Fantasy Football Today - Favorite Mid-Round Picks, Rookie Notes, Mailbag (05/01 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: May 1, 2020

Which mid-round picks are we targeting lately (2:15)? What are we learning about the Bucs and Chiefs backfields (4:40)? Which WRs are best suited for the Friendship Strategy (10:00)? Which Top 24 picks are we most nervous about (10:30)? These are just some of the questions we start the show with, and we also talk about the best football games we've ever seen ... Some more news and notes to cover (16:25) as we analyze Chris Carson's status, Josh Reynolds, Cam Newton and more ... It's mailbag time! We start with your Apple Podcast questions (22:35) covering DeAndre Hopkins, Miles Sanders and some dynasty questions. We debate Sanders vs. Davante Adams at #7 overall. Then we read your emails (35:00) and talk about the futures of Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson plus questions about our rankings and projections among many other topics ... Your emails at [e-mail] 'Fantasy Football Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Follow the new FFT Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/FFToday Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @YardsPerGretch, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCviK78rIWXhZdFzJ1Woi7Fg/videos Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter 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

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Here we go! It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Let's go! Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Happy Friday, everybody. Welcome to Fantasy Football Today.

We are talking about previous year's Dynasty Leagues. Really, just last year's. I'm looking at round three of some Dynasty Leagues we've been in. Yeah, it's pretty ugly. Round three of those rookie drafts. Gonna be a lot of wacky decisions when you look back at it. But today, we have a lot of your questions via Apple Podcast Review and via email at fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. I want to thank everybody who contributed on

Apple Podcasts and the emails. Always appreciate that. Thanks for helping spread the word. Tell your friends. Tell one of your friends about our show. Help us grow. We'd really appreciate it. I'm Adam Azer. Jamie Eisenberg and Heath Cummings are here. Happy Friday guys. Do you have fun weekend plans?

Yesterday was my son's eighth birthday. So are we're uh with with the sign of the times we're doing a um drive-by uh birthday parade that's cool yeah good stuff uh heath how about you i am probably gonna drink some beer well okay all right great and and smoke uh some ribs i don't think i'm going i've got some uh a couple of pork butts in the fridge i think i'm gonna wait though and smoke those next weekend so i think i'm gonna maybe grill some burgers tomorrow i tried to get ground pork from the grocery store all they had was bison meat so now i have ground bison meat oh let's see you are you are in for a treat i like bison meat but not now I have ground bison meat. Oh, you are you are in for a

treat. I like bison meat, but not as much as pork. I just don't really know what to what to have it on. I guess like I can't like put it in pasta. I think it's going to be good. I don't know. It's gonna be a burger. Bison burger. Bison burgers. That's that's what you should have. Yeah. Yeah. I just I know I'm having cheeseburgers this weekend. So well, whatever. We'll just double up. OK, guys, I got some quick questions for you. We'll just double up. Okay, guys. I got some quick questions for you. We got some notes on rookies and then the emails. Here we go.

Who is the... I'm stealing these from CBS Sports HQ, which you should all be watching. We have fun questions on HQ, noon Eastern, Monday through Friday. What? Plug. There's a plug. I know. I know.

Well, if I'm going to steal the content, I have to plug it. Who is the mid-round pick you find yourself targeting now? We kind of answered this yesterday. It was which player outside of your top 25 running back or something. I was going to let Heath go first. Yeah, I guess. I mean, my answer to that question was Tevin Coleman, but is the 10th round the mid-round?

Mid to late. Yeah, I've had quite a bit of Tevin Coleman exposure lately. I think you can get him a couple of rounds, sometimes three rounds later than Raheem Mostert. I expect it to be pretty close to a 50-50 split. I think Coleman's going to get more work in the passing game. I like him a lot as a third or fourth running back. That third guy is going to be so interesting in that backfield because it's not

going to be just the two of them. Is it going to be McKinnon? Or I think most likely it's going to be Jeff Wilson. Can I ask you a question? Why don't you think it'll be just the two of them? Because down the stretch last year and in the playoffs last year, it basically was. I mean, you could find, I think, an eight-carry game for Matt Breida. That was garbage time against

Minnesota. Well, Breida had a fumble issue, and I don't think they wanted to play him. But they played Jeff Wilson in the Super Bowl, and, you know, McKinnon was hurt. You know, we talked about this coming off the combine, the quote I gave you from Kyle Shanahan that he used to say, I thought having four running

backs was a luxury, and then I realized it's a necessity. And so I think, like we've been saying about the Packers and Matt LaFleur wanting to use three guys, I think the 49ers don't want to necessarily just rely on those two. And as we saw last year, you know, Mostert only by design had the big game in the NFC Championship game because of the injury to Tevin Coleman. I don't think they want to give one guy a heavy, heavy workload,

and I think they do want to work a third one in, and probably a pass-catching guy is the third one in. So maybe McKinnon. All right, so Jamie, who's the mid-to-late-round guy you're targeting now? I mean, the guy I drafted twice now, and the one I gave him on the show was Keyshawn Vaughn. I'll just take a shot on

him being the best guy in Tampa Bay at this point. And that's interesting, because one of our segments here was rookie notes and quotes, but you also brought up yesterday on the show what Greg Allman, who we had on our show a couple weeks ago, whenever it was, Buck's beat writer for The Athletic, what he said about it, about the running back situation. So what did Greg Allman say? What did he report about the running back situation for Tampa Bay. And then my follow-up question is, so why do you still want to key shot Vaughn? Well, I,

I, again, you know, Greg was answering the question as he views it now, which is where, where do you see the bucks backfield? And he said that Vaughn is probably going to step into Peyton Barber's role with Ronald Jones,

still being the guy in first and second down and Dario Gumballi. And I forget the other guy that they, they drafted or picked up off free agency, as the fourth guy. Also maybe challenging Gumbawale for third down work. But until they get on the field, we're not going to know anything, including Greg. He'll admit that.

