PodcastFrom Fantasy Football Today
2026 Fantasy Football Breakout WRs | 9 Wide Receivers Ready to Make the Leap! (08/12 Fantasy Football Podcast)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
33 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 12, 2026
Published
Wed, August 12, 2026
11
Player insights
9
Players mentioned
Topics
DeVonta SmithZay FlowersJameson WilliamsJayden HigginsLadd McConkeyLuther BurdenParker WashingtonTank DellTetairoa McMillan
Player analysis
Player insights
DeVonta Smith
PositiveProjection20:31
Adam Aizer projects Devonta Smith to outscore Zay Flowers, citing a 17.1 points per game average in games without Dallas Goedert but with A.J. Brown, which is 2.5 points higher than Flowers' average last year.
Insight pagePositiveBreakout21:44
Jamie Eisenberg and Chris Harris are high on Smith, with Harris ranking him as his WR10 and willing to draft him in the second round. Smith has averaged over 16 PPR points per game in games without AJ Brown, and the analysts expect him to excel in an expanded role this season.
Insight pageJameson Williams
PositiveBreakout5:25
Chris Harris notes that Williams showed significant growth from Week 10 onwards last year, moving beyond a 'situational deep threat' role to running intermediate dig routes and screens. While acknowledging potential target competition from Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta, and Jahmyr Gibbs, Harris views him as a strong fifth-round target with high-upside boom weeks.
Insight pageJayden Higgins
PositiveSleeper10:52
Chris Harris ranks Higgins around WR40 and highlights his impressive rookie film, noting he moves like a smaller player despite his size. While capped by Nico Collins' alpha status, Higgins is a target in the 100-115 range of drafts due to his potential to be a high-level contributor.
Insight pageLadd McConkey
NegativeValue28:44
Ladd McConkey is a target in rounds 3-4 for some analysts who believe he can ascend to a top-10 receiver role, though Chris Harris remains skeptical of the JSN comparison and McConkey's lack of outside-receiver explosiveness.
Insight pageLuther Burden
NegativeInjury23:43
Chris Harris is skeptical of drafting Luther Burden at his current ADP due to a groin injury that will cause him to miss all of training camp, though he acknowledges the high-ceiling potential in Ben Johnson's offense.
Insight pageParker Washington
PositiveUsage26:56
Parker Washington is expected to have a big year as the primary slot receiver in Liam Coen's offense, with the team clearly banking on him, though there are concerns about target competition from Brian Thomas Jr. and others.
Insight pageTank Dell
NegativeBust15:06
Chris Harris expresses concern regarding Tank Dell's recovery from injury, noting he would prefer drafting Jaden Higgins over Dell in the 100s. Harris suggests that while Dell is a 'nice story' and a leader in the room, he is skeptical about his ability to return to peak form and impact the ceiling of other Texans receivers.
Insight pageTetairoa McMillan
PositiveBreakout24:24
Chris Harris believes Tetairoa McMillan looked awesome and was given significant responsibility early, showing he is ready to be an NFL team's number one receiver, despite concerns about the quarterback situation.
Insight pageZay Flowers
PositiveBreakout21:21
Chris Harris views Zay Flowers as a WR1 and a fantastic player, praising his speed and shiftiness while noting that touchdown variance makes them a noisy metric to focus on.
Insight pagePositiveBreakout30:45
Heath Cummings ranks Zay Flowers as his WR10, arguing he is already a proven commodity who finished as a top-10 receiver in a poor offensive environment. Cummings expects positive touchdown regression and a 15% increase in team pass attempts, projecting Flowers as a potential top-five wide receiver.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Swap 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 on his feet!
0:11He's just gonna go the distance! Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.
0:15Last year on this very show with this very guest, we talked about Jackson Smith and Jigbo.
0:21We talked about George Pickens. Hopefully we helped you out.
0:24We talked about 10-year-old McMillan, who was okay. We're gonna talk about him again this year as we are hoping for bigger and better things for Tedderola McMillan.
0:32Adam Azer, Jamie Eisenberg, Heath Cummings, and Chris Harris of Harris Football, who will be hosting Jamie on his podcast tonight.
0:39So are you trying to learn some things about Jamie on this show that will help you with your show tonight?
0:45There's nothing more. He's an open book to me.
0:48There's nothing more I could possibly learn. Ooh, an open book.
0:51Speaking of open books, Chris, go! Yo! Yo, segue.
0:54Yes, he's got a book. Tell us about your book.
0:57I wrote a novel, boys. A couple of you have it.
1:00Heath, I don't know if I sent you a copy.
