Fantasy Football Today - Our Top 12 in PPR! (06/13 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: June 13, 2022

We thought we would reveal our consensus Top 24, but instead we'll just stick to the Top 12. First, some news to get to including why Saquon Barkley is moving up the rankings (1:40) and more news (6:35) on the Ravens backfield, the Falcons QBs and the Browns QBs ... We unveil our consensus Top 12 in PPR! It starts with Jonathan Taylor (13:00) and Austin Ekeler (15:15). Could Ekeler lose his touchdowns this season? Then it's Christian McCaffrey/Derrick Henry (19:40). We discuss these players and what could go right and what could go wrong ... After those RBs, it's on to Cooper Kupp (26:35), Najee Harris (28:30), Justin Jefferson/Joe Mixon (32:30), Dalvin Cook/Ja'Marr Chase (40:10), Alvin Kamara (49:30) and a tight end at #12 (54:50) ... Email us at [e-mail] Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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And he stays on his feet! He's just going to go the distance! Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. We are unveiling our consensus top 24 in PPR leagues. Yes, Jonathan Taylor is number one, but we'll give you the other 23. You may not be able to guess the order. Did Cooper Cup make the top five? How many wide receivers in the top 12?

How many tight ends in the top 24? Adam, Jamie, and Dave here to talk about it. Plus, we have a ton of news coming in from minicamps. Some great reports. A lot of great talking points. We're going to talk about Russell Gage. He's not in the top 24, but Tom Brady says he needs to have a big year. And guys, all these minicamp news items.

Jamie, I've said this before, but it really feels like football season now. We've got a ton of stuff to react to. We've got some drafts coming up this week, too. We're almost in full swing. It's magazine time, so we're getting ready to put out our magazine. There are other publications that are doing theirs that I'm sure I know I'm contributing. I'm sure Dave is as well. Where you're

gearing up for the start of it. This Terry McLaurin news is not fun. But yeah, the positive reports, which everything for the most part is positive. All the rookies are fantastic. As you noted, all the players are in the best shape of their lives.

Yeah, it's football season. Leonard Fournette not in the best shape of his life. Did he make the top 24? Yes, he did. We'll talk about him. Dave, if there's one player based on reports and speculation and he looked like this, whatever,

one player that's really piqued your interest in this early minicamp process, who would that player be, if anyone? A player that's piqued my interest. Or moved up in your rankings or whatever. I like what I'm hearing about Saquon.

And remember, I resisted putting Zeke ahead of Saquon, and this was the reason why. It was because if Saquon is totally healthy and over all the ailments that he had previously and used more as a pass catcher in the Giants' offense, and I think the Giants' offense is going to be better under Brian Dable. I certainly expect the offensive line to be better, man. I think there could be a real bounce back year for Saquon.

I literally moved him up in my rankings again this morning. He's inside my top 30. Pretty sure he was inside my top 30 even before I moved him up, but now he's closer to 24 than he's ever been this offseason. I'm wondering what it'll take for him to be back inside the top 20 in our fantasy rankings. And it could just be looking great in the preseason, or not in the preseason, but in training camp and scrimmages.

And everybody says he's the old Saquon. And I think it'll lead to at least two or three managers in every single league, probably guys that didn't have them on their teams in 2021 or 2020 saying that they'll take the chance on Saquon Barkley in round two. Yeah. I thought that might be your answer because that seems to be the guy who's getting a lot of great reports and about the usage,

you know, we haven't really seen, Oh, he looks great, but he says he feels better. He's more confident. But lining up all over the formation, there's been so many reports. I can think of three about how he's going to be more involved in the passing game. So, yeah, it's exciting. The question is, Jamie, are we falling for a trap with Barkley? I mean, anytime you're talking about these injury guys, I don't want to

say injury prone, but you know, guys coming off of, you know, see consecutive seasons of injuries, there's always going to be risk attached to it. There's going to be risk attached to it, which I think is what you're leaning toward of, you know, guys on, on bad teams, um, you know, and, and being, you know, in love with workload, because that's clearly, I think the thing about Saquon that you have to love is that there isn't really somebody taking him off the field for significant stretches you know he'll be spelled a little bit but there's not going to be somebody that's replacing him and so you know it's hard to find workhorse running backs it's hard to find guys that have the ceiling that he has you know for somebody that's got a 2,000 yard season that has a 90 catch season that has the

ability to get you know double digits and touchdowns he has all that you know in front of him the question becomes is you know is he going to miss three games like he did a year ago? Is he going to miss, you know, more than that going back, you know, over the last two seasons. And so, you know, plus the Giants being bad, but I think, you know, the things you buy into is he's still young enough that, you know, you don't have to worry about necessarily a total breakdown because of, you know, his body being just physically, you know, destroyed. I don't think that's the case. He's got a contract situation in front of him, which is always nice that he's playing for something.

And I think, as Dave alluded to, the offense should be better. Offensive line should be better. Hopefully, Daniel Jones is better. And so there's, I think, more positives than negatives for Barkley. And so even though he's on a bad team and coming off some injury-plagued seasons, he still has a chance to be a top-five caliber running back. And so he's in my top 24. He is a second-round pick for me. He probably will get closer to be a, you know, top five caliber running back. And so he's in my top 24. He is a second round pick for me.

He probably will get closer to top 20, you know, depending on, you know, a few situations. So I'm not far off from where Dave, you know, might have him already. I just think there's, there's more to like than to dislike about Saquon Barkley going into this year. Yeah. It's also one thing that I think we're going to see when we unveil the top 24 is less reliance on running backs to catch a lot of passes in at least the elite. Right. Like Jonathan Taylor. I know Derek Henry's number two for Dave. He's not number two in the consensus. But last year, it didn't matter nearly as much as it used to. Teams aren't throwing to the running backs quite as much.

Maybe that'll change as defenses look to take away the deep ball. But if you do get a running back who catches a ton of passes, man, it could be even more rare now. And if Barkley's going to fill that role, then that could be very exciting. All right, guys, we have a big week coming up. We're doing some drafts that we'll talk about, but we're unveiling our sleepers, our breakouts, our busts.

We are not going to have a live stream this week. We're going to have our first live stream, Tuesday afternoon live streams to do some mock drafts. That's going to be a pretty regular part of our schedule. That's going to start next week, and you can catch that on youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday. The best way to know about these is to go to youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday and subscribe to the channel, and you can get alerts before we go live. So these are not going to be podcasts.

They're just going to be live video streams on YouTube, so please subscribe to the channel. We've got seven episodes of Fantasy Football today and five including those Jacob Gibbs player profiles on the weekends, so a lot to take in. The big news. Lamar Jackson reported to minicamp, and I don't know if you guys know how to pronounce his name, Jeff Zrybiek of the Athletic.

