The Herd with Colin Cowherd - FantasyPros - Full Send on These Players! | TOP TARGETS in Every Round of 2025 Fantasy Football Drafts (Ep. 1619)

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

Starting point is 00:00:12 We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.

Starting point is 00:00:26 Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Hello, everybody. Welcome into the Fantasy Pro's football podcast. I'm Ryan warmly. joined today by Pat Fitzmorest and by Heath, Keith, thank you so much for making the time to join us today. Really happy to be here with you guys. It's the most wonderful time of the year, right? We're getting ready for fantasy drafts. None of our picks or calls are wrong yet. It's an exciting time. Yeah, we're definitely not being too negative. We definitely weren't

Starting point is 00:01:00 just before the show talking about how nice it is to have players you can drop early in the year, as opposed to thinking about, hey, what if they hit? So we're talking about players from a positive angle today. I feel like I've done a lot of, you know, players who are likely to bust, players who are overvalued type of shows lately. Today, we are doing the opposite. We're doing top targets in every round. We're going to go 14 rounds deep.

Starting point is 00:01:21 So we're going to hit a lot of different players today. But our top targets in each round of drafts, we're going to be going kind of based on the consensus rankings, which you can find at Fantasyprose. com slash rankings. All of our 2025 consensus rankings and tiers are there. And you can find different scoring formats. We're kind of going with the half PPR, you know, baseline view. So if your ADP is different on whatever site you're using, you know, that's fine.

Starting point is 00:01:42 But we're going based off the rankings who our favorite players are in each round. Fitz, how are you feeling here mid-July, just a couple weeks away from August? Feeling really good. Great to have Heath on the show, by the way. We had not ever done a show together for years and years. And all of a sudden, we're doing two together in the span of like five or six. weeks, which is pretty cool. Yeah, I'm feeling great. Like, we are right on the verge of, you know, that crazy time when their drafts every weekend and, you know, people are asking you to grade their

Starting point is 00:02:11 drafts and hitting you up with a million pre-draft questions. So just enjoying that lull before the storm. It's a great couple weeks stretch where we're really excited. We're thinking about fantasy again. We're talking drafts. Scott Fishbowl drafts are going on. But it's not overwhelming quite yet. We're not in that late August, like real surge yet. So it's a very fun, fun few weeks here. We haven't had our first depressing training camp injury yet either. So we're probably just days away from that. So enjoy it while it lasts.

Starting point is 00:02:39 Worst part of the summer for sure. Let's dive in. We're going to start with round one. Like I said, go all the way through round 14. You have each pick player that you guys like in this round. And obviously some of these earlier rounds, there's going to be a lot of players that we like. But you guys are giving us your top targets here. Heath, as the guest, we will start with you.

Starting point is 00:02:56 Who is your player in round one? So yeah, looking at the consensus rankings, the guy that I thought, you know, I like him more than consensus would be CD Lamb. And it really has, it has something to do with Lamb and the floor and upside that he's shown when Dak Prescott's been healthy. He's basically always been over 18 and a half fantasy points per game when deck's been healthy. He's shown us the 22 point upside when Dak's been healthy. And then the other part of it is, and you'll see this as we go through the next few rounds, when I look at consensus rankings or ADP right now, A lot of my favorite players in each round are running backs, which is an uncomfortable position to be in a format that really everybody wants to get those wide receivers.

Starting point is 00:03:36 So it's really made me kind of push the wide receivers in round one up a little bit, more comfortable starting with one of them to give me the freedom to take as many running backs as I want in the next couple of rounds. And I'm actually glad you mentioned, like, think about some of these future rounds. We are not to clarify building a team. And that's not what you're doing here. Of course, this is just you are kind of pushing them up because of the way you feel about guys later. we are not building out of team.

Starting point is 00:03:58 So if these guys say like, oh, a tight end is my favorite pick in the next 10 rounds, you know, they're not going to do that. But that would be okay theoretically because we're just going with our favorite targets here. So, yeah, C.D. Lamb, is he somebody Heath that you see as, I mean, I would assume you have Jamar Chase, number one, like everybody else. But is he wide receiver two like ahead of Justin Jefferson for you? He is my wide receiver too. And I've actually got him almost a full tier higher in terms of projections than I do Jefferson.

Starting point is 00:04:26 He's my number three player overall. I'd go chase, then Bejohn, then C.D. Lamb. But, yeah, I just think the addition of George Pickens seems to have scared a few people about, well, maybe C.D. won't see as many targets. And that's just not the type of guy that George Pickens has been. He is a very efficient wide receiver on a per target basis. He can make huge explosive plays, but he's not somebody who's going to demand eight targets per game. I think he maybe opens up the underneath for Lamb just a little bit, makes the offense overall better,

Starting point is 00:04:56 but doesn't necessarily impact Lamb's target share very much. And Fitz, Lamb isn't your pick here in round one, but it looks like you also have them as a top three player in your rankings on the site. I do in any league with a requirement to start three wide receivers. I feel the same as Heath. Lamb is my wide receiver two, my number three overall. And I pretty much agree with Heath's take on pickings. Like, I don't think it hurts at all.

Starting point is 00:05:19 So who is the player you're going with in round one? Oh, Worm, it's Bejohn. And you and I did a short form video about my favorite early round picks. a week or two ago. I believe I mentioned Ashton Genty as my favorite first rounder on that show, but I told you I chose Gentie because you didn't have to pick early in the round to get him. But my real preference, as I think I mentioned to you then, would be Bijan. I generally like Hero running back roster belts and Bijan would be my first choice of heroes to put on the cape for me. 1887 yards from scrimmage and 15 touchdowns last season.

Starting point is 00:05:53 58 catches as rookie year, 61 last year. Bijon hasn't missed a game in his first two seasons, and unless you count the infamous headache game in 2023, when Arthur Smith pulled him after one carry. But Bajun just, he passes every eye test. He's fast, powerful, has really good patience and vision. Falcons played a fast pace, and they have a strong offensive line. There are just no holes in Bijon's profile.

Starting point is 00:06:19 Heath, do you see a case for Bijon as number one pick in drafts, or do you think Chase is very clearly in that spot? Bijon is just number two. I think that you put Chase first because there's more separation for me between Chase and the wide receivers that you're going to find in round two than there is Bijon and the running backs that you're going to find in that range or even in round three. It's weird because I don't actually have Bijon as my number one running back in the projections. He is in the rankings because I think one of the things that Pat mentioned, he is probably the

Starting point is 00:06:53 safest pick in fantasy. no injury history to be concerned with, skill set that we love and an offense that we know is going to run through him. There's not that many workhorse running backs left in the NFL, especially workhorse running backs that are not old or injury prone. And he's all of those things. Just quickly, Heath actually, before we move on round one, because Fitz mentioned Ashton Gently as a player he picked. He was maybe more accessible to people. Like, you have to have an early pick to get Bejohn. You can get Gentile later.

