Fantasy Football Today - Rankings Fights! Plus Big News (07/25 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: July 25, 2022

Vote for us for Best Sports Podcast and Best Male-Hosted Podcast! http://podcastawards.com/app/signup/ James Robinson is making progress and will avoid the PUP list (3:05)! What does this mean for him and Travis Etienne? We've also got a crazy Leonard Fournette stat (6:45) and our first rankings dispute of the day as Dave and Jamey debate Tom Brady (8:55). Should he be drafted ahead of Russell Wilson? ... News and notes (15:00) as the 49ers and Raiders could be looking at a running back committee, Matthew Stafford is on a pitch count and some noteworthy players are on the PUP list. Then we're back to our rankings disputes as we look at Cam Akers (27:50) and Elijah Mitchell (34:00). Jamey makes the case for Akers while Dave defends Mitchell ... Debating Marquise Brown (41:30) and Allen Robinson (44:50). Is Robinson a good value in Round 5? ... Your emails at [e-mail] Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs, Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday Get 20% off Fantasy Football Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-football-today%20?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-football-collection Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. What a play! Can you believe this? It's a no-win game. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races, and he stays on his feet.

He's just going to go the distance. Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. We've got big news. Dave is back. Hey, Dave. Welcome back. What's up? How are you?

We're good. How are you doing? I am terrible. Thanks for asking. What's wrong? Well, what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. I came back with a case of covid i've got it my wife's got it my daughter got it but she didn't get it in vegas because she stayed in chicago she got it there my son stayed in texas he doesn't have covid he's not staying home he's at his girlfriend's house how about that for an 18 year old living the dream

getting ready to go to college and he's bunking up with his girlfriend while the rest of his family has to sweat out COVID. Feel crappy. Ate a lot of good food. Lost a lot of money. Ready for the football. Was it worth it, Dave? Hold on.

Hold on. I got the piece de resistance because I'm fancy and I use French. Yesterday was my birthday. Slept on the couch on my birthday. Didn't go out on my birthday. Didn't do anything fun on my birthday. It's been great. It is a very 2020-type summer for me.

And now here I am, ready to share my joy with everybody on the podcast. It is wonderful to be back and to talk with every book. I think we'll be able to cheer you up, Dave. Happy birthday. Yeah, happy birthday. I was going to wish you a happy birthday on the show, but you stole that thunder from me. So happy birthday to you. Also, one of our listeners, his name is Dan. He actually emailed me and said, make sure you wish Dave a happy birthday. He and my son share a birthday. His son turned 15 wish Dave a happy birthday. He and my son share a birthday. His son turned 15 yesterday, so happy birthday.

He wrote me, too. I wished him and his son a happy birthday back. Well, we're going to cheer you up. We're going to talk football here. Nothing Dave likes better than talking football and talking fantasy. We got big news as James Robinson is not going to begin camp on the Pup List. That's awesome. Unless you're really into Travis Etienne, we'll tell you what that means.

We're going to do some ranking disputes today. Tom Brady. They're not that far apart in Dave and Jamie's rankings, but one of these guys has Brady ahead of Kyler and Russ. The other does not. We're going to talk about Elijah Mitchell. He'll be in some type of a committee this year. Cam Akers, Marquise Brown, Mike Gasicki.

When to draft Cooper Cup. These are some of our ranking disputes. Also, your email is at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. And Jamie's here as well. Hi, Jamie, how are you? You doing all right? I'm good, buddy. How are you? Well, I am good,

but I don't want to rub it in Dave's face, so I'm horrible. Let's get to the big news here. James Robinson coming back from a torn Achilles and will not begin training camp on the pup list. Jamie, that's awesome for James Robinson. Last year in 2020, he was the top eight running back per game. Per game, he was eighth in non-PPR, sixth in full PPR.

2021 was a different story, but he left two games very early with injury. And he actually had nine games with 11 to 18 carries. And in those games, he was really, really good. He performed like a top 10 running back whenever he got the work he had a bunch of games and he had five games with uh with like five or eight or fewer carries you know because because urban meyer was being urban meyer but when robinson got the work he was a must start top 10 running back so what's your initial thought here on robinson being healthier than we? I think it's great news for him.

Obviously, you know, if you have him in a dynasty or long-term keeper league, you're, you're encouraged by this. Uh, but there are still two huge obstacles he has to overcome this season. First is being a hundred percent healthy because he's clearly not that yet. He's, uh, he's working off to the side with the team. Um, you know, the video of that already from, from the start of camp, but hopefully he'll be in team drills. Hopefully he'll be able to be as close to full go as we can get by the time we get to the middle of August and we're ramping up for the start of the season. The other major obstacle clearly is the competition that he's going to have because he didn't

have this last year because Travis Etienne broke his foot. And so Etienne is going to play a significant amount of time. Play a significant amount of time. And what role is what we still have to figure out? Is he going to be the lead back and play on passing downs, and Robinson's more of a complementary guy? Or is Robinson going to be the first and second down guy, and Etienne's more of a third down guy?

So I don't know if we'll get the answer to that by the time we get to week one because of Robinson's health. But clearly, if you are encouraged by James Robinson this season and a little bit concerned about Travis Etienne, this news is going to sway you in the direction you want to go. If people are taking Travis Etienne in round four right now,

is that too early? Give me the rounds that you guys think. Jamie, I'll start with you. Rounds for Etienne and Robinson in a PPR league. Round four for Etienne is perfect. Robinson is probably still round eight at the earliest for me. I think round five is where I'd go for ETN.

I think if you take him in round four, it's way too close to his ceiling. And I think you can still get Robinson in round 10. That'll probably change. Look, if he's practicing by mid-August, and it looks like he's the primary running back in the offense, no one's going to be able to get him in round eight. He'll go sooner than that because people are going to get excited for him because he's somebody who played really well two years

ago. Last year in spurts, did play well. Smarter coaching staff. Not necessarily one that's going to guarantee him a lot of work from week to week, but it'll be better than five carries a week, which is what happened during a stretch with urban lecture uh just incredible in our youtube chat that's oh wow former ecw champion just incredible running backs coming off torn achilles don't have a good history so yeah that's that it's it's also been that way for a lot of athletes until recently

right right exactly right we've we've talked about it. Like, Kevin Durant is like the poster child for making a full recovery from a torn Achilles. You gotta wait and see. He's one of a handful of running backs that we're just kind of waiting and seeing on. If I was drafting right now, I wouldn't take Robinson in round eight. He's a

round ten pick. Alright. That's definitely a situation that we are going to be monitoring. Stat of the day, just doing some Tom Brady research for our future rankings dispute. And there's also a news item on Leonard Fournette, his personal trainer, who's probably a little bit biased, said that the concerns about Fournette's weight gain were blown out of proportion. Like Fournette's weight gain were blown out of proportion, like Fournette. But stat of the day, I noticed Leonard Fournette,

in the last seven games that he played last year without Antonio Brown, he averaged, no, I'm sorry, he was on pace for 131 targets and 117 catches and a crazy 89% catch rate. But even if he had about an 80% catch rate, which would be normal, you know, for a running back catching pass from Brady, you know, still when Antonio Brown was not on the field, I couldn't believe it. Leonard Fournette was getting six, seven, eight targets, sometimes even more per game. Now the first three games he played with Antonio Brown, he had a combined 12 targets. So I don't know what all this means, but I thought it was pretty interesting. He certainly saw a big, big increase in the last seven games that he played without Antonio Brown.

