2026 Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: How to DOMINATE the First 4 Rounds with Jake Ciely | Best of the Fest (Ep. 2155)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
35 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 27, 2026
Published
Thu, August 27, 2026
15
Player insights
13
Players mentioned
Topics
Colston LovelandEmeka EgbukaBaker MayfieldBrock BowersChase BrownChris OlaveChristian McCaffreyJa'Marr ChaseJalen HurtsJames CookJavonte WilliamsKyren WilliamsMalik Nabers
Player analysis
Player insights
Baker Mayfield
NegativeProjection19:31
Jake Ciely notes that Mayfield's performance last season was hampered by playing through injury and a decimated offensive line where only the center played the full season; with better health for both Mayfield and the line, there is hope for a rebound.
Insight pageBrock Bowers
PositiveValue9:01
Jake Ciely considers Brock Bowers an elite tight end target at the end of the second round, noting he ranks him two spots higher than his current ADP because he likely won't last until the third round.
Insight pageChase Brown
PositiveBreakout13:59
Debro ranks Chase Brown as his RB5, highlighting his efficiency metrics and strong finish to the 2025 season (RB2 in PPG from weeks 13-18) as evidence of his potential for a breakout season.
Insight pageChris Olave
PositiveProjection21:40
D-Bro bumped Olave to WR7 in his rankings following news regarding Jordan Tyson, noting that Olave finished as the WR7 in fantasy points per game last year and is positioned to gobble up volume from an ascending quarterback.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
NegativeValue12:12
Debro and Jake Ciely agree that Christian McCaffrey remains a top-two running back if healthy, dismissing concerns about his high touch count as a binary health-based decision rather than a talent decline.
Insight pageColston Loveland
PositiveValue3:06
Jake Ciely notes that Colston Loveland is a potential target in the third or fourth round, mentioning he recently went in the mid-third round of a CBS draft.
Insight pagePositiveValue29:45
D-Bro identifies Colston Loveland as a key target in 8-team and 10-team leagues, viewing him as the last player in his tier who can provide truly elite production at the tight end position.
Insight pageEmeka Egbuka
PositiveValue4:57
Jake Ciely and the co-host highlight Emeka Egbuka as a strong value pick in the early-to-late teens of wide receivers, with Ciely specifically targeting him in the fourth round.
Insight pagePositiveBreakout20:16
Jake Ciely maintains that Egbuka has legitimate top-10 wide receiver upside, though his current draft value in the fourth round is suppressed by concerns over a toe injury. If the injury is mild, he is expected to step into a WR1 role.
Insight pageJa'Marr Chase
PositiveProjection7:54
Jake Ciely identifies Ja'Marr Chase as his preferred pick at the 1.03 spot, dismissing concerns about missed practice time as minor.
Insight pageJalen Hurts
PositiveValue29:52
D-Bro is specifically targeting Jalen Hurts in 8-team and 10-team formats as a priority 'onesie' position player to anchor his roster while focusing on elite production at quarterback.
Insight pageJames Cook
PositiveProjection10:06
Debro ranks James Cook as his RB3, citing his top-three overall upside due to his role in a high-powered offense, heavy volume, and increased pass-game usage under Pete Carmichael.
Insight pageJavonte Williams
PositiveRole18:22
Jake Ciely views Javonte Williams as a bell-cow back in a high-scoring offense, noting that he has returned to full health and is a strong value pick at the end of the third round.
Insight pageKyren Williams
PositiveValue1:51
Jake Ciely identifies Kyren Williams as a high-value target at the end of the third round, noting that he is a preferred option if available in that range.
Insight pageMalik Nabers
NegativeProjection31:25
Jake Ciely clarifies that he still views Nabers as a WR1, but ranks him behind players like Chris Olave, A.J. Brown, and Nico Collins due to concerns regarding the Giants' offense and the uncertainty of his involvement early in the season.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
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0:42Well, what an interesting transition as we talk about draft strategies in the Mock Simulator because we are going to talk draft strategy.
0:49Whatever we're going to be doing in this episode, you guys can take over to the Mock Simulator and you can experiment
0:55because we've got the Athletic Zone, Jake Seeley, the all-in kid and your dog.
0:59I didn't know, we didn't have a four box here for the dog, but we can if you need to.
1:05Hey, hey, jump up. Is that Barkley? What is it?
1:08Yeah, no, that's Ziggy. Ziggy, okay, Ziggy. I'm just always used to Barkley.