Starting point is 00:07:21 Do you like that as a back half of the first round target? I absolutely love it. I almost chose Gentie as my favorite pick in this round. I just didn't want to have seven running backs to start the show. But yes, I think he is also one of those workhorse running backs who is young and is not an injury concern. I would not be really that surprised if Ashton Gentis just goes out and scores more fantasy points than any other running back. Let's go to round two. Fitz. I'll start with you on this one. Who do you have for us? Another Falcon, Drake London. Now, I wouldn't want to double up. up with two players from the same team in the first two rounds, but there's really no danger of that here. Bijan is going to be a top three pick in every draft, and London is probably not going to slip past the middle of round two. London just fully arrived last year. A hundred catches, 1,271 yards, and nine touchdowns on a whopping 158 targets. Only Jamar Chase and Malik neighbors

Starting point is 00:08:17 saw more targets than London did last year. And what's nice is that London really clicked with Michael Pennix Jr. when Pennix took over as the starter late in the season. So in three Pennix starts, London was targeted 39 times and had 22 catches for 352 yards and two touchdowns. I think London belongs on the same tier as Malik neighbors, Brian Thomas Jr., Amunras, St. Brown, Nico Collins, maybe even Pooka Nakuwa. But London is typically drafted last among that group. I think he's just a fabulous second round pick. Heath, do you see London in that tier that? Fitz just mentioned or is he a little bit lower for you? He's one tier lower for me, but I think that there's no doubt he has the upside to prove

Starting point is 00:09:02 that he belongs in that tier. I've been a little bit more skeptical of the Michael Pinnock's splits because they are such a small sample size because it was against terrible defenses and because Darnel Mooney missed one of those games. But I believe in the talent. I'm not of London. I'm not quite as sure about the talent of the quarterback or how great the passing game is going to be. If Pinnix is good, then yes, London deserves to be in that range.

Starting point is 00:09:28 I'm excited to get to your player here for round two, Heath, because I was looking at the CBS Sports collective rankings earlier today, and you guys are all much higher, especially you on this player than we are in the expert consensus rankings on fantasy pros. So who do you have for us in round two? So I have this thing about my projections where for the most part, unless we have a long injury history, I just project guys to play 17 games. And if I project H.N. for 17. Devon A-chan for 17 games. I project him to be the highest scoring running back in fantasy football this year. Now, there is an a there's an asterisk next to that because you also maybe have to

Starting point is 00:10:02 project his quarterback to play 17 games also. He averaged more than 23 fantasy, PPR fantasy points per game, when Tuo was healthy last year. I project him to lead all running backs in catches, in targets, and in receiving yards. He had a massive role in the passing game last year, and that was with Jonu Smith having a big role. They've replaced John H.N. Smith with Darren Waller, which whatever Darren Waller may have left, I don't think it's going to be those targets

Starting point is 00:10:28 close to the line of scrimmage, where they ask him to run with the football like a running back. I think we may even see A Chance's Target Share go up a little bit from last year. He showed the ability last year to play 17 games. He's one of the most explosive running backs in all of football. And again,

Starting point is 00:10:43 this is where the projections diverge from the rankings, because I do want to take Bejohn ahead of him, because Bejohn's a much safer pick, and round one's the place where I really worry more about that. But I don't think there's any reason at all that A. Chan should fall to round two. He's a surefire top 10 pick for me. So he's obviously, you have to pick him in round two for the sake of our argument

Starting point is 00:11:04 because of where he falls in ECR. Where would you take him? You said top 10, do you have a specific spot? I've taken him fifth in a couple of drafts recently. Fifth, okay. Now, Fitz, you have long been a big Devon A. A. Chan fan as well. So I don't know if you're quite as, you know, optimistic as Heath, but I assume you like the pick.

Starting point is 00:11:20 I do. Certainly a top 15, and I don't think first round is crazy at all. And, you know, I wondered if there might be some pullback on the passing game usage. If the dolphins try to reinstore the principle of verticality in their passing game, since it really disappeared. And we saw Tyreek Hill and Jalen Wattle fall off last year. But like any concerns about A Chance target drop off were sort of laid to rest by the Johnw Smith trade. Like now A. Chan is going to consolidate those short area targets and have a massive share of those for the dolphins. And like I'm not worried that he might not be the goal line back fine. Give Ali Gordon the goal line carries.

Starting point is 00:12:02 But who's going to be in there when the dolphins are at the four or five yard line or the three yards? It's probably still going to be A. Chan. And he can absolutely score from there. So not worried about that. I think what we see from A. This year could look a lot like early career Alvin Camara, where maybe he doesn't get to a thousand rushing yards. but has like 80 receptions, 600 receiving yards, you know, and collectively double-digit touchdowns.

Starting point is 00:12:29 This might be a weird thing to say considering a guy like Christian McCaffer, who just missed, you know, most of the last season is inside the top two rounds. But is Achan the riskiest guy in the top two rounds because it's not just him staying healthy. It is like Heath just alluded to his quarterback needing to say healthy as well. Does that added risk play into your ranking of him fits? those guys were so the backups were so bad last year and now i mean zach wilson the much aligned jack wilson yeah also bad like i'm not going to try to spin him up into a uh you know something better than he is but i i do think it would be non-disasterous if zach wilson

Starting point is 00:13:08 had to play some games okay uh that's first time that sentence has ever been said uh let's go to round three uh he uh you've got a running back here and i will tell you this is also also the player that Fitz would have picked if you didn't pick him already. Yeah, Chase Brown, I'll be honest. I went into this offseason like a lot of people have with DeAndre Swift, just thinking, well, they're going to add somebody else that makes me feel worse about him. I couldn't believe, I mean, I didn't think coming into the league that Chase Brown was the type of running back that teams would give an 80% snap share week after week after week and give him 20 touches a game, basically. That's what the Bengals did in the second half of last year.

Starting point is 00:13:45 and they didn't add anybody this offseason that scares me even a little bit. This will be one of the best offenses, and this is a true workhorse running back in that offense. And so I think you get that in round three. You feel like you just received a gift. Yeah, and Fitz, you can share your other player, but obviously you also wanted to pick Chase Brown here. So a strong agreement on this player. Yeah, totally agree with Heath. And maybe Chase Brown is not getting 90% snap shares anymore.

Starting point is 00:14:15 maybe someone from among Zach Moss, Somaget P. Ryan, and, you know, my personal favorite, Taj Brooks, steps into steal a few of the carries, but like Chase Brown is still going to be a workhorse. And you just have to love that the Bengals offense is so consolidated. And, you know, it's this potent offense that really only goes through three guys plus the quarterback. Yeah, it's, I mean, I didn't sit down and put together a list like this, but I can't imagine the list is very long of running backs who are. are very clear workhorse number one backs in what is it very clearly expected to be a top five scoring offense, you know, top 10 to make the longer list.

Starting point is 00:14:56 Like I, that list cannot be very long. And to get a guy like that in round three is really exciting. So, you know, like agree them to cross the board, I guess. There's not really much I can add to that one. But Fitz, you actually went with one of his teammates in round three to go in a different direction here. I did. And like Chase Brown, who is a second rounder, who we've got as a third.

Starting point is 00:15:15 third rounder in ECR. I think T. Higgins should probably be going late in the second round, too. Getting him in the third is a really good value. I just, I think this Bengals passing game is going to cook this year because, well, because it's really good. Joe Burrough is one of the best pure passers in the game. And because the Cincinnati defense is likely to be really bad. So the Bengals are going to have to put up a lot of points to win games. There are three good ways to tap into this passing game. You could draft Jamar Chase, but that requires you to have the 101 or maybe the 102. You could draft Burrell, but he's kind of expensive for a quarterback who doesn't run much,

Starting point is 00:15:50 or you can draft T. Higgins in the third. And I know some people don't like drafting a guy who isn't the top receiver on his own team, but I think Higgins will outperform a lot of teams number one receivers. He scored 10 touchdowns in 12 games last year and was pacing for almost 1,300 yards. He missed five games last year, also missed five games in 2023, but the perception of injury risk is why Higgins is there in the third round and not the second. He's just, he's really good. He's averaged nine yards per target for his career, almost two yards per route run. He's just a fabulous receiver paired with one of the top two pure passers in the game.