Again, on pace for 131 targets and 117 catches. Does it mean anything to you, Dave Richard? Yeah, because you're talking about Tom Brady not having reliable targets who get open, and so he has to check down or he has to throw to the running back who's easier throw to make, something like that. And if Fournette's going to still be in that main role and the Bucs are going to open the season without Godwin, no Gronk coming back this year, Brady's got that comfort level with Leonard Fournette. Could easily get off to a nice start

this year, catching four or five balls per game. It's contingent on him keeping that role, though. He's got to earn it in training camp, which sounds a little silly to say. Leonard Fournette, veteran, been around a long time, 130-some-odd targets last year he was on pace for without Antonio Brown. So you might think he's earned it already, but you know how it works in the NFL, and especially in a place like Tampa. There's going to be competition. They're going to see what Rashad White can do. Giovanni Bernard can step back up.

But if he's better than those guys in passing situations, Brady will have him on the field. Wouldn't be a surprise if he started the year as a top 10 PPR running back. All right, that brings us to our first rankings dispute. And I'm just going to bootave real quick from the studio looks like his video is frozen we'll cut your audio good we'll uh we'll get you right back um come on back there you go let's see dave you there let's see hi all right we'll see if we can get him a video

at least we have his audio uh the first rankings dispute is tom brady jam have him eighth. Dave has him fifth. Oh, there's Dave. Hey, come back up, bud. Yeah, okay. There you go. All right, Jamie, I'll give you the first word on Brady. So this isn't a huge rankings dispute. You both have him in the top eight,

but specifically, Dave has him ahead of Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson, and Jamie, you do not. So kick it off. Tom Brady, eighth for you. Or no, yeah, eighth for Jamieie fifth for dave jamie go the only one i think i could see myself moving would be russell wilson behind brady but the

other guys with what they do as runners makes them a little bit more of a higher ceiling play than what brady will do um it's it's hard to bet against him throwing for 5 000 yards again and throwing for 40 plus touchdowns so he certainly has that in his arsenal but if he doesn't have Godwin for the first six weeks of the season potentially or however long maybe Godwin may miss or not be at 100 percent and now he doesn't have Gronk and you're relying on Russell Gage to fill basically two roles because Antonio Brown's also gone and asking Kyle Rudolph Cameron Brate and Kate Otten to fill the Grob Gronkowski role there there's clearly some flaws there.

They're down to offensive linemen as well, so they have to replace two guys on the line. So Brady obviously is tried and true as much as anybody can be. Very safe, but does not run. And I'm always going to lean toward the running quarterbacks more so than I will the statues, and Brady still qualifies as a statue. A very good one, but still a statue. Sure. I'm a little nervous that Kyler won't run as much as we want him to.

I think he'll run in the red zone. I think outside of the red zone, you're not going to see a lot of big runs from Kyler this year. It's been two years now where he's taken on some hits, and when he plays, when he's hurt, he's not as effective. They just paid him a ton of money. They want to make sure that he's on the field all season long. This is a make or break year. It feels like a make or break year for Cliff Kingsbury in Arizona. This is a team that needs to win a playoff game. So they're going to

be focused on having Kyler play more. We know that Kyler's going to begin the season without DeAndre Hopkins for the first six games. I'm a little worried about what his passing numbers will be like then. And I can't say for sure that his passing numbers are going to be at a career high when he has Hopkins back and Brown back and all the tight ends and whatnot that they have in Arizona. We'll see. I look at what Kyler Murray has been the last two years as far as fantasy points per game. It's seventh among quarterbacks.

Brady last year, amazing. He was second, but he had that loaded receiving core. The year before that, he was ninth. So it's a really close call between those two. I think it's easy to take Brady over Russ. I don't think Russ is going to run that much. I do think that Russ is going to throw a lot, but I don't think he'll throw as much as Brady.

I think Brady's going to throw a ton this year. Jamie mentioned it. He's an easy candidate for over 5,000 yards. I still think he's a candidate for 40 touchdowns, even without Chris Godwin for, assuming, 17 games, even without Rob Gronkowski on the field. I think that Brady is one of those quarterbacks that you wait for

and you take it to good value on draft day. And for now, easy guy to take over Russ, and I am taking over Kyler at this point. I don't really know that you can wait for him, though. I mean, you've got to make those decisions. You can't just say, before I speak out of my tush here, let me the adp your tush tom brady wow okay yeah see i am talking out of my rear a little bit but actually um he's qb10 in fantasy pros adp but russell

wilson is going one pick ahead of him at qb9 so you might have to really just make that decision am i taking russell wilson or am I taking Tom Brady? And you will not have a chance to get the other guy with your next pick. So, you know, if you're on the clock, Dave, you're taking Brady over Russ. Yes. And Jamie, you're taking Wilson for now. And the way that I kind of look at it with those three quarterbacks is I'll notice probably around the time when Lamar Jackson goes off the board, I'll start to put my periscope up to look for a quarterback value.

And I'm not purposely waiting for a quarterback on draft day. I just want to get a good value on a quarterback on draft day. I'll probably end up passing on both these guys, to be honest, and just wait out Cousins or Carr or what I'm anticipating is going to be the biggest ADP riser of them all is Trey Lance. Trey Lance, yeah. And looking at NFC ADP, these are high-stakes leagues. Tom Brady, since July 1st in 119 drafts, Tom Brady is QB 8.

Kyler is QB 6. Jalen Hurts is QB 7. Then Brady, then Dak, then Russ is QB 10. But again, Russ and Brady are basically separated by four picks here. So I think based on NFC ADP, based on Fantasy Pros ADP, right now you could probably expect Wilson and Tom Brady to be going in very similar ranges, and you might have to make that decision.

All right, we've got a programming announcement. Fantasy Football Today in 5 has a new host. It is Chris Towers. He's taking over FFT in 5 has a new host. It is Chris Towers. He is taking over FFT in 5. He and I did his first episode as hosts yesterday. We talked about the NFC training camp battles to watch. I talked about Chiefs wide receivers, Ravens offensive style, and Brees Hall. What to expect from Brees Hall, what we want to see in training camp.

Today he'll talk to Jamie about the AFC training camp battle, or the NFC rather. And did I say NFC earlier? Well, Chris and I talked to AFC. Jamie and Chris are going to talk NFC. Are you drunk again? What's that? Are you drunk again? Yeah, right. Fantasy Football Today in 5. Subscribe to that. So basically, Fantasy Football Today in 5 used to basically just mirror the content of this show, but we're not going to do that anymore. We're going to have different content there. For the past week or so, we've had rankings disputes for five minutes. Chris is going to have different topics than what you hear on this show. So it's new.

