Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Ice & Fire Show + We're Baaaaaaack! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 8/3

Episode Date: August 3, 2026

Fantasy Football show for Aug 3, 2026. August is here! 5 episodes a week! Ice & Fire players for the 2026 fantasy football season! Find out who Andy, Mike, and Jason think will be true difference make...rs. Breakout candidates, upside picks, and players to avoid in fantasy football drafts! 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 Get MEGALASHOW tickets at BallersLive.com (00:00) Intro (05:35) NFL News (16:15) Ice & Fire (17:35) Travis Kelce (26:35) De’von Achane (35:45) Jaylen Waddle (43:10) Emeka Egbuka (49:00) Quinshon Judkins (58:40) Tyler Warren 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.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Foot Clan, welcome to August. We are five days a week for the show. Drafts are right around the corner. And if you want to dominate your draft, get the Ultimate Draft Kit. Come on this ride with us. Be an Ultimate Foot Clan member. You can get every tool and resource that you need to win your draft at Ultimate DraftKit.com. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike. Mike Ride. Welcome in. Oh, baby. Welcome to August.
Starting point is 00:00:57 The fantasy footballers are here. Jason Moore, Mike, the fantasy hitman ride. I'm Andy Holloway. And it's go time. My kids, my kids, they're in school now. That's right. Get out of my life. You get rid of the kids.
Starting point is 00:01:12 You bring the football in. Get out of my life. It is. Hey. No, I mean, Dad's got drafts. Dad's got drafts. Welcome to August.
Starting point is 00:01:24 Welcome back to the show. Monday, August 3rd, five days a week from here through the end of the season. We are thrilled to have you with us. We've got big announcements. We've got news and we've got ice and fire on the show today. So we're kicking off August the right way. I'm already salivating. in anticipation for the drop.
Starting point is 00:01:49 And we are thrilled to have the Foot Clan back with us for another season of hopeful domination. This is the fun time of year. You build that draft strategy. You get ready to rumble. The draft kit, as Jason said at the top, it's available at Ultimate draft kit.com. It is better than ever. New features every year, including a mock draft tool this year. And so excited to have you with us.
Starting point is 00:02:12 If you want to help the shot, have you been with us a long time, there are a couple quick things you can do. completely free that just helped the podcast in the month of August, which is a big month. Subscribe to the show on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, click that subscribe button. If you are a subscriber, but you haven't been back to the show in a little while, Apple's like doing this new thing where they just turn off your automatic downloads. And so if you're back in business, click that button that says turn on automatic download. So you have, do it.
Starting point is 00:02:40 The new. Do it now. Don't let. So you have the new. episodes. Don't let this big business corporation try and tell you what you want to listen to. If you want to downloads at one point in time and now they're saying you don't want them. They don't know you. Tell them what to do, Jay.
Starting point is 00:02:59 Do it. Oh, man. Are you doing, is that the LeBuff? I don't think it is. I think it's a new thing. That's a new thing. I'm my own thing. And then we have a big announcement.
Starting point is 00:03:14 And I hope you're listening because this will be your only chance to listen to this announcement. The Listener League for 2026, the entries, you can send them in right now one week only. This is the one time we announce it. We never talk about it again. Listener League at Fantasy Footballers.com. But Andy? Yes, voice of public opinion. What does that mean?
Starting point is 00:03:44 What do I submit? You are submitting your entry. It could be a video. It could be anything that you want to get our attention. It can't be anything you want. It can be anything you want. We know from years past that they have taken that literally. And that's okay.
Starting point is 00:04:03 Well, I'm saying don't, if you send a wall of text. We don't read well. That's, yeah. You know how long it takes to read? Yeah, we don't reads a lot. But if you want to send us something to get us, touch our eye. We will review the listener league submissions. We will pick a number of lucky individuals to join us in the 2026 listener league.
Starting point is 00:04:22 Show us the personality because the listener league is not the, oh, I'm so good at fantasy football. I could all beat you guys, I promise. We want a league that has fun people with fun interaction throughout the year. Yes, you're good at fantasy football. We know. We know. You listen. Yeah, you're listening to the show. But we just, the Listener League is always about good vibes and good people. Yeah, I mean, this is where we met Brooks. This is where we met the biggest loser. What an idiot that guy is.
Starting point is 00:04:54 But we met, you know, close people now that we obviously love and adore through the listener league. It's a great time. It's great league. Come play with us or try to. So I will say it one more time, listener league at Fantasy Footballers.com. That is where you send your listener league entries. If you send them to our support people, they will delete your email.
Starting point is 00:05:12 If you send me a DM and you say, hey, has anybody looked at it yet? I promise every single one of them gets looked at. That's one of the cool things. It's our team. We review them. We see every entry and we will respond to every person in time. But it takes a while. So there you go.
Starting point is 00:05:31 We'd love to play with you. Let's talk some news. News and notes from around the league. Don't you feel the energy, Mike? Don't you feel the energy right now? I do, man. I'm nervous. Yeah. Do it.
Starting point is 00:05:47 Ricky Pearsall. There's the energy out of the out of the building. Oh, man. Oh, is that the electrical substation? Oh, no. It's getting everybody. I just, yes. And no. Ricky Pearsall placed on season ending IR. It's coming for you.
Starting point is 00:06:06 Mike Evans. Electro. PCL reconstruction surgery for Ricky Pearson. Dude. Big time bomber. Pierce, like, Pierce, like, Pearsall, if, if you want to buy in anything to the substation, Pierce all was not an injury guy in college. He goes to San Francisco, immediately an injury guy. And, uh, getting shot guy.
Starting point is 00:06:31 At first he got shot. Yes, that's what, that is fair. That wasn't the substation, was it? We will never know. It's a bad neighborhood around, you know, listen. Substations. Every player in the NFL has a story.
Starting point is 00:06:43 and unfortunately the story of Ricky Pearsall is one of injury now. That's the story for him. Whether he comes back from it. It's a bummer, man. I mean, this is a tough one to come back from. I know you see a lot of ACL injuries and a PCL reconstruction is worse. And so he's already lost the beginning of his career, basically. Now he's got to, the team is going to move forward.
Starting point is 00:07:04 Yes. And then he's got to come back and somehow earn his way back on. I hope he can. I hope he does someday. But it's an uphill battle. from here. One of the best ways to come back and be relevant at some point is when you have Mike Evans and Debo Samuel on your roster, who are
Starting point is 00:07:19 older and may move on at some point, but Debo Samuel was also added to the roster, one year deal. Ricky will be, Ricky's turning 26. Oh my gosh. So he will be 27. And like, Dynasty manager shed a tier. San Francisco has to do something. Would you trade them away for a third?
Starting point is 00:07:37 Look how sad the Falcons. In Dynasty? Yeah. Look how sad the Falcons. No, I would not. He's so sad. Oh, the Niners fan. DeJohn Stribling also held out of practice. That would be the 49ers, up and coming wide receiver hamstring. They should hold him out of the rest of all the practices. All players practice off.
