Fantasy Football Today - Players We Keep Drafting and Players We Avoid (08/31 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: August 31, 2021

Bid on our Draft-A-Thon items right now to benefit St. Jude! http://cbssports.com/ebay We know you've got your "Do Not Draft" list, and we'll share ours with you today. Of course we'll also tell you ...the players that keep ending up on our teams. First, a new game called "Is This Stat Weird?" And a big takeaway as we look at the latest ADP and where the value is (3:23) ... An intense Saquon Barkley discussion (8:25)! How confident are we in him? Also: Which players could take their game to a new level this season (16:00) and a look at our news and notes (20:00). Then we get into the players that we keep drafting (24:00). Heath has a lot of Patrick Mahomes but not at his ADP. He also has a lot of shares of Giovani Bernard and Mark Andrews. Dave (34:30) keeps drafting David Montgomery, Marquez Callaway, Darren Waller and Jaylen Waddle ... So, who are we avoiding (42:00)? We go through ADP and pick at least one player in each round. And we finish with the Fantasy Cops (51:00)! We're bringing commissioner justice to your leagues! ... Your emails at fantasyfootball@cbsi.com 'Fantasy Football Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. On his way to the end zone. I'll tell you what, that was a spectacular play. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. What a play. Off to the races. Touchdown. Oh, he's done it again. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath, and Ben. You know those players, you don't necessarily hate them.
Starting point is 00:00:28 They could be good, but you just don't draft them. They're on your do not draft list. We'll talk about those players that are on Dave's do not draft list, Heath's do not draft list, and also the players that are on their do draft list, guys that they keep on drafting in the draft they've been doing so far. Have I said the word draft enough? Welcome to this draft prep show for Fantasy Football Today. Adam Azer with Dave Richard and Heath Cummings. And today's episode is sponsored by Sonos Arc,
Starting point is 00:00:51 the premium smart soundbar for TV, movies, music, gaming, and more. Stay tuned for additional details about Sonos Arc later in today's show. So, yes, we will tell you who we keep drafting, who we keep avoiding. I also want to talk a little bit about average draft position and an interesting trend that I'm seeing not only in CBS leagues, but also in Yahoo and also in ESPN leagues. And I think an area of the draft that I suspect Dave and Heath will agree with me is really exciting value at a particular position.
Starting point is 00:01:22 Get to that in a second. First, we've got a new game courtesy of heath cummings heath this game is called is that stat weird is this stat weird is this stat weird sorry this game's already weird yeah so if i said that stat it would be really it would be weird okay uh so i'm perpetually drafting seven teams just for the rest of my life right now and one of the drafts i'm in was trying to decide between juju smith schuster and courtland sutton and it's a shared team and the other person likes courtland sutton more and you know how i feel about juju smith schuster and so i was just trying to i was looking at some things is it weird that juju
Starting point is 00:02:01 scored more fantasy points per game last year than Cortland Sutton did in 2019? Yeah. In PPR? It is weird. No. Why? But like when you're, okay,
Starting point is 00:02:15 so Adam thinks it is weird and Dave thinks it's not. I think it's weird because in my mind, Cortland Sutton was much better. He had a massive breakout season. Yeah. And Juju was a disappointment last year. Right. Juju was a disappointment last year who had 90 catches
Starting point is 00:02:28 and 9 touchdowns. Stupid catches. If we just did half PPR, everything would be better. Well, yeah. I mean, if it wasn't for PPR, then that wouldn't be the case, but I was just... Maybe it would be because he had 97 catches
Starting point is 00:02:44 and Corlin Sutton had 72 in 2019. 97 catches is ridiculous, but I, when you see 97 catches
Starting point is 00:02:51 for 831 yards, it is one of the weirdest things. Yeah. Oh, that's weird. I mean, it makes you think
Starting point is 00:02:58 of Jarvis Landry. Yeah. With touchdowns. Yeah. Yeah. So who do you guys like better? Heath, you like Juju? I've got Juju like way ahead of Courtland Sutton, but...
Starting point is 00:03:13 Dave? I have Juju one spot ahead of Courtland Sutton in full PPR. One. Okay. One. Okay. Well, on to the ADP thing that I was referring to. We had to do this little assignment where we talked about our favorite values in each round,
Starting point is 00:03:31 rounds three, four, five, six, and seven. And round three and round seven, the answer was the same for me. It was the wide receivers. And if you look at CBS ADP, and I'm not sure how much I believe this is going to happen in all of your leagues. I have a point of clarification before you get to your actual point. That doesn't seem fair, but okay. Well,
Starting point is 00:03:51 no, because I want to know you say that semi regularly. Like that's one of the things you say this time of year, especially what I'm not sure if I actually believe that. Yeah. And I'll tell you why you want the clarification. You mean you don't believe it for the drafts you're going to have it won't be that way or you don't believe it for the people who draft in cbs drafts the kind of both you know those are different things though right
Starting point is 00:04:17 oh yeah absolutely i know it won't be the case in in my leagues but it just seems it's just weird it just seems too good to be true and if you're in because look there are a lot of people drafting on cbs and some of them are not they're not listening to a fantasy football podcast every day so i guess it depends on your league draft with 13 guys and two of them are listening to a fantasy football podcast and i was in the league yeah yeah but but did they but was in the third round well this was this was a 14-team league for you. Okay, look, Justin Jefferson, 29th overall, Keenan Allen, 31st, A.J. Brown, 32nd, Terry McLaurin, 36th. I just don't really believe that.
Starting point is 00:04:54 Put it this way. I cannot tell people to go into their drafts and say they have a middle-round pick, or mid-round pick, right? Sorry, middle of round one, and say, hey, you can take two wide receivers because you're round pick, right? Sorry, middle of round one. And say, hey, you can take two wide receivers because you're going to get
Starting point is 00:05:07 A.J. Brown in round three. I can't sit here and advise that. I never see that. CBS ADP suggests you will get Justin Jefferson, Keenan Allen, A.J. Brown, or McLaurin. I feel like McLaurin
Starting point is 00:05:19 and Allen are realistic, but... And I just am not sure that our bubble experience is more relevant than what the average of all drafts is. Yes. Okay. But hold on,
Starting point is 00:05:29 hold on, please. Hold on. Let me just finish. Okay. ESPN and Yahoo. Right. I also looked at that and those wide receivers are not there on ESPN and
Starting point is 00:05:36 Yahoo leagues. No. So that is, they are more around two picks. We have not all the PPR leagues and they do. Okay, fine. But I think our listeners are in full ppr
Starting point is 00:05:46 like our listeners from based on the emails i get it's a lot of full ppr so where do the quarterbacks go on espn and yahoo what's their adp because the one thing that stands out to me is that quarterbacks are going earlier in our drafts and at least two of them are pushing down the receivers yeah my homes is 19th on espn and now in his 30th right so the quarterbacks have a higher adp on our site than they do on the other sites uh the name that stood out to me that was going in round three that seemed like a crazy value was darren waller because in our drafts he's been going around too i I'm curious what his ADP is on our competitors' sites. Okay.