It's fresh content. And check it out. Subscribe to Fantasy Football Today in 5. Dave, I hope you're feeling well enough to vote and to get out the vote. Tell people to vote because we've got less than a week left here. We've got until the end of the month to win on podcast awards or at least advance to the next round. I don't exactly know what's happening. Go to podcastawards.com and vote for fantasy football today for best sports podcast, best male hosted podcast, and people's choice award as well. You

can scan the QR code if you're watching on YouTube and go there immediately. We'd really appreciate your support. PodcastAwards.com. Vote for Fantasy Football today. Sports, male-hosted, and people's choice. News and notes. Well, this is tough news. Houston rookie wide receiver John Meche has leukemia. He will likely miss the season. He has apparently the most treatable form of leukemia. Of course, we wish him nothing but the best, and we can't wait to draft him in 2023 when he makes a full recovery. San Francisco could go running back by committee. The Athletics saying that they want to go running back by committee. Didn't really have the means last year, I guess,

but a lot of injuries to Elijah Mitchell, who, by the way, Elijah Mitchell last year played 11 games. In nine of them, he had 17 or more carries. Nine times, 17 or more carries. That is more than Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson have combined for in the last five years. They have combined for eight games, only two for Mostert, 17 or more carries. Mitchell did it nine times.

Nine times last year. More committee stuff. The Raiders, according to Yahoo, could use a situational committee. Oh, man. We called that when McDaniels was hired. Yeah. Raheem Mostert may not be ready for week one. That's our

running back news. Jamie, what could affect your rankings based on what I just said, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Raheem Mostert. Uh, I moved TDP up. Um, didn't touch Mitchell cause I'm not really a Mitchell guy. Uh, but I moved Tyrion Davis price up because I think he's going to have probably a bigger role than we might've anticipated when he was drafted. Um, especially if Debo Samuel does not play as much in the backfield as probably he would like because he doesn't want to be back there.

So I think if you're looking at that, taking Elijah Mitchell before round six in PPR is probably a mistake. If you're looking at the Raiders situation, I think Josh Jacobs is probably priced appropriately based on where he's been going in drafts. So when I saw the Yahoo News, I tweeted something about it, and people were saying on underdog he's been going in drafts. So when I saw the Yahoo news, I tweeted something about it and people were saying on underdog, he's going in like round six. It's kind of a bargain. I think that's best ball.

I think, right. Yes. Yes. But round six is kind of a bargain, I think. But you know, round four for what we've seen is probably a little bit,

I don't know if that's too soon, but it's probably appropriate. You know, I don't think you should go before then. If you're going to take a gamble on the guy that, you know, we've seen that when the Raiders are good and they're playing with the lead, he's been more productive and they will be better this year. So that can certainly help.

Some other stuff I saw, you know, Antonio Gibson reporting with less body fat and better shape. That's positive, you know, for a guy that for a guy that's in maybe more of a competition than he's ever been. What else did you say? Raiders, 49-12? That's pretty much Raheem Mostert. Oh, the Dolph situation.

Yeah, Mostert, I think he's going to end up in a similar situation like James Robinson where we expect him to be on the pup and not going to be on the pup. He was pissed off about the Madden rankings and the fact that he wasn't considered among the top 10 fastest players given his next-gen stats over the last several years. So I'll take that for what it's worth. But Chase Edmonds looks like he's going to be in a good spot

given that Mostert may not be 100% still even though camp's starting. No love for Sony? Late-round pick? Yeah, I think that Sony and Raheem Mostert, Edmonds is going to go first. There's no doubt about that. But Mostert and Michelle are the two worth monitoring because you'd like to see who's going to be second there in terms of probably depth chart positioning

because I do think that that guy is going to have a chance to be in the category of maybe carries leader, not necessarily snap leader or production, but we know that Chase Edmunds is not the most physical of guys. If they want to have a physical back, it's certainly more Raheem Mostert or Sonny Michel. All right, Kyle Rudolph will get the bulk of the Rob Gronkowski role according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.

Let me just see. This just came in, so this is not a fact. This is just what Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times believes, I guess. That's kind of how I'm interpreting it. Mm-hmm. Okay. Not a surprise at all. Boy, he has just been really invisible the last two years.

He has two touchdown catches. So does Kyle Rudolph think he's going to crack your top 15? He's going to crack my top 12. He's a draftable, startable, fantasy tight end to begin the season. Especially if there's no Chris Godwin in Tampa Bay. I'm sorry, but just to go back to the Brady thing, I mean, I'm kind of nervous here because what if Mike Evans or Chris Godwin gets hurt?

And I don't want to play that game. Well, Godwin's already hurt. Exactly. I don't want to play that game with every quarterback, but Evans gets hurt. Evans is a little injury prone. He's 29. Godwin is obviously coming off a torn ACL,

so I just feel like he's really close to having pretty bad weapons or maybe one good weapon. I mean, Kyle Rudolph is such a downgrade from Rob Gronkowski. And Russell Gage is such a downgrade from Antonio Brown. And if you look at the games in which Brady had Brown and the games in which he didn't, each of the last two years, two things stand out. One, he did throw a ton of touchdowns no matter what.

But two, the yards were worse. I mean, the yards were lower when he did not have Antonio Brown playing. So I'm not going to completely ignore that. And I don't know. As a guy who drafted Brady as much as I could last year, I don't really think I want to draft him this year. But, you know, it's Tom Brady. I don't want to count him out.

What did you say about those touchdowns again? They were high. They were high. But that was Bruce Arians, one of the most aggressive play callers. I know Byron Lepp, which is calling plays, but one of the most aggressive coaches. He had, I think, 40-ish more pass attempts

than any other player last year. You know why? Because he's the actual offensive coordinator. He's the one that's calling play. Do you think Lefkowitz is going to overrule Tom Brady on anything? No. No, but it's a philosophy. I'm not drafting Kyle Rudolph because I think he's going to get 800 yards.

He'd have to catch like 600 passes to get 800 yards. I think he can get 8 or 10 touchdowns this year. Yeah. I just, the thing about Rudolph is, is, is he definitely the guy over Cameron break? That's what I want to see. I think this report kind of seals it. And I think the fact that they went out and got them.

Well, they need depth. I mean, I don't think they're going to go with two rookies behind Cameron break and say, okay, our tight end position solved. So, you know, once, once Gronk retired, you know, I know Greg Allman listed all the veteran tight ends who were available, Jared Cook, Rudolph, Evan Ingram, not Evan Ingram. What's the former Detroit guy that went to Pittsburgh?

