PodcastFrom Fantasy Focus Football
Players You NEED to Draft this Season | Fantasy Focus
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 12 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 21, 2026
Published
Fri, August 21, 2026
48
Player insights
39
Players mentioned
Topics
Justin HerbertCeeDee LambColston LovelandGarrett WilsonJames CookMatthew StaffordMichael PittmanTyler WarrenBijan RobinsonBrock BowersBucky IrvingCaleb WilliamsCalvin RidleyCam Akers
Player analysis
Player insights
Bijan Robinson
PositiveProjection64:26
The source ranks Bijan Robinson as the number one overall pick, citing his durability, size, and improved goal-line opportunity in the Falcons' offense.
Insight pageBrock Bowers
PositiveValue58:39
The source identifies Brock Bowers as a target in the middle rounds for managers looking to secure a tight end.
Insight pageBucky Irving
NegativeBust61:03
The source is out on Bucky Irving, noting that he is part of a committee and lacks the upside of top-tier running backs.
Insight pageCaleb Williams
PositiveProjection62:08
The source notes Caleb Williams' high floor due to his rushing ability and acknowledges his strong finish as a top-five fantasy quarterback last season.
Insight pageCalvin Ridley
NegativeRole42:01
The source notes that at age 32, Calvin Ridley may still have enough left to soak up a handful of targets, though his high snap count in the preseason is viewed with some skepticism regarding his long-term outlook.
Insight pageCam Akers
PositiveRole52:55
The source remains high on Cam Akers, noting he has the highest ceiling in the Giants' backfield. In six games with a bulk of snaps last year, he averaged over 19 fantasy points per game, which would have ranked him as the RB6 over a full season. The source views his current ADP as a value opportunity.
Insight pageCarnell Tate
PositiveBreakout40:47
The source is highly optimistic about Carnell Tate, projecting 1,024 receiving yards, 75 catches, and four touchdowns on 121 targets. The reasoning is based on historical data showing first-round wide receivers average a 25% target share, combined with a lack of receiving competition and the expectation of a year-two leap from his quarterback, Cam Ward.
Insight pageCeeDee Lamb
PositiveUsage36:43
The source notes that in games played with CeeDee Lamb, the relevant teammate averaged over 16 fantasy points per game, which would have ranked as the WR8 for the season. The source highlights the Cowboys as a team with the potential to support two top-10 or top-12 wide receivers.
Insight pagePositiveValue60:05
The source recommends targeting CeeDee Lamb in the first round, specifically when drafting from the ninth spot.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
PositiveValue63:23
The source recommends keeping Christian McCaffrey in keeper leagues due to the extreme scarcity of elite running back depth.
Insight pageColston Loveland
PositiveBreakout10:17
Liz Loza identifies Colston Loveland as the most reliable pass-catcher in the Bears offense, noting he was the TE2 from weeks 9-18 last season. With 150 targets vacated by the departures of Olamide Zaccheaus and DJ Moore, Loveland is positioned for a massive opportunity. He averaged 12 targets, 7 catches, and 94.5 yards over his final four games, signaling strong TE1 potential for the upcoming season.
Insight pagePositiveSleeper58:45
The source highlights Colson Loveland as a viable middle-round tight end option if top-tier targets are unavailable.
Insight pageD.J. Moore
PositiveBreakout45:20
The source ranks DJ Moore as WR27 but believes he has WR2 upside in the Buffalo offense. They highlight his role as a reliable, veteran downfield option that the Bills have lacked, and note a favorable strength of schedule (18th easiest) compared to his difficult situation in Chicago last year.
Insight pageDavante Adams
NegativeBust32:58
Liz Loza highlights Davante Adams as a regression candidate, noting that his 14 receiving scores in 2025 were unsustainable and accounted for nearly half of his fantasy points. Entering his age-33 season with a 38-year-old quarterback, Loza prefers drafting Ladd McConkey in the same round.
Insight pageDavid Montgomery
NegativeUsage23:39
Liz Loza views David Montgomery as a solid floor play who could see 15-17 touches per game in the Houston offense. While she ranks him as her RB21, she notes he is being drafted as the RB23 in the eighth round. Field Yates expresses concern regarding Montgomery's lack of upside, noting he has only one career finish better than 15th at the position and that the Houston offense has historically been inefficient for running backs.
Insight pageDerrick Henry
PositiveValue4:05
Field Yates ranks Derrick Henry as the 11th overall player, six spots ahead of his ESPN ADP. Despite his age, Henry remains a reliable fantasy asset who finished second in the NFL in rushing yards for four straight seasons. While he may have occasional low-scoring games due to limited pass-catching, he ranks third among running backs in 20-plus point games over the last two seasons, offering significant upside at his current draft value.
Insight pageDevin Singletary
NegativeDepth Chart52:26
The source speculates that Devin Singletary's roster spot could be in jeopardy if Najee Harris makes the team, despite Singletary's $3 million guaranteed contract.
Insight pageGarrett Wilson
PositiveBreakout21:50
Mike Clay identifies Garrett Wilson as a bounce-back candidate, noting he is being discounted in the fourth round due to last year's injury. Wilson was highly productive and a target hog (top seven in targets) in his first three seasons, and the move to Geno Smith at quarterback is expected to be a significant upgrade for his fantasy production.
Insight pagePositiveBreakout49:43
The source believes Garrett Wilson is in for a career year, citing Geno Smith's history of getting the ball to his top skill players. He is highlighted as a strong value pick in the fourth round.
Insight pageGeno Smith
NegativeProjection48:45
The source is divided on Geno Smith. One the source highlights that in his three seasons in Seattle, the team was top-10 in passing yards and fantasy points for wide receivers, suggesting he can support skill players. Another the source expresses 'waning optimism,' citing a rough preseason and rumors that the team might look for a replacement.
Insight pageGeorge Pickens
NegativeBust34:40
Field Yates views George Pickens as a regression candidate, arguing that everything went right for him last year, including a CeeDee Lamb injury and a historically bad Cowboys defense that forced high-volume passing. With a better defense expected in Dallas, Yates believes Pickens' opportunities will decrease.
Insight pageHarold Fannin
PositiveValue59:08
The source is in on Harold Fannin, viewing him as the safest receiving option in the Cleveland Browns offense.
Insight pageJahmyr Gibbs
NegativeProjection64:23
The source considers Jahmyr Gibbs alongside Bijan Robinson as a top-tier running back, though ultimately prefers Robinson.
Insight pageJames Cook
PositiveProjection45:07
The source describes James Cook as 'pretty sick' following back-to-back seasons with 12+ rushing touchdowns and 2+ receiving touchdowns. He is expected to be drafted in the late first or early second round.
Insight pagePositiveValue60:05
The source recommends targeting James Cook in the second round, specifically when drafting from the ninth spot.
Insight pageJayden Daniels
PositiveProjection23:09
Liz Loza is bullish on Jayden Daniels as a bounce-back candidate, ranking him as her QB2. Despite a season limited by injuries to himself and his supporting cast, the team has improved with a healthy Terry McLaurin, the addition of Rashad White, and the arrival of Stefon Diggs. Loza also notes that new offensive coordinator David Blau is a positive shift for his outlook.
Insight pageJeremiyah Love
PositiveBreakout7:10
Mike Clay highlights Jeremiah Love as a high-efficiency rusher and capable pass-blocker who is a superior prospect to last year's rookie Ashton Gentry. Clay notes that the last nine running backs drafted in the top 12 of the NFL draft finished as top-12 fantasy scorers as rookies. Despite a minor injury and a potential slow start, Love is viewed as a future superstar with an attractive fantasy playoff schedule, making him a potential league winner available in the third round.
Insight pageJosh Allen
PositiveValue44:20
The source considers Josh Allen the clear QB1, though they note that drafting him depends on how early one is willing to take a quarterback. The analysts express a willingness to have exposure to him, even if he is not their primary target in every draft.
Insight pageJustin Herbert
PositiveProjection15:31
Field Yates ranks Justin Herbert as his QB6, arguing that Herbert's new offensive coordinator is the best of his career. Yates points to Herbert's rushing ability, noting he led all NFL quarterbacks last year with seven games of 225-plus passing yards and 30-plus rushing yards. While Daniel cautions that Herbert has finished outside the top 10 in fantasy points per game for four consecutive seasons, Yates maintains a positive outlook on his potential.
Insight pagePositiveProjection39:57
The source consensus is that Justin Herbert finishing as a top-eight producer at the quarterback position is a 'fact.' While individual rankings vary (Field has him at QB6, Mike at QB14), the panel agrees that a top-eight finish is a reasonable and conservative expectation.
Insight pagePositiveValue57:24
The source likes Justin Herbert as a late-round quarterback option, noting he is frequently available in the 10th to 12th rounds of drafts.
Insight pageJustin Jefferson
PositiveValue25:47
The source argues Justin Jefferson is the best value in the first round, noting he is being drafted later than usual despite a track record of four straight top-five wide receiver finishes. The move to Kyler Murray is viewed as a major upgrade, with the source comparing the potential target share to the high-volume usage DeAndre Hopkins saw in the Cardinals' offense.
Insight pageKhalil Shakir
NegativeUsage46:18
The source notes that Khalil Shakir was fantasy-relevant in a short-area role last year, pushing a 20-23% target share, but lacked touchdown production. The source suggests DJ Moore could provide similar target share but with better goal-line usage.
Insight pageKyle Pitts
PositiveValue59:00
The source expresses willingness to draft Kyle Pitts, noting that he finished as the TE2 last season and the team has moved past previous frustrations.
Insight pageMalik Nabers
NegativeInjury52:03
The source notes that Malik Nabers is recovering from injury and is currently limited to non-contact work. His fantasy outlook remains cautious due to his injury history.
Insight pageMarvin Harrison Jr.
NegativeBreakout66:12
The source compares Marvin Harrison Jr. to Kyle Pitts, noting that while he has high acclaim, his breakout might take longer than expected, similar to other young receivers.
Insight pageMatthew Stafford
NegativeBust30:58
Field Yates identifies Matthew Stafford as a major regression candidate, noting that his 40-touchdown, 4,700-yard season is unsustainable for a non-mobile quarterback. Yates emphasizes that Stafford's lack of rushing production makes it difficult to repeat such elite fantasy numbers.
Insight pagePositiveProjection62:16
The source remains high on Matthew Stafford, projecting him to have a massive season in the Rams' offense with high passing volume and touchdown potential.
Insight pageMichael Pittman
PositiveValue18:23
The source prefers Michael Pittman Jr. in the middle rounds due to his reliable safety net and high floor, noting that his role for Aaron Rodgers this year is comparable to Kenny Gainwell's role last year.
Insight pagePositiveValue29:52
Field Yates is high on Michael Pittman Jr. as a middle-round wide receiver target, citing his role in an offense where Aaron Rodgers' limited arm strength necessitates short-area targets. Yates prefers Pittman over DK Metcalf at a similar ADP, viewing Pittman as a reliable safety net with a high floor.
Insight pageMichael Wilson
NegativeBust28:49
Mike Clay warns against Michael Wilson, noting his production plummeted when Marvin Harrison Jr. was healthy. With Harrison and Trey McBride commanding targets in a projected more conservative offense, Wilson is expected to regress from his late-season production spike.
