Fantasy Football Today - Jameis Reaction; IDP Tips; Mailbag! (08/30 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: August 29, 2021

Bid on our Draft-A-Thon items right now to benefit St. Jude! http://cbssports.com/ebay Join our poker tournament to benefit St. Jude! stjude.org/draftathon Jameis Winston is likely to be named the starting QB, where will he end up in the rankings? Winston or Roethlisberger? Lawrence? Then Dave tells you about one of his favorite Fantasy teams that he has drafted so far and what went right in that draft (6:35) and we'll give you your news and notes (14:30) on Sony Michel, Kenny Golladay and many more ... Your emails at [e-mail] (21:00) and your Apple Podcast questions (38:40) ... IDP advice (53:00)! We give you the names to know at DL, LB and DB and tell you how your strategy should change depending on your league format. 'Fantasy Football Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday 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. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. On his way to the end zone. Tell you what, that was a spectacular play. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. What a play. Off to the races.

Touchdown. Oh, he's done it again. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath, and Beck. Yeah, we got a fun show for you today. Happy Saturday, everybody. Recording this on Friday morning. Adam Azer and Dave Richard here. Just the two of us, Dave, for maybe up to an hour.

Can you handle it? We can make it if we try. We can make it if we try. And we welcome you. And you can make it if you try in your fantasy league. So we'll help you out with your drafts, obviously. We're going to read your emails, fantasyfootball at cbsi.com. Going to read your Apple podcast questions. We're going to

get a visit from the Fantasy Cops. Yeah. We haven't done the Fantasy Cops in months and months and months. If you have any league disputes and you want to hear your questions answered with funky music in the background, send an email to fantasyfootball at cbsi.com.

That is the letter I. And put Fantasy Cops in the subject line. We've got the news that Jameis Winston is likely to be named the starter. We'll talk about, would you draft Trevor Lawrence or Jameis Winston? We'll get into that. Also share some IDP thoughts later on in the draft.

And that's the thing. If you just want to hear the IDP segment, you want to hear the emails, you don't want to hear anything else, I'm going to put a time code in the episode description. So just read the description. When we start talking about IDP, just go to that time code,

which will be approximate. It could be within a minute. We have commercials and things like that that mix up the time codes for me. So I do my best, but you don't have to listen to the whole thing if you don't want to, but we want you to. Dave. Yay, Adam, for trying your best.

Thank you. Jameis Winston tried his best, and it looks like he's going to win the job. And this is according to Ian Rappaport. All signs point to Jameis Winston being named the starter. This report came out on Friday morning, so there might be something more concrete by the time people are listening. Would you rather have Jameis Winston or Trevor Lawrence at this point? I'd rather have Lawrence.

I'm thinking long-term for the entire season. I don't think there's much of a chance of Trevor Lawrence getting benched. Certainly, by comparison to Jameis Winston and the chances of him getting benched, it seemed apparent after the first preseason game that Jameis would be the answer there. He just throws with more velocity. He's willing to take chances with the ball downfield. He was particularly good with them against Jacksonville,

and that was with the receivers being tightly covered downfield. So I'm encouraged by what I saw from Winston this preseason, but I know Jameis Winston. I've been watching him play for several years. I know that he's eventually going to turn the ball over and have a bad game, and I'm sure that at that point, Sean Payton will think about making a change at quarterback. Furthermore, we also know that Jameis Winston

will not get every single snap in the offense. If Drew Brees was losing time to Taysom Hill, you better believe Jameis Winston will also get every single snap in the offense. If Drew Brees was losing time to Taysom Hill, you better believe Jameis Winston will also lose time to Taysom Hill. So that means that there's going to be some stats on Sundays and Mondays when they play and Thursdays that Jameis won't get because Taysom Hill is getting them. So I'm not ready to take him as even a streaming quarterback. Week one, he plays Green Bay.

I like him better in two QB leagues, but he's still somebody that I'd go after right before the midpoint in two QB and super flex leagues. I just drafted him in a two QB league, and we did this draft last week with a lot of uncertainty at the quarterback position. That still exists, okay? We didn't know at the time

who the Saints quarterback was going to be. We still don't know when Justin Fields, if Trey Lance will get on the field. We don't know who the Patriots starting quarterback is going to be. So I intend to trade Jameis Winston. Who are your other quarterbacks? I have Tom Brady, Derek Carr, and Carson Wentz. So I usually don't take four quarterbacks in a 2QB league. I usually take three. It's a 12-team. Would you consider trading Wentz. So I usually don't take four quarterbacks in a 2QB league. I usually take three. It's a 12 team. Would you consider trading Wentz or Carr? No, because I don't trust Jameis

to keep the job. So I just want to have three quarterbacks on my team. And when I got Brady, you know, I was happy when I got Carr as my number two. And then Wentz is like, I don't feel so good about this. I'm going to take a gamble on Jameis Winston. I think he's going to win the job. He did. Now I have a really tradable asset. Which, by the way, if you want to take a gamble and draft four or five quarterbacks or something in a 2QB league, you have the most valuable trade chips.

There is nothing on the waiver wire. When something comes up on the waiver wire, it's some scrub backup that's rarely going to be good for fantasy. So you've got a really valuable trade chip, and odds are you can turn that quarterback into a better player than what was available to you at that point in the draft. That's what I'm hoping for for Jameis. But my point is, yeah, I think he might lose his job at some point. So not a bad idea to look for trade offers.

That's the kind of rationale I have with taking Lance, Fields, Lawrence, maybe even Roethlisberger and Tonga Vailoa in one QB drafts. The deeper the benches are, the more likely you are to take a second quarterback anyway. But that's the whole idea. It's the whole idea behind taking players, getting that second tight end or getting that sixth running back or that sixth wide receiver. If you get a player that you think is a good value late in the draft and you're able to trade him for something, it's going to be for a player that was taken before him on draft day. By the way, I'm looking at our two Qb league my qbs are dac prescott

trey lance drew lock hey that's what i'm talking about i might need one of those quarterbacks adam who is your uh who's your number two wide receiver it's brandon iuk iuk for Jameis. No, thank you. Don't be so hasty there, Dave. All right. Let's wrap up the Jameis talk here. You just mentioned Roethlisberger and Tungavailoa. Would you take them over Jameis Winston? Yes. Would you take Derek Carr or Jameis Winston?

I'll take a chance on Jameis. When we're talking about quarterbacks that aren't really getting drafted in most 1QB leagues, we're thinking of streamers anyway. So I'd just rather start the season with Winston than I would with Carr. Carr's got the Ravens in week one. We're going to talk about our IDP league later, give some defensive players you need to know about, some tips on how to play in IDP leagues. But I asked you also separately for a team that you've drafted that you really like.

Because you heard me a couple days ago raving about the team that was drafted in my name by Heath and Jamie. But I want to know a team that you really like. And maybe you can give some reasons why you like it. I assume people are going to be drafting this weekend. Certainly some are. I assume many, many will be drafting this weekend. And then more and more as we get closer to the season. But just a team that fell into place and takeaways from it,

and I think actually your IDP team will only focus on the offensive players. Your IDP team is one that stood out to you. It is. I really like it. I'd like to know everybody else's opinion on it. And while I go over the team, Adam, I just sent you a trade offer in the 2QB League. I think you'll find it to your liking, and I look forward to you accepting.