1:03I'm sorry. I don't think you did. Oh, damn.
1:06I apologize. You know, the problem... Honestly, the reason I didn't send it, Heath, is because you dropped out of the rotation because you're too important now.
1:14You don't show up on my show anymore, so I forgot.
1:17Oh, that sounds exactly right. I just thought you stopped asking me.
1:21No. You literally said, I don't have time, man.
1:24I can't do your show anymore. You literally told me that.
1:27But anyway, I wrote a novel. It's called Pound Foolish.
1:30It's about football. It's about a serial killer on a football team.
1:34It's a mystery story. Seems pretty cool. And here it is.
1:37Yeah. I'm excited. I'm excited, too. Yeah. Heath, get excited about it.
1:41You can order it on Amazon. I can't wait.
1:44You seem like you can't wait. So, Adam, you and I have discussed how you didn't realize you had a copy of the book until 10 minutes ago.
1:52Jamie, did you realize you had a copy of the book?
1:55Yes. Did I send you a text saying thank you?
1:58You did. You did indeed. Did you read it?
2:01Not yet. No, I've been in baseball hell, but I will read it, too.
2:05Yeah. I mean, baseball hell, it sounds like it was a fun trip.
2:09It was a fun trip, but it's still a lot of baseball.
2:13I know. I know. It sounded pretty cool, though.
2:16It sounded pretty awesome. But anyway, go to Harry.
2:19If you want to learn about the serial killer mystery story on an NFL team, harrisfootball.com.
2:23Yeah. And you know what else sounds – I don't know if it's cool, but it sounds at least important is to
2:30stop being invited to Chris Harris' podcast like Heath was.
2:33Just going to say this. You don't have to listen to this, Chris, but I'm just letting everyone know I've never been invited.
2:40Let's start the show. Incorrect. I invited you last year.
2:43Oh, man. I can't make the mornings. Oh, yeah.
2:46That's right. I can't do mornings. That's what I record.
2:49That's mornings. I don't know what to tell you.
2:52Have you been invited, Adam? Can we correct that wrong?
2:55Have you been invited? Please invite me before the season starts, and I will absolutely – yes, I have been invited.
3:01I forgot that. Just like the book. All right.
3:04Let's talk about some breakout-wide receivers here. And, you know, rounds three and four of ADP and then maybe into round five.
3:10We got a lot of them from Jamie, from Heath, from Chris.
3:14I'll even mention that Dave has a Mecca, Buka, and Parker Washington on his breakouts list, and Jamie has those two as well.
3:21But before we do that, why don't we talk about two guys from Chris?
3:25And I think Jamison Williams is a fifth-round pick.
3:28Jaden Higgins is a late-round breakout. We're mostly talking about early to mid-round breakouts today, but Jaden Higgins is a late-round guy.
3:35But Jamison Williams, really interesting. You know, we had Scott Turner on, former offensive coordinator, and he's pretty plugged in with the
3:41Lions, and he feels like Jamison Williams is going to really take off this year as well.
3:47What do you like about Jamo? I liked, you know, everything from the point where Dan Campbell took over as the play caller.
3:54You know, to that point, Jamison Williams was that Deshaun Jackson guy.
3:57You know, cool, his overall cumulative stats look okay, but it's just a horrible ride because it's two good weeks and four terrible ones.
4:05But from week nine on, we're in week 10 on last year, they started throwing him the dig routes.
4:10And, you know, that's Jared Goff's throw. If you can run a dig route, you're going to get the ball.
4:16And so the big increase with Jamison Williams didn't really come because it was a bunch of post-routes where he scored touchdowns.
4:23It was more intermediate stuff and actually some screens and things like that.
4:27I think from that point forward, was he the wide receiver four standard, wide receiver five PPR from that point forward?
4:33Now, I will absolutely acknowledge that you can also draw a straight line and say Sam Laporta wasn't healthy when that switch
4:40happened, and then soon thereafter went on injured reserve.
4:43And so if you want to tell me a story where there's simply not enough footballs to go around for Jameer Gibbs, Aminra St.
4:50Brown, Sam Laporta, and Williams has to go back to being, you know, having the plaque on his locker that says you're
4:57a situational deep threat, I get it. It's possible.
4:59But finally, for once in this very fast players NFL history, we got to see him do more than just be fast.
5:06So if you're telling me I get a shot at that brass ring, it's, you know, fifth round is not where perfect prospects live.
5:13So you give me those boom weeks, which I think we all agree will probably happen.
5:18And the chance that there's more varied usage, again, they're where there was in the second half of last year, I'll be in.
