Fantasy Football Today - 🚨 Deshaun Watson to the Browns; Juju to the Chiefs (03/18 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: March 18, 2022

If Deshaun Watson is not suspended, will he be a Top 5 QB? Is Amari Cooper a Top 12 WR now? And we talk about Juju Smith-Schuster's potential with the Chiefs and where we would like to see Baker Mayfield end up. Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday 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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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Bonus pod. Last time we saw Deshaun Watson, he was Houston Texan. He also led the NFL in passing, most passing yards in the NFL. And he's been a top five quarterback three straight seasons. And the season, his first season in the NFL, he was number one per game. He had a ridiculous rookie year. But Deshaun Watson is obviously a mega stud. He does not go to a team that throws

the ball a lot, maybe even less than a Bill O'Brien team. They've been 28th in pass attempts each of the last two years. Maybe that changes. The Cleveland Browns acquired Deshaun Watson, and we're going to break it down for Watson, Baker Mayfield, where he could end up, Murray Cooper, obviously. And, uh, let's get into it. I'm Adam Azer with Dave Richard and Heath Cummings. Dave, where's Deshaun Watson in your rankings? I, uh, I am contemplating moving him into the top five, but it's, I wonder if a little bit of that is just being excited over him getting to huge contract and a huge deal in Cleveland. I do expect Cleveland to throw the ball more just because they've got Deshaun Watson there. It doesn't make sense for them to try and protect their quarterback, almost hide their passing game and lean on their run game.

But I think that there's all kinds of upside for Deshaun Watson. And there's definitely a sense that I have. I remember that 2020 season, 26 fantasy points per game. As long as that suspension, if one comes, as long as it's not like six games, eight games, something like that, I'll be real excited about him being there. And I would put him close to the top five. Yeah, I had him fifth in the first run of the projections and that's on a per game basis we don't know how many games he's going to play but it's historically one of the

best passers over the first four years of a career of any player in nfl history and oh yeah he's gonna run for four or five hundred yards and five touchdowns as well um there's a little bit of risk about how many times he gets to throw it but i just think my goodness the browns and they paid for it but um if i'd say top five quarterback on a per game basis we will adjust his redraft ranking based on how many games he's going to miss this year he has never other than his rookie year when he just kind of had these outlandish numbers over, I want to say, six starts. He has not finished higher than sixth per game in six points per passing touchdown leagues.

It's been six, six, and seven, and it's been four, four, and six. That's his per game finish in six points per passing touchdown leagues. There's no reason why he couldn't do it. He's so good, but he hasn't had a crazy outlier touchdown season. And he's been on a team that's,

I don't think they've ever ranked higher. The Texans had ever ranked higher. Well, he had a crazy outlier touchdown half season. He had a 9% touchdown rate his rookie year. Right. Which is, which is,

would be the best ever. Like, to be honest, his career rate is 5.9% for a lot of quarterbacks. We spent a lot of time talking about Derek Carr earlier. If he had a 5.9% touchdown rate in a season, that would be a crazy outlier touchdown season for Derek Carr. That's Sean Watson's career average.

Forgetting about the rate, what's his career high in touchdown passes? Like 32 or something? 33. Right. So he hasn't had that 40 touchdown season, and he just hasn't thrown the ball enough. But that's maybe the only thing that's really prevented him from being QB1. He's got all the makings of it, but I don't know

that he has that upside in Cleveland, right? Do you feel like there's any chance of him being QB1? Realistic chance? It's possible. Because he could put together that outlier season. And I think the fact that it's possible puts him

into the top five conversation. Okay. Well, look, I also don't think the Browns are done adding pieces. We're happy he's back. I think we probably wanted him to go to a different offense, but they could change. They've got Deshaun Watson now, not Mayfield, who we'll talk about in a minute.

What about Amari Cooper? Can I make a top 12 argument for Amari Cooper? Can he be a top 12 argument for Amari Cooper? Can he be top 12? I love the fact that you asked Dave where he's got Deshaun Watson, and Dave says, I'm toying with putting him at top five, and I had him fifth. And then we go to Amari Cooper, and you say,

could I make a case for him as a top 12 wide receiver? And in the first run of the projections, he came out as wide receiver 12. Hey, there's the case. Like, if we're going to go into the season, and Dave's right, they might add somebody else. But if they're going to go into the season with Cooper as the one, and Donovan Peoples-Jones as the two, and Najoku as the tight end one,

then I think Cooper might very well be a top 12 wide receiver at the end of the year, at least on a per-game basis. Now, he'll probably have some duds, and he'll probably have some monster games. That's what Amari Cooper has done throughout his career. But third-round pick at this point for me. I got him in the fourth, but it's early fourth.

Okay. So, Lam or Cooper. And there's more breaking news. Oh, hold on. Oh, Juju to the Chiefs. All right, good. Lam or Cooper. Let's revisit that argument.

It's still Lam for me. I'll probably go with Cooper. Man, I've got I have Cooper 12 and Lamb 13. Okay, Lamb I mean, people might laugh at this, but Lamb or Debo Samuel?

