The Ringer NFL Show - 2020 Sleepers

Episode Date: July 27, 2020

We break down their top sleepers for the 2020 fantasy season. WR Steven Sims, Washington (4:14) TE Chris Herndon, Jets (7:43) TE Jace Sternberger, Packers (13:31) TE Gerald Everett, Rams (15:51) RB Tarik Cohen, Bears (18:04) WR Preston Williams, Dolphins (22:22) RB Nyheim Hines, Colts (25:37) WR Golden Tate, Giants (28:50) WR Jalen Hurd, 49ers (32:38) WR James Washington and Diontae Johnson, Steelers (35:20) RB Damien Harris, Patriots (40:50) For more fantasy rankings, sleepers, and mock drafts, check out the Ringer Fantasy Football Draft Guide. Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig Horlbeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up? I'm Danny Hyfitz. I'm here with my co-host, Danny Kelly and Craig Rollback. How you doing, guys? Living the dream. The dream? You're the first person in the year of 2020. I've heard say that phrase. I thought that phrase was retired. You're right. I'm actually going to rescind that statement. This is a waking nightmare every day. What are you talking about? It's just a fucking...

It's just a colloquialism. It's just a thing people say. I'm just trying to be like everybody else. It's probably a normal, cool pod guy. You get it. You're in timeout. D.K., how are you doing? Cool pod guy. Yeah, I'm doing pretty well. You can't be a cool pod guy, but those are oxymorons. That's too real.

All right, we're going to talk about sleepers today. It's the most overused buzzword in all of fantasy. D.K., I hate to be this guy. What does sleeper even mean anymore? Because it used to be about finding someone you haven't heard of. And now it's less about that and more about, all right, there's 150 sleeper candidates. And I have to find the eight that are actually sleepers.

It's gone for, I mean, like everything else that's gone from finding things to filtering things. So what does a sleeper even mean to you anymore? I think you just, I think you absolutely just said. It's sifting through the multitudes of guys

who could be breakouts. There's, you know, there's like dozens of dudes in the late, to use as like your last round pick in your draft. It just comes down to trying to narrow down the variables that gives this person

the best chance of having an actual impact. Climbing the depth chart, finding a role. So yeah, I think, you know, there's no such thing as a sleeper. I actually wrote an article about that last year or the year before.

Basically, now it's just trying to figure out what guys bring the best potential value. And we've got a really good group of players here that I actually feel pretty good about, like picking with my second to last, last, making my craft. I'm glad you feel good. I'm glad we don't feel terrible about this year. There's a lot of them this year that I'm actually really excited about. Craig, why do I feel like you have every good sleeper you've ever hit on in your entire life in memory? Like, you can tell us everyone you've ever hit on.

No, that's not true, Devonte Parker. But no, I mean, I certainly have misses. You know what's funny is for the longest time, I used to love Kenyon Drake when he was on Miami, and it like never really panned out. And then I kind of gave up, and then now he's good. So that sucks.

I remember reading, there used to be these things called magazines. And, you know, there were actual physical words you carried. It was crazy. And I remember reading about Brandon Jackson on the Packers and thinking Brandon Jackson was going to be like the guy in that Packers 2007.

backfield. Didn't happen. Yeah, D.K., do you know what your biggest miss is? Do you have like the one that got away? My biggest, like, sleeper miss? Yeah, just like a guy you always thought was going to end up being great, but never was. Oh, my gosh, that's such a good question. CJ Spiller was a big one. I think a lot of people were on.

I thought you're high on Brown this year, Danny, so the tables have turned. That's not relevant. Yeah. Let me think about that, Craig, because that's a really good question, and I don't have anything off the tip of my. This is something that's very like, it's a very fun conversation, but if we started saying, who is each other wrong about? This would get so catty very quickly. DK was wrong about this and they're like, you suck with this and two very different tones. Here's the deal with sleepers, Craig. A lot of them are not in a position to actually do anything.

Well, DK, are you looking more for talent or opportunity? Obviously, they're related, but what are you more excited about? Because sleepers ultimately about upside. I think, honestly, I'm more looking at like a path to volume. And because there's a lot of talented guys in the NFL. Everybody who makes it to the NFL is talented, honestly. Even, well, we make jokes about how much these players suck, these last last roster guys that are terrible or whatever. But, man, they're all good.

And it really just is a matter of trying to find a guy that's actually going to have a role in the offense. So that's the biggest thing to me. All right. Well, let's stay on a path here. Sleepers 2020, D.K., Who's your favorite sleeper for this year, man? I'm starting out with Stephen Sims from Washington,

the Washington football team. Yeah, which is their official name for the 2020 season, which we found out today. Washington FC. So Sims is, to me, a very interesting one because he came on really strong at the end of the season. Over the last four games for Washington, he had 230 yards, 20 catches, four touchdowns.

