Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - NFC East Breakdown + PUP or No PUP - Fantasy Football Podcast for 7/25

Episode Date: July 25, 2023

Another exciting division preview on today’s fantasy football podcast! Fantasy breakdown for the Eagles, Cowboys, Giants, and Commanders! Find out what to expect from these teams after an offseason with lots of changes. Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. -- Fantasy Football Podcast for July 25th, 2023. Dive into the 2023 Ultimate Draft Kit + Draft Analyzer! UltimateDraftKit.com Connect with the Fantasy Footballers Podcast: Subscribe on YouTube Visit us on the Web Support the Show Follow on Twitter Follow on Instagram Join our Discord Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Learn more at scotiabank.com slash banking packages. Conditions apply. Scotiabank, you're richer than you think. This is Melvin Gordon and you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome in. Tuesday, July 25th. The Fantasy Footballers Podcast.

Jason Moore, Andy Holloway with you today. And a big old bear. Jay Grizz in the building. Mike is out. Mike is perfect to be replaced by a big old bear. Mike's the kind of guy that can be replaced by a big old bear? Yeah. A lot of hair.

A lot of hair. You know, Mike's a tall guy. He's not like grizzly bear tall, but who is? Can bears get tattoos? For sure they can. Would you have to? They have skin under there. You have to shave them?

Yeah. That's got to be the most embarrassing thing that can happen to a bear. Now, was that on purpose? No. No. But like if you shaved a bear down, would they just, that'd be really embarrassing. I feel like their hair is everything. They would walk around so sad.

They'd be like, look at what a loser I am. Speaking of losers, everyone's, Josh is here. Hey, I'm not throwing a deucer cam after that. The deucers are here. No, the best in the business. Al Borland, Judge Giamatti, Papa Josh with us today. Another divisional breakdown. We're almost through all of the divisions.

We have a ton of news to cover today, Jason. Yeah, and it's actually finally important good news. Like, you know, the NFL has very few lulls, but probably the most real lull in the NFL calendar is actually after minicamp and before training camp. And it's been so boring. And now it's like, I'm really looking forward to a lot of the information we're getting. Yeah, it's not all good news, but there is a lot of news to talk about.

I also never thought I'd get to use a Melvin Gordon show introduction again. And yet here we are. So lots to talk about. Couple reminders here at the top. Number one, I, we haven't mentioned this in a while, but if you are a commissioner for a league,

if you play in a league and you know, everybody's got their league trophy or their championship belt, you got championship rings out there. If you need any of that stuff, I want to remind people where they can go. That's fantasychamps.com. And you just put in our code. Put in our code BALLERS, and that's 10% off anything on the site. Fantasychamps.com if you need any of that stuff.

I think they also still have free ring available. So if you want to put in free ring as a code. I think at that point you got to put a ring and something else in there. Yeah, you get a trophy. You put a trophy in and put one of their $60 rings in there, you get the ring for free. It's a good deal. We get all of our stuff from Fantasy Champs. It's great.

And then the Ultimate Draft Kit is available right now at ultimatedraftkit.com. We're just a few days away from the start of August. Went over the calendar with Brooksy today. Wouldn't you know, we're recording every day. Yeah, I'm ready. My body is ready.

We've added the Dynasty show on Wednesdays. We have Spitballers that comes out every Monday, if you're not aware of that. A fun comedy show. And now we're going to be adding five shows a week. So do your push-ups, Andy. I will do my best. Twitter at the FFBallers. Let's jump into the news.

News and notes from around the league. I don't know if you knew this, Jason, but Al Borland actually does a lot of push-ups all the time. I did learn that on the Spitballers podcast and dunked all over him. I want the people to know. All right, here's that news that I was teasing. The Ravens have signed running back Melvin Gordon

to a one-year deal worth up to $3.1 million. Melvin Gordon had the privilege of chilling on the bench while his Kansas City Chiefs won a ring last year. Super Bowl champion, Melvin Gordon. Melvin Gordon. Really funny interviews with him about that, where he just basically said, I got carried. J.K. Dobbins, in a corresponding move, placed on the PUP to start camp.

He has yet to participate fully in any practice this offseason including mandatory minicamp he has not been around there were a lot of rumors uh about whether he was doing a hold in essentially basically showing up because he's been kind of demanding a new contract he understands the state of the running back market where you need to get paid you need to get paid young or you're never going to get paid again. And so there was a lot of thought. I think the predominant thought was that he wasn't really injured. He was just not participating so that he could get a contract.

But this is a team that puts you on the pup. This isn't him placing himself on the pup. Yeah, it's tough. I mean, I was reading that he was at the at a training facility there's talk of a hamstring but then the official statement out of baltimore is that it's related to the knee recovery interesting yeah well i mean the hamstring could still be related to the knee recovery connected to the knee um yeah it's it's important for all the listeners to know right now that the the pup in this time of year is very, very different than once you start the season.

