PodcastFrom Fantasy Focus Football

Plant My Flag Fantasy Stars We Are All‑In On | Fantasy Focus 🏈

STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.

1 hr 9 min

Duration

Estimated from transcript

Sep 1, 2026

Published

Tue, September 1, 2026

Player insights

Players mentioned

Topics

Colston LovelandJustin HerbertTyler WarrenBo NixChase BrownChristian McCaffreyDerrick HenryGarrett WilsonJadarian PriceJalen McMillanJames ConnerJames CookJeremiyah LoveJonathan Taylor

Player analysis

Player insights

Bo Nix

PositiveValue57:41

Bo Nix is a strong value pick in the 10th round or later; despite poor passing efficiency (6.5 yards per attempt), he offers a high floor due to consistent playing time and rushing volume. The addition of Jalen Waddell and the influence of new play-caller Davis Webb are expected to elevate his ceiling.

Insight page

Chase Brown

PositiveBreakout29:43

Chase Brown is a high-upside RB1 option who averaged 21.2 fantasy points per game from Week 8 on last year. He is an elite pass-catcher in a top-five scoring offense and is ranked as the RB6, ahead of Christian McCaffrey by the speaker.

Insight page

Christian McCaffrey

NegativeProjection60:30

Analysts are divided on Christian McCaffrey. While he remains a top-three overall pick due to his unique usage in Kyle Shanahan's offense, there is significant concern regarding his age (30) and the historical precedent that running backs with 450+ touches in a season rarely maintain elite production the following year.

Insight page

Colston Loveland

PositiveValue57:12

Colston Loveland is viewed as part of a top-tier group of tight ends alongside Tyler Warren, with analysts noting he is often drafted in the same ADP range.

Insight page

PositiveBreakout84:02

Colston Loveland is a high-upside tight end who finished last season strong, leading the team in targets in each of the final four games. He is viewed as a potential superstar talent who could challenge the top-tier tight ends for elite production.

Insight page

Derrick Henry

PositiveValue27:43

Derrick Henry is a fringe first-round pick who is being undervalued due to age concerns. He is projected for 1,505 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns, and remains a strong bet to lead the NFL in rushing yards.

Insight page

Garrett Wilson

PositiveBreakout72:05

Garrett Wilson is a prime breakout candidate due to a quarterback upgrade and a discount in drafts. Despite poor efficiency and quarterback play in previous seasons, he showed elite target share (one-third of targets) and production (14+ fantasy points per game) early last year before injury.

Insight page

Jadarian Price

PositiveSleeper34:04

Jadarian Price is a recommended RB2B target due to his low cost and the expectation that Zach Charbonnet may take time to return to full performance.

Insight page

Jalen McMillan

PositiveSleeper58:58

Jalen McMillan is a free draft option with significant upside in a Baker Mayfield-led offense. Despite health concerns last year, he showed flashes of high-end production, including multiple games with 17+ fantasy points and a strong week 17 performance (7 catches, 114 yards).

Insight page

James Conner

NegativeInjury33:06

James Conner is on IR and will miss the first four games of the season.

Insight page

James Cook

NegativeValue67:09

James Cook is ranked as an RB3 by Daniel Dopp, though he is viewed as a regression candidate for touchdowns and lacks the same passing game involvement or overall RB1 upside as other top-tier backs.

Insight page

Jeremiyah Love

PositiveProjection22:58

Jeremiah Love is a high-priority target based on the historical trend that all of the last nine running backs drafted in the top 12 of the NFL draft finished as top-12 fantasy scorers in their rookie season. Despite a 50-50 injury report, the expectation is he will be the engine of the Arizona offense.

Insight page

Jonathan Taylor

PositiveValue67:12

Jonathan Taylor is ranked as an RB4 by Daniel Dopp, who notes he could potentially be considered over Christian McCaffrey as an RB3 due to his legitimate RB1 overall upside.

Insight page

Justin Herbert

PositiveValue18:38

The speaker is all-in on Justin Herbert for fantasy purposes, noting they have already drafted him in their dynasty league.

Insight page

PositiveProjection23:24

Field Yates is all-in on Justin Herbert as his QB6, projecting a significant step forward under the new Chargers coaching staff. Yates believes the shift away from the previous 'defensive, grinded out' system to a more explosive offense will unlock Herbert's potential as an MVP candidate and elite fantasy producer. While Mike Clay is more apprehensive due to the depth of the QB8-QB15 tier, Yates maintains that Herbert's dual-threat ability and new scheme make him a high-upside target.

Insight page

Ladd McConkey

PositiveUsage78:33

Ladd McConkey is a high-upside target in the Chargers' offense, with his ADP potentially suppressed by last year's efficiency struggles. He saw significant usage in routes and end-zone targets (7th among TEs last year), and if efficiency improves under the new offensive scheme, he could emerge as the team's primary pass-catching option.

Insight page

Malik Nabers

NegativeInjury6:53

Malik Nabers is noncommittal about his Week 1 status, though the analysts believe this is likely gamesmanship to keep the Cowboys guessing. Even if he misses Week 1, he remains a solid third-round pick with a high ceiling, potentially a top-7 or 8 wide receiver when healthy.

Insight page

Tyler Warren

PositiveValue57:04

The analysts collectively love Tyler Warren, viewing him as the end of a top-tier group of tight ends alongside Colston Loveland; he is consistently packaged in the same ADP range.

Insight page

PositiveUsage88:42

Tyler Warren is a target-heavy tight end who should lead his team in receptions and targets. He demonstrated high-end production when paired with consistent quarterback play, finishing last season as a top-five tight end in targets and end-zone targets.

Insight page

Full transcript

Episode Transcript

1,008

0:00It's Saturday, the tailgate crew is on the way.

0:02You've got the cooler iced, comfortable seating, and oof, where's the charcoal for the grill?

0:07No worries. That's when Express Delivery from the Home Depot can help.

0:10Order in the app or online, get what you need delivered fast, and track it along the way so you can get set up in time for kickoff.

0:17Get what you need even faster with Express Delivery from the Home Depot.

0:21Subject to availability, restrictions and fees apply. What's good friends?

0:24Welcome into Fantasy Focus Football. It's a Tuesday. September 1st.

0:26Wow. Rabbit? Rabbit? Rabbit. We have turned the page onto a new month alongside Mike Clay and Field Yates.

0:32My name is Daniel Dopp here to be able to have a little bit of fun with you talking about some football.

0:38Fantasy football, in fact. We're diving into our favorite players.

0:40Favorite players we want to talk about in Fantasy Football.

0:43We let this a little open-ended as a part of it, but some guys we want to plant our flags on either

0:49because there's a really important conversation, we want to have around them, or because we just can't stop drafting them in drafts.

0:55But most importantly, how are you guys doing today?

0:57We're doing great. I'm doing great, I should say.

1:00Mike, how are you? I'm doing good, too. I see that you got your football.

1:04You graduated. Yeah, it's about time. Football. One at a time, we slowly added them.

1:08Finally remembered it, yes. Yes. We had a long, we're going to dive into, we're calling them my guys, plant your flag players.

1:14Daniel said, players, we just can't stop drafting our favorites.

1:17However you want to tag them is fine. Yes.

1:19We had a long conversation, not just amongst us, but the entire great show staff that we have about, do we go

1:25back and hit some of the players that if you're a daily listener, viewer, chat member, you may know which direction we're going to go?

1:32Or do we go off the beaten path and not have as much conviction on players?

1:36Because if they're truly your guys, we would have been talking about them ad nauseum for the past four weeks that we have been on the show.

1:44If you've been here hanging out for a while, you're going to be able to probably guess some of our answers, but

1:50we are now in the peak of draft season.

1:52I've got a draft basically every night this week.

1:55I've got a couple more just before the season kicks off, but we're eight days away from kickoff.

2:00It is crunch time. This is our best of the best.

2:03We're going to sell these plant our flag guys hard.

2:05I love that. All right. Before we get into this, shout out to our guy, Eric Moody.

2:10Follow him in the chat and on social media at Eric and Moody.

2:13And we got a punishment wheel selection for yesterday.

2:16Fields Bucky suit is what won. What is this now?

2:19So when we have the starts of the week punishments, Mike, have you ever been on the show before?

2:24What is the Bucky suit? Oh, okay. Were you the one that was unfamiliar with Bucky's?

2:28Maybe. Oh, yes. Remember. What's the suit? What's the suit?

2:31The suit is, you know, Bucky's has a logo.

2:33Yeah. It's not a logo. Excuse me. A mascot.

2:36Yes. I have a full body Bucky's mascot suit.

2:38Okay. Yes. Love that. It actually is incredibly comfortable.

2:41Okay. Okay. All right. Fields just wears it at home sometimes.

2:44Sounds better than the sour, whatever, the sour thing.

2:46Oh, that's so, what a great lead in. So before you go any farther, Mike, let's talk about what today's punishments are

2:52going to be on the poll that we're going to have today.

2:55Oh. In my ear, I have our producers telling me one more time what they are, which is either fantasy face paint for an entire show.

3:02Oh, I kind of like that. Okay. Bean Boozled, which is flavored jelly beans and you do not know what the flavor is going to be.

3:09Maybe sour, maybe something you don't like. Yeah, like popcorn or root beer.

3:13And doing a beer mile. That sounds like a beer mile.

3:16Win, right? Yes. All right. So those are the three things we are going to, yes, potentially here at work.

3:21And so we're going to figure it out, guys.

3:24We're going to figure it out. Dive into our chat here on YouTube.

3:27This is one of the reasons why you should, if you can, watch the show live, hang out with our YouTube people.

3:33It is a great community. Yes, Mike Clay, go ahead.

3:36I do Sauvignon Blanc instead of beer. Oh my.

3:39Of course. Of course. Just wine? We're already doing caveats here.

3:42When was the last time you drank a beer, do you think?

3:45A long time ago. No, no, no. I probably had one.

3:48Miller Lite Mike had a few. I remember some bowling days where Miller Lite Mike would.

3:52But that was a few years ago. It was a couple of years ago.

