Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast - Unsolved Mysteries + Camp Injury Updates - Fantasy Football Podcast for 7/30

Episode Date: July 30, 2026

Fantasy Football show for July 30, 2026. Unsolved Mysteries for the 2026 fantasy football season! Which Jaguars RB will step up? Are you buying the injury dip on Malik Nabers, George Kittle, and Patri...ck Mahomes? Plus, lots of injury news out of training camp with big impacts on fantasy football drafts. Manage your redraft, keeper, and dynasty fantasy football teams with the #1 fantasy football podcast. 2026 ULTIMATE DRAFT KIT is available now at UltimateDraftKit.com Get MEGALASHOW tickets at BallersLive.com (00:00) Intro (04:41) Drafting ADP Strategy (06:40) NFL News (19:06) Unsolved Mysteries (19:44) Buying the Injury Dip (30:28) Streaming QB (34:41) Chargers Offense (45:53) Jaguars Backfield Connect with the show: Subscribe on YouTube Visit us on the Web Support the Show Follow on X Follow on Instagram Join our Discord Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:05 Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Oh, welcome in. Thursday, July 30th. Mike Wright, Jason Moore, Andy Holloway. Welcome into the Fantasy Footballers podcast at the FFBallers over on X, Instagram.com slash fantasy footballers. Jason's looking extra golfy today. That's a golfy shirt. It is a golf shirt indeed. I have golf shorts on and it is time to do the laundry.
Starting point is 00:01:02 So wait, did you, we golf this morning and you showered? I did. I changed out of that golf gear into this golf gear. That's what I was wondering. So you switch from like the gear you played golf into now gear you're not playing golfing. Correct. Because of the laundry. Because I've worn all my regular stuff.
Starting point is 00:01:17 But you keep an abundance of golf out. I have definitely purchased a lot of golf gear. Do you... That is one of the keys to call. My shirts in my closet are outrageous right now. Because I had a wardrobe before I took up golf. And now I have an entire golf wardrobe. Do you change at the turn?
Starting point is 00:01:37 Well, if I need to, yeah. I mean, you got to bring an extra shirt. How often do you need to? Well, usually it's the mustard and the ketchup from the hot dog. So yeah, it's pretty much every time. Hot dog bowl. And sometimes he drives home from the turn. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:01:51 Yeah. Sometimes you have to do it. I never turned around. Sometimes I wonder if Mike doesn't come to golf as much just because he doesn't want to follow the like decorum and rules of golf. Which which part? Like collared shirts
Starting point is 00:02:05 and the collared shirt part is pretty weird to me. I assumed it bothered you. Well, yeah. Because they're like hey, your shirt looks just like mine. But that one. Have you seen what's going on with the neck? Holy crap, that's a fancy shirt. You'd feel the same way about a like a fine dining, not letting you wear like a half,
Starting point is 00:02:23 or wear and you have to wear a collar shirt in a restaurant too that one I can I can vibe more with that one Is it because of the like Environment you're all in an enclosed area When it's like when you're golfing it's like They don't see you no The only people who see me are the people behind me Because I'm so bad and too slow
Starting point is 00:02:41 I don't think Al Borland likes the dress coat either Luckily he dresses like a golfer all the time I do but some golf courses make you wear a belt I don't I don't wear a belt and uh why like you have to tuck in your shirt and me and kyle and jason went to a restaurant once and i got turned away because i was i didn't have belt loops on my pants i just can't stand dress codes man i mean i've i've been in the restaurant where they made me take the hat off and what was under the hat was not good is like you prefer this and i was so self-conscious the rest of the time uh we have a
Starting point is 00:03:14 great show today unsolved mysteries episode talking about belt loops yeah yeah i didn't need a belt for the restaurant. I just needed belt loops. Oh, and I was wearing... I was wearing some, like, expensive joggers, but they didn't have... Wait a minute. You were wearing joggers? Yeah? What's wrong with that? I mean... That's a fancy restaurant. That's like sweatpants. No. That's sweatpants
Starting point is 00:03:34 to a restaurant. These are nice joggers. Or they made of sweatpants material? No. Where they made... When you walk, does it go... No. That's the khakis make that sound too, my guy. Unsolved Mystery. Some NFL news to talk about. And the The Ultimate Draft Kit is here. Ultimate DraftKit.com.
Starting point is 00:03:54 More updates to the mock draft tool have been made. We're getting the keeper support into those and some other tweaks and changes to the settings for you. You'll probably see new updates to the UDK every day or two for the rest of August. The draft analyzers in there as well. Mike, you were going to add something. I was just the news.
Starting point is 00:04:13 I mean, news is starting to pour out. Another, you're just saying you can get your news feed inside the UDK. Well, you can get your news feed. I'm saying for the changes. Like, you know, you had, like the last month or so is really just a couple vibes here, there from some beat reporters. Now real stuff is happening, which. Like injuries.
Starting point is 00:04:36 Always happens is the injuries. Yeah, that sucks. Yeah. All right. Quick question of the day comes in from Adam in Los Angeles. Hey, ballers. How do you go about prepping for a live draft without a common ADP displayed? and the randomness that can come from everyone following different ADPs.
Starting point is 00:04:55 Should you reach earlier on players that you must have? Well, if you must have them, probably. Or should you trust that players should fall to their, quote, normal ADP? It's a good question. I mean, our main league of record, we purposely every, we have a draft room. There is no ADP sorting there. You come prepared or you don't come.
Starting point is 00:05:18 and so we're used to this format where you are and I prefer it obviously we have the UDK that's what I draft with that's what I bring to my draft so the order of players I like are in there but I do pay attention to the ADP on that like our charts will always show the ADP of a guy I'm not going to reach two rounds for a guy even if he's like the next up in the ranking especially in the first half of a draft that's just malpractice where it's like you still want to squeeze as much value as you can. So you will take some risks of letting a guy go that you know usually goes later. I will say that you also need to know your league. I know in our league we're a keeper league. Rookies. Yeah. Rookies ADP, throw that crap out the window. If you want a rookie,
Starting point is 00:06:03 you are taking them two or three rounds ahead of ADP sometimes. And so you just have to know that. That's not going to be the same in every league. Yeah. And positionally, like, you know, in our, because we're in a Keeper League. We know that there's a bunch of running backs that are kept, so all of a sudden that the shift of the supply of really usable running backs, it depletes rather quickly. So you have to know all those things. But have your rankings and just, I mean, just be ready. Just be ready to take your guys. Yep. Absolutely. All right. Let's talk news. News and notes from around the league. Okay, we have a decent amount to talk about Jamir Gibbs, Bejohn Robinson, both on a fifth-year option contracts, rookie contracts, not practicing on Wednesday as they await new deals. Get that's money.