Starting point is 00:07:54 They can't get injured if they're not practicing. I mean, this is not the only injury. I mean, they have like a handful already, their rookie defensive end. Not to bypass it. Debo Samuel was signed to a one-year deal. Everything the team is saying that this was going to be something that happened regardless of the Pierce-law situation.
Starting point is 00:08:10 He said they're going to use them in kick returns, punt returns all over the field. Debo, if he's going to be successful again, this is a good place to try to do that where they know his strengths and weaknesses. They can use him in the offense. And there's a need because everybody's hurt all the time. Yeah, I think this is a good landing spot for him
Starting point is 00:08:27 and it's good for the Niners. I don't know that it's very fantasy relevant. I expect at this point he's going to be used a lot, you know, close to the line of scrimmage, special teams, that type of stuff. TBD, but obviously I like Mike Evans. I'm very in on Mike Evans. But you're holding your breath.
Starting point is 00:08:42 I'm holding my breath. Because of electrical substation. Yeah, I mean, that hamstring is like beef jerky at this point. And, you know, it's just one wrong cut and all of a sudden, you know, Dibo's more needed. I think I initially have Dibo ranked right now at wide receiver 44, which is probably higher than Mike has him. Probably higher than you have him. But that's not super relevant. Chris Olave, baby.
Starting point is 00:09:06 Oh, get dashed for money. We got that drop for Chris Lave. This is. the opposite of the Ricky Pearsall story. This is an injury plagued. Yeah, we like this one. Terrifying future situation that has turned into a four-year, $132 million extension for Chris Olave.
Starting point is 00:09:26 $90 million guaranteed. That's how the team feels about the injury risk. Yeah, they are bullish on Olave. I've always loved, I mean, we've always loved Olave since he came out. Which is we just became scared. Yeah, I mean, you look like you are one head injury away from the career being over, but they are invested. They believe in him.
Starting point is 00:09:47 He was awesome last year. I had someone be like, well, Wednesday played a full season. Last year, week 18, he took off as all players should and all fantasy managers should. Yeah, I know. It was, it was. He didn't take it off. Well, he had a blood clot. He sure did.
Starting point is 00:10:01 He took it off for a blood clot. Okay. Mike, I think that. What are you doing? I'm saying that he played without injury. He didn't get injury. His soft tissue issues, his concussion is. He did get injured.
Starting point is 00:10:15 He had a blood clot. Did you call that an injury? Yes. For real? Yes. A not a football-related injury. Just an injury. I guess I wouldn't call that an injury.
Starting point is 00:10:23 I see Al, shaking his head, no. He wouldn't call that an injury. That's just a medical condition. Yeah. Like, would you call diabetes an injury if you had to like, you had low blood sugar or something and you're like, I can't play? I don't know. That's a fair point.
Starting point is 00:10:35 Regardless, for a medical reason. He didn't take the day off. Okay. That's a fair. That's a fair count. I counterpoint. Okay. If someone's like, I can't go to work today because I'm,
Starting point is 00:10:45 having severe issues with my diabetes. Yeah. Would you say, oh, you're taking the day off? Yes. Okay. Out with illness. The point here for the fact that they are all in on Oliva, they paid the money because he had such a successful season and really his career when he's been on the field has been
Starting point is 00:11:04 awesome. Jordan Tyson also very healthy. We had all the hamstring issues coming in at the draft and even early camps. It was like, is he going to be a... These two guys. guys. I know you're in on Tyler Shuck. These two guys I'm starting to realize very much. They're a top, they are
Starting point is 00:11:21 already, I believe, today a top five tandem in the NFL. No, for real. Top five's crazy. No. I don't think it goes. So you got Jamar and Tehiggins. So Cowboys and Bengals are top of two. Cowboys, lamb and pickets are done. I think Puka and Devante Adams, they're above them. I think Amin Ron, James and
Starting point is 00:11:39 they're above them. That's where okay, now you go, the fifth is where they could go. Jefferson and Addison. Okay, sure. Maybe you put them ahead. You can't give Tyson that level of respect without a snap on the field. Sure can. I mean, you can. And I think it's dessert. I think he is an absolute maniacal stud. I don't even know if he's better than Olave. It's August. You got to bring up. Jordan Tyson is there? I mean, then you're going, I mean, Waddle Sutton? Look, Andy can have them outside the top five while we are here.
Starting point is 00:12:16 And then he's going to have to scramble to catch up, but it will be too late. Yeah, I think that they are there. They are at that tier of, in that fifth tier. Personally. Okay. That's why we have the show. Tucker Kraft, activated from the PUP list. Realistic will take part in joint practices.
Starting point is 00:12:37 He's running very well when it's straight. It's awesome that Tucker Craft is. in the practice consideration right now after the injury. Chris Brazel, season-ending IR. That's a bummer. Kyle Munungai returned to practice after missing three practices. It was a soft tissue issue. Xavier Worthy avoided a serious shoulder injury.
Starting point is 00:12:56 He had been carted off. And rookie wide receiver who was making waves, Cyrus Allen. He was carted off, but it's a shin bruise. And he had been making plays. What a wild Twitter roller coaster that was. If you were on the football twitters, Cyrus Allen was all. almost offensive player of the year in 2026.
Starting point is 00:13:15 He was pretty much the most important player in all of football projected for a day or two. Then it was carted off his career is over and it was a shimbers. So TBD. Man, the, the chiefs, every year, the chiefs always have a guy where you're like, holy crap, this really late drafted player is about to come into the NFL and set it on fire. I mean, I'll say this, that like Rashi Rice running down field looked awful. His knee is not ready. And I know you said maybe he's warming up.
Starting point is 00:13:48 That's not a warm-up run. That was a full-on run. That's what I'm a full-on run. Yeah, I'm positive. It was a full-run. It was a full run. It was what he's at right now. I will say this.
Starting point is 00:13:57 We are still months away from the season. And you would expect him coming off of this injury to not be at 100% right now, but he was clearly not at 100%. And the reason that the chiefs have somebody every off-season is because it's been a long time since Tyreek Hill existed. And we are trying to find somebody to believe in each and every offseason, whether it's Jalen Royals for an off season. Skymore. I mean, we know that Mahomes could supply somebody with a lot of fantasy value. But the odds of it being Cyrus Allen, they're not high. Cyrus Allen is just a great name to know for Dynasty Leaks. I assume by this point in time he's
Starting point is 00:14:34 been picked up in all Dynasty Leagues, but there's some out there that maybe he's sitting on the waivers and you should scoop him up immediately. And to the Rashi Rice point, it's just that he is recovering from an actual injury. Absolutely. There was a ton of off-season, you know, off-the-field issues and jail time and things of that nature. But you also want to know that this player is back at full strength and going to be a focal point of the offense. He's a really tough player because I don't think Rashi Rize, and we've said this before, I think you guys agree, in a different offense in a different environment, he's not the fantasy player that he is in Kansas City. 100%.
