Fantasy Football Today - Mock Draft Review! Plus a lot of Rookie Buzz (08/17 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: August 17, 2020

Before we review our mock draft, we wonder what the best draft slot is. Do you want a Top 6 pick? Or is it better to lock up two stud RBs with picks 7-12? Then we've got a lot of news to run through (10:00) with Melvin Gordon struggling with altitude, A.J. Dillon and Jonathan Taylor looking gigantic, Clyde Edwards-Helaire running with the starters and much more. And find out the other rookies who are turning heads (17:15) like Brandon Aiyuk ... Let's look at our 0.5 PPR mock draft! We tried some new strategies and we'll discuss what worked and what didn't. First of all, why did Jamey take Edwards-Helaire ahead of Michael Thomas (19:40)? And why did Derrick Henry make it to Round 2 (21:50)? ... We analyze Dave's team (27:30) beginning with his third round pick of Patrick Mahomes and how that shaped his roster. Did he regret taking Mahomes 25th overall? Then we shift to Adam's team (35:00) as he made it a point to establish RB depth early while still getting a potentially elite QB. Finally, Jamey's team (40:40) looks great with guys like Aaron Jones and Mike Evans. Let's just hope his starting QB doesn't stink! ... Your emails at [e-mail] 'Fantasy Football Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Follow the new FFT Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/FFToday Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @YardsPerGretch, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCviK78rIWXhZdFzJ1Woi7Fg/videos Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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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. I'll 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 Ben. Welcome to a Sunday night slash Monday morning edition of Fantasy Football Today. Adam, Dave, and Jamie here. Dave, how many Sundays? We're getting really close, huh?

Four Sundays to go, gentlemen. Woo! Four Sundays. Which is how many Sundays I had today, by the way. It was delicious. Design your ice cream sundae. What does it look like? Hot fudge brownie at the bottom.

We're going to have chocolate soft serve on top, drizzled with hot fudge and a Diet Coke. What are the ice cream flavors, though? No, just chocolate soft serve. Chocolate soft serve, that's it? Yeah, that's it. What the hell? Wow, you had four of those?

I wouldn't even want four of those. No, no, no. That was just one of the four. Okay. One had banana in it. One had Kahlua. Jamie, what was the most delicious part of your weekend? The most delicious part of my weekend?

I got something that really was delicious, but you asked Jamie, not me. The most delicious? We had good chocolate babka really oh babka is so good wow shraggy b likes babka schrager knows what babka is but oh yeah but he doesn't know the seinfeld reference i guarantee that no no idea yeah he has no idea what yoda is but he knows what babka is okay all right guys we got a half PPR draft to review here. And a lot of news.

A lot of news. Melvin Gordon struggling with the altitude. Jonathan Taylor and A.J. Dillon are big. That's the news of the weekend. They are big people. We got a handcuff potentially for Christian McCaffrey. I've got the, quote, the best shape of his life segment, which is just players who are getting rave reviews this time of year,

which is no surprise. And yeah, that draft plus your emails at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. I want to start with a lukewarm take. Lukewarm take at the start of the show. As we've been doing these mock drafts, I don't really know if I want picks two through six. I kind of feel like I like later picks. That's my lukewarm take.

Jamie, what is your reaction to that? That's stupid. That's not surprising coming from you. Wait a minute. So you're okay with first overall? Yeah. Second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, no go. You don't want them. Because I never get a good number two running back. I've had an early pick

almost every mock draft we do. And I'm so at one either. So what's the, yeah, because, because McCaffrey, like he's a hundred catches. It's just,

I'll take it. Uh, I, I can't stand not having a number two running back that I love. It just bothers me so much. I could never get one. What I have an early thing. Once you get past,

uh, Mr. Bridge, Aaron Jones, who's the guy that you like? My next running back would be Connor or Carson. So take them in round three. No. Oh, in round three?

In round three, I might. But I usually like the wide receivers better there. Don't you? There's probably more wide receivers that would be there for you in round three than round two. And so let's just say that Connor and Carson are the only two number two running backs that you'd be happy with. But there's a list of five or six wide receivers that you would take in round two, and some of them will make it back to you in round three. But you just take the running back first.

Like in this draft, you took Juju. That's the great spot for him. Godwin was one pick ahead. He may slip. We take DJ Moore sooner than most people. DJ Moore most likely will be there at one of the two spots. You got Hopkins, who Dave took right after you. He's going to be in that range too.

Before you go on, I had the second pick. I took Barkley. Right. He took Barkley. Yeah, I took Barkley one. I don't know. You were referencing the draft. I had the second pick and I just it happens every time like the receivers that were there for you um you know that's the uh that's the range for for those guys so I wouldn't pass on one of

them but I think you and right after you took Kenny Galladay in round three James Conner went so right who would you take would you've gone so. That's the decision you have to make, right? I took Barkley with the first pick, and then I took Juju with my second pick. That's 23rd overall. Dave took Hopkins and Mahomes, and then I took Kenny Galladay. But yeah,

Connor and Carson were the next two running backs off the board. They were there. What would you guys have done? Would you have taken Kenny Galladay? This was half PPR. Or would you have taken Connor or any running back that was available at that point? I would have taken Connor.

I would have taken the receiver. I almost took Connor ahead of my homes, but I wanted to see what my team would look like with McCaffrey and my homes on it. And just to see if I would actually like it taking the first quarterback off the board. I think, yeah,

I was, I was going to take my homes if he, cause Dave had the first pick out the second week. I, yeah, I was going to take Mahomes because Dave had the first pick out of the second pick. I was going to take Mahomes in the third round. I didn't think Dave was going to take him in the second round, but he did. But man, like I said, round three has been a really bad spot in drafts

for running backs. It just seems like every year, there's just a lot of busts there. Let's see, last year was Aaron Jones, Devontae Freeman, Kerryon Johnson, David Montgomery, Josh Jacobs, Sonny Michel. These are round three picks. The year before that, Jarek McKinnon, can't fault that. LeSean McCoy, horrible.

Alex Collins, terrible. Royce Freeman, even worse than Alex Collins. And Kenyon Drake was okay. Go back to last year. What were the guys again? Two of them were good. This is according to last year. What were the guys again? This is a two of them were good. This is according to fantasy football. Two out of six.

Aaron Jones was, was great. Josh Jacobs finished his RB 16, 17. And then Devante Freeman was okay. Carry on Johnson, David Montgomery, Sonny Michelle,

but they're not as good as the wide receiver, you know, the wide receivers. I get, well, you know what I'm saying? But anyway, this year are going to be bad. Connor, Carson, Gurley, Gordon. Those are going to be the four we see in round three, every draft. Right. What do you think about that group? I mean, you can see the red flags for all of them. I mean, Connor's had a hard time staying healthy. Gurley is already limping through the locker room. Melvin Gordon can't breathe in Denver

and has a pretty good backup to him in Phillip Lindsay. And Chris Carson, you know, the Seahawks can screw with him by using Carlos Hyde. Thankfully, he's back, you know, after the personal issue that he was dealing with. But if they, you know, play a little bit more up-tempo, plus he's, you know, not been able to finish two of four seasons in his career.

