Fantasy Football Today - FFT Dynasty - Early 2025 Dynasty Rankings: Top 12 QB, RB, WR, TE according to Heath Cummings

Episode Date: January 1, 2025

Heath Cummings is joined by Dan Schneier to break down early dynasty rankings for 2025. (2:00) 3 Questions (10:00) Quarterbacks (15:00) Running Backs (25:00) Wide Receivers (34:00) Tight Ends 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 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 promos. 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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Gambling Palm, call 1-866-531-2600 or visit connexontario.ca. Welcome to Fantasy Football Today. Dynasty, I am your host, Heath Cummings, joined by Dan the man. He's not Dan McCann. Dan Schneier, he is Dan the manifesto railing over the Giants most recent victory. Dan, the regular season, the championships are over for most people and this is when it's our time to shine here in the dynasty fantasy football world. Yeah this is an exciting time for dynasty football. I've been talking to a lot of friends they're like when are you going back on

dynasty FFT and I'm like good news it's coming soon because we want to talk about this coming season we want to talk about the changes in dynasty and there's a couple interesting questions I saw on the rundown heat that I'm really excited to get into today so this is the best part about dynasty like it gets you get to carry it over through basically what is dynasty essentially a 10 11 month like there's barely any time you're taking off in the dynasty i have like the yolo league just finished last night and by the way i won it um thank you you. Appreciate it. But I was setting my lineup this morning for week one next year. I'm like looking at it. I was like, okay, so I've got

Derek Henry and Joe Mixon and Devontae Adams and Kenan Allen. I got some old guys, Travis Kelsey, but man, like what young guys am I going to have for next year? I'm looking at my picks in other leagues. I don't have any picks in YOLO. That's why I won the championship, but I'm looking at my picks in other leagues. I'm getting excited about the rookie draft that Jacob Gibbs tied in premium league that he started. I have the first sixth and seventh pick next year in the rookie draft. I'm excited about that. I'm so thankful for this format that we just get to keep playing all year round. And we've got something special for you today. I want to do more of this all year round and we've got something special for you today. I want to do more of this

in 2025. It's my resolution. We're going to ask Dan for his dynasty resolution here in just a moment. But it's my resolution is to give you guys, the FFT dynasty listeners and those of you here watching on YouTube, a little sneak peek at the dynasty content that's coming out tomorrow on January 1st, New Year's Day, I will have fully updated 2025 dynasty rankings for quarterback running back wide receiver and tight end will have a fully updated super flex and one QB trade charts for 2025. And today we're going to unveil the top 12 at each position. I've got some questions for Dan. He will tell me where I've gone wrong, hopefully. And I say I'm unveiling the top 12. Maybe Dan will change my mind and it'll look a little bit different when we get to the rankings being published tomorrow. But we always start, after I talk for two and a half minutes with three questions for our guest.

Dan, looking back at 2024, who's the one player who really changed your mind in Dynasty? I think you can probably guess this one, Heath. It's Bonyx. I mean, how could it not be? Bonyx was a player who has changed my mind so much, Heath, that I actually, and I didn't do this

for any other player in this class because I didn't have time to or care to but I was curious enough to do this. Go back and look at his tape from Oregon from the last season and I went back and I looked at it and I was like you know what and I remember when I was evaluating him I was like you know he does make some interesting throws off platform when he's forced to move. I'm like, you know, he does have interesting velocity in that intermediate level and that short area. But I'm like, I was just worried so much about a, that system has no carry over to the NFL. What's it going to be like when he faces NFL defenses and B the deep arm and the talent in the deep half. Now on those two questions, one, he went to the perfect scenario, right?

Sean, unbelievable head coach and somebody who has obviously designed a system that fits his skillset really well. And then B on the D path, he's made some throws that have been really impressive on the D path this year. He's missed some, he's missed a lot of throws this year too. A lot of quarterbacks missed throws and I knew that was going to be part of his game, but there's no way for me not to move him up so high from where I had him in dynasty, Heath, because one, he's made a lot of big throws, two, he's with the perfect fit from a schematic standpoint,

and three, he runs, he runs a lot more than he did at Oregon back to kind of the Auburn days. So for me, it's easily Bo Nix, and they're just going to build around him at this point with a lot of cap space that's going to clear up with Russ clearing up, that Russ contract clearing up. So that's the one for me. I love that answer.

We're going to see if he made my top 12 here in just a little bit. But if you're just looking at the rookies, where would he be ranked amongst the rookie quarterbacks? So you've got Jayden Daniels, you've got Caleb Williams, you've got Drake May, you've got Michael Pinnix, and you've got JJ McCarthy. Where, you've got Caleb Williams, you've got Drake May, you've got Michael Penex and you've got JJ McCarthy. Where does Bo Nix fit into that group? This question is exactly why dynasty is the most fun game because you have to project so much with JJ McCarthy and Penex we're getting a little glimpse of.

I think though I'm really impressed with Bo Nix to the point where I would put him as my QB for I wouldn't have him over Drake May without a doubt. I obviously Jayden and then Caleb I'm not moving past but I would put him as my QB4. I wouldn't have him over Drake May, without a doubt. Obviously, Jaden and then Caleb, I'm not moving past, but I would have him as QB4 ahead of JJ, who I didn't have him ahead of previously. And then ahead of Panic, so I already had him ahead of. So we'll give a little glimpse as to what is to come, because you've seen the top 12s. And I want to know who is the breakout player for 2025 that did not make my top 12 in any of the four positions. This is a fun one too to answer. I narrowed it.

There's a, this is a tough one. I narrowed it down to three players. Oh wow. Okay. Three players and have a wild card pick that not going to be that, but I want to name shout them. So the three players I narrowed it down to were's a flower is a very worthy and jameson williams. As far as picking one of those guys goes if i had to for me it would be safe flowers and the reason i would say is a flowers is because i just believe in that report getting even stronger between him and jacks and i do think back to what i saw on his boston College tape where he was winning with double moves on the vertical plane.

