The Ringer NFL Show - QBs Matter Again in Fantasy Football! Our Top QB Targets in 2021

Episode Date: June 22, 2021

We open the show by discussing the stigma around drafting QBs early in fantasy football drafts. Is it finally time to abandon the theory that QBs don’t matter and that waiting to draft one in the later rounds is the best strategy? We answer this question before offering up our favorite QB targets and favorite sleepers for the 2021 season. Lamar Jackson, Ravens (9:14) Jalen Hurts, Eagles (18:54) Joe Burrow, Bengals (28:16) Ryan Tannehill, Titans (33:36) Matthew Stafford, Rams (37:00) Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars (41:50) Justin Fields, Bears (47:44) Trey Lance, 49ers (52:18) Daniel Jones, Giants (52:56) Drew Lock, Broncos (55:32) Taysom Hill, Saints (58:37) Check out our new top 150 half-PPR 2021 fantasy rankings here! Email us: [e-mail]. Hosts: Danny Kelly and Craig Horlbeck Producer: Craig Horlbeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if the Len Bias story hosted by Jordan Ritter-Con is the ringer's latest narrative podcast. You can find new episodes every Wednesday on the Book of Basketball 2.0 feed. Here's a quick trailer. You've heard his name, Lynn Bias, 1980s phenom, second pick in the NBA draft. And then, cocaine, tragedy, one of the most shocking deaths in sports history. 35 years later, Bias' legacy is still making an impact. From Spotify and the Ringer Podcast Network, this is What If, the Lynn Bias story. I'm Jordan Ritter-Con.

This is the Ringer Fantasy Football Show. My name is Danny Kelly, and I am joined today by the one and only, the third string quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers, Craig Horlebeck. Craig, how you doing, buddy? Nicely done, D.K., took up an intro. Hyvitz is gone. Yeah, for our regulars. Danny Hyvitz is on vacation this week.

That's why you're hearing my voice first. So Craig and I, you know, we're just going to soldier on. without him and we're just going to do the same thing. We broke down last week our top past catching targets for 2021. Now mind you, these are our early targets. Mid-summer, you know, things could change. We could get enamored with other players. These are our mid-sumar quarterback targets.

I've actually never seen that movie, by the way, but I understand it's horrific. I will never watch it. It looks so scary. So last week we did the top past catching targets. This week, we are going to move two quarterbacks, which is obviously a juicy conversation, lots of, lots of very interesting aspects of it. I think first off, like, let's just start with who is the QB1 this year. Like, who is the top guy in your mind? Is it just the obvious answer, Mahomes? It's a really hard conversation to have, honestly. Like, I think it's harder than it's been

in, like, the past few years. I kind of think there's two options. There's the safe pick and the risky pick. The safe pick is Mahomes. I think the risky pick is Kyler Murray. And it's not really risky, but it's like, that's like the sexier pick, you know what I mean? Totally. So I think the Mahomes thing is interesting because he is not as much of a rushing quarterback as I'd say like the rest of the top tier of quarterbacks are. He's not going to be a guy that they're designing run game stuff around. They're not running the read option, generally speaking with him.

He's more of a scrambler. I've heard the term tactical scrambler thrown around in the fantasy realm. Sure. Fantasy realm. So he would, I think, fall under that category, but he's just such a damn good passer that you're getting that floor. You're getting the floor and the ceiling with Mahomes. However, you know, when it comes to like Josh Allen,

Kyler Murray, you know, and then we can name a couple other guys, which we'll talk about on the show, obviously Lamar Jackson. Rushing is such a big, big part of their game. It's like a, you know, just you're talking about a thousand-yard potential rushers with Lamar Jackson. Kyler Murray last year before he hurt his shoulder and things kind of tapered off for them. He was basically the wide receiver won

Or sorry, the quarterback won because he was rushing so often. He was better than Lamar's 2019 season. He was on pace to break Lamar's season. Yeah, I think he had 10 touchdown, 10 rushing touchdowns in his first 10 games of last season. And then obviously, they kind of,

they pulled back on the reins a little bit because he had hurt his shoulder and things definitely fell apart from there from. But I think what you're talking about is, Caler Murray, if things get back to how they were earlier, so they used him a lot in the, in the red zone especially. That's why he was scoring so many rushing touchdowns, I think.

And he's just that RC car speed where it's just you blink and he's gone. He's not like a Cam Newton going to dive over the pile kind of guy. He's just like they spread things out. And then, you know, the defense essentially just can't account for as many players as they have, you know, downfield. So, yeah, I guess, you know, there is no easy answer to who the quarterback won is in 2021 right now per our rankings, the top 150. we have Mahomes at 46,

Josh Allen at 48, and Kyler Murray at 50. So there's this really tight little tier there. And I think any way you put it, I wouldn't really even like blink an eye if you had things differently there. I'm already changing, like the way I thought about quarterback two weeks ago

or three weeks ago when we made these rankings. Like, I already think I'm going to kind of like reshuffle some things. I think that, I mean, we've talked about it on this pot a bunch. J.J. Zacharison's pod is called the late round QB podcast. like the idea behind drafting a quarterback late was very popular in like the analytical fantasy community. Everyone was like, wait on QB, you don't need it. Like the QB, just draft Matt Ryan.

I feel like we've said that. Just draft Matt Ryan. Just draft Matt Stafford. Like, you'll be fine. Don't waste your fourth round pick on whoever and, you know, potentially lose out on a league winning running back, like a James Connor who could explode, you know, like he did a few years ago. The opportunity cost was just so great, yeah.

That is no longer the case. quarterback, I think, matters now. The stigma needs to change. Like, it's because of the running. You talk about all the time, the Konami code. Quarterbacks just score more points than they used to, and they score more points compared to, like, the average quarterback. And I think that's what's the biggest difference.

I went back and I looked at the last 10 years of quarterback scoring. And since the emergence of, like, Deshaun Watson in 2017, Holmes in 18, Lamar in 19, Kyler in 2020, quarterbacks didn't really explode like this other than the Manning year in 2013. the difference between the best guy and the average guy wasn't that big, which is why you would wait on quarterback. And so I actually,

so I did the math here, so the difference between the quarterback one and the quarterback 12th, the best quarterback and the 12th best quarterback over the last 10 years, it's wide. The gap has gotten so much bigger. In 2012, the quarterback one average 21 points a game, and the quarterback 12 average 16.

There's a five point difference. Yeah, yeah. And you're talking like 10 round difference between drafting these guys or something, you know? And it's like five points, big freaking deal. In 2019 and 2020, the quarterback one average 28 a game and the quarterback 12 average 18, a 10 point difference. So that's it. I mean, that's like the whole thing right there. And running backs and wide receivers I checked have pretty much stayed the same. Oh, that's

interesting. Quarterbacks should just go higher now because the elite group, the top tier are so much better than the rest because they run. And I think eventually there will be 12 to 15 Kyler Murray's and DeShahn Watson's and Russell Wilson's and then it'll even back out again. Yeah, yeah. But right now we're in that transition period. Yeah, and I've been a long-term subscriber to the late-round quarterback idea. Like you said, in the old days, you can get,

you know, Philip Rivers in the later rounds, and he just does just fine for you. Yeah, yeah. But now with, you know, with that running ability, and when you mentioned the codenomic code, basically what that alludes to is quarterback rushing is essentially a cheat code in fantasy football because the scoring settings

favor rushing. In other words, a passing touchdown in most standard like scoring leagues is four points. Thank God. Hyphitz isn't here.

