Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Reality to Fantasy: Patriots and Fantasy Football - 4/2/2020

Episode Date: April 2, 2020

When reality is tough to take, sometimes it helps to talk a little fantasy...football, that is. Kyle Senra of FPC Fantasy Football joins host Mike D’Abate to get an early start on the fantasy football scene Kyle offers his insight on his studs, and duds, and where some of your favorite Patriots factor into the discussion. Mike also offers his opinions of the Kraft Family assisting in the Covid-19 relief efforts and the team’s release of QB Cody Kessler.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patriots fans, you are now locked in to the Locked On Patriots Podcast. I'm going to show you how to make a beautiful and beautiful flower. I'm going to use a small flower pot. I'm going to use a small pot Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful, and welcome to your From Reality to Fantasy Thursday episode of the Lockdown Patriots Podcast, your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. My name is Mike DeBate.

I am your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, which of course is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And because it's your team every day, that means your questions, your comments, and your feedback are always welcomed and appreciated. And you can send that feedback to me by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there doing some responsible and socially distant wandering through that Twitterverse, be sure to follow the Lockdown Patriots account as well at LO underscore

Patriots. Patriots fans, today is a unique day here on the Locked On Patriots podcast And I described it as reality to fantasy And for all of you who are big fantasy football fans Today's show will have a great appeal to you Fantasy football guru Kyle Senra Who is the host of the Full Press Fantasy Podcast As well as a writer and contributor for GoingForTwo.com Will be joining me today to provide you all with an early look

At the fantasy football outlook for 2020. What should you be keeping an eye on at this early date? What new faces in new places might benefit from a change of scenery? And of course, folks, this is Locked On Patriots, so I will wrap it all up today by asking Kyle which New England Patriots he feels might pay some dividends for all of you fantasy football moguls as we march toward the NFL regular season, which hopefully will start on time in the fall of 2020.

But before I welcome in Kyle today for some fantasy talk, the news of the day on Thursday morning brought us all back to reality, but it did it in a very good way, folks. And it was heartwarming news out of Patriots Nation. As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the New England Patriots, particularly the Kraft family, in conjunction with Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, have arranged to use the Patriots' team plane to transport 1.2 million N95 masks from Shenzhen, China to the United States. And this is great news, folks, but it's relieving news for so many of our physicians, nurses,

all of our medical workers, those that are working on the front lines, first responders, and anyone working in a position where they're risking their life every day to ensure our safety, if they were in need of these masks to help ensure their safety, this is definitely a huge step in the right direction. And again, the Kraft family and Governor Baker of Massachusetts were involved in multiple global negotiations to ensure that they would be able to acquire these masks. Now, the Patriots plane had to be upgraded for international travel, a waiver had to be granted to avoid a 14-day quarantine in China, and all the appropriate steps were taken to ensure that the crew of the Patriots plane

did not leave the aircraft. As for the Kraft family, they paid $2 million, about half the cost to acquire these masks, and while the initial order was for 1.7 million masks, only 1.2 could actually fit on the plane. And according to the Wall Street Journal, the remainder of the masks are set to be delivered in another shipment. And this was truly a remarkable act of generosity and assistance on behalf of the Kraft family.

Through the Wall Street Journal, Robert Kraft issued the following statement saying, quote, In today's world, those of us who are fortunate enough to make a difference have a significant responsibility to do so with all the assets we have available to us. It is an honor for our family to be a part of this humanitarian mission. We knew that purchasing greatly needed N95 masks and providing the Patriots plane to expedite their delivery to local hospitals would immediately help to protect our courageous healthcare professionals. Multiple organizations across the public and private sectors, all of which were in lockstep with Governor Charlie Baker's visionary leadership, worked together to execute this mission with

the purpose of helping to save lives. I truly hope that in doing so, we can in some way inspire others to find creative ways to give more support of our doctors, nurses, first responders, and it's nice to care for those people who provide such compassionate care for us. And in my opinion, such an eloquent statement by Robert Kraft. On behalf of Lockdown Patriots, I thank both he and Governor Baker for all of their efforts in trying to keep our brave healthcare professionals and first responders as healthy as possible. For those of you that are unsure of what an N95 mask is,