He was also their kick returner and punt returner. kind of just took over in that passing game over the last four games of the season was the wide receiver 9 in PPR in that stretch showed really good chemistry with Dwayne Haskins all that stuff is really important and yet somehow no one is really buying into that late season flourish of his basically he's going on drafted

he's 292nd overall in ADP right now nobody seems to be buying into this I shouldn't say nobody because there is a Stephen Sims hive on Twitter that I discovered the other day when I tweeted about it. But I find that hard to believe. You have any dispatches from the Stephen Sims hive? I'm not going to be

you know like the guy I'm not going to be the tape guy who says just watch the tape guys but he actually did look really impressive. But watch the tape guys from the Stephen Sims hive. The production matches the tape from the last four games that season. It's not just like he was

catching these little dump off plays and doing nothing with him. He looked really dynamic to me, very, very quick, good after the catch, just a dynamic player. So he, to me, is really, really interesting. And the other factor that's really important here, it's not just the tape. He's in a position to actually get a lot of volume. That's the, I think, the projected starting slot receiver in Washington going forward. And again, like I said, he had that chemistry with Haskins. Haskins was looking to him down the stretch. Kelvin Harmon just tore his ACL. So he's out for the year. He was another guy that was kind of coming on strong towards the end of the season. And so, yeah, there's just not a lot of established fantasy

players in Washington. I think Sims could really kind of come out of the, come out of that, you know, group of we're just unsure of who, who's going to emerge there. I think he could be the guy to come out. Do you have any fear that among the Washington football team that is a tire fire at every level possible of the organization now having a completely new coaching staff, DeWain Haskins has proved nothing at the NFL level, even if he's still young? Like, any part of you, like, maybe you don't want to be buying into the Washington basing game this year or unfazed? I think if you asked me that question about Terry McLaurin, that would be a valid question because you're going to have to get McLaren quite a bit earlier.

He's going quite a bit earlier. And I still have a lot of faith in McLaren. I just think the volume is going to be there. I think Washington's going to be probably behind a lot, trying to have to come from behind and pass a lot. And Sims is going to get those high value targets in the middle of the field, the checkdowns and all that stuff. And I think he can do a lot of stuff after the catch with those looks.

So I don't know, man. He just looked really good. He just looked really impressive to me down the stretch. So I don't know why people aren't more excited about this. Watch the tape on Stephen Sims. Craig, who's your sleeper? This is he who's got a path to volume? Or actually, do you agree with D.K.'s thing that you're looking for a path to volume?

For sleepers? I think there's just a lot of different things that can factor in. Like, for somebody like McCull Hardman, I'm not exactly sure he's going to get a ton of volume, but he is a sleeper. I think chemistry plays a factor, especially. year. I don't know whether or not you're on a good offense. You have a good quarterback. They're going to scheme to get you the ball. I think there's a lot that goes into it. But my sleeper, my top sleeper for this year is Chris Herndon, who's the tight end on the Jets. This is for the people

who like to draft tight ends late if you don't want to get Travis Kelsey in the second or third round. And if you don't want to get one of those like tight end seven, eight, nines in the sixth round. And you want to wait until you could literally get him in the last pick of your draft. Chris Herndon is going as the tight end 24. So this is why I like him. You ready for this shit. in the final 10 games of his 2018 season, his rookie season, in the final 10 games of his rookie season, he was the tight end six

with fucking Sam Darnold on the Jets. He was the tight end six. He was a fourth round pick in 2018. He worked his way up, beat everybody else out of the depth chart, developed a lot of chemistry with Sam Darnold and finished the season first in catches and touchdowns amongst rookie tight ends.

And then last year he was suspended and then went to the IR, so he played one game. But now he's back and healthy and he's a freak athlete. and he's like the perfect example of recency bias and why that is a way that a fantasy player who does their research

can get a ton of value later on in the draft is because no one knows who Chris Herndon is really and the Jets scored the least amount of touchdowns in the league last year, 25, them and the Steelers. And that, I know it's hard to believe, but they're probably going to score more than that this year. And he's got Robbie Anderson gone, Prasad Paramond's in,

we don't know how good he's going to be, he's going to have no chemistry with Darnell, Hrndon might be the top target in the red zone or just anywhere on the field for Sam Donald with the Jets. He's a post-type, post-type sleeper. My first takeaway there is that you've said now, are you ready for this shit on two straight episodes? And I kind of just want the, what's that song?

It's like, are you ready for this? You're the producer for the show. Can you add the like, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Like, we got to get that in there. Isn't that space jam or something? If that sound made it in earlier, then Craig listened to me. And if it didn't, then well, he didn't.

But the second thing you're saying, The first two guys were talking about now on Washington and the Jets, who might have been the worst teams in football last year for the second half of the season. But I get where you guys are coming from because sometimes there's this tendency to stay away from guys on bad teams because they're bad in real life, even though fantasy they can still produce. Washington ran the fewest plays in the league last year, I believe, like the second fewest plays in like the last decade, which is probably not going to happen again with the new coaching staff. So just a lot more plays.

And then as you said with the Jets, Craig, it's, I mean, even by Adam Gay's standards, that was a disaster. I mean, you had the Jets, Sam Donald got mono and they had all these quarterback problems. It's like the Jets are, even if they go to middling, even if they're barely a top 25 offense, they're actually going to be a lot better. So there is a lot of room for growth with them statistically that isn't actually mirrored by people's perceptions because, well, let's just say Washington and the Jets have had a lot of news this week. Certainly. I mean, Chris Herndon's going after guys like Jason Whitten and Kyle Rudolph, which I think is ridiculous.