Starting point is 00:15:08 They use him around the goal. line on touch passes and ender rounds and screens and short area targets and he scores a lot of touchdowns and he's a go-to guy in this offense. There are question marks around his effectiveness because of injury, because of Kelsey's effectiveness, who I think draws interior coverage. If he's not as good, does Rice get as much work or have as much success? Probably because of Patrick Mahomes. But they're still, this is a limited player. This is not a player that's running you know, the 25-yard digs, and, I mean, maybe that's in his repertoire, but we haven't seen it. He's been a closer to the line of scrimmage catch-and-run guy.
Starting point is 00:15:45 Which the funny-and-the-running part is the part I'm worried about. The funniest part of the funniest thing I saw said about that was, well, he doesn't get passes that far down the field anyways. So what are you worried about? With the run? Yeah, no, I mean. He's like, that's not his eight-od over there. It isn't. So unless we have any other news, unless the 49ers and the substation have attacked again.
Starting point is 00:16:04 I'll let you know. We'll break in. We're going to go ahead and take a break and get into ice and fire. Are we ready for this? Do do do do, do, dump, dump, don't do. Ice and fire. Well, this is always a very fun segment. It's one of my favorites.
Starting point is 00:16:42 We've done this for live shows before. But we each have picked an ice and fire player to talk about for the upcoming season. I'm going to come clean right at the top of this segment. Okay. Today's going to be a hard day for me. Okay. Because I know the names that are coming up. You don't necessarily love them.
Starting point is 00:17:04 I'm not in agreement with a couple of them, and it's going to be really tough for me. Well, that's great. I mean, we shouldn't always be in agreement, but it gives us a chance to sway you. You're who we're talking to. Let me put it this way. I am all ears. I would like to know where my brain is diverging from your brain, and I'm excited to hear it. We're going to start off with, I mean, it's a perfect segue.
Starting point is 00:17:29 We just talked about this team. I want to talk about Travis Kelsey. Travis Kelsey is. You want to talk about screenshots the, if you're talking about the Rishi Rice route. You're talking about Dad Bod? The Travis Kelsey photo is not flattering. I don't know. That's the problem now.
Starting point is 00:17:51 I don't know. I don't know anymore. Now I feel like. And angles of everything and where the shirt may or jersey may have just bloused out. Yeah, him and Debo got, I hope they got A-I'd. Debo's always been big. Yeah, Debo's been thick boy forever. I mean, we had thick boy Debo in Washington and he still had.
Starting point is 00:18:07 Never forget Fat Keenan Allen season too. Oh, yeah, he dominated. Well, let's you say this. It's a really tough thing in the AI world because you know what people are doing? It's funny if you're like, hey, let's make Victor Women Yama 30 feet tall. I could tell that's AI. Right. But now they're doing this thing where it's like make the legs a little bit longer.
Starting point is 00:18:27 Just a little bit. So it looks just a little bit weird. Give them eight pounds. Yeah, what do we do? That should be what's banned in AI. I don't care about all the rest. Just don't let people do subtle changes to appearance. Just learn how to do a joke.
Starting point is 00:18:41 Right. Yeah, we did do that with one of our employees. Oh, we changed. We changed his hairline just a little bit. We got to tell this story. This is great. That's the joke for that one. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:55 So we know how to tell jokes. We play a bunch of games in the office. People are champions of that game and take unreasonable amounts of pride in winning these stupid little games. He had one. He printed a poster of himself. A large poster. We're talking 24 by 36 framed poster.
Starting point is 00:19:11 Someone should grab it. Above his desk. No, leave it. And then he went on vacation. And he's a young man. He's the youngest man in this office. He's very handsome man. handsome, strong,
Starting point is 00:19:24 V-Rile, you know, whatever a young person is. And doesn't have the best hair line. The hairline, though, is going. That's his issue. We all have our issues. Yeah, it's his Achilles heel. And quite a heel. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:19:37 It was worse than mine. We took the photo down. We scanned the photo. We moved his hairline back. We reprinted the photo and we hung it up above his desk. To see how long until he would notice that his hairline is. Worse right above his head. The problem, one of the problems was his name is Jake Pitner.
Starting point is 00:19:57 And we changed his name to Jorke Didler. Yeah. And that really let him know that the poster was wrong. And that's where we went off. But Mike is just so ashamed that I shared that part. But the hairline, we subtly moved it. And he noticed. So listen, Travis Kelsey and the AI dad bod or not.
Starting point is 00:20:16 I mean, look, you're going to get one when you're entering the near 40 age range. He's 36.8 years. old. We're going to talk about Travis Kelsey, but he is my ice. Okay, don't ruin my thing. All right. That sounds like you like ice. Travis Kelsey, I know Mike, you've talked more positively about him as kind of like maybe he's a great floor tight end. Yes. I am very concerned on a number of levels. It's not surprising. I have him the lowest of the three of us by a lot. Mike's got him in nine. Jason at 11. I got him at 17. I feel like part of the argument is the obvious stuff.
Starting point is 00:21:01 Everything's going down in terms of the production, the snap percentage, the target share, the targets per outrun, the receptions, the red zone targets. I mean, it is gone down significantly. I think the red zone targets is one to bring up specifically where like 26 down to 11. That's a big difference. So then you're like, is he just less valuable? Do they use them less? Is he losing a step? Well, the Chiefs were like when they targeted the tight-in position, Travis Kelsey, 20th and yards per attempt, 22nd in past success rate, 30-second in percentage of inaccurate targets. He's not where he used to be. That's the point. If you are 32nd in inaccurate target numbers.
Starting point is 00:21:41 The man's about to be 37. Which I will forgive. Holy crap. How is he that old? I will forgive it if he's not playing football. You can be 37. Yeah. You just can't do it on a field and have success.
Starting point is 00:21:54 and 41% of his routes at this point now are the old guy routes, the short stuff. You don't get the big plays that you used to get from Kelsey. His fantasy points per game are in decline, 15, 11, 9, 9.1. I agree that there's a world where Travis Kelsey is fine as a floor play tight end. But do you want, I mean, Jason, you've talked so much about the tight end position. If you're not going for a big top five, I think it's a top five, you know, Bowers, McBeard, Bride, Loveland, Warren,
Starting point is 00:22:26 Fanon. Oh, you put Fanon in? Okay. I put Fanon in. You don't have to. Four and a half, whatever. You don't want to put
Starting point is 00:22:32 last year's top five tight end, Travis Kelsey in there? Well, I mean, it is a product of availability, not performance. It is.
Starting point is 00:22:39 He has been out there. I just think it might be worth taking a shot at a high upside athletic tight end like Isaiah likely in New York. Britain's Strange in the offense that we're going to love in Jacksonville.
Starting point is 00:22:50 I mean, they could be a Super Bowl contender. I just find it to be Like there's a world where you draft Kelsey high enough To where you lock him in as your tight end And he performs bad enough for you to be really Not able to make the moves you need to make That's where I think I disagree
Starting point is 00:23:07 Is where he's being drafted is not high I mean he's double digit rounds We've done mocks where he's undrafted If you know he if he's not one of the top 12 that you're When I draft I'm either getting one of those top guys Or I'm waiting till the very last pick And there's been times where at that last last. last pick. I'm basically waiting
Starting point is 00:23:24 to see if I want Kelsey or Kincaid. And I do. I will say this. I usually go the other way. I'm trying to swing for the fences to have someone that is a higher upside. However, you know Kelsey will be involved in the offense.
