Fantasy Football Today - FFT on CBSSN: What Matters in Preseason? Rankings Risers & Fallers, & More! (08/01 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: August 1, 2024

Want to be in our next mock draft and have a shot at being on air? Check out our St. Jude Draft-a-Thon Store here: https://tiltify.com/@fftfundraising/fantasy-football-today-draftathon-2024 Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts On this episode of FFT (0:00) on CBS Sports Network, we dive into what matters during (0:40) preseason, analyzing the latest risers (11:20) and fallers (21:31) to keep you ahead of the competition. We break down our pick-by-pick draft (33:20) sharing insights on our favorite team builds while offering in-depth strategies to refine your fantasy approach. Plus, we answer your fill-in-the-blank (42:25) submissions. Tune in to get the most comprehensive and interactive fantasy football analysis to gear up for a successful season! ... Email us at [e-mail] Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1 Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Fall is almost gone, but have you sipped enough Starbucks fall faves? Enough of the pumpkin spice latte, the cinnamony pumpkin-flavored legend, or the new iced apple crisp non-dairy chai? So silky, so smooth. How about the new pecan crunch oat latte? Nutty, buttery deliciousness and crunchy pecan flavor.

Trick question, of course. It's the last call for fall, so don't miss out on your fall faves. Next stop, Starbucks. Welcome, everybody, to Fantasy Football Today, presented by BetMGM. We've got an awesome show for you. And you know, the last time we watched football, the Chiefs were winning another Super Bowl, an overtime victory over the 49ers. Well, tonight, we've got it.

Football is back. A Super Bowl preview? Could be. Texans versus the Bears. I am Adam Azer with Dave Richard and Jamie Eisenberg. Guys, on a scale of 0 to 0, how excited are you for the

Hall of Fame game tonight? Negative 25 million. I can't wait. It's football, baby. Come on. Oh, come on. It's not really football. It's Davis Mills. It's backups, but no, it is football. It's something to watch. It's Damian Pierce. The thing to

get excited about is Damian Pierce. You know it's a negative 25. It's football, baby. It is football, and we are excited about it. I mean, it starts tonight, and we're pumped. So, let's talk about some big topics here. And first of all, I just want to get your thoughts. What are you looking for in preseason in general?

Before we start talking about these teams specifically. Dave, what actually matters in the preseason for fantasy purposes well you want to make sure that everybody looks like they know what they're doing out there now we could say that the pittsburgh steelers offense looked like they knew what they were doing last year and then kenny pickett and that whole offense looked terrible for the majority of the season so really it's just about making sure that the players, maybe it's a little bit of bias confirmation or confirmation bias where you want to see the players and make sure they're doing what you think that they could do.

Maybe a player who is kind of under the radar, stepping up and looking better than you thought. I think those things are what people who play fantasy should be looking for in the preseason. No injuries, that's all. Don't make it hurt. There's that. Hopefully Deontay Foreman's okay.

Yes. Sometimes you can get some playing time helpful info, who's playing ahead of who, who's playing on three receiver sets, and who comes off the field on three receiver sets, those types of things. But you might just be better off ignoring the results, otherwise you're going to take Darren Waller and Daniel Jones really early. And it was a great drive.

It's going to be three. It was one great drive. Absolutely. All right. So let's talk about a different New York team. Let's talk about the Jets. Aaron Rodgers not expected to play in the preseason. It's the guy coming off a torn Achilles.

We are putting a lot of faith in Brees Hall and Garrett Wilson. They are top 13 picks. Jamie, are you OK with that? Considering we just don't know? Last time we saw Aaron Rodgers, he really wasn't very good in his last season with the Packers. Are you cool with two Jets going in the top 13?

I mean, Devontae Adams and Aaron Jones were pretty good, so I'm not really worried about those guys in particular in terms of Brees Hall and Garrett Wilson. Look, Wilson's been stuck with, unfortunately, some terrible quarterback play the first two years of his career, and we saw in his rookie season when it was Joe Flacco or Mike White, just anybody but Zach Wilson, he was putting up good numbers.

You know, in some cases, he was over 21 PPR points per game, finished that stretch of game without Zach Wilson over 17 PPR points per game. For Brees Hall, we saw last year, you know, number one in receptions. Obviously, you know, you take Alvin Kamara's absence, you factor that in, he would have been second, but was dominant in the passing game. And I think for him in particular, the offensive line upgrades will be just as important as Aaron Rodgers coming back. So everything that the Jets have done this offseason to put around Garrett Wilson, to put around Brees Hall, clearly Aaron Rodgers coming back, that's huge. So both

those guys deserve to be first round picks and Brees Hall could challenge Christian McCaffrey to be the number one running back this year. It's all about touches for Brees Hall and targets for Garrett Wilson. And Wilson is one of the few wide receivers that we expect to get 10-plus targets per game. He averaged just below that last year, Adam, 9.9, and that was without Aaron Rodgers. So I think that there's definitely a chance that he could be better this year. He's worth that top pick. Let's talk about a couple of quarterbacks that might be in a battle right now, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.

Wilson missed a lot of time with a calf injury, and this is really significant because Russell Wilson, he's probably going to be around QB 20 to 24 in average draft position. There won't be a lot of excitement for him, even though he did average the same amount of fantasy points as Jared Goff last year. Justin Fields, on the other hand, two years ago he was the top six quarterback per game. Last year he was 14th per game in six- 10th per game and four point. But that was with leaving one game early. And that really hurt his per game average. So this would shake up the

quarterback rankings. Dave, I'll start with you. Let's say Justin Fields wins this battle. Where would you rank him among starting quarter among quarterbacks in fantasy? He'd be a top 12 quarterback for me. He'd be toward the bottom of that list. But I see the rushing potential for Fields. I think that's awesome. I like what I've read out of Pittsburgh the last couple of days where his accuracy has improved. Apparently he started training camp, really wasn't that accurate.

