Fantasy Football Today - 🚨 DeAndre Hopkins Released! Best Destinations! (05/26 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: May 26, 2023

Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  The Cardinals have released DeAndre Hopkins and we're discussing if this is good or bad for his Fantasy value. Plus, where do we want to see him go? Where does our audience want him to go? The Bills? Chiefs? Broncos? Giants? Bears? Rams? Anywhere else??? 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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Your game time tastes like miller time learn more at millerlight.ca must be legal drinking age deandre hopkins will turn 31 years old on june 6th was this an early birthday present the arizona cardinals have released DeAndre Hopkins. He is now free to sign anywhere he wants, and he recently talked about some of the quarterbacks that he admires in the NFL, so maybe he can end up

with one of them. It was kind of who you'd expect to be on the list. I'm Adam Azar with Dave Richard and Jamie Eisenberg. Hopkins was the number nine wide receiver per game last year, and that was with a game where he had one catch for four yards on 10 targets from Trace McSorley. He's been terrific. He's, you know, Jamie and I talked about it. Borderline Hall of Famer, perhaps. But is he at the end of his rope? The first question is, Dave, Jamie, start with you, Dave.

Is this a good thing that he was released? Is this a good thing for Hopkins fantasy value? He's currently a round four pick in fantasy pros, ADP consensus, ADP, I believe wide receiver 21. I think it'll end up moving the needle a little bit in the direction toward the top. I don't think he's ever going to go back to being a top 10 type of fantasy

wide receiver, at least not on draft day, but the chance to go and play in a better offense. I think it absolutely helps him. It's just a matter of, is he going to an offense that's so loaded with receiving talent that his target share suffers because he needs volume. He needs volume and he needs touchdowns. Jamie, is it a good thing? Is there actually a situation, a realistic situation that could be worse for him than starting probably with Colt McCoy for a chunk of the season?

Well, first off, it's a great thing because he gets to choose his own fate, you know, so he can't complain about, you know, being traded somewhere. I know he had a no trade clause, but if he wants to go play for whatever money is going to be the deciding factor, you know, that's his choice. You know, the teams that he listed don't exactly have a lot of cap space. Most teams don't at this point, you know, so if he wants to go to Kansas City or Buffalo or Philly or any of these teams, he's going to have to make a decision or he's going to have to be creative with the money and how it happens. So I like the fact that he was released as opposed to being traded.

Does it help his fantasy value going to a new team? Sure. I mean, yes. Colt McCoy clearly was going to feature him. Kyler Murray was going to feature him. Murray was going to be the quarterback there, and Arizona was going to feature him. Kyler Murray was going to feature him. Murray was going to be the quarterback there, and Arizona was going to feature him. But, you know, he goes to the Chiefs.

This would be the greatest situation possible for him because, I mean, you know, you look at the receiving core there, and yes, Kadarius Toney has some upside, and maybe Sky Moore has some upside, and Racy Rice and all these other guys that are there, he becomes the 1A, you know, behind Travis Kelsey, you know, so to Dave's point, yes, he's not going to necessarily get the same type of targets that he needs, but the quality of targets would be amazing.

And so, you know, pairing him with my homes and Andy Reed, that would be, you know, to me, the best case scenario, I would still consider him a top 15 wide receiver, uh, Buffalo where he would, you know, push Gabe Davis to, you know, the background and, and be the starter opposite Stefan Diggs, uh, probably be the next best situation, just knowing what that offense looks like and what his opportunities would be. It would be a, you know, a negative for a guy like Stefan Diggs, but, you know, then you start to just, you know, go down the list of the teams that he listed and, you know, Jalen Hurts would be great with, it'd be great for Jalen Hurts if he gets DeAndre Hopkins,

but you start to lose with those other guys there. Baltimore, we just don't know how that would work. I would probably put that third behind the other two situations just because he would automatically be the number one receiver there. Los Angeles for the Chargers, so many mouths to feed there too. It makes a lot of sense, the teams that he listed with the quarterbacks that would be throwing to him. But to me, it's Kansas City with a bullseye,

and hopefully that's where he ends up. I'll tell you where I want to see him end up. I know he didn't mention this guy. He didn't mention Jared Goff. But the Lions, according to OverTheCap.com, the Lions have the third most salary cap space right now. The Chiefs and the Bills have the second and third lowest amount of salary cap space.