So if they're going to use Vaughn like I expect them to, I think he's going to end up supplanting Ronald Jones. One thing Barber did, sorry Heath, one thing Barber did, he had eight carries inside the five. Ronald Jones had only two. So if that is a Peyton Barber role, I'm guessing

that's not set in stone. But if they don't like Ronald Jones near the goal line, that's something to keep in mind as well. Go ahead Heath. This wasn't the only rookie that we got this type of statement about. Yesterday, Brett Veach, not a reporter. It's in the notes, man.

It's in the notes. It's in the notes. Well, I thought it was a segue. Do I need to let you read it, and then I can say what I'm going to say? Would you feel better then? No, you know what? It's fine. Go ahead, Heath.

What did GM Brett Veach of the Chiefs say about his running backs, the pro football talk? And thank you to Shraggy B for alerting me to this one. Yeah, and I'm like in the copy of the notes that I have. It's not actually there, I don't think. So Damian Williams is the starter for the Kansas City Chiefs. And Clyde Edwards-Hilaire will compete for playing time. And that's obviously like giving a little bit of making Damian feel better about them taking a first-round running back, I think. But it was pretty clear in what he was saying that it's going to be a committee.

And I think we should expect Damian Williams to start week one. So let me read the quote. And by the way, Heath, if you look at your notes, there's a reply to the email. It says updated notes. But that's okay. Kansas City GM Brett Veach on the Kansas City running backs. We have pro football talk quote. I certainly think it's going to be a shared load.

Damien has been in this offense for a long time and certainly has shown what he can do on that playoff run. The guy's a really good pass protector and can catch the football. I mean, both these guys can run and catch and certainly Damien will come in as the starting running back and Clyde will have to come in here and compete for playing time, which we think he'll do, but I think it will be a one-two punch. And then PFF goes on to say, or excuse me, PFT, it may not be a one-two punch for long,

and explaining the decision to use a first-round pick on a position that can be filled at later rounds in the draft, Veach dubbed Edwards-Elair, quote, a franchise running back, end quote, and, quote, a true playmaker, end quote, and that the organization views him, quote, as someone special and unique. So, yeah, look, guys, just to say it, I mean, GMs, coaches, this time of year, they're unlikely to say to a veteran running back, you're out of a job, right?

We just have to somewhat coach speak or GM speak, right? In some cases. I would think so. I mean, their actions speak louder than their words. And where they drafted Edward Selaire, I think is more telling than what they're saying right now. So I'm obviously the most aggressive in drafting him right now. Knowing full well that what he said i think is 100 accurate

i would not be surprised if the first carry of the first game it goes to damian williams but i'm i'm still gonna take him in round two and i'm not gonna shy away from it at all how many how many touch or let's i guess carries first how many carries for clyde this year would you guys? Where's the over-under? I'm hoping for 150. See, I'm hoping for like 180. I've got 152 right now. Heath, you and I are just simpatico.

Somebody needs to write a song about us. Speaking of you and I, I finished Homeland. Oh, yeah. Holy crap. Really? Was the finale incredible. The series finale? Series. It's over.

All right. Look, maybe I'll get back into it. I just have like four shows. I started Waco last night. Very good first episode. That's a short one, though, right? Yeah, it's only six episodes. Yeah.

You know what's a good show right now? What? Watching Ben Schrager try to defend himself against a fly that's flying around his head. It's been coming at me all morning. Oh, man. I'm sorry I missed that. I DVR'd it. All right.

So, look, when I said what I just said about coach speak, GM speak, I didn't mean to suggest that Brett Veach is lying and that Damian Williams is not going to have a role. But I'm just saying they're not going to diss the veteran. And they intend to use the veterans. They do. But the best player will win eventually. I wonder who's getting cut. Because they're not carrying all these guys. I think the guest has to be Darwin. You think Darwin?

I think Daryl. You know what, though? From a fantasy standpoint, I think Damian Williams and Marlon Mack and maybe even Kerryon Johnson, are they starting to become steals? Going in seventh, eighth round? Absolutely. Okay. All right, guys, let's go on to our next question here.

This segment is called Quick Questions. Which two wide receivers are best suited for the friendship strategy? I think I answered that question, it seems like. Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb. Wow, that's a good one. I've done this in one draft, and I thought about doing it in another one where I took Brandon Cooks and Will Fuller. Yeah, I'm sorry, Schrager just swatting that fly. Very funny stuff.

Okay, who is the top 24 pick you are most nervous about? Derrick Henry? Yeah. Go ahead. Derrick Henry for Jamie. Yeah. This is the one I think where I raised the eyebrows yesterday by saying Dalvin Cook.

