Identifying The Next Breakout WR1s | Wide Receivers with MASSIVE Upside in 2026 (Ep. 2040)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 6 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jun 2, 2026
Published
Tue, June 2, 2026
3
Player insights
3
Players mentioned
Topics
A.J. BrownEmeka EgbukaNico Collins
Player analysis
Player insights
A.J. Brown
PositiveRole0:03
AJ Brown is expected to be a low-end wide receiver one for fantasy, especially with the new pairing with Drake May.
Insight pageEmeka Egbuka
PositiveBreakout0:13
Emeka Egbuka had a strong start last season and is poised for a breakout with ample targets available after Mike Evans' departure.
Insight pageNico Collins
PositiveBreakout0:07
Nico Collins showed a significant target spike in his second season, averaging nine targets a game before an injury cut his season short.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. Welcome in everybody to FantasyPros.
0:03This is the Fantasy Football Podcast. It is me, Joey Pizzapia, Joe P, Zappia.
0:07And with me today, Jake Seeley from The Athletic and Pat Fitzmaurice, my patty cakes.
0:12And we're going to talk about some guys that are going to break out this year at the wide receiver position.
0:18We love this show every single year, identifying the guys that are going to really make that leap to me.
0:23The easiest way to win a fantasy football league is to identify the guys that you're drafting as wide receiver fours.
0:29They end up as threes, threes that ends up as twos, twos that end up as ones, and ones that...
0:35I don't know what happens when you're one. I honestly don't know where I was going with that.
0:40But I will tell you this. We got some great names for you today that we're going to pick apart.
0:46And of course, make sure you subscribe here to the YouTube channel at Fantasy Pros.
0:50And of course, wherever you get your podcasts as well.
0:53And before you get into any of that stuff, we're going to talk about what makes a breakout wide receiver.
0:58We're going to give you specific names. But I got to just touch on some of the stuff that went on yesterday.
1:05Because Andrew Erickson and I came on the Tailgate, new show by the way, Tailgate NFL.
1:09Check out our new YouTube channel. And we came on Fantasy Pros Live at the same time.
1:14A little simulcast action. Because it was an eventful day in the NFL, to say the very least.
1:19So Jake Seeley, we have Myles Garrett moving. We have AJ Brown moving, two of the biggest stars in the NFL on
1:25the same day in June, moving teams. Of all four teams that were involved in those trades, who do you think won the day?
1:32All four. Like, this is... That is a terrible answer.
1:35No, because it's the truth. It's such the truth, though.
1:38This is finally win-win, win-win. Like, there is nothing that...
1:40Like, I see people giving like B-minuses and A's and like...
1:44No, everybody won on this. The Browns are having one of the best off seasons I remember the Browns having in 15, 20 years.
1:50Like, they're looking toward the future. It's a low bar, but yes.
1:54They're moving forward. They got a talented defensive lineman that's like...
1:57I know he's not Miles Garrett, but he's not like worlds behind that you add the picks on top of it.
2:03And they're moving toward the future. You have a team that's ready to win right now.
2:07And they are doing everything they can to win right now in the Rams.
2:11You have AJ Brown going to a team that desperately needed a number one.
2:15Tons of downfield play-action passing and just everything that Drake made.
2:18Drake made... I did it on the article on The Athletic.
2:22Drake made checks the boxes in so many deep passing.
2:24And look at the guy... You know this. Look at the guys he was throwing to last year.
2:29And he was still... Yeah, I know. I'm well aware.
2:32Among the best in all these deep ball throws.
2:35And then AJ Brown's one of the best end zone makers.
2:38And then the Eagles do what the Eagles do.
2:40They turned a first into him and they turn around and turn him into a first and other picks.
2:46And obviously, they've already made it... Like, they knew this was coming, so they already drafted Lemon and Stowers.
2:51It's, you know... Yeah, it's not the exciting hot take answer, but the truth is it's win-win-win-win-win-win.
2:56Everybody won yesterday. Well, Jake, thank you for bringing Sensibility back to the show.
3:00I appreciate it. Pat Fitzmaurice, let's get crazy here.
3:03Let's talk about your take on this thing. Because I think AJ Brown is the one too, from a fantasy perspective, that really has everybody buzzing and talking.
3:10And again, if you want to watch the live reactions, they're here right on the YouTube channel.
3:15You can watch them or listen to the podcast too.
3:18But AJ Brown, certainly motivated to get out of Philadelphia.
3:21How motivated do you think he will be to be part of the New England Patriots?
3:25I think he'll be motivated. I think he is a low-end wide receiver one for fantasy.
3:30I think we should be excited about the Drake-May, AJ Brown pairing.
3:33I think that's going to be a lot of fun for fantasy.
3:37So, yeah. I'm enthusiastic about this. And I agree with Jake's take.
3:40Like, I think the Rams are going to be appointment viewing.
3:43Don't encourage him, Vince. Yeah, I know. He's so smart.
3:46The Rams are going to be appointment viewing this year.
3:49And I love how Andrew Barry is handling the rebuild in Cleveland.
3:52Like, that team should be ready to roll by about, like, 2028.
3:56Get your QB in 2027. And by 2028, you're ready to make some noise.
4:00All right. Let's make some noise right here with some wide receivers.
4:03Wait, wait, wait. I know you guys are in the takes, but it's your team.
4:07So, like, I have a curiosity question. Would you take AJ Brown or either of the Dallas Cowboys as of today now?
4:14Because I sandwiched him in between them. Oh, baby.
4:16I moved him up. You know, that's a great question.
4:19Interesting framing, yes. I'll tell you why. Because the framing is, you know, on that week-to-week basis, right?
4:24You know, it's like, is it the Pickens day?
4:27Is it the Lamb day? Is it the both day?
4:29Like, that's a little trickier. I think every day is AJ Brown day.
4:33So, to a certain extent, if we get to that 150 target threshold, which, I mean, when you go look at the
4:39track record of AJ Brown, when he gets to that 140, 150 range, we're talking about 1400 yards and 10 touchdowns.
4:45I will take that, and I'll take that more on a weekly consistent basis, I think, than maybe what could be the
4:52up and down between the other two guys of Pickens and CeeDee Lamb.
4:55Fitzy, where are you with that one? Because that is kind of a fascinating standpoint.
4:59You want the guy who stands alone as the alpha on his team, or you want to go with that pairing that
5:06maybe on a week-to-week basis is a little tougher to gauge who's the big dog?
5:10Yeah, right now I've got it Lamb, Brown, Pickens.
5:12I mean, I do think the one thing with the Cowboys is that, you know, they are still looking like a team
5:19that is going to be involved in a lot of shootouts.
5:22And I don't know if we can say the same thing for the Patriots.
5:26Even with the tougher schedule, maybe they'll have to throw more this year.
5:29But, you know, Dallas is going to play in a lot of 35, 32 games, presumably.
5:34All right. Jake, is it okay to move on now?
5:37I think we're okay to move on now. I think we can.
5:40All right, let's move on. Let's talk about it.
5:43All right, let's talk about what factors make somebody a guy who's going to jump.
5:47So second and third year growth, right? We talk about that a lot.
5:51We talk about sometimes like the A.J. Brown situation, right?
5:53When a guy leaves a team and all of a sudden targets get vacated.
5:57So Fitzy, for you, when you start to evaluate guys that are ready to break out, what's kind of the criteria of
6:04the box is he going to check? Yeah, I mean, we don't have a tried and true method of spotting a breakout
6:10because the breakout and the pre-breakout look different for different players.
6:13Sometimes a player falls in a greater target opportunity.
6:16Sometimes it's a quarterback change that triggers a breakout.
6:18Sometimes it's just a matter of an oft injured player finally staying healthy.
6:22But I mean, I guess there are a couple of things that should probably put us on breakout alert.
6:27Like draft capital matters. We should give probably longer leash to guys who are first round picks, early round two picks.
6:33You know, their rate of eventually popping is better than it is for a late day two or day three pick.
