Fantasy Football Today - The SEVEN post-hype Breakout Players that you should be rostering right now (FFT Dynasty)

Episode Date: November 6, 2024

Heath talks to Adam Pfeifer about the 2024 post-hype breakouts and should you roster Herbert or Mingo after their recent trades. Plus Adam helps solve a trade conundrum for Heath. 00:00 - Start 02:35 - Should you roster Khalil Herbert or Johnathan Mingo? 07:02 - Three Questions About The Buffalo Bills 14:55 - Post Hype Breakouts 33:09 - Heath has a trade question 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 SUBSCRIBE to FFT Express on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-express/id1528634304 Follow FFT Express on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qyGWfETSBFaciPrtvoWCC?si=6529cbee20634da8 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 FOLLOW FFT DFS on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zU7pBvGK3KPhfb69Q1hNr?si=1c5030a3b1a64be2 Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr Follow the brand new FFT TikTok account: https://www.tiktok.com/@fftoday 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." Visit the betting arena on CBSSports.com for all the latest sportsbook reviews and sportsbook promos. 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

Welcome to Fantasy Football Today Dynasty. I am your host, Heath Cummings, joined by repeat guest Adam Piper. We are ready to break down NFL Trade Deadline Day. Actually, we're just ready to give you our best when it comes to dynasty fantasy football advice. You can find Adam over on Twitter at A-P-A-Fifer24, and you can find him at FTN Fantasy. Adam, tell everybody what you've been working on. Yeah, thanks for having me as always. Just now is the time of year where I'm doing both, right?

Basketball started, so I'm doing some basketball stuff for us on the site, which is exciting, but football wise I'm doing a bunch of stuff Rankings, I'm doing articles featuring stats from our advanced stats hub, which is awesome tons of stuff and Yeah, check out FTN fantasy for not just football But you know honestly obviously baseball just ended, but I think this is probably the best time of year for sports. You have college basketball just started, NBA just started, football, so much stuff. So it's exciting and I'm busy, but I enjoy it. Yeah, my 15 year old texts me yesterday afternoon. He says,

Dad, Kansas, Duke, the Celtics and the Chiefs are all going to be playing at the same time. Yeah, that's fun. Especially because those are some good teams. Right. But. I will say the Celtics are not the top seed in the East out belong to the Cavs, which does currently belong to the Cavs. So we'll see how much longer. I think they play each other in like a week and a half. I don't know what it is about your teams that you've root for in teams. I root for that are just my teams always really, really good. But at the end of the day, your team wins in the playoffs or breaks my team's heart. So I'm sure that'll continue with the Cavs and Celtics this year too.

So well, I mean, listen, you've got the Bills hat on. You're talking about heartbreak. We're going to have that money. I'm going to ask you some bills questions in just a moment. On today's show, we are talking about some, you know, a lot of times you talk about post hype sleepers going into the season. We've got some post hype breakouts that are like right happening right now. And these are the guys that are sometimes hard to value in dynasty.

So we're going to talk about how we value these guys, whether we believe the breakouts or not. But we got to start. We've already 11 33 a.m. Eastern. We've already got a couple of trades on NFL trade deadline day. And they are kind of bottom of the dynasty roster guys that you were just holding on to

hoping there would be some glimmer of hope. This might be your glimmer of hope. First, Khalil Herbert had pretty much been pushed out of the way by Deandre Swift and Roshan Johnson. He's traded from the Bears to the Bengals. I was going to say that's like a big jump in the standings, but it's not right. The Bengals and the Bears are in pretty similar spot in the standings, both below 500, I think. But Zach Moss is going to be out for an extended period of time. Herbert now joins Chase Brown in that Bengals backfield. How how optimistic slash excited are you about this?

So obviously they had to make a move because it sounds like Moss will be out for the regular season and they couldn't, you know, continue on the rest of the year with the depth they had behind Chase Brown and they don't as good as he was last week. They do not want to give Chase Brown 32 touches and 100 percent of the touches. Herbert, it's interesting because They do not want to give chase Brown 32 touches and 100% of the touches. Herber essentially because. Obviously, the season started with Zach Moss being the clear running back to start for the Bengals, Chase Brown would mix in for like a Jalen Warren type role

and then slowly and surely jail. Chase Brown started to slowly take over that backfield, but he wasn't doing it enough on third downs and passing downs on the season I think chase Browns played like 14% of their snaps on third and medium or third and long So that was moss's role the two-minute girl was moss's role Khalil Herbert has been efficient running the football throughout his career, but he's not the greatest past protector so for me obviously Thursday night for this game like it should still be like 90% Chase Brown,

just too short of a turnaround to learn the playbook, etc. But I think this is obviously good for Khalil Herbert just because he has a chance to be active on game day and not the third running back. He'll clearly be the second. But I also think this is a good move for Chase Brown because obviously they weren't going to not bring somebody in. And Khalil Herbert's not going to be able to play and be as reliable I think to the Bengals on third and longs and on the two minute drill as chase as Zach Moss was I think

we can see some more usage in that in those sets for chase Brown which should be good because there's going to be games with this way this Bengals defense looks where they're going to be down maybe on Thursday down, you know, 10 points in the fourth quarter and those have been games where Zach Moss had been benefiting That could be chase Brown now. So I think it's Obviously not great for chase Brown but like I'm still fine with this for him and it's obviously good for Herbert just because he Really had to go somewhere and this is probably the most logical spot. I'm going where I had clear Herbert rostered

I'm going to keep holding him. He's probably now instead of being two injuries away from being a fantasy starter, he's one injury away from being a fantasy starter, he's available. These are the types of guys that especially running backs that I like to pick up off the labor wire, even if you're not contending, because he might have a one week opportunity to start and all of a sudden you just picked up a third round draft pick for nothing. So but I agree, a boost for Brown, a boost for Herbert, and a trade that made sense.

