Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - NFC East Breakdown + Against the Odds, Hot Stats - Fantasy Football Podcast for 7/25

Episode Date: July 25, 2024

Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Commanders on today’s fantasy football podcast! A full breakdown of the NFC East with important offseason changes and 2024 expectations. Plus, contract news and hype out of ...training camp! Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for July 25th, 2024. 2024 ULTIMATE DRAFT KIT is available now at UltimateDraftKit.com 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

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 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,
Starting point is 00:00:19 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.
Starting point is 00:01:17 Welcome in. Thursday, July 25th. Andy, Mike, and Jason, the fantasy footballers, back with you. Excited to be with you. The news is flowing. Yeah, yeah yeah we're back baby i mean we do 10 things to remember uh that's a that's a show that we do as the season wraps up so that we can remember some things heading into the new year i gotta remember to just take it easy oh never take it easy on some of this news i mean i will never take it easy on training camp news. Yeah, it's so true, Andy.
Starting point is 00:02:09 Every single year. We've been doing this. We've got our live show coming up. It's going to be a 10th anniversary show. We've been doing this a long time. This is show 1,600. 1,600. And this time of year, like a month from now, three weeks from now, when news is continuing to roll, I can read it and I can let it go.
Starting point is 00:02:32 Right now, because it hasn't been rolling and it's just coming out, every name is like, oh, my God, I got to change. Greg Dulcich was the story of the first day of camp. Now he's my number one target for Denver. I mean, it's great because it's not just the talk of camp. It's the talk of the first day of camp. It's probably the talk of the town. Maybe. Did you see Sean Payton body the other guy?
Starting point is 00:02:58 What's the other tight end? Kroll? Yeah, Kroll. The reporter. Because of his name? The reporter's talking about Kroll, about how he's been the best player in camp. And he's like, well, Kroll. The reporter's like, you know, talking about Kroll, about how he's been, you know, the best player in camp. And he's like, well, hold up. Did you say the best tight end or the best player in camp?
Starting point is 00:03:11 He's like, well, yeah, he's arguably been the best tight end in camp. He's like, no, not even close. Peyton has been refreshingly honest about almost everything. I think he really likes arguing with beat reporters, and that's fun. But, yeah, I mean, the news is coming in. I mean, the Borgogin, Kyle, who's on the line right now. Kyle, you're with me, right? I'm here.
Starting point is 00:03:35 Okay, so Kyle's here. And it was like, I don't remember. I can't find it right now, Kyle. But he was sharing his, like, five plays from Jacksonville camp. And it was like, Brian Thomas dropped the pass, and then Gabe Davis didn't catch one. But then Etienne did catch one. Yeah. What's wrong with that?
Starting point is 00:03:56 There's nothing wrong with that. It's just there's nothing you can take from that. It is not actionable, and we want to take action because we've been so thirsty. Yes. Yes. We're so thirsty i mean based off of that one tweet i assume that brian thomas's his catch rate is at zero percent right now well this is what mike's back for you know yeah we missed them on the people listening
Starting point is 00:04:18 to this show no they want it okay okay yeah never mind that just totally take everything as uh actionable information for the rest of the season right yes overreact and do it immediately the real policy that i try to put in place is that the news about players i have very relevant if it's good players that i have if it's bad news not great you know i don't pay attention to that. You don't have to roster these players already, say in a dynasty league, so long as you have priors on them. Thoughts. And so long as it backs up your preconceived notions,
Starting point is 00:04:54 and it's very exciting times. Now I'm seeing Audrick Estimé pictures coming through our DFS, or our dynasty podcast channel. That was more because we talked a lot about the Broncos running backs on the Dynasty pod. We all need a new A.J. Dillon in our lives.
Starting point is 00:05:11 And Estime doesn't have the same definition as Quadzilla up there in Green Bay. But he's got the same speed. He is. He is a sturdy sturdy sturdy young man well i shouldn't have gotten into all of this because we do have a lot of news that we will tell you about uh momentarily the ultimate draft kit available at ultimate draft kit.com you can check that out right now i encourage you to do so it's a good time we've been been making tweaks and adjustments every day, pretty much.
Starting point is 00:05:46 Yeah. Based on, based on not actually overreacting to the news, but taking new information that comes out and putting it through our filters. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I like,
Starting point is 00:05:57 there's news that I do enjoy reading about this time of year. Like who's running with what offense. Yes. Like I like to hear who's running with the first team and the second team. And we are getting quarterback news as well. Just head coaches' opinions on the Jacoby Brissett and Drake May situation, McCarthy and Darnold. And I don't know what your guys' opinion is on what happens in Minnesota,
Starting point is 00:06:23 but, you know, if you're a Minnesota fan, I don't think you're rooting for Sam Darnold. I don't think either of those fan bases is rooting for the – for Arizona, that's like the Sam Bradford when we had Josh Rosen. You wanted to see the rookie. Yeah, you'll want to see the rookie, but it's a situation of I feel real confident at this point that Sam Darnold will start the season. So you're going to root for him because if he does well, that means that the Minnesota Vikings are doing very well. If Darnold does well? Yes. If you get to that bye week and the whole fan base isn't just screaming
Starting point is 00:07:06 for McCarthy to come in, that means that they have a winning record and they're doing well. I have a hard time remembering a situation like that where they were. Where what? Where that team with the incumbent mediocre guy works out. Trubisky with Mike Glennenn i could think right i could think sam bradford with um i can think of one example where it worked out was it a bad quarter where a bad quarterback did well for the first half of the year no no it was what are you talking about
Starting point is 00:07:37 like a hall of fame quarterback i'm talking about a hall of hell first round draft pick exactly right matt leinert was the guy who was supposed to get the job going forward but old busted kurt warner was gonna oh he's a little start week one and then turned out he wasn't busted yet sort of but that that is not the situation of liner was there the year before and that's not what this situation is and really if you look at that bi-week and you look at the defenses that the Vikings are playing, they start with the Raiders, great defense,
Starting point is 00:08:10 then Browns, great defense, then Eagles, great defense. Two weeks later, the Niners, great defense. Right before the bye week, I believe they played the Jets. So yeah, Darnold, you are the sacrificial lamb.
Starting point is 00:08:21 Baby. Yeah, I mean, their head coach just came out and said that he has no... Sacrificial baby? No, he i mean their head coach just came out and said that he has no sacrificial baby no he said maybe oh baby i was like you're correcting my sacrificial lamb to an awful horrendous sacrificial baby you thought you were a monster i was like you got it wrong jay the phrase is sacrificial baby. We all know this. That's what everyone has said. Maybe.
Starting point is 00:08:46 Okay. Well, that's a little better. I was going to say Kevin O'Connell came out and said he has no preconceived notion of the starter right now and that he's keeping his options open. But let's talk news. News and notes from around the league. Putting Darnold out there as the proverbial sacrificial baby. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:09:11 Jason. Whew. It's tough in the NFL. Amari Cooper agreed to a restructured deal with the Browns. Gets a $5 million raise while the team guarantees him $20 million. Some will be quick to point out this is not an extension. This is still his final year of the deal. They're just giving him some extra cash. Because he deserves
Starting point is 00:09:34 it and he's been great. We're talking about the NFC East on today's episode. We're going to talk about the Cowboys and man, I just can't believe. You want me to tell you about Michael Gallup retiring? Oh, wow. Same news time, huh? Wow. Good job, Cowboys. man i just can't believe you want me to tell you about michael gallup retiring oh wow same same news time huh yeah wow good job cowboys uh michael gallup was the post acl contract that the dallas cowboys chose instead of keeping amari cooper yeah the dallas cowboys
Starting point is 00:09:58 if you rewind they bet on gallup and zeke and that's where they put their money instead of amari cooper and this is not revisionist history of like well sure now you know it worked everyone they bet on Gallup and Zeke, and that's where they put their money instead of Amari Cooper. And this is not revisionist history of like, well, sure, now you know it worked. Everyone then was like, what are you doing? Why are you paying big money to the running back? When you hear that Michael Gallup is retiring, and he had signed a five-year $57 million contract after an ACL tear, he had shown potential.
