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0:18Visit your nearest Crocs store today. What's up friends?
0:20Welcome into Fantasy Focus Football alongside Mike Clay, Liz Loza, Field Yates.
0:24My name is Daniel Dopp here. Excited to bring you a very fun show on a Thursday, my friends.
0:29We're going to do the top 25 players in Fantasy Football.
0:32Field, you brought a big list together. Let's go.
0:34We're going to dive into that. The names at the very top of the list.
0:38Plus, we're going to do some draft advice. We're finally going to pay it off.
0:42Some draft advice, some salary cap advice and some dynasty draft advice or just some dynasty league advice as well.
0:48But I have to say, this studio is feeling good with Liz Loza in town every single time.
0:53Great to see your face, Liz. What are you here for, by the way?
0:56I'm here for a live show that we're doing this evening.
0:59No, we're doing, yes, this evening. We're doing it this evening.
1:02That's correct. We are doing it this evening in New York City.
1:06That's right. I have to apologize. The reason why Liz was uncertain about whether we're doing the live show this evening is
1:12I keep telling Mike it's tomorrow night. And to show up then.
1:15You did that. What? I can't go to the pool tonight?
1:18You said I didn't have to do anything tonight.
1:20Sorry, yes. You're still going to do a Central Park walk by yourself.
1:24By yourself. Hello. And so a couple of things.
1:26We are in the old studio. Yes, we are.
1:29And I forgot that we were in the old studio when I got dressed today and I showed up to work in
1:35shorts, which I wouldn't say is like completely taboo.
1:37Wow. No. I try not to show off too much thigh.
1:40Field, skies out, skies out, thighs out. I remembered this studio, which is why I literally wore a hoodie and full pants.
1:46What is the problem? No one judge me. It's chilly.
1:49Oh, you're chilly. It's chilly in here. Yeah. That's cute.
1:52You're adorable. Yeah. Well, listen. It's not cold in here.
1:54I don't know. Thank you, Mike. I don't know how to be able to get out of this one.
1:59I wear pants because I have to because I'm a professional and we're in studio.
2:04But I refuse to oblige to any sort of cold air until like, I don't know, October.
2:08October. I will hold on to summer as long as I possibly can.
2:12Amen to that. I agree, Mike. I'm super pumped about the top 25 today because I think this is something we don't
2:18do enough of, which is we do a ton of wide receiver stacking.
2:21All right. I have just making this up here.
2:24Drake London ahead of Rashi Rice. But the truth is that the most consequential decisions you're making are usually at the very
2:30top where you're like, all right, listen, it's pick four.
2:32You guys are always telling me you have to grab running backs early.
2:36But B. John Robinson and Jameer Gibbs and Christian McCaffrey are gone.
2:39Am I really going to take Jonathan Taylor ahead of Jamar Chase?
2:42Hopefully the top 25, which I want you guys to poke as many holes in as you can.
2:47That'll be fun. Gives you a little bit of perspective from us about like, all right, here's kind of where we see
2:53the differences between the elite players because everybody in the top 25 is awesome.
2:57It's just a matter of how you approach them during the draft.
3:00Yeah. Look, I have the show note here, but I usually bring papers with like notes for all the players we're going to talk about.
3:07I didn't do that today. And the reason for that is very clear.
3:11I just want to have like full, a full range, a full clear head to just like slam all of it.
3:16Yes. It's like everything. Mike, you also didn't do it because you knew I wouldn't.
3:20So you're just going to look over my shoulder and shoot off my notes.
3:24I brought Liz in to attack. So I love that.
3:27We're coming for you. All right. Before we dive into that really quickly, we did unfortunately have one bit of news yesterday.
3:33Yeah, this one was tough. Jaden Higgins, unfortunately going to go on to the IR season ending.
3:38I are going to miss the entire 2026 season.
3:40Really unfortunate. He was going to be the wide receiver two of this Texans offense.
3:44Liz, I know you were in on him. Unfortunately, if we're going to move forward and look ahead, we got a couple
3:50of wide receiver twos that we can maybe prognosticate on.
3:53And I'm curious from this perspective, Tank Dell, who obviously had a major injury in 2025, ACL, MCL, LCL, all the L's were a problem.
4:00December of 2024. Yes, yes. And obviously, you know, we saw the big play upside when Tank Dell is on the field.
4:05It's just we've had some injury history there. And then you've got the draft pick from last year, Field GH.
4:11Jalen Noel ran a 4-3-40 at the Combine, 41 and a half inch vertical.
4:15This kid is super athletic, but also been dealing with some injuries, a pinky and a hamstring right now in training camp.
4:21Do you have a lean as to which one of these two you would rather have if you were going to take a dart throw?
4:27I think the question is, is anybody a lean here now?
4:30Like, I think we felt good about Jaden Higgins being not just the number two, but a capable number two.
4:36A guy who, like, in a few years from now could be a number one for Houston or somebody else.
4:41I'm not convinced that there is a second Texans wide receiver that right now should be rostered in 10-team leagues.
4:47I would take... If I had to... No, go ahead.
4:49Finish with that. I was going to say, I think if I had to take a shot on somebody, like, I'm just
4:55going to chase the upside and the best player out of the guys that is remaining, Xavier Hutchinson and...
5:01I didn't mention Xavier Hutchinson. Jalen Noel and Tank Dell.
5:03The best player is Tank Dell. He's coming off of this massive injury, like one of the scariest injuries we've seen in
5:09the NFL in the past couple of years. I'd still roll the dice there because if I'm not convinced that any of
5:15them are going to have value, I'd rather roll the dice from the guy that I think has the theoretical highest ceiling.
5:21Yeah, I agree. He was 18th in fantasy points as a rookie and then before that injury, he was kind of boom bust.
5:27He dropped off. He was averaging about 10 fantasy points a game.
5:31I think that you'd throw that dart late in your draft on Tank Dell.
5:35That's what I would do. But I laugh because, like, we're going to pick Dell and Noel and then, like, Xavier Hutchinson's going to run 500 routes.
5:42Please no. Justin Watson's going to be out there blocking.
5:45He'll probably make the 53 now. So, you know, it is what it is with this Houston offense that, by the way, still is an elite defense.
5:52So they're not going to be so reliant on their passing game in the second half.
5:56But yeah, I think Noel and Dell find late round picks, but I wouldn't get too carried.
6:01I think it also further secures Dalton Schultz's floor.
6:03Like, we know that he is a capable safety valve.
6:06And I think my problem with Noel is that, as you mentioned, he's like a speedy slot guy.
6:11There's not really an alpha about him. Yeah. And I'm not sure that that's what is going to best complement this offense,
6:17especially when we talk about Nico Collins' history of lower body issues.
6:20And I fully understand that. That's part of why I like him in this offense is because I'm worried about the offensive
6:26line and CJ Stroud being able to get the ball out a little bit quicker.
6:30But both of these are just dart throws, to be honest.
6:33So I think maybe the most important question from all this is, did Nico Collins get a bump from any of you guys?
6:39No. Negative. Yeah. All right. Same. I have expressed my concerns over this passing offense.
6:44It was a cumbersome offense last year. We'll see if things get better.
6:47But there are questions about the way in which Nico was deployed.
6:50That became a big talking point throughout the year.
6:53And then there are questions about whether CJ Stroud is more of the rookie version or more of the version that we saw last season.
7:00It's better than what we saw in the playoffs against the Patriots, which is one of the worst quarterback performances I've seen in a long time.
7:07Yes. But how much better will determine how much upside this entire offense has?
7:10We've said this a couple times. This could just easily turn into an offense in my mind that's just play really, really
7:16good defense and smash the ball with David Montgomery.
7:19Yeah, could be. Don't mind that. By the way, I think it was maybe a month or two ago, there was a
7:25report that the top three receivers for Houston were Nico Collins, Jaden Higgins, and Jalen Noel.
7:29Noel, before he got hurt during training camp. But before that, he was generating some hype, like year two breakout hype.
7:35And Tank Dell saw that and posted on social, like, you know, whatever.
7:38Ha ha ha. We'll see about that sort of thing.
7:41So a little bit of rivalry, competition between these receivers.
7:44A little bit of motivation, but Dell's feeling pretty good about himself.
7:47It's difficult for me. And this is the last thing, so we don't need to talk about it more.
7:52It's difficult for me to want to draft a guy that's 165 pounds, even if he is really good.
7:57Like, we've seen part of the problem with him staying healthy in this league.
8:01He's just a slight frame. All right. Let's dive into the top 25 players in fantasy football field.
8:06Yates, this is your list. Yeah, I'm going to start, and I'm going to have you guys just kind of tell me
8:12when you want to break it up, whether you want to say, here's why I strongly agree, here's why I strongly disagree.
8:18Okay. If you've been listening to the show, or maybe any of the shows, you know, number one player in fantasy football
8:24for me this year is Bijon Robinson, running back for the Atlanta Falcons.
