0:00This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. What a play!
0:03Can you believe this? He's had no idea. It's time to dominate your fantasy league.
0:08Off to the races, and he stays at his feet.
0:11He's just gonna go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.
0:16It's Friday everybody, and it's mailbag time, but not for a little while.
0:20We have to catch up on some of the major training camp storylines, some big time injuries.
0:25The 49ers signing a wide receiver. Did Christian McCaffrey just become worse?
0:29You're like, what? I'll explain. And Jamie, never save the good stuff for the mic check.
0:34What were we just discussing? What trivia question were we just discussing or guessing at?
0:38Well, first we were discussing how you azerstatted your dentist appointment.
0:41We were discussing some James Cook stats and info.
0:44We were. We'll talk about that a little bit later, but you had a trivia question, and we are.
0:50Oh, yes. Since 2000, there have been two back-to-back rushing champions.
0:53Can you name the two? We named one already, LaDainian Tomlinson.
0:57And if I was gonna give a serious guess, the guess is Derrick Henry.
1:01I had, so this is the player who led the NFL in rushing yards consecutive seasons since 2001, was LaDainian Tomlinson.
1:07I guessed Zeke, and I was wrong. Thomas guessed Sean Alexander, which I think was a very good guess, but Dave's saying no.
1:14No, Zeke was a better guess. Sorry, Shafer. I have no idea.
1:18Priest Holmes. Dave is correct. It is Derrick Henry.
1:21Oh, all right. All right. So we'll talk about why James Cook, as the rushing yards leader last year, is trying to buck a very troubling trend.
1:29But first... Recent trend. Recent trend. Recent trend, yes.
1:32But first, do you know which wide receiver scored 17 or more fantasy points in four of his first five games, had
1:38a 28.4% target share, and then had a heel injury and stunk the rest of the year.
1:44Dave, who was it? His first name is Tyshawn, but we know him as Debo.
1:48Deebo Samuel. Yes, Deebo Samuel. Just a reminder, he's now...
1:51He's gonna be 31. Actually, I think in January.
1:54I think this is his age 30 season. I'll tell you that in one moment here.
1:59Yeah, he's 30. He'll be... So he's 30. And he got off to a very good start.
2:04And McLaurin played in three of those five games.
2:07Left one of the games injured. But, you know, Debo was off to a good start.
2:12I watched some tape this morning. He looked okay.
2:14I mean, it wasn't the old Debo Samuel, but it wasn't bad.
2:18Because I remember watching tape later in the year, and he just looked so slow and so compromised.
2:24And he was playing through a heel injury. And here's another stat, guys.
2:28Christian McCaffrey in his San Francisco era has averaged...
2:30Well, he has had a 12.6% target share with Debo Samuel on the field.
2:35And an 18.7% target share with Debo Samuel off the field.
2:38And it kind of makes sense. Because Debo is a very short area target.
2:42They'll give him screen passes. They'll do the things that McCaffrey does with Debo Samuel.
2:47What's your reaction to this? Ricky Pearsall, he might have to...
2:50I mean, he could miss the season. That's... We're not there yet.
2:54But anything's possible for Pearsall. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, Jamie, what's your reaction to this Debo Samuel signing for San Francisco?
3:00I want to see what the health status is for Christian Kirk.
3:04I want to know what the role is going to be for Deshaun Stribbling.
3:08But I think you're looking at it right now, knowing that there's a history of Kyle Shanahan and Debo Samuel.
3:14By the way, Debo, according to NFL research, Debo is the only wide receiver in NFL history with 20-plus receiving touchdowns and 20-plus rushing touchdowns.
3:21So, interesting little note there for him. I think when you're looking at this, it makes me want to draft Mike Evans.
3:28It makes me want to draft George Kittle if he's healthy.
3:32And then just kind of figure out the rest and maybe just let somebody else chase Debo's name.
3:37Because, look, he's had a hard time, I think, with his conditioning.
3:41I don't think that's unfair to say based on what we saw from him early in his career.
3:46So, hopefully, he's in shape. He's older. Him, McCaffrey, the receiving core.
3:50There's a lot of still moving parts, even though there's still familiarity there.
3:54I don't know. I'm probably not going to draft Debo Samuel personally.
3:57Dave? I'll draft him, but it's going to be in the double-digit rounds.
4:01And it's going to be with the idea that he's a good bench receiver, not a great bench receiver.
4:07You know how I feel about DK Metcalf. I'd much rather have DK Metcalf.
4:11You know how I feel about Jordan Tyson. I'm taking Jordyn Tyson.
4:15There aren't a ton of name receivers that I will wait for after Debo Samuel.
4:20But I can't help but think he's going to get a good opportunity.
4:24We know what he's done before in San Francisco.
4:26And I just think as a guy that, yeah, maybe he'll be a bench clogger.
4:31But we did see some good stuff from him before he got hurt last year.
4:36And if he's going to be in that range of six touches per game, remember he might get a carry or two
4:42along the way and some design screens and stuff like that.
4:46Yeah, maybe he can get you 10 to 12 PPR points.
4:49And so I'm going to be all right with him as long as it's with the late-round pick with the understanding that
4:56I'm not expecting a big year from him. He's just going to be like a good bench piece, good bye week replacement wide receiver.
5:03And at this point, the bodies are falling down all over again for the 49ers.
5:08I'd say that they're going to need Debo Samuel, but there's always a chance that he also incurs an injury just like he did last year.
5:15It's all the more reason why you don't chase the name.
5:19Like Jamie said, he's not worth that round eight or nine pick.
5:22You got to wait till 10, 11, somewhere in there.
5:26It's just kind of amazing that they added another 30-plus-year-old skill position player to this team.
5:30They're so old. They're so old. And I'll just say this to kind of put it in context, for me at least.
5:37Is Stefan Diggs in Washington? I'd rather have Diggs than Debo.
5:40Fair. Yep, me too. Oh, yeah. Actually, I think Stefan Diggs is one of my favorite draft values right now.
5:47He goes so late. And if he goes to Washington, which, you know, that's probably the favorite, I would like that.
5:53It's just hopefully it happens soon. Christian Kirk, by the way, is going to be 30 this year.
5:58You may not even think of him as old.
6:01That's great. He's going to be 30 in November.
6:04All right, last question about this. It's been mentioned.
6:07I have another question later about Brock Purdy. But who is the second 49ers wide receiver that you're drafting right now?
6:13Probably still Debo. Technically, that's Debo Samuel. Okay. All right.
6:16I've got a lot of segments today. We're going to go kind of fast on them.
6:21We're going to have a fast-paced show. Your email is later at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com.
6:25We're also going to read some of your draft-a-thon questions.
6:28But I'm looking at this. Here's a quick segment called Do You Buy These ADPs?
6:33I got four guys that I feel like we'd all jump for joy if we got at least three of them at this ADP.
6:40And the ADP is pretty consistent right now. Fantasy Pros, CBS, and Draft Sharks consensus.
6:44Rasheed Rice at the 2-3. You mean all the crazy people who like to draft early?
6:49But then you look at Rasheed Rice at the 2-3 turn.
6:53And someone, there are going to be multiple players that are so good that are going at the 2-3 turn that you're just like, how are they there?
7:01It could be Pickens. It could be Nico. It could be A.J.
7:05Brown. It could be Derek Henry. Right now, one of those players is Rasheed Rice at the 2-3 turn.
7:11Zay Flowers at the 3-4 turn. Lad McConkie, 46th.
7:13So almost at the 4-5 turn. Mike Evans at the 5-6 turn.
7:17Do you buy those ADPs, Jamie? Rasheed Rice, 2-3 turn.
7:20Zay Flowers, 3-4. McConkie, I'll just simplify it and say at the 4-5.
7:24And Evans at the 5-6. Yeah, I think the only one that kind of stands out is Rice because of where I
7:31think we haven't ranked our thoughts about him as a player and what he's capable of doing.
7:36I think the other guys are somewhat priced appropriately.
7:39You know, like I would take Zay Flowers probably at the earliest, the middle of round three, but the back end of the middle of round three.
7:47I think Evans is in the right range. I think McConkie's in the right range.
7:52The one thing I will say, though, when you're doing drafts now, because this happened.
7:56And I did a draft, an analyst draft, I think it was two weeks ago.
8:01And Rice was buried in the projections. And so, like, you know, when we draft on CBS, I can toggle by my rankings myself.
