Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Early Breakouts & Sleepers - Fantasy Football Podcast for 6/9

Episode Date: June 9, 2026

Fantasy Football show for June 9th, 2026. Breakout and sleeper picks for the 2026 fantasy football season! Andy, Mike, and Jason each pick a player that is set up to be a big-time difference maker! Plus, forgotten players in fantasy football drafts that could be late round gold. Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. 2026 ULTIMATE DRAFT KIT is available now at UltimateDraftKit.com (00:00) Intro (06:15) NFL News (11:15) Early Breakouts (11:35) Andy’s Breakout Pick (19:50) Jason’s Breakout Pick (28:40) Mike’s Breakout Pick (34:50) Early Sleepers (35:25) Mike’s Sleeper Pick (40:40) Jason’s Sleeper Pick (46:50) Andy’s Sleeper Pick Connect with the show: Subscribe on YouTube Visit us on the Web Support the Show Follow on X Follow on Instagram Join our Discord Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

to the fantasy footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Oh, welcome in. Tuesday, June 9th, the fantasy footballers podcast. Mike Wright, Jason Moore. I'm Andy Holloway. Although I look like Jason Moore. You do. Black shirt, black hat.

We're twins today, so you should wear yours backwards. All right. I'm down. Yeah. There we go. It's a cool guy. I'm young, hip now. Yeah, there you go.

I don't know how to do that. Well, you got, yeah, you got to tighten it up and have it barely sit on your head. Isn't that right, Matt? In honor of Fred Burs? Isn't that right? Don't even know how to wear a house? You need a red hat. Thank you.

Yeah, there you go. You look super cool. Oh, dude. I can't wait for Ted Hurst to break out. Mike, I think didn't you say that the other day, or somebody in this office was like, oh, no, it was Schneider. he goes, Ted Hurst has to. He has to break out.

He's like, this has to be a thing. Yeah. Yeah. And now you see why. So welcome in. Fresh off of the weekend. Everybody have a good weekend. Yeah.

Played a lot of golf. Yeah, you did. You did play a lot of golf. You even joked about the fact you might be out on the course this morning when we were going to record. I wasn't 100% sure you were lying. But I'm here. Did you play good? golf or just golf? For me, yes.

For others, no. And did you buy how many new golf gadgets? Have you? A handful. A handful. What's the time frame here? They bring in the score. I mean, yeah, yeah. It's my best score ever yesterday.

Jason is the ultimate pay to win. Oh, yes. The ultimate pay to win. For sure. In all aspects of your life. Yes. If I could. Competitive advantage, it costs me a couple bucks. Absolutely. Here's my bank account.

You're like, people are like, oh, I hate to. No, man. I'll just slip you a Benji. I hate those games where you pay to win. I'm like, give me all the pay to win games. Well, and Al, what is this? You said you're going broke trying to keep up with Jason? That is correct.

Good luck. You're buying all the stuff he's buying? So far, but I'm running out a lot faster than he is. Oh, man. We got a great show today. You guys. Yeah, Mike is just, he's just off from the sideline. Mike just, he came out with us once,

shot better than everybody, and then went home. Yeah, early retirement. I just, I figured out who you guys were. I'm looking for real competition. You're going to wait a while. Oh, man. I'll wait to you next year. I'll go see if you can pay enough to get on my level.

Oh, my goodness. Mike offers lessons. He'll pay you. Instagram.com slash fantasy footballers, the communities over at join thefoot.com. We'd love to have you join the ultimate tier and get the brand new, just released, 2026 ultimate draft kit.

Oh, it's hot. Made quite a few tweaks this week into some rankings. I don't know if you guys reacted to the player, you know, the player endorsed George Kittle thinks he's there for week one. I mean, I, both, both George Kittle and Tucker Kraft. I mean, like, more optimist. We're still a ways out. But I'm, oh, I'm falling for it. I'm falling for it.

That one is, I think that's very interesting at that position in particular. Yeah, yeah, that's fair. Because if you, if you, if a player at wide receiver is ahead of schedule and he's going to be there, it's like you have a lot of options that you can choose from to mitigate that risk and not mess with it. Whereas at tight end, the upside, like if you don't have, I mean, whether you put all four of the, the big guys in the category, Warren Loveland and. and Brock and McBride. Beyond that, it's like, okay, I take a shot on an injured Kittle

and maybe he plays week, maybe by week four, he's great. Whereas the other guys, you know, you pick up a Leporta in the draft versus what Kittles' upside is, it might be worth it. Yeah, I think more so with Kraft simply because he's younger and he was looking very dominant. He's about to get the bag, too. Sure, but I saw, I think it was Scott Barrett online talking about this year is like the year of the peptides. So all these timelines and there's recoveries, the Wolverine, everyone's on, you know.

Well, don't forget one of the key factors for George Kittle. Yes. He is. That's a man. He really, it is a pure will and a desire to play football. He loves football. He loves football. He loves.

Did you hear him talk about Mike Evans? Yeah. About how he wants to like cry every day because he's got this true, unbelievable alpha wide receiver for the first time. A veteran that actually loves the game. Yeah. He basically said that. He basically is like for the first time in my career, I've got a real wide receiver here. It's me Ricky.

Yeah. Ricky's like, nah. What? You want to say something good about me? Is that Ricky Pierceells? It's me Ricky P. Oh, man. No, that's a, that was an interesting one.

