PodcastFrom Fantasy Football Today
FFT Express - Heath Cummings’ 5 ALL-IN Players for 2026 Fantasy Football! Purdy, Swift, Flowers & More! (08/18 Fantasy Football Podcast)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
12 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 18, 2026
Published
Tue, August 18, 2026
7
Player insights
7
Players mentioned
Topics
Brock PurdyD'Andre SwiftDak PrescottGeorge PickensQuinshon JudkinsSam LaPortaZay Flowers
Player analysis
Player insights
Brock Purdy
PositiveValue3:47
Heath Cummings identifies Purdy as a league winner at his current cost, noting he was QB1 per game through Week 17 last year and QB4 over the last three seasons. Despite being drafted outside the top 12, he offers both passing and rushing upside, with a 17-game pace of 350 rushing yards and 5.5 touchdowns. He is the most efficient passer in the NFL since becoming a starter, ranking first in yards per attempt and success rate.
Insight pageD'Andre Swift
PositiveValue6:48
Heath Cummings is all-in on Swift, who is being drafted as a low-end, borderline RB2. Cummings projects him as a top-18 RB on a per-game basis, with top-12 upside if Kyle Monongai misses time due to his ongoing knee injury. Cummings prefers drafting Swift over taking both Quinshon Judkins and Cam Scadaboo in the early rounds.
Insight pageDak Prescott
NegativeValue18:37
Heath Cummings likes Dak Prescott as a player but avoids drafting him due to his high ADP. Cummings ranks him as his QB7, noting that he is often drafted too high compared to other options like Jalen Hurts or Jayden Daniels.
Insight pageGeorge Pickens
PositiveProjection15:54
Heath Cummings ranks George Pickens as a top-12 wide receiver. Despite scoring only three touchdowns last year, Pickens averaged 14.5 PPR points per game. Cummings expects him to return to regular touchdown production in a high-volume passing offense.
Insight pageQuinshon Judkins
NegativeValue8:07
Heath Cummings advises against taking both Quinshon Judkins and Cam Scadaboo as your top two running backs in the first three rounds, as both are coming off significant injuries. Cummings currently ranks Swift one spot ahead of Judkins.
Insight pageSam LaPorta
PositiveProjection13:50
Heath Cummings is all-in on Sam LaPorta, expecting him to be the focal point of the offense under new OC Drew Petsing. Cummings projects LaPorta to reach 120 targets and compete for the TE1 overall finish. He prefers LaPorta over Tucker Craft, Tyler Warren, and Kyle Pitts.
Insight pageZay Flowers
PositiveBreakout11:55
Heath Cummings is all-in on Zay Flowers, noting he was WR7 overall last year despite the Ravens' low pass volume. With a projected 15% increase in pass attempts, Flowers is poised for more targets. He finished last year top-five in route participation, yards per route run, and target share (29%). Cummings expects positive touchdown regression, comparing his size and trajectory to Antonio Brown and Tyler Lockett.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
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1:04Get started today. This summer, my wife and I took my parents, our son, and our granddaughter on a trip to Montana.
1:11Coming from South Florida, it was such a change of pace.
1:14We spent our days exploring Glacier National Park, taking in the incredible mountain views, spotting wildlife, and doing some easy hikes to waterfalls and scenic overlooks.
1:23It was amazing being surrounded by mountains and cooler weather, something we just don't get at home.
1:28We also checked out some local restaurants, tried a few Montana favorites like Huckleberry desserts, and really enjoyed slowing down and spending quality time together.
1:36But while we were off exploring somewhere new, our home was just sitting empty.
1:41That's when I realized while we're away, we could list our space on Airbnb.
1:45It feels like a smart and practical way to bring in some extra cash, especially when there is a high demand in
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2:00It can even help offset some of the cost of your next trip.
2:04Your home might be worth more than you think.
2:07Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. Time for Heath's all-in list, his favorite players to draft based on average draft
2:14position right now on Fantasy Football Today Express. Hello, Heath.
2:17Hello, Adam. Ready to give some amazing, like, give league winners?
