Fantasy Football Today - Draft Tips, Buy or Sell, Five Big Questions (08/24 Fantasy Football Podcast)
Episode Date: August 24, 2023Donate to St. Jude as part of our Draft-A-Thon! Bid on guest spots on our show, Zoom calls with our analysts and more! https://tinyurl.com/fftdonate Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the... Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts We start the show with Round 1 of Buy or Sell (1:25) covering Amon-Ra St. Brown as a potential Top 5 WR, Romeo Doubs as a flex, Anthony Richardson's Superflex value and comparing running back vs. wide receiver in Rounds 5-8 ... News and notes (16:25), Five Quick Questions (20:10) on Josh Allen, Travis Etienne and more, Name That Player (25:50) and some Fantasy Words of Wisdom from Dave and Jamey (31:00). We talk about draft strategies, when it makes sense to go for upside and some players we are high on ... One last round of Buy or Sell (37:50) to finish the show. Any concerns about Bijan Robinson's workload? Is Deebo Samuel back to being a stud WR? ... Your emails at fantasyfootball@cbsi.com SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1 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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This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports.
What a play!
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It's time to dominate your fantasy league.
Off to the races, and he stays on his feet.
He's just going to go the distance.
Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.
Fun show for you today.
Adam Azer here. Got to take my glasses off. Going to be there right now. for you today. Adam Azer here.
Got to take my glasses off.
Going to do that right now.
Leave them on.
Leave them on.
I think the light, see the ring light gets in there.
It looks kind of weird.
Yeah, that's why I don't wear them.
But welcome to a Thursday edition of Fantasy Football Today.
We got buy or sell, your buy or sells from Twitter or X,
whatever you want to call it.
Appreciate all of those.
We'll get to those in a minute.
We have some podcast League entries that we'd
like to share, including one pretty
funny one that I enjoyed quite a bit.
I am going through them now. I will let
y'all know. If I don't respond to them, it's not
because I didn't read them. I will read every single one
of them, and I appreciate it. You still have a few
days left. Actually, your deadline is
tomorrow, Friday. Anything submitted after Friday,
I will not accept.
And the draft is Monday night.
Podcast. Did that deadline just get determined in the last 15 seconds? Yeah, kind of. Well,
I knew the draft was Monday, but I'm going to have to make decisions this weekend. So
fantasyfootballatcbsi.com put podcast league in the subject line. You heard from Dave and Jamie.
Let's jump right into the notes, guys, and jump right into buy or sell part one. This one is from David buy or sell a Monra St.
Brown as a top five wide receiver.
I'll buy it.
He's number six for me,
so it's not going to take much for him to get there.
So I think there's,
he's going to be in the conversation for,
you know,
top 10 for sure.
And receptions,
if not more,
a six game headstart,
you know,
without significant competition for targets. If there's even going to head start, you know, without significant competition for targets.
If there's even going to be, you know, longer than that,
we'll see how Jamison Williams does.
But it's just an offense that's tailored for him.
I think he'll score more touchdowns this season.
So I think the idea of him not being an alpha-type receiver,
as someone might have said, is a little ludicrous.
So the upside is there.
Is that what I said?
Yeah, third-year wide receiver.
He's got everything you look for.
I just have a hard time saying which of the top five or six receivers
that we've got ranked ahead of him,
depending on whose rankings you're looking at, is going to fall off.
So he's got the potential to do it, there's no question.
But there's a lot of other receivers, Jefferson, Chase, Cup, Tyreek, Diggs, Lamb.
Those guys all are top five wide receivers in PPR, too,
and a lot of them can pick up tons of yards and touchdowns.
Not certain that St. Brown can do those things for sure.
I think you said six, right?
You said Jefferson, Chase, Cup.
I said six.
Jamie said five.
Yeah, Tyreek, Diggs, and you said Lamb was six.
Right.
It sounds like Jamie has Lamb ranked ahead of St. Brown.
No. The opposite. St. Brown ahead of Lamb. Lamb ranked ahead of St. Brown. Or the opposite.
St. Brown ahead of Lamb. Yeah, I have St. Brown and A.J. Brown ahead of Lamb.
No, I think I brought this one up
because I do see St. Brown going, you know,
in a PPR league, maybe back into the first
round, early second, going ahead of sometimes
Stephon Diggs. And I don't think I ever
see him go ahead of the top four.
Rarely Diggs, but sometimes.
But ahead of Lamb.
Yeah, I brought it up because you said he has
everything or he does everything, whatever you said.
He has everything you need.
He has yet to do the touchdowns.
Well, he doesn't do big plays.
That's the difference.
He hasn't done big plays.
But yeah, I mean, will he?
It's just not his profile.
They've got to increase his ADOT.
It's been incredibly low.
He had one of the lowest ADOTs in football last year
among qualified receivers.
So that's the difference between him and a seedy lamb.
You don't see the occasional 40- to 50-yard touchdown catch
from Monder St. Brown.
Hold on, let me just tell you this.
I know, Dave, you want to jump in.
He's the only wide receiver in the last three seasons
to finish top eight with an ADOT lower than 8.5 yards.
That may be wrong because I feel like Debo did it,
but Debo might have been the other.
And that was the year Debo had all that rushing too.
But that's what I have.
He's the only wide receiver in the last three years
to finish top eight with an ADOT lower than 8.5 yards.
His ADOT was 6. a half yards last year.
That's really low.
So I brought that up.
How much does that change now?
Yeah, I brought that up because people are taking him over an explosive playmaker like A.J. Brown, a guy like C.D. Lamb.
And I want to know if you're OK with that.
Jamie is.
Dave?
I'd rather have Lamb.
Lamb had more targets per game last year.
Lamb had more PPR fantasy points per game than St. Brown last year.
So to me, I just look at Lamb as just that playmaking type,
the guy that could be wide receiver one.
