Fantasy Football Today - 🚨 The Jets Get Aaron Rodgers! (04/25 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: April 24, 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.  Finally! The Jets are acquiring Aaron Rodgers from the Packers and we talk about every angle. We of course talk about the quarterbacks and where they are ranked, but we get into Aaron Jones, Garrett Wilson, Christian Watson, Allen Lazard, Romeo Doubs and more as we leave no stone unturned!  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

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Visit amex.ca slash business platinum. In six points for passing touchdown leagues, Aaron Rodgers was a top 12 quarterback per game, eight straight seasons until last year. And he was 23rd, 23rd per game. He was really bad last year for fantasy, but he is now on the New York Jets. Welcome to the bonus podcast, everybody. I am Adam Azer with Dave Richard and Jamie Eisenberg. And the Jets are acquiring Aaron Rodgers and the 15th pick and a fifth round pick from the packers for the 13th

pick a second round pick a sixth round pick and a conditional pick in 2024 that's a second rounder now but will be a first rounder if aaron rogers 65% of the plays. Okay. So first question, where do we have Aaron Rodgers ranked in this shocking trade going to the New York Jets? Dave, you can go for it. I had Aaron Rodgers ranked as if he was a Jet to begin with. 10. That's my number. I am optimistic that we have not seen the end of Aaron Rodgers.

We've seen the end of Dave. This is ridiculous. Jamie, how about you? He's 12 for me. He's upgrading both. He's a low-end starter. He's in that group of guys with Daniel Jones, Kirk Cousins. I guess you could put him in that same category with Geno Smith, Jared Goff, those type of guys.

Low-end number one guy you know so not not a guy that's going to be a top five quarterback again i just don't think that's in the cards for him um top 10 i think is certainly realistic given the opportunity of what he's looking at and hopefully being rejuvenated you know we've seen uh you know you want to go back let's say to peyton manning you know different different iterations of guys hall of famers borderline hall of famers guys who have changed teams that have had a lot of success you know in terms of somebody like Peyton and Tom Brady you know two of the best to ever do it Rodgers is obviously closer to them I think he is Russell Wilson Matt Ryan you know those type of guys so hopefully you know changing teams will you know give him an opportunity to sort of kick start the end of his career and have a nice little swan song here

with a team that, as we talked about earlier today, has a lot going for it, especially if they can address some things on the offensive line. Did my connection just go Zach Wilson? A little bit, yeah. But we heard most of what you said. Big difference in the rankings would be

Dak Prescott and Tua Tungavailoa. Jamie has Dak and Tua ahead of Aaron Rodgers. Yeah, I think much more upside with those two guys. And Dave has Rodgers ahead of Dak and Tua. Dave, you don't agree with that statement? Much more upside for Dak? I would agree with Dak. I mean, I guess I agree with both.

If Tua plays 17 games, then yes, he will absolutely have a chance to outproduce Rodgers. But I'm a huge fan of this. I think that Rodgers will be way more than a caretaker in Green Bay. He's got a shot to put up some huge numbers. With the Jets, I mean. With the Jets, yeah. You know, I had said that Rodgers was top 12 for nine straight years.

It's probably more than that per game. But 10 years ago is when he got hurt. So I was just using his healthier years, I suppose. But anyway, it's been a long time. We have an absolutely legendary packet of stats from our CBS Sports research team. So Rodgers' first year in the league was, or first year as a starter was 2008. In that stretch, the Jets have the worst touchdown to interception ratio in the NFL, and Aaron Rodgers has the highest touchdown to interception ratio in the NFL, and Aaron Rodgers has the highest touchdown to interception ratio

in NFL history. So how about this stat? Rodgers could throw an interception on 351 straight attempts and still have a better ratio than the New York Jets since 2008. That is incredible. They are desperate for this type of player. So I am so excited for the New York Jets. Okay, let's rank Garrett Wilson now, Dave.

Is he a top 12 wide receiver? I've got him as one. I'm excited about the potential. Toward the bottom of that list, I've got him 11th. I like him as a round two pick in full PPR. I think he's going to own the targets as long as the Jets don't add another good receiver. Jamie, top 12, Garrett Wilson? Top 10 for me.