Being placed on the PUP a lot of times carries this horrific association where you're going to miss the first six weeks or something like that. The PUP right now, you can go on it, you can go off it, you can go back on it, back off. It is just really a helpful tool for the NFL teams and so this means a couple different things one don't overreact to players being placed on it that's going to happen and it's it means very very little on the other hand when a player doesn't make it to the pup that might be a little bit more interesting this time of year I know we're not to that point yet in the news because I do think before we move on from the Melvin Gordon news it's worth noting that this is not just J.K. Dobbins on the pup Gus Edwards has not

participated in anything as well he is still dealing we presume with the hamstring injury he had last year so they needed somebody they they have to have someone to practice I don't know that Melvin Gordon makes the roster or not we don't know how much is guaranteed it's up to 3.1 million but that was kind of like James Robinson where he could make up to 3 million was guaranteed nothing but it's worth monitoring through camp Dobbins and Gus Edwards their health just so I remember help me remember Jason because Edwards had tore his ACL then he returned from that played nine games last year um the quote I saw about minicamp was he'll be partially ready which is a really hilarious quote yeah but that's not ready was there a hamstring late in the season I'm forgetting yes yes it was so he had a hammy injury last year he spent the OTAs and minicamp working

to the side and now is not he is going to be partially ready. I also caught something else when I was looking into the J.K. Dobbins news that I wanted to bring up because recently there was a report of Zay Flowers being the best wide receiver out on the field. Rashad Bateman still dealing with some injuries. And here we have Odell Beckham. I don't know if you've seen this. I have seen no news on Odell Beckham.

His quote was, I'm thinking this is my last year. I'm going to give it. This is his quote. I'm going to give it my all this year. And then if something happens after that, we can go from there. But, you know, not the greatest thing to hear from a player that, you know, took a big paycheck and, you know, maybe kind of ending the end. Ending the end? Entering the end ending the end entering the end yeah goodness

gracious i mean a 15 million dollar contract and i think that gives me confidence when he comes out and says something like that that gives me great confidence in my ranking of odell beckham jr which is pretty much where alan robinson should have been ranked last year. Yeah, yeah. There's not a lot of... Optimism? I don't think there's a lot of upside. Juice? I think that's the hardest part because you look at that situation with him. He had...

He's just dealt with so many injuries. We have him ranked right around here. 55! Oh, no, that was his finish last year. We have him at 66. You know what's... I We have him at 66. You know what? I'm the highest at 61. It's crazy to think how quickly things change in fantasy football.

Odell Beckham, early in his career, you know, when he's going into year three or whatever, he's the most valuable dynasty asset. He's going to be valuable and great and unstoppable for a decade. It's just never going to change. And things happen you know like how do you feel right now about Justin Jefferson he's going to be great forever he's a he's absolutely rock solid ironclad nothing can ever happen that's how you felt

about Otto Beckham and then the career basically really just imploded with injuries and yeah and someone was reminding me DK Metcalf was the number two dynasty draft pick recently too which is not that that is the end of the world like his career is great but there was also a point I think where he looked like number one perennial number two perennial but moving on to the pop story you were talking about Javante Williams was not placed on the PUP to start training camp. This is so shocking. Now, this does not guarantee that he will not be placed on the pup. I mean, news could come out tomorrow or the next day that, you know, now they've placed him on the pup and it's just, it just happens that, you know, the first couple of days they want him there, whatever.

And so I'm going to hold for a week or two my true you know I'm not I'm not going to like all the way lean into he's off the pup he's not going on the pup he's healthy enough to participate where it doesn't even need to be there but should he stay off the pup in the next two weeks and they don't place him on there I want to remember Chris Godwin who last year avoided the pup, and no one thought he was going to avoid the pup because his injury seemed like he was going to, you know, they were talking about he'll be back by November, and then he didn't go on the pup, and then he was there week one, and while he wasn't his full-strength, great Chris Godwin self, he played 17 games. He

was out there, so it's interesting to me for I mean all the news around Javante Williams has been positive and I have refused to buy in based on the just truth of his injury I'm kind of buying in well I I did bring up even with my optimism around the most recent news before this news I still think that there is a high likelihood this is a shared backfield for the duration of the season. This coaching staff handpicked Samajne Pirine to come in there. I think both players are going to get opportunities for a long time. And like you said, I mean, if Javante Williams is sharing time for half the season and then maybe he's two-thirds in the second half,

where does he belong in drafts? I mean, those are the kind of answers that you need. Yeah. If that's the case, probably fourth or fifth round. Yeah. And, and, but the upside in the name, I don't know if it gets there. Uh, Jimmy Garoppolo also not placed on the pup. He's going to be the quarterback for the Raiders. This is fantastic, fantastic news. If you're listening and you think, I don't care you do yes you absolutely do you do not want who is it Brian Hoyer out there on the field whoever off the street I mean I don't even know who's behind Jimmy Garoppolo but is that just the default name you'll throw out there for any team if you don't know their depth chart no I do I think it actually is Brian Hoyer which is why

I threw it out but it feels like Brian Hoyer shouldn't be in the NFL for about the last five years. The backup to Jimmy Garoppolo, Jason, just to let you know, is Brian Hoyer. Oh, baby. So, yeah, you're happy Jimmy Garoppolo's there. Devontae Adams can be relevant. You know, all the pieces there. They brought in Jacoby Myers.

Yeah, the Devontae Adams situation is very interesting to me because four out of the last five seasons so like when he's been healthy he's been a top five wide receiver one three and three the last few years and now he's being drafted as the eighth wide receiver off the board and i am starting to believe that is stupid to do because he's probably he could be it could be argues the best pure receiver in the game you're saying stupid to be that low to be that low it could be very stupid to be that low i didn't know which way you like that's yeah but this is davante adams this is my point like last year all the doubts pushed his adp to a stupid place, and he still finished at number three. He will get his. He will always get his because he's that good.