Yeah, well. So, okay, somebody says to you, you can have any spot in the drafts where are you taking where you going four through six one through six you said jamie no two through six just because you hate it who wants mcafree i want mcafree i'll take one i'll sacrifice for mcafree i actually like the back end a little bit better you know think you lock up two of those running backs. It's pretty easy to do. That's what I was saying. That's exactly what I was saying. It's not that I dislike two through six.

If given the choice, I would have no problem picking in the back end. But I like picking two through six also. Because, I mean, look, you came away with Saquon Barkley, Jujutsu Kishisui, Kenny Galladay. That's a pretty awesome start. Yeah. And we'll talk about the rest of my team

a little bit later. But I just thought it was funny. We spent about six minutes kind of teasing me and then agreeing with me at the end, I think. At least Jamie did. I'll take.

And now I'm choking. All right. Oh my God. You choked on your bad take. Sports are back. And the Stitcher app is one of the best platforms to consume sports podcasts. They even have a new collection on their homepage

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They've been a great partner of ours. We're very thankful to be on there, popular on there. For all of you listening on Stitcher, thank you so much. It's a great way to hear some shows. We're mock drafting Tuesday night, 7 p.m. Eastern on Twitch with Adam Rank. He's joining us, another great fantasy analyst. And we're giving away eight spots in our Twitchner. In our Twitchner?

How about our Twitch Listeners League to subscribers? Twitch.com slash FF today. I think we just came up with a name for the league. Twitchners. Love it. All right. Okay. By the way, we're back to CBS Sports HQ. Full hour of fantasy football today, noon Eastern, Monday through Friday.

Wow. Monday through Friday. Wow. Monday through Friday. Wow. This has been a horrible start to the show. Can I tell you why? Do you want to take over? Can I tell you what's going on right now? I forgot to put the air conditioning on,

and I'm here for another 50 minutes, and I... How do you forget to put air conditioning on? It is so well-drained. You go put your air conditioning on. I'll tell everybody what we're doing on HQ. All right. I appreciate that. All right. I'll all right so here's what we have on hq this week we're uh we're doing a little buy or sell on monday and we're going to be joined by aaron reese of the athletic to talk about the texans to give us the lowdown on those receivers

tuesday through friday we're going to go through uh all of the draft spots that you are going to want to pick from so we'll tease adam a little bit by saying he does not want picks two through six. And we're going to be joined by four writers, four reporters who cover the AFC North. Our buddy Nathan Zagura is going to join us to talk about the Browns. Mark Cobbley is going to join us to talk about the Steelers. Jeff Zeribiak is going to join us to talk about the Ravens. And who am I forgetting? Tyler Dragon is going to join us to talk about the Bengals.

So we're going to get you all the insights you need. These interviews have been absolutely fantastic. And I'm sorry that Adam doesn't let me talk about them on the podcast because they've been very, very insightful. I don't have to let you talk about them. You talk about them no matter what. Let's get into news and notes. Thank you for that.

Make sure you're watching HQ. Melvin Gordon struggling with altitude. He's playing in Denver now. Pictures are servicing of Jonathan Taylor and A.J. Dillon, and we know they are massive people, very well built. Aaron Rodgers said this about Dillon, quote, it'll be exciting to see him get up to speed mentally. That's going to be his biggest hurdle,

especially with the guys in that room who have a pretty good comfort within the offense. But he's a big boy. How about their general manager, Brian Gunkus, comparing him to Eddie Lacy? That's not something people want to hear. Once upon a time that wasn't a bad thing. I'm in total agreement with you, but you hear that name and it's just like,

oh no. And Eddie Lacy, he was on our telethon last year. What a nice man that guy is. Meanwhile, Clyde Eberdulaer is getting first team reps and CBSSports.com was writing about this, and they had all 21 seasons of Andy Reid as a head coach, and his backfield splits.

Their conclusion was, in his 21 seasons as a head coach, Reid has used what could reasonably be described as a committee backfield only twice, in a season where his number one back stayed healthy. Once was last year. Once was last year. Once was 2003 between Brian Westbrook and Corral Buckhalter. Right. You know,

the Melvin Gordon thing, I saw it in the notes. I went and looked back at how he did in four career games at Denver just to get an idea of how much of an issue this could really be. Yeah, 110 total yards last year. But 20 carries, though. That's the important thing.

He wasn't tired. Yeah. His very first time playing there, 23 carries, 111 yards. Didn't have a lot of yards the second time, but he caught a touchdown. Third time, only had 13 touches, had 66 total yards. And then over 100 total last time. So good for fantasy, three out of the four years. Okay.

Well, so I gave you some running back notes on Gordon, on Taylor, on Dylan, on Edwards, Elair. Is there anything significant? By the way, can I just say how happy I am to be getting these dumb fluff stories right now? I miss this. There's a lack of football buzz. these dumb, fluff stories right now. I miss this. There's a lack of football buzz.

I think we're about to hit it. I think it's just delayed this year. And I know that these stories are going to come out. Oh, the rookies are great. We love them. The new addition is great. Unless you're DeAndre Swift. Yeah, right.

It's always telling the ones who you don't hear enough about. You almost wonder, well, are they trying to keep him a secret? Because it'd be weird to keep him a secret. Or is there something wrong? So what's standing out to you guys? Anything major? I'll say this all the time. And this is something that I fall victim to. It's the things that you want affirmation of what you believe in. So if you hear something like Josh Jacobs, I I think is going to be more involved in the passing

game. He comes out and says, he's going to catch 60 passes. I know that's not realistic, but now it makes me more encouraged that you can get the 30 or maybe 40, you know? So if, if that's the, the, the takeaway, um, that's, that's encouraging, you know, if you're in the camp of Deshaun Jackson is going to be the best Eagles wide receiver. And you hear that he's looking as fast as ever. You're going to be excited about that. You know, conversely, you know, like if you know, Dave may not be happy about that because he's Jalen Rager guy, you know? So I like both of those guys, but what I'm saying is, you know, like, I know you're excited about Rager, you know,

not that you're not excited about Deshaun, but like Brandon, I, you, you know, okay. Yeah. He gets a chance to have a big opportunity and, and Kyle Shanahan is saying he's, he's further ahead than any rookie he's ever seen, you know? So now it's okay. Now that's a guy you get excited about because there's a chance there. So it's, it's those types of things I think is what you look at. You know, not necessarily the, the beat reporter stuff because those guys are making guesses and they're

trying to get, you know, stories out there, which we appreciate clearly, but you know, those are the things I think you got to be a little bit more weird, more leery of, as opposed to, you know, maybe what the coach is saying. There's two other things I'd bring up. Number one, I, and this is what I love, Adam. I love going through Twitter and seeing the video highlights of players. And so it's football players doing football things. Like there was a run, the Vikings posted a run by their fullback.

