Fantasy Football Today - EARLY DO NOT DRAFT LIST! Players We're Avoiding in 2024 (02/15 Fantasy Football Podcast)
Episode Date: February 15, 2024Fantasy 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 Is Drake London the next Terry McLaurin? ...We start the show with that question and then go over some news and notes (8:40) and get into the quarterbacks (10:45) that Jamey wants to avoid in 2024. First of all, he's not drafting a QB until Round 4 at the earliest, and he's avoiding Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins unless they are super cheap ... DO NOT DRAFT LIST running backs (19:50) include Tony Pollard, Raheem Mostert and Javonte Williams for Dave. Is Pollard capable of more than what we saw in 2024? Also, do Nick Chubb, Austin Ekeler and Derrick Henry (32:30) have any great seasons left in the tank? ... On to the wide receivers (44:55), we debate Tee Higgins and the Steelers WRs plus the older guys (52:10) who could be drafted in the first three rounds. Any love for Stefon Diggs, Keenan Allen, Cooper Kupp or Davante Adams? And we finish with a couple of tight ends (56:10) on the avoid list ... Email us 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.
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It's time to dominate your fantasy league.
Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.
Yesterday we were spreading the love. Today not so much. We're talking about our early do not draft list for 2024.
Just players that you're probably not going to see on our teams if we were drafting today.
And I think there's some pretty interesting names on here.
I'm very I'm curious to challenge you guys on some of the names on this list.
You know, Jamie is an ageist, so there's going to be a lot of old guys on his list.
Dave, I think the most interesting guy on your list was T. Higgins.
Yeah, I was like,
all right, we're going to get into it on that.
Are you ready for a fight?
You ready for a Higgins fight?
Yeah, absolutely.
Bring it on.
Okay, I will.
I will.
And there was a guy,
Terry McLaurin was another guy on your list,
and this is a little off subject,
but not really.
We talked a lot about Drake London yesterday,
and you know what I thought?
I thought maybe worst case scenario for Drake London
is Terry McLaurin.
I see some similarities there.
Again, this is what I'm talking about.
McLaurin could basically never escape
being on a bad offense.
And even last year was the best offense he'd ever been on.
It was one of his worst seasons, actually, for fantasy.
But I had that thought, guys.
That's why...
What was the Washington passing offense?
24th? No, it was 14th or 15th in gross passing yards per game, but
three years in a row, it was right around...
It was right around 22nd,
which is what
Atlanta was last year.
That's not bad. It's not good.
But it could be worse.
It could be worse. But that's what I'm saying.
It's not that easy to have an offensive
upgrade. You're hopeful that Washington
has the path now with the number two
pick in the draft. But I thought, what do you think about
that comparison? Drake London to
Terry McLaurin?
I feel like we know
what McLaurin is now. Look at the last
three seasons. He's averaged anywhere
between 12 and 13.5 PPR points per game.
Awesome receiver stuck with some less than great quarterbacks.
I'd say I'd be encouraged if, if they had a good quarterback, but I'm discouraged by
the fact that they're picking two, they're going to have a rookie.
It's going to be Cliff Kingsbury's offense. Not necessarily believing that McLaurin can
break out of it and become a megastar in his age 28 season.
Whereas London does have a chance. May not have the
same type of quarterback. You got to see who his passer is.
He's been in the league two seasons. He only has a stretch where he's been close
to where McLaurin's been.
I think we've got to see what happens in Atlanta over the next couple months
because there's a chance.
Listen, I already said it.
The commanders are going to get themselves a rookie quarterback.
I don't know what the Falcons are going to do.
If the Falcons end up with a worse quarterback situation,
very easily McLaurin could be better than Drake London.
I guess I mean, like, think about all the hope we had for. McLaurin could be better than Drake London. I guess I mean,
like think about all the hope we had for Terry McLaurin.
And I think we're done.
And it's 12,
13.5,
12.2.
Yeah.
Barely,
if at all,
a top 24 receiver and PPR points per game.
Yeah.
I don't know if he's ever cracked the top 20,
maybe back into the top 24,
but I guess I'm just saying that we've had,
we know he's a great player,
but it just never worked for him.
And that's my fear for Drake London that,
yeah,
I guess he's going to be one of the best value picks though.
Which one?
Okay.
Let's see.
McClellan.
As a third receiver,
there's still that upside.
He still went in the two picks we did.
Is there that upside though?
He,
in the two,
in the drafts that we did,
he went in round five or six,
which is.
For three receiver leagues,
that's perfectly appropriate.
Yeah.
And looking for 12 PPR points from a number three receiver is great.
It's when you make him your number two receiver that you could feel a little
bit bad about things.
Okay.
All right.
Well,
anyway,
welcome to the show today.
It's all about hate.
Just a mean,
nasty show.
You just got to requalify how you phrase it though,
because there's no such thing as a do not draft list.
Agreed.
All right.
Well,
dare I say,
how do you,
how do you define it?
What's your do not draft list?
There's guys you're avoiding at cost.
Okay.
Which is a very clunky way to say it,
but it's just none of the players that we are going to say today,
we wouldn't say I'm not drafting this guy if he's available
in whatever round you want to attach it to.
Right.
Like if McLaurin's there at the 6-7 turn,
it almost doesn't matter who his quarterback is.
You're going to be interested in getting him.
Because you've seen the worst.
You've seen the floor.
And I was also thinking, it's not just that necessarily.
It's also, for me, if you draft him there, that's cool.
I'm not going to criticize you for it.
But he's not for me.
He's just not my guy there.
And I'm wondering if a lot of people would have Christian McCaffrey at number one overall on their do not draft list.
Like, hey, look, I understand why you're taking him number one.
But for all the things that you guys were talking about yesterday and what Dave tweeted over the weekend, he gives me the heebie-jeebies a little bit.
You know what I mean?
Well, it's the same thing that happened to Eckler.
It's the same thing that happened to Henry.
It's the same thing that happened to Devontae Adams.
I mean, again, it's just a matter of what your risk-reward factor is.
Do you think that he's solved his injury concerns
because of being in San Francisco and managing it better?
Do you think that he's going to be able to still survive for one more season
despite the fact that his age is catching up to him
and coming off a significant workload?
Look, there are a lot of risks attached to it and we've seen the super bowl loser and the hangover that's happened to
those teams for whatever reason eagles same thing you know their offense was not as good as it was
the year before so there there's a lot of concerns i mean look nobody expected justin jefferson to
get hurt if you want to go the curse of the number one overall pick, which has happened a couple of times over the last several years. More than that. It's a real curse.
So there are some legitimate risks. But again, as we talked about with McCaffrey, if he does
survive all of his pitfalls, and every player has pitfalls, but if he survives all of them,
you're still talking about
the best player in fantasy.