8:08You know, Dave, his rankings, Heath, his rankings. The site that I was using, I was just going off their projections and
8:15then finding the players that I wanted. And I was like, wow, Rice is really, like, pushed way down.
8:21I don't know why, you know, at what point they posted those.
8:24But, like, I don't know if people weren't searching for him or what.
8:28I got him at the 3-4 turn. Wow. Wow.
8:31So, like, it was like, okay, if he falls, I'll take him.
8:35If he's still there, I'll take him. Obviously, I'm taking him.
8:38I can't wait to take him. Here he is.
8:41I'm taking him. You know, like, it was just incredible value, you know.
8:45So, you see this sometimes by, if you swore by ADP, you see it sometimes you swore by other projections from other people.
8:52Clearly, there's going to be some values that you find.
8:55I think just now, again, like, the ADP data is great for us to use as talking points.
9:00I just think we're going to see some, not necessarily dramatic shifts, but shifts where some of these players, the injured players
9:07that are healthy, Malik Nabors, for example, you know, they get pushed up.
9:11And then, conversely, you know, some of the guys that are going to deal with injuries because they're happening way too fast, they're going to get pushed down.
9:19Okay. So, because I've been taking McConkie at the 3-4 turn, and he's going 46th.
9:24Evans, if I can really get Evans 60th overall, it's going to truly affect my draft strategy.
9:29I'm going to not feel like I have to take a wide receiver at the 3-4 turn.
9:34I might, but I think Evans, I really like Evans quite a bit.
9:38And I suspect with the pure Saul news that Evans will move up.
9:42But we'll see. All right. Dave, let's talk about tight end leftovers.
9:46You actually wanted to talk about Jawan Johnson, I think, yesterday, and we never really got to it.
9:51You felt like he deserved a little bit of a mention.
9:55This could honestly be 30 seconds, but do you think Jawan Johnson could play his way into being on fantasy rosters for much of the year?
10:03He could. It just comes down to how big of a step Jordan Tyson takes.
10:07Because if Tyson's good and Olave's okay, and Olave just got paid a new contract, so I think the Saints think he's going to be okay.
10:15Then I don't know how much that really leaves for Jawan Johnson.
10:19Someone suggested in our comments yesterday that Jawan Johnson is the tight end to snag late.
10:24And I would offer this question. Would you rather carry Jawan Johnson into a week one matchup against Detroit, which is a
10:30favorable matchup given the state of the safeties and the linebackers in Detroit right now?
10:35Or would you rather stash somebody else? And then if Jawan Johnson has a good game, you could always go and pick
10:42him up off waivers after week one. I think there are too many other tight ends that I like better than Jawan Johnson.
10:49But if it's a tight end premium league or a really deep league, your rosters are super deep, say seven plus bench spots.
10:56Jawan Johnson deserves one of them. I think there's a couple, maybe three or four, that these guys we kind of want
11:02to forget about, but they'll still be productive. Jawan Johnson's one.
11:06Dalton Schultz is another. I think you can maybe throw Hunter Henry in there, just looking at what he's done at times over his career.
11:13Maybe we get a TJ Hawkinson bounce back. But for me, really, it's just Jawan Johnson and Dalton Schultz.
11:19But you look at the circumstances for both those guys, where both were really good last year.
11:24The addition of Jordan Tyson. And then for the Texans, it's what we keep hearing about Jaden Higgins and then Tank Dell being back.
11:32And so if everybody's healthy on those respective rosters, I just think those veteran tight ends lose a little bit.
11:38And so what Dave was talking about with Jawan Johnson carrying him in the season, the first thing I thought of was,
11:44OK, if George Kittle's out, that's not a bad pivot play instead of just chasing Jake Tonjes and trying to handcuff the 49ers.
11:51Maybe you get something from Jawan Johnson. He produces well throughout the early part of the season, maybe while Jordan Tyson is
11:58working his way into understanding the NFL. Or unfortunately, as we've seen from him in his career, maybe he's hurt.
12:04You have Jawan Johnson as a trade chip once Kittle comes back.
12:08So I think there's a lot of different ways to play it with some of these late-round tight ends.
12:14It's the question of somebody in the chat just brought up Gunnar Helm.
12:18I think that's the type of guy you want to gravitate toward because he could pop as a second-year guy now that Chico Conkle is gone.
12:26And so I would rather chase the younger player that I think has more upside as opposed to maybe the veteran that
12:32I think could take a step back. But that's the kind of decision you have to make is proven production versus unproven
12:39production and which guy can maybe be better moving forward in their careers.
12:43So like when you're comparing a Helm, a Sadiq to a Schultz and a Johnson, those veterans have been great.
12:49But again, those younger players can be fantastic. I wasn't going to chuckle until I saw Dave smile there.
12:55But anyway... I'm just enjoying life. I'm having the best day ever.
12:59Okay. I guess we can wrap it up. We'll take a quick break.
13:02And just rookies and second-year guys. We kind of short-changed the Rondé Gadsden yesterday.
13:07I just feel like we need to talk a little bit about him.
13:11Elijah Arroyo. Could any of these second-year guys that were...
13:14Obviously, there's the big three second-year guys. But could any of the other ones?
13:18Because the 2025 tight end class on draft day was really exciting.
13:22Can any of the other guys, Ferguson, Arroyo, whoever I'm missing, Gunnar Helm, jump out?
13:26And then what about Sadiq? What about Eli Raritan in New England?
13:30And we'll be right back with that. And we've got a question about Sam Laporta.
13:34We've got an FFT Open update. We've got a fun segment and a game called, What's it going to take for you to blank?
13:42Don't ask me how I come up with these things.
13:45It's just a gift. We'll be right back. What's it going to take for you to get to the break?
13:51Right here. We'll be right back. Good. Oh, man.
13:54Every day I'm getting killed for this auction strategy thing.
13:57I haven't quite gotten back to looking at the comments.
14:00I wonder... I have comments. So you and I are going to see each other this weekend.
14:05And you're going to be around a bunch of other fantasy analysts.
14:09And we know several of them, a few of them, listen to our show.
14:13I wonder if anybody's going to bring it up to you in person.
14:17They are now, Jamie. Thank you. It's a lock now.
14:20Thank you for that. Dave, are there any rookie tight ends?
14:23I'm looking at you, Joey Wright. I'm looking at you.
14:26Oh, Joey Wright for sure. Rookie tight ends or second-year tight ends other than Loveland, Fan, and Warren?
14:32That you think... I'm not chasing... I'm not really chasing any of them in typical redraft leagues.
14:37Obviously, in Keeper and Dynasty leagues. Honestly, Sadiq is probably going to be the one that I'm the most after.
14:43Let's see how training camp unfolds over the next couple of weeks.
14:47And if we hear some great things about Sadiq.
14:49But the one that I think most fantasy managers gravitated toward early in the offseason was Gadsden.
14:55And that was especially after McDaniel landed in LA.
14:57But look who else has landed in LA. Like Njoku is part of the tight end group there.
15:03It's a deep group. And this is a team that's already going to be, at least based on history, of Mike McDaniel's history, playing at a slow pace.
15:11Maybe not necessarily throwing a ton. And Lad McConkie is the guy that we've kind of earmarked as being the top target getter in that offense.
15:19Quentin Johnson, Trey Harris will be in there too.
15:22So I'm not real interested in Gadsden at this point.
15:25But the nice thing is that these are all tight ends that do have some potential.
15:30You should be able to find them all off the waiver wire if they have a good week one or week two or even later in the year.
15:39And you see that there's some potential for them.
15:41Yeah, you can grab them off the waiver wire.
15:44You don't have to spend the draft pick. Like Ferguson, for example, is there's so many tight ends in Los Angeles.
15:50And so the hope would be, and it kind of goes back to some of the offseason news, they didn't trade for A.J.
15:57Brown, knee injury, not injury, but they didn't get him.
16:00They didn't draft Makai Lemon, who was a potential target for them at 16 when they took Ty Simpson.
16:06And so do they essentially use one of their tight ends?
16:10And Ferguson, I think, makes the most sense to be their third receiver.
16:14And so that's the type of player you're looking for, like to take a jump in terms of opportunity.
16:19But again, Parkinson's still there. Higby's still there. They drafted another tight end.
16:23So there's just a lot of players and bodies and moving parts, which is what makes the Rams offense so fun and
16:30unique, but also frustrating when it's not Puka and Adams.
