Fantasy Football Today - PPR Mock Draft Review! Best and Worst Picks; Rookie Analysis (05/13 Fantasy Football Podcast)
Episode Date: May 13, 2021Follow along here: https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/fantasy-football-post-draft-ppr-mock-shows-a-closing-adp-window-for-najee-harris-and-other-key-rookies/ We've got a 12-team, 3-WR, PP...R mock draft to review! After some news and notes, we'll give you the best picks (5:30) including Najee Harris and worst picks (10:00) including perhaps T.J. Hockenson. We'll also tell you why taking George Kittle and Michael Thomas with your first two picks is a mistake (13:10) ... Reviewing Rounds 1-2 of this draft (20:10), what stood out? Which WR should be WR2? How do we feel about drafting three RBs to start your draft (24:00)? ... Moving on to Rounds 3-4 (35:00), Julio Jones went ahead of Calvin Ridley! Was Allen Robinson a reach in Round 3? How do we choose between J.K. Dobbins, David Montgomery, Josh Jacobs and Travis Etienne? And let's take a look at where the rookies were drafted (45:30) and hear from the Fantasy Cops (59:00)! ... Your Apple Podcast questions (1:02:40) and 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/channel/UCviK78rIWXhZdFzJ1Woi7Fg/videos Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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with iGaming Ontario. This is touchdown! Oh, he's done it again! Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath, and Beck.
Welcome to another episode of Fantasy Football.
Today we are reviewing a PPR mock draft after the NFL draft.
We'll see where the rookies went. We'll see what other kind of shakeup there was.
It's going to be a fun, spirited show today.
Adam Azer with Jamie Eisenberg and Chris Towers.
Chris thinks that Jamie took TJ Hawkinson too early. I think that Chris took Michael Thomas too early. Nobody has any beef
with any of my picks. I did a terrific job. And more importantly, it's Shraggy B's birthday.
So everybody wish Ben Shrager a happy birthday on Twitter or whatever, in the Facebook group.
Maybe we can get a post just about Shraggy B.
That would be great.
Happy birthday, Ben.
How old are you?
I think I know, but go ahead.
I am 21.
I'm drinking some whiskey right now.
No, you're not 21, but you're not far from 21.
I'm 24.
Thank you, Adam.
I appreciate it.
That is what I thought. I would have heard that when I was 24.
Happy birthday.
I don't remember when I was 24.
Life seems so full of possibilities.
24. It is. full of possibilities. 24.
It is.
Man.
And now we're here.
I was living it up in New York City.
No pandemic.
Yeah, I'm living it up in Houston.
Same thing, yeah.
What are you going to do for your birthday?
Some barbecue tonight.
Some brisket, some sausage.
Celebrate Heath style.
Excellent.
Can't go wrong with barbecue.
Excellent, man.
All right, good stuff.
We'll hear from Ben later on in the show.
And if you're watching on YouTube,
youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday,
Ben puts up some awesome graphics during the show.
So he'll actually be able to show the draft.
And I'm going to put a link in the episode description
to the draft in the podcast.
So if you're just listening to the podcast
and you want to click the link, I'll put a link to the draft in the episode description to the draft in the podcast. If you're just listening to the podcast and you want to click the link, I'll put a link
to the draft in the episode description.
Let's go through some news items real quick here.
And, Jamie, some offensive line news with Charles Leno going to Washington, Bobby Massey
going to Denver.
Anything significant here?
I mean, Leno's a good signing by the Washington football team,
just adding to what should be a strength for them.
I just love Washington's roster.
If Ryan Fitzpatrick is anything close to what he was with the Dolphins,
they're going to be a tough team to beat because that defense is going to be nasty.
Skill players are in really good shape, at least their starters.
And the line is starting to look better.
And then in terms of Massey, obviously you know what happened to the Broncos,
losing Juwan James, so they're just trying to add depth to their offensive line.
And their line played pretty well last year without Juwan James.
So adding somebody like Massey will certainly help their depth at the right tackle spot.
Do you think Washington is going to win the division again?
It's going to be tough, you know,
because obviously a healthy Dallas offense,
and I think the improvements that they made defensively,
they're going to be tough to beat.
If Daniel Jones is any good,
the Giants are going to be tough to beat.
I think Philly's got probably the longest shot,
to be honest with you.
But if Jalen Hurts is good, they're going to be tough to beat.
So it's going to be a competitive division again,
but I would give the edge to Washington
just based on their roster. Again, it comes
down to Fitzpatrick. If Fitzpatrick is not
a train wreck, which we know he's been
at times, then they're going to be the best team
in that division. Yeah, I mean, the good news
is Ryan Fitzpatrick
has never played poorly when people have
high expectations.
He's going to be an upgrade
for them. He's also a little turnover prone,
but they had the third, according to Pro Football Focus,
Washington had the third best pass blocking line in the NFL last year.
Tenth best run blocking.
Charles Leno was good in run blocking last year.
He was the 61st best tackle in pass blocking.
So that's not so good.
Those are just PFF grades, but that's where they stand.
Chase Edmonds, Dave sent me an article about Chase Edmonds uh gearing up for more work this year said he wanted to make some improvements
in the passing game so he's hoping to be even better as a pass catcher green bay is signing
blake bordles that doesn't mean that they're trading aaron rogers they just need some quarterback
depth and uh penne sewell detroit's first-ten pick, number-one tackle in the draft.
He will miss rookie camp after testing positive for COVID.
We are going to be live on the Fantasy Football Today YouTube channel
on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Eastern to answer all of your questions
with the schedule out, with the NFL draft behind us,
with Dynasty drafts underway.
It's going to be me, Dave, and Heath Tuesday at 7 p.m. Eastern.
And Chris, actually.
Oh.
Oh.
Did you know that, Chris?
Sorry, Adam.
It's not my fault.
I was throwing the birthday boy under the bus here.
I did not know that.
And it's blame bad.
It's basically all bad.
Actually, blame me because Heath got Tuesday off and I didn't realize.
So it's Dave and Chris.
Me, Dave, and Chris.
Oh, I'm really sorry, Adam.
What a mess, bro.
What a mess.
YouTube.com slash Fantasy Football Today.
Get your questions answered.
So what you want to do is subscribe to the channel,
turn the notifications on
so you know exactly when we're live,
and we will see you at YouTube.com slash Fantasy Football Today,
Tuesday at 7 p.m. Eastern.
Is that right, Ben?
7 p.m. on Tuesday?
Did that change?
That is correct.
Okay, cool.
Introductory questions for our mock draft.
What was the best pick of the draft?
Chris, you looked at the whole draft,
you studied it, you memorized it.
What was the best pick?
Hmm. I think I like some of the mid-round areas.
I really like Kyle Pitts at 69th overall
and Curtis Samuel at 70th overall.
I like those two picks quite a bit.
Interesting.
Well, you're wrong,
because the best pick of the draft
was Jamie's third pick, obviously.
Najee Harris going 33rd overall. That was so stupid. Yeah, I missed that one. best pick of the draft was jamie's third pick obviously this is nashi harris going 30 yes okay
yeah i missed that one yeah that i have him as a top 15 player so yeah yeah for those of you if
you're looking at this draft just don't expect to get nashi harris where where he went but okay
jamie let's talk about chris's other. Kyle Pitts, 69th, Curtis Samuel.
I think it was 70th for Pitts and 71st for Samuel.
10th and 11th in round six.
Chris loved those picks.
Did you?
I definitely like Curtis Samuel.
I think Curtis Samuel was a good pick.
I think it was Jacob Gibbs, if I'm not mistaken.
Yes.
That drafted him.
I'll check. Yep. Where is it? It was. It pick. I think it was Jacob Gibbs, if I'm not mistaken. Yes. That drafted him. I'll check.
Yep.
Where is it?
It was.
It was.
Yeah.
Jacob does a good job.
So that was a good value pick by him.
I mean, Pitts is a wild card.
Obviously, if he's going to be the exception to what most rookie tight ends are,
then it could be a steal in that spot.
I like Dallas Goddard better, you know,
just with the expectation that Zach Ertz is going to go
and Goddard went after Pitts.
So in terms of, you know, just the tight end that I would prefer,
I would prefer Goddard and Pitts to probably be flipped
since Goddard went round seven.
But yeah, I mean, if you're going to gamble on Pitts
and certainly take the opportunity to try and be aggressive in drafting him,
I just wonder if, I don't know what Jacob had had a tight end or not just looking at the draft board because the only reason i say that is
uh i know heath had a tight end at that point heath was the first pick in round seven and went
after so it went will brinson at uh with the 10th pick in the sixth round which is where pitts went
and then it was jacob heath heath jacob will i wonder if will could have played that a little
better and maybe gotten pitts in that spot Will. I wonder if Will could have played that a little better and maybe gotten Pitts in that spot.
Oh, you mean Jacob could have played that better?
No, Will.
Oh, Will should have taken Pitts.
Oh, okay, I'm sorry.
Yeah, Jacob waited to get Irv Smith late.
