Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Mock Draft! + A Final Farewell - Fantasy Football Podcast for 5/21

Episode Date: May 21, 2024

It’s mock draft time! On today’s fantasy football podcast, Andy and Mike go head-to-head in a half PPR Mock Draft! Find out which picks lead to instant regret, and the biggest surprises from early ADP. Lots of advice for 2024 fantasy football drafts! Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for May 21st, 2024. Get the lowest price on the 2024 UDK at UltimateDraftKit.com - Dynasty Pass content available NOW with the UDK+ Connect with the show: Subscribe on YouTube Visit us on the Web Support the Show Follow on X Follow on Instagram Join our Discord Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by McDonald's. Monopoly is back at McDonald's, everybody. This is an alert. It's time to get back to Mickey D's. Monopoly Double Play is back at McDonald's, and it's easy to get into the win. First, you peel on pack, and then again in the app. There are millions of prizes to be won,

including a new chance to win cash every minute in the app. Get into the game with Monopoly Double Play at McDonald's. While supplies last, one in five chances to win game piece prizes at outset, chances to win Double Play prizes based on time of code entry, and draw prizes based on number of entries in each draw. See rules in the app. Get a credit card annual fee waiver and earn C-plus points faster with the Scotiabank Ultimate Package and bank more entertainment. Learn more at scotiabank.com slash banking packages. Conditions apply. Scotiabank. You're richer than you think. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.

Welcome in. Tuesday, May 21st. Mike, the fantasy hitman, right? I'm Andy Holloway. Jay Grizz back in the building. Uh-oh. Get it out of the way. I have no idea what you're talking about. Yeah, well, look.

Mock draft episode today. Sure to be interrupted. Jay Grizz. I'm Jay Grizz. I do feel better about the fact that that's been handled. It's sensational. I enjoy the drop very much. We knew that Jay Grizz was going to be here today. Yes.

So the fact that you guys had not upgraded to some sweet graphic stuff happening on the YouTube. Oh, yeah. Pretty disappointed. That's Ketron's fault. So no Jason this week. Pretty disappointed. Not disappointed in that.

Oh, no, that's great. Yeah. So Jason is enjoying a week away from the show before things get real. We've got 11 days until the Ultimate Draft Kit is out, which is exciting. So if you order it before June 1st, it's more exciting because you get the lowest price and you get some discounts. You get like a $10 gift card to Fantasy Champs and some money for our shop ballers and a free digital copy of our book and the lowest price, like I said.

So ultimatedraft kit.com it releases in 11 days Mike I am ready the ultimate tease Mike and I are going to be doing a head to head mock draft on the show today I am very excited for this the

if you hadn't noticed the the free rankings are live on the fantasyfootballers.com right now. Yes. So the three of us have our projections done. But what I have not done really is any mock drafting. No, me neither. Or I'm not really a best ball bro.

Shout out to all those, the D-gens who are hitting the street. Yeah, you're in it right now. I get it. But so I like ADP. I got no idea, man. Well, yeah, it'll be fun. And you and I are drafting at the two and three spot on today's mock draft. So, you know, be careful with your snipes because they're coming right back around to you in the next round.

So that'll be fun doing that today. We've got some news to talk about. A reminder, you can follow the show over on X. Now, you saw this. Yeah, yep. Even the domain is X.com. It's official. We are X.

Yeah, I guess. Whatever. Throw it up, Mike. It's just like, yeah. I mean, it's done. Follow us on Twitter. I saw the explanation, which was, you know, it's long gone are the days of like, what was the original character limit? 126?

140? Wait, one. I'm seeing nods, but we're saying different numbers. I thought it was 240. That was the expansion. Expansion. Do the 140. Kyle says 140.

Who knows? Whatever. It was very small. The explanation was that it's no longer a place with little short bird-like tweets of 140 characters. Now it's the place for everything, which is why X. You know what I mean? Okay. X encapsulates all.

At the FF Ball. If any social media site is just crushing Code Red Mountain Dew right now, it's X. X. It's extreme. At Andy Holloway. Follow us on Twitter. At F It's extreme. At Andy Holloway, at Jason FFL. Follow us on Twitter.

At FFHitman. And there you go. The community's jointhefoot.com. The free Discord channel, ballersdiscord.com. Mike, you're shaking your head still. You'll never recover. It's a very short domain. Very expensive.

It is. You know. Yeah. I mean, it's just so cool. Yeah. So cool. That's what I'm trying to domain. It is. X. It's just so cool. That's what I'm trying to say. Into the news we go. News and notes from around the league. Mike, prepare yourself.

Me, me, me. David Johnson. One more time. I Johnson. One more time. I know. One more time for the man. I know. The man, the myth, the legend. I needed to let it sit there because David Johnson has officially retired from the NFL after, look, they say eight seasons.

But it feels like three. Yeah. In a lot of ways. He burned too bright. If you have listened to this show, which is going into its 10th season, you will know that David Johnson has a very special place on this show. He was drafted 86th overall in 2015,

finished his rookie season as the RB8. He's actually in the Hall of Fame for some of his rookie numbers. 2016, the number one running back in fantasy. Yes, he was. Burn bright. And we had a lot of fun on the show with David Johnson. Good friend of the show as well. And then, well, we had Jason's 2017 attempt

at singing the David Johnson song, which you can go see it on Mike's. A fan of the show was kind enough to share it, so I retweeted. But it's one of the best moments of the show. Jason tried to sing, and it didn't work. So it was funny. But his 2016 year was an all-timer. The second best PPR season for a running back since 07.

Yeah, so like over the last 15-plus years. That's crazy. Yeah. McCaffrey has three of the top seven. Yeah, he does. Man, the 2016 David Johnson season was so much fun. He looked unstoppable. And we will remember his career fondly.

We'll bid you a fond farewell. Yeah, it went. It went quickly. But the man, he gave us some fantasy goodness. The man got some shmoney. Yeah, I traded for him right before 2017. Yeah, you did. And then he broke his hand, I think, in that Lions game.

