Fantasy Football Draft Rankings & Tiers | Wide Receiver Must-Have Targets, Busts to Avoid & Sleepers (Ep. 2031)
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May 21, 2026
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Thu, May 21, 2026
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Episode Transcript
0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. It's smart to always have a few financial goals.
0:04And a really smart one you can set? Earning cash back on what you buy every day.
0:09And with Discover, you can. Get this. Discover automatically matches all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year.
0:16Seriously. All of it. And we trust you to make smart decisions.
0:19I mean, after all, you listen to this show.
0:21See terms at discover.com slash credit card. All right.
0:24And welcome into the FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast.
0:26The NFL offseason rolls on as does our early ranking series.
0:29In this episode, it's all about the wide receivers, arguably the most important position on your roster these days.
0:35That's right. We're going to preview the top 50 as we approach the unofficial start of summer that is Memorial Day weekend.
0:41And back with me is a couple absolute astute rankers in the industry, including Mr.
0:45Big Pod Energy himself. He's a man who has been adding titles over the past year or so.
0:50Husband, homeowner, and now dog dad, Andrew Erickson. Great to be back with you.
0:54Any big plans for the now family of three for the long weekend?
0:58Try to get some sleep. That's usually in the cards here as well.
1:01But it is a special weekend for me as well because my birthday is on Sunday.
1:06Oh, happy birthday. And this usually doesn't happen because Memorial Day changes.
1:09I think exactly. I think it's like the last Monday in May or whatever it is that's shaped up.
1:14So it's usually not the same weekend. But this year in particular, get birthday, get Memorial Day the day after.
1:20So we'll plan in some IPAs. Well, that's that's a story.
1:23That's some porch beers. It'll be fun. Well, I'm glad to hear that, man.
1:27Happy 21st birthday to you a little bit early as we head into the weekend.
1:31And we're also back tapping into one of the biggest brains and the deepest collection of graphic tees that money can buy these days.
1:38He's the athletics Jake Seeley. Jake, what's good down there on the shores of Virginia for the holiday weekend, pal?
1:43Oh, yeah. I wore the fun hat because I know you guys can't zoom out too far when Andrew's on.
1:49So you don't get to really see the fun tea.
1:52There you go. Bad news, Andrew. Also, I was looking up your birthday for famous birthdays.
1:56And you don't I mean, the top three people are tick tock and YouTube stars.
2:00That's all you need to know how bad it is.
2:03Queen Victoria. Share it with Queen Victoria. That helps you.
2:06But sorry about that. You don't get the benefit of me.
2:09I have some like Russell Wilson. And who else was like Drake or somebody?
2:13I don't know. There's a bunch on the November.
2:15That's not much better. That's not much better. November 29th has a lot.
2:19I just remember looking at it the other day, but just, you know, celebrating the fact that it won't be 90 degrees
2:25this weekend like it has been for the last three days.
2:28We're getting that. I'm sure ran through you already.
2:31Seth is that that that heat stroke that's coming through here.
2:34Chadwick Bosman is on my birthday, too. So like that was nice.
2:37Okay, you got one there. Don Cheadle, Hallie Mandel, Annie Ferris, like told you Russell Wilson, Andrew McCarthy.
2:42Like we got we got a lot. One person that does share my birthday is Bob Dylan.
2:47So that is a good job. Oh, really? How is that the first one that came up?
2:51Like how's that? Anyway, well, congratulations on Bob Dylan then.
2:54And Jake, I'm hoping the heat kind of stays around.
2:57I'm going up north into New York State this weekend.
3:00Got the bachelor party. We're going to be doing some golfing on Saturday.
3:03So need that heat to stay around a little bit.
3:06And I'm sure there's going to be a lot of fantasy football discussion because whenever I get together with some of my
3:12friends that I haven't seen in a while, it's always this time of year.
3:16Hey, who are you starting to look at? Who are you trying to game?
3:20And, you know, I've already lost a brother to a fantasy football draft earlier this year.
3:25He's disowned me from the family. So hoping my friends don't go the same direction after potentially hearing this episode where we're
3:31going to have some wide receiver takes for y'all.
3:33And before we jump into that, a quick reminder and a shout out to everyone across the Internet for tuning in.
3:39We really appreciate that. And please do us a quick favor and give this video a thumbs up.
3:44If you enjoyed this type of content, make sure you subscribe right here to the FantasyPros YouTube channel and the audio feed.
3:50And also a quick reminder that this show is powered by our expert consensus rankings that can be found at fancypros.com slash rankings.
3:57And a part of those rankings is our tier one of wide receivers, gentlemen, where Jamar Chase is going to come in
4:03at 101 overall for us at this position. Puka Nakua after a pretty interesting offseason, say the least here at two overall.
4:09And then Jackson Smith Najibba coming off just a sensational Super Bowl offensive player of the year season at three overall.
4:15So the top tier certainly seems to be consensus across really everyone's rankings I'm seeing on the site right now, Erickson.
4:20The question I have is I got Puka Nakua at number one overall.
4:24I think he's out on the field. I think he's arguably the safest of these options.
4:29What argument can you make of the three pass catchers of who should be number one overall for you?
4:34So I also have Jamar Chase number one. So I agree with the consensus there.
4:38I just think that the combination of Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow, I think it's what we're going to see again, like
4:44we saw in 2024 when they were the wide receiver one or Chase was the wide receiver one when Burrow was healthy.
4:50So both of them have quarterbacks that you have question marks about.
4:54Well, can they play a full 17 game season?
4:56So kind of splitting hairs when it comes to banking on the health of the quarterback.
5:01But at least with Chase feel a little bit more confident about his dependability and he's going to be out there a
5:07little bit more than Puka, who I feel like leaves every game a little bit banged up.
5:11So again, it's really close. I'm not going to knock anybody if you want Puka instead of Jamar Chase.
5:17But I think Chase is the best wide receiver in the NFL and the number one guy in fantasy.
5:22Jake, I do agree with Erickson. There are just question marks for me of not will he stay healthy?
5:27Will Joe Burrow stay healthy behind that offensive line?
5:30And also, like, can you take some of these shrapnel hits that you're going to take with Jamar Chase?
5:35We know the Bengals typically slow starters. Chase got off to a rocky start a season ago as well.
5:40So are you willing to take that with the number one overall wide receiver?
5:44Or are you going a different position if you do have that luxury of the first pass catcher off the board?
5:50Yeah, I would love to have the fourth pick if I don't have the first.
5:54Maybe even the second. I can see the argument for B.
5:57John Gibbs going 1-2. Basically, my point being is I want the decision taken in my hands where I'm just left one of the three.
6:04Like, I think any argument you make for any of the three, I'm okay with.
6:08I would drop off a complete tier as this tier sits.
6:11I think there's – neither of you guys brought it up.
6:15I think there's a case for Smith and Jigba to be the number one.
6:18Because Smith and Jigba just had his breakout, had 17 fantasy points per game, was more than Chase.
6:23And I know that Chase played a lot without Joe Burrow last year.
6:27But there's floors to all of them. There's the risk.
6:30I agree with Andrew. I have Niku in a lot of leagues because I had him in a lot of leagues where
6:36I was high when he came out of rookie.
6:38Not – I didn't expect this. Let me make that clear.
6:42Sure, sure. But I sat through the frustration of like, this is freaking Julio Jones, man.
6:46Just stay on the field. Like, every game is like, what the heck happened?
6:50And now he's coming back. And now he's going out.
6:53He's coming back. So if you want to make that argument, maybe Stafford isn't healthy for his entire season.