Eric Ebron. Eric Ebron, the other double E. You know, and look, Rudolph makes a lot of sense because he's a good blocker. But, you know, we haven't seen him play at a very high level since 2016. And so can he step in without, you know, knowing the playbook, having the rapport with the quarterback and still be that guy remains to be seen. Yeah. I think Brady at QB 10, I'm in if it's like, yeah, no, he's closer to 10 than he is to

five for me for sure. Right. Okay. Uh, more news. Matthew Stafford is going to 5 for me, for sure. Right. Okay, more news. Matthew Stafford's going to be on a pitch count during training camp. He wasn't really throwing that much during the offseason. Any concerns about the Rams passing game right now? No.

I spent some time in isolation looking at Cooper Cup. Remember how maybe it was like two or three weeks ago I said that I wasn't sure if Cooper Cup is my wide receiver one? I'm sure of it. He is. And it's not going to be by a lot over Justin Jefferson or Jamar Chase. I think all three of them could end up being pretty close. But I still think that this offense is going to be pass-oriented.

The two years where they've thrown the ball 60% of the time under Sean McVay, Cooper Cupps had his best and second best targets per game of his career. And both were north of eight targets per game. Last year, of course, was over 11 targets per game. I think this offense will be good as far as passing goes. I'm still really concerned about what that run game will look like. Yeah, we're going to talk about Cam Akers. He's part of our rankings dispute.

So is Elijah Mitchell. And let's go over some players who are on the Pup List. By the way, it's July 25th. The first game of the season is Thursday, September 8th. The first Sunday of the season is September 11th. Thursday, September 8th is Bill's Rams. So that's just fantastic. There's a lot of time.

Even though training camp's open, there is a lot of time for these guys to get healthy and get right. There is no firm timeline on a decision about discipline for Alvin Kamara, according to ESPN. Great. Can we get it before we start drafting, please? You're going to find out a lot next Monday. Next Monday?

Yeah, the preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 1st. So what you're looking for there is if if they try and delay it again then that means they can't you know prosecute them until later right i'm sure that's what they're going to ask for there i think it was pro football talk that suggested that he plead guilty to whatever or you know accept the plea deal um I hope I'm saying this correctly. So I apologize. I'm not, but I thought that's what I read because otherwise this could bleed into 2023. And so he may get a, you know, whatever penalty may, you know, as long as no jail time, clearly, but that he doesn't have to delay this and could potentially lose a bigger portion of the season next year.

All right. Let's let's finish up here with the news and notes so we can get to the ranking disputes. Here are some noteworthy players who are going to be on the pup list or the non-football injury list, but not healthy for the start of camp, basically, can come off any time. Bill's left guard, Roger Saffold, he was in a car accident a few weeks ago, I believe. He's expected back for the start of the season.

Bill's cornerback, Tredavious White, one of the best cornerbacks in football when healthy. Colts linebacker, Darius Leonard, we know him. He's one of the best linebackers in football when healthy. He had off-season back surgery. He's starting camp on the pup list. Baltimore left tackle, Ronnie Stanley, and Packers left tackle, David Bakhtiari, who played one game last year, tore his ACL December 31st of 2020 and hasn't been right since. He's on the PUP list. So is Robert Tunyon and Christian Watson. Watson's definitely one we're going to want to keep an eye on.

You don't want a rookie wide receiver missing too much time. Detroit rookie wide receiver Jamison Williams, of course, on the NFI list, non-football injury, because it happened in college. It's considered a non-football injury. The Bengals, we were so excited about their offensive line. Two of the three guys they added are starting camp on the pup list. Guard Alex Kappa and right tackle Lyle Collins. Also backup running back Samaje Pirine for the Bengals on the pup list. So that's just a look at some noteworthy names,

but we're not going to overreact. There's so much time for them to come off the list. The Cardinals signed wide receiver Victor Bolden of the USFL. Does he matter? No. No. matter? No. No. Not for fantasy. And ESPN speculating that Pierre Strong could be an option,

rookie running back Pierre Strong, could be an option to replace James White, while White remains on the PUP list and have that very valuable role in the Patriots' offense. So something to keep an eye on there. We're going to take a break. Raheem Mostert tweeted he's officially something to keep an eye on there. We're going to take a break. Raheem Mostert tweeted he's officially cleared to go start camp.

Oh, okay. That's cool. Way to go. We're going to take a break. When we come back, Dave is low on Cam Akers. Jamie is low on Elijah Mitchell. Dave loves Marquise Brown. And more. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football today.

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For Dave, he is 28th in non PPR and 26th in full PPR. That is Cam Akers. I'll look up some ADP in a moment. But Jamie, I'll let you, well, you have him 17th. He's going 16th in NFC drafts since July 1st. And he is RB17 in PPR in Fantasy Pro's pros ADP so you've got him basically at ADP Dave much lower on acres why do you believe in Cam Akers as a number two running back I'm actually moving up a few spots um you know I I think the setup is is pretty clear uh Daryl

Henderson has never really materialized as a guy that they fully trust and right now he's the top backup Kieran Williams the guy that they drafted to maybe be a third down guy dealing with a broken foot. Who knows when he'll be ready? He's on the pup list. The fact that Akers was able to come back last year and get the workload that he has shows you the trust that Sean McVay has in him. And when I spoke to McVay at the owners meetings,

he pointed to the one game that I think you could say, okay, maybe this is an idea of what the floor could be for Cam Akers when he's right. And it was the Arizona game when he had over 90 total yards. He said the Twitch was starting to come back in that game. And we started to see the guy that we remember. And he says a big part of what we're going to do. And I think the off season kind of tells you that the real, that they really didn't go address the position that they allowed Sony Michelle to walk. And so I think Akers is in a great spot on one of the best offenses in football, one of the best play callers in football. And so I love the setup for him, the fact that it seems like he's all systems go.

Last year at this time, we were drafting him in the first round. You're getting potentially a first-round player at a bargain. And so I love the setup for Cam Akers this year, very excited about it. I need to see some reports and some video of him looking better than he did last year. And honestly, looking better than he did as a rookie, too. Because he wasn't as explosive as a rookie as we were hoping for. And I talked about those numbers a couple weeks ago on the show. If you want me to bring them up again, I will.

They were very, I thought they were great. I mean, really eye-opening. Which means that if he doesn't improve his efficiency, you have to hope that he is that world-class role. He was 125th in rush EPA in 2020. He had seven runs of 12-plus yards over 145 carries. That's an explosive rate below 5%. He was 84th in avoided tackles.

He had one fumble lost on six goal-to-go carries. He had one touchdown on six goal-to-go carries. 27 carries for zero or negative yards. About 20% of his carries in 2020. Big difference with that team, though, right? What's up? Big difference with that team, though, right? Quarterback.

Sure, but the numbers were slightly worse in 2021 with a better quarterback. Well, I mean, you're talking about his numbers when he came back? No, those numbers I just gave you were from 2020. You're saying his numbers were slightly worse in 2021? Right. Yeah. He came back from a corner kill. He hasn't played against those run defenses.

