Fantasy Football Today - Fantasy Superlatives! Who is This Year's Chase Brown/Jonnu Smith/Ja'Marr Chase/CJ Stroud? (05/08 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: May 8, 2025

Before our superlatives, let's talk about the Eagles passing game (3:10) with Dallas Goedert back for another season. Why should we even draft DeVonta Smith!? Also, our thoughts on Roman Wilson (6:25) in Pittsburgh and how George Pickens will fit in with CeeDee Lamb (9:45) ... News and notes (20:55) and our first round of Fantasy Superlatives (21:50). Who is this year's CJ Stroud? Who is this year's Ja'Marr Chase? Who is this year's Jonnu Smith? Who is this year's Zamir White? ... More superlatives (36:05) as we're looking for the next breakout offense, the next quarterback that will surprise us with a great season, the next backup running back who will overtake the starter and the next breakout candidate who will fall short of expectations. We also read your Apple Podcast questions (50:00) ... Email us at [e-mail] Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts Watch FFT on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Shop our store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shop.cbssports.com/fantasy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  SUBSCRIBE to FFT Express on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-express/id1528634304⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow FFT Express on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/6qyGWfETSBFaciPrtvoWCC?si=6529cbee20634da8⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW FFT Dynasty on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE to FFT DFS on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dfs/id1579415837⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW FFT DFS on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/5zU7pBvGK3KPhfb69Q1hNr?si=1c5030a3b1a64be2⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FFT team on Twitter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @FFToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @AdamAizer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @JameyEisenberg⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @daverichard⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @heathcummingssr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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." Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠betting arena on CBSSports.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for all the latest ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sportsbook reviews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sportsbook 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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No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races and he stays at his feet. This is gonna go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath. Well, welcome to the show on Thursday, May 8th. Devontae Smith, we're to talk about the Eagles passing game. Devontae Smith has averaged about 17 and a half PPR fantasy points per game in 16 games

regular season without Dallas Goddard, but with AJ Brown. That is really, really good. That's top 10 material there. With both of them on the field, he's closer to 13 fantasy points per game, which is, you know, not so great. Borderline number two, three receiver top 30 maybe. So anyway, we welcome you. We're going to talk about that with Dallas Guider back.

We kind of brushed a breeze past that yesterday. We got fantasy superlatives. Who is this year's CJ Stroud? Who is this year's John who Smith? Who is this year's Dave Richard? Fantasy hall of Famer. That's going to give great advice. Dude, I don't know. Any new?

I don't know. Hey, Dave, what's up? We know who the most awkward podcast host of the year is going to be. Why can't that be a category? I would have had so many of those. I would put them on my mantle. They would just call it the Aeser Award. Heath, what's on the mantle in your house?

Do you have a mantle? Uh, no, we don't have a fireplace. Right. I had a mantle in my last house and I have an award right here over my shoulder. It says best podcast. Oh. I believe. Or maybe it's best video show. I best podcast. Oh, I believe. Or maybe it's best video show.

I'm not sure which one, but. Oh, well how about that? Yeah. Okay. Why don't you let us know. Our email address is fantasyfootball.cbsi.com. Hope to get some of your questions today and your Apple podcast questions as well.

Leave us a five star review on Apple podcast. Ask us a question. It will get read on the show. All right, so I have a few quick questions before we get into the superlatives. With Dallas Goddard staying in Philadelphia, Heath, why should I draft Yvonne Smith? Because he falls into wide receiver three territory

and he has displayed a proven contingent upside that if either AJ Brown or Dallas Goddard misses time, he could be a borderline wide receiver one, and he's a solid wide receiver three when those guys are healthy. This is just kind of combining yesterday's news with today's news. Before yesterday, I had DeVante Smith ahead of DK Metcalf in the rankings. As of today, I have DK Metcalf ahead of Devontae Smith in the rankings. Yesterday's news being the Pickens trade, today's news being the Goddard signing. You're right. Well, we talked about yesterday and won today.

Okay, just making sure. All right, Dave, why should I draft Devante Smith? He went in the sixth round after DJ Moore, Jamison Williams, Cortland Sutton, Chris Godwin, just before Jerry Judy in our most, fifth round, fifth round, sorry. That's a big difference. I think he hit on it. This is a receiver that you can always use as a number three.

He is good enough to be a number two if you're in a pinch. And he could potentially be a number one if he's playing a game without AJ Brown or Dallas Goddard last year, there were 10 games where Brown Goddard, they didn't play. He averaged 17.3 PPR points per game in those 10 games. That's awesome. So the contingency upside, there's that buzz term.

I think it's in play with him. The problem is how many games will there be where both Goddard and AJ Brown, and let's not forget about the run game that Philadelphia has, when all that's cooking, it does hurt the potential for Devontae Smith, at which point he's just a boomer bust wide receiver. I think round six is the perfect time to get him. Yeah, just to put one more number on it,

I've got over the last three seasons, without Goddard but with AJ Brown, Devontae Smith has been on pace for 1,353 yards and 12 touchdowns. That would make him a top nine wide receiver per game in any format and even better in non PPR and half PPR. So that's what I've got. And, but, but with Dallas Goddard, it's more like 13 PPR fantasy points per game, which is like

wide receiver 30. I said that at the top of the show. I'm just wondering, do you think it's that simple? Do you think it is just he's a stud when someone's out and he's a flex? We just accept that at this point? No, a flex when some... Okay, a wide receiver three when Goddard's healthy. All right, because I just feel like, I wonder if Goddard,

he's not old, I think he's gonna be 31. Yesterday we said he had the second highest yard per out run rate among tight ends. Is he really that big of a difference or is it a coincidence? All right, if we can just, I guess we'll just accept it at face value. My next question is, oh, wait, Thomas, actually, sorry to put you on the spot. Do we have Dave's fancy charts available for graphics? Yeah. Give me one second. All right. You know what?

