Fantasy Football Today - Wide Receiver Breakouts! Ricky Pearsall, George Pickens, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and More (08/14 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: August 15, 2025

Bid on Draft-A-Thon items here! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://tiltify.com/@cbs-sports/fft-dra...ftathon-2025⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Chris Harris of HarrisFootball.com is our guest to talk wide receiver breakouts. Chris may not agree with Dave on George Pickens, but he does share our support for Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Demario Douglas and Ricky Pearsall. We've got a few other wide receiver candidates to consider as well Fantasy Football Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts Watch FFT on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/fantasyfootballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Shop our store: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shop.cbssports.com/fantasy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  SUBSCRIBE to FFT Dynasty on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dynasty/id1696679179⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FOLLOW FFT Dynasty on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2aHlmMJw1m8FareKybdNfG?si=8487e2f9611b4438&nd=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE to FFT DFS on Apple: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-football-today-dfs/id1579415837⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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 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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Starting point is 00:00:30 from CBS Sports. What a play! Can you believe this? No, I can. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races, and he stays at his feet. It's just going to go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.
Starting point is 00:00:49 Breakout wide receivers right now on Fantasy Football today, presented by BetMGM, the sports book born in Vegas. Breakouts Bonanza ends with Chris Harris of Harris Football, who is on this bonanza every year. Welcome back to the show, Chris. Thanks for, I haven't worn up my welcome yet. I'm trying. And you know what?
Starting point is 00:01:09 You are also an FFT Open Division manager. That is awesome. You were, I think, the first non-CBS person to sell out their division. So congratulations. Yeah, close too. Close too. I'm not sure if that's true.
Starting point is 00:01:23 Scott Fish was in there. He's got a lot of clout, a lot of sway that, Scott Fish. But I owe it all in my audience. My audience is pretty good. Yeah, great. Adam, we are grace with the presence of two of our analyst league champions. Dave won the Draftathon League last year, and Chris won the IDP league last year. So two very, very, very esteemed analyst leagues, and these are the champions.
Starting point is 00:01:48 Yeah. I got to just mention how much I wanted to win that IDP league. It's been 10 years. I really, really wanted to win that league. And I put a lot of Sequin Barclay into that league last year. I'll put it that way. And I think Joe Mixen, right? Because I know you really liked mixing.
Starting point is 00:02:02 I did. Yeah, good for you. I'm trying to convince these guys to like him again this year. But that's a different show, a different show. Last year, some of the breakout wide receivers were Drake London, Terry McLoren, Jackson, Smith, and Jigba. And maybe those guys, London and JSN, maybe they'll break out again. We'll see if they can do even better. So we could start with JSN.
Starting point is 00:02:25 That's one of Chris's breakouts. He has Jackson Smith and Jigba, Ricky Pearsall. He gave me one of kind of different stages of the draft. JSN sort of early, Ricky Pearsall mid-rounds, DeMario Douglas, late. So let's start with JSN. Last year, he had 100 catches, 1,130 yards, six touchdowns on 137 targets. When are you comfortable drafting JSN in a 12-team league, Chris? You know, I'd say like even we're not getting points per reception, probably late second.
Starting point is 00:02:53 And if we are getting points per reception, mid, maybe even early second. Like, I loved what I saw on tape. I think there's a reason why in the second half of last year, I don't care who the Seattle offensive coordinator was. Like, I think they were on a mission to say, all right, our best receiver is JSN, DK, you can run a bunch of go routes and have your arm up in the air. At the top of his route, at the stem,
Starting point is 00:03:21 there's only a couple of guys I would take in the league over JSN. He's incredibly shifty. He reminds me, I'm on Ross St. Brown has a thing. when he runs, if you watch just him, his head doesn't move. He doesn't bob his head up and down. He's just so incredibly smooth. And I think it's one of the keys that defensive backs try to look at you
Starting point is 00:03:38 and get a sense of when you're going to break in which direction. And Amunrah doesn't give you that. And JSN absolutely doesn't either. I think they actually have a lot in common in their game. It's going to be tough to top, extremely top that catch total, but not to catch, not to top the yardage total, certainly not to top the touchdown total. Yeah, I have questions like everybody does that aren't going to get answered until we see them play in week one about, like, okay, is Cooper Cup more on the slot?