3:56We won the championship. Yes, exactly. You kind of retired at that point.

3:59How about you? It's been a minute. Yeah. It's been about 15 hours for me.

4:04At least I'm holding up on my end of the bargain for our show here.

4:08All right. Let's dive into some news here really quickly before we get into our Plant My Flag guys.

4:13We had a little bit of news on Malik Nabors.

4:15He came out and said, and I quote, and we're going to throw up a tweet here that our own friend and colleague Jordan Ronan had.

4:23Was a little bit noncommittal about being able to start week one.

4:26We've been waiting to be able to see what's going to happen.

4:29Jordan's tweet, Malik Nabors feels, quote, real good, but still will not commit for week one.

4:33Is this giving you guys any pause on Malik Nabors?

4:36Or is this already kind of baked in with where he's going right now as a part of his ADP?

4:42Yeah. Is this legitimate or gamesmanship? That's, we had the conversation prior to the show.

4:46Is that, you know, first day back in training camp, everybody's pumped up to be there.

4:50Your guard's been let down as a coaching staff.

4:52Staff, you haven't forgotten who you're playing in week one, but we're a long ways away from week one.

4:58Hey Malik, you want to go out there and express excitement and enthusiasm and install some optimism into the fan base?

5:03Go for it. Say whatever you want. I'm ready to rock and roll.

5:07Now we're past the roster cut down. By Tuesday of next week, Monday of next week, we will be into preparation for week one.

5:13I think the Giants have probably messaged to their players.

5:16Listen, week one's close enough. At this point of the season, or this point of the preseason, we don't need to give the Cowboys any more information.

5:23All right, there's going to be an injury report next week.

5:26That will be both public information and information that the Cowboys will have.

5:30But for now, button things up. Be noncommittal. Be obscure.

5:33Be opaque. And let the Cowboys have to prepare for the possibility of both you playing and you not playing.

5:38But your original question is, is that already baked into where he's being drafted?

5:42I would say yes. I mean, he's going somewhere between 25 and 35 in a lot of the drafts that I see.

5:48Yep. So I would say yes. Like, even if Malik Nabors doesn't play week one, I'm still comfortable with him as my third round pick.

5:55The idea is Malik Nabors, when he gets rolling, might be a top seven or eight wide receiver for the whole season.

6:01Agreed. And first of all, in terms of gamesmanship, low key, a big game here.

6:05Like, I think if I were to make a short list of sleeper NFL teams this year, Cowboys are the headliner for sure.

6:11I think the Cowboys are going to be good this year.

6:14Giants not far behind. Like, if that front seven comes together and secondary could hold it down, just all the talent up front, obviously there.

6:21And then the offensive times last year, you know, without Nabors, frankly, or without Scadaboo, a lot of like, it looked good at times.

6:27So if it comes together with Darnie or two, this could be a sneaky team.

6:31So low key, a big game. And also, to your point, someone just asked me on social, good timing, where would Nabors

6:37be ranked if he was fully healthy? And I think it's maybe seven?

6:41Amongst wide receivers. Yeah, wide receiver, right. Chase Nakua, JSN, Monra, Lamb.

6:44And then your Jefferson with, you might be like, I don't know, with Kyler.

6:48Nabors, like, is in that tier, frankly, like when he's healthy.

6:51So he'd be in that conversation, maybe ahead of like London and Rice and Nico, those kind of guys, A.J.

6:56Brown. So I am as well. It goes by defending Nico Collins again.

7:00I will. I will. I will take that one to the end of the season.

7:04So we'll see. But yeah, I think that's Ray B.

7:07So we are still discounting him a little bit for a potential slow start, not to mention all of the changes.

7:12There's so many new things. He isn't playing with Dart.

7:15It's a new head coach. It's a new play call.

7:18Was it three snaps with Jackson Dart or three passing events?

7:21Three targets. Three targets. Three something. Three something. So still a high ceiling, but obviously some risk, and that's baked into our ranking.

7:27Definitely. All right, then let's move ahead and talk about the guys that we are planting our flags on.

7:32Mike, I'm going to start with you. You just mentioned Jackson Dart.

7:36He actually did pretty well without Malik Nabors last year.

7:38Yeah, this could be, I could like plant a flag or throw a dart at mine.

7:43See what it is there? You know what? I don't know about that one.

7:46Not the best in the biz for no reason.

7:49Yeah, that's right. I like that. That's pretty good.

7:51Do you like it? I'm kind of mad I didn't have a flag or something.

7:55We should have brought flags. We should have brought it.

7:58Yeah, I'm planning my, no surprise here if you've been watching the last month.

8:02What's that? We could probably find one right now.

8:04We could. But there's some flags around here. Planting my flag on Jackson Dart.

8:08He's my guy this year, my favorite target. He's the guy who we all, I think the best way maybe to figure

8:14these out is you're on the clock. You're waiting for it to be you.

8:18And then someone takes that guy in your, you gotta be kidding me.

8:21That's my guy. Jackson Dart's my guy at quarterback.

8:24I want him as often as I can get him.

8:27I've talked about this stack quite a bit. Eight top 10 fantasy weeks last season in just 12 games.

8:32That was fifth most among quarterbacks last season. And again, he did not have near the supporting cast that he's set up

8:38with right now, including of course, Malik Nabors. Isaiah likely has been his most targeted player this offseason by far.

8:43That's going to be a huge upgrade for him.

8:46Even someone like Darnell Mooney, who they brought in as kind of a depth receiver.

8:50He's not even probably going to start for them.

8:52So there's a lot of support for him this year.

8:55This is a guy that was top five across the board in all rushing categories, despite missing so much action last year,

9:01including carries inside the five, which should generate a bunch of touchdowns.

9:04It did so last season. I talked about the changes in coaching.

9:07That should be an upgrade. You know, say what you want about Matt Nagy, but John Harbaugh's leadership was so, you know, so amazing in Baltimore.

9:14I mean, they were a contending team every single year, and we obviously saw what they did with Lamar Jackson.

9:20By the way, one nugget. This I actually don't think I've mentioned when talking about Dart, which is another feather in his

9:26cap, which is they have the fifth easiest projected schedule for quarterbacks this season.

9:30So, so much to love about Jackson Dart. He's seven on my board, could be as high as six, and he's available, fellas.

9:36In the eighth round of fantasy drafts, he's my guy.

9:39He was almost, at one point this offseason, he was the quarterback that I was prepared to plant my flag on before

9:45I pivoted to a different quarterback that I'll reveal in a moment.

9:48We'll tell you in a moment. But a couple of things that I think helped the case that Mike has covered, but

9:54also to take it a step further, is there seems to be some schools of thought from some people that Jackson Dart

10:00is just a running quarterback and not a prolific enough passer that if the Giants cut back on his rushing to protect

10:06him, this is the player who famously was tested for what, four concussions last year, that he's not cut out to be

10:12a somewhat running quarterback, but a prolific pocket passer.

10:14I disagree with that, and I point to maybe it's too small of a sample size, but I will never forget the

10:20way that Jackson Dart carved up the Denver Broncos last year in Denver.

10:24The Giants lost that game because they found a way to lose a lot of games last year.

10:29Jackson Dart was amazing in that game, and he was not playing with Malik Nabors.

10:33He was throwing to Wondale Robinson as his top target last year.

10:36I think he's a good enough pocket passer that even if the rushing is reduced, he can still be a prolific fantasy scorer.

10:42But I still think that John Harbaugh was the single best coach that could have been hired to keep Jackson Dart as a running quarterback.

10:49He just led Lamar Jackson as his head coach for the first, what was Lamar, 2019?

10:53First seven years of Lamar's career, maybe 2018, whatever.

10:56Seven or eight years of Lamar's career, the quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens, coached by John Harbaugh, and he, of course, let Lamar loose.

11:02Now, Lamar is a better runner than Jackson Dart and has not been tested as frequently for a concussion as Jackson Dart

11:08has been in his very short career. But I think that John Harbaugh helps the running cause for Jackson Dart.

11:14If you draft Jackson Dart, given the potential injury history that you talked about already this preseason, unfortunately found his way into

11:20the blue medical tent, would you definitely be drafting a second quarterback?

11:23Or are you not worried about rostering a second one because of how many you think would be available on waivers?

11:29I would never say definitely, but I am generally not, especially as someone that's waiting a quarterback anyway.

11:34Even if I miss on Dart, I'll take a second one this year because they're so cheap.

11:38You don't have to pay up to get a potential top seven or eight quarterback this year.

11:43You can take Purdy or Knicks in the double-digit rounds quite often.

11:46So we're at the point of the summer where not only are a lot of people, I'm sure friends are reaching out

11:52to you saying, hey, I've got the seventh pick.

11:55What would you do tonight in your draft? Oh, yeah.

11:57But on top of that, once their drafts are over, they send you a screenshot of the roster and say, hey, how did I do?

12:04What do you think? We, in our community here at ESPN Fantasy, talk about patience at quarterback.

12:09And if you draft Josh Allen, you don't bother with the second quarterback.

12:12If you draft Lamar Jackson, you don't bother with the second quarterback.

12:15I am convinced more and more that one of the leading things that takes place in leagues outside of our small bubble

12:21that we live in is quarterbacks go earlier than we expect them to, and people take two quarterbacks more often than we expect them to.

12:28I was with a friend of mine whose son, and he's going to be in fourth or fifth, he's in fourth or

12:34fifth grade, he's nine years old, was doing his draft.

12:37And I get it. Like, you know, it's very much introduction to fantasy football.

12:41But we got to the fourth round, and there had been 15 quarterbacks taken already.

12:45And this was a single quarterback league, right? But like, I think, you know, there's probably a lot of people that think two quarterbacks is necessary.

12:52They look at the bye week, and they go, I don't want to have some scrap heap quarterback when Josh Allen is out for a week.

12:59So in an ESPN Fantasy Experts league, I probably am not drafting a second quarterback behind Jackson Dart.

13:04In most other leagues, I'm probably feeling the pressure to do so because I think quarterbacks are going to fly up.

