Fantasy Football Today - Sophomore TEs! Building on an Historic 2025 Season, Plus Big NFL News on Kyler Murray and More (03/04 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: March 4, 2026

2025 was a fantastic season for rookie tight ends! We're hoping these guys don't disappoint in 2026, but history is not necessarily is on their side. We put the 2025 season into context and then play some Sophomore Tight End Trivia (7:35)! ... Let's debate the Top 3 (13:10)! How do the guys rank Colston Loveland, Tyler Warren and Harold Fannin Jr.? Which sophomore TE will have the best draft value (27:15)? Who are some sleepers, breakouts and busts (29:50)? We talk about Mason Taylor, Terrance Ferguson, Elijah Arroyo and Gunnar Helm ... Going through the big NFL news (40:40) including Kyler Murray's impending release and Daniel Jones getting the franchise tag. We have a long debate about which veteran NFL quarterback we would want on our team and who would be best for wide receivers. Malik Willis? Tua Tagovailoa? ... Email us at [e-mail] Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts Watch FFT on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Shop our store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shop.cbssports.com/fantasy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW FFT Dynasty on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE to FFT DFS on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dfs/id1579415837⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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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today from CBS Sports. Swamp way! It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races, and he stays on his feet. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. And let's talk about tight ends and big news from around the NFL. The quarterback market's going to be pretty interesting next week when we start getting our free agency moves.

Welcome everybody to fantasy football today. It's Wednesday, March 4th. I'm Adam Azer with Heath Cummings and Dave Richard. Jamie Eisenberg will be joining us shortly. Are you guys excited for sophomore tight-end trivia? Yes. No. Oh, boo.

Fine, I'll change my answer, yes. Oh, you can't really do that in trivia, but. So. I can do whatever I want, Jim. So we had a great rookie tight-end class, okay? Let's put it in perspective. Since 2000, when you look at the best rookie tight ends in total PPR fantasy points.

Three of them were from the 2025 class. Bowers was one. Laporta was two. Then we had Warren at three, Harold Fannan at four, and we had Colston Loveland at eight. So three of the top eight, the total PPR fantasy points from a rookie tight end in the last 25 seasons

belonged to this most recent class. If you want to look at yards, we have four of the top ten. We have numbers 5, 6, 8, and 10. Tyler Warren, 5th with 817 yards, Fanon 6th, Loveland 8, and O'Ronday Gatston. That a really nice year. He had the 10th most yards for a rookie tight end at 664 since the year 2000.

Your top four, by the way, are Bowers, Pitts. Both of them went over 1,000 yards. Jeremy Shockey and Sam Laporta. So Heath, just to reflect on a fantastic year, And I guess not a huge surprise because they kind of lived up to the hype. I would say they exceeded it. I would say they exceeded the height in terms of fantasy. What would you say?

I'm not going to be negative today, but it did make me kind of sad to look at this list and think that I think maybe all of the guys who were on this top 10 were worse than a year two. I went through that exercise. I went through that exercise and there were actually two. This list here doesn't have Grankowski, I guess, but the previous list does, the fantasy points list because Gronk had all. Yeah. So let's look again to the top 10 best rookie tight end season since 2000. It's Bowers, Leporta, Tyler Warren, Fanon, Pitts, Ingram, Shockey, Loveland, Grancowski, and Friarmouth. Well, you can take out three of them because three of them are rookies, but of the other

seven, only two of them scored more fantasy points the next year or average more fantasy points per game the next year. And it was Shockey and Grankowski. It's been a very long time. been a very long time so that's that was that just gives me a little bit of about drafting one of these guys in round three but no

I think it was the greatest rookie tight end class ever and I think they are going to be awesome moving forward as well even if a couple of them take a step back in year two what do you make of that Dave that most of those guys

like Bowers lost the point per game Leporta lost almost three points per game. Kyle Pitts lost almost three points per game. Evan Ingram was basically the same per game. Shockey, better, Grancowski better. Friarmouth was basically the same per game. You make anything of that or two small sample size? I mean, you can look into each player and see what changed in their situation.

In the case of Bowers, for example, the whole Raiders offense was a mess last year. He himself got hurt early on. I don't know if he ever really recovered from it. So there's always going to be circumstances. but generally speaking, teams catch up with you. Coaches catch up with you and they spend all offseason studying what the team did. Or in the case of, let's go back to Bowers again, studying what is expected based on the coaching changes that a team made. Remember, the Raiders made wholesale changes on their coaching staff from 2024 to 2025.

Yeah. So there's all kinds of circumstances that come into it. but for the most part, opponents are better prepared. They know that these players were great as rookies. They weren't quite as prepared for them as they were, as they will be in their second year. And I would expect that to be the case in a lot of the divisional matchups

that we'll see for Loveland, for Warren, for Fanon, as they move on next year. Jimmy, yeah, again, so this pattern of second year tight ends kind of disappointing us. And by the way, with Shockey, I'm pretty sure Shockey was, better per game, but he actually, he played six fewer games. It's a shame. He was on his way, I think, to a terrific career.

But anyway, Jamie, like, who would worry you about taking the biggest step back between Warren, let's say those top three, Warren, Fannin and Loveland? Probably Warren and Fanna just because of their quarterback situations. Yeah. You know, I mean, I don't foresee it, but, you know, in terms of, like, worry, you know, we've seen, The highs and lows of Deshaun Watson, it sounds like he's going to get the first opportunity to start for the Browns. I can't imagine that fan is not going to be featured, but it's not like the production from the past catchers in Cleveland have been better when Watson has been there for the most part. It's been worse. And in the case of Warren, you're going to have Daniel Jones coming off of Achilles injury.