Starting point is 00:06:26 Friendly competitors. On Yahoo, Kelsey is 12th. Waller is 27th. Kittle is 31st. Also, when you look at ours, if you look by the number of the player on the left as opposed to the actual ADP, Darren Waller is the 25th player being drafted.
Starting point is 00:06:43 Yeah. Okay, so look, I had a broader point. If you could get A.J. Brown and D.K. Metcalf, or sorry, A.J. Brown and Justin Jefferson and Keenan Allen and even Terry McLaurin, McLaurin the most realistic, in the middle of round three, then holy cow, that's a round two caliber player
Starting point is 00:06:59 in a lot of cases that you're getting in round three. But what I really wanted to look at, guys, was round seven. And round seven in ADP, late round six and into round seven, the wide receivers are still really good. And it's the same thing basically on ESPN and Yahoo. In fact, wide receivers might be going a little earlier on CBS.
Starting point is 00:07:20 And you're talking about guys like Jerry Judy, Chase Claypool, T Higgins, Jamar Chase, Kenny Galladay, Cortland Sutton, Michael Thomas, and then Beckham after that in round eight or nine. But I just couldn't believe all those guys being available in round seven. Find the one who's your favorite. And Iuke might even make it there too. But Judy, Claypool, Higgins, Chase, Galladay,
Starting point is 00:07:46 Sutton, Michael Thomas. I saw that, and I think that, to me, I think that should influence your draft strategy a little bit. Those are really great picks if you can get them in round seven. And that's what I wanted to get you guys to weigh in on. I agree. Thank you. We've been seeing
Starting point is 00:08:01 good receiver value anywhere from rounds three through eight all off season long it's part of the reason why i love the strategy of getting two running backs with my first three picks or going you know two running backs in a tight end with my first three picks and trying to maximize those positions because i know that there's going to be some wide receiver values later on dave i know you wanted to talk about Saquon Barkley, and you were just in an analyst draft, and you passed him over twice. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:08:30 So listen to this draft, okay? It's an analyst league, so people from other sites, and you have 15 seconds to make a pick. And there are no waiver wire moves or trades allowed in season. Full PPR. So kind of tough. You've got to draft like a champ. And so when I was up in round one, I'd pick 11.
Starting point is 00:08:54 Jonathan Taylor was still on the board. A hundred times out of a hundred, I'm taking Taylor over Saquon. When I was up in round two, I had to make a choice between Saquon and Antonio Gibson. And Saquon was ranked ahead of Gibson at the time in my rankings. And I couldn't do it. I couldn't take Saquon. I couldn't buy into his offensive line helping him. I don't think the passing game helps him. I know that he will be eased in early on in the season
Starting point is 00:09:18 and will eventually get that workload. But we truly have not seen him play like his rookie year since the rookie year. He was not bad in his sophomore year, missed some time, got hurt. Last year, everybody knows the story. And then I started measuring him against not just Gibson, but Mixon, and especially Najee Harris, because both of those guys have questions along the offensive line,
Starting point is 00:09:41 but Harris has already proven to be a relevant part of the passing game in Pittsburgh, and I think he's going to play a ton and the passing game in Pittsburgh will change the way defenses play against the Steelers. And, uh, I've, I've taken the plunge. I've moved Saquon well into round two. I can't take them as a first round pick anymore. There's just too much risk. I'm finally where he's been. I might even be farther down where he is on Saquon Barkley. I am basically telling you I am out on Saquon Barkley. Is this really
Starting point is 00:10:14 because I just don't want to react too strongly to last night's preseason game. It's not just that. It's been everything from the Giants all preseason. It's the first time they played their starters. There was something. I feel like we entered into training camp with hope
Starting point is 00:10:31 that they had added things or that Daniel Jones had taken a step. And through training camp reports, videos, beat reports, comments, injuries, preseason games they gave us nothing to believe that they were anything other than the terrible mess they were last year yeah well they haven't it's true but they also haven't had their additions or they haven't had galladay when are they going to get them galladay could be back week one i don't think i wouldn't expect anything from tony but now ingram's hurt and Slayton's hurt. So I get it. I get it.
Starting point is 00:11:07 Can Barkley overcome all that? I'm sorry. I know you're a huge Giants fan. No, look, I totally get it. I'm not taking Antonio Gibson over him, but I think you know how I feel about Gibson. Where do you have him now, Dave, overall? 18th in PPL. Oh, you did get behind me. I'm 17th.
Starting point is 00:11:21 Yeah, and I got to be honest with you. I don't know when I'm going to have to test this, but he's one spot ahead of Waller, two spots ahead of Hopkins, three spots ahead of A.J. Brown. I love running backs. You know me, but I don't know. And I've heard good things about
Starting point is 00:11:38 Saquon. I've heard that he, and you'll watch the little clips of him practicing. He looks good. The issue isn't him not being at 100%. It's everything around him being a total show of stuff. Stuff show. Saquon and the stuff show. And hopefully, Jamie gets on board and drops into 18 as well.
Starting point is 00:12:04 And then next week, right before the season starts, I can turn heel and be the Saquon guy because I have him the highest. Do you want that? Like, how much confidence do you have? Because I'm clearly showing very little confidence in Saquon at this point. How much confidence do you have in him, both of you? I've got him ahead of most of the running backs that you said, I think, except for Mixon.
Starting point is 00:12:26 I always had Mixon ahead of him. I just have the wide receivers because I don't have the confidence. I just don't have the confidence that you have in Gibson or Najee. I have more confidence in those wide receivers that could take it in round two. I have, put it this way, if you told me that he was as good of a football player as he was, even in his second season,
Starting point is 00:12:50 then I think he deserves to be picked at the one, two turn basically. So if he comes back and he's healthy and he's good, I really don't care about the other things. I don't think the giants are going to be as bad as what we saw last night because Galladay will play and whatever. I think that Barkley is possibly still the best running back in football. So taking him 18th would be, I think, a steal.
Starting point is 00:13:13 I still consider him at the 1-2 turn. I am confident that they will give him the ball at the goal line excessively like they did with Wayne Gallman. And I am confident he will catch enough passes in the 50 to 55 range per 17 games. And I'm confident he'll be good. So, yeah, I still, you know, I'm not freaking out. If I may ask one last question.
