PodcastFrom Fantasy Football Today
2026 Fantasy Football Mailbag Q&A | Your Draft & Training Camp Questions Answered! (08/22 Fantasy Football Podcast)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 22, 2026
Published
Sat, August 22, 2026
26
Player insights
25
Players mentioned
Topics
Kyle PittsBijan RobinsonBlake CorumBrock BowersBucky IrvingC.J. StroudCeeDee LambColston LovelandD.J. MooreDak PrescottDallas GoedertDalton SchultzDavid MontgomeryGeorge Pickens
Player analysis
Player insights
Bijan Robinson
PositiveValue36:55
Bijan Robinson is ranked as a top-three locked-in pick and is considered to be in a tier well beyond other running backs, making him worth significant auction budget allocation.
Insight pageBlake Corum
PositiveSleeper31:53
Blake Corum is highlighted as a target for managers employing a 'Hero RB' strategy, where they draft one early running back and then load up on high-upside depth pieces in middle rounds.
Insight pageBrock Bowers
PositiveValue56:43
Brock Bowers is identified as a high-upside tight end who could be a first-round pick in 1QB leagues with tight end premium scoring, though managers should be cautious of reaching.
Insight pageBucky Irving
NegativeUsage28:25
The source identifies Bucky Irving as a potential 'trap back' because he may be pigeonholed into a first and second-down role without significant passing-game involvement.
Insight pageC.J. Stroud
PositiveProjection5:44
The source believes people are too down on C.J. Stroud based on the end of the 2025 season, arguing he throws a good football and can hit the routes that Nico Collins wins on.
Insight pageCeeDee Lamb
NegativeProjection13:50
The source is not concerned about CeeDee Lamb's fantasy outlook even if the Cowboys' defense improves, citing the team's efficient, pass-heavy offensive scheme under Brian Schottenheimer.
Insight pageColston Loveland
PositiveProjection62:08
The source suggests moving Colston Loveland down in formats that reward tight end receptions, as there is uncertainty regarding his target volume.
Insight pageD.J. Moore
PositiveValue4:06
The source and Jamie Eisenberg are both higher than consensus on DJ Moore, actively moving him up their rankings and drafting him frequently.
Insight pageDak Prescott
PositiveProjection14:15
The source praises Dak Prescott as a high-level processor who distributes the ball well, noting that the Cowboys' offense is humming due to Brian Schottenheimer's use of pre-snap motion and play-action.
Insight pageDallas Goedert
NegativeProjection60:45
The source notes that Dallas Goedert is unlikely to receive a high volume of catches, making him a less favorable option in formats that reward tight end receptions.
Insight pageDalton Schultz
PositiveRole62:00
Dalton Schultz is identified as a player to bump up in reception-rewarding formats due to the current injury situation in the Houston offense.
Insight pageDavid Montgomery
NegativeUsage28:29
The source views David Montgomery as a potential 'trap back' because he may not work on passing downs, which could lead to him being avoided in the middle rounds of drafts.
Insight pageGeorge Pickens
NegativeProjection13:50
The source does not express concern for George Pickens' fantasy outlook in relation to the Cowboys' defensive performance, as the question was grouped with CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott.
Insight pageIsaiah Likely
PositiveUsage61:52
Isaiah Likely is a recommended bump-up candidate in reception-heavy formats because he has been consistently peppered with targets, even if his touchdown upside remains limited.
Insight pageJa'Marr Chase
PositiveProjection36:35
Ja'Marr Chase is considered a locked-in top-three pick alongside Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs, with the source noting he has the potential to score 23 touchdowns.
Insight pageJahmyr Gibbs
PositiveValue36:55
Jahmyr Gibbs is considered a locked-in top-three pick and a must-keep player in keeper leagues at the 12th overall spot, as he is in a tier of his own alongside Bijan Robinson.
Insight pageJames Cook
NegativeValue33:17
James Cook is discussed as a potential pick in the first round for a 14-team league, though the source advises against passing on elite wide receivers like Ja'Marr Chase for him in half-PPR formats.
Insight pageJavonte Williams
NegativeUsage13:56
The source discusses Javonte Williams in the context of whether he would benefit from more running, but the conversation shifts toward the team's offensive philosophy and the difficulty of avoiding committee backfields.
Insight pageKyle Monangai
PositiveSleeper31:56
Kyle Monongai is suggested as a late-round target for managers who prioritize wide receivers early and need to fill out their running back room with high-upside depth.
Insight pageKyle Pitts
PositiveProjection60:45
Kyle Pitts is projected to be a top-five tight end in total catches if he plays 17 games, though the source notes he may struggle to score a high volume of touchdowns.
Insight pagePositiveUsage60:48
Kyle Pitts is highlighted as a tight end to target in tight end premium leagues because he is projected to be a top-five player in receptions at the position, even if his touchdown total is lower.
Insight pageMarShawn Lloyd
PositiveSleeper31:57
Marshawn Lloyd is recommended as a late-round draft target for managers looking to build depth at running back after securing elite wide receiver talent early.
Insight pageNico Collins
PositiveBreakout5:22
The source is high on Nico Collins, ranking him as the WR7. The argument is based on his consistent ability to win as an isolated X receiver and his per-route efficiency, which the source believes is supported by C.J. Stroud's passing ability. When removing games where he played 18% or fewer snaps, his pace was 104 catches, 1,513 yards, and 9 touchdowns (18.2 points per game).
Insight pageStefon Diggs
PositiveRole8:58
Stefon Diggs has transitioned into a short-area slot receiver, with a 52% slot rate compared to 25% in his prime. The source likes him as a target because the Commanders' tackle situation may force Jayden Daniels to get the ball out quickly, where Diggs will live.
Insight pageTerry McLaurin
PositiveUsage9:01
The source is becoming concerned about Terry McLaurin's outlook due to the Commanders' tackle situation, which may limit his ability to get deep passes, potentially making his target and catch totals closer to Stefon Diggs' than previously expected.
Insight pageTrey McBride
PositiveValue56:44
Trey McBride is considered a potential first-round pick in 1QB leagues with tight end premium scoring, alongside Brock Bowers.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. What a play!
0:03Can you believe this? He had no idea. It's time to dominate your fantasy league.
0:07Off to the races! And he stays at his feet!
0:10He's just gonna go the distance! Now, here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath.
0:14It's Bell Bag! I'm live in person here. Adam Azer, Jamie Eisenberg and Dan Schneier.
0:18Very excited for this. Now, if you're listening to the podcast right now on audio, we've got a lav mic on today.
0:24Don't have the pod mic. So, audio, not what it usually sounds like.
0:28I apologize for that. But the trade-off is the three of us get to be in the same room together and have a lot of fun.
0:35Good afternoon, gentlemen. How are we feeling? Don't throw up on me.
0:38Don't throw up on me. If you throw up on me...
0:41I'm certainly feeling a lot better than the Westin Marriott Hotel bathroom is feeling after last night's disaster.
0:46But I do want to say this. Adam, you are a great sport.
0:50I listened to some of the post-game show, and I do want to apologize for not being the most gracious at the end of the match.
0:57I think I'm just, generally speaking, an insane competitor.
0:59And I was really disappointed in myself personally with how I played last night.
1:03I didn't think I... And my brother obviously gave me a pep talk.
1:07I don't know if you knew this after the first set.
1:10I heard, right? Yeah. And he's saying you're just not moving your feet and you're not hitting out with your backhand.
1:16You're just slicing. And I was very lazy. Now, do I think, Jamie, there was some...
1:20Is there some part of me that thinks Adam purposely took me to that, we won't name the restaurant again, not to
1:26despise them on another show, restaurant to kind of bloat me and put me in this position where I have bad indigestion
1:32and really I'm not moving my feet? I'm playing bad tennis?
1:35I don't know. Now, that's something I'll have to think about for the rest of my life.
1:40But the reality is you played great and you earned the points you got.
1:44No, but you earned the games you got is more so what I meant.
1:47It wasn't... I didn't want to say I was just playing bad.
1:51I just was disappointed in my level play. All good.
1:53We'll do it again. I think he would have won.
1:56I don't think I would have won. That I don't think.
1:59I think... I think... He would have won the second set.
2:02I don't think. And would have won the tiebreaker.
2:05No. I don't think so. All right, listen. Let's get into some fantasy football here.
2:09I know what you're trying to do, Jamie. I'm not going to take a break.
2:13The match is behind us. But I will say I'm very motivated to get better.
2:17I just... I'm going to win next year. You'll be healthier next year.
2:21Yeah, I will be. I was completely unaffected by that yesterday.
2:24Okay. Email address is fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. That's the letter I.
2:26We have only one draft-a-thon question in terms of donation, but we do have a lot of emails.
2:31Before we get into that, one player you're really into right now?
2:34Jamie? Into like half the draft. Yeah. What's the definition?
