Fantasy Football Today - Rookie RB Analysis; Potential NFL Draft Winners and Losers (04/26 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: April 26, 2022

Enter our NFL Draft contest: https://forms.gle/wZRYEHAD9XuJexxH8 Yesterday we spent a lot of time on wide receivers and today we'll talk about the running back class. Who is our favorite rookie RB (3:10)? And we'll take a quick detour to give you your news and notes (6:35) as Tee Higgins had shoulder surgery, there is a Darren Waller trade rumor and Alvin Kamara's hearing was pushed to August ... Evaluating the 2022 RB class (12:30), we talk about how it stacks up to last year's class, when we expect to see these guys get drafted and who could make an impact other than Breece Hall and Ken Walker ... Which veteran NFL players have the most to gain or lose? We discuss Javonte Williams (20:30), Juju Smith-Schuster (23:30), Elijah Moore (28:35) and Antonio Gibson (29:30) as potential losers while Aaron Rodgers (31:00), Kyle Pitts (33:15) and some young QBs (35:15) could be big winners if their teams get them some help. We also read your tweets (42:45)! ... Your emails at [e-mail] Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs, @BenSchragg 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 touchdown. Oh, he's done it again. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath, and Beck. All right, the real podcast begins right now. For those of you not watching on YouTube, you should watch just for my terrible intros. Adam, Heath, and Jamie here on a Tuesday morning, and we're talking about NFL draft running backs, which we did not cover on yesterday's show, and the veterans that have the most to gain or lose via the NFL draft. So if the example I keep using, if the Broncos draft a running back,

we're going to have Javante Williams potentially in the loser column, those types of things. Heath, how are you feeling about the draft? You got two first round picks for the Chiefs? That's exciting. Yeah, and like three of the top 50 or four of the top 55 or something? No, I'm excited. You know, a few months ago, we were talking about how this is maybe not a very good draft class. And I think what it is is there's a lot of guys who, in the right situation, with the right development, could very very good but they have

really low floors and so it's going to be interesting to see after you get past the guys we think will be the top five or six in rookie drafts who are the guys who land in situations that we get really excited about jamie i have a trivia question that i don't know if i have the right answer to but i think i do so do. So let's roll with it. There are three teams that do not have a first or second round pick. Can you name them? First or second round pick.

Wow. Let's see. And I'll give you a hint if you need one. First or second round pick. Three teams. Yeah, I'm right about this. Yeah, give me a hint. Okay.

So we all love the portion of the alphabet LMNO. All three teams, their name, not the mascot, but the city name starts with an L, M, N, or O. Miami? Yes. Los Angeles Rams? Correct. And New Orleans. No. And New Orleans.

No, not New Orleans. Keith, you can participate too. I didn't mean it just for Jamie. The third team. Is it the Raiders? The Chargers? The Raiders. It is the Raiders, yeah.

Raiders, Dolphins, and Rams do not have a first or second round pick as of now. They could always move in. Did you see what Chris Greer said? What he's going to do spending the first two days of the draft? First round of the draft? No. What? Watching Terry kill highlights.

Yeah, who was it? It was Lynch, I think, because the Niners don't have a first round pick. So it's going to be a little boring on Thursday. But not for us. We're looking forward to it. So we'll get into the running backs in just a second. Well, we'll do it right now. First, we have some news.

T. Higgins shoulder surgery. Eli Mitchell knee surgery. A Green Bay Packers sexy trade rumor. But who is your favorite rookie running back or incoming rookie running back, Heath? Who's your favorite in this draft class? It's Brees Hall. It was for me like a couple months ago it was um i was kind of having a hard time deciding between hall and spiller and it was close and the testing really separated them you

look at his athletic profile now and he doesn't look too far from jonathan taylor you look at it with a production that he had and it's about as elite as any running back. So if he lands in the right situation, he may be one of those rookie running backs that is going in the second round and is a borderline top 12 guy. Give me that right situation. That's the hard part because there's two teams, the Falcons and the Texans,

who have clear opportunities for a lead running back. But, geez, they aren't very good. I think, I think the Texans are probably that spot though, because I think the Texans are going to be better than what we talked about this before than what the, what the consensus is.

I mean, they have four and a half wins. I think they're closer to a 500 team. And I, I think the offense will be okay. But what about the bills? Everybody wants breeze all of the bills. I think that would be okay. But what about the Bills? Everybody wants Brees Hall to the Bills. I think that would be okay.

Okay. Jamie, who's your favorite running back in this class? Yeah, it's between Brees Hall and Ken Walker. Both those guys are superstar potential. I think Hall's a little bit better personally, but I don't want to overlook Walker's getting knocked a little bit for not having the pass-catching numbers. I think he certainly can do it, though,

and I think it will surprise some people when he gets to the next level. But those two guys, I think, are clear-cut above the rest of the group, and Hall, to me, has got the most upside. I do think before the combine, or I guess it was the pro day for Spiller. It was both. He didn't run a 40 at the combine, but he was at the combine and didn't have a great time there either.

But he got hurt at the combine, didn't he, Spiller? He did not get hurt at the combine. I think he was dealing with an injury. They were speculating that he came in with an injury. Okay, came in with an injury, right? So the testing, it was probably a group of three, maybe we would have been talking about with Spiller in there. And, you know, terrible 40 times.

For a lot of these running backs, by the way, they had bad 40 times. But he ran a 4.6340 at his pro day. That is really alarming for Isaiah Spiller. And maybe he was dealing with some injury, I don't know. But that was pretty slow. Let's go through the news and notes. First, remember, we can get you in the podcast league. If you fill out the form, it's in the episode description.

And all you have to do is tell us the order of the top 10 picks and not the teams. I think you probably know that. But the players that are going one through 10 spell their names correctly, or it's not going to count as a proper guest. But I've told you this so many times. Entries close Thursday night at 8 p.m., so go ahead and fill out that form, and good luck to you. Most correct answers is in the podcast league.