And I'm going to take him over St. Brown,
who I don't think can be wide receiver one.
Yeah, that offense in Dallas is changing,
and there's more competition for targets for him now.
So that's why I like St. Brown better.
But that's just an Azers stat. Real. So that's why I like St. Brown better. But that's just an Azor stat.
Real quick Azor stat.
You take St. Brown.
You have to remove two games for St. Brown.
He played less than a third of the snaps in two games.
If you took those games,
he actually averaged more PPR points per game than Lamb,
slightly.
However, if you just take the DAC games for Lamb,
I think it's really close between the two of them.
All right, next one.
From Michael.
Buy or sell Romeo Dobbs as a weekly starter at Flex?
Buy. Buy.
Buy.
Okay.
Big riser, right?
What happened?
Riser, big riser, Dobbs?
Big riser.
Not big for me because I started in a place
where I liked him as a Flex in a three-receiver Flex league. So he was always right around wide receiver 40 for me because I started in a place where I liked him as a flex in a three-receiver flex league.
So he was always right around wide receiver 40 for me.
Okay.
I'll go to the next one, Dave.
Buy or sell from Luis.
Anthony Richardson as a second-round pick in a super flex redraft.
Depends on how risky you want to play it.
If you think that he's going to be even close to where we have him ranked,
then the answer is yes.
You take that chance.
If you'd rather have somebody with a safer floor because it's super flex
and you don't want to be caught without at least quality quarterbacks
in a format where you can start two quarterbacks,
then maybe he goes into round three.
I think the later you get into round two,
the more willing you'd be to take Richardson knowing that you've got another pick coming up soon after.
Jamie, to you, buy or sell Anthony Richardson
as the second round pick in Superflex Redraft?
I would consider him in round one.
I think as we saw on the live stream that we did on Tuesday night,
Scott Fish took him in round one.
So there's most likely going to be seven to eight quarterbacks
that go in the first round, and he's in that next group.
So if you're talking about Jefferson, Chase, McCaffrey,
maybe Eckler go in the first round, maybe Kelsey goes in the first round,
he's right on the cusp.
So, yeah, easy second round pick. Again, you in the first round. He's right on the cusp.
So, yeah, easy second round pick.
Again, you're playing to win.
You're not playing to be safe.
Okay, but would you take Dak Prescott over him?
Because Dak is safer, but also you can win with Dak Prescott.
Yeah, if you want to be, you know, safe.
But again, you know, you're looking for upside.
And if you expect him to do the things that he's capable of doing,
which is to run, and that's the biggest part of it. Again, there's been 16 times since 2010, a quarterback has run for at least 700 yards
and all of them have scored at least 19.9 fantasy points per game or more every single one.
Six point. So in six point, you know, do the math for four-point. Successful nonetheless. So that's what you're talking about with him.
And so our projection on Sportsline has him for 1,039 yards.
He said he has him, I think, for over 1,000 yards, if I'm not mistaken,
or close to it.
So if you're expecting 700 yards, that's not very difficult for what this guy
profiled.
I think he ran for almost 700 yards in 12 games of Florida.
There's not a big gap here for him to get there.
If you don't think he's going to run that don't draft him because that's the,
that's the thing. If you think they're just going to make him a pocket passer,
then he's not going to be a good fantasy quarterback.
They would be nuts to do that.
I don't think they will just came from a situation where the quarterback ran for
at least 750 yards the last two seasons. Better polished passer by far.
Jalen Hurts, this is not comparing those two guys.
I'm just talking about the guy on the offensive staff.
So Shane Steichen's going to allow him to be who he is,
and now Jonathan Taylor's not there.
That will probably be more rushing attempts
because the backfield's not going to be as solidified
unless they do make a trade to bring somebody else in,
but that's probably not going to happen.
Are you going to change your tune if Jonathan Taylor's back next week?
No, no.
I'm expecting Jonathan Taylor to be there at this point.
The trade request and the compensation that they're looking for
seems a little bit ridiculous.
And the fact that they put the Tuesday deadline on it,
which they need to because of how their roster construction has to go,
it's going to be difficult.
And I think that's why you're getting the report from the Dolphins
about them looking to acquire also Josh Jacobs
because they're the most likely team.
That's what Vegas is telling us as well.
And if the Dolphins are not going to pony up to what the Colts want,
no pun intended, then they're going to look at other avenues.
So I think at this point, expect John Taylor to be there.
Hope that he's not because I think we're all expecting a better situation
if he gets traded.
But regardless, Anthony Richardson will be great no matter what if he runs from a fantasy perspective.
I'm wondering why Jamie wrote, say, pony up joke on his hand earlier today.
I was like, what is he talking about?
Good job.
Way to drop it in there casually.
All right, last one.
Buy or sell.
Last one for now.
Buy or sell.
Henry says, there's more value to be had in the middle round running
back values this
year versus the
wide receivers.
More value in
middle round running
backs than wide
receivers this year.
Buy or sell?
Buy.
I think I'll sell.
Receivers are getting
pushed up.
They're getting
pushed up and we're
seeing that in every
PPR draft we're doing
and I think we will
continue to see it.
And it's not just analyst drafts.
I mean, again, you could say these are the people that are watching us
and listening to us.
I'm in the FFT Open draft right now,
and it was only two receivers in the flex,
and it was still wide receiver crazy.
It's just the nature of what the drafts are these days.
And yet I still think the drop-off from wide receiver 15
to wide receiver 30 isn't that much.
And so you're going to find a bunch of those wide receivers in the middle rounds.
I think a lot of those running backs will be gone.
What do you define as the middle rounds?
Yeah.
That's a good question.
I used for this.
Round five and on?
From this one, I used five and eight.
Yeah, that's exactly what I used, five and eight.