He was open and they weren't getting the football. I still think that part of his game needs to be unlocked with Lamar Jackson and can be, especially in that system. So for me, it's a flowers. If I had to pick it, but I'd be just as happy with worthy and James and Williams, especially thinking that both of those guys are the talents I saw on tape worthy having that end of season run, kind of like a Rishi Rice. I know Rice will be back in the mix, but Worthy has a different skill set.

And then the wild card for me, Heath, I'm not going to go into too much detail, but I just like what I've seen from a little bit of tape I've watched, and I think he's going to be surprising people. It's Keon Coleman. That's somebody I'm going to be trying to buy in all my dynasty leagues this off season. I think I can get him at a decent price. So I'm going to do something here. And then I'm going to give those of you in the YouTube chat. And I know some of you are watching on Twitter. If you are,

and you want to ask a question, you got to come over, watch on YouTube and then enter the question there in the chat. But Dan mentioned those four names and I'll just tell you, Jameson Williams, I almost tweeted during the game last night. If he keeps this up, he's going to be in my top 12 dynasty wide receivers before the night's over. He was wide receiver 17 currently in my rankings. Xavier Worthy's wide receiver 18, Zay Flowers wide receiver 20, and Keeon Coleman, as you said, a good buy, much cheaper, wide receiver 38. So if you guys have some, some names that you're wondering, like where do they rank? You don't want to wait until tomorrow to see it at the end of the show. We're going to answer listener questions. And if there's some names that you, that you've got put them in the chat, I'll go through the, through there and I'll tell you what

we've got them ranked. Dan can tell me we'll play a game that I think we played maybe on the first episode of FFC dynasty was a really creative name too high, too low or just right. You remember that Dan? Yes, I do. It's a great, great, great game. I think, I think it's still better than any game. Azer's ever created on FF.

I was going to say Azer may have come up with that one, but okay. Question number three, what, what is your dynasty resolution? What will you do different or better next year? Yeah, I've been thinking a lot about this Heath. And I feel like in dynasty, and this is a mistake on my part, I don't wanna say pigeonhole myself into a strategy Heath, but I've really come close to just locking into a mindset,

let's call it in dynasty of, I don't running backs. I don't want them on my roster. I want receivers. I will do I will take a tight end. I will take a quarterback depending on the format. But I really want to build my roster through the wide receiver position and draft picks. That's how I kind of feel the roster. But I had a conversation, Jacob, myself and Ben Gretz midseason on the evolution of fantasy football.

And when you really dig into this, and it really devolves or evolves, I should say, from just the evolution of actual football, the game is changing. So many defenses are playing that too high safety look or, you know, cover three, cover six, similar idea, keeping everything in front, eyes on the quarterback, keep everything underneath. And what that's invited is teams to build out their run game and build out their team through their running back. It's even invited some teams to throw to the running back more. Now I know that's kind of gone down.

So I want to evolve with the times and I want to evolve with the actual game that's changing in the NFL. And so I want to evolve my strategy this year. I'm going to look into this as off season, cause I don't know how I want to do this and I want to just go head first into running back, but I want to evolve it to understand the value of running back and kind of factor in that like, yes, I know if I'm making this big investment, Heath, either via trade or traffic for running back, it's going to possibly have a shorter shelf life than that wide receiver. But that

amount of time, those years I get out of that back are going to be worth so much more than that wide receiver, given how the NFL game is changing. And yeah, the NFL game is going to keep changing, but until quarterback play gets better around the league and it's only gotten worse, according to my estimation, it can't, the passing game can't really get that much better. We need better quarterbacks. It's the reality of the situation. So I want to evolve my game to the way that the NFL has evolved.

I like that answer and let's take a short break and we'll get into the top 12 in my dynasty rankings. What's in this McDonald's bag? The McValue meal. For $5.79 plus tax, you can get your choice of junior chicken, Mcdouble, or chicken snack wrap plus small fries and a small fountain drink. So pick up a McValue meal today at Participating McDonald's restaurants in Canada. Prices exclude delivery. Let's start with quarterback Dan. The top 12 quarterbacks in my 2025 dynasty rankings. We even got graphics today. It's going to be fantastic. Number one is Josh Allen.

Number two is Lamar Jackson. Number three, Patrick Mahomes. Number four, Joe Burrow. Five, Jalen Hurts. Six, Jaden Daniels. Number seven, Caleb Williams. Eight, Justin Herbert. Nine, Jordan Love. 10, Brock Purdy. 11, Kyler Murray. And 12, you said his name earlier in the show, Drake May.

Dan, what's the first thing that stands out to you? Just like, just jumps off the page. First thing that jumps out to me is shout out Debo. Cause I love the graphic and I love that we got graphics. So that's just a quick shout out. But the first thing that stands out to me is, you know, I am Heath. I am a terrible person. No, I'm not a terrible person.

I just have moments and lapses of bad human. And that's going to come out now. When I say, when we were on the show last year and you said, who's going to jump into my top 12, it's not there. I said Justin Herbert. No one bought into it. No one believe me They thought the fit was bad with Harbaugh. I said it's the opposite said he doesn't need volume He just needs efficiency and that's what he's done And so Justin Herbert stands out first to me and I think he's gonna continue to be there and then obviously the second thing I see on this page my boy Drake May I'm so happy major top 12

So I don't have to use him as an answer to a follow up question. I will say, I don't like, I guess you can victory lap being right about me moving Justin Herbert into the top 12, but I think he was QB 18 this season. So I'm not sure you can victory lap what Justin Herbert actually did in terms of fantasy football production. And that's why I love having you here, Heath, because you can bring me back down. I deserve to be knocked back down. Drake may you said it, he made it into the top 12. So he's not the answer to this question. Who's the best quarterback that I left out. So this one is

interesting. I'm going with a 30 year old and I am actually surprised to not see him on this list. It's Jared Goff. I love the infrastructure there with Detroit. They may lose Ben Johnson. I tend to think that's fine given where they're at and given where Jared Goff is at, specifically that offensive line is just so dominant and so reinforced with players. And then what we talked about earlier, Heath, Jameson Williams, close to cracking the top 12 at the wide receiver for both of us. So now as he continues to get better and look more and more like that player we saw on the tape at Alabama,

he's got weapons there. Laporta, Jameson, Mon-Ross St. Brown, Gibbs. I mean, it's phenomenal with that old line. So just 30 years old, quarterbacks played late into their career. And quite frankly, he's playing the best football of his career right now, Jared Goff. So he's going to get all those dome games. So it's got for me. Goff is my QB 16. Actually, the guy who just missed the cut, the guy who was QB 13 for me was the guy who changed your mind the most this year. It was bone X. He was actually my QB 13, but I think golf's a good answer. And if you were a contender next year, he probably should be a top 12 quarterback.