I know. He would just be losing his mind. He just cannot grapple with the facts. He's like they're both touchdowns. They should be the same points. Can you just play Hyphitz?

Like, just be Hyphitz right now. I don't know. I don't lose my mind over this. Daniel Jones is the greatest quarterback the Giants have ever seen. Yeah. No, but anyways, you know, so passing touchdowns are four points, rushing touchdowns are six points. Quarterback, obviously, you know, the rushing yards are worth more than passing yards in most scoring settings.

So that's where the Konami code comes from. That's why it is a quote-unquote cheat code, even though, you know, Hyphitz is just out of his mind upset about everything. Like, this isn't changing. Like, they're not going to automatically just change the rules of the fantasy football. However, yeah, basically at the end of the... the day, it does make these rushing quarterbacks, the quote, dual threat quarterbacks, so much more valuable, you know, in fantasy. And relative to the top passers in the NFL, even like a Tom Brady, like, who is one of the elite passers in the game still. Like, he's not going to add that rushing ability.

So let's just get into it. I think we're going to separate this out first into two things, basically our top targets, then some late-round sleepers that were really excited about maybe, like, grabbing as our quarterback two, you know, in a one quarterback league, just like the backup option or whatever. Just take a flyer on some of these guys. But first, let's do our top targets. Basically, these are the guys that we think have that league winning upside or or are like incredible values. So why don't you kick it off? Well, so yeah, top targets is interesting because it's not like sleepers. Like the people we mention are not like, not all of them are going to be like

19th best quarterback like Drew Locke. No, like I'm starting with Lamar because he's our quarterback five, which I think is too low. Part of that is because of me. He feels like such a value this year. It's crazy. I totally agree. Totally agree. He's one year removed from the greatest quarterback fantasy season of all time. He had 421 points. Yeah. Which was 73 more than any other

quarterback that year. And then even if you go back to last year, I mean, he was the QB8 and points per game, which is fine. It was disappointing because he went one or two overall. But I feel like the big talk was his quarterback or his touchdown rate. It was like, oh, he threw 9% touchdown rate in 2019. He'll never be able to do again. Well, he threw

6.9 last year, which was tied for third in the league. Yeah. Still highly efficient. I mean, he was still highly efficient quarterback, or sorry, touchdown throwing quarterback. His, I would say, overall efficiency numbers probably weren't super great, but like, I think that there is a lot of

variables at play. I'll let you finish your take here, but I think there's a lot of signs pointing to a improvement this year for Lamar Jackson in my mind. Well, one, you know, their offense, the skill set around him hasn't been great. They've added Sammy Watkins, you know, whatever you think about that is your own opinion.

Watkins is fine. And they added Rashad Bateman, who could end up being like a number one guy. Their best offensive lineman, Ronnie Staley was hurt last year. He was out. Stanley? Ronnie Stanley. Stanley. He missed half the season. He'll be back.

But with Lamar, he has that, he's the only quarterback ever to rush for a thousand yards back-to-back years. He just has that safety. You know, he's only had less than 16 and a half fantasy points four times since he's become the starter, which is insane. I mean, Sequin Barclay hasn't had a good year since his rookie year, and every year we put him in the top three. And Lamar is already out of the top three,

and he had like one above average year. He just didn't play at a Hall of Fame pace, and he's already not in people's top threes. So, yeah, take it away. Why do you think Lamar's value? So, yeah, I mean, I think, number one, the big worry, or there's a couple big worries with Lamar Jackson. Everybody remembers, like, the egregious overthrows

towards the sideline that he'll make, and that's, like, still a legit. concern. I think, you know, his accuracy downfield, especially on outside the hashes, has been a little bit hit and miss in his first couple years. And then obviously the other thing that people are still, I think people might still be worried about this. I don't know. I can't get in their heads, but

he's kind of skinny. And people are worried he's going to get hurt, right? They're going to worry that, they're worried that he's like too fragile or something. Did you read that article on fantasy points? I think Scott Barrett wrote it about running quarterbacks and getting injured? I think that was yes, I did read that.

I think it was not Scott. I couldn't. I can't remember at the top of my head. It was, I think, Dr. Edwin. His point was that there's literally no evidence to show that running quarterbacks get hurt more than non-mobile quarterbacks. And that's actually the other way. You pretty much get hurt more standing in the pocket and taking sacks than you do as a rusher, because as a rusher, you are, like, aware of what's going on and you're ducking out of bounds and you're diving and you know when the hit is coming. Meanwhile, you're in the pocket and you're turned around and you tackle blue an assignment and you just get clocked and, like, tear your ankle or something like that.

Or like someone pushes your left tackle into you and he falls on your knee and it's like 350 pounds on your knee or whatever. So yeah, it does make sense. So it was Dr. Edwin-Pora's. I believe it was him who put it together. And I think it's absolutely like it just, it's logical, you know. The pocket is a dangerous place to be, honestly, in terms of like there's bodies flying around, especially at your lower body.

I mean, like, look at what happened to like Joe Burrow. Like, I can see that's happening to Tom Brady more than. than I can, Lamar. Like, Lamar seems to be like he would be in that position way less times than somebody like Tom Brady, who's just standing there like a statue. Yeah. I think Lamar, too, is just, he's got a knack. And I know that that's, like, not a scientific way of putting it, but he's got a knack for

getting tackled where it doesn't ever really look like he gets hit that hard, you know? And he's like, he'll slip a guy at the last second, so he just doesn't get blown up. Like, some quarterbacks just get absolutely annihilated, and Lamar Jackson doesn't. And then the other thing I think that's just really important. to remember is we did not think Josh Allen was going to make a jump as a passer in year three last year. Not to say that every bad passer now is going to turn into this elite pastor like Josh Allen did. Obviously, that's not how it works. Yeah, he's tricked all.

He's brainwashed all of us. I'm hyper aware of that, that Josh Allen was the outlier and that Lamar Jackson isn't automatically going to do that. However, I will say that Lamar Jackson, I do think the team has, you know, done what exactly what the bills did. in putting weapons around their quarterback to help him, to make his job easier, to give him more support. Obviously, the run game is a huge, huge part of the Ravens offense, and they've done everything in the last few years to really bolster that and make it good. They have a good offensive line, all that.

That's not changed. However, they have spent two out of the last three first round picks on receivers. They are telling us, this isn't us reading tea leaves and being like, and hoping, you know, like, oh, if Lamar Jackson, and I really just hope he turned. This is the opposite of the Green Bay Packers draft strategy. Yes, exactly. They're telling us they want to be more efficient at passing and better at passing.

They know what they can do on the ground. They know that they're going to basically have the best run game in the NFL, you know, even before the year starts, we know that's going to be the case because they have Lamar Jackson. They've, their offense is just, you know, geared towards that. However, I do think it does matter that they went out and had Sammy Watkins, who I'm not a big, I'm not a believer, you know, get that out. It's fine. I think he's fine.

But, I mean, take this for what you will. He has been, I saw an ESPN article today saying it was like off-season surprises or people that are flying under the radar. And Sammy Watkins was the one for the Ravens. He's apparently like blowing it up in OTAs. That doesn't mean anything. And obviously health has been an issue for Watkins and he just disappears. He's very inconsistent, whatever. That dude loves week ones though.