Starting point is 00:04:08 Is JSN more on the slot? Like, there's stuff to be worked out there. JSN through two years has been the most slot heavy receiver in the entire league. I just think he's capable of more. The difference between 2024 and 2023, in 23, he was the checkdown guy. He was the short area guy. And 24, he ran out of the slot a lot. But it was some of that, it was some of that down the field slot work, which I love, the three-field, three-depth field of a wide receiver who, slot or not, like, can run a route everywhere and be open questions about the offense coordinator, questions about Sam Darnold, not questions about JSN. I'm definitely in on the talent.
Starting point is 00:04:48 And he is being drafted near the three-four turn. So it's just one of those guys where if you need a wide receiver, And you're picking late in round three. He's someone that's going to be staring at you and you should not hesitate to take him. All right. Ricky Pearsall is another guy that you like. We love him. I almost feel like I'm just curious.
Starting point is 00:05:09 When is everyone going to catch up on Ricky Pearsall? Yeah. I mean, it depends on where you're drafting, but I see him eighth round. Yeah. You know? And that is like, okay, I think we have to be,
Starting point is 00:05:22 try to be, like, realistic in our hype. He didn't play a lot. his biggest game it was at the end of the year with Josh Jobs throwing the ball like you know okay
Starting point is 00:05:31 it's just if Brandon and Iook were playing I would like Brandon the most he's the most polished the most experienced et cetera
Starting point is 00:05:39 but he's not playing for the first whatever six weeks of the season and who knows how good he'll be after that and loved Joanne Jennings
Starting point is 00:05:46 being an absolute gamer now in your bio in your Tim Patrick biopic here's Joanne Jennings you know we love the slow guys who were gamers, it's an awesome story.
Starting point is 00:05:58 It just, it did start to go away toward the end of last year because Joanne Jennings is, what's the word, really slow for an NFL player. He's a slow, slow, slow is molasses kind of guy. And Ricky Peresal just is so obviously the little ball of lightning. He wasn't ready when he came back from the gunshot wound at the beginning of last year, the beginning middle of last year. And we heard a lot from Brock Purdy that they didn't feel like. they were on the same page. It's one of those cliches that normally you throw away, but in the
Starting point is 00:06:29 case of the guy who lost his training camp and beginning of a season to a gunshot wound, you kind of believe it. And once they kind of started to figure it out, you just saw, like, he's a threat to house it at any point. And yet he's not like some Alec Pierce type speed threat who can only run the rail, who can only, you know, can't really run a route. You're only ever going to throw it to him deep. Like, Pierce Hall will make some deep plays. But, and I'm not going to tell you, I saw like an incredibly polished route tree but I definitely saw him run Diggs I saw him run crosses I saw him run
Starting point is 00:06:59 outs and be open enough and then one mistackle and like he is legitimately the the Combine numbers didn't lie with him like on film stood out as like a serious can house it from anywhere kind of threat guys we look at the ADP from CBS
Starting point is 00:07:15 and we look at deep it's so just this page that we're showing at YouTube YouTube.com slash fantasy football today Debo Samuel Stefan Diggs Cooper Cup, Chris Olave, Romo Dunzei, Jordan Addison, Ricky Pearsall, Dave, those six guys in front of Pierceall, Debo, Diggs, Cup, Olave, O'Dunzee, Addison. Do you agree with that? Or should Pearsall be closer to the front of that group? He is at the front of that group for me. And the only thing I will push back on that Chris said was that he didn't run a complete route tree. This dude was running double moves like a madman. I think he could run any route that the 40 Niners ask of them. I was a little nervous. I always had him ahead of Joanne Jennings because, I mean, Chris is right about Joanne Jennings, too. But I had him a little bit ahead of Juan, but I couldn't necessarily put the breakout sash on his shoulder because the 49ers are just one of those teams that doesn't throw a ton to their wide receivers. Most of the time, those wide outs, they're lucky if they average seven targets per game. But you think about all the injuries that they have at wide receiver. I can't help myself at this point. I think Ricky Pearsall could get off to a great start.