8:28I don't think what I need to do here is, no, that's okay, is make the case for why Bijon is RB1.
8:33It's more so make the case of why I have him ahead of Jameer Gibbs.
8:38Um, I think I, I, I've used this logic before.
8:40I think he is a ever so slightly better player than Jameer Gibbs ever so slightly.
8:45It's like a 2% difference. It's fine. Worth noting that both of these players had backup running backs depart this off season, notable David Montgomery, Tyler Algier.
8:52Bijon got, I would argue, a better backup in Brian Robinson Jr.
8:55But I would have maybe said that he got the worst backup if it was Isaiah Pacheco of a year ago versus Brian Robinson Jr.
9:02Like it's comparable, right? Um, I just think I had to guess if I had to break the tie, I think a little bit better player.
9:09And I think Bijon is just slightly less vulnerable to the dud games to that.
9:13And over the past two seasons, uh, Bijon has five more games with 20 plus points than Jameer Gibbs and two fewer
9:19games with 10 or fewer fantasy points. Who's been a slightly more consistent player.
9:23I think he's a slightly more talented player. I have Bijon Robinson player one overall.
9:27Yeah. I mean, I, I said wrong because I'm a jerk, but I mean, it's a toss up.
9:32They're both Gibbs or Robinson. Presumably you're going to have Gibbs next.
9:35I don't think that's going to shock anyone. It's a toss up.
9:38I had Robinson first earlier in the off season.
9:41I ended up moving Gibbs ahead as, as the backup situation sorted itself out.
9:45I imagine. And by the way, Dan Campbell has said more Jameer Gibbs to come like his role will expand.
9:50And he was already a top three running back in the consecutive season.
9:54That's the thing about Gibbs. I agree with you field.
9:56And I have Bijon Robinson number one overall. He has yet to knock on wood, lock on all the wood, miss a game so far in his career.
10:04He's only 24 years old. So I like the durability.
10:07I like his frame a little bit more. I believe he's a sturdier player if you will.
10:11But platitude after platitude that you can easily rip off about Gibbs.
10:15And yet I know we're not supposed to put a lot of stock into coach speak.
10:19But when Dan Campbell says that he wants Jameer Gibbs to be the, quote, team's bell cow, girl, fiend.
10:24I mean, it's really hard not to, like, get the vapors when you hear that.
10:28I'm with you on that. I think the real question, it's not even a question.
10:32This is an emotional decision. Because you make either one of these picks at 101.
10:36And you have, you've not made the wrong decision.
10:39It's just which one do you personally like more?
10:41Because it's your team. All right. So my RB2 is Jameer Gibbs.
10:44Just a quick, again, we're not going to haggle over player one versus player two too much more.
10:49But the reason why Gibbs is not any lower than two is since he became an NFL player three seasons ago.
10:55He's 109.3 points better than the third highest scoring running back in that time.
10:59Incidentally, that is Derrick Henry, who will come up in the ranks in a little bit.
11:03Here's where I think gets interesting, because I think you go a couple different directions.
11:07I think at least one of you will be in lockstep with me on who player three is.
11:12And I know one of you will be very far away.
11:15My third player is Christian McCaffrey. If I told you I was getting 17 games of Christian McCaffrey, I would put him
11:21player one and it wouldn't be close. This is a slight hedge, right?
11:25Christian McCaffrey, an older player than Jameer Gibbs, an older player than B.
11:28John Robinson. But if he is healthy going into week one, I'd venture a guess that Mike's projections will have Christian McCaffrey
11:34as the highest scoring non-quarterback for week one. He is, by the way, in the time that Jameer Gibbs and B.
11:40John Robinson have been in the NFL, Christian McCaffrey is the fourth ranked running back.
11:44He's also missed 13 games, right? So, like, the guy just plays and plays.
11:48Or, sorry, whenever he plays, he produces. It's a question about whether he's going to stay healthy.
11:52But to me, he's relatively healthy, or at least healthy enough right now that I feel good about him as my third ranked player overall.
11:59Does either of you agree? Yeah, I agree with you.
12:02I mean, I don't have him at three. I have Chase ahead.
12:05But I have no issue with this. Okay. And, you know, we've had this debate on the pod over the last two weeks.
12:11I'm still on him because, you know, plain and simple, he's a unicorn.
12:15I mean, the guy is just a unique animal.
12:17We saw last year the fact that he could slip.
12:20His efficiency could fall to 3.8 yards per carry, which is not good, and still just dominate the running back position in fantasy points.
12:26Yeah, and he still dominated. And, by the way, even if he slips a little more in efficiency this year, my projection
12:32is over 100 points lower than where he finished last year.
12:35And he still falls third at running back. It just shows you the caliber of volume that he sees in this offense, specifically in the passing game.
12:43So, not to mention this offense, which is, it doesn't matter who the quarterback is or what's going on.
12:48Kyle Shanahan's offenses are just money in the bank.
12:50They're going to be highly efficient. So, he could play poorly all year.
12:54If you're giving me 20-plus touches a game, he's going to be a superstar.
12:58Just for data points, are both of you at four for CMC?
13:01No. Okay, you're lower. Well, I am lower than that.
13:04I do have Shamar Chase ahead, but I just do not believe that his efficiency is going to rebound after 3.8 last year.
13:10Yeah. That actually helps the cause, right? I mean, not when 43, despite being the RB2 in carries last year, only 43%
13:16of his fantasy points came from the rush. So, there's an over-reliance, if you will, on receiving.
13:21And he has the 10th most difficult strength of schedule.
13:23And he's entering his age 30 season. And he's coming off of a 400-plus touch season.
13:28So, I am not as confident that he will be able to bridge, admittedly, 109 points vast, that he'll be able to
13:34bridge that gap in a way that is successful at a top-five pick.
13:37So, this is where Field and Mike and I have disagreed.
13:40Because when I talk about the touch count, the argument back is, the touches were not worried about the rushing regression or the inefficiency there.
13:47Because he's getting his touches in the passing game.
13:49So, as long as he's getting his catches, I don't care about the regression from the touch count.
13:54You and I disagree from that standpoint. I still feel like there is concern to be had for a 30-year-old player who had 450 touches last year.
14:02But that's why we are different. Okay. So, Liz has him down in RB6.
14:05I apologize. And I thought you were closer to three here.
14:08Would you guys all have Jamar Chase third over on your rankings?
14:12Yes. Yes. Okay. So, I have Jamar Chase fourth.
14:14Not that far behind Christian McCaffrey. Yep. You could coin flip it.
14:17But just some context on why Chase is wide receiver one and player four overall.
14:21It was Puka Nakua until Adam Schefter went on his podcast and suggested a suspension for Puka Nakua was in the realm of possibilities.
14:28Yep. That's enough to break the tie and move Jamar Chase up.
14:31You could make the case for Jamar Chase even if Puka Nakua is going to have 17 games that he plays this year.
14:37Over the past two seasons, Jamar Chase, 11 games with 25-plus fantasy points.
14:41He's a triple crown threat. It's very similar between him and Puka and Jackson Smith and Jigba.
14:46To me, the biggest case against Jackson Smith and Jigba is simply that we haven't seen him do it multiple times in
14:51the same way that we have Jamar Chase and Puka.
14:54So, I have Jamar Chase fourth overall. A worthy first non-running back off the board.
14:58Yeah, pretty wild. Chase has led the NFL. It's not just that he's a superstar talent.
15:03He's finished first at receiver and pass routes and targets back-to-back seasons now.
15:06Yeah, he's 125 catches in multiple seasons now. He's only the third player ever to do that.
15:11I mean, the guy, and he's still, how old is he now?
15:14He's 20, what is he, he's still so young, 26.
15:17I mean, right in the midst of his prime, the guy is just unreal.
15:21So, and it's funny, he just feels like, I don't want to say a boring pick, but just like a ho-hum, you know what you're getting, Jamar Chase.
15:28I love that at third overall. Give me boring.
15:31100%. Please. Is it even a question for you guys before it was, do you want Puka or do you want Jamar Chase?
15:37Is Jamar sort of in a tier of his own now with the Puka situation?
15:41I wouldn't say that. I don't think so. I mean, I have Puka Nakua fifth in my rankings.
15:46Oh, so he's next. Okay. All right. Puka's next.
15:48We're going to start to sort of split these guys.
15:51We'll start to explain why 13 versus 14 versus 15 is more notable because, again, it's hard to poke holes in any of these guys.
15:58Puka, it's just the possibility of being suspended. But over the past three seasons, his first in the NFL, he has 15
16:04games with at least 115 receiving yards. That's three more than any receiver in the NFL.
16:08He's missed six games during that time. Puka's going to be money.
16:11He's the best bet every single week for 10 targets in the NFL period, full stop.
16:16He's also the best bet out of everyone we mentioned to miss games due to suspension this year.
16:21And potential injury. Yeah. And that's why he's not number one in my rankings.