I put the players in the notes if you want to take a look at them. I think if I'm being sort of technical,
I feel like in round 5, the
receivers are better. I'm using
Fantasy Pros ADP, and I'm looking
at guys like Hopkins, McLaurin,
DJ... Not for us, McLaurin. Hopkins,
McLaurin, DJ Moore, Jerry, Judy, Christian
Watson. But once you get past that...
We're not seeing that, though.
We're not seeing that in our leagues, but that's what
ADP is saying. As I said
on the show yesterday,
whenever we were doing the pick-by-pick thing,
ADP says that there are better receivers in round
five than the ones that exist in all of our drafts
because tight ends and quarterbacks go earlier than
we take them.
What I've seen in the last three PPR drafts
that we've done in the first four rounds,
it's been basically
25, I think twice it happened in the first four rounds, it's been basically 25.
I think twice it happened in the first four rounds,
wide receiver is gone.
Those are all what,
like CBS,
our staff,
our listeners.
Yeah.
I mean,
again,
it's people that are watching it,
but I would like to think that that's what most,
I mean,
go back to the NFC drafts,
right?
NFC 80 people.
We were looking at earlier.
Yeah. NFC runnings, right? NFC ADP, what we were looking at earlier. Yeah, NFC.
Running backs were falling like crazy.
Look, if I look at, if fantasy pros and I look at draft sharks,
I look at round five, DJ Moore, Jerry Judy, Christian Watson,
they're all there.
Hopkins is at pick 410 on draft sharks.
And what kind of running backs are there?
Solid ones, but Miles Sanders, Damian Pierce is at the 4-10 on draft. And what kind of running backs are there? Solid ones, but Miles Sanders,
Damian Pierce is at the 4-5 turn,
J.K. Dobbins, Alexander Madison.
So what you're seeing, though,
is the quarterbacks and tight ends going soon.
That's what I'm saying, yeah.
That's ADP's suggestion.
I wonder how much that's going to happen, though,
in two weeks with Hawkinson dealing with a back injury
and people concerned about Pitts and people still not buying into Waller. with Hawkinson dealing with a back injury and people concerned about pits
and people still with Hawkinson I mean he's got a back injury right is does he really have one or
is this a holdout could be I mean I haven't seen anything about all right I just um I okay to sum
it up I think it's actually pretty even I don't know that there's a huge advantage between running backs and wide receivers,
but I like the values.
I guess as we get later into the mid-rounds,
I think I like the Rashad White, Alexander Madison,
DeAndre Swift, Javante Williams, James Cook,
David Montgomery, Isaiah Pacheco.
I think I like that better than Godwin, Lockett,
Ayuk, Evans.
I don't know. No, I donuk, Evans. I don't know.
No, I don't think so.
I don't think I have an answer for this buy or sell.
I don't know where their better value is.
I think there's good value at both positions.
There's less question marks at the wide receiver spot
than there are at the running back spot.
See, I look at it.
The guy you just named,
there's so many more question marks at running back.
I didn't say Christian Kirk and Deontay Johnson, though.
They're also in that mix.
I stopped saying that because we like them better than a lot of those guys,
and their ADP is later.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
Let's talk about the draft-a-thon.
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The draft is Monday night at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Thomas Schaefer, let's take a look
or take a listen to one of our submissions.
I'm really encouraged by what I've seen from Ron Rivera Jr.
Ron Rivera Jr.
Ron Rivera Jr.
Ron Rivera Jr. All right, Buffalo's a Baltimore.
Heath, what do you think about the Game of the Week song?
It's undisputed that it is super elite.
There you go.
Thank you for that awesome entry.
I thought that was a lot of fun.
We have some clever ones coming in,
poems, jokes, things like that.
Appreciate it.
And we have some spots left to be given out.
All right, let's take a break here.
And when we come back,
oh, at the end of the show,
I'm going to share an email from Blake,
who is in the podcast league.
He got in the podcast league.
He's got a story to tell, and I will read that a little bit later.
And we'll take a break.
And when we come back, we've got your news and notes.
We've got some more games to play, some more buy or sell.
We'll be right back.
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Injuries, news, and notes.
So, Jamie mentioned it.
Jonathan Taylor has until Tuesday to find a trade partner.
And if you were betting right now, Jonathan Taylor will be on the blank this year.
Colts.
Colts.
Okay. Kansas City defensive tackle Chris Jones hinted on X, or Twitter,
that he might hold out until midseason.
Says he can afford it.
It's a lot of money to give up, but he's a terrific player.
So what did he say?
He comes back week eight?
Yeah.
Plays only eight games?
Yeah.
He misses week eight?
I don't remember.
So this is how it works.
In order to get credit for this year on your contract,
you have to play at least six games.
But if you come back with six games to go,
a team can put you on a list where you can't actually count against the roster.
They basically suspend you for two weeks.
They have that option.
So you've got to come back two weeks before that
in case the team does decide to put you on that suspended list.
So that's a move Jonathan Taylor could make too, by the way, where they can both say, all right, look, I want a new contract.
You're not paying me.
I still want to get credit for the year that I have to play.
I'm going to show up in week eight or nine or ten, whatever it is, because of the buys.
That would sting with Taylor if you draft him in round two, round three, or wherever, and he only plays half the year. that would sting with taylor if you if you draft him in you know round two round three
or wherever and he only plays half the year it would sting yep and the raiders have shown no
interest in trading josh jacobs according to tom palacero jackson smith and jigba is a long shot
for week one according to ian rapaport carolina wide receiver dj charke has a hamstring injury
uh that's an interesting one jamie does that shuffle your carolina wide receiver DJ Chark has a hamstring injury. That's an interesting one, Jamie. Does that shuffle your Carolina wide receiver rankings at all?
Yeah, at this point, I think the only one,
the first one you should be drafting is Mingo,
just with the potential of the upside.
I think you can see what the floor is for Adam Thielen,
and he'll be probably more of a go-to guy,
but is he going to help you win a fantasy league?
If Jonathan Mingo hits, there's a better chance of that happening.