I believe it's Zrybiek. Z. Jeff Zrybiek of the Athletic. I believe it's Zrybiek. Zrybiek, okay, of the Athletic. Thinks the Ravens will manage the early season workloads for Dobbins and Edwards. And we actually talked about this last week. Some people think they're going to be on the pop list, slow recoveries. So with all this taken in, Dave,

are we moving J.K. Dobbins down? When do you draft J.K. Dobbins? I don't want to take them with a round four pick round three pick not yet um something's up i don't know if it's both of these guys i think it might be more gus than jk but they're both going to be taken along slowly harbaugh said as much during the owners meetings i asked him about it because I'm dying to know. And it's okay if they start training camp on the pup list. They just can't end training camp on the pup list. That would be a problem for fantasy managers, but they were sniffing around Melvin Gordon. They signed Mike Davis. They drafted Tyler Beatty. They've they're looking to do something because I think one of these running backs and my guess is it's Gus won't be ready to

go week one there have been some positive news about Dobbins it just hasn't been much they are smart to take their time with him he's got a lot of potential he's a really good player he's just on a team that's got a great running quarterback and an offensive line that used to be amazing I don't know if they're as amazing. And we'll see just how much work Dobbins ends up getting both at the beginning of the year and then once he is in the full swing of things, call it October. Does he get 20 touches per game? Probably not. Is he going to split with somebody? Probably so. And so it's not going to be a year where we can look at Dobbins and say he can reach his full potential. And I don't want to draft them based on what that potential could be.

I want to draft them closer to the floor. That means out of round four. Okay. Dan Campbell, head coach of the Lions, said that rookie wide receiver Jamison Williams is unlikely to be ready for training camp. He's coming off a knee injury, still recovering. Sports Illustrated's Daniel Flick says that it seems like a matter of when,

but not if, or when, not if, rookie quarterback Desmond Ritter will start for the Falcons. Yeah. Yeah. That's happening this year. Well, for Kyle Pitts and I guess Drake London, who would you rather have at quarterback and how much of a difference does it make?

You guys can both answer this. Go ahead, Jim. I think you'd like to see just not knowing what Ritter is going to do in live action. You'd like to see Mariota just because at least you know what you're getting to some extent. You know, I mean, he's going to have his flaws. Clearly, that's the reason why he's, you know, bounced around and been a backup and, you know, trying to fight for a job with a rookie on a terrible team. But, you know, you've certainly seen some positives from his receivers at times. But, you know, you've certainly seen some positives from

his receivers at times. And, you know, hopefully the more competent quarterback will be the veteran. But I mean, you know, we've seen, you know, many examples of this where, you know, the rookie is more talented and sometimes coaches are just scared to start them week one. Sometimes it's painfully obvious that you have to start that guy week one. And so, I mean, I don't really think there's much of a difference to be honest with honest with you, but at least from a logical standpoint, I'd probably want to go with the veteran. I'd rather have the veteran guy for those receiving options than I would the rookie who I haven't seen yet at this level.

When I watched Ritter play, there were many times where he threw into tight coverage, but he did it knowing that his receivers, and it was mainly Alec Pearson, this is one of the reasons why I liked Alec Pearson, was able to make a play. He threw to the big guy. And look at this receiving core in Atlanta. It's big guy after big guy after big guy.

So once it's clear that Ritter is competent, that's who I want to see throwing to Pitts and to London. Until then, it's Mariota. Let's see. What else we got here? Speaking of throwing, NFL executives think that Baker Mayfield and Jimmy Garoppolo will end up being released, according to ESPN. Michael Thomas

unlikely to participate in minicamp this week. What the Browns are going to do is so fascinating. The whole situation is just crazy. It's just that whole situation is just crazy. It's just absolutely crazy. Yeah. Like if Watson's suspended for the season, what are they going to do?

Are they going to keep Baker if he's on the team? There was that report that they could void Watson's contract. Or that. Possibly. It works. Wow, that's great. Just give away a bunch of first-round picks to Houston to avoid a contract. If I had told you before the year that the team that got to Sean Watson was going to give up multiple first-round picks

and guarantee him almost a quarter of a billion dollars, you probably would have said the Browns would have been that team. There's no other team in the league that this could happen to. There's a few. Every day it just seems worse for Watson. It's not, you know, just bad stuff after bad stuff coming out. But I mean, that's a different story,

and you're right, but it's, if he's not playing, and Baker's still on the team, like their best chance to win is Baker. Yeah, it is. It's not to Kobe percent. No, but, you know, then then you got maybe Garoppolo. Maybe they go after Riverside.

It just feels like Baker Mayfield. No, I mean, they're going to play Brissett if both Baker and Deshaun are not there, or even if Deshaun's not there. I mean, they've kind of made their bed already at this point. Right. It's so hard to see Baker. If you're looking at it from your franchise perspective,

forget about hurt feelings the best chance for you to win if deshaun watts is not there is clearly baker mayfield over jacoby brissett and baker's getting a bad rap you know for everything that happened last year playing through injuries you know i mean they they were a very strong playoff caliber team the year before and i think what was it a fourth down conversion away from you know going to the afc championship game yeah super bowl what was it when that when Chad Hennig came in and made the play. AFC Championship. That was the divisional game. That was the divisional run, right?

Michael Thomas unlikely to participate in minicamp this week, and there was a quote that really stood out from the Bears coaching staff. We're going to stress the running backs and stretch their role, meaning David Montgomery can run the whole gamut of the passing tree, which you know, it looks like he can.

Can he beat guys one-on-one consistently? Is it a safety or a linebacker that's covering him? It's a positive. If he can beat all those guys, DBs and linebackers, and we feel Montgomery has the skill set to do that. They're very high on him in the passing game. Okay, so did David Montgomery make our top 24? You'll find out.

Let's go. Let's start. Here we go. So we're going to talk about each player, positives, negatives, and whatnot. Jonathan Taylor is the consensus number one. He is number one for everyone. But, you know, for example, number two is Austin Eckler. Dave has Derek Henry at number two.

So Austin Eckler is not number two for everyone. But when you combine the three rankings for Jamie, Dave Heath, this is what we've got. Number one is Jonathan Taylor. We'll go one by one here. And obviously he spent more time on the more interesting players here, but Jamie, give me the rundown on, on Jonathan Taylor, the 20 seconds, uh, on him. And we can debate if we need to go ahead. Uh, safety plus upside. You know, I, I think when you talk about the guys behind them

and the only one that I would even consider putting number one is Christian McCaffrey, because the ceiling is in some cases significantly higher for McCaffrey than it is for Taylor, but the safety factor is just not there. And so, you know, Taylor's in the age range you like for guys being at this spot because it's typically a younger running back that makes the, the, the leap or stays at the top. Um, he's got a great running back that makes the the the leap or stays at the top um he's got a great offensive line i think a quarterback upgrade um it's a very good system that's going to feature him and you know he does everything that you like the only concern i have really for him is will the reception total be the same because i could see it taking a slight

tick downward not to the point where he's not involved in the passing game, but they are so in love with Naheem Hines. They are really going to play him a lot. And to what extent does that hurt Taylor on, I don't want to say obvious passing downs, because I think that's going to be Hines, but it's non-obvious passing downs. Or, you know, if their defense struggles, which I don't think it will,

but if, you know, they're really in a lot of hurry up and chasing point scenarios, Jonathan Taylor may not be on the field in those spots like he was last year. What did he have last year? About 40 catches? Yeah, in that range. Right around there. Okay, and I think what's interesting about Jonathan Taylor is that the last

two, a lot of things, but the last two seasons, Christian McCaffrey was the number one player preseason, and he clearly had the most upside. Obviously, injuries ruinedseason, and he clearly had the most upside. Obviously, injuries ruined it, but he clearly had the most upside. Does Jonathan Taylor have the most PPR upside? No. Who does?