And he's awesome. I'm not worried about that at all. But it is like we're worried about Derrick Henry because he might break down because of a big workload. We're drafting Dalvin Cook even higher than Derrick Henry and we've never

seen him play 16 games. Yeah. I think there's more... Are there more concerns though with derrick henry than just the injury i mean it's the catches cook had 53 of them in 14 games yeah i think if he played 16 games there's very little doubt that derrick henry like same for delvin cook they play 16 games they're both top eight running backs okay jamie question for you Where did the quarterbacks go in your dynasty super flex league? So there was actually a monster trade for the fourth overall pick in the

rookie draft to get Joe Burrow. The owner trying to acquire Joe Burrow gave up Jared Goff. I think Terry McLaurin, there was a receiver there. I think it was McLaurin. There was a receiver there. I think it was McLaurin. Goff McLaurin, the eighth pick this year and a first-round pick next year to move up four spots. Huge overpay for Joe Burrow. Wow. Wow.

So Burrow went fourth. Tua went fifth. Herbert went with pick 2.01. And then there was a huge drop. Jalen Hurts was the next quarterback at

3.02. Oh, so they didn't really go that high. No, just the first three. And then Jacob Beeson went at 33, and Jordan Love went at 305. Interesting. Who would you take first, Hurts or Love? It depends. I think if you think you need somebody that could play now, I would take Hurts.

Because, I mean, obviously Wentz has an injury track track record and they may use him in some gadget play. Yeah, I'd rather have Hurts. Okay, and then final question. What is the best... Oh, Hurts to Urts is going to be fun. Nice. Yeah. What is the best football game you've ever seen? It could be in

person or on TV. Either one. My earliest memory of... My first Monday Night Football game was Dolphins-Bears, 85. Bears were undefeated. Dolphins were one of the best teams in the AFC. I grew up a big Dolphins fan, big Marino fan. And they beat the Bears that night. And I remember just as a nine-year-old um going crazy if you have any shirts from that season please send them my way i could use this new best game best game in person um was florida

florida state in 2007 florida state was uh going they were number one team uh they played every every uh thanksgiving weekend at that point and flor And Florida State was undefeated coming into the Swamp. And Fred Taylor went absolutely nuts in that game. And they beat the Seminoles and ruined their national championship hopes, which was fun. That's always fun. Heath? Okay, so... I'm sorry, 97.

Yeah, it was like 2007. Yeah, I was like, wait a minute. How old am I? I, um... My first game that I remember was also the 85 Bears, so that's funny. It was the Super Bowl, though, and that was certainly not the best game I've ever seen

because the Bears just beat the pants off the Patriots. I remember I started that game cheering for the Bears, and by halftime, they were winning by so much that I was sympathy cheering for the Patriots. Something that nobody's done in the last 20 years. Well, it's funny you say that because the Pats beat the Dolphins in the AFC Championship game or the playoffs. I think it was the AFC Championship game. And I was, A, obviously hoping the Dolphins would get to the Super Bowl, but wanting to see the rematch.

The best game I've ever seen, like TV or in person, obviously Super Bowl 54. That was a remarkable game. And then in person would probably be, and you guys won't probably even remember this game, but it was pretty famous in Missouri, the kicked ball game. Number one, Nebraska at Missouri in 1997. And it went back and forth and back and forth.

And I believe it was in overtime, and Nebraska was in the red zone, threw a touchdown pass off of someone's foot. The ball bounced up in the air. Like half of the stadium was getting ready to empty onto the field, and then Nebraska won. Wow, so you guys have very vivid memories of the 1997 college football season. Yeah, we came of age at the same time. Yeah, and last night on NBC Sports Network,

I believe they aired Miami-Nebraska from the 95 or 6 Orange Bowl. That was one of the first games I remember going to. It was 24-17 Nebraska, I think. It was a really good game. 95? I think so. i think it was a really good game 95 i think so i think i was there january 95 though uh nebraska won and pretty sure they won the national that was a national championship win for them i've been to some really good games thankfully but that was not one that i enjoyed unfortunately for me uh all right So we got a newsletter that is awesome. Stay up to date with the fantasy football content that you love all offseason long.

Go to CBSSports.com slash newsletter and sign up. News of the day, editorial pieces, updated rankings, and more. CBSSports.com slash newsletter. I want to go through the rest of the notes really quickly here so we can get to the emails and the Apple podcast questions. The other rookie note I had, we talked about the Tampa Bay Bucks. I want to go through the rest of the notes really quickly here so we can get to the emails and the Apple podcast questions. The other rookie note I had, we talked about the Tampa Bay Bucks, the Tampa Bay backfield, the Kansas City backfield. CBSSports.com was just writing a story. I think it's Chris Trapasso who does draft coverage for us about rookies that could be kind of under the radar.

He likes LaVisca Chennault. This is what he wrote. For as much as Minshew liked to work the back shoulder game with Chark and Conley last season, most of his attempts were in the quick game underneath. This is what he wrote. quarterbacks. For more context, per Pro Football Focus, 68% of Minshew's passes were either behind the line of scrimmage or up to nine yards beyond it. Presuming he's the starter at the outset of the 2020 season for the Jaguars, the team's offense will need a wide out who can create after the catch. That's where Chenault thrives. According to PFF's draft guide, Chenault forced 44 missed tackles over the past two years, the highest total of any receiver in the 2020 class, and he accomplished that in just 20 total games. That's a really cool note and maybe a good fit there, Chenault and Minshew.

Of course, rumors are they're interested in Andy Dalton, but we don't have to really – I know Ben's brought up a similar point, but we don't have to get into it. I just wanted people to know it might be a really good fit there, LaVisca Chenault in Jacksonville. He says stay healthy. Just stay healthy. Hard thing for him right now. So your news and notes.