Like I think I had. Ricky Mouse. Ricky Mouse Ricky Mouse? Oh man It was right there Oh man So you got Mike Evans on one side And Ricky Mouse on the other side

You didn't even mean to do that voice That just happened I was trying to insult him And you did And you did Yeah you did Only because George was Insulting him without

He actually He didn't hear anything you said He was in PT Oh yeah Let's talk some more news. News and notes from around the league. Oh, my goodness. Well, the Packers locked up, sort of.

Christian Watson, he agreed to a four-year extension worth up to $92 million. 31 of it is guaranteed. It's essentially a two-year extension when you look into the details. 2008 would be a decision year for Green Bay. He has a roster bonus of $13 million in 2020. Guaranteed money-wise, this isn't a lot. This puts him in 30 first place behind Khalil Shakir and Rashid Shaheed and Wondale. So it's a nice for them to commit to him.

It's a win-win, honestly, for the team of Christian Watson. I mean, he, yes, he's not making the same amount of money that, like, Alec Pierce is making. It's not making Romeo Dobbs money. Wow, because Romeo Dobbs is awesome. But it's like, that's a level of guaranteed money that is, that changes the, the, course of your family forever. And it's not, definitely not Pat McAfee money. Oh, goodness. My home is it getting. Mahomes isn't getting McAfee money. But it's like, but they commit to Watson. He gets, he gets, you know, life changing money. And they're committed

to him. I, dude, I am very, very into Christian Watson's ADP. I mean, I feel like Chris, you and I, we were both on on Watson for sure. The drum beats is getting louder. I just feel like he and Alec Pierce are like an incredible parallel for one another. I think they're very similar. I think their output could be way outpacing their ADP. Yes. And I don't think anything we say about them is going to change it.

There are situations that, you know, if the drumbeat starts going, the player is going to move up two, three, four rounds. Rookies. It happens all the time. Preseason, big plays. These guys have been around the block. and when I tweeted out the extension back when it happened

of saying like I like seeing this because I have been extremely bullish on Watson and I'm glad to see that the Packers are agreeing dude the comments were vast majority good luck with that. Yeah I mean so speaking to what you're saying is the

vibes on Christian Watson are people are just, no I will not be fooled again by this. And not every player there is the chance that that's all wasted money. I mean legitimately if he gets hurt again, which he has not been able to avoid. His soft tissue is softer than most. Jacoby Broussat has officially reported to Cardinals' mini-camp.

Thank goodness. Thank goodness. Wow. That was scary for a while. I mean, that's news. Next news. Cam Scataboo. Participating in drills on Monday's minicamp.

Not just participating, dominating. Did you see something? I mean, he looks great. He was making jukes down the field catching long bomb passes. I love Cam. I think that was very obvious in that summary. Chris Rodriguez, Crod, Jaguar is running back, expected to be ready for training camp. I guess he underwent a procedure in his foot following an injury in the offseason program that Liam Cohen was being cagey and weird about and wouldn't tell anybody about it. But they did say he was expected to participate once training camp starts. It's good that he's going to be healthy for the season, but I do think this gives a leg up for Tutin to establish himself. He has the opportunity right now to really go into Travis A. Chan Jr.'s role.

He's going to do that until Chris Rodriguez is back. So, I mean, I was going into the offseason, the disparity in ADP between Crodd. He was way too late drafted. Tutin was just the assumed guarantee. Now I'm actually kind of in on Tootin at where he's going. Yeah, I think it's more positive every time he gets a rep and a chance to establish where he was the guy there last year already. It's good for them. So I think Jacksonville as a whole might be one of the most interesting teams in fantasy for the entire year.

Trevor Lawrence, what they did at the end of the season, the amount of wide receiver, some of which we'll talk about today. Because I didn't mention it, but we're getting into our early breakouts and sleepers on today's show. and so if you have the UDK you know we have our sleepers breakouts busting values in the UDK that is our consensus list guys that we agree on or at least two and a half of us agree on it but um these are more like individual picks and we may agree with one another I don't know the names that you guys are bringing up but um we're talking early breakouts early sleepers I was really I'm excited to hear your first early breakout pick because I didn't know until this morning who you had in here.

Do you agree with it? I'm going to wait until after you give your case in, and I'll tell you. You want to jump in? Let's go. Breakouts. Well, I think if we were trying algorithm rules, I shouldn't go first because you just kind of teased it. People are anticipating the longer they watch, the better the algorithm.

It's Parker Washington. Okay. Oh, man. You went first. So I think this is a very interesting one. into the early breakouts. We'll start out here. We each got one name that we want to bring up. A breakout, we define it as a fantasy player that we think could become a fantasy darling of sorts. Anywhere from that to a superstar game changer, somebody that makes a big impact on

your team. Maybe they've flashed some signs of success. Maybe they're not being drafted in a spot where... This is interesting considering your feelings on Brian Thomas and Hunter. Yeah, I brought them both up at different times. Yeah, the Brian Thomas Jr. last season, like, that was a problem, obviously. This offense, Liam Cohen talked about it. The ball gets spread around quite a bit.

I think some of why I want to bring Parker, Washington's name up, is out of fairness to those other discussions, where, you know, Travis Hunter, the story of Travis Hunter is simply the snaps. He could be a great player, and if he gets 50% of the offensive snaps, we're not going to care. Right. It's not going to make a difference.

I think what's kind of wild about Parker Washington is, you know, maybe you guys had his stat line memorized. I don't know. But to me, when I went back and looked at it, I was kind of blown away. This was a receiver last year who, really the breakout for him began in the second half of the season for Jacksonville. And a lot of it was attributed to, well, you know, BTJ, you're struggling. And we lost Travis Hunter.