Yeah, I'm not sure the second trade made any sense. I, I was finishing up some work before getting ready to hop on this podcast and I saw it and I literally just did like, I just didn't react at all. Like it's just, I didn't. So Jonathan Mingo is going to the Cowboys, which, fine, the Cowboys need wide receiver help. The Panthers apparently are ready to give up on the guy they just drafted 39th overall. They got a fourth round pick for him. It's a fourth round pick going to the Panthers.

Great trade by them. Jonathan Mingo doesn't matter, does he? I wouldn't have been excited about this trade if Dak Prescott was A healthy and B playing well. So now that he's out for at least four weeks, who knows what Dallas's record is by the time he's good to go, they could just shut him down. Trade does nothing to me for obviously the rest of the season. Dynasty wise, like, I don't know, Dallas is just an absolute mess.

Jerry Jones was saying how he's like they weren't going to make a trade at that line. And they make this trade of all trades. Good for the Panthers to get a fourth. I mean, Dallas, what they traded Cooper for a fifth a couple of years ago, and then they trade a fourth for Jonathan mingle. Like, I don't know what this front office is doing lately. But like I said, I there's trades, there's trades where you like, you're excited or you're not or you react in some capacity. I just didn't react to this trait. You would much rather roster Herbert than Mingo, correct? Oh, 100%. Okay. Cousin Ernest, good morning to you. And thank you. Yes, please hit the like for a cousin Ernest said it the best dynasty show going. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Let's get to three questions. I usually say three questions for our guests today. I knew you'd wear the hat. I said three questions about the Buffalo Bills. Josh Allen, QB five on the season and CBS scoring.

I think he's tied for QB four and four point for past touchdown leagues, which it's interesting that he would rank better in that format because the rushing is down. 5.2 rush attempts per game. We've seen what? 13 running back touchdowns early this season from the Buffalo Bills.

I wish a few more of them were going to James Cook, but I can't be that greedy. Ray Davis is scoring, Ty Johnson is scoring. Allen looks like, and I had this question, like is he ever going to pull back? He looks like he's pulling back at least a little bit. Is this the new reality? Is he a top five quarterback, but not necessarily the best quarterback in fantasy football? Yeah, so for me, it's a lot of schematic stuff, because there's been talks about, yeah, we want every offseason. It's been yeah, we want Josh to run less and Josh goes, yeah, I got to be smarter. And then he still runs like crazy. And every offseason when there was a lot of talk about him running less,

I literally paid no mind to it. This year, it's been a the Bills probably have the best run game in the NFL outside of Baltimore, Detroit and be. The way teams were defending them early in the season before they got Cooper and before, you know, Shakir started a really breakout it was we're gonna play Man-to-man coverage we're gonna bring a safety or linebacker over and spy Josh Allen And we're gonna blitz and if these guys beat us offline scrimmage outside So be it and that's why you saw a lot of these games where their offense really stalled

Houston game the Baltimore game. That's what defenses were doing a lot The Cooper trade and can't call Coleman playing better and Shakira playing better changes that. But also this is the most we've seen Josh Allen with his Joe Brady offense or any offense for that matter rely on Yak. And it's helped this offense. And it's just simply put, I think we saw that in the Miami game on Sunday. Like there was plays where he ran for, you know, 20 yard touchdowns.

They got called back. But like outside of those plays on third and long, when nobody's open, like they just haven't needed him to do it as much because they're the defensive philosophies change with the breakouts of these wide receivers. Not full breakouts, but obviously Keyon's playing better and Shakir looks great. And Amari Cooper changes the way they play defense, too. So I think it's a combination of a lot of things. Definitely hurts his overall upside of being just the clear cut

QB one in fantasy once again, but. I still think there's going to be some games where Josh Allen has eight carries for 46 yards and a touchdown on top of the passing, but it's not going to be as reliable. But if he can trade that off with just continuing to throw the ball really well with the upgrades in the passing game, then so be it. But yeah, I think it's definitely a combination of Josh a little bit, you know, less, uh,

reliant on running and the scheme of the offense kind of dictates it's a dictate as well. Lamar or Josh Allen in dynasty. Who was your QB one? It's really hard to go against Lamar at this point. It's incredible what he's doing. Like he is. And like Lamar, the thing with him, we always talk about is he doesn't get the five yard and in rushing touchdowns.