Chris Carson expected to be ready for week one, but Rashad Penny seems less likely. What's your read on that situation, Jamie? I mean, the report said that Penny could be on the pup list. So he's almost undraftable at this point. And DJ Dallas looks very intriguing as the rookie that they drafted. I'm sure Adam, you can give us a little bit more detail on Dallas. But I think Carson's value should be pretty solidified

if he's going to continue to be the featured back as we've seen. DJ Dallas, I mentioned on our show a couple weeks ago or right after the third round of the NFL draft, third day of the NFL draft, one of the analysts, I believe it was Daniel Jeremiah, said that he's the best pass blocking running back in the NFL draft. So you could see him maybe working that role. He is versatile.

He came in as a wide receiver recruit. He looks like he's running in slow motion. He is not explosive. However, he does seem to make big plays. It's perplexing. And I don He looks like he's running in slow motion. He is not explosive. However, he does seem to make big plays. It's perplexing. And I don't know if he's better than Travis Homer. They both played for Miami. They both got drafted by Seattle.

Back to back. Homer in the sixth round. Dallas in the fourth round. So I'm not interested in him. But maybe he can chip in a little bit. Well, in seasonal leagues, I don't think you should be interested in him. Unless you're talking about beyond 16 rounds. Maybe 14, 15, 16,

you want to take a flyer on somebody, but in rookie-only drafts, he's a third-round pick. Bengals released Dalton in the Jags, and the Patriots are reportedly interested in him. We'll, of course, track that. The NFL could have more Saturday games if the college season's postponed.

I would love that. I NFL could have more Saturday games if the college season is postponed. I would love that. I love Saturday football. Maybe because it only happens a few times a year, but I love it. Josh Reynolds is on track to be the number three wide receiver for the Rams, according to the Los Angeles Times. Heath, is that fantasy relevant? It could be.

Okay. I'll accept that. Ron Rivera has thought about signing Cam Newton. Who do you think would be better for them, Cam Newton or Dwayne Haskins? I mean, obviously, Cam would be better for them now, but he'd be stunting the growth of a guy that may become good. It's just weird that nobody wants Cam Newton right now. I just, you know, you got to wonder what the contract demands are you know we're not privy to that um you know we're starting to see teams the bangles

making the move in particular you know clearing salary cap space for guys that are still out there and now that you don't have to worry about compensatory picks you know you're probably gonna see a couple of guys sign it's just It is weird that he's still on the market. I still think Jacksonville is going to be the destination. I just wonder if it's just, well, I mean, I think the contract demand is probably right. I can't imagine that Cam Newton would even consider going somewhere as a backup.

Like, he expects to go somewhere as a starting quarterback, and he's probably just not going to sign a contract until somebody's willing to give him that. He shouldn't have to go somewhere as a backup. Not that many openings right now, unfortunately. Well, there's—if Cam Newton is healthy, and that could be the other thing. I mean, maybe they just haven't got a chance to be satisfied with his medicals. But if Cam Newton is healthy, two-thirds of the league currently has a worse starting quarterback than him. So I don't care if there are openings or not.

I don't know if people feel that way because he's not a great passer. He's never been a great passer. He's a great quarterback. Because of his rushing ability. But if teams don't think that he has that rushing ability anymore, then he's probably not a great quarterback. Well, I think to Heath's point, though,

there are so many teams that while they may have better quote-unquote passers, they don't have that talent. But that's the thing. What's that talent? That's what I'm trying to say. If he is broken down and beat up and he is not that. But that's what he said. We don't know what the medicals are.

So if the medicals are right in his – I mean, you see the videos. He looks like he's fine. He looks like he's bulked up a little bit, whether that's good or bad. But if he's 100 then you have, you know, in the Washington situation, are you going to bring somebody in like that who would be better than Minshew, who would be better than Haskin, who would be better than, you know, I mean, Daniel Jones, he'd be better than, you know, Herbert and Tua. Let's not reforce the quarterbacks in the AFC West. Right.

But you're taking away the chance of what those young guys become. Yeah. Okay. Frank Reich, Colts coach, loves wide receiver Michael Pittman. He raved about Michael Pittman. Well, we shall see if that plays out. But he compared him to Vincent Jackson, right? Mm-hmm.

The Bucs picked up O.J. Howard's fifth-year option. The Giants picked up Evan Ingram's fifth-year option. And you have to pick up a player's fifth-year option as they go into their fourth season. Philadelphia signed Corey Clement. A little running back depth there. And the Bears signed wide receiver Ted Ginn and safety Tayshaun Gibson.

I did some research on veteran wide receivers who were affected by rookie wide receivers. Thank you to B Don from Ras Ball for giving me a bunch of names. I will save this for next week. But I would say that I didn't really find that many. I think you could argue Chris Carter was affected by Randy Moss. Chris Carter still had an amazing season.

Same thing with Roddy White and Julio Jones. Roddy White still had an amazing season. The best example would probably be Vincent Jackson with Mike Evans. But we will get into that. All right, let's read some emails and some Apple Podcast questions. First, from Macy Taylor. What do you think of DeAndre Hopkins' status with a new quarterback and no offseason to connect with him?

Scary. I think where we're seeing him drafted is probably apropos. Late round one, early round two. He's still got the ability to be great. We've seen him deal with multiple

quarterback situations. We know about the good ones with Deshaun Watson. We know about the bad one in particular with Brock Osweiler, but he's had some bad quarterbacks across the board. The question becomes, and I know Heath is probably the one that expresses it the most, is how the distribution of targets is going to impact Hopkins going to a team that isn't going to feature into the same level that Houston did. So if that's the case, then he could be a terrible pick in the first 15.