5:25So Williams is in a fun wide receiver round, at least in my opinion, but he's in it with a bunch of older guys.
5:33So I want to know how you feel about Jamison Williams compared to Terry McLaurin, DJ Moore, Devontae Adams, who goes ahead
5:39of them, but not that far ahead of him, but we'll throw him in there anyway.
5:44Devontae Adams and Mike Evans. How would you rank Jameer with those older guys?
5:48Um, probably, uh, I'm not remembering everybody you said in a half PPR.
5:52I would say McLaurin and Williams are like back to back.
5:56Okay. And everybody, they'd both be ahead of the other names that you mentioned.
6:00Adams is, uh, you know, Adams is right there for me.
6:03Um, but Evans would be maybe a little bit, half a step, full step behind them.
6:08Um, yeah, you get me in around five. I've, it maybe depends on the kind of shots that I've taken in the
6:15first four rounds and whether I've already taken a look at some scary upside, you know, and scary downside.
6:21Then maybe I go McLaurin. Otherwise I probably go JMO.
6:24Okay. Okay. And we've talked about JMO, Jamie and Heath.
6:27He's a, he's a, if you can get him as your wide receiver three, he's a great guy as your wide receiver three.
6:34He and Laporta both had 13 targets in the two games after the buy and before Laporta got hurt.
6:39And JMO scored a touchdown in both of them.
6:42He had two good games. They both had 13 targets in those two games, which would be awesome over a full season for those guys.
6:50Um, Jaden Higgins, let's talk about him. Good buzz for this second year Texans receiver.
6:54Uh, is this a guy that you're targeting late and kind of what round in a 12 team league are you thinking for Jaden Higgins?
7:02So I have him right around 40 among wide receivers.
7:05I would love to be higher on him because I thought the rookie film was really, really good.
7:10Um, there are obviously situational things that matter. Nico Collins getting a full healthy season, you know, that he is the alpha.
7:17No question about that. There's a bunch of other dudes on the Texans receiving core.
7:22So we need to make sure that Higgins dispatches with those guys.
7:25But, um, he was one of my biggest wide receiver risers writing my almanac thing where I watch a bunch of tape
7:32and, uh, and, and make adjustments based on my initial ranks.
7:35Uh, obviously a big guy, but I think he moves like a little guy.
7:40He's like, he's got that stutter go. That's really good.
7:43Um, I felt like. Like, like in situations where there was a Jags game where they're way behind and they, and they were doubling to Collins all day.
7:51And you saw a ton of Higgins really good sideline toe tapping.
7:55If Nico Collins wasn't kind of the same phylum of receiver, the same, you know, big bodied, uh, 50, 50 ball kind of player.
8:02I think we'd have Higgins with real buzz. Absolute.
8:05Like people would be taking him in the sixth round and really excited about him, uh, because Collins is there and that's fair.
8:12Collins is a more proven and better player. But, uh, I, there's, I don't really believe that teams need to have one
8:18water bug and one this and one that. I think they just want good players and, um, Higgins has potential to be really, really good.
8:26Very capped by Collins. I get it, but, uh, I will, I will be taking some Jaden Higgins for sure.
8:32Okay. Very exciting moment here on the podcast. We're doing a draft.
8:36Me and Jamie are in it and I am up in three picks and Jaden Higgins is the only player left in
8:42my queue and that would be pick 126. So let's hope for it.
8:46I'm up in two picks. So let's, let's, I haven't, I haven't.
8:50Oh, sorry. I haven't one Oh three in a standard like I think probably a little higher than that in the PPR.
8:57So maybe, maybe not. I'm looking at my own ranks.
9:00No, a little lower than that. One 15. So like some between one Oh three and one 15 and a half PPR.
9:06Chris, how concerned are you about tank Dell? Because obviously he wasn't part of this last year and seemingly on track to play and hopefully be healthy.
9:15I mean, just great story overall just that he's back.
9:18But in terms of his performance and production, I mean, somewhat concerned.
9:21And since we're considering him in the one hundreds, I'm, I'm going to take Higgins before I take Dell.
9:27I don't think I'm taking Dell. I think this, this time of year, um, it doesn't cost anybody anything to write nice things about tank Dell.
9:35Cause it is a nice story. And, uh, everything you hear about the Texans receiver room is that he, Dell is actually the leader of that room.
9:43He's the alpha and, and he's the dad of the group.
9:47So nobody's going to say anything bad about him now.
9:50I just, it is the kind of injury that I'd be pretty surprised if he's actually really going to be back from.