McCaffrey. McCaffrey. Okay. Okay, number two on the list is Austin Eckler, Dave. Give me the rundown, the lowdown on Austin Eckler, who did finish as number two last year at running back. He was number three per game behind Derek Henry was actually number one, and then Jonathan Taylor, and then Austin Echler. Go ahead on Echler.

He's been a top 12 running back on a per game basis in PPR each of the last three years. He's been top six two of the last three years he was number three last year awesome offense great schedule as well they've got a top 10 projected schedule for running backs that's really good for Eckler you know he's going to get his in the passing game there are a lot of running backs that we will talk about all training camp long where there's concern about how many targets they're going to get not a concern for Austin Eckler he's going to get Austin Eckler. He's going to get a lot of targets. He's going to get a lot of catches. And last year he got a lot of touchdowns,

which is good for him because he didn't always get that short area of role. A little worried about that being the case with Isaiah Spiller there, but I think Spiller's got to earn it before he gets it. Eckler is just a phenomenal weapon. No real qualms about him going at number two. And the case to make him ahead of McCaffrey is that he's healthier. He's been on the field longer than McCaffrey has been. And he's got not the exact same type of upside,

but good enough upside where you could say it's safer to go with Eckler rather than with McCaffrey at number two. I think the only question you kind of alluded to it is the rushing touchdowns in 2020 chargers. Running backs had six rushing touchdowns in 2020 chargers running backs had six rushing touchdowns eckler had one and they were using kalen bellage in short yardage at the end of the year in 2021 chargers running backs had 15 rushing touchdowns they went from six to 15 and eckler had 12 of those what changed yum yes well that's the perfect you tell me the

offensive line the quarterback played better he was great as a rookie he was even better but i think also what changed was echo yeah i think what changed was eckler had the role so do you guys see because that's nine rushing touchdowns yeah he has five yards or closer he has he has the role he he's you know the only thing that you got to be a little concerned about you know and he talks about this a lot is when they start to get to 27 you know and he's at that age now is is this when the breakdown starts to happen you know and the thing that's i think a saving grace for him is that he didn't have the workload you know earlier in his career you know so he doesn't have the wear and tear on his body but this offense is just poised

to be so dynamic and so explosive. To me, honestly, I don't think he's going to score as many rushing touchdowns. I think he'll maybe make up for it a little bit more in the passing game from a scoring perspective. I just wonder, Spiller is the closest thing they have to a clone to him. I mean, you know, Justin Jackson wasn't that. He played well in that game against Houston last year in Week 16. Joshua Kelly's certainly not that guy.

Larry Rountree, not that guy. Spiller, based on his pass-catching ability at Texas A&M, can do some of those things. He's a bigger version of Austin Eckler. So will he take him off the field and maybe some passing downs that we haven't seen in the past? That's, I think, something that you could maybe see happening if they want to preserve Eckler because of where their long-term goals are.

But it's just a small little thing to keep in mind. I'd be stunned if they did that. I'd be stunned. He's too good of a receiver for them. Yeah, he's amazing. And he's established. Oh, I'm not saying it's because Spiller's better. It's because you want to keep him, you know, we're talking, you know,

two touchdown lead in the fourth quarter. Why are we throwing Austin Eckler in a third down situation? We can, you know, give him a break there? It's those type of things. Those types, you're sure. So maybe lesser value opportunities could go to Spiller where they went to Eckler last year. You brought up the receiving touchdowns. He had seven last year, all seven in the red zone.

This dude's awesome. He's my number three, and I'm not going to fault anybody for taking him at number two. Yeah, no, he's third for me, too. It's a question, though, of, again, we're talking upside, and does he have the same upside as McCaffrey? And the answer is no. So Eckler had eight receiving touchdowns last year.

He also had eight receiving touchdowns in 2019. He is the only player in the last 20 years to have that many receiving, the only running back in the last 20 years. Marshall Falk had nine, I think, in 2001. Whenever Falk had nine, I think it was 2001. So I believe it's been 20 years. Eckler's the only running back to have eight or more receiving touchdowns.

He's done it twice in the last three seasons. I counted wrong. I said seven. It's eight. Okay, next up in the consensus rankings at number three is christian mccaffrey is it only health with mccaffrey is there anything else okay yeah and and i i feel you know this is one where you know i look chris towers has him ranked number

one um you know i know i think he did his bold predictions that he's going to return as number one i forget how he phrased it but something about him being number one. I think he did his bold predictions that he's going to return as number one. I forget how he phrased it, but something about him being number one. I don't know the bold part of it, but I think there's something Chris wrote where he's the number one player. You just look at the numbers. It's just staggering. As good as Henry was last year on a per-game basis,

if you take out the two injury games for McCaffrey, he was better. If you look at what he's out the two injury games for for McCaffrey he was better if you look at what he's done the two previous seasons over 29 points per game it's it there's not a player that can do that it's put that in perspective Taylor Taylor was at like 22 points per game or something like that right McCaffrey is that much better and Eckler the same thing yeah. You know, so it's just ridiculous to look at what McCaffrey can do. And so, you know, if you're looking at maximizing your team, he should be the number one overall pick. If you're concerned, which obviously people are, understandably so,

he's played 10 games the last two seasons, there's a risk. You know, but when you start to compare him to these other guys around him, you know, Henry in particular, you know, I don't necessarily want to go back. You have to factor in. But, you know, if you're just going back last year, the injuries that both of them are coming off of Henry's is worse. The injury situation for both these guys, just based on how they play, probably similar that you can say, OK, this guy is going to take risk because of how he goes, you know, out in space. And we've seen it from McCaffrey with his pass catching ability. But Henry, at this point, is just taking so many hits over the last couple of seasons.

You've got to wonder where the wear and tear factor comes in with him. But if you're just looking at the best player, he's the best player. And if he stays healthy, he's going to obliterate the field because he has. Okay, number four is Derek Henry. He's actually number two for Dave. But in the consensus rankings, Derek Okay, number four is Derrick Henry. He's actually number two for Dave, but in the consensus rankings, Derrick Henry is number four. What do you think about the catches this year

without A.J. Brown there? Obviously, they need someone to catch some passes. Could he be a 40-catch guy like Jonathan Taylor was last year? Dave? I think he was on pace to be about that last year. He was? We noted.

But it was very much concentrated in a few games, and then it kind of went away. It was with and without A.J. Brown. Was it? Yep. Well, that would be pretty interesting. The first three games, he had 12 catches. And then after that, he had six in his next five games.