Last couple days he's really started to get into the groove. And the Steelers have basically admitted this is now a competition. The calf injury to Russell Wilson has opened the door for Justin Fields to play and potentially be the guy for Pittsburgh I think he will at some point this season and when he does fantasy managers can look at him as a low-end number one fantasy QB I'm in a super flex draft right now as part of our St. Jude draft-a-thon and and I was a little upset when Justin Fields went right before my pick. He would have been my fourth quarterback. I took Bryce Young ahead of him, and that's probably a mistake as well just because you're looking for upside.

Yeah, Fields would be a top-12 quarterback. You know, the concern would be is if he struggles, they clearly have somebody to go to that they, I would assume, trust in Russell Wilson. So if Fields does have that stretch of bad games, which he's had, unfortunately, several times throughout the course of his career, then they can just turn to Russell Wilson and say, okay, now we're handing the reins over to maybe the guy that they thought was going to be their number one quarterback. You know what the Steelers are going to be under Mike Tomlin in playoff contention,

right around nine to 10 wins, you know, so they're going to have an opportunity to maybe win the AFC North, certainly be in the wildcard mix. And if Field is not getting the job done, then Wilson will be out there. But when you're shooting for upside at this position, Justin Fields has just as much as anybody on the table. So yes, you should be drafting him as a top 12 guy. I'll tell you what, man. They're going to be last in the AFC North.

Tough division. Tough division to win. Alright, let's talk about our next topic here. And the Bengals staying in the AFC North. Zach Moss or Chase Brown? Before training camp started, I think it was clearly Zach Moss for most people. Now, last time we did a draft, they went back to back because Chase Brown is gaining some momentum. I don't know what I said. It was clearly Zach Moss. I may have said that

backwards. It was clearly Zach Moss before training camp started. But anyway, Dave, who are you taking first Moss or Chase Brown? I took Chase Brown first in a mock draft that we recently did on the site. And I'll tell you what, at first I was a little bit nervous about it, but I just think about how explosive of a talent we saw. And it was in limited flashes last year. And I compare that to Zach Moss and you've really done a good job of expressing just how injury prone Zach Moss has been. And so I'm willing to take that chance with Chase Brown. I want to do it in the middle rounds. I don't want to reach in around seven form or anything like that. I don't love hearing from beat reporters in Cincinnati that the Bengals might still be on

the lookout for a third down running back. That would be something that would complicate this issue even more. But I think Brown is a little bit more exciting, has a little bit more upside, the younger, flashier running back compared to Zach Moss. Yeah, I wonder if they're waiting for a Samaj P. Ryan to get cut, you know, and somebody that they have a history with. He's in Denver right now, but most likely fourth on that depth chart. I think the thing that you look at when you're building your fantasy roster, Adam, is do you want safety or do you want upside?

And Moss feels like he's probably the safer of the two because you saw what he was able to accomplish last year when he was the guy for the Colts. You saw him in spurts with the Bills be the guy and have some success. Chase Brown's an unknown. But if you want the upside, Chase Brown probably is that guy. And so can he build off what he did last year when he got work, double-digit PPR points per game, but it was so sporadic and few and far between? And so this is a preseason thing that you want to see.

Will they play both guys in the preseason to any extent? Who will get the first touches? Who will be playing on third down? We know the Bengals have thrown to the running backs on first and second down. That doesn't necessarily matter. But Zach Moss, by all accounts, is the better running back in terms of pass protection now. And protecting Joe Burrow is more important, I think, than whatever they get from a running down perspective. Because hopefully they'll be comparable and competitive throughout the course of the season.

So I think just depending on your roster build, you look at whichever guy you think has the more upside, more potential. For me, again, that would be Brown if I'm looking for that type of running back on my team. But if you just want a piece of this backfield similar to the Titans, maybe similar to the Steelers, the Cowboys, these ambiguous backfields, just take the guy who's left on the board last, and hopefully that's the best one for you. Moving on to Jamison Williams for the Detroit Lions. He has had, I guess, a worse than expected start to his career for different reasons. But here he is now with a lot of training camp buzz, hoping he develops

into a more complete receiver. And maybe we can get a surprising breakout year from Jamison Williams. I know you guys like him. Are you prepared or either of you, Jamie, I'll start with you, prepared to take Jamison Williams with a top 100 pick at this point? Yeah, he's been that way for me for a few weeks. And you know, the thing you're looking for, again, what are the potential upsides and factoring what the downside could be? The downside is you just get the type of player that he's been the last couple of seasons. A couple splash plays here or there, a guy that you have to move on from. Okay, I'm willing to take that risk based on what the upside is. The upside is third-year receiver, 64 vacated targets with Josh Reynolds not there, offense that has an opportunity to play at a very high level, Ben Johnson staying,

Jared Goff building off of what he's done the last couple years, and really a lot of single coverage because when you have Amara St. Brown, Sam Laporta, Jameer Gibbs, nobody's focusing on taking away Jamison Williams. And so we know the schedule, only three games outdoors the entire year. So Jamison Williams is a third-year breakout candidate. He's just not at the same level of Chris Olave and Drake London and Garrett Wilson. But when you talk about Christian Watts and Jamison Williams, if those guys hit, they're going to hit big and they're going to be fantasy difference makers. So you want those guys on your team. And I'm

starting to warm up to the idea of taking him in round eight. And that's the point in the draft where you can take chances with players. They're not guys that are going to be your anchors in your fantasy lineup, but they could become that. And I've seen some clips out of training camp, the routes that he's running. These are not go routes, Adam, and these aren't screen routes either. These are dig routes with precision. These are hitch routes that look really nice. They've got double moves. He's doing a lot more to be a more complete wide receiver for Detroit, and that's a dangerous subject. If he continues to look good, I think this actually raises the profile of not only Jameson Williams,

but Jared Goff as well, because now Goff will be sitting at the helm of an offense with all kinds of really good targets. Okay, Dave, round eight, huh? How about this? Quick question. Don't even think about it. What's eight times 12?