Starting point is 00:07:01 Yeah, that will be happening very soon. I wonder, like, who's going to get it first? What's the approach here? Are the Atlanta Falcons waiting, they're waiting for the Gibbs contract to set the baseline? Oh man, they should be talking. They should be a little collusion. No. The two general manager should be talking to each other.
Starting point is 00:07:24 I believe that's called collusion. Yeah, I was thinking Bijon and Gibbs should be talking. Yes, they should. Whatever. Just go get the same contract. They're both going to get so much money. But I do, it is interesting the game of chicken of like, whoever goes second gets more. Yes. Because they'll be like, I want,
Starting point is 00:07:38 even if it's the quintessential, I want a dollar more. Yeah. Whoever signs first, like the smarter franchise is whoever signs the first one. to a contract. Bejan Robinson is 24.4 years old. Jemir Gibbs is 24.3 years old. Same drafts, same spot in terms of
Starting point is 00:07:58 like the leverage is gone for both teams. Like Algiers gone and Montgomery's gone. They're in such identical situations. They're the number one and two picks in most fantasy drafts. There's plenty of times where... And they both get paid. And right now they can't get hurt when they're waiting. Yeah, where a veteran player is holding out for a contract.
Starting point is 00:08:15 and you're not sure if they're going to get it or not. There's no one unsure here. This is a situation where it's like just figure it out. Jonathan Taylor. Who is that? John the Tower. He is at practice. He wants an extension as well.
Starting point is 00:08:33 He says, quote, I have faith. There have been some good conversations, but I have faith between my agent and the front office. So he is not a hold in. That's one where if he was holding out, that would scare. me a little bit more. He already did. Like he did that years ago and then got the money, so maybe they have a better relationship now. Chris Solovey has no restrictions
Starting point is 00:08:54 and his quote, full go. We love it. Jordan Tyson participated fully in 11 on 11. Love it. You're not going to love this one. The 49ers news is always 49ers news. We already last show, Christian Kirk, not practicing. No one wants to hear this. Ricky Pearsall,
Starting point is 00:09:15 not practicing because of swellness. swellness you're thriving you're really crushing it today Andy my name is swell swellness that's I mean I had I had French toast for lunch
Starting point is 00:09:32 all right that someone told me to get Do you feel swellens Okay so I got Somebody told me to get Crescent French toast because they said it would be good And then I did Here's what's really funny about that
Starting point is 00:09:44 And now I'm not so swellness At lunch you're doing just fineness. At lunch, at the end, Andy offers if anyone wants some eggs. Because we ordered from a breakfast place, and it was just some
Starting point is 00:09:58 like healthy eggs. It's like scrambled eggs. And I literally thought to myself, wow, good for you, Andy. You went healthy. Oh, like I didn't eat enough. Like you didn't eat enough, but all you got was like some eggs. Did you just find out I got croissant french toast? Yeah, I did. You should try it. It's so good. Kyle is letting us know.
Starting point is 00:10:16 that swellness is a rare archaic word, meaning the quality of being swell. Well, Ricky Pierce-Saw's knee is not swell. No. But it is swollen. Yeah. And the team says all options are being explored. There are concerns. He missed like six weeks last year with a PCL strain and then missed more time later with knee and ankle.
Starting point is 00:10:38 And it's the same knee. It's the same PCL. And all options, they are the S word. Surging. being used, yes. Yeah, no, that's, um, the fact that it is the same knee that he had an entire offseason for and it is, um, it is, you all right? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:55 Did you have some French toes? No, um, I saw a funny slack message from you, Andy, you got me. Uh, look, the, uh, the issue here is it's already swollen up and it's the same knee that he struggled with last year. Yeah. They are probably going to have to, rest didn't fix it. I'm not a doctor, but, I mean, the options are rest more and pray more and then hopefully it's fine but what would lead you
Starting point is 00:11:23 to think oh this time it'll work that's a scary scary proposition i mean the implications here you know kirk pierceall mike evans is banged up mike evans is tied with devante adams as the two oldest players being drafted in the top 72 in fantasy the first six rounds those are the two most vulnerable to, you know, I looked at this. I looked at the old players that we've taken, the top five that we've taken over the last three years in the top 72 and how things worked out. And the basic conclusion is this, that if you have age baked in as a discount, they kind of can work out. If you're paying up for them, there's been some years where it can be injury. I mean, look at Mike Evans last year. He was a loss last year. Yes. He was one of the oldest. Again,
Starting point is 00:12:13 last year and it was a loss because of all the injuries. But standing in the way of, this is all to say, standing in the way of rookie Deshawn's stribling. Stribbling. Yeah. Is a 33-year-old Mike Evans right now.
Starting point is 00:12:28 Because Pierceall, and Kittles hurt. And Pierceall's hurt. And Kirk. And Kirk is hurt. Yeah. And Juan Jennings is gone. So, and all the news has been so positive around stribling.
Starting point is 00:12:39 So. Yeah. Stribling is, he's definitely a, beneficiary here. But also I do think, I mean, Mike Evans, I stand a little bit more on an island. I mean, he is the clear one right now for this team is currently healthy. And I do think that there is, I don't know what your study was as far as injury dip based on whether where that player has historically gone or just what rounds of the draft. But obviously Mike Evans is not being drafted where he used to be drafted. No, no, he's priced where there's an age discount right now.