Jonathan Taylor and Joe Mixon were my first two picks. No surprise. I'm going running back, running back to begin a draft. Oh, what pick did you have? What pick did you have? I don't remember. It was in the middle of the – I think it was nine. Okay.

So not quite – I guess it's middle, middle, eight. Everybody knows where nine is. Jeez. I think I do. So Taylor won, Joe Mixon two, and i i took a bunch of receivers after i got robert woods chris godwin uh miles gaskin was mixed in there and i got jerry judy as well and you guys know i'm taking judy ahead of the pack here i'm really excited about him to get him as my number three receiver uh i was doing backflips and believe me i might have broken something while

doing it justin herbert at quarterback logan thomas at tight end and then on the bench i got trey lance i handcuffed gaskin to akmed ronald jones tony jones tony pollard uh elijah moore visca chenault i i went i always go heavy on offensive players in an idp draft because i know i can find defensive players off the waiver wire once the season starts so while other people were taking defensive players, that pushed down some of the talent for me starting in round, I'd say six and beyond. And that's why I think I was able to get a pretty stacked team for a 12 team league. Yeah. So Dave's team, this is three receivers and a flex. It's full PPR is Justin Herbert at quarterback mixin and jonathan taylor at running back woods godwin and judy at wide receiver logan thomas at tight end and miles gaskin at flex

your team is loaded heath's team is loaded i like my team quite a bit and i think all of us probably just didn't really focus that much on the idps so that's something to keep in mind but here's how dave started his team before the IDPs are really coming off the board. Taylor at nine, Mixon in round two, Robert Woods, Chris Godwin, Miles Gaskin in round five, which looks like a really good pick now.

And that was, he kept falling and falling and falling. And I mean, I brought that up on a separate show. It was him and Chase Edmonds. I couldn't escape that scenario. I took Edmonds. Dave took Gaskin six or seven picks later. Thank you. And then Jerry Judy in round six.

At that point, you could, yeah. See, personally, Dave, I wouldn't have taken him over Kyler Murray, but you obviously like Justin Herbert quite a bit, so you got Herbert later, but Kyler was the next pick, and you took Judy over Kyler, over Lamar Jackson. You took him over Jamar Chase, Dak Prescott. Yeah, over Claypool. I just think it was interesting that you took him over the quarterbacks.

Any regrets there? None whatsoever. You know, we talk about all the time, know who you're drafting with, know your draft, know your league mates. And this was an analyst draft. And all analysts think the same way when it comes to quarterbacks no one wants to take a quarterback early so i knew that i'd be able to wait a little bit longer to get a quarterback at a good value and i did

dave is pledging allegiance there is yeah uh sometimes i do this when i play cards too i rest my right hand here and try and... Whenever you have a good hand? Whenever I have aces, kings, or six deuce off suit. Dave has offered me... By the way, we've got this poker event coming up. Yes, we do. Dave has offered me... I'm thinking about buying in and playing.

I'm not sure if you're allowed to, but J.D. McKissick... Oh, I am. Yeah, I mean, it's for charity. It's not like you're going to win money. J.D. McKissick for Jameis Winston. I will quickly turn that down. All right, speaking of which, poker, yes.

Join us Monday, August 30th, 7 p.m. Eastern for a 300-player multi-table virtual poker tournament supporting St. Jude. Hang out with the Fantasy Football Today experts and other players during the tournament via Zoom. Sign up at st jude.org that is s-t-j-u-d-e.org slash slash draftathon st jude.org slash draftathon there's also a link in this episode description that is monday august 30th uh it's a hundred dollars for a seat and a 5k stack two hundred200 for a 5K plus another add-on stack of 5K,

$300 for a seat and a 5K starting stack plus a 10K add-on stack. You get a spot in the 2021 For the People Podcast League if you win. If you finish in the top 10, you get a private 15-minute Zoom call with an FFT analyst. That is stjude.org slash draftathon. And there

are only 300 spots available. In fact, if Dave's true to his word, there are only 299 spots available. But please go to stjude.org slash draftathon. By the way, we're not answering a lot of keeper questions on the show. If you still have keeper questions, go to our Facebook group, facebook.com slash groups slash fantasy football today. Or you can just search for fantasy football today on Facebook, or you can click the link in the episode description. Dave, before we go any further, I've got an audio clip that a listener made. His name is Evan. It is a mashup of some of your greatest hits.

Oh my God. Do you want to hear it? Sure. Okay. It's very quick. I thought it was funny here we go it should be honestly it should be out by now but i'm really backed up i'd like a big ice cream sundae and a quiet hotel room for 12 hours there you go dave there's your sunday wow um 10 years of doing this podcast encapsulated in about 12 seconds thank you evan uh does was that his attempt to get into the podcast league

it was it was unfortunately it didn't work as the league is full well fortunately for evan there is a spot remaining oh and if evan like to, if you would forward his information, I would like to offer him the chance to share it. Honestly, it should be out by now, but I'm really backed up. I'd like a big ice cream sundae and a quiet hotel room for 12 hours. Okay, Evan, you will co-manage a team with Dave Richard. Good stuff. I'm glad this worked out. Maybe he did that because he doesn't like me

and he's making fun of me. I don't know. That happens sometimes on this podcast. But obviously... In that case, maybe he doesn't want to share a team with me. If you're co-managing with Dave, be prepared to make some picks on your own because Dave's a little backed up.

I might be a little busy. Right. Russell Wilson. Oh, by the way, I sent you another trade offer. All right, I didn't get it yet. I'll let you know when I... i can't believe you turned down jd drew lock and juju smith schuster for michael thomas and jamis winston i mean this isn't the worst trade offer ever i mean i could have just left drew lock out of it

yeah i get a starting wide receiver immediately i don't have to wait for that's that's right interesting i'm not gonna do, but that's interesting. I think I can do better. I was hoping that you would do it because I've got Callaway on my bench. I really like the bench players that I've got in the two quarterback league. I don't want to part with any of them for Jameis.

All right, here we go. Entries, news, and notes. I like Dillon and Myers and Callaway. I like them. Russell Wilson is connecting with tight end Gerald Everett. They have a nice little rapport going on, Dave. Everett.

That's great. Sneaking into into your close to your top 12. He's somebody that is worth one of those late round picks that we talked about earlier where you're not necessarily drafting him to be a starter for your fantasy team. You're drafting him for the potential of him being a trade chip later on, or I guess part of it is him being a starter for your fantasy team. It depends on how you do. He's not going to be your starter week one. That's the point.

So I, I, I don't, I don't hate him with a late pick. He might be the third best target in that offense. When we like to judge tight ends, it's, do they have a chance to be the number two or the number one target in offense? I don't see that happening for GE. Well, they could really use their left tackle back. Dwayne Brown is still holding out and has not practiced, has not played with this preseason for Seattle.