Remember the plays last year? He was so open that anybody could have got him the ball. He's that good of a route runner. He's that good of a player. I think he doesn't get enough respect because we see Raiders all around him. So you're going to draft Devontae Adams where then? I do have him higher than both of you. We're at 7, 8, and 8 right now.

Wow, you've got him way higher. Way higher. But let's go look for a second. Let's just have fun for a moment. Right now that means that Devontae Adams is, so I'm looking at the rankings. I mean, A.J. Brown or Devontae Adams? C.D. Lamb or Devontae Adams? Amon Ross St. Brown or Devontae Adams?

I think Jefferson Cup, Hale Chase, those four should be locked ahead of him, but he should be at five. Really? Out of respect for his performance and finishing third after third after first. I have just as much respect as a player for Stefan Diggs, who has Josh Allen or AJ Brown, who has Jalen hurts. But that is exactly what happened last year.

And that both those guys finished worse than, than Devante Adams did. That's my point is like last year, nothing we're saying is new. Derek Carr has been pooped on with equivalent volume as Jimmy Garoppolo in his career. I just think it's... So, genuine.

Genuine. You're on the clock. Diggs, A.J. Brown, Devonta Adams, they're all there. You are taking... Yes. I'm going to change it. I was going to say Stephon Diggs. You said yes. No, no, no. I'm taking Adams. Alright. I'm going to make a... You can see me here. I'm going to say Stephon Diggs. You said yes. No, no, no. I'm taking Adams. All right. I'm going to make a – you can see me here. I'm going to get him up.

All right. And it could be argued that it was – we didn't know about Jimmy G until moments ago. Fair. All right. Josh Jacobs is boarded a flight heading out of Las Vegas, leaving Las Vegas. He's running backs, man.

He'll come back sometime. He will. Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley, there's going to be the next couple months we're going to be on running back watch, franchise running back watch. They're going to hold out training camp. They're going to take it to the limit. A video came out of Saquon talking about he's considering his only card to play is basically to say, fine, I won't be there.

You can play without me and show my value by not being there. I believe that these running backs will have to be there just in the end. Maybe they hold out one week to try to send a message, but it's not in their best interest. They need to play. They need to have this contract. They need to earn another contract. So I believe that you will have these running backs out there all right to uh some less good news chiefs wide receiver cadarious tony

who underwent an off-season cleanup procedure on his knee aggravated the injury fielding a punt will miss time in training camp. Some reports say he should be ready for the regular season. Some say he won't be. Let me do this because Matthew Betts delivered just a horrible, wonderful, horrible tweet. Kadarius Toney was a first-round draft pick in 2021. He's had three hamstring injuries, two ankle injuries, a quad obl knee scope a foot and now another knee injury yeah i mean look i know that the twitter doctors hate the injury prone label and they come out and they say cadarious tony's not injury prone and i'm just gonna say you sure about that yeah i mean he is He is. And there's that wide receiver room right now is it's like we could wait.

I think we could waste so much breath debating on which wide receiver you think is going to be best, almost like last year. You don't need to do it. You just need two words. Travis Kelsey. You said receiver. Wide receiver. You said wide receiver.

No, I think the answer to that question is Travis Kelsey. That's what I'm saying. Rushie Rice. No, I mean, that's not the answer. Well, I mean, obviously, as a target that question is Travis Kelsey. That's what I'm saying. Rushie Rice. No, I mean, that's not the answer. Well, I mean, obviously, as a target, it's Travis Kelsey. But if you're saying, what wide receiver there, do you take a shot on, it's Rushie Rice. I don't agree with you.

Well, you're going to take a shot on? Skymore. Okay. But none of them is, my whole point is we shouldn't be, we did this last offseason, it was stupid. There's also a lot of people that think it's Justin Ross. Got to make the roster first. Yeah.

I mean, he's already running with the ones. You've got Justin Watson. Richie James has been signed. MBS has been signed. Yeah. No, I get it. It's a nasty receiving core. Take your shot, but don't be helpful.

Mahomes, yeah, just pessimistically draft Rashi Rice. Pessimistic, like say, I'm taking a really bad shot here. Right. You'll take Rashi Rice, but last year you would have taken Sky Moore in that same situation. It would have been wrong. That's fair. I mean, and so, do I want somebody to emerge? Sure, but none of them are Tyree Kill.

And Patrick Mahomes, I mean, he's even come out and basically said it's all going through Kelsey. basically said it's all going through Kelsey. He said it's all going through Kelsey and everyone else will help out. So, I don't know. It's so tantalizing to try to figure it out. But Tony was at the top of the list, and now where is he? You're taking Rashi Rice over Tony?

Over Tony, no. I mean, Rashi Rice is undrafted in home leagues, and in best ball is super duper late. Well, but Skymore's not good at football. Oh my gosh. Just because you like one player doesn't mean the other one has to stink. My Skymore has nothing to do with Rushie Rice. It has to do with Skymore's rookie season.

But Rushie's is going to be great. I hope so. It could be. Skymore's can no longer be. Naeem Hines will miss the 2023 season. Oh, that sucks. There was an injury on a jet ski. He was struck by another rider.