2:37Just kind of feeling it right now. Moving them up your rankings, drafting them a lot, whatever it is.
2:42I'm looking right now. Because I'm going to tell you, you've inspired me to be really into DJ Moore.
2:47We were just talking about that before the show.
2:50Yeah. Jamie and I are higher than consensus on DJ Moore.
2:53I think that's one player for me, Jamie. One player that I'm going to put in here, don't think he's gotten any buzz this offseason.
3:00And Jacob and I just did a show on Beyond the Boxcore.
3:03Shout out Beyond the Boxcore. Who could be this year's JSN?
3:06Jacob had a whole list of guys, and I gave the Dan-O-Meter ranking on all them.
3:10Oh, 9 points. The Dan-O-Meter? Oh, it's the Dan-O-Meter.
3:13If you listen to Beyond the Boxcore, I give a little one through 10 ranking on if I think Jacob's accurate.
3:19And there's always decimals. If you don't use decimals, you're not ranking things right.
3:22But the player he forgot that I really think fits a possible JSN, and no one cares about Nico Collins.
3:28And I said this before the injury to Jaden Higgins, but I still think it's true even after the injury, maybe even more so.
3:35If you look at the per-route data for Nico Collins, the fact that he wins so consistently as that isolated X receiver,
3:41which a lot of guys can't do at the NFL level.
3:44And just, I think people are too down on CJ Stroud right now based on what they saw at the end of the season.
3:50I think he throws a good football and can hit those routes that Nico wins on, which is basically the entire route tree.
3:56So I think Nico is the guy I'm pretty high on right now.
4:00And I moved him all the way up to wide receiver seven in my rankings, looking at it right now.
4:06Yeah, it's weird. It's like when you go all in on someone like I kind of did last year with Nico Collins,
4:12and then he burned you with 120 targets in 15 games, only on pace for 136 targets last year.
4:17He's going to have to do more than that if he's going to be the JSN.
4:21But the reason I really liked him was there have been these stretches where like he's been healthy and he's been, you
4:27know, 19-ish points per game, like absolute superstar. And I thought he was really capable of doing that.
4:32I'm trying to find the exact. And that's the crux of my argument too.
4:36So like 2024 is why I liked him so much in 2025.
4:39He had two games where he played 18% or fewer of the snaps.
4:43That's where the answer stats come in. You take those games out.
4:46What's his pace? It's 104 catches, 1,513 yards, nine touchdowns, 156 targets.
4:49That's 18.2 points per game. I mean that's like better than what I expect from CeeDee Land this year.
4:55So I've seen these stretches for Nico Collins where he's been that good.
4:58Something was just off last year. Well, he had the concussion and I think that really did impact him.
5:03Early in the year? That early injury he had like that Monday night game against Tampa or whatever it was.
5:09I really did think he never looked the same.
5:11He had another one. So maybe it was just the injury.
5:14I don't know. But I mean you can Azerstadt anything.
5:17I already heard last night you were trying to Azerstadt the second set of that match.
5:21You claim a victory. Yeah, so I guess DJ Moore, I'm piggybacking off of you.
5:26I don't know if there's anyone else. I'm just trying to think of something different because you know you say Devontae, you've
5:32heard me say Ken Walker, you've heard me say DJ Moore.
5:35Somebody recently, we just talked about this off the air as well.
5:38Yeah. Stephon Diggs. I just drafted Stephon Diggs. I'm getting nervous about Terry McLaurin.
5:42We talked about this on the CBS Sports Network show.
5:44You brought this up about the tackle situation being what it is for the Commanders.
5:49That could lend itself to getting the ball out a little bit quicker for Jane Daniels and that's where Stephon Diggs is going to live.
5:55He's gotten off to a great start. Not that I would take Stephon Diggs over McLaurin, but it just makes me a
6:01little bit more concerned about McLaurin getting the passes downfield that he needs.
6:05I still think he leads them in targets and touchdowns, but I wonder if the catches somewhat are close between Diggs and McLaurin.
6:11By the way, two shows today with you two gentlemen.
6:14Both times I got stuck with the last pick middle seat.
6:17I don't know. I mean, this is a seniority thing.
6:20I understand. Jamie pulled that rank on me. Adam, I respect it as well.
6:24You're the host. Let me ask you a question.
6:26Because we just did our CBS Sports Network show in the same exact seats, in the same exact room.
6:31I was oddly nervous. I'm less nervous for this.
6:34It's the mailbag vibe. I'm really fine. I think it's a laptop for me.
6:38I need this laptop in front of me. I didn't know what to do with my hands.
6:42There's all sorts of things going on. I just want to bring you out with Stephon Diggs.
6:47No one really thinks of Stephon Diggs like Keenan Allen.
6:50They're very different players than much of their career.
6:52Yeah. But what I've noticed is that a lot of the guys, sorry for the repeating all this stuff for the last however many weeks.
6:59A lot of the guys age well wide receiver, Julian Edelman, Keenan Allen, Larry Fitzgerald, heavy slot guys.
7:04Okay. And that is what Stephon Diggs is now.
7:0652% slot rate. In his prime he was like 25% slot rate.
7:10He is a short area slot receiver now. And I think, yeah, I think he's really good.
7:14I like that call a lot. All right, guys.
7:17Let's get to some emails. Fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. Thank you for liking that call, which is basically Jamie's call.
7:21That's for the course. Okay. From John, 20 year listener.
7:24I love listening while I'm driving. And you know what?
7:27I think I responded to him. I was like, has it really been 20 years?
7:31Has it? I thought this podcast was 19 years old.
7:34Wait a second. But Chad GPT thinks it's 20 years old.
7:37We should be having an anniversary party. I need to do a history lesson.
7:41We started before you in 2007, which makes sense.
7:43You know, so. 2007, because I started in 2009.
7:46That's 20 seasons. I started in 2009. 2007. Give me a little quick history lesson of FFT then.
7:502007 was who was the crew on FFT. Just me and Dave.
7:54And you were hosting. And what was it called, Dan?
7:56Do you know what it was called? No. Fantasy Football Playbook.
8:00Ooh. I didn't remember that. I don't like that to some extent.
8:03And you know what the baseball one was called?
8:05What? Fantasy Hit and Run or Fantasy Baseball Hit and Run.
8:08Okay. That one I don't like as much. So yeah, who was hosting, Jamie?
8:12I think actually Dave was. Oh, wow. Okay. Then we realized Dave talked so much that I had to take it over.
8:18Wow. Dave's taking strays. He's not even here. Unbelievable.
8:21All right. Here's the question from our 20-year center.
8:23He says, I listen while driving my kids to all their baseball and soccer practices.
8:27And that, John, is why I don't like profanity on our show.
8:30If the Cowboys defense becomes average to above average, are you concerned with CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, and Dak Prescott?
8:36And wouldn't Javante Williams be in line for a huge season if they run more, blah, blah, blah?
8:41We talked about this earlier on the network show, and I think you had some really good stats to back up why that should not be a concern.
8:49And I think, ultimately speaking, I tend to lean just from a football knowledge standpoint toward your side because the reality is
8:55when you have a processor like Dak Prescott, a quarterback, and he'll never get the credit he deserves from NFL fans for
9:01how good he is at playing the quarterback position.
9:03You distribute the ball so well, and you see the field so well as a quarterback that your best bet as a
9:09coordinator and an offensive play caller is to call pass.
9:12And I'll say this. Jacob Gibbs turned me on to this this offseason.
9:15Brian Schottenheimer, I was not a fan of him when he was with the Jets.
9:20I was not a fan of him when he was in the Rams.
9:23He was kind of the punchline of a lot of jokes.
9:26He's really retooled everything he's done as a play caller since getting to Dallas, high in pre-snap motion, high in a lot
9:32of play action rate, things that are really cheat codes at the NFL level for producing yards and having efficient offense.
9:38And I think he has this offense humming as one of the best in the NFL no matter how this defense plays.
9:44You worried about it, the defense? No. Impacting the offense?
9:47No, I'm not. I think just based on the fact that you can still be a great offense with a better defense.
9:53You know, when you look at what just the the Cowboys are, what the Bengals are, you know, these are two teams
9:59I think you're going to see improved defensive performances.
10:01They don't have to rely on their defense. You know, this is kind of not to get too on the, you know,
10:07football fantasy versus reality rally versus fantasy. I think like Sean Payton at times like wants to cover up Bo Nix.
10:13I know they threw the ball up, but it's it's safe throws.
10:16Right. And then you bring in Jalen. I want to trust him a little bit more.
10:21So they'll still have a great defense. But also like last couple of years, like we don't have to do that because defense is so great.
10:28Right. I think like Drake May is another one.
10:30Like you're going to start to see him open things up more.
10:33You bring in an A.J. Brown. The Cowboys are already there.
10:37The Bengals are already there. Yeah. You know, it's like why change who you are?