6:58And Chase, we just saw the floor of him.
7:00But we know that he can be a 20-point game per guy.
7:04But that was also one out of his five seasons.
7:07And then you can look at Smith and Jigba and say, you know what?
7:10He just had his breakout season almost 18 fantasy points per game.
7:14And it wasn't a great year from Darnold. Like, if you have any hope that Darnold could play better than he did
7:20last year, maybe Smith and Jigba takes the next step up.
7:23So I present that all to say is I don't have a problem with any of the three.
7:28Mine actually go a little bit different. I'm with you.
7:31I go Nakua, Smith and Jigba, Chase, just because at this point I feel like Chase is kind of the floor of the three.
7:37Like, the least concern, as long as Joe Burrow stays healthy.
7:41But any of the three I'm good with. Okay.
7:43Not much discussion there. So let's go to Tier 2 where we have Amon Ross St.
7:47Brown coming in at 4 overall. A guy tried to fade a year ago.
7:51Will not do the same this season. CD Lamb 5 overall.
7:54Justin Jefferson at 6. Drake London at 7. Nico Collins at 8.
7:58And then Rasheed Rice at 9. So, gents, first things first with this tier.
8:02How does Rasheed Rice alleged 30-day jail sentence after undergoing knee surgery last week with an initial two-month recovery timeline impact or rankings on him?
8:09Sealer, are you moving him up, down, leaving him the same until we know more?
8:13What's your approach to this? That is leaving him until I know more.
8:16Moving him up the ranks. I don't. Like, hopefully I'm not drafting right now.
8:20And I think that if you are, I think the wrist needs to push him down.
8:25I mean, we're talking – you could argue. I'm looking down at the tiers.
8:29Tier 3 might even still be – I think if you slide him back into the Tier 4 when we get to
8:35it between Devontae Smith and Jamison Williams, feels about right because we're assuming – nice timing, by the way, when the injury
8:41just happens to overlap when he's serving the suspension or the jail time.
8:45But, I mean, if he's 100% and there is no more that comes of this, like does the NFL, like this is
8:51part of what they knew or they add on to it?
8:54There's people that have been online, lawyers that have said, like, this probably won't result in more suspensions.
8:59But who knows? But if so, if he's 100% healthy and there is no more of it and he plays week one
9:05from there on out, I mean, Rice is a top 10 wide receiver.
9:08If there's more to it and there is potentially, like the NFL says, this isn't cool, we are going to suspend you
9:15again, then obviously you have to play that risk.
9:17So that's where I would kind of put him as of today.
9:20But I'm not moving – like I haven't moved him in my ranks yet because there's just so much uncertainty.
9:26Andrew, it really is, for lack of a better term, an uncertain situation, right?
9:30This was allegedly happening after a failed drug test for marijuana that he spikes positive for.
9:34And then the judge who is on the verge of retirement who, known to throw out some things and known to kind
9:40of put people in their place a little bit, said, Hey, Rasheed Rice, you're going to go serve this jail sentence now
9:47instead of it potentially being pushed down the line a couple of years until everything is served.
9:51So your thoughts here on Rasheed Rice and how this could maybe affect fantasy managers down the line.
9:56Yeah, I think that Drew Davenport on X did a really good job of kind of like summarizing what this Rice situation could kind of play out as.
10:04And I think the big point that he made was that this 30-day sentence isn't new with this marijuana test.
10:10Like this is the same one that he was going to serve anyway.
10:13It's just a matter of, okay, well, now that you did something bad again, like you got to serve your sentence now.
10:19Like we're not waiting around. You have to serve it now.
10:22But to Jake's point, he's not going to be at OTAs or minicamp anyway because he had this knee scope injury.
10:28So he's going to be rehabbing that. Maybe he's rehabbing it in jail.
10:32I don't know how that works, but maybe the Chiefs know how that works.
10:36The thing that Jake also said that I agree with is he's on the field.
10:40He's the best Chiefs pass catcher and he's healthy or he should be healthy, at least from this cleanup surgery.
10:46So I'm not going to be moving him dramatically in my rankings.
10:49I think that you're going to see people probably panic on him and just assume, oh no, he's going to get suspended
10:55for three games or six games, which I still think is in the range of outcomes for him.
11:00Just based on the NFL might be sick and tired of Rasheed Rice being in the news for another run in with the law.
11:07And that's, okay, this is a repeat offender. We need to punish him.
11:10Maybe you see a three-game suspension like we saw from Jordan Addison, where he was in the headlines for the wrong reasons for things off the field.
11:18Maybe it's a six-game suspension. But that was what happened last year with Rasheed Rice.
11:22He got suspended to start the year. And what happened when he came back?
11:26He was immediately a wide receiver one that you got at a discount.
11:30So we'll see where his ADP kind of shakes up in some of these best ball drafts.
11:34I assume it's going to fall. So for now, I just want to kind of keep watch.
11:39Yeah, I know Scott, fishbowl drafts are underway here in just, I think, a little over a month.
11:44So hopefully we get a little bit more clarity before some of those and some of these more competitive leagues do get underway.
11:50But really looking forward to seeing Rashi Rice back on the field out of the headlines.
11:55I have a wide receiver nine right now. And like, I'm kind of with you.
11:59Like, hey, Eric said, I'm definitely not moving him up.
12:02He's kind of like in his own. He's like in his tier of his own because we just need more information.
12:08Similar to how I kind of view neighbors, right?
12:10Just I want more information about when he's actually to come back and start to play.
12:15So you could kind of put them in their own tier of need more like TBD, like neighbors, TBD, Rashi Rice, TBD.
12:21But, you know, when they're on the field, they're going to be wide receiver ones.
12:25I think the only thing that can make this tricky is what happens if this sparks the Chiefs to go sign Stefan Diggs or Tyreek Hill, right?
12:32Then maybe we can actively push him down in our rankings a little bit.
12:36But until then, he stays a top 10 wide receiver for us in the consensus.
12:40Seeley, what other players in this tier do you think is ranked either too high or too low by our consensus rankers?
12:47So I'll let everybody know most of my picks today are too low.
12:50This is one of the very few too high.
12:53I don't get Nico Collins in this tier at eight.
12:56Like, this is also before Rashi Rice had the situation.
12:58Like, this is, I'm sure Rasheed Rice is going to slide.
13:01Some people will already adjust. But he was already in front of him.
13:05Like, this is before that news even broke. And he's in front of George Pickens and Chris Alave.
13:10And I'm assuming A.J. Brown is a Patriot. But maybe the Chiefs get back into that.
13:14Even McMillick. Because there's a couple things going against Nico Collins.
13:18And I love Nico Collins, the player. It just comes down to the fact that even in his best pace, C.J.
13:23Stroud's rookie season was his best touchdown pace at quarterback.
13:2626 would have been that year if he played 17 games.
13:29The 17 games, Nico Collins hasn't. And we talked about the jokes about the injury with Nakua.
13:34The dude just hasn't played more than 15 games.
13:36Like, we go back 14-10, 15-12, 15. Like, he doesn't stay on the field.
13:40And I know the first two seasons aren't his, like, he really didn't break out in the NFL until his third year.
13:46But between the injuries, between the touchdown potential limit to this offense, and I do think they'll be better this year.
13:52They finally address the offensive line, which will help C.J.
13:55Stroud. And the big thing, I was actually an apologist for Nico Collins because when C.J.
14:00Stroud is under pressure, he actually targets Nico Collins at one of the highest rates of any quarterbacks targeting any of their players when under pressure.
14:07And Nico Collins plays well in those situations. It was one of the top yards-per-route runners.