So I would rather take a flyer on Mingo where you're drafting
these guys. TJ Hawkinson
is maybe dealing with lower back
stiffness. He has a
contract issue. TJ Hawkinson
has the sniffles.
TJ Hawkinson is tight
end blank for you.
Still four.
I believe he's
three for me.
Okay.
Sam Darnold is the backup quarterback for the 49ers,
and they are evaluating what to do with Trey Lance.
Dave, what should we do with Trey Lance in our dynasty leagues?
You're going to hold him.
The only way you don't hold him is if someone offers you,
I think you would take a second.
You might not get that offer, though.
You might get low-balled on Trey Lance.
Only if you're really stuck or you're rebuilding
should you even think about trading him.
Just sit on him and see what happens.
But it's a bad scene for him, for sure.
Minnesota should be calling.
Tampa Bay should be calling.
I mean, any of these teams that have these free agent quarterbacks
or unsettled quarterback situations,
it's not going to take much.
Atlanta.
Okay.
Buffalo offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey said that James Cook has improved as a blocker.
It's been a terrific training camp preseason for Cook.
Chicago head coach Matt Eberflus said that Khalil Herbert hasn't done anything to lose the job.
Would you guys rather have DeAndre Swift or Khalil Herbert?
Herbert.
Herbert. Would you rather have Khalil
Herbert or Alexander Madison?
Madison.
Alright. And Corey
Davis is retiring. Jets
wide receiver. Zach Rosenblatt
of the Athletic thinks that Randall Cobb will play
a bigger role than expected.
Don't draft Randall Cobb, right?
No.
Let's try this segment out for size i'm gonna give you it's gonna be like a seven minute segment all right it's called five quick questions
question number one if james cook is going to have a bigger role
and the bills want josh allen to run less why isn't anyone afraid to draft Josh Allen?
He'll still be very good as a passer.
So if you want to drop him down to third, that's your decision.
I still think he's going to run enough that you'll be very happy with him.
So he's still the number two quarterback for me.
So what would a bad season for rushing look like for him,
besides the obvious of like 100 yards yards like that's not going to happen
yeah well three years ago does he have eight touchdowns rushing this year
i mean even if james cook is really good that's the one area where i think it wouldn't be him
it would be damian harris or latavius murray that they would try to cram in there at the goal line
yeah but when they get in the zone and a play breaks down, Josh Allen's running.
They're not going to want him to stop.
Okay. He rushed for like 450 yards.
Five moderately quick questions.
Yeah, a few years ago when he was QB one or two.
All right, next question.
Give me one good reason why...
This isn't a question. This is a demand.
Give me one good reason why I should draft Dalton Schultz.
Safe floor at the tight end position.
Red zone weapon in an offense that doesn't have a clear
cut number one target yet but he's not a top 12 tight end for me so i wouldn't draft him as a
starter yeah he's moved way down for me too okay uh you had him as a breakout candidate at one
i did but that was it feels like a year ago uh thanks for reminding him jamie jets offensive coordinator nathaniel
hackett has been an oc or an hc offensive coordinator a head coach for nine seasons
here's where hackett's offenses have ranked in scoring 22nd 18th 25th 5th 31st 15th 1st 10th
and 32nd with aaron rogers his offenses were 15th 1st and 10th in 1st, 10th, and 32nd. With Aaron Rodgers, his offenses were 15th, 1st, and 10th in scoring.
The question is,
are you worried about Nathaniel Hackett
and the Jets' offense?
No.
No, but I'm not overly excited about them either.
Okay.
The only guy I'm overly excited about is Garrett Wilson.
People are worried about Travis Etienne
losing goal line work and passing downs work.
Are you worried?
No.
I'm still drafting him as a low-end RB1.
I think he could see an uptick in passing work.
Why wouldn't they want to use him in that role?
That baffles me.
The goal line stuff I buy into.
I don't think he's going to have a lot of short yardage touchdowns,
but he's got speed to have some long yardage touchdowns.
The usage could be an issue,
but he was very good last year despite only scoring five touchdowns.
Right.
So rank Gibbs, ETN, Stevenson.
In what format?
Full.
Gibbs, Stevenson, In what format? Full. Gibbs,
Stevenson,
ETN.
I have ETN,
Gibbs,
Stevenson.
And ETN and Gibbs
are back-to-back.
Half.
ETN,
Stevenson,
Gibbs.
ETN,
Gibbs,
Stevenson.
I was actually asking you
just to say half of their name.
That's fine.
Eat, Gibbs, Steve.
Who are two players that you find yourself drafting a lot?
J.K. Dobbins and Justin Fields.
Getting a lot of Jalen Warren and Roshan Johnson.
All right, beautiful.
And a bonus question.
There is an obvious difference between a bust list and an avoid list, right?
Correct.
Thank you.
Why don't you tell us what that is, Jamie?
A bust list is players who you think are going to fail,
and an avoid list is players that you won't draft no matter where they fall.
Ooh, that's kind of not really
what I was thinking.
Well, if you're avoiding them,
you're avoiding them. If there's a player that
you won't take no matter what, wouldn't he show up on your
bust list?
I mean, the two could be mutually consistent, yes.
But I think if you're saying, I'm avoiding them,
I'm avoiding them, then I am
not drafting them.
Tim in our chat says, Adam, tell Jamie he's on the clock.
Jamie, you're on the clock and FFT open.
Sweet. Someone had a great
comment about the avoid list.
The avoid list is a
it's not you, it's me list.
It's almost like I don't want to hold it against the player.
Something about him, I'm just not
feeling it with that guy. That's how I
interpreted the avoid list. If you are saying
I'm avoiding a player, that means you are never
going to draft him. I don't care where he falls.
Yes, avoid is avoid.
Not maybe I'll take him.