Oh, my God. Put him in your daily lineup, week one. He'll have 190 yards. At the end of the day, like Sammy Watkins, I think, is a solid veteran presence. He's going to be, like, as good or better than anyone else that the Ravens had outside of Marquis Brown last year at the reserve position. And then getting Rashidman involved also, I think, is going to help third downs, key areas where, you know, they're not going to be able to run play action. They're not going to be able to do read option. Third and ten, they need to drop back past the ball.

Like, these are important situations for the offense. This is some of the situations that have gotten the Ravens in trouble, especially in the playoffs, the last couple. years where you're just asking Lamar to be a drop-back pass to which he hasn't you know proven himself to be quite yet like at a high level and i think getting sammy walkins rachat bateman i mean think about who they had last year at receiver outside of marquis brown it was like willy sneed and miles boykin who is not a thing it's like you know what i mean like they're they're definitely highly upgrading their receiver core i think and i think rashat bateman come in and immediately be like the go-to guy in this offense move marquis brown to number two

I think it could have a big impact on their passing game and so yeah I think they're telling us they want to be better at passing they want to be more efficient at passing and that's a huge focus for them they spent two first round picks on receivers in the last three years

it's not like me just hopeful thinking that they're going to improve as a passing team I think they want to improve as a passing team especially when it matters there's a difference between being like the best quarterback in the league and the best fantasy quarterback in the league I mean like Lamar is probably a top ten

quarterback in the league but like he doesn't have to be Aaron Rogers with his arm to give you the value you want. I mean, if you look at like Aaron Rogers last year, what did he have 48 touchdowns and five picks? He scored 1.4 more points per game than Lamar. And then he had the greatest season of his career. Right. The other thing I was going to bring up, and sorry to interrupt you, is just like, we're all so excited about Kyler Murray and rightfully so.

But Kyler hasn't exactly been lighting it up as a passer either. You know what I mean? It's like there's, I feel like for whatever reason, and people are just like, oh, Lamar Jackson. Maybe it was like all the pre-draft crap narratives about how he should be a receiver or how he's just... You talk about Lamar Jackson on Twitter.

People still reply he's running back. It's like, come on, shut the fuck up. So, I don't know. I think it's like there's some narratives here at play, and obviously, like, you know, recency bias is a big part of it. Kyler was massive in fantasy for half the year last year. So that could be driving it too.

But, you know, I look at this team. I say they don't have to be, highly highly they don't have to be super pass heavy or like have a ton of passing volume they just need maybe like marginally improve their pass rate and improve their efficiency

and maybe Mark Andrews doesn't drop 17 balls this year or whatever and like all of a sudden this offense just looks a lot better and Markees Brown isn't relied on as the number one guy go-to guy that's just not who he is so I don't know I'm definitely very bullish

on Lamar Jackson I think you're right like why do we have him at QV5 I think we've probably like underestimating him. I mean, right. Like, he's in the top tier, and I feel like usually when you have top tiers, you should just take the last guy in the tier because that means he's the best value. And, you know, finding the guys who aren't in top tier is also usually the goal of a fantasy season and your off season. You want to find the guy who will be in that tier the next year. And actually, Kyler Murray was the big guy last year, right? He was the third consecutive sophomore quarterback

to finish as the overall quarterback won. Mahomes did it. Lamar did it. Then Kyler did it. The big jump. Which leads us to your guy. we have a couple of sophomore quarterbacks coming into the season. Go ahead. Yeah, I'm like afraid this is a little too obvious, but... I think right now people think you're saying, people think you're going to say Herbert. Oh, really? No, I'm going with Jalen Hertz for the Eagles. I think Herbert certainly does have a ton of upside, but he's not in the same category as a rusher as any of these other guys. Jalen Hertz is a legitimately good rusher. Like, if you go back and watch some of his,

some of his highlights when he was a starter, he's picking up chunk of him. yards. And he looks like a running back. And he's very natural. He's not like a, he's not like an explosive guy, RC car guy like Kyler Murray in terms of a runner. He's more like a running back, I would say. And that can be very, very powerful, especially if they design a run game around him, use him in the read options, especially use him in the red zone where I think he could have a huge, huge impact. So right now, Jalen hurts his consensus ranking, according to Fantasy Pros is 94. We've got him at 86, so we're a little bit above consensus on him, and I think we might even be too low on him.

I'm like, I'm getting very excited about what they could do in this offense. I think the Eagles' offensive line is going to be greatly improved. If you remember last year, they had a couple of their key guys, Andre Dillard went down, Brandon Brooks went down, Lane Johnson only played seven games. They had a lot of issues on the offensive line. Obviously, their skill position group was a disaster. I mean, they had Travis Fulgum came out of nowhere.

he was like their number one guy for a while. Greg Ward, former AAF star, was like legit number one. They had injuries everywhere. And like the entire like team, like the front office was in turmoil. It was just like it. It was a cluster. It was a huge cluster fuck.

And I, it would be difficult, I think, for any rookie to come in, especially the one, the situation Jalen Hurst came into where he's taking over for an established guy who had been within the last few years an MVP candidate in Jalen, in Carson Wentz.

and coming in and doing what he did, which I thought was pretty impressive. Obviously, his passing stats were not super impressive. That was definitely lowered by his final game where he got benched. Was it half-time or after three-quarters? I can't remember. That game was atrocious as a past...

He just, like, six of 20-something or something like that. It was ridiculous. We're not talking about that. Yeah, we'll skip. Forget about that little guy. But I will say, I thought he was pretty impressive, honestly, all things considered. you know, both as a runner and as a passer.

He averaged 22.5 points per game during his full three starts from weeks 13 to 15. In that stretch, that would have put him seventh among quarterbacks. And he did that again with an offensive line that was a disaster, a skill group that was a disaster. Now he gets Devante Smith, I think who falls in and immediately is sort of like the number one go-to guy. I think that bumps Jalen Rager,

who was very disappointing rookie over to more suitable number two spot. I think that's more his role where he can move around the formation. They can use him on jet sweeps, little crossers, things like that. They still have Dallas Goddard, who we've been expecting to make a big jump, and I think he could.

He is good. Dallas Carter is undeniably good. Yeah. Miles Sanders, also very talented. He's never really made the jump jump, but I think he's a talented guy that can give them, like a good foundation on the ground,

also feature in the passing game. You know, he, like, as a rookie, he was like making a reception. downfield, like vertical routes. Like, he's got the talent in the passing game. Now, again, I'm very aware that Jalen Hertz just did not light it up as a passer as a rookie. In fact, 52% completion rate bad, six touchdowns, four interceptions, bad. 77 passer rang bad.

His 4.1% touchdown rate very bad. But I think a lot of that is, you know, it can go. It's related to the situation. He's coming in for this, like, you know, cluster of a team that, like, coaches are ignoring the front office, the front office, is putting pressure on the coach. Like all this stuff, there's just all this drama.

And so I think, you know, a big second year jump is definitely in the cards for Hertz. I mean, we saw that with Lamar Jackson, who had similarly terrible numbers passing as a rookie when he came in and replaced Flacco.

Is that who you replaced? I feel like that's where you replaced. It's been a while. It's been two years now. Yeah. And then obviously Lamar Jackson, when they signed the offense around him, they turned everything into his offense.

