NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2024 Fantasy Mock Draft

Episode Date: August 8, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Patrick Claybon, Marcas Grant, and Michael F. Florio for NFL Daily's 2024 Fantasy Mock Draft. Before the draft, Gregg and Patrick get you caught up on the latest chapter in the Brandon Aiyuk drama (1:24). After the break. the guys run through their 2024 Fantasy Mock Draft (11:50). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we wear our NFL network polos, even on days we're not required to. And by we, I mean Patrick Claibon, who's with me in the Chris Wessling podcast studio. Good to have you back. Good to be back. When you wear a polo here, Like, the network, nobody questions anything. I could wear whatever as long as I throw this polo on.

Okay. Nobody has anything to say. So, like, I love it. Yeah, you got the shorts on. Yeah, and you looked at those polos, they just fit just right. And yeah, it is good to have Patrick back. Well, our first ITC friend who's going to be with us a lot in the studio all season long, that's back off the road.

And we got Steve Weish and Colleen Wolf coming up next week regularly, and it's all happening. And I'm excited. We got our friends from the fantasy football podcast. coming in your budget, Marcus Grant and Mike Florio for a big time draft. We're going to have invade the studio. It's just all fantasy in here. So yeah, we're going to do.

Fantasy legend Gregor Rosenthal, by the way. Don't you forget it. Four people, seven rounds. We're going to take all the skill position players and just do a little mock draft. So you get a little feeling of the top 30 maybe in NFL drafts,

but also the top at the tight end and quarterback positions. That's going to come in just a little bit. But first, let's do some news. Well, what else am I going to talk about other than Brandon Ayyuk? This man is holding the NFL world hostage right now. That's not his fault. These things are complicated.

As we're taping, Patrick, some updates here. Pittsburgh, since we last taped, is back in the mix. Apparently they were really never out of the mix, but they weren't meeting the potential trade terms that the 49ers were hoping. for. The Patriots are out of the mix. They did that thing, according to ESPN's Adam Schaefter, where they are no longer in the Brandon Ayuk sweepstakes because Brandon Ayuk, apparently, according to CSN Bay Area, made it pretty clear he did not want to go to the Patriots. So it was more like he chose to not do it. And I did have this theory, and I threw it out there

a couple of nights ago, that maybe the 49ers are just putting these teams out there that they kind of know Brandon Ayyuk doesn't want to go to, really, which is the Browns and the Patriots, the teams he does want to go to, apparently were the commanders who are out and then the Steelers. And as we tape this, to me it seems increasingly likely that the Steelers story might happen, but we don't know yet. Yeah, if it's down to Brandon Ayuk's choice, which the team is going to want to negotiate a deal, right? Because if you're trading for Brandon Ayuk, you want him long term. And if his choice dictated not the Patriots and the commanders are out, then who else is left?

Well, the Browns, in theory, are there, and they have the one player in Amari Cooper that if they sent them to San Francisco, maybe the 20-24-9ers aren't that much worse. We'll see. I want to kind of hold my takes now until we know what's official.

Takes on ice. We'll leave it there with Ayuk. I mean, I think it's a mistake no matter what by the 49ers. But how big of a mistake? We'll find out. Unfortunately, a lot the news this time of year is injury news, and CMC, Brandon Ayuk's teammate, was hurt, is going to miss a couple weeks because of a calf strain. We'll hit on CMC a little bit in the fantasy draft, so don't need to stay there.

But that's a little concerning for a player like Kim who's had some issues over the year to have a soft tissue injury this early. So that's concerning. Even more concerning is Josh Downs' injury at Colts practice today. He is out four to six weeks with a high-term. high ankle sprain, according to NFL Network Insider. Ian Rappaport was one of my absolute favorite breakout picks. Could still do it, but now he's got an obstacle to start the season.

And what makes it even worse, right? It comes on seven on sevens in training camp, and Nick Cross goes down. They go to the ground. Like, you obviously, like, all of these injuries are bad, but that one's completely unnecessary. And you hear it like so much, hey, coach, what do you want on this? We want to get healthy into the season. season and to have an injury on seven on sevens in a situation where guys are taking guys to the ground? Like, oh, that's a tough one.

Shane Stike and their coach was not pleased with it in his press conference. Nick Cross, you could tell, felt bad about it, but he said he was, you know, just trying to play football. And yet Josh Downs to me is their clear number two in Indianapolis. Right now, they're playing him outside. They're playing them inside. And they'll figure out how the AD Mitchell and Alec Pierce snaps in tight end tar. gets work out. But to me, it was a very clear one. I thought Josh Downs is going to have a big year.

High ankle sprains are tough. You would almost hope, not from a fantasy football realm, but from a reality realm, maybe just wait until he's all the way back. Even if it's week four, week five, because these are just one of those injuries you see so many times guys come back too early. Another injury at the wide receiver position was Rondale Moore of the Atlanta Falcons pencil then, I would say, to be there. Third wide receiver, unfortunately,

his injury had to involve an air cast, which is never a good sign, and immediately taken to a hospital. Yeah, it's awful. The video of teammates reacting was enough to me. Didn't see any particular injury video or pictures, but just the aircast being invoked lets you know that this is going to be time

and in a contract year for Rondale after he was, he's finishing up that rookie contract that came out in the desert. And you know, like, people throw out like satellite back or you know like a guy that's going to be a running back at one point yeah but the gadget is is getting yards um and having production and he could do that and i wanted to see what it was going to look like in atlanta yeah i thought it would be good for him to be in for lack of a better word just like a more normal offense and they're thin at wide receiver anyways i thought he was the solid three and then there's a pretty big drop off behind drake london darnel mooney and then more in some So it's devastating for more, and it's also something that the Falcons front office and coaching staff will have to address.