Are you concerned that Chris Herndon's barely played? I mean, he was hurt for one year. I mean, he had a great rookie season. I don't know why that's a massive knock on him. I don't know. I feel like anybody who shows that they can do it at that level, especially, you know, as a rookie, you have to be really excited about that, you know.

Which is, like, rookie tight ends are famously terrible, and he wasn't. Yeah. That's a really good point. He's another, he's another check-the-tape dude who some of his catches are honestly ridiculous. Like, he goes up and goes. over guys,

catches, you know, like sideline falling out of bounds. He's some really, really impressive catches too. Let me ask you guys a question because I'm genuinely curious about this. So let's say you like Chris Herndon a lot. You think he's like a great sleep

or you think he could be like a fringe starting tight end on your team. So let's say you draft him in the 16th round. Like are you going to draft, like if you're set on him, you know you can get him? Are you going to draft another tight end? Are you going to draft like Evan Ingram

and start him but just in case have Chris Herndon? Are you just going to do Chris Herndon? In the case of Chris Herndon, I'd feel okay about drafting just Herndon. I think if you're talking about some of these late round tight ends, there's probably like six or seven guys, Dawson Knox, a guy that I'm going to talk about later on, Jay Sternberger. There's a few of these guys that I would be comfortable taking as like my last round pick,

but I'd probably want to grab a guy like Jack Doyle or something, and Danny loves Jack Doyle. Would you rather have Chris Herndon did or Jay Sternberger, if you could only pick one. Sternberg is on the Packers, or doing the Jets. I don't know. I think I might lean Herndon

just because like I said, he's done it. He's already shown that he can do that in the NFL. Well, I guess my question is like, so let's say you do the Jack Doyle, Chris Herndon thing. My whole kind of question is like, so then what do you do week one? Every week you're going to have to be like shit, Doyle or Herndon. And then it's almost like you're almost like not even going to get the value of Herndon if he is a sleeper because let's say you don't start in week one and he does great.

And then week two, he does bad. So you bench him week three and then Doyle does work. And it's just like you play that game. No, it's not just. But that's not it. That's not the goal. Like, that might be what you're trying to do. But you're also trying to just throw a bunch of darts in a year

where there's a lot of tight end sleepers and hoping one of them pops, right? Like last year, maybe you'd take two tight ends. But you're hoping one of them's Mark Andrews and you can cut the other guy and Mark Andrews is top five. Or Waller, you know? Or Darren Waller. Yeah, you're trying to hope one of those guys pop. So then the answer is you guys would not just go with Herndon

and then you would draft a bunch of guys in that like tight end 20 range. Well, it depends on your lead because sometimes there's a lot of really good tight ends on waivers in September. and you got to just, you know, that someone going off in week one is a one, Darren Fells going off last year for a couple of two touchdown games is completely random

and not indicative of a larger talent. And then some guys having a big week one is like, wow, he might be a top five tied in this year. So sometimes if you're plugged in enough, it depends on knowing who's going to be on waivers or not, but upside is always, like you always want to be preferring guys on the end of your bench

who could maybe be a top five person at their position or just a starter for you every week instead of, you know, middling. So, but D-K, so what do you like about Jay Sternberger for the Packers, since the Packers haven't had a good tight end since, like, Bubba Franks? I like a number of things about Sternberger. They also had Jamichael Finley, who was good. Yeah, I was going to say, I was trying to come up with that name,

Jermichael Finley. Well, apologies to Jermichael Finley. Sternberger's... Legendary fantasy tight end, Jermichael Finley. Sternberger is actually kind of in that same mold as a, like a move tight end, really athletic guy, can kind of threaten the seam. I think there's some people that are seeing that kind of same role for him this year with the Packers. And in reality, the big reason I like him is not just because I think he's good,

but he has a clear path to that number two role in the offense. Jimmy Graham is gone. The number two receiver role is really up in the air with Devin Funches, Alan Zard, Mv, S, few others kind of vying for that spot. We don't really know how that's all going to shake out. It wouldn't surprise me after a few weeks if we see Sternberg, who is second in the team's passing game in targets after like two or three weeks. So I think, you know, he still has a lot to prove.

He didn't do anything really as a rookie. He played in six games in the regular season, didn't have a catch. He did have a catch in the playoffs, a touchdown catch in the playoffs. So, you know, it was one of those things where I don't know how much you can read into his rookie year because tight ends are generally just struggling to get involved as rookies typically. But again, I like him. I think he's a good player.

he's actually a big play threat. He came out of college. He led all college tight ends in 2018 with 20 plus, in 20 plus catches with 21 of those. He led his team in catches, 48, had 832 yards, and average 17.3 yards per catch. So he wasn't just getting these little dink and dunk dump offs over the middle of fill. He's stretching the seam.

He's a good athlete. He's got good body control. I was pretty high on him coming out of college at Texas A&M. And I think he has a chance to be, sort of like the Mark Andrews type breakout this year. Classic tight-ed name, Chase Sternberger. I don't think that's a classic tight-ed name. Oh, it's so indicative of the tight-ed name for sure.