Starting point is 00:16:30 The lowest yardage total for Joe Burrow in any of his full seasons was 4,475 yards and the fewest passing touchdowns for Burrow in any of his full seasons, 34. And like, what if I know Higgins is considered the injury risk, but what if Chase were to miss any time? Over the last three years, Chase has missed five games. In those five games, Higgins has averaged 102.2 yards and 20 ppr points per game. Heath, do you see this as assuming health, limiting the upside of your team if you're taking guy who's not the number one target in his offense as early as round three? Or are you with fits?

Starting point is 00:17:08 Like, the offense is just so good. It won't matter. No, I think he inherently has upside at his cost because we're taking. we are all factoring in not just the 10 missed games over the last two years, but the fact that he's had a lot of partial games too, a lot of games he's left early that have kind of really held down his per game stats, not just as overall stats. And so with that being factored in,

Starting point is 00:17:28 there's the upside that T. Higgins just play 17 games. And right there, you're getting a better player than what you drafted. And I think that people do focus a little too much on the time he's missed and not enough on the contingent upside that Fitz talked about that if, If Jamar Chase misses time, T Higgins might be the number one wide receiver in fantasy. Winning your fantasy league starts before draft day and the fantasy pros draft kit gives you the knowledge to do it right. Get insight on proven strategies, must-haves, players to avoid, and more from analysts like Pat Fitzmores, Derek Brown, and Andrew Erickson.

Starting point is 00:18:00 Don't walk into draft day guessing. Read up, lock in, win your league. Go to fantasy pros.com slash kit. All right, guys, let's head to round four fits. I'll have you go first here, but I will mention that you also, for the second consecutive round, wanted to pick the player that Heath will take. Yeah, Heath stole him for me. He was, he's just being a rude guest, came into the house, tracked mud on the carpeting.

Starting point is 00:18:26 No, but that's okay. Heath is a great guy, so we'll forgive him. But yeah, so it's Alvin Camara for me. And I love him as a fourth rounder. He is only going that late because people are worried that the Saints offense is going to be a dumpster fire. and it most likely will be a dumpster fire. But with Camara, I would encourage people to warm their hands by the flames. He was RB5 in PPR points per game last year,

Starting point is 00:18:51 and the Saints were not exactly an offensive juggernaut last year either. Camara always catches a ton of passes, and that is probably going to be the case again since neither Tyler Shuck nor Spencer Rattler are, like, these guys are going to be eager to check down. If they don't see anything they like downfield a few, seconds after the snap and the pass rush starts to close in on them. So I think there's going to be a lot of designed dumpoffs to Camara. I just, I think he's a value in the fourth round because what he can give you as a pass catcher in addition to his eight or nine hundred rushing yards.

Starting point is 00:19:27 Heath, is this the right area for Camara? Yeah, 100% if I might not like him near as much as the guy I picked. But no, I think there's there's so many reasons to just avoid the saints. But if you're going to draft one, this is the guy to do it with because he is the security blanket for quarterbacks that are very, very much going to need security blankets. I don't know that we get as much out of him as a rusher as we have in the past, but this team's going to be playing from behind so often that Camara is going to have to be involved in the passing game. Who do you have here that you stole from Fitz? Yeah, I'm going to go with Ken Walker. And this one is also, I guess, a little bit polarizing

Starting point is 00:20:05 because I actually think he should be taken like mid-round three. And sometimes you see him fall all the way to round five. He's had some injury concerns. He had some real efficiency problems. But I think Kubiak fixes the rushing efficiency of this offense. And they've made it very clear that they want to run the ball a lot more than they did in 2020. So I think it's a run-heavy system where Walker's the clear lead running back, sharing, passing downs, and a little bit with Zach Charbonnet, but he's definitely the 1A.

Starting point is 00:20:32 And the explosive ability he's shown in combination with the receiving upside that he showed last year, I think really gives him top 12 upside without a doubt. This is one that his ranking in ECR, I think is even dragged down a little bit by folks that are not here at fantasy pros. Because I know like Derek Brown is very big on Kenneth Walker. Fitz obviously wanted to pick him to like as a team. I think we are collectively like pretty high on him also. Fitz do you want to weigh in on why he would have been your pick too? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:21:02 So in addition, everything Heath mentioned, there is the Kubiak-den combination. combination coaching with Clint Kubiak being the OC and Rick Denison being, I think, the run game coordinator. That combination, well, at least Kubiak family, because going back to Denver, it was Clint's dad, Gary. As the Broncos offensive coordinator under Mike Shanahan and Rick Denison was either the O-line coach or the run game coordinator. And like, that was the Torell Davis, Clinton Portis era. And they were always churning out big yardage. But after those guys, it was dudes like Ruben Drones and Tatum Bell and Mike Anderson having these one-off great fantasy seasons. And it was because of that run game scheme.

Starting point is 00:21:45 Like it was just gold no matter who was in the backfield. And, you know, not only that, but Kenneth Walker didn't do much as a pass catcher's first couple of years. And then we saw a big spike in his passing game usage last year, which is encouraging. Let's go to round five here. Heath, who do you have for us? This is the guy that I talk about on every podcast that I do. it seems like it's D'Andre Swift, who has really gotten a bad rap in the fantasy community. Mostly, I would say, because our expectations have been so sky high two or three times for him,

Starting point is 00:22:16 and he fails to live up to those. But what he has done is be a top 24 running back on a per game basis every single year of his career. He's shown us that borderline top 12 upside. People talk about how Ben Johnson doesn't like D'Andre Swift. But the best season of D'Andre Swift's career came when he was on the same team that Ben Johnson was coaching. He was, when Jamal Williams was scoring all those touchdowns, DeAndre Swift was finishing as a top 16 running back in PPR on a full game basis,

Starting point is 00:22:44 on a per game basis. Another team that everyone expected to bring somebody else in, it was going to be Nick Chubb or it was going to be J.K. Dobbins, or it was going to be Amar and Hampton, and it was nobody. I think Ben Johnson's pretty comfortable with DeAndre Swift as one of his two running backs. Roshan Johnson's a great value also. But it feels like when you look at where he's being drafted, usually just outside of the top 24 running backs,

Starting point is 00:23:08 we are drafting DeAndre Swift at the floor that he's shown us over and over and over again. And now you get a chance to also have the upside of what we thought he could be earlier in his career. I expect a big role in the passing game. And I expect this bear's offensive line and offensive philosophy to be greatly improved from last year when he was still a low end RB2. Yeah, just looking at his finishes five years, RB19, RB23, RB22. to RV-19, RV-18, that's in half-PPR scoring is just like that you always talk about, like you learn in science class scoring up the differences between accurate and precise.