Just quickly, just a couple items before we get to the fantasy draft. Really looking forward to that. Connor Williams, the center, who last year was with the Dolphins, ended up signing with the Seahawks. Much needed for that team. Justin Simmons is visiting the Saints. We'll follow up on that if that deal actually happens,

but that would be a nice move for New Orleans. Titan starting guard, Sadiq, Charles Retiret. hired young man, and they've had a bad couple of weeks, Titans, just in terms of surprising absences. DeAndre Hopkins obviously had that injury. They lost Arden Key to a suspension. Chidobio Ouzier has been out all of camp, so not great news for the Titans in general.

Yeah, it's a rough, in all season with a lot of excitement, especially considering the nuke news and now we're worried about up front. you got a second year, quarterback. It's tough. I think he's in, he's like 26, 27 years old. And yeah, Coach Brian Callan said he was really surprised by it. But this happens in training camp player. He came in.

He just said football is not for him anymore. The Lions and Giants are fined $200,000 each. It's a lot of money for all their fights the other day of practice. The NFL's trying to discourage fighting, even though coaches encouraged fighting. I thought that was interesting. That's a new wrinkle. And then I just want to say rest in peace to Dwayne Thomas. who holds an interesting place in football

and Dallas Cowboys history because he was an electric young running back when he came onto that team. But he also held out for more money and sort of had a holdout at a time when that was crazy in the NFL, just looking for anything. And also, I think of him

because he was a subject of a really good book by Dr. Z. Paul Zimmerman. It was called Dwayne Thomas and the end of the Cowboys era, I believe. and it provided an interesting look at a unique player and it had a story in it that always stuck with me that the voters voted him Super Bowl MVP and then because at the time,

Super Bowl MVP was sponsored by a magazine. It was called Sport Magazine. And the editor of Sport Magazine was worried that when Dwayne Thomas accepted the award later in the offseason at the banquet and the free car that came with it, that's a big deal for these players who were making like $20,000 a year

that he was going to fly off the handle or something. So he just made an executive decision and in the moment handed the award to Roger Staubach who went 11 for 19 for like 1117 yards and to Stauback's credit he went out of his way publicly

to say that should have been Dwayne Thomas's award over and over. So rest in peace, Dwayne Thomas, an interesting guy. I do like to think about the history of the game. Yeah, and it's unfortunate because there's a media environment that would probably be a lot more understanding and accepting of Dwayne, who was an outspoken athlete, especially a black athlete

in the early 70s, called Gilbrand a liar. Like I said, Tom Landry was a plastic man. And ultimately, that level of honesty and access, you know, he had some trouble. He got racially profiled. They found some weed in the car, right? It's a familiar story. But the way that the perception of him went out by a media that was not very friendly, I do wish that a lot of these guys had a different opportunity

in a media environment that would accept them a little bit. Yeah, so he had that rookie just outstanding season and then in the off season, like I mentioned, he wanted to renegotiate and that just didn't happen at the time and called Tom Landry the Plastic Man. Oh, it takes some guts to call Tom Landry the Plastic Man in 1971. But if you dig underneath the HUD a little bit, there was a lot of similar criticism about Tom Landry back in the day

as great a coach, obviously, as he was. was. So rest in peace, Dwayne Thomas. And this one little thing, housekeeping here, Patrick. Before we get to the fantasy draft, I want Randy, Eric's back from paternity leave to throw up on

the board. Our graphic here, our team deep dive board, because I've heard from the fans. They're mad. Hawaii's spent so much time on the L.A. team. Oh, you're always talking about the Eagles. And so we've created a board. We're going to go deep on all 32 teams. At some point, it's going to take a while.

can't do this all in a week and you'll see on the YouTube show we've highlighted i don't know what color that is because i'm colorblind it's green it's a highlighted green i thought it was yellow see and that's where frankly you guys are being insensitive and yeah we've highlighted the teams uh that we've already taken care of uh well we've done five so far so 27 to go looking forward to that but we'll do it throughout the course of the season so everyone feels like they get you know the right y'all are better than me because i would have left i would have left the team off or just gaslit somebody i know it was like i was like should we highlight the bengals we did kind of do it with nick wessling but that was more personal talk earlier no bengals will get their time all right we're going to have

our time uh with marcus grant and mike f florio fantasy experts around here along with claybond don't sleep on claibon as a fantasy expert of proximity to greatness including right now mock draft coming after this Hey, this is Matt Jones. Now I'm Drew Franklin, and this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game.

What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more.

What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team-building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape,

talk to decision-makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig into coaching strategies,

roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

you get your podcasts. Oh yeah, we're back on NFL Daily and I'm excited. The studio, the Chris Wesleying podcast studio is as full as it's been in weeks. We've now got the fantasy crew has joined Patrick Claibon and I, Marcus Grant. And Mike F. Florio, welcome to NFL Daily. Thanks for having us. Yeah, I'm glad to be. I love this music.

It's like an off-brand 60s James Bond spy thriller. Like, I'm not doing it, though. It could also be a game show. It could be a fantasy draft. It's a Jim Coales, is the character. I love it. I love how much you guys have taken fantasy at the NFL to another level like Florio's hair here.

Oh, man. Just trying to separate himself even more from the, other Mike Florio. I actually forgot. I called you Mike Floreo saying you were coming up on the show and people were like, you got to say Mike F. Florio. I mean, I don't care. It's confusing. He doesn't know anything about fantasy. I'd rather hear what you have to say. So yeah, of course, you can check out the fantasy podcast that we do. And Fantasy Live is going to be coming up sooner than later. And Patrick's involved in that. Next week. Monday, August 12th is when we start back up. Yeah. Great programming. And yeah, this is going to be fun. So I thought what we'd do is a mock draft. I've done very little fantasy prep so far. Same. I made a little big board that Patrick is cheating off.

And, you know, in the interest of time, we're going to do something a little different here. We're going to pick an entire starting group of skill position players. So quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, and a tight end. And that's it. And there's just four of us. So we'll go around seven times. we're going to put one minute on the clock each time.