Starting point is 00:13:42 You said he's going to get work at the goal line. He's going to catch 50 to 55 passes. Clearly a playmaker. What's the difference between him and Najee Harris other than experience? I love Najee Harris. He's going to get work at the goal line. I was going to say, what's the difference
Starting point is 00:14:02 between him and DeAndre Swift? I think there's a huge... Look, you're talking about... You're talking about... Swift has a better offensive line, at least. Yeah, yeah. You're talking about the best... If he's right, we don't know how good he is,
Starting point is 00:14:14 but if he's right, if he's healthy, he's probably the best running back in football. And if he's not, he's in a very, very select group. So, and Jamal Williams is taking DeAndre Swift off the field a little bit. As soon as Barkley is fully healthy. That's the thing we don't know. With the injuries he's had,
Starting point is 00:14:31 now the talk about them giving him an extension, we don't know that they're going to go right back to doing the 22 touches per game thing again. He'll get all of the important touches. That's the thing. Might he come out for a couple of series or something? Maybe. Can you imagine if he didn, but they're going to ride Saquon Barkley.
Starting point is 00:14:48 Can you imagine it's third down and on trots Devante Booker? Might happen a couple times, but I might really cry if that happens. All right. You want to run off and Jason Gary will just be there. As a third round Saquon almost. Where was it? Third round Saquon. Hey, listen. No.
Starting point is 00:15:03 You know what? I'd like to know what 30 industry analysts think about Saquon almost. We're almost at third round Saquon. Hey, listen. No. You know what? I'd like to know what 30 industry analysts think about Saquon Barkley. I'll have the opportunity to find out along with you Wednesday for our draft-a-thon, the 2021 draft-a-thon supporting St. Jude. Tune in to the six-hour stream for non-stop fantasy advice.
Starting point is 00:15:20 Even if you've already drafted, we'll have plenty of relevant advice for you. 6 p.m. Eastern until midnight Eastern, Wednesday, September 1st. We're going to be joined by 30 industry friends like Jake Seeley, Adam Rank, and many more to get you prepared for your fantasy drafts while raising money for St. Jude.
Starting point is 00:15:36 And you can watch the entire stream on YouTube, youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday, youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday. And the first two hours are on CBS Sports HQ. Our YouTube mock draft is tonight, Tuesday night, and it's usually at 7. We're going to go a little early. Please be there 6.30 p.m. Eastern for a half PPR mock draft,
Starting point is 00:15:59 and that should be a lot of fun as well. We'll have some viewers involved in that and our CBS crew and a couple others. So that's on YouTube, youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday. Tuesday night, that's tonight, 6.30 p.m. Eastern. But really, we want to see you tomorrow, Wednesday, 6 to midnight Eastern,
Starting point is 00:16:17 midnight p.m. on YouTube. And first two hours are on HQ. All right, guys. It is time for our Sonos raising the bar, looking at players who have the potential to raise their game to the next level. And you guys can take it, take this however you want.
Starting point is 00:16:36 Maybe a winner from preseason week three, maybe something in the news and notes like, like, uh, Tyson Williams or something like that, or a Detroit wide receiver, not named Rashad Perryman because he got released. But we're looking at players who could raise,
Starting point is 00:16:50 who have the potential to raise the bar, raise their game to the next level. Who wants to go first? How about one of the guys that's on my most drafted list? Sure. A.J. Brown, I think, is a guy who has a chance to raise the bar possibly as high as the number one overall wide receiver.
Starting point is 00:17:08 I think he's following that Tyreek Hill path to top five fantasy production. And I think he arrives in the top five this season. I've got him projected around 1,400 yards and 12-plus touchdowns. What impact does Julio Jones have on that? Obviously not a big one for you. He makes it harder for the other team to double team AJ Brown. Just the impact I think he had. I think there's plenty of targets that left Tennessee for Julio Jones to get his targets and AJ Brown share to still go up on top of the fact that the Titans should throw the ball a little bit more than they
Starting point is 00:17:43 have in the past, just because they've got Julio Jones. They've changed coordinators. We'll see what that means for the passing game, but they should feel encouraged when those receivers are healthy to throw it a little bit more. Okay. Dave, who's raising the bar? Raheem Mostert played 10 snaps against the Raiders. He had seven carries
Starting point is 00:18:05 and five of the carries went for at least five yards. There were a couple of plays where he was dazzling. Trey Sermon looked good, but Raheem Mostert looked dazzling. He just had amazing speed, used some power. The offensive line he played with was the starting offensive line.
Starting point is 00:18:21 I think either almost the front five or the exact front five that the niners plan on rolling with this year and my goodness just unbelievable speed and burst there was one play where the offensive line two linemen go the opposite direction of where mostert's running and he wins the edge against like two or three raiders defenders stiff arms another one breaks out of a tackle of another one just absolute complete player the only thing that he failed at was getting a short yardage touchdown so that's something that kind of stinks but just unbelievable speed and uh i really like where where mostard is at right now in this
Starting point is 00:18:55 offense and a bunch of those runs by the way came with trey lance at quarterback so if you can find most are mid round six and into round seven i know know his ADP on CBS is early round six, I think you're stealing him from the rest of your league for however long he's healthy. Yeah, and Mostert is unlikely to catch a lot of passes, so he'll probably need some touchdowns to really pay off. Does the usage of Trey Lance worry you in that regard? Not so much, because I think the efficiency is just going to spike now with Trey Lance. Were you in that regard? Not so much
Starting point is 00:19:26 because I think the efficiency is just going to spike now with Trey Lance there. He's clearly a rushing threat that defenses are going to have to pay attention to. And at the very least, you know you're going to have
Starting point is 00:19:35 Mostert for week one. That's against the Lions. Should have a monster game there. And we've seen him catch the football in the past. Like, it's not foreign to him him and he could probably do it again. He's definitely as talented at catching the football as Trey Sermon is. And we know that the 49ers don't necessarily use,
Starting point is 00:19:55 um, well, they have sometimes use the third down back. I guess it depends on who's available to them. Okay. Okay. Time for our news and notes. Tyson Williams is a name to know.
Starting point is 00:20:04 He is Baltimore's number two running back. So when would you draft Tyson Williams? And we should say there was a report that the Ravens are not pursuing Todd Gurley at this time. I do wonder if one of those guys on the Texans, maybe Mark Ingram, goes back there. So maybe they're not done. But right now, if you're drafting today when do you take tyson williams brown if you're asking me 14 it's going to be right around there so he's he's behind sony michelle let's say oh yeah yes oh yeah okay i didn't see the actual quote um this was a beat
Starting point is 00:20:41 writers article about that tyson william Williams would be the number two, right? Yes. No. It's come from multiple sources that Tyson Williams has earned the number two spot. I'll double check. And he played ahead of Justice Hill for the most part. Well, Hill was
Starting point is 00:20:59 hurt most of the preseason, wasn't he? He was. An ankle? Right. Which is another problem because Justice Hill is fast, but not strong and not physical and might not be useful for more than just a handful of plays
Starting point is 00:21:14 per game if you're worried about him staying on the field. Okay, so Tyson Williams, the report was from ESPN's Jameson Hensley. He has, well, the headline on Roto World is that Tyson Williams has leapfrogged Justice Hill as the Ravens' number two running back, according to ESPN. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't like a depth chart or anything.