Nine. Ah, 108. No, 96. 96. No, 96. 96, oh! See, when you're a fantasy analyst, you need to know how to multiply by 12. I'm a writer, not a mathematician. Come on, Adam. But you are very good at ranking.

So when we come back, let's find out who's moving up the draft boards. It's Ranking Risers next on fantasy football today miller light the light beer brewed for people who love the taste of beer and the perfect pairing for your game time. When Miller Lite set out to brew a light beer, they had to choose great taste or 90 calories per can. They chose both because they knew the best part of beer is the beer. Your game time tastes like Miller time.

Learn more at MillerLite..ca must be legal drinking age welcome back to fantasy football today presented by bet mgm adam dave and jamie here now no pre-season games yet we will get one tonight in the hall of fame game but still plenty of training camp reports so there are a lot of reasons to be moving players up or down in the rankings we're going to focus on rankings risers. Let's start with Dave Richards. Rankings risers. He is feeling Jalen Hurts. Moving him up to QB1.

Jamison Williams on the rise as well. Rasheed Rice going from wide. Look at this. Ten spots. Wide receiver 40 to wide receiver 30. Chase Brown. Look at this, Dave. Ten spots.

And then Pat Friermuth. Look at this, four spots, Dave, 16th to 12th. Top 12 tight end, Pat Friermuth. Where do you want to start, Dave? I'm surprised you didn't say, look at this, Jalen Hurts up one spot. But that's where I want to start, and I was nervous when Saquon Barkley signed with Philadelphia that that was by design to keep Jalen Hurts healthy, not have him take as many risks running the ball, certainly eliminating the tush push. The early days of training camp in Philadelphia have suggested

that running is still going to be a very major part of what Philadelphia's offense is. That's encouraging. Hurts has also improved his accuracy, according to reports. He's off to a great start in training camp, and we think about the receivers that he's got, A.J. Brown, Devontae Smith, and now saquon barkley on top of it yeah i think jalen hurts can come close if not exceed his high point from last year and maybe even the year before he can get close to

30 fantasy points per game i have a tougher time making that case for patrick mahomes and josh allen i want to ask about rash Rasheed Rice here because you're moving up to 30. He was actually the number eight wide receiver per game in the last six games of the year, getting more than nine targets per game. So I guess I know he's a riser for Jamie too. Why only wide receiver 30 for Rasheed Rice? Because it's a step forward because he hasn't been suspended yet, but I'm still a little bit worried about a suspension eventually coming for Rasheed Rice, but I'm also worried about just what that receiving core will do to Rasheed Rice's targets. I think he's not going to see quite as many targets per game as he saw last year. Toward the end of the season, end of the playoffs, he was far and away

the number one target among the receivers in Kansas City. Not only is he splitting with Kelsey, that's not new, but Marquise Brown is there, Xavier Worthy is there, and I just don't know if Rasheed Rice is going to be able to put up numbers that's going to make him a number two fantasy wide receiver. I think it's better and safer to draft him as a wide receiver three, but because there is no suspension immediately looming, I'm more comfortable taking him as a wide receiver three compared to where I was taking him, which is kind of standoffish as a round nine-ish pick. Would you guys take Jamison Williams ahead of Roma Dunze?

Yes. Yeah. Would you take him ahead of Christian Watson? No. Would you take him ahead of Marquise Brown, Jamison Williams or Marquise Brown? Brown. I have Brown higher. All right. Let's take a look at Jamie's list.

You ready, Jamie? You ready to be under the spotlight here? All right, let's do it. Kyler Murray, look at this, up one spot. Jalen Warren. Jalen Warren floating with your top 24. That's pretty cool. Debo Samuel moving up two spots.

Jamie loves himself some hard knocks. Malik Nabors up to wide receiver 21. Brian Dable would have met wide receiver three this year, probably if he were doing fantasy football. And Keon Coleman moving up a little bit as well. All right. Who do you want to highlight here, Jamie? I mean, you mentioned Jalen Warren. You know, we just talked about the Bengals backfield last year. Jalen Warren was better than Najee Harris in terms of points per game. Now, what will happen this year under Arthur Smith? What will happen if Justin Fields is the quarterback?

It's a huge question because we know Fields will obviously take a lot of the running production from the backfield itself. But it wouldn't be surprising if Warren's better than him again. You know, last year we didn't see the receipt. We saw the receiving numbers pop. We didn't see receiving touchdown. If the touchdown numbers are equal, you know, the thing that i look at with arthur smith last year he gave 230 carries to bijan robinson in that range 180 plus carries to tyler algier if both these

guys are 200 carries each and warren remains more explosive he's going to be better than nagy air so they're back to back for me right now 24 and 25 uh it's kind of similar to what i said about the bangles backfield if you're looking for safety nagy a little safer. You're looking for upside. Warren has more upside. If you just want to get a piece of the Steelers backfield, you just wait to whoever's left on the board. We've done a lot of drafts. I've certainly seen a bunch in best ball where Warren goes ahead of Najee. It's not a huge surprise. And so I just feel like if I can get one of the two guys, I'm okay with it. I would prefer both to be flex options as opposed to guaranteed starters. So that's why 24, 25 on the cusp. And I kind of just want to see how this shakes out under Arthur Smith.