It's a good time to remind people that I'm trying to blend with these rankings, rankings for contenders and rankings for rebuilders. I'd much rather have Jared golf on a contending roster than a couple of the names that you see in the top 12 here. And then finally, we'll just talk about the rookies. Does should do or Sanders or Cam Ward crack this list by this time next year? I would love to answer this question

in two, three months from now. And I actually watched tape on these guys. I've only seen broadcast games, but broadcast can give you an idea for sure of what they bring to the table. And with that said in mind, we're looking at Tankathon right now. I looked at that before this question.

Cleveland in the mix. I don't know if they'll have the cap space to go for quarterback. Tennessee seems like a lock, so that's not exactly the fit I love, but it's not terrible. It's really not terrible actually with Calvin Ridley and improving offensive lines. So let's say one of them goes to Tennessee. That's the best bet possibly. I'm going to still answer no. Skill set wise, I don't really see it with either of those two.

I don't think like everything I'm seeing is that these quarterbacks would be, would have been at best QB four in last year's class, which means they're behind the top three that made my top 12. And I'm assuming that Drake mays either going to get an offensive tackle or a number one wide receiver in the year. Well, if he could get both, that would be fantastic. Of course, they might just take Travis Hunter and play him at corner. And that wouldn't be as good for Drake may let's go now to the running back position. Dan's

new found love in dynasty is the running back position. And I want to talk a little bit. I'm going to have dynasty tears later in the month, but I'll give you a little bit of a peek at those as well, because this position is really tiered. The two guys at the top, Bijan Robinson and Jamir Gibbs, I would not argue with you for ranking either one of them as number one. In fact, in the formula that I use to kind of start formatting these rankings, they came out tied. They are one A and one B at the position.

And there's a pretty decent teardrop after that for me. And then we get to Devon Achan, Kyron Williams, I expect a little bit of pushback from people on, but I don't know how you can do what he's done the last two seasons and be basically in the same situation going into next year and not be a top four dynasty running back. Breece Hall, Jonathan Taylor, Saquon Barkley, Bucky Irving, Chase Brown. And then really after Bucky Irving, who knows, but Ken Walker, Josh Jacobs,

and James Cook rounds up the top 12. Again, that's Robinson Gibbs, HN Williams Hall, Taylor, Barkley, Irving Brown, Walker, Jacobs and cook. It's really after number eight, Dan, where I just feel like I lose all concept of who should be ranked as a top. I totally understand that. I want to make it clear first. It's not a new found love for running back.

I've been very anti running back in dynasty. It's me trying to warm up to the idea of you need to have some running backs and you need to change your strategy a little bit as the NFL evolves. So I want to start there. My, my thoughts on your top 12. It's a really interesting group. I think, you know, the one player I would probably rank highest higher, I should say is Josh Jacobs.

And I look at Josh Jacobs as a player who's in a really fantastic situation. Um, we found out this year. Yeah. Matt LaFleur in the past, he's had a lot fantastic situation. Um, we found out this year. Yeah. Matt LaFleur in the past, he's had a lot of rotation at running back. Not really much this year. And part of that is because Jacobs offers him something that Aaron Jones didn't offer him and AJ and you know, players that he's worked with in the past don't really offer him, it's that complete skillset at the back position.

He's the guy that have the highest. Um, I think there's a question, I don't want to skip through it. Cause I think there's one other question that would answer the following. Yeah. And I think, I think Jacobs brings up a point at this position. That's really difficult and interesting is like, what do we do with the fact that the older running backs, mostly just all held up this year and some of them had like career years, right?

Josh Jacobs is going to be 27 in February. That's generally about the point where we say with a running back, you should only roster him if you're a contender. Yep. But we just saw Derek Henry at 31 be awesome. We've got James Connor and Aaron Jones looking like they're still 26 years old. And so I, I wonder. Like if it's not just, or maybe if part of the reason that running backs a little bit more palatable is because we've seen this, these two elite classes of running backs, maintain past 27, past 28. And now do we get caught

in the trap of expecting some, some non-elite classes to do that? Or is this just the marvel of modern medicine and we're going to have running backs playing for longer? It's a question that, I tell you what, we'll know the answer in two or three years. We can just guess on it now. So last year, Christian McCaffrey, Travis Etienne, and Rashad White were all in my top 12, uh, as of January of 2024, they fell out. Who's going to fall out of this top 12 in the next 12 months? Yeah, I love this question.

It's a fun one to unpack. Um, so there's multiple players in here. I'm going to go for two that are kind of the more low hanging fruit, uh, the ones I think most people pick and then I'm going to go for a wild card pick. So I'll start with the more low hanging fruit ones. I'll start with chase Brown, uh, phenomenal talent has looked great on the field, but still day three draft pick the Bengals didn't really bring in that much competition, Zach Moss, and then he got hurt. I feel like this is a team that could always bring in a different kind of back.

And I do think that he was the workhorse more, less by design Heath and more by the fact that Zach Moss got hurt. And we'll look at the first few weeks to see that still phenomenal talent, love his game, love that he can get worked in the passing game, still think a lot of value. But if we're talking about someone who might fall off, maybe him, another player, Kenneth Walker, phenomenal talent, even better talent than chase Brown and has the draft capital, I think early second round pick by the Seahawks, but the injuries are all often. I mean, they they're piling up year after year and he's got a great back behind him.