And he has a couple rush touchdowns from, you know, inside the red zone, but not the goal line. Like, can you imagine like he's doing all this with Derrick Henry scoring 100 touchdowns like right. And Deontay is going to be more involved at some point. Zay Flowers looks amazing. Yeah, I just think their offense is probably again, right there with Detroit as the most unstoppable offense. So I'll lean Lamar, but I mean, they're both amazing. But Lamar has just been otherworldly this season. James Cook has been really good. And yeah, I was a huge James Cook guy coming in this season. I've been happy I get a little frustrated with the Bills coaches because like James Cook has caught something like 87% of his targets in his career and this season. But it seems like every time he drops a pass, he loses 20 snaps. It's because his drops and it's so frustrating because I love him and I'm a Bills fan and

I have him on a lot of fantasy teams. His drops are touchdowns. They're like wide open touchdowns. There was a drop against Miami where he had a ton of space on Sunday, and then that's where you're talking about. You kind of was like, where is James Cook? So is he a buy or a sell in dynasty right now? Can I say hold? Okay. Because I feel like it's tough to really just trade

for a ton of running backs that aren't like in that upper echelon, Gibbs, Bijan, A-chan type of tier. And while I don't think it's anything close to like a 50-50 split, like Ray Davis continues to at least make a case for playing time each week with the plays he's making. But yeah, I'm still very high on him. He is like there was a stretch where James Cook was out and Ray Davis got like back to back goal on carries didn't convert like there's going to be sometimes

that happens. But like that happens to every running back outside of like Joe Mixon this year and Jonathan Taylor when he's healthy. So I still think there's upside for more the passing game. He did catch five passes last week. And I've been charting this. I think it's now on Sunday was 15 regular season games for James Cook since Joe Brady took over Zoc last year. He's averaging like 18 touches almost a hundred scrimmage yards and like 16 PPR points per game He's been really really good. He's not going to give you that top five season because He is inconsistent in terms of his past game usage and there's gonna be games where he doesn't score touchdowns But he is I think he's just a perfectly fine hold I wouldn't be I'm definitely not trading away and I think if you needed running back help you can definitely trade for him but he's not somebody I'm saying you know what go out and get him just because of the position but I'll say hold I'm still very high in him would you rather have key on Coleman or Khalil Shakir in dynasty. Close your care is so good.

Like every metric, he's first in success rate, according to our advanced stats up. He's fourth in EPA per target. And he is what this offense in the passing game, I talked about all the act. He's the reason why it's thriving right now. Like he's he like he's pretty much the first read on these plays. And Josh loves him. I would I know Keyon's been better lately. He's going to have a great career with Josh Allen and obviously he's incredibly

young, but I'm still siding with Kalosh Akir here. I might be wrong, but I just think the way he plays and the way he's getting his points is so, so reliable each, each week. So I'll go Shakir, but it's close. I struggled with it coming into the year and I've been lower on Shakir because I didn't really buy the fact that you're going to catch 90% of your targets. And if you just my, my concern all off season was with the personnel because I assume the bills were going to be probably top five to six and usage of 12 personnel.

So you see Ken Kada knocks and then Keon you have to think is going to be on the outside. It's like, okay, is it going to be Samuel or Shakir? Samuel obviously had the turf toe in the preseason and then they just have no club to use him. So he's done. So, yeah, I I think Shakir is like he is not somebody you would put in the same category as like Nico Collins or some of these guys. He's towards the top of the list with an EPA per target and stuff like that. But his targets are insanely

High success and he's doing so much with them. So like that Seattle game the other week was just like he is He's literally the the past game is flowing through him right now There's gonna be some games down the stretch where Mario Cooper finally is acclimated, but I just think he's Again, you're being paired with, you know, a top three quarterback for years to come. Keon has the age on his side, but I'm going with Shakira in the production right now. We will be answering more of your questions from the chat a little bit later in the show after the second break.

Let's take our first break and then we will get to some post type breakouts. 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.'s free it's easy it's the law data sourced from the or cga 2023 dirt report jk dawbins one of my favorite stories of the 2024 season i don't know that you can talk about post-hype of breakouts without talking about jk dawbins currently ranks as r RB 13 in total points. And he's already had his buy this season, averaging more than five yards per carry because he always does. How are you feeling though with Dobbins' injury history and the kind of the way that running backs function in this league?

He's 26 years old. Are you buying into the post-hike breakout? Are we going to get a two- or three-year stretch three year stretch where JK Dobbins is the guy that we all thought he was going to be coming out of college? Or is this one of those clear, unless you really are one of the best teams in the league, you better sell them. I would probably, I mean, I did it in a redrive league. So in a dynasty league, I would definitely do it. It's funny because a couple of weeks ago I traded Dobbins straight up from Mike Evans

and I thought at the time it's a great trade for me that Evans went off for a couple weeks and now it's Evans That's actually hurt. I Think it's an awesome story. I think he's going to be efficient Especially with the familiarity with the scheme the Chargers offensive line in terms of yards before contact has been pretty much awesome since the preseason But I just think given the history awesome since the preseason. But I just think given the history, given the fact that they're actually quietly start to throw the ball more than they have over the past three

weeks, despite the game script. Yeah, I think unless you're just you're starting line up is just solid across the board and he's your flex or whatever and you're in first second place, you should at least entertain the idea of seeing what you can get for him. Are you? Because it's not even like he's, you would, you would think JK

Dobbins is pushing 30 years old at this point. And like you said, he's 26. Would you, would you take a second? I think I would. Okay. Yeah. I think, I think if you're not contending, you should have literally take a second.