14:11So, there's all those numbers there, and yet we've still only seen 14-14 and about 13 fantasy points per game.
14:17So, I like Nico Collins. I just don't feel like his name deserves to be in a group with Lamb and St.
14:23Brown and Drake London and basically Jefferson because Rishi Rice is by himself.
14:27Like, I don't think he deserves to be in this group is basically what I'm saying.
14:31Erickson, do you agree with that? Where do you have Nico in your rankings?
14:35I have him in this tier still, but towards the bottom.
14:38So, I'm not taking him over any of those guys for some of the reasons that Jake outlined.
14:43But I also see Nico Collins in a situation where I remember betting him last year to lead the NFL in receiving
14:49yards because of how productive he was when he was healthy at one point in terms of just receiving yards per game.
14:55I still think that he's the clear-cut alpha in the Texans' passing game.
14:59And if we can get C.J. Stroud like a semblance of a run game, like anything with Dave Montgomery, I think that's
15:05going to help out a lot from a passing perspective from Stroud.
15:08So, I do disagree with him being associated, but I don't disagree with him being at the bottom of the tier.
15:14So, technically, if he's the start of the next tier, I necessarily wouldn't push back aggressively against that.
15:19Okay. Erickson, who do you have beef with in this tier, whether it's being ranked too high or too low?
15:25Where's the beef going? So, I don't have too much beef in this particular tier.
15:29Most of my beef is on my grill that I like to have on the porch with my IPAs.
15:34Now, I would say the only player that I looked at here where I think I'm one spot lower and it actually came down to C.D.
15:41Lamb versus Justin Jefferson. And I actually have Jefferson ahead of C.D.
15:45Lamb. And that's because Lamb last year, I was really surprised at how the impact of George Pickens had on his ceiling.
15:51He had one top five weekly finish last year and half PBR C.D.
15:54Lamb. I know he missed some games, but George Pickens had five top five finishes.
15:59And maybe that's just a matter of variance. And it just happened to be the games where George Pickens scored the touchdowns.
16:05And Lamb, when he had 100 yards, he didn't score.
16:08So, maybe that's not really capturing everything. But I was really shocked.
16:11Last year, I was not expecting Pickens to have this big of an impact on C.D.
16:15Lamb. Because his production was drastically different from what he did in 2023 and 2024.
16:19When he was an elite producer, averaged over 20 points per game in full PBR with a healthy Dak Prescott.
16:25Like, that was not the case last year when George Pickens was on the field.
16:29So, it's not a matter of, okay, well, he can't draft Lamb.
16:33He's too expensive. It's just a matter of, well, is he a clear-cut, elite, 20 points per game to have a player with George Pickens?
16:40Last year, that was no. So, that's my only thing I wanted to bring up with my, quote-unquote, beef with C.D.
16:45Lamb versus Justin Jefferson. Who I think is, by far, the clear-cut alpha in his passing attack with Jordan Addison.
16:51Now, you have question marks a little bit more about with the quarterback play.
16:55But last year with Carson Wentz, Justin Jefferson was still hitting, like, 95 receiving yards per game.
17:00With Carson Wentz as his quarterback. So, I think that I can get at least that with Kyler Murray, hopefully.
17:05So, that was my only, quote-unquote, beef that I had in this particular tier.
17:09You're just kind of highlighting the fact that Lamb's numbers fell off compared to without George Pickens in the lineup.
17:15So, maybe not true beef, but, like, tofu kind of level of beef rolling there.
17:19So, and I'm with you, man. Like, C.D. Lamb, like, there were one too many oopsies last year where he just, like,
17:25forgot he had hands that were kind of hard to look past.
17:28And, Jake, is it possible that this Dallas defense actually improves with what they went out and added in the draft?
17:34I think, overall, this team should. And, like, I don't have much of a problem with what Andrew said, especially as we're
17:40about to get into my next player. But, as this was similar to what his argument pushing back on Collins – well,
17:46not really, but pushing back, but just, like, a counterpoint on Collins.
17:50As I'm actually kind of okay with Lamb here, if you want to argue for Jefferson, like, he deserves to be in this tier.
17:56Because I like more of this – and I don't want to say I'm just throwing away last year.
18:02But I think the 20-point season two years ago, 20 points per game, and last year are the two we can kind of toss out.
18:09Like, C.D. Lamb's probably never getting – I would argue never getting back to 20 points per game.
18:14Sure. I would also argue only getting 11.7 is never going to happen again because, as you said, like, healthy was banged
18:20up a lot, like, even playing through the injuries.
18:22And the interesting thing was he was actually better when George Pickens was on the field.
18:27Like, his numbers were better on a per-target basis when George Pickens was out there with him than when he was only
18:33out there himself, whether George Pickens was, like, a one wide receiver set or whatever it might be.
18:38So – and a lot of that has to do with play calling too.
18:42But I just think a lot went wrong for C.D.
18:44Lamb last year. And part of it that I would say why he's never getting back to the 20 is because I
18:51think Pickens is going to take away that touchdown equity.
18:53Like, that's still his game. Like, I don't think C.D.
18:56Lamb's ever getting back to 10-plus touchdowns. So I have C.D.
18:59Lamb in this tier. I get the Justin Jefferson.
19:02I'd have a tough time deciding between Drake London and C.D.
19:05Lamb if they were both on the board. Maybe lean to Drake London for that target share that we know is going to be his.
19:12But that's obviously a big quarterback question. But I don't have a problem with Lamb.
19:16I don't have a problem with Andrew's point saying, like, maybe a spot or two lower.
19:20Like, where did you have Lamb, Andrew? By the way, just out of curiosity.
19:24So I had him six. So I was actually, like, struggling with him, Jefferson.
19:28And I guess for me it's just I really want to draft Justin Jefferson.
19:32Like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just like, I'm just, I just want to get this guy on my team.
19:38And because Lamb is, like, one spot ahead of him and someone's following my rankings, I'm just, just draft Justin Jefferson.
19:44Like, that's who I want the most out of, you know, again, talking about these tiers.
19:48I just, I think he's so slated for a bounce back.
19:52Like, throw out everything with McCarthy last year. Like, I just want to, like, erase it from my mind and just get Justin Jefferson.
19:58And if that means taking him over a guy like Lamb, I think that I am willing to do it just based
20:04on the production dip that we saw with Pickens also in the lineup just from a points per game basis.
20:10Yeah. Okay. And before we keep it moving, a real quick reminder that our Dynasty Draft Simulator actually lets you crush a
20:16full mock draft in just minutes with absolutely no waiting in between your picks.
20:20You can customize every setting to match your league's exact format.
20:23And for our MVP and Hall of Fame subscribers, well, you can actually also test your trade scenarios by mocking with your actual traded draft picks.
20:30Not in this tier yet. Grab a three-day free trial of a premium subscription right now at fantasypros.com slash dynasty26.
20:36Again, that's fantasypros.com slash dynasty26. Prepare for your rookie drafts and dynasty startup drafts all in one place.
20:41Go to fantasypros.com slash simulator and be the most prepared person on draft day.
20:45Gentlemen, I just finished up a startup draft. First one, I think, in maybe two years that I've done.
20:50And let me tell you, nothing like our tools in our rankings that got me prepared for that.
20:55So shout out to the Dynasty Draft Simulator and the Dynasty Draft Assistant as well.
20:59That was great to have there. Let's go ahead in to tier three where it's Malik Neighbors coming in at 10 overall guy.
21:06I had ranked a lot higher before this more recent news came out where, hey, we need another cleanup surgery as well.