Okay, so then he couldn't have done it.
So, yeah.
Chris, what do you like about Curtis Samuel there?
And should he have gone ahead of the player who went right after him, Brandon Cooks?
I think given the questions around Deshaun Watson's status and how bad that passing game
is likely to be if Deshaun Watson's not there, I do think Curtis Samuel is a better pick
than Brandon Cookss I do have Brandon
Cooks currently projected for better numbers and if Deshaun Watson does play a full season I think
Brandon Cooks will be better I would have him as a top 20 wide receiver I just I don't expect
Deshaun Watson to play the whole season certainly and you know beyond that I'm not sure so I think
Curtis Samuel is a better pick
there I'm working under the assumption that Washington is going to involve him in the
running game the way Carolina did just because he's such a uniquely skilled player why wouldn't
they and I think he could be a very good fit playing with Fitzpatrick because he has shown
the ability to be a downfield receiver he's shown the ability to make plays in the short passing game.
I think there's a chance.
He just takes a really big step forward.
All right,
Jamie,
what was the best pick in the draft other than Najee Harris?
You know,
just look,
looking at the next round,
I guess the,
just to tie in Curtis Samuel,
I would have probably taken Tyler Boyd over Curtis Samuel who went in round
seven,
just with what his role is in Cincinnati's offense,
and they're probably going to throw the ball a little bit more.
So I like Tyler Boyd in round seven.
I like Dallas Goddard in round seven as well.
Noah Fant in round eight, Jerry Judy in round eight.
I actually was considering Jerry Judy where I took Jalen Waddell,
but I already taken Cortland Sutton.
And so unless you tell me Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback of the Broncos,
I'm not taking two Broncos receivers as
starters.
As of now, I do love the upside of Judy,
and I think Sutton's going to be back, but
the way that I built my team, I couldn't afford to take
both Broncos guys.
Jerry Judy in round
eight, I think, was a good pick as well.
Alright, guys. How about the worst picks?
Chris, what was the worst pick of this draft?
I mean, if I'm being honest,
I really hated a lot of my picks.
Picking from the 12th spot this year,
maybe I'll warm to it eventually.
But I took Myles Gaskin's 36th overall.
Really not happy with that.
I took T.Y. Hilton at the start of the eighth round.
Was not thrilled with that.
And I think Gaskin was probably,
just because I forced myself to take a running back,
I panicked.
I wanted Chris Carson there.
Once he was gone, I felt like there was a drop-off.
And I probably shouldn't have taken another running back.
I probably should have just gone with two wide receivers.
And I think that really set me back but i also you know i i said i like the cal pits pick part of why i like that
is because he won a full round after tj hawkins and i just i don't love generally speaking i think
like kind of the second tier of tight ends when they start getting pushed up historically tend to be not great values
and i'm worried that's what's going to happen with hawkinson there that is true that that mid-tier
middle tier of of tight ends is a is pretty bust heavy it seems consistently but i i take i look
for hawkinson around 60th overall i keep having having these late picks in round one, so with my
5-6 turn, I'm always looking for Hawkinson.
Jamie took him. So this is Jamie's pick, and Chris
didn't really like it that much. He thought Jamie went
a little early on Hawkinson.
I mean, look, I criticize my own picks, too.
Yeah, that's fine. There's no picking out anyone here.
I probably would have taken Hawkinson.
I knew you would have.
Yeah, two picks later.
So Jamie actually had the 9th pick. I thought it was a little earlier. later. So Jamie actually had the ninth pick.
I thought it was a little earlier.
Sorry.
So ninth pick of round five.
I had the 11th pick, and I would have considered him for sure.
So yeah.
All right, Jamie, what do you think about that trend of this being a pretty bad spot
for tight ends in recent years?
And does that scare you on Hawkinson?
It doesn't.
And I think you look at what his first two seasons have been in really year two
and what he showed you last year,
what the offense looks like for Detroit.
You know, I think we've talked about this enough
that this receiving core is going to be terrible.
And so, you know, you have an offense coordinator
in Anthony Lynn that has shown the ability
to lean on his tight ends.
You have a quarterback in Jared Goff
that at times has leaned on his tight ends.
And I just look at what the trend has been for what these breakouts type
breakout tight ends have shown you.
And it's guys that have the opportunity to lead their team and targets.
And I think Hawkins is going to be that guy.
I think he's going to be the next breakout tight end.
As I've said before,
when we did our tight end preview show,
I think he's the fourth best tight end this season in fantasy and PPR.
So I take him over Mark Andrews.
And so,
you know,
if you want to, you know,
look at what the tight end position is,
if you can get a guy that has a chance to be a difference maker,
and I think Hawkins is going to be a difference maker,
don't pass that up.
So could he be Evan Ingram and OJ Howard and those guys from the last
couple of seasons?
Sure.
But I think he's better than that.
I think he's in a better situation than those guys were.
All right.
What about worst pick in your mind, Jamie?
Worst pick of this draft?
Worst pick?
I guess.
So I don't know if it's the worst pick.
I think, so just to go back to Chris's team,
if you're going to, I think, commit to tight end,
which Chris has said many times that he's going to do,
I think if you're going to do that,
knowing how deep receiver is, taking Michael Thomas and George Kittle is probably a bad route to go. Like, I think you want to get yourself one running back
in that spot. So you could have had Chubb or Mixon or Najee Harris or acres or, you know,
whichever guy you like that went in round two. And I think that kind of sets you up in a better
spot because where you took Gaskin, for example, who I think ended up being your first running back,
you could have gone with Robert Woods and Amari Cooper or Chris Godwin or Mike
Evans, one of those guys.
And I think that's just a better build than, you know,
as good as Michael Thomas can be, you know,
I just think the roster construction could have been a little better.
So I don't know if it's the worst pick,
but maybe just the strategy wasn't exactly perfect.
Yeah. It's the worst pick, but maybe just the strategy wasn't exactly perfect. Yeah, my preference is probably running back tight end to start the draft,
at least in that.
I think running back tight end running back is also viable.
And so, yeah, I'm a little, like I said, I don't like picking 12th.
It forces you into some situations that you don't necessarily love to be in.
And in retrospect, I think Mixon probably would have been a better pick than Michael Thomas.
I'm very high on Michael Thomas.
He's my number two wide receiver.
Mixon and Kittle probably would have been a little bit of a better option.
I do want one of the big three tight ends,
especially if I'm picking in the second half of the first round. But yeah, I think getting one of the big three tight ends um especially if i'm picking in the second half of the first round but yeah i think getting one of the high-end running backs because wide receiver is so deep
i think that's probably uh probably the better way to go because what you don't want to be doing
later on in you know the early rounds in fourth, fifth range, is reaching for a starting running back
just because you need a starting running back.
Okay, that's a good lesson.
But I also think Myles Gadsden could be really good.
So if he is my number one running back, it's not ideal,
but it could work out based on the usage we saw last season.
Yeah, but they're also, you know, the carry-on Johnson claim
could be a little troubling, not because of the player,
but because they don't seem to be done.
And, you know, whatever that means,
you know, whether it's a stupid veteran move that they're going to do,
you know, a Todd Gurley or a Le'Veon Bell or something along those lines,
which they could obviously do and just see what those guys have left in the tank.
Or who knows, you know, with what, who knows with any trades that may come now.
Because I think we're going to see a little bit more movement
than we typically see post-June 1.
So whether it's guys getting cut or guys potentially being traded,
a la Aaron Rodgers, but the Zach Ertz's of the world,
Jameson Crowder, some names that you know
and some names that you may not be expecting,
there could be some moves coming. And I think Miami is going to be aggressive in the
running back position. Honestly, as someone who drafted miles gas, and I kind of wish it had been
carry on Johnson. Yeah. Great point. Well, yeah, they, they put in a claim apparently, or they
were going to claim him, but the Eagles, uh, had a higher priority. So that's what these guys are
talking about here. But I want to ask you about Michael Thomas being your number two wide receiver,
uh, you know, Devante Adams, if we had done this draft before these Aaron Rogers rumors heated up, are talking about here, but I want to ask you about Michael Thomas being your number two wide receiver.
Devontae Adams, if we had done this draft before
these Aaron Rodgers rumors heated up, he wouldn't
have gone 11th. I've now taken him 11th
two weeks in a row in two separate drafts.
It's a three wide receiver, full
PPR league that we're talking about here.
I took Adams as the first wide receiver off
the board. The first 10 picks were
nine running backs, and Travis Kelsey went eighth.
You took Michael Thomas as wide receiver two,
12th overall, then you took Kittle,
but then Tyreek Hill, A.J. Brown,
Stephon Diggs, Justin Jefferson, DeAndre Hopkins,
they all went in the second round.
Why Michael Thomas second in PPR?
And then I'll ask Jamie where he has him.
I think Michael Thomas...
First of all, I think Michael Thomas first of all I think Michael
Thomas with Jameis Winston might have as much upside as he's ever had because I think that's
going to be you know a similar offense in terms of how often they throw to the 2019 offense but
I think Jameis Winston I don't know if he's a better passer than Drew Brees was at that point
I think he's better for fantasy.
