Fantasy Football Today - Players 13-24 in Our PPR Consensus Rankings (06/25 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: June 25, 2024

Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever else you listen to podcasts And we're on to Round 2! We have some intro questions (2:15) about these 12 players including how many of them we are excited to draft in the second round (6:15). Then we start with Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams (11:40). They are back-to-back in the consensus rankings, but we feel more comfortable with Nacua. How do we feel about Saquon Barkley (22:35), Marvin Harrison Jr. and Travis Etienne (27:05)? Is Etienne the end of a tier? ... We spend some time on the next seven players (32:00) which includes James Cook, Chris Olave, Josh Jacobs and more. Why will this season be different for Olave? How many running backs should go ahead of WR10 (40:35)? ... Where do Sam LaPorta and Travis Kelce fit in all of this (42:00)? After we talk about some WR/TE strategy, we talk about Michael Pittman and some other players that will be taken near the 2/3 turn ... Email us at [e-mail] SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1 Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday 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

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. Metrolinks and Crosslinks are reminding everyone to be careful as Eglinton Crosstown LRT train testing is in progress. Please be alert as trains can pass at any time on the tracks. Remember to follow all traffic signals. Be careful along our tracks and only make left turns where it's safe to do so. Be alert, be aware, and stay safe.

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. What a play! Can you believe this? No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. This is going to go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Yeah, what's up everybody? Welcome to Fantasy Football Today.

On Tuesday, June 25th, we are talking about players 13 through 24 in our PPR consensus rankings, which you can see on our website, cbssports.com slash fantasy. Hey, Jamie. Jamie's one day until he gets a haircut, and he might take that hat off. What's up, Jamie? What's up, champion? Yeah, woo, we did it.

What a tense final 10 minutes of Stanley Cup Game 7. It was awesome. 10 minutes? Yeah, the whole game was intense, wasn't it? It was like the Panthers were just like, you know what? You just take the last 40 shots. We're just going to sit here and defend. They were a little bit lucky to hang

on, but it was great. It was really cool, and I hope everybody in South Florida enjoyed that one. Do you guys know... Oh, Dave's here. How are you feeling, Dave? Feeling better? I am feeling better. Thank you for asking. How many of us have finished second in a fantasy league. And I hate it. I'm so close to winning.

And then the very next year you fight your tail off and you barely pull off the victory. That's what it's like for the Panthers and for Panthers fans today. Yeah. So I congrats to the Panthers. I saw, I saw an interesting poll. Would you rather, if you're the Oilers, if you're the Oilers or Oilers fans, I guess, would you rather have lost in four or lost in seven? Four.

Oh, I talked about this with my kid yesterday. Four. I always go for the less painful blowout. I'd rather get blown out at any sport than lose a heartbreaker. Those are the ones that stick with you. Oh, terrible. And the healing starts sooner. The vacation starts sooner.

And you're just like, you know what? We were the, we were the worst team. It's fine. We move on. You hate the heartbreak. It's like fantasy championship matchup.

Just bringing it all back to fantasy. Cause that's what the show is about. You, you play somebody who on Thursday night just drops a 50 burger on you. You, you know, you don't have to bother worrying about the rest of the weekend. You're just onto the next week.

All right. Do you guys know who Bill Groman is? Yeah. Oh, no. Bill Groman is the guy who in 1960 had 1,473 receiving yards for Houston. Ah, although it looks like it was,

was it the Tennessee? It looks like the helmet says Tennessee. I don't know looks like it was, was it Tennessee? It looks like the helmet says Tennessee. I don't know. It was 60 or 62. It's 1960 I've got here. Bill Groman. Anyway, Pukunukuwa, it was Houston.

Pukunukuwa broke his record. That was the Houston Oilers back then. Houston Oilers. He broke two records. Do you know who else's record he broke? He broke the receptions record, which was Waddle? Yep. Yeah. So anyway, Puka is number 13 in the PPR consensus rankings.

Jamie, you did a very good job naming 1 through 12 in the consensus rankings. Can you name— Oh, boy. You're not going to do well here. Can you name 13 through 24? In our consensus rankings um okay so we got puka 13 we should have done fantasy feud for this saquon we can do fantasy uh saquon you already gave the number one answer saquon is 15. Okay, so Puka. Marvin Harrison.

16. And there, yeah. It's not. Oh, Kyron? Yeah, 14. Okay, so Puka, Kyron, Saquon, Harrison. Olave? 19.

It's not Drake London.ondon um etn 17 okay 18 is man uh give me a position dan okay go ahead pacheco yeah pacheco all right so we've got our top 19 we need four four more, five more. I started reading them. James Cook is 20. You guys could do the last four. Waddle? No, two running backs, two receivers.

Rashad White? Rashad White, 21. Two running backs, two receivers. Oh, London? No. No? No. Oh, Jacobs, my guy.

24. Yeah. London's 27, by the way. All right, two more wide receivers. They're 22 and 23 in the consensus rankings. Henry? He is not a wide receiver. Are they two wide receivers? I'm surprised you didn't know that, Jamie.

Catch up, Jamie. You're a bit behind. It's Michael Pittman and Mike Evans. 13 through 24 are Puka Nakua, Kyron Williams, Saquon Barkley, Marvin Harrison, Travis Etienne, Isaiah Pacheco, Chris Olave, Marvin Harrison, Travis Etienne, Isaiah Pacheco,

Chris Olave, James Cook, Rashad White, Michael Pittman, Mike Evans, and Josh Jacobs. And that consensus, what is consensus, by the way? That is Jamie, Dave, and Heath. That is their combined rankings. They are not going to agree on 13 through 24, but that's what the rankings say. That is consensus. Jamie gave the

blech sound for, who was it? For Josh Jacobs. He doesn't like Josh Jacobs. Not in round two. It's the end of round two. That's not so bad. You have a... Evans is in round two? Ugh. That's how I feel about

Pittman in round two. Yeah, I dropped Pittman quite a bit. Okay, guys. Good. No quarterbacks and no tight ends in the top 24. Do you agree with that? Yep. Yes.

Okay, we won't expand. Although I have Laporta and Kelsey 25-26. Fair. How many players in the 13- I take them over Jacobs and Pittman. Yeah. How many players in the 13-24 I take them over Jacobs and Pittman. Yeah. How many players in the 13 through 24 range are you pumped about drafting in round two?

Consensus? No, not necessarily. You get them in round two, you're fired up. You want to do the pumped-o-meter? Sure. Run through each name and we'll tell you. Puka. Puka's easy.

That's a 10 out of 10. Puka. Kyron. I mean, most of the first five a 10 out of 10. Puka. Kyron. Most of the first five or six guys you named, for sure. Kyron? Kyron, I'm like 9 out of 10. Saquon? Yep. 10 out of 10.

Marvin Harrison Jr.? Yep. 9 out of 10. Travis Etienne? Yep. 9 out of 10. Isaiah Pacheco? Remember, the context is pumped. We're of 10. Isaiah Pacheco. Remember, the context is pumped. We're pumped to get them in round two. Yep.

Eight out of 10 on Pacheco. Chris Olave. Yep. 7.5 out of 10. James Cook. Yep. Six out of 10. I know he's not your guy, Dave.

