Fantasy Football Today - Super Bowl Talk; 49ers and Bengals Questions; Jamey's Lesson Learned (01/30 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: January 30, 2023

Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  We give our initial thoughts on the Super Bowl! Only one of us is picking the Eagles! We also debate the Eagles' place in history if they do in fact win the Super Bowl ... News and notes (12:00) as Frank Reich is the new Panthers coach and Kellen Moore is out in Dallas. We later react to the news of Moore likely going to the Chargers (45:45) ... We pose some offseason questions for San Francisco and Cincinnati. For the 49ers, will they have a reliable pass catcher next season (20:15)? When should you draft Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk? For the Bengals, how are we feeling about Joe Mixon (29:40)? He has been a Top 6 RB per game in PPR for two straight seasons, but it hasn't been pretty. After we discuss those topics, Jamey tells us a lesson he learned during the 2022 season (39:00) ... Email us at [e-mail] Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday 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

Kick off an exciting football season with BetMGM, an official sportsbook partner of the National Football League. Yard after yard, down after down, the sportsbook born in Vegas gives you the chance to take action to the end zone and celebrate every highlight reel play. And as an official sportsbook partner of the NFL, BetMGM is the best place to fuel your football fandom on every game day. With a variety of exciting features, BetMGM offers you plenty of seamless ways to jump straight onto the gridiron and to embrace peak sports action. Ready for another season of gridiron glory? What are you waiting for?

Get off the bench, into the huddle, and head for the end zone all season long. Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. Must be 19 years of age or older. Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem? For free assistance, call the Connex Ontario helpline

at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. What does possible sound like for your business? It's having the spend to power your scale with no preset spending limit. Redefine possible with Business Platinum. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms and conditions apply.

Visit amex.ca slash business platinum. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. What a play! Can you believe this? No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races, and he stays on his feet. He's just going to go the distance.

Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath. The Eagles are two-point favorites over the Kansas City Chiefs as of right now. Kansas City making its third appearance in the Super Bowl in four seasons. The Chiefs, the Eagles rather, are back for the first time in five seasons. And the Empire State Building is back to neutral colors, which is a good thing. That was terrible. That was so insulting. God, the only thing I didn't like, well, I didn't like all the injuries and stuff, but I really didn't like that.

But anyway, welcome to Fantasy Football Today. It's Monday, and it's our first of three episodes for this week. This week, we're going to do some lessons learned. Today, Jamie's going to give us a lesson learned, then Dave, then Heath. Dave on Wednesday, Heath on Thursday, and we'll give you off-season questions for the two eliminated teams. I'm going to stop talking and I'm going to get your early Super Bowl predictions. Heath, the Chiefs are underdogs. They're injured right now. How are you feeling about the Super Bowl?

I'm just confused. Is the Empire State building in New Jersey? It's You know, just stop. We're all like, stop. Did you see what the Giants tweeted? That they're going to take out the trash or something? No, they said we're just here for the comments.

Oh, yeah, yeah. The sanitation worker said it was green and white for us because we're going to take out the trash, including Philadelphia next season or something. Yeah, I think this game opened at Chiefs at minus two and a half and move four and a half points in like the first 30 minutes which is not as much as if it was moving from like a touchdown to under a field goal but still um everybody's on the Eagles early and I would probably just stick with the best quarterback in the world okay all right so you're

taking the Chiefs early prediction. Dave, how about you? The unbiased opinion of Heath Cummings. What's up, everybody? I agree with Heath, but for slightly different reasons. Hurts hasn't looked the same since coming back from his injury. I think he was off target in the game against San Francisco. Not that he needed to be, but I'm taking Kansas City. I'm already set. Give me the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Yeah, I agree, which means it's the kiss of death. I don't take the Eagles. Yeah, I would take the Eagles. Of course, it's the greatest team you've ever seen.

It's two weeks for Hertz. That's a big deal. He could be a lot better. It's also two weeks for Tony and Juju to hopefully get healthy also. Don't forget about Mahomes. Did he look like, no, there were a couple of times

where I thought that he did, but no, not really. It'll be even better. If my homes looks like he did yesterday, the Eagles will cruise because they will smother him. They,

they will not be able, like their defensive front and their pass rush is so much better than Cincinnati's, but my homes won't look like that. He'll look a lot better in two weeks. I wouldn't say it's so much better. It's better, but it's so much better than Cincinnati's. But Mahomes won't look like that. He'll look a lot better in two weeks. I wouldn't say it's so much better. It's better, but I would say it's so much better.

It's incredible. I don't think it's so much better. 70 sacks? Come on. Well, again, we're talking to the biased Eagles fan who thinks it's the greatest team ever. I think, yeah, the experience will matter here. They've been there, like you said, three times in four years. And Hurts, I agree with Dave.

I don't think Hurts looks right. They got by playing – I mean, it's a big critique of the Eagles. Clearly, they got by playing a team that lost its quarterback. Who knows how that game goes? They're pretty healthy. What a sentence. Dick, you don't take anything away from the Eagles because of this, but it has to be the easiest path to a Super Bowl ever.

Yeah, so far. One of them. What's an easier one? I'd have to even go back and look at it. Who knows? Super easy. Super easy. Jalen Hurts, first 14 games of the season, 8.2 yards per attempt.

Completion rate of 67.3%. Last three games, his yards per attempt has been below 6.6 in each game. Completion rate 60% or less in two of the three games. We'll see how that shoulder heals up in the next two weeks. They need him to be a better passer in the Super Bowl. Yeah. But if they do beat the Chiefs, and then they would go, what, 17-1 with Hurts? Would that be right?

I don't know. Let's see. They ended up 14-3, right? So they'd be 17-1 with Hurts? Yeah. Why wouldn't they be an all-time great team? Because when you look five years back, nobody Acer stats a team's records.