Starting point is 00:21:33 Right. He's not like a perfect type of player, like inconsistent vision, inconsistent speed. Sometimes he looked really fast. Sometimes you could tell he was kind of thinking, and that always slows down a running back. He was good in pass protection all throughout the preseason. So that might earn him some
Starting point is 00:21:49 playing time. As prospect as a running back that might get 10 touches a game could possibly be. He played it, never had a 500 yard season in college. Like we've not really seen him be a good running back. You know who wasn't a very good running back in college? Who's not really seen him be a good running back.
Starting point is 00:22:05 You know who wasn't a very good running back in college? Who's that? Gus Edwards. Yeah. I mean, you could say the same thing about Antonio. I just said about Gibson, too. That's true. Yeah. He wasn't picked quite as early.
Starting point is 00:22:19 Gus Edwards, his best season was 713 yards as a senior at Rutgers. And moving on, Detroit-released wide receiver Brashad Perryman. Is there any Detroit wide receiver that you want to draft? Just the rookie. I'll call Tyrell late in round 12, round 13. Okay, Carson Wentz is one of three colts who is on the uh covid list reserve covid list
Starting point is 00:22:48 along with zach paschal and ryan kelly they are close contacts so they could return in five days if they continue to test negative and do not have any symptoms hopefully they will be back sooner rather than later not an ideal training camp for cars Wentz. We'll see how that plays out, especially now without arguably his number one wide receiver in T.Y. Hilton. Houston, according to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, is willing to listen to offers for pretty much any of its veterans. Not a surprise. If you're in a 2QB league and you drafted Jimmy Garoppolo
Starting point is 00:23:20 and you saw yesterday, or you're hearing this on Tuesday, if you saw Sunday's game, a lot of rotation there with Trey Lance and that could continue throughout the season. We'll see what they decide to do there. That's 10 of the first 24 plays Lance was in on. And you may have noticed that Javante Williams did not play. He was
Starting point is 00:23:38 not hurt. They just were satisfied with what they saw from Javante Williams. They held him out of preseason week three and they wanted to get Melvin Gordon some first team reps. Not a huge story there. All right, let's get into the players that we often draft and the players that we avoid drafting. And Heath,
Starting point is 00:23:54 why don't you tell us the players that you keep a nice little spreadsheet, keep track of the players who are on a lot of your fantasy teams and what do you got so far? Yeah, my two quarterbacks I've drafted the most have been patrick mahomes and dac prescott so i'm pretty happy with that let's pause real quick yeah when do you draft mahomes i have taken him as early as late round two in non-ppr generally at the three four turn
Starting point is 00:24:22 is where i end up drafting him. Okay. Okay. Go on. And Dak has usually been round six. A couple times, I think, in round five, but usually round six. He's almost always going after the top four, and there's usually a little gap. Sometimes he goes after Wilson. My running backs, Joe Mixon, DeAndre Swift, Josh Jacobs, Jamal Williams, and Giovanni Bernard.
Starting point is 00:24:45 Mixon, Swift, Jacobs, and Wilson. I just want to clarify, if you look at ADP and you see that Josh Jacobs is going at the 3-4 turn, if Josh Jacobs is going at the 3-4 turn in our drafts, I would not have near as much Josh Jacobs. But he's around 5 back in our drafts. What do you expect from Jamal Williams? 10-12 touches per week when DeAndre Swift is healthy and a low-end number two running back if
Starting point is 00:25:09 DeAndre Swift is missing time. Do you like Giovanni Bernard better than James White? I do like Giovanni Bernard better than James White. And remember to just keep names like Jamal Williams and Giovanni Bernard and James White and whatever on your radar. If you draft someone like, say, Javante Williams, someone who you and James White and whatever on your radar,
Starting point is 00:25:27 if you draft someone like, say, Javante Williams, someone who you really may not be able to rely on, who knows if ever, but probably not at the beginning of the year, and you say, well, what am I going to do now about running back? Okay, late picks. Jamal Williams, I don't know, round 10 or so? I was in a 14-team PPR draft
Starting point is 00:25:43 during the podcast we recorded last night. Started 0RB, Devontae Adams, Stephon Diggs, Robert Woods, Mark Andrews in a 14-team league. All right. Then I thought I was taking Chase Edmonds and Damian Harris at the 5-6 turn and everything was great. But I was on a podcast and I auto-picked one of those picks and took Aaron Rodgers. No! That sucks! That was my fix in the double-digit round.
Starting point is 00:26:09 I think round 10, 11, 12, I went Jamal Williams, Giovanni Bernard, James White. And as 14-team league especially, those guys can be low-end number two running backs. Absolutely. Can I ask a question? Yeah. Is this stat weird?
Starting point is 00:26:24 2019, Tom Brady's best pass-catching running back was James White. He averaged 12.4 PPR points per game. That was good for 22nd best among running backs. 2018, it was White. White had an incredible year that year. 16.5 PPR points per game. He was RB10.
Starting point is 00:26:40 2017, it was Deion Lewis. Remember him? He recently retired. Former Giant. He was 11.6 PPR points per game in 2017. That was RB15. Those are the last three pass-catching running backs that Brady really truly had.
Starting point is 00:26:56 And they all finished top 24 in PPR points per game. Here comes Gio. Yeah, good stuff. That wasn't a question, Dave, but it was very, very good. Very helpful. I asked the question if it was weird. Yeah, good stuff. That wasn't a question, Dave, but it was very, very good. Very helpful. I asked the question if it was weird. It's not weird.
Starting point is 00:27:08 Oh, that's true. It's not weird. It's great. Heath, wide receivers that you've been drafting a lot of. A.J. Brown, Tyler Lockett, and Terrace Marshall. Wide range of ADPs there. And the A.J. Brown one makes sense because I have him as a top five wide receiver as a round two pick in both formats.
Starting point is 00:27:24 And he's mostly going at the end of the 2-3 turn in most drafts I'm not in, makes sense because I have him as a top five wide receiver as a round two pick in both formats. He's mostly going at the end of the 2-3 turn in most drafts I'm not in or maybe even into round three. I really like starting, especially if you get McCaffrey, Cook, or Kamara early in round one and then to come back with A.J. Brown at the end of
Starting point is 00:27:40 round two. I love that. Great. And then Lockett. Dave, are you on board with Lockett? I'm fine with Lockett. He's okay. He's not my favorite guy to go and get, but how can you overlook what he did last year? Just the numbers at the end of the year, it's hard to ignore. And you know that he's going to have some smash weeks and some dud weeks. The argument I've made for Lockett, really since I got a grip on what the Seattle offense is going to look like, is that his floor will be raised because he'll see more consistent targets from game to game.
Starting point is 00:28:08 That short area passing means more pass attempts for Russell Wilson. That looked really good for the Seattle offense in the first eight games of last year. I'm still a little worried about how he'll do in the red zone, but the one thing we've seen from Russell Wilson year after year, at least the last three years, is that when the play breaks down and he's on the move, he finds Tyler Lockett.
