The Ringer NFL Show - Biggest Risers in Our Top 150
Episode Date: August 26, 2020We discuss the latest news from training camps before breaking down the players who have risen in our top 150 rankings the most in the past month. Check out The Ringer Fantasy Football Guide for more ...player rankings, tiers, and mock drafts. RB Clyde-Edwards Helaire, Chiefs (18:06) RB James Conner, Steelers (20:05) WR Marquise Brown, Ravens (21:53) WR Will Fuller, Texans (25:16) WR Michael Gallup, Cowboys (32:02) WR Jalen Reagor, Eagles (35:37) WR Calvin Ridley, Falcons (38:11) WR Tyler Lockett, Seahawks (41:55) WR Robert Woods, Rams (44:48) WR Scotty Miller, Buccaneers (45:45) RB Damien Harris, Patriots (49:33) TE Chris Herndon, Jets (50:37) WR Preston Williams, Dolphins (51:34) Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig Horlbeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Everyone knows about the risks of driving drunk.
You could get in a car crash.
People could get hurt or killed,
but that still doesn't stop everyone.
You could get arrested,
you could incur huge legal expenses,
and you could possibly even lose your job.
We all know the consequences of driving drunk,
but one thing's for sure,
you're wrong if you think it's no big deal.
Drive sober or get pulled over.
It's the Ringer Fantasy Football Show.
I am Danny Heifitz. I'm joined by Danny Kelly
and Craig Krollback. I have an important question for you guys.
Did you see this week there was a story about the Greenland
shark that's like 350 years old?
No, I didn't see that story. I must have missed that.
Well, I kind of told the
The green leaf shark. What are you reading? Greenland shark.
Whatever. Greenland shark. It's a type of shark. It's all shark.
It's shark. Look, shark week happen. Here's the point.
What are the odds that you think that Tom Brady
has injected Greenland shark blood into his body?
Is this like the reindeer?
the antler, the reindeer antler stuff for Ray Lewis.
Instead of reindeer, it's this green, garrulent shark blood.
How long does this shark, how long does this shark live?
The shark was born in 16 something, 1620.
1627, according to their estimation, which is insane.
How do they know that?
I think it's like carbon baiting or something.
I have no idea.
Wow.
Now that I think about it, I cannot verify.
I can't even think, yeah, it's like, is it like a tree?
You cut the thing in half and you count the rings.
How do they decide how old the dinosaurs were?
I don't know.
Well, that's fossils, but if the thing is currently alive...
Good point. Good point.
Did you guys know that no one really knows how long lobsters can live
because we all die before they die?
What?
Can't they, like, write down something and pass it on to future generations?
There's like certain types of lobsters just like at the bottom of the ocean that no one...
Like, what are they going to do?
Keep them in a tank forever?
Well, you also know lobsters used to be just absolute trash food
because there's so many of them in Maine that they just fed them to prisoners
because they were like, here, eat these giant sea lobsters.
Yes, and then it was like a marketing campaign
that essentially changed the perception of lobster
into like high-end food.
We should do that with fantasy stuff.
We should just start being like, wow.
You know what?
You guys are saying the lobster is one of the biggest risers
in terms of ocean food over the last 200 years.
That means we got to talk about fantasy football risers
over the last month.
Training camp risers.
Lobster draft stock skyrocketed 100 years ago.
Just the rocket ship of seafood.
The Clyde Edwards, a lair of the sea.
Holy cow.
Okay, yeah, we updated our top 150 rankings on The Ringer.
Please check out fantasyf football.com.
We're very proud of our draft guide there.
And we spent a lot of time ranking players and we have guys we like more than others.
And we did an episode kind of checking in on people in early July, but then training camp happens.
We learn more.
We're seeing updates.
People get hurt.
And we wanted to just check in on people we still like.
And also people we've changed their mind, either because circumstances have changed or whatever.
So we're going to go through just our favorite players in fantasy football this year.
But first we're going to get into these.
I want to just say, I want to stipulate.
This is not necessarily, I have a couple like sleeper type guys on here.
It's not necessarily my favorite players, but just guys that have really, really risen in the, in the, whatever this weird training camp is that we're having.
So not necessarily only our favorite players, the biggest risers.
Not that lobster is your favorite food, guys, the ones that have gone the most up in price in your mind.
value. Okay.
Okay. All right. Well, first
let's get into some news. First up,
Kenyon Drake running back for the Cardinals, who's
a borderline first round, second round pick.
We're seen in a walking boot to start
to practice on Monday. Coach Cliff
Kingsbury said it's just
some normal nicks and bruises. Normal
camp stuff. It's just kind of
precautionary with him knowing what he'll be able to do.
I have yet
to hear a walking boot described as
Nixon bruises before. That's a first
for me. Are all of the nicks and bruises?
is in his foot.
I always loved,
I always loved the coach speak of he's nicked.
He got nicked up.
Yeah.
It's like he brought his,
his,
his,
his,
his bone is sticking out of his body right now.
He got nicked up.
Nick.
Cliff Kingsbury,
when David Johnson
went from starting running back
to not on the injury report,
but not playing.
And he got like 18 carries
in the final nine games,
but was not in the injury report.
Cliff Karrang's Barry was like,
hey,
he's fine.
So I haven't really,
I'm,
you don't know if you trust it.
Of all the coaches in the NFL,
where I'm,
like, oh, he's the walking booty.
Don't think about it.
Does this change how you would draft Kenyon Drake, D.K.?
Let's say your draft is tonight.
Yeah, I think it makes me a little bit worried, honestly.
And there's also the history that kind of goes into this
where he's never been like a true heavy workload,
three-down back guy in the NFL yet.
I mean, he had a few games like that last year,
but, you know, I don't know.
It makes me a little less confident.
I've been also rising a little bit on Josh Jacobs.
We'll get to him.
and Clyde Edwards Hilaire, who I am like, you know, he's another rocket ship guy for me.
So, yeah, I don't know.
It makes me definitely worried.
There's also been some coach talk from Cliff Kingsbury about how Chase Edmonds.
Yes, Chase Edmonds is like good enough to be a starter in the NFL,
and he's probably going to have a pretty big role in this offense.
And so, yeah, I think there's definitely some concern.
Kenyon Drake actually tweeted out something along lines of like he did this last offseason,
so he's also,
he was in a walking boot last year.
He's just trying to keep it like consistent or whatever,
which I don't know.
It's like a superstition.
He also tweeted out he has a whole online store
and he's targeting it to his fantasy managers.
And it's just like you can buy Chase Edmund's gear.
You can get a Chase Edmund's hat.
Like you can get a mask with Chase Edmund's face on it.
Interesting.
I'm not sorry,
not Chase Edmonds.
Kenyon Drake.
Yeah.
So anyways,
bottom line is I think it does make me a little bit worried.
You know,
we talked about this on the last episode where like late,
camp injuries are just kind of worrisome.
These types things tend to linger.
If it's an ankle or foot injury, that's never a very good thing for running back.