Kind of a problem. Kind of a problem. Yeah, let's get him back. Cortland Sutton does not expect to be limited in week one. You're taking Judy over Sutton, obviously, because you're taking Judy over DK Metcalf at this point. But would you take Jamar Chase, who apparently

according to The Athletic has had a great week of practice, or Cortland Sutton? Chase. Still Chase over Sutton. Going for the upside play there. We haven't seen Sutton in a preseason game. I'm not sure if we will. I continue to be encouraged by Jerry Judy

and what he can do in this offense. It might relegate Cortland Sutton into being more of a number two guy for Denver. 1,100 yards and six touchdowns for Sutton in 2019. I believe he was a top 20 wide receiver right around there.

Kind of a deep ball guy. Pretty high ADOT. 14 as a rookie. 14 yard ADOT. 11.6 rookie, 14-yard ADOT. 11.6 in 2019 and very limited action, 17.7. Only one game, only six targets. So we can scratch that in 2020. So maybe that's a better fit for Drew Locke than Teddy Bridgewater, but that doesn't mean, you know, young guys, their ADOTs and their routries can change quite a bit.

Sean McVay said Daryl Henderson is still going to have a very big role. How did you interpret that? I interpreted that as when Daryl Henderson goes out to dinner and they bring the bread before dinner, he's going to reach for the biggest role in the basket. That's what I meant. I'm getting very nervous about Daryl Henderson

and that this is... I'm kind of, add this to the list of weird sentences I thought I'd never say. I'm kind of getting excited about Sonny Michel. Just the fact that you can draft him late and he might not be too far off from what Daryl Henderson could be. This is a coaching staff that,

I just, I don't know how much they truly trust Daryl Henderson, and that's just a sentiment I've had going back to last year. We'll see what happens, but if you're drafting this weekend and Daryl Henderson's sitting there in round five, think long and hard about it before you hit draft. Michael Carter or Daryl Henderson for you? I still have Henderson ahead of Carter because there's clearly an issue for Carter

becoming the guy in New York now. He's looked good. There's no question about it, but Ty Johnson's looked good. Tevin Coleman's going to have a role. There was a report saying that Michael P. Ryan was going to be the short yardage goal linebacker. It's our nightmare coming true. It's the San Francisco Jets or the New York 49ers, however you want to put it. That's offensive philosophy happening out east. We'll see about that, my friend. Kyle Shanahan was a coordinator before he coached the 49ers, and he used Tevin Coleman, but Devontae Freeman was obviously great.

He used both those guys. He did, but he didn't use three guys. Obviously, Freeman was a star. He was the number one running back in fantasy one year. I don't remember exactly if it would overlap with Shanahan. I think it did. But, you know, if Michael Carter can beat out those fools, but it's going to take time, obviously. I'm trying to look up recent ADP, like the last two days for Sonny Michel.

But I seriously doubt that there is a running back that you're going to be able to take where you can take Sonny Michel, which I imagine would be after pick 100, that has a legitimate chance to become the starting running back that you're going to be able to take where you can take Sonny Michel, which I imagine would be after pick 100, that has a legitimate chance to become the starting running back, or a more legitimate chance to become the starting running back than Michel. Your best bet to get a true starting running back late in the draft is probably

Sonny Michel. Barring injury. Alright, so let me see. Today is the 27th. ADP since the 25th on NFC. I have no idea how many drafts this is. They tell you. It's on the page.

Where does it say that? On the right side, it tells you how many teams took that player. Oh, oh, oh. Who's that kid with the Oreo cookie? So it's 30 drafts? If that's the number next to... The number will be the same next to McCaffrey, Cook, all those guys. Yeah, yeah, 30 drafts.

Oh, 30 drafts. That's a decent sample size for two days. What's it say? 112th. Right after James Conner. I'd take him earlier than that. And I think I'd take him over Conner, too. Kenyon Drake or Michelle?

I think I might be feeling Michelle over Drake. Okay. I know it sounds weird. It sounds so weird. But especially in non-PPR, half PPR, I like the value. I have to admit it.

Hey, can I rant about something real quick? You mentioned dinner rolls. Yeah, go ahead. How annoying is it when you get the cold butter that you can't even spread on the dinner rolls? Is the roll hot? It doesn't really. No, typically the roll is not hot, hot enough to melt the butter. You can't spread it. You get little chunks of it. It breaks off. Give me the warm butter. Oh, I've been there. Guess what? I still eat it. Yeah, but give me the warm butter. Come on. All right. Noah Ph what? I still eat it. Yeah, but give me the warm butter. Come on. Alright, Noah Phan,

expected to be ready for week one. He has a leg injury. Kenny Galladay has still not practiced. Jamar Chase or Kenny Galladay? Chase. Dak Prescott appears to be full. Let me just do a little more Galladay. Tyler Boyd or Kenny Galladay? Boyd. Alright.

What was that noise for? Well, alright. How about in non-PPR? All right. What was that noise for? Well, all right. How about in non-PPR? I said what I said. Boyd still? Okay. Yeah, Boyd!

Steven Holder of The Athletic Reports expects that Kyle Granson will be a featured pass-catching tight end for the Colts. I remember watching him in the preseason game. I think I'd have to double-check my notes just to make sure. It was the game that I was there against Carolina. I remember him.

I'd have to double-check my notes, but I remember him looking quick. He's got a chance. He's a great pick in Dynasty, and if he's on the waiver wire in your Dynasty league, you should be able to get him for next to nothing. Okay. Dave, here's a keeper question from Landon. J.K. Dobbins or Miles Sanders for the exact same price,

who would you keep? Dobbins. Bless you. Did you see what just happened there? You sneezed. Not only did I sneeze, I knocked my laptop off of my table. That was one hard sneeze.

I'll be right back, Dave. You've got some lungs on you. No, it was with my elbow. Go ahead. With Dobbins, it's all about, I think we all know what the floor is with him, where it's going to be right around 12, 13, 14 maybe touches per game. He's going to share. Gus Edwards is going to have a role.

Lamar Jackson's going to do his thing. Here's something I've talked about with somebody about J.K. Dobbins, and this is about the Ravens in general. This is a franchise that tends to take really talented players and use them really, really well. They did it with Lamar Jackson when he was a rookie. The second half of the season when he was starting, he wasn't doing things that he's doing now,

but he was being used in a good way. Last year with Marquise Brown the second half of the season, when he was starting, he wasn't doing things that he's doing now, but he was being used in a good way. Last year with Marquise Brown, first chunk of the year, he wasn't being used the right way. They changed his role. They're a smart football team in Baltimore. I would imagine that they will figure out the right way to use J.K. Dobbins. And so while we can't see it right now, and we're really looking hard at what happened last year,

there's some upside there with J.K. Dobbbins i think people need to realize is possible where he does catch two or three passes a game where he continues to take over that short yardage goal line role like he did late last year over gus edwards and over lamar jackson by the way he could end up being a really good running back whereas in philadelphia we've seen it now where Kenneth Gainwell is getting work with the hurry up offense and Boston Scott's going to work in some passing downs and they still have Jordan Howard on the roster. And I'll tell you what, Jordan Howard didn't look terrible when he was playing in the preseason. So I'm not sure if Miles Sanders is going to be in a position to really break out. We thought he would be last year. He was given the opportunity

and he didn't do well with it. And I think the coaching staff in Philadelphia has a different theory on him now. To me, it's a no-brainer that it's Dobbins over Sanders. By the way, Jordan Howard, I keep mentioning this, but he admitted he was out of shape last year with the Dolphins. He is noticeably slimmer. That is a good thing. I don't really understand why they would keep him and Boston Scott and Kenneth Gainwell. I don't I mean I don't really understand why they would keep him and

