Fantasy Football Today - NFL Draft Day 3 Winners and Losers (05/01 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: May 2, 2021

Michael Carter may be the only player drafted on Day 3 that will have Fantasy value in 2021, but there are some WRs who have a chance. We’ll talk a lot about Carter to start the show and debate Carter vs. Kyle Pitts (8:40). We’ll also rank our Top 5 rookie RBs for 2021 (10:30) and our Top 6 picks in a rookie-only draft (13:40). The lists may surprise you! … Which QB has the most 2021 upside: Daniel Jones, Tua Tagovailoa or Trevor Lawrence (17:40)? What’s the latest on Deshaun Watson and Joe Mixon (20:00)? … We talk about the NFL veterans who are moving up (24:40) or down (37:05) in the rankings. What are we supposed to think about Mike Davis and Myles Gaskin now? We also touch on the Patriots and Eagles backfields and finish with some Buy or Sell (42:40) … Email us at [e-mail] Want in the Podcast League? Try our NFL Draft contest! https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/permalink/1115877195573244/ '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/channel/UCviK78rIWXhZdFzJ1Woi7Fg/videos 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

Kick off an exciting football season with BetMGM, an official sportsbook partner of the National Football League. Yard after yard, down after down, the sportsbook born in Vegas gives you the chance to take action to the end zone and celebrate every highlight reel play. And as an official sportsbook partner of the NFL, BetMGM is the best place to fuel your football fandom on every game day. With a variety of exciting features, BetMGM offers you plenty of seamless ways to jump straight onto the gridiron and to embrace peak sports action. Ready for another season of gridiron glory? What are you waiting for?

Get off the bench, into the huddle, and head for the end zone all season long. Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. Must be 19 years of age or older. Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem? For free assistance, call the Connex Ontario helpline at 1-866-531-2600.

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. Saturday night, done with the NFL draft. Congratulations to the CBS crew, not me, that was on the video products all weekend long, giving you amazing information. Well done. And thank all of you, our loyal audience, for being there, watching our coverage on HQ and listening to our podcast and on Twitch and on YouTube and all that youtube.com slash fantasy football today, which is by the way,

where you can watch this show, this episode of our podcast. I'm Adam Azer with Jamie Eisenberg and Chris Towers. I suck at intros and outros, so I'm going to just throw it over to Chris. Who's got a wonderful stat about running backs picked. Is it in day three or is it in round four? So it is day three running backs over the last decade.

There have been 163 running backs drafted between round four and seven from 2011 through 2020. In their rookie seasons, only five of them had more than 200 rush attempts. Only four in the last five years had even 150 carries. The chances of any day three running back making an impact for fantasy as a rookie

are very slim. Jamie, does Michael Carter of the New York Jets, one of the first picks, well, the second pick technically of round four, does he get 150 carries? I think he does if he's healthy, but that's going to be an if,

a 17-game season. But he's my favorite of the guys drafted today. I don't think that's a big surprise for anybody. And he's my third favorite redraft running back for 2021 of the rookies. So I think he's got a shot for sure. Yeah, if you missed that. So I think Chris feels the same way.

You've got Harris, Etienne, and then Carter for the Jets ahead of Javante Williams for the Broncos, right? Both of you guys? No, I have Williams ahead of Carter. Oh, Heath has Carter ahead of Williams. Okay. My bad. All right, we'll get to that in a moment here.

I'm going to trust our guy, Emory Hunt, who loves Michael Carter, too. He does. You know, we just did FFT in five, so I hope you're listening to that. And I mentioned that Chris Trapasso does a great job for us. After the first round, he does the grades on all the picks. Prisco does the first round grades.

So if you look at our draft tracker and you just, you don't want to go, go into the scouting reports and you just want two to three sentences, basically on a player. Uh, and what Chris thought of the pick, he does a great job on the draft tracker and just go to CBS sports.com. And what he wrote about Michael Carter,

the best running back available with Carter jets are getting someone on the Gio Bernard, James white spectrum, small, sudden scat back with good receiving ability in the screen game. Nice juice to New York's backfield. I just, I hope he's more than that.

I, I hope he's more than Giovanni Bernard and James white. We don't have an indication right now of how they're going to use him, but they don't have a, don't have a lead running back really. Right. Jamie, what's your read on the Jets?

Well, I mean, this was a good draft for Tevin Coleman because, like you said, he's not the physical presence of what you would typically think a lead running back is. Now, that doesn't mean he can't be Austin Eckler or that type of guy. I'm not saying he has that type of upside, but Eckler's not a huge human being. You're talking about Carter, not Coleman. I'm talking saying he has those type of, that type of upside, but you know, echo is not a huge human being, you know,

you're talking about Carter, not Coleman. I'm talking about Carter. Yeah. You know, so, but for Tevin Coleman, he's the one that the coaching staff is familiar with. He's the one that, you know, came from San Francisco. So he's going to get probably the first opportunity as a veteran, but we've seen Tevin Coleman enough to know that he has a hard time staying healthy and, you know, it doesn't always produce at a high level. So I, I think, you know, you don't have to necessarily reach for Carter. Carter and William's probably gonna go in the same healthy and you know it doesn't always produce at a high level so i i think you know you don't have to necessarily reach for carter carter and williams probably go in the same