He's a maybe list. So you think
being on the avoid list is worse
than being on the bust list? Yes,
of course. If you're saying the word avoid,
avoid is not drafting. That's what
that means. Avoid. I'm not the smartest
guy in the world,
but I do know what avoid,
is that how you pronounce it,
means.
But Schaefer would back me up on this.
Avoid is not as bad as being on the bus list.
The avoid list is like,
I'm fine with you where you are at your ADP.
I would tell other people to draft you there,
but you're just not for me.
I'm just not that into you.
That's avoid.
That means you're not drafting, ever.
No, if he falls two rounds, I'll draft him. That's for void. That means you're not drafting. Ever. No, if he falls two rounds,
I'll draft him.
That's for anyone.
Then you're not avoiding him.
Oh, of course I'm avoiding him.
You're going to take him at value.
That means you see
that there's a good value on him.
Let's play name that player.
I can't believe
we're still talking about this.
Let's play name that player.
Okay?
Oh, yes.
Jamie, you want to make your pick first?
Want to tell everybody
what you're doing there?
FFT opener.
So my team is... I'm very excited about my team so far.
It's a great team.
Justin Herbert, Bijan Robinson, Jalen Waddle, Calvin Ridley,
TJ Hockinson, and Debo Samuel.
I know I'm the second running back right now.
That is awesome.
So the running back pool has dried up.
So I'm going to probably spend some draft capital now
on the running back spots.
So I'm going to take Khalil Herbert as my second running back here
and hope for the best to see what comes back.
All right.
Let's play Name That Player.
Two rounds of Name That Player.
First player.
He is, should I do it in the first person or the third person?
Let's talk about it for six minutes. He's RB23
in CBS ADP,
but RB31 in
Fantasy Pros and DraftSharks PPR
ADP. His
first name is pretty lame,
and his last name is a
Southern City.
He is moving to a division
rival after four seasons with the
team that drafted him.
He might be the only player projected to lead his team in carries,
but being drafted behind a running back from the same team.
Dave.
Yes, Dave.
David Montgomery.
Yeah, you got it from the his first name is pretty lame, right?
It is David Montgomery
David is a lame name
but Dave is an awesome name
that's true
my brother's name is David
so I don't believe that to be true
that it's lame
anyway we haven't talked about
David Montgomery in a while
have you guys moved
him at all in your ranking? Where is he?
Guy with awesome first name, Dave. Where's David Montgomery for you?
He is a round six pick for me. I am moderately excited about him just because of the touchdown
potential. I like him obviously better in leagues where catches don't count, and I'm definitely
taking Jameer Gibbs significantly ahead of him. Could he score double digit touchdowns this year? Yeah. Could he have a thousand total yards with it? Maybe I think
that's in the profile, but even with that, that doesn't make him a anything better than like a
mid to low end RB too. So he he's to me, he's one of the settle for running backs. So if you're,
if you're drafting like Jamie in the FFT open and you're loaded at
everywhere and you've,
you're going hero RB Montgomery is a great running back to settle for as
your RB two to begin the year.
Jamie,
if I don't know if Montgomery was available when you took Khalil,
Khalil Herbert,
would you have taken Montgomery?
No,
a hundred percent would have taken Montgomery.
Yeah.
I think he's a,
he's more of a flex in full PPR.
He's a borderline starter in half PPR,
and he's a definite starter in non-PPR.
All right, next, name that player.
He has never had a passer rating of 100 or better.
And for reference in the last...
Like in a game or in his career?
No, in a season.
In the last three seasons,
there have been 10, eight, and six quarterbacks
who have had a passer rating
of 100 or higher.
He went to college
in a town
that has the same name
as the dad
from American Pie
and Schitt's Creek.
In his last two seasons,
he was...
His real name?
Yes, his real name.
In his last two seasons,
he was QB3 per game
and QB15 per game.
You should know it by now.
QB3 and QB15.
Who's the actor
who plays the dad?
Oh, I know his name.
Okay. I got his name.
What college is that? Oh, it's
Justin Herbert. Yeah. Eugene Levy. Eugene, yep. We both blanked on Eugene Levy okay where i got his name what college is there oh it's justin herbert yeah eugene levy eugene
yep yep yep we both blanked on eugene levy somehow i got it before you did curious to know jamie you
have justin herbert if you have the draft results up in your league do you remember how did he go
ahead of justin fields because he's going ahead of justin fields in several different adps justin
herbert we're talking about here how far far away from Joe Burrow did he go?
You're not really getting much of a discount this year
after the QB 15 finish last year per game.
Maybe you shouldn't.
But just curious where he went in your league when you took him.
He was the sixth quarterback off the board.
So he went after Fields and after Burrow.
Do you feel like there is an appropriate
discount? No, I'm sorry. Seventh quarterback.
Okay. Do you feel like there is
an appropriate discount this year for Herbert?
Well, considering we were drafting him
in some cases as the number two quarterback
last year, ahead of Mahomes,
there are some people who had it ranked that way.
I think that it's
a discount, yes. For
two of his three seasons being a top five guy,
it's hard to overlook what he can be still.
Better offense coordinator, better weapons around him.
If everybody stays healthy, hopefully his offensive line as well.
And him, that rib injury was significant.
He talked about this.
I heard him, I believe it was on Colin Cowherd's radio show,
that he was saying he had to change his arm angle
because of the pain.
So better mechanics, better weapons, better coaching,
all those things.
He's got number one quarterback upside.
That's the type of player he is.
All right, so we only have one segment left.
It's been a very short episode today,
which is fine,
but I'm going to open things up to you guys before we take a break and then
we'll finish up with buy or sell.
Is there anything,
we have a lot of listeners right now.
It's like prime time for us.
Maybe people who haven't been listening before just coming in now.
Is there anything that as you're prepared,
as you've been,
I mean,
I could ask you some questions, but as you've been doing drafts recently, anything you'd like to say about strategies, about trends, things that you're doing, you know, players that you've been more likely to maybe reach for or players on your avoid list, which is in some cases worse than a bus list in some cases better than a bus list.