You know, I think, again, you look at what he did last season when it wasn't Zach Wilson, and that's a great place to start. You know, so prior to the last couple of games, he was over 21 fantasy points per game with anybody but Zach Wilson. He ended up being around 17 points per game with the non-Zach Wilson quarterback. So he's got that chance, you know, and I think, you know, you just look at it. Not that Elijah Moore was the most productive receiver for the Jets, but I think they lose a little bit by trading out more for Lazard from a talent standpoint.

The difference would be the rapport that Lazard has with Aaron Rodgers. So, you know, Dallas think will matter. Probably some red zone opportunities may that Lazard has with Aaron Rodgers. So, you know, Dallas think will matter. Probably some red zone opportunities may go Lazard's way that they don't go for Garrett Wilson. We know he's done a great job finding the end zone, but Mikko Hardman, I don't think that's necessarily, you know, end all be all to, to hurt what Garrett Wilson ceiling could be. I'm going to guess they end up at this point, keeping Corey Davis, you know, from what they're saying, the fact that they haven't cut him yet. So it makes the four receiver, you know, group looking like what it

is right now. Um, the tight end production was, was pretty consistent last year. I don't think that necessarily changes, you know, what they get out of Conklin and Uzama. Um, I think it's going to come down to honestly where, where Zach Wilson ceiling lies is probably how good they run the ball, you know, and, you know, we saw some up and down games when Brees Hall was at his best, but, you know, take the quarterback play for what it's worth at that time. But I just think the sky's the limit for him. You know, he's got such a big ceiling, such an opportunity to be a superstar and now getting a huge upgraded

quarterback, you know, 10 might be too low. All right, let's go over to the Packers. By the way, if you want to get in our NFL draft contest, please email Thomas Schaefer. So it's Thomas dot Schaefer, S-H-A-F-E-R, Thomas.Schaefer at Paramount.com, Thomas.Schaefer at Paramount.com. And there's no C in Schaefer. It's weird. I know Thomas.S-H-A-F-E-R. Yes. Put NFL draft contest in the subject line. Here's what you do. You predict the top 10 in the NFL draft, the players.

I don't care what teams they go to. Just tell me which players are being selected, one through 10, and you have to get the order right. I explained it for about 15 minutes, which is about 14 and a half too long on the earlier episode we did today, so that's all I'm saying about it. You have your instructions.

You'll get in the podcast league if you get the most right. If there's a tie, we'll come up with a tiebreaker. Jamie, for the Packers, I're one of your bold predictions last year was that aaron jones would lead the team in receptions yes we never revisited that do you know if any idea what their reception totals were the packers in in 2022 i don't remember it no I got it Lazard had 60 and Aaron Jones had 59 oh yeah um all right so we got a total wild card here we got Jordan Love under

center and uh how do you see the top two or three top like give me a top three you know projection doesn't have to give me specific stats but how you see it shaking out for the three best pass catchers for green

Bay. If you tell me the third one is I'd love to know taking Aaron Jones out of the equation. No, no Jones is in the equation. So I would, I would say it's probably going to be something similar, you know,

where the number one receivers around 60 to 70 catches Jones is probably pushing for 60 again. And then, you know, we'll see what Romeo Dobbs, assuming he's the third guy, Christian Watson being the first guy there. But I mean, look, it's, it's a young group. It's, it's obviously a lot of inexperience, um, mostly at the quarterback position.

You know, I'll go back to what Matt LaFleur said coming out of the owner's meetings where he was very glowing, understandably so about Watson and Dobbs, you know, the fact that they're going to put more on Watson's plate. This is a team that's going to add to its past catching group because it's, it's very, very incomplete right now. So they're, they're rumored to be in on, on one of the rookie tight ends. They're certainly going to be, you know, coming out of the draft. I'm going to guess with, you know, a receiver or another receiver. Um, so we'll see what, you know, happens with this entire group and how, how heavily invested they are in a rookie receiver. But, um, I think Watson's showed enough, you showed enough, you know, to feel comfortable about him as a number two receiver with upside.