Who else could not be in the other position? You're just thinking of the one other person who did it, named Jace. Name game, D.K., would you rather have J. Sternberger or Gerald Everett on the Packers? Sorry, Jay Sternberg is on the Packers. Would you rather of him or Gerald Everett on the Rams? I'm leaning Gerald Everett, and he's actually my next guy. So I'm going to just go right to Everett. And I would pick Everett because sort of like the Herndon thing, he's actually proved it in the NFL.

He's done it. He was on his way actually to a breakout campaign last year, I think. In a sixth game stretch from four to week nine, he was the tight end eight in PPR. He had 28 catches, 32 yards. He was all over the field, like breaking tackles. He had 13 broken tackles on 38 touches last year, just kind of going off. And then he got hurt. His knee injury kind of opened up the door.

for the Higbee explosion. Everett went out. Higby kind of came in and inherited his role as like the number one tight end in that offense and you know, kind of the rest of his history

Higby took over had like 400 yard games or something ridiculous. He's just like the tight end one down the stretch. So I'm not necessarily saying pick Everett early because I think Higby still probably

has the inside track to being like the number one guy in that offense. But we can't forget what Everett was doing before he got hurt and he was sort of the move tight end in that offense the mismatch guy the guy that they would kind of like send up the seam he was breaking a lot of tackles you know

getting yards after the catch going forward if the Rams end up doing a lot of two tight-end stuff Everett could still be pretty involved he could end up being like the third option in that passing game and Higby they might ask Higby to go back to like being a blocker which he was doing kind of before ever got hurt I just think he's a good flyer who's proven that he can do it in the NFL he's got that proven production and the role for him in that offense is unclear enough that it's worth

taking a risk on, you know, at where he is, which is essentially free. Okay, so I want both of you right now to rank Jay Sternberger, Gerald, Everett, and Chris Herndon. I would go Everett Herndon, Sternberger. I would go Herndon, Everett Sternberger. All right, well, there you go. You both said six tight ends,

even though they're three people, but six tight ends. The Bears, speaking of tight ends, signed have eight tight ends on their roster as of right now. But my big sleeper for this year is Jimmy Graham on. No, I'm just kidding. No, I really like Tariq Cohen this year. That's kind of, I'm really banking that the Bears offense is going to get a lot better

because they're going from Shubisky to Foles. And I think Tariq Cohen is one of the people who could benefit from that. Tariq Cohen, he fits a lot of like the broader themes you're looking for in a running back who could outperform ADP because he's mid-20s, sometimes being 21 or 22 is overrated. He's a pass catcher who generally those guys outperform their ADP in a PPR league more than others. He's staying on the same team and he's kind of in

this kind of ambiguous backfield where David, well, not ambiguous so much that David Montgomery is not going to be taking away too much pass catching snaps. And also Tariq Cohen is the best shape of my life guy. He was the first, he's one of the first best shape of my life guys all year. And not only that, there's a, There's two kinds of best shape of my life, guys.

There are guys who show up and say, I'm in the best shape of my life. And there are guys who show up and say that and say, but last year, you know, I kind of let myself go. There was a profound honesty in the second one that makes me trust it more. And basically, Tariq Cohen said that there used to be a backup running back with the bears

named Betty Cunningham. And Benny kept me honest, made sure I wasn't eaten bad. And Tareke Cohen was like, when the bears cut him last off season, I kind of got sloppy, let myself go. And I wasn't in good physical shape during the season. Now I'm in the best shape of my life. I believe him because he was honest.

So I think that's part of why Tariq Cohen had such a drop in 2019. The other part of it is that Football Outsiders Almanac actually listed the Tribisky to Tariq Cohen connection is the worst connection in the entire NFL last year. So that's not good. But I think he's going to rebound for a couple reasons. One, they hired John DeFilippo to be the quarterback's coach for the Bears. DeFilippo was the quarterbacks coach for the Eagles when Nick Foles went on his Super Bowl run. So that makes me feel a lot better about Nick Folls changing staffs.

Also, John DeFilippo was with the Jaguars last year when Leonard Fournett went from can he catch passes to one of the four guys with 100 targets last year. John DeFlippo went on a whole rant over the summer about how important running backs are to the passing game. No one really believed Fournett

would get 100 targets. And then he did. One of the, like the four guys who got 100 target, running backs who got 100 targets were McCaffrey. Echler, Fournette, and Tarry Cohen. So the Bears, there's a little target competition for Tarich Cohen this year, and maybe that's a concern, but I think it comes out of Anthony Miller, the number two receiver more than

Tariq Cohen, between Foles getting better, Tariqoan actually being in shape, which I think can explain a lot. Trubisky not being the quarterback, that would be a big help. And then DeFilippa influence on the offense. Tariqoan to me, going right around like the hundredth pick, I think is a really great value. He's going 124th. Even better. obviously it's different

and standard of PPR and yeah and PPR he's going 88th I still like him there which is not interesting I love this this is a great this is a great pick he's my RB2 in the mock draft

we did with Evan Sullivan Barry and everybody last week that's now on the site something Tari Cohen said earlier this off season they asked them about the Bears offense not being so good last year and how they would

apply those lessons to the pandemic and the shortened off season and he said I think we're going back to a lot of what we did in 2018 we're going to simplify things. We're going to simplify and probably do what we did two years ago. Well, two years ago, Tariq Cohen was a top 15 running back in fantasy. Top 12 in PPA.