They're going to be 17-3. Okay, but still. Nobody's Acer statting that and saying, oh, they were 17-1 with their starting quarterback. That's pretty lazy if you can't acknowledge that the two of the three games they lost were without their starting quarterback. I mean, they've been a dominant team all year,

and they're just freaking phenomenal. Are the 2007 New England Patriots one of the greatest teams of all time? Yes, of course. Okay. All right. I was trying to see if you were going to say consistent. No, of course they are. But, yeah, I mean, I understand they didn't win the Super Bowl,

but I just think people are so simple. Like, oh, they didn't win the Super Bowl, but I just think people are so simple. Like, oh, they didn't win the Super Bowl. They're not great. I mean, of course, they lost that game. They were an amazing team. But it's hard to look at a team and call them one of the greatest of all time if they don't win the Super Bowl. Well, I mean, I don't know what I think it was,

was it the 100th year, right, the NFL? They did the greatest teams of all time, and they were in top 10. Sure. So they're ahead of a lot of Super Bowl teams. And they would have been number one, I'm sure, if they had won that game. They easily would have been number one. Right. And then the funny thing, like, are they really a worse team because they didn't win that game?

They just got beat that day. But I understand that's how it works. But, I mean, one commentator that I saw, a very famous commentator, I won't say his name, rhymes with Rip Rayliss. He said that he was going to say if Burrow, if the Bengals had won yesterday, that he was going to put Burrow ahead of Mahomes as a quarterback. I was like, what are you thinking? Because the Bengals beat the Chiefs somewhat consistently? No, use your eyes.

No way is Burrow better than Mahomes. Burrow's amazing. Mahomes is obviously the best. And that's how I feel about the Eagles. Like, yeah, okay, they lost the two games, but they're so damn good. They're not the Eagles right now, because you're right about Hurts. But if he's back, if he's closer to 100% in two weeks, I mean, they're just a lot

better, I think, than the Chiefs. But we'll see. And that's no disrespect for the Chiefs. I just happen to think the world of the Eagles, who I hate, but I am the Eagles fan, apparently. Anyway, you know, let's just use our brains a little bit here, people. Like, I don't know, some people are so rigid with definition. I don't know.

Get off the tangent. Okay. Oh, my God. Look at you. You're disheveled. I've heard some such stupid opinions lately, and I just don't get it. Consider the source of the opinion. Not just that one.

You're also saying the Eagles are an all-time team. I think they should be considered. If they win this game, tell me why they aren't. Why aren't they? Just because it's hard to anoint a team that way, and they weren't viewed that way going into the season. But you're looking at their record. You really think as a team

they're that dominant? Yes, I do. I really said, they don't have a weakness. In the context of the opponents that they've beaten, too? Yeah. I mean, look, you can keep taking away from them. They just crushed the Niners. Is it a huge accomplishment to beat the Giants three times or twice, really?

No, but they did it. Giants made the playoffs. They weren't bad. They beat the Cowboys when they had hurts. Of course, Dak didn't play. It wasn't, they beat the Vikings, beat the crap out of the Vikings. I'm just thinking about what you said, though. I understand, but it's not their fault. Like, what are they supposed to do, lose?

It's not their fault. No, it's not. Listen, listen. No one's taking away from what the Eagles have accomplished, but you're putting them in the echelon of some of the best teams of all time, according to you. Yes. I don't think they belong because their record is good.

But that's the thing. It's like, I don't know, but nobody's even considering them. Well, you just, wait, hold on, hold on, hold on. You just criticized Rip Rayless for anointing Burrow over Mahomes because of a record. You literally just did that. Yes, I know. But it's not like Burrow and Mahomes are playing one-on-one. The Eagles, looking at them, they're a good team.

No, they're a great team. They may be the best team. No, they're not a great team. They may be the best team this season. They've had, as Heath said, the easiest path to the Super Bowl. But look at how good they are. I mean, just look at their roster. But 31-7 against Josh Johnson.

You know what? Do they have a great quarterback? That's not a 31-7 against Josh Noah. Do they have a great quarterback? That's not a 31-7 victory. They have a quarterback who I think should win the MVP. He's probably not going to win it, but he's going to be a finalist. Do they have the best offensive line in football? Probably. Agreed. Do they have one

of the best defensive lines in football? Yes. This year? Yeah. You're talking about in context of what their season is. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. In comparison to these other great teams. I wouldn't say they're a top 10 team of all time. I think they have to win this game.

Of course not, of all time. Not yet. No, but he is. Yeah, nobody's going to give them that. I understand nobody's going to think of them that way. But you are, though. I do think of them in that context. Like, I can't sit here and rank all the teams, right? I don't know.

I'm just saying that they are a phenomenal team. They are loaded everywhere. They're great up front. Their secondary is ridiculous. Their quarterback has been MVP caliber good. Their two wide receivers, their tight end are all phenomenal, right? It's a great team. It's not one of the

best of all time. Yeah, I mean, I understand nobody is going to think of it that way. I'm saying if they win the Super Bowl, they deserve to be thought of that way. They're a one-loss team with Jalen Hurts. So, I mean, you know, I'm blown away by how good they are. And I think it's the fact that, like, the Patriots, we knew. Like, the Patriots are great. You know, nobody thought the Eagles were going to be this good.

If they had come into this season as frontrunners and done this, then we probably would be talking about them that way. I think anyway, it's a lot of perception. One of us did predict the Eagles to make the Super Bowl before the regular season started. And the other point that I was going to say is I think it might take some time for the Eagles, for this team to be determined as one of the best teams of all time. When Tom Brady was playing with Randy Moss and that defense was loaded in 2007,

I think people could look at it and say, okay, that's a great team. They've got great talent. You look at the team now, Jalen Hurts isn't in that same type of caliber of quarterback, but he might be in three years. A.J. Brown isn't anywhere close to being Randy Moss, but he might be eventually. Same thing with Devontae Smith.