Yeah, yep. And scored 10 points on the season. So that didn't work out. But it was a fun ride. We wish you the best, DJ. And, man, it's tough. You're a running back and you work your whole life. You get like four years.

And then you work four more years to get like a shot at doing anything. You did play for Houston for a couple of seasons. Pretty decent the first year in Houston. Yeah, not too bad. And then that's it. So the NFL schedule released last week, Mike. I like to make fun of the schedule release because it's a schedule release. Yep.

That's the main reason I make fun of it is it's a release of the schedule and then it's built up like it's a theme park ride. But then I realize after it happens, I'm like, ah, there's a lot of cool insights to this. The thing where I'm trying to look at some stuff, we're getting all of our tools ready for the Ultimate Draft Kit, looking at strength of schedule. And the thing that jumped out to me was Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions opened the season with two home games.

And, Kyle, it was the Rams and the Bucs. I want to make sure I'm remembering. Correct. Yeah, Rams and the Bucs at home. They will be favored. And it's just like there is an ejector seat in all single quarterback drafts that is Jared Goff. That no matter what your plan, like if your plan gets completely torpedoed, whoever, you know, when you were targeting a quarterback in the draft,

Jared Goff is going to be sitting there for you. Settle on Goff. Just to be sitting there for you. Settle on golf. Just two weeks of what should be magic because Goff at home, when he is favored, he comes through. It's like you do scientific experiments when you're growing up in school, and it was like under the right conditions, this amount of sunlight and this kind of fertilizer, life grows. And golf needs the right situation, and it works out. Also, we have two weeks at the end of the year, week 12 and 14. So I guess we skipped 13 there, where we have six teams on bye towards the end of the year.

So, you know, I'm fine with that, personally, to have the bipocalypse as late. I wish I had more insight into how do we have – so week seven, the Cowboys and the Bears. Yeah. Week eight, everyone plays. Week nine, the 49ers and the Steelers. And then you have these weeks where six teams are on by. I mean, honestly, with so many fantasy-relevant players

on both Dallas and San Francisco in particular, and you could even throw the Bears in there potentially this year, the fact that there aren't a lot of teams on by those weeks means that those upper-echelon players, you have better pivot options potentially. Right. The other side of the coin is your opponent might not have a buy, and you might have a buy with those players.

So all of our strength is schedule, tool, information. You can break that down in the UDK, and you can break it up into different chunks. We obviously use the data that we have from last year, and there's a lot of turnover, and those things get updated throughout the year as well. And then this is in here. I'm fine with it. Yeah. It's in here. Yeah fine with it yeah in here yeah uh good news mike

the pittsburgh post gazette reports naji harris has uh changed his diet and his workout routine to get him into the best shape of his life before the 2024 season which you know what i gotta hand it to him wait in three years to do this you know year four is the year when it's a contract season. Yeah, I agree. It's kind of funny to have gotten to this point for this to now happen, but I love it. It's part of my ethos is when a running back cuts weight before the season,

I'm excited about it. I think he desperately needed to do this. Oh, he's playing for his career. He did this. I mean, he's going to sit there as one of those down-to-the-wire-on-draft-day decisions, I think, for fantasy players. Yeah, that's fair. How does camp go?

Like you talk about, I guess we haven't mentioned it a lot this year, draft as late as you humanly can. Yeah. Our draft this year in League of Record for the first time ever is going to be before Thursday Night Football. And get as much information from camp and the way this Arthur Smith

offense is going to look because Najee's sitting there as a potential very high upside player. He's also a high risk player because Jalen Warren exists. Yep, I'm leaving the light not on. We'll go partially dimmed. This is not the fridge light, though.

No, no. I think there is a chance that Najee is, I mean, just where he's going to be going in the draft. You're not drafting him to be, like, the stud of your team. You're just drafting him to be a part of it. And will it work with Arthur Smith? And this is for his career. If Najee Harris has a good season.

Yeah, he'll go get a job. Well, I think that if he has a good season, I think the outcome is he gets a mid-level contract. He comes back to the Pittsburgh Steelers. If he has a bad season, I mean, it's... It's A.J. Dillon for life. It'll be over. I have to read this quote.

Okay. This is from Mark Cavill on X, Mike X. Okay. The cool place to be. Yep. So this is a senior Steelers writer for The Athletic. Give me the quote. What I hear coming out of Steelers camp is that, or out of the Steelers,

is that players absolutely love Arthur Smith's offense. One told me that it is unreal. It is. I mean, we're in agreement. It is unreal. Oh, man. It's unreal how wild it can get. No one sees it coming.

Yeah, Atlanta fans can attest to the unreal nature of it. So any other news that you guys have seen that you want to talk about? Anybody back there in Deucer's Alley? No? No, sir. Did you guys ever figure out how many characters in a tweet? Kyle was right. It's 140.

140. And then it went to 240 in 2017. And now it's everything. You can right. It's 140. 140. And then it went to 240 in 2017. And now it's everything. You can do whatever you want there. It's X. It's X. You can do what you want. It's time to mock draft! The Fantasy Footballers

Mock Draft. Well, it is a head-to-head mock draft. We had randomly selected draft spots, and we were assigned the two and three spot. I have the two, Mike with the three. We're drafting a 12-team half PPR, one quarterback, two running back, two wide receiver, one tight end, one flex, four bench.

And I've already clicked start on the draft, and Christian McCaffrey's off the board okay no surprises and so sitting at number two mike at number three very interesting to go through this exercise for the first time in a while first time since rookies have been a part of this uh the equation right we did a very early mock early rankings, but now we've done our player projections and we get to go ahead and jump in. And that's what mock drafting is all about. It's about experimenting with different philosophies, plans, game plans, see how things work out. So, you know, I think this is a place where a lot of people are going to have a tough decision to make in general with upper echelon wide receivers and cd lamb tyree kill jamar chase

and then that next tier of running back behind christian mccaffrey you know breeze hall bijan jameer gibbs and so on my philosophy has not changed in recent years i i want to find the backbone of my team at the running back position okay Okay. I recognize that there is, I think, less risk to taking a Tyree Killer or a CeeDee Lamb here, but that is not what I'm going to do. I'm going to take my number two overall running back with this selection, and I'm going to kick off my roster here with Brees Hall.