There will be some sort of tiebreaker as well. Also, if you want to learn about these prospects, Dan Schneier and Dave Richard wrote a lot of profiles on our website. They are super helpful. They're quick reads. They give you NFL comps. They give you strengths and weaknesses. They give you a little background on the player. They're well-written. They're excellent. I really strongly recommend reading them. Just player profile, scouting

reports on these guys. News and notes. T. Higgins had shoulder surgery. He's going to miss the off-season workouts. Jamie, any change in the outlook for T. Higgins? Not at all. The only change would be is if they draft a receiver. But as of now, no concern. As long as he's fine for start of camp, he'll be maybe as high as a third-round pick depending on how quickly receivers go off the board, but almost certainly a fourth-round pick in most leagues.

San Francisco GM John Lynch said he cannot imagine trading Debo Samuel. And also we learned that... By the time you're listening to this, we'll have an emergency podcast on Debo Samuel to the also we learned that... By the time you're listening to this, we'll have an emergency podcast on Debo Samuel to the Jets. Oh, man. Yeah, it could be that

the most interesting things that happen on Thursday are not the draft, but the trades. Maybe Mayfield, maybe Debo, maybe Waller. Talk about that in a second. Elijah Mitchell had a cleanup knee surgery

after the season. He expects to be ready for training camp. Heath, I just found this very weird because 49ers running backs never get hurt. Yeah, they do have a lot of, and they never repeat. The other thing they never do is repeat from year after year as the number one back. But for now, I'd view it as a pretty similar situation to Higgins. As long as he's okay at start of camp, I'm not going to worry about it too much. Okay, so there was a report that the Packers were looking to trade for Darren Waller.

And I don't really know anything about Cheesehead TV, but it came from Cheesehead TV, a guy named Aaron Nagler. Now, the write-up on NBC Sports or whatever Roto World has become said he has covered the Packers for a long time. So I don't want to just diminish him because it's Cheesehead TV, which is kind of a funny sounding thing. But there is this report that the Packers are looking to acquire Darren Waller. Heath, should we take it seriously? I think Derek Carr said no chance.

He quote tweeted the report with a no chance. But he doesn't make those decisions. So I don't – I think the Packers are trying just about everything they can to find a way to acquire weapons for Aaron Rodgers and they need to get multiple. Don't you think if there was going to be a trade between Darren Waller and the Packers, it would have come as part of the Adams deal? Right. How weird would that be for the two teams to make another trade. The only thing would be is that if the Raiders are looking at their salary situation after bringing on Adams and resigning or extending their car and trying to say,

okay, maybe Darren Waller doesn't fit with us longterm. I don't understand how that would be, but you know, financially could be something if, if that's the case. And I'm just, I'm just speaking out of,

you know, no, no knowledge whatsoever. I will continue that trend and say- I started it. If I was Darren Waller's agent, I would think that he would be in line for a contract extension or he's not going to be showing up because I think he's making $6 million this year. There's like 20 tight ends making more money than him and none of his money left on his contract, I don't believe, is guaranteed. His dead cap hit right now is zero.

So I can't imagine he doesn't want a new contract. There was some talk about that last year, if you recall, now that you bring it up, when he had the knee injury, that he wasn't going to return because he was concerned about his contract. So what do you guys think about Alvin Kamara's hearing being moved? It was supposed to be yesterday. It's been moved to August 1st. I believe this is the second time his hearing has been moved. And we haven't heard anything from the NFL about a possible suspension.

Maybe they were waiting to see how the legal case played out first. But now, Jamie, Alvin Kamara's court case moved to, or his hearing, moved to August 1st. What do you make of that? Yeah, the stuff that I read yesterday, it seems as if the NFL is not going to make a decision until there's at least a plea entered by Kamara, which he assumes probably will be not guilty. So I guess it's looking like he's not going to face any sort of potential you know uh suspension or ramifications from the nfl as of now so i think if you're drafting and i know heath has been a point of contention for you um you should assume at this

point he's probably going to play the majority of the season uh so from a fantasy perspective, it's a good thing. Yeah. I mean, doesn't it feel like when, not if, is the video going to leak? Yeah. And if it leaks before there's a criminal decision, then maybe the exempt list comes into play. And if not, then exactly what Jamie said, it's probably just going to play this season. I thought you were going to say, doesn't it feel like when, not if, no, I thought you were going to say

it doesn't feel like the Ezekiel Elliott situation from whatever that was four or five years ago, where there was going to be a suspension, we just didn't know when, what happened? He got suspended and then he was appealing it or whatever it was. And then it happened basically mid-season. It was a six-game suspension.

And that kind of feels like that scenario. It's possible. So, Jamie, it doesn't sound like you think he's going to miss much time. I mean, does that kind of—I think you basically said that. As of now, that's the way it seems. Yeah. Very serious allegations. So, all right. We'll hopefully get more information. Don't draft yet. That's my advice to you. Great scenes. Yeah. Very serious allegations.

So, all right. We'll hopefully get more information. Don't draft yet. That's my advice to you. It's only April. Kadarius Toney attended workouts. He's back attending the voluntary workouts with the Giants. That's great.

See if they trade him. Those were the rumors from last week. And big news. Friday is day two of the NFL draft, which might be the most fantasy relevant for us. The running backs are going to come

off the board. Friday's also part two of, anyone know? Part two? Ozark? Yeah, Ozark. Yeah.

Season four, part two. So we've got a lot of things to watch this weekend. No spoilers, everybody. Don't, you know, it's going to take me

a while to finish part two. All right, let's talk about our rookie running backs here. Last year, we kind of went into it thinking that we weren't going to get a ton of difference makers. Obviously, the ETN injury was rough. We knew Najee Harris. Javante Williams had a chance, but it was a weak running back class, sort of felt.

And then we were excited. Some people were excited about Trey Sermon. That didn't work out. Elijah Mitchell ended up having a really good year. Ramondre Stevenson was better than we expected. Jamie, give me the overall take on what to expect. And it's so hard to know. So obviously, I'm not going to hold you to it.