We'll go back to that. We'll go to question number two will be, should we talk about Pittsburgh wide receiver, Roman Wilson, third round pick in last year's draft? I would love to talk about Pittsburgh wide receiver Roman Wilson. Yeah, he missed most of the season with injury. Is he a sleeper for you right now, Dave? He is in the late round range. Certainly a top 200 player. If you're drafting 15 rounds, you could pick him up. Who's blocking him for playing time and targets in that offense? They signed Robert Woods. They've got Calvin Austin. I don't know if either of those guys are really going to be more

than like four target per game guys. Max. It's Pat Friarview that in my mind is going to block him along with the slow pace offense. It's going to run the ball a lot, but he's a really good route runner, perfect type of slot receiver. Depending on who the quarterback is Aaron Rogers. But he's a really good route runner, perfect type of slot receiver. Depending on who the quarterback is, Aaron Rodgers, I think we could see some decent

numbers from Roman Wilson, but he certainly qualifies much more as a sleeper who you draft, you begin the season with him on your bench. Maybe after he shows a flash or two, you get the guts to start him. Not a breakout type of wide receiver. I think there are too many other guys at that position that would qualify ahead of Roman Wilson, but he is talented. He's got great hands. And I think the Steelers are going to give him an opportunity.

If he earns it, everybody's got to earn it when you're unproven. But if he earns it in training camp, yeah, he could, he could be okay. Yeah. I don't, I don't want to give up on Roman Wilson, but I just don't know that one person, Hey, there was, Oh, now Adam's gone. Uh, you man, you guys should watch on YouTube. That was fun. Um, I just don't know that one person being removed from this situation is enough. Um, I get to just an extremely run heavy offense with a bad quarterback. And even if they get Aaron Rodgers, she's probably going to throw like

seven passes all season to Roman Wilson. I'm not drafting him in a standard CBS draft. Like maybe if you're in a best ball draft that goes 20 rounds or something, then sure, there could be some weekly pops. But if I get 13 roster spots, not counting defense and kicker, I don't think so. Would you like some names of wide receivers I have ranked ahead of Roman Wilson, or should we just accept that he's probably not going to get drafted outside of those leagues that Heath's talking about unless people want to take a shot?

Is he in your top 60 wide receivers? He is not. Okay. Did you want to give some names? Well, I was gonna say if he's not in Dave's top six, we agree on where he was. Marvin Mim, Cedric Tillman, Xavier Leagate, Kenan Allen, who currently doesn't even have a team.

Okay, here are here's Arthur Smith's run rates in six seasons as a head coach or offensive coordinator. Well, this would be fun. Fourth, third, 25th, second, fourth, fourth. One year where he had Matt Ryan at quarterback and he had Mike Davis and Cordaro Patterson at running back. Arthur Smith was 25th in run rate.

Otherwise, he's been top four every year. All right, third question. Actually, this was a surprise here. Dave, it's Dave's fancy charts. Let's bring them up, Dave, and you can describe to the listeners and tell the viewers what we're looking at here. This is chart number one, and this is CDLAM.

So what are we looking at? So we are looking at CDLAM's targets from Dak Prescott in 2024, and you can see every red dot's a completion. Obviously, there's gonna be a ton of completions, but I want you to really focus on you can focus on between the numbers. Okay, for those who are just listening, it's a chart. It's a plot point chart of a football field with all the dots of where CDLAM was targeted between the numbers, a ton of dots, lots of red dots for completions, blue for incompletions. But also when you look toward the sideline, there are some dots, but not a ton of them. And that just goes to show that CD Lam gets targeted all over the field. But a lot of middle of the field stuff from Dak Prescott in 2024, I would imagine this will continue to be the case for CD Lam for as long as he's playing in

the National Football League. Okay, so we've got a chart here with dots everywhere, but a lot over the middle of the field, as Dave was saying. Now let's take a look at George Pickens chart here, and what are we seeing here, Dave? We see plenty of dots down the sideline, both sidelines, but more so the left sideline than the right sideline, and nowhere near as many dots between the numbers. So this is in Pittsburgh,

and we don't know how Dallas is going to view George Pickens, but I would guess that they see a chart like this in Dallas and they'll say, okay, this is a guy who can win on the sideline. One-on-one contested catch situations, we've seen George Pickens make some outstanding catches in those situations.

And I think that that's what Dallas is going to try and really hammer Pickens with. And that makes him a really good compliment to CD Lamb. So when they're attacking teams that are weak over the middle, maybe they play a lot of zone coverage. This is a really a great opportunity for CD Lamb to win in those spots. When they're playing more man coverage, absolutely George Pickens can put up some big numbers. But I think these two charts kind of show an example of what these two receivers do and how well they can complement each other. The one issue I would just

caution everybody with is that it's much, much easier for a quarterback to hit those middle of the field shots rather than those sideline shots. So the next step is to see how does Dak Prescott do throwing to let's call it inside of three yards to the sideline. So imagine the sideline if you're looking at the chart, picture three little spaces in your mind from the sideline in it's not going to be anywhere near the numbers. How does Dak Prescott do on those types of throws if he's done well over his career? That's a good thing for George Pickens. If he doesn't do well on those types of throws if he's done well over his career?

