Fantasy Football Today - Five Big Mysteries for 2026! Eagles Offense, WR Production, Sophomore RBs and More (04/09 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

It's a mysterious episode of Fantasy Football Today! After some news and notes (3:50) we get into Five Big Mysteries starting with the Eagles offense (7:25) which struggled after three straight fantastic seasons. Will the Eagles offense bounce back? Fantasy managers are counting on it ... Our next mystery (18:00) focuses on five teams with potentially complicated receiver rooms. Who will lead the Bears, 49ers, Colts, Steelers and Packers in receiving? Then, we move on to what to expect from players coming off major injuries (30:00) like Malik Nabers, Patrick Mahomes, Cam Skattebo, Quinshon Judkins and George Kittle ... The wide receiver position was so bad last season! What happened (40:40), and what will 2026 bring? We evaluate league-wide trends and if they're to blame for the lousy WR production. And finally, will the sophomore running backs live up to the hype (50:00) after a disappointing 2025 season? Which of these RBs is overvalued? ... Your emails at [e-mail] Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts Watch FFT on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Shop our store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shop.cbssports.com/fantasy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  SUBSCRIBE to FFT 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  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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What a play! Can you believe this? It's a no idea. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races and he stays on his feet. It's just going to go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. What's up everybody?

Welcome to the show. It's fantasy football today. I'm so excited for today's show. Five big mysteries for 2026. One, will the Eagles offense bounce back? This is important because looking at Fantasy Pro's consensus rankings, most of the Eagles guys are ranked higher than where they finish, maybe just a little bit higher, in some cases like Devante Smith,

way higher than where they finished last year. We're going to talk about some teams with kind of muddy receiver rooms who's going to lead them in receiving, like the Bears and the 49ers and the Packers. What version of injured players will we get in 2026? Malik Neighbors, Patrick Mahomes, Kwincheon, Judge. George Kittle, what are we looking at here? Will the wide receiver position bounce back? Guys, I'm going to give you a stat here.

Here's how many wide receivers average 14 or more PPR fantasy points in the last five seasons. 27, 20, 23, 29, 16. That is the lowest, tied for the lowest in at least 15 years. And will the sophomore running backs live up to the hype? because they kind of didn't as rookies. Good morning, Dave. I had the number at 15 PPR points per game, and it was similarly low.

In 2024, for example, 19 receivers at 15 plus PPR. 2025, 10. Hopefully it does bounce back, but there's reasons for it not to. Yeah, we're going to look at some NFL trends. Does the new kickoff rule have anything to do with this? Do quarterbacks just stink right now? Jamie, what's up?

Good morning. What's up with all the ex-examination? I have two kids that play on Expos teams. Different Expos teams. Well, they're two different age groups, yes. Wow, same hat? Same hat. How about that?

Heath, is that a CBS Sports hat you have on? It is. I think it was the first CBS Sports hat that I ever got. It's pretty much if I wear a hat, the hat that I wear. It's been through some things. Yeah, that looks like it. Yeah. That's kind of what I like in a hat.

It's got character. I recently found my old CBS sports, maybe they gave us jerseys with our last name on. I put Rowan Gardner on the back. Yes. Yeah, I found that. I should have, I should bring, I should. I don't think I was here for the jerseys. No.

I think I threw mine out. That sounds exactly right. All right. Let's do some news and notes before we get to the mysteries. Lamar Jackson, you know, he doesn't always show up for OTAs, but he's showing up. He's in good spirits, apparently. Say, Flower says Lamar Jackson. Jackson's really excited about the new coaching staff and the new offense.

So he's been amazing, but maybe somehow rejuvenated here. That's a good sign for him. He was also excited about the offensive linemen. The Giants just signed. Yeah. The Giants signed a former Ravens offensive guard who did not have a very good season last year. The Giants are a little weak on the interior of the offensive line. Atlanta Edge James Pierce is not with the team.

He's a first round draft pick from last year, talented player, but he's facing four criminal charges. Also, their right tackle, Caleb McGarry, is retiring. He missed all of last year with a knee injury. And the Falcon signed former Kansas City right tackle, Juan Taylor to a one-year $5 million deal. You know, Jamie, we actually got an email about the Lions offensive line and if we're overrating Jamir Gibbs,

or not worrying enough about Jamir Gibbs with a lot of changes in the last couple of years on the Lions offensive line. you look at the Falcons offensive line. Obviously, this is a guy they didn't have it all last year, but he is retiring, and Juan Taylor's an interesting player when he lines up properly. But what do you think about the offensive lines for the top two running backs in fantasy? You obviously never like to see change when there's been success in the lines case. For me, it's more about what Jemir Gibbs should be able to accomplish

and what in a small sample size he's already accomplished when David Montgomery has been there. I do think Isaiah Pacheco is probably getting undervalued a little bit in terms of what he's going to do, but I don't think it's going to have the same impact as what David Montgomery previously did. So I think that Gibbs is in line for hopefully a monstrous season, which is why I have him number one overall. In the case of Bejan Robinson, I think you just sort of alluded to this, we kind of saw what this offensive line was last year. I think it's going to be a very similar version of it. And I'm hopeful, based on what Tua has done with his running backs in the passing game, that that helps Bijon or keeps Bijon the same level. I don't think he gets better than 100 targets.

But I think he keeps Bijon at a very similar level from a passing down perspective, and I think he's still one of the best runners in the league. So that's why they're my first two overall selections. You know, if you had this conversation with people from different websites, you might get different versions. So PFF had the Atlanta Falcons with the 10th highest run blocking grade. ESPN had them with the 30th best run blocking grade. So how about that? ESPN had the lions at 20th, and PFF had the lions at 13th. So it's a frustrating metric. You do get kind of a lot of these examples of those two websites being way off. in their run-blocking assessments.

Not inaccurate, just different. I don't know who's accurate. And Houston picked up the fifth-year options for edge rusher Will Anderson and quarterback C.J. Stroud. All right, let's get into the mysteries. Any Scooby-Doo fans here? Oh, there's your magnifying glass.