Is the RB 11 in 2018? Yeah. So, I mean, this guy is going outside the top 30. And if the Bears, this is something you need to monitor in training camp to see if they really are going back to what they did in 2018. But if that's the case, that's a hell of a bargain on Tariq Cohen. So I really love that. I'm going to pay attention to see if they're really doing that and got to follow up on that.

But, I mean, love Tariqoan this year. Just imagine a world in which you draft Tariq Cohen and James White as your two starting running back. They both end up being like the RB 11 and 12 and then the rest of your team is absolutely nuts stacked with quarterbacks receivers and tie ends. That's like a real thing you could do

and it probably would work. This is called the zero RB method, Craig, remember? Well, we got to rebrand zero RB because zero RB implies no running backs when the actual thing is no running backs in the first five rounds. RBI like 10 running backs. So we got to rebrand that. We got to, anyway.

Craig, you got another sleeper for us? Yes, my next sleeper is Preston Williams, wide receiver on the Dolphins. He was a rookie last year. He got hurt halfway through. Wait, you're betting against Devante Parker. Well, here's why. Listen up. He perhaps is the next Devante Parker.

So he was a rookie last year and he got hurt half after through the season. And once it got hurt, DeMonte Parker took off and was like the second best rod receiver in the league other than Michael Thomas. Last year, in the first eight games of the season, when Preston Williams and Devante Parker were on the field, they were. were essentially returning the exact same numbers. And in the six games that Williams and Devante Parker were both starting, Williams actually out snapped Devante Parker by four,

and he only scored 12 less fantasy points. Yet, Devante Parker is being drafted literally 100 picks higher than Preston Williams. And Williams is like an elite talent. He was a five-star college recruit. He's going to be in the slot. You know how much I love slot guys. He could be the next Jarvis Landry in Miami with Tua if they can develop that kind of rapport. Preston Williams was, he's a really interesting one because I think he's kind of fallen into that trap where a lot of people sort of start to forget about guys because they go undrafted.

And Williams, he fell, he, a lot of people were talking him. I remember about this. I remember this before the 2018 draft, or excuse me, the 2019 draft, that he was like a first round talent, but he fell because of off the field stuff and basically kind of just fell off everybody's radar. And he showed up in camp and played really, really well for the dolphins. They got him as an undrafted free agent. He ended up being one of their starters. And he lived up to sort of that talent that a lot of people thought he had. He also didn't help that.

He didn't like test that well either. He ran like a 4-6, I believe, or something like that. Or 4-5, 4-6. And so people just kind of forgot about him. And he is that, like he said, he's that elite talent. He just fell out of the draft because of other reasons. So I think he is, he's one of my favorite sleeper picks too. I think he's really good.

I cannot wait to see, I mean, first of all, I hope that Tua starts just because it'd be so much more fun. But he, I think he would be really good either with Tua or Fits. I think both of those guys are going to get the most out of him. He's good down the field. He can play outside. I think he could play inside. He could do kind of whatever they need him to do. And yeah, as long as he's okay and healed up from the ACL injury, I think he has a chance

to be like one of the top guys to outplay his ADP this year. One of the, I mean, drafting it is always about value. And one of the hardest but most lucrative values you can get is when everyone thinks a guy is the team's number two receiver. And it's like, oh, snap, he's the number one receiver. What are the chances Preston Williams, we look back on this season like, oh, he's the number one receiver on the Dolphins? I mean, I would not be shocked at all.

I think I would definitely handicap Parker to be that guy as the top, like best odds to be that guy. But it wouldn't surprise me at all if Williams ended up being that guy. well there you go I have a moon shot for the same thing at running back an absolute moon shot from I don't know what the baseball analogy is I was going to say fifth deck that's not what I'm going for but I'm swinging for defenses yeah I'm hoping that this would be the same version of that running back someone that people think is a third butt back that I think is actually one B it's nahim Hines on the Indianapolis cults right now basically the book on the colts backfield

is they just drafted Jonathan Taylor to Wisconsin and Frank Reich said he'll be one A, Marlon Mack will be one B, and Naheem Hines will left unsaid, is he's just going to be this past catching back and the Colts backfield's going to be split three ways and there might not be that much fantasy value to be had from it behind beyond Jonathan Taylor. I don't think that's how it's going to play out. I think that what Reich said at that press conference was a lot of lip service to Marlon Mac, but looking at the Colts offense and how similar they might make it to what Philip Rivers was doing with the Chargers because Frank Reich was Philip Rivers' offensive coordinator.