Starting point is 00:23:40 If you're in a, especially a full PPR league, you should have a safe floor and it costs you nothing. The question is, could he score more around the goal line? I was going to ask Mike, do you, you know, outside of the availability argument in the nine, you know, eight or nine points of game, is there a world in your mind that Travis Kelsey and a year
Starting point is 00:24:01 older is making a jump up? That's kind of the decision. It's not a meaning, like above those top five. He's, you know, no, no, no. Or Tucker Kraft. No. No. Kyle Pitts. Kyle Pitts, maybe. Okay. You know, for all the, what we're talking about here, last year, Kyle Pitts, even with the greatest game that a fantasy tight end has ever given us, 9.8 points per game.
Starting point is 00:24:29 And Travis Kelsey was just overnight. This is not a wide margin between the two, where Kyle Pitts could absolutely be, like he still has a ceiling that we don't know if it's there or if it's not. It won't be there for Kelsey. The upside play for him is he's so late in the draft. and the addition of Kenneth Walker makes this offense better
Starting point is 00:24:53 and you actually, when you get into the inside the five, we used to get all those the fun, the bowling ball throw to Travis Kelsey because the defense actually had to worry about is the running back going to get the ball. Yeah, Ken Walker makes it much better. So that's where I'm not going to push back a ton and say I love Travis Kelsey or anything like that.
Starting point is 00:25:14 I'm really curious about what third downs look like for the chiefs this year. because to me the third down magic last year was Mahomes's lakes. He would get out of situations and pick up a third down. If it's third and six, seven, and he's running down the field, spraying with water. I barely did. Spraying with water.
Starting point is 00:25:34 I'll get you next time. Is Kelsey going to be able to be open for those third down conversions? How do they do that without Mahomes' legs? There you go. My ice, not a surprising one, but also one I think, to me I'm aiming elsewhere. I'm going else. I'm going to not appropriate too much to the name and expect too much from him.
Starting point is 00:25:50 Travis Kelsey is the... I like the, if you're talking about, you know, the younger guys of Isaiah likely, O'Conquo, guys that... They probably will not pan out. But they're at least at an age for football players that something good could happen
Starting point is 00:26:10 that we're not really seeing yet. All right, who's up next? The suspense is building, Jason. All right. I'll go next. I'm going to go from a player who is in the double-digit rounds to a player who's very, very, very high in drafts, a player that we all love. And by we, I don't just mean the three of us. I mean the world. The player I love coming out.
Starting point is 00:26:35 I'm also, however, getting cold. Oh, ice. It's Devon A. Chan is my ice pick for 2026. And this is... I'm closer and closer to agree. Look, it's sad. I feel like you both are there and I am unhappy. So let me talk to you.
Starting point is 00:26:55 You think we're happy about these things? You currently have him as you're running back. Four. I get it. He was awesome last year. He was so consistent. He had more than 11 fantasy points in every single game. There's only four running backs that have ever done that.
Starting point is 00:27:11 Priest Holmes back in 2003, DeMarco Murray, Christian McCaffrey once. and last year is Devon ancient. And obviously the dolphins were bad last year. So the argument is like, well, if the argument is that he's on a bad team and he's still on a bad team. However, he's on a much worse team. I mean, that's, hmm. So here's, here is my argument. When I say he's on a much worse team, I'm saying how many total points are the Miami Dolphins going to score?
Starting point is 00:27:39 Because without Waddle and without Tua and with no wide receiver weapons. Without Mike McDaniel. Exactly, without Mike McDaniel, they are most likely going to score fewer points than last year. Now, if we look at the Vegas lines, they are projected for the 29th most total NFL points. That is really, really bad. If you look at the wins, they are projected for a grand total of five and a half wins. No, no, no. Is it four and a half, Kyle?
Starting point is 00:28:11 What is the, what is their projection? Three, two, two. Can I get a two? four and a half four and a half wins and so obviously we talk about we want players at the running back position from good teams that win games
Starting point is 00:28:23 that doesn't mean they can't come from a bad team and be good but where is he being drafted is he being drafted at a value or is he not and right now he's being drafted at like the one two turn he is being drafted as a clear cut
Starting point is 00:28:39 RB1 very high is costing you a lot in fantasy and very similar to how I had Ashen Gentie as my bust pick last year. I look at the situation. It's not going to return. You're going to make a mistake if you're taking them that high. It's going to work out poor for you. You have, first of all, over the last two years,
Starting point is 00:28:58 he played with the quarterback that targeted the running back position more than any quarterback in the NFL. That is his superpower. A target is worth so much more than a carry for fantasy football. And those targets will certainly go down. only does he lose Tua, but he goes all the way to a quarterback that we don't know his tendencies because we haven't seen him much, but Malik Willis has wheels and might scramble instead of checking it down here or there. That makes sense. That sucks. But, you know,
Starting point is 00:29:27 can it work for a team that wins four and a half games to have a running back, really give you value at that one-two turn in fantasy football? How rare his ADP is is crazy. Listen to this. Since 2014, there's only three running backs who were drafted in the top three rounds with a win total of five and a half or fewer. Isaiah Crowell back at 2017, David Johnson in 2019, and this year, Devon A-chan being drafted, not just in the top three, but a borderline first round. He's like 202 last I saw this morning. What running back is that? I think it was. I know I'm above eight. I think it was running back. I think it was running back. Eight.
Starting point is 00:30:11 Eight. Here's a study, and this, I think you'll like hearing, you won't like hearing this, but Brandon Goodula. That's the opposite. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm saying you need to hear this. Okay. I'm saying, open your ears.
Starting point is 00:30:23 Here's this thing that you'll like. Here's this thing that. You're not going to like it. It's like having your vegetables. You don't like it, but you really need it. And you need to hear this. Among running backs drafted in the first three rounds since 2014, only 27. were on teams projected for fewer than seven wins.
Starting point is 00:30:45 And remember, A-Chin's at four and a half. 30% of that group outperformed their ADP in terms of fantasy points per game. There's just, he has to be outrageously perfect, have crazy high touchdown. The 44% of those fell shy of their expectation by at least two points per game. Two PPR points.
Starting point is 00:31:08 There's a weird thing going on this year. I'm trying to be very open-minded to this argument. I hate it because I think Devon A. Chan is in the Gibbs category of talent. He's a great player. And so we look at this, and I'm looking at the ADP and the top. Like, all right, Bejon is, Bejon's 7.5 wins for Atlanta. That's sub-500. It's not that same level.
Starting point is 00:31:28 But then, like, you know, the Raiders. The Raiders are going to be at five and a half, six and a half, depending on the book you're looking at. Dolphins are at the bottom of that list. But it's interesting because all three of those names are in your top seven, top eight. Yeah. And so push is going to come to shove. I know you love Aschen Genti.
Starting point is 00:31:44 Yes. And so it's hard for me to swallow Devon A. Chan going from the singular most consistent running back. So his ability, his special talent last year to me was overcoming how horrendous the dolphins were. That was his gift. His gift was just somehow they're down by a million points. He still ends up with big performances. I hate doubting the talent of Devon H.M. and that's what it feels like you're doing.
