota. Last year was one of the worst seasons of Matt Ryan's career. The Falcons threw for just under 4,000 yards, which is, I think, about middle of the pack. I think it ended up being about middle of the pack, but they threw for 20 touchdowns to 15 interceptions in 17 games. And Matt Ryan played in all of them. He didn't throw every pass, but he threw the vast, vast, vast majority.

So he had a really bad year. So Kyle Pitts, as a rookie, had 1,026 yards with a pretty bad version of Matt Ryan. So I'm not saying, you know, I understand the points against him. I understand the Mariota points. I don't think Mariota's throwing for 4,000 yards. Even though it wasn't a good year for Matt Ryan, it's still better than what we expected. I don't know if Mariota and Ritter are combining for more than 20

passing touchdowns. But at least if you want to believe in Kyle Pitts, just know he didn't go from a great passing offense last year. He went to at best, he went from best, a middle-of-the-pack passing offense to whatever they were this year. No, it was below average. I think also what we're going to see based on reports out of Atlanta

is not as much of him lined up outside and him playing a little bit more closer to line of scrimmage where he's going to get matched up with some more linebackers and safeties. That would be a huge advantage for him. I think there were some plays in the preseason. I don't know if this means anything, but in the preseason game where he was lined up like a tight end. I have not read a single bad report.

Every report I read is Kyle Pitts is killing everyone in true. You want to know why? Because the Atlanta defense is terrible. No, it's because Kyle Pitts is amazing. Kyle Pitts, you don't think so? He's amazing, bro. If he gets north of eight touchdowns, he will be the number one tight end in fantasy this year.

Could be, but I don't know about that. He could still be number two. He could be number two. Because, you know, the question, Jamie, right, was who are the must-haves? And maybe it's just Kelsey and Andrews. Because, I mean, Kelsey, no Tyreek Hill. Holy cow. must-haves and maybe it's just kelsey and andrews because i mean kelsey no tyree holy cow i don't i don't anticipate cowpits getting that many touchdowns but my god if he does you're gonna

be thrilled with him yeah but you don't think he's gonna have more yards than kelsey do you i don't think he's going to have more yards than kelsey but i don't again if he if he's scoring at that level that means he's dominating at that level, which means that it's going to be close. This goes back to something that I want to bring up, and we should bring this up more often when we talk tight ends. I think this is a decision that fantasy managers have to have before they go into the draft.

How badly do they want to have that advantage over the rest of their league at tight end? And if you go, yeah, I really love to have an advantage, and I think I can find running backs and wide receivers later on and this feels like the year where you might be able to do that then then focus on kelsey and focus on andrews and focus on pits too just in case you miss out but go after those guys don't be afraid to take kelsey late round one andrews mid to late round two that depends on what your draft slot is if you want to have that advantage in your league it's a no-brainer in tight end premium leagues yeah the sweet spot

for pits i think is if you are in the 9 10 11 12 range and somebody takes kelsey there and then andrew goes in round two and then he makes it back to you somewhere in the three four turn all right we're gonna take a quick break here when we come back we'll talk a little bit more and then Andrew goes in round two, and then he makes it back to you somewhere in the 3-4 turn. All right, we're going to take a quick break here. When we come back, we'll talk a little bit more about Cole Komet and Pat Fryermuth, perhaps. And, oh, before we take a break, please join us on August 31st

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I'll pay for that. Pete Prisco would not pick up the phone if I called. I would pay $10 just to have a phone call with Pete Prisco. So we're going to take a quick break here on Fantasy Football today, finish up with our tight end discussion right after this. All right, welcome back, everybody. Let's talk about Cole Komet and Pat Fryermuth. And who do you guys like better?

Because they're basically back-to-back in average draft position. Dave, I'll give you the first word. Fryermuth or Cole Komet? And do you feel like you have to have either of them? This was a switch I made before training camp started, I believe. I put Komet ahead of Fryermuth, especially in full PPR. We talk about this all the time. If you can get a tight end who could be first or second on his team in targets, go get them.

Those are usually the guys that are good in fantasy look at the receivers in chicago there's darnell mooney and there's velas jones tajay sharp byron pringle oh my god it's terrible but there's also cole thomas shaffer jack apatordo oh i didn't know thomas shaffer was on the bears that's pretty cool yeah all the vikings fans hate him for it. Fields had nine games where he started and ended last year. Tight ends had 15 plus PPR points in three of them. Komet had two, or I'm sorry, with, yeah, 15 plus. And Komet had two with 13 or 14 PPR.

And none with 15 plus PPR. It was other guys on the team. So that's a signal to me that tight ends are kind of in the wheelhouse of what Justin Fields is looking for, and Cole Kometz is somebody who's going to get a lot of targets in that offense. Compare that to Pittsburgh, where going into training camp, we knew that Deontay Johnson and Chase Claypool would be there. So that already puts Pat Fryermuth really out of range of being second best in targets.

But now George Pickens has stepped up. So maybe Fryermuth ends up being fourth in targets. He's going to need to score a lot of touchdowns. Oh, Najee, of course. So Friar Muth is someone, late pick, I don't necessarily mind. I think it's okay. But otherwise, yeah, I think you move on from him. And I don't know where you've got him right, Jamie,

but I'm starting to think that Dawson Knox is a better bet than fire mute. Uh, I have fire with the Knox basically back to back. You know, I, I think as, as I said on the bus show, Adam with,

with Knox, once you get past, I know he said, it was kind of the, the, the, the line. Um,

I think him at belongs in that group just because of what he should do as a, as a risk, just, just with his reception totals. Um, he'll find the end zone certainly more than zero times. But I think when you look at Fryermuth, Knox, Hunter Henry, Robert Tunyon,

they all feel very similar. They're all going to be touchdown dependent. They all have the chance to be in that eight-touchdown range. Knox and Fryermuth did it last year. I think it was eight and seven for both of them. Henry was eight. So you're fine if that's what you're chasing. And it's not bad to chase those guys if we go great or late. You know, comparing those guys, Fryermuth and Knox, for example, to what could be Irv Smith, who I think is probably more along the lines of those same type of guys,

touchdown dependent. But what could be Gerald Everett? What could be David Njoku? What could be whoever you want to put in this category? Alberto, whoever you think is going to have that type of season that could maybe take a leap and be one of the guys that you put in the breakout category. But I think if you just look at it, okay, once you get past Kmet, who has a chance to be touchdown relevant, that's where Pat Frymuth comes into play.

All right, two things to remember as we finish our bonanza. As Dave talked about, Juan a tight end who's top two on his team in targets over the last six seasons, there has only been one tight end who has finished in the top five without being first or second on his team in targets.

And that was Robert Tunyon two seasons ago. And he was only three targets away from being second on his team in targets. And he had Robert Tunyon two seasons ago, and he was only three targets away from being second on his team in targets. And he had probably the luckiest tight end season I've ever seen. And the other thing that you should know is that Dawson Knox led all tight ends in goal-to-go routes run. And I wonder if he could be

the second guy in the last seven years to finish as a top five tight end without being first or second on his team, because he just might catch all those first or second on his team in targets. might catch all those first or second on his team and targets. He might catch all those touchdowns, but you should not draft him as ADP going in the top 100. That's wild, as we talked about on busts on Wednesday. Thank you to all of our analysts and the guests that we had on for this Breakouts Bonanza.

I hope you all love it. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not doing kickers? It's next week. Next week. I want to see how the dust settles a little bit. We still have some competitions. You know, I want to see what happens in Dallas

and see how we update the rankings. Thanks for watching, everybody. Thanks for listening. Talk to you tomorrow with a live mock draft with listeners on Fantasy Football Today.