PodcastFrom Fantasy Focus Football

Players that NEED to be on your radar | Fantasy Focus

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

1 hr 7 min

Duration

Estimated from transcript

Sep 3, 2026

Published

Thu, September 3, 2026

Player insights

Players mentioned

Topics

Harold FanninJoe BurrowStefon DiggsA.J. BrownBrian Thomas Jr.Brock BowersCaleb WilliamsChris RodriguezColston LovelandD'Andre SwiftDak PrescottDalton KincaidDavante AdamsDrake Maye

Player analysis

Player insights

A.J. Brown

PositiveProjection10:12

A.J. Brown is a top-10 wide receiver who is poised for a monster season due to his elite deep-threat ability. Despite efficiency struggles on deep targets with previous quarterbacks, he is lethal when connected with. The move to Drake May, who led the NFL in deep passer rating (131.0) last season, creates a potentially elite deep-passing connection.

Insight page

Brian Thomas Jr.

NegativeDepth Chart54:46

There is speculation that the Jaguars could trade Thomas Jr. because he is a regime-specific player drafted by a previous front office, potentially leading to depreciated value.

Insight page

Brock Bowers

PositiveProjection5:28

Brock Bowers remains the source's tight end one for fantasy rankings, with his outlook unchanged by the quarterback situation in Las Vegas.

Insight page

Caleb Williams

NegativeProjection29:39

The source ranks Caleb Williams as a top-10 quarterback but expresses a desire to see more consistency from him. While he possesses elite 'gunslinger' traits, he needs to focus on making the easy plays to reach his full potential.

Insight page

Chris Rodriguez

NegativeBust64:36

The source expects Chris Rodriguez to be an 'annoying' fantasy player rather than a productive one, comparing his role to Tyler Allgeier. While he could see touches if Brian Robinson Jr. were to get injured, the source believes he will primarily serve to cap the upside of the primary back.

Insight page

Colston Loveland

PositiveValue35:50

The source is highly optimistic about Colston Loveland, ranking him as a top-tier tight end option who could potentially break the mold and finish as a top-two player at the position.

Insight page

D'Andre Swift

PositiveValue26:05

The source is high on DeAndre Swift as an RB2 with RB1 upside in certain builds, noting he has been the most consistent player in Bears training camp. He is expected to dominate backfield touches over Khalil Herbert and benefit from a high-scoring offense led by Ben Johnson.

Insight page

Dak Prescott

NegativeValue30:51

The source ranks Joe Burrow ahead of Dak Prescott, noting that while their mobility and wide receiver situations are similar, Burrow is considered the slightly better overall player.

Insight page

Dalton Kincaid

PositiveBust50:05

The source is out on Kincaid as a sleeper, viewing him as a TE2. The addition of DJ Moore may further siphon targets, and he is not worth a roster spot waiting for a breakout.

Insight page

Davante Adams

NegativeValue16:43

Davante Adams is viewed as a veteran with a solid floor but limited ceiling compared to other options in his ADP range (WR20). While he maintains touchdown upside in a high-scoring Rams offense, the source notes concerns regarding his age (33), target regression, and his role as the number two receiver behind Puka Nacua.

Insight page

Drake Maye

PositiveProjection12:24

Drake May is highlighted as an elite deep passer who led the NFL in deep passer rating (131.0) and completion percentage last season while ranking seventh in deep attempts, suggesting he will be a massive upgrade for his receivers.

Insight page

Fernando Mendoza

PositiveBreakout5:41

The source expects Fernando Mendoza to take over as the Raiders' starting quarterback within four to six weeks, noting he has a higher ceiling than Kirk Cousins and could provide more overall upside for the offense once he starts.

Insight page

George Kittle

NegativeInjury38:55

There are concerns about Kittle's recovery and performance coming back from an ACL injury.

Insight page

Harold Fannin

NegativeProjection33:30

Harold Fannin Jr. is viewed as a TE1, but the source expresses concern regarding the Browns' offense, quarterback situation, and the addition of two first-round wide receivers who will compete for targets.

Insight page

PositiveProjection38:43

Despite team-related question marks, Fannin is considered a really awesome player with expectations for good things in his second year.

Insight page

Jake Ferguson

NegativeRole46:54

Ferguson is viewed as a solid, steady, low-end TE1 (ranked 10-12) rather than a high-ceiling 'sizzle' player. His production last year was largely driven by teammate injuries.

Insight page

Jalen Hurts

NegativeProjection40:32

The source is out on Hurts due to declining efficiency and a less effective 'tush push' play.

Insight page

Joe Burrow

NegativeInjury19:17

The source notes that Joe Burrow's injury history is a persistent concern for drafters, though he remains an elite fantasy option when healthy, citing his performance last year of seven straight weeks with 250+ yards and two touchdowns.

Insight page

NegativeProjection25:49

Joe Burrow is a high-floor quarterback who has scored 20+ fantasy points in 44.1% of his games over the last three seasons. He is considered a preferred target in leagues with six-point passing touchdowns and yardage bonuses, though injury history remains a concern for drafters.

Insight page

Jordan Love

PositiveProjection61:34

The source is bullish on Jordan Love, ranking him as QB16 and suggesting he could outperform his current ADP. The reasoning is a potential shift to a more pass-heavy offense due to uncertainty and injury concerns surrounding the Packers' running back room (Marshawn Lloyd, Chris Brooks, Caleb Johnson).

Insight page

Kaytron Allen

PositiveSleeper44:59

Allen is identified as a rookie with high-end upside playing behind a starting running back (Brian Robinson Jr. for the Commanders) who is okay but not great.

Insight page

Kenneth Gainwell

PositiveSleeper58:37

The source highlights Kenny Gainwell as a 'steak not sizzle' sleeper, noting he was 5th among RBs in targets and receiving yards and 4th in catches last year. While he will have an ordinary rushing role behind Bucky Irving, he is a valuable asset in trailing or high-tempo situations. He is ranked as a borderline RB3/4 and is considered a favorite late-round target.

Insight page

Khalil Herbert

NegativeUsage30:44

The source projects Khalil Herbert to have a 35-40% role in the Bears' backfield, specifically serving as the 'closer' in games where the team is leading or playing in cold weather late in the season.

Insight page

Kirk Cousins

NegativeRole5:18

Kirk Cousins has been officially named the starter for the Raiders, but the source views this as a 'nothing burger' for fantasy purposes, as it was widely expected and does not change the fantasy outlook for teammates like Brock Bowers or Ashton Gentry.

Insight page

Kyle Pitts

NegativeProjection38:47

Pitts faces uncertainty regarding his consistency and the quarterback situation in Atlanta.

Insight page

Matthew Golden

PositiveBreakout66:13

The source identifies Matthew Golden as a player to watch in the Packers' offense. Given the expectation that the team will be more Jordan Love-centric and pass-heavy, the source suggests Golden has an opportunity to carve out a significant role as a first-round talent.

Insight page

Parker Washington

PositiveBreakout52:15

Washington is a preferred target who was WR15 from weeks 9-18 last year, outperforming Zay Flowers and Drake London in yards per route run. He is a productive, efficient player who benefits from playing alongside Zay Jones/Jacoby Myers.

Insight page

Patrick Mahomes

NegativeValue62:48

The source views Patrick Mahomes as a high-end QB2 rather than a low-end QB1 for fantasy purposes. While acknowledging his status as the best player in the NFL, the source notes that a more effective running game (signing Kenneth Walker III) and a lack of elite wide receiver depth outside of Rashee Rice will likely lead to fewer rushing attempts and a shift toward a more efficient, play-action-based passing attack.

Insight page

Rhamondre Stevenson

PositiveUsage48:32

Stevenson is a rock-solid player in line for legitimate early-season work. He is one of only seven players with 30+ catches and 7+ rushing TDs in each of the last two seasons.

Insight page

Sam LaPorta

NegativeInjury38:47

There are lingering concerns regarding LaPorta's health heading into the season.

Insight page

Saquon Barkley

PositiveValue39:15

Barkley is currently being drafted at his floor (RB10-ish); if he performs at a middle-of-the-road level compared to his elite historical ceiling, he will pay off his current draft cost.

Insight page

Stefon Diggs

PositiveValue56:18

Diggs is a great value in the 11th round, offering a safe veteran floor. He has been a top-25 WR every season since 2017 and is expected to be a trusted option for Jayden Daniels.

Insight page

PositiveValue57:58

The source is high on Stefon Diggs, noting he finished 12th in catches and over 1,000 yards last year despite playing only 55% of snaps while recovering from an ACL tear. The source ranks him 14 spots higher than Mike and views him as a strong value pick, arguing that while he lacks the 'shiny toy' appeal of other receivers, his production profile is undervalued.

Insight page

Tee Higgins

NegativeRole21:51

The source describes Tee Higgins as a consistent, low-maintenance WR2 who has never caught 75 passes in a season and has only topped 1,000 yards twice in six years. While he provides a safe floor, he lacks the upside of a true WR1, even when Ja'Marr Chase is sidelined.

Insight page

Full transcript

Episode Transcript

860

0:00We all know Saturday's game time can get a little messy.

0:03Your crew came over to watch, snacks on the table, drinks in hand, and somebody celebrating like they just won the whole season and beyond.

0:10And when that energy gets going, your walls can end up taking the hit.

0:15Whether it's a big spill or a noticeable scuff, that's where Bayer Ultra Interior Paint comes in.

0:19It adds an extra durable stain-blocking finish that helps your walls hold up for the whole season.

0:24It also delivers outstanding coverage and hide in fewer coats with easy application.

0:28and a smooth, even finish that goes on clean from the first pass.

0:32Plus, that easy, clean finish helps walls stay looking new longer.

0:35So before the next kickoff, give your space, game-ready defense and coverage that goes the distance.

0:40Bayer Ultra, only at the Home Depot. Friends, welcome into Fantasy Focus Football alongside Field Yates.