9:56Um, to be honest, it's Jalen. No, I'd be more worried about.
10:00I think general is a really good player too.
10:03I guess he missed a bunch of camp because of a finger injury, but he's back.
10:07Uh, I gotta say, I think, I think, I think we'll probably look back and say that was unfortunate with tank Dell
10:14that he, that he could never really get it back again.
10:17I mean, not that I know anything about anything, but, um, for sure.
10:21If, if Dell clearly by the end of September is the guy who is the number two on that receiver, I'm probably
10:28not going to hang on to Jaden Higgins. No, no, no.
10:31I think Jaden Higgins has more upside than tank Dell.
10:35I totally agree with you. I'm just like, when I, when I look at it, like there's Nico and then I think it's Jaden.
10:42I hope it's Jaden. I, I, I agree with what you said.
10:45Like he, he showed a lot of good things last year.
10:49I just think that we're going to see a little bit too much of, because they do love tank Dell that we're
10:55going to, you know, see tank Dell not be a great fantasy asset on his own.
11:00He could be, but more so impact Jaden Higgins to the ceiling that he can get to.
11:05Well, uh, sure. Maybe. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was just going to say, I got Jaden Higgins.
11:11I just want everyone to know I draft. Yeah.
11:14And someone said, congratulations on your big mock draft win.
11:17Yep. And I got, I got a, I got a dammit from a, someone who wanted to take them.
11:22So feel good about the pick. Um, all right, we're going to take a commercial break here.
11:28And when we come back, we'll talk about those rounds three and four guys that were really excited about and who's going to emerge.
11:35Who's going to really break out. You know what?
11:38I don't see a lad McConkie. Yeah. I got to bring up lad McConkie.
11:42Is he going to be, uh, we have some news on a book as well.
11:46Oh, what a tease. News on a book. When we come back.
11:50Well, Jamie, what's our, uh, Oh, I feel like the word news and a book, uh, like a news or something.
11:57I feel like there's something there. See, that was the, that was not the feeling that I got.
12:02I mean, Jamie said, we have news and we have a book.
12:06Like we, it's already well established that he's awesome.
12:08And so I didn't really see any way this could be positive.
12:12Yeah. Same. What's our book and is. Yeah. Not good.
12:15Uh, Mike Garofalo of the NFL network. Uh, I'm assuming is that practice with the bucks.
12:20Uh, book a limped off with athletic, with athletic trainers was examined on the sideline table for a while.
12:26Hard to see exactly what's up from where we are, but he's still on the table and hasn't returned.
12:31So let's see if there's any update. Uh, a book with both cleats off.
12:36Just walk back to the sideline to watch the rest of practice.
12:39So the fact that he's watching practice is encouraging.
12:42We're good. Um, hopefully just, you know, being cautious, but nothing you want to hear right now.
12:47You know, Puka Nacua and Akua with, uh, the groin injury getting off practice.
12:51We know Luther Burton has been hurt. Zay Flowers has been hurt.
12:55Christian McCaffrey's got tight. And it's like, we don't need any more injuries to guys that we like.
13:01Absolutely. Well, we, we don't want one to Devante Smith.
13:04He's on your list. Jamie has a breakout and, um, you know, he's, he's had a good career, but it's just so obvious.
13:11It just seems so obvious, like that he should really excel this year.
13:15What are you expecting from him? And let me just give you.
13:18That was, was that a slam you taken, taking a shot there?
13:22No, it seems so obvious. This pick. No, obvious is the right word.
13:26Uh, you know, sometimes you just look at the obvious and say, okay, let's just, you know, go all in.
13:32And I think this is an easy player to go all in on because he has been good.
13:37He has yet to, I think, establish what he's about to do this season.
13:42And I don't like the fact that he's dealing with a hamstring injury and not practicing.
13:46So, you know, this might be something that we got to keep an eye on and, and, and maybe monitored a little
13:53closely, but, uh, look, no AJ Brown, uh, Jalen Hurts reportedly in great shape, looking good.
13:58And now there's an opportunity for Smith to, I think, live up to the type of player that the Eagles have been
14:05waiting for, which is why they made the move to get rid of AJ Brown.
14:09So we'll see what happens with Makai Lemon, uh, dealing with his hamstring injury on his own.
14:14He's been back at practice the last couple of days.
14:17So that's encouraging for him. Uh, Dontavian Wicks, another guy getting some positive reports, but look, Devante Smith should be the guy here for this team.
14:25A small sample size. We've said this a bunch, the three games that he's played without AJ Brown, he's averaged over 16 PPR points per game.
