Fantasy Football Today - Rookie QB Profiles; WR Research; Fill in the Blank (04/02 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: April 2, 2020

Big show today as we look ahead to the NFL Draft and discuss what to look for when you're trying to find the next Calvin Ridley or Michael Gallup. First, let's review some news and notes (2:00). We talk about the new NFL postseason format and some noteworthy quotes about Tom Brady and Drew Brees ... Is Tyrod Taylor basically just Josh Allen with less hype (6:45)? We discuss! Then we give you a scouting report on the Top 5 or 6 QBs in the NFL Draft (11:15). You know about Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa, but who else has big Fantasy upside? ... Some interesting research on what it takes for an NFL team to produce two Top 24 Fantasy WRs (30:18). What lessons can we learn as we go into 2020? And we play a round of Fill in the Blank (40:22)! Who will be the biggest bust in 2020? What is A.J. Brown's floor? Which sophomore WR will be the first to have 100 catches? ... Your emails at [e-mail] and tweet us with #AskFFT '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, @YardsPerGretch, @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 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

This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Here we go! Email us at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Here we go! It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Let's go! Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. Thursday, April 2nd. What's going on, everybody?

Welcome back to Fantasy Football Today. Fun show today. We got your fill-in-the-blanks later, including one from Jamie about me, which is very rude. But we'll read that later with your fill-in-the-blanks. We got your email. I was just curious. It was, you know, you'd be surprised, Jamie. And you know what? The answer to the question, you're very much involved in it. So, yeah. So think about that. Yeah.

What is this? Jamie has a fill in the blank about my showering frequency. And all I'm going to say is that Jamie is sort of dictating how often I shower. That's a hell of a word. You could... All right. You nailed the start of this podcast. Also going to talk about quarterback prospects. Ben Gretsch is also here.

We'll get to talk about Jacob Eason, who he's been watching because he's a Washington fan. And did you know that our producer, Ben Schrager, doesn't even know who Jonathan Taylor Thomas is? He knows Jonathan Taylor is, but he has no idea who JTT is. Does that just blow your mind? He doesn't know a lot of things that we know because he's like 30 years younger than we are. He's so young. Ben Gretsch, do you know who Jonathan Taylor Thomas is?

I do, but he was popular when I was really young, and I'm still a little bit older than Schrager, so it doesn't blow my mind at all that he hasn't heard of this random, obscure child older than Schrager, so it doesn't blow my mind at all that he hasn't heard of this random, obscure child actor. You're a lot... Schrager's 23, I think. We're a lot older than him.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm almost twice as old as Ben. That's crazy. Wow. All right, so we're also going to compare Tyrod Taylor to Josh Allen. So let's get to some news and notes.

Ben was three years old when I started working at CBS. That's really funny, actually. Oh, my God. You're a lifer. Yeah. It's a blessing. The postseason is going to be expanded to 14 teams officially for this year. How do we feel about that, guys?

When I started at CBS, there wasn't even a postseason. They just had the two teams play, and that was it. That was the postseason. That's how old I've been with CBS. Dave, come to the Ice Bowl. I mean, at first, I kind of hated it. I don't really like the idea of only one team getting a bye, but I realized for DFS purposes, rather than a weekend four-game slate,

we're going to get these daily three-game slates that are going to be very similar to Thanksgiving, which is always one of my favorite slates. So, yeah, DFS is going to be fun in the playoffs next year. There'll be a lot more fantasy playoff leagues. Yeah. Yeah, I don't mind it. I think it's fun.

It is a huge advantage to have a bye. I don't know if you guys know the stat, but I think every participant of the last three Super Bowls or something like that has had a bye. Maybe even more. The number one and two seeds are heavily, heavily favored, I guess, to go to the Super Bowl. And the two seeds losing the bye. So it's a big

deal. But hey, I like more teams being in the playoffs. I think it's been good for baseball. Probably could shorten it in basketball, but we're not quite there yet with football. Alright, Dallas signed Alden Smith, a name from the past. He was a terrific pass rusher, but he's been out of the league for

a while. Houston signed defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan. Seattle signed defensive end Benson Maioa. And then we have some quarterback news. Got a question about Tyrod Taylor coming up, but Anthony Lynn said he's in the driver's seat to be the starting quarterback, but nothing's finalized yet. Here's what Frank Reich said about

Tom Brady. He said he evaluated all the free agent quarterbacks. I did tell you that... This is Frank Reich for the Colts. I did tell you that we did look at all the guys, and I will tell you that I looked at Brady's tape. The guy is incredible. I mean, I watched all of his tape from the last two years. I think he's still playing at a super, super high level. We know he's the best of all time for a reason with as many championships as he's won. I mean, he still threw a couple balls in games. I'm saying, how is this guy throwing the ball this far?

He's incredible. So that's what Frank Reich said about Tom Brady. They ultimately went with Philip Rivers, thought it was a better fit for their offense. But do you make anything of this quote? Or do you think it was just a nice thing to say? This guy is just an incredible passer. Let's take the one that threw an interception

like every 10 pass attempts last year instead for the same price. I mean, it means probably Brady didn't want to go there. Maybe. Yeah, probably. He also was very praiseworthy of Rivers. I mean, he said he watched all the games, Brady didn't want to go there. Maybe. Yeah, probably. He also was very praiseworthy of Rivers. I mean, you know, he said he watched all the games, that he still has something left,

or whatever he said, however he phrased it. It probably wasn't as effusive as what he said about Brady. All right, just want to throw that out there. Do you think he watched every snap of Jameis Winston last year? Probably not. I hope he did. Maybe. Yeah, you know what? I bet he did. I hope he did. Yeah, you know what? I bet he did.