So this is just de facto guy in the game. from week nine on, he was the wide receiver 11 in fantasy. And his final stat line was 847 yards receiving on this team. And that's at 14.6 a catch. He had a tremendous PFF grade as a wide receiver. And this wasn't just all screen passes or underneath or short route stuff. He's 24 years old. And the team has come out and said, they're pretty much their top priority right now.

I mean, they could go try to extend BTJ if they wanted to or somebody else. it's to sign Parker Washington, who really broke out in the second half of the season. You know, his target share weeks 9 through 18 was tied with Jacoby Myers for the lead at the wide receiver position. He played 50, 50 in the slot and out wide for this team. And every report from camp so far has been, he's just continuing to ascend.

So I think when you look at BTJ, you're saying, can he return to what he did as a rookie? He's going to be out there for everyone. every snap, I don't think you're going to see that return because of the distribution of targets. He did most of what his dominant performances were, was Mack Jones with, what, like a 96% target share? That might be hyperbolic. But it was close to that over the back catch. It was a lot of targets.

Basically, when Parker Washington took over, which he was averaging 71 receiving yards of game when he was the wide receiver 11, the Jags went 8 and 1. in those games. Like it worked. Him being that heavily involved in the offense. And the fact he plays all over the field is versatile enough to play all over the field. It's pretty interesting to me. And I think his role is very, very secure. Jacobi Myers is capped.

We kind of know what Jacobi Myers is. Britain Strange, I think similarly, we know what he is as a possession receiver. I think at 24 years old, Parker Washington still has room to grow. There were only two wide receivers with 50 plus percent of the routes in the slot that had a better yards per route than him. it was Amun Rah and Dick. So he was, I think my point here is that he was competing, fantasy production, PFF rank, yards per route run, with the best players at the position last year.

And that was something I didn't even realize when it was happening. It felt like it was 100% chance and opportunity that he gets these snaps. Not that the team had fallen in love with them, which if you go and read the comments, it seems like that's the case. So, you know, I don't think it's impossible that Parker Washington ends up leading the team in receptions this year. Okay. And so when you talk about draft spot, he's a wide receiver 42.

He's a ninth round pick. So BTJ is probably a value in drafts at his draft cost. But I think Parker Washington is as well. And he's much further than BTJ. So if you don't like, if you have the burns from BTJ, this is a potential breakout pivot where they could move on from BTJ. Right. They could trade them midseason and all of a sudden the breakout for Parker is bigger. Because BTJ's got one more year, right? He's in, no, he's in year three. He was the first rounder, so they can have him for five total.

Right, but this is year four for Parker Washington. So his, yes. So I'm just saying if they commit to Parker Washington, that's what I'd be watching for in Dynasty Leagues too. The team has said that's their next to do list item is basically Parker Washington and Britain Strange are the next two contracts they want to sign. But the numbers beneath Parker Washington's performance. were a lot more than an opportunity. It was actual performance. And you watch the games. And you saw what he was able to do on a regular basis. I thought it was super impressive. So I think at the draft cost, he fits the breakout mall. We like Liam Cohen. We like Trevor Lawrence. We like what Jacksonville's offense is capable of doing. So if you don't, like, are you guys believers in BTJ and Travis Hunter? I am a believer in BTJ. I don't think that you can do what he did his rookie year on accident or just because of Mack Jones. Like Mac Jones. Yeah, I went and double-checked it.

It was a 35% target share. He was playing with Mac Jones. Right, but I'm just saying on the field he was able to, yes, but 35% is. Which is not going to happen. That is the elite of the elite. Yeah, on this team now, the way they spread the ball around, the fact that they've added Jacobi Myers and Parker Washington, I don't think BTJ is there. But as a talent, I believe in BTJ.

The question I have is whether or not Parker Washington is going to be on the field in two wide receiver sets. because right now I don't think he is. Right now I think he is primarily the slock guy. And they'll play a lot of 11 personnel. He played 50-50 last year. He played out wide half of the time last year. So I think your question is valid.

I think he's proven he can do it. Yes, he can. The question is, I mean, which guy is? I think he's a good player. And that's what I think in your breakout pick of Parker, Washington, that's the part I liked, is he wasn't just a guy who had some opportunity. He had 95 targets. Yeah, and was fine with it.

He looked good. You know, kind of like how we talk about Michael Wilson when he had his little stint. It was like, you watch the film. He's doing everything right. Every level of the field. You can go deep. You can go short. He's running crisp routes.

He's always where you want to be. He's catching every pass. If it's contested, he's coming down with it. Parker looked great. I still just worry whether or not he's going to be on the field. I know weeks 10, 11, 12, Brian Thomas Jr. missed last year. And that's kind of when the breakout started for Parker, Washington.

and so trying to remember it last year, it felt like it was opportunity. But at the same time, he was good with it. Yeah, I mean, wide receiver 3, 8 and 8, the last three games of the season. We'll see what happens. I think a lot of what this show is about is picking some names that are not going to be

the most published names in breakout categories, sleeper categories out there in the... So there should be disagreement and there should be questions. This is just a player that when I looked at the film and the numbers, I kind of started to fall in love with. I am ranked higher than both of you guys by quite a bit. We'll see what happens. It's still, I think, Trevor Lawrence is where you want to go.

We all want a piece of the Jaguar's offense. This Liam Cohen, Jaguar's offense, looks great. But with so many receiving options, it feels like, well, you know, you just, you go Trevor Lawrence and you get them all. Okay. Who wants to go next? I'll hop in. Probably Jason after this. All right, Mike, what do you got? You got him again.