Boston Scott and Kenneth Gainwell I don't know that they're gonna have all of them active unless one of them's on special teams I'm not sure but if he gets cut and ends up somewhere else

he might be better than than the Jordan Howard that of last year who was who got benched and who was terrible so just keep in mind

alright next question fantasyfootballatc CBSi.com. From Johannes Hyde. If you actually try to pronounce my name, don't worry, you'll do just fine. Thank you. He's from Germany,

and he has a non-PPR 10-team league trade salary draft. I got offered Najee Harris and Darren Waller for Ezekiel Elliott. Would you do that in a 10-team non-PPR league? Absolutely. Yeah, do that. That's a winner. Yeah, that's better than JD McKissick. You're basically getting a late first-round pick and a late second-round pick for an

early first-round pick. This is from Alex in Austin. Dear Todd, Nick, Sony, Herschel, and Noshan. Georgia. Yeah. Let me start off by saying that Fantasy Football Today

is my number one podcast. I listen to your episodes daily. He buttered us up. He wrote a very long email. I'm just going to sum it up and say he wants to know, Alex wants to know, if we are ranking players that we know are not vaccinated any differently with the thought that they are more likely to miss games.

PSA here, or not a PSA, announcement. This is not a discussion about vaccination, okay? But it is an actually pretty interesting fantasy topic here. Are you ranking players that you know are not vaccinated any differently? The nice thing about the National Football League is that they have protocols in place that test the players whether they're vaccinated or not. And those who are unvaccinated have to follow further rules, including when they go on the road that keep them safe. The NFL is doing the right thing here. They want players to protect themselves off the field, out of the facility, so that they don't catch COVID

and they're off the game for a couple of days. So I'm not really as concerned about it, certainly compared to last year. I'm not making draft decisions because of it either. I also can't confirm some of the players that he might think are vaccinated or unvaccinated. We were sitting on the show yesterday and we got the news while we were live on FFT, noon Eastern on CBS Sports HQ, that Ryan Tannehill was on the reserve COVID

list. And I think it was Jamie and Heath who were doing a break asking, well, is he vaccinated? Is he unvaccinated? They weren't sure. I remember Tannehill saying that he was, but it shouldn't even really matter. It should, though, because vaccinated players, well, it could. Vaccinated players can return earlier than unvaccinated players. But they're still going to be gone for a while.

If a vaccinated player goes on the COVID list on a Friday, they're missing the game either way. If on a Friday, yes, but if on a Monday they could come back. I would say that a vaccinated player is likely to miss one game. An unvaccinated player is more likely to miss two games. And then there's this, Dave. ESPN wrote an article about this yesterday because apparently the Players Association wants a lot more testing.

This is from ESPN. Between August 1st and August 21st, the league recorded 68 positive tests among all players and staff from 7,190 tests. Not a lot of positives, but approximately seven times as many unvaccinated players have tested positive as have vaccinated players per league data. Now that is eye-opening. I am not going to change any of my drafting because of it. But if you are inclined to, that number does stand out.

Seven times as many unvaccinated players have tested positive as vaccinated, and they are likely to miss more time. So I think that's what you need to know to make the decision that you're comfortable with. Thank you for the question, Alex. From Logan, grade the trade. Where's he from, by the way, Dave? Logan is from Windsor Mill, Maryland. Half PPR, 10 team, three receiver league. I gave up George Kittle, Deontay

Johnson, and Odell Beckham. I got DeAndre Hopkins and TJ Hawkinson. Kittle, DeAndre, and Beckham for Hopkins and Hawkinson. I like it. I think it's a win. It's an A. Getting Hopkins, I think Hopkins is a better receiver than DeAndre Johnson, as much as I like Johnson. And the upgrade of Johnson combined with Odell to get to Hopkins is better than the downgrade from Kittle to Hawkinson, which may not be much of a downgrade at all.

Okay, this is from Ryan in New Jersey. Dear Roy, Danny, Isaac, and Sam. This is easy. You don't know this? Roy, Danny. Isaac and Sam. Danny spelled D-A-N-I. Yeah.

Isaac and Sam. No, I don't know. Yeah, I have no idea. Apparently, it's Isaac and Sam. Danny spelled D-A-N-I. Yeah. Isaac and Sam. No, I don't know. Yeah, I have no idea. Apparently, it's Ted Lasso, which is at the top of my list, I promise people. I have the eighth pick in a half PPR league. I feel locked in with Aaron Jones in the first. I've been listening to Adam talk about the difference

between RB10 and wide receiver five, and I bought into this theory and was targeting Ridley or AJ Brown in round two. However, when I started thinking about my round three and four picks, I really don't like the running backs that will be available. They're like Gaskin and Sanders and Jacobs, et cetera. So how does RB five and RB 10 paired up with wide receiver 12 and wide receiver 15 compared to RB five and RB 18 compared with wide receiver 12 and wide receiver 15 compared to RB5 and RB18 compared with wide receiver 5 and wide receiver 15. All right, I'm going to make this easy for everybody.

This is a good question. What I've been saying is that our wide receiver 5, like Calvin Ridley, will typically crush RB10 in PPR scoring. Now, let's be clear. That's finish wide receiver 5 versus RB10 in PPR scoring. Now, let's be clear. That's finish wide receiver 5 versus RB10, not drafted wide receiver 5 versus RB10. That's a toss-up.

And is that on a per-game basis, or is that total points for the year? Well, it's total points, but it'd be the same. Okay. It'd be the same as a result. But you do bring up a good point. What if you don't like the running backs in rounds 3 and 4? But you do bring up a good point. What if you don't like the running backs in rounds three and four?

So are you better off going, who did he say he was taking in round one? Aaron Jones in round one. And Najee Harris, Mixon, Gibson, someone in that group for your favorite there in round two. And then taking two of the Cooper-Woods-Godwin group, maybe Lamb falls to you, or go running back-receiver, running back-receiver. You end up a little stronger at receiver. You get an elite guy,

but then your RB2 is somebody that you don't really like. So what would you do, Dave? I'm comfortable with the running backs in rounds one and two in my lineup. When I get to rounds three and four, yeah, I would cross my fingers and toes that Chris Carson would be there. Miles Gaskin will almost certainly be there in round three and probably in round four too. I'd be okay starting him as well. But there aren't a lot of running backs that I like, and I talk about it all the time. This is one of the things you have to do before you draft. If you're drafting this weekend, please do this.

Look at the running back rankings. I don't care whose rankings you look at. Cross a red line through any running back that you don't want to have to start as your RB2. The fewer running backs that you have on your list after you've crossed out names, the more likely you should take two running backs that you have on your list after you've crossed out names, the more likely you should take two running backs with two of your first three picks at the absolute most,

but maybe your first two picks, especially if you're not picking in slots one, two, three, or four, where by the time you get to late round two, a lot of those running backs that you might like could be gone. Here's a reason why I am still going to... It depends.