And Brown was banged up to start the season, right? Yes, I think. Honestly, I don't remember. I mean, I can double check real quick about whether or not Brown was there to begin the year. But that is a sneaky storyline here. I mean, does Derrick Henry really evolve into more, I don't want to say complete,

but for PPR purposes, you know, complete. Does he become a bigger factor in the passing game now that they don't have A.J. Brown? I'm not drafting him to be a bigger factor in the passing game now that they don't have AJ Brown? I'm not, I'm not drafting him to be a bigger part of the passing game because we've talked about how he should be a bigger part of the passing game for each of the last two seasons. And he really hasn't done it. If you're drafting Derek Henry,

you're doing it with the assumption that he'll be fine coming off the foot injury and judging by the workouts that he's done, his participation, this off season, I think he'll be okay. And it was kind of a freak thing for him to break the fifth metatarsal. It's not a good injury, but he came back from it. But he's a bulldozer and the Titans have kind of proven that that's what their offense is. He is their offense. And when he plays, he gets a lot of work. He gets a lot of yardage. He gets plenty of yards after catch and he scores a ton of touchdowns. I don't know

what else you're looking for from a fantasy running back other than a role in the passing game. He doesn't have that, but he makes up for it with everything else that he does. I think the offensive line will still be okay. I think the schedule is still going to be favorable for him. He takes on Houston and Jacksonville twice a year each. And there is a wear and tear issue with him. But, I mean, the dude is built like a brick you-know-what. He's going to be able to dole out punishment just as easily. I'm good with him.

He's been top four in PPR points per game each of the last three years. He was number one last year. So I know that there's the stat about McCaffrey. If you take out the games he didn't play, his PPR per game is better than Derrick Henry's. Okay, well, Henry was right behind him. And last year was the first time that he had an injury of any kind. McCaffrey's had five different injuries in two seasons. So to me, it's a safer pick to take Henry. I think he'll stay on the field longer. I know he's not going to catch 50 passes, but I think he's going to rumble for another 15 touchdowns. And touchdowns are a

pretty big deal in fantasy. The yardage should be there too. I will pin my hopes to him because he's got the track record of being great in PPR without being a PPR guy. And if by some miracle the Titans do throw to him more, then he'll be unstoppable. He'll be the number one running back in fantasy easy. OK, so we can either do our top 12 today or we can go faster. It's up to you guys. We won't be able to get only four players in. So, I mean, I'm fine doing a top 12.

We have sleepers, breakouts, and busts coming up this week as well. But let's see what we get to here. Let's take a quick break. When we come back, we'll get to number five. So far, we've got four running backs, Taylor, Eckler, McCaffrey, and Derrick Henry. Remember, these are PPR rankings, so it could be a little bit different. Maybe you take Henry over Eckler or something like that, and non or half PPR. It's up to you.

But we'll come back. We'll tell you who number five is after four running backs are off the board in our consensus top 24. Right now, I will take a break, and this is Fantasy Football Today. What does possible sound like for your business? It's having the spend that powers your scale

with no preset spending limit. More cash on hand to grow your business with up to 55 interest-free days. And the ability to reach further with access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide. Redefine possible with Business Platinum. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms and conditions apply. Visit amex.ca slash business platinum. All right, number five is Cooper Cup.

First wide receiver selected. Cooper Cup was better than any running back last year and that is rare. Even in PPR, it's usually the running backs who score the most points other than quarterbacks. Cooper Cup crushed the competition. Jamie, he checks in at number five. Give me a quick overview on Cooper Cup.

I mean, again, you know, you just look at what he was able to accomplish last season and the way that this receiving core is shaking up right now for the Rams. It's hard to overlook him getting 160 plus, 170 plus, 180 plus starts again. He was just so heavily involved from Matthew Stafford

and should continue to be that way, especially after the contract extension. We've talked a lot about Devontae Adams leaving Aaron Rodgers and Tyreek Hill leaving Patrick Mahomes and, you know, the hopeful upside of Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase. And those guys, I think, are in the conversation. But Cooper Cup, just in this Rams offense, for Sean McVay, for Matthew Stafford, as long as everybody's healthy, most importantly Stafford with that elbow right now, Cup is as safe as they come at this position.

So upside is there. Again, I don't know how many more years he can do this, but I think he showed last year. Heath has illustrated, I think it was either the 2018 or 2019 season, he was on pace for something similar before he got hurt. So you're just looking at a proven guy that took a step forward last season, and he can easily be considered the number one overall pick in PPR based on, again, if you'd want to eliminate the risk factor of running backs.

But I think he's a top five player. I would take him over Henry, for example. He's the fourth overall pick for me. So once you get past Taylor, McCaffrey, and Eckler, he should be the fourth player taken. 25.7 PPR fantasy points per game for Cooper Cup. So that is a lot more than Jonathan Taylor, who was around 22 fantasy points per game. Christian McCaffrey, as we said, at McCaffrey's best,

he was about 29 points per game. So it's McCaffrey at 29, Cup last year at 25.7, which is obviously something he's never even approached before. And Jonathan Taylor last year at right around 22 PPR fantasy points per game. Okay, number six, Dave, after the first wide receiver, Cooper Cup is Najee Harris. Are we starting to feel a little nervous about this? The added weight?

I don't know. The weight is ridiculous. Him saying that, yeah, it's not that much, but it's 244 pounds. But also Harris acknowledging that he's not going to play, that he's going to come off the field a little bit more. Any nerves here with Najee at number six? No, because it's really hard to find running backs who are going to get 20 touches a game,

including a lot of work in the passing game, and get goal line work as well. He's got it. They're not about to take him off the field 40% of the time for Benny Snell. They're not going to do it. And they need to really do a good job with their run game because they've got scaredy cat Mitchell Trubisky and rookie Kenny Pickett at quarterback.

They don't have somebody with the backbone of Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback anymore. Not that Ben was a great passer, but he could handle pass rushes. I don't know if Trubisky can. We have no idea what Pickett is as a pro. We know that Najee Harris is a serviceable running back at minimum. We're hoping for more explosiveness this year. We're hoping for a better offensive line.

They added two interior linemen this offseason. That should help Najee Harris as well. I think he's got a shot to get north of 50 catches. I think he's got a shot to score 14 touchdowns. I think he's got a shot to get 1,500 total yards. This is a player who's upside on buying. He's young. He's strong.

He's a top five player to me in PPR. Le'Veon Bell had a really bad yards per carry as a rookie, and Joe Mixon had a really bad yards per carry as a rookie, and Joe Mixon had a really bad yards per carry as a rookie. So I think people don't... What? That doesn't bother me. No, it shouldn't. Comparing him to two completely different players,

one of whom isn't even... Le'Veon Bell is becoming a boxer now. Dave, you're missing my point completely. In a previous iteration of the Steelers' offense, I don't know if that applies. No, I'm just saying I was making a point. Don't judge Najee Harris too harshly on his inefficiency as a rookie.