range um you know just based on what you'll read about both of those guys and hear about them this offseason and who knows what happens in melvin gordon which would obviously change javante williams status but that's the three and the four whoever you know however you want to split them up and maybe san francisco changes something and treon becomes, it gets in that conversation also. But there's not a lot to like about the rookie class as a whole, the running back position. You know, we said it going in that it was a questionable group. The teams that needed running backs avoided it, you know, to a certain extent, the Dolphins and the Falcons. And so, you know,ter gets a chance and that's the thing you gotta like about the opportunity for him to be successful for fantasy managers

i'm not sure i love this rookie class for fantasy period like obviously i think you know there are a couple of potential stud wide receivers and running backs no i think justin fields and trevor lawrence a couple i can we Trevor Lawrence. A couple? Can we say three? Can we say three wide receivers? Yeah, I think that's going in, though. Right, right, right. Are you talking about this year? Are you talking about this year?

Or are you talking about... 2021, yeah. I didn't love the landing spots for most of the wide receivers in round two and three. Obviously, I didn't love the landing spots for, for Bateman and Tony. Oh, I didn't love those.

I think they're pretty long shots to be fantasy relevant. So it, it, it feels a little underwhelming and, you know, I do worry that because they're rookies, because last year's rookie class was so good at RB and wide receiver that guys could get pushed up.

But I do want to go back to, Adam, you said, I hope Michael Carter's more than Giovanni Bernard. I would be thrilled if he had Giovanni Bernard's production from his early career. His first three seasons, he averaged 701 rushing yards and 445 receiving yards i mean if he has that kind of receiving game role or something close maybe he has you know 100 fewer receiving yards but 100 fewer more rushing yards or something like giovanni bernard was an 1150 yard per season player for his first three seasons. I'd be thrilled with that out of Michael Carter.

Yeah, that would be great. How many carries did he get? 164 in 15 games per year. So 175 per 16. Better than I remember. Yeah. So, okay. If he's a rookie version of Gio Bernard, that'd be great.

I guess I hear Gio Bernard slash James White, I think, pass catcher. We'll see with Michael Carter. And are there any other day three picks, Jamie, that you think are going to have 2021 fantasy value? Yeah, St. Brown for the Lions. Opportunity is there as well. You're just talking about a receiving core that if you see the names on paper, you want to throw up. You know, Tyrell Williams and Brashad Perryman, you know what those guys have been.

And they could clearly be successful in a different spot. And hopefully that's the case. But Tyrell has been banged up, you know, the latter part of the last two seasons. And Brashad Perryman had basically a five-game stretch that's really kind of defined the successful part of his career in Tampa Bay. And so Amonra St. Brown from USC could be their slot receiver right away. You know what Jared Goff has been with the slot receiver in L.A. And this is a team that's T.J. Hawkinson, DeAndre Swift, and those guys.

And so St. Brown could, you know, be a significant target getter in an offense. That's probably going to be throwing a lot because they're chasing points. And Tennessee drafted Des Fitzpatrick shortly before St. Brown. Those two guys were the first wide receivers taken on day, day three, Des Fitzpatrick, six foot two, 210 pounds, kind of big in this class, and Detroit getting Amandra St. Brown, as Jamie mentioned, who Jamie said he could play in the slot. He also can play outside. He's versatile in that respect. Not a burner.

Ran a 4'5", 140, but yeah, I think those are two obvious names there because they could get the targets, certainly in Tennessee and Detroit. And that's it. Yeah, look, hate to rain on the parade. Day three

picks, as Chris said, it's not just running backs. Day three picks typically don't produce that much as rookies. Typically don't produce that much for fantasy in their careers, but maybe there are some gems here. And I think Myles Gaskin and Mike Davis deserve a long discussion. We'll get to that in a

little bit. Here's a quick question for you. Who do you think you're going to take first, Michael Carter or Kyle Pitts? Who goes off the board first, Carter or Pitts? Man, I want to be sort of skeptical about Pitts because he's a rookie tight end and rookie tight ends are almost never good. And even when you say, well, this guy's different. Well, you know, Vernon Davis was just as different as Kyle Pitts. When you talk about the physical tools that he had, and he still took three years really to become fantasy relevant. But I don't know in that offense,

I've got him as the number seven tight end right now. And he could easily move up to number six if the Eagles hang on to Zach Ertz. So I think it's probably Carter, but it's very close. It's Carter for me. No, it's Pitts, man. I think I'd rather have Pitts. Yeah, I think that's probably going to be the answer for most people, but I would take my chances with Carter just because I think his opportunity is there to be the answer for most people, but I would take my chances with Carter just because I think his opportunity is there to be the lead running back for the Jets. You know, I don't know if it's going to be, like I said, north of 200 carries, not likely. 200 touches, potentially, if things

really work out well for him. But I just think that he's got the chance as a rookie, because rookie tight ends just don't typically produce very much. And, and I mean, obviously I'm going to be very high on Kyle Pitts. I'm excited about him. I know I probably didn't express that the other day when we were talking about a fall in the first round, but the, the number seven tight end versus the number 30 running back, essentially, I haven't ranked Michael Carter yet,

but typically you're going to take top 30 running backs before you take the second tier of tight ends, at least what you'll see in most typical ADPs. Okay, yeah. I've got Carter 40th in the projections, but looking at it, I think I'll probably end up with him around 32. And I was going to ask you guys for your top five rookie running backs for 2021,

but I already know it. It's why maybe I don't know. Number five, Najee Harris, Travis ETN, Michael Carter, Javante Williams. And then who's five sermon.