And, you know, we'll talk about the picks and try to give some analysis and something extra, Marcus. Don't just sit there and, like, be silent. I won't. I will participate. I'm excited about that. I will participate. All right. So we randomized this before we started taping.

And it's going to sound like the fix is in, but I got the. It's 25% chance. I think people can understand. Well, you know what I want to do? And we're going to go, we're going to go clockwise. So, Randy, behind the glass. Let's start here. And I'm going to go way off the board anyways

of anyone you guys would take. I'm taking Justin Jefferson. Oh. This is one of those things where if you're not watching or paying attention of fantasy all off season and then you look at the list and like Justin Jefferson's the sixth wide receiver.

I don't get it. Explain it to me. Like, I don't care. I think he's the best player in the NFL. I'd rather have a receiver right now than a running back. I'm taking Jefferson. Yeah, I mean, he was on pace

in the games he played without Kirk Cousins for 2,000 yards last year. So maybe he is just quarterback proof, but the reason he's fallen where he is is because all those other wide receivers are coming back to the exact same situation, and he has a quarterback downgrade. Yeah, the quarterback downgrade

isn't enough, right? Because they give Jefferson the money. I know that they're going to flood him with targets. They're absolutely going to flood him with targets. The Addison situation probably has an impact in that as well. I don't, I was, I I'm not worried.

I don't think it's a ridiculous pick. It's just that everybody has sort of been scared off because of Sam Darnold. That's it. They'll create passing yards. All right. So that means the minute is up and we're going clockwise here. Gloria, you're next. Okay.

I'll go with who I would have win at first overall. Look, I know a lot of people are expecting me to say CMC here, but I'm going to go with CD Lamb because just like you, I want the wide receivers early. We have to start the most of them, so I will take CD there. Okay.

The thing with CD Lamb being so high to me is like, I don't know. I just hate the guy coming off his career year. So I just pushed back against that almost immediately. Regression candidate. Greg calling for the regression, but just like going into last year he wasn't the first overall. So I still like C.D. and Tyreek,

just like a little bit better. Maybe A.J. Brown. And I get that. But, you know, with all the great things C.D. did last year, like what's really changed in the Cowboys' offense? I mean, they still have to lean on it. Now you have Brandon Cooks who's a year older. They don't know who really the number two wide receiver is there.

You know, I mean, it was such a great. great offseason, they went and brought Zeke back. He's not at training camp. That's different. The running game might be terrible. One thing that impacted CD's draft position last year was people bought into this myth that Mike McCarthy was going to come in and they were going to pound the rock, baby. They're going to pound the rock, baby. They don't run the ball at all. That's a good point. Man, a minute goes fast. You got to be ready for your pick, Marcus.

Well, I mean, look, you fell all the way to me at three, so I'm going to take Christian McArthur. I mean, why not? Like, let's, look, I get it. He's nicked up. He's going to miss some time. But it's still a guy who's going to going to occupy a large portion of one of the best offenses in the NFL. I'm going to take CMC. I only needed to see that injury where he has a calf strain. He's out for a couple weeks of practice.

And I'm a little spooked. Like a soft tissue injury, like maybe it'll be nothing. It'll be totally fine. But when there's great other running back options, I actually would not have him for, I have him third now among my running back. I think the people who aren't going to draft CMC because of this probably weren't going to draft me anyway.

Anyway, I'm more concerned about Trent Williams' issue. related to CMC, then I am like, it's a calf. Christian isn't going to forget how to play football these next couple of weeks. Why would Kyle have him do anything? Which by the way, it is wild that nobody's been talking about Trent Williams with all the other

things happening. Right. On that scene, really the most important thing. My son Walker got CMC somehow ninth in a kids draft, which just proves like kids are stupid. It was last year. It was young and dumb. Those kids are on the podcast. They're in the news. That's why he's falling. Okay, I will

take the guy who's on pace to have a billion yards last year in Tyrie Kill. I don't know. Low-hanging fruit. Yeah. I think he would have a good argument for being first overall. I would be totally fine with that. Maybe you get a little

worry there's not quite as many 60 yard plays in this offense, but people, I think at it and they're like, oh, C.D. Lamb was the water receiver one last year. It's like, no, no, no. Tyree Hill was running away with it until he suffered that ankle injury. Still wild, I think he left Patrick Mahomes and somehow his stats got better. Right. And he's

the number one player in the NFL according to the players who probably voted in like mid-November when I was honking about Tyreekill winning MVP so he should have if he didn't get hurt. Yeah I think right if they're looking at it from distance from his peers I think I think it's a pretty

good case. Yeah. Like now that Aaron Donald's not anymore. You could also make the case for CMC then too. I don't know where he finished but number one right oh in the best players over I don't know people hating on CMC are you are aware Patrick it's a snake draft here do you get to go back to back.

Oh. You have to be ready. I see you kind of easy enough. We're trying to be fair because they're going to put it up on graphics after the show. Who had the best team? We can have the listeners, the viewers vote on who is best. Maybe we'll even keep track best ball rules or something. And if I don't do well, you'll never hear about it again. If I win, I'll bring it back up.

Well, snaking back to me, it gives me an opportunity to, I haven't been in, but I'm in. Bijon, let's do it. Ooh. Yeah. No, it's hard to not be in on Bijon. I mean, one, I mean, the biggest thing for all of us is that, like, Arthur Smith's not there to Galaxy Brain this thing, right? Yeah. Like, I had him one.

It was, I, I, I picked on the clock. I wasn't expecting to have one overall, but it was either him or Jefferson. I mean, like, there's no, there's no chance that suddenly, like, Michael Pruitt's going to get goal line carries. You know, it's just not going to happen this year. No. They did kind of, like, use Tyler Algier, though. They were saying in, like, a little team scrimmage at night that he was getting half the first team reps. Any concern there?