It's hard to know until we see where they get drafted, which teams take them. But as of right now, on Tuesday, two days before the draft, how are you feeling about this running back class? I mean, I think it's kind of similar, maybe without the potential of star power, but I certainly could see Hall and Walker and maybe Spiller and maybe one or two other guys, Rashad White or somebody along those lines, Brian Robinson, if they ended up in the right spot. It feels very similar to the Jonathan Taylor class where they dominated the

second round of the NFL draft and they ended up in some strong positions. You know, Clyde Edwards earlier was the surprise that he went in the end of the first round, but then Taylor to the Colts, Swift to the Lions, Dobbins to the Ravens. And this feels like a similar group. I know Ryan Wilson has been saying that, you know, for a while now, at least going back to when we were together on, on the set of the combine, that this group feels like a similar group. I know Ryan Wilson has been saying that, you know, for a while now, at least going back to when we were together on, on the set of the combine that this group feels like that group.

And so I don't think we're going to get one in the first round. So I'm going to win our bet, Adam. And then you're going to see probably the second round, you know, when Heath was talking about the Texans, that's the first thing I went to look was what pick they have in the second round. And 37 overall feels like a running back spot,

you know, so they can address address excuse me um potentially offensive line at three which i think would be smart uh evan neal makes a lot of sense there they can address edge rusher at three as well but um they can go offense with one of their two first round picks three or 13 and then come back with a running back at 37 and whoever they end up taking at that spot i think ends up in a good situation as well, as Heath alluded to. So it's a very good group. There will be probably one or two surprises.

Like, you know, I mean, I don't know if he's a surprise at this point for people who have been following him, but, you know, Damian Pierce from Florida, for example, he can end up in a tandem situation or a committee situation and then maybe by middle of the season or if not next year, you know, be the best running back on his respective team. So there are some guys that may not make an impact right away, but hopefully there are a couple of guys like Heath mentioned, Houston,

Atlanta, maybe Buffalo, you know, a spot that we may not expect, but could end up being good. You know, once you take a step back and realize, oh, okay. You know, the, the starter there is not firmly entrenched and, and the second guy might be, you know, good at some point. So there's going to be some good fantasy options coming out of this class, hopefully in, you know, at some point so there's going to be some good fantasy options coming out of this class hopefully and you know some starting spots yeah i would say i think that breeze hulk is probably going to be either a number two running back or borderline number one

um walker's probably going to be a borderline number two maybe a maybe a mid-range number two spiller for me is the the wild card because it's just like the testing was really not good at all. But the player, like what we saw from him as a player looks like somebody who could really have success. And so if he ends up in the right spot, I could see him being kind of the surprise that ends up maybe being as good as Walker this year. But I could also see Spiller just being a complete and total bust. So I think he's the wild card of the class and there will be one or two guys from outside that top three but I don't I really don't think there will be more than three running backs in the first round of rookie only drafts unless something really surprising happens I'm

surprised Jamie that you and Ryan I, are comparing this class to the Taylor, Dobbins, Switzer. No, no, no, no. Not from a high-end talent standpoint. From when they're going to be taken. Okay, okay, okay. Yes. So round two and potentially round three is when I think we're going to see these guys go.

Like I said, the group is not at that level. Okay. But they may end up, wise comparable you know again you know hall is at least from a measurable standpoint is is very similar to what jonathan taylor like coming out of the nfl coming into the nfl you know so right situation who knows you know i mean john taylor landed in as good a spot as you can ask for at the time because the offensive line was fantastic and there was a clear you you know, potential path for production. You know, Dobbins, you know, at the time, we thought, okay,

Mark Ingram, Gus Edwards, is this the best spot? Ended up by the end of his rookie season not being bad, you know. So DeAndre Swift, same thing. You know, we saw that there's potential for it, you know. So I think, you know, Spiller, it's kind of, I think, really the three, four, and five guys. You know, who's going to end up in those roles? You know, is it Rashad White?

Is it Isaiah Spiller? Is it a Brian Robinson? There's probably a guy I'm forgetting. Well, Jay Sean Corbin, I know, is someone that Emory likes a lot. I think the running back rankings, once you get past the top two, are just... Well, Spiller, I think, is pretty firmly entrenched as three. Yeah, and then, like,

Emory Hunt has Ken Walker 10th. And I think Emory just lowers guys that don't have a role in the passing game, and he didn't really have one at Michigan State. So there's that. But, yeah, okay, fine. If you want to put Spiller third. But then you hear Damian Pierce

and you hear Corbin and you hear White. I see a lot of slow 40 times, by the way. I think that kind of jumped out to me. The four guys I just mentioned, or I don't know how many I mentioned, but Spiller, Corbin, Kyron Williams out of Notre Dame,

Damian Pierce out of Florida, they all had pretty disappointing 40 times. And I hope that they're not all top six running backs in this class. I seriously doubt they will be. But Spiller will be. But I don't know. Heath, I can't really, right now,

I can't really see us talking about this class changing the running back landscape in fantasy football. I think that's probably true. It's a mirror white. No, those two guys don't forget them too. Yeah.

Yeah. And I think like cook or spill or either one, if they landed like in the chase Edmonds role in Arizona, then that would really could really elevate them. Some of these guys have skill sets where they do certain things really well. And if they land in those spots and that that could change things but no i i don't think i don't think it's going to change the landscape of the running back position but we've talked about all this transition in terms of

dynasty all all the formerly just always top 12 running backs that are now 26 27 28 years old somebody's going to fill those spots. And so a few of these guys may get elevated simply by the fact that the others are moving out. All right. So that's kind of a little overview of the running back position. And we'll have plenty more to say about them when they get drafted. And when we come back, we're going to talk about players who are currently in the NFL, who has the most to gain, who has the most to lose in the NFL draft, if their teams add players at their positions or whatnot. We'll come right back and break it down on Fantasy Football today. What does possible sound like for your business? It's having the spend to

powers your scale with no preset spending limit. More cash on hand to grow your business with up to 55 interest-free days. And the ability to reach further with access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide. Redefine possible with Business Platinum. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms and conditions apply. Visit amex.ca slash business platinum. So let's talk about the NFL veterans. And yes, anyone who's played at least a year, I'm considering a veteran,