C.J. Hamm has a big run. Now I know I'm not going to tell people, oh, this means that C.J. Hamm is going to be a big-time part of the Minnesota offense. Go draft him with your last pick. But it just looks like pro football, and it's cool to see. Like there's a whole DK Metcalf thing that circulated on Sunday where somebody said that he burned a defensive back and there were former NFL cornerbacks that said, nah, he didn't burn them. They're just practicing. It's not a big deal. So you watch

it and you enjoy it, but it shouldn't really impact your opinion of a player. The thing, the second thing that I was going to say is anytime there's news that comes out, that's a little bit surprising. I always take notice of, and a case in point is that Edwards Hilaire apparently didn't practice. He dressed, but he didn't practice on Sunday. Guess who was the first running back?

The first team running back for Kansas city. Deontay Thompson. No, I don't know who that is. I don't know who Deontay Thompson. Darwin Thompson made up some Darwin Thompson. So no, itpson no it was it was actually a wide receiver yeah but he's not a running back on the chiefs uh yeah daryl

williams was the first guy up not deandre washington not darwin thompson not deontay thompson not deontay johnson uh so that was interesting like things that i didn't know and never really consider when it comes out i'm like oh that definitely interesting. And maybe something to just file away for later. But one person was like tweeting me saying, that's it. That's the handcuff. If I get Edward Zolaire, I'm drafting Darryl Williams, Darrell Williams, whichever, however you pronounce it. Darryl Deontay.

Thank you. But actually the 49ers news that I found interesting was that Kyle Shanahan is not ruling out Debo Samuel for week one, but he would be surprised if Samuel played, but like you might be looking at a one to two week absence. And in the draft that we're going to review, Jamie took Debo Samuel in the 10th round. So he's becoming quite a bargain here.

Um, Chris Herndon's getting a little love. Sam Darnold's getting a little love. Uh, my Matt rule, the new head coach of the Panthers, really likes Mike Davis, apparently. That might be the backup to Christian McCaffrey if you are so inclined. That's an example of something that you may not have known.

You knew that he was there and Reggie Bonifant is there and they might split up the work if McCaffrey gets lost in traffic or something like that. But maybe this means maybe this is something to file away that Mike Davis could be the guy that would get the first opportunity in that offense. Darrington Evans fumbled twice on Sunday. That's never good for a rookie or for anyone. He fumbled twice in a, like, were they in full pads? Cause that's crazy.

If you're fumbling, just wearing a helmet, I don't think you can be in full pads yet. Right, right, right. Well, I don't think so can be in full pads yet, right? Right, right. Well, I don't think so. I think a lot of it starts on Monday. Okay. So that's kind of funny. That's not good.

Brian Edwards was ahead of Henry Ruggs in practice. We'll see. Right. Another example. What? That's in two receiver sets. It makes sense that they're going to play him in the slot. Mm-hmm.

Okay. Well, but wouldn't you want to have... Never mind. We're trying to get going here. It's the thing. These stories, these reports could change every day, so it's probably not worth getting too into it right now. Sonny Michel may not be ready for week one. We know that. Keep that in mind.

Then I have the best shape of his life, a.k.a. players getting rave reviews segment. LaVisca Chenault. This is what Gardner Minshew said to the Florida Times Union. LaVisca Chenault. This is what Gardner Minshew said to the Florida Times Union. LaVisca is a freak, man. I knew it when we played him at Colorado. He's a lot better route runner,

a lot better at catching the ball than I even expected. That's cool. CeeDee Lamb. He's interesting. Yeah, CeeDee Lamb's getting love. Brandon Ayuk's getting love. Bryce Love is getting love.

ESPN's John Kimes thinks, though, that Antonio Gibson could fill Darius Geis' role. Whoa. Yeah. He could fill Geis' role? Unless they had Geis just play it pegged as a passing downs guy, and AP was going to be the first and second down guy. Yeah, right. And

Benny Snell's lost weight. This is from Eddie Faulkner, the Steelers running backs coach to the Athletic. Yes, it's true. Benny looks better. He has done a lot of running. You can see the work he has put in. The exciting part about it is he did it while being away from us. So, you know, he had a focus on getting right and getting in the best shape that he can.

So I'm excited about Benny Snell. That is a guy that is passionate about a passionate and loves the game. He also talked about how Snell's a good pass protector and pass catcher. And that's interesting. Yeah. Again, something we didn't know to file away. If you get Connor,

maybe you draft Snell too. Maybe. Well, let's get into the mock draft then. And we'll finish the show with emails at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. This was a 12-team half PPR mock draft with three wide receivers and a flex. And looking at the last two seasons, the top players in this format are almost always running backs.

Two years ago, the top six players were running backs, not including quarterbacks. And last year, Michael Thomas was number two, but seven of the top eight players were running back. So as always, in any format, if you get that elite running back, that's the most valuable currency, I guess, in fantasy football. Okay. Did you guys have... Dave, you kind of experimented a little bit with having McCaffrey and Mahomes. You had the first pick. I had the second pick. I took a little bit of a different strategy, went a little more running back heavy early to see how I liked it.omes, you had the first pick. I had the second pick. I took a little bit of a different strategy, went a little more running back heavy early to see how I liked it. Jamie, you had, what, the seventh pick?

Sixth. Sixth pick. And you took Clyde Edwards-Elair over Michael Thomas. That was the first pick that really jumped out at me. I like it. So why don't we start with that? Why don't we start with round one? McCaffrey, Barkley, Kamara, Zeke, Cook,

Clyde Edwards, Z-Lair to Jamie, Michael Thomas, Devante Adams, Joe Mixon to Ben Schrager, who put together a very nice team, Miles Sanders, Julio Jones, and Tyreek Hill. Pretty normal round one, but I do think that the Clyde Edwards, Z-Lair over Michael Thomas pick

and over Joe Mixon and Miles Sanders is the most interesting one. Jamie, what was your thought process? Oh, I mean, I think Edwards-Hilaire, I'm going to struggle with Edwards-Hilaire at five over Dalvin Cook, potentially at some point in the next couple of weeks, just because I think he has the chance to be so special.

So to take him at six is easy for me. Easy. Okay. What about in full PPR? I would have done the same. Yeah, I think he's just got a chance to be a rock star. You know, so Thomas is awesome. He's, as we've talked about, you know, the floor is safer.

The ceiling is just as high, but it's position scarcity. And it's, you know, a guy who, this is banking on Andy Reid as much as it's banking on Edwards-Hiller. Jamie, if Derrick Henry had 300 touches last year instead of 400, would you have considered him over Edward Zeller at six? No way in any format that rewards points for catches.