Starting point is 00:08:27 He is so elusive. He is, if you have the chance to watch his film or even just like his highlights from week 17 and week 18, I think you'll be floored by how good he is. And that's why I'm willing to now reach for him a little bit, certainly ahead of this AVP. I think he's got a great shot to be the top target guy in San Francisco. And maybe even top, I don't know, 1100 yards, seven touchdowns.
Starting point is 00:08:52 Not bad for a guy you're getting at this ADP, you're in the hundreds. But even in like round eight, round seven, I'd be good with that. Okay. Let's talk about your last guy here, DeMario Douglas. I'm going to throw it to Jamie. You can kind of kick it off and then we'll go back to Chris because Jamie, you've been talking about Douglas for, I don't know, a couple weeks now. So I think you're on board with this breakout call as well.
Starting point is 00:09:16 Yeah, Chris and I talked about this on his show earlier this week as well as the post-type breakout candidate. There's just so much opportunity. First off, he's free on drafting. We did another draft today, double digit rounds, took him again. I'm going to take him wherever I have the opportunity to as a fourth receiver, fifth receiver, wherever your roster build may take you. But like, slot receiver for Josh McDaniels. Like, that's all you need to know right there if you know anything about Josh McDaniels history. But this is a kid that's going to run a lot of option routes in the middle of the field and be an easy target for Drake May and something that I think Stefan Diggs has the most upside of this receiving core, but you're asking a 32-old receiver coming off an ACL tear to just all of a sudden magically forget anything that happened, you know, just to piggyback off the 49ers conversation. Brandon and you made me out to week six. It's amazing that Stefan Diggs is as healthy as he is right now and performing the way he's performing camp. But Douglas may still lead the team in targets. That wouldn't shock me. It might shock a lot of people thinking what the Svon Diggs career has been, but just knowing what this opportunity is for him. So he's had some opportunities in his first two years to make some plays. It's been with,
Starting point is 00:10:19 with poor coordinator, poor quarterback play, you know, young Drake May, you know, struggling Mac Jones, you know, Jacoby Brissette here and there, you know, it's just been, you know, kind of a bad situation for him. But now there's just an opportunity for him to hopefully step forward and claim this role. I hope it's not digs being forcing the role. The undrafted, you know, free agent, I forget his name, who's had an opportunity to play in the slot as well, getting some opportunities. Chisholm, on the outside as well.
Starting point is 00:10:47 It just feels as if Douglas is locked into this spot. right now, and I hope it stays that way. So I'm really shocked that his ADP hasn't moved, even just incrementally, if not more than that, because of people like us saying that he should be drafted. So I'm sure Chris is going to piggyback on that because I know he likes him a lot. I do. I also recognize why he goes, why people hold off taking him, because the ceiling isn't very high.
Starting point is 00:11:11 It's probably not a touchdown role unless he just has a really lucky touchdown season. And to be honest, unless I'm wrong. I mean, I know McDaniels wasn't the coordinator last year, but I'm pretty sure Pop Douglas played with Drake May last year and they could not get on the same page. So I get where skepticism comes from and nobody probably on this panel, we're talking about like a 13th or a 14th round draft pick.