We saw, you know, especially if it's like a high ankle thing, like that doesn't go away within like a few weeks.
So it is concerning.
I think it probably does make me less common.
Like if I had a draft right now, I'd probably move him down a few spots.
The premise of Kenyon Drake's season is that he won't have the same touchdown luck, but he'll have a lot of carries and a lot of catches, a lot of touches.
now he's in a walking boot
and I don't have many rules
but in this season
where again beat reporters
aren't really on the scene
we're having worse information
than any other off season
my rule this year is
I will not draft someone
in a walking boot
till I see them not in a walking boot
so that's relative
so I mean you would draft him
you just wouldn't draft him at the spot
we currently have him ranked
I don't I'd be
I would no longer take him
in the second round until I see him
not in a walking boot even if that cost me
the chance of I don't know if I agree with that
I think I would definitely still take him
in the second round
This doesn't sound like a big deal.
Okay.
Cliff Kingsbury's burned me too many times.
Okay, let's keep rolling here.
Josh Jacobs on the Raiders.
The Raiders signed running back Theoretic, who's a pass catching back, and now the whole thing with Josh Jacobs has been, he's going to catch passes on third downs, how much you're going to play on third down.
The Raiders already have Jaylen Ashard, who's kind of a third down catch, pass catching back.
Lynn Bowden, who's the rookie who is a receiver running back hybrid and all these things.
This is insane.
This is probably not really going to be a threat.
he's more of a training camp guy.
But do you guys think Josh,
the larger point is Josh Jacobs wants to catch 60 passes.
I think last year he had 20.
Vic Taffer of the athletics said it'll be easier from to get 40.
If he gets 40 or 50 catches,
do you guys see him as the obvious person
in the second round you want?
Where are you drafting Josh Jacobs this year?
I'm taking him over guys like Nick Chubb
because I think he has a more realistic path to 50 catches
because there's no Kareem Hunt on the Raiders.
And there are reports already out about
their rookie Lynn Bowden, kind of not grasping the offense that well. They said he doesn't look
incredibly fast. Theoretic, they called a depth chart training camp signing. And the way Gruden
speaks about Josh Jacobs and, you know, even the way he spoke about rookies last year, about how,
you know, they need time to get going. You're not going to give them like the full gamut of
responsibility. And with the second year with Jacobs, I think he is quietly one of the biggest
second round risers for me going into draft week. Yeah, I would agree with that. I think you have to
decide whether all these signings is noise or actual like signal type thing. And it feels more like
noise to me at this point. There's definitely like deep worry that he won't be involved in the
passing game at all. But I lean towards the idea that this is all just kind of noise and that he's
still going to be like their their main guy by far. Like the lion's share of the carries and third
down stuff. So I'm still bullish on Jacobs, even though this is one of those things that just kind of
adds to the chorus of he's not going to be involved in the past game.
Speaking of the Raiders, receiver Tyrell Williams has a torn laborman in his shoulder.
He's going to try to play through.
Obviously, shoulders are important for catching.
Raiders have two rookies who are gaining a lot of hype this off season.
You got Henry Ruggs, the fast dude from Bama, and then you got Brian Edwards, who's the third rounder.
Who would you rather have it?
Would you be taking a flyer on either one of those dudes or you don't really want part of the Raiders?
I would take a flyer on either of those guys.
I mean, Ruggs right now, his ADP at Fantasy Pros is wide receiver 48.
So you can get him really late in like the 10th or 11, 12th round.
I like that a lot.
Edwards is like last round guy for sure.
He's right now, he's wide receiver 78.
I think there's going to be targets to go around in that offense.
You know, I think either of those guys represents a very interesting flyer to me.
I'm definitely willing to take either in the later rounds.
I think Ruggs is really interesting.
Catchers in college with touchdowns.
So I'm probably going on run.
Yeah, I mean, Tyro Williams, they signed him for four years, $44 million.
And they were going to use him.
He was going to be a big part of the offense.
And now, Darren Waller might also really benefit from this.
Yeah.
I think right now the Raiders are a team worth kind of buying investing.
Because they're sort of one of these teams that people are laughing at, Derek Carr,
not a prolific pass or blah, blah, blah.
But, like, they could be a legitimately pretty good offense this year.
And there's just so much opportunity that's sort of unsettled.
one of those things where you want to like target teams with really uncertain hierarchies.
That's where you find breakout receivers a lot of time.
So I think, yeah, either of those guys, either of those rookies is really interesting to me.
The biggest worry for Josh Jacobs is game script.
The games that they lost last year, he averaged around 16 touches in the games they won.
He averaged around 24.
So the rating would be a better team for Josh Jacobs to truly, you know, jump into the next tier.
Or just be really involved in the passing game.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Other news, Rams running back, Daryl Henderson has a hamstring injury.
And Sean McVeigh said that he's hoping to get him back for week one.
Sean McVeigh is also in the Cliff Kingsbury mold of people who are not super forthcoming about injuries.
So if they're saying they might not be ready for week one, at the very least, that's a lot of practice.
So the Rams, obviously Todd Gurley is gone.
So the Rams have rookie Cam Acres who is super fast.
And then they have Malcolm Brown, who is their other kind of running back who is not so fast.
So Cam Acres seems to obviously be the primary running back right now.
Where would you guys draft Cam Acres, especially if Darrell Henderson is not,
100% healthy.
I think Akers is one of my favorite risers right now.
I'm like, I would take him in the fifth round.
So like mid-40s, around David Johnson.
Well, right now his ADP is 67.
So if you want to take him in the 50s,
I mean, if you get him in the 40s,
like you're definitely going to get him.
Or if you target him in that area,
I feel like you're definitely going to get him.
If you take him in the 50s,
that's just a slight reach to get ahead of everyone in your league or whatever.
If he falls into 60s, scoop him up.
Because the way I see it,
right now Henderson, his injury definitely is a huge, huge setback for him being kind of like the lead guy in that offense.
We don't know who exactly how it's going to shake out.
But Aker's really talented guy, versatile in terms of what schemes that he can run in.
I think he has a chance to be really involved in the passing game.
And overall, I'm just bullish on the Rams.
I think the Rams are going to get back to being like a really good offense this year.
I think McVeigh is going to change things up enough that it's going to give teams a different look,
whether that means going more two tight-end sets or more 11 personnel or whatever.
But I just think there's so much opportunity there in that run game.
He wants to be a run-heavy team.
And Akers is really good.
And you can get him later than most of the other guys who are really established as three-downbacks.
Like he's even going after David Montgomery.
So I think that's an awesome value.
Another rookie running back in the news, the Lions who have rookie running back, DeAndre Swift,
and they also have second-year back, carry-on Johnson.
Third-year, yeah.
Third year, yeah.
year. They're both second round picks.
DeAndre Swift has a mysterious injury. It's kind of kept him out of practice.
He's missed the last few practices. And then Kerry on Johnson is doing some load management.
He's got a knee brace on. He's had knee injuries. So Swift has kind of been presumed to be the
starter. I don't think he ever averaged more than 15 touches a game in college.