That's a good thing for George Pickens. If he doesn't do well on those, it's a bad thing for George Pickens. Well, I don't know that, but I did look at Dec Prescott and his pass attempts of 20 or more air yards over the last four seasons. And I looked at yards per attempt and I looked at completion percentage. They're pretty good. He's got very good numbers on those types of passes. I've seen a lot of quarterbacks where that fluctuates and might be more about the receivers. It's kind of a smallish sample size, but not really. My point is I don't know how predictive that is, but for what it's worth, Dak Prescott has been pretty good throwing the ball downfield, 20 or more air yards. Last year Dak Prescott's

receivers had four drops out of 31 pass attempts of 20 or more air yards, a 13% drop rate, which is incredibly high. So his numbers suffer because of that. I watched those drops weren't necessarily all on the receivers. They were some tough plays, but he has been good throwing the ball downfield. And again, if you didn't see it, I think it's really important just to see how well Lam and Pickens can complement each other with Lam being used all over the field and Pickens, of course, his strength is the go routes, the deep balls, those types of things. May I give a quick answer to the question that I posed, which is how does Dak Prescott do on those sideline throws? I tried to talk long enough for you to look it up. It looks

like I succeeded. Last three seasons, he has attempted 62 of these throws. That's not a lot over 37 games. It's like two a game, less than that. Heath will correct my math. He's completed 40% of these throws, 5.9 yards per attempt, four touchdowns, two interceptions. The A-dot is 17. The passer rating is 68.4. This is George Pickens. Now, I could also expand this so it's not just the sideline. We can do it to the numbers and let's see what we get. Here's the thing. I don't know how that compares to other quarterbacks. you know what I mean? We got it.

If you really want to know if that's. I think maybe let's maybe do it off the air and come back and give us a big fancy takeaway. It's much better if it's just inside, outside the numbers. There you go. Completion rates better, yards per temp is better. Yeah, all of it's better. Quarterback rating's better.

And then I was thinking about it, Heath, the other, last night, just thinking about how George Pickens Yeah, all of it's better. Quarterback rating's better. And then I was thinking about it, Heath, the other, last night, just thinking about how George Pickens could be, because I was a little excited about this. I mean, I would much rather him be second, you know, second in the number two wide receiver on Dallas than Pittsburgh. But then I thought like, man, I think he's the only player that I can think of that I feel this way about. I'm worried about his non football stuff.

Oh, he's not even the only wide receiver. Who else would you say that about? Tyree Kill? Yeah, okay. But at least I know that Tyree Kill is like a dog, right? He goes out there, he practices hard, he plays hard, he wants to be great. I don't know where George Pickens head is at. I hate talking about stuff like that. Because I don't, you know, I'm not in the team locker room or anything like that. But it's quite obvious. The Steelers have

said it themselves that he needs to grow up. I don't know if he's grown up. So you have to be a little cautious buying into that, I guess. Sometimes things like this will make a person grow up a little bit. Sometimes it makes them a little bit more frustrated. It varies from person to person. We're probably not going to know until we know until there's reports and stuff like that that come out. Here's what I would tell you. What do Antonio Brown, Deontay Johnson, Chase Claypool, Mike Wallace? Mike Wallace, well, to a degree Mike Wallace, but sure. Heath already knows where I'm going with

this and most longtime fantasy managers know too, which means Adam, you probably know as well. These are former Steelers wide receivers and how did they do after they left Pittsburgh? Mixed results. I mean, Antonio Brown was, was terrific, but he was at the end of his career. Yeah. Not great. I mean, it makes me think like if you can't make it with the Steelers, it's a, it's a problem.

He, he did kind of make it with the Steelers, it's a problem. He did kind of make it like he had, he was good. I don't want to act like George Pickens wasn't good. He was very good with Russell Wilson until he got hurt. Then he came back and he stunk. Anyway, also a little long. I think that Antonio Brown was fantastic thing is probably worthy of a little bit of debate. I shouldn't have said long in the tooth.

That was a stupid expression to use. Yeah, fine. He had a few good games. Well, he was very good, I thought, in like eight games his first year with Tampa Bay. And he didn't have a suspension or injury or something. Eight games, 45 catches, 483 yards, four touchdowns. As the number three,

didn't they have Gronk, Godwin and Evans? That's an enormous drop off from what he'd done in the last seven years in Pittsburgh. I bet on a per route basis, he was probably terrific. All right, listen, you know what? Bottom line is Heath, we've got to go to break. We're going to take a break.

We have something very exciting to promote when we come back and we'll get into some quick news items. And oh, it's Kyle Pitt season and some superlatives. We when we come back. And we'll get into some quick news items and oh, it's Kyle Pitt season and some superlatives, we'll be right back. Your business doesn't move in a straight line. Make sure your team is taken care of through every twist and turn with Canada Life Savings, Retirement and Benefits Plans.

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our audience. Dave, tell us about our OnlyFans draft. Sure. For the second year in a row, we are inviting all of our listeners, all of our viewers, all of everybody to join us as we build our custom off-season ADP and we can't do it without you. It is mock draft season for you guys. And so when you're interested in doing a mock draft, send an email.