They improved the passing weapons around him. He took a huge jump from his rookie season to his second season. I'm expecting something similar from Jalen Hertz. Now, keep in mind, he still averaged 282 passing yards and 79 rushing yards in the three games he started, the full games he played. 282 passing yards and 79 rushing yards. For full context, over 16 game season. I know it's a 17 game season, but people still are thinking in 16 game season. Yeah, we got to figure out how we're going to do that.

That's not today's episode. in a full 16 game season that would extrapolate to 4,500 passing yards and 1,200 rushing yards Which is... That's pretty good. He could, like, depending on the touchdowns, he could be number one quarterback in the NFL.

Obviously, that's like a small sample. But I do think him as a runner gives him a very, very, very bankable floor. And then if he's good as a passer, like, the sky is the limit with this guy. Like, he could legit be the QB1. Yeah.

Yeah, it's like he's pretty much the only quarterback who's not in the elite class, who's like a big time runner, right? Like there's no other like kind of like lower end sleepery, not that he's a sleeper, but like lower end quarterbacks who are like true, true runners, which is why he seems like a no-brainer. I feel like he's going to end up rising up their ranks. Yeah, that's why I'm worried it's going to be hard to get him. Like it's going to be very, it's going to be hard to get him in like auction leagues.

Like he's going to get bit up. The only guy I would say that kind of like fits the same. There's two guys that fit the same category, and we'll talk about one of them later. Daniel Jones, who's, again, I don't think he's not the same type of rusher. He's more of a scrambler. The only guy, really, that fits this category is Cam Newton.

If Cam Newton is the starter, and you actually think he's going to start the whole season, all that stuff, I don't think he is. But if he ends up doing that, then he has that, I guess, upside. But, yeah, you're right. I mean, Hertz is, like, the obvious, like, star runner doesn't really matter. I mean, like you said, those three weeks, where he like went crazy.

It's not like he lit the world on fire as like a passer. Even though he threw for a lot of yards, like it's not like he was dicing up the defense and he was the quarterback seven through that stretch. So like, I mean, you could argue that's his floor, which is like, okay, why is he ranked 10th? Like, why is it he seventh? Again, I think it's like the uncertainty

and people, and I think people believe that the Eagles offense is just going to be a dumpster fire. And I don't think they're going to be. I think they're going to be elite. but I think they're going to be like, all right. I think they're going to score points. I think I like the weapons in this offense. I like Hertz.

I mean, if you, dude, remember Hertz? Absolutely lit it up at Oklahoma. I'm not saying, like, that was obviously a big, you know, product of the scheme and the weapons around him and the coaching and all that stuff. I get that. But, I mean, he's still absolutely lit it up at Oklahoma. So, I mean, this is a guy with a good college resume, you know, a dual skill set. Good runner, going to be used in the red zone.

You know, I like a lot of things about them. Obviously, the second round draft capital is a little bit concerning. You know, from the point of view where just not a lot of second rounders end up being, I guess, like, long-term starters. But I don't know. You know they're going to commit to them. Like, what are they had to lose? Like, right now they don't have anything else. I mean, Joe Flacco, I think, is the backup.

Who's the backup? Like, what are they going to do? It doesn't make any sense to me. It is Joe Flacco. And Nick Mullins, who's actually arguably the best quarterback in the league. That's true. I guess the only, the one thing, and the other thing I will say, that's probably making people worried, making drafters worried, is that we really don't know what Nick Siriani is going to do. He's the new head coach there.

Like, all of our impressions of him have been mostly negative, I think, at this point. Like, his first press conference, he's, like, very robotic. He was just not ready. He's, like, reading from, like, a cue card. It was, like, painful. And then, like, we just don't know what kind of offense he's going to bring. If he's really going to design something around Hertz, I don't know. Or maybe it's just like they see him as a placeholder this year.

They're just going to, you know, tank or not tank, but like they're just not really worried about what happens this year. And they are looking forward. But I think they should, you know, design an offense that fits, hurts, and see what they can do. I agree. All right. Next guy here. So I want to talk about Joe Burrow, who fantasy pros, consensus has him at 13. We have him at 13.

quarterback 13 that is but you know this is another sophomore guy who could make the leap to me it wouldn't be crazy if next season we're talking about him

as like a top seven guy in the Herbert conversation right like Herbert's like an elite Herbert I feel like is already considered an elite quarterback it's crazy

which is yeah which I love him but it's kind of crazy and like I mean Burrow has to be among the supporting cast like I know he got hurt and he was like

the quarterback 16 before he got hurt the injury thing like if you start with the injury thing We talked about this on an episode last season. I'm totally, like, I don't care about it. The era of career-ending injuries is over. Dak signed a Max deal

after ripping apart his ankle. Kevin Durant is currently the best player in the NBA after tearing his Achilles and his body is like the worst body to tear in Achilles. And Dak, like, he's like a top five or six projected quarterback. So we're in a different era now

and Burroughs knee is not something that I honestly am worried about. What I care about is he's got a second year with Zach Taylor. They just drafted Jamar Chase. They have T. Higgins. They have Tyler Boyd. They're going to throw the ball a million times a game. And like we said on the last pod, like they could be the Cowboys North. I was listening to, I was on a flight today and I listened to this pod by J.J. Zacharisen, who knows a lot. And he had this whole episode about quarterbacks with a lot of good skill players. And it was like if you have three skill players on your team that all get drafted in the top five

rounds is the quarterback good just like by association you know what I mean it's like wow we have all these bengals ranked high does that mean the quarterback will be ranked high so what he tested out was basically on those teams where there are three plus skill players that get drafted in the top five rounds the the quarterbacks on those teams that are already good they have a tough time living up to the hype but the quarterbacks who are kind of not good the non-elite guys who have elite skill players usually outkick their coverage every season they usually by 380 piece spots that usually match. Interesting.

Yeah. There's a couple guys this year that fit that category. You have Burrow with his supporting category because we have Mixin. You have Chase, Boyd, and Higgins are probably all hovering around top five rounds. And then you got Ryan Tannehill with Julio, Derek Henry, and AJ Brown. And then Kirk Cousins has kind of been there like the last three or four years. But the thing that Kirk doesn't have that Burrow and Tainville has is the mobility. Right, right.

And I know we'll talk about Tanyl next, but like with Burrow, he kind of has everything. In front of him, like, the stars are aligned for Burrow to, like, make the leap. I guess the knee thing is a worry,

maybe he won't, like, scramble as much or whatever. Yeah, yeah. With all of the talent around him and what history suggests, I know they didn't do a ton to his offensive line,

but would you be surprised if, like, the Bengals are putting up 35 a week, even if they're losing because they have a bad defense? Like, and Burroughs thrown for 360 yards a game? No,

not really, honestly. I love, I love Jamar Chase. I love T. Higgins. I mean, Tyler Boy, is one of the more consistent guys. Obviously, Joe Mixon has a chance to finally take the jump.

I think it is worrisome a little bit that Joe Burrough recently came out and talked about how he's not going to be as mobile, at least early in the season because his knee is still kind of like getting back to normal. I think you really have to like,

in the modern era, you can come back from an ACL injury in like nine months, but in reality, you can't be like yourself, I think, unless you're Adrian Peterson and just like built different. You can't really be yourself for like a full year and a half or two years after. So I wouldn't say, I'm guessing Joe Burroughs not going to be as explosive as he was as a scrambler. Yeah.