His willingness to take shots is going to help Michael Thomas put up more big plays and score more touchdowns, which has been an issue for him historically relative to
the other elite wide receivers.
But given the complete lack of other options in that passing game, I think Michael Thomas
is still going to be in that Devontae Adams area
in terms of target share.
I think he's going to get close to 10 targets per game.
We saw that even with Taysom Hill in the four games he started.
Michael Thomas, his pace in those four games would have been wide receiver 15,
which is not great, but that was with him scoring zero touchdowns.
If you gave him just that 16 game pace
with six touchdowns, which would be a really low number for 150 target season, he would have been
wide receiver four. And so I just think there is a high floor, a very high ceiling with Michael
Thomas. I think it's being a little underplayed.
The fact that he played through,
he came back from the high ankle sprain obviously wasn't a hundred percent
because he had to go back on IR after five or six games.
I just think he's really good.
I think he's going,
he's in as good of a situation as basically anybody in the league.
And Jamie,
where do you have Michael Thomas and PPR?
I think I have him six or seven.
You know, he's in that conversation
to be the best receiver again.
I don't think anything Chris said is inaccurate.
And it's funny because like,
if you look at his numbers,
the last two seasons without Breeze,
he was fantastic with Teddy Bridgewater two years ago
when he was healthy, 100%.
And then he was still very successful as as Chris alluded to, with Taysom Hill.
It's going to be interesting to see what the philosophy is.
It's going to be interesting to see who the quarterback is.
You know, I mean, you know, we could sit here and say Jameis is going to be good for him.
But I think a big reason why Thomas was also so successful was because Breeze is so accurate.
Jameis is obviously not that type of quarterback, you know.
So there may be some more plays downfield, but there may be less catchable balls, you know, so it could be a
little frustrating. And then you never know how this offense is going to operate if it is Taysom
Hill and all the creativity that a full offseason with Sean Payton using that caliber of quarterback
and what things will look like. So, I mean, Thomas is still worth taking in the first two rounds.
I wouldn't take him in the first round, but I do think if you are apt to take a receiver in the second round,
he's going to go there.
I've now done multiple drafts with other analysts.
He ends up going in the third round.
And that's PPR,
you know,
just because running backs get pushed up and people take the three tight
ends.
So,
you know,
if you end up getting around three,
I think that's actually a very good,
it's an incredible player to get just based on what he's shown you over the
start of his career.
All right.
I'm just going to run through some of these,
uh,
some of these rounds here and let's just take a look.
And we'll of course talk about where the rookies went,
but round one,
McCaffrey,
Cook,
Camara,
Barkley,
uh,
Derek Henry,
Jonathan Taylor.
That's your top six.
McCaffrey, Cook, Camara, Barkley, Henry, Jonathan Taylor.
Ezekiel Elliott, seven running backs, then Travis Kelsey.
Austin Eckler to Jamie, Aaron Jones, Devontae Adams to me,
and Michael Thomas to Chris.
So seven running backs, then Kelsey, then two more running backs,
Eckler and Aaron Jones, then Devontae Adams and Michael Thomas.
That's round one. Round two, we're going to see the other two tight ends come off the board,
beginning with Kittle, 13th overall, then Tyreek Hill to me. So Chris started with Michael Thomas
and Kittle. I started with Devontae Adams and Tyreek Hill. A.J. Brown, Nick Chubb to Jamie.
So he started with Eckler and Chubb. This is a three
receiver PPR league. He actually
started with three running backs. I already alluded
to Najee Harris. Ridiculous.
In round three.
Dan Schneier took Joe Mixon
after Jamie took Chubb. So Kittle,
Tyreek, AJ Brown, Nick Chubb,
Joe Mixon, Stefan Diggs.
That's the first six picks of round
two. That's followed by Cam Akers, Justin Jefferson,
Darren Waller, DeAndre Hopkins.
Pretty normal, pretty standard stuff, at least for us.
And then you get some decisions to make at this point.
DeAndre Swift, 11th pick of round two.
Miles Sanders, 12th pick of round two.
So those guys went ahead of DK Metcalf and Calvin Ridley and Keenan Allen,
all the quarterbacks.
Um,
can't really,
I mean,
I would have taken nausea Harris,
certainly ahead of Swift,
have Sanders.
And I would take him ahead of Swift.
I know people really love Swift's potential to catch 60,
70 passes this year. Get it. I get it. love Swift's potential to catch 60, 70 passes this year.
Get it. I get it.
But yeah, I don't know.
Jamie, when you look at round two,
what stands out?
A lot of great players.
I think, like you said,
Najee Harris belongs in this group.
It just depends on how you value these wide receivers. I think that, you know, just based on how deep the position is,
round three is probably the spot I would look for a lot of these guys.
As much as I love Justin Jefferson and Hopkins and even Diggs, even A.J. Brown.
You know, I just think that if you have an opportunity to get one of these difference makers
at the running back position, knowing how quickly the position falls off
and how deep wide receiver is, I just, that's the route I'm going to go this year.
And so I may miss out on some of the high-end talent
at wide receiver, but, you know, for me,
I just think getting one of those running backs
is going to be a little bit, you know,
of a difference for your roster.
So it's probably personal preference,
but I mean, look, these are all stars.
You know, that's the reason they go in the first two rounds.
You can make a case that
Miles Sanders shouldn't be
around to pick at this point.
But yeah, everybody else
for the most part belongs there.
Yeah, but OK, so what's
the cutoff at running back
for you where you're,
you know, Joe Mixon, right?
I mean, I'm pretty,
pretty excited about Joe Mixon.
But, you know, it's fairly
excited about him last year.
I thought he was super safe.
He really stunk.
And he had one huge game
and he kind of stunk after that.
So would you take Joe Mixon
over Stefan Diggs?
Because that's what happened.
It went, you took Chubb
and then Mixon
and then Diggs went.
Stefan Diggs led the NFL
in yards.
I would personally,
you know, just because again,
I think if you get
what he can become,
then that's better
what Diggs is
just based on the standpoint
of what you may be getting at wide receiver.
Again, you know, you have to extend it a little bit further than just the round two guys,
because once you get into rounds four, five and six, those are still very good wide receivers.
They don't have the ceiling that those other guys have shown you.
And I get that they're not going to be A.J. Brown or Stefan Diggs or those other guys.
When you start to talk about, you know, Amari Cooper and Chris Godwin and Mike Evans and DJ Moore and Adam Thielen and CD lamb and Tyler Lockett, you know, if you pair those
guys with what those running backs can become, then I think you're in better shape. Now, again,
those running backs have to become that. That's the gamble you're taking. But look at the running
backs in that ground. I mean, the running backs in that round are Dobbins, Jacobs, Travis, ETN,
David Montgomery, you know, so would you rather have Joe Mixon and Amari Cooper
or Stefan Diggs and Travis Etienne?
I'd rather have Joe Mixon and Amari Cooper.
I mean, and that's essentially what I did.
I took Nick Chubb and Amari Cooper.
So for me, that's just, I think, a better way to go.
Like a lot of my drafts so far have been I throw my first, you know,
three or four picks at running back, and then I just go crazy at wide receiver.
And so probably the more normal route is to go the other way
and take one running back and then, you know, go heavy wide receiver
in your first three or four picks and then throw a lot of capital at running back.
And that certainly has worked, and it's worked for me as well.
I just look at what these workhorse running backs have the potential to do if they hit.
And we know the success rate is not that great,
but it's just a matter of the way I see how deep wide receiver is.
That's just the build I've been typically doing so far.
One thing I'm really interested to see this season is what the longer schedule
and the wider amount of time between bye weeks is going
to do for running backs um we've got by week starting in week six i believe this year and
going through week 14 which not super helpful from the nfl for fantasy playoff purposes if you
wanted to add a week to your fantasy playoffs or something like that.
But, you know,
so we're going to have four teams.
I think it's the Dolphins, Colts,
Patriots, and Eagles
who play 13 games in a row
to start the season.
So if, you know,
one of those running backs,
if Jonathan Taylor gets
a nagging ankle injury in week four,
he's not going to have an opportunity
to rest it for a long time.
I'm very interested to see
what that does to these
expected workhorse running backs
because I do think this year,
more than any year I can remember,
there are more running backs
that I expect to have
both a heavy passing game usage
and the lead running back role.
I think you can probably go
21 deep at least
before you start running out of guys
who I feel confident will have a very productive
role in their offense.
So I think that's
like the Diggs ETN side
probably has more upside than Mixon and cooper just because if etn does
become that guy i think he's got huge upside but i think i agree with jamie that i'd rather have the
mixin and whoever the you know 16th best wide receiver would be or whatever you're you're
talking about there whoever your preference is.
Yeah, I just don't know that I could go three running backs.
Jamie, you're doing that a lot.
And look, if Najee Harris was my third round pick, I would absolutely do it. Yeah.