So how do you feel about either of these running backs or just the Detroit backfield in general,
especially if both of the top guys are hurt? Yeah. It makes me less excited about Swift.
I'm still taking Swift way over CarryOn though
I think number one I just think he's better
and I think he's going to have the
passing game role on lockdown
I think that's going to be like how he
like I was
watching a video from Dave Berk at a
beat reporter for the Lions he said that he thinks
carry on to be kind of like the early down guy
and then Swift is going to be in a platoon with him
and get a lot of the passing down work so I'm still sticking
with I'd rather have Swift I think he's a better
player's going to emerge from that group right now is the early down
guy you want DeAndre Swift is the third down back
and he's going to get the valuable passing game stuff yeah and i think he'll eventually
you know we always have to worry about carrying on getting hurt and stuff like that i think
he'll eventually take over as like the primary back in that in that offense so yeah i want
swift way more i think i'm staying away from the lines backfield this year all right let's keep
rolling here if dante johnson receiver for the steelers popular breakout candidate i think
beloved by all of us has missed five straight practices uh we're recording this tuesday we don't
know if he's practiced today but as of monday five straight practices
because of the calf injury.
This is tough because everyone loves to me.
Led the NFL and Next Gen stats
in average separation last year among receivers,
which is amazing.
So does this bother things for you?
Do you guys,
this is non-starter?
Well,
not non-starter.
Is this a non-story for you?
No,
this is definitely a story.
I mean,
anytime a week's worth of practices,
I mean,
that's worrisome.
If anything,
James Washington's been getting a lot of good buzzer on training camp.
Even rookie Chase Claypool has, too.
Every receiver on the Steelers,
I guess,
is fantastic.
as per usual.
But I really do think that
if James Washington
is not in your top
150, he should be now.
I agree.
Yeah, I think it's such a crowded
receiving core.
Smith-Juster is obviously
the clear go-to guy,
but Washington showed out
towards the end of the season last year
and he could end up being the number two there.
It's an injury that really hurts
his stock, especially early in the year.
Chargers.
Mike Williams,
he's a shoulder injury.
He's out two to four weeks,
according to head coach Anthony Lynn.
So the charges receiving depth gets thin, fast.
If Keeney and out and Mike Williams, but then they have the next guy up, believe it on us, Joe Reed, a fifth round rookie from UVA is like the next man up.
And the other guys are also rookies are like guys who have never heard of.
So one, I didn't like Mike Williams anyway for this season because I think that he doesn't really get separation in the shorter intermediate routes, which is what Tyra Taylor does.
Mike Williams is great for deep balls, which Tyra Taylor doesn't really throw.
And I don't trust Justin Herbert to be able to throw as a rookie.
I didn't like him when he was healthy.
Now he's hurt.
I basically wouldn't draft
Mike Williams at this point
unless he was like
he fell spectacularly.
So he's kind of out for me.
I don't really know what I think about Joe Reed
to be completely honest.
I don't think I'm drafting any charges.
Does this do anything to Hunter Henry or Austin Echler or Keenan Allen?
Who does this help the most?
I'd say probably Keenan Allen
just because now they're going to have to funnel
even more targets to him.
Maybe he gives him a slight bump up,
but like this is just one of those offenses.
It's probably going to be a pretty low volume
passing offense. They're probably going to try to run the ball a lot, slow things down,
play defense, you know, all that. It's just not an offense that I'm really targeting that much.
I think if you can get keen on, he's falling quite a bit, you know, based on, at least compared to last year.
So I think he potentially represents an interesting, like, value, but still, I'm probably not, like,
aggressively targeting him at this point. He's right now he's the wide receiver 20.
So, you know, I don't know. It's, it's, his ceiling just doesn't feel as high as, like, a lot.
of guys in that same range.
All right, let's get into our top 150 favorites.
These are, what, the lobsters?
Guys who've risen a lot for us?
The lobsters.
First, oh, lobster colors to start.
First up, Clyde Edwards-Air, D.K., please give us the honors.
Yeah, I mean, there's probably not a guy who's risen more rapidly over the last
couple of weeks, obviously with Damien Williams opting out that made things easy in terms
of projecting the depth chart for the chiefs.
You're getting a guy who is a first round pick, highly thought of prospect, in the best offense in the NFL, really good pass catcher.
Like all the things are there.
He checks a ton of boxes.
And the buzz has been building like crazy.
Yeah, Peter King on Monday talking about how you should draft Clyde Edwards-Rae in the first round of your fantasy draft.
Believe me, he says, you'll thank me for that tip on the LSU rookie.
And he went to Chief's Training Kemp for a week.
Yeah.
So he's really plugged in.
He's hearing, essentially that's saying he's talked to the coaches and everything and they're really excited about it.
Peter Schrager on Bleacher reports podcast with Adam Lefco said,
he even said, I'm pretty plugged in to KC,
and I might take CEH first overall based on what I'm hearing right now.
So, like, there's incredible buzz right now around this rookie.
The Chiefs GM Brett Veach actually texted Patrick Mahomes,
who we wanted in the draft, and Mahomes replied, Clyde.
So, yeah.
So I think all, like, everything lines up for.
Where would you take them?
So if McAfry's first, Sequins 2, where do you take him?
to me he's he's an easy first rounder
I'm still probably not going to take him over Camara or
you would take him over Dalvin Cook
I know you would yeah that's what I was thinking of
you would take him over Delvin Cook I'm not taking him over
Elie I'm not taking over Camara would you take him over Derek Henry
when you get into that Cook Henry Mixon Sanders tier I might take him over those guys
yeah would you take him over Michael Thomas
yeah because I'm probably not
I mean it depends on where you end up in your draft like what
where you are in the first round but
I probably, I'm not taking
Thomas and Clyde Edwards-A-Layer there.
Doesn't matter the pick.
Yeah, I'm taking Edwards-Clayer then.
I don't think I would be taken a receiver in the first round.
All right.
Cool beans.
Craig.
Yeah.
I'm up.
So one of the biggest risers for me is running back James Connor on the Steelers.
This is his fourth year in the league,
but really his third year coming up of actual playing time.
In his first year where he got playing time,
2018, he was the RB5 through week 13 until he got hurt.
last year he was the RB 7 in the first half of the season before getting hurt.
And this year he's going as the RB 20.
I currently have him as the running back 14.
Honestly, I don't even know why it's that low.
There's a strong group of running backs up top in the draft this year.
But I'm not worried about the Steelers backfield.
They drafted Anthony McFarland, who they said is kind of struggling right now in the offseason to pick up the offense and stuff like that.
I think Jalen Samuels might get cut.
And then they have Benny Snell, who Mike Tomlin has basically said,
is James Conner's backup. And Mike Tomlin, in an interview, has said, I'm a featured runner-type guy
by my mentality. I want a three-down back who can do everything. That's what he's done since he's been
a coach with Willie Parker, with Richard Mendenhall, with Levion Bell, and now with James Connor.