Yeah.
All right.
More on our avoid list
and do not draft list
in a little bit.
Tiger Woods.
I just got a question with McLaurin
because you said something.
You said he's not for you
at that spot.
And I know you're looking
for upside like we all are.
Would you be taking McLaurin
over,
let's say,
or would you be taking,
let's say, somebody like Jackson Smith and the Jigba if Tyler Lockett's still there or Terry McLaurin over let's say or would you be taking let's say somebody like Jackson Smith
and the Jigba if Tyler Lockett's still there
or Terry McLaurin?
So who's the quarterback
for Washington? The quarterback
is Drake May.
So I would have a lot more faith in McLaurin
if it were May compared to Jaden Daniels.
I just think you'll get more
statistics out of more passing statistics
out of May.
Yes, I probably would. I think we just, you'll get more passing statistics out of May. Yes, I probably would.
I think we just, you know, just look at McLaurin.
You probably would take JSN?
JSN, yeah.
How about you?
If Tyler Lockett is still there, I would take McLaurin.
They would not be ranked that far apart,
but I would still take McLaurin.
And I do think that JSN, even in that scenario,
is going to be better than Lockett
because I think that's the next thing that happens in Seattle.
But if Lockett is still there, I would rather have McLaurin.
I'd rather have the number one in Washington
as opposed to the 2-3 in Seattle.
Dave, same? Agree? McLaurin?
Yeah, same.
Okay.
And we have to talk about who the quarterback's going to be
for Seattle, which we could know pretty soon. have to talk about who the quarterback's going to be for Seattle,
which we could know pretty soon.
We'll talk about that in a second.
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Plenty of people wondering what version we might see of the Big Cat.
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News and notes.
So Geno Smith, he has his $12.7 million base salary.
It becomes guaranteed on Friday.
So we could have some Geno Smith news.
If they want to move on from him, they might cut him today.
So we will see.
Kansas City signed.
That would be crazy.
It just seems like there's some smoke
there.
But yeah,
we'll see. Kansas City signed
defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to an
extension. Atlanta's
offensive coordinator Zach Robinson
said that all options are on the table
at quarterback. And he also said that Kyle options are on the table at quarterback.
And he also said that Kyle Pitts can play tight end and Bijan Robinson can just play running back. In other words, using them more at their particular positions in this new offense.
Amazing how that would work.
Yeah.
He also said our pass offense last year was not that bad, which I thought was an interesting thing for,
he didn't say that.
San Francisco fired their defensive coordinator,
Steve Wilkes saying it was just a bad fit.
They lost a lot of coordinators.
My goodness.
A lot of coaches.
I know.
Yeah.
You know,
Shanahan talked about how difficult it's been to lose Robert Sala and
D'Amico Ryans,
and then trying to make Steve Wilks coach to those previous schemes.
And it's tough for these teams to lose coordinators all the time.
Happens to the Rams all the time, right?
And the Eagles last year.
I have a question for you guys.
It's fantasy relevant.
Have you watched the new season of True Detective?
I started the first two episodes and then I haven't
caught up yet, so I'm looking forward to doing that at some point.
It's on my list.
Hilarious fantasy football reference
in the first episode of the season.
I was cracking up.
It was you. Jodie Foster's awesome.
She really is.
One more coordinator that they,
or one more, I guess, coordinator,
coach that they lost, but Anthony Lynn.
I like the move for Washington.
It's a running backs coach, yes?
Yeah.
I like that for Brian Robinson.
Sure.
Okay.
All right.
So let's take a look at the do not draft list.
At quarterback, Jamie has not drafting a quarterback in the first three rounds,
any quarterback.
And then he's got a couple of older guys coming off Achilles injuries, Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers.
So, all right, Josh Allen's available in the middle of round three.
And you're saying no thanks?
No thanks.
Why?
It's just not something I'm going to be inclined to do. I think I'll find better talents that I will be able to acquire while still getting another quarterback later that I think will be close to Josh Allen in
production will not be better than Josh Allen.
Cause otherwise I would rank it that way,
but I don't think we're going to see a big spike in quarterback production
from one or two guys like we had two years ago.
I think what we saw last year is going to be closer to the norm.
Okay.
Um,
Dave, do you agree with that?
When should Josh Allen go?
I think I'm going to end up being okay with Josh Allen in early round four,
maybe late round three in non-PPR leagues,
just because that drop-off will come.
We talked about this earlier in the week,
where once you get to a point where you don't love the running backs that are left, you don't love the wide receivers that are left.
That's when you're going to go to tight end. When you don't love any of those guys,
that's when you go to quarterback. And so I think that's going to fall for me
probably right around 40th overall in drafts. And that's where I'd take Josh Allen.
Okay. So do you guys think,
and Jamie, I think you just sort of answered this,
because last year Allen was great.
He was QB1, but he wasn't,
he didn't score as many points as he usually does.
Do you think, let's see,
26.2 points per game for Josh Allen.
Before that, the previous three years,
28.9, 27. years, 28.9,
27.6, 28.7.
You think he gets back
to 28? That would be two more points per
game almost.
No, I don't.
Unless they make a big splash at receiver.
Why not, though?
If he was that good...
Because Diggs is not Diggs.
I don't think Diggs is the same player. I don't think they're going to necessarily
replace Gabe Davis if he does leave as expected with something, either a first round talent or
a big free agent signing. I think they made that move last year in the first round to get Dalton
Kincaid to upgrade that position as a pass catcher. I think Khalil Shakir is certainly going to
show that he's capable enough to be a complimentary option. And as we saw when Joe Brady took over, there was more emphasis on the run.
Sean McDermott also prior to the season was again, very adamant. And he said, I'm going to say this
again and again and again. And his quote was just put me on repeat. I'm not going to change my,
my tune on this. We want him to run less. Now that didn't necessarily play itself out
too much because of
how much he'd still ran, but that's something I think that they want to rein him in continually
to make sure he's healthy and make sure he has a long playoff run. And we saw two years ago,
the elbow injury was a problem for him. Who knows how much he got banged up throughout the course
of the season in any way, shape or form this year too. So his rushing touchdowns may decline a
little bit. And he was certainly very good at finding the end zone i think he tied with uh jalen hurts in terms of rushing touchdowns for this season to
leave the nfo so if it goes from double digits to seven or eight which is still great for a
quarterback then you're still talking about if his passing numbers don't significantly increase
like they were a couple years ago 26 points might just be where his ceiling is which is fine it's
great but i just don't think he's getting back to that level.
Okay.
Let's go to the next two guys then.
Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers.
And again, this is a, well, when is it okay to draft them?