And you and I are completely in agreement here. I was just saying, he's a rookie. Don't judge him too harshly on what he did last year because it wasn't great in terms of his efficiency as a ball carrier. Anything to say on Najee Harris, Jamie? Are you getting nervous about him at six? No, not yet.

You know, he feels closer to, I think, where you come out on Barkley in that this team could potentially be bad. I don't think they will be, but they could be. I mean, the defense is so good. It's hard to expect them to be significantly terrible, but offensively, as Dave alluded to, you know, if the quarterback play is worth, like the thing that you're hoping for with the Steelers is that the crepit bend was holding them back and that some youthful injection of life at the quarterback position, whether it's a rebirth for Mitchell Trubisky or the rookie stepping in and just being better, just makes this offense take off.

And that's the hope. But if they're worse because Ben was doing things because of his knowledge and his mind and all those things, you know, that a veteran quarterback brings to the table while being limited by his arm. You know, that could be a problem if, you know, Pickett and Trubisky aren't better because of their physical traits. So I don't worry about Najee's weight. I don't usually love it. You've heard me say time and time again whenever a guy puts on weight, I hate it. But based on hearing what he said and the fact that it's a two-pound difference,

I don't think it's anything you should worry about. In the workload situation, I can't imagine Mike Tomlin, as Dave said, is looking over and seeing Benny Snell and the guys that they have back there and saying, all right, yeah, we're going to take this guy off the field because that's not their track record. Their history is so tried and true that they have a guy, they lean on a guy. He's going to be in the 300-touch range.

And I promise you that if they do take work away from Najee, it's going to be low-value opportunities. It won't be at the goal line. It won't be important plays in the game, short yardage plays, et cetera. Okay. Let's go to Justin Jefferson here. He checks it at number seven. I'm going to recap the top six for you. Our consensus PPR top six, Jonathan Taylor, Austin Eckler, Christian McCaffrey, Derek Henry, Cooper Cup, Najee Harris, Justin Jefferson. One thing that's been missing from his resume,

which is incredible so far, is a huge touchdown season. You know, he's got, I think, 10 last year. Cooper Cup had 16. Justin Jefferson had 10. Jamar Chase had 13. So, you know, that's hurt him just a little bit compared to the truly elites. But still, boy, he's been phenomenal.

Dave, your thoughts on justin jefferson checking in at number seven in our consensus ppr top 24 because cooper cup doesn't have the track record of being a top i'll say a top five fantasy receiver not a top 10 because he's been top 10 in PPR points per game before last year. It was 2019 when he averaged it. Because he doesn't have that pedigree, I think someone could try to make the case to put Jefferson ahead of Cup in fantasy receiver rankings this year. Jefferson was fifth in targets per game with 9.8. I don't see that going down because this offense should be very, very effective throwing the ball. I think they're going to take a step forward

in passing. I think it's going to be good for everybody there because they won't be quite as predictable. Jefferson had at least 15 PPR points per game in 11 of 17 games last year. That's pretty good. Hit the 20-point mark seven times. That's really good. Again, I don't think that that's going anywhere. I think he's going to be a consistent producer and is worthy of being a first round pick in PPR leagues. There's, there's not a whole lot to complain or nitpick about with Jefferson.

You can talk about the touchdowns being there and it makes sense because that's what feeling does is scores a lot of touchdowns, but this should be one of those teams that takes a step forward on offense and they could become one of the highest scoring offenses in football. I really love Kevin O'Connell. I think he's going to do some really good things and I think Jefferson will benefit from it or yeah, he's going to be a good receiver. Jefferson's going to be a real good receiver. He's worthy of being exactly where he is right now. Eight is Joe Mixon, Jamie. So Mixon is RB1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,

and he's number eight overall in the consensus PPR top 24. And he's coming off his best fantasy season for sure. Anything not to like or, well, I won't even ask it like that. Give me what is to like about Joe Mixon and why he's number eight. I mean, it's an offense that's on the rise. It's an offensive line that should be significantly improved with the three guys that they added. The only concern you have is we're comparing him to Najee in the passing game.

And for me, I think Dalvin Cook takes a step forward in the passing game as well. So I have him behind those two guys. But I think those three are very similar. You know, Mixon has, you know, I hope, you know, gotten past the will he have that season because he had it last year. And so, you know, it's just a matter of now building off of it. And so he's got top five upside. He's got top three upside. You know, if he gets north of 40 catches

and they start to incorporate him more in that, you know, he's going to be a double-digit touchdown guy. He's going to be, you know, a chance to rush for 1,500 yards. He's got that type of ability in this offense. So stay healthy, and he should be fine. I'll tell you this. Mixon did have 42 catches in 16 games, but here's something that's interesting.

I really think if you look at when the Bengals took off, when they made their run, probably started those last two games of the regular season, not including Week 18 when everybody sat. They just went made their run. Probably started those last two games of the regular season, not including Week 18 when everybody sat. They just went on the run. They won their next five games. They lost in the Super Bowl just barely. They finished 5-1.

Burrow was phenomenal in those two games against the Chiefs and the Ravens. Joe Mixon in those six games, he was on pace for 89 catches. He got a huge bump in his passing game role. Certainly, I'm not projecting 89 catches. He got a huge bump in his passing game role. And certainly, I'm not projecting 89 catches.

But I do wonder if there's potential for a career season in that stat. Dave, what do you make of that? Does that matter to you at all? Because, boy, if you look at him, I mean, I tried to,

I looked at it this morning, and I remember this from last year. There was no rhyme or reason. There would be some weeks where he had one target. There were basically half the season he had four or more Basically, half the season, he had four or more targets. Half the season,

he had zero to two targets. It was wins, losses, burrow, pass attempts. Nothing mattered. It never made sense. In those last six games, it was consistent. Week after week after week, a ton of targets on pace for 89 catches last six games, including the playoffs.

That's a good sign. It's a bad sign that he wasn't on the field on the for 89 catches last six games, including the playoffs. That's a good sign. It's a bad sign that he wasn't on the field on the Bengals last drive of the Superbowl. And it was Samaj P Ryan in there instead. That's a little nerve wracking. I I'd like to think that the Bengals can make mix in a three down player and they just, they, they just let him have that opportunity and he goes and gets, you know, let's not say 89, let's say 65 catches. That would be awesome. We would love that from Joe Mixon. And you pair that with the upgrades they made on the offensive

line. He's got humongous upside. I I'd like to think that they'll do that, but we've, we've talked about it before. Coaches are going to do what they think is best for the team, and they might say it's best for Joe Mixon to get rest on passing down situations, and you will see inconsistent reception totals. I think if you draft him with the idea that he gets close to 50 catches, you'll be okay. What about the fact that we're drafting Mixon

after a career year? Let me just tell you where he's finished per game. I've got it if you don't. Okay, I've got him in full PPR per game. He's been top 10 three of the last four years. 9th, 20th, 10th, and 6th per

game in PPR at running back. 9th, 20th, 10th, and 6th. Now, the year that he was 20th, he played half the year with a bad ankle and really sucked. And then he took a bye week and he was much better after that. But he's been more of like a round two kind of guy.