Should I give the podcast email, Adam, or my email? If it's okay with you, I'd prefer it go to your email. Drichard at CBS.com. Just send a note saying that you're interested in being part of one of our fan mock drafts. It'll be you and other fans of ours participating in a mock draft on CBS Sports. You'll need a CBS Sports ID, but it's. And it's something that no one else does. It's something that's perfect for the diehard fantasy managers. And you can tinker with draft strategies and see where players that you love end up going in draft.

And I'll be on some of them. So if you have questions, I'll answer them. Adam will be on some, Dan Schneier will be on some. And we won't be drafting. We won't be drafting. What? We won't be drafting. It's only fans drafting.

What do you mean? We're gonna be actually taking part in the drafts? No, the fans will be the ones drafting. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I don't want, this isn't, this is for us to answer questions. Oh, okay. Not for us to compete against the fans in a mock draft, no.

So if you wanna do a mock draft, do it with other diehard hashtag ask FFT fans. Send an email saying I'm interested or whatever you want to, derichardatcbs.com. First one is Friday at 2 p.m. Eastern. If you can make it, let me know. Okay.

Let's get to the news and notes. Atlanta offensive coordinator, Zach Robinson expects a big jump from Kyle Pitts Heath. What? Yeah. I mean, I think one of the things that you're going to ask later in the show is who is this year's John O. Smith. And I thought he was, like most of these, there may not be somebody who exactly fits the profile, but he could have definitely been someone that was suggested for that title. Okay. Tyreek Hill had screws removed from his wrist. This was all part of the plan. And according to ESPN, the Giants like Kam Scataboo's ability as a pass catcher is very good in college, not as a pass protector, but as a pass catcher, Kam Scataboo's ability as a pass catcher is very good in college, not as a

pass protector, but as a pass catcher Kam Skataboo can make it happen. All right, let's get to our superlatives. Who is this year's CJ Stroud? A second year quarterback who lets us down. I left off Anthony Richardson. He could have been also the, you know, but the second year quarterback who let us down. But Stroud had a very good rookie year. Looked like a terrific player, really good environment.

They bring in Stefan Diggs. He was QB six maybe in ADP, something like that. Don't worry about that. Cause I don't know that we're going to find a second year quarterback other than Jayden Daniels that high in ADP. But who is this year's CJ Stroud, a second year quarterback that lets us down? I think the most obvious answer,

if you're looking for someone who was actually good last year is Bo Nix. Yes. Why do you say that? That's how I felt too, I guess, but I don't know exactly why. Because I don't think Jaden Daniels is going to let us down. And if we're basing on what they did last year, it would be difficult for Caleb Williams to let us down.

So Bo Nix, like again, as I think Dave will agree with, oftentimes, there's not a perfect one-to-one comparison for these unique categories that you've selected. And we don't have a rookie quarterback who lets us down every year. But if you're just looking at the profile of a quarterback who performed better than we thought he would as a rookie, we had higher expectations for in his second year. And then he let us down. Bo Nix seems like the obvious candidate. Okay, one of the things that these rookie quarterbacks, second year quarterbacks have that Stroud doesn't is more running ability. The four that played last year, Caleb, Nix, May and-

Maybe Jay Daniels. They all run a lot more than Shrow did. So that helps. I'll go ahead and nominate Caleb Williams because obviously he didn't have a great season but he's going to be drafted pretty high. Let's say somewhere around QB12, he'd be drafted as a low end starter or high end backup.

And yeah, he was, he had some very concerning things. 28.2% sack per pressure, 10.8% sack per drop back, among the worst in the NFL. Really like just struggled with his accuracy on intermediate throws. You know, I'm a little concerned, a little concerned. Uh, so I'll just, I'll go ahead and nominate Caleb Williams. People could invest a lot in him and definitely a chance for disappointment here.

I, yeah, I would just not invest a lot in him. He's a great pick as the low end UV one with upside. Um, I'm ranking and drafting Knicks higher than Caleb. They say for way to go. Okay. How about who is this year's Jamar Chase, a first round pick who finally has a truly elite season, a first round fantasy pick who finally has a truly elite season? Who is this year's Jamar Chase? I don't know if Dave wants to go first half the time. I've got one for each answer, but I can go second this time. I have multiple answers for each of these because I am an overachiever. I, first of all, why can't it be a repeat from Jamar Chase? Because he's already done it.

He's already done it. What has changed at it. It's Cincinnati. No, nothing. We're talking about guys who've not done it yet, who are going to it as a first runner. My answer, right? I thought was a very good like one to one comparison was B. John Robinson. That's where I was going to ask. He was RB three last year. Chase had a wide receiver three season in 2022 per game. Um, it could absolutely be a 25 fantasy point

per game worthy of the number one overall pick this year. From week six on he averaged 23.3 touches per game, 22.8 PPR points per game, 20 plus touches in all but two games. I think you'd expect that 365 total touches. Atlanta's defense should be certainly they'll have a better pass rush this year. If they're better overall, it could mean much more competitive games. They've got a second year quarterback that doesn't have a lot of experience playing in the NFL. This could easily be a formula where Bijan Robinson has a massive breakout. And I go back and forth between him and Jamar Chase is my 101. I think in non PPR, it's easy. But in full

PPR, as we sit here today, it's it's Bijan. Because I think he's got that upside, whereas we just got it from Jamar. And yes, Jamar could get 20 plus PPR points again this year on a per game basis. Can he get to 22, 23, 25? I'm not quite 100% sure it's gonna be as easy for him as it could be for Robinson. It was about 23 fantasy points. It was basically what Chase averaged last year.