I agree, this is the best team in football this year. It's the best Eagles team of all time. Not that I'm some sort of Eagles expert, and I know their history, but I thought about the Nick Foles Super Bowl team and all their teams with McNabb. This team's better than all those teams. I think this is the best Eagles team of all time.

But I don't know if I'm ready to say that it's one of the best NFL teams that have ever played in the history of the league. It just seems like a big, big step. It is. Go ahead, Heath. I'm just not sure who the best team in football is this year yet. We're going to play a game to find that out in two weeks, right? Yeah. They have to win that game.

And then they deserve to be... I would just like people to consider it. If they win that game, their place in history. I'll definitely consider them the best team this year if they win that game, their place in history. I'll definitely consider them the best team this year if they win that game. Well, look, you said that Hurts wasn't Brady or whatever, but Hurts had a phenomenal season.

Not Brady in 2007 good, but phenomenal. He's awesome. Let's talk about Sportsline. This is a great time to get on Sportsline, right? You want some Super Bowl picks? You're going to have plenty of it. Player props and things like that.

It's a great gambling advice. You know, NBA, NHL, and college basketball. All these things. We have all these experts to help you out. And you can get your first month for 99 cents if you go to Sportsline.com and use the promo code TACKLE. Use the promo code TACKLE. Your first month is 99 cents. How about some news and notes?

A lot of coaching news here. The Panthers hired Frank Reich as their head coach and the Cowboys fired offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. He started ways, didn't fire. Yeah, whatever. They Heath, let's talk about Frank Reich as the head

coach in four seasons as the head coach of the of the Colts. Hists his teams finished fifth 16th ninth and ninth in scoring with a different quarterback every year andrew luck jacoby brissett philip rivers and carson wentz that's a pretty good resume what do you think it means for carolina i guess a great hire for carolina i don't really think frank reich should have been fired from indianapolis i think he brings competence to an organization that's been missing that. It's still going to depend on who the quarterback is as to whether they can be good or not.

But this gives them a chance to be good if they can get the quarterback position right. Okay. Anybody have any hot takes here? Let's just see how this offseason plays out for the Panthers. You've got to see what they do at quarterback. It obviously is a huge part of that team, but that's a squad that's starting to, I don't know if it's starting to round into form necessarily,

but they've got some good pieces. We talked about their offensive line in the second half of the year. That was a reason why there were some huge games for everybody at running back and wide receiver for them. Their defense has some good pieces. They took on some serious injuries late in the year, but Frank Reich is a good, calming coach who knows his offense. I agree

with Heath. He definitely shouldn't have been let go during the season in Indianapolis and maybe even got a raw deal there overall with the owner meddling. We'll see what this owner does with him this year, but I think there's some hope that can be found in DJ Moore and other players that end up being factors there. I wonder what it means for Tommy Tremble, who's one of my kind of low-key favorite dynasty buys at tight end. And by the way, when I said in four seasons as head coach, his team's finished 5th, 16th, 9th, and 9th in scoring,

I was not referring to the 2022 season. That would be the first four seasons before he got fired. All right. Kellen Moore, Jamie, that's a guy who's got a great resume as the offensive coordinator for the Cowboys. Four seasons as their coordinator. They finished top six in scoring three of the four times. The one time they didn't,

Dak Prescott played only five games. They ran a ton of plays. They were sixth, second, second, and eighth in plays. So, I mean, that's a terrific resume. You know, and already a report that the Chargers might consider him. Wherever Kellen Moore goes, is that going to be a big deal for you in fantasy? I would love it for Justin Herbert, absolutely. You know, I think you see a guy that can unlock a passing game,

especially somebody that's got the ability to play like Herbert does and has continued to show. And speaking of which, him playing through a torn labrum in his left shoulder. God, just the numbers that he was able to put up despite that. Yeah, so that would be a dream situation if he can go there. I'm a little bit concerned about Dak. That's just a loss that you don't want to see, especially for an offense that has popped the last couple of seasons. So it's weird, you know, for a guy that's

been getting head coach consideration to leave his job. So, you know, that's why I kind of wanted to clarify it. I don't, I don't know if it was a firing or it was him saying, you know, I'm just, I'm maxed out here. I'm not going to get the job. I want to go someplace else and see what my other options are. So who knows what, what the Cowboys have in plan to replace Kellen Moore, but bad news for the Cowboys and good news for whoever hires him. And I think, like you've mentioned this, Adam, how much more pass-heavy they were before this year. And I just – I view that as a Mike McCarthy thing.

I mean, it's a Jerry Jones thing ultimately. They came out and talked about it, about how he had to rein in the pass attempts. I just hope he gets to go somewhere, Kellen Moore, where he's allowed to call the offense. I think they'll be good. Yeah, could be. Alright, let's see some other head coaching news. The Rams hired former Jets

offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur as their offensive coordinator. San Francisco defensive coordinator D'Amico Ryans is considered the favorite to become the Houston head coach. That could happen within the coming days. Miami with hopefully a home run higher Vic Fangio as their

defensive coordinator. He has run some terrific defense. We could get an Aaron Rodgers trade. I don't know when, but Aaron Rodgers, there's a lot of momentum maybe, at least in the reports for an Aaron Rodgers trade there's a lot of, I guess, momentum, maybe, at least in the reports for an Aaron Rodgers trade. Maybe that was the green in the Empire State Bowl.

Maybe. There you go. The Dolphins are not expected to pursue Tom Brady, according to Adam Schefter. A couple of surgery notes. Jonathan Taylor had ankle surgery. Justin Herbert had shoulder surgery. Do either of those matter for you guys? Jonathan Taylor, ankle surgery. Herbert, shoulder surgery. Justin Herbert had shoulder surgery. Do either of those matter for you guys? Jonathan Taylor, ankle surgery. Herbert, shoulder surgery. As long as they're ready

to go for training camp, I don't think there's anything to be sweating. Rob Gronkowski, according to the Tampa Bay Times, has not ruled out returning next season. Fill in the blank. If Rob Gronkowski goes to the blank, he will be tight end blank in my preseason rankings.