He will require surgery. He will be out. So, you know, that's just so unfortunate for Naeem Hines. Feel bad for the guy. When you look at that backfield, I don't know how much you were considering Naeem Hines. Feel bad for the guy. When you look at that backfield, I don't know how much you were considering Naeem Hines, but you know I've been excited about James Cook. Third down, Naeem Hines is not going to happen this year.

And so if it's Damian Harris and James Cook, James Cook's going to be on the field more than he would have been. For sure. And then the Giants signed some mediocre players oh man Cole Beasley and James Robinson welcome to the team Cole Beasley why don't you play the slot along with Sterling Shepard and Jalen Hyatt and Paris Campbell and Wanda Robinson I mean why and then Waller's not lining up outside I mean you it's the there's not enough Spider-Mans for the Spider-Man gif.

It's like there's too many of these guys. Maybe he only likes short, wide receivers. There you go. Yeah, that was – Yeah, Jameson Crowder's there too, in case you were curious. It's kind of wild. Maybe they won't all make the team, Jason. I doubt it. Also, Tyreek Hill is, let's call it, all good from the situation in the marina.

Yes, they have resolved their differences. I wonder how that got done. Yeah. Do you got that button over there somewhere? Money, money, money, money, money. There it is. We're going to take a quick break and come back with the NFC East. Whether in the game or in life, the right coverage can make all the difference.

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The NFC East, first division since 2008, with all four teams at 500 or better. So kind of the opposite of the NFC South, which we talked about earlier. Looking at the changes from year to year, how the offenses are going to perform, what we can expect, and then we'll predict the division and the division winners, which, yeah, we'll see. We'll see if there's a surprise. I think this could go a couple different ways. The Eagles were 14-3 last year.

They had a 9.5 win total heading into the year. It's up to 10.5 for this year. They were 7-1 in one-score games. So we talked about how good Minnesota was in these one-score games. Spent last offseason hopeful that they would become a pass-first team. The addition of A.J. Brown in the draft, right? They traded for A.J. Brown. The chicken or egg thing where they were not a pass-heavy team, and then a premier wide receiver they started the year very pass heavy number five and early down pass rate

slowed it down around the ball more in the second half of games which this would became a kind of a running thing on the show where you would get this monster performance jason from jalen hurts and then you'd go into halftime you're like all, all right, let's go get some more. And then it would just be kind of running out the clock. Yeah, they were extraordinarily dominant. I mean, they beat the tar out of most people that they played. They had 133-point differential in their total points scored on the season. So they would just come out, score a couple of big bomb touchdowns,

and then in the second half, they barely scored, like, NFL points. They just didn't need to. They'd run the ball, they'd take up the clock, they'd win the game, and then it's frustrating for fantasy managers. But also they did enough in the first half where you weren't disappointed. And so you know know, the power of this offense is what you could have seen last year, but also I think it could be better. Like if they're in closer matchups, obviously they now have the number one schedule. They're going to

have a more difficult schedule this season, having finished first in the division last year, more competitive teams. They've got some losses on defense and so you could end up with i think even more fantasy goodness from this roster than you had last year and that's saying something yeah i mean it'll be hard to go 701 and one score games but they're a pretty clutch team with a good defense um they did lose their offensive and defensive coordinators. Yes. So Brian Johnson taking over on offense. Shane Steichen was there last year, moved on to Indianapolis. Miles Sanders no longer a part of this offense. They added Rashad Penny and DeAndre Swift,

both sort of castaways at the running back position, players that had had really good film, really good performances, but neither with any sense of consistency over the course of their career, dealing with injuries, both of them. And so they're taking their shot at a couple of guys to go along with Kenny Gainwell, Boston Scott. I know Mike is a big Rashad Penny fan. I have not gotten myself to the point where I believe that there is a, I don't know, that there is a reason why Rashad Penny is going to be the guy

over any of these other players. Like I tend to believe they're going to give each guy an opportunity on a regular basis. Do you disagree? Do you think, you know, Rashad Penny is odds on favorite here could it be DeAndre Swift can he gain well yeah I mean I I do put my chips in the Rashad Penny basket obviously this is another guy like Kadarius Tony who's just never been able to stay healthy but we have a lot more games of active participation with Rashad Penny and when he's been out there man he has been

a dominator he hasn't been average or good he's been on a per carry basis the best he has had game after game after game when when had whenever basically any game he gets more than 12 carries he finishes the game freaking awesome for real life and awesome for fantasy. He's a world beater. And the way that it comes for him is, I think, a way that works really good with the Eagles. They have the number one ranked offensive line. Jalen Hurts does not pass it to the running back very much. If they weren't last place, they were bottom three at passing to the running back. And so you have Miles Sanders last year, who was already the running back 13, and that's based on touchdown opportunities

and basically just rushing yardage. That's where Rashad Penny excels. I think if you're trying to look for a rollout from Jalen Hurts, Rashad Penny, he can get that ball and he gone. And so if he's healthy, DeAndre Swift, he's a great pass catcher. And this will be a committee. I think Boston Scott will be involved. Kenny Gainwell will be involved.

Swift and Rashad Penny. So, you know, it's not like you're super bullish on anybody, but they don't cost a lot in drafts. So I want to take my shot on Rashad Penny late. Rashad Penny has 10 catches in the last two seasons. Both players are similar in total touches. DeAndre Swift has 364 in the last two seasons. Both players are similar in total touches. DeAndre Swift has 364 over the last two years. Penny at 337.