0:45Man, I see a computer right now. Yeah, that's it.

0:47I think he left it here. Is that his backup computer?

0:51Probably, yeah. His spare computer? It's the Fernando Mendoza of computers to Mike Clay.

0:55That's right. It's going to make more sense when we dive into the news in a moment.

1:00My name is Daniel Dopp. It is just the two of us as Mike is on vacation one more time.

1:05He thought, you know what, guys? I only have one more chance before we get into the season.

1:11I already thought we were in the season field.

1:13Right, I mean, since you and I last were on vacation, Mike has now embarked on a second vacation.

1:19A second vacation. Must be nice. Shout out to Mike.

1:22Okay, well, I miss Mike a little bit. On today's show, we're going to dive into a bunch of really fun things.

1:28So Field and I bring in some players that need to be on your radar.

1:33Guys, inside the top 70, we maybe just haven't talked about enough yet this year.

1:37We want to make sure that we get to them, as well as diving into some flex appeal names in the second half of the show.

1:44Going to be a ton of fun talking about names outside the top 70.

1:49Yep. First and foremost, I want to tell you guys a really quick, fun bit of information.

1:53Our guy, Eric Moody, getting a show on Sunday morning.

1:56That's right. Eric is always in the chat with us here on Fantasy Focus.

2:00And now, Fantasy Focus Sunday kickoff presented by Lowe's is going to be live on the NFL on ESPN YouTube page every Sunday.

2:07You can get all of your lineup questions answered live from 1130 a.m.

2:11to 1 p.m., a second screen experience while we're doing Fantasy Focus countdown field.

2:15People are going to get their questions answered. Okay, Eric Moody.

2:18That's right, baby. Okay, so we're not just talking about a new show.

2:22We're talking about a new show that's sponsored. That's right.

2:25Right? Like, it's sponsored by Lowe's. Shout out to Lowe's.

2:28That's right. Love those guys. Eric Moody. Like, he has put himself into the race for Time's Person of the Year.

2:34He's put himself into the race for the 50 most influential sports figures of 2026.

2:38I see you, Eric Moody. Respect. So get all your questions to Eric Moody.

2:42That's right. Of course, on Fantasy Focus countdown, we try our best to get some lineup questions answered during the show.

2:49And maybe all the lineup questions, though, go to Moody.

2:51Correct. Maybe today, just as like a little bit of a teaser, we thought, why not bring you a bonus episode?

2:581 p.m. today, Eastern. Get all of your draft advice and all of the questions you want answered.

3:03Eric Moody going to be there on the NFL on ESPN YouTube page.

3:07So shout out to him. And go check that out this afternoon as well.

3:11Field, we got a little bit of news from the league before we decide to dive into the players that need to be on your radar.

3:18It's a very small bit of news. Kirk Cousins officially designated as the starter for this Raiders team.

3:23What does that mean to you? Nothing. For fantasy.

3:26Okay. Here's what I would say. My ranking for Ashton Gentry and for Brock Bowers is the exact same as it was.

3:32Going into, or before this news was officially announced.

3:35Because A, we all thought this was going to happen.

3:38Yes. B, it's not like Kirk Cousins is a, and Fernando Mendoza is going to be on your fantasy radar right now.

3:44Right? Like those guys, obviously, Fernando Mendoza has a way higher ceiling as a player.

3:49And he'll get there in time compared to where Kirk Cousins is right now.

3:53But I don't think that any of us expect that week one of his starting career, Fernando Mendoza, lights the world on

3:59fire in a way that Kirk Cousins can't get to occasionally.

4:02And all of a sudden Brock Bowers goes from tight end one to tight end zero.

4:07Like how does he move forward from here? And none of the wide receivers were really on our radar prior to this.

4:13So no, nothing burger for me. I can't wait to see Fernando Mendoza as the Vegas starter.

4:18That to me as the biggest piece of news from here is that we don't get Fernando Mendoza early, but it was expected.

4:25It has no fantasy impact whatsoever for me. Is this one of those things where even if Kirk Cousins is playing well,

4:32you think eventually there's just like a time where it's like, all right, nope, we drafted this kid for a reason.

4:38I mean, if he's playing great, they're not going to play Fernando Mendoza until they need to.

4:43But I don't think Kirk Cousins is going to play great.

4:46I agree. I mean, he was embattled over the past few seasons with Atlanta.

4:50I expect it to be a, I don't know, call it four to six week run before Fernando Mendoza takes over.

4:56And then the fun really begins. And at that point, maybe there's a little bit more overall upside for the offense.

5:02But as far as preseason rankings go, Brock Bowers already tight end one for me and Ashton Gentry, who we'll talk about

5:08or we have talked about a bunch in that second tier of running backs.

5:13And no Vegas wide receiver was registering on our fantasy radar right now.

5:16Nope, they were not field. But we are going to talk about some players that do need to be on your fantasy radar.

5:23And we brought a couple of different kind of names here, field.

5:27I got some names, too, that I brought us.

5:29I got some names I think that we need to know about and some names that I'm going to dismiss.

5:35But you need to know about them at least to decide where you're at on those players.

5:40So we brought seven players inside the top 70 of ADP.

5:43I'm going to start with you, my friend. Who are you going to go with first?

5:48Yeah, I think just we have talked about a ton of players.

5:51And we have talked about probably all these players a little bit.

5:55But as you guys know, for our daily audience that watches or listens or comments while watching, we've hit a ton of

6:01Jeremiah Love and Colston Loveland and Justin Herbert and Christian McCaffrey and Omari and Hampton content, which has made us feel a

6:08little bit thin on some other guys. So I'm going to begin, though, with A.J.

6:12Brown, who is a top 10 wide receiver in rank by all of us here at ESPN.

6:17And in terms of overall ADP, going at the 2-3 turn, I think everybody knows that A.J.

6:22Brown is a remarkably talented player. There is a chance that we see the best version of A.J.

6:27Brown ever. Now, there's also a chance that we see the worst version of A.J.

6:31Brown because he's getting older and he had a knee issue that, according to Adam Schefter, sort of gave the Rams some

6:38pause when they were discussing an A.J. Brown trade, which that was before the Miles Garrett trade.

6:43I don't think both of those things happened. But I think that A.J.

6:47Brown is in for a monster, monster season. The hallmark of A.J.

6:50Brown's game is his speed, his ability to stretch the field.

6:53Over the past four years with the Eagles, he had 21 deep touchdown passes, which is passes that went over 20 air

7:00yards before they reached the receiver's hands. No player in the NFL had more than A.J.

7:04Brown during those four years and is 21. That's what he does.

7:08During his time with the Eagles, his average touchdown length was 24.6 yards.

7:12That's incredible. Nearly every touchdown catch he had was nearly 25 yards.

7:15Okay. And yet, he was not playing with a good deep-throwing quarterback.

7:19From 2022 to 2025, A.J. Brown caught just 43.5% of his deep targets for some perspective.

7:23That was 62nd out of 88 qualified wide receivers.

7:26However, he scored the most fantasy points per deep catch.

7:29As in, like, the efficiency wasn't great, but when he did connect, he is lethal because he's bigger, faster, and stronger than

7:35almost every defensive back that is going to be anywhere near him.

7:39He goes from Jalen Hurts to Drake May. Yep.

7:41How does Drake May stack up as a deep passer?

7:44That's a great question, Field. How about this, Daniel?

7:47You know, last year, he had a deep passer rating of 131.0.

7:50Seems high. The average in the NFL was 103.3.

7:53Drake May was the best deep passer on deep passer rating in the NFL last season.

7:58He was. And this wasn't a case where Drake May was great, but didn't throw the football down the field all that often, right?

8:05There are guys who don't shoot that many three-pointers, but they've hit 50% of them, and people are saying, well, Steph Curry was only at 41%.

8:12This guy might be a better shooter than Steph Curry.

8:15That's a crazy argument to make because Steph is the greatest shooter of all time.

8:19Drake May may not be the best deep passer of all time, but he was seventh in the NFL in attempts last year.

8:26So not only was he throwing the football incredibly well down the field, he was throwing the football a lot down the field.

8:33And he wasn't throwing to A.J. Brown. His best deep threat last year was Keyshawn Booty, who's a fine player, who the

8:39Patriots traded for a six-round pick and a depth-level safety.

8:42Yeah. This Drake May to A.J. Brown connection could be as lethal as any deep connection in the NFL, and maybe not

8:49just, like, for this year, but that we have seen over the past few seasons.

8:53I'm with you on that field, Jates. I love A.J.

8:56Brown this year for all the reasons that you just explained.

8:59Who led the league in completion percentage last year, just across the board?

9:03Do you know who it was? I'm going to go with Drake May.

9:07It was Drake May. Thank you. Even though he was throwing the ball farther downfield and having all of this luck, not

9:13luck, I shouldn't say luck, having all of this ability to find his receivers downfield, he didn't even have a guy like A.J.

9:20Brown. I am so with you. This is a match made in heaven.

9:23Yeah. I am trying really hard not to get excited to think about my...

9:27I had a bold prediction at the end of last year.

9:31A.J. Brown, 1,700 receiving yards this season. He then gets traded to...

9:34Is that on FF Countdown? It was on FF Now.

9:37FF Countdown, yes. Nice. And so now he gets traded to this team where it's like, that actually might be a possibility.

9:44Are we going to see, like, a little mini Randy Moss in the A.J.

9:48Brown game here in New England? I'm just saying.

9:50There's at least a possibility because this kid, both of their skill sets just match up so well with each other.

9:56Love the argument. They really do. But be patient.

9:59A.J. Brown is in for a monster season. What about Devontae Adams, Field?

10:03Tell me about him. We've been out on the Devontae Adams train for a long time because the dude has been unbelievable.

10:09Top 10 in, let me see, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

10:13Seven straight seasons heading into last year. The dude was awesome.