Okay. Brees Hall at number two. I had no idea which direction you were going to go because at least last – Are you talking positionally? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, positionally.

Last year, you know, the community, we really only had the faith in Christian McCaffrey. So it was McCaffrey and then there was a run. There was some Eckler. Oh, yeah, no, yeah. There was some Eckler. Okay, okay. I couldn't remember who it was. It was Eckler.

We've tried to forget, but it was indeed Eckler fought there at two. I couldn't remember who it was. It was Eckler. We've tried to forget, but it was indeed Eckler. And then there was a huge run of wide receivers, which I will start the run. Okay. Between, to me, it's Tyree Killer, CeeDee Lamb. And CeeDee Lamb is currently my number two wide receiver. I really didn't think he would be. That's where the projections brought him into.

He's number two for UNI, and I think Jason has him at one. Okay. I mean, he was an absolute monster last year, so maybe what I'm saying, a guy who had 135 catches, almost 1,800 yards and 12 touchdowns, it was just because the run was so incredibly hot when the change happened really basically since the bye week. How can this possibly continue?

And when you really dive into Dallas and everything that they have done this season or during the offseason, I don't know how it doesn't or at least attempts to keep it going. Again, I always have focused with CeeDee Lamb on the fact that, yes, he had a great run to end the year, but it's not to end the year. It was week six on. That's five weeks where it wasn't great. Right. And the rest of the entire year, that's two-thirds of the season.

I just wanted to talk to CeeDee real quick. That's in your thought process. I am still going to take Tyreek at number 103. You'll stick with your rankings there. You went wide out. I went running back. CeeDee Lamb goes four. Jefferson five. Holy wide receivers. Chase six. I think you're going to see that a lot.

Team seven took Bijan and then you go Amon Ra and A.J. brown so six out of seven to finish um oh no i just didn't have the screen over enough okay wow i was like this is not an eight team draft so yeah we went tyreek cd jefferson chase one running back in there bijan and then aman ra aj brown puka nakua garrett wilson marvin Marvin Harrison. So Harrison goes in the first, and you have, what is that, nine wide receivers and one running back after your pick, Mike? Yeah.

That's crazy. That's a wild run. It makes me feel good about taking the wide receiver, but the – It makes me feel terrible about taking the running back. I was going to say, the tier terrible about taking the running back I was gonna say the the tier though of running back uh it it is pretty dried up already just with with the handful of names who are gone and Marvin Harrison going in the first man are you are you look comfortable with that I want to look at where who is taken over so I'll read you the second round and then

we'll talk about it. After Harrison, you got a run on running backs, which by the way, Jameer Gibson's up in the second round here. Saquon, Gibbs, Kyron, Taylor. And those four players, I could see a lot of fantasy players not knowing which one's going to outperform the other, putting them in the same bucket

and that's why the priority on wide receivers might have happened. Then Devontae Adams, Drake London, Josh Allen goes 207, Olave, and Ayuk. So a lot of wide receivers off the board. So, yeah, Harrison over Adams, I'm cool with that. That's fine. Harrison over London, fine with that. Olave, Ayuk, yeah, not a big deal.

Harrison in the first isn't going to happen very often because Taylor, Kyron, Gibbs, or Barkley, one of those or two of those guys are going to go in the first most often. And then you would have been talking Harrison somewhere in the first part of the second round or the middle second round. So the run on wide receivers is what changed that to me. I don't think he's in the wrong spot. I mean, that puts him at nine, and he's ranked in my rankings at nine,

that wide receiver. It's so tough. So I'm on the clock here. But I can't imagine taking him at nine, and he's ranked in my rankings at nine, that wide receiver. It's so tough. So I'm on the clock here. But I can't imagine taking him over like Gibbs. Right. Like it happened in this draft. At the running back position, we have A-Chan here, Josh Jacobs, Travis Etienne, King Henry.

So, I mean, it's kind of a tier of players that I feel like with my short turn, I can choose to pass on that. And at the wide receiver position, Stephon Diggs and his name power is pulling himself up here at the top. Pittman is, I don't know if he's in consideration. He's not. Evans after last year. Nope.

For this point of the draft with the wider series available for me it's nico collins or debo samuel i have debo higher in my projections i think that they are both riskier players at this point i think you could take a safer pick because there's look there's a chance that nico had the best year of his career, and Debo just fluctuates up and down. But I'm going to go Debo. I'm going to stick with my rankings here. I'll start with Tyreek and Debo, and I am pretty happy about that. Yeah, so Tyreek and Debo Samuel.

I have Breece Hall here. You mentioned A-Chan. My running back five is still on the board. And there are seven running backs gone. Travis Etienne is my running back five. I don't love Diggs. I don't...

Universally, we're all pretty lower on Diggs than what seems to be out there. The wide receivers have thinned so dramatically already in this draft. There are 14 wide receivers off the board. So, you know, I'm going to take my RB5, and I'm a quick turn here. So I'll take what's left of wide receiver and look at my other options.

It might even be as high as going a Jalen Hurts. We'll see. And you'll find out right after we come back. All right. My cast, Tyreek Hildeboe, Samuel with his first two picks. I went Brees Hall and Travis Etienne with my first two picks, opting for Etienne over the more volatile Devon Achan based on my rankings.

Achan is just the worst. He's the worst. I just feel like the potential for disappointment is tremendous. Oh, it's massive. It's ridiculous. Humongous, right? Yeah. The risk on A-Chan is outrageous. The risk of not picking A-Chan is just as outrageous.