Starting point is 00:13:09 Him and Adams are. So that's good. I mean, that's a good thing. You're not paying, you know, somebody like Henry, like we're not pricing him factoring in age anymore. Like people just keep taking him at the top because he's ageless or so it seems. All right. There was also running back Jordan James who seemed like he should be the favorite for the running back two position for the San Francisco 49ers. He suffered a rib fracture. So he will be out some time, which opens that door back up.
Starting point is 00:13:39 And it's basically Kalin Black, their third round selection. election till he is hurt. Yes. But Garando is also hurt. You know that the electrical substation is, it's already doing some work. Got one. Two. Got two. We have Falcons quarterback news to a tongue of Iloa suffered a flare-up. He will be out at training camp. Oh, that's not good. But don't worry, Michael Pinnock's is not cleared for 11 on 11 and it might be four more weeks. Yeah. So they are Hold on. Hold the phone. They signed Cooper Rush.
Starting point is 00:14:16 Oh, the Tua. Jack Strand. Yeah, the Tua injury right now they're saying... That's why I like Gibbs more than B. Scha. Yeah. Right now they're saying that it's a minor thing. It's, you know,
Starting point is 00:14:29 days not weeks for Tua. And in the meantime, Pinnix isn't out there. Tank Dell was not placed on the PUP to start camp. All right. But he will be held out of team drills to open camp. Yeah, man, please get back, Tank. The world is better. with you in it. Wasn't he
Starting point is 00:14:44 of my guy the year he got hurt? Yeah. Yeah. By one of us, I don't even remember what it was. That was yours. Yeah. All right. Chris Brazel also pretty significant injury for the Carolina rookie. They're talking like eight weeks. Yeah, he was carted off.
Starting point is 00:15:00 Third round pick. Too early to tell. However, it could be pretty serious. All right. We've got a main segment coming up. Unsolved Mysteries. Diving into a number of questions and situations and we'll find out what we think in just a minute. I'm just too old to be eating like a cake for lunch, I think. Probably. But it's just hard for me to resist. Because it tastes
Starting point is 00:15:34 good. I think that if I didn't have, I wasn't like born with the genetics I have and my family, I could be one of the heaviest people on earth. You definitely eat worse than I do. A lot of times. And you are in much better shape than I am. But you also work. come on. So, you know, tomato tomato. I will say when we went to the FF Expo, you also got a mountain of pancakes. Chocolate chip. I'll admit that that was a mistake. Yeah. It was, it was, we got there and I was trying to tell you that pancakes are quite variable on the style in which they come. They could be like big giant pancakes. Do you get a bunch of them? Do you get like a short stack? You got a bunch of big ones. This was the equivalent. This is the funny thing we do as
Starting point is 00:16:20 as people is we say cake for breakfast is ridiculous. Yeah. But then we say chocolate chip pancakes are acceptable, which is, I mean, what I got was the equivalent of a full birthday cake worth of thickness. Yeah, six inch deep, like, you know, eight by nine slice of cake. Covered that in syrup. And I felt ashamed of myself. So perhaps as it was on the menu.
Starting point is 00:16:44 Perhaps as a youth, I wasn't paying as much attention. You know, we had the chocolate chip. pancakes, you know, the smiley face stuff. I feel like the way they do it now, though. You think they're stepping it up? Well, they have. They haven't over. But that's, like, that would, that's more recent in history.
Starting point is 00:17:01 In terms of, all the bread? In terms of, like, pancakes. The history of pancakes. Like, and I like that they're like, hey. American appetites, Mike. I don't know if you know this. They have increased. Cake for breakfast?
Starting point is 00:17:12 No, yeah. What if I said, I made it in a pan? You're like, oh, whoa, whoa. That's part of a balanced breakfast. Oh, yeah, it's in the name. It is right there. Yeah, it's just a cake in a pan that you cover with
Starting point is 00:17:25 rich maple syrup. Instead of frosting. And maybe sometimes have chocolate chips in it. Instead of sprinkles. Yeah. That you have in your oven cake. Right, right, right. Yeah. I would never have an oven cake for breakfast. But you put it
Starting point is 00:17:42 in a pan. I'm in. We're a weird species. Yeah, we are. Here we go. All right. Our unsolved mystery number one that we're going to start with is should you buy the injury dip? This year there are four big names, among others, obviously. I mean, you could argue Jonathan Brooks and other players too. But neighbors, Kittle, Tucker Kraft, Patrick Mahomes, Jason, you know, we've had conversations around buying the injury dip. We looked up some information, 140 players from 2021 to 2025, who were either coming off of surgery, so they were limited in camp or they were picked up a training camp injury, like during camp.
Starting point is 00:18:43 And so a pretty big sample size, 140 players. Just giving you the data before you answer the question. 26% or 37 players exceeded their ADP. 57% failed to meet their ADP. that was 80 players in that sample and then 23 players 16% they met ADP but did not exceed
Starting point is 00:19:06 so you know you look at that and you say like 42 43% of them still worked out as a pick yeah that's one way to look at it yeah I mean because if you meet your ADP expectation then it's well but keep in mind you're buying a dip so your expectation
Starting point is 00:19:22 was lower of of course but I'm saying if they but you still drafted them like they gave you the points that they were drafted. You're hoping for more. No, I don't agree with that. Really? Yeah, because I think buying the injury dip implies an expectation that surpasses the ADP, 100%.
Starting point is 00:19:39 Like, I don't, if I'm taking a player on a round, a multi-round discount, and they perform to that round, I'm not happy with that pick. I would agree. I think generally speaking, you would not be happy with that. Obviously, not a bust. It didn't ruin your chance, but
Starting point is 00:19:54 the opportunity cost of what else you gave up in that round. And more than 50 percent of them, 57 percent, didn't even meet that. But the opportunity costs are the same because they're meeting the, they're meeting the price. So looking at this, this is 140 players from
Starting point is 00:20:10 2021 to 2025. This was a redo of a study that in 2018 on the Things to Remember episode, it was don't buy the injury dip. And at that time, we had kind of looked at the data and it was
Starting point is 00:20:26 really bad. It was like, you know, you'd more often than not, those dips don't pay off. Now, this data, you can argue whether you know, you're happy or sad with not meeting the, or with just meeting, but not exceeding the ADP dip. Obviously, you can't argue that the majority, 57% failed to even get to the dip, 26% clearly happy with. So when I look at it, the way that I interpret that data is, way more often than not, buying the injury dip doesn't pay off.