But I think you're just banking on what the upside could be with a young quarterback on the rise and a proven veteran that still has a chance to be a superstar. What do you make of this on a slightly different topic? Brandon Cooks going to Houston. Brandon Cooks has mostly had about a 19% to 20% target share consistently year after year, not including last year. DeAndre Hopkins has been closer to 30%. Do you think Brandon Cooks can get up to maybe a 25% target share? I don't think he's going to get the Hopkins targets. But he's never had, what's his career high?

Something like 127. He's usually around 118 or so targets, Brandon Cooks. I mean, could we see him get 140 targets or something like that? Heath, how would you project that? Could he step in and get a bigger target share with Houston and fill a lot of that DeAndre Hopkins role? I don't know that. I wouldn't expect him to get 140.

I was thinking about this this morning, actually, and I think one of my bold predictions is going to have something to do with Deshaun Watson. I kind of expect that Houston's offense is going to be a little bit less predictable now because they have so many different pass catchers, and I don't think we see someone get 30% of the targets now brandon cooks could set a career if he plays 16 games i would say there's a decent chance he sets a career high in targets but he could do that with uh far less than 140 so i i i think maybe like a best case scenario in my mind would be 135 maybe 130 i don't know i guess i forget that back in 2015 he had 129 with new orleans that's i think that's probably a

little bit lofty because i do think it will be more of a 1a 1b situation with him and fuller whenever fuller's on the field it's probably going to be kind of like the Thielen-Diggs thing. Who are they going to put the easiest coverage on? Well, that guy can't cover Cooks, or that guy can't cover Fuller. We're going to him. I think that guy is probably the same player. It's like, if you can't cover that guy,

I don't know if you can cover that one. It's interesting to see how it works out because I asked you guys who your favorite mid-round pick player to target is, and I think for me it's becoming Brandon Cooks. I think when you look at it in terms of targets, and he kind of alludes this with Fuller playing in terms of staying on the field, if Fuller misses time again and Cooks doesn't, then they may not have a choice.

And we really haven't seen Cooks put in a situation to have to be a traditional number one wide receiver. Like getting those targets week in, week out, consistent, different routes, all those things that a quarterback has to significantly rely on. All right, next question here. Basically the best question in the world. From Neely, how high is too high for Miles Sanders in PPR?

Well, we had a fun debate on HQ the other day where Dave took him at seventh overall. And Heath, you said it was too high. I agree with you, Adam. You said that was just fine. I posted a poll on who would you take at seventh overall in a redraft PPR league where you start three wide receivers, and I got just blistered with, this is the dumbest question ever.

Wait, wait, wait. It was Devontae Adams versus Miles Sanders. I'm sorry, yes. It was Devontae. I apologize. Who would you take at seventh overall in a 12-team PPR redraft league where you start two running backs and three wide receivers, Miles Sanders or Devontae Adams?

And the majority of the responses were Miles Sanders should not be in the first two rounds, which I think is crazy. What? But it was 83% to 17% in favor of Adams. Right, and so here's the funny part. On the show, I didn't know I was getting asked this, but on the show on HQ, Jamie said, how do you feel about Dave taking Miles Sanders over to Devontae Adams?

And for those of you listening, it could be Devontae Adams, it could be Julio Jones, it could be whoever your number two wide receiver is. No, wait, wait, let's just paint the whole picture. He was the sixth running back off the board. Yes. And I think he is the sixth best running back in PPR. And the last running back drafted in the first round. Okay, right.

So to me, this first six picks are five running backs and Michael Thomas in some order, I think, for a lot of people. And then who are you taking at seven? Dave took Miles Sanders. So Jamie asked me what I thought about that, and I was like, you know what? Miles Sanders, his last six games, not including Week 17 when he got hurt, he was on pace for 1,700 total yards, something like 67 catches, and 10 touchdowns, I think.

I'm going to take him seventh overall. I think that's fine. Then Jamie posts the Twitter poll. Who are you taking, Miles Sanders or Devontae Adams? And I voted for Devontae Adams. Like a half hour later. Let's just paint the real full picture. Throughout the course of that show,

there were three times that you were supposed to resolve a debate between Dave and I. You agreed with me all three times and twice sided with Dave just because you didn't want to agree with me too much. That's not, is that true? It's 100% true. Not on purpose.

But in those last six games, Sanders was the number three running back in PPR and he was on pace for, yeah, 67 catches and about 1,700 total yards and 10 touchdowns. And if he does that, I think he's going to be better than Devontae Adams. No. Well, let's do the math. Not if Adams plays 16 games.

Okay, so let's do the projections. 1,700 total yards. What would you predict Devontae Adams for? Total yards? Yes. Probably 1,500. total yards yes probably 1500 i've got him at 1300 okay so i don't like him as much as jimmy does let's say 1400 then sure that's 300 yards that's 30 catches i said he was on pace for 67 catches miles sanders devante ad Adams over under 97 catches. Way over. Way over. So 107?

106 is what I've got. All right, let's give him 107 catches. Now he has 10 more points than Miles Sanders. So now it just comes down to who scores more touchdowns. That's easy. It's Adams. It's that easy? Come on.

You got a lead running back who's going to get all the goal line work? I mean, I could honestly see him having a 15-touchdown season. But either way, it's pretty close. It's pretty close. Jamie, what's more egregious? Miles Sanders with the seventh overall pick or Jalen Rager in the seventh round? Last pick of the seventh round, by the way.