If he goes to the Raiders and buys a house with Tom Brady there, according to reports, and Waller is traded, he'll be top 15. Okay, that's it. All right, Dave? I think there's only two places Gronk would come back and play. Well, you've got to fill in the blank. You've got to fill in the blank.

Buffalo and wherever Brady is. So Jamie did the Brady element. If Rob Gronkowski goes to Buffalo, he will be my tight end 10. If Rob Gronkowski goes to Tom Brady, he will be my tight end 11. Okay. And of course, a lot of injuries for the chiefs. Cadareous,

Tony, Juju, Smith, Schuster, me, Cole Hardman, uh, all injured yesterday.

Willie Gay, their linebacker, cornerback, LeJarrius Sneed. They all left with injuries and they're going to need those guys against probably the 11th best team in NFL history. I won't call them top 10 just yet, but I'll say 11th. Thank you to Thomas Schaefer for letting me know

that the Philadelphia Eagles have rushed for more rushing touchdowns than any team in NFL history. This year's Eagles. Single season record. Okay. They had four of them against the 49ers, and it was kind of a bad... One additional game, too.

Well, I think it includes the playoff games. Anyway, it was kind of a bad fantasy weekend. The DFS lineups, I was shocked that I cashed in a 50-50 with a Bengals stack. But, you know, a lot of low-scoring quarterbacks. Mahomes the only one who really stood out. Let's take a break. When we come back, questions for the two eliminated teams

and a lesson learned from Jamie Eisenberg right after this on Fantasy Football Today. Did you know 66% of utility damage is caused by not requesting a locate? Don't let your project become part of this statistic. A quick locate request can save you from unexpected downtime financial penalties and keep you safe don't let avoidable damage cost you time and money click before you dig

ensure your next project is safe visit ontarioonecall.ca it's free it's easy it's the law data sourced from the orcga 2023 dirt. The 49ers and the Bengals are out. Let's do a 49ers question. And Jamie, I'll give you the first word. Will the 49ers have a reliable pass catcher next year other than Christian McCaffrey? Well, who's the quarterback? That's the biggest question.

Because Purdy hurting his elbow, we're going to find out what the status is. If it's a ruptured UCL, then he may not be ready to start the season if he plays at all next year. So that's Tommy John surgery. So hopefully it's just a sprain and it's a six-week injury according to reports. And then he's able to compete for the job and we'll see what happens there.

My hope would be he's done enough to earn it. And that's no disrespect to Trey Lance. But taking the 49ers to the NFC Championship game after what his expectations were, taking over for Garoppolo in Week 13, I think he should be given at least the lead in the job. But yes, I think they have two reliable, two guys you should draft as starters. You'll draft George Kittle as a starting tight end,

and you'll draft Ibo Samuel as a starting receiver. And I'm doing the stock watch that I do every week following the games, and I'm doing the stock watch that I do every week following the games, and I'm leading with the 49ers. And so just looking at their season numbers, you know, Samuel had a down season by comparison, but still averaged over 15 PPR points per game. Kittle, fourth season in a row of over 14 PPR points per game. Ayuk was over 13 PPR points per game, you know. So you look at what they were able to accomplish. And again, there's different ways to break it down. Ayuk with or without the guys,

what Kittle accomplished, scoring touchdowns, all those things. There's still a lot to like about what these guys are able to do. And so they'll lead the team in targets. They should hopefully have success with the other quarterbacks. So I think Kittle's a number one tight end. I think Samuel's a number two receiver, and Ayuk is a number three receiver.

So yes, they do have reliable pass catchers. All right, because the theory is, number two receiver, and Ayuka's number three receiver. So yes, they do have reliable pass catchers. All right, because the theory is, and especially I think you have to really look at it after the McCaffrey trade, there are too many mouths to feed for an offense that just never is pass happy. Brock Purdy threw fewer than 30 passes in I think five of his eight games,

not including yesterday's game, but including the game that he replaced Garoppolo. That was actually one of the games he threw more than 30 passes. But if you just want the numbers, let me just give you the targets. There were only six games, six regular season games, that McCaffrey, Debo, Ayuk, and Kittle all played together, and didn't leave with an injury. And Ayuk had 44 targets in those six games.

Devo had 42. McCaffrey had 34. Kittle had 30. It's just not... It doesn't seem reliable, if that's the split or something close to that. It's way too even amongst four players on an offense that's going to probably be

around 30 to 32 pass attempts per game, something like that. So, that's the concern. I mean, really, three of those guys, though, the one that that's the most concerning is Ayoub. Because he's the one that's not going to do different things for the position they place. I mean, McCaffrey, yes, clearly you want his targets

to be up, but he's also going to get 15 to 18 carries a game. No, McCaffrey's, you know, McCaffrey you can deal with. No, but what I'm getting at, though, is like I know when you're looking at it, they're individual target numbers. Yeah. I mean, Kittle is not going to be on the high end of targets for tight ends. He never really was.

You know, it's what he does with the ball in his hands, and now the hope is that his touchdowns, granted, 11 are not probably something you want to expect to be replicated, but if he can be eight, and clearly that might be something that Purdy unlocked with him, scoring 7 of those in the final 4 starts in the regular season, then I think you can kind of look at those two guys, again, the positions that they play. Samuel, the hope is that he just gets back to getting some semblance of carries. He did. He did. You're not going to live with him in this target number as a receiver alone.

And so how much of it was how everything changed for them on the fly, McCaffrey being added, Garoppolo going down, Lance not being the starter all season long. There's so many changes that happen in San Francisco. I mean, it's why Kyle Shanahan should be maybe certainly one of the top two or three Coach of the Year candidates for sure, and maybe Coach of the Year. Everything he's had to adjust to what this team had to go through at different portions of the top two or three coach of the year candidates for sure. And maybe coach there, everything he's had to adjust, you know,

to, to what this team had to go through at different portions of the season. So, uh, if you are concerned about somebody from a target perspective, for me, the only one is really, I,

all right, Dave, what's your take on this? Cause I, you know, I think people might just be concerned. Hey, it's going to be a different guy every week.

