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The Perfect 2026 Fantasy Football Draft | The Best Target in Every Round (Ep. 2139)

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

59 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 19, 2026
Published
Wed, August 19, 2026
28
Player insights
26
Players mentioned
Topics
Blake CorumZay FlowersAmon-Ra St. BrownBo NixCaleb WilliamsChris GodwinD'Andre SwiftDallas GoedertDenzel BostonEmeka EgbukaJalen CokerJameson WilliamsJayden HigginsJaylen Waddle
Player analysis

Player insights

28

Amon-Ra St. Brown

PositiveProjection9:43

Tara identifies St. Brown as a stable, high-floor anchor for a mid-first-round pick. He has finished as a top-10 wide receiver in three consecutive seasons, consistently providing 100+ receptions, 140+ targets, and double-digit touchdowns. The Lions' schedule is highly favorable, featuring many dome games and a defense with secondary injuries that could lead to high-scoring shootouts.

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Blake Corum

PositiveSleeper41:40

Blake Corum is a high-upside depth piece who currently serves as the 1B to Kyron Williams' 1A, with a projected 40-45% rushing load. If he earns more usage or replaces Williams, he could become a top-10 back in a high-scoring Rams offense.

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PositiveSleeper68:20

Blake Corum is a valuable depth piece with significant upside. If he maintains his 40-45% rushing load as the 1B to Kyron Williams, he is a useful flex option, with potential for a larger role if Williams were to miss time.

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Bo Nix

PositiveValue43:53

Pat Fitzmaurice views Bo Nix as a solid borderline QB1/QB2 value in the ninth round. Despite a low 6.4 yards per attempt last year, Nix benefits from a high-volume passing offense featuring Jalen Waddle, Courtland Sutton, and Pat Bryant, plus his own rushing floor of 350+ yards and 9 TDs over two seasons.

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Caleb Williams

PositiveProjection38:50

Caleb Williams is progressing as a passer in the Ben Johnson offense. While he is a mobile quarterback, he is not a prominent goal-line runner, which keeps goal-line opportunities prioritized for the running backs.

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Chris Godwin

PositiveUsage65:46

Chris Godwin is a stable PPR wide receiver target in the eighth round. Playing primarily out of the slot in the Bucs' offense, he is projected for 120+ targets and 900-1,000 yards, providing a safe baseline for fantasy rosters.

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D'Andre Swift

PositiveValue38:22

D'Andre Swift is a strong RB2 target with top-10 upside in a deceptively run-heavy Bears offense. Despite Kyle Monungai's presence, Swift is the 1A back; he finished as RB16 last year in half-PPR with limited volume and is expected to benefit from positive touchdown regression and a more comfortable Caleb Williams.

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Dallas Goedert

PositiveValue47:25

Both analysts identify Dallas Goedert as a top late-round tight end target. He is coming off a career year with 11 touchdowns and led all tight ends in red-zone targets inside the five-yard line last season. His consistent volume (4+ catches per game for four years) makes him a reliable starter.

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Denzel Boston

PositiveSleeper52:57

Tara Roberts recommends Denzel Boston as a late-round target. He is expected to remain on the field in two-receiver sets, offering high upside for a rookie in the later rounds.

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Emeka Egbuka

PositiveProjection18:35

Pat Fitzmaurice targets Egbuka in the third round, citing his early-season dominance last year when he was the WR3 through the first five weeks. Egbuka is viewed as the clear number one receiver in his offense, and Fitzmaurice is not concerned about his lingering toe injury unless it is diagnosed as turf toe.

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Jalen Coker

PositiveUsage52:12

Tara Roberts identifies Jalen Coker as the clear second look in his offense following the Chris Brazel injury. Coker is viewed as a strong PPR volume play who could push for significant reception totals.

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Jameson Williams

PositiveUsage58:40

Jameson Williams saw increased production after Dan Campbell took over play-calling duties, moving away from a pure deep-threat role to more high-percentage targets like crossers and screens. He finished with over 1,100 yards and is expected to be a key part of a high-powered Lions offense.

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Jayden Higgins

PositiveBreakout49:27

Pat Fitzmaurice highlights Jaden Higgins as a breakout candidate, citing positive reviews from the coaching staff and Nico Collins, who believes Higgins has the potential to become a face of the NFL.

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Jaylen Waddle

PositiveRole42:31

Jalen Waddle is expected to be the focal point of Sean Payton's passing game in Denver. Despite different skill sets, Waddle is compared to Michael Thomas's high-volume role in Payton's previous offenses, and his career efficiency (9.3 yards per target) supports his potential as a featured receiver.

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Jonah Coleman

PositiveSleeper50:18

Both analysts view Jonah Coleman as a high-upside late-round pick. Given J.K. Dobbins' injury history and the inefficiency of other Denver backs, Coleman is expected to step into a significant role, potentially contributing as a pass-catcher and blocker in a Sean Payton offense.

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Jonathon Brooks

PositiveValue61:43

Jonathan Brooks is expected to take over as the lead back for the Panthers. Despite previous injury concerns, he is reportedly having a good camp and is viewed as a high-upside pick in the seventh round.

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Kenneth Walker III

PositiveRole16:16

Pat Fitzmaurice is highly optimistic about Kenneth Walker's move to the Chiefs, where he expects Andy Reid to utilize him as a workhorse. Walker proved he could handle a heavy workload during the playoffs, averaging nearly 25 touches per game. Fitzmaurice expects him to be heavily involved in the screen game and ranks him ahead of other second-round running backs like Hampton and Barkley.

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Kyle Monangai

NegativeUsage38:26

Kyle Monungai is expected to remain a factor in the Bears' backfield alongside D'Andre Swift once healthy, though his current injury makes Swift an even more attractive pick.

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Malik Willis

PositiveUsage49:46

Pat Fitzmaurice drafts Malik Willis as a backup quarterback, noting his rushing floor (8.5 fantasy points per game in six starts) and his development as a passer under Matt LaFleur.

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Mark Andrews

PositiveUsage34:16

Mark Andrews has seen a continued decline in usage and is no longer a volume-heavy player. He is now primarily utilized as a red-zone target rather than a primary receiver in the Ravens' offense.

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Omarion Hampton

PositiveRole13:31

Tara views Hampton as the clear RB1 in the Dolphins' offense, dismissing concerns about a three-man committee. Despite an injury-hampered rookie season, Hampton showed consistency by recording at least 12 carries in every game he played after taking over the starting role. He is expected to see significant goal-line work and receiving opportunities in a more effective offensive scheme.

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Parker Washington

PositiveBreakout55:24

Parker Washington is a rising star in the Jaguars' offense, particularly in the slot. He finished as WR16 from weeks nine through the end of the season and is favored by Trevor Lawrence, especially in matchups where outside receivers are locked down.

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Rashod Bateman

PositiveBust35:32

The source expresses skepticism regarding Rashod Bateman, stating they do not believe in a breakout season for him in his fifth or sixth year.

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Terry McLaurin

PositiveProjection51:56

Terry McLaurin is a strong WR1 candidate with 1,000-yard potential. Last year's struggles were attributed to contract negotiations and quarterback injuries, but with a healthy Jayden Daniels, McLaurin is expected to return to high-level production.

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Trevor Lawrence

PositiveProjection63:45

Trevor Lawrence is a strong quarterback target who finished as the overall QB1 from week five through the end of the 2024 season. He offers rushing upside and benefits from a deep receiving corps in the Liam Cohen offense.

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Wan'Dale Robinson

PositiveUsage48:49

Pat Fitzmaurice targets Wandale Robinson in the 11th round for his reliable PPR production. He expects Robinson to potentially out-target Carnell Tate, noting his familiarity with head coach Brian Daboll's system.