Uh, maybe enough to split hair. between him and another running back who hasn't gone yet, but there's a clear cut top three running backs. Okay, I don't think there's a secret. I think there's a clear cut top four, so we'll disagree there. But yeah, Bijon didn't do anything his rookie year that

got me off my spot of like this is going to be the best fantasy running back for the next five years in aggregate, even if he's not one every single year. He's the man. And he's got his own mustard out now too. I feel like we can. Really? Bijon's Dijon. Yep. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I love that.

sitting right there. Right there. Right there. All right. So I know we got a couple of, we got, what, three wide receivers off the board. I took a running back.

I'm going to go wide receiver here. And for me, the next best available wide out is going to be Jamar Chase. Look, Joe Burrow's back in healthy again. Those two seem to have some sort of mind meld since their days at LSU.

They're even so connected, they both shave their heads at the same time. That's how, that's how in lockstep they are. I think a healthy Jamar Chase, a healthy Joe Burrow just sort of, go destructo on the AFC North this year. I'm selective about what camp hype I'm willing to believe in.

But for some reason, like Joe Burrow, just looking all the way back at camp, I'm believing in that. Because Jumar Chase quietly had his best year by far as a rookie. And it does feel like he's kind of due right now to have that career year type of year. And that there's a big drop-off between him and T. Higgins. I was the guy who was like,

Dee Higgins is almost like 1-A-B, but he's really not. No, he's not. He's going to have a video game season eventually. where he goes for like 1,700 yards or whatever. That's coming. But I'm picking the other running back there. I said it's a clear cut top three. Give me Breece Hall,

who had one goal on carry last year and still was the RB2 in fantasy football. That's one where I was surprised when I saw the average apposition that he's getting so high. To me, it seems like like a slight projection. I don't know. He was the RB2 last year, despite the slow start and the no touchdowns

and no Aaron Rogers. And the bad quarterback situation. Literally coming back. from that ACL repair. And so now he's had a full, he's at a full off season, full season. I don't see why as much as I,

like, I would love to be, you know, cautious on all things, Jets, but. Offensive lines should be better. Yeah.

He's the one jet that I feel good about. The rest, not so much. I guess, I guess he could be freaked out injury-wise about anyone, but for some reason, because it's happened,

I'm more freaked out injury-wise about him. And he's very big play-reliant, maybe not quite as many, like, because he makes a big place. The injury thing is what I separate Bijon and Brees all from. This is why they kicked me out of the fantasy community.

I think I wrote them down death or six that running back. I want to know who's in your clear cut top four. Yeah, I guess we're about to find out. He's got back to find out. He's got back to pick. Maybe I'll take him back to back here. Let's go. Well, Sequin would be one place to start. Why would he not be? I think people are overthinking

it. He passed the eye test last year that he is still very much Seekwan running behind one of the better offensive lines in the league, even though they lost a couple pieces there in Philadelphia. Like, they are going to have touchdown opportunities. I think he's going to catch the ball more. They've been doing that at camp. I don't doubt the talent. Like, just such a better situation. I think he's as safe as it gets. I think, I think it sort of ends up being a wash, right? Because he's in a much better offense.

You mentioned a much better offensive line. The difference is the Eagles won't have to lean on him the way the Giants did. Like he was the Giants offense. So it's like, we've got to feed him touches. Like here, you know, they can give him the ball. They can get it to AJ Brown, Devonsa Smith. I mean, they can spread it around a little bit more. So I think that's the difference. And I feel like we're going to learn a little bit more about Sequin and the Eagles as well because he's not going to come off the field.

There's not going to be as much rotation with the running back position. So we could see, whereas Seekwan in the passing game in New York was like, oh, God, what are we going to do? Literally, like, this is the only thing we can do in our passing is get Seekwon involved. Now I think it's more incorporated. Everyone's afraid of the tush push stealing touchdown. DeAndre Swift and Seekwon had the same number of goal on carries last year. There we go.

Even if he's losing some to Jalen Hurts, being on a better offense. You've got to believe in the town, and the situation's great. All right, now, you're not going to find out who's in my tier because I only have one wide receiver left in my first tier of receivers, too, so I'm going to take him instead. I'm going to stack some Eagles. Saquan and A.J. Brown, put him on the same team. Get all the Eagles touchdowns.

I just feel like maybe I'm too basic these days when it comes to fantasy that, like, if they're that good and they're in the middle of their prime, I try not to think about it too deeply. I just can't imagine A.J. Brown not having an incredible and dominant season. Whether he's as good as Chase and Tyreek, like, we'll see. But to me, he's in that tier of wide receivers. Tell me I'm wrong. He is the most disrespected elite wide receiver because he doesn't go.

Like, in early drafts, it's the top five guys. And then, like, you'll see Bejohn and Breece. And then the other receivers start to go. And, like, I'm always like, AJ Brown belongs in that group. Like, he's not far behind any of them. And yet he's got a great quarterback. he's got a new OC that could get the most out of him, I believe. So, yeah, I'm excited for that.

Make your own list, people. Like, this is where I like, just take the guys you want. It's not, like, reality's going to be a lot less predictable. I mean, I won't say disrespect it, but I think he's the elite receiver that also has another elite receiver alongside of him, right? So I think that's the fear. And also

how they finished is going influence people. If the season ended in week eight, it's like, oh my God, AJ Brown. What, you don't like that the quarterback doesn't respect the head coach? I mean, Seems like a mild issue Who's next? I'm now confused with the snake.