I bet he did. He didn't comment on that, did he? I don't think he was asked. Then Sean Payton said this, quote, The unique situation with our team and with our quarterback, Drew Brees, is he's announced he's coming back for his final season, end quote. And then he was like, just kidding. So he may have spilled the beans on drew

breeze's future meanwhile jared stidham appears to have the inside track on the patriots starting quarterback job according to the athletic and also the athletic ed bouchette steelers writer he predicts that the steelers will not re-sign juju sm-Schuster after this season. Ben, what do you think about that? I don't think it's crazy. I mean, his logic was that Juju sees his value a little higher than the Steelers do right now because of last season, essentially, that Juju still is going to want a big contract and the Steelers are going to have a hard time committing because of what happened last year. So I don't think it's a weird prediction right now. I mean, I think if juju

goes out and does what i think he'll do and have a really big bounce back season that whole conversation is going to change and seattle released ed dixon clear up the tight end log jam that brings us to our email of the day do you guys remember cooper doug from last year he had our email of the year so i don't i don't remember what his name is i think it's doug and i called him cooper or maybe it's cooper and i called him doug but he's cooper doug in sin city last year he wrote an email about christian mccaffrey and how mccaffrey was so much better after cam newton got hurt after cam newton stopped running this was in 2018 after he couldn't throw the ball downfield you. He hurt his shoulder

and he speculated that McCaffrey wouldn't be nearly as good in 2019 with a healthy Cam Newton. And he got you hook, line, and sinker. He ruined fantasy for me. Cooper Doug ruined my year because I did not want Christian McCaffrey because I bought into his theory. We didn't get to test

it. We didn't have a healthy Cam Newton. But here we go. Here's another one from CooperDoug. Dear Joe, Carol, John, Howard, and Bhagavan. Tiger King? Tiger King. How'd you know that? Because I watched it. You did? Yeah, I watched it.

What do I have to do? I'm at home all day long. I don't know. You never watch the things that I anticipate you watch. Did you finish yet? No, I'm still on episode two. Come on. Did you watch the whole thing, Ben? Yeah, it was wild.

Oh my God, it's amazing. Does it get better? Does it get better? It's not that good so far. Oh, you're an idiot. Keep watching. Okay. All right, the email says, why are we

viewing Tyrod Taylor differently from Josh Allen? I'm going to feed you to a tiger. Taylor has a higher completion percentage in his career, higher yards per attempt, the Bills have a better defense, which works against Josh Allen in theory, career

touchdown percentage higher for Taylor, career interception percentage lower for Tyrod Taylor. Rush attempts per game. Allen 7.1, Taylor 6.43 in the three years that he was a starter. That's all that Cooper Doug used, 2015, 16, 17. The Chargers threw the ball four more times per game than the Bills. Taylor has a much higher passer rating in his career. Taylor has better skill players around him. And yet Josh Allen is ranked in the top eight at quarterback and Tyrod Taylor is not even in the top 24. It's just job security.

Well, his C says... Yeah, that's the biggest thing. Well, Cooper Doug says, I get that the Chargers are going to probably draft a quarterback and Tyrod might not be the starter for 16 games, but how is he not a top eight or higher quarterback while he is the starter? Well, he probably is,

but you're not going to be able to draft him and know that he can be your starter all season. I think he's a fine late round pick, but yeah, I mean, I don't disagree with the thrust of the email, which is you could draft him late. He'll be good as long as he's a starter and then you can stream quarterbacks.

I think that's a very viable strategy this year. I think Tyrod should be on more people's maps for that reason, but if you're in a best ball league, you don't want to draft him necessarily because you don't know he's going to be starting after week six. You would like to see them draft probably Tua if you're in the Tyrod Taylor camp,

just in case he gets handled with kid gloves and can't start the majority of the season. But top eight, I mean, I don't see him being top eight. Obviously, it could happen. Anything could happen. Well, four points for passing touchdowns, he could. Yeah, maybe.

He had a really good season, I guess, for fantasy. That one year, Sammy Watkins was healthy, and Sammy Watkins was good. But obviously, he's the best talent he's ever had around him. Yeah, for sure. We're also projecting more growth for Josh Allen. I don't think Tyrod Taylor is getting better as a player at this point. Yeah, I don't think you necessarily have to compare.

I know that's the gist of the email, but Taylor can be serviceable. I think Ben said it best. Best ball leagues, you're hoping that he plays 10-plus games, and then you're in such a great situation because he should be good in those 10-plus games. He may not be great, but he should be good. But nobody's drafting him, right? I mean, we haven't put this practice into motion.

Has he been drafted in our... He was drafted in one league, which was our Superflex League, and that's where he should have been drafted. I mean, again, you're talking to a group of people that typically are going to draft one quarterback, and that's not factoring in. We haven't done the rookies yet. Okay. Well, I guess the takeaway here is that

Tyrod Taylor can be a good quarterback for you that might go undrafted or be your last pick while he's healthy, and then you figure it out while he's playing rather, and then you figure it out after. If you're working from home this week ask Alexa or your Google home to play fantasy football today start and stop

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All season long, free agency news, rankings, editorial pieces, prospect profiles, and more, cbssports.com slash newsletters. And let's get to know the quarterback prospects, guys. All right, we know Joe Burrow is almost a lock to go number one, but we have write-ups on these guys. Dave, I know you looked at at least the top four. We're going to ask, well, everybody's going to talk about these guys, but you'll give the scouting reports on Burrow, Tua, Jordan Love,

and Justin Herbert, and Ben will chime in on Jacob Eason. We'll also talk about Jalen Hurts. But let's start with Joe Burrow. What do we need to know about him? I mean, 60 touchdowns, 5,671 passing yards by comparison. In 2018, Tua Tagovailoa threw for about 4,000 passing yards. Burrow had almost 1,700 more in 2019 than Tua had in 2018, and 60 passing touchdowns.

I mean, that is ridiculous. So what do we need to know about Joe Burrow? So he was a big-time high school prospect in Ohio. He went to Ohio State when he was ready to compete with Dwayne Haskins for the starting job. He broke his hand. That cost him the opportunity. He said, nuts to this. I'm better than Haskins.