Both have been above average when they've had the opportunities they've been given. You've talked about the tush push and how unstoppable that is. Jalen Hurts scores a lot of touchdowns in the red zone. That's where my concern arises is third down is going to be DeAndre Swift. That's going to be him. Or Kenny Gainwell. It's not going to be Rashad Penny. It will not be Rashad Penny.

And then goal line is going to be a guy named Jalen Hurts. And so could you get the big plays? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you got those from Miles Sanders, red light, green light last year, but you didn't have a player like DeAndre Swift to compliment Miles Sanders. So I'm a little more reticent of placing any trust in those guys. But late round shots, kind of fatigued fantasy players passing on them. You might as well take a bite out of the best offensive line.

Yeah, I think it's worth it because it doesn't cost you much. It's a lottery ticket that's, you know, you're playing the nickel slots here. If one of those two goes down, which both have always gone down, the other one seems like they would be really valuable. Good. Or both will go down and then it'll be Boston Scott again. Or Kenny Gainwell. Because he was pretty good later towards the playoffs.

A.J. Brown, Devontae Smith, two of the best in the game. A.J. Brown leading theontae Smith, two of the best in the game. A.J. Brown leading the NFL in receiving yards and vertical routes, fourth in air yards, fourth in yards per target. Devontae Smith, an absolute beast. He's one of five sophomore wide receivers with 95, 11, 10, and 7 over the last decade, which is Beckham, Jefferson, Juju, and A.J. Green. Yeah, it's a good list. I mean, he's a phenomenal player. I will say that a lot of you don't know for sure. He had like a level up midseason last year, and it coincided with Dallas Goddard not being on the field.

And so in those situations, a lot of times you go, well, he was a second-year wide receiver. So of course he's going to be better in the second half of last year. And what he did established himself as what he was, right? But then when Dallas Goddard comes back, does it revert or not? There's a little worry there. To me, I just think this offense is going to be great. They all cost a lot.

A.J. Brown is at the end of the first. He's at the one-two turn. Devontae Smith's in the middle of the third round. That's pretty pricey. If you want Jalen hurts you're you're paying a second round pick he's at the two three turn they're all costly i'm willing to go in on every single one i i want pieces of this office i don't i don't see a world where this offense doesn't score a ton of points play dallas twice really good defense new york's defense is not bad. The Commanders' defense is improving. They did it all last year.

Well, yeah, but I mean, they're going to do it every year no matter what. 14-3 every year? Not 14-3, but with this offensive line and the weapons there. I mean, Jalen Hurts isn't going anywhere. The offensive line isn't going anywhere. And these two wide receivers and tight end, yeah, I'm in. You mentioned the tough schedule. They are going to face that.

And speaking of Dallas Goddard, I have him at three. I think Dallas Goddard is an extreme value. We have him in the ultimate draft kit, and he's coming into this season healthy. So I am excited about Goddard. Cowboys were 12-5 last year, despite going through some ups and downs. Their win total is at 9.5 this year. It was 10.5 last year.

We lose Kellen Moore. So we'll begin there. Pour one out. Yeah, Kellen Moore was very popular in fantasy football circles. But not in Mike McCarthy's mind for some reason too many points yeah it it is interesting you look at what Kellen Moore has done with the Cowboys their offense has been great they've scored a ton of points and around the NFL Kellen Moore is widely considered to be one of the best young offensive minds he is someone that you know this wasn't he got fired because he wasn't good enough.

This was a guy going around interviewing for head coaching jobs over the last couple of cycles and just didn't land any, and I think he wanted to move on from McCarthy. I don't know the inner workings. I don't pretend to have inside information there, but I love that he went and said I'm gonna see what I could do with Justin Herbert and now we've got to go okay well so how's it gonna work with Brian Schottenheimer are they gonna slow it down tremendously because that's his MO that's what Mike McCarthy has said he wants to do to to save his defense but yeah look at the roster and you go, well, that's not the makeup of this roster.

Tony Pollard is not a grinded-out, 300-carry type of player. There's not a lot of running backs behind him of note, and yet you've got CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup, and Brandon Cooks and Dak, so you should be throwing the ball here. Yeah, I mean, I think the answer of are they going to slow down is absolutely yes. They were number one in pace of play last year, fourth in points per game. If you have a lot of nice things to say about Kellen Moore,

then it's proportional to say you lose that impact onto this team. They're not going to be the same without him. You also mentioned, like, you know, they did lose Dalton Schultz this offseason, who was a go-to receiver for for Dak Prescott Michael Gallup has not proven it since he coming off he came back off of the injury and I think they're signing Zeke I think Zeke will be back on this team last I saw because that's how I thought the last couple months I've just been way I've been drafting Zeke in plenty of leagues but I recently saw a report that it seems like it's very unlikely he resigns with the Cowboys now.

So I don't remember the source on that, but they need someone else. I mean, Malik Davis, Ronald Jones, Deuce Vaughn, that's who's there right now. Ronald Jones has never been very good. Malik Davis is a question mark. Deuce Vaughn is a sixth-round rookie pick. And Tony Pollard is not the type of player that you think is truly built for workhorse Brian Schottenheimer workhorse levels of touches.