Okay. Because I'm taking Henry over Edward Zeller in a non-PPR. So I'm just kind of just gauging how you feel about that half PPR. I'm for the most part out on Henry unless he falls to the end of round one in non-PPR and that's not going to happen. Well, that was my next question. Derek Henry is the second pick of round two, 14th overall.

As we get into round two, if you've forgotten who the last six picks were after Jamie took Clyde Edwards and Z. Lair in the first round, it was Thomas, Adams, Mixon, Sanders, Jones, and Hill. Four receivers, two running backs. So we go to round two. Eckler is the first pick. Then Henry, Kelsey, and Hill, four receivers, two running backs. So we go to round two. Eckler is the first pick. Then Henry, Kelsey, Josh Jacobs, Kenyon Drake, Nick Chubb, Aaron Jones.

Six of the first seven picks in round two are running backs. The other one is Travis Kelsey. Jamie had Aaron Jones, so he went with Clyde Edwards, he went with Aaron Jones. If we stop there, Eckler, Henry, Kelsey, Jacobs, Drake, Chubb, and Jones. All right, we see the theme, obviously, here with the running backs. But, you know, you look at ADP on Fantasy Pros, Derrick Henry and half PPR is going sixth overall.

You look on NFC, he's going eighth. Why do CBS, why are we down on Derrick Henry? Well, I mean, you know, you look at the people who drafted in the bottom half of that first round. One is Gretch. We know he's not going to take Derrick Henry. And we've talked about this quite a bit. We've done so many drafts together that people start to realize

what the trends are of what we're all doing, whether it's us as the analysts or just people who have obviously done enough mock drafts that they know who they like and they don't like. Thomas and Adams, I think, is in a different conversation here because of what they do at their position. But it's – and probably Schrager is a good person to ask here because he took Mixon over Derek Henry. I would have taken Henry in this format over Julio and Tyreek

after Mixon and Sanders, but I would also put Josh Jacobs ahead of Henry because I think he's got a higher ceiling this year. Okay, Schrager, you took Mixon in round one. You didn't have a chance to draft Henry in round two. You took Josh Jacobs, though. So why did you pass at ninth overall on Derrick Henry? Henry was my next running back after Mixon, but I think the workloads in the rush game

can be very similar this year, and I think Mixon can double Henry's catches. So I think it's a no-brainer to go Mixon over Henry in PPR. This is half PPR. It was a tough choice, but went Mixon there. I think people are just scared to count on Henry to do what he did last year again, because they know that he's not versatile. It's hard to believe that he's suddenly going to be versatile.

And no one wants to draft him that close to his ceiling in a league where catches count. Well, it's also, you know, you say what he did last year, Dave, which is correct, but it's which half of the season last year because the first half he wasn't as good, clearly, as he was in the second half. And if you get that for 16 games, it's not a first-round picker. He's not.

It's close, though. In 2018, he got off to a horrible start. And then those last four games. Right, right. So maybe he's just a second-half guy. He was okay to start last year. I don't want to say he was terrible. He was four games. Right, right. So maybe he's just a second half guy. He was okay to start last year. I don't want to say he was terrible. He was top 12.

Right. But he wasn't top five. But back in, he was like 10th in non-PPR, 12th in PPR. Now that was with him not having a bye. So I don't know where he was per game. He was probably more like 12th in non-PPR, 15th in PPR, something like that. But he wasn't horrible.

But he was probably more of like a second round pick rather than a first round pick. Okay. So round two, Eckler, Henry, Kelsey, Jacobs, Drake, Chubb, Aaron Jones to Jamie. And then you know what's going to happen as soon as Aaron Jones comes off the board. Wide receivers, wide receivers.

Well, it was George Kittle. And then DJ Moore, Chris Godwin, Juju Smith-Schuster, DeAndre Hopkins, all rounding out the second round. Anything jump out here? I think it's worth talking about Hopkins and how he fell to me. Literally, I'm

surprised he lasted that long. It's only two spots off his ADP, though. I know. I'm always surprised when he lasts the 20th overall because I think he's so good. I remember this weekend they played a bunch of Chiefs games and they included one against Houston on NFL Network. And I'm just watching for like a quarter, quarter and a half, and Hopkins is just making plays all over the place.

And I cannot believe that the Cardinals traded for him and they're going to say, okay, you're going to get an even amount of targets with Christian Kirk and Larry Fitzgerald. And we're all going to be even all along. Like that doesn't, that doesn't register. It doesn't compute with me. The way that it might have been with those guys. Cause I don't think anybody expects them to be even with those guys. I think it's just a matter of how much more he's going to get than those guys.

Right. And I think there's a chance that he could be, if you hear Kyler Murray saying that he targets more, that they're going to get a thousand yards he could be. If you hear Kyler Murray saying that he. 50 targets more. That they're going to get 1,000 yards out of all three guys. Yeah, right. Well, I mean, look. 1,000 yards out of all three? Huh? Out of Larry Fitzgerald, too?

Somebody asked him if he could get 1,000 yards out of all three of those receivers. And of course he's going to say, yeah. What's he going to say? No, I can't. Although Larry can't run anymore. He's old. He can't say that old but you look at this offense that he's stepping into that hopkins is stepping into and it's it's a spread offense

you know so is he going from 150 targets to 140 which is what he hasn't projected for or i think it's going to be closer to 120 and so with 120 he's still going to be very good he's still worth going in this range but i don't think he should go much higher than that. But this is actually quite a fall, I think, for Hopkins, because Jamie, in fantasy pros, Hopkins is the 12th pick, and he's the 4th wide receiver. That's such a reach. And I think, right, Jamie, Dave got him 24th here,

and I think to see... I was so happy. I was thrilled. To see DJ Moore, Chris Godwin, and Juju Smith-Schuster go ahead of him... Well, I mean, again, Adam, you made that choice. Oh, yeah. I and Juju Smith-Schuster go ahead of him. Well, I mean, again, Adam, you made that choice. Oh, yeah. I love Juju. I mean, but I would have taken Hopkins

over Moore for sure. And between Godwin and Hopkins, I don't know, it would have been pretty close. But I think the tight end's going ahead of him, too. Is that a no-brainer? Kelsey and Kittle,

should they both go ahead of him? Kelsey, yeah. Yeah. Okay. So what about Kittle, Dave? Kittle or Hopkins? No, I'll take Hopkins over Kittle. All right.

Round three, it gets more interesting. Mahomes, Galladay, Connor, Calvin Ridley, Chris Carson, Mike Evans to Jamie. Mahomes to Dave, Gallaudet to me. Connor, Ridley, Carson, Evans. Gurley, Cup, Allen Robinson, A.J. Brown, Adam Thielen, Melvin Gordon. So I don't want to go round by round here. I want to start with this.