10:16Last year, though, we started to see a little bit of a different kind of Devontae Adams because his targets came down.

10:23Fewest targets since 2017. 2017 was a long time ago, Field.

10:26Yeah, it was. That was, wow. That was nine years ago.

10:29Wow. Man. Fewest targets since 2017. And when you look at what he did in the end zone, his end zone targets were through the roof.

10:36He was clearly this massive touchdown maker for Matthew Stafford.

10:39And Matthew Stafford did something that most quarterbacks aren't able to do as far as a repeatable thing year in and year out.

10:46Okay. 40-plus touchdowns. That's hard to do. It's a really difficult thing to be able to do.

10:51I love Devontae Adams. He's 33 years old. And I think we have seen his ADP now, coming off the board as

10:57wide receiver 20, fall into what feels like an appropriate spot because we know what this offense is.

11:03We know what his quarterback is like. We know who he is as a player.

11:07The question more is, as a veteran that we know is on the back nine, you know, back two or three of

11:13his career, what do you still think that Devontae Adams can be?

11:17And are you just saying, when I go into a draft, I'd rather have the upside of someone else that's around him,

11:23or I'm okay with him being a veteran that's just going to give me a nice solid floor?

11:29I think there's a couple of different ways you can approach it.

11:32I want to give you a few names just around him to think about.

11:36Let me guess. Terry McLaurin. Terry McLaurin is right there next to him.

11:40D.K. Metcalf? D.K. Metcalf. No, he's too far down.

11:43Okay. Got it. Yep. Um, Ameca Abuka. Yep. Lad McConkie.

11:45Yep. I prefer McConkie. Devontae Adams. Yep. T. Higgins.

11:48Jalen Waddell. DJ Moore. Terry McLaurin. I think I would have him probably like fourth out of those six guys.

11:54Out of those six guys? Yeah. And I don't dislike Devontae Adams, but he's not a guy that I'm targeting because within

12:00this offense, he's the number two guy. I think major touchdown regression.

12:04Mike talked about that when he was here on the show a couple of times about how much we know that is going to come down.

12:11I think when you look at this Rams offense, the way that they started to utilize two running backs as well, quite a bit in that situation.

12:19I have a lot of guys around him that I just think have more upside in their game.

12:24He's that veteran that still has a nice floor, but he's not going to give you those peak Devontae weeks that we used to see.

12:32So if you're drafting him, you're drafting a veteran that you think you're getting a good value on, but you're not getting a ceiling play.

12:39And because of that, I think with where you're drafting him in the fifth round, I'd rather have a higher ceiling play than Devontae Adams.

12:46So I just think it's important to understand where he's at in his career, what he's done recently, how his team is going to play out.

12:54I don't think he's a bad pick to be able to go out and get him, but there are a couple of

13:00guys that I would rather have over him in that range.

13:03My reasons for more optimism are as follows. There's three of them.

13:07One is you mentioned the insane touchdown upside. Like that does persist because massive Stafford has 40 or more touchdown passes in

13:13two of his five seasons with the Rams. He, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, probably the three best bets for 40 passing touchdowns this upcoming season as well.

13:21So I still think there is crazy touchdown upside for Devontae Adams.

13:25Last year, Devontae was managing this hamstring injury, which sort of relegated him to being a role player.

13:30It just turned out that it was the greatest role in the history of fantasy football, which was we don't throw the

13:36football down the field very often to you, but we throw the football every time we're within like six feet of the goal line.

13:43It was Jimmy Graham. Yeah, it was Jimmy Graham.

13:46Good call right there. Yes. So I still like the fact that I think there's a chance that he has a more

13:52expanded role this year because he is healthy going into the season.

13:56And the third reason for optimism for me, which is why I have him six spots ahead of you, wide receiver 20,

14:02you're at wide receiver 26, is that Devontae is an injury to, or a suspension to Puka Nakua away from being the

14:09wide receiver one in a ridiculous offense. True. So those are the reasons why I'm more optimistic than you are.

14:14But 33, Mike probably would side with you. Wide receiver, age 33 season, not named Larry Fitzgerald.

14:19Mike, proverbial computer Mike right here, is breaking the tie by saying good call by Daniel.

14:24Hey, thanks. Thanks for that computer Mike. Yeah. Every game day starts before the lights go up.

14:29Before the snap, before the roar, something's already at work.

14:32Cleaner, quieter energy production. Running where the game lives.

14:35Strong enough for fourth and goal, smart enough for what comes next.

14:38Powering game day. Powering the fans and powering the communities that show up every Saturday.

14:42The same energy that runs your stadium, runs the schools and the hospital in your neighborhood.

14:47That is performance. Powered by Bloom Energy. Powering game days.

14:50Powering communities. Getting out of high interest credit card debt is hard by yourself, which is why SoFi thinks it should be a team sport.

14:57Help yourself out with a SoFi personal loan and consolidate your high interest debt into one low monthly payment.

15:03Save even more with no fees required and do it with the speed you need with as soon as the same day funding.

15:09Put SoFi in, coach. Visit SoFi.com slash team sport to learn more.

15:13Loans originated by SoFi Bank, NA member FDIC, terms and conditions apply, and MLS 696891.

15:17Fast funds terms apply at SoFi.com slash team sport.

15:20As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy.

15:23But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back.

15:27From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly.

15:33Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions.

15:37And because Grainger knows safety is always a top priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities.

15:44Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. Where are you going with your next one, Field?

15:49Joe Burrow, who we've talked a ton about all the quarterbacks, and there's so many good quarterbacks.

15:54One of the reasons why we haven't discussed Joe Burrow as much is just because we've spent a lot of time on,

16:00I don't know, 14 or 15 other quarterbacks that could have huge seasons, which I still believe is the case.

16:06And I don't feel any differently about those guys, but I wanted to speak more about Joe.

16:11Can I ask you a question before you get into this?

16:14Yeah, absolutely. Last year, did you have, because I did, did you have Joe Burrow at the very end of your Tier 1 of quarterbacks?

16:21Yes, I did, yes. And this year it feels like that's not the case for me.

16:26He's not in that same echelon right now. A little lower, and part of that is, I think, because of some guys that have made the leap.

16:34Correct. You know, Jackson Dart has made the, you know, I think some people could make the case he has made the leap.

16:41Mike certainly would. Yes. You know my optimism on Justin Herbert.

16:44Jalen Hurts is the other guy that's kind of trending in the wrong direction, but could certainly reassert himself as a Tier 1, Yep.

16:51QB1. But let's just sort of give you some numbers about Joe Burrow and how effective he has been.

16:56Over the past three seasons, if you just look at quarterbacks with, I use 25 games because there might be a guy

17:03who's played one game in week 17 against a fake defense or some young quarterbacks that have done it.

17:08Joe Burrow has scored 20 or more fantasy points in 44.1% of his games over the past three seasons.

17:1420 or more? 20 or more, yes. So that's a good number, right?

17:18That's a good number. It's, he's below the likes of Josh Allen.

17:21Not the likes of. He is below four other quarterbacks in percentage.

17:24Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, and Brock Purdy.

17:27Hey, I mean. But Purdy, similar to Joe Burrow, has crazy upside.

17:31Yep. But Joe, it just feels like the chances of him throwing for 250 passing yards and two touchdowns every single week

17:37are as good as any player in the NFL.

17:40Agreed. Like, really there. And since, if you look at the turn of the century, since 2000, Joe Burrow is third in

17:46the NFL in touchdown passes through 77 career starts.

17:49157, nine fewer than Aaron Rodgers, and 29 fewer than a player named Patrick Mahomes, who we'll discuss a little bit later on.

17:55There's a little bit of mobility here for Joe.

17:58Not crazy. Like, enough. He's not going to run for 500 yards in a season.

18:02Mike's got him projected for 189 rushing yards, which isn't crazy, but it's not Matthew Stafford or Jared Goff where you're getting a literal zero for them.

18:10Yep. So I think Joe Burrow just needs to be discussed a little bit more.

18:15I've happily walked away from my draft with Joe Burrow, and I play in a couple of leagues with six-point passing touchdown scoring styles.

18:22Love Joe Burrow. So in those, I'm in another league which has a draft on Tuesday night that not only do you

18:28get six points for a passing touchdown, but you get point bonuses for 300 and 400-yard passing games plus 40 and 50-yard

18:34touchdown passes, and Joe Burrow will be a preferred target of mine in that league.

18:39Absolutely. I mean, especially given the way that he plays that game and all the things that he does with his wide

18:45receivers who we will talk about in just a minute.

18:48Yeah. We've got a question from chat actually about Joe Burrow.

18:51Would you go with Joe Burrow or Dak Prescott and the wide receivers that Dak and that Cowboys offense has for you?

18:58I've got Joe Burrow ranked ahead of Dak. I think he is a slightly better player.

19:02I think the mobility is pretty similar between these two guys.

19:05The wide receiver duo is pretty similar between these two guys.

19:09Agreed. I just think Joe Burrow is a little bit better player than Dak Prescott.

19:13I think you are right. I would go with Joe as well.

19:17The big caveat for me and the reason why I think people are at least have knocked Joe down is because we saw it again last year.

19:24Like he missed a good portion of the season, unfortunately.

19:27There's always this like injury thing. It's kind of hanging over your head when you draft Joe Burrow and you hate to

19:34put it on a guy, but that's happened. So if you draft Joe Burrow, I got no problems with it because when

19:40the guy is healthy and starting, he's one of the best.

19:43How many, he had like seven straight weeks of 250 plus yards and two touchdowns or something like that last year.

19:49The dude is unbelievable. We have another question here from Zebediah wants to know Burrow burned me last year because of his turf toe.

19:56This is what I'm talking about. Field, do we know if his O-line is going to be better this year?

20:02They did address it a little bit in the off season.

20:05They feel like their offensive line is going to be better.

20:09Yeah. I don't know that I guarantee that, but they have two high profile offensive tackles.