21:12Trying to get back here for week one. They're hopeful.
21:14They haven't committed to anything right there in New Jersey yet.
21:18And then George Pickens at 11 overall. Chris Olave after a bounce back season is at 12.
21:22AJ Brown at 13 currently with the Philadelphia Eagles.
21:25We'll see as June approaches where he does land if it is with New England as reported.
21:29And then Ted Rowe McMillan comes in at 14 overall off of that Offensive Rookie of the Year season.
21:35And then Tee Higgins at 15 once again. Erickson, which receiver in this tier are you above or below consensus on, if any?
21:41So I'm a little bit above consensus on Ted Rowe McMillan.
21:44I think that he is a player that showcased a lot of consistency being tasked with, okay, you're the number one wide
21:50receiver in our offense from day one. Right. He had no kind of runway to like, okay, you're a receiver.
21:56You're going to have a second half breakout. It was like, no, like you need to be our passing game because Jalen Coker is injured.
22:03We can't rely on Jatavian Sanders. You're the guy.
22:05And I think that what he did as a rookie, again, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year, where I know it was
22:11a down year for some of the rookies, especially the running backs overall, but still really impressive.
22:16Wide receiver 15 overall. Wide receiver 26 in points per game is really more of a, I think it's a better way to kind of describe his finish.
22:24If you had him on your roster, especially in the first half of the season, there wasn't a lot of weak winning performances from TMAC.
22:31We talked about it a lot on the trade show, myself and Worm that, okay, he's like not delivering like these big spike weeks.
22:38Part of that was because Bryce Young is your quarterback.
22:40Part of it was also, we want to run the ball between Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdle.
22:45So it was kind of more of those circumstantial factors that I think held Tetrault McMillan back.
22:50But in the games where he actually got fed double digit targets, 18 fantasy points per game and half PPR.
22:55So when they decided, okay, we're going to let it rip a little bit here with TMAC, I thought that he was a monster.
23:02I thought he was as advertised as the best wide receiver in the 2025 draft class.
23:07So this is just kind of a bet on a really talented rookie taking another step forward into year two.
23:12I think the only thing holding him back really is the quarterback and the offensive play calling.
23:17If it's just a little bit more of, okay, we're going to be bonafiding pass rate over expectation.
23:22We're not going to hashtag let Bryce Young cook, which I don't necessarily disagree with.
23:26I don't think that he is the most prolific passer, but to Bryce Young's credit and Dave Canales, Young has improved every year of his NFL career.
23:34And I think adding a receiver like TMAC helped him get a lot better.
23:37And another thing I looked at too from the next gen stats, I noticed that in just kind of like looking at
23:44the stats every single week when I write some of my recap articles is some of the most consistent fantasy producers and
23:50high-end fantasy producers at the wide receiver position. They put up a lot of their yardage on in-breaking routes, kind of just
23:56like how you're seeing a lot of receivers dominate today.
23:59McMillan, seventh in yards on in-breaking routes behind guys like JSN, Puka Nakua, George Pickens, Amonra St.
24:03Brown, like all the guys we talked about at the top of the board in fantasy, he is checking off some of those boxes.
24:10So I just think it's one of these things where it looks like an alpha, smells like an alpha.
24:15He's probably just an alpha wide receiver. And I think that he can take the next step.
24:20And at worst case scenario, maybe he finishes right outside the wide receiver one territory again.
24:24I'm okay with that where at least I can shoot on the upside that, oh man, I could see him being a
24:31top five guy if he really takes that next step forward in his second season.
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24:54See terms at discover.com slash credit card. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers.
24:58And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news now?
25:01Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas.
25:04We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.
25:07We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts.
25:10Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend.
25:13But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with the name Hey Jonas, guys?
25:18I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.
25:23And we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers.
25:28This is how you guys remember it going down?
25:30Yes. I have a very different memory of this.
25:33We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, Hey Jonas.
25:39And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.
25:45But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
25:51Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.
25:53Yeah. And he's someone, whether it was time down there at Arizona or now here in the NFL where he hasn't missed a lot of time, right?
26:01He's younger than some of these other receivers he's ranked around.
26:04It feels like he might be a little bit less of an injury risk, but he doesn't have the best quarterback, right?
26:10And that's kind of what we have to sift through.
26:13Jake, based on what they did in the draft, adding Chris Brazel there on day two, are you in out on Tedron McMillan at the current price tag?
26:21Does it sound about right? What Erickson's saying? Yeah.
26:23I'm good with the price where he's at. If you want to argue a little bit higher, like, okay, maybe if you
26:29want to say, as of today, we don't know AJ Brown.
26:32Maybe if you want to downgrade Chris Alave for Tyson coming in and maybe it siphons some off of him.
26:38Like, I wouldn't because I'm good where he's at.
26:40Mostly because, and this isn't to be like, ha, ha, ha, I predicted his stat line, but I was almost on like
26:46100% on his stat line from last year. And it's the production basis on the per targets that Andrew brought up.
26:52You still have to rely on Bryce Young. So I'm with this if he gets to 140 plus targets that he could
26:58get higher, that he could get to wide receiver one territory, that he could even be a top 10 because 140 targets,
27:04it's pretty hard not to be top 10 as long as your quarterback is capable, Justin Jefferson from before.
27:10But I think that's the biggest question. If he gets to 140, I'm not worried that much about Brazel taking away from him.
27:16I'm not really worried about whether anybody on this roster takes much away from him as long as he's seeing that volume,
27:22which kind of says more to a per game basis for the entire team versus more of his target share.
27:28Because his target share, I don't think is going to change even with any addition that they make, including Brazel so far.
27:34But I think if he gets to 140, that ratio of receptions, yards, and touchdowns are pretty much going to stay the same.
27:40And that uptick is just going to get him inside the top 10.
27:44So that's what I want to say. Seth, can I add two things?
27:48I just wanted to... Yeah. I just answered for Seth.
27:50No, you're not. That's fine. That's fine. We're taking over the show.
27:54So I think with Brazel too, I think his addition is going to help boost efficiency for T-Mac because of the way
28:00that he can stretch the field, make it a little bit easier for T-Mac to operate underneath.
28:05Because that was the big thing. Rookie year, T-Mac wasn't this like super hyper-efficient wide receiver.
28:09Like he was pretty good. He did a lot of double teams.
28:12Catching a lot of double teams. Again, from day one, it's like you're the number one guy in our offense as a rookie.
28:19Like go. So you're going to run some growing pains there.
28:22But I thought that he improved in the second half of the season.
28:25So I think bringing in Brazel to kind of just like open things up a little bit, I think really helps.
28:31And the other thing I wanted to mention too is love Mike Clay's projections.
28:35And I have to mention this because you mentioned the exact number.
28:39He has T-Mac on 140 targets. Exactly. So I just like that you listed that off as the exact number.
28:44I just want to make sure I added that too.
28:47Because I think, yeah, I mean, last year he hit over 120.
28:50So I think that he can definitely flirt with 140 targets and he plays 17 games.
28:55Well, shout out Mike Clay, fellow PA State scholar.
28:57Kutztown University alumnus Mike Clay. And speaking of a guy who used to reside in Pennsylvania, Jake, who do you have in
29:03this year that you're either higher or lower on than consensus?
29:06So George Pickens, I think that his name needs to deserve, like deserves to be with the tier we just talked about alongside T Higgins.
29:13He just had 14 fantasy points per game over 14 fantasy points per game.
29:17I brought up the fact when we're talking about Lamb, that he was more the touchdown maker.