It's going to be unreliable. Like that's, that's the word I use was reliable. I can understand at the end of the season, you know, Debo might rank here and Kittle might rank here, whatever, be a different guy every week. It's going to be unreliable. That's the word I use was reliable. I can understand at the end of the season, you know, Debo might rank here and Kittle might rank here, whatever, but it's, could it be a, will it be a bumpy ride? Is it something that you want to avoid the Niners pass catchers? What do you think? I think the only reliable 49er that fantasy managers will gravitate toward is McCaffrey. And then once he's off the board in early round one, you're not going to see Debo go until maybe the end of round three, maybe round four.

Kittle probably a couple rounds after that. Iuke in that same range. If he's still on the 49ers, remember, he's a free agent after next season, and what's the trend we've seen in this league? If a team doesn't want to pay a wide receiver, they trade him the year before they hit free agency. It just happened twice. I think it's possible that could happen again with Iyuk

because he's a good contributor for them, but they might be able to either look at Danny Gray or find another wide receiver and plug him in. We'll see what they do. They don't have to make a move on him. They just kind of told us, though, because that was Debo's situation. They paid Debo. Now that they've got to pay Ayuk on top

of it, maybe it depends on just what the overall situation is. Right, but I think they value Debo a little bit more and he had more touches, obviously, per game than Brandon Ayuk did when they were all playing together. But you guys covered it. A lot of mouths to feed. You're not going to feel totally comfortable with any

Niner other than McCaffrey, obviously, and then Kittle just because of the position he plays, but you're not going to draft Kittle or you're not going to feel good starting Kittle. If it's Trey Lance, a quarterback, you want Purdy.

We'll see what happens. Total, total fascinating situation with the Niners this off season. Heath, we did the half PPR mock draft not too long ago. And 12 teams. And Debo Samuel went 39th. So three picks into round four. Kittle went, oh, wow, he went 83rd.

Iyuk went. End of round seven. Iyuk went ahead of that, I think. Iyuk went seventh first. And second to last pick of round six, right? Yeah. So that would be Debo early round four. Iyuk end of round six. Kittle end of round six, right? Yeah, so that would be Debo early round four, Iyuk end of round six, Kittle end of round seven.

Yeah, I think the wide receivers seem about right to me. Maybe a little later on Iyuk, but I would go earlier than that on Kittle is what I would say. Probably a round five pick for me on Kittle. Maybe four, five, six, you get a 49er in each round. What do you think about Debo's year? It was so strange. He finished on a per-game basis as wide receiver 21 in non-PPR, wide receiver 27 in full PPR.

He left the game somewhat early, played about 45% of the snaps in one game. But his efficiency was just awful. There were 85 wide receivers with 50 or more targets, and he was last in ADOT, right? So he had the lowest ADOT among 85 wide receivers with 50 or more targets. And somehow, he was only 63rd in catch rate.

When your ADOT is 4.3 yards and your catch rate is 60%, that is befuddling. For example, Greg Dorich had the second to lowest ADOT just ahead of Debo, and he had the second highest catch rate. He caught 81.3% of his passes. Debo caught 60%. So really, really strange efficiency down across the board for Debo. Yeah, the ADOT isn't really surprising. It was 4.3 this year. In 2020, it was 2.2. So we've seen that type of roll from him before. We just saw more yak on a per-catch basis than we did in the past. So I think it could be a little bit of teams figuring out how he was being used.

There's a lot of talk about our team is going to start using this guy or that guy in a Debo Samuel-like role. And so I think it's possible those types of plays were just less effective. It's also true that he played a good portion of this season with what I still think are probably below average NFL passers. His yak per catch was still really good. It was lower. But the catch rate, Heath, I know you look at that. That's a stat obviously you look at like i don't even know how to explain that such a horrible catch rate for the lowest a dot in football basically well wide receivers a majority of the year with what i think are probably below average passers 60 i don't know but he's always his whole career has been that

right well he was 64 in 2021 he's had a higher much higher a dot but no i think there's a i i still think there's a pretty big difference in terms of accuracy in terms of just dropping back and hitting guys on the move in the short area where devo is targeted between jimmy garoppolo trey lance and brock purdy now those guys may be better at things downfield or may have some other intentions but i still think jimmy Garoppolo is a considerably better passer than the other two. All right, final question. Do you guys in general want to draft Iyuk, Samuel, and or Kittle?

Round four for Samuel, yes. Round five for Kittle, yes. Round six for Iyuk, yes. Not really either receiver. If Purdy's the quarterback, I'd be down for Kittle, yes. Round 6 for Ayuk, yes. Not really either receiver. If Purdy's the quarterback, I'd be down for Kittle. Heath? Yeah, I'm mostly fine with

I think I'm probably at those costs most excited about Kittle. Last question here for an eliminated team. It's about the Bengals. It's about Joe Mixon. Boy, did he end his season with a thud, a dud, terrible game for Mixon, which he's had a lot of them.

The question is just, how do you feel about Joe Mixon? Dave Richard. Well, before Dave answers, how do you feel about Joe Mixon? Because you had him ranked as a top five guy. Yeah, horrible about that. I like him in round two.

There's no way he can be RB5 for me, but if the workload is the same, he'll probably have a really good year. But my gosh, I can't believe how bad he was this year. I think people are going to land on round two on Mixon. That's where I have him in my rankings right now. And I don't see the world changing. I don't think the Bengals move on from him.