Debo for now. I'm sorry, Cooper or Debo. My bad. Cooper or Debo. Debo for now. For me. Debo. All right. I'll take Debo. I'll take Lamb over both.

We'll talk Juju in just a second. Where do you want to see Baker Mayfield go? The USFL. Come on. No. There's lots of places. Like, if he went to Carolina, best thing that ever happened to DJ Moore.

If he went to Seattle right now, a lot better than what could possibly be for Lockett or DK. So I'd be thrilled if you went to either one of those places. Or if Jameis gets away from the Saints, Baker would do just fine with Michael Thomas too, I think. Alright, Jamie's here. Hey, Jamie.

Juju! Yeah, this is the Juju podcast now. Real quick, we're wrapping up on Deshaun Watson and Cooper. Where are you going to rank them, you think? The suspension is going to determine, obviously, where Watson gets ranked. I had him at 12 right now. I'll probably keep him in that spot, maybe move him up to 10. But it's Matthew Stafford, Rodgers, Watson.

I'm trying to think who I have at 10. Jalen Hurts, those guys, Joe Burrow, they're all in the, you know, kind of the same mix. If you tell me there's a six-game suspension, you know, Watson will probably be behind those guys. If it's less than a six-game suspension, then I think, you know, he moves up a little bit. But you have to obviously bake that into what you're looking at with Deshaun Watson. Because missing time is clearly not fun. But, you know, 11 games of what he can give you should be special. Amari Cooper, I wanted no part of with Baker Mayfield.

Now give me all the Amari Cooper I can take. You know, we'll see if they bring Will Fuller. I wouldn't be surprised if that happens. Donovan Peoples-Jones, somebody you have to look at as a late-round flyer. Better for Najoku clearly as well, especially with Austin Hooper not there. So everybody wins in Cleveland with the upgrade at the quarterback spot. Okay, so what if I just told you zero game suspension? Where would you rank Watson and Cooper?

Five. Five, Right. So I think Heath and I are ranking him as if he's not suspended and Jamie's ranking him as if he's suspended. No, I was, I was saying my projection, I just did it to have a per game basis.

I just did it for the full season. I'll probably rank him like eight or something. I think behind Kyler is probably the spot where I'll put him right now. Assuming four to six game suspension. Okay. I won't ask Aaron Rogersgers or Deshaun Watson anymore. No, it's not a question anymore. Okay, then.

How about Baker? Well, you guys talked about Baker Mayfield. Okay, he'll be a number two quarterback. Let's see where he ends up. But how about Juju Smith-Schuster? Jamie, you can have the first word on this one. Going to the Kansas City Chiefs. What do you think?

This was not the best landing spot for his fantasy value. it's clearly the best chance for him to uh you know get a ring um but it's uh you know it's gonna be interesting they haven't had a player I think of his of his caliber in that spot um you know we've been hoping for Mikko Hardman we thought okay maybe Josh Gordon can reinvent himself no um Byron Pringle no um you know the Marcus Robinson no you know so he'll take away from Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelsey a little bit. But I think Juju, you know, you're hoping that he can rejuvenate himself and still be a significant playmaker. I just don't know if those things are going to go hand in hand.

You know, I think he'll obviously make a lot of plays for Patrick Mahomes. And, you know, man, that AFC West is – I don't want to watch anything else. I just want to watch the AFC West all season next year. Yeah. So he's, he's a number four fantasy receiver. I don't think you can, you know,

rank him higher than that. Yeah. Well, the biggest winner in all of this, just from the start from Wilson getting traded out is any, any person who is a fan of an NFC team. I just, you now,

this is like being a fan of the Eastern conference of the NBA 10 years ago, whatever, when all the good 15. Why do you think Tom Brady came back? Yeah, I guess so. That's the three trips to the Super Bowl. Brady and Rodgers, the NFC Championship, just pencil it in. So it's not just that. It's the Bills, too. I mean, they get to sit back and watch that vision just cannibalize itself.

Oh, yeah. And it's like what the Patriots did for 20 years. I mean, you know, they just win the AFC East and they watch everybody else beat themselves up. They get home field advantage. And then you see if something can go in there and knock you off. You know, so Buffalo's in a good spot, yeah. And it's like what the Patriots did for 20 years. I mean, you know, they just win the AFC East, and they watch everybody else beat themselves up. They get home field advantage, and then you see if somebody can go in there and knock you off. You know, so Buffalo's in a good spot, too. Dave, Juju Smith-Schuster or Allen Robinson? I think I'm going to lean toward Robinson.