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Zay Flowers

PositiveRole20:25

Tara selects Zay Flowers in the third round, highlighting his role as the unquestioned first look in the Ravens' passing attack. Flowers has shown consistent target volume (116 and 118 targets over the last two seasons) and is poised for a higher ceiling as Mark Andrews' role continues to decline.

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PositiveUsage33:59

Zay Flowers is the clear, unquestioned first look in the Ravens offense, having secured 116 and 118 targets over the last two seasons. With Mark Andrews declining and no longer a high-volume option, Flowers is positioned for a high ceiling, especially with a healthy Lamar Jackson and a new offensive coordinator in Declan Doyle.

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Full transcript

Episode Transcript

704
0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. It's not a safe alternative to cigarettes.
0:04It's a little bit heavy in the streets here.
0:07Building the perfect team, there's obviously no such thing until there is.
0:11We actually had a perfect team contest, a perfect draft contest last year.
0:15I'm actually going to give you the roster here for a second.
0:18But kind of as always before we jump into this, was there any insight in doing an experiment like this?
0:25We had articles, the perfect team, the targets. I actually just released two of my articles, what my perfect team looks like.
0:31When you do this experiment, especially since you did this article, I believe like a month or so ago when you came
0:38back to it, were there any new revelations in the construction of maybe you went too heavy at a position, maybe there was a new player?
0:46Just any thoughts on this perfect team? Yeah, I guess the main thing was just hypothetically thinking of where I would want to be drafting from.
0:54And, you know, I've said the place I want to be drafting from is I don't care as long as it's adjacent
1:01to the weakest drafters in the room. But like if I had to pick a spot this year, I think it's toward the back end.
1:09I just think that's easiest. I do my best work when I don't have to think.
1:14Kind of like I shot my best run of golf once with a blinding hangover, just see ball, hit ball.
1:20That's what I want to do in drafts. I want to just it's a sweet spot for running backs at the tail
1:27end of round one, round two, that turn. Pick two running backs, hit receiver with three or four of the next four picks after that.
1:34And is that what you did in this one?
1:37Is that what we're going to look for? Or you took I guess I could ask you when we get there, but
1:44like did you take a very specific pick or did you pick a general range in your approach?
1:49I picked as if I were picking from the back end.
1:53OK, so like a range. Yeah, that's that's how I did my article, which is over in fantasy pros, where I actually
1:59gave two picks, my high range and then my low range.
2:03And then I picked two players for each round based on like the general spot.
2:07Now, Tara, as we were kind of prepping for this, I don't think you had jumped into this experiment yet.
2:14So same thing as far as like did you have a very specific pick we're going to jump into?
2:19Was it a range and were there any insights after kind of going through this experiment?
2:24So it's definitely a range pick five through eight range.
2:27I thought that would be interesting. I like Pat.
2:30I would prefer on my perfect team. I'm not going to lie.
2:34It would be the one on one. But if it's either early on or very late, that would be my perfect team.
2:41But I thought I would challenge myself here because I feel like, you know, preferences to grab early, pick at the turn, something like that.
2:48But I thought the mid round would be fun and very challenging for me.
2:53And it actually was just because it does get dictated a lot by the way that everyone is drafting ahead of you.
2:59So I wanted to approach it from that perspective and give us a good look at what you could walk away with
3:06from that kind of mid awkward range. I like that you did that because we see the most complaints we see in
3:13mock drafts is like, why aren't the mock drafters at five and six?
3:17It's like two and 12 and then like 10 and then maybe four.
3:21Like no one wants to touch that like five, six, seven range.
3:25So I'm glad that you kind of did that.
3:28So there's the kind of perspective of how both of these guys are going to be approaching the draft.
3:33We're going to go through each round. We'll see what the team is constructed with.
3:38But I did want to do two things off the top.
3:41By the way, this is a one quarterback, two running back, three wide receiver, tight end flex and then bench.
3:48We're not going to do kicker and defense because frankly, the perfect team would not have a kicker in defense.
3:54But I know a lot of you play in them.
3:57We'll do the I think the next few mock drafts, we're going to have kicker and defense in there.
4:03But in the team construction, we're not doing that.
4:05But last year we did a perfect team contest, a perfect draft and what that ended up looking like.
4:11And I was able to have some of our amazing guys here at Fantasy Pros pull what that perfect roster construction looked like by round.
4:19So I thought I would do this. I got a little screen cap of it.
4:24And this is what the team ended up looking like.
4:27And by the way, it was a two running back start.
4:30And it started Christian McCaffrey in the first round with Jonathan Taylor in the second round.
4:35Pretty chalk. And that's, by the way, how you have to approach this.
4:39This isn't like what does the best team look like at the best value?
4:43You know what I'm saying? Like you got to take guys in their general relative range.
4:48So the guys that were going there, Christian McCaffrey, Jonathan Taylor, Jackson Smith and Jigba in the third round.
4:54Just get yourself back there. James Cook in the fourth.
4:57You're starting to wonder how does this happen? But James Cook was in a first round.
5:02George Pickens in the fifth. Chris Olave in the sixth.
5:05Emeka Ekbuka in the seventh. So you've got three running backs.
5:08You've got four wide receivers. Kyle Pitts, Drake May.
5:11That was the thing that allowed me to rank so high in sleepers this year was Drake May with Jake Ferguson.
5:18That's a funny one. Rico Dowdle, Matthew Stafford. And there actually were some defenses in here.
5:23Browns and Seahawks defense probably for streaming purposes. And Michael Wilson.
5:26So that was the constructed winner, I guess, of the perfect team based on rounds.
5:31We'll see if you guys are going to be able to tackle that.
5:35One other little thing I wanted to add to this.
5:38I really love this from Andrew Erickson. Nothing is definitive.
5:41But to me, it lives in the same category as the 400 touch thing.
5:45You know, where, what was it? Saquon Barker last year.
5:48Pat and Tara was like, if he has 400, he had 400 touches last year.
5:53He's not going to be successful this year. Like, okay, that's a data point.
5:57It felt very wonky, but it was reality. This is the same thing.
6:01And what I mean by this is like, you know, are you really going to believe that the ninth round is going to hold a great player?
6:09Well, according to Andrew Erickson and his tweet at 2024, round nine brought these few players.
6:14Jackson Smith and Jigba, Chase Brown, Brian Thomas. You know, the good one.
6:18Last year, it featured Drake May, Cam Scadaboo, Javante Williams, and Colson Loveland.
6:22So, what Erickson is talking about here is the ninth round has been a hot spot for really, really good values.
6:29This year, when you pull up, Erickson and his tweet had pulled up real-time ADP.
6:33Some players that you see in there, Quinton Johnston, R.J.
6:37Harvey, Kamenaga just got banged up. Michael Wilson, just kind of moving around it.
6:41Cortland Sutton, RIP Josh Downs, and his value getting tanked.
6:44Stefan Diggs, Bo Nix, Ja'Cory Krosky-Meritt, Kenny Gainwell, Jordan Mason.
6:47Those are a handful, more than a handful, of the ninth round picks.
6:51So, pay close attention to where both Pat and Tara have their ninth round pick because maybe they'll be picking the next
6:58big player that's going to break out in the ninth round if you like that data point from Erickson.
7:04Okay, enough of me. This ain't about my perfect team.
7:07That's about Tara and Pat. We are going to go through 14 rounds with a little bit of a breakdown of each
7:13player that you guys are constructing at the end.
7:16I'll tell you what the rosters look like. So, let's go to round one.
7:21You guys have already set up kind of where you are in this, and Pat, we'll start with you.