I'm leaving. And he transferred to LSU. Started at LSU in 2018, and was very mediocre. But they started to change the offense around late in 2018. And Burrow seems to prefer playing with a spread offense, not the pro-style stuff that you're used to. So five offensive linemen, four to five offensive players running a route. And the fifth player would either be a running back who's helping to block or he's out there running a route. He finds the mismatch early on and he

makes the pass. He really gravitated toward that offense in 2019. Those are the, when he put up the huge numbers, went undefeated, won the national championship. And the thing that just is so striking about him is he's got Tom Brady like footwork. And I don't, I'm not trying to be bombastic. I've run the idea past people who I trust who watch film and they agree. Like he just, he maneuvers the pocket perfectly when he throws it's effortless. Um, he's got great accuracy. He's smart with the football. Um, he's got good mobility. He can run a little bit. It's not going to be more than maybe what Carson Wentz would run for in a season, but just an awesome arm. If there's one thing lacking to his game, it's just arm strength. Can he push the ball

50 plus yards downfield? That seems to be an issue. Occ he gets greedy and he'll he'll throw into a tight window but sometimes the results are good like he'll pass up an open receiver five to ten yards in front of him to go for another receiver who's open 15 yards in front of him um i think he's the best quarterback prospect since andrew luck has come He was also, then this is just one more thing, he was helped by the receivers that he played with at LSU. Jamar Chase is going to be amazing when he comes out. Justin Jefferson is already being considered an NFL-ready slot receiver with the potential to be a number one guy. Those two guys made plenty of plays after the catch, but Burrow had to get them the ball, and there were lots of times when the pressure was coming, the pocket was collapsing.

He didn't freak out. He didn't go into the fetal position. He stood tall and he delivered a strike even though college defenders were coming to eat his lunch. Like I said, he is the best quarterback I've seen come out of college since Andrew Luck. I'm not going to say he's as good of a sure thing as Andrew Luck. When Luck came out, I was sold. I loved him. But I do think Burrow is worth a late first-round pick in these rookie-only drafts.

I know we've got one coming up soon, and I've got a late first-round pick. And if he's there and no one else slips, I'm going to take him. I think that he's got a nice long future in the NFL. Anyone disagree? Anyone not see a stud, star potential here for Burrow? Okay. So anybody drafting him in a redraft league? I think you can take a late round pick on him i would

just say that to emphasize what dave said the short and intermediate accuracy is really strong and that to me is the most important trait with a quarterback like accuracy it's a hard thing to measure but you need to be accurate to win it you know to be a productive quarterback at the nfl level and he has that so he could be good right away, in my opinion. I agree, especially when you consider what the Bengals have at receiver. We're assuming that A.J. Green comes back. If he's there, you've got John Ross downfield, blowing the top off the defense. Tyler Boyd has proven to be a good slot receiver. Mixon can catch the ball out of the backfield.

There's talent there. And Burrow, the offensive line will be better too. Jonah Williams didn't play last year. He's going to be their starting left tackle. There's a real opportunity for Burrow to be one of the final 15 quarterbacks in fantasy points overall this year, if not top 12. And then the Bengals' defense is starting to fall apart. So it's almost like maybe not as good of a storm as what's going on in Carolina, but a pretty good storm nonetheless for Cincinnati and for Burrow. So how does

Tua Tagovailoa out of Alabama compare to Joe Burrow? And we should say, going into the 2019 college football season, Tua was the guy. And Burrow had a fairly surprising Heisman Trophy season. He was not the type of prospect that Tua Tagovailoa was. So what do you think, Dave? Give us a scouting report on Tua. So Tua was also a big-time high school player in Hawaii,

and he got recruited everywhere. He chose Alabama. And everybody knows the story because we all watched it where he came in in the second half of the national championship game a few years ago and won the game for Alabama and just took over. And yeah, he's a little bit smaller than Burrow, but he's got bigger hands than Burrow, but he's just as accurate. He's got a stronger arm. His release is great. I love it. I know some people say that it's a bad thing, but I think it's just a fast, compact release.

He's got very good footwork, good pocket movement, just like Burrow. The things that stand out to me, the one thing is standing out to everybody, and that's the health. Can he stay healthy? The hip injury was ridiculously um uh yeah it was it was it was just something gruesome i don't know if it's a it was gruesome i don't want to say i guess it was fluky it's just the best way to put it because you don't see an injury like that in football very very often um gruesome would definitely fit the bill is he going to recover from that but he's also dealt with other injuries in his past. Does that mean he's injury prone? Will his 16 game seasons be few and far between?

Don't know about that. Don't know if teams are going to be as worried about that considering the upside that he has. The other thing that I saw when I watched him, and this is something that people have disagreed with me on, is that it feels like he had a lot of predetermined reads, meaning he'll scan the defense pre-snap and he knows where he's going with the football by the time he snaps it. And sometimes that leads to good numbers. And he certainly got helped out by the receivers that he had. He had a better receiving core than Burrow had at LSU. Judy, you guys know about him. Henry Ruggs is just an unbelievable speedster they've got another guy Devante Smith I think is his last name who is going to be another an incredible receiver when he makes it to the NFL he was playing more often than Ruggs was I I think that those guys bailed

him out a decent amount of times but I I wonder how he is when a play breaks down it feels like he um maybe not he doesn't read defenses quite as well after the snap. So if defenses in the NFL change the way that they're scheming up on him pre-snap to post-snap, that could fool him a little bit. That's something that worries me. I also thought he locked on to Jerry Judy quite a bit when he was playing at Alabama. So those are the only things. They're nitpicky things. It doesn't mean that he's not

worthy of being the second or third overall pick in the NFL draft. It doesn't mean that he's not worthy of being a late first round pick in a rookie only draft. But it does mean that I like Burrow a little bit better because I can find just a few more red flags on Tua. I think he's going to be excellent. I think he could be great for fantasy, but I'd like him second to Burrow. Jamie, how do you see Burrow versus Tua Tagovailoa? I like Burrow better, but Tua's going to make it close if he's healthy.

Ben, agreed? Yeah, I like Burrow better. All right, let's talk about Jordan Love because we know a lot about Burrow. We know a lot about Tua. Jamie, you want to talk about Jordan Love? You want to get in on the action here out of Utah State? No, I'm good. Oh, come on.