Yeah, and that's why I still think Zeke will be back on this team. And if it's not Zeke, it might be one of the other big backs to compliment. But I think that there is the potential. We're really disappointed with players on this roster, Pollard included. I think maybe, you know, CeeDee Lamb will be fine. I don't look at Dak as a value. I don't like Brandon Cooks as much as Mike does. I think no Mike does.

I think... No one does. Well, because Mike likes him that much? Yeah. Yeah, I think that this team has some challenges ahead of it. You see the win total going down, despite all the personnel things that you're talking about. I mean, we like the defense, but I think Mike McCarthy knows you can win with that defense.

And letting Dak turn the ball over about. I mean, we like the defense, but I think Mike McCarthy knows you can win with that defense and letting, letting Dak turn the ball over is not part of the, his plan. So, you know, Brian Schottenheimer has a way of doing things that Kellum is a lot different than Kellum Moore. And you can win a lot of games with this defense. So I am personally, I am, this would be the team I'm out on for fantasy options. I think Seedy's target share will be enough, even with a reduced pace of play, to where I'm comfortable. Number six overall last year, but he's being drafted at that number.

So even that could be a lower production. I don't blame you for having a somewhat negative outlook. There are easy-to-envision paths to where that doesn't work out for the Cowboys. That being said, this is a team, while the offensive coordinator is changing, there's been a lot of continuity here. You've still got Dak and Pollard and CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup that have been together and have a rapport. So I don't think it's going to be a bad offense. Really, it comes down to the value of these players in the draft. Dak is being overdrafted. Pollard, to me, is still worth taking.

He's in the third round right now. I'm willing to take that shot. He was great last year with Zeke. Now he has an opportunity. CeeDee Lamb, he's going to be good, but he is being drafted at his ceiling. I haven't got a lot of him. Honestly, the only player that I think has a shot of really, really, really out performing his ADP is

Michael Gallup, two years removed from the ACL injury. I think he could easily be the two for this team over Brandon Cooks. I'm with you on that. That's where I don't have the confidence that Brandon Cooks is going to come into this situation and supplant Michael Gallup a year removed. And then at tight end

you care because Dak's always targeted his tight end. You've got the Schoonman. Schoonman. Thank you. Luke Schoonmaker, rookie tight end. But more than likely, it's going to be Jake Ferguson, who is not a rookie. Rookie tight ends don't get it done. And Zach Martin is holding out right now.

Great offensive lineman. Yeah, so, I mean, that's a problem for this offense if he ends up you know not at training camp and not playing for this team they face the giants on the road week one then the jets then they get to a free uh free game against arizona oh cool and then new england so the giants uh are next nine-1 last season. Their win total was seven going into last year's eight and a half going into this year. They won a wildcard game. Yes, they did. And then they got trounced by Philadelphia. So here we go. The New York Giants. I, you know, last year it felt like the difference was a brand-new head coach in Brian Dable,

but that difference just barely got them over the hump. I know they were a huge surprise. They deserve a ton of credit. Daniel Jones played better. What Dable did with what I believe was a very low-end roster, I don't think he had a lot of talent on either side of the ball. Really what he was able to get out of this offense. When you're talking about a hodgepodge of no name wide receivers and injuries.

I mean, their injuries galore there, you know, Wanda Robinson and Sterling Shepard, maybe their best two receivers. They didn't even have them. And so to, to squeak out those wins and get the most out of Daniel Jones I thought Dayball did such Isaiah

Hodgins was making play yeah Dayball did such a great job and I want to give them all the credit in the world and I think there's hope in New York that now they're going to take that next step forward I believe that it is a hollow fool's gold of a season last year that is going to come crashing down. There are Giants fans who just toss their phones out their car window. They can't even hear you

defend your point right now, which you shouldn't do that, Giants fans. Hold on to those phones. But there are people that are not going to react kindly to that with the optimism that they have. Yeah. What?

They added Darren Waller to this team, a huge weapon, dealing with the Saquon situation. But you think last year was a mirage of a 9-7-1, and they're going back down. I do. I mean, they had a negative point differential. We talk about the Minnesota Vikings who had a negative point differential despite a good record.

Yeah, 8-4-1 score games for the Giants. Yeah, the ball bounced the right way for them, and those are very non-sticky. Usually when you're winning just all the close games, it just doesn't happen year after year after year in the NFL. You've got to take a massive step forward. And while I do think Darren Waller is a great addition because it gives a creative play caller like Brian Dayball a little bit more opportunity to kind of that's a first elite weapon he has in the passing game yeah and to to mix up the looks and and I think that's a great addition But I don't believe it is enough.

And the fact that they paid Daniel Jones and they're sticking with him. You don't have the confidence. I don't. What about the fantasy storyline of Daniel Jones, which is, look, you get him an elite weapon in Darren Waller. You draft Jalen Hyatt, a deep ball threat. You bring in Paris Campbell, very productive last year in Indianapolis, throwing Shepard back, Wandale back, Hodgins, Slayton, Barkley,

and then you say, hey, Daniel Jones runs the football. I mean, he's one of 12 quarterbacks in 73 to rush for 700 yards and seven touchdowns in a season. Isn't there an untapped ceiling for Daniel Jones that we maybe, maybe you're like Vegas was last year where they didn't believe? Well, you can argue it one of two ways. You can certainly take the approach of he is a mobile quarterback that is utilized in the running game which is so valuable for fantasy you add

these weapons and absolutely if you want to take a shot on that because he doesn't cost much then take a shot there is a clear path where if he keeps that Russell Wilson or Daniel Jones Russell Wilson if you keep the ability of running if you keep that rushing baseline that he had last year, which was 700 yards and he didn't play in week 18, and you add to that in the passing game, that's great. But what I believe is that he will not keep that level of rushing. I think that they had to utilize his rushing game when they didn't have any weapons to throw to. So now adding Darren Waller, adding Paris Campbell, I don't think they want Daniel Jones to run that much, and Daniel Jones has really never ran that much before.