this is medical-grade equipment. These masks have been in drastically short supply, and because they have been proven to significantly slow the spread of COVID-19, it's not an exaggeration to say that what Mr. Kraft and Governor Baker have done is help to save lives. The masks are largely expected to arrive at Boston's Logan International Airport on Thursday, and the Journal concludes their report by learning through Politico that the Massachusetts National Guard will then transport the masks

to a strategic stockpile in Marlborough, Massachusetts. And nearly universally, folks, the actions of the Kraft family and the Massachusetts state government are being widely praised. And for us as Patriots fans, we might be feeling an extra bit of pride as we hear this story today, especially because the team which we so enthusiastically support year after year is at the center of it. There is nothing wrong with that. It doesn't take away from the most important part of this story, which is the great and selfless act that's designed to help save the lives of others.

I can honestly say, and I think you all can too, that regardless of what organization in any walk of life was responsible for this, I'd be giving it equal amount of praise and recognition. But because it is the Kraft family and the New England Patriots, it's definitely comforting to know that the team we support supports us when we need it most. But in addition to the positive mood-adjusting headlines of Thursday morning, Patriots also made a headline on football-related matters on Wednesday afternoon. According to the NFL Network's Ian Rappaport, the Patriots have released veteran backup quarterback Cody Kessler.

At present, that leaves them with Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer as the only signal callers on the roster. Now folks, when the Patriots re-signed Hoyer, the handwriting was on the wall that Kessler might be expendable. Don't forget, Kessler was originally signed in late September last year due to his ability to run the scout team. Hoyer is phenomenal at that, so with him around, probably made Kessler's contributions a little more redundant.

And I'm not knocking Cody. By all accounts, he did a fairly good job while he was in New England, and he's still a talented enough backup to be able to find work elsewhere. But what this tells me is that the Patriots are definitely in the market for another quarterback. Now, whether that be a veteran backup or in the NFL draft, still remains to be seen. Based on what I've been able to find out on the subject,

it's looking like Hoyer is their veteran option, meaning that the third quarterback on the Patriots roster this year is likely to be via draft pick. Now, how early in the draft they plan on drafting a quarterback still remains to be seen. Again, in my estimation and by all accounts, Jarrett Stidham still appears to have the inside track as Tom Brady's heir apparent. But if the Patriots choose to use a high round selection on a quarterback, that dynamic could change. If they end up going with a lower round pick, that would likely mean that they're looking for depth and a developmental player at the position to eventually replace Hoyer or perhaps

compete with Stidham in the future. Whatever their choice may be, it's clear that the Patriots will be looking to bring in another quarterback, and because of that, they've bid a fond adieu to Cody Kessler. So, Patriots fans, there is your dose of reality. In just a moment, I will be joined by Kyle Senra, who will transport you to the fantasy world. And we'll talk some fantasy football right here on the Locked On Patriots Podcast. Patriots fans, my guest today is going to help us take a bit of a break from reality, from what is our society, and delve into some fantasy. Football, that is.

After all, Locked on Patriots is a family show here, folks. Don't get carried away. But my guest is one of the leading experts regarding fantasy football, and it's my honor to have him join me today. He is the managing editor of Full Press Fantasy Football and the co-host of Full Press Fantasy Football and the co-host of Full Press Fantasy Podcast, as well as the managing editor for the Full Press Packers page. His writing and insight can also be found on goingfortwo.com. He is Kyle Senra. Kyle,

thank you for joining me today. Welcome to the Locked On Patriots Podcast. Thanks for having me, Mike. Great to be here this morning. Oh, absolutely. And fantasy football is something that our listeners are definitely interested in. And by my own admission, my friend, I'm a resident fantasy hack, so I am not an expert on the situation or the subject. You don't want to know what some of my fantasy teams finished and how they finished in my heyday of being a fantasy football guy. But you are one of the most dialed in people when it comes to this. So for the benefit of our listeners here on Locked On Patriots, I wanted to bring you in today to kind of give us a little bit of background as to what can be expected. Now, obviously, the NFL season is hopeful to start on time.