13:10It actually might dry up more than we expect, because in home leagues, the waiver wire at quarterback is actually thinner than

13:16what I would think it would be. And you're going to have some...

13:19By the way, I was just going to say, don't...

13:22When I hear that, I think, I want to be in that league.

13:25Like, that's great. Don't let that pressure you. Oh, Mike wants to be in a league with a bunch of nine-year-olds.

13:31No, but don't... Surprise, surprise. No, but my point is, like, don't allow that sort of thing to pressure you to reach on a quarterback.

13:38Just take advantage. You're going to get some great skill guys, and you're still going to end up at a point where

13:44you're like, I still got Kyler Murray or something.

13:46Like, I'm fine. I'm absolutely loaded. Right? There is a line.

13:49Yeah. A literal Mendoza line? No, no, no. That's too low.

13:52You keep waiting, and all of a sudden, you're like, you're walking away, and Sam Darnold is your starting quarterback.

13:58He's a Super Bowl-winning QB. He's awesome in real life, but for fantasy, not a starter we are pumped about.

14:03All right. My quarterback, no surprise here, Justin Herbert.

14:06He took over from Jackson Dart as my guy during the offseason.

14:09Mike has a dart as quarterback seven, which is in line with where Daniel and I are at.

14:14But I am at quarterback six for Justin Herbert, and part of the reason why is that Jim Harbaugh says he is locked, cocked, and ready to rock.

14:21Do you get fantasy points for that? Yes, you do, Mike.

14:24Trying to figure out which of these Herbert categories you get points for.

14:28Two points for each one. He got married in the offseason.

14:31That's a point, right? Oh, he got engaged, Mike.

14:33Get with the times here. Oh, you got two points for getting locked, two points for getting locked.

14:38You can't enjoy this quote from Jim Harbaugh. He's a national treasure.

14:41He's locked, cocked, and ready to rock. Yes. Are you kidding me?

14:45Like, an NFL head coach is saying this. It's amazing.

14:47I am more optimistic on Justin Herbert than Mike, and a little bit more.

14:51Daniel's got him as quarterback nine. So you're sort of in between Mike and I, right?

14:56It is like all the tools are there for Justin Herbert to be a great fantasy quarterback.

15:00What I mean by that is obviously talented enough as a thrower to be a very, very prolific passer.

15:05Yep. And then on top of that, he's a runner, right?

15:08He is an excellent athlete for a guy of his size, right?

15:12He's not Lamar Jackson. He's not Josh Allen, but this is a more than capable runner who has 500-yard rushing upside in his bag.

15:18You pair that with what should be amongst the most prolific passing offenses in the NFL.

15:22I am projecting a big step forward here for Justin Herbert.

15:25Thank you, Mike McDaniel. If things go as planned, at least in my eyes this upcoming season, Mike McDaniel is not only

15:31going to be the fantasy coach of the year, he might be a head coach in the NFL a year from right

15:37now because the Chargers, I think, are going to be really good, even in a very competitive AFC West and a very competitive AFC conference.

15:44I think Justin Herbert, though, has a chance to be in the MVP conversation for real life.

15:49That should translate to massive fantasy numbers as well.

15:51I know Mike is more apprehensive because of his past.

15:54It's, it's, we don't talk as maybe, I mean, I guess we do.

15:58We talk about systems somewhat in fantasy football, but not enough.

16:01Like he was playing in a, I'm trying to think of like, back in the day when Daniel's Pistons are winning the

16:07NBA title, they're winning games like 92 to 87.

16:09Yes. People did not like watching them because it wasn't as much fun of basketball.

16:13It was defensive, grinded out basketball. Now defensive, grinded out basketball games are like 111 to 109, right?

16:18Yeah. You got basketball games that are, you know, 144 to 142.

16:21Justin Herbert was playing 90, he was playing Detroit Pistons basketball over the past, whatever, four or five seasons in that Greg Roman system.

16:28I like it. Now he's ready to play Steve Nash, seven seconds or less.

16:32Let it rip. Let's score. Yeah, baby. No notes for me, Mike.

16:35Yeah, that's fair. I just want to point out something, which is, I've talked about this a lot, but QB eight to QB 15 on my board, right?

16:42Here are the projected fantasy points for these guys.

16:45Okay. 289, 286, 296, 292, 293, 282, 283, 291.

16:47So everyone's basically 10 points. That tier is so massive.

16:50And the other reason I've been... And then Herbert's at like 350,000?

16:53No, he's at 283. So they're all so close.

16:56So I could easily put him QB eight and he'd be leading that tier instead of near the bottom.

17:01The reason I've been out on him is because he's one of the most expensive quarterbacks in that tier.

17:06So I'm just happy once I get past those top seven, which includes Burrow and Dart toward the end of that top seven tier.

17:13I'm just going to sit and wait. And whoever's left, if Herbert happens to be the guy that falls, I'm fine to take him.

17:19It's just, I'm not going to reach on anyone in that tier.

17:22I'm not going to do it. There's no reason to.

17:25They're so close. And in those rounds, let's say seven to 10, there's just so many other skill guys, especially a wide receiver.

17:31I'm just not going to say, eh, I'll take the Trevor Lawrence at the top of the tier and just miss out on a good receiver.

17:38I'm not going to do that. So that's the only reason that I'm kind of out on Herbert.

17:43I love you. And for those reasons? It sounds like you were bullied into taking a quarterback earlier on in your life.

17:49And you're like, I'm just not going to do it anymore.

17:52I'm an adult. You guys don't have to make me do it.

17:56I'm not going to do it. You can't tell me.

17:58You can't make me do it. I don't know what emotions I'm going to be feeling the week that Mike is playing me in the fantasy focus league.

18:06And if I beat Mike, I knock him out of the playoffs and he has Justin Herbert as his quarterback.

18:11Oh, it's going to be angel and devil. Oh, and dynasty?

18:14No, I do have him in our dynasty. Oh yeah, that's right.

18:18We've already drafted fantasy focus. The point is, I'm in on Justin Herbert.

18:21Daniel, you go. I'm giving you guys a deeper league name.

18:24Buck in the trend. I sure am. Because listen, we talk about waiting on quarterback.

18:28You talked about it because it was one of the things I was going to talk about here.

18:33I'm drafting more two quarterback leagues than I ever have.

18:36Even in a single quarterback league, I'm drafting two quarterbacks.

18:38And one of my favorite second quarterbacks to draft is Tyler Shuck.

18:42In part because he's free. There are very few people that I can go into a draft and be like, I can

18:48guarantee you I can leave a draft with that guy.

18:50Yes, FieldJ. There are very few things in life remaining that are free.

18:54That's true. That's true. That's true. Going to the library.

18:57Free. But it's as long as you return your books on time.

19:00True. Yes. Because then when you don't, it's not.

19:02That's a good point. You know what I mean?

19:05Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk about Tyler Shuck though. Yeah.

19:07Didn't start as a rookie. That entire, like, basically he only played from week 13 on.

19:12And as soon as he got the jump, at least 17 fantasy points in every single game.

19:16QB six and points per game from week 13 on had at least 21 fantasy points in three of those games.

19:22I know it was a friendly schedule, but I saw what he was able to do not only with his arm, but with his legs.

19:29He was top 12 at the quarterback position and rushing yards per game.

19:32I think there's more to unlock in that category.

19:35If you told me he was top 10, top eight, maybe top seven, like he's a little mini Bo Nix in my mind.

19:41And Fields, you've kind of talked a little bit about this Callen Moore offense, how quickly they're going to move the pace

19:47of play that these saints play at and how much Tyler Shuck could either be out there slinging it because the team

19:53is trying to keep up with other teams that they're playing with.

19:56I do think that they're going to be at least in contention for the NFC South.

20:01But this is a situation where the offense I think is going to take another step.

20:05Jordan Tyson put a little bit of cold water on that with him getting hurt, but they obviously wanted to add more weapons to this offense.

20:12And with where Tyler Shuck is at, he's just free in drafts.

20:15He's not a guy that I feel like I need to go out and spend a bunch of money on.

20:21He's my favorite QB two that I think has a chance to go from being like a mid-tier QB two to jumping

20:27into if things go right with his skillset and what this offense could potentially become this year, a low end QB one,

20:33maybe not fully Jackson Dart like he was last year, but someone that, you know, could fall into that QB eight, QB 10 range.

20:39If things go right as the season progresses. I would say this.

20:42So the positives and I'll just give like one potential piece of hesitation, but a lot of positives here is Mike often

20:48talks about the year one to year two leap.

20:51Yep. Right. That's in play here for Tyler Shuck.

20:53The eye test was really good to Tyler Shuck down the stretch last year.

20:57The mobility you mentioned is all really good. There was some legitimate, there was a sample size of good games.

21:03The biggest question that I have is whether the saints were putting a lot of stock into a five game sample where

21:08I do think the saints kind of feasted on a very easy schedule, like low.

21:13Very easy schedule. That's my only bit of apprehension though.

21:15Like we're trying to be balanced here. I think the guy has like, he could be easily the sleeper quarterback of this year.

21:22I don't disagree. I'll let you go first. Yeah.

21:24No, I was just going to say, um, I hear that I, he was solid with his arm and ended add some

21:30value with his legs, which helps also, you know, it's not like he was putting up huge numbers.

21:35He was putting up solid. Yeah. He didn't reach 22 points in any game.

21:39And the supporting cast was pretty poor last year.

21:41A lot of people, he had a lobby, but that was about it.

21:45Everyone else was injured. So, uh, it's much better this year where they can.

21:48And obviously at some point we're going to have Jordan Tyson.

21:51So I think that helps potentially get him to that next level and allows him some more spike games.

21:57So, uh, yeah, I'm optimistic as a QB two that costs you nothing.

22:00And a guy that I think has upside that could outperform his ADP at the end of your bench.

22:05I like Tyler. Yeah. That's fine. The only reason I'm not higher, as you saw in the rankings on the screen is there's just all those guys.