Okay, I'm going to take a— This is under the assumption that Robinson's going to be a full-time player for the Rams. Hold on, Heath. Before you get in there, I've got to take a break. We've got to take a real quick break on fantasy football today. Heath is bursting at the seams. He'll weigh in when we come back on FFT. What does possible sound like for your business? It's having the spend that powers your scale with no preset spending limit. More cash on hand to grow your business with up to 55 interest-free days and the ability

to reach further with access to over 1400 airport lounges worldwide. Redefine possible with Business Platinum. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms and conditions apply. Visit amex.ca slash business platinum. We are back. Okay, Heath, I asked Juju or Alan Robinson. You've got a lot on your mind. No, I just, I'm going to be way too emotionally invested in Juju succeeding in Kansas City for a variety of reasons. But I do think that you can very easily azerstat this and say that we've seen two seasons of Juju

with a future Hall of Fame wide receiver on the other side. And he's an elite second wide receiver. He should be right back to what he was the first two years of his career. Now, nobody can cover it. And he had a Hall of Fame quarterback at the same time, right? I mean,

Roethlisberger was good back then. Roethlisberger led the league in passing when Juju had his 1400 yard season. So what do you think the upside is for him? I mean, if Kelsey and hill both stay healthy then the upside is probably like a high-end number three wide receiver a borderline number two it's it's not it's unfortunately it's not like super duper high but if something happens to either of them yeah sure well that makes sense just like if something were to happen to cooper cup alan robinson would be in play to get a lot of work, too. I feel like they're both low-end number three receivers. in one aspect. The other part of it would be is that there were two guys that he's got to contend with in Kansas City. There really wasn't two guys

in Pittsburgh. Now, you had young Deontay Johnson. I don't remember exactly when his I think he might have been a rookie when Roethlisberger. Yeah, but he was like the three then. What I'm saying is he's clearly a talented player that's emerged, but he wasn't at the level of what Kelsey and Hill are comparatively to Antonio Brown.

I think the one thing when you look at this AFC West but he wasn't at the level of what Kelsey and Hill are comparatively to Antonio Brown. So I, you know, I think the one thing when you look at this AFC West in the games, will they play against each other? If we get what we're hoping for is games in the forties, you know, as much as, you know, you bring in a JC Jackson, a Khalil Mack, a Chandler Jones, you know, all these guys that are going to, you know, try and stop these offenses. You know, if we're getting games that are, you know, in the thirties, you know, maybe more,

then they're all going to have the chance to put up good numbers, and then that carries over to other games when they're not playing against each other. You want to have pieces of this division. You want to have pieces, obviously, of Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. You have to hope that Andy Reid is going to reinvent the wheel again with bringing in a player of this caliber because,

as we've noted time and time again with Juju, it feels like he's 40, but he's only in his early 20s still, because he's been around so long. If he can run again, coming off a shoulder injury, I don't think should be too much of a concern, and kind of can get away from being this just short area target and do some different things down the field, then he's going to be a steal on draft day.

This probably means nothing, but Antonio Brown did just tweet, Cleveland Antonio Browns. Let me ask you this. Would you rather have... That's a good tweet. Would you rather have Patrick Mahomes and Amari Cooper

or Deshaun Watson and Tyreek Hill? I think I'd rather have Watson and Hill. Sean and Tyreek if there's no suspension. Well, for sure. Yeah, yeah. No suspension. No suspension. Yeah, I'm not thinking about the suspension. Okay, and do you

think Kelsey or Hill lose any value with this Juju signing? Slightly. The only thing, and you talked about about this when they took away the deep ball from the chiefs tyreek last year was a completely different kind of wide receiver a lot more underneath stuff a lot more targets if the plan with juju you would think is to handle the short area stuff and they're going to send tyreek deep and teams just don't give them that then it could

be it could make tyreek a little more boom bust. I think it comes into play in the red zone. I could see Juju with seven touchdowns. The problem is I could also see him with 60 catches for 700 yards with that. I got to say, it's got to be a good situation, dynasty keeper, to be in the Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase, Stephon Ds camp as opposed to the cooper cup davante adams tyree kill camp you know if you're looking at the top six or seven

wide city you know wherever you put digs um because i think you know cup may have if they keep woods and bringing beckham that's not good adams obviously loses tyree kill gets some competition you know not that these guys are bad and you're still driving right right you know relatively high but they got they got they got dinged a little bit you know all across the way uh aside from those other guys you know and then you're you're looking at the bangle situation well hey we're just going to upgrade the guys in front of Joe Burrow and and now he should have the chance for you know to hopefully connect with those guys a little bit more and clearly the case for Justin Jefferson with Kevin McConnell coming in and you know

changing the offense philosophy a little bit. Those guys feel a little bit safer maybe than maybe not with Stanley right now, but certainly in Adams and Hill. Great. Good stuff, guys. Thank you very much for your time. Thanks to everybody. I'm starting to think about some of the downside with Watson. Do we know how he is

playing in the cold? I don't know. That's only a month. It's going to be more than a month. Do we know if... Like, what if the Browns don't add anybody else? And their offensive line did lose some pieces.

I don't know. He's never had a run game like this. He's never had a... Well, and that's the other thing. We didn't even talk about Austin Hooper yet. Huh? We didn't even talk about

Austin Hooper yet. You mean Njoku? No, Austin Hooper's on the Titans. Oh, I didn't even see that. All right, well, that's a title. We'll do a separate bonus podcast for that one. Everybody have a great weekend, and we will talk to you later.

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