This is a contract year for James Connor. If he can stay healthy, and I know that's a big if,
he's a top-10 back. Yeah, but the nice thing is you don't have to get him in the first round this year.
You could get him, like right now he's the RB-22 according to ADP. You can get him in the
third, fourth round?
Like, that is a huge value.
If you knew James Connor could play 16 games,
where would you draft him?
Like right around where Josh Jacobs is?
Yeah.
So the second round.
That's what's amazing,
is that you can get him.
And again,
we talked about the crazy disparity
that Yahoo has him in the 20s
and ESPN has him in the 40s.
So especially when an ESPN league,
James Connor is like one of the best values
on the entire board.
I have them on Fantasy Pros
at RB20, DK, on half PPR.
I don't know where you're...
Okay, I was looking at at PPR,
but yeah.
So right around there.
Yeah.
Yeah, I love James Connor this year.
James Conner's a crazy value
He's amazing
One person who's risen for me
A lot is
D-Kare you ready
Are you sitting?
Yeah
Are you strapped in?
I almost can't believe
That this is the same guy
We talked about last year
And it's so different now
Marquis Brown
And the Baltimore Ravens
Now I know what you're thinking
We had a whole blood feud
About this last year
Now
I got some news for you
I didn't like Marquise Brown
last year
because he had a broken foot.
And now he doesn't have a broken foot.
The foot has been healed.
It healed.
There was surgery and everything.
So now I hear what you were saying last year.
Cool, cool.
First round pick, the first receiver drafted in 2019.
I don't think he ran an official 40.
His unofficial 40 was like three and a half seconds or two has said.
He's like a Ferrari.
I don't know the number.
It doesn't matter.
But the point is that he's the number one receiver,
even though technically the tight end Mark Andrew,
is the number one receiver in the team.
He's the number two.
He's clearly the best wide receiver the team has.
And overall, the Ravens are going to pass more because Lamar was 26 and past attempts last
year.
And their average lead is a team.
Their average lead is a team was a touchdown on average.
So that's not going to happen again.
So they're going to be passing more.
And when they do pass, they're going to be targeting receivers more because last year,
they targeted tight ends more than any team in football history, 42%.
And they've already said that now that Lamar is.
is a better passer.
They want the next level of his game to be deep throws.
That's like,
that is the Ravens coaching staff has said,
deep throws is the next frontier for Lamar's game.
Guess what?
That's what they drafted Marquis Brown for.
So they're going to be passing more often.
And when they pass,
they're going to be targeting deep receivers more.
It checks every box.
And then Marquise Brown as an individual also does.
He's fast,
which is something you want.
All the analytics about how he good he was as a rookie in limited time.
He,
I mean,
had 1.8 yards per route run,
which basically is really good when you have a broken foot.
And the foot's not broken.
And he went from 157 pounds to 180 with those three protein shakes a day.
So every box I want checked in Marquis Brown as a guy that right when you want to start looking for upside around like the 70th pick or so, I would draft him like 20 spots higher.
The other reason that I'm going to interject, I obviously agree with you completely.
So one of the reasons I loved him so much last year is because he's like the perfect fit for the Ravens offense, the specific offense at the Ravens run, which forces opposing teams to stack the box because they have to worry about Lamar Jackson.
a runner. They have such a dominant run game.
They do so much read option stuff, which
again, makes
one guy on the defense wrong no matter what
you're doing, right? Like, he can
just hold, Lamar Jackson can just
hold the defender, not even have to block him.
So it creates this whole problem
for defenses. So they have to stack the box.
And that means, obviously,
more room downfield for Mikeas Brown to operate.
But the other thing that I really like about him, too, that
you didn't mention, he's obviously a really good
deep threat, but he's also extremely
good after the catch. He's a really good
a good yak runner.
And that means they can use him on screenplays,
which is really like a big part of their offense.
They can use him on like endarounds and sweeps and things like that.
They can get involved in more ways than just like,
you know,
you're always a little bit nervous about like primary deep threat guys,
like the volume they're going to get.
But I think he can get extra targets,
extra carries,
you know,
extra looks just because he's really good after the catch two.
That was what he did at Oklahoma.
So yeah,
that was why I loved him so much last year.
It's just like the perfect fit for the offense.
When I look outside the top 20 receivers,
on rankings this year,
there are two guys that jump out at me
that could be in top five,
and I wouldn't be surprised.
One is Marquis Brown.
The other is Will Fuller on the Texas.
Yes, yes.
So, Dickey, you're the one who radicalized me
on Will Fuller, and you're right.
I'm not the only one on this bandwagon.
In fact, I think I've got to give credit to Evan Silva
for radicalizing me on Will Fuller.
Basically, it's like, I changed my mindset
because for a long time, I'm like,
man, he's just a pain in the end.
ass because he's always injured, but that's like, past, past performance doesn't necessarily
indicate future. A man never steps in the same river twice. Yeah, see, like, forget about the fear
around him getting hurt because he could legitimately be a top five, top three receiver. Like,
that's how good he is. It's going into an offense that is now without DeAndre Hopkins,
who takes, like, 10 targets a game away from that offense. Like, there's just so much potential
volume. That's the thing. His average draft position hasn't changed. He's basically been going 75th,
for the last two years.
And this year he's still going around there.
And DeAndre Hopkins gone.
It's like DeAndre Hopkins is still there.
And he would be ranked in the same spot.
It's basically everyone's so afraid of how often Will Fuller's been hurt that they're like,
well, he'll get hurt and I'll feel like an idiot.
So I don't want to rank him to why.
When in reality, again, the same thing with James Connor if he played 16 games.
If Will Fuller played 16 games, where would you want to draft him?
Really freaking high.
Yeah.
Five rounds higher.
So to me, he's the most obvious player on the board.
ceiling is like legitimately limitless.
He's a contract year guy.
Hat tip Craig because Craig Lewis
was a contract year guy.
I forgot about that.
And James Connor is too.
Yes, he is.
The other interesting thing is he worked with a movement coach
over the offseason.
So he said, per him,
he said he helped him focus on a lot of mechanics.
But the phrasing is hilarious.
Movement coach?
Can I find him on LinkedIn,
movement coach?
Dan Williams.
Isn't that called Kinesiology?
Yeah.
That sounds more official.
He probably describes himself as a movement coach.
He should be called like a kinesiology specialist.
The difference between a movement coach and a kinesiologist has to be at least $30,000 a year.
At least.
In the synonyms.
So, like, Connor McGregor has whatever, a movement coach like that.
It's like, it's how your body moves.
It's like flexibility.
I also have a movement coach.
Your motion and all that.
So anyways, so Fuller says he helped him focus on mechanical things that were kind of
holding him up, fix the way he runs in his posture and hopes that it will, quote,
fix a lot of the lower extremity injuries that I've been having.
So, I don't know.
what Steph Curry did when he kind of,
Steph Curry was kind of taught to run differently
to protect his ankles and it worked.
Obviously, Deshawn Watson's been hyping him up.