He's expected to be ready for week one. He may benefit immensely if Pierce leaves as a free agent and they decide to let Michael Pittman walk to release Michael Pittman because of his $29 million dollar calories. salary cap hit. And then Warren's clearly the featured option there. But again, you know, you're talking about injured quarterback or maybe crappy quarterback in Cleveland. Hopefully those two situations don't, you know, drag down the upside of what those two guys could be. All right. Let's play some rookie or now sophomore tight end trivia. And we're just going to base this on last year's tight end position and those rookies. And there were 28 tight ends who had 50 or more targets. So that's mostly what we're doing here. Those 28 tight ends. 28 tight ends of

50 more targets. So not Tucker Kraft. I don't believe. Not. I don't think to Alton Kincaid got there. Which tight end led the position in yards per target with a minimum of 50 targets? This is obviously going to be one of the rookies. Led the rookies last year? He led everyone. He led everyone. Led everyone. I'll go with Colston Loveland. I'll say Fanon. I'll say Warren.

Wow. 0 for 3. Orande Gaston. Led in yards per target. All right. Ooh, look at it. Look at his fancy graphics. Love it. It is fancy. All right.

Same group here. 28 tight ends had 50 or more targets last year. A rookie led all of them in yards per catch. Who was it? I'd lean toward Loveland there. That would be Colson Loveland in case anybody. There was a lot of silence after that. Probably somebody obscure.

Terrence Ferguson. I don't think you, I don't think of 50. I'll go with Gadsden. Hey, Heath Getson, it's Gadsden. Oh, Ferguson, that 50 plus targets. Yards per target and yards per catch leader, O'Ronday Gatston. Big play machine. Okay, same group, 50 or more targets or 28 tight ends.

Which tight end had the second, oh, no, he had the highest average route depth and the second highest A-DOT among all tight ends. He was a rookie last year. I'm going to go with Ronda Gadsden. Highest. Highest answer is route depth. I like your strategy there. Yeah, Gadsden's, I'll go Gadsden too. That sounds like that.

It's Colston Loveland. Colston Loveland, yeah, one thing digging into the profile here, didn't use him a lot, like hardly ever on screens. He was really much more of a downfield guy, completely different than Warren and Loveland in that regard. So Loveland, Warren and Fanon, sorry, Warren and Fanon were more short area guys. Loveland more of the downfield guy, who led all tight ends, by the way, in Addot. It was Zach Ertz, just barely basically. tied with loved one. Okay.

One more question. Crazy. Which three rookie tight ends led their team in targets? Fanon? Fanon's easy. You say Fanon's easy.

He led the team in targets by one. Which surprised me. But yes. Led their team in total targets. I guess Warren has to make that too. He led also by one. Warren did? Uh-huh.

All right. And then there's a third rookie tight end that led their team in targets. Yep. Kind of unbelievable. I'll go Mason Taylor. Mason Taylor. Good job, guys. All right. Those three rookie tight ends led their teams and targets.

Mason Taylor for the Jets, Tyler Warren by one, and Harold Fanon by one. Way to go. Heath, what's coming up on Beyond the Box score? I'm not on the Box. FFT Dynasty. I think Beyond the Box are still going, by the way, from yesterday. It is now currently. I think it's just a live feed now.

Yeah, it's just like in their bedrooms. Yes. You know, we're moving into rookie coverage, trying to get a top 12 put together. And I think maybe during the combine, it got easier to have a top 10. But figuring out 11 and 12 and where Ty Simpson's going to be drafted,

we're just working through the rookies. Beyond the box score dropped a three-hour episode yesterday. That's what I was going to say. They have their own YouTube. channel now. So just, you know, subscribe to the Beyond the Boxcore YouTube channel. And they go so in depth. So it's a terrific resource. I hope so. Well, but they do a great job. And FFT Dynasty also, these are going to be great ways to get

ready for the NFL draft. So, all right. Let's, let's move on to, yeah, let's take a break. We'll take a break and we'll answer some questions about sophomore tight ends. I'll get you to rank the top three. It's going to be a really fun. debate for months to come. We'll be right back on fantasy football today. All right, let's rank the top three sophomore tight ends for next season. Jamie, go. Loveland, fan, and Warren.

Loveland fan, and Warren. Heath, go. They're all in the same tier, but I'll say Loveland, Fan, Warren for now, too. Dave? You guys are way off. It's Colston, Harold, and Tyler. Not going to be much debate here. Loveland and Fannin.

I'm the one that had Fannin at the top of the list, and then I knew we were going to talk about sophomore tight ends today, so I dug into all three of them. And the data point that I, that changed my mind on Fannin to Loveland was how Loveland did with Burden and O'Dunes A from week 10 on. And there weren't a lot of games. It's a small sample size,

but he averaged 7.3 targets in those games. Those are two players that we know we're going to be in Chicago next year. year. If DJ Moore is not there, I almost think that we're kind of baking that in a little bit with Loveland, and that makes him even easier to put at the top of the sophomore tight end list. I just think that there's a little more upside form. I could still see Fanon having a few more targets, but the Browns are going to be such a mess.

And if it's Deshaun Watson, that quarterback behind a bad offensive line, I don't know if I'm going to feel good about taking any Browns on draft day. How, like, are we expecting by next week we're going to get one of these bears gone? Because that's the one thing is it does. And I guess we could talk about this more when we get to the overdraft segment. But like Colquamette and DJ Moore are both still on the bears. Yeah. And there was just a report, I don't know, speculation, athletic writing about will DJ Moore still be on the team?

And they said, the sense is. the Bears building is that DJ more will be on the team, but it's not guaranteed, you know, by any means. So if there's, I think there was a similar report on Cole Commit. You think Commet matters for Loveland? Yeah, not anymore. Not as much.