Starting point is 00:11:35 We're not saying, congratulations, you just draft at a starter. But you're looking to catch a little lightning in a bottle. Like a lot of the times with late round picks, they're going to be on guys who are on teams where you assume the offense isn't great. Patriots, if not the worst, in the league last year pretty close. And he's a very potential-laden quarterback,
Starting point is 00:11:56 but he's won one game and turns the bowl over like crazy. Like what you're hoping is for the big turnaround. And they're going to be three, four NFL offenses that are suddenly the commanders from last year. That's suddenly like we rule out everybody because they're going to be awful. And suddenly they're really good. And if the Patriots wind up being that offense, okay, then now in week five, you start talking about, man, can Pop Douglas really be my flex with this high volume? volume role in a offense that's now scoring 25 points a game when I thought they're going to
Starting point is 00:12:23 score 18. That's why you take guys late and you, you know, like again, I compare like a guy who goes near him and a lot of drafts, Cedric Tillman, another Cleveland awful, terrible offense. Cedric Tillman has more just sort of baked in upside in that he's a giant person who could win in the red zone and just has an easier path to touchdowns and probably going to have a much higher depth of target and therefore can make some big plays that maybe Douglas might not. So I probably would take Pop Douglas in that case, but I understand like when you're taking your fifth, sixth receiver, sometimes you're just like, let's see if we can hit a total home run. Like Pop Douglas is probably more like a nice solid double, but his ADEP deserves to be higher
Starting point is 00:13:08 than it is for sure. I don't want him to be my eighth wide receiver. I want him to be like, If I loaded up on wide receivers early in my draft and I don't really need a bunch of bench wide receivers, this guy's fine. And it's got to be a full PPR thing because he could roll out of bed and catch five for 50 pretty much every week. I'd like to ease a few concerns here with Douglas. I was at the joint practice against the commanders.
Starting point is 00:13:36 He was first team all the way, in the slot all the way. A really great play with May where May was pressured, flushed out of the pocket, threw off balance, and hit him right in the hands. It was perfect. Douglas had a nice practice. I think this is a good call. I think he's a good sleeper call. The one little thing you might want to worry about with him is that he's not a big dude.
Starting point is 00:13:57 So a couple of big hits, and he could be on the shelf for a couple of weeks. But I don't think that's something you're thinking about when you're taking him in the double-digit rounds, 12, 13, somewhere in that range, where he can give you double-digit PPR points pretty easily. All right. you can also give you a, well, he can't, but I can give you a great offer for BEDMGM. Because if you haven't signed up yet, why don't you do that?
Starting point is 00:14:20 Thank you, Chris. Why don't you do that and use the promo code fantasy when you sign up on BEDMGM, get up to a $1,500 first bet offer on your first wager with BEDMGM? So you download the app, you sign up and use the bonus code fantasy, deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game.
Starting point is 00:14:38 And you're going to get up to a $1,500, you're going to get up to $1,500. $100 in bonus bets if your bet loses. Just make sure you use the bonus code fantasy when you sign up. We got more breakout names for you, including a couple who are going in the first 15 picks, but they could have amazing years right after this on FFT. Hey, what a great shirt I was wearing in that commercial. Chris, what do you think?
Starting point is 00:15:03 Isn't it pretty weak that Dave even needed a spotter? You wouldn't need a spotter. I mean, I usually don't have friends. So, you know, I got to just, I got to sweat by myself. Also, you know, I'm just going to throw this out there. And you don't have to respond. In fact, I'm just going to throw it out there. I'm going to go right to the next topic.
Starting point is 00:15:22 I don't even want you to respond. I'd love to come on your podcast someday. All right, Dave, let's talk about some of your, everybody else gets to go on. All right. It's a good time. Vleek neighbors. Hosts on hosts. I mean, hosts on hosts.
Starting point is 00:15:36 It's awkward. I know. But we're the funny one. Like, we're the charismatic ones. We'd have a great pocket. Nobody would learn anything, but we'd laugh. Oh, but we laugh. All right, Dave, you have Malik Neighbors and Nico Collins on your breakouts.