Starting point is 00:10:22 He had finished at wide receiver 16. Really? That was the highest he had finished. He finished that high? I don't know if it was the year he got hurt or not. I know he has. I think that was his fantasy peak. But obviously they signed him to that deal.
Starting point is 00:10:38 I guess 16 in certain formats. He looks like 22nd, but in 14 games played in 2019. Okay. All I'm saying is that Michael Gallup did not recover from an ACL injury. Correct. Like that's what happened. Yes. So just kind of interesting that for whatever reason,
Starting point is 00:10:56 this does happen from time to time. We all expect the ahead of schedule, we're back, we're the same. It doesn't always happen that is a giovante williams statement in the sense that he came back a little ahead of schedule and he just wasn't the same and so now we expect him to get back to it just like we you know it's common that you know it takes takes two years but sometimes you just don't come back. It's really, really hard. You can't just bet on the data. You have to see it.
Starting point is 00:11:29 Do you guys have the quote? Oh, here it is. From Dennis Allen on Kendra Miller. Kendra Miller's banged up again. I think a week or two ago we were talking about how he had been removed from our sleeper list due to the vibes around the backfield. Well, now he's hurt. And the quote from Dennis Well, now he's hurt.
Starting point is 00:11:45 Yeah. And the quote from Dennis Allen, head coach. This is via Nick Underhill, one of the best beat reporters in the industry. But this is the quote from Dennis Allen. That's a player who needs to figure out how to stay healthy because you can't make the team in the training room. Can't make the club in the tub. Get bodied. I mean, what a jerk. He's not wrong.
Starting point is 00:12:04 Dennis Allen or Kendra Miller? No, I'm not going to jerk. He's not wrong. Dennis Allen or Kendra Miller? No, I'm not going to say. He's a jerk to me. I'm not going to say. He's hurting my feelings over and over, Jason. The player who got hurt is a jerk. He didn't try to get hurt. You know, if he went out on a motorcycle without a helmet, you body that guy.
Starting point is 00:12:18 If he's practicing and trying and he gets hurt and just criticizing him in the public, just feels very Dennis Allen to me. Obviously frustration there. He's not the only one. When a player is hurt for essentially most of his rookie year, you're excited for next year. It comes back, he's already hurt.
Starting point is 00:12:38 It's frustrating. Three injuries last year, I think. Something. I mean, he won preseason, won in-season, and at least this one. He was drafted injured. Yeah. Also. Right.
Starting point is 00:12:47 Yeah. But they kind of knew. It's like, you chose to draft an injured guy. CeeDee Lamb not reporting to the start of training camp, holding out. No contract for Dak, no contract for Parsons. They, like, you, They have botched this. Sometimes as an organization, you do have to take certain financial leaps, like say the Houston Texans with Nico Collins.
Starting point is 00:13:20 They didn't have to give Nico Collins that contract. They could have waited, but if you bet and you wait and Nico Collins has a year anywhere close to what he had last year, now the size of that contract has ballooned. And this is, like, they've done that now with these three guys. And I mean, I don't know what their cap situation is, but how do you pay all three of these guys where Dak will certainly be looking for to be the highest paid quarterback?
Starting point is 00:13:53 Because it's the newest one. It will probably be the highest paid, if not a top three. CeeDee Lamb's going to want Jefferson Money, who just reset the market. Parsons is going to want an outrageously large contract. They want to be the highest paid defensive player in general. That he has earned. It's like you should have sat down and tried to strike early with like C. Lamb. Do you feel like there's an aspect here where – like they did this with Dak once.
Starting point is 00:14:20 This is not the first time we've been talking about Dak in the offseason. Like is this – I want my guys to play super hard because they're playing for a contract? I've always wondered. I hate to ask that, but you've got to wonder. With the Cowboys and Dak, I've always felt like there's almost a lack of true belief in the fact that he's going to get paid like a top three quarterback. And I think they think he's not really a top three quarterback. I don't want to pay a guy who's the quarterback 10.
Starting point is 00:14:49 Jacksonville is like, watch this. Yeah, exactly. But that's how it feels with them. I agree with Mike. They made a mistake to not get CeeDee Lamb just early. Early in the process, get him a big contract. You know it's coming. And so the earlier you get there, the better it is by the time the new cap rolls out.
Starting point is 00:15:05 Yeah, I often ask myself, will I see the Dallas Cowboys win a playoff game before I die? And I don't know if that's going to happen until Jerry Jones. We need someone else.
Starting point is 00:15:22 We need someone else running the Cowboys. Alvin Kamara he is back ran hard Kendrick Miller is hurt we talked about it right now it's starting to it's cleaning up a little bit in terms of that backfield
Starting point is 00:15:39 I think where Alvin Kamara saw a depressed ADP in part the age but it factors in when you have potential behind him. I don't think any of us would describe Jamal Williams as potential. No. I don't think any of us would describe Taysom Hill as any problem. He's been there with Kamara for a long time. Now Kamara's looking like a value.
Starting point is 00:15:57 It could be a goal line problem. Yeah, but Kamara's never really been a huge goal line player. He's not dependent on it. I mean, he used to have marking room, you know, taking a bunch of touchdowns. Obviously, he was younger. I mean, I can't. But it's a passing game that's.
Starting point is 00:16:10 Yes, but. I mean, Alan Kamara scored five total touchdowns last year. Six total. He had one receiving. All right. All right. I'm just saying, like, when it was the monster years, sophomore season, 14 rushing touchdowns,
Starting point is 00:16:28 dropped down to five, 16 rushing touchdowns. Like you're – But from a PPR, like per game perspective, he was a top 10 guy last year. Like still really solid. I'm just saying for ceiling, you have to have rushing touchdowns. Brandon Ayuk is at camp but not doing anything? A hold in. He is not losing money is what he's doing. When you do a hold in, do you grab your gear but then walk super slow
Starting point is 00:16:53 from the locker room to the field to where by the time you get to the field, practice is over? They had it. There was a hard knocks with the chargers and someone was doing it. Yeah, that was Melvin Ingram. I remember that. Yeah, that was Melvin Ingram. You just kind of hang out.
Starting point is 00:17:06 Yeah. You're just watching. You got good tickets to training camp. Honestly, it's great. He's like, oh, man, I've got a reason to not have to do training camp, but I'm not getting fined. And then if you're Jamar Chase, you're handing out towels, helping out the wide receivers like a water boy.