I think you can easily explain it. Just the offense was finally great. And I think that's a lesson, guys. I mean, this is a guy who has been, who last year I would say was pretty similar running back to what he's a lesson, guys. I mean, this is a guy who has been, who last year, I would say, was pretty similar running back to what he's been in his career. But the offense finished seventh in scoring, which was by far the best we've seen for the Bengals in the Joe Mixon era. And he scored more touchdowns. And he had his best fantasy season. To me, it's pretty simple. And we can talk about who that might apply to. but is that why you feel good about him as a top eight pick

because of the Bengals' offense? Because in his career, he's been more like 15th-ish, you know, something like that. You have to be excited about where Cincinnati's headed. The only concern would be, is what we've seen the last several years, is the Super Bowl loser falling flat on their face. You know, and his injury is a part of that, and could he be the next guy to go?

But if you draft that way, you're drafting scared. I think you just look at what Mixon's trajectory is right now. He's in the age range that you like. He's in the offense that you like. The upgrades have certainly been something that should benefit him. The quarterback production that you're going to get from Burrow, he might lose a little bit. Adam, in your theory, in that Burrow will start to run more

now that he's removed from the ACL. That might hurt him a little bit, but not enough that should make you scared. So it makes us just in a good spot. Okay, let's talk about Dalvin Cook. We're up to number nine. We're obviously only going to do our top 12 today. Dalvin Cook is number nine, and he is RB7 in the consensus top 12. All right, I'm just going to say I'm nervous about him, Dave,

not from any type of production standpoint. Great Saturday episode with Jacob Gibbs. Jacob Gibbs loves Dalvin Cook, gave some really exciting advanced metrics on Dalvin Cook. He's still got it. I just wonder if we're looking at a guy who just keeps getting nicked up, keeps getting dinged up, doesn't necessarily miss that many games. He misses some, but he's just taken such a beating that I just wonder if we're in a little bit of trouble here with Dalvin Cook and we're missing the boat.

And you guys can talk about that. I'll be right back, by the way. It's that nitpick that keeps mixing ahead of Dalvin Cook for me in my rankings because I love the track record of Dalvin Cook. He's been the top 12 running back on a PPR basis each of the last three years. He was 11th last year. He was top three in 2019 and 2020. So you know what the upside is with him. And I do think the Vikings are going to give him the opportunity to do more in the passing game under Kevin O'Connell. That's exciting. So this is another running back that's got a shot at 65 catches. I do worry about how many total touchdowns he can really come up with

at this point because of Cousins being there, Thielen and Jefferson taking work away. Irv Smith is there. I mean, we can say the same thing, Jamie, about the Cincinnati offense and that there's pieces in that Bengals offense that can take work away from Joe Mixon in the red zone. So I think it works both ways, but he's 27 years old. He's coming off of the year where he didn't play the full season. He, I don't know when's the last time he did play. I don't know. He probably never has. Yeah. I, I, we could check and see. So that's, that's the nitpick is that Dalvin Cook does miss time,

and this is a team that does have a running back right behind him that they can put in if they so chose to take some of the work off of him, even if that means four or five touches per game. That's something that fantasy managers wouldn't like to have. I don't want to talk badly about Dalvin Cook. I think he's worth a first-round pick. But I think you've just got to kind of nitpick him and downgrade him just a tad because of that availability issue.

I think the receptions will matter here. I'm comparing him to Mixon. I think he'll have a higher ceiling there. I think the offense is going to take a step forward, as you said, Dave, because of Kevin O'Connell. Love the setup there for what the Vikings are looking at. And I think going from 13 touchdowns to 16 touchdowns to six touchdowns, the six is the fluke. So I think he gets back to scoring double digits and touchdowns. Adam touchdowns to six touchdowns is the, the, the six is the fluke,

you know? So I think he gets back to scoring double digits and touchdowns out of mentioned this time and time again is, uh, you know, lack of production inside the five and inside the 10. I don't think that's going to be the case with what this offense will throw at teams.

And so I think you just look at what Dalvin cooks production has been. And, you know, it, this, this is something for a different discussion but knowing that you can get the handcuff to a top tier running back if you so desire to it's so tried and true with these two guys the last two seasons that whenever we see Dalvin Cook go down Alexander

Madison is a clone so to your point Dave yes there could be because there's a change in regime that maybe they use two guys more because Madison has been so good and probably deserves to be on the field more. But knowing that you can just plug and play that guy if you want to carry both these running backs, we don't have a lot of those scenarios. You know, I don't know how many people are going to say,

I want to carry Deontay Foreman because he might be as good as Christian McCaffrey. Well, no, he's not. I want to carry Isaiah Spiller because he might be as good as Austin Eckler. I want to carry, he's not. I want to carry Isaiah Spiller because he might be as good as Austin Eckler. I want to carry whoever's going to be the number two running back. Samaj P. Ryan with Joe Mixon. It's a good point.

You can get the Vikings backfield. It's not difficult to attain, and you know you have a top five running back. Yeah. Dalvin Cook missed a few games last year. He played 13 games, missed four games. Two of the games he missed were against Detroit, which really sucks because I don't know if you remember a couple years ago, the Cardinals were so bad

against tight ends and George Kittle missed a game against the Cardinal, maybe two games against the Cardinals. But he missed two games against the Lions and Alexander Madison averaged 24 fantasy points per game in those two games. So, Dalvin Cook, I mean, the touchdown, bad luck, and the fact that he didn't play the Lions,

he would have had such better numbers last year. He might have had six touchdowns in those two games. I'm serious. Not six, but four is not out of the question, right? Yeah. All right, let's go to number 10. Number 10 here is Jamar Chase. I'll recap the top nine.

Jonathan Taylor, Eckler, McCaffrey, Henry, Cooper Cup, Najee Harris, Justin Jefferson, Joe Mixon, Dalvin Cook. Jamar Chase is our third wide receiver to crack the top 12. In fact, he cracks the top 10, and he is number 10.

Anybody have any concerns about Jamar Chase? Yes. Oh, wow. I was not expecting a yes. What are your concerns? Well, everybody remembers that 55 fantasy point game he had in week 17. It won a bunch of people a lot of leagues. That made up almost 20% of his PPR total from 2021.

He got off to a great start as a rookie at at least 13 PPR points in each of his first six games. And then he really went off a cliff the rest of the regular season, 12 or fewer PPR points in seven of 10. Is that because he was a rookie and he hits the proverbial rookie wall? Well, you can say that and it might make some sense, but then he also had a 55 point game. And then he also went into the playoffs and he had at least 13 ppr points in each playoff game he had over 100 yards and two of the four uh i i i think whereas i said the case could be made where justin jefferson can be the number one receiver in fantasy if you really wanted to try and challenge king cup for

that role you could i don't think you can do it with Chase. I think he's still going to be really good. I've got him ranked as my third wide receiver in PPR. But I worry a little bit about could he be a receiver who doesn't put up 15-plus to the same level that Jefferson did? Is he going to be someone who's going to be a little bit more infrequent than we'd like to admit? He didn't know what he was doing. Now he's figured it out. I mean, this guy could obliterate the league. It's just, it's scary how good he could be. I think the three guys are all very similar.