All right, go. You left this one on the board there. I'm going to take the aria Stark of Oh, no. And give me a Monro Sinkra. Who can go out there and met. And look, you talk about the great year he had last year. Then you watch receiver and you're like,

every body part of his was hanging on by a thread by like week four. So imagine what this guy could be with a healthy foot and a healthy oblique in what we know is going to be one of the best offenses in football. Constantly loaded up with targets. Always open. The injury concerns, right? He did miss that time, but it's like, that's everybody. And that's one thing where I've been trying to get out of my vocabulary for the

entire, if he stays healthy. You can apply that to every person on the planet. I'm done. I'm just, I'm salty because I was really, I was hoping he would fall in a spot. I'm looking at this ADP with Claibon and he's going eighth overall. I really was hoping he'd fall one.

wide receiver three last year despite the missed time eight eight isn't high enough no he i have him this is gonna i have him ahead of justin jefferson yeah not that crazy all right margis uh see now we're to spot where i'm not i'm not in love with anybody at this this particular adp but i think what i'm going to do here uh i'm gonna go jonathan taylor because i i feel like we haven't talked a lot about him you know as a fantasy community like when we talk about the colds we've we've been focusing on Anthony Richardson and the rushing upside and can he be another Cam Newton type and on and on and on but like let's not forget who Jonathan Taylor was when he was fully healthy and to have those two guys in the backfield I

think is is potentially amazing for this offense I think he gets a ton of opportunity I think he scores a bunch of touchdowns I just feel like he's sort of flying under the radar if that's possible whenever I do drafts on a podcast I have immediate regrets and my first immediate regret is that I didn't take Taylor that I took a.J. Brown over Taylor that was the other running. back in my group. Four? Because when you have a guy

that used to be going first or second overall in fantasy and everything is geared up because he's healthier now, the offensive line for a monster season and Chris Ballard is like

the one guy I'll talk about is Jonathan Taylor is going to have a monster season. I buy it and... Yeah, that's a good pick. AJ Brown was a good pick as well. Okay. Yeah, let's get another line.

I'll take Jemir Gibbs. Ooh. it's honestly because people are you could say the big play criticism like all these other things he's having to share time the time that we saw jimir gibbs in his rookie year i'll take i'll take that year again like i'm comfortable getting that year again here at this point in the draft and i'm not i'm not even going to worry about it yeah there are a team so much better too i think he he is getting better just as a player they are a team where it just feels like they can't be better than they were last year the yard though, will shake out maybe in a... I don't know if Amon Ra can get quite as much as he got a year ago,

but I think Javier Gibbs can get more, no. Yeah, I just, I still worry, I mean, I like Jemir Gibbs. I just worry that David Montgomery still exists and he's going to get a lot of work there in Detroit. Good, give my guy a break.

And he's awesome. Like, Jameer Gibbs is closer, I think, to the rest of these running backs who already went, whereas if I just wanted an actual NFL running back for one game, he might be the best running back in the league. I think there's a chance that he's that talented.

We're that talented. There isn't a podcast out there that's giving any better fantasy advice than this right now. Well, except for Mike Florio. But we are going to take a quick break and we'll come back for the grand finale of this draft. Rounds 4 through 7.

We flew through that pretty quick. Yeah. We stayed this. Nimble. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different.

Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL.

Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team-building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters.

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And yeah, if you're watching on YouTube, we're going to fly up our team so far. You know, Eric and Randy behind the glass. You can look at the teams that we have so far. I have an all-NFC team, Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown and Sequin Barclay. So you can follow along. We'll look at the complete teams at the end of the show. But they're going to roll through them now if you're just catching up. But we are back and it's a snake in the draft here.

Patrick, you're up. Okay. So I was able to satisfy my running back position. I do want to remind people that, you know, if you listen to this draft and want to have your actual draft strategy all the drafts aren't going to be this compact and concise and ultimately i like talent and i think talent is going to overcome a whole lot and i it's a risk because i need him to overcome a whole lot but i'll take devonte adams okay okay that's totally reasonable because again volume is king and if devonte is getting volume he's getting buckets is he going to be upset

about some balls being thrown to places they shouldn't be yes but the reason he's upset is because I mean, it's because he cares, and I want him on my school. He helped get Jimmy up out of there. So somebody had to. That's one less guy to complain about. Look, I mean, I don't know everybody's word about the quarterback situation, but I'm with you. He's still one of the most talented receivers in this league, and he's by far going to be the target monster in this offense, and that's mostly what we want. I had him seventh that wide receiver, and that was after going to Raiders practice this week and seeing Aiden O'Connell triple pump on every throw, throw an interception, like every pass.

It was not pretty. yet it's Devante, he'll get yards. All right, so I am up, and like Patrick, I have satisfied my running back requirement here. So I'm going to go back to the wide receiver spot. This is a couple of different options here. But I am going to go with Garrett Wilson at this spot. This is a dude who was, you know,

just outside the top 25, had over 1,000 yards, 95 catches last year with awful quarterback play. And so the expectation being that Aaron Rogers is health, I don't even need Aaron Rogers to be, like, great vintage Aaron Rogers. I just need him to be, even if he's 80% of the peak Aaron Rogers, that's light years better than anything he had last year. And so if he was able to get 1,000 yards with that quarterback crew, I'm excited about what he can give you with a decent quarterback.

I think he has the perfect recipe for fantasy value because he has the great quarterback, but he doesn't have great competition. It's kind of thin there. Like, is Mike Williams ever going to really be helpful? I guess he just came off the pup list, but... I like Malikai Corley more than him personally. That's a objection. That's a stretch.

I'm up, right? Yes. Should I go with the safe pick or the splash? No. Blash, man. Give me Marvin Harrison. Woo. All right.

Dang. Who I have as a top 10 wide receiver in my room. Wow. That's a little... I didn't even have them in my top 20. Maybe I'm crazy. In hindsight, it makes so much sense because myself and Michael F. Liorio firm Kyler camp

folks And so to see him with a top tier wide receiver like this I understand that We've seen it already Trans like when he had D-Hop D-Hop was routinely

like putting up top five Top 10 numbers And I think Marvin Harrison like I'm not gonna say rookie year Marvin Harrison could be D-Hop But he could be D-Hop Right like He could be rookie

He could stretch the field He could thrive in the red zone Like I don't see I'm very bullish on this off talent And opportunity I mean that's all That's all we're really asking for. You're talking about arguably the most talented

receiver in this class. You're talking about Garrett Wilson not having a lot of target competition. I think he's sneaky does. Zay Jones, Michael Wilson, Tray McBride. I'll ride with those guys and the running backs. I actually think more than the Jets. This is how I know that Greg's been out of the fantasy community for a while because there's a Greg

Dorch hive that has formed. Dorch too. And Tray McBride, like he's very, very popular. The human Dorch. Save that thought. We are required to take a tight end so I think he will be drafted. You're up. Oh, I am up.