No, I'm just kidding. Got him, Jason. My breakout player for 2026 is Jackson Dart. Last year, rookie quarterback for the New York Giants. Jackson Dart was incredible. I mean, he was like a fantasy revelation as a rookie with no wide receivers. I mean, you didn't have a league neighbors when Jackson Dart was playing. He didn't get his first start until week four.

And it's really, it comes down to one thing. And it's a stupid thing. but it's the most important thing for fantasy when it comes to quarterbacks. It's rushing. If you want the true breakout, if you want the guy who's going to break fantasy, you want the guy who's going to win like 25% of leagues, like, had this player. It's a quarterback who rushes for an outrageous amount. And that's what Jackson Dart was doing last year.

How insane was his rushing? 41 rushing yards per game in his starts. That's the fifth best among rookie quarterbacks ever. all time. So his 17-game pace in his starts would have been 13 rushing touchdowns, which is unbelievably great, almost 700 rushing yards on over 100 attempts. Only Josh Allen scored more total rushing fantasy points last year at the quarterback position. I know, you know, we had some injuries to Lamar Jackson. We had an injury to Jaden Daniels, but the point is he's up there with like the elite of the elite when it comes to rushing. And really, Lamar is who he reminds me of. He

He doesn't run and have the body of like Josh Allen of younger Jalen Hertz. This is a Lamar Jackson type of guy who's just out there making ridiculous little whoop, you know, just no one can catch him. He's very slippery. What does he do again? That's what he does. You know, look, Cam Scatibu's over there going like, yeah, just screaming. I mean, 4, 4 and 6.

A lot of sound. They are, exactly. They're going to make some noise. Right now it's good time to be sports fans. fan of New York. Do you hold your breath at all with the breakout prediction of Jackson's DART? I mean... No, I hold my breath with the break prediction of Jackson's Dart. The way that he plays is obviously putting himself there. He missed games with a concussion last year. He exited games. He probably should have missed more. He should have missed more. There's certainly... He's not 65,

245, 2.45. Exactly. Cam Newton and Josh Allen. There is physical health risk. But when he is out there, he is very valuable for fantasy football. Among 38 qualifying quarterbacks with 200 plus dropbacks, he was tied for fourth in fantasy points per dropback. When he had the ball in his hands, he scored fantasy points. Josh Allen was ahead of him, Lamar Jackson was ahead of him, Brock Purdy, and he was tied with Drake May. That's it.

And that was as a rookie, he should get better as a passer. He has better weapons this year. Where he's being drafted right now, late seventh round, he is the guy that I'm targeting where you could see if you want that guy who took last year's Drake May leap or the guy that did the Lamar Jackson break fantasy leap

to me that is Jackson Why is his draft spot there? I think because people are afraid that he's going to get injured. You saw him get injured a lot last year. Right now Malik Neighbors The fact that he's... You say your number one target, Wondale's gone.

Wondale's gone and Malik Neighbors is currently having very bad publicity limping around. His knee has terrible publicity. Yeah, the videos are not going to be well. He hired a horrible publicist for his knee. The timeline. The timeline to go play softball in front of a camera. Yeah. The timeline for Malik neighbor's injury really genuinely hasn't changed.

If you know what the surgery was and the timeline of the surgery, I have said this for months. He should start on the pup. He is not going to be ready for week one. But by the end of the year, Malik neighbors should be darn near full strength. That should be the timeline. That's what I'm sticking to right now, and that means towards fantasy championships, you've got an alpha out there and a mobile rushing quarterback. I love the idea of drafting a year two quarterback. You did it last year with Jaden Daniels. It didn't work out because obviously he got injured.

But he costs so much. He was like the third quarterback being drafted. Right now you're not doing that with Jackson Dart. You're drafted him as like the 10th quarterback being drafted. I'm all about that. That's the upside that wins fantasy championship. So I would say that every part of me wants Jackson Dart to be the next breakout quarterback that we love in fantasy in the NFL. I think it's fun.

I think he's a dynamic player. I do wonder if he has to make adjustments to his game. I think it's fair to say he has not proven as a passer at the NFL level yet. No. But he was on pace for 3,200 passing yards last year as a rookie. Right. But a touchdown, a game passing. So that is where you start to ask if he slows down the running,

if he takes a bunch of sacks in this offense, if the exposure risk for injury, and he isn't that good of a passer. Not even that good of a passer. It just isn't throwing enough touchdowns. The nice thing is that's where your risk is. His touchdown pace was, you talk about, you know, near one touchdown a game.

It was over that. He was on a 21 passing touchdown pace in his starts, but also 13 rushing touchdowns. You can't pass a touchdown if you rush a touchdown. touchdown and they're worth more in fantasy usually and mostly did you take a game out of that sample i see 18 i see 1.1 a game uh let me is what is what i'm looking at in games are you looking at the starts i believe i am it's oh no i'm not yeah so that's i was looking at the two i missed the two yeah his first two weeks he played 21 21 yeah that's not enough but you say it's not

enough but if you had 13 rushing touchdowns it's totally enough that's not good 13 well i mean that was his pace last year yeah he is yeah this is this is why i have my alarm. He won't make it through the season at 13 rush. I mean, that's just not, that's just not realistic, I don't think. All I'm, I'm not, I'm not saying what he's going to, I'm saying, his pace last year was 21.3 passing and 12.8 rushing touchdowns. That's not like what I'm projecting him for. That's what he did. Yeah, I understand. As a rookie with link neighbors. I think the biggest. Contacts matters, right? Yeah, for sure. Losing the league neighbors and losing Cam Scata. He never had neighbors. He had him for like half the game. I, I, they lost, they, they

didn't have it. Oh, the team. I'm saying the team lost him and Scataboo. It very much when I watched the Giants last year, it felt like Jackson's our versus the world. That's all I'm saying. So if you want to run a John Harbaugh offense, it's not going to be Jackson Dart against the entire world. It's going to be more balanced. It's going to be a good defense

that I think is getting better and better and better and not exposing your quarterback to risk, which is why he's going where he's going. The biggest problem for me with Jackson Dart, and I don't have that many. It's just Matt Nagy. I hate the fact that that's his offensive coordinator. You should.

