PodcastFrom Fantasy Focus Football
This is the BEST Draft Spot in Fantasy Football...
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26 min
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Jul 23, 2026
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Thu, July 23, 2026
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Full transcript
Episode Transcript
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0:26Learn more at grow.google.skilledtrades. Let me just say why it's important to have one of these top-tier wide receivers.
0:32That is because the top four wideouts all had 11 or more games of 15 or more fantasy points last season.
0:39Hey, I'm Liz Loza. This is Facts vs. Feelings, and today's fact is that not all draft spots are created equal.
0:46Daniel Dopp in your cozy box. Welcome back. I can't wait to talk more fantasy with you today.
0:53I know it's going to be so much fun, Liz.
0:56Thank you for having me back for the entirety of the season, might I add.
1:01If this is your first Facts vs. Feelings, I am excited to do this for the rest of the year with you.
1:09Let's dive in, though, to a bunch of draft content, Liz, because you and I have been doing a bunch of mock drafts.
1:16Everyone is asking us strategy questions right now. It is nonstop draft season, and we got an unbelievable voicemail from our girl
1:24Emma in Chicago during our fantasy therapy hotline segment.
1:27We wanted to make sure that we played this because it had a really good conversation, spurred a nice conversation for us here.
1:35So this is Emma from Chicago with a question about your drafts.
1:39Hey, my name is Emma. I actually live in Chicago.
1:42Go Bears. Nice. First, I wanted to ask for a 12-team PPR, what draft spots do you like?
1:48I'm in a league where we get to draw numbers to pick our draft spots, and just wondering what draft spots you guys like.
1:57Emma, I love this. I love this question. I love the setup of your league.
2:02I love that you're a Bears fan. I love the whole thing.
2:06Daniel, what do you think about this, like, getting to choose your own draft spot?
2:11I love the setup of the league. I don't love the Bears fan, but like, yes, Liz, give me this.
2:18I want to be able to, when I draw my draft spot, I want to be able to choose then where I
2:25pick, not just have to get that number, because I have some strategy with how I choose where I'm going to be drafting from.
2:34Do you have a place right now in 2026 that you found you like drafting from so far?
2:40I do. Let me also say, though, that it is shocking that you like agency.
2:45You like to have some decision making in your daily choices.
2:49That's shocking. And yes, I have discovered that I adore drafting from the nine spot.
2:54You know, we've been doing all of these mocks, and a lot of the reason we do them is so that we can discover things like this.
3:03And I have found that when I draft from the nine spot, I am able to walk away from my drafts, locking
3:10up a top tier wide receiver and an anchor running back, which makes me feel like I'm about to crush the whole
3:18damn league in a matter of weeks. Dude, I love if you can start your draft with a top tier wide receiver
3:25and an anchor running back like you're talking about.
3:28It feels like you are set up for success.
3:31But tell me how you do that from the nine spot, Liz, because you can't just draft all the good players.
3:39Start at the first round. Who are you taking with that first pick at number nine?
3:44Well, I will hold on. Hold on. Don't get ahead of yourself.
3:48Let me just say why it's important to have one of these top tier wide receivers.
3:54That is because the top four wide outs all had 11 or more games of 15 or more fantasy points last season.
4:01Now, the next 16 fantasy wide receivers managed six to eight games of 15 or more fantasy points.
4:07So about half as many than that top tier.
4:10Still a pretty good number, but half as many.
4:13My top tier five guys are in order. Jamar Chase, Jackson Smith and Jigba, Puka Nakua, Amun Ross St.
4:20Brown, your boy, and CeeDee Lamb. Now, also, obviously, ADP is not gospel, a little disclaimer, but it does give you a
4:27pretty good idea of what's going to be available when you pick.
4:32And since I have been mocking every week, usually a number of times per week, without fail, I have managed to roster
4:39CeeDee Lamb when picking from either the 10 spot or before.
4:43In fact, we did actually a mock this past Monday, and Lamb was the 13th player taken off the board while Jackson
4:50Smith and Jigba was drafted at the nine spot.
4:53So you're probably going to be able to get either CeeDee Lamb or JSN at that nine spot.
4:59Either way, the hope is that you can rely on that late first round wide receiver for an average of 18 or more fantasy points per week.