14:33Uh, the targets have been exceptional. I think this is just an opportunity for me.
14:38Again, I'm, I'm a little bit more excited than consensus.
14:41I would take Devante Smith early part of round three.
14:44Um, I like him as a top 12 wide receivers number 11 for me.
14:48So really looking forward to seeing what he could do this year.
14:52Yeah, no, Chris, we were talking earlier, you know, before the show about who really qualifies as a breakout and I think
14:58a lot of people, we had the same thing came up with JJ Zacharison on our quarterback breakout episode where Dave had
15:05Caleb Williams and Heath had Jaden Daniels. And that was like a little bit too high end for JJ.
15:11He had Malik Willis and Tyler shock. So I think, you know, some people's sleepers or some people's breakouts, but the, I
15:18think the point is just like the best season that Devante Smith has had in full PPR is like 15.3 points per game.
15:25Yeah. 15.3. So I think we're expecting him to easily beat that.
15:28Uh, would you sign on to that? Chris? Yeah, I have them higher than Jamie.
15:33I am 10. I'm on receivers. I'd take them into the second round.
15:37Uh, really, really love the player on film. Just a smooth glider explosive speed.
15:41I mean, I talked about Jamison Williams, maybe Devante Smith's half a quarter step slower, but not, not by much.
15:47He's obviously very, very rail thin and you're not going to use them exactly like use AJ Brown.
15:53It's not a direct playbook equivalent. You're not going to throw a lot of 50, 50 balls to Devante Smith, but you also don't need to.
16:00He's going to get a million little stops and screens.
16:03And, uh, yeah, I'm, I mean, he's just a terrific player.
16:07Heath co-sign. I'm like two spots behind. I think early round three is a good place for him.
16:12I think I have him 14th. I think the big question will be kind of what the big question is with one
16:19of my sleepers is does he score enough touchdowns to be a top 12 wide receiver?
16:24And I hope that he does. Cause you know, I'm heavily invested in Jalen hurts.
16:28Yeah. And your sleeper or your breakouts, you meant to say one of my breakouts breakouts.
16:33Yeah. Um, Jamie's other breakouts are a Mecca Buka who Dave likes a lot and Parker Washington who Dave likes a lot.
16:40Uh, a, a Buka, you know, I was just deciding between T Higgins and a Mecca Buka and I went with Higgins,
16:47Jamie, it was a half PPR league. Uh, maybe I would have gone to Buka and full people.
16:52And I probably would have gone Higgins, but who would you go with there?
16:56I would go the Buka. Um, I think, well, I guess it depends on your bill.
17:01You know, Higgins is, is, is obviously a little bit safer and let's just assume at this point that a book is healthy.
17:08Um, if he does do the things that he did to start the season last year, like he's going to, you know,
17:15challenge to be a top five wide receiver. Now there's a lot of questions, obviously, you know, was Baker injured?
17:21How much was Baker injured? How much did that factor into the entire offense?
17:25Evans coming back after a book who got off to a good start, Godwin coming back after that good start, Jalen McMillan, the addition of Ted Hurst.
17:33But I mean, I think the, the bucks are banking on a Buka to be, you know, a superstar.
17:39And he showed that he can do that in a small sample size.
17:43So floor should favor Higgins format obviously matters here because, you know, 21 touchdowns in 27 games.
17:48I think that matters as well. You know, he's going to give you at least more opportunities to find the end zone,
17:55but if a Buka hits, he's going to hit to a higher level than T Higgins barring a Jamar chase injury.
18:01So, um, I think you can make a case for either one.
18:05Okay. Heath, you've got Ted Rowe, McMillan, Luther Burden, and Zay Flowers as your breakouts.
18:09If we take a look at just this big group of rankings from 13 to 24, uh, Devante Smith, Chris Olave, T
18:16Higgins, Emeka Buka, Zay Flowers, Lad McConkie, Jalen Waddle, Garrett Wilson, Ted Rowe, McMillan, Luther Burden.
18:21I'll just stop there. Right? Like everyone's breakouts are basically in this group.
18:25Um, it's an exciting group. Why, you know, you, you have on this list, you have McMillan, Burden, and Flowers.
18:31Does that, that doesn't necessarily mean they are three favorites, right?
18:34Like what, how do you make sense of this group for me?
18:38Uh, well, so I, I guess the first way I would make sense of it is I don't believe that Zay Flowers
18:45should be on this screen because I think he should have been on the screen of wide receivers one through 12.
18:51So he is by far my favorite wide receiver.