I think people can throw out 2021 if they want to. I think, you know, fair enough. I'd even throw out that Arizona game. As much as Sean McVay wants to say his twitch was bad, I mean, maybe it was, but he was horrible in that game. He had a 40-yard catch. There were plays throughout the playoffs where he had twitch, and there were plays, way more plays throughout the playoffs. I don't know. I trust the way

I look at it. I always look at what the offseason tells us, and the offseason tells us that they feel pretty comfortable in him. I think it's just, he doesn't have to be, I mean, do you agree with this premise though? He doesn't have to be a great running back to be RB I mean, do you agree with this premise, though? He doesn't have to be a great running back. A hundred percent. To be RB17, if he gets the workload that Daryl Henderson got last year. You know, if he's just the guy, you know, for the Rams,

then he's going to be a must-start guy. Jamie agrees with that. Jamie, what does the drafting of Kyron Williams tell you, as far as their offseason? Now, I know that Kyron Williams is not a feature back or one of the star rookies in the class. But the fact that they went out and they picked up a guy who was known as a passing downs back. Forget about the foot injury because he didn't really have that then. What does that tell you about the direction of where they want to go with their run game?

Oh, I mean, I think they needed depth. You know, that certainly was telling. You know, when you lose Michel and you saw what happened to him last year, this was a guy going into the draft process that, you know, certainly looked better than what happened to him coming out of the draft process. The combine was horrible for Karen Williams.

But, you know, again, I don't necessarily look at him as a feature guy. And so to add something that could potentially help their team, I think it was a smart move. Does it speak volumes to where they are of Cam Akers? Not really. But does he get the third down roll?

Because he is a third down back. He might. That would be a problem. If he had two feet, he might. If Kieran Williams was healthy, I wouldn't be as optimistic as I am on Cam Akers. Right. What do you think about this, Jamie?

This is a great point here from JJ. Dave just hates Akers because he went to Florida State. Is that what this is? No. I mean, I would have the same feeling if that was the case yeah we all hate Florida State over here my my tune changes as soon as there's video of him looking better than he did last year we it just it has to be proven first and I know we're not going to see him in a preseason game we're going to have to hear about it from the joint practices they have I just want to know more about his role because I always say this. I don't think anyone views Daryl Henderson as some phenomenal running back. He's fine.

But his first 10 games before his injury, he was the number 14 running back per game. And he did that on 14.2 carries per game. He was on pace for 46 catches. He didn't have an enormous workload. But it was enough. It was enough for him to be a consistent must-start running back. And I'm pretty sure his efficiency in 2021...

Well, I don't know if this is right to say. His efficiency in 2021 blew away what Akers was in 2020. I don't know if that's a fair comparison because the offenses were so different, but I think Henderson is a more explosive back than Akers. I don't know if we should move on, but I do feel like I have to bring up,

nobody really brings this up, but the Rams maybe lost more on the offensive line than any other team. Is that right? I mean, they lost their left tackle. I think they lost Austin Corbett. They lose one other player? They lost two or three starters,

including Andrew Whitworth, of course. So, Jamie, does that matter to you with the Rams? Not with this team, no. Okay. All right, then, let's go to our next one. It's Elijah Mitchell. So we just heard the report about RBBC, and that makes sense because no running back has gotten the work that Mitchell did.

He had five straight games, his last five games going into the playoffs anyway, 20-plus carries. That's just unheard of for a Niners running back, but he missed so much time. He missed six games in the regular season. So anyway, Jamie is lower on Mitchell at 26th in non-PPR, 28th in full PPR. Dave has him 21st. So, Dave, you can paint the optimistic picture for Elijah Mitchell.

It's just that he's a young running back who's already succeeded in this system. I think one of the big strikes against Mitchell is his health. The fact that he missed a bunch of time last year is a problem for him, but at least he's young. He showed that he can play in this system. The offensive line

getting worse does worry me a little bit. And I think Jamie touched on it. If you're going to draft Elijah Mitchell, you should make the commitment to also take Ty Davis Price. I think that that's going to be the next best running back as of now in San Francisco. And Davis Price is not like the typical running back that the 49ers have used in the past.

He's a physical grinder. And I wonder if he's going to be the complimentary piece with Elijah's the lead guy and Jeff Wilson backing up both by the time we get to the season and what does that mean for fantasy it probably means that Elijah Mitchell's going to need to surprise us as a pass catcher and find a lot of touchdown runs longer than three yards which I mean he did a lot of that last year I think he's a talented player. I kind of don't like where I have him in my rankings, but I don't like a lot of the running. It doesn't sound, it just doesn't sound like the, to me, the argument that I'm going to make for him being

at 21st is because I like him better than a lot of the other running backs behind him. But those running backs include cam makers and includes JK Dobbins and includes Travis ETN guys who can make an easy leap in front of them once it's clear that they're healthy and they look like they're normal again and at expectations again, playing at the expected level again. Okay. Jamie, let me just get you some Elijah Mitchell ADP. RB24 and Fantasy Pro's PPR is going 49th, 50th overall.

And RB25, but 63rd overall on NFC ADP. But what do you think? That's fine range, you know, if you want to take a shot on him. Dave mentioned this, you know, he has to stay healthy. He missed six games last year with a variety of injuries. And it almost seemed like it was just kind of the perfect storm because most of it wasn't there they didn't trust sermon sermon also got hurt late in the season so we don't know if he would have done anything a little bit more

when he was healthy they had debo to turn to um jeff wilson wasn't right now you have a healthy wilson um a potentially better sermon i was you know the one thing that i was kind of looking forward to prior to the nfl draft was Sherman getting a bigger opportunity to compete because I know where he spent his off season and I know he was working his butt off, looked in better shape and, you know, hopefully had an opportunity to prove himself. That probably is going to be a little bit tougher. I would actually like to see maybe the 49ers trade Trey Sherman. But in any event, you know, they draft a guy in Davis Price, who's a physical runner, who they may give some opportunities to in lieu of Elijah Mitchell in some of those cases.

We know he doesn't catch passes, and really the 49ers' history with their lead back has not necessarily been to throw the ball to them. The last guy that they had was a pass catcher was Carlos Hyde, the first year that Kyle Shanahan was there. But obviously history is not on his side. It's been five straight seasons with Kyle Shanahan as the head coach and five different lead rushers. And so that kind of tells you that they're not afraid to turn over the position and they're not afraid to go

with a guy that's not necessarily proven and that's kind of been their mo and so Elijah Mitchell is just the latest Mostert was a guy that traveled around the league Jeff Olson was a guy that traveled around the league and to get an opportunity um you know Carlos Hyde was you know kind of toward the end of his his run there with them when he was still successful. But that's the guy that they inherited. And so it's been a different guy. Matt Breida also. So it's been a different guy year after year after year.

But why? Why? Because they don't value running backs. No, because it's always injury. Right, and it's always injury for a guy that's missed six games. I get that, but I don't think we should paint the picture that they're just going to start a new guy just because it's always injuries for a guy that's missed six games. Yeah, I get that, but I don't think we should paint the picture that they're just going to start a new guy just because it's always been a different guy.

Oh, no, someone gets hurt. They never start a new guy. Raheem Oster was the guy to start week one, and he had two carries and then he got hurt. Yeah, what did he average? Ten yards per carry or something? Yeah, no, he was the start of the week in week one. I was very excited about that game.