And also, we don't really know what a quarterback is going to look like coming back from an Achilles, right?
It's still a little bit unknown.
And Rodgers was always-
Two old guys, though.
That's the problem.
Yeah.
But, you know, Rodgers has, like, that voodoo magic that made him heal in three months.
But they were, in our two drafts that we did,
I think Kirk Cousins was the last quarterback drafted.
He was QB 17, and Aaron Rodgers was not drafted.
So I'm sure you don't have a problem with that, per se.
Not at all.
Not at all.
They will not be guys that I would be coveting, though. They will guys that if we're in super flex or two QB leagues that I would be
settling for as a second quarterback, as opposed to be targeting. Um, I think in the case of
cousins, he's going to end up being a bridge quarterback, whether it's in Minnesota or
someplace else. I don't think he's going somewhere to be a long-term answer by any stretch, even with
the Vikings. I think it's a very short-term play. And for Rogers, we know there's not much of a long-term situation there for the jets. So I just
look at it as the offensive line is most likely still going to be a concern for the jets, no
matter what upgrades they have, unless it's just completely significant, a lot of free agents,
and they spend their entire draft capital on retooling that part of the football, which they
can. I mean, look, they're their, their running back situation is great.
They have a legit number one receiver. They could piece together the second options and it may be Devante Adams if they do get aggressive and really want to bring Rogers as a guy, as he has expressed,
but he's still going to be 40 years old behind what could be a mediocre offensive line if it's
upgraded to that. And that still makes me very nervous. So again, two guys that I would be looking to avoid.
But at the basis,
base bottom,
basement bottom price of a last round pick,
if,
if that's the best second quarterback,
if I'm inclined to take two,
then I would consider them there.
All right,
Dave,
Caleb Williams goes to the bears,
Drake may to the commanders,
Jaden Daniels to the Patriots.
How many of them are you taking ahead of Cousins and Rodgers?
Williams, yes.
Here's a question.
Does my league have IR spots?
Sure, yeah.
I want Cousins.
I'll take Cousins like round 14, 15.
If he's there just to stash him for when he comes back and see what we've got with him,
he could, he might begin the year ready to go.
And so he might be on my, my IR spot until week one comes.
And then I'm going to have to make a move.
I think there's just, I think Williams has more upside to be great for fantasy,
and he'll be ready to go week one. I don't have to worry about his health. I don't have to worry
about his age. It just makes sense that I would take him before I would consider Cousins or Rodgers.
Daniels, 1,000% over both those guys. Williams over both those guys,
and potentially Drake May over those guys too. I'm assuming you're going to have, in this scenario,
Williams to the Bears, Daniels to the Patriots.
You said Daniels a little bit more emphatically,
but would you have Caleb Williams or Daniels ranked ahead?
Who'd be your favorite rookie?
I'd like to see what else the Bears do with their second top 10 pick,
but Daniels on his own could be better than Williams based on his length.
What do you
like about him his running is going to be awesome i hope so i haven't watched him yet so i it's part
of the reason why i wasn't ready to say that i would take him over cousins and i know that he's
a runner yeah it's a new england thing though different different new england i i hope it is
they don't feel that different. That's the problem.
They definitely stayed in
house quite a bit.
I think Mayo is a different guy
than Belichick for sure.
But they promoted from within
a defensive coordinator. Their
front office, that's what I was
a little surprised with New England. I kind of felt like
they needed some fresh ideas. Maybe
it was just Belichick dragging them down. Maybe.
Well, I mean, based on the things that Robert Kraft has
said, he's kind of thrown Bill under the bus a couple times.
So I wouldn't be surprised if there
are some changes.
But they're having... I mean, that's the thing. They're just
kind of the same
group, at least
in the executives. But
no Belichick, so that's obviously a big deal. All right, I want to take
a break. We got running backs to talk about when we come back.
When would you take Derrick Henry,
Tony Pollard, Raheem Mostert?
These guys are on the do not draft list
for either Jave or Damey.
And we'll talk about that when we come back
on footy ball, fan ball today.
We'll be right back.
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Prince Fluffy's favorite treats?
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I'm going to separate the running backs into the Jamie running backs
and the Dave running backs.
But Dave, you haven't really spoken much yet.
So we'll go with your running backs first.
And you're saying you want to avoid three guys who are taken basically back to back to back,
or at least among running backs in our most recent drafts.
Round six, maybe into round seven.
Tony Pollard, Raheem Mostert, and Javante Williams.
Tony Pollard, Raheem Mostert, Javante Williams.
Let me just read the round six running backs.
Looking at Fantasy Pros PPR ADP from last year,
the running backs were drafted in round six.
Not bad.
Damian Pierce was more like round five,
but very close to round six.
He was awful.
Rashad White, James Cook, David Montgomery,
James Connor, and Javante Williams.
It's a pretty good group.
Yeah, not bad.
So Pollard, Mostert williams if they went in round
six of a 12 team league so that's after pick 60 would that be a problem for you i just wouldn't
take them then i'm not interested in getting them a pollard is the one who i might swing on
just because i don't know where he's going to play or what his role is going to be if he's back
and first off he's back with the cowboys and the only guy he's not getting your Toronto.
Oh no.
But I also don't think that that scenario is happening.
I think he had his shot at that.
And I think that ship has sailed.
I think he's going to end up splitting no matter where he goes.
And it'll be back to being at best 30 snaps a game, 12 touches a game.
If the guy that he's sharing with gets hurt then he gets put into a
feature role for however long that is is that the profile someone that gets taken in in round six
yeah it is but i just i i really did not like how he played how he wound up last year uh under 12
ppr points per game in his last 14 games and really just could not give the Cowboys what they
needed out of him as a,
as a running back.
He,
he had his chance to be a feature back.
He couldn't do it.
Now he's going to split somewhere.
We don't know where,
we don't know how good it'll be.
We don't know how effective he'll be.
And I,
I feel like he's going to end up being a headache for fantasy managers all
year long,
no matter what team he's with.
And that's something
that I can avoid in round six. He's the type of running back that I'd go after if I'm building
zero RB, but not somebody that I would go out and target right away. All right. That's Tony Pollard.
We'll talk about Mostert and Gervonta, but I want to read something from ESPN's Todd Archer
that I read last week or two weeks ago.
He said,
It's easy to think Tony Pollard, a single 100-yard game, could not handle the lead running back responsibilities.
But he was not the problem.
The run plan was off.
The Cowboys never developed an identity, regardless of whether that was because run game coordinator Jeff Blasco took a leave of absence during the season,
new line coach Mike Solari could not make it work,
or the line just wasn't good enough.
That was from Cowboys beat writer Todd Archer.