I think he's a pretty good scrambler in college. Yeah, yes. And as a rookie before he got hurt, obviously. But I think you just can't really expect that. However, I think it's going to be kind of like DAC where he's putting up so many yards and so many points. And then obviously they can still use him as a scrambler in the red zone if he wants. You know, maybe he'll find a touchdown or two. like four or five sneaky rushing touchdowns every year.

Yeah, especially if you're spreading, if you're spreading the offense out, sorry, if you're spreading the defense out with all your weapons, I mean, sure, I could see it. I hope they don't get him hurt again. But at the end of the day, like, a lot of these injuries are sort of just like freak instances where, again, he was probably,

was he in the pocket when he got hit? I think he was. And so it's like one of those things where you just never really know and things like that are going to happen. But yeah, I like this. I think the offense, we talked about it with last week with the receivers that we love. We love all three of these receivers in this offense. And a big part of that is because, A, they go fast, B, they pass a lot.

And their defense sucks. Their defense sucks, yes, which is kind of like the holy trinity of what you want in fantasy. It's like exactly why we love the Cowboys. And so I think, yeah, this has a chance to be really a lucrative offense to be a part of. And so why would we discount? Why would we take Burrow out of that discussion if he's the one throwing the touchdowns, you know? So I like this a lot.

I think that makes a lot of sense. Yeah. You know, he's going to be a QB13, so technically he's not going to be a starter in a 12 quarterback league, which I think people would regret three weeks into the season. Yeah. And moving to another guy who I think still is kind of

being underrated a little bit is Ryan Tannhill for the time. Every year, we do it. He's the Derek Henry of quarterbacks, maybe. I don't know. Dude, he's been incredible. 2019 he finished as a QB9 and that's per game because he only played 12 games obviously he came in, replaced Mariotta

and took over and was a revelation in that offense last year he finished as a QB7 still gets no respect for whatever reason. I think it's a lot to do with the offense is kind of like a run heavy offense it starts slow there's a lot of lingering

narrative to the fact that he started his career so slowly. I think people haven't realized that he's been putting up basically elite numbers as a quarterback since he took over a starter in Tennessee. People think, I think people believe essentially like he's going to turn back into a pumpkin at midnight or whatever. And it's like, it's not happening. It's not happening. And if somebody only watched that and then was like, Parks and Rec sucks. And you're like, no, keep watching. It gets amazing. And they're like, no, did you see that first season? I'm never watching again. I'm never going to. No, he got better. I saw this, I saw this really fascinating

stat from Ryan McDowell the other day. He tweeted this out. Ryan Tannahill has made 26 starts for the Titans. He's been a top 10 fantasy quarterback in 16 of those games. 16 out of 26, top 10. That's like ridiculously good. That's ridiculously good. And so obviously all of those have come with Arthur Smith, that offense coordinator,

he's generally thought of as one of the best play callers in the NFL. He's now the head coach of the Titans. Sorry, now he's now the head coach of the Falcons. And so we don't really know exactly what the Titans offense is going to look like under, you know, Todd Downing. But I just feel like there's such good talent, especially with Julio in town now, they got that trifecta going. If all those guys can stay healthy, at least the majority of the season, they got Derek Henry kind of like carrying the ground game. Julio, A.J. Brown running downfield. That play action game is still going to be really strong, I think. No reason for them to change the identity and the philosophy of that offense. I would not, I would guess they are not going to do that.

So, yeah, I mean, I think it just makes a lot of sense. Yeah, and Tannahill is one of those tactical scramblers. Like, he's fast enough to, like, he was a receiver in college. He's, he's athletic. Scott Barrett from Fantasy Points actually posted this the other day, too. I think it's interesting. It gives you an idea of the quality of passer that Tannahill has been since he started with the Titans.

In that stretch, since basically week seven of 2019, Tannahill is first in the NFL in yards per attempt, 8.4, first in a adjusted yards per attempt. First in PFF grade. Second in fantasy points per dropback and fourth in fantasy points per game. Why is he not higher on our list? That is the question.

I guess it's uncertainty going forward. I guess. Or he's, I think it's the fact that he was with Adam Gase in Miami. Adam Gase is like the Mark Brandanowitz of Parks and Rec season one, who was the least funny character ever. And then he kicked his ass off the show

and then Parks and Rec got really good. Maybe Mark Brandenowitz, is Ryan Tandhills out and race. Oh, man. Well, anyways, his ADP right now, I believe, is QB12, at least when I checked last week. We got him at QB11, and honestly, that still feels too low. Like, he's the fourth in fantasy points per game the last two years. Should we get to both of our collective, well, one of my favorite QBies of the year,

and I think one of yours as well? Matt Stafford, baby. Rams, all in. Dude. Flying coach, season two. I put this on here, and I knew that you were going to. probably want to do staff or two. So I think I just said we can tag team this guy.

But basically the idea is we've seen what McVeigh's offense can do over the last few years with Jared Gough at quarterback. And I think the the idea that you're getting like an elite, strong arm quarterback, aggressive quarterback in this offense, what he can do, what McVeigh can dial up for this offense. And you still have a really good skill group. Like, you know, the receiver core is even deeper this year than it has been in the past. past. I just think overall, this offense has a chance to be one of the most explosive and most efficient offenses in the NFL. If you go back to before, I guess, Jerry Goff lost his mojo, lost his confidence. Goff was a pretty good fantasy quarterback in this McPay offense. He was the QB 12 in 2017, QB7 in 2018, and then fell down the QB 13 and 2019, then completely fell off the map

last year. So, and again, like, you have to factor in the idea that there's going to be more rushing quarterbacks now. So, like, it's not apples to apples. It's a little bit different. But I still think that QB7 range that he hit in 2018 when everything was firing, like, all cylinders are firing in this offense. I think that's, like, totally doable for Stafford, even though he's coming in and, like,

people are sort of, like, overlooking him. To be clear, Stafford is just so much better than Gough. Like, that's the big... Yeah, like, what's the difference between the Rams now and then? They just add... I guess they don't have Todd Gurley, but, like, they added Matt Stafford.

Like, why wouldn't this be better? Yeah, so I think it's, it's, you know, there's question marks about the offensive line, which I think is fair. But... They are returning all five members of their line, which is nice. Yeah, and I think if they, you know,

if they get lucky and they stay healthy, then this, it's like, could be wheels up for this entire offense. We've got it at QB10. The consensus rankings that Fantasy Pros have my QB12. I'm going to read off here. his finishes in the Lions offense over the last like six, seven years.

2015, QB9, 2016, QB7, 2017, QB7, 2018, QB20 fell off. 2019, QB4 in points per game. He only played eight games and obviously missed the second half the year. And then last year in the Rams cluster fuck of an offense, he was a QB 15. I do think that QB7 to like QB5 through seven range is, I think, a somewhat realistic thing. if he ends up getting this offense back to where it was 2018, that elite Sean McFay offense where all things were, like all the,

all cylinders were firing, and they had the run game, they had the past game, they had the play action game, they had everything working together in unison. I think there's like a real chance he outplays his ADP by a lot. Yeah, and this is another one of those cases where it's like, you like acres, you like Higbee, you like Woods, you like Cup.