But if Clyde Edwards-Ziller were my third round pick, I could get on board with that.
I think I'll tell you how it played out for me because you know, I, I don't necessarily intend
to do it because I just think we're going to see more running backs get pushed up. It's just kind
of the way that it's fallen to me where one of my top 15 guys has kind of landed in my lap every
time. And, and I'll just, you know, give you another example of this. Um, I just did a magazine
draft recently with, with a bunch of other analysts. My first two picks were almost identical.
I went Austin Eckler and Joe Mixon in that draft.
I went Eckler and Chubb in this draft.
In the third round, I was thinking, okay, let's see who's going to fall to me.
Because typically the guys that are in that range are Clyde Edwards,
Larry Antonio Gibson.
I've taken a lot of those two guys, for example, because they fall to round three.
They were gone.
You know who my third round pick was in that draft?
Michael Thomas.
That's much better than taking the third running back there. So I started that team,
Eckler, Mixon, Thomas, Julio Jones. There's no flaw. There's no flaw. There's going to be a
problem. You know, I certainly foresee a problem because Eckler didn't stay healthy last year.
Mixon didn't stay healthy last year. So one of those guys is probably going to be a disappointment,
but to go that route is,
is certainly safer.
I just look at it because I know the way that it's,
it's fallen that if you tell me that I can get a Mari Cooper in round four,
I have no problem going with three running back to start even in a three
receiver league.
Now the difference for me in this draft is taking Hawkinson because that's
not something that I've done a lot.
So, okay, that was my question.
Do you end up,
you have Tom Brady
in this league as well.
Do you find yourself
out on the top seven
or whatever quarterbacks,
you know, the mobile guys?
What do you end up doing
at quarterback?
Adam, we've done this show enough
to know that you could ask me
this question in 2021 or 2014
and I would give you
the same answer.
I don't care.
You know, so I'm not being aggressive with the top seven quarterbacks for the most part you know so
if if one falls to me i will certainly take it but you know i i don't see much uh much of a
difference in um trying to get russell wilson in round six or seven as opposed to tom brady in round 11 or 12
as opposed the difference i guess would be is that i'll take the four players in between that i can
get and that is a big difference for me because i and chris chris and i had the same quarterback
strategy in this draft which was he took kyler murray 60th overall which pissed me off because
i was like hmm do i take take Kyler Murray 59th?
Now I'm going to wait.
I'm going to get him on my next pick.
And then whatever.
Chris took him.
So I took Lamar Jackson with my next pick, 62nd overall.
So we both were targeting quarterback there and took a quarterback there.
But yeah, I mean, if you don't want to do that and if you're Jamie, you can take Cortland
Sutton and you can take TJ Hawkinson in that
range. Juju Smith-Schuster went in that range.
Brandon Ayuk, T. Higgins, Devontae Smith.
These are guys that you can...
But I miss out usually
because I'm looking at
tight end and quarterback really there.
I will say, I
regret it. I regret going Kyler
Murray there. As good as I think he is,
Russell Wilson... At the end of the fifth round, Russell Wilson went... regret it. I regret going Kyler Murray there. Don't regret it. Don't regret it.
These guys are so good.
At the end of the fifth round, Russell Wilson went at the end of the eighth round.
Jalen Hurts went
at the beginning of the
11th round. I would rather have had
either of those guys
Hurts
at the beginning of the 11th or
beginning
of the 10th or Russell Wilson at the beginning of the 11th or or beginning of the 10th or russell wilson at the
beginning of the 8th i would rather have had either of those guys and that was something that
i kept going to every time i would come up is like in my overall rank list there would be one
quarterback and then like 15 names crossed out before the next guy. And so obviously Kyler Murray is going to be awesome, I think.
But I think I would rather have waited on a quarterback there
and taken Cortland Sutton at the end of the fifth round
or T. Higgins or someone like that.
And just to, you know, obviously year-over-year changes,
but Kyler Murray was.75 points per game better than Tom Brady last year.
They finished back-to-back in terms of their total points.
Yeah, it's just, can Kyler Murray be the guy who was the first eight games before the shoulder injury?
Oh, totally.
I mean, obviously, Kyler Murray's got a much higher ceiling, but I'm just looking at the quarterbacks, the top 12 quarterbacks last year,
the number one guy was not drafted as a top 10 guy and Aaron Rogers.
Tom Brady was not drafted as a number one guy at the bottom end of that.
He was again, right behind Kyler Murray at one, two, three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, Ryan Tannehill was nine. Justin Herbert was 10, you know,
so there's four quarterbacks in the top 10 that weren't drafted as top 10 guys.
It happens all the time.
So to miss out on the top seven guys going in, I'm okay with that.
Okay, but Jonathan Taylor was RB4.
David Montgomery was RB6.
James Robinson was RB8.
Oh, yeah.
Kareem Hunt was RB10.
Yeah, so you can keep going.
But it's also, though, the difference between uh brady and well lamar
jackson i guess you know that's a that's a one point per game difference and and therefore
five spots apart in their total points yeah it's a pretty good case it's a pretty good case
especially with the two that we were the three that we talked about i mean wilson and brady and
and hertz you know um i wouldn't even say. It's just a matter of who you like in that range.
But Brady is so good.
I don't think he's going to lose a lot of touchdowns
to the running backs.
Their running game isn't going to be special,
I really don't think.
I know who they have, and those guys aren't special.
So they're loaded, and he's Brady.
Yeah, and it's Bruce Arians.
It's probably a really compelling case.
It's a really compelling case. The three quarterbacks that I end up taking a lot of are Brady, Burrow, and it's Bruce Arians. It's probably, it's a really compelling case. It's a really compelling case.
The three quarterbacks that I end up taking a lot of
are Brady, Burrow, and Hertz.
And they all have their cases for and against.
You know, I mean, one guy's going to be 44.
One guy's coming off a torn ACL.
One guy's got a three-game sample size.
But, you know, you saw what all three of them can become.
Obviously, Brady's doing it for a billion years.
But, you know, Hertz could be the first 4,000, 1 4 000 1000 guy and burrow could lead the nfl in past temps which will end up helping his
points per game or even i mean you look lower than that like matt ryan went in the 13th round
right i think he could have a similar season to what brady did last year you know like i
i just think there's yeah yeah, it's like,
I want a difference maker at quarterback,
but the price I paid,
I think,
I mean,
Aaron Rogers went in the 11th.
Um,
well,
he's,
he's not going to go that far.
Yeah.
Starting for the Packers.
He's probably two rounds earlier.
I mean,
but honestly,
he starts for the Broncos.
If he gets traded anywhere,
the Broncos might be
an even better situation.
Very fair.
Okay, let me take a break here.
When we come back,
I guess I'd say
once his situation is settled,
he's going two rounds early.
Once we come back,
we will give you
rounds three and four.
Take a look at how those unfolded.
We'll tell you
where the rookies went.
We will get the fantasy cops
back in action
to go through your league disputes.
And we will read your emails and your Apple podcast questions.
That's all coming up on Fantasy Football today.
We will be right back.
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And we are back.
Welcome back, everybody.
Round three.
Remember, we got Fantasy Cops.
We got Apple Podcast Questions.
We got emails coming up.
So stay tuned.
Round three.
Keenan Allen.
DK Metcalf, Julio Jones,
going ahead of Calvin Ridley.
That was interesting.
But Allen, Metcalf, Julio, Patrick Mahomes,
fourth pick of round three, first quarterback off the board.
Calvin Ridley, Antonio Gibson, Clyde Edwards-Elair,
Terry McLaurin, Najee Harris, hate you, Jamie,
Allen Robinson, Chris Carson,
and Miles Gaskin.
Chris, quick thoughts on round three?
Not really a bad pick in the bunch.
There's a lot of good players out there.
I think Julio over-calibrated.
I disagree so hard.
That one's harder to justify.
But, I mean,
I think as much as like Julio struggled last year to stay healthy,
but when he was on the field,
he was a monster.
I mean,
he,
you know,
if you take away,
he averaged 85.6 yards per game.
And that's without taking away the two or three games where he basically
didn't play.
Um, so yeah, like I, I think he was on pace for 1,600 yards
before the injuries last year.
He was still a hugely impactful player.
You saw how much worse Matt Ryan played without him last year.
I still have him as a top 10 wide receiver.
I just have him nine points
projected behind Calvin Ridley.
So it's not a huge gap there.
I don't love the last three picks
of this round. And
two of those were ours. Me and Chris.
Allen Robinson, Chris Carson, Miles
Gaskin. I don't really love them,
Jamie. Why?
Well, I felt like I had to take Carson.
I really needed a running back.
I went Devante Adams,
Tyree kill,
which was just,
I didn't know that I was going to go receiver receiver,
but to take the top two receivers,
arguably it was,
it was too exciting to pass up,
you know,
Carson,
I don't know if he's who he is,
if he is who he has been,
you're talking about three straight seasons as a top 15 running back.
Um,
then it's a great,
it's a fine pick,
but I don't love Gaskin there for the reasons we were talking about.