Rashad White. Nope. Six and a half out of 10. Michael Pittman. Nope. Zero out of 10. Mike Evans. Nope. Zero out of 10. Josh Jacobs. No. No. Six and a half out of 10 josh jacobs no uh no six and a half out of ten okay as we recall from a previous episode i think two of the running backs that dave and jamie disagree the most on in this range are james cook jamie is much higher on and josh jacobs dave is much higher on uh all right so those are just some sort of intro questions there i'm gonna go ahead and take our news and notes section and move it all the way to the end of the show so we'll get right into these guys here uh let's see what should we

promote and do you guys have any content that you'd like to promote or would you like me to do this you do it okay check out all our other podcasts we have terrific podcasts cbssports.com slash podcasts we've got an n podcast. We've got golf. We've got soccer. We've got betting. The early edge. I forgot about that. We've got fantasy baseball today.

Obviously, we've got fantasy football today. Dynasty. We've got a couple of five minute episode, five minute shows, FFT and five FBT and five. We need to talk now. Attacking third. I'm just looking at our page because I forget all the great – Oh, pick six. Cover three.

DFS. CBSSports.com slash podcast. If you are a sports fan and you are a podcast fan, this is the only network of podcasts that you really need. All right. So let's go to – Hey, I got something to promote. Okay.

Jamie, Adam, where do you guys go to get, like, your best quality reading time? I don't really read. Say in blocks of 10 minutes or less. Oh, the toilet. Thank you. Not me. And when you're there, it's great to sit with a magazine.

We are promoting that. We are putting the deadline on our – what year is this, Jamie? Is this like our 20th year or something like that? Doing a magazine? With a magazine. Hold on. Our first one is right here. This was our first magazine in 2005.

We started doing these. And so it's about 20 years. My math isn't as good as Heath. But our magazine is going to print. And it's chock full of all the data that we've uncovered, all the information that we've gathered all off season long with minicamp information to get you ready for your drafts. And you shouldn't be on your phone when you're on the toilet because,

you know, germs. So the magazine is a great alternative. And don't tell anybody in your draft this, but you can take the magazine with you to your draft. You can cross out names of players you don't want. You can put arrows up to the players you do want. It'll be on newsstands and available for sale online in the very near future.

We will let you know about it. The CBS Sports Beckett Fantasy Football Preview Magazine will be back for your reading time. Yeah, okay. If you do a draft with someone who brings a magazine, obviously do not touch that person's magazine, okay? Yeah, don't borrow their magazine. All right, we need to take a break.

We'll take a break now. We'll get right into Puka Nakua. And if he should be higher than 13th overall, I mean, if you look at the players who have even had 1,300-yard seasons as rookies, I'll give you the list. It's pretty damn good. We'll be right back after this on Fantasy Football today.

Miller Lite. The light beer brewed for people who love the taste of beer and the perfect pairing for your game time. When Miller Lite set out to brew a light beer, they had to choose great taste or 90 calories per can. They chose both because they knew the best part of beer is the beer your game time tastes like miller time learn more at millerlight.ca must be legal drinking age whether in the game or in life the right coverage can make all the difference

securing canada gives you that coverage for more 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 secure in canada insurance designed for life and welcome back everybody the consensus rankings 13 through 24 the first two names are los angeles rams puka nakua and kyron williams do you feel a lot more comfortable with puka nakua guys than kyron williams and what's the difference there in your comfort level with those two guys? Much more comfortable with Puka, yes.

Position matters. I mean, they both have obvious competition. You know, if you look at hopefully a healthy Cooper Cup and the addition of Blake Horham. But, I mean, for me, the way I'm drafting, I would much rather have Puka Nakua than I would Kyron Williams. I feel the same way. I don't think that there's any chance that Puka Nakua gets benched. Right.

Well, I think there's a slim chance that that could happen with Kyron Williams because Blake Corham offers so much as far as like rushing traits go and just what he showed at Michigan compared to how he fits into the scheme that the Rams run, wouldn't surprise me one bit if he took away significant work from Kyron Williams. Not to the point where Kyron is just like 10 PPR points per week, but enough to make you go, why did I take Kyron Williams with the top 12 or top 15 pick?

When I draft Kyronron because I'm not saying that I won't take him but when I do take Kyron Williams I I make sure to get Blake Corham I don't care if it's round eight that's a reach but I will take him in round eight to pair with Kyron because I want that backfield I also prefer Saquon over Kyron so I would not be taking Kyron first yep Kyron Williams, if I looked at running backs with 100 or more carries, they were 48-ish or something like that last year.

Rush EPA, success rate, yards before contact per carry, yards after contact per carry, avoid rate, percentage of carries that went for zero or negative yards, percentage of carries that went for five or more yards, percentage of carries that went for 12 or more yards. Kyronage of carries that went for 12 or more yards. Kyron Williams ranked in the top 10

in every single category except the explosive runs that 12 or more yards. He was like 34th there. He was middle of the pack. A little below, no, below average there. But he had every, I mean, there was nothing to, nothing not to like about him

other than he was a fifth-round pick, was thought of as a receiving back coming out of college, basically, a third-down back, really surprised us. You feel maybe a little scarred by the Damian Pierces of the world, maybe on a lower scale the Ramondre Stephensons of the world, like didn't exactly follow up his second season with a great third season. You know what I'm saying? Like Kyron Williams, there's nothing about him and what he did last

year that should make us worry. It was so good. I did point out though, he had a very easy schedule. I don't think he played a single team that was top 10 in yards per carry allowed to running backs. So, you know, what is it that's holding you back about Kyron Williams? He did all that with next to nothing from a competition standpoint. But why do we think, I feel like we overrate rookie running backs so often and so many

times they don't matter. Why do we think Blake Corham is, and I agree with you, I'm just saying, why do we think that Blake Corham is good? Yeah, I mean, look, we had that tweet from somebody, I forget who it was, that typically we think that Blake Corham is good? Yeah, I mean, look, we had that tweet from somebody. I forget who it was that, you know, typically these guys that are day two or day three picks in the NFL draft don't amount to nothing. And, you know, the point you brought up, which I think Heath had a great

counter for this, I think it was either last year or this offseason, same coaching staff seems to have mattered for some of these later round picks or undrafted free agent running backs that have popped up out of nowhere. You know, so Isaiah Pacheco, for example. I think in the case of Kyron, it's also, you know, he missed some time with injury. He had a struggle, struggled in his rookie campaign to stay healthy with the foot problem. Now he's got another foot problem again that he's, you know, apparently fine, but something to keep an eye on there. So it's just when you stack him up against the other guys around him.

I mean, look, we're talking about a top 15 overall pick. It's not like anybody's, you know, completely downgrading him. But, you know, when you compare him to really, I think it's anybody after McCaffrey, because that's really where he finished last year. So Brees Hall feels like he's trending in a higher direction, higher ceiling. Same thing with Bijan. You mentioned this. If something happened to David Montgomery,

Jameer Gibbs could be the number one overall player at his position. And I feel like he's in a competitive backfield that has a little bit more of an edge, at least in my opinion, based on where he can get to. Taylor, no competition. And then Barkley, for me, no competition. So, you know, Kyron's right there. But I just feel like there's a little bit of you got to do it again. I want to see it again.