Starting point is 00:23:44 He is precise. He is in the same area every time, every single season. Fitz, you are roughly in line with ECR on Swift. Ironically, Erickson and D.bro, who aren't on the show today, are both way lower on Swift. So I'd be curious to get their opinion why they disagree. You're more along the lines with Heathier, though. Yeah, I have moved him around. around pretty restlessly. I would say I've moved him around probably more my offseason rankings than

Starting point is 00:24:09 just about anyone else. I'm kind of conflicted on him. Like if you go to NFL next gen stats, they have this stat for running backs rushing yards over expected and rushing yards over expected per carry. DeAndre Swift ranked dead last in that category last year. I think he was like minus 0.69 rushing yards over expected per carry. So he was pretty far underwater. But like how much does that factor in what a disaster the Bears' offensive line was last year. And they have completely overhauled the middle of that line in the most impressive way possible, bringing in like three studs to man the middle of the offensive line. So that's going to help. Ben Johnson is going to help. And, you know, then it's behind him, Rocheon, who, well, might talk about a little later. And Kyle Minangai,

Starting point is 00:24:57 a seventh round pick. So yeah, I mean, there is plausible upside for DeAndre Swift, no question. What direction fits did you go in for round five? I went with Devante Smith, and I'll be honest, I did not love any of the fifth round options. But Devante Smith is one of the best route runners in the game. He's dangerous after the catch. Devante would have had his third straight thousand-yard season last year if he had missed four games. He scores touchdowns. He has averaged 9.1 yards per targets and 1.92 yards per route run for his career.

Starting point is 00:25:33 Those are outstanding numbers. And, you know, again, people are often reluctant to draft a player who's the number two target on his own team. And, you know, Devante Smith does have to share targets with AJ Brown. But Smith was right to receiver 17 and PPR fantasy points per game last season, even though the Eagles were the run heaviest team in the league. So Smith offers this sturdy floor and we could get a high ceiling season from him if the Eagles are forced to throw a little more this year. Heath with a guy like Smith kind of the same thing as Higgins, right? You know, in a different sense,

Starting point is 00:26:08 but you're taking a guy who's not the number one target on his offense. Do you like him in round five? I'm just a little bit lower on this. I don't like it, though, because I think that everything that Fitz said about Smith is accurate. I think he is an exceptionally talented player. The problem is he plays in one of, like T. Higgins is the second option

Starting point is 00:26:27 in one of the best past offenses in the NFL. DeVante Smith's the best. And that's why he's going three rounds later. I think the great thing. about Smith and the reason that I rank him higher than his projection is that he has been so good if either A.J. Brown or Dallas Goddard is out. When both of those guys are healthy, he's been a little bit of a bust at cost most of the time, more of a wide receiver three than a wide receiver two. We saw Goddard missed extensive time last year. Brown missed a little time last year, and so Devante

Starting point is 00:26:54 Smith finishes the top 20 wide receiver. It's good to have that type of contingent upside. I'd rather weight just a little bit longer. But the thing I like about drafting him is, I know he's very good. And who knows? Maybe the Eagles throw just a little bit more this year. Yeah, I'll be curious to see what the offense looks like in general. Just, you know, the Super Bowl champion every year. You see the brain drain.

Starting point is 00:27:15 You see, you know, talented players go elsewhere. It's still a really, really good team. But I'll be curious if maybe they are forced to throw just a little bit more than they did last year, too, even if it's not their plan going in. Let's go to round six here. Fitz will start with you on this one. Calvin Ridley. I think he can give you wide receiver two numbers at a wide receiver three price. Like he's just such an easy click for me in the sixth round.

Starting point is 00:27:37 Ridley has given us two straight thousand yards seasons after missing the 22 season because of that gambling suspension. He got to a thousand yards last season with Will Levis and Mason Rudolph as his quarterbacks. Now he gets to play with number one overall draft pick Cam Ward. And I know Ward is going to struggle at times most rookie quarterbacks. backs do, but he's an aggressive downfield thrower, and he's more accurate than either Levis or Rudolph. There's also very little target competition for Ridley. I just, I think there's a great chance Ridley sees significantly more than the 120 targets he saw last year. Heath, Calvin Ridley is 69th overall wide receiver 32 in half PPR. Is that too high, too lower, just right?

Starting point is 00:28:22 That's pretty much just right for me. I don't, I don't necessarily, I think there's upsets. I with where you're taking him and there's risk. And it really just comes down to can this Titans offense with a rookie quarterback look a little bit more competent? And if it does, then I think Ridley probably pays off just a little bit at value. He's one of those guys that I just haven't, I don't have a lot of takes on. I think he's a round six pick. He's a number three wide receiver who has huge upside on a given week. You have got one of the rookie running backs here in round six Heath.

Starting point is 00:28:54 And this is kind of the range for a couple of these guys. I think it's really interesting. I know you've been really high on this player, you know, since the draft. So I was kind of expecting you to pick him if you're going to go in a rookie running back direction. But I'm curious to hear your thoughts on why you're going with the guy you did. Yeah, Trevionn Henderson was my second favorite running back in this class before the draft. And I'm pretty much still there. I didn't like the fact that he didn't get drafted quite as high as I would like.

Starting point is 00:29:19 But I think the situation actually works out really well for him. First off, we know what Josh McDaniel's history is with past catching running backs. and Trevion Henderson profiles of somebody who could be very, very good at that. And so he doesn't necessarily even have to win a large share of the rushing down work to pay off in round six. But I think he has a chance to, partially because of Ramandre Stevenson's struggles. And the one thing that can keep the two things, that can keep veterans on the field over rookies who are more exciting, are when you have veterans that are really good in past protection or really good at ball protection. And Ramondre Stevens is bad at the, Stevenson is bad at both of those things.

Starting point is 00:29:56 I think Henderson might be a better pass catcher the first day of train or a better, not past catcher, the first day of training camp than the Stevenson is. So I think there's a real opportunity for him to begin the year in that third down role with some explosive playmaking in the running game. And then as the season goes on, he becomes the number one guy for hopefully an improving Patriots offense. And I believe this is what you just said, but I just want to clarify for the listeners, this isn't that you see him like, oh, round six Henderson is a better value than round five, RJ Harvey. you actually have Henderson ranked ahead of guys like Harvey and Hampton, right? Absolutely, yes. Yeah, Fitz.

Starting point is 00:30:31 How do you feel about that ranking of the rookies? Yeah, I mean, I think Heath is smart to focus on what Henderson can give you as a pass catcher. And then what he gives you as a runner is gravy. But it could be a lot of gravy. Like, it could be a double ladle of gravy because... I love gravy. Because Stevenson had the fumbling problems, man. I mean, like, they sat him on the bench for Antonio Gibson last year.

Starting point is 00:30:53 But like Henderson is going to own those passing downs because he's electric on screens. And because, I mean, you would think a guy like Henderson who's not a big prospect like O'Marion Hampton, but he is a dog as a pass blocker. Like he's really good at it. That dude's not coming off the field on passing downs. The thing I really like about Henderson as opposed to somebody like Hampton is, you know, we have concerns about how much work is Hampton going to get early in the season with Najee Harris there. if Henderson doesn't get a lot of the work, he's still getting really valuable work, catching passes, getting explosive plays, like maybe not the short term like touchdowns, but everything else, the most valuable stuff you can be doing as a running back right off the bat.

Starting point is 00:31:33 I think Henderson is going to be doing that for what I expect to be a better offense in Drake May's second year. So, yeah, I think it's a great pick. And he's not somebody that needs to be a workhorse for it to pay off, kind of like a poor man's Jumeer Gibbs in that sense, where he's just going to be doing stuff that we like to see in fantasy. So I think it's a great call. and, you know, I think it's smart to plant your flag on him compared to some of the other guys going in this range. I want to let everybody know about Draft Kings.

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Starting point is 00:33:21 Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special.