7:26Your first round pick, wide receiver, running back, where are you going?
7:30Late first round, I like taking Ashton Gentry. And it's funny, Welsh, because Ashton Gentry's ADP last year for draft season was 10th overall.
7:37This year he's 13th. And the offense, I think, is going to be a lot better around him this year.
7:44Things kind of imploded last year. System wasn't great.
7:46Colton Miller gets hurt. The offensive line just completely implodes.
7:50Ashton Gentry is repeatedly getting first contact with defenders behind the line of scrimmage.
7:54Now, Colt Miller healthy. They bring in Tyler Linderbaum, probably the best center in the league.
7:59The other three offensive line spots, okay. They draft Trey Zune, who's like a jack of all trades.
8:04He can play pretty much any position on the line.
8:07Like, the blocking's going to be better this year.
8:10And Clint Kubiak, Hesoni knows what he's doing on offense.
8:13He just won a Super Bowl. Sort of taking a Seattle offense last year that had questions about its offensive line.
8:20And, yeah, I mean, they want to use Gentry a lot in the passing game.
8:24And they will. I mean, he already had double-digit touchdowns last year.
8:28It's not like he was a bust. I just think the offensive environment is going to be so much better for him this year.
8:35Especially once Fernando Mendoza gets his feet wet a little bit.
8:39And, you know, I think he's a really good prospect and is the real deal.
8:43And should be starting to cook a little bit by the end of the season when we hit the fantasy playoffs.
8:50But I think from the get-go, it's just going to be a much better season for Gentry than it was last year.
8:57And it's funny. You can get him cheaper than you could as a rookie.
9:01I mean, he was going that early because he was truly a fabulous prospect.
9:05Yeah. Like, in college, the film, the athleticism, the surface stats, the advanced metrics.
9:10Everything pointed to him being like, you know, a once or twice in a decade type of running back prospect.
9:16Generational was thrown around a lot when talking about Gentry last year.
9:19Yeah. Maybe the G word is always a little extreme.
9:22But, you know, he's certainly one of the best running back prospects in the last 10 years.
9:28Well, you're generational, Pat. So don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
9:31All right, Tara. First round. We got running back.
9:34So running back is locked in. Pat's going RB on the start of the build.
9:38Where are you going to go when you're building your perfect team in the first round?
9:43I am going wide receiver with Amonra St. Brown.
9:46You know, it's funny because, you know, when you're picking from the first, you know, four picks or so, you know exactly who you're getting.
9:54You know, order might vary a little bit, but we know who the first four are.
9:59Picking from the turn, you know, you're probably leaning or taking advantage of going RB RB.
10:04But in between, it's just this weird little area here.
10:07So when I'm looking at the second round wide receivers, you get into some shaky scenarios in terms of quarterbacks.
10:13Like, do you trust Drake London with potentially Tua Tagovailoa?
10:16Do you want to reach on some of the more stable quarterback wide receivers and draft them earlier in round one or reach on them?
10:24If you have the ability to draft a stable wide receiver in the mid first round, I advise you go that route with Amonra St.
10:31Brown. And he is about as stable as you can get.
10:35We are talking about a guy who is literally finished as wide receiver three overall back to back to back seasons.
10:41Right. It just it's it's about the most guaranteed production and all top 10 finishes outside of his rookie season.
10:47You know that you are getting 100 receptions, a minimum of 140 targets and double digit touchdowns.
10:53He's not an injury liability. And then there's the kicker of what makes him a little extra special this year.
10:59Maybe this can finally be his overall wide receiver one season.
11:02When we talk about the Lions schedule, it is a masterpiece.
11:06It's a masterpiece that is only made better by the fact that the Lions are dealing with a lot of issues on their defense, particularly the secondary injuries.
11:14And the secondary is their weakness as a team.
11:17So we're talking about a great, great offense, poor and injured secondary.
11:21What does that add up to? It adds up to shootout.
11:24So, yeah, that's fantastic for us wanting to invest in this offense.
11:28That's why we are looking at Gibbs for this amazing season here.
11:31Now, the Detroit receivers have a top 10 strength of schedule there.
11:35Jared Goff has the third easiest quarterback schedule and it has an even sweeter kicker on it.
11:40The fact that it is extremely dome friendly. We love that for Jared Goff.
11:45The Lions have a week six by and it's pretty good before that, too.
11:49But right after that, they are in a dome eight times with one outdoor game in Miami, an international game and then
11:56Chicago championship week, which is not good for some people.
11:59But luckily for us, that doesn't actually matter for Amun-Ra.
12:02He puts up numbers when he's playing in Chicago.
12:05So it doesn't matter for him. It is a beautiful schedule.
12:08It's a guarantee. So rather than sitting there and trying to figure out what you're doing in the second round wide receiver,
12:15just go ahead and invest in your overall wide receiver one in the first round as Amon-Ra St.
12:20Brown round. OK, first round locked up. We got one running back.
12:24We got one wide receiver. Let's move to the second and let's snake it.
12:28Terry, you get to jump right back into it as we're going to snake our perfect draft.
12:34Are you going to do a wide receiver, wide receiver build or is it too risky?
12:39You got to make sure. I've asked this question a lot for a lot of different analysts of are you comfortable?
12:45Are you truly comfortable going out of the first two rounds without a running back?
12:50And I think in previous years, it's just yes, yes, yes.
12:53Doesn't seem so yes-y this year. So are you comfortable going out of the first two rounds in your perfect draft without a running back?
13:01I'm not. I don't think there's any way that you can do it.
13:05You know, you try and look at the early builds.
13:08You're probably walking away with Gibbs or Bijon. So realistically, wanting to push it to the third round, it's very shaky because
13:15you can get into a weird territory depending on how many people take running backs in that second round.
13:20So my preference is to go ahead and lock it up.
13:24And with this pick in particular, with the mid-range kind of area, Amari and Hampton is the one that I am leaning towards.
13:31All of my drafts are really dictated by the Chargers.
13:34I'm taking Chargers in every single draft. It's just a matter of who it's going to be.
13:39If I take Hampton earlier, it does affect how I draft later in terms of the receivers.
13:44If I miss out on Hampton, I'm taking Chargers pass catcher.
13:48Now I'm playing this fair game, of course, challenging myself with this mid-round pick in a perfect world.
13:53I mean, my league mates are going to be scared of a couple of people and another running back drops, maybe an
14:00A-chan or something that I can get at value.
14:03But the most likely scenario here of a running back that would be here is going to be Amari and Hampton.
14:09Like, don't let Mike McDaniel fool you. He likes to troll.
14:13He is not limiting and running a three-man committee here.
14:16Hampton is the RB1. Keaton Mitchell is a change of pace back.
14:20And that's fine. Sometimes I feel like we overreact to change of pace backs.
14:24I like him for sure. But realistically, the vast majority of running backs don't play upwards of 90% of snaps anyway.
14:30Kamani Vidal is the handcuff. And this offense is going to be far more effective than it was last season under a
14:37new offensive scheme, a healthy offensive line. We are looking at Hampton for big yardage and goal line opportunity with an appropriate
14:44amount of receiving work because he can handle a check down.
14:47Very safe floor, high ceiling potential, depending on how many times they do get those goal line opportunities.
14:53In Hampton's rookie season, obviously, it was hampered by injury.
14:56But the man never had below once he, you know, obviously took over.
15:00He never had below 12 carries in a game here.
15:03And that was in an offense that was ineffective in forcing a committee under Greg Roman.
15:08By the dip in the ADP, mid-round value is perfectly fine.