1:11All right, well, you know, hey, everybody is very excited about the Mock Draft Simulator and draft strategy, Jake, so we got it.
1:18No kickers ban. Hi, Barkley. We are going to be talking draft strategy with the Athletic's own Jake Seeley.
1:24And if you guys have got questions for Drake, especially if you guys want to hone in on draft strategy in the
1:30first couple rounds, drop in the comments below. We'll have a little bit more time to get into questions on this one,
1:36and we will do that after we are talking about full-on strategy and what you guys are going to do as far
1:43as targets go in the first couple picks. So, Jake, why don't you kick us off here with those first four picks?
1:49What is your general consensus and strategy? You and I have done so many shows here, so like I can already feel
1:55the Kyron Williams third round thing happening. But like positionally, like what do you want to do through the first four rounds?
2:02And then we'll talk about some draft targets here in a second.
2:05Yeah, I just want to make sure I get the bottom part where they can see it's kind of dark.
2:11It's not going to be a kicker. Yeah, we know we got that.
2:14No, this is so like that for the first four rounds, especially this year.
2:19And I know we have the Jente injury, but I mean, that's just another one that's out the window now is my
2:25strategy has been I want to get a running back in the first two rounds.
2:29Ideally, two in the first three. I just like my teams better.
2:33It hasn't been something I've always done. We've done a mock draft on this channel where I started three straight wide receivers
2:39because my third wide receiver was Ted Aroma McMillan.
2:42And I'm like, I have to at that point.
2:44And I still really like that team. I think that was actually one of the teams that rated out one of the
2:50highest that we have in the simulator, the analysis afterwards.
2:53But I'm not going to be holding to it if the value is not there.
2:58But my ideal scenario out of the first three rounds is to get two running backs.
3:02So by that point in round four, I'm usually sitting on two and two.
3:06Maybe if Loveland last to the fourth at this point, he's getting to the third round, just went mid third in a CBS draft draft.
3:14I just did. But generally, it'll be two and two most commonly.
3:17Yeah, I kind of agree with you like that.
3:20I think that's my wishful, hopeful thinking is I'm going to go to two.
3:24But I'm kind of with you and everything that we've done.
3:27And I'm like the running. I've always been a running back.
3:30I get smashed by everybody about how much I love running backs.
3:33I did rank pretty well in running backs and wide receivers though last year that I tend to be the guy that wants to have two running backs.
3:41And I usually would have told you two in the first three rounds.
3:45But the amount of times I find myself wanting to press three wide receiver through the first four rounds and usually with
3:52the first three picks because they're monsters. You get Ted Rowe as your third wide receiver.
3:56Sometimes they flowers. I kind of can't help myself.
3:59And I think there's a couple running back spots that you can really grab.
4:03Basial tootin tends to be one of those guys where it's like, you know, you don't want them as an RB one.
4:09But it's like if you want to play this like pseudo, it's not quite zero running back, but like lower leverage running back situation.
4:16I can do it. I mean, but I think the two two is the place to go.
4:21I know you're going on D bro, but you said one of the names.
4:25If Javante or Kyron are there at the end of the third, you can circle back in the fourth and still get
4:31a wide receiver and only have one running back in the first three and all happy because I have three elite stud wide receivers to have Kyron.
4:39I'm going to Javante as my one, not the most ideal scenario, but they're there where you can make it happen.
4:45D bro, anything different on here? Do you think it's two, two?
4:49Do you feel what the talent? I mean, we keep looking at like, and even look at real time ADP.
4:54Like I know everybody's a little weird about it.
4:57Buka right now, but Buka and Jalen Waddle, there's just like so much good value on the twenties, you know, the early
5:03twenties or early late teens of wide receivers that it's like, I don't think it's bad to say I want three wide
5:10receivers and one running back through the first four, but what's your ideal strategy?
5:14I mean, I'm with Jake on this one. I think in most leagues, I'm walking away with two running backs in the first four rounds.
5:21Maybe if you want to move that to the first five rounds, I I'm fine with it.
5:26It depends on, you know, what the board looks like and stuff, because sometimes you'll get David Montgomery falling into the fifth
5:32round, maybe Deandre Swift, somebody like that. Really? I mean, it just comes down to in the first four rounds.
5:38I do ideally want to walk out with two running backs.
5:41Now, again, this is choose your own adventure. How you're accomplishing that is totally up to you.
5:46And are you drafting two wide receivers? Are you drafting a wide receiver?