Starting point is 00:17:22 That's what he's doing? Mm-hmm. We're still trying to get news on that, and that could be a – We don't have two sources. Jamar Chase is not entering the final year of his deal like C.D. Lamb, though. I think his is maybe some sort of tweak that they're taking it easy with. Maybe he wants to have $5 million Amari Cooper got. But my point, Mike, even if it's a little tweak,
Starting point is 00:17:43 you're telling me that Brandon and I, you couldn't be handing out towels and being real supportive? Oh, okay. I see what you're saying. You hold in the right way. Maybe he is. I don't know. I'm not saying he's not. I'm just saying he should.
Starting point is 00:17:54 I'd be out there calling plays. Nick Chubb on the pup list. Yep. And Matthew Stafford reported to camp after a team-adjusted contract. And then there's some more early training camp hype. Yeah, this is the juicy stuff. This is a couple of wide receivers that everyone loves. I never remember if I have to stop the train.
Starting point is 00:18:21 I'd stopped it. You can't stop a train. Yeah, you can't stop a train. Trains don't stop. You do. Javante said a shout out to NHTSA? It was. Yeah, you know.
Starting point is 00:18:36 Javante Williams took the first team reps, every first team rep in camp in Denver, which a lot of smoke around Javante Williams, but he's getting every opportunity to be the guy. Yep, for now.
Starting point is 00:18:51 We said it on the last episode when people were debating whether him or Samadji were going to make the team. I said I'd be blown away if Javante's not on this team. The question is, does he still have juice? Jim Harbaugh said he agrees or Justin Herbert agrees with Jim Harbaugh on Quentin Johnston getting a bad rap. He says we're expecting big things from him this year.
Starting point is 00:19:14 We've talked a lot about Quentin Johnston. He is a meme of sorts. And so I agree that globalizing every play that he made in the entire year into three or four drops is kind of stupid, but also the level of effectiveness that he had on so many snaps is also stupid for the Chargers. That's a good way to put it.
Starting point is 00:19:37 But I will say this. Jim Harbaugh is the brand new head coach. We've had lots of narrative street before where it's like, oh, this is not the guy I drafted. We could be sitting here talking about he's not going to get the first team snaps. And DJ Chark is because he came aboard with Jim Harbaugh. He's going to get all the snaps. I still think Quentin Johnson, you have to give him an opportunity.
Starting point is 00:20:02 And Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman are going to say hey look we did he didn't get what he needed to get in the offense last year certainly wasn't supposed to have to step up in place of two injured players so he certainly was supposed to be able to should his number be called as a first round rookie pick but this is the perfect type of news to me when I saw this I really wanted to go adjust my chargers rankings i was like oh man so there's good positive bus buzz about quentin johnston but i was like you know what this this is this is just people saying hey we expect big things they're looking good it wasn't enough to undo what a season of tape and stats and historical data does.
Starting point is 00:20:46 So this is one I left alone. So to that regard, then nothing can happen in preseason, for your opinion, Quentin Johnston, because it's not like you don't believe he's going to be a starter. No, if the drumbeat kept going, and that's one of the things where it's like if from now until kickoff, the news is constantly positive, and it's always coming out.
Starting point is 00:21:07 Oh, this is just one strike of the drum. You're needing more. Yeah, exactly. It's a four count, man. Okay. If I only give you one click, we don't know what the tempo is. I'm on Ross St. Brown. Not my tempo.
Starting point is 00:21:17 Said about Jameson Williams, I know I've said this every year, but I feel like this year is going to be huge for him. The quote is, I know I've said this. Kyle wanted this this in the show that's not a good way to start a quote but he ends it with i actually know it is going to be a big year for jameson williams okay and uh the athletic is saying um this is nick bomb gardner jameson williams looks like a different player in training camp so you have a mustache or something he is wearing uh a wig actually yeah yeah long blonde it's actually pretty cool when he runs because he's very fast it is not impossible for either of those players and their adps are at a point where it's like
Starting point is 00:21:57 it's perfectly fine it will it will be a comical draft pick. When someone else does it in the leagues that I'm in, I'm going to laugh and point, but it's worth a shot. You're on the clock. It's your last pick. These two guys are there. No one else is. Okay. Which one are you going to take your shot on? I would go, wow.
Starting point is 00:22:21 I would take huge. What about you Andy? I was really hoping you only needed one answer I'll go next so that you have to be the tiebreaker I'm on the Jamison Williams side I didn't believe in Cuge that much As a collegiate prospect And then we saw that
Starting point is 00:22:38 It's been too long for Jamison Williams But I did man I thought he was a superstar in college If it's last pick A player I'm likely to drop, I think it's probably, I'll probably go with Cuge because Jamison Williams can take a huge step forward and he's still going to be the one, two, three, fourth option in the offense at best.
Starting point is 00:23:02 You can't pass Laporta, can't pass Gibbs, can't pass Amon Ra. That's my reasoning. Huge has the opportunity to be the one. That's a good point. So there you go. Let's take a break, get into the breakdown. Let's get divisional all right we are on our way through the nfc at this point the nfc east mike uh you missed the nfc south I wouldn't say I missed it.
Starting point is 00:23:46 Yeah, that was really rude. You know, it was like, make us talk about them. Just two of us. I was surviving deadly rainstorms in Denver. Mike was at an event with a friend in Denver when a, I think it was a scene from Twisters, the new movie. Yes. Pretty close.
Starting point is 00:24:04 You were in threat of your life it was legitimately a an event trapped under a just a barely put together tent and it a micro burst i don't know what to call the tents stay in place uh they did they were they were secured pretty well yeah they were 30 foot down and And there was moments of the storm happening where I was like, I have a percentage chance right now of if lightning hits this thing, we're all out of here. You're all soaking wet, sideways rain, freezing cold. It was intense.
Starting point is 00:24:41 Still better than the South. Jason and I's equity was so close to increasing. Yeah. All right, the NFC East. Dallas. The earlier ridiculed Cowboys were 12-5. So they won the division. With a point differential of plus 194.
Starting point is 00:24:58 They were awesome. Just outrageous. I already know some of the debates we're going to be having in mere moments about these teams. Dallas was 12-5, Philly was 11-6, the Giants were 6-11, and Washington was 4-13. This was the largest point differential between first and second place teams in the NFL. So, Dallas, when they hit, they hit big. They were blowing people away. Well, if you remember the Eagles last year, the first month of the season season they looked awesome and then they they kept winning games while looking
Starting point is 00:25:30 but they looked horrible they their performances were bad and you know their defense was good enough and their offense was good enough to to squeak out a win um you know i believe they they went eight and three in those one score gamesore games. The ball bounced their way. But they looked bad pretty early on despite being 11-6. Cowboys, they were just great. They were 11-6 with a point differential positive five points. That's impossible. Yeah, I mean, Dallas' defense gave up almost 115 fewer points on the year than the Eagles,
Starting point is 00:26:06 and they scored 75 more points. So it was a big difference, even though the records were close. And I'm excited to talk about all of these teams, their storylines for all of them. We'll kick it off with Dallas. By the way, lots of names and faces just moving around in the division. Saquon going from the Giants to Philly. Dan Quinn from the Cowboys to
Starting point is 00:26:27 Washington. Kellen Moore from the Cowboys to Philly. Don't leave Zach Ertz out of the way. Of course. Former Eagle going to Washington. Dallas, 12-5. Projected win total was 9.5 last year. This year,
Starting point is 00:26:44 projected at 10 and a half. They have the tenth most difficult schedule according to Warren Sharp. They were number one in the league in points per game last year. There's a reason that if you took Mike's very astute
Starting point is 00:27:00 advice, like I did, halfway through the year to pick up Dak Prescott, that he won you a title. I mean, he through the year to pick up Dak Prescott that he won you a title. I mean, he was responsible for lots of championships. If you were able to get rid of, like, maybe you were rolling Tua halfway through the year, and you were able to get somebody... Sounds like an incredible maneuver.