Starting point is 00:21:05 Yeah, I would say that the idea of them paying off, for me, I interpreted that as outperforming the status quo at that spot. And because you're trying to get a discount on them. So for me, 75% of the time it doesn't work out. So let's look at the specific players and how it applies this year. Because this year, there's a handful of guys that we absolutely love, you know, a couple of tight ends. and George Kittle and Tucker Kraft that were dominating in fantasy last year other than their injuries
Starting point is 00:21:34 and then obviously Malik Neighbors who looked like he was going to start on the pup didn't even start on the training camp pup and his running routes today and looking very good let's just put it this way neighbors Kittal Kraft where do they go if there is no injury Malik Neighbors goes in the first round Yeah for sure he goes in the first round 100%
Starting point is 00:21:52 If he was never injured absolutely He would be up there with He was in the first round last year. That was with a, you're not sure we have a good quarterback. And George Kittle, you're talking about him. Fifth round? Yeah, probably.
Starting point is 00:22:07 So he goes behind McBride and Bowers. Yes. But much higher than ninth round. And then Tucker Kraft probably goes ahead of Kittle. Yeah, I would agree with that. Maybe even ahead of the, he'd be there with the second year guys. Loveland. So that, that's kind of where like if you apply that data the way that I'm thinking about it
Starting point is 00:22:24 with where they belong versus the discount you're getting. like, you know, if you drop Malik Neighbors at 402 and you get the performance of 402, would you have been happy with Malik Neighbors? Because I think you're going to appropriate these guys into spots that maybe isn't the same thing as what you would get there. I don't know. No, yeah, I don't think you would be happy with that.
Starting point is 00:22:45 I mean, you're talking about a wide receiver selection that you're trying to swing for the fences as opposed to right next to being drafted at the same spots, T. Higgins. you know if I I would imagine that that would be a better pick than someone that is drafted and just barely performing at this level of a draft pick so it seems like the ADP for neighbors is likely to to rise significantly he is that video looks like it yeah there's a video of him you know he's running cutting running routes and not seeing the video he's he has 100 percent doing all those things that doesn't mean he's ready to play football no but but
Starting point is 00:23:26 it's better than not seeing him do it. It is, except it's not better for ADP. No, but it's also way better than the video where he was at the celebrity baseball game, and it looked like he couldn't round first. No, he looked like he had like a stilt on or something like that. But so when you look at neighbors,
Starting point is 00:23:45 Kiddle, Kraft, Patrick Mahomes, is the reward there in the draft to outweigh the risk of taking these players? Obviously, if you take kids, Kittal, and he doesn't start week one, you're now rostering two tight ends, right? You've, you've traded the selection for Kittal and another pick to fill in for Kittal for a time. What is your outlook based on that data for those four guys? So I think everyone is priced, honestly, I think appropriately. Like Malik in the 4th is,
Starting point is 00:24:21 that's an expensive pick. There's great players going around there. But the upper, side is by the end of the year, you have a wide receiver who's returning first round value. Kittal, because he's, because of the age and when the actual injury was, it was in the wild card round and it was an Achilles, where we just don't have tons and tons of data on guys tearing their Achilles. Betts did talk about the fact it's a mid-tendent injury. He said it's closer to where the tendon meets the muscle of the calf, and that is generally good news for Achilles' recovery.
Starting point is 00:24:57 Outcomes are more favorable. But like you said, he does have age working against him. He does, but he's going in, you know, the ninth as about the tight end ten. You know, the... I don't feel like the three of us have taken him in any mocks there. No, not usually.
Starting point is 00:25:12 I haven't. I mean, I've been... The only one of these guys that I've been drafting is Malik neighbors. I think at the fourth round value, that dip is big enough to where when he gets back to health, and I am aware, that it's going to start slow, I'm willing to take that on. When he ends up rising from this, I'm probably also out on Malik neighbors because I think he'll end up. If he is on track to play week one and the videos look good, keep in mind,
Starting point is 00:25:41 he will, usually these players will have a period of time where they're not back to peak performance, even when they're on the field. I imagine he's going to be drafted around like AJ Brown you know Nico Collins so that would be like early second round right now
Starting point is 00:25:59 and that would be too expensive for me the other guys I'm pretty much out on well the one thing I was going to bring up was Patrick Mahomes just in the fact that his ADP has dropped every year
Starting point is 00:26:10 for the last three years but now so our expectations for him are very low they were going to be low if he was 100% healthy ending last year with the run that he had in fantasy but ninth round Mahomes He was fifth round Mahomes in 2025, third round Mahomes in 2024.
Starting point is 00:26:25 Now he's ninth round Mahomes. He's basically like, I mean, he's a really late round quarterback. He had the tourn ACL and LCL, not placed on the pup, not going to see the rushing production from last year. That's the issue. Because last year, so much of his fantasy production came from the running game. He couldn't find someone to throw the ball to and he scrambled like he had never done in his career, had a ton of rushing yards, rushing touchdowns. He really had that dog in him.
Starting point is 00:26:52 He was, you know, willing them on drives with his legs. That will vanish this year for two reasons. One is the injury, and two, they should have a running game with Kenneth Walker there. So if you take that away, I don't love the upside. He was quite a few fantasy points per game higher than his previous two years last year. Yeah, because the past few years have been horrifically bad. His passing numbers, averaging 256. yards and 1.6 passing touchdowns per game. You take away a good chunk of that rushing,
Starting point is 00:27:27 and those numbers are not going to be getting done. He was on pace for over 500 rushing yards last year. So his points per game would have, you know, looking at last year, still not been good enough to be, I mean, that's still to put him outside the top 12. I don't think they've done enough to convince me to be in on Patrick Mahomes, where George, Kittle to me at that spot. Jason, I'm with you of, if you don't get an elite tight end, just wait, just wait. Because they don't make a difference anymore. They're all the same.