I think Chris didn't love Gaskin there.
Adam,
I would have been thrilled if you hadn't taken Chris Carson.
Yeah,
that would have been your pick.
I think there's,
I think there's a drop off.
I have Chris Carson ahead of Robinson.
I think there's kind of a drop off there.
Alan Robinson scares me because he's not great, first of all. I don't think he has top five
upside, but he's very safe because he should get 150 to 160 targets. But the Justin Fields factor,
I don't think is good for him, honestly. Because he's going to run?
Because he's going to run more. I would expect, I think they threw 26
touchdowns last year. Even in
17 games, I don't think Justin Fields would be
on pace for 26 touchdowns.
So I just don't think, I think he's a
round four pick.
Who would I take ahead of him? That's a tough
question at wide receiver, but
that's a tough question.
There's just a drop at wide receiver probably
after Terry McLaurin. I just think after Terry McLaurin,
after Najee Harris,
it just felt like these picks,
maybe they weren't bad,
but maybe we're just approached a point in the draft where there's a tier.
Yeah.
I think it's just,
there's a talent drop off there that you kind of can't do.
I don't know.
I mean,
I think some of the picks in round four were still pretty good too.
they were,
but they had been in round three. I wouldn't have liked them as much. Yeah. You know what though. I mean, I think some of the picks in round four were still pretty good too. They were, but if they had been in round three,
I wouldn't have liked them as much.
Yeah, but you know what though?
I think knowing,
if you're going to get a receiver
that's going to 150 targets,
150 plus targets,
like Robbins is going to get,
I think he's better than safe.
I don't know if I'd put that label on him.
I think he's still got upside to beat.
You're still getting a top 10 caliber receiver there.
Maybe not top 5,
but top 10.
Okay, and the hardest thing for me
was the running backs trying to decide
between the running backs. When I took Carson,
I did think he was number 1, but
Gaskin, let's look at the running backs that went
in round 4. Dobbins, Jacobs,
Etienne, and David Montgomery.
Yeah, and I think, you know, just
tying in Chris's's team again you
know if you're gonna go kittle thomas i think maybe you should lean in running back there again
as opposed to robert woods oh i i get that but i i do have robert woods like i think i've drafted
robert woods every single mock draft we've done so far this offseason I just he's a let me see top 28 player for me I I have really high expectations for him with
Matthew Stafford I think both him and Cooper Cup are being way undervalued this season and um
you know he's actually he's a top 10 wide receiver for Okay. Which I know that's a hot take,
but the rushing game work always kind of gets a little overlooked,
but it's been there three years in a row.
I think it'll continue to be there.
And I think he's like a 90 catch, 1100 yard receiver as well.
Oh, I don't think it's a bad pick by any stretch.
Again, it comes down to roster build and just what
might be better for your team.
Okay, he has been, Robert Woods
has been 14th through 8th to
18th, somewhere per game.
14th through 18th, three straight
seasons in PPR.
So Chris has him top 10, hoping for his best
season with Matthew Stafford. But even
if he's 14th through 18th,
this is 37th overall.
Not a bad pick. Okay, but Dobbins,
Dobbins, Jacobs, Etienne,
and Montgomery. Those were the four running backs that
went in round four. I took
Dobbins first, then Marone
took Jacobs, then Travis
Etienne went a couple picks later, and then David
Montgomery was last. David Montgomery was last, and he
was a top five running back last
year. He was, I think, number two in non-PPR.
I think number one in PPR in his last six games.
Oh, he was a beast.
Him or Derrick Henry.
Obviously, we know Tariq Cohen is coming back,
but he still should dominate.
Yeah, that's fair.
How would you rank those guys, Jamie?
So it was Dobbins, Jacobs, ETN, Montgomery.
That's how they went.
I have it Dobbins, ETN, Montgomery, Jacobs.
So the way you built your team, I think, is fantastic,
as long as Devontae Adams obviously has Aaron Rodgers.
But to go Adams, Tyreek Hill,
and then any combination of whatever two running backs
you're going to take in this range I think was would have been fine um Etienne is is the wild card because he could
be better than these guys by a lot and you know if he's anything they showed you in college if
he's the type of you know airback that he could be you know as a pass catcher as long as he doesn't
get ruined by James Robinson and whatever stupid moves they do with Carlos Hyde he could be an
absolute monster so um you know I think Etienne, you could say,
is better than all these guys.
Could have been a round three pick, you know,
just looking at the start of the group of these backs
that we're talking about.
But I think Dobbins is, you know, I've said this time and again,
he's not going to catch a lot of passes,
but he can easily be a top 15 running back
based on what the Ravens have done with their lead running back
over the last two seasons with Lamar Jackson.
So he certainly fits that mold.
He did it last year even without catching a lot of passes.
He's going to score a lot of touchdowns.
So he is Derrick Henry and Nick Chubb light in terms of what he does
running the ball and what he should be able to do running the ball.
So all these guys have the chance to still be good.
I just put Jacobs and Montgomery toward the back end of it,
looking at the competition that they have
and obviously some offensive line concerns for both teams.
Who scores more touchdowns this year,
Travis Etienne or Tim Tebow?
If you can place bets now on all the unders for Tim Tebow,
that's the right way to go.
You know what?
The over is 12 and a half.
What is that?
Yards.
Yards?
Is that total yards or receiving yards?
Total yards, yeah. I don't think he's going to make the team. He's not going to make the team, is that? Yards. Yards? Is that total yards or receiving yards? Total yards, yeah.
I don't think he's going to...
He's not going to make the team.
I think he's pretty good.
He's not going to make the team, is he?
I mean, he shouldn't.
Yeah, apparently there's...
Some people are not happy about this in Jacksonville.
I will say about Travis Etienne...
Drink.
You're going to have to wait, I think, is the key.
I actually think he could be useful early on.
You're hoping for a Naheem Hines type
where he's getting enough targets that he's useful as a PPR back
even though he won't be consistent week to week early on.
Naheem Hines in the Jaguars front office needs to be fired.
No, he just better early.
I think the Jaguars front office, besides drafting Trevor Lawrence,
has done a lot of dumb things this offseason,
and I'm very skeptical
that this Urban Meyer experiment's going to work.
It feels very John Gruden to me right now.
Gruden's been better than...
Gruden's actually not been that bad,
I got to say, because I felt...
Well, the drafting has been better. Hold onuden's actually not been that bad, I gotta say. Because I felt... Hold on.
Hold on.
It's a Mayock experiment.
Jeff Fisher is like a laughingstock.
And John Gruden's been Jeff Fisher so far.
But John Gruden really doesn't have that good of a team.
Jeff Fisher...
Okay, I thought Gruden...
We're four years in, Adam.
I thought Gruden was going to be awful.
And they've actually been surprisingly competitive.
Well, they have improved their win total
each of the last three seasons.
We're four years in and they peaked at,
were they eight and eight last year or seven and nine?
They went four and 12, seven and nine, eight and eight
in three seasons.
Like, yeah.
Yeah, but I think it's more on Mayock, honestly.
Every draft they miss.
It's not on Mayock, Adam.
You hear things from people in the organization.
John Gruden.
Okay.
The scouts come and they put reports on his desk and he goes, I don't care.
He's bad at drafting.
They have not drafted well.
But he does, I think, a pretty good job with his team.
But, yeah, I'm a little nervous about Irvin Meyer, too.
I'm sorry.
I wanted to hear your thoughts, but I do need to get to a lot of other content.
So let's go over the rookies
and let's just see where they went
and if it was good value.
Najee Harris going 33rd overall was obviously great value.
The second rookie off the board was Jamar Chase.
Let me just get up my list here.
And he went, so, okay.
Sorry, Jamie.
The second rookie overall? Am I wrong i wrong no etn went before yet oh we
were i mean we were literally just talking about travis etn okay so that was a fine range for etn
right round four yep yeah okay we covered those two i have a whole list somewhere in my notes
and i and i can't find the round five was when chase and williams went off the board those are
the next two rookies. Here we go.
You took Williams.
You took him ahead of Gordon.
That was obviously something of interest.
Why did you do that?
Right.
I took Javante Williams in round five.
I don't – I'm going to be really honest with you.
This is going to change.
It's going to depend on the reports.
It's going to depend on a lot of things.
I am just not feeling good about Melvin Gordon right now.
And shockingly, Melvin Gordon was on the board two full rounds later,
and I ended up taking both of them.
So I took Javante Williams late round five and Melvin Gordon late round seven.
I feel like it's going to take a little while,
but I feel like Javante Williams has the chance
to just kind of take over that backfield,
at least the rushing portion of it.
And I like him better than Melvin Gordon right now.
But I'm a little wishy-washy on that.
I just don't know how I'm going to end up feeling.
It's going to depend on a lot of things.
Right now, I've got Williams ahead of Gordon.
It was really surprising how far he fell
because, I mean, I still would take Gordon over Williams.
I certainly understand your sentiment
about Williams taking over the job,
but he still has to prove it.
Just to see him go in round eight was ridiculous.