But my wild card pick, he's the player I would not want on my dynasty or all stars. I would be looking to trade immediately. Um, though I still think you'll probably finish in your top 12 next year, but further down, Kiron Williams. I mean, I'll say this, I do have faith in Sean McVay. No doubt. He's an unbelievable schemer and he loves Kiron Williams. But here's some things about Kiron Williams that scare me. One is draft capital to his injury history. And three, it's really hard to find a quarterback in the NFL. And when you don't get consistent quarterback play, Brian Dable talked about this this week, when you don't get consistent quarterback play on a

week to week basis, you can't go anywhere as an offense, you just can't. And so Stafford, when does that ending? It's probably soon. And then we're left with Kyron Williams in a pretty nebulous situation from a quarterback standpoint. I, that's just not someone I would want to roster right now. Yeah. I think there were people that definitely, and I, you brought up chase Brown.

People were making that same argument for Kyron going into this year. And, uh, Goblin in the chat says Bucky's falling out because Bucky falls in that same bucket of a day three running back. And the, the thing that is, is not scientific research, but Jamie and I have talked about this quite a bit and it's mostly held true. When I get worried about the day three running back is when there is a coaching change. That's one of the reasons you don't see Tyrone Tracy in the top 12 or the top 24 and maybe, you know, the giants are building

momentum for 2025 with their late season victories. So maybe that keeps Brian Dable's jobs. And so Tyrone Tracy is, uh, is safe, but I do think I got, I don't think the Bengals are going to change coaches. Although, I mean, if you have Joe Burrow and you miss the playoffs, maybe that's a consideration. I don't think Sean Bengals are going to change coaches. Although I mean, if you have Joe burrow and you miss the playoffs, maybe that's a consideration. I don't think Sean McVeigh is going anywhere. Um, Tampa Bay's well, I mean, I guess if they lose week 18,

maybe and miss the playoffs, but I feel better about those day three running backs, but also this is like, maybe Josh Jacobs should be ahead of those guys. Yeah. It's also just like, I look at running backs, 13 through 24, and I did for a long time because I didn't like the last four names in my top 12 and I couldn't find guys who were not in the top 12 that I felt like should be. And so I didn't give you this question beforehand, but I'm going to go ahead and ask it now anyways. Is there a name you're not seeing here that you think is definitely a top 12 dynasty running back?

Oh, this one on the fly without preparation is a little tougher, but I will take a quick peek just to, I mean, you mentioned one already that I would consider it's Tyrone Tracy. I know there's a potential coaching change going on there, but likely from what we've heard, the GM is going to be back and the GM's mindset at running back. It leads me to believe that Tracy will enter at least the next season as the RB one. And by that point, I think he'll be able to establish himself. He's been phenomenal. I mean, just from a pure talent standpoint, looking at the efficiency metrics, Jacob Gibbs has a ton of great stats on this. He's proven himself in my mind to be in every down back minus the fumbling issue, which

I'll have to clean up. So Tracy would definitely be someone that comes to mind first. A couple other guys I could throw in there potentially Isaiah Pacheco, maybe not sure. Brian Robinson like the fit, like the situation, but not sure on that either. Don't feel great about either of those two, but they're just someone. They're just too good. That's kind of where we're at though. It's like, there are not 12 running backs, which here you go. We're going to have some more coming. Oh yeah.

We're talking about rookies. One of them is going to be Ashton Gentry. My rule, if you're new here for the rookies is I'm going to add them to my dynasty rankings after the NFL draft. I'll have rookie rankings earlier, but I'm not going to put them into these rankings. Still, we expect Ashton Gentry is going to be the first running back drafted. If he's drafted in the first round of the NFL draft, where would you put him in these rankings?

This is a fun question. For now, I'm saying RV eight. That seems like a cop out based on your breakdown earlier about how it does feel. We come, we feel comfortable with the top seven, but I could easily, and by the way, that top seven for me would be the same as yours minus Kyron and add Josh Jacobs, but I could easily be convinced to move them higher depending on the fit.

I was thinking four, and if I like the fit, it might be three. Okay. Definitely not top two, but you would not have to, especially with the way that A-chan's finishing the season, Nick, you would not have to, like especially with the way that A-chan's finishing the season, Nick, you would not have to do much arm twisting at all for me to put Gentie ahead of De'Von A-chan.

I'm excited. He might not be the only rookie running back that shows up in these top 12. With the way I feel about nine through 12 in these rankings, we might have three or four rookie running backs that crack the top 12. And it's early Heath, but this is projected to be one of the stronger running back classes we've had in quite some time.

I'm excited about it. It's great because you've got an early pick in Yolo. So you can like make, you can bring your new year's resolution and to fruition by drafting a running back with the second overall pick, something you probably never thought that you would do. Let's get to the top 12 wide receivers. And again, it's the top two and then it's the rest, right? Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, these guys, well, C.D. Lamb cracked the top two, I think for a week or two. But one of these guys has been number one for pretty much the last three

years. Chase with an incredible season. Justin Jefferson might break some records in week 18 playing against this miserable Lions defense for the conference, for the bye. I can't wait to see what Jefferson does in this game. So it's Chase and Jefferson at the top. Malik neighbors is number three for me. Pukka Nakua is number four.

C.D. Lamb has fallen to number five. And I don't know if that's justified or not, but man, I don't want to sleep on how. Pukka Nakuwa is number four. C. D. Lamb has fallen to number five. And I don't know if that's justified or not, but man, I don't want to sleep on how good Pukka Nakuwa has been the last two years either. Amun Ra St. Brown is number six. Brian Thomas Jr. has climbed all the way to number seven. Nico Collins at eight. Jackson Smith and Jigway. Remember when he was a rookie loser? He's now wide receiver nine, Lad McConkey, wide receiver 10, Marvin Harrison, Jr. wide receiver 11, Jordan Addison, wide receiver 12. That's Chase, Jefferson, neighbors, Nakua, Lam, St. Brown, Thomas Collins, JSN, McConkey, Marvin Harrison, Jr. and Jordan Addison. We've already got a comment in the chat about Lad McConkey.