16:33Like any one of these tight ends, I think it was just, hey, we're running a traditional offense with 11 personnel and
16:40maybe even 12 personnel, but 11 personnel. And that tight end is getting featured.
16:44We saw it once upon a time. You guys made the joke a couple of days ago about Higby.
16:50Like that could be just amazing for one particular guy.
16:53But there's four of them. So I think that makes it frustrating.
16:57Okay. We have a question, Jamie, from Travis, and this will end our tight end discussion.
17:01Do you have any hesitation taking Sam Laporta with a mid-round pick if you already drafted either Gibbs or Amon Ross St.
17:08Brown? Not really. I think you've seen throughout the three years that these guys have been together that they've had the opportunities to produce at a high level.
17:17They might have the consistency rating for those guys.
17:19But look, this is going to be a team that has one of the best schedules.
17:24They play so many games indoors. I think from week five through 17, they play outdoors twice.
17:29One of those is at Miami. So it's just unreal what their schedule could be.
17:34Their defense could be atrocious. That's a plus for those guys.
17:37So no, I wouldn't run away from it. But if you're debating Laporta, Pitts, Fannin, Kraft, like those four guys, I think,
17:44are the tier that they're all kind of grouped together.
17:47Maybe pivot just to diversify your roster a little bit.
17:50I'd be worried about Laporta and Jameson Williams. We've talked about how it seems like one of those two can be good
17:57in a given week, but it's rare when both of them are good.
18:01It's really rare when both of them get six plus targets in the same game.
18:05If we set the number at 10 PPR points for Sam Laporta last year, he had five games with at least 10 PPR points.
18:13I remember he only played nine games. At least one of Gibbs or Munra St.
18:17Brown had 13 PPR points in the same game.
18:20And there were two games where they were both outstanding while Sam Laporta had 10 PPR points.
18:25So I don't think it's a deal breaker. This is one of those offenses where there will be weeks where many people will eat.
18:33And so if you want to load up on lines, it's a best ball strategy to stack teams from the same offense.
18:39It probably won't hurt you, especially with Laporta getting a lift in efficiency and opportunities with the change in play color.
18:46Yeah. And you could also, you know, it's not the most ideal situation, but you could also just go all in and get Jared Goff also.
18:54So you'll have some huge weeks. I, you know, tournament style format, but like in, in the fishbowl, that's exactly what I did with Gibbs, Laporta and golf.
19:02I think at this point, I, I want to take golf over Purdy with the schedule.
19:07I'm not far off with you. Yeah. I mean, yeah.
19:10Cause Purdy has such a terrible schedule. Golf has one cold weather game all year.
19:15And I just think at some point we, like we, we have to acknowledge the 49ers receiving situation is less than ideal, super old and super injured.
19:23Well, it's also, you brought this up, I think recently, like Purdy feasted on the worst teams in the league last year.
19:30And so he's typically been like a 20, 21 point per game score, which is great.
19:34But 24.9 last year. Yeah. Probably not who he is.
19:38And he's a really good rusher. So maybe you say a four, you know, four point per passing touchdown Purdy six golf,
19:44but they're, they're pretty far off in ADP as I recall.
19:48All right. If one more thing, just cause there was a thing in the chat about, uh, Oconco.
19:53Somebody asked like, why are we giving Oconco the, um, the, the Zach arts production or treatment, whatever it was.
19:59Um, it's not, I don't think anybody's saying that, but it's just the potential that he could do that.
20:05And so right now you're looking at it as he could be number two on the team and targets and Jaden Daniels
20:12had a good rapport with Zach art. So that tight end production could be there for him.
20:17It was like 10.7 PPR points per game, 10.4 PPR points per game for it in 2024.
20:22I think it's just, again, looking at these late round tight end options.
20:26Once you get past the top 11 guys, you could say Goddard and Andrews are safer because their, their resumes are better.
20:33Uh, for me, like I'm going to shoot for upside when I'm trying to get one of those late round tight ends, probably take two of them.
20:41But Oconco to me is my favorite one. Okay.
20:44So just a couple of things here to promote FFT open Monday night, 7 PM Eastern.
20:49All the spots for the FFT open are on sale.
20:52If listen, the ones for, for me, Dave, Jamie, Heath, Jacob, Dan, they're going to sell out very quickly.
20:57Same with last year, like Chris Harris, Jake Seeley, Scott fish.
21:01I'm probably forgetting some that sold out almost immediately.
21:03That's okay. We have a full roster full of the best minds in the fantasy industry.
21:08Plenty of leagues to join. It's $250. It's not cheap, but it all goes to St.
21:13Jude. It's a great idea. If you want to share a team with someone, we can certainly help you out with that.
21:20We can make a co-manager for you. Um, and if you won your division last year, okay.
21:25Cause the division winners move on to a playoff just for the, it'll be 36 division winners this year.
21:31If you win your, if you won your division last year, we will give you the first opportunity to get back into the FFT open.
21:39You just have to be in contact with us.
21:41Uh, our colleague Claire sent you an email. If you haven't responded and you didn't get it or whatever, just now was the time.
21:49Even. I think it might. Yeah. Jamie, Jamie, Jamie.
21:51Uh, fantasy football at CBS.com. If specifically you won your division last year and you want the first dibs of getting back
21:58into the FFT open, you can email me. Meanwhile, the CBS sports fantasy app is phenomenal.
22:03It's improved. Please check it out. Download it. CBS sports fantasy.
22:06And you can scan the QR code right here at youtube.com slash fantasy football today.
22:11All right. Segment called what's it going to take for YouTube blank.
22:14AKA the used car salesman segment. How am I going to get you into this Malik neighbors in round two car?
22:21Um, now what's it going to take for you to draft Malik neighbors in round two?
22:26Everything here is about a buzzy player right now in camp.
22:29Uh, what's it going to take Dave for you to draft Malik neighbors in round two?
22:34I told you I was going to sleep on it and I did.
22:38And, uh, now what's it going to take for me to take Malik neighbors in round two?
22:43Okay. I'm going to open my draft room. My draft is going to start.
22:47It's going to be around two and I'm going to click on Malik neighbors name.
22:52Yeah. When in round two, it's going to right now it's late round two, uh, easier to do a non PPR than half or full PPR.
23:00But I mean, it's just a matter of time before everybody buys right back into Malik neighbors.
23:05He looks good. It's a great start for him.
23:08There's no, there's, there's no discussion about him taking it slow.
23:11And I know that the giants are kind of slow playing his recovery, but he said himself, the second surgery that he
23:18had, the timeline for that was reported incorrectly. He's been running routes for weeks.
23:22He said he, it looks like it. He looks, he looks close to his old self.
23:27And so if he looks close now and it's July 31st, then by the time we get to early September, he should be his old self.
23:35And I did a double check on math Nagy and how he did with Alan Robinson in Chicago.
23:40And I almost think that's the floor for Malik neighbors because Robinson had two years there where he was averaging North of eight targets per game.
23:48And he was getting 15.9 or more PPR points per game.
23:52That would be a disappointment for neighbors. If you're taking them in round one, which is where we would be taking him
23:58if he had never suffered the injury and he went on to have a good year.
24:03Like he eventually got to doing that week. Three game was kind of his breakout weeks.
24:08One and two, not as much. I I'm excited about him and I don't think we're drafting him too close to his ceiling.
24:15If we're doing it in late round two, Jamie, what's it going to take for you to draft neighbors in round two?
24:2220, 35, 32 players get hurt. No, I don't want that.
24:25That would be crazy. I don't want that. I'm not taking it around two.
24:30You're not there yet. No. And I won't be there.
24:33Okay. What's it going to take for you? You know what?
24:36Can I, can I pause here? This means something that's bothering.
24:39I want to be Thomas, when we go to that full screen view and the three of us are on the side,
24:46I want to be on the top. I think I've earned that.
24:50Are you serious? Not really. Yes, he is. He keeps getting covered up by the comments.
24:55That's not fair. First of all, your microphone covers half your face 90% of the time you're talking.
25:00All right. What's it going to take? Never once in the history of this show, and I'll speak for Jamie here because
25:07I don't think he's done it either. Have we out loud said on the air, I need my face to be featured prominently when we're showing graphics.
25:15They're not looking at your dumb face when the graphic is on anyway.
25:19I think I've earned it. That's the one. That's the one.
25:22I said I earned it. Did I really say I earned it?