22:13Each of 15 is so deep. Like you'd put them ahead of my homes, her, Caleb Stafford, Purdy.

22:18Like I'm not going to go that far, but that next year with Kyler, I have Kyler and then him like he's next.

22:24He's right there. That's fair. Let's start at the running back spot.

22:27Michael Clay, you've been talking about one running back.

22:29In fact, field. And I know this stat by heart.

22:32Do you want to give it or do you want me to do it?

22:36Yeah. Go ahead, please. All right. So over the past 38 years, four running backs from Notre Dame have been drafted in the first round.

22:43Yes. And all of them eventually won American Idol.

22:45That's right. That's it. That was way off. That was not even close.

22:49It was about running backs. That's about all you got right.

22:52That was about it. That wasn't even a good try.

22:54I mean, that was way off. Of the last nine running backs drafted inside.

22:58He doesn't get your humor. I get your humor.

23:01I don't get it. Last nine running backs drafted inside the actual top 12 of the NFL draft.

23:06All nine of them have finished top 12 in fantasy football in their rookie season.

23:10In fact, they all finished top 11. Yes, they did.

23:12Fantasy points. To be slightly more specific, Gentty was the worst of those bunch.

23:16And he was 11 last season. So yeah, I'm obviously very much in on Jeremiah Love.

23:21I guess before I really get into it here, there was a little bit of news there.

23:25Kind of, I don't want to say conflicting reports, but one report was essentially from the head coach, which was that progressing

23:31well to be ready for week one. And then I believe it was at Mike Garofalo said he's considered 50-50.

23:37Yeah, it was Mike Garofalo. He's considered 50-50. So, I mean, it still feels optimistic.

23:41It feels more 70-30 or 80-20 to me. Are you a glaf-has-full or a glaf-has-empty?

23:45Well, you know me. Did you say glaf? Glaf-has-empty?

23:47I think you said glaf-has-full, yeah. I'd like to run that tape back maybe today.

23:51Yeah, can we? I'll ask you again. Are you a glaf-has-empty or a glaf-has-full?

23:55I'm going to try not to half-ass your quotes.

23:58How about that? Whoa! Mama Dotton! Whoa! Yeah, Michael!

24:00Dude! Yes! Yeah, half-butt your quotes? Okay. Half-moon. Look, I love love.

24:03You know I'm optimistic here. I'm feeling good on a lot of teams.

24:07It feels more 80-20 to me. But one game.

24:09Kind of like at the top. Like, if you just knew it was going to be one game with Jeremiah Love, you're good with it.

24:16Yeah, much like Malik Nabors. I'm fine with that.

24:18I think the first month of the season is not where he's going to win you leagues.

24:23I think it's after that where he's going to win you leagues.

24:26So, still very optimistic. I did do my initial week one rankings last night.

24:30You guys can get to work at some point if you'd like to join in on that.

24:35But I did reduce his week one workload. So, I'm still ranking him as a RB2.

24:39But I think we'll see more Algier in that first game as they limit him a little bit.

24:44Maybe we can do that. We can do like a live week one rankings on Thursday.

24:48Yeah, Thursday and Friday. You want to do that?

24:51Yeah, that would be good. I won't be here because I'm grinding.

24:54Oh! On the beach. I was going to say grinding in the spike ball court.

24:58Yeah, exactly. Is spike ball still big? I've heard of it.

25:01I take it to the beach every year and build a net and put it there.

25:05Mike's in a league with a bunch of nine-year-olds.

25:08And he is really good at spike ball. And it's my favorite league because I crush them.

25:13It's their head. I crush them every time. No way.

25:15I was humbled. We had a party for Baker and Brighton.

25:18They had their birthday weekend last weekend. And we were playing.

25:21I built them a basketball hoop on Friday. And then we had a party Saturday.

25:25And we were playing knockout with like a bunch of kids and a couple adults mixed in.

25:30And yeah, I mean, I'm 41 now. A little bit.

25:33I didn't win every time, which is... Are you the Steph Curry of 41-year-olds?

25:36What's that? Are you the Steph Curry of 41-year-olds or Brighton?

25:39I mean, I was doing all right. You know, I'm still shooting it pretty well.

25:44I was going to come to the birthday party, but then I found out Mike didn't put up a zip line.

25:49And I'm really only there for the zip line.

25:52What kind of birthday party is there without a zip line?

25:55Yeah. I don't know. Amateur hour, I guess. Tough one.

25:57I mean, it is fun at this age, though, to be able to play knockout with a bunch of people.

26:03Like, even if it's kids. I'm the one at the parties who doesn't stand around with the adults.

26:08I'm the one that goes to the playskins. The other goes to hang out with kids.

26:12Whatever. I'll roller skate party. I roller skate. You know?

26:15Whatever it is. Anyway, I love Love. Jeremiah Love.

26:17I've talked about him all offseason. You heard the stat.

26:20Super fast. Great rusher. Pass catcher. Blocker. He doesn't fumble.

26:23He's super efficient. I know that our Cardinal schedule is tough during the regular season, but it is very light to come fantasy playoff time.

26:29I know Tyler Algier is there. He played big roles in Atlanta the last two years, and John Robinson was a top

26:35three scorer in fantasy both of those seasons. I think it's going to be pretty apparent pretty quickly that Jeremiah Love is

26:41the centerpiece, the engine of this Arizona offense, and he's going to be terrific this year.

26:46So I'm all in. I am workshopping my pick for the Super Bowl this year.

26:50It's due very soon. Okay. I believe we'll actually tape first draft tomorrow, and we're going to dive into our college football national champion.

26:56Is that the Cardinals? And also our Super Bowl champion picks.

26:59There's a part of me that just feel like I'm principal.

27:02Like, you almost can't pick the Seahawks and Rams.

27:05Like, I think we need to get away from always picking the last year's Super Bowl winner.

27:09It's too easy. The Rams almost feel too easy as well.

27:12You know? Rams have a tough first five weeks of their schedule as well.

27:16One of the teams that I'm considering, and that's where I'm going with this, is the Baltimore Ravens.

27:21That's my pick in the AFC. Okay. There you go.

27:24Way to steal my homework again. I think they're going to lose to the Ravens, obviously.

27:28Wow. And then he takes a dump on your pick at the same time.

27:32I mean, he's close. They're going to get there.

27:34They're just going to lose. Here goes Mike being Galefhas empty.

27:37That's right. Anyways, my pick for a running back that I'm planting my flag on is Derrick Henry, the ageless wonder.

27:43Derrick Henry, the man who somehow, someway just continues to find his way to the top or near the top of the

27:49NFL's rushing leaderboard for straight years, finishing a second in the NFL in rushing yards.

27:53I do think we tend to do this thing year in and year out where stuff that's been familiar can get glossed

27:59over just a little bit, maybe with the exception of Josh Allen, who's everybody's QB1.

28:03Yes. But Derrick Henry falling down the boards a little bit for some people coming into the preseason.

28:08Not only do I have him highest amongst ESPN rankers in terms of running back rankings, seventh overall, I have him 11th overall, regardless of position.

28:15I think Derrick Henry is a fringe first round pick.

28:18Nothing has changed. Like I think the analysis going into this year and last year and the year before that is all pretty much the exact same.

28:25You're going to have to live with just a couple of lemons.

28:29It might be in week one, who knows? Right?

28:31Right. But he's going to have those games where he catches one pass, which is pretty often, but he's also going to

28:37have a couple of games, which sting where it's like, he goes, you know, 17 carries for 68 yards with no touchdowns.

28:43Yeah. And then you're like, wow, I got eight points for my first round pick in the first week of the season.

28:49That's okay. It happens. I love their schedule. I've mentioned that many times over there intriguing last team to be undefeated call for this upcoming year.

28:56Derrick Henry, the ageless wonder. To me, the Ravens offense under Declan Doyle should be better than last year.

29:01I'm in. And I think he's been appropriately discounted for the age concern because eventually it's going to happen.

29:06Right. But he's not used to be coming off the board as clearly a two, three, number four running back.

29:12He's, he's fallen a little bit, but still until you haven't really seen the fall off yet.

29:16Mike's projection is hilarious for him. What is it?

29:191,505 rushing yards. That's and 13 touchdowns. Good, good bet to lead the NFL on rushing.

29:23Although I think I haven't projected second for what?

29:26That would be the fourth year in a row.

29:28He finished the second. It happens again. Wow. Yeah.

29:31That would be wild. So, uh, yeah, look, he was, he was the Taylor Taylor one.

29:35Yep. Uh, RB eight last year was Henry and I expect him to finish in that vicinity again this year.

29:40Yeah. You guys know where I'm going with this one.

29:43Cause you always go back to the well with my guy, Chase Brown.

29:47I know I've been talking about Mario Hampton, but Chase Brown two years ago, RB 12.

29:51I was in on him last year. That started a little bumpy.

29:54If you guys remember, it was very bad. I was very nervous.

29:57It took a minute. And then, you know, Joe Burrow being unfortunately hurt, missing a lot of time, but he was just

30:03inefficient and not good within that Bengals offense. And then from week eight on, it was the Chase Brown that I thought

30:09we were going to see last year. It was even a little better than what I thought he was going to be.

30:15Week eight on average 21.2 fantasy points per game.

30:18He was RB three last year. I kind of compared him, I think to Austin Eckler light.

30:22Yeah. Over that stretch. I think I pretty much nailed that comp.

30:26That is kind of what Austin Eckler is. He had 11 touchdowns back-to-back seasons.

30:29He's an unbelievable pass catcher in this Bengals offense, who we expect again, to be probably a top five scoring offense, if

30:35not a top five, moving the ball down the field with, with yardage and whatnot.

30:40They're in a spot to not only repeat, but they didn't add anyone really behind them.

30:44It's a 31 year old Samaj AP Ryan. So I am all in on Chase Brown coming back, doing this again.

30:50He proved that he can be the dude last year, as long as everyone stays healthy.

30:54I have him as my RB six. I would draft him ahead of Christian McCaffrey.

30:58If somebody asked me to. Interesting. I mean, we can debate that a little bit later.