2:21I don't know if I should call them league winners.
2:24They're certainly going to be league winners at cost.
2:27Brock Purdy is a league winner. He was QB1 through week 17 last year on a per-game basis.
2:33He has QB4 over the last three seasons on a per-game basis.
2:36He is often drafted outside of the top 12 quarterbacks.
2:40He provides both passing upside and rushing upside. He's been on pace, 17-game pace over the last two seasons for about 350
2:47yards rushing and five and a half touchdowns. He has, since he became a starting quarterback, been the most efficient passer in the NFL.
2:54First in yards per attempt, first in success rate, second in touchdown rate.
2:58But for some reason, everybody just continues to overlook him.
3:02And I think the 49ers defense may not be very good.
3:05He may set a career high in pass attempts this year as well.
3:09Yeah, it's wild. The average almost 24 fantasy points per game last year and just doesn't get the respect.
3:15And he's been a top six quarterback per game in two of the last three seasons.
3:20But if you look at all the things that are happening around Brock Purdy, how concerned are you about those circumstances?
3:27Well, it certainly is like every other year of Brock Purdy's career.
3:31Like this is just what they deal with in San Francisco.
3:35Do you remember the wide receivers he was throwing to last year?
3:38I don't think that this receiving core is going to be worse.
3:42Debo Samuel has familiarity with the system and an ability to succeed underneath.
3:46Mike Evans, when he's healthy, is probably going to score a touchdown every game.
3:51Dejan Stribling is emerging. George Kittle's trying to be ready for week one.
3:55It won't be all of those guys healthy all the time, but there's enough guys there that if they have one or two of them, he'll be fine.
4:04Okay. Let's talk about a running back that is on your all in list.
4:08I think because at least at CBS cost, it has to be DeAndre Swift.
4:13And this was my all in running back last year.
4:16He beat ADP like he has most years and he's being drafted as a low end borderline RB2.
4:22Once again, I think he beats that and is a top 18 running back on a per game basis, even if Kyle
4:29Monongai stays healthy, but Monongai has been beat up all throughout camp now dealing with a recent knee injury.
4:35They don't think is a big deal, but it just should highlight the contingent upside in DeAndre Swift because if he misses
4:42time, that being Kyle Monongai, I think we can get a top 12 performance from DeAndre Swift.
4:47I think it was on the mailbag. We were talking about DeAndre Swift versus Quinshon Judkins and Cam Scadaboo.
4:53And I said, I think it'd be a mistake to take both Judkins and Scadaboo.
4:58Let's say you didn't take a running back or whatever.
5:01And those are your top two running your first three rounds.
5:05You don't take a running back and then rounds four and five, maybe you get, and that's, that's asking for a lot,
5:12by the way, that for them to wait that long, but maybe it's three and four.
5:17Like if you take two running backs coming off the most gruesome injuries of all the running backs from last year, I think it was a mistake.
5:26So Jamie said, so if you were there, you'd take Swift and one of those guys.
5:31I said, yes. How do you compare Swift to those two players?
5:35Yeah, I think they're right in the same range.
5:37The problem for me right now in evaluating Scadaboo is I don't know what his role is in the passing game.
5:44I have Swift currently one spot ahead of Judkins and Scadaboo just ahead of Swift.
5:49Okay. Oh, yep. Commercial break. Let's do a break here and then we'll get Heath's wide receiver.
5:54One of two. He's going to give us a flex as well on the all in list.
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7:15Zay Flowers, wide receiver seven last year overall, 12th per game in PPR, 15th per game in non-PPR.
7:20Heath is all in on Zay Flowers. He did that in a season where Lamar Jackson threw 400 or the Ravens threw 420 passes.
7:28You should expect at least a 15% increase in the Ravens pass volume this year.
7:33Lamar Jackson's averaged about 480 pass attempts per 17 games.
7:36That could mean a 15% increase in targets for Zay Flowers.
7:39I wouldn't be surprised if it's higher than that though, just because it is a new offensive coordinator, new offensive system.
7:46They lost their fullback and their center. So I'm not sure they'll be quite as good at running the football.