I really like Najee Harris, so I'd have trouble passing him up. The reason why I might favor getting an elite wide receiver, a top five guy, is I actually am fine with the running backs who are going to be available to me in a 12 team league with my fifth

and sixth picks. Here are the running backs, Dave, who are going 57th or later in these 30. Do you remember the ADP I used for Sonny Michel? Yeah, the last two days of drafts. Yeah, 30 drafts over the last two days. Miles Gaskin, 57th. Actually, the ADP is more like 60. So this guy was saying I might have to take Miles Gaskin around three or four.

You might be able to wait two full rounds before you have to take him. Kareem Hunt, I wouldn't take him there. Daryl Henderson, Chase Edmonds, Damian Harris, Trey Sermon. Hopefully you can get – if you can get Gaskin, there's a chance you can get Mike Davis. He's not that far ahead. He's going 56th overall. Javante Williams is also going 56th overall.

But between Javante Williams, Mike Davis, Miles Gaskin, Chase Edmonds, Daryl Henderson, and Kareem Hunt, if you're okay with one of them as your RB2, maybe you want to take two of them. That's another consideration for you if you like those guys. And that's the point.

I'm not going to fight with you over those running backs and whether or not they're worthy of being starters for you, but you're comfortable starting them. So that means that your list of running backs that you're happy to use in week one is long. And you could go after other positions with your first three picks, four picks. Right, and I'll tell you what,

it depends so much on your league scoring and on how many wide receivers you have to start basically but if you're in a three receiver ppr league that starts a flex as well you can get away with being a little weak at rb2 at least to start the season you know if you're loaded everywhere else it's you can get away with it i don't like but couldn't you also get away with going running back running back getting a couple of receivers right after maybe a tight end and another running back in rounds five and six and then find a couple of receivers that you like in the mid rounds like yeah maybe guys like cory davis and jacoby myers and marquez calloway turn into something where you can start them and you feel okay starting them and maybe they even over-deliver.

I think we're going to find a lot of receivers. We always do. Oh, yeah. We find receivers that can contribute to a fantasy team at worst as a number three option every year, every week of every year. The big difference for me between this year and last year is I really hate round four. In fact, I hate the last few picks of round three and into round four. I just hate it. Like I said earlier, you guys have really sold me on Robert Woods,

so I really like him as a pick there. I still like CeeDee Lamb. I guess I like Cooper too, but I just hate that spot. And I loved that spot in the draft last year, the sophomore wide receivers. Basically, Dave, I'm just resentful of the wide receiver position. I'm really pissed off at wide receiver. Too many great players on too few NFL teams, and it's kind of hurting the talent pool for fantasy. So that's impacted the and consequently

i i kind of like the the uh range i was talking about with running back late round five and into round six and i like the wide receivers that are going there too higgins and claypool and jamar chase uh you know so so so button yeah so basically make your make your rounds one and two picks count for me it's you know it's independent of three and four it's independent of what i'm going to get in three and four because i'm probably not going to love those picks anyway to be quite honest with you um i know that doesn't that might not be super helpful but i i'm not making my second round pick based on what's available to be, my third and fourth round picks. That's the point.

You still have elite players on the board in round two. I'm not sure. Some of them will emerge and be great, but I don't feel as confident in getting an elite player with my third and fourth round picks if I have a late pick in round three. So that's why I'm not going to be like, well, I'll take a running back here because I like the wide receivers better

in round three or four. That's what I was doing last year. like, well, I'll take a running back here. Cause I like the wide receivers better around three or four. That's what I was doing last year. I don't care about that as much this year. Cause just because I, I don't feel as confident in the round four wide receivers. Don't be afraid to try and trade out of those picks. If you feel the same way as Adam does, some leagues will let that happen.

And even if a commissioner says no trading during the draft, you could always sidle up next to somebody in your league and say, Hey, you take this guy for me. I'll take this guy for you. And when we did our league winners in each round, oh, that's not against the fantasy

rules at all. Give me a break. When we did our league winners in each round podcast, go back and listen to it. We talked about some rounds where we didn't love what was there, but when we got to rounds five and six, for example, we really liked the value there yeah okay guys here we go uh let's power through the rest of these emails

and this is from kyle 12 team ppr league start two running backs they don't have to start a tight end so i have the fifth pick i'm going to take an elite running back in the second round if i don't have to start a tight end is it crazy to take dar Darren Waller over A.J. Brown or Justin Jefferson? Yes. Yeah. Okay, from Zach. Tight ends really lose their appeal if you don't have to start one. Zach is from Newcastle, Australia.

We have a lot of Australian listeners, so that's great. I have the fifth pick in an upcoming draft. 2QB, full PPR league. Assuming the first four picks are Mahomes, McCaffrey, Josh Allen, and Dalvin Cook, who should I take fifth overall in my 2QB league? Kyler Murray or Kamara or Derek Henry or anyone else? It's 2QB, not super flex, right?

Correct. You have to start two quarterbacks. I would lean toward the quarterback. We're going to take a quick break on fantasy football today. When we come back, we are reading your Apple podcast questions. We'll be right back. Did you know 66% of utility damage is caused by not requesting a locate? Don't let your project become part of this statistic.

A quick locate request can save you from unexpected downtime financial penalties and keep you safe don't let avoidable damage cost you time and money click before you dig ensure your next project is safe visit ontarioonecall.ca it's free it's easy it's the law data sourced from the orcga 2023 Dirt Report this first Apple podcast question comes to us from Sergio Sergio donated to St. Jude for this question

so that is great awesome thank you Sergio 10 team PPR league it's a salary cap draft with a $200 budget what signs or results do the team teams look for

in terms of building and implementing strategies or build or I think it does the team does our team look for the FFT team? Do they have a plan A, spend big at running back, a plan B, spend big on Kelsey, a plan C, studs and duds beforehand? Do they just wait and see who the first value is that falls into one of these plans and then go for it? How aggressive or passive are they? What is your salary cap

strategy basically? So the first thing that I like to do before going into a salary cap draft is making tiers and obviously my tiers are posted on cbssports.com every week during the preseason you could certainly print those out and lift them and scratch out my name and put your name on them or you can start with that as a baseline and then adjust them on how you feel about certain players maybe you're not sold on jerry judy you'd want to move them down a couple of tiers as an example, but have those tiers ready to go because that will help you kind of give a good price valuation on players that go around other players in the same tier. For example, I was in a salary cap draft. It was a $200 budget. Christian McCaffrey went off at 62. He's obviously going to be in the top tier. Dalvin Cook went for like 55,

something like that. And so after those two guys went, I had a pretty good idea of what a fair value was for Alvin Kamara, Derek Henry, maybe Ezekiel as well. And so when they went off the board, they went right in line with everybody else. There was plenty of price enforcing, which I don't necessarily agree with, but people were doing that. The catch is if you're tiering before the draft and you also have an idea of how much you think is fair for each player in a given tier, and the bidding slows down before you get to that price, you should jump in there. Take a value there. And there is a way to consider it value.