Yeah.
When did Mark Ingram go last year?
I don't even remember.
Yeah.
He was probably like a fifth rounder.
Probably in a similar spot.
Did he go ahead of Dobbins?
Round four, round five.
Right, so he went ahead of Dobbins, right?
Yes. He went ahead of Dobbins. End of, round five. Right, so he went ahead of Dobbins, right? Yes.
He went ahead of Dobbins.
End of the draft season, Dobbins was right there with him.
That's kind of where I'm at.
Remember how good Mark Ingram was in 2019.
Yeah, top 10 running back.
That's kind of where I'm at with that.
I feel like he will eventually overtake.
But Gordon's 27.
Mark Ingram was 29.
Yeah, and Gordon, yeah, I know.
I just feel like he'll eventually overtake him.
It's an upside play.
I'll just say that.
It's an upside play.
Jamar Chase.
You can't forget both.
Yeah, that worked.
Jamar Chase going in between.
So it was Deontay Johnson, Kenny Galladay, and Jamar Chase.
Does that feel like?
Yeah, Chase went too soon.
Too soon?
Well, I mean, he went ahead of Cooper Cupp.
That's ridiculous.
As Chris just alluded to. I would still take
Juju Smith-Schuster over him.
There are some running backs
that you can make a case for that could still go ahead
of Jamar Chase. And then you even go to
round six. I would
take Cortland Sutton
over him.
That's the one that stands out.
I wouldn't take Cortland Sutton over him.
It's in the conversation.
Round six, we did see Devontae and it was Brandon Ayuk, Sutton,
T. Higgins, Devante Smith, Chase Claypool a run on wide receivers five picks in a row Ayuk, Sutton, Higgins, Devante Smith, Chase Claypool Chris does that feel like
where Devante Smith should go not for me i have davante smith
my my i wrote about this in the newsletter uh on monday my expectations for this rookie class are
relatively low um i i don't think it's nearly as talented of a rookie class as the one we had last
year um and i think they're kind of benefiting from how good the one last
year was so no i davante smith i just i'm not a hundred percent sure he's going to be the number
one i don't think he's going to be the number one target if zach arts is still there he might be the
number three target i'm not i would assume he's going to be ahead of jalen rager but i'm not a
hundred percent sure on that either and i'm just not sure it's going to be a great passing game.
Oh my God.
He is going to be so much better than Jalen Raker.
Yeah.
He's the number one.
I think he's going to lead the team.
You're a number one receiver.
He may not be the number one target.
Dallas Goddard is going to probably lead the team targets,
which is again.
I'll take Devante Smith.
That's fine.
That's fine.
But I think,
you know,
Chris is right that the class is not good,
but the high end guys are going to be really good,
and they're going to be very comparable to the high-end guys from a year ago.
Now, Devontae Smith is not going to be Justin Jefferson,
but he could certainly be what CeeDee Lamb would have been
over 16 games with Dak Prescott.
What Brandon Ayuk was in those six games that he closed the season
when he was healthy.
He missed some time over those six games, but he was special.
I think that's what you look at with Chase and with Smith.
Now, they have to play to that level, obviously,
but this is the right range for him.
He should be in the conversation with Higgins and Claypool
and Curtis Samuel and Brandon Cooks and the guys that he went around.
And you could clearly make cases for and against for all those other guys.
I certainly get it.
But anytime you have an opportunity to get a player who's going to get
maybe 120 plus targets which i think davante smith has a chance to do that's not a bad pick so just
you know again i'll tie in my own team because i took sutton um i was looking at it at uh higgins Sutton um Smith and who's the other one uh Claypool Ayuk no I wouldn't take Ayuk was gone
so um it was it was Sutton Higgins Smith and um Tyler Boyd who I have back to back with Higgins
now um I would have taken Higgins over him but I I was like, who's got the chance to be the best?
Who's got the high ceiling of this group?
And I still think it's Sutton.
And again, it's also playing the what if Aaron Rodgers is their card.
So that's why I took Sutton.
But any of these guys, you know,
could certainly be prolific pass catchers,
you know, and for Sutton and Smith in particular,
they should be the number one receivers
on their team. Would you guys
take Devontae Smith or Curtis Samuel?
Curtis Samuel for me.
I actually, Devontae Smith is the number
four wide receiver. Okay.
Okay, next rookie
was Kyle Pitts, also
in this round, in round six.
He went around after Hawkinson
and he went before Dallas Goddard.
We already talked about that kind of earlier, but
you'll see anywhere, you'll see round
six, you'll see round five. In a draft we did last
week, Kyle Pitts went in round five.
So Pitts in round six,
late in round six, and Goddard,
basically it was like one round separating
Hawkinson, round five,
Pitts round six, Goddard round seven.
And those are going to be the
trio of guys barring
Zachary staying in Philadelphia.
In round seven, we had Michael Carter
and
let's see who surrounded Michael Carter.
Kind of on a...
No, there was a little bit
of a lull in running back. So it was Mostert
and then James Conner and then
about six picks and then
Michael Carter, excuse me, Melvin Gordon, Kenyon Drake. Welcome back, Carter. Michael Carter,
Melvin Gordon, Kenyon Drake to end round seven. Good, Chris? Yeah. Jamie took him. I'm sorry.
You should probably have thrown it to you,ie you took michael carter in round seven yeah um and you know again this is uh more of an upside play because i'd
already had three running backs so i see the downside in gordon i see the downside in drake
and so you know if carter is the lead running back for the jets which i expect him to be
and i like him better in ppr than non-ppr just based on what his size is. So, you know, if he hits, then my running back core is even more enhanced.
If he fails, it's not a, you know, any problem.
The only thing that you could say is,
did I pass on any wide receivers?
T.Y. Hilton and Michael Pittman
were the next two guys that went off the board
because I didn't have a third receiver at that point.
So I ended up with Jalen Waddell.
I'm perfectly fine taking Wadddle over the two Colts guys.
Okay.
Next rookie was Jalen Waddle in round eight and Trey Sermon in round eight.
So Jalen Waddle went after T.Y. Hilton and Michael Pittman.
Those are back-to-back picks by Chris and me.
Chris took Hilton.
I took Pittman.
And then it was Jalen Waddle and Jarvis Landry.
So Chris, you did decide to take Hilton over Waddle. I took Pittman over and then it was Jalen Waddell and Jarvis Landry. So, Chris, you did decide to take Hilton over Waddell.
I took Pittman over Waddell.
Jamie took Waddell.
So, how about that?
Chris, go ahead.
What did you think about this stretch?
Yeah, Waddell is one of the rookies who I,
when I did my projections,
he was one of the guys I definitely had to move up
because I don't have him projected very high.
And I'm not sure how I feel about that. I think I could see a scenario where he has
a Henry Ruggs-esque season. I think he'll be better than Henry Ruggs because he was much
more productive in college. But that is not a barren receiving core. It's pretty crowded between
Fuller, Devontae Parker, and gosicki and i i think jalen
waddle might be the most talented of those guys but um you know that's a that's a receiving core
that's got a lot of overlap in terms of skills and places that guys succeed on the field i think
one place waddle could really thrive is in the short and intermediate area with the other guys
working deeper because they're they're all more deep target kind of guys um but i i i currently have him third slash fourth in the
receiving hierarchy on miami right you know in the same range as mike kasicki um so i wouldn't
take him there but i totally get the upside you know it's entirely possible he's the number two
receiver for the dolphins and has a huge year.
I still think Will Fuller is going to be number one,
but Waddle could have a really good year
as the number two guy.
Jamie, you took Waddle.
Yeah, he's my favorite Dolphins receiver.
I just look at the...
You're already down a game for Will Fuller,
and we know what his track record has been.
So factor in the injury risk
for what Will Fuller typically does.
And it's
investment you know they decided to take jaylen wattle sixth overall knowing that davante smith
had a better college career um and will fuller's got a one-year deal you know so i think you know
just the investment and what he will probably be i think he's going to lead them in targets at the
wide receiver spot.
And so if you tell me that Will Fuller in round, what was he, five, six?
I know you took him, Chris.
First pick of round six.
First pick of round six.
And I can get Jalen Waddell in round eight.
I'll do that 10 out of 10.
One thing I don't see a lot of for Waddell is catches.
That's the thing.
And PPR, he scares me a little bit.
Yeah, I just don't see. Well, that's how he goes in this range as opposed to higher.
Yeah, but like Jarvis Landry went right after him.
But we saw what Landry was last year, you know, and it was a little scary.
He wasn't good until Beckham got hurt.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Okay.
So I'm just going to go through the rest of the list here.
You tell me if there are any great values or any really bad values here.
Trey Sermon, round eight.
Terrace Marshall, round nine.
Rondell Moore, round 10.
Kadarius, Tony, and Rashad Bateman and Amonra St. Brown all in round 11.
Kadarius, Tony, Bateman, and Amonra St. Brown all in round 11.
Amari Rogers in round 12.
Best pick.
Trevor Lawrence, round 13.