Also, recently Pollard said
things are going to be much different next year
because he's going to have a healthy offseason.
So you could take that into account as well.
However, a writer for The Athletic,
I forgot his name.
I'm sorry.
He said,
Pollard is not a feature back basically that he,
he's not suited for that role.
So to me last year proved it,
you know,
making,
bringing up what happened with the coaching staff and that they couldn't
have a game plan.
That's a huge indictment on Mike McCarthy,
if anything.
Yeah.
So I just,
I,
I'm certainly not going to be interested in taking Pollard with the top 40 pick.
Seeing him in round six might be about the time where I'd be okay with him.
But I think the days of him averaging over 15 PPR points per game like he did in 2022,
I think they're gone.
I just want to see where he ends up playing first before I commit to anything.
What about Mostert and Javante?
Everything we say now, we have to stick with
for the rest of the offseason.
Yeah, right. It's obviously difficult.
We're just providing some content here.
But that's how we're feeling about this guy at the moment.
But Mostert and Javante,
and Javante also didn't have a healthy offseason.
But are you okay with them in round six? And by the way, of those three, who would you take first? and Javante also didn't have a healthy offseason.
But are you okay with them in round six?
And by the way, of those three, who would you take first?
Pollard, Mostert, Javante?
Pollard for me.
Okay.
Jamie?
If he's sharing, I would take Javante. I think Javante, year two off ACL tear in Sean Payton's offense,
could be really good.
I just don't know if he's going to be the guy.
Like he might lead them in carries from game to game.
And,
and it could be in the neighborhood of like what Pollard was getting two
years ago,
where he's getting like 12 carries two or three catches.
I'm not certain he's the best running back that they even have on the
roster right now.
He's certainly the most physical.
So he's going to have that role for sure. But I don't know if he's certainly the most physical so he's gonna have that role for sure but i don't
know if he's gonna be can he get some explosiveness back because there was not a lot of that last
well wouldn't you think yes though wouldn't you lean toward yes i've been the case for most
quality players year two off an acl tear and if you believe he's a quality player then he should
if he don't then you probably be afraid to draft Makes sense. And so this is one where I'd say for now, I'm not taking him. We could absolutely get
reports about him looking different and better when we get to the mini camp and training camp.
And at that point I can do a U-turn and say, all right, maybe I would take him in round six or even
round five. But I am almost certain that the Broncos are going to stick with a multiple
running back approach.
They were using three at points last season.
And that would be bad for Javante Williams ever getting back to the point
where he could potentially be a fantasy stud.
It's just a matter of Samaj still there too.
The thing about Samaj is Samaj Piran is not going to take Javante
Williams off the field in a lot of running downs, right?
I don't know, but, but McLaughlin might, if McLaughlin's really,
if he's good and he looked pretty damn good, didn't he?
In 5.4 yards per hour.
Yes.
Right.
But, and the, and so,
and like Samaje Piran or whoever could take Javante Williams off the
field on third down.
But I don't know if it matters because the Broncos led the NFL in running back targets last year.
And that's kind of a Sean Payton thing.
I didn't know if that would carry over, if that was just a Camara thing.
But I think it's probably a Sean Payton thing.
So he'll have his catches, you know, like a three catchcatch-per-game kind of guy, about 50 catches, you'd think.
But McLaughlin, to me, feels like somewhat of a threat to Javante.
I don't know how you guys feel.
Of course he is.
I mean, look, if there wasn't somebody else there,
Javante, based on just his role or opportunity,
would be a potential third or fourth-round pick,
just based on what his—you tell me 50 catches for any running back,
that's going to put them in a, in a different category.
So if you think that's what he's getting,
plus what he's going to be able to do as a runner,
you're too often ACL in this offense with the quarterback situation,
probably being a little questionable where I think Sean Payton would lean on
his backs to whatever,
you know,
potential he likes of any of these guys,
which is kind of what happened last year,
especially after they moved on from Russell Wilson.
So I think for his opportunities, if it's three guys, it's frustrating.
But if you say 50 catches out of the gate, sign me up all day.
Yeah, I mean, it might not be 50. He had 47 catches in 16 games. So right
around 50 catches. He had two to four
catches in 14 of 16 games. Incredibly
consistent there. All right. Last one is Mostert, Dave.
Yeah, so again, a round six pick in our drafts,
going right around Pollard and Javante,
and you're just, no, no thanks.
It's just the matter of, can he do this again?
He's going to be 32 years old.
A-chan will be healthy.
He's entering his second season.
Do the Dolphins keep Jeff Wilson?
Do they bring in somebody younger
to further make their running back room
poised toward the future?
I love how he started last season,
23.2 PPR points per game.
And then he was at 14.3 in his final nine.
I thought he slowed down a little bit
toward the end of the year.
That's not a shock considering his age.
I almost think we're going to be right back in the exact same situation with him as where
we were when we were drafting him last year, which is a guy who can get you off to a hot
start.
And then when things get turbulent and he gets hurt or, you know, loses his role, whatever,
you're going to end up cutting him. In those types of situations, I don't want to spend a sixth round pick on a player
with the idea being that I might be cutting him by the time we get to Halloween.
So certainly could be awesome to start the year,
but I don't know if he's going to be nearly as good.
I'm betting against him being as good as he was this past season.
The problem is I think using round six is a bad situation because the two
drafts you're referencing the same person drafted in round six. So I don't know if that's just that
particular drafter is inclined to think that most are just going to still be, uh, uh, as much of a
contributor with Devon agent. Cause I don't think any of us are going to rank most or does around
six pick while ranking Devon agent as a potential potential round one pick, certainly a round two pick. So I think it's probably one person thinking that Mostert is
still going to be that good. I would say if you're getting Mostert, which is probably where he'll
end up going, is somewhere closer to round 10. That to me feels good.
But the only reason for that is his age. He's going to be 32 years old. Because I think the comparison
that you'd have to make is
Dolphins backfield to Lions
backfield. And we'd
be perfectly fine with David Montgomery
in the sixth round, I think, right?
And we have Jameer Gibbs
as a first round pick. We have Devon Achan
as a second round pick.
If things stay the same, you still
have probably more carries for
mostert you know he could out he could conceivably out carry devon hn who is a guy that never proved
he could stay healthy with the dog never in one year but he's a small guy i mean you're you're
totally right but you said it he's 32 you know and you know so i spoke to him at the pro bowl i
said what changed for you you know are you trying to just you know be one of these guys that can break the stigma of, you know, 30-year-old running backs continuing to produce?
He said he changed his diet.
You know, that's a big part of it.
You know, he said being healthy for two years in a row was huge for him.
He never really did that in his career.
Certainly in San Francisco, we know about the injury woes that he, you know, dealt with.