Yeah. I don't want. I think that there is risk with Jets and Dart. And I think more of it is volatility. I think you're going to have big games from him no matter what. Because if you run like that, you're going to have monster games. He had that weird game at the end of the year where he had like a point. Yes. Out of nowhere. And he took 35 sacks.

I mean, that is going to be an issue. If he doesn't get the ball out, if you're taking sacks, there's a little trade out there. That's all, I mean, somebody else is thinking that. He'll be volatile for sure. But, I mean, so is Lamar Jackson. And, you know, you have those games where Lamar just doesn't have a lot of fantasy points. I really like him. I mean, he scored a lot. And I do agree with you, Andy, last year, it did feel like Jackson Dart versus the world. It was like, okay, what are we doing this play?

Put the ball in Jackson Darts hands and hope and pray. And I also remember some Nick Fulsey luck with interceptions. Yes. He had a lot of passes that I felt like were errant and should have been picked off. He's going to be fun to watch. But the upside is undeniable. And that's why he's a breakout pick for me. This isn't like a sleeper where I think he's going to be better than his value. I'm looking for someone who can win me a league. He'll be on a lot of your teams with the draft value.

He said the upside's undeniable. The question is, is Mike's guy's upside-deniable, Jason. Well, just real quick for Jackson Dart. And this could just be echoing the, oh, he didn't have weapons. But in the red zone, 47. attempts nine touchdowns. Like that's a that's a horrifically bad

ratio of if you're going to actually take the next step. So do you believe in out of curiosity, just quick sidebar, do you believe in Isaiah likely as a weapon for him? A mediocre weapon. I think Theo is a better tight end than likely. I know they paid likely money, but both

of them will be on the field and we've seen enough of likely to make me not really believe he's a great weapon. He's fine. He's at it. He's better than not having them. But I don't look at him as a great target hog. All right. My guy, I'm in on DART. But I want to bring this player's name up as well.

He is also a second year quarterback. We're going with Tyler Shuck of the New Orleans Saints, who is, if you like Jackson Darts draft price, you're going to love Tyler Shucks, who is currently going on Sleeper as the QB20, the QB 19 on Under. dog. His, Kyle had just pointed it out to me that his ADP has actually gone down over the past month or so, which is, so weird. Which is, it's very strange. So here's my argument for Tyler

Shuck. From weeks 14 through 18, you know, which is not a huge sample, but it's just pointing out what he can possibly do. He averaged 20 points, 70% completion, and 27 rushing. yards per game. This is not Jackson Dart level of rushing, but this is, he's giving you enough on the ground that it is making a difference. You know, his 17 game rushing pace over those five games would have been over 450

rushing yards. We will take that every day of the week. And then in terms of passing, intermediate passing, this matters so much. Like, we all, the deep home run, the sexy ball, we're chucking it down the field,

we're getting 50 yard touchdowns, those are fantastic. but we need people to crush in the intermediate part. Think of Nico Collins just destroying teams over and over on a dig route down the middle of the field about 20 yards. So 11 to 19 yards down the field, number one in completion, third in yards per pass attempt. And this team has gotten better. They added Travis A. Chan Jr., aka Rumballaya, who in my opinion is a much better pass catcher than an actual running back between the tackles. And Jordan Tyson in the first round. If you're team Tate, if your team Tyson, it doesn't matter.

You know that they're both great players. And adding Jordan Tyson to a roster with Chris Olavé, who is already a number one, in my opinion. Like, that's wild. It's wild that this team could have two legitimate number one wide receivers on the team. And of course, third round pick, Oscar Delph Lehoia at the tight-ed position. The schedule is pretty rough. I will add to open, you know, you have on the road against Detroit, on the road against Baltimore. But that game against Detroit, week one, it's a 48.5 point over under.

So we're already projecting big things for the New Orleans Saints. And after those first two weeks, at home against Vegas, Atlanta, and Minnesota. So maybe Shuck is not someone you're leaving your draft saying, this is the only quarterback I have and we're going to ride through the good and the bad. At QB20, he's someone that is probably a quarterback two that is going to be a quarterback two. that is going to be on your bench. But I'm looking for him to have a true breakout with all the weapons, with Kellyn Moore giving you all those extra plays, which really, really add up over the course of the season.

And at QB20, there's no one in that range, in my opinion, that can end up with the ceiling that Tyler Shuck, at least what I saw on the field of last year. Are you in on Shuck, Jason? I am in on Shuck. I have very similar concerns with Shuck to Dart. but I worry about his rushing upside to make up the gap. I mean, I think last year he was a 10 to 6 touchdown interception ratio.