6:39Does a player have a chance to become the top target on his team?
6:43And maybe it's because someone in front of him gets hurt or face plants in season.
6:48But is there a path for that player? And then, you know, the drumbeat, I think, matters.
6:52Like when you start to hear that a player is really turning heads in OTAs and training camp, like pay attention to that stuff.
6:59I know Jake is going to talk about a few players who this might apply to this year.
7:04And then just look for little clues and usage changes.
7:07One example I can think of is Nico Collins, who didn't put up great numbers in either of his first two seasons under 500 receiving yards both years.
7:15One touchdown as a rookie, two as a sophomore.
7:18Missed some time with injuries, which unfortunately was a harbinger of things to come.
7:22So Nico was just sort of a bottom of the roster guy in redraft leagues early in his, you know, career.
7:27And then in 2022, tweaked his groin in October, missed a couple of games.
7:31When he came back in November, all of a sudden he started drawing a lot more targets.
7:36He averaged nine targets a game in his first four games back with at least seven targets in all of those games.
7:42So that point in his career, he'd played 20 games, only saw seven or more targets in three of them.
7:48And when he had that little year two target spike, like he didn't really put up big numbers in any of those
7:54heavy target games under 50 yards, all four of them.
7:57But it was a combination of Davis Mills and Kyle Allen, a quarterback for the Texans.
8:02So it's not exactly a surprise that Nico couldn't convert those targets into big numbers.
8:06But the surface stats, you know, weren't really what we should have been paying attention to.
8:10It was the target spike. And then, unfortunately, Nico like sprained his foot in week 13, didn't play again.
8:16But that portended the big year three breakout that we saw.
8:19And, you know, that that was kind of where things took off for Nico.
8:23Jake, when you are looking at guys who are going to break out, quote unquote, a wide receiver, a lot of it,
8:29I think, also has to do with scheme change, coaching change.
8:32Sometimes there's opportunities where a new group comes in with a talent that you like that maybe was under utilizing the wide receiver.
8:39So how much does that enter into it for you to where maybe a new group coming in with the potential to
8:45really kind of remake an offense or reengage a player that maybe previously wasn't being engaged properly?
8:50And what are the other things for you that you want to check those boxes that kind of say this guy is
8:56in line to maybe take a big leap forward this year?
8:59Well, that's the biggest thing. And Fitz already talked about it.
9:02It's not one singular thing. I went down a rabbit hole.
9:05I wish everybody out there is really good with pulling data and wants to do this for me.
9:10So I went down a rabbit hole because I originally three years ago, I did one on first round draft picks only
9:17first round wide receivers and their hit rate. And it was 50%.
9:20And then it just trickled down from there. Second rounds were like 33%.
9:24And it got worse by the time we get the third, fourth round.
9:27It was basically 10% or under. But that's the hit rate.
9:31And the hit rate when I say that was top 36 points per game or finish.
9:35So I kind of like gave them a little bit of both to give some leeway to benefit them.
9:40And that's basically the hit rate. And most of them are year two and round one.
9:45And then most of them are years three and four for round two and three.
9:49And then after that, again, it's basically not a lot of people.
9:53But the next thing I went into, and this is where I got hung up down the rabbit hole, was opportunity share.
9:59Because there's no clear way. Like I could have a different opportunity share opinion than you do because I might say the
10:05third wide receiver is not a threat. And you might say he is.
10:09And then somebody like A.J. Brown leaving. And what if that leaves for Lemon?
10:13What if you say Lemon's the one and I say he's the two?
10:16Like we're going to have different opportunity shares. And that's the problem with that study.
10:21But that's one of the biggest things when you did the checkbox and you look at R-square and all that type of stuff.
10:27One of the biggest opportunities is opportunity share. Like what Fitz kind of alluded to.
10:31Are they stepping into a number two role? Or is like JSN stepped into a three and then it took time.
10:37Luther Burnham we're going to talk about today. Similar situation.
10:40We've gone down this road of a lot of wide receivers that might step into a three instead of a two.
10:46And then you just have to wait the year, but then they produce after.
10:50So the last part being what you just said a lot has to do with scheme too.
10:55We know how much that we have pre-snap motion nowadays helps wide receivers and fantasy.
10:59It's one of the biggest telltale signs. So you have offensive coordinators that are shifting more to that.
11:04Like we talk about the Eagles all the time because I keep going down this Jalen Hurts rabbit hole with that one
11:10about how he can throw over the middle. And we have Sean Mannion that's going to introduce a lot more under center, some more play action.
11:18You have same thing happen with Declan Doyle, a lot of play action from Lamar Jackson.
11:22So these are things you can point to. There's not one clear like, oh, this is what it's going to be.
11:28But the biggest from a statistical, I put that in quotes like statistical because it's again, there is some subjectiveness to it
11:35is the fact that opportunity share is a really, really big one.
11:38That's probably the biggest. Like if you just want one, that would probably be the easiest to go.
11:43Oh, what's the opportunity for him to get targets this year?
11:46All right. Let's talk about some of those names before we get to them.
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12:30It's one of our best tools here. Fantasy pros, fantasy pros.com slash Intel.
12:34So go check that out today and take on that information and use it against them for your benefit.
12:39That's how you really break out. All right, let's talk about some names here that are kind of the imminent ones here.
12:45We'll start with the obvious guys rounds four through six.
12:48We're using the half point PPR scoring to you can find these rankings in the expert consensus over fantasy bros.com slash rankings.
12:54Go check it out today. Okay, so Fitzy, let's start with you here because obviously when you talk about some vacated targets,
13:01a team that comes to mind at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because a fella named Mike Evans has been doing it for
13:07a very long time there, but he's not around anymore.
13:10That leaves Emeka Egbuka around who had a dazzling start to last year, but then the Baker Mayfield hell fell apart and
13:16Egbuka kind of went dormant as well. So why are things going to pick up basically where maybe week six of last year left off?
13:23Yeah, that's exactly it, Joe. So we were starting to get the breakout with a book of last season abruptly canceled after five games.
13:30He was wide receiver three in PPR scoring through the first five weeks, five touchdowns in five games.
13:35Then a book of tweaked his hamstring in week six.
13:38He played through it, but the production sort of cratered and Baker Mayfield season took a bad turn to the first five weeks of the season.
13:45A book average 20.5 PPR points a game caught 65.8% of his targets from week six on 7.8 PPR points a game 42.7% catch rate.
13:52So we could say that injuries sort of left the door ajar for a book early last season because Chris Godwin didn't play the first three games.
14:00Then Evans missed games four and five. Well, Evans is gone now.
14:03Godwin might not be the same player he was earlier in his career.
14:07He's he's 30. He's had a major leg injury.
14:09I book a should get ample targets this season.
14:12He was a first round draft pick who has already had a month long stretch of high end wide receiver one production.
14:18He looks like a pretty good bet for a full breakout in year two.
14:22Jake, I'm very high on Nick Buka this year.
14:25That's somebody that I'm targeting quite a bit because again, if you can get him as your wide receiver to to Fitzy's
14:31point, I mean, there's wide receiver one upside all over this guy potentially, especially Baker Mayfield stays healthy and plays up to his.
14:37So are you somebody that also believes in Nick Buka and what you saw at the beginning of last season?
14:43To a degree. Yes, I know somebody laughed at me before when I said this, but I called them to bigger Jarvis
14:49Landry kind of a Keenan Allen type. And obviously we've seen Keenan Allen, even Jarvis Landry for a short time put up wide receiver one numbers.
14:57My only concern is that what if this is like a sum of the parts?
15:01Like what if a Buka really needs a number two along or like another top end wide receiver to be the two
15:07is what I meant to say is that I like a Buka a lot.
15:11Like I had him just behind burden and McMillan last year, but at the same time, like what just what if we've
15:17seen this from wide receivers right now? George Pickens just went to the Cowboys and was clearly better playing with lamb and
15:23at times by himself, but clearly better having an offense where he's not always the one all the attention.