Insight pagePuka Nacua
PositiveValue63:42
The source acknowledges Puka Nacua as a strong long-term keeper option, though notes potential concerns regarding suspension.
Insight pageSam LaPorta
NegativeInjury59:14
The source notes concern regarding Sam LaPorta due to a recent hip injury and his recovery from back surgery.
Insight pageTerrance Ferguson
PositiveSleeper68:00
The source identifies Terrence Ferguson as a potential late-round tight end sleeper, noting his role as a target in the Rams' offense, though cautioning about the team's depth at the position.
Insight pageTrey McBride
PositiveValue58:39
The source identifies Trey McBride as a target in the middle rounds for managers looking to secure a tight end.
Insight pageTyler Warren
PositiveValue12:01
Field Yates remains high on Tyler Warren as a fifth-round tight end target, though he acknowledges the addition of Keenan Allen may impact Warren's target share. Despite a recent groin injury and a slight downgrade in his personal rankings, Yates continues to draft Warren, viewing him as part of a valuable second tier of tight ends.
Insight pagePositiveSleeper58:45
The source highlights Tyler Warren as a viable middle-round tight end option if top-tier targets are unavailable.
Insight pageWan'Dale Robinson
NegativeUsage41:59
The source expects Wan'Dale Robinson to be heavily involved in the offense, potentially catching around 90 passes, though there is debate regarding whether his high volume of short-area targets will limit the ceiling of other receivers on the team.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This episode is brought to you by Facebook. So, you were scrolling on Marketplace, and there it was, the bike you'd been searching for.
0:07You sent a message, and it turned out the seller was super chatty, kinda funny, and an avid cyclist.
0:12The next thing you know, you're in a cycling crew.
0:15Well, a community cycling group. The thing about Facebook, you might find more than what you're looking for.
0:19From a browse to a bike ride, this summer, find more on Facebook.
0:23First and foremost, check it in at an even six foot from Wesleyan University, Field Yates.
0:27Good evening. At five foot seven and 164 pounds, Mike Clay.
0:30Five seven. Last, but certainly not least, the one, the only, the incomparable, Liz Loza.
0:35Give it up for Liz Loza. Super excited to be here, my friends.
0:38How are you guys doing tonight at this live show here at The Racket in New York City?
0:43I was good. I was good until that. I was nervous.
0:46I was like, is he gonna tell everyone how much I weigh?
0:49Stop. Don't do that. What is going on? I would never.
0:52Sir. Super excited to be here with you guys.
0:55We got a very fun show planned for everybody.
0:57Guys, we cannot stop drafting. We've been doing so many mock drafts.
1:01We got a bunch of people. We just keep coming back to you, going back to the well.
1:06We're talking some bounce backs and regressions as well as some facts and feelings and taking your guys' questions.
1:11A jam-packed show. It is gonna be a ton of fun.
1:14But really quickly, before I get started, I do want to say on a serious note, this is one of the most important things that we do.
1:21V Foundation, I just want to give a quick shout out to this.
1:25V.org slash ESPN. Right now, the Disney company, ESPN, and the V Foundation are trying to be able to raise $10 million towards pediatric cancer research.
1:32And so we have QR codes set up around the venue.
1:35If you want to be able to use those, you can donate money and go to V.org slash ESPN to be able
1:41to help donate to be able to defeat pediatric cancer.
1:44That would be unbelievable. I'll probably mention it a couple of times because of how important the V Foundation is, but wanted
1:50to let you guys know about that. And with that being said, let's talk about some of the guys.
1:55We just can't stop drafting. How many mock drafts do you think that we've done, Field Yates?
2:00Not gonna admit that one publicly, Daniel. Although, you know what?
2:03You guys paid your harder money to come watch a fantasy podcast.
2:06So you probably are in line with us. I'd say mock drafts.
2:09I've got to be approaching 50 this option. At least.
2:12We've been doing tons of mock drafts, basically from May as soon as the draft happened up until this last week even.
2:18And a lot has changed. Yeah, I didn't see any like, no looks out there like, what's wrong with this guy?
2:24That was actually pretty well received. That was well received.
2:26Thank you for not judging. Yeah, no problem with that.
2:29Only 50? Only 50. See, that's the real fan.
2:32Only 50? Are you kidding me? Well, there's a lot of guys that we just keep coming back to.
2:37Guys that we keep finding ourselves drafting over and over.
2:40Field, I want to start with you. Give me a guy that you just keep drafting right now in the season.
2:45I hope Mike doesn't jump on me for this because this is an old running back.
2:50But he is a unicorn. We've been saying this on our show, which of course is back every single day.
2:55Pumped to be back. Derek Henry, who I have as the 11th overall player in my rankings, which is six spots ahead of his ESPN average draft position.
3:03And, you know, when we're talking about the 110th versus the 116th player, I'm not sure there's really a difference between those two guys.
3:10But the difference between 11 and 17 is pretty legitimate.
3:12Derek Henry, who has finished second in the NFL for four straight seasons in rushing yards, he just feels like one of
3:18the few things in fantasy football that you can count on.
3:21You're going to have to deal with a couple of hiccups and speed bumps along the way.
3:26He's going to have those games where he either doesn't rush for 100 yards or doesn't score a touchdown because he's not catching that many passes.
3:33Where he might be prone to a seven and a half fantasy point game every once in a while.
3:38But over the past two seasons, he also has the third most 20 or more point games amongst running backs.
3:44So plenty of upside for Derek Henry. Maybe he's boring because he's been doing it for about a decade now.
3:49But I keep drafting Derek Henry. Also feels like you're getting as good of a value on Derek Henry as you ever
3:55had in drafts because of where he's at in his career.
3:58But if you still are in on him, you're just getting a better average draft position because of that.
4:04Yeah, look, I wanted to come out here and just trash all of Fields takes, but like I'm not in the business of doubting Derek Henry.
4:11So I'm not just not going to do that.
4:13I'll pass on this one. I'll save it for later.
4:16OK. All right. You'll have bad takes. I know you will.
4:19Give me your guy then, Mike. My guy. If you're so good at it.
4:23All right. How about a guy that I love?
4:25No. Oh, here we go. All right. Cut his mic.
4:28Not Jordan Love. Packers quarterback. All right. All right.
4:30Jeremiah Love, of course. Love Jeremiah Love. I've been talking about him all offseason.
4:34Obviously, one of the top picks in the NFL draft.
4:37draft and goes to Arizona. I know Tyler Algier is there.
4:40There's a little hesitation right now because of the injury that he's dealing with.
4:44But it looks like he'll be ready to go for week one.
4:47But even if he's not, even if he gets off to a slow start, I'm OK with that.
4:52This guy is a super efficient rusher. He's excellent in the passing game.
4:56He could pass block. And history is on his side as well.
4:59OK. Now, I've been saying this stat. What would you say?
5:02Every single day? I would say every day. Every day on the pod.
5:06But this is maybe a new audience. The lunch line today was weird.
5:09So here it is. Here it is once again.
5:12The last nine running backs drafted top 12 in the NFL draft.
5:15Finished top 12 in fantasy points as a rookie.
5:17Not seven or eight out of nine. All nine of them, including Ashton Gentry, of course, last year.
5:22Slow start for him. But he came on after that once he got involved in the passing game.
5:27And obviously, he was effective. Jeremiah Love is a better prospect than Ashton Gentry.
5:31He is. He's up there with Bajon Robinson and Saquon Barkley.
5:34So I expect him to be a superstar. And I honestly, I'll take a slow start.
5:39I'm not worried about it because he's going to deliver so many big games.
5:42Not to mention Arizona. Tough schedule during the regular season.
5:45Extremely attractive fantasy playoff schedule. He could be a league winner this year.
5:49And he's going to what? The two. Now in the third round with the injury.
5:53He's going in the third round now. So I will take that all day long.
5:57Love that one. All right. Liz, what about you?
5:59We've got to think of a way to miss something.
6:02I know. I've got to do something different than love that.
6:05I appreciate that pick of yours, Mike. Yes. Of course, a little better than love, love.
6:10Liz, you're up. Oh, I'm up. Okay. You know, it's interesting because there is this debate brewing in the second city about who will be the Bears alpha.
6:17Luther Burden or Roman Dunze. And I say the answer is neither because the best pass catcher and the most reliable pass
6:23catcher on that team is Colston Loveland. He was drafted 10th overall.
6:27Our love. A lot of love on this stage.
6:29There is a lot of love. Cut it off now.
6:32Especially for reliable players who can work as a mismatch and who are unleashed by their incredibly creative head coaches down the stretch of last year.
6:39Colston Loveland was the tight end to in fantasy from weeks nine through 18.
6:43Down the stretch, he averaged 12 targets, seven catches and 94 and a half receiving yards over his last four final games, including the playoffs.
6:5012 targets? 12. Averaged 12 targets a game? 12 targets a game over his last four games, including the playoffs.
6:55And of course, there are now 150 targets vacated in Chicago with the exits of Olamide Zaccheaus as well as DJ Moore.
7:01So there's a massive opportunity. I love Colston Loveland and I think he has tight end one potential this season.
7:07By the way, shout out to Oz Zaccheaus. Getting a shout out at a live show here.
7:11Like did not have that on my bingo card.
7:14She does her research field. No, I mean, of course you do.
7:17What else is new there? But did not have that one on my bingo card.
7:21Listen, I'm in on Colston Loveland. The player that you guys, and if you've been listening to the podcast, I have been all in on Tyler Warren.
7:29I love Tyler Warren. We got a little bit of maybe...
7:32A little rain on his... I was going to say a little rain on the parade of Tyler Warren.
7:37What happened? On cue. Once Keenan Allen got added to this squad.
7:40I saw Michael Pittman Jr. leaving 111 targets, vacated, Liz, as you have talked about in other offenses.
7:45And I think that Tyler Warren was the guy that was going to see the biggest uptick in that.
7:50Then they add Keenan Allen. I still think that I'm in on Tyler Warren.
7:54I don't still think. I am still in on Tyler Warren.
7:57I would like to say that. However, I'm okay with taking Colston Loveland ahead of him.
8:01The point of this is the players that I can't stop drafting.
8:05If Colston Loveland's available, I'll take Colston Loveland. If Tyler Warren is available, I'll take Tyler Warren.
8:09The point is, I love the second tier of tight ends and where they're available in the draft.
8:14I can't stop drafting either of them if they're available in this fifth round area.
8:18Did you move Tyler Warren down from your tight end three to your tight end four in your ranks?
8:24I haven't yet, but I'm going to. Okay. Wow.
8:26I want to see it on Monday. It persuaded you.
8:29What were you traveling today from Connecticut to New York City?
8:32Yeah, was I doing something today? Yeah. By the way, groin injury for Tyler Warren as well.
8:37Looks like he'll be good to go for week one.
8:39Like you, I'm a little mad at you for stealing my Tyler Warren thunder.
8:43Yes. He's one of my guys as well. I love him.
8:46Sometimes we've done shows in Detroit or Houston, Los Angeles, and it's like just a bunch of Jameer Gibbs jerseys like Daniels.
8:52Yes. I see Steelers. I steal Giants, of course.