5:50I would say out of those first four rounds, you need to walk out of it with at least one wide receiver.
5:56But in saying that I'm leaving myself open that I'm addressing two running backs and I'm allowing myself the possibility that I'm
6:02getting a wide receiver and maybe paying up for an elite tight end like a Bowers or a Loveland along the way in those first four rounds.
6:10Well, very interesting you say that you guys were given the task to create your own adventure.
6:15We're not going to have it in book style, but we'll have it in podcast style where you each had to pick
6:21your own draft spot and then you are going to give the ideal targets.
6:25Oh, no, no, no. We were given the draft.
6:28Oh, you were given the pick. I don't want one Oh three.
6:31I actually hate homework. I love my draft spot.
6:34I'll just go ahead and say that this one.
6:37That's funny. I didn't realize you were. I like that you were forced into it because by the way, it's good.
6:43Yes, it's going to blow up your strategy. As my voice starts to blow up here.
6:47So welcome to puberty. Apparently I just it's gonna be a tough time for your life.
6:52I heard you guys didn't get to pick your draft spot and I was like, oh my God, Jake must have screamed.
6:58That must have been ours. But you guys were given a draft spot and then you had to create your best target.
7:04So your create your own adventure is the players that you were going to end up putting there.
7:10So we are going to go in little buckets round one and two each of you.
7:14Then we'll go into the back part. Jake, let's start with you round one and two ideal spots.
7:19You said you want to. You want to running back to two wide receivers.
7:23You were given the third pick and you completely blew up your ideal draft strategy here.
7:28So who are your ideal picks and targets for one and two?
7:32Because I don't like three or four. How the teams have turned out this year.
7:36We've done a spot where I was three on one of our mock draft shows.
7:40And I was like, man, I really don't. This is not my team and it's still a good team.
7:46We can draft from any spot and have a good team.
7:49It's just not something I love. But if I do have the three initially, I was leaning Puka Nakua.
7:54The fact that he's still not quite out there is enough hesitancy to say, you know, let's just go to Jamar Chase while I play around with it.
8:02Although as I think everybody was going to say terrified with that clip yesterday.
8:06And it's like, oh, my God, we can just stop.
8:09And then today, by the way, him not practicing, like they added a little bit more to it because he was like, oh, yeah, no, I'm good.
8:17And then he doesn't practice. I knew he wasn't going to.
8:20No, no, no, no. I've got a roll of bubble wrap.
8:23We can send them. Just put it around his body.
8:26Don't let him step on. We don't need Jamar Chase to practice like we don't like stop.
8:31Leave him alone. But if I had the one or three, I would go chase.
8:35Like I said, I was considering Nakua, but I think Chase is the pick there.
8:40And then to come back, I don't ever. I and I never will.
8:44I never did back in the day. Take a tight end in the first round.
8:48My argument against Travis Kelsey was that he has to be the four points per game ahead of the next tight end to be first round worthy.
8:56But at the third to last pick in the second round, I will jump on Brock Bowers where he's there.
9:01I actually have him two spots higher in overall because that's where you have to start thinking about it.
9:07Would I love to take him on the turn?
9:09I actually just did a draft where I had the one on one.
9:13I went Gibbs Bowers and I would love to get him there.
9:17But you kind of have to make that decision because, you know, he's probably not making it back to the third pick in the third round.
9:24And, you know, I do not have a running back yet.
9:27If I had my choice to start from one of the three, I would go chase Bowers and I'd be happy about it.
9:34I want to be gleeful, but I'd be happy.
9:37All right. Well, you're going to have some work to do is we're going to be moving through here.
9:42So, Debro, let's jump to you, your position, your spot, and then let's talk about your first and your second round target.
9:48Well, as we continue through this draft strategy. Yeah.
9:51So for this thought exercise, I'm drafting from the one 10 for me again, we're talking about a lot of drafters and I'm with it.
9:58If you're at the back end of the first round, I'm totally fine with going running back, running back start.
10:04And it's James Cook and Chase Brown for me.
10:06I love James Cook at the back end of like, I'll take him at like 107, 108, totally fine.
10:12Like, I think he's got top three upside this year because all the parts and pieces are there.
10:17He's in one of the best offenses in the NFL check.
10:20He's going to get volume. We saw that last year.
10:23I mean, he led the entire freaking NFL in rushing yards.
10:26He was third in rushing attempts. The part that puts him over into that top three, top two rarefied air this year
10:33is the pass game usage and Pete Carmichael being there.