I was in the salary cap draft years ago where Le'Veon Bell was still, remember Le'Veon Bell, Adam? Remember when he was actually like a good football player? I got him for 50. I think he might've been the first player nominated. And there wasn't price enforcing after that. It turned out to be a really good bargain because there were like six other running backs that went for more than Le'Veon Bell. And Bell was absolutely considered a top five consensus fantasy running back at the time. So if you trust your values, you trust your tiers, you should be able to get a good grip on what's a steal and what's not a steal within those first 30 nominations. The other rule that I love having in a salary cap draft is the 20-50 rule. Save 20% of your budget

for the last half of the nominations, 50% of the nominations. This is where you're going to get a lot of steals. People are going to overspend early on. If you can't find value, then don't worry about it. You will find value once you get to nomination 65, somebody like that. And there will be players left that you'll be excited about that you'll go after. And then there's the Eisenberg DST rule, which is when you're up for your first nomination, pick the DST you like the best if you use DSTs.

Nominate them for a buck. No one's going to bid two on them. Bang, you've got the DST you like with your first nomination. I cannot find the salary cap draft that we did not too long ago. Well, we're doing another one next week. Okay. So we'll talk about that. You had this particular

question. One quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, and a flex. $200 budget. Okay. So we'll talk about that. You have this particular question, one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, and a flex, $200 budget. There's a tight end in there too. Yeah, and a tight end. This is a 10-team league that only starts two wide receivers and one flex. This is a shallow league. You need to spend your butt off

and get as many studs as you can. I mean, that's a little bit of an exaggeration. You don't want to have total crap. You don't want to have many studs as you can. I mean, that's a little bit of an exaggeration. You don't want to have total crap. You don't have three studs and total crap. You need to go studs and duds to a degree because there won't be any duds. Every single player in the starting lineup for every team is going to be pretty good. This is a shallow ass league.

You need to spend big. You need to get you. I'm sorry. I'm just fired up. You need to be very aggressive in this league. All right, let's go from Jay. Don't go crazy, Adam. You're saying that he's got to go and spend.

He shouldn't spend like 80 on Christian McCaffrey or something like that. He could. It's got to be within reason. No, because you're giving up too much of an edge to the rest of your league if you do that. I mean, he's probably going to go for what? 70. You. OK, I'm what? 70. You. OK, I'm saying you should.

You should have. If I if I were in a 10 team league this small that only started two wide receivers and it was full PPR, I would set out to have three top 15 players. I or two top five players, something like that. I would try to get two absolute studs. And then my third best player would probably be a top 30 player. Still really good. Your third best player will be Ramondre Stevenson. No, it won't.

No, you'll be fine. There'll be plenty of great bargains. You'll be able to get plenty of bargains. Okay. From Jay Battinger, Dynasty Trade, Grade the Trade. I traded Rashad Penny, Jarvis Landry, next year's third-round pick. Oh, man. Who did you give up a lot?

For Trey Sermon and Marquez Calloway. Oh, my God. That's an A+. Hold on. Somebody, who is this, Jay Battinger? Yeah. He really needed to email us this? It's a brag.

I wonder what the fantasy guys, this is bragging. Yeah. It's a brand. Really? I wonder what the fantasy guys with he's Brad. This is bragging. Yeah, I'm going to give up. I'm going to give up a running back with one good knee and one good hand who's hurt again and a receiver who's 40 years old and a pick that won't matter next year for one of the hottest rookie running backs and the hottest young receivers in the league. Okay. Okay. Nice job.

J.B. From Keelan 13. How come we never get deals like this hey man you you have the opportunity today to pick up jd mckissick for james winston and you turned it down so maybe you do get some amazing offers but i never do dave i've been a little verbose today so i don't want to make sure we have time for idp keelan 13. That's Adam's way of telling me to shut up. No, that's my way of telling me to shut up. 12-team league PPR. I have Montgomery and Camara, McLaurin, Cup, Higgins.

And I just got offered Jonathan Taylor and Brandon Ayuk for Camara. Interesting. Would you do it? I think I would. As much as I like Camara and I would draft Camara ahead of Taylor, no problem. But getting Ayuk as a little bonus on top of it, I don't mind it. think I would as much as I like Camara and I would draft Camara ahead of Taylor no problem but getting IU as a little bonus on top of it I don't mind it I think that's a good deal this is from

Ryan super flex dynasty league I'm set at quarterback and wide receiver but I'm weak at running back should I try to move my third QB Zach best quarterback in New York Wilson oh I'm glad you agree because you read it well Josh Allen's than him, but if you want to say best quarterback in New Jersey, it's probably true. Should I trade Zach Wilson for running back help or should I hold and wait for possible breakouts? Or no, I'm sorry. Should I hold and wait until Zach Wilson breaks out?

His starting quarterbacks are... Dak and Kyler. So he's using zach wilson as long as those guys are healthy and it's a dynasty league i unless a good offer comes along you're not going to get a great offer for him now so no don't trade now wait for him to break out and then start fielding offers this is from core you'll get tony jones well i mean i don't understand you should be open oh it's super flex i'm sorry it's mean, I don't understand. You should be open. Oh, it's Superflex. I'm sorry. It's Superflex.

I was going to say you should be open to trading one of the other guys, but, you know. Well, he could. You could still trade Dak and Kyler. I think he'd get something amazing for one of them. Yeah, you trade Dak and Kyler, or you trade Kyler, whoever you want, for Aaron Rodgers and a running back.

You downgrade a little bit. There you go. That's a good idea. Core2186. I'm looking for help on how to structure payouts for a 12-team league with a $50 buy-in all while incentivizing the bottom half of the league that don't make the playoffs.

First thought was first place, second place of course. How do you do the payouts? $600 total. Try to avoid people just giving up, I guess. Well, I certainly don't want

to reward people for finishing in last place with money, but I wouldn't mind rewarding them with draft picks. What if the team that finishes in last gets the number one pick the following year? How are you rewarding them? Does that discourage trying though?

I got an idea. Purpose you're trying to lose. I have an idea. What's that? Do a consolation bracket. And, but you can't do that during the regular season. No,

you do it during the playoffs. I guess. Right. But that we do that in our keeper league and that's fine. But I think this guy's worried about teams. A manager gets to week seven, and his team is one and six, and he goes, screw it, I'm going to mow my lawn on Sunday. If you're not willing to increase the buy-in, then that's a problem.

But if you are willing to put more money in the pot, then I do see a lot of leagues give a weekly prize to the highest scorer. So that's a way to make it happen. Or just find people who care about their leagues and want to do good and are competitive. Yeah. Or if you see teams that aren't setting their lineups, then you can put a bylaw in like, hey, if you give up, if you don't set your lineup, if you drop players that shouldn't be dropped, that kind of stuff that you're either out of the league next year or you have to put more money in or something like that there you

go that's not bad how about a penalty for not sending a lot 20 bucks from rick in richmond first year we have one defensive utility player what's the best strategy for selection of a high scoring player look for a linebacker that gets a lot of tackles, especially if you're only starting one defensive player, do not spend a valuable pick on that one player. Round eight at the absolute earliest for somebody like Darius Leonard. Are there 12 players you think that are good enough where you don't really have to invest heavily in this spot?