15:29Juju Smith Schuster after Antonio Brown was done like we've seen wide receivers.
15:33And again, that might sound disrespectful to Buka. I'm just saying what if like we don't know we have a very small sample.
15:39He looked terrific to start the season, but then it was kind of a mess for the rest of the year for the Buccaneers as a whole.
15:47So what if McMillan, which I like a lot and talk about Godwin and Buka all kind of end up being a
15:53sum of their parts and maybe a book is a wide receiver too, which is great.
15:57That's a breakout, but I think people's expectations might be loftier and I just want to caution that like if he's a
16:04wide receiver too, that's still a success. And I still agree with Fitz.
16:07Let's I want to make that clear. Oh yeah, no, I think that's very clear.
16:12Now the guy you want to talk about is the guy that had a lot of successes rookie year.
16:17In fact, he finished as wide receiver 12 a wide receiver one is rookie season.
16:21He had 112 targets 82 receptions seven touchdowns. It was a great rookie year.
16:25One of my favorite picks that year. I had all the shares and then last year things kind of fell off for lad McConkie.
16:32Now I understand there was problems with the offensive line.
16:35I get that. But the ironic thing is your sophomore slump or whatever you want to call it.
16:40He had only six less targets, but the yardage shoulder went from 1149 to 789 and he did lose a touchdown off that too.
16:47Now we're getting Mike McDaniel. We're getting a fresh, fun offensive coordinator here that we love the offensive line.
16:52So what is the ceiling for lad McConkie this year after a wide receiver 29 finish last year?
16:57First as a game of Thrones guy, Joe fewer, sir, fewer.
17:00I'm surprised you don't ever trip up on that one, but I had to call you out because you don't normally get them.
17:07But lad McConkie, like I know there was a community and including myself that was higher most when he came out of college.
17:13I'm not saying that to be like, ha ha, like whatever is you're talking about this rookie season points per game.
17:19He was still only about wide receiver 20. So it's more about the fact that a lot of people got injured around that range.
17:26But we saw the upside. And I think why I say that is because some people being higher than most or being shocked by him.
17:33The expectations went through the roof last year, like he was ranked by a wide receiver one almost by everybody.
17:39And it was a massive drop off, as you said, just with very fewer targets.
17:43The production wasn't there. The offense didn't look good last year.
17:46Let's be honest, like on a passing game through him.
17:49I think lad McConkie being asked to be the one is another situation we're kind of talking about with a buka.
17:55But the biggest telltale here is what you kind of said, Mike McDaniel.
17:59And I look at what Mike McDaniel does with his offenses.
18:02And I think that the biggest question and you've brought this up, we've talked about it before, is that Gadsden could be the two.
18:08They did give Johnston the contract. I think Johnston could be the number two.
18:12But instead of trying to figure out like, OK, who's the two with McConkie to benefit the most in the McDaniel offense,
18:19which kind of, you know, narrows down to two people.
18:21Maybe this is the first time he gets a third consistently involved.
18:25But the one answer is McConkie. McConkie fits what he likes to do with his offenses, getting guys open over the short,
18:31intermediate, middle of the field and do things after the catch and then get that speed after the catch.
18:36And no, he's not Tyreek Hill. But if you're looking at somebody that can replicate what Waddle and Hill did with McDaniel, McConkie is the answer.
18:44And then we kind of hope it's Johnston or Gadsden.
18:47But they also might siphon off each other for those touchdowns, which we saw last year when Gadsden.
18:52Yeah. So you had that whole issue with Gadsden and Johnston, too.
18:55But the biggest answer was the simplest one is McConkie could easily get back to not only the production, but hit a
19:01high in about 130 targets where it's not just a wide receiver one finish, but a wide receiver one points per game finish.
19:08And that's why I'm really in on McConkie for this year.
19:11Well, just as a reminder, Jake, I still drink and I know things.
19:15There you go. There's our boy Tyrion Lannister there.
19:17Actually, it's funny because you were just talking before about the Bucs kind of just being, you know, maybe a cluster of guys.
19:24It's kind of like what happened. I feel like last year with the Chargers, Fitz, because you had Keenan Allen come back into that fold.
19:31And it did make things, I think, a little messier because you brought back an old friend necessarily there for for Justin Herbert, which is great.
19:38But at the same time, maybe that was also something that stunted a little bit of more of the progression of what
19:44the ceiling could have been for Ladd McConkie last year.
19:47And when there are three or four wide receivers on the field at once, the target shares among those wide receivers tend
19:53to get a little diluted and you don't see any one wide receiver accumulating a big target share.
19:59And I know Ryan Heath of Fantasy Points has done some good work on this this offseason and what the growing trend
20:05of multiple tight end sets might mean in fantasy.
20:07Well, it's good when there are multiple tight ends on the field and you're one of the two or even one wide
20:14receivers on the field at a time instead of one of three or four, because you are more likely to draw a
20:20lot of targets or at least targets at a high rate when you're just playing as the solo wide receiver or one of two on the field.
20:27And we might see that with the Chargers this year because they've now got three tight ends.
20:32They brought in Charlie Kohler in the offseason. They just brought in David Njoku.
20:36They already had a Rondé Gadsden. And oh, by the way, they went and got Mike McDaniel's buddy Alec Ingle to play fullback.
20:43So we're probably looking at a lot of two or even one wide receiver sets in for the Chargers this year.
20:49And it's a pretty good bet that McConkie is going to be one of those one or two wide receivers on the field.
20:55So he has a chance for a spiked target rate in 2026.
20:59Love the sound of that. Now, Fitzy, the next guy you're going to talk about in this four to six round range
21:05is a guy that has been a tough sell for me because I've invested so many times and been so let down so hard so many times.
21:12But the Josh Jacobs news now kind of is rekindling the flame a little bit because now all of a sudden maybe
21:19the Packers have to change a little bit more of their identity.
21:22So talk to me about Christian Watson, how the Jacobs news might even affect a potential breakout for him this year.
21:28If this is a colossal if he can actually stay healthy and play a full season.
21:33Yeah, it's not just you for whom this is going to be a hard sell, Joe.
21:37At least half the people who watch getting easier.
21:40It's getting easier right now over the last week.
21:42But yeah, there is a large percentage of people who watch or listen to the show who are just going to dismiss
21:48this out of hand because Christian Watson has this troubled injury history.
21:52So I totally get it. Watson has missed 20 games.
21:55Don't worry about it. You know why? Because if they've watched this long, we already got the view number on YouTube.
22:01So it's all gold after that. Yeah, and if you're totally out on Watson, no matter what, just let this show keep playing for the next five minutes.
22:08Yeah, put down your phone, go make a sandwich.
22:11By the time you come back with your turkey on wheat, we'll be talking about someone else.
22:16But for those of you... Actually, they put the little stamps in there too.
22:20Just look for the next little break. That's right.
22:22Yeah, that's right. It's timestamp if you want to hear this.
22:25But if you do want to stick around and listen to this part of the show, Christian Watson only played 10 games last year.
22:32Averaged 17.5 yards per catch, 11.1 yards per target, 2.28 yards per route run.
22:36And those are all really good rate stats. Produced at a 1,000-yard, 10-touchdown pace for a full season.
22:41And, you know, in case anyone has forgotten, he only played 10 games because he tore his ACL at the end of
22:48the 2024 season in early January, back by October.
22:50And so, again, with the caveat that he can perhaps finally stay healthy, there should be enhanced target opportunities this year.
22:56Packers have rotated four or five receivers in recent years.
22:59This year looks like it's going to be a core three of Watson, Jaden Reed, and Matthew Golden.
23:04Dontavian Wicks is gone. Romeo Dobbs is gone. Tucker Craft could be a major player in this offense too, but he's coming off a torn ACL.
23:11Watson is 6'4", 208 pounds, 4.36 speed. He is big and fast.
23:15He's a high-quality quarterback in Jordan Love. Packers have been really run-heavy the last two years.
23:19They've been 31st and 22nd in pass rate over-expected.