A little bit of what's Blake Horne's role going to be and a little bit of, you know, proving to stay healthy. But, you know, again, top 15 overall player for me is well within the range of outcomes. I have him 15th. I want to expand on what Jamie said about his injuries. He has four foot slash ankle injuries in three seasons, two of which came before his season started.

That includes one this off season. That's one thing with Kyron Williams. Can he stay healthy? What was his issue before the pro bowl, Jamie? It was like a finger. He broke his, he broke his, uh,

hand. Okay. He broke his hand, but he was fine. I mean, he participated in the pro ball. Yeah. That was at the end of the playoff loss. So it's really nice.

Yeah. So that I don't even count that one. Here's something that'll scare you off of any Rams running back is in the history here. Here's trivia for you. How many running backs have had over a thousand total yards under Sean McVay in LA? What do you say? Two. Correct. It's Gurley and it's Kyron Williams. Yeah. Can you name the running backs who average 15 or more PPR points per game under Sean McVay in LA?

We just did. There's one more CJ Anderson for two games in 2018. That's it though. So maybe this isn't the hot spot for running backs that we like. The difference being that. Yeah. But when he's had a guy, he's, he's used that guy. Sure.

But when he's also run that guy into the ground or when he doesn't have that guy, he goes to the next guy. Maybe it's too much of an investment to go after Kyron and round two and Corm and round eight, maybe stay away from these guys. Cause you really need like a, either a running back that has a really great season.

Like Kyron just had, or a mega stud like Todd Gurley, who Sean McVay inherited for a cup for three seasons in LA. Are you guys going Marvin Harrison jr. Or Kyron Williams? Kyron right now. I have Kyron higher. I would understand

taking Harrison ahead of him. If you were hesitant to take running backs early, going for Marvin over Kyron Williams, I get it. But if you go with Garrett Wilson or I'm sorry, if you go with

Jameer Gibbs or Jonathan Taylor at the end of round one, I would not go one of those two and Kyron. Kyron, last note on Kyron Williams, just to kind of give him some credit for having an amazing season. He finished overall number two per game, but overall he was running back seven in PPR. He did that in 12 games. He is the first running back to finish as a top eight running back in PPR

while playing 12 or fewer games in six seasons. Melvin Gordon did it in 2018, but Gordon had 50 catches. Kyron only had 32. So just an absolutely amazing year. All right, Puka Nakua. Let's talk about Puka Nakua here. The 1,300-yard wide receivers as rookies. Puka has the record 1,486 yards.

Bill Groman did it in 1960, so whatever. We won't count him. Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, Anquan Bolden, and Randy Moss. The only guy that struggled in his second year was Bolden, and then Bolden bounced back with a— and Bolden played only 10 games his second year, but he just wasn't as good. Then he had 1,400 yards in his second year was Bolden. And then Bolden bounced back with a, and Bolden played only 10 games his second year, but he just wasn't as good. Then he had 1,400 yards in his third year.

But I mean, that is an incredible list. And you know, why, Dave, am I not taking Pukunukua over Garrett Wilson, over A.J. Brown even? I mean, why is he not wide receiver six coming off the best rookie season that we have ever seen from a wide receiver. Because from weeks five through 17, he averaged 15.7 PPR points per game.

Those are matchups that he had Cooper cup to share with on the field in the first four games without Cooper cup, 23.8 PPR points per game. If Cooper cup is hurt to start the year, or if Cooper cup just isn't on the Rams, that's not going to happen. He's going to be on the Rams. Then yeah, Cooper Cup would easily go ahead of Garrett Wilson. But the bet on Garrett Wilson is that he's finally, finally, finally going to have a quarterback that can over target him with accurate passes on a regular basis and

get in that neighborhood of 18 plus PPR points per game. And I'm not convinced Puka can get there as long as Cooper cup is healthy and just as effective as he was late last season. Okay. I mean, I haven't forgotten cup is even more effective. What if cup stays healthy all year? Would you be shocked if Cooper cup had as many, if not more PPR points per game than Puka?

At 31, yes. We missed his birthday. It was last week. Happy birthday, Cooper Cup. He cupped up. I'll tell you what. I want to know if you guys think how realistic this is. I'm sorry. I want to see just where Nakua was

per game. You said the 15 points per game. He was the number 12ua was per game. You said the 15 points per game. He was the number 12, number 12 wide receiver per game with Cooper Cup, the 12 next 12 games with Cooper Cup on pace for 144 targets, but only six touchdowns. That was that was really the big issue there. Yeah, but also half those games, he scored 18.7 points or more. And there were a few games where Stafford left with an injury, didn't play one game, I think, was struggling. And then he had a great playoff game, which doesn't count in this.

He had nine catches, 181 yards, and a touchdown on 10 targets. But wide receiver 12 per game. That's just what he was, what Pukunacua was after Cooper Cup came back. Do you think that he could be even worse? I mean, do you think that's too low? Wide receiver 12, I told you he was going to be wide receiver 12. What would you say? I'm drafting him in round two.

Yep. But if I take him in early round two and he finishes as wide receiver 12, I'd be a little disappointed, but not enough to really, but this is drafting him at wide receiver eight. So anytime, anytime I'm taking a player, I'm, I'm,

I'm expecting a three to four position swing one way or the other. Right. I wouldn't blame my fantasy troubles on overdrafting Pukunukua by four spots by position. All right, let's go to our next two here in the consensus ranking, Saquon Barkley and Marvin Harrison Jr. And yeah, it's like, boy, are they different. Jamie, how do you decide between these two?

Is it basically just who did you take in the first round? 100%, whatever I took in the first round. So most likely I'm going to lean toward the receiver. But, you know, in terms of Barkley's upside, look, this is the best situation he's had, I guess, since his rookie year. Maybe the best situation he's had ever in terms of his offensive line in front of him and the opportunity that he has. But clearly it's going to be hard for him to outproduce his rookie season. But still, you know, coming off the last couple of years, you hope he stays healthy. I know the knock on him will be age and the tush push.

Again, you know, you go back two years ago, Miles Sanders scored double-digit touchdowns for the Eagles, so it's possible for him to still get to 10-plus touchdowns. His receptions are probably not something you should be counting on in this offense just because that's not a lot of what Jalen Hurts does, but hopefully the offense will cater a little bit more to Barkley's strengths by comparison to what they did with DeAndre Swift, who is a good pass catcher, but Barkley hopefully profiles a little bit better than that.

So I think he's got an opportunity here to still finish as a top five running back. Again, in this system behind this offensive line, and just, I think a reinvigorated Barkley after dealing with the Giants, what was the last couple of seasons. So by comparison, clearly Marvin Harrison's, you know, Dave talks about this a lot, drafting a guy to ceiling. It's hard to say that this isn't the ceiling for Marvin Harrison because of, you know, not doing it in the NFL. And we got burned by, you know, the high profile rookie last year in B. John Robinson, who played well, just didn't live up to expectations. We could be at the same thing with with Marvin Harrison. I hope not.