I do not be a Scooby-Doo fan. Everybody loves Scooby-Doo. Do kids these days like Scooby-Doo? I don't think kids are cool. Scooby-Doo, but. Kids don't watch TV. anymore. Is Scooby-Doo on YouTube? My kids watch TV all the time, man, but never Scooby-Doo. All right. Mystery number one. Will the Eagles offense bounce back? Here's where they've ranked

in points per game in the four years with A.J. Brown. Second, seventh, sixth, sixth, and 21st. Yards per game. Third, eighth, eighth, and 24th. Plays per game. Five, seven, third, and 23rd. They've been a pretty slow-paced team each of the last three years, but the last two years, they've been 29th in pace. That's the amount of time left on the play clock before they snap the ball. So, yeah, it's an important question because, like I said, rankings have these guys kind of bouncing back, and we need it. This can be one of the best offenses in football. Dave, will the Eagles offense bounce back? I'm optimistic that they'll bounce back to a degree. I don't know if it's going to be right back to where they were and everybody will be awesome.

And again, we don't know if A.J. Brown's going to be a part of this team or not. Let's assume for this conversation that he is and that we know who the principles are of this offense. It's kind of easy to take what we saw from Jalen Hertz last year and to throw it out because he's got a track record of having a completion rate between 60 and 68 percent every other year of his career. His ADOTS between 8 and 9. His off target rate isn't too high. And last year was just a career worst year for him. We know about the issues with Kevin Petulow and the play calling. They brought in Sean Mannion.

I did a little bit of research on Sean Mannion. He's a disciple from the Shanahan McVeigh coaching staff. He's worked with a bunch of coaches that you know of who have succeeded in that type of West Coast offense. Not only do I expect them to do more zone running, and that will help, obviously, against the type of defenses that they think they're going to face based on last year. But I think there will be a lot of easier throws on top of it for Jalen Hurts. and I think the end result will be probably better efficiency for Jalen Hertz with the same amount of at least rushing expectation to go along with it. And so it's going to mean a bounce back to some degree for Jalen Hertz. I think it makes them a value in fantasy drafts unless you, I know Heath has them right pretty high.

I'm not sure if everybody else will feel that same way, but maybe Heath's on to something that Jalen Hertz is going to be worth taking. Where do you have him, Heath? Is he a top five QB, a top six QB? He's in the top five. I think he's in the top five conversation. I think the fact that we're having, like we're starting this conversation with him and he finished last year as QB7 is like if he bounces back, he has to be top four, top three. Like QB7 is the down year that we're all having the panic about. And honestly, I don't really think it had much to do with the passing. The big drop-off for Jalen Hertz last year was in the rushing. He ran for 420 yards, which is 200 less yards than he'd ever run for in a season.

He ran for eight touchdowns. It was the, he'd been in double digits for straight years. If you look at his passing efficiency last year, his yards per attempt were down, but his touchdown rate was higher than his career mark. It was actually a career high, 5.5% touchdown rate. his completion percentage was 64.8% just was slightly better than what his career average is. The yards per attempt and the way that it looked was frustrating,

but in terms of why he didn't score more fantasy points, the tush push wasn't as good for Philadelphia as it's been in the past. He only scored eight rushing touchdowns, and he ran for 200 fewer yards. He ran a lot less, right? I mean, it was the temps per, it wasn't the per carry. It was just he kind of stopped running. And I think that's a big deal for the offense.

So does he need to get back to that? But I do think, like, just looking at Jalen Hertz was QB7 per game last year. Saquan Barclay was RB 15 per game, 16 per game in full PPR. A.J. Brown was wide receiver 12 per game in full PPR. Although that, again, is in a bad year. Like the previous year, he would have been wide receiver 23 per game with the same amount of points per game. Devante Smith was wide receiver 30 per game.

So they came off a down. Oh, Dallas Goddard was top five tied end per game. I think as far as the wide receivers go, like their potential bounce back probably is answered by, does Dallas Goddard have double-digit touchdowns again? Because he's never been a good touchdown guy before last year, and he stole touchdowns from AJ Brown and Devonte Smith, right? Yeah.

And it was in a very designed way where he got a bunch of targets inside the five-yard line. If you go back and watch all his touchdowns, there are a lot of kind of gadget plays, screen passes for him, little shovel passes for him. When they got near the end zone, that's just who they looked for.

And it had never happened before in Dallas Goddard's career. I don't know if it's going to happen again. But yeah, he did definitely take, because as far as a lot of the offensive stats were much worse for them, but the one that wasn't was touchdown passes. They're always kind of right around 25-ish touchdown passes,

and I think they were again last year. Okay, so Jamie, what's your confidence level in the Eagles bouncing back? And what do you think their ceiling is? Can they be a top, you know, seven offense again? They obviously can because of the personnel that they have. I think the biggest thing also is can the offensive line stay healthy? You know, they had so many different injuries last year.

And you're talking about a group that's clearly getting older, specifically Lane Johnson. So, you know, he's kind of been the key to Jalen Hertz's success. When he's been on the field, Jalen Hertz has been awesome. When he's been off the field, we've seen Hurt's struggle. It makes sense when he was. lose one of your key pieces. But as Dave alluded to, you know, I think Sean Mannion coming in doing some different things, hopefully based on the ESPN story that came out last week, we see Jalen Hertz take to that.

This could also be a team where the bottom falls out. You know, there's been so much talk about, you know, is this the right coach? Is this the right quarterback? Is this the right team to keep together? You know, are they going to have to hit the reset button at some point? And maybe they do after the season. But hopefully it's, it's another year of these guys, you know, playing at a high level. I think the thing about Hertz running, you know, as running quarterback's age, they run less. And so I hope he hasn't hit that point yet and we'll still give us that 500 plus yards. I don't know if we get 600 plus yards, but 500 plus yards. So hopefully, you know, somewhere in the middle of where he was last year compared to where he's typically been.

I think the touch push will stay. So you're still going to get that sort of floor from him from a touchdown perspective. But I think just, you know, as long as AJ Brown stays there, Jalen Hertz has the chance to still be a very successful fantasy quarterback. If A.J. Brown leaves, you know, we've been saying, what the Patriots, like, Devante Smith could be an absolute monster if that happens. And, you know, that changes, you know, you want to talk about fixing the receiver position. Maybe we get two benefits from one trade with, you know, Brown still being a very good fantasy option. And then Devanti Smith being this superstar.

