Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Bold Predictions + Spicy Takes, BILL CROSKEY! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 8/26

Episode Date: August 26, 2025

Fantasy Football show for Aug 26, 2025. Bold predictions for the 2025 fantasy football season! Andy, Mike, and Jason give spicy hot takes! Plus, an important Bill Croskey update, and other roster cut news with fantasy football implications. Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast.2025 ULTIMATE DRAFT KIT + Draft Analyzer available now at UltimateDraftKit.comCompete in the largest fantasy football league! Megalabowl.com(00:00) Intro(06:31) Undrafted Gems(13:50) NFL News(22:20) Bold Predictions(22:58) Jason’s 1st Pick(27:17) Andy’s 1st Pick (29:22) Mike’s 1st Pick (33:35) Jason’s 2nd Pick(40:37) Andy’s 2nd Pick (43:33) Mike’s 2nd Pick (48:13) Mailbag(48:30) Double Seahawks(50:15) Malik Nabers or Nico Collins(51:01) Cade OttonConnect with the show:Subscribe on YouTubeVisit us on the WebSupport the ShowFollow on XFollow on InstagramJoin our Discord

And now, we turn to the world of sports. The football season is upon us, and that means it's time to get ready for your fantasy football drafts. The ultimate draft kit from the fantasy footballers is the cat's pajamas, and only tool you need. The best rankings in the business, sleepers, breakouts, values, it's even got a free companion app. Don't be a pigeon-libered Fusler. The Ultimate Draft Kid will keep you on the up and up and keep all the horn swogglars at bay. Don't even think about entering a fantasy football draft without it.

Don't be a square. Head to UltimateraftKit.com today. The Fantasy Footmuller Studio is sponsored by Walmart. Welcome to... to the fantasy footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Oh, welcome in. Oh, it's going to be a fun episode today. Bold predictions.

Are we getting Pisci? Jason Moore is here Took the ass off of spicy That's how we do it in our house Mike The Fantasy Hitman available Is it super spicy then It just means we can't handle it

We're babies You know what I mean This is Pisci What's that level? It's pretty low I mean we are not spicy eaters in my household So if it's got a little chili flake in it

That's spicy You split the chili flake among you. Yeah, exactly. Welcome in one and all great episode. Two bold predictions from each of us for the upcoming fantasy football season. They are bold. They are not consensus opinions. We will stand alone on a lot of these, and they will be a lot of fun.

We have undrafted gyms that we're going to talk about today, bringing that back. One more time before the season begins, I guess two more times before the season begins, because the season begins next Thursday. and we'll see how Dallas and Philadelphia look on Thursday night football. We have news to talk about. It's cut day, right? There's a lot of players getting cut. Greg Dulcich.

Shout out to Greg D. Thought you played really well this preseason. I believe, was he the leader in touchdowns in the preseason? You're going to say being cut. Tom Pelliserro told me he was, so that's what I believe. Did he? Okay. He was on the take.

We had a fun event last night. As you know, maybe you don't, but we've had a few fun little moments with Bill Kroski. Bill, Bill Kroski. Did you know he could sneeze with his eyes open? No, I didn't know that, Jason. Thank you. And I just had a little passing tweet last night. Just throwing it out there when you're bored.

Sometimes you just tweet about Bill Kroski because that's a thing you do. And I think I said when he was born, he drove his mom. home from the hospital. Yeah, it's a good one. And Bill Kroski himself, Jacoby Kroski Merritt, found the tweet and confirmed it. Yeah, he did confirm it. And it went wild in just over an hour's like 1.1 million views. And then poof. And then he deleted it. And I don't know what kind of attention he was getting. I thought it was all positive. Should have been. And I just want to come out here right now and say, Bill Kroski. sir sir

this was not a joke at your expense you are the king of the joke yes this is legend status in the fantasy football community so um you're Bill Kroski you're Bill Kroski you can parallel park a trade

I mean come on Bill to Bill Kroski to Bill Kroski for him I mean his Twitter account right now he's at 10.8000 followers

it had to be very strange. So this is your, you're thinking of what happened with Mr. Kroski? Yeah, he retweets your comment and then just the world. He probably doesn't want to like accidentally get in trouble for something he didn't realize he did. It's smart. It's actually a, it's a veteran move to be like,

I should probably undo this thing going wild. To be old Krofti. Okay, it's wise. Yeah. But. So that was, that was the festivities last night he could have just de-empt had been like what's this all about what is happening why is everybody telling me what I can do but it was it was a good time we have

a reminder here at the top before we jump into our first segment the megalobole drafts are happening this weekend people if you want to play with us in the megla bowl go go sign up at megla bowl It's for all of our footclan members. You go to megalobol.com. Pick one of your draft day times. That's starting this weekend. Runs all the way up to the day before kickoff. Two drafts a day.

Tons of leagues. There should be about 20,000 people in it. Whoever wins the league, as someone joined our listener league, we're starting up our listener league right now. Yep. And last year's winner got in there. This year's winner could be you and you'll be in next year's listener league. And you will get an ultimate draft kit for life.

And the Ultimate Draft Kit, if you're drafting this week, this weekend, into the all the way up to kickoff for the NFL season, the Ultimate Draft Kit available right now, a portion of all Ultimate DraftKit sales. Go to our partner this year, the Koneg Childhood Cancer Foundation. You can learn more about that at Ultimate DraftCit.com, and we're excited to partner with them this year.