But we know the better pass catcher is Jalen Warren. And so PPR, they're back to back. What was it about Debo Samuel that made you move him up two spots to wide receiver 15? Amazing reports this offseason so far. And who knows how much of that is, hey, let's pump up Debo while the other guy is sitting on the sideline there. So he needs to know he needs to come back to sort of reestablish himself maybe as the leader of the receiving core. But you know what Debo is. You know, he's going to be used in the run game a little bit. And it's sort of a hedge against what happens if something does go wrong with Christian McCaffrey from an injury perspective. Because while they'll talk up Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason and Isaac Arendo,

whoever they have in the backfield there, Debo's carries will bump up if McCaffrey does miss any time. So the reports have been positive. And look, right now, Iuke's not in camp. And so it's hard to say you should draft Iuke over Debo. Debo was actually better than him last year in terms of points per game. The injury risk is there. You got to worry about that.

But Debo's role locked in. And if he's in better shape, ready to go, he could be a top 10 fantasy receiver. Dave, how do you feel about Kyler Murray? He's a small riser for Jamie, but I think eighth now? I like him a lot. I actually think he might be the best value among quarterbacks

in our CBS ADP average draft position because you can get him so late. And he does have the potential to deliver in the neighborhood of 25, 26 fantasy points per game in six point per passing touchdown leagues. And why does he have that potential to deliver in the neighborhood of 25, 26 fantasy points per game in six point per passing touchdown leagues. And why does he have that potential? He can run. He's got a great number one wide receiver, brand new in Marvin Harrison Jr. I expect him to get a

ton of targets and to lead Arizona in receiving. Trey McBride was a great weapon for him last year. And this is an evolving Arizona offense. And I think they're going to be competitive this year. I don't really like their defense. And that means that they're going to be competitive this year. I don't really like their defense, and that means that they're going to give up a lot of points, and that means Kyler is going to have to shoulder the load, and I think he can match up on the scoreboard. We will see some high-scoring games from the Arizona Cardinals. That's really good for Kyler Murray,

and the best part is he's kind of a bargain. He's not going to be one of the first five, six, or even seven quarterbacks taken in a fantasy draft this year, so you can wait a little bit, enjoy the value and still have some upside. By the way, last few years, he's never been below 20 fantasy points per game. So he's got a safe floor as well. Two years removed from the ACL. I think the running projection that we saw from sports lines a little bit low. I think he could be north of 500 yards. And the thing that I like about it is you're not hearing, is he focused? Is he, you know, in the playbook? Is he studying? He took everybody with him this off season to come throw. And it was

every receiver, every tight end, every running back, they're all in. And you're hearing MVP talk around the Cardinals about Kyler Murray. I think that's a stretch. He would have to have just a ridiculously amazing season. They'd have to win the NFC West, which is also, I think, a stretch given the teams that are there. But if they are in playoff contention, it's because of Kyler Murray. And I think he's going to have a huge year. I draft him. I told you this, Adam, on our podcast. He's the quarterback between best ball and redraft that I have the most exposure to. And I'm perfectly fine with that. You should probably draft the second quarterback just in case, but I don't think you need to. I think he's just got the ability to be a top five guy this

year. Oh, we got to talk about Malik neighbors moving up to wide receiver 21. Are you guys comfortable with Malik neighbors as a fourth round pick at this point yeah at one point so i actually moved him up and then i moved him back down a little bit so i had him at one point at wide receiver 19 i like the upside at least for now of dk meccaf and george pickens a little bit better than neighbors just because of their quarterback situation i know that's hard to say with pittsburgh but the giant situation every time you see daniel jones it's three bad throws then one highlight reel to malik neighbors but um the thing that i i love about the situation for him is he's going to get fed targets.

And so while Wanda Robinson, I think, gets a boost this year and we'll see what happens with the tight end position and Darius Slayton quietly has been a very undervalued fantasy option, let alone a good receiver for the Giants. This run game is probably going to be terrible. They're going to be chasing points, I think, quite a bit. I love that Brian Dables, Colin, plays again. He's in meetings accordingly.

According to reports, taking control of the offense, and it feels like there's a better vibe around the Giants this year than there was last year. So what neighbors should be able to do as a rookie, he's not going to, I think, compete at the Marvin Harrison level, but it wouldn't be surprising if he's not far behind. So it just feels a little odd to

say we're all in on Marvin Harrison. Yes, the quarterback situation is better. Neighbors may be the better talent. There are a lot of people that thought that. And so I don't think he's going to produce far behind. So I would take him in round four without hesitation. He's got rare acceleration, and that's what separates him from a lot of wide receivers in the NFL, not just Marvin Harrison. It was on our show on Monday when you got my mind going a little bit

on comparing Malik Neighbors to DJ Moore last year. Remember, DJ Moore, the only guy getting targets in Chicago, didn't have a great quarterback. What did he do? Career best season for fantasy over 16 PPR points per game. Malik neighbors could be in that same type of spot where he's getting a lot of targets. We're talking eight per game, not necessarily a good quarterback, Daniel Jones, drew lock. That's not great, but the volume should be there. Hopefully the on target passing won't be too bad. And hopefully the end zone targets will be huge for Malik Nabors as well. He can do a lot of that.

I like him as a late round four pick. Yeah, it's the first, I think, five seasons of DJ Moore's career that concern me, you know, because he's always been a great wide receiver. He's never had that fantasy season because he couldn't find the end zone. His quarterbacks have been so bad, but hopefully Malik neighbors can can do what I think puts him in the number two receiver range based on the other things he'll accomplish. And you can't rule out more than that just because of Giants playing from behind Giants throwing so much his own ability. There's a lot that's going for Malik neighbors. The worst thing is nothing to do with him.

Everything to do with his quarterback. Well, those are the rankings risers. Who is falling in the rankings for Dave and Jamie? We'll tell you after this break on Fantasy Football Today. Take back your free time with PC Express Online grocery delivery and pickup. Score in-store promos, PC Optimum points, and more free time. And still get groceries. Shop now at pcexpress.ca. We are back on Fantasy Football today presented by BetMGM. I'm Adam Azer with Dave Richard and Jamie Eisenberg. In our last segment, we were talking about DJ Moore, comparing him to Malik Neighbors.