15:11Um, this is a guy that has legitimate top three upside in a bounce back season for this offense.
15:17By the way, this is your perfect draft. You can do whatever you want.
15:21You can have whatever cool scenario happen. I have actually seen H.
15:25Ann fall multiple times. I'll just throw out. So there's a little caveat for people as well.
15:30I have done two different drafts where Hampton has moved up.
15:34It's been a little bit the last like week or two.
15:37I feel like with the three running back thing in that system, people are starting to be a little bit scared.
15:44But hey, perfect draft. Things can happen. I like it.
15:47A running back wide receiver build. So, Pat, it goes to you in the second round.
15:52So it's kind of the other question is, are you comfortable going two rounds without a wide receiver?
15:57Because you've got a running back to start this bad boy.
16:01So where are you going in the second round?
16:03I'm comfortable going running back, running back to start.
16:06And I'm going to fire with another running back here.
16:09There's so many good answers at running back in the second round.
16:13Saquon Barkley. O'Marion Hampton, who Tara just talked about.
16:16Devon Achan. Chase Brown. And the guy I like here, Kenneth Walker.
16:19And I just, I'm excited to see Kenneth Walker in this offense.
16:23And it's funny that people, our friend Scott Bogman, think that Walker can't handle a full load.
16:28Well, he looked pretty good handling a full load in the playoffs last year when he averaged just under 25 touches a
16:35game and pretty much laid defenses to waste as Seattle made its championship run.
16:39And that's why he wanted out of Seattle. Like, I think he wanted the bigger role and didn't like that he was
16:46being used as a committee back last year. Now he goes to the Chiefs and gets to play for Andy Reid, who
16:53it's been a while since the Chiefs have had a dynamic running back.
16:57So we tend to forget that Andy Reid was the guy who coached LaShawn McCoy, Brian Westbrook, Jamal Charles.
17:03There have been some epic running back seasons with Andy Reid.
17:06And I think Reid is going to give Kenneth Walker the ball quite a bit this year.
17:11I think he's going to get him involved in the screen game, which is exciting because Andy Reid is a screen master.
17:18I think the sky's the limit. I've got him ahead of all those other RB2s.
17:23Like, I've got him ahead of Hampton, Barkley, Chase Brown.
17:26I'm really fired up about Kenneth Walker. And as soon as the second round hits, I am happy to take him pretty much anywhere in that round.
17:34By the way, a note with Bogman. You're right about this.
17:38And he was the biggest Ken Walker guy for a couple years.
17:41And I don't know if he did this. It's like you follow a band when they're coming up and then they'd be popular.
17:48Like, oh, there's sellouts. And it's like, why are you jumping off when he's a Chief?
17:53Like, it seems like the time. But you're 100% right about that.
17:57I don't get it. I'm with you. I'm completely against him on that one.
18:01All right. So you've got a two RB build.
18:04We've got a wide receiver running back. Let's go to the third round here.
18:08And I think I'm going to give a tiny little spoiler on the third round.
18:13I think the third round is one of the more chalk wide receiver rounds.
18:17And you guys are going to follow this. Pat, we are snaking back to you.
18:22You get to kick off the third round. I'm kind of giving that away with a wide receiver.
18:27Obviously, that's what you're going to do after locking in your two RBs.
18:31So which wide receiver are you going with in the third round?
18:35Emeka Egbuka. And I really like Tara's answer in this round, too.
18:39And I have Tara's guy ranked just ahead of Ibuka.
18:42But, man, Ibuka, we saw it last year when early in the season, what, through the first five weeks, he was wide receiver three.
18:49And he was just dominating targets. And it wasn't both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin injured at the time.
18:55And one of those guys played in all five of those games that, you know, Ibuka was just dominating during.
19:01So I think we're going to see more of the same.
19:05He's the clear number one this year. They're going to lean on him hard.
19:09I think there is wide receiver one potential for a guy who's going squarely in wide receiver two range.
19:15Do you think there's any potential for more value with this toe injury that's lingering?
19:19Because, like, it might only be a very specific, like, week thing, you know, because if it goes away in a week,
19:26whatever perceived value just kind of disappears. But do you think, like, if someone were drafting now, you could start seeing him fall a little bit?
19:34And or are you worried at all just any bit about that toe?
19:38So I'm not really worried about it unless I hear it's it's turf toe.
19:43If it's turf toe, even that is not like a season wrecker.
19:46So I'm not as worried about it as I would be if or a sprained MCL, a high ankle sprain.
19:52Like, I think there's enough time for this to, you know, for Ibuka to recover and be pretty close to 100 percent for week one.
20:00So plus just the fact that it seems like every guy in wide receiver two ranges has some sort of minor injury right now.
20:07So, yeah, it's hard to hard to draft healthy guys.
20:11You're not wrong about that. All right, Tara, wide receiver.
20:14You're also going to go within the third round.
20:16So you're going to have a two wide receiver running back build through the third.
20:21But who is that wide receiver that Pat also likes so much?
20:25Yeah, I mean, like Pat was saying, this was tough because this is a great range for wide receivers.
20:31So round three is an automatic. I'm taking I'm taking a wide receiver.
20:35It's just a matter of making the tough choice of who's it going to be here.
20:39I went with Zay Flowers. Zay is the clear, unquestioned first look in his offense.
20:44We've seen it for two straight seasons with him getting 116 and 118 targets on 17 games.
20:49Mind you, that was with him ascending in the first year and then last year with the injuries to Lamar Jackson.
20:56There's a higher ceiling here. We've continued to see the decline of Mark Andrews.
21:00And he's not a volume guy at this point in his career.
21:04He's more of a red zone look, which is perfectly fine because we want those touchdowns to increase for Zay, but they
21:11don't have to increase significantly for Zay Flowers to reach that ceiling that we're looking for.
21:16Isaiah likely is gone. If Lamar Jackson is healthy, this is an incredible pick here.
21:20And we have got to change an offensive coordinator.
21:23Love Tom Monk and no offense to him, but I am excited to see Declan Doyle and what he can bring to benefit Zay Flowers in this offense.
21:32Right. And we look at the supporting cast here.
21:34I don't believe in Bateman. I'm sorry, not believing in a what, fifth year, sixth year breakout here for him.
21:40Love the young pieces, but they have to ascend here within the offense.
21:44So really and truly from a volume perspective, Zay is such a lock for production.
21:49And we could see an increase in touchdown opportunities as well, particularly with a healthy Lamar Jackson and a change in the offensive coordinator here.
21:57So while this is a nice range to take a whole bunch of other picks, a lot of them are a little bit riskier here.
22:04This is the one that has both safety and a high ceiling.
22:08Okay. Continue the core structure of our rosters here.
22:11These, you know, fourth through, I mean, you can even argue like five or six, maybe the top six rounds.
22:17That's like the core of what's going to determine a lot of the shots you take later in the draft and just what your build is at.
22:25So you've got two wide receiver, one running back.
22:28Tara, you're up in the fourth round here. Perfect draft.
22:31Are you filling out that wide receiver core or are you going to get your second RB?
22:36I'm going with a second running back here. Regardless of even in a three wide receiver lineup, I don't want to push,
22:43particularly when we talk about there being a specific cliff with running back here.
22:48I don't want to push it back too far, especially because I'm not starting off with a round one running back by taking Amon-Ra St.
22:55Brown. So I need to make sure that I got that second one locked up here within the first five rounds or so.
23:02So I'm not going to push it. Going to take DeAndre Swift here.
23:06I was cool with DeAndre Swift before the Kyle Monungai injury, but that does make it a lot sweeter of a pick here.
23:13And even once Monungai is healthy, I do expect him to be a factor.