Chuba Hubbard, round 13.
Chris likes taking Chuba Hubbard as a
handcuff to McCaffrey Elijah Moore around 14 Kenneth Gainwell round 14 and final round
Trey Lance in round 15 with all the DSTs um anything stand out there guys
obviously I took Rondell Moore at the first pick of the 10th. So I really liked that one. Um, I just,
I think he,
he was so productive.
I mean,
he only played one full season in college,
which is worrisome because of the injuries,
but he was so productive as a,
as a freshman,
not rookie freshman,
uh,
over 1200 yards,
1400 yards.
I think total,
if you include rushing,
he could be such a good fit for what Cliff Kingsbury
likes to do because that offense is so predicated on screens and short passes and he I think Dave
mentioned on the draft show something like 75 percent of his yards came after the catch
in college which is just nuts so I think he could be an absolute game-breaking addition for them and
I think if that Cardinals offense takes a big step forward,
I think it will be because of the addition of Rondell Moore.
So he could be, I think,
one of the three best rookie wide receivers if he hits.
I was pissed that Amon Ron St. Brown went one pick after me in round 11.
I took Daryl Henderson, and I thought that St. Brown might fall.
I think I'd rather have Bateman or St. Brown over Tony as a rookie. I definitely would.
That's another one where it's kind of like Waddle.
I think Waddle's a much more talented player.
I think Tony was probably a reach there.
But also, that's not a great passing game,
but it's crowded.
I don't know where he's going to settle in terms of targets.
I would guess he's not any higher than third behind Barkley and,
um,
Galladay,
but I,
I think he probably could be fifth.
Yeah.
I don't think there's really much chance for Cadareous Tony to have any
consistency.
You know,
he could be a best ball type of player or he has some big weeks, but I just don't see how you're going to trust him in your
lineup. You're never going to know when he has good games because he's going to have to have
some big plays. So that's why I wouldn't take him. That's why I like a guy like Amari Rogers.
Of course, you need Aaron Rogers there, but someone where you could see an Amonra St. Brown
and even Rashad Bateman. I don't know how consistent Rashad Bateman could be, but
Amonra St. Brown and Amari Rogers, it's not hard to see a case where you kind see an Amonra St. Brown and even Rashad Bateman. I don't know how consistent Rashad Bateman could be, but Amonra St. Brown and Amari Rodgers,
it's not hard to see a case
where you kind of know what to expect
on a week-to-week basis from them.
That's why, yeah, I personally,
I agree with you, Chris,
Kadarius, Tony, ahead of those guys.
I don't know how you feel about Amari Rodgers,
but I wouldn't take him ahead of St. Brown or Bateman.
All right, so let's do the Fantasy Cops.
Thanks for listening to the draft.
You can check it out.
I'll put the link in the episode description.
And if you're watching on YouTube,
if you're not watching on YouTube,
Ben Schrager puts the picks up,
youtube.com slash fantasyfootball today.
So it's a good way to follow along.
This is from Ben in a city near Titletown, USA.
Dave's not on the show, so we will not be guessing.
Dear Ron. Sure's not on the show, so we will not be guessing. Dear Ron... Madison. Sure. Madison works.
Dear Ron, Melvin,
James, and Jonathan.
You see why I picked Madison.
Oh, yeah, yeah. That's probably...
Those are Wisconsin running backs.
You get the player in their
drafted round for the first year and a round
one for any year after that.
I am petitioning
our league to allow for a waiver wire player to be your 16th round keeper i may have been fortunate
enough to pick up james robinson last season but who's counting they are crying foul and that teams
would ditch their entire teams their entire rosters are they saying that teams in season, if they're like tanking,
would do that?
Probably.
So I have this situation
in one of my keeper leagues
where what we do is
the player is,
if he's drafted and dropped
and then picked up.
So, I'm sorry.
Well, I guess let me rephrase it.
You can only keep players that are drafted
after round eight or later
or kept if they're picked up off free agency.
If you drop a player that was drafted
in the first seven rounds,
he's not keeper eligible
if somebody else picks him up.
Okay.
Yep.
So, you get the...
I'm petitioning...
So I don't understand.
What's their policy on waiver wire players?
You get the player and their draft...
So I guess right now they can't keep waiver wire picks?
They can't keep waiver wire picks.
Yeah, that doesn't make any sense.
You should be able to keep waiver wire picks.
Yeah.
Yeah, you should be able to...
No, it doesn't have to be round 16,
but you can make it like round 10.
Yeah, I usually play last round of the draft.
And if you keep multiple it
just pushes guys up um but yeah you should be allowed to keep waiver wire players i just do
think like christian mccaffrey last year if somebody dropped him and somebody else picked
him up that person should obviously not be able to keep christian mccaaffrey for a final round pick because what that does is it forces the guy who has a guy
on injured reserve
who they drafted in the first round
to keep that player the entire season
and waste a bench spot. That's not fair.
There's many reasons. Yeah, you can't do that.
So, all right. I think we got it here.
Petition your league. You should be able to keep
free agents. Figure out the
proper round or waiver wire pickups, rather. Figure out the proper round, or waiver
wire pickups, rather. Figure out the proper round,
and thank you very much. Let me tell you, it is
Preakness week, so go to
Sportsline.com. They have the
best analysts there.
Hammer and Hank Goldberg
has given out his favorite picks. Jody Demling
offers his full rankings. Gene
Menez is going to be on the Early Edge podcast,
dishing out his picks and getting you up to speed
on how to bet the second leg of the Triple Crown.
Sportsline has you covered for everything related
to Saturday's Preakness Stakes.
Let's go faster on the emails, guys.
This is from mcause17.
I'm keeping A.J. Brown in the 10th
and Jalen Hurts in the 16th.
It's 10-team and it's PPR.
I acquired a number of draft picks through trades last season.
What would your draft strategy be with these picks in the first four rounds?
1.2, 2.3, 2.8, 2.9, 3.2, 4.3, 4.9.
Would it be a stretch to take...
Oh, these are not dynasty picks.
Okay, these aren't rookie picks.
Would it be a stretch to take Travis Kelsey second overall
if I can get running backs and wide receivers
in the second and third and fourth rounds?
McCaffrey, Kamara, Cook, and Henry will likely be kept.
So he's got 1.2, 2.3, 2.8, 2.9, 3.2, 4.3, and 4.9.
A lot more valuable now that I know that these are not dynasty rookie-only picks.
But the rookies are factored in, so that helps.
Yeah.
Yeah, okay.
So what would you be doing at 1.2?
Let's start with that.
He's got Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown already.
I mean, I have Kelsey as my number three player.
Yeah, Kelsey's certainly on the table, without a doubt,
especially since you have all those picks in the second round.
But it's just a matter of what running backs are available.
I mean, if you're talking about, he said what,
McCaffrey, Cook, and Kamara are gone?
And Henry.
And Henry.
So you're going to go with Saquon Barkley,
or are you going to go with Travis Kelsey?
Right, or Jonathan Taylor.
If you want to think that he's going to be available,
he's probably a keeper.
So if it starts to get into running back 8, 9, 10,
then you clearly go Kelsey.
But if you're like Chris and you value him as the third best player,
then Kelsey's certainly the guy you look for.
And then you come back in round two and see who's available to you.
But you hope that guys like mixin maybe chubb
maybe obviously naji harris antonio gibson deandre swift k makers you know start to take some some
swings on those guys travis etn at the back end around two just knowing that the keepers are gone
yeah i think like if you ended up with kelsey and harris which seems pretty reasonable um that would
be a pretty awesome start uh at-2 and then 2-3.
And see if you can be aggressive
and package two of those second-round picks
to get them back into the first round.
I think we've got to grade the trade here
from a Toyota is a Toyota.
12-team, one quarterback, Dynasty League.
You only start one running back,
one wide receiver.
You start five flex spots,
and it is.25 PPR.
He has Mahomes and Drew Locke.
He traded Justin Herbert and pick
109 for 103,
and then he drafted Jamar Chase.
So he traded Herbert
and 109 for Jamar Chase. Grade the trade,
and he has Mahomes.
Herbert and 109
for Jamar Chase. I think he gave up too much.
Yeah, probably. Oh, I don't think Chase. I think you gave up too much. Yeah, probably.
Oh, I don't think so.
I think it's like a C plus, maybe a C.
It's a one QB league?
Yeah, yeah.
So 109 is probably going to be somebody like Terrace Marshall,
Michael Carter.
Let's just see based on what our rookie draft was
that we did the other day.
So 109.
Rondell Mooreore rashad bateman
michael carter yeah it's not going to be harris not going to be tn it's not going to be
pitts it's not going to be a top three wide receiver so yeah i guess maybe it's not too
much but yeah i mean because carter could be the starter for the jets it's also entirely possible
that he has zero value this time next year yeah it'd be great yeah he went off the he went off the board in the same range as like
uh joshua kelly last year you know they were they were both third round picks right
or carter was oh in the nfl draft yeah yeah carter was a fourth round pick he was yeah so like the
chances of michael carter actually becoming a fantasy asset are 15 historically yeah it's not
where fourth rounders are. Yeah, but
if he's considering Chase, he's probably considering
receivers. So you're looking at Marshall,
Moore, Toney,
Dayton. Well, he starts five flexes, so it's
best available. But I don't know. I mean,
Herbert and Pick... You know what?