10:41Because, oh, we're going to stop people more. The Rams aren't going to scoring because they got miles Garrett and potentially Aaron Donald.
10:47Like they're still going to bludgeon you to death because they can.
10:50And I think the Cowboys will. And that's the best example.
10:53By the way, the Rams last year had a top defense and still Stafford through all those touchdown passes.
10:58They scored all those touchdowns. I think it gets overrated.
11:01Really, though, like they had the 10th best defense.
11:04But that's still those were what the most passes.
11:06That's in the end. They're not getting better. Exactly.
11:09Exactly. Right. They're not going to have an elite defense.
11:11It might be better. And there have been times in the past where they have had pretty close to an elite defense.
11:17They still throw the ball up. All right. Next email is from.
11:21Thank you, John, by the way. Next email is from Jim in Cleveland.
11:24You just did the draft strategy pods, which were very helpful.
11:27Thank you. I hope those are helpful. I think it was good just for me to talk it out.
11:32I'm curious how to start a three wide receiver league or how a start three wide receiver league would affect your strategy and rankings, especially at the top.
11:40Jim, I'll let Jamie answer that real quick. But just so you know, a lot of most of our jobs are three leagues.
11:46But yeah, what's the answer here? I think it's just as we discussed with the strategy pieces where you're picking will sort
11:52of determine how you start, because if I'm at the back end of the first round, I'm probably leaning running back or
11:58probably two running backs as opposed to the first round.
12:01As opposed to if I'm in the middle, I'm looking wide receiver because that for the group of four guys, I think those any of them slip.
12:09It's easy to take them. You know, so we started to see ADP, for example, change where Taylor and McCaffrey, McCaffrey Taylor moving ahead of St.
12:16Brown and and JSN. But I'm not going to reach for a receiver early just because it's a three receiver league.
12:21So you've got to be comfortable enough to know that could Zay Flowers or Devontae Smith or Tee's be your number one
12:27receiver if you start running back, running back tight end, you know, and don't take a receiver early.
12:32I'm comfortable with that. I'm not worried about it.
12:35But I know a lot of people don't love doing that.
12:38For me, the biggest difference is in you. I think either Heath or you mentioned called it the blob, the blob of wide receivers.
12:44For me, it's in this format. I'm not taking quarterback ever early and I'm not taking I'm probably not taking tight end ever early.
12:51What I'm doing is I like what Jamie said.
12:54I still want my run. The running backs in the first two rounds are really value plays across the board.
12:59There's 11 or 12 running backs that are amazing this year.
13:02But then in those middle rounds, instead of taking a quarterback or a tight end in that spot, I'm just loading up on that glut of receivers.
13:09The McLaurins, the Wilson, the McConkey's, the Jamison Williams, the Romo Dunes, like Christian Watson.
13:14I'm getting as many as I can there to not only fill out the three receivers and the flex before I get quarterback and tight end.
13:21But I may at that point by going running back, running back to start, I may want a bench receiver before I
13:27even want a quarterback or a tight end. Yeah.
13:29No, I was going to say the same thing about the quarterback and tight end thing.
13:34Like if it's a two. Now, listen, there's there's there's no difference in draft strategy for me if we're talking three receivers,
13:40one flex versus two receivers, two flexes. But if it's two receivers, one flex, I'm always more more likely to take a top three tight end.
13:47In this case, top three tight end. And I'll just notice I have actually no idea how long we've been on the air.
13:53So that's OK. I don't know when to go to break.
13:56So I'm going to try to figure that out.
13:58But let's go to our next email here. It is from Alex.
14:02And he says, hey, Clubber, Drago, Tommy Gunn and Thunderlips.
14:04I think I've been on this show long enough to know that these are Rocky movie characters, despite not having ever seen Rocky.
14:11So I'm going to go with that. They are the people that Rocky fought.
14:15OK. And congratulations, my eight year old son has now seen more Rocky movies than you.
14:19Wow. As of last. How would you rank them?
14:21One, two, four, three. No, no, no, no, no.
14:24The opponent. Drago. Clubber. Clubber. Tommy. Thunderlips. Tommy. Tommy Gunn.
14:27I was just trying to randomly guess that and I almost got it right.
14:31How would you rank them? That's just. You got to go Drago one.
14:34Clubber two. I think you have the right order.
14:37Yeah. But now what if I threw Apollo on there?
14:39Who's one? If you throw Apollo in there? Drago or Apollo.
14:42I would go Drago, Apollo. Clubber. Who's Apollo? Oh, good God.
14:45Oh, good God. He's like. Why doesn't he count?
14:48Why wasn't he in this? He's Creed's dad. Apollo Creed.
14:51OK. You know what's funny? I saw the movie Creed with Michael B.
14:54Jordan. Yeah. I haven't seen Rocky, but I saw it.
14:57It was great. It was great. I loved it.
14:59You got to watch Rocky. I know. I'll watch Rocky.
15:02We'll go to break after this commercial here, guys.
15:04Let's. After this email. OK. We'll go to break after this email.
15:08OK. So the Rocky. This is a great email.
15:10I've heard the phrase running back dead zone used by other sites, but not you guys.
15:15I'm wondering if this is a concept you subscribe to.
15:17My understanding is. You know what? He's his understanding is not exactly right.
15:21OK. So it originate on our show from Ben.
15:23I think Ben Gretsch. I actually heard Ben Gretsch talk about this lately.
15:27So Gretsch originated. Gretsch wrote the story. But Chris Towers, who he gives credit to.
15:31And I've shot out Chris Towers, actually was the editor of football at the time, fantasy at the time.
15:36And he was the one who termed it the RB dead zone.
15:40OK. So it was Gretsch's content. But Towers had came up with the tagline.
15:43Oh, OK. Awesome. But yeah. No, it is. I mean, we do.
15:47We do reference it quite a bit. But we just don't probably use the phrase the way it should be defined.
15:52I like how you guys use it as the trap backs.
15:55I think that I like that even better. Same thing.
15:58But it's not the same because a trap back, yes, they often fall into the RB dead zone.
16:03Oh, but it could be anyone. It's a point in the draft where the running backs have historically just not been very good.
16:09Right. I don't really care about that anymore because I was just looking.
16:13I did the exercise this morning or Friday morning before we did our Superflex podcast of looking at who the league winners,
16:19like the league winning teams or runner-ups, were drafting when they drafted their quarterbacks.
16:23But one thing I noticed was like, man, these teams, they won the league.
16:27They had a lot of crappy picks. So I don't know that it's just a running back dead zone.
16:32Go look at rounds four through six or seven at any position.
16:35And there's busts all over the place. I don't know that running back is more likely to do it.
16:40But what's your understanding of what that is? Well, I think it's, you know, you can start to define what a trap,
16:46what a running back in the zone looks, you know, so you can see it potentially.
16:51What you don't want is you don't want somebody who's going to fall into two of the three categories of not being
16:57involved in the passing game or being involved with the goal line.
17:00Yes. You know, so if you're just kind of pigeonholed to being a first and second down guy only.
17:05Right. Like you could see that path for Bucky Irving, for example.
17:09You could see maybe David Montgomery not working on passing downs.
17:12You could see Judkins and Scadaboo not working on passing downs, you know.
17:15So it's avoiding something where they're going to lose points going into it, you know.
17:19So there's a chance Montgomery may, you know, you alluded to this on the show about, you know, his pass catching numbers
17:25aren't reflective necessarily of who he is. Right. Yeah.
17:28And people may look at that and say, oh, I don't want to touch him because we get to that four, five, six, seven range in the draft.
17:35And it's, ugh, it could be bad, you know.
17:38So it's usually we've kind of shifted a lot because it used to be the running backs got all pushed up into
17:44that four through six range where it was like 35 running backs coming off the board.
17:48Now it's kind of like that's where the meat of the receivers go.
17:52And then we get to those other running backs, which tend to fall in tight.
17:56You know, so Ja'Cory Krosky, Merritt, J.K. Dobbins, you know, guys that are going to be in significant committees and lose a
18:02big part of what the role could be. I think that's, I don't want to go too long.
18:07That's the crux of the debate because I think there was a dead zone.
18:11And this is why I love fantasy football. It just evolves every year.
18:14And I know you know this, Jamie. There was a dead zone because people weren't drafting receivers.
18:19Now people have changed and flipped the script and they're overdrafting receivers in that range.
18:23And now this dead zone is not what it used to be.
18:26It used to be guys like Mike Davis and Miles Gaskin in rounds four and five.
18:31You're not taking a Mike or Miles Gaskin anymore.
18:33Those are the Ja'Cory Krosky merit. Right. But that's down in round eight.
18:37Falling more. So, you know, you're taking those receivers that were in that four through six range and now they're going in rounds three through five.
18:44And it's sort of, again, the goalposts have shifted.
18:46Yep. Yeah. And I think there just aren't that many running backs that get all that many touches anymore.