Let's hear what you have to say about Jordan Love. No, they can do it. Jordan Like, Jordan Love. How do you feel about him? Do you Jordan Like him or do you Jordan Love him? We'll see where he ends up. I think that's the perfect way to start the conversation on Jordan Love How do you feel about him? Do you Jordan like him or do Jordan love him? We'll see where he ends up. Okay. I think that's,

I think that's the perfect way to start the conversation on Jordan love because his last two seasons, um, very different years in 2018, better offensive line, a coaching staff he was comfortable with. He was amazing. Um,

just fearless type of thrower, good, strong arm. He's kind of got that bendability that Patrick Mahomes has where like he can, like his, his slot angle when he throws the ball, it can vary and he can still throw accurately when he does it. He's certainly mobile as well. So what happened in 2019, because that was his number stunk, uh, his offensive line got worse. His coaching staff left, you know, they did so well at Utah state, they all got jobs somewhere else, and so he had a new coaching staff come to them.

And I felt like he pressed way too much. But reading defenses, accuracy, I guess those are question marks more than anything else. His footwork is good. good, but I think that he's reminiscent of Mahomes, not necessarily in his stature, but he's close to the same size as Mahomes, but more so because he's just got this good strong arm. He can move around, but he needs work on his footwork. And as great as Mahomes is now, I don't know if he would have been this amazing if he had started right away. He had 15 games to watch Alex Smith. He worked on his footwork.

It's clearly better now than it was when he was at Texas Tech. And I wonder if Jordan Love, if he's not pressed into action, could follow in the same footsteps where he takes a year to just watch another veteran play. He gets comfortable with the coaching staff, hopefully goes to a team that's got a coaching staff in place for the long haul, not like Jacksonville, for example. Indianapolis would be great for Jordan Love. New England would be great for Jordan Love, where he can go learn for as long as he possibly can, and then in 2021, he ends up being a very good quarterback.

There is a lot of potential with him, and I could talk myself into making him my third favorite quarterback in the class. Ben, how do you feel about Jordan Love? I'm kind of down on him unless the Patriots take him in the first round, which he's been mocked to a few times. I mean, if they take him, I'm going to trust bill belichick's judgment over my own but um there seems to be some um some concern about his accuracy again go back to accuracy and dave mentioned some inconsistencies across years and you know i i don't know that that is like i think that's a pretty significant red flag that that you know you watch some tape on him he

has a really hard time with the uh with certain coverages with zone linebackers. He just hits them in the chest sometimes. It's true. I don't know how that plays. It doesn't play well. Interceptions are usually bad. Yeah, 17 interceptions. Only six interceptions in 2018 for Jordan Love, but 17 last year.

That's a big number. Let's talk about Justin Herbert. 3,471 yards, 32 touchdowns, six interceptions, and 29 touchdowns in 2018 for Justin Herbert out of Oregon. Jamie, give us a quick scouting report on Justin Herbert. Well, he can run for a size, which is going to be interesting to see how that translates to the next level. You know, we saw that in the Rose Bowl.

I think, again, it's going to come down to fit. If he does go to the charters, which a lot of people think, then, you know, he's stepping into a situation with some good weapons around him. But, you know, he's one of those guys that has never left his bubble. And so how will that translate to him as an adult, you know, going as an adult going to be a professional and be a leader of a team?

But he's got all the physical tools. We'll just see if he can put it all together once he gets to the NFL. Well, you've never left your bubble, right? You've been in South Florida your whole life, and you're doing great. True. So that makes me optimistic. True. So Jordan Love, Justin Herbert. whole life and you're doing great um true so i'm up that makes me optimistic uh let's so jordan love justin herbert and then let's start talking about jacob eason and jalen hurts of these next four guys and i don't know that hurts is number six but it seems like burrow to uh love herbert

eason and then there's gonna be someone else but hurts But Hurts, he can run. Who's got the most upside of the quarterbacks after Burrow and Tua? Destination. Destination for Jamie, Hurts for Ben. Dave, who's the most upside? For me, it's either Hurts or Love. What's Jacob Eason all about? If Love goes to the Dolphins,

if they don't get Tua, somebody jumps in front of them and they take love that's probably going to be a rough start for him because of the team that he's stepping into if he goes to New England like Ben said then it could be a great situation because you feel more comfortable in the coaching staff

the Dolphins could obviously be end up being a good spot but you just don't know but staff you know the dolphins could obviously be end up being a good spot but uh you know just you just don't know um but you know like i said i i wouldn't have any problem with herbert if he goes to the chargers because i feel like that would be a good landing spot for him knowing what's around him the patriots just cut cody kessler yesterday i think they're going to draft the qb and whichever one of those guys they may sign they may sign one they may trade they may trade for Dalton too you know that's always that's always been kind of the underlying thing with the Patriots is that if Brady was going to go they are uh I don't know if

in the I don't want to say enamored but their their Belichick has kind of made it known that he he wouldn't be opposed to Dalton so So, you know, we'll see. They could do both. They could give up a day three pick for Dalton and still trade for a young guy, and that's their plan for 2020 and then 2021. And then Jacob Eason threw for 3,100 yards,

23 touchdowns, 8 interceptions. Not a rushing threat. He's rushed for negative yards in all three of his seasons sat out 2018 transferred from georgia went to washington became the apple of ben gretch's eye for his husties do you like jacob eason i mean that's just a a bit presumptuous there you haven't asked me if i like jacob eason you love jacob eason come on i think everyone thinks that just because like you because you're an

alumnus of a team that you're super biased towards players. Jake Browning was a quarterback before him, and there was a point when people were talking about Jake Browning as a top 10 to 15 overall pick after he started as a true freshman, and I was never sold on Jake Browning at all. I'm not saying you like him as an NFL quarterback.