No. No? No. I mean, Gary Davenport the idp master would probably laugh at me for saying no but i just i really believe that you can find a good idp player off the waiver if i'm in a league where we start uh two five eight nine idps every week and i still find good idp players on the waiver wire every week yeah but that's different because a good idp player on this waiver wire doesn't have to be

very good you know because there are so many idps if you're in a league that only starts 12 total idps of the entire league one per team your standards have to be a little bit higher obviously you're gonna find somebody that you'll say, okay, I can start. You could literally stream the position if you want. But how much of an edge does Darius Leonard give you? Well, it's theoretically somebody that you never have to

replace in your lineup, and that's a good thing. So less work that has to be done. But I don't know if he's necessarily going to give you a huge edge. I don't know if it's like a Travis Kelsey-ish type of edge. It's a good edge, but not the best.

Eric, 10 team, two quarterback league. I've been playing in this league for 10 plus years. I know my league mates and my tendencies. We've never drafted like a true 2QB league. Knowing this, would you guys prefer a team that had Kyler and Brady?

Okay. Kyler and Brady at quarterback. Zeke and Carson at running back. Metcalf and Woods at wide receiver. And Tyler Higby. So very strong. This is a good team. Or Tannehill and Brady instead of Kyler and Brady.

Oh, okay. I don't even have to read the running backs and receivers. Ready, Dave? I'm going to simplify this. Please do. Kyler, Brady, and Higby or Tannehill, Brady, and Kelsey? Yeah, I'm going to go with Tannehill, Brady, Kelsey. Yeah.

From CJ Chips. Mahalo. Question. Who is the handcuff for McCaffrey? Or he says the insurance policy for McCaffrey. It appears to be Chuba Hubbard, the rookie that they drafted on day three. From Mother Shabubu. It was, yeah.

Mother Shabubu says, dear, that's a Simpsons thing. I don't remember the episode. Dear, says, okay, sorry. 10-team PPR league, $200 draft budget. Start two wide receivers, start two flex though. What is your maximum bid for Christian McCaffrey? If it's relevant, I'm keeping Diggs and Gibson for a combined

$27. In that, there's going to be a lot of players kept for value, so I'm sure McCaffrey's going to go for a lot of money. It's 10 teams, Dave. How much would you bid on McCaffrey? I'd probably go

right around $60. No, $200 budget. I said it, $60. Are you kidding? What's wrong with that? Well, first of all, McCaffrey is worth more than 30% of a budget. Secondly, it's a 10-team league.

We literally just had a conversation about this. Yes, but now we have this other thing where he's already got Gibson and Diggs for $27, which couldn't happen in a redraft league. Let other people spend their money. Dude, spend whatever the hell you want. Spend up to $90 on Christian McCaffrey. I've got to get you in our salary cap draft.

I'm telling you, man, this is a 10-team league. The waiver wire throughout the year is going to be loaded. So why not get studs? If you get McCaffrey, you have McCaffrey, Gibson, and Diggs for $127. throughout the year is going to be loaded. So why not get studs? If you get McCaffrey, you have McCaffrey, Gibson and digs for $127, which you'd be fine with.

I mean, but it could be a lot less. You might be able to get nausea, for example, for like 45. And then you've got, and I know nausea is not the same as Christian. Don't get me wrong, but you're saving a lot more money that you can spend on other players,

but you don't need to, you want to have a loaded roster. Do you want to have a loaded roster? Do you want to have three players and a bunch of okay guys? I want to have as many studs as I can, and then I'll figure, I'll take T. Higgins, Chase Claypool, and Jamar Chase, that range, and Chase Edmonds, and Miles Gaskin. It sounds great, Adam, but there's other people in the league that will have more money than you that will spend on those players,

and you won't get them. That's fine. There's still a deep enough player pool in a 10-team league. And I already have Diggs and Gibson. Let's talk IDP, Dave. Okay. All right. So our IDP league is so different.

We probably shouldn't spend a ton of time on it because we start nine defensive players yes we do and that really hurts the value i think of the idps personally not to mention the highest scoring idp last year scored the same amount of points as todd girley so when i saw that i naturally were tackles count yeah So when I saw that, I said, that's only where tackles count. Yeah. And when I saw that, I said, why am I going to stay overspend on IDPs?

I'd rather just build out my offensive roster, but, but all right. Who are some of the players we need to know? Let's start with that. But you can make, we'll talk strategy in a little bit, but give me the bet.

Let's start on the defensive line. And remember, when you talk about a guy like Chase Young or a Bosa, you have to check if that player is eligible on the defensive line or as a linebacker. Right. Makes a huge difference because defensive line is a shallow position, whereas linebacker, you got a whole bunch of guys who get a ton of tackles so it's much deeper but um who are the defensive linemen that that really stand out chase young joey bosa nick bosa miles garrett um aaron donald gets enough numbers i think you can

make the case for hunter in minnesota um and i'm just going down our draft order in our IDP draft as well. Montez Sweat was a round 12 pick. But none of these guys were taken. Chase Young was taken in round six, and he was the first one. No, he was the first lineman, yeah. He was the first defensive lineman,

not the first IDP. I believe he was the second IDP. Correct. Heath took the first IDP. After Darius Leonard. Dariusard in round five and i said earlier that he didn't do that much but that was that was an exception for heath he had around five idp and then after that i'll tell you when his next one was but go ahead

the point is is that there aren't a lot of defensive linemen that you're gonna want to draft early it's very thin at the top because there aren't a lot of defensive linemen that you're going to want to draft early. It's very thin at the top because there aren't a lot of defensive linemen that get lots of tackles, plus everything else that makes a defensive lineman great, like sacks and forced fumbles and stuff like that. So there aren't a ton of opportunities for defensive linemen to make plays for fantasy purposes. They do it all the time in the NFL, unless you're in a league that somehow rewards pressures, for example, because a good defensive lineman pressures the quarterback one out of every two or three plays that they actually have on pass plays, I should say. took miles garrett i think it was round eight when i got him uh in ours no i'm sorry mid-round seven miles garrett on my team and that's just because i started to see a couple of idps go off the board and i went i want to have at least one good defensive lineman so i went with mg and uh feel fine about it i guess i like the rest of my team around it but you can always find a defensive

lineman that might be able to get you in in leagues where tackles count, maybe six points a week. That would be okay. Better than two or three. Yeah, this is a position that I usually care about in drafts. I usually want one in this league. This is the only IDP league I play in, but I usually do try to get an Aaron Donald or something like that. It did not work out for me.

I took Jadeveon Clowney, who's got a chance as now a number two defensive end, not getting double teamed in Cleveland to put up some sack numbers. And all of my IDPs, they were some of my last pick. Eight of my nine IDPs were my last eight picks.

I also don't hate that. Romeo Okwara in this league. Yeah. If it were a shallower league without that many IDP, I would have gone a little earlier because they just make more of a difference percentage-wise in terms of your points. But anyway, Romeo Okwara had 10 sacks last year or something, but he's on the Lions.