10:36And no, this is not a Sean Payton stat because everybody's going to say immediately like, oh, it's just you're just touting Sean Payton numbers.
10:43And when he was in New Orleans, two years, Pete was still calling plays without Sean Payton there both years, top 10
10:49and running back target share in both seasons. And that's something we haven't seen out of the bills.
10:54And if everybody can be kind of rewind when James Cook came out as a prospect, he was supposed to be like this awesome passing down back.
11:02And since his rookie season, we just haven't seen that that utilization for him because they've been using him so much on early downs.
11:09So I love James Cook where he goes. And my other guy, Chase Brown.
11:13Let me stop you before you go to Chase Brown real quick.
11:16Where do you have James Cook ranked? RB three right now.
11:20Yes. I flip flop him back and forth with CMC on a day.
11:23Okay. That is exactly where I wanted to go because I want to know, do you subscribe to the Andrew Erickson book
11:30of hate that says Christian McCaffrey had 400 touches?
11:32So he's garbage. You do not. No, I do not.
11:35Because the fact about CMC is he stayed healthy last year.
11:38He was actually better down the back half of last season.
11:42Their offensive line played better. So going into this year, I was looking at his overall peripherals and metrics and efficiency stuff.
11:48And I was like, oh God, this is bad.
11:50This is like Alvin Kamara level, like slowing down and it's all volume and stuff.
11:55But a lot of that, if you parse it out just a tale of two seasons, it was the offensive line beginning of the season.
12:02They were a bottom five offensive line and run blocking back half of the season.
12:06They were a top 10 offensive line and run blocking.
12:09It's a binary decision with CMC. He stays healthy.
12:12He's a top two running back. It's just that simple.
12:15Yeah. Erickson turns into like for Marvel fans, he turns into like Doctor Strange and it's the dark hold.
12:20His dark hold is 400 touches and it just everything becomes evil and he has great magic behind him, but he just can't get away.
12:27No, you know what happened? I'm going to jump in on this one is everybody turned into 400 because the 370 touch
12:34volume got blown up in their faces when the fact that like people like me were like, oh, by the way, Larry
12:40Johnson did it for three years in a row.
12:43DeMarco Murray. DeMarco Murray bounced back with Tennessee after being used incorrectly.
12:46Ricky Williams did it three, four years in a row.
12:49LeDini Tomlinson did it seven straight seasons and they're like, oh, well, we need to change the number.
12:54Then that needs to be 400. How about the fact that Tiki Barber came off 400 touches at the age of 30 and then had 385 next year?
13:02And we're talking about Tiki Barber. So like, could it blow up in our faces?
13:06Absolutely. The biggest thing Debro said this since day one, we've been doing these shows this offseason and he's 100% right.
13:13It's a binary decision. He stays healthy. He's in play to be the number one player again.
13:17If he gets hurt, everybody's going to be like, ha ha, told you he got hurt.
13:22Yeah. Efficiency doesn't play in. I completely agree. But the risk is baked in at the back end of the first round.
13:28You're able to draft a guy that could still be the RB1 overall.
13:32He's not going 101. Well, the funny thing, you don't get a top three pick.
13:36Erickson did the video where he was like, if he's the number one guy, why are we not drafting him number one?
13:43It's like, yeah, it's baked in. Because you don't have to.
13:46That's the risk. Yeah. All right. So I made that about CMC.
13:49I just wanted to know on the James Cook side, finish up.
13:53Chase Brown is your second round guy. Yeah. Chase Brown, I'm just smashing the second round because I've got him at RB5, man.
13:59I think he's going to crush him for everybody who thinks that he can't pay off on that ranking.
14:05I just kindly point you to weeks 13 through 18 last year when he was the RB2 in fantasy points per game with Samaj P.
14:12And the thing about Chase Brown, man, like he was awesome on a per touch basis, like basically after starting the season slow.
14:19So week six through 18 RB6 and fantasy points per game.
14:22He was top 20 in every per touch efficiency metric that I care about.
14:26And I think the thing with Chase Brown is we could finally get the touchdown outlier season for a guy that's he
14:32scored 11 touchdowns at each of the past two years.
14:35If you bump that number up to 14 or 18 and he has like an Austin Eckler or a James Cook type
14:41of run out to where he gets more touchdowns in this freaking offensive.
14:45Joe Burrow can stay healthy. Then Chase Brown could be the guy that's also a top five back, but you're getting him in the freaking second round.