He says Will's going to ball out.
He's going to be one of the best receivers in the league.
He came back a lot stronger, a lot faster.
So I think Will Fuller,
if you have an auction draft,
if you have an auction draft with Will Fuller,
I think you should get him at any cost.
I completely agree.
Yeah.
Because he's so low on,
whether you're on ESPN or Yahoo, because he'll be pretty low.
He's not going to go for anything ridiculous.
I actually think no matter what, get him.
Because it will still be underpriced.
Yeah, write it out on a piece of paper, Will Fuller no matter what.
Does it matter?
15, 20, it doesn't just get him.
Doesn't matter.
Yeah, I could not agree more.
Also, like, he's had a lot of injuries in the NFL, but he didn't have a lot of, like,
injuries were not an issue in college.
It's just like, I think this is finally going to be the year for him.
Let's see.
Let's see how it goes.
Famous last words, four years and a row.
bro. All right. So our favorite
risers so far. Clyde Edwards
Alair on the Chiefs, Marquis Brown
and the Ravens, James Connor and the Steelers,
Will Fuller and the Texans. We're going to keep rolling here, but first,
why only watch one Sunday
out of market game when you can watch all of them?
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Fandul, more ways to win.
All right, speaking of more ways to win,
let's talk about more players that'll help you win.
Keeping up with our favorite risers,
lobsters from this season.
Craig, who's someone else that you just have fallen in love with this August?
So I'm really, really talking myself into Michael Gallup,
receiver on the Cowboys this year.
He's risen for me a lot over the past month.
Just kind of read more about it.
So in 2019, Michael Gallup was the wide receiver 16, and Amari Cooper was the wide receiver 13.
In 2020, Amari Cooper is the wide receiver 11 in ADP, and Michael Gallup is the wide receiver
25th year.
Last year, they finished three spots apart.
This year, they're 18 spots apart.
Michael Gallup's been really, really efficient as a wide receiver.
Last year, he was the number six wide receiver in receiving yards per game, as well as the number
10th wide receiver in yards per route run, which is a really sticky stat to use DK's phrase.
Coach Mike McCarthy's called him a number one receiver
and said he's been awesome this offseason.
I know that the Cowboys drafted C.D. Lamb,
but I don't see why he's going to take a chunk out of Michael Gallup's stat line
more than it will, Amari Cooper.
They lost Jason Whitten and Randall Cobb last year,
which is 166 targets now up for grabs.
Even if you could give C.D. Lamb 80 of those
and Blake Jarwin the remaining,
and Michael Gallup could have the same year,
and he'll be healthier this year.
I think him going as the wider receiver 29
and perhaps maybe the second or,
could be first best offense in football this year is a tremendous value.
I think Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup could be the discount version of Chris Godwin and Mike Evans.
We could see the Cowboys pass more this year too, right?
Like, I feel like they kind of were a little more conservative last year in the passing game,
a little more balanced.
Maybe now they'll be, or not conservative in the passing game, but conservative in philosophy,
like they ran the ball a ton.
And you can see things changing.
Dak Prescott ran less than he ever has last year because he,
he was throwing the ball so well.
Yeah, and I apologize,
there's a,
there's a recycling truck
outside my window right now.
Don't apologize for recycling.
The earth is dying.
We need to save it.
Yeah,
everyone should apologize
who is not recycling.
But no,
Michael Gallup,
I feel like Michael Gallup
came into my life as,
oh my God,
the deep threat on the Cowboys,
the fast person on the Dallas
receiving courts named Gallup.
That's hilarious.
And then to my surprise last year,
developed into,
not just a deep,
he's like,
he was really good all over the field
with all kind of routes
that,
at least,
I mean,
I'm pessimist,
but I quite frankly,
didn't think he'd be able to develop that early. And as Craig said, he was really efficient.
And I actually, but the only disagreement I have is not the Evans-Godwin thing. Well, I guess it depends
that you meant it. When I hear Edwin's Gavin, I think, oh, they could both be top five. But I guess
you mean it like, Gallup might be better than Amari Cooper. Is that what you're saying?
Well, I think that is certainly possible, but also I think that they could be top 10 wide receivers
each. Last year, Gallup played two less games than Amari Cooper and had only six less targets and
82 less yards. He's essentially Amari Cooper. See, I'm down on Amari Cooper because Amari Cooper has
just not been consistent. The weird thing with Amari Cooper is there's injury problems and even when
he's healthy is inconsistent, which is another level of worse. Well, the injury problems are weird because
I think he's only missed one or two games in his past three seasons. He just plays dinged up a lot.
That's very true. He plays through a lot of stuff and you could convince me he's a top five player
because he played all of last year with, he played through planter fasciitis. But also that
It wouldn't be shocking if you draft him thinking he's going to be a top 10 receiver and he's just top 20.
And it's fine.
And the separation, the separation between Gallup and Cooper and ADP is just way too big in my opinion because Gallup has such strong stand alone value.
And there's like that added little bonus of if something ever happened to Amari Cooper, Gallup would shoot up.
I mean, other guys going in his range, even guys going above him sometimes don't have that upside.
People like Adam Thielen, Juju, there's no injury that could vault them into another tier with Gallup.
That's not the case.
Dek, are there any receivers you like better than Michael Gallup?
Yeah, I'm really interested right now in Jalen Rager for the Eagles.
I think he's been a guy that has really started to show up over the last few weeks.
He's having an outstanding camp for the Eagles.
Obviously, there's a lot of available targets in that offense with, you know,
remember last year there were times where like Greg Ward was the number one guy there.
J.J.R. Sega White's Hay was like a non-factor for the most part.
Alshan Jeffrey was hurt.
Deshawn Jackson was hurt
Now he both of those guys are potentially back
Jackson especially but
Rager has a chance to kind of emerge as this
the number one guy in this offense potentially
He's not just a good deep he's not just a good
The number one receiver I should say
He's not just a good deep threat
He's also it's the same deal with Marquis Brown
He's like really good after the catch
They can use them on screens they can use them on
you know like mesh concept plays which I did a video about like last week for
the ringer.com
He's really he's like really strong athletes
explosive athlete who can get deep and go across the field.
So I really like him.
I'm just going to read a few blurbs from Twitter,
basically the steady drumbeat for Jalen Rager being like a breakout star this year.
Elliot Shore Park's first day of camp tweet,
Jalen Rager looks like a combo of Sean Jackson and Jeremy Macklin.
John Clark.
Jalen Rager is very active,
catching every ball thrown to him from Carson Wentz,
a lot over the middle too.
And then from Jimmy Kemsky the other day,
if you're an alien and you landed on the Eagles practice field having no idea who anybody was,
you could easily identify Jalen Rager as having superior physical ability above all other players on the field.
Rager is going to start from day one.
Right now he's the wide receiver of 51.
So like easy, easy late round target for me.
And I think he's probably going to rise up quite a bit more before the beginning of the season.
But in terms of rookie receivers, he might be my favorite rookie receiver right now.
in terms of like year one, year one, like, production.