8:55Browns. Yes. Chiefs. Jets. I see. It looks like potentially a couple that maybe a Jets and Patriots couple.
9:00Oh. Wow. And this works. Wow. Like it's everything is okay.
9:03Some might say that's a. Do we not talk on Sundays?
9:06Is it like a. We fight a lot. We fight a lot.
9:09Or some might say that's true love. That's right.
9:12Agreed. Listen, if you're a Jets fan after the last X number of years, I cannot question your loyalty That's right.
9:17I'm sure that's the same as being a partner.
9:20So yeah, just shout out New York City. It's you never know what team.
9:24I'm sure I'm missing some teams further in the back.
9:26I don't see any Charger stuff though. Interesting. No, I don't see any West Coast.
9:31Why Chargers feel? Well, because I'm drafting Justin Herbert all the time.
9:34He just segued himself. That's what he did right there.
9:37No big deal. Justin Herbert. Isn't that like the self alley-oop where you throw it off the backboard and dunk it yourself kind of a thing?
9:44It did really land though, unfortunately. What I would tell you is that the answer is probably, you generously called me six feet.
9:50Yes, I was giving you a little love. No dunking in my past.
9:54So I can't speak to these self alley-oops. No, Steph Curry is short too.
9:57That's true. Steph just slightly better. Oh wait, better.
10:00Jalen Brunson. There you go. There you go. There you go, baby.
10:03That's it. I think the first person to applaud Liz's comment is wearing a Drake May jersey.
10:08Is that? I think they're marrying a Drake, Drake May May jersey, Phil.
10:11Drake, Drake May, Drake May May rooting for Jalen Brunson.
10:14Nothing wrong with that. You know what? I'll let it pass.
10:17That's why sports are great, Phil. Yeah, totally. By the way.
10:20Sports are great. Not hard to imagine why you want to root for Jalen Brunson or Drake May.
10:25They're both awesome. But you should be rooting for Justin Herbert as well.
10:29Justin Herbert, who's my quarterback six. There's some guy at ESPN, we call him Da Nerd.
10:33And he just like crunches numbers and whatever. Yeah, Daniel.
10:36I was like, is that me, Da Nerd? Da Nerd?
10:39No, there's no way. Da Nerd? Come on. Oh, there's no way.
10:42No, that's not me. And he has him as quarterback 14, I believe, right?
10:46I do. Yeah, quarterback 14. Listen, it's the same guy that gives out raisins at Halloween.
10:50We don't really acknowledge him other than when he has good fantasy takes.
10:54Mike, it's Mike, obviously. Justin Herbert, who by show of, I don't know, I can't really see hands or applause.
10:59Like, if you think Tua Tungavailoa is better than Justin Herbert, let me know.
11:03Okay, that was nice silence right there. Did you guys see Tua spike the ball into the ground today?
11:08Not great. We think Justin Herbert's better, right? We all love Mike McDaniel as a play caller.
11:13That's really the calculus here, is Justin Herbert gets to play with the best offensive coordinator by a mile of his career.
11:19But in case you're interested in other stats, he did have seven games last year with 225 or more passing yards and 30 rushing yards, right?
11:26That was the most in the NFL. He's got his legs.
11:29Great athlete. Everything's coming up. Herbo these days. Recently got engaged.
11:32Life seems to be good for Herbert. Did you get fantasy points for that?
11:36Is that how that works? Sorry, didn't fit that one into the formula.
11:40Yes, he does get it. Well, here's the formula.
11:422025 outside the top 10 in fantasy points per game.
11:452024 outside the top 10. 2023 outside the top 10.
11:482022 outside the top 10. He's finished better than eighth one time in six seasons in his career.
11:52So I'm not necessarily projecting this big leap forward.
11:55FYI. Or Justin Herbert. Jeremiah Love, zero top 50 finishes.
11:58That's true. Yeah, but he's... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
12:00Zero for zero is different than zero for the last four seasons.
12:03Big difference. I think it's still a zero, though.
12:06It's still zero. That's not how this works. All right, Mike.
12:09Why don't we need some reps? Give us another bad pick, Mike.
12:12Yeah, why don't you give us one and top that, then?
12:15How about a crowd pleaser? I know how to get everybody on my side.
12:19Jackson Dart. Jackson Dart. That's my guy. That is my guy this year.
12:23A quarterback for sure. My favorite target. Look, last season, limited work.
12:26He played in... He played a bulk of the snaps in 12 games.
12:29So they weren't all necessarily 12 full games, but he played the bulk of the snaps in 12 games.
12:35He had eight top 10 fantasy weeks. That was fifth most at quarterback last season.
12:39I mean, that's unreal. Like, when he was out there, he was extremely good from a fantasy perspective.
12:44Solid as a passer, and we know how good he is as a rusher.
12:48Was top five in all of those categories as well.
12:50So you have that. He was that good last year.
12:53The supporting cast was not even very good last year.
12:56A lot of injuries. He's thrown three passes so far to Malik Nabors in a regular season game.
13:01Three. He's going to have him back healthy this year.
13:03They had Isaiah Likely. Even Darnell Mooney is now just like a depth guy for them.
13:08That was a longtime starter, a longtime number one receiver for the Chicago Bears.
13:12So John Harbaugh's head coach. We'll see about Matt Nagy.
13:14But everything's kind of coming up Jackson Dart. And here's the thing.
13:18Did you get fantasy points for that? Yeah. You do for, yeah.
13:21Good play callers. Good leadership. Yeah. Oh, stop it.
13:24That was a good joke. There's so much gaslighting going on on this stage right now.
13:28What are we even talking about here? I love it.
13:31Yeah, look. Here's the thing. Even if he's not great as a passer, he could still be a top 10 scorer at the quarterback position.
13:38And frankly, if he is good as a passer, I think he's a sleeper to be the number one scoring fantasy quarterback this season.
13:44That is his ceiling. With what he does as a rusher.
13:47With what he does. No, I've been saying that all offseason.
13:50That was actually my bold prediction on the last FF Now of last year.
13:54Was that Jackson Dart would be the number one scoring quarterback this year.
13:58Mike brought the good stuff to the green room upstairs before the show.
14:01He did. Liz, why don't we talk with you about who your other favorite player to draft is.
14:06Mike is really high on Jackson Dart. I'm really, really on Jackson Dart.
14:10You smell great, Mike. Thank you. I was just going to say that I talked up a current bear.
14:15And now I'm going to talk up a former bear and a former lion.
14:19My favorite Eagle Scout in the NFL. That's right.
14:21Maybe the only one, David Montgomery. Obviously a bit of a volume and production regression over his last season.
14:26And some might say that David Montgomery is a jack of all trades, but a master of none.
14:31And that is okay because he provides a solid floor in doing that.
14:35Signed to Houston for a two-year deal with $10 million guaranteed.
14:38That's not nothing money. And the Houston Texans ignored the position during this past NFL draft.
14:42I think he's going to see real opportunity. Yes, he's going to share the backfield with Woody Marks, who did flash as
14:48a rookie, but also showed that he was not capable of a full workhorse role.
14:52I think that Montgomery will probably touch the ball 15 to 17 times per game.
14:57He's coming. He is my RB1. He's currently the RB23 coming off draft boards in the eighth round of 10.
15:02Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Close.
15:04Did I hear that incorrectly? You're RB21. He's my RB21.
15:07Oh, you said one. In my heart. Yes. That's right.
15:10You guys are talking about love and fake numbers.
15:12I'm allowed to have an RB1 in my heart and an RB21 in my rankings.
15:17That's fair. He's the 23rd running back coming off the board in the eighth round.
15:21She's been spending a little bit too much time with Mike Clay.
15:24I know he's right next to us, guys. Yeah, look, I will say this about David Montgomery.
15:29I'm a little concerned here because he has one career finish better than 15th at running back.
15:33So it kind of lacks some upside. He's 29 years old.
15:36One more than Jeremiah Love. One more than Jeremiah Love.
15:39And here's the other thing, too. The Houston offense with C.J.
15:42Stratton and D'Amico Ryans has not been really generous to running backs.
15:45They are 29th in fantasy points, 30th in receptions are Texas running backs.
15:49Now, I will say this in your defense. We're going to throw the football, too.
15:53Thank you. I'm going to paint the whole picture.
15:55The personnel hasn't been great. Okay. And when Joe Mixon was there and healthy, he was very good.
16:00But he needed a lot of volume. I'm a little concerned about how much.
16:04How many pass catchers that are healthy do the Houston Texans have currently?
16:08Yeah. But I don't think the running backs are the answer.
16:11I didn't hear an answer to that question. I think they might have to be out of necessity.
16:16I don't know. Here's the thing. We saw this last year.
16:19They still like who they have. Xavier Hutchins is going to be out there.
16:23They brought in Justin Watson. Jalen Noel was the third-round pick last year.
16:26He's going to be involved. Tank Dell is now healthy.
16:29Are we standing around? They have Jalen Noel. They have Dalton Schultz.
16:32Dalton Schultz. They have Cade Stover. I mean, they have a third- No.
16:36They have Cade Stover. Stop. Stop. That's too far.
16:38This is what we have to deal with. This is why- We're trying to have a legitimate argument now.
16:44No, no. It talks about people like Cade Stover in the middle of our girls.
16:48This is why some of us up here, one of us up here does projections because Cade Stover matters.
16:53Okay? He's going to get targets. I believe that- He matters in that office.
16:57Hold on, Mike. There are two of us- Is he in the audience tonight?
17:01Are we getting pranked and we didn't know Cade Stover?
17:03It's also like there are two of us that are in the Fantasy Sportswriters Hall of Fame.
17:08Ooh. Yeah. So you're sitting next to the other one.
17:11Yeah, exactly. Ooh. Okay. All right. Wow. So did that just- Wait, did she just turn this on you guys?
17:16I think so. Is that a shot at Field and I now?
17:19I was going to say- I felt like the walls were closing on me and then Liz just like totally threw shit at you guys.
17:26Yes, yes. I was going to say, I have, for the record, been named Dad of the Year four times by my
17:32four-year-old, so like that's basically Hall of Fame. Oh, I thought you were going to indicate if you had another one on the way.
17:39She just like put her fingerprint down when the teacher said- But Dad of the Year, not Dad of the Hall of Famer though.
17:46Oh, wow. That's what you're saying. Look at- This is- Okay.
17:49We're going to keep going forward. What was the next topic again?
17:52Yeah. Yeah. My last player I can't stop drafting is Michael Pittman Jr.
17:55I just love Michael Pittman Jr. It's about the ADP with where he is that- Steven, my gosh, you're just copying my work this year.
18:02He is in an unbelievable spot with Aaron Rodgers because Aaron Rodgers physically can't throw the ball more than seven yards downfield.
18:08Michael Pittman Jr. runs most of his routes underneath that line of- That amount of yardage.
18:13And so DK Metcalf I think is going to be basically Alec Pierce this year in the same offense with a bad quarterback.
18:19Even though DK Metcalf is really good, I would much rather have Alec- Excuse me.
18:23Much rather have Michael Pittman Jr. at basically the same ADP.
18:26I just think he's going to give you a really nice safety net and a really good floor at the wide receiver
18:32spot in those middle rounds of it. Can I call out something Field said?
18:36Because I thought it was a perfect comp and I now have to make up for maybe something.