Starting point is 00:27:16 Just get rid of that guy, go get Dak, and move forward. I mean, they were incredible. They were from weeks 8 through 18. Which is after their bye week. They were number one in points per game, number four in plays per game, eighth in pass percentage, third in red zone plays, sixth in red zone touchdown rate.
Starting point is 00:27:34 All for a team that said goodbye to Kellen Moore, who is now in division. But the narrative last offseason was, oh, no, what's going to happen to the great Cowboys passing offense? Well, to be fair to that narrative, weeks one through six, they were 27th in pass percentage. And the truth is the big difference between before the bye and after the bye was when they got to the red zone. Before the bye, they weren't throwing the ball. They were running, and they were ineffective with Tony Pollard and Rico Dowdle. And then after the bye, they're like, let's just keep throwing the ball
Starting point is 00:28:06 like we did last year. They worked like gangbusters. Like they fully – it was just, guys, what are we doing here? We have a number one wide receiver. Why are we not acting accordingly? And then they did, and hey, really good things happened. Imagine. Imagine in the NFL unleashing your offense with your number one wide receiver.
Starting point is 00:28:28 For fantasy purposes, CeeDee Lamb and Dak were revelations, but Tony Pollard wasn't. The expectations going into this season for Pollard were not met. Couldn't score touchdowns despite the offense being – like for Tony Pollard, if you told me before the season began last year with all the hype around him, if I told you, just so you know, Dallas is going to be the number one team in points per game.
Starting point is 00:28:52 You're like, oh, well, I'd move him up. He's probably number two off of the draft boards last year, but it just didn't work out. Now it's Mike McCarthy and not Kellen Moore. Last year was McCarthy, the year before Kellen Moore last year was, or rather, last year was McCarthy, the year before Kellen Moore. Things got going. They got contracts to figure out.
Starting point is 00:29:12 There aren't a lot of changes. They bring Zeke back. Okay, whatever. Michael Gallup's not a member of the team. There's a lot of stability in what they're doing. Head coach, the offensive system, the quarterback, the best players. The lack of a running game or the not elite running game, I'll say. I mean, it'll be interesting to see how they start the year to see if they still want to double down on the, like,
Starting point is 00:29:35 let's run it inside the red zone and see if we can score. And if they do, maybe the passing game will take a step back. But the nice thing is with Zeke and Dowdle, this version of Zeke, I would expect that you're going to have a re-roll of last year offensively. They're going to throw the ball a lot and they're going to throw the ball in the red zone because to add to what you were saying about Tony Pollard of like, oh, how high would you, if you knew some of these things that were coming, like they were the number one scoring offense, what if you knew that Tony Pollard had 16 carries inside the five? Are you kidding me?
Starting point is 00:30:04 But he turned it into three touchdowns. It was ineffective. So I do think they're going to keep throwing the ball in there. But just real quick on the running backs, between the two of them, I don't know. Like, Zeke looked extremely washed last year. We talked about him on the Dynasty podcast of 3% of his carries turned into a 15-yard gain.
Starting point is 00:30:26 It was like the worst of qualifying running backs. Rico Dowdle's 26. He really has seen no action. But on a yearly basis, we see eight teams or so that don't have a top 24 ADP running back, and then four of those teams have someone who finishes in the top 24. And what correlates is either it's a true workhorse. I don't think we have that situation. But you have an elite offense.
Starting point is 00:30:53 And those are the two things of these late-round running backs. So both of these guys, it's gross. It is. But I'd sprinkle these guys into your teams. I would bet on the Zeke side. Yeah. I would bet on the Zeke side. Yeah, I'm very on the Zeke side. That's fine. How good of an offense was New England last year?
Starting point is 00:31:11 Not good. No. Because Zeke ended the year 17th, 1st, 33rd, 10th, 23rd, 23rd. Right. He caught a million passes. Because in that time, he was a full workhorse. This is true. But he also showed that he can do what Pollard did last year,
Starting point is 00:31:26 which was to just catch the ball. Just catch the ball out of the backfield. And if Pollard were drafted where Zeke is being drafted this year, Pollard would have been feeling like a league winner last year. Instead, he was drafted first, second round. It's not a running back room that we're looking for explosive league-winning weeks, but like Mike said, sprinkle in some opportunities for a number one offense. Yes.
Starting point is 00:31:48 Brandon Cooks. Where are you with Brandon Cooks? Because, you know, Ferguson, that was kind of fun last year. But Brandon Cooks, he had a game or two, but it was like if he scored a touchdown, he was top 24. Yeah, Brandon Cooks had a great stretch after the bye week where he was decently consistent and pretty valuable for fantasy, but it was on the back of touchdowns.
Starting point is 00:32:16 His yards per game, I mean, 49, 7, 42, 45, 37, 10, 14, but it was 14 and a touchdown. It was 45 and a touchdown. It was 45 and a touchdown. He just scored so many touchdowns where I think you need to look at kind of the truth of how it came about. And I find myself early in the offseason, I was like, I was not looking as deeply into Brandon Cooks and I was kind of in. I find myself bypassing him now. Three games last year over four catches.
Starting point is 00:32:47 Yeah, he's not involved enough for me to be confident in a lineup. If you're in a best ball league and you're just going to get the touchdowns, fine. But I would rather, obviously, CeeDee Lamb is awesome. Everyone wants him. If you're at the top of your draft, congratulations. And then in the passing game, I'm Jake Ferguson. I think his red zone opportunities last year were elite. Led all tight ends with 25 targets in the red zone.
Starting point is 00:33:10 Best. I really like Jake Ferguson. He's my final ripcord at the tight end position. I'm more in on Brandon Cooks than you guys. Not that I – it's not madly in love and knocking people out of the way so I can draft him a few rounds high, but it's wide receiver 64 and ADP right now, 13th
Starting point is 00:33:31 round. But he did catch eight touchdowns. Eight touchdowns in double-digit range? There's a lot of time when you're in the trenches and you're like, I have nobody to start. I think Brandon Cooks is a good depth wide receiver. I mentioned their schedule was part of the equation in going in on Dallas last year. Although the run for Dak was like week six through the end of the year,
Starting point is 00:33:57 so all but five weeks. But they had a better schedule. This year, a more difficult schedule, but look at the start to the season. They've got a tough one on the road in Cleveland. Yeah, okay. And they are underdogs in Cleveland in week one. But then they're favored in five consecutive games, New Orleans, Baltimore, the Giants, Pittsburgh, and Detroit.
Starting point is 00:34:17 But being favored in five straight, heading into the bye, nothing about the schedule is intimidating me or talking me out of Dallas to start the year yeah I can agree I can't tell if you're thinking Jason or you're just head bobbing and no it was I I would say like I'm not going to the the players that I'm going after Ferguson is basically free so I'm not going to be talked out by schedule CeeDee Lamb and Dak are you're going in on them and so the schedule's not going to. But the opening schedule of Cleveland, New Orleans, Baltimore,
Starting point is 00:34:48 I mean, I know they're favored in two of those three, but all three are really good defenses. I'm not worried about New Orleans. Not New Orleans, but yeah, Cleveland and Baltimore. Where are you guys just overall with Dak compared to the field? If we left our draft with Dak, we're happy about it. Oh, very happy. But he is being drafted as the QB9.