25:26I did say that, didn't I? I think I've earned it.
25:29Terrible. You have had one of the worst weeks ever.
25:32Terrible week. Terrible week. I should say the most insulting thing anyone's ever said to me, but I'm not going to.
25:39I think you, let's go there because it'll make your week even worse.
25:43Should I say it? Okay. I don't give a damn.
25:46Dave says to me earlier today, he says, hold on.
25:49Um, he says, what if you, this is a, like a text or a group, a G chat.
25:54What if you sneakily added me to your baked burger dynasty league, put me on under a pseudonym.
26:00I wouldn't want to control anything just to try and help you improve.
26:04So I put that in the notes and then I removed it as the most insulting thing that anyone's ever said to me.
26:11Uh, but yeah, it's okay. Um, I guess I don't deserve to be on top there.
26:16What would it take? You don't deserve to have help with your dynasty league anymore.
26:20How many, how, how many times have you won that league?
26:24By the way? Zero. How many times have you made the playoffs in that league?
26:28One. Well, you're talking about just, just when it became baked burger, that's three.
26:32I don't know how long this dumb league has been running.
26:36I'm not in it. This is a, like a 13 year dynasty league, but it's only been this iteration of it for three years.
26:43And I made the playoffs the first year and then tank.
26:46So you got a 33% hit rate of making the playoffs.
26:50You're right. You don't need any help. All right.
26:52What's it going to take for you to downgrade B.
26:56John Robinson and Jameer Gibbs amid their contract, uh, issues.
26:59Holding out until the final week of the preseason.
27:01Jamie, you look good on the top. I'm in the middle.
27:05I have to tell you, you look great. I think we should stick with that.
27:09So this is, this is an Acer sandwich. Yes, exactly.
27:12I'm in the middle. All right. What's it going to take for you to draft Parker Washington, whichever.
27:18What's it going to take for you to draft Parker Washington in round five?
27:22This guy praise every day for Parker Washington. What's going to take for you to draft Parker Washington around five.
27:28I'm five picks off right now. So it's not that.
27:31Yeah, I've got him at the five, six turn.
27:34So I'm, I'm right there with you, Jame. I, I love him, uh, as one of those wait for it, wait for it.
27:41Got them low end. Number two wide receivers. Are you buying the buzz on Parker Washington?
27:46I've been buying it since the middle of the off season.
27:49So yes, I know, but there's so many things not to like.
27:53I feel like it's crowded receiver room. He, he's one of these guys that's had six good games in his three year career.
28:00That's any, he's a sixth round pick. That's usually not the guy that we in the NFL draft, by the way, that's
28:07usually not the kind of guy we want to buy into.
28:10Okay. There's obviously exceptions to draft stock, uh, as we were well aware through NFL history, but it's like, how do you
28:17not buy into everything that is coming at? It's not just the coach.
28:21It's not just the teammates. It's the beat writers.
28:23It's everybody that's saying just how great this guy looks.
28:26And every day, like you said, it's, it's another Liam Cohen.
28:30He's the first guy I texted. He, you know, he's the first guy in the building.
28:35He's doing this. He's doing that. Trevor Lawrence loves him.
28:38Like, I don't know. I mean, yes, it's, it's a very crowded receiving core.
28:42When Travis Hunter is playing on the offensive side of the ball and Brian Thomas and, and Jacoby Myers and Brent strange,
28:49it's hard for him maybe to max out to what we would love to see, which I think is why we're not
28:55drafting and maybe higher than late round five, early round six, you know, or, or, you know, a little bit later based on his ADP.
29:03But like, I don't know how you can look at it and say, he's not the Jaguars receiver that you have to take first.
29:10And then when you start to look at him in relation to the blob, because he's in the blob, like, I don't know.
29:17I'm trying to just do it from a math perspective.
29:20I think he's going to get more targets. I don't think he's better than Jamison Williams, but I think he's going to get more targets than Jamison Williams.
29:29I think his offense, the way it's catered right now with everybody healthy, it's going to benefit Parker Washington a little bit better.
29:36So like, that's one guy that I've struggled with.
29:39I think it's when you start to stack him up to like Cornell Tate and Marvin Harrison and his own teammates.
29:45Like there's just so much more to love about Washington right now.
29:49So yes, it could easily blow up in your face.
29:52I don't think you're making a huge investment by taking him in this range, though.
29:56Agreed. All right. One more. By the way, what round was Puka Nakua drafted in?
30:01Fifth round. What round was the Monroe St. Brown drafted in?
30:04He was a fourth round pick St. Brown. Those guys had good rookie seasons.
30:08Puka Nakua is week one. It's true. First time he stepped out of the field.
30:13Not everybody immediately comes into the NFL and does great things.
30:16Sometimes it takes a little time. Sometimes there's a Julian Edelman and a West Walker.
30:21That's fine. Thank you very much. And he fell in the draft because he was hurt, Parker Washington.
30:26He got hurt in his last year in college.
30:29All right. My favorite part about what Jamie said is that the price is a little prohibitive.
30:34That's it. Round five, round six. You might be able to get him later than that in your drafts because people, not
30:41everybody is going to be dialed into Washington. But I think he does so much for that offense that they need him
30:48to be a volume receiver in the middle of the field.
30:51And he can work three levels. He did it last year.
30:55He can do it again this year. And listen, if you want discounted Parker Washington, just go get Josh Downs.
31:01And aren't these the type of receivers that the offenses are gravitating toward anyway?
31:05Because they're looking for the next St. Brown, JSN.
31:08I'm not saying Washington or Downs are going to be that.
31:11But guys that are willing to cross the field, work on those horizontal routes and make plays after the catch.
31:17Like that's a way you beat the high shell defenses that coaches that will feature that and quarterbacks that will trust them.
31:24All right. What's it going to take for you to draft Bejal Tootin ahead of DeAndre Swift?
31:29Tootin getting a ton of buzz. And Chris Rodriguez says the plan is for Rodriguez to be ready for week one, but it's not a guarantee.
31:37What's it going to take for you to take Tootin over Swift?
31:41Non-injury related? Yeah. Nothing. Monongai is out at camp.
31:43And so if that lingers, then it's going to be even harder for Tootin to overcome.
31:48Yeah. Swift will move up. We just don't know how bad the injury is from Monongai.
31:53It might just be like a weekend thing for him.
31:56It's going to be hard for me to move Tootin ahead of Swift.
32:00But the first thing that would have to happen is Chris Rodriguez stops being talked about in a positive light, maybe gets banged up again.
32:08And the Jaguars run out of options to put in the backfield behind Tootin.
32:12Okay. There was an article in the Charlotte Observer from Scott Fowler raving about Bryce Young.
32:17I'm here to tell you, based on whatever institutional knowledge I've acquired from covering these Carolina Panthers for 32 straight seasons, that
32:24what Bryce Young is doing in practice right now in training camp is about to lead to a really good and possibly great season for him.
32:31What's it going to take for you to consider Bryce Young as a breakout candidate?
32:36I just want to go to two words you just said in that quote.
32:40Four words you said for him. Great year for him.
32:43Because great year for him could be great. Could be fantastic.
32:47Could be amazing. Great year for him, for us, could still be mediocre.
32:51Fair. Fair. To add context to that, his career high in completion rate is 63.6, yardage 3,011 yards.
32:56That's in 16 games last year. And his career high in touchdowns also came last year, 23 touchdowns.
33:02So if he can beat those types of numbers, that's a career year for Bryce Young.
33:06But we would never want somebody who gets 3,500 yards and 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions as a must-start fantasy QB.
33:13That doesn't exist. I thought we were going to review the Superflex draft we did yesterday.
33:18So one thing that stood out to me, you guys weren't in the draft, but one thing that stood out to me
33:24on top of Christian McCaffrey falling to 20th overall, one thing that stood out was the second quarterbacks.
33:30There were 19 quarterbacks drafted in the first five rounds, and then 11 drafted in rounds six through 15.
33:36And so I took Joe Burrow in the first round and Malik Willis in the fifth round.
33:41And then I was like, okay, which third quarterback do I want?
33:45So I was looking at it. You know, I was like, okay, if I get Donald or Jones, just because I want
33:51a little bit of a safer floor with Malik Willis.
33:54And then it was like, you just start to see the trickle down.
33:58I was like, is Bryce Young one of those guys?
34:01And I think that's the only time you consider drafting Bryce Young.