18:41No, no, no. I'm actually good with you. You're fine.
18:44You can say whatever you want. We're cool. Not me.
18:46Field said that Michael Pittman for Aaron Rodgers this year is what Kenny Gainwell was for him last year.
18:52I would love that. I would love that. That only bolsters your argument.
18:55I can't remember who was the first person that said that that I heard it from.
19:00I think it might have been Wayne Gretzky, but whatever.
19:02It was somebody notable. Wow. But it's a great thought though.
19:05Thank you, Liz. All right. You're welcome. Hall of Famer.
19:08Hall of Fame person too, for the record. Because that's the thing is that you can be a Hall of Fame sports
19:14writer, but if you're not a Hall of Fame person, I'm not sure it even matters.
19:19And mom of the year. And one of you on this panel from the side is a Hall of Fame person.
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20:57Let's move ahead. We got a little bit more here.
21:00We were just talking about guys we can't stop drafting.
21:03Let's talk about some bounce back and regression. Mike Clay specifically wanted to do this because he likes talking about guys that are going to regress.
21:10Regression. Mike's got this thing with regression. He writes about it all the time.
21:14It's always about regression alert, regression candidate, positive regression.
21:16Yeah. He's got a weird regression thing. Is there an insult coming?
21:19Like I'm doing, because I'm working hard, like doing my job?
21:23Is that what it is? Like, is that? Well, then let's start with you, Mike Clay.
21:27I want one player. You can't all just fish during the whole office.
21:30We're going to, okay, okay, okay. Like some, some of us do work, okay?
21:34For what it's worth, fishing has, and you know what?
21:37You don't even deserve it. You don't even deserve my fishing talk.
21:40Let's do one player that's going to bounce back.
21:43One player that's going to regress. Let's start with four bounce backs though.
21:46We'll each give one bounce back. I want to start with you, Mike.
21:50First bounce back, Garrett Wilson. Come on. Garrett Wilson for sure.
21:53New York Jets superstar player. Are you just leaning into the New York crowd?
21:57Is that what you're doing? I was going to say.
22:00No, it's just, I like good players. What can I say?
22:03I mean, they have a lot of good players in New York.
22:06We know that. Yeah, look, I know I'm definitely on Garrett Wilson.
22:09Fourth round ADP. We're getting a discount on him in drafts because he was hurt last year, but before that, this is not an injury plagued player.
22:17His first three seasons in the NFL, he missed zero games.
22:20The guy was super healthy, super productive, top seven in targets all three of those seasons.
22:24Last year was off to a really good start with shaky quarterback play, frankly.
22:28You know, I'd say what you want about Justin Fields in fantasy.
22:31He doesn't throw the ball that well or a lot.
22:34So, and Garrett Wilson was still putting up big numbers over 14 fantasy points per game.
22:38And Geno Smith is going to provide an upgrade.
22:41And I'm going to save a little bit of the Geno Smith talk for a little bit later because we have another
22:47topic on what he means for the Jets pass catchers, but I will preface it or I will foreshadow and just say
22:53it's going to be a good, good thing for Garrett Wilson.
22:56That's exciting. In case you guys didn't want to stick around, we're going to talk about Geno Smith in a little bit.
23:02We're going to talk about the Jets. We're talking about the Jets who are headed the right direction.
23:07That's an improving football team. What about you, Liz Lozet?
23:09I want to talk about Jaden Daniels because I think we have forgotten that he was the QB five in fantasy as a rookie.
23:16You can't, you're not allowed to say that. Don't say that.
23:19He's the QB four and six. QB four plus one.
23:22Yes. There you go. That's it. Well, no way.
23:24It's him. So you can say five for him, right?
23:27You just can't say five for anyone else. Okay.
23:30Is that what it is? He was the QB five in fantasy in 2024.
23:33I don't love the Laramie Tunsil injury news. That doesn't make me feel great, but we do know what Jaden Daniels can be.
23:40And we have to forgive him or at least recognize the fact that he was so injured.
23:44He dealt with a litany of issues last season, limiting him to just four healthy games, but the injuries didn't just stop at the quarterback position.
23:51Terry McLaurin was hit. Zach Ertz was hit. Austin Eckler was hit.
23:55And now Terry McLaurin is back to being healthy.
23:57Zach Ertz has been replaced with my guy, Chico Conquo, Rashid White.
24:01Rashad White. Rashad White is replacing Austin Eckler. I just flew in yesterday, y'all.
24:04Come on. And Stefan Diggs bearing the lead, having a bit of a homecoming, will work in a nice possession capacity for the commander.
24:11So I think Daniels, I also like David Blau as the offensive coordinator.
24:15I think it's a good shift for him. And I do think he will bounce back nicely.
24:19He is my QB two. So I'm quite bullish on the situation.
24:22Lamar Jackson is most people's QB two. If he's your QB two, then being able to find him in drafts with where he's being drafted.
24:29Yeah. It must be really nice. Yeah. So you can wait and grab a guy that you like.
24:34Fields, what about you? What's a player you think will bounce back?
24:38A bounce back. So I don't think if you look at the season long finish for this player last year, you'll feel
24:44like, oh yeah, he has to bounce back. But I just don't think it was nearly as smooth of sailing as we
24:50were hoping for going into last year. That's Ashton Gentry, who Mike has said about the top 12 running backs finishing in
24:56the top 12, whatever number of years in a row.
24:58It wasn't great for Ashton Gentry for a lot of last season.
25:02As you guys know, his offensive line was about as bad as you will ever see for a player.
25:07He had one run of 20 plus yards in the first 15 weeks of the season.
25:11He also led the NFL in rushing attempts during that stretch from weeks one to 15.
25:16The offensive line has literally nowhere to go but up.
25:18They spent every dollar available to get Tyler Linderbaum, the center.
25:21It's a much better scheme as well. Clint Kubiak should make this a much better offense overall.
25:26Gentry is a capable, not a dynamic pass catcher like a Jeremiah Love, but a very capable pass catcher.
25:31So I could easily see Ashton Gentry being a top eight or so running back in 2026.
25:36After finishing his RB12, he was drafted as what?
25:38RB6, RB7 last year, give or take. So the bounce back.
25:41Nobody do it. No one do it. Sorry, I didn't mean it.
25:45I didn't even mean it like that. All right.
25:47I'm going to talk about a player that I think is going to bounce back.
25:51I think he's the best value in the first round.
25:54I've been saying this. It's easy to say it's the best value in the first round when he's being drafted at the end of the first round.
26:01But? But Justin Jefferson has never been drafted this late before.
26:05If there was ever a situation in which you were like, hey, Justin Jefferson, you know, he's got prior to last season,
26:11four straight years where he was a top five wide receiver, five straight years where he was a top 10 wide receiver.
26:17The dude was catching passes literally from the guy in the third row and this woman over here, like for half of his career.
26:23But they've got a host. That's fair. That's fair.
26:26I'm just saying you have no idea who he was catching the football from because half the time he was playing with
26:32quarterbacks that we don't feel like are at the same level that a lot of these other guys are playing with.
26:37So Justin Jefferson now getting Kyler Murray. I understand some of the concerns that we've got with Kyler, but I feel like
26:43I'm being held hostage in my brain if I allow myself to think that Justin Jefferson is going to continue to play
26:50poorly because last year was not on Justin Jefferson.
26:52Last year was he should be a top 10, top five, potentially top three, maybe the number one wide receiver in fantasy because that's easily in his bag.
27:00I agree with you, but isn't it kind of wild how we're just like, man, like Arizona is paying Kyler Murray so
27:06much money just to go away and we're just like, big upgrade for Justin Jefferson.
27:10Like this guy, Arizona, a team that has struggled for so long.
27:13It's like, get out of here. Yeah. Like huge news.
27:16But yeah, I mean, look, I've talked about this a little bit with Jefferson, a little worried about him getting back to
27:22that elite ceiling with Kyler because he's never really done it.
27:25He's only had, there's only one receiver that's ever had a top 20 season with Kyler Murray.
27:30But again, it was a season where he fed DeAndre Hopkins.
27:33We've seen him do that. If he does that with Justin Jefferson, which if he doesn't, he's not going to be playing much.
27:39Hasn't happened since 2020. Yeah. So it's been a minute, but yeah.
27:42My favorite stat about that, and maybe it's just because I had Hollywood Brown on my team, but when that DeAndre Hopkins
27:48season happened, Hollywood Brown was the number one wide receiver on that team through the first eight weeks of the season.
27:54He was wide receiver one after the first eight weeks of the season.
27:58And then he got hurt and then he got hurt and Hopkins back because of the suspension.
28:02And then, so if you look at the wide receiver one and that Cardinals offense, they smashed.
28:07That's the Kyler we're hoping to capture here for the Justin Jefferson.
28:10Good coaching there too. It should help. No pressure.
28:13Michael, why don't you give me a regression since it's kind of your thing?
28:16Just for the record. Actually, I think this was a player.
28:19Hold on. Just for the record. The three of you picked such obvious candidates.
28:23Like, come on, show some, some, some courage. Oh, wow.
28:26You picked a good one. Actually. I did. Look at me.
28:29You guys picked like, uh, duh, duh, duh, duh.
28:32So say your names, but like, how much time did you put into this pick?
28:36Well, no, I don't want to say it now.
28:38Go for it. Now I feel sad about this.
28:41I was actually going to give Liz a shout out because I believe one of your favorite sleepers last year was my
28:47guy and he panned out Michael Wilson, right? Yes.
28:49Were you? Yeah. I thought you were on Michael.
28:52I liked him coming out of it. Uh, yeah.
28:54Yeah. It just took so long for him to get going.
28:57His first 30 games in the NFL, 4.3 targets and 7.6 fantasy points per game.
29:01It seems like it wasn't going to be very good.
29:04And then of course, Jacoby Brissette takes over, uh, 11 targets and 21.2 fantasy points per game.
29:09Uh, but here's why I think it's not going to continue anywhere close to where it was down the stretch.
29:14It wasn't just Jacoby Brissette under center because he'll be under center again this year.
29:18Marvin Harrison jr was out. So what I wanted to do was look a little closer at what happened when it was
29:24Brissette, Harrison and Wilson together in the second half.
29:27And if Wilson was still as good as he was when Harrison was out.
29:31And the question is really bad. Actually, it'd be, it'd surprise you.
29:34This is the, this is the fantasy points for Wilson.
29:37Those four games, seven, 9.1, 7.4 and 6.6 in those games, Marvin Harrison, who were just like right now, he's probably a bust, right?
29:43How about this? 7.8, not good, but then 22.6, 14.3, 12.9.
29:46So Harrison was actually delivering basically wide receiver, two numbers, those four games with Jacoby Brissette and Michael Wilson was a non-factor.
29:52So I am very concerned about you have Trey McBride.
29:55You have a healthy Marvin Harrison. And also the second half last year, they were just like, we're done.
30:00We're just going to throw the ball every play.
30:03They were the past heaviest offense in the NFL.
30:05They were losing all the time. It's going to be a little different this year.
30:09It's going to be a more conservative offense. So a lot of reasons to count all the time.
30:14There's a projected total in Arizona. I know that, but it's schematic too.