Starting point is 00:28:02 George Kittle could be a difference. It comes with a huge amount of risk, but the risk of those other players is none, but the upside is none. Does that mean Tucker crafts off your board in the six? No, not, no. I'm open to it. I think that I am less open to it, but that one I feel like I'm holding my breath on. I know Mike, you've talked about you're pretty in on Tucker Kraft. What he was doing last year was an impact difference maker at the position.
Starting point is 00:28:34 But you've got to spend a higher pick on a player that might not be their week one. That's why I'm out. Younger player, but his injury was in November. What was the latest? So the latest we've seen, so he's on the pup. if you didn't hear that Tucker Craft is on the training camp pub to start. And he said, quote, I'll probably come off the pup here very soon. That was him?
Starting point is 00:28:56 It's quoted as I. It was not sourced to Tucker Craft. But I'm just going to do some analysis here. Unsolved Mystery Number 2. Can the streaming quarterback strategy still work in single quarterback leagues? This was something we talked about. I feel like ad nauseum. from probably the first year we started the show
Starting point is 00:29:18 through maybe like five or six years. Because it was an elite strategy. So some data as you kind of craft your answer to the question, but some data that's interesting about the streaming quarterback strategy and what we've seen evolve in the NFL.
Starting point is 00:29:35 If you look and Dwayne McFarland tweeted this out, so this is where the data comes from, but the number of quarterbacks to throw for 250 yards a game. We were at 17 quarterbacks in 2016, 19 quarterbacks in 2018, 16, 16. Yeah. Then in 2022, 2022, it was 10 and then 10.
Starting point is 00:29:52 So I guess when the two shell started becoming very popular. Now in 2024 there were eight of them. Last year there were seven. So, I mean, we had a year in 2018 of 19 quarterbacks with 250 yards a game. Again, that's an average. That's the average of 250 yards a game. Now it's seven. we used to shoot for 250 and 2 when you're streaming a quarterback
Starting point is 00:30:16 and we're not seeing that as a very common average. Yeah, not an average across the season, but that's the point of streaming, right? You can find a matchup in a game or a guy who you would not usually expect averaging 250 and 2 should go out there and throw for 250 and 2, if not more. Now, we have also seen the fewest total pass attempts last year in the last 15 years. Yeah, but scramble rates. have risen. And that's where
Starting point is 00:30:43 when we're talking about late round quarterbacks, streaming quarterbacks, you're looking for those guys that can scramble. That's today's NFL, is using the legs more. That's better for fantasy football. But we're more aware of that. And so those players are getting pulled up
Starting point is 00:31:01 in drafts. Exactly. That's what happened. That's why the strategy if you're saying, oh, it hasn't worked as well lately, yep, because the average fantasy football player is wising up. This year, though, you still have a handful of guys who are interesting because they fit the bill. You know, 10th round or later, at least from the 80 p.m. I'm seeing right now. Bo Nix. Like, what's his rushing floor? 300? Yeah, that's the floor. He should hit 300 yards. Tyler Shuck, I love him. He should hit 300 rushing yards. The next guy. Malik Willis,
Starting point is 00:31:36 he could hit 500 rushing yards. Like, Malik Willis. He could hit 800. Malik Willis is the so along though with the rushing because the rushing is just the floor you need the passing to take you over the top to become a weak winning type of a quarterback so that's the question
Starting point is 00:31:54 for like in my opinion I'll just do Shuck versus Willis I'm so much more confident in the offensive passing attack of the Saints and Tyler Shuck but you're only getting you know I'm not getting Malik Willis rushing yards but if Willis and that team,
Starting point is 00:32:11 if they can figure out a way, that's a large butt of trying to figure out how like, when your wide receiver won is probably a huge butt. Probably Malik Washington. And we're talking about like Greg Dulcich as a sleeper. But if Malik Willis can find his way to 200, like 200 to 215 to 2.15 and he's,
Starting point is 00:32:33 and you're getting, you know, one and a half to two passing touchdowns, then goodness, It's gracious. So, all that being said, I'm not too for, I guess. Do you believe the late round quarterback strategy? Yes.
Starting point is 00:32:44 With including streaming, not just finding a nugget, but like actually having to play week to week streaming can still work. Yeah, I still believe it can. I do too. Yeah, I mean, there are names we like. I mean, I think no matter what we say on the show, even if every show was dedicated to Jared Gough and Matthew Stafford, those players, ADPs are not moving.
Starting point is 00:33:03 No. So there are going to be players like that, like Baker, Daniel Jones, coming back that are going to be out there for free on waivers every week unless you're in a Super Flex League. So, yeah, it makes sense. All right, Unsolved Mystery number three. Number three.
Starting point is 00:33:21 What will the Chargers' offense look like with new offensive coordinator, Mike McDaniel? It'll look sexy. You think? Oh, I do. I think the offense is going to be great. It will look very different. is a team that ran Justin Herbert into the ground
Starting point is 00:33:39 not just because of a bad offensive line but also they didn't bring tight ends in line very much they utilized 12 personnel on just 6% of their offensive plays that's the lowest rate in the NFL McDaniel you know he is a guy that's going to come in and they you look at the transactions they brought a fullback in
Starting point is 00:33:59 they brought in two tight ends one is a blocking specialist David Njoku and Charlie Kohler. The offensive line just got so much help. Two all-pro tackles that weren't there last year. So I think it's going to change a lot. To your point about Kohler and Nizoku, like Mike McDaniel was one of the, at least in Miami, maybe it was personnel-related as well.
Starting point is 00:34:25 But he only had three or more wide receivers on 41% of plays. He likes the two tight-ins sets. We were very, well, he, he likes two running backs. Sure. Like he, he, he, like, Mike McDaniel is, is willing to ebb and flow with trends or personnel. I, I know that having two running backs out there, the amount of time he did, you know, like from 23 on, he had A. Chan. And it's like, well, A. Chan's a running back, but he's, he's just, he's a real versatile player. We need to get him involved in the passing game.
Starting point is 00:35:00 So what will it look like? I think you will have more 12. The idea of them running out Hampton and Keaton Mitchell is pretty interesting as well. They also brought an ingold to play fullback in front of Hampton. Yeah, you can have him out there in those personnel. It's hard because the chargers feel like, they feel like a team where like you go in to the doctor and the diagnosis seems like it's so simple. And he's just going to write you the most basic script.