31:02How many years do you go with this? Like you just keep, if he just continues to play well, you just going to keep going back to it?

31:10As long until he regresses. So he was RB 12 three years ago, RB eight last year.

31:15I have him as RB six this season. If he finishes as RB better than RB eight the next year, I got to keep going.

31:21It's only trending upwards. I think so. I think you should.

31:24Yeah. By the way, complete like opposite in a lot of ways to Derek Henry, who you just, you just talked about

31:30where Henry so reliant on the running game, Brown so reliant on the passing game.

31:34He's yet to finish top 15 in carries. Yes.

31:37Which is interesting. However, like Henry, an absolute touchdown machine down the stretch last year.

31:4110 games, final 10 games. He had 10 touchdowns and over 21 fantasy points per game.

31:45I mean, you're right. It was ugly early on, but again, a lot of that was no Joe Burrow.

31:50Once Burrow was back, he was, he was, uh, uh, what was it?

31:54It was Flacco and then Burrow, right? Where he kind of picked it back up.

31:58So, uh, I'm with you. I mean, he's just in that deep tier.

32:02Again, I talked about tiers. RB six to 15 for me is about the same.

32:06I mean, it's very similar. Actually, I guess it's 14 now.

32:09Cause we removed Josh Jacobs from there. So big tier.

32:11And he's very much in the thick of that.

32:14I could see him being, and I don't feel this way, but I could see Chase Brown being one of the least

32:20sexy RB one options that I think is a legitimate RB one option because in my mind, some of the other running

32:26backs that play within that group just have a more dynamic skillset or body that looks like it's built to play running back in the NFL.

32:33Chase Brown doesn't necessarily have like an elite skillset or a body that you're like that dude looks like a running back.

32:39He just does everything really well. I think that kind of hurts Chase Brown a little bit because people don't see him

32:45as the elite player that he is in this offense.

32:48Yeah. Okay. So quick thought, because, um, you just said something that prompted something in my book.

32:52Yeah. Bring it. Chase Brown, love them all about it.

32:55We used to say that James Connor was like the least sexy RB two.

32:59We didn't. Yesterday when we were discussing guys that might be fantasy relevant or tangentially relevant that are on IR at James Conner, that list, right?

33:06He's on IR. He's gonna miss the first four games of the season.

33:09Cardinals also traded away a running back. To the Patriots, Corey Kiner.

33:13Yep. Mike, you're the depth chart king. Do you have the Cardinals running back depth chart available right now?

33:18Yeah. Well, I do. But it's gonna be, you know, the big two, of course, love and...

33:22Who's their third running back now? Do they have one?

33:25Bam Knight. Bam Knight. Just like, and do they have three total on their roster?

33:29Yes. Love, Algier, and Knight. That's all I have right now.

33:32And they can certainly call somebody up from the practice squad in week one if they need to.

33:37If Jordan Love, Jeremiah Love, excuse me, is out.

33:39That kind of caught my attention a little bit.

33:42If you're at all concerned about your guy. You know, like, I want to pat it with...

33:47With Connor? No, I'm saying, like, if, you know, Jeremiah Love, this...

33:50They're gonna have to make a plan if they don't have him in week one.

33:54Yeah. So, I'm just... That helps the cause of him being available.

33:57It's like, they're a little thinner running back now.

34:00I like it. Anyways, I digress. Did you have a bonus pick at running back?

34:04I did, but it's just the guy that I've been talking about.

34:07It'd be Jadarian Price. We talked about him. I just like him as an RB2B, in part because of the price and

34:13all the things that the Seahawks have And I do believe that it's gonna be a little bit of time before Zach Charbonnet is back to his performance.

34:21So, really interesting George Halani buzz recently. Like, he's gonna have a real role.

34:24We'll see. We'll see. I'm just passing along what the reports are saying.

34:28There might be three guys on the field here or there, but Price should be the headliner.

34:32I would imagine. The wait is over. Football is here.

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35:17Varies by state. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy.

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36:06Fast funds terms apply at SoFi.com slash TeamSport. Best Price is Right game.

36:10Do you have a favorite one? Plinko. Either Plinko or the one that has the guy that climbs the Alps.

36:15You have to stop it once it gets to the right price.

36:18I like that one. I like any game that has some sort of skill to it.

36:23You have to guess the price or anything like that.

36:25I don't like the ones where you're just... It's just luck.

36:28Like Plinko is the luck one. You don't like that.

36:31I mean, it's fine. I know that Plinko is very popular.

36:34Actually, at ESPN, The Picnic, they have a Plinko set up, and it is the longest line game by far.

36:39I mean, everyone just waits forever to play that game.

36:42Which is amazing. I love that. All right, that's a hit.

36:45Let's dive into the mailbag. We got a handful of questions from our unbelievable listeners and viewers.

36:50This one comes from Rodrigo. Laid, Omari and Hampton for Christian McCaffrey.

36:53Who wins this? McCaffrey. You guys are crazy. We're not crazy.

36:56How can you say crazy? I mean... We're not crazy.

36:59If anything, you're the bold one in the conversation.

37:01I'm going to save it. Do you want to do it now or do you want to save it?

37:06Save it for what? We'll save it for the end of the show.

37:10Because... What's at the end of the show? Our bonus picks.

37:13Oh, yes. Someone's got a bonus pick, and I brought a thing that I was going to talk about with this player with one of your bonus picks.

37:20Okay, okay. I'm going to save it for that.

37:23I see where you're going with this. Now, if this is a keeper league or something, if there's some sort of extenuating circumstances, that's fine.

37:30Keeper or dynasty, it's definitely Omarion Hampton. Of course, of course.

37:33Unless you're like, this is my year. This is it, yeah.

37:36But unless these guys went three picks apart in a redraft league right now, the person who drafted Omari and Hampton probably

37:42drafted him around or a round and a half later than Christian McCaffrey.

37:45Like, that seems like pretty good value to me, right?

37:48Yes. Oh, no. From a value standpoint, I wouldn't do it.

37:51Right. You're just saying in a world in which you were on the clock at pick eight and both were available, you're taking Omari and Hampton.

37:58I would take Hampton. All right. Another question. Another question here from our chat.

38:02This one comes from TKONO51. Who is the next rookie tight end that's going to be the breakout that nobody knows?

38:07I asked you about Kenyon Sadiq because he was like the big name, but...

38:11Weak tight end class this year. And we talked about in Philly, too.

38:15For fantasy. That doesn't feel great. For fantasy, it's weak.

38:18For real NFL, it was pretty... Yes, for fantasy, it's weak.

38:21The NFL had this incredible runs of tight ends being drafted, but this was like the year in which blocking tight ends are in fog.

38:27The Jaguars took a blocking tight end named Nate Borkucher from Texas A&M in the second round that had a lot of people around the NFL surprised.

38:35Dolphins took Will Kaczmarek in the third round from Ohio State.

38:38Those guys, I truly believe the two of them, and if my memory is correct, were under like 35 catches combined last year.

38:44Wow. Right? So we did have a lot of tight ends drafted.

38:47We also had a lot of guys that are going to be...

38:50They're Sean McVay type tight ends, right? Like block your butt off and you might catch like 12 passes all year.

38:56You'll be in good shape. So for fantasy, there's no one that piques my interest right now in redraft leagues.

39:02Yeah, maybe... Sean Deep Sleeper, Oscar Delp might be one.

39:04Like if he can... But Jawan Johnson's still there.

39:07They brought in Noah Fant. That one's probably a ways off.

39:10I think it's more like an Eric Hall, like a guy that's been around a couple of years.

39:15Obviously, we've talked about Terrence Ferguson, he's year two.

39:17But in terms of rookies, it's hard to find...

39:19Yeah, it's hard to find. Elijah Arroyo's another year two guy.

39:22A.J. Barner's still there in Seattle, but he's a guy I loved as a pass-catching prospect.

39:27So at some point, but yeah, you're right. Arlene Klein, Houston, but don't see that one there.

39:31But again, those are guys like maybe like they move on from Dalton Schultz.

39:35He takes over. There's a lot of guys like that.

39:38Eli Raritan a couple of years from now. Yeah, exactly.

39:41Eli Stowers in Philly, if he develops, he's not going to do anything this year though.

39:45As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy.

39:48But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back.

39:52From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly.

39:57Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions.

40:01And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities.

40:07Call 1-800-GRAINGER, clickgrainger.com, or just stop by. Low energy?

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40:25Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration.

40:27Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist. This episode is brought to you by Facebook.

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40:52Tough year for rookie tight ends. Yeah. Let's talk about some wide receivers, guys.

40:56Do it. Plant our flags field. I'm going to start with you on this one.

41:00I've been starting with Mike. Yeah. You know, like, sometimes if you're, like, building a, I don't know, sometimes you try to

41:06plant your flag, and, like, you hit a piece of dirt or, like, a rock on the way down.

41:11There you go. Yes. That might have happened to me with the Emeka Abuka.

41:15Sorry, Mike. No, I'm just, like, I'm actually, like, I like your sneakers.

41:19I got distracted. Oh, thank you. We both got, like, the same sneaker.

41:22This is bad TV because no one can see them, but it's, like, the same sneaker.

41:27But there's a Royal Meyer Navy. I'm a little bit of a sneaker guy now, so now I want those sneakers.

41:32Sneakerhead. Mecca Abuka is my pick here. I would have felt a lot better about this three weeks ago when it seemed like he was much healthier.

41:40But, I don't know, like, when there's a question mark about whether they're going to play in week one and if you're

41:46going to be healthy enough to push off as a wide receiver, those are fundamental, important things.

41:50And yet, I remain undeterred. I'm going down the Mecca Abuka pathway, baby.

41:54He's a really good player. He's so solid. He's so steady.

41:57He's so dependable. There are a lot of pass catchers in this Bucs offense.

42:01None of them are short things. We talked about the possibility that Chris Godwin is just sort of past.

42:06He's on the back nine of his career, back nine of his fantasy career.

42:10Jalen McMillan's a really good player. We'll talk about him more, but kind of a flash in the pan.