34:05Like there's so many number two quarterbacks that have so much more upside than him.
34:10I think the thing that you're looking at with Bryce Young, first off, how healthy are the offensive tackles?
34:15Because that's a huge, huge, huge issue. Now, I think more for him, because you see with smaller quarterbacks, the interior is
34:22almost more important than the two tackles, because if they get pressure pushed back in their face, they're done.
34:28You know, so you want the tackles healthy, clearly.
34:31But like he has a hard time seeing over the line to begin with.
34:35And, you know, if the middle is okay, it's still a little bit of benefit from him.
34:40But that's just, you know, nitpicking. But in any event, like Tet can be great.
34:45Coker, we saw could be decent, you know, and both, you know, clearly good for fantasy.
34:50I think losing Brazel and what they were hoping for him, like the sacrificial X, but just somebody that can stretch the field.
34:57Like now that offense gets tighter and it's not great for them.
35:00So it's just another, I don't know if you even mentioned Adam yesterday to say like Brazel is out for the season.
35:07I was going to mention that. And I actually, I think this wasn't my original thought.
35:12I saw another, I can't remember who it was, another fantasy analyst talking about how Brazel, like you said, could be that
35:18sacrificial X, but if he's out, Tetero and McMillan could go back to that role.
35:23And we don't want that. Yeah. They were talking about him being a slot receiver.
35:28Yep. Right. We want him moving into the slot more or not being as, you know, not always there, but moving around more.
35:35We want the a dot probably a little bit lower for Tetero and McMillan.
35:39Brazel could have helped with that stretch the field and allow McMillan to do more stuff that leads to more targets.
35:45So I don't think, I don't think Chris Brazel getting hurt is a good thing.
35:50I don't know if it's a bad thing for McMillan.
35:53I don't think it's a good thing for McMillan.
35:56I agree. Good to Jamie's point about pressure on Bryce young, his completion rate when not pressured 72% when pressured 45%, 5.3
36:02yards per attempt, a terrible quarterback rating, terrible EPA 4.6% touchdown rate.
36:06That's actually the same as when he's not pressured.
36:09That's weird. He's, he's not a great quarterback to begin with.
36:12And if those tackles aren't there, yeah, he's going to have a hard time seeing over the offensive line and he's going
36:19to lose half a second to get the ball out problems.
36:22I don't see him having a breakout here. I should, the question I probably should have asked was about McMillan, but that's for another show.
36:30We're going to take a break, more news and notes just to catch you up on some of the stuff going on around training camp.
36:37And then we will read your questions, your draftathon questions, your emails at fantasyfootballatcbsi.com.
36:42We'll be right back. We are back. News and notes.
36:45Okay. Ricky Pierce saw a knee injury. Debo Samuel, one year deal could be worth up to $7 million.
36:51Christian Kirk has a strained calf. Jordan James running back for the 49ers.
36:54He has a fractured rib and is going to miss time.
36:58So Jamie Kalen Black, is that the guy you draft right now?
37:02If you had McCaffrey and Wander's handcuff? No, they just signed the handcuff.
37:05Who? Debo. Oh, Debo. Yeah. I mean, listen, at this point, it sounds like James is going to be fine for week one.
37:12This doesn't help his situation to win the job, but Isaac Arendo could be back.
37:17It's just one of those things. I'll give you another scenario.
37:20I had a choice in the fishbowl, so a couple weeks ago, of the two 49ers running backs.
37:26This is my last pick. Two 49ers running backs and Marson Lloyd.
37:30And I took Lloyd. And I don't think there's the upside of Lloyd if there's a clear-cut handcuff for the 49ers.
37:36But it was, what happens if Josh Jacobs has legal issues at some point?
37:40Just clear a path, you know what I mean?
37:43Yeah, of course. If you're starting to look at the 49ers guys and like, okay, I'm waiting for the McCaffrey injury because
37:50of the history with him with 412 touches. But there's no certainty.
37:53Like, I may pivot just to Ray Davis at this point.
37:57Like, why not take a chance on just a handcuff with upside if that's what you're going for?
38:02Especially after what you said about James Cook earlier in the show.
38:06I never said it. Oh, yeah. Oh, we never got into it.
38:09We have so much stuff left. Put a pin in that.
38:13Put a pin in that comment. Yeah. I'm sure Pacheco was off the board, by the way, when you made that pick.
38:20Also, now Jamie has Lloyd. No, no, no. By the way, may not be Pacheco.
38:24Get out of here. Could be Vockey. Yeah. Oh, B.A.
38:27No way. You say that. Are you wearing your I Love Pacheco underwear today or is that in the washing machine?
38:34I have six of them. And today is the one day that I don't have it.
38:38So you have one for every game that he's played over the last three years.
38:43One for every 10-yard carry he's had. Anyway, I was meant to make this joke.
38:48It's been a long time, but Jamie said he had Lloyd.
38:51So now I would say you can't triple stamp or double stamp.
38:55Chris Olave, four-year deal, $132 million extension, $90 million guaranteed.
38:58He was the number seven wide receiver per game last year.
39:01It was his first season as a top 20 wide receiver on a per-game basis.
39:06Good news for Romo Dunze. He said something earlier in the offseason about how his foot was basically never going to be the same.
39:13He had a new normal. But he said too much was made of that.
39:17His foot feels amazing. Romo Dunze. According to ESPN, Jahan Dotson will probably be Atlanta's number two wide receiver.
39:23So if you're in a really deep league, Jahan Dotson may be somebody worth getting.
39:28Bo Nix looks like he's... Can you catch the context of that, though?
39:31No. Oh, that Zachariah Brand should be like a gadget player.
39:35No, it was the beat writer saying who stood out so far as the second best receiver or the third best option
39:42in the passing game behind London and Pitts. And that was the name he said right now.
39:47Okay. Bo Nix, full go for training camp. Baker Mayfield seems pretty angry that he didn't get a contract extension.
39:53He seems very motivated. And he said he's in the best shape of his life.
39:57Kyler Murray not really having a great camp, it seems.
40:00And some tweets out there make it seem like J.J.
40:03McCarthy's been better than Kyler Murray. So I don't think...
40:07Well, we'll see. That would be incredible. Yeah. Pittsburgh rookie quarterback Drew Aller having a good camp.
40:12Not that he's going to win the job, but for you Dynasty people out there.
40:16Ashton Gentry said he was not in good enough shape last year.
40:20He stopped eating candy, and Ashton Gentry is in better shape now.
40:24Dontavian Wicks appears... Did he play basketball? What's that?
40:26You see him play basketball? The video of him playing basketball?
40:30No, pretty good, I'm assuming. I mean, he just dunks like crazy.
40:33Shocker. Dontavian Wicks appears to be ahead of Makai Lemon right now for Philadelphia.
40:38See, these are the things that just should help you when you're looking at players, when you're trying to get value.
40:44Dontavian Wicks knows the offense. Dontavian Wicks came with the guy who's the play caller.
40:49Dontavian Wicks has been in the NFL. Makai Lemon has dealt with an injury this offseason.
40:53Lemon will be better than Dontavian Wicks. It may take a few weeks, but Lemon will be the better player.
41:00So let this push his value down, and then you go get him.
41:04Drake London proposed to his wife with Taco Bell.
41:06They were eating Taco Bell. That's pretty cool. Not that's romance.
41:10Michael Penix Jr. I hope no lettuce. Michael Penix Jr.
41:13Yeah, right, right, right. Cool. Michael Penix Jr. could be out another four weeks.
41:17Marry me and have diarrhea. Jeez. You know, the thing about...
41:20Yeah, forget it. Todd Monken said Harold Fennett Jr.
41:23is going to be a focal point. Tucker Craft expects to come off pup soon.
41:28Aaron Glenn said Kenyon Zadik is going to be a huge weapon for the offense.
41:32Both Chargers offensive tackles have been cleared for training camp.
41:35D'Amico Ryan is a Texans head coach. He's been praising Woody Marks and Jaden Higgins.
41:40A couple of second-year players there. Meanwhile, second-year receiver Jalen Knoll is going to miss a couple weeks with a finger injury.
41:47I mentioned Chris Rodriguez is practicing, and he had off-season foot surgery.
41:50He plans to be ready for week one. Left tackle Tristan Wirth, so the Bucs hurt his hamstring.
41:56He missed the first four games of last year, so it's early.