14:53Yeah, it's a very good value. All right. We've got rounds three and four coming up, but quick PSA before your next draft.
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17:37Okie dokie. Let's jump into the next rounds here, where we have got rounds three and four.
17:41Jake, we're going to jump back to you here.
17:44You do not have a running back. Are you going to continue not having a running back with your picks three and four?
17:51Yeah. Okie pokey dokie, whatever the heck. What did you say?
17:54Sorry. Like, you got me with your return. I think okie dokie.
17:57I think okie dokie. Have you never heard the term okie dokie?
18:01No, it's the way you said it. Oh. It's always.
18:04Anyway, yes, I am getting my running back here.
18:06I am getting my running back. Like, I actually really wanted to say Kyron Williams, but because at the 103, he goes
18:13one or two picks right before that, which is, again, don't love the 103.
18:17I didn't cheat and get Kyron Williams. So I went with the next one right after him and Javante Williams.
18:22All the Williams's. And to be honest about it, the volume of touches is all for Javante anyway.
18:28Like, we finally got healthy back to what we knew about Javante Williams last year.
18:32There was all the steam and helium behind Javante or Jaden Blue, and that didn't go anywhere.
18:37And Malik Davis was the backup. And it looks like we might be running down that same road again with Malik Davis
18:43and Jaden Blue competing for touches behind him, probably splitting that backfield if anything were to happen.
18:48But the point being is Javante's walking back into his bell cow role for one of the highest octane, highest scoring, highest
18:54whatever you want offenses in the league that's up there of the ilks of the bangles and everything like that.
19:00So why aren't we more excited about Javante Williams?
19:03We finally got him back. We finally got what we wanted out of him, and he was one of the best values last year.
19:10To get him to the end of the third round, I will click that every single time, especially if I went wide
19:16receiver, wide receiver, wide receiver, tight end like I did in this case.
19:20And then you brought up the other name earlier.
19:22I'm still clicking Emeka Ibuka in the fourth round.
19:25Like, I was even thinking about in the third round.
19:28We're talking about somebody that, look at the start of last season.
19:31Look at what he did at the start of last season.
19:34Yes, all those games came with no Mike Evans or Chris Godwin.
19:38And then after that. But you know what also happened after that?
19:41He got hurt. Baker Mayfield played through an injury.
19:44He played through an injury. The offensive line fell apart.
19:47There was one offensive lineman that played the entire season.
19:50That was their center. Everybody else was 12 games or fewer.
19:53And the 12 games actually came from a returning injury offensive lineman that somehow stayed healthy for the rest of the season and worse.
20:00Everything went wrong. Like, we make jokes about your substation team, the 49ers, and everybody's losses over the fact that how bad
20:06it went for the Bucs last year. And to get Baker healthy, the offensive line healthy, and Ibuka has this time off,
20:12which is what we really hope any wide receiver has is just time off.
20:16We don't need you on the field. Just stay healthy, Jamar Chase.
20:20Is that Ibuka still has legit top 10 upside, but now you're getting him in the fourth round because people are worried about the toe.
20:27And maybe it's a grade three. That's the one thing.
20:30I will say we don't know. They haven't said how severe the toe sprain is for the turf toe.
20:35If it is grade three, this is going to hurt a hell of a lot because it'll bug him the entire year,
20:42and that'll be another injury he plays through. But if it's on the mild case, which it sounds like that might be
20:48the optimism, then he'll be fine for week one.
20:51And all this layoff, we'll have him walking right into that number one rule we expected he could be this year.
20:57All right. Third spot. First pick. We've got Jamar Chase, Brock Bowers, Javante Williams, Emeka Ibuka.
21:01Let's see what people think in the comments. But also, hold it, especially if you want to have a little battle here
21:08of which build do you like better because we've got to get Debro's rounds three and four.
21:13Debro, let's go over to yours where you kicked us off with...
21:16Where did you kick us off? With James Cook and Chase Brown, so you went running back, running back.
21:22You obviously have a clear need. You did say you wanted to go two running back, two wide receiver here, so are
21:28you going to tab wide receiver with your next two picks?
21:31Absolutely. And if I didn't go running back, running back, I would have picked Javante Williams and been running with Jake with
21:37this one because I love where he goes in drafts.
21:40But I'm going Chris Alabe for my first wide receiver in round three.
21:44I bumped up his ranking with the Jordan Tyson news, man.
21:47I put him at wide receiver seven and everybody like...
21:50I put that out on social media when I was updating the top 200 and everybody's like, oh, Lord, really?