We have emailed all the Listener League winners. They are all inside, are they all inside of the new league? Like all the all the submission winners are so they've all responded we don't have any correct because sometimes people out there they might root for somebody not to reply oh for sure well there are still i believe a giveaway winner that is not in oh so maybe maybe one more slot is open we'll find out all right let's get into it All right. Last week we brought up three names. We still feel good about Mason, Taylor, Marvin Mims, and Cedric Tillman. I think we do, right? Nothing's changed there. Those were the three names last week. But it's a new week. So we need three new names, undrafted players that we think could make a big impact that you could stash on the end of your bench or pay attention to in week one. I'll toss it over to Mike because I love this name. I'll go with a quick one here. Hey, it's another rookie. But this is a rookie running back who is not much attention is being paid to him outside of the dynasty circles.

Dylan Samson, rookie running back of the Cleveland Browns. He was a fourth round pick, 5-8-200. He rushed for 22 touchdowns in the SEC and one SEC player of the year at Tennessee, 37 receptions his last two years. And this is a situation with the Browns of, Just there's a chance he's the starter. You know, he started over Jerome Ford in the final preseason game.

That doesn't confirm anything. It's just, it's a note to pay attention to that this is, look, it's a possibility. The opening schedule for the Browns is extremely tough. However, starting running backs at this point of the draft are, they're very difficult to find. And Dylan Samson is there, and he has receiving in his profile. He's got a lot more juice than Jerome Ford. And yeah, it's Jerome Ford who is in front of him who, I think Jerome Ford is a good player

but they're constantly trying to replace him and he just keeps popping up as like hey I'm still here and then he almost wasn't on this team and then he starts for the team but they keep trying to replace him so while the Judkin situation is trying to get figured out Dylan Samson might be in for a big workload I'm going to go with a player that received a three year extension and has been rewarded in the fantasy world

with nothing, not being drafted. The wide receiver 60 off the board. It's Rashad Bateman of the Baltimore Ravens. We have a team that we have tremendous confidence in their offense. We love what Lamar brings to the table. He's a 40 plus touchdown potential player. He scored Rashad Bateman, scored nine times last year. He was the big beneficiary in the wide receiver room.

And he's just not paid attention to it all. We're like done. We're, like, kind of worn out with Rashad Bateman. He represents a great weekly spot start as needed. If you score nine times in a season and you have Lamar as your quarterback, like Zay Flowers is not a touchdown guy. And so Rashad Bateman is big plays. What if he becomes a little bit more consistent?

Obviously, the team has plans for him. They sign him to this extension. He's kind of finding his way on this roster. You could see good things from Rashad Bateman. And he's just not paid attention to it. Bateman was a top 24. player in 35% of his games. That is the same percentage as Zay Flowers. Oh, wow. Yeah, six different games, I think. Like, the career path of Bateman is, it's interesting. I mean, he was a

first round pick. Which is why we, I think this is, I think his career path is why nobody wants him now. Yeah. He was a first rounder. People were excited about the player, not necessarily excited about when he landed in Baltimore, because at that time it was like, can we, you know, we have just the one year of Lamar having an outlier touchdown season, but things have changed. And he got hurt in year one, in year two, he was the dude. Like, it started off. He was in, before the game where he got hurt, he was over a 20% target share in that time. And then he's just, he's had to make his way back and slowly just keeps hanging on the team,

getting more money, getting another extension. So I think, like, there's a chance. You know, last year he was at a 16% target share with what, what's happening with Mark Andrews and I know Isaiah likely they're like we're all hyped to see can he break out if he doesn't like Rashad Bateman at 20% target share is not crazy to me and if he's there then he's going to make noise. Yeah, I agree. The name I'm going to bring up from drafted Jims is a guy that I am starting to get a little bit hot and bothered by. You mentioned him early this morning right away. We talked about Greg Dulcidge getting cut. It's a player you might not know.

you might not have heard of. It's Theo Johnson, tight in. This is a good name. Tight end. Second year tight in for the giants. This dude is an athletic monster. We're not talking like, I mean, everybody's athletic, but there has to be someone who is the most athletic. That is nearer where Theo Johnson is. His R.A. Same is true in this office. Go on. His RAS score is 9.99 out of 10. That's basically his overall athletic profile. He is a beast. And if you look at what he did last year. As a rookie, rookie tight-ins, okay, yeah, you got Sam Leporta who came through and you got Brock Bowers, but it is very normal and common. With every other non, you know, other than those two names I mentioned, basically every other great titan in history

hasn't really come on his rookie season. But he actually, he did stuff. He was starting to make waves, like wasn't really involved in first month of the season, got better and better and better. In fact, his last eight games, he was on pace for like 650 yards as a rookie, which would have been a top 10 number last year already. And then he had a season-ending injury in week 13. But before that, he had the eight most total routes and routes per game at the tight-in position, 27 and a half. So he is on the field.

He is being used. We just saw Greg Dulcich tear up preseason in this system, and then they cut him. Why? Because they got Theo Johnson. They got the guy they want on the field who's going to be a monster. And then you look at the depth chart, and you're like, Okay, Malik Neighbors, 82% market share.

But that leaves 18% for the rest of the team. And so I think that his opportunity to be the number two target in this offense is legit. And he has the athletic profile, which is what you look for in tight ends, to actually have a breakout season. So this is, again, it's an undrafted gym. You're not even taking them with your last pick. But I'm telling you, if you see something in week one, If he's on the field making a player or if you're in deeper leagues where, you know, Titan premium, deeper leagues where you are going to draft multiple tight-ins, he's certainly when I'm targeting.