But, look, I think Mitchell is the one you should draft first, you know, and hopefully he stays healthy and can reward people that draft him in the fifth round. But I'm not going to be that guy. You know, certainly in PPR, I'm not going to be that guy. I'll certainly take Travis Etienne over him. I'll take Cam Akers over him. You know, I don't know who else Dave has ranked ahead of him, but I'll probably take four or five guys more.

I just don't like the setup for Elijah Mitchell, along with the fact, which we haven't mentioned, the quarterback is going to run a lot more. Right. And so, you know, it could be not a recipe for disaster because it's such a great system. By the way, they also lost their run game coordinator, if that matters. Offensive line has changed, too.

And the offensive line is changing. So I think he's going to be good, but history suggests he won't be great again for the entire season. Okay. How about Elijah Mitchell or A.J. Dillon? Dillon's easy for me. I probably have Mitchell ranked ahead of Dillon. Okay.

And guess how many carries from inside the five-yard line Trey Lance had last year? In the three main appearances? In all of his games? He had over 40 carries, I think. But yes, in all of his games. I don't know if I remember one.

He had 38 carries. I'll say one. Yeah, one. He had one carry. He scored a one-yard touchdown run. I don't know if you remember that. That was against the Packers, I think, in week three. I don't know if that necessarily means anything. It's a quirky stat, but there's no way he's going to have one carry inside the five this year. Well, because he's going to play a lot more. And to be fair, Elijah did have a 25% target per route run rate from Trey Lance when they played. Small sample size, but Lance was looking for him.

And there's an efficiency spike that tends to happen for running backs when they play with a rushing quarterback because teams have defenses that have to account for both guys. So it's really, the bet on Mitchell is, you're betting on a young player staying healthy when he didn't stay healthy last year, when he got a great opportunity last year. Is the opportunity as good this year?

It's eh. It's just eh. Okay. All right, let's move on. Let's go to Mark. Here's a line from this real quick because I found it. Matt Mayoco, who covers the 49ers for NBC Sports, one of their better beat writers.

Yeah, he's been doing it forever. The influx of young running backs over the past two drafts makes for what should be interesting competition at running back as Coach Kyle Shanahan appears determined to deploy more of a running backs over the past two drafts makes for what should be interesting competition at running back. As coach Kyle Shanahan appears determined to deploy more of a running backs by committee approach. Yeah, I'm all on board with taking multiple 49ers running backs. And the two that I want are Mitchell and TDP. Why not Jeff Wilson, though? Because the report last week was that Jeff Wilson, as of right now, would be the number two guy.

Sure. If he ends up as the number two guy, he's a terrific lay running player. Okay, let's talk about Marquise Brown. Number 21 for Jamie in non-PPR. Number 22 in full PPR. Dave's five spots higher. 16th in non-PPR, 17th in full PPR. It looks like a huge difference in the rankings,

but you are talking about very good players that Dave is taking Marquise Brown over and Jamie is not. So for example, Dave has Marquise Brown ahead of Alan Robinson, Jalen Waddle, Terry McLaurin, and DK Metcalf. Jamie has him ahead of only Metcalf in that group. McLaurin, Waddle, Alan Robinson are all ahead of Marquise Brown. Jamie, you still like Marquise Brown. I'm not going to paint the picture. Otherwise, you have him 22nd, but not quite as high on. You know, I think I should probably let Dave go first since you are higher than the industry, I guess.

You're probably going to be one of the higher guys on Marquise Brown as of right now, so take it away. He's going to an offense that's going to throw a lot more than the previous offense that he was in, and he's got a better quarterback now than what he had before in terms of just accuracy and throwing downfield. And for the first six weeks of the season, he's going to be the top target getter.

He's been used to getting a lot of targets. I don't have the number in front of me right now. I need to get it. But I think it's in the neighborhood of like 29 of 45 games where he's had eight-plus targets, which is kind of crazy when you think about it because you don't think about him as a high-target guy. But I think he's going to end up being a pretty decent target guy for Arizona.

And I think it's going to carry on past the first six games of the season. We saw last year from Hopkins, not as explosive as a receiver and more of a red zone guy. Brown is explosive. And I think they're going to be smart enough to use him on all three levels of the passing game. It's not going to be just a bunch of deep balls. He'll be used in a much smarter way in Arizona. He'll get a lot of targets and he's going to score a lot of touchdowns. So I'm, I'm very excited about the upside for Marquise Brown. Go ahead, Jamie. Dave's slightly ahead of ADP, and Jamie's slightly behind in ADP. It looks like he's going somewhere around wide receiver 19,

so you're not too far off. Yeah, I don't disagree with what Dave said for the first six weeks, but it's that week seven on that's the mystery because while he should be the target leader, and I think it's a little bit of a slight to Lamar Jackson to say he's going to a quarterback upgrade. But while he should be the target leader, this is going to be the most crowded receiving core he's ever played with

from a talent standpoint, because Zachary can still play the Andre Hopkins. We're going to find out if he can still play, but I'm going to bet that he's still probably at a better level than anybody that Marquis Brown from a receiver standpoint, share the field with. They're talking about getting Rondell more involved. That's a mystery, but we'll see.

A.J. Green is still there for what it's worth. And then you have what they like to do with their running backs out of the backfield. So I think for the first six weeks, Marquise Brown is going to be phenomenal. And then what happens? And that's just the concern. So could he still be the target leader? Could he still be as productive as he will be in those first six weeks from week seven on, which is the majority of the season? I don't know. I just don't know. You know, and we know that Hopkins, while he

may not be the same type of player, he certainly was last year as a red zone threat. And then Zach Gertz was a pretty significant part of this offense. And then, you know, Dave, you kind of alluded to this with your Kyler Murray thought, what happens if Murray gets hurt again, and then we're relying on a backup quarterback there. So, um, I think Marquise Brown's a very good number two receiver, but I will take those guys that you listed that,

uh, are, are different than our rankings ahead of them because of their season long potential, as opposed to the first six weeks potential. I'm going to call a little bit of an audible here. I was going to bring up some tight ends and maybe we'll have time, but your, your rankings of little bit of an audible here. I was going to bring up some tight ends and maybe we'll have time, but your,

your rankings of Alan Robinson really jump out here. So that's the next guy I want to talk about because Jamie, you've got him 16th. Dave, you have an 18th on fantasy pros. Alan Robinson is wide receiver 28 and he is wide receiver 22 in NFC drafting going 48th overall fantasy pros. He's going 48th overall. Fantasy pros, he's going 69th overall.

So it is possible that general public will not be as high on Allen Robinson as the people who do rankings or the people who play high stakes fantasy. And I guess I'll just take their side. He was so bad last year. That's why. That's why. That's why the ADP is what it is. And he's not, he has not been

an explosive wide receiver since he tore his ACL early in his career. He had a 1,400-yard year as a sophomore, looked like one of the best emerging young wide receivers, has never been the same.