Absolutely. Um, if you're kind of in the middle, then maybe you aim for a little bit more. We've got another running back and this was not one I was excited about coming into the year. And he started off so slow, but DeAndre Swift, a guy who's been left for dead a couple of times and been through the hype cycle a couple of times, this season maybe, but since week five, on a per game basis, he is RB6,

averaging 18.8 PPR fantasy points per game. Historically speaking, the way to profit off of Deandre Swift has been if things are going terrible by him, if things are going good, sell him because it's going to change again very soon. As anything changed with that with Swift, is he still just always sell high, always buy low? Or do you think this might stick here in Chicago? always by low or do you think this might stick here in Chicago? It's so tough too, because I was not high on Swift either. And you start the season, it's like, well, he's probably lose his job. Right. And then they have a stretch where they have some really good matchups. But at the same time, Swift also has played well since week four is averaging twenty two and a half touches per game. It's fourth most in the NFL.

He is like top five in goal line carries in that span. So even though Roshan gets a couple, it's still been a lot of Swift. Chicago's deep passing game is literally non existent right now. And Kaden Allen has been an absolute disaster. And at the same time, I still feel like you should probably try to sell high on Deandre Swift, like you said, at all times, because we've seen this many times for many different teams. But it's definitely, like he's played well, don't get me wrong. I just think a lot of it's been, the passing game has been out of sorts, and if that finally starts to change and they don't have to rely on Swift

as much in the passing game, plus the matchups, I would definitely look to at least see what you can get. Finally, the third running back here, and it is a guy I was really excited about coming into the year. He hasn't been quite as good as Dobbins and Swift in terms of like per game numbers, but Tony Pollard. Another good game in week nine,

and maybe his best run of the game got called back because of a hold, should have been a touchdown, was a spectacular run. Looks like his old self, and he's being treated as a workhorse. Been about as good as anybody in the NFL after contact, getting 20 plus touches every single game. Is Tony Pollard just a must start running back for the next couple of years?

Yeah, I mean, it's so crazy how the last year really changed the discussion because everybody was saying Tony Pollard's the next huge breakout running back. And then he has that surgery in the offseason and he just wasn't the same player. And so I think it was the Carolina game last year. And you look at down the stretch, he was one of the most efficient players at the position in terms of yards after contact, explosive run rate. And then that's carried over this season with him being healthy.

Then he comes out on Sunday despite not practicing all week and has over 30 touches. And also we were and I fell for this too because I was really high on Tajay Spears coming this season. Brian Callahan all season said this is going to be a 50-50 split a 1A 1B situation. And it really wasn't that to start the season. It was more towards 60-40 maybe even closer 65 35 and you know, we'll see.

Obviously the usage has been insane power during that same stretch. I mentioned with Swift third in the NFL and touches per game at 23.2. I just think we forgot because he was a massive disappointment. I mean redraft last year what he second round pick. We forgot how good Tony power does when he's healthy and he's healthy right now. And like where else are they going to football on offense? Westbrook Aquino will probably score eight straight games for some reason. And then Ridley is getting his 30 plus percent target share and that's about it. So yeah, I power has been really tough because of that.

I think last year, like I said, change a lot of people's opinion on him, but he's healthy and he looks great. So I would probably just continue to to start him each week and ride it out. You've got a second and a third. You're a true contender. You got a whole at running back though. And you can trade that second and third for any of the three running backs. We've talked about JK, Dobbins, Deandre Swift, or Tony Pollard, which one

are you going on getting? It would be Pollard. Yeah. He's the one that feels the, the, the, I don't know if safe's the right word and like he's on the worst team. So that's, that's a little bit of a disaster, but I would, I would agree with you, I think for a true contender, I actually do have, um, Dobbins ranked the highest of these three factoring in next year as well. It's so strange, but I think Dobbins is actually the youngest of the three.

Paul are two years older than Dobbins and Swift, but I do, I would agree like rest of season. I'd rather have polar. We've got three wide receivers as well. JSN Jackson Smith and Jigba. Really? I, I, I, I said something. I don't think it was you, but I was talking to somebody before the season. And I said like, what if he has four or five bad games to start the year?

Think about how much his value is going to drop. And I think four of his first five games were bad games. And his only good, the only reason he had good games was because the games he had that were good were the 45 pass attempt Gino games. Right. And he was, he was awesome. And one of those, I think has two games now that just monster performances. But the second one came without

DK Metcalf. And like you said, it's really taken some huge volume. This was really the first time in week nine that we saw him functioning down field. Yes. But he did it so well. I get, I think what Adam Azer said on Sunday night's podcast is make, we can't put this back in the box, right? I don't, I'm not so sure I feel that confident at those. It's a true Breakout he's gonna justify his NFL draft capital and we've got a wide receiver one or are you looking to sell? It's so tough because obviously Metcalf has been out the last two weeks and during that stretch like Cuz I'm pretty sure last year in the game Metcalf missed Jason actually moved out wide a little bit more.