Starting point is 00:32:11 Yeah, but it's not what I'm doing. Your numbers make sense, but you're playing the odds, not the player. I am playing the odds, not the player. And that's where we... Odds are that Devon A. Chan is a very bad bet. If you want to pick him at where he's going currently, and hopefully after this show,
Starting point is 00:32:28 maybe he gets down into that, you know, middle of the third round. It's like, ooh, that's a value, you know, scoop him up. It just feels like he's going to have to be... And I know you agree, Mike. And I hear what you're saying. It makes sense. Mike McDaniel being gone is on it.
Starting point is 00:32:44 That's the biggest red flag for me. And then Malik Willis, we know, look, guys that scramble, you just you get fewer checkdowns. It does happen. It's just to play slightly devil's advocate argument, just to get your response to this. We also know that the absence of weapons lends itself towards a heavier involvement.
Starting point is 00:33:07 This is a guy that got paid. huge amounts of money this offseason. The offense is Devon H. He came out yesterday in training camp. He's focused on winning the rushing record for the season. I mean, that's the goal for him is to be the rushing leader. So for me, that's one where I drew the line on talent over situation. That's the bet.
Starting point is 00:33:28 Which I feel like we've done with Bijan for a number of you. When you take him at ADP, that is 100% the bet. It's like, what does it look like? What does this offense look like when? A-Chan is everything. And I know he was a, like, he's a focal point of the offense. I admit that you have an argument there. But it's like, you still had Waddle last year, who is an elite player.
Starting point is 00:33:49 And then ADP-wise, it's like, okay, right here, what I'm seeing right now, you know, Barkley, he's right around where A-Chane is going. And then right after A-Chant is Hampton, Chase Brown, Kenneth Walker, Derek Henry, all running backs that you will not be able to draft. Yeah, I mean, I could see an argument for Walker over him, Hampton, over him, Chase Brown over him. I don't see, I don't see, I don't see, Sequin or Henry over him.
Starting point is 00:34:16 Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he will get the ball a lot. My issue is I think it'll be more on the ground. Here's what we know. We know that every second and long, they will mistakenly hand the ball to A. Chan because Bobby Sloak is there.
Starting point is 00:34:33 That was third and long is going to absolutely rip. I feel like part of this argument is you are. you're building an idiocy by the dolphins because only an idiot would not give the ball to this man no I think they will give it to the man but more in carries than in targets and a target is worth so much more in fantasy football
Starting point is 00:34:54 what is the average 6.1 a carry something like that man he's a great play what is the average per target and half point on top of that I'm saying fantasy points who are they going to throw it too if it's not him I don't know I mean that's that's a long list of no I told you it's gonna be hard for me to I wanted to have the conversation, and the numbers are compelling. The numbers of your odds are not great.
Starting point is 00:35:17 I'm not sure the ADP is too expensive or not. That's the hard part. But you bring up some names where, like, I'm getting really toasty about Ken Walker. You know, it's like it seems like he's going to be the chief's offense. We have all these discussions around Rice and Cyrus Allen and Kelsey. It just feels like the chiefs are going to be Ken Walker and the defense. So that's a tough one. He's, and then he's in this category of, I don't know if,
Starting point is 00:35:38 I want him at his 80p. But if he's on my opponent's team, I'm going to be like, ooh. All right, what's you got, Mike? All right. Well, speaking of Jalen Waddle, we'll just get right to it. Fire. Absolute fire.
Starting point is 00:35:55 New Denver Broncos superstar Jalen Waddle. Yes, I have a Jalen Waddle problem, but I think we finally have a solution, guys. We got him over to Bo Nix and Sean Peyton and the Denver Broncos. He's going right now about the back of the fourth,
Starting point is 00:36:10 wide receiver 23. So a fringe wide receiver 2 and just remember what happened. So Jalen Waddle, he's still in prime age. He will be turning 28. We're okay with that. These are still some prime years for the wide receiver
Starting point is 00:36:26 position. The Broncos traded a first, a future third, and fourth to go get Jalen Waddle. They looked at what they had last year in terms of past catchers and weapons. and Sean Payton and crew decided this is not enough. You know, Bo Nix, what is it?
Starting point is 00:36:44 Bo Nix threw the ball more than anyone in the NFL last year. And it doesn't feel like it because you didn't get the production because you didn't have a true elite player. The superlatives coming from Sean Payton about Jalen Waddle are already just topped here saying he walks on water with his traits. Talk about the great speed. Okay, Sean. Hey, perhaps a little blasphemous.
Starting point is 00:37:08 but it's going to be good for your fantasy football team. Great speed and stop. So that start-stop stuff, it's really important, and that's how Waddle can win. Last year, you know, in totality, it didn't fully work for Jalen Waddle and crew, but on a per-rout basis, look, man, still elite.
Starting point is 00:37:32 We're talking to a player who is a 2.42 yards per route run, a 26% targets per route run. This is a guy that gets the ball, because he demands the ball, because he gets open. Per Ryan Heath, over the last four years, Waddle was targeted on 29% of his routes and averaged 2.85 yards per route run
Starting point is 00:37:52 when Tyree Kill was not on the field. So this is a player that he can be a true number one. The beginning of Jalen Waddle's career was he was banished to Siberia, aka the Miami Dolphins only to give us a wide receiver 16 season as a rookie and then a wide receiver 7 and we thought man the wheels are absolutely up
Starting point is 00:38:13 but then they bring in Tyree Kill and it's understandable that Tyree Kill is going to come in and take a back seat over and be the true wide receiver one on the team but now he gets to be the wide receiver one for the Denver Broncos Davis Webb the new play caller
Starting point is 00:38:29 for the Broncos we're going to we will get low A dots, we will get screens to Jalen Waddle, and I think he will absolutely succeed. Nix led the NFL and screen attempts over the last two years. If you're going to do him a bunch, you might as well go get yourself a player who can be elite and give you production with those things. I'm very in on Jalen Waddle being barely priced as a wide receiver too. I think that he can, I mean, we always want sure known target volume. You know, when we're taking these players, Jay, we always like, man, I just want someone who's going to, I need 150 targets.
Starting point is 00:39:10 Yeah. And it's like, Jalen Wattle can 100% do that for you. So, you know, I don't have extreme numbers for him, but I think he can get over 1,100 yards around six touchdowns. And I think there's even a ceiling that I do not have projected into my numbers. And my numbers still put him way ahead of the market. I, there's, there's two things that get me a little hot and bothered for Waddle. Because when the trade happened, I was like pretty much out on Waddle. I'm like, okay, he's coming to a team with Cortland Sutton that spreads the ball around.
Starting point is 00:39:42 They have a great defense. They don't need to get in shootouts. So I was pretty out on Waddle just like, hey, it's good for the Broncos. The more time has gone on, two things have happened. One, and I've mentioned this before. I went back and I watched the tape on Bo Nix again, especially all of his days. deep shots and it just was a screaming need. He didn't have a weapon to utilize how he wants to play ball.