What he's been, Allen Robinson, is a high target guy, you know, very reliable, clear cut number one guy and had never had any serious competition. So we know he's not going to be that,

obviously. But I guess just to sum it up very shortly, very quickly, if Allen Robinson doesn't catch a lot of touchdowns, I think the general public is going to be, I think the people who are low on Allen Robinson are going to be right. And the people who have him as a top 20 wide receiver are going to be wrong.

I think he's going to be touchdown dependent because he's not a playmaker and he's not going to get a ton of targets like he did in Chicago. His ADP would be in the toilet if he was still in Chicago because that's a team that's not going to score a lot of touchdowns. But I think the L.A. Rams are going to score a lot of touchdowns this year. And I think the Rams, I already talked about it, are going to throw the ball a lot. And I mentioned this a number of times during the offseason. If you take the target volume of the next best receiver in L.A., basically the receiver not named Cooper Cup from week to week. You're talking about a receiver that cumulatively

gets 127 targets over 17 games. Right, but can you really do that, though? That could be a different guy every week, sure. Who are the guys now? It's Allen Robinson, it's Van Jefferson, and it's Tutu Atwell. Eventually, it'll be Beckham, it seems.

It seems that way. When that happens, that'll probably be like... That could be November. Right. Yeah, but that's still the second half of the season could be a thorn in the side to Allen Robinson. That could be in the fantasy playoffs. So I'm still going to draft Robinson

on the upside of him being in single coverage a lot of the time in an offense that's going to throw 60 of the time and definitely loves to throw in the red zone and he you're right he's not an explosive receiver his speed is solid at best but i watched his film again part of the isolation work that i did he gets open with his footwork still he's got great feet and he's got great size so he's winning in two of the three ways that receivers can get open in the NFL and in an offense this strong, I can't resist him.

I think he has 10 touchdown upside. They see so much zone and it's going to allow him to just be open in space. All the time. John McVay is going to get him open in space. Matthew Stafford is the best quarterback. I mean, you can't overlook that. He's played with such crap. This is the best quarterback that he's ever played with in his career.

Yes, Beckham could return. So, you know, I can't sit here and say that I'm worried about Marquise Brown knowing that there's a week seven appearance coming from probably a superior player, if he's right, in DeAndre Hopkins. I don't know if Beckham's a superior player than Robinson, but he certainly was a big part of this offense. But as good as Cooper cup was last year, the combination of what Robert Woods and Odell Beckham did over the course of

the season, just as the second guy. And it's really unfair to say Beckham was that in the role that he played because he was thrown into this and asked to play a significant role because remember he was expected to be the third guy. Robert Woods tore his ACL two days after they traded for Odell Beckham. Yeah. Now,

now let me ask you this, Adam, as playing the role of drafting Allen Robinson. All things taken into account. That's on the table, but what if this was Robert Woods coming back from an ACL tear, still in this role? Where do you think he would get drafted as the number two receiver for the Rams, knowing his history with this team? I'm not saying what you

think of him, just where would he get drafted? No, but it's a tough question because he always has these rushing totals that boost his fantasy value. I'm just saying, you think of him. Just where would he get drafted? No, but it's a tough question because he always has these rushing totals that boost his fantasy value. So if you told me... Forget about the semantics of it. Where are you drafting Robert Woods? Round five. But if you told me Robert Woods with no rushing, because I don't think Alan Robinson... I'm not telling you anything.

But that's the thing. I'm just... I just want the name. Just his receiving. Round five with the rushing. Round six without it. Fine. Okay. But just healthy Robert Woods off the ACL tear. He's back as the number two guy, round five. And where's Robinson's ADP? Late four. Depends.

I mean, on Fantasy Pros, it's 69th overall. It's round six. On NFC, it's 48th. So it's the end of round four. Now let me ask you the same question. Healthy Odell Beckham. He didn't tear his ACL in the Super Bowl. He's the number two guy. Where did you draft him?

Six. I was much less impressed with Beckham than you were, but Beckham basically was exactly what I'm saying. He caught a lot of touchdowns. But he was also building towards something. I think we saw that in the playoffs of the Super Bowl. Did we? The Super Bowl, he took his role and the routes

he was running. Maybe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, look, round six is a slam dunk, but round four,

it's going to be a tough call for people. I think obviously round five will be a tough call for people too. It's all a matter of what your perception of A,

the Rams offense is, which I think is, that's how I'm approaching it, and the car wash he's going through, and B, Alan Robinson and what happened to him last year. You know, so Rams offenses, which I think is, that's how I'm approaching it, and the car wash he's going through, and B, Allen Robinson and what happened to him last year. So it's whatever side you're on. The most fun debate is, because of obviously the connection,

is Allen Robinson versus Darnell Mooney. And where do you guys come out on that? Robinson. Robinson. I'll always lean quarterback. Mooney is four spots behind Robinson in NFC, and on Fantasy Pros, Mooney is wide receiver 25 and Robinson is wide receiver 28.

So they're just flip-flop there. Mooney's got a lot of targets. That's the nice thing about him. Right. You hope so. I want to read some emails. FantasyFootball at CBSi.com. This one comes from JP from a town in the UP.

Dave, UP. Many times in the middle of the night. Is Ypsilanti? Sure, why not? Dear Chuck, Robert, Chester, and Adrian. Vikings running backs. I'm in a 10-team half PPR league. Two running backs, three receivers,

one flex, and one keeper. I have the first overall pick, and I'll be taking Christian McCaffrey, and I'm also keeping Justin Jefferson with my second round pick. So he's got the first pick of round three. I'm not in love with the players that I'm expecting to be available at my two, three-turn pick, which is Higgins, Evans, Keenan Allen, James Conner. I'm not in love with them. I'm considering taking Josh Allen

and locking in the top quarterback to go with McCaffrey and Jefferson. What do you think about that? How likely is Josh Allen to be the top quarterback? How big is the gap versus locking in a solid wide receiver two? What do you do if you're there? 12 team league?

10. 10 and it's half PPR. But it's three receivers. You want difference makers, and obviously Allen's a huge difference maker. So I don't hate it. I would take Evans personally, just based on his upside, especially if Godwin's not 100% ready to go. But if you want to lock up, the best quarterback is clearly depth.

It's obviously going to be a lot of players in the position, so you may regret it by the end of the year if Allen is not one. But if you're concerned and you don't love anybody, it's hard not to love Josh Allen. So he's going to be an edge, whether he's a significant edge over Mahomes or Herbert, whoever you have number two, that remains to be seen. But, you know, don't,

don't take somebody you don't like, you know, you have a lot of great options there. Don't take somebody. Adam, can you give me a list of some of the receivers that you might find at 40th overall? Sure. There are keepers involved though. Yeah. Just give me six names.