Like, I don't think anybody's going to say, I can't take Loveland because Commet's still there. But it is somebody who could be a factor in the red zone a handful of times per year. You'll feel besmirched when it happens, but no, it's not that big of a deal. And as for DJ Moore, I know everybody's kind of throwing him in in a trade for the Bears, the Bears get Max Crosby and Moore and a first rounder go back to Vegas.

I would not rule out Buffalo as a destination for DJ Moore because he's got a prior relationship with Joe Brady and they need receiving help, especially veteran receiver help. I wonder if they make a play for more if he's truly available. I think it's certainly interesting what happened yesterday because, now that Alec Pierce is free, essentially, he can sign with anybody. And AJ Brown's name is getting talked about more and more. Does DJ Moore sort of become that third option? So not the top free agent because Pickett is now going to stay in Dallas.

And Pierce is the top free agent. And AJ Brown is thinking, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe he's the most coveted trade chip of the position. So is he sort of like waiting for the dominoes to fall or the bear is waiting for the dominoes to fall. Maybe the eagle set the market for what, you know, wide receiver is going to go for. Obviously, again, they're not in the same, I think, category at this point, same tier at this point. But it does make some sense, Buffalo. I'm sure New England's going to, you know, kick the tires on trades and Pierce. And, you know, maybe we, we find out about some of these situations post-free agency as opposed to pre-free agency.

I mean, it's funny. I wouldn't forget about Mike Evans and even Tyreek Hill. Yeah, I mean, those are those are those are. They're kind of in that. same range as DJ Moore though, right? Like, I don't know if either of them are. Correct. But, you know, again, I was just thinking, you know, top free agents. I don't, I mean, yes, those names probably belong in terms of listing them as top free agents, but you are talking about two 30 plus year old wide receivers that aren't going to get huge, you know, deals. Right, but you don't have to give up anything in a trade to get one of them.

And DJ Moore, 29 years old, big cap number, and you're going to have to give up something to get him. Yeah, I mean, you might have just heard us say that Alec Pierce is, a higher priority than DJ Moore. He's three years younger. Oh, yeah. But DJ Moore has four seasons of his career with 1100 or more yards. Alec Pierce has never done that. I think if you just wanted a guy for one year,

I would guess people would be more in on DJ more than Alec Pierce. But age is obviously part of that. Okay, back to the discussion here. When you evaluate these guys and you look at, you know, one guy's on the bears, but fighting for targets, whereas the other guys are on the Browns, who I think were the second lowest scoring team. in football last year.

And the, in the Colts, who were one of the better, in fact, with Daniel Jones, they were actually the highest scoring team in football. So I wonder how people actually, I still feel like people are going to have questions about their offense. Jamie kind of alluded to earlier, even though again, they were the highest scoring offense at football with Daniel Jones. I think they were eighth. First nine games, they were great.

Then he broke his leg. And he was playing on a broken leg. And then he tore his Achilles. But there's Daniel Jones talking about. But anyway, yeah, like, Dave, how much of that will be part of your thought process when you're going, do I really want to gamble on a guy on the Browns? Do I really want to gamble on a guy on the Colts?

I got this Bears offense. Like, what's that factor for you? I mean, it's obviously a factor, and it's a lot easier to take somebody on the Bears or the Colts, knowing what the potential is of those offenses. But then you look at Cleveland, and five minutes ago, I just ran through all the problems that they have,

and they're going to be problems that they're going to have all offseason long. They've got salary cap. issues. They, they're going to have a hard time fielding even like an average team, I think. I'm very nervous about the Browns prospects for next year, but they do have a player who's very athletic and is going to get a lot of targets and the team will be playing from behind. And Todd Monkin is a great coordinator and play caller. So there are some reasons to like Harold Fanon, but it's going to be based on how much volume will he truly get. And if the Browns just don't make huge splashes at wide receiver, I would imagine.

he'll get some good volume and that keeps him in that top five and it keeps him appealing, but it doesn't make me want to take him with a top 40 pick. In fact, I'm not sure if any of these three guys I'm dying to take with the top 40 pick. If there was one, it would be Loveland, but it would be just barely inside that top 40. I don't know. You know, look, the situation in Cleveland is obviously bad. I don't know if it's like, oh, my God, it's so much worse than it was this past year. It was awful.

You know, and he obviously was great. And so. But he wasn't, he was great. a rookie. He was number eight per game. He did have a really good year, but most of it was like all the non-Ninujoku games, and nojoku's not going to be back. But again, like if the offense doesn't get any better, how much better is Harold Fanon going to get? I think the maturation process, the loss of Najoku, better play caller, maybe different play caller. I don't know better, but different play caller. And I don't think you can at this point, because it hasn't happened yet since he's been there,

factor into Sean Watson making it through a full season because he's never done that for the Browns. So, you know, to what you're looking at here, you know, you just listed, you know, you just asked us to list the three rookie tight ends that led their team in targets. Like that's pretty impressive as rookies, Mason Taylor notwithstanding. You know, so Tyler Warren had a pretty special season. Obviously Harold Fanon had a solid stretch of games that, you know, propelled him to, you know, lead his team in targets. And now again, losing significant competition for what that's worth, I think just looking at it as if he was the eighth best tight end as a rookie, and the situation,

let's say it's lateral, you know, in terms of where it's at right now, because losing Njoku, gaining Monkin, year older, like, I don't know if it's a step backwards for him personally.

You know, it's just not great overall, but I don't know for him in the Brown situation. Like it's, wow, they're really taking a step backwards. Like, it just feels like,

okay, they're just the Browns again. So that's fair. I think, but we don't know. No, go. And like you're just looking at it.

as like this is a pretty special talent and is going to command a lot of attention and hopefully does well with that attention. Yeah, I think the biggest risk is how much less involved is the tight end in Monkin's offense than Stefansky. And maybe not that much because Monkens had a lot of tight end involvement in his offense in the past. It's just nobody has done what Stefanski and guys that have come in Petzing have done the last few years.