Starting point is 00:28:30 And that's going to happen. That's part of the magic of Russell Wilson. So I'm okay with Lockett as a quality number two fantasy wideout. Tyler Lockett is going 52nd overall. He is one pick after Russell Wilson. Okay, and then the tight ends. You didn't even have to tell me the tight ends. I knew who they were,
Starting point is 00:28:51 but you can tell everybody the tight ends you keep drafting. Yeah, well, it's not Travis Kelsey this year. It's Mark Andrews and Noah Fentz. Why isn't it Kelsey? Because in the past, I could take Kelsey at the 1-2 turn. And now in most leagues, it seems like you've kind of, you can't,
Starting point is 00:29:08 you don't take him if you have a top four pick and you're probably not getting him if you have a back two or three pick. So you kind of have to be in that middle range to even have a chance at Travis Kelsey. Is this note weird? It's not a stat. Okay. I have the fourth pick in a draft on thursday ppr
Starting point is 00:29:25 i hate the fact that i'm going to draft derrick henry i don't want to do it i just i had no derrick henry teams and three like three drafts this week i had the fourth or the fifth pick and drafted him on all three how do you feel about that i i i feel i'm not going to worry about it anymore okay like i'm just going to be excited about him I think we should treat him like we do Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara and Dalvin Cook and be like yeah we got him because we don't even care that those
Starting point is 00:29:53 guys got hurt and missed time in the fast we're worried Derrick Henry's going to when he never does it's kind of true yeah go ahead he finishes RB4 in PPR points per game last year he finished RB4 in PPR points per game last year. He finished RB4 in PPR points per game in 2019. But that's the problem, Dave. He ran for 2,000 damn yards, and he scored 17 touchdowns,
Starting point is 00:30:13 and he finished his RB4. Like, the path to him being RB8 is so realistic to me. All he has to do is have a really, really good season and not an incredible season, and he's like RB8 in PPR. He ran for 2,000 yards and scored 17 touchdowns, and he was number four per game. That terrifies
Starting point is 00:30:33 me. It terrifies me. He's playing one more game this year, and the offense added Julio Jones. Defenses cannot crowd the box against him. He will be more efficient than he was last year. I think he's got a shot at 2,200 yards this year. If he's more efficient than he was last year, he would be the only running back who rushed for 2000 yards to be more
Starting point is 00:30:55 efficient in terms of yards per carry. He'd be the first one to ever do it. Well, we've never seen Derek Henry do anything that other people can't do before. That is true. I'm probably going to, I'm either going to trade the pick, or I don't know.
Starting point is 00:31:06 Nobody's going to trade with me. You know what? I think it's very possible he goes third, or even second. So maybe I'll end up with Kamara. That's what you're praying for. I get it. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:16 Okay, we're going to talk about the players that... Oh, I'm sorry. You didn't really talk about Fanton and Andrews. I don't know that I need to. I take Andrews in round four or round five. I take Noah Fant in round eight or round nine. I think there's a chance that Fant is the leader. If Andrews is up in that tier one, like I've kind of said,
Starting point is 00:31:36 there's a chance that Fant is the leader of the tier two group, the number five tight end, and that's if nothing goes wrong with the top four. I want to talk about derrick henry's big weeks if i could i don't know that i'll be able to find it in time but we all know it because we all play fantasy but let me just see if i can oh if you can just find some way to get the sixth seed and get yourself into the playoffs derrick henry carried a sub 500 team of mine into the championship game last year
Starting point is 00:32:05 then i lost to dave and i tore the entire team apart and it's the ugliest team you've ever seen in the last two seasons 40 points in week 6 yeah 37 in week 12 35 in week 14 35 in week 17 amazing uh yeah so okay last thing on henry on december, 2018, Derek Henry faced Jacksonville on a Thursday night. Oh, yeah. It was a nice, warm Thursday evening, maybe. At that point in his career, he had 414 carries for 1,708 yards and 15 touchdowns in 43 games.
Starting point is 00:32:43 From that night on, Derek Henry has 768 carries, 4,152 yards, and 40 touchdowns in 35 games. So in his first 43 games, he wasn't even close to as good as he was just last year. But you talk about a career-changing night. He went off in that game on national TV. I don't think very many people started him.
Starting point is 00:33:07 And that was the beginning of Derrick Henry. I would have loved to have had a Sonos arc on that fateful Thursday night a few years ago. I finally got to sit down and watch football on the big screen TV with the Sonos arc and watch you-know-who and you-know-which team throw you-know-what into the end zone. But other than the football, the experience was awesome.
Starting point is 00:33:29 I mean, I love watching sports on the Sonos Arc. And more on that in a second. I've told you about the Sonos Arc, and I've told you about the music that I listen to on Spotify and whatnot, but let me remind you about the radio stations. You can listen to thousands of stations free on Sonos Radio. You can tune into local radio. You can listen to thousands of stations free on Sonos Radio.
Starting point is 00:33:45 You can tune into local radio. You can relax with your favorite genres. You know, they've got 80s, they've got 90s, they've got country, they've got this, whatever you want. There's something for everyone. There are exclusive artist-curated stations and new music on their signature stations.
Starting point is 00:33:59 So, like I said, something for everyone on the Sonos Arc. But really, we're here because we love sports and we love football. And Sunday is a really important day for all of us. So enjoy Sunday the way it should be enjoyed with amazing sound. You're going to hear the crunch of the helmets and the tackles and the touchdowns and all that stuff with the Sonos Arc. You're going to just basically be immersed in everything. And by the way, one person asked me, hey, did you install it yourself? Yes. It took me like five minutes,
Starting point is 00:34:28 maybe 10. I don't even remember. I can't install anything. I can't put an ethernet in my computer. I was able to install the Sonos Arc. It is that easy. Go to Sonos.com to learn more. Sonos.com, S-O-N-O-S. All right, Dave, yesterday we did your sleepers. This is kind of a similar list, so you expanded a little bit. But some of the players that we talked about yesterday that you find yourself drafting a lot and anybody just wants to hear, go back to yesterday's show,
Starting point is 00:34:54 listen to the sleepers and the breakouts. Jerry, Judy, Jacoby Myers. We didn't talk much. We talked more about Marquez Calloway on FFT in five, but Elijah Moore, Jonu Smith. So how about two Saints that are on this list? Marquez Callaway and Tony Jones,
Starting point is 00:35:08 two guys that really broke out in the, in the preseason for sure. Although reports from practice say that they were just as good there as they were in the preseason games. And both of them did a great job against Baltimore in the first preseason game. That wasn't on national TV Callaway. You saw the two long touchdowns.