It's like, well, then you got to like, Stafford and they have Deshawn Jackson too if you like him. 2-2-outwell if you like him. There are so many weapons on the Rams. And, you know, their defense is really good. So maybe they'll be in, you know, I don't know. Maybe they won't be like in shootouts. But even if they're not, I think they're still going to throw it like 40 times a game.

Yeah, I remember like last week I was a little bit against your idea that they're going to be pass happy. But I think that looking at what they've sort of done last couple years, like they added second round receiver last year. second round receiver this year. They traded for a big armed quarterback in the off season. Like, I definitely would agree that this offense is, like, he wants to just get back to be in, like, this scorched earth offense that we saw a couple years ago. And, you know, does that mean that they're going to be run heavy? Probably not.

I think that means they're going to, like, spread the field out. They've got a lot of weapons on offense. They've got Deshaun Jackson. They've got the elite deep threats now, which they haven't had in the past couple years. Brandon Cook has been that guy a little bit here and there. But he's not there anymore. And so I think getting back to that where they can spread out, do a lot of different things in different formations, pass the ball over the field, I definitely can see that happening. It's why they did this.

Why they, like, you know, spent all this like draft capital get Stafford. They spent first, second round pick on Van Jefferson last year, Tutu Atwell this year. I don't know. I just, it is definitely kind of like, it's what we're talking about with the Ravens where they're telling us kind of like what they want to do. And we should, we should believe them. Yeah, you're going to like, week four, he'll have, you know, a 1,300 yards passing and you'll be like, obviously this was going to happen. Like, why did I not? This makes so much sense. You're just going to be kicking yourself.

All right. Yeah. We have one more here before we get to the sleepers. I want to talk about Trevor Lawrence. Yeah. Listen, so Trevor Lawrence on the Jaguars is the best quarterback prospect. Since Andrew Luck, I would say, is the consensus opinion about him. Andrew Luck was the quarterback 10.

He was the 10th best quarterback in his rookie season. come off a fucking horrible Colts team the year before. He just like was immediately good. I think you could make the argument that Jags might have a better overall situation, weirdly. I mean, Darrell Bevel is a proven offensive coordinator, but like they got a lot of people on the team. They got, they drafted E.TN.

James Robinson's good. They have Chark and Leviska-Chanolt and they have Marvin Jones and like all five of their O-Lyman are returning. Why isn't Trevor Lawrence? He's basically going as the QBC 16. That's interesting.

And he's mobile. I mean, he kind of can run pretty well. So, like, what do you think is going on with a chel? He's a gazelle, dude.

He is, I think he's more mobile than Herbert. Yeah. I mean, it's, they're very, they,

to me, they profile similarly. Um, the big question, like, in terms of athleticism, like, they kind of,

they're like, both very tall, skinny, you know, quarterbacks that can run. The question I have, and I think the big thing that maybe people are doubting or that, is holding him back from being in a tier higher than, you know, some of these other guys is will the Jaguars run him, actually?

Will they actually want him to be part of that run game where he's actually running, you know, zone read stuff and not just being a tactical scrambler here and there? Is he going to be part of that run game? That's the question. He was part of the run game at Clemson sometimes, and he can run, dude. Like, he can break tackles and get away from people. he's very athletic, very fast, long strider. Like if he gets out into the open field, you can't catch him, kind of deal. I'm kind of like thinking there's a chance that they do use them in Zone Read stuff and like

trying to just use it as a change up, not necessarily, you know, 10, 15 times a game or whatever, but I mean, you remember, Darryl Beville was the offensive coordinator when Russell Wilson was a rookie. And halfway through the season, the CX were like, you know what? Like our drop back passing game isn't really working that well. We have this, you know, athletic quarterback who can really factor in in the run game. And they started running Zone Reed stuff. And I remember the first time they did this, it was like, well, the first time they really, like, adopted it and like went with it as against the bears.

And they just like went off against the bears in this game. And they were just like, you know, Russell Wilson was breaking Brian Erlecker's ankles. It was like crazy. It was just all of a sudden came out of nowhere and they were like running the crap of the ball. That really helped not just Wilson, but Marshawn Lynch. that like opened everything up for them because basically what that is doing is it's making 11 on 11 on offense where the quarterback is actually someone that the defense has to account for. And so that's a big deal.

I could see them, you know, using it as a change. I don't know if I necessarily see them running him a lot. But I definitely think it could be a part of their offense where he's, you know, picking the ball up and running with it a few times a game. So I don't know what that means. I don't know if that like translates to him being a huge breakout star this year in fantasy. But I do think it probably means he has more value than I think a lot of people may believe. I weirdly think he's going to go a little underrated even through draft season. I don't

know if it's because he's in Jacksonville. Dude, the guy who's been the first pick for three fucking years. And then we barely talk about it. I mean, the pre-draft process because of all the other stuff that's going on. Like Mac Jones is going to the 49ers. Like everyone was so. Yeah. Everyone was so. And I'm like part of this. Like, believe me, I'm not just blaming other people. but like we barely talked about Trevor Lawrence. It was crazy in this, in the last few months. It's just weird.

He's like, supposed to be like one of the biggest prospects ever, literally ever. It's fucking bizarre that no one cares. Like, I don't understand. I don't know if it's because he's in Jacksonville and that's like not a marketable area.

He's kind of just, yeah. He's kind of like, I guess, a quiet, understated guy. He's not the biggest personality. He's been the best,

I guess, in people's minds for so long. Maybe they just got boring. It's like boring at this point. It is. It's like boring at this point, I think. It's like how LeBron should have won the MEP every year for like 10 seasons.

And they're just like, well, we can't just do this. And it's like, we're on year three of knowing that Trevor Lawrence is the best prospects. Maybe we're like, all right, let's talk about something else. But it's gone too long. We're supposed to bring it back. So I don't know. Trevor Lawrence, I mean, shit. He could be Andrew.

I don't know. I could see it. I could see it. Plus, again, like, same deal with the Bengals. I don't think they're going to be a good defense. They're probably going to be playing from behind a lot, at least this year. And so there could be a team where they have to run a lot of plays. and, you know, I don't know,

that could mean big things for a fantasy. I definitely think he is, he's not like one of the elite tier guys, but he's a guy that I would definitely like take a flyer on at that in the middle range of the quarterbacks. He's going after Matt Ryan and Kirk Cousins and he's going right before Carson Wentz. Like, I think I'd gladly take him.

I would way rather, I think I would take him, especially in a one quarterback league where you just want an upside. Like you want upside. You don't want to get like... Like, you know what Matt Ryan is. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And you just want to chase the guy who's going to give you that explosion of points. And I think that's Lawrence. I think that's much more Lawrence than it is any of those other guys.

All right. Well, do you want to get the sleepers here, talk about some actual upside? Yeah, definitely. So, you know, I would call these guys sleepers. They're not necessarily in the mainstream and they're definitely riskier. And I'll start out to give you some context. Like I'll start out with Justin Fields for the Baris is one of my guys. I think you can't take him as your QB1 necessarily. I mean, right now anyway. Like we don't think he's pretty cool if you did. Yeah, be ballsy. Balsy. He's not likely to be the weak one starter. At least that's what Matt Nagy would want us to believe. Like he said he's promised the job to Andy Dalton, all this stuff. But I think Justin Fields has, he does have a lead upside in fantasy, honestly.