At least that's what we've been hearing. I still have my doubts about that. I think that remains to be seen. But if they do go ahead and assuming that we are moving forward here with a full season in the NFL in mind, it's never really too early, I think, to talk some fantasy football. So if anybody is really interested or even if someone is a novice looking to get involved for the first time, what should they be looking for? What steps should they be taking to try to craft a good fantasy team coming up for the 2020 season? The first rule of any fantasy league is know your scoring settings, because that can change so much. And also what your starting requirements are. What are you expected to start every week? How many of each position?

Because that's going to totally flip things. You know, scoring settings that can change. A big one is whether you have what we call PPR, points per reception or not. I know the general old school way is that you get points for yards. Usually it's for running backs, rushing receiving yards. Usually it's one point every 10 yards, and then one point every 25 passing yards, four points for passing touchdowns,

six for all other touchdowns, and that's kind of it. But if you start adding points per reception, suddenly that's going to change a bit how certain players are ranked. I think the biggest changeover from non-PPR to PPR is those pass-catching running backs. We've talked with Locked On Patriots. We know there's a really good one in New England

in the form of James White. James White is someone that if in a PPR type of setting, he might go in the fourth, fifth round of drafts. But if it's non-PPR, he's going to fall. And rightfully so, because a lot of his value is tied to the number of receptions he's getting. But his value would probably fall to an eighth, ninth round pick. So I think he's a really great example of a player that

his value is tied to what the scoring settings are. I also do some leagues where, you know, I guess the standard is two running back, two wide receiver, and, you know, maybe a flex spot. But I've been in leagues where you actually start up, you know, a minimum of four wide receivers per week, plus an additional two flex. You can start up to know a minimum of four wide receivers per week plus an additional two flex you can start

up to six wide receivers uh that definitely pushes up that position in terms of that value if if uh your starting requirements are so large at that position and of course the last thing is uh what are your quarterbacks is it super flex which we call uh super flex is just a flex spot that can be played uh where a quarterback can be played in uh that that's a massive value difference i find in leagues where you can only start one quarterback i'm waiting as long as i can to get quarterbacks i think there's a big massive tier two that you can that you know you could wait till the double digit rounds and still be able to pick from that that tier two of quarterbacks and you'll be fine and perfectly great all seasons i know uh for me last year it in a lot of leagues i ended up with dak prescott for that reason exactly

it seemed like he was going you know quarterback 10 11 12 13 and i kind of viewed him a little bit better than that um just enough that whenever i was looking for quarterbacks a lot of guys would go and dak would still be there and i would just just sweep up a ton of dak i think in in 14 leagues i close to about half of them had a dac prescott on uh my my roster last year in fantasy leagues uh but if it's super flex and or or two quarterbacks if you can start two quarterbacks i'm the exact opposite instead of waiting so long a quarterback i'm being aggressive uh in a in a super flex league either 101 i'm probably taking patrick mahomes uh so again that's i I think that's the one thing I would say to anyone starting fantasy is

know your league and know your league setting and know your starting roster spots, because that's going to determine everything afterwards. That's a great starting point. And I'm so glad that you mentioned that. I think that's something that people always look at the point driven, you know, aspect of fantasy football. Who's going to give me the most points? And obviously, I mean, that's a huge component of it.

I'm not lessening that at all. But knowing the parameters of your league is so important. I think that's something, a mistake that I made when I started playing fantasy football years ago. I didn't do enough research on the league. I tried to do research on players, but I didn't do enough on the league to find out what players were going to maximize my ability to put out a solid team. And you mentioned PPR, you mentioned James White. We will get into some New England Patriots that happen to be fantasy studs and maybe even a couple of duds that you might want to stay away from. But across the league right now, Kyle, we've seen a number of movement in the first and even the early part of the second wave of

free agency. Naturally, free agency hasn't been as robust as years past, a lot of it due to the COVID-19 scare and inabilities for players to be able to get in for physicals. So some of these deals are getting completed, some of them aren't, and we may learn a lot more after a lot of these restrictions are lifted. But going on what we're seeing right now in the league, with some of the movement that you've seen, who right now do you look at and say, this guy wasn't necessarily a fantasy-driven stud last year, but all of a sudden this year, a new environment might be exactly what he needed