29:22And I know a lot of people were talking about his two huge games early in the season without Lamb.
29:28He also had two huge games after Lamb came back.
29:30And then they kind of went back and forth for the rest of the year.
29:34And I don't care about the back and forth because I don't care about the back and forth.
29:39T Higgins just two years ago, by the way, if you take players that played at least 10 games because Rasheed Rice
29:46and Chris Godwin fall into this group, if not.
29:48So number one, Jamar Chase and fantasy points per game.
29:51Number two is T Higgins. If you want to throw Rice and Godwin ahead of him, but whether, okay, he's number four.
29:57And then we've seen A.J. Brown and Devontae Smith both finish as wide receiver ones just a few years ago, averaging over 13 fantasy points per game.
30:05And that's what I'm going back to is he had 14.
30:08And I'm saying that Lamb should get back to 14 to 15.
30:11Pickens can stay in the 14 to 15 without a drop off or anything siphoning off Lamb because they did it back
30:17and forth once they were both healthy down the stretch.
30:20And that's where I'm looking at here. And to go to Andrew's point is that that's what works so well.
30:25Yeah, it hurt Lamb being able to get back to 17, 18, 19 fantasy points per game.
30:30But having that number two across from him helped Pickens get the best out of his game.
30:35And also, like I said, Lamb was actually doing better with Pickens.
30:38It just didn't help us in fantasy because of the touchdowns.
30:41But I just think Pickens deserves to have his name into that previous group because those are where we're talking about 14 plus fantasy points per game guys.
30:49And that's what he is. I don't think there's going to be a fall off even if Lamb stays 100% healthy.
30:55And it's funny to tell you, Andrew, why you said the 140 targets.
30:59Well, Pickens just had 137 for 93, 1409 touchdowns for 14.43 fantasy points per game, which put him at six.
31:04So I think that's in play for McMillan if he gets to that 140 because it's a very similar projection line.
31:10Andrew, GP or McMillan for you this season? Both?
31:12It's still going to be a GP for me.
31:15So I have GP at 10. So I'm actually one spot ahead of consensus on George Pickens.
31:20So yeah, I mean, I was wrong about the Dallas off.
31:23You hate him. An ultimate hater, I guess. Do you like, so you like both Lamb and Pickens at cost?
31:28Or do you prefer one? I mean, Pickens is obviously cheaper.
31:31Well, no, no, no. Yeah, Pickens at cost is cheaper.
31:34And also I can get him, like knowing that I'm probably going to get him because I have him two or three spots ahead of what RDP is.
31:42Lamb is right at. So. Or actually counterpoint with Pickens.
31:45Would you lower him if he is like a holdout?
31:47And it's like, I want the long term. Because I'm out.
31:51Because like, that's the thing. Don't do the holdout thing.
31:53Well, that's the thing. Yes. No, but this happens though.
31:56Like Terry McLaurin last year. Holdout. Like it was like immediate fade.
31:59Like fade this guy into a bulimian. So I'm going to reference something for that for everybody out there.
32:05A few years ago, and this isn't, this isn't haha, I talk to him.
32:09But like, okay, Mike Tomlin's from Hampton Roads area.
32:11I'm in Hampton Roads area. He has a benefit foundation for kids here.
32:15And this is where I got to interview him.
32:17This goes all the way back to Le'Veon Bell.
32:20And this is relevant for what you just asked, Andrew.
32:23And I said, are you worried about Le'Veon Bell?
32:25It was the year that he actually had the suspension to start the season.
32:29And I said, are you worried about him when he comes back?
32:32And he said, I'll tell you this, that people don't realize.
32:35He said, when it comes to these players, I don't have any concerns that they're in shape.
32:40He's like, they're going, they know how to take care of their bodies.
32:44He said, but there's a difference in workout shape and game shape.
32:47It's two completely different things. And he goes, I want them out there being able to be game shape and be able
32:53to have those hits and be ready. So to your point about the holdout.
32:57Yeah. I know we're talking about practice, but practice does matter to a degree.
33:01And you just, Terry McLaurin is a good reference point.
33:04Yeah, absolutely. I got, got by Brandon Iyuk a couple of seasons ago.
33:07I've refused to do it. He's in a world of his own at this point.
33:12We talked about, I remember Cho was on me.
33:14It was like, what state is he in? Like mentally, like physically, where is Brandon Iyuk in the world?
33:19We don't know. Where in the world is Brandon Iyuk?
33:22I still don't think we know honestly where this guy is.
33:25He might be chilling up in Andrew's neighborhood for all we know at this point.
33:29But let's go ahead to tier four here. Gentlemen, Devonta Smith in at 16 overall.
33:3417 Garrett Wilson. 18 Devonta Adams. Lad McConkie at 19.
33:36Jake's best friend, Zay Flowers at 20. Luther Byrd in the third at 21.
33:40Terry McLaurin, there he is. 22 overall. Jalen Waddell with a new home out in Denver.
33:4523. Ameca Abuka as potentially maybe the presumptive wide receiver one there in Tampa Bay at 24.
33:49Mike Evans on to greener pastures out there in San Francisco at 25.
33:53And then Jamo, Jameson Williams at 26. The back half of wide receiver two finishers last year.
33:58Largely disappointing, right? But I have to tell you guys, like I'm really intrigued by some of these names.
34:03So Sealy, is there one of them that maybe I should be a little leery of in this group?
34:08Not leery. I am actually back. This is funny.
34:11We did the quarterback show and I said, we've gone so far down this road that from day one, I hated Daniel
34:17Jones and I was the Daniel Jones hater. And the hate's gone so far that now I become the Daniel Jones supporter.
34:23Okay. Well, same boat. For years, I talked about Zay Flowers in this offense and his touchdown cap ceiling and the way this team plays.
34:30And I was like, Zay Flowers is a really good low end wide receiver two.
34:34It's cool. Let's just accept it. Like we don't have to hope for more.
34:38And that's where like the hate came from when people want to draft.
34:42Well, he has the potential to be a wide receiver one.
34:45And it's like, I get that. But the offense needs to change for that.
34:49Well, we are changing. And we also just saw the changes.
34:52Mark Andrews basically fell off a cliff. One of the worst.
34:55I don't know if you saw the stat yesterday.
34:57I forget who tweeted it out. But it was one of the worst yards per route run and yards after the catch
35:03for any tight end in like the past 10 years.
35:06And basically a touchdown guy. Now, Isaiah likely is out the door.
35:10And they still, they did address in the draft, the wide receiver position.
35:13But like. Certainly did. But flyer kind of like, we hope one of these.
35:17And I don't want to say flyer. I like the talent of both.
35:21But both of these guys being like, we hope they can step up and become a number two.
35:26There is nobody on this team that is definitively the number two.
35:29It's kind of a collection of parts. And then you add in Declan Doyle, who I brought up on the other show with Lamar Jackson.
35:36A lot of play action potentially here. And Lamar Jackson is one of the best.
35:40And he just was the past two years. Best play action throwers in the league in touchdowns and first downs per attempt.
35:46And now you add that to the offense with Zay Flowers, who just took that final step forward that we wanted to see.
35:53The touchdowns can be there, even if he's only that being Lamar Jackson's only throwing 28, 30 instead of that 41.
35:58But all that being said is, now I'm the Zay Flowers guy because I have him at 16.
36:03Still in this tier. What? But we've gone full circle to the point where apparently now I'm Zay Flowers supporter because I don't understand.
36:10This is so weird. Maybe I have more power than I think.
36:14I'm just joking when I say that. But it's like, we don't need to put him as a wide receiver one.