Sermon for me, you know, I think you just look at what his, his chances are in that offense. I mean, obviously Raheem Mostert should be the lead running back right away. You don't know what they're going to do with Jeff Wilson

if he's going to get the chance to be the second guy. But if Sermon can work his way into the rotation, those other two guys have injury risks just based on what they've shown you, certainly in 2020. And so if Sermon gets a chance to prove himself in that San Francisco run system, if he takes off, he'll be a star.

Chris, you have who fifth for you? What did I say? Who fifth for you? Like remedial English? I have Chuba Hubbard. Just a lot of the same reasoning as Jamie. I feel like he's likely to be the number two back in Carolina. And we saw last year, if Christian McCaffrey gets hurt,

even a fairly pedestrian talent can look like a really good fantasy player in that offense. I would think he would be somewhat similar to Mike Davis. Obviously, I don't know. We've never seen Hubbard in the NFL, but that would be my number five guy.

And it's mostly just a kind of lottery ticket. I don't think I would actually draft it. Yeah, understood. And that's all right. So it's Harris, ETN, Carter, and Williams. Top four for you guys. And Jamie goes Trey Sermon five. And Chris goes Chuba Hubbard fifth

for the rookie running backs. Watch the full-length podcast, youtube.com slash fantasyfootball today. You can see what we look like. And watch on demand on the CBS Sports app and on OTT devices. Go to the CBS Sports app and scroll down until you see the FFT familiar faces.

I'm going to make a lot of mistakes today. And I think we're all tired. You guys probably more so than I am. Although, you know, Chris doesn't have kids. You know, so it's a little unfair. Jamie, what time do your kids wake you up, Jamie? They're usually up around 6.30. Yeah.

And so I went to bed at like 2 last night. And my six-year-old had a championship game for T-ball today. So we do, we won. Yeah. It was, uh, it was a, it was a long morning. Yeah. Yeah. All right, Chris, enjoy your sleep. Hey, I've got a cat who wakes me up at six 30 in the morning to feed her. I used to complain about that too. And then I realized that babies require a lot more attention than cats. Big surprise to me, but it is true in fact. Shocking.

Yeah. All right. So how about this? Let's do this. Top six. You're doing a rookie only draft right now. It is not super flex. Not super flex. Give me your top six picks. Want some time to think about this? I've got it. I did this on the newsletter last night. Speaking of being tired and making dumb mistakes,

I left out Kyle Pitts from that ranking. That was the top ten. Even dumber. Sometimes you get sleepy. Yeah, for me, it would be in this order. Jamar Chase, Najah Harris, Travis Etienne, Devontae Smith, Javonte Williams, and Kyle Pitts. Oh, man, I'm so different.

Jamie, what about you? What's your top six? Chase is one. Harris is two. Pitts is three. Smith is four. Etienne is five. Waddle is six. Chris, what was yours again?

Chase. Chase, Harris, Etienne, Smith, Williams, Pitts. Okay. Maybe Pitts over Williams. I don't know. I went Chase, Smith, Waddle. Okay. Maybe Pitts over Williams. I don't know. I went Chase, Smith, Waddle. I went with those three receivers.

One, two, three. Harris, Pitts, ETN. I just struggle with Waddle. You know, because they've got veterans in the receiving game already. It feels a little Henry Ruggs-ish to me. I don't think they're the same player. Ruggs was not as productive as Waddle in college,

but it just feels like that kind of role where it's going to be somewhat inconsistent, like four targets a game. Yeah, I don't love, love Waddle as a rookie, but I think his man watching his highlights, it's jaw dropping. Yeah. It's hard to think of a receiver.

Tyreek Hill comes to mind. It reminds me of TY Hilton in college, but TY Hilton was playing in the sundown. Oh my gosh. What a Homer. What a Homer. It's going to really be interesting to see if Waddle gets the opportunity to get a healthy amount of targets

and prove himself. Would Devontae Smith have been Devontae Smith? Well, if Jalen Waddle had stayed healthy last season. So I have their numbers when they both played. I know, and you said... Oh, you were on that show? I don't know. I forget which ones you were on.

You did it on the first night of the draft, but Waddle's numbers were better. Waddle's yards were better. They both had four touchdowns. I think 38 catches for Smith, 25 for Waddle. That's what I like about Waddle. He's not going to catch nearly as many passes as Smith. I don't think he's going to have nearly as many catches,

but he's going to be much more yards per catch and big plays. You hear the Tyree Kill comparison all the time. Yeah, exactly. He won't need a ton of targets to be great. He's going to be great on yards per target. It's kind of a weird offense right

now, I think, because obviously Parker and Gasicki I don't think are as talented as Waddle and Will Fuller, but Will Fuller obviously last year showed he's really, really good when he's healthy, and he actually stayed healthy. Parker, I think the thing that's weird is they're all kind of downfield guys. Parker's not the over-the-top guy, but he does usually have a pretty deep ADOT.