Obviously it's a different coaching staff and the past two weeks without Metcalf. He's only been out wide like 13% of the time, so he really hasn't played out wide more. But you saw in the Rams game they're running these kind of like slot fades from him, which he can do really well. So I want to see more of that. For me, it's always kind of come down to lock it because we know Metcalf's not going anywhere anytime soon. Like if we can get like next year, for instance, or a year from now,

like I know Lockett, you know, sign that contract and the office like give me Metcalf on one side. JSN playing like the like the Garrett Wilson role where he's playing like 40 percent, 45 percent in the slot and then still playing out wide 50 plus percent of the time. Give me that. And we could really be on to something. I still would want to hold because this team is throwing the ball so much.

And there's going to be games where Gino does throw 40 plus times and JSN. Like I just I hope and I try to assume rational coaching. I just hope they see this against the Rams and say say you know what? When Metcalf comes back, he's still going to play on the perimeter, but we need to let Jason run these vertical routes because Gino, since he's been in Seattle, has been one of the more accurate

deep ball passers like let's let's keep that going. Yeah, well, it bothers me that two different coaching staffs have gone through training camp with this guy and said you know what we need to do is throwing the ball five yards from the line of scrimmage. Yeah, like he, he doesn't have to be in this Alec Pierce role, right? Right. Or

Cedric Tillman role, but he should not be in a Wondell Robinson role either. Like give me some sort of medium. Second breakout, another guy who was just pretty much a disaster his rookie year, even worse than JSN, Quinton Johnston really showed some things early in the year. I think he had three touchdowns in the first four weeks, suffered the injury, and then just a monster game in week nine, looking like a real decent one-two punch between him and Lad McConkie for the Chargers. And as you mentioned, they're actually throwing the ball a little bit more now. Do you buy that there's some life for Quinton Johnston who like we saw JSN's

value drop a little bit. Maybe he was closer to wide receiver 30 than 20 in dynasty rankings at some point this season, but Johnston was on the waiver wire in some leagues, like just completely left for dead. I struggle with him. I do think he has to be viewed a lot higher than he was going into the season, because you're right, it wasn't just yesterday. It wasn't just Sunday.

It was before in the beginning of the season. But man, like. And again, they all count. But some of his touchdowns this season have been just absolute blown coverage. And I looked at the stats up before we hopped on just to see he has four catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns this season on plays where he's had five plus yards of separation. And I don't think that's a Quentin Johnson is an elite route running receivers that I think that's clearly a oh man like Denzel Ward on Sunday blown blown coverage type stuff, but. He's on the field.

I do want to see him in this more of a. Kind of more like a Khalil Shakir role, because in college he wasn't this like down the field contested catch guy. He was a yak guy. I want to see more of that. But I do like the fact that, oh, by the way, surprise when Justin Herbert gets to throw the ball, guess what? He's still really good.

And I do like the fact that the last few weeks, the pass rate over expectations gone way up. But and as somebody that was really high on Josh Palmer, I know he scored on Sunday as well, like he has not been what I thought he would be. So I think you have to view him a lot higher than you did before the season started. But I do think there's some there's some flukiness to this as well with some of his touchdowns So that's one thing I like last year the a dot was 12.9 Which is like it's a little bit too high for most wide receivers definitely too too high what too many times

He's running down the sideline. Yep, trying to catch a back shoulder fade Which is not Marvin Harrison role prior to the last two weeks, right? So the a dot this year is down to 11. I wouldn't mind it a little bit lower, but 11 is pretty like we can live with that and the Yak, which we saw a ton of in college, was four yards in 2023.

Yak per reception up to 8.3. So far this year, that's a couple of big plays. Again, he's only got 27 targets, but that's what he does. He can make those big. I think they can make those big. I think they can use them too.

I thought with Kellen Moore last season, when they drafted them, I thought they were going to use him on some jet sweeps and stuff like that. Right. I still think that's possible at some point, but this team is so old fashioned that when they want to run the football, it's just JK Dobbins right up the middle. You know, commodity of it all for three, four carries as well. But, um, I'm, I'm cautiously optimistic for Quentin Johnson, because again, young player paired with a really good young quarterback and an

offense that's kind of ascending, right? I know they didn't add the huge wide receiver we wanted, but that offensive line's awesome. The quarterback's awesome. The passing game looks better each week. So I'm cautiously optimistic. I would say I saved the best for last, at least in terms of fantasy production. This season, Darnal Mooney, a complete afterthought over the summer going to the Atlanta Falcons,

and he has been fantastic averaging 14.4 fantasy points per game has had a couple of near misses like it could be even better. Drake London went out last week. Mooney functioned comfortably as the number one wide receiver. He's one of the best wide receivers in the league this year in terms of producing explosive plays. And we've seen one good year from him before, like not a bunch of draft capital. So it was pretty easy when he after that one great year, he fell off to just say, okay,

that was just the fluke here. Does not look like a fluke right now. How do you view Mooney moving forward? I think he and I have thought this for years. I just think he's really good at football. Sometimes that's that's all it needs to be said. And especially when you finally get to be paired with a quarterback like her cousins, who I think there's a lot of similarities in the way cousins and Mooney are connecting to the way cousins and Stefan Diggs did in

Minnesota. And it hasn't mattered like Drake London, when he's been healthy, has been towards the top of the NFL in target share off first read passes, and still Mooney's getting his explosive plays his seven to nine targets. And the other thing that's been huge, remember week one all the way back in week one against Pittsburgh where cousins, there was everything shotgun looked like he couldn't move. I was like, this is, this is bad. And it's looked way better.