36:19Just understand he's wide receiver 18 to 20, 18 to 20, 18 to 20.
36:23And then he has a top 10 finish. And I'm like, oh yeah, I like what Doyle can potentially do here.
36:29I'm going to put it at 16. And then I look and he's 20.
36:33And I'm like, I thought I'd still be the low guy.
36:36Well, things change. I've kind of flipped on him, honestly, where last year I had a lot of Zay Flowers just because I thought the price was fair.
36:44I'm kind of out just because it wasn't a fun ride, to be honest.
36:48You had the spike game in week one. No one really knew if they should play him or not.
36:53And then besides that, the lack of touchdowns is real here.
36:56The lack of deep passing for Lamar Jackson last season was real.
36:59I worry about the injury concerns there. And like, Andrew, for me, I just think a lot of these other receivers in this tier.
37:06I mean, look at Jameson Williams. This guy's been a wide receiver one before he's down there.
37:11Mike Evans, Emeka Buka. I just think there's more upside down in this tier further, including Eric, a guy that comes in
37:17one spot above Zay Flowers in our consensus rankings that you'd like to talk about.
37:21So I don't have this guy above Zay Flowers, to be clear.
37:24I think that Zay Flowers is above basically all these guys in this tier because I think that he is on a
37:31superstar path, a player that's improved every single year of his NFL career.
37:34Look, last year he was hyper efficient in yards per route run, top five in the NFL.
37:39And that was playing with an injured Lamar Jackson for half the season.
37:43So I think that he's the clear cut number one target option on this team.
37:47I think Declan Doyle is going to run more fast paced than we've seen with Todd Munkin the last two seasons.
37:53Look at how fast paced that Ben Johnson offense was last year where Declan Doyle last spent as a coach.
37:58So I think that this is going to be Zay Flowers, like superstar season where it's the top five season and he's a difference maker.
38:05I just think he's super talented. I think he's so good.
38:08I agree with that. And I think that in a new offense, he'll have the opportunity to be to shine.
38:14So I really like him a lot this year.
38:16Well, I mean, real quick, if you just give him 12 more targets on the pace he was on last year, just 12 more.
38:23That puts him as wide receiver six just behind George Pickens.
38:26Just 12 more targets. Wow. And every year there's always one guy where the conversation going in is, well, he never scores touchdowns.
38:32He never scores touchdowns. Then what happens? Like he just scores touchdowns.
38:36And then he melts fantasy football. It happened with Traymond Pride a couple of years ago.
38:40Oh, that guy can never score. He's allergic to the end zone.
38:43And then what happened? James Cook a couple of seasons ago.
38:47Exactly. So it's like, I know he's super talented.
38:49I know he's a great wide receiver. He just has to.
38:52CeeDee Lamb doesn't really score touchdowns outside of that one season.
38:55Like, I mean, to the volume of what we're talking about.
38:58Right. And just can you pinpoint the season where this is what happens for Zay Flowers as wide receiver wide receiver 20?
39:04I still can't believe Devontae. I'm just going ahead of Zay Flowers.
39:08I said just I just can't wrap my mind, but that's fine.
39:11Ladd McConkie, also a player that I really like in this particular tier.
39:15I want to write off a lot of what happened last year because of all of the injuries that happened to the Chargers offensive line.
39:22The offense was a mess. You guys in and out of the lineup.
39:25Justin Herbert's playing with a broken hand. So I don't want to hold what happened to him last year against him with
39:31Keenan Allen leaving the team of targets. Greg Roman decided, OK, our best way to operate this offense is for Keenan Allen
39:37to be the number one target, not Ladd McConkie.
39:40So that's no longer going to be the case.
39:42Keenan Allen is gone and his team leading targets are also gone from this offense.
39:47So I think that that opens up the opportunity for McConkie to recapture what he did his rookie year where he was a superstar.
39:53Again, we were drafting him as a back-end fantasy wide receiver one after his rookie season because of how great that he was.
40:00So I think that top 10 in vacated targets after losing Keenan Allen, who was also hyper-target on third downs for Justin Herbert last year.
40:07I think that's where Ladd McConkie is going to fill into that role.
40:10And I want to shout out Ryan Heath from Fantasy Points as well.
40:14He did a great article talking about how wide receivers can benefit in heavy tight end personnel.
40:19That's what we're going to see in LA with David Njoku, with Gadsden, with Charlie Kolar.
40:23You're going to see a lot of tight end sets.
40:26So that means Lama Conkie is competing for targets with tight ends and just one other wide receiver, making it really easy
40:32for him to be really efficient and gobble up volume.
40:35So I think Lama Conkie is a prime bounce back candidate after a down sophomore year.
40:39We know what the ceiling is. He did it his rookie year.
40:43Mike McDaniel, Justin Herbert, an elite passer. I'm all aboard the Ladd train.
40:46He was someone I had ranked very high last season and then pulled back the curtain a little bit right before the
40:52redraft season began when the Keenan Allen signing happened, because I was worried that Keenan just soaks up a ton of targets.
40:58He did really to an astronomical number there, as Andrew pointed out.
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43:00All right, folks, we're on to Tier 5. Starting with Christian Watson coming in at 27.
43:05DJ Moore with the Bills now, 28 overall. Rome Adunze, 29.
43:08Carnell Tate in his rookie season for the Tennessee Titans at 30.
43:11Marvin Harrison Jr. at 31. DK Metcalf at 32.
43:14Alec Pierce off a huge extension for him, 33.
43:16Cortland Sutton now having company in Denver at 34.
43:19Jordan Tyson with the Saints after going as a top 10 pick at 35 overall.
43:23And then Michael Wilson with a pretty sneaky 1,000-yard season in at 36.
43:26We have rookies in this tier. We have players who we're hoping will bounce back and others who had a really strong 25.
43:33So a lot of variance in this tier. That said, Erickson, is there a player you're more willing or unwilling to take
43:39a swing on than others in this particular tier?
43:42I'm not willing to take the swing on Michael Wilson.
43:44I think that he is ranked too high. We're going to have our first battle.
43:48No, no, we are not going to have a battle here, Jake, because we see eye to eye when it comes to these wide receivers.
43:55And with Michael Wilson, I see a Fugazi. I see a player that seems like a trap.
44:00Last year, all of his numbers when he was basically putting up Pukunikua-like numbers in the six, seven games basically that he played without Marvin Harrison Jr.
44:08lineup, just an absolute monster. After week 10, he was wide receiver four in points per game, wide receiver three overall.
44:14So I'm saying all these great things about Michael Wilson.
44:16Why should I be low on him? Well, Marvin Harrison Jr.
44:19is going to be back on the team. He's going to be playing and healthy in 2026.
44:24And the target rate per outrun is so glaring, the difference between when Harrison played and when he didn't play.
44:30Without Harrison in a lineup, Michael Wilson's target rate per outrun was 29%.
44:33When Harrison played, it was 12%. He was a ghost.
44:36You couldn't play Michael Wilson in any format when Marvin Harrison Jr.
44:39was in the lineup. And then he misses games.
44:42Michael Wilson turns into Jerry Rice 2.0. But I think that a lot of that was really more of the counting stats.
44:48With Jacoby Brissett, no team was throwing more than the Arizona Cardinals last year.
44:52They were first in pass rate over expectation. They had a 70% pass rate overall.
44:56And when I see numbers like that, it reminds me of the 2024 Cleveland Browns with Jameis Winston and who benefited from
45:02that in the biggest way, had a thousand yard season, Jerry Judy.