Starting point is 00:35:24 Jamis through great passes. He made great plays on them. This is the number one receiver for New Orleans while Michael Thomas is out. When Michael Thomas comes back, he might be the number two receiver. He might be the 1B receiver. He can work in short and intermediate routes as well as the deep ball like you guys saw, and he can separate from secondary. He's got some decent height to him. I believe he's 6'2", and he looks like a better receiver than he was last year, and he showed flashes last year. So I don't mind taking a chance on Callaway starting in round eight.
Starting point is 00:35:54 Might be a little too rich for some people. You might find him in round nine. I'm not sure what his ADP is, but he's somebody who can get you off to a good start of the season. And a number three receiver, at the very a number three receiver at the very least, a flex at the very least, that you're taking in rounds eight or nine. Tony Jones is a little bit... What's up?
Starting point is 00:36:12 Round 10 right now. Awesome value. Fantastic value. And people who really didn't pay attention to the preseason but are in your fantasy leagues won't even know who Marquez Calloway is. So you'll draft a player, they'll go, who's that guy?
Starting point is 00:36:24 But if you really want to draft somebody that people are going to say, who's that guy? It's Tony Jones, who has looked better than Latavius Murray this preseason. Physical runner, has good speed, has good hands. And according to Sean Payton, when he told the ESPN crew, he's the number two running back right now in New Orleans. And Sean Payton has a way of finding these guys, these undrafted gems. Did it with Pierre Thomas once upon a time.
Starting point is 00:36:48 Now he's done it with Tony Jones. And there's a little bit more risk with Jones because I don't think you can start him right away. He's more of somebody to put on your bench. And I would take Callaway ahead of Jones. But when I'm in round 11 plus and I'm looking for a running back, this is one I'm absolutely gravitating
Starting point is 00:37:05 toward. I think he's interesting. I think he's good. And I think the Saints will find ways to get him the football at the beginning of the year. Maybe it's going to be less than eight times per game, but if they need to change things up, he's absolutely going to be involved. Adam, I want you, I request, because you do this with running backs a lot, and I don't think I've ever heard you do it with a wide receiver. Can you do the is Marcus Callaway actually any good fit? No, because he is.
Starting point is 00:37:34 He is. I feel pretty good about it. He's good. His game against Baltimore was even better than his game against Jacksonville, as crazy as that sounds. Yeah, he's big. He gets open. Well, I shouldn't say he gets open. He got open in the preseason, and he made contested catches, too.
Starting point is 00:37:50 I'm in. I'm not going to play your game. I'm in. You're sold just based on the preseason. I mean, look, I'm sold as a 10th-round pick, and I'm sold as the clear-cut best receiver on the team. I think that's the first. And I had been saying this before he even had
Starting point is 00:38:06 that game, that second preseason game. Was it the first? It was the first. Yeah, the Baltimore game, right? I was saying that because I'm not a Traquan Smith guy. I never was. There's so much. I wouldn't say I never was, but not this offseason. All the hype on Traquan Smith, he just hasn't delivered.
Starting point is 00:38:22 So, yeah, I was happy that Callaway was making waves when Smith was out. Anyway, I actually have been taking Michael Thomas a lot. I want to know, do you guys think Michael Thomas, when he comes back, is just going to be Michael Thomas? I'm not certain of it.
Starting point is 00:38:40 I don't know. I think it's probably best to assume that he will be, but not necessarily Michael Thomas with Drew Brees. He's played with Taysom Hill and Teddy Bridgewater, though, and still shown us that he's a top 12 wide receiver. My expectation is when Michael Thomas is 100% healthy, he will be a top 12 wide receiver. But when is that going to happen?
Starting point is 00:39:04 I don't know. Right. If he misses the first six games of the season, if he starts the year on the pup list, the earliest he can come back is week eight against Tampa. Is he going to be at 100% at that point? And just think about it logistically. We have no reason to think he wouldn't be.
Starting point is 00:39:19 Well, we don't know. Coming back at 100% in full swing, I don't know if there's a guarantee of that happening. He should come back and be good enough to actually play. But I think there's a little bit of risk in him coming back and then expecting him to be his old self in the very first game he plays coming off of a pup list. And it's half your fantasy season.
Starting point is 00:39:41 It's more than that. The only thing is when you're drafting. I'm just nervous. Where he's drafted a lot of times, I already have my starting wide receivers. It's such a no-brainer, especially if you have an IR. If he's the first player on your bench, it's just like he is by far the most likely guy to be a top 12 player in the second half of the season.
Starting point is 00:40:02 Amongst everyone that's available when he's drafted. Where are you taking him, Heath? I'm still in round seven. I kind of want to take him in round six. He sometimes goes in round eight. I don't think you have to take him in round six. I don't think so either. ADP is round eight right now.
Starting point is 00:40:17 Yeah, I'm just into round eight on him. Let me see where he is. Once upon a time, I was not even close to this, but I think that's the time where you can absolutely take a chance on him and there's absolutely a chance that in the second half of the season he's the reason why you make a strong push into the fantasy playoffs michael thomas is going 95th overall on espn and yahoo he's going something something like 88th overall on cbs right that's where i've got him ranked is right around 87 in full PPR. That's where he's going.
Starting point is 00:40:46 Hopefully Jameis finds him. Dave, I never realized how much you do the Pledge of Allegiance. It's like your thing. I don't know. I'm just trying to be comfortable. It's like your comfort thing. Talk with you guys. I like it. And I do love America.
Starting point is 00:41:00 Me too. We have that in common. Dave, I'm giving you honestly. Let's see if you can do it. Ready? I'm giving you 10 to 15 seconds on every player that you draft a lot. Ready? David Montgomery. Absolutely a chance to be a number one fantasy running back that you could find at the end of round two or in round three.
Starting point is 00:41:17 According to CBS ADP, 36th overall, which is wild. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. Darren Waller. Happy to take him in late round two. His ADP is into. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. Darren Waller. Happy to take him in late round two. His ADP is into round three on CBS. Another player who's going to pay off huge dividends. Jamar Chase. Ignore the drops.
Starting point is 00:41:34 Recognize the talent. He can still separate from defenders. Bengals will throw a lot by the dip. Jalen Waddle. He's a good slot receiver with a chance to be a great NFL receiver. As soon as this year, AJ Dylan, Dylan,
Starting point is 00:41:49 love the way he plays and, uh, just worried about how much work he'll get. As long as Aaron Jones is healthy, Roland T flag Pfizer, a genius in the world of ballet and scheming to take money from old ladies. All right. I think we decided to...
Starting point is 00:42:05 That's from one of my... Dave and my favorite movies. One of our favorite movies. Brain Donors. Called Brain Donors. Yeah, very weird movie. We decided to look at ADP and pick one player to avoid in each round.
Starting point is 00:42:20 So here we go. This is the avoid list. Players were not drafting. McCaffrey, Cook. This was an idea I had before the start of this show. I think it was a really good idea. That was Heath's idea. McCaffrey, Cook, Henry, Kamara, Zeke, Aaron Jones,
Starting point is 00:42:35 Devante Adams, Kelsey, Nick Chubb, Patrick Mahomes, Eckler, Jonathan Taylor. Mahomes. I'm not taking him in round one unless it's a super flex or QQB. Dave just broke the exercise. Are we just going to say the quarterback in each of the first five rounds now? Works for me. Let's go.