But, you know, once you get past those those elite eight receivers, you know, speaking of the magazine, that's the story that I wrote about. Once you get past those elite eight receivers, you know, for me, he's ninth just based on what the potential is. And the potential for him is to be one of these top tier players at his position, be one of the, you know, elite rookies that we've been talking about in regards to Puka Nakua. And hopefully have one of those type of, you know, seasons that we can, you know, reminisce about for years to come. But it's an if, and I think that's just where people get a little bit skittish about understanding that could he not necessarily live up to the hype, and that's definitely a possibility. So Barkley, unfortunately, one of the two games he plays against the Giants is Week 18, because I think he's going to score six touchdowns in two games against the Giants so you'd love to get that but uh they're playing unless they're

unless they're sitting in for the playoffs yeah that's possible uh yeah or the Giants could be resting their starters for the playoffs in week 18 also true Drew Locke led Giants yeah uh all right I don't know if there's um much to add uh'm sorry. So Saquon versus Kyron, you guys like Saquon better, right? Yes. Yep. Yeah. How often do you think Saquon will get 15 touches with Philadelphia this year? I think often.

I think weekly. I agree. Last year, Giants offense, battle line, quarterback merry-go-round, tough situation. He averaged 18.6 PPR points per game. I can't help but think that that could be close to the ceiling for Saquon Barkley if he stays healthy in Philadelphia, 17 games. He averaged, I think it's like four targets per game, a little more than that.

So that's about three catches per game. That'll drop a little bit. It's going to be the touchdowns, but I think the tush push won't take away every scoring opportunity for Barkley. And I think he's still going to get plenty of carries, work behind a better offensive line, play in a better offense, and certainly be very worthy of this early round two pick. The health is the main thing. And I think he'll actually be very good. Yeah. My favorite stat, I think, is people are really worried, obviously, about the touchdowns.

The Giants had six carries from inside the five-yard line last year. He had all six of them. The Eagles had 30. 30 carries from inside the five-yard line, five times as many as the Giants, and 14 of them were from running backs. So even if he's losing touches near the goal line, it's going to be a better situation than what he has had in the past with the New York Giants.

All right, let's get to Travis Etienne. And I think I want to, well, let me ask you, because, you know, everyone's going to see it differently. I've said this many times. I said it yesterday. I think I said the wrong number. So let me say to be clear, I like nine wide receivers and eight running backs. 17 players that I feel like are what I look for in a first or a second round pick.

ETN would be the last of them. So it goes Puka, Kyron, Barkley, Harrison, ETN as 13 through 17. After that, you've got the Pacheco, Cook, Jacobs, Rashad White group at running back. You've got Olave in the consensus ranking. It's Pittman, Evans, but it could be Drake London. It could be Nico Collins, a 49ers guy, whatever. The players that we spent full episodes on.

Do you see it that way? Is ETN, when you look at this consensus ranking, is there a big difference for you between ETN and all the guys after him? Pacheco, Olave, Cook, White, Pittman, Evans, Jacobs, whoever else you would put there now i have a few extra running backs who i would throw in there at the end i'm comfortable with pacheco derrick henry uh if we're talking full ppr rashad white's in that mix and i'm a jacobs guy

he's kind of on that line of where it's like more like maybe same with James cook, maybe, but there's certainly a, let's call it. Let's, let's keep Jacobs out of it. Let's keep cook out of it. I'll give you 11 running backs that I'd be fine with, with the top 24 pick.

ETN cook and Pacheco are very similar for me. Meaning they're in your round two range for sure. Locked in. No questions asked. No questions. Okay. Okay, good.

Well, I'm glad you guys, I'm glad you guys feel that way. And I know like if Schneier were here, he'd say Kelsey. And, uh, I think some people,

you know, I feel like there'll be someone in every draft that's comfortable with Kelsey or Laporta in round two. I wouldn't be surprised if they go in, in round two or early round three, of course, a ETN coming off a season where it was night and day. First half of the year, he was the number two running back in fantasy, number four per game. Last nine games, Travis

ETN was the number 23 running back per game and number 22 overall. So do we feel that bus potential is there? Could that happen again to Travis Etienne where he just sucks and it's like a RB20? Yeah, I'd be surprised unless somebody behind him emerges. And there was another report of Tank Bigsby struggling again this offseason. So it's like, who's it going to be? Is it going to be Dearness Johnson? Is it going to be Bigsby? Is it offseason. So it's like, who's it going to be? Is it going to be Dearness Johnson?

Is it going to be Bigsby? Is it going to be, you know, someone that they find out the scrap heap somewhere in training camp, you know, and Doug Peterson gets enamored with it? Look, ETN's a first-round talent for a reason. Has he lived up to it fully? No, but you've seen flashes of it. And I think better offensive line play. I mean, we've talked about that.

They added pieces to the offensive line. You know, they're getting Cam Robinson back for a full year, hopefully. Ezra Cleveland for a full year, hopefully. You know, center should be better with Mitch Morris coming there. So, you know, there's a lot to like about the situation for him, especially if he continues to catch passes. So is 50 receptions still on the table? Yeah.

Is, you know, double-digit touchdowns? Yeah. So, I mean, it's hard to overlook. And so I think round two is the right spot for him. I don't think he belongs in the tier with even Kyron Williams, certainly not Saquon Barkley for me. He's in that next group. And so if you want to call him the bridge to the back end of the round two guys,

the round three running backs, I think that's fair. But we got to really see somebody else, again, on this end of the round two guys, the round three running backs. I think that's fair. But, you know, we got to really see somebody else again on this roster, take the job from, not take the job from, but take touches away from them. And I just don't think it's going to happen. All right, let's take a break here. And that's so far we've gotten Nakua, Kyron, Saquon, Harrison, ETN. And we'll come back with Pacheco, Olave, Cook, Rashad White,

Michael Pittman, Mike Evans, Josh Jacobs. And that will be right after this break on Fantasy Football Today. Bumble knows it's hard to start conversations. Hey. No, too basic. Hi there. Still no. What about hello, handsome?

Who knew you could give yourself the ick? That's why Bumble is changing how you start conversations. You can now make the first move or not. With opening moves, you simply choose a question to be automatically sent to your matches. Then sit back and let your matches start the chat. Download Bumble and try it for yourself. With Smartwater's pure, crisp taste, there's nothing to overthink. So while you may be spiraling over double texting your crush,

whether your skincare routine is working because you look the same or is doing nothing because you look the same and whatever the heck red light therapy is, it's definitely not that. Don't overthink how you hydrate. Life's full of choices. Smartwater is a simple one. All right, you just heard about Puka, Kyron, Barkley, Harrison, and ETN.

Now we get to Isaiah Pacheco. I look at these rankings here, Pacheco, Olave, Cook, Rashad White, Michael Pittman, Mike Evans. I don't think you guys like, correct me if I'm wrong, you don't like Pittman and Evans in the top 24, right? No. Josh Jacobs is 24th in the consensus rankings. Do you feel, who do you feel strongly about,

one way or the other, in this group of seven? Pacheco, Olave, Cook, White, Pittman, Evans, Jacobs, either being in or being out. This would be a great pick or a good pick in round two. This would be a bad pick in round two. Dave? Pacheco belongs in round two. And then it's a sliding scale from there.

And Dave and I were talking off air. It's really tough to pick a wide receiver 10, which in this case would be Olave. Yeah. Wasn't that 9-3 for a while, Dave? He was, and then Marvin Harrison overtook him. Olave is 10th for me in pencil, and it will not take a great case for a different receiver

to jump up ahead of him. The problem is, is we're more than halfway through the off season and no one is clearly ahead of Olave. How many receivers are out there with great track record under 28 years old and explosive? Like those are the factors. That's it. You know, high target share. Obviously he wants to, does he have a great track record? Cause he hasn't finished as a top trackorer. His track record is not great.