And so coming to Miami, he stayed healthy for two years in a row.
Again, you know, changing his diet, so making things, making a life change to help his career, but father time is undefeated
and, you know, 30 plus year old running backs are really tough to trust. And so in a, in a smaller
reduced role in Miami, yes, he could still be very successful, but in a smaller reduced role,
that doesn't speak to his fantasy production being great. He could still be their goal line guy.
He could still be somebody that they lean on on first and second down and,
you know,
alternate drives or whatever they want to do.
But it's just tough to say he's going to stay healthy at his age,
at the amount of work that he had.
So if you're taking him around six,
it's a huge risk unless something happens to HN preseason.
But I also think like Dave said,
I don't know who the third guy is going to be.
And that, I think, will matter in Miami's offense
because they will use a third guy at times,
maybe not to the extent of what they did a couple years ago,
but they will use a third guy.
And if it's Jeff Wilson again, then I feel good about Mostert.
Okay. All right.
Let's talk about Jamie's running backs here.
And so, again, to recap,
Dave thinks those round six picks on Pollard,
Mostert, and Javante are too early.
Jamie is focusing on some older guys that he just doesn't see drafting a lot of.
Nick Chubb coming off the ACL, Derek Henry, and Austin Eckler.
In our most recent drafts, Nick Chubb was around four pick in half PPR,
around five pick, 12-team four pick in half PPR, around five pick, 12 team leagues in full PPR.
Derek Henry, unless it was written down wrong,
he was 38th overall in our half PPR draft
and 82nd overall in our PPR draft.
So big difference there for Derek Henry.
Yeah, you can't use our drafts are done
without really draft rooms.
I know, but what am I supposed to use?
I don't have ADP.
There is no ADP.
Right. It's the best of a bad world, basically.
And then Austin Eckler
was actually around 7 pick,
around 8 pick in our two drafts, so nobody
seems to want him.
Jamie, Nick Chubb,
when would you consider him?
7? 8, eight.
Wow.
That feels a little late to me.
Again, 28-year-old running back.
Coming off of May for knee injury.
No.
Okay, so then he's going to be 29 on December 27th.
So to me, this is his age 28 season.
Okay.
Well, no, I mean, you have to draw a line somewhere.
I don't know where to draw it.
I usually draw it like...
It'll be the late 28.
I don't know how we quantify this
and where the deadline is for what year somebody's season is.
He doesn't have a lot of tread on the tires.
He came into the league old
and only 28 carries last year.
So 1,200 carries in his career.
You know he's not going to last
until round seven, obviously, Jamie.
So you're going to be out on Nick Chubb.
Yeah, I will not be drafting Nick Chubb.
I'd be much more inclined to draft Jerome Ford
if he's a second guy there
because I do think that we'll see some struggles. And again, you want to use the two running backs
that we had coming off ACL tears last year. Brees Hall was fantastic. Took a little bit of,
you know, some time. I know he had the great week one game, but took a little bit of time.
And then he proved himself to be fantastic behind a terrible offensive line. Give him all the credit
in the world. He was. He was great for fantasy managers
and great for the Jets. Javante Williams didn't necessarily have a great season across the board.
Yes, he was involved in the passing game. Yes, he had some moments, but certainly did not produce
at a very high level. Those two guys are young. Now you're talking about 28 and a half year old
Nick Chubb. 28 and three quarters. 28, 23 quarter Nick Chubb coming off a significant knee injury.
He's awesome. I'm sure we'll get videos of him squatting 500 pounds again, and he'll look like
he's a beast. He just will not be on a lot of my fantasy teams. I'm just not inclined to take those
type of players as they get older. Uh, I just not, not something that I'm going to be doing.
Okay. I get it. And I think it makes sense to be completely noncommittal to Nick Chubb
because there is so much that can change here with his situation.
Positive, his ACL tear came in the early part of the year.
It was in September.
So theoretically, he'll be close to being ready for week one,
but he's got a huge contract number.
The Browns could actually move on from it.
It would be a really crummy thing for them to do, but they could move on from it.
I would imagine that's the case.
Hmm.
They could restructure it.
I think that's probably what they'll end up doing.
And if he, if he restructures, he stays in Cleveland and he's participating in training
camp.
I've watched enough of this dude.
I don't think I'd want to bet against him.
It doesn't mean that I want to go and spend a top 30 pick on him, but I would, I would
say that like, if we're getting him in round six, I think I'd be more inclined, but it's
if all of those ifs are aligned and he ends up in the exact same situation that he was in last year, maybe a little fewer carries, Jerome Ford takes on a little bit more of the workload.
I could see him going down the Brees Hall path pretty easily and being a big-time running back.
Yeah, just Brees had so many catches, and you're never going to get that from Chubb.
That's fair, too.
Yeah.
I think it's a good comment from Aaron.
He's also in a better offense for Nick Chubb
with a better offensive line,
so give him that plus if you're going to do that.
Right.
That's why Cleveland's important.
If he goes on to Tennessee or something like that,
I don't know if round eight would be early enough for me.
I don't think Chubb is going to be as good
as Derrick Henry was this year.
All right, let me read the comments.
Aaron said, worst case scenario for Chubb is Derrick Henry of this year,
who was, by the way, second in the NFL on rushing yards,
but he was, on a per-game basis,
he was 13th in non-PPRs as Derrick Henry,
16th in half PPR, RB 18 per game in full PPR.
That was Derrick Henry, and that's what Aaron is saying. Worst case
for Chubb is Henry of this year.
I think that's the best case.
Okay.
Alright, we'll talk more about Henry
when we come back from this commercial break.
Henry and Eckler, plus a lot of wide receivers
and a couple of tight ends, and we'll be right back.
Henry and Eckler,
do you guys think they have anything left in the tank?
Yeah. Anything? Of course. Henry and Eckler do you guys think they have anything left in the tank? yeah
anything of course
Henry for sure
Eckler I think will end up being
I'm hopeful more of a third down back
not a feature guy
yep
he has never been a big
carries guy right he's always been
he's made his hay
does Austin Eckler have one 20 carry game
in his career i think may have won yeah i'm serious you'd be surprised to check on that but
uh dave you want to check on that or you want me to i'll go how many 20 carry games is austin
eckler have in his career i can do it right now actually um but right he's gonna need to be in
a space where he can catch a lot of balls he He has none, none, never won in his career.
He's hit 19 three times, but Austin Eckler has never had a 20-carry game.
Here's the argument I'd make for Eckler.
If you look at Saquon Barkley, if you look at Jonathan Taylor,
high ankle sprains really derailed seasons for them, especially Barkley.