And that wasn't me. See, the thing with Rager at the last pick in the seventh round is, if you tell me right now Alshon Jeffries is out, I can see that happening. But as we sit here today, it's pretty egregious.

I would still say Sanders at seven to me. Just because you're guaranteeing yourself Adams, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelsey, Julio Jones in a PPR league where you start three wide receivers. I just think it's too soon for Miles Sanders at that spot. Here's what I thought was going to happen. This is the way that I framed it. Because I know Adam loves Miles Sanders. And I specifically put him last in terms of the question it was dave defend the pick and then i even said all right he tell him why he's wrong so i knew he was gonna the i said i

think i even set it up to you he was like tell him why it's the worst pick ever and you're like it's terrible like you just you did exactly what i expected you to do then here's what i thought i thought adam would come in and just sort of soften the blow and say, I love Miles Sanders. It's just too soon for Miles Sanders in the first round. The way that you voted in the poll. That's what I thought you were going to do. But I don't think it is. I really don't.

It is too soon for Miles Sanders in the first round. Look, if he's an elite running back, if he's an every-down running back on a good offense behind a good offensive line who catches more than 60 passes, the first round is not too early, and seventh overall is not too early. He just has to realize his potential. And quite frankly, the best running backs in football, the ones that get drafted in the top five, they're not 1,700 total yard guys. They're more like 2,000 total yard guys. And that's the

difference. Wide receivers have no chance of getting to 2,000 total yards. But every down running backs who catch passes do. So that possibility, if Miles Sanders is a great player, that possibility of 2,000 total yards exists. I'm not going to project him for it, but it exists. 2,000 total yards, Miles Sanders. Not going to, no.

I'll buy you dinner at any restaurant that you want. You'll have to buy me lunch at Jersey Mike. Okay. Alright, you're on. I'm going to make my Ruth's Chris reservations right now. All right, guys. I've got to go a little faster here because I have a lot of emails. I haven't done a good job here. From Nimrod, Dynasty Trade,

trade 1.4 and 1.11. By the way, we talked earlier in the show about the best way to say, the best way to pronounce 1.04. I'm going to say 1.4 uh 1.4 and 1.11 for juju smith schuster and 1.5 done um yeah you say in 1.5 yeah moving down one so you're moving back from four to five and giving up 11 and getting Juju? Yeah.

Yeah, I'd do that in a heartbeat. That's a great trade. Juju's young. He's young. All right, I have picks 1.1 and 1.3 in my rookie draft. I'm going to take Clyde Edwards-Ziller at 1. The guy at 2 is set on Jonathan Taylor. Should I go Swift or Dobbins and try to trade for Ingram at 1.03? 1.3. If you can get Ingram, then it's easy to take Dobbins and try to trade for Ingram at 1.03, 1.3.

If you can get Ingram, then it's easy to take Dobbins. I would take Dobbins anyway, unless you are looking at it as you need the better player for 2020. But I think Dobbins' situation is better in 2021, looking at it right now significantly. So I would rather have Dobbins. I really, really, really like Judy, Swift, Lamb, and Dobbins. I would really be interested to see if anyone with pick four, five, or six would give me something of significance to move up to three.

And if I get Clyde Edwards there and whoever goes fifth or sixth of that group and add something else, I'd be very happy with that. It's almost like the seasonal draft, right? Like where six is kind of a sweet spot because you get still great player. And, you know, depending if you can move back and get something returned, that makes it even better.

All right. This is from Bryce. I have a bold prediction. Both Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, either this season or next season, will both be outside the top 15 to 20 quarterbacks. I compare them to more Cordell Stewart or Dante Culpepper versus Michael Vick or Donovan McNabb. Like Cordell and Dante, both are below average passers, which means that it's just a matter of time that defensive coordinators will consistently start doing what the Browns and the Titans did to Lamar Jackson to shut him down, or like what Houston did to Josh Allen to shut him down.

Unless they improve on their inability to heavily depend on game script, they will become irrelevant. What do you think? So basically, Bryce thinks that Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, because they're not good enough passers will eventually fade out. It's funny you say that because our magazine that's coming out in either late June or early July, I forget when the publishing date is, the cover story that I'm writing

is on Lamar Jackson. And I didn't get a chance to because of the circumstances to speak to all the coaches that I wanted to. But I spoke to a couple defensive players and TJ Watt and Stephon Gilmore, so the coaches that I wanted to. But I spoke to a couple defensive players and T.J. Watt and Stephon Gilmore, so the defensive player of the year and one of the up-and-coming young stars.

So I asked T.J. Watt about defending Lamar Jackson, and he said, I don't know if anybody has really figured it out. A lot of us in coaches and players are trying to figure it out this offseason. That's the special thing about the Baltimore Ravens game is that not a lot of teams have figured out the offense. That will be a point of emphasis this offseason. And then for Gilmore, he said, it starts over every year.

You have to earn it every year, and that's how it goes, saying that he has to come back and do that again because exactly what the question is pointed at. These guys are hard to figure out. They do get figured out. It's just the nature of the game. You heard, I don't know if you saw Tyron Matthew tweeted a couple of weeks ago that the NFL is going to shift back now to a more run focused scenario where teams rely more on their run game and

their defense. That sounds crazy. But, you know, things are cyclical in this league, you know, and while, you know, layers get added and things change, you still see guys get figured out if they're different or in the case of these running quarterbacks, they get hurt. So, I mean, there's certainly a point to that. But, you know, he said how far out three to five years? No, one to two or this year or next year. I mean, you could see it if one of those guys get hurt, but I think right now that's the only thing that's going to really slow them down and put them in that range of where he says, 15 to 20, right? Yeah, and I think my message to Bryce is this. Heath, I'm sorry to cut you off,

but even Tyrod Taylor was playing like a top 15-ish quarterback when he was on the Bills because the running stats. I mean, if you're talking, you said top 15 to 20 quarterbacks. You said both Allen and Jackson will be outside the top 15 to 20 quarterbacks. If you mean NFL quarterbacks, that's a different discussion. If you mean fantasy quarterbacks, they're going to run so much that their floor is so high. They got to get hurt. They got to get hurt.