And you're seeing more of the under center play action shots and Mooney's just been a perfect fit for this offense and Kirk cousins. So I would just continue to ride this out. I think it'd be different. I agree. Like it's not a fluke because this is a talented player we've seen, you know, like he's not ever going to be the widest year one for a team, but at times for Chicago, we had to be, and he still made plays. So, um,

I just think it's a good football player and the best situation of his career and good things are happening. So I'm, I'm surprised he's been this good, but I'm not surprised he's been good. So he's a 26 year old without the draft capital. Quinton Johnson still just 22 with all that draft capital. Who would you rather have on your dynasty roster? Between the age of not just the player, but the quarterback as well. I'm going Quinton Johnson, but it's, it's not that far off. I just, I just don't know how many years we're going to get from cousins. So coming into the week, I had JSN at wide receiver 20 and dynasty. I had Johnston at wide receiver 36, Mooney at 41, Johnston and Mooney both going to move up a little bit from there. It's, it's a weird time at the wide receiver

position because as everybody who plays redraft knows half of the good wide receivers have gotten injured. And so placing those guys within the dynasty rankings, guys like Rashe Rice, guys like Brandon Iyuk, trying to figure out where they belong, can be a little bit difficult. But yeah, I think they're both Johnston and Mooney, number three wide receivers for dynasty purposes. I've got one tight end. I think this is the easiest one to deal with. But Mike Gysicki was always a guy that fantasy football players liked a lot more than his coaches, it seemed.

And he has been spectacular when T. Higgins has not played. And when T. Higgins has played, Gysicki has been irrelevant, like he had been for most of the last two years. But he's coming off this monster game. We don't think T Higgins is probably going to play on Thursday. I don't think he's practiced yet. Is Gassi like the ultimate go sell this guy to somebody who's desperate for a tie down

because he's going to disappear again soon. Unless you think T Higgins is sitting out for contract reasons, then yeah, I mean like the one thing i will say is we know the bangles want to run a ton of three wide sets play out of shotgun spread the defense out and just sick is always been a slot receiver more than a tight end. So having an absence for tea again this huge friend because they can just essentially run three wide and with all the the question marks, you know, Jermaine Burton clearly not, um, in the coaching staffs, uh, you know, highest of opinion right now. And, you know, I think what Charlie Jones has hurt. So it's really just chase Yoshi boss. And then just said, he's pretty much playing slot receiver. And we've seen Tyler Boyd be good in this role for years.

So he's kind of in the Tyler Boyd role. Yeah. I mean, if you told me like T Eagan's was going to miss the rest of the of season which I don't think happening obviously but like he probably be a top 12 time rest of season but the second to get his back he falls back into the what like. John Smith tear tight end each week. I think John Smith tear which is again the John Smith tear is. which is again, the John O Smith tier is. I will say Eric calls out for the season, so like maybe that helps, but also like they you know,

Eric all was pretty much just playing, getting those play action passes on, you know, plays where they could run the football and he's the one thing I will say is he was awesome in the run blocking game, but they don't ask you to do that anyway. So obviously the Teagan's absence is what's most important here for him.

Let's take our second break when we come back. I've got a trade for Adam to tell me whether to click the button on and then we're going to answer your questions from the chat. So if you've got questions, we've got one or two of them queued up, but now would be a good time to answer, ask your dynasty questions. Adam and I will answer them after the break. We are back and it's time for me to use my platform to help my fantasy teams. Everyone's favorite part of the show. So I got to tell you, Jacob Gibbs, and I will be on Beyond the Box score with Gibbs later this week, so you guys should listen to that. He started a league this off season and I have no self control.

Every January or even not January, every October and November, I say, I have too many teams. I'm going to cut teams this off season. I'm not going to add new teams. And then every off season I add teams and don't cut teams. Jacob Gibbs started a new dynasty league. It's called the tight end university. It's a tight end premium league where you also are forced to start two tight ends every single week. And it's a super flex league. And I've been okay. Like I think I'm fifth in points, little unlucky. So I'm three and six. I already have Gibbs first round pick for next year.

So I've got two firsts for next year. No pressure to compete in year one of this dynasty. And I got a trade offer. So again, super flex, I'm borderline have a chance to make the playoffs. Probably not. borderline have a chance to make the playoffs? Probably not. And the offer is someone's offering me two Tunga Velo and a 20-25 first that looks like a late first. Not maybe not 11th or 12th but it looks like a late first for Justin Herbert and Chuba Hubbard. So that's two and a 20-25 first probably in the back

half for Herbert and Chuba. You can see here we've got the, the Twitter poll up on the screen if you're watching on YouTube and about 56, 36, I think if I'm reading that right, it's about a 20 point spread in favor of the Herbert side. Where do you stand on this trade? So Chuba I believe is a free agent after the season, right? I think that's accurate. He's played pretty well.