30:18I mean, yes, the fourth quarter, they're going to be throwing a lot.
30:21It's going to be a little different than it was in the second half where it was just a free for all.
30:27It's going to be beautiful. I love those kinds of teams.
30:30Yes. Yeah. So this is like a Blake Bortles-esque, like Jacoby Brissette is going to be feeding somebody in this offense.
30:36Is it Jeremiah Love? He's going to get McBride.
30:39That's another thing we know Love's going to have a huge season.
30:42Yeah. All right. All right. Field, what about you?
30:44Field with the smartest pick of the rest of us.
30:47No, keep, no, keep, you guys do your softballs.
30:50All right. I'll do mine then. You guys do your softballs and I'll bring some high heat.
30:54No, give me time to prep for just to tear Fields to shreds.
30:58I'll do mine. My regression player is Matthew Stafford, who is being drafted way too high based on ESPN ADP right now.
31:04What did he finish as last year? Quarterback two?
31:06Quarterback two. Do you know what he finished as the year before that?
31:10Quarterback 100. Quarterback 27. Okay. Year before that, he was quarterback 16.
31:13Year before that, he was quarterback 31. So for him to be able to repeat what he did, 4,700 passing yards, over 40 passing touchdowns.
31:20He had one rushing yard. It is so hard to be a good fantasy quarterback when you can't run the football.
31:26Amazing. Major regression alert for Matthew Stafford. I love him.
31:29He's unbelievable. If I ever had a child of my own, I would name him Matt, John Matthew Stafford, Daniel Dobb.
31:34Really? I would think about it. Yeah. But big time regression, I think coming from Matthew Stafford, just because as a non-mobile
31:40quarterback, what he did last year was like elite, elite, elite, elite as a pastor.
31:44It's so difficult to repeat that. I hear you, but that team is so good.
31:49He might put up another 40 passing touchdowns. Like if there's ever, usually when you were talking about guys like that, you're
31:55like, some things changed in the offense and on the team.
31:58The Rams are stacked. I say Matthew Stafford does not throw 40 passing touchdowns in 2026.
32:02All right. Let's just do it. I say Matthew Stafford does throw 40 passing touchdowns in 2026.
32:07Put it on the board. That was my friend.
32:09You can't, now you can't just, you can't. I basically bullied Mike into a thing.
32:13I definitely got the better end of it there.
32:16You did because that was an emotional decision. You put me on the spot because a true, a true statistician would never take that.
32:22You would have never taken that under every time.
32:25You always hammered the unders. By the way, I'm not mesmerized by this table.
32:29I've just been sitting here thinking about it, that like from here to this table is Matthew Stafford's projected rushing output for the year.
32:35How incredible is that? That's wild. He's going to run this far in 17 games.
32:39He had 26 rush attempts and he got this many feet in those 26 rush attempts last year.
32:44Actually, he was negative for a while, so he made up for that down the stretch.
32:49Unbelievable. He picked it up. Three rushing yards in the last 19 games.
32:52You are right field. That is kind of an obvious regression with Matthew Stafford.
32:56Liz, who do you have there as your regression?
32:58Well, I'm going to piggyback, but ours is a little bit different because the ADPs are vast.
33:03Mine is Devontae Adams, who is currently being drafted in the fifth round, which is why I don't think it's such a gimme.
33:09Okay. Now, Devontae Adams averaged nearly... Much better points than Daniel.
33:12Middle rounds. Middle rounds. That's fair. Devontae Adams averaged nearly 16 fantasy points per game.
33:17He obviously led the league in receiving scores with 14, but 110 of Adams' 223 total fantasy points came via end zone.
33:23Looks for context. That's more than double of any flex player in 2025 and the most since Randy Moss achieved a similar
33:29mark back in 2007, which means it is not sustainable.
33:31It is not going to be repeatable, and it is screaming regression, not to mention the fact that he's entering his age 33 season.
33:38He turns 34 on Christmas Eve, and as Daniel pointed out, he's attached to a 38-year-old quarterback who has a history of back problems.
33:45Seems not great. Yeah, I mean, I don't really have a hole to poke into that argument.
33:49It's just... I would just rather have Ladd McConkie in the fifth round.
33:53They're going around the same place. Okay, so if I'm having my choices and I'm thinking about last year versus this year,
33:59there's a player who I think could break out this year.
34:02The young lad. Let me ask you guys. Somebody who's not going to put up the same numbers.
34:07Let's ask the crowd. Can you guys... We practice this audience participation.
34:10If you'd rather have Devontae Adams over Ladd McConkie, let me hear you cheer a little bit here for this one.
34:16If you'd rather have Ladd McConkie than Devontae Adams, let me hear it from you.
34:20So people are more in on the young buck than they are on Devontae Adams.
34:24A little cross-town Los Angeles rivalry. Look at that right there.
34:27All right, let's go out. What about this unbelievable pick that you had that's so much better than all of ours?
34:33Yeah, tune in. He's way smarter than us. Let's hear what you got here.
34:37You guys be nice. My ears went out for a second.
34:40Could you repeat that? No. No. George Pickens. There we are.
34:43There's a pick right there. All right, that's spicy.
34:45That's a pretty hot take. George Pickens. I don't know.
34:48I think just... He's an amazing talent, right? I think just about everything that could go right for George Pickens in a
34:54season did go right for George Pickens in a season last year.
34:57Yes, I think you're right. A lengthy CeeDee Lamb absence because of a high ankle sprain that was suffered like the third week of the season.
35:04That helps George Pickens. Now, he was still very productive when CeeDee Lamb was around, but not quite as productive when CeeDee Lamb was around.
35:11Beyond that, playing in what he thought was probably his contract year ended up not being a contract year for George Pickens
35:17because he got franchise tagged, but there's tons of contract motivation for him.
35:21On top of that, the Dallas Cowboys defense was literally the worst defense any of us have ever laid eyes on.
35:27Every game for the Cowboys was a shootout. I don't know if this defense is going to be...
35:32Did you watch the Bengals play defense last year?
35:34Yeah. Okay, okay, okay. I mean, they're okay. Fair.
35:36You know what? Honestly, fair. They both stunk. They were both terrible.
35:40They were both awful. So, the opportunities, I just think, are going to go down a little bit for this offense because
35:46they're not going to need to throw the football literally every down because they're either playing from behind or playing in a shootout.
35:52It's going to be a better defense overall. I think George Pickens is a bit of a regression, so I am less in on George Pickens this year.
36:00I'm just saying, we're trying to talk about potential cliffs.
36:03I like it. Little cliff. I like it. A mini bump.
36:06Also, now he's on the franchise tag and that's big money for this year.
36:09Like, whatever. 20-some million bucks. Like, that hamstring starts to feel tight.
36:13It's like Mike. Mike goes on vacation the first week of the podcast every year.
36:17No, I didn't go on vacation. I just went on vacation.
36:20He went on vacation. Yeah, there was no ear quotes for that.
36:23No, I thought you were just going to – you were complaining about more contract demands or something.
36:28So, yes. No, look. I want to slam that take, but, like, it was well constructed and I've been an advocate of the Dallas defense.
36:35Unfortunately, I think they're going to be much better.
36:37So, fair. And I did rank him a little bit lower.
36:40So, I have to be a little bit practical here.
36:43I will say this, though. If you look at the games in which he played with CeeDee Lamb, he was still –
36:49he's averaged over 16 fantasy points per game. That would have been wide receiver eight for the season.
36:54So, I think there's a short list of teams that could have two receivers in the top 10 or 12 this year.
37:00Bengals would be one that stand out. Rams. Rams if Devontae Adams still gets pepper near the goal line.
37:05Browns. Certainly. Not the Browns. But certainly, the Cowboys are on that list.
37:09Browns fan, right? You think it could happen, right?
37:11Oh, Browns fan? There's at least – no. You're a realist.
37:14You're a Browns fan and a realist, yes. Look, I've been drafting an embarrassing amount of Browns this year.
37:20Aren't you creating batteries with the Browns? Don't, Liz.
37:22Don't. Nice, Liz. Don't feed into that. Don't do it.
37:25What can the Browns do for you? That's a bad battery.
37:28Not much. That's a bad battery. This episode is brought to you by Facebook.
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39:06All right. One more quick reminder for you guys.
39:09V.org slash ESPN. Pediatric cancer is actually the most underfunded forms of cancer research that is out there.
39:14We are trying to raise $10 million to be able to help defeat pediatric cancer.
39:18So if you can go to V.org slash ESPN, 100% of your donation goes to pediatric cancer research.
39:23Les Loza, you do an iconic piece called Facts vs.
39:26Feelings. Some say that it is the best thing that ESPN Fantasy has done since the advent of the internet.
39:31Oh. Some have said that. Or the Shadow Report.
39:34Are you feeling... Okay, sure, the Shadow Report. Okay.
39:36People read that. But you've got a facts vs.
39:38feelings vs. gut feelings. You've got a facts vs.
39:41feelings for us and the crew here. So, yes, I am going to read a statement, and then the three of you
39:47are going to say whether it is a fact or a feeling.
39:50We're going to do three. Okay. Okay. So the first one, fact or feeling, Justin Herbert finishes as a top eight producer at the position.
39:57I think we know where Phil is going to go with this one.
40:01But top eight, I have all of your rankings.
40:03It's a conservative, obviously, forecast for him. Fact. Duh.
40:06I say it's a fact as well. Nice, Daniel.
40:08Yo. QB9. We're in agreement. I would say it's a fact as well.
40:12Obviously, Field has him QB6 and Mike has him QB14.
40:14So everybody played along nicely with that one. Do you not like her music?
40:18Is that what it is? Yeah. I mean, look, you do lose fantasy points for bad songs.
40:23So, yeah. Wow. Wow. Pretty good. All right. Do you know any of her songs?
40:27No. No. Not to rest. Is that the Killers?
40:29I don't know. I know them. Like, is that?
40:32It's the only band. It's the only band. It's the only band I know.
40:36I don't know any of the bands. We've made real strides.
40:39Yeah. Killers and Taylor Swift. I got them covered.
40:41On the bright side. Oh, my God. I have another one.
40:44That was a Killers reference. Best in the business.
40:47Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame. So good. Fact or feeling, Carnell Tate clears 1,000 receiving yards in his rookie effort.
40:53You're picking all my guys. Fact. Yeah. Fact. Yeah.
40:55So, again, the numbers persons should always say under, but my projection is what?
40:591024? It is. For him. Yeah. Way to remember.
41:01I thought I could catch you on that one.
41:04I'll lean a hair on the over for him.
41:06The history of wide receivers. Give me a reason before I say mine, Mike.
41:10Go ahead. No, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead.
41:13You got it. No, let's hear your in-depth analysis, numbers guy.
41:16One of the reasons why I'm really in. No, Mike, you go first.
41:19You go first. And then I'll go after you.
41:22I'll take you back. All right. I will. So, yeah.
41:24One of the reasons why. Okay. So, this is what's happening.
41:27No, go ahead. No. Okay. You just, you first just steal my Tyler Warren.
41:31Then you steal my Michael Pittman Jr. I'm a Michael Jr.
41:34I get Michael Jr.'s. I have first name on Michael Jr.s.
41:37Hide your wife. Oh, no. No? No. No. So, anyway, Carnell Tate.