41:59Hopefully, he's okay. Saints defensive tackle Brian Brezee. Brezee.
42:02Brezee. Brezee. Does he have a torn ACL? I believe he does.
42:06Okay. I believe the season's over. It's a small blow to what was already a defense that was in serious...
42:12is in serious question. Yeah. And Cincinnati defensive lineman Shamar Stewart, we thought, based on the video, he might have had a season-ending injury, but he doesn't.
42:20He avoided a major injury, but he'll miss a little bit of time.
42:24Pete Prisco was in Tampa Bay. You can see some of the videos on...
42:28If you go to the NFL and CBS site on Twitter, you can obviously see it on CBS Sports HQ, and they
42:35run the recaps of those, and just Google it if you want to.
42:39But Chris Godwin, 100%. Oh, good. Awesome. Awesome. He also...
42:42Pete had a very funny bit with Baker Mayfield.
42:45He said, hey, I hear you're having contract issues, and he gave him 20 bucks on the air.
42:50He said Baker kept it. Yeah. I was about to say, I hope Baker kept it.
42:55That is awesome. All right. Jamie, I'm running very behind, and I have to get to the draft-a-thon questions that the people paid for.
43:02So let's go two minutes for this awesome James Cook stat.
43:06We're going to talk about him on the running back preview next week, but you won't be here for that.
43:12But let's put people in a panic before the weekend.
43:15Yeah. Yeah. You said awesome. It wasn't so awesome when I found it.
43:19So the last five rushing champions, so going back to Derrick Henry in 2020 through Saquon Barkley in 2024, so not including
43:26James Cook, so the five prior to 2025, they lost at least 848 yards and six touchdowns the following season.
43:32848 and six. Now, that's not the average because of the average, it would be worse because McCaffrey only played four games
43:38after his 2023 leading the NFL in rushing. But if you're watching on YouTube, you see what it was.
43:44And Derrick Henry and McCaffrey, both over 1,000 yards worse than they were the previous season, they both suffered significant injuries.
43:51You remember 2021 was Derrick Henry with the broken foot, and then 2024 was McCaffrey with the knee injury.
43:56But this is scary as all can be that this is what we could be looking at.
44:02Now, as we told you with the trivia question to start the show, Derrick Henry 2019 led the NFL in rushing yards.
44:082020 led the NFL in rushing yards. So it's not that far back that we're looking at somebody who's had some success.
44:15But the concern would be is clearly the workload.
44:18Now, in McCaffrey's case in 2023, he only had, I think it was like 230 carries.
44:23So a lot of what he did was as a pass casser.
44:26So it's not necessarily the carries that scare you, but all the other guys in the year that they had leading the
44:33NFL in rushing were over 300 carries. And James Cook, first time in his career last year, over 300 carries.
44:39So I'm not panicking yet on Cook, but this was on top of all the workload issues that we were talking about with Saquon Barkley last year.
44:47If you remember, I kept saying the history of 2,000-yard rushers.
44:51There were only eight of them. So a small sample size for both of those, obviously you see what happened to Barkley going from 2,000 yards.
44:59Same thing with Derrick Henry. 2020, he was over 2,000 yards rushing.
45:022021, injury, and clearly a step back. So it is just something to keep in mind.
45:07It is something to be a little bit panicked about.
45:10I'm not going to say I may have placed a bet on the under on James Cook rushing yards, but something to
45:17consider if you're looking at that as well. So just the history here is not that great of what the recent history
45:24of what that's been for the leading rusher the following year.
45:27You guys have heard us talk about how worried we are about players coming off of 400 touch seasons and McCaffrey's coming off of 450 touch seasons.
45:35And obviously, if you're going to be the rushing leader, that means you had a lot of touches.
45:41Cook had 385 touches. So practically 400 touches last season.
45:44Career high by a lot. At bare minimum, and this is the same advice I would tell you with drafting Christian McCaffrey,
45:50draft Ray Davis with a late round pick if you get James Cook.
45:54Because Davis is actually a darn good running back when he's replaced James Cook and could be that.
46:00And locking up the Bills running back, that seems like a really good spot to have in fantasy.
46:05You're also Joe Brady. I can't, you know, just again.
46:08So the story would be up on the site making a case for all the first round players and why they could be bust.
46:16And so this is what led me down this path.
46:19But also, Joe Brady has said, similar to what we hear, it's hard to expect it to play out.
46:25He wants to give Ray Davis and Ty Johnson more touches to take pressure off of James Cook.
46:30And then I think, I know Joe Brady hasn't done that as the coordinator, but I think Joe Brady's going to have them throw the ball more.
46:38So I think that was more of a McDermott holding Brady back from, I think, what he wants to do.
46:44And I think Brady's going to have this team be a little bit more pass happy.
46:49Okay. Man. So that's just something to think about with James Cook.
46:53But honestly, I mean, look, yes, he led the league in rushing.
46:57He was less than 30 yards better than Derrick Henry.
47:00He was less than 40 yards better than Jonathan Taylor.
47:03They all had big rushing seasons and could regress.
47:05That's why, honestly, I think it's insane to draft them ahead of Christian McCaffrey.
47:10But I know other people feel differently. I mean, they're certainly younger.
47:13That's the good thing. But they all had a lot of touches and they all had a lot of yards.
47:19I think if you're legitimately concerned by this, and again, I'm not there yet, but I'm getting close.
47:25If you're legitimately concerned by this and you're stacking up concerns for McCaffrey and concerns for Cook, to your point, Adam, McCaffrey's upside is better.
47:32No matter how these guys play out, if they both play the season, no injuries, I'm taking McCaffrey 10 out of 10.
47:39Yeah. I think everyone is. Okay. Draftathon questions. Andrew bought two questions.
47:43Thank you, Andrew. We appreciate your generosity. Andrew's in a 10-team PPR league.
47:47You start one quarterback, two running backs, two receivers, and two flexes.
47:50There are a lot of good quarterbacks available in this league.
47:54Do you think it's best to wait on quarterback until after the top-tier QBs have been drafted?
47:59It's a 10-team PPR league with one QB, two receivers, two running backs, two flexes.
48:04Should you wait, Dave? Generally, my answer would be yes, but I wouldn't pass up.
48:08And we talked about this on the quarterback preview.
48:11I highly encourage everybody to watch it or listen to it if you haven't already.
48:15But you want to steal a quarterback. And if Lamar Jackson's sitting there in round five, Drake May is sitting there in
48:22round five or round six, why would you pass up that type of value?
48:26Why would you give that value to somebody else in your league?
48:30So you can have the idea of waiting for a quarterback, but don't be a fool.
48:35And if you've got a chance to get a stud quarterback later than the ADP says, you should take it.
48:41And also in a 10-team league, the onesie positions, not everyone feels this way, but you could say, I want to make
48:48sure I'm elite at quarterback and tight end, or at least one of them.
48:52Because, you know, you can have a bigger advantage there.
48:55You want as many elite players as possible, and it's more doable in a 10-team league.
49:00All right. Another one from Andrew is, I've listened to your show for a few years.
49:05I've gotten some great advice on players, music, movies, and shows.
49:08You're welcome, Andrew. I've never heard how you guys got started in the industry.
49:12Could you share how you got your start? 30 seconds each, Jamie.
49:16Yeah, 30 seconds is 45. In the fantasy industry?
49:19Yeah, sure. I was a newspaper guy for the Palm Beach Post covering a variety of teams, including the Dolphins.
49:25Michael Fabiano had just left CBS Sports, and I was hoping to stay in South Florida.
49:30I was honestly looking for really a foot in the door to get to CBS and maybe continue just being an NFL guy.
49:37But this fantasy stuff has just been so much fun.
49:40Working with Dave and Adam has been amazing. Adding Heath was even better, and Dan and all the other cast of characters.
49:47So why leave when it's just such a great ride?
49:50Dave, how'd you get your foot in the door?
49:52I don't think I can do it in 30 seconds.
49:55The 30-second version would be, got my foot in the door with CBS.
49:59People knew that I loved fantasy football. Eventually got the chance to write about fantasy football on NFL.com.
50:05And then CBS brought me over a year before they brought Jamie in.
50:09I would have gone with Carrie Wood, got hurt.
50:12Dave was great at what he does, and everybody noticed it.
50:15Dave met a girl who wanted him to move out of his parents' basement.