Okay. 40th overall pit man, Deontay, Waddle, McLaurin, DJ Moore, maybe. Metcalf robinson yeah if if you think the receivers that you named higgins evans keenan allen aren't that far off from the receivers that adam just named you should take josh allen and then you can find a receiver a comparable receiver yeah tier down in round. That's in the same tier for me. Yeah, they're pretty close for me too. But that's assuming that Pittman makes it back to you and that he's available.

Because it's a 10-team league and because it's half PPR, I don't mind taking Josh Allen there. Next email is from Mike Sanford. Long-time listener, first-time messenger. Cool. Yeah. Two-keeper, first-time messenger. Cool. Two-keeper, no-penalty league. And I'm keeping McCaffrey.

I'm trading away Kamara. Oh, I traded away Kamara last year for the first overall pick. And I have the second pick. Wow. So it is a two-quarterback league. He has picks one and two, and he's keeping McCaffrey. Now he needs two from this group. Chase, Adams, Burrow, Kyler, Hurts, and Mixon. He's got the first two picks.

Kyler and Burrow, it's not close. But you like Hurts better than Kyler. Oh, I'm sorry. Hurts is there? I would go Hurts and Kyler. Yep. Super flex league, that's easy. And yeah, McCaffrey, that's a huge win.

2QB league, yeah. And he's still, wait, so are these the players he's taking with the picks? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He didn't tell me who he's keeping. Well, he's keeping McCaffrey. Other than that, he's keeping two players, but forgetting about that,

he's keeping McCaffrey. He's got the first two picks. Unless he has, you know, Allen or, you know, one of the top tier guys that are ranked ahead of Hertz or Kyler, then maybe you take one of those quarterbacks and chase. But my God, to get those two QBs or two of those QBs,

I tend to agree. I think it's going to be some combination of Kyler, Hertz, and Chase. All right. Yeah, I would take Kyler ahead of Chase too if you don't have a quarterback. Chase. All right. If the, if the, if it's, if you don't quarterback. All right,

let me go to the next one. This is from a person who eats lunch at 1130. Good for you. Our league is moving from, uh, one flex. It's one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers,

tight end, and a flex kind of normal league to having two flexes. How does this change your general approach first of all i love it i think two flexes is a move that more leagues should make but it doesn't really change my approach that much i'm still gonna draft a lot of great players and then just the best two guys on my bench are gonna be my flex each week okay yeah i'm not i don't change anything this is i don't it's it's not like i'm gonna prioritize tight ends more because i can start i have more flexibility to use two tight

ends from week to week maybe i think about that toward the end of the draft yeah but i don't know like i'm gonna take i'm not gonna plan on taking kelsey and with the top 15 pick and then dalton schultz in round six? Right. You're not going to want to flex a tight end. I'm of the belief that— But you could if it works out that way. You're not going to want to flex a tight end.

Like, you're not going to want to, right? If it works out, then fine, but you're not going to seek that out. Okay, how about this? You're in a one-flex league. You take Kelsey in round one. Darren Waller's there in round five. Or Kittle's there in round five or kittles there in round five i don't think it's that scenario i think it's the finding the dalton schultz off

waivers that ends up being a weekly starter that that's how you sure but you might be more open to taking a tight end at a steel value if you've already had one if you have two flex spots to fill each week yeah i don't know those guys in round five is the steel value the history of tight end just scares me too much that, you know, I'd rather take all those wide receivers that we just talked about over those tight ends. They're only going in round five. They're only going around four or five because they're tight ends. Well, that's not a hundred percent true, but all right.

Well, anyway, let's move on from Pete in a barely radio legal Madison suburb. I don't even really know what that means. He's from Fitchburg. Dear Alan, Carl, Jim, and Gary. Alan, Carl, Jim, and Gary. Those are Vikings. Yeah, hint PPE, which would be the Purple People Eaters. We've got a lot of Vikings fans on the show.

Even though you hate Minnesota. I hate Minnesota? I love Minnesota. You said that once upon a time. You hate Minnesota maybe you maybe said that i said that about australia i never said that did the twins beat the yankees at something that that is actually hilarious because the twins never beat the yankees they they the yankees have eliminated the twins in so many post seasons uh it's amazing uh, can someone please explain to me the seemingly outrageous average draft position of Javante Williams? This man is on a team that just invested a lot in a quarterback,

has three separate breakout receiver candidates, is a committee with a known running back with a better pedigree. He's younger. He's very talented. But what about the offense says to you that it can sustain a non workhorse running back? And what about Javante's career so far in situations that just, you should invest a second round pick in him.

I agree. If Melvin Gordon stays healthy, the people that are drafting Javante Williams in the spot that they are are going to be really disappointed. But if Melvin Gordon gets hurt and misses any time, my God, Javante Williams is going to reward you in such a huge way. So it's really, you're banking on an injury for a guy

that doesn't always get injured. So it's a little tough. I think if everybody stays healthy, he's probably more of a round four pick because I do think he's going to lead the team in carries on a team that's going to be better. By how much? That's the question. I think it will be probably a 60-40 split. I think they want Javante to sort of take over the job. But will he and will Melvin Gordon allow him to?

That's the question. All right, last email comes from Adam from The Gateway. And he says, Dear Rick, Arne, Tully, and Ollie. Those are Oli. Those are horsemen. Okay. I'm in a full PPR keeper league.

I'm keeping Jonathan Taylor, Derek Henry, and Justin Jefferson. I think Mike Evans may have a shot at the touchdown record, but with Derek Henry being older and injury concerned, should I take one of Kyle Pitts, Brees Hall,

or Javante Williams? Okay, so he's keeping Jonathan Taylor, Derek Henry, and Justin Jefferson. He wants to know if he should take Mike Evans or Brees Hall,

Javante Williams, or Kyle Pitts. Who would you guys take? Evans. Yeah. Okay, Evans. Yeah, I'm thinking Evans too. The only consideration that I'm leaning towards is Pitts because you could keep him forever.

And so you throw back Mike Evans and you keep Pitts. I think that's what I would do. Because how many more years does Evans have? Your team is so good. No, no, this is drafting, not keeping. So he's keeping those three players, I think. So these are the players that are going to be available? Maybe I'm wrong.

You could still take Pitts and keep him next year. You'd just have to throw back probably Henry. I don't know. I don't know what it is. All right, well, there you go. Evans is going to be better this year, but if you're trying to find somebody who can be great for your fantasy team year after year after year, it's Pitts.

All right. Pitts is the pick, hoping that he can be that guy. Dinesh says, in a blanket, Evans. That's not the one I was. This is the one. In a blanket, Evans. Yes, let's bring back in a blanket. I'm getting a call from New Mexico.

Should I see who it is? Yeah, it's about your extended warranty. Hey, this is Dave. It's somebody who wants to ask me questions about the 2022 midterms. Oh, okay. We're definitely going to hang up on that. All right. We're the 2022 midterms. Oh, okay. We can definitely hang up on that. All right. We're out of here, everybody.

Thanks so much. Tomorrow, we'll talk about some players who could be risers during training camp. We'll keep reading your emails at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. For Dave and Jamie, I'm Adam. Good to have Dave back. See ya.