That's what I'm saying. The situation is, he has to be amongst the most exciting players to find out what actually happens in 2024. So A-Chan and Diggs went next, and I'm back on the clock, and I have a long, long wait. All the tight ends are still available. So Mr. First Round Travis Kelsey is sitting there in the third. McBride and Laporta in third.

Here's what I'm looking at at Wider Series. Tell me if you agree with this. There's a bunch of names that, you know, the sleeper ADP has near the top, like Nico Collins and DJ Moore, Mike Evans. Evans is the next highest on my rankings. But then if you were to go down a ways and you look at the Devante Smiths or DK Metcalfs,

I think those guys could be maybe in a very similar tier as the names that are way up high. I mean, Waddle's still there and Pittman. I'm very tempted to test the waters on seeing what kind of wide receiver comes back around to me. And take what? Are you going high T? I could go Jalen Hurts. I could go Travis Kelsey T? I could go Jalen Hurts. Okay. I could go Travis Kelsey. Or I could go back to running back and go high T with a Derrick Henry. Do you still have Kelsey as your number one?

Travis Kelsey is sitting at one. Okay. Is he your number one? He is not. Who's your number one? Laporta? Scoring format matters. Kate Otten?

It's between my guy, Trey McBride and Mark Andrews At number one And That's so that's that's pretty Different The numbers Of the numbers my man Well look I guess I didn't know what your numbers were

So I got that old man that old busted tight end At number three Travis Kelsey where's Evan Ingram I got that old man That old busted tight end at number 3 Travis Kelsey? Where's Evan Ingram? Why are we jumping right to Evan Ingram? It's the third round Because I want to know where you disrespected him compared to me Your guy?

Your guy? My guy? Well not just mine, Jay Grizz loves him too I have him currently at number 5 Do you? Yeah. Wait, where do you have? Now this is a tight end situation.

Where's Laporta? Four. Oh, okay. That seems fine. All right. I got him at tight end 13. I'm really having a hard time here. You are struggling.

I really am. I've been talking about other stuff. Don't worry about my draft pick. I want to talk about Mike's tight end rankings. I'm going to take Jalen Hurts. Okay. I'm going to take Jalen Hurts at 302. Because I have

Allen and Hurts in their own space. Ahead of Mahomes and ahead of Dak and Lamar. I didn't have to be the first to take one. I take the last one in the top tier in the third round, and I'm going to see how it rolls. I've got a lot of consistency in Etienne and Breesall.

I hate what you have done to me. Okay. Because my draft was it's two players. Okay. It's Isaiah Pacheco, who I love this year. He is firmly inside my top ten. I think that he should see workhorse usage. And assuming the Kansas City Chiefs don't bring back McKinnon,

like shock us with something with a late addition, if you get Pacheco more involved in the passing game, which he was already seeing some work towards the end of last year, I think he could be an incredible pick. And he's got juice. And then you have Rashad White, who drafting him in the third round, despite what my rankings are telling me to do, that feels terrible. You have a long wait like I do.

I'm taking a running back yeah you have to now you have you got derrick henry sitting there too yeah he's he's a little bit lower than these other guys because i yeah pacheco and rashad white to me we'll see we'll see three down usage rashad white mean i pointed out because i think a lot of people are going to be sitting there in this situation with the big name of Derrick Henry and passing on Derrick Henry for some of these other players may be difficult

I like Derrick he is my running back 10 but Rashad White is at 7 Pacheco is at 9 and I'm just more confident in their usage but so for White yeah they brought back Chase Edmonds and the rookie By irving is there so maybe he sean tucker maybe he's all hype video of him too i the sean tucker that's it feels like

that's past now uh but oh god all right i'm taking rashad white that's so disgusting um So you're actually just unhappy with how it feels. Yeah. RB1, Rashad White. It felt great if you drafted him. Last year it would have been incredible. Mike Wright and Rashad White. Partners in crime.

Laporta goes next. So the tight ends were going to go off the board. Then Evans, Henry, Kelsey, Nico. Jacobs goes at 309. He'll be a very polarizing pick. Malik Nabors at 310. Nabors would have been somebody I would have loved to have slipped, but we are drafting at the front of these rounds, and it's a long wait.

Lamar goes next. Then DJ Moore rounding out the third round. Pittman, Waddle, Mahomes, Pacheco. Not too far from Pacheco falling to you, Mike. Yeah, that would have been awesome. Stroud goes next, and then four wideouts just to twist the knife in my decision-making. Kupp, Devontae Smith, Flowers, and Keenan Allen,

which puts you back on the clock. You have Tyreek Debo and Rashad White. So looking at what's happening right now, Trey McBride and Mark Andrews are both still there. It's pretty appealing to go after one of them. I have the short weight. Strategy-wise, I would look at what you guys have done, what the edge has done.

Andy already took a quarterback. That's not going to stop you from getting a tight end. That's not going to stop me from taking a second quarterback. I was like, yes, it will. That will stop me. I'd put that close to 0% of a second quarterback. But going with a onesie and how long you have to wait, it would be

a bold decision for your team. Atlanta wanted me to take a second quarterback, by the way. Their GM just called me. Dude, just in case. Just in case my first guy goes down. Are you going onesie? I'm trying to work through it. Those two tight ends are there, but then at the running back position, Kenneth Walker, he's still available.

Still there. It's hard for me to – James Cook. It wasn't great last year for Walker, but he's still young and has upside each and every week. But the rest of the running backs are okay as well. So, I mean, let's – I think I know what my next pick wanted to be, though. So, I don't know.

Whatever. Whatever. Well, you're not – you got to give some names to the listeners. Well, I don't want – oh, yeah, you took your quarterback. It's Anthony Richardson. In the four. No, with my next pick in the fifth. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. I won't take him. I promise. I promise. But, like, I'm weighing – that's part of the weighing it. You don't want team one to hear you. That's part of weighing it with the tight ends. Like, if I take –

You can't go double onesie is what you're not going to do here. I don't want to. Because then Rashad White is just your guy. Yeah. Yeah. That seems terrible. But maybe we'll do it anyways. Whatever.