Starting point is 00:35:30 and you're going to go home and get well. And now we're on like year five of like, you know what? You have, maybe you have a different disease than we thought. And we keep trying a different shot and a different medicine and a different vitamin. And we are always left with an illness. I think the personnel matters. And last year I was very excited for them. Yeah, I was going to say, we got to be honest about like last offseason with the Greg Roman combo.
Starting point is 00:35:58 Right. But we were in that boat. But it's the thing that happened. The biggest change to me, I mean, we've talked about it a bunch. But they lost their two superstar tackles. So they went, I mean, look at it this way. Herbert led the league in percentage of dropbacks pressured. That's the first quarterback since 2018 who led the league in that stat and made the playoffs.
Starting point is 00:36:22 He was, they just didn't have an offensive line. Then they went out and got one of the best centers. Yeah. And now you get two all pro tackles. you're going to go from one of the worst to one of the best lines. Why didn't they give Greg Roman a pass and keep him? Someone's got to take the fall, man. But I mean, why can't they just say, yeah, our offensive line is all beat up?
Starting point is 00:36:40 I mean, I feel like it was, I think it's oversimplistic to blame the offensive line by itself. So here's a question about the Chargers offense for fantasy. We just talked about it, and it's great for fantasy. A lot of times people think you want more wide receivers on the field. You don't. The consolidation of only having two means that the targets go to the players that are on the field. However, there will be far more of that for the chargers than what we're used to seeing. So the question comes down to Ladd, who is their best wide receiver.
Starting point is 00:37:08 Like, he's their best wide receiver. But he's been, you know, his slot rate the last two years, 71%, 64%. I just have no worries about Ladd getting on the field. Because I don't think Mike McDaniel's an idiot. Fair. If I thought he was an idiot, then I would, like if this was Nathaniel Hackett, not to, but, you know, like a true idiot. You are saying Greg Roman's an idiot. No.
Starting point is 00:37:33 He didn't. No, I'm not. He didn't take Ladd-McConkey off the field a bunch. No, he just put him in the slot. That's the idiot part. The idiot part is not playing Ladd-McConkey. It's not where you play Ladd-McConkey. It's not playing him at all.
Starting point is 00:37:46 So the fear with the breakdown of too wide is that Malconki will not be a part of it. Yeah. And I have no fear of that. Yeah. He should 100% be on the field for that. Last year, Trey Harris technically led the wide receivers. and snaps when they were in the two wide receiver set. I'm just saying.
Starting point is 00:38:03 I'm not laughing at you. I'm getting made fun of for saying Malconkey. I had French toast. He's swelling again. I had French toast. You know what? I'm happy I did. It was delicious. Malconkey calling.
Starting point is 00:38:15 But if you look at it, what's funny is, I don't remember who tweeted it, variation of where wide receivers line up, one of the players that never moves the most was Quentin Johnston. Like he just doesn't do anything else From college on And the versatility is going to help in this offense
Starting point is 00:38:34 for Ladd McConkey This is a really big one For training camp To let us know You know When McDaniel came in He had a lot of very nice things to say About QEge
Starting point is 00:38:50 So it's like Well then we Okay we expect him for sure to be one of the guys Then is it going to be lad on the outside And now you get some Trey Harris talk coming up, who is, like, he is a good wide receiver in his own right. He just hasn't had a lot of opportunity in the NFL. So it's pay attention here. To me, a lot of what happens with Los Angeles is that, and maybe why it's frustrating, is the off-season, they're just made for conversation.
Starting point is 00:39:21 I feel like every off-season we have tons of conversation around the Chargers since Herbert became their quarterback. And there's a lot of positivity around all their players, every off season. But I'm at the point now where I want to see it proven out on the football field. And I don't feel like we ever allow for the middle outcome. That you're just kind of, you're kind of okay. Is that what you think for, what do you think this offense, regardless, throw the, you know, the years in the past, in the garbage or whatever? This offense, do you think they will be a middle offense, a top offense, or a poor offense? not every offense has the opportunity to reach a top five offense and this one does with the personnel and the coaching.
Starting point is 00:40:04 But no, I think the most realistic outcome is that they're a eight to 15 offense on the positive side. I think that's the most realistic outcome for the offense. Yeah, I usually like splitting the league when I think of offenses in thirds to really think like the top third offense are good offenses and the bottom third offense. offenses are ones I want to avoid. I think they'll be in the top third, which I think you think that too based on, you know, the 8 to 15 is more in the top third, right? No, no, that'd be more in the middle because a third means there's three groups. Yeah, but it goes past 8.
Starting point is 00:40:41 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15? Yeah, 11. I mean, you can't, you can't evenly split 32 and 3. 8 to 15, like what numbers are more in the, the more numbers are in the middle. Well, but if it's, do you count 11 as the top third? Because you can't. It's, oh, because there's 32. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:41:01 I did break it up 10, 10, 10 in my head. I shouldn't, we shouldn't have really been. No, that's, hey, you should take two teams. It just be like Cleveland, we don't count you. We will get our calculator out. I will say, with the chargers, if you're going to draft them, I think their schedule matters a ton. They open against Arizona where they're nearly 12 point favorites.
Starting point is 00:41:23 Then they play the Raiders, where they are eight and a half point favorites. This is incredible. Like, last, it's just a reminder. Last year, Justin Herbert in week one, scored 28 fantasy points and became so locked into everyone's roster that you're like, we did it. It's happening for Justin Herbert. Then it fell apart. I bring that up because week three is up. Because they're set up to do that again?
Starting point is 00:41:48 Week three is at Buffalo. Week four is at Seattle. Then it's Denver. And then it's on the road against Kansas. a city. So you, while I think they're going to have a great first two weeks saying sell. I'm not saying sell. I'm just saying be honest with yourself about what just happened. Yeah, let me, let me audit the crap out of the out of the, out of the, like Arizona and Vegas. Let me audit my comment. Bottom four teams. I think they will be a top one offense for two weeks.