Well, let's talk about DJ Moore now as a rankings faller. He is atop Dave's list of rankings fallers, and he is down eight spots from wide receiver 14 to wide receiver 22. So you were kind of the DJ Moore guy, Dave. He was a top 12 wide receiver per game last year, but now fallen outside of your top 20. He had four games last year with 10 or more targets. They were four of his six best games on the year. Over his other 13 games, he had nine targets in four games.

He had 22 plus PPR in half. Eight targets in two games. He was terrible. Seven targets in one game. He was good. Six targets or fewer targets in two games. He was terrible. Seven targets in one game, he was good. Six targets or fewer in six other games, not so good. He was more of a borderline number two, number three type of fantasy receiver.

And I know the Bears are gonna throw more this year, but I can't say with certainty that DJ Moore is going to see an uptick in targets, much less even stay the same in targets, which is eight per game. And if his track record is just one of those guys that he needs volume in order to be really really good then this is somebody that I can't overdraft so I'm taking a little bit of my own medicine here I've preached all offseason you don't want to draft somebody too close to their ceiling where I was taking DJ Moore

was maybe above his ceiling and now he he's ranked more appropriately for me, below his ceiling, much closer to the floor, right around other receivers that I would expect to have around 13.5, 14 PPR points per game. Yeah, leave this graphic up for a second because you brought up something before and Adam asked you about the Rashi Rice ranking. And you said you don't want him as a number two receiver.

You want him as a number three receiver. That's obviously ideal. Look at the names on this list. him as a number two receiver, you want him as a number three receiver. That's obviously ideal. Look at the names on this list. These are all number two receivers. You can nitpick once you get past 20, 15, 25, depending on how you view these guys. They all have the potential to be top 20 wide receivers if things go right and injury occurs,

the target volume goes up. Nobody was ever saying, and I think you probably agree, that DJ Moore shouldn't be drafted as a starter in three receiver leagues and still a starter in two receiver leagues. He's actually 25th for me. He's always been in that range, 23 through 27, I've kind of fluctuated with. I would love to have DJ Moore on my roster. I know where we always disagree was you were taking him in round three. For me, it's round four. And a lot of the reason why I'm taking my 25th wide receiver in round four is because I'm going heavy on wide receivers. So I have no problem, not necessarily reaching for DJ Moore or different roster construction, but he's going to

be very good. He's just not going to be the same player that he was a year ago. Clearly the Bears paid him that way. I love this comment because Moussa Mohamed once upon a time said Chicago's where receivers go to die. They've obviously played a lot better over the course of the last couple of seasons. DJ Moore being a big part of that. He's going to be fine. He's just not going to be the same caliber of player that he was last year from a statistical standpoint. Keenan Allen, Romo Dunza, all these other guys. So just be cautious when you're reaching for DJ Moore. Draft him in the right spot, and I'm glad you're on board with that. Yeah, Bears have never had a 4,000-yard passer. I hope that can change soon. And by the way, you saw that list, and you heard

what Jamie said about taking his wide receiver 25 in round four. Jamie does a lot of three receiver league drafts. So if you're in a two receiver league draft, it may not go that early. In fact, average draft position will show that T. Higgins and Mari Cooper, who are on that list, are not going until almost the end of round five. Yeah, but I'll just push back on one thing with that. If it's two receivers and a flex, I'm still taking the receivers early. Okay. I think that most people are not going to take their receivers as early as you if they're in a two-receiver league. But fair enough. Some will.

And it will depend on scoring, too. Like, what if it's non-PPR? Obviously, you'll change your tune on that. Half PPR, maybe you will. I think we're on the same page that it was PPR. This is a good talking point for everybody. Know your league rules before your draft so you know what you're getting into. Make sure you know how many wide

receivers you start, what catches are worth, etc. People need to be reminded of that at least once a year. Now's a good time as any to do that. Yeah. My favorite is when we'll do a mock draft and Jamie will have named it like July half PPR mock draft. And then at least one person in the chat before the draft be like, is this half PPR?

Like, hey, Dave, I try to make it obvious. You do a good job. Did you apply the same logic to Michael Pittman, moving him down eight spots from 15 to 23, where you felt like you were drafting him at his ceiling before? Yeah, I was always kind of cold on Pittman, and I just decided to be ice-freezing cold on Michael Pittman. And it's because of what we saw in a couple of games last year with Anthony Richardson under center. He didn't get nearly as many targets as he did

when Gardner Minshew was under center. And you look at Indianapolis' offense, Jonathan Taylor will be back. That might push down just how many pass attempts we see from Anthony Richardson. They added A.D. Mitchell. Alec Pierce is making plays. There's all kinds of talk about their tight ends there. I'm worried about the target volume for Michael Pittman, who already is a liability in the red zone for Indianapolis,

at least for fantasy managers. Maybe the Colts love him in the red zone because he'll draw some coverage away, maybe even a double team because he's so big. But they don't throw to him down there. And when they're inside the five, it's going to be nothing but running with Richardson and Taylor on the field. So I would take a very cautious approach with Michael Pittman. Easily would rather draft DJ Moore, would rather draft Malik Nabors than him as well.

What made you drop Zach Moss and DeAndre Swift six spots? Oh, and Raheem Mostert. They all scored a negative touchdown, Dave. Six spots fewer. I think it's a little bit about just how other running backs have gone up my rankings more so than them going down. Zemir White's moved up. I'm feeling a little bit more confident in James Conner.