There has been some concern about Theo Johnson with undisclosed injury stuff at the end of camp. I take the Greg Dulcich cut situation as kind of like a way to rest easier on that because he had missed a little bit of time. But heading into the season with how Greg Dulcich played in the preseason and them cutting him, I feel much more comfortable, and maybe that makes them even sneakier. All right, that was undrafted gyms presented by Walmart. Who knew you could get what you need in as fast as an hour? Get free delivery on your first express delivery order with the code express. Valid for first express delivery order.

$50 minimum subject to availability restrictions apply. News and notes from Around the League, presented by Progressive Insurance. All right, boy, do we, oh, let's see, archives, archives. Let's go into, oh, here we go. He's back. Marri Cooper, not just back, you know, in general, back to a team he's played for. The Raiders are signing Amari Cooper on a one-year deal worth $3.5 million. He didn't really look like he had a lot left last year in Buffalo.

No, he did not. Never got into a groove there and was a league winner two years before. Well, he was a league winner last year when you got to trade him for Jamar Chase. Oh, just kidding. You didn't win. You lost the championship. Anyways, continue. Oh, I won.

You won the trade. So, Jacobi Myers has requested a trade. The debt chart there in Las Vegas with the trade request from Jacobi Myers mixed with Amari Cooper's signing is interesting. You know, Deontay Thornton Jr. is a huge upside. candidate this year, the number one on that team. You have Trey Tucker who's been playing 100% of snaps. Jack Besh is there. Did you guys make

substantial movements with this? With the trade request? With the combo of the Cooper signing and the trade request. I did not. The approach that I personally took, I put Amari Cooper there where I expect him to be. I didn't actually adjust the other wide receivers because I do think there's a chance Jacobi Myers should go

or could get traded. So right now I just, like the stats don't all add up. The way I usually prefer them to do for a team because I think there could be more movements coming. Yeah, the team, at least for their part, said that they're not trading him and not consider trading him. But if he's on half, it's a money thing, just so you know, it's not, it's not performance, it's a money thing. He wants to be paid more money.

It's just like John Jennings situation. Yeah, and he's also very murky. He's looking around the league at all these guys getting their last second deals. He's like, wait a minute. This is working? I need to get in on this. Kenny Pickett's traded yet again, the fourth time, I think. Kenny Pickett is now a member of the Raiders.

So the Browns and their four quarterbacks, they're down to three. Aiden O'Connell got hurt, so they traded for Kenny Pickett. And now the, you know, Joe Flacco and Dylan Gabriel and Sodor Sanders. I feel like Joe Flacco's job is a little safer now. Oh, yeah. I like this for everybody. Okay, I wasn't sure if you guys felt like that. No, this is great.

I think it does keep Joe Flacco's job safer. He's got a pretty good schedule. Although, that being said, the team is. expected to lose a lot of games. You've got the rookies behind him. But I think that Jerry Judy, David Najoku, I was more scared of Kenny Pickett coming in than I was of them trying to throw these two rookies in the mix. Tajay Spears, I are high ankle sprain. He'll miss the first four weeks. Tony Pollard. Don't forget him in your draft. I moved him up. He's actually at a spot now. Pollard is where I expect to be drafting him. He's ahead of where his eight

will land in draft this weekend. We did have another report. We're going back and forth. Daniel Popper believing Najee Harris will begin on the NFI list. I'll say this. If there's two different reports, one saying, oh, I believe he'll be ready week one, and one saying I believe he'll be

on the non-football injury list, I'm going to put my dollar on the one that is not, you know, not playing because he has not participated in any kind of full contact yet, but I have no inside information. The Texans announced Joe Nixon will begin the season

on the reserve NFI list which is a four-week minimum. Demi-Oriens came out and had kind of a little bit of a message that made me concerned about the season-long availability of Mixon. He said they have a very deep running back room, lots of players that can provide a ton of depth

and guys who can quote, get us through the season. Yeah, so this list can be it's minimum four game maximum 18 so you know you just I now my team was depleted picks wise

in our league of record we have three keepers I was the lucky one with Joe Mixon as a keeper really thrilled with that decision right now I let him go yesterday for a sixth round pick pretty much right with the news to be fair that is not just a six round pick

we keep three keepers that are not draft costs. So basically it's a ninth round pick. And I in a Super Flex league yesterday drafted him in the 11th round before this news. How do you feel about that? Pretty bad. Okay. Pretty bad. I don't, you know, I

think I could have got him probably in the 14th. The vibes of the offseason are terrible. We have no true insight. Like, what is wrong? They're just like, oh, he's got a problem with his foot. And the fact that there are whispers

and rumors, which, look, there's just rumors. But it's like he may not play this year. He's had, I believe. And someone out there can correct me, Kyle, Betz, if you're listening, I believe in the past he's had a Liss Frank situation. And that could be related to something going on. I believe I saw that. Again, I could be wrong.

To his right foot and at least, this is Google AI, but 2020? Yes. So I think there's been a foot injury before. And it's a really complicated rehab right now, and we just don't know what's going on. So, you know, in my situation, I'd rather just have the pick and move on. Jalen Wright, not expected for week one. Phil Mafa on IR for the Cowboys. And some cuts.

Deontay Johnson was also a cut from the Browns. Dude, what? I knew he was looking that way because he kept playing in these preseason games. You know, he was out there every single game. He gone for good, I think. Does he find another? No, no. There are teams desperate for what he can do.