Starting point is 00:15:50 These are lame. Like, I don't know if we really need to spend time explaining my people. You do. People need to know how good Nico Collins is. He's good enough if he were to get 150 targets. He could be the number one wide receiver in fantasy. Also, can I also, can I just mention in your defense, Dave? Like, just did an AMA on the fantasy football subreddit today.
Starting point is 00:16:11 I got five questions like, am I completely fading Malik neighbors because of his toe? Like, should I take him off my draft board? I'm not kidding, five different people. What'd you say? No, you dummies. I don't think it's an unreasonable question because obviously there are great options there. He's got this lingering issue that might need surgery. He also has a shoulder issue right now.
Starting point is 00:16:33 Yeah, not doing that. Are we fading Justin Jefferson? is he, is he in the sixth round now? I don't believe in preseason injuries. He went 11th in a draft that Jimmy and I did yesterday. But it's that kind of thinking that made you take Christian McCaffrey last year. That's true. Sure, and I'll do it again this year.
Starting point is 00:16:50 In fact, I did in that stacked league. I took McCaffrey six. Yeah, but last year, McCaffrey was hurt and he wasn't practicing that much. And then they started to ramp up. So your advice is, if I could extrapolate here, your advice is take every injury report seriously in camp and never draft anybody who, has an injury problem. Kickers in round one, Chris.
Starting point is 00:17:09 We're just going to go straight kickers all the way through because those guys are can I say Andy Barron's, my new, we're doing a collab together. Andy Barron's got at the Fence Football Expo this past weekend. He got a draft board from a league that's been drafting since the early 80s and they had like a paper draft board and there, no joke, they were taking kickers in the second round. Well, take a look at this wide receiver ADP and, you know, you got Chase, Jefferson, lamb and then neighbors.
Starting point is 00:17:34 Do you have Neighbors as Wide Receiver 4, Chris? I don't think I do know. But I still, you know, I'm not going to argue too strongly with it. It's close. I have Puka. Neighbors is like 5 or 6. You like him better than Nico? 7.
Starting point is 00:17:52 No. I have Puka 4, Nico 5, A.J. Brown 6, Malik neighbor 7. AJ Brown also dead. Dead. I understand he's a hamstring dead. If that little red box is next to his name. I'm with you. That's what I'm saying about mixing.
Starting point is 00:18:09 Just, I'm sorry. Okay. I mean, look, we can get serious about this. Context is obviously necessary when it comes to injuries. It's one thing if a guy was practicing and then he, you know, hamstring strain and the team's going to take it easy with him. It's another thing when a guy was in a walking boot during the off season with multiple injuries below the knee and he still has no timetable to really come back. That's mixing right. You don't know what timetable he has.
Starting point is 00:18:36 They're just not telling you the timetable because they don't particularly care about our fantasy teams. But I believe they absolutely have a timetable. They should care about it. I don't know if it's good news if they're not telling us the timetable. Well, they don't know you much, buddy. That's because they've never met him. All right, so Dave, let's get to a breakout that I'm glad you brought up
Starting point is 00:18:57 before the show. George Pickens, breakout call for you. It was really having a nice stretch last year with Russell Wilson, and then Pickens suffered an injury, came back and kind of struggled. We've seen flashes from him, but last year he was only wide receiver 39 per game in PPR, 46 per game in non-PPR. It felt like he had a better year than that. He only scored three touchdowns, but I haven't gotten myself to draft Pickens,
Starting point is 00:19:20 but that's not intentional, so like, what do you think? Should we start reaching, maybe get into the fifth round for Pickens? I don't hate it. I would obviously prefer to get anybody around later than ADP or anything like that. But I think that Dallas is really setting up to be a big time passing offense. We don't know anything about their run game. I don't think it's going to be particularly good. Their defense is banged up in the secondary.