I'm just saying he's your guy. He's your quarterback. You root for Jacob Eason. He played for the huskies for one year and they drastically underperform expectations so you hate i mean i like him uh he has so he he's six six he has a really strong arm a good arm um he's both he can be both accurate and and throw the ball very hard uh which is something like go back to like jake locker another husky jake locker never had that jake locker had a cannon but was very inaccurate um eason uh i i sent a message to some friends that became kind of a theme of a season after the very first game against eastern washington because we still didn't know what we had and i was basically like he played really. He passed every test he could, but the one time we saw him pressured,

or at least the one time that was fresh on my mind, we saw him sail a pass over the middle. And I was like, okay, when he was protected in the pocket, he was very good, accurate, with a lot of velocity. He looked great. Hopefully we see him pass the next test, which is throwing under pressure when he gets challenged. And that was the theme of his whole season. he was not good under pressure from that point on that's why he

was inconsistent that's why this guy who was a former five-star prospect is not being talked about as a first round pick and if you look like over at pff that's something i saw at the end of their season and it's a reason i said that this comment i made earlier in the year became a theme that's the scouting report on him they graded him very well throwing in clean pockets. They graded him very, very poorly throwing under pressure. Now, one thing that's really notable about that, they have data scientists over there that have been analyzing their stats and what's predictive and all those things. And for quarterbacks, they find that throwing in clean pockets is a more predictive metric and is more stable year over year. So if Eason has that and he has that arm talent, I think there's some potential he could be like a Jared Goff if

he's in a good system, Jared Goff's good seasons when they were protecting him well. And I also think because he has a limited track record as a passer, there's some potential that especially because throwing under pressure is not something that's a very stable metric, there's some potential that, especially because throwing under pressure is not something that's a very stable metric, there's some potential he could grow into that and get better at that specific trait. I mean, in 2019, like you said, he hadn't started since 2016, his true freshman year at Georgia. He got hurt right away in 2017 and sat out 2018 for the transfer. So there is some potential that that just needs some work and he gets better there i actually think he has more upside than justin herbert who started four years i watched a lot

of herbert too who i think was just inaccurate and maybe doesn't have it all the way but i don't think either these guys are necessarily going to be good even though they both have tons of arm talent both have big arms um but i think eason in a good system with with the right protection, could be good. It's just a matter of where does he land and fit and everything like Jamie's been saying with every quarterback. And I know Ben's looking forward to seeing where Jalen Hurts ends up, was the Alabama quarterback, transferred to Oklahoma, had an amazing year, but he's a dual threat guy. And that's always good for fantasy. So we'll have to see where these guys end up the draft is later this month

unless something gets postponed but doesn't look like it's going to and yeah looking forward to breaking that down and we'll give you more prospect previews in the coming weeks okay I spent a lot of time doing something yesterday researching something for fantasy football and I

you know it might have been useless, but sometimes you know, sometimes even finding out that your research is useless can help you. Basically, you know, just disproving a theory. I wanted to look at teams that have had multiple wide receivers

finish in the top 24 in both non-PPR and full PPR over the last three seasons, and what kind of offenses those teams are on. So last year, for example, in non-PPR, we had five teams that had two wide receivers finish in the top 24. We had the Buccaneers, the Detroit Lions, actually, and I'm going to include Marvin Jones.

In CBS Leagues, he was 25th. He was one fantasy point behind Calvin Ridley. So I'm going to give Marvin Jones the nod there. The Falcons, Julio and Calvin Ridley, Cooper Cup and Robert Woods, and Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup. And where did these teams rank in

passing offense, yards per game? Tampa Bay was one. Dallas was two. Atlanta was three. The Rams two. Atlanta was three. The Rams were four. And the Lions were actually 10th. They did that with half a season of Matthew Stafford. Right, they probably would have been in the top five if Stafford had stayed on.

Yeah, or top seven, whatever it is. They might have let it leak. Stafford was on a really high pace. Right, so you get the point there. I mean, five teams with teammate combos who were number one and two receivers, and four of the five were top five passing offenses. Over the last three years, there were consistently more examples of this in non-PPR than PPR.

There was like one more teammate combo in non-PPR than PPR. There was like one more teammate combo in non-PPR than PPR. That probably a touchdowns thing in terms of, you know, where they finished in fantasy. But 2018 and 2019 showed a huge correlation between passing offense yards per game. And can you, can you get us two receivers in the top 24 and 2017 not quite as

much but i will say that so here just to wrap up my findings in over the last three seasons there have been 16 teammates who finished in the top 25 and non-ppr, 13 teammates in PPR. In these cases, only twice out of 16 in non-PPR and twice out of 13 in PPR were these teams on an offense that ranked lower than 13th in passing yards per game. Oddly enough,

both times involved Jarvis Landry with the Browns this past year and with the Dolphins in 2017. In 2018 and 19, eight of the 10 teammate combos were on top five passing offenses. Last year and with the Dolphins in 2017. In 2018 and 19, eight of the 10 teammate combos were on top five passing offenses. Seven of the nine PPR teammate combos were on top five passing offenses.

So over the last two years, if you're not on a top five passing offense, it's been hard to have two wide receivers finish in the top 24. The first team that comes to mind is Seattle. How are they going to have Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf finish in the top 24? There are a lot of ways you can look at this. You could say that this is useless and I would be fine with that.

Or I would say, why draft a guy like Robbie Anderson? I mean, he's got to be like your fourth or fifth wide receiver. What kind of upside does he have? There's no way they're going to have a top 10 passing offense in Carolina. Who's drafting Robbie Anderson any higher than that, though? No, fine. But let's just say somebody's like, oh, I really like Robbie Anderson. This offense is not going to sustain him.

I'm sure there are other examples. Like Robbie's family when you say that? No, I mean. Because I don't know how many people really like Robbie Anderson for fantasy. But it's just like you're choosing between him and, gosh, I don't know, someone else that's on a better passing offense. You have to go with the team with the better passing offense. I don't know.

Anyway, what do you think of this? Was it useless? I don't think it's useless, but the first thought I had is, how did the quarterbacks on these teams fare in fantasy? Oh, most of them were top 12, Dave. Agreed, yes. But it's funny how Cooper Cup was fourth and Robert Woods was 22nd. And you think about Tyler Higbee and his strong finish.