But if I'm a general manager, I've got to go, no way. You indulge certain levels of crazy proportional to talent. Once the talent is not worth the crazy, you're gone. The Browns released him. We got tagged on a joke here. So this is a shout out to Joshua Cho. And it says last season I told you, Deonté Johnson is an elite separate. He has now separated from the Steelers, the Panthers, the Texas, the Ravens, and the Browns.

I forgot. That is a good joke. Yeah, I forgot that he was on a couple of those teams. That's, you're done. What else? Adrigastimei is gone. He has been cut. We said Cam Agers, Malachi Corley.

That one's kind of sad to me. First touchdown, fumbled it into the end zone. Third round last year. Yeah. And so. I estimate was last year as well. Oh, did the Seahawks cut Damien Martinez? They did.

Okay. Well, that's great. Make a little dynasty league adjustment there. I was going to say that sounds like you just picked him up. Going back to the Phil Maffa being placed on IR with the soldier injured. It's a soldier. Yeah, with the shoulder injury. Jaden Blue, their other rookie, this is the Dallas Cowboys rookie tandem, is also injured.

So I do think, I mean, I know it's gross, but the Javante, Miles Sanders, it's cleared up a little bit for Javante to get a workload heading into the season. In double-digit rounds, I think I'm going to sadly pull the trigger. Also, sleeper, film off was on the IR. If we could go ahead and make that adjustments. Oh, is that related to anything you're doing right now? Yeah. Trying to make moves here. All right.

This was announced yesterday. Yeah, yeah, that's too late. What about me? Oh, what? Oh, wait, did you want to mention that Adam Thieland and the Vikings are now talking? They're continuing to talk? I'm going back to nap. What?

Yeah. Just last piece of news. Okay. Okay. Thanks. We got a lot going on. That was news and notes sponsored by Progressive Insurance. Quote today at Progressive.com.

Progressive casualty insurance company affiliates and third-party insurers. Not available in all states or situations coverage subject to policy terms, limits, and conditions. Taking a break. Back with the bold predictions. All right. I'm really excited about this. It's a fun episode every year. year. It is time.

Ridiculously bold predictions. Oh, we just had a simultaneous sip from the mugs. A simul sip? A simul sip. That's why you watch on YouTube. Moments like that. All right, two bold predictions from each of us Does somebody want to go first?

Do you want me to go first? You tell me. I'll hop in. I'll hop in. My bold prediction. So bold. Number one for the 2025 season. The Atlanta Falcons win the division.

Oh, boy. On the back of full stop. We're already too hot. Yeah. On the back of number one running back. What? Bejohn Robinson, top five wide receiver, Drake London. Top 10.

Tight-in. Kyle Pipp. You didn't have to do that. And top 15 quarterback Michael Pennock's bawling out. This is really- Number one, number five, number 10, number 15. Yeah, exactly. Basically, all four players are going to be very good

and the Falcons are going to be good. And that is pretty bold considering this is a team that has not been over 500 since 2017. That's not great. They are not projected as a favorite in any of the weeks until week eight. Oh, boy. I'm looking at that. Underdog, Underdog, Underdog, Underdog, Buy. However, I mean, I know it sounds pretty bold.

I think they could start the season 4 and O. This all comes down to Michael Pennix. Michael Pennix is a year-two quarterback. I mean, this isn't a surprise, right? Like, NFL teams go as their quarterback goes. And when Patrick Mahomes took over in year two, it was like, oh, we didn't know he was that. Michael Pinnock's has a chance to go and be really, really special. That?

If you look at- Michael Pinnock's could be Mahomes? I mean, he has a chance, but no. If you look at what he did in his three games, I don't think people realize how good the Falcons' offense was. Well, I know he scored 32 points per game. The Falcons did in his three starts. That was more than the 24.6 points they scored per game

when Kirk Cousins was not injured the first nine weeks. Obviously, the middle of the season was really bad. add with Kirk. That's why they made the transition. But this was a team that was six in total yards per game for a first year play caller last year and a dying, injured veteran quarterback moving into a rookie quarterback. If Michael Pinnock has it, if Michael Pinnock comes, this is a winnable division. This is a team with enough offensive firepower to be really, really special. And the way Michael Pinnock's plays is actually very conducive to a high upside outcome. It's kind of, it's on both sides. That's why this is a bold prediction because he plays in a way where he gets

the ball out quick, but also throws it very deep, kind of boom bust, and he has the opportunity here to really explode. You know, in his three starts, 67 offensive plays per game, that was fifth in the NFL, 32 points per game. That was sixth in the NFL during those times. And his, you know, the way he plays, I think they're going to let him rip the ball. I think they're going to go out there, put the ball in his hands and say, this is your team. With this division, I know it sounds bad when you don't have, you're not favored to win going into week eight. But these aren't, these aren't terribly hard matchups. You know, start at home against Tampa Bay. You're going to win the division. You've got to start there. You got to get that win in week one, which it's a two and a half point spread. Not

big deal, but their actual schedule coming up, according to Warren Sharp, is the fourth easiest schedule on the season. We try to look at teams who have the avenue to take a giant massive leap forward because every year there are several teams that go from scoring 12 to 17 more touchdowns the next season. And it's usually on the back of a quarterback. And here we are going not from a veteran to a rookie, but from a veteran to a second. year quarterback. And I love that situation when you've got an easy schedule, a lot of elite weapons. And I do think Kyle Pitts is going to be better than we think. Drake London is that dude. And Bijan will allow him to thrive in the passing game. You know, they're going to have to

stack the box. They're going to have to worry about Bejan and the dump off. So I'm calling for Atlanta Falcons to be in the playoffs this year and help in fantasy way more than you think. Okay, I like it. It's bold, but there are huge fantasy upside players on that roster. Is there a more bold prediction than this one? Matthew Stafford stays healthy for 17 games. Oh, Pisci. And Puka becomes the first player in NFL history with 12 or more 100-yard games in a single season.