I disagreed with you when you started speaking,
and then now you're done, I agree with you.
Well done.
So it was a good pitch, in other words.
I mean, you can't ignore, like, honestly,
you can't ignore what you're hearing from camp.
Well, you can if it doesn't fit your biases.
The whole point of training camp is it's all useless noise
unless it just affirms what you previously believed.
Otherwise, just precese, who cares?
Yeah.
So much bias confirmation going on.
So yeah.
It's just, yeah, I have, my mind has filtered out everything that questions my, my beliefs.
Okay.
Speaking of which, something that I believed and I still believe and I just need to reiterate.
I don't know what broken record is.
Like, I'll just be on repeat.
The Falcons.
All the Falcons are underrated.
Maybe Julio Jones is a little and Todd Gurley, but everyone else in the team is so underrated.
Atlanta led the league in past attempts last year.
And looking at their schedule, they're probably going to do it again.
It's par for the course for their offense with Matt Ryan.
and their offensive coordinator,
they're going to throw as much as anyone this year.
And then you combine that with Warren Sharp.
It's a very smart guy,
ranks their schedule as they're facing the toughest pass offenses
in the NFL of any team.
So not only the Falcons want to throw as much as any team in the NFL,
they're actual games,
because when you're losing or in a shootout,
you're going to pass more.
They're probably going to be more shootouts than any other team.
So you have game script and offensive philosophy combining to
the Falcons are going to pass a lot.
then you combine that Matt Ryan is the San Francisco Giants of the NFL
because Matt Ryan in even years has been the number two quarterback.
So he's primed to do it again.
Matt Ryan's an unbelievable value.
Then you go down the line.
Hayden Hurst is the tight end to replace Austin Hooper.
Austin Hooper was the number one tight end through 10 weeks.
I want to say that again.
Austin Hooper was the number one tight end through 10 weeks.
He's gone and Hayden Hurst is replacing him.
And Hayden Hurst is expected to play more snaps than Austin Hooper.
so Haydenhurst is going like outside the top 10 tight ends that's crazy I want Haydenhurst in every league I'm playing in and then Calvin Ridley who I know Craig says that Amaric Cooper Michael Gallup might be the Godwin at Mike Evans thing from last year I think if there is a version of that where two guys are in the top five or six to me it's Julio and Calvin Ridley because Julio Jones is Julio Jones and there's something to be said for professionalism and like the NFL players NFL player in a pandemic where there's a lot about a mental grind I want Julio Jones and then Calvin Ridley is just every.
points to the Falcons have the most targets up for grabs of any team in the NFL.
They don't really have a good third receiver.
I think Calvin Ridley is the beneficiary of that.
His route running is better.
So Ridley, Julio, Haydenhurst, Matt Ryan, the whole Falcons team, I want all of them.
And much like Michael Gallup, Calvin Ridley has that added bonus of, if anything were to happen
to the number one receiver on the team, a guy who has a little bit of an injury history, he would
immediately jolt up to a top seven wide receiver.
Calvin Ridley's a guy that I would be comfortable drafting late 20s, early 30s that you can get in like the fifth round.
So I love Calvin.
I think the Hayden Hearst thing I think is very, very interesting.
We're higher on them, I think, than consensus.
And, you know, so maybe there's a little bit of that bias going in.
But like, I was talking to Will McFadden, who's a reporter for the Falcons yesterday.
And we were talking about kind of the differences between Hearst and Austin Hooper.
And he was saying, you know, obviously Hooper had more experience in the offense.
and chemistry and all that.
But like, when he watches Hearst,
like, he looks pretty quick.
He's like,
he's like a more athletic tight end than Hooper, I think.
Hooper is kind of just like,
I'm not going to call him just a guy because he's obviously.
No, go ahead.
Call him just a guy.
Craig was, like, naughty.
He's what he's wanting.
He's like, yes, let's do this.
Craig get bullied by just a guy.
I did not get bullied.
That is a new narrative that you got struck out by him, maybe.
No, I struck him out.
Oh, okay.
Anyway, for people that are,
are unaware of the inside joke. Craig
went up against Austin Hooper in
Little League baseball. And we went to middle school
together and played intramarals.
Anyhow, I'm pretty excited about Hayden Hurst.
I mean, obviously, Dirk Cotter is...
Dirk Cudder has... He's featured tight ends
in his offense quite a bit. That was a huge reason
that Hooper was such a big part of that offense last year.
I think Hurst has an outstanding opportunity
to kind of be one of these breakout tight ends.
So we have him on the Ringer Fantasy Football Guide
as our tied end to eight,
and he is currently being drafted
according to Fantasy Bros.,
the tight end 13.
There you go.
Yeah, draft Haydenhurst.
Okay.
See, he's remade my favorite guy.
Do you guys have any other people
that you've kind of stayed true on?
Yeah, well, I don't know if this is stayed true
or I've actually been kind of,
this person has shined through the darkness
into the light for me,
who I've never been into, really ever,
is Tyler Lockett,
and I'm really into Tyler Lockett this year,
receiver on the Seahawks.
So he's only,
really been a starter for two years. In 2018, he played his first real season as a starter
alongside Doug Baldwin. He had 10 touchdowns that year. He was the wide receiver 15. Then,
last year, finally without Doug Baldwin, he was the wide receiver five before suffering a shin
contusion in week 10. After the injury, he was the wide receiver 52. So clearly it affected him.
And he's getting drafted right. Yeah, to interject the shin contusion,
shin contusion does not do it justice. He had, he had what's called. He had, they feared he
had compartment syndrome, which is like really serious injury.
Yeah, he got flown like on the Seahawks private jet to the hospital.
Yes, yes.
So that was a serious injury.
So, but he did come back and play.
But it clearly affected him because he was the wide receiver 502.
He was kind of just the decoy from there on out.
And so right now he's getting drafted as the wide receiver 19.
So the only two years he's ever been a starter, he has been the wider receiver 15 and then
widerseer 5.
And now he's getting drafted as 19.
Wilson and Tyler Lockett have the best connection in football.
And with less practice time than ever,
you can get the best connection in football in, what, the fourth or fifth round?
Yeah, he scores, he's at 18 touchdowns in his last 32 games.
You know, he may not be as sexy as other guys,
but I think he's got the upside of all the dudes you can draft ahead of him.
And it's not like the Seahawks added any really past catchers.
I mean, their running backs don't have a lot of pass-catching ability.
Their tight-end situation is Danny Kelly.
will dislebe.
Will D.K.
I'm really glad you mentioned this because I'm really high on Lockett, too.
I'm really high on DK. Metcalf as well.
I just think both of those guys are going to eat up the vast, vast majority of the passing game.
And I think the Seahawks, I'm not going to go out on a limb and say they're going to let Russ cook this year.
But I do think they are going to be forced to pass a little bit more than they were last year.
I think the game script is going to be like a little bit more dependent on that.
Oh, I guess my point is it doesn't matter.
Like they didn't, the Seahawks threw the ball to 30 seconds.