Starting point is 00:19:46 Their best defensive player is holding out. I don't know how good they're going to be on defense, even if Parsons did play. I think Dak's going to end up throwing a lot. And C.D. Lamb's going to get his. And Pickens just apparently, like, he was from Pittsburgh to Dallas and became like an amazing receiver. and if he's never going to get double-team down the field,
Starting point is 00:20:05 Dax's going to throw at it. And he seems, Pickens seems to have won over his coaches. And I think those two guys can end up having a lot of targets. Could it end up being something like J. Mar Chase and T. Higgins last year? Or in prior years, A.J. Brown and Devante Smith, hell, it could be like A.J. Brown and Devante Smith last year. And we'd be really happy having George Pickens on our team in that case.
Starting point is 00:20:27 His best numbers of his career, 1140 yards, five touchdown. I think he can get close to that yardage. I think he can score more than five touchdowns. Okay, but you know the deal, just to push back on the Devante Smith thing, you know the deal with him. We wouldn't be happy with that. He's only worth starting, basically, when either Goddard or A.J. Brown is out, and that was most of the year. One of those two guys was out. That was just really last year, no.
Starting point is 00:20:51 No, not really. It's been, it's been starting, no. He's been like wide receiver 30-ish receiver. I mean, I have the numbers when, especially if you take out the, Gardner-Minshoe games when they threw. I won't even do that. But he's been closer to a wide receiver three than starting as a flex, yes. I just mean top 24.
Starting point is 00:21:10 He's been closer to a wide receiver three throughout his career or since AJ Brown's trade when everybody's been healthy. He's been at least 14.2 PPR points per game each of the last three years. But no higher than 15.3. And yes, you're right. He's much easier to start when somebody's hurt in Philadelphia. Also, can I just mention he's so much better than George Pickens at playing football? Oh, that's true too, yes.
Starting point is 00:21:33 It doesn't necessarily matter, though, because the Cowboys, I think they've been top five in past attempts, like five years in a row or something like that. They're always throwing the ball. Now you explain to me why I've been starting all those Dallas Cowboy receivers other than C.D. Lamb, oh, wait a minute. Okay, so you're nodded on Pickens as a breakout. I don't think it's a horrible.
Starting point is 00:21:52 I can see it working out. I think his ADP is probably about right, and so I'm not mad at it at all. I understand he's an absolute knucklehead. And I don't believe because they haven't said anything mean about him in practice yet means anything. As soon as he wears something filthy on his eye black again, they'll have to talk about him. Like, this is a
Starting point is 00:22:07 knucklehead's knucklehead. I'll believe it when I see it. This is one where if I needed to get aggressive on a receiver in that range, I could definitely pick somebody who's less of a moron. AJ Brown's dead. George Pickens is a moron. This is a sub-show. Well, we all can
Starting point is 00:22:25 agree on that. The last point is true, right? I mean, he has a lot to prove as far as it's becoming a good teammate and being being there for his quarterback and not swearing at fans and not yelling at his goal. Yeah, but as long as she's not getting suspended for games because of it, I'm not drafting these guys because of their intelligence. No, you're drafting. Yeah, you are drafting because you have to be very smart to be a good receiver in the league.
Starting point is 00:22:50 And you are, the reason George Pickens has been a disappointment in Pittsburgh is because he's moron, not because he's not physically talented. It's because he couldn't get on the same page. He wouldn't do the work. The only thing that he's ever done well is sideline work. And people, you knew, knew this, you guys pay attention, more attention to college football than I do. People who pay attention to college football were like, this guy's poison. You don't want this guy.
Starting point is 00:23:10 And the Steelers decided, yeah, we don't even want him to play out his rookie year. He's cheap. Get out of here. So, like, I'm not telling you it can't work. But if it's not going to work, it's not going to be a lack of physical talent. It's going to be because he's been a bad teammate and not a very smart football player. He needs to grow up. He needs to grow up.
Starting point is 00:23:27 Tom one said that, no question about it. We hope he does. Dallas has been top five and past attempts per game in four of the last five seasons just to correct myself there And that's why Brandon Cooks was such a great fantasy weapon.