Will Fuller, obviously, you know, super skilled, can make big plays on short plays, but obviously is a killer in the deep game. And even Mike Kosicki, you know, he's at his best running up the scene. So, on the one hand, I could see Waddle just kind of getting lost in the shuffle a little bit. On the other hand, I could see Waddle just kind of getting lost in the shuffle a little bit. On the other hand, I could see him being kind of the primary underneath guy in that offense with Fuller taking the top off and Gasicki drawing attention in the middle.

So, you know, I could go both ways. He's someone I'll definitely rank higher than I have him projected for. Yeah. Let me ask you about quarterbacks right now. Okay. I got to, it's going to be great. I got to get on Chris for his Trevor Lawrence ranking.

Which quarterback has the most upside? Tua, Lawrence, Daniel Jones. 2021 upside. Just this year. Who's the best upside pick? Tua, Trevor Lawrence, Daniel Jones?

I feel like you want to say Trevor Lawrence, but I also worry that that's falling for the mystery box versus a boat trap. Well, those are two sinking boats from last year. Right, but Tua, he wasn't Trevor Lawrence as a prospect, but if he had been healthy, he was certainly going to be in the discussion with Joe Burrow for the number one overall pick.

What's your answer, my man? What's your answer? I guess... I'll go Tua. Jamie? Lawrence by a mile. Chris is Lawrence ranked 27th. QB 27.

That's where I have him projected. Let's be clear. That's where I have him projected. I will rank him higher than that. But that's where the projection is right now. Yeah. 26. 26.

Okay. It's exciting. I really want to see what Tua can do. Because he was an uber prospect until the injury. Absolutely. We'll take a break. We'll come back, talk about a report from Adam Schefter about Deshaun Watson,

what Green Bay is saying about Aaron Rodgers and the veterans, the Miles Gaskins and the Mike Davises of the world. I do want to talk about the Patriots running backs and give you my take on why, if one of them can get the job, they could be a big winner this year. We'll be right back 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. Their insurance solutions are designed to help protect you and your loved ones financially, giving you the peace of mind to focus on what truly matters.

Find their products through banks, credit unions, and associations, or visit SecurianCanada.ca. Securian Canada. Insurance designed for life. Did you know that across Ontario, utility damage happens 19 times a day? That's over 4,222 incidents a year. Don't let your next dig be one that causes costly delays or safety risks. Before you break ground, make it a point to request a locate. It's not just the law.

It's a step to keep your team and community safe. Visit OntarioOneCall.ca and avoid unnecessary damages to get the job done right. Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. Welcome back to the show. So Adam Schefter saying today that there are people in NFL circles who believe that Deshaun Watson will not play this season. Jamie, they drafted Davis Mills in round three. What's your take on the Texans quarterback situation? I think it was smart to take Davis Mills because,

you know, he fell a little bit in the drafts. You know, some people thought he could have been a late first round pick and they were able to get him on day two with their first selection. So, you know, for what,

let's not forget prior to all this happening, maybe this was part of it, knowing that it was coming that, you know, he, he wanted to be out of Houston. So, knowing that it was coming that, you know, he, he wanted to be out of Houston. So, um,

even if he does play in 2021, uh, he may not play as a member of the Texans. So at this point, fantasy wise, um, I have him outside my top 12 to Sean Watson. You know,

I think you can't go in drafting him as a starter if you're drafting today. So he's probably going to fall for a lot of people. Um, you know, and, and you'll just have to decide if you want to take the risk before there's any news. But at this point, you have to go with the assumption that he's probably not playing this season based on what has transpired for him this offseason. If you're drafting today, would you take Brandon Cooks or Jamar Chase?

I still have Cooks ranked probably too high for letting the quarterback situation be what it is. So I'd probably say Chase. Oh, no, I do have Chase ranked high already. So yes, I would take that. I have Cooks five spots ahead of Chase, but obviously that's one where I'm projecting it with Deshaun Watson.

So I will rank him lower than his projection. Gotcha. Green Bay says they're committed to Aaron Rodgers beyond this season. Going to be a bonus pot at some point, so stay tuned. Cincinnati offensive coordinator Brian Callahan says he does not want Joe Mixon to leave the field.

I think I'm in love with Joe Mixon. Drafting Joe Mixon, anyway. Does that mean he's going to play defense and special teams? That's the thing. You get his field goal points. They drafted a kicker, though. He'd be pretty good. You'd have to start him as kicker.

Oh, yeah. Damn it. Yeah, I just feel like he's going to have a massive workload. I have him as RB7. Whoa. I don't know if I like him that much. I've never been a Joe Mixon guy, but it's always been because he was always this, wow,

look at this talent. He's so good. But the role was never there. Now, if the role is there and that offense is better, I don't know. It feels like he could be a rocket ship. Jamie, rocket ship emoji? He's got the potential. I mean, he's had the potential every year of his career.

He just hasn't fulfilled it. So hopefully this is the season. But, I mean, you got to be excited that they let Giovanni Bernard go. And they are once again saying all the right things. And I think, look, if he had stayed healthy last year, he probably would have finished somewhere in the top 10 based on what his volume was. So you know they're going to give him the work, you know, there's the opportunity for them, for him to succeed. If Joe Burrow's back at a hundred percent, you know, they're not going

to see a lot of eight man boxes. If these receivers are good and T Hagan showed you that he could be good. And obviously Jamar Chase has the ability to be great. So as long as the offensive line holds up that, you know, is the, is the question mark. And for what the statement was about Joe Mixon's workload, you probably would have liked to see Panay Sewell as the pick as opposed to Jamar Chase. But still, Jonah Williams healthy, and I know they addressed the offensive line in round two. So hopefully this offensive line is good and Joe Mixon is better.