He improved from year one to year two. I'm hoping that there's a bigger jump from year two to year three. I'm more encouraged by the offense in New Orleans this year than I was last year. The studying must really happen to lock in Olave ahead of London or ahead of Evans or ahead of Waddle. But I guess I'm saying that I'm not supremely confident in Olave at 10. I need to hear the argument for someone other than Olave, though, because I haven't found a good argument for anybody else. The thing that we have to do as as fantasy analysts is project

who's going to be the next great players at their respective positions so you look for situations you look for offense you look for players on the rise and so you know like we were we were i think as a fantasy community you know i know we were as a site you know excited about nico collins to various degrees we just didn't have him ranked as high as you know we should have based on how the the season unfolded for him you know so that's of where I think you look at, at least for me, guys like Olave in London. It's a similar situation. Guys entering year three, guys that are getting either system changes or quarterback upgrades or just lack of competition for targets. In the case of Olave, I mean, look at this receiving core that's around him.

It's pretty miserable unless some guys just completely wow us and surprise us. And so the hope is, is that a player who's had some quality production over the first couple of years of his career can take that step forward. And I think that's the case for a lot of it, getting Kubiak as the coordinator, losing Michael Thomas for whatever that's worth, but really nobody else coming in is really more the important factor here. In the case of Drake London, who's the next receiver, I think for a lot of people is the Kirk Cousins edition, the Zach Robinson edition, you know, the, again, entering year three and hopefully getting those opportunities to play at the level that he's capable of playing. And so it's just, you're stacking those guys up against,

and I guess even throw Marvin Harrison there who's unproven, but clearly opportunity is huge for him, but you're stacking those guys up against Evans and Adams and Pittman and, you know, the 49ers guys. I have right after Olave and London, Jalen Waddell and Nico Collins, because I think their situations are pretty still fantastic, despite some things that may have changed. You know, in the case of Collins, obviously the addition of Stefan Diggs, but for Waddell just being healthy, I think is huge for him. So that's why he's around too big for me. But if you want the proven guy and you're hoping that they're not going to completely fall off, like again, did Devante Adams completely fall off?

No, but he dropped four points per game off of his total from the previous year. And now he got a year older, Mike Evans, as we talked about less targets in the last five games of the season, then Chris Godwin, a year older, more competition for targets. I think McMillan is going to be a huge factor. For me, that's a concern. So I'm not taking those guys in round two. I'm not taking them ahead of those younger receivers that have more upside. And so it's just a matter of what you think is going to happen based on your research, based on your feeling about some of these guys.

And a lot of people just gravitate toward the guys that have done it. And then, you know, continue to do it. If you think that Devante Adams is not going to slip from 15 points per game, which I don't think he is, but I don't think that puts him in the top 10, then you take him in round two. And I know, Adam, like for you, you like him in the back end of round two. I do. Actually, I'm looking at the draft that we did, the magazine draft, if I can reveal.

I went McCaffrey one, and then I went Waddle Adams. But ETN, Cook, they were off the board. Nico Collins and Ayuk were off the board. I wouldn't have done that. I probably would have taken Kelsey there, but he was off the board. So, yeah, I started with McCaffrey and then Waddle and Adams. The next picks were – And just if you – what number receiver were those guys?

Well, let's see. Harrison was probably nine. So then we had Olave, 10. London, 11. Ayuk, 12. Collins, 13. So they were 14 and 15. Yeah, so Ayuk too soon in round two.

Collins, again, back in round two. I don't have a problem with that. So yeah, that's, again, the range that you're looking at. So I'd receive a 14, 15. Yeah. And, and, and ETN went two picks before me. I would have jumped at the chance to take him James cook, I think as well, but this is what I'm, this is what's so awesome. I love this.

I love that beginning after Marvin Harrison and Barkley are basically off the board and Kyron Kyron's got kind of a lower ADP, I think, than where we have him ranked. But maybe not necessarily. I'll double check. No, he doesn't. It's just fantasy pros, the running backs are all lower.

But anyway, once I think like 18-ish players come off the board, it is going to be the next round and a half are going to be so unpredictable. It's going to be the same names, but the order is just going to be the next round and a half are going to be so unpredictable. It's going to be the same names, but the order is just going to be so different. I love the fact that Nico Collins and Brandon and Iuke were off the board. We were drafted ahead of those picks there because I didn't want them in round

two. I'm glad someone else did, but I'm not going to criticize those picks. You know, those guys could be phenomenal. They were two of the most efficient receivers, but you know, you what you hear today on our consensus rankings, it's not going to look like that. It's going to be very different. Those names are going to be interchangeable, which is why we spent so much time on, I think, basically the middle of round two to the end of round three. I just think it's going to be really interesting. And for us, we don't even get any quarterbacks in there. That's going to shake things up too in your drafts. And by the way, the one player that's not in our consensus top 24, probably not even close, that is going to be a top 24 pick in many, many drafts that is not going to be talked about on today's show is Devon Achan. He goes much higher than what we have.

Well, here, I'll give you – this is, you say Devon Achan, his ADP on sleeper is end of round two. For us, it's middle of round three. For ESPN, middle of round three. For us, for CBS, ADP, it's middle of round three. But for us, when we're doing our analyst drafts, he often will get to round four um yeah so he's 21st in nfc adp since may 1st devon hn anyway let's get back on topic sorry for the detour there

uh i just i do love this element of drafting this year it's like you could take Mike Evans, 18th overall, or you could take him 36th overall. And there are 10, 15 other names that I could substitute for Mike Evans. And personally, I wouldn't say you're wrong. I would say I disagree. He's not getting to 36. I don't mean that he'll get there. I mean that it wouldn't be outrageous for whatever. You know what I'm saying?

That whole big group of running backs and receivers to just be completely interchangeable based on personal preference. All right. Anyway, where are we? I am lost in my thoughts. Pacheco, Olave, Cook, White, Pittman, Evans, Jacobs. So now my question is this. If you struggle in any way to decide who wide receiver 10 should be well then i will ask you who should how many running backs should go before wide receiver 10 let's say barkley's off the board and kyron williams is off the board and you're choosing between etn pacheco james cook rashad white, Jacobs, Derrick Henry. Do you take all of those guys before wide receiver 10? Like, how do you make that decision, Jamie?