I think Romeo Dobbs showed enough and, you know, LaFleur addressed it that, you know, when he came back from the injury, he just wasn't the same guy, you know, so we'll see how that goes. But, you know, he made the comparisons to what his route running and certainly his ability to get off the line of scrimmage, comparing it to Devontae Adams. He even said, I want to temper what I'm about to say, but, you know, they see some similarities there. So there's a lot to like about the line scrimmage, comparing it to Devante Adams. He even said, I want to temper what I'm about to say, but you know,

they see some similarities there. So there's a lot to like about the opportunity for these two guys from a target standpoint, if Jordan Love doesn't fall on his face. And he seemed a lot better in his opportunities last year than he did in the early part of his career. Not that he had a lot of those. So he's a, he's a good number two quarterback to sort of fall back on. If you're looking to take somebody with some upside and these receivers, I think are definitely going to be heavily targeted

in fantasy drafts. Watson probably starting in round four. Dobbs, some are probably in the round seven, round eight range, depending on what the draft looks like. But two guys that have a big, big opportunity in front of them. Do you guys like Christian Watson or Drake London? Right now, Watson. They're two spots apart for me. Watson ahead of London. Right now, Watson. They're two spots apart for me.

Watson ahead of London. Do you like Christian Watson or Calvin Ridley? Ridley. Ridley right now. But Kirk? Watson over Kirk? Watson over Kirk. But close.

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It's free. It's easy. It's the law. Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. Dave, how much faith do you have in Jordan Love? As a number two quarterback, I will take a chance on him in a super flex or 2QB redraft because he's got upside. You've got to go back a few years to find the film of him playing really, really well. It was his second to last year at Utah State. He was outstanding.

I mean, he was making all platform throws. He was accurate. He was running. He's got that type of potential. I do think this changes Green Bay's offense quite a bit. Don't be surprised if it's a little more run-centric. Definitely don't be surprised if Jordan Love runs a little bit more than what we saw from him so far.

He's barely run, actually. I think like half of his carries have been kneel downs in the National Football League. It's just a matter of getting him comfortable in an offense and having the receivers make plays after the catch. We know that that's something Christian Watson can do. I'm not so sure about Romeo Dobbs and whether or not he can do that. So I don't agree with him as a seventh or an eighth round pick at this point. I do think that they are absolutely in play for Jackson Smith and the

Jigba, which is crazy to me because for all these years, Green Bay didn't draft any wide receivers in round one. And the minute they send Aaron Rodgers out the door, they might go and do that at 13th overall. And it makes perfect sense for them to do so. And if JSN ended up there, that would change my opinion on Watson. And it would make me very encouraged to go after Smith Najigba as kind of that security blanket for Jordan Love. And I think Aaron Jones is so interesting here, guys, because over the last two seasons, Aaron Jones has six rushing touchdowns and A.J. Dillon five receiving touchdowns last year, Aaron Jones, and he had six the year before. I mean, you know just how many times we saw it, the chemistry that Rodgers and Aaron Jones had near the goal line

and why you could not necessarily count on five or six receiving touchdowns for Aaron Jones, but you could at least count on three. I don't know. If he's not the goal lineback, and he doesn't have that rapport with the quarterback anymore, I wonder if he's not exactly a trap back or anything, but if he's going to suffer, if Aaron Jones is going to suffer from this, Jamie, what do you think about Aaron Jones,

who, by the way, was RB11 per game in full PPR last year, RB15 per game in non-PPR? I think he's still an opportunity to be in that range. I agree with Dave. I think they're going to lean more on their running backs, at least early in the season. This is still, keep in mind how this offseason has gone for them. They work out the deal where he comes back at a lesser salary to stay,

probably with the idea that he's going to still be the feature guy, but obviously AJ Dillon is going to be a big part of it. So you're going to get a two headed monster there in the backfield. But I also think that these are the easy throws. The system is still going to be the same, you know? So while however the throws look, however, the play calls are made, it's still the same coaching staff, same group. And this is what Jordan love has grown up in,

which is why they feel comfortable moving on from Aaron Rogers, you know so I think this is hopefully you know a guy that's ready to step in and and still do some of the same things from what this offense will look like and the skill players will benefit from hopefully not get you know negative results out of it but I think you just look at Aaron Jones if you're if you're him, he's got to be put in the same category. Forget about how it's ranked as Eckler and Cook and Mixon and Henry, you know, the guys that are getting older and the production is going to start to wane in some way, shape, or form. And so that's how you have to draft him.