18:54He is the guy out of Flowers, McMillan, and Burden, who has, as we talked about on the quarterback show, has already
19:01demonstrated the ability to finish as a top 10 wide receiver like he did last year and did so in such a
19:07terrible offensive environment with the Ravens throwing 420 passes, which is about 60 below Lamar Jackson's career 17 game trend.
19:13So I, I think he's already proven last year.
19:16He was top five in target share, top five in yards per route run, top five in route participation.
19:22So he's a guy who's on the field all the time, gets the ball all the time.
19:27And even if it's just a typical Lamar Jackson offense, they're probably going to see a 15% increase in pass attempts this year.
19:34I don't see anybody on that roster that's going to cut in his, into his 29% target share.
19:39The other big thing, as I mentioned with Devante Smith, it's how many touchdowns is he going to score?
19:45I probably count on touchdown and regression too much, but I don't think there's any reason to believe Zay Flowers is just
19:52a, I'm never going to score more than five touchdowns guy.
19:55He had five on 106 targets. I believe as a rookie, we've seen guys over the years last year, it was Chris
20:02Olave the year before it was Terry McClure. And I think the year before it was Cortland Sutton or DJ Moore that
20:09haven't scored touchdowns that all of a sudden, while they do score touchdowns, we saw smaller guys like Flowers, Tyler Lockett, Antonio
20:15Brown early in their career, not score touchdowns, turn into perennial 10 touchdown guys.
20:19I rank Zay Flowers as my wide receiver 10.
20:22If things go right, I think he's a top five wide receiver.
20:26Heath, you know what? Maybe I'll let Chris decide or anybody decide any wager you want.
20:31Devante Smith versus Zay Flowers. I am, I am so certain that Devante Smith is going to outscore Zay Flowers that you can pick the stakes.
20:39I'm in. Wow. That is fantastic. And the reason is, I mean, I look at 17 games of, of Devante Smith with
20:45Dallas Goddard, but without Dallas Goddard, but with AJ Brown.
20:48And he's averaged 17.1 points per game in those games, which is like two and a half points better than what Zay Flowers averaged last year.
20:56His two best seasons are better than what Zay Flowers averaged last year.
21:00This is a layup. This is a finger roll layup that Patrick Ewing is not taking because he would miss it against the Pacers.
21:07But anybody else, this is a layup, is an easy one.
21:11Okay. There we go. Set my piece. I thought you were letting Chris decide something.
21:15Go ahead, Chris. Chris, you could. Well, I know Chris likes Smith better, but I like Chris pick the term.
21:21I like both a lot. I have, I have Smith 10, but I have Flowers 12.
21:26So I'm a huge, huge Flowers believer. You know, there's a lot, like, I love what he said about touchdowns.
21:32People just get so obsessed over touchdowns and they're kind of random.
21:36You know, there's so much noise in a given year of touchdowns.
21:40What you want are like really shifty, good, fast receivers.
21:43I can't name you six or seven more faster, shiftier receivers than Zay Flowers.
21:47He's absolutely fantastic player. And I also think, Adam, it's a little dangerous to say, hey, in the past, in a different
21:54offensive system, when players who were no longer play there weren't on the field, like, yeah, you're not going to have Devontae Smith run A.J.
22:01Brown routes. That's not what's going to happen. It's going to be a different attack.
22:06We don't actually know how well it's going to work.
22:09This is me still taking the Devontae Smith side of things.
22:12But I view them both as wide receiver ones.
22:15I love them both. I like them both too quite a bit.
22:19I've got the bet. Okay, let's hear it. If Devontae Smith outscores Zay Flowers, I will donate $500 to St.
22:25Jude. Oh my God. Okay. If Zay Flowers outscores Devontae Smith, you cannot shave your beard from the moment the Giants are
22:31eliminated from the playoffs until the Giants make their 27 pick.
22:35Wow, that's big. Whoa. That's big. What's the beard situation?
22:38What's the beard situation? What does it look like?
22:40Have you seen it, Heath? Have you seen it?
22:43No one's ever seen it. Oh, wow. Yes. Adam shaves at seven in the morning and then shaves again.
22:49Oh, no. We lost Jamie as he was insulting me.
22:52What a shame. We have a lot of... I'll think about it.
22:56We have a lot of... No, no, no, no, no.
22:59You got to make it... That's a yes. It's got to be a yes.
23:03It's got to be a yes. Come on. It's got to be a bet, but we...
23:08You said any wager I want, and I offered to give $500 to St.
23:12Jude. That's better odds. He's giving you odds. Can I...
23:15Yeah, but we have to azerstat it. Like, it's got to be healthy games per game.