42:15Ted Hurst buzz was strong early in training camp.

42:17Not sure it's going to be as strong once the games actually begin.

42:21I think Emeka Abuka is the guy for Tampa Bay.

42:24I would have been a little more full-throated with my endorsement here if he had been healthy right now.

42:29Sure. But we're trying to stay true to some of the receivers that we feel like we have ranked higher than consensus.

42:35And that was why I landed on Emeka Abuka.

42:37Other picks that I would have, do I pivot to A.J.

42:40Brown, for example, a guy I haven't spent enough time talking about this year.

42:44But I am holding steady on Emeka Abuka, hoping that he plays week one, really believe in the player.

42:49And I do believe that Baker Mayfield this year will thrive.

42:52I think it's a better system for him. And Baker in a contract year has my attention.

42:57He is the clear alpha wide receiver one when healthy in this offense in his second year already.

43:02You would imagine so. It should be. Feels that way.

43:04Yeah. I'm with you. I think if you make a short list of wide receivers that have yet to post the top

43:10five seasons, so obviously wipe those top guys out, the elite guys out.

43:14And you make a short list of guys who can get there this year that have that ceiling, he'd be one of them.

43:20Certainly on that list. Yep. What about you, Michael?

43:22Another guy that fits that bill if he gets quarterback play?

43:25Garrett Wilson. You want to say something? You've got him at wide receiver 14.

43:29That's the hard part. Yeah, you're one spot behind him.

43:32I know. We're way off. Is that a giant teardrop right there?

43:35Yes. Are we planting our flag on guys that aren't going to live up to expectations this year?

43:40Yeah, he's going to. He hasn't yet. He's going to this season.

43:43That's why I'm planting my flag on a breakout season for Garrett Wilson.

43:47We're getting a discount in drafts. He's going in the fourth round as a guy that was injured last year, but never before.

43:53His first three years in the league, he was fully healthy.

43:56Didn't miss a game. He was top six in targets all three years, but the efficiency was not there.

44:01The touchdowns weren't there because the quarterback play was poor.

44:04Last year, even with shaky quarterback play, it might have happened.

44:07He was off to a great start. He was handling a third of the targets, averaging over 14 fantasy points per game, four touchdowns in six games.

44:14It was starting to happen last year before the injury issues.

44:17I've talked about the quarterback upgrade. I truly believe that while Geno Smith is not the future there and he's not a

44:23huge needle mover by any means, he's good enough to get the ball in the hands of his top skill guys.

44:29We saw that in Seattle. I've used this stat before during his three seasons there.

44:33Seahawks were top 10 in passing yards, top 10 in wide receiver fantasy points.

44:37There were four different instances of a top 16 fantasy season.

44:40Excuse me, top 21 fantasy season. DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett both were top 16 one year.

44:45The next year, DK Metcalf was 21. Lockett was actually 31 that year as JSN kind of took on a role there.

44:51That was a good Garrett Wilson year. And then 2024, JSN was top 10.

44:54And DK Metcalf still finished top 35 despite missing games due to injury.

44:58So he can get the ball to his top guys.

45:01And by the way, I know they drafted some guys this year, two first round picks.

45:05Kenyon Sadiq's going to get off to a slow start.

45:08He's been injured. He hasn't really played much. You see that one-handed catch?

45:11Wow. Good accuracy by Geno Smith throwing the ball like four feet behind his wide receiver.

45:16He doesn't even need to be perfect. See that?

45:18Omar Cooper's not going to play much. I mean, a ball boy.

45:21It's going to be the Garrett Wilson show again this year.

45:24Do you see that? Yeah, I was not good at it.

45:27I feel like it would be tough to be like a ball boy throwing pretend passes to NFL wide receivers.

45:33Just don't mess up. Just don't mess up. I think the number one thing that people may not realize about playing catch

45:39or NFL quarterbacks when they play catch is when you watch them from a distance, it looks like they're just taking the

45:45ball and just sort of lofting it back and forth.

45:47No quarterback throws with less than like 85 mile per hour.

45:50Right? Even on like a six yard throw. Even with the touch?

45:54I remember. And like not to dream about, not to name drop, no big deal.

45:58But like back in the day, look with being around Tom Brady.

46:01And Tom obviously is about as fundamentally sound and mechanically sound as any quarterback has ever been.

46:06Right? And so I think part of that was like, yeah, you step into every throw.

46:10You're like, you know, the perfect rotation, the perfect throwing motion.

46:13And that's not designed to like throw the ball soft.

46:16Right? Like you don't like throw a perfect throwing motion and then all of a sudden the ball just like floats to you.

46:22Right? It comes with some heat. It's game action.

46:24So these quarterbacks are chucking that thing, even when it's like five yards away.

46:28I feel like you learned pretty quickly that catching the ball in your stomach like this from a real quarterback is not a good idea.

46:35Gloves. Gloves is the number one thing. I used to have pink hands after playing catch with the quarterbacks.

46:40I remember, I think it was like, I was around when I was going to college or it was around that age,

46:46we went to a wide world of sports at Disney.

46:49Oh yeah. Cause they did like a tour and they had some stuff set up for kids and stuff.

46:54And they had a, like a baseball pitching machine.

46:56But the footballs were in there and it was like, this is supposed to be like the speed of an NFL pass.

47:02We didn't catch a single pass. I mean, it was just like right through your hands every single time.

47:08It's yeah. You have no idea how fast those things are moving.

47:11Speaking of fast things, my guy, what a transition.

47:13Lad McConkie, four, three, 40 speed, my friends. Listen.

47:16Laugh has full once again. That's right. Sorry. He's not going to be bad McDonkey this year.

47:20He's going to be rad McGronky. Oh yeah, that works.

47:23I'm trying. I'm trying here. That was like, I'm driving in the car, like thinking about a way to spin Lad McConkie.

47:29Yes. That's exactly what it is. Rad McConkie. That's what it is.

47:32He was wide receiver 13 as a rookie. You guys remember last year, he got Keenan Allen.

47:37The entire offense was kind of spread out to a little bit.

47:40Everyone. He majorly disappointed though. A lot of scar tissue.

47:43Add in part, I think has kind of dropped his ADP a little bit.

47:47Given the fact that you have Mike McDaniels, we're really in.

47:50If you're in on Justin Herbert, you're in on Mike McDaniel in the offense.

47:53I would also assume that we're probably going to be in on what would be the number one pass catcher.

47:59Because in my estimation, I look at these guys here.

48:02Keenan Allen is gone. Quinton Johnston has not showed consistency as a part of his game.

48:06Right? Trey Harris, third round rookie from second round.

48:08Second round rookie last year. Second round player last year.

48:11David Njoku is now there. Aranda Gatston is still there.

48:14But like nobody else has really given you a ton of names that make you feel like super good about it.

48:20Lad McConkie. And what could be a Mike McDaniel offense.

48:22I don't want to compare him necessarily to like Tyreek Hill or Jaden.

48:26He's fast though. This is going to be one of those.

48:29Like when you think about what that McDaniel offense was with Tua in Miami.

48:33And what that wide receiver one could be with speed.

48:35I've got Lad McConkie all the way up. I actually moved him to wide receiver 13.

48:40Rad. Big crew. I moved him up from wide receiver 16.

48:43Because I have just, I have been thinking to myself.

48:45If I really do love Justin Herbert this much.

48:48If I really am saying the offense is going to do this.

48:51And I look at the rest of the pieces.

48:54Is there's one consistent piece in my mind of this Chargers passing game.

48:57And that's Lad McConkie. Yeah. I've talked about this before.

49:00You compare year one to year two. And obviously to your point.

49:03The numbers. The fantasy production plummeted. But if you look a little deeper.

49:07You see that his routes run from year one to two.

49:10Way up. Targets. About the same. Goal line work.

49:12Way up. He was seventh in end zone targets last year.

49:15So you're like how does that make sense? That his fantasy production fell off.

49:19Well the efficiency was horrible last year. That was really the difference.

49:22So if you do believe. That Mike McDaniel is going to get the efficiency improved in this offense.

49:27Then you're exactly right. You should totally be in on McDonkey.

49:30I almost said McDonkey. Which one is it? You absolutely should.

49:33I mean yards per target went from 10.4 to 7.4.

49:36That's a huge difference last year. So if that gets fixed.

49:39And the volume stays the same. Which it should to your point.

49:42There's no reason to think it's going to go down.

49:45You know he's in a great spot. They every.

49:47This happens. It's like somebody breaks out. Or falls far.

49:50And every year going forward. It's like. Who is this year's version of.

49:53Number one. Puka Nakua has this amazing rookie season.

49:56Who's the guy who's not being drafted. Who's going to finish as the top 10 wide receiver.

50:00Probably nobody. Brock Purdy. Mr. Relvin. Who's next year's Brock Purdy.

50:03Probably nobody. Probably no one. Jackson Smith and Jigba is kind of the archetype we're looking for this year.

50:09Like a really good player prior to last season.

50:11Yeah. But not ready for showtime. To the point that he is now being drafted as one of the top six players in fantasy.

50:18We're looking for this year's Jackson Smith and Jigba.

50:20Might not happen. Lad McConkie would be a reasonable name to throw into that potential pot.

50:24I did that on. I do a column every year where I look for those guys.

50:29Try to find identifiers that could be that next guy.

50:31For JSN. Mine was Ibuka. But certainly. McConkie's on that list as well.

50:35Tedrow McMillan I think fits that bill. There's a couple.

50:38A couple guys. Like that. All right. Let's move ahead and talk about some tight ends.

50:42Field. I'm going to start with you. Colson Loveland.

50:44So I was thinking about this. How long will it be before another tight end is named All-Pro besides either Trey McBride or Brock Bowers?

50:51First team All-Pro. Ooh. Because that's the AFC and NFC.

50:54No. All-Pro is just one team. It doesn't matter what conference you play.

50:57First team. Second team. Yeah. What I'm saying. Yeah.

51:00Yeah. Injuries aside they would be the heavy favorites of course.