The Seahawks threw the ball the 32nd and 23rd most in the last two years.
Yeah.
And Lockett was the 15 and 5 wide receiver ranked in the last two years.
So even if he doesn't let Russ Cook, Lockett could still be better than his ADP suggests.
He's so underrated.
He's one of seven receivers to score 225 points in each of the last two seasons.
Saw that from Curtis Patrick.
And the other guys are like elite guys.
Michael Thomas, DeAndreis, Jondry Hopkins, Julio, Keenan, Mike Evans.
He's criminally underrated.
Robert Woods.
Bobby Trees.
on Tyler Lockett.
Well, we can't actually talk about our favorite players in the 150 without a quick shout
to Bobby Trees.
We don't do the whole thing again, but as Craig said, Bobby Trees is Cinderella.
He's a top 10 receiver in 2018.
We were all convinced that if he had a more interesting name that he would be better,
don't forget, Troy Aikman called him the best receiver in football when Michael Thomas
existed.
So Robert Woods had two touchdowns last year on 139 targets.
I believe the only people who have had that many targets with just two touchdowns.
It's like eight times in the 21st century.
So touchdowns are completely random
because you're talking about one or a few plays
and a 70 play sample of a game.
Robert Woods is going to have more touchdowns
and is the most boring player
who will be a top 10 receiver.
Yeah,
if you want to have a boring team that plays really well,
draft Tyler Lockett and Robert Woods.
It's on.
Totally.
Straight up the,
I would not be surprised
if the best teams this year
are just combos of teams
that make various picks in the first three rounds
and then get Woods and locket back to back
or lock it woods,
whatever you have to do.
It's as good as you can do.
All right.
On that, let's go a little more off-the-grid guys that we love for this season, but a little later in drafts.
D.K., you're the tape grinder, the diamond in the rough finder.
Yeah, this is the really late.
This is the last pickier draft type guy.
Scotty Miller from the Buccaneers.
You know, clearly he's Scott or Scotty?
It's Scotty, who I, by the way, I really respect that.
You know, I changed my name to Danny as an adult.
It's such a slot receiver name, Scotty.
A lot of people thought he was Scott Miller, which is, you know, you know,
serious and not very fun-loving.
But then Scotty Miller just sounds like,
you know, it's just a fun-loving guy.
Yeah, we stuck with Danny, so I guess we can't give any.
But yeah, so he's been having,
he's been getting a lot of hype in camp.
And he's kind of like the Andy Isabella, the Buccaneers.
He had like three or four really intriguing plays as a rookie.
But like he fought injuries.
He just didn't really get a chance.
Like, obviously he's behind Godwin and Evan,
so that's a big deal.
Usually I don't like explaining jokes.
I'm glad you explain that joke because I didn't get it.
What joke?
Andy Isabella of the Buccaneers.
I had no idea what the hell you meant by that.
I wasn't joking.
That's a deep cut fantasy jokes.
Scott,
I don't know what the hell you meant by that.
You people aren't living in my like dynasty 33 man roster world right now.
No, I'm glad you elaborated.
That's all.
Please continue.
Tell us about Scott.
Regardless.
Scottie doesn't know.
I don't even care what he did last year because what he's doing in camp is very intriguing.
Again, he's a last round pick.
He's a super sleeper.
So don't yell at me if he doesn't emerge.
But.
Just going by what beat reporters and national reporters are saying,
I think he's definitely really interesting.
Peter King mentioned him in his article the other day,
quote, the coaches love him, quote,
he's scratching and clawing his way into serious plans here,
year two, or here, two years removed from the mid-American conference.
He went to Bowling Green, by the way, which is really random.
Of course he did.
Jeremy Fowler, Brady to Scotty Miller will be a thing this year.
Jenna Lane from ESPN.
Also, Scottie Miller is getting a lot of it.
attention on these quick outs.
Carmen Vitale, the Bucks reporter.
You know Scottie Miller from his speed, but I just watched him cut so
quickly on a route one-on-one, said he gave himself
probably three yards of separation. Easy toss from Brady for the
completion. So he'll be Brady's James White. Is that what we're
saying? Well, there's a lot of people that are making
the receiver. He, the West Welker,
the West Welker slash Julian Edelbin comp.
Short white guy.
Yeah. But he's actually closer
in style to John Brown. If you're talking about the
Bruce Ariens' offense. He's like the guy that can take the lid off the defense. And don't forget, John Brown, I mean, I'm not saying he's going to have a thousand yards, but John Brown had a thousand yards in 2015 playing on the same offense as Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd was a first round pick. So in theory, like, if he can emerge as this field stretching, big play guy, obviously he's had a lot of chemistry.
Bruce Aaron's offenses you're saying have done. Yes.
And he's had a lot of buzz as a guy over the middle of the field for Tom Brady. They have like this chemistry developing. So I don't know.
He's one of these guys.
Last round pick, you know, you could do worse in terms of taking a fly around this guy.
I think the Buccaneers' offense has been been in any fantasy sport, a person named Scotty
that was drafted Bull Bowie before?
That's a good question.
So we go back to like Scotty Pippen.
And even that was like, he had the I.E.
He didn't have the why.
Oh, by the way, Chris Godwin asked who the fastest player on the Bucks roster is, I quote,
I definitely got to go with my boy, Scotty Miller.
Wow.
But he's so fast.
I mean, Scottie Miller was hugely, hugely productive in college.
I would have led with that part, D.K.
I know you started with that.
Andy Isabella, I would have led with, he's the fastest player on the team with Tom Brady.
Dude, Andy Isabella is fast as hell too, man.
Come on.
Get your 33 man dynasty rosters in order.
Okay.
I'm going to, I have another player that I like in my 150.
I have a little simpler explanation.
Damien Harris running back for the Patriots.
I don't care.
This is an easy one.
On repeat for that.
It's really simple.
I think he's going to be the starting running back for the New England Patriots.
No one has figured this out yet.
You should draft Damien Harris.
You should keep him to yourself.
Don't tell your friends about him.
And then in like week three, when he runs for 150 yards and scores two touchdowns and everyone's like, what the hell happened?
No, Sony Michelle, you can just cackle.
But he's basically going outside the top 12 rounds and he's going to start for the Patriots.
And the other person has wanted to shout as Eto Smith for the Falcons because Todd Gurley is limping at Falcons practice every day.
And Eto Smith is the top running back and he's not really.
ranked anywhere, but he's the top guy in the Falcons backfield. So those are two gems for you.
It's tough. The Falcons backfield is tough because Edo Smith and Brian Hill, I think, are like
neck and neck in terms of... Well, that's not quite the phrase because Edo Smith missed last year
with a neck injury, but I know what you're going for. Yeah, sorry, that was not intentional.
Right. You've got to be sleepers. Yeah, so two more guys who were at the bottom of my top 150 who
worked their way up in the last month is Chris Herndon, who we've talked about before.
But if this is your first time listening to the Ring your Fantasy Football Show, welcome.