to get back on track and be a big fantasy producer. Who do you see in the league right now that catches your eye in that fashion? Well, and this is not to say that this player wasn't a stud last year uh but melvin gordon with the chargers especially once they re-signed austin eckler there was a kind of a bit of a question period uh where okay it doesn't look like gordon's going back to the chargers where is he going to end up is he going to be in a committee uh you know it's tied with a couple other really talented running backs it isn't going to get that big of opportunity. And then Melvin Gordon goes and signs with Denver. And now I believe that he is by far the most talented running back on that team.

I've always been a big believer in Royce Freeman, but never to the point where I've thought he's close to Gordon. And then Philip Lindsay is an undrafted free agent. And while he's done great these last couple of years, I know I'm fully expecting Melvin Gordon to go in there and get 200 carries, see maybe 70 targets and be the real workhorse back for Denver. So he's someone who's changing teams and I think will still maintain value. My big worry this year in general is for these players changing teams with we don't know what training camps are going to look like this year. So this is a season where I'm more hesitant to draft to draft guys that are changing teams and i think you know if i'm stuck between two players uh that you know equal production and kind of the periphery things i viewed pretty equal

and one guy is staying with the same team and same quarterback and one guy's in a new environment i'm going to go with the guy that's has consistency and And again, great insight. I think that's something that a lot of our listeners, including myself, again, appreciate. Because the first thing that you notice when players switch teams, and probably I'm going to take this to Tom Brady. And Tom Brady has always been among the league's best quarterbacks. Really, since his first couple of years in the league right through now. And everybody has always lauded him for his ability. I mean, they don't call him the goat for no reason.

I know there are a lot of people that argue that up here in New England. We happen to think that that's a name that should stick and really will not be challenged. But that's a conversation for another day, my friend. He's never been a huge fantasy football stud. He really hasn't been. When you think about it, he's not known as a big producer for the fact of the matter is that it's never been his predicated game other than in a few seasons where he did light it up. 2007 comes to mind where he was able to put up

huge numbers. That's never been Brady's game. That's never been his bread and butter. Now you see him all of a sudden go to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and you hear about all the quote unquote weapons that he's going to be throwing to. And people are talking that he might actually be able to approach 5,000 yards passing this year. So it's good to know that sometimes a switch in teams and knowing what is going to happen on paper may not necessarily take the bread and butter of what the player does. Well, take them out of that element and put them into something new. I'm glad you mentioned Gordon. He's a guy that I know pretty well in my days having covered the Los Angeles Chargers. I know that he could be a producer in years past. Last year was a very

big question mark for him because of the time he shared with Eckler and the time that he missed. So coming into Denver, that might be an interesting new home for him. And I know we'll always keep a sharp eye on some of these players and how they're matching up. One question before we get to the New England Patriots, which is a follow-up on what I just asked you. Is training camp and preseason a good opportunity for fantasy novices to kind of get an idea of what players might be a good fit in their system, because usually drafts are taking place right around that time. Should they wait or should these guys or gals that want to play fantasy football, should they be watching early on and

even mini camp and training camp to find out how these new players are fitting in? I think the late round picks, those gems that you're picking, you want to be looking for guys that aren't going to be highly noted. And I think the best example from last year, probably Darren Waller. Darren Waller was someone that a few people were talking about even as early as OTAs, but certainly minicamp as, you know, he could be the starting tight end for the Raiders. And at that point, it still didn't really buy into it. I mean, he went undrafted in a lot of fantasy leagues. And, you know, week one came in an explosive performance. And then you suddenly, I mean, he went undrafted in a lot of fantasy leagues. And week one came, he had an explosive performance. And then suddenly, he was on every roster.