So it's a little different. This is not a stat that's very common, but it is very, very, exciting when a player gets there. Calvin Johnson did it 11 times in 2012. Michael Irvin has done it 11 times. Cooper Cup in 2021. He did it 11 times with Matthew Stafford. With Matthew Stafford. And then we've seen Puka in his rookie year. He did it nine times. Last year of the wide receivers you just listed are Matthew Stafford. Stafford. That's it. You got it. And last year he did not play a full season. He played in 10 total games. Five of them, 100-yard games. Two of them, 98 and 97.

So he was right there. And, you know, it doesn't, maybe it needs repeating because we've been spending like the last month really worried about Matthew Stafford. And so maybe that's made people less and less excited about Puka. But his 17 game pace last year was 173 targets, 128 receptions for 1623 yards. He is coming into his prime. Every bit of hesitation comes from Matthew Stafford's health. But if you want to make a bold prediction and a bold bet, bet that the Rams managed it the way they needed to manage it this offseason and that Matthew Stafford wouldn't be playing unless he thought he could play. And if he plays, Puka has every chance at being the number one

overall wide receiver. So my bold prediction, 12 times this year he goes over 100 yards in a game. That's not the bold prediction. The bold prediction is the beginning. Is Stafford plays 17? I mean, if Stafford plays 17, then there are other parts easy. Yeah, I know. Based on the fact that those other three players, three of the five that have gotten to nine or more are Stafford receivers. Yeah. So there you go. Mike, what you got for us?

I know we're all excited about. We're all excited for the seventh round rookie. It's fun. It's a great story. It's inspiring. I want to see what happens. However, for fantasy football purposes, I am going to go the other direction, and I am going to say, Austin Echler is a top 20 fantasy running back this year.

Last year before the injury, Austin Echler was the RB 25 and a half point scoring format. And it's what do we need here for Austin Echler to, you know, hit this bold prediction and go into the top 20? Well, the stickiest stats for running back's opportunities. and especially first reads and then first read targets and then carries inside the five we taught andy talked about it on our youtube special just the tips last year when brian robinson was out 15 opportunities a game and in those three games week six nine and ten he was running back 16 in one of them and he was the running back six like he was electric people the season kind of gets washed out for austin eckler because we had already as the community. We'd already moved on from him last year. And then he ends up missing a bunch of time because he ended up injured

but like he averaged over three targets per game last year. One point eight four yards per route run. That's the fourth highest among all running backs. You know that's just behind where Jamir Gibbs was last year in terms of first read targets. He was right there with Camara A-chan, Brees

Hall, Aaron Jones. He's with the best of the best when it comes to that percentage. So what's the The bold prediction is the line of 20. The line that Austin Echler Ends up in the top 20. Do you want to make it? Picey. You could go 18.

Why? It's spicy. Fine. Where do you want me to stop? I don't. I would like you to stop at 15. There's bold predictions and there's Picey ones. That's all I'm saying.

Fine. It's for me to drop the S and get to. Yeah. How do you drop the S? Yeah. Right now it's spicy. On this prediction. 18.

Okay. That's nice. It's a little Pisthier. Look, we have talked about Washington and the backfield all year long. I had accepted that Brian Robinson was a potential draft a value because you need to have a piece of this backfield. You don't know for sure who it's going to be, but you know they're going to score so many points and they're a late round. I never loved Brian Robinson as a prospect or a player, but now he's gone. I saw he was a keeper in our league of record. somebody had Brian Robinson as a keeper who Brian Robinson in the off season it began he was a value for us

because he was productive in the solvins and we love the offense and then now that he's gone he's been mostly deleted and I get it the excitement for bill is it's fun but I think that Austin Eccler still has a lot to give to this team he will be the past catcher how how much does he get used near the goal line that'll be the difference uh last year Brian Robinson had 13 carries inside the five. And Echler, last year, five carries inside the five turned into three rushing touchdowns compared to four on those 13 carries that Brian Robinson had. Echler has always been very good at being a goal line running back. So I think that if he can sneak some of those out plus the targets, he's going to be a fantasy value. Yeah, he's,

there's no one that works harder in the NFL than Austin Echler. And it does seem like when he landed in Washington, it was like, okay, this is where you go to maybe. Yeah, it was over. You go to just be this bit part before you fade into nothingness, and then he's put in the work, was hyperproductive on the touches he got, and now has it right in front of him, even when the world is all about Bill Karolski. It's like the, the Jaden Daniels effect somehow has not, didn't, like when it was going to be Brian Robinson and Eckler, that didn't transfer over to them, even though it should. And now it's all on Bill, but I think that Austin Echler is the guy that you want to draft for fantasy. all right um jason why don't you give us your second bold prediction for 2025 all right y'all not gonna like it and when i'm saying y'all i'm saying why are you even saying everyone listening look sometimes things happen in fantasy we do not enjoy and by sometimes i mean every single year the people hate it jason and you haven't even said it maybe i haven't seen your

second one yet will shipley sean tucker and tray benson all win championships for people in 2025. They will win championships for people in 2025. Insurance agents? Back on your running backs. Will Shipley back up running back Sean Tucker and backup running back Tray Benson. Wait, you're saying all three of them are going to win titles. All three of them are going to win titles. Wait, hold on a minute. Yes. That

means what it means. Yeah. Sorry, not sorry. Look, last year was an outlier year for running backs. League wide, in terms of health. It was really an outrageously healthy year. Only three running backs in the top 24 ADP missed more than three games to injury. That just doesn't happen. In the last decade, only 2017

had a healthier season in terms of percentage of games played. This was a very healthy year for running backs. And we're not projecting injuries. Yes, you are. What we're doing is we're playing the odds. No, you're playing specifics. You're literally projecting three. Don't you tell.