21:56That high? I'm like, apparently people don't realize that he finished as the wide receiver seven in fantasy points per game last year.
22:02So if Tyler Shuck can take another step forward this year, this offense is better.
22:07Yeah. Chris Alabe, top seven wide receiver. I've got him above Drake London.
22:10I've got him above George Pickens. He could smash, man.
22:13So he's going to just keep gobbling up volume from who we hope is an ascending quarterback.
22:18And in round four, it has been and remains Javante Waddell season.
22:22I think he's going to produce as a wide receiver one in fantasy this year.
22:26There is no difference between him and what happened to A.J.
22:29Brown. Both guys going from run-first offenses to pass-heavy offenses.
22:32Javante Waddell crushed Cortland Sutton on every per-route metric that matters.
22:35For everybody that says that Javante Waddell has never been elite, what are you talking about?
22:40Like last year, he was top 12 in everything that I care about.
22:44What a pause. D-Bro just dropped on us. I was like, I thought he had such a thing, but he's just going to let me jump in there.
22:52I actually, I got it in the back of my throat.
22:55I was like, whoa, okay, let's go. You were going to drop a bomb.
22:59What were you going to say, Jake? I was going to say, so it's like two things is one, if he's in
23:05any draft with me and I'm at the 103, there's no way that Alave's making it to the end of the third round.
23:12Like I'm thinking two or three turn. And then the other thing I was laughing is like, why do the graphics look like they're getting more serious?
23:20Like James Cook's got a smirk. Chase Brown looks like he's trying too hard to be strong.
23:24And then Alave's serious. And then Waddle looks like he's going to kick everybody's butt.
23:29This is real business. But there's the disrespect, Jake.
23:31Jalen Waddle being drafted to open draft season. But tell me Chase Brown doesn't look like he's trying hard to look serious.
23:38Okay, but hey, listen. Who's the one guy smiling?
23:40The guy in the first round. Everybody else feels they should be a first runner.
23:45By the way, shout out to our crew this year.
23:48Callie, Seth behind the scenes, Ethan with the graphics.
23:50Everything looks gorgeous. I love this look here. And I think that's a beautiful little moment there of James Cook looking super happy in the first round.
23:58The rest of the guys. Did I ask you, Emeka or Waddle?
24:01Debro, you start here. Which side are you? Easy Waddle.
24:04Like how far? What's the rank difference? I've got Waddle as a top 12 wide receiver.
24:09I've got Emeka at... With the toe, a little bit scared about the toe.
24:13I bumped him down to wide receiver 17. So there's a difference there.
24:17Jake, what about you? Waddle or Egbuka? I've got a six wide receiver gap spot between the two.
24:22Egbuka. Okay, yeah. Because I'm on the Egbuka side.
24:24So there's no toe or foot issues with you.
24:27By the way, if Debro and I are drafting all together, he's never getting a Lave, but he's getting all of the Waddle.
24:34Yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah. And you guys are switching on that.
24:37I think it's a really interesting debate in battle.
24:39Can I see the other graphic real quick? I just want to see now is the first rounder also laughing?
24:45Yeah, I need the four. Jamar's... Hey, look. Jamar's kind of smirking.
24:49They get more upset. Yeah, I'd say Javante feels disrespected a little bit.
24:52Bowers is just mad because he went back to that bad haircut of his.
24:56Yeah, there's a lot of like turkey comments in that.
24:59What is that? Is Ebuka getting smacked in the face right before that picture?
25:03Yeah, I don't know. I love it. There's a little bit of pan face.
25:07Yeah. So which team do you guys like? And put it in the chat below now that you've seen all of them.
25:14D-bros. Even though I don't know as much as Ebuka.
25:16Jamar Chase, Brock Bowers, Javante Williams, Emeka Ibuka, or James Cook, Chase Brown, Chris and I don't know.
25:22You know, with a plan. Fantasy Fest after party.
25:24We're going to be running two mock drafts against the audience.
25:27We're going to be giving away a $50 fantasy pro store card to one lucky winner after each draft.
25:33So you can come and draft with us. Talk fantasy.
25:36Keep the fest going. I believe it's Bogman and Alfredo and maybe Seth Wolk.
25:40I don't remember everybody that's there, but I know Alfredo and I know Bogman are there.
25:44Someone will let me know, but it's going to be awesome.
25:48Twitch.tv slash fantasy pro. Do some drafts. Win some stuff.
25:50Let the party keep going. I want you guys to hang with us.