They got to get hurt. Well, I think this is two completely different discussions. We're talking about the league MVP and Josh Allen. You're right. I don't think there's really anything that could cause Lamar Jackson to fall outside of the top 15 quarterbacks in the next two years. But it's not. Well, yes, it's not as if Josh Allen couldn't be without a job next two years but it's not well yes it's not as if josh allen couldn't be

without a job in two years yeah he's he's a pretty crummy passer but i think like he referenced the houston game in the playoffs the first half of that game josh allen was amazing he he was like looking like a star and then the second half des Deshaun Watson went all Deshaun Watson, and Allen was really bad. I mean, it's not a terrible call because they are not very good passers. And I think one of the reasons why I settled on Mahomes, everybody settled on Mahomes over Jackson, right, in six-point? Yeah.

I do want to see what the defenses are going to do with an offseason to study. I don't know if that factored in for you guys. I know it did for Daniel. Well, I mean, it's kind of interesting for both these guys because you look at Buffalo and what they've done the last two offseasons. Going into 2019, they added offensive line help, and they bring in John Brown and Cole Beasley. Going into 2020, what they do, they make the aggressive trade to go get Stephon Diggs.

They're trying to make things easier for Josh Hound. And what did Lamar Jackson get? Well, he got a first round wide receiver two years ago in Marquise Brown. You know, now they added, we talked about this earlier this week, the speed that they brought in, you know, with J.K. Dobbins and DuVernay, you know, to add to the offense, getting younger and hopefully getting faster, you know. So it's not like they're just saying, OK, yeah, you did what you did, you know, the previous year and we're not going to try and enhance your game. So I think that's kind of how they're trying to adjust to what defenses are going to throw at them.

Now we have a pass catcher you have to worry about in Buffalo. Now we have additional speed you have to worry about in Baltimore. And so, I mean, you could look what happened to Mahomes. Mahomes went from the best quarterback in fantasy to not mediocre, but certainly pedestrian by comparison. And it was because he got hurt. Yep. I just don't know why Bryce didn't bring up Cam Newton. I mean, Cam Newton, like I said earlier, he's never been a great passer, but his rushing totals made him a fantasy must-start year after year.

All right, from Michael. Hey, Mario, Luigi, Toad, Bowser, Wario, and Princess. Zelda, right? Uh-huh. Do you guys prefer to do your rankings based on how you think players will finish at the end of the season or how you would draft them and why? I do it based on how I would draft them,

but I also build that into my equation of how I look at guys. Yeah, mine's mostly based around my projections, so I guess it would be how I think they're going to finish, but there's a little bit of massaging there. This is from Casey in a town in Michigan. If anybody cares to guess. East Lansing. I was going to say that too.

It just pops into your mind. This is a different kind of fantasy football question. I've loved fantasy for six to seven years now. I wanted to just start ranking and projecting players for myself. Can you do a segment about how you guys come up with projections? Yeah, I'll stop the question there. Heath, without giving away too much of your secret formula, what would you say to AC? Yeah, I'm not too worried about that. yeah i'll stop the question there heath without giving away too much of your secret formula what

would you say yeah i'm not i'm not too worried about that mine is starts um with um the recent history of the guys that are going to be calling the plays at least when we have that we seem to have a lot of new turnover the last couple of years but um and then um the volume you should expect from the offense the touchdown production i expect from the offense, the touchdown production I expect from the offense, and then I add in the individual efficiency and target share for the players. Thank you, Heath. Next question from Nolan Dean.

Hello, Adam and the FFT crew. I like being the headliner of the band. I am curious why you all are so low on Tyler Boyd. We just saw Justin Jefferson thrive as the big slot wide receiver for Burrow at LSU. Boyd primarily runs out of the slot and seems like a perfect fit with Burrow. Boyd is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons with 100-plus targets both years. No disrespect to Green, but even when he was on the field in 2018, Boyd was better than him on a per-game basis.

Why is Boyd the automatic wide receiver two on the Bengals? We haven't seen Green play in almost two years. It's a fair point. It's a fair question. You just wonder how they're going to move everybody around. With Green back and Higgins expected to play. So, you know, and again, we've talked about this with a lot of the rookie passing situations. You know, does burrow come in and

connect right away with with boyd does he have any time to work with him before training camp how long is training camp going to be um but i think you know boyd is uh it's just a matter of target share for me you know but i could see him not to the same level but being you know like godwin in this scenario better than green as, as we expect Godwin to be better than Evans. Yeah, I think I'm probably just lower on the Bengals passing offense as a whole is the concern, and it looks awfully crowded right now. Okay, so would you take Tyler Boyd or Marvin Jones? Probably not a great question since they're like two of the most format-dependent players.