Yeah, you got back to back. Again, I'm really regretting the AJ Brown pick now because there's like a drop-off at running back. Taylor would have been a better idea. I'm going Puka. This injury, it's a Bursa-Sack injury, Sean McVeigh said, which typically is just a one-week injury so that they're being very careful with him.

And I know Cooper Cup looks better at training camp. Like, I was there for a day. You can't base too much on one day, but Puka is going to be the number one option in this offense. he's younger, he's faster, he's more dynamic. I feel like he is right there with all the wide receivers that we've said so far really after the top

three or four. That was going to be my boring pick. Sorry, I went splashy. Dang. Calling me boring. He's just, Puka, everyone loves Pooka. How do you know? I love the fact, and this has nothing to do with football or fantasy, but I just love the fact that Puka has lived his best life this off season. Yes.

And lost weight doing it. Like, his body looks different. Right? I mean, like, I'm all here for it. Like, get after. man, you had a great rookie season. You live in Los Angeles. Like, do your thing, dude. I love it. So is this my pick?

No, no. I know it's confusing. It's the, it's the snake. We're going to snake. We're going to snake. We're going to snake. Thanks, Walker. Love you, buddy.

I'm going to take the guy you took a quarterback last year, Walker, actually. I'm going to take the first quarterback off the board. I do think there's a difference between the top couple of quarterbacks and the rest. I'm taking Josh Allen. I'm not, I'm not really buying the Mahomes's back to QB. fantasy idea. I think this is Josh Allen MVP season. I don't care about the weapons around him. He's still at the point in his career where he's going to have rushing value, especially towards the end of the season. And I feel good about that because I think the other positions

they're more even with the players that are remaining. I want either Josh Allen or one other quarterback, but I'll take Josh. Yeah. I mean, you don't have to tell me I'm the biggest Josh Allen stand there is. But I'm trying to think from a fantasy standpoint here. Like, but This isn't a normal draft because we have to fill in all these positions. You really know so many are getting taken. They've both finished their running back room, right? So I think I should take a running back here. This draft does create some.

There's a little bit of strategy. Yeah. Maybe we should we should proselyize more four team leagues. You know what? I will double down on my Kyler-Marie love and I will take Tray McBride as my All right, there you were going to take Tyler Murray. Instant payoff. All right, all right.

I like Tray McBride. Right. He's my tight end one. I mean, he made Zach Earts expendable in Arizona last year. So between the two of you, Marcus, is Floria the one throwing out hotter takes just to get like a little attention? He's like, hey, I got, I got McBride. Who needs Kelsey? But here's the thing. McBride was the tight end one with Kyla Murray last year.

In targets and in fantasy points. Not a hot take. Yeah, I don't think it's a hot take. Straight facts. We actually did a tight end rankings spot on around the NFL. And I think we had him as like the number three tight end in the entire NFL. reality he's that good he really is that good um i mean literally he started he got hot last year and zaccurts is like yeah i'm i'm a head off i'm a head out i think he just has more

competition so even if he's as good or better there's just better receivers there than there were a year ago because a Marvin harrison junior and and even zay jones like a healthy zay jones i'm not but but there's more receivers in kansas city grex on the say jones high but i love it i just mean zay jones is like a quality rotation receiver when he's out there he's like a third or fourth. That's all Patrick's mocking me. No, I'm not. I just love it. He's got snoddly looking down.

I was running fantasy before you were even alive. We no longer talk about Zay Jones standing up. So that's a... We should. His 11th is still amazing. You wouldn't want to draft Zay Jones in fantasy. I just mean like he's part of a good rotation and supposedly he's been good at camp. All right, Mark. That's fair.

So I'm looking. I still have one more wide receiver spot. I feel good about the tight ends that are left out there, so I'm not going to do that. But I'm worried that wide receiver is hollowing out. So I'm going to take Drake London here. Yeah, that was my next. I'm very much a Drake London stand. It's not just me being a USC homer.

I mean, I think he's talented. And he finally has the quarterback upgrade we've been asking for, right? No more Desmond Ritters, no more Marcus Mariotas. I mean, the fact that we were sort of like, hey, man, Taylor Heineckee, maybe that can make, like, that's kind of where we were at some point. So now it's Kirk Cousins. I'm ready to go with Drake London. I love that.

I think he's set up, unfortunately. we actually talked about it earlier in the show an injury to Rondale Moore which doesn't sound great but that's a thin group even before that and I just think this guy our friend Matt Harmon he's been talking up that like he's profiled like a one receiver last couple of years just hasn't had the opportunity

am I on the clock? Yeah why is my clock about to run out? I think we're sometimes we get it. We're playing out there. Oh okay. But if you want to go like I just got excited because I am going to state a case here, and I believe it, and I will do so with my pick. I will take Cooper Cup right here. Ooh, right now. I realize I'm leaping a lot of wide receivers, a lot of guys that we think great things about,

Nico Collins being one of them. I just feel that Puka allows Cooper Cup to be Cooper Cup, and he'll be in the slot. He can pile up targets, pile up catches, pile up rack. If you have an injury concern, again, I don't care. I have injury concerns about everybody. It's the national football league. It's the worst thing about it.

So, yes, I will take Cooper Cup here and feel great about it. I am not sold that Cooper Cup is still not the Ramswater receiver one. Because last year, I mean, it was a lost year. He had the hamstring injury in preseason. He comes back. He played well. He then had a high ankle sprain that he missed that time in the next two games are weird. But in the games where Cup, Puka, and Stafford played, they were separated by two targets.