Eckler in week one comes out, 16 carries, 117 yards, a touchdown. High ankle sprains really derailed seasons for them, especially Barkley.
Eckler in week one comes out, 16 carries, 117 yards,
a touchdown, four catches, 47 yards,
scores 26.4 fantasy points in week one,
suffers a high ankle sprain.
I do feel like he struggled the rest of the season, and because he was 28 years old,
people really blamed it on his age
and said he was over the hill.
What if it was just his ankle?
He's
not getting younger. I think
he is. I read some... No, he's not getting
younger. When's his birthday?
We have to figure out his exact...
It's in May. No issues
there. Okay.
Well, look,
we know how productive he can be when he's
getting a lot of catches in ppr
he's he's got to find a situation where he's still going to get those targets
and he's still going to work near the goal line otherwise we're going back to the past with him
when he was splitting with another running back and he wasn't getting work near the goal line
and that might be you know in the neighborhood of 13 PPR points per game. I'd
have to go and look and see what he did in that era, but he'd still be serviceable for fantasy.
There's no question. And I think Jamie's right. We're hoping for him to be a passing downs back
wherever he goes. Uh, I think about Kellen Moore going to Philadelphia. I think about Austin
Eckler following him and will he cost as much as DeAndre Swift? Could they use him in that role?
And will Kellen Moore implement that
in the Philadelphia offense?
In a situation like that, I think I'd be in love.
But if he's not being used even close to the way
that he was used over the past three years,
you're going to imagine a very steep drop for him.
What was his ADP in our drafts?
Where was he going?
Seventh and eighth round.
The problem is,
is like if he goes to a situation like Philadelphia,
he's going to get overdrafted.
Oh,
I would hate him in Philadelphia.
Right.
Cause he's not going to get the touchdowns.
So that's a bad situation.
I think,
I think I've talked myself out of Eckler completely here.
Like I just,
I don't see a path for him.
I feel like he needs 70 catches to be good, to be really impactful.
He needs 70 catches, and he needs like 10 touchdowns.
Because you know he's not going to get the rushing work almost no matter where he goes.
Right.
Okay.
Would you rather have Henry?
I think I might.
Going to be 30?
He is 30 years old.
Derek Henry had 10 games with more than 15 carries,
and he averaged 19.4 PPR fantasy points.
But when they were trailing, he stunk.
It was terrible.
What team is he on?
Is he on a contending team where he can be the running downs powerhouse
goal line smasher like if he goes to philadelphia that's going to stink because he's not going to
get every single short yardage goal line carry but that's a team that in theory will be competitive
and not playing from behind so many times like the titans did
i just think almost all the scenarios that you're going to probably pose,
that he goes here, he goes there, he's going to get overdrafted for me.
Like he goes to the Raiders, which I think would be a great fit.
You know, you're talking about a team that definitely relied on this running game
with Antonio Pierce, and it's an offensive line that's improving.
Hopefully there's going to be a good quarterback situation in place there.
He's going to get pushed up into the first
three rounds and I'm out. If he goes to the Bengals to replace Joe Mixon, he's going to get pushed up
his ADP and I'm out. If he goes to Baltimore, his ADP is going to get pushed up and I'm out.
So just for me, I'm not drafting him at his age, switching teams. I just don't think you're going
to get the bang for your buck. I think when he's healthy, he'll be awesome. And look, he's avoided injuries for the majority of his career.
He had the foot injury three years ago, and we saw what happened there.
But kudos to him.
He bounced back and was just as good the following year
and still very successful this year.
You know, you mentioned it.
Second in the NFL in rushing.
Still gave you some very good performances.
Didn't live up to his ADP, but that's understandable.
If you were drafting him that high,
I don't think you should have expected him to live up to his ADP.
But he's a beast. He's an alien.
We've talked about this for years. He'll still
be good. I just will not be drafting
him at his cost. He falls
into maybe the round five or six
range, then I might have some
interest, but that's never going to happen.
I bet he ends up
in round four.
I think that...
So basically, I just feel like...
You saw that stat I just gave, right?
10 games where he had 16 or more carries.
15.
Yeah, 16 or more carries.
But how many...
I've got a similar stat, but yeah.
Right, but how many teams are going to give him that opportunity?
I just don't see it at age 30.
The teams that make some sense,
if they fix some things,
and you alluded to this already
with one of the guys we talked about,
Dallas, because they've had some interest
over the last couple of years.
There was some buzz at the trade deadline
about Miami.
If they decide to move on from Mostert
and make him part of the tandem,
there was actually one of the Dolphins reporters
asked Raheem Mostert, ironically enough,
are you recruiting Derrick Henry?
Because there was the interest at the trade deadline for Miami?
Yes, I'm recruiting him to replace me.
Sorry.
Baltimore clearly would be, you know, a team that has a big hole.
And we know that they like to have a power running back.
We saw it with Gus Edwards.
I think they wanted that to be J.K. Dobbins, but can't stay healthy.
So there'll be a lot of teams, I think, that will give him those touches.
You know, still with some old school coaches
or coaches that want to take some pressure off
maybe a young running back.
You know, look, would surprise you
if Carolina moved on from Miles Sanders
and maybe threw some of that money at Derrick Henry
to take some pressure off of Bryce Young?
Yeah, but 280 carries.
I mean, do you see him getting 280 carries again?
I don't because I don't think he's going to stay healthy.
I mean, I just don't bank on older running backs.
It's very rare that they make it through a full season
when they're getting that much work.
By the way, you know, this is a topic for another show,
but probably Minnesota would be the running back opening
that fantasy managers could be salivating over, you know?
All right, we got to talk about some wide receivers here
as we're running a little bit long.
So Jamie wanted to talk about the guys he wants to avoid
or any 30-plus wide receivers in the first three rounds.
We'll do Jamie's in a minute here.
But Dave, you had Terry McLaurin, T. Higgins,
and the Steelers wide receivers.
So Higgins would probably be the first off the board.
He did go in round five in one of our drafts,
but he went at the end of round three, 36 overall in one of our drafts as well.
And then McLaurin and Pickens were like round five, round six picks.
Deontay was the last of this group.
But I do want to ask you about Higgins because yesterday you said Joe Burrow
was a player you loved.
We talked about the report that they were likely to franchise Tee Higgins.
So I know the way you're ranking Jamar Chase and the way you're ranking Joe Burrow.
Seems like you're willing to forgive and forget last year.
But why are you saying you're avoiding Tee Higgins?
I just think that he's going to be a little bit higher than what we were talking about with Terry McLaurin.
And that's what he was in 2022.