41:41I don't think you should not say it. Carnell Tate.
41:43Look, the history of wide receivers drafted in the first round.
41:46I used, you know, a similar stat when I was talking earlier about running backs.
41:50It's very similar for wide receivers picked in the top ten.
41:53Those guys over the past ten years are averaging a 25% target share, which is enormous.
41:58Enormous is like once you get into the 30s, but 25 is like that's wide receiver two territory.
42:03And that's almost always where these guys deliver. If they're healthy, they're wide receiver twos or threes.
42:07And I have some hesitation about the quarterback situation.
42:10Cam Ward has to make a year two leap, but that is the year where quarterbacks generally do make the leap.
42:16So, I'm optimistic about Carnell Tate. I would say 1,000 yards as well is in the bag because of the lack of
42:22receiving options behind him and the fact that the dude is a stud.
42:25I mean, I've listened to that field in first draft talking about it with Mel Kiper Jr., so I've been paying attention there.
42:32But I think 1,000 yards is in the bag here for Carnell Tate.
42:35I think they kind of quietly could have a decent wide receiver room.
42:39Like, Wondell Robinson is going to probably catch 90 footballs.
42:41And Calvin Ridley, if he's 32, he might have another year left at least as a guy that's going to soak up a handful of targets.
42:49When I see a 32-year-old play that many snaps in the preseason of week one, I'm like, you are on the top.
42:55I feel that, yeah. So, for the record, Mike's projection, 121 targets, 75 catches, 1,024 receiving yards, and four touchdowns.
43:00Where are you guys at on Carnell Tate? Do you think he can hit 1,000 receiving yards?
43:05If you think so, let me hear it. Woo!
43:07That is awesome. I like the low. The one with— We've got a bunch of Michigan fans in here right now.
43:13I think there's a Titans fan in the back.
43:15A lot of Wondell. Okay, there's too much Wondell potentially in this offense.
43:19Interesting. Giant territory, yeah. All right. Wondell Robinson's going to catch, like, 120 balls for 800 years.
43:24No doubt. Yes, yes. Four yards per catch. Right.
43:26Yes. I think they all watched too much of the Titans last year because that was ugly.
43:31That was ugly last year. All right, I have one last one.
43:34You wanted none of that offense. Bring it to me, Liz.
43:37All right, last one. Fact or feeling, the fantasy-focused listeners are the most knowledgeable, most passionate, and best-looking listeners in the entire podosphere.
43:43Yeah. You had the last one. That is a fact.
43:46Absolutely, Liz Loza. That's a fact. Own cold fact.
43:49Oh, my gosh. And you said I was playing to the crowd.
43:52Okay. You're not a listener. Obviously, Mike doesn't listen to the podcast.
43:55He's not good-looking. Okay, guys, come on. Come, buddy.
43:58Jeez. All right. Let's talk about some fantasy. Make two better jokes.
44:01That was mean. That was kind of mean. That wasn't normally a thing I would do.
44:05I apologize. Michael, I apologize. I'm sorry. Thank you.
44:08I love you, man. I apologize. All right. Except your apology.
44:11I love you, bro. Give some unbranded hydration for you.
44:14This is just awkward now. Let's move on. Let's talk about some New York sports teams and the fanny discussion around New York sports team.
44:20We'll start with the Buffalo Bills. Josh Allen's pretty good at football.
44:24Field, Jates? Yeah. Guys, so technically the only NFL team that plays his home games in New York, right?
44:29Yeah. Technically the only in New York. That's all, it's the only team we're talking about.
44:33Honestly, like with the Bills though, like there's really not a lot to talk about other than DJ Moore, right?
44:39We all feel great about Josh Allen as quarterback one.
44:42It's just a matter of how high you're going to, how high you're going to take him, how soon you're going to take him.
44:48Are you drafting him? Like I think all of us are probably out on Josh Allen because we wouldn't take the first quarterback off the board.
44:55I will have some Josh Allen exposure for sure.
44:58Just to do it. Yeah, he's too good of a player to not have, but on average, Josh Allen is going to
45:04be less likely than more likely to be my quarterback.
45:07There. James Cook, awesome back-to-back seasons with 12 plus rushing touchdowns and two plus receiving touchdowns.
45:11I don't know. Like there's not a whole lot to say about James Cook.
45:15He's pretty sick. He's going to go the back end of the first early portion of the second.
45:20It all comes down to whether DJ Moore can be a thing, right?
45:23Recent history has not been on the side of a Bills wide receiver.
45:27It's been since Stefan Digza was there that they had a really game-changing fantasy football wide receiver.
45:32They paid legitimate cash and draft capital to acquire DJ Moore, but they also have a lot of bodies there.
45:37DJ Moore is ranked as my wide receiver 27.
45:39So I'm good with, I have wide receiver 27, yes.
45:42But I also like, not so optimistic that I'm moving mountains to acquire DJ Moore.
45:46Would you be shocked if he, in this Buffalo offense, if he finishes wide receiver 18?
45:51You wouldn't be shocked by that? That would be like probably higher end outcomes.
45:55That'd be higher than, Mike. Okay, so would you, as a wide receiver 2, you think that might be a little more than?
46:01I think he could definitely get to a wide receiver 2 level.
46:04It's just going to be a matter of if he can kind of defy what we've seen from Bills wide receivers every few years.
46:11Like Khalil Shakir would be sort of fantasy relevant in that short area role, didn't score many touchdowns, and he was pushing like a 20, 23% target share.
46:18A 96 target share. You're not comfortable. I think DJ Moore.
46:21Khalil Shakir's skill set to DJ Moore, though, are you?
46:24No, that's what I'm saying. But I think as the target share is...
46:28But I think as the target leader with 96...
46:30Right. If the target share, if the usage is similar, except for you actually get work near the goal line, which Shakir
46:36never got, you might actually be able to deliver wide receiver 2 numbers.
46:40Yeah, because you would have more target share because of the fact that we think you're better.
46:44Also, like, we need them to throw near the goal line a little bit.
46:48It's all Cook and Allen running the ball in.
46:51Can you blame him on that? I don't blame them at all, but it's something that can limit DJ Moore.
46:56For DJ Moore. You knew right now he was going to score four touchdowns.
47:00Totally fair. He wouldn't be as appealing. It's also a role that this team has efforted to fill for so long, and
47:06now they finally have a downfield, veteran, reliable option, someone that Josh Allen can actually look to and know will adjust for him.
47:12So I think that because of the investment made, there is more hope that this will actually turn into something, especially also given the Super Bowl window, right?
47:20Like, there is a real opportunity here, and DJ Moore happens to be that guy, and he's not flashy.
47:25He does also have a pretty solid strength of schedule for the position, the 18th easiest.
47:30Last year, it was the third most difficult. Obviously, Chicago was a different situation, but I think he is, you're getting a
47:36flex play in terms of ADP with wide receiver 2 upside.
47:39There's a huge difference to me with DJ Moore.
47:41I'm more optimistic, and I'll have to look at where I have him ranked, but where he was last year in Chicago,
47:47we were already, and I don't think it was just us, kind of turning the page to the future on the new
47:53kids that were going to be a part of this offense, and DJ Moore was on the sideline being like, I'm ready to be somewhere else.
48:00Like, we all saw it. This is a situation where the Bills have been, like, trying like crazy to find a guy.
48:07So, DJ Moore being able to potentially smash in this spot, I really like.
48:10In the middle rounds, not a bad wide receiver to be able to grab.
48:14I would like to know which one of you wants to jump through the flaming table that we are about to bring out now!
48:21Yes! Light it up, that's what it's here for?
48:23There's nothing to it. It's just plain. It's just a plain table.
48:27Gosh, I just broke my chair. Break the chair!
48:29I told you it was going to happen. I just broke my chair.
48:33We did have that gigantic plate of nachos for lunch.
48:35It actually makes more sense. It was a lot.
48:38Let's talk about the New York Jets. Mike Tease, Gino Smith, all you the Gino Smith heads that stuck around finally get to have the payoff here.
48:45Yeah. Yeah, here's the payoff. So, the payoff is that you think Gino Smith, you're thinking that can't be much of an upgrade, right?
48:52You really meant it. You really want to talk about Gino Smith right now?
48:56No, I do. I do. Okay, sorry about that.
48:58And here's why, I think this would surprise people, okay?
49:01And again, I do the research, all right? I prep.
49:04Someone's got to. Someone's got to. So, I look back at the last time we saw extended work from Gino Smith in a normal situation.
49:10We're not going to count the Raiders last year because that was a disaster.
49:14But his three seasons in Seattle, the three years before that, the Seahawks were top 10 in passing yards and wide receiver fantasy points during those three years.
49:22So, Gino Smith, say what you want about him.
49:24He was able to get the ball in the hands of his skill guys.
49:28Three different wide receivers during that stretch had a top 16 fantasy season.
49:32DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jackson Smith in Jigba.
49:34One year, two of them did. Lockett and DK Metcalf.
49:37So, again, he's able to, at the very minimum, get the ball in the hands of his top skill guys.
49:43That's why Garrett Wilson is in for a career year.
49:45And again, we're getting him in the fourth round.
49:48Give me that all day long. It's still good.
49:50If not Gino Smith, Garrett Wilson, we're getting him in the fourth round.
49:54I'm fading into Garrett Wilson. Oh, yeah. Garrett Wilson, yeah.
49:57I don't know. I don't have as much optimism, Gino Smith, man.
50:00I think this might just be the end. Whoa.
50:02It's been a rough preseason. All right. Well, then, here's some stats on Cade Clubnick.
50:06He's the next great thing. Look, give me one more year of Gino Smith.
50:10That was a good joke, Mike. Come on. That was good.
50:13I have waning optimism for Gino Smith. I'm starting to sense the Jets fans are kind of hoping Clubnick starts by, like, the season opener.
50:20Like, I don't know. Maybe I'm just – maybe training camp will be a mirage for Gino Smith, but it does not
50:26sound like this is a player who has found the fountain of youth and for those reasons.
50:31Somebody's just mad that Alan Lazard's not around anymore.
50:33I think that's what it is. I think that's what it is.
50:37That's an old school focus show. Alan Lazard is currently – A free agent.
50:40Oh, wow. Interesting. That's one way of describing him.
50:43He also is taking a headshot to prepare for his gold jacket.
50:46And is – Oh, is that right? No way.
50:49Okay. He's going to the Fantasy Football Hall of Fame?
50:51No, the NFL Hall. The Pro Football Hall of Fame.
50:54Yeah. Oh, I thought you said gold jacket. That's what I was thinking was the Hall of Fame.
50:59I was so confused. You're right. No, okay. I understand now where we're at.
51:03Got it. So we're done with Alan Lazard jokes now.
51:06We're out. Yeah. Now let's move on to the Giants.
51:08Do we have any good Giants jokes? Honestly, the Giants – Oh, Daniel had a great Giants joke last night.
51:14Don't do it. Come on. It was great. Thank you for whoever that is.
51:18Yeah. My agent's sitting right there. Why is Field trying to get Daniel canceled?
51:22That's right. He's not getting canceled. I don't know.
51:24And if he has a bad game, you can call him – That's right.
51:28You can call him Jackson Fart. Yeah. No big deal.