50:19And so he started rapidly applying for jobs online and fell ass backwards into a job covering pro wrestling in Florida, which
50:26in and of itself is a dream job. And then parlayed that into being a fantasy football writer.
50:31The girl is no longer in his life. He married somebody else.
50:35And I did student radio at the University of Miami and interned for what at the time was college sports television, CSTV in Manhattan.
50:42They hired me out of college. They became CBS Sports Network.
50:46So I was in like the CBS Sports family.
50:48I was working in New York from 2007 to 2009 after I graduated in 06.
50:53I wanted to move back to Florida where my family was.
50:56CBSSports.com was in Fort Lauderdale. So I've transferred there.
50:59And I started – Dave and Jamie were two of the first people I met.
51:04They were like, hey, why don't you go host this fantasy football podcast?
51:08And that was 19 years ago. We never said that.
51:11We never asked for you to host our podcast.
51:13No, no, no. No, sorry. You didn't say that.
51:16But someone said it to me. We used to have a radio station in the building we were at.
51:22And we would record our podcast in there. And then one day this kid just started showing up and said, listen, I know a lot about podcasts.
51:30I think I should host a show. I think I've earned it.
51:34I should be on the top. Absolutely. All right.
51:37There are so many terrible jokes we could go on.
51:40Matt Walters with this question here. Thank you for your donation, Matt.
51:4312-team league with colleagues. What should the tiebreaker be in their divisions?
51:47Who has more wins in the division or most points for the season?
51:51Most points. Yeah. Most points is the easy tiebreaker for everything because that's something that you actually earn as a fantasy manager,
51:58the points that you get based on the lineups that you set.
52:01And it's really hard to have that end in a tie.
52:05You guys don't remember saying that to me? Hey, why don't you do guy?
52:09Hey, new guy that I only know because your brother and I went to college together.
52:14Yeah. Why don't you host this show and annoy us for 15, 20 years?
52:18Once a year, somebody is like, hey, didn't you go to college with Adam's brother?
52:23And I say, yeah. And they go, so that's why Acer works at CBS.
52:27And I go, no, actually, Adam did it on his own.
52:30Yeah, exactly. All right. Tyler in New York City, who maybe I'll run into tomorrow.
52:35I believe injury proneness is one of the most overrated risks in fantasy.
52:39Is there anyone this year that's being unjustifiably downgraded due to perceived injury risk?
52:43Downgraded due to perceived injury risk? Christian McCaffrey. Right.
52:46I think Mike Evans. But if you're going to say that for McCaffrey and Evans, then you might as well say it for everybody.
52:53Because we're literally talking about Evans, who got hurt multiple times last year.
52:57And McCaffrey, who has suffered significant injuries to his lower body after every single season, he's had 400 plus touches.
53:03And so everybody has injury risk. It's football. Frigging Patrick Mahomes got hurt last year and tore his ACL.
53:09But some players, you could look at it and say, all right, there's an elevated chance that they could get hurt.
53:15But I don't hate the way that Tyler's looking at it, which is if injury risk is a concern for everybody, then
53:22why consider it for anybody and just draft based on nobody getting hurt and you don't have to fear it at all?
53:29And that's not a bad way to go, to be perfectly honest.
53:32I do think that the doctors, the sports doctors that you see on Twitter and whatever, or probably any sports doctor, would
53:39say that getting injured, that you automatically have a higher chance for re-injury.
53:43I do think that- Off-issue injuries are obviously scary for these guys because they tend to linger.
53:48High ankle sprains. Now we're learning about the PCL injury and how bad it is.
53:53It used to be like the ACL tear was the end of your career, and now the PCL injury is the one
54:00that's keeping you out for a significant amount of time or just completely limiting your play like we saw for Bowers last season.
54:07So I think just to kind of pivot off of what Dave said a little bit, I think when you have guys
54:13that have these track records, and obviously it's the veteran guys, usually the ones that are approaching 30 or in their 30s,
54:20you kind of know what you're dealing with here.
54:23And then the other part of this, I think, is what he's talking about, the question, is like we're downgrading George Kittle.
54:29We're downgrading Malik Neighbors. We're downgrading Tucker Craft. We're downgrading the guys that are coming off of injuries and waiting to see.
54:36So like you asked about Neighbors, like what's it going to take to push him into round two?
54:42A month ago, we would have laughed in your face if you asked that question because we were never getting to the
54:48point of thinking of him in round two. We were running the other direction and thinking of him as a round four, round five pick at that point.
54:57So as we get more updates and reports, so Kittle could come off the pup list, Craft come off the pup list,
55:04and these guys are – He is off the pup list today.
55:07He just came off the pup list, Craft. Okay, so there you go.
55:11So now we may see his ADP rise. We said it with the quarterback show that Mahomes could be one of the
55:18biggest risers because of his name and the fact that he looks okay if that continues to be the case.
55:24So I think any of these guys that are coming off of injuries are the ones that are going to have their ADPs rise, conversely, to the point.
55:33We're pushing these guys down because of their injury situations right now.
55:36Yeah. Okay, next question. We've got about six minutes left here.
55:40So this is from Richard Todd. He says, Dear Chad, Boomer, Glenn, and Ken.
55:44Jets quarterbacks. I'm embarking on my first Superflex league this year.
55:47Any advice on where to find good rankings and strategies, and how would my Superflex league differ from my normal PPR league?
55:54Dave? Superflex obviously means that there's a higher priority and premium on quarterbacks.
55:58That's the highest scoring position in fantasy. When you can start two good quarterbacks, you're usually ahead of the curve in the rest of your league.
56:06But having two quarterbacks doesn't mean you have to draft two early.
56:09You could. I think this year, because of the depth at the position, you could go with drafting one early and one
56:16in the early middle rounds and feel really, really good about your team.
56:20Obviously want to prioritize quarterbacks that you think are going to be able to start 17 games and not potentially lose their
56:27job in the middle of the season or late in the season.
56:30Like a Jacoby Brissett, like a Geno Smith, certainly like a Kirk Cousins.
56:34And every quarterback basically comes into play. You'll see a quarterback from all 32 teams drafted.
56:39Yes, even the Browns. And that's all the more reason why you should be interested in getting a couple of them.
56:46You want to have three good ones. One should be great.
56:49If two are great, go for it. If you happen to be a savant that can find good quarterback value in the
56:56middle of late rounds, and this could certainly be a year where you can do it, you could wait at that position
57:02and just load up on running backs and wide receivers with maybe your first four picks.
57:07And then try and find this year's version of Trevor Lawrence, of Matthew Stafford, of Jackson Dart, and your team will be better off for it.
57:15If you draft Malik Willis and Willis ends up being a stat machine because he's not losing his job.
57:21They just paid him to be the quarterback. Your fantasy team will benefit oh so much.
57:26Same thing with Tyler Shuck. Same thing with Baker.
57:29If Baker stays healthy, now that we know he's motivated for a contract, he's got to steal money from Prisco.
57:35That's huge. And it's not a terrible idea to draft three of those quarterbacks, hoping that two of them are your starter every single week.
57:42And if they perform as top 12 quarterbacks, you're way ahead of the game.
57:47And we've got a few things just to piggyback off that.
57:50Thomas just showed the story that we wrote about the draft.
57:53That was me. That was me. Oh, Adam did.
57:56Excuse me. I've earned it. Wow. Top of the page and you're putting up graphics.
58:01Sure. I should have also assumed. Did you just put yourself on the top of the page right now?
58:07I did. A couple of things about that draft.
58:09And first off, I think the biggest thing is know if it's four points or six points for passing touchdowns.
58:15Because four points does not mean you have to go early on quarterbacks, especially if it's minus two for interceptions.
58:21Six points would definitely make it more of a priority for quarterbacks.
58:25Take a look at what Heath did. If you're inclined to go quarterback, quarterback, he had the seventh pick.
58:31I adjusted that, by the way, because Heath was originally supposed to be 12, so I gave him the seventh pick.
58:37So he started quarterback, quarterback with Drake May and Jaden Daniels.
58:41Look at his running backs and receivers. If you are so inclined, his receiving core is awesome.
58:46Rashi Rice, George Pickens, Emeka Abuka are his three guys.
58:49And he has Reese Hall and Tony Pollard at running back.
58:52He did. He did, surprisingly, had Sam Laporta. He was on the clock until the very last second and took Jadarian Price instead of Sam Laporta.
59:00Or maybe it was Pollard instead of Sam Laporta.