Starting point is 00:40:10 And then you combine that with the fact that, well, they saw that. They went out and got him. But recently, you talk about what Sean Payton has said and, you know, cute little soundbites like he walks on water. Right. But I saw an interview yesterday with Sean Payton where he was genuinely talking to these people about, you have no idea how much we're going to use Jalen Wattle. It was like you can use them long. You can use them short.
Starting point is 00:40:31 I can move them in the slot. I can move them out wide. And he talked about fantasy football. Specifically, he said it's easier to project. Use them in the rain. It's easier to project a running back or a tight in because you can manufacture those touches. It's hard with a wide receiver because you don't know where the ball's going.
Starting point is 00:40:48 And then he's like, but not with Waddle. Like we are going to be getting Waddle the ball a ton. And so that's made me update my belief in the target share. I still don't think this is an offense that's going to, you know, be in the top 10 in total points. Not that they couldn't be, but because of their defense. I don't think they will actually end up there. However, I do think that the slice of pie waddle gets from this offense is far larger than I thought early this offseason. Yeah, I mean, Peyton always gives me a little bit. I mean, I like the pick. I like, I like, I like Waddle. He's moved up in my rankings.
Starting point is 00:41:25 I like the idea that this is a superstar that we finally have where all the other receivers sort of blend together, don't they? They kind of blend into this. You just have wide receivers. That's what you have with Mims and Pat Bryant and Sutton and, you know, Franklin. Yeah, thank you. I know. That's the, you know, Jason likes Franklin. I like Pat Bryant, but it's like they have been searching. They've been searching and not finding. Because like Waddle, Waddle's best season was in 2022. Yes. And we are, we're a few years of away from that. Like, I won't, will you be happy with 10.1 fancy points for game in Denver?
Starting point is 00:42:04 Probably not. For Jaylon. No, I don't think so. And I was trying to look up where that would put him as a wide receiver. That's where he was last year. Obviously, it seems like he's more hurt than his numbers saying. Yeah, that part is true. It looks like he plays about 15, 16 games, but he only plays like half of half of them.
Starting point is 00:42:23 But, no, I like the pick. I think he needs to come up in my rankings. I like all the comments from. Peyton about high expectations. He said, I don't follow fancy football, but shoot, I'd try to have him. I think he's going to do well. But I also think that Sean Payton is kind of a very, he's one of the least predictable head coach is because he's willing to throw the ball to anybody anytime, hand the ball to anybody anytime.
Starting point is 00:42:47 That would be the back of my head fear. Remember back in the day, though, when Michael Thomas was part of the Sean Payton says, I mean, they had that guy who could win on both areas of the field. Yeah, yeah, that's what the hope is. Get him the ball every play. All right, we'll take a break. We'll come back with three more picks. All right.
Starting point is 00:43:09 Ice and Fire continues. I'm not going to leave you in suspense here. My fire pick is a mecca Abuka. Fire. Yes. Mecca. Let me get you there.
Starting point is 00:43:23 Emika a big boo. I'd be so sick if it was on the back of his jersey. We have spent a lot of time this offseason talking about Abuca about the end of the season and the bad scars and taste in your mouth because he was so terrible at the end of the year. If you want to know part of that equation, it was the fact that 27% of his targets were inaccurate
Starting point is 00:43:44 at the end of the year. That's the worst of any player in the National Football League. So do we hold Abuka to be the only one to blame for that? I think if your targets that are inaccurate, they're harder to catch. That's my analysis of the situation. I'm not a professional. Right.
Starting point is 00:44:02 But that sounds. pretty good. Did you ever catch any of my targets in flag football when they weren't near you? No. See, that's where my market research was. The uncatchable targets are very difficult to catch. Right. Nearly. Almost. Because of the un... Yeah. So he had 127 targets last year. Only 81 of those targets were catchable. So he was heavily targeted. We had such the, you know, so much excitement over the first half of the year. This is the second most fantasy points scored ever to start a career by a wide receiver. So everybody got on board. Everybody he's excited for the Hall of Fame career commencing. And then we got a really, really bad end of the season. Reasons being he hurt his hamstring in week six. That lingered.
Starting point is 00:44:42 Mike Evans got knocked out. He got moved to the ex position, which was tougher for him to execute on. I think that's what went into some of the uncatchable targets. And then we know that Baker Mayfield was absolutely damaged. You know, injury was the right word for Baker Mayfield, a couple of them. this offseason you're going to see
Starting point is 00:45:03 Emeka Abuka with the absence of Mike Evans blossom into the do everything wide receiver that this team needs. I think they have a top tier quarterback in Baker Mayfield. His skill set, he's going to be the Z receiver. He's lining up off the line. He's being moved all over the place. Zach Robinson is coming in.
Starting point is 00:45:22 Last year, like I said, lined up at the X for the majority of the snaps. He is much more versatile. You're going to have Chris Godwin in the slot. You're going to have McMillan and Ted Hurst at the X spot. And then Abuka is going to be your go-to player all over the field. And so I'm just so excited for the upside and potential for Abuka to really solidify himself as a top 12 receiver all year long.
Starting point is 00:45:47 Yep, not impossible. We've seen enough from him in those games to see what kind of a route runner he is. He understands everything about this offense. He knows how to track the ball. I'm just very, very excited for the for the future of a Mecca Abouca. And I think you do inherit in fantasy. One of the reasons I pivoted to him, I was thinking about going AJ Brown here.
Starting point is 00:46:10 I like A.J. Brown in New England. But I wanted to go with Abuka because I think you have a little bit of a discount here. You have a discount and it's the, you know, I don't know what he is discount. And so I think you should draw your conclusions from half a year of being one of the most successful rookies in the history of the game, that's a tremendously difficult thing to do.
Starting point is 00:46:33 You'll listen to this show the last 12 years. Most of the time we say, hey, watch out for the second half of the year for rookie wide receivers to get acclimated. This is what took place for a lot of players. What we meant for Abuka was, though, watch out. Right. In this situation, it's going to get you. Watch out for the second half of the year. You're going to start him a bunch of times that you wish you hadn't. But I don't think this guy stopped being a talented wide receiver. Everything from camp, healthy Baker. I'm really in on Abuka. I think this is an opportunity being drafted as the wide receiver 19
Starting point is 00:47:00 where you have top seven potential for a Mecca Abuka this year. So I want to jump back on that bandwagon, forgive the second half, and expect big things from an offense. I actually like. I mean, the offensive line's going to be a little bit better. Bucky Irving's going to be back. Play action. I think Abuka
Starting point is 00:47:17 could come out and be a dominator to start the year. His... I'm trying to remember where he was being drafted last year. Like, I don't think we're that far off. You know, where you weren't sure. You know he's the first round
Starting point is 00:47:32 and the pedigree and all that. He was, I think, like a six-round pick, and now you have at least some proof of concept. No, he's, he could be that player we thought he was, and he's still going in the fourth. I like the 80. It just seems like, I don't think that ADP is
Starting point is 00:47:48 going to change much. I don't, it shouldn't. And what was it? You know, the first half of the year last year, this was up over 15 fantasy points a game. Yeah, and the changes that happened midseason with the injuries around him, shifted him around. He's coming in this year being placed in the role that he is supposed to be playing,
Starting point is 00:48:11 that they drafted him to play and that he was really special. We all love the talent. I think we all forgive the injuries and expect the offense to be much better. You mentioned it, Andy, but I think it bears mentioning again, the offensive line for the Buccaneers are one of the fantasy storylines that really needs to be thought of more because this is a good NFL offensive line that had so many injuries last year that they were a bad. Like you only really look at the outliers. Middle of the pack is whatever.