The Bucks have the least amount, then the Chiefs, then the Bills. So I know those are definitely teams that are going to be rumored to be getting in the sweepstakes for Hopkins. You can always restructure some contracts to create some space. But, man, I would love to see that on the Detroit Lions. I think he'd be great. Dave, what about you? You got a place in mind where you'd love to see DeAndre Hopkins go?

Not yet. I think about, without putting an actual team to it, Adam, I'm thinking, all right, I know he's not going to get the 30% target share that he's had for the last five seasons. It's going to be closer to 22, 23. Why? Because if, well, I guess you're right. It could be on a team like Detroit where he could actually soak up probably

close to 30% there, for example, but I'd rather it short of that short of him going to a team where you can get 30% of the target share. Let's get them on a team that just throws a lot. That puts the ball in the air a ton. I think Buffalo is certainly one of those teams. Kansas city is clearly one of those teams, although they don't do it as much as I think they really want to. Uh, the chargers would be one of those teams, but they don't really need them unless they're going to move on from, uh, it would have to be Mike Williams. They just changed the contract for Keenan Allen and they drafted Quentin Johnson. I don't think that's happening.

I, the Ravens also as an option that would be surprising based on what they've already invested in their receiving core. So I haven't really thought about a specific team, but it's, it's the same too, that you'd want him to go to. And that's Buffalo and Casey. You can see the bears potentially in the mix, you know, just trying to, you know, give their young quarterback some, some more help um the patriots will be sort of the the team i think that gets especially with but you never know i mean that was one of the the scenarios of of trade possibilities then there'll be some you know wild card i could see you know oh look the dolphins are

all of a sudden in the mix for DeAndre Hopkins or the Browns, clearly with Sean Watson being in the mix for Hopkins. Maybe the Jets, Aaron Rodgers wants something, and they try to figure out a way to make it work. So there's going to be probably a surprise team, but based on what he said, based on the need, to me Kansas City just makes so much sense.

Is there a scenario where you could see yourself ranking Marquise Brown ahead of DeAndre Hopkins? And by the way, when Hopkins was not playing last year, Marquise Brown was the guy. I think it was only four games. He was maybe six. He was a top 10 wide receiver. He was terrific. That was with Kyler Murray. Was there any scenario where you could see yourself ranking Marquise Brown ahead of Hopkins? I think only if he ended up in a situation with the Patriots and Kyler Murray was ready to go week one, it would be close. But that's about it. Okay.

Agreed. Yeah, it was the first six games of the year. He was the number five wide receiver in PPR, number seven per game. That was Marquise Brown. He had 64 targets in those six games. So he was on pace for 122 catches and over almost 1400 yards on 181 targets but again that was with kyler murray um who was very good in those six games through for on pace for over 4100 yards um okay by the way the bears i think you mentioned they

have the most salary cap space according to the cap um but remember, man, teams can kind of fiddle with this a little bit. And Hopkins is going to have a fresh contract. So he could sign a two-year deal where the first year of the contract barely touches the salary cap. And the second year, it's like backloaded. And then a team will just deal with that later. But almost any team can go and sign him

and have no problems with cap space. Okay. So if he goes to the bills, Stefan digs, when would you draft digs? When would you draft Hopkins? Digs would still be backend number one receiver, but now we're close to the top five that he is now.