And I'd also worry about the upside. Like, it's hard to make an upside case for Fanon compared to both Loveland and Warren. Because of the offense? Yeah, because this is a team that's not going to score that much. But, yeah, I mean, I agree. I will just point out that two years ago, he's not Brock Bowers. But two years ago, Brock Bowers was the number one overall tight end.

He wasn't number one per game. I think he was third per game. But he was the number one overall tight end. And they finished. The Raiders were 28th in scoring that year. Last year, McBride was the number one tight end in fantasy, and the Cardinals were 23rd or 24th in scoring. You want to know which stat is the reason for it?

It's targets. Yes, sir. Right. And that's at this position, more than wide receiver. It's important a wide receiver, but I would say of the three positions, offense matters the least at tight end from what my research would tell me. I think the upside for Fanon is the McBride path. It's just that he gets so many targets because McBride hasn't been like he did score a lot of touchdowns last year,

but he hasn't been very efficient on a per target basis, never better than eight yards per target. He's just been good. And if you're just good, but you get 10 targets a game, you're awesome. Yeah. Can you see that happening for Fanon this year? As again, we're talking about which guys are going to leave Chicago. And I think the question in Cleveland is which guys are. are going to join.

Harold Fanon averaged 19. Let me see, where is it? 15.9 PPR fantasy points per game in five games without Nijoku or with Nijoku leaving early with an injury. And that does not include week 17 where Fannin scored 11 points,

but he played 23% of the snaps and had a season-ending injury. He caught a touchdown, a deep touchdown against Pittsburgh and left. Shudor Sanders started a decent amount of games. Shurder Sanders threw seven touchdowns and four of them went to Fannan. Can anybody make the case for Tyler Warren to be the first one, Jamie, of the three, I'll start with you.

Can you make that case? Yeah, Pearson Pittman leave, and Daniel Jones is ready to go week one without any hesitation, no concerns about his health. Okay, let's say only one of those guys leaves. Can you make a case then? Yeah. I mean, look, it's one less productive player on the roster.

You know, Michael Pittman's had a very solid career. he may not have been a superstar or be a superstar, but he's been a solid player for the Colts. And Alec Pierce was a huge part of their offense last year and the significant piece of what I'm sure they're hoping to do for 2026, which is why they want to resign him still. So, you know, if one of those guys is gone, then I think Warren's easily, look,

he already led the team in targets last year with those guys on the roster. You know, so it's only a step further, another step in the direction of him getting better in his sophomore season. So I think when you look at all three these guys, like he said, they all belong in the same tier. it's a matter of, you know, do you want to buy the first guy in the tier or wait for the last guy in the tier? How soon do you want to jump into it? Like they've said, you know, they're probably going to be, I would say at worst case, top 60 picks.

And so do you take the chance on one of these three guys or wait out a little bit longer and see where craft goes, where Leporta goes or even or pits, I guess? And then sort of, you know, wait to the greater late options or the late options start to come into play. I think just in the case of Warren, there's just, we'll see in this. next month what's happening with Pearson Pittman and then we'll see come August what's happening with Daniel Jones. And I think Riley Leonard showed in, I believe it was maybe just week 18. He looked decent, you know, and it was a surprise that they, you know, ran to Philip Rivers out of retirement so soon as opposed to maybe giving Riley Leonard an opportunity. I know he was banged up right when Daniel Jones got hurt also. But it just felt like, okay, maybe a more athletic player in this

offense, more athletic quarterback in this offense, was better suited for what they were looking for, especially with some of the offensive line concerns they were dealing with that time, that they might have been better off, and maybe the receiving options would have been better off. So I don't know if it's just, okay, Riley Leonard will be okay in the short term. But I think Warren is probably, at least the drafts we've done so far, he's been the best value because everybody's been sort of reaching for Warren, or reaching for Loveland and Fanon a little bit too soon.

It's hard to overstate how bad Tyler Warren was after Daniel Jones got hurt. Up until that point, he was the number seven tight end per game. He was actually, Warren got off to a great start. First seven weeks, he was the number three tight end per game. He averaged 14 and a half points per game. And then he struggled a little bit. The next five games, he was the number 10 tight end per game, averaged 11.1 PPR fantasy points per game.

It's still solid. But those first 12 games with Daniel Jones, Tyler Warren was tight end seven per game. The last five games, he had 133 yards on 133 yards. on 34 targets, no touchdowns in the last five games. Tyler Warren was awful, and he was still getting targets, but that's just something to keep in mind. It just, it did not work for him with Philip Rivers and Riley Leonard.

All right, I'd love to talk more about these guys. Let's go to our next question, though, which will probably involve these guys. Who will be the best draft value? Of all the tight ends, not necessarily those three. Best draft value among these sophomores. I mean, Gadsden looks like he's going to, good spot.

He's somebody that I looked for late. I'm going to be curious about the Jets quarterback situation with Mason Taylor because I liked him coming out last year and I'm moderately excited about this year. Terrence Ferguson, you know, assuming that Higby's gone. Like all the, and Gunther Helm, those guys to me, like, if you really want to wait and even take two of these guys, like, there's so much upside and potential for him. Like, this class was awesome. Elijah Royal might be in a great spot too.

You know, like there's just a lot to love about some of these players. I mean, clearly, again, if you want to get one of the top three guys, you just wait out to see who's the third one. I'll say Mason Taylor for now. Whoever's third from Loveland, Fanon, and Warren. Okay. Yeah. Keenan Allen's not back with the Chargers. I wonder where Gadsden gets drafted.