23:22They might have to throw more this year. Joe, you mentioned it.
23:25I mean, we've got this evolving Josh Jacobs situation.
23:28Not out of the question, they have to become more pass-heavy in 2026.
23:31And look, man, I'm a Packer fan. I watch all the games in the NFL, but I'm always hyper-focused on Packer games.
23:38Christian Watson is good. Like, I've... No, there's no denying he's good.
23:41Yeah, you see it when he plays. I mean, like, really good.
23:44Yeah, I just don't see enough of him playing that problem.
23:48That's it. That's a problem. But... That's been the issue.
23:50If he's able to stay healthy, I think he has the potential to be pretty special.
23:55Jake, the grouping that he's going around, Mike Evans, DJ Moore, Christian Watson, I still kind of lean Moore and Evans over
24:01Watson if that's going to be the case in this grouping.
24:04Are you of that same mind? Like, the guys that have just been there, done that a little bit, even if there's
24:10more, you know, age on those two kind of players?
24:13Also because of other factors, yes. Mostly because Tucker Craft, if he's 100% by week one, like, you know, people...
24:19I made a point about my projection surprised me a little bit that Colson Loveland came out as projected the number one tight end.
24:26And I was even like, whoa, what am I projected?
24:29Like, but... And then somebody pushed back. It's like, well, if the hell's...
24:32And I hate saying that. That'd be a lot of fun.
24:35But I think it's right. I think it's going to be right.
24:39You know what happened. The last time I questioned my own projection was Lamar Jackson.
24:43Right, yeah. But like, literally, that's my take in the Black Book, too.
24:47Like, that's my guy. Colson Loveland? And I wouldn't hate...
24:49But anyway, my point being is that somebody pushed back and said a healthy Tucker Craft could do it.
24:55And I was like, you know what? You're not wrong.
24:58So anyway, I bring that up to say, like, Tucker Craft and Watson would be nice as if we saw, like, the
25:04Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelseys or situations like Laporta before Jameson Williams became a thing with Amon Ross St.
25:09Brown. It can happen. But what if... And Fitz is right, is that they've kind of done this cluster of wide receivers.
25:16What if Reed finally stays healthy? Which is a big if as well.
25:19And what if we get something out of Matthew Golden?
25:22And then just the target share is not there.
25:25I like Christian Watson. I have him at wide receiver 26.
25:28But he is just behind, as you said, just behind Mike Evans, just behind Burden, Ibuka, Garrett Wilson, DJ Moore.
25:33And it's not that, like, I can't see him finishing ahead of it.
25:37I can see Christian Watson finishing top 20. It's just there's slightly fewer questions with those players.
25:42Slightly. Agreed. Agreed. By the way, pick up the Black Book, everybody.
25:45Just went out on Amazon this week. I'm going to have to update it today.
25:49But it will be updated today for the AJ Brown news, which we kind of alluded to already.
25:55So it's going to be an easy fix. But go check it out.
25:58Support Erickson. Support D-Bro. Support Bogdan. Support me. Go check it out on Amazon.
26:02All right. Let's talk about another guy here for you, Jake Sealy.
26:06Last one in this group before we move on outside this range.
26:09Speaking of Bears, Luther Burden, who you kind of threw out there for a moment.
26:13So talk to us about Luther Burden and why this year is going to be the breakout for him.
26:19So it's funny that, like, a lot of people speaking of Packers compared him to Randall Cobb coming out of college.
26:25And I thought it was a little bit more Garrett Wilson.
26:28Just because also, like, he seems to run out of his shoes.
26:31And for people who have watched enough football, he's like, he kind of runs messy routes at times because he's like, he needs to get under control.
26:39And I think we started to see that development towards the end of the season.
26:43But what he is just so good at is finding space, yards after the catch.
26:47It's all that ability, all that elusiveness that, again, gets away from him sometimes.
26:51But I think if we're looking for Caleb Williams to take that next step, for Ben Johnson to improve this offense in
26:57his second year, and everything we hope this can be, I think that Luther Burden slash Colson Loveland could be the one-two punch.
27:04I will admittedly say this. As a risk, though, there is the off chance that Adunze gets back to his early season
27:10last year, and it's Adunze and Loveland, and all of a sudden Luther Burden's out the window.
27:15And the only reason I say that is because we're so in it.
27:19I say we. I've done a lot of fantasy pro shows over the past two months where Burden's been brought up time
27:25and time and time and time again. And I'm saying you're going to get that kind of like that group think push
27:31where that helium is just going to keep filling, keep filling, keep filling.
27:35And for good reason. Like Luther Burden can be a wide receiver one if Caleb Williams throws for 4,200 yards and 30, 32 touchdowns.
27:42And he is the number one wide receiver. But there is some risk here that enjoy the discount right now because he's going lower than he should.
27:49He is a top 20 wide receiver, potentially more.
27:52But if we get to August and all of a sudden he's going like fringe wide receiver one, we've brought up names before.
27:58Like Lad McConkie, if he basically sees the Lad McConkie bump from last year and all of a sudden it's like wide
28:04receiver 11, you're buying all the risk. And that's the only reason.
28:08I know I'm talking him up. But at the same time, I think we fall into those traps.
28:13We as the entire community because everybody wants the guy.
28:16He gets talked up by everybody. And then it kind of blows everything out of the water.
28:21And we lost all our fun potential. Yeah. And I do believe that's going to happen with him, which is why I
28:27keep going back to Colton Loveland because I'm just I'm pretty sure what his ADP is going to be is probably.
28:33I wonder if both of them, I wonder if Loveland falls into that, too.
28:37I don't think so, because typically the tight ends don't because it's just not as it's like sexy of a conversation.
28:43Everyone's like the wide receiver. And this is the guy.
28:46And I know this is the guy. It's going to be that.
28:49Were you on the mock with me with Worm?
28:51I forget. Yeah. So what? Yeah. Loveland only went like a half round after McBride and Bowers.
28:56I was surprised by that. So it depends on who we're in the room with.
29:01Yeah. It's not in that mock draft. Otherwise, that might happen as well.
29:04But I think to your point, Jake, when I look at this, it's yeah.
29:08If he stays in those early 20s, like, you know, 1920, 21, 22.
29:12OK. Like if he starts to push and crack that top 20, it gets a little dicey for me because then you're
29:18talking about taking over guys like Ted Rowe McMillan, guys like Devonta Smith, guys like Zay Flowers.
29:23And I just don't think I can get those.
29:25Those are all the perfect names to mention where he should not go.
29:29Well, that's why I'm the host of this show.
29:32All right. Let's talk about some other guys here in round seven through 10.
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33:51All right, gentlemen. Let's talk about some guys outside of that range here.
33:55Push a little further, 7 through 10. Jake, let's start with you.
33:58Give me a name that you're targeting that you think could really break out in 2026.
34:03Yeah, we've talked about him way too much, but I think this is the first opportunity that I've taken about two or
34:09three months to talk about Parker Washington again. I gave him some time, like everybody else wanted to talk about him too, and deservedly so.
34:16But we did a little while ago, I forget which show it was, and we were talking about ranking the Jaguars wide receivers.
34:22And I thought it was very curious, given the collective of the three and how they finished last year, that Parker Washington was still third.
34:29And I said at that point, like I still had him inside my 30s.
34:33He's the number one. He's well ahead of Jacoby Myers and Brian Thomas, and that pains me.
34:38And the reason it pains me, and I brought this up time again, is that look at how Trevor Lawrence – go
34:44back to the beginning of your very first question, the breakouts.
34:48Well, it also comes to what does the quarterback style do?
34:51And that's why we get a lot of the pushback in Jalen Hurts.
34:54But Trevor Lawrence likes his first reads. He likes his short to intermediate, get the ball out, make the decision, and get going.
35:01He moves to the second. The second, a lot of times, at the end of last year, was Jacoby Myers or even
35:07Brenton Strange, because the offense kept sending Brian Thomas down the field 20 yards every single play, which ends up being a
35:1350-50 ball in the NFL period, because you catch about half of those if you're really good.