Okay. But what about the yards and touchdowns on those targets? Like, he wasn't the same guy. So that freaks me out. Cooper Cup. I don't think it's a crazy pick. Two years prior to that, where's the top two water seeer. I'd rather have Olave who's still,

and now I can just throw the names out there because I'm stacked at right of receiver. DK. I'd rather have him than cup. But then I'd probably take up. Okay. All right. You have one more pick, though, Patrick. I have one more pick.

You do. And much of the chagrin of some people sitting at this desk. I will take Kyle Pitts. Ah. Second tight end off the board. I'm in. Wow. I haven't been in yet.

I'm in now. I'm in 2024, Kyle Pitts. All right. All right. I mean, I'm not backing because I never left. I've been in the whole time. Lauren, I have been here the whole time. But we're ready to welcome more folks to the bandwagon. You're taking them over Kelsey?

I am. LaPorta? Sure did. Andrews. And I'd do it again. Would you take him over McBride? Yes. Oh, I would have.

I'm in one. Kyle Pitts love it. The value of the particular pick does play. Like, I'm not taking either of those guys. Like, right. We only need to take four tight ends in this dress. Right, right. But yeah, just considering where I am, I feel great about it.

All right. I feel good about it. All right. Okay, so now it's back to me here. Well, I'm going to take a tight end. So I'm going to... Interesting, the tight ends going before the quarterbacks in this class. Yeah.

I mean, here's the thing. When you draft, you've learned when you draft with actual analysts, it's like a game of chicken to see who's going to take the first quarterback, generally. I know, but this draft is different. It's different. I know. Either way, I'm taking Sam Leporta.

Mostly because he's the third tight end off the board now. I think if we talked about Sam LaPorte as the first tight end, I would have waited and gotten a McBride, a Pitts, maybe a Mark Andrews. But we're talking about him as a third tight end in this draft. Like, yeah, I'll take him. He was like, he was the number one tied in fantasy last year as a rookie. I don't, you know, again, the situation hasn't really changed much in Detroit. Maybe they can't get better, but I don't think they have a major fall off either.

No, and he runs the route that Jared Goff loves to throw the most. And is maybe the best in the NFL at throwing. It's crazy. I mean, it was like maybe the greatest tight end rookie season of all time. Tight ends would improve a lot.

It was the best fantasy rookie season ever by a tight end. Kyle Pitts was sneaky good though. Got over a thought of that. He just didn't have, he had more yards than Leporta. He just didn't have the touchdowns. I'm up,

right? Yep. There's a guy I've planted my flag on this year and it's surprising because he's on my team's biggest rival, but Isaiah Pacheco. I think Isaiah Pacheco is about to be a top five fantasy running back,

maybe even better this year. Wow. a lot of angry running. A lot of angry. He learned how to catch down the stretch last year. And now there's no Derek McKinnon. There's, I mean, his backups are Clyde Everton-Layer and a rookie that most of the world

didn't know existed before training came. Right, go in big picture because I'm the only one that has a running back pick left and I have no idea who I'm going to take. All these guys seem so similar to me. It's again, why I made a mistake not taking Taylor earlier. James Cook, Derek Henry, Travis E. I would throw Camara maybe even in that group.

Kairn Williams. I love Remandre still as like a potential difference. Ken Walker. Like, those are a lot of guys to me who you could make cases for almost any of them over each other. So maybe it's a year that you wait that round out. I don't know.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's a spot, at least for me, where I tend to wait, I'll go wide receiver, maybe a tight end. And then there's some middle round guys. I like James Cook a little bit later. I like David Montgomery a little bit later. Jalen Warren, I like a little bit later. That's kind of a tier of running backs.

I'm like, eh, I'd rather not. But if you do like one of those names and you get laid into your draft and you don't have a positional need, I think it's just fine to go ahead and grab that guy because that guy will have incredible value in week five, six, seven,

like that may win you your league. So like, if you believe it. You never have too many running back. They'll snag him. That's what I believe. Right. Who's up? You.

Oh. Back to you for two. You get your final. I got to get one of your guys. I got to choose a tight end. And I'm going to take Dalton Kincaid for a couple of reasons. One, to stack Josh Allen with them. That's fun on this team.

And two, to just, like, annoy any Chiefs fans out there that, yes, Travis Kelsey's going undrafted. It just doesn't seem like it's going to be fun to have Kelsey this year. I'm a little worried. I'm a little worried. Did we be worried? Yes, I mean, he's going to be the tight end, too. Like, whatever.

Yeah. If he had better touchdown look last year, finishes as a Titan one once again. I mean, he's going to be fine, right? Like, he's maybe not as great as he once was, but he's still better than, you know, 90% of the tide-ins out there's like six games every season where it seems like he gets old and I think that's why we all took guys that are ascending like I could see Kincaid going for 1100 yards and being their number one receiver you can if you look at the chief's last four seasons and add up their playoff games like eventually if they have another run there's an extra

season of football they don't care about regular season especially like September October he looked like Travis Kelsey in the playoffs again though okay I'm just going to stick with my board stick and pick like Joe Shane likes to do if he somehow decided that would that or anything happened? I don't know. I'm going to go James Cook. We got three,

we've got three bills on this team. Derek Henry is another option, but I'm assuming we're going PPR here. And yeah, I think between the receiving, man, I'm already rethinking ETN.

TN is so solid. And yet he doesn't get me going. Can I change my pick? Sure. I'm changing it. I'm changing it midstream. You're allowed. That's too many bills.

I'm going Travis E. There's like no argument against Travis E.T.N. going this high. He should go in this draft. He should, because he has very little competition in that backfield, too. I mean, they keep trying to make Tank Biggs be a thing, but I don't think, you know, we can't make Fetch happen. I still don't think it's going to work.