Starting point is 00:42:54 Well, that is one we have to talk about, yeah. Mahomes. Too early. Yeah, it's too early. And that will be the case for Josh Allen next round as well. Okay, so if we throw him out, who's the one? For me, it's Nick Chubb. In PPR.
Starting point is 00:43:10 Yeah, for sure in PPR. In non-PPR, he is right where he should be, but 60% of these drafts are some sort of PPR and he's ninth overall and that's too high for me. Yeah, I agree. If it's non-PPR, I think Eckler is going a little too high at 11.88. I have actually taken Zeke, I think, in two of my leagues, but I'm still a little nervous about him.
Starting point is 00:43:32 First of all, we haven't seen anything this preseason. That's the guy you could take over Henry. Yeah, I don't want to. I know. You're going to take Travis Kelsey. You're just going to say, screw it. I want who I want. No.
Starting point is 00:43:48 It's okay to do that. Look, you shouldn't draft a player that you're not sold on. First of all, it's a half PBR league, I'm pretty sure, and I only think Kelsey's in that discussion in a full PBR league. But I actually really like Darren Waller, and I'm pretty sure I can get him in the second round with that fourth pick. Yep. So I don't see a reason to him in the second round with that fourth pick. So I don't see a reason to take Kelsey that early.
Starting point is 00:44:08 Okay, round two. Tyreek Hill, Saquon Barkley. We all agreed Barkley should be a round six pick at this point. Hill, Barkley, Najee Harris, Josh Allen, Diggs, Mixon, Hopkins, Ridley, Gibson, Metcalf,
Starting point is 00:44:24 Kittle, Clyde Edwards-Elair? There's a few that I have avoided so far. But I think the biggest difference in terms of ADP would be Clyde Edwards-Elair for me. I'm just concerned that the upside of an Andy Reid running back doesn't exist quite as much when Patrick Mahomes is the quarterback. And I think there is significant risk still that he loses time on important snaps.
Starting point is 00:44:54 Agreed. What do you make, though, of... Was it both with Patrick Mahomes or am I confusing it? The end of the season for Damian Williams, basically those two straight years. I think they were both with Mahomes. Or maybe one was with Alex Smith. I think one was with Mahomes
Starting point is 00:45:13 and one was with Alex Smith. I think the one with Mahomes was mostly just the playoffs, right? Okay, no, no. Mahomes' best year was 2018, right? Yes. Okay, so the last four games of last four games of 2018 he scored 18 or more ppr fantasy points of three or four games and then in the playoffs yeah he had five
Starting point is 00:45:34 catches in each of the two playoff games he had he had four he had two huge games in the playoffs he scored four four touchdowns in the two games. He had a lot of catches. That was the thing. Four, six, seven, one, five, and five in six games. That was 2018. I don't remember the end of 2019. It wasn't quite as good. But then he was great
Starting point is 00:45:57 in the Super Bowl. In the playoff run, I guess. I don't know. That was with Mahomes. Right. There's some Acer stats there that could make the opposite case. I would agree. Okay. Is that stat
Starting point is 00:46:14 Acer? That's the new segment. Dave, did you give an answer? Who do you avoid in round two? I think Edward Zolaire is the one that you have to nervously take a step back from. I've got him 33rd, so I've got him as a late round three pick in PPVR. And Kittle is up there, too. Yeah, Kittle, right? Nobody's taking Kittle in round two.
Starting point is 00:46:33 No, I don't mind taking Kittle in early round three. I just think I can find 25, six more players that I would take ahead of him. All right, round three. Waller, Jefferson, Keenan Allen, A.J. Brown, Dobbins, James Robinson. James Robinson up to somewhere between 30 and 34 overall. Lamar Jackson, Terry McLaurin, Chris Carson, Kyler Murray, David Montgomery, Josh Jacobs.
Starting point is 00:47:02 That's too early for Jacobs at the 3-4 turn. For me, it's way too early on Jacobs. Even for Heath, it's too early on Jacobs. That's too early for Jacobs at the 3-4 turn. For me, it's way too early on Jacobs. Even for Heath, it's too early on Jacobs. Yeah, it's just a little too early for me, but it is too early. I can't take Robinson. Well, when would you guys take Robinson? James Robinson. Not Allen.
Starting point is 00:47:21 I'm okay with where he's going. There are two numbers on CBS ADP, by the way. The one on the left says 30. James Robinson has the 30th highest ADP. The one on the right says 34. His ADP is 34th. So I don't know which one to use always. I'm going to use the one on the right
Starting point is 00:47:41 because that's where he's typically going, 34th. But there are only 29 players who have an ADP higher than him. And one of them is J.K. Dobbins, so he's probably 29th. That's true. But look, it depends on format, but in a PPR league, McLaurin after James Robinson, no way, right? I would not do that, no. I wouldn't either. How about Carson versus Robinson?
Starting point is 00:48:04 I have Robinson and then Carson and then Clyde Edwards-Hilaire. Why is Montgomery going after them? Weird. I have no idea. Round four would be Aaron Rogers, DeAndre Swift, Alan Robinson,
Starting point is 00:48:20 Robert Woods, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Herbert, Mike Evans, Cooper Cup, Miles Gaskin, Mike Davis, Amari Cooper, and Miles Sanders. I tell you what, for all the things that we say we're not sure we're buying on ADP, some of these corrections are just right in line. A lot of these guys really move to the spots. I think the guy that I'm most likely to avoid in this range is Mike Evans, especially in full PPR, just because I'm worried about the target share. I'm worried about he
Starting point is 00:48:50 and Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin and Gronk and OJ Howard and Team Geo all existing as high as their ADP is. The only guy that stands out is Miles Sanders. And I'm just at the point where i i really don't want
Starting point is 00:49:07 anything to do with him i've got him ranked like he's a round six pick which means i'm not going to get him someone's going to take him ahead of me i even like josh jacobs better than miles sanders but worried about his high value touches those catches those goal line carries and i i think philadelphia could begin to use a multi-back approach sooner than later and i'm not talking about just on passing downs let's go to this will be our last round godwin starts off round five russell wilson lockett dac prescott mark andrews tom brady adam Adam Thielen, Adam Thielen, Adam Thielen, Adam Thielen. I just wanted to give you my answer. Kyle Pitts, Julio Jones, Kareem Hunt, Kareem Hunt,
Starting point is 00:49:52 Kareem Hunt, Kareem Hunt, DJ Moore, and Chase Edmonds. Godwin Wilson, Lockett, Prescott, Andrews, Brady, Thielen, Pitts, Julio, Kareem Hunt, DJ Moore, Chase Edmonds. Yeah, I don't know if I've drafted any Thielen, Pitts, Julio, or Kareem Hunt. That's a four-pick run there where I'm not sure I... And I haven't actively avoided all of them. Oh, no, I got Kyle Pitts on that one team. You guys let me have him in the 2QB League. But I think Hunt's the one.