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Starting point is 00:35:37 All right, let's head to round seven. Heath, who do you have for us? This is kind of one of my guys this year in terms of the... value. It's Jerry Judy. And I think if Joe Flacco wins the starting job, this is way, way, way too low. And if anybody else wins it, this is probably just about right. I'm a little hesitant to buy mid-career breakouts, especially like year five, year six, and then believe that's going to continue. But he was only 25 years old last year. I think people don't realize how young Jerry Judy is. He'd shown us flashes in the past, took off last year with James Winston, and Joe Flacco at this stage of his career is basically older James Winston.

Starting point is 00:36:16 We've seen him elevate past catchers like he did with Josh Downs last year, like he did with teammate Dave in a Joku a year before. And I really believe that Judy, who was a top five wide receiver in the second half of last year, has top 15 upside for as long as he's playing with Joe Flacco. It's funny, Fitz. I'm realizing that you were the wrong person to have on this show because once again, I'm looking like Erickson is lower the consensus. D-Brow is lower than consensus.

Starting point is 00:36:40 You are above consensus. So I'm assuming you're going to agree. with Heath here. Yeah, I'm just here to be the Greek chorus for Heath today. I like it. I could use this more often. So, yeah, the funny thing is, Judy averaged three catches and 38 yards last year in the seven games that Deshaun Watson started. Like, he did not work well with Watson, obviously just smashed in the James Winston games and even was really productive in the Dorian Thompson Robinson and Bailey Zappy games.

Starting point is 00:37:11 So did not click with the Sean Watson, but everything else was just gold. Like he said, he's still young. And if you draft Judy, you're just praying that Joe Flacco makes a bunch of starts. Fitz, we've talked about some of the younger guys available in previous rounds. You have, I think probably the oldest player we're talking about today as your choice here. Yeah, and this is probably going to be controversial. It's Travis Kelsey. and it's funny that it's controversial because we've been debating for so long whether he should be a first round pick in fantasy.

Starting point is 00:37:43 Now you can get him in the seventh round. And I feel like the only way he doesn't pay off on this price is if he gets hurt and Travis Kelsey has not missed more than two games in any season since it's rookie year. And a lot of the games he's missed have been regular season finales when the Chiefs had a buy week wrapped up already. Or if he just collapses. I suppose the collapse is possible. He's 36. Last year was the first time he averaged under 10 yards per catch. But he still had 97 catches last year.

Starting point is 00:38:14 Like, do we really think Travis Kelsey isn't going to be a big part of this offense again? That Patrick Mahomes isn't going to look for him? Like, come on, I'm just, I'm not buying that. So seventh round, yeah, I'll take it. Heath, let's loop in your round eight pick, who's David and Joku, because it's the first tight end that you've brought up on this show. How do you compare a guy like Njoku and the eighth to Kelsey and the seventh? I have them both, I think, back to back in my rankings. I love Fitz's call here.

Starting point is 00:38:40 I think one of the things he didn't talk about was the fact that Kelsey outscored Sam Leporta and Mark Andrews for game last year, despite the fact that he only scored three touchdowns and those guys lived on touchdowns. And we know touchdowns are not the stickiest stat. We've seen big touchdown seasons from Kelsey in the pack. I would be more likely to believe he was going to ride off into the sunset if it wasn't for how hard he's been working this off season to get in shape. and how all the things Patrick Mahomes is saying about how much better he looks. I think Kelsey wants to have one more great season. So a great call there.

Starting point is 00:39:10 Njoku, it's a lot of the stuff I said about Jerry Judy. The difference is that he's actually safer because they're layups in that Brown's offense in the Kevin Stefansky system. I know they got a new offensive coordinator. I still think Stefansky has a big impact on things. The layups go to the tight ends. Joku had a five-yard Addot over the last two years. If they play one of the younger guys, kind of like the Alvin Camara is the guy that they dump it off to in New Orleans.

Starting point is 00:39:36 And the joke is the guy they dump it off to in Cleveland. So I think he's a little bit safer in terms of if Joe Flacco is not the starter, but it's worth remembering that in 2020, he played five games with Joe Flacco and averaged 18 fantasy points per game in those five games. So big time upside for as long as Flacco is starting. And I think he might be better than an eighth round value, even with one of the other guys. Flacco has always loved his tight ends from day one. What is your approach generally, Heath, on the tight end position? Is it to, I know you didn't mention these guys earlier, but is it to try and get a Bowers or a McBride or a Kittle early?

Starting point is 00:40:12 Or is it more to get this mid-tier? Or do you just want to kind of punt and wait until even later to get your tight end? Yeah, I wish almost that A-chan had been 12th in the ranking. So I could have said him for round one and I could have said one of the tight ends for round two. Because my plan so far this year has pretty much been take Bowers or Merrill. Bride in round two. If I miss both those guys, it's take Kelsey or Nojoku in round seven. So, yeah, these are the four guys that I usually end up with.

Starting point is 00:40:39 Am I misremembering? Did I see you took Bowers first overall in Scott Fishbowl? That's its own score in format. I took him first overall in Scott Fishbowl. I've heard some of the arguments about why he won't be as good as he was last year. I just can't believe in a better offense with a better quarterback and no significant target competition added that he's going to be worse. I think Brock Bowers might be worth a first.

Starting point is 00:40:59 first round pick in just a standard PPR league. I've got the third pick in my draft this weekend. So maybe if he's there, I'll go. You'll, you'll sway me about hours. I took him at 104. And I saw a lot of people getting them at like 109, 111. I'm like, did I reach? But so Heath is making me feel better about that.

Starting point is 00:41:17 But yeah, I like Bowers at 104. Scott Fish always pumps up the tight ends in his league. For sure. Fitz, we have not done your round eight player yet. Who do you have for us? Yeah, it's Brock Purdy. So in his two full seasons as an NFL starter, Purdy has finished QB7 and QB10 among quarterbacks who made at least six starts. His ADP is QB 13.

Starting point is 00:41:40 Purdy is averaging 8.9 yards per attempt for his career. And just to put that number into perspective, the single best one season YPA that Tom Brady ever had in his career was 8.6 yards per attempt in 2011. So Purdy averaging 8.9 yards per attempt over 40 careers game shows that one, he's good, and two, Kyle Chanahan's system is good. So, I mean, Purdy even gave us some rushing value last year, 323 yards, five touchdown runs. Maybe the rushing numbers dry up a bit, but Purdy could be due for some positive regression and touchdown rate. Only 4.4% of his throws resulted in TDs last year. That's below his career mark of 6%. Yeah, Heath, I'm curious, I'm curious where you have pretty ranked amongst quarterbacks,

Starting point is 00:42:29 but also because you didn't pick a quarterback for this, kind of the same thing about tight ends. What's your approach with the position? So the last three drafts that I've done, I've drafted Brooke Purdy. So all I can do is just 100% agree. I think he's going to smash his career high and pass attempts. I think people have focused on the weapons that he's lost, but I think this 49ers defense may not be near as good as it's been during the time that he's been there. So he's my QB7, absolutely.

Starting point is 00:42:55 love it. The reason I didn't put him here is because I've been spoiled by all these analyst drafts where I get Brock Purdy in round 10 or round 11. But he is my QB7 and amongst the quarterbacks, I think he is probably the guy that I am highest on amongst all quarterbacks. Before we get to the rest of the show, I want to take a quick second to talk to everyone about fan tracks. Guys, if you want customization and your fantasy platform, look no further than fan tracks, offering the greatest fantasy experience for your dynasty keeper, redraft, and best ball leagues. Their free NFL fantasy football league manager is the most customizable, easy to use feature-rich

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Starting point is 00:44:33 the quarterback well here again. I am, so I have to admit that Purdy is not my favorite click at quarterback in drafts this year. It's Drake May, and you know this worm. I mean, after doing shows with you all offseason, you could probably recite my Drake May sales pitch for me. and I've been giving it to our viewers and listeners. You know, they've been getting the hard sell on Drake May off season.