23:18But Swift is still in the 1A here and a team that is deceptively run heavy here.
23:23They're a very balanced team, but between Swift and Monungai, there were 392 rush attempts and they were very productive with those attempts.
23:30It helps having a mobile quarterback that is a threat to scramble and open things up there.
23:35And it also helps having a good offensive line as well that is solid and ascending.
23:40And it also helps additionally that Caleb Williams is a runner, but he's not a prominent goal line runner.
23:46That is the key here. So goal line priority has and will continue to lean towards the running backs here.
23:52Swift was RB 16 in average fantasy points per game last year in half PPR with just 223 attempts and a modest 34 receptions.
24:00He finished below RB 28 just three times last season, a very safe RB two floor with the ability to provide top 10 production as well.
24:08And if this is one of those kind of lingering type of injuries for Kyle Monungai, we can see that usage potentially increased through the season as well.
24:16And the Bears have shown their preference again is to lean more so on Swift or Monungai if one of them goes
24:23down rather than forcing Roshan Johnson to fill the 1B situation.
24:26They're also a sneaky team for positive touchdown regression for as many plays as they ran, which was second in the league.
24:33They didn't score as many points as you would think.
24:36So Caleb Williams continuing to progress forward, perfecting the pass here, getting more comfortable in Ben Johnson offense.
24:42We can see more points scored and more goal line opportunities for these backs.
24:46OK, so Fitzy, we're going to go to you.
24:49And I just had a revelation. I sure don't see any tight ends being drafted yet.
24:54And Fitz, you've been a pretty big tight end guy and you're very pro Bowers, very pro McBride.
24:59Third round, you probably would have had to attach to Loveland this fourth round.
25:04This is about it. And it's pretty much like Tyler Warren unless you are not going to attach yourself to the higher tight end.
25:11So is this a tight end? Where are we going?
25:14And also in a perfect draft, what happened to Bowers or McBride, specifically Bowers?
25:18Oh, yeah, I know. Well, I mean, it's it's hard, but I do think they're good answers at every price point for tight ends this year.
25:26And that includes the pay down option. And I'm going to be exercising the pay down option this year.
25:32But, yeah, I mean, I have definitely come out of my share of drafts with Bowers so far.
25:38That's your point. Yeah, that's your point. All right.
25:41So no tight end then. No tight end. So where are we going?
25:45Not in this draft. Yeah, still playing catch up at a wide receiver after the running back running back start.
25:51So it's going to be Jalen Waddle joining Emeka Abuka.
25:54And the Broncos traded a first round pick and additional draft capital to get Waddell.
25:58He's going to be featured in Sean Payton's offense.
26:01And Waddell's just good, man. This is a former number six overall draft pick who began his career with three straight 1,000
26:08yard seasons, two of which came with peak Tyreek Hill, who went over 1,700 yards in two of those seasons.
26:14For his career, Waddell, 9.3 yards per target, 2.07 yards per route run.
26:18And I think it's worth remembering that Michael Thomas, as the featured receiver in Sean Payton's offenses in New Orleans, had three
26:25100-catch seasons, including a 147-catch season, plus a 90-catch season.
26:28Thomas and Waddell, yeah, different body types and skill sets.
26:31But I do think Waddell is going to be the focal point of Sean Payton's passing game this year.
26:37And that's exciting. Well, you guys have met in the middle.
26:40Two running back, two wide receiver builds through the fourth round.
26:44You guys are both there. So things are going to open up in the fifth.
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28:06I'm Nick Turturro. You probably know me from NYPD Blue, The Longest Yard, or Spike Lee's Black Plansman.
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28:14And on my new podcast, Delivering Happiness with Nick Turturro, I deliver pizza from Prince Street Pizza to a new guest.
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28:54All right, we are picking it up here, and we are jumping to the fifth round.
28:59Pat, you are up on the snake here. Two running backs, two wide receivers.
29:03The world is your oyster, as they say. Fifth round, where are you going?
29:07I'm going to sneak in and grab another running back.
29:11Well, I'm going to get Basial Tootin. I want the main back in a Liam Cohen offense, and we saw how good
29:17that was for Bucky Irving a couple of years ago down the stretch in Tampa.
29:22And, you know, I'm not going to be afraid of Chris Rodriguez between the tackles grinder with not much juice, taking a
29:29lot of work away from a guy with 4-3 speed.
29:32And Tootin was actually pretty effective by the goal line last year, too.
29:36And now Trevor Etienne is hurt. And so I think maybe there's opportunity for Tootin to have a big role in the
29:43passing game this year for the Jags. So, yeah, I mean, I just, I think this is where, close to where the
29:49bottom drops out a little bit on dependable running backs.
29:52You know, there are some sneaky options past this point, but Tootin, I think, is going to be at least running back
29:59two this year in terms of value. And this is a good opportunity to get a third running back before the pool
30:06starts to dry up a little bit. So, Tara, in the fifth round, I see a name that you have, but maybe
30:13the more interesting thing is the note that you have next to said player's name.
30:17So why don't you talk about where you're going and what you think about the fifth round?
30:23I'm going Terry McLaurin, but I hate the fifth round.
30:26The fifth round is a weird one for me.
30:28I stared at it forever, and I tend to do this.
30:32This tends to be a range where I'm taking whatever value drops because we're looking at ADP, and things aren't going to go exactly towards ADP.
30:40You mentioned, like, you know, this is the last opportunity in round four for Tyler Warren.
30:45Well, technically speaking, maybe we get, you know, people panicked about this Keenan Allen signing here, and we see it, like, teeter
30:52down and drop, like, right into there, and people don't lean aggressively into tight ends.
30:56So perhaps you can get the value drop on there.
30:59So round five is a value drop. I tend to be flexible with it.
31:04But if I am picking one player, it's a three wide receiver draft, so I am still going to lean into wide receiver here.
31:11And it's a weird range, but I'm going to lean into Terry McLaurin on this one.
31:16When we're looking at Terry McLaurin, last year obviously was not enjoyable, and maybe it's easy to lump him in with the
31:23aging wide receivers of Devontae Adams and Mike Evans, but I think there's more juice left within Terry McLaurin, and I'm not
31:29sure he's necessarily the age injury risk. Last year's injury risk, I think, was more associated with the fact that I cannot
31:36stand drafting players that are pushing contract negotiations right up to the limit.
31:40But it's a recipe for something to go wrong in season if you're not getting that preparation with the team in training camp and preseason.
31:48So I do think that that had a lot to do with it.
31:52We also had Jaden Daniels dealing with the injury as well, so that was just a hot mess offense.
31:58We know what this offense looks like with a healthy Jaden Daniels and a healthy Terry McLaurin.
32:03We saw it in 2024 where he literally finally vaulted poor Terry McLaurin, who had spent years under just duress with quarterback,
32:10up to finally getting touchdowns from mediocrity up to 13 touchdowns.
32:13I'm not necessarily saying 13 will be there. I don't know that we need to be as scared of Stefan Diggs as
32:20we, as some people are, just because of the fact that Stefan Diggs obviously, you know, had a great year in New
32:27England, but he is coming here to be the wide receiver too, and we know that this team is not deep past that, unfortunately.
32:34They should be the 1A, 1B, wide receiver one there for Terry McLaurin there, and I feel very confident that we are
32:41going to get another strong 1,000-yard year, good receptions, touchdown opportunities, and this is a good range to grab him as a
32:48true wide receiver one that does offer some higher upside.
32:51Going into round six, we are snaking back to you, Tara, and you're going to jump back into wide receivers.
32:57This is going to cover your flex, and, I mean, if there's a wide receiver that has been talked about from wide