20:13Yep. They've got some steady interior presence. None of them are great, right?

20:17I would say this is like at best a mid-pack offensive line at best.

20:21Yeah. I'd have to go check. I know Mike has that piece that he put out recently that overviews how offensive lines are ranked.

20:28And as Mike explained a couple of days ago on our show, it's not Mike's personal rankings, right?

20:33It's not Mike Goldick Jr. It's Mike Clay Jr., right?

20:36That's right. He's not grading every guard and tackle and putting together a ranking.

20:40Mike is compiling offensive line rankings from several reputable sources around the web, finding consensus, or not consensus, finding an average amongst

20:47those rankings, and then pushing those out in an aggregate ranking of those offensive lines.

20:51I can't recall where Cincinnati was. I'm going to guess they were like at best 16th.

20:56At best. And it might be more like 22.

20:58Yeah. They should be better. It's fine. Whatever it was last year, there is an expectation that it will be better here

21:05in 2026 with the way we've addressed it. Part of that is because they still do have two really good wide receivers

21:11field, one of them being Jamar Chase, the other one being T.

21:15Higgins, who we honestly don't really talk about a whole lot.

21:18I don't even know what there is to talk about with T.

21:21Higgins. Because I know why. That's right. We know exactly who this player is, right?

21:26Yes. So I wanted to talk about him because we haven't yet, but I figured it was worth it in talking about T.

21:32Higgins because he's still a serviceable wide receiver too.

21:35I never feel super excited to draft him though because I feel like when he's been given the keys when Jamar Chase

21:41hasn't been there, it's not like, wow, this guy flourished into an unbelievable wide receiver one.

21:46I actually think George Pickens did a better job of that last year when there was no C.D.

21:51Lamb than we've often seen with T. Higgins being the wide receiver one in Cincinnati.

21:56However, I've never seen T. Higgins, there's a bunch of things he's not done.

22:00Never seen him catch at least 75 balls in a season.

22:03That's not really his game. Never had 75 balls in a season.

22:06He has topped 1,000 yards twice in his six-year career, which was surprising to me.

22:11I would have thought T. Higgins had more than 2,000-yard seasons.

22:14The last two years is where it's really been making his money.

22:1810 touchdowns and 11 touchdowns from his guy, Joe Burrow.

22:20And last year, obviously, it was tough to start the season without Joe being there for the beginning of it.

22:26I know Joe Flacco was there, still a serviceable quarterback.

22:29But I'm looking at this situation. This is what he has done so far in his career.

22:34Last five years, wide receiver 13, wide receiver 19, wide receiver 41, wide receiver 6, wide receiver 15.

22:39So more often than not, if you, and I realize there's two extremes there.

22:43The wide receiver 6 season, the wide receiver 41 season, feels like he's just somewhere in that mid-range wide receiver 2.

22:50He's going to be a consistent option for you.

22:52He'll have a couple of boom weeks. He might have some lean weeks because of the fact he's got Jamar Chase and Chase Brown also in this offense.

23:00But T. Higgins, I think, is exactly who we think he is.

23:04I have a name, a veteran, and I'm going to pause for dramatic effect.

23:08All right. If anybody's out there listening or watching or chatting right now, and you can think of this, there was a

23:14receiver who for, I don't know, probably about a half a decade we would talk about him and we'd try to analyze

23:21him early in his career and then we just kind of accepted that like when you draft the player, you take the

23:27good with the bad with the unhealthy. He was injury prone, scored a lot of touchdowns, super talented, huge, like T.

23:33Higgins. No, but that's another good example. All right, dang it.

23:36The answer is Mike Williams for the Chargers. Yes.

23:39It was like, hey, Mike Williams. And I think that T.

23:42Higgins, in some ways, is a low maintenance wide receiver too.

23:45What I mean by that is you sign up for all the good, all the bad, and all the potentially unavailable when you draft T.

23:53Higgins. Yep. 21 touchdowns over the past two seasons, tied for the second most receiving touchdowns last year with 11.

23:59Love that. But he might have a, I don't know, five games where you want to pull your hair out.

24:04You can't do that when you draft T. Higgins.

24:07Right? Like we acknowledge he is a wide receiver too in his own offense.

24:11It's hard for a wide receiver too in his own offense to be anything more than a wide receiver too in fantasy football.

24:18The Cowboys are one of those rare exceptions where that might be the case.

24:22Right? And I think that T. Higgins is going to have some weak winning games.

24:26Yep. And he's going to have some games where you just don't really bother watching it and you stomach the 8.4 fantasy points and move on.

24:34This is four of his last five seasons. Yep.

24:36219 points, 220 points, 222 points, 211 points. So, his last two seasons he's been within basically nine points of each other

24:43for all four of those five seasons. Unbelievable, very consistent.

24:46But yes, when you draft T. Higgins, this is a part of it.

24:49I don't feel like super sexy drafting T. Higgins, but he's still obviously one of the best wide receivers in the game

24:56attached to one of the best quarterbacks that you just mentioned in an offense that is going to score a ton of points.

25:03So, first of all, you should always feel sexy.

25:05You're a handsome man. I appreciate you. Second of all, when you discussed earlier Devontae Adams and some of the other wide

25:12receivers right around there, you mentioned T. Higgins. I did.

25:14Some of the guys that were in that tier, I think Ladd McConkie, you said T.

25:19Higgins, I got a couple of them. Karen McLaurin.

25:22Ladd McConkie. The most likely one are amongst those guys that I think you could make the case for like top 12

25:28wide receiver upside I think is Ladd McConkie. Sure.

25:31Bad McConkie. Rad McConkie. Rad McConkie. Right? Like, I could be...

25:34I'm with you. I'm not even going to say this anymore.

25:37I'm not even going to say I could be wrong.

25:40Like, we do this. That's what happens. You could be wrong all the time.

25:44I don't see T. Higgins having top 12 upside.

25:47I agree with you. You mentioned when Jamar Chase has been out, he hasn't gone super nuclear.

25:52Correct. So, if that's not happening and it's not happening when Jamar Chase is on the field, then how is it happening?

25:58Right. So, I think T. Higgins is an as advertised wide receiver two.

26:02Love that field. All right. Give me your next one, DeAndre Swift.

26:05And I thought about bringing some numbers here on DeAndre Swift and I know you're going to disagree with this one.

26:12Wait. Do you? I might be more in on...

26:14Are you in on DeAndre Swift? I am. I'm in on DeAndre Swift.

26:18I'm at running back 19. Oh, I need to move him up then.

26:22I shouldn't have... no, but I know you're also for a while a common on guy, right?

26:27Yes. And that may still be the case. But I think...

26:30I've tried to think about like what conversations we've had DeAndre Swift and the answer is not many of them so far this season, right?

26:37I've told this story. I'll just retell it in case people either forgot or weren't listening or watching on the day that I mentioned this.

26:44But I was walking through the ESPN hallways. Courtney Cronin, who covers the Bears for us, was doing a radio interview.

26:51I heard the last bit of a sentence was, which was, he's been the most consistent player in training camp for us.

26:57Yep. And I asked her after the fact, who were you talking about?

27:01Was it Luther Burden? Colson Loveland? You know, the funny part is that I thought it might be Colson Loveland and she

27:07was like, it wasn't Colston, but Colston has been right there neck and neck with this player.

27:12Or like, you know, he's been amongst the most consistent.

27:15So she's like, your optimism on Colston Loveland looks to be well-founded.

27:18Which is DeAndre Swift. Oh, it was DeAndre Swift?

27:21DeAndre Swift. So this is a good offensive line.

27:24Now, some attrition for sure. They're still trying to figure out exactly what their left tackle spot looks like.

27:29Andrew Dahlman, their very strong center, decided to retire abruptly this offseason.

27:33They both traded for a veteran and drafted a second-round center.

27:36And there before. Yeah, but you trust this, like, you trust Ben Johnson running games.

27:40Absolutely. That's like a fundamental fact of real life.

27:43Now, I know that we're trusting a lot of things right now in this Bears offense.

27:48I think the reality about the Bears offense is that because we think they're going to score a lot of points, there

27:54is theoretical upside for each of the pass catchers.

27:57Yep. Loveland, Dunze, and Burden. Yep. And Caleb Williams.

27:59Yep. And the backfield, DeAndre Swift. So, to me, DeAndre Swift is just kind of an overlooked, solid RB2 who's going to

28:06see a lot of opportunities as a runner. He's going to get way more of the opportunities as a receiver than Kyle Monunga will.

28:13Yeah. And he could walk into eight touchdowns because the Bears are going to score a lot of points.

28:18And one thing that Ben Johnson is not afraid to do is when opportunity knocks to pound the rock down your throat, he's going to make a statement.

28:26So, DeAndre Swift, my RB19, a guy that I felt comfortable leaving drafts with as my RB2, obviously, but in a build

28:33in which I took Trey McBride or Brock Bowers in the second round and my first, not knowing I was going to

28:39get those players, but you know, my first round pick was, you know, if you get JSN and then you come back

28:45around and pick 16 or something like that and you take Brock Bowers, then I can walk away with DeAndre Swift as my RB1.

28:52Oh, your RB1? If I go, if I, if you go early in a build in which I'm like, I'm going wide

28:59receiver, tight end, maybe even wide receiver again because the value is just too good.

29:03DeAndre Swift is just good enough that I can walk away with him as my RB1.

29:08And I, not perfect, but I could do it.

29:11I want a piece of this Bears offense in one way, shape or form, whether it is one of the pass catchers,

29:17whether it's Caleb or whether it's DeAndre Swift, there is a part of this Ben Johnson offense.

29:22I got to watch it enough times in Detroit.

29:24I don't care that he now plays for a rival team.

29:28The dude is unbelievable at what he does and he is going to light this team on fire again, I believe, as

29:34him and Caleb just continue to grow. This question comes from Jordan Stuck from our mailbag.