Starting point is 00:44:55 So I will spare all of you a long breakdown of why I think Drake May is going to run for 800 yards and at least four or five touchdowns this year and why I think he'll put up solid passing numbers. I'll just say that if anyone out there believes in Drake May and wants to get him this year, use Justin Fields as your alarm clock. Like when Fields gets picked, take Drake May and the same. the next round. And Fields ADP is 93 overall. May is 115 overall. So you'll probably be picking May a full round ahead of his ADP, but you will be assured of getting him. And I think it's well worth it to get him this year. Heath, again, we just talked about how Purdy is such a great target for you. Is May kind of also in that conversation in this round of drafts? No, I, I, um, my Drake May ranking was so low that we have our St. Jude draftathon coming up and just starting actually.

Starting point is 00:45:48 And we had somebody make a donation if we would do a weekly segment about how wrong I was about Jake May. Because he's just convinced I'm going to be eating crow all season long. So we appreciate the donation and we're going to do the segment and hopefully I'll look dumb. I'm probably still more of a Stefan Diggs skeptic in terms of his health and his age. And I think if Diggs is not good, this is still the worst receiving core in the NFL. And so that's what worries me. I loved what May did as a rusher last year, but also there's some efficiency there that's just probably not repeatable.

Starting point is 00:46:21 He had some very long runs. And he'll have a couple of those, but I think we see the yards per attempt come down a little bit. I'm hopeful that the rush attempts go up, but in the Josh McDaniels get it out quick system, I'm a little bit more worried they're going to train him to not take off and run, but dump it off to Trevion on Henderson instead. And so we'll just, we'll see if I'm wrong.

Starting point is 00:46:40 I like the player. I like him a lot more in Dynasty than I do in redraft. And if Stefan Diggs is somehow at 31 coming off of an ACL, Stefan Diggs again, then I'm going to have egg on my face. So who are you going with in round nine then? In round nine, I'm going to go with Ricky Pearson, and this feels like cheating. Because from the moment the Juan Jennings trade request or contract request happened,

Starting point is 00:47:03 it seemed like a switch flipped and everybody started taking Pearsall a couple of rounds ahead of Juan Jennings. I like both of them. I'm happy to take whichever one goes second. and I think in the consensus rankings, Pearsall was showing as the second one, so I chose him. There's big time upside for Ricky Pearsall,

Starting point is 00:47:22 and he showed it in the last two games of last year. The reason we can't rank him any higher is because it was two games. And I don't expect much from Brandon I, Youk, until probably week seven, week eight, gives him a great runway to establish himself as the number one receiver in this offense. Either way, I think if I can get at the eight, nine turn, both Jennings and Pearsall, I feel great about that.

Starting point is 00:47:46 Fitz, what do you think about Pearsall? Like him a lot. It's funny because people on a bunch of fantasy analysts on Twitter this week were sort of fighting the Joanne Jennings Crusades, people on either side of that battle. And I have tended to be, I did not join in with my sword and shield, but I have been on the Ricky Pearsall side of things. I feel better about Pearsall.

Starting point is 00:48:08 I mean, I never trust age 27 breakouts. And if you look, like, Joanne Jennings Yards Per Route Run last year was fabulous. It was like 2.26. But like for the rest of his career, which I think amounts to more route runs than he had last year, it was like 1.4. Like it just wasn't good. So I'm not sure I trust the breakout for Jennings. I trust more in the draft pedigree and athleticism. And, you know, Pearsall gave us a pretty good audition in the last two weeks of 2024.

Starting point is 00:48:39 Sorry, Heath. Did you say where you would take him? Because you said round nine is almost like cheating at this point. Where is the round that you would be wanting to reach for him? Well, what I'd like to do is take one of them in round eight and one of them at the start of round nine. Like, I'd feel pretty good about that. I've considered it in round seven, but I think round eight's probably a sweet spot. Let's go to round 10 here.

Starting point is 00:48:59 Heath will start with you. Who do you have? Well, we're not going with the youth this time. We're going with the old man and it's Cooper Cup. And I do have, like, I've been taunted by our listeners over this. I have kind of a theory that if a guy shows you in his 30s that he's done, believe him. The problem is kind of like I can't quite believe the last two games for Ricky Pearson. It was only really the last four games for Cooper Cup.

Starting point is 00:49:24 Through week 14, he was on a 1,200-yard 10 touchdown pace. And then those last four games, he just disappeared. I'm hopeful that was some sort of injury. And he's Cooper Cup again at the beginning of this year, which is probably a big time problem for JSN. I love the fact they're talking about playing him predominantly in the slut. He's just been elite too recently for me to see him fall this late in drafts. I would actually prefer Cup to the 49ers and I'd take him as early as round seven. Fitz, what do you think?

Starting point is 00:49:56 I don't know if I've taken him in any draft yet. I mean, I'm not one of these people who's done 200 basketball drafts already. But yeah, I just, I don't know if he, like he said, like the switch just flipped off. very abruptly. I don't know if he turned to dust or if there was some sort of hidden explanation and injury or something else. I'd like to believe that he goes back to his home state and has like one more, really nice season. I just, I don't know. I'm very sort of torn on him and have aired on the side of not drafting him. Fitz, who's your round 10 pick? It's Jordan Mason. And I actually think both of the Minnesota Viking running backs are pretty attractive. Aaron Jones might even be the better value. at this point because Mason is starting to get expensive. I'm just not sure if people can actually get Jordan Mason in the 10th round, so please don't yell at me in the YouTube comments about Mason not being available here. But if you can, and that's where ECR has him, like Mason should have

Starting point is 00:50:55 some standalone value this year. And if anything happens to Aaron Jones, who's 30 now, by the way, Mason will be a guy that we will be ranking in the top 10 or even in our top five at running back every week that Jones is out. So Mason showed us what he could do last year when Christian McCaffrey was hurt early in the year. Mason averaged 120 scrimmage yards a game and 5.1 yards per carry before getting hurt himself. And the Vikings run games real heavy on the outside zone, which is just totally suits Mason's abilities.

Starting point is 00:51:29 I think if you can get Mason in the 10th round, you should pounce on him. Heath is Mason a target for you as sort of like a handcuff plus type of player? Yeah, yeah, I think he's got flex appeal, even with Aaron Jones healthy. I would not be surprised if he just has more rush attempts than Aaron Jones this year. And I certainly wouldn't be surprised with Jones fumbling issues if he has more rush attempts inside the five or 10 yard line and maybe even more rushing touchdowns. I hope that this high flying Vikings pass game can still be that with a first year starter at quarterback. I do think there's a chance that with a first year starter at quarterback, they go a little more run. heavy than they have in the past. And there's room for Aaron Jones to touch the ball 15 times a game,

Starting point is 00:52:12 and Jordan Mason still be a contributor in fantasy. So I think if you, yeah, if you can find him in round 10, that's great. Fitz, who is your round 11 guy? Kian Coleman. So we saw glimpses of Keon's big playability in year one. He averaged 19.2 yards per catch, just under 10 yards per target. He just needs to get more consistent and earn more targets. But the bills don't really have anything close to an alpha receiver on their roster. There's substantial target upside for Coleman. I'm hoping for a big step forward in year two. I wonder Fitz, especially since we do the Dynasty show together, if I've heard you talk more

Starting point is 00:52:46 about Drake May or Keon Coleman or for the last year because it's a lot for both. It's got to be May, but there's been a lot of Coleman hype too. Heath, are you buying into any of Fitz's Keon Coleman hype? I hate the Bill's offense so much. And Josh Allen's awesome. They are very good, but just their offensive philosophy of even our best skill position player, James Cook, yeah, let's just give him 230 touches or something and mix in Ty Johnson and Ray Davis. And let's throw it to seven different pass catchers. I think that the Keon Coleman breakout path is like a James Jones season, where he doesn't actually have a thousand yards.