I just take Barkley and Kyron. So for me, it's Puka, wide receiver 8, then Barkley and Kyron, then Harrison, Olave, and London, all back to back to back. And I have it differently. I'll take Barkley, Kyron Williams, and then starting at 16th overall, it's Etienne over Marvin Harrison, then Pacheco, then Derek Henry. I have Olave at 20, but you've got to be flexible when you get to late round two. You've got to consider what the other managers behind you might do with their picks. You have to consider supply and demand. How badly do you want a wide receiver versus a running back? And if you look at the Olave, London, Adams, 49ers receivers,

that glut of wide receivers that are certainly capable of getting you north of 15 PPR points per game, and you kind of feel the same way about all of them, you just pass on them. You take another position. Probably it's going to be running back it's probably rashad white or josh jacobs or james cook but how and then you wait around three to get who you want that receiver if you're starting to get worried about these guys you know saying look these are really good players but they they haven't done anything to make me think like they don't have the track record to be second round picks like a lot

of a dozen right London doesn't so it's projection so then I do you think it's perfectly justifiable to take Travis Kelsey ahead of them you could I don't what's that yeah I mean I'd take Laporta but if you're if you're if you look at Kelsey as tried and true, and last year was an anomaly and you just have to have them, that's when you could start considering them. But I don't think he gives you the same edge at that position that he has in years prior, certainly with the same type of risk. What I mean to say is he's riskier now than he was this time last year. And there are more tight ends that are going to give you,

theoretically, almost as much value, if not more value, than Travis Kelsey this year. So you don't have that three or four point per game edge with Kelsey over the rest of your competition like you had in 2022, 2021. Well, it sounds like, Adam, you feel like that might be the case, right? Because you think he's around too. I mean, you're agreeing with Adam, you feel like that might be the case, right? Because

you think he's around to pick. I mean, you're agreeing with Dan, so I know Dan thinks he's around to pick. I'm agreeing with not... I'm not... Dan I think has higher expectations for Kelsey. I look at the five touchdown catches for Kelsey last year, and he still finished as the number one tight end per game. And he started the

year with an injury, you know? So I think he's got like low i got like back of the first round type of potential i don't think we're getting 20 points per game but i could see 17 i i i think he's a second round pick but here's the other argument i would make for taking laporta or kelsey in the second round ahead of any wide receiver or running back that you just don't feel so comfortable with is that you can probably get a very comparable wide receiver or running back with your third pick. You may not get Kelsey or Laporta. Now you have to decide how do you feel about Andrews and McBride,

but that's a separate topic. But it might be that Kelsey and Laporta are going near the 2-3 turn. They're off the board by the time they get to your third pick. And you say, you know what? I would have rather have had Laporta and Jalen Waddell than, you know, Olave and Jalen Waddell, I guess, you know, whoever you'd be taking in the third round. I missed out on my chance to take that tight end,

and I could have gotten a similar running back or receiver, you know, eight picks later, 12 picks later, whatever the case may be in round three. Sure. I think if you're grouping those receivers together, then you absolutely should take the chance on the tight end if you feel that way. But you have to, you know, obviously have that conviction. I think the other thing, though, with Kelsey that I just can't get past is that he played fewer snaps last year. He's talked about how that helped him get to the playoffs, and he's talking about doing it again. So, yes, while the touchdowns may go up,

how much will they go up, and how much will he lose elsewhere? Adam also talked about how he finishes the number one tight end in fantasy last year. That is true. He was three one-hundredths of a PPR point better per game than TJ Hawkinson. He was, let's call it five point 0.5 PPR points per game better than Laporta. The he's an older tight end, so obviously he can miss time with injury. This is a chief's offense that added a lot of talent to it that could take away from Travis Kelsey. You better hope for him to A, stay healthy

and B, have a big bounce back in touchdowns for him to not just overtake Laporta and all the other tight ends, but B, several points per game better. That's what you're banking on if you're taking Kelsey in round two. And if you're taking Laporta in round two, you're banking on him improving on the 14.1 PPR points per game that he had and I just don't know if these tight ends have the same type of upside as the receivers that we've talked about as some of the running backs that we've talked about and so these are these are round three picks for me I can't take Laporta in round two yeah but I mean to Adam's point

though it's you know if if you're not sold on one of those receivers. And so like we we've made some cases for, and I think some cases against Olave and London and Adams and Evans and Waddle and Nico. I mean, this is just a huge group of guys that if you don't really have any conviction on one of those players, but you're planning to take the tight end around three, then you take them in round two to guarantee yourself around two. I get it. So I think we've uncovered a very important piece of homework for people to do before their draft.

And this is something that we need to do. And that's just get into the weeds of all these players, figure out who belongs in that round two range. We've been doing that. What have you, I know, but we, we, I don't think we should that. What have you, I know, but we, we,

I don't think we should stop just because it's, you know, we're a month away from training camp. Well, listen, there's nothing wrong with, with taking, but there's also going to be news.

That's going to affect this during training camp. I think the thing, well, first off, you know, again, we'll say this all the time, know your league.

That's a huge part of it. You know? So if you, if you know that people are clamoring for these tight ends, I think the other part of this though, is, you know, Adam, you mentioned, okay, if I'm at the back end around two and I feel like I need to get one of these tight ends and, you know, Dave sort of illustrated this with the point per game, because I don't think it's going to be that much separation. You know, Mark Andrews was 13 and a half points before he left his final game with the ankle injury. Yeah. Uh, Trey McBride was over 14 points

per game from week six on after Zachary's left. Those are two very capable tight ends to be number one next year that you might be able to get coming back to you at the four or five swing. And Dalton Kincaid might also take that leap as well. So if you miss on the top two guys, because, okay, I really wanted to take Olave.

I really wanted to take London. I thought that this was an opportunity to get one of these breakout receivers. But man, I really also thought I was going to get the tight end. Then you go on round four and you take one of those guys because I think one of those three

will be there for you coming back. Yeah, yeah. And I mean, there's nothing wrong with taking in the scenario that I laid out where you go Kelsey or Laporta and then you take the receiver in round three. There's nothing wrong with taking receivers in rounds two and three

and getting two of those guys. And maybe they both don't hit, but maybe one of them does. And you've given yourself now two chances in an exciting, but little bit scary group of wide receivers, two chances to hit. Maybe they both hit, but you know, it's like, you're not going to lose your league if two of your first three picks hit. It's probably not going to go three for three, just being honest. So anyway, there are a lot of different things you can do. And I think also, how many wide receivers do you start? Two or three? That could certainly influence your decision there.

Or four. It seems like, as we look at the consensus rankings, I'm just going to read the names again. 13 through 24. Puka, Kyron, Barkley, Harrison, ETN, Pacheco, Olave, Cook. That's 18, 19, 20. Pacheco, Olave, Cook. It seems like everyone is good with them as top 24 guys, right? I don't have Cook in my top 24. Oh, right. So it's the last five guys on this list

that you guys aren't necessarily going to agree on, and that's Cook, Rashad White, Michael Pittman, Mike Evans, and Josh Jacobs. Your 20 through 24 is going to look a lot different than the consensus 20 through 24. Well, I mean, look, it's, again, you know, when you look at our consensus rankings, Heath and I like James Cook. Obviously, I'm gonna guess dave and he's probably still

have white in round two he's around three pick for me uh dave and he's probably have jacobs in round two he's a you know late round three pick for me you know so it's it's you know that that's what makes up our consensus ranking so you know when you start to factor in our projections too it's gonna look you know wildly different also when you get into the draft room. So, um, there are things that you, you know, have to, again, this is why, you know, um, you do your own research and figure out, okay, these are the, the, the, the tiers of players that I'm targeting. These are the group of wide receivers that I want to get at least one of. So, uh, that's what you should end up doing. You know, when you know your draft spot. Yeah. We've got a question here from Mark. Gentlemen, why are we worried about Pittman?