35:18And then at that point, Lawrence has already made his decision throwing the ball.
35:22He very rarely looked to him, because his target share almost dropped in half.
35:26It would have dropped by 50%. So you look at all that, and the one that was benefiting because of the style
35:32of play, and it matches with the quarterback, he can go back, and it's not.
35:36Not one for one, but it'll point out what I'm trying to say here.
35:40Tyra Lockett. Tyra Lockett wasn't an elite wide receiver.
35:43Like, he wasn't a top 10 wide receiver in the NFL.
35:46Never was. But his style and how it fit Russell Wilson at the time is what made it work so well.
35:52And he had his eyes. He had Wilson's eyes.
35:55This is what Parker Washington has. He has Lawrence's eyes, and that style fits.
35:59And now you have them talking about pushing him outside for some more plays and opportunities downfield, which, again, isn't his – like, it's not his MO.
36:06It's not his best suited situation, but it's more opportunities.
36:09What Fitz was bringing up earlier about the wide receiver ones – or no, you did with Ladd McConkie.
36:14You both did. Is that staying on the field more when there's only one wide receiver?
36:19And Fitz made that point, and you echoed it.
36:21But that's the opportunity for Parker Washington that I think needs to be seen as that wide receiver three.
36:27I know they're talking about Brian Thomas being healthy and that they are going to continue to look for him downfield.
36:33But, again, I'd rather hear he's healthy, and we're going to use him over the middle of the field, unlike the end
36:39of last year when all three were together. So I am continuing to beat the drum for Parker Washington.
36:44I want Trevor Lawrence's eyes to look for Brian Thomas a little bit more, but I don't think that's going to happen.
36:51But I think what kind of freaks everybody out – and I love this when it happens.
36:55It happens every single year that I've been doing this.
36:58When people in the expert community don't have an answer for a certain question, they rank the two guys right next to each other.
37:05And you'll see it right now in the ECR.
37:08You've seen that so far. They're almost like back-to-back-to-back.
37:10And Parker Washington. And Brian Thomas not far behind.
37:13So these guys are right there, Fitzy. Now, the people will say, well, the veteran Jacoby Myers.
37:18Well, wait a minute. I want Fitzy to get in.
37:20The veteran – we'll come back to you. The veteran Jacoby Myers.
37:24We am coming. He did show up there last year.
37:27But Parker Washington still had a great – he had a couple hundred-yard games towards the end there too.
37:32So are you somebody that is – when you see these guys on the board, do you make a selection of Washington or Myers?
37:39Or do you just say, nope, I'm going to go and avoid this situation altogether, Fitzy?
37:43I'm going to latch on to one. And in this case, the one thing I'm going to be really interested in watching
37:49in the preseason is how – when Trevor Lawrence is on the field, who is playing the most slot snaps for the Jaguars?
37:56Because it seems like Trevor Lawrence does favor, as Jake was talking about, with the way Trevor Lawrence likes to play football.
38:02He seems to prefer his slot guy and his tight end too, more than his outside receiver.
38:07So that's key. But, man, like Parker Washington – what I was saying about the drumbeat before, like we're already hearing the
38:13drumbeat of Parker Washington looking fantastic in OTAs. And I know it's – you know, you're playing in shorts and no pads,
38:19but like this guy clearly knows how to play football.
38:22And we saw him really pop at the end of last season.
38:2626 catches in his last four games, including the Jaguars' playoff loss to the Bills.
38:30Over 100 yards in three of those four games.
38:33A touchdown catch in three of those four games.
38:35Double-digit targets in three of those four games. Like we saw a mini breakout late last year, and I feel like we shouldn't be underreacting to that maybe.
38:43And there might be people kicking themselves this year if Parker Washington starts to go off and he winds up being a mid-round pick.
38:50And people are saying, like, why didn't I believe what I saw late last year?
38:54Because he was in the pre-breakout stage. Yeah. The guy, Jake.
38:57Liam Cohen, you were saying? I thought – I wanted to say it before Fitz did.
39:02I thought I saw it on the tip of his tongue, the fact that Liam Cohen loves to use the slot.
39:08That's kind of what Fitz was alluding to there.
39:10He loves to use that slot option, and that's part of what benefited Chris Godwin for a time there.
39:16But all that being said, I agree with Fitz.
39:18This is another drumbeat to watch out for. I am at 34.
39:21That's among the highest of anybody. And I want – I want to push him higher because the ceiling is higher.
39:27But I can't put him in front of Jalen Waddell and Adunze and the three rookies, which Fitz is about to talk about.
39:34No, that's silly. Well, no. And that's the thing.
39:36It's like – that's why I'm going to bring up that caution.
39:40But he – like, 34 is a nice spot because you're well above everybody else by average.
39:45You're probably going to get him most of your drafts.
39:48But you're still leaving room for him to outperform that position.
39:51You put him up into the 20s with like an Al Pierce and an Adams and Evans and stuff like that.
39:57And now we go back to the other conversation.
39:59You lost all the potential upside. And by the way, speaking of slot-friendly coaches, Jake, I mean when you were talking about Luther Burden.
40:06Oh, by the way, who was in charge – who was presiding over the ascent of Amon Ross, 8 Brown in Detroit?
40:12Oh, the guy who's now coaching Luther Burden. Yeah, that is true.
40:16All right, Fitzy, speaking of rookies, right, that Jake was alluding to.
40:19Jordan Tyson of the New Orleans Saints. I'm Mr.
40:21Makai Lemon, and I'd love to hear more about why you're Mr.
40:25Jordan Tyson this year. Yeah, am I cheating by having a rookie in here, Joe?
40:29I just – Well, no. I thought about it too.
40:32Well, look, but you can break out your rookie season, right?
40:35I mean you can – some people would argue Ladd McConkie's rookie season was a breakout, right?
40:40Jalen Waddell' rookie season was a breakout. You know, it just happens sometimes.
40:44But based upon where guys are going right now, at least in terms of the rounds in the ECR, it fits the bill.
40:50So I won't tell on you. I won't tell our boss that, you know, you're trying to bend the rules a little
40:56bit just to talk about Jordan Tyson some more.
40:59I'll come for the word, Fitz. How about that?
41:01I don't think you can break out a rookie, but I think you can overperform expectations.
41:06That's good. There you go. It's just – that's not SEO friendly though.
41:10Yeah. I just – I like – Yeah, it's a little wordy.
41:13I like Tyson more than a lot of the other wide receivers in this ECR cohorts in round seven, round 10.
41:19And it's interesting that the NFL sort of managed to conceal its enthusiasm for Jordan Tyson for a lot of the pre-draft process.
41:25We knew he was going to be a first rounder, but it was only a couple of weeks before the actual draft
41:32that we started hearing there was no way Jordan Tyson was getting out of the top 10.
41:36And sure enough, the Saints took him at number eight.
41:39I think New Orleans looks like a pretty good landing spot.
41:42It's going to be Tyson and Chris Olave as the primary wide receivers with Devon Vele, the third wide out.
41:48And look, I'm sorry for a Devon Vele truther, but this guy's going to turn 29 before the end of the year.
41:54There are no greater things on the horizon for Devon Vele.
41:57So Juwan Johnson, capable tight end, but Olave and Tyson are both going to see a lot of targets this year.
42:03And we know that Olave has that worrisome history of concussions.
42:06Tyson, of course, comes with injury concerns of his own.
42:09He had that major knee injury back in 2022.
42:12He's had some other problems in college. But look, I mean, he had this draft buzz.
42:16He was a big time producer in college when he was on the field.
42:20He's a good route runner. He makes tough catches.
42:23Hines Ward taught him how to block in college.
42:25So he's good at that too. Fairly big at 6'2".
42:28The tape shows he's really athletic. He's got a brother who's a lottery pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
42:33Tyler Shuck is a pretty aggressive downfield thrower. I think he averaged like 8.3 intended air yards per attempt last season, which
42:40one of the higher figures among starters. From a fantasy perspective, I think Shuck's going to be a good provider for his wide receivers.