5:09That's like the floor you're looking for there. Yeah, getting a ton of volume from that wide receiver as well.
5:16And Liz, if you're doing that, though, you can't get one of the top running backs because Jameer Gibbs and Bajon Robinson,
5:23like they're going to be off the board before it even comes back to you in the second round.
5:30So how are you approaching the running back in the turn at the second pick?
5:35Well, I think it's important to get an anchor running back like we've been talking about all spring or summer because the position dries up really quickly.
5:44Now, we've also talked about how some of those earlier picks like CMC and Jonathan Taylor have a couple of question marks around them.
5:52So I don't mind waiting too much because ultimately we all know that volume is king.
5:57And last year, just 10 running backs cleared 300 total touches.
6:01Not surprisingly, there are 10 running backs coming off of the board in the first two rounds.
6:07So, again, we want that volume. And I feel like I can find either if I'm picking at the, you know, what
6:15is that top of the second round? I can get either Ashton Gentty, Derrick Henry or Omari and Hampton.
6:21You and I are a little bit higher than the consensus on Hampton, but I personally am comfortable with that as my RB1.
6:29Regardless, all three of those running backs are projected to go over 320 total touches and, best part, 270 total fantasy points,
6:36which by last season's metrics placed them firmly inside the top 10 fantasy producers at the position.
6:42So from the nine spot, I'm able to get a wide receiver that's going to give me 18 fantasy points per week
6:50and a running back that is probably going to end up being a top 10 producer at the position.
6:56I love that. And you're getting tons of volume across the board, setting yourself up with a fantastic foundation for the rest of the draft.
7:05But Liz, the draft doesn't stop in the second round.
7:08And you're the tight end whisperer. All right. So I got to ask you when we're looking at the tight end position,
7:16maybe a little later on in these drafts, I'm sure you got a strategy on how you want to approach the tight end position.
7:24What are you doing from the ninth spot with tight ends here in 2026?
7:29Well, tight end is tricky because there's such a dip from the first tier down the rest of the producers.
7:35Right. In fact, if you look at last year, there were 105 fantasy points separating the tight end one, who was Trey
7:43McBride, from the tight end two, who was Kyle Pitts.
7:46After that, there were only 18 fantasy points. Now, Daniel, I'm not the best at math, but 18 is a lot less than 105.
7:54And now, basically, this year, there are two tight ends in the top tier.
7:59Everyone's agreeing on that, right? There's Trey McBride and there's Brock Bowers, and they're both going probably around the third round.
8:06I'm not really interested in investing that early when there are other wide receivers available at that time.
8:13I might, as an exception, draft Colston Loveland because I do think he's going to have a monster season.
8:19We'll get into why. Shocking. Probably in a future episode.
8:22I got the stats. I got the receipts. We'll talk about him in a future episode.
8:28But he's going in the fifth round. So two rounds after either Bowers or McBride.
8:33And if I'm waiting, then as we discussed last week, I really like Isaiah Likely, who I think could be a top
8:4115 producer at the position and probably get me an average of 10 fantasy points per week.
8:46Yeah, absolutely love that, Liz. And you're talking about the nine spot overall.
8:51I kind of want to close this out with the reason why I like drafting from the nine spot is it lets
8:58me look at what the teams around me have.
9:01So when you get in those later rounds, I kind of get to see, does this guy already have a quarterback?
9:09Does the person after me already have a quarterback?
9:12Do I need to take it here? Or can I wait six picks and get someone a little bit earlier?
9:18So that strategy is really nice from that nine spot.
9:22And Emma, unbelievable question, girl. Thank you so much for this.
9:26Look at the inspo you provided, Emma. Thank you.
9:29That's right. Absolutely. All right. Make sure before you move on that you are sticking with us for the entirety of the offseason.
9:36We are going to be here every single week.
9:40And make sure you like and subscribe to this video.
9:43And there is more fantasy football coming your way.
9:46Fantasy Focus is returning August 3rd. Liz Loza, you're going to be there for the entire first week of the season.
9:53It is going to be so much fun to have you in person.
9:58Cannot wait to have you back. Are you pumped, hopefully, to be able to be in person with us here in Bristol, Connecticut?
10:05Why would I not want to be pumped to be in Connecticut in August?
10:10I hear the weather's great that time of year in New England.