Don't gas-like specific injuries. I'm saying... I'm not projecting specifics, but Will Shipley... Will Shipley... St. Vincent and Sean Tucker specifically will win your leagues. Let me... Let me make the case for why those could happen. No, because Bejohn's indestructible this year.

Bold prediction... I didn't hear Brian Robinson either. I'll tell you a real spicy bold prediction. Bejohn plays all 17. Okay, I'm never dropping that ass. That's not even, that's not even, like, remotely surprising. But the injury prone label is one that we, we obviously shy away from. But we're playing a game, and the odds say that we were very fortunate in 2025.

If we're playing the averages, we know that there's going to be injuries to some premier backs. And if I'm looking at the situations that say, where might those more realistically happen? How about an aged running back, an elder statesman who is coming off 417 carries with a deep run into the playoffs? Okay, I hope Sequan breaks the all-time record. But if I'm going to try to predict which ones might do it, okay, Sequin has some red flags that could say he misses some time this year. James Connor, another older running back who has pretty much never played a full season. Okay, he could miss time. And then you've got Sean Tucker who has two different running backs ahead of him.

So this isn't like, oh, I see the case, but you've got an undersized bucky and you've got a currently hobbled and injured Rashad White. If either one of the – he's got twice as good odds because if either one go down, he can be relevant. But here's why I picked Will Shipley, Sean Tucker, and Trey Benson. We could see the path of their presumed starters missing time this year. It's not as hard as like Tyler Alger and a young big body back in Bijan. But the reason I pick those three is because they are talented. Not every backup will matter if the starter goes down. So these are three guys I'm targeting in fantasy drafts as my insurance backs.

Will Shipley, get out of here with the A.J. Dillon stuff. Will Shipley's a good back. He was a premier pass catching back. This offensive line can make D'Andre Swift matter. So, you know, this is a guy who, you know, Will Shipley, he was just under 13% of the reception share at Clemson. That is elite stuff. He was the number one high school recruit going into that year.

Sean Tucker was supposed to be, you might not remember or, you know, if you're a more. Well, I know we know. But if you're a casual fan coming in this time of year and you don't know who Sean Tucker was when he was drafted, he was supposed to be a, he was not drafted because of a congenital heart defect. Right. On his combine situation, they found a congenital. heart defect that took him off the NFL team boards. He was supposed

to be a highly drafted player. Well, you know what? He's playing football. And so he is a talented running back who has two different paths to relevance. And then Trey Benson, last year was a down year for running max. He wouldn't have been my favorite in most years, but he was my favorite running

back coming out. What kind of heart defect was it? Congenital? Okay. What did I say? I never know what I said. I was just really making sure. No, you're good. You're good. You're good. The deucers are being sophomoric in the back. Yeah, they just wanted to make... Ah, they were worried it was congenitals? Yes.

Something like that. Something like that. Something a little closer there? All right. Well, he had a problem with an organ, you know what I mean? So, uh, anyways, his heart defect is the reason he fell. That's, yeah. It started to slip.

I was just teasing you really went on the nose, just like this prediction's on the nose of three guys that you're predicting. So the ball prediction is SACON. He's not predicting. and Connor are injured. What I am saying is that those are the three most talented backs that could win championships at the end of the year with

pathways in front of them. It happens every year. That are easier to see coming. Yes. No, it happens every year. You have players that nobody drafted, nobody thought about. They win you titles. They have opportunities. The teams are run heavy. It makes sense. I hope

I hope these guys, you know, the other guys stay healthy, but it makes Jason doesn't. All right. We're going to take a break. We've got two more bold predictions coming up. All right. My second bold prediction, this one is, it's spicy.

These three wide receivers outside the top 50. 50. In ADP, we'll finish in the top 25 in fantasy. So three completely. not paid attention to outside the top 50 by consensus players. Number one, Keon Coleman

wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills. The second year breakout, it is coming. The opportunity is there. The quarterback, the offense, the testimony of his teammates. I don't mind this one. Keon Coleman is the number

50 wide receiver off the board. He is the first of the three names. Number two, Deontay, Thornton, this one, Jr. He will be the very obvious

number one wide receiver for the Raiders immediately. Amari Cooper's there man. Immediately. He has number 64

off the board. Rookie wide receiver, physical freak, 65, 205, 434, and done nothing. I mean, you talk about Isaac Tesla

in the preseason? Yeah. Thornton continues to give you the same type of plays on an regular basis. Nobody's getting behind defenses. Yeah, but is he hitting the worm?

I don't know about the worm. It was a good worm. I don't know about the worm. I looked at it. I was good worm. I, you know. And the worm into the worm into the landing? Yeah.