Starting point is 00:35:10 He's going in the seventh round. We have him as the quarterback six. I've got him as the quarterback seven. You've got him as the quarterback eight. So I think we'd be okay with that. I'm just saying, are you... He's not one of my targets. In mock drafts, I don't remember any of us saying, eight so i think we'd be okay with that i'm just saying like are you he's not one of my targets in
Starting point is 00:35:25 in mock drafts i don't remember any of us saying okay this in this build i'm gonna target deck it's just kind of you're okay leaving with him i think the only time i would be targeting deck is if i started the draft with cd and i'm looking for that in the last three years which you can pull this up in the ultimate draft kit we. We have a career fantasy finish chart. We call it the Snapshot Tool. Over the last three years, the top five most consistent point scorers at the position,
Starting point is 00:35:53 Allen, Mahomes, Hertz, Herbert, Dak. Yeah. So Dak's above, you know, obviously Burrow in that stretch. He's above Lamar in that stretch. So, you know, there are only a few guys that are like, you know that they're going to re-roll, like you said. They're going to re-roll what this
Starting point is 00:36:09 offense does. Is it a vote for Zeke in the red zone or a vote for Dak? At least in that regard, I'll be on the Dak side. Philly's 11-6 or was 11-6. They had a projected win total of 11.5 last year. This year, it's at 10.5.
Starting point is 00:36:27 You talked about a tale of two seasons. They were 10 and one, and during that stretch third in points per game, fourth in plays per game, fifth in run percentage. After that point, they were 20th in points per game, 18th
Starting point is 00:36:41 in plays per game, 18th in run percentage. So it collapsed. And Nick Sirianni, I just saw this interview. Yep. And I won't be able to tell you who it was with. It was through The Athletic, one of their podcasts. But it was somebody that was really connected in Philadelphia, and they were talking about the strained
Starting point is 00:37:06 relationship between Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts and how this was a grind the victories were a grind last year even when they walked out with a win and Nick Sirianni was
Starting point is 00:37:22 calling plays and now he's going to try to step back from calling plays this year. But you've seen Nick Sirianni in a presser. Give me three losses in a row and tell me who's calling plays. That's all I'm going to say. There's going to be a heavy hand if things don't go right, in my opinion, from Nick Sirianni, because there's not patience in Philadelphia. That has never been an attribute of that city and that team. You need to win, and you need to win today. So it is a, you know, Kellen Moore's third team in three years.
Starting point is 00:37:57 So I like what Kellen Moore does. I like what his concepts are and what they bring to the table. But Dallas moved on from them, right? And it didn't work in Los Angeles, obviously. A lot of peripheral reasons you can blame, but I'm just saying, if it doesn't work in Philadelphia, that's three times in three years. You're not going to be talking about Kellen Moore in the offseason as bringing hope to a team.
Starting point is 00:38:16 Yeah, if he fails, he won't. But I do not expect him to fail. He didn't fail in Dallas. Dallas had a great offense, and that was a mutual, it wasn't like he was fired there. And then last year, if you remember, to start the season, the Chargers offense was great. Justin Herbert was one of the best in the league. You know, Keenan Allen was unbelievable. The team collapsed. Justin Herbert got injured. They lost a ton of games. Their head coaching, you know, circus show was put to death. But now you end up... Adam Gase was a great offensive coordinator when he had Peyton Manning. And it turns out he wasn't a great offensive coordinator.
Starting point is 00:38:54 I just think if Kellen Moore is average and you've got Jalen Hurts and Devontae Smith and A.J. Brown and you add Saquon Barkley and you've got a top-end offensive line, I think he'll succeed. And so the slot guy is very interesting to me from a Kellen Moore perspective. This is what I'm so interested in seeing this training camp. If we can figure out who is that motion guy, who's the guy in motion, who's the guy in the slot that was last year's Keenan Allen
Starting point is 00:39:25 and CeeDee Lamb the year prior for Kellen Moore Systems? Because it could be Devontae Smith. It could, yeah. It could also be A.J. Brown just because he's the big, strong guy. I saw Matt Harmon talking about this. Matt Harmon thinks that A.J. Brown will have that role. I think it's going to be Devontae Smith. Maybe that's just hopeful thinking because I got him. But I want whoever that role is because it's hyper-targeted. Not Paris Campbell though.
Starting point is 00:39:50 No, no. Which to put some context, last year pre-snap motion, 11% of plays for the Eagles, by far the lowest rate in the NFL. The Chargers were eighth last year. And it really is, it's oversimplifying an NFL offense, but it's just the teams who have elite offenses use motion all the time. And it's a hard thing to argue against. I don't know if you're a coach calling plays, why would you not look at what Miami and San Francisco and all these guys who are in LA, and they're running up huge numbers on offense, why would you not see at what Miami and San Francisco and all these guys who are in L.A. and they're running up huge numbers on offense.
Starting point is 00:40:27 Why would you not see what they are doing? Green Bay, fourth in pre-snap motion behind Dolphins, Rams, and 49ers. Detroit, great offense. Baltimore, great offense. It sets up the defense. You get to see what they're playing a lot more if you've got something before you snap the ball for the defense to have to counter. And I guess I'm not trying to throw a bunch of cold water on a bunch of talented players for fantasy.
Starting point is 00:40:49 But last year was the first time that we got to see the fact that you could have a worse outcome than you expect. To go on the run that they did, being as bad as they were on the offensive side, was the first time we ever saw it from this perfect impervious offense. So, you know, it's kind of like, you know, it's just the first time that you saw it. And so that gives you doubts about it always working for Philadelphia in a division where they'll be fighting. They still have a 10.5 win total. Their offense is really easy to draft for fantasy, right?
Starting point is 00:41:24 Yeah, it's very focused. It's Saquon. I'd love to talk about him momentarily, but you mentioned Devontae Smith, A.J. Brown. Jalen Hurts is at the top of our list. But Saquon specifically, it should work. Right? Yes. It absolutely should. You've got a great offensive line, a good offense with plenty of scoring opportunities. DeAndre Swift, you know, a lot's been made about the tush push and that you're not going to have the running back running in touchdowns
Starting point is 00:41:52 from the one-yard line. And no, you probably won't. But you will have him running them in from the five-yard line, and DeAndre Swift had plenty of opportunities inside the five. He just always got to the two or the one, and then Jalen Hurts said, thanks, buddy, I'll take it from here. Saquon should cross that plane yeah uh so yeah I mean I think there's a lot of excitement and optimism that they get the offense figured out and it looks like what we were used to you know at the tight end position I think we've all we're on the ship has sailed
Starting point is 00:42:21 boat for Dallas Goddard not because he can't have a good game or a good performance or even be a streaming tight end for a number of weeks, but the injuries and the, the, where he falls in the pecking order, it no longer gives us the confidence. Like if an injury happens during the year, I will be picking Goddard up.
Starting point is 00:42:37 Sure. To be a, you know, a streaming tight end. It's just a matter of, because everything is so focused. Like I am, my chips are all the way in on AJ Brown this year. Okay. He's the a matter of because everything is so focused. My chips are all the way in on A.J. Brown this year.