16:24Also, you mentioned he might have 10 targets in a game.
16:27He has 11 end zone targets total over the last two seasons.
16:31Are you serious? So if you want to pick him apart, that's it.
16:34We need more end zone work. I don't know if that's going to change with Devontae Adams there, but that's what we're going to pick him apart.
16:41I found the touchdown stats really fascinating. Obviously, not all touchdowns are like target in the red zone.
16:46Fine. But he was the wide receiver, too, in touchdowns, despite seeing half as many red zone targets as Devontae Adams.
16:52Crazy. Which only speaks to, obviously, his yak appeal and his just the potency of this offense as well.
16:57Also, Adams had, what, nine more end zone targets than any other player in the NFL last season.
17:02Yeah, 31. He's on a different planet. 31 red zone targets.
17:05Keep us moving here. I'd have a hard time having somebody else inside my top five.
17:09But obviously, Mike, I'm sorry, Liz and Daniel do feel differently.
17:12Number six, I think it's pretty firmly in a tier as well.
17:16It's the reigning offensive player of the year. Jackson Smith and Jigbo.
17:19He had the NFL in receiving yards last year.
17:21He was fourth in receptions, fifth in targets. He plays in one of the run-heaviest offenses in the league.
17:27But this is just clearly, like, no other player is going to see a bigger share of his team's passing game opportunities
17:33than JSN, based off how things look last year.
17:35I think his target share was number one last year, Mike.
17:38Yeah, it was. It sure was. 36%. Yeah, that's a ridiculous number.
17:41Even if you're throwing the ball at a middle-of-the-pack rate, 36% is just too good to ignore.
17:46An ascending player going into his fourth season, room to believe he'll only get better.
17:50JSN could easily be wide receiver one again this year.
17:53How about this for a wild stat, just in terms of JSN's floor?
17:56He had at least 13 fantasy points in 16 of 17 games last year.
18:00Didn't he have, like, one game in the playoffs where he had, like, two catches for seven yards?
18:05Of course! Yeah. Of course! Well, better in the fantasy playoffs?
18:08Maybe. I don't even remember. Yeah. But regardless, the floor there was unreal.
18:11I also love the evolution of his skill set.
18:14You know, he was unloosed from the slot last year, and he showed up.
18:18Interestingly, 76% of his total receiving yards came from the perimeter.
18:21Yeah. And you got to see a player who was maybe dubbed a certain thing when he came out of Ohio State,
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19:43These other wide receivers that are in the top five, they all have like legitimate dudes that they're also catching the balls next to.
19:50He is the one guy that just doesn't have any of that.
19:53So, good point. We've got 19 players to get through and 26 minutes to get there.
19:58Jonathan Taylor is my seventh-ranked player overall. He's RB4.
20:00He has been amazing. He's the best threat, along with Derrick Henry, to lead the NFL in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.
20:06He's Derrick Henry Jr. He's exceptional. Daniel Jones being hurt this past year, I think, only increases the odds that Jonathan Taylor hogs more goal-line opportunities.
20:13And he was already getting a ton of them.
20:16Feel pretty good about Jonathan Taylor. Anybody have major objections there?
20:19Nope. I'll just say this. 12.9 fantasy points per game.
20:21Without Daniel Jones last year, he plummeted. And now Jones is back.
20:25We might be too low on him, frankly. I mean, if that offense plays like it did last season, he's going to outperform his ADP.
20:31De'Von Achane is my fifth-ranked running back and the eighth overall player.
20:35He has 3,057 rushing yards in three years. He is maybe the most efficient runner in the NFL.
20:40The concerns are obvious. It's going to be a worse offense this year.
20:43He's playing with a mobile quarterback, which might decrease his target share a little bit.
20:47The Dolphins just might not be very good. Not being very good might as well help Devon H.N.
20:52They might be playing from behind all the time.
20:55And name a Dolphins wide receiver. There's not many of them that you know.
20:58Yeah, I mean, but like, you know, the average, like, walk around the streets in New York today, you might have a hard time doing that.
21:05So H.N. could be right back in the 80-catch territory this season.
21:09I think that's a really good point about them trying to play catch-up and him being involved.
21:13Because I believe, so H.N. averaged nine and a half fantasy points per game as a pass catcher over the past two
21:19years, which is second among running backs behind only Christian McCaffrey.
21:22And the assumption, though, was with Malik Washington under center, he wouldn't be getting the check-downs.
21:27Malik Willis. Sorry, under center. It could be Malik Washington.
21:29You're right. Gadget plays. That he wouldn't be getting the check-downs like he was from Tua.
21:34But I think you make an excellent point about playing catch-up, and that is something that maybe we're not.
21:39I think the H.N. bet is a talent bet.
21:41And you're just assuming that this kid is so special that he can continue to produce.
21:46I think he's a special player. Alvin Kamara to me.
21:48Oh, it's a good call. That's how I'm viewing him, so I feel pretty good about it.
21:53And I know there's been a lot of talk about, like, you know, running quarterbacks and not throwing the football to running backs as much.
22:00Yep. That is definitely possible with Malik Willis. I think the two things that I am mindful of is, one, the sample
22:06size of Malik Willis is still pretty small. Two, he has nobody else to throw the football to.
22:11Right? Like, we're sitting here hyping, like, Greg Dolchich and Caleb Douglas.
22:14Yeah, Caleb Douglas as potential sleepers. Right. For the Dolphins offense.
22:17That tells you how thin their wide receiver room is.
22:20Number nine for me, steady Eddie. Could have this guy higher.
22:23Wouldn't bother me a bit. Amon Ross St. Brown.
22:25Yep. No team has scored more points in the NFL over the past two seasons than Daniels Lions.
22:30He's going to go for at least 100 catches.
22:32Probably have at least 1,200 receiving yards. Doesn't have quite the same level of upside as the three wide receivers that we have already unveiled.
22:39Yep. But I don't know too many teams that regret taking Amon Ross St.
22:43Brown in the first round at the end of the season.
22:46No. Yeah. I think he's the one first round wide receiver that you're drafting because he is so consistent and steady.
22:52But you know you're not going to get wide receiver one at the end of the season.
22:56He'll have monster games for sure. Yes. But I don't think he's going to be wide receiver one at the end of the year.
23:03He might have some wide receiver one weeks. To your point, though, he's finished exactly third in fantasy points three years in a row now.
23:10There you go. Also, though, here's a little fun nugget.
23:12Here's a fun nugget, though. So the only wide receiver in NFL history with 90-plus catches in his first five NFL seasons.
23:18The only one. Unreal. He's remarkably consistent. I just think we—at least I believe he is just a touch below the three
23:24first wide receivers in terms of overall upside. And I think it's important to get running backs early if you can.
23:30You do have two Lions inside your top ten, though.
23:33That feels nice. Thank you for that. No surprise there, right?
23:36By the way, if you're picking one to put in the Hall of Fame right now, are you going Amon Ross St.
23:42Brown or 2026 Amon Ross St. Brown Luther Burden?
23:44It was already established. Which one goes in? It's a tough call.
23:47Burden is coming just a few players away. I promise we'll get to the top 25.
23:52Don't make that promise. Don't make that promise. Number ten for me, James Cook.
23:55I love this one. Bill's running back. I don't know.
23:58The guy led the NFL in rushing yards last year.
24:01He's got back-to-back seasons with at least 12 rushing touchdowns.
24:04Make of this whatever you will. There's been talk about him getting more receiving work this season.
24:08James Cook came into the NFL as one of the best receiving backs in his draft class.
24:13So there's more upside there. I'm not convinced that he's going to have a decidedly different receiving role.
24:18I don't think it matters. Because he's playing behind, what, a top five offensive line?
24:22An offense that's going to score a ton of points?
24:24Josh Allen's going to take away some of James Cook's upside?
24:27Yep. And it hasn't mattered in the past two seasons.
24:30Yeah. If Ty Johnson's active, he's a little beat up right now.
24:33But if he's active, I'm not expecting much more from James Cook in the passing game.
24:38They love Ty Johnson in the passing game. I don't think that's going anywhere.
24:42If Ty Johnson's out, maybe. Right. I mean, Josh Allen has called Ty Johnson the best third running back in the NFL many times over.
24:48And he's not going anywhere. Yeah. He is like, not to the same level, but Tom Brady for all those years had
24:54his James Wise, Kevin Falks, and Shane Vereens, and Danny Woodheads.
24:57That even if they're not starting running backs, they're awesome change of pace guys.
25:01Number 11 for me, and I'm optimistic here. So I imagine someone here may have a beef.
25:06But Derrick Henry, who I don't know. I think we do this all the time in fantasy football, and I've been guilty
25:12of it for sure in the past, is that we look to the new shiny object and we're like, oh my gosh,
25:18this guy is going to be so great. He's going to redefine what it means to be a young superstar in the
25:24NFL and the world of fantasy football. And then it's like, oh wait, Derrick Henry once again is second in the NFL in rushing yards.