Starting point is 00:42:16 Okay. Let's take a break. I'll be right back. All right. We have, we have two more unsolved mysteries in time for one more. Oh. So you guys get to. decide. Oh. We either talk about the unsolved mystery of Lamar Jackson bouncing back to elite form for fantasy football. Okay. Or we discuss the backfield for the Jacksonville Jaguars and how it will be split. Oh, well that one's not a mystery. For Mike, I think it's right now not a mystery for Mike or I.
Starting point is 00:42:53 Yeah, I'm a little gassy. I'm a little gassy. Yeah, baby. Welcome. I'm a little gassed up. Let's go. Let's go. This is the day, today is the day that Chris Rodriguez just got active to go make plays at camp. To go train on the side. Yeah. But he can do it now. I simply, look, Tuton should, I mean, he's a high upside. All the, all the offseat, hold on, let me find it.
Starting point is 00:43:20 Chugger, chugger. Where's our off season, you know, best player in camp so far. But we haven't seen anybody else. the same. So are we discussing that one? Yeah, let's go there. Let's go there. No, I don't want to you. How will the Jacksonville Jaguars backfield be split?
Starting point is 00:43:42 Travis A. Chan Jr. is vacating 312 opportunities, 260 carries, 52 targets, six receiving touchdowns. We have a lot of red zone attempts that he had in that offense that are, you know, going to be up for grabs. I think that's part of the discussion, right? 53 rushing attempts inside the red zone.
Starting point is 00:44:06 That was the fourth most in the NFL, and those are gone. So you got, that says it's a great offense. That's what that says. You've got a great offense that was in the red zone at time, and the guy they got the ball the most there. I mean, that's right behind McCaffrey, John the Taylor, Derek Henry, James Cook, and blank space for Jacksonville.
Starting point is 00:44:25 So Chris Rodriguez was one of the office. season signings had played at Kentucky with Liam Cohen, not placed on Pupp, starting to do individual drills at camp. He's coming off foot surgery. He did not participate in minicamp. Bayshal Tudin, sophomore.
Starting point is 00:44:42 We brought it up on the show when Liam Cohen talked about him. He said in year one, did a lot of great things, but also had to learn a complicated offense, past protections, you know, figuring out what to do, and a lot of it was not reacting, a lot of it was thinking. A lot of it was processing. And we all saw
Starting point is 00:44:58 you know, to me, what I saw the most out of Tootin as a rookie was explosive plays that ended up just happening more in the passing game on a play here or there than it was you know, chunk plays in the backfield over and over again. But he has that capability. He's a fast runner.
Starting point is 00:45:14 He's 432. Yeah. At 209. Like this is, he is his build. Oh, boy. I'm sorry. You just see in the glass eater? Yeah. Yeah. I'm just, we got another.
Starting point is 00:45:28 Oh, that's a good quote. Now we've had a, hold on. We've had a cran eater before, and we know who that is. And his favorite color crayon is blue. Yes. Did we ever, hey, did he social guy. Did we ever share that? Yeah, we did.
Starting point is 00:45:40 Okay. Yeah, Cam Scadabu said his favorite crayon. He's a cram eater, right? We got another category, Mike. Liam Cohen came out on Wednesday and said, this is troubling. About Crodd. About Chris Rodriguez.
Starting point is 00:45:51 He doesn't say a ton, but he's tough. He's one of those glass eaters. He is. He's going to run through a wall for his teammates, for his coaches, for their organization. So we're eating glass now. Okay. Which is more dangerous than crayons?
Starting point is 00:46:04 Oh, yeah. By a... Children can't earn. Exfincially. Are crayons like completely, like, non-toxic? I think they probably have to be. Huh. There probably was a time where they were very toxic.
Starting point is 00:46:17 It would be a fun poop. Eating a toxic... Oh, just a... Not a toxic poop. Okay. A non-toxic crayon poop would be a colorful adventure. The glass one would be a painful. Wait, what is a toxic?
Starting point is 00:46:27 Wait, what it's, I don't think it would be a colorful. I think it would still be brown. I, yeah, there's only one way to find out. Oh, man, there is only one way to find out. And, and Google. The Falcon just throws in the Slack channel $2,000 and I'll eat a box. Oh, my gosh, we know that Josh will do it for way less. Josh would eat a box of crans for way less money.
Starting point is 00:46:47 Let me take lower, lowest bids from the news. Okay, now we're already down to 1,000. 1,000. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, are we talking like 64 counts? No, no, no, no, no. Standard children's, whatever that is, 12, 16, the normal pack. We all know what that is. 1,000, 900, 800, 400.
Starting point is 00:47:07 Whoa. Oh, there we go. Let me tell you this. Okay, now we're into a price when I do it. We're at a range where somebody might be eating crans. We're out of range where I chip in 100, you guys chip in 100. We just needed one more. We got to get it to 300.
Starting point is 00:47:21 Jeremy's good for this. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. I'll chip in. That's what I mean. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:47:26 Yeah, I'll take care of that. Matt, you're on the hook now. I got a new butter I want to buy, so. Are you eating a box of cranes for 400? I have good news for you. This might change your, this might change. Yes, eating a box of crayons can make your poop colorful. So there is actually not just money in this, but an exciting time.
Starting point is 00:47:47 Crayola has tested their products to ensure they pose no poisoning risk, though eating them is still not recommended. Due to the crayon. Oh man A box of 24 is the crayon standard Okay So we'll get back to this Wait 300 and you got a deal 400
Starting point is 00:48:04 I'm setting the line at three Four All right You chime in if you change your mind By the end of the show You said you have a new putter to buy But you must not want it that bad No
Starting point is 00:48:12 Listen This Does matter Like Crod is a glass heater Yes And there are 53 Red Zone
Starting point is 00:48:23 Opportunities available Chris Rodriguez, there's a fatigue and kind of like dismissal of him because of the years of injury and not getting opportunities. He was four or five a carry last year on a decent, I mean, I think it's more than six touchdowns last year. Yeah, no, he was actually, he was some of the advanced metrics for Chris Rodriguez were very good. We've always liked him. Like, as a show, Crod, we've always said when he gets his opportunities, he's been pretty good. but it does really seem like he's the backup for one. Simply he's coming in.