I think it's like it's the same conversation we were having about Justin Hertz, sorry, about Jalen Hertz last year and earlier on this podcast. Basically, the rushing upside that he brings gives him that bank floor. And if he's as good of a pastor as I believe he is, even in this Bears offense, which is not stacked with talent, I don't know, man. I just think he has that

upside to be top five, top seven. Even if he doesn't like in per game numbers, like, you know, even if he doesn't start the year, like you have to wait it out a few weeks. He's a guy that I'm willing to like take him late in the draft, not have to deal with waivers.

Because right now, he's like, his consensus ranking right now at Fantasy Pro's this 182. So you can get him in the late rounds. I'd rather just grab him, stash him, and hope for essentially what we saw from Jayland Hearst last year, whether it's like week three, week five, week seven, I don't know. It's going to be hard to hold him any longer than that. But like, if you get to that point, he has like down the stretch top 10, top five potential. Is he your number one recommendation for, I don't want to draft a quarterback until the last round or like the second to last round. Is he your first pick?

Yes. So that's actually. a great way of framing this is if you still want to go late around QB, you can go late around QB. Go with Matt Ryan. Go with, you know, whoever, like one of these guys that's going much later and they're just like Carson Wentz or whatever if you want to just wait and stack the rest of your roster. But make sure you get one of these high upside guys, Justin Fields is a big one. And then the other guy that we want to talk about here is Tray Lance, who I think is basically the exact same conversation. He might have, he probably has a better situation. I'm not sure. if he'll start earlier than Fields. I think if I had to guess, Fields would start before Lance, but at the end of the day,

I do think Lance is going to be the starter at some point this season for the 49ers. I saw the stat from Mike Clay at ESPN. Of the 14 quarterbacks drafted in the top three since 2010, 14 quarterbacks, 10 have played in week one. Two more took over in week three. So that's 12 out of 14.

One more took over in week five. And the other was Jared Goff. So 13 out of 14, we're starting by week five. Wow, that's actually amazing. Yeah. Top three picks. That's, you know, obviously there's different variables involved. Obviously, the 49ers still have Garoppolo.

He hasn't been the picture of health. He hasn't been, you know, exactly Mr. Reliable as a passer. So I don't know, man. I think Trey Lance has a good bet to start by week five. I'm not sure he's going to start before Justin Fields. That's why I'd have him like fields just slightly higher. If the bears don't start fields week one, Chicago will riot.

Dude, they're not gonna. He absolutely has to start week one. Oh my God. No, but they promised it to Andy Dalton. Like, who gives this shit, man? Break your promise. Stop. What are we doing?

They're gonna lose like 24 to 10 week one and everyone's gonna be like, what are we doing? Yeah, what are we doing? I believe the bears are playing the Rams week one. And so like there's this... Oh, good. I hope they get smoked.

There's this theory that maybe the bears are like, We're going to let Andy Dalton get annihilated by Aaron Donald, and then we'll bring in. But it's like, no, dude, just play your best player. That's the thing that I don't get. It's like, just play your best player. Who do you want to see less, Andy Dalton or Justin Fields? I guarantee you it's Justin Fields. Oh, hell yeah.

But you can't assume logical, rational thinking from NFL coaches. We've seen it time and again, man. I know. Regardless, though, I think the point remains and the point stands, and I love this. you know, late round quarterback is still alive because these guys are still out there in the late rounds. Grab a late round quarterback who can be your week one starter. Maybe it's fucking Andy Dalton.

I don't care. But make sure you get Justin Fields or Trey Lance too because that is going to give you that upside that you're looking for. Yeah, like I would draft, like, if you wanted to get tricky with it, draft like, you know, maybe Stafford or Tannahill or Kirk. And then also draft Trey Lance because then maybe, and you stash in the entire year, it's worth it. You don't need that roster spot that's going to be filled by like,

some random slot guy who will barely get any points for you. Just like... Right. Not going to be in your lineup. Yeah. Right. And maybe come week nine, he's like putting up 25 a game

and you're a genius for having him on your team. I love that. All right. A couple more guys that I think we think are worth at least just taking a flyer on. Who are coming here guys like sleeper type players that might have that upside? These are deep.

These are like I didn't do any research. I just kind of thought about it. And I was like, maybe like, this could really come out of nowhere. All right. Daniel Jones. I kind of like this one, actually. Yeah.

Daniel Jones, I mean, we talked about the quarterbacks on teams with like three plus top five round skill players. I mean, the Giants of Sequin, they've Golodey and then like Shepard Slight and Ingram. I mean, they got a pretty stacked cast on offense.

And Daniel Jones is pretty mobile. He was the quarterback 15, his rookie year. Like, if this was just his rookie, like if he was just coming off his rookie year, and now he has this team in these narratives around him. I feel like he'd be going a lot higher.

Obviously, there's a reason why he'd had a shitty second year. Right. But like, he's, I don't know. What are your thoughts on that? Is there a chance that Daniel Jones can make some splashes? Yes, I believe so. I think honestly, people would be looking at this a lot differently if Jason Garrett wasn't the offensive coordinator.

I think in the fantasy world, like Ian Harditz from PFF has this ongoing bit where he just posts like pictures of Jason Garrett. with his head out the window on the train, you know? It's so funny. I freaking love it because, like, they have so many, they have good skill players. They've got, you know, Sequin, Gawley, Shepard, Slayton,

Evan Ingram who's still around. But then there's Garrett, just like, you know, doing his thing. Look, sticking his head out the window. Just loving life. Just adding all the wrong ingredients to the recipe, yeah. If they had fired the O.C. and hired someone else, I feel like Daniel Jones's ADP would be like, four rounds higher going into the season.

But the, well, we have to remember, and I have to make note that like Dale Jones is a turnover machine. So that is also a factor here. He has not looked good. He threw, dude, he threw, I don't know off the top of my head. It was like 14 touchdowns in 16 games last year. Yeah, that's tough. Like their offense was fucking terrible.

I'm going to look it up right now. And he fumbled like three times a game. No, he started 14 games. sorry, I had the wrong numbers. He started 14 games last year and threw 11 touchdowns. That is sad. That's like truly sad.

He had no Sequin. He had no receivers. Who the hell was on his team? 14 games, 11 touchdowns. It was a COVID year. It was Jason Garrett. Plus like 20 fucking fumbles. Like the guy is he was not.

He's not good. I feel like I definitely was like, I'm definitely buying the Jason Garrett thing, but also like Daniel Jones was not good last year. We have to be. clear about that. Okay, okay. Well, then let me just

let me quickly pivot because I want to, I want to mention the second guy and you tell me which one you'd rather have. Yeah. I think you're probably going to pick Daniel Jones. Drew Locke. Yeah.

On the Denver Broncos, who yes, I know Teddy Bridgewater's there, I think Drew Locke is going to start. They have another talented offense. They have Judy, Sutton, Fant, all top five round guys,

tossing Melvin Gordon and Giovante Williams. He's mobile. He takes risk. And if you look at his last season, you can kind of cobble together some decent stuff. There was four games in 2020 where he had 24 points, 25 points,

30 points, and 20 points. He played 12 games. So a third of his games, he was like really good and fantasy. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I would say that if he had to pick,

I'd probably pick the Broncos skill group over the Giants. Even though I like the Giants skill group, I still would pick the Broncos because I think there's, I really think Judy's ascending. Giovante Williams,

I think he's going to be a good rookie. You know, they've got Hamlin. in the wings. Like, even Tim Patrick. Tim Patrick is like the best fourth running or fourth receiver in the NFL. You know what I mean?