10:14Yeah, it's going to be fantastic. Well, if you don't love that, then maybe you will love coming to hang out with
10:22us on August 20th in New York City for a live show.
10:26We are going live again. Come hang out with us and we are going to talk about a bunch of things.
10:33We're going to have food. We're going to have swag.
10:37All the good stuff like we usually do. Go to fantasyfocuslive.com to be able to get your tickets and lock in a
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11:39All right, Liz, new segment we're going to bring to the table.
11:43I've decided I'm going to be a fantasy matchmaker today, bring you a handful of dating profiles of some guys that maybe
11:50you should consider drafting on draft day, and then I'll let you decide whether or not you are interested or not interested in them.
11:58How does that sound? I'm, like, already, like, giggly and bashful.
12:02I love it. I don't know if this is where I start.
12:06We're going to have you swiping left and swiping right.
12:10We're going to figure out if you like them, obviously.
12:13Which way is good and which way is, like, smash and pat?
12:17Yeah, which way? I don't know any of this.
12:20So I think if you swipe left, that means keep going.
12:24It's just like a normal photo booth. You're just, like, swiping left.
12:28If you swipe right, you're going against the grain.
12:31That means I actually like a person. So you want to swipe right if you like someone.
12:37Swiping left if you're just moving on, Liz. Okay, no date, date.
12:41Got it. Correct. Correct. All right. No roster spot, roster spot.
12:45I mean, I mean. My, that's right. My first client that I'm going to bring to the table for you, Elizabeth Loza,
12:52after four consecutive seasons as a top five wide receiver and having never finished outside the top 10 at the position until
13:00last season, this smoke show has more 20-point fantasy games over the last five years than any other wide receiver.
13:07And with a short king now leading his offense instead of a barely legal quarterback, at an ADP of 12.4, do you
13:14think you'd be interested in spending a little bit more time with Justin Jefferson?
13:19I figured it out when you said short king at QB.
13:23And you know what? I don't, for the record, I'm 5'2".
13:26Everybody knows this. I don't mind a short king.
13:29However, however, before everybody comes at me, you don't have to be six foot four and work in finance.
13:36However, every, before anyone comes at me, that is my problem with this Justin Jefferson situation.
13:41Now, I fully acknowledge that he is definitely an high upside bounce back candidate.
13:46But the thing about Kyler Murray that makes me the most nervous is that he has a historically low first read target share.
13:54Because when he feels pressure, that man scrambles. And he doesn't force feed his wide receiver like he is, like he is supposed to, frankly.
14:03I'm now, you know, I was, if I'm remembering correctly, the Minnesota Vikings spent a lot of money on reinforcing their offensive line in 2025.
14:11It didn't work because a lot of them were injured.
14:14So there is hope that that line can get healthy and give Murray the protection he needs.
14:20It's just that he needs so much damn protection.
14:23And Daniel, if Justin Jefferson isn't properly fed, like immediately, there's going to be some bad blood.
14:29Because this dude is not someone who just likes, neither one of these guys are like sit back and be chill types.
14:37Okay, Liz, then here's the question. So probably, okay.
14:40I need to ask you then, are you going to swipe left?
14:44Are you swiping right on Justin Jefferson, my friend?
14:47At his current ADP, I am swiping left because I'd rather have a running back right there for the reasons I outlined previously.
14:55All right. Here's the next one, Liz Loza. If you like tight ends and long legs, this next one is for you.
15:02Coming off his second season as a top six fantasy tight end and still only 25 years old, which is right in your wheelhouse.
15:10This player delivered a post-post-hype resurgence with a 22% target share and the most touchdowns of his career.
15:17As one of the front runners of that middle tight end tier and coming off the board as tight end six with
15:24an ADP of 67.4, are you interested in spending a little bit more time with my friend Kyle Pitts?
15:31That's a good question. You're really picking the good.
15:34You're picking the players that are like real polarizing.
15:37These are polarizing players that you're picking. You're helping me work through some stuff.
15:41Maybe this is fantasy therapy. Okay. So I will say what I love about Kyle Pitts is that everybody deserves redemption eventually
15:49if they work hard enough to find it. So I agree that he did that last year.
15:55I also really like his play caller in Kevin Stefanski this year.
15:59Obviously runs a position-friendly scheme. We saw how Harold Fannin benefited from it last year.