Do you think he'll be a top 12 guy in ADP, Gadsden? Yes. Probably. He's really talented. He showed a lot of... Most of his production, though, was tied to Quentin Johnson more so than Keenan. most of his production I mean I looked at he had four games

he had four games of good production and I believe three of those were when Johnson was out Johnson missed one or injured yeah isn't it tied to the running game more than I think it was tied to nothing I mean I think it was just what about the offensive line no only one of those games had Joe all I think it was just you know in one game like

Justin Herbert threw 55 something passes I will say this after those four games Justin Herbert was a shell of himself the passing game was really bad. I think I averaged about 200 passing yards per game after that stretch. So it was just a bad offensive environment for O'Rane Gatson after he had his midseason breakout. And before his midseason breakout, he wasn't really playing that much. I personally could not find a specific reason.

Now, Johnston did miss one of those games. Did he get hurt in another one? He had zero targets in one of those games, too. Yes, he got hurt in one and he missed one. Okay. But even if I wouldn't know, I mean, my interpretation wouldn't be, oh, it was specifically Quentin Johnson. It was just somebody not taking target. So if Keenan Allen, who, by the way, did he lead?

I don't think he, he may have led the team in targets Keenan Allen. He was up there. If he's gone, obviously it's a big, it's probably a Mekonki. But Keenan Allen was first or seven. You know, so I don't know. All right. So that's Gadsden. How about a sleeper?

Give me a sleeper. Gunner Helm. Mason Taylor. Yeah, I figure, I mean, there aren't that many guys to say, right? So you're going to have the same answers. Yeah, it's not great. Like, Oroyo is someone that's kind of intriguing to me just because he's athletic. But I don't see myself, I could see myself drafting Gunnar Helm late if Okao moves on.

And Helm just gets a better opportunity in Tennessee. But I'm not sure he'll be a top two target getter for them. I don't think Oroyo is going to be a top two target getter for Seattle either. Keenan Allen led the charges and targets. Breakout. With how many, Adam? How many? 131.

Lower. 117. I'm not telling. Give me a breakout, tight ed. Loveland. Lovelland. Warren. 122.

Damn it. Give me a bust. Fanon. Loveland. Yeah. I'd be a little bit more worried about Fanon than Loveland. But I'd also put Mason Taylor on that list. I don't know if he's that good.

I think it just depends on where, like I said Loveland, like he's the best breakout candidate right now. But also I think if nobody leaves, he's probably still going to be drafted in round three. And I hope not. I'm a little, I'm pretty worried about that. If he's drafted in the early part of round four, I mean, it's the same thing as round three, so never mind, never mind.

Yeah, if he doesn't come through. Yeah, I know. Right. If he doesn't come through in that range of being, what, like a top six tight end by the time it's all over, that's kind of busty. I looked at, when we look at sleepers and good late round picks, I looked at the last 15 years, maybe 16 years of surprising,

second year tight ends. The guys who had big, big jumps in production. Trey McBride would be one of them. Jake Ferguson would be one of them. Now, what happened with those two guys? Zach Ertz got hurt the second year and also DeAndre Hopkins was gone compared to the first year for the McBride.

And then with Ferguson, Dalton Schultz left. Yeah, opportunities. With T.J. Hawkinson, Kenny Golliday was there the year before. Kenny Gawley played five games in Hawkinson's second year. With Mark Andrews, they had John Brown and Michael Crabtree the year before.

Those guys were gone in Andrews second season. They did have Marquis Brown, but he didn't have the same amount of targets as those guys. Richard Rogers for the Packers had one year where he averaged 10 fantasy points. That was his second year. It was much better than his previous year.

That was your Jordy Nelson tour as ACO. And also Andrew Quarales played only five games that year, another tight end. Jimmy Graham went from 6.5 fantasy points as a rookie to 18.4 as a sophomore. In his first year, they had Jeremy Shockey. And they had David Thomas. So they had like three tight ends who were involved.

In his second year, Shockey was gone. David Thomas played five games. So it was a common theme of usually a tight end, but sometimes a number one wide receiver not being there or getting hurt the next year. And who would that be? I think Gunner Helm, right? Because O'Conco is a free agent.

Anyone else? I can't really make that. case for Mason Taylor. Ferguson. But, but Parkinson's, like, Higbee barely played. Parkinson is still there, right? He's, he's under contracts. I don't think they're getting rid of him, but he does carry a high cap number.

They could save some cash. But they're going to play three tight ends again a lot. And he's going to be on the field a lot. And, I mean, toward the end of the season before he got hurt, like, it was, he had three games in a row with a touchdown. Like, there's just a lot to like about what is upside. Right, but I don't know what his target volume is going to be. Sure.

No, I mean, that's what that's going to keep, you know, his value way down. But that's a guy like, again, it could be a surprising injury like Jordan Nelson. I know that happened in the preseason or Kenny Ghaladay playing five games. If Devante Adams or Pukina Kua missed time next year, Ferguson could be in a good spot. By the way, they play a three tight end set, 30.5% of their snaps, the Rams. Number two in the NFL was Pittsburgh at 13. point two percent. Oh,

Arthur Smith is so jealous. The Rams are three tight ends, like two and a half times as much as the next most. Yeah, I'd like to, uh, I'd like to dig in a little more to how good that actually is for having a good fantasy tight end. Yeah. Like, I'm not sure that three tight ends on the field a lot is necessarily good for one of them being good for fantasy. I just don't know what a lot is because I think the Cardinals did a lot.

Well, 30%'s a lot. Well, yeah, yeah, I know that's a lot. But it's 13% a lot because that's second most. I would say if it's the second most, it's a lot. It doesn't seem like that much. I have like no hope for Elijah O'Royo, unfortunately. I don't know. I mean, he had 26 targets and 13.