who have the most to gain or lose. And Jamie, let's start with Javante Williams. So you gave me two players yesterday who have a lot to lose, Javante Williams and Juju Smith-Schuster. And Javante, the question I asked you, I think on FFT in five was, at what point in the NFL draft,

if the Broncos do select a running back, would it not really matter for Javante Williams? Like if they select somebody in round five, I know you're not going to care, but I guess, you know, at what point would you be like, all right, Javante is fine. Lock them in as maybe around one, definitely round two at the latest kind of pick. You know, I don't want to attach a round to it per se, because I think you can see a Spiller falling. You can see a Brian Robinson falling. You know, somebody that still has plenty of upside just

because they don't get selected in the NFL draft because the nature of how teams draft that position. So, but I do think if we get to day three, you know, that's where you kind of feel safe. And, you know, you brought it up, okay, round four, certainly we see somebody there, maybe round five. But obviously if it's round six or round seven, you've got to feel pretty good that the Broncos, like Javante Williams,

I forget who I saw, I was just scrolling through Twitter this morning, and one of the Broncos writers wrote, is there a role for Mike Boone as the tease for the story that they sent out? So maybe they're just sort of hearing things coming out of the building or reading the tea leaves that Mike Boone might be the second guy on the depth chart. So, you know,

until we get past the draft and we see, and, and Melvin Gordon signing and we see, you know, then I think Javante Williams is in a pretty good spot. So, you know, if,

if they do fall into a round two, I don't know their draft selections off the top of my head. So I apologize. But round two, round three pick of, you know, Hall, Walker, Spiller,

one of those type of guys, then it's probably not as rosy for Javante Williams. I don't think a lot's going to lower his stock tremendously, but it's the potential of a crowded room that makes you worried. Yeah, I think it's just like if they – and I don't think they – surely they won't. But if they don't take Hall or Walker or or spiller then i probably don't care unless they take cook late like if cook falls to round four and they take him because i would assume if they're taking him it's because they want to have him work in the passing game and that would would minimize

williams a little bit but he's going to share with someone somebody Somebody's going to get 30%, 35% of the touches. I just want Williams to get the passing downs. So the Broncos, I thought to myself, well, they acquired Russell Wilson. They don't have a first-round pick. They probably don't have a lot of draft capital. They actually have five picks in rounds two through four, but none of them are earlier than 64th. They got two picks from the Rams.

I'm guessing that was both for Von Miller. And they got one from the Seahawks late in round four. But they have picked 64, 75, and 96 on day two. And then 115 and 116. So yeah, I mean, 64, 75, 96. That's definitely running back range and relevant running back range at that. So the Broncos do have some capital to play with.

And of course, teams could always trade up. So what their draft board looks like now could be very different. Now, Juju Smith-Schuster, another question I asked you, and I asked it yesterday on the full-length show, Jamie, was if the Chiefs select a wide receiver in round one, do you think you'd rank that guy ahead of Juju Smith-Schuster?

And you said no, right? Yes, not as of now. Okay. Heath, how about you? Probably not. I'd probably still rather have Juju. I mean, it depends. Are they taking the fourth or fifth wide receiver of the first round

with the 29th pick? Or are they packaging those two first round picks to move up into the top 15 and take garrett wilson or like one of the top two like if they really make an effort to go up and go get somebody then it's possible i might have meheda juju but for the most part probably not they probably both fall into that um wide receiver three slash wide receiver four range? The best case for Juju, them drafting a receiver in the first round, is Jamison Williams.

Because, you know, clearly there's plenty of upside there for Patrick Mahomes, which he'd love. And Williams may not be ready to start the season. So, you know, Juju gets off to a fast start and hopefully helps you win a few weeks. And then you see what happens and what Williams is ready to go. Williams has to be ready to go come week one. So take that, you know, for what it's worth. But william slips or as he said you know the chiefs you know

go up to get him um then i think that's the best case scenario for juju of the rookie guys but you know you see a lot of johan dots and mocked him you see you know trailing burks if he falls uh those kind of guys so um they could impact juju obviously in a negative way my biggest fear for juju is if they take two. You know, if they take not just one in the first round, but one, you know, later in the draft. And then you're like, okay, it's an indication of, and obviously from their perspective, Juju's not a one-year deal.

So, you know, from their perspective, it's not just thinking about 2022. It's obviously the future. But also it's an indication that the Mikko Hardman experiment clearly has failed. And, you know, Marcos Valdez-Scantling is not going to be as featured as he might have hoped based on his contract. If they take two, that is an interesting, because they have picks 29, 30, 50, and 62. And then they have 94 and 103 in round three. And then they have a lot of picks, 12 picks. And I think Heath mentioned that right at the top of the show. Twelve picks in total for the Chiefs, and one, two,

three, four, five, six in the top, 103 picks. I can't think of too many. I can think of the Cardinals the year they took, was it Kirk and Isabella? Is that the two that they took? Or was it Akeem Butler too? Akeem Butler and Isabella, maybe

it was. It was Butler and Isabella, maybe it was. It was Butler and Isabella, yes. Kirk was a year later. I can't think of too many examples of teams taking two early. Because if they take a wide receiver in the first round, the Chiefs, and then they take another one in the third, 94th or 103rd overall, I don't know that that would really make too much of a difference for Juve. I kind of think, and I don't, again, from guessing without knowing department,

I kind of think they're going to use the first two picks either for two players or to move up for one player to try to improve the pass rush. That's the thing they've really talked about is the edge rush. And then I've seen a lot, I just wrote Sky Moore's prospect profile yesterday and Ryan Wilson had Sky Moore going to the chiefs at 50. And there's a website that lists like where everybody's mocking players too. And over half of them had more going to the chiefs, either with one of those first round picks or with 50. So I kind of expect them to use the early picks on the defense

and then maybe a couple of picks in round two, three, or four on wide receiver. I'd also keep an eye on Taequann Thornton because he was the fastest receiver at the Combine. Please no. That's never made. Not in the first round. Not in the first round.