So that's something to keep an eye on there from the, you know, eventual conversation we may be having NFL draft weekend or post-NFL draft. But I think just looking at it, you know, to answer your question, yes, they're too good of players. there's too much talent there. Barkley is, you know, kind of at that age and, you know, concern level after what we saw last year, you know, can he bounce back to anything close to 2024? I don't think that's realistic, but I do think you could see maybe a point or two better of what he performed last year

from a, you know, fantasy production standpoint. So he's still worth taking in the round two-ish range. Again, we've seen him go in our drafts and at least a couple of them early round three. I don't think he gets out of round two from an ADP standpoint. So I think it's worth the risk just at the back end of round two more than the early part around two. Adam, are the Eagles the Bizarro Chargers? What does that mean? I always joke about how every year is going to be the Chargers year.

And we're always super excited about the Chargers. And there's always so much concern about the Eagles. And whether Nick Siriani is the right guy or Jalen Hertz is the right guy. And there's probably one team or fan base that would not trade the last five years with what the Eagles have had the last five years under Siriani. Yeah. You're right. I mean, there's always panic about them.

And, I mean, they still won the division last year, right? But that great defense, that was part of it. All right, I've got to take a break, and then I'm going to ask you one more question about the Eagles and then Pizarro Chargers is a good call. All right, we'll be right back on fantasy football today. Hey, Ontario. Come on down to BetMGM Casino and see what our newest exclusive the Price's Right Fortune Pick has to offer.

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The federal EV rebate is back. Eligible customers get up to $5,000 with the federal EVAP rebate on select 2027 volt and 26 Equinox EV models. Visit your local Chevrolet dealer today for more details. All right, for those of you watching on YouTube, our new UFC show is coming this Monday, April 13th. Great group of guys. And we can't wait for this show as part of the CBS SportsPod family.

So we've got a new UFC show and we're really excited for it. It's coming up on Monday. All right. So last question about the Eagles is, okay, like I said, they finished 21st in points per game after three straight years in the top seven. Dave Heath, Jamie,

predict where they'll finish in points per game this year. 14th. We're assuming that A.J. Brown's there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll go top 12. I'll go top 10. And 14th.

Okay, so we'll average it out and say 12th. Next topic, I'm going to give you guys five teams. You tell me who's going to lead the team in receiving. Jamie, we'll start with you on Chicago. Who leads a team in receiving? Oh, when you say receiving, do you mean receptions,

receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, or fantasy points? Or all the above. Receiving yards. Receiving yards, okay. Yeah. I just wanted to get the projections sorted by that. Should we do fantasy points?

Because that's kind of... What's the name of the show? It's receiving yards today. Hashtag Ask RYT. It's a spit off. You know what? We can do fantasy points. We can do fantasy points.

We can throw touchdowns and catches in there, too. Chicago Bears, Jamie. Colston, Loveland. Heath, Dave. Luther Burton. Loveland. How close are your projections? I think they're like 10 points apart.

And where's O'Dunze? Like 20 points behind that or 10 points behind that. Like any of them could, but I've got burden on the highest. Okay. How about the 49ers? Mike Evans. Yeah. Christian McCaffrey.

McCaffrey led them in receiving last year. He had 129 targets. What? If we're doing fantasy points, it's definitely McCaffrey. Well, not necessarily because Evans, you know, could catch 10 touchdowns. Oh, Evans might run 250 times. No, no. We're doing fantasy points not counting rushing yards.

Obviously. Or rushing score. Okay. In that case, I'm feeling better about Evans. Not a lot better. Just receiving total fantasy points here. Evans versus McCaffrey. If Kittle plays week one, is he part of this discussion?

Yep. I mean, Kittal should be part of the discussion. He plays in week five. Yep. Yeah. So, Jamie, why is this not an easy Mike Evans? Well, I mean, he's, you know, in his early 30s. He's switching teams.

He's going to have still, if Kittle is there, and obviously with McCaffrey and hopefully a healthy Ricky Pearsall and maybe Christian Kirk, some still pretty significant competition for targets. So on paper, for me, it should be Evans, but it wouldn't shock me if Pearsall is the guy that Brock Purdy leans on and plays a full season. It's just hard to count on that based on his career. It wouldn't shock me if George Kittles healthy, and that's the guy that leads them in touchdowns, and that pushes him past Evans from a fantasy point's perspective. could just be all three these guys similar to Chicago in a very close range

and just one guy is slightly better than the other. Last year, McCaffrey averaged 50, wait, how many yards per game? 54 yards per game. George Kittle averaged 57 yards per game. It was about 60 yards per game if you remove week one, which he left in the first quarter

or early second quarter. Evans averaged 47 yards per game last year. Horrible. That was after three straight years averaging 70 yards per game. So we need to bounce back statistically from Evans. There's a wild card to all this, though, and that's what if they do end up keeping Brandon Iuk,

and he does play for them. Yeah, they might. All right, next team. So we've got, for Chicago, we had two votes for Loveland and one for Burden. For San Francisco, we had two Evans and one McAfrey, was it? Yep. All right.

How about the Colts who's going to lead the Colts in receiving? Alec Pierce. Tyler Warren. I have Tyler Warren. Man, we can't get any consensus. Well, that's kind of the whole point, right? They're not our mysteries. Yeah, yeah.

Heath, what are your projections showing? Oh, by the way, this is in fantasy points, not receiving yards, my bad. Yeah, I've got Warren and Pierce right around 12 PPR fantasy points per game with Warren just slightly higher. Okay. Dave, how come you went with Pierce? He averaged 5.6 targets per game last year with, without Michael Pittman there and with the financial commitment that they made. I think that he will see an uptick.