Like, I don't think it's out of the question that he lands somewhere and is getting starter workload. For me, this trade, does this trade not come down to just two is longevity? Because I think if two, if you could tell me two is longevity wasn't in question, he's in the same type of tier as Herbert, probably a little bit lower. Right. But in the same type of tier as Herbert, probably a little bit lower, but in the same vicinity, I would say. Plus you'd get the first. I think with just the question marks surrounding two of them, I would probably also lean the Herbert side, but not including that part of the discussion.

It is close. Yeah. So it's always tough with running backs too, that are in a trade that are set to be free agents because like they could land in the, like could be the Andre Swift this year or they could be miles Sanders from last year where it looked like Sanders is going to be this workhorse running back and then by week 80 is not even on the field. Yeah, and I think. You tell me they're 100% healthy for the rest of the season. I prefer to it a Herbert. Yeah, I probably do too. And if you're telling me next year they're on the same teams with the same coaching staffs and the same weapons, I think I prefer to it a Herbert. Right. Chuba Hubbard could be worth a late first

next year. If what you just laid out, he becomes like maybe he's the starting running back for the Dallas Cowboys and touching the ball 15 to 20 times a game like he is right now. Also Chuba Hubbard could be a free agent. Yeah. Not just in the NFL but in your fantasy football league I think by this point next year. So on my trade chart, it's actually, prefers the two late first side. I plugged it into the dynasty league football trade chart. And I, again, that tool by itself is worth the subscription to that site, but I plugged it into their trade chart and it came out almost even with a very slight lean.

Yeah, I think it's closer than the poll results suggest for sure. And I think it's closer than the poll results suggest for sure. And I think like the fact that I'm probably not competing this year. I don't even know how that influences it, but I do like the idea of having three first. I was going to say you'd have three, correct? I would have three and it would probably be like two in the top eight and one around nine or 10. It really comes down to me if how like how concerned you are about to his longevity, because I do think Herbert's ahead of him. Right.

But it's not by a ton if they're both playing the next five years, et cetera. Yeah. So you did not help me whether to click the trade. I think that the chat says there's Chuba, there's Chuba, there's Herbert. Chuba's Chuba, there's Herbert. Chuba's good, man. Like I know we all want to see Jonathan Brooks, but like I don't think it's going to happen this year. Like he's going to play obviously,

but Chuba has done nothing to lose work. Let's see what type of questions we have in the chat. And this is an interesting one. So speaking of running back, kind of like Chuba Hubbard who have emerged as what looked like like true starters Rico Dowdle. It only took half the season for the Cowboys to decide that Zeke was dust. And we saw that Dalvin Cook is as well.

I had a fullback shouldn't be playing third downs for them as much. Correct. I think Dowdle is probably a top 24 back rest of season. Would you trade San Francisco 49ers first round pick Ricky Pearsall for Rico Dell? I'd rather have Pearsall. I'm also operating under the assumption that Debo's gone next year.

But so I think talk to me a little bit more about I'm also operating under the assumption that Dallas is going to upgrade the roster next year, which is a terrible assumption at this point. Well, I under the assumption that Dallas is going to upgrade the roster next year, which is a terrible assumption at this point. Well, I mean, I think this is obviously if you're making this trade, you're a contender who's light at running back.

Yeah, a hundred percent. This is the only way this makes any sense. Context is super, super key for dynasty. No chance I'm making this trade if I'm content, if I'm not contending. Yes, a hundred percent. this trade if I'm content if I'm not contending yes 100% so assuming that I wonder though I've been pretty skeptical skeptical is the right word I think Ricky Pearsall is very close to a mystery box yeah um like and so even if Debo was gone and it was McCaffrey, Kittle and Brandon Iuke Jennings there's a very good chance that

Ricky Pearsall doesn't do anything. Yeah, I mean, there's 100% chance that Jennings is just the widest receiver, too. And that's so did you like Pierce all coming out of college? I liked him. I thought I was I mean, doesn't really matter

widest here at this point, but like he was an older prospect. So if there's that's a tiebreaker for you. But I liked him. I didn't love him. He was kind of just like somebody I was cool with, but didn't like, for instance, like 80 Mitchell was like somebody I was like in love with.

Ricky Puris was somebody I was just like, he's he's fine. Yeah, I I've just kind of viewed him as like if he surprises me and is really good, I won't actually be surprised. I did like the last time we saw this team play, they got him that, you know, 39 yard little run, just kind of using them, getting more and more comfortable each week. So, but I'm interested to see how he ends the season for sure, because like, I would think Joanne Jennings is back after missing two weeks with the hip and then the buy. But I don't know, we have to wait for Wednesday for practice reports.

We got a question here about not a kicker. We're not answering the kicker part, but unless it's Tyler Bass related, then he was just, you know, Tyler Bass, if maybe they should just kick their extra points from the 50. What I had zero faith he was making that, by the way. What do we do with Travis Etienne? What would maybe a realistic trade low for a QB to QB?

Okay, I guess there's multiple questions. What are you doing with Travis Etienne? You have, if you can't sell right now, you just hold and hope that he regains. The only thing you can do is hold or if you're just really out, just trade into the team that has Tank Bigsby and just be done with it.