42:46And I think Tyson has a chance to pop right away.
42:49You know, it's funny. Everybody always throws the, you know, injury moniker on Tyson.
42:53But it was a collarbone injury too that he re-injured, if memory serves, too.
42:57So, you know, sometimes that's just like a freak thing where somebody didn't heal right or whatever that might be.
43:03So, you know, football's a rough game. Guys are going to get hurt.
43:07So, I mean, when you have two of the same collarbone injury, I think that's one of those kind of weird fluky thing.
43:13I think maybe he takes a little bit too much of a ding for that.
43:17Now, Tyson, I'm all in on. I'm with you on that one.
43:21The other guy that you were talking about, Fitzy, is a guy that I think the stock is at rock bottom right now.
43:27Because it's been a very difficult ride for him.
43:30Certainly injuries have played a big part for Ricky Pearsall.
43:33Certainly some other extenuating circumstances. Certainly his rookie season also played a big part in his development.
43:38But now we're sitting here in a spot where the 49ers desperately need a wide receiver help.
43:42They went out and got Mike Evans. Is there enough to go around eventually when Cato returns and CMC is him and
43:49Mike Evans is doing Mike Evans things where Ricky Pearsall can get enough in this offense?
43:53Or is this maybe a shout out potentially where you're thinking, hey, there's a lot of these pieces that are really old.
43:59And there's another opportunity where Ricky Pearsall might be able to get more playing time based on the ability of some of these other guys and their health.
44:07There could be. I mean, Mike Evans, yes, he does sort of project to be the 49ers lead receiver.
44:13But he turns 33 in August and he's missed time with injuries each of the last two years.
44:18And you've got George Kittle coming back from an Achilles tear that happened in January.
44:22So there could be some target opportunity for Pearsall.
44:25And I like what you were just saying. Like Jordan Tyson, is he injury prone?
44:29Like that seems unfair. And I think that's an unfair tag for a lot of these guys, especially Pearsall, who I see already starting to get that tag.
44:37The dude got shot in his late August of his rookie year.
44:40So he missed the early part of the season.
44:43I don't think being shot really qualifies you as injury prone.
44:46And then last year he had a PCL injury in week four, didn't come back till week 11.
44:51And then clearly wasn't himself upon his return. But like we've already seen little flashes from Pearsall.
44:56Late in his rookie year, 49ers last two regular season games, 14 catches for 210 yards and two touchdowns in those two late season games.
45:03Then last year at the very end of the regular season, six catches for 96 yards in his second to last regular season game.
45:10Five for 85 in his last regular season game.
45:12So this guy's a former first round pick with 4'4 speed and a 42 inch vertical jump.
45:17So athletic. There's draft capital here. I don't want to hear this injury prone stuff with the guy because really like, okay, he hurt his knee last year.
45:25Guys in the NFL hurt their knees and there were no torn ligaments involved in this case.
45:30So, yeah, with the situation with an older lead receiver and a, you know, very good pass catcher tight end, but one who's coming off a major injury.
45:38I do think there's going to be enhanced opportunity for Pearsall this year.
45:41I know Deshaun Stribbling is a wild card. First pick of the second round, but he's getting some he's getting some helium lately.
45:48The people who don't next year. It's the crowd that does not like Pearsall anymore.
45:52They're starting to talk about Stribbling. That's what's happening.
45:55Yeah. I got a question for you. I'm putting my bet on Pearsall over Stribbling for 20.
45:59That's fair. Sealy. Jordan Tyson, who hasn't played down the NFL yet at 35 wide receiver, 35 or Ricky Pearsall has been
46:06in the league a couple of years, but has had some, you know, difficult strides here at 44 wide receiver off the board.
46:12Who's the better return on investment in your opinion?
46:15Per those numbers, barely Pearsall, but that's because I have Lemon 31, Tyson 32, and then I have Pearsall at 38.
46:21So 30, he has the bigger gap, but I do like both of them.
46:25And I would actually take the rookie. I take all three rookies over Pearsall only because something we've been talking about is opportunity share.
46:31Like you still have, if George Kittle is ready for week one, you still, they brought in Mike Evans.
46:37I'm not even worried about Stribbling. I made the joke kind of under my breath while you guys were saying.
46:42You know, 2027, I think he's developmental, but you still have Christian McCaffrey out of the backfield.
46:47Now, if Christian McCaffrey gets hurt or George Kittle is not 100%, that changes everything.
46:51But we have to take those bets as of today.
46:54And there's just fewer opportunities for lost targets with those other options.
46:58They're all the number twos where Pearsall should be the number two and even neck and neck potentially on a target share
47:04basis with Mike Evans, depending on a lot of issues.
47:07That's the problem. Now, Jake, the other guy in this clump that we're going to talk about that's your guy is a
47:13player that I really liked in last year's draft process.
47:16But again, just playing time was a little sporadic last time for him and last year and opportunities really didn't come all that much.
47:23But there's also a little bit about CJ Stroud not playing so well.
47:26So Jaden Higgins is year two. I think this is like that perfect scenario where if you like a player, when you
47:32go through that whole draft process stuff and the evaluation, all the tape you watch and all those things, and it doesn't
47:39hit year one, you don't just throw in the towel.
47:42I'm not saying he's JSN, but JSN is like the uber example of like, hey, don't throw in the towel too early
47:48on a guy, even if year one or even year two is not what you want it to be.
47:53Because eventually things could really blow up at one point.
47:56So talk to me about Jaden Higgins and what has to work out for him to really become a breakout guy this season.
48:02Not to have the downside. The two comparisons I gave for the ceiling on the floor was Marvin Jones and the floor was Dante Moncrief.
48:10As of year one, he's headed the Dante Moncrief route.
48:12Oh, don't do this. Don't Dante Moncrief me. Not this late in the show.
48:16How dare you? No, but the comparisons are true.
48:19I know that my coworker over at The Athletic, probably the one people know more than me is Dane Brugler.
48:25He compared him to Nico Collins, and I thought that was super lofty.
48:28I thought that was like, wow. I mean, you know more than I do.
48:32He wasn't the only one. I know. A lot of smart people too, like Dane called him.
48:37He called him like Nico Collins. Here's what I'll say.
48:40What's the similarities between all of them? None of them are top-notch separators.
48:44They're 50-50. They win the ball. They box out.
48:46They use their size. They use their athleticism to get away from it.
48:50Like, go-to contested options. And that's why I said Marvin Jones.
48:53It's because I was saying, you know what? 1,100 yards, seven touchdowns.
48:56Wide receiver three, potentially a wide receiver two in the right season.
49:00Again, Nico Collins. Like, he's not the best separator, but he's pretty good.
49:03And I think that's the ceiling. I don't know if he ever gets there, but here's all the biggest thing.
49:09Like, whatever Dane thinks, whatever you think, whatever anybody out there thinks, there's one person that I would take his opinion over all of ours, including Dane.
49:17And I love Dane. Steve Smith. Steve Smith said Jaden Higgins is a dog.
49:21He's going to have a huge year, too. And I love Jaden Higgins.
49:24I think he loves him more than I do.
49:27So if you don't like any of our opinions, just listen to Steve Smith, because I think he knows how to play the wide receiver position.
49:34But he brought up a lot of things worth talking about, is that he knows how to play to his style.
49:40It's not going to be the prettiest style, but that's why I called him a dog, because it's going to be that old-school basketball style, basically.
49:47Yeah, I know. Fighting for the ball, yeah. And I think he's the number two on this team.
49:53Tank Dell, huge question mark. Jalen Noel basically takes the tank Dell role, but plays a lot more out of the slot.
49:59And I just think that if Higgins is out there as the consistent two, you can see him putting up top 30 numbers this year.
50:06Could. Yeah. Look, Steve Smith certainly knows what he's talking about.
50:09Questionable life decisions at times for Steve Smith. You could also say that.