Correct. And Hopkins would be probably somewhere between 15 and 20. I basically have Hopkins ranked as if he's in Buffalo right now. I've got him 15th because I figured he wasn't going to stay in Arizona. I would probably put digs in that 10 to 12 range. Just like, uh, just like Jamie suggested low end,

number one wide receiver. I think wherever Hopkins goes, the negative effect on the other receivers will involve obviously target volume. They're not going to be as much of a hog and touchdowns because I think that's what Hopkins still does best. Would anybody like to hear what DeAndre Hopkins had to say about the Buffalo Bills when he talked to someone, a friend of mine, let's take a look at the footage here as they both hold very small microphones in their hands. Oh, the Buffalo Bills love everything about the organization. Love Josh Allen, you know, Let's take a look at the footage here as they both hold very small microphones in their hands.

I love the Buffalo Bills. I love everything about the organization. I love Josh Allen. I love Stephon Diggs. I love all those guys. You kind of went on about Buffalo. I'm not asking a question. I'm just making a statement.

Oh, no. You made a lot of complimentary statements about Buffalo. Yeah, I think because I think I'm undefeated against Buffalo in my career. But I like the organization, what they're doing. They always give me a hard test. You know what that answer was from? One of the questions I asked him? Yeah. What was the best play of your career?

Right. He talked about the Hail Mary catch against Buffalo. Right. But he could have just stopped after talking about the Hail Mary catch. And instead, he just goes on and on about Buffalo. I thought that that was very interesting. There was another thing that he did that day when we talked to him.

It was with Brian McFadden. McFadden asked him to give body language for his answers instead of actually speaking. And he named four teams where he could go to, what do you think of these teams? Use your body language to tell me. And with the Bills and the Chiefs, DeAndre looked pretty excited.

And with the Patriots and the Jets, Deandre looked pretty excited. And with the Patriots and the jets, Deandre Hopkins did not look very excited. So I honestly, I do think, but that Buffalo is going to be where he ends up with Kansas city, probably in the mix. Did the jets have Aaron Rogers at that point? They did not.

So that could change things. Okay. So is there any scenario where Deandre Hopkins becomes a second round pick for you guys? No. Okay. I don't think so. Cause that would mean that he'd have to leapfrog the likes of Olave,

Devante Smith, T Higgins, Jalen Waddle. This is in full PPR, non PPR. He won't sniff it. I don't know if there's a place. And where do you think Rondale Moore and or Greg Dortch or anyone else, a tight end

in that offense, let's talk about, Jamie, the Arizona pass catchers. With Marquise Brown? Yeah. I think Brown comes into the mix probably as early as round five. I think when you start to talk about the high-end number three receivers, I don't know if he's going to crack the top 24,

especially with the uncertainty surrounding Kyler Murray. Then I think it comes down to, for me, it'll probably be Rondell Moore right now, but I want to see what happens come training camp, because I think this is going to be a much different offense. We can sit here and say all the blowing things about Brown, but you know, you have Kyler Murray coming back from his knee injury. You have a new system. You have, you know, what I think is going to be a slower paced scenario for them.

And so, uh, where does Michael Wilson come in the rookie that they drafted? Where does Greg Dortch, you know, factor in if he is going to be the, the fourth receiver or the third receiver? I think Moore should still hopefully play in the slot, and that will, I think, benefit him the most. And maybe Dortch is just kind of the backup to him there, like we saw last year when one was out, the other was still great. But Brown is really the only one that I'm interested in right now

in terms of from a, I think you want to go target standpoint. You know, we're onto more and more of a late-round flyer. And then we'll see also with the tight ends. I mean, Zach, it's got to come back from his ACL tear. Trey McBride, I think should have a chance to, you know, step forward, especially if it's going to miss the time. So that's also got to be in place. So this, this offense, you know, you've heard me say it time and again,

I would probably see if, if, if Kyler Murray's not ready to go and they get off to slow starts on the public, I wouldn't play him. I would just take it as a lost year, stockpile draft picks, get maybe the first and second overall picks in the draft because you have Houston's pick two and just go out and try and restock the cupboards in 2024 and see what you can make a run in the next couple of years when Kyler's a full year removed from his ACL and a hundred percent. I'm thinking in full PPR, I would take a stab on Rondale by the end of round 10. Is that too soon? Is that too rich for your blood, Jamie? It's too soon for me, but again, if Kyler's ready to go, that changes things a little bit.