Dave, now you've got Patrick Mahomes. So you've got McCaffrey, Hopkins, and Mahomes. You took Mahomes over Gallaudet. You took him over Conner. How do you think it turned out? Hold on, let me practice my Heath sigh. You know, I think I'm resigned to the fact that when you're picking at the very end,

you just have to take the two best players available because you know that by the time things get back to you, guys that you like, you're going to have a list of seven, eight guys. None of them are going to make it back unless your list is whack. So I decided to experiment and say, okay, Mahomes, I think is just the best overall player. Most total fantasy points. I think he's good value anywhere in round three. I took him.

And what happened after that made me regret it. And if I had played to how my rankings are, I would have taken Connor there just to lock up that second running back because I do like Connor as an RB2. But yeah, I knew for sure Mahomes and Lamar Jackson weren't going to make it back to me. But I was hoping that I would have a better selection of a number two running back when

I was up again in four or five. Okay. So let's go to that, right? So your first three picks are McCaffrey Hopkins and Mahomes. Now this is a six point per passing touchdown league where you have to start three wide receivers and a flex. Now we go to around the end of round four, uh, the end of round. Yeah.

The end of round four, the beginning of round five. We're only talking about what I'm doing here. Or do you want to bring up your team too? No, let's go with your team. Let's go with your team, right? Because I was going to take Mahomes if you didn't. I want to know why your next two picks are DK Metcalf and Zach Ertz.

Why you didn't take a running back there because your number two running back came at the end of round six, and that was Cam Akers. You could have taken Ronald Jones. I'm surprised you didn't. You went with Metcalf and Ertz. I was secretly hoping Ronald Jones would make it back to me

because I know that I'm the only guy. Oh, 24 picks later? It was a long shot, but I also wanted to play it safe. And so at that point, I thought to myself, well, McCaffrey's kind of like a running back and a half. So whoever I get to be my RB2 may not have to produce like a top 12 guy. And I do love Ronald Jones.

I love him with all my heart. But I couldn't pass up Ertz. I thought that was incredible value that he made it to the top of round five. Eh, maybe not incredible, but good. And Metcalf's somebody that I like a lot, especially in a half PPR, because I'm not sure he's going to get a lot of catches, but I think he's going to I like a lot, especially in a half PPR, because I'm not sure he's going to get a lot of catches,

but I think he's going to be pretty prolific, more so than last year. So I went that direction instead. So Dave has the number one running back, the number one or two quarterback. I thought it was also interesting that Mahomes went 25th overall. Lamar Jackson went 37th overall. I hated that.

That made me feel like two-week-old bread. Why? You couldn't get him with the first pick of the next round. When I take Mahomes, I know I'm going to see other quarterbacks go at a value that make me rage a little bit. Just a little bit. I'm happy to have Mahomes. I know

that he can win me the league. I know that there's going to be quarterbacks that I would love that I can get eight rounds later and someone else gets them. But to see Lamar Jackson go with the first pick in round four, it felt like I got slapped in the face with a purple gloved hand. No, it shouldn't feel that way, though.

That's how it felt, man. You didn't have a chance to get him. It's not like he went after your next pick. I know, but if I had known that... I don't know. I feel like it was so disrespectful to see him go that late. That was ridiculous.

And someone else... The very next quarterback off the board was a much better value than what I got. So I was feeling jealousy and rage, and I turned into the Incredible Hulk, and I smashed a whole carton of ice cream. By smashed, you meant eight. I was, I, by smash him at eight.

Uh, I, I was surprised that Jackson lasts that long. I want to talk about Dave's team, but Jamie, you have the six pick of the third round. And so far you have Clyde Edwards, Eli and Aaron Jones. Did you think about taking Lamar Jackson?

You took Mike Evans instead. Uh, no, I, I wanted to get one of my top 10 wide receivers and evans just makes too much sense at that spot all right so dave's team mcafree uh hopkins mahomes dk metcalf and zach ertz cam acres and you took darius slayton with the first pick of round seven. Then you took Zach Moss and Daryl Henderson to lock up the Rams backfield.

We'll see what Malcolm Brown's role is. Tony Pollard and DeAndre Washington. You're just taking some shots here. Yeah, I would scorched earth on upside lotto tickets. All right, so you got Mahomes. You got McCaffrey, Akers, Henderson, Damian Harris, lotto tickets all right so you got my homes you got mcafree acres henderson damian harris deandre washington zach moss tony pollard and you're just hoping there's an injury or there's or somebody emerges there that's fine hopkins metcalf slayton plus robbie anderson and emmanuel

sanders and you have zach earths do you like like your team? Not my favorite team. No, not my favorite team. And it actually ended up influencing me in the Kings Classic draft over the weekend where I had the chance to get Mahomes and Jackson. They were both still on the board in late round four. And now I'm thinking, oh my God, they're falling. This is crazy. And it's great. I probably should take one of them.

And I had the fourth to last pick in round four, and then it would come back around, and I'd have the fourth pick in round five. And I thought, maybe they'll slip a little bit farther. And so I took a wide receiver instead. I think I took Lockett. And both of them went almost immediately after I took Lockett. And I was sitting there going, well, that sucks,

because here we go again. Two amazing quarterback values that I had the chance to take and I got a little bit greedy. And then it came back to me in late round six and Deshaun Watson was still there. And six points or four points for passing. I believe it's four, but getting Deshaun Watson that late, late round six, I was doing cart wheels and crushing ice cream. Yes.

All right, Jamie, do you like Dave's team? Mahomes, McCaffrey, Rams running backs, and a bunch of lottery tickets, plus Hopkins, Metcalf, Slayton, and Zacherts. Yeah, I mean, look, it's never a bad thing when you have the number one quarterback and number one wide receiver, or number one running back and quarterback to start and

then you have a guy that has still top five potential at the receiver position um zach is still in in the conversation to be a top three tight end and you know he has a lot that's what you do if you if you miss on a second running back you just take as many shots as you potentially can so he has what should be one backfield locked up with the Rams. He has, you know, a lot of people think that Zach Moss is going to be better than Devin Singletary. You know, we're, we're not in that category, but I mean, at least I'll speak for myself. I don't think it's far off that Moss can be better than Singletary this year. And then, you know, Zeke goes down, there's, there's a, you know, winner

for you. This is why you don't necessarily take your handcuff you take other people's handcuffs so there's there's a lot to like about uh about those guys you know i think just you know when you look at his starting lineup and you see cam makers at the second running back spot darius slayton who's a questionable no number three wide receiver i think he's a good number three wide receiver but he's still questionable for some people and robbie anderson at the flex you know those are the spots that kind of stand out to you but i mean he should dominate anybody's running back 1v1 and quarterback 1v1 yeah all right so i had the second pick and i did things a little bit differently and i had been if i had an early pick i had been sort of taking the dave approach

of not really prioritizing running back probably going with like two running backs with my first five picks. But this time I went with three because I'm so sick of having nothing but lottery tickets basically on my bench because they could be great, but they also could be completely terrible. I was tired of having that. So I had Barkley in round one,

Juju in round two, Galladay in round three. I was pretty happy with that. And then I took Devin Singletary at the end of round four, and I thought for sure Ronald Jones would go, but he didn't, so I took Ronald Jones in round five.