29:39Why does it seem like everyone is low on Caleb Williams?

29:42It seems like he could have a breakout year with all the tools around him.

29:46It does seem that way, Field. Well, we do have two anchors at quarterback six.

29:51Do we? Matt Bowen's there. I think Eric Moody might be there.

29:54Don't quote me on that. Moody's in the chat so he can tell me I'm a big dub idiot not the first time.

30:01I think I've got Caleb Williams at nine. I have him as a top 10 quarterback as well.

30:06It's two things. One is, there's so many quarterbacks.

30:09Two is, I just want to see it more consistently from Caleb.

30:12That's one of them. He was quarterback, I'm still blown away by this, quarterback five last year in total fantasy points but

30:19consistency is still one that I want to see more often from Caleb.

30:22He has that gene, he's got a lot of that gunslinger in him where I've seen him do some stuff where I'm

30:29just like, oh my gosh, are you kidding me?

30:31Totally. But then it's like, hey, let's make the easy plays easy, big guy.

30:35How about this one came from? Don't even bother trying.

30:38All right, thank you, Field. How big of a role will Kyle Monungay play with DeAndre Swift healthy?

30:44This is one of the questions. How big of a role will Kyle Monungay play with a healthy DeAndre Swift?

30:49We've watched Ben Johnson offenses utilize two running backs in the past.

30:53Yeah. That's two different teams though. Just because he did it in Detroit doesn't necessarily mean he's going to do the same thing in Chicago.

31:00There's a possibility though that I think you will see a healthy dosage of maybe 35, 40% Kyle Monungay and you know,

31:0760, 65% DeAndre Swift is the kind of way I look at it.

31:10Yeah, I agree. Monungay is going to have a real role and a valuable role.

31:15I also think games in which the Bears are leading and trying to kill the clock, Monungay will be the guy they lean on.

31:22Yep. And I think that when the weather turns and they play in the NFC North, they play in a division where

31:28any of their home games from like Halloween on could be bitterly cold.

31:32Yep. Although I did hear that it was 111 with the heat index yesterday in Chicago.

31:37What? Whoa, crazy. Anyways, they play bitterly cold games from basically Halloween on.

31:40It's in play. They also could play Green Bay.

31:43Actually, I don't know when they play Green Bay in Green Bay.

31:47But the bottom line is the Bears could have some cold, stinking games late in the season and I think Monungay is

31:53going to be the guy that they turn to when it's time to play grown man football.

31:58Fair. But not enough. I know you may see it slightly differently is I think you put a little bit more value

32:04in the guys that are elite insurance policies at running back.

32:07Correct. Monungay, Blake Corum being the most prominent examples that I think of there.

32:12Yes. Standalone value for Monungay I think is going to be hard to find except for in a very, very deep league.

32:18It'll be tough to make that happen with all of the pieces in that offense that we expect to get the football from a weekly basis.

32:25As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy.

32:29But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back.

32:33From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly.

32:39Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions.

32:42And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities.

32:49Call 1-800-GRAINGER, clickgrainger.com, or just stop by. This episode is brought to you by Facebook.

32:53So, you were scrolling on Marketplace, and there it was, the bike you'd been searching for.

32:58You sent a message, and it turned out the seller was super chatty, kind of funny, and an avid cyclist.

33:04The next thing you know, you're in a cycling crew, well, a community cycling group.

33:08The thing about Facebook, you might find more than what you're looking for.

33:12From a browse to a bike ride, this summer, find more on Facebook.

33:16Propel Fitness Water with Gatorade electrolytes, zero sugar, and vitamins.

33:19Propel hydrates better than water to help you get the most out of your workout and get back to your best self.

33:25What propels you? Propel with Gatorade electrolytes. Let's really quickly talk about Harold Fannin Jr.

33:30Yeah, go for it. Here's the thing. The numbers, I don't really even want to talk about the numbers with Harold Fannin Jr.

33:36He was awesome last year as a tight end.

33:39As a rookie, one of the best, not just tight ends, one of the best rookies that we saw in fantasy last year.

33:46And he was incredibly consistent down the stretch. Part of that was because they just didn't really have a lot of options.

33:52The problem with Harold Fannin Jr., and it's not even really a problem.

33:56He plays at a tight end position, tight end, where we desperately want people that are going to be out there and doing the things that he's doing.

34:04Right. He's just on a team with a crappy quarterback situation that makes everyone feel like you're dumping a bucket of cold

34:10water over what was a hot end to the season last year.

34:14So when you look at Harold Fannin, I got a bunch of guys that I really like at the tight end spot.

34:20He's right there in the middle, definitely a tight end one without question.

34:24Yep. But all of the negatives are not negatives about him or his game.

34:28Sure. It's about the offense. It's about the quarterback.

34:31It's about the organization. It's about the fact that they also brought in two first round pass catchers that they also want

34:37to try to get the ball to as well as the running back that they drafted last year in Quinjohn Judkins.

34:43There's so many things that I just don't know about this Browns offense and I feel nervous about it.

34:49Still going to be a tight end one for me, but I'm curious where you're at on Harold Fannin when you look

34:55at he falls in the middle of your tight end gap.

34:58Largely like him. I have him as tight end five.

35:01So I'm clearly a Harold Fannin optimist. To try to speak the same language I think you just spoke right there and

35:08make the case not against Harold Fannin but the causes for concern would be I think a couple fold.

35:13One is they just drafted two wide outs in the first 37 picks of the draft.

35:18So that's you know those guys Denzel Boston and Casey Concepcion could take on a real role and there's just more guys

35:24that are going to eat this upcoming year compared to where they were last year.

35:29Yep. Two is and hear me out for a second teams that were bad on offense last year are not going into

35:35this year trying to replicate the formula that worked for them last that didn't work for them last year.

35:40Right? Like correct. I don't think the Browns vision of the offense is the second half of last season when Harold Fannin took off.

35:47It's a new system new head coach and Todd Munkin so it's definitely not a vision of the exact same offense they ran last year with Kevin Stefanski.

35:56It felt a little bit like Harold Fannin last year was feasting in part because it was like we can't do jack crap else.

36:03Yes. So let's just throw the football to Harold Fannin three yards down the field let him do some cool stuff after the catch and move on.

36:10If that happens this year that kind of feels like both of the first round wide receivers really didn't live up to expectations.

36:17Well either that or they just can't get the football out to their wide receivers down the field.

36:22So I still like Harold Fannin but there are I do too but there's serious pause for me just given that offense.

36:29I think that there are really it's going to sound counter to what I've been talking about for a lot of the preseason.

36:35There are three tight ends that don't make me really at all nervous.

36:39You can guess two. Brock Bowers. Tray McBride. I was going to say Brock Wright but I didn't.

36:45Brock Wright does not make me nervous. Tray McBride.

36:47Because I'm not bothering with him. And Colston Loveland.

36:50Believe it or not Tyler Warren. Really? And the reason why is just that we have now gotten to the point where

36:56the gap between Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren's real.

36:59Yep. And there are just more mouths to feed in Chicago.

37:02Yes. I'm with you. I'm still very optimistic. I'm just saying like if you told me one between Colston Loveland and Tyler

37:08Warren finishes more like tight end seven or eight.

37:11I think it'd be Colston Loveland. That's part of why I've had Warren at three and Loveland at four because if you

37:17put the receiving cores next to them. Yes. Loveland clearly has better people to have to also share the field with.

37:24But if you told me that one of them broke the mold and became a top two tight end.

37:29I think it's Colston Loveland as well. So this comes down to how do you formulate your rankings and your draft strategy preseason.

37:36Also, if you said which one of these quarterbacks do you like more?

37:40I probably like Caleb Williams when I like Daniel Jones.

37:42When we are getting to like going into the season when you're doing your draft, the point is to win the league.

37:49Yes. Right. When you're playing a weekly game, the point is to win your matchup.

37:53Right. So like there's more nuance with our rankings each week during the season and there's more nuance with your decision making.

38:00If you're playing against somebody and you're a gigantic favorite and you're debating between like Josh Allen in a bad matchup versus

38:06Sam Darnall in a neutral matchup, you may be like all right, listen, I'm playing against some crap team.

38:12I can afford to play it safe. Right? Yeah.

38:14If you're a huge underdog and you've got Josh Allen in the bad matchup versus Sam Darnall in a good matchup, you're like I don't care.

38:22Josh Allen might be impervious. Immune. Immune. I'm not sure if impervious is the right word there.

38:27It might have been. Whatever. He might be immune to these matchups and he might hang 40 on these guys even if

38:33they are, you know, even if you're playing the Broncos, you might still get there.

38:37The thing with tight ends five through nine is there's we feel really good about the first three to four.

38:43Yep. Tight end five Harold Fannin, there's question marks around his team.

38:47Sam Laporta, there's question marks around his health. Kyle Pitts, there's question marks around the consistency and what the quarterback is going to be there as well.

38:55George Kittle, questions about him coming back from an ACL.

38:58Tucker Craft. So we get to a point where like there's still tight end ones.

39:02We just have more question marks on these guys.

39:04Harold Fannin is just one of those guys, but still a really awesome player.

39:09Expect good things in year two. Field, give me one last player here before we go to the mailbag one more time.

39:15Just a reminder of how good Saquon Barkley is and Saquon is like last year he was being drafted at his ceiling.

39:21Yep. This year there's maybe a case he's being drafted at his floor because he's going RV 10-ish and I think there's a chance that's his floor.

39:29I don't really have too many numbers from last year to help the cause because he wasn't good last year and I

39:36don't think he's going to be as good as two years ago.

39:39But just a reminder if he can find himself somewhere in the middle, he's going to pay off.

39:44I agree with you. Two seasons ago Saquon Barkley had 10 games with 15 or more fantasy points.

39:50That's really good. He had 7 games with 20 or more fantasy points.