16:04A lot of money attached to Pitts. Like the Falcons organization really did invest in him.
16:09He signed a three-year extension worth, I believe, $54 million with upwards of $30 million of that guaranteed.
16:16Number two behind Drake London. So volume should be there.
16:19Although he is not as effective. There are some pretty considerable splits when he's on the field, or when London's on the field and not on the field.
16:29So that's interesting. I do think, you know what?
16:32I'm running through all this in my head in real time.
16:35I do think Tuatunga Vailoa's presence should help, assuming he wins the job over Michael Penix, because we know how much he
16:43likes to, speaking of short kings, also be a short to intermediate range of the field type of king.
16:49And that tends to support a tight end as well.
16:53It's just that this is like in a tricky part of the draft.
16:57You know what I mean? Like Ladd McConkie is there.
17:01Jalen Waddell is there. Carnell Tate is there. And those are three wide receivers with big breakout appeal.
17:07So ultimately, I'm going to swipe left, because miracles rarely happen twice, and I can get Isaiah Lakeley late.
17:13And I think, okay, so I understand this. I assume that's what you're going to do, because you've been talking about, as
17:21you did earlier in the show even, you like one of those earlier tight ends if you can get them.
17:28And if not, you kind of want to wait past this middle tier for someone a little bit later on the draft, based on who you can get.
17:37Totally fair. That's all right. I got one more client that I think you might be interested in, Liz.
17:44All right? Forget about a slump. This sophomore could have you humping your box score week in and week out.
17:50With his proclivity to find the end zone, this guy is primed to reprise his role as the thumper of this ascending offense.
17:58Amassing almost 1,000 total yards and five touchdowns as a rookie, double-digit scores isn't out of the question in 26.
18:05And this guy is cheap. He's so cheap, even your mama could afford him in drafts, Liz, with an ADP of 118.
18:13Are you in on my guy? Kyle Manungay. You just dropped a yo mama joke in 2026.
18:18I am dead. I will never recover from this.
18:21Okay. So you said thumper numerous times, by the way, which is an illusion and a reference, I'm assuming, to Manungay's goal line equity.
18:30We're getting back on the rails here. Yes. Okay.
18:33Getting there. His goal line equity. I believe, because this is Chicago Bear, that Manungay had the same number of rushes inside
18:40the 10 last season as Swift, but he had more goal-to-goal.
18:44He was used more in that capacity than Swift.
18:47Obviously, he came on down the stretch. We've got the Ben Johnson effect working for him.
18:53Yeah. You know what? I like it. I have not done this personally, but I'm going to, you didn't even ask me.
19:00I like worked through it on my own. I'm going to swipe right.
19:04I think this is great value. I have personally overlooked it until you put me through this exercise.
19:11So thank you. I hope it benefits everyone else's.
19:14It just benefited me. I think we have a match, Daniel.
19:17All right. That's about time. All right. Liz Loza's empowerment on guy.
19:21I can already hear the wedding bells. Ship it.
19:25Your vision narrows. You can't look away. Every assist.
19:28Every stop. Every logo three. Crumpy. Did you see that moment?
19:31We've broken this season. All of it. Right here.
19:34Lock in. It's the WNBA on ESPN. All season long.
19:38This is a safe place. It's a place where we can feel free sharing our feelings.
19:43Well, Emma from Chicago already blessed us with one voicemail, but I hear we have a bunch more submissions.
19:50Daniel, who's up next? Yeah, we got a lot of submissions, though.
19:54Emma did set the bar super high. We still have some really good questions here.
19:59This first one comes from Dennis from Florida via the Ukraine.
20:03Hi, my name is Dennis DeMarv. I'm from Ukraine, but I live in Jacksonville, Florida.
20:08And I got a question about the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback, Trevor Lawrence.
20:12Is he a viable pick at his ADP? And will he repeat what he did last year?
20:18Because I'm hesitant to drop him at his ADP right now.
20:22Thank you. Well, Dennis, I totally empathize with your hesitancy.
20:25Daniel and I, I know, like live through the will he, won't he seasons of Trevor Lawrence.
20:31And I think a lot of people are feeling similarly because he is currently the 13th quarterback coming off of boards.
20:38But that low ADP is why I'm interested in him.