Starting point is 00:42:48 He's the wide receiver 6 in ADP, so that's not very bold. But it's just either Devonta Smith or Dallas Goddard can succeed with A.J. Brown. I don't think both of them can. And even then for me, if Smith becomes that
Starting point is 00:43:04 motion man, Jason, like you are crossing your fingers and toes and eyes and wishing for, then maybe we see some true ceiling. But it's like 95 for 1,207. That's a great year. But then followed up with 81 for just over 1,007. 2007, it's like he feels, Devonta Smith feels like he's drafted at his ceiling, where so many things have to go wrong for the team for it to go right for Smith and Fantasy. That's my only issue with his ADP. Yeah, I mean, last year, I think he was overdrafted.
Starting point is 00:43:41 I think he was near the end of the second. It was like him, Jalen, and T. Higgins, the three twos last year. They were drafted really, really high. Right now, I don't think he's drafted at his ceiling at all. He's the wide receiver 22 in average draft position. He can definitely finish above that. I mean, he finished above that last year, and then obviously that was down. He was the wide receiver 10 his sophomore year.
Starting point is 00:44:03 But I'm saying, yeah, wide receiver 10 at 12.2 points per game yeah i don't know it's just and then that was also i think that was like goddard missed goddard missed yeah he's definitely much better when god that's what i mean of like something has to go wrong for the team for smith to come but i will say dallas goddard he's no spring chicken. He's been in the league, what, like seven years? And I think his rookie season is the last time he's played a full season. All right. The New York Giants were 6-11 last year.
Starting point is 00:44:34 They actually started 1-5. They finished 5-6 over their final 11 games. They are projected to win 7.5. This year it's at 6.5. Oh. I heard they are projected to win 7.5. I was very surprised.
Starting point is 00:44:49 And then you said this year it's 6.5. That feels much more realistic. Sacrificial baby. They said, hey, this 29th ranked offense needs to get rid of the one player we wanted to watch. So they did. And Saquon left in division. They did go out and spend draft capital on Malik neighbors who were all excited to see at the one Oh six.
Starting point is 00:45:16 I couldn't help, but you know, you talk about training camp. First video I saw today for Daniel Jones. No, no, no. It wasn't neighbors.
Starting point is 00:45:24 Oh, it was Daniel Jones with a, no, no. It wasn't neighbors. It was Daniel Jones with just the simplest five-foot screen pass. Air mailing is running back out of the backfield. I saw one of, it was funny because of the caption that came with it. I don't know if they were being fun or not, but it was like, you know, Jones throws a dot to Malik neighborsbors and Neighbors ends up dropping the ball. But it was also like the floatiest just drop. So it was, but not worried about that.
Starting point is 00:45:54 For Malik Neighbors, just worried about the actual, like how intense the excitement is for Malik Neighbors because from a talent perspective coming into the NFL draft where you had Marvin Harrison Jr. who by many has looked at as this is a bust proof pick for the NFL. A lot of people like you heard
Starting point is 00:46:16 GM saying no we have neighbors above Marvin Harrison Jr. for our particular offense. So are you Jason it feels like you have softened and risen a bit on Malik Nabors because he's going at wide receiver 20.
Starting point is 00:46:32 Aside from Marvin Harrison Jr., that's tied with Amari Cooper, the second highest rookie wide receiver ADP ever. And you're relying on this Giants offense and Daniel Jones, and it freaks me out. Yeah, I don't blame you for having it freak you out. I think that rookie wide receivers have oftentimes, in the recent NFL history, they've been good bets, but a lot of times it's the second half of the year
Starting point is 00:46:58 when you really get their value, and so you might be disappointed a little bit start season when you start with Malik Nabors. However, the talent, the explosiveness, the comp for him, I think for a lot of people, certainly for me was Jamar chase in college, not just because he played on the same team. He's got the same kind of body and athleticism and that explosive ability that the depth chart of Malik neighbors and Wandale Robinson and Darius Slayton and Jalen Hyatt and Allen Robinson. Wait, what? I totally forgot. That says to me that it's like 130 targets guaranteed to neighbors. Now, this isn't a great prolific offense. The scoring opportunities might not be there.
Starting point is 00:47:39 But because of his explosive athleticism, if you just put the ball in his hands, you know, 80, 90, 100-plus times. Yeah, I mean, this is Jalen Waddell all over again. Yeah. Not the perfect prototype, but the fact that Waddell was drafted in the top, what was he, pick six? Yeah, something like that. So same pick as neighbors.
Starting point is 00:47:58 Went to a team that no one had any confidence in the offense in Miami and finished at wide receiver 16 with over 100 catches. I view it that way. I haven't ranked at at 17 so I haven't ranked kind of in that how Waddle finished his rookie year I do think he's capped a little bit by Daniel Jones and the potential for a quarterback change to happen like if they're losing ball games I don't know Daniel Jones survives the whole season sure but it's so like the stat is we've only seen one rookie finish in the top 30 if he is on a bottom 10 passing yards per game roster. So if Daniel Jones finishes bottom 10, based off of history,
Starting point is 00:48:38 your probability of hitting is very, very low. And that one man was Mike Evans who had 12 touchdowns. It is ironic, though. That's a little bit of a chicken or an egg stat. Because if Malik Nabors is great and he finishes in the top 30 at wide receiver, then they probably won't have a bottom 10. At the end of the season, they probably won't finish in the bottom 10 of passing because maybe he took a couple to the house 70 yards
Starting point is 00:48:59 and then all of a sudden their numbers are good. If you want to bend it positively for Giants fans out there looking for a crumb of optimism in this division, Daniel Jones has not had the weapons necessary to succeed at the NFL level nor the offensive line. Those things have not been in place for him. So this is at least, like if you are stuck with Daniel Jones, which they are, be stuck with the ability to find out
Starting point is 00:49:28 if it would have ever worked right like getting malik neighbors is a it's the ability to know definitively if daniel jones is your quarterback of the future or not like if you can't get it done this year it's over andy did you watch the hard knocks? I know Mike and I have not caught up. Okay, but you saw enough to what I'm saying. When they were talking about Daniel Jones, their general manager was constantly saying he's never had an offensive line. Instead of paying Sigwald Barkley, we need to get him an offensive line and we need to get him a weapon if there's an offensive weapon there at six.
Starting point is 00:50:03 Over and over and over, he talked about improving this offensive improving this offensive line yeah baby from 30 to 29 this year yeah and according to warren sharp dead last like what you talked a big game man you did nothing with the offensive line he kept talking about no you'll see daniel jones if we get him a good offensive line and then he didn't so sorry giants fans devin singletary is the new running back in New York I mean experience with Brian Dayball in his system very how would you describe
Starting point is 00:50:34 give me one word to describe Devin Singletary motor nice Jason what did you say I was going to say competent yeah I was going to say solid I think Singletary is an above-average running back. And he will outproduce running back 33, which is where he's being drafted in the back of the ninth.
Starting point is 00:50:56 Now that could mean he's running back 29, and it's of no consequence. But he is an interesting name of being a starting running back that if you want to bet on the Giants and Malik neighbors being able to help turn things around and get into just maybe the middle of the pack, that would be great for Singletary. Yeah. You brought up something when they first signed, which seemed kind of outlandish, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. This sounds almost hot takey. This isn't.