He's had 15 plus p.cr points in 10 of 19 career games with at least six targets. I think that number can get close to seven targets. And I think his A.D. I'll come crashing down along with it. That's a problem. But I think the volume will be better for Pierce, along with the fact that he may be their best touchdown score, outside of Jonathan Taylor, of course. And he could end up being well worth,

he could be the type of player that we're drafting as a wide receiver three, and he finishes as a wide receiver two. Okay. Let's go to our next team. Who's going to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers in receiving? D.K. Mekke. I almost don't care.

I'm not excited about this receiving core whatsoever. If you want consensus, I'll give you consensus and say DK.K. McKaff. Don't care Metcalf for Dave. That's how I spell it. I think I made this case a couple months ago. It's about two months ago when free agency started. I think Pittman, assuming Aaron Rogers is the quarterback,

Pittman's a better fit for Rogers than Metcalf. Those two guys, I mean, Metcalf really, I feel like has to be a downfield threat. And Rogers doesn't do it. He just doesn't throw downfield. He's one of the lowest Addoch quarterbacks in the NFL for multiple seasons now. And I mean, Meckhaff is coming off a terrible season where he was, he had 850 yards. His 17 game pace was 67 catches, 963 yards, 7 touchdowns on only 112 targets with a quarterback who has a history of targeting the crap out of number one wide receivers

on a team that had zero competition for targets. What was the pace again? 67 catches 9663 yards 7 touchdowns 112 targets and now you're adding Pittman

I just think Pittman's a better fit for what Aaron Rogers can do right now I'm going to say that is very very close to Michael Pittman's year last year over 17 games

you're right it is but I mean Pittman had Alec Pierce Josh Downs Tyler Warren he had four quarterbacks or three quarterbacks

he was awful in the last five games of the year without Daniel Jones. With Daniel Jones's first nine games, he was the number 10 wide receiver per game. I don't know if that was all, oh, no, I'm sorry.

That was just the first nine games before. I don't have the splits with Daniel Jones, but the first nine games, he was the top 10 wide receiver per game. So, all right, that's just my case. Let's go to a more interesting one. I don't think you're wrong. I mean, look, he's going to probably get more chances,

just as many chances as Metcalf. Oh, I thought you were going to say as many chances as he had last year. Do you want the numbers with Daniel Jones? Sure, that would be what? They're pretty good. 12 games with Daniel Jones. Pitman averaged 13.8 p.p.r points per game, 8.8 and non, 6.8 targets per game. But this is to Jamie's point.

I don't think that either of these receivers see 6.8 targets per game. DK. had 6.5 last year, and even that felt high. I also wouldn't say that Rogers never throws downfield. I just think he selectively does it. And now he might do it even less because he'll feel better about Michael Pittman being an option compared to the other guys that he had in Pittsburgh last year. Well, I think you got to factor in the play caller change, though, because that's big for everybody here because Arthur Smith was certainly a problem, as we've seen. And Mike McCarthy has a trust in Aaron Rogers and vice versa, I would assume. And I also think that now with Pittman there, I mean, D.K. Meckoff was the only option really.

aside from Kenneth Gainwell in the passing game. So now you have another threat that defenses have to account for. So hopefully we see a somewhat bounce-back season for Metcalf to what degree is where you're going to buy into them. So I think that's kind of the way you should approach both of these guys. I think if it goes the way, I hope it goes, the value for both Metcalf and Pittman should be great. And so where you're drafting them,

it's worth the potential to see what they can become. What is the value? here. I mean, what are we talking about? I would think mid to late number three receivers. I bet Pittman will even go further than that. Like, he'll be drafted as a bench receiver. I agree. I do worry about if McCarthy just assumes that he's got the same Aaron Rogers from when they were together in Green Bay. Because it's not the same Aaron Rogers, not even close. And so does that mean that McCarthy keeps his foot on the gas and he looks for a ton of plays per game? like he's done pretty much every year of his coaching career. And what does that mean for Rogers?

Certainly, I don't think would be good for his A-DOT. It might be good for just overall pass attempts and targets to everybody else. But I kind of feel like Rogers is what he is now. And that's just a really good-ish game manager who just does not want to get his ass whipped when pass rush is coming at him, play after play after play. And to your point about plays, I mean, I don't think Rogers is changing how he approaches the play clock. So that's not going to help Mike McCarthy. Right.

Which in turn does not help the receivers. I forgot a key piece here. Didn't play that once during the entire conversation. And I totally should have. Somebody asked, do I have spooky music? Where was that question? That was it. You know what?

I have on my mixer a bunch of sound bites that say scary music, but I don't know what they sound like. But we can try to implement them. Hit it. Hit it. That's a terrible idea. All right. Who's going to be? I pray that there's a bad word.

No, it's not. This is what I got on Halloween, brother. Who's going to lead the Green Bay Packers in receiving? Last year it was Romeo Dobbs. Why am I laughing? Heath, who's it going to be this year for the Packers? Cuckercraft. Coming off the, ooh, scary ACL injury.

Dave, how about you? Who's going to lead the Packers? I also like that. I like craft. Oh, interesting. I thought we... Well, Jamie's going Watson for sure. Jamie takes Watson to the second round.

Christian Watson. There you go. We're more like the fifth or sixth round. Okay. So, by the way, forgot until this morning. Christian Watson played against Denver in week 15. And he left with a shoulder injury. And then he had a reduced snapshot of the next two games.

I've got a lot of stat manipulation to do for Christian Watson. Then he played 80% of the snaps in the playoffs and got seven targets. All right. So we got two crafts and a Watson. That's got to be pretty close, right? Any Matthew Golden love out there? That's your guy. This sucks.

I draft Matthew Golden once in a mock draft in March and now he's my guy. Fine. You know what? I'll own it. No, listen. If I'm the Christian Watson guy, you're the Matthew Golden guy. We know our guy, Brandon, is the Savionne Williams guy. So, you know, we all have a piece of the Packers' offense in some way, shape, or form.

I've always been a Christian Watson guy. So I love the call. All right. Next topic. Big mystery. Scary mystery, apparently. We've got some injured superstars. Or superstars returning from injury.

What version of them will we get? Malik neighbors, Patrick Mahomes, Quinnshon, Judge. I forgot to put Tucker Kraft in there. George Kittall. They're all coming off major injuries, but... No Scatibu? Yeah, I forgot about him. No, Charbonnet?