And that's basically, as Dave said, what Bijan averaged down the stretch last year. What'd you say was the last 10 games or something? Week six on. So this isn't just down the stretch. This is when the coaching staff realized, Hey, wait a minute, we've got this awesome dual threat running back that we can just lean on. Because our quarterback is old and crummy.

And that's what they did. Yeah. The, the problem is that Tyler Algier also had a lot of cares like in those last 12 games, Tyler Algier actually was on pace for 147 carries. They just ran the ball so much. So I really want to see less of a split. But that was my answer as well. I don't think he's going to be RB1 and ADP Bijan, but I do love this stat. If Bijan were RB1 and ADP, he averaged overall, not just the last 12 games, the full season he averaged 19.9 PPR fantasy points per game. If he were RB1 and ADP, that would be the lowest amount of PPR fantasy points per game for next season's RB1 in ADP in at least eight years. So you're

taking a little bit of a leap of faith if you, if you have Bijon Robinson as your number one running back and all of us do. So, all right, let's go to our next one. Who is this year's John who Smith a tight end who comes out of nowhere? Heath, you're going Kyle Pitts? No, I thought he was my, he was my second best answer. My first answer was Mike Nisicki. Oh, wow. first answer was Mike Gassicki. Oh, wow. Okay. Tell me more.

Like John who a tight end that the fantasy football community is generally thought was better than his NFL coaches have. We saw a little bit of a stretch without T Higgins last year where he performed like an elite tight end. One of the best pass offenses in the NFL with a lot of yards and touchdowns to go around. Mike Kosicki. Dave, who's this year's John-u? Sorry, what'd you say?

I said I hate to play with matches and that's what I feel like I'm doing anytime I even think about putting Mike Kosicki in my lineup. Well, what would you have said about John Smith going to Lush? I would have said the exact same. I'm not even touching the matchbook. Who uses matches anymore? What am I talking about? How old am I?

I wouldn't start the automatic. I don't smoke. I don't know what people use to like. What are you doing? Yeah, I don't know. When I rub two sticks together, I think about how likely I am to get burned by them. With Kisiki and certainly with Johnny last year, I thought that the sticks could catch fire and incinerate my fingertips. I don't want to start somebody that I'm worried about that happening. Thank you for that.

Who is your Jadu Smith? I like Tucker Kraft. I think that Tucker Kraft could end up being one of the better tight ends in fantasy in 2025. He had a great year efficiency wise while averaging 4.1 targets per game in Green Bay. He was top 10 in yards per catch, touchdowns, explosive receiving rate, yards after catch per reception, he was second. And right after the season, Matt LaFleur lamented, we didn't use Tucker Kraft enough, and this is the same type of offense that San Francisco has been using, this is maybe their version of George Kittle getting ready for a breakout.

I really love the idea of waiting on tight end, getting Tucker Kraft, adding a second tight end, maybe one of the rookies, just to go along with them and taking two shots at tight end, hoping that one of them breaks out and one of them being Tucker Kraft in the double digit rounds. I think Pat Freymuth would have been a good answer for this too. We talked about him a little earlier, but Firemuth has an opportunity. And I would say Hunter Henry, Hunter Henry was pretty, pretty solid last year. You know, maybe better than people realize.

I feel like Kraft and Henry have been too good lately to qualify as John is, but I guess John who had that year, Reese were all the touchdowns with Arthur Smith. Let's see, Henry, Kraft and Henry were both top 16 and PPR points per game among tight ends. Firemuth was a step ahead of them. Gesicki was a little bit behind them. And Gesicki basically became a must start when Higgins was out.

When Higgins was out, yeah. Yes. Okay. All right. Moving on. Who is this year's Zameer White, a mid-round pick who completely flops? First off, I wanna thank the NFL and the NFL draft

and the fantastic 2025 running back class for not putting us in the position of having somebody like a Zameer White to project for 250 touches. Maybe we should, maybe in past years we would have done that with Dallas, but we're not really doing it right now and they're all being drafted so late. I don't think they count. I had two, I'll give my first one, and it's just kind of a guy that I'm not sure how good he is,

and I'm not sure what his touch share is going to be in the backfield, but he's going to be drafted in round seven, probably. And that's Brian Robinson Jr. OK. I don't I don't feel quite that way. I think he'll be solid. I think it'll be like what he was last year.

He's going to have to score touchdowns, but he will. What's your concern that he doesn't score the touchdowns? Well, yeah, that he I mean, last year that he doesn't score the touchdowns? Well, yeah. I mean, last year he was RB 30 with eight touchdowns. I'm concerned that Austin Eckler keeps his role. Maybe that Jacori Kroski-Merritt moves in a little bit on the Robinson role. And maybe that Jaden Daniels just takes more rushing touchdowns this year. Okay. Dave, who's your,

who's this year's Amir White, a mid-round pick who flops? Did it have to be a running back? No. Okay. The first name I wrote down, which breaks my heart is Chris Godwin. Oh, wow. We don't know how healthy he's going to be. If he's slow to recover and he's not a hundred percent

to begin the year, then Thor is wide open for a Mecca of Bucca to take some work off his plate. We know what Mike Evans can do. We saw glimpses of Jalen McMillan. I'm a little bit worried about the targets not quite being there. Maybe the playing time isn't quite there for Chris Godwin. And so we can talk all day about how he started last year. He was healthy.