I'm going to take Trey McBride. Trey McBride. All right. Off the board. Let's find out what happens. Mike's immediate reaction went to intently glancing at the board. Look, I love how this has dropped for me. There are, I would say, three wideouts that I'm very cozy with right here.

And so I'm going to take DK Metcalf with the first pick, and then I'm going to see Mark Andrews go and take Dell go. And I'm back on the clock, and it's T. Higgins, Amari Cooper. Those are the two names. Right now I have T. Higgins. Let me see how close. They're both very close. Oh, are they? It's not close for me. You have Higgins. Let me see how close you are. They're both very close. Oh, are they?

It's not close for me. You have Higgins higher? Yeah. Yeah, I do have. I've got them very close. Pickens is there just to fill out the names that I would be looking at. Pickens, I think, will have a level of probably underdrafted nature to him. Pickens is very interesting to me at this point.

And there's one other name that I think will be, it looks to be underdrafted based on current ADP, but I think Calvin Ridley is going to be very under, and this is the challenge for me right now in this draft,

is I actually have Calvin Ridley ranked higher than I do T. Higgins. Yeah. But Calvin Ridley's ADP right now is way down. Well, there's also just like rankings are – the way I use my rankings and my projections, it's a guide for me. The projections is you're looking at a more of a median outcome of more so than projecting or statting out a true outlier season.

That's why we have in our rankings, that's why we have our risk rating, and that's why we have our upside ranking, because there's some players you can't give them. I mean, even guys like Tyreek Hill, it's like statting a guy out for 1,700 receiving yards, that feels pretty wild. That feels like you're just like, I'm not being realistic, and yet they do hit those marks. So that's the difference between the rankings and the upside.

To say all that, I'm not going wide receiver after looking at this board. I'm going to wait because there is a chance that Calvin Ridley, who I would love to have as my wide receiver too, comes back to me. And I think there's some other interesting names down that list that I'm comfortable with. But what I can't get is my RB9 in the fifth round unless I take James Cook right here. And that is what I'm going to do.

James Cook in the fifth round. You just want to be disappointed? I have him ranked at RB9 just behind Rashad White. You had to take Rashad White at 303. Yeah. I just got James Cook at 5'2". Well, that's because he's way lower in my rankings. Oh, and they're using yours?

Yeah. Look, there you go. DK Metcalf. I think I can get Calvin Ridley next round. I'm going to play that gamble. See if he gets through me. Well, he might not get through you. Don't. And now that I had some time to

sit on the thought process of I took Trey McBride in the fourth, I do really want Anthony Richardson. You won't get him if you don't take him here. I want exposure to him, but I got Trey McBride and our other big value quarterback at this moment is Kyler Murray.

You're going to try to wait for him? Yeah, I'm going to wait for Kyler, try to get that stack going on. And the running backs are about to go to the Phantom Zone, so I'm going to take Kenneth Walker. Kenneth Walker is a great pick there. Thank you. So impressed with you. Kenneth Walker, James Cook in the fifth round.

Those seem like wild values to me. Burrow goes next, then Kincaid, Higgins, Kamara, Mixon, Pitts, Pickens, Connor and Kittle to finish the fifth round. Aaron Jones at 6-0-1. What's your reaction to Aaron Jones at 6-0-1? Dude, he is he is one of those real mystery players

of I think that Aaron Jones still has juice left despite him being at the age where he should not for the running back position I'm on the other side I think that the beginning of the end is happening I think he has juice, but I

just we've talked a little bit about it, but that we're in agreement that Ty Chandler will get more run than people are counting on right now. For sure. Aaron Jones, to me, it feels like a more uninspiring pick. I don't know that it's bad,

but just sometimes you want to draft guys where you really believe that the true upside is there. So I'm more of a pass on Aaron Jones, but in the sixth, I don't think it's terrible. Amari Cooper, Roma Dunzay, Anthony Richardson, Mike, he is gone.

Rashi Rice in the sixth right now. Montgomery, Ingram, my tight end three. Jordan Love, and DeAndre Swift. I think that's a good pick at 609, DeAndre Swift. And then, Mike, you're back on the clock right now with Tyreek and Debo, Rashad White and Kenneth Walker, Trey McBride,

and do you gamble with Kyler Murray? I'm going to gamble one more time because I know you won't take him. Dak. We'll see. We'll see. Dak is sitting at the top of the ADP. Not that that is every – I mean, it's a one-player buffer, so it is certainly playing with – it's playing a little bit of a dangerous game there.

I'm trying to look over at my wide receiver rankings to see who I would like to take at this point. And, I mean, he's at the top of the ADP, and he's at the top of the rankings where I would want to take him. I'm going to take Christian Kirk. I think that Kirk is – I think he's being undervalued for, like, yes, the big splash.

Gabe Davis is there. Brian Thomas is there uh brian thomas is there i like brian thomas a lot yeah i i don't i think he's a fine player but it's like christian kirk tried and true he's just he is established i mean we had the week one disaster of last year and then christian do you have your rankings up you're with your staff projections yeah i can pull i want to i'm curious how many total fantasy points you have Christian Kirk projected for in half point. 194. Okay, I've got him at 170.

So I like him a bit more. Yeah, and I got Brian Thomas at 190. So I actually like Brian Thomas more. You're taking Brian Thomas to be their wide receiver one? Well, I think that's a difference of semantics a little bit. For fantasy. Fantasy production. They're high scoring fantasy wide receivers. Yes, I do that's a difference of semantics a little bit. For fantasy. They're highest scoring fantasy wide receivers. Yes, I do.