51:31Him, Cam Scadaboo, and Malik Neighbors. Honestly, all three of these dudes could be studs in fantasy football.
51:36All three of these dudes are also kind of walking red flags when it comes to some of the injury issues.
51:41Yeah. So, Liz, just as an expert on red flags, why don't we start with you on the New York Giants.
51:47Wow. Shots across the bow. Wow. I'm recovering. I know.
51:50I mean, we talked about – She's flummoxed. Do you need a minute?
51:53You want to – I do one Kool-Aid man impression.
51:56Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And there – That was good.
51:59That was good. Daniels was really good. Well, you already talked up Jackson Dart.
52:03Malik Neighbors, I do see him getting healthier. I believe Harbaugh said earlier that he's not going to start until he's out
52:09of the red non-contact jersey, which is important to note.
52:11So, let's monitor that. But there's – it's cautious because of the obvious injury history.
52:16But I think at least as far as Cam Scadaboo is concerned, that volatility is baked into the ADP.
52:21I think that's a fair thing to say. Although, when you have four running backs, I don't love it.
52:26Like, adding a veteran this late. I don't think they're all staying.
52:29Yeah. I don't think – None of them play special teams – Or none of them played special teams last year.
52:35I don't think, like – I would imagine if Najee Harris is in shape and he makes the team, I would guess Singletary's out.
52:42You think you're sure? He got $3 million guaranteed.
52:44Yeah. I'd be shocked if he got signed now and he did.
52:47It kind of runs – it kind of contradicts what John Harbaugh said when they signed.
52:52But anyway, whatever. I don't – let me say this.
52:55I don't care if he makes the team. I still like Cam Scadaboo.
52:58Wow. Yes. I don't care who the other running backs are.
53:01Cam Scadaboo by far has the highest ceiling. And when we saw him in extended action last year, six games he played a bulk of the snaps.
53:09That's the lead back for the Giants. He had six touchdowns.
53:12Averaged over 19 fantasy points per game. That would have been ranked sixth at running back over the full season.
53:17And he was very involved as a pass catcher as well.
53:20And again, this offense could be good. Like, the offensive line is fine.
53:24The skill guys, if they're healthy, are pretty good.
53:26I mean, the Giants offense could be good. So, honestly, I like that the Harris thing happened.
53:31I think that was a little bit more concerned because Scadaboo was already a target of mine in the fourth round.
53:37And now people are a little more concerned. He might fall a little further.
53:40Fifth round. I don't think one had anything to do with you.
53:44A little cheaper. Mark's boot. Okay. Look at that.
53:46Did you sign Najee Harris for the Giants? Yeah, I did.
53:49I made that happen. Nice. Well done. Yeah. Anything to move ADPs, I'll do it.
53:53Doesn't make sense. I thought you were the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles.
53:57Special teams. Special teams. Get it right. Yeah. I'm going to go into the coaching room so I can get inside info.
54:03That's how hard I work, okay? I will be a special teams coach for a team to get all the info.
54:09I can just imagine you walking in with like a trench coat and like a hat.
54:13And a hat. Yeah. Press. I do what it takes.
54:16I could see Mike opening up that trench coat.
54:19He's just got water bottles everywhere that he's like trying to be able to make sure he's good with.
54:24You'd be weird. Or he's like on field shoulders.
54:26Stop it. They're stacked on top of each other in a trench coat.
54:30How cute would that be? Five foot seven, Mike Clayton.
54:33If I'm 6'3", and you're 5'7". That's right. Hey, I'm almost 6'2".
54:36He'd have to be let in. That's true. So intimidating.
54:39Let's talk about some mock draft advice, my friends.
54:41Okay. Let's do it. We've done, obviously, we talked about it at the very beginning.
54:45Guys, we can't stop drafting. We've done so many different mock drafts.
54:48I don't know if you guys do them, but I really, truly, truly, truly, please hear it in my voice.
54:54I want to encourage you to do mock drafts because it is so important to be able to understand how the draft landscape is going to play out.
55:02You're going to have guys that are going to get taken in front of you that you weren't expecting.
55:07And being able to understand and read the board is so valuable to not be able to panic when you have someone
55:13empty your queue in front of you. We have a bunch of mock drafts that we have done.
55:18Any takeaways that you have from the mock drafts or things that you feel like, this is what I've learned this year
55:24from all the drafts that we finished? Yeah, I think you probably have already heard this from me or multiple of us so far this preseason.
55:31But the thing that we talked about this a little bit in the Josh Allen conversation is just on average, I am waiting at quarterback this year.
55:38Even if you are not a fan of a Matthew Stafford second straight good season, there's just so many options.
55:44I like Justin Herbert, as you guys all know.
55:46You can also get him very late. He's going to go.
55:49If I take a Drake May or a Jalen Hurts early, I'm seeing Justin Herbert go until the 10th, 11th, 12th round.
55:55Trevor Lawrence, Brock Purdy, Caleb Williams can make the leap this year.
55:59Jordan Love, I have more optimism on the rest of the group.
56:02There's just a lot of capable. Kyler Murray has been traditionally a very good fantasy quarterback.
56:06Tyler Shuck looked really good down the stretch last year.
56:09There's just a num, Jared Goff, obviously. There's just a lot of really capable quarterbacks this year that I love.
56:15Just absolutely pounding the pavement at running back, wide receiver, tight end for the first 10, 11 rounds.
56:19And then sneaking a couple of late round quarterbacks in.
56:22I'd like to say the opposite of that because I am fully in on exactly what Field is saying and waiting on the quarterback position.
56:29But where I am not doing that because it is not as deep of a position is the tight end spot where
56:35I am very definitely targeting a tight end at least in the middle rounds.
56:39If I don't want to get a Brock Bowers or Trey McBride, I think there is a spot in the middle rounds
56:45that I need to walk away with one of those few guys, the Colson Loveland, the Tyler Warren.
56:50So if those two guys are gone, though, I'm interested because we keep talking about those two guys since they're in the next tier.
56:57But how do you feel about Kyle Pitts and Harold Fannin?
57:00In on Kyle Pitts? I'm fine with that scar tissue.
57:02I have dealt with it. I've gone to therapy.
57:05Fantasy's tight end too last season. Yeah, we fixed it.
57:08Harold Fannin, I'm in on. I think he is the most – he's the safest option as a receiver in that Cleveland Browns offense.
57:14Sam Laporta. Sam Laporta now dealing with a black – with an injury coming obviously back from back surgery.
57:19This is going to be a tough one for me.
57:22Is it hip today? Yeah, it was a hip.
57:25He got banged up. I wanted to just give you another name because you were just like, I'm in on all tight ends.
57:31You were just like in on him. You just went through like seven you're in on.
57:35Do you not like tight ends, Mike? No, I don't.
57:38None of them. I'm not drafting them. Hey, Liz, what's your biggest piece of advice you've learned this preseason through mock drafts?
57:44You know, people have said this a lot. That one just didn't land at all, did it?
57:49No, it didn't. What landed for these ones that moved down pretty quickly?
57:52Running back dries up very quickly, which is why in my first three rounds I want two running backs and a top tier wide receiver every single draft.
58:00Those are the three – those are the two positions that I am targeting in the first three rounds.
58:05If I can pick from any spot, I want the ninth spot because I can get CeeDee Lamb and James Cook in
58:11the first two rounds, and I love that start.
58:14Love it. I'm with you on that. Love being able to draft at the end of drafts.
58:18Mike, what about you? You want to draft at the end of drafts?
58:22All right, and we're out of time, guys. Let's make some questions.
58:25You were so excited to make that joke. I wanted it so badly.
58:29You said, I like to draft at the end of drafts.
58:32You don't even make any sense. I couldn't. I was so excited.
58:35I was so pumped. Anyway, my take is it's kind of going to fall in line.
58:39Like, if you're waiting a little bit, you know, waiting until, let's say, the middle rounds for tight end, and you're waiting
58:45at quarterback, and there's all this receiver value. Yep.
58:48What are you doing early? You're getting running backs this year.
58:51I mean, I feel like I have a top 20 that I feel really comfortable with, and it ends with, like, guys
58:57like Scadaboo and Judkins, and then after that, you get into, like, Bucky Irving and a lot of these guys that are
59:03in committees, and I don't feel as good about any of them.
59:06But those top 20 running backs are going to fly off the draft board in the first three or four rounds, so
59:12I am out, like, zero running back, not even something I'm thinking about this year.
59:16You know, if you want to wait on your second running back because of how the board's falling, fine, but it's very
59:22likely I'm going to take two running backs in the first three rounds.
59:26Yep. And if it's a deeper, like, if you have a flex and somebody falls, you could take three.
59:31You really could. I mean, I don't prefer it, but you could do it just the way that the draft board is set up this year.
59:38There's just so little depth at that position. I feel like those flex running backs that you're looking at, you're really either
59:44looking at Bucky Irving, who I'm pretty out on, Jadarian Price, or David Montgomery.
59:48It's a very dead zone feel to it. One of those three falls to you.
59:52Okay. I think that if I'm waiting on that second running back, to be honest, it's a strategy that I've tried really hard to implement in mock drafts.
60:00It's tough to pull off, and especially in 12-team leagues.
60:03Yeah. It's even harder. You really have to know your draft board if you're going to try to wait on that second
60:09running back and not grab them both early. Because you're really threading a needle, hoping that someone doesn't come off your cue.
60:15Because if you're waiting for that RB2, and then you get a run before you, you're left at a running back spot
60:21that's so difficult to be able to try to fix later on in the season.
60:25Yeah. If that top 20 is gone, and I don't have my RB2, I'm just like, oh, this is.
60:30It's tough. I'm not going to be happy with my team when I'm done.
60:34Yeah. I'm with you on that. All right. I think we have some questions here, my friends.
60:39Some questions here coming up from our producer, Christina.
60:41Let's give her a round of applause. Hey, Christina.
60:44Thank you, Christina. Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Can't wait for whatever comes next at the quarterback spot.
60:48Christina's first question is, when is Aaron Rodgers? No, it's not true.
60:51This one comes from Daniel B., New York, New York.
60:54Daniel, if you want to be a part of Only Dan's later on this season as a part of me and Dan Graziano, let me know.
61:01Are the Giants for real or what? Be honest.
61:04Guys, there's a lot of excitement around these kids.
61:06Are they for real? Can they make any noise in the NFC East?
61:10I think they can. This division, I think the Eagles are deserved favorites in this division, but I think all four teams
61:16enter the year with some level of optimism. Maybe the commanders have the least amount of optimism right now because of the
61:22Laramie Tunsil injury and some of the holes they had to patch up this offseason.
61:26But I just don't think that John Harbaugh, who had basically the pick of the litter in terms of jobs this offseason
61:32besides Ravens, was going to go somewhere that he did not fully believe he could win and he could win soon.
61:38So I'm buying that the Giants are going to make a dramatic improvement this year and maybe, maybe sneak into the back end of the playoff picture.
61:45I like that. I love it. All right. Shout out to you, Daniel.
61:49Good luck there. Lucas from Long Island wants to know, if I wait to draft a quarterback later, who is the better pick?
61:55Mike Clay. Is it Matthew Stafford or is it Caleb Williams?