Kind of. I know if you look at the first month of him playing, he threw basically like no touchdowns. After that, he was much, much better in the touchdown to interception ratio. I remember talking about this with Bo Nix, where we would always take out the first month of his rookie and look how he did down the stretch. It seemed more realistic. two starts for Tyler Shuck, by the way. His first two NFL starts on the road against the Rams and then on the road against Carolina.

Two playoff defenses. So, I mean, where I have said to be thrown into the fire as your first two starts as an NFL quarterback. That's pretty wild. And then after the by week, things really did get going. Yeah. His last six games, seven touchdowns to three interceptions. So it just got better.

Yes. I mean, I believe in Tyler Shuck. a good quarterback. I really do. I think the weapons that he's adding is good. I love the Kellynne Moore system. So I'm kind of in on the Saints. I don't like the, my hesitation with Shuck is I don't know that he can really be someone who wins you a championship. I don't think he's going to put up enough stats. He's not going to be someone that I'm projecting to throw for 4,530. And since he's not going to rush for 800 yards, the 400 is a nice baseline. He'll be a quality player, a good streaming option.

I just don't know if he's... The pace of which seven games played on a pace for 4,300 passing yards. With the 400 rushing yards. That's the most impressive. I mean, Saints are projected for seven and a half wins this year. They're winning that division this year. The other question mark I have with him versus Dardy's development.

Tyler Shucks 26. Oh, he's developed. He's already done. Like when you look at runway for a development, element and an upside. I think we might have less room for a Shuck to move than we do Jackson Darts. That would be, I guess, my other thing. I couldn't get there. I gave him 4,200 yards. I gave him 25 touchdowns. But that puts him as my fantasy 19. I mean, I don't care if you take a shot at it personally. I like Tyler Shuck. But when you talk about a pocket passer, is he going to

rush for 350 yards? Yes. Which is, yeah. I mean, 350. fine. But I don't know if that's enough to make you happy you start him every week. He's older than Brock Purdy. Hey, man, it is what it is. But he's seasoned and he was ready to come in and play. All right. We'll take a break and we'll get into some sleeper picks. Sleepers. All right, individual sleeper picks for 2026. We'll reverse order this time. We'll let Mike go first. How about that? Oh, I'm talking two times in a row. All right.

Yep. These are these are sleeper picks every. But they never again. again. You know what I mean? You talk twice and over and then never. Like you can leave. I can't. You can just walk out. I can unplug and get out of here. That really makes us a Mike sandwich episode. That's where he's in the... He's the meat. You know? That's what I'm known for. All right. Over the past couple years, I have brought things up about the running back

position and specifically talking about players who at teams that don't have a running back being drafted in the top 24. And yet, every year, we have, you know, five or so of these teams that a quarterback slips into the top 24 and becomes a very usable player for fantasy football. And it's really not that complicated. Did you mean quarterback there? You did say quarterback. I meant running back.

Okay. That's what I thought. It's not that complicated of a recipe. It is a... Say it again with the word running back. in there just so I can follow this time. Teams that do not have a top 24

drafted running back. In fantasy. In fantasy. By the end of the year, five or so of those teams will have someone who's in the top 24. Right. And the recipe for that is literally just who's got a good offense. It's like...

You did this last year with the... So find a good offense. We've done it two years in a row. Has no one in the top 24th. And I'm not saying every single one of them is going to be a hit, but this is where you find those players. This is where you it's when you're sifting for gold. It's just

put it through the offensive filter. Javante Williams last year was a guy who was. And it was the idea. Even when I was would say, you know, we had our YouTube sensation short series last year, just the tips. And I was saying the name Javante Williams as someone

you might want to be drafted. It felt disgusting. It should gross you out because that's why they're not going in the top 24. And it was like, this is not even possible. Try to do it again. Try to gross this out again. Aaron Jones. You did it.

It is disgusting. I get it. That's gross. But here's the thing. And of the teams that I'm looking at, you know, that can be a top 15 offense, you're making some projections and some assumptions about Kyler Murray really working for the Minnesota Vikings. It's at least of right now, Kyler's going to take this job. And I believe in, I'd say it over and over. I believe in the O'Connell system.

and if you have a competent quarterback, you will have a great offense. And Aaron Jones is going to be the lead dog of this team. I look. You don't want that. I love Jordan Mason. I love Jordan Mason. I think he's a great running back. But Aaron Jones, you know, he was like, oh, they released him.

Yeah, they were just doing some funny money stuff. They brought him back on a two-year extension. And just looking at what happened last year with Aaron Jones, he got hurt I mean Minnesota was just a total disaster but from week 8 on after Aaron Jones came back he was on pace for 63 targets and Jordan Mason 8 and a half

this is very clear who is going to be catching the ball from Kyler Murray and Kyler Murray running backs have averaged a target market share of 19% since he came into the league that would be that would have been and it won't be Jordan Mason

that would have been 11th last year in terms of a target share going to the running back position. Kyla Murray will throw it to the running back. It does happen. Minnesota, I think they're going to be a top half offense. And this is, and Aaron Jones is being drafted on underdog as the running back 40 right now. People have zero interest.

And I don't blame you. He's 31 and a half years old. Sometimes you've got to get gross, right? Sometimes you do. It is just, it's just offense. This is, this is what happens. And this is offensive. You're right.

You are, you are welcome. This is, look, someone's got to bring it up. Someone has to bring up these disgusting players because not everyone's being drafted in the top three rounds. Jason can get disgusting too. Oh, no, but just you wait. Jason's following the formula. I approve of it very much. We have very similar players.