His quarterback's coach, Nick Seriani, was the quarterback's coach for the Chargers when Rivers was in San Diego. I think it's actually going to be pretty similar to when they had Ryan Matthews and they had Danny Woodhead and or even Darren Sproles before that. Even some guys like Brandon Oliver, Neheem Hines is not the biggest guy, but he's a great pass catcher. He also returned two punts for touchdowns last year despite only fielding nine punts, which Football outsider said is basically

it's basically the best return average anyone's ever had in NFL history. No one's ever returned two on like fewer punts than Nehem Hines. So not that that means he's incredible. Yeah, let's bet on that happening again. Well, no, it's not that that happens again. He's got moves. He's shifty. He is like a Darren Sproles size

like caliber guy. Also, they're showing him tape of Danny Woodhead and Darren Sprouls. He told reporters, they're showing me tape of Danny Woodhead. Do you know how good Danny Woodhead was in fantasy? Have you guys blocked this out from your mind? Because I did.

Danny Woodhead, I believe, was the number four running back in 2015. In full PPR, he was, yeah, the top 12 in 2013, and he was number three in 2015. He's basically Austin Echler. So if you're looking for an Austin Echler, not where he's going to benefit from a holdout, but a pass-catching guy who might be a little better than you think between the tackles, who could have a way bigger share of the backfield than the person everyone assumes will have it. I think Naheem Hines is going to be the closest you get to that this year. I'm not saying this is definite, but he's free. He's not being drafted. This is your last pick flyer. And I think

there's a chance that he's just splitting this. And Marlon Mack is the guy who loses touches in the Colts backfield, not Neheme Hind. So what do you guys? Am I nuts? No, I'm actually, I'm so sold on this now. You sold me on this. I mean, and I agree with you. Like, there's a chance he actually does absolutely nothing. But in an offense with Philip Rivers, And all those coaches that you were talking about, like they've consistently, consistently used running backs like that out of the back field, their pass catching back.

And I mean, what else? You don't have a lot to lose by grabbing this guy in the last round. It's just an absolutely great last round flyer. Yeah, I love it. Again, Nick Siriani, the Colts Offensive Quarter did,

Nahim will benefit a lot from playing with Philip Rivers like those guys, similar guys did with the charges. Those are his words. Zoom in, zoom in to the face. So just saying, wow, I sorry,

I got so excited. Craig, you got a little. So I just realized this is going to be our guy this year, Nahime. I love him. Yeah. Craig, you got out someone else for us? Yeah, so my next guy is Golden Tate on your Giants, Danny. God.

I prefer not to talk about them. So Golden Tate's pretty much seen 100 targets in every year he's played football. And it was the last four years before last year because he missed four games to a suspension. But in the 12 games he played last year, he had 85 targets, which is on pace for 123, which is perfectly in line. with the last five years of his career. With Daniel Jones throwing to him, Golden Tate averaged five catches 68 yards and half a touchdown last year,

which puts him at over 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns for a season. Golden Tate is tried and true. He's dependable. He has a connection with Daniel Jones already. And I know that there was a lot of injuries, Sequin, Sterling Shepard, Evan Ingram last year, but I mean, I wouldn't exactly bank on all three of them

being healthy again this year. Sterling Shepard had two concussions last year and has had other injuries before that, and Evan Ingram can't stand the field to save his life. So Golden Tate and Darius Slaten kind of plays a different position than Tate, and I think they're going to do different things in the offense. But I think Golden Tate,

who is getting drafted below Slayton and Shepard right now, is the safest pick out of all three of them. This is really interesting to me, because one, he breaks one of your favorite theories, which is that guys with cool names are overdrafted. Golden Tate is one of the coolest names in the NFL being underdrafted, and has a case to be the most

disrespected receiver in the NFL are underrated because sneakly one of the five most exciting players after the catch in football and did the most impressive thing I've ever seen in a football field which was that backflip into the end zone that broke two tackles

and then he stopped the landing there's something about receivers who played in Seattle this is the theory I'm working on every receiver who played in Seattle is underrated Tyler Lockett Doug Baldwin Golden Tate figuring it out yeah it's because they never pass and all these guys end up going

to like a high volume offense and look awesome. So, yeah. Dickey, what do you think about the Giants? I mean, this is one of the most ambiguous receiving groups in the NFL, or I guess both New York teams, but between Darius Slayton, Sterling Shepard, Golden Tate, Evan Engram,

I believe they didn't play a single snap together. Oh, and Seekwan Barclay. They didn't play a single snap together last year. Believe it or not, if you take those five guys 40 times, it's the fastest of any group in the NFL by 11 personnel, which is three receivers tied in and running back.

The Giants have the fastest 40 times. It's probably cheating, because Golden Tate did that 40, like 30 years ago. But do you, what do you think about how Craig saying Golden Tate's the safest of those, I'm not to say corn, but among Dary Slatening. I think he is. I wouldn't say he has the highest ceiling, but I think he has easily the highest floor among that group. I think he's going to, and Craig, you're absolutely right.