He's now going to be playing linebacker. So I think there's a chance that Okwara is kind of a sleeper. Nobody seems to like him. He could get some sacks. He's going to be a pass-rushing linebacker, but maybe he gets a lot more tackles this year too, so deep sleeper. Only take him in a deep IDP league.

All right, how about linebacker? That's a position that I think you can get more production from because a good linebacker will find over 100 tackles over the course of the year, and a lot of these linebackers will also contribute with sacks, passes, defense, interceptions,

force fumbles. So that's the position that I think you can probably get some good ground on. And Leonard is obviously the superstar of the position. He's been so good for fantasy for so long. Devin white in Tampa Bay is another one. I've got him on my dynasty league team. I can tell you firsthand, he's awesome. He brings the points every week.

Blake Martinez, who's a little banged up right now for the Giants. He always gets a lot of tackles. Roquan Smith in Chicago has been playing better. Bobby Wagner in Seattle has been a staple. Eric Hendricks in Minnesota. Fred Warner in San Francisco. Awesome IDP. You should definitely target him before round 10.

And there's a lot of other guys that are out there that have some potential. There's Tremaine Edwins in Buffalo. Steelers just traded for Joe Showbert. I'm hoping he plays enough to get those tackle numbers. I think it's bad for Devin Bush that he's there. Patrick Queen in Baltimore was one that I drafted in round 11. I think he could end up being very good huge potential this year i agree so i i think what you might be able to do is just before your idp draft this will take some work uh there's a website called our lads.com

they have free depth charts and you can also sort by position look at the middle linebackers on each team maybe even print out the page they've got first second third at the middle linebackers on each team, maybe even print out the page. They've got first, second, third team, fourth team linebackers for each team, and they can put it all on one page. And then also look at strong side linebackers, weak side linebackers. Find the guys that have consistently put up a lot of tackles from year to year. If you're in an IDP league on cbssports.com, you can research that by going to the stats page and searching by linebackers to see what they've done. And you'll get an idea of what kind of linebackers are going to be popular first and the ones whose names you don't really recognize those are the ones who might be a value later on one such name for me was christian kirksey who's always been a pretty decent tackle producer and now he's in

houston that's a team that's probably going to take on a lot of running over the course of the year because they're playing from behind. I want to warn you about a potential bust. Jalen Smith for the Cowboys. What is going on there? But he might not be an every down player. He was a liability last year. They really like Leighton Van Der Escher.

They're moving to the outside. He was once an IDP stud. So that's a guy that I drafted with one of my last picks. But it's possible that Jalen Smith of the Cowboys is not going to be an every-down player. And I don't even know if he's going to be a starter. I'm not sure. At least, you know, maybe later on in the year.

So there seems to be a little bit of negative buzz coming on. And they seem to like, oh, they have Micah Parsons. So I don't know. Did he get drafted? He must have, right? In our league? Absolutely. Yeah, okay. He was a, oh, right? In our league? Absolutely. Yeah.

Okay. He was a, oh, he was a ninth round pick. Okay. I didn't realize Parsons was going so early. It's a little bit risky. Like Bobby Wagner went, and then the next pick was Micah Parsons, who's a rookie linebacker. So I would much rather have Bobby Wagner. Parsons went ahead of Eric Kendricks, too. A little bit risky to take rookies in this draft.

For example, if you took Isaiah Simmons last year, you probably weren't that happy. Then again, I did take Zayven Collins, first round pick of the Cardinals as my first IDP in round 14. Defensive backs. These are players that don't necessarily get a lot of sacks.

The safeties are the ones that get a lot of tackles. Usually, sometimes there are some cornerbacks that are thrown at enough where they can contribute a good amount of tackles and plenty of passes defense. Obviously, safeties get some passes defense and interceptions as well. Not that he's the best one in the group, but I've always had Minka Fitzpatrick on my IDP teams, and he's come through. Harrison Smith has been a good veteran.

These aren't the obvious names, but there are certainly some good names that could help you out along the way in our draft who are some of the first ones taken i'm going to look it up for you uh the first one was jamal adams in seattle yeah that's a that's a that's a great one and he's very unique he's kind of a unicorn for the position because they do use him as an edge rusher sometimes on top of covering stud tight ends playing the deep field he can kind of do it all so that's somebody who i think yeah definitely makes sense buda baker could do the same thing derwin james is back for the chargers hopefully he plays all year uh he's got the chance to be a great playmaker at safety we've seen it from him before in the past uh jordan poyer and buffalo

marlon humphrey and baltimore is one of those cornerbacks that get a lot of tackles, and he gets a lot of other stats on top of it. Jeremy Chin in Carolina. Jeremy Chin's a linebacker, though. I don't know if you can use him as both. I don't know. Our site might let you use him as a linebacker or a defensive back. Okay. On our site, he's a linebacker.

Or at least in this draft, he was taken as a linebacker. Let me see. Because I can click on his name, and it'll tell me when i pull it up what positions he's eligible at and uh yeah he is eligible at defensive back okay so that's a good one he would absolutely be and linebacker right you can use them as both which is kind of cool that's kind of a fantasy baseball twist that you can have with idps is that some guys can be dual eligible yeah um so So I guess in summary, I would say this. This isn't the only IDP league I'm in. I think this is my fifth year in it.

I had never done an IDP league before. It's so helpful to have the experience and to know how much they matter. I had determined they don't really matter that much because especially at defensive back, it is so easy to find any cornerback that could just get, you know, in our league,

like seven points and just be fine. They're so interchangeable. Most of the cornerbacks. So, but that means in a shallower IDP league, since there are just a few standouts at each position, defensive line, linebacker and defensive back,

then you want to invest a little bit more, but we have so many that it almost just feels pointless to me. I don't even love the way we do it. But know the depth of your league, know the scoring. This is the other problem with giving you tips on IDP. The scoring is so different in so many leagues. And yeah, I guess I would say that this might seem counterintuitive, but the fewer IDP spots you have, to me, the more important IDP is. IDPs are. That's how I view it.

And yeah. And also the fewer offensive spots that you would have. It's how much of a percentage of your fantasy points does each defensive player account for? Because they're not going to score. Most of them aren't going to score as many points as your offensive players. Again, you got to check your scoring,

but I hope that helps. Dave, any final thoughts? Take advantage of those in your league that draft heavily on IDPs early on and expect to get some decent values once you get to the middle rounds. And just like offensive players, some of them are busts, right?

I mean... Yeah, it happens. Like Aaron Donald just happened to not get to the quarterback last year. And I had him last year. He wasn't nearly as good as he was the year before. So that's the other thing. It's like imagine... Some of last year, he wasn't nearly as good as he was the year before. So that's the other thing. It's like, imagine, some of them are busts. So you just don't want to take, you just don't want to take them too early when you're passing up offensive players that could make a, that could have a

really big impact on your team. And then you look later and you go, wow, I like my IDPs, but gosh, my, the rest of my team's not that good. And I have no depth. All right. There you go, everybody. That's our IDP preview. Happy to answer any questions if you want to send some emails or some tweets. And thanks a lot to everybody for listening. I apologize I didn't get to read as many of the questions as I wanted to, but I hope you enjoy your weekend and some Jameis Winston in your life, and we will talk to you on Monday with a fresh episode of Fantasy Football Today.