But, uh, you can think about it.
We could take a break, which, you know, for us at live is like a half a second break anyway.
But is there anything, I mean, Dave, is there anything you want to, any words of wisdom you want to give right now?
I think that this year will mirror last year in terms of, I mean, every year is just crazy and unpredictable in football.
But there are going to be very few, like, megastars for fantasy.
The guys that are getting you 20 PPR points per game.
The quarterbacks that are getting you 30 points per game.
And I think you better – I think building depth might be the way to go
instead of shooting for a ton of, like, you know,
I hope this rookie running back hits.
Or, you know, I watched this guy play in a preseason game.
He looked good.
I'm going to take him late.
Just keep on working to build that quality depth and to find those players that you think can give you quality depth this year, because I think we're going to need it.
And I don't think it's going to be such a bad thing because the difference between the
guys that are quality depth and kind of sort of wide receiver
twos won't be that different. Or even
RB twos.
Anything from you, Jamie?
No, I think
it just depends on, you know, if you're
I don't like the
you know, the, what is it?
Win or lose? What is the way
that we phrase it?
For what? First or last?
Great or late?
No, no.
If you're not first or last,
so you got to play to...
Yeah, I don't think that's the mindset you should have.
But I think if we're just talking draft strategy,
there's so many players.
I want to go back and look at this
over the last few years of our leagues,
and I'll maybe just pick one or two,
of where are
the rounds of the players that we're dropping guys because i think it's it's going to be a
majority of those probably i'll say round seven through the end of the draft is where the majority
of your drops are coming from in your early on yeah and not no i think just over the course of
the season you know but you know we'll say the first half of the season
stop settling for mediocrity
that's the point where you should be taking players
that have the most upside
and that is why
transition to one of my thoughts I'm
getting I don't think you guys are going to
agree with me on this I'm getting more excited
about DeAndre Swift
I see a huge because if he if he hits, yeah, sure.
Because Penny just
seems to be having no
momentum right now. He might get
cut. Yeah, and it's like, Gainwell
has 131 carries in his career.
His longest carry is 18 yards.
121 carries.
DeAndre Swift is an absolute
explosive stud playmaker,
and I love his value.
Let me read, Jamie, some of the seventh-round picks from our Fantasy Football Today League last year.
I'll read all of them.
Brandon Ayuk, Nico Collins, Robert Woods, Antonio Gibson, Clyde Edwards-Hilaire, Dalton Schultz, Kyler Murray, Adam Thielen, Kareem Hunt, Tony Pollard, good one,
Rashad Penny, Devante Smith.
You want to talk about drops?
There were a lot of drops in there.
Nico Collins, Robert Woods, Clyde, Gibson was probably dropped, Thielen, Kareem Hunt was terrible.
I don't think Gibson was dropped because he got off to a good start.
He may have been dropped at some point in the year, but yeah, okay, maybe not.
But he was a fine pick in round seven. He wasn good start. He may have been dropped at some point in the year, but yeah, okay, maybe not. But he was a fine
pick in round seven. He wasn't terrible. He wasn't good.
Well, especially that was we didn't, you know, I don't remember
the fancy football tag draft. We usually do it
toward the end, but we weren't sure of Brian
Robinson's status at that point. Oh, that's true. That's
true. Right. He was a riser there. So you're right.
I mean, you're going to see a lot of drops.
Kadarius Tony went round eight. Do one more round.
Hopkins was suspended.
You took him at the first pick of round eight.
Kadarius Toney, Drake London, Tom Brady.
He sunk my team that year.
Amari Cooper, this is a good round.
Ramondre Stevenson, Devin Singletary, TJ Hawkinson,
Tyler Lockett, Miles Sanders, George Pickens, Damian Harris.
Damn, round eight was good.
And then there was my Tom Brady pick.
And then after that, you're going to see a lot of drops for sure.
So maybe it's a little bit after round seven,
but I think you get the points.
Once you start to get to this spot in the draft,
when you're talking about, okay, is this the best player
because I'm going to get consistent production,
or is this the best player that could help me win my league?
Because you should have your base of your team at this point
and the core of your roster.
And so those are the players that still have upside, but also give you a safer floor.
And now it's like, OK, how can I just significantly enhance my team?
Because you're probably playing the waiver wire with half these guys at this point anyway.
Right.
And look at look at the next five picks or six picks and look at how much better the
rookies were, at least two of the three. Hunter Renfro, Chris Olave, Traylon Burks,
Michael Gallup, Cordero Patterson, Ken Walker.
I mean, maybe this is a case to take an exciting rookie
over some crusty veteran.
Yes, yes.
All right, now let's take a break.
Great segment, great segment, guys.
Thank you for carrying the weight today.
I mean, so well produced.
You know, I just have so much faith in you
that I feel like I can just throw it to you
and get a great segment out of it.
Take a break.
I can see that.
Buy or sell part two when we come back.
All right, buy or sell part two.
This is from Dan.
Buy or sell Bijan Robinson losing up to 40%
of his workload to Tyler Algier.
I will buy that if the mindset is let's tank for Caleb.
Which I don't think they'll do that unless they start the year 0-5.
No, 40% of the run game will not go through Tyler Algier.
No, he said workload.
Workload.
Not just run game.
Workload.
Well, you've got to define what the workload is.
What do we expect his workload to be?
And then you deduct 40% from that?
Yeah.
I would anticipate in terms of if it's just Tyler Algier,
he's getting more than 60% of the Falcons' running back touches.
Right.
Yeah.
And you know what?
It might be a kind of an unfortunate split early in the season, but I could see it changing pretty quickly. Because, you know, Tyler Agile started in last week and he was involved in the first drive. It's going to happen.
Yes. I'm going to borrow an analogy from our co-worker, Brian McFadden, when he was describing Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen.