25:30He's done that for the past four seasons. I think this Ravens offense is rejuvenated.
25:35I think Lamar has something to prove this year.
25:37I think this entire franchise feels like they have something to prove this year.
25:41And Derrick Henry is going to have a couple of clunkers.
25:44He'll be lucky to get to 25 catches this year.
25:46So you may have to ride the wave. Remember last year, week one, he had kind of a dud game against the Bills.
25:53It doesn't matter. Like he's going to have monster weeks each and every season.
25:57Mike used the term unicorn for Christian McCaffrey. I think Derrick Henry is a unicorn as well.
26:01I like to call Henry fantasy's greatest anomaly, most consistent anomaly, because he just keeps proving everybody wrong.
26:06Also, another player that there are some rumors he might see some more receiving work, which he did see at the end of his career in Tennessee.
26:13So there's some growth there. And we love the schedule too.
26:16Love the schedule. The Raven schedule is fantastic. Yeah.
26:19New coaching staff too, which could play into more passing game.
26:22Wants to quote hunt big plays. When I hear a new OC say they want to hunt big plays, I'm thinking Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry rebounds.
26:29I think this is higher than almost everybody else here.
26:32I'd be curious to Mike, you have your top 25 or whatever, top 100.
26:36I sure do. And where is Derrick Henry ranked for you?
26:39Yeah, I'm a little bit lower. I'm at 17.
26:41Okay, so a little bit lower. I'm optimistic, but you don't think this is a – it wouldn't be criminal if somebody took Derrick Henry.
26:48No, absolutely not. We talked about this tier of running backs.
26:51He's definitely in that vicinity. I mean, he finished RB8 last year.
26:54I have him at 10 on my board. It's like, you know, it's very, very close.
26:58My top 25 is running back heavy. As it should be this year.
27:0214 of the top 25. So you're going to see that.
27:05You're going to see how my running backs are pushed up the board.
27:08Number 12, one of – lowest I've ever seen this player in fantasy football.
27:12Yeah, and it feels weird to have him this low.
27:15Yeah. But it's Justin Jefferson. Yep. Who is going to play with not J.J.
27:19McCarthy. And that's a good thing because he has 1.99 fantasy points per target from every quarterback not named J.J.
27:24McCarthy in his career. Yeah. Is he guaranteed to get 1.99 fantasy points per target?
27:28No, but if he sees 150 targets this year, that's about 300 fantasy points.
27:32And that will be a major, major bounce back season for Justin Jefferson.
27:36Yeah. I mean, we've talked about him a lot.
27:38Kyler, because he runs only one receiver in – his whole time in Arizona was a top five scorer at wide receiver.
27:44That was DeAndre Hopkins. But it was DeAndre Hopkins.
27:46And Justin Jefferson is in his prime a little better than Hopkins.
27:50All due respect to him. Jefferson's a better player.
27:52So as long as he keeps feeding him and he gets a 30% target share, Jefferson will be fine.
27:57Everyone else in the offense, I'm more concerned about.
28:00But Jefferson, I feel like, will be good. He was also able, Murray, to convert on the deep ball to nuke back in 2020.
28:06Yeah. And I think that is where we are most holding our breath because obviously we know what a downfield threat Jay Jetta is.
28:13I mean, Mike's got him projected for 166 targets.
28:15So if that 1.99 fantasy point per target rate continues, he's going to be pushing for top three to five wide receiver upside.
28:22This is an easy thing to say. It just makes sense.
28:24Part of why I like drafting at the end of the first round is the value that I feel like I can
28:30get because I can still get a running back that I would like, usually in the top of the second.
28:36And I can get someone that I still think will push for wide receiver one.
28:40We're getting as much value on Justin Jefferson as we ever have because of that scar tissue that happened from last season.
28:46Other than that, he's been this guy with everyone else at the top of the draft board his entire career.
28:51James Cook plus Justin Jefferson. Unbelievable start. That is excellence right there.
28:55That's a great way to start. The end of the round can be good.
28:58Let's take a couple questions here from you two before we dive into the rest.
29:03We got the first 12 here. This one comes from Quentin Thorne, producer Q, picking nine in my draft.
29:08Would I be crazy if I take Justin Jefferson over CeeDee Lamb?
29:11Not based on Fields' list, Q. Any disagreement? Well, here's my projections for them.
29:15294 for Jefferson, 293 for Lamb. So the answer is yes.
29:18Not crazy at all. Was that just a way for us to segue into my next player?
29:22I don't know if we have. We had two more questions.
29:25Two more questions. All right. This one coming from our chat.
29:28DIV Free, McCaffrey or Devon Achan injury risk versus a bad offense, guys?
29:32So we had at least two votes for CMC, me and Mike.
29:35Over Achan, I'll take CMC. CMC? I would take Achan.
29:38Okay. So we've got a three to one difference there.
29:41Christian McCaffrey versus Devon Achan. Maybe I'll woefully regret the Christian McCaffrey optimism at the end of the season.
29:46But if he plays, you know exactly what you're going to get.
29:49If he plays 12 games, you won't regret it.
29:51I hear what you guys are saying. It's just that last year, when you were worried about it, you weren't saying these same things.
29:58You weren't like, if he plays 17 games, he'll be RB1.
30:01So I'm going to rank him as RB1. But his game did slip.
30:04He was atrocious as a runner last year. And he was still by far the RB1.
30:09I'm surprised you didn't have him ranked that way then.
30:11They didn't go out and make a change. Why didn't you rank him like that?
30:16Because I was wrong last year. I should have been higher on him.
30:19Okay. Got it. I mean, obviously, we all should have been higher on him last year.
30:23No, we all shouldn't have been. Some of us were higher on him.
30:27This is the point. Yeah, I was higher on him last year.
30:30It is different. I think to the question, though, A-chan and CMC are not going in the same place.
30:35So are you letting CMC fall to you where A-chan would go?
30:39Then I like the answer of CMC. Unless this is a salary cap situation in which you're trying to spend some of
30:45your money, which we could talk about maybe at the end of this episode.
30:48Well, we will be talking about that at 1045.
30:51But we got to get through it. We got 15 more minutes.
30:54I'll just say this. It's like, by the way, we'll find out who's wrong.
30:58But we have a process landing on Christian McCaffrey.
31:00Absolutely. You've got a process landing on Christian McCaffrey as RB10, RB6 in Liz's case.
31:04And we'll see how the cards are dealt. I will say this.
31:08On a points-per-game basis, I don't think he'll finish 6th or 10th.
31:11He might finish there if he misses a few games.
31:14But he'll be first or top three or he'll be 70th.
31:17If everything just falls apart, you know what I mean?
31:19Find out. All right. Let's keep going to top 25.
31:22Did you say CeeDee Lamb was going to be your next one, Field?
31:26He is. CeeDee Lamb, my wide receiver six. He's ridiculous.
31:28The biggest question. The biggest question with CeeDee Lamb is simply, we are now down to player 13.
31:33And this guy's got a real threat on his own roster.
31:36And this is probably the offense where you feel good about him feasting.
31:40Last year, both he and George Pickens were top 12 wide receivers.
31:43So there's evidence these guys can be dominant. But CeeDee Lamb was not as dominant last year.
31:48Maybe the injury was the driving force behind that.
31:50And maybe George Pickens is not as great this year.
31:53He's on the franchise tag. If George Pickens has a tight hamstring, is he going to say, hey, tap the helmet.
31:58I'm coming out for the rest of the game.
32:01Because I've got to protect my long-term future. Still, CeeDee Lamb, wide receiver six.
32:05One of the great star talents in the NFL.
32:07So good. His last full season, he was number one in scoring among receivers and fantasy points.
32:12I know George Pickens is there, but this is a good offense.
32:15He also cleared 1,000 yards despite missing basically four games and the emergence of George Pickens and working through various nagging injuries.
32:21And he's going to score more than three touchdowns this year.
32:24So I'm with you. I agree with that. I hate to say this as an Eagles fan, but the Cowboys are going to be pretty good this year.
32:32They are. And that could actually, if the defense being even average is going to limit a little garbage time for this
32:38offense, but it's still CeeDee Lamb at the end of the day.
32:41Defense just needs to be average for this team to be a real factor in the NFC North.
32:46Honestly, their defense might be good. Their defense might be good.
32:49His talent now, it's not the same. Corner's a question, but on paper, that defense looks really good.
32:54All right. Player 14 for me, Daniels guy, Chase Brown.
32:56Yes, sir. Eighth ranked running back over the past two seasons.
32:59He's got 225 or more carries and 50 or more catches.
33:02Only other running backs who do that over the past two seasons, B.
33:06John Robinson, Jameer Gibbs. Wow. Not as talented as those guys, but he's got a role that's very, very useful.
33:11And nothing the Bengals did this offseason at running back makes me feel like Chase Brown is due for a big role hit.