And so I don't feel any reservation about having elevated Brian Thomas Jr. ahead of Marvin Harrison Jr. Did I go too far in moving Lad McConkey ahead of Marvin? No, you didn't go too far at all. If you look at some of the numbers from Lad McConkey, Jacob Gibbs again has some of these. I don't have them handy, wish I did,

but you can check his page. They're phenomenal. And then then just the film that's what i can go off of heath because i've seen a lot of it this guy uncovers to a crazy extent and i talked about this on a beyond the box or maybe three weeks ago with jacob when you watch his tape you start to see the early and it's early because they haven't had a lot of time working together heath especially because mcconkey missed some time in camp with an injury. And that's some of the issue with this profile, by the way, the injuries are an issue, but you see the early glimpses of that anticipatory throwing between him and Herbert. He's not even out of his break and Herbert has the ball released. Those out routes are almost unguardable.

You talk about Amon Ross St. Brown as a player who has some rats that are unguardable. A few of the other guys on this list have some routes that are unguardable. The out routes with McConkey and Herbert are going to become unguardable. So I do not think you have them too high. And I will say this looking at this list, Heath, I look at that top eight and I'm like, you know what, maybe I can't change my strategy and go running back because these guys are so good. Like I want a piece of that. I want to take a chance on somebody who my draft pick who can become that one of those eight players, because those eight players because those eight

Guys top eight are just so much better to me in dynasty. So what worth so much more than really any So You mentioned like how good that this list is and it's incredible. I love it but Garrett Wilson Drake London and AJ Brown didn't make the list. That's my wide receiver 13, 14, and 15. Did I make a mistake leaving one of those guys out?

I think so. Um, I, for me, and it's funny that I'm going to say this, but I'm a little bit low Addison when I want to, I probably put one, I would definitely put, well, let me see how I want to phrase this. I would definitely have one of them over Addison, probably all three that you mentioned, um, and there are other guys on this list I'm not as sold on as, as you may be Marvin Harrison Jr. One of them.

And that's not as much on him as it is on Kyler and the situation. I don't love JSN. Another one. Um, I'd like it, but again, the guy I would have probably the highest of those three is Drake London. And here's Drake London's stats so far with Michael Penick Jr. at quarterback, who by the way, I think will be very good for Drake London's fantasy value moving forward in dynasty. Drake London with Michael Penick, small sample size, but he has a 34% target share and a 40% air yardage share. He's running different routes with Panix. He's being utilized at different areas of the field

and he's becoming the wide receiver I saw on tape at USC. And I've seen that at times. Like he was used more like that with Arthur Smith, but just Mariota and Ritter just couldn't get him the ball. Panix has arm talent. Panix can get him the football in different areas of the field. And so he's the one I'm most excited about,

but I would have Garrett Wilson above here too. I know that situation's ugly there, but the talent is just immense there. You know, something interesting, and I put this out, I think it was on Blue Sky yesterday, it might've been on Twitter, but Jordan Addison over the past two seasons has scored more PPR fantasy points per game than Drake London.

And you think, well, Drake London's had some really bad quarterbacks. Yeah. But if I would have told you coming into this year, like Jordan Addison's going to play 17 games with Sam Darnold or 16 games or actually 14, I think it was because a couple of injuries. Like we didn't think that Sam Darnold was a, a good, even good quarterback before this year, Jordan Addison has scored 19 touchdowns in his first two years in the NFL. Drake London has not scored 19 touchdowns in his first three years in the NFL.

And Drake London hasn't scored a touchdown with Michael Pinnix yet, which I think. I'm anticipating might still be a problem next year. Um, just because like we see it with the inexperienced quarterbacks. Um, we see it with often rookperienced quarterbacks. We see it with often rookies struggle in the red zone and getting the ball into the end zone through the year. Their first year as a starter. You know, you've made good points there. I think I'm reevaluating this. I honestly do feel that way because you have to you've talked about like in dynasty, you like to buy it. you like to look into coaching.

Right. In Minnesota, Kevin O'Connell isn't going anywhere and Kevin O'Connell has done such a phenomenal job. So environment wise and the stats back it up like you said with Addison and the fact that he's always going to have pretty much single coverage because of Justin Jefferson there, which is phenomenal for him. And Donald is really good at diagnosing that Donald's playing great football. Now, I'll say this. I'm higher on Addison if they resign Donald, I'm lower considerably on Addison if they go to JJ McCarthy.

Okay. reasons you just mentioned. But um, I think Donald's playing phenomenal football. Yeah, I think my expectation is probably going to be if O'Connell lets Darnold walk, that we're going to see McCarthy be just about as good as O'Connell as Arnold was. I don't think Arnold was any good. I understand that. And remember, like Nick Mullins was throwing for three. How many great games did you win? You're talking from a fantasy standpoint.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I can see it being close. I just think Donald's doing a lot of things that are really good to help move the football from a testing standpoint about these rankings. You see Malik neighbors at number three. Do I have to move him down a couple of spots? If the giants beat the Eagles this week, you know, uh, well, it's

hard to say because they're going to have to, they're going to go through some different options. And I honestly feel like as crazy as it is based on how bad he looked this year, again, not much removed from the injury, which I think he'll get better as he's more removed. The best bet might just be to sign Jamis or Kirk cousins as far as me neighbors fantasy value. If Malik neighbors, like how about sign Jamis and Joe Flacco? Sure.

And for his value, like that's probably better than getting Chidor or Cam Ward. You know what I'm saying? If they had the number one overall pick and they hadn't won these games. So I'm not ready to do it yet. If they punt the quarterback position like JoJane did this year with Drew Locke,

Tommy Devito and Daniel Jones, the worst quarterback room I've ever seen enter a season, then yeah, it's gonna be like that. But I feel like they gotta to learn from that mistake. I hope. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

You just said, I've got to, I've got to go look this up and we won't take too long for this, but you just said the worst quarterback room I've ever seen to open the season. I'm just trying to think the year before, um, was it the Todd Haley year that the chiefs had, uh, Tyler Thigpen and Brock Heward and Brody Croyle. Oh God. I ended a year with that. Uh, Damon, Damon, you were at Brock Brody Croyle, Tyler Thigpen combined to throw 563 passes.