He was 13.8 PPR points per game last year, down year. He had a bunch of injuries, Burrow,
obviously with his situation, they overlap Burrow's good games. So that's week five until he got hurt
along with T Higgins. They only played three games together. They still average only 11.6
PPR points in those games. The reason why I love Joe Burrow is because I think he's an awesome quarterback.
It helps that he's got Jamar Chase, who I think is an awesome wide receiver.
I think T Higgins is a very, very good wide receiver.
If he, if he stays in Cincinnati, he's still going to be the number two.
He's going to be up and down.
So that inconsistency will be there.
I do think he can do better than 11.6. I just don't think he can get to be up and down. So that inconsistency will be there. I do think he can do better than 11.6.
I just don't think he can get to 15.
So I don't want to draft him the same way that we drafted him this past
season where we thought,
okay,
Cincinnati is just going to air it out a ton.
All the targets will be funneled to chase and Higgins.
Higgins would be awesome in situations when chase is out.
But short of that,
I don't think that he's necessarily somebody that we should, I think
he'll get overdrafted is basically what it comes down to.
And I think he could get overdrafted if he's traded.
So the Bengals tag them and then they trade them to Carolina.
And now he's the number one receiver for Bryce young.
There's no way he's getting overdrafted in Carolina.
When he, oh no, I don't think so either, but you never know how people are going to react because now he's a number
one wide receiver.
Now he doesn't have Jamar chase.
I would almost,
I would almost think like some of the scenarios that you could see.
So let's,
you want to say Carolina,
there's no chance of getting overdrafted there.
If he goes to Tennessee,
I don't think he's getting overdrafted there.
I think if he stays in Cincinnati,
he might get overdrafted because people are going to romanticize with what he
did a couple of years ago thinking, okay, Joe Burrow is healthy. He's healthy. They made the commitment to keep him. And now they're going to feature him maybe to the same extent as they have in years past. Adam, I believe if I'm not mistaken, you got him in round four in one of those drafts.
Three, four turn. Yeah. Which to me is fantastic. I love that situation for him in that spot, no matter where,
I shouldn't say if he stays in Cincinnati, love that for him. Um, but look, if he goes to a
situation where he, I mean, imagine he goes to Kansas city, like that would be a dream situation
for him. You know, he can still end up in a couple of spots that will enhance his fantasy value. So
I think he's still one of the better receivers in the league, uh, would not be opposed to drafting him as a number one receiver in the right situation. But that's me being, you know,
uh, optimistic that he goes to one of these spots, not a Carolina, not a Tennessee, you know, where
he can, you know, sort of emerge as, as a, as a go-to guy for the right quarterback. There aren't
many of those situations, so it's probably not going to happen, but in the, in, if he stays in,
in Tennessee, you know, I've kind of been on the opposite side of that, that I think he's going to move on because I think he wants
to chase a contract and, you know, maybe the Bengals can't afford to pay him. Um, and, and
the franchise tag doesn't make sense as you're starting to hear about the tag and trade, um,
that, uh, I would not be surprised if, if he stays in, in Cincinnati, uh, return some pretty
impressive value, especially in a contractor. All right.
And I know this people,
you might not like that.
I do,
but I think you have to do it with T Higgins because you mentioned his
points per game,
Dave in 2022,
and you have to Azar stat him week one.
He played 26% of the snaps week five.
He played 16% of the snaps week 13.
He played one snap in those three games. Week 13, he played one snap. In those three games,
he had two catches for 27 yards. That killed his averages. I think you can sum up Tee Higgins very simply. Here it is. In 2021, he averaged 15.7 PPR points per game. He was wide receiver 13 per game. In 2022, he played nine games that he didn't leave early
and Jamar Chase was on the field.
He averaged the same amount of points, 15.7 PPR per game,
and would have been wide receiver 13 per game.
That is exactly how I viewed him.
I didn't see him as a top five caliber player.
I saw him as a very,
very safe number two wide receiver.
The only...
And if you're willing to throw out
last year, I don't see why anything's different if he
comes back and it's him, Chase, and Burrow.
The only thing going in his favor
that gives him more upside is in a
small sample size, when Higgins has
been on the field without Chase,
he's been a beast.
That's true.
So not every wide receiver has that injury upside.
Like you can't say Terry McLaurin, well, if this guy gets hurt,
you know, whatever.
But Higgins, if Chase misses time,
he could be a top five wide receiver for that time period.
So I think I'm good with him at 36.
I hope he makes it to the end of the third round.
Oh, for sure.
We talked about McLaurin.
And who was your other one, Dave?
I'm sorry.
The Steelers wide receiver.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
So, yeah, I did see in both of our drafts some...
I think this was before the Arthur Smith hire, though.
Some love for Pickens.
And not so much for Deontay.
Go ahead.
No, I think Pickens will get drafted much for Deontay. Go ahead. No, I think Pickens will get drafted ahead of
Deontay. And I, I'm worried that they'll get overdrafted because of highlights and hype and
target volume in the case of Deontay Johnson. But I think the Steelers made it real clear
that they want to run the ball. And they talked about it.
Their owner talked about it after the season.
They went and hired Arthur Smith.
Wouldn't surprise me in the least if they tried to upgrade their offensive line in at least two spots.
And I also don't think they're going to be able to get a huge name at quarterback.
I know that people are linking Justin Fields to them.
I'd be a little surprised if they got a huge name at quarterback. I know that people are linking Justin Fields to them. I I'd be a little
surprised if they got a huge name at QB, because I think they still want to see what they have in
Kenny Pickett, but it's all going to point to them being a team that wants to run. And so I, I think
that you kind of have to look at these receivers as middling wide receiver threes going into 2024.
And does, do either of them have the upside to be better than that?
I would think so.
I just don't know if those opportunities are going to be there.
Like they would be if they were on a different team or if the Steelers made
moves to try and be a more dynamic passing offense.
I just don't think that that's where they're at right now.
All right.
Let's talk about Jamie's wide receivers here.
Jamie,
you're say you want to avoid
on your do not draft list
any 30 plus wide receiver
in the first three rounds.
So does that include Tyreek Hill?
He's not 30 yet.
He will be in March.
That's not 30 yet.
Okay, so other than him,
Cooper Cup, he'll be 31 in June.
Devontae Adams will be 31 on December 24th.
So this will basically be his age 30 season.
He'll be 30 and three quarters.
DeAndre Hopkins turns 32 in June.
And Stefan Diggs turns 31 on November 29th.
I miss anyone?
Cup, Adams, Hopkins, Diggs?
Keenan Allen.
Keenan Allen.
Okay, thank you.
Keenan Allen, 32.