I want to know the last time the fastest receiver has been good. I feel like that's just not – it's just – I don't know. It's just like Anthony Schwartz. Tyree didn't go to the combine, right? No. So he wouldn't have been that year. Yeah. Obviously, speed is good.

But those guys who run like mega fast 40s, a lot of times they're just famous for their 40 times. But again, I just don't really have a memory of everybody's 40 times. So I could be wrong about that. But Anthony Schwartz is the one that pops out. Cup and Josh Reynolds for the Rams. Okay, so these are potential losers? I was about to ask you that, by the way. No, I was saying Cup and Josh Reynolds

were the two wide receivers taken in the same draft, I think third and fourth round. That's good. Cup had a good rookie year. But no, Cup and Josh Reynolds were not my potential losers. My potential losers were Elijah Moore and Antonio Gibson. Yeah, if the Jets take a wide receiver 10th overall, what would that mean for Moore?

Or if they trade the 10th overall pick for Debo. Like right now, I view Elijah Moore as a guy who's a number, number two, number three in redraft this year, number two in dynasty with the potential a month into the season to be viewed as a number one wide receiver. He was so, so good for that stretch in the second half of the season before he got hurt.

And we've seen that from a lot of players of his caliber. And listen, this guy's a little bit better now, but A.J. Brown, you remember that first half of his season was nothing. And then he had that great stretch in the second half. We saw it with Juju, his second half of his first year. And then year two, he turns into a superstar. I think that trajectory is available to Elijah Moore right now, but if they go take a wide receiver at 10, that's terrifying.

They still got Corey Davis to pay a ton of money to do this year as well. And yet we never talk about Zach Wilson, by the way, as a potential winner. Maybe we should do that at some point. Who is your other potential loser, Heath? Antonio Gibson. The Washington football team keeps bringing in running backs. After they brought back, like, apparently did some sneaky things to bring back JD McKissick.

Man, if they draft Walker or Breesall, I don't even know where you'd rank Gibson. You think they would? I think they brought both of them in, didn't they? They only have two picks in the first three rounds. They have the 11th overall pick, which is not going to be a running back, and they have the 47th overall pick. Unless they want to trade out of next year's draft,

they don't have a ton of ammunition to move into the third round they have the 113th pick in round four and 189 which is round six and then two round seven picks so they don't have a lot of draft capital number 47 overall maybe they go running back there but they have 11 47 and then 113 and then 113 is round four, right? Yes. I mean, if they're, if the right guy fell to that spot, I wouldn't even like that for Gibson. Cause why with that little draft capital,

why are you using a draft pick on a running back when you have Gibson and McKissick? I agree. I, I think it would signal. I think it would signal that they may not view Gibson as a true running back because he has not been great in that role through two years, and he barely had any carries in college.

He was a wide receiver. This is all hypothetical, but I guess you could view it that way. If they do, pull the trigger. The whole conversation is. Right, yeah. Okay, let's get some players who have a lot to gain. Jamie, you have Aaron Rodgers outside your top 12. Is there anything the Packers can do to move him inside your top 10, let's get some players who have a lot to gain. Jamie, you have Aaron Rodgers outside your top 12. Is there anything the Packers can do to move him inside your top 10, let's say?

Yeah, Darren Waller on receiver. That would be fairly nice. No, not inside my top 10, but could see him getting closer to 12 again. Right now, he is the 15th ranked quarterback for me, which is odd to say. And as I told you on FFT and 5 five to have him ranked behind Kirk Cousins and Derek Carr feels so icky, but it's like the fantasy situations for those guys better Rogers, I think, you know, needs to get, you know,

one of these top tier wide receivers and hope that Sammy Watkins can stay healthy and that, you know, Alan Lazard and Randall Cobb can, you know, produce at eye level. It just doesn't feel like a very good receiving core right now. And I know he's going to overcome the loss of Devontae Adams because he's awesome. The Packers will certainly put him in good spots to succeed. But I just can't, you know, trust right now, even with a high-profile rookie. If they do, you know, something to what, you know, Heath suggested about, you know,

packaging picks and moving up in the first round, then that shows you that they're going to be aggressive to address the position, which I think is certainly in the realm of possibilities. But as it stands right now, even with the addition of a rookie wide receiver, Rodgers will not be a number one quarterback for me. He will, however, be in much better standing and certainly somebody that I'd be more inclined to draft along with one of these questionable starters, because we know what Aaron Rodgers is capable of.

Heath, where would you draw, where would you rank, sorry, Aaron Rodgers if the Packers take a wide receiver in the first round? Well, I mean, and I think this whole, like, who could gain, who could lose thing really does kind of depend on where you're starting from. But it's more for me, like, they've got to go get at least one. And I think they need to probably go move up to get one for me to they've got to go get at least one um and i think they need to probably go move up to get one for me to to move him up and i wouldn't move him up very much um they'd probably have to trade for an established number one for me to get rogers any higher than 12th okay that

is where you have him now that is where dave has rogers jamie as he mentioned he has him 15th another player jamie thinks could win would be kyle pitts but you think this is more from a from a long-term perspective that they draft a quarterback i mean it it would be shocking at this point if malik willis gets past eight to the falcons um everything that you're seeing is is that arthur blank wants him um and he's an Atlanta kid. They have a huge need, clearly, with the position. They were aggressive in trying to acquire Deshaun Watson. They sent Matt Ryan away basically for nothing.