33:17They brought back Samajay Pirine, who's kind of been there.
33:20He's just one of those guys that is valued more by Cincinnati than probably the rest of the league.
33:25He's a good, solid player. Not enough to take away the shine of Chase Brown.
33:29And an offense that's going to score a ton of points.
33:32We expect them to score a ton of points.
33:35Yeah. Remember he had that really slow start last year?
33:38The first two months, you were like, uh-oh, this is really bad.
33:41Joe Burrow didn't help be hurt. And then he was elite the whole rest of the life.
33:45That was a little bit of it, but Burrow was playing for a chunk of that.
33:50That was an odd start. Poor rushing efficiency for Chase Brown, but still, at the beginning of last season.
33:55It's like a mini CMC in a way. Yes.
33:57He doesn't need a huge rushing production because he's going to just dominate in the past.
34:02I don't think that there's a Samajayi Pirine problem either.
34:04By the way, I saw a couple of headlines.
34:07Who knows what they were for? But there was a Samajayi Pirine problem, and I was like, no, there's not.
34:12That could be a James Conner landing spot too.
34:15We've got to keep that in. Please, no. Don't say that.
34:18James Conner. We'll adjust the ranks if that's the case.
34:20But for now, I feel good about Chase Brown.
34:23Number 15 overall for me is Kenneth Walker III, my ninth-ranked running back.
34:26I'm on the optimistic side based off of ESPN consensus ranks.
34:29I just think this is one where it's like, don't miss the forest through the trees.
34:34What's the expression? Whatever the expression is. Basically, it's right underneath us and just examine the important factors and just focus in on those.
34:40Talented player. Got a ton of money for a team that desperately is trying to fix its running game with not much competition.
34:47With a quarterback coming off of a major knee injury, I think Kenneth Walker III is going to mash.
34:52Yeah. I'm a hair lower, but again, he's in this tier.
34:55Six through 15 are basically a wash. I'm at 12, so I'm barely lower than you.
34:59A couple spots. And overall rank for you? Overall, let's see.
35:02I got to scroll over to the overall. I'm at 19.
35:05Okay. So we're not that far off. 15 or so?
35:08Where are you at? 15 for me. 19 for you.
35:10I think it's important. If we have like a 12-spot gap, I think it's worth talking through.
35:15At this point in the draft, though, that difference means I might not draft him at all this year.
35:20And you may. It's just like, it's so close in that range.
35:23I'm probably going, even like Saquon Barkley. You haven't mentioned him yet.
35:27I have him ahead. So I haven't had much Walker this year.
35:30We'll see how it plays out. To me, it's a very important note now.
35:34As in number 16, we have our first tight end.
35:37Trey McBride, who over the past two seasons has 61 more catches than any other tight end.
35:41And the gap between him and the fifth tight end, who's George Kittle, in terms of catches over the past two seasons, is 102.
35:48And two, there's just this dramatic, massive difference between the first two tight ends and everybody else.
35:52I have flipped him and Brock Bowers back and forth like eight times this offseason.
35:56Again, not too concerned about it. I'll spoil this now.
35:59Brock Bowers, because a lot of the same logic applies here, is player 18.
36:03So 16 and 18. I understand that there are going to be drafts where they're hanging around in the middle of the third round.
36:09I have seen too many drafts where I'm sitting there at the back end of round two, hoping for one of those guys to arrive to me.
36:17It doesn't happen. So if I'm sitting there with the fifth pick in a 10-team league and I'm getting pick number 16
36:23in the second round, I am pulling the trigger because I'm not convinced they'll get there to me at pick number 25.
36:29I mean, the space between Trey McBride and everyone else last year was over 100 points.
36:33We have a graphic, actually, that demonstrates just how these players...
36:36Look at between Trey McBride and then Kyle Pitts and then Travis Kelsey.
36:40These are overall numbers, not per game, obviously. How small the gap becomes as you go down the list.
36:45So obviously you want the top because it is such a huge, like a monster advantage at that position.
36:50And obviously we know that Brock Bowers' numbers, had he not gotten hurt, would be up there as well.
36:55Actually, you said that's total, not per game, but that actually is McBride's per game with Jacoby Brissett.
37:00That's it. That was good. People don't realize that.
37:02How close can I ask? You've been flipping them back and forth.
37:06Is this basically just like a... I woke up yesterday and I was wearing red and I was like, I'll make it.
37:12It's that kind of close. Brock Bowers is player number 18 on my board.
37:15This is Jameer Gibbs versus Pijon Robinson. It's really not worth fighting yourself over it too much.
37:20They're both mega, mega star talents. Quarterback's the only position that doesn't have that, right?
37:24I mean, tight end, we got Bowers and McBride.
37:26Wide receiver, you got Puka and Jamar Chase. Running back, it's really just quarterback.
37:30It's Josh Allen alone. For fantasy purposes, yes. Number 17 on my board is Drake London for the Falcons.
37:35That would bring him to wide receiver seven. He's wide receiver six over the past two years.
37:40Man, I would love to see Drake London with consistent quarterback play.
37:43Yes. Definitely concerned about that. It was a run-heavy offense or has been a run-heavy offense previously.
37:48I don't know. Mega talent. Four years, $140 million this offseason or whatever it was, $141 million this offseason.
37:53Target share should be excellent. The wide receiver two and beyond of the depth chart is incredibly weak in Atlanta.
37:59This guy is a good bet for a 30% target share.
38:02He's super talented and he's great in the red zone.
38:04He didn't have great quarterback play last year and he still did pretty okay.
38:08Yeah, and neither of his quarterbacks are scrambling at all.
38:11That's a true, that's a point. That's going to help add a little bit of extra volume.
38:15Also, remember week six through ten last year? The number one scoring receiver three times in that five-week sample.
38:21We've seen an enormous ceiling from him. Wide receiver three in fantasy points per game until he hurt his PCL average 19.7 fantasy points per game.
38:28Wide receiver one in my heart because he's on my dynasty league.
38:31Ayo! Number 19 in our rankings. Again, Brock Bauer's number 18.
38:34He's tight end two. Number 19 is Rashi Rice for the Chiefs.
38:37He's been targeted on 28% of his routes in his career so far.
38:41Just some context. Amon Ross St. Brown, who Mike said was the only player in NFL history with 90 or more catches
38:47in each of his first five seasons. So we think he gets the ball a lot.
38:51So Rashi Rice has been targeted on 28.2% of his routes.
38:54Amon Ross St. Brown for his career, 27.5. So he's a target vacuum.
38:57Am I a little worried that maybe the Chiefs offense replaces some of the short passing game with the running game this year?
39:04A little worried, but not enough to move him much further down than wide receiver eight.
39:08Did I see from one of our colleagues that it seemed like a suspension wasn't on the horizon as of right now?
39:14I don't believe his suspension is on the horizon right now.
39:17Okay. Yes. Which is a part of the conversation with Rashi Rice is we've had some off-the-field issues.
39:22That's a part of why we're... I think the bigger concern is the knee and it maybe not having the same amount
39:28of power as it did before the injury. The guy rehabbed in jail.
39:31Like, that's wild. This dude had surgery and then like a day later was in the...
39:36That's wild. Number 20, and this is a player that I think has, of all the guys that I've discussed so far,
39:42is the most vulnerable to a big slide. Mike mentioned him yesterday as one of his followers in the preseason.
39:47It's Josh Jacobs. Currently RB10, the specter of a suspension is possible and he has been banged up.
39:52And there is a player every year who kind of just hits that wall amongst the older running backs that we have discussed.
39:58He is the one that makes me most concerned about potentially hitting that wall.
40:02He's currently at 20th overall, but if he slides to 27 or 28 in two weeks, don't be surprised.
40:07Yeah, that's a good call. I'm worried about him hitting the wall too because he was hurt and then came back down
40:13the stretch and his usage and production really did slip.
40:16But on the other hand, he's averaging about a touchdown per game since he's been with the Packers.
40:21And he was, like, efficiency-wise, when he was healthy last year, he was, like, top five at running back.
40:26I mean, he was exceptional. So, he's a tough one.
40:29He could end up being a guy that's a league winner because he's so cheap now.
40:33Third, fourth round of drafts. And if he's healthy, it's going to pay off in a big way.
40:38He's also, he's never in his career averaged more than 4.8 yards per carry.
40:42He's also never touched the ball fewer than 16 times in a game.
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41:47That's unbelievable. Wow. Yeah, at least 16 times per game.
41:50That's insane. So, yeah, he's crazy volume. The one thing about Josh Jacobs is it just, like, does it ever feel like
41:56he's a target for you in drafts? Or is he a guy that you're drafting because he eventually got to a good value spot?
42:02Right now, yes. Yeah, right now. That's fair. I understand.
42:05You have him at 10. That was a bad question for you.
42:08No, no, no. But even – I thought you were saying in years past.