7:53Zay Flowers last year was top five in route participation.
7:56In other words, he's on the field when they run routes, top five in yards per route run.
8:01He's very good at turning routes in two yards and top five in target share.
8:06He 29% of the team's passes went to him last year.
8:10Any sort of volume increase is going to make him even better than he was.
8:15And he still hasn't scored touchdowns yet. I don't believe that means he never will.
8:19We've seen a lot of guys, even guys his size like Antonio Brown and Tyler Lockett, who didn't score touchdowns the first
8:26three years of their career and became 10 touchdown guys.
8:30Okay. How about a tight end? Speaking of touchdowns, it's Sam Laporta.
8:33He is the guy who does score touchdowns. He also is the guy who just got drew Petsing as his offensive coordinator.
8:40This was, I was a little concerned at the start of camp.
8:44I mean, first off it was good because he was healthy, but it was really not a whole lot of talk about Laporta.
8:52He's really seemed to be the focal point in the last week.
8:55Drew Petsing's offense was the offense that Trey McBride became a superstar in.
9:00He comes from the Kevin Stefanski tree. That generally means about a 27% target share for the tight end position.
9:06I expect Sam Laporta to be right around 120 targets that he had his rookie season and he has a chance to
9:13be the tight end one overall this year. All right.
9:16Would you rather have Sam Laporta in round like seven or man, I'm just looking at CBS ADP.
9:22Harold Fannin in round eight. I have Harold Fannin in round eight.
9:26I have Sam Laporta in round five. So that's a pretty easy decision for me.
9:31Isaiah likely in round nine or Laporta in round seven.
9:34Laporta. How about Isaiah likely in round nine or Sam Laporta in round six?
9:38Laporta. You have to sing it. I could get like Laporta like you just did.
9:43All right. You, you love Laporta. You take him ahead of Tucker craft.
9:47I take him ahead of Tucker craft. I'd take him ahead of Tyler Warren.
9:52I'd take him ahead of Kyle pits. All right.
9:54And a flex for your all in team. Yeah, he's, he's a top 12 wide receiver for me.
10:00So it's hard to call him a flex, but George Pickens, I have both Pickens and lamb in the top seven.
10:07You look at it last year, he was around 14 and a half PPR fantasy points per game after C lamb came
10:14back, but that was only scoring three touchdowns. We know that George Pickens has the ability to get in the end zone regularly.
10:21And I think he'll get back to doing that this season.
10:25He did it early in the year, last year.
10:28I've heard some talk that Dallas is going to go more run heavy because of their defense is going to be better.
10:35I do think the defense will be a little bit better, but they've averaged 625 pass attempts over their last three seasons.
10:42It's been consistently one of the most pass heavy offenses.
10:45You talked about how they don't really have a good RB to well, they've got CD lamb, they've got George Pickens, they've got deck Prescott.
10:53They're going to throw the ball a ton. Yeah, they should be.
10:57I think that the people are concerned about the Cowboys and the Bengals getting better defensively, but they have a long way to go before they're good.
11:05These are terrible defenses and they have a history of having good or average defenses and still throwing the ball quite a bit.
11:13Yeah. You know, he's just, yeah. Were you going to say something?
11:17No. Dak Prescott is, is kind of high in ADP.
11:20I know this is not on your all in list here, but he's, he's the fifth quarterback off the board in CBS on fantasy pros.
11:28He is QB eight. That makes more sense. But what do you think about him going ahead of Daniel Jones, Jalen hurts?
11:35I think, well, I mean, it's well-documented how overlooked Jalen hurts generally is.
11:39And so I think that is a small mistake.
11:42I think Daniels may be a bigger mistake. I would not, I like Dak Prescott a lot.
11:47Um, I have my QB seven. I have pretty at QB eight.
11:51There's like a six round difference or something between where they go.
11:55So I don't ever draft Dak Prescott. Thank you very much.
11:58Heath Cummings. That's the all in list for Heath.
12:01Great stuff. And we will talk to you next time on fantasy today.
12:05Express podcasts.