But pay attention to Aaron Jones. He is a completely free starting running back for a team that should be a top 15 offense, which more often than not gives you a top 20 running back. If you don't remember this fact and fantasy, you can never have too many running backs. is a hard position to find players that get snaps, period. It's where people will fight tooth and nail on the waiver wire when anybody has an opportunity to get snaps. So even if you don't start Aaron Jones,

and you can get him in the ninth round, just put him on your team. From week eight on, which I was saying, I quoted that target share, he was also getting 32% of Minnesota's work. So that's targets and attempts. Like he was the dude, a 32% workhorse role? That late in a draft is... That's wild.

It is very wild. Getting a starter very, very late in a draft shouldn't ever happen. Right. And when they're a decent offense, even better. This was Giovante last year, at which you brought up in the same context. And I watched enough Jordan Mason, like, no disrespect. Like, he's got his strengths. Yes.

But, like, if you have the creative player menu, like, they were put into a few very narrow categories. He focused fired on what he's very good at. Yeah. Yeah, I'll follow up here because it is basically the exact same theory, the same game strategy. It is finding a late round running back who is probably the starter for a good offense. This backfield is far more ambiguous than the Minnesota one. And this is not a sleeper. This is a coma patient.

This guy's going in the 13th round. he's being drafted after Tray Benson Trey Benson is the backup to the backup to the backup I mean I mean like I can't be true I approve of Trey Benson but that's ridiculous No one wants Rashad White

No RB 41 on underdog which is a I think as in one spot After Aaron Jones Yeah On sleeper right now Running back 51 in the 13th round Higher on underdog Rashad White

Is I hate this. Right. But the thing is, is he plays for Washington, by the way. If all you can do is picture him running for one of carry in Tampa Bay. He has moved team. Don't picture him running for one of carry. Picture him catching the ball for five yards. Is he where number one? Is that actually him? We'll find out. I just figure his carries up on the jersey.

Yeah, Rashad White, this is the nice thing, is that nobody really wants him. Nobody in fantasy wants him. He's not going to skyrocket late in drafts. People are like, ah, he's a plodder. he's first of all he's only in year five he's 27 years old this isn't a guy who's aged out also he is the highest paid running back on the commanders now with this one year contract everyone is like oh it's jocori kroski merit that you know bill it's bill's team thank you mate yeah i feel like after that drop i agree his opportunities bill has never been a pass catcher hasn't really been involved in that and you've got rashad

White here who, I mean, really, over the last four seasons, Christian McCaffrey has more catches than him. Alvin Camara has more catches than him. End of list. He is a good, reliable. He doesn't do anything great. No, no, no. But he does do everything. He does do everything. He is very reliable. Over the last four seasons, he has the six most total snaps at running back. Like just behind Sequin, Pollard, McCaffrey, Josh Jacobs, Rashad White. Is this a, um, Kenny Gainwell, situation in your mind in Washington where you know Gaino is a depth piece added and then

suddenly the most relevant Kyle is sharing news that he is listed as the number one on the Washington side. He's talking about jersey number. Oh, I thought you were talking about depth chart, Kyle. Ironically, I think he will go into the season as the number one. I think he'll have the veteran

starting role. He won't be the explosive player obviously. Jacori Kroski Merritt, more explosive. But I think that this is a team led by a head coach that wants reliability, wants veteran leadership, wants just the guys to be able to do the right thing, be in there for pass protection, get the leakout dump, catch help, Jane Daniels.

And Rashob White will do all of those things. He is very reliable, very out there. And when you look at a team, right now, Washington has the second highest vacated target share in the NFL. You lost Zach Kurtz, Debo Samuel, Noah Brown, Austin Echler. and then you look at the running back room with Austin Eccler, Jeremy McNichols, and Crodd being gone. This is a real opportunity. They went out. They signed him. I think he comes in week one as the starter. Maybe he's not. Maybe he's more of the past catcher and Bill is the starter. But even still, and that's a fine way to lay it out. But even still, you say, okay, who scores more fantasy points? The guy catching the passes or the guy, you know, getting the work between the 20s. We're not sure which one of those two would be the goal line guy. either way. But I think that

the past catching guy in the 13th round for an offense with Jaden Daniels that could and should be good with vacated targets, and we've seen this in the past, when there are a lot of vacated targets for a team, often it goes to the running back position. And so this is the second most in the NFL. If there are

targets going to the running back position, it will be Rashad White. Yes. He is the past catcher for this team. So this is a situation where I just feel like you're talking about a guy, they went out, they signed him, he's reliable. He's a pass catcher. He's on a good offense and he is being drafted

in some leagues. If he doesn't work out, who cares? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's a sleeper pick for a reason. Listen to the depth chart. Rashad White, Jerome Ford, Jeremy McNichols, Jacori-Cross, Gamerit, and Ketron Allen. If you have five running backs. He

is certainly the pass catcher. And goal line, it might be him. We don't know for sure that it will be Bill. Last year, Bill converted just three of his 12 carries inside the five for touchdowns. We've seen teams have this where, you know, you have the pass catcher, or I'm sorry, where Bill is like between the 20s, Rashad White will come in for some pass catching stuff, and then they'll get inside the red zone and then they'll go to the other player and not Bill.