I'm Craig.
So Herndon, this is his third year as a tight end.
He had a great rookie season,
one of the best in the last decade, really,
amongst all rookie tight ends.
And then last year he was suspended and hurt
for most of the year,
which is why no one's drafting him.
He's going as the tight end 27.
That is literally insane.
The Jets have reported that they cannot wait
to unleash Chris Herndon.
He's one of the only guys in the team
who has a connection with Sam Darnold,
other than James and Crowder.
There are other two pass catchers,
Denzel Mims,
rookie they drafted is currently sidelined with an injury.
Brashad Paraman, who knows what's going on with him.
And that's pretty much it.
The most common breakout tight ends are usually in their second or third year and
they're guys who are really, really athletic.
Herndon fits the mold.
Love him.
Plus he did it as a rookie.
And he did it as a rookie.
He was great.
So love Herndon.
I think he's an, like if you really want to go late tight end, he is a fantastic last
round pick.
And then my second guy who I also just cannot believe is still going so low is
wide receiver Preston Williams and the Dolphins.
The Miami Herald reported on him during training camp.
They said he's back and based on the six training camp practices open to reporters,
he's potentially better than ever.
He's still big, fast, jumps high, catches touchdown passes.
Fitzpatrick said that he's a unique player of unique physical abilities, height, weight, speed, nimble.
He was so good before getting hurt last year as a rookie.
And he got drafted late for off-field issues in the NFL draft.
And he was essentially exactly as good as Devonte Parker last year.
And he's going as the wide receiver 56, not dementia.
that two other players, Alan Hearns and Albert Wilson, correct me if I'm wrong, opted out of the season.
And it's pretty much just Preston Williams, Devante Parker, and Mike Kosicki.
The guy has the potential to be a top 20 wider season.
You've also buried the lead here, which is that you were the number one Devante Parker fan last year.
You've dumped him.
Just completely dropped him from your radar for Preston Williams.
Well, wasn't the whole point that he was super underrated last year and now he's properly rated?
I'm just saying that you have flipped band.
wagons. You have sold high and you bought the dip. That's what's going on here.
I created a startup. I sold it to a big corporation and now I have a new startup.
There you go. I like this one too. Preston Williams is one of those. When we talked about,
we've talked about anchoring a couple times, a couple podcasts where people just get so hung up on
the fact that he was undrafted that it's like you can't imagine that he would be like a star receiver type player.
And DK, what was he like coming out of high school going into college?
And he was extremely highly touted, wasn't he?
I don't remember offhand exactly what his rating was coming out of high school.
I do know that he was getting buzz as a first round receiver at Colorado State.
However, there was off-field stuff that clearly made him fall.
And then also, he didn't like test super well in the pre-draft process.
So like those two things together, he just kind of fell off teams radar.
But he was getting like going into his final.
season in college.
Like, people were talking about him as a potential first rounder.
He was a starting fantasy wide receiver last year when he was healthy.
Yeah.
And he was astoundingly productive again at Colorado State, too.
So, like, there's a lot to like about him in terms of his potential.
I think it's worth putting a button on all this with, so these are our favorite players in the 150, or at least our favorite risers.
And what's worth tying a thread through is a lot of these guys have one thing in common, which is they're coming off injuries.
and a lot of what we're talking about here is players who there's a recency bias of,
oh, they're hurt, so I don't want them.
James Connor is someone who hasn't been healthy last year,
even though he's presumably the three down back for the Steelers offense going way late.
Will Fuller has always been hurt.
People don't want him even though Hopkins has gone.
Tyler Lockett was, as you guys said, a top five receiver before he had a horrible injury.
Now he's healthy again.
Preston Williams, Chris Herndon.
Markis Brown.
Markies Brown.
Yeah, exactly.
guys who were hurt last year,
missed time played through injuries,
and now we're basically saying
are huge bargains.
Is that something that,
as long as these guys stay healthy
in training camp,
is that kind of like the number one thing
you're seeing this season of like,
that's the,
like,
of all the recency biases we think about.
It's usually just,
this guy sucked,
he might be better,
but rarely do we think of it as
this guy got hurt last year,
but no,
it's the injury price is baked in.
James Connor,
yeah,
he might get hurt,
but he's worth it as a fifth round
running back for three-down players.
So what do you guys think of just,
the kind of automatic discount
we give injured players.
Are you worried about the risk
of plugging so many injured guys
versus the reward of having guys
who could be healthy and just out of value?
We're playing football.
Everybody's injury prone.
Everyone's one tackle away
for being injury prone.
I think if you can get a discount
on somebody who's extremely talented,
it's worth it.
Maybe don't build your entire team
of injury guys.
But even if a guy does miss a game or two,
it's not like he's necessarily out for the entire season.
I think, yeah, it's like it's a sharp move to like buy that value
because a lot of people are just like avoiding these guys because of narrative.
Like an injury prone, like honestly, I don't even really buy into the idea that players are injury prone.
It's just bad luck with like most cases.
Yeah, it's injury prone.
Look, there's a difference.
Sometimes what gets conflated is that injuries, some injuries are related, some or not.
Like it's different when it's Todd Gurley where the knee problem he has is, it's the same problem.
over and over again.
We don't like talking about this year.
It's degenerative injury.
Yeah.
Versus someone like Tyler Lockett.
Yeah, exactly.
Preston Williams with the ACL injury.
So really, I just think that it's important to remember that guys who were hurt last year, the injury prone label is one of the key drivers of value.
By the way, one last thing on Preston Williams, I went back and looked at his rivals.
He was a four-star recruit offered by, and he started out as Tennessee before transferring.
So he was offered by Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, and Cleveland.
in and committed to Tennessee
before transferring to Colorado State
finished out.
And at Colorado State,
his last season, he had 96 catches,
1,345 yards, and 14 touchdowns.
He was just like absurdly productive.
So, yeah, just keep that in mind.
I mean, like, he's not just some random UDFA.
He's like a really talented player
that just kind of fell through the cracks or whatever.
All right, those are our favorite risers from the top 150?
Lobsters?
Love lobsters.
They're great.
Although, honestly, any food they're,
that you pay that much money for,
you shouldn't have to lather in butter.
That's ridiculous.
I think lobster's overrated.
You shouldn't have to lather it in butter.
If you pay $45 for market price and you're,
all right,
now you got to cover it in butter.
If it was good,
you wouldn't need the butter.
Crab is better than lobster.
Also,
oh my God,
please.
It's all my God.
All right,
let's get out of here.
Thank you, D.E.K.,
thank you, Craig.
Thank you to the lobsters,
the spiders of the sea.
Consider the lobster.
Shout out DFW.
Thank you to everyone for listening.
We'll see you guys.
on Wednesday.
No.
You guys on Monday.
You get it wrong every time.
Because we record it.
Today, I don't know what day it is.
I get confused.
The problem during the pandemic
is not that you don't know what day it is.
The problem is you find out
and it doesn't matter.
Anyway, we'll see you guys
next week.
There will be more episodes.