Wow. Yeah. I don't have that at all. Clearly. Hey, guess what? I do have Calvin Ridley, though. He goes at 6'11", alongside Matt Caff as my wide receiver, too. I think Ridley's going to have a great-

Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no! Mike is no. Oh, no. Mike is screeching because he took Christian Kirk. I took Christian Kirk. What a stupid pick. And Kyler Murray goes after Calvin Ridley, and he loses out because he gives me a big talk about Christian Kirk.

You know how boring that Christian Kirk pick was compared to getting your. That pick sucks. Your stack. That pick is terrible. Team one is actually Jay Grizz. What in the world? So, Kyler Murray. What are you doing, team one?

They needed a quarterback. I'm shocked you didn't take him. They also had the onesie position. Xavier Worthy goes next. What a load of crap. And I'm back on the clock. Gosh darn it. That is so upsetting.

Yeah, you don't get your stack at all. I have Brees Hall, Travis Etienne, and James Cook at running back, Jalen Hurts at quarterback, Metcalf and Ridley. And I can come back to the wide receiver position again here, which is what I'm looking to do, and I'm going to take Brian Thomas. I'm going to take the better of the two wide receivers. You took the one instead of Kyler, and then I'm taking Brian Thomas now. We can put that one on the board.

Oh, do we want to do it? Please, please. You didn't like Brian Thomas very much anyway, right? I thought he was okay. Let's do it. I'm in love with Brian Thomas. I think he's going to immediately be their guy. Okay.

Well, let me ask you this question. calvin ridley was still in jacksonville and nothing had changed would you have taken kirk or ridley uh man i haven't really haven't put thought into that i probably because it's a hypothetical so if you had put thought into it that would have been a weird thing to have done well sometimes people have a nice thought experiment um it would have been really close i probably people have a nice thought experiment. It would have been really close. I probably would have gone Calvin Ridley just for a bit more upside. Yeah, and so that's the fact that you're even there

in that discussion. That's how I view Brian Thomas. But Calvin Ridley, I know that he's good. See all that money he got? I know Brian Thomas is good. I know he's is good. I know he's a good college player. If it matters to you, he's third in total

receptions. Does that make you feel any better? Evan Ingram's number one on my list. Christian Kirk, 80 receptions. Brian Thomas, 74 but for 1,200 yards. I think Brian Thomas is a monster. We'll see. Look, we can talk about it a lot

and now we have a bet so here you're up again and I'm sure you're taking Kyler it would have been great it would have been great so what did we learn today Mike Christian Kirk is not the answer is what we learned

when you have the chance for the stack don't throw it away for Christian Kirk that not the answer is what we learned. Yeah, when you have the chance for the stack, don't throw it away for Christian Kirk. That's the lesson. Look, I'm a gambling man sometimes, and unfortunately when you gamble, you can't lose. Yes, you can. Otherwise it wouldn't be called gambling. Most of the time.

I'm going to give you a second to think here. We'll take another quick break and come back with what looks to be your seventh pick in this draft. Alright. I just got word from Team 1, Mike. Very pleased with their pick of Tyler Murray. Great value at 6-12. I'm so happy for them.

You have Tyreek Hildeboe, Samuel, and then Christian Kirk at your wide receiver position. Rashad White, Kenneth Walker, and then Trey McBride. You're on the clock here with your third pick in the seventh round. So the wide receivers to me were in a looking for upside, just hoping you're going to get some volume. Guys that I don't have like, have full confidence and love. I get – really every position is that,

but there's the tier of wide receivers to me, they're grouped together. So give me some names that you don't have confidence and love. Well, I'm just saying, like – Hollywood Brown. I can push and wait. Terry McLaurin. Yeah, Deontay Johnson. Maybe he gets that Adam Thielen target share that started last year for Carolina.

Jackson Smith and Jigba is still a very talented wide receiver. What about rookie consideration here? Do you like Ladd McConkie? Do you like Keon Coleman's opportunity as the one potentially in Buffalo? Yeah, all those guys have a level of interest to me. And then over at the running back position, I guess Mostert is there as well. Mostert's sitting there. have a level of interest to me. And then over at the running back position, excuse me, I would... I guess Mostert is there as well.

Mostert's sitting there. But I would narrow it down into Tony Pollard, who got the money from Tennessee. And despite the massive sadness that he caused for the fantasy football community, the second half, he was a much better player. Watching him on the field, you still didn't get what you wanted for fantasy, but I think there is a chance that

he is 60 plus percent of Tennessee and it's kind of the game. What if Tennessee's offense, what if it works? All the money and the investment that they put into it. Najee, I'm okay with it here. But then the other name who is fascinating to me is Zamir White for the Las Vegas Raiders. This is a player that we have a massive disparity of opinion. Jason and I are on one side. Mike is on the other side.

You're on the bullish side of Zemir White. I'm like he's not, again, he's not projected. It's a chance to add a second player with the last name of White to your roster. Does that change your opinion? No, but maybe it's funny that you could be, well, I ever shot White and I was Zemir White, and I'm like, ugh, kind of feels a little gross for both of them. But the workload that Josh Jacobs got last year, inefficient as he was, he was still getting crazy amounts of volume.

And then Amir got that exact same volume when he took over for the last four games of the season. He was far better than Josh Jacobs. The competition right now is Zemir White and Alexander Madison. So you're thinking Madison here? Obviously. But, like, does Zemir White, are we set up for him to be 65-plus percent workhorse?

And we just, so a problem, problem so philosophically just thinking about these running backs going here is we don't we don't know yet is Amir White good or bad right like I don't think we've seen enough of him on the field to make an assessment in my opinion and look I agree with that I just hope it is applied to the last four games that reality yeah no but it's it it's it could be there and when you're in the dead zone you don't don't be drafting players where you feel like i know that that he's not a great player yeah that's that's what i'm saying i get it i get it so who's gonna be your selection here i'm gonna go i'm gonna go as Demir White.