I mean, the last few years, tell me which one of these things isn't like the other. 279 rushing yards, 423 rushing yards, 298, 708 rushing yards. I mean, obviously, it's his first year with Brian Dayball, and you could say, well, that's just what he's going to do. He missed several games last year. He's not a 700-yard rusher, I don't believe, on an ongoing basis. If they beat Dallas in week one, though, will you hang a Daniel Jones fathead above your bed?

I'll take it down if they lose.'s already there it's already there yeah because just at a celebration of the 700 yards okay yeah that makes sense um where is value to be had in the wide receiver room or are you are you punting trying to make that decision right now? I think I have made the decision personally that I don't want a lot of times ambiguous wide receiver and running back rooms. That's where there is value to be had. This to me does not seem like there is a player on the roster who can really break out and step forward. To me, this is going to be a shared experience among so many different wide receivers that I'm just O-U-T. I don't believe that Darius Slayton or Isaiah Hodgins or an injured Wanda Robinson or an old coming back from injury Sterling Shepard can truly break out and say, I'm an alpha. I'm great. I'm going to be at least a wide receiver two or better.

I don't think that happens. I think in PPR leagues, Paris Campbell may be more relevant than people would like to believe. That would be the shot I would take in a PPR league with Hodgins right behind. Because Hodgins had that six-week stretch of relevance towards the end of the year. But I'm with you on kind of doubting those other names, and I certainly don't think Hyatt will have opportunities early. Especially with Darren Waller. We were just talking about the Chiefs and the fact that which wide receiver you're going to go to,

and that's with Patrick Mahomes. They're probably all going to be worthless because it's going to run through Travis Kelsey, and I think this is Daniel Jones, probably close to 2,000 fewer passing yards, and Darren Waller's probably the number one target in this offense. Jones probably close to 2,000 fewer passing yards. And Darren Waller's probably the number one target in this offense. Yeah, they were 25th in pass attempts last year and 26th in passing yards.

So it was a manufactured offense that got them through. But, yeah, there are some definite question marks. And it'll test Brian D'Abel to do it again in a tough division where everyone was above.500. Anything else on the Giants front that you want to discuss? Saquon, right now you're in a holding pattern on Saquon. And, like, Dynasty players, I'm sorry. I'm one of them with Josh Jacobs. Like, you have to sit around and hope that they show up,

plan on them showing up. And then if they don't, I mean, spend a draft pick on the backups yeah right whether it's Zemir White or Matt Breida right now right now as we're recording at the end of July you have seen Saquon go from a mid to late first round pick like on underdog and just this week I've seen him in multiple leagues drop to the third round in which case i am drafting him every time i'm usually getting him at the back of the second right now i i believe these players play and the news is only going to get worse and worse and worse the fear is going to grow higher and higher as they miss camp uh one one other comment it's worth saying because he just couldn't do it to

begin his career do you realize paris campbell as you call him the awful tower he played every freaking game last year 17 straight games for paris campbell was he a top 24 wide receiver then he had 92 targets that's a lot so he was a top 24 wide receiver he had 92 targets was he not so he wasn't was he a top 36 92 targets oh okay yeah top 48 i honestly don't know but i know he had 92 targets oh okay top 48 I honestly don't know but I know he had 92 targets okay so he's really good Washington the commanders 8-8-1 last year 7.5 point or sorry 7.5 win total

in 2022 this year it's 6.5 how dare you he started out 1-4 and went 6-1-1 until the bye week 1-3 in the final month. They beat the undefeated Eagles in week 10. And here we go. I think this is – I'd love the Commanders in the South, in the NFC South.

Yeah? Yeah. Yeah, I'd love them to have that chance. But I don't love them in this division because you have the worst quarterback in the division. You do. And it doesn't matter which one plays, whether it's Jacoby Brissett or Sam Howell.

You've got the worst quarterback. 24th in points per game last year with Heineke and Carson Wentz. 20th in total yards. Fourth in rush attempts, so they tried to get it done on the ground with Brian Robinson Antonio Gibson but Sam Hal Jacoby Brissett look you're going to see both of them nobody has played more quarterbacks than Washington has you're not going this team cannot win enough games consecutively to not see both of these players this year that's what I truly believe. I have them both statted.

I just don't see a scenario where they're going 6-7-8-1 with Sam Howell and Brissette never gets an opportunity. No, you're 100% correct. I've got both guys statted despite my love for Sam Howell because of what you said. If you don't win enough games, there's going to be a coaching staff that's on the hot seat. When you're on the hot seat and you've lost a couple games you're going to switch to the other

quarterback thankfully and he's proven he will yeah oh for sure and you have a somewhat proven backup in Jacoby Brissett thankfully you've got the wide receiver one here Terry McLaurin is used to playing with a hodgepodge of quarterbacks he mean like he expects to play with two quarterbacks every game. Carson Wentz, Taylor Heineke, Alex Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Dwayne Haskins, Colt McCoy, Case Keenum, Kyle Allen. That would be McLaurin's, I don't know, is it a hit list now? That's his all-star list of quarterbacks that he's received targets from.