I look at David Montgomery as the RB2 that I'm willing to settle for. Those other running backs I'm not quite as excited about settling for as RB2s. They're kind of borderline RB2, RB3s for me. Okay, let's look at Jamie's followers here. Patrick Mahomes from one to three. What did he do wrong, Jamie? Nothing. And I'm probably going to change the top three quarterbacks 100 times

between now and the end of August. I love all three of them. I'm probably not going to draft any three quarterbacks 100 times between now and the end of August. I love all three of them. I'm probably not going to draft any of them just because where they're being selected. Right now they're all in the round two range for average opposition on our site, so that's a little too pricey for me. But when you look at what Josh Allen, who's now my quarterback, won, and Jalen Hurts, as Dave alluded to before,

the running upside is just too hard to ignore. And actually the reason I moved Josh Allen back to one was our, our talk with Katie Mox on Monday, when I said to her, you know, what if he, what if he gets to 10, you know, I, I,

I've kept saying, 10 rushing touch. I kept saying seven, eight, cause that's kind of where he's average. If he gets to 10, those, those three more than where he's typically been at seven.

And I like what Keon Coleman, which you saw was a riser for me. I like what I'm seeing from him as well and hearing out of Buffalo. So maybe they do have a better receiving core than we're going to give him credit for because Dalton Kincaid and James Cook and the auxiliary parts of Khalil Shakir and Curtis Samuel. So Allen feels a little bit safer. Hurts feels a little bit safer. Mahomes, they're trying to win a Super Bowl. They don't care about stats. He's going to be in the MVP conversation no matter what because he's Patrick Mahomes. So yes, he'll be better. He's not going to be QB 10 like he was

last year. They're going to challenge downfield. Would not surprise me at all if Mahomes is the number one quarterback. And he's going to run for 400 yards. And yes, he's going to get a rushing touchdown. He didn't have that last year. So he can easily be QB 1. So if you look in my consensus, my top 200, they're back to back to back. I have no problem if you take Mahomes first, Hurts first, Allen first. They're all going to be awesome. For me I just put Allen at the top and then move Mahomes behind Hurts just again because of the rushing ability for the other two guys. I'm going to go ahead and disagree

with you on your Josh Allen thoughts here about him. What if he gets the 10 rushing touchdowns? Because yeah, what if he gets the 10 rushing touchdowns? My concern is what if he stays at 29 passing touchdowns? Basically what happened last year, one of the reasons why he got so many more rushing touchdowns was he ran the ball more when he was near the end zone and he threw the ball less.

So I basically think he took his 35 to 37 touchdown passes that he had the three previous seasons. That went down to 29, and he made up for it with the rushing touchdowns. What if their offense just isn't as good and he doesn't score as many touchdowns? I do think the rushing touchdowns might be there. I don't know about 15, but I think 10. It's the passing touchdowns I'm worried about with him. Losing Diggs is an absolutely huge deal. So Josh Allen is a clear QB3 for me.

It's certainly valid. I mean, again, that's the negative against Allen. And can he do it again, be QB1 or QB two I do think based on the projections here I think the yardage is a little bit low I do think he'll be 30 plus touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns you know so he's going to be around 600 700 rushing yards I would not be surprised if he's a 45 touchdown guy total touchdown guy so again is Keon Coleman going to step in and be Stefan Diggs no but will the combination of Coleman and Kincaid, a better Kincaid, Knox, Shakir, Samuel, be better than the collective group a year ago?

It wouldn't surprise me. Gabe Davis was a huge disappointment last year from what he did as a receiver. Obviously a great run blocker. That's why they kept him on the field as much as they did. Samuel's role is very fun. You know, just based on knowing what Joe Brady did. Shakir really stepped up week 18 into the playoffs. Again, I'm a big Kincaid guy. I think James Cook's going to be a huge factor in the passing game.

So I'm excited about Josh Allen. And I know that's hard to say because you have to draft him first. Again, from ADP versus ranking, it sounds hypocritical a little bit. You know, oh, he's my favorite quarterback, but I'm not going to draft him. It's just because I'm not going to spend the capital to go get him. But I think he's going to have the best season. So at least right now, he's my number one QB. Yeah, I'm excited about him, too. He's top three quarterback, still obviously really good. Brock Bowers moved down three spots. He was number 10. Now Brock Bowers is tight end 13 for you. Why? Well, I think, you know,

we talked about this on our tight end preview on our on our podcast. You should definitely take a listen to it. You know, when trying to invest in the tight end position, it was a great conversation. For Bowers, it's will he be able to produce in an offense that's going to be run centric with two quarterbacks that who knows who's going to be the starter? And are they any good based on Aiden O'Connell and the uncertainty or Gardner Mincher just being a guy? Devontae Adams is going to dominate targets. And I've said this, that I think he's going to probably lose 15 to 20 targets off the 175 plus that he's had each of the last two seasons. That's not enough to make Bowers a top 10 tight end for me. You still have Jacoby Myers there. I think it feels like everybody's forgetting about him, that Bowers is going to come in and clearly be the number two guy in terms of targets.

I hope that's the case, but it's not a guarantee. And Michael Mayer is getting a lot of hype this offseason. So is he going to be a little bit of an annoying factor in Bowers taking that step forward? So when you talk about upside, he has as much as anybody past the top eight guys, which ends with that Kittle, Ingram, Pitts group. After that, you could say he's better than Ferguson, better than Njoku.

I certainly get that. It feels like if you draft Bowers, you've got to take two tight ends because you just don't know what you're going to get. I don't necessarily want to make that investment where I have to take Bowers. I think by the end of the season, we'll have a very productive fantasy option. But I think when you look at what he's going to do, look at Dalton Kincaid last year.

A good streaming option at times, just not consistent. So if that's the type of tight end you want, draft him. But I don't want to invest heavily in him. I think his ADP is a little too high. All right. Dave, I just want to say hi. Haven't spoken to you in a few minutes. You're rested. I'm enjoying the conversation.