Starting point is 00:53:28 He doesn't catch that many passes, but he scores 10 touchdowns because he plays one of the best quarterbacks on the planet. And so if you can get that in round 11, it's not the guy that I generally click on that range, but he certainly has that potential upside because of who he plays with. Who is the guy that you click on here? So my round 11 guy was Tank Bigsby, and I want to apologize in advance to all the basal tutin touts. I know everybody loves him. I looked at ADP earlier this week, and there's some site where he's going earlier than both Travis E.T.N. and tanks Biggsby already. Tank Biggsby has had a terrible time catching the football and fast protecting.

Starting point is 00:54:03 He's not a passing down's guy, but he was one of the most efficient rushers in the NFL last year. And I think that there is a chance. Everybody looks at Tut and says, well, he's the Bucky Irving. And I think there's a chance to Tank Bigsby's the Bucky Irving. And I would much rather take a chance on him if he's going third in this group in round 11 than drafting one of the other guys in round seven, eight or nine. I don't think we really know anything about the Jacksonville backfield heading into training camp. But the narrative that the day three running back is going to be.

Starting point is 00:54:33 be the guy because he's the one the coach chose doesn't hold as much weight with me as it seems to be a flawed of people. Fitz, what's your approach with this backfield? Yeah, I mean, kind of lean into it. I want to get a piece of it in every draft just because the ambiguity is keeping the prices low. And if you don't get the right guy, it's really easy to cut ties and just waive them after a while. But the potential rewards if you hit on the right guy. And maybe Bigsby, well, as he said, he's not going to plan passing downs. I'm kind of just scratching them off my board on in full point PPR leagues and half point that's different. He was so much better as a runner than E.T.N. was last year. It wasn't even funny.

Starting point is 00:55:10 Like all the metrics yards after contact per carry, rushing yards over expected. E.T.N. just got blown away by Tank Bigsby. So I see why Heath is attracted here. And like Bayshaltouten is a fumbling issue. LeQuint Allen isn't really an early down guy. So it wouldn't surprise me if Tank got the vast majority of the first and second down work. round 12, we've got one rookie and one guy in his 30s. So opposite end of the spectrum here, Heath, let's start with the rookie. Yeah, I'll go with Matthew Golden. I, again, another guy I would take three or four rounds earlier than what the ECR shows right now.

Starting point is 00:55:47 It seems like some people really hate Matthew Golden. I know the downside is that so far, Green Bay hasn't had a number one wide receiver. They just spread the ball around too much. But the other thing they haven't had is a first round pick as a wide receiver. It's something the Packers didn't do for basically two decades. And they did it this year. I think that's because they looked at their roster and said, we've got like four number two guys.

Starting point is 00:56:08 We need a number one. The thing that Golden possesses that the other guys don't is two hands. He can catch the football exceptionally well. They really had a problem with drops last year. He's also better as an intermediate route runner than he gets credit for. People see the 40 time and think, oh, he just runs down the sideline. No, he can do other things. He really seems to be building a good rapport with Jordan Love already.

Starting point is 00:56:30 And I expect Golden to function as a true. number one in this Packers office. That doesn't mean 140 targets like some teams, but I do think there's a chance for 120 targets, which would be the most, I think, in the Matt LaFloor area, at least since Devante Adams left. And I love, love him if you can get him in the double-digit rounds. Fitz, you're our in-house Packers fan. What do you think about this pick? Yeah, we're, I mean, we've talked about how conflicted I am with Golden.

Starting point is 00:56:54 The guys in our business who do like models for rookie first round, rookie receivers in general, but especially the first rounders, point out that every first rounder with a profile similar to Golden, like it's just littered with guys who have been busts. I mean, two years ago, he was like the third best receiver on the University of Houston, and that was after Tank Dell left. But the scouting guys, Daniel Jeremiah, Mel Kiper Jr., Dame Bruegler, they all had Golden as a top 15 overall prospect in this draft. Like, they loved him. and what he did down the stretch against some really quality competition was so impressive for Texas. So I don't know what to think here, but I do, I'm encouraged by the fact that Matt LaFleur is one of the best play callers in the NFL. And he, if he and Brian Gutick-Cunce, the Packers GM were on the same page about drafting this guy,

Starting point is 00:57:48 that LeFleur has a plan for him and is going to get him involved and get him the ball. So, yeah, mixed feelings for sure. Let's go with the older guy here in outfits. Who's your pick for round 12th? Austin Echler. I was never really that big an Echler guy when he was a first rounder, and I missed out on some good years. But now that he's so cheap, he plays in an exciting up-and-coming offense with an electric quarterback in a much-improved offensive line. And Echler was productive when he was healthy last year.

Starting point is 00:58:20 He scored double-digit PPR points in eight of his 12 games. And I think there's some upside here, too, when Brian Robbins. Vincent Jr. missed a pair of midseason games last year with a hamstring injury, Echler at 134 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns in those two games. And one of those games was against the Steelers, who have a pretty good defense. Heath, is this somebody that interests you as a late-round target? Oh, like, this is the guy that sits in my rankings as the best player available by rankings for a couple of rounds.

Starting point is 00:58:50 And I just don't want to click it because it's an old running back who's sharing work. but I think that he's an incredible value, especially at this cost. And I don't really fully understand the difference in the ADP of Brian Robinson, Jr. and Austin Echler, because if you just look at the games when both of those guys were healthy last year, first off, neither one of them was great. But they were both within like a point and a half of each other, right around 10 or 11 fantasy points per game. I think Brian Robinson Jr. is being overdrafted.

Starting point is 00:59:19 Austin Eklore's being underdrafted. And Jacori Kroski-Marit, I think, could steal carries from Brian Robinson. but he's not going to steal any work from Ackler. Quick note for everybody on draft assistant. Draft assistant helps you make the best decisions during your fantasy draft. It connects directly to your draft and provides both real-time pick suggestions and estimations on which players might get taken before your next pick. Draft assistant fully integrates your customized cheat sheets and suggest picks based on your

Starting point is 00:59:44 rankings, team build, ADP, and other factors. Dominate your draft in real time without the guesswork with draft assistant at fantasy pros.com slash assistant or on the fantasy football draft wizard. app. All right, guys, two rounds left. We'll go quicker here because these are kind of the range of, I don't want to say like lottery tickets, but like kind of lottery tickets, guys that you'll be willing to drop if they don't pan out pretty early on in the year.