The fact that you have Mahomes obviously helps. Alright, I think
it's fine. The other guys may not agree.
I hope that was helpful. I mean, I guess Chase
is going to help you a little more. I think it's an. The other guys may not agree. I hope that was helpful. I mean, I guess Chase is going to help you
a little more,
but.
Okay.
I think it's an A,
A minus.
Okay.
From Connor,
Dynasty Superflex Startup.
Who would you rather have,
Kyler Murray or Lamar Jackson?
Murray.
What'd you say,
Jamie?
Kyler Lamar Jackson?
Yeah.
Lamar.
This is Dynasty. Not that it really matters.? Yeah. Lamar. This is Dynasty.
Not that it really matters.
You're taking Lamar.
Chris takes Murray.
Calvin Ridley or Justin Jefferson?
Jefferson.
Yep.
Cam Akers or Nick Chubb?
Chubb.
Akers.
That's the hardest one, I think.
Yeah.
Yeah, because Ridley versus Jefferson,
I think Ridley's probably better, but he's four years one, I think. Yeah. Yeah, because Ridley versus Jefferson, I think Ridley's probably better,
but he's four years older than Justin Jefferson.
I don't think Ridley's better,
but I think they're both great.
Yeah, they're ranked in the same range,
but yeah, he's 26.
He turns 27 this year.
Right, that's an easy call.
You're right.
Ridley is definitely older than you think.
Chubb is kind of old, too. He's five years older than you think. Chubb is kind of old too.
He's five years older than Justin Jefferson.
How much older is Chubb than Akers?
I don't know.
Chubb is 25, turns 26 in December.
Akers is 21, turns 22 in June.
Three and a half years old.
Oh man, that's a huge deal.
I still feel like I'd take Chubb.
You said Akers, Chris?
Actually, four and a half years older.
Oh man, I might have to go Akers.
Yeah, I would go Akers.
I just think Chubb is...
I don't know what Akers will become,
but right now, Chubb, I think it's easy to say
he's a better player.
It's also a situation.
Chubb could price himself out of Cleveland, and then you don't know
where he ends up, whereas Akers has at least two more years
with the Rams. So who did you take, Jamie?
I took Chubb. I just think
in this case,
bird in hand almost.
You know what Chubb is. Don't know what Akers
could become. I love Akers. I think he's got a world
of talent, but you go back to
what did Emory Hunt say? thinks henderson's better you know so i really want to see what
happens with acres in the passing game there was like one two game stretch where he got like nine
targets and if he was used that way i think that would be super good for his value but i'm i'm
waffling on him for this year just because i don't know what the passing game role is going to be
and that's also why i'm a little lower on Nick Chubb because I do know what
the passing game role is going to be.
And it's going to be not much.
Yeah.
I mean,
I just,
you know,
the Browns offensive line could be the best in the NFL.
The running game is,
is fantastic.
The coaching staff for the run game is fantastic.
You know,
I,
I,
I,
it's hard to overlook when Nick Chubb is,
and he's still very young and just oozing with upside still.
This is our last email.
Sorry to Dave and Flint and Reed.
I'm not going to be able to read your emails today.
This is from The Banker from a town in Iowa.
What do you think about a contending team renting a player
for a rebuilding team for just one year?
I have identified TJ Hawkinson as a good strategy.
So he basically wants to get Hawkinson for one year and then give him back.
Give him back to who?
To the guy who's the other team.
I mean, that's collusion.
Yeah, this is the literal definition of collusion.
It's a no.
Well, I mean, look, if he can do it.
You could trade for him and then trade him back,
and that would be, but like,
just literally I will take him for one year.
No, it's a trade.
It's a trade.
He's going to give something up.
It's got to be a fair trade going both ways.
Right.
The problem is that he's buying him before he potentially breaks out.
And so the value going back the other way at the end of this is probably not going to be what you're expecting or hoping to get because you're going to have to give up more.
And then the other side of it is if he flops, which he could, then what are you getting back in return?
It's kind of an interesting concept.
I've never – we get this question a lot, but it's usually in season.
It's usually, well, I made a trade
and I agreed to give this
player back after another week. I needed someone for my
bye week, so I traded for this guy and I
agreed to trade him back,
reverse the trade a week later.
I always say no. That's just...
No, that's an obvious collusion.
If the other team is benefiting from it,
then you could make the case that, hey, it's fine.
Both teams fill the need for one week, and then they retrade it.
I think it's kind of shady.
But I don't know.
I mean, there's something to this where...
One week versus one year, though.
Right.
I don't know what's better.
So you take Hawkinson, and you give up.
Let's say you give up, gosh, Jarvis Landry this year for tj hawkinson or something or
tyler boyd for tj hawkinson i don't know and then you're you're gambling big time on what their
values are going to be it's almost like option trading or something like that well yeah like
if it is i will trade you we will make this trade and then we will discuss a trade going back the other way, then okay.
But if it's literally just what you give me,
I will give you back next year.
That is obviously collusion.
Yeah.
Right.
So if it's,
you know,
I'm going to give you a second round rookie only pick for TJ Hawkinson.
Now let's say two Oh three.
And then if he breaks out,
I'm definitely giving him back to you,
but you've got to give me 103.
You know, like that's...
Yeah.
No, so I don't know.
Collusion to me is when two teams
work together for the benefit of one team.
That's not necessarily what this is.
Well, sure it is.
No.
Yeah, it's for the benefit of one team this year.
Yeah, I...
All right, so you're telling me that if you're in a dynasty league Yeah, it's for the benefit of one team this year. Yeah.
All right.
So you're telling me that if you're in a dynasty league and you see Team A and Team B have agreed to trade these two players
and then exchange them in 2022, you're like, no, that can't happen?
But, you know, if let's just say the team with Hawkinson
has the third pick in the rookie draft, right,
and they're committed to taking Kyle Pitts, so they have no need for TJ Hawkinson has the third pick in the rookie draft, right? And they're committed to taking Kyle pits.
So they have no need for TJ Hawkinson,
right?
Yep.
And they trade Hawkinson for 1.12 because the manager with one 12 doesn't
have a tight end.
So they get Hawkinson at one 12 and then next year that manager that got
the draft pick and gave up Hawkinson has acquired other draft picks because they're rebuilding.
Comes back next year and has a team that's ready to compete.
But Pitts didn't work out.
Or it's a chance you could start both tight ends as a flex.
So now you're trading Hawkinson back.
But Hawkinson blew up because they had the agreement in place that no matter what happens, you're giving me Hawkinson back.
So now
that owner has to give up what?
So you say, okay, if TJ Hawkinson
reaches these benchmarks, then you
have to give me an additional
first round pick.
This is cool.
I think you could...
Just make trades.
This is where it becomes collusion it's just like if you're
making a trade it shouldn't be contingent on something else like that's where it becomes
collusion it's two teams agreeing we will do this when it benefits you and then do this thing again
like it's no all right you're gambling if you want to make a fair trade it doesn't really matter if
it benefits both teams it It's still collusion.
It's still two teams coming together to make an agreement.
Let me throw this at you.
Let's take Hawkinson for pick 112.
I give you Hawkinson, you give me pick 112.
Next year, I'm getting Hawkinson back.
But if TJ Hawkinson reaches certain benchmarks
or finishes with X amount of fantasy points,
I get Hawkinson back, but you get another pick,
like another first-round pick.
If he doesn't reach those benchmarks,
then you give me something, a second-round picker.
So now you're trying to gamble on how you feel Hawkinson is going to do this year,
and you're trying to make—I think this has legs.
I just think about it from the perspective of a commissioner.
What if one of those guys just doesn't agree?
Is getting back Hawkinson plus something if he fails?
Yes.
And the person that's getting Hawkinson is either giving Hawkinson back for nothing,
just a straight-up Jaffic?
I don't know.
I confused myself in the process.
So just think about it from the perspective of the commissioner.
What if the guy who's trading Hawkinson,
what if Hawkinson has 1,100 yards and 10 touchdowns
becomes the next Travis Kelsey?
And we come back next year and he's like,
I'm not going to make that trade.
Two guys still got to hit the same button.
No, no, no.
It's in writing, Chris.
It's in writing.
It's agreed upon.
You make it in writing,
and it's exactly right.
Yeah, I don't allow this.
If he has a huge season,
then you get him back,
and you don't get any extra compensation.
If he has a bad season,
then you get him back,
and you do get extra compensation.
I don't know.
You know what?
Let's take the weekend to think about it.
Just don't do it. Or that. That'll
work too. Thanks to Chris. Thanks to
Jamie. Happy birthday to Ben. Thanks
for listening, everybody. We'll talk to you next week
on Fantasy Football Today.