18:52So, so naturally like more of them are going to kind of like be in committees.
18:56Sure. So it's just, uh, it's hard to avoid it.
18:59But if look, if you want to take a super safe pick in round five, take a quarterback.
19:04So I know like just from still reading Ben and following Ben, like the, and the players he would more gravitate toward,
19:10he would rather take the hero RB approach of taking somebody early and then just take a lot of shots on Blake
19:16Corham and Kyle Monongai and, uh, uh, Marshawn Lloyd and Jonah.
19:19Like he would just love drafting those types of guys and then load up with receivers in the rounds, like two, three
19:25through eight, you know, and that's just the way he always drafts.
19:28Yes. Guys, we'll get a break in here when we come back.
19:31Uh, Tim, J Mac, you're up. We've got fantasy cops later on.
19:35Nice. Finally. Yeah. But I don't have the music.
19:37True. So I'm seeing it. I'm fancy football today.
19:40We are back with Tim. So he also listened to our pick by pick series podcast, but he's in a 14 team league half PPR.
19:46He has the third overall pick. This league goes very heavy running back early.
19:50Should I still take Jamar chase with the third pick?
19:53Or he's actually thinking about Dan, maybe going with James cook because he knows his league.
19:57I don't think I can do that 0.5 PPR.
20:00I think it's got to be chase for me, even though I understand what he's saying.
20:04He knows his league. It's going to go running back heavy.
20:07The way I would lean into that per personally is I would take the value then at wide receiver in round two.
20:13If somebody slips like a CD lamp, it sounds like he's saying like maybe like a lamb or something could slip to
20:19where he's taking it around to like you just take value.
20:22I don't think look if you miss on running back, even if it's a 14 team league, you could end up going
20:28the strategy that Jamie just talked about that players like Ben like to go to and you could draft the quorums and
20:34just load up there, all those guys. And you're going to hit and find at least one of those guys due to injuries.
20:41Um, and you can probably use the wired, not the wire, but like you need to hit on both, I guess.
20:46But listen, here's my thing. I talk about this a lot.
20:49We'll wrap this up quick, but like you don't need to win.
20:53Will we? We might. We don't need to win every single position.
20:56Like you can have the best wide receivers and flex and you forward to have a bad running back too.
21:02I think the thing that we're seeing is everybody's chasing running backs.
21:05Yes. You can win by being different, setting yourself.
21:07So I don't think it's going to be lamb per se, but that's AJ Brown.
21:11Potentially we've seen Drake London fall to that spot.
21:14It could be Rashi Rice. It could be Malik neighbor, whatever, you know, receiver or group of receivers you like.
21:19And then when the draft fits where those teams that went running back heavy early are starting to take receivers, then you
21:25just start throwing a lot of capital at the running back position.
21:29So it's not just quorum. Again, it's some of those trap backs, but one or two of those guys are going to
21:35hit or give you pockets of the season where they hit, where you're okay.
21:39And then you pivot to the next guy because you have these guys on your bench that either help you because of
21:45an injury or they get more momentum, start playing more.
21:47There's just lots of different ways to win. And it's not always everybody in my league takes running backs.
21:52I have to take a running back. Imagine passing on Jamar Chase and he does what he says he's going to do and he scores 23 touchdowns.
22:00Right. Like if he, like that's a guy I want to bet on.
22:03Yep. You know, so I'm not passing on Jamar Chase.
22:06If it was, Hey, I'm debating James Cook versus St.
22:09Brown or JSN. That's a much easier conversation to have.
22:12There are three guys locked in that should not be touched.
22:15Whatever order you like them. It's Gibbs. It's Bijan.
22:17And it's Jamar Chase. Yeah. All right. This is from J Mac.
22:20He says, Dear Trent, Sean, Brad, and Josh. Trent.
22:23Trent Green. Brad Johnson. I think it's, I think these are quarterbacks.
22:26I think that's Trent Dilfer. Trent Dilfer played for the.
22:29Sean King. Sean King. Great call. Is it spelled right?
22:32Oh, Josh. Josh. He should have been good. No, that's Josh.
22:35Freeman. Freeman. There you go. Should have been good.
22:37He says, My BIL is joining our 15 year long league.
22:40What do you think that BIL? Brother-in-law. Brother-in-law. Is that easy?
22:43It's as easy as it gets. He's got a hundred dollar buy-in.
22:46The issue is he's never played. Don't you have like seven brother-in-laws?
22:50Do I have? Yeah. I have a few, don't you?
22:52I have a five or six. Yeah. My brother-in-law, my BIL is joining our league.
22:57He has no, he's never played fantasy football. He doesn't want to embarrass himself.
23:00Okay. I'm at a loss to give him beginner advice or a resource to use as a primer.
23:05Do we want to give him first time fantasy football advice?
23:08Well, he's saying. He doesn't want to do it because he wants to win or he doesn't want to do it?
23:14No, he doesn't really know like what to do or say or where to direct him.
23:19Hi. Welcome. But are we a little bit too advanced for a beginner?
23:22That's what he said. I don't think so, actually.
23:25I know someone like a friend of mine who had never played before and she actually listens to the Express episodes.
23:30Might be where it's at. Yeah. So let's start with the- My approach is much different, let's say, than Jacob's approach, right?
23:36Yeah. Jacob's very stat heavy. He's great. I think anybody that's playing on an advanced level loves Jacob.
23:41I'm just using my example. Mm-hmm. I know what the audience of what most people play fantasy footballers, and they just want
23:47to be told, who do I draft? Yes. Who do I start?
23:51Who do I start? And who do I sit?
23:53I think our show does a really good job of balancing that, especially the guests we bring on.
23:58So welcome, brother of mine. Yeah. But I would say, don't be intimidated because you're going to get, wherever you end up
24:04drafting, whatever site you use, it may make it so easy, right?
24:07You've got rankings from everybody. You can just go based on the rankings.
24:11And then, yeah. I think the best articles to read- Look at this comment.
24:15The best articles to read, read a Tears article.
24:17Read a Tears article. Right? That'll help you because it'll give you good player analysis and where to draft those guys.
24:23Read our pick-by-pick series. Yeah. That'll give you an opportunity, depending on where you get to understand what you're doing.
24:28And then, you know, sleepers, breakouts, busts. Obviously, this will be on the box score if you want to get more advanced
24:34as you dive down that rabbit hole where those guys are awesome.
24:38You know, so, but- And I'll give you just like five.
24:41I think we can just give five tips to start.
24:43Don't draft a kicker in defense until the final few rounds.
24:46Like, these are things you might need to know.
24:49Okay, let's go real quick. Don't draft a kicker defense until the final few rounds.
24:53Don't draft quarterback till late. It's maybe not the best strategy.
24:56It's not a guarantee you have to do it.
24:59Find value in the quarterback. You don't have to draft the quarterback early.
25:02It's going to give you an advantage if you just use that strategy.
25:06It's tried and true. It really is over the course of time in fans football.
25:10So, one, two. Don't be afraid to fill out your flex before all your other starting positions.
25:14Don't feel like you have to go tight end.
25:17What else? That's three. We really like the top 12 running backs.
25:20If you can get two of them with your first two picks, that's great.
25:24Try to get one of them if you can with your first two picks.
25:28But not like if you have like the – okay.
25:31Yeah, I think that's it. That's it. Don't take a kicker defense early.
25:34If you like podcasts, listen to a podcast. Let's see what we got here.
25:38What's our next one? Sorry, I'm not in my normal setup today.
25:41Yeah, he's a little off. From Jared. Rank – I'm not going to have you rank everyone, but the question is, can
25:47you rank your top 12 in half PPR? So, I guess I would just ask you, based on your top 12, what would change in half PPR?
25:55Nothing for the top three. I think, for me still, it would be Puka at four.
25:59I have Amon Ross, St. Brown at five. JSN at six.
26:02Taylor at seven. Chase Brown's at eight. That's where I might go Cook over Chase Brown.
26:06I don't know how you feel about that. In half PPR?
26:09No, but I would put Cook at nine. Okay.
26:12Or I have Gente. You have Gente. I do a Gente, CMC, and then – 12.
26:16Right now you have Lamb. Lamb. Okay. All right, so barely anything changes.
26:20Most of our advice – Is half PPR, yeah.
26:22But we feel like it mostly translates to half PPR.
26:25I think you could make a case for Derrick Henry 12th or so in half PPR.
26:29A stronger case in half than full, yeah. I mean, in non-PPR, you definitely could.
26:34Yeah. All right. This is from Matt in a town on the Jersey Shore.
26:37Oh, Matt in a town on the Jersey Shore.
26:40Could it be Avalon? Could it be Manisquan? Could it be Belmar?
26:43You pick. I'll go Belmar, my favorite place on the Jersey Shore.
26:46Hey, Jimmy, Bunk, Omar, and Lester. Come on, water characters.