I am a Bowers guy and I like that Luke Getzey is calling the plays in Las Vegas. We saw the last two years in Chicago. Tight end target volume was 22% of the total targets went to that position. They didn't draft him to not be involved. He'll be second on that team in targets. I hope so. I think that they can use

him in a ton of different ways near the goal line. And I think we'll see him spike in touchdowns. He's one of my favorite picks to get late round nine into round 10. Well, when we come back on Fantasy Football today, we're going to look at six teams that we drafted in a recent draft. It was just a few days ago.

We each were drafting in two different spots in the draft. So we're going to compare these teams. Did Brock Bowers make it onto one of Dave's teams? We'll find out after this. With Smartwater's pure, crisp taste, there's nothing to overthink. So while you may be spiraling over double-texting your crush, whether your skincare routine is working because you look the same or is doing nothing because you look the same,

and whatever the heck red light therapy is, it's definitely not that. Don't overthink how you hydrate. Life's full of choices. Smart water is a simple one. Welcome back to Fantasy Football Today, presented by BetMGM. So we call this our pick-by-pick series. We did a draft on Monday.

Each of us was responsible for two teams. So, for example, Jamie had picks one and seven. I had picks three and nine. You'll see what Dave had. And we try to find the best ways to build a roster from each spot in the draft. What we're going to do now is compare the two teams that each of us drafted. Let's start with Jamie's. So, Jamie, again, he had the first pick, which was sweating.

He went with Christian McCaffrey, very controversial. We're going to see how you built that team. And you said you didn't really love this team, but here is what you did with the number one pick in a 12-team, three-receiver, full PPR league. Go ahead and break it down for us. I love a lot of it. It's not a typical roster build for me

because the receiving core isn't as dominant as I would typically like, and I don't necessarily love having questions at the flex spot. But I have a top five quarterback on paper, a top four tight end on paper, and arguably the best running back duo in this league if McCaffrey and Derrick Henry stay healthy. You know, I think you're going to see

somewhere in the neighborhood of the number one running back and something in the eight to 10 range. But Henry has more upside than that if he is Derrick Henry. So I love that part of the roster. Now, Nico Collins is wide receiver 13 for me. Christian Kirk is just outside the top 24. And then Jaden Reed is closer to a wide receiver four than he is a top 30 caliber guy. So there's a lot of question marks there at that position. Again, in PPR, I don't love it, but I kind of just took a

best player available approach after I went with Nico Collins and Derrick Henry. I didn't want to not have a good second wide receiver. Christian Kirk was the best guy for me on the board. And then it was, okay, Trey McBride's still there in round five. That feels like a gift. Joe Burrow round six. Okay, I'll take the quarterback value there. And so hopefully, Jamison Williams, as we talked about, Romu Dunzey's got plenty of potential. Jaleel McLaughlin, you know, could be the best running back in Denver. Ty Chandler, by the end of the season, could be the best running back for Minnesota. So there's a lot of upside.

But again, just the receiving core, not having a strong trio and a safe flex, you know, I just don't love coming away from my draft without those positions solidified. But this is the expectation of a team that picks from the one slot because you're getting Christian McCaffrey, and so you're pretty much not going to get a shot at any of your top 10 wide receivers, much less top 12. I think the Derrick Henry choice also isn't necessarily realistic. I think he's going to go sooner in a lot of drafts that happen out there.

But you're starting seven players in this draft, and you might have one weak spot amongst those seven because you address tight end and because you address quarterback when you could have addressed wide receiver instead i think it's a good team and especially having christian mccaffrey and derrick henry i mean they might be both top five fantasy running backs by the end so just to your point derrick henry could go sooner um i usually when i do this and and adam screwed me because he decided to take both dolphins receivers but jaylen waddle is usually, who's a top-12 guy for me. That's usually the turn that I make, which is Waddell and Collins, and I'm a little bit happier about going that route as opposed to Derrick Henry.

But clearly, if Henry hits, then there's a little bit more upside to that position. Let's take a look at Jamie's other team from the 7 spot here. I would say a little bit more of a focus on wide receiver in this one, Jamie. How about 0 RB, wide receiver, wide receiver, wide receiver, wide receiver. Do you like the way this team turned out? And a reminder to our viewers, we start three receivers and a flex. It's PPR. Yeah, I'm not usually a zero RB guy. I'm more of a hero RB guy. And, you know, so Jamar Chase round one, you know, pick seven. That's easy. Drake London for me is a guy that I'll take in round two all the time. You heard

with the rankings risers, Debo Samuel. So once I'd made these three selections, it was kind of a no-brainer. Let's see if I could play this out and take a zero RB approach. So I took Debo over Sam Laporta. I don't have a rank that way, but again, it was kind of, let's see how this works out. Metcalf, I took over Josh Jacobs. That's something we talked about on our podcast. That could be something that comes back to haunt me if I don't get the production from Metcalf that I'm expecting. But round five, round six,

I took Kincaid maybe a little bit too soon just because McBride and Andrews went in the same round. I don't know if those guys should all be back to back to back, but I love the upside there for him. And then CJ Stroud in round six. So I executed the strategy the way that you're supposed to. And then it was, okay, let's throw a lot of capital at the running back spot.

So Brooks, clearly a questionable number one running back, but I made the effort to take Chuba Hubbard, so I have at least that backfield locked up. Brian Robinson can easily be a top 20 running back this year. The way that I described Devin Singletary and Gus Edwards in the story is you want some running backs that are kind of plug-and-play guys that have the potential to get you through a couple weeks. I think Singletary and Edwards qualify as that,

a lottery ticket type of guy, and Braylon Allen. So receivers covered, quarterbacks covered, tight ends covered. If I just get two top 20 caliber running backs out of this group or guys that I'll pick up off the waiver wire, it might be the best team in the league if the receiver sits at the level that they're capable of. So you can't execute zero RB. You can't have a good roster.