45:06And what happened to him the following season? Like the splits fell off because the team wasn't throwing nearly as much.
45:11So with Arizona investing in a running back, but the top five pick, I think it's they're going to try to be
45:18more balanced on a run pass ratio. You're not going to see as many dropbacks.
45:22I think from Jacoby Brissett, you have a potential for Carson Beck to start games for this offense.
45:27And if Michael Wilson is the number three real life pass catcher from Carson Beck on the Arizona Cardinals, that's going to
45:33be wide receiver 36, a player that I'm going to be considering starting or flexing in my lineup.
45:38I, I, I just don't see the appeal. I shouldn't say I don't see the appeal.
45:42Obviously if Marvin Harrison Jr. Misses games, like you saw it last year, like there was a lot of upside with Michael
45:48Wilson, but I just think right now I, he just wasn't a target earner when Marvin Harrison Jr.
45:53Was on the field. And that has more sticking power to me as we try to project what he's going to do
46:00in the future versus, well, he was so good when this guy missed games.
46:03Well, if he doesn't miss games, then Michael Wilson is going to be a total zero.
46:08And that concerns me, which is why I think he's ranked too high.
46:11Yeah, it's very fair. Wilson is someone coming out of Stanford that I loved a couple of seasons ago, had him on a bunch of dynasty teams.
46:19I was kind of just waiting for him to do something.
46:22He finally did it, but that's a great point.
46:25Erickson, like these players were drafting in this tier.
46:27They are going to be starters for your team.
46:30You're going to have to rely on them week in and week out.
46:33No matter the quarterback situation, no matter the team overall.
46:36And I think there's a potential, this Arizona team, despite all the talent they have in offense is one of the worst overall teams in the NFL.
46:43So it's hard to tie yourself there at 36 overall to a guy that only did it for one season so far,
46:50Jake, who in this tier, are you willing to tie your wagon to or unwilling to?
46:54Yeah, we're going to agree on this one. So I'm just going to back up Andrew.
46:59I thought we're going to argue because I had Marvin Harrison as being higher because of everything you just said.
47:04And I watched those games like everybody did. And you saw the fact that Jacoby Brissett treated him as the number one.
47:10We all go back to remembering that Marvin Harrison was doing jumping jacks, wanting Kyler Murray to look back his way while he's wide open.
47:17Jacoby Brissett didn't have that problem. He saw Marvin.
47:20He saw Marvin. He saw Marvin. And I know some people might overall look at the stats, but those last two games,
47:26you pretty much throw him out for Marvin Harrison because he hurt his other foot.
47:30And then he was playing through it. Like those last two games were just, he was hurt again.
47:35But just specifically before we move on from this to echo some of the stats for people that might want those, like
47:41Andrew pointed out, week six, seven, nine, 10, and 13, when he left early in the second half.
47:46But those are essentially the five games where they played together with Jacoby Brissett.
47:5020, over 20% of the team target share to Michael Wilson at 14.8.
47:54And that's with 32 fewer snaps. That's team target percentage, not just the routes as Andrew was saying.
47:5912.7 air yards to target to 9.4 for Michael Wilson.
48:011.76 yards per route run to 1.10 for Michael Wilson.
48:04And here's the biggest one. It's not that Jacoby Brissett just looked to him.
48:08Eight end zone targets to two for Michael Wilson.
48:11He's also somebody he looks for when he needs to score the touchdown.
48:14And that's why in those games alone, 10.6 fancy points per game for Marvin Harrison, 6.0 for Michael Wilson.
48:19So we can agree and move on to the next group because we're on the same page.
48:24Okay. I love to hear that. Well, let's go to tier six though.
48:28Where it is Chris Godwin, 37. Brian Thomas Jr.
48:30Hoping to bounce back at 38. Makai Lemon landing with the Eagles at 39.
48:34Jacoby Myers coming off a great season after being traded mid-season.
48:37Jacksonville at 40. Speaking of Jacksonville, we have Parker Washington at 41.
48:41Jordan Addison at 42. Ricky Pearsall at 43. Michael Pittman Jr.
48:44Now with the Steelers at 44. Wandale Robinson now in the Music City at 45.
48:48Jaden Reed back after a contract extension with the Green Bay Packers 46.
48:51Quinton Johnston who was first half darling in many fantasy leagues 47.
48:55Josh Downs 48. Jane Higgins 49. And Khalil Shakur at 50.
48:58I have to say guys, like I think my favorite value in this tier is quickly become Jordan Addison, which I've never been a huge Addison guy.
49:05But Jake, I'd love to hear who you might be targeting in this group of pass catchers right around that wide receiver four territory.
49:12So because, and especially Andrew and I have overlapped a lot of these wide receiver shows.
49:17I already talked a ton about Makai Lemon. This is stupid.
49:20I also talked a lot about Parker Washington with the Jaguars depth chart should also be higher.
49:24But so I'm going to take a third because we've talked about them on so many shows.
49:29It's Josh Downs. And because look at the Colts.
49:32Who's the number two? Clearly Josh Downs. They brought in Nick Westbrook-Akina as the third.
49:36And then they drafted a seventh rounder in Deion Burks who has some deep playability.
49:40I think there's something potentially there down the road, but probably still only as a third wide receiver.
49:45It is Josh Downs. And do I think more of Tyler Warren in the second season?
49:49And maybe we got too hyped up last year.
49:52Sure. But even so, you're still talking about three guys that are essentially going to be the main options between Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, and Tyler Warren.
49:59And if you got to the end of the season and you said, hey, Jake, looking back, because of what Alec Pierce
50:06does, did you know Josh Downs actually led this team in targets?
50:09It wouldn't shock me. I'm not going to call it.
50:12I don't think that happens. Sure. But given his style of play and where he succeeds and being that reliable intermediate play,
50:18I think as long as Daniel Jones is healthy, Josh Downs being down here is kind of crazy.
50:23Okay. Erickson, what about you? Who's someone who's sticking out in this tier, whether that's for positive reasons or maybe not so positive?
50:29Yeah. I would have put Josh Downs if Jake had beat me to the show sheet and put Josh Downs himself.
50:35Well, you've already talked about him a lot. So that's why I like it.
50:39There you go. It's the right answer, though. Like, that's the thing.
50:42Like, we talk about these same guys because we want to be right at the end of the day.
50:48The more we diversify, the more we run into trouble.
50:50So that being said, going to diversify a little bit here with another player that I do like a decent bit in this range.
50:57I like Ricky Pierce all. So the 49ers, they have a lot of change with their wide receivers.
51:02No more Brandon Ayuk. No more Juwan Jennings. He's not coming back.
51:05And Jennings, surprisingly, was like top five in the NFL in red zone targets last year among wide receivers.
51:11Oh, wow. Big vacated, especially in the red zone now.
51:13That's probably going to be where Mike Evans delivers a lot of his fantasy goodness.
51:18So again, not saying that Pierce all is going to be the number one guy, but Evans is a much older wide receiver has dealt with injuries.
51:25We know that a lot of the players on the 49ers have dealt with injuries.
51:29So if Pierce all the younger of a lot of these different guys can stay healthy.
51:34They look last year. He flashed. He had four games with 85 or more receiving yards.
51:38He led the 49ers in receiving yards per game at 59.
51:41So he had more 60 yard games than Mike Evans did last year.
51:45Now Mike Evans missed basically half the season. So that has to do with it.
51:49But so did Ricky Pierce. He only played nine games and he had over 85 in four of those contests.
51:55So I think he's kind of like a free flyer.
51:57Former first round pick. I'm not sold on Deshaun Stribbling as this major target earner from day one.