That gives me three running backs with my first five picks, and then I took DeAndre Swift at the end of round six. Four running backs with my first six picks, plus Juju Smith-Schuster and Kenny Galladay. I then took round seven, Kyler Murray. I was actually pretty excited about that.

If I hadn't taken Murray, the best running, I mean, I wasn't going to take a fifth running back there. I could have taken maybe Evan Ingram. I could have taken Marvin Jones, Julian Edelman. No, I'm just, no, I'm taking Kyler Murray. He's the most league winning upside. I think of anyone in that, in that round, maybe JK Dobbins, you could argue, but again, I wasn't taking another running back. Do you know how gross it was to take Darius Slayton

ahead of Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson? All three of those guys were left there. Oh man. I was mad. Like I wish I could go back and not take Patrick Mahomes. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I'd rather have Connor, who I would have taken over Mahomes, and one of those quarterbacks versus what I got. So let's see how my team turned out. I think it's okay. I don't mind it.

And basically, my goal was to not hate my running backs. Kyler Murray, a quarterback. Saquon Barkley, Devin Singletary. And I'll say Ronald Jones is my flex in week one. Juju Smith-Schuster, Kenny Galladay, and Sterling Shepard as my three wide receivers. Noah Fant is my tight end. Jared Cook is a backup.

I also have Paris Campbell, Stephen Sims, and James Washington. So whereas a lot of times I'd have high upside running backs on my bench, this time, oh, I have DeAndre Swift as well. Yeah, that's a pretty good high upside. And I have Alexander Madison. So I do have high upside running backs on my bench, but I have Stephen Sims, Paris Campbell, and James Washington, who I think is a good pairing with Juju Smith-Schuster on my bench.

Actually, yeah, I actually like my team. I think it's a playoff team. Things go right. It could win, but yeah, Jamie, how do you feel about this team? I like it.

I think, you know, like you said, you're, you're in good shape with your, it's, it's Shepard and Slayton are very similar in, as you guys have as your third receivers.

Cause a lot of people don't know who's going to be the best giants wide receiver. I would take Shepard over Slayton in any PPR scoring. So I like that edge that you have there just in comparing to Dave. But I mean, look, you like Singletary, you like Jones. If Swift is the guy for Detroit, like I think we're all hoping, then that's a great fourth running back for you, unless Jones struggles again. But yeah, you have a top-tier quarterback and one of the best running backs in the game. So it's a very solid team.

And I wanted to stop with this pattern that I was falling into of just being so weak at running back and taking a whole bunch of players who, yeah, they could be great, but they also could be terrible. And as far as I remember, not a single one panned out last year. So, I still have Alexander Madison,

and I still have DeAndre Swift, who I took in the sixth round. But the difference for me in this draft was, after starting my team with Barkley, Juju, and Galladay, and then taking Devin Singletary at the end of round four, that's a very typical start. It was the Ronald Jones pick in round five instead of Cortland Sutton or Keenan Allen or DJ Chark. That is where if Ben Gretchen were here, he'd hate it, and I get it.

That is where I differ, and I think I prefer this method where I actually feel like I like Sutton better than Ronald Jones, but position scarcity does matter, and there are still good wide receivers later in the draft. It's not like running back is the only position where you can find great players late. So I think

that I like what I did here. I think the thing that you should buy into if you're picking two through six is, even if you're not an Aaron Jones guy, which, you know, he's going to be another polarizing player in the second round. If you're not an Aaron Jones guy and you don't know, he's going to be another polarizing player in the second round. If you're not an Aaron Jones guy, you don't want to take one of the tight ends.

Take your two favorite wide receivers and then put your, especially in a three receiver league, put your third receiver on the back burner a little bit. Because like you said, you know, you found Sterling Shepard. They found Darius Slate. You know, you're going to find Marvin Jones. You know, you said he was somebody that you considered instead of Kyler Murray.

Well, no, I didn't. You're going to find that you considered instead of Kyler Murray. You're going to find some guys that are still in that 30 to 40 range that have still decent upside. Maybe not league winning upside, but starting wide receiver to upside. Sure. Wide receiver to upside. Go ahead and put it. So yeah, wide receiver to upside with those guys. But you're taking similar to what Dave did. You just did a little bit more aggressively But you're taking, similar to what Dave did, you just did it a little bit more aggressively. You're taking more shots

at the running back position because you didn't get a number two guy that you're so in love with. Okay, so let's go to Jamie's team and then we'll finish up with some emails here. Jamie had the six pick. And by the way,

when Jamie said, if you have a two through six, get your two running backs, your two wide receivers and then wait, he obviously meant rounds two and three, get your wide receivers. Right, I'm sorry. After picking your running back in the first round, take two wide receivers as opposed to being upset about not

getting those round three guys, which could be terrible as we've illustrated. Okay, so Jamie had the six pick Clyde Edwards, Elias Aaron Jones, Mike Evans. We know those were his first three picks. Round four, Tyler Lockett. Round five, David Johnson. Yeah, I'm glad you took Ronald Jones over David Johnson.

I appreciate that. Hey, anytime. I think maybe you would have gone wide receiver if Sutton, Keenan Allen, or DJ Chark had been there. What do you think? Not with David Johnson still on the board in round five, no. Oh, you like David Johnson in round five? In that spot, absolutely. Okay.

Okay, so let's talk about your team. I'm not getting rave reviews, by the way. Okay. Yeah, he gets rave reviews every year. So, Jameis was one of my favorite teams, but he does have a low-end starting quarterback, at least on draft

day. Ben Roethlisberger is the only quarterback on his team. Clyde Edwards-Ziller, Aaron Jones, plus David Johnson and David Montgomery and A.J. Dillon. So very good running backs. Mike Evans, Tyler Lockett, Deontay Johnson, Evan Ingram at tight end. On his bench, Henry rugs, Brandon, Iuke Debo Samuel and Mike Kosicki.

I mean, this is a great team. Aaron Clyde, Edward dealer, Aaron Jones, Montgomery, David Johnson, AJ Dillon.

And then you've got Evans Lockett and Deontay Johnson at receiver, uh, Evan Ingram at tight end, Kosicki on the bench, good bench wide receivers with rugs. I, you can Samuel and Ben Roethlisberger. I mean,

that's, that's what stands out. But this is what your team could look like if you wait a wide receiver, Jamie. Wait a – Sorry, quarterback. Air conditioning is not working, by the way. What position does Roethlisberger play? I hope he doesn't play wide receiver. Deontay Thompson.