Okay. Has anybody's value plummeted more this the season in season than ETN. I mean, it's a mere white. Oh, but he was. Yeah. It's a mere way is a terrible player. I traded him immediately this off season. I got off him immediately. And then who are we buying low at QB?

Can you still buy low on Russ? Yeah, I think not as much. I still think there's a slight scenario where you can buy low-ish on Herbert. Russ has played good. I kind of like that call. Yeah, if I could go get Russ, I would, I'd like to do that.

We've got another question here from Jen. On her roster she has Kyler, Derek Henry, Christian McCaffrey, Joe Mixon, Marvin Harrison, Lad McConkey, Brian Thomas, Sam Laporta, T Higgins, seven and two. You trying to add a quarterback? Kyler was the only quarterback? Are you trying to add a wide? Kyler was the only quarterback. Are you trying to add a wide receiver? There's a lot of uncertainty in that receiving court. Which one would you

prioritize? Let's say you've got a first, you can either try to go get a quarter. Maybe I'd try to turn to a second and Kyler into an even better quarterback. Yeah, I was gonna say that or just if you're okay with Kyler, I would just because like the uncertainty with T. I still think Marvin Harrison Jr. at this stage with Kyler and the offense and just the his routes have been a little bit better the last couple of weeks in terms of more crossing routes. But I still I still think there's going to be some volatility with him. I like getting a wide receiver.

Is there a veteran wide receiver you'd trade a late first for? I think it's tough. Is there a veteran wide receiver you'd trade a late first for? I really. Tough. Yeah. I like. Tyreak is with the usage with the Von H. And the passing game, I don't know if we're going to see those 12 for 160 and two games from Tyreak as often, but he's still going to have a floor of like six for 80. One of my favorite bylaws and redraft right now, we just talked about Russ, I think he's going to be tired as often, but he's still going to have a floor of like six for 80.

One of my favorite by lows and redraft right now, we just talked about Russ, but it's George Pickens. Yes, he has been very close to some monster production and his report with Russell Wilson is like perfect. And yeah, like if he catches, if he gets those almost touchdowns, I believe it has even been just two weeks ago before the buy. It's been a couple of times a season. He had a play against the Colts like in week four where he was, he fumbled at the one yard line. Like he is close to being like, Oh, George Pickens is the wide receiver nine in PPR leagues and he's just not. So I like that call a lot. Kate Otten has looked like the best tight end in fantasy football. Kate Otten is everything I hope Dalton Kincaid would be.

Yes, yes. Yes. But what if you have mine your dynasty roster? I think a lot of people do and you're not actually a contender. What what type of draft compensation are you looking for for out? Would you take a late second from a contender? Probably just because I'm and maybe this changes things, but I remember last year when Evans and Godwin were both fully healthy. Kate Otten was literally the NFL leader at tight end and a route participation. I'm and maybe this changes things, but I remember last year when Evans and Godwin were both fully healthy, K. Doughton was literally the NFL leader at tight end and route participation.

And then he was like 25th in targets per hour on the tight end. Like he was just running routes just to have fun. And obviously, Godwin won't be back, but Evans will be back probably after the bye and week 12. I think I think when Evans is back, K. Doughton will probably still be like in the tight end 8 to 12 range. Yeah, but this this we can't expect this right. But if you again like 8 to 12 tight end generally is actually a terrible fantasy football

player, right? Just eight to 12 a tight end because the tight end. If you could get a late second for eight to 12 a tight end, you feel great about right. That's that I'd probably look to the contenders and see if they'd give me a second and if they would, I would get that deal done. And you know, I think I've just decided I want that first round pick. Do I want to have your team have fun picks? Also, I'm in a similar situation where I went this off season, just because I had a chance to contend for sure, but I had a lot of veterans. So if I didn't contend, I'd be really stuck.

So I went full rebuild and I have five first round picks next season. So I've been watching college football more than ever this season. And every time Ashton Gentey has a long touch down run, I get really excited. Exactly, that's exactly right. It's a man, and we'll finish up with this.

Like I've talked about this a lot of times. You've got to know yourself as a dynasty manager in a lot of different ways. But one of the most important is like, go through a rebuild and see if you enjoy it. I love it. I love that process. And so I have three dynasty teams. Yeah, three dynasty teams and one of the other ones is a seven and two team that is about to get CMC and Collins back. And it's like the polar opposite. And then I have the rebuild.

So it's so fun having both at your disposal. It's so fun. And if you enjoy rebuilds and you know you'll be playing dynasty forever. And you know what I enjoy is talking to you, AP. Thank you for coming on the show again. Remind everybody where they can find your work and what you got coming up.

Yeah, appreciate it as always Heath. FTNFantasy.com, check out all of the content, tools, rankings from like six, seven analysts. And yeah, basketball, like I said, if you are into basketball, fantasy basketball, or just the overall basketball in general, I'll be doing a lot of content and data stuff on that side of things as well.

So great time to be a sports fan. am really really excited. He's Adam I'm Heath thank you to Nada thank you to everybody who is active in the chat listening on the podcast we will talk to you next Paramount Podcasts