You just have to feel comfortable knowing that your running backs are probably not going to be the safest variety. They're not going to be Christian McCaffrey and Derek Henry. Let's go to Team 3 here, which is drafted by Adam and see how Adam feels about it. Well, thank you. I like this team quite a bit, except I did make a mistake with Jalen Waddell in round two. I should have been Devante Adams. Waddell was my favorite player on the board there, but don't do two Dolphins receivers. I should have done Devante Adams there. Funny story about why I took Jalen Waddell. I'll tell it on the podcast someday.

One of the big things that I want to express to people, this is maybe just my opinion, but there is a trio of running backs, Alvin Kamara, Joe Mixon, and Ken Walker, that are often going late in round four or early into round five. I believe that they are borderline RB1s. I think Kamara could be a top five or six running back in PPR. So I think you can wait until round four to select your first running back and build, you know, build out your other positions. So that's Camara, Mixon and Walker. If you like them as RB ones and Walker's having a great camp, by the way,

then you can get them late in round four. I think that is tremendous value. So I'm happy with the way this team turned out. I have my favorite quarterback or my second favorite quarterback, actually behind the homes. I have Evan Ingram, who's a top eight wide receiver or tight end. I really like Jackson Smith and Jigba this year. Rico Dowdle could make or break this team. He's off to a good start in camp. But I just need him to be a flex. But he's got the opportunity to be the starter for the Cowboys.

I do like the way this team turned out. And let's take a look at Team 9 now, which I also like, but I don't have as good of running back depth. I built these teams similarly, as you can see, with a quarterback in round three, with the eighth or ninth best tight end. It was Ingram for team three. It's Ferguson here. I just don't have good running back depth, but I'm pretty good at wide receiver with Brown, Barkley, Mahomes, and Pickens, Godwin. I like this team. I didn't like it as much as Team 3. Not exactly sure why, but I would say it's probably just my running back depth. I'm a little bit more comfortable with it with Team 3.

Dave, let's take a look at your teams here, and starting with Team 6 where you took Justin Jefferson. And what do you want to say about Team 6? I loved picking 6th. I would have preferred a running back over justin jefferson but bijan robinson breeze hall they were gone by the time i was up so jefferson the fallback plan no problem there and then in round two you're gonna like the running backs that are gonna wait for you in that range so i knew i'd get somebody like etn maybe was hoping for someone like saquon

or kyron williams to fall there derrick henry might be there in your drafts but you're gonna like the running back that you get in round two when you're picking in the middle in a PPR draft. And then I just took a ton of upside. Iook in round three. And a ton of Packers. And a ton of Packers. Josh Jacobs in round four.

I do like the Green Bay offense this year, but there is going to be a problem. How many weeks will Jordan Love and Josh Jacobs and Christian Watson all go off? And I don't think there will be that many, but I do think that Jacobs can have a strong season. And I do like Jordan Love to be a top 10 fantasy quarterback. Wicks and Lloyd are backups for them. Really just took value with Austin Eckler, not somebody that I'm a huge fan of. But this is a team that I don't mind. And look at Hunter Henry at the end there. That's a sleeper tight end if you decide to stream tight ends at the beginning of the year.

This is my team at the end of a draft. I could not get my hands on a stud wide receiver. Garrett Wilson went 10th. Puka Nakua went 11th. So I went back-to-back at running back. And I was freaking out in the draft, guys. I was worried, well, what am I going to have at wide receiver? This is a three wide receiver league plus a flex. I got Kup, DJ Moore, Calvin Ridley, Rashi Rice,

back-to-back-to-back-to-back Jack. I love those four wide receivers to go with two superstar running backs in Gibbs and Jonathan Taylor. Decent value at quarterback late with Herbert and Kirk Cousins. And Brock Bowers, we've already talked about how much he's a favorite of mine. I also like Pat Frymuth as a sleeper. So there you go. Three tight end sleepers that you can get round nine plus in your draft.

Bowers and Frymuth on this team. Hunter Henry on the other team. When we come back, we will hear from our audience. It is fill in the blank next on Fantasy Football Today. Whether in the game or in life, the right coverage can make all the difference. We'll be right back. financially, giving you the peace of mind to focus on what truly matters. Find their products through banks, credit unions, and associations, or visit SecurianCanada.ca. Securian Canada, insurance designed for life. Back here on Fantasy Football Today, presented by BetMGM, and it is time for some fill in the blank.

And here we go. Our first one BetMGM, and it is time for some Phil in the Blank, and here we go. Our first one comes from Sean, and he says, Blank is the player who's being drafted outside the top four rounds, but Phil has the best chance to be a top five player this year. Be a top five player. We talked a lot about Kyler Murray

earlier in the show. That makes a lot of sense, and his ADP on CBS, I just have it open on my laptop right now. It's way late. It's in the round eight plus. That's somebody who could absolutely be a top five player. Top five overall player or top five at his position? Let's say overall player, and the answer is Malik Neighbors. Sure.

I feel about that. All right, let's go. I don't know how much longer he's going to be outside the top four rounds, Adam. That's true. The best player to not start the season but could become a league winner is? Blank. Jonathan Brooks is an easy one, just in case he's on the pup list. Can you make the case for TJ Hawkinson?

No. No? I think you can make the case. I just don't know how good of a case it is because of the quarterbacks there. But if we see McCarthy really take that step forward in the next couple weeks, then I think Hawkinson could do it. All right, last one is going to be a fun one. It's about food. Pineapple is blank on pizza.

Terrible. It's not the best. It's not the best topping that you want on a pizza, but if you like pineapple and you like pizza and you're about 6'3", 295, you'll probably eat pineapple on pizza. Adam, I've got to fill in the blank for you. What?

We've got to go, man. That was not cool. For Fantasy Football Today, if you liked our show, check out our podcast. It's also called Fantasy Football Today. For Dave and Jamie, I'm Adam. Talk to you next time on Tennessee Football Today.