51:03For like. That could be for the next five years.

51:06Yes. But also it wouldn't shock. Well I don't want to steal your thunder.

51:09Yeah. But my point is that I'm sort of thinking about my tight end pick through the lens of like who has

51:15the talent to snap the run that Brock Bowers and Trey McBride are heavy favorites to hold right now.

51:21Yep. And my answer would be Colson Loveland. And I've used this stat several times over the past 12 drafts.

51:26Nine running backs have been taken in the first 12 picks.

51:29Uh-huh. And all of them finish his top 11 scores.

51:32That's true. And that's my case for Colson Loveland.

51:34Okay. My actual case for Colson. Good argument field.

51:37Good argument. Nailed it. I cannot get Mike to play at all.

51:40I know. He won't. At all. Every time I throw something in there you just stone wall me.

51:45I don't want to say bad stuff about Colson Loveland.

51:47I took him in the draft yesterday. I'm going to eat threshold.

51:51Will not laugh. Uh. Colson Loveland though did in each of the Bears final four games of last season lead the team in targets.

51:57Yeah. He did well at the end of the season.

52:00He did. Now yes. Roma Dunze was banged up.

52:02Yes. But DJ Moore was also there at that point.

52:05Like there were real signs that Ben Johnson the offensive guru that we all have a lot of faith in.

52:11Yeah. Believes this is a superstar level talent. I am not higher than consensus in terms of my positional rank tight end

52:17three because it's hard to crack the top two.

52:19But I am higher than our other top 160 or top 100 or top 200 rankers.

52:23Uh. I have him 35th overall. Which I believe the next closest was like 46th.

52:27Yeah. So I've got Colson Loveland as my tight end.

52:30My guy. That's a closer gap to the top tight ends than.

52:33Well I also am more optimistic on the top tight ends than the rest.

52:37Like I have both Brock Bowers and Trey McBride in that order in my top 18 which is higher than others.

52:43Okay. So I really really really like that positional edge.

52:46Love that. The positional edge is just huge. Yeah.

52:48I think he could easily make it a big three this year.

52:51Maybe a big four depending on what my guy does and your guy does.

52:55Maybe my guy. I think Loveland has the best shot to join that make it a big big three at the top.

53:01All right. So Mike and I incidentally brought the same player to the table.

53:05The way we've decided to do this is Mike is going to do a sentence and then I'm going to do a sentence.

53:11Okay. And we're going to go back and forth until we're done with the analysis.

53:15Here we go. Okay. All right. So Mike you want to go first?

53:19Yes I would. My choice of tight end is Tyler Warren.

53:22111 targets as a rookie. It could have been even better though.

53:25Because Michael Pittman Jr. vacated 111 targets this season.

53:28And also Daniel Jones was not there for the entire season.

53:30Alec Pierce finally off pup and practicing but not really the same kind of receiving option as Tyler Warren.

53:36Did you know that in 12 games with Daniel Jones last year he scored five touchdowns and averaged over 13 fantasy points per game?

53:42I didn't. That's not my sentence though. Hold on.

53:45In five games without Daniel Jones he had zero touchdowns and just 6.3 fantasy points per game.

53:49Wow. Comma. Josh Downs hasn't shown consistency except that he's consistently dealing with something.

53:53He was also unlucky in touchdowns last year. Comma.

53:56Nope. Nope. That doesn't work. Warren should lead this team in targets.

53:59I think he probably leads this team in receptions as well Mike.

54:02Tyler Warren. Comma. Tyler Warren is my flag tight end.

54:05He was top five at tight end in targets and end zone targets and in three goal line carries last season.

54:10That was either really awful. That was really good.

54:13Like I gotta say is it an observer? I thought you guys are gonna bungle that.

54:17And it was a fairly cogent argument. We did the best we could.

54:21We were like changing topics a few times but we got there.

54:24We got to the point. We do both love Tyler Warren.

54:27You've heard us talk about it ad nauseum and he is kind of like the end of that tier.

54:32All four of us kind of look at it where it's probably a top two tier and then usually Colston Loveland.

54:38You've got him a little bit higher and then Tyler Warren all packaged together in that ADP range.

54:43But I do love Tyler Warren. Yeah. All good cases there.

54:46By the way, second game show reference I'll make today.

54:49Second game show involving Drew Carey. But you guys probably know the show Whose Line Is It Anyways.

54:53Absolutely. And they do these. I mean it's such a good show.

54:57God. They're so funny. I like this. The comedy where it's like basically they trade lines or like they don't know what the other.

55:03Ryan Stiles call them mockery. Yeah. It's so good.

55:06So what you were just like doing reminded me of a Whose Line sketch.

55:09Well I was going to say this is a suggestion for you as your girls get a little older which is that

55:15there's always like little games we play whether it's at bedtime or if we're like I don't know on a whatever a

55:21plane ride or a boat ride whatever it might be.

55:24You're standing in line with a disem. It's like let's tell a story together.

55:28I do the first line and the kid does the second line.

55:31You just go back and forth. So I feel like I should have nailed that a little better because I've been doing stuff like that forever.

55:38I took. Forever. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and my kids were off from school.

55:43Their final day of a 10 day break and I took both of my older daughters with me to the doctor and

55:49the game we played was how many times can my three year old pump the hand sanitizer?

55:53Oh yeah. I was like. I'm telling you she must have washed her hands 250 times.

55:58She's super clean. The cleanest hands I've ever seen in my life.

56:01That's amazing. She won't be sick. By the way, did you get that rash cleared up?

56:05Yes. The good news is he gave me this cream and he's like it should knock it out within a week.

56:11Good. He's like but if it persists, he's like I got an alternate treatment.

56:15Okay. Which is great. Why did he just come up with a good response?

56:18Yeah. On the fly. I didn't like it. You gotta own it right?

56:22You know. You gotta own it. All right. Let's go with some bonus picks.

56:26We'll be fairly quick about this. Well I don't know.

56:29Maybe not. Maybe we won't. Wait. Did you say.

56:31Oh good. Wait. Did I just say. No. No.

56:33Go ahead. Finish your thought. Finish your thought first.

56:36Did you not want to do it? No. I'm going to do it.

56:39Yeah. Okay. Did you say bonus because mine's Bo Nix.

56:42Get it because they sort of sound the same.

56:45I got it. I did get it. Let's just start with Mike's.

56:48Just because. Yeah. Go for it. Why not? I mean you said bonus and I almost thought you said Bo Nix and it was so close.

56:55That was close. I had to get there. We're making all kinds of bad jokes today.

56:59QB7 in each of his first two seasons but we're getting him in the 10th round right now.

57:04Now fellas. The only thing. Thank you. Excuse me.

57:07I'm a little choked up for my grade. Yeah.

57:09Apparently. That was it. That'll happen. It was so good.

57:12You know I just need to take a minute to enjoy it.

57:15The only way you can pick apart Nix right now I think is the passing efficiency.

57:196.5 yards per pass attempt is pretty poor. He's made up for that with not missing time.

57:24A lot of pass volume and a lot of rushing volume as well.

57:28But I think the efficiency goes up now. They added Jalen Waddell.

57:31That should only help things. There's a reason you trade a first round pick for a guy like that.

57:36He's already had a good floor. I think the ceiling is higher now.

57:39They love Davis Webb. The new play caller. There's been so much hype there as well.

57:44So I think he gets to the next level and he is so cheap.

57:48I've drafted him a ton because you can get him in the double digit rounds.

57:52It's unreal. So give me one. Very easy to get in drafts.

57:55Bonex with where he's coming off the board. I'm going to do mine.

57:58We'll end up on the big one. Mine is Jalen McMillan.

58:01And you guys have heard me talk about this.

58:04Another guy that is free in drafts if you want him.

58:07But I am concerned that Chris Godwin is just not going to be the Chris Godwin that we have seen in the past.

58:13And we have seen flashes. This is definitely a dart throw because Jalen McMillan was not healthy last year.

58:18There's a chance he doesn't really materialize into the flashes that we have seen.

58:22But when he's flashed, he's looked really good. His rookie season down the stretch had at least five games with 17 or more fantasy points.

58:29Looked fantastic. Last year, week 17, had seven catches for 114 yards.

58:32Looked really good. And especially with Emeka Abuka also being banged up a little bit, knowing that there is just some options

58:38available or some targets potentially available in that Tampa Baywide receiving core.

58:41As a free option attached to a Baker Mayfield-led offense, I like Jalen McMillan as someone that could outperform their ADP.

58:47Let's do it, shall we? Last one here. The big one.

58:50The big one. We're talking about it a plenty.

58:53Let's just nail in the coffin here. Last time we'll discuss it.

58:56Last time. Last time. Christian McCaffrey. Yep. And it seems to me, based off of what I have heard from people like

59:02Daniel, what I have seen on social media, what I have seen in drafts, is that there are two schools of thought on Christian McCaffrey.

59:09One in. One out. Right? And I'm in on Christian McCaffrey.

59:12He is my third ranked player overall. I understand the limitations.

59:15I know that the limitations that I will grant for Christian McCaffrey are these.

59:18He has been more banged up, and he could be more vulnerable to being banged up again this year than guys like B.

59:25John Robinson and Jameer Gibbs. And on top of that, I will acknowledge this.

59:28Mike probably won't. That if Christian McCaffrey gets hurt this year, I will be kicking myself tremendously for it.

59:34But as opposed to if I drafted James Cook and he got hurt, I would be saying, damn it, I got unlucky.

59:40Yep. That idea, to me, matters. To Mike, it probably doesn't matter.

59:43It depends what injury it is, I guess. I mean, what are we, what's the science on this?

59:48What are we more worried about? It doesn't matter.

59:50It doesn't. I mean, if he gets... He wasn't even tight.

59:53If he pairs his ACL or something, I don't think that's the same as like, just he's dealing with nagging shoulder.

59:59This tweet is like a hate tweet. That is like a hate tweet.

60:02That's mean. That's a hate tweet. This person. It's just a robot running and crashing.