Starting point is 00:23:39 Yeah, but come on, I mean, Pickens is better than that version of Cooks. Jamie's got Tetaroa McMillan as a breakout. Who do you like better? Pickens or Tederoa McMillan. McMillan. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:23:53 Jamie, you like him? You think he's going to potentially outperform his ADP by two rounds? Yeah, I think it's an opportunity for him to, you know, step in and be the go-to guy for Bryce Young. I don't think it's a big stretch to say that. You know, it's just a matter of, like, how good can he be? And, you know, I like to read our chat from this morning through now,
Starting point is 00:24:10 because as he alluded to in the tight ends breakout story, we've done 75 shows today. There's been a lot of pro-con, McMillan, Carolina talk. You know, can he stand out above the rest of that receiving core, where you see Bryce Young's got a strong connection with Dailen Coker, and he definitely had a strong connection with Adam Thielen last year, and those guys are still there. And Hunter Renfro has made some plays, you know, and Jatavian Sanders may be a factor and could still be a run-first offense.
Starting point is 00:24:38 But I just think they drafted this kid for a reason, and you're seeing it every time you see a highlight from the Panthers and reading something about what they're expecting for him, and then you see the preseason game and the things that he could do and what he should be able to do physically. Like, it wouldn't shock me if I have him too low at 21. Like, he could be a top 15 caliber receiver, you know, so, yeah, I'm drafting him in round four at this point.
Starting point is 00:25:01 And the best part is that he stands out no matter where he goes because he's six foot five and I don't know what his weight is, but he's obviously a big dude with a humongous catch radius. He's going to win a ton of 50-50 balls. We saw him win on a deep ball in the preseason game. He should have had a touchdown in the preseason game. Now, I don't know if he was in Mensa, but I think that he's got the athletic ability
Starting point is 00:25:22 to be a very quality contributor to the Panthers. I think he could lead that team in targets. this year. Okay. So I'm just going to end the show. We've got a little long here. So end the show with this. I'm going to ask you, we're looking for breakouts.
Starting point is 00:25:35 I want to hear Chris's list of morons. I think that would be great. Yeah, well, probably the guy on this show. It's going to start with me. Probably the guy on this show that's never been on his podcast, I was going to say. Anyway, who's got the most upside? I'm going to be a trio. Who's got the most upside?
Starting point is 00:25:51 Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison, Jr., Xavier Worthy. Oh, God. name three players I will not own this year. Wow. Garer Wilson. Gary Wilson. Okay. Wilson for me.
Starting point is 00:26:05 Because he's the only one who I can verify, hopefully say, is good at football. The other two, I don't know yet. Yeah. Okay. Who's got the most upside? Zay Flowers, Jameson, Travis Hunter. Jameson. Jameson.
Starting point is 00:26:24 I'll say Hunter. And that's all I got. Chris, we learned a lot today. There's an anger inside of you that we learned about today, I think. An intensity. Okay, man. You can tell you haven't,
Starting point is 00:26:39 that's the first piece of evidence that you haven't been on my show because these guys are used to it. Well, it was really fun having you on, man. This is actually a blast. Good way to end the breakout bonanza. Although, I'm going to publish this one in all the audio places
Starting point is 00:26:55 before the tight ends one. But for video purposes, a good way to end the night. Thank you so much, Chris, at Harris Football. Harris Football.com. Great stuff. Dave, Jamie, thank you. Thomas, thank you. Long Day for Thomas Schaefer.
Starting point is 00:27:06 He did an awesome job producing today. And we'll talk to you on tennis match, baby. That's the next time we're talking to you. Can't wait. YouTube.com slash fantasy football today. Also, go to tiny URL.com slash 2025 fiftee and donate to the draft of time. See you later, everybody. Have a great night.
Starting point is 00:27:23 Great day. Paramount Podcasts.

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