The 100 plus target thing is, it's kind of amazing. And he's playing that really valuable for fantasy, especially PPR, that slot role, where you're just getting tons and tons of targets. You're, you know, and he's like one of the greatest yards after the kid. guys in the NFL in NFL history maybe so I think he's the safest I think he's an established veteran we know what we're going to get from golden tate it's not going to be a big surprise I would say maybe the highest ceiling guy is like a darius slayton who we haven't really seen you know what he can do with a full workload and and another offseason he was a rookie last year really really fast guy

who was really impressive did a lot of really you know surprising almost shocking things how good he was because he was like a fifth round rookie. So I would say he has the upside. He has the best upside. He's like that true number one type receiver on the outside. But I would say Golden Tate easily has the highest floor. And he's probably the most attractive in redraft leagues just because like he said, he's probably going to get 100 targets again this year. Darius Slateon brought the last great Eli Manning moment, which was almost beating the Eagles on Monday night football for Eli's last start. But it was not meant to be. We'll see if Darius Slaten is meant to be. But sticking with ambiguous receiving groups for a bit.

The 49ers have a weird thing. So they traded, or not, they lost Emmanuel Sanders and free agency. So that opens up a huge opportunity for Debo Samuel. Debo Samuel breaks his foot. Is, in theory, on pace for week one, but it's a foot injury that has a high chance of recurring. Not to mention it might not be 100%.

So deep, we don't know if Debo's going to be the number one receiver now, especially with no reps, and we don't know if he'll be able to keep playing. So the 49ers behind him have a bunch of guys. They have Jalen Hurd, they have Dante Pettis, they have Trent Taylor, they just drafted Brandon Ayuk, like who. Kendrick Born, who was the first down machine last year, who do you like of those guys that could sneakily emerge as the Niners, maybe number one option behind George Cotto?

I think Jalen Hurd is the most interesting and the most exciting. To me, he has the opportunity to be like a fantasy unicorn in the sense he's going to be like a slot receiver who can get a lot of targets over the middle of field. plus he was a former five-star running back in college. I mean, he has the ability to potentially be the 49ers goal line back. I mean, there's just the upside is sort of mind-boggling. Now, he has also, there's also in this spectrum of possibilities he could be absolutely just like a bench-warmer. We don't know. But to me, he's an awesome last-round pick because his skill set and is specifically in the Kyle

Shanahan offense, like, it just is so intriguing to me. because they could line them up in the backfield. They could use them on jet sweeps. They could use them running up the seam, sort of like a tight end route. They can use them in the slot. He has the skill set to be like a real running back. I mean, he put up 2,800 plus yards, 23 touchdowns,

as a running back in college. So I don't know. I just think he to me is very, very intriguing from a fantasy point of view. His ceiling is absurd. His floor is nothing. Like he could end up literally just sitting on the bench, not playing at all.

But of all those guys, like Trent Taylor to me is like he has a good floor because he's probably, if he ends up playing in their 11 personnel, he's going to get a lot of targets. There was talk last year that he was their best receiver in training camp, then he got hurt. So I think if you're looking for floor, go for a guy like Trent Taylor. If you're looking for ceiling, Hurd is that guy because he'll be schemed up in that offense to pick up yards after the catch to maybe even take carries out of backfield. We know Shanahan loves going with the hot hand. He's not going to just give it to warm. one guy all the time every single game. I just think that Herd has that ability to kind of be a dual threat

that guy that could be like a fantasy unicorn as a running back slash receiver. All right, D.K., you got another sleeper for us? Yeah, and I think, so Craig and I have had two guys in the Steelers passing game that I think are both good sleepers. Deontay Johnson, who you can get at around the 100 spot. That's an ADP right now. And then James Washington, you can get basically free at the very end of the draft. Both of these guys, I think are very, very interesting as sleepers,

because there's just so much opportunity to mine in that Steelers passing game. I think with Big Ben coming back, there's going to be a lot of potential increase in volume, a lot of potential increase in scoring. And I think Johnson and Washington are both really intriguing sleepers. So Craig, you give me the spiel on Johnson, and I'll talk about James Washington. I just think that he's the next guy. He's the next in line of amazing future Steelers, wide receivers. I read something about Jeremy Fowler from ESPN tweeted that,

the Steelers wild receiver coach Daryl Drake when he selected Deontay Johnson in the draft at number 66 he said that I know for a fact that Tampa Bay was going to take him with their next pick I got cussed out by Tampa Bay's head coach Bruce Ariens who called us some names for taking him this was his guy and then the second they got

Deante Johnson in camp people were comparing him to Antonio Brown for his route running and he showed it I mean he was one of the best rookie wide receivers last year especially in yards per route run and Ben is capable of having two red receivers on his team explode as we saw for a while, especially in 2018 with Juju and Antonio Brown being in the top eight. So I do understand the James Washington argument. I just kind of think, I don't want to say the ship has sailed because I do think he's good,

but I just think Deonto Johnson is a little bit more tantalizing inside the Steelers camp. Yeah. No, I would agree with that. I'd actually, if I was picking between the two, I'd still take Johnson earlier. But I do think that I think James Washington is getting. overshadowed a lot by how good Johnson was his rookie. And Johnson, again, he led all rookies and catches last year, all rookie receivers and catches.

So he had a great rookie year. I think his arrow is absolutely pointing up. But with Johnson doing so well, Washington's finish to the season got overshadowed. People didn't really pay attention to it. In fact, if you look at from week nine on, their statistics are very similar. Johnson had, and Johnson only played in eight games over the last nine from week nine on. He had 52 targets, 33 catches, 381 yards, and two touchdowns. He was the wide receiver 39 from week 9 on.