26:49Get it out of here. Get it out of here.
26:52And watch the show, Adam. Give me a break.
26:54It's disgusting. You haven't watched the show yet. All right.
26:57He wants to know if he's overthinking keeping Jameer Gibbs 12th overall.
27:00Maybe not. Let's see. So 12 team, three flex, pretty deep.
27:03Okay. He can go Gibbs 12th overall. Rasheed Rice, 60th.
27:06Bajal Tootin, 132nd. I am going with Gibbs still at 12th overall.
27:09Tootin is the only other one I... Rice is decent.
27:12They're all good values. I think you just go Gibbs.
27:15I'm not giving Jameer Gibbs to anybody else. I have the opportunity to keep him.
27:19And it's only 12th overall. So, I mean... This is from Marshall.
27:22Hey, Sterling, James, Ethan, and Jack. This one, I've gotten a lot today.
27:26More than usual. Someone else has... Sterling, James, Ethan, and Jack.
27:29I don't know. I have no idea. Oh, they're secret agents.
27:32Of what? James Bond. James Bond. Okay. Ethan is born identity?
27:35No. Hunt. Oh, he's... Oh, Mission Impossible? Yeah. You know, the action movie that you'll think so.
27:40There's no Jason here. Jason. That would be Jason.
27:42Is that his worst take ever, Adam? Is that his worst take ever?
27:46Well, I wonder because there's that video on YouTube of Tom Cruise doing all his own stunts.
27:50And then he says he's not an actor. So that is worst take.
27:54It's pretty bad. It's like proven how bad it was.
27:57It's funny. Yeah. It's like actual proof. I actually meant it as a compliment.
28:00Like, he's more than an action star. Whereas Schwarzenegger, Stallone, these guys are mostly just...
28:05Don't try to easier stat your way out of this.
28:07I mean, listen. What you don't get is Arnold became a comedian.
28:11Did a lot of comedy. Jack Reacher? Is that an action?
28:14Is that a secret agent? Oh, yeah. Jack Reacher.
28:16Also, isn't that... Isn't Keanu Reeves Jack in Speed?
28:19He is, but he's not a secret agent. That's true.
28:21He's a police agent. Jack Reacher's a good one.
28:24I don't know who Sterling is. All right. With your...
28:26And I don't have the chat. Usually, the chat would be chiming in.
28:30With your auction strategy pod coming up, I wanted to introduce, for discussion purposes, the one-two-skip-a-few auction strategy for this year.
28:36It is my strong opinion that Bijan and Gibbs are in a tier well beyond all the others this year.
28:41So my standard 12-team league just held our auction.
28:44Two running backs, two receivers, one flex. I spent 70% of my budget on Bijan and Gibbs at the open of the draft.
28:50And here's how the rest of my roster shook out.
28:53Joe Burrow, Gibbs, Bijan, Parker Washington, and Quentin Johnston, Colston Loveland, and the Seahawks DSD.
28:57And a bunch of $1 players. So Burrow, Gibbs, Bijan, Parker Washington, Quentin Johnston, Colston Loveland, Seahawks DSD.
29:02I mean, the only thing that is questionable at his receiver, right?
29:05Because quarterback's awesome. Right. And should be awesome. I like the way he did that, right?
29:10Like where he was able to get advantage to still a quarterback and tight end.
29:14Also, it's standard, and it's 12 teams, but it's only start two receivers and then running backs in a flex.
29:19So there's less starting position. I think this is the better league to try this in.
29:23I've only once seen this tried in my auction leagues.
29:26And I'll shout out Z for doing it. And it did not work out well.
29:30He took the two most expensive running backs and one got injured.
29:34So it's really a boomer bus strategy. One injury and you're done.
29:37Yeah, it could be tough. And although you're going to struggle, but it's so easy in that to do what you wouldn't
29:43want to do except do it the right way is handcuff.
29:46But now I'm like not. Oh, the Adam auction strategy.
29:49I think Brian Robinson Jr. is an obvious handcuff, but I don't know about Pacheco anymore.
29:53Yeah. The injury. I'm not saying. You kind of jinxed Pacheco for this season.
29:57It feels like you really did. But yes, you can.
30:00But let's just say it's not the top two guys.
30:02Right. Let's just say you want to take Taylor.
30:05I think that goes. He's kind of his whole point is only as he's doing.
30:09He feels there's such a tear break between those.
30:11Oh, definitely. I mean, look, if those guys hit to what they're capable of doing, even if they just replicate what they
30:17did a year ago, they're worth 70 percent of your budget.
30:20Right. Yeah. And the other thing is like, again, your draft isn't done on draft day.
30:25You're going to pick up important. That's his whole point in the email.
30:28Yeah. He says he's confident in his ability to play waiver wire.
30:32If he's one of those guys who believes the wire, I think it's a good strategy.
30:36If one of Washington or Johnston hit, if not both, he's going to run away with the league.
30:41Yeah. We'll get one more break in here and we'll finish up.
30:44We've got about 20, 30 minutes left in the show.
30:47We're good here. And actually, we still got to rehash the tennis a little bit.
30:51All right. That's fine. A little more. And we need a fantasy cop.
30:55So I want to try to replicate the music and do it myself.
30:58We have that coming up. We'll be right back on FFT.
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31:34Visit yearup.org to learn more. John from the Queen City.
31:37I am Queens Boulevard. Where am I from? Probably The Wire.
31:40No. I am Queens Boulevard. I don't know. What is it?
31:43Entourage. Did you watch Entourage? I couldn't stand it.
31:45What? What? How old were you when it came out?
31:48I was in high school. It was perfect for my time.
31:51Yeah, I was in high school. You were in high school?
31:54I think you were in middle school. You were in college, I think.
31:58No, I was in high school. One of the coolest things that ever happened for me with this job was I got
32:04asked to do the Jim Rome show. Okay. When Jim Rome was like at the peak of before he worked for CBS.
32:10So still like, you know, everybody listened to him on the radio.
32:13And it was Jerry Ferrara and Connolly were hosting the show.
32:16So Jerry Ferrara was like, he is a big fan.
32:19He had big sports guys. I'm sure you guys are New Yorkers well aware.
32:23And I'm sitting in our boss's office, Peter Madden at the time.
32:26Everybody was like, leave him alone. Peter was a huge, Madden was a huge Rome guy.
32:30Leave him alone. Don't anybody bother him. You go in my office, do this spot.
32:34And I'm like, yeah, hey guys, you want to do a league?
32:38Anybody want to do a league? Like every other question.
32:40I'm like, yeah, you know, if we do a league together.
32:44So like month goes by or so. And at this point I'm making calls to like every team.
32:48I used to call every team, like try to do an interview.
32:52Oh yeah. So I get a call from like a random California and I'm like, oh, I'm out to lunch somebody.
32:57I'm like, oh, it's probably a team call. Let me, excuse me for a second.
33:02I get up. It's, it's Jerry Ferrara. And he's like, Hey, yeah, I got a draft coming up.
33:07You know, I really liked the stuff you said.
33:09Um, can you give me like some, some tips?
33:11And then the whole year, I think maybe the year after, um, I was giving him like fancy advice.
33:17Then that I got engaged. All there was a championship.
33:19I got engaged in December. He's like, he's like, Hey, you got a second.
33:23I was like, Oh, I just proposed to my girlfriend.
33:26So do you have a second? Yeah. What would Vince do?
33:29Yeah. So, uh, Oh, what the heck? My work league has always been a 12 man PPR league.
33:34Oh yeah. Thank you. Thank you. I know the queen city.
33:37That's what it was. I think that's Cincinnati by the way.
33:40Okay. Uh, yeah. He wants to know how your draft strategy changes in a 16 team league.
33:45Does it push up tight end and quarterback? I mean, look, we talked about this a little bit on, on a CBS
33:51sports network, 12, four, 12 team, 14 team, 18 team league.
33:54It does give you a big advantage, but you're also losing pretty badly as some of the other spots.
33:59So you got to have a very strong conviction, that conviction that Brout Bauer is going to do this.
34:04McBride is going to do this. Love one's going to be in that range.
34:08Cause those are the three, right? I think, you know, especially now that Warren's hurt and LaPorta's hurt, like those guys are
34:14starting to become that middle that we get always in trouble with, especially you can see the path now.
34:19So I wouldn't reach for those guys, but I would consider taking the advantage that you might get with those three.
34:25But I'll throw this out, right? There's pretty much there's it's rare that you're going to go to the waiver wire and find a tight end.
34:32That's going to be awesome. Right. Because someone else got injured.
34:35Jake Tom just, I think one of the better examples.
34:38Mayor could be. But if you, if you, but running back is full of that, maybe it's for two weeks at a
34:44time or something while I got hurt. So, um, I don't really know where I'm going with that.