And Jared Goff finished 15th among quarterbacks in fantasy last year. So for the most part, I think you're right. If you've got a team that's got two great wide receivers, we're expecting their receivers to go off. We could certainly assume that their offense could finish top 10 passing or top five passing. Then the quarterback's got to be lauded a little bit more. We've got to value those guys. Yeah, and the reason Goff didn't finish higher

was because Gurley stole all his touchdowns. Okay, that's fine. And he didn't run. Yeah, but still, he like, I mean, they were one of the top, he was one of the leaders in passing yards. So if they don't just feed the ball to Todd Gurley at the goal line all the time, then you are talking about a top 12 quarterback. Yeah, that's true.

Could happen this year. I don't know. So, yeah, I mean, okay okay one thing i want to know with this you said yards but also you have to look at pass attempts the falcons were first the rams were third the bucks were fourth the cowboys were 10th and i don't know who what was the other team detroit they finished a lot lower so these are teams that threw a lot of passes right so there's there's multiple sides to it obviously the panthers interestingly were second you said there's no way they finish as a top 10 passing offense

if bridgewater's a better downfield passer than kyle allen was last year and they're chasing a lot of games and they're willing to throw as much as they did last year although they have a whole new coaching staff i don't think that's crazy i think they could finish in the top 10 in terms of passing yardage even though bridgewater doesn't necessarily push it down the field but yeah i don't think this is useless research at all i think it's it's like very strong research they could finish in the top 10 in terms of passing yardage, even though Bridgewater doesn't necessarily push it down the field. But yeah, I don't think this is useless research at all. I think it's, it's like very strong research.

And I agree with you. Seattle's probably not going to support two top 24 receivers. And I, you know, the only way they get by on that is Russell Wilson's, you know, career efficiency, which is just really good.

Or they've been both guys for a lot of those. Right. Right. Yeah. Based on him throwing him for, you know, a high TD rate. And then both those guys take a lot of those touchdowns.. Yeah, based on him throwing for a high TD rate, and then both those guys take a lot of those touchdowns.

But yeah, I mean, I think this is a great point, and I think the way to apply it is number two receivers. Look for the next Chris Godwin. Look for the next Calvin Ridley or Michael Gallup in offenses that you project to throw a lot of passes, throw for a lot of yards. So who jumps out at you? What's that? Who jumps out at you as the next one i got a name robbie anderson christian kirk that's what i was gonna say yeah christian kirk's mine and it has been since the deandre hopkins trade i didn't move him down i think that raises their whole passing offense and gives them more upside jamie where you at with this

i think it's good research. You know, obviously I'm joking with Robbie Anderson, but the Panthers are going to throw the ball a lot. So is it going to be him? Is it going to be just the same combination of Moore and McCaffrey and then just the other guys sort of split the pot? You know, I think it'll be interesting to see how some of these teams approach the draft with a few of these rookies.

Not that they're going to jump up to that level, but, you know, Denver getting a second guy, you know, let's say it's Ruggs. You know, does a team surprise us and add a running mate to somebody that we didn't really expect, you know, that has a number one guy already. You know, like we got with Metcalf going to Seattle, that type of situation. You know, so, or with Calvin Ridley, you know, a couple years ago going to Atlanta. You know, one of those scenarios. So that's, I think, where you want to look.

But with the established teams right now, there's nobody that jumps out, jumps off the page. And, I mean, it could be Kirk, but I think you're still going to see the Cardinals spread the ball around, which is why I don't love DeAndre Hopkins as much. So there's one X factor. What about Tyler Boyd? I like it.

I was going to jump in and say the Eagles. We don't know who the receivers are going to be, but that's another team that I can see throwing enough. Well, Ertz would be one of those receivers, right? No, that's the thing. How are we not including Kansas City? Glad you said Kansas City, because see throwing enough. Well, Ertz would be one of those receivers, right? How are we not including Kansas City? Glad you said Kansas City,

because tight end is the big X factor here, and that's the next step of this research, basically, but Kansas City's got a great chance to lead the NFL in passing yards, so what does that mean for Sammy Watkins? I don't know what his future holds there, but Nicole Hardman too. And it's not like you can't have a good tight end.

Like Dave said, Tyler Higby was doing good things. Two years ago, OJ Howard was a really good tight end, and still the Bucs produced two wide receivers. Austin Hooper, right? Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley this year were top 24. Austin Hooper was really good. So, yeah, the Chiefs look like they could have someone there.

I thought that was a good place to go with it. But could they have someone there? Because if you've got Kelsey and Tyree Kill dominating targets, yeah, sure. Just similarly to how Julio and Ridley would in Atlanta, for example, then I don't know if there's room for another wide receiver to finish as a top 24 guy.

Yeah, but again, it's like the Panthers thing. I don't think there's going to be one guy. I think it's going to be, if it's Watkins still there, it'll be Watkins, it'll be Hardman, it'll be whoever's replacing Demarcus Robinson. It'll be just a handful of guys, again, splitting all the production. I'm drafting a bunch of Me again splitting all the production i'm drafting a bunch of miko hardman so i'm a little more optimistic than these guys i do agree that his targets and volume might not be there but i think because of how efficient he was last year

and the way that they were able to use his speed and and in the chiefs are kind of you know an anomaly of an offense for this type of research, but I think Hardman could have really good efficiency again next year, basically. Let's fill in the blank. Here we go. Thank you for your tweets. You can follow us on Twitter. I'm at Adam Azer, A-I-Z-E-R at Yards Per Gretch

at Dave Richard, singular, at Jamie Eisenberg, J-A-M-E-Y, at Heath Cummings, S-R, Heath Cummings Sr. From R.C. Maxfield, A.J. Brown's floor is blank. Wide receiver one. His floor is wide receiver 31. Really?

You think he could be that bad? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Tannehill reverts back to his old self. Titans continue their run-heavy ways. Not a lot of breakaway plays for A.J. Brown. Not a lot of games with six-plus targets. That's a higher floor than I expected you to say, to be honest.