He was in great shape. He was targeted a lot. It's a different play caller this year. And it makes me nervous that we could all kind of gravitate toward God. When I've started to move him down and there was one point this year, this off season where I was in love with Godwin, wanted to take him ahead of Evans. And I can't do that now. Too many reports about him not being at a hundred percent.

A buka is a perfect slot receiver for any team. Now the Bucs just drafted one to potentially move Goblin to the outside. He's not as effective when he's on the outside. It pains me to say it because he's awesome, but it makes me nervous that he could end up being a big flop. I also think any of the rookie running backs, not named Janty or Hampton and maybe even Hampton, could be a little flop-ish where we get way too excited about them and we end up overdrafting them. And then NFL reality kicks the teeth in on NFL fantasy and these guys don't play as much and get as much work. I'm especially worried about that with Trevion Henderson. I love that talent.

The track record of running backs with Josh McDaniels is, is not the type of running back that Henderson is. So unless McDaniels makes a real change. And maybe he did, he took a year off of football. If he makes a real change in how he calls plays or how he deploys the running back in his offense. I'm a little bit worried that he won't get the type of volume and certainly the

short yardage goal line opportunities that would make him a big-time breakout running back. My other one was Isaiah Pacheco. Oh man. Boo this man. No no no that that does make sense. No. All right. Well, we're going to take a break. We got four more superlatives coming up after this on Fantasy Football Today. The new BMO VI Porter MasterCard is your ticket to more. More perks. More points. More flights.

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Or is it the vehicles that help you make all those special moments possible? Whatever your answer is, Toyota is here to bring you closer to the things that matter to you. Because they matter to us too Toyota for what matters most Very good show. Which one was that show really happy face happy face really really enjoyed it. Happy face killer Yeah, very good. Don't know it scary or what? No, it's it's a true crime type show. Oh. Based on a true story.

Just one of dozens of shows on Paramount Plus that everybody should watch. I agree. Yeah, oh, I have watched. I watch everything on Paramount Plus, obviously. My fault. All right, so, so far, who's this year's CJ Stroud? Second year QB who lets us down.

Bo Nix was the answer there. Now, these are just, it's not like we actually really necessarily feel that way. They're candidates. They're not candidates. Right, candidates, candidates. Who is this year's Jamar Chase, a first round pick who finally has a truly elite season? Bijon Robinson. Who is this year's John O. Smith, a tight end who comes out of nowhere?

Micah Sicki, Tucker Craft were some of the names you heard. Who is this year's Zameer White, a mid-round pick who completely flops? Chris Godwin, some rookie running backs, maybe Brian Robinson Jr. All right, who is this year's Tampa Bay Buccaneers? An offense that wildly exceeds expectations. The Bucs went from 20th in scoring to fourth in scoring from 2023 to 2024.

Dave, who is this year's Tampa Bay Buccaneers? The most obvious answer is Jacksonville because of the addition of Travis Hunter, Trevor Lawrence coming back and Liam Cohen. I mean, that might be the biggest addition of all. Yellow. He's the guy that moved Tampa from 20th to fourth in scoring last year. And now everybody's hoping that he can do the same thing in Jacksonville. But there are other contenders. I want to give Heath a chance to answer before I run through my list. Yeah, I thought the bears were the most obvious answer. They were 28th in scoring last year, added Luther Burden and Colston Loveland and Ben Johnson, um, and get made the offensive line better.

Okay. Yeah, that's fair. Those are great candidates in Jacksonville, but they're like, going to be the two most obvious answers. Okay, yeah, that's fair. Those are great candidates. Probably a better answer than Jacksonville, but they're like going to be the two most obvious answers. Okay, anything else? Dave, is that what you were? Any other teams? I thought you had other. Okay, that's fine. Jacksonville and Chicago. I do. Oh, okay. Yeah, good. The Panthers, they've done a nice job of adding talent to their offense. I think the Raiders have obviously added a lot of talent to their offense, certainly over the last two drafts. Patriots. Do we count the Cowboys? Yeah. I mean, they could bounce back, but I don't think it would be a huge surprise

for people if they were that good. Okay. So throw them out, but they could be certainly much better than they were. They just played a season where two thirds of it was without Dak. No one wants to say the Giants. It's just, just breaks my heart, you know? They got a, they got. They'll be better. Will they be top 10 or top five?

They've got three quarterbacks now. That's never a bad thing. They've got. I thought you had four. To veto? I guess they have four. All right, who is this year's Sam Darnold? A quarterback that we gave up on

who becomes a fantasy starter. I'm gonna make you so angry. Do it. Do it. Anthony Richardson. He's gonna be one of my most drafted players. That's not gonna make me angry at all. Yeah, I mean, I see more stuff on, I hope it's Daniel

Jones that wins the job for Josh Downs. Then I do the possibility that Anthony Richardson just stays healthy, takes a small step forward as a passer and averages 25 fantasy points per game. He has far more upside than whatever Darnold did last year or what, and that was probably his best case scenario and could be a league winner available in round 10. He's featured in my Sleepers 1.0, which just dropped yesterday. You should go to cbssports.com and check that out. Dave, who's this Darnold?