34:49I don't know what the strategy around that is, but my point is, if you know, you're going to need to do
34:55it on the waiver wire to win a 16 team league.
34:58Probably. Yeah. No matter what. Yeah. You can do it at running back.
35:01I don't think you can really do it at tight end.
35:04So maybe it is getting that elite. The only way to tight end is the route you went injury or it's the Dalton Schultz.
35:11You're the Juwan Johnson. You're, you know, the Hunter Henry, you know, guys that just get completely overlooked because whatever, we're all
35:17chasing the next big thing, but they don't end up being great.
35:20They end up being fine. Like remember how good Kenneth Gainwell was when Jalen Warren was out.
35:25But if everybody's on your team is doing what they're supposed to do and you just waited on tight end or you
35:31got these guys off waivers, you know, that's the.
35:33I certainly don't think it should push up quarterback though.
35:36The quarterback. So I agree. I would not be doing that.
35:39Don't chase it. Yeah. Okay. This is from MJ.
35:42Hey, Billy James, DRC and Jimmy. A little band from Chicago.
35:45Billy James, Darcy and Jimmy. Is it the band Chris Towers likes?
35:48What's that band name again? Wilco? Oh, maybe. This is a gasp because I know they're from Chicago.
35:53Wilco. This is Wilco. Did I get that right?
35:55Smashing pumpkins. Oh, I didn't know they were from Chicago.
35:58Was that a smashing? I almost knew a smashing pumpkin.
36:01It's gone. I'm you with a smile. There it is.
36:04I wanted to do that voice. That's really. I just wanted to do the voice.
36:08You got it. Every time I disarm my alarm and my house, like it says disarm.
36:12I'm like disarm. Our fantasy league is tight end premium.
36:15I put this in the notes just for you, Jamie.
36:18Okay. It's tight ends get 1.5 points per reception.
36:20Jamie's doing it. Just finished. Running backs and receivers are 1 point.
36:23How would this change your overall draft strategy? So, it's 1QB league?
36:27Yeah. Jamie's doing super flex, but this is 1QB.
36:29And 1QB, Brock Bowers and potentially Trey McBride are first round picks.
36:32I think obviously tight ends are going to score more points.
36:35But when you play in a league like this where any position gets boosted, what you need to do is look at
36:41the tight end position and see who gets a lot of catches.
36:45Yeah. Because there are some like Dallas Goddard's probably not going to get a ton of catches, but Kyle Pitts might.
36:50Whereas Kyle Pitts might not score a lot of touchdowns.
36:53You know. Right. He's going to, he's probably going to be, if everybody plays 17 games, it'll probably be top five in catches at the position.
37:00So, make sure you look at projections for catches for tight ends.
37:04Yes. And know who to bump up within the position.
37:06On that note, real quick, the guys I would bump up are Fannin, maybe held down by touchdowns in a bad Cleveland
37:12offense, maybe a focal point targets wise. Isaiah Likely, who's been pretty much just peppered with targets so far in Giants game, may not get enough touchdowns.
37:20Dalton Schultz. Dalton Schultz now with the injuries in Houston.
37:22Those are three that just stand out right away as guys in this format are going to be better.
37:28It's the touchdowns. And I feel like Loveland moves down in this format.
37:31Oh, I don't know. I'm not sure. I don't know what to expect.
37:35The targets could be there. Yeah. Okay. I don't know what to expect, man, in terms of targets.
37:40All right. Last email here. And then we'll go to a draft-a-thon question and then we'll fantasy cops it.
37:45Okay. This is a long one. And it is from Michael Hare.
37:48And he said, I think the subject line was, the FFT open or draft-a-thon inspired me.
37:53Okay. He said, my three-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called Rett syndrome.
37:57It affects most aspects of her life. And he sent the link if people want to read about it.
38:02And he said, her diagnosis came shortly before football season as I was gearing up for drafts.
38:07And hearing you guys talk about the FFT open and raising money for St.
38:11Jude hit a little different than it had in the past.
38:14My wife and I decided very quickly to get involved in fundraising and spreading awareness in any way we could.
38:19I felt like one of the few things we could do to help our daughter.
38:23I felt like it was one of the few things we could do to help our daughter.
38:28So I decided to try to put together my own small tournament with friends and family.
38:32I'm a bit of a fantasy degenerate, so I have a good amount of friends who play and such.
38:38I filled out 10 team leagues. Top two regular season finishers advanced to a playoff bracket that I hand-wrote and updated to social media and the league chats.
38:45We raised just over $800 in about three weeks of planning.
38:48Open entry fees so people can contribute as much or as little as they like.
38:52And keep it a set to my fellow special needs families as this life is expensive.
38:57This year we have a sponsorship for prizes through one of the pharmaceutical companies that's heavily involved in Rett syndrome.
39:02We're expanding to six leagues and hope to raise $1,500.
39:05So, Michael, a great use of fantasy football. Yeah, really awesome.
39:08Send me his email. We'll put him in there.
39:10Yeah, and I'm glad that we in any way inspire you what we do with Draftathon.
39:15But it really does show what you were able to do, you know, raise $800 in just three weeks with no planning.
39:21It shows how cool this community is and it shows how, like, people are willing to get involved.
39:26So I think you just continue to grow this and it's going to get bigger and bigger for you guys.
39:31It's also the human side of this for us because, like, we get emails like this from time to time.
39:37And I think it just puts things in perspective.
39:39Like, we're trying to raise money for something that hits home to so many people, you know.
39:44Right. And, you know, you and I have children, you know, you will one day.
39:48Like, it's one of those things where you feel blessed, you know, when you hear these stories that your kids are okay.
39:54Yeah. And then you're like, what can I do to help somebody that is struggling or needs it and why St.
40:00Jude is so important. You know, like Heath today, for example, he's in Memphis doing the draft with those guys.
40:05And, yeah, just get chills. And one thing Michael mentioned in his email was that when you have a special kid or
40:11anything like this, it's expensive for families. And that's one thing I didn't know about St.
40:16Jude until we started doing this. Their whole mission is to not just treat the kid, the patient, but to pay for everything for the families.
40:23That's great. To give them housing and pay for their transportation so that these families don't have to spend a dollar.
40:28So if you want, if you haven't donated yet and you'd like to, tinyurl.com slash FFTdonate2026.
40:33If you're listening to this on Saturday, you have until the end of the weekend to join an FFT Open League.
40:39We're going to close them after that. As we're speaking right now, I think we have about 35 spots left, which is amazing.
40:45So thank you for the generosity. But you can just donate whatever you want to if you don't want to be in any of the leagues.
40:52All right. We got a – we have one draft-a-thon question, and it is basically a Fantasy Cops question.
40:57So – Is it time? What was that? Not even close.
41:00That wasn't close? What? No. It was way closer.
41:03Thoughts? Who was closer? My ears are bleeding. My ears feel like your belly yesterday.
41:07No, nothing can be that bad. All right. This is from Jerry.
41:10Our league is the Spatula City Dynasty League. Spatula City!
41:13Amazing reference for a movie you'll never see. What?
41:15What was that? It's from a movie called UHF, which starred Weird Al Yankovic.
41:19Wow. We're in a very serious 12-team salary cap auction league.
41:22Good. Auctioned players can be contracted for up to four years.
41:25Each team has $110,000 to draft 15 players. After the draft, the cap rises to $125,000.
41:30So it's an additional 15. It's not an additional 125.
41:32And rosters open six additional spots for in-season free agents.
41:35Auction-acquired players have always been purposely hard to drop because we want draft night spending decisions to matter.
41:40We currently allow two salary cap relieving drops per season.
41:43One injured auction player you can drop and one auction player who just sucks.
41:47You can drop. In-season free agents, the ones you do after the 15-player auction, can be added and dropped freely.
41:52Last year, one manager got crushed by injuries. He used both drops.
41:55And then he got stuck with several injured auction players.
41:58He now wants unlimited auction player drops with full salary cap relief.
42:01The league voted strongly against it. My first instinct was to kick the nominating manager out of the league in honor of Heath.
42:08But apparently that wasn't considered serious. So here's my compromise.
42:10After the two free drops are used, you can still drop additional auction players, but their salary stays on your cap as
42:16dead money for the rest of the season. You get the roster spot back, but not the salary relief.
42:22I think that's a great idea. Like the NFL?
42:24Yeah. Do you think this is a fair solution?
42:27Or what would you do? Would you allow more drops?
42:29Again, it's 15 players that they do the auction for.
42:32Only two are allowed to be dropped with salary cap relief.
42:35Dan, what do you think? I'm just going to be honest.
42:38I don't like this format for a league. Fantasy is a game with a lot of injuries.
42:43You're really limiting the roster flexibility. You're limiting the people's chances of competing in the league.
42:47If they get an unlucky year of injuries, I understand that it's cool.
42:51It's like the NFL where if you have these injuries, you're kind of screwed.