39:53That's also very good. He also had 5 games with 30 or more fantasy points which not only was the most of

40:00any player amongst running backs in 2024, it was the most games by a running back since Christian McCaffrey in 2019.

40:06Yeah. So over the past what's that? 2020 through 2025.

40:096 seasons. 6 seasons. He has the most single game, sorry, most games with 30 or more fantasy points in a single season of any running back.

40:17That's crazy. Pretty good. Yeah. So Christian McCaffrey hilariously in 2019 had 8 games with 30 or more fantasy points.

40:22He did. That was an awesome season for him by the way.

40:26It was unbelievable since he was in 2019. I think the thing for Saquon for me and this will be the last

40:32thing really quickly is I am more out on Jalen Hurts.

40:36The efficiency has gone down. Tush push hasn't been quite as good.

40:39I do think with the discount that you're getting after way that last year ended like you said field.

40:45Yep. We're gonna we're gonna net out more in the middle and if you net out more in the middle then Saquon

40:51is really good value with where you're drafting him in drafts right now.

40:55There's a little bit of scar tissue from last year but I fully agree with that sentiment.

41:00I'm with you on that. Eagles are saying the right things about him.

41:04Yeah. Offensive linemen are like you better watch out.

41:06He is going to kill it this upcoming year.

41:09So we'll see if the offensive linemen are as good of fantasy scouts as we hope to be and Saquon Barkley bounces back.

41:15Well field we might not bounce back from this one as we had a punishment wheel that we were doing a little

41:22bit of a I'm sorry what's the word I was gonna say bidding on it's not bidding we were polling.

41:28Yeah polling. We were polling on this. We had three things we were doing.

41:32It was gonna be slam poetry. Yep. Super sour starts of the week and baby food taste test.

41:37Ugh. And baby food taste test one field. All right on the plus side I can provide this.

41:42You're already kind of immune to it a little bit right?

41:45Unfortunately you know babies usually start to eat soft foods as a baby around six months old.

41:50My youngest just turned two months yesterday so no soft baby food around the house.

41:55Yikes. The thing is that like you start with like peas and squash and like sweet potatoes.

42:00I'm gonna throw up in my mouth when we do this.

42:03I can't lose this week. Honestly baby Daniel didn't eat vegetables growing up.

42:07I mean this is a part of it. Adult Daniel doesn't eat vegetables because baby Daniel's doctor back in the 80s back

42:13before doctors were were doctors said if he doesn't like eating mushy vegetables out of baby food then don't make him do that.

42:20So then I never learned to like vegetables because of that.

42:23So maybe now field is a 43 year old man.

42:26I will eat mushy peas out of a baby food can and the tides turned at all or no?

42:31No. Well a little bit. Rosie's got me on some vegetables.

42:35A little bit. Not a lot. I think you got to do like I think you have to find like entry points into applesauce.

42:42Oh okay that works too. Because applesauce is a great baby food and it's mushy right?

42:46I don't know. Hopefully we have a strong British audience.

42:49We have at least one. We do. British member of our production staff.

42:53Very important member of our production staff and Dave Presley.

42:56I think you got to go with some bangers and mash.

42:59Okay. We will. Like they have they have mushy peas in the UK.

43:03I'm telling you they're better. Are they? I think they have like a crap ton of butter and salt.

43:08Oh. So they don't taste like peas. They just have their green and they have the consistency that is mushier than a traditional pea.

43:15Well for those that are still in the chat hanging with us right now we're going to do a second poll because

43:22we got to fill out this punishment wheel. The second poll is going to be wear rival gear while giving your takes.

43:28Do a mouthful of marshmallows like we did last year or smelling salts.

43:32I feel like smelling salts is the most diabolical of those.

43:35I probably need to establish like rival gear for me.

43:38I'm from Massachusetts group of huge Patriots fans so I guess I'd have to wear a Jets jersey.

43:43No. No no no. Who's the Cardinals? Wesleyan Cardinals?

43:46Yeah. Who's the Wesleyan Cardinals? It would be Williams or Amherst.

43:49I would never do that. I would never. That works right there.

43:53I would call out and go on vacation before I do that.

43:56All right. Couple questions here really quickly. We'll do a few of them before we get back into this.

44:02This one comes from Ryan wants to know what did you guys do to Mike Clay?

44:06You know something Ryan always did was offer an opportunity to him.

44:10We offered him an opportunity to be here and he said no.

44:13That was it. Mike just calculating O-line stats in his off time.

44:17That is exact. He's probably doing it right now on vacation.

44:20Malik, you're not wrong. Yeah. Greek goalie says Dopsax the veggie causes colorblindness.

44:24Fact versus feeling. That is a fact. I am colorblind and I didn't eat vegetables.

44:28Carrots really improve your eyesight. That's the rumor. Honestly, guys.

44:31We might be on to something here. We should talk to someone.

44:35We should talk to the FDA. I'm going to order you 900 carat sticks from the cafeteria for lunch.

44:40Do not. Steady climb. Let's stop. Oh, we got one more.

44:43All right. What's up, focusers? Only Dan from Iowa.

44:46Oh, love that. Danger zoned. All right. What super secret rookies with high-end upside do you guys got?

44:51Thanks for this one. Super secret rookies? Give you two names.

44:54Okay. teams that play behind, I would say, okay, but not great starting running backs.

44:59Okay. Katron Allen and Nick Singleton for the Commanders and the Tennessee Titans.

45:02That's right. Playing behind Bill Krosky-Meritt and Tony Pollard.

45:05Teammates of Penn State, both rookies drafted on day three this year.

45:09Give me those two guys. I'm going to say, is it Ted Hurst?

45:12Ted Hurst. Right. I just want to make sure that that is right.

45:16Ted. Have you met Ted from How I Met Your Mother back in the day?

45:20Oh my gosh. I haven't thought about How I Met Your Mother in a minute field.

45:25Where did the main character go to college in that show?

45:28Syracuse. Wesleyan. Dang it. I had a feeling it was Wesleyan.

45:32All right. All right. All right. Let's dive in.

45:34We're going to do some flex appeal here. You hear Field and Mike do this on Fantasy Focus Countdown mostly every Sunday.

45:41We go through flex appeal. Players outside the top 70 we just wanted to touch on and make sure we have a

45:47little bit of a conversation about Field Minister Yates.

45:50Do you want to go first? Do you want me to go first?

45:53So you can go first, Daniel. And I think that it's important.

45:57I just want to give a precursor if that's okay.

46:00Yeah, bring it. Which is, these are guys you mentioned drafted outside the top 70.

46:04We also just haven't talked about them a whole bunch.

46:07We have told you guys many, many times that, or at least I think we have conveyed, that it's important to know

46:13whether you're getting the stake or the sizzle with players.

46:16Yeah. Right? Are you getting the guy that, if he hits, right, like Michael Wilson last year, if you drafted him and

46:23he went nuclear, he's like a league winning player, but he has zero value for you during a lot of other weeks.

46:29Yeah. Right? Or are you going for a guy, I'll go with Tony Pollard from last year, who generally speaking, and there

46:36were a couple of exceptions here, was solid. Yeah.

46:38It was fine, but rarely spectacular. So some of the names we're going to give you as preferred targets are guys that

46:45we have actually made the case against from an upside play.

46:48Agreed. But we're making the case for in just like an innings eater play.

46:52Correct. All right. So who's up first for you?

46:54I'm going to start at the tight end position and go with Jake Ferguson.

46:59Okay. We haven't talked about him a lot this year, in part because we expect both of these wide receivers to be healthy.

47:05Wide receiver core is CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.

47:08But when one of them was out last year, you saw Jake Ferguson become a real option at the tight end spot.

47:14The dude was awesome for a number of weeks.

47:17What happened though, is once CeeDee Lamb came back, he kind of fell into that third and sometimes fourth pass catcher role

47:23with Ryan Flunoy there also as well. And he just became a part of the offense rather than a target within the offense.

47:30Right? So when he had the opportunity, when there were people that were not there and he had a path to targets,

47:36Jake Ferguson totally took advantage of it. He's got two top 10 seasons at the tight end position.

47:42But I think more often than not, the sizzle that you saw last year was because he was taking advantage of opportunities due to injury from his teammates.

47:50Otherwise, he's less sizzle and more just a solid, steady, low end, tight end, probably 10 to 12 for me that you

47:56could, if you wait at the position, you can grab him and start him in an offense that's going to have a

48:03score a lot of points, throw the ball a lot, but he's not someone that I feel like is going to sizzle

48:09like he did last year when he was really sizzling.

48:12If you missed the tight end run early, which is, I call it nine guys, but if you miss those nine guys,

48:18the next three that come to mind for me are Travis Kelsey, Dallas Goddard, and Jake Ferguson.

48:23Yep. It was like, I feel pretty good about each of them.

48:27Kelsey the best, but I don't, I'm not, I'm not making them like gigantic priorities for me.

48:32Agreed. I'm going to go to running back Ramondre Stevenson, a reminder of the Patriots play in six days from right now.

48:38At last check, they haven't seen Travion Henderson back on the field since he suffered an ankle injury.

48:43I don't know, a week or two ago. Ramondre Stevenson is in line for legitimate work early in the season and Ramondre has been fine, been solid.

48:51As a matter of fact, probably better than solved through this metric.

48:55Um, there are seven players over the past two seasons that have 30 or more catches and seven rushing touchdowns in each of those two years.

49:02It's a crazy list. Ready for this? Okay. Jameer Gibbs.

49:05Okay. B. John Robinson. Yep. James Cook, Saquon Barkley, Kyron Williams, Josh Jacobs, and Ramondre Stevenson.

49:10No way. Right. So I think that Travion Henderson obviously has more upside.

49:14Sure. He obviously is a more explosive player. He can be a bigger threat as a screen game receiver, but Ramondre is

49:20just like a rock solid player for the Patriots in real life.