Mixon, believe it or not, was 11th per game in PPR. 12th in non-PPR. He had the one huge game. He had five pretty crappy games and one enormous game with 151 rushing yards, 30 receiving yards, three touchdowns against the Jaguars.

Other than that, he was really not completely disappointing because he was pretty involved in the passing game in PPR at least, but you know average like 2.5 yards per carry in the other five games uh okay we're just about done with the news and notes atlanta did get a running back it was after the draft they signed jayleon hawkins uh denver head coach vic fangio said cortland sutton's doing well in his rehab and urban meyer talked about how much he really wanted to draft Kadarius Toney. They had the 25th pick.

He was heartbroken when Kadarius Toney went 20th overall, and then Urban Meyer pivoted to Travis Etienne. So go Kadarius Toney. Biggest rankings risers. This is something we probably, I don't know how much the veterans were impacted this weekend, but Miles Gaskin and Mike Davis, Jamie, what is your take on this with the Dolphins and Falcons skipping running back in the NFL draft?

It's great for both of them. You know, I mean, I think Gaskin, you thought maybe he has a chance to be okay, knowing the way they performed last year, the workload that they gave him. But Mike Davis, you know, I think a lot of people year, the workload that they gave him. But Mike Davis, you know, I think a lot of people looked at the signing of the Falcons. I guess I'll speak for myself that, okay, this is going to be their at best one, a probably their backup and chance to play. And now you're looking at it and saying, okay, if Arthur Smith's system was that good for Derrick Henry and Derrick Henry is an alien, as we've talked about many a time, then Mike Davis could potentially be a good number two

running back for fantasy if he's going to get those touches. So you saw what he was capable of doing last year in Carolina system as Christian McCaffrey missed 13 games. And he didn't have the same type of success consistently because he kind of petered out a little bit toward the end of the season but still you know he's going to be a guy you draft as a as a back-end rb2 and gaskin has top 20 upside now if he's going to be the lead running back for the dolphins as it seems yeah i mean his role in the passing game you know especially like he could catch 50 passes he was on pace for that uh last season and i think he played 65 of the snaps in all but one game after week three you know the first two weeks

were kind of weird um you know obviously there were the injuries but are you talking about mike davis miles gaskett oh sorry sorry my bad um but. But yeah, I like both. I think both of them are top 24 running backs. What I noticed about Myles Gaskin was that Sivan Ahmed really did pretty much just as well, if not better, as a rusher while Gaskin was out. But Gaskin got a lot of catches and Ahmed didn't. And then they both were there for the Raiders game.

And the way I remember it was, uh, Ahmed was the starter and got most of the work in the first half. And then he just failed the audition. And then they gave it to Gaskin. Gaskin had a huge play in the second half. It's a really exciting game. And that was his first game back from COVID too.

It was, it was, yes, it was his first game back, but I just don't know what the split's going to be. Is Malcolm Brown going to be a bigger headache than we are giving him credit for? Is he going to be a bigger part of the offense?

Omar Kelly tweeted, Miami envisions Malcolm Brown as the team's short yardage and four-minute offensive back, asked to gain tough yardage and finish out games with physical runs. That's Brian Flores' opinion, not Omar Kelly's. So, I mean, look, coaches say a lot of things at this point in the season, and not all of them come to fruition. And if you took what every single head coach said in you know on may 1st uh every running back would

have 300 carries and every wide receiver would catch 90 balls so obviously you know plans are going to change and i just think gaskin's a a better player than malcolm brown so hopefully you know i think the biggest issue is malcolm brown's probably going to vulture a decent amount of touchdowns. Jamie, do you like Gaskin or Davis better right now? Oh, Gaskin. You know, I think just knowing that they did commit to him. There's, you know, an offensive coordinator change from Chan Gailey.

But I still think that, you know, despite what Brian Flores said, you know, Malcolm Brown's gonna be one of those guys. You've heard me say this time and time again a lot of it had to do with frank war veteran guys do all the right things not that mouse gas is not a veteran but he's he's still younger in his career than malcolm brown so i'm sure whatever brian flores has seen of of brown watching him on tape getting to know him you know he probably feels like he's gonna be in the right spots when they need him to be in the right spots but there's not a lot of upside Gaskin showed you he has upside and so hopefully that uh that continues I think really the Malcolm Brown question comes into play with who's the number two guy for Miami is it Brown or is it Ackman you know so Gaskin missed time last year you know for COVID and I think uh had an injury

situation also um and Ackman as you as you, Adam, he was very good stepping in for him in terms of what his workload was. So will it be Brown? Will it be Achmed? Will it be both? You know, that's the, I think, something you want to keep an eye on if you're going to take a flyer on somebody

with a late-round pick. You know, Todd Gurley was terrible. I would lean Achmed at this point. Todd Gurley was terrible last year, but his first nine games, he got all the work. And he was a top six running back because he scored nine touchdowns. He scored more touchdowns than any running back other than Dalvin Cook.