They could. I checked out his cap number, and it's doable if they wanted to move on from him. But I don't see that happening unless they go and they draft somebody first and then they move on from Nixon. Part of it is the offensive line never really got going to the expectations that we had. There was a very, very short window where their offensive line did start to gel, and then they took on injuries toward the end of the regular season,

and that was the end of that. They were using P. Ryan as recently as the conference championship game in high-leverage situations over Mixon. So that trend could continue. Do I like him better than the studs from this year and the young running backs that we like? Of course not. He's not going to be ahead of Josh running backs that we like? Of course not. He's not going to be ahead of Josh Jacobs, Brees Hall.

Of course not. Derrick Henry, those guys. It's that next group of running backs, Najee and Nick Chubb and Travis Etienne. Is he ahead of those guys? I think you could consider it just because of the role that he has. But the second that there's a hint that that role might change, he's going to bottom out. He'll go into the dead zone. Samaj P. Ryan played 43 snaps yesterday. Joe Mixon played 23. P. Ryan is a free agent. Joe Mixon, Dave mentioned it. I believe $7 million is what they

would save if they cut him. $5 million in dead money, he's got a $12 million cap number. Sounds like he'll get restructured. He could get restructured, they could let Pirine go, and they could draft a running back. And if the running back that they draft is more of a two-down player, maybe they put Mixon into the Pirine role. Or if they draft a running back that they feel can catch the ball, he'd be better than a rookie in the Pirine role. Not necessarily.

It depends on the rookie, but most rookies can't immediately adapt to a passing downs role. We'll see what happens. He's intriguing. Maybe somebody that, even in round two, is just not worth the cost, even at this point. Well, but then you look at the last

two seasons on a per-game basis in full PPR, he's been RB4 and RB6. And he's done that averaging 4.1 yards per carry in 2021 and 3.9 yards per carry in 2022. Uh, so there's that Jamie. I mean, just like you, I don't know the, the broad picture is that while it's not so pretty, he's been a very productive running back the last two years as the Bengals offense has really taken off. And that's, that's what you're buying into. Yeah, no, I, I think you look at the, the, the off season is going to be telling, you know, do they spend significant capital draft or free agency at that spot,

you know, and, and could be as simple as just bringing back P-Ring, you know, and that, that's clearly something that I'm sure that they would be happy doing given what he's been a, as a backup and B as a compliment, you know, because they, they trusted him in the Superbowl, you know, and that's clearly something that I'm sure that they would be happy doing, given what he's been, A, as a backup, and B, as a compliment. You know, because they trusted him in the Super Bowl. You know, they trusted him in the AFC Championship game. You know, back-to-back seasons of being a significant contributor to this team. And so, you know, they clearly have a defined role for him.

That's not necessarily what Mixon does. But when Mixon's on his game, I mean, you go back just two weeks ago, he was impressive. You know, over 100 yards rushing in the divisional round. So there's still a lot to like about what he could still be, but he's getting older. He's clearly losing, you know, some semblance of production, whether it's his fantasy production, his yards per carry, you know, however you want to break down whatever metric you're looking at here.

And as Dave said, the offensive line did not step forward in that regard, like I think they hoped, but also they dealt with some injuries, whether it was Al Collins on the right tackle spot or at the end of the season with Karras getting banged up and then Jonah Williams getting banged up. So we'll see what they look like in the offseason and going into next year, but it would not be surprising knowing that they're going to have to extend in some way, shape, or form, Tee Higgins, Jamar Chase, and Joe Burrow, that saving money at the running back spot makes a lot of sense. So I would anticipate a restructure for Mixon,

not necessarily releasing him, but it wouldn't surprise me either way. I think we'd have to agree, though, that you can't use injuries as an excuse for the offensive line because for most of the regular season, they were healthy. Fair. The injuries were late. Outside of Collins, yeah. Yeah, but Collins got hurt pretty late, right?

He was playing hurt a lot of the time, though. He was definitely not the Lyle Collins that they expected to sign. I do think also, though, we're going to say offensive line, his best season came the year before when the offensive line was reportedly in shambles. His best fantasy season? Yeah, he scored a ton of touchdowns. He was great.

Yes, and that's the thing. He only scored seven rushing touchdowns this year. He a ton of he had the six most carries inside the five yard line so if you want to be pro mixing pro joe you think the touchdowns are coming up he's still involved in the passing game but like look at look at this he's not even a third down back he ran 18 routes all year on third down so but it's so interesting because like that's true but he caught 60 passes yeah because look at the look at the difference in joe burrow 2021 to 2022 in joe in 2021 joe burrow was uh man he was, sorry. He was 18th in the NFL in passes thrown to running backs on first and second down.

This year he was third. His game, Burrow's game changed, right? They took away, the defenses were taking away the deep ball, so he started throwing to his running backs a lot more. In fact, he was third overall this year in throwing the ball to running backs. So my point is, if they go back to throwing the ball to the wide receivers more and less to the running backs, then that's going to be really bad for Mixon because he doesn't play

on third down. Now, maybe he'd get more carries in that scenario because the carries were down this year. But if he had a third down role, I think you could bank on a lot of catches. It scares me that Mixon doesn't have the third down roll and was so heavily targeted on first and second down. If those targets go somewhere else, if Burrow starts throwing the ball downfield more and checks down less, that's very problematic for Mixon.

Or if there's another running back that takes that first and second down work away from Mixon without necessarily being a de facto third down back. They could always find somebody who they can mix and match with Mixon. He was fourth in targets per game among running backs. Mix and match. Yeah, I like that.

Yeah. I'm glad you did that. It was unintentional. All right, so right now, Etienne or Mixon? Etienne. All right, Etienne. I think I want to lean toward the younger back. Nick Chubb or Mixon?

Chubb and non-Mixon in full. I'm going to go back to Chubb. Probably Chubb, assuming three months gone. Chubb was 44th in targets per game. How about Najee Harris? I think you said Najee Harris earlier. Najee or Mixon? If I'm going to make the youth argument for ETN,

I better make it for Najee too. Yeah, it's going to be Najee for me now. Why? Najee? Najee's not even that young. Najee did not have a good year. Let's see. I mean, I feel like... He closed the season much better than Mixon did.