So I am definitely wrong with my take here, but I can't believe a team entered a year with that. And somehow Tony Gonzalez still had 1100 yards. Wow. That's something. There you go. Uh, we will get to the tight end position right after this break. You've been playing any golf lately, Dan?

It's over. He, the dream is over. It's been freezing, courses are closed. I have done, for the first time in my life, I've done a simulator a couple times. I'm gonna take, hot take here. Not a fan of the simulator, it's fine. Like I'll do it if I'm bored on a night, but it's not golf, doesn't feel like golf.

I need to see the ball travel off the club. I don't wanna see it hit his screen and be like, that was 150 straight. Like, no, I don't need that. Trey Lockerbie That was that your three wood or your five wood? Brian Duggan Yeah. Trey Lockerbie Okay, we got the top 12 tight ends. And I talked about the top two at each position being a tier. There might be three tiers in the first three players in these rankings. Brock Bowers is number one on an island by himself.

Maybe a top five pick in startup drafts. Trey McBride is number two on an island by himself. Maybe a first round pick in a startup draft. Sam Laporta is a clear number three. I don't think we could debate anything about that. And then it gets a little bit questionable. I would put Mark Andrews, George Kittle, TJ Hawkinson kind of all into one little bubble, and then I I'm not sure there's another tight end that I want to roster

in dynasty, but the back half of my top 12 Dalton, Kincaid, Tucker, Kraft, Kyle Pitts, yes, somehow still David Njoku, Travis Kelsey, at least until February 15th and Jatavian Sanders. Woof. Like, as they're ever, have you ever seen a graphic? Cause you think most, most leagues are 12 team leagues, right? That illustrates the haves and the have-nots more than this one right here. If you're in a dynasty league and you have one of the guys on the left, you have life.

If you have one of the guys on the right, well, thank you Travis Kelsey for the championship this week that turned back the clock for one game. I believe you will do it for the next three games. But if you have one of the guys on the right, you're almost drawing dead. Yeah, I mean, I can't argue with you. It's funny. This was supposed to be the year of the tight end, Keith. Um, as far as dynasty startups go, cause I can apply this to redraft.

I am, I've made it clear to myself and I told Jacob this last week, I will not, and I repeat, I will not fall for this trap again in drafts next year. I will not be using a mid round pick fourth round, four or five, six on the next guy at tight end when I could be getting a James Connor or I could be getting a Bryan Robinson or one of these backs can actually help me win or receiver so I've done that in that dynasty you know I'll still fall for the trap because I do like watching tape and I love Gates tape right like I have guys that I love on date Luke Musgrave who has been injured and hasn't hit Tucker Kraft a great tape at South Dakota State as well. So I'll probably fall for that trap again Heath but you're right it's an interesting position in dynasty.

We have, I would even say less so than like the left versus the right here. It's really like those top three. And I honestly even argue just the top two are separated so far above any other position we just went over Bowers and McBride. I don't feel great about the port I guess I'm okay with it. And then we're at guys already like Andrews, Kittle and Hawkinson who are older, right? Especially Kittle and Andrews. And so we're already kind of losing some steam

there. It feels like. Yeah. I, um, I don't know if Gibbs told you this on one of, I know you guys do a lot of podcasts together and I know I really kind of ruffled his feathers a little bit in our tight end premium league when I tried to trade for Dalton Kincaid, um, at a discount and he, he basically called it an insulting offer. And so we, we had a little back and forth cause I get kind of annoyed when somebody says it's an insulting offer. And he said, you know, this season would have gone different if I'd just taken, taken a Trey McBride there. I said, yeah, Trey McBride's good.

Like what you said, you like the tape for Dalton Kincaid. Um, let me make that clear. The college tape. Yeah. Okay. That doesn't make me feel near as good. I thought you were going to give me some things from his play in the NFL to make me feel

good about the fact that he just turned 75 targets into 448 yards. No, it's, it's, it's what you said. It's the college tape where I was excited about him and it's how I thought he'd be used at the NFL level based on how he won at the college level. He just isn't used that way at all in this Buffalo scheme. And they're not going to make a change at coordinator. And they shouldn't because this offense works. So for me, like if this is how he's

going to be used at the NFL level, I'm sure there will be some evolution, right? They invested in him, but I don't know. And this is how he's used. I'm just not as excited as I used to be about him. I still want to buy into the talent, though, Heath. I don't want to rule someone out after two years based on, I mean, look, when he was in college, he was essentially their big slot receiver and he was essentially their entire

offense. That's what had me so excited about him. He won underneath over and over and over again, kind of similar to how we see Trey McBride win to be completely honest. Only Kincaid didn't join an offense that's going to use him like the Arizona like the Arizona Cardinals use trade McBride. He just, he joined a completely different scheme and that matters. So it's just, I don't want to go, I don't want to jump off this yet, but it's, it's tough given like where buff, how Buffalo uses him. Dalton Kincaid had six different games this year where he had seven or more targets. That's

pretty good for a tight end, right? Right. He did not reach 60 receiving yards once in any of those games. That's really bad. I don't understand it, but enough of that because I, I agree. Like people are asking the chat, like, I don't want to just move on from Kincaid. No, you can't. It's, it's the sunk cost. Um, just, just hold on and hope that next year is better because he is with Josh Allen. Um, but more pressing please for tomorrow's article, give me somebody, anybody else to rank it tight in 12. That's not named Jatay Van Sanders.