Starting point is 01:00:06 Heath, who do you have in round 13? Yeah, I don't have a lot of things to say about Jade on Blue. So I'm glad that you said that we're going to be quick on these guys. I'll just say that if I can take a running back with receiving upside, who's currently behind Giovante Williams and Miles Sanders, who have both failed plenty over the last couple of years that seems like a decent bet to make are you interested at all i know i said we go quick here heath but are you interested at all in giovante williams just as like a guy who we don't think is like what he used to be but there's just so much opportunity here yeah yeah i think if if he falls to that

Starting point is 01:00:40 round nine round 10 range then sure it's especially if it's one of those teams where i started now the reason i don't end up picking him a lot is something i said at the start of the show a lot of my favorite picks in the first few rounds are running backs. And I think Williams is the type of guy you target if you started off with three wide receivers and elite tied in and a good quarterback, and now you're trying to piece together that zero RB team, then Javante Williams is a good option. If you already have three running backs by the time you get to round nine, I'm not sure that Williams has the upside to really ever matter on your team. But yeah, I think any of the Cowboys running backs are a worthwhile click in the double digit rounds for sure. Fitz, we've talked a lot about

Starting point is 01:01:19 Javante, do you have any thoughts on blue as a pick here? Yeah, I mean, I think you're getting pretty good pot odds on him as, you know, in the 13th round, basically. Like, I don't know how he's going to work into that running back rotation, but there's a chance he's a pretty substantial role. Your picking round 13 here, Fitz is a longtime fantasy pros favorite. Yeah, Marvin Mims Jr. And I know people have heard me talk about him and how he scored six touchdowns over Denver's last seven regular season games. despite, let's see, 62 yards per game in those seven games, despite playing fewer than half the offensive snaps in all of them. So we averaged 0.72 PPR fantasy points per snap in those seven games, which is almost double the 0.38 PPR fantasy points per snap that Jamar Chase averaged last season.

Starting point is 01:02:08 And I realize it was a lot of schemed up production. Like Mims got a bunch of yards on screens, Sean Payton was putting him in the backfield some of the time. And now the Broncos have R.J. Harvey and Evan Engram to steal some of those short area targets. But Mims averaged depth of target as a rookie was 15.1 yards in college. His last two years in Oklahoma, he averaged more than 20 yards per catch in each of those two seasons. Like if he goes back to being a downfield receiver this year, fine. Like there's still a chance for him to produce that way. And he just turned 23. Like I think there are a lot of potential pass to value for this guy. And I like him as a late round dart throw. Heath is MIMS somebody that interests you in this range?

Starting point is 01:02:48 I love Mims. I loved him as a prospect. I got too excited when Sean Payton took him in round two and then talked about how involved he was going to be. I got too excited last year when Sean Peyton talked about how they had to get him on the field more and then his Snapshare actually went down. And it's probably part of the reason where I've been skeptical about the things Sean Peyton says about R.J. Harvey, another second round pick that he keeps talking good

Starting point is 01:03:09 about. So yes, I am definitely interested in drafting Mims at this point in the draft. and I will be optimistic, but I really don't think Sean Peyton's going to let it happen. You beat me to the R.J. Harvey comparison. So, well done on that. Let's go to round 14. And there were three players in this exercise that you guys both wanted to pick. One was in round three.

Starting point is 01:03:31 One was in round four. And one was all the way down at round 14. You guys had the same guy again. Heath, who did you take and snake away from Fitz? I don't know how so many people hate D'Andre Swift and think that Ben Johnson hates D'Andre Swift. and yet nobody wants to draft Rochon Johnson until round 14. It doesn't make any sense to me.

Starting point is 01:03:49 But yeah, he should be in that Jamal Williams slash David Montgomery role. He was already basically the goal line back last year. If this offense takes the leap that we're hoping it does with Ben Johnson and hopefully Caleb Williams turning into the guy he was drafted to be, then this could be a team that scores 45 touchdowns in a season. And Rochon could definitely get to double-digit touchdowns. I don't know that he does much in the passing game. I don't expect him to be that efficient as a rusher, but he doesn't necessarily have to be.

Starting point is 01:04:17 If it's blocked well and he gets the short yardage opportunities, he's a value here. Fitz, you wanted Roshan. Where does you go instead? I went with Isaiah likely just to pander to you, the Ravens fan, worm. Yeah, I mean, it's just if Mark Andrews stays healthy all year, Isaiah likely is probably someone, I don't know, you're cutting fairly early in the season. You're just needing an extra spot and you can't draft him as your top tight end. If anything were to happen to Mark Andrews, when we've talked about this in games Andrews has missed,

Starting point is 01:04:49 likely has produced at a rate that I think, like if you pro-rated over a full season, works out to almost 900 yards and like 11 touchdowns. And I just think the guy's really good. And I'm willing to kind of throw a dart and hope that the opportunity presents itself. We've heard talk that they're looking to lock up likely with the long-term contract, which maybe bodes well for him getting used a little bit. more aggressively this year. So yeah, I think he's worth a shot this late. The rumor around Baltimore is that they've made him the same contract offer that they extended

Starting point is 01:05:22 Andrews to a few years ago, kind of that four year. I think it's like $52 million, like as an offer, which obviously hasn't been accepted yet, but they are looking to extend him from what I can tell. It is likely, Heath, somebody that if you do end up waiting late on tight end or as like a second tight end that interests you. Yeah, I think when you get to round 15 of a draft or around 14 of a draft. What you'd like to do is draft people that you know are good at football. If they get the opportunity, they're going to smash. And I think likely is exactly that. The hard part last year was that week one was so good, you couldn't drop him. You just had to hold them on your bench all year long and wait just in case. And that's kind of a pain when you've

Starting point is 01:06:04 got short benches in a redraft league. But the potential is so good, the offense is so good, that it's worth having him at the end of your bench for as long as you can handle that. Heath, before we get out of here, you mentioned already the St. Jude Draftsathon. Just such a cool thing that you guys do. Do you want to take a moment to let everybody know in case some people listening don't know what that is? Yeah, yeah. Basically from now until the end of August, we are raising money for St. Jude. Last year we raised over $100,000.

Starting point is 01:06:32 We're going to smash that number this year. We'll have all types of opportunities for people to get involved, including play in leagues with us. do mock drafts with us, have your question read on the air, all kinds. And there will be other things throughout the year. You'll get to watch Dan Schneier, be that amazer at tennis again. It's one of the, the best thing I feel like that we get to do in this industry is stuff like the Scott Fishbowl, like the St. Jude drafts on, anything we can do to use this game that we love to help other people.

Starting point is 01:07:00 Yeah, it's super, super awesome. So on the off chance, anybody listening wasn't aware of that, definitely check that out throughout the next several weeks that they got going on with CBS Sports. Thank you again so much, Heath, for making the time here. Good luck throughout draft season the next several weeks. Enjoy the chaos that is incoming for all of us here in the next month and a half. For Heath and Fitz, I'm Ron Wormley. Thanks for tuning in.

Starting point is 01:07:21 We'll see everybody again next time. Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast. If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple Podcasts at Fantasyprose.com slash review or on Spotify. Follow us on X, Instagram, and TikTok at Fantasy Pros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com slash fantasy pros. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin.

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Starting point is 01:08:57 Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless, and at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches,

Starting point is 01:09:17 the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She's a win. She's an outsider to win the French fame. And she likes Clay. Lennar Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stub's tennis podcasts on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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The Herd with Colin Cowherd - FantasyPros - Full Send on These Players! | TOP TARGETS in Every Round of 2025 Fantasy Football Drafts (Ep. 1619)

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