So I don't think we're seeing Aaron Jones getting selected in the first two rounds. Round three might be pushing it depending on the format, but that's where you're going to start to see him come off the board. You know, so he's still got a chance to be a high-end number two running back. I would put him in that category more than a number one guy, but he wouldn't surprise me in PPR

if he gets there because I still think 50 catches is on the table given the way this offense looks. Dave, what's a better value? Aaron Jones in round three? Let's say near the 3-4 turn or A.J. Dillon in round seven. I'll take

Dylan, especially if it's half or non PPR, you're going to wait a little bit, get a running back who could still give you RB two production throughout the year. And Jamie, same question to you, three, four turn for Aaron Jones around seven for AJ Dillon. Well, it's easy in, in, in non in half, you know, so that that's the the no-brainer but i i think you know if if you're concerned about jones then you obviously should avoid him but i i i again i think if you go receiver receiver and then this is the first running back you come away from in ppr you should feel pretty good about that you know so it's not a bad you know opportunity to take a guy that's still by whatever you think of christian watson whatever you think of romeo dobbs everything

of jordan love this is the best player they still have offensively right now. Now, Watson may have a higher ceiling because of his youth and the opportunity to get there, but until he gets there, Aaron Jones has already been there. So I think you look at Jones right now, still is the best player on that team. Jones had 1,500 total yards last year. You think he comes close to that this year?

I think he can. I'd probably say the ceiling is probably 1,400, but I don't know if he's going to. Barring injury, it's still a good offensive line. It's still a team that's going to put him in a lot of key spots. And we're not exactly – it's like, okay, can Jordan Love do this? Can Jordan Love do that? He can make this throw.

He can throw it to the flat. He can throw a wheel route. He can throw those easy opportunities to his running back. It's not difficult plays. And they are design plays. They design plays for their running backs. That's what makes Aaron Jones so good. 1,300 total yards

and seven touchdowns. Do you blanket that for Aaron Jones? No. No, he should get that. Well, the touchdowns are scary to me. That's where I'm drafting him at. The touchdowns. He has been so far in Dillon's career. Aaron Jones has been a lot better than A.J. Dillon. So A.J. Dillon's going to have to run the ball better

if they're going to justify him having a pretty even split of the carries because it was 213 to 186 in favor of Aaron Jones. And I think if you look at the stat sheet, it probably shouldn't have been. But we'll see if A.J. Dillon has a bit of a breakout that we were hoping for last year. All right. Just a few more questions here. I'm seriously five to 10 seconds on Jordan love.

I think you guys call them a number two quarterback. Just Dave. Maybe that was Jamie. Dave, give me five to 10 seconds on Jordan. Love number two quarterback. You could come away in your one QB redraft leagues with him as, as a blue chip player,

Dave, five to 10 seconds on Alan Lazard and McColl Hardman. Hardman, I'm not drafting. Lazard is a bench wide receiver. Okay. And Jamie, well, both of you, who's better next year, the Jets or the Packers?

The Jets will have a better record, but they might miss the playoffs. The Packers might make the playoffs with a worse record. I say there's a chance both miss the playoffs, Jets with a better record than the Packers. And here's a fun comment from the chat. I saw Jamie on your motto the other day. I can beat that.

I can beat that. Your motto is around, by the way. I think, and I apologize for this, but I think I met, if it's the same guy, I met somebody, I think his name was Ryan, at PDQ. And if he comments in the chat, I'll recall a few months ago.

And I told him I would say his name on the air. I forgot. So it was the same Ryan. Hi, Ryan. But next time, Hawk, say hello. I'm happy to talk anytime you want to. What is PDQ? What does it stand for?

Not the ending of this podcast. Pretty dumb question. All right, we're out of here, everybody. Thank you for watching our bonus and listening to our bonus podcast. You can watch everything at youtube.com slash fantasy football today. Back tomorrow with Heath's Dynasty Show. See you.