49:24I know the fumbling thing. He is one bad fumble away from being sent to the bench for the rest of the game.

49:30I think you and I also acknowledge that this coaching staff had more tolerance for Ramondre's butterfingers last year than they did

49:37Travion Henderson's past protection issues and maybe lack of power running between the tackles.

49:41Yeah. I'm with you on that. This team will not quit Ramondre Stevenson.

49:44And if there is, especially right now, at least to start the season, it feels like he's in a really great spot.

49:51If you're in a knockout league field, Ramondre Stevenson, not a bad low end starting running back target right now.

49:57He went higher yesterday in that knockout league draft that we did online or on the show, I should say.

50:02Dalton Kincaid is another guy I want to talk about.

50:05All the tired ends. Man, we've been trying to pump up Dalton Kincaid.

50:09Oh, hold on really quickly before we move on.

50:12Spicy Tuna Abel wants to know Ramondre fumbled as Field was finishing this sentence field.

50:16Field. I mean, I don't really have a good response to that because he may have fumbled during this and yet he's

50:23still in the game on the next series. He's looking like Mike Clay in that check this out video at the end of it.

50:30So good. So great. All right. Let's talk about Dalton Kincaid because I've wanted to make this a thing for years.

50:36Not just me. The entire industry has wanted to make this a Yeah.

50:39The Bills wanted to make it a thing. Former first round tight end.

50:43Here's what he's done in his three seasons in the NFL.

50:46Tight end 14, tight end 18, tight end 13.

50:49And fantasy points per game. What's changed this year other than they added DJ Moore who we expect to maybe siphon even more targets away.

50:56Right. To this offense to make you feel like I'm going to change the way that I feel on this post post post hype sleeper.

51:04Nothing. Yeah. Nothing for me. Is he still even like is he when you look at Dalton Kincaid is the shine just

51:10completely gone at this point and he is no longer a sleeper target for you.

51:14He's more of just straight up tight end two.

51:17He's fine. He's fine. Okay. There was Jeremy Fowler who I did this whole thing yesterday about grass and doing great content

51:23and the aggregators going nuts with it. Yep. Same deal with Jeremy Fowler.

51:27But I do believe he mentioned the possibility of Dalton Kincaid getting an extension.

51:31I don't know. Maybe that rather than post type, we go post payment.

51:35Sure. He has a breakout. I don't know the answer if that's going to happen or not.

51:40But no, I don't like to me. I really believe if Dalton Kincaid breaks out and becomes like a top eight tight

51:46end this year, the process was fine. The results was just unexpected for me.

51:50I think if that happens, so first off, I would not advocate in a standard 10 or 12 team league more often than not to draft Dalton Kincaid.

51:59Yeah. He's a fine waiver target. If all of a sudden he starts to be a thing in this offense that we've

52:05been waiting to see happen, but I am out on using a roster spot waiting for this to come to fruition with you there.

52:12All right, let's move on. What's the next one field?

52:15My wide receiver 31 has got an ADP of wide receiver 35 going at the eight, nine turn was wide receiver 15

52:21from weeks nine through 18 last year. So more than half the season he was wide receiver 15.

52:27He scored 14.9 points per game in that stretch.

52:29Okay. More than Zay Flowers during that stretch. More than CD lamb during that stretch.

52:34He was eighth in yards per route during that stretch.

52:36Better than Drake London and Almond Ross St. Brown.

52:39Who is this? Parker Washington. Shut up. Yeah. Believe it or not.

52:43Parker Washington who was excellent down the stretch last year.

52:45And this one just comes down to like, is there a legit wide receiver two staring us right in the face of Parker Washington?

52:52Great question. Legitimately good football player. Legitimately good offense.

52:55And even in a crowded wide receiver room. Yep.

52:58Maybe it's not that crowded. Maybe Travis Hunter is a 30% of the offensive snaps wide receiver.

53:03And maybe Brian Thomas Jr. It's just an incredible role player for them.

53:06Not, not these are not guarantees, but maybe that would be sad for BTJ.

53:10It would be. His stock is down after last year compared to where it was at this time last going into last season.

53:17Yep. And yeah, Jacoby Myers is going to play a lot.

53:20That doesn't necessarily matter as Jacoby Myers being on the field last year resulted in 2.66 yards per route for Parker Washington.

53:27When Jacoby Myers was off the field, that dropped from 2.66 yards per route to 1.53 yards per route.

53:32He was a more efficient and better player with Jacoby Myers on the field.

53:36I don't exactly know if that's just coincidence or if maybe Jacoby Myers being on the field adds one more credible threat

53:43and defenses are just accounting for one more player and everybody has a better matchup.

53:47But if it's Jacoby Myers and Parker Washington as the lock it in, basically every snap wide receivers, that's still plenty good

53:54enough for Parker Washington to be a really productive wide receiver.

53:57Yeah, I am with you on that. He came on last year.

54:00It feels so weird and I make this joke all the time.

54:04It's just crazy that we're talking about Parker Washington as the Jaguars wide receiver that we are most excited about heading into

54:10fantasy football season with all of the things that we have talked about over the last two years.

54:15And yet, it, this feels just real. Like when you just, he passes the eye test, all the things that he is doing.

54:22Riley Nagel wants to know from our mailbag, you truly think Jacksonville moves on from BTJ by the deadline?

54:28Riley, I agree with you. And I, here's what I would say.

54:31If Liam Cohen has ever asked about Brian Thomas Jr.

54:34or James Gladstone's asked about Brian Thomas Jr., I bet they would say nothing but great things.

54:39Of course. He's done everything we've asked out of him.

54:42He's incredibly talented. We think he's going to have a huge year.

54:45I've read all the optimism around Brian Thomas Jr.

54:48I have. And I think maybe it will all prove to be correct.

54:52But I can't overstate just how important it is to acknowledge who drafted who.

54:56Like there are just a lot of, there are players who transcend regimes, obviously, right?

55:00You know, Drake May, well, I guess he was, Mike Vrabel was not the coach when they drafted Drake May.

55:06Drake May will be the Patriots quarterback for a long time.

55:09For a minute. Right? Yes. There are guys that just fit into that category, you know?

55:14But there are players who are just very regime specific.

55:17Yeah. And they don't feel the same level of loyalty.

55:20They don't feel the same level of responsibility. So if they trade away Brian Thomas Jr., it wasn't us.

55:25We didn't draft him 17th overall. Someone else did.

55:28Someone else made the mistake. So maybe we get him for, maybe we trade him away for depreciated value, but that's their

55:34fault for doing it in the first place. Right?

55:37On top of that, when you invest in a player, a big pick, you're trying to justify that cost.

55:42Yeah. Right? So anyways, maybe I'm wrong. That's a Brian Thomas Jr.

55:46rant, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's traded.

55:49If you were the Houston, Texans, would you be like, you know what?

55:52BTJ might not look too bad on this roster right now.

55:56That would be cool. I think the Texans have a, they are more shopping around the margins right now because they have

56:02such an expensive roster with a CJ Stroud contract.

56:05Not done yet. It might not get done before the season, but at some point, you're going to have a probably $45

56:11million per year, at least, contract on your books.

56:14Field, let's talk about a wide receiver that's being taken directly after Parker Washington.

56:18Yeah. Stefan Diggs. Diggs-a. Two kind of different wide receivers here.

56:21Again, this is another one of these guys on the back nine of his career with Stefan Diggs and the people that

56:27he's going around is part of the conversation here for me.

56:30You look at this, Michael Pittman Jr., Parker Washington, Stefan Diggs, Michael Wilson, Alec Pierce, Matthew Golden.

56:35I'm not sure that when I look at Stefan Diggs here, I think it is better to hear it.

56:41It sounds like he's settled in. I'm the wide receiver too.

56:44I'm not a wide receiver. I'm okay with that.

56:47I want Stefan Diggs that have that mentality on the field.

56:50He said he's the best wide receiver one in the NFL.

56:53He might be right. He said he's the best wide receiver one.

56:57I'm sorry, wide receiver two in the NFL. Okay, okay.

57:00My bad. Okay. That's all me. But, dude's been unbelievable still.

57:03You look at everything he's done over the last, I'm going to go back to 2017.

57:07He's been a top 25 wide receiver for every single season since 2017.

57:11He's really good. And now he's going to take those talents to Jaden Daniels who we hope is going to stay healthy.

57:18Yep. Gives him another really trusted, just a safe pass catching option.

57:21He's going to be the number two behind Terry McLaurin.

57:24When you look at where he's coming off boards field, I see Stefan Diggs.

57:28I'm going to give you the round. Stefan Diggs is coming off the board in the 11th round.

57:33Yeah, I love it. There are more like high upside guys around there, but this is part of the roster build.

57:39When you get to certain parts of the draft, if you need the upside dart throw of Christian Watson or of Alec

57:46Pierce or of Matthew Golden, I get it. Yep.

57:48But if you need that safe veteran floor, which sometimes you do based on what you do earlier in the draft, I

57:55think Stefan Diggs is a really good value in the 11th round.

57:58I think he might have more upside too. He was 12th in catches last year and over 1,000 yards.

58:04He played 55% of the Patriot snaps last year.

58:06That was coming off of the ACL tear. You're right.

58:09Right. It was like super efficient. Yeah, it was crazy.

58:12So I'm in on Diggsie as well. I've got him, I see 14 spots higher in my wide receiver ranks than Mike.

58:19I think he's a guy that is, when you look at this, just the average fantasy fan, like we just get more

58:25excited about the upside, the new shiny toy, the exciting thing that like, I don't think Diggs is one of those guys.

58:31He's really good value if you decide you want to grab him, even though it might not feel sexy.

58:37This would be a fun trivia. Who was fifth in the NFL amongst running backs in both targets and receiving yards and fourth in catches last year?

58:45You think about the preeminent guys, Christian McCaffrey, Jameer Gibbs, B.J.