25:54All right. Let's get to some questions. Yeah, well, see.
25:57It's going to be Seth Bogman, the fantasy dude, and Alfredo stopping by.
26:01That's okay. Yeah. Oh, I didn't realize the fantasy dude is on there.
26:05I just did a mock draft with him. I had a great time.
26:08He's going to have to eat glasses and everything.
26:11It's like a good human. It's a blast. All right.
26:14Let's answer some questions. I can do my JJ Zacharyson.
26:17There you go. Oh, yeah, that's good. Or the Seth Wolk.
26:20You know, the thing that went unnoticed was like Seth also had like the nice hair and the glasses.
26:25Like we, you know what? If we had time and had been thinking about it, we were a little panicked.
26:31We should have been like, this is like Walmart JJ Zacharyson.
26:34You know what I mean? Like this is like alternative version of him.
26:38But shout out to Seth for coming. Are you calling Seth Timu JJ?
26:42Is that who we're going with this? Is that what you just did?
26:45I mean, I'm like Timu John Lackey. So I get all of that.
26:49And with all the respect on the planet, all the respect on the planet.
26:53You do look like John Lackey. I never put it together.
26:56I literally had somebody in public at a baseball game come up and say, I'm so sorry.
27:01But me and my wife were curious. Forget your questions, everybody.
27:04Who does everybody look like? It's a nightmare. Please don't tell me who I look like.
27:09Don't tell me I look like Action Bronson. I've gotten too much in the chat.
27:13Yeah, they're all going to be offensive. They're never anything good whatsoever.
27:17But let's answer some questions here. Captain, we actually talked about this in the last one.
27:21Should we be worried about the Commander's O-line? I've got a lot of JD5.
27:26You know, we just had JJ, speaking of, talked about both wide receivers being a top 24.
27:30I'm a little dicey on it. Jake, what do you think?
27:34Should we be more worried about specifically Jaden Daniels than being given credit for?
27:38Great timing, Captain Patches, on this question. Because I wasn't until I got a text last night.
27:42And I'll even say this person because I respect them a hell of a lot.
27:47Put your phone up. Let's see it. Let's see the number two.
27:50No, no. No, no. Ben Standick texted me, talking fantasy.
27:53And then we sidebarred. And he goes, I'm legitimately concerned about this offensive line.
27:57This is the same Ben Standick who told everybody to cool their jets and Corey Krosky merit last year.
28:03He's somebody that I extremely value his opinion when it comes to the Commanders.
28:07He's got a sub stack out there if you want to subscribe to him, by the way.
28:12And if he's saying he's severely concerned about this offensive line, then yeah, I'm going to take that with more than a grain of salt.
28:19I'm going to dump an entire bucket on it.
28:21Because now I'm not going to knock Jaden Daniels way down my ranks.
28:25It might be a spot or two because now we start talking about tiebreak differences and all that type of stuff.
28:31But this actually might come more to play with Terry McLaurin.
28:34Maybe we see more short passes to Stefan Diggs.
28:37Maybe Okonkwo becomes the value we thought he could be anyway, even with this.
28:41And the run game that even if we do get the clear lead being Krosky merit, maybe it's not a great thing no matter what.
28:48So it's enough that it breaks some ties for me that I was considering players versus them.
28:53It's not the be all end all to like bury everybody, but it's enough to take notice.
28:58Well, you already talked about it, Debro. So let me throw this one at you from Grant.
29:03How do you adjust your approach for an eight team league?
29:06It's PPR. My current plan is to take two running backs in the first three, then take Loveland at 4-6.
29:12So obviously the player pool becomes much greater. I tend to think this is a little like BPA.
29:17It's like a best available player, but our best player available.
29:20But what would you make an adjustment for in a PPR 18 league?
29:24Smaller leagues, I prioritize onesie positions because everybody's going to run out of an all-star lineup.
29:28You mean quarterback and tight end when you say onesie position.
29:32Yeah, quarterback and tight end. So whether you want to pay up for Bowers, the way that I want to attack those
29:38smaller leagues this year is get the last guy of the tier that I fully believe can be truly elite this year.
29:44So you're able to go wide receiver and running back early, and that's going to be Colston Loveland, and I'm circling Jalen Hurts this year.
29:52Those are the two guys that I want to draft heavily in eight and ten team formats, and then just crush running back and wide receiver around them.
30:00And by the way, Big Chef, we don't league shame here.