He had two targets per game. This would be a massive jump. And if they get rid of Parkins, if they get rid of Barner, but they're not going to. They're not getting rid of Barner. That's not happening. I don't know. If what happens if Cup leaves or Cup.

gets hurt. Yeah, maybe. We've seen that before. Maybe that opens a door for a Royal. Look, you're not going to draft Arroyo with anything more than like your last pick anyway at this point. But there are very lean pathways for him to maybe become a factor in fantasy. And I think one of it would be the Seahawks would have to throw more.

They were the number one defense in the NFL. And they were eighth and points per game offensively. They were 29th in pass attempts. So more past attempts could just help everyone. Anyone we missed? Anyone else you want to talk about? Sophomores? Yeah, I mean, you want to talk more about Mason Taylor or Gunnar Helm?

I think he's worth disgusting. I mean, you know, look, the quarterback situation for the debts is clearly not great right now. Justin Field is under contract. They're expected to move on from him. Tarrad Taylor is a free agent. Just doing the Brise Hall story, trying to get an idea of what their plan may be. The Athletic had a story that suggested they'll come away from this offseason with two veterans and a rookie. And I think everybody's kind of pegging Ty Simpson there or, you know, projecting Ty Simpson there,

maybe with the 16th pick in the draft or some nice lips around two. But like the list of names that the athletic gave were Derek Carr and Kirk Cousins. Malik Willis, Kyler, it's a wide range of a lot of different names being there. And Tyrod's open to returning if he gets an opportunity to play. So it could be a mess.

And so if it's a mess, and you would assume that wide receiver is probably still a priority for them even after getting Adnai Mitchell, you know, Taylor could still easily be second on the team of targets if Garrett Wilson stays healthy. So there's an easy path to success for him, but it's a little challenging just knowing that even if Frank Gregg makes the offense better,

then there still has to be somebody throwing the ball. All right, let's take a break. And Heatham going to tell you the tight end class in the last 25 years that would love to debate you about which was the best rookie tight end class ever. Was it 2025? Was it 2010? Maybe there are many that I am missing. I don't know.

We'll be right back to talk about that. and to give you the news from around the NFL. And an interesting Twitter poll of which veteran quarterback, my Twitter followers, would want to be their team's quarterback. Kyler, Malik Willis, Tuatunga by lower,

Gino Smith, will give you the results after this. The 2010 tight end class, Jermaine Gresham was the first one picked, the only one in round one. Rob Grunkowski, round two. Ed Dixon, Tony Moiyaki, Jimmy Graham,

Aaron Hernandez, Dennis, pitta. I will stop there. Pretty good, pretty good tight end class there. All right, there's that. Also, I ask people... Yeah, I mean, Gronk, Graham, and Hernandez

and Pitta was no slouch himself. Ed Dixon wasn't bad. Funny, because, like, as rookies, I think last year's class was better. Yeah. And then you get, if you're looking long-term, you get the, like, having Gronk and Jimmy Graham in the same class probably wins it

over anybody. But after that group. It wasn't near as deep. And I asked people who's your favorite sophomore tight end. I just put this up there in the middle of the show. Loveland, Warren, or Fanon? Right now, Colson, Loveland, 59% of the votes. Warren, 23%,

Fannan, 17%. Let's do the news and notes. So it was not a surprise, but the Jets franchised Breeze Hall. The C-Bogg. That means he's on a one-year deal well, if he signs it,

unless they can work out a long-term deal, which usually happens. The Seahawks did not franchise tag Ken Walker, so that's exciting for free agency. Giants, that's where he's going. Wouldn't we be much happier about, or for this for me, I'd be much happier if Ken Walker had stayed in Seattle and Bresol had gone somewhere else than vice versa.

Yes, yes, of course. You've got to have a little more, at least for me, a little bit of nervousness that where exactly is Ken Walker end up in his good spot. The Cardinals are going to release Kyler Murray, Kyler Murray, excuse me, is his name, next week, unless they trade him. He tore his ACL in 22. He missed 12 games with a foot injury this year.

But this was, this year he played five games and was QB 20 per game right around there. His rookie season, he was in a top 12 quarterback per game. The other five seasons, he was a top 12 quarterback. quarterback per game. Kyler Murray. How's Thomas feel about Kyler Murray going to the Vikings? Awesome.

Well, let's let Thomas vote in the poll. Thomas, bring the poll up. Let's assume the Colts keep Daniel Jones and he's off the market. Your NFL team needs a quarterback. Which one of these guys do you pick? And sorry, I only have room for four quarterbacks.

Kyler Murray, that's who Thomas voted for. Malik Willis. Those guys both have over 40% of the vote. Kyler has 49%. Toa Tunga by low end, Gino Smith, getting about 4-5%. three to five percent of the vote. Thomas, you voted for Kyler.

Would you be excited about that? I'm indifferent about it. I mean, I think he's the best option out there. Former number one overall pick. My only concern is he can't see over the line of scrimmage. So like the middle of the field is like nothing. Like two minute drills with him are just atrocious to watch, honestly. But, you know, I don't think we have any better option.

I've won it Aaron Rogers for the last two years. everybody makes fun of me about that. Yeah, they should. So, well, I don't want Gino Smith. I might just not watch a biking game next year if he is our quarterback. Who do you guys think? Who do you think the most desire?

I don't think there's an easy answer here, so I'm not trying to put you on the spot. Who's the most desirable quarterback option out there? Well, I think for NFL teams, it's clearly Kyler Murray, because he's in one of these situations. where the Arizona has already paid him $36 million this year. And so I expect he's going to sign with some team for the minimum.

Let's take money off the table. Just in terms of quality, who would you go for? I'd probably still favor, Kyler. I think you should have left Daniel Jones on this poll and just polled Daniel Jones versus Kyler versus Malik Willis. I think that would have been interesting. I certainly think, and the poll I ran yesterday was Kyler and Marie at his cost or Daniel Jones at his.