So I recently made a switch in my rankings. In the draft we did for Twitch the last Tuesday, which was a PPR draft, the one we did with Big Jiggly Panda and Michelle Majuk. So I took Daniel Jones, and I had Daniel Jones ranked 13th, Roethlisberger 14th. And I'm looking at it, and I said, man, if I take Jones as my only quarterback,

I got to play him against Pittsburgh in week one. Why would I do that when I could take Roethlisberger playing the Giants in week one? So I switched that in my rankings. If I'm taking a second quarterback as a upside play, I'm going to take Daniel Jones or Roethlisberger. So it comes down to, I think what your team needs. And so in this draft, what I did was I took Gusecki after, when did I take Ingram? I think it was like round eight. I took Evan Ingram in round eight. I'm sorry, round seven. So I took Evan Ingram in round seven and I took Gusecki in round 13. Two things. One, I'm surprised Ben Gretsch didn't take him already. And two, I knew that I needed a quarterback. And so I took Roethlisberger in round 14.

I was sort of playing the board a little bit. Obviously at that point, I think everybody had a quarterback. If I was doing this as a, you know, a league, I think we're going to play out. I probably would take two quarterbacks there as opposed to Kisecki, but that's the decision I think you have to make, you know, do you want to take two tight ends or two quarterbacks, but also knowing the way that we draft again, this is knowing your league.

I knew they're going to be quarterbacks available. I knew there's going to be somebody of the Jared golf, you know, uh, Baker Mayfield, um, drew lock, you know, those, those guys will all be available that if Roethlisberger gets hurt again, I'll be okay with, uh, uh, uh, finding somebody Tannehill. I don't think it was drafted. Umra Taylor, there's just a number of guys you could say that have a chance to help me in that position. It's clearly the weakest part of my team, but if you tell me that Roethlisberger is the weakest part of my team,

then I think I did a good job drafting. Only 16 quarterbacks were drafted in this draft, so if your league is going to be different, then you plan accordingly, but that just means there will be more values at the other positions. And I think it was Schrager who... No, it was RJ who screwed me, taking Stafford, I think,

as a second quarterback. Did you have a favorite team, guys? Mine. Yours was one of my two favorites. Heath's was my other. I like your team, Adam. I think you got really good value on Kyler.

Maybe I'm just stuck on quarterback value today and just really think that that's an important factor when you're putting together a fantasy team. And if you just end up not getting a good quarterback value and you don't really feel good about anything when your quarterback's up, which at some point in the draft you will, then you just wait and wait and wait like Jamie did.

And you get Roethlisberger and you say, okay, Ben's my quarterback to start the year and I'll figure it out from there. That's the deepest position. That's the one to take advantage of. But I think if I could trade my team with anybody else, I think I'd pick yours, Adam, because you got luckier with the quarterback than I did.

Quarterback value, I should say. I just want to read Heath's team because that was my co-favorite. Russell Wilson, Alvin Camara and James Connor, Chris Godwin, Cortland Sutton and Preston Williams. He loves Preston Williams,

but that's another guy. He's in that Sterling shepherd, Darius Slayton range that if he hits. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, the Sean McCoy, uh, carry on,

carry on Johnson. Oh, Jonathan Taylor. That's why I like it. Cause Jonathan Taylor is, Carry on Johnson. Oh, Jonathan Taylor. That's why I like it. Because Jonathan Taylor is his flex. Maybe not week one. But he also has Darren Waller. He's got Denzel Mims, who's dealing with a hamstring injury. Deshaun Jackson.

LaVisca Chenault. Mike Williams on his bench. So, you know, he took Conor in round three. Kamara. Who's his second round pick? It was Kamara, Godwin, Conner. That's how he started. He's got a top five quarterback

or top six quarterback with Wilson. He's got a top six tight end in Darren Waller. And Jonathan Taylor could be a game changer for him. But even if it's not, he's still got great running backs. Exactly. That's the way, if you can map it out this way, and Jonathan Taylor is your third running back, that's the way to draft him.

I'd love to know a month from now what Heath would do at the flex spot. Jonathan Taylor in a secondary role against Jacksonville. Or Kerryon Johnson, presumably as the starter, against the Bears. Oh, wow. Well, the Bears don't have any gold. So, uh, I mean, he wasn't the linchpin on the run defense. He's a good run defender, but he's not, he's part of it. I mean, look,

that's, that's the, that's the thing. It's like, if you know, going in Taylor, like we're going to anticipate probably, you know, maybe 10 touches, you know going in, Taylor, we're going to anticipate probably maybe 10 touches. Week one against the Jaguars. So 10 touches against the Jaguars or maybe 15 touches against the Bears. The Jaguars might have the worst run defense in football. Huh? Jaguars might have the worst run defense in football. Right.

They're going to be horrible. Wait, but you know who? I'm telling you who his flex is. He might not agree. Oh, Deshaun Jackson. It's 100% Deshaun Jackson. Week one against the Redskins. That could be his third receiver, though. Oh, but you know who? I'm telling you who his flex is. He might not agree. Oh, Deshaun Jackson. It's 100% Deshaun Jackson. Week one against the Redskins. That could be his third receiver though. Oh, that's true.

Right, because he's got Preston in there. Well, I mean, we'll see how Preston does a month from now. That was a fun draft. I thought it was very good. And you know what? I don't always... I don't know why I want to win mock drafts. I really recommend you guys, if you're doing a mock draft, don't worry so much about winning win mock drafts. I really recommend you guys, if you're doing a mock draft,

don't worry so much about winning it. Worry about doing different strategies. Learning from it. We actually have a conversation. When's Ben on? When's Ben Gretsch on? Monday afternoon for Tuesday? He's always on the Tuesday show.

Second show of the week. I want to, because he said something in Twitch that I think is worth discussing about finishing first versus finishing last. And I think it was Dave had said that the catalyst for it was Dave saying something like finishing fifth. I don't remember how it all started, but I know what Ben said. And I think it's interesting because when you draft your team is going to

look so different. We say this time and time again, how much playing the waiver wire is important. And so I don't want to come out of my draft. Well, I guess I do, but I don't want it to be the end all be all like, Oh come out of my draft. Well, I guess I do, but I don't want it to be the end-all be-all. Like, oh, I won my draft. So now my team is set. And I think talking to Ben about his philosophy, because are you setting yourself up to finish first now?

Is that his goal? Which I don't think it is, because he's always talking about how your team is a living, breathing thing. Uncomfortable, he says. His draft strategy is uncomfortable. Right. Ben has a very unique way of drafting, and I think it's an interesting philosophy of how do you come out of your draft?

If I go into my playoffs, for example, and I'm the fifth seed, but I'm better than the one seed at that point you know i don't know if i'm phrasing this the right way but i know what you're saying your team is peaking while the one right like like maybe they had a lot of wins early on and then yeah but an injury or something right so like yeah if i if i come out of the draft as the fifth best team in the draft like i don't care right now if I'm happy with it.

I push back a little bit on the... Well, I wish we were having this conversation with Ben, but the whole, like, I draft teams to finish in first, not to make the playoffs, I think is kind of what he was saying. And I don't know. I mean, I feel like it's a little overblown,

you know, you don't have to, you don't have to, because a lot of this is like a lot of the players that get drafted late with all this upside get dropped. That's my big issue with that strategy is, you know, you have roster crunches.