There's already a beat starting that he's gotten better. He's got a more compact release. I've seen very few clips of him from mini camp and he's throwing against air. So take that with a giant case of salt, but his footwork looks a little bit better from what I can tell. I mean, these are like glory videos of Col in practice wearing shorts and no pads. So I don't know how much of this will translate, but any improvement that he makes as a thrower will a give him the nod over Daniel Jones and B make them a

much better fantasy asset. Cause he's not turning the ball over or throwing the football five yards over. You know, Michael Pittman's head. So as long as we continue to see that progress, he might not make it to round 10. People will get excited about Anthony Richardson and they'll take him sooner than that. I don't think he'll reach where he was last year, but there could. There's a chance he's showing it and that's good along the same lines. Justin Fields. We gave up on him

pretty quickly and I know he's not a winner. He doesn't win games as a starter. But one of my biggest concerns about Justin Fields when he went to the Jets was, the Jets could have another quarterback along the way. And Fields, when he loses too many games, will get benched. The Jets didn't do that. They didn't add anybody. So I'm kind of thinking that this is Justin Fields gig now. and you can roll out of bed Sunday morning and get yourself a minimum of 20 fantasy points from Fields just based on the rushing prowess.

So it looks like I'm gonna have to move up Justin Fields in my rankings I already have. And now he's absolutely worth taking as a top 12 quarterback, but not a top 10. I'm not there yet. I gotta say Trevor Lawrence, right? Hopefully he's part of that, but nobody's given up on him. No, not anymore.

Why are we the reasons why we've come back to him are because Liam Cohen and Travis Hunter, it's not anything that he's done. He's done nothing to evoke more. I think there's just something attractional about him. It might be the hair, gravitational about him that we, from my experience, fantasy analysts and fans alike, just search for a new reason or two every year

to continue believing in Trevor Lawrence. He's got the look. My reasons are, I don't know how good the running game is going to be. I don't know how good their defense is going to be. I think they're going gonna throw a ton. I still think he's recovering from Irving Meyer, but I'll just give one more name.

One more name. A quarterback, you know, he's kinda getting older. I think, you know, people probably should at this point give up on him. He hasn't been very good the last couple of years, but I just think Patrick Mahomes might have one good season left in him.

Okay. So just don't give up entirely. You know, you might as well just keep the bit going. I don't know why you didn't say Russell Wilson. Oh yeah, that's true. Now he stinks. All right. Who is this year's chase Brown, a number two running back in a backfield who emerges as

the best option. Dave, do you want it or do you want me to take it? Oh, you're going to take it. Okay. Well, let's just think of a second year running back who really didn't do anything as a rookie, maybe gets off to a slow start because he's playing behind a veteran and then that veteran suffers an injury and all of a sudden he turns into one of the best running backs in all the fantasy football. How about Trey Benson? Benson wasn't on my list. I was like, Jalen, right? I couldn't figure out where you were going with that.

But okay, Trey Benson. But it makes perfect sense that he could be that guy. I'm trying to think more about running backs that can overtake a starter without an injury where the starter just doesn't give the team what he wants. Maybe the backup is a better fit for their offense and the, the backup becomes the starter. And I think that it's possible that that happens in Seattle and Zach Charbonneau calls a better fit for that offense last year, they've changed

playbooks and it's a new coordinator. It's a West coast offense now could very easily see Charbonne. Be the, the more efficient running back, uh, ahead of Kenneth Walker. You know, I was thinking about that when I was looking at Chase Brown's game log from last year from last year before the week nine injury to Zach Moss, there was one game in the first eight that Brown played more than 60% of the snaps and only two games in the first eight that Brown played more than 50% of the snaps. Yeah. I just wonder how that season goes differently.

If Zach Moss doesn't get hurt. You don't think they would have made that switch anyway? I don't know. It was taking them way too long. It was ridiculous. And I talk about this, it's one of the things I just don't understand. It's like the Cowboys waited too long with Rico Dowdell. The Bengals waited too long. There was another example. I thought the Patriots used Ezekiel Elliott two years ago way too much instead of Ramon Drey Stevenson.

I don't understand why these coaches, I mean, you're gonna tell me pass protection, this and that, I still think they're making big mistakes not getting their more talented players on the field. And they do it with running backs too often. I will say it was interesting with Brown, like the last two games he played before the Moss injury. I'm not sure he was actually earning more playing time. He had 27 carries for 75 yards and his two prior games was below

three yards per carry in both games. Um, was he doing that? Turned six targets into 11 yards in those two games. Right. I don't know. It didn't look good. I remember putting them on my buy low list right before the breakout because I, I just thought to myself, there's no way he's as, as bad as Zach Moss and the Bengals

have to do something to try and change things up. They they started the year losing a ton of games. So I, it just made sense that they would turn to chase Brown and it was like the best thing they could have done for their offense. He's that that might not be good. But in Zach Moss's last four games, he had 26 carries for 30 or 55 yards, he averaged two yards per carry basically in his last four games. He had 26 carries for 30, what, 55 yards. He averaged two yards per carry basically in his last four games. He was horrible. All right. Last one. Actually, you know, I wanted to

talk more about so running back who could take over just kind of, you know, win the job eventually. I mean, other than the rookies who we expect to do that, like, how about Tank Bigsby? Could he just get even more of a role? Like what could happen in Jacksonville? Bigsby was also on my sleepers list. I think it's just as like, like, seems like there's a lot more people who are willing to say that Tooten is going to may take over this backfield than Bigsby. And I'd much rather draft Bigsby

if he's the third one to be drafted. Yeah. Okay. All right. Let's go to ours. I might fire the dart at Tooten. Last one here. Who is this year's Garrett Wilson?