It's obviously Tyler then. I'll do a, I'll do Kyler, Malik Willis, Daniel Jones right now. Dave, who would you pick? It doesn't have to be those three, but which available or potentially available quarterback would you want? If I'm the Vikings or just. If you're any, if you're not the Dave. In a blanket. Yeah.

In a blanket. I don't know. I don't like any of these options, to be perfectly honest with you. I guess, Kyler, but. I don't know. Maybe Daniel Jones is who I'd pick, actually, just hoping that he can come back from the injury just fine. And by October, he rounds into the form that we saw last year. Yeah, change my answer. I'll take Daniel Jones. Jamie? It so depends on which team we're talking about them. Right. Oh, well, if I'm Minnesota, I would probably want to get Mac Jones. Right. Yes. Yes. Yeah. The problem with that is the Vikings have so many holes to fill. They can't just give away their picks.

I saw a report that the 49ers won a first. I don't even know if he's worth it. Yeah, they're not going to give me that. Yeah, I don't think anybody's giving them a first for Mac Jones. But I think if. Yeah, but you're setting the precedent. I was like, I want a first. Okay, I'll give you a second.

I don't even think the Vikings can afford to give her way a second round pick. No, but you also say they have so many needs. That's a pretty blaring one. It's quarterback. Yeah. How come you don't want Kirk Cousins back? Man, I love Kirk Cousins, but the last, last year, he just looked like he lost a lot of his arm strength.

Like, Kirk was all about, like, slinging it on time and stuff and, like, ripping the ball. And he, I don't think he can do that anymore. I guess if they're really, they really think McCarthy can become something, then Kirk wouldn't be, oh, Kirk wouldn't be bad for a couple games. But I don't think, like, you, I don't think he's a 17-week starter anymore. Yeah. That's the thing with a lot of these guys.

They're set up for failure. There's a good young quarterback behind them or something, but I don't know. I always think that Thomas has a giant spider above his head when he has this view. Is that a fan? No, no, it's a light picture. Oh, okay. Yeah. All right.

But the thing with Kyler from a fantasy standpoint, guys, is he could still run for close to 600 yards. Well, fantasy is different. Like, fantasy is clearly the best. I don't know. I mean, is he better than Malik Willis? Because he can run pretty damn well too. Yeah, I mean, that's a fair question. I think at least you've seen it from Kyler.

You know, so you, like you illustrated, you know, he's been a very good fantasy quarterback for the majority of his time as a starter. You hope that's the case for Malik Willis. And obviously, if you're putting them in the same offense as Willis, by all accounts, based on everything you saw in the games that he's played and by the reports you're going, like, he may be the best running quarterback right now in the league. Like, you know, he just has that much potential. So he played 64% of the snaps at the Bears in week 16,

completed 9 of 11 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown, rushed for 44 yards is Malik Willis, 15.2 fantasy points and two thirds of the game at Chicago. Week 17, he got hurt late. He played 83% of the snaps against the Ravens, but he started this game. He scored 33.5 fantasy points. He rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns.

He was 18. They remembers that game very well. Oh, yeah. He was 18 of 20. Podcast League. Oh, man. 18 of 21. So in two starts,

or no, not two starts, one start, but two games where he played most of the game, 27 of 32, with two touchdowns, no picks. And I watched all those throws.

And I didn't see a ball that was even close to being intercept. Maybe I missed one. But he didn't put the ball in harm's way. He made some really good throw. Tape was much better

than Kyler Murray's for what it's worth. Yes. Last year. But I would have voted for Malik Willis. I don't know. It's such a small sample size,

but he and Kyler are going to be really intriguing for fantasy purposes because they both can run. As soon as they have starting jobs, they're both going to be in the conversation for Boyle line top 12th. Yeah.

Especially Willis ends up in a good situation. Like if he goes to the Jets or to the dolphins, like it's not the most ideal. The dolphins make so much sense because of who's running the team now. Like they obviously know him and have them best track record with him. We also are talking about a guy

that couldn't beat out Ryan Tannahill, Will Levis, or for what it's worth, Jordan Love, which was never going to happen, but had a hard time beating out some pretty mediocre quarterbacks. Is he going to be consistently good, especially without LaFleur at the helm? I'm stuck with this internal debate of,

how do we separate the Baker-Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones of the world from the Russell Wilson, Aaron Rogers, probably Gino Smiths of the world? When do you know a guy is done? because I think a lot of times the NFL will tell you when a guy is done. That's why I wasn't so optimistic about Russell Wilson last year. It's like Broncos didn't want them, Steelers didn't want them, Justin Fields.

The Bears didn't want them, the Steelers didn't want them. You know, Aaron Roder. The guys you brought up that aren't done in your mind, didn't they all go through that same thing? Yes. Or the NFL told you that they were done? That's what I'm saying. Yeah, but those guys all went through the same thing of where they went. They went to pretty good coaches to get, I think, a good understanding of maybe how to play the position.

You know, Baker Mayfield spent some time with Sean McVeigh. Daniel Jones spent time with Kevin O'Connell. Sam Donald spent time with Kyle Shanahan and Kevin O'Connell. I mean, they've all gotten good coaching in their, quote, unquote, you know, purgatory situations, you know, where they weren't starting options and just being backups. Like, I think that matters, you know, like. But Josh Allen and Jackson Dart would tell you that Brian Dable were good, right and didn't work for Daniel Jones well I mean I think for one year did right now it's a good

point uh just I wish it were easier I wish it were easier to I think like if in Kyler's situation like Keith alluded to the the the cost here is so conducive to every team that it needs a quarterback right now that they should be begging for him to come now if you're Kyler you have your pick several teams you would assume. Like if you're looking at Minnesota and the Jets, I don't think resurrecting your career is going to the Jets. To me, I'm going to go attach myself to Kevin O'Connell and Justin Jefferson

and hope for the best. You know, and look, if he stinks, clearly he's going to stink on a bad situation. But if he can't beat out J.J. McCarthy and get better coaching and have better weapons around him, then he just is what he is. Who's the best quarterback for Garrett Wilson for Justin Jefferson? You know, these number one receivers that Joe Blacko.