So give me a handful of guys. Then you get dropped. Like Chase Edmonds. Think you're gonna drop him at some point? You could, yeah. Eddie Pollard, are you going to drop him at some point? Absolutely, you could. Madison, are you going to drop him at some point? 100%. Yeah, I mean, I'm not saying well, Madison maybe, you know, could

have a bigger role, but yes, I think any of those guys, especially with COVID, if you're anticipating more players being absent, yeah, if they're getting five touches a game and really all they are are lottery tickets, at some point, you are probably going to have to drop them. I think so.

I don't disagree with you, but that's the decision a lot of people are going to have to make. Look, I don't think... The only way you lose a draft is if the draft's over and you look at your team and you go, what have I done? I picked a bunch of players that I don't want. Why i get james cotter when i think he stinks why did i get um tyler lockett but that's how that's how ben drafts though ben drafts and i think again that

he but ben drafts players that he's got conviction on and that he really believes but it'd be great and i think that that's the rule i think you need to come out of your draft with players who you really, truly love and you want to have on your team. I did two drafts this weekend. I've got Tyler Higby on both of these teams. I've got Tyler Lockett on both of these teams. I don't know why Tyler all of a sudden is the name that I've got to have on my teams,

but I don't have Ronald Jones on either of them, and I love Ronald Jones, and I wish I had him, but I still like the way that my teams came together. I love a ton of the players that I have on both of the teams. I feel like I wish I had him, but I still like the way that my teams came together. I love a ton of the players that I have on both of the teams. I feel like I'm in good shape. And as for playing the waiver wire, dude, every competitive fantasy football manager should play the waiver wire, whether you've got Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley on your team.

I think that's the case. Or not. Or if you have a bunch of guys that are just okay. That's what's important is to feel good about it when it's over. He takes a very hefty amount of wide receivers, right? We see that a lot. And even in a three-receiver league, he's taking six or seven guys. He's not playing all of them.

Right. So what's he doing with them? That's the thing. He's taking players that he likes. And he's even run into some situations where he sees you know mico hardman who we know he likes or um i don't know if i've seen him draft lavisca chanel anytime soon we know he likes him but you know he he ends up running to these scenarios of he's going to end up starting 19 hinds week one so i think that you know what i'm going to have this conversation with him, but I think where I sort of disagree with him is he doesn't want a sort of average running back on his team.

He thinks Ronald Jones, maybe. I don't know how he feels about him specifically. He likes Ronald Jones. Okay, Devin Singletary. These guys might be fine, but they're not going to be as good as Sutton and Chark. So he'll just take the wide receivers there. But I can actually think, I feel like it's okay to take a player that's not as good as another player you could take there because you kind of need warm bodies at running back. It's just such a difficult position in fantasy.

You could have really no options on waivers throughout the week. And so getting a guy who's just fine, might score a touchdown and have a big week, or might give you 70 total yards, that's not that bad. And I think I see more value in taking just sort of like a guy whose ceiling is like a number two running back. I see more value in that than Ben does. But I'll let him. I don't want to put words in his mouth.

Right, it's like he takes, perfect example, Will Fuller versus Marvin Jones. Like I see Will Fuller as a league winner. He sees Will Fuller as a league winner. He doesn't see Marvin Jones as a league winner. I think Marvin Jones has a very good floor. You know, so like if Marvin Jones plays 16 games, as we saw last year, for example,

or as we saw, I think it was two years ago, he has a chance to be, as Dave put it, one of those number three receivers that has number two receiver upside. He may not be a top 10 guy. He could, if things go fantastic for him. But if Will Fuller hits as the DeAndre Hopkins replacement to play 16 games, that's a top 10 type guy. Well, quite frankly, I think Ben's entire strategy is predicated on avoiding running backs in the dead zone. Rounds three through like five or six for him. I think that's basically, that is Ben Gretsch's strategy. And I see a lot of merit to it because those guys are busts very often.

But I also see the other side. All right. Anyway, we should probably take a commercial break, which we haven't done. So let's take a quick break. When we come back, we'll fire through some emails on fantasy football today. Whether in the game or in life, the right coverage can make all the difference. Securian Canada gives you that coverage. For more than 65 years, Securian Canada has been helping Canadians build secure tomorrows.

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Who could be this year's DST that helps you win your league? I feel like the Chargers could be a good option. They have the best secondary in football and face an easy quarterback schedule, much like the Patriots last year. Who's the league winning DST? I think the Chargers could absolutely be that DST. You're going to have to have some guts to start them

when they play against Kansas City. But outside of that, they've got a fantastic schedule this year. They've got a great pass rush to go with that secondary, by the way. That's a dangerous combination. All right, this is from Lonnie. Dear Datum, Jave, Hamey, and Beath,

could you guys talk a little bit about Dawson Knox, Bill's tight end, Dawson Knox. As a fan who watches the team closely, he's supposed to have a much bigger role this year. I'm excited to see what he can do. Feels very similar to Mark Andrews last year. No way. They're kind of the same type of...

Not exactly the same type of player, but Knox is more receiver than blocker, but there's no way he's doing well. I actually liked him before the digs move. And then once they added digs, like they're going to be in a lot of three receiver sets. No, those guys are going to, you know, command targets. Well, I think with Paul Beasley to be the third target at best. And that's right.

Running back to at the very least, he will play a lot. Cause if they're in three receiver sets, that means a tight end. It'll be on the field. He'll probably be that tight end. All right. Next email is from Shane. PPR League, 14

team PPR League, three receivers and a tight end. How do you rank Kelsey and Kittle versus Hill, Godwin, or Eckler? Pick 16 overall. Are you looking at a tight end there or what? It's a 14 team PPR League with three wide receivers. It's a three wide receiver and tight ends count with the receivers oh yes i'm

sorry yes three wide receiver slash tight end spots okay okay oh no they lose value for sure but but kelsey has been a top 10 wide receiver for straight years in ppr he just happens to be behind these guys that shane named the email. He's like wide receiver 8 through 10 and Kittle's like 10 through 12. Okay. Kittle might be a little farther than that. I am. Oh man, that receiver core looks terrible right now. I know.

That's true. It's a good point. But you know how they like to spread the ball around in that offense in the passing game. Apparently Brandon Ayuk is going to be that guy. I don't know who else. Well, I'd like to read more emails later in the week, and I promise I will.

Sleepers, breakouts, and busts this week. Also, follow us on Twitter. I'm at Adam Azer, at Jamie Eisenberg, J-A-M-E-Y, at Dave Richard, singular Dave Richard. I'll be asking you guys for your favorite sleepers, breakouts, and busts throughout the week, so you can follow me on Twitter and be a part of the show. Thanks a lot for listening, everybody. We will talk to you on Tuesday. We got Twitch Tuesday night. We got sleepers Tuesday

morning. Talk to you then.