Starting point is 00:48:44 This is a top offensive line that was a bottom offensive line, very similar to what we've been talking about with the Chargers. And so that changes things for a fantasy. offense. All right, Mike, why don't you go next and Jason can round us out. All right. You already got my fire pick. I think this is the one that has Andy a little bit flustered. Ice. My ice player for 2026 is Quinn Sean Judkins. Hmm. I haven't. What are you trying to do over there, Jay? You're just hitting a lot of buttons with getting no sound, Is he trying to cheer or is you trying to
Starting point is 00:49:26 I don't know He's just Oh the people hate it Well that's all right Like John Snow against the hoard I will Jason is booing it too or is he just He's booing me
Starting point is 00:49:38 I am booing Mike I think that I am much more on your side here Andy I haven't cried in a bunch of years But I feel like crying right now And it's I assume a lot of your arguments I'm made about H& But the ADP is the difference
Starting point is 00:49:51 So go ahead Mike They will be they are pretty similar bad team bad team quarterback but let's let's start with the actual player oh no
Starting point is 00:50:01 this is this one's good this one is you won't like these numbers oh I'm fight I'm really fine with you not liking him because he's on the browns I'm not going to be fine with what you say next these are just statistics
Starting point is 00:50:15 so you can get mad at that so rush success rate where I'm going to start with that and that's Sometimes it can get a little bit lost where you're like, what is that exactly? So rush success rate is based off of the down and distance, how many of the yards did the running back get? So whether a play gains at least 40% of the yards required on first down, 60% of the yards on second down, and then, of course, you need all the yards on third or fourth down. And this is the way we say, you know, yards per carry, it's not everything.
Starting point is 00:50:50 things happen. You know, you get a bunch of carries inside the... Also, historically not a valuable metric to look at for rookies. Right. Sometimes you're inside the five and you get some carries and it's like, oh, my yards per carry was down a little bit there. But here's the thing. Rush success rate is, like, this is based off of the flow of the game.
Starting point is 00:51:10 So, like if, you know, like I said, 40% of the yards are first down. If you look at rush success rate, out of 55 running backs. You got it? Fifty five! Is that the number? Judkins ranked 55. You think this man,
Starting point is 00:51:28 it cares about Rush success? He's trying to survive in Cleveland. This is the open plains, Mike. This is survival. It's bad. To not be like to have truly a lack of success on your carries. You'll get a big one every once in a while and you'll score some touchdowns. but we're talking about overall efficiency.
Starting point is 00:51:49 Like, you're absolutely just killing the offense. You can have players with a low yards per carry. So Emmanuel Wilson, under four, but a 58% rush success. Bayshalt-Tooten, 3.7, that's real bad, but a 58% rush success, even the much maligned Zach Charbonnet, where we're like, why do they keep putting in Charts? 48%. And here's Quinn Sean Judkins at the very bottom.
Starting point is 00:52:16 him at 41% of the time he's having a what you would call a successful rush. As a receiver, 33%. Only Devin Singletary was worse among qualified rookie running backs over the last decade. Efficiency-wise, he was lacking as the rookie, and I just don't see it changing for them. The Cleveland Browns, shockingly to me, the Cleveland Browns were a six and a half win total team, which is somehow better than the Miami Dolphins. getting with better. They are 30th in average. The Cleveland Browns are 30th in average implied total in
Starting point is 00:52:52 terms of the total points that will be scored in their games. Cleveland is favored in only two games this year and none after their week 11 by and the offensive line in consensus offensive line rankings around everywhere. Cleveland is dead last
Starting point is 00:53:08 in terms of what people are expecting from this offensive line. There was a point in your adoration for Kenneth Walker in which there were a lot of these numbers for you. But you believed in the player. And I admit it's going to be tough sledding for that offense. I think the Browns are going to be a better team than people expect.
Starting point is 00:53:30 Losing Miles Garrett. That's in the defense. The defense was number eight last year in fantasy points. They will not be number eight. They will still be a very good defense. They intercepted a lot of passes. They caused a lot of force fumbles. I know Miles Garrett dominates a lot.
Starting point is 00:53:45 much that is Miles. They didn't get nobody back for him. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you get Quinn coming in, and I think that they're going to be a better team than people expect. I do. Well, I... That part, Jason will disagree with you. I think they will be... But every year you get surprised by some teams that are supposed to be
Starting point is 00:54:02 basement dwellers. Plenty bad. And here's... Plenty bad is fair. The difference between A. Chan and Judkins. ADP, of course. You know, risk being baked into cost. But H.A.N. is in elite pass catcher. It is nice to have.
Starting point is 00:54:17 Is Jodkins an elite pass catcher? No. No, they've talked about him being three downs. Look, this is a belief in the talent of the player. The running back coach said he thinks he could be a three down running back. I mean, it's better than him not saying that. I mean, this offense also has actual, like, if you look at what happened last year, there's no one to throw the ball to.
Starting point is 00:54:37 Like adding Concepcion, adding Boston, having Fanon coming in here, they have some actual weapons. They actually have good players on this team. He's not going to be alone. Spencer Fano tackle with the ninth pick overall. So that offensive line hopefully is better than it was last year, even if it's... Yeah, this one just hurts my heart. I totally get it. I actually am more on his side solely because I think he is a good player.
Starting point is 00:55:01 A lot of those statistics and the yards per carry and stuff, I think if you go back and you watch the film, he was impressive. And if this offensive line is a little better, if Chador is better, and he should be in year two, I'm not going to be shocked. versus ADP. Let's just have that conversation. He is in the fifth round running back 22. I mean, I'm just, I'm all up in that. Yeah. At that point for a guy who can be a three down back. I knew it would be a tough day, man. I talked about therapist. I knew what was going on today. Last year, his rookie season, Quinchon Judkins, he got injured early in camp, didn't play week one, got worked back in a little bit in week two.
Starting point is 00:55:39 From that point until the game where he got unfortunately injured, he was playing a work. course role. He was on pace for 300 rushing attempts and yes, it was inefficient, but over a thousand rushing yards as a rookie. I mean, if he's being drafted at running back 22 and you have them as ice, you probably
Starting point is 00:55:58 have them below his ADP. I do. So then we can bet like a top 24 running back. That should be easy, you know? I mean, what you want? You're happy if you get a top 24? I had a Quinn Sean Judkins who's being drafted as running back 22? Well, let's go. Well, let's go
Starting point is 00:56:14 So where my mark is right now, 28. I'm confused now. That seems even better for me. Yeah, no, I did it backwards. You did. All right, fine, go top 24. I did it backward. This is where I'm...