No, he's going to be back probably later. But yeah, like... No, Daniel Jones? Yeah, geez. You know, there are so many guys, but why don't we focus on neighbors? No, Tyreek? I think you did a good job of choosing

the best at each position. Neighbors, Judkins... I would take Skadaboo. Mahomes and Kittle and Skadaboo. Dave, what's going to be your approach to these injured players? It's going to be different for each one, depending on where they are in August or September. I already don't like hearing that Malik neighbors

won't be ready for the start of training camp and that his trajectory to return is maybe before the start of the season. That's a little frustrating. And I think it warrants him moving down a rank list and not being worth taking in round one. And if he's still not ready when we're drafting in mid-August, dude, he's not going to be a round two-pick, maybe not even a round three-pick,

because it means that he could get off to a slow start, could re-indure himself. There's like a whole bunch of problems. And by then the Giants might even have another wide receiver on the team anyway. It'll be a year where we might not be excited about Malik neighbors, and then we'll see if that ends up being wrong or right. I'm not as worried about Mahomes coming back, because there's a long list of,

quarterbacks that have torn an ACL and they come back the next year and they tear it up. And it almost makes me wonder if Mahomes ends up being the best bargain on draft day because he's falling so far behind so many other quarterbacks when we know that he's got potential to be awesome. The one problem is that he hasn't been that awesome on a year-long basis for how many years has it been? It feels like it's been a bunch of years, but it's really just been it's been a bunch of years. It's been four, right?

Well, what do you agree? He had 29 fantasy points per game in 2020. And then 2020, 23 and 2024. Listen, in 2024, he got hot at the end of the year that obviously helped them make their Super Bowl run. We know how that ended for them. He averaged 28 fantasy points per game last year in 6. Point in his first six without Rishie Rice. And then Rice came back in first eight games.

This includes Rice's first two games. It was at 28.8. It was even better. So I think we know that he can. can be outstanding. He's just got to hold up. His lines got to hold up. These are really big factors. I think it actually helps them that Kelsey's coming back. And I'm not that worried about the ACL for Patrick Moore Holmes with Judkins. I want to see where he's at. But even when he does come back, that's really an ugly offense. I don't want to trust a running back in that offense.

Kittle, I'd be shocked if he's ready by week one. And by he might be somebody who ends up impacting fantasy second half of the year. Maybe we could say the same thing about neighbors, just with them, giving them time and some grace to come back and be themselves when in the case of neighbors had a real serious injury, when the case of Kittle, not only did have a serious injury, it happened so late in the season for him that you've just got to assume that you're not going to get George Kittle as you know him for at least the first month, month and a half of the regular season. So to go over the injuries, neighbors. ACL and meniscus. I think they, David. Neighbors was ACL and meniscus. Mahomes was ACL and LCL.

Scadaboo, according to a quick AI. We're talking about Judkins. Okay, but I will get them. Scatabu was dislocated ankle, fractured fibula, and ruptured ligament. Did he have the tightrope procedure? I'm not sure. Judkins dislocated ankle and fractured fibula,

so pretty similar, but much later in the year. Kittle torn Achilles. It wasn't just an ACL for Mahomes. And I think with Mahomes, there have been quarterbacks who have come back and been great.

You know, Tom Brady had a pretty good year not amazing for him the year after tearing his ACL in week one. Carson Palmer had two great years

after torn ACLs and for Palmer was an ACL and an MCL at one year. He's had two ACL injuries, Paul. Yeah, that's what I said. And the first one,

he came back and he stunk. He wasn't good until he was there in Arizona. His ACL injury in Arizona. Well, he had a solid here. Go ahead. The big problem with Mahomes is I'm not particularly worried about the passing part of it. And he was good.

I think he was QB3 last year before he got hurt. He was averaging 24 fantasy points per game. So he was very good last year. But he was very good because he had 422 rushing yards in 14 games and ran for five touchdowns. And he's run for at least 300 yards in six straight seasons. and I'm afraid that number might be 100 this year. I just don't think. And then the other problem is part of the reason that he had to run around so much

and did a fantastic job of it is he doesn't really have any, like if they get Carnal Tate in the draft, or I guess they really like Jordan Tyson, or maybe they take lemon, like if they go get a good wide receiver, I'll feel a little bit better about him being able to just be a pocket passer and be elite again. But I don't think they've really.

really have guys that just get open. Jamie, who are you the most concerned about in their recovery, or that we're going to, a year from now be like, well, he just wasn't fully healthy in 2025 or 2026, and now he's going to finally be back,

like what we've seen with maybe a Chris Gobwin in the past? It's probably Kittled just because of when he had his injury and his age, you know, so I do think that he could still be a touchdown, you know, have a good season scoring touchdowns. Obviously, in terms of Judkins and neighbors, we've seen what skilled position players look like when they're coming off significant injuries. But they're so much younger.

And so hopefully, you know, for neighbors, when he got hurt, and I know the reporting has not been great so far as Dave alluded to, you know, that he's going to come back. He's going to miss a start training camp when he does come back. That's the expectation right now. Judkins seems to be on track for the start of the season. So that's good. And Mahomes, as the guys have alluded to, you know, can come back and still be a good fantasy quarterback. I don't know if he'll be elite based on some of the things that were said. But Kittle at his age, you know, with the additions that they've made, you know, so you have target competition.

You have, you know, a 33-year-old tight end coming off an Achilles tear. Like, that just makes me a little bit concerned. I could already see us saying next year. Well, Neighbors wasn't himself. Yeah. Yeah. This year he's going to, 2027, he's going to be back. He'll be himself.

We're going to draft him close to his seat. I could already see it happening. I think with Kittl, I'm more concerned that it's just over. with neighbors. And Neighbors probably is the one I feel the most concern about because he's the only one that so far it hasn't felt like the injury has really pushed his ADP down. Like Mahomes gets drafted as QB 12 or 13 now.