Yes. Thank you. I would say of the guys who might be available, I would probably take Mac Jones. I don't think Mac Jones is available. Well, he's available on trade. You have to trade for him. So is right. Two is in the same boat and that was on Adams list.

So is Gino Smith, you know, so they're not free yet. Well, right. But two is expected to be released. Right. I mean, if somebody's going to pay that salary, sure. I wouldn't want to. Two will be another guy that will basically be free once he's released. Right.

Right, no, the dolphins are going to pay the salary. Right. Yeah. So somebody can just be able to sign them for the minimum. Geno might be the same situation. This one's tough, too. I don't know. I really don't know.

Yeah, I think it's, I think it's Flacco. You want a pocket passers going to, you know, allow guys to make plays down the field. We've obviously seen it with Joe Flacco. You saw it with Brian Thomas for, you know, with Mac Jones there. He was good for the 49ers last year and helping their receiving court play well. So, you know, again, you want guys that are going to have opportunities to be coached well. and make plays for their past catchers. So Kyler has been one of the worst downfield throwers in the NFL for the last three years.

That's the biggest difference in his career, is he made a lot of big plays with DeAndre Hopkins. Since he lost DeAndre Hopkins, he's been horrible. And some of it's, I think a lot of it's on him. But yeah, I mean, look, Marvin Harrison Jr. had a really bad drop when he was wide open on a deep ball last year. That would have really helped his, Kyler's numbers. but man, there was some horrible throws.

His off-target rate on throws of 20 or more air yards was 43%, which is insanely high. So that's just something to keep in mind. That's been the biggest issue for Kyler is he's just, he's missing the explosive plays over the last several seasons. Well, and there's also the indictment of what Jacoby Brissette did when he got his opportunity to play. That offense turned around in a major way when Kyler Murray wasn't on the field. And that's what's making it easy for Arizona to get away from. Kyler Murray. It's clear as day.

Once Kyler got off the field, Jacobi Bresc got in there, and he operated that thing. They looked good. They were competitive. And with Kyler, they weren't quite as good. And that's going to be,

like I get the whole financial element of it, and that's why Kyler's going to be super appealing to all these teams. But they're going to have to look back at what he did and say, man, are we sure we can make him a better processor of coverage and a more accurate thrower? Because I don't know if he's got that in him. Someone's saying, we get it, Adam.

You don't like Kyler. And it's kind of true. But I have been a big Kyler-Murie fan. I've been a little slow to accept that he's not the quarterback he once was. Maybe he can get back to that. But again, he's still, even in these bad years, he's still on pace for 580 rushing yards. And he's other than last year, he's still finishing top 12. And last year was only five games.

So maybe you could have turned it around. That makes him appealing for fantasy. I don't know if he being the. quarterback for the Vikings makes Justin Jefferson more appealing. It's better than Jefferson with J.J. McCarthy. Right. But I don't know if it's Justin Jefferson with some of these other quarterbacks that we've

talked about that we'd rather see go to New York. If they went to Minnesota instead, I think we'd be happier. Another name to throw in there is the guy who played for Kyra last year. Jonathan Jones had an article up this morning that said, a good day three pick could get Jacoby Brissette from Arizona. That's interesting. I heard that they didn't want to get rid of Jacoby Brissette. Yeah.

I would imagine if the draft pick is right. You're also hearing that Leflore, Mike LaFleur wants Jimmy Garoppel. So that's another name to. Maybe it's Malik Willis as a starter and Jimmy Garoppolo backing him up. Could be. All right. Some more news from around the NFL. So the Colts are using the transition tag on Daniel Jones.

That would give him a one-year $37.8 million deal if they can't agree to a long-term deal. They do not get any compensation if another team signs Daniel Jones. However, they do have the right to match any offer made to Jones with the transition tag. Again, he played through a hairline fracture in his leg. Things started to go a little south once that happened. Then he tore his Achilles in Week 14. We've got that report from the athletic about the sense being that the bears are going to keep DJ more, but it's not guaranteed. The Raider, or the Chargers, pardon me, are going to release offensive guard, Mackay Beckton.

who was really good for the Eagles a couple of years ago and dealt with some injuries last year. Big news for the Bears. Drew Dalman, their center, is retiring at age 27, who's a pro bowler last year. Their left tackle is hurt. He's going to miss time. So, Dave, that's two-fifths of what was one of the best offensive lines last year

that they have to replace, at least at left tackle in the short term and long-term at center. I'm not sure of the name. I think it might be Newman as someone that the bears already have tagged as their center. of the future. If it's not Newman, I'm apologizing for that. But I think they've got somebody on the roster that they would rather, that they're going to try and use it center. But tackle is obviously a big need for Chicago.

And Sean McVeigh is confident about getting a deal done with Matthew Stafford. All right. It's all I got. Good show, guys. Heath, what is coming up on Beyond the Box? You know, I got a comment and negative comment on YouTube, Jamie. Thank you for this. I think it was from yesterday, from Monday's show.

I was like, why is this guy promoting their podcast? He doesn't even know which one Ryan Wilson hosts. Also doesn't know which one he's coming hosts. Yeah, that's true. I know no much. All right. Anyway, thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball today. Outfield preview part two tomorrow.

We'll talk to you. On podcasts.