This is one of the offenses that I can't say for sure that I know what they're going to do. I know they're not going to be what they were last year, so they should use tight ends more. I think it's going to be West coasty. I agree about the pace of play, but I think their defense is terrible. And I think that they're going to have a really hard time stopping teams. And that means that they're going to be throwing probably more than they'd like, regardless of who their quarterback is all season long. I also think I don't love the schedule for Trey McBride as a late round flyer.

Certainly someone in tight end premium leagues. I'd probably go with him over hurts. Cause I'm not sure it's blaze this year. And I think he's taken his last down with Arizona. Remember he's coming off the ACL. Jamie, you mentioned that he's also got a fat contract number. So if the Cardinals can get out of that and cut him,

I think they would. All right. I'm going to read some comments here. Just real quick. We'll go through this. It'll be our last segment. Some of the audience have suggested some teams. You tell me if you like it.

Max says Tennessee. No. No. I do not like that. Bears. It's definitely interesting, you know, just with the hope that there's the step forward for Justin Fields. And, man, that would be a nice receiving core of Hopkins and, uh,

and DJ Moore and Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool, Cole Comet. That's, that's pretty encouraging, but I don't know if he goes there. It's better for fields than it is for Hopkins. Yes. Denver. It'd be surprising, but again, you know, it would make Russell Wilson that much more attractive. Would he replace Cortland Sutton in that office? And Jerry Judy.

I think they need you. They need speed. I think Judy can still give him that. I'd, I'd probably move them down just a little from 15. John says the giants. So you have your alias. That's good.

We found your burner account. I actually just took him down because that's definitely not my alias. I think he's too tall for the Giants. You know, Darius Slayton has some height, just so you know. So does Hodgins. I'd probably move him down a little bit

if he went to the Giants. That's an interesting one. I mean, we don't have to talk about them. They don't have a ton of cap space, but I could see them going. Doesn't matter. They can backload the contract and sign them. Panthers. That'd be bad, but I mean, you get targets that you want.

I actually love it. They need a number one guy. They need somebody that the quarterback can lean on. I don't think Hopkins would love it because he's not going to win a ring, but Bryce Young's a pretty good thrower. I think that that could be one where he could get that 30% target share that we're looking for. Cleveland, last one, Cleveland reunion with Deshaun Watson.

It's definitely interesting. He would... Would he be the one or the 1A? I'd probably say he's still the one ahead of Cooper. Noah would not be my favorite landing spot. Okay. Higher than the Giants, lower than Carolina and Buffalo and Kansas City.

Oh my gosh. I would much rather have him on Cleveland than Carolina. For sure. I'm just thinking about target volume in Carolina. I'd rather have a better quarterback. Yeah, I mean, such a different. I think Young's pretty good. Just saying. So,

yeah, first of all, okay, Dave, I agree. Tell Adam cap space is BS when they sign new contracts. It's not BS if the Chiefs have less than a million dollars in cap space right now. The Chiefs have $653,000 in cap space. They would have to restructure some contracts. It's kind of BS. I get that.

But still, you're coming from a position of strength if you're the Bears and you have $32 million in cap space. I'm looking at their situation right now. They could either extend or restructure Chris Jones, and they'll be absolutely fine. Okay. Thomas Schaefer is yelling at us. We have to talk about the Rams.

He even commented in the chat, Rams. I thought about the Rams as a possible destination. This is the type of thing that they might try to do because it doesn't take any draft capital to sign them, but they're, they're low in cap space. Let's say that that doesn't matter. Um,

I think it would be a good thing as long as Stafford stays healthy, knowing them, they'd probably throw in a first round pick just to like the free agency pool. All right. Thanks guys. Thanks, guys. Now I'm going to wish you another very good weekend. We'll talk to you on Tuesday on Fantasy Football Today.