Because he's not going top 12. Where's he going? Top 20? As far as receivers go not overall i mean i'm comfortable with a wide receiver 31 floor where you have to take him um i do agree like this offense could regress there are ways that you could hit a floor for sure but i don't think it's um as low as some people do okay Okay, from Matt Gleason, the first current sophomore wide receiver to have a 100-catch season will be blank.

A.J. Brown? No. I'd love to see that. No way. Not on Tennessee. Right, exactly. Are you saying they're incapable of having a 100-catch receiver? Kind of.

I mean, I feel like A.J. Brown's going to be the one wide receiver whose value is changed the most depending on format. He could be a full round, if not more, earlier in non-PPR. I would say McLaurin. I was thinking McLaurin, too, actually. I don't know that any of these guys are like great 100 catch bets. I mean, Hunter Renfro? Like, who's a

high catch guy in this class? From MidMajorMatt, Cam Newton will be fantasy relevant if he goes to blank. Patriots? Jaguars? Anywhere we can start? Chargers. Okay, Jeff says the biggest bust of the season will be blank.

Derek Henneman. I'm nervous about Chargers. Okay, Jeff says the biggest bust of the season will be blank. Derek Henry. I'm nervous about Juju. DeAndre Hopkins. Ooh, Hopkins is a good one. That's bold. I'm worried about Aaron Jones. We never talk about that, but Aaron Jones, I mean, he's like Derek Henry, but with a lot fewer touches.

And a better offense. And more catches. More catches, but half of his catches came in four games without Devontae Adams. Not quite half, but almost half. Yeah, but let's see what happens when they take a look at it after a full offseason. Could be worse. I think he's proven to be a very good fantasy running back. I love Aaron Jones.

He's great. But before the last two games of the season, when Jamal Williams got hurt, he got hurt in week 16, left early. Aaron Jones' touches were not up to par with the elite running backs. And he's been going in the first round or early second round. And there's, I think, potential that he performs more like a Mark Ingram type player,

like a third round guy. Because he had really, really bad games. Horrible games. Four or five games of three fantasy points or fewer in non-PPR. I think he had five under five in non-PPR and five under eight in full PPR. If they want to just realize how good he is and turn him loose, then he could be one of the truly

best players of fantasy. Yeah, but I think that's what they did last year. They did that when Williams got hurt. I think they did it already. I don't think they did it until week 16. Before that, his touches were just too inconsistent. Or consistent.

To Aaron Jones? Yeah. Yeah, and all of his four times that he was really high in Snapshare were when Jamal Williams was either out for two games or left early in the other two games. It was very clearly tied to Jamal Williams' health. Right, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, hopefully they wise up and let Aaron Jones

be the stud that he is. How about from Mike Sleepy K. Kurland? Blank will be the 2020 Damian Williams. I don't know what that means. What does that even mean? Yeah. I don't know. A guy who gets hurt? Everyone thinks Damian Williams was bad. It was because he got injured.

He got injured in the preseason, and then he got injured again in the season. And then when he was healthy, he had another phenomenal late season and playoff run. I think Damian Williams will be the 2020 Damian Williams. I think it's going to be Saquon Barkley, because I interpret this as the guy who should have been the Super Bowl MVP, but his quarterback actually wins it.

So I'm going to go with Saquon Barkley. From Matt Winnetoy, the next running back to break into the elite tier will be blank and the most likely running back to fall out of the elite tier will be blank. Kenyon Drake in. Joe Mixon in. Jonathan Taylor. It's an easy one.

Is that the next part of it? He gave us McCaffrey, Barkley, Zeke, Cook, and Kamara. Who falls out? Zeke. I'll say Kamara. Yeah, I guess if it's out of that group, I'd say Zeke too. Okay, from Robert Hegram. Should I trade?

Okay, well, I'll do this in a fill-in-the-blank. Trading Madison, Alexander Madison, for pick 110 for 10th pick of round one in the rookie draft is blank. Smart. Phenomenal. Tyrell Lee, Carol Baskin, blank her husband.

Killed. Hoffed. Whacked. From Jamie Isenberg, blank her husband killed yeah offed whacked from Jamie Eisenberg the next time Adam will take a shower

is blank so that's for you yeah well it's gonna be tomorrow no it's gonna be

tonight maybe tomorrow but Jamie because you're having me come on HQ every day I have to shave so that

means i have to shower so you have increased my shower frequency you know you've doubled it i made your wife a happier woman uh you know what like i said i went a whole week without deodorant on my honeymoon i i'm a very clean guy oh my god i forgot my deodorant i forgot my deodorant they didn't have they didn't have my brand went the whole week i don't have a store that you could go to buy it you still showered though right i showered on your honeymoon yeah yeah okay once once or twice no i showered and uh david mendelsohn says adam will eat blank more cans of the chef boyardee that was bought for him? The answer is zero. I will never. I will not eat it.

He'll go back. No. At least one or two. He's so bad. He's going back. I ate one or two pieces of ravioli. A whole can? Are you kidding me?

Horrible. That's pet material. I do not want to make any bets if that's what we're wagering. What would you rather have? Between what? Chef Boyardee or a Butterfinger? A Butterfinger.

I need a bean boozle wrapped Butterfinger before I eat more Chef Boyardee. I am, however, trying to find some Hot Pockets, but these times we live in, I cannot seem to find any Hot Pockets online. So if you find any, if you seem to find any Hot Pockets online. So if you find any, if you find any cheeseburger Hot Pockets.

How about in a store? I'm not going to any stores, Dave. Stay home. Okay. Everybody stay home. I think you stay home unless you need to get some food and then just be really smart about it.

Well, I'm getting food delivered to me, but Hot Pockets are not available and it's not that much of an emergency. You're getting food delivered to you. You're getting your content streamed to you. You're this 21st century digital boy, and you still can't figure out how to shower every day. I don't need to shower every day.