Starting point is 00:50:22 Like, I was the Kareem Hunt guy last year, and I just really have not felt it whenever he's come up and been my top running back available. So I've kind of bumped him down a little bit more. Thielen, I guess, I do think the Irv Smith injury and the Conklin injury, I think it helps. It really matters.
Starting point is 00:50:41 I can't really say I'm not drafting Adam Thielen at this point, but I'm not taking him over Julio Jones. Julio Jones now falling to 56th overall. Too far. People are just scared, I think, of the injury. Yeah. Okay, that's it. We have to do something that, you know, it's just been
Starting point is 00:51:00 a long time coming. The Fantasy Cops. Tried to get it in the last two shows. I failed. Well, here we go. The Fantasy Cops are back. Settling your league disputes with funky music.
Starting point is 00:51:13 Please send your emails to fantasyfootballatcbsi.com and put fantasy cops in the subject line. I kind of like that tagline, settling your league disputes with funky music. That's good stuff.
Starting point is 00:51:22 Thanks. Good job, Adam. We play in a three-player keeper league. This is from Chad in Fort Worth. Three-player keeper league. I's good stuff. Good job, Adam. We play in a three-player keeper league. This is from Chad in Fort Worth. Three-player keeper league. I have a guy in my league. One of his keepers is J.K. Dobbins. Sixth round. He's asking to be
Starting point is 00:51:34 able to drop Dobbins before the draft tonight. This was actually sent to me on Sunday night. Since the season hasn't started, I think he should still have to keep him through the draft and would be able to drop him after. What do you think? Should he be able to change his keeper?
Starting point is 00:51:49 He already said he's keeping Dobbins in the six. Would you let him change that and drop Dobbins or is he stuck? I think president should take over here. If you've never let anyone change because of an injury before, then you need to make a league-wide decision as to whether you want those to be binding even in the event of a major injury. If that's the way the league feels, then he doesn't get to change it. David?
Starting point is 00:52:13 I think if he's been exposed to all the other keepers in the league and after the fact now he's saying, oh, wait, I want to change my keeper, I don't think it's fair. Well, he should have to stick to Dobbins. Yeah, I know. But if it's week one of the fact now he's saying, oh, wait, I want to change my keeper. I don't think it's fair. Well, he should have to stick to Dobbins. Yeah, I know. But if it's week one of the season and Dobbins
Starting point is 00:52:30 gets hurt, does he get to say, no, wait, I want a guy from last year's team in round nine? You guys are crazy. Of course you let him change the keeper. Of course. Come on. You think he's going to keep J.K. Dobbins with a torn ACL? Obviously not. Sounds like he is.
Starting point is 00:52:45 It sounds like he shouldn't. He's not going to do it. He's not going to be happy about it. I would let him. I am the nicest commissioner slash worst commissioner in fantasy sports, and I would allow him to keep it. That's the nice thing is when you can just make every decision willy-nilly like that, and you don't have any principles as a like when you can just make every decision willy nilly like that you don't have any like principles
Starting point is 00:53:05 as a commissioner you can be nice you can just bend the rules for whoever you want no my principle is to be nice in the quarterfinals my principle is to be nice and to allow people to enjoy their fantasy season that's very nice yeah all right from oh uh so that was uh fantasy cops part one
Starting point is 00:53:21 let's go to the next one from chase from a town that is way more than a mile high. La Paz, Bolivia. Oh, okay. I'm in a 12-team half-PPR keeper league, but this is not a keeper question. There are a lot of picks that get traded
Starting point is 00:53:38 in my league, and there are three managers that tend to always be at the top. They solidify their running backs and make good decisions. Kick them out of the league, right? Another manager and I are on the cusp of the top tier, but we sold out last year, so we both have multiple early round picks,
Starting point is 00:53:54 and the top three guys are down quite a few picks this year. I was mock drafting, and I noticed that the running backs will fall off early, and then I could turn wide receiver. I could turn to wide receiver, but then I tried a mock where I had my friend with multiple picks go running back heavy early, and I go running back heavy early, and the other manager's teams look horrible. So I shared it with him, and he loves the idea because he has enough picks to get good wide receivers. When I say running back heavy,
Starting point is 00:54:20 I mean each of us taking four running backs in the first three rounds. Our two teams would have eight of the top 25 running backs. Those other three managers, the top tier ones, wouldn't have a single top 13 running back and their depth would look very shaky. Is this a good strategy to minimize our threats? Basically, they're trying
Starting point is 00:54:40 to screw over these three great owners, great managers. They have a lot of early picks. It's a keeper league. They're going to take eight of the top 25 running backs. They're going to completely try to screw over the running back depth of these three teams. Are we, quote, working together too much?
Starting point is 00:54:56 I'm just pointing out that RB Heavy doesn't kill our wide receiver chances, but hurts the rest of the league. He says we can shout it out from the rooftops at the draft because there's nothing anyone can do about it. I want to know your opinions. Is this not colluding? I would like to read a definition to you.
Starting point is 00:55:13 Secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy, especially in order to cheat or deceive others. So I don't know that there's necessarily anything illegal about this. It's not secret. I think what your friend's saying about shouting it from the rooftops would be the way to make sure that it's not secret.
Starting point is 00:55:35 And so if there's no secret and there's no illegal, I don't think it can be collusion, except that that's not the way that we actually deal with collusion in fantasy football. You two are already guilty of collusion, and i was your commissioner i would kick you out of the league i don't know dave you agree yeah i don't agree with the kicking out of the league stuff but
Starting point is 00:55:54 this is this is weird like it's like you've got a problem with these three managers and you just want to do whatever you can to screw them over and it's not the best thing you can do is just win the damn league if you want to take running backs with your first few picks because it's what you think is best for your team i'm behind that 100 you know that but i'm i i never take picks to to screw over anybody else that i play with i'm trying to build my team the way i want it to. I'm not taking a player because I know Adam likes him or because Heath likes him because Jamie likes him. Nothing like that. I'm taking players because I like them. That's how it should be.
Starting point is 00:56:33 The Fantasy Cops are back and they have made their decisions and you will abide by them. Again, send your emails to fantasyfootballatcbsi.com Also, you can leave Apple Podcast questions with Fantasy Cops in the subject line. And I want to thank Dave and Heath.
Starting point is 00:56:47 And we will be back tomorrow. And by the way, on Thursday, I think it's actually going to air Friday, we're going to have a live mock draft with listeners. So we've got an exciting week to get you ready for a huge, huge weekend of fantasy drafting and obviously a lot of drafts going this week as well. Thanks for listening, everybody. We will talk to you tomorrow on Fantasy Football Today.

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