59:03They had it. Oh, I'm sorry. It was Pollard.
59:06He took Pollard instead of Sam Laporta. I was like, there's no way he's not taking Laporta here.
59:11And he didn't take Laporta. Guess who took Laporta the same round?
59:15I did. Screw you, Heath. So that's one strategy of taking quarterbacks early.
59:19Another strategy is you can see, I'm going to give you three different ones.
59:23Go to Todd Rohn's team. He sort of waited on quarterbacks.
59:26He didn't take his first quarterback until round three.
59:29And he went back to back in rounds three and rounds four.
59:33So he got Bo Nix and Jackson Dart. So started with two stud running backs and then waited on quarterback a little bit.
59:40And then go to Brandon Howard's team. Because this is really, if you want to avoid quarterback and just sort of build
59:46around it a different way, he didn't take his first quarterback until Patrick Mahomes in round three.
59:52His second quarterback is Shader Sanders. That's the only two quarterbacks that he drafted.
59:56So he's banking on Sanders being the starter there.
59:59But he's also going with the approach, which you can.
60:02I know Adam talks about this a lot. You don't have to throw the quarterback into the super flex spot.
60:08It's obviously ideal because you're going to get the max amount of points if those guys do what they're capable of doing.
60:15Again, six points versus four points. This is a six-point league.
60:18But look at his starters. His starting lineup features Devon HN, Derrick Henry.
60:22His receivers are C.D. Lamb, D.J. Moore, Tedderola McMillan, and Pitts at tight end.
60:26Jamison Williams is his flex. That's pretty impressive. Again, quarterback not great aside from Mahomes.
60:31But he could have a hole at the super flex spot while everything else is great.
60:36And again, he could fill the super flex spot with something else.
60:39See, that's where I would go with the four-point versus six-point.
60:43Is that if it's a super flex at four-point, you don't have to use a quarterback in the super flex if you don't want to.
60:50But quarterbacks are still going to be in pretty heavy demand in a four-point league in super flex.
60:56Adam, I did it again. I sort of just passed on receivers.
60:59So my first pick was Burrow. I had the 12th pick.
61:03So I went Burrow, James Cook. Might be disgusting at this point.
61:06Burrow, James Cook. And then the next turn, I took Amarion Hampton and Saquon Barkley.
61:11One stat, you're totally souring on James Cook. No, I love what you did there.
61:15I mean, I like to zig where others zag, I guess, in super flex, although more people are doing it now.
61:22But I just don't prioritize quarterback as much as I used to because I think there are 18 quarterbacks that I'd be
61:29happy with as my starter in a one QB league.
61:32So as long as I get two of those 18 in a two QB league, then I'm happy.
61:37Sorry, I'm going to skip around a little bit here real quick.
61:41Jamie, what are your thoughts on Emmitt Johnson as Ken Walker's handcuff?
61:44Seems like he'll be the guy, but I would be surprised if he's the full-time guy.
61:49If Walker misses any time, I think we'll see Demercado.
61:52I think we'll see Brashard Smith. But Johnson, if you're going to handcuff Walker at this point, that's the guy to do it.
61:59Dave, Joe from Indiana has the third pick. He's going to be getting Jamar Chase.
62:04It's a non-PPR league. Would you take Chase Brown if he falls to him in the second round?
62:09Would you take T. Higgins if he falls to him in the fourth round?
62:14In other words, does having Jamar Chase prohibit you from taking other Bengals?
62:18No, this is one of the offenses where I don't know if I'd encourage it, but I'd be totally fine with it.
62:24And we heard Burrow this week talk about how he loved both of the chases, Jamar Chase and Chase Brown, as being pivotal parts of the offense.
62:33There were many games last year. I think it was like four or five games last year where all three had good
62:39games for fantasy, but certainly many games where Brown and one of the receivers had a good game.
62:45And that was usually Jamar Chase. I have no problem with it.
62:48Yeah, he said we're going to try to get the ball in Jamar Chase's hands as much as we can, but a close second is Chase Brown.
62:57I'm so excited for this offense. I'm excited for Chase Brown.
63:00I know I'm the outlier thinking that he's worthy of a first-round pick.
63:04No, he's first-round pick. He's first-round pick in the CBS Sports ADP.
63:08Hell yeah, man. Fantastic. I'm glad people are on top of it.
63:11No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Excuse me. The consensus ranking.
63:14Okay. No, I think you're right. That's great. That's even better because then we're all kind of on the same page and
63:21we're all seeing it the same way. If that Cincinnati defense takes the step forward that they want it to, and I
63:28think they might, it's going to favor Chase Brown to get more carries and more touches and put up more points.
63:34We've seen him wreck games late before. I really, I like this guy a lot.
63:39I've toyed with the idea of putting him ahead of McCaffrey.
63:42And now I think I've got to toy with the idea of putting him ahead of James Cook after what Jamie unearthed today.
63:49Six games last year after Burrow came back from his injury, he was over 22 PPR points per game.
63:55Yep. In the seven games that Burrow played that he was healthy, so taking out game two, he was at 20 PPR points per game.
64:03And if you give him the week two game where Burrow got hurt, it's still 19 PPR points per game.
64:09So in eight games with Joe Burrow on the field, 19 PPR points per game or better.
64:14So it's just a lot to love. And Samadji P.
64:17Ryan played in most of those as well. Yeah, but not all of them.
64:21And I wonder if some of those games with P.
64:24Ryan out may have helped push that over 20 PPR points.
64:28And there were two games without T. Higgins where he had something like eight targets in both games.
64:33Or ten targets. He got a lot of production in the passing game without Higgins or without P.
64:38Ryan. But he also did the same thing in 2024.
64:42He did. He was even better, I believe, in terms of points per game in 2024, the second half when he became the starter.
64:49So he has shown, no question, Chase Brown has shown more PPR upside than either James Cook or Jonathan Taylor.
64:55He just, he's not as steady. You know, he's not, probably not as talented.
64:59But in terms of upside, I don't even think there's a dispute.
65:03He has shown more PPR upside than either of those guys.
65:06And he's based on where you seed some drafts.
65:09Like, you can get him middle of round two.
65:12Yeah. Because people still like, and they get it.
65:14You like H.M. better. You like Jenty better. You know, that pushes, you know, Chase Brown down a little bit.
65:21And then you get in the mix with the receivers.
65:24Man, imagine starting your team with Amon Ross, St.
65:26Brown, and Chase Brown. This is a great question that we'll have to address some other time.
65:32Am I the only one who remembers the front half of last season for Chase Brown?
65:36Are we just throwing that out? We should talk about that more in depth because we got running back previous coming up and we will get to it.
65:45But there's so much potential for him. But you're right.
65:48That did happen. We can't just ignore it. Of course, Burrow.
65:51A lot of that was without Burrow. Yeah, most of it was.
65:55Last question here. I don't have a name here.
65:58We'll call it from... Gimmick Infringement. Oh, Dave, who's this one from?
66:01It's Claude from Quebec, Canada. Hey, Einhorn, Padactor, Melissa, and Finkel.
66:05If we're considering Jerry Maguire a sports movie, then we have to consider Ace Ventura a sports movie.
66:10It starts with the theft of a team mascot, goes down the path of sports psychology, meets multiple players and front office
66:17staff, and ends the movie on the football field.
66:20And I'll add, and Dan Marino is in it.
66:22Yeah, that's right. Do you idiots feel like admitting that Jerry Maguire is not a football movie yet?
66:28No. Ace Ventura is a great football movie. One of the best.
66:32It is the funniest football movie ever, for sure.
66:34Thank you to Claude for this wonderful event. Can you name three other football players in the movie?
66:40Yeah, the two offensive linemen that carry him out of the Isotoners commercial.
66:44Those weren't football players. Those were thugs. They were henchmen.
66:47Yeah. Henchmen, good word. Finkel. Like real football players.
66:50Why am I blanking on this? No, there were no others.
66:53One is a very prominent media member of South Florida.
66:56Joe? No. Joe Rose? No, not Joe Rose. Same rhymes with Joe.
67:00Oh, Rondé. Oh, Tim Boecamper? Yep. Okay. I don't know.
67:03I'm going to go listen to Line Up by Aerosmith right now from that movie.
67:07We will talk to you on Monday on Fantasy Football Today as we get ready for running backs and wide receivers next week.
67:14See you later, everybody. Have a great weekend. Podcasts.