33:04receiver four to potentially wide receiver one upside, it is this guy.
33:07This is kind of the first click, because we got a couple clicks and checks on the buzziest of buzz players.
33:14This is probably one of the big buzzy players, so your six-round pick.
33:18Yeah, I thought I would take that bullet for you guys and talk about the rising hype of Parker Washington.
33:24The ADP rise might scare you here, but I think round six is just fine.
33:29Hopefully it doesn't push up any higher than that, but in round six, you need to start thinking about roster construction, right?
33:35In a three-wide receiver league, I do want my flex to still be a wide receiver here, and I like some additional
33:42running backs as well past here, so I'm okay with going with wide receiver again here.
33:47And this is an area where reaching is okay.
33:50It's appropriate to reach a little bit here. Parker Washington is rising because he was wide receiver 16 once he really took
33:57over as a consistent starter there, weeks nine through the end of the season, with six top 20 performances here, and the
34:03ceiling could be even higher for him as this offense continues to progress forward.
34:08It has also got a good strength of schedule for Trevor Lawrence here, and yes, we've got a healthy Brian Thomas Jr.
34:14lurking in the corner, but we know the position that he is going to play as an ex-receiver here and the preference
34:21for Washington in the slot that Trevor Lawrence has really fallen in love with.
34:26BTJ being on the outside here is not a major issue because the Jags don't really funnel targets to a specific wide
34:32receiver one in the way that a Seattle does here.
34:35They play matchups more, so once you get into those more difficult matchups where the corners are locking down on the outside,
34:42that elevates Washington in the Jags offense, and you have that flexibility to not have to force things to the difficult matchups.
34:49They want to take advantage of him. So I know it might feel scary because obviously he doesn't have the big name
34:56recognition in the draft capital of Brian Thomas Jr., but he really legitimately could be the wide receiver one of this offense
35:02that is really progressing forward under Liam Cohen. Fitzy, we are sixth round, and you are going to jump back into the
35:09wide receivers, and this guy's teammate was taken a little bit earlier by Tara, so where are you going with your sixth round pick?
35:17Yeah, I'm in on both of you Detroit's wide receivers.
35:20Amon Ross St. Brown early, and Jameson Williams a little bit later.
35:23I love Tara's pick in this round, Parker Washington.
35:26I like J-Mo a little bit more, and I think people are scared of him just because the week-to-week volatility he's shown.
35:33He's a pretty boomer bust profile. I think people are also worried that his production really picked up last year after Sam
35:40Laporta was lost with a back injury, but I see it as more his production picking up after Dane Campbell took the
35:46play-calling duties away from John Morton, the offensive coordinator, because Morton was just using J-Mo as the sacrificial go-route guy and just having him run these deep routes.
35:55Campbell wanted to get J-Mo the ball closer to the line of scrimmage and let him work his magic after the catch
36:02because this guy has blinding speed, and he did that, started using him on crossers, the occasional wide receiver screen, and it was great.
36:09Like, from the midpoint of the season on, J-Mo was super impactful.
36:13Finishes eighth among wide receivers in yardage, over 1,100 yards.
36:16He's now been over 1,000 yards two straight seasons, and Tara pointed it out early.
36:21I mean, I think the Lions are going to be the Showtime Lakers this year on offense, and they kind of have
36:27to be with some of the problems they've got on defense.
36:31Well, the seventh round, to me, is the Showtime picks because this is, again, we're going to get back to a buzz range.
36:38A quarterback that Fantasy Pros loves is going to be going in this round, and one of the most talked about names
36:45that no longer gets to be labeled a sleeper at this point because he is blown past that.
36:50He is kind of on everyone's draft list. Pat, that is who you're going to be going with your seventh round pick.
36:57So hit us with, again, one of the buzziest former sleepers who's now just a pick that everybody wants.
37:03Yeah, I might be cheating. I don't know if I can still get Jonathan Brooks in the seventh round because the ADP
37:10is climbing by the day, it seems. Follow our real-time ADP for up-to-the-minute details on where he's going in drafts.
37:16But yeah, I think he's going to be the guy.
37:19Chuba Hubbard was shockingly unexplosive last year and lost his starting role.
37:23And I know Chuba got banged up, but the fact is Rico Dottle kind of took over about a month and a half into the season.
37:31And I feel like Jonathan Brooks is just going to take over from the get-go.
37:35Former second-round pick. We know the story with him.
37:38He had two torn ACLs on the same knee in a span of 13 months.
37:43But now it's been 20-plus months. Panthers are confident about the second repair.
37:47And he's reportedly having a good camp. They let him rip in preseason week one.
37:51I think he's going to be the guy. And there's still people a little bit shy about drafting a guy with his injury history.
37:59I get it. But that is keeping the price down somewhat.
38:02Tara, you are going to be jumping in with the first quarterback that's going to be taken here.
38:07So seventh round, it's not going to be one of the most likely top five guys.
38:12So where are you going with the first quarterback in the perfect draft?
38:16Yeah, I'm okay with pushing quarterback back a bit further here.
38:20You don't have to stack in redraft. It's not best ball, but I am stacking here.
38:25I'm going with Trevor Lawrence. And it's real simple.
38:28I talked about the upside that Parker Washington offers.
38:30Obviously, that was directly tied to the success for Trevor Lawrence last season.
38:34Got off to a slow-ish start with the first four games of the season, finishing below QB 20 in three of those games.
38:41Beautiful. All but one of his finishes were QB 14 or better.
38:45From that point forward, weeks five through the end of the season, he was the overall QB one.
38:51And he's got rushing upside. He's got a bevy of receivers.
38:54We can't decide who we're drafting because there's just so many.
38:57And that doesn't even include any gimmicky or packages they use for Travis Hunter here.
39:02It's just the perfect setup for him as he pushes forward in this Liam Cohen offense.
39:07Okay, eighth round. You guys are going to jump in here.
39:10Another wide receiver. Be interesting when we look back at this.
39:14I think this is going to be your fifth wide receiver.
39:17No harm in having lots and lots of just core depth at it.
39:21But eighth round, you've got a wide receiver. And this, like Pat did with Jameson Williams to Amon or St.
39:27Brown, you are taking a secondary wide receiver to one of Pat's guys.
39:31Yeah, I tend to lean a little bit more wide receiver heavy because, you know, I have no problem using waiver wires
39:38to add the latest handcuff that ascends into an RB1 role.
39:41I almost went with a running back here, but I'm going with Chris Godwin here.
39:46We talked about, you know, I agree with Pat 100% on Emeka Obuka.
39:50But if I'm not grabbing him, I want a piece here of these pass catchers for the Bucs.
39:56And I've come around the idea of the value of Chris Godwin.
39:59Round eight is the perfect range to take a gamble on him having a healthy year.
40:04Tampa has been very open, thankfully, about how they envision this receiving core with Emeka Obuka as the Z, Chris Godwin out
40:11of the slot, and the X potentially there being Ted Hurst or Jalen McMillan.
40:15But ideally, Godwin in the slot is where we're going to get the most bang for our buck here in terms of
40:22him getting 120 plus targets, 900 to 1,000 yards, stable volume wide receiver for PPR.
40:27Touchdowns down a little bit. I do expect that to lean towards Emeka Obuka.
40:31But he can put up solid wide receiver to production alongside Emeka Obuka and offers a nice, safe baseline as long as he remains healthy.
40:39Fitz, eighth round. You have stacked some running backs in here, but you ain't done.
40:43You're going to keep rolling with it. Don't hate it.
40:46Again, where the wide receiver depth is, that's actually kind of moved in previous years to what running back looks like.
40:53So you've got a running back that you're targeting in the eighth round for your perfect draft, so hit us with him.