Starting point is 00:51:27 This isn't a sound bite or click bait. But it is possible for the New York Giants that Devin Singletary is almost a better back for them. Right. Because Saquon is a home run hitter. Saquon, when he was the whole offense and they had no weapons, they had no passing game, he just looked for every single play a way to score a touchdown when he got the ball. He says, if I don't do it, no one's going to do it. Exactly right. And Devin Singletary is going to get his three yards to four yards every single play.
Starting point is 00:51:57 He's going to go north. He's going to fall forward. And ironically, he'll have easier opportunities because he's not Saquon Barkley he's not going to just face the entire defense coming in going like how do we stop Devin Singletary so for the Giants and their actual offense which leaks back to the Malik neighbors conversation it it might not be it might not be the downgrade that people might be worried about going from Saquon yeah Kyle's coming in with hot stats here of talking about a scheme of man. They're like
Starting point is 00:52:28 in running, there's essentially there's man or there's zone running. Saquon ranked 49th out of 49 running bats in success rate on man gap runs. Like, he was not getting done what he needed to get done. Offensive line factors into that, but just
Starting point is 00:52:44 saying like, yeah. They're not going to be favored in a lot of games, but they do start the year against Minnesota, who could be Darnold or McCarthy. They face Washington in week two, which is another rookie. Could be 2-0. And then Deshaun Watson in week three in Cleveland. That'll be a tough game.
Starting point is 00:52:59 Yeah. That'll be a tough one. Quick break. Back with Washington. All right. The Manders, they went four and 13. And they're starting over. We have a new owner. We've got a new gm we've got a new head coach we got a new quarterback wow we got an old eckler this is really like the complete reboot reboot they should just rebrand the team they actually are going to rebrand are they really yeah is that official yeah it won't be this year i've heard but rumors of what they're going to do. There's a lot of discussion about it there, yeah.
Starting point is 00:53:48 You had this opportunity, and then it was a different ownership. Yeah, those were Schneider days, man. I know. The Commanders, it's not a good name. New offensive coordinator, Cliff Kingsbury as well. Sweet. They had the fourth worst point differential of any team over the last five years last year. Wow. It was so frustrating because they threw the football
Starting point is 00:54:14 more than any team in the league, and it was a BUST season for Jahan Dotson. Not an impressive. Terry McLaurin always does the best he can do. In fact, I've seen some people be like, why are you not all about Terry McLaurin this year? And it's because, man, we're worn out. We're worn out.
Starting point is 00:54:40 We're a little bit worn out. We also understand the ceiling. The ceiling is not there for Terry McLaurin. It doesn't exist because... He can't DJ more? No. Well, here's the thing. Can he outproduce?
Starting point is 00:54:53 Can he be a very good pick? Absolutely. He's the wide receiver 33 right now in ADP. But if you look at his career, he finishes the wide receiver 28, 21, 25, 14, and 28. That's like he is a wide receiver 2, but he's not a wide receiver one. Now, if he finishes at the wide receiver 14, 15, and you draft him as 33, that's fantastic. He's still got the talent, and this is a quarterback upgrade. Rookie quarterbacks don't throw a lot of touchdowns.
Starting point is 00:55:21 A mobile rookie quarterback that might end up running in a few touchdowns might even throw a few fewer. Is that how you say that? You could have just said fewer. It would have worked. That would have worked? Yeah, you could have just said he could throw even fewer. He could throw even fewer. It's like a double negative there.
Starting point is 00:55:35 So he's throwing more. You could say fewer squared. But it's one of those things where a rookie quarterback does not usually bode well for the wide receiver. And then you combine that with just who Terry McLaurin is, which is a really good wide receiver who's not elite. He's not going to be out there finishing in the top 10 at the position. So there is that fatigue.
Starting point is 00:55:54 I don't mind taking him where he's being drafted. I haven't been because of that lacking of a belief that he can finish top 10. Yeah, he's not an exciting pick. I haven't been because of that lacking of a belief that he can finish top 10. Yeah. He's not an exciting pick. It doesn't feel like you're drafting to win when you take Terry. Yeah, it kind of doesn't, but let's put that to the test real quick. I want to see. Give me some names around him.
Starting point is 00:56:15 Yeah, so the wide receivers around him, Roma Dunzey is going ahead of him. I'd rather have Terry. Yeah. Yeah. I'll go Terry there. Christian Kirk or Terry McLaurin? yeah yeah i'm gonna tell you there christian kirk or terry mclaurin i'll take that neither i'll go kirk all right i'll go kirk behind him is uh here's the three wide receivers behind him jayden reed jordan addison xavier worthy I'll take Reed over him yeah but I'm okay
Starting point is 00:56:46 with McLaurin over the other two I agree completely Andy so he's he's going in about the right spot um one of the big discussions obviously with the wide receiver room Jahan Dotson can he bounce back can he can he serve you know yes okay tell us why
Starting point is 00:57:02 yes because he's not a bad goodness I don't want to talk about it. I get it. I get it. He was not the greatest call last year, but this is not a player who spent his entire life being good at football, being drafted in the first round of the NFL draft, coming out as a rookie and scoring seven touchdowns in 12 games
Starting point is 00:57:21 and looking great, and then all of a sudden he forgot how to play football. What happened was he was on a putrid, awful team with Sam Howell who spread the ball around a lot and ineffectively. And it was a bust season. Now, the hope that we had coming into last year was that this rookie who looked good, who was a first round pick, was going to take that leap and become a superstar. Obviously, I think that hope is done. And that's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying, hey, he's going to bounce back to be sensational, but this is a 24-year-old first-round wide receiver who now has a top-five NFL pick at quarterback to pair with him, and there's not a lot of competing targets. Last year, one of the biggest problems for johan dotson was curtis samuel curtis samuel soaked up targets in that system
Starting point is 00:58:09 he gone so it's like johan dotson's the clear number two here and if you know who's getting all those curtis samuel targets zackers gross the dotson thing's tough because you know first round wide receiver i i you know it's awesome, but two years outside the top 50 at the position, year three breakout with a rookie, it's against the odds. That's all I'm
Starting point is 00:58:36 saying. I believed in the talent. I loved what I saw on the field. I didn't love it last year. His rookie year, if you talk about his fantasy finish, he was the wide receiver 50, but he missed. It was like 12 games, right? Yeah, he only played 12 games. On a points-per-game basis, he was pretty good for a rookie,
Starting point is 00:58:51 almost 10 points per game. Yeah, but we only got to see 35 catches, right? So not a big sample. I obviously believed it. Didn't work out last year. The team threw the ball so ineffectively. Jayden Daniels comes in with just an incredible senior season at LSU. Heisman winner.
Starting point is 00:59:11 Everything you saw on tape last year was, you know, Burrow-esque at LSU, where that final season was a step up of everything we saw. Watched him out here at ASU all the time. This was a different player, but has a lot going, a lot of challenges ahead of him. You have an offensive line that's ranked in the bottom third. You have a whole new offense to learn. The balance of throwing the football, when to run it,
Starting point is 00:59:39 how this team's going to play on the defensive side. There's just a lot of problems here, and a lot could be put on his shoulders early. You talk about McCarthy getting an opportunity or Drake May to wait. We're not expecting that here. No, Jaden Daniels was drafted to be the starter. They let Jacoby Bursette go. They traded away Sam Howell.
Starting point is 01:00:00 Jaden Daniels will be the starter week one. This is the player that I want from this team because he's going to run a lot. As a quarterback, you're going to score extra points in fantasy. We all know that. And if Jahan Dotson steps up or if it turns out that Austin Eckler can provide something in the passing, everything goes to Daniels.