And I think when does Judkins get drafted? Round 6 or something of our mocks. A lot of times, Kittl, we're not even thinking about unless it's in the maybe Travis Kelsey range in the double-digit rounds. But Neighbors is still being drafted as one of the elite-wide. receivers. Judkins, you know, concerns me. He really, so I think I was wrong about him a year ago. I didn't really like him coming out of college. And then he goes out as a rookie and he only averages 3.6 yards per carry. But I watched more tape of Judkins than probably any running back last year.

And I think he's awesome. And I think his offensive line was so bad. And I still think it's bad. Right. And they didn't really throw to him. You know, you take out three games. where he played less than 40% of the snaps being generous here, and he was on pace for 23, well, not really, because he had one, whatever, he had 26 catches in 14 games, so just say that. So is he going to be involved in the passing game? Is he going to be efficient? Is he going to be fully healthy?

If he's not really himself this year, on a bad offensive line, probably a bad offense, it's going to be tough. He's going to have to be a mid-round pick. And right now in the consensus rankings, he's RB-24, which is, I think it's fine. but, you know. I think that may have been a bad use of azer setting. Why? Because the three games that you took out where he played less than 40% of the snaps,

he had 12 targets in those three games. I know. I know. I just went back to the 26 catches in 14. You really hurt his receiving average by removing those games. It was better with Shadurr Sanders. I will say that. But, you know, if the guy's not going to be involved in the passing game

and he's running behind a bad offensive line on a bad offense, The odds are kind of stacked against him unless he's really himself. All right, let's take a break and talk about, I think my favorite of the scary mysteries. The wide receivers, will they bounce back in 2026? I'll tell you after this on Unsolved Fantasy Football Mysteries. Wide receiver was bad last year. Passing games were bad last year. I'm going to read you over the last.

10 seasons, how many teams averaged fewer than 200 passing yards per game? 1, 2, 2, 0, 3, 0, 0, 5, 4, 1, 9. So, 3 of the last 4 seasons have been pretty high, but last year, 9 teams averaged fewer than 200 passing yards per game. That is insane. That is almost as many as the previous four seasons combined. So it's been a rough, it was a rough year for wide receivers. Will they bounce back? because Jamie, the way we're looking at drafts right now,

it's almost like, you better get wide receiver early because that position gets kind of weak. However, you know, sometimes we get these down years and then regress right back to the mean the following year. So, you know, what's your take on wide receiver

and whether that position will bounce back? I guess I'm hopeful that it will bounce back. Just, you know, looking at, you had, not that he's going to necessarily boost his receivers as much as he's going to boost himself, but yeah, you know, Jane Daniel's missing a good portion of the season. Yeah, Daniel Jones getting hurt at the end of the season. You had Patrick Mahomes getting hurt at the end of the season.

You know, you may have from just a passing perspective, if Tua can have a good season, maybe a better passing attack in Atlanta over the course of a full year, certainly in Minnesota, which has always been, you know, what we've looked at as a team that's going to help us in that regard. So in just some certain situations, you know, I'm hopeful that those teams will bounce back and those receiving courts will bounce back. but, you know, I think that's some of the things we've talked about off the air, we'll bring up now,

and I don't want to, you know, steal what the guys have been discussing. But it's, it's, to how you approach your fantasy drafts, first off, hope, you know, we did a fancy football to express about Ryan Wilson's mock draft, and I think we hated five of the seven receivers where they went. Yeah. It's mock. So if some of those guys, Cardinal Tate and Jordan Tyson and Johnson and some, some of these guys end up in good spots,

as opposed to him having take-go to the Rams, for example. You know, then we get, oh, wow, okay, this guy could be good, and that guy could be good, and this guy could help this team, et cetera. So it's kind of a little incomplete right now for me, but I still think, like, now you have, and it could continue with the Eagles Patriot situation, some addition by subtraction, you know, so like we talked about the Colts.

Like, that could be a better situation for Alec Pierce, and then maybe Michael Pittman gets a better situation in Pittsburgh, now because of how Aaron Rogers may use him. We may get a better situation in Tampa Bay now because Mike Evans is gone and now Mecca-Buka steps up, better situation in Chicago and Buffalo because DJ Moore now gets the opportunity to be a good fantasy receiver once again and Luther Borden and potentially Romo Dunes. They also get the chance to be good wide receivers as well.

So I'm just looking at the landscape of it and seeing some hope and just kind of, you know, approaching it that way. So I think from, again, the, the, the. round the mid-round picks, which is where it feels kind of gross right now. Hopefully we get some better scenarios from that group of guys, you know, Alec Pierce, Christian Watson, you know, Wondell Robinson, Romeo Dobbs, you know, those guys that have either changed teams or got, you know, better opportunities can boost the position to a degree where it's back to hopefully some high-level production

as well. Dave is the wide receiver, you know, down year part of a league-wide trend. part of a blip on the radar. Let's bring up some stats here. And what we're going to look at here is just there's a bunch of columns. So it's a lot of... Yeah, those were a lot of stats. So you can see year by year.

This is pro football reference, by the way. Year by year points scored. 2025 was... Let's see if I can highlight it for you. 2025 was a high-scoring year. But look at yards per game. Yards per game, fewest since 2006. Look at pass attempts per game.

32.1, the year before, 32.7. We're definitely seeing fewer pass attempts per game right now. So that's part of this. But, you know, what's your takeaways from some of the data, some of the league-wide trends we're seeing in terms of the way teams are playing and how they're scoring? Sure. So the way that teams are playing is that they're almost inviting the run.

And they're not necessarily doing that against teams that have a great running back, but there aren't a lot of teams that have a great running back. So you see more teams reverting to the zone coverage, two high safeties, kind of daring them to run and not throw and not attack downfield. And so what teams do is they try to run anyway or they resort to shorter throws. And the shorter throws mean shorter, not shorter,

but fewer fantasy numbers on a per play basis, unless a receiver can, you know, catch a pass, break one long for a big play or a touchdown. Yeah, that doesn't happen. And so I think the focus needs to be how many teams are out there that rain or shine, they're just going to throw a ton. And those are usually the teams with a good quarterback and at least multiple good wide receivers.