James Washington, though, however, was the wide receiver 25 in that same stretch. He had 34 catches, 574 yards, three touchdowns. So he actually kind of came on really strong and showed some chemistry with both Duck Hodges and Mason Rudolph. Obviously, there's not going to be that element this year, and he does have to establish himself with Big Ben. Get Big Ben to trust him and all that, and that's going to be huge. but I do think that Washington is being really, really sort of overlooked going into the season as a chance to be that deep threat in that offense. Big Ben loves throwing it deep. So I just think they're different players, but I do think one of these guys is going to hit big

for fantasy. And so maybe even just take both of them, honestly. You can get James Washington with your last pick and it's sort of insurance for Deontay maybe taking a step back in the sophomore year or whatever. That's not a bad idea. Because a thing that's really important to hammer here is how bad the Steelers were last year. The last year was the year from hell for the Steelers' offense. I mean, it started with actually Daryl Drake, you mentioned before Craig.

He passed away during training camp. They lose Ben Rathesberger to an elbow injury in week two. They have just one of the most injured offenses. They have to turn to Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges. Everything that could have went wrong went wrong. And then Mike Tomlin basically says when you have quarterbacks is inexperienced. as Mason Rudolph and Doug Hodges, he basically says the only way to win is we're going to slow down the game,

to go from 70 plays a game to 50, basically saying it's going to be a small sample game. We're going to have to grind out wins with defense. It's exactly what they did. They almost made the playoffs doing it. But they went from in 2018, almost leading the league in passing, to basically every single per drive stat on football outsiders.

The bottom three are the Jets, Washington, the Steelers. Yards per play just plays. Everything was just horrible. And the idea that they're going back to this offense, Ben and Rothesberger, elbow, is he recovered? We don't know. But he says he's perfectly recovered. Their actions say that because they did not go out and improve their backup quarterback thing, which surprised a lot of people. So they clearly believe it.

And there's no indication that they're not going to go back to being a top 10 offense bypass attempts. So if you can just go get one or both of these guys and you're kind of locking yourself into that, that's a pretty good bet. I mean, he led the league in passing in 2018, so you've got to take some other receivers. Like, someone's going to get the 4,800 yards he throws for. Yeah. I would throw them actually in the bucket with the Washington and the Jets, who he started out with.

They were so bad last year, you forget. It's post-type sleepers. Also, I don't know if you guys saw this, but Ryan Switzer, who is a slot receiver down in the depth chart in Pittsburgh, recently said a few days ago that he believes that he will be one of the best slot receivers in the NFL. He has no doubt that he'll be talked in the same conversation with Julian Edelman.

Jameson Crowder. So look out for old Switzy. He said that when? Two days ago. Oh, wow. Okay. I'll be the same conversation as James and Crowder. Wow, the illustrious.

Although I do love James and Crowder. All right, I just wanted one last sleeper that I really care about. This is a good example. Someone you have to monitor training camp. But it's Damian Harris, the running back for the Patriots. It's always a good idea to bet on the cheapest running back in the Patriots backfield. Damien Harris is not being drafted. This is a guy who set the all-time record

for yards per attempt at Alabama. Good school. He had five carries last year, so who knows. But Sony Michelle is, anyone who watches the Patriots kind of knows there's this weird love-hate relationship with Sony Michelle. He's a terrible pass catcher. He had foot surgery.

I'm very out on Sony-Michel. I think he makes them a predictable offense. I kind of think the Patriots think he makes them a predictable offense. What he was doing in 2018 is, blitz of when he was on the field and how much they ran versus James White and how much they passed. It's not great. And the foot surgery, I think that if he loses any amount of reps this season with the new quarterback, it's going to really hamper him. And Damien Harris,

I think that could be the guy possibly who just becomes the starting Patriots running back overnight, replaces Sony Michelle. And you're like, oh, yeah, right. There was an amazing Alabama running back on their roster we forgot about. And I have to shout out Mike Reese, the Patriots beat reporter for like 22 years for ESPN. who said, the Patriots running back, Ivan Fears, basically gave a message about Damien Harris to reporters saying that Shane Verene had to wait a year, did nothing as a rookie. James White did nothing as a rookie.

They all exploded in year two, and Damien Harris was patient, kind of alluding to it. Mike Reese has alluded to watch this guy in training camp, and I trust Mike Reese. Yeah, I trust Mike Reese, and I definitely am fading Sony and Michelle. So that combination together makes him really interesting. Harris, didn't they get him in the third round? It's not like they got him for nothing either. He's a third rounder last year.

Yeah. So they obviously had a vision for him and a reason for picking him that early. And I think, yeah, he's a great, great, you know, handcuff at worst. And then I think he could literally just earn the job early on in the year, especially if Michelle's foot is bothering him. I mean, Michelle just has not done anything impressive at this point.

All right, those are our sleepers for 2020. Thank you to everyone for listening. Thank you, D.K. and Craig. everyone stay happy, stay healthy. We will see you guys on Wednesday and Craig, keep living the dream, man.