I'm not going anywhere. What do I need to shower for? I feel attacked personally because I haven't shaved in like five days. Have you showered? I spend attacked personally because I haven't shaved in like five days. Have you showered? I spend at least a day. I'm on Adam's side here. I'm not going anywhere. I'm

ordering in all my groceries too. Yeah. I'm clean. Fantasy Football at CBSi.com is the email address. This is from Yippee Kaye. 16 team PPR league. Two receivers, only one running back,

but three flex spots. 16 teams. I currently have Carson Wentz, Zeke, Amari Cooper, Tyler Lockett, Melvin Gordon, Kenny Galladay, and AJ Green. That's pretty good, but my bench is trash. I have the opportunity to trade Ezekiel

Elliott for Austin Eckler and Adam Thielen in a 16-team PPR league. Does this make sense, or is this humbug? Those are not guys I would trade for. I would trade for them. I wouldn't give up Zeke for them. One more piece.

One more piece. I think they're both appreciating about melvin we talked about feeling earlier this week but he's going to be 30 and is coming off an injury plague season i think people are too optimistic on him and eckler is a really good example of a team that you should be concerned about based on the um research that adam shared la with tyra Taylor at QB is going to throw well over 100 times fewer passes. Well over 100 fewer passes. So you have

Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Hunter Henry, and Eckler all back. The receptions are going to crater there. That is a huge red flag. But the rushing totals could improve with no Melvin Gordon. It could. And again, I wouldn't base it on Tyrod because he's a placeholder. Well, here's a fun one.

I think you don't do this in a long-term league, but if you're just playing for this year, which side would you rather have? It's a 16-team league. Elliott or Eckler and Thielen? I mean, if you were to look at it from probably Dave's trade chart, I would imagine the numbers are going to come out to Eckler and Thielen because Thielen is going to most likely end up being a late second-round pick

and Eckler is going to be a second-round pick. So you're getting two second-round picks for a top five overall selection. It's going to balance out. But I just think you need something else thrown in there or just something a little bit more exciting. Like Thielen, I think, has upside from the standpoint there or just something a little bit more exciting like you know something that eckler and like theon i think has upside from the standpoint of he'll be better than he was in 2019 to what level we're going to find out eckler's going to come down to what level he comes down that's the the

thing here i just think the the point of dealing elliot is you think that he can't continue to be so consistent and he's going to get hurt and is kind of trending towards later part of his most productive years, maybe, is a way of saying that. So if I was doing that, I'd want a younger player. Like James said, I'd want something more exciting. I wouldn't want two guys that I think are maybe potentially also

going to be depreciating. Okay, from Dwayne. Trade offer in a super flex dynasty league. Dear Marty, Jonah, and Wendy. That's Ozark. That's Ozark. Yeah, yeah. Oh, Ben's on fire today.

I was offered draft pick 111 in this year's rookie draft for Kenyon Drake. Thoughts? No. Keep Drake. I'm not doing that unless I'm not really a competitor.

I think you can get a good enough prospect at 111 that you could justify that, but I still think you should try to get more. That's just you're selling weight. This was a trade you make a month ago while David Johnson's still on the roster, and it looks like it's going to be an absolutely crowded backfield for Arizona.

Yeah. Now, his value is much higher than that. Okay, you have Kenyon Drake. You want a first-round pick in the rookie draft. What's the lowest you'll go if you're trading Drake? Six. It's like 104.

It's pretty high. At worst. Yeah. Okay, four to six range. Finally, from Matt, would you trade Kyler Murray for pick one in a rookie draft in a 2QB four-point-per-passing touchdown dynasty league?

Kyler Murray or the number one pick? No. Turn Kyler Murray into Joe Burrow? I'm still taking Jonathan Taylor. Sounds not bad. Yeah, I mean, you're just asking Kyler versus Burrow, right? No, I don't think so. Wait, hold on.

No, you don't have to take Burrow with 101 in a 2QB league. I'm still taking Jonathan Taylor. In fact, I bet he doesn't even go 101 in a 2QB rookie mock. Kyler was in one of my two dynasty leagues, which is a 2QB league. Kyler was the first pick last year. Okay, but if we were doing that again, who would you pick number one overall now in that draft class you would to qb yep yep yeah but the difference this year

for burrow is tames right jonathan taylor and the other top running backs are better other options than who kyler was going up against last year um But I still think Burrow in the 2QB, especially if it's like a 12-team 2QB where quarterbacks are really scarce, I still think Burrow is going to be the number one pick in most of them. So what are we doing? Are we keeping Kyler or are we getting the first pick?

It depends on how many QBs this person has, how deep the league is. If it's an 18-league, then go after Jonathan Taylor. But it depends on how scarce quarterbacks are. There's a lot of other factors here. Alright, that's fair. I think I would take Kyler over

Burrow in a four-point per TD league, though. Easily. Yeah. That's a good point. If you're thinking, I'm going to take Joe Burrow, then just stick with Kyler Murray. If you're thinking, I want to take Jonathan Taylor, then, you know, if you have three good quarterbacks or something like that, then, okay, that changes the equation.

You may be able to get something else in return for that. I know that's probably the offer on the table, but Kyler showed you what he could be. He wasn't really that good, though. I mean, as a passer. With his rushing ability. He was second in the nfl in rushing at that position last year you know so yeah but he but he was worse than gardner

as a passer as a rookie and he just got one of the best receivers in the nfl for nothing yeah i mean that's like the burrows path to being a fantasy star is that he has to come in and be actually good and not be a bus and everything. Yada, yada, yada. Kyler's is he are like, Jamie's making the point.

He already showed the rushing that can turn you into Lamar Jackson. If you just have a, you know, a spike past TV rate type passing season on top of it. Oh yeah. So his path to being like a difference maker at QB is, is a lot shorter. Cool.

All right, fellas. Thank you so much. Good show today. Good stuff on the quarterback prospects. Fill in the blank was fun. I want to thank the listeners for participating, helping this show be what it is. Always appreciate it. Leave us a nice review if you can.

Have a great weekend. We will come back on Monday with Mock Draft Monday. Talk about the Superflex draft that we did just a couple of days ago. Until then, for Dave and Jamie and Ben, I'm Adam saying, nah, nah, nah, nah. I don't know where Dave went on this, but it used to be our thing. Nah, nah, nah.