One has done it, you know, more, more, more, one has more of a track record in cup. Uh, one has certainly, you know, showed you the superstar ability in Jefferson and chase is, you know, was a year removed from, from playing football and did that last year. And now he's had a full off season with this quarterback. He's got a full off season with his team. Zach Taylor talked about this, that, you know, last off season for him, he's trying to figure out where he's going to live. He's going to try to figure out, you know, going through the whole draft process. All these rookies go through the same thing, but you know, Taylor was actually, you know, to, to put context to it, you know, just about all the things that, that, that chase was doing. It was pretty interesting here.

And that now he just gets to focus on football. And again, from not playing the previous year and getting himself ready to be in the league, now knowing the league now playing as many games as he did because the Superbowl run, he's fantastic. So he should be a top 10 overall pick. There should be three receivers taken in the first round and he should be in that top three for sure. And so Dave does not think that he has the top one, that the number one upside, right? Not like Jefferson has and not like Cup has. OK, so not as much. And honestly, not like Devonta Adams has either.

But I can't I can't deny, obviously, what Jamar Chase can do. What I didn't read off is what he was top five in among receivers. I'm not going to get into all the metrics because it's boring. He's super explosive. He's a generational wide out. Got a great quarterback in a good offense. I just, I want the goal this year for him, uh, at least as far as fantasy goes, is to be 15 PPR points a week, at least as often as he was at 12 or 13 last year.

Now here's, here's a fun one for you. Where do you guys have T Higgins ranked? Is he a top 16 wide receiver for you? T Higgins? Yes. Okay. So I looked at the last six seasons and any pairs of teammates who both finished top 16 at wide receiver. There are 14 of them, 14 times. We've had teammates finished top 16 and wide receiver. There's not one time where one of them was wide receiver one, except for Jordy Nelson.

One year in non PPR, we've had two times where we've had one wide receiver be wide receiver to finish as wide receiver too. And that was Nelson who was wide receiver to in full PPR and Chris Godwin in 2019 when he and Evans were both top 16. I guess you better hope that, uh, Alan Robinson,

Adam Thielen, and probably Nico Collins are not good because otherwise Cooper cup, Justin Jefferson, Jamar chase. Well, you, but you don't have Thielen or Robinson in your top 16.

I think it's more likely that you're not saying rank. You're saying finished. Yeah. Yeah. But I think it's more likely that I think it's, it's more likely that, uh, Higgins doesn't finish top 16.

Then chase doesn't finish top five personally, Chase doesn't finish top five, personally. I would agree. Yeah. But who had more targets per game last year? Oh, I don't know. It's Higgins by 0.33 targets per game. Yeah, they both could be spectacular. Okay, let's talk about

Alvin Kamara at number 11. Now this is not factoring in the suspension? I don't know. I mean, I feel like Heath was always factoring in. Is that dragging this consensus ranking down? The possible suspension for Alvin Kamara. What are we looking at here? Is running back 11 where he'd

be in the consensus rankings if he were not going to be suspended? Because if you don't know, there was an off-field incident. We're still waiting for some type of resolution on it. I was surprised to see where his NFC ADP is. I think it's like around 15 or 16. He's, look, he still has a chance to be amazing. You know, there's no doubting that.

There's some offensive line concerns a little bit. You know, when you lose a guy like Teron Armstead, there's a coaching change, you know, so that's something you got to be amazing. You know, there's no doubting that. There's some offensive line concerns a little bit. You know, when you lose a guy like Teron Armstead, there's a coaching change, you know, so that's something you got to factor in. You know, P. Car Michael do the exact same thing as the play caller that Sean Payton was doing. I think it's a little bit, you know, just having this conversation with someone

who covers the league about, you know, how much of Kamara's struggles last year were related to tasem hill and you know his play style versus what jamis winston's play style will be but if you're just looking at it the pass catching role is a little bit concerning comparatively to where it's been because this receiving court is the best that he will ever play with if everybody's healthy you know you have you have a first-round talent in Olave. You have still, if he's right, a superstar caliber player in Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry. And what he'll do, short area yardage,

is going to clearly impact Alvin Kamara if they're on the field at the same time, which I would imagine, based on the preseason reports, they're going to be on the field at the same time. Then you have what happened last year when Mark Ingram rejoined the team and how much of an impact that took on Kamara's rushing totals. And so, you know, again again I don't want to downgrade the superstar potential of Kamara because of a 32

year old running back in Mark Ingram but clearly he means something to this franchise based on what he's done what they did with him when they brought him back and I still think what Mark Ingram is capable of doing in short spurts and so I think Kamara belongs in this range. I think he's behind the other guys that we've talked about already. You know, you can compare him to Dalvin Cook. That's fine. You compare him to Mixon's fine, but you know, I think maybe even Najee Harris, but the other guys at the top of the list, I don't think he's at that point anymore.

So for me, Kamara is closer to round two than he is round one. I would take the receivers over him at this point. The spot that I struggle with with him is, you know, factoring in Travis Kelsey, Mark Ingram, and then the other list of receivers, you know, so he's he is a, you know, back end of round one at best. For me, I'd rather get him around to. OK, and yeah, I think one thing that people probably don't know, Jamie alluded to it, but the numbers he played four games with Mark Ingram. And he had 17 touches per game, 14 carries, 2.75 catches.

And he did play against some great run defenses there. Tampa Bay twice, Miami once. Atlanta I even think wasn't all that bad. Miami was a great run defense at that point of the year. But Alvin Kamara played fewer than 70% of the snaps in only four games all all season and those were the only four games he played with mark ingram so it is something to keep in mind some factors working against him and that's why he's 11 and not top five it feels a little weird that they don't run him into the ground a little bit more and well they tried last year uh but at that point in the season you know when was, we got to get into the playoffs,

it didn't feel like they were using him to the maximum capacity that they should have. No, but they did earlier in the year. He had a career high in carries with 18.5 per game. He had a career high in rushing yards with 69.1 per game. And I think it should be said that one of the big reasons why we loved Kamara was because he'd get you 80 receptions. He had a statue of quarterback that would just dump the ball. Doesn't have that anymore, but he did average four catches per game with Jameis. Yeah, that's great. It was uneven. It was like, it was like what you talked about with mixing. There were a couple of games where he was barely targeted. And then a couple

of other games a little later on where he was targeted heavily. And I know that that was a sticking point with Sean Payton and Jameisston i think the what i read was that sean payton told james and this will tell you how old sean payton is he would get his name in the paper every time he threw a ball to alvin camara okay yeah so i don't know if people want their name in the newspaper anymore you know maybe people will tweet about him or make a TikTok about him every time he throws Alvin Kamara. But at least he had four targets per game from Jameis, and maybe that does lead to him getting back up toward that 65 catch range,

which we talked about with Mixon and Cook. I agree 100% with Jamie. Mixon and Cook and Najee all ahead of Alvin Kamara. But if you are hunting for running backs, Kamara still has good upside. He's still a really good player. This offense should be better. Jameis should be healthy. I'm not as worried about the offensive line as other people are.