Starting point is 00:48:57 He's got to learn this new offense that Liam Cohen said it took. It was very hard to learn. He knows it from Kentucky. But go on. I doubt they're running Kentucky's offense still. But then you have the biggest question to be in this backfield is who's going to catch passes. Because Travis E.T.N, that's where his fantasy points came, was really in the receiving game. That is an important part of this offense.
Starting point is 00:49:21 Now, neither one of these guys have a huge production profile in the NFL, but Crod, year one, as a rookie, had two targets. The number went down to one. In 13 games played. And then last year, in 13 games, he got his new career high with four targets on the season. So it's like that really, maybe he does steal the goal line. And that could be a problem. That's a problem. It is also possible we should keep the door open, the undrafts.
Starting point is 00:49:51 drafted free agent running back. Lequin Allen could be involved in the receiving game. He is a good pass protector. And so, but it does seem like if you're taking your shot on someone who's going to be, one, explosive, and two, involved in the passing game where most of the fantasy points are going to come from, is, you know, I'm gassed up for Tutin. Also in the range of outcomes is that Bayshall Tutin is a total workhorse. You know, it's like when Cohen was in Tampa Bay, when healthy,
Starting point is 00:50:28 Bucky Irving was, he was the running back position. And truly, A.N. Jr. was the running back position last year for the Jags. So, you know, we don't have a full gigantic sample here to go off of. But Cohen might just be one of these guys. It's like, no, I don't want to tip. You know, I don't want to tip the play. Because if you have crowd back there, my defense that I'm calling in is I'm calling. going into run stop.
Starting point is 00:50:52 So I guess a good way to put it would be, are you ever, if Tutin doesn't get gassed up, that's current. ADP wise, which he will. But let's just say Tutin draft is drafted at the top of the fourth round. Because I think he probably will be. Top of fourth round would be a substantial ADP jump for where he's going right now. Yeah, he's not going to go a 506 though. If the current, okay, make it 501.
Starting point is 00:51:17 Okay. Okay, make it 501. Is there any chance you're going to be disappointed with that pick? Because of the discount. You think so? Yes. There is. Tudin's profile to me is a very risky pick.
Starting point is 00:51:29 But the upside is a three-down running back for a top five offense in the NFL, which will be very, very substantial league winning capability. Travis E.N. is a good, well-rounded player. But I don't think he's like the best of the best. And he was the running back 10 in fantasy football last year for this offense. You can tell Jason has made a significant shift in his Tutan mentality. I am worried about the liability of a box of crayons. So here's where I'm at. Oh.
Starting point is 00:52:03 I mean, everything I'm seeing, non-toxic, they're more disgusting than dangerous. But what's our lowest bid for one crayon? We don't need 24 crayons. I just want to know. 50. Okay. $40. $40 for a car.
Starting point is 00:52:21 cran. Now I'm feeling bad about like do we not pay them enough. Okay, $40.40 for a crayon? Would you? Now let me ask you. Is the box of crayons for $400? No, it's $300. That's what it always was. You can have the box for $300 for $300 for $1.
Starting point is 00:52:37 Jason's pick of color for a $40. Thank you. Yeah, that's fine. I'd like to go higher if that's an option. Like more crayons? You'd like to eat more crans? I thought you meant more money. You can go all the way to the box. This is not a negotiation worth. 300. 300 for a box.
Starting point is 00:52:51 box, 40 for a crayon. You decide. It's your choice. This is all off the record. I just feel like our liability goes up with the more cranes we make a meet. Yeah, no, this is, we're going to take this outside of the office. Yeah, TBD. But, I do feel like if this is, no,
Starting point is 00:53:07 nothing to do with the company at all. This is just friends goofing around, but social content. You know, I mean, if you know, I mean, we would they would want to see our friends. Just documenting history. You guys can pay me and I'll pay Matt. Just to...
Starting point is 00:53:21 There we go. To launder that a little bit. I would actually never ask, but would you like to ask... You know what? I am out. I will not be doing this anymore. Yeah, you guys shouldn't... You should have taken the deal.
Starting point is 00:53:32 You didn't take it. We're done. But Jeremy has a question for you. Yeah. 40 bucks for one crayon or 300 for a box of a box of a... Would you like to offer me 400? I would not. I mean, you could be the last 100 of that 400 if you want the box.
Starting point is 00:53:47 But I'm worried about impaction. He's got bowel problems already. I change mine. I go 35. Oh! What is this? I'm back in. I'm back in.
Starting point is 00:53:55 One cram? Did you do more research? It's got the dog. It's one cran. I'll do it for 30. Oh, my gosh. Okay. $30.
Starting point is 00:54:04 This is great. Oh, my gosh. You could be doing it for the lint in my pockets. That sounds like you wanted more. I mean, yeah. How about 10? And then capitalism showed up. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:54:15 Yeah. What a delight. All right. Sold to Matt for $30. That's between you and him. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. Totally between Matt and I.
Starting point is 00:54:23 No idea what you're talking about. But we, oh, it looks like the, if you do it, looks like somebody bought a couple boxes. They're on the way. Hopefully through your personal account. All right. That is going to do it for today's episode of the fantasy footballers podcast five days a week coming up in August. On Monday, we have the ice and fire episode. Oh, baby.
Starting point is 00:54:46 That's our next episode, right? Correct. Because it's Saturday is August 1st, which we go to. five shows of week, Monday through Friday in August. Amazing. This Saturday, there won't be an episode of the fantasy footballers. However, on the YouTube, okay, our miniseries is back.
Starting point is 00:55:05 It is. People have been hoping that we brought up. If you want a short form version of the fantasy footballers, just the highlights, just the tips. Just the tips by the fantasy footballers. YouTube.com slash the fantasy footballers. We just recorded those. Getting ready to release them. August is here.
Starting point is 00:55:26 We're getting ready for the season. Ice and fire, ranking shows, mock drafts, my guys, MVP's all coming this August. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on join thefoot.com. And follow us on Twitter at the FF Ballers.

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