That's rushing and receiving touchdowns in that stretch. And everybody knew he had faced all this easy competition. We have sell high, sell high, sell high. And they went away from him. They just stopped using Todd Gurley. But if you get a guy who's going to get all the work, it doesn't really matter how good you are in some cases, you're going to produce.

Mike Davis, I just want to tell you this. His first three games without McCaffrey, he was incredible. He scored 23, 22, and 30 PPR fantasy points. He was on pace for 117 catches. His last nine games without McCaffrey, he scored more than 11 PPR fantasy points, only

twice. He was on pace for 46 catches. So I don't, I just struggle with this. I don't think any of us think, I don't think Mike Davis is bad, but I don't think he's that good. And he's 28. Yeah, he's 28. Is he better than Gurley was last year?

Yeah. Yeah, but Gurley was so bad that they had to get away from Todd Gurley. So he, I just don't know what to make of it. I don't see him as a 270 carry guy over 17 games. I don't see him as the number one, no doubt, about a feature guy. And there's still plenty of

time to add a running back, you know, somebody gets cut or whatever. Yeah. I mean, like, remember back to the start of the 2019 season, he was the guy we were like screaming for Matt Nagy to be fired because he was giving him carries over David Montgomery, you know, for like the first two games. Like that was, that was how low the collective opinion was about Mike Davis,

which is, you know, partially why I do like Chuba Hubbard, just because if he does get a chance, that offense is going to be good for running backs. Jamie, you want to wrap it up? Final thoughts on Mike Davis.

You know, opportunity is big, you know, chance to have volume is big. He proved he could be a pass catcher last year, which I don't think a lot of people thought he had those type of abilities, you know, to that level.

So this is an offense that we're very excited about, rightfully so. Quarterback is still very good. Obviously the weapons on the outside and the tight end now are fantastic. And so Arthur Smith coming from what he did in Tennessee, all these things you sort of look at and you say, okay, the running back for Atlanta, forget about that as Mike Davis. If you were to say that it was Christian McCaffrey, you know, all the way down to Frank Gore, you know,

whoever the starter was going to be there, you would say, okay, this guy's got a shot. And so Mike Davis is shouldn't, you don't want to overdraft him. You know, he shouldn't be taken in the first, probably four rounds, but once you get to round five, and we've talked about this a lot about how there's going to be a lot of running backs pushed up just because of the position that they play.

And you start to look at the names that are going to be available to you. Mike Davis in the same conversation with now Melvin Gordon, with David Johnson, with, um, uh, you know, I'm trying to think of other guys that are going to be in that miles Gaskin, you know, those, those type of guys. Um, how about Kareem hunt, uh, Kareem hunt. How about Kareem Hunt? Kareem Hunt. That's another good one. Who would you take?

Hunter Davis. I would take Davis, you know, and, and, and that's, I think the decision that you're going to have to make, you know, he's not going to be a guy that you say, oh, I think this is going to be somebody who wins me in my fantasy league. But for a guy that if he stays healthy can be 17, 18 to 24, by the time the season's done, you'll be okay with that.

You know, in that range, there'll be a solid RB two if he's, if he's the guy all season. Yeah. I mean, I have RB 13 and RB 25, but the difference between them and the projections is right around two

fantasy points per game, a little less actually. And so, you know, one of the things that I'll do is probably just wait for that tier and find the guys who drop in that tier and try to get them. And Mike Davis is definitely going to be one of those guys. I think Miles Gaskin is definitely going to be one of those guys. Melvin Gordon was going to be one of those guys before Javante Williams.

Okay, just giving you a heads up here. Falcons offense, four straight seasons. They've been 10th to 16th, somewhere in that range in scoring. So they've been slightly above average team in scoring. They've been very pass heavy. They've rushed for 10 to 13 touchdowns,

four straight seasons. And they've been bottom six in rushing yards, three straight seasons. I don't have the running back rushing yards. Teams that have quarterbacks who don't run are obviously going to be hurt in that metric. But bottom six in rushing yards, three straight seasons. I didn't realize, by the way, the Steelers have been 29th or worse in rushing three straight years. That is weird. have been 29th or worse in rushing three straight years. That is weird.

That includes James Connors' huge year where he was RB8 or something like that. But he didn't run the ball very well that year. Yeah, it's surprising that he was that bad of a running team. But again, Ben Roethlisberger doesn't run. And all the things I said about the Falcons, they do have a new coach, so it's going to change things. Jamie, any other rankings risers among the veterans? Rankings risers among the veterans?

Or just winners? I'm trying to think. I'm sorry. That's all right. Let me make a case for Damian Harris. I know that the Patriots drafted Ramondre Stevenson. He's big and physical and not that fast, not going to catch passes.

He's, I don't know, he's Sonny Michel and Damian Harris, at least in that regard, the passes thing. I looked at Damian Harris' bets. You're saying they have a type? LeGarrette Blount much? I looked at Damian Harris' best stretch. And this is a guy who averaged five yards

per carry last year. He was very good when he ran the ball. But his problem was touchdowns. So he had six games. Six games with 14 or more carries. He had 95 or more total yards in four of them. But he had one rushing touchdown. Cam Newton had six in those six games.