I'm going to take him in the seventh. I think that's a pretty good value for a starting running back. It became a run of running backs after that. Ramondre, Najee, Javante. Then Dak goes, so you don't get him either. McLaurin, Addison. Don't worry, bro. My thumb is on the button.

This is the first time I've ever seen Hollywood Brown's name in there as Hollywood on Sleeper. Do you see this? Wait. They officially did it? Look at 7-10. Hollywood Brown goes. H. Brown. I've never seen that in my life.

Jaden Reed goes at 7-11. Honestly, Jaden Reed probably would have been my pick instead of Brian Thomas, according to my rankings. But I wanted to talk about Brian Thomas, so I drafted him. Caleb Williams goes 7-12. Godwin, Pollard, Mostert, Chubb. That'll be an interesting player to watch. Bowers, Watson, Deontay Johnson, Eckler, and then Hopkins. So I am – oh, you're on the clock, actually.

I am on the clock. Samir White was your last pick, and you're back on the clock i am on the white uh was your last pick and you're back on the clock and i feel great because the the uh the wide receiver tier did not get completely destroyed uh you you might be looking at my team saying i still don't have a quarterback uh and i think every single other team has was looking at your team and i was thinking, this guy don't have a quarterback. Yep. Yeah, yeah. And some of the bots here, it is very possible that they take a second quarterback. But I think I'm okay, at least for this pick. Let's find out, shall we? Oh, my gosh.

Let's run it back, baby. Who are you taking? I'm going to take Keon Coleman. Yeah. I will take the rookie from Buffalo. JSN is in strong contention right there, but it's the – what if Coleman is the number one wide receiver for Buffalo? What if that happens?

Honestly, I think that there is a – I think there's a strong chance that it ends up being Curtis Samuel, but I'm going to take the risk right here on the rookie as because if that hits that's that's a just a monster pick in the eight. It's a great pick. I love Keon Coleman. I love him on

film. My pick here. I'm going to I'm going to not do what you did. There's one there. There's an my my Titan six my Titan 6. My Titan 6 is available. And he's available – how many are off the board now?

That's nine. Nine have gone off the board. He's my Titan 6, and he had an incredible finish to the season last year. Yeah. Did he get that quarterback back? No. Oh, that's weird. I'm taking David Njoku here, knowing that I'm going to lose a couple picks and then I'm back on the clock.

McConkie and Romeo Dobbs go next. So JSN's on the board for me. When I look at wide receivers, Xavier Liget, Troy Franklin. Which we did. That is straight from the man. Yes, it is Liget. Troy Franklin. Which we did.

That is straight from the man. Yes, it is Liget. He says it's Liget. That's how we will be pronouncing it. Jalen Warren. Jonathan Brooks. Those are both interesting names. Yes.

Those are probably finalists right now. Devin Singletary, a starter. Gus Edwards. Yeah, a starter. Gus Edwards, a starter. I haven't taken a running back while James Cook in the fifth. Man. Because I think I have a lot of strength in Breeze Hall,

Etienne, and Cook. I'm going to go for the upside here and I'm gonna give jonathan brooks a shot i'm gonna take bro okay jonathan brooks in the ninth round instead of going with like a committee back that's never gonna crack the roster i'm gonna go with a player that i want to see if they can emerge get involved in the passing game of dan can uh of dave canalis and uh that puts you back on the clock jsn still available jonathan Jonathan Brooks there I think is worth it. Your team is strong at the running back position.

Coming off the ACL tear, who knows when Brooks will be available, but it should be his job when he's ready to go. So I don't mind that there. The running back situation at this point is really interesting. And you still need a quarterback. Yeah, Jared Goff will be. We're going to make you draft one. Jared Goff will be here soon.

Zach Moss. Oh, man, I can't wait until he goes. Cannot wait. Let's look. Brock Purdy, Tua, Jared Goff, Jaden Daniels. Oh, they're all going before you're next. Justin Herbert. If Trevor Lawrence is your starting quarterback,

I will rejoice and sing songs. He will not be. He will not be my starting quarterback. But that's five quarterbacks that I am happy to go into week one at least with. But Zach Moss on the Bengals. Yeah. That one's hard too. Because it's like –

Chase Brown, yeah. But no, is Zach Moss good or bad? As a running back? Yeah. He's mid. Okay. He's a medium – he's a get-you-by guy. That's what I'm going to call it.

Okay. Zamir White, get-you-by guy. That's what these guys do. They're durable enough to make it through a season and smart enough to run through the holes presented, but they don't make big plays and they aren't the reason you win. How do you feel about Joe Mixon?

Like his talent level now? I still think he is superior to those two players. By what margin? Not much. Okay. So that's the question. And if Zach Moss is anything close to what Joe Mixon was able to give the Cincinnati Bengals, what was Mixon's finish last year?

Five. Or wait, no, that's too high. I don't think that's too high. Was that finish last year? Five. Or wait, no, that's too high. I don't think that's too high. Was that what it was? Five. Five on the dot. We're factoring in week 18 in that because he was the running back four. Was that Kyle chiming in there?

It was. Now, how is your emphysema, Kyle? Are you getting that treated? Trying to cut back. Okay. Stay safe. Yeah. Get under 10 packs a day.

Dude, the running back five. Yeah, on the... Stay safe. Yeah. Get under 10 packs a day. Dude, the running back five. Yeah, I know. And that opportunity is available. And Gus Edwards, it's the same thing of Jim Hardog and the high-T approach that him and Giro are going to be putting out there. It's not about... Here's the difference. Okay.

The difference between Joe Mixon and those two players is commitment. It's the fact that if Joe Mixon plays bad, he's the, he was still the guy in Cincinnati. If Zach Moss plays bad, he's not. If Zemir White plays bad, he's not.

That's the only difference between those two players is that you could lose the spot. Yeah. Yeah. You definitely could. The upside. Um, and,

uh, I'm going to, I'm going to risk. I want a JSN on my team last round, so I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to take him here. Wasn't an option for me with Metcalf already on the roster. Yeah, I get that. Ferguson, Purdy goes.