Well, I would say this, I got some deep thought deeper dives, but for me, Evan Ingram should be in the top 12 on this list. Just given his contract situation, uh, Trevor Lawrence coming back in the report he built with Lawrence. So he would be probably someone I would put in there over just Davian Sanders. Um, but for, you know, lesser veteran type plays, I got two. The first would be John Smith. I mean, look, I don't know what's going to happen with John with this off season,

but John who looks pretty damn good on the football field and he moves incredibly well after the catch field and he moves incredibly well after the catch and he's proven he can be a weapon for fantasy this year and for the dolphins. So I wouldn't be surprised to see him come back there on a team friendly ish dealer or, you know, giving him a nod, like we'll pay you a little bit more than you've been making in your NFL career. So he's one.

And then for the deepest dive, Heath, this is the one that's most interesting to me, Isaiah likely. So the reason I like this is Likely has been a phenomenal talent on the football field. And great on a per touch basis, just isn't involved a lot, right? Well, Mark Andrews' contract is up after this next season, and they've got a lot of guys they have to pay,

the Baltimore Ravens. So I wouldn't be surprised to see them move on from Andrews after this, after his contract runs out. And now you have a guy in Likely who you could get really cheap, who will still be under contract, I believe at that point, maybe in his final year, um, and then could have that breakout year. So I, John, who I considered, and I just have a philosophical rule, he's my tight end 19. I have a philosophical rule that I, if a guy has a career year at age 29 or age 30, I don't buy it. I'm not going to buy it for the next year. And sometimes those guys do it again.

But I'm just, I'm not going to buy it. So I understand why if you want to buy it though, makes perfect sense. Isaiah likely is actually my number 13 tight end. So he was the guy who was closest. I think I'm going to take that suggestion, Dan. And when the article comes out, Isaiah likely will be tied in 12. And I'm just going to click. No love for Evan Ingram. No love at all for Evan Ingram who will turn 31 before he

plays another football game. That's fair. Has averaged fewer than seven yards per target in five of his last six seasons. Has not scored more than four touchdowns in a year since 2017. And looking at the contract, he does have $13 million worth of dead money on the cap for next year. So they're probably going to keep them, but they would save $7 million by cutting him. And right now he's just really a dollar cup.

Yeah. And strangers look pretty good buying them and they drafted him. So, you know, all great points. I would move them back off that list. So I, I've made a couple of references to Travis Kelsey winning the super bowl and then retiring, but let's say maybe the Chiefs lose somehow and Travis Kelsey doesn't retire. If he announces he's returning for the 2025 season, how much higher should I have him?

He's currently my tight end 11. First of all, hearing the name Travis Kelsey gives me shell shock because I Went against my grain and I went against my rule of sticking to the process Keeping my picks even though I'm a contender and I traded you my first round pick for Kelsey and Connor And I just immediately regret that I didn't win the league. I got screwed. Jaylen hurts got hurt and now I'm looking at it like Was it worth it? No, it was not worth it. I want that first round pick back. Thank God. I didn't give you Brian Thomas for those guys. That was your original offer. That was never happening. And you're like the chat told you that you should make this trade. But the chat did. I'm glad I didn't listen to the chat. Because if I traded Brian Thomas. Who was that? If I traded Brian, the chat said this is a ripoff for Dan. He's got to do it. If I traded Brian Thomas for Travis Kelsey and James Connor, I might just quit the league out of shame at this point. But let me just start by saying that as far as your question goes though, for the cards of Travis Kelsey, how much higher would I rank him?

Like not that much higher. He's I think what ended up happening this year is what you predicted would happen. And a lot of people were closer to the chiefs situation predicted. And I was wrong on, which is they're not really using him until the playoffs. I'm going to watch and I'm going to see. And if he looks like old Travis Kelsey in the playoffs this year, just like last year, I'm going to be like, you know, this is a plan.

They are doing something like specifically to keep him healthy for these playoff runs. So for me, I'm kind of out on Kelsey now for good. And there was that stretch when they lost Rice and they hadn't added Hopkins yet and Worthy wasn't quite ready where he did have week five, 70 yards, week seven, 90 yards, week eight, a hundred yards. Like he had a little stretch and then he stepped up for all of us in the fantasy championship scoring 22 fantasy points against the Steelers of all teams.

So I do think he still has it. I think you were right about that. It's just, I mean, how exciting is it to think about the fact that Patrick Mahomes might have Rashi Rice and Xavier worthy at full speed heading into next year. And they might, I mean, they might get it. I would do it if I were him. He's a free agent, I believe, but Hollywood Brown signing on a team friendly deal, just to revalue. Like he doesn't have value heading into free agency.

If he does one year with my homes, he could get value for that next year heading into free agency. So those are the top 12 at every position. If you go to CBS sports.com slash fantasy tomorrow, you will see. A top 50 at quarterback, a top 50 at tight end, a top 80 at running back, a top 100 at wide receiver. And we'll have links to the trade charts, which will be over at sports line as they always are.

I am so excited to release those. We've got a couple of minutes left here for some chat questions, some names that you guys want to know, like where does this guy rank? And I love Matt for bringing this one up. Let's talk memes, Marvin memes. I was really high on him coming out of college. He was mostly been a disaster and a flop. I blame Sean Payton, but that was a good showing. I just got a glimmer of hope from Marvin Mims. Looked like the guy that I thought he was in their most recent victory.