52:02I think if Pierce all is healthy, he's going to be out there as a starter along with Mike Evans.
52:08And I'm not a believer in Christian Kirk at this point in his career as well.
52:12He has not been able to stay healthy the last three seasons.
52:16He's missed over half the year. So former first round pick Ricky Pierce all look, you're injury prone to you're not.
52:22And right now it's not being baked in the upside.
52:24If he is the actual number one wide receiver on this team, Mike Evans draws a lot of defensive attention.
52:30That's going to get a lot of favorable looks for Ricky Pierce all.
52:34So in an offense that thrives on efficiency, he's had chemistry with Brock Purdy in the past as a wide receiver for sign me up for slick Rick.
52:41All right. I like the call there because Ricky was someone last season.
52:45He kind of began the off season in this tier of wide receiver fours.
52:49And by the end of draft season, really being taken more as a wide receiver three with upside and just never delivered
52:55specifically because he was hurt in the beginning of the year.
52:58Right. People might have dropped him then by the end of the season.
53:02Might have traded him away. And then really someone else benefited from those bigger games down the stretch once he was healthy, once Brock Purdy returned as well.
53:09So I think that's a good thing just to keep in mind there, specifically when we're thinking about wide receivers who might
53:16have let us down at the beginning of the season, but actually had some pretty good stretches down the run.
53:21Let's go on to honorable mentions. I want to talk about players that we have outside our top 50 who might be
53:27worth a late round dart throw on as a bench stash.
53:30I want to start with you, Erickson. Who's someone that you're taking in your drafts and you're just going to, Hey, let's
53:36leave them on the bench for a week or two, but maybe they can bloom in something.
53:41Casey Concepcion, rookie wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, just not sold on Jerry Judy after another down year of him being
53:47talked up as the bell cow for the Cleveland Browns passing game.
53:51The quarterback situation is shoddy in Cleveland, as we all know, but if one guy can make it work, it's someone that
53:57can do all his damage after the catch. So all Cleveland has to do is get the ball in his hands.
54:03I think he can make a lot of plays.
54:05I know that Munkin has kind of talked about him as maybe his day flowers in this offense.
54:10So I think that that can really fit well with him and him giving out produce like a top outside the top 50 in the ECR.
54:17He's a first round wide receiver, super talented, broke out in early age, and he can win in a lot of ways.
54:23So I like Casey Concepcion as a bench stash.
54:26I'm totally in with you. When we have player props come out, Casey Concepcion, even though like I'm not as big of
54:32a guy on his prospect profile, like Derek is, I definitely still like him specifically because I think he can do what
54:38Zay Flowers can do where he can play inside and play outside and look at what Zay Flowers did as a rookie
54:44in Todd Munkin's first year in Baltimore, 108 targets, 77 receptions, 858 yards, and five touchdowns.
54:49So like if there's a 700, 750 plus yardage marker prop for Casey Concepcion out there, I'm going to be clicking it.
54:55I think specifically because of what you said there with Munkin, I just hope like, do you hope it's your door, Andrew,
55:01or do you hope it's Deshaun Watson this season?
55:04Anything but Deshaun Watson. Okay. That answers your question.
55:06Yeah. I had this debate the other day on a, on a program and one of my co-hosts was strongly advising Deshaun
55:12Watson over Chador, but I definitely would like to, I mean, Chador was three and four last season, man.
55:17He didn't look terrible. So I think Casey Concepcion, there's a lot of upside and to get a first round rookie wide
55:24receiver outside the top 50 of ECR right now feels pretty, pretty good.
55:27And speaking of rookie wide receivers, Jake, you might have your eyes on one as well.
55:32Yeah. Just as long as they leave them alone, Antonio Williams, since like the Josh Downs argument, the number two on the
55:38commanders who does what needs to be done next to Terry McLaurin perfectly in this offense, but I'll even give you a bonus for a full team.
55:45Every single Raiders wide receiver is worth taking a flyer on at their cost right now.
55:50If not a little bit in order, they signed Jalen Naylor.
55:53Maybe we get Jack Bash who got a lot of hype last year.
55:56Like I just, even Thornton, they just take shots here because they're all super discounted because nobody wants any of them.
56:02And like if the quarterback play is even mid-level and then Mendoza, whatever it might be, it's just why not?
56:08Because you're there. They're essentially your last pick at this point, all of them.
56:12But the bigger point being Antonio Williams, because Antonio Williams, as long as they leave him alone again, there's still time Stefan
56:18digs, I you trade, whatever it might be. But if Antonio Williams enters week one as the number two, you're talking about
56:24a hundred, 110 targets from the number two that is just buried right now.
56:28Well, and this is a guy who every time Cade Clubnick targeted him, whether it's in 2025, a down season for the
56:34Tigers or 2024, where we really saw Antonio Williams break out, you know, Clubnick had good things happen to him when he targeted him.
56:41So I think Jane Daniels, a guy who wants to get the ball out of his hand, maybe a little bit earlier
56:47this season, avoid some of those big hits. I think Williams could be a great target for him.
56:52And I completely sign off on part of the Raiders analysis there.
56:55Like my highest player above ECR right now, Jack Besch.
56:58I have 54 overall at the wide receiver position, 47 spots above ECR.
57:02I think there's a chance, Erickson, that this guy is Clint Kubiak's version of JSN, right?
57:06This is a guy he can move all over the field.
57:09And if he wanted to go get a new X wide receiver, he could have done that.
57:14He had the chance to go get Serrat. He had the chance to get Jacoby Lane.
57:18All these wide receivers that were falling into day three of the draft, he didn't care.
57:23He was sticking with his boy, Jack Besch. So I think Besch, another guy who, a hardworking kid, comes from a little
57:29bit of a tragedy, happened in his life right before the senior bowl a year ago with his brother losing his life down there in New Orleans.
57:36I think him and Fernando Mendoza, that's the breakfast table.
57:39It's Mendoza, it's Besch, and it's Brock Bowers, baby.
57:42So I'm all in on Jack Besch. He's the Cooper Cup here of Las Vegas.
57:46What do you think? I can't believe you guys neglected to mention Trey Tucker, who had a 30-point game last year for the Raiders.
57:52Okay. You can predict when that's going to happen again.
57:55All right, folks. Well, that's going to do it for us on this episode of the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
58:01Please don't forget, smash that like button on your way out if you enjoyed this episode.
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58:15Thank you so much for watching. For Andrew Erickson and the all-in kid, Jake Seeley, I'm Seth Wilcox.
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58:37Hey guys, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe.
58:40I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas.
58:44We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.
58:47We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts.
58:50We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.
58:54Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but you know.
58:58Tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
59:05Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.
59:07Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy.
59:10Not quite. On Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.
59:16This week, my guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter.
59:22Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.
59:25Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
59:32What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano.
59:35It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast Point Game, the playoffs.
59:39We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season, and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments.
59:45If we didn't talk ever again, I was fine.
59:47You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.
59:50Then after that game seven, Marquis coming to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog.
59:54You know it's all love. This was just playoffs.
59:57This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
60:03Hey, it's Ashanti Plummer from Fudd Around and Find Out.
60:05This week, AZ Fudd and I sat down with Steph and Curry.
60:09Steph talks pressure, confidence, and what it really takes to stay great.
60:12There's different categories, I guess. So I'm like conditioning shooting drills where you try to simulate kind of games.
60:17Look at her face. Look at her. We have a love-hate relationship with those because you know you're getting something out of it.
60:24You don't look forward to those days. Listen to Fudd Around and Find Out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
60:31This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.