It's not worried. It's just, again, when you start to compare him to some of these other receivers, I do think that the touchdown concern is valid because of Anthony Richardson. I also think that you have to at least worry about the volume coming down, not just because of Richardson not taking a step forward as a pastor, because I think he will, but they added another talented receiver and Adonai Mitchell. I think Josh Downs is going to be a big part of this. He loved his tight ends as a group last year in the small sample size that we have. And so I just think that Pittman's target volume is going to be a little bit tough to replicate without the type

of pastor that he needs. And so it's, it's a hope that Richardson will still keep him playing at a high level. I think he's a great high-end number two wide receiver. But when I reshuffled my rankings, I like Nico Collins better. I always like Jalen Waddell a little bit better. And so I put him more in the group of Mike Evans and Devontae Adams, which I think are guys that are going to be around 15 PPR points per game as opposed to guys that could be 16 or higher. Volume-based wide receiver in an offense

that added another wide receiver with a quarterback who's barely thrown in the NFL. And over the course of the entire 2023 campaign, Michael Pittman had five end zone targets. That's 55th among qualifying wide receivers. Yeah, he just needs more touchdowns. Can he get that? No, because what's this team going to do when they get into the red zone?

He can get more than four. One of them was on a screen pass. I know. Where the defense just completely dissolved right in front of him. But anyone could get more than four. I don't care. I've talked a lot about Pittman's a dot. I've talked a lot about his,

his low explosive play rate, or I'd say average. He should still have caught more than four on 156 targets. You know, the question is, can he get to eight? That's probably, probably asking a lot.

Career high at six. Yeah. So he doesn't feel like a second-round pick there. Would you guys take Nico or Ayuk or Debo ahead of Pittman? Nico, yes. Ayuk, yes. Debo, no. I have both Niners ahead of him.

I have Nico behind him, but it's close. I'm sorry. I just will end on the Olave thoughts. I meant to bring this up. I have Nico behind him, but it's close. I'm sorry. I just think I just will end on the Olave thoughts. I meant to bring this up. I thought it was really interesting. Jacob Gibbs was posting a lot about Chris Olave. He actually posted a video of a guy that we've had on the show, Rich Rebar. And Rich was talking about how New Orleans, I guess, I don't want to put words in his mouth, but my interpretation was sort of like a lack of creativity offensively last year. They ran so many go routes and they didn't run a lot of play action.

And that's changed. Yeah. And that's going to change. And the go routes, like you want to see different types of routes. And I think people are expecting that now from new Orleans with Clint Kubiak and Chris Olave has great per-route data. But I believe go-routes are not

the best for fantasy. So that's just like a kind of a little advanced daddy under the hood thing that could be working in his favor. I don't know what else to say about these guys. I mean, Evans, Jacobs, who do you guys round out your top 24 with?

Go ahead, Jim. jacobs who do you guys round out your top 24 with um go ahead jim so i have harrison 16 alave 17 london 18 etn 19 cook 20 pacheco 21 derrick henry 22 waddle 23 and neagle collins 24 i'll take ETN at 16. Marvin Harrison, 17. Pacheco, 18. Derek Henry, 19. Yes, this is full PPR. I'm still taking him as a top 20 guy. Olave is at 20. London is at 21. Rashad White, 22.

Josh Jacobs, 23. Devontae Adams is 24th. Yeah, Drake London being 49th overall in Heath's rankings is... Kind of dragging him down. What's preventing Drake London from being in the consensus top 24? So just letting you know on that one. Where does he have Henry, too? He's got to have him low. He has Henry...

57th. Yeah, so... Behind Ramondre Stevenson, which brings us to our news and notes to finish out the show. News and notes. The Patriots, this was a while ago, but we haven't spoken about it. The Patriots have signed Ramondre Stevenson to a four-year, $36 million deal with $17 million guaranteed.

They really like him. What does that tell you, Jamie, about how we, just because a team likes a guy doesn't mean he's going to be great. But they really seem to like Ramondre Stevenson. How should we be valuing him? He's a top Tony running back. I mean, you know, you look at the way that he finished before he got hurt last year, he was starting to come on after a slow start. Um, I think there's going to be a team that leans on the run, uh, understandably so with their quarterback situation. Uh, I know the addition of Antonio Gibson might scare some people off from him and his reception

total, but I don't think it's going to dramatically kill him as a pass catcher. I think he'll still be in the 40 to 50 catch range. And so looking at this offense, hopefully taking a step forward from where it was last year with Mac Jones, just be an absolute, you know, train wreck. Um, I kind of like Ramondre, uh, based on his value right now. I think it's incredible. So, um, he's, he's got top 15 upside stuff. What's the value. Where are we finding him in drafts he is being drafted based on uh three site average draft position of sleeper cbs and espn appreciate this is good uh the 72nd player off off the board okay i'm good with that i just you're the low guy on Stevenson by two full rounds. Yeah. If we're talking about him in like round five, round six, that's way too pricey.

Okay. Yeah, he's RB19 in Fantasy Pros. ADP's RB20 in NFC from Andre Stevenson. Aiden O'Connell probably has a slight edge over Gardner Minshew, according to Jeremy Fowler. I believe it. How much does that matter for Devontae Adams, Dave? You said you have Adams at 24. Let me tell you, Devontae Adams started last season on fire,

and then he ended last season very, very well. And early in the year was Garoppolo. Before he got concussed, the targets were there. The accuracy was there is probably the better thing to say. And Adams was good. Adams, at the end of the year, it's like his last four games, was averaging a huge amount of PPR points per game. O'Connell took more chances.

He threw downfield a little bit more. And although his completion rate wasn't as good, he had better efficiency. And that showed with Adams. I know that Adams is, however old he is, 31. I know he's past 30. He could still move, man. He's still fast, very quick. There is no deterioration in his skill set.

If he's got a quarterback that throws aggressively and targets him as much as the Raiders are going to target him, which could be as much as 10 targets per game, he's going to be good. If O'Connell continues to get positive reviews, I'll be encouraged by that. And I think Aiden O'Connell could be a guy that helps Devontae Adams not get to like 19 PPR points per game, but 16 and a half, 17. That's kind of the ceiling for Devontae Adams at this point. And I think he'd be, I think he's worthy of that early round three range if it's O'Connell or if it's Minshew playing well.

But either of those quarterbacks taking a step forward to give him a chance to do more than just catch seven passes for 75 yards every week. Quarterback, I think, really is kind of similar here because we've seen Minshew last year, perfect example, targeting his number one guy. O'Connell, Dave mentioned at the final four games, he targeted Adams a ton. But now you have another first round talent that was brought in to potentially steal some targets.

And based on how this offense feels like it's going to operate, it's going to be very run centric. And so Adams has been 175 targets or more in two seasons with the Raiders. I don't see that happening again. I think he goes closer to 150. I think that's huge for him because I do think he's going to need the volume at this point. Touchdowns could be an issue on this offense based on how I think they'll operate. And we could get a scenario where both quarterbacks are playing. Again, may not matter because I don't think either one is necessarily dramatically better than the other. I'm sure that's based on how they're performing right now, why we have the report. But if Zemir White stays healthy,

and I think he's laid it out pretty good a few months ago, he could be top five in carries this season based on how, again, he looked at the end of the year and what I think Antonio Pierce wants. I don't think Adam's going to get to the same level that he was even at last year. So if he gets to 16, I'd be surprised. I think he'll be sub 15 this year,

which is why I think the early should take him as round three. He was at 25.1. This is just to finish out my point. 25.1 PPR points per game in his first three, 19.7 in his last four. I think there is no chance he gets anywhere near either of those numbers this year, but I'll take over on 15 PPR points per game. I think he can get there even if it's a no-connell, Gardner Minshew, minimal improvement in their game, whatever it may be.