Moss, Benson, Warren, Edwards, Gus in the ninth, nice value. Goddard, Hawkinson. Uh-oh. Adonai, Mitchell. Uh-oh. Jamison, Williams. Oh, come on! Yes!

For those listening, Jared Goff goes one pick before Mike. Tua's already off the board. Come on, man! A nice backup quarterback for Team Four. Woo! Fool me once, fool me twice.

Trevor Lawrence should be your quarterback at a penalty. I had to do it. Trevor Lawrence should be your quarterback at a penalty. I had to do it. Jared Goff, Tua, and Purdy all go before your pick, Mike. You are back on the clock. You can roll the dice with Herbert and the high-T offense. You can shut your mouth. I'm taking Jay Daniels.

Oh, baby. Oh, baby. How's it feel not getting any of the quarterbacks you want? No, Jay Daniels was in the crew. Jared Goff was the one I wanted, but in the list of – Oh, yeah. I listed off five. We got there.

Well, we are – I got my final two picks here. I'm going to take Xavier Liget. Okay. So, back-to-back Panthers, that's got to be good, right? And then Spears and Herbert. Yeah, what could go wrong? Off the board, and it's back to me. I like taking Brooks and Liggett with the two of my last three picks.

A reminder, everyone out there, you end up dropping a player to participate in the waiver wire. I want to see if I can catch lightning in a bottle for the first couple of weeks. Sure. I don't want to be taking a player that I'm like, oh, ho-hum, they could be good. I could take a player like Ty Chandler, and he could be more involved in week one. And if he's not, I could dump him. That's an option. I could go Tyler Lockett with the final pick of the draft out of pure respect for the man

because him going undrafted. What a downfall. What a downfall for Tyler Lockett in ADP. He got paid in this offseason. Last year was terrible for what we were expecting. Not going to argue with that at all. But it was, I guess we're watching Locke and say it's happening. He has lost a step.

But if he hasn't really lost the step, we're just one year removed from a string of fantasy dominance. So I won't take him because I have DK Metcalf. Yeah, also makes sense. Zeke is near the top of my list just to take the flyer on what that breakdown looks like in Dallas because it should matter. It's going to be one of the best offenses in football. Or you can roll the dice with Rashid Shaheed, a wide receiver too there. Dallas because it should matter. It's going to be one of the best offenses in football. Or you can roll the dice with Rashid Shahid, a wide receiver too there.

Jalen Polk. Sure. In New England. That's where I'm going. I'm going Jalen Polk. Oh, you're going Jalen Polk. Yeah, I'm going to go the double rookies at the end and see if one of them pops off in the beginning. And otherwise, I'm going to go to the waiver wire and find the best option. Mike, you are on the clock.

You can select another quarterback. I think Trevor Lawrence is still there. No, I'm good. I know the direction I'm going because you've kind of laid out everybody who was there. This player is no longer a rookie, and this counts for double because this player last year was drafted to be a number one wide receiver.

He was awful. Oh, are you doing it? He was just awful. And I'm talking about Quentin Johnston. Yeah. The opportunity in front of him is really not one I think we saw coming. We thought it would be one. It would be Keenan or Mike Williams and Quinton this year.

And now it's Quinton and Joshua Palmer. And Ladd McConkie. Yeah, they did add Ladd McConkie. But point being, of any veteran experience, it's those guys. And if he's bad week one, how good is that drop going to feel? Oh, yeah, double. If he's good, it's great. I knew it. I never doubted him for a moment.

If he's terrible week one, that drop with extreme prejudice. It's going to feel great. It's going to feel great. Cathartic. Alright, so we went very different through the first two rounds. I had a couple of running backs. My team looks like this.

Brees Hall, Travis Etienne, James Cook, Jonathan Brooks as my four running backs. Metcalf, Ridley, Brian Thomas, Legat, and Polk as my wideouts. Feels a little thin to me, although I think Metcalf and Ridley are enough to get by with those running backs. And Jalen Hurts and David Njoku, my onesie positions at quarterback and tight end. I will be looking immediately for running back help after week one, but I got Tyreek Hill, Deebo, Christian Kirk, Keon Coleman, Jackson Smith, and Jigba, and Quentin Johnston. My running back crew is very thin.

Rashad White, Kenneth Walker, Zamir White. I have Trey McBride, T. McBee, the man at my tight end position, and then I have Kyler Murray at my quarterback position. Try that again. I have Jared Goff. Nope. No, keep going. Okay.

We have Jaden Daniels. Oh, man. So how do you think the populace will react to Jaden Daniels leading the way? He could be okay. Yeah. You don't have a choice. Honestly, Jaden Daniels is, I think he is a, He's just like what Richardson was in last year's draft.

Yeah. I don't really want to go into week one with Jaden Daniels as my only hope. I prefer him more as like, The second guy you drafted at the last pick. Yeah. If I had gotten Jared Goff at the 10-10 and then the next round got Jaden Daniels, I would feel spectacular about that. All right, well, let us know what you think of our head-to-head mock draft

if you are over on YouTube watching. Wild, man. Yeah, it was fun. I had a good time. It was fun watching all your quarterbacks disappear right before your eyes every time you tried to take the gamble. Is sleeper listening like Facebook? It's the exact same thing as an Alexa on your desk.

They can't hear you. They hear me talking? Yeah, Jay Grizz relays information he hears back to them. UltimateDraftKid.com, head over there right now. It releases on June 1st. That is 11 days away. You do not want to miss your opportunity to jump in there and get ready for your draft from day one and make your league mates just miserable in the middle of their draft.

So that is going to do it today. Be back with another episode on Thursday. Goodbye, everybody. Goodbye. Goodbye. thank you for listening to another episode of the fantasy footballers podcast join our fantasy football community on join the foot.com and follow us on twitter at the ff ballers