Marcus Mariota is not the long-term answer. So Malik Willis to Kyle Pitts, is that something that's going to make him better? As I told you yesterday, at least you know. At least you know that there's a quarterback that he can hopefully pair with and have success with for many, many years to come. So I think just knowing that he gets a quarterback, hopefully gets a high-profile quarterback,

hopefully gets what could be the best quarterback in his class, Malik Willis, seems like a good thing for the long term of Kyle Pitts if Malik Willis is good. So this was kind of a stretch to say he's going to be a guy that gains tremendously, but I do think at least if you know in your mind what you're dealing with, it helps you determine what cow pits could be for the next three to four years trying to find malik willis's over under from caesars i'm not sure if they released it for him you would think so but i'm not seeing it in this article it's such

a he's such a volatile guy but yeah it does seem like um and we can't we probably should have always expected that eventually the closer we get one or two of these guys are going to get pushed up into the top two top 10 yeah yeah we'll see if the panthers jump there at six to take him but i guess the question is a quarterback you're hearing it's picket i think the question is uh will it matter? Do you think these quarterbacks are good enough? We're going to have to make that decision. I definitely think that Kyle Pitts having Malik Willis,

it doesn't help his floor at all, because Malik Willis doesn't have a floor in the NFL. But it gives him a lot more hope and upside than, than being paired right now with Marcus Mariota, who could be a serviceable starting quarterback, but we know what he is. Okay. Heath,

give me a couple of names, players who could gain. I had a pair of quarterbacks, Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence, but not Zach Wilson. What's that? But not Zach Wilson, that poor guy,

poor Zach Wilson. I just don't think like even if they added Debo Samuel, I don't think Zach Wilson's going to be in anybody's top 18, 15 at quarterback, maybe 18. It'd be really nice if somehow Jacksonville or the bears could get fields or Lawrence, a real number one wide receiver. I think Darnell Mooney, the leap he's made from where he was is really impressive but he should be your number two wide receiver if you want to have a really good passing offense really kind of the same thing for christian kirk despite

the fact they're paying him 20 million dollars a year um i would love it for fields if somehow and this would be tough for the bears unless one of them fall if somehow they could pair him up with one of his former teammates garrett wilson um or chris oh say his name wrong olave olave um the bears have two picks in the second round 39th and 48th and that might be enough to get into the end of the first yeah olave could be available late in the first. I thought I heard that his prop, let me see if I can find that, Olave's prop was like somewhere around 15th. And I don't know,

maybe, you know, those odds makers know things that we don't, but that seems early. I've not seen it because for a while I thought that the conventional wisdom this week

was turning into Garrett Wilson's definitely going number eight to Atlanta. Yeah. A lot of that, but I have not seen a real consensus on the order of these wide receivers are going to be drafted. I think one or two of the top five guys are definitely going to be there at

the end of the first round. If it happens to be Wilson or Lave, then that would be great for fields. So I don't know if Caesars changes the over unders or if they just change the odds. Like, for example, Trayvon Walker. When was this article written? It's from Caesars.com.

And it says, as April reaches the midway point. So this wasn't too long ago. Trayvon Walker's over-under was three and a half, which means you hit the under if he goes in the top three, hit the over if he goes four or later. That's probably going to go under. which means you hit the under if he goes in the top three, hit the over if he goes four or later. That's probably going to go under. So I don't know if they change the number or if they just make it like minus 400 or whatever. Olave is 17.5. He's gone before then.

Before then? Really? Because I've seen a lot of mocks where he's like the fifth wide receiver. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm thinking Wilson. Excuse me. Yeah, yeah. Wilson is 10 and a half uh that you know that makes sense but olave at 17 and a half i was i'm gonna try to find that because i think i'm gonna take the over on that but it's so it's such a departure from what i've seen in mock drafts that I'm just wondering, maybe they got some intel there. Oddsmakers. Always a step ahead.

Okay. Well, we'd love to see Fields and Lawrence get wide receivers. Seems like Zach Wilson has a pretty good chance to have one of the better wide receivers added. And I don't know why I'm just going to keep talking about him. I know he had such a bad rookie year, but give him Elijah Moore. Give him bad rookie year, but give him Elijah

Moore. Okay, not only give him Elijah Moore and maybe Garrett Wilson, maybe Jamison Williams at 10, but also potentially a stud left tackle, or if they want to play him at right tackle, whoever it is, at four. And the Jets, if Becton can bounce back and have a good third season, and Elijah Vera Tucker had a pretty solid rookie season, if they hit a home run with their fourth pick and they draft a wide receiver, which I believe will be an offensive lineman or a defensive lineman, let's say it's offensive line,

and then they draft a wide receiver at 10, you really could see the Jets have a very good offense maybe beginning, I can't say this year, but maybe beginning in 2023, right? Maybe this year. I mean, yeah. I think so, but nobody's talking about it, right? What if the Texans take a tackle, a star tackle,

with their first pick, and then at 13, they take Garrett Wilson or Olave, and then in the second round, they take Brees Hall? They could have an outstanding offense. Yeah, if things go right, if they hit on their draft picks, absolutely. The New York Post did an interesting breakdown because both the Giants and the Jets have two top 10 picks, which is unbelievably rare.

I don't know if it's ever happened where two teams had two top 10. I don't think it has. Two teams had two top 10 picks, and they looked at the previous teams that have had two top 10 picks and how they did. And typically, it's make one, miss one, basically. Typically, it's like one good player and one, eh, not so much. That's really odd because the NFL draft is always hits.

Yeah. But what I noticed, the more recent examples were better. Go back to the Colts in 1992. They drafted Steve Entman. I'll have to look it up. It was a good one. Recent examples were better. Go back to the Colts in 1992. They drafted Steve Entman. I'll have to look it up. How did your Twitter poll turn out, Jamie? The Giants?

Yeah. Last time I looked, it was very heavy in favor of Malik Willis. What was the poll? The poll was I was having a conversation with two of our producers who are Giants fans, and I said, would you rather have Malik Willis or Daniel Jones? And they both said Daniel Jones. And so I said, this is interesting. I want to see what Giants fans as a whole think. Dan Schneier was very offended that I didn't ask him personally.

But Malik Willis or Daniel Jones, who would you rather have? Dan had a very logical explanation for it, as you would expect, about the rookie deals mattering and how much, you know, picking up the fifth-year option, et cetera. What a cop-out. That is so not. No, first he gave his answer. He said Jones as a better decision-maker and probably as a better passer.

But the upside, I think, which I'll probably expect at this point, is Malik Willis. So you can read his answer. You have to take Malik Wolfe. How could you not say Malik Wolfe? Well, but the real question is not that. The real question is, would you rather have Daniel Jones and the number seven pick or Malik Wolfe?