So it's like they have good weapons there. Yeah, Tim Patrick is like a season away from getting 15 million a year on the past. Albert O is like the best number two tight end. Like he flashed last year. He's like four four guy. They've got weapons. But yeah, I mean, I don't really trust Locke.

And I don't know if I trust this coaching staff to start Locke. I think there's like a chance they could start Bridgewater. just because they think that. I don't, they spent the six-round pick on them. Yeah. I know, I know.

So, one of those things, like, so speaking of funny numbers, like Daniel Jones, 14 starts and 11 touchdowns. Last year, Drew Locke, 13 starts, 16 touchdowns. That's better. Slightly better. Slightly better. 15 picks, though. Probably less fumbled.

It's just yellow in it. So, I don't know, man. they're both pretty terrible options. I would say Daniel Jones gets the nod for sure, though, because he was, what, the sixth pick overall? The Giants are married to him for now. And Locke was a second rounder who the team, I don't think has any real commitment to.

Don't you think, though, it would be smart. Like, why, I guess if you think you can win the Super Bowl, maybe you, like, why wouldn't you just start Locke for, like, three games? Because you know what Bridgewater is. Like, why would you see? You could pencil in three starts for him for sure. I guess the idea is, will he be the start of the whole year? Yeah.

But yeah. That's my, that's the question. It's one of those things where, you know, you don't, you don't, there's enough uncertainty there that he'll even be the starter that is he worth a draft pick, you know? Listen, I'm not saying you draft him. I'm not saying that's a wise move. All I'm saying is. Good waiver wire ad. Yeah, keep your eyes on.

On the waiver wire for, or if you're in an auction league is a dollar. I'm saying it right now. I'm going to be the guy who said true luck is good. All right. I like it. Speaking of Hartets, I think he's on that train also. One more guy I want to add to this

because I think I'm, well, I'm not the only one, but I feel like I'm taking crazy pills a little bit. Like, Taysome Hill, I think is still in the competition to be quarterback of the Saints this year. I don't want to fucking touch the Saints quarterback. They're going to go back and forth.

They're going to like each play 50% of the snaps. I don't want any of it. Yeah, you're right. It's going to be a big pain in the ass. But if Taysom Hill wins the job, Winston just goes off the rails is, well, he stays off the rails, I should say. He remains the guy who can't not turn it over. He just, it's in his DNA.

He's going to turn the ball over. It's like Daniel Jones and Drew Luck. You're going to turn the ball over. If Taysam Hill can prove that he's like the better option for them to win games and he's the starter, I think there's a realistic scenario where that's the case that Taysam Hill is just the starter. In his four starts last year, he completed 72% of his passes. he averaged 208 yards passing per game with four touchdowns and two picks

plus 22% of his passes is bullshit well I guess that doesn't really matter the point is he's dumping off things and throwing deep balls to air you're right but the big deal is going back to the rushing thing is like he's a rusher

he can feature in in the red zone he had as many rushing touchdowns in his four stars last year as his passing touchdowns four and four his 16 game rate obviously would be 16 touchdowns and 16 rush TDs. That's, you know, again, small sample. It doesn't matter. It's not impossible. Look at, look at, so look at where he finished in the four games he started last year.

Week 11, he was a QB4. Week 12, he was a QB 11. Week 13, the QB8. Week 14, the QB 11. He was a QB1 every week he started, and he's the QB 25 right now. And that's because there's massive uncertainty, whether he'll even be the starter. This could be a wasted pick. If you do pick him at the end of the day, he could just be like a situational guy like we saw last year, and Winston will be the starter. But I think it's at least worth talking about him that he could be the start. He could end up being a freaking QB1 because he's so good in the red zone as a rusher. I'm not even saying he's a good passer.

I think he was better than people thought he would be. And people, I think he was a better passer than people will admit now. You love Taseem Hill. Dude, this sucks. I hate being in Tassum's corner because it's like this is such a good. No, I don't. It's like ridiculous. I hate that I have to like be the Taysom Hipe Man

because I was never on board with that. You've been on him for the past year. You've been on the hype man. The reason it's like being like, it's because everybody thinks he sucks. And I don't think he was as bad. He sucks. No, that's what's what I'm saying.

He wasn't as bad as people thought he was. He didn't suck. He was all right to sort of all right. He would be the most gimmicky top 12 fantasy quarterback of all time. Yeah, so. You know what I mean? Sure. Yeah, you're basically betting on Sean Payton's ability to just like finagle

Tayson Hills away into like accruing yards and touchdowns, which you know what? He did it last year. We've seen it. We have yet to see him do it with fucking James Winston. If he loses the James Winston in camp, you still feel good about him? Well, I wouldn't use a pick on him probably. Wait for the waiver. I think James Winston loses his job by week three.

Because he's throwing picks left and right. Pick six is all day. Would you other have Daniel Jones or James? Not in fantasy, as a real-life quarterback. Daniel Jones. Okay. Hypatts just cheered wherever he is right now on a beach. I mean, that's a low bar, but yeah, Daniel Jones.

Oh, sorry, Hyphitz, low bar. All right. Well, to summarize our top top We have Lamar, Jalen Hertz, Joe Burrow, Ryan Tannenhill, Matt Stafford, Trevor Lawrence, and then our little sleeper section, we have Fields, Trey Lance. Daniel Jones and Drew Locke's number one overall pick.

Tassum Hill. Dayson Hill. God damn it. I just don't think he's good. I think it's just because they kept cutting to his like 50-yard passes that were literally to the fans. And I'm like, oh, man. I mean, I get it.

I'm not saying he's going to be like an elite quarterback. I'm just saying he has value in fantasy football because he runs. They should genuinely just run the triple option with him every time. Yes, why not? Go full army. Yeah. I mean, there are other options. James Winston, who throws picks a lot and fumbles a lot.

Kind of like James. Like, let's not forget that. James is a good passer when he completes it to his own team. Like, he's aggressive and all that. Yeah. I don't think you can coach the yolo ball out of. of them, to be honest. Especially because he's like kind of late in his career.

It's not like these like Daniel Jones, Drew Lockeyes, who are really young. James has been around. We've seen it. I don't know. I feel like, well, to be clear, the beat reporters, I think right now, the consensus is that James is going to win the job. So just keep that in mind. I'm zigging while everyone else is zagging.

And I'm not like, you know, I'm certainly not more informed about the Saints' plans than the Saints beat reporters are. But I think there's enough uncertainty there. I respect the Zach. Yeah. Anyway, that's all we got. I don't know how to do the outro. High Fitz always does this part kind of new to it.

Craig. Thank you, Craig. Thank you, D.K. Can you do, how about you do a band this time? How about that? Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Matchbox 20. Wow, I don't know why they're talking to my head. What?

Maybe you should do this every week. Rob Thomas. That was, wow. I never would have pulled out on. I haven't listened to them in probably 10 years. The brain is a curious organ. I don't know how it works. Yeah, that is weird.

Thank you, Craig. And we will be back on Thursday. Thursday. Thursday, all right. And Highfits, I believe, will be out for that again. So you get us again. It's going to be fun. We'll see.

Maybe we'll make him call in from a beach. Do you take Tahoe? I know. That's what we got to do. We'll see. We'll try and get him on the line. All right. Thank you guys.

Appreciate it.