James White actually had two, which was weird. You get Mac Jones in there instead of Cam Newton had six in those six games. James White actually had two, which was weird. You get Mac Jones in there instead of Cam Newton who rushed for 12 touchdowns last year. Not going to do that again. Maybe Damian Harris is just their best running back and actually someone we could use. I know we're not going to be super excited about anyone who's not involved in the passing game and who's a Patriots running back,

but get Cam Newton off the field. It's going to really help those running backs in the touchdown department. I think you're right, but the fact that they added Stevenson could just mean more headaches. And you've brought this up time and time again, and you're right.

It's kind of a misnomer what the Patriots running back situation has been because when they have a guy, they use that guy. They may not use the guy to the level of the heights of some other teams, but they still lean on a guy. And so I don't know if that's going to happen this season and who knows if it will happen ever again, but I still think that Harris is the best of the trio of guys there. Stevenson feels as if this could be more of a 2022 situation when Sonny Michelle is gone. But Harris is somebody that I was excited about. I mean, you have to downgrade him a little bit because I'm sure Stevenson

will play. And like you said, Adam, it's still Cam to start the season. And if Cam is better, then he's going to play the whole season if they're competitive. So Harris is a guy that you can take as a third running back. You probably would prefer him as a fourth running back, certainly in PPR.

But he's my favorite of the backfield guys so far. Okay, yeah. We never talk about the Patriots running backs, really. So I wanted to throw that in there. Chris, got any rankings, risers, or fallers that you want to talk about?

Yeah, I think... in there. Chris, got any rankings risers or fallers that you want to talk about? Yeah. I think rankings risers and fallers, that's a different question than what I was preparing for. Melvin Gordon's definitely a faller. He was actually someone who was around 20th for me before

this, and now I think he's probably closer to 30. I do wonder if it'd be hard to move Kyler Murray up much, but I really like the Rondell Moore addition for that. I think he could be such a perfect fit for Clef Kingsbury's offense. And, you know, it's the kind of thing where even if Kyler Murray doesn't get better as a passer, Rondell Moore will make him seem like he got better because he's so good after the catch. I think Dave mentioned on the broadcast, it was 71% of his yards came after the catch while he

was at Purdue. So I think Kyler Murray might be my number two quarterback now. Jamie, do you think that Miles Sanders will be affected at all by Kenneth Gainwell, who they've selected in round five, who is a pass-catching running back? That's what he did very well, and he's one of the better ones in this class. Do you think that... Because Boston Scott really didn't do that much

when Miles... Boston Scott had, I think, 16 catches in 12 games that Miles Sanders played. Does Miles Sanders get clipped at all by Kenneth Gainwell? A little bit. And I think you've got to factor in just the fact that he struggled with some drops last year. Hopefully the offensive line is back to full strength. It seems like it's going to be better than it was a year ago but um yeah i mean sanders you know was uh was somebody that he when he was really good as a

rookie was because he was catching the ball as well as he did and you know that that's set back step back last year i i think was part of the reason why his fantasy production didn't improve so you know adding a pass catching guy uh to offense, I know it's a different coaching staff, but you know what they've been traditionally. They've liked to use a pass-catching running back. And so I think you've got to downgrade them a little bit in both formats just because of the opportunity to come off the field now a little bit more. Any other rankings adjustments?

We can finish the show. Matt Ryan was a big riser for me, you know, just with the addition of Pitts. We all saw it coming, but, you know but like I said on Thursday night, I was waiting for it to be official. So he's now a top-to-all quarterback for me, where he was closer to 16-17 prior to this. So how do you balance your excitement for Pitts with

your... Well, your excitement for Pitts and moving Ryan up with the fact that, like you already said, we don't know what rookie tight ends can do. We know they very rarely do well, and we don't know that Kyle Pitts can do better than a typical rookie tight end,

which is not much of an impact. I look at it in kind of two ways. One, Matt Ryan was so much better with Julio Jones healthy last season. I think he was probably a top seven or eight quarterback in the games that Julio Jones played, or at least I think he played 10 games and eight of them he played an actual role. And then he was

deeply mediocre when Jones was out. So obviously we can't guarantee that Jones will stay healthy this season, but he's currently healthy, we have to assume. At this point, we would assume he will be healthy at the start of the season. And so given that the addition of a super talented player like Kyle Pitts, a guy who, you know, probably will just play like a wide receiver. I think that's got to be good for him. Even if Kyle Pitts isn't more than a, you know a 700 yards guy, which I think he should be. Matt Ryan, seven games with a healthy Julio Jones.

Jones left two games, played fewer than 35% of the snaps. Listen to this. Seven games with a healthy Julio Jones, nine games without Jones or with Jones leaving with an injury. In those seven games, he averaged 25.6 points per game in six-point-per-passing touchdown leagues. In the other nine games, he averaged 16.1. He averaged 9.5 more fantasy points per game when Julio was healthy.

I will, however, say that play, had to have played a role in this. Played Seattle early in the year. They were giving up unbelievable amounts of points. Scorebacks played Dallas. So that was part of it. But yes, Chris, 100% right. He was on pace for 5,200 yards and 34 touchdowns

with a healthy Julio Jones last year. Yeah, and six points per passing touchdown league, I think he would have been a top 10 guy per game at 25.6. That would have been 11. That's it? On pace for 52,000? I mean, yeah, that's... 200 yards?