20:41Because here's what we know right now. We know that down the stretch last season, things started to click.
20:48In fact, Lawrence was the QB one in fantasy points per game from week 12 to week 18.
20:54We know that he's heading into 2026 fully healthy.
20:57Last summer he was not. And we know that he has a whole nother year of Liam Cohen's unlocking type system under his belt.
21:05Plus, he's got plenty of receiving talent at his avail.
21:09And he's got a really low ADP. So, yeah, I'm going to say I am in on him that late.
21:15Yeah, if you're going to wait at the quarterback spot, Liz, I think you could do a lot worse than what Trevor Lawrence can be.
21:24I might draft a second quarterback if I'm going to wait that long and maybe grab Justin Herbert as well.
21:31But I got no problem giving the ADP. Absolutely.
21:34All right. This next question comes from Austin from Indiana, home of the Chicago Bears.
21:39Daniel, really? Hi, my name is Austin. I'm from Indiana.
21:42I have a question about a keeper league. It's a half PPR keeper league.
21:47And you have to give up the round that you drafted the person in if you keep him.
21:53I have Rasheed Rice, and I drafted him in the fifth round.
21:57Would you keep him over Trey McBride, who would have to give up a second round pick for?
22:04Thank you. All right. So it's either Rasheed Rice in the fifth or Trey McBride in the second.
22:10That is a good one. And first out, let's just say, right, Rice is a tricky player because it's hard to rely on him.
22:18And, you know, I think someone famous once said that your availability was your greatest ability.
22:23That's a quote that like people in sports tend to say.
22:27But as it pertains to Rice, he is currently the ninth wide receiver coming off boards in the third round.
22:34So if you get him in the fifth, that's a pretty good value.
22:38McBride, I will say, does offer a higher floor.
22:41But he's also going in the second or third round of most drafts.
22:46You're not getting any value there. And really, I'm not particularly worried.
22:50Maybe I should be about Rice's volatility. He was, in fact, in my recent column.
22:55Red flag players will probably draft anyway. So I'm going to go with Rice and take the value and the upside.
23:02I am with you on that, Liz. When I am picking a keeper, I'm picking them because I want the value I'm
23:10getting at that position, not me paying full price when I could just draft that player there anyways, which is why I would also go with Rasheed Rice.
23:19All right. This last one comes from our guy Ty in Arizona.
23:23Hey, guys. This is Ty calling in from Arizona.
23:26Just wanted to shoot out a question. What you guys thought or if I'm crazy going back-to-back-to-back running back in this year's
23:34draft or if it would be better to do back-to-back running back than third round receivers?
23:39I mean, listen, Ty, I appreciate that you were paying attention because we said running back drives up early and he was
23:47like, I'm going to take them all. We did.
23:50Give me the hoard, all the running backs. So I will say I don't hate back-to-back running backs because there is some
23:57solid value available at wide receiver in the third round.
24:01Fun fact, last year from wide receiver 10 down to wide receiver 29, there was less than three points a week of separation.
24:09So you can still get some great producers. If you draft in the third round of wide receiver, you're probably looking at A.J.
24:17Brown, Nico Collins, George Pickens is your wide receiver one.
24:20I feel pretty comfortable with that as long as I know I've shored up the running back position.
24:26All of those guys, those wide receivers I just mentioned, have top 12 positional appeal.
24:31So I don't mind it, but back-to-back-to-back, I think you're missing out on too much value at a different position if you do that.
24:39Bunch of great questions. Make sure you guys keep coming back with even more questions.
24:45If you did not hear your question on today's show, it's probably because we're saving it for future episodes.
24:51We'd love to have a good bank of questions.
24:54And if you want to add to that, you can give us a call at 323-391-4855.
25:00Last call! Today we learned that I definitely want to have a beer with my new friend Emma from Chicago, that Dopp
25:07has a potential second career as a matchmaker, and that not all draft spots are created equal.
25:13Discovering a potential advantage may not necessarily guarantee you victory, but it does improve your odds.
25:18All right, gang, definitely give us a call. Keep those voicemails coming.
25:22The number to dial is 323-391-4855. And come hang out with us at the Fantasy Focus live show on August 20th in New York City.
25:31The link to grab tickets is in the show description.
25:34Until next time, may your facts be solid, your feelings be right, and your busts be someone else's problem.
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