So it's 31 or older not 30 or older um I consider Adams 30 he'll be 31 on Christmas Eve dig same thing 31 on November 29th it's basically
everybody but Tyreek Hill okay hmm Dave do you agree with all of that no I think some of those guys I'm going to be interested in it just has to be at the right spot
you know we were taking Devonta Adams as a round one pick he's not anymore we used to take Cooper
Cup as a round one pick he's not anymore uh Keenan Allen was like a two three turn type guy in PPR
I don't think he's going to be there anymore either.
And Diggs, everybody's going to be nervous about
after the way that he finished last year.
So I get where he's coming from.
I don't think it's an ageist thing.
I think it's a, these guys aren't as good as they once were.
It's an ageist thing.
They're not as good as they once were because they're old.
Except for Keenan.
Keenan Allen, we have to point out, had a tremendous-
I thought Devontae Adams and DeAndre Hopkins had numerous games
where they looked not like an old wide receiver.
Well, I mean, look, there's going to be times when great players still flash.
Exactly.
I think there's a lot of situations where these guys can still be productive,
but to take them with early picks, you're just adding more risk to it.
So I'm going to look to avoid that risk.
That's fair.
Adams was on the worst offense of his career.
And Hopkins, maybe the same.
I would bet the same.
I haven't done that, but they're probably there.
I don't know.
He was a Texans offense or two.
That was just as bad.
Oh, right.
He had the Osweiler season and he was awful that year.
And he came back after that and he was a Hall of Famer.
But there is that.
You know, maybe fantasy managers would be even more concerned
if those guys had struggled on good offenses, good passing offenses.
They struggled on bad offenses.
Yeah, but do you see them getting that much better?
I mean.
Don't know.
Tennessee's got some potential,
but who knows if Hopkins is still there?
Um,
Adams may be with the jets and that would be,
I think,
uh,
not a disaster,
but you're adding him to,
you know,
another receiver that,
uh,
has some,
some upside that,
you know,
may hurt him.
Uh,
plus the,
the Adams fallback.
Sorry.
I have my dog here.
Um,
you have a dog.
Yeah. Oh, you just got the dog. Hey, you have my dog here. You have a dog? Yeah.
Oh, you just got the dog.
Hey!
Oh, you have a puppy!
Look at this!
What's your name?
Is that your stomach?
What's your dog's name?
Orly.
Orly.
That's awesome.
O-R-L-Y.
How long have you had the dog?
About a month. Do you ever call it oh really no
i love it that's great congratulations good for you and you've never had a dog before right no
not as a child either the first first dog i've ever had awesome watch where you step
no she's great um uh yeah i'm just gonna avoid avoid these guys. I just can't see myself drafting them.
Would you take any of them,
Kup, Diggs, Hopkins, Adams,
over T. Higgins?
Would I take them over T. Higgins?
TBD, based on where Higgins is.
Higgins is Cincinnati.
I'd rather have Higgins.
All of them?
Except for Tyreek.
Okay.
Alrighty.
And then there are tight ends.
So Jamie said he wants to avoid Hawkinson,
and Dave said he wants to avoid Pitts.
Do either of you disagree with your partner here, your co-worker?
I'm going to be inclined to draft Pitts,
depending on the QB situation there in atlanta you know so
he still got top 10 upside um you know you look at what he had as a rookie in terms of who his
quarterback was and that was great and then he got banged up his second year and i hope he's
going to be healthy if he's if he's not dealing with any injuries then yeah i still have a lot
of interest in in pits and i would draft him over Hawkinson as of now.
Top 12 tight end.
Sure.
But like priority, not priority, but like second or third tier tight end.
I don't, I don't know what I need to see or hear.
That's going to make me buy into Kyle pits. Let me think of the best case scenario.
Healthy.
Yes.
The offense has already changed.
He should be healthy coming into the year.
So those are two things that are in his favor.
Upgrade a quarterback.
It would have to be like a huge upgrade in quarterback who has a tendency to lean on tight end.
But I don't even like this most recent quote where he's like, Kyle Pitts can be a tight end.
No, Kyle Pitts should be a wide receiver.
No.
To Jamie's point, no tight end.
He shouldn't be blocking anybody.
It doesn't matter.
No, he has to be a tight end.
He's not going to be an in-line tight end.
No tight end lined up out wide more than Pitts last year.
And Jamie's saying, line him up at the end of the line of scrimmage
against linebackers and take advantage of that.
And he was out wide so much more, you know, and take advantage of that.
And he was out wide so much more, I think, than any other tight end.
And his ADOT is way too high.
I mean, I like a guy that goes downfield.
You need a good quarterback if you're going to have that ADOT.
Like, give me some easy completions.
Give me some cheap PPR points.
Things can change for Kyle Pitts.
How about three years of underwhelming play?
No, two years.
This rookie year, he was pretty good.
He just didn't score. And he wasn't healthy this year.
He also had terrible quarterbacks.
I mean, not that Matt Ryan at the end of his tenure with the Falcons was good,
but he was certainly good enough for his receiving core.
And we saw it with Calvin Ridley, and we saw it with Kyle Pitts.
And that's one thing at least Arthur Smith was honest about.
When I spoke to him last offseason, he said Ryan I said what was the difference his rookie year and
his last year Matt Ryan he said he trusted his quarterbacks more and and look that's on him
that's on the you know front office for not addressing that and making that a better part
of what they thought you know maybe they said too much faith and that and faith in Desmond Ritter
and we don't know what the quarterback situation is going to be but it's certainly going to be
better than what it was I know 22nd was great it's certainly going to be better than what it was. I know 22nd was great, but they're going to be better than what it was.
So that's my hope for Pitts.
There's still too much of a unicorn player to give up on him yet.
The difference between where you're drafting him now
versus where you drafted him the last two years
is going to be probably five or six spots at his position.
My final point about that whole
the Falcons finished 22nd in pass attempts
that wasn't that bad
is that I just want, my final point is this.
They could get worse.
They're not guaranteed to get better.
There were 10 teams that were worse than them.
That was my point.
I think they'll get better.
And I think they'll get better
simply because they'll throw more. But things can get worse. That was my point. I think they'll get better. And I think they'll get better simply because they'll throw more,
but things can get worse.
That's,
that was my point.
Things can definitely get worse.
Yeah.
Things can get worse.
Yeah.
All right.
Let's,
uh,
let's finish up there.
Let's wrap it up.
We're going to do some FFT in five.
If you want to hear some more,
maybe I'll come up with my do not draft list.
Like I did yesterday for my players.
I love
and
managed to talk about
ETN yesterday again.
There's that.
I love ETN
but I also hate ETN.
Here's why.
I love ETN
but he's not my avoidant.
No.
We'll figure it out.
Thanks for watching
and listening everybody.
Have a wonderful weekend.
We'll talk to you Monday
on Fantasy Football.
Oh. Bye, Rory.