Last year was... We're going to have to recalibrate our expectations for quarterbacks because I don't think passing games are going to be quite as good in 2021 as they were in 2020 just because it seemed like defenses were at a real disadvantage early in the season and things seemed to normalize after that. But yeah, I mean, last year... I know, but it seems like every team got six new wide receivers in the draft.

Yeah, there were 11 quarterbacks, 12 quarterbacks who averaged at least 25 points per game. That would have been among the league leaders pretty much every year. That's wild. And I think there were as many teams that added wide receivers as added offensive linemen, especially in round two. Off the board, fast and furious.

So let's do some buy or sell to finish the show. By the way, how about the Cowboys draft? fast and furious. So let's do some buy or sell to finish the show. By the way, how about the Cowboys draft? This is a grand experiment to see if you can just draft an entire defense, basically. Okay, buy or sell from Matt.

Matt Ryan, top 10. Buy. Just barely sell, but actually, I currently have James Winston 10th if he's the starter for the Saints, but given, I currently have James Winston 10th if he's the starter for the Saints,

but given the fact they didn't really add anybody in the passing game, maybe they're leaning Taysom Hill. So yeah, he could be 10. From Dynasty Football Only, Zach Moss, top 20 running back. He's a winner. Devin Singletary's a winner.

You know, that was a team that everybody thought could take a running back. They were, even in the conversation, to take ETN in the first round, assuming that Harris was going to go first. And so the fact that they didn't address the position, and before Zach Moss got hurt, he was trending in the direction of being the featured guy there to whatever that meant for Buffalo. But top 20 is a little too high. I'm going to sell.

But I do think that they will get close to a top 25 running back. Yeah, I wouldn't pick either of them to be a top 40 back, but I could see one of them, if things break right, getting to top 25-ish. From TJ, buy or sell Mike Davis as an RB1? Sell, but as we said, RB2. By the way, Chris, you said you might have Kyler Murray as your QB2 at this point. Jamie, who's your QB2?

Still Josh Allen. Yeah, what's a bigger win? The Bills not drafting a running back or the Cardinals drafting a talented wide receiver in round two? And obviously, what do I mean by this? Well, all the rushing touchdowns that Josh Allen gets. I don't think... I think the rushing touchdowns that Josh Allen gets. I don't think...

I think the rushing touchdowns Josh Allen gets are a product of Josh Allen. I don't think if they had drafted a good running back, that really would have changed. Well, two years ago, Frank Gore was just miserable near the goal line. And last year, I don't... Maybe they just didn't really try.

But they haven't had a good goal line back. That's for sure. Well, Josh Allen's been the goal line back. I think that's what I would say. That's for sure. Well, Josh Allen's been the goal linebacker. I think it's that he's so good in that role that I think it would be kind of silly to not use him that way.

Okay, so you think that the more draft pick in Arizona is more. I don't think there's going to be a consensus number two quarterback taken. You're going to have Murray. You're going to have Allen. You're going to have Lamar Jackson.

There'll be some people that take Aaron Rodgers, depending on he's still there, just because of the way he finished. Dak Prescott. You can make a case for a lot of different guys up there. So this is what I'm talking about. So Josh Allen had nine carries inside the five. Zach Moss had eight.

In 2019, Josh Allen had five carries inside the five. Zach Moss had eight. In 2019, Josh Allen had five carries inside the five. Frank Gore had 11. They've actually used other players inside the five-yard line, but they've just sucked. So that's why I think it was nice for Josh Allen that they did not add a running back who could do that. I remember last year talking about this, that there was a couple plays in 2019

where Frank Gore had two opportunities in a row to punch one in, and I think it was a third down play, and Josh Allen ended up scoring a rushing touchdown. It was just because Frank Gore couldn't get in. And to Chris's point, why would you get away from that? Well, you saw what happened to Patrick Mahomes

two years ago when he was trying to get into the end zone, and I don't know if Buffalo will want to continue to risk that, but Josh Allen's a little bit different physically. So, we'll see. He's got that Cam Newton aspect of his game still there. I think I was at a Yankees playoff game, Jamie, when that happened. I don't think I saw that Mahomes play.

But I remember the audible gasps as it circulated through the crowd and, oh, Mahomes got hurt. Everybody thought he was going to be out for the year. Breathe this sigh of relief. And the Yankees lost to the Astros that night. Buy or sell? Pitt's top six.

Boy, these people are hitting on every topic we've already talked about from Brett. Oh, well, this is interesting. Chase top 24, and he also asked Pitt's top six. Do you buy either of those? Chase top 24, Pitt's top six. Do you buy either of those? Chase top 24, Pitt's top 6. Yep. Bye. Right in that range. Chase top 24, huh?

I have him 27. Who are you going to take? Jamar Chase or DJ Moore? DJ Moore. Moore, but it's close. I would take Chase over Galladay right now. All right. That's it for today's close. I would take Chase over Galladay right now. Yeah.

All right, that's it for today's show. NFL Draft. Fun. Yeah. Cool. Thanks for listening, everybody. A lot of Dynasty coming up. We got rookie drafts.

We got seasonal drafts as well. The redrafts. Whatever the hell. Redraft league drafts. Mocs coming up. We'll talk about them throughout the week. I'm going to sleep. For Chris Towers and Jamie Eisenberg, I'm a very tired Adam Azer.

Thanks for hanging out with us all weekend long. We will talk to you on Monday with another edition of Fantasy Football.