He did. He what? Najee's 25, Mixon's 27. He closed the season better than than Mixon did. He did. He what? He closed the season better than Mixon did. Not in full PPR, really. I mean, look, Mixon's last two games he scored 17.8 points. Najee, yeah, he scored some touchdowns down the stretch. I'd rather... I mean, look, Najee's not doing

anything. I'd rather just take the guy on a much better offense. I'm probably just going to draft a wide receiver. I'd do that in round one. I'd do that in round one. I'm doing that in round one. Yeah. So we're not putting the periscope up for Mixon until at the earliest, the middle of round two. Everybody feel that way?

End of round two for me. End of round two for Jamie? Heath? Yeah. Middle. Middle to end? Okay. So that's where he's going to be.

He's going to be one of those guys that we talk about that'll go somewhere between 18th and 30th overall. And that's if nothing changes in Cincy. And he's still, if you want to use PFF as much as you want, in his six seasons in the NFL, they have never had a team that graded higher than 20th in run blocking. They've never had a good run blocking team, according to PFF. Like Dave said, we thought that would change this year. It did not. All right, Jamie, you've learned a lot of lessons

about life the last year. So has Fleischman from Fleischman is in Trouble, which is a terrific show, by the way, the Jesse Eisenberg. You started watching it? Well, my wife started watching it. I kind of came in mid-season, and I love it. It's so good. Terrific show.

So watch Jesse Eisenberg in Fleischman is in Trouble. But that's the lesson I learned. What fantasy football lesson did you learn, Jamie? And then we'll have Dave and Heath talk about it. I had a few different routes to go with this, but I'll go with the lesson

learned since I'm just writing about the 49ers of don't always fall for the shiny new toy. And I was obviously very excited about Trey Lance last season and the expectations of what he could do. And I'm still going to take the same approach when looking at quarterbacks because it's still a very deep position of swinging for the fences and going for the guy who has the most upside.

And I still think that Lance, if he does get the opportunity to start and he does get the chance in this team to play his game, he has plenty of upside. But I think I was a little too gaga over Trey Lance and overlooking not the safety factor of, i like them better than rogers i like them better than brady obviously both those guys were better because they were healthy but uh clearly they were disappointments but even taking him over let's say kirk cousins who i liked a lot last year but did not have ranked ahead of trey lance and so it's not necessarily not falling for the guy who has

the most upside but maybe not falling for it as hard as I did. You know, and letting it play out a little bit and getting a little bit more of a sample size before saying he should be anointed as the next great breakout fantasy quarterback. So that was one lesson that I learned. So I'm going to take a little bit of a, maybe a little bit, this much more of a cautious approach at that position, for example, or maybe most positions when it comes to some of the rookies. But certainly letting a guy get a chance, especially with – he's a rare example, not having a big college background, but somebody who has a little bit more of a track record before running him up the flagpole for a second.

Is there a player who you drafted earlier than Trey Lance who you might be able to apply that lesson to? I'm thinking about Gabe Davis in my head and how excited I was for Gabriel Davis. Gabriel Davis was costing me a round four or a round five pick last fall. Trey Lance was a round 10 pick, and I was excited to take him in round 10. I'll never tell anybody to not take shots on high upside players in round 10. It's the round three, four, five players that can really hurt you when you see that upside

and then they don't come through. So is there a player that maybe you had that you just crazy upside, you're shooting, you know, all the, all the cliches, but really it just comes down to guys that have immense potential who you might've missed, who you might've missed on this year. For me, it was Gabe Davis. Could you say he Kyle pits? That's a good one. For me, it was Gabe Davis. Who did you say, Heath? Kyle Pitts. That's a good one.

That's one for everybody. Yeah. All right. Yeah, I mean, there were a lot of young players drafted in 3, 4, 5 that didn't pan out. It was actually like the worst. I mean, that's supposed to be the gold mine for wide receivers, and it was horrible this year, I think.

Yeah, no, it's interesting because you could say, basically everything you said about Trey Lance, couldn't you just apply it to Justin Fields? I mean, he was more experienced than Lance, obviously. Is that the difference? He was much cheaper. He was, yeah. But Fields, at least he's got NFL experience,

much more than Lance did, and clearly a much better college pedigree. I think you could maybe even, like another part of that lesson that we saw with a variety of players, including older, is maybe be a little bit more leery of the extended absences. Like Lance has played very little football of any level for the past couple of years due to a variety of reasons. Michael Thomas had been gone for a long time. Des. Michael Thomas had been gone for a long time.

Deshaun Watson had been gone for a long time. There was a lot of either rust or re-injuries. You know who that's going to apply to, right? Calvin Ridley. Yeah, Calvin Ridley. I'll give you another one, though, just to answer Dave's question. He obviously played a lot more,

and I think the fantasy community was guilty of this. I know I was. Javante Williams. So it was, okay, now he's getting this big opportunity. We were crazy about that offense. And we started to pull back a little bit, I think, clearly once Melvin Gordon resigned there. But it was still, okay, the offense is going to be great.

Russell Wilson is going to unlock this team. And he was another. I'm just thinking of. That name kind of crossed my mind. Your specific question. Sure. A guy who hadn't done it as a starter. So kind of tying in the same theme.

And then anointing him the next great thing. Right, sure. But at least with Javante, like you saw flash. Sure. He played great before he got hurt. Different. Tray Lance didn't quite show the same flash. But he's similar to Gabe Davis. You know, Javante is you saw flashes. Sure. He played great before he got hurt. Trey Lance didn't quite show the same flashes. But he's similar to Gabe Davis.