42:55But I don't know if that fits our game.
42:57There are 21 roster spots, though. Sure. And six of them you can add, drop whoever you want.
43:02Okay, so first off. And how does a free agent's working?
43:05You're bidding cap money to pick them up? I think it's probably like fab.
43:09But I don't think so because each free agent costs a certain cap, an equal cap.
43:13I think that's the point of his compromise is to say, we'll give you the roster spots, but now you have to
43:19spend even less on these free agents. So you're basically taking yourself out of getting any of the priority free agents.
43:25You're just getting like the crappy guys nobody wants that are still sitting around.
43:29Okay, so first of all, you don't get to decide what their league is.
43:33I know. I've never said I did. You may not like it.
43:36I'm just getting my opinion. You didn't answer the question.
43:39What's the question? You went straight like, I appreciate it.
43:41I just don't like the restaurant. I think the fact that they all voted no to his proposal should not make you
43:47as the commissioner want to compromise to adhere to somebody's request.
43:50So there should be probably another vote. Hey, this was denied.
43:53This is my proposal now to make everybody made happy.
43:56That's voted yes. If it's voted no, then you just stay as is.
44:00Yeah. They like their league, man. Do they? It seems like this one guy doesn't like it at all because he went against the rules.
44:07No, he didn't go against the rules. He tried to change a rule which is perfectly acceptable.
44:11This guy. Yeah, he proposed a rule change. All right.
44:14Which is fine, but it got voted unanimously. Yeah, let me think of this wall here.
44:18You know what? I'm just going to tear down the whole house.
44:22This is a great wall. This is a cool background.
44:24I would never do a wall like this, actually.
44:27I hate to say it, but I just don't understand how you do it.
44:31It would be a wall like this. I just don't respect it, but it is what it is.
44:36All right. Here we go. Next fantasy copy. This one I respect even less.
44:39It's starting to get better. No. Mine was better.
44:42Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do,
44:48do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.
44:51It sounds like a video game. That's how our music sounds.
44:54And this next fantasy copy. It's not even close.
44:56Yeah, that's how it sounds. It's not even close.
44:59It's pretty good. Oh, my gosh. This next one.
45:01I mean, I keep seeing this, Jamie, and this is bothering me every time.
45:05Hi, some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and Heath.
45:08How many mailbags do I have to do before I get in?
45:11And beyond the box scores on Mondays do I have to do before I get in the main show?
45:16Do I have to do before I get in this?
45:19Another year. Another year? Someone said Dave's doing the GameCube opening sound.
45:22That was the fantasy cop sound. No, I, okay.
45:25I honestly think. Adams wasn't good either, by the way.
45:27According to Gamer Eric thinks that I nailed it, basically.
45:30Gamer Eric's always on your side. Gamer Eric also thinks that Dan hemmed his shirt sleeves to show off his biceps.
45:36No. That's another medium shirt, apparently. Oh, man. I love it.
45:39Okay. Where are we here? You want to read it?
45:42Sure. You can read it. Go ahead. I'm in a longtime fantasy football league at work, close to 15 years.
45:47The commissioner has been the same since day one.
45:50He's a longtime friend and a coworker. He has historically released a draft order anywhere from a few days to a week or two before the draft.
45:57A week ago, I asked him when he anticipated the draft order to be released this year, and he told me, and
46:03I quote, I'd be the last to know. And I guess that's you'd be the last to know.
46:08I thought he was joking. I only asked once.
46:10My buddy had independently asked him as well. We just found out today.
46:14And he sent the draft order to the entire league comprised of four 12-team leagues three days ago.
46:19But personally, through his own admission, left only me and my friend off the email as a joke.
46:24Please advise. So the guy asked, when are you going to send the draft order out?
46:28And he said, you'll be the last to know.
46:31And he literally meant that he made him the last to know.
46:34That's pretty messed up. It's funny. It's harmless fun, right?
46:37It's harmless fun. It doesn't impact your strategy. You still have at least a few days to plan your strategy out.
46:43So I'm fine with it. That's not good. I mean, that is what it is.
46:47Why did the hand moment come in? It's like a turntable.
46:50That wasn't a turntable. Yeah, kind of like that.
46:52Not really. You know, it just felt natural. It just came to me.
46:56All right, last one. Fantasy Facts from Joe. Been watching you guys since 2012.
46:59Still recall your funny stories regarding Cheapy's Pizza. Wow.
47:02And Adam's college stories with his SUV. So Adam has been here for a week, right?
47:06No. Less than a week. No. Half the week.
47:09This is day four. Day four. Three and a half.
47:12I got a video from one of our coworkers walking through the office, panning down, and there's Adam's wallet on the floor without Adam near it.
47:19Now, I don't know if the video was sent to me with like, hey, did you steal his wallet again?
47:24Like I used to back in the day. Those are fun times.
47:27You've really grown up a lot. I can't believe it.
47:30Oh, yeah, so much. No, I mean, like if you had found my wallet 10 years ago, I'd still be hidden.
47:36I mean, he's still watching you from 2012. And if you had found his wallet 10 years ago, it'd be the same exact wallet he has today.
47:43It is. He hasn't bought it. It's a Costanza wallet in the fullest terms of the Costanza wallet.
47:48It can't fold. And it's totally worn down the leather.
47:51I've got a lot of stuff out since we slipped.
47:54Okay. I think you felt a little shame you had to.
47:57What were you saying? Was that it? Is that I lost my wallet?
48:00Yeah. My wallet came back. Got it. Thank you, coworkers.
48:03So Joshin is from a city in California known as the Salad Bowl.
48:07Ah, the Pacific Northwest. I don't know. Salad Bowl, California city.
48:10Me either. We have a fantasy league going on over a decade.
48:13For years, I've been trying to make a case to get rid of kickers, but no one ever agrees.
48:18There's always that. There's one or two guys that know the league members more than me.
48:23So when they disagree, the majority tends to listen.
48:25Classic. Classic. This one's, you know, Fairbairn and Aubrey and those guys that I'm going to.
48:29Okay. This kicker is indoors or this coach has a tendency that he's not going to go on fourth down.
48:35And, you know, especially with what kickers are doing, 60 yard plus kicks at this point, that when they're on their side
48:41of the field, on the other side of the field, they're going to have an opportunity still to score.
48:46So there are people that love it. There are obviously people that hate the randomness of it.
48:51But probably Jake Seeley is the most famous for it at this point, you know, ban kickers and his big movement that he started years ago.
48:58So if you don't like kickers, put it to a vote and get rid of kickers.
49:02You're not going to miss them. I'll tell you that.
49:05I mean, yeah, I'm very anti-kicker. I'm looking right now in this league.
49:09I guess this is all available. I'm just trying to see the scoring.
49:12It's so flat. I think the biggest reason to not use kickers is that the scoring, the exception one or two randomly
49:18before the year, like no one could tell me last year that Jason Myers was going to be the number one scoring kicker, to be honest.
49:25They would have taken Aubrey number one. He, Aubrey's scoring advantage was 187 points.
49:29It's not that much different than the kicker 15 who had 134 points.
49:33That's a huge difference. That's 50 points. Over 17 games.
49:35That's a huge difference. I mean, I think if you looked at quarterback, you could say the same thing.
49:41You probably looked at running that. It's not as flat.
49:43I don't know that I agree with that. I haven't done the studies.
49:47Like I never look, I never do kicker research like preseason or anything.
49:50But I'm sure there's some strategy. I think that if you want to do kickers, I think it kind of makes sense to take away points for misses.
49:58If you get points for bonus, yes, you should take away points for misses because sometimes we see leagues where, you know,
50:04it used to be, oh, 50-yard kicks. These are crazy.
50:07How are they going to, you know, we got to reward these 50-yard kicks.
50:11Now with 60-yard kicks, you know, you're seeing certain bonuses for it.
50:14So I agree with you. If you're going to give rewards, you also should take away some.
50:19I think personally, I think defense special teams is pretty random and stupid as well.
50:23My leagues are all no kickers, no defense special teams.
50:26I don't really like that either. Yeah. I never miss it when we do a draft that doesn't have one of those positions.
50:32I just did my first draft with it. Yeah.
50:34With it. It shows how you do without it.
50:37Right. That's two picks. Yeah. But I said to him, it was like, this is an 18-round draft and it was round 13.
50:43First two defenses. No, the plus side of it is this.
50:46Like if you want it to be as competitive as possible, I like removing those positions.
50:50But a lot of people tell me like, I want to be watching Red Zone and my kicker's on the screen.
50:56Yeah. So I totally get that. There's another player to root for.
51:00Yeah. Well, that's it for our show. No, no, no.
51:02What are you talking about with regards to tennis?
51:05I mean, you were pretty animated last night afterwards.
51:07He was. I felt very disrespected. By what? By you twisting my words post-game.