Press Taylor did say, like, that Tank had a horrible start, like, as bad as a start as he could possibly be, putting the ball on the ground, not having production. But they, they're still, he's still there. It's still going to be a part of the offense, but he also said he would never put a ceiling on Travis Eton. Like, Travis E.T.N. is going to get, I mean, he's among the only leaders and touches since he entered the league and yeah, I feel good.

My team's done. Yeah, I'm about to make. Get that graphic ready, Eric. We're going to look at all these teams once we're done. This is our final round. Gloria, who you take it? I need a quarterback, and I'm very tempted to take Kyler to just have the all cardinal stack,

but I'm going to take a guy that I truly think only Josh Allen and maybe Jalen Hertz rival and upside. I will take Anthony Richardson there. Okay. Oh, all right. Spicy. Saving Richardson for the last round. So I guess only four quarterbacks.

I'm very interested to see who doesn't get drafted at quarterback. He's the upside play. He's also maybe the best ball play, too. Like, if he is, if he stays healthy. Oh, he, I truly think it's, it's Alan and Hertz are the only ones that matches upside. Because he can give you the double-digit rushing touchdowns, but also run for a thousand yards, which hurts and Alan. I mean, Lamar. But Lamar doesn't get the rushing touchdown.

Okay. In an offense that held Garder Minchu above the water. for a significant amount of time and eventually, you know. And got better pass catchers now, too. And the coach, just, the stiking effect seems real when you look at what's happened

with the Chargers and then the Eagles and then the Colts the last, we believe, seven years. Yep. All right, so I need a quarterback here. I'm just going to say it. I'm going to make Patrick angry.

Yeah, I'm taking it. I was going to be so happy. I thought about it. There's nobody else that I really super, like, in a four-team draft, like that I really super love. Like, if I wanted to be really spicy, I could have been like,

oh, CJ Stroud. Not spicy. Like if I was really spicy, I'd been like, Jaden Daniels. Ooh, that would have been spicy. That would have been crazy spicy. Like that's,

could always go spicy. Huh? All right, to be spicy. Let's go Jaden Daniels. Oh, whoa. Mostly, only, basically just to make.

I mean, Lamar is a better pick. No, it is. But this is mostly a big. Objectively, he's a better pick. He is objectively. This is mostly to make a point, though, because if we're talking rookie,

rookie quarterbacks, right? in a one-year situation, I'm taking Jaden Daniels over Caleb Williams. If we're talking Dynasty, Caleb is the guy. So consider this like a protest pick, a point-making flag-planting pick. So, like, if you guys are-

What about in a four-team draft where the listeners vote on who has the best team, though? Oh, then I probably would have stayed with Lamar Jackson. Yeah. I mean, I think you guys are crazy. I do love...

To me, Hertz and Josh Allen are, you know, are one and two in some order. I do love that the goat right now. now is not going to get drafted. Our current goes. We don't know that. Patrick got the very last pick of the draft. He has a quarterback available.

Yeah. If Marcus had stuck with his pick, then I would be drafted. Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs. I will not be. I'll be drafting Lamar Demetri's Jackson at the Baltimore. It bothers me.

Jalen Hertz wasn't picked in this draft, but I get it. Yeah. Four quarterback. I was going to look at my team. What are you doing with Jaden? Well, just like that is a truck on the goal line.

Like, people are overly worried that the fish push isn't going to exist. It doesn't matter. He's still going to be one of the best goal line, you know, running backs in league or quarterbacks. Yeah, and the offense is going to be better, especially than it was towards the finish of the season. And I'm just,

I'm ultimately banking this Lamar pick that there will be an overall offensive improvement with Derek Henry and not just that Derek's taking rushing touch. Because, again, like, Lamar wasn't running the ball in the end zone a whole lot anyway. So I'm completely the problem with it. Yeah. Well, and yeah, the least surprising development of the day,

Patrick ended up with Lamar Jackson. What we love about Patrick, he's consistent. let's look at our final teams Eric Roberts who's back from paternity leave is working hard on these graphics we're looking at team Rosenthal and again yes go go on our YouTube page

subscribe like you can see my team Josh Allen Sequinacuan ETN Jefferson Brown Pooka and Kincaid I like that it's a frisky team my rule of thumb is always like target good offenses and you did exactly that

well I mean oh okay actual teams I hope you're trying to make good offense fantasy football. Florio's got Richardson, Breece Hall, Pacheco, C.D. Lamb, Amon Ra, Harrison, and McBride. A lot of projection from the spicy hot take king.

That's what I say. What's projection there besides the card. I just call the last two guys, the Cardinal. That's it. Let's look at Marcus. Dang's with an asterisk because I'm just picking a point here. But the rest of it I love. The rest of it I love.

That's a strong team. McCaffrey, Taylor, Chase, Wilson, Drake, London, Laporta. But, you know, to be real, this is a four-team draft. Your team better be strong. You're starting line up or else you're doing something wrong. And then finally, Patrick Claibon, the host of Fantasy Live.

Lamar, Dijon, Jamir Gibbs, Tyree Kill, Cooper Cup, Devonty. He's got some youth at running back, but a veteran presence in the wider. Yeah, these guys have run some routes. They've seen. I love my team, but if I could choose another team, this would be the team. Sorry to these men over here. That's all right. No, I clearly like explosive running back.

and guys who, you know, are taking supplements, you know. In a real-life game, if these teams were to play, Patrick seems wins easily, I think. That does feel like it. Thank you guys for joining. You can check out the NFL Fantasy Football podcast. You must be back a couple times a week at this point. We are twice a week.

And then NFL Fantasy Live starts Monday, August 12th. Check your local listings for times. Look at that. We still have television shows. What? NFL Network, where you check your local. goal listing. Patrick and I'll be back by the way with game debut later this in the regular season.

I'm excited. I know it's going to be any. So two? It's crazy. Patrick, Marcus, Florio. I'm Greg Rosenthal. We'll see you next time.