41:00Blake Corum, a depth piece with immense upside. And if Blake Corum just keeps the same role he had last year as
41:06the 1B to Kyron Williams 1A, getting 40 to 45% of that rushing load, he's going to be useful and a guy
41:13you can stick in there if you get an injury when the bye weeks start to hit.
41:18But if anything were to happen to Kyron Williams or if Sean McVay were to adjust the dials on his running back
41:25usage and kind of inch Corum past Kyron Williams, look out.
41:29Because we know the Rams are going to be a high-flying offense this year.
41:33They're going to put up a lot of points.
41:36They've got a great defense now with Miles Garrett that is going to give them a lot of run-friendly game scripts.
41:42And I would not be totally shocked if, you know, this running game produced like 20 touchdowns this year.
41:48And Kyron Williams and Corum chopped those up. Kyron Williams were to go down.
41:52That would be, he'd be an easy top 10 back.
41:55You'd be ranking him top five every week. Yeah, I was about to say top five, but I don't want to get too ridiculous with it.
42:03Yeah, I completely agree with you. And how often do you get a back that you're like, okay, if this guy is
42:10out, he becomes this, but also produces on a weekly basis.
42:13That's just not something we get to say a whole bunch.
42:17So I like the Blake Corum pick here. We are going to be jumping into the crucial ninth round, according to Andrew Erickson.
42:24And where all those great values are. But before we do, if you guys need advice on your next pick, make sure
42:31you join Fantasy Pro's Discord and join the Discord community.
42:34You can chat with other fans. You can get access to exclusive AMAs that also sometimes wind up on our podcast feed.
42:41We've got a schedule right now, Boggs and Fitz.
42:43So Scott Bogman and Pat Fitzmaurice, 5 p.m. Eastern every Tuesday through the end of August.
42:48So in your crunch draft season, you get Worm and Fitz 5 p.m.
42:52Eastern on the first Tuesday of every month. I think that's usually pretty Dynasty focus as is Boggs and Fitz.
42:58And then every 2 p.m. Eastern, it's me and Erickson for the Extra Point podcast where you can come on, you can
43:05raise your hand, you dictate the show, you talk with us, we have a blast, we kind of get nuts with it.
43:12Thursdays, 2 p.m. Eastern, that's me and Erickson. Come get your questions answered and be on the shows.
43:18It's fantasypros.com slash chat. That's fantasypros.com slash chat. All right, ninth round.
43:21That could have big critical fantasy production. Frankly, Parker Washington was this guy like three weeks ago and then there's the hype just kind of kept rolling.
43:30Maybe Jonathan Brooks as well. So you guys have got a task in front of you if you are going to meet Erickson's criteria, if you believe it.
43:38So Fitz, you get to on the circling around, you get to kick it off here.
43:43Where are you going in the ninth round? Am I letting Erickson down by just taking my quarterback?
43:49I kind of feel like maybe a little bit, but I'm okay with it.
43:53It kind of feels like it, yeah. So I'm going to take Bo Nix, which is funny because I don't even know
44:00if I think Bo Nix is a good NFL quarterback yet.
44:03I mean, he only averaged 6.4 yards per attempt last year, but we do know that the Broncos, despite having one of
44:10the best defenses in the league threw at one of the highest rates of any offense in the league and I don't
44:17think they're going to be throwing any less after acquiring Jalen Waddle.
44:20They've now got the, you know, a really nice duo of Waddle and Cortland Sutton plus Pat Bryant, who has reportedly been tearing it up in training camp.
44:29Some running backs who can catch passes like they're going to throw a lot and Bo Nix adds some rushing value too.
44:36He's had nine rushing touchdowns in his two seasons as a starter and I think has rushed for at least 350 yards both years.
44:43So Bo Nix is just solid borderline QB1, QB2 and to get him this late.
44:48Like you can just wait at quarterback and get a productive guy like this this year.
44:53And that was, we mentioned at the top of the episode in that tweet, you know, I actually put like 25 players in the general vicinity.
45:01I think I mentioned quite a few. Tara, you actually check in with one of the players that I had happened to
45:07just throw out that were on his list. So in the ninth round, maybe this will be one of the guys we
45:14look back on was a huge value if it compares to the ninth rounds over the last couple years.
45:20Your guy is who? Yeah, hopefully I make Erickson proud here.
45:23It is Ja'Cory Kroski-Meritt. Ironically, I was anti-JCM last year.
45:27So hopefully I am right again this year in that this is now the opportunity to buy into him.
45:32The problem was, you know, if a team sees you as functionally unable to be on the field for passing downs, that's a problem, right?
45:40But he knew that. He worked on it all offseason.
45:43The report seemed to come through that he has made a leap in that skill set.
45:48I doubt he improved so much that he surpasses Rashad White in terms of the upside there with that skill set, but
45:55the goal isn't to be better than Rashad White.
45:58It's to not be a liability so that the team doesn't have to telegraph plays and they can actually trust you on
46:04passing downs and not have to have a one-for-one role there.
46:08JCM has priority in terms of short yardage opportunities over Rashad White so the improved receiving work and blocking can put him
46:15in a position to be a three-down back. He now offers that opportunity here and I love that we don't have to have a hyped-up ADP.
46:23This is a very reasonable spot to draft him for a guy who, if he becomes a true three-down back, could be a RB1.
46:30Okay, so we are going to go to the 10th round and before we go into kind of a lightning space where
46:37you guys can plow through your last four picks, but the reason we're going to stop here in the 10th round, you took the same guy.
46:45You guys both have the same perfect pick in the 10th round.
46:48Tara, we're going to just give both of your takes on it since we're rounding around here.
46:54It's snakes to you. Why don't you kick this tight end off?
46:57This is the first tight end off the board.
47:00Fitzy kind of teased it a little bit earlier and you guys both just agree.
47:05This is one of two players you actually have full agreement on the round, by the way.
47:10I think it's the final pick in this draft.
47:13You guys agree, so there's a little tease, but this one on the tight end front.
47:18Talk to us about your tight end. Yeah, last call here.
47:21If you did not go early, do not surpass going over Dallas Goddard.
47:25I've been pro Isaiah likely, not, I'm a little concerned about what we saw in the preseason.
47:30Goddard had a fantastic season last year, career year, oddly enough.
47:3460 receptions, 11 touchdowns with A.J. Brown gone. His presence is needed even more in the red zone.
47:39So double digit touchdowns is a very big reality.
47:42He caught 13 of 15 red zone targets. Eight of those were inside the five.
47:47That was the most of any tight end inside the five last year, resulting in seven touchdowns.
47:52This is a pick that we know he's going to miss a couple of games, but at this value in double digit rounds, I think it's worth it.
48:00Fitz, same guy. Dallas Goddard, you're tied in. And you kind of passed on the top guys.
48:06You found a comfort level. So talk to us about your take on Dallas Goddard.
48:10I don't know if he's going to score another 11 touchdowns or if Sean Mannion is going to keep running that little
48:17shovel pass to Dallas Goddard that netted so many touchdowns for him last year.
48:21But I know that Dallas Goddard has averaged at least four catches a game for four straight years.
48:27And that was with A.J. Brown around. No more A.J.
48:30Brown. No more A.J. Brown. I like it. All right.
48:33So this is going to be a lightning round.
48:36You have four picks left. Pat, we're going to go to you.
48:40You can give us a little snippet on all four of your picks in rounds 11, 12, 13, and 14.
48:46Who are your four players? Yeah. Wandale Robinson in the 11th.
48:49I want to get odds on Wandale Robinson getting more targets than Carnell Tate because I kind of think that's going to happen.
48:56And Wandale has played with play caller Brian Dable before.
48:59Sometimes those books, by the way, I didn't mean to interrupt you, but sometimes those books will do like the teammate versus teammate, the player versus player ones.
49:08That would be a really cool one to have a bet on.