42:12In years past, he has been in this. Like, this year, it's like you're not going in targeting him because he's getting a little bit older.
42:19He's got all those touches. And there's some of the concerns with the suspension.
42:23However, eventually, he's going to get to a spot where, like, if this guy plays, it just feels like he's not a
42:29target, but he's a value play for me based on how I'm drafting.
42:33Late in the fourth round, he fell this far.
42:35I have to think about this. Yeah, it's kind of like that.
42:38Five minutes for five players. Number 21, Jeremiah Love.
42:41We talked about him a ton. Still nourishing that high ankle sprain.
42:44My guy. He could move up or down in these rankings.
42:47For sure. He could move up to 19. He could move down to 25 because, obviously, if his high ankle sprain, all
42:53of a sudden it's three weeks from now and we haven't seen him at all on the field, he might be a
42:59threat to miss two or three games to begin this season.
43:02Saquon Barkley is number 22 in my rankings. I think that's one of the wider range of outcome players.
43:07In fantasy football. Obviously, we know that over the past two years he's had a wide range of finishes.
43:12It's a very different offense. It's a very different offense.
43:15It's a totally different scheme. It's not as much Jalen Hurts-centric.
43:18They have a new offensive line coach for the first time in forever.
43:21Not Mike Goley Jr. We don't spend a ton of time talking about offensive line play on this show, but Jeff Stoutland
43:27is on probably the Mount Rushmore of offensive line coaches in NFL history, so changing offensive line coaches is notable to me for a running back.
43:34A bounce-back season is definitely in play for Saquon.
43:37Keep in mind that two years ago when he got to Philadelphia, he was ranked around here and went on to become RB1.
43:43The best version of Saquon. This is a league-winning player.
43:46Yeah. I can't add much more than that. It's a tricky one with the scheme change.
43:50I do think it's going to be beneficial for him, which is why I have him ranked ninth after he finished 14th last year.
43:57So I do expect him to be a little bit better, but at the same time, he's 29 years old coming off
44:03a down year, so I'm not going to rank him near the top.
44:06I think his best days are behind him. To clarify, though, you believe that because of the passing game transition, the team
44:12and the offense will lean more heavily on the run, and that'll increase his rushing volume.
44:17Under center, more reliance on him, more play action in this offense.
44:20I think all these things are going to benefit running the offense through him.
44:24And also, don't forget, A.J. Brown's gone, too, so even more dependence on Barkley.
44:27Yeah, seven-plus touchdowns in all four seasons for A.J.
44:30Brown. So there's some touchdown equity somewhere to be had.
44:33Ashton Gentry is 23 for me. I wanted to get heavier into the Ashton Gentry investment.
44:37I'm still a little nervous that this offensive line is better but not fixed.
44:41Tyler Linderbaum, for sure, is a dramatic upgrade. Nobody else this offseason that they added is like, all right, great, we are clearly better.
44:47It's more banking on health. In the case of Colton Miller, their left tackle.
44:51An internal improvement for some of the young guys they have drafted over the past couple of seasons.
44:56And definitely 100% better coaching. Amar in Hampton is number 24 for me.
44:59I know Daniel feels better. Gosh, I thought we were going to make this whole list.
45:04He wasn't even going to be on here. No, he makes the list.
45:07He cracks the list at number 24. Again, you guys have heard my reservations on Amar in Hampton compared to where Daniel
45:13has him, which might be a top 10 player overall.
45:16He's RB5. RB5 for me, yep. So he might be a top 10 player for you then.
45:21He might be, but I don't need to draft him there.
45:24That's just where I think he's going to finish.
45:26I can still wait and grab him in the second round because that's still ahead of his ADP and I'm able to grab a guy.
45:33But I have him there. You're going to hate Keaton Mitchell so much this year.
45:37I mean, wait. Every day you're going to be so mad.
45:40This Keaton Mitchell hype is out of control. Also, you know what, Mike McDaniel?
45:44I can't stand when nerds try to trigger other nerds.
45:46Oh, thank you. Listen, Mike McDaniel went to Yale.
45:49I went to Brown. I'm a nerd. I'm okay with it.
45:52I just happen to have a glow up in college.
45:55It's fine. So like when Mike McDaniel on August 5th says Hampton has shown the most growth of any player and then
46:01five days later says bad news, fantasy managers, I'm going to run a hot hand.
46:05Shut up. Thank you. Come on. There we go, Brown.
46:07There we go, Brown. I mean, bro, we are both dorks and we can both be proud.
46:12You don't need to like try to jab people just because they got a kink that I also know you got, analytics guy.
46:18Wow. I love it. Fierce Liz Loza. I'm all about it.
46:21Yes. He's really talented. Hampton's really talented. I just think there's a chance that he has some of his work eaten away by other backs in that backfield.
46:29Last but not least, Malik Neighbors. And if you look at...
46:32This guy could be higher on his list. I love it.
46:35I love the Malik Neighbors call because we are allowed to change our minds, right?
46:39As more information becomes available, it is in fact beneficial to everyone that we weigh the new information and the data and
46:45in fact evolve our opinions instead of being stuck to a take that we made back in May.
46:50I think that's good for life advice, by the way, as well.
46:53And so as we learn more about Malik Neighbors, I am changing my mind on him and I am pushing him up my ranks.
46:59All I'll say is I don't care what is mentioned by the Giants coaching staff.
47:04I don't care how good he looks in a practice between now and week one.
47:08He's still risky. He is, no doubt. For a lot of reasons.
47:11You know? And I have optimism. He's my wide receiver nine.
47:14Top 25 player overall. But I'm acknowledging that this is a riskier top 25 pick than others.
47:18We've been saying often when we're debating running backs between RB30 and 31, it depends on what you've done so far to that point in the draft.
47:26It matters when you're weighing taking Malik Neighbors at the end of the second or beginning of the third round as well.
47:32What you've done with picks one and two influences pick number three.
47:35But there's my top 25 for 2026. Do you guys have any names off the cuff really quickly before we move ahead and talk salary cap drafts?
47:42Names that should have been in the top 25 that Field did not have in the top 25?
47:47Yeah, I have two. I think there's only two exceptions.
47:50Okay. I also have two. But again, these are 23 and 25.
47:53So they're very close. They're at the end. Breece Hall, I have a 23.
47:57Obviously, we're keeping an eye on his injury right now.
48:00It looks like he has a decent shot to play week one.
48:03So not super worried. And 25 is Nico Collins.
48:05Oh. Again, nothing. No major qualms. We're very close.
48:08A.J. Brown. I was surprised he didn't make the list.
48:11Okay. These guys are all close. A.J. Brown's my 10th ranked wide receiver.
48:14So he's not far behind. Nico Collins, a little bit lower than that.
48:18Breece Hall's kind of closer there. I think the name that probably will, to like the average draft that you see that
48:24will be most surprising to not go in my top 25 is Josh Allen.
48:27But that's a philosophy thing, right? Sure. I think Josh Allen will go top 25 in many, and I mean many of
48:33the drafts that I participate in this year. I was surprised to not see either Jake Bobo or Alan Lazard.
48:39Brandon Aubrey. We're talking Dynasty in a couple minutes.
48:41Mack Collins. I want to save the good stuff.
48:44There we go. All right. Well, let's talk about some different league types then because we always talk about the regular drafts that we do.
48:51When we do mock drafts, it's pretty much just a standard snake draft.
48:54That's the way a lot of drafts happen. But salary cap drafts are so much fun.
48:58They're my favorite kind of drafts to do. Oh, are they?
49:01You're a sicko. I am a sicko. You don't have three kids.
49:05I'm like eating in the car about four hours at night.
49:08They take four hours for it. Yeah. Oh my God.
49:10I have a kid jumping on my back and I'm trying to bid for whatever.
49:14And you can't walk away from your computer for a second.
49:17There's no like you pick at the turn. You can go get a snack.
49:21Use the restroom. There's none of that. You have to be on top of all of them.
49:26You have the best ones who do live too.
49:28Oh yeah. Absolutely. Use a paddle. $4 sold. I love that.
49:31I love that. All right. So then let's take some salary cap draft advice.
49:35Do you guys have any things that when you go into salary cap drafts, you're like, these are a few things that
49:41are important to me or how I approach these kinds of drafts.
49:44Is anybody here a stars and scrubs approcher? I am.
49:47I usually are. For those that are unfamiliar, stars and scrubs is basically like, let's just say your budget is $200.
49:53Yep. You are willing to out of the gates, spend a ton of money and land Christian McCaffrey and Josh Allen and
49:59Puka Nakua, but the rest of your roster is going to be basically waiver wire level players.
50:03Stars and scrubs. Pretty self-explanatory. So you guys know my background is in accounting.
50:07That's where I got my degree. I did accounting for a while.
50:10So I know a little bit about a budget, you know, and how to set that kind of thing up.