30:03We're not league shaming 18 leagues. We don't want to play them, but we're not going to league.
30:08I mean, I'll play in them. Family leagues. I will league shame the crap out of anybody playing with kickers.
30:14Well, yeah. Oh, my God. Every time the kicker thing comes up, too.
30:17Yeah, Jake just gets put into it whenever there's – because there's such kicker discourse being like, you know, well, matter of fact, it's a strategy.
30:25You know what the funny thing is? Is like I talked about it as in like anecdotally for years, and then I
30:31did an entire article proving the numbers behind how it doesn't work either, and people still want to play with kickers.
30:37But hey, play how you want. Like 18 leagues, you want to play with – you want to play Scott Fishbowl with
30:44three kickers and rookies only and touchdowns are negative 10 points.
30:47Whatever. Play however you want. Play however you want.
30:49Have fun with it. All right. That's okay. We get – when Jake gets on, me and Jake, we just go on tangents.
30:56We go too far here. We got a couple questions.
30:59Want to get one more question? You want one more?
31:02Okay, then here. Fine. You can have one more.
31:04You can have one more. Can Tootin be a viable RB2 for my team?
31:08Yes. Assuming I have a solid RB1. Give me another question.
31:12Let me ask you this. Can Tootin be your RB1 if you took three wide receivers?
31:16I wouldn't go that far. I wouldn't go RB1.
31:19David Montgomery is about the last of that tier, though.
31:22I do have the question for you. Why does Jake hate Malik Nabors?
31:25Oh. Okay, because I hate the Giants. Yeah. It has nothing to do with it.
31:30It's just – like I hate – I still have him as a wide receiver one.
31:34It's just the names in front of him. I don't have to deal with the risk of playing it in the offense,
31:41hoping that everything works out with Roman and Nagy, and then the question of how much is he involved to start the
31:47season real Nabors until the end of September. I still love Nabors.
31:50I want a jersey, but it really just comes down to their names in front of them are Alave and A.J.
31:56Brown in both the Cowboys. It's just people that I know, Nico Collins, versus the risk that I have to take with Nabors.
32:03All right, friends. There you go. Barely Mental. I just gave you the names in front of them.
32:08Lots of questions. Lots of draft strategy. Killer stuff from our dear friend Jake Seeley.
32:13All in, kid. And D-Bro is going to go take a little break.
32:16I think D-Bro is going to be jumping into the chat.
32:20He's going to vault himself into there, and he's going to spawn in the chat.
32:24Well, guess what? Spawning here in the next segment?
32:26Fitzy. Pat Fitzmore is and a dear friend of mine.
32:29I love him dearly. Scott Pianowski. We got more, so don't go anywhere.
32:33More Fantasy Fest right after this. Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
32:38If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple Podcasts at fantasypros.com slash review or on Spotify.
32:46Follow us on X, Instagram, and TikTok at fantasypros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at youtube.com slash fantasypros.
32:51College football will hijack your weekend, ruin your sleep, and break your heart.
32:55And that's why we make the Solid Verbal College Football Show.
32:58I'm Ty Hildenbrand. He's Dan Rubenstein. Every week, we preview the games that matter and the storylines that are going to ignite your group chat.
33:05And you can join us in the aftermath as we react to what happened, why it matters, and how the sport went completely bonkers yet again.
33:13Listen to the Solid Verbal College Football Show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
33:19The entire draft room groans because you just took the guy they wanted.
33:22There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league.
33:25I'm JJ Zacharyson, host of the award-winning Late Round Podcast.
33:28Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off.
33:35Listen to the Late Round Fantasy Football Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
33:40On August 4th, 1962, Marilyn Monroe died. Then the rumors started and she died again.
33:45And now, we're going to set the record straight and learn about the way Marilyn Monroe actually died.
33:50The third way. I'm Jake Brennan. And on my podcast, Hollywoodland, I revisit some of the biggest stories from Hollywood history, separating
33:56the myths people want to believe from the reality underneath them.
33:59Hollywoodland is part of the Exactly Right Network. Listen to new episodes every Monday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
34:07On Big Lives, we take a single cultural icon.
34:10People like Jane Fonda, George Michael, Little Richard. And we pull apart the story behind the image, discovering forgotten interviews that change
34:16exactly how we see these giants of our culture.
34:18We're here for the messy, the brilliant, the human version of our heroes.
34:22I'm Emmanuel Jochi. I'm Kai Wright. And this is Big Lives.
34:25Listen to Big Lives on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
34:30This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.