50:13But, you know, it's funny to me, because you would think some of these guys who played the game at such a
50:19high level will always come out and have good evaluations.
50:22I remember Danian Tomlinson listening to him talk about how Trey Benson was the best running back in the draft, in his opinion.
50:28And I was like, I don't understand that, but I'm hearing it.
50:32I'm listening to it. I'm taking it in. So take some of it with a grain of salt, just because a guy
50:38is a Hall of Fame player doesn't mean a Hall of Fame evaluator.
50:42I would trust the Dane Bruglers of the world when it comes to evaluations, or the Todd McShays, or some of those
50:48guys like that, that do this in and out all day long.
50:51But you have him. I don't know. I'm not discounting it.
50:54I'm just saying. I was going to say, keep in mind.
50:57I think wide receivers actually do a better of evaluating themselves than running backs do.
51:02Like, I actually think they're more on point. I don't know why.
51:05Maybe. Maybe. That's the case. All right. This is what y'all been waiting for, the guys in the late rounds.
51:11Before we get to all those late round guys, don't forget, you've got to use this knowledge somehow.
51:16So the best ball stream is back. I saw some people asking, when's it coming back?
51:20When's it coming back? Well, it's back. It's on our Twitch, twitch.tv slash fantasy pros.
51:25That's the place to be. Monday, June 8th, 2 p.m.
51:27Eastern. So join us there. Go follow us on the Twitch.
51:31Again, twitch.tv slash fantasy pros. Andrew Erickson, Tom Stracken are back again, breaking down their picks.
51:35They do the live best ball stuff. So you can go draft with them.
51:39You can go hang out there. Hear why they like certain players over others.
51:43Why they're making certain picks. It was a very popular show last year.
51:47So go check it out. Again, on our Twitch.
51:49Go follow us there. And subscribe to their Amazon Prime.
51:52Get rid of the nasty commercials. If you like baseball, you can watch our baseball show on there.
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52:00Monday, June 8th, 2 p.m. Eastern. Clear your work calendars.
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52:06Go check out Erickson and Tom talking best ball on those best ball streets.
52:10All right. Guys outside the round 11-ish range here, half PPR.
52:14Jake, let's start with you. Give me a name that you think is worth a dart throw that could have some big
52:20upside, that could be a breakout player. I thought you were going to Fitz for it.
52:24You just let me talk so much. But Fitz, you sit in the darkness a little bit longer.
52:29Well, I feel like if I don't air you out every so often, it's just a bottle up.
52:34Yeah, then it just gets worse. So I'm going to go back to the Buccaneers.
52:39And I brought up the name earlier. And I think Jalen McMillan is absolutely worth a late round throw.
52:44And I bring this up also. Well, the thing is, when I said that Chris Godwin was a nice value, everybody was pronouncing him dead.
52:51Apparently, Chris Godwin is dead. He died this offseason.
52:54I don't know what happened, but he's dead. So I was just...
52:57It's the accumulation of the frustration of injuries with a player that everybody likes that is talented and productive, but he's not
53:03giving you what you are looking for most years because it ends poorly.
53:07And that's just frustrating. I think after a while, people get frustrated.
53:10So that's what I'll say with Jalen McMillan. So not only do we see him flash as a rookie, and let's also
53:17remember about him, he got underdrafted in the NFL and in fantasy because of the injuries in college.
53:22He was the best wide receiver on that team in that final year at times.
53:26And everybody forgot because of, obviously, a dunes and everything else.
53:29And again, the injuries is why I missed time.
53:32And McMillan, once he was healthy, flashed his rookie season.
53:34When he was healthy, and that's the biggest issue, when he was healthy.
53:38When he was healthy last year, let's also not forget, he led the team that one week late in the season when
53:44everybody was out there and everything was fine. And he still led the team in targets and opportunities.
53:49And there is a connection with Baker Mayfield. And I'm not saying he is the one.
53:54But if Godwin is, you know, I was making the joke.
53:57But if Godwin's past his prime and just done being productive, and he's kind of like, we'll call washed for what we know Godwin is.
54:04And he falls to the third role. The Ibuka thing that I brought up even doesn't need to be.
54:10Ibuka could actually be a breakout. Ibuka could be a wide receiver one.
54:13And if McMillan takes over the number two role, and in this new offense, Zach Jackson, Baker Mayfield bounces back.
54:19Zach, there's going to be production besides Ibuka. And if he gets past Godwin, and Godwin's also relegated to only being on
54:25the field in three wide and stuff like that.
54:28Let's not forget that we were excited about McMillan in his rookie season.
54:31And let's not forget that we all saw him have one of the biggest games for this entire team at the end of last year.
54:38There is still potential here. He's just worth what we're talking about rounds 11 plus take the flyer on McMillan.
54:44Yeah. And by the way, the drum beats out of OTAs again with Jalen Millen pretty strong too.
54:49Like there was a lot of good buzz on him.
54:52And I think we need to hide all the drums.
54:55Like do they just leave them alone? So like we can keep getting those values.
54:59Well, no, this is why you subscribe to the channel because.
55:02No, no, no. I was talking about it in the OTAs.
55:05Yeah. Well, you want to hide some of those drums because some of them are ridiculous because everyone's in shorts.
55:11But Fitzy, you're not wrong. Like Jalen McMillen's player, I know in his rookie year that I had some shares.
55:17And then if we recall, right, he got in there and he got some play.
55:21And then, you know, he got hurt. And I was like, okay, well, we have to wait it out.
55:26And then they drafted Ibuka. So I was like, okay, so stocked down last year.
55:31But to Jake's point, there's a lot worse dart throws you could throw at the end of a draft than Jalen McMillen.
55:37I like him more. And if there are injuries ahead of him, you know he can perform if he's called upon.
55:43And Jake was spot on about like McMillen's production sort of matched Roma Doonze's before McMillen got hurt in Washington.
55:48And it just sort of underscores, Joe, that your Patriots suck at drafting wide receivers because they took Jalen Poll.
55:54Why do you think we just traded for A.J.
55:57Brown? We can't. All the draft picks for A.J.
55:59Brown, please. Yes. For the love of God. No more Jalen Polk selections.
56:03No more Nakiel Harrys. No more. Kayshawn Booty. Kayshawn Booty.
56:06Well, at least I like Booty. He has a ball of personality.
56:09I was going to say. No Booty slander here.
56:12He might be good. All right. That's right. Fitz is a Booty guy.
56:15I'll move on. Let's go, Fitzy. Let's talk to you about that.
56:19Who's on your list here? These late round guys that you're interested in.
56:22Xavier Worthy. Excuse me. Xavier Worthy. Already got half a season of breakout from him in his rookie year in 2024.
56:28Got off to a slow start that year. But then Rasheed Rice, early knee injury that ended his season.
56:34And Worthy started to come on over a 10-game stretch from week 11 of 2024 through the Super Bowl.
56:39And I'm leaving out the regular season finale where Worthy played one snap and the Chiefs were resting starters.
56:44But over that 10-game stretch, Worthy averaged 5.8 catches and 67.9 receiving yards a game with six touchdowns.
56:49So that's producing at an 1150-yard pace, 10-touchdown pace.
56:52Last year in the season opener against the Chargers, he collides with Travis Kelsey and dislocates his shoulder in that little unfortunate bit of friendly fire.
56:59So Worthy only missed a couple of games, but it's possible he was not 100% for much of last season.
57:05Chiefs haven't made any major additions at wide receiver in the offseason.
57:08They've got Rasheed Rice, who draws a lot of targets, but Rice has had injury issues and off-the-field issues.
57:14Travis Kelsey is back for another season, but the efficiency stats suggest that he is just not the same guy anymore.
57:20Worthy's ECR kind of hints that people have turned their backs on him.
57:23I don't think we should be dismissing a guy who looked like a star in the making at the end of his
57:30rookie season just like 17 or 18 months ago.
57:32Yeah, look, you make a good case there. I know he's a very exciting player.
57:36The speed's very exciting. But it's time for him to step up.