Fair. I don't think they should take Malik Wolfe. I think that they should. If I was a Giants fan, I would want them to take Malik Wolfe. You would? I would want them to, yes. I've shared my thoughts on this.

I think that they're all in on the 2023 quarterback class. They'll let Daniel Jones fail one more time. I think they're going to try to trade out from seven and get a first-round pick next year and hopefully use that. Maybe they have the first overall pick because I think they'd be terrible. Any capital they have to get the first or second pick I think they'd be terrible, but you know, any capital they have to get the first or second pick in next year's draft and take younger Stroud. And there are other very exciting quarterback prospects,

including the guy at Florida, the guy at Miami, both these guys could end up being top five picks next year. It's just a much different draft class. So that's why I wouldn't take Malik Willis. I'd suck one more year and reset the franchise next year. Right. But the problem is, is that what if Daniel Jones is good?

It's a good problem to have. It's a good problem to have. You can't run away from that, but help him out. Try to make him better this year. But you take a tackle this year. Hopefully that guy and Andrew Thomas could be really good next year. And you draft the quarterback of the future then. But I don't think the Giants are going to be alone in that thinking.

I feel like a lot of teams want to have capital. I've mentioned this. I said this yesterday, so I don't want to keep repeating it, but the Eagles already did it. The Eagles traded a first-round pick this year for a first-round pick next year, and next year's draft just looks so much better, especially if you're a team that might need a quarterback.

I asked people on Twitter for their opinions, who has the most to gain or lose? And Josh Knutson said, DeAndre Hopkins, if the Cardinals... Now, this was an interesting take. He said, if the Cardinals draft an actual competent wide receiver to play opposite him,

instead of faking it with the ghost of A.J. Green or a gadget guy like Rondell Moore, that he could... I think he was saying, oh, maybe not. I thought he was saying that Hopkins would benefit, but I guess he's saying that Hopkins would lose, that he'd be a loser if the- I mean, we saw Hopkins last year, right?

He was so touchdown dependent. And so, you know, I don't feel great about DeAndre Hopkins as I used to, and I was wrong on him with the move to Arizona initially. I thought that there was going to be a potential problem for targets based on how the Cardinals had spread the ball around with Cliff Kingsbury, and that proved to be wrong in the first year. But then you look at what happened to him last year

when Christian Kirk played better and Rondell Moore was there for some spurts and A.J. Green there for some spurts and AJ Green had some good moments and then they brought on Zach Ertz and then Hopkins got hurt but I mean it was touchdown or bust essentially some weeks for Hopkins and that was very frustrating and you have to wonder you know as he reached the point especially last year the first time he's missed time for significant injuries is he starting to hit that wall a little bit and I hope not but it's a concern and if they add else, which I think they have to, to at least start to think about the future,

is how much is that person going to be, or that player going to be a problem for DeAndre Hopkins? So I still think he's a very safe number two wide receiver. I don't think he's the number one guy anymore. He can certainly play like that, but I'm not drafting him that way. And if they added a receiver, I totally agree. I think it would be a negative for him. Heath, Jesper Hagen says,

Miles Sanders, he didn't say winner or loser, but I guess he thinks Miles Sanders just has a lot to gain or lose, basically, in this draft. I think he is in a precarious situation. They are one of the teams that I think could draft a running back, and maybe that's the place where Brees Hall could go and just be spectacular. But this was not a player who was chosen by this regime and the way he was used last year,

and really the way he's been used, except for short stretches by multiple coaching staffs, suggests, kind of like you talked about with Antonio Gibson, maybe they don't fully believe in him as their lead running back. Yeah, or for him, maybe they don't believe he can stay healthy. He's certainly not proven that. The Eagles have five picks in the first 101 picks overall, including 15 and 18, which unlikely to be used on a running back,

but 15 and 18. You would love it. You would absolutely love it. If? Any team uses a pick on a running back in the first round. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, I would. Well, I would because Jamie and I have a bet.

And, of course, I said Jamie can't give away any podcast league spots if a running back is taken in the first round. But Jamie already gave one away. No, I didn't. I just suggested it to you. I did not give it away. Okay, well, I accepted your suggestion. Well, that doesn't count.

It sounds like you gave a spot away already. Yep, you absolutely did. So we've given away like half the spots in the league already. We may have to have another league. I mean, that's Jamie. That's what Jamie does. No, no, no. Actually, this person requested to be in any listener league.

Oh, okay. Okay, fine. So then the bet stands. The bet stands. You know what we could do is just have the For the People League not be a 10-team league anymore, fine. So then the bet stands. The bet stands. You know what we could do is just have the For the People League not be a 10-team league anymore, and then we could have more people. No, we can't do that, Heath. Because it's for the people.

Yeah, for 10 people. From Clint. Why don't you have Robert run a 20-person league if he wants to? Who? The guy you sent me? oh oh oh our social guy i think he's got enough on his plate because we have we have the fft open you guys may not even know about this but we have the fft open which is our scott fish is in the chat right now so scott don't sue us it's our version of the scott fishbowl and it is run by one of our listeners. He's done it two years in a

row. And it's something like 20 leagues. Can we call it a not fishbowl? I like the FFT Open, but whatever you want to call it, it's fine. Clint thinks Michael Carter has a lot to lose or gain in the NFL draft.

Hard to argue that. Yeah. And Dustin Park says Devin Singletary. And that is the guy should be the headliner. That is one. It depends on where you have him ranked, whether he has a lot to gain or whether he has a lot to lose. I think I've got him at like 35.

He's got a lot to gain. Yeah. Consensus might be closer to 20 when he's got a lot to lose there. Well, the ADP that we looked at last week had him in the 80s. So, overall, not a running back, obviously. So, I think people are drafting, expecting the Bills to upgrade a running back. And if they don't, then, yeah, he's not going to be picked in the 80s, Devin Singletary.

I'll read a couple emails here, and then we will skedaddle. Dave in Flint says, Just listening to the wide receiver dynasty rankings dispute, you mentioned the Falcons taking a wide receiver with their first pick. I'm on board with that, but I wish you would have mentioned what it does to Kyle pits in dynasty. If the Falcons grabbed Garrett Wilson, what would that do to Kyle pits dynasty rankings?