Starting point is 00:56:29 Jason would have taken that bet. I saw it right away. I was like, here's where my mind is at. Here's where my mind is at because, and hey, Ryan Heath gets another shout out. I would have given you top 20. Ryan Heath, another shout out to him. Because we love Todd Monkins' offenses. Absolutely.
Starting point is 00:56:43 They produce fantasy points for us. in Todd Monkin offenses though a different player has led in rush attempts per game and targets per game yeah they have capable pass catchers that aren't quench on Judkins like Dylan Samson and one of the wild ones about this is uh hey you know
Starting point is 00:57:02 Doug Martin you know all the unfortunate stuff with Doug Martin but as a player RIP yeah in 2016 Doug Martin was averaging 16 rushing attempts per game and Charles Sims led the running back position at 4.6 targets per game. Doug Martin had a season of 70 targets.
Starting point is 00:57:21 This wasn't like he couldn't do it. They just changed. And then you've had, so Martin and Sims, Peyton Barber and Jaquiz Rogers, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, Gus Edwards and Justice Hill, and then of course Derek Henry and Justice Hill. This is a team that's going to be losing a bunch of games.
Starting point is 00:57:39 You like Javentz more than him? I'm just thinking about it. Yeah, I do. Like there's a handful of guys. that are probably in the not catching a ton of passes category. I was just curious where you might slot him. So it's like if they are losing, Samson's probably going to be on the field.
Starting point is 00:57:55 And Samson is just, he was a better pass catcher than he was last year. So that, like, there's just so many problems of how many touchdown opportunities, losing games, those types of things. And then opportunity cost,
Starting point is 00:58:07 the way I look at it right now, running backs going right behind Judkins, David Montgomery. I'll take Judkins every other week. I'll probably, I'll take Juddick. there. That's okay. But then it's Tutin, DeAndre Swift, and
Starting point is 00:58:20 Juddarian Price, all going after Quinchon Judkins. You would take Price over Judkins? I think, yeah. I mean, that's one I would easily go Judkins. Oh, I'll take, I'll take price. Where are you, Jay? I think I would go Judkins in most of those situations.
Starting point is 00:58:34 I like the player. I like the talent. And it doesn't cost much. Yeah, you do get discounts when they play for the Browns. Yeah. Well, let's let's talk, let's heat it up in here and talk about someone that I think we all like a dog absolute dog fire tyler warren uh tyler warren wolf wolf yeah i mean we you know some of these some of these tight ends out there they don't got that dog in them but tyler warren is a
Starting point is 00:59:00 yack master a yards after catch machine he breaks tackles he's a first read in their offense coming in the year two i believe he's the centerpiece of the colts offense you know it's jonathan Taylor as in the running game, but in the passing game, you know, right now the hotness is not Tyler Warren. It's Colston Loveland. It's the other year two tight end. However, statistically, like the better rookie season was Tyler Warren. I know Loveland got off to a slow start and had the playoffs that looked great, but Tyler
Starting point is 00:59:34 Warren was awesome, especially when he had Daniel Jones. And now coming into early in the offseason, it seemed like, well, we're not sure if Daniel Jones will be ready for week one. start the season on the pup. Daniel Jones is full go 11 on 11 from day one of training camp. And while he might not be as mobile and running for his own fantasy value as a passer, Daniel Jones for this offense, like Tyler Warren should be even used more. There's all the arguments of, you know, Andy is very in love with Alec Pierce because you have a lot of missing targets from Michael Pittman. I like Josh Downs and a lot of dollars.
Starting point is 01:00:12 but Tyler Warren is better than those guys. The argument over on the, you know, for the bears is like, well, is it Luther Burden? Is it, is it Rome? And it's probably Mr. Loveland. But I think if I'm competing with targets, Loveland and Rome is greater sign than Josh Downs and Alec Pierce. I mean, I agree with that. Yeah. So, so you have less competition. And this is playing for a team, in Shane Steichen who designs plays for players. Daniel Jones threw to his first read 77% of the time. Well, I'm saying that my point is the first read target, the plays.
Starting point is 01:00:58 He's going to build stuff specific to Tyler Warren. Yes. It just sounded funny like the other guys are drawn up plays for fans. I'm saying like specifically for a single player. Like this play design is to go to only. this guy, which you saw, I mean, by far the highest first read targets was Daniel Jones last year. And if you look at those games with Daniel Jones and the splits with Tyler Warren, up until week 13 of his rookie season, he was the tight end three in fantasy football. He was great. He was 10.7
Starting point is 01:01:31 a game at tight end as a rookie. We were at the point where we were like, we're going to do it again, like three straight years of the number one. Because we had, we had Leporta Bowers. We were like, Warren might be number one, which I think that's the biggest. question for people on your fire pick is, can Warren be number one? On the year, because I think that that, that says something. I believe Warren can be in the mix for number one. The reason I maybe don't think he can be number one is not anything to do with Warren. It's Brock Bowers.
Starting point is 01:01:58 I think Brock Bowers is going nuclear this year, and no one will be able to catch him. It will be a difference maker of like Travis Kelsey of Old where he's four points ahead of next. But I think Tyler Warren can be number two. I think Tyler Warren can go out and get 150 targets. and there's very few tight ends in the league. You're talking about Bowers. You're talking about Mick Bride. And I think Tyler Warren is in that realm of like the leader of the offense could be Tyler Warren.
Starting point is 01:02:21 Last year, you know, he was one of only four rookie tight ends with 70 catches and 800 yards. That was Bowers, Leporta, and Jeremy Shockey back in the day. And the end of the season was so bad because he's playing with Philip Rivers, Grandpa Rivers and the collapse of the Colts that were not hot and bothered. the way that when the bears go into the playoffs and all of a sudden you see the continued trajectory of Loveland, now everyone's like, oh, Loveland. So to me, Tyler Warren, who's being drafted last in this elite tier, he is the cheapest. You can grab a first round pick, a second round pick, a third round pick. Please your target in all those drafts because you just take the lowest. I love grabbing him.
Starting point is 01:03:01 I think he will be fire for fantasy this year. I don't disagree. What's going on back there? Are we doing good? We're good. I was just chuckling at Jason saying I love grabbing him. Oh, we're children. Yes.
Starting point is 01:03:16 I am a child. The people hate children. See, every once in a while, I mean, I see you working. When Jerry gets the giggles, it's almost always some inappropriate joke. I just wanted to make sure I was doing everything right over here. You're doing a great job. I was doing fine. No more throwing to the deucers.
Starting point is 01:03:34 I'm sorry about that. Yeah, it hasn't worked out. All right. Top 10 quarterback rankings, favorite late round picks coming up on. tomorrow's show. Wednesday, we got tight-in rankings, Thursday mock draft. A lot coming this week. Again, make sure you click subscribe. Follow the show. We're over on
Starting point is 01:03:51 X at the FF Ballers, Instagram.com slash fantasy footballers. Do it. As Jason said, do it. We'll catch you next time. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on Jointhefoot.com. Follow us on Twitter at the FF Ballers.

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