23:20Healthy games per game. With their starting quarterback. With the starting...
23:23Good grief. You draw up a contract. All right.
23:26So, Tedderall McMillan... He's still thrown off right now.
23:29Tedderall McMillan and Luther Burden are Heath's other breakouts.
23:31Chris, do you agree or disagree with McMillan and Burden as just, like, having really big seasons?
23:37Um... I see the ceiling case for Burden, but I'm not there at all on drafting him where he's going to go.
23:43And this grand injury that's going to cause him to miss all of training camp is sort of...
23:49It's the easy last straw for me to just say, understand what can go right.
23:53He is another one of those very quick, very fast players.
23:57And if everything goes right and, you know, whenever Ben Johnson comes out today and says, we're looking to set the points record in NFL history.
24:05Okay, buddy. I'm pretty sure you were in the middle of the pack last year and didn't throw.
24:10But, you know, I wouldn't say that Heath is, like, making a silly pick.
24:14Because best case, he's going to be really good.
24:17I just didn't see enough last year to assume that the best case is going to happen to want to reach for him.
24:24McMillan, much more in line. I think he looked awesome and was given a lot of responsibility right away.
24:30Very clearly ready to be an NFL team's number one receiver.
24:33And so, like, you know, he gets a little bit of a demerit because of Bryce Young.
24:38But obviously, Heath knows that's priced in. Heath, you like...
24:41I think, like, the groin injury probably is the thing that might save me from myself with Luther Burden.
24:47Because I was leading the charge for, okay, everybody else is going to take Luther Burden in round four.
24:53Now let's just take him in round three. And now you can probably wait until round five to take Luther Burden.
24:59And so there is still risk because of the injury.
25:02But now there is actually room to have a lot of upside at what the cost is.
25:07Because if he hits, then round five is going to feel fantastic.
25:11Would you rather have McMillan or, like, Jaden Waddle?
25:14I'll ask all of you. McMillan. Waddle. McMillan. McMillan or Abuka?
25:17McMillan. I go back and forth, but currently McMillan is higher.
25:20Lad McConkie or McMillan? McMillan. McMillan. Jamie's a little lower on McMillan, it appears.
25:25Not feeling the quarterback situation. I don't love the offensive tackle situation either.
25:29I don't love the fact that – I did like the fact that they were going to move him inside a little more.
25:36And now Brazel's injury, I think, negates that. So I think McMillan will be good.
25:40I think we're going to get similar production to what we got from him last year.
25:45I don't see him taking a significant step forward.
25:48Heath, can we both maybe just make it like a $250 donation?
25:51Listen, you said – rewind the tape – any bet you want to make.
25:56I responded immediately with the terms. And you were very demonstrative about this.
26:00This wasn't Heath saying, hey, let's make a bet.
26:02And you're like, no, no, we'll make a bet.
26:05No, this is me bringing a guy to – I will make any bet you want.
26:10This is basically me bringing a guy to a breakout show, trying to sell that guy as a breakout, and you immediately
26:17trying to embarrass me by making a bet about someone else.
26:20I like Stay Flowers a lot. I just – I like Devontae Smith so much more.
26:25That's all. All right, you know what? I like the chat today.
26:29I think I'm in. I think I'm in. I think I'm in.
26:32I just want to establish some rules. We'll have it in writing.
26:36Some rules. But Parker, Washington, Jamie, two more guys.
26:39I want to talk about your Parker, Washington call, and I just want to ask about Lad McConkie.
26:44He's probably the guy I would pick in this range to be a breakout.
26:48Not that he's my favorite, but yeah, Parker, Washington, Jamie, go on.
26:52I mean, again, another obvious call. I'm not going to deny that.
26:56Everybody's in love with Parker, Washington, based on what he's looked like so far in training camp and building off his last five games from last season.
27:04Liam Cohen slot receivers going back to Wondell Robinson in Kentucky and what Chris Godwin did in Tampa Bay.
27:10They feast, and this is where Trevor Lawrence, I think, is going to live.
27:14The concern would be is that there's a lot of mouths to feed in this offense, after paying Benton Strange, after what
27:20they did with Travis Hunter in drafting last year, after trading for Jacoby Myers and still Brian Thomas Jr., can he get enough targets to be successful?
27:29This is a guy, you know, he said the groin injury is sort of price may be burdened appropriately and saving for himself.
27:36You know, we're seeing Parker, Washington, get pushed up to a level that might be unreasonable for him to live up to those expectations.