And if you're getting the high value touches, if you're getting the receptions and the goal line work, I don't care what Bill does inside the 20s. Yeah, we didn't really get to see. see this offense last year either. Like, from a, like Terry McClearn was gone, Jaden Daniels was gone, and we didn't get to see a lot

of what JCP was able, would or could have done in a better offense, and Rashad White will have every opportunity to contribute. And he's done it before. I mean, he's been a top 24 running back twice. He's been a running back one once. You know, the last two years, we joke, you joke he's one yard of carries, four point three

yards of carry the last two years. And he's a pass catcher. So I, I, I eat it, Mike. Where he's being drafted is... Mike used to dump all over that dude. Where he's being drafted just doesn't make sense to me, that he would be that low. No, I agree. And he's an easy name to add to the bench.

And then if it works out, you stole somebody. And if he doesn't, you just sign somebody else. Speaking of interesting scenarios, final name for the day, it's Jonathan Brooks. Oh, yeah, baby. Running back for Carolina. Still, 22 years old. Yes, he's entering year three.

Yes, his knees have taken a beating. But the moves that Carolina made this offseason and the decisions they made seem to indicate a commitment to Jonathan Brooks for this third year. They do. And you have to go back into the time machine. This was the first running back selected in the 2024 NFL draft of whom we've got to see nothing.

We've got to see nothing. You know, redshirted in in 2021 was behind Bejan Robinson, tore his ACL in 2023, in 2024, you know, does it again. Does it again.

But coming out of the draft, this was a versatile player who can catch the football. He has way more burst than Chuba Hubbard. He said it at the podium, but we all know it from the film. The interesting thing is that we saw like Chuba could be a value to, depending on their commitment to him.

But Chuba is, again, he's like Jordan Mason. He is a player that has a very specific set of skills. He's going to be reliable. He's going to be able to handle a lot of work. He is not going to breakaway run. He is the least efficient pass catcher you've ever seen. He'll catch it. But man, it'll be for a yard or two.

So I think the opportunity for John then Brooks, I mean, you're already starting to get some drumbeat out of camp out of the opportunities. But Rico Dowdle, I mean, he was gone. This was a player that at one point during the season last year took over fantasy. He's vacating 51% of the carries and 10% of the targets on the team. He was the lead guy basically from week five on. And I just think Chuba Harbor does not represent the kind of talent that cannot be usurped by a 22-year-old former first running back off the board.

And he's good. Jonathan Brooks is good. The only issue is he healthy. Like if he's actually back to full strength, then, I mean, look at where Jonathan Brooks was being drafted as rookie year. And I know you brought up the age, but he's younger than like last year's rookies. Omarian Hampton, Cam Scadaboo, Trevianne Henderson. Jonathan Brooks is still younger than all of them. This is a guy who. And he will be forever. But he's, I love this pick. He's going to, he's going to be a lot higher in ADP. Yeah, right now it's, uh, he has a third. 37 an underdog, though.

So he has a wide discrepancy. I don't care about sleepers. He redraft an underdog. John DeBrox is, I don't disagree with anything of this argument. I think he is a player that you, the profile and the environment and everything says, you need to take a chance of drafting, which is not inexpensive chance by any means.

He will be someone to follow over the offseason of what are they saying about him from the beat reporters? Because right, dude, it's all over there. It is all over the place. I've seen the speculation of, well, the real reason they let Rico go is because of Jonathan Brooks. And their confidence that he was going to be back and be able to be a huge contributor. And I've seen, oh, Chuba's definitely the workhorse. Jonathan Brooks will be, he'll be more like Rico was at the beginning of the year.

And then you see reports, oh, John the Brooks, he's probably going to steal this job within a month or so of the NFL season starting. Like it's crazy how hot and cold the reports are right now. But I find that encouraging because it could be just one report. The guy we paid Chuba is going to be our dude. And we'll see what happens with John. Right. The fact that there's any speculation around that, the fact that Carolina has the most money committed to their offensive line of any team in football.

We like that. And they spin a first round pick on a tackle. And Chuba ran, he didn't have a 15-yard run last year. That's. How is that possible, Chuba? These are the jobs that you think are secure for one guy who again, I respect Chuba

as the player he is. You think they're secure, but then you can't, like Dowdell had big plays for them, and then Dowdell was the dude. If Chuba's running, and he's running well, but it's little chunk plays, and John them Brooks breaks off, a screen pass to the house and a big

long run, the conversation will happen very quickly. Yes, it and you're looking at this team and saying, well, I mean, you brought up the Saints. Carolina is in this division. They have every chance to win this. It's a wide open division. I think we can all agree with Tampa, New Orleans, Carolina, you know, Atlanta,

there are opportunities here, and the running game is going to be what they win with. So, you know, there's a world where Chuba and Jonathan Brooks are both sort of relevant for fantasy during the year. So I think as a sleeper, it's time to bring the name back up. We wanted him to have success the last couple of years. you know, I think this is a feel-good story too. Third times the charm, guys. I mean, if he gets hurt again, it will be, it will be time to find a new career.

It will be devastating. It will be devastating. So there you go. All of our sleepers breakouts, bust and values that we agree on can be found in the Ultimate Ultimate Draft Kit at Ultimate DraftKit.com. And that'll do it for today's show. What do we got coming up? Buss and Value Picks on the Thursday episode of the show.

Some underrated, overrated next week as well, Jason. Yes, sir. I noticed, when did you go from backwards hat back to forwards hat? About 20 seconds ago. Oh, you just made the switch? Yeah. You were so cool for so long. I know, no.

Back to. But when the show is shutting down. The aura of the shows. Yeah. People are not listening anymore, so I guess it makes sense. All right, that'll do it for today's episode. For Andy, Mike, and Jason, we say farewell. We'll catch you on Thursday.

Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on join thefoot.com and follow us on Twitter at the FFollers.