A lot of people call him maybe one of the best waiver wire additions of all of last season. So yeah, I think those are the types of players that you're going to get more of from training camp, mini camp. I don't think we need to go to Panthers mini camp and see, oh, Christian McCaffrey is going to catch a lot of passes this year. I don't think that's going to change. And even if he's not catching a lot of passes in training camp i feel like that's that's still part of his game so it's it's really those those back end of roster guys that you're really looking for for any type of blurbs for during this this

time or during those times those training camps good point and again if the rep is there folks if they're healthy and they're ready to go and they've been producers in the past, it's probably a safe bet to say that they will be in the future. But last but not least, my friend, it is Locked On Patriots. So a lot of our listeners are going to be looking to draft their favorite players, their hometown heroes, to be fantasy studs for them. New England is not typically a breeding ground for big-time fantasy stud producers. They tend to spread the wealth around a little bit, but this is going to be a different year

coming up in New England. New quarterback, obviously, a lot of new faces, perhaps some new faces on offense that we haven't seen before. Judging on your insight from the roster right now, and I know you're not a Pats insider, but you are very dialed into all of the rosters because of your expertise in fantasy football. Who stands out to you as a New England Patriot right now that you would say this is worth it for you to make that move and put him on your fantasy team? I know you mentioned James White earlier, but in addition to White, who else is that type of player that could pay

you fantasy football dividends this year? And honestly, when you looked at the Patriots over the last, basically the most of the last decade, there's been one guy that's been really consistent, often appears as a top 20, maybe at least top 30 wide receiver year in, year out. He caught 100 passes last year. And even with the changing quarterback, I still expect Julian Edelman is going to see, you know, 140, 150, 160 targets and that type of target share. And given his natural catching ability, regardless of who's quarterback, I think he's going to pile up the receptions and he's probably going to see

another triple digit catch year, especially without Brady, Stidham or Hoyer. I think that the conventional guessing though, at this point is that Stidham is going to be the starter. Most of the season, whoever that is, is probably going to look to Edelman, maybe even more so than Brady has in the last couple of years. So I think Julian Edelman,

average draft position isn't really out yet, at least not for a redraft. There's some dynasty stuff, but he's obviously at his age, he's going to be a lot lower in the dynasty rankings than his production matches uh but i think you know you take a fourth round pick on edelman as a solid wide receiver too i think if you pair him with uh i'm going to say like a like a julio jones or or even uh trying to think of a receiver that's very you you know, can pile up the yards with, you know, on few receptions. So I think Jones Edelman is probably a really good wide receiver one, wide receiver two combo because you get the two different types.

Edelman has that kind of solid, especially in points per reception leagues, that solid what we call PPR floor where he's going to just, you know, the yardage isn't going to be huge. But those catches are going to up your fantasy totals week in, week out. So I think Edelman, as always, is going to be maybe the only wide receiver, maybe the only receiver overall to take for the Patriots. And I expect the same thing from James White. He saw 95 targets last year. I'd guess it's probably going to be close to that this year, too. And then I think the only other player really on the patriots i i have a lot of faith in right now if it's a super flex league then you're probably drafting both stidham and hoyer because that's that's the value of quarterbacks the the

backup quarterbacks are getting drafted i know i won a league last year taking tannahill really late because i kind of thought oh you know what if mariota ever gets replaced tannahill's value skyrockets and that helped me win last year with the, with some great fantasy playoff performances. So those would be the main four. I also think Sony, Michelle, if,

if, you know, transition to a new quarterback, kind of expect them to run the football more. I mean, he had 247 attempts last year, kind of crazy that he didn't get a thousand yard season out of that. And you know,

so maybe you see a bit more from Michelle in that regard and he'll probably have another massive, uh, carry load like he did last year. I'm so glad that you mentioned Michelle, because a lot of people up here in new England have gone out of their way to, um, I want to say disparage him. I guess that's probably the best way that I can put it. Sony struggled last year for a number of reasons, some of which were his fault. There's no question about it. I don't think he hit the holes with enough bursts that he needed to. I think he was hesitant. I think a lot of that was because of the Patriots offensive line woes last year. And I think that's another reason why that

in the draft this year, that may be one of the best spots for them to target. I know it's not the sexy pick for a lot of people, but I think it's the one that they need the most. So if they do that and they're shoring up their offensive line, David Andrews comes back, they have Joe Tooney back in the fold. And if they can get a stud offensive lineman in the draft that can really help guys like Isaiah Wynn expand, I think Sony could have a big year. He is the type of player that can get you fantasy yardage. We saw him do it two years ago, albeit not to the level that some of the other great running backs do, but he can be serviceable. And I think he will be relied upon a little bit more this year. I'm looking for big things out of him. I am a Sony guy. So, I mean, a lot of that comes from my hope and my wish that, uh,