One is a Ferrari and one is a station
wagon. I was just about to do something
like that. One is going to
be just amazing.
And the other one is going to be fine. It'll get you where you need to go.
But what would you
rather have? The Ferrari or the station wagon?
You just don't see station wagons these days.
When was the last time you saw a station wagon?
That's true. We'll go minivan. One's a minivan, one's a was the last time you saw a station wagon? Well, you see SUVs. That's true. All right, we'll go minivan.
One's a minivan, one's a Ferrari.
Didn't they have a station wagon
in Harry and the Hendersons?
I feel like...
Yes.
What a great movie that is.
I always think of station wagons
in Harry and the Hendersons.
Okay.
Yeah, because when he's doing the siren,
when he's holding his head out the window.
I don't remember anything.
Such a great movie.
Jesse says,
buy or sell Terry McLaurin a thousand yard season for the fourth straight year man it's tough now with the injury um he may miss some time
and i'm gonna sell that doesn't mean he won't be good but i'm gonna sell if he gets a thousand
yards over 15 games that means he's got to get about 67 yards a game.
Yeah, I think I'd sell that too.
The only reason is he's already dealing with something and you're just factoring in there might be another
injury along the way. Right. We don't know how
bad this something is. Turf toe
has been a B
word for players
in the past. A bother. A real
bother. You're right. A big bother. Thank
you for saying that.
Buy or sell from Pete.
Joe Mixon is headed for a down season.
Sell.
I hope we're selling.
It's somebody that we've
certainly run up the flagpole
in terms of his ADP.
Yeah.
All right.
From Justin.
Buy or sell Debo Samuel
as a top 10 wide receiver?
Easier to buy in non-PPR, but it's a sell either way.
I don't know, man.
Brock Purdy absolutely loves Debo Samuel.
He does.
He did last year.
He did in one drive in the preseason.
He fits Brock Purdy perfectly.
No games over, maybe one game
over 60 yards with Purdy.
Is that right? A lot of catches. Out of three?
Yeah. I think out of four.
Or five games? No, five games if you
include the playoffs. In five games
with Purdy, including the playoffs, 6.8
targets per game, 4.4
catches per game, 3.2 carries
per game, 13.8
PPR points per game.
All right, that's not top 10.
It's good, though.
Yeah.
Buyer's sell from Nick.
Jalen Warren will replace Najee Harris
as the starting running back by week seven after their buy.
Everybody's healthy?
Yep.
So?
I'll buy it.
Oh, okay. Let's go. Yep. So I'll buy it. Oh,
okay.
Let's go.
He's more explosive,
better pass catcher out of the backfield.
Maybe the better blocker as well.
I,
it could get messy between those two all year,
but I think he might be a little bit of a better fit for what the
Steelers offense is going to be.
And I think if you draft nausea,
you've got to hope that he has double-digit touchdowns this season.
From Moon, buy or sell,
the Pittsburgh backfield could be similar to Dallas last year.
That's kind of what I just said, right?
Like, if Najee's getting a ton of touchdowns,
then he's in that Zeke role.
I don't know if Jalen Warren can be Tony Pollard, though.
Pollard was averaging almost 16 PPR points per game.
I will sell that they will be like Dallas'
backfield. The comparison
is dead on. The production will not be.
Right.
From Thomas, buy or sell? Sam
Laporta and Dalton Kincaid end up
as top 10 tight ends.
Buy.
I will sell.
I don't know if Laporta can do it well i think laporta can be a good
starter to begin the year you take the chance with him kind of treat him like he's a streaming
tight end but i don't know once everybody's back in detroit and if jameer gibbs is rolling yeah i
don't know how productive he'll be i do believe kincaid can make it the thing that's nice is and
we talk about this all the time, Adam,
you certainly have done a good job
illustrating this over the years.
Rookies get better as the season goes on.
And so if he's off to a good start,
then that's going to, I think, carry through.
Yeah, I always look at Kincaid
as someone who's starting to go earlier in drafts
than the rankings.
He's kind of like an Anthony Richardson case.
Not based on our ADP.
Okay.
Just the drafts I've been seeing lately.
Take Kincaid early because you can get,
if you miss out on Evan Ingram or something,
then you fall back on Juwan Johnson to pair with Kincaid.
It just makes sense to get this high upside guy at Kincaid.
But the problem is, I mean, this, just got to know,
the buyer sell was top 10 for two rookie tight ends.
There have been two rookie tight ends that have done that in the last eight years combined.
And probably even goes further back than that.
I've only looked at the last eight years.
That was Evan Ingram and Kyle Pitts.
I just wonder how many times have we seen
two guys in this type of opportunity?
I think we see it.
I mean, I think-
Two rookies in this type of opportunity?
How good are these opportunities, though?
Fantastic.
Fantastic.
Absolutely.
I think they're quality.
They're going to play a lot.
They should get decent targets.
Laporta's opportunity is actually better than what Kincaid's.
To begin the year, I think I'd agree with you.
But, I mean, we're talking about Jamison Williams coming back.
They don't do the same thing at all.
No, but it's another mouth to feed.
Yeah, but I think that mouth just replaces
Adam's favorite player in Josh Reynolds
or maybe Marvin Jones.
I think that's just what's happening.
I don't think it's Laporta's role is changing.
He's still going to be the starting tight end.
Yeah, I think you're probably right.
I mean, this is a pretty unique situation.
Target opportunities on good offenses.
All right, next buy or sell is from Scott.
Do you think Laporta could be second on the Lions in targets this year?
Yeah.
I don't know if either of these guys can be second on their teams.
I don't think he can.
I think Laporta can.
I mean, you're talking about stepping into a role.
If you're just looking at what this offense was a year ago,
they lost six and a half targets per game when they traded
TJ Hawkinson. The guys that they had behind them are not
Laporta. They certainly weren't Hawkinson.