I think the volume will still be very good for him. Jamie mentioned this one. Tank Bigsby has not had a great offseason, according to Sports Illustrated's John Shipley. But to Mario Douglas, according to the Athletics' Chad Graff, Patriots wide receiver Demario Douglas, Pop Douglas was the best and most explosive playmaker in practice this spring. The Athletic also saying that Russell Wilson

has clearly been the better quarterback for the Steelers. A couple of round four rookie tight ends that maybe we were hoping would emerge as sleepers at some point, probably not this year, but, uh, uh, uh,

Jatavian Sanders for the Panthers, uh, Theo Johnson for the giants, two reports on ESPN about one separate one, uh, Ian Thomas having a good camp for Carolina and Lawrence Cager have a converted wide receiver, having a good camp for the giants.

Not that those guys are fantasy relevant, but they could keep other like Daniel Bellinger. a converted wide receiver having a good camp for the Giants. Not that those guys are fantasy relevant, but they could keep other, like Daniel Bellinger maybe, could keep other guys from being sleepers. Zach Jackson of the Athletic thinks that Cleveland is going to have, he suspects that their lineup will have Amari Cooper and Cedric Tillman out wide and Jerry Judy in the slot. Judy in the slot. Which I hate personally for Judy because I feel like he was better

when he wasn't being used in the slot, which I hate personally for Judy. Cause I feel like he was better when he wasn't being used in the slot. I wouldn't say I hate it, but I want to see him used out wide more. It just, it feels like there's going to be a target crunch for that team. Yeah. But it also feels like Amari Cooper's the only one who's ever done anything significant. No, but in a joke, I mean, clearly, you know, it was coming off of a very productive season for them. It's a tight end friendly offense. And so, you know, you're throwing

Judy in the mix. I don't think Elijah Moore is going away, you know, so he's still going to get his, you know, few targets that, that may matter. And really, I think it's good for Deshaun Watson because if he's healthy and can run again, then, you know, it's a, it's a pretty exciting group around him. I was thinking about them. They, What did they trade for Amari Cooper two off seasons ago? They have traded for a fairly high-profile wide receiver three times. Cooper, Moore, and Judy.

And they drafted Tillman. They obviously want to have a better passing game. And they gave Deshaun Watson the most guaranteed money, right? Ever? They're trying to build around Watson and they gave Deshaun Watson the most guaranteed money, right? Ever? They're trying to build around Watson and they're doing it with players that they're getting on the cheap and trade. The Cooper trade was robbery. They just had to pay a salary. That was no

problem for Cleveland. Well, let's see, depending on what he wants right now. The Judy trade was pretty, pretty, it was relatively cheap too, but then they paid Judy after that. So they clearly have no problems paying the receivers after they give up less in draft capital for them. Judy averaged like 5.4 targets per game last year. I wonder if that's the expectation this year. Sean McVay, last note here, actually kind of an important one.

Sean McVay doesn't think anyone, actually kind of a, kind of an important one. Sean McVay doesn't think anyone really understands the amount of things that Cooper cup was working through last season. We should not discount that he was playing hurt and still had a decent season. And you know, if you're going to, and I'll just leave it at this and we can talk about this maybe tomorrow or something, but if you are going to say, well, Cooper cup was hurt and that could hurt Puka Nakua. If Cooper cup is the same,

I would ask, you know, it gets back to what he used to be. I would ask you, why can't they both be great? You know, why can't they both be great? They could think about that.

It's one of the targets for the both of them. 31 years old. I, but I, I mean, great receivers have great years at 31 it it has happened many times well not of course but it has happened how many times does it happen after a bad 29 and a bad 30 and battling injuries well he wasn't bad at 29 he just was injured that's he was number one per game at 29. Okay, how many times

did it happen after battling injuries two years in a row? Yeah, I don't know. Probably not. But no, what I mean is that even if Cooper Cup does come back and has a really nice

bounce back season, it doesn't have to hurt Pukunukuwa. Correct. More importantly, you're not drafting, you're not reaching for Cooper Cup anymore.

There's enough evidence. Some people are. Yeah, okay. Well, if you reach too much, you're not reaching for Cooper Cup anymore. There's enough evidence. Some people are. Yeah. Okay. Well, if you reach too much, then that's on you. But again, Cup isn't going where he has been going in years past. His ADP is basically sitting in the middle of round four.

I'm great with that. So I would really, like last night was really fun winning a championship you know seeing your team in a championship but i would really like it to be a team that i like really care about next time did you play softball at all i did i played the first game we lost i missed the second game we lost so it wasn't me it turns out how'd you play in the first game yeah, you know, I went one and a half for three with half an RBI. I reached on an error

and drove in a run. That's not reaching. That's not a half. If I wasn't running hard, I wouldn't have, you know, they would have been able to still get me. Where'd you hit it? The pitcher? No, up the middle, shortstop. I wasn't really looking because I was running so hard. So shortstop made the play in bad throw?

No, I think the first baseman just dropped it. But again, I think he heard me bearing down on him like a freight train. He catches it, you're out. Yeah, and the game would have been over. It would have been the final out. Why did I just picture Thomas the tank engine

when I thought about you as a freight train? But listen to what keeps happening. Where was your hit? It was line drive freight train. But listen to what keeps happening. Where was your hit? Line drive to right center. Listen to what keeps happening. I keep screwing up the easy plays at second base. I am making an error game that I can't be making. Why are they playing you there?

Three games in a row, or maybe three of the last four, I have made a highlight reel, ridiculous diving catch. Last night, it was the turn of double play. I am making these incredible plays. So you turn a double play? On a line drive. It was first and second, nobody out.

The guy absolutely smokes one. No, nobody thought it was going to get caught. He smokes one up the middle. I it was going to get caught. He smokes one up the middle. I make a diving backhanded catch and he went on contact. You can't run. He went on contact and I threw him out. And I've been doing this consistently, but I can't

make the easy plays. How many people are at these games? What's that? How many people are at these games and the hard ones you're making? Yeah, exactly. It's the more time I have to think about it, the worse I do. How many people are at these games and the hard ones you're making? Yeah, exactly. It's the more, the more time I have to think about it, the worse I do. Uh,

how many people are, I need video evidence of one of these. I'm dazzling. I would never, I would never lie about that. I'm the most self-deprecating. Oh, sure.

I would never lie about that. I keep, are you a knob blocker? You got the yips or you got good. You know, I have a torn labrum. So, uh,

I almost threw a guy out at home. If I had known he was going, I would have. I would have nailed him. Now I might throw. I don't have a good arm. I can't really throw. I have to kind of throw sidearm. Anyway.

Yeah. I want to see an Adam A's or web jet. I'm telling you, bro. It was like it was a sick catch. But these are easy ones. I just keep booting. We're out of here. We'll talk to you tomorrow with a

mid-round running back show.