57:40And I think that Andy Reid has got to do some soul searching here too, because I think last year was a
57:46reminder of you're not going to win every single game by the skin of your teeth like you did two years ago
57:52in that Super Bowl run where they ended up losing, getting their doors blown off of the Super Bowl.
57:58Everything just broke their way. You got to start taking some more chances.
58:01You got to start opening things up a little bit.
58:04And I think that they got a little conservative and a little just boring last year, to be honest.
58:10And then the Mahomes injury, everything fell apart there.
58:12Jake, let's go back to you for another name too.
58:15So give me a deep wide receiver name that could be a breakout this year in 2026.
58:20Well, first I was fact checking Fitz on this one to see.
58:23Like it is, it's X-Avier worthy. Like it's not Xavier.
58:26Hey, he knew it. I don't know. Sometimes we mispronounce these players just because, you know, you don't hear them that often and everybody makes the same assumption.
58:34So I like that. Now I can start calling by the right name.
58:38Speaking of which, this player's last name is not Beck, Jack Besch.
58:41And a second round pick from last year that seemingly everybody forgot because he disappointed because this is what happens.
58:47Like it's the perception. And everybody was like, oh, there's nobody for the Raiders to throw to.
58:51Do Jack Besch is a very talented wide receiver.
58:54Kind of like a lot of comparisons were made to Adam Thielen.
58:57But I think there's like some KJ Osborne to his game, but like the good days of KJ Osborne.
59:03And that's the thing is like we were looking for this opportunity.
59:06Oh, they spent a second rounder. They have nobody besides Brock Bowers.
59:10He's going to step in immediately and be the guy.
59:12And it was basically a poor season all around for all the wide receivers, but especially for Besch.
59:17He didn't really do much as a rookie. There was slim flashes, but really nothing there.
59:22And I'm not saying that it's not going to potentially be Jalen Naylor because that's who they went and got free agency.
59:28But we do know Jalen Naylor. Like he's not the most amazing wide receiver or any great shakes himself.
59:34He's an okay wide receiver. KJ Osborne type of wide receiver.
59:37Like if there's the true guy that can get on this team and say, hey, I'm going to break out with Mendoza
59:43when it's his time and what, three, four games into the season.
59:46And that kind of actually matches his style a little bit.
59:49I think Besch is the guy that could see the biggest value uptick.
59:53I do think there's still hope for Thornton and all the opportunities downfield with that.
59:57But I think the one who could be the one for Mendoza is Besch.
60:01And he only cost you nothing this year because everybody was so disappointed from last year.
60:06If he was going in the eighth, ninth round, I'd be like, all right, cool your horses.
60:11It's still Brock Bowers and potentially a collection after that.
60:14Potentially nobody breaks out and clears their way of the path or the rest.
60:17But taking him in the double digit rounds, and it's not even 11-12, it's at the end of drafts because so many
60:24people are pissed off at what happened last year.
60:26I think that Besch absolutely take a chance that he's the guy that ends up leading the wide receivers for the Raiders.
60:32You know what I like most about this too?
60:35It's not always a new quarterback coming in, but it's also obviously a more capable quarterback theoretically too than anything that was around last year.
60:42But also just a different offensive mind and Kubiak coming in to say, okay, let me take a look at this landscape
60:48and the talent we have and put a better evaluation process on it.
60:52And he's so cheap, it doesn't matter. That's the thing I like about Besch.
60:56All right. Fitzy, give me one more name here.
60:59Let's close things out here with a guy that could break out this season in 2026 at the wide receiver position.
61:04Matthew Golden. And lest I be accused of being a Packers homer for mentioning two Packers on this show.
61:10I did. I can feel the comments flowing through you.
61:13I can feel y'all hatred rising. I know. But listen, I will admit, like, I think Christian Watson is really good.
61:19I don't know if Matthew Golden is good. I have no idea if he's even a little bit good.
61:24That's what's so surprising is last year I was the guy going, I really like Matthew Golden, man.
61:29I love what he did in Texas. And you're like, I hate him, Joe.
61:33I just hated that. I didn't like the pick for the Packers, and I still think it was a dubious first round pick.
61:40And then in the rookie season for Matthew Golden, wasn't able to earn major snaps, only had a 53% snap share, wasn't
61:46able to earn many targets, just 44 in 14 games.
61:49So not very encouraging. And yet, the Packers have been talking about Golden playing a bigger role this year, and they kind
61:55of need him to now that Romeo Dobbs and Dontavian Wicks are gone.
61:59The Packers didn't sign or draft any significant wideouts in the offseason.
62:02Golden was a first round pick. He's tied to a good quarterback in Jordan Love, and he's going to have increased target opportunities.
62:08So even though it's unclear whether Golden is actually good, this is a breakout friendly environment for him with a greater opportunity
62:15for a player in whom the franchise has invested quite a bit.
62:18Yeah, look, Jordan Love's going to have to throw the ball more because I find it very difficult to believe that Josh
62:24Jacobs is just going to walk in there and play a full season.
62:28There's not going to be any kind of issues and things surrounding that.
62:32But it's going to be a long offseason still.
62:34We've got plenty of time. It's less than 100 days, though, till kickoff.
62:38So the grabbing session starts now here. Can I ask Fitz one question?
62:42Because I'm curious about the Golden thing. One minute.
62:44Go ahead. Look, I'm very curious. If you knew everybody, Jaden Reed, Tucker Craft, Watson, everybody stayed healthy for the entire season.
62:50Would you still have hope for Golden? And that's somebody that I actually think Golden has talent.
62:55Like, I think his peak is Jeremy Macklin. But I don't think we saw any of that last year.
63:00But I just wanted to ask that because I think it's kind of like what's left at that point.
63:06That's why I'm curious. I'm not trying to catch Fitz.
63:09Yeah, yeah. It's a legitimate question. No, if everyone is healthy, I mean, I think he'd be the best ball guy who
63:15spikes for a couple of weeks, but probably does not put up great season long numbers.
63:19Yeah. Well, he's an interesting flex guy. I think at the very least, you know, in deeper leagues, you're looking for points.
63:26You're looking for guys who can have that big play, you know, and if Kurt Watson gets hurt again, Golden is a
63:32guy that can maybe give you some of those moments too.
63:35Or Kraft. Or Reed. Well, Kraft is giving you weekly production.
63:38That's the thing about Kraft. Oh, I meant hurt again.
63:41I mean, his isn't the same issue. Don't end the show that way, Jake.
63:45You're supposed to be positive. So look, a lot of these guys.
63:48Be a goldfish. What are we talking about? Be a goldfish.
63:51Just forget it. Everything's going to be fine. Forget the injuries.
63:55Good advice from Ted Lasso and from Jake Seeley.
63:57Who was your favorite breakout in 2026? Drop your comments below right here on the YouTube channel.
64:02Subscribe to the YouTube channel, Fantasy Pros. And don't forget, check out our new channel too, Tailgate NFL.
64:07No fillers. No nonsense. Just football. Just fun with your friends right here from Fantasy Pros.
64:12Hanging out, talking ball. That'll do it for us.
64:14But the story of the game goes on. For Jake Seeley and Pat Fitzmaurice, I'm Joey P.
64:19We will see you next time, kids. Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
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64:37It's a record sold. Awards sold out tours. You think the Jonas Brothers are satisfied?
64:41Nope. It's podcast time. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.
64:47Hey Jonas is available now and their first guest is a big one, Paul Rudd.
64:51You know, Steve Carell is a great singer. Can you tell you not to audition for The Office or something?
64:57I told him. Whoa. We were filming Anchorman. Clearly, I was the idiot.
65:00Thank God he didn't listen to me, right? Listen to Hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
65:07What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano.
65:10It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs.
65:14We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season.
65:17And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments.
65:20If we didn't talk ever again, I was kind of.
65:23You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.
65:25I'm Javier El Chicharito Hernandez. Life is hard. Laugh harder.
65:28Listen to Laugh But Not Least with MC Jin starting on June 9th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
65:35This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.