Where he just ran after doing a worm? How can you do that? It was a pretty powerful worm. Yeah. It's a strong move. But yeah, you got Bowers and you got Jacoby wants to trade. Tucker's Tucker, right? And Bess is not really making an impact.

Cooper is. Don't talk about Chuck Bish like that. Cooper is elderly. And so Deontte Thornton, I think within two or three weeks of the season you'll be like, oh, that's his METCath. Wow. That's Gino Smith's Metcalf. And then the third name, that's Pice. Number

54 on the ESPN ADP. Josh Downs of the Indianapolis Colts, I love me, some Tyler Warren. I think Tyler Warren's going to be a dominator. But Josh Downs, it will be very obvious who their number one is going to be. All three of these players, they are going to be difference makers. They're going to be the number

one in their wide receiver room, okay? And, and, And you're going to see breakouts from all three of them. So that's my bold prediction. Josh Downs, the usage already suggests he's their number one, 26% target share. That's barely below Jamar Chase. Let's not forget about Josh Downs just because we're worried about the

quarterbacks and who was going to start. You got the better quarterback starting. Doesn't mean he's a good quarterback. You got the better of the two. Keon Coleman, Deontay Thornton, Jr., Josh Downs, all three of them outside the top 50 and 80P. All three will slip inside the top 25. all right is are we on to me do we need to take a break are we good no no we just did that we just need

to take a breath all right maybe drink some milk oh because it's too yeah because it's too okay okay what do you got i am going to go with a quarterback who will be the youngest starting quarterback in week one he has never taken a regular season snap he will outscore brock purdy he will I'll score Caleb Williams. Okay. And he will finish as a top 12 fantasy quarterback. I am talking about J.J. McCarthy of the Minnesota Vikings who was just 22 and a half years old. My new card collection will like that.

Yeah, well, we're all going to enjoy it. Here's what happens at the Minnesota Vikings with Kevin O'Connell at the helm. In 2022, Kirk Cousins was the QB7. next year. Weeks 1 through 8, Kurt Cousins was the QB4. He goes down to the Achilles injury. Then what do we have? Oh, Nick Mullins, a player that people listening to the show, a lot of them are probably going, who? Well, in three or four starts, he was a top 12 fantasy quarterback. Josh Dobbs, when he got 80% of the snaps,

he was the top 12 in two of those five games. And then, of course, the masterpiece of last year, Sam Darnold not brought in to be the start he was brought in to be the backup well I guess he was brought in to be the started and then they drafted J.J. McCarthy and then McCarthy goes down to a meniscus injury in the preseason and Sam Darnold is forced to be the guy there is panic in the streets

how can Sam Darnold the Ghostbuster possibly be good for fantasy be good for the Minnesota Vikings and he was the QB8 in totality The quarterback position over the last three years from the Minnesota Vikings have the eighth most total fantasy points because through three seasons, Kevin O'Connell in pass rate over expectation, sixth, sixth, and third. Kevin O'Connell likes to chuck the ball, and J.J. McCarthy, per my projection of scouting, is going to be a great quarterback. They improved the offensive line, got a lineman in round one, made some big free agent acquisitions.

And on top of that, J.J. McCarthy runs just a little bit more than you actually realize. His last two years as a starter in Michigan, 300 yards on the ground and five touchdowns, 200 yards on the ground, and three touchdowns. Like, this isn't, we're not talking, he's going to go out and he's going to be rushing for five, six hundred yards. But he can give you two to 300. Like, this is part of his game. So I think that J.J. McCarthy is going to surprise and he is being,

look, he's never played a snap. so people are a little bit concerned, and they're not drafting him, but I think he is going to shine and surprise and outscore a lot of quarterbacks drafted in front of him. I heard Aaron Rogers level intelligence this week about J.J. McCarthy. Oh, no. Does that change your opinion, Mike? Not exactly the angle I was going.

Can we go? If we keep it in football? Mahomes level, you want to do that, Jason? Oh, that sounds pretty good. No, I mean, tactician, mentally ready. to be a quarterback, we'll probably have some growing pains. Yes. But he's got a head coach that it puts you in the best position to avoid your weaknesses. And that is a bold and spicy take because it means that he should be played in fantasy often.

That's what that means. Because we want to translate these into something relevant for what you're doing out there. With Echler, it's obvious for McCarthy, if you're a top 12 quarterback, if you're outscoring Brock Purdy, Caleb Williams. I mean, that means that there are probably a bunch of other names on that list. Yeah. Probably Justin Herbert on your list. you know, Tua, a bunch of other players. That means you're starting him.

That means he's showing up on our stream of the week episodes. That means that you're getting to the point where, like, last year, you finally believed in Darnold after a certain point, and then Darnold became a streamer. Yeah, I mean, if Mike's right here, McCarthy will not be showing up on the streaming show in the second half of the year because it'll be like... Correct.

Oh, yeah, you can't stream him. He's rostered. So what I'm saying about McCarthy is when you see it, if you... Look, it's a bold prediction. but if you see it early and you need quarterback help, go get him. You're saying pay up. He comes out week one, puts on, you know, scores 22 fantasy points.

Are you saying like if you've got a quarterback, you're going to add him to your roster? Most likely, yeah. So you think that this is very positive for the, you know, the Hawkinson, the Jefferson, the Addison. Sure. All the sons. All the sons. Yeah. All right, there you go.