The Dallas is, the Cincinnati's of the world. There's other teams out there too. Philadelphia could theoretically be one of those teams. If Hertz throws a little bit more, they keep AJ Brown. You get the picture. I'm worried that there's a shortage of receivers that get a ton of targets. And last year was an example of that. Last year, there were 24 wide receivers that had at least seven targets per game.

You can go back and look at each of the past six years before that, and there were at least 30 wide receivers that had seven or more targets per game. And so that's a 20% dip. And that just happened for the first time last year. Is it because there were a lot of quarterbacks missing? Sure. That's definitely part of it. Could it be that other teams were spreading the ball around a lot?

I think about the chargers. and how maybe they spread the ball around a little bit more than we would have liked, even though the targets per game wasn't too far off for Ladd-McConkie, but him just as a random example, did that happen too much? I think that there's a number of reasons why that number was lower in 2025. And I don't know if there's going to be enough change in how defenses are played, how offenses decide to play the defenses that they face,

and the number of good quarterbacks that will be in the league, that can shoot that number right back up to 30 plus wide receivers with seven plus targets per game. Here's a fun one for you, Adam. Last year, 52.4% of the offensive plays were past attempts. That's low. The year before it was 52.5%. What about the year before that? Do you have that number?

53.4. And I felt like it was even higher than that. Well, I think you may be thinking about the rate that were past plays. These are past attempts. So sacks would not be factored into this. Generally, when you see a team's pass rate or drop back rate, that includes sacks or includes scrambles. This is just the number of their offensive plays that were past attempts. We had the lowest number of offensive plays per game since 1992.

Well, let's see. Plays per game, they did, yes, they dipped to 62. And I think the new kickoff rules would explain that. the new kickoff rules really kicked in in 2024. And we went down from 63 plays per game, basically three years in a row to 62.2. And then the kickoff rules got a little bit more extreme in 2025, and now we're down to 61.3 plays per game.

So that could certainly be a part of it. Yards per play has basically remained the same. One thing I'm seeing here, I didn't even think about looking this up until Dave you started mentioning the seven targets per game thing. I think we had the lowest wide receiver target rate in at least 10 years. So quarterbacks through to wide receivers less than other position.

I mean, how many times have we talked about how much better tight end is? Yep. Why is tight end better? Because more of those guys are demanding targets. I guess I didn't check to see if the tight ends went up or if it was the running backs that went up or whatever. But those looked like tight end at least went up, tight end target rate went up to 23.8%.

That's pretty high, I think. All right. So that is interesting. You know, if wide receiver bounces back and you were a guy who or a girl who drafted wide receivers in rounds, 5, 6, 7, we usually get a lot of really good values in that range. So it might work out. You think, okay, so we had 16 wide receivers average 14 or more PPR fantasy points per game. It's tied for the fewest in the last 15 years.

We almost always have 20 or more. We usually have 23 or more. These are wide receivers who average 14 or more. PPR fantasy points per game. Last year we had 16, 2026. We will have how many? Dave. 18.

Okay, not much of a bounce back. Jamie? 20. Heath. I was going to say 18, but I'll just say 19, so I can't be wrong. Want to take a guess

on how many of those 16 wide receivers had at least, goodness, eight targets per game. Forget about seven. Let's just go right to eight. Four. There were 12.

There were 16 wide receivers with 14 and more PPR points per game. 14 of them averaged eight or more targets per game. All right. Last question. If you asked me, oh wait. Last question. That should have been the sound of every Ashton Gentie carry. Not because he stands up like Michael Myers,

but because they were terrified. in a bad way. The rookie running backs did not live up to the hype in I-M-H-O. Will the sophomore running backs? Will this group live up to the hype in 2026 that they didn't really reach in 2025? First word to Heath Cummings? Yeah, so I do expect Gentied to be better than he was last year.

Okay. I expect Trayvion to be better than he was last year. I hope Hampton has helped. the year than he was last year. So I think the class last year delivered on the incredible depth that we saw because there were a lot of guys who were drafted later who were really good. But the top guys disappointed. And I do expect that they will be better than they were last year.

Okay. Jamie, let's go through some consensus rankings here for the running back. and we have Gentie as RB7. How do you feel about that? Good. Hampton is RB8. Good.

Who would be next? Maybe Scataboo? Scataboo, maybe. He's 21. He would be next because Judkins. He says 24. Judkins is 24. Scataboo is 21.

Is there anywhere now? Henderson might be in the 20s. Travion is RB20. Wow. So it goes Henderson, Scataboo, Judkins, from 20 to 21. Then you have RJ, oh, RJ Harvey, RB 22. What?

DeAndre Swift 23, Quintan Judkins, 24. For the record, I'm not sure about the date range of these consensus rankings. And I wonder if free agents, like, did they just think that J.K. Dobbins wasn't coming back and this wasn't adjusted? but to have Henderson, Scadaboo, R.J. Harvey, and Quinchon Judkins between running backs 20 and 24, Jamie, how do we feel about that?

Well, first off, let's hope that Scataboo and Judkins are healthy because I think if they are healthy, this is maybe a little bit late. I would take Scataboo sooner than this, assuming that there's no addition in the NFL draft and Judkins right around this range. So I like the value for both of these guys. Henderson scares me just because of how,

last year finished for him and what Ramandre Stevenson still showed for what I think Mike Vrable and Josh McDaniels want to do. It's probably going to be an injury situation for Henderson to take a big leap forward. And I think the same thing with RJ Harvey, at least for Harvey, you saw that last year. You saw it with a small sample size for Henderson. In the two games that Stevenson missed, he was an absolute monster. And so if Stevenson were to miss time, then Henderson has a chance to be obviously very special. But I just don't know if both Henderson and Harvey can be consistent fantasy producers if there's not an injury to help them. It just doesn't feel like their coaching staffs trust them, at least based on what we saw in

their rookie campaigns. Someone says Scataboo is too low. Mel says that. Scataboo is too low. He was RB 23, I think it was, or whatever, 21, 2, 3. We got to be concerned with the injury. And when he was right last year, once he took over the starting job, he was averaging over 19 PPR points per game, you know, over that six-game stretch.