to see him succeed, but I'm glad that you mentioned him. Uh, and he's going to be someone I'll keep my eye on. And because of your expertise, Kyle, I'm going to dip my toe back into the fantasy aspect of football this year and riding the wave of your wisdom and counsel. I'm hoping things, but no pressure, no pressure at all.

I won't lambast you. If my team fails, I will blame myself. I assure you. Thank you so much for joining me today on locked on Patriots. My friend, before I let you go, please let everyone, all of our listeners know where they can find you and your great work when it comes to fantasy and also the great work that you do for the Green Bay Packers, which I don't mean to minimize in the least. Kyle is excellent at what he does running the Packers page and covering that team.

So please, the floor is yours, my friend. Go ahead and plug away. Well, first off with the Packers, I mean, this year, year i mean i was running it all alone last year um i was the only one creating content uh i've got a couple writers this year for the packers so it's been that's been great having uh sam toma who's by also my co-host on the full press packers pod uh bringing his insight as well as jesse hall and they've both uh done some great work you can check all that out at fullpresscoverage.com slash Packers. You can also get the Full Press Coverage app to get all this

great content too, so definitely download that for free. Android or Apple. They're both available on both whatever app stores you use, so the Full Press Coverage app is a great way to get all this content. Full Press Coverage Packers and Patriots as well as all the great teams. You can follow me on Twitter at

yama underscore ks. I spell that n-y-a-m-a underscore k teams. You can follow me on Twitter at Yama underscore KS. I spell that N-Y-A-M-A underscore KS. You can also follow the podcast, the full press coverage fantasy pod at FPC underscore fantasy pod if you want to get more great insight. I just dropped an episode yesterday I believe and actually

we're recording the next episode today so definitely going to be hammering out that fantasy content because we really don't have any other sports to keep us occupied excellent and you know what and this was a perfect opportunity i think for all of our listeners that are clamoring for some different aspects of sports without just who signed where or what prospect are we going to get in the draft it's never too early to start thinking about fantasy football folks and kyle has helped us do that he's our fantasy insider and we going to get in the draft. It's never too early to start thinking about fantasy football, folks, and Kyle has helped us do that.

He's our fantasy insider, and we hope to have him back several times throughout the year here to keep you updated on what you should be doing for your fantasy football rosters. Kyle, once again, thank you so much. Stay safe, stay well, and my best to you and the family, my friend. Thanks again for joining me today. Thanks a lot, Mike. Glad to hear from you, too, and I also hope that you and the family, my friend. Thanks again for joining me today. Thanks a lot, Mike. Glad to hear from you, too.

And I also hope that you and your family are safe and well. Thank you very much. Much appreciated. And so concludes today's reality to fantasy episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast. I once again want to thank Kyle Senra for joining me today. I hope Kyle was able to at least whet your fantasy football appetite a little bit. Let's face it, if you're listening to this podcast, we're all sports fans, primarily football fans, and most of all, Patriots fans.

We're hoping to see all of that in action as soon as possible. And as we rebuild as a nation and a globe, what's a better fun distraction than a little fantasy football? As for me, I will be back here tomorrow to put a lid on another week here on the Locked On Patriots podcast, and I'll be joined by a special guest you won't want to miss. As always, please be sure to join me each and every day here on the Locked On Patriots podcast.

Subscribe and download via your preferred podcast provider. And of course, don't forget, you can always listen on your smart device. How do you do that? Very simple. Just ask it to play the latest episode of Locked On Patriots. Once again, I am Mike DeBate. I thank Kyle Senra for his time, his insight and his appearance today, but most of

all, I thank you so much for listening and for staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. And if you've enjoyed today's podcast, and I sincerely hope that you did, now tell your smart device to play the latest episode of Locked On NFL Draft. Stay safe, stay well, and have a great day, everyone.