27:43But again, you can't go a day without seeing something out of Jacksonville that Parker, Washington, has been fantastic and showing up
27:50to the facility early and doing all the things that Liam Cohen wants and the first guy that he texts when he
27:56has to send a message to the group. It's just like, this is clearly the guy that they're banking on and we'll
28:03see if they reward him with a contract extension.
28:06I just think we're going to see a very big year for Parker, Washington, if he stays healthy.
28:11Okay. Is there any reason why you guys did not put McConkie on your breakout list?
28:16Was it just like, I can't put everyone on there or is it, I don't think he's going to break out this year?
28:23I'm just very unclear what a breakout is still.
28:26Yeah, all right. So I would say... Didn't his rookie year count as a breakout?
28:30So let me just look at his PPR points per game that year.
28:34It was 14.9. So I talked about Devontae Smith averaging 17 points per game.
28:39That's really good. Right. But let's say 16, 17 points per game.
28:42A guy who plays like a round two pick.
28:45We haven't had that for a full season yet from Lad McConkie and I could easily see it.
28:50And I'll just also say, I was kind of on the fence, but we've had Ryan Heath on the show and he
28:57said that McConkie could be this year's version of JSN.
29:00We had John Daigle on the show last week and I asked him for one of his favorite players and he said Lad McConkie.
29:07So I'm feeling it. You know, I'm getting excited about it.
29:11He's a guy that I target with a round three or four pick.
29:15So that's my preamble. I mean, I'll just say the JSN comparison to me is laughable.
29:20They don't have similar film and McConkie has to play in the slot.
29:23JSN now is mostly not in the slot and the route stems are just nothing like each other.
29:29There's not an explosiveness with McConkie their way. It just has football players are not the same.
29:34So I don't see how that's at all possible for McConkie.
29:37But, you know, like he was drafted to be where you're drafting him, where you're saying you might draft him right now.
29:44That's where he went last year because his rookie year, sure, isn't going to look like whatever points per game you said,
29:51but take it from week four onward, week five onward.
29:54You know, like he had that crazy December in his rookie year where he broke out.
29:59He was out, fully out, and drafted as like what the wide receiver 12 last year?
30:04Something like that. He was a huge bust. Yeah.
30:06With the rest of the Chargers offense, when everybody got hurt.
30:10Like I understand the best case and I don't think you can definitively say Vlad McConkie's, you know, not a good player
30:16and therefore not going to be very good as a top 24 type receiver.
30:21But I have to build in the floor that he is a kind of prototypical good slot machine whose upside is like prime Julian Edelman.
30:28And maybe you, you know, get the random wide receiver nine season thrown in among three or four other seasons.
30:34But I just don't, I don't see him playing on the outside.
30:38He clearly isn't going to win with size and just doesn't have that level of route running explosiveness.
30:43And I've been put in time out from talking about the Chargers for the rest of the offseason.
30:49Adam, wasn't Ryan's point though? I wasn't on the show when he said this.
30:53Ryan, he's point. Not that they're the same type of player.
30:56That just, this is the type of wide receiver value that you're looking at that can ascend to maybe a top 10 type.
31:03So his point was that, that Mike McDaniel was going to run a different offense in terms of personnel, putting tight ends
31:10on the field and those types of things that would make it easier for Lad McConkie to emerge as like the most obvious target.
31:17And, and he would explode in that way. Like the, like the, what happened with JSN?
31:22Like they, they ran such heavy personnel last year.
31:25JSN really stood out as the guy to throw the ball to.
31:29I'm pretty sure that's what Ryan said. It's been a few months.
31:32I don't think he was making any case that he was necessarily going to be like the number two receiver, but that
31:39he would benefit from a coaching change in a way that would funnel targets to him.
31:44I think so. All right. Well, it's a great, it's a great range of receivers and pick your breakout.
31:50And you heard some great cases on today's show.
31:52Chris, thank you as always for coming on. It's always great to have you.
31:57And I, I hope I can be on your show before they move to the morning.
32:01Pleasure to, pleasure to be on the third consecutive year.
32:04And also, honestly, funniest segment probably I've been on for.
32:08It was very, very funny. I can't, I'm going to definitely text you both and ask about the bet if it's really happening.
32:14Oh, it's going to happen in some capacity. The next time you see me, well, like a few times when you see
32:21me, I might have a huge beard. And we're just hoping that's not the case.
32:26And thank you for helping us raise money for St.
32:29Jude as Chris Harris is also in the FFT Open.
32:32His league is sold out, but plenty of leagues available.
32:35TinyURL.com slash FFTDonate2026. We will talk to you tomorrow with Busts on Fantasy Football Today.
32:39On podcasts.