51:11I wouldn't say I twisted your words post-game. I would say you, I would say the vibe you gave me.
51:17Don't twist my words. You completely misquoted me. I would say the vibe you gave me was that you felt like you
51:23had worn down and you knew your strategy for a game and that you were going to win the rest of the games.
51:29When I was up two to one in the second set and in all reality, I dominated the three.
51:34He just broke you though. But I dominated the three points that led to that break and I missed easy gimme's.
51:40Yeah. And I did that like seven times. You didn't dominate those points.
51:43You just missed gimme's. No, I dominated points and I missed gimme's.
51:47I said, you know. There was a lot of, really, the disrespect started when Jamie said after the first, like, Adam kind of outplayed you in that set.
51:54That was insane to hear. But that wasn't true.
51:57You thought you outplayed me in the first set?
51:59No, no, no. That's not what I said. I thought that's what you said.
52:03I said, toward the end of the first set.
52:06I thought you said from the first set. You can't say anything.
52:09You have to write it down. I said, toward the end of the first set.
52:13Toward the end of the first set when he got the two points.
52:17So I think if you were up four nothing or four one.
52:20No, it was three nothing, three one, four one, four two.
52:23So four one, right? Maybe three nothing. You started to play better.
52:26He played better. I just didn't think at any point.
52:29But that's when you started breathing heavy and sweating.
52:31I still think I played better. Burping all over the place.
52:34He's talking about his indigestity. He's taking the Tums.
52:37I was finally running him around the corner. I don't agree with this either from Frank in the chat.
52:42I shouldn't have been allowed to take the Tums.
52:44I knew this would come up on the show at some point.
52:48What's wrong with taking tongue? I don't think that's a supplement.
52:51My brother said a funny thing after he called it a PD, but he had a funny thing for the word P and E that now I forget.
52:58No, I mean, it's fine. I didn't necessarily think my strategy would end up working.
53:03I was curious. I thought there was a chance that it would have paid off.
53:07You ran down two lobs that were incredible. I know.
53:09He was amazing. But I do think that if you kept that up because of how it was unfolding for you.
53:15I wouldn't be able to run those. So Taft, who's on our social team, right?
53:19Yeah, I want to hear what he said. He was, oh my God, that was impressive.
53:24He was really impressed that you were able to go get that.
53:27Those were insane. And I'm just thinking, like, if you had continued to do that, there was actually a third one that you didn't get.
53:34Yeah. And you were like, oh, great shot. He stopped running on that one.
53:38Yes. He just gave up on that. It was probably a better loss.
53:41No, I misread the ball. I thought that ball was going out.
53:44It was a perfect shot by him. That was not a mis- You also did benefit from the weather because you weren't in the middle of the sun.
53:52Without a doubt, did I benefit from the weather?
53:55Because you were huffing and puffing. I'll be the first to tell you.
53:58Without a doubt, did I benefit. But Adam, I still think, Adam, there may have been some discussion pregame.
54:03And I'll never know if this is true or not between you, Adam, and David.
54:07No. Let's get him to this fat pizza place.
54:10No, no, no. Not at all. This was, like, thick.
54:13It really was. I knew the only. Because, like, obviously, Dan's better than either.
54:17There's no disputing. I really felt like if he was guessed in 93-degree weather and I was running him around the court,
54:23that there's no- I wasn't going to straight set up.
54:25Here's what I thought. I thought I could wear him down.
54:28Here's what I thought. I said this to Dave.
54:31You were going to lose the first set. Yeah.
54:33The fact that you got two games in the first set, I thought, was pretty miraculous for you.
54:38And I had a chance. I thought- It was your best first set ever against me.
54:43But the thing that you had to do was get him exhausted in the first set.
54:47Yeah, and I didn't. And you didn't do it enough.
54:50Not quite. You didn't do it enough. Because it wasn't hot enough.
54:53It was actually, like, kind of a nice night.
54:55It was humid. It was humid. It was humid.
54:58I was so- Then you had the Tums break.
55:00The Tums break. Then you had us go on and play.
55:03And that gave him a chance to sit down and relax a little bit.
55:07Wasn't that the same time, though? Yeah. When they were playing, yeah.
55:11But that was a long break when you- There was a long break.
55:14And then I had two of my best games, I thought, to start the second set.
55:18I was finally hitting the ball out. The shots you missed in the third game of the second set, the last game we played, were easy shots.
55:26You had no business- I know. I know. No, that's not a legs thing.
55:30That's me not playing enough tennis and playing bad tennis.
55:32I mean, that's the same thing. You're not- I would miss those shots in the first set, I'm saying.
55:38But fresh in games one, too. I'm not making those shots anymore.
55:41But you were starting to get free through your racket.
55:44You got frustrated. No, that I was just mad at how bad I was playing.
55:48I did- I'm so mad I threw my racket.
55:50Frustration is frustration. The throw I don't mind as much as I did at last.
55:54I also felt- You never slam. You got to release it.
55:57If you're going to throw the racket, you got to release it.
56:01I did it. I slammed into the ground. You both slammed rackets.
56:04Well, he always does. I usually don't. I never do it.
56:07I'm just so disappointed. Some of these easy balls.
56:09I had the whole freaking court open. You can attest to this.
56:13The overheads were really tough. They were tough because the lighting made it tough.
56:17At the beginning of the match, we took a few before, and I couldn't see- Not that one of us could get it, yeah.
56:23And the balls weren't that bright to begin with.
56:26And the clay on the- It was wet clay.
56:28I mean, the clay was soaking wet. When Taff, when we started, the match was like, Taff, we're really playing on this.
56:34I'm like, is this good? He's like, it's not good, but it's- Good enough.
56:38You can play. And you notice that. I mean, Adam slipped on a point which I wanted you to do over.
56:44You wouldn't take it. And I was worried that one of us was going to get injured in the back left.
56:49I know. And the ball was slowed down by the wet clay, which I actually think helps you.
56:54I think if we get to play this challenge on hard courts one year, I'm going to be in a much better position.
57:01That's personally what I think about this. Yeah. What were you laughing?
57:04I didn't hear you laughing at all, but then I was watching it back a little bit.
57:09You guys, I feel like you were cracking up.
57:11Dave's joke. Not just, I feel like it were a bunch of jokes.
57:15Oh, well, I mean, you know me. When I get giddy, I laugh.
57:18How did I not hear that? Some of the stuff in the chat was hysterical.
57:22The chat's great. I'm trying to think. Dave's joke was great.
57:25So for those who didn't hear it, Dan is just breathing so heavy.
57:29I'm like, man, he's just huffing and puffing. I don't know if this is going to last.
57:34And he goes, yeah, it's a good thing that three little pigs run around.
57:37Yeah. I had never in my life experienced anything like that last night from indigestion standpoint.
57:42You just started burping nonstop. It was like involuntary.
57:44And I know it was mic'd up, so I didn't want to do it.
57:48I heard it on the court. It was in cross.
57:51I know, dude. It was crazy. I don't know what it was about.
57:54And I won't reference the restaurant again. Adam's favorite childhood restaurant.
57:57One that Jamie, I, myself, and Dave, none of us enjoyed but Adam.
58:01And I know Adam thinks I enjoyed it. It's fine.
58:04He had a salad. You can't mess up a salad.
58:06You need to know the truth. During the entire meal, Dan said.
58:10Not the entire meal. I had one comment. The first slice of mushroom was okay for Florida pizza.
58:15Who do you believe? The entire meal, Dan was complimenting the restaurant.
58:18Dave gets in his head because Dave hates that place.
58:21And Dan completely changed his tune. Completely. Guys, let me ask you, ladies and gentlemen listening in, let me ask you a question.
58:27I never know how to do it because I don't want to say guys anymore.
58:31You can't say it. But people listening to our show, human beings of the world.
58:35If a restaurant gives you horrific digestion, the worst you've ever had in your life by far, is that impacted in your evaluation of a restaurant?
58:42It should be. The food isn't just about how it goes down.
58:46It's how it settles as well. You know what the X variable is?
58:49Remember we learned about this stuff in chemistry or whatever and experiments?
58:52You got two people here who had the same exact food.
58:55No, you didn't. Dave didn't even eat his food.
58:58It was so bad. Forget about me and you.
59:00Me and you. We both had garlic rolls, mushroom pizza, chicken parm pizza.
59:04I was fine. You were burping and farting the whole night.
59:07Not farting. The X variable is something else that you ate.
59:10I threw up in my mouth twice during the match.
59:13We had big donations of people to pute all over the court.
59:16I didn't know where to go. And Dave is a nice place.
59:19I really didn't want to do that. That would have been terrible.
59:23All right. We got to go. Thanks so much for watching and listening.
59:26Have a great weekend. Last chance to get in the FFT Open.
59:29TinyURL.com slash FFTDonate2026. We'll talk to you Monday on Fantasy Football Today.
59:33Podcasts.