And also I'm curious in dynasty, would you rather have Garrett Wilson or Jamison Williams? Who should those of us with the 1.1 grab, if we need a dynasty wide receiver? I don't think any wide receiver in this class would impact my dynasty ranking of Kyle Pitts. I think he's a better... What's that?

What if it's two guys? I think he's the... He would be... If you changed his position to wide receiver and you put him in this draft class, he would be by far and away the best wide receiver in the class, right? Yeah.

Wait, wait, wait. He'd be the number one. Really? I don't know. You would expect him to put up wide receiver numbers? I mean, he basically did. He did. But do you think he's going to become like a 1,400-yard kind of guy?

I don't know that there's any. Yes. I bet he has a 1,400-yard kind of guy? I don't know that there's any. Yes, I bet he has a 1,400-yard season. I hope so. That would obviously be a record. I don't know who the 1,400-yard wide receiver in this class is. Yeah, if you don't think that, that's fine. But the other question, I think if you have the 1-1, you've really got to try to see if you can get to 3 or 4,

and somebody will give you something because they want Brees Hall. Okay. And you could also try to get – You know what you're doing yet, Heath? Right now. You have the 1-0-1. Brees Hall for sure? I've got 1-0-1 and 1-0-2.

Yes, Brees Hall is locked locked in no matter where he goes well if you know if he if he really stumbles like to the middle of the second round and gets in a difficult landing spot then i'm going to take him at 102 so let's just say let's say walker to the texans walker texas rangers and um and sp Walker to the Texans Walker, Texas Rangers and, and Spiller to the Falcons and Hall goes to the Colts as Jonathan Taylor's backup. Well, then I will not take Brees. That would be a,

that would be a very bad planning spot. What if he goes to the Panthers? This is probably, I'd probably take those in those two into those spots i'd probably man i don't want to do it again though i still hurt over the jonathan taylor clyde edwards lair fumbling well yeah you hear brie saw comped to jonathan taylor a lot so if you are the colts what's better than one jonathan taylor why not why not? No, I'm just saying, what's the worst? I said that before when he asked the worst landing

spot. I don't remember which show he did. I said to the Colts or the Broncos, just where he's behind a young potential star or star already. But if the Titans decide we need a Derrick Henry replacement eventually, and they take Brees all around too, like they did once upon a time with

DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry. Do you pivot to receiver at that point? It's possible. I'd like to not. Please don't do that, NFL. I have the fifth pick in another Dynasty League. It's a super flex league. This is traditionally

a very quarterback heavy rookie draft always um uh i'm curious to see what's going to happen with the first four picks in front of me because i need i need help at running back and receiver for sure you should trade into next year's draft um no yeah you should it's so much better it's so much yeah but i could get i could get you know let's just say everybody lands in ideal landing spots. Willis goes to the Falcons, Pickett goes to the Panthers or the Steelers. So those two guys will probably be drafted early. I could potentially end up with Ken Walker as the second best running back in a good spot

or my pick of the best receiver. Yep. If you're in a quarterback-heavy league in Dynasty, just wait. But that helps if you're still picking quarterback heavy league in dynasty so that helped if you're if you're still picking at the back end around one two but you're gonna have two picks in this scenario if you have a chance though at garrett wilson or whoever your favorite wide receiver or walker versus random i don't know what pick it is 2023 pick right no you'll have two you'll have two picks in 2023. You'll have your own and the one you acquire,

which you, in theory, could package. And if you're in a quarterback-heavy league, the first two picks next year, well, Bijan Robinson, I think, will probably be number one. And then Smith Najigba, too. And then the first four picks, two of them are probably going to be, I don't know, it's so hard to say, could be quarterbacks

with Young and Stroud. Next year is just so much better than this year basically, I think, from an elite Yeah, but I could also stink again and be right back where I am too. Which would be great for you. Which would be great. Then you'll get Bryce Young next year. I can easily acquire a

first-round pick throughout the course of the season if my team is that bad. Yeah, you could do that. Question from Trace in Vancouver. acquire a first round pick throughout the course of the season. If my team is that bad. All right. Yeah, you could do that. A question from Trey, a trace in Vancouver, full PPR, one quarterback, two running back, two wide receiver,

tight end. I need to keep three at no penalty. Jonathan Taylor, Jamar chase, Aaron Jones, George Kittle, Justin Herbert. So Taylor and chase,

and then one more Jones, Aaron Jones, George Kittle, or Herbert? Jones. Jones. Cool. Let's see. I got some questions here in the chat. First of all, Scott Fish is going to sue me.

He's super litigious, he says. And Gary Scott says, 10-team PPR Keeper League. I can keep three. I have Camara, JK Bobbins. He's pretty good. Derek Henry, Leonard Fournette, and Travis Etienne. Who are you keeping in PPR? I would keep Kamara, Henry, and probably Fournette.

I think that Thursday and Friday night may decide between Fournette. I think that Thursday and Friday night may decide between Fournette and Dobbins. But yeah, Henry and Kamara are the two easy ones, and then probably Fournette. Any rookie you guys think would be like a JJ or Jamar type player? Nope. Not wide receivers. Is JJ Julio Jones?

I think JJ is Justin Jefferson. Oh, Justin Jefferson Is J.J. Julio Jones? I think J.J.'s Justin Jefferson. Oh, Justin Jefferson. Okay. Yeah. Who's your favorite wide receiver? Jamison Williams. It's Wilson right now. I'll take Drake London.

Okay. There we go. And the one I really am enthused, enticed by is Christian Watson. He's so intriguing. am enthused, enticed by is Christian Watson. Just like salivating. So intriguing. Him and Traylon Burks are the two I think that can really sway how good this class can be if everybody ends up in a good spot.

Yeah, man. All right. Looking forward to it. We'll talk to you tomorrow with a mailbag. We'll talk to you Thursday very, very late or very, very early Friday technically. Recapping round one. Then again round two. Then again round three. Have a great day, everybody. For Heath and Jamie, I'm Adam. See you.