60:07I am sort of unbothered by the decreased efficiency as a rusher because last year he was a poor rusher and he

60:12literally was the highest scoring player in all of fantasy.

60:15I don't think anything is going to change in terms of Kyle Shanahan's appetite to feed him the rock aplenty.

60:21If anything, the backfield behind him feels less certain than it did last year.

60:24Like Brian Robinson, when they traded for him, when we were down at Baja Mar last year, it's like, all right, hey,

60:30here's the CMC backup you're going to need to roster.

60:33He was a legitimate player two years ago with the Commanders.

60:36It's Kalen Black now, their third round pick. Isaac Garendo, their fourth round pick, who seems to be just the latest in

60:42the Kyle Shanahan drafts running back early and then gives up fast on running back.

60:46He seems to be the latest one of those files.

60:49Yep, he's out, yeah. Jordan James playing special teams.

60:51Yeah, right, right, right. So I think that when the week one ranks drop for everybody besides Mike and the week one

60:57projections drop, which is only Mike, I'm going to guess that the highest projected player, even in a matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, will be Christian McCaffrey.

61:05He's, I don't think I have him one, but he's in the, look, the only reason he's not one in my rankings

61:11for this year is because Gibbs and Robinson are awesome.

61:14There's like, they're also awesome and they're younger and there's things going great for them.

61:18And there's just, they're great players. It's fine to put them one too.

61:21But otherwise, McCaffrey, I'd be fine with number one.

61:24I think it really is injury or elite. It's like, but that applies to so many players.

61:28Like I just, I'm not going to get too caught.

61:31And the thing is like the other thing, the third factor, there would be a drop off in player usage.

61:36I don't see a drop off in usage to your point.

61:39And I don't like last year, his rushing efficiency was pretty poor and he was still by far the number one fantasy running back.

61:46So unless he misses half the season, I feel like he's going to pay off his ADP.

61:51I just, that's why, that's my logic. That's why I can't back off of him as a mid first round pick.

61:56Last thing I'll say, and then it's all to Daniel is, because I hear you on everything that you just added, Mike.

62:02And I am like, I'm in on Christian McCaffrey.

62:05I also acknowledge that like, if he gets hurt, like I'm the one who's saying like, I will A, draft him third

62:11overall, but B, I will be kicking myself if he gets hurt.

62:14And I would not be kicking myself if I instead took Jamar Chase and he got hurt.

62:19So I am here. I hear you with the emotional side of it, but the pragmatic side of my brain, which is

62:25somewhat operable during the preseason tells me, Christian McCaffrey deserves to be the third best player in fantasy football.

62:30Daniel Dopp, take the floor. It's all yours. I feel like, oh, sorry.

62:33I feel like Mike is gaslighting me. Why? Because I feel like you're the emotional one and I'm the logical one in this one.

62:40I disagree. I understand that you disagree. So this is why when you guys talk about your argument, I asked our team to put together a full screen.

62:47Oh, wow. Let's go. Let's take a look at all.

62:50And I'm going to read it to all the people that aren't there.

62:54These are all the players, all the running backs in the last 20 years that have had at least 450 touches in what they did the following season.

63:01Larry Johnson, 2006. It was RB3. Following season finishes RB38.

63:04Didn't finish the season because he got hurt. Arian Foster, 2012.

63:07Finishes RB3. Had over 450 touches. Following season finishes running back 46.

63:10Next, 2014. DeMarco Murray was RB2. His next season, he finishes running back 15.

63:14A couple years ago, it was Saquon Barkley, who had 482 touches.

63:17Finishes RB2. Following season finishes running back 14. Last year, Christian McCaffrey, 450 touches.

63:21It was RB1. We're right now expecting, at least with the way that you guys are ranking, Christian McCaffrey to be the

63:27first running back in 20 years to finish as higher than running back 14 after having 450 touches in the previous season.

63:33The only running back in two decades to be able to do that.

63:37Correct. Mind you, as a part of that, Christian McCaffrey has had three 400-touch seasons.

63:41We have another full screen if you want to see it.

63:44The last two times he's had 400-touch seasons. Here's what he did the following year.

63:4876 touches the following year after 2019. He only played three games.

63:51In 2023, he had 400 touches. The following year, he only played four games.

63:55He had 65 touches. This last year, he had the most touches of his career, 450.

63:59So now at the age of 30, we're hoping that he's going to do something not only that he's never done before

64:05after the most touches ever in his career, but something no running back in the last 20 years has done.

64:11That's correct. And so for me, when I think about it, that is like the numbers that Mike taught me this over

64:17the last five years of looking at historical running back data.

64:20And so I feel like you guys drafting him at RB3 is like, there are so many other options that don't carry

64:26the risk that I just saw on that screen early in the draft.

64:29I just can't be in on CMC with all of the other options that are there.

64:33It truly is some players are unicorns. They're Hall of Fame players and they're exception to their roles.

64:38And we have seen that with, like another example would be Larry Fitzgerald or now Mike Evans, guys that are still producing into their 30s.

64:45I know it's a different position, but I feel like Christian McCaffrey fits the bill.

64:49I mean, and again, I think that he swayed me off applying him to that sort of graphic because of what he

64:55did last year, which is to not run the ball effectively.

64:58And the 49ers do nothing about it. They're still like, we're still featuring you.

65:02You're still very good in the passing game. And they didn't address that position this year.

65:06Kalen Black, I mean, yes, he was a third round pick, but it's not like they made some grand gesture, grand move

65:12to have a real competition for him. This is still the McCaffrey show.

65:16And another variable, one more, is Kyle Shanahan's offense.

65:18I mean, it is always really good, even if they have quarterback problems.

65:22It's very rare, I should say, that it really falls off.

65:25There are so many things that make him an exception to the rule.

65:28And I think that's a lot. I don't think that's emotional.

65:31I think there's logic behind why he can do it one more time.

65:35But usually you are the kind of person that would deviate from extremes.

65:38Yeah, and I'm telling you. It seems like this extreme, you're not deviating from.

65:42You're buying into, this is the one extreme that I think it could happen.

65:46I should point this out. I have him projected for about 120 fewer fantasy points than last year.

65:51So I am expecting a return to earth, but he was just so far ahead of everyone else that he could really

65:57come back to earth and still be a top five scorer at running back.

66:01Can I ask one last, or make one more point here?

66:04Yeah. We can put a pin in this if we need to.

66:07Bring it to him. A question. Who's your RB3?

66:09My RB3 is James Cook. My RB4 is Jonathan Taylor.

66:12So I would actually, like I could entertain Jonathan Taylor as RB3 over Christian McCaffrey.

66:16Yeah. I think I probably am lost to James Cook, and here's the reason why.

66:20Do you, like I could, we have almost seen this, like a scenario where Jonathan Taylor is the highest scoring player in fantasy.

66:26I just don't see a world in which James Cook or players, Omarion Hampton, guys that are in your.

66:32Chase Brown. Rita. Yep. I don't think those guys have RB1 overall upside.

66:35Yeah. Cook's also a guy that's going to score fewer touchdowns this year, most likely.

66:39He's a regression candidate as well, and not as involved in the passing game.

66:43So we say often that like you can't, you can't always win your league in the first round, but you can definitely lose it.

66:50Yeah. Christian McCaffrey might be a good test there, right?

66:52Because you might be able to win or lose your league in the first round.

66:56If you get Christian McCaffrey eighth overall, and he's the highest scoring player once again, that's insane value.

67:01Mike has continually highlighted the point that I have been trying to make, which is I don't think Christian McCaffrey finishes as RB14.

67:08He's either going to be RB1 or RB47, which means that when you are choosing to draft a guy, I think you

67:14guys are choosing to draft a guy that has more injury variants, and you're even acknowledging that than other people in the first round.

67:20You don't say that. I don't know if he does.

67:23I don't know if we have the science behind that, that suggests he actually is more of an injury risk than James Cook.

67:29Maybe it's like 20% to 15%, or I don't know.

67:32I don't think, I think it's negligible enough that it's not going to move the needle.

67:36This is a great debate. It is. We already have me versus you, Amarion Hampton, Christian McCaffrey with, you know, like reasonable parameters.

67:42Like if, if it's more points and Hampton plays 10 fewer games, I'm not going to say.

67:47Correct. No, no, no, no. But I think you were right about this.

67:50I think there are two schools of thought and it's either you're in on Christian McCaffrey because you guys believe, and we've

67:56seen all the things that he is, or you're like, I'm out because of the touches and injury concerns.

68:02I believe he is a year left as elite.

68:04Let's take a quick look one more time at our Hall of Famers.

68:08Just so that you can see who we brought to the table, our plant, our flag guys, this episode, each one of us brought one of each one.

68:15We're going to start. Michaels with Michaels. Mike, Jackson, go ahead.

68:18Jackson, go ahead. Jeremiah, Garrett Wilson, Tyler Warren. There's your league winners for the year.

68:22Dramatic effect included. All good field. Yates. I'm going to go second here.

68:26This is Tyler Shuck, Chase Brown, Lad McConkie and Tyler Warren.

68:29Also, Mike and I did share tight ends. Stop, uh, stop stealing my guy.

68:33And mine. Justin Herbert, Gary Henry, Mecca, Abuka and Colston Loveland.

68:36A lot of good players. A lot of good players in this list.

68:39All right. We got even more for tomorrow. Thank you guys for hanging out with us.

68:43Hey, you know what? Draft tomorrow, right? A big draft tomorrow.

68:46We got a knockout league draft. If you're interested in doing something a little different with your leagues.

68:51All right. We love you guys. Don't forget to love each other.

68:55Be kind to yourself. You deserve it. We'll see you back here on Wednesday.

68:58See you later. Ghost. And I see you in the hole 601.

69:02Oh, Creation turns to mayhem. Predators hunt. Territories are defended.

69:04Rivals clash. In this wild world, legends are unleashed on Saturdays.

69:07No one brings you closer to the wild than ESPN.

69:10College football on ESPN continues Labor Day weekend. Witness the wild on ABC, ESPN, and the ESPN app.

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