Javante's similar to Gabe Davis. You saw flashes, and you saw upside, and you saw potential, and an opening was happening. At least with Javante, you knew what to do with him as soon as he got hurt. Gabe Davis, you had to stick with him on the roster all year and take their lumps. Same thing with Pitts. I think that we approached trey lance appropriately personally

because i think if you look at the the two and a half games that he played as a rookie and you saw his rushing potential i mean you saw he could be a thousand yard rusher and i think as we said even as trey lance kept moving up the draft board we always told people don't let him be the only quarterback you take um it's true you know so was lucky. I paired him with Matthew Stafford in a league, and that worked out beautifully. There were people that took Trey Lance and Justin Fields, and they might have cut Fields by like week three or week four and found another quarterback off the scrap heap.

But there's a lot of that. People took Russell Wilson and Trey Lance. Yeah. Maybe that's a lot of that. People took Russell Wilson and Trey Lance. Yeah. Maybe that's a lesson that we should talk about. What's the lesson with Russell Wilson? Well, I mean, just with quarterbacks that aren't the top two tiers of the position. Well, I mean, look, we've had,

and we're about to have it again, with most likely Aaron Rodgers, maybe Brady going to a new team. But Brady was a pretty good example of brady going to a new team uh but but brady was a pretty good example of guy going to a new team and uncertainty about what was happening when he was leaving you know so russell we we we know he wanted out for the last couple of years and when he got out it was like okay now maybe he'll cook and he'll be mr unlimited and all these things that we were kind of hoping for. And in some ways he got that opportunity and failed, and in other ways the system or whatever, you know, coach let him down or he just wasn't the same guy.

Brady clearly when he went to Tampa Bay, it was, hello, he's, you know, 2007 version of Tom Brady. Right, right, right. Because he was throwing all over the place. Which is hard to believe. So, you know, that's another lesson to apply to, you know, which side of the quarterback equation will these guys moving on be? You know, Lamar's still in his prime.

So if he leaves Baltimore, you know, you still got to be excited about it because of what his skill set could do. Rodgers, for example, 37-year-old guy going to a new team. It's not like he's going with the Bruce Arians, you know. He's going with maybe Nathaniel Hackett again. But that was good for him. Speaking of quarterbacks who will be in new systems this year, Ian Rappaport

reporting that Kellen Moore is expected to become the Chargers offensive coordinator. There we go. That was quick. Nice. Maybe that's why he wanted out. It seemed like the Cowboys wanted him out well but it makes it real if he that does make sense though because they've got a defensive head coach if he wants to go somewhere where he's the guy running the offense and

doesn't have right or Jerry Jones putting their input in it's also I mean if there's ever a lame duck potential and a coach on the hot seat it's Brandis Daly before they kick off week one. True. That's true. Yeah. But, you know, for the Cowboys, we can sit here and act like they did a disservice to their offense.

They were, when Dak Prescott came back, and they were maybe the highest scoring team in football. I don't know if they ended up. I think they may have been. One of the all-time greatest teams in the NFL. Yeah. From the moment Dak came back to the end of the regular season, they slumped a little bit at the very end.

But remember, they were phenomenal. And they had Zeke and Tony Pollard, so they were running the ball more than they usually did. They usually weren't getting Pollard this involved in previous seasons. So I just want to point that out. It's not like they tanked their offense by having McCarthy intervene or something like that.

They had a terrific offense this year. Keith, you know, if you take Cooper Rush's games when the defense was healthy, and you take Cooper Rush's games when the defense was healthy, and you take that over an 18-game season, 17 games, you may look back and say it's one of the greatest teams of all time. Would you? Because that's just not true at all.

I mean, that's just like a terrible example. Well, their defense was awesome. They were a good team. Well, I think you can definitely make the case for the NFC East being the greatest division of all time. That is true. Three playoff teams. At least top ten among the division. You can definitely make the case for the NFC East being the greatest division of all time. That is true. No. That is true. Three playoff teams. At least top ten among the division. Are you going to make me root for the freaking Eagles?

Is that what's going to happen here? That I'm going to have to root for the Eagles? I think you already have that. I think you already have that. I am not rooting for the Eagles. You clearly are. I can assure you I am not rooting for the Eagles. Are you kidding me?

I'm going to send you the lyrics to Fly Eagles Fly. You know how many teams I've done that with? I've been a Vikings fan. I've been a Jaguars fan you the lyrics to Fly Eagles Fly. You know how many teams I've done that with? I've been a Vikings fan. I've been a Jaguars fan. I've been an Eagles fan. That doesn't prove anything, Heath. We're done for today. Wednesday, we have another show. Fly Eagles Fly.

On the road to victory. You've got to learn this, Adam. Adam will make a case for the 72 Dolphins being worse than the Eagles. Look, there are a lot of football teams, man. This is Super Bowl 57. They may not be one of the 10 best teams ever. They're still terrific. And you know what?

My biggest point about this whole argument would be this. Preseason perception would influence postseason perception. But didn't a lot of people have the Eagles in the playoffs and winning the division? Yeah, but they weren't viewed going – if the Chiefs had had the Eagles kind of season – if the Chiefs had been as dominant as the Eagles were, the Chiefs were terrific, then they could go down as one of the greatest teams. But the Eagles, you can't do it if you're not.

It's like a college basketball team that was unranked to start the season and has a terrific year, wins a national championship. If they had been Kentucky and they had been ranked third overall, they would have gotten a higher place in history than this random team that wasn't ranked. That's my point. Because we didn't expect the Eagles to be this good this soon,

they could be overlooked in the history books of the NFL. Okay. That's it for me. All right. Wacky show for me. Can't wait for YouTube comments. Sorry. Yeah, yeah.

You know, people don't agree, but at the end of the day, they'll be like, you were right, Adam. So I look forward to that in a few years. For Dave and Jamie and Heath and Thomas, I'm Adam.

We'll talk to you Wednesday. What are you subbing? A-I-Z-E-R-R. Azar! You are? Bye, everyone. I had to make it work somehow. Azar.