61:58Ooh, close call. You know, I have these guys back to back.
62:01I have a Stafford at 12, Caleb at 13.
62:04So this is a really tough call. I think obviously Caleb is more well-rounded.
62:08I think his floor is probably a little higher just because he runs the ball more.
62:12But I honestly believe in this Rams offense. I think they're going to go back to back with like just an absurd offense.
62:18I think he's going to put up huge passing numbers.
62:21Obviously, he's going to throw 40 touchdowns as we determined earlier in this program.
62:25So, yeah, I'm still in on Stafford. But again, I've been back to back in a giant tier of quarterbacks.
62:30I think the right answer here is actually whoever goes later, like in your draft.
62:35Whoever falls further is who I'm fine with. And frankly, I haven't drafted much Caleb because the consensus is much higher on him.
62:41He's like quarterback six. And I'm obviously a little bit lower than that.
62:44The consensus is quarterback six for Caleb Williams? I believe, yeah.
62:47I believe he's going generally like QB six, QB seven, right in that range.
62:51Oh my. Yeah, Stafford's a little later. Yeah. Really?
62:54Wow. I'm looking it up. That sounds made up to me.
62:57No, just across the industry. The only thing that I would say.
63:00Why would you not think that? He finished last year, fourth?
63:03I don't believe most of the things that you say.
63:06Caleb Williams? Yeah. And fan. Yeah. Yes. What are we talking about right now?
63:10We're talking about Caleb Williams. Did anyone not? Fourth or fifth last year?
63:13In fantasy points. Caleb Williams did? Is that true?
63:16You're a Finners fan? Have I been sleeping for a long time?
63:19I don't want to be a part of it.
63:21All right, Daniel, you do look this up. No, no, no.
63:24You guys keep talking. We got through some Kyle Soppy here somewhere making sure that he's looking stuff up for us.
63:30He was five. He finished his QB five. Caleb Williams was quarterback five last year?
63:34Kevin Paul's first sitting over there helping us out.
63:37Field's been on. He's been just doing draft stuff and on vacation since last year, since like midway through last year.
63:43Wow, I did not realize that. I guess there's value in playing 17 games.
63:46My only contribution to this conversation. No, I'm serious.
63:49Like. No, I agree with you. I mean, you ran a lot.
63:52What about Sam? I did not. I did not.
63:55I did not. I did not. My only contribution to this is I actually don't mind going with both, right?
64:00It's like if you're waiting until round 12 to get quarterback, take two quarterbacks.
64:04Caleb Williams, ESPN, is coming off the board as the 11th quarterback in the 10th round.
64:08Okay. Yes, that ESPN is. Matthew Stafford coming off the board as the 8th quarterback.
64:12Three quarterbacks ahead of Caleb Williams. Yeah. In the 8th round.
64:15I'm still surprised by that. Yes, of course, we've talked.
64:18Yeah, that's a little bit influenced by our draft room, of course.
64:21But yes, in the industry, Caleb is more involved.
64:24I would be more on a Caleb Williams for what it's worth than Matthew Stafford.
64:28All right. This next question comes from Kalen from Edgewater, New Jersey.
64:31I play in a keeper league, Kalen. Congratulations on that.
64:34My top two choices. That wasn't meant to be a joke.
64:37My top two choices are Christian McCaffrey or Puka Nakua.
64:40Wow. Do I stick with McCaffrey or roll the dice with Puka's potential suspension?
64:44I love that someone else is a red flag.
64:46This is a good question. This is a good one.
64:49Let's assume that the tax is the same, right?
64:51It's not like you can keep CMC in the 3rd or Puka in the 8th.
64:56I'm assuming it's the same. Do you go with the running back because it's a running back?
65:00That's right. I mean, we talked about these guys a lot.
65:03We did our top 25 rankings earlier today. I'm keeping CMC just because, as Mike noted a few moments ago, the running back depth, so razor thin.
65:11That Mendoza line, whether it's Cam Scadaboo, whether it's DeAndre Swift, it's not a big number of running backs this year.
65:16My only hesitation with that is, and again, we don't have all the context here, but if you could keep this player
65:22for the next six or seven years. Fair. Don't do that.
65:25No, I'm not. I'm just saying, like, Nakua. Just don't do six or seven.
65:29I'm not doing it. I didn't do it. You brought it up.
65:33You're talking about it. Nakua, you know, he's going to be around a lot longer.
65:37This might be it for CMC. This might be his last season.
65:40Another good caveat. Nakua, longer term, he's the answer.
65:42This one comes from Noah from Chestnut Hill, Mass.
65:45Softball question. Liz, will you marry me? Again? Okay.
65:47Happens often. Liz? I know. I guess it's ranking in the proposal.
65:51Don't Noah. All right. You get proposed to every live show.
65:54That's not even actually the question. Back-to-back live shows?
65:56Question is, Gibbs or Bajon for what it's worth?
65:59I just assumed Liz would be the number one overall pick if we had a choice.
66:03But I know that they want to know. Gibbs or Bajon?
66:06Who are you taking number one overall? Bajon for me.
66:09We've talked about this ad nauseum. We're splitting hairs.
66:11I love his durability. I love his size. I love that he's only 24.
66:15And I love that he's in an offense that likes to establish the run with Kevin Stefanski and that Tyler Algier is
66:21no longer available to poach the goal line as regularly.
66:24Love that. Zach Katz from Wayland, Mass wants to know, how will Drake, Drake May May affect LeBron's legacy?
66:29Yes. What a question. I know Wayland. I grew up town over from Wayland.
66:33Did you really? I did. Yeah. Great question. It's, you know what?
66:36I'm not sure I get the question. No, I do.
66:39I think there's a chance that by the time it's all said and done, Drake May bypasses LeBron James as the second best player in NBA history.
66:46Wow. Okay. I like it. Is that because you think LeBron is going to go to Celtics 2045?
66:51No, I just, I just, I get the spirit of the question.
66:55For real though, if we're starting an NBA team made up exclusively of NFL players, Jimmy Graham.
66:59Jimmy Graham. I hear he played basketball. Drake May would be legit top, like probably number one pick.
67:04Is that right? He was a sick Hooper in high school.
67:07Can he play some tight end then too? I don't put much past Drake May.
67:11I really don't. Also, his brother hit one of the most iconic shots in North Carolina basketball history.
67:16Okay. Okay. This is my favorite part about Mike.
67:19It's like, you can ask Mike about like the 1972 projections for the San Francisco 49ers.
67:23Bam. He'll rattle him off like this. I didn't know any of this.
67:27You get right outside of his lane and he's like, who is this?
67:30Luka Doncic you said? You're not, you're not wrong.
67:33I don't, I don't know what you're talking about.
67:35I know, I know LeBron's on the Sixers. I mean, that's cool.
67:38Like, I like that. Always been a lifelong Sixers fan.
67:41Lifelong Sixers fan since LeBron signed. I got two questions.
67:44Two questions left. First one's from Jackson. Jackson from Chicago.
67:47Liz Loza. Oh boy. This is for you. Is this the year that we see Marvin Harrison Jr.
67:52blossom into the prospect that he was always meant to be?
67:55If not at this point, what do you believe his ceiling is?
67:58Good question. The Kyle Pitts of wide receivers. That's what it feels like.
68:02Oh, it's a good comp. Yeah. That has been the comp.
68:05Do you think he breaks out this year? What would a break out be?
68:08So that would be year five, right? No. If he's the Kyle Pitts.
68:12If he's the Kyle Pitts. Yeah. My thought on the Kyle Pitts, like, you know, both guys who went to the league
68:18with all the acclaim, young prospects, plenty of room for growth.
68:21And it's like, it does, it goes kind of uninspiring, but like it keeps getting a little bit better.
68:26It takes a lot longer to get to where you want it to actually be at.
68:31But by the end, you're like, all right, that wasn't that bad.
68:34We made it. We kind of made it. You know, like Kyle Pitts just got $18 million a year.
68:39Yeah. Pitts is a weird one, too, because he had over a thousand yards as a rookie.
68:44Like he was, you know, he got off to such a good start and then disappointed for so long.
68:49I will say this. The rule with receivers used to be year three.
68:53That was the year that you broke out. So sometimes it takes guys a little longer.
68:57And I know he wasn't, he wasn't drafted as early, but Devontae Adams did nothing his first two years in the NFL
69:03and then became one of the best players in the NFL.
69:06It happens sometimes. And also, as I pointed out earlier, Marvin Harrison was delivering pretty good numbers with Jacoby Brissett last year.
69:12It was just a very small sample, but he was good when they played together.
69:16So maybe there's something there. That's true. He also was hurt last year.
69:20Yep. Last question here. And I saved it for a New York question.
69:23This is Joe from Brooklyn, New York. Shout out to you, Joe.
69:27Brooklyn, by the way, Mike, is one of the boroughs.
69:29That's one of the boroughs. I got there earlier this summer for the first time.
69:33So yeah, I've seen it. Did you? Yeah, made it over there.
69:37Tom Brady's card vault's over there if you were interested in that.
69:40Do you think, Mike, that Terrence Ferguson could be a potential tight end sleeper this season?
69:44Is that a real question? Who asked that? He is the Rams wide receiver three.
69:48Who asked that? Great question. Joe from Brooklyn, New York.
69:51Shut up, Joe. Let's go. Yes. Love it, baby.
69:54We're Brooklyn. Look, with how smart everyone is now playing fantasy football, I cannot believe that he's still free.
69:59He's basically undrafted everywhere. It's just a guy that has no hype whatsoever.
70:02He was a second-round pick last year as a tight end, and he's probably going to open the season as a number
70:09three target on the best offense in the NFL with the Rams.
70:12I mean, I am a little worried about him being kind of boom-bust because they have five tight ends.
70:17Four of them will probably be active on game day, but they don't have a third receiver.
70:22Did you say they have five tight ends? They have five tight ends.
70:25They drafted another one in the second round this year, and I'm sorry, but I know you don't want to hear about these guys.
70:32You're pretending they don't exist, but Davis Allen is going to be out there, and Tyler Higby is going to be out
70:38there, and Colby Parkinson is going to be out there.
70:41They're going to use all these guys, so that's my hesitation, but at the same time, if he is really third in
70:47line for targets in that offense, he's going to probably be a fringe tight end one at worst.
70:52He'll be awesome. And also, Devontae Adams is 33.
70:54What if he slips or misses time? What if Pukenuku is suspended for four games?
70:58He might be number two in line for targets in the Matthew Stafford letoff, and so as far as late-round lottery tickets go, money in the bank.
71:06I mean, yeah, that's the kind of guy you want.
71:08Great question. Money in the bank when we're talking about Terrence.
71:11That's how you close out a fantasy-focused live show right there.
71:14There's traits of guys you want to take late-round flyers on.
71:17That, of course, would be a guy that fits that bill.
71:20All jokes aside, seriously, thank you so much for hanging out with us.
71:24We would not be here if it was not for you guys.
71:27Thank you for everything on behalf of Mike, Liz, Field, and I.
71:31Don't forget to love each other. Be kind to yourself.
71:33You guys deserve it. Stick around. We're going to do a meet-and-greet.
71:37We love you. Thank you for hanging out with us.
71:39This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT. Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast.
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