50:16That's what I do with these. When I'm going in, I go to Excel and I say, okay, here's a player I want.
50:22I decided this year I'm getting Jeremiah Love because you can do that in these.
50:26You can spend whatever you want. You can spend all your money to get one player if you want.
50:31And I lay it out. I say, okay, I think he's going to cost about $34.
50:36Loves the target, $34. And then you kind of figure it out.
50:39Because when I'm done, it's usually like, let's say the cap's $200.
50:42I'll be at like $227 because you're always too, like you want more than you can get.
50:47And then you have to kind of figure out, well, I can't afford whatever.
50:51I can't afford Chris Alave in my flex. Like it's just too much.
50:54Like you have to kind of set it up and then have a plan because you can't just assume you're going to get superstars everywhere.
51:01And then as it goes along, you adjust. Maybe I got love for $27 or I had to pay a little more.
51:07And then you're like, okay, I can't spend as much on tight end.
51:10I feel like if you don't do it that way, you're going to end up burning yourself.
51:15You're going to overspend or underspend. You can't do it.
51:18And to your point about stars and scrubs, my bench is usually like $2, $2, $2, $1, $1.
51:23Because there's always going to be cheap discounts. The bench players are always going to be super cheap at the end.
51:28I think that's great advice. I think there is a struggle for people who are just trying to start a salary cap
51:34draft that they don't know what stuff is going to cost.
51:37And ESPN actually has a really useful tool next to the ADP.
51:41There's an average salary. Did you determine those numbers?
51:43I think that's like ADP. But yes, on our cheat sheets, those numbers are determined by our overall.
51:48But that's a great place to start because I'm like, I don't know.
51:51What would it be, Sean, out of 200? I don't know what that number.
51:55And then you can start from that number and be like, all right, well, if I calculate it, it begins the process for you.
52:02An essential for me, and I'll use Daniel, an example of a player that I know he would do this, is especially
52:08early on, if there are high-profile players that I'm not invested in, but I know will go for a good amount of money, I'm nominating them.
52:15Like if I'm Daniel, I have the first pick, I'm taking Christian McCaffrey and nominating him because let's just say in a
52:21$200 salary cap league, he goes for $41. That's $41 unavailable to one person in your league that gives you $41 more worth of leverage.
52:27Just be careful, though, because sometimes people will be patient early, and you'll be like, oh, no, they're not going for as much as I thought.
52:35And then you try to run the amount up, and then no one bids, and then you're stuck with a player you don't want.
52:41I stay away. Like I generally, if it's Christian McCaffrey, I don't feel good.
52:45I nominate him and just go, go ahead. Yeah, but people do it, though, and then you get trapped with a guy you don't want.
52:52I do think also that the beginning is interesting because sometimes people are tepid, so you'll find a player, a really buzzy
52:58player, that is not very expensive because people are surveying the room.
53:01But I agree with you, if there's a player that I know has a lot of hype, then nominating them early and
53:07watching people spend all their money is a delight.
53:09There's no better drama than you have the high bid on a player you want, and it's a good value, and the timer's going down.
53:16Three, two, one. When you get that player, there's nothing better than fantasy.
53:20I mean, it's kind of like waiting in a redraft.
53:22Like as the guy you want is one pick away, and they make it to you, it's a very similar hub.
53:28How do you guys feel about driving up the cost on someone on purpose?
53:32That's what I was just saying. The name of the game is dangerous, but it feels good.
53:36But like when you bid on them as well, when you're like, all right, $1 more, $1 more just to see them.
53:42Because you can always get a feel for how somebody else is – like if you bid and someone immediately goes, bid
53:48right back, like you know that like, all right, this person's invested.
53:52But if you bid and it's like three, two, and somebody like presses a bid, they're probably not that confident in that player.
53:58Last thing I'll say, and this does what Mike mentioned for his bench, I always keep a kitty.
54:03I always do. Like whatever it is, if it's 10%, 20%, it's remarkable how you get to like two-thirds of the way
54:09through the draft, and you're like, oh my God.
54:11Like the difference between the guys that are going for $3 and the guys that just went for $14 is basically nothing.
54:17But half the league only has $1 bids left available, and I've got the ability to spend $6, game changer.
54:23I like at least budgeting a couple dollars because if it's a guy you absolutely want on your bench – let's say
54:29you're like, my guy this year is Terrence Ferguson, and you're like out of money, and someone else bids $1 on him, and you're out.
54:35Like you're out of money, you can't. But if you have an extra couple bucks, you could go up to two, and
54:41no one else is going to bid because no one else has money.
54:45So that's why I like to keep just a little bit of extra.
54:48I would also, if you are – just because we've talked about this with our redraft strategy, if you're in on a
54:54late-round quarterback, late-round quarterbacks don't mean anything in a salary cap league because there are no rounds technically, right?
55:00But if you bid up or if you nominate quarterbacks early and let everyone else fill it out and everyone else has
55:06their quarterbacks and they've spent money, you can just continue to wait and get really cheap quarterbacks at the end of the draft.
55:12It might be fun to get Josh Allen or Jaden Daniels, but you might spend $35 or $25 on a quarterback when
55:18you can get Justin Herbert or Trevor Lawrence for $3.
55:20They might go for $1. They might go for $1.
55:23Some of those guys will go for $1. For sure.
55:26Guaranteed. All right, let's take a quick question. We got a social question here from our crew.
55:31This one comes from SportsVideo8. Stupid question for and from the chat.
55:34Any tips for people forced to do auto-draft in a salary cap league?
55:37Draft's not at a good time. You just can't make it.
55:40How do you set up a queue in a salary cap league?
55:44Send a lieutenant. Yeah. Hire some AI to do it.
55:46I think if you really have to do that and you can change your values, just kind of bump up the prices
55:52a little bit for guys you really want and vice versa.
55:55If you're Daniel and you're in that situation, you're knocking Christian McCaffrey down from $50 to $30.
56:00Maybe that's the better strategy rather than saying, I want to make sure you don't want to overpay for a player, but
56:06you definitely don't want to pay for a player that you don't want.
56:09So making sure you knock down players that you don't want on your squad.
56:13That'd be my only suggestion. We are strong advocates of not auto-drafting.
56:16We are especially strong advocates of not auto-drafting in a salary cap because things can get wonky.
56:21You're going to do okay in a 10-team snake draft with auto-drafting.
56:24It's going to be fine. Mike, the algorithm for the way that the draft will break down will still give you some pretty good players.
56:31Yeah, but salary cap, you might get four quarterbacks.
56:34Who knows? Good luck with that. If you have a third pick and you're auto-drafting in a regular draft, you're still going to get Chamar Chase, Macafrey, Pukunicu.
56:41You'll be fine. Let's talk about some dynasty stuff here, guys.
56:44Mike, you've put together a big dynasty list field.
56:47Do you put together a dynasty list here for ESPN as well?
56:50No, it's just Mike Clay. It's the many things that Mike dominates at this company, his dynasty ranks.
56:55We know that ageism is a crime, but you really enjoy being able to do dynasty conversations.
56:59Yeah, because they can bury those old 27, 20-year-old ninebacks where they belong.
57:03That's right. Way down the board. Yeah. What's the question?
57:06Let's talk about dynasty. When you're going into a dynasty draft, how is it that you're looking at the top of the board?
57:12Because in a lot of the drafts that we have, you have superstars that would come off the board.
57:17CMC is not going to go third overall, right?
57:19Josh Allen might not be the same kind of level of quarterback.
57:23Maybe you'd want a younger guy like Drake May or Jaden Daniels.
57:26How is it that you're breaking down when you look at dynasty drafts, the age and the talent versus the youth and what could be?
57:33Yeah, first of all, like, yes, I do our rankings.
57:35We're all in dynasty leagues. We all know the strategies.
57:38I believe you won our dynasty league last year.
57:41I think I won the year before field. I think won the year before that.
57:45Yes, we have one, two, three over the last three years.
57:48I won my dynasty league. I'm not in yours, but I did win mine last year.
57:52Yes, we do need to change that. Yeah, so look, I can just tell you what I do is when I'm doing
57:58a startup dynasty draft, if you're in the prime or older in your career, I'm probably not interested.
58:03Like, I'm building very young because I'm okay not competing year one.
58:06I just want the young players because not only do you have a really young core, you probably are going to get
58:12one of the first picks the next year in the rookie draft, which is massive.
58:16Imagine doing a startup last year and this year you would 1.1, you add Jeremiah Love to your team.
58:21And also, when you're trading in dynasty and you have, like, a 27-year-old wide receiver, disgusting.
58:26Like, no one wants it. I mean, no one is interested whatsoever.
58:29People are disgusted that you would even suggest trading an old geezer, like a 27.
58:33If you're 23, look, you could be 27 with six consecutive top 10 finishes, zero interest.
58:37But you could be a rookie wide receiver, a second-year receiver who's done nothing in the NFL, but has upside, and everyone wants that will pay top dollar.