49:12Yeah. Give me plus money on Wandale, please. So I just think he's, you know, like it's kind of scammy PPR production,
49:18but I don't mind a good scam. All right.
49:21Scammer. So I'll take it. Less scammy. Jaden Higgins, I think we could be on the verge of a breakout.
49:27We're getting it not only from the coaching staff and the organization, but like Nico Collins himself has said that Jaden Higgins
49:34like has the potential to be like one of the faces of the NFL.
49:38Um, Higgins is just this big productive receiver who, um, sky's the limit.
49:42I think we're going to see a year or two breakout for him.
49:46Then Malik Willis, I'm going to take a second quarterback.
49:49I just, man, he is averaged. I know it's a small sample size, six NFL starts.
49:54He's averaged eight and a half fantasy points just with his legs.
49:58And he's going to need to run a lot because the Dolphins might have, you know, one of the worst, uh, wide
50:05receiver groups in the league, if not the worst, but, um, Willis can run and he really made strides as a passer
50:12in his two years with the Packers under Matt LaFleur.
50:15And then finally, we're going to end it with Jonah Coleman.
50:18I just look, J.K. Dobbins has, uh, an alarming injury history.
50:21R.J. Harvey kind of failed when, uh, he got the chance to take over the backfield last year, like the Denver running
50:28game was just completely dysfunctional by the playoffs. So Jonah Coleman, who's also a good pass catcher and pass blocker, like I
50:35think he's going to have a, uh, you know, Swiss army knife rolling.
50:39We have routinely seen Sean Payton's backfields have like two or three fantasy relevant guys going back to his New Orleans days.
50:46Wasn't the most recent thing too, where they're just like, he was like, pulled him.
50:50I don't need to see anything more than what we've been seeing, which is just like, like quietly glaring, huge, positive reviews of Jonah Coleman.
50:58And you can just feel it too. Everyone's like, Ooh, Dobbins might come back or it's RJ Harvey season.
51:04Then it's going to be like, Nope. Jonah Coleman's becoming one of my favorite late round, like really, cause people will play
51:11the like, Oh, it could do like, you know, Claiborne.
51:14Emma Johnson is fun, but like Jonah Coleman really feels like one that has like a pan out potential.
51:20So I really, I really, really like this one, which you both are going to agree on.
51:25So Tara, same to you. Rounds 11, 12, 13, and then 14.
51:29My round 11. I do love Wanda Robinson too.
51:31I could have gone that direction. There's some other good options as well.
51:35I am going to take the hype here of Dijon Stripling.
51:39It is pushed up. It is no longer, it's jumped up dramatically here, but with good reason.
51:44We know that this 49ers team is a massive injury risk.
51:47Love Mike Evans, but we've seen the hamstrings coming apart.
51:50Unfortunately, if they managed to hold up, fantastic. If not, Stripling does have the opportunity and he showcased it in preseason, the
51:57opportunity to step up and really produce in what obviously is just one of the most reliable cores that we have in systems in San Francisco.
52:05Then in round 12, it is Jalen Coker. I was in on Coker before the Chris Brazel injury, but it does make
52:12it even more clear that we know for sure Jalen Coker is the second look in this offense.
52:18And it could kind of be a Wanda Robinson-ish situation like Pat was talking about where from a volume perspective, perspective, I
52:24can see Coker pushing for potentially more receptions here as we get more of the bigger play, bigger yardage stuff to Teddero McMillan.
52:31So good volume play, good PPR look. He ended off the season fantastic and clearly surpassed Xavier.
52:37Look at it was not even close. Then in round 13, this was tough because I was looking at Casey Concepcion earlier.
52:43I love both of them and I was like, I don't want to do two Browns.
52:48Everyone will roast me for that. But draft a Browns receiver, okay?
52:52If you can't get Concepcion, then come around here to the later rounds and grab Denzel Boston.
52:57They're both starters and when we're looking at two wide receiver sets, it is going to be more than likely Denzel Boston
53:04that is staying on the field there because Casey Concepcion is playing out of the slot.
53:09I love them both. I know the quarterback situation, but we're talking about late double-digit Brown picks here.
53:14You want to invest in a high upside rookie.
53:17They're both just so talented and then in round 14, it is Jonah Coleman for me.
53:22100% agree with you guys. I do not think this becomes the RJ Harvey show because of the efficiency issues we saw last season when J.K.
53:30Dobbins does go down. We will have Jonah Coleman inserted in there in the Dobbins role so we can get solid RB2
53:37production and maybe more because he could contribute potentially on third downs as well.
53:41The perfect teams, the draft target in every single round where it works beautifully and here's what those teams look like.
53:48Tara, you finished with that quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Your running back room was a Marion Hampton, DeAndre Swift, Chagory Krosky-Merritt and Jonah
53:55Coleman, a heavy wide receiver core of Amonra St.
53:57Brown, Zay Flowers, Terry McLaurin, those would be your three wide outs, Parker Washington at flex and then he had a bench
54:04of Chris Godwin, Dijon Stribling, Jalen Coker, Denzel Boston.
54:07That is pretty dang good with Dallas Goddard at tight end.
54:10After looking at it just really, really quick, are you super happy with when you were really hyper-focused on the rounds and kind of thinking of the construction?
54:19Does the construction really play out to something you want to attack into the season?
54:23Yes, from a mid-round perspective, I think this is the best way to approach it.
54:28There are other guys I would have loved to have, obviously, but from a construction standpoint, I love this team.
54:34Fitzy, Fitzy, you've got Bo Nix, a quarterback. You even tabbed in a backup quarterback in Malik Willis.
54:40Your running back room is really, really strong. Ashton Gentey, Ken Walker is your starters.
54:44Basial Tootin, who can check in as your flex, but on the bench, you've got Jonathan Brooks, Blake Corum, and Jonah Coleman.
54:51Your wideouts, Emeka Egbuka, Jalen Waddell, Jameson Williams, Wanda Robinson, Jaden Higgins, so a little bit lighter on the names, but really
54:58strong, at least as far as depth goes, because if Wanda were to be a flex, you only had Jaden Higgins on
55:05the bench, but Wanda gets to play that, and you also have Dallas Goddard.
55:09It's the same question after looking at this after the fact and seeing the full construction.
55:14Do you like what you put together? I do, because it's a robust group at wide receiver and running back, and I
55:21think August has been a good reminder that injuries are going to ravage us once the season hits, and there's always more
55:27replacement value at the onesie positions, quarterback and tight end, than there is at running backs and wide receivers, so get those guys.
55:35Do not cut corners in the draft, and as much as I like the tight ends, well, sometimes you have to make
55:41sacrifices in order to build a roster injuries, bye weeks, etc.
55:45I love it. I think it's great, too, because you built up those guys so well, but you did a really good
55:52job of constructing a way from that, and maybe that's even where you want to go, but what do you guys think that we're watching and listening?
56:00Drop your comments below if you're watching on YouTube.
56:03Which team did you love? Which picks did you love?
56:06And what does your perfect team look like? You can drop in the comments below.
56:10We'd love to see it. If you're listening on the audio side, come on over to the YouTube side.
56:16You can interact there, but thank you guys for listening wherever you are.
56:20Make sure you lock into Fantasy Pros for the draft season, whether you're syncing your leagues for draft Intel, the draft Wizard,
56:27the cheat sheets that we talked about, we got you covered for whatever draft need so you can construct your perfect team and win your leagues.
56:35That's going to do it for us. For Pat Fitzmorris and Tara Roberts, I'm Chris Welsh.
56:40Thanks for hanging with us, and we'll talk to you next time right here on Fantasy Pros.
56:45Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
56:48If 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.
56:57Follow us on X, Instagram, and TikTok at Fantasy Pros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at youtube.com slash fantasypros.
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