There's our bold predictions episode. So did you guys, do you want to jump in, do a couple of mailbag? Let's go. Mailbag. Mail bag. Ooh, it's spicy. If you've got a question, you can go to the website, the Fantasy Footballers.com, click the submit a question button

or dial our voicemail hotline 302464 TFFB. This question comes from Jackson in Atlanta, Georgia. Just making sure Jackson wasn't the location. Yeah, I hear you. Hey, ballers, big fan of the show. Post-draft, I realized I drafted J.S.N. and Ken Walker. J.S.N. is my wide receiver two. I hope you realized it during the draft, if I'm honest with you. It did stand up.

After the draft. I got to the end. I got to miss you. And two of my first four picks were. He said, considering I have Jaden Daniels as my quarterback, is it worth trading JISN from McClure and straight up to complete that stack and then separate, obviously, the running back wide receiver stack. I would not do that.

No, I think that you don't want to overdue getting out of it. Like, would I have drafted those two guys together? Probably not. But then if you ship one off for 75 cents on the dollar, you're only compounding your mistakes. Two mistakes, you know, don't fix the problem. So if there is a worthy, I mean, honestly, Ken Walker is who you probably want to trade. Get the value, wait a couple games into the season when he's been on the field. And it's like, oh, wow, look how good he is.

Yeah, and then trade him and then just live with your regrets as you lose the league, but that's okay. Or alternatively, and you're happy. Get value for an awesome looking running back who then doesn't play football as he doesn't. Oh, okay. Teddy writes in on X, full PPR, Malik or Nico. How was Charbonnet not in your bold predictions? You're going to throw Sequin Barclay under the bus. Charbonnet isn't bold. It's not bold to say that can.

Walker's going to be out. Right. That's fair. Mike's like, yeah, yeah, it's dead on. It's bold to say that he's going to be good. Yeah, you're bold, Mike. You're bold. Malik or Nico? Teddy wants to know, which one would you go with in a full PPR? All right, wait, what were the? Malik or Niko? Maliko or Niko? Maliko. Yeah, I bet Maliko. You know, it's, it's tough. In the full PPR, neighbors is going to have so many targets, so many receptions. It leans me a little bit towards that direction, but the fact that Malik has been banged up so much this offseason with separate different injuries. I know Nico's missed games, but right now, when I've been push comes to shove and I've been in drafts, I am taking Nico ahead of Malik because of the current

issues Malik's dealing with. I would take Nico. Okay. Yeah. Where are you, Andy? I'd take Nico. I'd be on the Nico side. X question from Norbert. Norby. Wasn't there some video game called Norbert or something like that was an Eddie Murphy movie. Oh, maybe that's what I'm thinking of. Norbit? No. No, there was a, oh, Cubit. Oh, that is what I was.

That's Cubert. Norbit is the Eddie Murphy movie. All right, we got there. Good. That's what's in the brack of our mind. You see, your swine everywhere. Your mind remembers the old things. Because that's all that's in there, man.

It's just useless garbage pop culture. Ours has slight whispers of those memories. We're like, there's something there. I knew there was a Cubert somewhere. But you had Norma, you had it. Yeah, you're right. Okay, now I've got to find this question again. What's your opinion on Kate Otten this year?

If Godwin's out, which it seems like he will be for a bit, Egbuka will get work, but that still leaves a lot of open targets for Otten, which is proved itself true last year when Godwin went out. And, you know, if you kind of substitute McMillan and Egg Bucca, right, if you don't take the Egbukas the next, the second coming and you just put him into a category of hey, he produces like McMillan did. Obviously, that

means Otta would have production. I think you would have to have Evans or Abuka missing time for Kada. Kada. Good player, very capable when they call upon him, but they just, we've seen, at least I believe,

long enough of his career that they want to use him in other ways. I've got the perfect example for you. Chris Godwin goes down in week seven. Week 8 Aughton comes out, 10 targets, 9 receptions, 81 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Unbelievable. The next week. Hot. Second week after... Swish. No, don't look at me. Okay. The next week when Godwin was also missing, obviously he was missing the rest, 11 targets, eight receptions, a touchdown. Awesome. Awesome. But then

he pretty much... Yeah, how to feel. Then it was Jalen McMillan that they got more involved. They got the rookie more involved and other wide receiver options. And that was really, Otten didn't keep doing that the rest of the season. Right, after McMillan stepped up. Right, exactly.

And so then it was like five receptions, four, one, three, two. The rest of the way he wasn't that special. So I agree if an injury happens one more. But if Igbuka is stepping up into that role, Otten will be involved, but I don't think he'll be a sensational, you know, every week start. I do think he's somebody that you can plug and play, though, while one of those receivers is missing and get it.

you definitely have an opportunity at a touchdown with a quarterback that threw as many as he did. I mean, to me, there's still an opportunity there. Consistency might not be there, but he showed that he was capable of upper echelon production, which I didn't know he was until last year. All right, coming up. He's also capable of getting exploded.

Like, Kate Otten hits? Yeah. They're just like, all he would be hit really hard. Yeah. All the time, man. He has a lot of tape on his hands. Yeah, because he knows what's about to happen. Yeah, they've all been broken many times.

Fantasy Time Machine episodes coming up, Fantasy MVP show this week, our final mock draft episode, which would be a lot of fun coming up as well. So get in the Megalobole. Megalobol.com as we close things out today. If you need the draft kit, it's ultimate draft kit.com. We'd love to have you along for the ride this year.

Head over to YouTube. You can watch the show, subscribe over there. Just released a new clips channel as well. You can check that out. YouTube.com slash the fantasy footballers. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on join thefoot.com.

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