So, like, you saw the high-end production, and again, that was without Malik neighbors. You know, we'll see if you want to call this a better offensive system than he has. I just think it's going to be a better team because Harbaal will hopefully give them more wins, and more wins leads to typically more rushing production. So, you know, that's the hope. But he's still going to share it with Tracy, and, you know, we'll see if that is a problem for him with the new coaching staff. But if he's healthy, and I think the same thing with Judkins,

you know, Judkins' offensive environment is bad as you alluded to Adam. But I think Todd Monkin, you know, we didn't mention. I know that's a big reason for Heath. Todd Monkin's presence there should help Judkins in a big way if the offensive line is, you know, hopefully somewhat capable of, you know, being better than what it was a year ago. So I think in the case of both of those guys, based on what their roles should be, and again, in the case of Scadaboo, like his offense,

I think there's a chance for him to be pretty special. and Judkins has a chance to be better than I think the, at least the consensus ranking is right now. Yeah, so I just want to read some really gross medical words. Well, not gross. Cam Scadaboo had an open tibia fracture. Doesn't that sound bad? Here's what an open tibia fracture is, according to AI. The shin bone breaks and pierces the skin, exposing the bone to the environment.

Oh. He also had a ruptured. deltoid ligament, and a dislocated right ankle, whatever that is. Anyway, it's a lot to come back from. He also, he also was getting a ton of catches.

He only had 24 and 8 games, but two of those games he barely played. When he was playing a normal snapshot, he was on pace for 60 catches, and that was pretty much all without Malik neighbors. So you have to wonder what kind of effect that could have. Then again, he did have Wando Robinson. And without Isaiah likely.

And without Isaiah likely, yeah. And Tyroneau and Tracy wasn't so bad. And Tarnal Moody. Tyrone Tarynne Tracey wasn't so bad at the end of the year. So I don't know, man. It's super easy if you find yourself drafting Scataboo, even if you feel the way that Adam just sounded, to go and add Tyrone Tracy with a mid to late round pick

and just lock up the Giants backfield. I think what Jamie said about, Harbaugh making this team better and coaching them better will make a difference. Hopefully that's enough to overcome what Matt Nagy might do as a play caller because we don't have a lot of confidence in him. But I think that that's sort of a solution, even if you're not in love with drafting Scataboo. And you've got to be encouraged that Harbaugh said that Scataboo should be ready for training camp. I think also worth noting that the Giants hired Greg Roman.

ostensibly. They've got a bunch of dudes who've gotten fired. No, but Greg Roman is a good run game coordinator. Yes. Matt Nagy has sort of, the teams haven't really been great running the football from what I recall, especially last year.

So I think maybe that's kind of where they're going with that. All right. Thank you for... There's one guy that I would put in the Henderson Harvey range, at least for me, as a sophomore, and that's Basil Tutin. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. you know, I think just looking at the upside that he has if he's the starter for the Jaguars and still question mark here.

And Dave, you know, brought up what they said on was NFL radio, serious NFL Rio. Yeah. Stable. You know, where it could be a committee backfield, which makes sense right now. But, you know, hopefully Tutin is the leader of the backfield. And again, as we saw last year, Liam Cohen's offense was great for Travis, E.TN, H&, whatever you want to call it now. Chris Rodriguez is going to be a factor. We'll see if they're done.

But there's a lot to like about the situation for Basel Tuddin right now. We've got some emails at Fantasy Football at CBSI.com. And here's one from Ryan that we can clear up. He says, subject line is drafting bust players confusion. And Ryan says, my question is in regards to bust players. If you guys say a certain player is a bust that pick 34, but if I pick them at pick 52, it's good value. How does that make sense?

You think they're going to be bad at 34? How does them being drafted later all of a sudden make them better? Shouldn't I just avoid drafting them altogether? Heath? There's different types of busts. There are some busts that you probably be better off avoiding drafting altogether, but for the most part, we don't choose busts. The whole fantasy football community has gotten so smart.

And so it doesn't do any good to say somebody's going to be a bust if they're being drafted in round eight. So we have to choose busts based on basically guys who are drafted too high. Right. Like Nico Collins was not a bust call, but just looking back, if he was a bust in round one, he was probably a bust in round two. If you took him, if they were like, hey, don't take him round two, but you take him in round three, then you would have been perfectly fine. We'd have been happy with that. Then there's the guys who were just complete stink bombs that would have been busts basically anywhere you picked him. Let's see.

I didn't put the emails in the notes. I'm sorry. But Jared has a keeper question. And this is pick one and keep for only one year. It's a 10-team PPR league, two running backs, three receivers, and two flex. So pick one keeper. Do you like Giovante Williams in the ninth?

Rishi Rice in the 10th. Cam Scadaboo in the 12th or Bejel Tootin in the 14th? Rice. finally we agree on something and then a keeper question from Eric oh sorry Eric I didn't have the sound bite pulled up from Eric 10 team two quarterback league I'm keeping keep one keep one

Bowers Trayvion Henderson Omari and Hampton or none of them and draft Jordan Love in a two quarterback league 10 teams keep Bowers, Henderson, Hampton, or throw them all back and draft Jordan Love? Probably. There's no value of associative?

I guess they're a first round pick, I'm guessing, because then you throw them back and you take Jordan Love. But let's say they're the equivalent value of Jordan Love. So it's Bowers, Henderson, Hampton, or Love? Two QBU's it? Yeah. Yes. I'd probably go Hampton.

I would either go Hampton or Bowers. It's just since the 10-team League, like you want to get some dominant players at certain spots. And if Bowers hits, not that Hampton can't be that same guy, but those will be the two choices. I would take both those over love. Mylene was Bowers. Eric!

There we go. Just in time. Okay. Great show. Have a lovely weekend, everybody. We'll talk to you Monday. We've really got to start ramping up our NFL draft coverage. By the time Monday rolls around,

we'll be a week and a half away from really exciting. NFL drag. A lot of mystery here because it's kind of been framed as this, well, the best players aren't quarterbacks

or, they're not at the premier positions necessarily. So, it's a bad draft going in. It may be a fun draft. What happens? Yeah.

Well said. Anyway, we'll talk to you on Monday. See you later, everybody. Have a great movie. Podcasts.