A popular breakout candidate who doesn't quite break out. Marvin Harrison. I mean, though everybody's going to predict a bounce back for him. And the very first thing that we saw from him this offseason is that he added weight. So what's the point of that? So he can win more contested catches and he can out muscle defensive backs. That could lead certainly to a better catch rate and better numbers overall just in general. But I mean, I just don't know how they're going to scheme him

any differently than last year. And it certainly doesn't make him more explosive. So that makes me a little nervous about Marvin Harrison. Hopefully it helps him break a few tackles. That would be nice. Maybe he had literally zero broken tackles last year, according to pro football reference, an average 2.4 yards after the catch per reception. I went a little different angle. I went with Xavier Worthy. Okay. He's on my list too. Okay. He is on my list too.

And speaking of Garrett Wilson, uh, well, first off, I think that like Dan was in our most recent draft saying, I think he has a new hashtag for Rushy Rice. It's hashtag you're not worthy, which I thought was very clever. Um, but then Dan passed on worthy three rounds after Rice was taken. So I'm not sure exactly what he meant by it. Uh, still, I think there's a lot of people who think that Worthy could make that leap and be the number one wide receiver for the Chiefs. And there's a chance that Travis Kelsey's target share doesn't really go down from

last year, it was still pretty high. And that Rashi Rice is the number one wide receiver and that Worthy is more of just a gimmick deep threat guy in year two. I will say just on this same note of Garrett Wilson and the Chiefs wide receivers. And Dan, I made a dynasty trade offer to Dan this morning. And so I have two questions for you guys. How long will it take him to respond?

And will he accept it? I offered him Garrett Wilson for Rashi Rice and a 2026 second. He will. It'll take a month. He will say no. He will say no in two days. Two days, he'll say no.

Two days, he'll say no. I have faith in him because in the in our big burger dynasty league, I sent a note out to everybody, do not make trades right now. Right. And he made a trade offer to someone. So I know he's active. You know, not paying attention to the rules.

I think there were a lot of trade offers made after you sent that note because I received a trade offer shortly after that as well. Oh, geez. It was, I give up Adam Azer as commissioner and I receive a new commissioner. I accept. I accept immediately. Would love to. All right, let's get to- You're going to talk yourself into being a commissioner in multiple dynasty leagues. Do you want to be the commissioner? Oh my gosh. Heath, what an opportunity this is. Yeah, you're gonna have to clean up some of your mess first. Fair. All right. Grade this trade.

This is from wake up 23 on Apple podcast. It's a dynasty trade. Caleb Williams and Calvin Ridley. Plus my first round pick, which is 111. So he gives up Caleb Williams, Calvin Ridley and 111. He gets JSN and Bryce Young. I don't know if this is super flex. His other quarterback is Jaden Daniels. I like it. So let's assume it's one QB. Yeah.

And I'll just put it on the trade chart here. So Caleb Williams, Calvin Ridley and one 11 for, I think my one 11 is Caleb Johnson. So a couple of Caleb's there. So nine Ridley's worth one and Johnson is worth 12. So what's that? 22 total value for a Munro St. Brown? No, for Jackson Smith and Jigla. They have three names too. And Bryce Young. Yeah, I'm taking JSN and Bryce Young. Yeah, I think so. I would too. B plus. If it were a Superf Flex league, you would not, right? Hey, could Bryce Young be in that quarterback category

as someone who grossly outperforms expectations? He finished last year strong, he's got a new receiver in the offense. It's a good offense just overall. See that little man step up. Yeah. All right, this is a Rate My Team from Sports Nerd 07. This is from a month ago. So I hope I haven't read this yet. I don't think I have 10 team PPR one quarterback. He's got Jaden Daniels, Bo Nix, Michael Panics and Gino Smith. So let's just say he has Jaden Daniels and Bo Nix. He has a Chan Tracy and Jerome Ford, uh, 10 team PPR league. He has chase Garrett Wilson, DK Metcalf, Jordan Addison,

Devante Smith, Quentin Johnston, Xavier Leagate, and he has McBride and Kraft. So I think he should draft some running backs in the rookie draft. Yeah. He's got Daniels McBride, A Chan, Chase, Garrett Wilson, DK Metcalf, Jordan Addison, Tyrone Tracy, is pretty damn good. But hold on.

Yes, and he picked the right year to draft the running backs too, so. Excellent coincidence. I'd call it a solid B. It's an A plus if you don't have to start any running backs. All right everybody, thank you very much. I owe you all a mail bag. We'll do maybe a little mail bag next week. Send in your emails at fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. Keeper.

I already got a ton of emails in my inbox, Adam, from Mock Drafts. Great. Keep sending them. Really appreciate everybody stepping up for the fans only Mock. I even know Mr. Popinski's real first name now. Really? So it's Soda. It's Mr. There we go. All right, for Dave and Heath and Thomas, I am Adam.

We will talk to you on Monday. Have a great weekend. Happy Mother's Day to everybody celebrating. And we'll talk to you Monday on Fantasy Football Team.