Starting point is 01:00:23 And Daniels is a very late. He's the last drafted quarterback that is an elite rushing mobile quarterback, and his comp to me has always been not as good, but very similar to Kyler Murray in the sense that he's a little bit undersized, he's a great passer and a great runner. And that was who Kyler Murray's offensive coordinator, well, head coach was in Cliff Kingsbury and so he's coming into that system and I believe Kyler was the quarterback seven
Starting point is 01:00:50 his rookie year I'll double check that but I mean it the system will work there they've got a fast pace of play so I like Jayden Daniels quite a lot the running back room is where I think there will I think there will be surprise value there. You do? Yeah, I think Brian Robinson is going to outperform his ADP significantly. Brian Robinson showed last year how good he can be in the passing game. I think he's going to do a lot for Cliff Kingsbury in this offense. I think Brian Robinson is a good player, and I think the pass-catching
Starting point is 01:01:20 chops, I don't think we're going to see as much of Eckler as we might hope, and I think Brian Robinson is going to be much better than RB35 and ADP in the late ninth. It comes down to what do you believe about Austin Eckler? What is left? Because, yes, the season in totality was pretty close to a disaster. Doo-doo. I had him on my roster.
Starting point is 01:01:47 Doo-doo. I know, but I just want to remind you. You turned down a trade for him. Week one, he was the running back three. He looked awesome, and then he ends up finishing that game with the ankle sprain. Takes some time to come back. Running back six, running back four, running back four,
Starting point is 01:02:05 and then it all really fell apart. So it's just what juice does Eckler have left? What is the split? If Brian Robinson is really involved in the passing game, then he will be a huge value because the early work is going to be Brian Robinson over Eckler. You know who is a good pass catcher? Who's that? Antonio Gibson.
Starting point is 01:02:26 Yeah. And he's a part of this backfield for multiple years. Brian Robinson has earned his way into the good graces of this coaching stuff. And like the problem with Eckler at his age is that you can do it sometimes. You can do it here and there. I mean, Zeke had a 72-yard touchdown run last year. Called back
Starting point is 01:02:42 on a penalty. But he did. He did. I mean just just needed some illegal action to get him out there it was away from the play um austin eckler is just at that stage of his career where sometimes it's going to be okay and we're not even talking about injury like injury has been a huge problem for eckler so look i just wanted to be on record saying that i believe brian robinson will have a valuable year for Eckler. So, look, I just wanted to be on record saying that I believe Brian Robinson will have a valuable year for fantasy. I have warmed on both of the running backs. I think this is a very nebulous situation
Starting point is 01:03:13 that I don't want to touch and nobody wants to touch, which is why they're in the ninth round. But in the ninth round, you have the potential of, you know, if it was the ankle injury that caused Austin Eckler's problems, they signed him in free agency, brought him in.
Starting point is 01:03:27 He's a great proven vet. If he's got that juice still, he could be good. And like you said, Andy, if he doesn't, Brian Robinson could be good. I think one of these two guys will outperform this value, and I haven't really been drafting either of them, but I'm completely open to at the end of the year we look back and go, oh, yeah, that was actually a good pick. We have teams in our league of record that trade away draft picks.
Starting point is 01:03:50 We're thin in the middle rounds, and you've got to find value later. I'm willing to look there. There's a lot to account for for Jaden Daniels, and Bryan Robinson was really good for the first half of last year despite the fact that they were so high as the passing offense and had a bad offensive line he was the rb4 for the first 11 weeks of fantasy football when did the playoffs start 14 uh in most leagues 15 so i you know uh majority of the season he was really valuable. Obviously, it slowed down. The team fell apart.
Starting point is 01:04:26 But yeah, I think that there will be value. And look, it's a ninth-round draft pick. Late ninth. Yeah. We talked about the quarterback. Mike, I'm sure you're in agreement that there's value there if he can run the football. Yes, very much.
Starting point is 01:04:43 I know that the tight end room is worth a discussion. If we're talking about Jahan Dotson being a certified number two, Zach Ertz is there. He was a PPR godsend in Arizona with Cliff Kingsbury. Cliff Kingsbury loves Zach Ertz, apparently. I expect Ertz will get a bunch of receptions. Is he seriously – if he's being drafted as a tight end 36,
Starting point is 01:05:08 like it's, that will not feel good. It will not feel good to put Zach Ertz on your team, but after week one, looking at, hey, the waivers, who had a decent week one? If Zach Ertz is on there with five receptions for 65 yards, that will be not surprising in the least. You know who he reminds me of? Zach Ertz?
Starting point is 01:05:31 Yeah, this year's Zach Ertz. Who's that? Logan Thomas. Yeah. He's like an old guy that's like, you know, it's like, oh, maybe he'll be involved. Maybe he could just PPR his way to relevance. And he might be, but he's got to deal with the Senate.
Starting point is 01:05:46 Yeah, well, yeah. Zach Ertz is being drafted way after my guy, Ben Sinnott, a.k.a. the Senator. I am the Senate. I forgot you had a drop. I am very excited for the career of Ben Sinnott. I'm not excited about his rookie year. He's on pace to be the next Tramie Bright.
Starting point is 01:06:05 Yeah. Which is not great about his rookie year. He's on pace to be the next Trey McBride. Yeah. Which is not great right away, but great later. If that's your type, Mike, if you can identify those, the Senator, and then Trey. Middle of next year. Look for Ben Sennett. All right, guys. We need to project this division. Man.
Starting point is 01:06:27 Yeah. Who's got the stones, boys? I will go Dallas. Okay. Philly. Washington, New York. Come on, Jay. Mike?
Starting point is 01:06:40 No, no, no. You're up. You're up. You missed the last show. You got to go next. I will go. I have Andy's order. So Dallas, Philly, Washington, New York?
Starting point is 01:06:55 Yeah. I'm going to go. I don't know what you could be browsing that would help you right now on your computer. What could be telling you facts about this situation at this point that benefit you my whole hope here when looking at the eagles v cowboys at the top is just what is the strength of schedule they've got the ninth easiest strength of schedule but really if you're if you're between if you're not top five or bottom five and strength of schedule i pretty much throw it out i'm gonna go with what I believe, which is Dallas number one,
Starting point is 01:07:26 Philly number two, the Giants number three, and the Commanders number four. All right. So none of us had the courage to take one of the worst teams and put them at the top. You can still do it, Jay. You want to change? All right. I'm going to go Commanders number one, Commanders, Giants, Philly.
Starting point is 01:07:44 All right. That'll do it. NFC West show for our Saturday episode. Guys, August is almost here. August is here. Five shows a week. August 1st through the end of the year. Yeah, so August 1st is, is that Thursday? It is.
Starting point is 01:08:02 So we will have the regularly scheduled Thursday show, and there will be a Friday show. Yes. Yes. And then we will be five days a week. There on out as football arrives. Yes. And if you're priming up for your draft, I mean,
Starting point is 01:08:15 August is when it really gets going. So pick up the Ultimate Draft Kit at ultimatedraftkit.com and check that out if you want to dominate your draft. That'll do it. You know, one of these days we should really thank these deuces for all that hard work. Maybe later on. Not today. Episode 2000.
Starting point is 01:08:31 Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com. And follow us on Twitter at the FFBallers.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.