58:45So there's this perceived value of players that are young on the trade market in dynasty.
58:49So I want to just load my team up with those sort of players early on and then just wheel and deal until I build a powerhouse team.
58:57Well, Mike, to that end, my dynasty team in that league we just talked about is a good example.
59:02Two years ago, I won the championship. Try to bring your brain back to two years ago, my team included.
59:07Lamar is my quarterback. He's still very valuable in dynasty.
59:10But Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, James Conner, David Montgomery, Debo Samuel, Michael Pittman Jr., Kenan Allen, George Kittle, Travis Kelsey.
59:16I think I have one young wide receiver who's actually good.
59:19Oh, Jacoby Myers, right? Like, two years ago? Awesome unks.
59:21Those teams, and that team. Now they're all retired, probably.
59:24I mean, it was awesome to you. It was an absolute, I mean, Saquon was peak of his value, right?
59:29Like, we kicked butt. By the way, can I just mention this?
59:33Like, think about all the players you just remembered on that team.
59:36Like, you're also, like, married to your dynasty team.
59:38Like, you remember everything. Like, it's much more important than, like, season long, you just recycle to new players the next year.
59:44But dynasty, like, you remember stuff like that because you, like, I have so much Puka Nakua and dynasties.
59:50And, like, it's, like, just such a big deal to hit on a player like that.
59:54And you remember it for a long time. So think about two years ago how that team looked versus now.
59:59And, like, that team feels like it's stuck in the middle.
60:02Like, I was getting offers for George Kittle this offseason.
60:05It's like, Isaiah Likely. I'm like, God, really? Like, the guy who's, Isaiah Likely?
60:09Really for George Kittle? But you did win because there is a tendency in dynasty to always be looking to the future
60:15and never actually winning a championship in the present.
60:17Oh, that's true. And so I do think you need to have a little bit of balance.
60:22And I am shocked that that team, I mean, I know when you say the players why it did so well, but
60:28that you would invest so heavily in running back because, obviously, in dynasty, there is an assumption that you invest in wide
60:34receivers due to the shelf life between the two positions.
60:37We're probably, what, seven or eight years into that league now?
60:40So that league has taken a lot of different twists and turns along the ways.
60:44I believe our commissioner, Scott Clark, said there's only one or two players left on the original squads that had been drafted from the original draft.
60:51That's how long the draft has been. It's very low.
60:53I know for my team, it was George Kittle and Jake Bobo.
60:57I got TJ Hockinson. Bobo wasn't a team, though.
60:59I think TJ Moore, I think. I think TJ Moore's left on mine.
61:03It's very low. So things can change very fast in that league, and that's the nature of fantasy football.
61:08But dynasty, another thing is, like, to Liz's point, wide receivers obviously age a lot better than running backs do.
61:13But I would say that when I'm in the draft, each year, the rookie draft, I basically ignore what my roster looks like and what I need.
61:21I just hate the best player. If I have the first pick, and I don't care if I have B.
61:26John Robinson and Jameer Gibbs, I probably wouldn't have the first pick.
61:29But if I did, I would still take Jeremiah Love this year.
61:32Yes. Like, I just take the best player because I'm going to trade.
61:36Mike and I did a dynasty draft. We have a league in which when we did this draft, we had this exact
61:42mentality, which is we did not care about winning the first year at all.
61:46It was just load up on as many young prospects.
61:49It doesn't even make a difference about what position you want talent that can be usable either for your squad or for
61:54trade bait later on as you develop more players.
61:57And what's wild about that is we didn't do a great job in the initial draft.
62:01We had a lot of, like, busts that we drafted.
62:04Anthony Richardson was one of our guys. Yeah, and we just kept chipping away at it.
62:08And now, like, heading into this year, I think it's year three maybe.
62:12Yep. Our team is a powerhouse. It is. I mean, we are in Jaden Daniels, Bo Nix, Hampton, Jeremiah Love.
62:17Who are our receivers? We're stacked there. It's huge.
62:20It's too good. George Pickens, Olave. We have Kyle Pitts at tight end.
62:23Mendoza's our third quarter. I mean, it works. I mean, that strategy has always worked for me.
62:28Now, that's a lot easier to do if you are, you know, some dynasty leagues require a little bit of an entry fee.
62:34It's sometimes tougher to punt on a dynasty league entry fee to just be like, I'll be good in three years.
62:40But still, you got to figure out what you need to do.
62:43Exactly. Oh, we have Luther Burden on that team.
62:46Oh, that's the worst. Also, one just quick thing.
62:48Just because dynasty is different from keeper. I like dynasty more than keeper leagues.
62:52But if you're not ready to do the full jump into keep everyone on your roster, I think keepers is a great
62:58way to just dip your toe in the water.
63:00I got a couple players that I really like.
63:03I want to keep drafting or keep the guys in my squad that I want to root for.
63:08So, like, doing a keeper league is a nice way to, like, do something a little bit different than your standard redraft league.
63:14But not go all the way in where you're like, if you have a bad dynasty team, it takes you a while to turn that around.
63:21Yeah, totally. I like the kind of you can keep a player for, like, two rounds earlier than they were drafted the year before.
63:27That's my favorite. Because then there is an advantage to, like, a, as opposed to just keeping any two players, you're like,
63:33I'm going to keep John Robinson and whatever, Chris Alave.
63:36Make it out of the past. Puka Nakua, again, to use him as an example, if you took him late a few
63:42years ago, and now this year you might be keeping him for, like, a 10th round pick or 12th.
63:47I mean, which is. Or Chris Alave last year.
63:50Yeah, yeah. You get a huge benefit from being a good drafter and sticking with it to the end and looking for sleepers late in your draft.
63:57Yeah, being able to get some, like, last year JSN probably would have been a, what, a 4th or 5th round pick
64:03for you to be able to get JSN now as a 3rd or 4th rounder when he's going to come off the board as 5th overall.
64:10Yeah, great value. Unbelievable value. All right. We got one more question here from our YouTube chat from King Ransalot.
64:15Here's the questions we need. Is cereal a soup?
64:18More of us. It is not. Come on. No.
64:20What makes a soup a soup? It's hot. It's hot.
64:23I mean, gazpacho is hot soup that was cold that cooled down.
64:26What's cold soup? Is there a cold soup I would eat?
64:29Gazpacho is a cold soup. It's like cold tomato soup.
64:32That sounds awful. It's not great. Why would you eat a cold vegetable?
64:36A salad? You never had one of those? That's different.
64:38Daniel, not the biggest vegetable guy. Yeah, sure. I'm working on it.
64:41Rosie's been working on it, guys. Okay. He has fewer vegetables than my three kids combined.
64:46That's true. I think the cereal is more of a sweet stew than a soup.
64:50Cereal. See, I don't think soup or stew when I think cereal.
64:53That's just a different thing. Yeah. So when you do, like, a bowl of yogurt with granola on top of it, is that also a soup?
65:00No. No. That's yogurt with granola. That's okay. Got it.
65:03It's just a delicious treat. That's just sustenance. Yeah.
65:05That's Mike's favorite dessert, right? That is Mike's favorite dessert.
65:08I haven't had it in a while, but yeah, I'm more of a smoothie guy now.
65:12You can tell. A smoothie. Look at you graduating.
65:15I am a smoothie guy. Put all the stuff in there.
65:18Spool Mike. 2026. Love that. I'm telling you, go back and see the video from last year.
65:22I've checked this out. And Mike looks like a bag of bones compared to him now.
65:27Is that right? Yeah. Well, I actually had a little time to work out this summer, but unlike last year.
65:32P90X. You know, that's right. Do you remember when P90X was a thing?
65:36Yeah. I thought Mike still does it. No, I don't do that one.
65:39It's like, do you ever hear the Napar Getzy bit where he's like, he was like, I want to start getting in
65:45shape because I have hit like before his first special.
65:48And he's just like, so I decided to do what like Marines do and get the P90X.
65:53It's like, it goes from nothing to that. It's just like ridiculous.
65:56Not going to happen. Not going to happen. He's like, I want to be the before guy.
66:00Like I'm going to be the before guy. Serial definitely not on the P90X plan.
66:05No, it is not. It is not. Oh, it's not?
66:07Liz, big shout out for Facts vs. Feelings out today when you're done with this show.
66:12Go check out Facts vs. Feelings here on the same YouTube channel.
66:15Like and subscribe. And we've got a live show in New York City tonight if you're going to be there.
66:20It's going to be a ton of fun. If you're not going to be there, you'll be able to watch it.
66:26Watch us on Friday. Still at our normal time, 10 a.m.
66:29Eastern. We're going to tape the live show. Have it come out Friday morning.
66:33So we will see you guys tomorrow. It's not too late.
66:36Come on out tonight. Don't forget to love each other.
66:39We love you guys. We cannot wait to see you later.
66:42Peace. Hi, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Are you looking for a beach read this summer?
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