And so they drafted this guy early in the second
round to be that type of player.
So six and a half targets can easily
be second on the team because Amon Ross St. Brown
is getting close to 10. He's certainly going to be over nine.
So if you're talking
about how the targets can be distributed,
I mean, he may be eight targets per game.
You know, he's got that type of ability.
Oh, got a trade.
Isaiah Simmons.
What was he, the second pick of the draft?
They traded Simmons, huh?
To the?
Oh, wow.
What a steal for your team.
To the New York Giants for a seventh round pick.
For a seventh round pick.
That's unbelievable.
Not really.
If a guy's been a bust so far in getting traded for a seventh round pick. That's why it's really. If a guy's been a bust so far
and getting traded for a seventh round pick,
it's worth the gamble.
It's worth the gamble.
Of course.
Yeah.
That's wild, man.
A seventh round pick.
I guess he's going to get cut.
I mean, the athletes that you guys have on defense now,
Thibodeau, him, that's incredible.
And Xavier McKinney.
And their first round pick, Deontay Banks.
All right. Oh, don't forget Dexterround pick, Deontay Banks. All right.
Oh, and don't forget Dexter Lawrence.
Buy or sell from Scott.
Travis Kelsey.
Oh, my God, the Giants are going to be amazing.
Buy or sell Travis Kelsey as a top-five pick.
Cardinals are going to be terrible.
Well, they were going to be terrible either way.
Sell.
I wouldn't take him as a top-five pick.
It's funny.
So I'm doing this.
It's supposed to be quarterback tight end week.
I think we kind of lost the, the, the,
the headlines on how our weeks were supposed to go.
But I did a sleepers breakouts and bust.
It'll be on the site today.
And I led the whole story with Kelsey, just how good he's been since 2018.
It's, it's just absolutely ridiculous. And
the hope would be is that he doesn't fall off.
That's really the only concern.
If he doesn't fall off, 16 PPR points are better for five straight seasons.
Four of those, he's been the number one tight end.
It's just incredible what he does.
And so if he replicates anything, and last year the only difference was
first year with Mahomes without Tyreek Hill,
if he replicates that, is he five points better than the field?
And if he's five points better than the field in this position, yes, he's worth the top five pick.
How do you guys like
this team
in a full
PPR league?
I don't really like it that much.
Jalen Hurts, Joe
Mixon, Miles Sanders,
Travis Kelsey. That's pretty good.
So it's going to come down to the receivers.
Marquise Brown.
How many did you start?
Three.
And a flex.
Marquise Brown.
Marquise Brown, Zay Flowers, Chris Godwin, Juju Smith-Schuster.
Yeah, that was a team that took Kelsey fourth overall last night.
I don't like this team.
But I've seen a team.
We did a few nights ago
on Tuesday night
we did a draft where...
I know.
It couldn't have been that
because that was super flex.
No, that was super flex.
We did a draft where Kelsey
went third, I think.
And the team ended up
really good.
It was the previous Tuesday.
Yeah, we ended up
as a really good team.
And if you like Jonathan Taylor
you might be able to get him
in the third round
or Josh Jacobs.
So...
I think that was the draft
where it went.
Kelsey, if I'm not mistaken the draft where it went. Kelsey,
if I'm not mistaken,
it was one of our St.
Jude,
uh,
donation winners.
I think it was when he took a lava early in round two,
if I'm not mistaken,
or earlier than we thought.
And then Debo Samuel early in round three.
So I think those are the first two picks.
I think we said the theory was great.
Yeah,
it could have worked.
All right.
That's it for buyer sell.
Let me read an email to play us off.
This is from Blake.
Blake said, long-time listener.
This was a Podcast League submission.
Long-time listener, pre-Nando even.
Your show, while silly and goofy,
has always been there to take the edge off
when I've needed it.
I live a very stressful life,
and levity and comedy while packing in fantasy content
is invaluable. I am a very stressful life and levity and comedy while packing in fantasy content is
invaluable. I am a retired army infantryman who saw combat in Afghanistan. After that,
I joined the state police and worked on the road as a patrol for eight and a half years,
mostly on midnights and evenings, 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Lots of boring, lonely hours occasionally
spiked with adrenaline rushes that can't be described.
For the past two years, I've been working, I'm sorry if I pronounced this wrong, as a ballistician with the state police,
where my job consists of going to crime scenes where firearms are involved and making sure everything is safe and recovering evidence.
I then test the evidence to include using microscopes to match up bullets or casings at scenes to the bad guy's firearms. Lots of rough scenes at late nights. In addition, I'm a member of the CERT team,
Special Emergency Response Team, where we primarily deal in missing and lost subjects,
mostly in the woods. Lots of long hours spent humping through the woods to find lost or
actively fleeing subjects. Again, having a podcast like yours to throw on during dark moments is something I really
appreciate.
I've been an avid fantasy player since 2012.
My first league ever, I was deployed in Afghanistan with maybe 20 minutes of internet access a
week, and I came in first place on the back of Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford, undefeated
from a war zone, baby.
Today, I play in a league with nine other cops
and your advice has spurned me
onto five championships in 11 years.
Currently yours is the only G-rated podcast
I can listen to while driving my two kids around.
My son constantly mocks me
for never making it into one of the leagues.
I'd really love to rub it in my 10-year-old's face.
Love your work. Keep it up hamburgers are made on a grill
or a cast iron
you're in the league Blake
welcome to the podcast
puts things in perspective and I'm glad that we are
able to be
a source of entertainment comedy and
escape I guess for a lot of people
so thanks for the email thanks to all of you
so far for your submissions to the podcast
league and we'll fill it out, uh, by, by the weekend. And then we have that other podcast
league, by the way, the leftovers league where you can bid on, and some of you will end up in
that league as well. All right. So Jamie and Dave and Schaefer, thanks. Have a great day,
everybody. We'll talk to you later.