I think they'll still be one of the best offensive lines in the league. I think Kamara can have a big year. I'm taking him out of every receiver on draft day. Wow. Okay. Yeah. I think Dave has Cooper Cup ninth in his rankings,

and most people have him in the top five. I think Heath has Cooper Cup second. There's a caveat, of course. What if he's suspended to begin the year? Oh, Camara, yeah, yeah. It doesn't seem like that's going to happen, though, based on what the news is. Okay, let's talk about number 12.

Yeah, we're not doing top 24 today sorry for the misleading titles and thumbnails and all that travis kelsey travis not too late to change those by the way uh the titles yeah i don't know about the thumbnails travis kelsey checks in at number 12 he is uh the only tight end in the top 12 obviously mark andrews is in the top 24 he's at 16 didn't if you just look at the raw numbers it was a down year for travis kelsey but no sure hill so i'm just gonna ask this let's start with this what are the chances that no tyree kill is actually going to end up being bad for Travis Kelsey? Remember last year we had Rich Rebar on, and this was a year ago,

and I believe he said that the Chiefs in 2020 faced the most too high safety look in the NFL, and that played into Travis Kelsey's hands. Just intermediate routes over the middle, whatever. So, Dave, what do you think? Could this actually backfire and be worse for Travis Kelsey as now he is the center of attention? Not when the Chiefs made the moves that they made and kept the receivers that they did other than Tyreek Hill. Because there won't be one wide receiver that takes over all the work that Tyreek Hill had from game to game. But one week, and we've talked about this, one week it's going to be MVS.

One week it's going to be McColl Hardman. One week it's going to be Sky Moore. And then don't forget about Juju Smith-Schuster and what he can bring to this offense. The point is that if teams go ahead and say, well, the Chiefs don't have Tyreek Hill anymore. Guess we can just double team Travis Kelsey and take him away. They're going to get beat. There's going to be multiple guys that can streak downfield or play on the perimeter that will force defenses to rethink how they defend Patrick Mahomes. And I bet it ends up with the same result.

Travis Kelsey getting tons of targets. He was not the number one tight end in PPR points per game last year. That was Mark Andrews. That was because Andrews got crazy targets, especially after Lamar Jackson got hurt. I'm not expecting that to be the case again for Mark Andrews this year. Kelsey, even at his age, will reclaim the number one spot. And that's easy to say.

He's going to be the number one tight end, and he should be drafted as such. He's a good top 15 pick and a good differentiator for people's fantasy lineups, just as he's been each of the last six years. I struggle with him and Andrews because of what Andrews was able to accomplish last year, and obviously both these guys are losing their number one receivers with Marquise Brown, no longer in Baltimore. You know,

we're asking a lot of Rashad Bateman, which I think he could step up into that role. And obviously we know we'll see what the Ravens do running the ball more. The thing that makes me like Kelsey a little bit more than Andrews is that Andrews and what he did with Tyler Huntley versus, or with non Lamar Jackson versus Lamar Jackson. He was clearly still great with Lamar Jackson, but his numbers popped when Jackson wasn't there and I don't know why that is I don't know why you know the other quarterbacks were leaning on him more

um yeah Jackson wasn't you know maybe you can make say the the you know Jackson escaping the pocket more and running more and doing all those things a little bit differently than Tyler Huntley did uh but it's still something to take note of. And so Andrew's going to be fantastic. You know, if you want to take him over Kelsey because of age and one guy ascending, one guy descending, I get that. I do think there is going to be an impact of no Tyree kill there. I don't think anything Dave said is wrong, but there's going to be clearly I'm taking away.

If I'm defending the Chiefs, I'm taking away Kelsey first. I'm going to make Juju and whatever's left of him beat me. I'm going to make a rookie beat me in Skymore. I'm going to make Marcos Valdez-Scantling, who's got the ability to drop the ball every other target, beat me as opposed to the best tight end in football, maybe the best tight end ever. So that's the focal point, but he's been the focal point anyway. So I don't think it's a concern about Kelsey. It's just a matter of does he deserve to be in the first round still? But we've talked about this a lot you get to the back end of the of round one you know what you're looking at round

two you hopefully know what the the people around you are going to do if you don't have a strong lean either way of kelsey or andrews let the other person if you're picking 11 take that guy take him at 12 or that person taking the 12 you get the next guy early in round two they shouldn't be far apart um they're both you know clearly the two difference makers at the position, and it's not close. I think Lamar Jackson I know we're talking about Kelsey here. I think Lamar Jackson just threw the ball downfield a lot more than Tyler Huntley did. That's

my guess. Well, Huntley was throwing downfield to Andrews. No. Well, Lamar Jackson's air yards per pass attempt were 9.3, which was third most in the NFL behind Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Tyler Huntley's 7.5. That's pretty low.

That's Jacoby Brissett, Ryan Tannehill is actually slightly higher than Patrick Mahomes, but that's about 23rd overall. I'll just give you this on Andrew. I know this isn't about Andrews, but if you're trying to separate Kelsey and Andrews, if you care're trying to separate Kelsey and Andrews,

if you care about this, Travis Kelsey, or Mark Andrews with Lamar Jackson was worse than Kelsey per game, you know, Kelsey for the full season. And he was the number 20 wide receiver per game with Lamar Jackson. Whereas Travis Kelsey with Patrick Mahomes the last four seasons has been a top 12 wide receiver every year

per game. It was such a big difference. It was a 23% target share with Lamar Jackson, a 29% target share without Lamar Jackson for Mark Andrews. I don't know if that's going to continue, but it was a huge difference. Is everybody of Kelsey over Andrews? I know he might not. I can't say if that's going to continue, but it was a huge difference. I think it is.

Does everybody have Kelsey over Andrews? I know he might not. I can't say everybody. I do. Okay. And Jamie does. He has Andrews over Kelsey. He has Andrews, yeah.

All right. I'm going to duke it out with Heath on that. I'm looking forward to that. All right, guys. Thank you. Thank you for your time here on our Top 12. We will talk to you tomorrow. I might change the programming a little bit.

I'm not sure. But it's either going to be sleepers. We will talk to you tomorrow. I might change the programming a little bit. I'm not sure. But it's either going to be sleepers. We got to ask Trager. Yeah. It would involve adding an episode. I don't want to do that to you guys. But anyway, we'll talk to you tomorrow with either. What's the thing you keep putting in the text about Trager?

Either 13 through 24 or sleepers right now here in June. How do you spell that word? S-C-H-R-A-G-G-E-R, Schrager. Okay, I think Uglins are a little hectic right now until we replace the man. We will talk to you tomorrow on Fantasy Football. Does anyone know how to make thumbnails? Anybody?

Anybody out there?