And in the updated rankings, he is currently wide receiver 65 for me. I have him just ahead of Jalen Polk, just ahead of his teammate Troy Franklin, just ahead of Adonai Mitchell, just ahead of Jermaine Burton. Too high, too low or just right for Marvin Mims, Dan? I think that's just right. It's hard for me to buy into him as somebody who we're gonna have consistent value from even though I do like the evolution of that offense. So I think I'm okay with that one. Other Matt,

you're both the number one Matt Matt, and I appreciate you both. Matt Walter says, Derek Henry, what do I do with him? Um, I've got him at RB 17 in the dynasty rankings, just behind McCaffrey, Camara and Chuba. These are full PPR rankings, just ahead of David Montgomery, Pacheco and Charbonne. Too high, too low or just right? No, that's just right for me. Though, look, we looked at him this year and we said,

or some of us looked at him this year, not me, but some of us looked at him and said, look, all the data suggests this is a bad buy for fantasy, but there are outliers in this sport. And Derek Henry, man is the biggest outlier I've ever seen play the sport. I really do believe that. I think for my money, he's the best athlete I've ever watched play football. If you're two 60, 31 years old with thousands of carries and hits on your record, and you're still out running safeties and beating safeties angles for

80 yard touchdown runs, like we've seen him do this year. You are the best athlete and to me that I've ever watched play the sport. Um, just from what I consider an athlete, it's like my LeBron James James argument when you're six, nine, two 70 and you can move like that, you're the best athlete ever. So I'm not going to bet against him and I would potentially maybe move my spot or two higher. He's just somebody I would want on my roster at this point. Well, you know, I mean, maybe if you're going to move into your running back era, Sarah Kenry, someone you want to add in the YOLO league. I don't have any picks

in this upcoming draft. We can have a discussion about that. I want to give Matt a shout out because I called him other Matt. Second place in the greatest league name ever. FFT fans only, dynasty league. I love it. FFT fans only dynasty league, FFT fans only. Congratulations on second place, Matt. We're going to enjoy the seconds as well. I reject this idea that if you don't finish this season first overall, it was just a bad year. This is, I think a great name, Jalen McMillan and it's with or without Godwin's return. He was one of the most difficult wide receivers for me to rank. What do you do with the guy who has like a four game stretch like this, um, at the end of the year, and we don't know what Godwin status is going to be.

Although Macmillan's maybe made it easier for Tampa Bay to let him go. I have Jalen Macmillan at wide receiver 39, just behind Jayden Reed and Keon Coleman. I'm looking at the younger guys because it doesn't do any good to compare them to the older guys. Well, just ahead of Jerry, Judy and Xavier Lee Gitt. I think it's about exactly where I'd have him actually. And that's not to say I'm not high on him. He's had a steady drum beat.

He had an unbelievable training camp. We'd kind of put it as like a third receiver on the box. This won't be much for redraft. Obviously the injury changed that. The injury to Godwin changed that. Godwin's an older player. Evans is an older player. Love the talent.

And I love what I've seen from a poor standpoint this early with Baker Mayfield. And we got to get to the point now, Heath, where we, and this was one guy we didn't talk about and probably could have been argued to be in that top 12 at quarterback. We got to give the respect that's due to Baker Mayfield. He is throwing the football. Now, I hope he keeps Liam Cohen because I think Liam Cohen's playing a big role in that.

But he just lost his offensive coordinator. But he did. You're right. He did just go. That's a great point. Everybody said, oh no, he lost Dave Canales. What's going to happen? And things got ultimately even better for him from a fantasy standpoint. And he's throwing more of those vertical intermediate routes, which he can throw the arm talents always been there for him. So now the timing's great. He's playing confidently.

So yeah, I like Macmillan based on the quarterback situation and the rapport that's going to build. I would say if Godwin is like signed somewhere else, or we definitely find out that he's gone. Yeah, then Macmillan may move up five to 10 spots. Fair. Wouldn't be surprised if he, if he cracks the top 30 in that, in that situation. We got a couple more here real quick.

Oh, more dynasty content weekly, please. Heath, you know what? Your wish is my command. Let me tell you what the schedule is going to be like. So next week on Monday, we're going to do a special Monday mock draft, not a rookie mock, a full startup mock. The first one of 2025, it will be live. Jacob Gibbs will be here.

Not sure who else will be here, but it's going to be a good time. And then I'm going to take about 10 days off. So the following week, we're going to have a special Friday show. And then after that, we're going Tuesday and Friday every week for the rest of the off season, except for when I take a vacation. I'm not sure when that's going to be yet, but yes, Tuesdays and Fridays, we're going to two shows a week. And I may even push when we get to April, we get close to the draft. Maybe we'll

get a, maybe we'll get a third show one week or two weeks. If you'd like that, tell me if you'd like that and we will try to make it happen. Is Rashi Rice top? And one more thing on that front just so for those who don't know, there's also going to be a ton of written content. So he's just talking about the podcast. Check out the site because he's going all in from a written standpoint on what you're going to have. And those are all resources that you can leverage.

I think that the most valuable one to me, at least, is the trade charts for both 2QB, Superflex, and then 1QB. Just such a good reference for me to have in the off season. And I've used it throughout the season as well. So you'll have that updated as well, I think, this week. Just don't use that if you're playing in a league with me and say, hey, your trade chart says you would do this. Rashi Rice, is he top 15?

I currently have him at wide receiver 22. That's probably a little bit low. Um, I'd like to hear that he's 100% healthy. I'd like to hear the length of his suspension. Yeah. He probably is a guy who's going to be top 15 at some point, assuming we don't get a worst case scenario on either the injury front or the suspension front. And do we have one more? We got one more. worst case scenario on either the injury front or the suspension front.

And do we have one more? We got one more. Shig Okonkwo. Why didn't we mention him when it could have been a top 12 tight end? He's my tight end 22. I like him more than Evan Ingram, but every time I think about counting on Shig Okonkwo, he scores eight fantasy points. I know. And I just, it's so uncertain that quarterback's still there.

I think they'll probably get Shador, but I don't know what they're going to do Tennessee at the second overall pick. So yeah, it's just, it's not for me yet. Dan, thank you for being here. Thank you for going through the rankings with me. Thank you to Deebo for putting them, Thomas, actually shout out to Shafie T who's not here today, but did put the graphics together. Debo ran the graphics. Appreciate that. Thank you to everybody in the chat who had questions. I'll say it once again, because it's the end of the year. Thank

you guys for helping to make this a successful show and allowing us to do more dynasty content next year, because that only happens if the stuff we're doing now is working and it is. So we're gonna bring you more. And if you guys could just remember to go to Spotify and to give us five stars and to give us a review. In January, I'll be doing a Spotify review question mailbag. So you put five stars, you ask a question,

I'll answer your question on the podcast in January. We't talk to you next Tuesday we'll talk to you next Monday with a Monday Mock Draft.