Well, no, I think in either format, I would take Jones because I'd get him later. Everybody is reaching for Boyd in the comparison. I don't think anybody's reaching for Marvin Jones. Who's higher in your rankings, though, Boyd? Probably. I have to go back and look. They're right within the same spot. I think I have Jones higher in your rankings though, Boyd? Probably. I have to go back and look. They're right within the same spot. I think I have Jones higher in non

and Boyd higher in PPR. Would you take Tyler Boyd or Terry McLaurin? McLaurin. Oh, McLaurin. Alright, last one. Tyler Boyd or Julian Edelman? I'll take Edelman in PPR, especially if he gets dolled. Yep, and Boyd and Nunn.

Okie dokie. Next email from Alec, west of Detroit, East Lansing. Hey, Jim, Naomi, Alex, and Amos. Hmm. I went to high school with a guy named Jim and a girl named Naomi. I went to elementary school with Alex. I don't know any Amos. I don't know who these people are. Say you end up picking late in a 12-team

PPR draft and you really want to square away your running back situation in the earlier rounds. Is there any logic to passing on a higher-ranked wide receiver with your first pick to grab two of the highest remaining running backs? That was a hell of a run-on sentence. For an example, say Hopkins is available at 12, but Miles Sanders and

Austin Eckler are behind him. Is it foolish to go for the two running backs? No. We spent a lot of time talking about this, that those round 3, 4, 5 wide receivers can still be very successful. Maybe not as well, maybe not perform as well as Hopkins

does or will if he's the same type of player, but you could be hoping to get the next Chris Godwin in that 3-4-5 range. All the more reason to take Miles Sanders over Devonta Adams, Jamie. Well, no, not at 7. Okay. I don't know what the hell the expanse is,

but that's what Jim, Naomi, Alex, and Amos are from. From Dan, dear Gase, Chappelle, Fox, and Barr. Barr. I like that. Everybody know what that is? Gase, Chappelle. Really? Adam Gase, Dave Chappelle, Jamie Fox, Heath Barr.

I have picks 1.1 and 1.5 in the upcoming rookie draft. Oh, I already read this. He sent it in. Oh, how about that, Shaggy B? Dan sent it in via Apple Podcast and... You know what? This is slightly different. I like the way how you threw Shaggy...

You don't say the guy's name for the entire podcast, but then you make a mistake. And then, yeah, Shaggy B. This one's on you. This wasn't a mistake. I was just saying, how about that? This guy's very persistent. You, Ron Burgundy, you just read... I did. You made a mistake. And then, yeah, Shaq, Shaggy B. This one's on you. It wasn't a mistake. I was just saying. How about that? This guy's very persistent.

You, Ron Burgundy, you just read what was going on. I did. But wait, there's a slight twist to this. He wants to secure the Baltimore backfield. All right, would you trade 1.5 and Odell Beckham for 1.3 and Allen Robinson? Would you trade 1.5 and Odell Beckham? That's a different question. It is a different question,

but it looks like the same exact thing, doesn't it? Because he's got the whole Mark Ingram. Okay, so what is the actual question you would like to ask? Actually, Ben, I think this might be a different person with almost the same exact setup. Would you trade 1.5 and Odell Beckham for 1.3 and Allen Robinson? I would do that.

Yes. Why? I'd much rather have 1.3 than 1.5. I'm not sure if I'd rather have Odell Beckham than Alan Robinson. Okay. From Aiden in Toronto, would you trade Raheem Mostert and 1.7 for 1.4? Mostert is my fifth running back behind.

See, it's your fifth running back. Boy, you got some bad running backs in 2021. Behind Bell, Ingram, Connor, Breida, and Howard. So you're moving up two spots to five? Three spots, 1.7 to 1.4. 1.7 to 1.4. So that guarantees you one of most likely Dobbins, Swift, and Akers. Yeah, I'd do it.

I think you almost have to. Do you guys know the last time Le'Veon Bell had a 30-yard carry? 30 yards. 2016. Correct. He has gone two full seasons. Of course, he missed 2018. Two full seasons without a 30-yard carry.

Last year, he did not have a 20-yard carry. Wow. From Rusty, 12-team Superflex PPR Dynasty League. We're in round seven, and I have yet to draft a quarterback. Quarterbacks went crazy early, so I zagged. These are the quarterbacks that are left, and I was wondering which ones I should go for. So, again, it's a PPR, Superflex, must be

a startup at Dynasty League. Brady, Breeze, Bridgewater, Carr, Rivers, Roethlisberger, Cam Newton, Dwayne Haskins, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Gardner Minshew. Brady, Breeze, Bridgewater, Carr, Rivers, Roethlisberger, Newton, Haskins, Fitzpatrick,

Minshew. Given that it's a Dynasty League, guys, who should Rusty go for here? I would take Brady and then circle back and try and get probably Haskins or maybe Minshew. Yeah, I'd like to. I think you can probably count on waiting longer on Minshew. So I'd probably go Brady and Minshew with the next two picks. Man, you're set. All the good Florida quarterbacks.

I did that in... Was it the last startup dynasty mock we did, Heath? Yeah. I took Brady and Breeze and just said, screw it. Yeah, I did that in a baseball dynasty mock. Dynasty startup. Brady and Breeze is probably bad pitchers. I took Sch in a baseball Dynasty mock. You took Brady and Breeze? That's probably bad pitchers.

I took Scherzer and Granke. Nobody was taking those guys. I was like, you know what? I'm just going to win the league this year. We're not playing it out. All right, everybody. Thank you very much for Jamie, for Heath, for the fly that was around Ben's face,

and for Ben. I'm Adam. Have a great weekend, and we'll talk to you on Monday with another edition of Fantasy Football Today. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.