But Jahan Dotson, very talented, sophomore wide receiver. And I think that having Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson, very talented, sophomore wide receiver. And I think that having Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson, second-year Jahan Dotson, on the field together and healthy will open things up and make it a little bit easier for whichever quarterback is in there. I believe in them. I think there's going to be a consolidation of targets. You believe in McLaurin and Dotson.

I believe in McLaurin and Dotson. I believe in McLaurin and Dotson. And I also believe in Eric Bien-Ami, the offensive coordinator who left Kansas City and Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes because he wasn't ever able to get the head coaching job because, you know, it's like, well, how do we know it's you? And he said, well, let me go to the commanders, and I will show you what I can do. And so I'm excited to see what this offense looks like.

There are valuable weapons here. Antonio Gibson is a really good NFL player. Terry McLaurin's a really good NFL player valuable weapons here. Antonio Gibson is a really good NFL player. Terry McLaurin's a really good NFL player. Jahan Dotson's a really good NFL player. So if Sam Howell can get it together, be what I believe he can be, then you've got a pretty good defense here too because one of the least sticky stats on defenses is defensive scoring, like touchdowns on defense and if you remove that uh stat the

the the commanders were actually among the best defenses in the league here's my concern for mclaren and and dotson who i love the talent of both players my concern jason is having consistent enough opportunities this team showed last year like defense, I think is going to be better this year than it was last year. Do you agree with that? I think it'll be as good as it was last year. I don't know. It was pretty good last year. And I think that to make a younger quarterback have success,

you have what they did last year. They ran the ball the fourth most in the league. So I think if their defense is keeping them in games, they're not going to put the ball in the hands of Sam Howell to Kobe Brissett to throw it. And the people in, you know, the teams that are in their range last year of pass attempts, it's wide receiver rooms that were scary.

You know, unless you have a true alpha, you know, McLaurin's an alpha. But he's had inconsistency at the NFL level. So I just, I guess I yearn. I yearn, Jason. I yearn for opportunities. You yearn every time I go to the bathroom, brother. No, that's a different word. Oh.

But I hope it's a different word. But McLaurin and Dotson, I just worry about them not having consistency because this team is going to run the football, not throw the football, and rely on their defense to try to get by. I mean it's a Ron Rivera versus Eric Bien-Ami led offense that's the way I see it because I think Ron Rivera wants to protect it it wants to protect the defense protect the rookie quarterback and run the ball and I think Eric Bien-Ami came over here of course to win games and and with this roster you can make an argument that you got to run the ball more but argument that you got to run the ball more. But he came over here to get a head coaching job. And he came over here to get a head coaching job by opening up an offense, taking a young,

unproven quarterback and saying, look what I can get out of my quarterback. You want to get a head coaching job, you take an unproven quarterback and you make them something. And if you can do that, you got a golden ticket for a head coaching job. And you're not doing that by protecting them running the ball. If you want to cash in on Washington commanders performances in week one, you might have a chance. They face Arizona at home in week one. Arizona is depleted talent-wise on the defensive side of the ball. They can't rush the passer. I would not be surprised if the quarterback for Washington looks quite good in week one. They will then go to Denver, play Buffalo, and go to Philly. Yikes-a-potamus.

So there may be a rude awakening for the heavily favored in week one commanders for the following three weeks. So it it's just something those little top of the season schedule things are worth paying attention to because you know you may want to cash in on a big gibson or brian i mean brian robinson might have a monster week against arizona in week one that's what i was going to say if i had to say one player on this roster who has an abnormal performance because of that ari Arizona home matchup week one, it'd be Brian Robinson. He was very inefficient as a runner.

And honestly, he's a, he's a plotter. He's a big, good, strong, average running back that can get the job done, but he's not super athletic or talented.

And, um, against Arizona, I think he can look talented. Yeah. And I remind people just because most of the sentiment around Bryan Robinson has been very negative. He was coming off an injury where he was shot in the booty,

and his final five weeks of the season he was on pace for 1,500 rushing yards, and he also averaged four and a half a carry over the final five weeks. So we have not seen all of Brian Robinson's repertoire in the league. I will say that. I get it. I know what you're saying. He's coming off a gunshot injury, which we don't have a lot of data on, but he reminded me on the NFL field of exactly what he looked like at Alabama, which was a solid, sluggish running back.

All right, who wins the division, Jason? I've got the Eagles winning the division, Andy. Give me the rest. After the Eagles, I've got the Cowboys, then the Commanders, then the Giants. Sorry. Eagles, Giants, Cowboys, Commanders. Sorry. Eagles. Giants. Cowboys. Commanders. Just to be different.

Just to throw some love. Just so that the Giants fans... You had the Commanders at the bottom? Yeah. They're going down. They're going down to Caleb Williamstown. That's where they're going. I think they're going to be one of the worst teams in football. I'm sorry, Commanders fans.

You can throw your phone now. Back with the NFC West on Thursday. Take care, everybody. 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. Hey, thanks for listening to today's episode of the podcast. Since you're still hanging around,

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