58:48Robinson, Devon Achan, all those guys. Chase Brown. Chase Brown.

58:51All those guys are amazing, right? Yeah. There's a player who is a receiver alone is in the same zip code.

58:57Kenny Gainwell. He's going the 11th round. So I think this is more of a sizzle that, I'm sorry, a stake than

59:04a sizzle play because he's going to have just an ordinary rushing role.

59:07Bucky Garvey is going to be the lead rusher for Tampa.

59:10But if they ever want to play with tempo or if they're ever trailing, end of half, end of game situations, he's going to be on the field.

59:19He had 486 receiving yards. He had 73 catches last year.

59:22He's like one of my favorite bi-week films. He's my favorite RB4.

59:25I have him as ranked as a borderline RB3 slash 4.

59:29It's like you don't want him starting every single week.

59:31It'd be nice. It's always great to have a strong backup.

59:35Like when your third running back is DeAndre Swift, that's a very comforting feeling.

59:39Yeah. But man, Kenny Gainwell needs to be drafted and appreciated a little bit more than he is right now.

59:45I really appreciate you saying that. ADP is just outside the top 100.

59:48In our Dynasty League, DeAndre Swift is my third running back.

59:52You got a good team. You won the lead last year.

59:55It was really good. And I have Kenny Gainwell also on that squad and we play three flexes field and I love

60:01being able to have that opportunity to throw him in the flex every once in a while.

60:06That's half PPR and it still works. Chat loves it apparently as well.

60:10Chat loves Kenny Gainwell. Here's the knock because I'm all in on Kenny Gainwell.

60:14The knock on Kenny Gainwell is that if, you just mentioned, Bucky Irving's going to be there.

60:19If Bucky Irving gets hurt, this backfield doesn't become Kenny Gainwell's.

60:22Sean Tucker will take over that role and Kenny Gainwell will stay in the role that he's at.

60:27He just isn't a true replacement back as far as a three down guy but he's going to keep his role regardless of who is there.

60:35The steak is real for Kenny Gainwell. Yes. Steak not sizzle and I think steak is important sometimes.

60:40Also, great dinner. The best meal. Great deal. Great dinner.

60:43Great dinner. Filet. I'm a big filet guy. Yeah, but no vegetables for you.

60:47No, I don't do that. I'll throw some vegetables.

60:50When they put the mushroom sauce on there, I always have to scrape the mushrooms off.

60:54I don't even want the mushroom sauce on it because the mushroom essence oozes into everything.

60:59You gotta get a wedge salad. It'll work on you.

61:02What's a wedge? Is that the thing where you just pull the thing out of the ground and you just have a wedge of the...

61:09A wedge of lettuce. Okay. Usually with a blue cheese, maybe a bacon crumble as well.

61:14Tomatoes. Mold. Let's talk about something else. Put a ranch on there if you want.

61:18Ranch is gross but you can put... I'm going to throw out something crazy.

61:22Okay. Okay. And this is crazy. This would have been good maybe for our hot takes episode.

61:27Yeah, which is coming tomorrow. Yes, it is coming tomorrow.

61:30And we're going to be quick. I'll be quick on this one.

61:34I'll be quick on mine. This quarterback has finished as quarterback 32, quarterback 32 didn't start either of those seasons.

61:40Then QB5 in his first season as a starter.

61:42Then QB17 and QB15. Is there a chance given what this backfield situation has turned into in Green Bay...

61:48Yeah. You're speaking my language now. That Jordan Love might just have to chuck the ball a ton because we don't know of Marshawn Lloyd.

61:55We've never even seen him stay healthy. Chris Brooks doesn't really inspire a lot of confidence.

62:00They traded for Caleb Johnson who couldn't even make the field in Pittsburgh.

62:03Yeah. I can get myself to a narrative situation where Jordan Love just has to throw the ball a ton this season.

62:10Quarterback 16 for me for a reason which is five spots ahead of you six ahead of Mike.

62:15I think I need to move him up in my rankings because I am more nervous about the running back spot and

62:21they have a more condensed target tree. I'm still a little bit nervous because of the Tucker Craft injury history, right?

62:28Christian Watson injury history but when these guys are healthy we saw that QB5 season a couple of years ago.

62:33I'm just throwing it out there as I wouldn't be shocked if you like him as a QB2 to maybe make more

62:40noise than where he's being drafted as. Okay, I dig it.

62:43I'm in on Jordan Love as well. Maybe one of the great quagmires in fantasy football this year.

62:48Great term. Love that term. Patrick Mahomes. There's a respect that you have to give Patrick Mahomes as the most accomplished and

62:55to me still the best player in the NFL right now.

62:58He's coming off of an ACL tear. It's one of the confusing factors.

63:02He has bad wide receivers not named Rashi Rice.

63:04Also a confusing factor. But let's just look at the opportunities, right?

63:08Because we talk about fantasy football as the cross-section of talent and volume.

63:11Yep. Here's Patrick Mahomes in his opportunities for quarterback ranks over the past six seasons.

63:16We define that as passing attempts plus rushing attempts, right?

63:19Yep. Rushing attempts are very valuable. Passing attempts can be very valuable as well, of course.

63:23Second, third, first, fifth, fifth, and second. The ball is in Patrick Mahomes' hands a lot.

63:28They put a lot of trust in Patrick Mahomes.

63:31The Russians have to go down this year. Yeah.

63:33They signed Kenneth Walker the third for a reason.

63:36Yep. Mahomes coming off of an ACL tear. A more effective running game is going to have a legitimate impact on Patrick Mahomes' play-action output.

63:43The last time the Chiefs had even like a serviceable running game was 2022.

63:47That was when Isaiah Pacheco averaged nearly five yards a pop.

63:50Patrick Mahomes in 2022 averaged 9.5 yards per attempt off of play-action and at a touchdown rate of nearly 8%.

63:56His play-action touchdown rate in the three years since then 3.2%.

63:59So it turns out that running the football it doesn't always correlate to better play-action but it can correlate to better play-action offense.

64:06You do it well. So he won't be running as much but it'll be a more efficient passer.

64:11Another reason why Patrick Mahomes I've drafted him in a handful of leagues now as my second quarterback which is crazy.

64:18It feels crazy but I think we should normalize the idea that Patrick Mahomes right now with the weapons that he has

64:24is more of a high-end QB2 than a low-end QB1 and I do think that that is okay with where we're at

64:30because it's not about Patrick Mahomes not being unbelievable.

64:33I'll be really quick on my last one field.

64:36Chris Rodriguez you just talked about guys that didn't bring in a player.

64:39I didn't draft this guy so I don't worry about it.

64:43What about when you do the opposite? When you are a head coach and you bring in someone that you know that you really love.

64:50You coach in college. Is there a chance that Chris Rodriguez should just be given a little bit more love given his potential path to touches?

64:57He's going to get some love. I think he's going to end up being an annoying player in fantasy as opposed to a productive player in fantasy.

65:05Okay. When you say annoying is that Tyler Algier?

65:08Yes. Taken away from the upside of the player that we actually want to roster the most.

65:13Would you not say though that Tyler and mind you different offense let's say that Basial Tootin were to get hurt we

65:19would have said in the past Tyler Algier if something happens to Bijan he'd be a top 20 running back.

65:25That's the same potential thing for Chris Rodriguez in what we think should be a good Liam Cohen led offense.

65:31I could see him being like J.K. Dobbins last year.

65:34Okay. Fair. If something happens to Tootin because I still think it's going to be a clear passing game role for your boy Amir Abdullah or Laquint Allen.

65:42Yep. Amir Abdullah and Laquan Treadwell what awesome stories guys still doing it a decade into their career.

65:47I love that. I loved Amir back in the day.

65:50Just to name I wanted to throw out there we haven't talked a lot about Chris Rodriguez to be honest we haven't

65:56really talked a lot about Basial Tootin we've been talking more about the passing game in Jacksonville rather than the running game

66:03but two guys at least to keep an eye on as well.

66:06Last one for me I'll just name it we don't have much time here but Matthew Golden and I can't put too

66:13much faith into all of these Packers wide receivers but the first wide receiver they have taken in the first round since

66:19Javon Walker in like 1942 I think it was 2003 for Javon Walker.

66:23So Matthew Golden who went 23rd overall I think it was last year to Green Bay if this offense is as we

66:29talked about more Jordan Love centric and as we talked about more pass heavy opportunity for Matthew Golden to stamp his case.

66:36Where did that 2002 Javon Walker go to school?

66:38Florida State. You're so good at this. I have no life.

66:42I love it. Alright, Field and I are going to be back tomorrow again just Field and I diving into a Hot Takes episode.

66:49It's going to be a lot of fun my friends.

66:51Make sure you come back and hang out with us.

66:54Thanks for hanging out with us today. We love you.

66:57Don't forget to love each other and be kind to yourself you guys.

67:01You deserve it. Field and I'll see you tomorrow.

67:04Peace. Begins with a ritual and then the migration turns to mayhem.

67:07Predators hunt. Territories are defended. Rivals clash. In this wild world legends are unleashed on Saturdays.

67:12No one brings you closer to the wild than ESPN.

67:15College football and ESPN continues Labor Day weekend Witness the wild on ABC ESPN and the ESPN app.

More episodes from Fantasy Focus Football

Top Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups You Need to Add NOW! | Fantasy Focus

Oct 13, 2026

Overreaction Monday! The Biggest Fantasy Football Takeaways from Week 5 | Fantasy Focus

Oct 12, 2026

Week 5 Rapid Reaction & WTF Moments!

Oct 12, 2026

Breaking Down Week 5's Biggest Fantasy Decisions | Fantasy Focus

Oct 9, 2026

You Can Turn Your Roster Around in Week 5... Here's How! | ESPN Fantasy

Oct 8, 2026

Week 5 Fantasy Football Preview: Everything You Need Before Setting Your Lineup | Fantasy Focus

Oct 8, 2026